An hour away is not a long distance.
Whether by foot, carriage, or horse, an hour is not enough time to take the common person far.
So for a city to only be an hour away would mean that it either was interconnected to another, or it was separated by a natural barrier, one that made delineating the two areas necessary despite their close proximity.
At least, that had been her assumption. But in the same way in which everything else had gone since she first arrived, it had been wrong. For an hour, she learned, was enough to travel past many towns and cities for even the weakest and least able people of this world.
And it was all thanks to the mechanical carriage she was now sitting in. One that was filled with dozens of humans nearby her, and even more ahead and behind on other carriages which she couldn’t see. Humans that, just like as had happened earlier, she couldn’t feel.
Once again, despite the abundance of humanity surrounding her, not a single one of them contained the life essence that filled each and every living being in her world. And not a single one of them showed even a hint of sensibility to her brazen and conspicuous use of matic. A response that so baffled and frustrated her that she had only half a mind to not use more visible and obvious magic.
For someone from her world, this was something that just didn’t make any sense, couldn’t make any sense. To be alive, she had learned, was to be filled with a certain essence, a certain energy that united all living things. An energy that was found even in the walking dead that necromancers would raise.
And yet, around her were not beings filled with the gift of life, but ones that were essentially just walking bags of meat. Walking contradictions that continued to baffle her and give her a disconcerting feeling as she tried to make sense of it all.
“We’re here.”
Daniel’s words brought her out of the spiraling thoughts at the same time that the view outside the carriage returned once more, having disappeared when the ‘train’ had gone underground.
This was it, the last opportunity for her to ascertain if any hope remained for her mission. If any hope remained for her comrades back home who had placed their trust in her. And if any hope remained for her.
***
There was no way for her to describe the city as anything other than a clear triumph of humanity over all other forces in this world.
She had already seen the endless urban sprawl on their way here. Seen, an endless expanse of concrete that knew no end. One that signaled that humans had been able to build and achieve a level of peace far beyond what her world could imagine. But this…this was a clear display of the massive wealth they possessed. Endless monuments in the shape of buildings that reached to the heavens, as if signaling that it was up there where humanity belonged.
“Well, this is it. New York City. Thoughts?” Daniel asked her.
“How many people live in this city?”
“I think there’s eight million in total. Although we’ll probably only see a fraction of that.”
“I see…” That was all she could say.
Eight million people. Eight million humans in just one city. It was a dizzying amount to think of. If a country of such a size were to suddenly join them in their struggle, the amount of help they
And this was just one city in this world.
“So what do you want to do?” Daniel asked.
“Walk, look around.” She drily answered. With the amount of people just walking by, and the multitude that must have been inside the heaven defying towers, there would undoubtedly be enough people for her to ascertain once and for all if Daniel’s earlier words were correct.
“Alright, lead the way.”
And she did. Even if she didn’t know where she was going, the grid-like outline of the city made it very easy to pick one direction and just keep heading down it.
The results, disappointingly, were much like earlier. No matter how many people she passed by, no matter how reckless her use of magic to sense others became, until she had surely become a beacon beckoning even those with the dullest senses to her, she didn’t pick up a single sign that there was a single living thing around her.
The more she tried, and the more things stayed the same, the less frustrated she started to feel about the whole thing. In fact, it was even becoming somewhat humorous in her opinion. Because what could she possibly say? The entire reason she had been chosen for this job in the first place was because she was one of the most sensitive people to mana in her world, while being strong enough to defend herself if the need arose. And yet, like a slap to her face, the world she found herself in had no use for either of her talents.
No, this was not a world for someone like her, for an elf famed for her ability to navigate forests and locate even the best hidden people with her eyes closed. This was a city that saw no need for her so-called ‘sixth sense’, instead it was one that was more than happy to assault the other five.
From a myriad of smells ranging from delectable as they passed restaurants, to the foul odors that could be found in any human dwellings. From the sounds of sweet music coming from people in the streets, to a cacophony of loud noises whose only purpose she could describe as driving people mad. And from the darkness of the sky to the bright lights and moving letters everywhere she looked. The city was a place that seemed built for the single purpose of overwhelming the senses of those who found themselves in it. To trap them in some sort of hypnotic trance for who knew what purpose. And even she was finding it hard to resist its spell.
She stopped walking.
“I have some gold, do you know of a good restaurant to eat?”
“Yeah, sure, why not. Let me see, we’re at 14th street and 7th avenue so…”
Daniel took the lead, and Nidea dutifully followed behind him.
She didn’t bother to send out any more pulses of energy in some desperate attempt to find what clearly didn’t exist. There was a lot for her to think of, a lot for her to decide on. For now, she felt she had given her poor mind enough to think and suffer about. So she put a stop to her worries for the moment.
If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.
Thankfully, unlike at Daniel’s home, or during her ride in the train, here in this city she was able to walk, to blow off a bit of her bottled frustration as she moved her body. Helping to calm her mind somewhat.
Even as the city mounted an assault on her senses.
And the city, now that she was looking at it with a fresher mind, one whose thoughts weren’t clouded by her desperation, she found herself appreciating its sheer size and scale. Although even then she doubted the bitter feeling that arose from seeing how peaceful and prosperous it was compared to her world, suffering and destitute as it was, would ever go away.
Still, it did leave some food for thought. Such as if perhaps one day too her world would look this way, after the millennium long struggle against evil came to an end. Although as she looked around at the people of many different origins, she couldn’t help but think back to her father’s words. For no matter how diverse the human population here looked, it was just that, human. This city of eight million was a clear monument to humanity’s prosperity and glory in this world, not anyone else's.
