Taschmonchen

Four - Tides

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Arriving at a city is always a bit of a mind-blowing event for the girl who had been raised in a tiny village. She always found the tall buildings to be intimidating, and immediately felt lost, even if she hadn't even stepped off the main path, yet.

It wasn't exactly the first time that Blauer had been to Eastre City, of course. She was a prodigy. She'd been here, sometimes to collect awards. Sometimes to give self-congratulatory speeches that were pretending to teach other people.

However, this was the first time she had come to the city as her own person. She was a trainer, and she was dragging her three bickering monchen in toe. She wasn't here to have people grovel at her feet, she was here to grovel at theirs, and hope that she could live up to the horrible legend that had bloomed up in front of her.

There was a chance that Roter could surprise everyone, astonish them. For Blauer, there was a virtual guarantee that she couldn't. The entire world seemed desperate to hold her up as the next genius of monchen lore and magic, but she knew that the annoying boy she cared for, had a better chance at it than she did.

Blauer distracted herself from the building anger and resentment she felt towards Roter, by looking at the city. It wasn't just bigger than the village where she had grown up, there was more to discover here. Always something new to discover, even for someone with her memory.

Even on the outskirts, there was new things.

She was instantly drawn to a large and flat piece of dirt. There was nothing obvious or special about it, but she could tell that it hadn't been pounded flat by machinery. There was the barest hint of footprints, bare toes in the nearly markless ground, here and there.

"Felschen." Blauer said, with a tiny hint of awe.

She felt her excitement collapse, as looking around yielded no hint of the monchen. She'd never seen one before, but she had heard that they often ended up in construction work. They liked it. Especially the more physical aspects.

However, despite the clearly prepared construction site, Blauer couldn't see a single monchen, or human. There was nobody here, and even the site office seemed to be temporarily abandoned. Despite the area being ready for building, no foundation had yet been laid, and there were no workers.

It had always confused her, when she was younger.

In the village, if someone wanted to build an extension or a fishing hut, or whatever, then everyone pitched in and it was done by sundown. She'd once seen a construction site take three years just to build a small single-room flat, in the big city.

When she was little, she'd thought that was laziness. As an adult, she knew it was generally a complicated situation where no one involved was paying their bills, a tiny bit to do with regulations and builders being sued for ignoring them, and a lot to do with making sure no one would get hurt during the construction.

But mostly people being unwilling to pay.

"Three monchen!?" An angry voice announced, "What is it with all you arrogant trainers, today!?"

Blauer turned her eyes from the imposing cityscape, and to a woman in a horribly bright blue uniform, wearing the most disapproving look that she had ever seen on a human, before. Not even her mother gave her that sour an expression, when she'd heard that Blauer wanted to be a trainer.

"Good morning, officer." Blauer tried to nervously smile.

She was immediately undercut by Flare bursting into flames and stepping in front of her. The monchen crossing her arms angrily, and spreading her feet in an arrogant fighting stance, "Who do you think you are?"

"Flare, she's a cop. Douse. The. Fire." Blauer hissed.

Nixie stepped up quickly, "Sorry, sorry. Don't mind my sister. She's just been having a rough day. We got attacked on the road by a couple of jerks from something called... Club... Something?"

"Jakob and Yiska." The police officer's stance relaxed visibly, "Well, I can see why your monchen are a little too riled up, then. Tell you what, why don't I escort you? Then we won't run into any complaints or little incidents."

"Eve also started learning a new spell." Blauer indicated the tired waldchen. Her usually dark skin just a little paler.

"Can I see your license?" The officer asked as they started off, eyeing the three women behind the trainer.

Blauer fished it from her bag, "You're having problems with trainers, today? Jakob and Yiska?"

"Mmm. Those two lost their licences, kidnapped a froschen, and ran away. Less than an hour later, I was dealing with a blitzchen shocking her own trainer!" The officer complained, whilst giving Blauer's license the third degree. Not just looking over the card, but bending it and checking the holograms intently.

"Oh. That'd be Roter and Blissbun." Blauer said, "He was a childhood friend of mine. We both got our permits and monchen from the professor, at the same time. Roter got a bit of a raw deal. He was supposed to get Flare, but she liked me more."

The officer handed the card back, "Don't care. If any of your monchen cause problems in my city, if they so much as swear in front of me, I'll see to it you lose your permit, Miss Blauer. Mercy is not one of my attributes, or I wouldn't be Officer Vanessa."

