Welcome everyone to chapter 26!
Tartarus is finally starting to hint at his plans and our favorite purple-haired teen gets sassy.
Also: shopping time in the modern world!
I hope you enjoy and let's get right into this!
Luckily, the girls didn't have to stay in an alley.
Hazel found several silver denarii in her jacket pocket and used one to rent a room in the fancy hotel they had entered. Apparently the coins were worth a lot as they only needed to use two for everything. The desk manager wasn't exactly sure what it was but they appeared to be made of pure silver so he accepted it.
Amira and Hazel were given a room on the 5th floor of the giant building and, despite their protests, the desk manager gave them a large suite and even instructed one of the bellhop boys to show them there.
"Here is the key to your room. Try not to lose it. If you do then just come here to the front desk and one of our employees here will get you in." The manager, Alred, told them. "I hope you ladies enjoy your stay!"
Hazel and Amira gave their thanks and followed the young employee to the elevator. Having only been in an elevator once before, Amira again stumbled when it first moved. Hazel giggled and grabbed her arm before she fell.
The doors then opened and the two followed as the employee guided them to a room at the end of the hall. Hazel unlocked the door with the key and the bellhop gave a small bow before leaving. Once Amira and Hazel entered the room, golden and purple eyes widened at the sight.
The room (if not apartment) was gorgeously huge.
The main entrance was a circular room with a fluffy carpet on the floor and a huge skylight, the sun casting a warm glow throughout the room. The floor was made of white and gold Indian-marble tiles, the walls different shades of browns. To the right, three tuxedo-style sofas were positioned around a gold-colored optimyst fireplace that stretched along half the length of the wall, a 40inch television mounted above it.
In the main room sat a tile top dining table, four chairs placed around it comfortably. To the left was a large doorway that led to what the girls saw as the bedroom. A huge king-sized bed took the majority of that area with a bathroom off to one side and a sliding glass door that led to a surprisingly large balcony to the other. Two low loveseats rested on the sides of the balcony. Being on the top floor, the amazing view overlooked the majority of Los Angeles.
"Oh… my… gods… I can't even- words-! Thi-this place is amazing!" Hazel exclaimed as she looked around, the door closing behind her.
It took Amira a solid minute to respond as her breath was stolen.
"I- I must agree… Never before have I seen a place quite so elegant. The only places in Alagaesia that come close to a place such as here are castles or the homes of Lords." She agreed numbly. The Roman laughed.
"I won't say I understand because I've never seen an actual castle before. But this place is incredible!" She slipped off her shoes and placed them next to the door. Amira did the same. "So what do you think we should do now?"
Amira thought for a long moment, the two moving to sit on the sofas beside the blazing fireplace.
"I am not sure." She admitted, her mood dampening. "I only hope that we still have time that we may use to-"
Amira cut herself off as she felt her wrist tingle. She looked down to see Tartarus' mark was glowing faintly and knew that he was summoning her. She explained it to Hazel and the Roman nodded, saying she'd stay in the room and wait for her to get back.
Amira grabbed her pendant and closed her purple eyes. When she opened them she saw she was once again in the creepy Underworld garden. She sighed. She hated it there.
"Amira!" Tartarus called her.
The Rider turned and followed his voice. She found him in the main room of Hades' former castle as she knew he'd be. She stopped in front of him and bowed.
"You summoned me?" She asked quietly. The primordial nodded his swirling head.
"Your mission report?" He demanded.
"All was well, unfortunately. I was unable to gather several members of Camp Half-Blood as they were not present at the time of my spell. However, all those there have been dealt with." Amira explained with a sigh after a moment of confusion.
"I hear the disappointment in your voice," The primordial noted. The Alagaesian frowned.
"Yes, I am disappointed. I am disappointed and sad and angry and I have no one to blame but myself for trusting a liar and murderer." She snapped angrily.
"Liar and murderer?'" The large primordial repeated, sounding none-too-happy with the accusation. But Amira was stubborn.
"You lied to me when saying that you spared my dragon and you lied when saying that my former friends did not care for me. You tricked me into helping you and forced me to end hundreds of innocent half-bloods because you were annoyed by them!"
"I would watch your words if I were you; I could end you here and now and my plans would not change." Tartarus warned, his swirling head moving faster. Amira felt her heart skip a beat. "So consider yourself lucky that I will not."
"W- Why so?" She felt herself ask.
"I am keeping you alive because I will need you soon but that is a conversation for later. Right now, I want you to tell me what you are doing in the mortal world?" He demanded, crossing his gigantic arms. Amira hurriedly thought of a reply.
"I feel weak and constricted being in this Underworld and so I have found a place to stay in the upper lands until you call upon me." She answered, telling most of the truth but not all. Tartarus seemed to think for a minute before replying.
