Case Closed Fan Fiction ❯ The First Woman In The World ❯ 4 ( Chapter 4 )

FiveThousand Years Ago

“Such a beautiful pot,” Eta said, looking over the delicate piece.

“You want to buy, pretty lady?” the old man asked pleasantly. “It will not be cheap, for such art! Ten loaves of bread!”

“Ten?” Ushi said in shock. “So expensive!”

“There is not much else to be done,” the old man said, shaking his head. “So many children these days- our farm is not enough to feed all of my son's children! Villages grow fast, and anything that cannot be eaten can only be afforded by those who have plenty to eat.”

“I could not carry such a frivolity,” Eta sighed, though she did long for the beautiful pot. “But we will give you... three loaves if you can tell us...” she turned the pot, tapping a complex picture carved into the side. There was a stone, and the moon, and the stone appeared to be glowing. “...what this is.”

“Ahh, that is something strange that I saw two moons ago,” the old man said. “A trader displaying something precious to another... it glowed red as blood in the light of the moon! The other trader gave him much bread for it!”

“Do you know where we can find either of these traders?” Ushi demanded. The old man scratched his head. Eta piled two more loaves of bread on the pile before the old man, having already learned that people often had a better memory if they had an incentive to have a better memory.

“One is Shiro,” he said thoughtfully. “He builds houses, mostly- and many are needed!- but he often finds odd things while searching for materials, and he trades these for food. He might know where the stone is now... Are you interested in it?”

“Very,” Ushi said. “Thank you for the information.”

Shiro, as it happened, was an inquisitive young man who was indeed building a house when they approached him.

“Wow, you were even gonna offer fish for it?” he said longingly. “I haven't tasted fish since I was a little kid. We live too far inland now. Awww, if I'd known, I wouldn't have traded it to that guy... he said he was going north. You might be able to catch up to him. Hey, if I ever see it again someday, I'll hold onto it, and maybe you folks can come back, huh?”

“We might,” Eta said. “Sayonara.” She sighed, rolling her neck and clutching her bag of bread as they wandered away. Since they didn't really need to eat, they had taken to only acquiring and carrying food to trade for information. They always seemed to be skirting too far behind the star; they could never quite catch up to it. Eta had suggested that they settle down, and perhaps it would pass by them again- they didn't seem to need it, anyway. They still healed easily and had no need to eat or sleep...

But they did need it.

It had taken millennia to notice, but tiny changes were taking place. Five thousand years after they had first drunk that crystal liquid, Eta realized that her senses were slowly dulling. She could not hear for miles around as she once could; she could no longer smell a fish in a stream, nor see at night as though it were day. Her senses were still far superior to any normal human's, but not what they once were.

The healing had slowed, too. What had once taken a day to heal now took two. It wasn't noticeable, since they rarely had to fight, only bandits and wild animals; but it was still noticeable. Against her unfading memories, it was noticeable.

“Which means that we are slowly becoming human again?” she wondered as they began to walk north. “Given enough time... will we be mortal once more?”

“You're halfway to us, momma,” the little girl said happily.

“We will come for you one day, momma,” the little boy promised. “You're halfway there. We'll come, if you'll wait for us.”

“I will wait forever for you, darlings,” Eta promised, hugging them to her sides.

“Then we'll destroy it, momma,” the little girl said happily.

“That's right, momma,” the little boy promised, strength sparkling in his shining sky-eyes. “We'll destroy it and set you free.”

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This was released alongside chapter 53:Silence

The next will be released alongside chapter 58:Poison

It's like a chocolate-hunter game, Pretztailfan95... “warmer... colder... warmer... warmer... colder... warmer... warmer... baking... SUPERNOVA...” XD

Geographical skillz, KageNoNeko XD guess where they are here?

I'm just messin' witcha, Mel72000.... XD

You'll find out, won't you, Kairi922? ^_-