Leaving the room through the kitchen, her head was swimming. She felt like she was trapped in a tube that was being squeezed tighter and tighter, yet paradoxically able to breathe with no issues. Several times for periods of two seconds apiece, she decided to breathe in, breathe out, and calm herself down. She was here for a reason, and she was going to hold onto that.
Flor returned to the Nicholson's table, smiling and in uniform.
"That offer didn't last long..." laughed Will.
Flor bowed. "I am sorry, I just... she seemed so sad, and... I didn't want her to have to feel like I did."
"You can quit whenever you want, alright?" Will reminded her. "That's how these kinds of places work. We were talking, and one of us will come to pick you up after your shift is over and we can show you where you'll be staying."
She bowed. "T-Thank you so much for your kindness."
"No problem. We'll talk payment and all that stuff later."
Once again, she bowed, making her way to the back. She wasn't sure how to feel, so she did her best not to.
Training didn't seem to last too long. It wasn't too much to remember; and after all, she was a joshu, she felt wired for repetitive tasks. It was only a dozen tables before she was taking orders perfectly, as if she had been working there for weeks. The customers ranged, as this was a generic hole-in-the-wall eatery that specialized in a few plate meals and had no core market. She received a lot of attention from male patrons, being a new face and one who seemed more motivated than the other two waitresses.
Lunch passed by, and as it did, time seemed to speed up. She made up her mind to enjoy every face she came across, asking about their stories as she refilled their drinks and delivered them plates. And this investment paid off. A few families had immigrated from other planets and were rough in their Chitotzish; those people Flor took care to be extra considerate towards. She came across the same girls from the Magic Penguin Train, giggling lightly to herself as she asked questions about their thoughts on Ryo's performance. She even came across a gentleman who seemed confused, and upon talking to him, learned that his brother had recently passed away. She didn't have long to speak, but she found excuses to come by his table and listen as best as she could.
But her shift had more than a few terrible moments. She was responsible for cleaning the tables afterwards, and though her uniform seemed to be specifically designed to stay perpetually clean, a particularly unruly customer splashed her with tea. Of course, this customer had to leave, but the tea was present under her clothes and stayed there for the duration of the shift. Several men seemed a tad bit too interested in her and she felt uncomfortable watching them stare off and on for the duration of their stays. She couldn't decide if the staring or the tea was more uncomfortable. And then there was the smiling. Her face felt exhausted and sick. She wanted to take a break for the first hour, though after a while she had started to forget about it.
The sky had begun to turn from a dark blue to a consistent black, signifying that the day was ending. Denden was staying behind, but Flor was getting ready to leave. It couldn't have soon sooner, and when it finally did come, she completed her tables and headed into the back closet. As if on cue, her smile drooped, the medication kicking off. Her face stung at first, but warmth slowly lapped at her cheeks like waves on a seashore and her whole body felt full of relief. She turned around to the stack of clothes on the shelf. She noticed little markers over each one except for hers. She'd likely get one, she thought.
As she reached up to grab her clothes, however, she paused. Denden's looked a little unusual, like a plastic tarp that had been folded up. So instead of picking her own up, she grabbed Denden's, holding them out in her hands. In a moment, she was wearing Denden's outfit, while her work uniform was in front of her in her arms. She discovered it was a bit difficult to move, and turning to face herself in the mirror, she learned why. Her clothes were unusually cutesy – a white, printed dress with snail symbols in purple, as well as a cute, well-sized backpack shaped and decorated like a snail's shell.
She considered Denden for a while. Flor couldn't imagine her wearing something like this; she was far too melancholy. But nonetheless, here it was. She found and put back on her own clothes, putting her new friend's clothes back on the shelf as if nothing had happened. She considering talking about this to her later but convinced herself that it might need time.
