Changes

[b]Changes (Chapter Four)[/b]

Cassi’s eyes wandered around as she and Sven walked down the street, looking for a place to eat. So far, she hadn’t spotted a diner of any kind, but she had seen a homeless man pissing on a lightpost and two male prostitutes getting into a fight over a john.

She was beginning to get very hungry, a side result of using her magic. Once, she had attempted to use her magic on a large object, and after ten minutes of straining to change it, had given up. As far as she could tell, it hadn’t worked, but she had still an incredible craving for food.

“Sigh. This is the third street we’ve tried. This is starting to get silly.” Sven’s voice broke through her thoughts. “I mean, come on.”

Cassi smiled. “There’s got to be somewhere to eat nearby…it’s not often that you can go this far without finding something.”

As she said this, a door caught her eye. Large and wooden, the door seemed to stand out against the brick building it was laid into. Instantly, she was drawn to the beauty of the intricate carvings across the face of the door, and she wandered over towards it to further examine it.

Sven stopped, noticing Cassi’s departure from their current path. Following her with his eyes, he didn’t register what she was up to until her fingers traced the edges of the doorknob. Suddenly viewing the door as a whole himself, he walked up behind her.

“Hmph. Didn’t even see this door here. Nice. But don’t you think we should save the art lesson for after we put something in our bellies?” Sven crossed his arms and his fingers began to tap impatiently.

“Hold on just a minute. This door is…exceptional.” Cassi’s fingers moved from the doorknob to the door itself, following the many interwoven celtic knots engraved in the wood. Suddenly, her fingers stopped moving. “Huh. That’s interesting.”

Sven rolled his eyes. “What is? The door?”

Cassi gave him a smirk. “Of course, the door. But more specifically, something ON the door. And I’d think you’d be a bit more appreciative of a girl that was buying you a meal…”

Sven hung his head. “Sorry…you’re right. What is interesting?”

Cassi lifted her hand a few inches from the door, and pointed at a clump of knots. “That.”

Sven brought his eyes up to where Cassi pointed, and strained- but he didn’t see anything different from the rest of the knots. He looked at her with a raised eyebrow.

Cassi sighed. “Ok, granted, you probably don’t read or understand Irish, but you should at least be able to tell what letters are, right?” Her fingers pressed back against the wood.

Sven took another closer look. After a moment, his eyes focused a bit more, and he realized that that particular clump did indeed stand out ever so slightly from the others- the edges weren’t as smooth, but instead, seemed to form letters. “Oh. Hey. Neat.”

“Yeah, neat.” Cassi took her turn and rolled her eyes. “And even more neat is what it says.”

“Oh yeah?” Sven smiled. “And what is that?”

“It reads dream, or vision. At least, the word is ‘aisling’, which if I recall, means those two.” Cassi reached once again for the doorknob, but this time grasped it firmly.

“Ah. Oh, goodie. The door has ‘dream’ written on it. At the rate we’re moving, that’s what this meal you’ve been promising me is turning out to be.” Sven sighed, and his arms moved toward crossing again, but he stopped when he realized she was turning the knob.

“What are you doing?” Sven questioned. “Aren’t we looking for somewhere to eat? Not explore?”

Cassi stopped, and pointed once again to the door. “See here? And here?”

Sven looked once more. “Sigh…what now.”

Cassi used her finger to point out what she wanted him to see, and as she described them, they came clearer into focus just like the letters to the word earlier. “A man eating. And there, a man drinking. There’s other pictures here, too. Just makes me wonder why you’d put food and drink on a door if you didn’t at least have some. So, yeah, I’m gonna explore real quick.”

Cassi pulled on the door, and looked back at Sven. “And nobody says you have to join me. But if they do have food, I’m eating some.” And with that, she stepped into the next room.

Sven started to protest, but quickly reminded himself that she was, in fact, still paying for his meal. So, reluctantly, he followed her in.

Looking around the room once and seeing very little, Sven turned back to close the door, only to discover that the door had finished closing silently just as he faced it. Shrugging, he turned back to watch Cassi walk over to the far wall. This time, he spotted the sign-though, it wasn’t carved in knots as the door had been. He joined her, watching her inspect the sign from over her shoulder.

“So, what now, my esteemed adventurer?” Sven grew frustrated after a minute’s silence. “Are you going to clue us non-leprechaun-supporting friends in as to what the damn sign says?”

Cassi groaned, but as she turned to face Sven, he realized it wasn’t in disappointment, but in amusement. Smiling, she pointed to the top two lines of the sign. “These here say ‘Let ye be merry, let ye be fed, let ye be tolerant, and if not, let ye be ‘boot instead.’”

