"Each meeting occurs at the precise moment for which it was meant. Usually, when it will have the greatest impact on our lives."
― Nadia Scrieva,
It was the second day and Evie had resigned to the fact that she was not dreaming. Gem proved it by sharply rapping on her door, waking her up from a dreamless sleep. Evie's head shot up from her pillow, her long golden hair in a giant mess. Before she could answer, the three-eyed waitress entered the room with her hands on her round hips.
"Are you planning to sleep all day?" Gem gave the human girl a nasty scowl.
Evie blinked sleepily and rubbed her eyes. "What time is it?" she muttered and looked out the window only to see that it was just as dark and dreary as the night prior. Perhaps it was a little brighter than she remembered, but Evie wasn't sure if it was just her imagination. She could also feel the room vibrating slightly to a beat. The bar must be open already. Or... was it open 24 hours?
"It's time to get to work, lazy ass," Gem stalked over and pulled Evie's covers off.
Evie squeaked and pulled down on her black shirt to cover her undies. She had taken her gray denim jeans off before getting into bed and had hung them over a chair next to the empty writing desk by the window.
Gem clicked her tongue disapprovingly and shook her head. "You'd better throw away all of that demure crap. You will be showing a lot of skin out there, so if you can't handle that, you might as well leave now."
"You...just startled me, is all," Evie's cheeks turned pink as she looked down at her bare legs. The fine hairs on them stood up on end from the rush of cold that attacked when the blanket was pulled away. "I'll be fine."
The waitress made an unconvinced noise in her throat but made no move to respond. Instead, she threw something orange at Evie and the girl struggled to catch it. It was a two piece costume that looked similar to Gem's pink one. "Put that on," Gem commanded in a tone that held no room for objection.
"But it's so... tiny." Evie compared it to her body. It looked like it was made for a doll and not for someone who was human-sized. It couldn't possibly fit.
"It's elastic," Gem said sharply. "Fuzzy is all about equality," she made air quotes with her fingers, "so he made sure that one size fits all. Even if you were the size of this building, you'd have no trouble squeezing in. Now quit stalling! If you're not out in five minutes, I'm dragging you out whether you are dressed or not!" With that, Gem flipped her short pale hair and slammed the door on the way out, but not before tossing a pair of orange heels onto the floor by Evie's bed.
Evie stared at the door until the echo of the slamming door finally ebbed away in her ears. She looked down at the small orange top with doubt and she stretched it back and forth with her fingers. It was super stretchy, and the material felt like it was made out of that 90's Nickelodeon gak stuff that her younger brothers were obsessed with. It smelled like it too. The idea of wearing it made Evie shudder.
Still, Gem scared her even more, so Evie tried putting on the skirt/pants portion first. Like Gem had said, the thin material stretched effortlessly and slid up her legs with ease. The cool plastic feel of the material made Evie squirm a bit, but to her surprise, it quickly adjusted to her body temperature. At last, she braved on the top. Goosebumps rose on her skin at the unnatural sensation of the material on her upper body, but like the skirt, it molded to her body perfectly and Evie found that it wasn't so bad. It actually... was pretty comfortable and easy to move around in.
She moved to check her appearance in the body mirror next to the tiny closet. It looked little more than a gaudy shimmering bathing suit. The planet-like orange beads jingled and glittered lightly around her hips. Evie flicked one with her finger. The beads spun around like a carousel, revolving around her like she was the sun. "I can't believe I'm wearing this..." Evie muttered. The idea of having to serve customers in such attire was embarrassing. 'Pretend that you are at a beach...' she thought to herself.
And at least she didn't have to wear bunny ears.
Quickly, she fixed her hair and tied it up with an orange-beaded scrunchie (that was somehow included), Evie put on the shiny orange high heels and struggled not to break an ankle as she walked wobbly towards the door. Opening it, she nearly jumped a foot into the air when she saw Gem glaring angrily at her.
"Gem!" she yelped.
"About time!" Gem grabbed Evie's arm and pushed her out the door. "Now let's go! We're on the clock!"
