The Misplaced Circle

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"Yes..." Kant was confused at her question, "is there a problem with inns? Its a pretty good one. Fair prices and the owner is a fascinating alchemist." He looked at her tensed body. It seemed almost feral as if wanting to run or fight something. "Mona... are you okay with going into town?"
 
"I...uh...it's been awhile." Mona whispered. "I've lived with the tribes so long..." She tensed, preparing to run.
 
"Okay. Lets take this slowly. I'll try to go to areas with less people. The Ouroboros isn't a popular inn, so not many will be there. Its more like an alchemist who had extra rooms decided to rent them out to travelers. I'll be here so you don't have to worry," Kant consoled the best he could. Its not like he could instantly take away her habits from living in the tribes. "Here take my hand so you don't go wandering off" He grinned. "I promise nothing horrible will happen to you in this town. Alchemist may be crazy but I'm a mage and so are you. If something does go wrong or you just feel like running away, tell me and I'll help you. His eyes were staring deeply into her. "Understand, Mona?"
 
Mona nodded, slipping her hand in his and squeezing tightly. "I won't want my own room...no..." She looked at him with wide eyes filled with fear.
 
"Alright, Mona," Kant agreed. He lead her by the hand into the town. It was nearing night, so the streets wasn't as busy, but there were still people all over. He sensed something wrong about the place. Everyone seemed a little down, or perhaps fearful. I thought the loss of magic didn't affect the alchemists as much. Perhaps its something else entirely. He held this thought as he moved through streets. Off the main street, he ventured a little way off and finally he saw the sign he was looking for. The snake was beautifully drawn with extra alchemical symbols and artistry. "We're here. Now lets meet the owner." He entered the inn although it looked like any other house. The sharp smell of herbs and several things he couldn't tell surrounded the entrance.

"Hello," Kant tested. After a few seconds a man came in. He was dressed plainly in robes and he was entirely spotless. He looked at the couple speculatively. "Who might you be?" Kant replied with a grin, "It's Kant, Yevin." Yevin eyed him closer. "Ahhh it is. Wheres your master? All I see is a lovely girl. Did you finally escape the old man and eloped?" he teased slyly. Kant blushed, "No.. sir. My master is in conference with the other High wizards. I'm here on my own accord. She is my traveling companion, Mona." Yevin looked at her, sensing discomfort. "Nice to meet you Mona. He returned hsi gaze to Kant and gave a wink and a whisper, "Oh yes I know all about traveling companions. I suspect you came here to stay." Kant nodded. Yevin smiled, but it didn't last long, "You've chosen an interesting time. We've entered dangerous times. But you can stay but not for long. There is much unrest in Trebin." Kant took in his words carefully. "Thank you, Yevin. We're going to go up and drop off our things." He smelled a familiar tantalizing aroma. "Got enough for two more?" "More than enough," Yevin smiled, "Now go up and get ready. I won't wait for you guys to eat." "Thank you again, Yevin. Lets go Mona." Kant lead her up to the room. It wasn't fancy. Just a room with a bed, a desk, and a chest for clothing. "It'll be a tight fit on the bed. I can sleep on the floor if you like."
 
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Mona followed, keeping her hand in his. She sensed the odd mood of the town and kept even closer to Kant. It was an odd feeling that she did not like. They entered the inn and she nodded. Mona ignored the teasing, almost immune to it as she looked around the room. The man's voice lured her in and she smiled cautiously. She looked at the room that Kant had led her up to and she shook her head at his words.

"I'll take the floor. I haven't slept in a bed in a long while..."
 
The idea seemed to be wrong to Kant. Having Mona sleep on the floor and Kant in the bed seems entirely unfair. He didn't know what to say. "How about we both sleep on the bed. It's not good to continuously sleeping on the rough ground." His new suggestion was also wrong, but in different ways. He remembered the night before with her warmth. He reddened and quickly put away his things. "I think theres a bath on this floor. They use special kind of achemical heating and a complex piping system instead of the magical systems. I always thought it was strange, but now... its very convenient."
 
Mona slung her bag over the edge of the chair, taking off her cloak and yawning. "A bath? I don't have clean clothes though..." She dug in her bag, pulling out a few books and a long sleepshirt. It was more of a nightgown, but fitted. "Oh, I have sleepwear..." She mumbled unemotionally. She dug around in her bag until she produced a small bar of soap. "Ahhhh...."
 
"Its good you brought your own soap. Yevin keeps... strange ones. He says they are assured to be completely potent and powerful. But I suspect they weren't meant to be soap at all. I swear I saw him use one to light a fire." He pulled out a large tome from his own bag. "You can go ahead and take a bath." He went to the desk and took out a pen and an ink well. Kant began writing in his grimoire. He had seen so much new magical things ever since he entered Teyerim.
 
