Elijah, Rachel, and Shiyu gazed at Emily with wide eyes as she drizzled maple syrup on her waffles. Crumbs of food littered the stacked plates next to her. Glasses of milk and syrup bottles clung to the side of the table they sat at. Shiyu blinked heavily as she watched Emily gorge herself, not bothering to use any silverware as she shoved a waffle in her mouth. Rachel scratched her head, then glanced at Elijah as he held his cigarette.
"Where the hell are you putting all that kid? Got a damn black hole for a stomach," Elijah jested as he stared at Emily finish off another plate.
Emily did not respond as a huge grin stretched on her face after she burped.
"Good thing the pilgrimage isn't a food-eating competition," Rachel jested as she watched Emily chug down a glass of milk.
Emily did not respond as she wiped her mouth with her arm.
Shiyu forced a thin lip smile as Emily gestured for another plate of waffles. "Well, at least we know what motivates her."
Emily belched, then chuckled, as she poured syrup onto the next plate of waffles.
Elijah shook his head and then stood up from his chair. "Think I'm going to take a little walk, Rachel...got a minute?" He asked as he lit another cigarette.
Rachel nodded, then looked at Shiyu. "We will be back," she said as she gestured, smiled, then watched Emily continue to gorge herself.
Elijah gestured for her to follow as he nudged through the onlooking crowd, each baffled at the gluttony on display. He flicked his cigarette ash as he turned a corner, waiting for the citizens to pass by. A cloud of smoke lingered in the air as he exhaled, swirling around his gray mask before reaching towards the mall's ceiling.
"What's on your mind?" Rachel asked as she crossed her arms and then leaned on the wall next to him.
"Glad you asked...it's about our waffle-obsessed orphan," he replied as he flicked ash from his cigarette. "Have you noticed anything unusual about her?"
Rachel raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean by unusual?"
Elijah paused as he smoked. "Let's not beat around the bush...you know exactly what I mean. Don't you find it weird that she is just good at everything she does?"
Rachel shrugged, then rubbed her neck. "Untapped potential?"
Elijah shook his head. "Sure... but Sarah is considered the best musician in all of Tyrial, and she just mopped the floor with her with no training. She has no experience in fencing, and she made you question if she had training....don't you find that odd?"
"Probably why the ENGINE selected her as a chosen. They say it can see what others can't," Rachel replied.
Elijah nodded. "Sure...but what happens if she keeps being good at everything moving forward...what then?"
"Not sure if I am following?"
"Let me put it this way. There is a sage following her around, certain she is the next PRIME. The ENGINE specifically watched her play her cello in the streets, and statistically, the white mask is the most likely to become the next PRIME. You following now?"
Rachel shrugged. "So the odds are in her favor...what about it?"
"Alright...think of it this way. If you had to fight her for real...do you think you would win?"
Rachel paused as her eyes narrowed. "That's an odd question...we are a team."
"Yes, we are...but hypothetically if it came down to it. Do you think you could beat her, given what you've now seen?"
"Of course.... she's no pushover, but I am a trained fighter. Experience beats natural talent every time."
"Are you sure? Sarah, by all definitions, should have beaten Emily, but that didn't happen. Emily said it herself... self-taught...nobody taught her how to play a cello like that."
Rachel's eyes widened. "That's different."
"Is it?"Elijah asked as he flicked his cigarette.
"I."
"You don't gotta answer it...just something to think about. I've seen a lot of stuff in my time, but there's just something...off about our little orphan."
"You think the trend will continue, is that it?" Rachel asked.
Elijah lit another cigarette. "I don't think...I know it will."
"How is that?"
"In my line of work...you learn to trust your instincts. And my instincts are screaming that we haven't even scratched the surface of what that kid can do."
Rachel scratched her face but did not respond. She then nudged Elijah on the shoulder as Emily and Shiyu approached.
"Hope we are not interrupting anything?" Shiyu asked.
Emily yawned, then rubbed her hands through her hair.
"You finally full?" Elijah asked.
Emily nodded and smiled. "Best meal ever, now I just want to hibernate for a million years."
"It is getting late," Rachel replied as she rubbed her neck.
"We set sail for Tyrial tomorrow...be up by noon or you will be swimming your way there," Elijah jested.
Emily groaned. "Fine....but someone probably should wake me up. I am going to sleep like a bear in hibernation."
"I will make sure of it," Shiyu replied. "Any word on Sasha or the others by chance?"
Elijah shook his head. "Haven't seen them since the ballroom. Probably strategizing, but we can deal with that when we get to Tyrial."
Rachel nodded. "Agreed... no sense worrying about them."
"Welp, I am heading to my room. I am exhausted," Emily replied as she blinked with heavy eyelids.
