Chapter 2: Bilford's Diner

“Turning into a rat to steal my sandwich was funny afterward, but I was starving at the time!”

Areannia followed Cathy’s gaze out the diner's frost covered window toward a green cabover semi-truck. The fading chrome gleaned in soft glow provided by the parkinglot’s lights and it even caught the attention of a few passersby who stopped to look at the semi Cathy named Stevie. Most of the bottom half was covered in a mixture of road grime, slush and volcanic ash.

Stevie was parked between two other semis and looked toward the diner. The Stephenson S100’s noisy Centura V12 engine was likely the reason for the people to stop and look at it. Stevie’s large protective front bumper was another good reason.

Stevie's chrome brightened and the faded paint became glossier when one of the people standing near the semi lifted their child up so the young one could see their reflection in the grill.

“What do you see?" Areannia asked Cathy, who sat across the table from her.

The voice snapped Cathy out of whichever daydream she had been in. Cathy looked at Areannia, and then the menu, heavy bags under ruby red eyes. Cathy’s wild and free dark-green hair was held in place by a knit toque to keep her ears covered and looking as human as possible. The long elf ears made the toque bulge awkwardly on one side, while the other ear poked through her hair.

Areannia pointed at her own ears hoping Cathy would get the idea, but the changeling was clearly oblivious to the gesture.

Around them the diner's patrons chatted amongst themselves, drowning out most of Areannia's own inner thoughts. It was unclear to Areannia how her sister was able to think clearly, but given that the changeling drove an excessively loud semi, it was likely she was hard of hearing anyway.

“How much like a bull Stevie looks like with her antennas,” Cathy said, motioning toward the truck and smiling. “Just look at the antennas. She looks nice, eh?"

Three meter long antennas sat atop the dark green semi’s mirror brackets. They were angled forward and did resemble a bull. Not to mention the semi needed a serious bath with the caustic ash and slush caked in every nook and cranny you could think of.

“Okay…?” Areannia said. “Haven’t you looked at her everyday since you bought the truck?”

“Just look at her!” Cathy’s smile turned into a goofy grin as she waved to the semi. “So pretty.”

“You need sleep.” Areannia raised an eyebrow at her. There wasn't anything different about the truck. It was old and broken.

”Of course I do! But she’s a nice looking truck." Cathy turned her attention to a small coin operated jukebox on one end of the table, flipping through songs one after the other.

“Old and rusted more like it. How’s the frame?”

“Some spellwork mechanic in Amarillo applied a protection spell a few weeks back. Should be good for another year, until I can save up for a new frame.”

“In Amarillo? That’s the desert.” Areannia waved to Cathy, tearing the woman’s attention away from the jukebox.

“Yeah, so?” Catherine sipped from her tea and closed her eyes, smiling at something in her head.

“The desert.”

“And? They have a chrome shop out there that does some of the best work I've seen!"

“The. Desert,” Areannia said, tapping her hand on the table with each word.

“Explain,” came the quick reply from Cathy.

Areannia took a deep breath and motioned at Cathy. “We live in Hades Valley. You know, right between the frozen Northlands and temperate Wildlands?”

“Okay.” Cathy nodded slowly, her eyes changing from ruby red to purple, and back again as she blinked a few times.

Areannia shook her head at the eye color change and moved her hands as she spoke. “We get snow almost year round. Just look outside!”

“And?”

“You might as well be driving to another shard with how far away Amarillo is."

Cathy nodded, blinking as her eyes changed color again to a soft gold, mimicking Areannia’s hair color. "Okay, but Amarillo isn't too far away? Less than halfway to the east coast."

"Amarillo itself is nearly three thousand kilometers away from here!" Areannia tapped her finger against the table and nodded.

“It’s like a four day trip!” Cathy set her drink down and sat up to look Areannia in the eyes. “What’s wrong with Amarillo, eh?”

This made Areannia frown and pick up the solid wood menu to look at the sandwiches. For fucks sake, Cathy… You know better than this! They're fleecing you for everything you’ve got!

