In The End

Section 1: Chapter 9

Silvana Crow was not used to shopping. It was hot, and stank of people. Besides, the whole experience was so grey and impersonal, and it all seemed as far from nature as you could physically get. She'd first brought a plant pot - priorities first. She'd then gone shopping for clothes, and that had been an experience and a half. Even in times of war, there were still plenty of clothes on the shelves, stitched together from beautiful materials she'd never seen before. And this was just the cheap clothing. Eventually, she brought a T-shirt with what she figured was a unicorn on it, although the artist had obviously never seen one. She also bought a pair of jeans with a stylised dragon down the side, embroidered in red, and a plain black crocheted beanie. She was hiding in plain sight.

The actual queuing took ages. Deathstalkers rarely queued. Silvana spent the time trying to figure out how the currency worked, and was pleasantly surprised by how simple it was. By the time she got to the checkout, she figured she could have sewed something for herself. The girl at the checkout looked worried, as she looked at Silvana's coarse hands and bruised face.
"Are you..okay?"
"Got lost in the woods," said Silvana, looking away from the girl haughtily and handing over the exact amount for the clothes, "I'm just glad to be back in civilisation,"
She got changed into her new clothes in the toilets. They felt weird against her skin, but they made her feel strangely free. She put on her beanie and ran into Naoki, wearing a plain white T-shirt and brown trousers. She looked down and blushed slightly. She'd forgotten about blending in.

.................

Naoki just finished changing, and got himself some brown straight trousers, made of a jean-like material, a white loose t-shirt, and a black zip up hoodie. He looked at the girl and smirked. She looked down shyly.
"I forgot and... Got this."
She said and he burst out laughing.
"You're blending in perfectly. Just keep that beanie on in public."
The two of them walked out of the clothes store. They were in a mall, and Naoki could tell that this was draining Silvana. He had to agree, he was feeling pretty tired as well. The plants in her bag seemed to be keeping her on her feet, though.
"Now, let's get you some herbs and teas and whatever else, then we can go eat something and then let's get a room to spend the night. "
He said and smirked again. Man, he'd almost forgot what being in civilisation felt like. He grabbed her hand and the two walked towards the pharmacy. On the way, he considered dumping his uniform, but something stopped him from getting rid of it. He ignored that for now, as they got to the pharmacy. He asked for "strengthening herbs and herbal teas" and got plenty for silvana. She sure needed them.
"Mexican or Chinese?"

.........

"What?"
Sometimes, everyone around Silvana seemed to be speaking another language. She'd heard foreign name after foreign name, without context. She looked at Naoki, and his face fell. He'd forgotten that Silvana had come from another world.
"Oh..Chinese," said Silvana quickly.
They'd gone off to the nearest Chinese, and sat at a table near the front of the shop. Silvana stared at the dragons and the paper lanterns decorating everything, and their small, cherry blossom sapling. It felt strangely like a weak imitation of home. Silvana opened the menu. She didn't have a clue what any of this was, and eventually ordered something with three chillies next to it. Naoki stared at her.
"You do know what those mean, right?"
Silvana shook her head, "I'm going to find out,"
As they were waiting for their food, Silvana looked at Naoki, "In the shops..there was an argument.. someone called this girl a...Nat Tzi, and she got angry and slapped him. They're calling the army Nat Tzis - on both sides, as far as I can see - and their leaders as well. What the hell is a Nat Tzi?"

............

"Nat tzis huh...? " Naoki said, "it's too complicated but you don't wanna know..."
He said. Politics was too complicated to explain to this girl from another world. He wasn't even sure he understood it himself.
Until recently, he had been fighting in the Third World War, against what had previously been Western Europe. Their leaders, which silvana would call the 'nat tzis', were merciless. His country, America, made sure to stay out of it as much as possible - at this point, he had to credit Trump for avoiding the trouble. He just wished he didn't have to fight. But the US army did. He had to fight, for the sake of the treaty with Poland. Thousands had to die.
"Look. Our food is here."
He said, to change the subject from Nazis. He'd ordered the same as Silvana, to see just how hot it was. He liked spicy stuff though. He looked at her curiously, waiting for her to take the first bite.
..................
Silvana brought the fork to her mouth, and took a bite, wondering exactly why Naoki was staring at her in such a odd way. After she took that bite, she knew. Wow, wow, wow! It felt as if something had exploded in her mouth. It was incredible, and painful at the same time. Tears began to stream out her eyes and her nose, as she gulped it down.
"Oh." she said, her face slightly red, her eyes slightly watery, "That felt like a dragon just exploded in my mouth."
Almost immediately, she took another forkful. She had to try that again. Otherwise she wouldn't believe it. "That. Is. Something," she said, smiling and looking slightly out of breath, "I've never eaten anything quite like that. You have to try it, Nao. You have to."
................
Naoki laughed. He couldn't stop himself, even if he was drawing attention to himself. He then composed himself, passed her a glass of water and started eating his food. He didn't react. He was used to it. As a teenager he remembered having the challenge of who could eat the most raw chilli peppers. He'd won, before they were all so sick they were taken to the hospital. THAT was the BURN. This was a familiar tingle he enjoyed in his food. He had to admit, it had his strength. For someone like silvana, who'd never experienced spice, he was impressed.
"Drink water with it. If it doesn't help, get milk."
He said calmly, trying to keep his manners and hold his chopsticks the right way. It had been a while since he'd eaten with chopsticks, but he hadn't forgotten how in all this time. He was grateful they'd given Silvana a knife and fork, though.
..............
Silvana was trying as hard as she could to fight intuition to start eating with her hands. That was what she had always done. It was heaps more efficient than using little bits of metal, anyway. She couldn't decide whether she liked this food. It tasted so weird, and burned the inside of her mouth, although she found every forkful hurt a little less.
Eventually, they finished, and they presented the bill to a smiling Asian woman. Silvana couldn't help but stare at her, and when they walked out, she whispered to Naoki,
"Why does she look like that? Was she cursed?"
"She was born that colour,"
This had been the first time that Silvana realised that humans came in all various shapes and colours. For a moment, she wondered whether Elves were any colour other than white. Somehow, she doubted it. They walked out the door, and into the cool night air. Silvana had gotten used to seeing strange things, and was unfazed when a neverending swarm of giant metal demons with bright eyes appeared out of the shadows. They looked like the war machines, only shinier and full of bright glass and leather. She presumed the rich used them for transportation.

