Legion: Gray Meadow

Chapter 2: Abigail

It was around 8 PM and I had just closed up shop. I was getting ready to go and get a meal at a local Italian restaurant. Looking outside and seeing how snowy it was, I grabbed my coat, put on my boots, and went on my way. Though it was around 10° outside, it wasn't a long enough distance to justify taking my car.

Arriving at the restaurant I realized the place was quite crowded. Fortunately, I was able to find a seat, but just as I got there, a woman ran up to the same one. "Sorry, I know the place is too crowded. Do you mind if we share the table?" the woman asked. "Of course," I responded, still feeling somewhat surprised. I'd never heard of somebody asking to share a table at a restaurant before.

I sat down across from her, still having no idea who the hell she was. I looked at the menu and decided to order angel hair spaghetti as it had been a while since I last had that. "What's your name?" The woman asked form across the table. "Oh, my name is Asriel. Asriel Parks," I told her.

"Wait, you're that person who opened the cafe back in August, right?" she asked. After a few seconds of thinking, "Yeah that's me" I said in response.

Silence followed until the waiter arrived. "Welcome to Italy Palate, how can we serve you tonight?" The girl ordered first, "A small margarita pizza and a ice tea." Then I ordered, "A bowl of angel hair pasta and a Void-Cola to drink." The waiter wrote down the orders while informing us, "Your orders might take around 45 minutes to an hour."

After the waiter left there was more silence. The next 15 minutes neither of us said a word. The only reason she was sitting at my table was because all others were occupied, after all. Then I realized something.

"Wait I didn't ask you're name, did I?" I asked. "No you didn't. My name is Abigail Harper," she told me.

I was looking around the restaurant when I saw a table on the other side of the building. What caught my attention and were the outfits. Sitting around the table were a group of people wearing clothing so similar that of the guy who I'd to fought with in the alleyway a few days ago. On the other end were a bunch of men in fancy blue suits. And hats. One of the blue suited men stood up, walked away from the table and towards the bathroom. As he walked by I got a pretty good look at him.

The man's suit was a navy blue so was his hat, but it had a far lighter blue ribbon around it. He wore a tie what was the same color as the suit and a clip connecting the suit to his shirt that seemed to be made of wood.

"What's with all those guys in the blue suits talking to those red eyes?" I asked Abigail, hoping that she would have an answer. "Those are The Deadwoods. They're the rival gang to The Red Eyes. It seems that the two gangs are having a meeting here. How do you know about The Redeyes?" she said, answering my question with one of her own.

"A few days ago, they tried messing with one of my friends," I said, trying to explain.

"You didn't get into a fight with one of them, did you?" She asked with a worried expression on her face.

"It was more of a brief tussle," I answered, noticing that her worry had began to affect me as well.

"Well, then it's not exactly safe for you to be here. News spreads quickly among those guys." she warned, "and if they see you, it might mess up their meeting and cause a full on fight between them and The Deadwood."

"I guess I'll just leave when we get our food. I mean you do get to keep the table," I said.

"Look Asriel, I don't have a good history with them either. If they see two people who they don't like at the same table it won't be good for either of us," Abigail told me.

Before I could even think to make my response the waiter walked up to our table and dropped off our food. "Have a wonderful meal," he said in the same tired tone he had 45 minutes earlier.

"Waiter, can we have some boxes to go?" I asked before he even fully turned around.

Minutes later we walked out of the building. "You have to understand, Asriel, that we are not safe in a good chunk of this town." As she put her box in her car Abigail she paused, adding, "Do you have time tomorrow so we can talk about this more?"

"If you show up 30 minutes before opening, we can talk then." I replied.

"Well, talk to you tomorrow Asriel," she said as she got into a car.

"Talk to you tomorrow, Abigail." I said, in response. I began to walk home. Upon arrival I started eating my dinner, which was still surprisingly warm. I started to think about what she told me about how we were both in danger. I started to wonder if others were as well.

I guess the part of me that is still a, "superhero," would think about that. I decided to put on something comfier before eating. As I changed into those comfy clothes I saw an old photo of me and the others. It was strange, that nine year old photo from 2021. Seeing all of us.

I was playing a guitar. Ender and Kori were roasting marshmallows while, directly next to the flame, Joshua was using a fishing pole to roast his. Vivian was telling a story that I can't remember, and we were using Pyro as a campfire. For a second, I thought about calling them, but they're all busy, and I don't want my spaghetti to go cold. So I sat down and ate my spaghetti getting still unsure as to what Abigail and I were gonna talk about tomorrow.