Harriot’s lore for May
Charlotte’s Return
Entry #125
It had felt like an eternity since the last time I had seen Charlotte. We hadn’t parted on the best of terms. I had become convinced she forgot all about me and Next Island. There was nothing stopping her from going back to her life on Calypso as if nothing ever happened. She had no real reason to come back, at least I had never given her a reason to come back. Over the years it became second nature to keep everyone at a safe distance. I had never needed anyone, so why did I care so much whether she was coming back or not.
Back at the cave Shiny was practising his sword skills, he glared at me when I interrupted him. I didn’t have time to explain, before I knew it I was throwing things around. Since Charlotte’s departure the cave had ‘acquired’ more things. There was a big pile of clothes and scrap metal lying around. I tried my best to make the place look semi decent. Shiny seemed to take the hint and started to help fold clothes and move the heavier objects. With Shiny’s help the cave was looking more like a home than a dragon’s lair.
Shiny had dragged over a couple of chairs I had spent my free time crafting. They weren’t anything special but it was better than sitting on the ground. I sat down to wait for her, Shiny took up a post closest to the cave entrance. Since Charlotte had gone he had stood there every time I came home, either to protect me or as if waiting for Charlotte to walk in.
A chilly wind suddenly swept through the cave and I found the nearest blanket to wrap up in. It must have been an imported blanket as it was far softer than anything you could find on Next Island. I must have fallen asleep as the next thing I remembered was one of the loudest ‘whirl, click’ that Shiny had ever done.
On instinct my sword was drawn quicker than I could wake up. A look of surprise seemed to settle on her face. I was still half asleep and her image at the cave entrance was something I hadn’t seen for a long time, it felt almost as if I were still dreaming.
“I see you haven’t changed much. At least Shiny knows who I am.” Her laugh seemed to echo through the cave as the realisation settled in. I tried to play it off like I had always done with her.
“I see you still like alerting the whole of Next Island of our location.”
She let out a soft laugh.
“Sorry I didn’t realise I was being so loud, I forgot how much this cave echoes. Looks like you’ve been busy since I’ve been gone.” She seemed to have grown more sarcastic from her time on Calypso. Her accent was slightly different than when I had seen her. Her outfit was also very different from the first time I had seen her. It was almost as if she had come prepared this time for Next Island’s harsh environments.
Charlotte’s Return
Entry #126
Charlotte was carrying the largest rucksack I had ever seen as if about to hike up the tallest mountain. In no time at all she placed it by the cave entrance and made herself at home.
“These are new. Did you make them?” Charlotte was looking at the chair as if it would break at any moment.
“It’s not going to break, if it can take Shiny’s weight you’ll be fine.” Shiny seemed to let out a sound of protest at my words.
“It’s rather cold here, I don’t remember it ever being this cold before. Pass me a blanket.”
The one I had been using had slipped to the floor before she arrived. I picked it up and handed it to you. She seemed to smile when she saw it.
“What rich merchant did you steal this from? Never mind, I don’t want to know.” Her smile seemed to fade as her eye’s fell to the ground. There was something different about her, something I couldn’t quite place. She was fumbling over something in her hands. On the Chair she placed a small shiny golden key. It was an odd looking thing; the handle of it had the Haruspex symbol clearly stamped.
“What’s this?”
“So, you know I went back to Calypso. Well I had in my time on Next Island forgotten what I had left behind and well, you see. The thing is…”
“Get to the point Charlotte.” She seemed to twist her fingers around a loose thread on the blanket I had given her.
“Well it turns out I had quite a bit of ped saved up. Enough to buy that.” She pointed at the key as if I should know what she meant.
“You bought a key?” My confusion at the small key was hard to hide.
“No, it’s not the key per-say but where the key leads to. Oh let me show you you’re going to love it.”
Charlotte led me to a place in Ancient Greece. She was fumbling with the key when we drew close to a few houses, rather large houses in Ancient Greece. She finally stopped in front of one. Outside it had a massive courtyard and an impressive building attached to it.
“This is the one.” Charlotte seemed proud for a moment until she noticed my expression. Before turning the key in the lock she gave me one long look.
“I told you I’d buy a house for us.” The door swung open as if it were inviting her home. She seemed nervous, I could see her take a long deep breath before entering the house. She sent a smile back my way.
“Well, what are you waiting for, this is as much your place as it is mine.” When she saw I wasn’t making an effort to move she pulled my arm into the house.
Charlotte’s Return
Entry #127
The place was warm, almost too warm. I found myself having to take off a few layers in fear of overheating in this house. Inside there were a few bits of Next Island furniture dotted around. They looked brand new and better quality than my little chair. Clothes seemed to be dumped on both the floor and the furniture. Charlotte seemed flustered for a moment. She began to scoop up the clothes and dump them in a pile.
“Sorry, I haven’t had time to move things in yet and we still need to pack up and bring the things from the cave here. I’ll give you a tour if you like, it’s smaller than my Calypso place so there’s not much to see, but it’s big enough for 2 people dont worry I made sure of that.”
