It took a long time for Angeline to fall asleep, knowing that the meat still sat in her stomach. Fortunately for her the next day, Mrs. Mary suggested that Angeline and Acci try working in the town to connect with more of the people. Angeline wholeheartedly agreed with the idea, working was the only thing she felt like she could do right, but she was surprised that Acci did not try to put up a fight. In fact, she looked most satisfied than she has ever seen her. Though she did not have experience working with her hands, Angeline did not mind that the only work they had available was in their fields. Though it would have been nice if they had given her a teaching assignment, but she quickly realized that as a foreigner she would have absolutely nothing to teach them.
All my training wasted. No, I shouldn't think that. She shook her head and resumed her work, picking the tough, stringy plants from the ground and putting it into a large bag beside her. After finishing that area, she gripped the rough fabric and barely got it to move to a new area before stopping to catch her breath. Wiping the sweat on her forehead, she rested on the bag for a little while, looking at land. Everything seemed so unorganized. Some people were working, some people were talking, some people were eating and drinking, and some people were doing all of it at once. A pinch of anger rose up in seeing so much time wasting. This field was much smaller than her Fields, but the town looked too small to be supported by it.
Why are they wasting so much time? There is still so much to do! How do they feed each other with so much laziness! I mean... No I shouldn't think that. I'm sure they found a way. Uh I hate how I sound now, Just... Just look at something else.
She looked at Acci, who was picking plants and roots out of the ground and putting them in a smaller bag at her side. She remembered that Acci was surprised to learn that all the plants growing out of this ground were edible and assumed that she could not tell difference between the weeds and the crops.
She drank from the water pouch Mrs. Mary gave her and continued picking up the weeds. She had to take small breaks in between when some of the adults wanted to talk to her. She did not mind because they never lasted very long, and she genuinely enjoyed hearing their sincere conversations, but she found it hard to shake her conversational nerves. She speed up when her head started to feel like it was weighed down by rocks. She decided that she should at least reach the end of the row before taking another break.
Just get to the end. I can do it! Just a little further, and I would have helped.... When she tried to pull the bag again, her headache became too painful for her to stand anymore, and she fell to the ground. She watched the blurry sky spiral out for awhile until people started surround her.
She went in and out of consciousness as she felt herself being carried by someone. It reminded her of when Nathaniel carried her. When his gap tooth smile flashed in her mind, she felt a brief ache stung her heart. Then she felt cool water splash across her face, bringing her out of her daze.
“That was close! What happened?” a woman's voice said.
She coughed a little water that slipped into her mouth and mumbled to her. “Uhhh. I... I don't know I... It's so hot here. ”
“I'm sorry. Here. Drink some water.” The person brought water up to her lips and drank vigorously from it. “We'll take you back to Grandma's.”
When she was picked up again, her vision cleared up enough to see that Precious stood next her.
“Precious?” she muttered while she was being carried away.
“Yeah. It's me, and this is Jeremy,” Precious said.
“It's nice to meet you, Angeline,” He said. He was a Pearlie boy with short curly hair, but she tried to keep it out of her mind that his arm were the same size as Nathaniel's.
“Thank... You. I'm sorry... I should I... Mhhh,” Angeline said.
“Shhh.You shouldn't speak. Just wait until we get back home since you're still too tired.” Precious told her.
She kept silent as they brought her back to Mrs. Mary's house.
“Angeline! Oh my goodness, what happened to her!” Mrs. Mary yelled.
They brought her in and laid her across her mat.
“They told me that she passed out in the field, so I think she worked herself too hard,” Precious said.
Angeline cringed when she heard Mrs. Mary make excuses for her. “I should've known she'd do this. I'm sorry for all this trouble, Jeremy.”
“It's a nice break from the heat, anyway. At least, she didn't try pulling up the plants like the other girl.” he said.
“I'm sorry about that I thought that she'd be better with Angeline. I should have sent Precious sooner to watch her. What did they do with her?"
“Well I told her to stop and she walked off, so not much damage was done.”
“Well hopefully she doesn't do anything else. I'll take care of her. Thank you for bringing her.” Angeline heard the door close behind him. Mrs. Mary's long wheezy sigh made Angeline too distressed to rest.