Cathy took her cue look at her menu.

*** ***

Minutes later, the conversation behind Areannia went quiet, which was a relief, but the tips of her long ears burned as a faint whisper reached them. She already knew what they were talking about, as it was the very same thing people had muttered when she walked in; her ears nearly as long as the average hand and dotted with six rings and four studs. Ears that were quite similar to Cathy’s current choice of ear length.

Almost everyone in the diner was human. Although the short cook and waitress were halflings. To Areannia it did not matter. What mattered was that she wanted food and the diner had food, but food cooked by a halfling? That would be all the better.

"Excuse me,” the human behind Areannia said in common, “we couldn't help but overhear that beautiful language you were speaking. Elvish, right? It’s quite lovely to hear and we only have a few questions. Your daughter…? And you are elves, right?"

Cathy shrank lower in her seat and hid her face with the menu while Areannia felt an overwhelming urge spark a flame within her. Areannia’s hands squeezed the menu tight enough she thought she might break through the wood carving, teeth grinding together, eyes narrowing to fine slits. Shadowed thoughts of grabbing the woman by the hair and slamming her into the table surfaced, thoughts of ripping and tearing until there was only silence.

Areannia closed her eyes and took a deep breath. A faint blue glow came through Areannia’s eyelids while she appeared to go into a minor trance.

The oblivious woman leaned further over the edge of the seat next to Areannia and tried to look at her face. “Hello? You do speak common, yes? What’s it like being from the Wildlands? Or are you from the frozen north?”

Areannia focused on the world around her, attempting to commune with any creature of the wild that would hear her voice. She found a few nearby, but it was no good; a simple cat outside who could not find a way in to get at the good food man kept for themselves, a few birds on the roof who had gone quiet when they noticed the cat prowling around, and a spider too far away to do anything in the short term.

This made Areannia retreat within herself and take another deep breath, before exhaling through her nose. She focused on the tranquility of the forest until the anger within retreated once more.

Areannia eyed the annoying, nosy woman but did not look directly at her. Instead, Areannia turned her attention back to the menu and spoke in perfect common. "It should be quite obvious, but I would not expect a young one like yourself to realize it truly does not matter if we are or are not elves. For we are here to enjoy the same food as you. Would you mind returning to your table? I have not seen my sister in over a year and appreciate our meal not being interrupted."

Areannia’s pinky twitched against the menu while she waited for the woman to reply. Her nails shifted colors, becoming a dark grey-black like claws as the energy unwillingly flowed to them.

Cathy placed her hands together, bowing her head head at the intruder and fluttering her eyes. "Please? Pretty please? With a cherry on top, eh? We've had a long day of traveling and are very tired." Her voice sounded like the chirping of songbirds on a crisp morning after. Completely at odds with her earlier scratchiness. There was even a flicker of a glow in Cathy’s mischievous purple eyes, before they exploded with light for the briefest of moments.

Areannia's mind relaxed just hearing the voice, but then it snapped shut, blocking out a faint trace of mind altering magic.

The human woman gave Cathy a nod before she sat back down in her chair with a quiet mumble about them not being as talkative as she thought.

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Areannia sighed, the tension in her face dissipating as her grip on the menu relaxed.

"Feel better?" Cathy whispered in their native tongue.

Cathy picked up her drink and slowly sipped from the straw. She gazed out the window at Stevie, smiling at the old semi. Her long wild hair rested half on her shoulder and half on her back, the knit cap slipping just enough for her pointed ear to poke through her hair.

Four metal bands of shifting colors ran along the outside of the ear and a single stud was placed dead center of her ear lobe.

The elf's still glowing eyes glittered off the ice cubes in her iced tea like the city’s lights at night when viewed from the top of Hades’ Crest, pulling Areannia's attention to Cathy’s slender hand. Areannia’s eyes drifted to the metallic purple nail polish for just a moment, noting that Cathy still kept her first two fingers trimmed close. They then moved along the abstract forearm sleeve. There was no rhyme or reason to the tattoo’s design, or even logic in the colors chosen.

