InuYasha Fan Fiction / Fan Fiction ❯ Shattered Minds, Shattered Hearts ❯ Old Friends ( Chapter 1 )

It took me a total of three and a half weeks of continuous study to get enough of the language to be able to communicate effectively. My teacher insisted I learn to write it as well, which took another two weeks. Whatever, it was all for the best, I suppose.

 

Random had appointed the head of the Shadow Trading Company as my tutor. The Shadow Trading Company traveled on trade routes laid down long ago by those of the blood, bartered with various shadows. Shadow Earth, my place of exile for so long, was added to the list several years Random was appointed king. Finally, we had coffee in Amber.

 

“Corwin, remember that it is a penal colony for Chaos, so be careful,” Random warned as he handed over the shard. “And keep a close eye on that.”

I gave an affirmative nod then turned to walk out.

“Oh, and Corwin,” Random added as an after-though, “say hello to Bill Roth for me.”

 

I rode Mori at an easy pace as Random had warned me he was not Shadow-broken yet, so he was still nervous about the environment changing too quickly. So instead, I allowed my thoughts to return to what Random had said. Say hello to Bill Roth for me. I shook the reins and watched as trees in the forest shrank a little… the grass turned a lighter shade of green… flowers of purple smattered here and there… the terrain grew more hilly, though descending… the dirt changed from dark brown to light brown… auburn… maroon… blood red… Bill Roth had been the an old friend of mine from Shadow Earth before I had regained my memories, and after, as well. We had met in a country club; we both went to this club for years, and neither one of us had said more than a passing hello, until one evening, we somehow struck up a conversation about the Neopoleonic wars. As I had lived through them, I was somewhat of an expert on the subject. Bill was a big history buff, and we had talked for hours.

 

Bill was also a lawyer, a damn good one at that. Fiona had taken the Patternfall treaty to him to check for loopholes; in the process, he had become fluent in Thari—the language of Substance, spoken both in Chaos and Amber. Since then, he had been called into numerous small disputes within Amber, and Rebma, a special shadow of Amber, under the sea, replicating all Amber's beauty. Moire was queen there, still.

 

Moire, sweet Moire with skin like sage marble. She had once had a daughter, Morganthë, but Random, in his youth, had run off with her. When he found out she was pregnant with Martin, he left her without a second thought. Morganthë had returned home, given birth to Martin, then committed suicide. Moire was not pleased, to say the least. Years later, when the Patternfall business was beginning to pick up pace, Random had found me on Shadow Earth. I had recently left Greenwood Private Hospital, of my own accord, and found my sister “Evelyn Flaumel”, or Flora. She had been Eric's creature, at the time, and had stayed on Shadow Earth to keep tabs on me. Random had called her residence, while she was out trying to walk back to Amber, asking for sanctuary. Flora had returned that evening, with no luck in reaching Amber. Random had come shortly after, with half a dozen not-quite-human guys on his tail. I had helped him rid himself of the nuisances, and in return, he offered to help me fight for the throne. We had made it into the real world when I finally confessed to him the state of my memory. He decided my walking the Pattern would either kill me—if I was a Shadow of the real Corwin—or restore my memory—which it did. Due to extenuating circumstances, Random had to follow me into Rebma proper, or be cut down by Eric's troops. It was then that he was forced to marry Vialle, a blind girl with no suitors.

 

Rebma was also the home to my sister Llewella. She was somehow not like the rest of us. Her skin, hair, and eyes green, she felt at home in the Sea-City. The rest of us Amberites seemed to be of no concern to her, although her appearances in Amber were becoming more frequent.

 

My thoughts reverted back to the shard I now carried in a pocket. I pondered its significance, as well as its origins. Aside from the Jewel of Judgment, I had never seen anything that was so intricately linked with the Pattern. Moreover, I wondered who had made it, or where it had come from.

 

What if this shard had something to do with Dworkin going mad again? How could something like this cause that, though? The primal Pattern was still intact and as Dad had left it when he fixed it, laid out in the ground, hidden on Mount Kolvir, as close to Mount Kolvir as I could imagine. Mount Kolvir held Amber like a mother to her child. I had always thought of Amber, the city and the world in which is was lain as the true Substance, but during Patternfall, the Primal Pattern, the truest Substance of all, had been damaged. It was the partial destruction of the Primal Pattern that had caused Dworkin's insanity last time, so that was what Random and I checked first.

 

Patternfall. My long dead brother, Brand, as well as Fiona and Bleys, had damaged the Pattern, in an attempt to take over Amber. Brand had other ideas in mind, though. He wanted the complete destruction of Amber, as well as her shadows. I was glad he disappeared into Oblivion at the end. The Patternfall Treaty stated Merlin, my son, was to become king in Chaos, and the two poles of existence, Amber and Chaos, were to have a cease fire. `Peace' is too strong of a word; it is more than the absence of fighting, but the restoration of harmony. We would never have peace, but we could stop fighting. Bill Roth had been integral during the discussions of the treaty. He had been able to stop several duels that would have ended the negotiations immediately.

