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87. Interlude: Dorian - II
🕑 Added 2025-08-01 05:30:02 +0000 UTCDorian nodded, cracking the seal on his own drink. He brought the bottle to his nose, taking a whiff. He closed his eyes, letting the sharp blend of local berries fill his nostrils. Thalia was becoming quite the artisan.
He raised his cup to Daniel, who immediately got the gesture's meaning. Their cups clinked with a dull thud. Daniel took a long drink, closed his eyes, and exhaled. “That is...nice.”
Dorian almost scoffed, but Daniel wasn’t ready for the higher grades. Sometimes, it’s best to live in ignorance…
He ignored the possible irony as he waited for Daniel. The young Human ran a finger along the rim, still damp from his sip. “I’m not sure how to say this. Dorian," he looked up, his sapphire-blue eyes locking onto him. “I’m not from here.”
Dorian raised an eyebrow. “No kidding."
Daniel sputtered as his words fell flat. “Not like that. I mean—I’m not from around here." He made a wide gesture with his hands as if that helped explain everything. Dorian’s eyebrow just rose higher, and Daniel let out an aggravated noise. "I mean not from this world." His speech picked up in tempo. "Unless this is some weird”—he spoke an unintelligible, but familiar word—“simulation or a”—another unintelligible word, this one cold and sharp—“mishap. But that seems crazy, right?"
Dorian raised his hands to calm him down. “You’re not from some group fleeing monsters?”
Daniel’s eyes widened. “That can happen?”
Dorian looked longingly at his drink. Maybe we can just forget all this happened.
But of course, he couldn’t, not that his curiosity would let him. “Maybe start from the beginning?"
Daniel let out a long sigh. “Yet, that is probably a good idea.” He took a longer drink, trying to settle himself. “Everything was normal until the night I was on duty in the a hospital.” He paused, frowning. “Hospital,” he said again. “Wait, that translated?"
Dorian blinked. “Hospital? Yeah, we have those, though it’s more of a Human thing. Their [Healers] can't always cure injuries fast enough, and in their cities, they need a place for the sick to stay.”
“Huh,” Daniel said, then under his breath, he added, “Maybe I do have a role.”
Dorian didn’t press that strange comment, opting to let Daniel recenter himself. Daniel continued, “I was in a hospital. Taking care of a John—an unknown person who had come in with some kind of trauma. I put him in the Si—” He paused, struggling to find the right word. “A machine that scans people—you have those?"
“Again, more of a Human thing. Their [Healers] utilize far more tools, but I think I have an idea."
"Right, Right. Well, everything was going fine. We were doing a workup, and then, it all went to hell. Lightning, an explosion." He clapped his hands. "I woke up in the middle of the mountains. The trees were purple. Purple! Then some dinosaur almost ate me.” He made a small space between his pointer finger and thumb. “It was this close. I only made it by falling off a cliff into a raging river. Somehow, I survived that and woke up in the healer’s lodge.”
Dorian blinked. “You just appeared in the Wilds?”
”Yeah!”
“Huh.” That didn’t make sense. Well, some of it did.
“That’s it. Just ‘huh?’ Why aren’t you freaking out?” Daniel asked.
“I don’t know. Should I be?”
“Yes! I just told you that I’m from another world. That can’t happen often. People don’t just appear out of the blue.”
“I know. That is why I said ‘huh.’”
“You don’t believe me.”
Dorian raised his hands. “I believe that you believe everything you are saying, but come on, arriving from a whole other world? That only happens in the stories of old. Are you sure it wasn’t just some malfunction? Enchantments go bad all the time, and when they do, bad things can happen.”
“No. Dorian, let me say it one more time. I am from another world.”
Dorian tried to rein in his disbelief. “Are you sure you’re not just misinterpreting things. Maybe you’re from some distant corner of this world. It isn't unknown for people to be driven away from their lands. The Humans that started the kingdom south of us originally hail from elsewhere.”
“Dorian. I am not from here. We don’t have Aether. We don’t have Marks.”
Dorian frowned. “That's not possible. You have Marks.”
He pointed to his face. “These are new. I didn’t have them before now.”
Dorian shook his head. “No. That can’t be. No one survives obtaining Marks at your age. Even for a Human, you’d be pushing that limit by almost two decades."
"I promise you, I didn't have them."
Dorian's eye narrowed, and he gave Daniel a long look. Daniel believed every word he said, but it didn’t make sense. Well, some of it did. He was definitely far from here. Maybe he injured his head? With a severe enough injury, his Marks could have regressed, but he didn’t act like someone with stunted Potentials…well, except for his Projection.
He had expected many things, but this conversation's direction wasn't one of them. “You don’t remember anything else?”
Daniel’s hand tightened around his mug. “I remember plenty.”
Dorian let out a long breath. “Sorry. I know you’ve been through a lot, and my doubt isn’t helping. It just…if you turned the tables…”
Daniel’s shoulders slumped. “I know. I feel like you at least somewhat believe, which is better than I would have done.” He sighed. “Everything goes to hell since I ran into that guy. He, or someone with the same eyes, even showed up in my dreams when I was sick with Aether poisoning.”
Dorian froze. “Why do you remember the eyes?”
“Because they were—” He rolled his eyes as the word didn’t translate. “They were two different colors.”
He whispered, “No. It can’t be. Can you describe them?”
Daniel blinked. “Now you believe me?”
“Just describe them.”
“I can’t. Not well. It’s hazy. I just remember a man with different color eyes, and a woman with those same eyes advising me on my class.”
