Book of Fates ✔

Manco Capac

"Maybe you read the map wrong," Nikk flicked his eyes sideway at Eirney for a second, and then peered out the car window, gazing upon the mountains. "Were we supposed to climb up the rocks? Why Klliss didn't give us the equipment then?"

"I know how to read the map," Eirn groaned. "Me and Ther, we were taught mapping."

Daphne cursed loudly as the car got stuck in the mud flooded the road after the rain.

"I don't see any reasons to worry just yet," Rill said flippantly, and swung the car door open, springing off right into the dirt. "Let's ask the locals for help."

"And take donkeys to ride further," Daphne snorted, but the car was beyond saving.

The moment Anya set her feet on the solid ground she felt surprisingly good. The fresh air brushed her hair and caressed her skin as she and all others followed the crimson-haired daitian along the village.

The place was peaceful and quiet. Too quiet, actually. Most of houses looked like they were abandoned and neglected—their windows and doors tightly shut, the streets around them empty. Possibly, it was only because of the rain, but a strange feeling of getting into some sort of a mystical trouble wouldn't leave Anya's consciousness.

"Excuse me," Rill waved to a woman passing across the street, who was carrying a huge basket of clothes. "We're looking for a road to—"

"Machu Picchu?" The woman let out a growl of annoyance. She was speaking with a weird accent, thoroughly pronouncing every consonant, but seemed to forget about the vowels. "No, no no no. You get out, go!" She made an intense shooing motion with her hand. "You go to Aguascalientes city. That's tourist."

"No, we're not going to Machu Picchu," Nikk shook his head and glanced at the GPS map in Eirney's hands. "We're going to... " He frowned, trying to read the word. "Pat... Pai..."

"Paititi," Eirn prompted.

"Yes, Paititi," Nikk snapped his fingers and raised his eyes back at the woman expectantly. "Do you know the place?"

The woman narrowed her coffee brown eyes as if thinking whether Nikk was joking or it was a serious question. Then she tilted her head and looked over everyone beside him, her glance lingered on Daphne's white as starlight ponytail.

"Tales of that mad man reach big world now, huah?" the woman proudly flipped one of her two thick braids of dark hair over her shoulder. "Who you to be? Journalist? Archeologist? Ah, I want to know not... You seek Capac." She pointed at the other end of the village. "Miss not the house."

Thanking the woman and leaving the car die in the mud, the daitias and Anya jogged where the house of mysterious Capac was supposed to be. Rare people who came in their way were watching unexpected guests with curiosity and, sometimes, fear. They hurried to go away and preferred walking the other side of the street.

Anya found herself feeling like an animal kept in a zoo when a little boy ran toward them, shouting something in unknown language, shoved his finger at Rill's bright pink hair and dashed off.

"Seems like the place lack foreign visitors," Amarillis giggled without a shadow of offensive look on her face.

"You'd stand out even among the foreign visitors," Anya chuckled, watching the colorful fringes on the daitian's vast flutter lightly in the wind.

"Why?" Eirn asked, frankly clueless. He tore his eyes off his gadget even, to cast Anya a look of inquiry.

"I have no idea..." Anya drawled, amused. She glanced sideway at this foreign visitor who was a head taller than average people, at his sandy curls chaotically blown about his face. Add his love for a sudden teleportation and appearing out of nowhere, and you'll definitely get the picture of an ordinary human being, right?