Sven groaned himself. “Oh, great. Irish humor, and poetry, both rolled into one. And what about the rest of it?”

Cassi took a few steps towards the corner of the room, as she dropped a foot onto a staircase that Sven just now noticed, she said “The rest, my dear friend, is the menu.”

* * *

Cassi’s mind began racing as she neared the bottom of the stairwell. Only a few seconds earlier she had begun to hear all the sounds of the room below her, but the gray walls that encased the stairs did not allow for any kind of glimpse into the world she was descending into. At last, she saw light shining on the bottom step, and with a quick glance behind her to see that Sven was still following, she took her first view of the pub.

And she stopped in amazement, for the bustling room in front of her was larger than she had anticipated. The ceiling of the room was a little taller than normal ones, which no doubt added to the affect. But the room itself was huge. A large island bar, the size of a normal restaurant on it’s own, sat in the middle of the room, surrounded by barstools, the majority of them occupied. Cassi couldn’t help but be reminded of some television show she had seen a few times that centered around a bar. Along the edges of the room were booths, lining the sides with dark green velvet cushions, with beautiful oak tables. And in the space between the booths and the bar was layer upon layer of tables and chairs, completing the pub’s environment.

Cassi took note that no waitress came to seat them, so she set off toward an open booth on her left. Walking past the ones full with various inhabitants, she slid herself into the second open side, and watched as Sven settled himself in opposite her.

“Finally. Some grub.” Sven grumbled. “I was seriously beginning to wonder if you were just yanking my chain about this meal.”

“Never.” Cassi grinned. “It’s not in me to lie to nice people.” She then set herself to examining the table between them, one more object in the pub that was heavily adorned with carvings of celtic knots.

“Now, what exactly was on that ‘menu’, hmm? Remember, not all of us can read Irish, so I hope you memorized it for me.” Sven crossed his arms once more.

Cassi smiled sweetly at Sven. “Aww, I don’t think that’s necessary, actually.”

Sven gave her an eye. “And what do you mean by that?”

Cassi gestured to the table, and Sven dropped his eyes to it and groaned.

“Don’t tell me, it’s on the table, too.” Cassi’s nod confirmed him. “Lovely. But you’ll still need to transla-“

Sven stopped in the middle of his sentence, as he realized the table’s carefully engrained message was not in Irish like it’s counterpart in the room above, but in English. Looking back up at Cassi’s brightly smiling face, he chuckled. “Clever. Very clever.” Taking another glance at the embedded menu, he realized it took up the entire width of the table, but was positioned so that he could read it. He quickly raised his head back up and offered to Cassi, “I can move over for you to read this, if you want. Or read it to you.”

Cassi gave him an odd look. “What are you talking about? I can read it just fine from here.”

Sven’s eyes traveled from the table to Cassi and back again. “But…it’s facing me. You can read this stuff upside down? I’m impressed.”

Cassi didn’t remove the look she was giving him, but instead, got up and walked around to his side. As she took a glance at the table from his angle, she laughed, and sat herself back down opposite Sven once more.

“What’s so funny?” Sven asked.

“The carving, the menu. It’s an ambigram.” Cassi smiled. “I’m liking this place more and more.”

Sven’s head tipped as far to the side as he could let it. Sure enough, the table’s carving was exactly the same read upside down. “Wow. Shit, this place must have cost a fortune.”

Cassi’s head bobbed in agreement, and she let her fingers travel the curves of the message as she perused her choices. However, she stopped herself when she saw something on her hand.

All over her hand, actually. Cassi’s eyes focused on her palm. It was entirely covered in darkened areas, which closely resembled the knots on the door. She realized the doorknob, which she had earlier thought felt slightly warm, had effectively burned it’s image into her palm without her knowledge. As her eyes scanned the newfound deformity, she realized the knotwork from the doorknob was carved in reverse, to allow the burned image to be read. The very center of the design looked very much like a key, and the words encircling it read ‘Thy name be in full, truthfully given, and thy skin be unharmed, healthy and living.’

Curious, Cassi thought. A quick glance at Sven’s hands revealed no effect like the one on hers, but as she recalled, he had not touched the door.

Without warning, a waitress appeared at their booth’s side. “Hello, my name is Mary.” She held out her hand. “I’ll be your server today.”

Cassi took it, and with a shake, responded, “Hi! My name is Cassiopeia LaClaire. I’ll be your customer today.”

Sven looked at her strangely, then offered his hand as well, as Mary shook it, saying. “And I’m Sveneski Romonov.”

Mary smiled. “Wonderful. And do we know what we want already? Or should I just start you off with something to drink?”

