Aveal laid uncomfortably in her bed, two sizes to small, limbs sprawling among the worn fabrics, pressuring the already warped wooden frame. She drifted in and out of consciousness like the flickering of the fireplace in the room below, somehow keeping her warm in spite of its low roar. She caught glimpses of a dream each time she awoke, a dream that seemed almost serialized among her nights of progressively worsening rests. She saw herself sauntering aimlessly across a feautreless, white beach. A place where the sky shined dully and the trees shamefully hung, barren and lifeless. She both knew where she was marching towards, and yet knew not where she was, aside from the fact that she was oh so very far from home.
In her heart, she felt a strange feeling the longer she stayed here, something she could not truly describe yet fully understood. A primal hostility, more ancient than anything in her world. A realm that itself was against the concept of life, inviting souls such as the trees and such as herself there, just to whither them down in a form of esoteric mockery. Still, the presence of [something else] never left her. She was not alone. Off in the distance stood mysterious figures who silhouetted themselves against the terrible mountains. The number appeared to be different every time she thought back to them. Sometimes she felt warmth from them, other times malice, and once or twice, the indescribable dread of indifference. But, every time the latter of events transpired, she felt something loving guiding and protecting her, something gentle and caring, bright and warm, something... no, someone... oh by the spirits...
Was it the lady from before...?
----
The Great Unknown #2 - The Lady From Nowhere [Part 2]
Aveal just laid in her bed some more. Though she was growing deeply tired of laying down, she also wanted to procrastinate the mere act of existing just a little bit longer. She rolled to her side, facing outside of her frost-covered window. Her lingering dreams reminded her just how vibrant and colorful the icy city of Aqandu-Tundu really was, even if it may not always seem like it when compared to her tropical hometown of Tama'pena. Every building was lovingly put together and radiated so much heart and personality, if sometimes a bit ramshackle. Her own personal fixation was on the library, just barely visible from her window, a modest building of two stories but so much wonder. The art of writing was quite new in Qilivik, or at least it was just recently reintroduced. It was especially new to her, having grown up in a land where literacy was an alien concept. Oh how everyday she wished she just found time to enter the library and read all that her attention span would allow her to.
But everynight, she curled into her bed, having not accomplished her goal. Other stuff came up, work, family, work, friends, work.
'Whatever' she thought to herself, a flash of anger briefly overcoming her. She didn't dislike her job, per say, how could she? It was her uncles place, she loved her uncle and loved what he's done for her. He worked so damn hard so that she could live comfortably. It was just... ugh.
'Whatever' she thought to herself once more, this time a flash of nostalgia overcame her instead, rolling to her other side and smiling at the site before her. When it was decided, some 8 years ago, that she was to move in with her aunt and uncle, her aunt Luuka had put it upon herself to build Aveal's entire room from the ground up. It apparently took months and every now and again, Kon would sneak in to play. Of course, this was dangerous but... it was Kon. Aveal never wanted to think of her own cousin as stupid as so many labeled them, but he certainty struggled at comprehending danger when they saw it. On the night before she arrived at her new home with Hoka, Kon had apparently snuck into her room with the ugliest yellow paint can they could find and doodled many pictures and words on her door and walls surrounding it. These drawings and texts would become some of the earliest Qilivik culture she would ever encounter. She learned over time that the strange creatures depicted were known as the "atliarusek", who brought good tidings and that the words roughly (poorly) translated to "I CANT WAIT TO MEET YOU!"
Her eyes soon drifted over to her little hand-crafted bookshelf to the side of her door, nestled in the rooms' corner. It had the best collection of books that a modest salary at a moderately successful local-shipping company could afford, which was to say it had around ten books in total. Most unread, but on various topics of folklore and language. It was the cozy drawings of her cousin that caused her to develop such interests, or at least, reawakened a dormant side of her personality. After all, she was in the running's to become a storyteller before... the accident with her father had forced her to develop her muscles and not her mind.