She sat down in one of the booths by the window, patiently waiting for someone to come pick her up. She put her elbows on the table, leaving her hands on her neck as she stared out the window. There were so many people it was nearly overwhelming. Flor couldn't help but wonder what each of their stories was, but as soon as she saw them, they were gone. And so many of them looked like Yenri. She, of course, knew that they weren't really Yenri, but they had the same face. Sometimes they had the same hair. One even wore clothes that seemed to hold a resemblance.
And that's when she saw him. She knew it was him – no one held himself the same way. It was a man, a few years older than herself in appearance, stark white hair, a morbidly prominent jawline, eyebrows so thick she couldn't see his eyes.
She stood up. "Ryo..." Her eyes sat wide. She ran to the doorway a few booths down and threw open the door, staring out. He was gone; she had no idea where he went. A part of her was tempted to run outside and chase him, but she hesitated. That couldn't have been a good idea.
Flor was right about to turn around and return to her booth, but then a familiar face appeared. It was that Ali boy, standing right outside the front door.
He asked her a question, but she didn't speak his language. He nodded, gesturing for her to come outside. She did so, a little confused. After clearing his throat, he opened his jacket and pulled out a small pill. Flor was heavily confused but didn't know what to say. He held it out. She took the pill, holding it up to her mouth, and he seemed to be nodding. So, she took a deep breath, popping it in.
"Did it work?" asked Ali.
Flor bit her lip, realizing that she suddenly understood what he was saying. "...Yes," she replied, her mouth making strange noises, "I do."
"Cool," he replied, a grin over his face. "I'm gonna head up to the island, you ready to do some translating?"
Her face was a bit tight. Her legs felt sick from standing so much, and her eyelids felt stiff and crust-like. That medication was still frying her cheeks, making it difficult to emote. "I would like to go home and rest," she said, finding that the wide mouth motions of his language made her face hurt even worse.
He shrugged. "You'll be fine. Trust me. You'll probably be sitting for most of the time anyway. Hey – check this out."
Flor put her back against the glass wall of the restaurant as Ali stepped back, nearly facing off the road. There were only a few pedestrians at this point, navigating their way back and forth along the sidewalk. Ali turned his head straight up, squatting down and then leaping into the air. The space around him turned bright white, as if he had exploded. Pedestrians stood back, silent, Flor being among them as she didn't have a chance to put together what was going on. Then, erupting from the top of the effect was a dragon. It was long, red, and wingless, slithering through the air like an enormous snake. It twisted along itself, its obsidian-like spines covering its back and spanning nearly its entire length. Finally, it twisted in on itself, hovering just above the sidewalk.
"Well?" he asked, "What do you think?"
"Hey!" shouted a man on the other side of its head, speaking Chitotzish, "I'm trying to walk here!"
"May you move a bit?" asked Flor, translating in his language.
He nodded, laying his head down on the sidewalk, his body still floating in the air as if they were underwater. "Hop on."
Hesitant but unsure if she had any other options, Flor used his nose as a step stool and climbed onto his head. As he lifted it up off the ground, she quickly grabbed onto his spines, which felt softer than she had expected. She gripped on for dear life as he began to ascend, closing her eyes.
"IS THIS SAFE?" she screamed.
He didn't reply, and in a moment, the two were off.
Her eyes were still closed, but she felt nothing save for rushing wind, sucking her backward ever-so-slightly and blowing her hair into a more horizontal position. It was enough for her to be able to hold on, but she dared not open her eyes just yet. She felt the wind slightly change in direction, sometimes hitting her from the left and sometimes from the right, but it wasn't until about a minute in that she decided to peek open her eyes.
They were in the air, substantially so. The buildings below appeared far smaller than when she was on the transportation tube. She could see the full curvature of the world and the black, inky space that surrounded her tiny home planet.
All around her were clouds. They were bright pink and purple, and seemed to float with a wistful, dreamlike sense of peace. They smelled sweet, like candy. Flor tried opening her mouth, and surely enough, it tasted sweet, too.
