Farod interjected. " We've done enough teaching. It's time to go. We'll make the report tomorrow and have it posted on the notice board. Were either looking for a human or cryptid that has a karmic ability related to stones"
The pairs then separated.
James had already left the scene and through scattered word of mouth on his way back he had learned that the three workers were missing. He clenched the stone in his pocket as he stepped up towards Ziggy's shop. ' I wonder who did this? '
The sign read. " ZIggy's One Stop'
The facade of the building was still lifeless and from a glance you would never be able to tell the place was open.
James lightly put his weight against the door.
Ding!
Once again, Ziggy was asleep behind the counter.
James furrowed his brows. ' What should I say if he asks me where I was?' He paused his stride and hesitated looking back towards the exit.
Ziggy quickly scrunched his face and his large nostrils twitched as he sniffed the air.
"Euchk, What is that smell? It smells like cockle shit." Ziggy pinched his nose and turned his head upwards away from James.
His dark eyes swerved around the room before locking onto James and his frown grew deeper.
" Black boy, why do you come into my shop stinking every minute? Do you like to smell bad? Is smelling bad fun to you? Go around back and shower?" Ziggy gestured towards the back rooms.
Ziggy's storefront occupied the main living area with a staircase leading to the second floor and a few rooms for other amenities. He stared at James, not daring to take an eye off him. He occasionally scratched his stomach before narrowing his gaze.
" What did you do to stink so bad?" Sniff Sniff. His belly rumbled loudly. " What is that in your pocket?"
James who was halfway through the doorway felt up his pocket. ' Shit? How did he notice? What do I do?'
James clenched the stone. 'Should I tell him? It would link me to the crime scene and Ziggy would know I was there. Maybe he would figure out it's me? But I doubt I can hide it from him, he might just kill me if I don't? Is he a karma user? Probably, Uquinn smacked him with her paw and all it did was cause ripples on his stomach…hmm…'
Eventually James stepped back into the hallway. Ziggy didn't seem to care much about his hesitation as his gaze was fixed on the stone in his grasp.
James reached into his pockets and held out his palm revealing the multicolored stone.
Ziggy quickly flapped his wrists, shooing James. " No no, just leave it on the counter and dash away those clothes, I left three new clean pairs on your bed. It is the side room next to the bathroom." He pulled up his fish net marina to his nose and picked up the clean half of the stone.
His eye shined for a second before frowning and looking towards the back room James headed into. 'Eh Eh? That boy has brought trouble into my house.'
James made his way to the room Ziggy had prepared for him. There was a small cot in the corner along with three neat pairs of clothing stacked on a desk nearby. A candle was also resting on the table along with sheets of aged paper.He quickly made his rounds to the bathroom and back to get clean.
After washing up James returned to the front of the building where Ziggy held a glass loupe to his eyes and was staring at the stone.
James gulped and thought about his options. ' Should I come clean? Should I try and kill him?'
Something cold danced up the ridges of his spine. This was the first time he had a premonition since the silent forest. ' Okay, trying to kill Ziggy might be a bad idea.'
James didn't notice in his pondering that Ziggy cut his eyes towards him for a split second.
Eventually Ziggy put down the loupe and patted his thighs before massaging them lightly. He twisted and turned to James. "So, how did it happen black boy? How did you come to possess this stone? "
James didn't answer and immediately began judging the distance from the doorway. " I was coming back to your store and I found it on the way"
" I see," Ziggy nodded to himself. " They tell me that three men are missing and you bring a stone bearing the flesh of a man, What am I to think?"
Thump. Thump. James felt as though cold water was trickling down his skin but his chest felt warmer as he clenched his fists.
'I can make it out if I condense my karma fast enough.'
James and Ziggy stared at each other for a few seconds. Neither broke eye contact nor made any sudden movements. James stood there petrified. ' I can't tell what he's thinking but the fact that he hasn't killed me means something. '
As James' mind continued to reason the situation. Ziggy was the first to relax as he turned his body towards the door before scratching his stomach.
" Relax yourself, this stone is made of flesh, blood and skin. Which is a level of Alchemy I do not believe you are capable of, and the mere fact that this has happened means I cannot kill you now, until I find out why. " Ziggy said aloud before pointing to the stone.
James reflexively relaxed his shoulders hearing Ziggy speak. However his body quickly straightened.
"So, James, be honest with me, as someone who knows nothing about you or your character and the power to decide if your life lasts seconds or years just like you did those men, answer this question for me eh? " Ziggy spoke in a firm tone as an oppressive aura filled the room.
The only words James could find to describe this feeling was uncomfortable; it was as if he was being touched by many invisible hands and indistinct mumblings and whispers filled his ears but they had no origin.
" Why did you kill them? "
James thought to himself. 'Why did I kill them? Did they really deserve it? What they said was horrible and they intimidated and harassed me but did they really do anything to die for in that moment? And who am I to decide what they did to deserve death? But why did I kill them?' James sat in silence and Ziggy waited.