Gem was a horrible trainer. That or she just wanted Evie to quit, which was the most probable reason. The moment they arrived on the music-filled first floor, Gem handed her two large trays of drinks and food and told her to serve table four. She left quickly after that.
Evie blinked blankly around the large crowded room. Where was table four? Looking around like a lost child, she noticed one table that hadn't been served yet. Perhaps that was table four? Evie walked carefully and slowly, trying her best not to tip the trays or her heels. She had to dodge around dancers and rowdy customers while constantly saying "excuse me..." and "sorry!" and "coming through." It probably took her fifteen minutes to reach the table and already, her arms were dying from the weight of the trays. "Excuse me," she tried with a smile. The customers were two cat-like people and they looked up with piercing green slitted eyes. "Did you order this?"
"No, we asked for catnip cider and three ratwitches." Came the unimpressed answer.
"Oh, I'm sorry." Evie began to sweat as her arms began to shake. "It's my first day on the job. I don't know where table four is..."
"Isn't it- like... over there?" One of the cat people pointed a claw towards the very front of the room...which was very far away and even more crowded. "This is table sixty eight."
"Oh..." Evie blanched. She forced on a smile, "thank you so much. And I'm so sorry for the mistake." She quickly (as she could) walked in the maze-like room just to get to her destination. By some miracle, she managed to reach table four without tripping, falling, being bumped into, or dropping the trays.
"Here is your order..." she panted. She placed the trays in front of a family of three R2D2-like robots. "Please, enjoy." Oh god, her arms had never felt happier to be down at her sides.
The robots stared at the food and then looked up at Evie. "We did not order this," one said in a mecha voice.
"Huh?" Evie's eyes went round in disbelief. "Isn't this table four?"
"Yes, it is. But we did not order this. We do not require sustenance."
"..."
Evie stood there gaping like an idiot. 'If they don't eat or drink, then why are they here?!' she screamed in her mind. She looked up and to her horror, she found Gem smirking evilly at her from across the room. The three-eyed waitress noticed Evie's staring and merely shrugged as if to say 'it's your fault' before turning away and continued to flirt with her customer along with three other waitresses.
In all honesty, Evie couldn't remember the last time she felt angry. It usually took a lot to get under her skin. But Gem seemed to be an expert in that art. Evie grit her teeth behind her mouth and she clenched her fists. "I'm sorry for the mistake, it will not happen again," she promised. She grabbed the trays and she stormed in Gem's direction.
Gem was sitting in a large alien's lap while giggling shamelessly when Evie approached. She only noticed the girl when Evie's shadow fell upon her. "Can I help you, Phoebe?"
"It's Evie," she replied coldly. "You told me that this belonged to table four. Well, guess what? They said that they didn't order it."
"Oh, didn't they?" Gem smiled prettily, her voice feigning ignorance. "The ones who ordered it probably left before you even reached the table. How long does it take for a human to walk in heels? I had already finished serving ten customers." Gem began to laugh, setting off a chain reaction from the other girls.
Evie's face flushed in mortification. Her anger turned into self-conscious fear at being judged and Evie lowered her eyes in shame.
"Aww, don't feel bad," Gem taunted as she stood up, placing a hand on her hip. "After all, not everyone can handle this job like I can. Just face it. You are probably more suited for a more human job. Perhaps the slave mines? I hear that they are always hiring."
Evie swallowed and glared angrily at Gem. She was not running away from this witch. "Don't underestimate me. I'll show you that I can do this job just as well as you can!"
"Oh ho..." Gem raised her dainty brows. "Then prove it. If you can serve all your customers without making a single mistake today, then I shall admit that you've got what it takes. If not..." Gem gave Evie a cruel smile, "you quit."
"But that's impossible!" Evie protested. "It's only my first day! How could I possibly-"
"Is that the sound of your resignation I hear?" Gem put a hand to her ear and blinked her long eyelashes with sweet anticipation.
Evie bit her lip. "Fine."
"Well, go on then." Gem shooed Evie away with her hand. "Jeffrey will direct you to the tables."