Emily lumbered out of the mall and down the cobblestone streets of Leonore. Her white mask glowed underneath streetlights and the star-speckled sky. Her muscles ached as if she had worked out all day; each step felt like walking through quicksand. She dragged her legs up the hotel stairs, eyes half open as she opened her hotel room door.
"Fucking love waffles," Emily mumbled to herself as she flicked the light on. She gazed around her room, then headed towards the bathroom. "Probably should write a song....Eh, I will do it later," she chuckled as the bathroom light flickered on without her flipping the light switch.
Water poured from the faucet as Emily gazed at her reflection in the mirror. She splashed water on her face, then reached for a towel hanging on the door without moving from the sink. Emily rubbed her eyes as the shower turned on, as she got undressed. Steam clouded her reflection as it watched her step into the shower. Hot water dripped from her pale skin and swirled around her feet as she gazed up at the ceiling.
"I wake up where the city numbs," Emily sang as she grabbed a bar of soap, eyes half closed with a Cheshire grin on her face.
"Empty stomach, hunger drums."
"Thread and needle in merchant's hands,"
"She promises what I can't understand."
"₥Ɏ ⱤɆ₣ⱠɆ₵₮łØ₦ ₣₳ĐɆ₴, ł'₥ ฿₳ⱤɆⱠɎ ₮ⱧɆⱤɆ," Emily sang, her voice distorted with pitch shifts as the soap in her hand fell into the sink.
Emily rubbed her eyes, then noticed she had misplaced the soap. "Đ₳₥₦ł₮...where did I put it?" She grumbled to herself as water dripped from her teal highlights as she looked around the shower.
"Eyes like hunger, tangled hair," she sang as she stepped out of the shower, towel wrapped around her body as the shower turned off on its own.
"Every window shows what I could be."
"If someone would just notice me."
She smiled and laughed as she noticed the soap in the sink, water pouring from the faucet.
"Oh, the sirens sing in frequencies high," Emily sang as she grabbed the soap.
"Painting tomorrow in starlight."
"ł₣ ɎØɄ Ⱡł₴₮Ɇ₦ ₵ⱠØ₴Ɇ, ₮ⱧɆɎ'ⱠⱠ ₮ɆⱠⱠ ɎØɄ ₮Ⱨł₴."
The shower turned back on as she walked back.
"₴Ɇ₩₦ ł₦ ₳ ฿Ɽł₲Ⱨ₮ ₴₮₳Ɽ ĐⱤɆ₴₴," she sang as the towel returned to its original position just as she stepped back into the shower.
"Stitched with dreams I can't possess."
"Chosen faces fade away."
"In a sky that never sees day."
"Sewn in a bright star dress."
The shower turned off as Emily rubbed her hands through her wet hair. The towel wrapped around her body once more as she left the shower.
"₩ⱧɆⱤɆ ĐØ ØⱤ₱Ⱨ₳₦₴ ₲Ø ₮Ø ⱤɆ₴₮?" Emily sang as her reflection watched her walk past. The lights flickered violently before turning off as she left the bathroom after getting dressed.
"₮ⱧɆ ₦ɆɆĐⱠɆ₴ ₱łɆⱤ₵Ɇ ₳₦Đ ⱠɆ₳VɆ ₮ⱧɆłⱤ ₥₳Ɽ₭."
"Binding me to who I are," Emily sang as she gazed out her hotel window.
"₳ ₣Ʉ₮ɄⱤɆ ₩Ɽ₳₱₱ɆĐ ł₦ ₣Ʉ₮ɄⱤɆ'₴ ₵Ø₴₮."
"Breathing hope for what I've lost."
"You called me rat, called me scum."
"₦Ø₩ ł'₥ ₵ⱧØ₴Ɇ₦ - ₩Ⱨ₳₮ Ⱨ₳VɆ ł ฿Ɇ₵Ø₥Ɇ?"
Emily rubbed her face as she closed the blinds then sat at the side of her bed. She grabbed her notebook from her hoodie pocket.
"Your voice hums like the ENGINE's call," She wrote down in her notebook as she hummed a tune.
"Echoing truths that make me small."
"Oh, the sirens sing in frequencies high."
"Painting tomorrow in starlight."
"If you listen close, they'll tell you this," Emily scribbled in her notebook as the lights flickered overhead before she closed her notebook.
"Sewn in a bright star dress."
"Stitched with dreams I can't possess."
"Sewn in a bright star dress."
"In a sky that never sees day."
"Sewn in a bright star dress."
Emily yawned, her voice glitchy and distorted as the light overhead flickered mulberry before turning off. She then put her notebook on the nightstand, closed her eyes, and fell asleep.