Erica sat against the head of her bed, legs outstretched and engrossed in a leatherbound book. Her village guard uniform and armour sat neatly folded and stacked on the vanity by the door of her small but cozy room. Cobbled stone walls denoted the building's age, with hardwood flooring and simple yet effective wooden furniture filling the space. A maiga powered lamp hung from the ceiling, illuminating the room and Erica's book in a soft yellow glow. As it flickered, she remembered that she needed to change the lamp's charge soon.
"Erica," the warm voice of her mother filtered through the closed door, "can you come out and help me with the laundry? You've been cooped up in there all day."
"Coming!" Erica put her steel bookmark in place and closed her book, hopping to her bare feet off the bed and checking her hair in the reflection of the vanity's mirror. A fair face with soft features stares back at her with deep blue eyes, framed with wavy brown locks that fell past her shoulder blades. Satisfied after fussing with her hair briefly, Erica pulls on some socks and the combat boots that were part of her guard's uniform before opening the door and clomping her way to the back yard.
The afternoon summer air greeted her face as she opened the back door and stepped out into the fenced-in green yard. On two sides of the fence, the left and in front, fields of golden wheat spread out, her family's farm. On the right was the dirt road, and her neighbors' homes and fields beyond that. Her mother, in a plain white ankle-length skirt and blouse and wearing her auburn hair in a ponytail, was hunched over a washbasin with two piles of clothes next to her, one dry and the other wet.
"Help me and hang those up, would you?" Erica's mother asked as she scrubbed dirty clothes against a washboard in the basin. As Erica began sorting through the wet pile of clothes and started hanging them on one of several lines strung across the yard, her mother looked up at her, "You're wearing another blue shirt? With your pajamas and combat boots?"
"I like the blue shirts!" Erica joke-protested, "And the pajamas and boots are comfortable. It's my day off, so why not be cozy?"
"You could at least be presentable for the day," Her mother sighed, "I know you're pretty, but men won't take you seriously if they see you in that get-up."
"Like I care what the men of Copperwood think of me," Erica scoffed, "I've gotten to know them all between growing up here and becoming a village guard. None of them are husband material, not for me."
"What if someone new moves in who tickles your fancy? You'll be sorry if he decides you're not worth his time because he sees you like this."
"Mom, I'm not going to live my life worrying about 'what if' the mythical perfect man doesn't find me suitable to marry. I know I'm a bit late with that -"
"Twenty-seven, and ticking..."
Erica huffed, "- but, no one here is right for me. I've gone to the annual village dance with most of the men my age, and even with a few outside of that, and countless dates beyond, and nothing good came of it. Now I'm the hard-ass guard who has it out for everyone, but that isn't true! I love this village, and everyone in it! Just... not like that."
"Then maybe it's time you looked beyond Copperwood. You've been here pretty much your whole life, and while it's nice to know home, it'd be good to expand your horizons, visit other places, maybe settle down somewhere else with a less dangerous job?"
"Wait, you think being a Copperwood guard is dangerous?"
Erica's mother shrugged, "You carry around that sword and gun everywhere on the job, that's inviting danger, isn't it? I know you have armour too, but that won't save you from the worst things you can come up against here..."
"Mom, in all the time I've served as a village guard, the worst thing I've seen have been wild guhr attacks and some particularly brazen highwaymen thinking they could rob the place. We haven't even had a sawt problem for the last ten years!"
"And last time we had one, it took fourteen lives before it was dealt with. Just one sawt, mind you. It could have been a lot worse. I'm sure you don't need reminding, but everyone lost someone they at least knew then. It's also why the guard was so eager for new recruits, and I'm sure why you were able to get in."
"What, you're saying I wasn't good enough for them?"
"If I were the guard captain, you wouldn't have been my first pick. But the sixth, seventh? They were down a lot of manpower, and there weren't a lot of volunteers like you."
Erica pouted, "What's wrong with wanting to serve the village? It's only been my dream job since I was little..."
"While it's nice to have what you wanted, it doesn't hurt to dream bigger."
"Like replacing that old fart Gerard as guard captain?"
"No, like learning a trade, or going to one of the cities to do administrative work. I've heard that Walter's been looking for an apprentice."
"You and I both know that he wants someone younger to teach. Besides, I hate how hot that stuffy little smithy gets, I couldn't stand working in there."
