Chapter 3
Elena drifted out of the haze of unconsciousness slowly, her vision somewhat blurry as she stretched her arms above her head then rubbed her face with her palms, her mind grasping at her quickly fading dream. She couldn't remember much about it besides broken pieces of images and a deep terror left in her like thick humidity clinging to her skin. As she gave up on trying to remember it she realized that the lighting in the room was strange and - more importantly - she wasn't on her own sofa.
"What the…?" Sitting up quickly she looked around at her unfamiliar surroundings: she was on a black sofa with a blanket on her lap in a beige-colored room with a large space on the wall across from her where the television would probably project if she swiped her hand downwards in its direction and a coffee table between them. The sparse room held little by way of giving her any indication of who lived there as it was clean to the point of being practically empty. Really, there wasn't anything personal or decorative in the place except a folded pile of clean clothes on the short table and- "Is that my ring?!"
Elena threw the blanket off her lap and got to her feet, regretting it immediately when she suddenly felt extremely lightheaded and had to brace herself on the arm of the couch. It was then that she noticed the homemade bandages on the exposed skin of her arms and legs which - with her short-sleeved shirt and shorts - was more than she wanted to think about some stranger touching her. She shivered mentally as she cautiously straightened, not wanting to relive nearly passing out, and crossed the room to scoop up the ring which had been placed on a table matching the coffee table at the base of the large wall.
Upon inspection of the ornate silver knotting and the dark blue stone with what her family had supposed was some sort of crest and taking into account that her finger lacked the exact same ring, Elena concluded that was either a very impressive fake or it had to be hers. Betting on the latter, she slipped it back onto the middle finger of her right hand where it had belonged for almost ten years now.
Oh good, you're awake.
Elena, who hadn't been paying attention to her surroundings after she had picked up her ring, spun around to see a beautiful young woman standing behind her with a kit of strange medicinal supplies. Her white hair and unsettling yellow eyes were initially shocking, but Elena saw that they strangely seemed to suit the woman who could only be at most a couple of years older than her own 27 years. The only thing making the woman seem more human than angelic was the Talker wrapped around her pale neck indicating her muteness. That explained the mechanical voice which had greeted her moments before.
"Where am I? What happened to me?" Elena calmly asked, not sure how to approach this bizarre situation, but figuring that starting without hysterics would probably be prudent.
The woman cocked her head as she observed Elena almost as though she viewed her as some sort of specimen. You don't remember? My granddad found you in the alley and had me bring you in here to patch you up since you were in pretty bad shape. Looks like you're feeling a bit better then? My name is Abigail, by the way. What's yours? As she spoke, Abigail placed the kit on the table and moved to open the white curtains covering the window on the opposite side of the room, filling the space with natural light.
"My name's Elena. You said I was in an alley?" Elena sat back down on the couch as Abigail gestured toward her bandages, questioning silently if she could examine them. She nodded warily, figuring whatever damage could be done with what looked like homemade remedies had already been done considering she was already patched up. Abigail gently got to work unwrapping the cloths on Elena's head (which she hadn't noticed but explained why she felt lightheaded), pulling them away to reveal that they were slightly bloodstained.
This is to clean your wounds. It'll sting a bit but it's safe, Abigail said as she pulled a vial of brownish liquid from the box, screwing off the top and pouring a small amount in her palm and rubbing into the back of her own hand until it absorbed into her skin. See? Perfectly safe.
"Alright," Elena said slowly, comforted at least that if this woman did turn out to be psycho that they would both be taken out by these 'remedies.' Elena braced for the sting as Abigail approached her skull with a cloth soaked with the disinfectant but what she felt was more of a prickle than a sting. Well, that was anticlimactic.
We didn't see what happened to you, so we'd hoped that you would remember something. Not just to find out what happened to you but also because that would at least mean that your brain probably didn't get damaged when you hit your head. What's the last thing you remember? Abigail asked as she continued to examine how Elena's wounds were healing.
Elena thought about it for a moment, racking her brain before finally saying, "The last thing I can remember is walking home from work." Abigail nodded, pursing her lips in concentration before turning and grabbing another vial from the kit. Again, she demonstrated that it was harmless before spreading some of the thick greenish mush on Elena's left shoulder blade.
Well, the bright side is that it looks like you won't have any permanent damage from what I can see. Does your vision seem blurry or your thought process slow? "No...I don't think there's anything noticeably different."
Kool-aid. Abigail stopped her work and rolled her eyes, inhaling heavily through her nose in frustration. I really hate this thing sometimes. That's good to hear though.