"Yes, officer." Blauer let out a half-strangled sound.

Nixie skipped to the front, her skin bubbling as it boiled dangerously. The wassechen glared sideways at the officer, and spoke with a faux-friendly tone, "Is every officer in Eastre as racist as you, Officer Vanessa?"

The woman's blue eyes went wide, and she opened and closed her mouth several times in surprise, "I-I'm not a racist!"

"Yeah, you are." Flare sneered from beside Blauer, as she surreptitiously took her trainer's arm, hugging onto it with both arms.

"I'm not!" Vanessa protested, "I'm devoted to peace. I don't care if you're human or monchen. I just want to preserve the peace! As a matter of fact, I'm working towards getting my own trainer's license, so a friend of mine can join me on patrol. She's a wassechen. Squitt."

Nixie responded by bubbling her tongue loudly, disagreeing.

The officer looked crushed, and was staring at her feet as she stopped in front of an unassuming office building. "This is the main monchen research building."

"Sorry." Blauer apologised, before taking her three inside.

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"Oh! Miss Blauer!" The receptionist greeted her by name, "And let me see... Nixie? You must be Flare. And of course, you're Eve. Oh, honey, are you feeling okay?"

Eve blushed, "Just... Tried a new spell. Thanks."

The receptionist moved around the desk, and handed each of the monchen a milkwheat biscuit, and then smiled at Blauer. "Our professor has been looking forward to meeting you. We're still looking for a house, that will fit all four of you. That's on me, I'm afraid. You might need to spend your first night, here."

"Thank you." Blauer acknowledged, "Um... I've got a few changes and reports to fill out. Any chance I can do that somewhere, here?"

"Of course! But first, the professor really wants to see you. Will the rest of you mind waiting here, with me?"

Flare shrugged and flopped right the way across a couch, dropping one arm across her eyes. "Whatever."

"I... Guess." Eve kicked the feuerchen's legs off the couch so that she could sit down beside her.

Nixie winced, "Um... No? Sorry. I'm... The thing..."

"We got attacked by a couple poachers." Blauer explained, "Nixie and Flare got poisoned. Pinken Aura. I think Nixie is just feeling a tiny bit nervous around strangers, right now."

"Oh, you poor thing." The receptionist nodded, "I'm sure the professor won't mind just the one. How about you two? Do you mind hanging around me?"

"I'll just barbecue you. I'm fine." Flare yawned.

Nixie attached herself to Blauer's side, half-sinking the trainer's hand inside her own watery one. Smiling apologetically at her naive nervousness. However, there was nothing to be embarrassed about. First time out from her home, and she'd been poisoned.

The receptionist led them down a hallway, and to an empty office. She gave Nixie an extra biscuit, before going to go and find the professor.

Blauer ran Eastre's auditing office across her mind. The last that she'd heard, their professor was preparing to retire. Another had been selected, but it hadn't been officially announced yet, so no one knew who it would be.

The speculated favourite, of course, was Rita.

That would probably cause Roter a hell of a time, if it turned out to be the case. Blauer doubted that Blissbun would respond well to seeing the woman who gave up on her, even once. Let alone, on the regular.

"Do you think that we're in trouble?" Nixie asked nervously.

Blauer shook her head and attempted to squeeze the watery hand, but only sort of sank further into it. "No. I'm an award winner, who has turned up with a crazy plan and three monchen. They'll just want to keep a closer eye on me, and make sure I'm capable of looking out for all of you."

"Crazy plan?"

"My idea that it's possible to hybridise monchen." Blauer stated, "That was the plan for the three of you. Well, until you said you didn't want kids. My adorable hairdresser."

Nixie blushed and grinned, "So... You really remembered?"

"I remember everything. Always." She shrugged, "That's my curse. People don't much like it when you can quote everything they've ever said. The office should be able to help us get you an apprenticeship, once I file a change request."

"Could have just said yes..." Nixie mumbled, looking crestfallen.

Blauer squeezed the woman's hand, "I did mention I needed to make a change, before, to the receptionist. I didn't just remember, because of my weird memory. I'm planning on getting you that apprenticeship."

The monchen seemed to perk up a little, and bit the edge off one of her biscuits. Those, Blauer knew from experience, were not made for human consumption. She'd tried one when she was younger, and it had been one of the grossest things she'd ever tasted.

