Now it's time to share something more “slice of life,” what do you think?
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"That's fine with me, I guess." Eliah.
Alaya simply nodded her head.
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Ah, yes. Jackeline also mentioned that Martin had two adopted sons, and that they were apostles too, although... they had little to do with the church... Just like almost everyone else, including her. She also said that... one had a burned face, and the other... she didn't want to talk about for some reason.
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"Huh?" Eliah and Alaya.
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* December 2, 1987,
Now Mathias and the group were in the city of Iquitos, a city located in the Peruvian Amazon rainforest, near the Amazon River. This city was on an island, surrounded by several other rivers as well. The weather was somewhat warm at the moment.
The group had arrived in the afternoon. Using a PSI canoe, they left Aelin's home, reached a village, and from there took the local transport to get to the city. This was because if they used teleportation, it would take several days for everyone to arrive.
Upon reaching the port, they saw many ships filled with cargo. This was because Iquitos was an island, and many things had to be brought in from other cities. Since there were no roads connecting it to other cities by land, goods were transported by river vessels.
Well, the thing is that they were now in a lodging... using Jackeline's money. They had split into two rooms, girls and boys.
"Wow." she said. "This is the first time I've been here in almost two years."
"Really? It must feel kind of nostalgic," Samantha said to her.
"Huh? Well... I suppose." she replied. "I usually come here, and to Lima, to... I don't know, remember my family, I guess..."
"I see..."
"...Sorry," she said. "That sounded kind of sad, didn't it?"
Ah, yes, they were on the street, outside the lodging.
"Y-yes..." Samantha.
"One thing I didn’t mention to Donovan was that, despite everything, I’ve become, so to speak, friends with my grandparents. They don’t recognize me as family, and yet they love me a lot. For that reason, I also come from time to time."
A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
"Oh, I see." Samantha said, smiling. "That's really nice, honestly."
"Yes, yes, it is..."
"Although... I wish I could tell them the truth." she thought.
Describing the city further, the houses were packed close together, in rows, with each block. The streets were also somewhat narrow, and there were many trees on the sidewalks. You could also hear melodies from the radios. They were Christmas carols. Most were songs made in the jungle itself.
You could see all kinds of vehicles on the streets: cars, motorcycles, and even some things they called "mototaxis."
Additionally, the city had quite a cultural diversity, evident even in the architecture of the buildings. There was a significant presence of indigenous tribes, mestizos, and people from other parts of the world. All of this, along with the fact that the city was in the heart of the jungle, gave it a touch, so to speak, exotic and unique.
...Wow, describing this is becoming complicated. Well, it doesn’t matter, at least you get the idea.
The thing is that that day they just went out to stroll and let the group get to know the place.
Since Jackeline somewhat knew the area, having been there several times, she was the guide, so to speak.
She took them to eat some typical jungle foods. For lunch, they had "tacacho" with cecina. The "tacacho" was mashed roasted plantain shaped like a ball.
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"What a strange name..." Alaya.
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I guess, but the thing is that everyone liked it except Blocky for some reason. But... when it came time to pay...
"W-What? Why is it so expensive?" Jackeline.
It turned out that the country was experiencing economic instability. There was a lot of inflation, not much tourism, political unrest and there was even a conflict with a certain terrorist group... But that doesn't concern us now.
At night, they had juane. This was... um... green rice with egg, olive, and a piece of meat, all wrapped in a leaf, making it look like a ball as well. It was delicious.
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"Wait... please don’t mention foods we’re never going to try..." Eliah said.
"But we can!" Alaya replied.
"Really? Oh, right."
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The thing is that Jackeline told them the leaf was also edible, and... Samantha realized that was a lie, but Mat didn't.
"Hey! What are you doing, idiot?!" Samantha shouted, stopping Mat, who had already taken a bite.
"Hahaha." Jackeline.
Aelin and the rest looked at them strangely.
Ah, yes. Throughout all this, Jackeline, Mat, and Samantha felt a bit uncomfortable because they were literally bringing five kids everywhere.
* December 6, 1987.
"I like this church." Mat said. "What was it called again?"
"I said I don’t remember..." Jackeline replied.
"...” Samantha.
At that moment, they were in front of the Plaza de Armas in Iquitos (it wasn’t very large). Surrounding it were some establishments, some of which were restaurants.
It was two in the afternoon, and there were several people around as well. Aelin, TRX, Blocky, Roundy, and Pointy were playing in the plaza. Oh, and apparently, Samantha was watching them from there...
"What if I ask someone?" Mat suggested.
"Go ahead if you want." Jackeline told him.
He did. He asked an older man. The man was surprised by the fluency with which he spoke. Mat returned to the group afterward.
"According to him, it’s the Matriz Church."
"Really?" Samantha.
"What? I thought it had another name... But it doesn’t matter; maybe I remembered wrong."
In the distance, Blocky shouted:
"Hey, that’s cheating, agh!"
"No, it’s not!" Aelin exclaimed.
Samantha then said:
"Uh... I think I’ll join them for a while..."
...
Later, they went with the rest to see the Casa de Fierro.
"So, this is the Casa de Fierro," Samantha said.
"Yeah, the other part was in Madre de Dios, but if I remember correctly, there’s nothing left of it now."
"...Huh? Well, putting that aside..." Sam said.
"Oh, is it true that Eiffel built it?" Mat asked out of nowhere.
"Uh, no. He just designed it." Sam replied.
"Uh huh, that’s true." Jackeline said.
"I see..." Mat.
"Hmm..." Pointy. "I like it."
"Why? It’s kind of ugly." Aelin.
A couple of people looked at her.
"Aelin, please don’t say that out loud..." Samantha warned.
"Uh? Okay." Aelin replied, smiling.
They returned to the lodging at night.
The thing is that throughout all this, although Mat seemed to be having fun, he also... looked sad. This was due to... you know what. Samantha tried to cheer him up because she was very worried about him, but even if she succeeded, at night Mat would sink back into depression, and that made her sad. No one noticed what was happening with Mat, except for Jackeline. But... well, in any case, Mat tried to be happier so as not to worry Samantha too much.
Oh, by the way, they were resting because the next temple wasn’t going to open until December 25.
And they remained alert in case something happened, although in the end, nothing occurred during those days, except for the occasional monster.
The thing is that on December 8, Jackeline wanted to buy something, but it wasn’t available in Iquitos, so she decided to go to Lima, the capital. She also wanted to go because she had only been there for a few hours before flying to Iquitos.
The group wanted to accompany her since they also wanted to visit the city, so... they left. They traveled by plane, and Jackeline paid. She didn’t want to use teleportation.