"Finding a job abroad wouldn't hurt." Erica's mother tossed another shirt onto the slowly diminishing pile of wet clothing, "You won't find any better prospects here, both for a career or a partner."
"That again? I already have a good job here, there's just no one right for me in Copperwood. I'm not you or dad, who found each other within the village and were all sappy 'love at first sight' or whatever. I'm me, who's been around the block with this village, and nothing stuck."
"Your father and I were not 'love at first sight', as you put it, but we're not talking about me and him, we're talking about you. You're not getting any younger, and people want to settle down a little past your age. I just worry about you," Erica's mother said softly, "You're my daughter, I want you to be happy."
A small but heartfelt smile crept across Erica's face. "I know, mom. Let me worry about me and my future, while you finish the laundry so I can hang it up then go for a walk."
"If you're heading out, can you get some fresh bread and a wheel of cheese from the market? Dinner will be roast chicken with baked potato and string beans. The bread and cheese should compliment that well enough, no?"
"Sounds good! Could I get some stellars to pay for them?"
"I know you're trying to save, but it would be nice if you covered it this time, since your father and I had to get everything else."
Erica wanted to protest, but couldn't think of a good reason to not pay for the food herself. Her mother finished with the last of the laundry and dumped the washbasin in the ditch by the road before heading into the house.
"Is dad still working?" Erica shouted over her shoulder as she hung up the last of the laundry.
"He should be," Her mother's voice echoed from inside, "along with your brother. They should be back from the field in an hour, hour and a half or so."
"Got it." Erica said as she walked inside to get properly dressed to go into the village. After donning some trousers instead of her pajamas, she grabbed her pouch of stellars and a woven basket, then wound her way through the hallway, through the kitchen, past the common area and out the front door into the rest of Copperwood.
As she left the family home behind her, Erica felt some measure of relief that the well-meaning but grating questions from her mother had ceased. She relished in the freedom of being outside and able to go wherever she chose, savouring the fresh air and the sun on her skin. As she reveled in these small pleasures, she took note of the buildings and people she passed. Copperwood was mostly farmsteads out this way, with the village's functional center being north-west of where she was now.
That's where she would find the market as well, and she figured that while she was there she'd see if they had anything of note beyond bread and cheese. Perhaps a new book for her sizeable collection? Though it was rare to get titles that weren't the most popular publications in Bladefell, the continent-spanning country she lived in. There wasn't a big enough population here for the local merchants to want to risk having stock that won't move cluttering their stalls. Sometimes Sadie would try and get something more unique in for Erica, as her the merchant were on good terms after she stopped some of the more delinquent youths of the village from stealing several books from the stall. Sadie dealt in other things as well, namely curios and a handful of paintings Erica never saw change, but it was the books that interested them both the most.
As she got closer to the market square, Erica passed Walter's smithy. The old blacksmith was still strong, but his frame had diminished a little with age. Erica waved at him with a cheery smile, but all she got was an absent-minded raising of a hand in return. She supposed having to issue him with a warning about noise when he started hammering too early in the morning last week may have put a damper on things between them. Determined not to let this affect her mood, she continued her stroll to the market.
As she reached the square, Erica was greeted by the sight of eight stalls of varied goods arrayed on the north and south sides of the square, and the scents of smoked meats wafting from the stall closest to her. She got some polite greetings from villagers going about their shopping, all of whom she recognized. The ones she remembered for misdemeanors avoided her gaze and kept to themselves. Erica didn't like being treated like a guard when she was off duty, but figured it was difficult for people to separate Blaine the guard from Erica the villager.
She moved past the stall of smoked meats, making a note that she needed to get the cheese wheel from there, but after she checked in on Sadie's wares. Erica found the older blonde woman standing next to her stall of books and curios, looking bored at the passing crowd. When her eyes settled on Erica, they lit up as she stood a little straighter.
"Well, if it isn't my favourite customer!" Sadie exclaimed in a nasally voice as Erica approached, "How are things? Day off, by the looks of it?"
"Yup!" Erica said cheerily, "Running an errand, and figured I'd stop by to see if you have anything new and exciting for me."
"Well, I have something of interest, but it isn't a book. But! Before you get too disappointed, take a look at this..." Sadie pulled a necklace from its display stand on the stall, dangling it from her raised hand. It was a simple silver chain with a faintly glowing light blue crystal at the end, attached by a cap of silver at the crystal's base. The crystal was largely a single three-inch length with a nest of offshoots sprouting from the cap. As Erica took a closer look, she thought she could see tiny lines within the crystal, pathways with flickers of light moving through.