Probably tasted better than the healing vial she'd poured down Roter's throat, though.

Thinking about him, had Blauer all six ways of confused. He had always been her competition, even if he didn't know it. She would work her ass off, memorising entire training books, entire courses even, and then she'd win by only two or three points on the exam. She'd spend weeks, he'd spend days, and she'd just barely one-up him.

"The poison's out of my system." Nixie whispered, squeezing her hand and interrupting her thoughts.

Blauer gave a small laugh, "Aha. And I'm wearing clothes stained with... Uh... Eve's syrup. And we're waiting for the professor. This is not the place or time."

"Which professor, would that be, darl?" A woman announced from the doorway. She had a black patch over one eye, and a hand against her hip. There was no hint from her black turtleneck or jeans that she was a professor.

Blauer's jaw dropped and she stared, "Rita! You really are working here!?"

"Sure am." The woman nodded confidently, and frowned, "Now, if I remember rightly, you and I only met the once. A very long time ago. So you did grow up to be a trainer, just as you said you would."

Nixie jumped in the way, her skin boiling, and she glared, "N-no closer."

"We met a couple of jerks on the road." Blauer explained tiredly, "Nixie, back off. Rita's not about to hurt me. Well, not for anything undeserved."

"Chill." The woman said and pulled a small pebble from a pocket and tossed it to the wassechen. "Sorry, I'm late. Been a bit distracted from... Doesn't matter."

"Blissbun already causing trouble?" Blauer sighed, "Roter's got his hands full, with that one. Though... Just in case you were wondering if you did the right thing..."

"He taught her buzz mortar." Rita whispered, tears instantly welling up in her eyes. "That kid's either a genius, or the luckiest man to ever walk this planet."

Blauer blew at her sticky fringe in annoyance, "Both. Roter is definitely both. So... Um... Why did the professor want to see me?"

"Crossbreeding through embryo hybridisation." Rita snapped back to business, the tears vanishing from her eyes as if they'd never even been there. "I assume that your feuerchen is the goal, for this trial?"

She nodded slowly, "That... Was the plan. But I need to make some adjustments, after spending some time with my monchen."

"You also need a shower. Waldchen sap." Rita turned up her nose, "Anyways... The trial is a real trial. Which means that an assistant isn't up for running it. I'll be in charge, and you'll be assisting me. We'll set you and the three monchen up in a room, here. No apartment."

Blauer winced, "I'm fine with that professor, it matches what I was expecting, but can I re-emphasise the need for... Changes?"

"There are always changes, sweetness. That's what we do." Rita replied without a single hint of sarcasm, before turning and gesturing for the trainer and her monchen to follow.

She first led them through a kind of kitchen, though it was sparsely furnished. There was a couple of bread bins, and what looked to be a monchen biscuit dispenser. Rita grabbed a drink of caf, and looked pointedly towards Blauer.

The younger trainer shook her head, "I'm fine, thankyou."

"Feel free to help yourself, in future as well. It's all paid for by our funding." The professor stated, "Can't have our scientists making mistakes from overtiredness... But equally, from being hopped on caf. Balance, in everything. That's the trainer's life."

Life lesson imparted, Rita then led the two of them into a hallway. She pointed out a series of door numbers. Giving quick single sentence explanations of the other trials being run by other scientists behind them.

Most of the trials were part of areas of monchen study that had never really interested Blauer. Things like measuring their susceptibility to music, the limits of their tastebuds. The best diet, the best workout routines.

Nothing would make Blauer yawn faster.

From the hall, the professor led them up a set of stairs and onto a kind of maintenance bridge, over looking a half-dozen small laboratories. Dozens of people were down below, most looking at screens and sipping at caf. Tired, bored, and frustrated, like most scientists.

Rita proceeded to pause, leaning her elbows against the edge of the walkway's fencing. "There's another couple of floors of this. All of these rooms are separate, fully approved, monchen trials. Full blooded research, for want of a better term."

"Interesting." Blauer said, not really getting the point. She'd already been told that.

The woman sighed and gave a small shrug, "I'm supposedly in charge of all of them, despite having been here for... Two days. Two, extraordinarily stressful days. I don't understand half of what I've been told, yet. There's quite a variety of trials."

"Oh." Blauer stated, feeling it was expected of her. She was unclear on why she had suddenly become the professor's confessional.