Sigh
Aveal's trip down memory lane was interrupted by a determined series of footsteps, coming marching up from the stairs below. She could tell from the weight and rhyme that they were from Luuka. so she went ahead and groaned just to get it out of the way. Her train of listless thoughts was interrupted by a loud series of banging on her door. "Come in" said the sleepy girl, getting to her bum and rubbing the sand out of her eyes. It was just then that she realized how poorly she slept. By Angatilik, she was tired.
"MORNING SWEETIE!" shouted Luuka, who all but tore her door down with immense force, causing a loud 'thud' that echoed throughout her room. Luuka, raven-haired and sporting dichromatic eyes, one a rose red and the other a sapphire blue, was by all accounts a beautiful, graceful and gentle woman. It's not that she disliked her aunt, not in the slightest, she was good people but... she could never quite put it in words. She was just sort of boring, but also strange. Like everything she said was rehearsed, like she was so concerned about what she said that she forgot to have a real personality. Aveal loved her, sure, but she just wasn't very... colorful. "Oh sorry honey... did I wake you?"
"No-" yawn replied Aveal as she rose from her bed. Her hair was as neat as barbed wire, knotty and tangled. First things first, she slapped on her glasses and then began to brush her hair with a wooden comb.
"Here, let me help you with that!" replied the aunt, stepping behind her niece to take the reigns.
"So, what's up?" Asked Aveal, trying her best not to sound aggressive or rude, though a certain soreness was present in her tone. "Normally you wait 'till breakfast to wake me-- I mean check on me."
"Oh... well... Kon had to go on a sudden delivery."
"Huh, sudden? I thought we were booked full?"
"We are... but they paid a lot upfront. You know how Hoka gets around money."
"Man, must've been loaded. Where they locals or out of towners?"
"Out of towner, and weird ones at that." Luuka paused briefly, weaving her fingers expertly through her niece's hair. "She had her face all covered up. Not like she was hurt or anything but that she was... oh what's the word...?"
"Incognito?"
"Yeah. She gave me the heebie-jeebies, but who am I to... judge." Luuka lingered on the last word, delivering it coldly, an act strange enough to give the younger of the two women goosebumps.
"You alright?"
"O-Oh yeah, just a cold chill!" Luuka exasperated. "Hoka and I have to do some important business-stuff with our cliental, which will probably take us all day." Aveal closed her eyes just so she could roll them in peace. She was 21 years old, but her aunt always talked to her like she was a kid. It was always 'business-stuff', like that she believed Aveal was too young or stupid to understand basic... uh... commerce.
"So you want me to work the desk?" Aveal asked, sighing under her breath.
"I'm afraid we have no other choice." Replied Luuka, who had finished her work, before another blazingly fast movement, now appearing in front of her mirror in hand. Aveal looked at her own long-face and drooping eyes, before summoning a slight smile at how nice her hair looked. She glanced over at her aunt to see that she was no longer smiling. "I know you cherish your days off, so we're both really sorry for forcing this on you."
"It's okay," Aveal sighed.
"We're gonna make this up to you." Luuka said, resting her hand on Aveal's shoulders.
"It's really not that big of a deal."
Luuka's smile returned, though in a weaker than usual form. She pulled in her niece for a hug, kissing her on the cheek. "It's out treat. Besides, you deserve something nice."
Aveal smiled, she tried to say something but the constricting hug took the wind out of her.
"Bye sweetie." Cooed her aunt, "Coffee's already made, there's some fish for breakfast, left directions in case you need us. Love you!"
"Y-eh. Luv ya too"
----
Aveal slumped back in her chair. It had been... what, two hours since she woke up? An hour and a half of sitting in a chair awaiting for customers that simply did not arrive. This wasn't unusual. Business 'booming' for a small operation as hers would be detrimental in the long run, or at least hard to run. Instead, a few big clients every few weeks was enough to keep her humble family afloat. Still, she took a sip of her coffee, re-heated, black with no sugar or spices, and groaned. Her uncle used to say that a clean workspace was a clean mind. Unfortunately for her, the workspace was so damn cluttered. Crates and memorabilia everywhere.
