Heaven Gilded Zarcroft Hybrid

Twenty Eight

After we got dressed and fixed ourselves, we went down to the lobby. People walked through a giant, arched entrance far across the room. I was surprised at how casually everyone was dressed—sweatpants, gym shorts, graphic T-shirts, even pajamas.

Maybe it was just a regular hotel.

The dining area was beautiful. One giant window lined the wall, illuminating the room with sunlight as if we were outside. To my surprise, they had waiters deliver the food to everyone—not robots. We sat at a table near the back.

In the middle of the table were four menus. Just regular menus. But when I thought back to the book, I knew it couldn't have been. And I was right.

I pressed on the first item I saw, and a full image of the dish appeared. It even had an option to translate it, but I didn't want the people around us to realize I spoke English. Despite my concern, Cynaline switched the language for me, so I was probably worried about nothing.

Still, Dorothy laid her menu flat on the table, letting the glare from the window hide what she was reading.

I noticed the breakfast menu was slim on actual food. There were a lot of drinks: smoothies, coffees, teas, and such. The few solid things they had were a small bowl of mashed bananas with corn flakes (I think), minced meat, and a peanut butter fudge (again, I think).

I chose a mug of something called "Galputan", which was a "creamy drink made of milk, galpot, and cinnamon", according to the menu. But I don't know why I ordered it. The aroma of the food around me soured. Yesterday, I would've thought it was delicious. But now, it disgusted me. I covered my mouth.

Dorothy touched my arm, her eyes soft.

"I don't want anything," I whispered. "I just want some water."

"Do you feel sick?" she asked.

"No, I'm fine."

She nodded, and ordered off the menu again.

To get my mind off of things, I pulled the "vision" book from my bookbag. The table was big enough to set it on. I opened the book to the table of contents.

"Now the glasses make sense," Jamie joked.

"Sorry," I said. "I just thought it was interesting."

"So on Dualgaea, you just have books that can't do anything?" Cynaline pondered."What if you don't understand it? What if you can't read?"

"I guess you can find it online in another language," Dorothy said. "Or audiobooks."

"What if there are none?"

Dorothy shrugged. "Then that's it, I guess."

A waitress came by, holding a tray of drinks. She set them all in front of us. I noticed something shimmering on her thumb: a shiny, ruby ring. The sheen of it reminded me of blood or a dark red car.

"Your ring is beautiful!" Dorothy gasped. "What's it made out of?"

"Thank you, love," she grinned, revealing the same long canines that Cynaline had. "It was a gift. Enjoy your breakfast."

She returned to the kitchen with the tray at her side.

"Aww." Dorothy slouched in her chair. "She didn't say what it was made of."

"It looked like ruby," Cynaline said. "Is that your favorite color?"

"One of them."

"Mine is sky blue."

As I grabbed my glass of water, Dorothy pushed a stone cup towards me. Or was it a harder, gray styrofoam? Whatever. The drink looked like coffee with foam on top.

"I ordered it anyway," she said. "In case you wanted it."

I silently thanked her. It was a hot, creamy, cinnamon pudding with bits of sugary oatmeal stirred in. As soon as it touched my tongue, I wanted another cup. Why did I have such a repulsion towards the delicious food around me before? Maybe I was tired or something. I prayed it wouldn't happen again.

Dorothy ate a big muffin filled with fruit preserves, and Jamie ate what looked like frog legs and orange scrambled eggs.

Cynaline's phone rang with another call from Zinoray. He sighed and put in his earbuds to hear it. He barely touched his food in between all the talking. It seemed like he only wanted to see the hotel, not find anything in it. At some point, they started talking about groceries, an upcoming movie, and the recipe he used for his cookies. That's how it remained for the rest of breakfast.