"Who's Jeffrey?"
Gem pointed over her shoulder at the long green alien with multiple octopus arms at the chef's corner. He was chopping up sushi, flipping the stir fry, and reaching for empty plates all at the same time.
'Impressive...' Evie couldn't help but think. She spared Gem a small nod before walking headfirst into this bet.
Hours had passed and Evie worked like she had never worked before. She migrated from table to table, stall to stall, customer to customer. More than once she had questioned what were in the lit up drinks, especially the ones that had living clams inside. Being the new girl, she was the target of much attention from practically everyone and it made her very uncomfortable. Sometimes the customers were nice and complemented Evie on her politeness and her smile. More often than not, however, she had to serve customers that either leered at her perversely and catcalled her.
"Hey, baby! Are you really a human or do you have a tail hidden in those tight shorts of yours?" one alien whistled.
Evie reddened but ignored the taunts as much as she was able to without insulting the guests.
The lunch break was a heaven sent for Evie. During those thirty minutes, she grabbed the most edible plate that she could find and retreated up into her room and cried as much as she could. The cruel verbal jabs from so many people hurt. While no one had touched her, she still felt violated. The sneers, the mocking remarks, the noise and the stress was really nothing to sneeze at. It was taking a toll on the poor young woman. Evie was terribly homesick. The knowledge that she was stuck in this god forsaken place only made her feel that much more trapped.
The only thing that kept her even remotely sane right now was Rothchild's promise to return that evening and the desire to prove to Gem that Evie was not someone to be trampled over.
The food wasn't bad. Luckily, the steak was truly steak. The mashed potatoes were still mashed potatoes even if her tears had made them salty.
After letting out a good cry and filling her belly, Evie felt like she could finally brave the hell downstairs once more. Her arms ached and her feet were screaming in protest when she put on those atrocious heels again.
More hours passed and the workload was finally starting to show in Evie's performance. Her legs trembled with every step she took and she could swear that the popped blisters on her feet were forming new blisters. Evie could no longer hide the pain that she was in with a smile. Each time that she tried, it instantly turned into a grimace. By the way, was it her imagination or was she the only waitress serving customers? Most of the girls seemed to be dancing away in their glowing bubbles in the air while Gem... where was Gem anyway?
While she grew lost in her daze, someone bumped into her from behind and she tripped. With a sharp squeal, Evie fell forwards and her tray fell out of her hands. She fell flat against the floor and to her horror, she could hear the glass and porcelain crash and break. If that wasn't bad enough, she could hear someone exclaim in outrage.
Well... she could kiss this job goodbye now.
Fearfully, Evie glanced up to see a fuming lizard man glaring down at her. The trays had spilled all over him and the other aliens and robots that were standing with him. She was so terrified by her accident that Evie did not even notice the stranger kneeling across from her in front of the lizard alien, with his hands pressed together in an apology. She had accidentally intruded on some sort of situation.
"Do you have a death wish, female?!" The lizard snarled in a mechanical voice. It looked like he was already in a horrible mood before Evie had even gotten involved. He held a strange device that began to unfold into what looked like a mix between a spear and a leaf blower.
"I'm sorry..." Evie whimpered, scooting back away on her hands and knees from the weapon that was now pointed at her. "I d-didn't mean to... It was an a-accident."
"Another human?" The lizard bared his teeth. "It looks like we have an infestation."
Evie gasped when the blade was suddenly pointed at her neck, it's sharp metal glinting in the light. Was she seriously being threatened right now? "Please... I didn't mean any harm!"
The creature barked out a laugh. "Don't worry. The one who will be harmed isn't me." He pulled back the weapon in preparation to attack and thrust it at her face! "It is you!"
Before she could blink or scream, the weapon was knocked out of the lizard man's hand with a loud metallic clang. She watched as it clattered harmlessly to the ground several feet away before her vision was suddenly obstructed by white. A dark haired man stood between her and the assailant with a katana held firmly in his grip. Evie couldn't see his face because his back was to her. Instead, all she could see was that his hair was tied neatly up into a Japanese topknot. His shoulders were broad and tense as he held himself in a defensive position. He wore a white kimono with gray on the rim of his long wide sleeves. On his feet he wore a pair of wooden sandals.