Above her was a moon. She had never noticed it before, as it appeared to have always been in front of another planet and thus difficult to distinguish. They were getting increasingly close to its surface, allowing her to determine that the surface was vacant of anything, really. It just seemed like a giant rock, and the higher the two became, the faster they soared towards it. It kept getting larger and larger, so much so that Flor began to get nervous. They were going to hit the rock, and this far up... She shuddered. She tried clutching harder to the spines on his back, but she learned soon that she physically could not hold on any tighter than she already had.
They were almost there, and he didn't slow down. She wanted to scream, but she soon came to terms with the fact that she was already in enough fear – trying to scream wouldn't do anything. So, to calm down, she simply buried her face into his back as deep as she could get it, closing her eyes.
And then, they arrived.
She opened her eyes once more, only to discover that they were on the ground. The wind was soft, gently weighing down on her shoulders to console her. She began to slowly let her fingers relax, letting go of his back, breathing hard and steadfast to reclaim lost oxygen.
The land around her curved upwards on all sides, as if they were inside an enormous ball. The land transitioned its way to mountains near the tip of the bowl, and above that, only thin fog sat between them and the other planets. They shone bright down onto everything, its pale, neutral light organic and comforting. This was a good place, she figured.
"HEY!" shouted Ali. Flor curiously pondered why his voice as a dragon and his voice as a normal person were identical. "DON'T GET OFF! Almost forgot-"
It was moments before a blue dragon appeared, long and graceful like a kite. He rested down next to Ali, inspecting Flor, warm air bellowing out of his nostrils. "I see," he spoke in Quercasian, sporting an accent as thick as paint, "I see you've finally come along and invited a guest."
"Oh," laughed Ali, "No sir, she isn't here like that. She's my new translator. I'm afraid I haven't found anyone interested in recruiting, yet."
The blue dragon bowed. "It is good to meet you. My name is 5th Subsect Master Kim Oh-Seong."
She lifted a leg over Ali to face him fully, and without getting off, did her best to bow at the waist. "Please be kind to me, Kim-schi."
The master snorted, eyes fixated at Ali. "She's going to be a good influence on you." Then, he returned to Flor. "Ryoshi or joshu?"
"I..." she began speaking, not realizing how to answer the question. She was too new to this – and she didn't know if lying was appropriate or not.
He squinted. "Show me your identification card."
Flor did so, holding hers out. He took it, giving it a thorough inspection.
"Hmm... I see." He handed it back. "Give me a hair, we need to do a background check on you."
Flor was confused, but with shaking hands, successfully plucked a hair and held it out.
The dragon did not have any hands, and his legs were only long enough to hold him upright, but he wasn't without options. In a bright flash of light, the dragon disappeared, replaced by an adult man. He had long, black hair and a deep green uniform, pants tucked into his boots. The man stepped up to Flor, taking the hair from her hands and weaving it in his own.
"Do I have your permission to use this?" he asked, glancing towards her but quickly facing down towards his hands.
"I-I... yes. Yes, sir."
His brow furled. "So your name is Natsuki Yamada..." he asked, nodding slowly.
She bowed once more. "Yes, sir. Please be kind to me."
He stepped up to her, only a foot away. Based on his expression and arms behind his back, if Ali's dragon torso wasn't in the way, he would have gotten closer. His eyebrows were sharp and his breath was wafting just as it had as a dragon. "I want you to hear something, Yamada-schi."
Flor nodded, leaning back slowly.
"We take several qualities to have significance in our ranks at the Ryonogun," he began, "And if you believe that hiding behind that face will be good enough, then you're only deceiving yourself. The Masters who attend here have spent hundreds of years training to be the finest warriors in the solar system, and any suspicious behavior you partake in will be swiftly and severely retributed. If this exterior or any element of your personality is a front, I request that you revert to your natural state. Am I completely clear?"
Flor sat glassy-eyed, trying to comprehend his request. It sounded exceptionally serious and even dire, but she couldn't imagine herself doing anything as heinous as what his tone of voice implied. So, shaking like a leaf, she bowed one final time. "Yes, Master Kim-schi."