Even at night, there was light coming from every angle. It felt like it was almost daylight. She wondered if this town ever slept, and highly doubted it. Yet, the separation from Nature was taking its toll, and she could feel herself tiring.
"Where the hell are we going to sleep?"

................

Naoki pointed at a tall building in front of them. The paint was peeling, and the neon sign was buzzing slightly. The words "MOTEL," were just about discernable.
"There!"
It was obviously not prestigious, but it would have to do. He walked through the door, with Silvana following him. It was much cleaner inside than he was expecting, even if it did smell a little strange. He checked them in, and paid for a five day stay. They didn't really have a plan, but Naoki had a feeling they'd figure something out in that time.
The two made their way to their hotel room. There was a double bed, a small bathroom and a wardrobe. He felt too tired to look any closer. He,just dropped his bag and fell unceremoniously onto the bed, raking up the sheets while he stretched out. But the elf girl seemed to want to tease him. She fell on top of him, and he put his arms around her, while they both laughed. Finally they settled in and he asked.
"You don't know how to use a shower, do you?"
He asked, not needing an answer. She looked like she hadn't even understood the word.
"I'll show you briefly so you can get cleaned."
He said and explained it to her. She took a shower and then his turn came. As he was taking his clothes off, he saw his reflection, and his smile dropped. This is why he hated mirrors.

....................

Silvana knew that this world had magic as well. It could make water hot without heating it, and make a waterfall flow from a piece of metal. Everyone seemed to have these magical devices. Where she'd lived, only those on top had magic. And they had tried to make it stay that way since the beginning of history. She lay there, trying in vain to dry out her hair with the device Naoki had given her. After burning her hand for the umpteenth time, she gave up, wrapping her hair in a rag Naoki had given her.
Naoki was taking a while in the shower. Probably because he wanted to be clean. She didn't blame him. He'd probably never gone for so long without a wash. She looked over at the purple bruise on her side. It was getting better, but it still hurt like hell. The scratches on her arms were healing as well. She idly flicked through a magazine. The colours were brighter than anything she'd seen before. The artist that drew everything was very good. Yet, even bloody elves didn't usually look as perfect as the young men and women between the pages. Silvana despised them already. She was about to chuck it to the side when she saw a blurry, black-and-white picture of herself on the back. "STRANGE TALES FROM THE FRONT:" read the strapline, "What the hell..?" muttered Silvana, "Naoki, you have to see this.." She walked in the door. Something didn't feel right. Naoki was being very quiet.
"Naoki?"

................
Naoki looked at his reflection in the mirror and felt nothing but disgust. It reminded him of his weakness. It showed his real face, when he took the mask off.
He was already shaking once he got in the shower. He couldn't help but try and scrub off all the guilt from his skin with hot water until it turned red.
Once he got out he quickly dried off and put on some fresh clothes, some straight jeans and a grey shirt along with the same hoodie. As he was about to leave, something forced him to look at the mirror again. He stepped back, leaned on the sink and stared into the eyes of his reflection.
He was hearing them again. It had been so long since he'd heard them. He thought they'd gone away for good.
"Stupid..."
"Weakling..."
"Coward..."
He covered his ears to drown out the voices, but it only made them louder. He was at their mercy now. Suddenly, a different voice snapped him out of his trance.
"Naoki, you have to see this."
It was Silvana's voice.
"Naoki?"
She was probably wondering what was taking him so long. He grabbed his towel, threw it on his neck and walked out of the bathroom.
"Christ, Silvana, what are you making a scene for?"
He said, as he fixed the mask back on.
"Look at this."
She handed him the magazine, and pointed to her photo on the back. He doubted people would believe it, and even if they did, he doubted they'd recognise her from that photograph. They still had to be cautious, just in case.
"We have to be more careful when we move around. They could have sent troops to this town, since they knew which direction we went. We'll probably be okay, though. It's not that easy to find us in a big city."
He said reassuringly. He also knew Silvana would be safe once she got across to her world. He wouldn't. He'd be even more vulnerable after she'd gone. He wondered how to get out of that situation. He felt like the only thing he could do would be to return, and explain himself with lies.
"Let's get some rest. Tomorrow will be a busy day."