“Dear Shaman,” she said, “my son has introduced our guests as Peter and his beloved, Bayani. Peter’s older sister is here as well. Her name is Cerys, and this other girl is her closest friend where she comes from, Himeko.”

“Fascinating fascinating,” the old shaman said, looking to each of them. “And look at you, how you seem to all come from different places, yet you are together. What a wonderful place you must come from.”

Cerys thought about it for a moment, considering everything that went on where she came from, the politics, the pollution, the way people hurt one another. It did not seem to her that it was an entirely wonderful world. Then again, coming from a place where these different cultures and ethnicities could come together and live peaceably, for the most part, she had to admit, was pretty amazing.

She smiled at him. “I am glad to have friends like these.”

“It is good to have friends is all, isn’t it?” the shaman asked.

Again Cerys nodded.

“I heard you wanted to see us,” Peter said, proving one again that he was far less interested in pleasantries.

“Very true, very true,” the shaman said. “It is not every day that I get a chance to meet people from the world beyond the trees. I worry sometimes about how you’ll do while you’re here, in a forest with energy such as ours.”

“This is a dangerous place, sure,” Peter replied, “ but I know better than to mess around with electricity. My mother made sure that I knew that much.”

Cerys hoped that her brother would not say anything else sarcastic.

“Oh, has your mother been to our forest before?” the shaman asked.

Peter gave him the curious look.

“Never mind young one, never mind. Please, eat. You look like you have not eaten for days.”

Peter looked down, feeling the shaman’s eyes examining his narrow frame. When he did not reach for any food right away, the shaman held up platter of fish towards him. “This one is very healthy for you. It will help you to grow stronger.”

Peter looked down of the fish on the platter. Instead of the pink flesh that he was used to, this one was a bright shade of blue. It was the color someone would use to demonstrate electricity in a drawing. Some parts of rich cobalt, others the bright blue of the sky; the edges were bright white. Then he looked up the shaman.