'A samurai?' Evie wondered.
"I strongly suggest that you cease this needless violence," the man warned. Each word was spoken with a calm precision, but Evie could detect a hint of danger just lingering below the surface of the slight Japanese accent. "There is no honor in attacking the innocent."
In that instant, they were surrounded by half a dozen lizard people. Evie's head twisted back and forth in a panic. She didn't realize there were so many of them! The samurai's hands tightened on the sword's hilt and his stance widened. Evie could catch the glimpse of his determined eyes in the reflection of the clear blade.
"There is no innocence in ignorance." The lizard sneered. That seemed to be the permission for the creatures to attack because the one behind Evie lunged. She cried out and she ducked down to the floor with her hands over her head.
The samurai spun, his sword arching around over Evie's huddled form in a semi-circle. With that single swift motion, the lizard's wrist was cut clean off, weapon and all. The hand landed in front of the girl. It twitched on the ground, wires sparking and popping from within.
Evie's eyes widened.
It was a robot.
The lizard shrieked, whether from pain or rage, Evie did not know. For a moment there was silence between all of them. Then the DJ switched the tempo and the room began to jump to the beat.
The lizards all attacked the samurai at once, this time, their focus was all on the one with the sharp sword instead of the quivering woman. They blasted rockets out of their hands at him all at once and he dodged. The robots kept aiming at the samurai, but he leapt into the air and then rolled out of the way, purposefully leading the danger away from Evie. It worked. The lizards advanced towards the samurai, passing her while the yellow smoke screen from the missiles engulfed all of them.
Taking that as her cue to get the hell out of there, Evie crawled away on all fours while coughing from the foul fumes. "Forget the bet..." she croaked, her eyes stinging from the smoke. "I'm quitting. This is so not worth my life." She ignored the sound of metal clashing behind her and only winced when she heard a small explosion. To her astonishment, no one reacted to the brawl in the building. Customers were still peacefully sipping their beverages like this was a normal occurrence. Perhaps... it actually was.
"No, no. I'm out." Evie shook her head before getting back on her feet and fleeing back to her room to gather her belongings.
The battle was relatively short. The samurai managed to defeat all six of the robot soldiers by cutting off all their arms. The lizard men lay still and out cold on the ground like fallen flies. The samurai straightened up and slid his sword back into its sheath. His eyes searched around for the waitress he had saved, but to his disappointment, she was nowhere to be seen. He had hoped to ask her a few questions about his whereabouts, considering that she was the only other human around.
"Ahem, pardon me, my fine sir," a voice sounded behind him. The samurai looked about but didn't see who it was speaking to him. A hand grabbed him by his robe and tugged a few times. "Down here, old fellow."
The man turned his eyes downwards. His mouth fell open in shock. It was a blue dog standing on its two hind legs!
Rothchild wagged his tail with vigor. "I was just wondering if you would be so kind as to join us, as we are-"
"Talking demon dogs!" The samurai exclaimed, flinching backwards.
"Good heavens! Where?!" Rothchild turned around. His eyes darted back and forth, searching for the said demons.
The samurai reached for his sword again and his eyes narrowed distrustfully. "You will not best me this day, you vile henchman of Aku!"
Realizing that the man was in fact talking about him, Rothchild spun back around, his paws open in surrender. "Hold on a moment, sir! I am by no means a demon," he chuckled a bit at that, "or have anything to do with Aku."
The samurai kneeled down in front of the talking dog, his hand gripping his chin in thought. "But you speak in the language of men," he argued.
"But of course," Rothchild beamed but then paused when a sense of deja vu swept over him. "Oh, how very odd. I have this strangest feeling that I have had this conversation once before..." he said out loud, mostly to himself. But whatever that feeling was, Rothschild quickly shrugged it off. He turned back to the samurai, "I take it that you are not from around here, are you?"
The look on the samurai's face confirmed Rothchild's suspicions.
