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Book 2: Chapter 13: The Magic of Friendship

She loved it.

And it was all the fault - or rather the vision - of one singular dwarf. Aqua scraped some mud from her shoes as she stepped over the threshold of the Thirsty Goat. A fresh painting on the wall contained said dwarf, laughing alongside Annie, Johnsson, Richter, John, and herself. Pete’s face was like an open book, mouth wide in laughter and eyes twinkling - probably at some awful pun.

Pete… Pete wasn’t an open book. He was a mystery. He’d come to them as an amnesiac, but Aqua was absolutely certain that wasn’t true. Annie and Balin clearly knew what was going on, and it hurt that they didn’t trust her with the truth. She and Annie were practically sisters, and knowing that some new dwarf could just walk in and upend that relationship stung. Boys sucked.

Aqua ran one hand along the counter as she made her way through to the mess hall. On the other hand, Tiara knew Pete had been good for the Thirsty Goat. Between his new brew, the Whistlemugs, and the brewpub, they were finally out of the lava and into the vein. Annie was walking around with a stupid grin on her face all the time - when she wasn’t smooching Balin that was. Plus, the new brewpub really, really appealed to the extrovert in Aqua. There was always new stuff to do and people to meet. Kirk Manly was just her style, and she actually enjoyed teaching him the ropes of waitering.

And of course, she couldn’t forget that the only reason they had Bran was because of Pete. Ah, Bran - Opal was one lucky dwarfess. He had that dreamy mop of curly black hair, and that chiseled close-cropped beard… Aqua took a deep breath as she walked into the brewpub, inhaling the scent of fried, baked, and boiled delights. Of course, she couldn’t forget the scrumptious treats she got to eat every single day! If her tight fitting skirt was any indication, she was going to need to cut back on sweets. She swore that the cook was going to be the death of everyone at the Thirsty Goat. They’d all balloon up and explode, cream filling flying everywhere.

As she walked into the pub, Aqua spotted two figures sitting at a table eating fries. One was Pete, oddly enough in the silly ‘miner’ disguise he sometimes used. The other was a gnomess, and she was voraciously focused on her plate of fries. Aqua decided to give Pete a little jump scare. That would teach him to eat fries without inviting her!

The gnomess seemed oddly familiar, but she couldn’t quite put her finger on it… oh well. She rose up behind Pete, preparing to grab his long brownish-red hair and give it a yank, when the gnomess turned around and spotted her.

And Aqua saw her face.

—

Berry didn’t kill me in the end.

I like to imagine it was my winning personality and handsome charm, but it was more likely because I promised to get her a burger and fries. She relented, but only with a promise that there would be gravy.

I agreed, and we moved our meeting from Joejam’s to the Thirsty Goat. En-route we chatted about our status as Chosen, as well as my idea for a partnership. I wouldn’t say we were friends at this point, but Berry seemed desperate for something from home, and I fit the bill.

I… turned down Barck’s quest. Interestingly enough it didn’t disappear, but simply became “Inactive”.

The brewpub was closed every afternoon for brewing and cleaning, and it only took a bit of convincing to get Bran to make us burgers and a heaping plate of fries. Well, Bran took a lot of convincing, but most of it was done by a squealing Lemontwist. I could feel her move from shipping me and Annie to shipping me with Raspberrysyrup.

Berry and I sat down to talk a bit more about home, then buried ourselves in burgers. Each burger was made with a thick slab of perfectly browned goat-meat coated in a gooey mass of cheese. Fried curly onions sat on a bed of crispy lettuce, and the bun itself was a fresh erdroot brioche bought from the bakery this morning.

It was a brief moment of delicious bliss. So, I was completely surprised when a scream and some crashing furniture from behind interrupted my grazing of fries with a side of mayo. I recognized the voice, so I took my time finishing my current golden and crispy fry. There are many who say ketchup is the perfect condiment for fries, and others who laude the extravagance of aioli. They all pale in comparison to the simple deliciousness of plain mayo. I’d fallen in love with it while visiting Munich with Caroline.

I turned my head to see Aqua, who was sitting on the floor and backed up against a collection of fallen benches. She was pointing a shaking finger at Raspberrysyrup, who wore a bemused expression.

“Y-y-y-y-...”

Berry hopped down from her seat and swept her cloak off with a flourish. It revealed a somewhat ostentatious pink halter top over a pair of baggy sweats. She flicked her hair, and the bun fell apart into a series of small braids best described as ‘haute messy’. She planted her feet, put her hands on her hips, and declared.

“That’s right honey, I’m Raspberrysyrup - in the flesh!”

I snorted, then jumped up and rushed over to support Aqua as she fainted dead away. Berry giggled.

The two of us maneuvered Aqua’s limp form to a safe position and waited for her to awaken. Thankfully we didn’t need to wait long; Aqua woke with a start a minute or two later, realized her head was on Raspberrysyrup’s lap, and then promptly fainted again.

Bran stuck his head out of the kitchen transom to voice his discontent. “You lot, stop that! A pair of grown dwarves er, and gnome, teasin’ like tots.”

“Awww… but it’s so much fun.” I grumbled.

Berry sighed. “Yes, but I want to finish my fries and then get back to discussing your rather fascinating proposal.” She struggled to lift Aqua off her lap and gave me a pleading look.