I had the nerve to call them lazy, but I wasn't out there for few minutes before I fell down. At least, I've had enough control to keep these thoughts inside me, but what if I burst out like-
Her thoughts were interrupted by Mrs. Mary coming up to her.
“You don't have to say anything. I completely understand.” She gave a hearty laugh transforming into a rough cough that made Angeline jump. “It's been so long since that I've been in the Community I forgot how much I use to be dependent on them telling me what to do and when to do it. I should've told you this earlier.”
She coughed three times before continued. “Now I need you to listen very carefully to what I'm about to say. What I'm going to tell you should be the guideline for you to use so you won't have this kind of trouble again.”
Angeline shook her head up and down in agreement and tuned her eyes and ears to her.
“You need to take care of yourself before you take care of others. I mean that you still do nice things for people, but know your limitations. It is fine to tell a person you can't do or you won't do something if you know that you can't do it. If you feel sick, hurt or angry about anything, don't be afraid to let someone know. You have people you can trust like me who want to help you... Do you understand?”
Take care of myself before I take care of others... But what should I do if they truly need me. But it does makes sense . I can't help people if I keep passing out. Ok. I should be self-centered enough that I can still help others Got it!
“I understand.” Angeline replied.
“Good. Now this is perhaps the most important thing I want you to learn. There are people,” Mrs. Mary took a deep breath. “Who don't care about you or your feelings? There will people who will try to take advantage of your kindness even if it hurts you... and if this happens it is not your fault it is there's!” she asserted with such a strong, stern voice that shook Angeline like an icy wind went through her.
But if they are not kind to me its because I did something wrong. What do you mean?Isn't helping people the right thing to do?
“I know helping people is the right thing to do and it is, but only if the person you're helping respects you. If a person is willing to hurt you or use you without caring, they are not worth the help, and you should not be afraid to leave them.”
It was a hard thing for Angeline to hear. The core of everything she believed was to help anyone in need and now Mrs. Mary is telling her that there are people who are unworthy of help. She could not believe that a Pearlie would say that. She then thought of Acci and all the coldness and even hostility she kept showing to her and everyone she encountered for no clear reason.
Is she warning me about Acci?
She finally asked,“Do you know who these unworthy people are?”
“Unfortunately, you'll need to figure that out on your own. A person can act one way with one person and another way with another person. I wouldn't be able to tell you,”Mrs. Mary responded.
“Oh.” Angeline was disappointed but secretly relieved have a load names to watch in head.
“Whooah! That's too much seriousness for now! How about some sweat bread for lunch?” Mrs. Mary stood up and went to her pantry for sweet bread, leaving Angeline to contemplate what she said.
After eating sweet bread, Angeline felt a little restless being inside and her thoughts drifted back to Precious bringing it back to the house.
“I hope I'm not asking to personal a question, but I've been wondering whether Precious is a Pearlie or a Nyx.”
“Precious? She's a little bit of both,” Mrs. Mary said.
“Both? What do you mean?”
“My son married a lovely Nyx woman named Zeka,” Her eyes trailed down and then squeezed together as if to hold back a great pain that was about to burst from eyes.
“You don't have to tell me more, I'm sorry for bring it up.” Angeline said, looking towards door.
I shouldn't stay here and make things awkward.
“Do you want to go back outside again?” Mrs. Mary said.
“No! I mean yes, but I don't want to... “ she felt like she should being doing something but she knew that going back to the field was her limit.
“I see. Well... I think Ben always needs help organizing his books. Why don't you go to meeting hall?”
“Yes, I will! Thank you for the advice, Mrs. Mary.” She left the doorway, grabbed her satchel and left the house.
She walked to the meeting hall and opened the door to see Precious heading out the door with a small box in her hands.
“Hi, Angeline! I'm see you're feeling better. What are you doing here?” Precious asked.
“I am here to help Mr. Benjamin.” Angeline moved out the way as Precious went out.
“Alright. Don't overload yourself with too much work. I have to go, but I talk to you later, ok?”
“Ok. By the way, do you know where Acci is, now?”
“I saw her around with... Valor,” Her mouth wrinkled around the name like it tasted bitter, but quickly softened. “and some friends. I'm sure she'll go back home soon. I'll see you later.”
Precious left and Angeline went in, seeing that Ben and Cryer were the only ones in the room.
“Hi, Angeline. Are you feeling better?” Cryer asked.