"I say, why don't you come join my friends and me for a refreshment? And we will explain everything!"
The samurai pondered the invitation for a moment, weighing his options. He had never been invited to a drink before by a dog, much less a talking one. But was that really important right now? Despite the strangeness of it all, he needed answers and this dog was offering to give them to him. The samurai finally nodded.
"Splendid!" Rothchild grinned, "right this way!" he rolled his 'r' as he led the way to his booth. It only took a minute's hesitation until the samurai finally followed after.
In the private green table booth, the samurai found himself in the company of three dogs. The bulldog and the pipe-smoking scottish terrier stared at him while Rothchild pleasantly waited for their drinks to arrive. The silence stretched between them, allowing the samurai to start doubting his choice of accepting a dog's invitation. The bulldog slowly smiled up at him once they made eye contact and the samurai slowly returned it. Perhaps he should have tried to look for that blonde waitress from earlier...
But then the sliding door opened and a pale haired waitress with three eyes appeared with her tray. "Refreshments are here~" she announced in a sugary sweet voice.
"Splendid!" Rothchild cheered.
She placed three martini cups in front of each of the canines and left a glass pot of cold tea for the samurai. He picked it up and inspected it curiously. It had a clam inside...and it was alive and blinking. The samurai gently placed it back down and scooted it further away. He didn't feel very thirsty anymore.
"Oh, please wait, my dear! Gem was it?" Rothchild stopped the waitress before she could leave.
"Yes?" she smiled.
"Yesterday, you received a new hire. A girl by the name of Miss Evelyn Atwood. We were hoping that we could request her for the evening. She has had such a trying day yesterday, and as her friends, we thought that our visit would help her lift her spirits."
Gem's smile failed for a brief second before it returned again, bright and cheery. "I am afraid that I don't know who you are talking about." With that, the waitress quickly shut the screen door and left.
"Well, there's a lie and a half," Angus, the Scottish terrier finally spoke before lapping up his refreshment with his tongue. The bulldog, Drifus copied him. "Jealousy filled to the brim with that one, if ye ask me."
Rothchild, however, didn't touch his drink. He looked rather concerned about what the waitress had told him. "Goodness, I wonder if Evelyn has decided not to work here after all... that poor dear."
"Who knows?" Angus shrugged. "Ye can't expect to keep a track of all your strays."
Remembering that the samurai was still with them, Rothchild quickly perked up. "My boy, I do apologize. How rude of us! We haven't introduced ourselves! This is Sir Drifus Alexander," he motioned to the bulldog. "Chief of excavation." Rothchild paused and muttered to his friend behind his hand, "um, Drifus, old boy. You're drooling again..."
Drifus blinked. "Oh! Ooh... sorry." He shook his head, splattering everyone with his drool.
"You blasted idiot!" Angus exclaimed in annoyance. This was clearly a common occurrence. "Yer getting everybody wet!"
"And this fine gentleman is Angus McDuffy! Artifact aficionado," Rothchild moved on before motioning to himself. "And I am Sir Colin Bartholomew Montgomery Rothchild III ...or Rothy for short." He began to chuckle to himself.
"I'm sorry," the samurai wiped the slobber off his face, feeling rather overwhelmed. "I'm very confused. Your world is new to me. What has happened?"
"Oh, no, no, no! Quite alright, quite alright," Rothchild replied and fiddled with his red bowtie. He settled down to explain, "since the beginning of history, the immortal Aku has ruthlessly ruled the earth, plundering its resources as he sees fit- but it still was not enough. He opened the ports to the galaxy so that he might take the riches from other worlds as well! Since then, his otherworldly business affairs has drawn scads of brutish criminals, mindless stooges, and questionable mercenaries to our pitiable planet. Making this world topsy-turvy if I do say so myself!" Rothchild quickly grabbed a napkin and rubbed the drool that was slowly oozing out of Drifus's mouth.
That bit of news was shocking to the samurai and he looked up as if he could see the sky through the ceiling. "There are other worlds across the stars?" he wondered.
