"Every drop of the ocean is a memory. When the droplets all connect together, it replays something from the past, bringing it to the present. In this way, you can always find me." Edmonson's mother tucked her son into bed. She kissed his forehead goodnight and then blew out a candle.
Edmonson snapped out of it. His cache of memories began playing once he realized he was back in his hometown.
Aflana looked at herself and noticed her coat and boots got swept up in the waves. Her hand jolted toward her pocket; she felt the pendant was there then sighed with relief. She locked eyes with Edmonson. They were both quiet for a moment. She didn't want him to know what she carried. He didn't want her to know he already knew.
"Hey, ever hear the joke about sand?" Edmonson wasn't sure what else to do to redirect the tension, so he started scrapping the barrel of his weakest jokes.
"No, not interested," Aflana said as she sat up. Her back aching, she stretched and made pained expressions.
Edmonson grinned. "What do you call a beach where the sand keeps vanishing?"
Aflana shuddered. "Please stop."
Edmonson laughed. "A shore loser!"
"No, I don't want to hear this!" Aflana covered her ears.
Edmonson laughed harder. "So what do you call a seagull who collects seashells?"
Aflana winced. "I'm not in the mood for this. So please, if you wouldn't mind, shut up."
Edmonson laughed again. In his mind, this was a successful ploy. The pair could hear people nearby. They turned their attention to the inland trees and flora.
The girl with the pendant had returned to the beach. She brought with her a tall man with a long white beard. He wore an ornate robe in shades of white, pink, and purple. It had tiny, intricate gold patterns. The two people made their way to Edmonson and Aflana. Seagulls cawed. The ocean waves gently knocked into the sand. Cicadas chirped incessantly.
Edmonson signaled to the girl: he drew an invisible line across his neck and shook his head. Aflana didn't see this. Edmonson knew these people, and they knew him.
The older man walked with a tall mahogany staff. The girl guided him with his other hand. They stopped before Edmonson and Aflana. The old man spoke: "What do we have here?"
Aflana trembled. She blurted out: "We're shipwrecked… a Tentacle King attacked the ship… I don't know if there are any other survivors… where are we… we were southwest of Prü… who are you… we're not going to hurt you… do you have water… how did we get flung—"
The elder waved his hand to stop her. "Slow down, m'am. We don't receive people here often. We're not aggressive. Are you aware that you have an injury on your clavicle? We should get that looked at and then we can talk. Actually, come to think of it, you both need an evaluation. Can you two walk?"
Edmonson and Aflana stood up. They both wobbled a bit. The elder spoke to the girl, "Madeline, go get help. I don't want them walking. They're dehydrated and weak." Madeline ran through the sand—plop squelch, plop squelch.
"My name is Raul. I'm the village elder. Just a short jaunt up the beach (he points with his staff) is Clockhaven."
Raul looked at Edmonson as if to say, "How did you get back here?"
Aflana half smiled then fell to her knees. She coughed up more water then fell head first into the sand.
A fan on the ceiling swirled. There was a pipe pumping out cold air pointed at the fan to keep it moving. Aflana was on a thin mattress. A washcloth was on her forehead. The hut was made with brown bamboo. Everything in the room was tidy.
There was a complicated wooden device that acted as a water filter. A pitcher of clean water sat on a table next to the bed. And there was a silver bell on a plate.
Aflana put a hand to her chest. Someone had fastened a soft bandage to her clavicle. The pendant was missing from her pocket. She scanned the room for it and couldn't find it. She rung the bell.
In came a woman with greasy hair in a ponytail. She wore a long sleeved white dress and a white hat with a star on it. "Oh, hello dear. You've finally woken up. Edmonson told me all about how you fought a tentacle monster. His story sounded so scary. Not sure if the sea beast left a laceration on your clavicle or if you got hurt in the wreckage. You should be okay, maybe a little anxious, understandably. Drink all the water possible, and you should make a full recovery in no time. Oh, and you can call me Sally. Nurse Sally."
