Let It Slip

Part XXIII

Zelda sighed heavily, her eyes ached from squinting down at the texts written in languages she hadn't practiced in centuries. Leaning back, she gently placed the Book of Enoch on top of the others and plucked the gloves off her hands finger by finger - the gentle sound of metal on metal made Lilith look up from where she was reading the Book of the Dead, using gloves Zelda had made for her. Holding Lilith's gaze, Zelda smiled suddenly as an idea popped into her mind.

"We can't sit in here pouring ourselves into these books, looking for things we can't even fathom for the next three weeks. We'll go mad and this is not how I want to spend my last bit of time Upside. Also, I have a feeling this is the calm before the storm so let's take some liberties here." Zelda stood up and extended her hand to Lilith, "Come with me."

Lilith stood, unceremoniously dropping her book into the seat of her chair and discarding her gloves on top of it. Zelda eyed the mess and hoped no one would venture to sit on it but she said nothing as Lilith put her hand in hers and she pulled her to the front door. Cloaks swirled magically around the witches as they escaped the confines of the mortuary and disappeared into the night. Zelda took a deep breath of the fresh Greendale Woods air as she led Lilith through it towards the town center.

Over time, Greendale had been preserved and it looked much like it always had but upon closer inspection, a person could see that the storefronts and signs were incredibly detailed holographic images and behind them was a more modern representation made of steel and glass. As the years rolled into one another, the town council asked the inhabitants to vote on whether they wanted the town to have a more modern appearance but everyone who was interested in modernities had moved on to Riverdale and beyond - those who remained had an infinity for the past and preferred it remain. Time, however, ravaged the old buildings and eventually they needed to be remade with modern materials and so the council decided holographs projecting the past onto the future would be an appropriate compromise.

"For as long as I've inhabited Hell, it's never changed. I've barely set foot on Earth in the last hundred years...it's strange to see physical evidence of time passing and humanity evolving. It makes me uneasy." Lilith pulled Zelda closer, lacing her arm through her lover's as she shivered. "It feels ominous."

"Maybe it just feels that way because of how many millenia you've experienced but that should soothe your nerves, my love. You more than anyone has lived through every change that's been made on this planet." Zelda placed her hand over Lilith's and squeezed.

"Yes, I have, and I have also seen this planet in its full glory. I saw it the way it was intended to be. In The Beginning, the Earth was unscathed and humanity was faced with nothing but possibilities. This...this feels unwelcome." Lilith stared at the hologram announcing Cereberus Books with a frown. "It feels...forced."

"Humans were given possibilities and this is what they chose to do with it. Right or wrong, it now just - is. With progress and evolution comes innovation, my darling. Here...let me show you." Zelda grinned mischievously and pulled Lilith towards Cereberus Books, diving behind the holographic image to enter through the doors that slid open for them automatically.

Passed the machines full of electronically scanned books with slots to place your book reader which would then transfer the book you bought onto your device, passed the booths that had been maintained for socializing guests, passed the counter where a young teen looked up briefly but didn't recognize them, and into a room in the back. Stopping at another counter where a second teenager eyed them suspiciously until Zelda motioned to the menu behind him, "We want an hour, please."

Shrugging, the teen handed Zelda two headsets, "Do you know how to use these?"

"It's rather self-explanatory, isn't it?" Zelda mimed putting it on.