"It's very pretty, why is it glowing?"
"You don't know what this is?" Sadie asks, flabbergasted.
Erica looked between the merchant and the necklace. "No...?"
"This is a matrix maigum, from the Altean Army! You simply can't get these from them!"
"No way! That can't be right. There's no way they'd let that out of their sights! It's gotta be fake."
"There's a story that came with it! Supposedly, General Joshua lost this in a game of sevens in Trent! Then the winner used it to pay off some gambling debts of their own, and after several deals, I have it here."
"That makes too much sense if what they say about the general is true," Erica mused, "Won't the Alteans be looking for that? They're very protective of their tech, that matrix may as well be something completely different from the matrices you can find elsewhere."
Sadie scoffed, "If they were gonna find it, it would have been shortly after the general lost it in the first place. So, do you want this ultra-rare collector's item?"
Erica regarded the crystal again, looking for the internal pathways that crisscrossed its entirety. If the yarn Sadie spun was true, this was an entirely unique piece of jewelry, if not particularly flashy. While the idea of the Altean Army coming knocking for it still put her ill at ease, the thought of having something this unique was enticing.
"How much for it?" Erica heard herself asking before she could stop herself.
Erica closed her eyes, raised her eyebrows, then blinked twice. "Seventy-five thousand? That's half my annual salary!"
"Hey, I'm giving you a discount. You don't want to know what I paid to get this."
"Too much, if that's the discounted price!" Erica shook her head. "While it would be nice to have, it isn't seventy-five thousand stellar nice. Maybe if Demmar dropped a dragon's hoard in my lap tonight, I could pick it up tomorrow?"
"Wouldn't that be nice," Sadie chuckled, putting the necklace back on its display, "but my patron goddess doesn't just hand riches to people randomly, let alone that much. So, anything else I can help you find?"
"Any new novels roll in lately? I'm nearly done with the first volume of the Serras saga."
"While I don't have the second volume, I have this one, 'Bartleby's Revenge'?"
Erica shook her head, "I bought a copy from you a couple of months ago, remember? We talked about how silly it was that Bartleby went to such extremes to get vengeance over a stolen pie."
"Ah, yes, you're right. Let me have a look, then..." Sadie muttered as she began flipping through a crate of books she kept under the stall. Erica looked back at the necklace, unable to shake the feeling that she should keep it close. Something about it kept drawing her in, and she didn't like that she didn't know what it was. She wasn't big on jewelry most of the time, so why-
"Hey!" Sadie was waving her arm in front of Erica's face, snapping her back to the present. "Welcome back to planet Tarsis. That matrix got its claws in you, huh?"
"It's just... I've got a feeling about it. Can't tell if it's good or bad, and that worries me."
"Hmm... well, I didn't see anything that jumped out to me as new in my stock for books. Look," Sadie switched to a low whisper, leaning in conspiratorially, "I'll be honest, you're not just my favourite customer, you're my best customer. You've spent I don't know how much with me, and I know you'll keep buying from me. I can knock another five thousand stellars off the price of the matrix before it becomes not worth my time to have bought it in the first place. I can even set up a payment plan for you, I never do that! Here, how much do you have on you right now?"
"Woah, hold on! I appreciate you going to these lengths, but seventy thousand stellars is still a lot! I need to think on it," Erica said, trying to wrest some control over herself, but her gaze was still firmly on the matrix. It wouldn't leave her alone, not until it was hers. She tried to look back at Sadie, but the faint blue glow of the crystal still held her attention.
A knowing grin crept over Sadie's face, "I think you already know that you want it, you just have to come to terms with the cost. I've seen you like this before, you know. The book-that-shall-not-be-named you picked up a while back had you staring at it for a long time before you ended up buying it anyway."
Erica turned a few shades redder, "Shh! That was different! You know I don't want this for the same reasons as that-"
"But you want it nonetheless."
Erica's face contorted in the pain of knowing that Sadie was ultimately right, "I do. Fine. I can pay you thirty thousand now, and do the other forty thousand over the next four months as I get paid. But this stays between us! My family would have my hide if they knew I bought this without really sitting down and thinking about it."