Divine intervention? He just doesn’t show any of the signs.
Daniel frowned. “What are you thinking?”
Dorian chose his next words carefully. “There are stories of champions appearing, helping push back the monster, and leading people to havens. But they’re stories, and you are not a champion.”
“Not that I want that responsibility, but how—”
“Your Projection."
Daniel frowned. "Always Projection. Why does it matter so much?"
"It is how you affect the world around you. A champion could swing the tides of battle with just their presence. No one can remember exactly when the gods' chosens walked the lands, but they did. They carved out a place for us in this world of monsters. Every religion—even the Humans, who again have only come to these lands recently—speaks of this. Everyone has champions gifted with the power of the Gods. But you don’t need the stories to know that Projection matters when it comes to war. I have seen it with my own eyes. Project the right skills and auras, a high-tier person will turn the tide of a battle."
“Gods...”
Dorian’s ears picked up at the doubt-laden response. “You don’t believe?”
“We didn’t have gods where I’m from.”
Dorian let out a dry chuckle. “Maybe you have more in common with the Ættir than you think.” At Daniel’s look of confusion, Dorian clarified, “They don’t believe in the gods either. They call them the Ascended. They’re just people who have found ways to tap into the true power, the great Mother. She is everything around us.”
“You mean like the great stone?“ Daniel frowned, then tried again, this time going more slowly. “Like Tee-ra.”
“Yes, Tira. They believe that she is connected to everything.” He shrugged. “Maybe that is true, but she cares about us as much as Teja—not at all. So, I find it hard to argue when people want to placate the beings that do care and have intervened in mortals’ affairs in the past.”
“Oh.”
“Well, I wouldn’t recommend being that dismissive of Tira with the Ættir with them claiming to be her protector.”
“Right. I don’t need another reason to piss them off.” He exhaled with a sputter. “Where does this all leave us, Dorian?”
He shrugged. “I don’t know. That you aren’t from here. That—I can’t believe I am saying this—you may have been touched by the Wandering Sage—that’s the god with different eyes. They are often called the Wanderer.”
“They?” Daniel asked.
“They change forms to better blend in and learn. But their eyes never change.” Dorian shrugged. "They aren't one of the popular ones. There are other gods whose domains touch on knowledge or travel. The combination? Let’s just say that when people do travel, knowledge is often not high on the priorities.” He leaned back. “Going back to your question of where that leaves us. For one, you have my appreciation for placing trust in me. That had to be difficult.”
“Yeah, especially when you don’t really believe me.”
“Hey, I am open to it. It is just a lot to take in, you know?”
Daniel sighed. “Yeah, I know.”
“I want to hear more, but I also…” Dorian looked at the ceiling, trying to come up with a way to frame it. “I need you to be careful what you tell me. I am not just some worker on an expedition. I have...responsibilities. I just can’t ignore—”
“I get it. You’re what? Son or nephew of a king?”
“We don’t have kings and queens, but you’re close.” Dorian frowned. “Was it really that obvious?”
“You show way too little deference to those in power. And I can’t see any other reason they would stick you with the Ættir by yourself unless they were grooming you for something.”
“What about punishment?”
Daniel snapped his fingers. “Oh, right. I forgot how annoying you can be.”
“Hey now!”
Daniel laughed. “I’m kidding, but even that rationale proves my point. If working with the Ættir is your form of punishment, you have to be special. Also, I am sure the Verndari would have struck you down a long time ago if he could have.”
“I’m that bad?”
Daniel sucked in air between his teeth, then shrugged. “Yeah.”
Dorian’s cheeks grew warm, and he grumbled, “Don’t tell Thalia,” before taking a very long sip of his drink.
Daniel let him finish before asking, “Again, where does that leave us?”
“I don’t know, but I do want to know more. That thing you had me do to that dying Ættar, what was that?”
Daniel started to answer, then stopped. “You know, I appreciate that I can understand Common, but it is frustrating how some things just don’t translate. It’s called heart and lung resuscitation.”
“[Heart and Lung Resuscitation].” Dorian savored the skill name as he spoke it. “Quite the skill.”
Daniel chuckled. “It isn’t a skill, silly.”
“No way. I kept a person from dying without a potion.” He couldn’t help but glance at his hands. “That had to be skill.”
“It isn’t. Anyone can do it if they know how.” Daniel gave him a sad smile. “It is a stopgap more than anything else. It will only keep the person alive for—let’s just say that you need something like a potion to work pretty quickly on the heart if you want any hope of keeping a person alive.”
“Still, anyone can do it?”
Daniel gave him a small shrug. “Yeah. Just need to know how. The details matter. It isn’t for everything, but it isn’t complicated either.”
“I feel like there is more to it than pressing on a person’s chest.”
”Sometimes the why is less important than the how.”
“Is that your nice way of saying I wouldn’t understand it?”
“No. How interested are you in understanding the underpinnings of your body’s functions?”
Dorian didn’t have to think about it. “Do you have a short version?”
Daniel snorted. “Yeah. You are just compressing the heart and making it push blood through the body.”
“That’s it.”
“You wanted the short version.”
“Fine. Fine. I’ll take your word for it. So, tell me something about…where you’re from.”
Daniel didn’t miss the hesitation, but if it bothered him, he didn’t let it show. “Well, for one, there are only Humans where I am from.”
“No.”
“Yeah, let me tell you my shock when Esper unwrapped the bandages on my face…”
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