"Nurse Sally," Aflana started.
"Yes, dearie?" Sally pulled out a chart and furiously wrote things down.
"Do you know the location of my pendant?" asked Aflana.
"Pardon? A pendant? I don't know anything about a pendant," Sally said.
"It's on a silver chain. It has a bright blue gem. I've had it for a long time. It's important to me, so if you know anything about it, please tell me. It's not worth selling. Trust me," Aflana said.
"Oh my. Are you sure you didn't lose it in the shipwreck?" Nurse Sally took the washcloth off Aflana and felt her forehead with her hand. "Oh, you are very hot. We need to get you cooled down."
"Yes, I had the pendant with me just before I passed out—" Aflana watched as Nurse Sally scampered away muttering about finding ice or another fan.
Edmonson was in another hut with bamboo walls. He was in a conversation with Raul. They were both sitting in chairs. Doctor Sav evaluated Edmonson while he chatted.
"How did you get back, Ed?" asked Raul.
"I have no idea. I'm still not entirely sure how I left here in the first place," said Edmonson.
"And the woman you came with… she has a blue pendant. Do you know why?" Raul inquired.
Edmonson scratched his temple. "I haven't the foggiest idea. I've never met anyone else who has one. I mean, outside of Clockhaven."
Doc Sav shined a light in Edmonson's eyes and had him follow his finger.
Edmonson blinked a few times. He was seeing spots after having a light shined in his face. He said, "There are military missions to acquire blue minerals from Shireen, the legendary tall mountain. I wanted to see for myself if they were the same things as our skystones. But then I was told some people ate them and died. So I don't know. I didn't get to see the minerals in person, but they don't sound the same."
Raul nodded his head along to show he was listening. He said, "We'll inspect her pendant and see if we can come up with anything. We'll give it back to her when we're ready. Problem is everyone wears these jewels. It'll be hard to get everyone to cooperate and cover them up. I think they will since she is the first visitor here in a very long time."
Edmonson scratched his chin. "Yeah, this has all been a mind bender. I don't think she has a good handle on her origin."
Doc Sav took a wooden hammer and hit Edmonson's knees. His reflexes were fine.
Raul frowned. "What do you mean?"
Edmonson spoke in a hushed voice: "It's all rumor. I only met her a few hours ago, but in the army there are a lot of long tales about her. Some say she was found in a jungle by herself fighting off a manticore. Others say she's the king's daughter through a secret second marriage. Then others said she was kidnapped when she was a little girl and doesn't remember a thing. All I'm saying is, I bet she has had the pendant for a long time, maybe her whole life. But I don't think she knows her origin, so it might be tricky, if near impossible, to figure out where it came from. Just a hunch. I doubt she bought it recently at a flea market. She also… checked to see if she had it while on the beach. Like it was important that she had it."
Raul sat back and pondered. "Perhaps there is another place in the world like Clockhaven and she came from that place. You and I both know everyone knows each other here and has for a long time, so this isn't her hometown. She's a stranger here. But she'll figure out things soon enough." Raul leaned forward and looked Edmonson straight in the eyes. "Also, how long were you gone? You don't look a day older."
Edmonson nodded. "Yeah, I was gone ten years, I think. My guess is living in Clockhaven for so long has had an influence on aging… even when not here."
Doctor Sav came over with a stick. "Please push your tongue out, sir."
Edmonson stuck out his tongue and the doctor put the stick underneath; he held it there for a few seconds then pulled it out. The doctor wrote more notes.
Raul stood up and leaned on his staff. "So here's the plan. You're a tourist and have been here before. You've never lived here and don't see anything odd happening in Clockhaven. Everyone will pretend they don't know you. The two of you will stay in the inn, my treat you can say. This will give us time to study Aflana. And who knows, maybe the two of you will suddenly vanish, so we don't need to announce who and what we are early. She'll start to pick up on the oddities. No doubt she will. I think it's best to ease her into the situation."