It looks like some of these, Abigail held up one of the cloths that had been used to cover a scrape on Elena's arm, can be replaced by regular old bandages. That should make it a bit easier for you to move around at least. With that, Abigail took out a box of them and used a few for her shoulder, elbows, and the side of her calf. Judging by the placement of the wounds, Elena guessed she must have fallen down - maybe even pushed - quite a few times.
As Elena continued to question her own sanity for allowing a woman she barely knew to tend to wounds she still couldn't remember getting, an old voice croaked from down the hall accompanied by slow thumping steps.
"Ugh, I hate being so old and creaky. Abigail, did you put the new tea away yet? Oh, she's awake. That's good." A surprisingly tall, thin old man shuffled into view, pausing for a moment to wave at the two of them before continuing on his slow journey to the kitchen. Elena wondered if the man and his granddaughter were purposely coordinating with their long white hair, the old man sporting a long white beard to match. Really, he looked like a less energetic, magicless Dumbledore without glasses. What really topped off his look was the fluffy red bathrobe and the slippers he wore, the lower half of his skinny calves and ankles visible beneath the hem.
And that would be my grandad. The old man snorted lightly as he navigated his way around the kitchen, pulling mugs out of the cabinets at head level and placing a kettle of water on one of the glass counters where he brushed a knobbled finger across the surface to turn on a heating element beneath it. Would you like some tea, Elena? Abigail asked as she finished checking the rest of the bandages.
"Yes, please," Elena said as Abigail's grandfather continued to deftly grab a teapot and some snacks to put on a large wooden tray. Just as he finished putting the rest of the tray together the kettle on the counter began to whistle to the tune of 'The Entertainer,' signaling him to pick it up and pour the heated water into the pot with the tea leaves he'd just finished measuring. The heating element on the counter turned itself off as he picked up the tray, quite a feat for such an old guy considering how heavy it looked, and left the kitchen to go to the living room.
Let me get that, Abigail said reaching for the tray as he was about to bend to put the tray on the table. He didn't answer for a few seconds before saying "Ah yes, I am an old man so you should be sure to clean up once we're done, too. Thank you, sweetheart. You can call me Chris, by the way, Miss…?"
"Elena," she said, extending a hand to him. "Thank you for helping me, both of you." He grasped her hand with his own, shaking it firmly before settling on the opposite side of the couch.
"It was no trouble at all. Oh, was that yours? We found it - well, Abigail found it - around where you were," he said, nodding to the ring on her right hand. She moved her thumb along the side of it, nodding.
"It's been in my family for longer than anyone remembers. Thank you for finding it."
"Our pleasure. Please, have some tea or some...what are these?" Chris asked Abigail as he picked up a dark green disk with white speckles dotting it. He laughed under his breath right before Abigail said, Didn't you read the box? It's a new thing from France I think.
"Right, right, silly me. Anyway, is there anything you needed to get done today, Elena? If not, it'd probably be best for you to try to remember what happened to you in case you remember their face. Unless of course you don't want to. We have plenty of tea and time to get you healed up if you don't mind Abigail taking care of you," Chris said as he poured himself a cup and tried to take a sip without getting his whiskers in it.
Abigail raised her eyebrow at him, making him snort and almost spit out his tea from what was clearly an inside joke. Pouring a cup for Elena then for herself, Abigail sat on down on the couch between them.
"Thank you, but I don't really remember anything past walking home from work. Speaking of, where exactly am I?" Elena asked as she held her mug between her cold hands. After Abigail rattled off their address, Elena figured her own house was only about a kilometer and a half from here but not between her house and her job at the boutique store. Strange.
I'm sure that whatever you have at home for painkillers and whatnot should be fine. If you don't live with anybody I'd suggest that you stay here so someone can keep an eye on you, considering you've been out for about sixteen hours now. "You didn't think to mention that earlier, Abigail?" Chris said slowly, raising both bushy white brows as he looked at Abigail over the rim of his mug.
"What?! It's already Friday?!" Elena gasped as she swiped her hand in front of her, accidentally using the television space instead of the normal half meter by two thirds meter projection, and saw that it was almost 8:00 am. That explained the fluffy red bathrobe and slippers, Elena guessed. She didn't notice the announcement on the corner of the screen that placed a speech to be made by the king at 5:00 pm that afternoon, or the seemingly endless advancement of the American Empire.
"I'm so sorry to leave all of a sudden, but I have to be at work in a couple of hours. What do you want me to give you for taking care of me?" Swiping upward to turn off the bigger screen and swiping downward purposely away from the large wall, Elena prepared to make a transaction with Abigail for the medication and overall generosity and hospitality.
