Chapter 58 part 1

Nick wasn't sure why he was stuck doing this. Mopping floors with a rag on his hands and knees. Yes, he wanted to help save the rest of his friend, those whom he had joined in the exploration of other worlds. Yes, he' agreed with Emily to wait for her to return. Yes, he'd put on the dress because Emily had tricked him into giving away his clothing and wouldn't let him know where she'd hidden his.

However, he didn't see a reason why he needed to be doing any actual work. This might be the uniform of… a basic servant, but that didn't mean he really was one. Though, there was also no way he was going to consider this being anywhere close to what a 'maid' would do. While he didn't understand a lot of things in this world, he did at least acknowledge that women seemed to be those in charge here and he wasn't going to let that fact demean him any. Especially with him accepting being the equivalent of a 'maid' here.

He had been essentially shanghaied into this when he'd let one of the servants into clean the suite of rooms that Emily and her… friend had been given. He didn't know the name of the servant, just that he almost looked like he could be mistaken for a girl back on Earth. He'd been very efficient when it came to cleaning and Nick couldn't think of any complaints to make about his abilities.

Then when that servants left, he'd grabbed a hold of Nick's hand and pulled him out. While the servant looked rather feminine, he was deceptively strong. He was able to grip Nick with a strength that he remembered using when it came to playing football when he was in high school. He might not have been very good at dodging blockers, but he was still a good running back. Or at least one good enough for being in high school.

He still wasn't sure about what was being said around him, but he was starting to pick up a few words here and there. Usually things that were being repeated at him. Although, he was still expected to do whatever tasks he was given, even if he didn't understand them. Not that he'd ever been good at foreign languages. As even the classes he'd taken in high school had been his worst subject then. Where he'd almost been constantly in danger of getting pulled from the team because of them.

Occasionally he'd see the duchess around, but she wasn't any help. The only thing that she'd really helped him out with since he'd gotten drafted into this, was when it came to him being able to return to Emily's suite. Which he was thankful for. More than he was ever going to admit to anyone.

A rag hitting the back of his head, making a wet sound and drenching the back of his head and back pulled him out of his thoughts. The impact was followed by something that he didn't understand followed by some laughter, nor did he feel like responding. This was rather common for him since getting forced into this daily labor, but he didn't feel like wasting his energy on that.

He was fine letting them think that he was just slow or lazy, but when he was pretty sure he was alone, he'd use his magic to quickly clean everything that he was given the impression he was supposed to clean. He didn't use his magic in front of the others simply because he wasn't sure what the reaction would be.

Besides, he spent a good amount of his spare time working on small projects to try and create something that would be reminiscent of something from Earth. Something that would improve the lives of people in this world. Something that he hoped would get him out of this purgatory. Something that could be used without needing to have magic.

He remembered having been put in chains for a time that had made it impossible to work his magic, but he was able to convince his captors that he really couldn't use any. He wasn't sure how, but eventually they'd taken the chains away and he'd kept his magic hidden to the best of his ability.

A towel being pressed on the back of his head startled him. It wasn't just placed there, but was being used to dry up the mess left by whatever had been used to hit his head. As he turned to look to see who was doing that, he saw Emily's friend, Eddra.

Nick didn't understand her. She clearly looked out of place here, and acted even more out of place in this building. However, she still stayed. Although, he suspected that since she was allowed to live as a guest, that it helped her avoid fates like he'd had to endure being chained up and kept in a kind of cell.

The only benefit he had was how they'd send him a girl every now and then. Most were older than he'd like, around their twenties, but that didn't stop him from enjoying their company. Though, he did wonder why his captors were doing that. When he'd been captured, he'd expected the worst. He hadn't expected it to be like that.

The only bad parts of it for him after he'd gotten the chains removed had been the fact that he couldn't leave that cell and when he'd seen who he thought was Lily being dragged by. If it wasn't for those two things, he'd have thought he'd died and either gone to heaven or been reincarnated or whatever it was that would have brought him to such a great place.

Eddra said something that Nick didn't understand, but her words sounded like they were meant to be comforting. Nick wasn't sure if she wanted to be that, but he was going to accept her words as that, from the tone she was using, if nothing else.

He wasn't sure what Eddra wanted, but he assumed there was something. She never appeared like this when he was 'working.' She tended to be nervous to even look out of the suite, so her being here was setting off alarm bells for Nick. He didn't think that he would like what her presence would indicate, but it was moments like these that he wished there was a way to understand her.