Eventually, after what must have been around twenty minutes, Daniel finally stopped walking.
“We’re here.”
“What the hell is that?” She couldn’t help herself from exclaiming in shock.
Bald baby dolls, skeletons, and other strange creatures were visible on the second floor of where Daniel had pointed the restaurant to be. It was a shocking sight, shocking enough that it made her forget about her world and everything else for a moment.
“You mean the store or something in the window specifically.”
“...Both, I think I want to know about both.”
“Alright, so those are baby dolls.”
“I know that part, and the skeletons, and the big mouse, but what about the thing next to it?”
‘The green one?”
“Yeah.”
“That’s a teletubby.”
“A what?”
“It’s this thing from a children’s show.”
“Like…a costume someone uses for a play for children? ?”
“Eh…Basically.”
“And you terrorize your children with those?” She asked in disbelief.
Daniel laughed. “Uh no, those are meant to look cute and friendly.”
She gave him an incredulous look. There was nothing cute or friendly looking about that green abomination.
“Want to go inside? We still have like five minutes we can kill.”
“Can we?” She asked him. Genuinely interested at the extremely strange looking store and what could be inside.
“Yeah why not. Let’s go.”
She followed him up the stairs, and then followed him inside the extremely odd shop.
****
“Welcome.” A voice coming from a man with blue hair with visible facial piercings behind a counter welcomed them in.
“Hey.” Was Daniel’s simple reply.
Unlike him, Nidea gave a more respectful greeting, nodding her head and saying, “A good night to you.”
It was strange, but very pleasing to see her have an expression that was something other than restless or frustrated. RIght now, as she looked through the clothes and strange articles inside the punk store, she had a genuine expression of curiosity and intrigue. One that was replaced by surprise or repulsion when she came across a few of the stranger items.
“What the hell is this?” Nidea lifted a mask for him to see, one belonging to a very creepy clown.
"That's a clown mask.” He answered.
“Why would someone wear this?”
“To look creepy I imagine.”
She gave the mask another look, then handed it to him.
“Could you wear it?”
“Sure.”
He put it on, then waited for Nidea’s reaction.
“Yeah, you were right.” Nidea chuckled.
He was glad to see her enjoying herself, to not see her no longer stuck in her frustrations even if it was only for this moment. It was why he had decided to come to eat at this place in the first place.
He still remembered very clearly when his sister had brought him here, how fascinated she had seen as she looked through the shop above the restaurant she had wanted to eat in, even if she didn’t end up liking any of the strange items in the end. At that time, his sister had been pretty down as it was almost time for her to return to Poland, but after the little detour she had seemed more chipper.
And Nidea was faring no different. He offered to buy her something if it caught her attention, but she declined his offer. Although she still continued to look around at the strange mannequins, masks, and signs strewn around. Clearly enjoying herself as she did so.
“Is this also from a children’s show?” Nidea Held up an ugly toddler sized doll.
“No, that's Chucky. He’s from a horror show.” He told her.
“See, now that makes a lot more sense. Are you sure the green guy isn’t also from some horror show?”
“No, he’s definitely from a children’s show, I promise you.” After seeing her giving him an incredulous look again, he added, “I’ll show you later, I promise you.
“If you say so…”
“Alright, it’s time for us to go eat.”
“Is it?”
“Yeah, I called on the way here and they said to show up by now, so…”
“Alright.” Nidea seemed a bit disappointed, but even as they exited the shop and headed to eat, she seemed to still be in a much better mood than before.
****
“I told you.” I told the girl walking beside me as we exited the shop.
“Yes you did. Still, I think they look creepy.”
I chuckled at her words. I had shown her a clip of the teletubbies while we were eating, one that proved once and for all that they did not come from the same kind of genre as Chucky did.
“So what did you enjoy the food?” I asked her.
“Yeah, it was pretty good, how much was it?”
“It was really cheap, don’t worry about it.”
While it might have been courteous of me to downplay the cost and eat the price of the bill myself, I wasn’t lying. As far as places to eat in New York went, this was a pretty damn cheap place for how much food we got.
“Then I must thank you for your generosity.” I waved her off. “Did you like this more than the pizza we ate back home?”
“Definitely.” She answered without hesitation.
“Didn’t like the pizza?”
“It was fine. I enjoyed it but…” She shrugged, and I made a mental note to get her some proper pizza before she left to wherever she planned on going next.
‘Hey, what are you planning—” I had wanted to ask her about what she planned to do after this, when all of the sudden she stopped moving.
“Something wrong?”
Her answer came in the form of her raising her finger to her lips. Which considering the display of power she had shown at my house, caused adrenaline to immediately begin pumping through my body.
Whatever could cause her to be so alarmed was definitely something I needed to be wary of.
Nidea took hold of my hand, and began making way to what seemed to be a less populated area. Eventually, we managed to reach a street that appeared to be completely empty. Once there, Nidea stopped, although she didn’t let go of hand.
We waited in tense silence, yet nothing happened no matter how much time passed. I was beginning to relax when suddenly—
A massive gust of wind appeared around us, while I found myself suddenly held tightly against Nidea.
I looked up, and found her expression to be a steely one showing her intense focus. When I glanced down the street she was looking at, I was able to make out the shape of three clearly human figures. But most concerning, was that I was sure at least one of them was holding a gun.
For some reason, at that moment, I felt something telling me to look the other way. So I did, and found one more person pointing a gun in our direction.
I tried to scream for Nidea to turn around, but before I could, a deafening sound filled the street.