Chapter. 34: Interlude: Acclimation And Companion (2/3) (Patreon)

A/N: Patreon is officially 13 chapters ahead now (14 at the time of posting this)

The Underworld. A hub of chaos, an interconnected place that was nothing but a stitched malformed world, one where the strong ruled, and one where death was the common law of life. Order was far and few, and for the most part it never really existed. She wasn’t going to miss the messed up place she had to call home for the first eighteen years.

“Ready to go Ash?” Elei chirped like the overly excited dryad it was. Or rather, dark elf she was.

“Ah, yeah.” Ash felt awkward, she didn’t dislike Elei, but wasn’t this supposed to be a human only realm? Where did the dark elf fit into all of this?

Dark elves were humanoid, however their most defining feature were their ears, the helix of them largely elongated. Ash was also aware that they were unnaturally beautiful, but she didn’t really know much about beauty aside from the fact that Elei wasn’t ugly. Nevertheless, Ash simply hoped that the fact her partner was an elf wasn't going to be a problem in this new realm.

The portal to the new land  was opened by an artifact of the royals; a set of mysterious wriggling stones that formed an arch. Ash and Elei awaited like many others  in the damp hot metal room of the Abyssal Hunters, the sound of flesh was new to everyone in the room and the display of the portal was nothing short of disgusting.

“Quite freaky, eh?” Elei commented. “Not even the dark continent in Elaria has such things.”

“Elaria?” Ash asked, recalling it was the elf’s home. “Your realm?”

“Hmhm.” Elei nodded with a contentful sound. “The dark continent is much like the Underworld, bleak, hostile and very annoying. So when I found out I could just come here I did; except well… The Underworld is very much the same.” She dropped her shoulders. “I’ve always wanted to see new places.”

“I see.” Ash nodded.

Elei decided to ask. “But what about you?”

“It’s complicated.”

“Eh, come on tell me⁠—

The flesh buzzed, and as if a switch was turned on. A light shone through the arch, the scenery beyond changed; from a metal wall to a bright room with tables and chairs. It didn’t look any different from something they hadn’t seen before. Nonetheless the worker there instructed everyone to cross.

Ash stared at the new room. She didn’t have to think about it too deeply.

A new world. Away from the Underworld.

◇ ◇ ◇

There was a conference. A really long conference; one that covered the ‘do’s’ and ‘don'ts’ of the realm, as well as a bit of common sense. Though everything seemed normal to Ash, it basically was the polar opposite of the Underworld. No killing during an argument, no stealing, no insulting.

In the end, she slept through the entire thing. There was some interesting stuff, but she couldn’t really bring herself to care enough. So long as she did her job, and didn’t break any rules, everything would be fine. That was simple logic.

Ash didn’t know if Elei had paid any attention, when she awoke the dark elf was already sleeping on the chair. The conference room was mostly deserted, save for a few souls that had also slept.  Though she was well aware there would be no repercussions; well not ones that were of any concern. Should grave mistakes be made, the result would always be the same. She had been told about it countless times.

Immediate termination.

Ash shook her head, and promptly rocked Elei to wake her up. Unfortunately, they were stuck together. It didn’t take long before the dark elf came to her senses and grumbled upon waking up.

“It hasn’t even been that long.” She said upon standing up.

Ash shook her head. “I don’t know how long it has been, but it’s time to go.” With that said, she headed after the door, Elei following behind her.

She didn’t really know what to expect of this new realm, she had paperwork that came in a folder, it contained the instructions to get by the realm and other things. Basically a dummied down version of the conference, which she read without much enthusiasm.

“What are you reading?” Elei asked as they entered something known as an elevator.

“Reading,” Ash briefly replied before pressing the button with the label ‘1’. “We should at least be able to get through the first day.”

“Oh, right. We.” Elei emphasized the last part with a bit of sadness in her voice. “I thought you simply liked me and decided to stick around.” She pouted.

Ash scoffed. “Hell no. Now read your thing so you can help us get to our new home.”

“About that…” She scratched the back of her head. “I kind of… forgot it in the Underworld?”

Ash stared at her partner for a few seconds before letting go a long sigh. The elevator opened as she stepped out into another unfamiliar room. The place was full of desks and chairs, people stared at shiny squares, though every now and then eyes would come their way, and they wouldn’t stop staring. Or rather staring at Elei.

“Is something on my face?” She asked Ash.

“Well, perhaps it’s because of your ears?” Ash looked at Elei from head to toe, then at herself and at the people around her. “On second thought, it may be because of your outfit.”

“Outfit?” Elei asked, staring down at herself.

She wore a long draping silver dress that complimented her body, the dress itself had multiple layers of cloth that flowed like a waterfall, and like nature⁠— it was rather crude and simplistic yet beautiful. Nonetheless Ash just seeing around could tell, the clothes around them were much more conventional and less flashy.