“Right, right.” I picked Aqua up and laid her down on a bench. Some smelling salts and a quick round of ‘dodge the angry dwarfess’ later, and we were all sitting on the bench digging in - which was a very dwarven way to eat, come to think of it.

“I can’t believe it!!!” Aqua repeated for the half-dozenth time. “Raspberrysyrup, in MY PUB!”

“It’s actually my

pub,” I grumbled. “And Annie’s.”

“I wasn’t talking to you, Pete!”

“Aqua, this is Raspberrysyrup, Berry, this hyperactive bundle of joy is Aqua. Ow!” I rubbed my shin where Aqua had kicked it under the table.

Raspberrysyrup smiled winningly and looked Aqua up and down. “Nice to meet you Aqua, but I think I’ve seen you before? Weren’t you the one that confiscated my fans’ signs at the Barck Beer Brawl?”

Aqua flushed pinker than Berry’s hair. “I’m soooooooo sorry. I didn’t know who you were at the time, and they were blocking our view, and I really love your music, I’ve been to all your shows, but I always need to go in disguise and I regret it so much, and - “ She gasped in a breath, and Berry held up her hand.

“It’s alright, Aqua! I couldn’t possibly stay mad at a fan. All is forgiven, and I’ll tell them to take your face off of the ‘no entry’ sign at my shows.”

Aqua gasped.

I pouted, “What about me?”

“You’ll need to earn it.” Berry sniffed. “And Aqua, all my friends call me Berry.”

Aqua shrieked. Possibly the highest pitch I’d ever heard come from a dwarven set of lungs. “EEEEEE!!!!”

“Eeeeeeghhh…” I groaned. “Aqua, Berry and I were in the middle of talking shop.”

Aqua quieted down, though she was still hyperventilating. “How do you know each other? How did this happen!? Did you already know each other?? Pete, you said you’d heard her songs before, is this because of that!?”

“Actually, Raspberrysyrup may know something about my old hometown. But I asked her to keep it a secret” I said, truthfully. Berry looked at me with surprise and Aqua’s eyes widened. “I mainly brought her here to discuss business. I’ll tell you all about it later.”

“Really?” Aqua asked, looking between the two of us.

“Really?” Berry asked, looking shocked.

I nodded. “Aqua’s family. I trust her. But, later.” I cut off Aqua’s hopeful expression.

“Fine, what were you two talking about before?” She grumbled.

Berry took a firm bite of her fries, and I took that as my cue to start talking.

“I want to become a corporate sponsor for Berry, and have her star in some celebrity endorsements.”

“Oh my Gods, really!?” Aqua exclaimed.

I rubbed my temple. “You don’t know what that means, do you?”

“Does anybody? Bran! What’s a celebrity endorsement!” She called out to the kitchen.

“Dunno, what’s a celebrity? Sounds elvish!” Bran shouted back.

“See? Nobody knows.” Aqua sniffed smugly.

“It means I would be payin’ her to wear Thirsty Goat swag - gear - and talk about our beer whenever possible.”

Aqua’s eyes grew round and she glanced at Berry. “What does she get out of it?”

I shrugged. “Gold is gold.”

Well, that and it would help increase her reach and influence and mine as well.I was also thinking of live events with incredibly expensive beer, but that could come later.

We’d decided to go all in on Team America. I wanted it to be Team North America, but that didn’t really roll off the tongue. Neither of us particularly thought we were going to win the wish, and we could always wish both of us home if one of us won. I mean, if that was what we wanted…. I did still want it, didn’t I?

Anyways, both of us were Artistes at heart, so it made sense to collaborate. That may have even been why the Gods stuck us in the same city together. It turned out her patron God was indeed Archie, and her reason for being here was completely and utterly unfair.

My thoughts were interrupted as Berry wiped her lips clean with a napkin and stood. Her eyes shone with an inner fire as she spoke. “With Pete’s cash and a good campaign, I should be able to expand out of Minnova and into the Capital. I hear Kinshasa is amazing; the entire city is like the Cathedral and the Grand Market. Packed with sights, magic, sounds, everything! I’m going to hit that place like a hurricane!”

“With some new songs?” Aqua asked excitedly.

"With some new magic!” Berry exclaimed.

Aqua looked confused. "I didn\'t know you were a mage."

"Just watch, I\'ll show you," Berry said, then began to sing. Her voice echoed through the brewpub, high and haunting; a melody I didn’t recognize for once. It was less a song and more an eerie collection of notes in alternating harmony and disharmony. Bran and Lemontwist came out of the kitchen and we all stared at Berry, spellbound.

Then the lights appeared. We gasped as the music seemed to take actual form, the Aether of the air transforming into motes of fire. The flames took shape into tiny butterflies, which fluttered about, dancing to the unerdly music. One alighted on my hand and I shook it off with a hiss - it didn’t quite burn, but it was hot! As Berry’s voice grew higher and higher in pitch, the butterflies rose up to the ceiling of the pub, fusing together into a rippling sheet of water. The wave rose above our heads and then crashed down upon us. We all jumped, and Lemontwist screamed, but the torrent vanished just before it struck, turning back into a harmless woosh of air.

We all sat in stunned silence, except for Berry who looked immensely proud.

“What… what just happened?” Aqua whispered.

“I’m going to take the College of Archis by storm.” Berry\'s smile was wide and manic. “You don’t need a wand and a bunch of math and sigils to cast spells, just intent and a pattern. Did you see!? I’ve discovered the secret to musical Magic!”