He stepped back, producing a pair of boots and a blanket-like square of cloth. "Any non-member of the Ryonogun falls through the ground as if it wasn't there. You'll need these if you plan on leaving Wallace Nicholson's back."
"Wallace?" asked Flor.
Ali groaned quietly.
Master Kim shot him a look. "Are we going to have an issue, Nicholson-sheoi?"
He tightened his face, bowing as much as he could as a dragon with a girl on his face. "No, sir, Master Kim-schi."
"Line up."
Ali bowed his head, and Flor sat straight. She tried to get a grip, but it seemed more difficult than before, as if the sweat on her palms and her sore knuckles made her hands unusable.
"Ali," she whispered.
"Yeah?" he replied, beginning to hover over the ground.
Flor leaned in. "I can't hold on..."
"You'll be fine, I won't go too far."
She sighed. "Thank you..."
Before too long, Flor was watching from the side as the strange sort of rituals the Ryonogun put Ali through continued. She was sitting on the grassy hill next to a particularly large, decorative wooden castle, assumingly substantial enough to facilitate the dragons that were here – and there were a number of dragons. The majority were like Ali – long and wingless, winding through the air like serpents. They were of every conceivable color Flor could think of, ranging from pastels to deep, slick blacks and metallic blues. The session began with several ground exercises, all the dragons in a row as a commander of sorts barked commands in Chitotzish. Flor could barely hear what he said due to her safe distance away from the events, but she was impressed with Ali for being able to follow through with the single-word instructions. Then, they took off. The commands continued, and as such, the dragons took to a few formations. Several seemed arbitrary but rather beautiful, as they twisted in among themselves to form elaborate three-dimensional patterns. She watched them, trying to describe the patterns in her head.
Rhombus.
Mobius Strip.
Hexahedron...
"Kain-sheoi," greeted a voice from behind her.
She stood up in an instant, turning around fast enough to nearly topple over. "Kain?"
A large, golden dragon stood in front of her. His spines were tipped in a metallic silver, as were his teeth. Flor couldn't help but imagine the beast as a shelf decoration, blown up and brought to life.
He seemed confused. "Yes, 'Kain'. Well-knowledgeable girl. I take it that Chitotzish isn't your first language?"
Flor's eyes left his as her composure deflated. "It is, I-I..."
"Child, how old are you?"
"One week," she replied truthfully.
He shook his head slowly. "My condolences. I take it that your mind cleansing was inexpensive."
"Mind cleansing?"
He raised what appeared to be the equivalent of eyebrows. "You don't know? So you did take a cheap route. My condolences once more, Kain-sheoi. If you can remember, please get your mind cleansing from here at the facility. We perform cleansings regularly for the staff and offer it to friends and family of the Ryonogun."
Flor tightened her eyes. "What's a mind cleansing?"
He bounced his head, as if trying to juggle words within his mind. "It's... when your mind is a little full of cobwebs, and you want to clean them out. It takes everything else with the cobwebs, as we are unable to distinguish between the cobwebs and everything else, but it is essential, particularly for the very old. Do you have any idea how old you are, aside from the week?"
"Just a week, I think..." she replied.
"And you're fluent in Quercasian? I had a talk with Kim-schi and he informed me as to why you're here."
"I don't know for sure, but I can talk to Ali."
"That's all we need. We'll need you in the Great Room in ten minutes or so." He seemed to gesture towards the castle with his nose.
Flor smiled, bowing for him. "It is an honor to meet you... dou-schi?"
"Chen," he answered.
"Chen-schi. Please be kind to me."
He snorted in approval, taking to the skies in a moment. Flor couldn't help but stare upwards as he soon hovered above the flurry of patterns and formations, overseeing along with the other supervisor. It was difficult to break her eyes away from, but after several attempts, she successfully managed to refocus her eyes onto the castle.