Areannia felt like she was sinking into the chair as the tattoo became deeper, and deeper in Cathy’s skin. Incoherent words in an unusual language danced and flitted through her ears. She sank further and further into the chair while the world kept turning around her. Something peered over Areannia’s shoulder again.

She ripped her eyes from the tattoo and looked at the short wild-haired waitress wandering around like a crazy chicken missing its head.

The words ceased whispering to her.

Areannia frowned. Domination magic in public? A dangerous game to play. She snapped her fingers in Cathy’s ear.

Cathy turned her attention to Areannia, wide easy smile across her face, as she sat upright in her chair, the glow fading rapidly from her eyes.

"I take it that's a yes, eh?" Cathy asked.

"Yeah…" Areannia glanced back at the other table to see if the woman noticed the magic or not. She didn't, so Areannia whispered to Cathy, "Did you just charm that woman?!"

Cathy giggled in reply, saying nothing, but nodding a couple of times and giving Areannia a shrug.

"You cannot simply cast that on a random person! It failed on me and I noticed it. What if she noticed? What if a guard detected it?! You’d be arrested for using mind altering magic!" Areannia kept her voice low and in elvish so the woman didn’t hear her, assuming they didn’t speak elvish. “That’s a Class One Felony and fifteen years minimum!”

“What are you, a cop, eh?” Cathy asked.

No, that was her husband. Areannia frowned as she leaned back, folding her arms across her chest. “I married one, remember? You met him.”

"Well, she’s too stupid to notice! And if she does? Oops." Cathy leaned to the side and waved her hand, speaking loudly in common to a halfling woman in an apron across the diner. "Excuse me? We're ready to order now!"

“Give me a moment!" the waitress called back to her.

“And the leg?” Areannia leaned to the side trying to look around the table, but even if she could, Cathy’s artificial leg was covered by her camouflage cargo pants.

“Just fine.”

“You won’t have it in prison.”

“Uh-huh. They won't catch me if they don't know who I am.”

“Then get a hold of your form and stick to one look,” Areannia whispered. “Your eye color keeps changing.”

“Dammit… what color did I have when I came in?”

“Purple. Like always.”

“And now?”

“Pink like mine.”

“Close enough.”

Areannia covered her face with both hands as she let out a quiet, exasperated sigh.

*** ***

Catherine leaned back in her chair again and rubbed her temples. Why is the diner so fucking loud?

Her injured ear rang like the tolling of a church bell on a wedding day. Being in the diner with so many people, so many conversations going on at once, and so many eyes? She had to hide from it all, lest she hear too much.

But she needed the interaction and attention.

At least that is what part of her said. She rubbed the back of her itching tattooed hand, frowning. Each syllable not coming from Nia's quiet voice was like nails on a chalkboard with how loud they were. However, a strange presence within Catherine wouldn’t let her block out the noise. No, no. It wanted her to hear the conversations around her and hang on to every word. Every. Single. Word until it overwhelmed her.

Let me eat in peace, dammit! she cried to the unrelenting presence.

She clicked her tongue and turned to look at Stevie, but instead of seeing the semi, the waitress's reflection appeared in the glass. The waitress seemed about average height for a halfling with her frazzled head of yellow hair left to roam free.

"Hi!" The woman's voice dug at Catherine’s ears like a hammer smashing into her skull, causing her to clutch her ear. That was when she realized it was exposed and not as short as it should be. She had a half-elf appearance this morning. Now her ear was as long as Nia’s!

Fuck, fuck, fuck. How long was it when I came in?!

She covered the ear with her whole hand and practically curled up on the bench seat, stuffing herself into the corner against the frosted glass. Areannia said her eyes were changing colors on their own. Did her ears change? This is why the diner was a bad idea!

She might be able to hold a form after one day of no sleep, but three? Pushing it. Any more and it's likely to disappear completely.