 

I woke from my reverie when I realized where I was: back on Shadow Earth, outside Bill's house. It was twilight, and the lights were still on.

 

I had ridden through Shadow, slowly to accommodate my ride. We rode horses instead of driving cars in Amber because the gasoline would not combust when we got close enough to the real world. Its properties changed as the Shadows changed.

 

I tethered Mori to a large Maple tree outside in the front, then went to ring the doorbell.

 

A girl, about sixteen, numerous piercings in her face answered. Her eyebrows raising so high I though her scalp might have consumed them. My renaissance `costume' was still out of fashion. Black boots, black slacks that flared out after the knee, grey-silver shirt with a lacing tie under the neck, and a black cloak, clasped at the neck with a silver rose. I had shaved my beard and mustache that morning, but my black hair still blended. I had grown accustomed to this dress during my time serving under Napoleon Bonaparte.

“Umm… Can I help you?”

“Does Bill Roth still live here?”

She crossed her arms and took a defense pose. “And what does a deranged fare-goer like you want?”

I raised one eyebrow, and waited for her to continue into a tirade. Upset youth are always entertaining.

It never came, though. Her face melted into one of astonishment. I wondered what had brought it on.

“I know you! Your that guy that came to talk to Daddy years ago. Something about a haystack on your old property…” she trailed off.

I chuckled. “And how do you know that story?”

She smiled sheepishly. “I… uh… eavesdropped…”

She turned around, facing towards the rest of the house. The entryway was tiled in a beige and brown design, and the walls were a light grey. The lighting lent a warm glow to the house. Terry yelled, “Daddy, somebody's here to see you.”

 

It took a moment, but when he rounded the corner, he grinned and shook my hand. His hair had turned a bit whiter, and his stomach had filled out a bit. “Corwin! Still coming and going colorfully, I see. How are you? You hungry?”

“Good, and yes I am.”

“Who is he?” the girl asked, nodding towards me.

“Terry, this is Corwin; he's an old friend and… somewhat of royalty.”

She looked at me again, but smiled, and she blushed; I wondered if she had a crush on me.

“Why don't you go and start fix something with Mom in the kitchen?”

“Daddy! Do I have to? You know I don't like cooking.”

Bill sighed. “Terry, behave yourself in front of our guest.” He said in a firm, but gentle tone.

“I'm not a kid anymore, so don't talk to me like I am one!”

Bill's wife, Alice, appeared in the entryway, then. “Corwin! It is good to see you! Your probably hungry.”

I chuckled. “Yes, I am. However, that is what this little dispute is about,” I said, nodding towards her husband, who was shaking his head, and her daughter, who was glaring back at him.

“Leave it to them to embarrass me to houseguests.” She muttered to herself as she rounded the corner and disappeared, but sounds from the kitchen soon drifted to us.

“So what brings you by, Corwin?” Bill asked as he shooed off his daughter. She glared at him a little longer then left back towards the rest of the house.

I pulled out the jewel fragment.

“Can you tell me anything about this?”

He held it, and scrutinized it. “Well, I can feel power in it, and it reminds me of Amber. Why ask me? I'm just the Court Lawyer.”

I took it and stowed it away again. “Well, it was found in Japan, in the hands of an exiled Chaosian.”

His expression changed from mild surprise to jaw-dropped astonishment.

“And,” I continued, “Fiona tells me it is only a fragment of a whole.”

“Hmm… You don't say? What are you going to do?”

“I'm going to investigate. Japan is apparently Chaos' penal colony.”

Bill laughed out loud at that. “Oh, and what was a Chaosian, exiled or not, doing with it, if it relates to Amber?”

“I don't know. Since this” I motioned towards the pocket holding the shard, “was found here, I'm going to look for more pieces of it, and hopefully find someone, Chaosian or not, who knows about it.”

 

He looked pensive, and twiddled his thumbs.

 

His daughter entered then, still glaring daggers at her father, holding a tray full of sausage, pancakes, and eggs, while his wife, Alice, followed with two mugs and a pitcher of lemonade.

 

“Do you need anything else?” Alice asked.

“No, I think this is a good start,” I joked.

She nodded, then left, her daughter in tow.

We ate in silence for fifteen minutes or so.

“I could try to see if this jewel is on display anywhere. Maybe it has even turned up in a property dispute.” Bill commented, more to himself than me.