This whole world was so strange. It did make her feel strange, though. She had been standing all day, and yet they were able to fly? It didn't seem fair. A lot of things didn't seem fair to her at the moment. But she took a deep breath, knowing that she didn't really have any other options.
The boots she wore were unusually heavy, but she didn't seem to mind them all too much. Unfortunately, from the way she was sitting, one of her legs had pins and needles present for nearly its entire length. Her toes felt cold and tingly, and she wasn't sure what to do about it but continue walking. Unfortunately, her focus was too keen on wiggling her toes and not on her footwork, and one boot trapped the other one mid-step.
MEWHAAAAAAN –
The world rotated, and her hair became weightless. She instinctively held out her hands, her eyes and mouth wide open. With a dramatic WAAAN, she encountered the ground, but instead of hitting it with a painful impact, she fell through it, clipping into the middle of space.
She screamed. The world was wrong. Every part of her body was pulled upwards as her senses told her that she was falling through space. Below her... or above her... was the surface of the moon, her face halfway through the ground as if it were made of mist. All around her was the blackness of space, dotted with tiny pinpricks of apathetic lights. And there was the planet – Chitotz herself – eagerly awaiting to devour her once she plummeted towards her surface.
Flor lost all self-control. She flailed for a little while, trying to pull herself up her body and back onto the other side. The boots on her feet stayed firmly on the ground, but she could feel the stress on her feet, slowly making her blood-deprived situation much worse.
After twenty seconds of this, she began to calm down. She wasn't going to get out of anything this way. She knew she'd have to find a solution.
It wasn't easy, but the first step was to tuck her thin, formal sweater into her skirt, and then fit her skirt between her legs to keep it down. Her hair was nearly mid-waist and heavy, so she put it into as good of a bun as she could to keep it in one place. Unfortunately, as much as she tried, she couldn't figure out how to make a bun. She growled to herself. Why did she have to know everything that she didn't need to know and go blank on anything important? She let her hair free. If she could have pulled it all out in that moment, she would have.
Bending her knees was going to be difficult, as she had no actual tension on the surface – only the surface gained from the edges of the boots. Somewhere up there was her blanket, and she knew that the blanket was solid, so if she could just grab it and pull herself up, all would be well.
She felt like her upper and core strength was just about non-existent, but she wouldn't let that stop her. She held her hands behind her back and hooked them onto her thighs, using her knees for leverage. It helped her sit up a little, but the burn soon came. It was like her arms desperately wanted to fall off, but just couldn't. She began to sweat, but she couldn't stop – the pain in her ankles was growing stronger as her blood supply was going down. This would have to be fast.
With lots of grunting and pulling, she finally brought her head up to her knees, twisting her head so she could grab some of her hair with one arm. Her scalp screamed, but she was in enough pain and discomfort not to care. She picked the other arm up, trying desperately to reach for the surface. She winced, remembering she wasn't quite sure where it was. Surely enough, her hand broke the surface of the moon, but it wasn't going to be easy to find the blanket. She kept searching and searching as her stomach kept growing more and more sore, sucking the energy from her like a sponge absorbing water.
Finally, she didn't have any more. She let go and swung back down, her ankles screaming in pain. With nothing left to go, she began to cry. The tears were strange, as they were falling upward and coating her eyes in fog, but she didn't care. She let her arms go limp.
GAB-
Flor felt something unnaturally large, warm, and damp suddenly latch itself to her legs. Peering down, the mouth of a dragon had grabbed her, its teeth nearly breaking her skin.
She screamed from instinct but didn't dare move. She didn't want to make this situation any worse.
In a moment, she was pulled from the surface and back onto the other side. Her blanket was out, and the jaws laid her down onto the blanket. She was breathing like an air duct, shaking and barely able to stay together.
Nearby was Ali, looking at her with a bit of confusion. "Dude..." he sighed, "How long were you down there?"
"I-I... I..."
"Nevermind. Don't fall. I don't recommend it. You want a lift to the room?"
"I... yes, thank you."