Nixie, on the other hand, was feeling... Something. The nervous monchen was slowly edging to stand between the two other women. Little anxious bubbles floating up and through her form with every breath that she took.

Blauer wasn't sure how to take that, just that ignoring the instincts of her monchen had nearly involved losing them to Club Moonbound.

"Sorry. Just pointing out, that I've got a fair bit of stress on my plate, at the moment." Rita said slowly, and sighed, "Your trial is interesting, Blauer. Your proposals are well thought out, and... Significant. Any proof, one way or the other, would be a significant step forward."

Blauer frowned, feeling like she might have just stepped in something. "Uh... I guess. I've tried hard. I do believe that the idea is... Possible. It's where I think the evidence points, not just blind faith."

"You're not one for blind faith, I already grasped that. Not an obsessive. A scientist." Rita nodded again, before turning so she was leaning her back against the walkway, "Which is why I just... Can't seem to figure it out."

"Professor?"

The woman glared at her, "Why in the utter fuck that you were dumb enough to pick a fight with fucking Blissbun."

Blauer physically flinched, "Oh."

"Oh? That's all I get?" Rita sneered, "Not just talking as Blissbun's former trainer. I'm your professor. I could have your fucking license for this, trainer! You could be blacklisted. Forever. You attacked someone, on the road! Explain yourself!"

She looked down at the ground, "An explanation, sure. But not an excuse. Not any kind of good reason."

"You're not taking her license!" Nixie yelled, boiling and clenching fists, "Don't you dare take her from us!"

Rita held up a hand, "Easy, wassechen. We're not having this conversation in an office. I brought her somewhere secret and informal."

Blauer continued, "I... I screwed up. I was scared of Roter. I thought I hated him at first. Thought that bringing the world down on him, would fix it a little. I even did it twice, I'm so stupid. Failure to learn from my mistakes."

"But, twice is what it took for Roter to teach her mortar." Rita made a small smile, "Look. You did bad. You have a serious attitude problem with Roter that I won't tolerate. Almost as bad as those Club Moonbound fools. But... You did also manage to break Blissbun's learning streak of... Nothing for nothing. I never got through to her. And that... Seriously hurts."

Nixie looked back and forth, "I'm confused."

"She'll let it go. But she needs me to know it was the wrong thing to do." Blauer explained. "Also means she doesn't much like me, especially for the future of things."

Rita shrugged, "Dunno, on the last bit, actually. Your monchen adore you. That's enough to plant doubts, for anyone. You could be a genius, an inventor, someone who will find a breakthrough. Or you could be a petulant and arrogant cunt. I don't know what your future holds. But caring for monchen, not just yourself, is what I care about most. It's what makes a trainer, a true trainer."

Nixie shuffled her feet nervously for a moment, "We... Didn't exactly help. It isn't all Blauer's fault. I... Might have picked on the blitzchen."

"She's the trainer." Rita shrugged, "I know what it's like to have a monchen who... Likes to misbehave. Don't I know it. Blissbun is a very difficult little individual. One I adore. But we still have our responsibilities, and they're there... To keep you safe, wassechen."

"Nixie."

Rita's face lit up, "Yes. Nixie. Sorry, I didn't remember, and it felt rude to ask. I'll try to remember it."

Blauer squeezed her monchen's hand, "She's got a lot on her plate. We're just adding to that. For what it's worth, professor, I know what I did was wrong. I... I hope to make it up to Roter, and Blissbun. Somehow. Not that I have a clue."

"Blissbun will tell you that the only option, is for her to never see you, again. She's like that. Puts up a big electric fence between herself and everyone else." Rita said sadly, "But... If you're being genuine... Girl will kill for a decent salad wrap or six. Not a very model-like behaviour, the pigging out, but we've all got out little quirks."

She frowned, thinking, "Professor... It's a bit much, coming from me... But have you had a chance to look over Roter's paper? He didn't get trial approval. But he's... Damn it. He tends to be right, especially when he disagrees with me."

"The Evolution Paper." Rita snorted, "Yeah, that load of codswallop is making the rounds around here. I've never seen my assistants laugh so hard."

Blauer hadn't laughed, when she'd first read it. She'd thought he was wrong, but he was convincingly wrong. The premise of the paper was something that most people would reject out of hand, without taking the time to actually read it.