“Good idea. Get some people working on it; I'll escort you to Japan, and let you get thing rolling, then I'll send you to Amber. I have a feeling this is going to take more than E-bay. I'll have Random work out some sort of salary for them, and you. I will need you in Amber once I get to Japan, though. Random will have to know how things are progressing.”

“Corwin, how is everything in Amber? You look more tired than when I last saw you.”

I shook my head. “Dworkin has gone mad again. He doesn't remember who he is. Only bits and pieces of things.” I ate a sausage, trying to collect my thoughts. “Random is still king. Mostly everyone is in Amber, though Llewella still spends most of her time in Rebma, but she is seen in Amber. Merlin is still the king in Chaos. No new deaths.” I tried to think of any significant news.

“Do you know why Dworkin's gone mad again?”

“No clue. Random and I checked the Pattern first thing. He's been this way for nine months, Amber time… About two years, here.”

He nodded, and finished off the lemonade. “What about Fiona, Brand and Flora?”

“Fi is the unofficial Court Sorceress, Brand is dead, and Flora doesn't do much of anything except flirt with the guards.”

 

He looked thoughtful for a moment, and ate a sausage. “This could take a while, couldn't it?”

I sighed. “I hope not, but it might. Why?”

“Well, could you have my family sent there? I don't want to be away from them over-long.”

“Alright. Later, explain to them what is happening. I'll get ahold of somebody in Amber. Might as well get your family there tonight. Hey, you've been there several times before, if memory serves correctly.”

He nodded. “Yeah. Merlin trumped me there at one point, under somewhat unusual circumstances.”

“Oh, and you might want someone to take care of your house, and let any clients know that you'll be out of town.”

“I'll get Ed to take care of it; you remember that contractor that redid your house after you sold it? He still lives not far from here.”

“What about any pending cases?” I asked. Not that I cared much, but I figured that people tend to get a bit suspicious when others disappear without a trace.

“I retired from that a while ago. Now I just lend my services to Amber—after Fiona came to me with that Patternfall Treaty, I've worked exclusively for the Family.”

I couldn't help but laugh. “I take it Fi pays you well?”

He nodded. “More than I could have imagined. I don't really ever have to work again. Well, I best go tell Alice and the kids. Will my family need to pack anything?”

I shook my head. “They will be provided for.”

“Well, I'm going to go tell my family to get ready.”

 

He exited the room, and I pulled out my trumps, and found Random's. Contact came after a few moments.

“Corwin. Any news?”

“No. Bill and I are going to Japan tonight, so he can get some people checking up on this jewel shard. I am going to send him to you after he's got people on it, though, so he can keep you updated. He wants his family there with him, in case this takes a long time.”

”Alright. Send them through Flora—I'll have them shown to rooms. Anything else?”

“No.”

“Bye then. Good luck.” And then his presence was gone, like he hung up the phone.

 

I shuffled out Flora's card. I thought about her, and all those years she kept tabs on me while I was on this Shadow. At the time, I hadn't known who I was; Eric, my elder brother, long dead, had exiled me here, during the height of the Black Death. I survived it, but the disease caused total amnesia. It wasn't until six hundred years later that I began regaining memory.

Contact came after about five minutes. She was standing in the dining hall, next to Julian. She smiled when she saw me.

“Corwin.”

“Yes, dear sister?” I said, somewhat mockingly.

“Random told me we are to have visitors?”

“Yes—I'll be sending them to you in a moment.”

I walked to the family room.

“Everyone's ready,” Bill told me.

 

I motioned for them to advance. The girl was first. She looked terribly confused and very pissed off, but didn't comment on it, until she saw Flora and Julian. “What the fuck?”

“Terry! Watch your language.” Alice cut in.

“Take my hand and step forward,” Flora stated as she extended her own.

The girl did as instructed. Alice and the son soon followed.

 

Bill came around, and kissed his wife through the card, then waved to the rest of his family. “You all be good, and I'll be there before too long, okay?”

 

They nodded, and then I pressed my hand on the trump, instantly severing contact.

 

I turned to Bill as I replaced my pack. “You have someone to look after the house?”

He nodded. “Yeah. When do we leave?”

“Now.”

 

We both rode Mori for a few minutes, until I could call up a horse for Bill out of shadow. Shadow contains all possibilities, so it was possible that a horse would be resting. Therefore, I made it so. A mare, chestnut colored, saddled and tethered to a tree. Bill called her Clove.

We rode on in companionable silence for a while, until Bill sighed.

“What is it?”

“Well, you remember, years ago, when I asked you to tell me about what you were doing, off in Amber?”

“Yes. If memory serves, I was in search of the Jewel of Judgment at that point.”

“You couldn't then, because of time, but will you now? We seem to have a long ride ahead of us.”

“I suppose.” I agreed. “After I came here last, looking for the Jewel of Judgment in my old haystack…”