"You need come me," Eddra said in English. He was pretty sure that she meant that he needed to come with her, but he wasn't completely certain.

Nick wanted to say 'in a minute' but at the same time, he hadn't realized that Eddra knew any English at all. The fact that she'd said even that much in a language that he could understand impressed him enough that he was willing to take a shortcut on the task that he'd been given. Which was use his magic as he left, almost right after the others rather than waiting several minutes so he wouldn't risk them coming back for something they'd forgotten.

Besides, he had a feeling she wouldn't really understand him if he tried to let her know that he just wanted to finish something. So, he merely muttered his spell as he turned away and stood up, letting his magic do its thing while he followed Eddra back to Emily's suite.

When he got there, he felt surprised to see a young woman waiting outside the suite. She was maybe around sixteen or seventeen, wearing little more than a tunic twice as long as other tunics he'd seen here and clearly pregnant. She had blue-green hair and pink eyes, but Nick recognized her easily, even if she'd had been shaved bald. She was one of the girls that had been sent in to him when he was in that cell. Where he'd…

Nick felt his train of thought derail as he put together what he'd done with this girl as well as the fact that she was pregnant. He wasn't sure how long he'd been in this world, but he wouldn't be surprised to find that it was long enough for the girl to have gotten this pregnant since their… activities. Especially since he was very confident that she wasn't pregnant at the time.

One thing that also struck him hard was what Emily had insisted on before. Something that he'd pretty much laughed off and disregarded. The fact that he was going to need to learn the language of these people, no matter how hard it was for him. He wasn't sure if the extra long tunic was what pregnant women of this world wore when they were close to popping, but he was pretty sure that he should find a way to take responsibility if this child was truly his.

He wasn't sure of the finer details, such as if this girl had been sent in to be with other guys at the time, but he had a feeling it would likely be rather rude of him to even suggest something like that. That he first needed to figure out a way to communicate with these people somehow so he could figure out just how deep he was right then.

_

A week had gone by since she'd sent Yaelish to get the rest of her people. Jenn didn't know why she hadn't seen any sign of them yet, but it was starting to make her worry.

She wanted to head out herself to see what she could find, but at the same time, she tired to find reasons and excuses as to why it might take this long. After all, as far as she knew, they were planning on bringing their food supplies with them, and she hoped that's what all the delay was about.

"If you're that concerned about the others, why not do what Tchisa suggested and look into the rumor about that escaped slave?" Riewis asked, nearly making Jenn jump out of her skin, earning a laugh from Riewis.

"Sorry, I just can't help it," Jenn replied, not sure how much Tchisa has shared with Riewis. Especially since she recalled from when she had peeked I Tchisa's mind how Riewis was her longest friend. A person she had trusted more than any of the others she'd encountered in her life since she'd been taken by the Lost.

"If you don't want to go look into that rumor just yet, why not tell me a bit about your Blue Rose?" Riewis asked.

Jenn felt herself start to itch to look into the woman's mind. Why she felt such a strong urge to do that, she couldn't say. She'd never had this urge when she'd first learned that she could see other's thoughts. Especially since she wasn't sure if Riewis really didn't know or if she was merely testing Jenn to see what she might be able to get out of her.

"What do you want to know?" Jenn merely asked, hoping it would be simple enough that she wouldn't have to make too much up or even embellish that much. As she was certain that more she had to do that, the easier it would be for Riewis to figure out that she herself was the Blue Rose. If she didn't already know, that is.

"Well, for one, what's she look like?" Riewis asked casually, as if that was something that anyone would know.

Jenn didn't see the harm is giving some information about this. Especially if she didn't give anything that would direct to any specific person as being the Blue Rose.

"Well, she's young," Jenn said, trying to craft her response so it would be as honest as possible without giving away too much. "Sometimes I think she might feel like she's in over her head, but tries not to let other know."

"Huh," Riewis grunted quietly, and Jenn suspected she wasn't supposed to hear that.

"What?" she asked, wondering if she'd said something wrong.

"Oh, sorry," Riewis replied, sounding like she was trying to brush the sound she'd made away. "I didn't mean to make a sound like that."

"Don't worry about it," Jenn said, feeling uneasy about the whole situation. If she'd said something wrong, she'd like to know fast so she doesn't keep digging herself a deeper hole. "I'm sure you had a thought about what I said. So, what is it?"

"Well, it's just that, the others I've asked have all been closemouthed about your Blue Rose. Almost like they were told not to talk about her or like they might reveal who she is, but you're here talking about her like you know her personally."