“So what can I get you two lovely ladies this fine afternoon?" the waitress’s grating voice asked.

"I'll have an avocado and chickpea sandwich with a side of wedges and a strawberry shake," Areannia said to the waitress and gave the slightly cracked menu back.

"Chickpea…? Like replacing the meat with beans?" The waitress replied, confusion reaching her lips but she wrote it down anyway.

“Yes.”

"So a custom no meat sandwich?"

"Correct." Areannia nodded slowly and motioned to the woman. "I apologize to the cook, and realize some places might not do that, but my oath to the Huntress prevents me from consuming animals I have not directly hunted."

"Ooooh! I get it now! You're a tree hugging hippie!" The waitress nodded in recognition, practically hopping up and down in excitement. “That's cool! It's so rare these days, too! Don't worry about Bilford being angry, he understands you hippies don't eat meat and came up with the Leaf Lover’s Special!"

Areannia merely stared at the woman, one eyebrow raised and and a hand on her glass for quite some time. Long enough Catherine gulped.

Don't tell me she's going to punch the waitress… I don't feel like dealing with an angry lion. I just want sleep!

Instead, Nia picked up her glass and began drinking.

"I'll have a Bilford Special and another sweet tea," Catherine said softly, still holding a finger in the ringing ear. Her brows furrowed at the waitress's eyes, pleading for quiet knowing she wouldn't get it.

Either way the halfling was clearly oblivious to her plight as she took the menus and went to turn away from the table.

Areannia motioned for her to wait and spoke up, "Would it be possible to get those in takeout boxes? My sister has come down with a migraine and we need to leave."

"Sure thing, leaf lover!" the waitress said and bounced off.

Once the waitress had gone out of earshot, Areannia looked at Catherine and whispered in elvish, "Do I look like a hippie?!"

Catherine nodded.

"No… you lie!" Areannia sat as straight as she could and looked down at her loose fitting handmade clothes, charm and patch covered backpack resting next to her on the bench. Her long blonde hair was tucked behind earring covered ears in a ponytail and her backwards ballcap.

Catherine rolled her eyes. She felt like someone was staring at them but she wasn't sure who. Her eyes drifted from person to person, noting the many faces within the restaurant ranged from child, to baby, to seniors with a tall bulky silver haired elf tucked in the corner away from everyone else.

The old elf man’s suit cut his form in a way that said he’d take a dwarf in a brawl even at his age.

Something about the old man struck a chord deep within her. She should know him, but from where? His pasty complexion spoke of spending time indoors, narrow chin and teal eyes said he was from the far north.

"Speaking of work…" Areannia leaned toward Catherine and put her hands together almost like she was praying, resting her chin on top of them. "What’s this job you dragged me on?”

The old elf man popped open a newspaper, leaning back against his corner booth.

It can't be Telas, can it?

Catherine hadn't seen the old man in almost a century. As the elf crossed his legs at the ankle, his clothing shifted from a well made cloth suit to sealed form-fit plate armor. A tattered golden cape was draped over his shoulder and gaudy helmet resting on the dinner table.

The man flipped the page, his muddy boots tapping the floor as both he and Catherine waited for dinner; fried ham, potatoes and biscuits. A delicacy that would make anyone’s mouth water when you've been at sea for weeks. As it was, Catherine’s empty stomach gnawed at itself and twisted around demanding food now.

“Cathy?” Areannia asked. “Everything alright?”

The room went eerily silent. So silent Catherine could actually hear clearly from her left ear. But what she heard wasn't what Areannia said. It was something else altogether.

‘Ahoy there!’ a man’s haughty voice called out from the deepest recess of Catherine’s memories. ‘Might I trouble you for some biscuits?’

‘The fuck do you mean biscuits?!’ another voice said, much closer to Catherine. ‘You were just shooting at us!’

