[Victory, Lightly]

  We walked over to the bakery for lunch. I thought that the portal system would just confuse Laura after having only arrived here in Emain Ablach within the last half hour. But we soon arrived. The Tea shop was as popular as ever, but I did manage to grab us a table. While Laura got seated I went in to see if Paula could join us for a cup of tea.

  “Hi Paula do you have a minute to sit down, and meet a friend of mine, maybe have a cup of tea? I also have to ask you something.”

  “Sure Rose, I’ll be out in a few minutes.”

  I went back out and sat with Laura. Ruby came right over to wait on us.

  “Hi Rose, who’s this?”

  “This is Laura, Ruby, Laura’s from Earth she’s visiting, I want to introduce her to Paula. Laura, do you have a favorite kind of tea?”

  “I’m not really a tea drinker, do you have coffee?”

  “No Laura, I’m sorry we don’t. Rose, why don’t you start growing some coffee on one of your new estates. People do ask for it once in a while. Does it come from a bush or a tree?”

  “I have no idea Ruby, Laura do you know?”

  “I’m pretty sure it comes from a small tree, but I wouldn’t swear to it. You don’t have the internet here?”

  “No, our librarian Doug has it at home, but he usually already knows the answer to stuff and doesn’t have to use it, he said that sometimes people lie on the internet so it’s not always that reliable, something about checking your sources. My little sister and I do like the kitten videos though. Have you seen them?”

  “Yes they are quite popular.”

  Ruby went to get our tea and some cookies. She was back just as Paula came out and sat.

  “Paula, do you want a cup of tea?”

  “Yes please Ruby, Barley if you have it.”

  “Sure do, Paula.”

  I introduced Paula to Laura. Laura looked rather shocked.

  “You’re the spy Paula Becker, you work here in the teahouse?”

  “No, I work in the bakery, I’m an apprentice, but I guess when I own my own place I’ll be a journeyman.”

  “You're a baker? I read the piece about you in the times. It didn’t mention baking, just the spy agency you worked for, along with your theater company.”

  “I didn’t become a baker until I moved here but I loved baking my whole life. The best memories I have of Earth are baking with my grandmother and mother. I never should have gone to college, never gotten recruited to the agency. But if I hadn’t I wouldn't be her now, doing something I love doing, dating a wonderful woman.”

  “And you are fictional?”

  “Yes, it really freaked me out at first. My girlfriend helped me to deal with it. I was having a real existential crisis at first. First I wasted all that time working for a spy agency to defend freedom, only for them to turn around and try to install a horrible man as a dictator. Fictional or not I can’t believe that they didn’t impeach that guy. It’s like a cult and he has all his followers mesmerized. But Eldara showed me that none of that mattered. She’s real, born here in Emain Ablach but to prove that fictional or non-fictional are just labels she convinced Rose to put her in a few stories. So my non-fictional girl became fictional for me.”

  “Do you have a copy of the novel that you star in?”

  “No, sorry I don’t, but I do know that it has stuff in there that I never told anyone. Only someone who had me under total surveillance twenty four seven from the time I was six would know those details. When I asked my author, she told me she just made them up and a couple of the things were things that happened to her when she was a little girl. Rose you have copies don’t you or Doug could give her signed first editions. You should meet Lottie, she’s from the same book as me, she was supposed to have her own novel, a medical thriller, but the publisher canceled it because of Covid. So Talbert used her as a background character in my story.”

  “Is she here too?”

  “Yes, she runs the medical clinic, Rose can take you right Rose?”

  “Sure if you’d like to meet her, we can go after you finish your tea, and I’ll be happy to get you a copy of the novel, we just have to stop at the tower.”

  “The tower?”

  “That’s my home, I’ll show you, it’s really nice.”

  “Sorry but I have to get back to work, it was nice to meet you Laura and don’t worry about being fictional, you are still a real person, fictional or non-fictional. You have agency, if you have the opportunity to get off of Earth, take it even if Rose wants you to star in some scary Alien story.”

  “Never, that was the scariest movie I ever saw, I told Doug. If he showed another movie like that when I was around, I would throw him out the window. What I really don’t understand is if she threw it out into space to kill it, how did they make more movies?”

  “Horror monsters are always unkillable, at the end of the story the hero / heroine only really manages to stop the creature temporarily. Next October we have to watch the movie Halloween, if you think Alien was scary, you’ll really be terrified of this one.”

  Then we started to walk down to the clinic.

  “I don’t like horror stories, but Sparky is going to make me write one, he thinks it’ll help me get over the trauma of my friend almost dying. But I’m going to flip it around and make the monster the good guy, and the hero the bad guy.”

  “So does everybody love stories here, is this some kind of story generating world?”