"Sold! Wouldn't dream of telling anyone! If anyone asks, I'll just say it went to a very lucky, not to mention pretty, lady," Sadie winked at Erica as she sifted through her pouch to find what she owed the shopkeep.
"I can't believe I'm doing this..." Erica muttered as she counted out coins of five hundred stellars, handing an eye-watering sixty of the coins to Sadie. As Sadie put the coins in her own pouch, Erica gave hers a shake. It was depressingly light, with a much diminished jingle coming from it than she remembered it making when she picked it up earlier.
"Here you go, one one-of-a-kind bit of Altean memorabilia!" Sadie handed over the matrix maigum.
Erica held it gently, holding the chain up in her right hand and cradling the crystal in her left. This felt... right. She didn't know why, and that still bothered her, but having the matrix in her hand was soothing some of the unease and anxiety she was having before. Pushing the thought of having the Army show up to reclaim it to the back of her mind, she pocketed the necklace.
"Thanks, Sadie. I'm not sure I'm going to be able to get much else from you for a while..."
"Bah, this is fine. If I didn't like having to wait for my money, I wouldn't have offered to let you pay over time. Just don't be a stranger, okay?"
"Sounds good. I'll see you later!" Erica smiled at the merchant as she stepped away, mind racing. What had she done?! Promised away most of the money she'd be getting for the next four months, on top of a solid chunk of her savings, that's what! All for this glowing blue crystal that she couldn't feasibly do anything with besides wear. A shaper, a talent at bending maiga, the binding of the world, and producing all manner of wondrous effects, could do some creative things with this, she was sure. But her? A woman with a fraction of the ability of her mother, who herself was merely a charger who could semi-efficiently fill charges with maiga? She had no hope of getting any kind of reaction from the matrix.
So why did it vex her so? Why did it nearly demand to be obtained by her? Erica mulled over this as she went to the baker's stall and bought a loaf of crusty white bread before going to the smoked meat stall and picking up a smaller wheel of cheese than she had originally planned on, suddenly aware of how much they cost. Having what she came for, and a very expensive piece she didn't, she set off for home.
As she approached her family's home, Erica physically shook the disparate thoughts surrounding the matrix maigum out of her head before opening the door.
"I'm home," She said, looking into the kitchen. Two men in overalls and thin shirts sat at the table while her mother was busy behind them. One was slightly younger than Erica, with short black hair and a five o'clock shadow. He was talking with the other man, who was her mother's age. He had hair that had started to grey, a bit longer and slightly messier than the other man's, along with a pronounced beard. Both had similarly blue eyes to Erica's, with skin that had seen more sun than hers.
"Our champion of Baatmoor returns!" The older man, noticing Erica, boomed in a deep voice.
Erica suppressed a laugh but couldn't contain a smile, "Hardly. I'm a village guard, dad, not some champion of the god of justice."
"Eh, close enough," her father said jovially, "I see you've brought the last of dinner with you?"
"Yup!" Erica said, acutely aware of the other purchase she made that he didn't see. She set the basket's contents onto the table, noticing the other man's dour expression before asking him, "What?"
The man sighed in a way that was almost exaggerated, "We were talking about how the crops were doing until you showed up."
"Sorry I live here," Erica said completely unapologetically, "Does this mean you don't want any of the bread and cheese, then?"
"Hey, that's not what I-"
He was interrupted by a bark of laughter from her father, "That's what you get for being a grouch, Rico! No need to be so sour, let alone with your sister. She was kind enough to go out and get us some fine bread and... can I even call this cheese a wheel? It's so small!"
"I'm still trying to save, so I admit I skimped a bit on that," Erica said sheepishly, hoping that lie would keep them off the fact she overspent at Sadie's. There was no way for them to know, of course, but that didn't stop her guilty mind from fixating on it.
"Cheapskate," Rico muttered.
"Maybe call it a plate of cheese, with how thin it is," her father was flipping over the cheese in his weathered hands, looking at the proportions, "That's an exaggeration I suppose. Cheese is cheese, just might have to cut a couple of slices for every slice of bread, then."
"I'll get a bigger one next time," Erica assured them. As she sat down, her mother began bringing dinner to the table; the roast chicken, followed by a plate of baked potatoes and a pot of string beans, as she told Erica earlier. While sitting, Erica felt a jab in her thigh where the protrusions of the matrix maigum were digging in.