‘Correct, my boy!’ the first voice replied to the second as Catherine rubbed at her replacement leg trying to soothe an itch. ‘But we can be civilized about it, can we not? I’m out of flour. Do you have any in that house? I have gold and a list of supplies I require; five pounds of flour, three oranges, five apples—’

A snap tore through the voice and ripped Catherine back to the present. The man was gone, replaced by an empty booth with no food on the table, nor even a newspaper.

She rubbed her forehead and closed her eyes. Why didn't she just let Areannia buy food while she slept?

Gods dammit… When's the food getting here?

“Cathy?” Areannia asked again. “You've been staring at an empty booth for a while now. What's wrong?”

Catherine shook her head, purple eyes glancing around the diner once again. “I need sleep…”

"Food will be here soon." Areannia dug through her backpack for her wallet.

"Did I ever tell you how I met Telas?”

"It's been a long time, but I think it was something to do with an enchanted house?”

“Yeah. He saved my life a few times. Kind of annoying, eh?“

“What do you mean annoying?! I'd think living is good.”

“You’d think.” Catherine shrugged. “Except when you're stuck in a time loop you don't know about and you die one, two…” She leaned back, staring up at the ceiling as she counted the numbers in her head until she spoke again, “Took him fifteen tries he knows of to save me and losing the leg was the best outcome. Or so he says. Could’ve been bullshit to get in my pants, eh?”

“Did it work?”

“Kind of…” Catherine shrugged, and then patted her stomach. “About four months later I realized why I couldn’t change forms when Elly started showing.”

“Is that what happened this time?”

“Huh? Oh! No.” Catherine giggled to herself, waving her hand dismissively and shaking her head. “No, no, no. Wait. Where do you think I've been?”

“I don't fucking know!" Areannia leaned forward and glared a bit, placing both hands on the table. “You dropped off the face of the Earth!”

“I’ve been driving! What else would I be doing, eh?!”

“No one knows where you’ve been for the last year! Hells, you haven’t even called me until yesterday. When was the last time you talked to Victoria?”

“We talk every day! I called her…” Catherine's voice slowly trailed off while she thought about it. She tried to think of the date for a good long while and drew a blank. Just how long had it been, truly? A week? A month? They used to talk all the time!

A woman’s voice whispered in the back of her mind, ‘On the black river of your home, you will follow the lines eternal. Feet humming, heart beating, fire breathing you will roam.’

Catherine’s eyes darted from her tea, to her napkin and then out the window at Stevie, whispering softly to herself, “When did I last call her? I thought I called her last night… What is today? Tuesday? I could have sworn I talked to Elly on the radio this morning…”

The semi’s paint was nice and bright, chrome almost shiny. Light crept through the small drop visor and bounced off the windshield, drawing Catherine’s attention to glowing fairy lights inside the cab.

When did I turn those on?

Areannia said something again as she rubbed the bridge of her nose, slowly shaking her head.

Catherine sipped from her tea, letting the cool drink sate her empty stomach for now. Long shadows fell over the flat nose of the semi giving it a face-like appearance with the fairy lights seeming to be the semi’s pupils.

The waitress set the bags of food and drinks in front of the two and smiled at them. “One Leaf Lover’s Special and a Bilford Special for my two favorite friends!” the waitress said happily.

“We’ve never been here before though?” Areannia tilted her head at the halfling.

“I come here all the time,” Catherine said, pulling a bag close and opening it.

The halfling giggled at Areannia, practically bouncing in place as she set the check down in front of them. “Oh, I just say that to people I like! See you, friends!”

“She’s odd.” Areannia muttered and reached for her bag, taking a deep breath to let the aroma fill her lungs.

“You get used to her.”

“Where’s the avocado? Why is this a drowned meat sandwich?!” Areannia gasped.

Catherine's sandwich had far, far, far more vegetables than the sandwich she ordered should have. “I think I got your sandwich... Fuck it.”

“Don't you dare!” Areannia’s eyes widened.

Catherine smiled at her, pulled the wrapper back and brought the sandwich close as if to take a bite.

Areannia leapt across the table.