Mona wavered by the door, suddenly unsure. She went back to her bag, reaching in and pulling out a thin silver dagger with runes sketched onto it. "Okay..." She went down to the baths, shaking. She stripped, settling into it and washing with her soap before quickly jumping out and donning her night robe. She snuck back up to the room and shut the door behind her, putting her dirty clothes to the side. "Back..." She whispered.
 
Kant didn't notice and was deeply in thought, inscribing spell circles onto his grimoire. "That intersection crosses the Ballards circle, but what... Why are there runes of Yennin interlaced with the marking of Uldrid. I don't know how these can even bind together," Kant began mumbling as he continued, "Am I remembering them right. I usually can memorize complex spell geometries at a sight." He sighed.
 
Mona put her soap in the bag, peeking over Kant's shoulder at the work he was constructing. "Hmm..." she moved to pull out some faded gems from Tereyim and yawned.
 
Kant heard Mona yawn and looked back. "Oh your done already. That was certainly quick." Kant got up and stretched. "I better get cleaned up as well." He took some clothes and his personal bar of soap and left the room.
 
Mona watched him leave with curiosity. She put the shards of gem away, sitting with her dagger in hand on the bed while she waited for him to return.
 
Kant entered the bath with a sigh of relief. He felt his tension ease as the hot water soothed his muscles. "This alchemical bath isn't that bad, but I'm still used to the magical ones back at the tower." He took longer than he expected, but he finished his bath and returned to the room. Mona was on the bed with a dagger. "Can put that away when we go down to eat something. Or at least keep it hidden. Yevin's not the type to hurt anyone." Kant wondered what she was feeling. In a room within a city that she doesn't know. But after we leave Trebin its completely wild territory. The shamans in the south are odd folk and the lands they live in is much stranger.
 
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Mona nodded, keeping the dagger in her hand as she sit in her nightgown on the bed. "Okay....I'll keep my dagger hidden." She blinked up at him before laying down on the edge of the bed and slipping under the covers. "So...after this its all wild territory..." A smile came to her face as she pondered the fact she would be in her element. She knew better how to survive in the wild than she did in a city. It had been far too long for her being in a town or any civilization other than that of the tribes.
 
"Yeah. You won't be subjugated to this small inn in this town full of people. Now lets go eat. I'm starving." He lead her by the hand downstairs, to an already eating Yevin. "Took you long enough. I was wondering what kinds of things you were doing up there." The man's grin would have split a tree. "None of that nonsense, Yevin. We both took a bath." Yevin's grin didn't stop. "Ahh how I envy the young. Taking baths together." Kant's face reddened and he took his seat and began eating. It was a wonderful meat stew with a side of freshly baked bread. "You're one mad alchemist, but you sure are a fine cook." Yevin replied with pride, "Cooking and alchemy are practically the same."
 
Mona squeaked as his hand grabbed hers and she had enough time to slip into a jacket before he tugged her downstairs. She sat down at the table, stabbing the meat with her knife and pulling it out of the broth of the stew. She watched the interaction between the two with interest, tugging the little chunks of meat off her knife before picking up a spoon and eating the rest of it.
 
Kant remembered his odd feeling about the town and decided to ask Yevin, "Did something happen in Trebin. Everyone seemed down." Yevin looked up in surprise, "I guess you would notice with your sharp eyes for details. Yes we've been encountering problems since magic disappeared. The local magical beasts have been going crazy and started attacking people. We used to rely on them for materials for our alchemy but now they've been raiding our stores and consuming lots of magical components. Its as if they are hungering for it. For a long time we suspected that certain magical components still had some magic within even when others lost it." Kant remembered the ring on his hand. Yevin seemed to become more aged. His wrinkles gathering as he continued, "People have started dying. The beasts have become more bold as they consumed more and more. Lately they've been targeting mages. For what reason I do not know. Certainly no mage now is capable of wielding magic. I don't even know how they can differentiate between normal and magical men." Yevin shook his head in disgust. "I hope we find something to deal with them soon."

Kant gave a look to Mona that seems to be asking whether or not they should help.
 
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Mona didn't even notice the look Kant gave her. "Well...I know how to tame the beasts...one thing I learned while-" She bit her lip, going back to her bowl. She wanted to help but how could she help people that would not understand? How could she show off her skills without causing far too much attention? She tried to shrink into herself, hands going to her lap as she refused to meet anyone's gazes. In the wild she could be who she was without worries of repercussions.
 
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