Amentia

Chapter 29 - A place in the world

When Zoe saw Anna carrying Meiko in her arms while floating in the air —both smiling but looking exhausted—, she fell to her knees in relief. She'd been following their footsteps since they'd run off, but had lost signs of them a few minutes ago and it had scared her.

Nati and Nina ran to the girls when they landed on the ground and gave Meiko the strongest hug they could muster.

"We're all okay," Anna said sharing a look with Meiko.

They took around ten minutes to calm down and distract themselves before finally pushing the caravan door open. They agreed they'd talk about what had happened in a better time. When they walked in, introductions were made to the rest of the troupe. Meiko was still feeling off and weird from the episode and the consequent kiss, but she tried her best to keep her composure in the presence of her hosts; she was still Japanese, after all.

One was the person that had cooked the meal and sat at one of the heads of the table: her name was Ruvyn. She was orange-skinned just like Azariah, Omylia and apparently most of the population of Amentia (the girls learned this race was called Ahlevian); her eyes were as blue as the ocean and her blonde hair was tied up in a bun for hygiene purposes, revealing a pair of pointy ears like those of a bat; she was tall but thin, and her posture and demeanor were strong and proud. She wasn't exactly pleased to have so many humans in the troupe, but it was mostly due to having to cook for five new mouths than anything else.

The last person the girls were introduced to was Meira, she was Almar's girlfriend; they had arrived to the troupe as a couple some twenty-five years ago, which meant they were at least twice that age, even though they didn't look a day over twenty. She looked pretty much the same as Almar, except her eyes were of a brighter yellow than his and her features were even more delicate. The girls found out they were elves: they announced it rather proudly. Meira wasn't quite as warm as Almar, but she had an ease for sarcastic comments that was amusing.

Now that everyone had met everyone, they all sat down for supper. The girls were surprised they had waited for them to start eating; it was a kindness they hadn't been expecting.

There were now twelve chairs by the table instead of seven, though three of them didn't match the rest of the set. The table was completely covered in plates, bowls and trays, plus glass jars with two different drinks inside: one was transparent water and the other was blue. There were two big platters with sliced meat and the rest were side dishes. The only thing the girls recognized was rice and just one vegetable that the humans grew in the farms that resembled potatoes; the rest were unknown to them, all colorful and with funny shapes, pointy and curvy in all the weird places. The taste was not exactly familiar, but it wasn't too far from what one would expect vegetables and legume to taste. The meat tasted like pork, but Ruvyn said there was no animal named like that in Amentia; Adam said the animal was in fact pig, but it had a different name there and a slightly different appearance.

The meal was spent in absolute chaos. Twelve people round a table yelling to ask someone to pass the pehris or the glohms, which the girls ended up learning were the ones that more or less resembled pumpkins (though they were brown, not orange) and carrots, respectively. There were several food names the girls learned that evening.

Everyone was talking over everyone, asking the girls about their story and their powers, commenting to each other about the performance of the day, asking Adam how he had felt being alone on stage after some time. Ruvyn tried to put order all throughout the meal, telling Adam and Meira to settle down, and Maylin to stop banging on the table. All the while Azariah —who everyone called Az— laughed so hard he had to wipe tears off his eyes and choked twice on his rice. Nina thought those two played the role of parents in this diverse and unusual family, since they were the oldest ones; though clearly Ruvyn was the serious one and Azariah was more permissive. As Nina looked around this loud and chaotic table, strong emotions overcame her and she couldn't help but get emotional. It was the first time in her whole life that she'd had a real family dinner: sisters fighting over the last slice of meat and brothers playing with their food, five conversations at once, a lot of laughing, friendly gossip, teasing, funny anecdotes. It was something Nina had always dreamed of having. Her family dinners had only included her dad until she was four, so she couldn't remember them; and since then, they had been very impersonal dinners because her mother had never liked her and barely exchanged words with her other than to scold her for not sitting properly or for making funny shapes with her peas. And in recent years, she'd been having dinner all by herself in her flat (well, Birdie was usually present, but it hardly counted because Birdie didn't eat and couldn't tell her about her day because she lived inside Nina's own mind). So this table was nothing short of a miracle for Nina, and she knew right there and then that she'd found her place in the world and was never going back to Earth. Birdie made an appearance as Nina had these thoughts and everyone around the table was ecstatic, asking questions and trying to pet Birdie. Nina had to explain how her power worked again, and Azariah immediately suggested she could use it to help the theater with special effects or scenery. Nina was beyond excited at that proposal.