The house itself was a slightly smaller space than the cave, though I had made myself at home in only a small part of the cave. It had been many years since the idea of living under a roof again had come to mind. As a child we usually spent our time in tents and temporary shelters. Only the adults really spent time in the buildings. It was to teach us children at a young age how harsh the Next Island landscape could be. Well at least that’s what they told us.
Charlotte seemed to stop for a moment by one of the sofas. She looked almost as if there was something weighing her down.
“There’s something I need to tell you,” under her breath she muttered the words ’before they arrive’. “You’d better sit down first.”
I found myself wandering cautiously over to the sofa, the more I thought about it the less I seemed to know about her. I knew for a fact she was from Calypso and was an archaeologist. But I never knew she was actually rich, from the way she had always acted around me she never gave off that vibe. It felt as if she was hiding a lot of things still.
“While I was on Calypso, I managed to talk to them about you. And about the fact that the ancestors of this planet trust you to protect it. And well, you see, they became curious. So in exchange for creating a pardon between you and the Stel, trust me that wasn’t easy to convince them. Well they wanted to meet you.” I found myself on my feet quicker than I could say no. “I had a feeling you wouldn’t want to, but it’s too late now. My old team mates are waiting outside.”
Charlotte’s Crew
Entry #128
Charlotte had ambushed me, I was proud and a little shocked at the same time. Charlotte had changed a lot since the last time I had met her. I had many expectations of her old team, tourists always had the same naïve demeanour and were always underdressed.
But the 2 others that walked through the door looked almost ready for an adventure, they were loaded with backpacks of which I could only imagine held rations and supplies needed. They wore thick clothes, one even had a scarf wrapped around his face as if he had just stepped out of the desert. Both were well built and much taller than me and Charlotte.
“This is Eliot and this is Carlos, I managed to meet up with them when I got back to Calypso. And this as you both must have realised, is Harriot.”
Elliot stretched out a hand towards me. When I didn’t shake it or respond he shrugged it off.
“Charlotte has told us so much about you, in fact it was hard to get her to shut up at times.” I gave them my most intense glare, I didn’t know them. Okay Charlotte trusted them but I didn’t even trust Charlotte at first. “She doesn’t talk much does she?” Charlotte seemed to glare at me while whispering into my ear. ‘Play nice’.
“So, are you both archaeologists too?” My words fell coldly into the air. They seemed to share a knowing glance before answering.
“Something like that.” Charlotte seemed to shy away a little at Elliots words. “So I hear you helped the spirits of Next Island find peace. Not an easy task as I can imagine.” Elliot seemed curious about my story and kept bombarding me with questions, I kept my answers short and to the point. No way was I going to let this person I barely knew have more to use against me in the future.
Suddenly the questions stopped and Elliot stood up from the sofa, he had something in his hand which he placed on the table.
“Do you know what this is?” I shook my head, it looked like an ancient gold medallion with empty slots as if waiting for gemstones.
“This was discovered on our last trip here, we found it just before Charlotte’s disappearance, we feared the worst that the ‘curse’ had taken her so we left without investigating. But rumour has it that a second piece of this necklace has been found. And being that you have the will of the ancients on your side we thought you could help protect us from any ‘curse’ the Island can throw at us. This relic is something that should be seen by all. I’m sure a resourceful person, like yourself, could help us”
A New Adventure
Entry #129
All 3 sets of eyes were looking at me expectantly as if I had the answer. Though it had piqued my curiosity, my hand edged towards the medallion. Something about it was fascinating as if somewhat familiar. Before I could feel it one of them snatched it away. Elliot seemed to have a smile on his face. Carlos up until now had remained silent but he stepped forward in that moment.
“If you help us I’m sure Elliot will let you see the necklace again. What we need you to do is find out information on the piece that has been found, it would be a shame if the ancient inhabitants saw this in pieces right?” Carlos’ demeanour was far different to Elliots; he was almost too sweet to be hanging around with the likes of him and me for that matter. They gave Charlotte a long hard look before leaving. She didn’t speak for a few hours, I had a feeling she was ashamed of what she was asking from me.
“You don’t have to help us if you don’t want to. I should have told them to not ask you anything. I didn’t expect they would be this persistent.”
I let out a sigh I had been holding onto for far too long. Logically, I was a smarter choice than any outsider to find information and I even wanted to know about this ‘necklace’. I had only seen it for a second but the image was seared into my brain. But to get information for an outsider that even Charlotte seemed ashamed about just felt wrong somehow. From the way they acted there was something different about them, something I couldn’t quite place.
“I’ll do it but just know I don’t trust them one bit.”
Charlotte and I spent the rest of the day moving things from the cave to our new Ancient Greece home. Most of the stuff I had was hoards of crystals and clothes I had acquired over the years, none of which Charlotte had ever questioned me about. Shiny looked almost as happy as anything to be returning to Ancient Greece. Shiny hardly ever expressed his emotions so it was hard to tell other than the fact he was dancing and packing up things quicker than me and Charlotte could manage. Once everything had been moved none of us felt like doing much of anything.