Jenn was pretty sure some of that commentary was because Riewis was trying to get her to reveal something. Or at least Jenn hoped that was the case. She wasn't used to dealing with others as much on Earth, let alone in a culture as alien as this one was to her. Besides, through the tone Riewis used, she had suspicions of something. Either it was with what Jenn said or maybe Tchisa hadn't outed Jenn and Riewis was suspecting that Jenn herself was the Blue Rose.

In response, she merely shrugged. "She hasn't told us not to say anything about her," Jenn replied as if she couldn't care one way or another. "I haven't been on this world long, so I can't say how well I really know anyone on this world."

Jenn wanted to say more, but she had a feeling that they more she said after that, the more she'd give away. Almost like she'd backed herself into a corner.

"What'd you say to Tchisa to get her to join you? Or at least the Blue Rose, I mean."

Jenn blinked, a little stunned at the sudden change of topic. It took her a minute to pick up on the change. She felt like she had when she'd tried hitting a piñata at a party once. Not so much like she was about to fall but rather just flat out disoriented.

"Uh, I'm not really sure what I said that convinced her, but she did use her magic to look into my mind, so that might have played a part in it. She did learn a few other things that I probably wouldn't have told her about otherwise."

Riewis stared at Jenn for a moment when she finished speaking before laughing out loud, slapping Jenn on her shoulder.

"She does do that. Even when I tell her to leave me alone, she'll still look into my mind and find out what she wants to know. I just can't find a way to get her to stop doing that."

Jenn did her best to smile in response, even though she was confident that it was a rather weak smile.

"Yeah."

Jenn had no idea what to say at this point. She hardly knew Riewis and it wasn't like she'd come over to shoot the breeze. She'd come over to get information, but now that she seemed to have gotten what she wanted, Jenn wasn't sure how to handle the situation now. Although, if Riewis had just wanted to talk about whatever before, Jenn doubted that she'd have known what to say then. Especially with how she had a hard time being casual around those who knew she was the Blue Rose.

Although, she wasn't sure how much of it was the fact that she was their leader and how much of it was her own insecurities when it came to socializing in general.

"What're you doing here?" a voice asked, making Jenn jump. Her focus had been entirely on Riewis, so she hadn't noticed anyone else approaching.

In this case, it was Tchisa.

"I was looking for you, but when I saw her here by herself, I thought I'd ask a few things," Riewis answered with a laugh. "Though, if we do get a mercenary band started, I'm thinking of seeing if that twig would join me with these people."

"Let's take this a step at a time, okay?" Tchisa asked, sounding to Jenn like she was trying to tell her friend to stand down or something.

Jenn wished she could really hit herself. Like she could split her body so she could physically hit herself. Maybe then she wouldn't be thinking about taking a peek at Riewis' thoughts again. Especially as she found herself wanting to know more about this person that Riewis might like, despite her calling him a 'twig.'

"Why? If we have a mercenary band, then won't we be able to send people to multiple places at once?" Riewis asked, as if that's all that was to be said about the matter.

Jenn opened her mouth to say something, but stopped when she noticed someone approaching from the entrance to the village. Someone that she knew hadn't been there before. Though, she also couldn't understand why Saelea had been sent as a messenger or whatever. As from the fact that she was by herself told Jenn that she wasn't just at the head of everyone else.

Although, with how Saelea limped because of her twisted leg, she understood quite well why it took her so long to get there. Only, if it wasn't an important message, then Jenn could understand sending Saelea, since she'd need to eventually come here as well. The problem came when she looked at the only reason for the others to delay their departure because of something major happening. Which would be something important.

Jenn wasn't sure what to make of it, nor was she sure if this would actually be important or not, but it at least would be an answer to the question that had been bothering her about when everyone else might arrive.

"What is it?" Tchisa asked, her voice reminding Jenn that she wasn't the only one there.

Jenn didn't respond, but merely started walking towards Saelea. She thought it'd at least be considerate to not make Saelea to walk all the way to her. At least when she had to be tired from limping so far.

"What happened?" Jenn asked when they were about twenty feet apart.

"We need you to return… Jenn," Saelea said, hesitating as she looked past Jenn before using her name. Which let Jenn know that Saelea saw Riewis.

"Okay, but what happened?" she asked again, taking Saelea's arm and helping her sit on the ground. "Where's everyone else?"

"We have a problem back on the other side of the gate," she answered, her voice thick with fatigue as she sat down, making Jenn wonder just how tired she was. "We need you to return, Jenn."