All over the walls there hung paintings and sculptures from merchants all over the islands, some few beyond even the borders of Qilivik, some few even beyond those. Aveal always wondered what kind of stories must've been told in places long outside the ones she knew. Oh of the heroes, both of lore and history, whose names she would never recount. Oh to the beasts of terror and reality that she would never face. Heh, she always wanted to know what gave kids nightmares in the fields beyond hers. But beyond her petty musings, the place was just suffocating at times. It was a sign of good business for sure, so she tolerated it.
"Mornin', sunshine" said a familiar, low-pitched voice from behind.
Aveal jumped for a second, clearly startled before she regained her composure, cocking her head to her left to see her friend walking out of the shadows from the dimly lit inventory area. "Hey Moniiii..." she said in a sleepy tone, trailing off just slightly before she took another sip of her drink "Sleep well?"
"Better than you it seems. You doin' well?" Mona began to lean her back on the wall, hands in her pockets. When questioned, she always said she hid her hands to look cool, but in reality it was to hide the scars that decorated her dexterous fingers. When questioned about those, she would simply say they're marks of a badass. Go figure.
"No." Aveal said rather matter-of-the-factly as she collapsed her head into her arms. "Had a nightmare. A lot of them actually."
"Oh uh..." Mona rubbed the back of her head, "You uh, wanna talk about it?"
"It was just... you remember yesterday?"
"How could I forget?" she chortled, "Whole shipping district abandoned and the girlie who screamed bloody effin' murder the moment she laid her eyes on us."
"Yeah huh..." Aveal groaned. "I had a dream that we were friends."
"Wait, for real?" Mona recoiled with disbelief in her face.
"I think at least, it was hard to-"
"Was that the scare you had?" Mona cut in, "That you were friends with such a weirdo?"
"No." Aveal muttered under her breath "If that was a problem, you think we'd still be friends?"
"Touché."
"But seriously... bleh... did they ever figure out what happened? You know, at uh, the docks?"
"Not that I heard." Mona replied in a low voice, "Did some snoopin' after supper, no one knew what happened. Not a single one of the sailors came back. Didn't hear anyone talk about a strange girl either. Most didn't even know it happened, and to be fair to them lot, most don't go down that way in fear of muggin'"
"Just... the whole situation is so spooky." Groaned Aveal. "Whole company goes missing, someone from only Aken's knows where shows up, doing only Kizniq knows what, and then... monsters..."
"Monsters...? Oh, you're still hung up on that uh, doll thing?"
"I-... I don't even know. Just... my nightmares... ugh, I... nevermind."
"You sure you're doing well, Vee?"
"I said I wasn't."
"Oh right" Mona scratched her head in embarrassment, "Used to ya lying 'bout that kinda stuff that it didn't register... sorry."
Aveal peered up at her friend, glaring at her with agitated eyes. She knew this was how 'the story' always starts. Loved one says something stupid but well meaning, but mostly stupid, so you reply with something witty and funny but only witty and funny in the moment. Aveal never really had 'the story' with anyone, except especially after moving to a new country. What could she say that was funny, clever, but also heartfelt? "Yeah you better be sorry!"
Why did she say that.
Mona just looked confused. Thank the spirits the door opened before the two focused on that comeback for a micro second longer. In the middle of the doorway, now with light pouring in front the outside world, accompanied by a cold chill that caused both women to shiver. A person stood in the middle, though perfectly silhouetted against the bright outdoors. "HI AND HELLLLLLLO!" they said, a feminine voice to be sure. Their features became apparent as the light died down, they were... strange looking. They sort of looked like Mona, but also not really. They were taller, clearly a little older, and had a perfect, flawless face, unlike her friend, but her skin-tone was almost exact. That sort of white-sand like color. Their hair on the otherhand was yellow like the sun, but offset by the mundane gray of her hat and outfit, which appeared to be both a dress and a coat.
"Uhh." Aveal blushed, trying to regain composure, but she failed. She was a mess today.