"Time to give thanks for the meal," her mother said as she sat down. Everyone put their hands together in their laps, bowed their heads and closed their eyes. "To the gods, we give thanks for the meal we are about to partake in this evening. In particular, we thank Calatumn for the bountiful vegetables and grains, and Vylkar for providing the egg that became the chicken we have before us. May you watch over us in perpetuity, the seventeen bless."
"The seventeen bless," everyone else concluded the prayer. The clattering of cutlery filled the air as everyone began taking food and placing it on their plates. Erica's father began carving the chicken, starting with the legs, one each for himself and Erica's mother. The wings and a bit of breast went to Erica, while a much larger portion of breast went to Rico.
"So, Erica," her mother asked as she was spooning beans onto her plate, "Have you given any thought to getting a job abroad?"
"Really, mom?" Erica said, slightly exasperated, "A walk to the market and back isn't a lot of time to think about that sort of thing."
"Are you going to be a guard for our rinky-dink village your whole life?" Her father added, "You're still young enough you could do something elsewhere, and probably more exciting too!"
"Not you too..."
"You're not helping on the farm," Rico said, attempting to hide the pointedness of the statement behind a nonchalant tone, "so it's not like there's anything really tying you down here."
"I don't help on the farm, because last time I did, everything I planted died. That wasn't a great year for us. Needless to say, guard work is a better fit for me." Erica speared a baked potato with her fork and deposited it onto her plate.
"Just because you can't plant for crap doesn't mean you can't help in other ways," Rico mumbles, but he chose to begin eating rather than continue that line of thought.
"Be nicer to your sister," their father said, "she's saved your and our butts a few times, and helped the village plenty over the years. Just because she won't be helping with the farm doesn't mean she isn't contributing in other ways. There was a time before you two that I was tending the fields on my own, you know? I'm sure you can manage when I retire."
"It's too early to talk about retirement, dear," their mother said in between bites, "Besides, both of them need to find partners before too much longer."
Rico perked up, "Oh, that reminds me - Astrid and I are dating now, forgot to tell you."
"Attaboy!" Their father raucously banged the table and clapped Rico's back, "The baker's daughter, eh? What took the two of you so long? You've been chatty with each other for a while, now that I think on it."
"Congrats!" Erica beamed, pushing down a pang of loneliness. She should be happy for her brother, though the thought of him potentially having a stable partner before she did did bother her, if only a little.
"When's the wedding?" Their mother asked jokingly.
"Mom. We just started dating." Rico said as he shoveled a forkful of beans into his mouth.
Dinner continued with questions about Astrid and generally pulling teeth to get answers of any depth out of Rico, which Erica engaged with. After dinner was finished, dishes were washed and put away, some light conversation persisted in the common room, then everyone retired to their rooms for the night.
As per usual, Erica stayed up a bit to read, though this time was sidetracked by staring at the matrix maigum she had purchased earlier, dangling it by its chain while lying down and staring at the faint lights within following internal pathways she otherwise couldn't see. What was it about this thing that allured her so? She wasn't generally prone to wanting shiny things just because they were shiny, or rare, especially not if they were expensive. But she hadn't merely wanted this, she needed it, as though she was parched in a desert and the matrix was the oasis she stumbled upon after days of searching. Why? She had no affinity for using it, no greater ties to the Altean Army that made her a fan of theirs or something. It was by all accounts a useless bauble, a string of jewelry with an admittedly very unique crystal at the end of it, at least to her. But here it was, in her hands, after demanding to be gained. She wondered if this was how Sadie came across it, some other vendor having fallen prey to this call trying to make back what they spent to get it. If that was true, that simply made Erica the first schmuck to be shown it who didn't intend to turn around and sell it again.
Her thoughts turned to the matrix's supposed former owner. General Joshua, of the Altean Army. While she didn't make it her business to know everything about the Alteans, she knew him by name just because of his boisterous reputation. Gambler, heavy drinker, womanizer. The last point made her grimace at the necklace. But, he was also known to be extraordinarily lucky, and did go out of his way to help people. Though, that was kind of the Army's schtick, helping people. And his luck wasn't bottomless, if the story about how he lost this matrix maigum was true. So, famous, combat-savvy loser?
Probably, Erica thought to herself as she set the necklace down on the lip of her bookshelf next to her bed. She turned off her flickering lamp and laid down, closing her eyes and preparing for a day of work ahead of her.
