The Legend Thief - Part 5: The Cure

Chapter 16: Going to a Chinese Resteraunt

"How do you even write that?" Quinci asked, terrified. (AN: The blue drawing on the right is Quinci attempt of drawing that.)

"That's a made up word. Someone just took a bunch of actual characters and smushed them all into one. And it's not a smiley face! Though... it might've been derived from one. That character, xin, is the xin from the phrase kai xin, which means happy." Shelly said.

"Booorriinnnggg!" Quinci said. "I'm hungrryyy!"

"Ooh!" Raichu clasped his hands together, "We should go get some food then! I'll order all of us food in a very special way!"

The friends walked to a nearby town, where it was a mix of old and new. People crowded the streets, even though it was before rush hour. Shelly, Ravisu, Raichu, and Pichu expertly wove in and out of people's legs. Quinci, Bell, and Rudia struggled to keep up. Quinci swore she saw sparks flying out of Raichu as they walked(ish) to a place that 'smelled good.'

They entered the restaurant. The walls were shiny-black and flecked with white. Stout purple ottomans lined the walls for waiting people. Two doorways were on each side of the wall, and stairs led to a second story. In the back-middle of the room was a counter, which Raichu went up to.

On the counter was a clipboard, which had a bunch of chinese characters in one column, and numbers in the other. Raichu wrote down his name in the column of chinese characters, and the number 7 in the other. After a few moments, a waiter in checked the clipboard, and crossed off Raichu's name.

He beckoned the group to follow him, and the friends followed him through the right doorway.

The waiter then led the group to a round table next to a window. White light streamed through, and Shelly glanced outside at the bustling crowd. Around them, other tables filled with people created mixed sounds of conversation in the air.

"Qi bei shuai," Shelly said to the waiter, and he left only to return with seven glasses of water.

"Xie xie. (Thank you.)" Shelly thanked the waiter.

"Shei huai dian fan? (Who will order?)" the waiter asked.

"Ta. (Him.)" Shelly pointed to Raichu, and the waiter turned his attention toward him.

"Wo yao," Raichu Human said before he rolled down his sleeve to reveal the chinese characters for bao zi sloppily written on his arm in black marker. He pointed at it with a smile. Shell laughed under her breath.

"Steamed buns? How 'bout dessert?," the waiter said in English with an accent. He already figured out Raichu didn't know how to speak Mandarin. Why else would he write all those characters on his arm?

"Pop tarts?" Raichu asked hopefully.

"I duh-nt know what dat is," was the reply.

"Then... I don't want anything for dessert," Raichu stated, forcing his best smile. The waiter gave him a check that read "100", and then left to get the steamed buns.

"ONE HUNDRED DOLLARS?!" he cried. Then, Raichu forged another dot so it read 'one dollar.'

"It's in yuans, weirdo," Shell rolled her eyes.

"Ooohhhh," Raichu said, "That makes more sense. Well, now it is one yuan!"

"That's barely anything!" Shell cried.

"Who cares??" Raichu asked sheepishly. He had written the dot in pen, so it couldn't be reversed. The waiter came back, and waited for the next order.

Now it was Bell's turn to order. "Woh ye yhao... bao zhi (I also want a... newspaper)," she tried. Since Bell spoke in Chinese, the waiter answered in Chinese as well.

"Ni zai kai wan xiao ma? (Are you joking?) Aiya, hao de, hao de, (Ugh, fine, fine)," the waiter left, and walked to the corner of the room and got Bell a newspaper.

"How am I supposed to eat this?" Bell asked Shell, as she licked the newspaper. Instantly, Bell regretted it, and earned a couple of laughs from Quinci, Pichu, and Raichu.

"Wo yao bao ZI," Shell corrected. The waiter seemed to know the mistake and put the newspaper back. After he put the newspaper back, he left the room entirely. Then, he came back with two plates of steamed buns.

"Uh," Shelly said, as the waiter put to food down, "Why did we order two?"

" 'Cause two people wanted it!" Bell said, as she took a pot. She took a pair of chopsticks, and stabbed one of the steamed buns.

"But we're supposed to share the food!" Shell said, and put the two pots in the middle.

"Whaaattttt?" Bell said, and slumped in her seat, "No fair!"

"Guys, I'll just order for the rest of us," Shell offered. "Wo men yao shuai jiao (We want to go to sleep)." Shell accidentally messed up the word shui and jiao, so instead of being both of the third tone, it was both of the fourth. Plus, she had said shuai, not shui.

"Ni yao shui jiao (You want boiled dumplings)," the waiter corrected.

"Oh, dui bu qi! (Oh, sorry)," Shell specified. "Wo men hai yao ji jiao (we also want chicken feet), dou fu (tofu, obviously), peking duck, dan ta (egg tarts), he nui rou mian tiao (beef noodles)." Once the waiter left in order to get the food, conversations started to erupt at their table.

"Hey Raichu," Pichu asked, "When is the mooncake festival?"
"You mean the mid autumn festival?"
"Whatever," Pichu said, "You know what I mean."
"Lil sis," Raichu patted Pichu on the head, "You must pronounce stuff right. Or else you will end up like Bell and Shell, ordering sleep and newspapers at restaurants."

"Ha, look who's talking," Shelly teased. The waiter came back with all the food.

Bell raised her hand in the air and asked, "Does anyone have a fortune cookie?"

"Fortune cookies are an American invention," Shelly said, annoyed. "And it's not like every single Chinese restaurant is going to--"

Clack. The waiter placed the final check on the table. On the black plastic board were seven fortune cookies.

"Ooh!" Ravisu squealed, cracking open a fortune cookie. Inside, it read, You will fail. Pichu looked frightened when her's read, You will lose. Quinci's read, You will not succeed. Bell's read, You will be disappointed and Raichu's was You will be seriously injured. Shelly's was missing.

"What does yours say?" Bell asked Rudia, hoping for at least one happy fortune.

"I WILL FIND THE BIGGEST SQUIRTLE SPAWN EVER KNOWN!!!" Rudia cheered. The nearest table looked at them suspiciously, but sheepishly looked away when Shelly glared at them.

Pichu looked down at her fortune, dread filling her heart. You will lose. What if she did betray her friends? What if she couldn't find the blooberries before it was too late? What if she couldn't save Lugia? Worries clouded her mind as the same words repeated over and over again: You will lose. You will lose. You will lose...

"NO ONE EAT THE COOKIES!" Quinci shouted, "IF YOU DO, YOUR FORTUNE WILL COME TRUE!" Pichu immediately threw the evil cookie onto the table.

"No they won't!" Raichu said, and patted Pichu's arm. "It's okay, lil sis. They're just cookies..."

"But what if I fail?" Pichu cried. "What if I lose?"

"You won't," Raichu said. "Because you're not on your own. You have us. All of us. And we won't stop fighting until we die!"

"Uh..." Shelly interrupted. "But I don't have a fortune!"

"So that means..." Quinci realized. "THESE COOKIES ARE A FAKE!!! THEY'RE NOT REAL FORTUNES!!!" She pointed menacingly at the crumbling remains of the cookies. But still, no one trusted the cookies.

Shelly shrugged at her friends, and ate the cookie.