Oh, no no no. Please don't give us any money. If anything, just check in with us that you're okay and maybe stop by again for a visit sometime, Abigail smiled as she pulled open her own screen and sent Elena her contact information.
"Really, we just want to know that you'll be alright," Chris said as he stood with Abigail to send Elena off at the door.
"Um, alright. Thank you for helping me. I'll be sure to keep in touch!" With that, Elena sped out the door and followed her general knowledge of the area to get back home. If she hurried, she should have enough time to shower and apply some of her own bandages to her many mysterious wounds before her shift at work.
Well, that was fun, Aithusa said as she sat back down to finish her tea and more of the strange green things, stripping the Talker from her neck. At least she should be basically presentable in a day or so. I guess it was lucky she herself never saw the extent of her injuries so I could heal the worst of them without her being any the wiser that she had a broken arm, a sprained ankle, and bleeding in her brain.
"That's true. What'd you get from what you found about the guy who had the ring?" Merlin asked as he made his way back to his room to grab the ingredients for his youth spell. His back was killing him and his voice sounded like he had tried to gargle rocks, not to mention the unbearable itchiness of his beard.
Not much. He was born here but spent some time in America when it was still the United States. I guess he abandoned ship when all hell started to break loose after the election in 2016, not surprisingly. Not married, not exactly well off. From what I can see, he's just a normal guy who saw value in an ornate ring and thought he could maybe get somewhere with Elena while he was at it. As she spoke, Merlin put together the potion and downed it, feeling the effects immediately as his skin regained its health, his spine straightened and became stronger, and his hair returned to its normal black color and shortish length as his beard disappeared.
"I guess that's good to hear. If she doesn't get in touch with us soon, maybe we should take a stroll down the street where she works to check up on her there." Merlin changed into his black skinny jeans with the white stitching and a blue tee shirt. "Yay, I'm normal again!" he celebrated as he skipped out of his room and grabbed his mug to finish his tea on the sofa.
Yes, yes. Back to your fake normal self, you old geezer. You're lucky your magic can sustain that spell for such long periods of time or you'd just have to age like the rest of us, Aithusa grinned, turning her back to rest against the arm of the sofa and tossing her feet on his lap. "Agk, your feet are like ice!"
Muhahaha, my evil power will soon overcome you, puny warlock! she cackled in his mind as he put his feet up on the coffee table next to the tray and pulled the blanket off of the floor and over their laps with a golden glow of his eyes, making the end of Aithusa's side pull over her head. "Brat."
Turd muffin. Fixing the blanket and her hair, Aithusa cuddled down with her nose over the rim of her mug.
"Seriously though, did you see that notice earlier? Bolivia's fallen already and it looks like only a matter of time before Brazil does too," Merlin said as he rested his arms on her shins, leaning his head back to stare at the plaster ceiling.
My guess is that if Brazil falls it will kick the rest of us into gear. The Imperator knows he can't so easily take on Britain and the rest of Europe, not when we have a lot of their own technology to confront him with. Now if you don't mind, I'm going to take a nap, Aithusa announced as she placed her unfinished mug on the coffee table and turned on her side to face the sofa's cushion, yanking the blanket up over her shoulder as she did so.
"It's eight in the morning."
It's the afternoon somewhere! she sang, closing her eyes. I've been up late taking care of the girl so I'm just a smidgen exhausted. Let me know if anything interesting happens.
"Yeah, sure." Merlin sat there for a few minutes scrolling through the news before deciding he'd better do something productive besides molding his butt to the sofa, so he carefully lifted Aithusa's legs off of his lap and stood. Making sure she was covered with the blanket, he made his way to his room to replenish the medicinal mixtures Aithusa had used to heal Elena.
Just as he got everything prepared to make the inflammatory potion, Aithusa's voice rang in his head. Merlin?
"What is it?" Carefully measuring out the proper amount of dried viola bicolor petals from their box, Merlin sprinkled them into the mortar and ground them into a fine dust.
Can you make me a sandwich? He snorted, brushing off some small bits that had gotten on his hands. He'd wondered how long Aithusa was going to pretend she wasn't starving when she was already desperate to get some sleep. "Of course."
And some of the soup from yesterday? Merlin walked to the kitchen and began to take everything out that could be put together into a meal quickly.
"Why don't we just have breakfast first and then you can take a nap?"
Aithusa didn't respond for a second. Okay, fine.