"Very well. The gods' weapon is still a threat so you may stay in the upper world but are to remain out of our enemy's sight unless I say otherwise."
Amira felt her wrist tingle and cursed as she knew that she was now bound to follow his order. A small duffle bag appeared at her feet and she gave it a confused look.
"What is this, my Lord?" She asked, the name slipping from her mouth out of habit. Tartarus grunted.
"A new title? Very well. In that bag, you will find an amount of the mortals' current money to use as you please as a reward." He explained. Amira nodded and grabbed the bag. Looking inside, she saw multiple stacks of strange green paper.
"Thank you, my Lord. Am I dismissed?" She asked; the primordial apparently liked the title so she decided to stick with it to be careful.
Said being nodded so she used his pendant to travel back up to the mortal world. She appeared in the hotel room and saw Hazel reading a thin book at the table. She looked up as Amira appeared.
"Hey. You weren't gone long." She greeted.
"Indeed. Thankfully he wanted nothing more than a report so I did not have to stay long." Amira placed the bag on the table and slumped onto a free chair with a sigh. Hazel nodded and gestured to the bag.
"What's in here?"
"He said it contained this world's currency," Amira explained as her friend unzipped the beg. Hazel looked inside and her golden eyes widened.
"Holy-! That's a lot of money!"
Taking out a single stack, the younger girl guessed she held several hundred dollars in her hand, the bills being all twenties.
"At least we have something good to look forward to?" Amira noted with a small smile. Hazel nodded with a slack jaw as she took the rest from the bag and stacked it on the table.
"Yeah totally! There must be thousands of dollars here! I mean like, what do we even do with all this?"
"Perhaps we could find a place to acquire new clothing?" Amira suggested while gesturing to her current outfit. She was still wearing her Alagaesian clothes which were worn, dirty, old, and in desperate need to be changed after almost two weeks. Hazel smiled and clapped her hand in happy excitement.
"Shopping time!" She exclaimed, her curly hair bouncing around her face.
The two girls slipped on their shoes and left the hotel, making sure their keycard was secure in Hazel's pocket. The two asked the hotel manager for directions and he instructed them to the nearest mall. They wandered LA for a while before finding the large building. The two shared a smile and walked in.
It took Amira a long second for her shaking legs to start working again after she entered but managed to stumble after Hazel as she pulled her around the different stores.
For several hours, the two girls looked around until they had each chosen several new outfits as well as clothes to sleep in. The girls also bought necessary toiletries like soaps and toothbrushes.
After, they decided to wander through the mall for a while longer as they had nothing better to do at the moment.
There was a large food court where Hazel bought them both some lunch, making sure Amira stuck to her elven diet. Then they decided to look for some new shoes. The girls looked through several different stores before settling on a pair of lace-up military-style boots for Amira and simple Converse for Hazel.
The Alagaesian was confused by Earth's styles and traditions but she looked past it and had a total blast while shopping with Hazel.
By the time they decided to head back to the hotel, the sky had darkened considerably. Hazel saw it was nearing nine o'clock so the girls hurried to their room and readied themselves for the night. They each took turns showering then changed into the nightclothes they had just purchased. Hazel could help but laugh as she had to show Amira how to work the shower, which the Alagaesian marveled at.
An hour later, the two friends were relaxing comfortably on the balcony as they watched the sun slowly set. Amira smiled, dressed in a grey tank top, shorts, and socks.
"Thank you for today, Hazel. I had a great time with you and I thank you again for helping me understand your world more."
"Yeah, of course!" Hazel replied. She wore a long-sleeved shirt, sweatpants, and long fluffy socks. "I had a lot of fun too. I admit that I'm still not totally used to modern times but I can find my way around." She shifted in her seat so she faced the purple-haired girl, her feet propped up while leaning against the armrest. "Can you tell me more about Alagaesia? It just sounds so cool there."
"I would be glad to. Is there anything in specific that you would like to know of?"
"Just anything and everything you want to say."
So the two girls spent half of the night telling stories about their homes and what life was like. Amira talked about her time growing up with the elves and Hazel listened with wide eyes, entranced by her world.
In response, she then told her what life was like born in the 1920's. Amira didn't understand a lot of what or where her friend was saying but the Roman explained. They even managed to find a map in their hotel room and she showed the Alagaesian her world.
It was nearing two o'clock in the morning when Hazel finally decided to call it a night. She said her goodnight and fell asleep on the room's large bed at her friend's insistence.
Requiring little sleep, Amira instead stayed awake and watched the sky from the balcony until the sun eventually rose.
And that concludes the twenty-sixth chapter of A Strange and Different Land!
Thank you all for reading and I hope you chose to continue the story. Please feel free to leave a review. Criticism, advice, compliments or corrections are welcome.
Have a good one and I'll see you later!