Rothchild giggled, "well of course, silly! What world do you hail from?"
"But... I am from Earth," the samurai insisted as the blue dog began to lap his drink up from his cup. "Yet this world is nothing like the world I remember."
Angus shared a curious look with Drifus. "How so, lad?"
"Even the grandest of cities were not as overwhelming as this one. Chariots did not fly and dogs did not speak in human tongue."
"What do you mean?!" all three of the dogs exclaimed in disbelief.
"Well, I mean no insult. They were wonderful companions but the dogs I knew merely barked."
Drifus took in a sharp intake of breath like it was the most scandalous thing he had ever heard.
Rothchild on the other hand was ecstatic at the discovery. "You see? The ancient myths are true!" he blurted to his pals.
"Impossible!" Angus slammed his paw onto the table. "If what you say is true, he'd have to be thousands of years old!"
That gave Rothchild the idea to grab the same device that he had scanned Evie with the day prior. He stuffed the muzzle onto his nose and sniffed at the samurai, causing the man to scoot back in alarm. When Rothchild pulled away and checked his invention, he gasped in bewilderment. "Astounding! The age-o-meter dates your partials all the way back to 25 B.A. Twenty-five years before Aku enslaved the Earth. You, my friend, are a living fossil."
The samurai's eyes widened at the revelation. He rubbed at his chin thoughtfully, "so the question isn't where I am but when I am."
"Precisely," Rothchild agreed.
"What is with you humans and getting yourselves lost in space and time?" Angus snorted, trying to hold back a laugh. "This is the second time this week."
"The second? You mean this has happened before?" The samurai asked.
"Just yesterday, to be precise," Rothchild answered in a jolly manner. "You two have so much in common." His ears perked up in attention. "Ah! Speaking of which, there's our girl!"
Dressed in her normal clothes and her bag on her back, Evie carefully walked around the tables, booths and customers with her head down. She wanted to leave this place without anyone noticing. The less confrontation the better. Evie especially didn't want to bump into Gem and give her the satisfaction of knowing that she had won the bet.
"Miss Evelyn! Over here!"
Evie jumped and turned her head at the sound of her name. To her massive relief, it was Rothchild waving halfway outside from his booth. She could see his tail wagging at an incredible speed from behind the green glass. Evie looked around, making sure that no one else was watching before she jogged over. Rothchild kept the door open for her until she made it inside.
Unfortunately, someone did notice her. Gem narrowed her eyes in suspicion when Evie ran into the booth where the three dogs and the human male were currently sitting. Toxic curiosity got the best of Gem and she stood by the booth, leaning in to eavesdrop on the conversation.
Evie was not expecting the samurai to be among the group. Her mouth fell slightly open, "oh!"
The samurai looked just as surprised to see her as well.
"I ... um... th-thank you for saving my life back there," Evie bowed slightly to him like she had seen the Japanese women do, hands crossed over her lap. Her cheeks were a little pink from the shame of not having thanked him earlier. Having run off like that was probably not the most polite thing she could have done.
The samurai stood up and bowed back in return, his back bending more gracefully and with better posture than hers. "Please, it is the least that I could have done."
They both stood like that, bowing to each other. Evie did not know if she should straighten up first...or not... She began to sweat a bit. Gah, she should have just thanked him like a normal American.
Luckily, Rothchild's voice stunned Evie out of her bow. "Ah! So the two of you have already met. Splendid! This makes things so much easier."
"Huh? No...we haven't exactly met," Evie shook her head and awkwardly rubbed the back of her neck in a nervous habit. "I mean, we didn't get a chance to talk or anything."
"Oh, well in that case, Evelyn Atwood, this is-... er..." Rothchild stopped in mid sentence, realizing that he had no idea how to introduce the samurai to the lady. He turned to the man and smiled apologetically, "I am so sorry, my dear boy, but what name do you go by?"
The samurai didn't answer immediately and instead looked to be in deep thought. Seconds ticked by and Evie actually started to wonder if he was going to answer at all. But finally, the man looked up with resolution and said firmly, "they call me Jack."