Episode 5: The Discussion

Chesrook: OK, I sent this story in with the last one, so shut up Lister!

Lister: I wasn’t going to say anything!

Chesrook: Whatever.  Anyway, last episode we found out that Lotagor is really Lister!

Lister: :-)

Chesrook: We also learned a bit of his history and learned that he is leader of TAGOR.

Sakura: What’s going to be in this one, by the way?

Chesrook: Ah ah!  I never reveal what’s happening!  Heh heh…  Oh, by the way, from now on whenever you see “Dyah!” it means the person or people saying it just fell over anime-style.  I’d just rather not write it.  O-kay!  On with the fanfic!

            The group finished the rest of their tea in silence.  When they finished, Laramie spoke up.  “Shall I show you to your rooms now?” she asked.

            “Yes, thank you.” Li said.

            “Very well.  Follow me.”

            Laramie led them up to the second floor and walked down the hall, stopping near the end.  “Here we are,” she said.  “Males are on the right, and females are on the left.  Each room has a table, four chairs, four beds, and a bathroom.  Public baths are in the basement and we have already brought your stuff up.”

            “Excuse me, but did you say public baths?” Sakura asked.

            “Yes, of course!  Why not?  It saves water, for one thing.  And-”

            “Er, yeah, thanks.  Well, thank you for the tea, Laramie, but we-”

            “Ah, yes I understand.  It is late, after all.  Good night to you.” And with that, Laramie walked back down the hall.

            Sakura spoke up.  “Guys, I think we need to have a meeting.  Come on,” she said, opening the door to the girl’s bedroom.  The room looked nice.  It had all Laramie had said there was, and there was even a curtain by the toilet.  A red carpet was on the floor and there were red blankets with white sheets and pillows on the beds.  3 trunks lay at the foot of 3 of the beds.  Meilin, Li, Madison, and Kero sat at the table and Sakura stood at the head of the table.

            “OK,” she began. “So what do we have to do now?”

            “We need to figure out a way to get home!  Duh!” Meilin said.

            “We know that, the question is how,” Li said.

            “I think this Sokkru may be the one we need,” Sakura said. “She sounds like she can help us.  Lister said that she was working on contacting ‘worlds beyond the elemental planes’ and she had been on the verge of a breakthrough.”

            “Right, Sakura!  But how do we talk to her?”

            “Lister said that he was going to try to have an audience with the Emperor.  He might try to get us an appointment with Sokkru.”

            “Hey, guys,” Madison said. “Have you by chance noticed anything about this city?”

            “What do you mean?” asked Kero.

            “Well, it’s just, everything here: the architecture, the people, even the names.  They all seem, well, Roman.”

            “Roman?  Yeah, now that you mention it, Remo does seem to be Rome, only a little different.”

            “Not only that, think about the Glators.  They sound very similar to the gladiators of Rome in the Coliseum.”

            “Right!  But what about their goddess, Jurita?  I never heard of anyone like her.”

            Madison thought for a bit.  “Jupiter.  The roman king of the gods.  The names are similar.”

            “OK,” Sakura said. “So now we know this: Remo is like a roman city, but slightly different.  Sokkru may be our ticket home.  Anything else?”

            “What about Lister?” Madison said. “He’s very nice, but I never expected him to be a leader, let alone a champion!”

            “Madison, you keep talking to or about Lister.”

            Madison’s face developed a slightly reddish tinge.  “I just find him interesting, is all.”

            “Well, he seems to be our ticket to Sokkru.  He said he knew the Emperor well, didn’t he?”

            “Once, I think.  OK, that’s been settled.  Anything else?”

            Sakura thought for a moment.  “Actually, yes,” she said. “Madison, when we were ambushed by the orcs, you found one and hit it in the throat without even seeing it!  How did you do that?”

            This time everyone noticed the red in Madison’s face.  “Well,” she began. “You remember we’ve become our characters and received their knowledge.  I guess you could consider that a high roll on a listen check.  I heard it and sensed danger.  Then I used the bow and hit the orc.”

            “But how did you hit it so well?  I mean, right in the neck without seeing it?  That was amazing!”

            Madison’s face was now beet-red.  “Actually, I was aiming for its chest.  I actually missed.”

            “Dyah!” everyone but Madison said.

            “Well, that explains how Madison and the rest of us fought so well and how Madison nailed that orc in the neck,” Sakura said, getting up. “Is there anything else we need to go over?”  There was silence. “OK, then.  I guess we should all go to sleep now.  G’nite, Kero, Li.”

            “G’nite Sakura.  And you two as well, Madison and Meilin.  Good Night,” Li and Kero said, leaving.