  “Yes I suppose all people love a good story, but no this isn’t a story generating world, Earth produces far more stories then we do. But I do think that this world enjoys a good story more than any world I know of, especially of the written variety. You just can’t get to know a character in a movie, like you could in a novel. Someday I’d like to listen to a radio play, I think that must be like having someone read to you. You still need to use your imagination to picture the world in your head. Do you suppose watching movies over reading a book erodes a person's imagination.”

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  “Hitchhickers Guide to the Galaxy” was originally a radio play, written by Douglas Adams, Admas later turned it into a novel. I still remember the radio play line for line so when you erased my memory of the book it didn’t erase my memory of the show.”

  “I’m sorry I didn’t know about the radio show. I know about the novel series and the movie.”

  “There was even a television series, the Brit’s really wrung that story dry.”

  Then we arrived at the clinic, Bhizzie was seated behind her desk waiting on a patient. We got into line behind them.

  “Hi Bhizzie, we’re here to see Lottie, if she can spare a minute.”

  “Sure Rose she’s in with a patient right now, why don’t you go to her office and have a seat and I’ll let her know you are here.”

  It wasn’t long before Lottie popped her head in.

  “Rose, it really is not a good day, lots of minor accidents. Is it important?”

  “I just want to introduce Laura, she just arrived from Earth and wanted your perspective, but if you have patients we’ll go, would you like me to send Opal down? She loves coming here and Sparky wants her to get as much experience as possible.”

  “Opal would be a great help, why don’t you leave Laura here with me and we can chat, would you mind getting Opal.”

  “Not at all, we’ll be right back.”

  I pulled out my portal wallet and portaled to the tower. I hurried down to the lair and knocked.

  “Come in, Rose.”

  “Hi Draco, Opal honey, Lottie is kind of swamped. Would you mind going down and doing some healing.”

  She smiled and said, “Sure, Rose, it’s okay right Draco?”

  “Yes you two run along, it’s a perfect afternoon for a nap.”

  We both portaled to the clinic, then proceeded directly to Lottie's office.

  “So she often just pops and disappears like that..” I heard Laura say.

  “We’re back, Laura, this is Opal, Opal this is a friend from Earth named Laura. She owns a bookstore.”

  “Like Flourish and Blotts with magical books?” she asked excitedly.

  “No sweetie, regular books.”

  “Do you like to read Opal?”

  “Oh yes I love to read.”

  “It’s so nice to see a young person who reads, what is your favorite book?”

  “The Fellowship of the Ring.”

  “Interesting choice, can you say why you like that better than the other two, or is it just a feeling?”

  “No, I like Gandalf the Grey. I was really happy that the professor bought him back, but I’d have preferred that he came back as himself. Saruman was already white and he was a traitor and Gandalf was more human when he was Gray. But I liked Sam better in the Return of the King.”

  “How many times have you read it?

  “All the way through twice, my favorite parts many times.”

  “Well Opal I hate to interrupt but could you come help me with some patients.”

  “Sure Dr Li.”

  “Lottie is it alright if Laura and I observe, Sparky wants to know Opal’s capabilities, I was supposed to come down today to make arrangements to have her tested. Plus if she runs out of magic, I can help her refill.”

  “I’ll ask each of the patients and if it’s alright with them it’s fine with me. Opal this first patient, I thought it was a common cold but when I gave them the combined bread it didn’t work so it may be something more serious like the flu. So just give your healing a try okay?”

  “Yes Dr Li.”

  They went into the exam room and closed the door but Lottie opened the door a few seconds later, gesturing for us to come in. I watched as Opal’s magic flowed from her forehead right into the woman's chest, she kept this up for about ten minutes and I could see tiny beads of sweat forming on her forward, just above where the magic was flowing from. Lottie used her stethoscope to listen to the woman's chest, she smiled at Opal and gave her a thumbs up. But Opal continued to pour magic into the woman's chest.

  All of a sudden the woman started coughing hard, she covered her mouth with her hand and I could see her coughing up blood but suddenly Opal stopped healing her. I wanted to ask if she needed more magic, I’d gather it for her. But the woman took a hunk of flesh about the size of a small cherry tomato and about the same color out of her mouth. Lottie had her put it in a metal tray.

  “How do you feel?”

  “Honestly I feel better than I have in months, maybe better than I have in years, thank you Opal, I really appreciate you healing me like that.”

  Opal smiled brightly but looked a little unsteady on her feet. I went over and grabbed her hand and led her from the room.

  “Opal, how much magic do you have left?”

  “Ten percent Rose.”

  “Didn’t Draco tell you to stop at thirty five percent, honey?”

  “Yes but you are here and can help me refill, and I was so close to healing her, I just didn’t want to stop.”

  “I’ll gather some magic, you try and refill alright?”

  It took me longer than I liked to gather the magic but soon Opal proclaimed that she was at ninety seven percent and couldn’t absorb any more.