Chapter 5

The two were sent to a boarding house just outside Bayville proper. It wasn't much, and it was filled with other kids, but it was the best that the service lady could provide the two with seeing how they didn't want to be separated. They were able to get their own rooms, but it only held a desk, a bunk bed pushed against the wall and a mediocre closet. It wasn't the Ritz, but Adelina figured it was a step up from sleeping in a cave.

The 'matron' of the house was a bit over-weight woman that was greying around her blonde hair. She glanced over the two girls with such an uncaring look that Adelina couldn't help but shrink back. The woman gestured for them to follow, with the child service lady letting them know that they are enrolled in Bayville High School and must report for school in a week. She also informed them that she would check up on them from time to time. Adelina worried more about that then settling in at the boarding house, among normal teens that weren't accustomed to war and to training every day since they were six. Her image inducer had been on the fritz since they left the police station, glitching off and on for a good thirty minute. It flickered so briefly that the service lady or any of the cops hadn't noticed, as she had been too busy driving to notice.

Once they had been shown their rooms, and informed that supper would be at seven-thirty sharp, no excuses, Nami slammed and locked the door as the image inducer failed completely. Adelina gasped as her tail hit one of the bunk beds, the pain flaring up as Nami maneuvered around her to shut the blinders, just in case that someone might see.

"Ugh, stupid thing." She muttered.

"What happened?"

Adelina took the thing off, leaving the rosary on her neck. "I don't know! This stupid thing-"

"Has only been just made. You may just need to tweak it."

Adelina sighed through her nostrils, plopping down on the bottom bunk bed, her tail curling behind her. Tears slid down her face.

"Hey none of that now." Nami pulled the scaled girl into a tight hug, humming softly for comfort.

"I won't be able to walk around like this. And there's no telling how others will react to…this." She glared down at her scaly, clawed hands. "I think the image inducer failed me back at the electronic shop. That's why…..that's probably the reason I knocked over the display case."

"I don't blame you, Ade." Adelina glanced up and watched Nami scan around the room. "At least we got a good deal here. We have a comfortable living area. We'll have a steady three-day meal and we're going to be going to school."

"I'm not so sure how I feel about that." Adelina muttered.

"Eh…come on, Ade. It'll be an adventure. An experience!"

"I wish we stayed in the future." The girl whispered. "I don't know how to fit in with other kids my age."

"Me neither. I was an adult at age ten."

Adelina smirked while Nami gave a dry chuckle. "I don't think we need to bring our childhood up to any potential acquaintances."

"Nah., I thought that would've been a wonderful hook."

The winged girl couldn't help but cackle a little bit. The two fell silence once again, sitting down on the bottom bunk, letting the situation sink in for them. Adelina still couldn't believe that they were here in the past, on the path to chance history as they knew it. She had wondered during those nights in the cave, when her doubts and fears and grief kept her from falling asleep, whether or not that she made the right choice accompanying her queen and leaving her mentor behind to…

Her hand clasped the rosary that rested around her neck a bit more tightly.

Even with the limited supplies they had, Nightcrawler had always made sure that the silver cross was polished and clean. He had a faith like no other, one of the few that still had something to believe in despite the horrible situation that they were in. Hope that, someday, the world would change for the better and Phoenix would be defeated and life restored. Even when a situation was bleak and hopeless and they were desperate…

Adelina never had the same hope.

But it seems that she would have too now. She would be the other side to balance out Nami's pessimistic realism. It would be hard, but she knew that if held steady in her faith, then they could do anything.

"Right, well, I'm gonna get some sleep." The queen announced with a sigh, looking as though she was ready to drop dead right there. But for Adelina's sake, she put on a brave face. "From what I was able to overhear, we won't be going to school for another few days. So, you'll have some time to fix the image inducer."

Adelina nodded in agreement though her face still held worry and anxiety about the coming….well she didn't know how long it would be.

A couple of days…..

A week or two…..

A month…..

A year…..

Only the Lord knew and He was excellent at keeping secrets. Adelina's fingers gently worked the rosary again, tracing the indentions and the markings in the silver with her clawed finger. Each line she made was a prayer crafted and offered upward. With each prayer, Adelina's hope started to build. Nami gave her a hug before climbing up to the bed above her, taking the top bunk. The teen snuggled underneath the blanket and fell asleep moments later, leaving Adelina with her thoughts. She stood and locked the doors, if not for anything else but for peace of mind that no one would come into the room in the middle of the night and see her in her true form, before turning and taking up the bottom bunk.

Adelina curled underneath the bedsheets, the feeling something entirely new to her. She normally didn't get the pleasure of sleeping under a relatively thick blanket or on a mattress as soft as this. The scaled girl fought against sleep for the longest time, trying to sort through all the thoughts that were running rampant through her mind. But she lost the battle, feeling the drowsiness take hold of her with its iron grip and her eyelids slid shut.