“I suppose… you’re kind of right…” She muttered. “Then let’s just hurry up and get me some new clothes…”

Ash paused and looked at her. Was she embarrassed? She chuckled from the thought.

“Sure, let’s get out of here.”

Ash was wearing what she was supplied by the hunters. It was a dull set of black clothes, but even though she disliked it, in retrospect; it was quite great to be largely ignored. While her partner caught the eyes of every human they walked past. By the time they got out of the building they were in, Ash noticed Elei’s cheeks were subtly red.

“Should’ve worn the clothes they gave us.” She commented.

The elf simply slowly nodded.

Ash returned to reading to figure out the next step. They were outside the building, the sky was dark which was a relief⁠—the sky of the Underworld was an eye-bleeding red after all⁠—strangely enough even though there were humans inside the building, the outside was practically deserted save for some carriages without animals.

They were thankfully provided currency as well as phones. Neither of them knew what they were for, but the papers also covered where their new home was, as well as a papermap for them to follow. Now they just had to follow the right directions and⁠—

“We should get going…” Elei commented, bringing Ash from their thoughts.

“Right.” Ash nodded. “Then let’s just go…”

Elei hurriedly nodded in response, clearly not wanting to be stared at anymore.

◇ ◇ ◇

The wind unceasingly blew around them, the embrace of the darkness surrounded them.

“Hey… is it really alright to just sleep here?” Ash asked the smiling elf.

“Well, we clearly got lost. Look.” She gestured at the plant filled ground. “The grass is my friend, and so is yours.”

“I suppose…” Ash agreed awkwardly.

They were somewhere she didn’t know how to name. It was akin to a giant patch of garden full of trees, grass, flowers and other things. Benches and fountains existed. They had chosen to sleep next to the trees.

“Is this normal?” Ash couldn’t help but ask upon seeing Elei simply laying down as if the grass was the most comfortable thing she had ever touched.

“For dark elves?” She pondered. “Definite no. For elves? Absolutely.”

“So you’re abnormal?”

“If you want to call me that, sure.” She shrugged and rolled to watch the sky. “After all, no elf would dare venture out before they hit the prime age of one-hundred.”

Ash paused. “You people live that long?” She was aware her mother was about one-hundred-thirty years old, and that’s when the Grim reaper took her. But prime age at one-hundred? She had never heard of it.

Elei nodded. “Pretty much. Ah, make no mistake, I am forty-three.” She said proudly before relaxing her body. “Though I wish I had left much earlier.”

“Huh…” Ash was lost. “I am what⁠— eighteen?”

“So you’re just a kid,” Elei chuckled. “That’s good.”

Ash scoffed. “I could probably kill you even if I am a kid.”

She simply got a chuckle back. “That may be so, you people from the Underworld are born to kill much like us dark elves. Though…” She drew a silence. “I don’t think I ever liked killing.”

“Me neither.” Ash finally relented and sat on the ground. “But that’s just how the Underworld is…”

“I suppose…” Elei sighed. “Let’s just sleep and look for our home tomorrow.”

“Yeah…”

◇ ◇ ◇

Ash felt as if she were burning. She slowly opened her eyes only to be met by unending light. It took a lot of squinting but the sky was now blue. Huh? She turned to her left only to see that Elei was still sleeping.

Upon shaking her awake, the only thing she said.

Oh, it’s morning already? We should get going.

Ash frowned but simply followed. It didn’t take long before Elei began to ask humans for directions, which was weird to Ash, but she simply waited for her companion to return. After a few hours of back and forth traveling they finally found their home. It was an apartment somewhere in the city.

Upon opening the place Elei made a beeline straight to the couch and collapsed. Ash didn’t hurry that much, but also followed the same fate.

Hours to simply get home.

Thankfully they had about a month to acclimate to the new place.

◇ ◇ ◇

Days passed as Ash slowly adapted to her situation; the concept of day and night, the usage of currency and the necessities. Elei was… well she was a unique partner to live with for Ash, and she had adapted much quicker. The door opened, and Elei walked in. She wore a hoodie that hid her ears.

“Look at what I found!” She exclaimed as she raised a bag.

“What is it?” Ash asked with confusion. The elf had been nonstop going outside and buying things, at some point she was more bewildered than interested.

“It’s a computer!” Elei paused. “Well a laptop which is technically a computer!”

Ash didn’t really know what it was, but listened to the elf ramble about the apparatus for hours on end. Though the more she listened the more interested she grew. And then she turned it on and with a lot of struggle and brainstorming from the both of them they managed to get some usage out of it. Namely the browsing and internet⁠.

By the next day Ash had gone outside to buy one as well.

By the third day, they couldn’t stop using it.

And by the week⁠— they were addicted.

By the end of the month⁠— the phone rang.

Ash and Elei had a moment of pause before they realized. The acclimation period was over. It was time for the first mission.