"I take you are the owner of this fine establishment, no? Heh, I didn't expect you to be so young... and so beautiful." The lady said, her accent deep and slow, but romantic... in both senses of the word.
"She ain't the owner dipshit" Mona spat with a nasty look on her face, snatching away the strange woman's arm with a forceful yank. The yellow haired person's expression, before sing-songy and sunny quickly dampened into one of malice, though softened upon seeing Mona's face. Aveal was left to her default state of being: confused, anxious and a little stressed.
"Oh my..." the lady said, taken slightly aback. "I didn't expect to see another Talamani this side of the Jeweled Coasts... you know, 'sides from my own people." Mona's brow arched as confusion set on.
"Tala...mani?" she asked, "the hell you mean by any of that?"
"Huh, nothing I suppose." Replied the mystery lady, before pausing slightly "My apologies, I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Hildiz. I represent the Nok Group."
"That's cool. My name is Nunya." Said Mona. "I represent the-"
"I am just going to cut in and say that I get the joke. You're very clever." she said, not even glancing over at her harasser.
"Mona!" Aveal snapped, finally dizzying out of her trance.
"What?" Mona replied. "Why'm I the bad guy?"
Aveal just shook her head. "Hi, my name is Aveal Turniga, I'm just an employee here. Welcome to There-and-Back Delivery, what can I do for you?"
Hildiz smiled warmly, though quizzically. "Aveal huh? What a... curious name. I take it you're not from around here either?"
"Oh no, I'm from Vakiki... there used to be a few of us here... but now it's just me and my uncle."
"That's interesting." said the mysterious lady, gently placing her hand on the desk and tightly pressing her face only inches away from Aveal's. "Name doesn't sound like any Vakiki name I've heard either."
"Have... have you been to Vakiki?" Aveal asked.
"Done business all over the world, hon. I've been to a lot of places" Hildiz smirked, "But we can chat later, but let's get back to business, okay? I'm here to book a reservation of a large delivery in exactly a days time."
"Oh..." Aveal interjected, though red was her face as she nervously tried to find the words. "We're actually booked up to a week, maybe if we split the load-"
"I think we can make it work, yes?" Said Hildiz as she took a step back and rummaged through a polyester bag that Aveal just now got a look at. It was a fancy, well-sewed together and highly decorated purse, decorated with all sorts of strange creatures. Some big, some small, most of them seemed like bears, wolves and foxes, though some creatures were beyond anything Aveal had ever seen. The oddity distracted her from a light 'clang' noise as six coins hit the desk. "6 coins of platinum, we are not playing around, alright? That's enough to keep your business afloat for a month, two months if you're smart."
Aveal's mouth widened, her eyes dilating slightly. She had never seen such wealth in front of her like this. "U-Understood, I'll bring this up with my aunt..."
"Seems shady." Mona whispered to her friend, "Who pays that much up front?"
"Someone who is serious about business." Hildiz interrupted, smiling smugly. "I assure you that to my organization, the amount of coinage I display here is little more than pocket change, but we are aware that not everyone is so... fortunate."
"Bleh" Mona swore, sticking her tongue out. "No 'ffense here Aveal but what do you even see in this place that you're willing to book the entire treasury of a small town?"
"Lots of reasons" Hildi smoothly replied, "Chief and foremost, it's got the prettiest employee out of every company we been to. I mean, have you been to the one down south?"
"I, uh..." Aveal blushed, an uneasy smile grew upon her face "I appreciate your patronage. How would we contact you to discuss this deal?"
"Like I said, one days time. We'll meet you then." Hildiz took out a writing utensil from her jacket and a small white sheet of paper and winked. "But for you? Here's the inn I'll be staying at. don't be a stranger, alright?"
Aveal sat there frozen as Hildiz turned around and began to leave. She forgot to pay attention to the world around her, maybe she heard something about Hildiz warning her of dangerous people going around town, or maybe she didn't? She was lost, until she heard a familiar scream from outside.
"Vee, snap out of it!" Mona said as she pushed herself against her best friend, "I think that was Kon!"