“I heard about what happened. Do you still feel ok walking around?” Ben asked as well, putting down the book he was reading.
Angeline felt warmed by their concern. “Yes, I am, thank you. I didn't have much to do today, so I came here to help you with anything I can. Is that all right with you?”
“That's fine with me if you are sure that you'll be fine. Though there isn't much around here that you to do,” Ben said.
“You can help me organize these old books,” Cryer suggested.
Angeline walked to Cryer, and he lead her a box of books near a bookshelf with two piles of books near it. She picked up one of the books in the pile and felt dirt crumble into her hands and onto her shirt.
“Sorry about the dirt. We found all of these in the cave.” Cryer said, taking it from her
“Caves?” Angeline said.
“There are several caves all across the mountain and every know and then we find helpful things in some of them.” Ben answered.
“I see. So what should I do?”
“It's really easy. All you need to do is open each book and look to see if it a instructional manual or a journal then put it the piles.” Cryer said, putting the book on the top shelf. “This pile is for the manuals, this one is for the journals and you get one that doesn't fit either just make another pile.”
“Of course.” She sat down in front of the box and lifted a book up, but then looked at him. “What is a journal?”
“It's a book that people use to record their experiences. If you see handwriting, its always a journal,” he answered, placing another book on the shelf.
“Why would you want to keep such useless things? These scribblings aren't as helpful as instructional manuals.” she said, carelessly throwing the journal she picked up onto the other pile.
“Maybe you see it that way,” Ben interjected nicely. “But we've learned more about ourselves and this world from these scribblings than from most of these manual. Don't be so quick to dismiss self expression.”
“I'm sorry. I know what you mean,” she lied. “I'll just continue to sort these out books out.”
For the next twenty books they organized, Angeline and Cryer did not say anything more to each other than the occasional grunt or nod. Her eyes began to droop after seeing so many books with illegible handwriting.
“Do you want to take a break?” Ben asked.
“No I'm fine. Though some of these books I'm not sure about like this one.” She picked up the book she placed to the side. “Like this one called Basic Magic.”
“Basic Magic!” Both Ben and Cryer turned towards her.
“Yes. It looks like a manual, but I'm not sure. What is Magic?” she said.
“It's... hard to explain, but its a special technique that is very helpful to us. So that's the only one you've found?” Ben said.
“Yes, Mr. Ben though now that I've read it a little I don't know how accurate this is.” She opened the book to a page titled “Controlling Air”. She held her hand out in the position like it recommended.
“You shouldn't try do it. It won't do anything for you.” Cryer said.
“Ventus.” she whispered. She suddenly felt a something cold shoot through her skin then puffs of air poured out her pores.
“Waah!” The puffs of air turned to streams and blew the piles across the floor.
“You did it.” Cryer looked at Ben who was now coming towards her. “Does that mean she's a magician too?”
Air. Came out of... of my hand. That technique is amazing .
“Magician? What happened to me? It just came out of my hand!” Angeline stuttered.
Ben put his arm on her shoulder and said, “Everything is fine. You see magic is a kind of energy that can used by certain people. Me, Cryer and Sebastian are the only ones with this kind of power in this town. I'm so glad I've found another one of us.”
“Just like Sebastian and me,” Cryer added, reaching towards her shoulder but pulled it back to his side. “What should we do?”
“We need to get Acci and Sebastian here,” Ben told him to his surprise.
“Why-Why does Acci need to be here?” Cryer said.
“This is too similar to what happened to you and Sebastian to be just a coincidence. She's probably a magician as well,” He picked up the book.
“But I... I mean that she's probably not-” Ben looked at him with a strong glare that caused him to look down at his hands. Angeline had never seen him so serious and seeing Cryer squirm made her stomach twist in knot. She had to do something.
“I... I'll go and get her- them.” He slinked slowly towards the door.
“Wait. I'll come too!” When she walked to his side, he looked at her and then immediately at his hands.
“You don't have to come with me,” he said to the ground.
“No it's fine. We can find her much quicker if we go together since this is about me.” she said. They looked at Ben who had his usual cheerful face on so Cryer breathed a sigh of relief.
“I'm so glad that you're coming with me.” He looked up at her with a such a wonderful smile that it melted her anxiousness away. Everyone in the town respected the men and with their help she knew that this could be something that would truly help the town.