            “Good night,” Madison and Meilin chorused.

            Kero and Li closed the door behind them, leaving Madison, Sakura, and Meilin in the room.  They turned around and looked at the trunks.  “So, uh, whose is whose?” Madison asked.  “I don’t know about you two, but this one’s mine,” Meilin said, gesturing at a small brown trunk.  “How do you know it’s yours?” Sakura asked.

            “Oh, that’s easy,” Meilin answered. “It’s smaller than the other two!” With that, she produced a small key from her pocket and used it to unlock the chest.

            Madison and Sakura looked at the other two chests.  This was going to be harder.  Both chests looked the same, and both Madison and Sakura were about the same class, gender, height, and race so there was no way to tell from clothes.  However, there was one other way.

            Sakura produced another key from her pocket and tried to put it into one of the trunks.  It wouldn’t turn.  “This one’s yours,” Sakura said to Madison, who had also pulled out a key.  Sakura tried the key in the other trunk.  This time the key worked and the trunk opened.  Sakura looked through what was inside.  Some shirts, pants, dresses, wands, scrolls, a pen and ink, parchment, a torch, flint and steel…

            Finally, Sakura found what appeared to be a nightgown.  Searching her character’s memory she found that it was.  She took it and went over to the curtained bathroom to change.  Madison and Meilin were still looking through their trunks.

            “Sakura, what do you think you’re going to do about the bath?” Sakura heard Madison say.

            “Hm?  What do you mean?

            “I mean the public bath Laramie said was downstairs.  Are you going to use it or not?”

            “Why do you ask?”

            “Well, I’m not even sure if I’m going to use it.  I mean, I do want to at least try to stay clean, but…”

            “Oh, I understand.  Privacy.  Well, I’m not sure either.  Why do they have public baths, anyway?”

            “It’s like Rome.  They didn’t have, as some might call it, the gift of shame.  People during that time did not use privacy much.  Heck, I even read somewhere that the Greeks used to send their warriors into battle naked!”

            Sakura shivered. “That’s a bit of information I could do without.  I suppose if I have too I’ll use the bath they have.”  Sakura walked out wearing the nightgown.  She put the clothes she was wearing back in her trunk.  Madison went behind the curtain to change as Sakura did this.

            “Well, I suppose if you’re going to do it, I might as well do it too,” Madison said. “What about you, Meilin?  Are you going to use it?”

            “Heck, no!” Meilin said. “I love my privacy!  I certainly wouldn’t go out in public naked!  I’d rather bathe in the toilet!”

            “Meilin, there’s no water in this toilet.  Just a chute that goes god knows where.”

            “Oh…”

            Madison came out in her nightgown and Meilin went in.  Madison and Sakura got into the beds they had chosen.

            “I miss home,” Sakura said after a moment.

            “Yeah, me too,” said Madison.

            “I don’t know about you two, but I miss my home and my body!” they heard Meilin’s voice say.

            Sakura closed her eyes.  A tear came down her cheek. “I hate it here!  I want to go home!” she said.

            Sakura felt a hand on her shoulder and opened her eyes.  It was Madison’s.  “It’s not that bad,” Madison said, smiling. “Yes, I want to go home too, but if I hadn’t come here I never would have been able to perform real magic!  It’s also kind of nice here, and…” Madison trailed off and started gazing into space.

            Meilin came up and waved her hand in front of Madison’s face. “Uh, Madison?  Hellooo?  Earth to Madison, come in,” she said, then smacking Madison’s face, “snap out of it!  What happened?”

            Madison did. “Huh?  Oh, er, sorry.  I was… thinking of something…”

            “Let’s all just go to sleep.  We’ve had a long day.  And I have a feeling the same thing’s going to happen tomorrow,” Sakura said.  And with that, she fell asleep, dreaming of home.

Chesrook: Done!  So what did you think of that one?

Lister: Well, we know a bit more about what everyone’s thinking.

Sakura: Yeah.  It was a bit talkative, though.

Chesrook: I know, I know.  Anything else?

Sakura: Yeah.  You were the one who originally thought of Remo and basing it on Rome, weren’t you?

Chesrook: Yep.  You got me.  Also the Isle of Tajikra that has been mentioned before is another original.  It’s Asian based.

Lister: Then why the name Tajikra?

Chesrook: It’s named after its capital, Tajik.  It’s a Japanese-based city.

Sakura: Oh, I see.  And were all those things Madison said true?  I mean…

Chesrook: Yes, they were true.  True for Japan as well, although not anymore.  Well, I guess that’s all today!  Seeya!