Eventually James pursed his lips and began to speak in a slow, even tone. "I felt threatened. They approached me with ill intentions. I don't know what they would have done; they might have left if I didn't retaliate, but... that's just not my nature, and it's something I won't compromise on. My dream was to escape where I came from and live by my own rules and morals. I don't feel much regret for their deaths but I did feel bad for taking their lives. "
Ziggy did not reply. He continued to massage his stomach, occasionally twirling the hairs near his navel. The sounds of the air flowing through his nostrils was the only thing breaking the silence.
" There are dark things and there are light ones. Decisions made from the light can become dark and things born and that dwell in the darkness can also become beacons of light. The only thing that cannot change is Father time himself."
Ziggy looked towards James. " Man is strange, they can be both dark and light simultaneously. Intentions and actions make up the majority of thoughts belonging to our species and even a single action a man takes is as complex as the hairs plucked from his head. "
Ziggy sat up. " In the Wilds, humans who show no potential for developing karma are deemed as tools and forced to toil away as menial workers, Clothmakers, Seamstresses, Tanner's , bakers. Tasks that I hear that they would get a wage for in your world. In the Wild, on these Farms, they do it to live. It is their payment to the strong as thanks for protecting them. The Garden just happens to treat normal people a bit better than the rest, due to Juraman's influence."
Ziggy picked up the flesh stone and twirled it around his fingers. " However, their deaths will mean nothing in the grand scheme of things because in the Wild only the strong decide what is right and wrong. The strong decide what the dark and light things are. This investigation would have been a Poppy show if bodies were found, but now it seems things have gotten complicated. '
James blinked a few times to process what Ziggy said. ' So if I didn't have potential I would just be a murderer... and how did things get more complicated.
"Complicated how?" James asked.
"These stones are the Handiwork of the Dandy Man. Scattered sightings of him are fine but the presence of his powers does not bode well for the Garden. "
" Who is the Dandy Man?" James questioned.
Ziggy scratched his head. "Speak of no Evil, He is not a cryptid that you should be curious about. However, it seems he has plans for you; based on this stone, he wants the blame of the deaths to fall on him."
'I wonder how strong he is compared to that shuck and how did a cryptid get into the Farm? I thought the ash repelled them? ' James mused.
" How did he get in?" James asked.
Ziggy tossed the stone into an inconspicuous corner of his storefront. " The older the cryptid, the more human it gets and a cryptid's power is directly proportional to its age. So things like Him are not fazed by dirt on their clothing."
Ziggy quickly changed the topic before James could ask anymore questions.
"There is no such thing as free forgiveness or a free lunch, I have something for you to do to wash away the dark things you have done wether you regret them or not. A customer of mines' husband has gone missing and the Firekeepers have given up on the investigation due to him not being of importance and there just not being enough hands after the starfall incident. You will be those hands and help locate him or his body and come back to me."
James simply nodded thinking this was the best case scenario.
Ziggy then pointed towards a random bookshelf and told James to remove a book from the shelf. " But before that we must educate you on Karma."
James' eyes lit up at the mention of Karma. Without hesitation he shuffled towards the bookshelf.
The book was covered in stained red leather with colored embroidery occupying a centerpiece. Within a Golden border of Wheat gemstones and Barley, was a young man who looked to be about thirty years of age.
He was seated upon a large golden throne and a crown of gold was weaved around his head. He was also draped in a Golden robe. The man on the throne's expression was distant as if he was peering off the cover at something that the viewer could not see.
James instinctively felt as though he knew his name. " Midas"
In his left hand grasped in his palm was a sphere. The sphere contained a lotus flower floating on an inky liquid. There were 4 larger petals that divided the interior into 4 quadrants. Each quadrant of the larger petals seemed to represent a different environment.
The petal occupying the northern aspect was yellow and grains of sand seemed to fall from its surface like sand into the basin of the sphere
The petal occupying the western aspect was covered in water sprinkled with little specs of dirt. The water also fell off the tip of the leaf into the basin of the sphere.
The petal occupying the eastern aspect was a deep and expansive green with large pieces of rocks tipped in snow acting as the border near the tip of the sphere.
The petal occupying the southern aspect was surprisingly submerged in the inky fluid with only a small portion of the exposed petal present.
Moving inwards, there were 9 smaller petals each representing a color of the rainbow along with the two shades of black and white.
In his right hand was a card that was held face down out of view of the onlookers.
James stared at the card and felt something strange but could not remember at that moment in time.
Eventually James brought the book towards Ziggy who massaged his fingers across the man adorned on the cover.
Ziggy spoke as he flipped open to the first page. " Almost every child in the Wilds reads the Chronicles of King Midas. Everyone dreams of becoming a Karma User and finding their nature. We would read this in hopes of gaining some sort of enlightenment that would help develop and unlock our karma lakes. Although most didn't, The Fool and Emperor are still the most popular books within his story. The fool is the early life of King Midas and the Emperor is his life after he ascended to his Golden throne. "
James did not speak and only listened attentively
" Karma is the essence generated by actions. It exists in all things and all things exist because they were born from the Spoked Star. So the Sun is the Origin of Karma in this world. Humans have been blessed with the ability to absorb karma from the world around them and if they are gifted enough and experience enough of life they are able to unlock their karma lakes and attain powers beyond normal human reach."