Cassi asked kindly for a cup of tea, and Sven mumbled that “That would do fine for me, too.” With that, Mary turned and headed off to procure the drinks for them.

When their waitress had left their sight, Sven began. “What was that about? ‘Cassiopeia’? Decided we needed to use our full names? And that’s your real name?”

Cassi used the time before answering to take another glimpse at her hands, and she watched the last of the entwined design fade away. “I just…felt we needed to. And yes, my full name is Cassiopeia. My parents…well, let’s just say they weren’t content with the average slew of names, and one of their biggest hobbies was astronomy. So, the name came from a constellation that had some sort of meaning to them.” Cassi grinned. “As you could tell, I’m not a big fan of it, so I don’t usually go by it unless I have to, or for important things.”

Sven nodded. “Ah. I see. I can understand that.”

“And what about you? ‘Romonov’? Surely not of the Romonovs of Russian history, yes?” Cassi questioned.

“Actually,” Sven started, “I don’t know. It’s been the family name for a while, and to be honest, I don’t know much about my grandparents. And since I left my parents, I can’t exactly find out more.”

“Ah. Well, I guess anything’s possibly, really. You never know.” Cassi leaned back. “Anyway, for somebody who not ten minutes ago was complaining about not eating, you’re moving awfully slow to order.”

“Are you kidding? I know exactly what I want. A nice, juicy steak. I haven’t had one of those in years. And some good veggies to go with it.” Sven put his hand on his belly, already beginning to imagine the food being put in front of him. “Uh huh. Yeah.”

Cassi rolled her eyes. “Of course. Well, I’m good for a simple hamburger and some fries. I want a huge one, but that’ll do me well.”

“Well, just how large do you want it, hun?” A soft voice floated over their table, surprising both Sven and Cassi. It was Mary, returning with their drinks. “’Cause, we can do that if you want.”

Cassi grinned again. “That…would be perfect.”

The rest of the meal was passed in relative silence, for though Sven and Cassi made some small talk, they were both far too hungry for much conversation, and Cassi was also highly distracted by the fascinating atmosphere of the bar. She watched group after group pass by, head to the bar for drinks, stumble into the bathroom (though not always to use the facilities, as Cassi noted, for several times couples went in there and came out quite sweaty- however, she could be wrong and merely mistaking it for constipation), and generally laugh and have a good time.

Another fact she made note of as they got ready to leave was the even balance of straight and gay couples. The bar was very clearly a very open and supportive place, she felt. Passing by another booth with it’s feminine occupants enjoying each other’s lips, she smiled. Not a bad place at all.

What Cassi was unaware of as she climbed up the staircase was that four pairs of eyes were watching her do so.

* * *

Romulus smacked his friend’s arm. <<They’re leaving!>>

Remus pulled his lips off of Cáit’s, and glared at Romulus, but said nothing. He just turned back to Cáit and apologized for needing to leave.

Cáit’s disappointment at this turn of events was quite evident in her voice. “Aww…but we were just having some fun.”

“Ah know, sweetie, ah know. Don’t worry, ah’ll be bahck soon for you.” Remus gave her another peck on the cheek before pulling on his black leather trenchcoat, with Romulus simultaneously following suit.

Romulus’s eye caught Sasha, back at the bar. She motioned three things quickly. <<Yeah, I know. We’re on them.>>, he sent to her. Sasha nodded and left the bar, heading to the back of the pub for her office.

Romulus directed his thoughts back to Remus. <<Come on! We need to go, quickly, before->>

<<We lose thehm. Ah know, dahmnit! There! Ah’ve got mah fookin’ shite together. Let’s->>

<<Roll, my friend, and see what they’re up to.>> Romulus finished as they reached the staircase.

* * *

Cassi and Sven stepped out onto the street, turning towards the direction of the warehouse. Stuffed full of very tasty and satisfying food, they wandered silently together down the empty street.

Turning down the nearest alley, they had only made it half way before both registered a loud shout (or was it two?), which seemed to echo within their minds. Watch out!

Both whipped around to find a large man in a dark colored trenchcoat and fedora rapidly approaching them, and in his hands, something glittering.

For once, Sven reacted before Cassi. Using all his strength to shove her to the side of the alley, he put himself in front of her just as she realized what the glittering objects in the man’s hands were- knives. And nasty ones.

Cassi didn’t even have time to say something as the man effortlessly threw the first knife through the air, and she watched in horror as it sunk into the flesh of Sven’s chest. He dropped to his knees, giving her a view of their attacker just in time to throw her hands up as he flung another knife at her.

She barely felt the object as it bounced harmlessly off her and fell to the ground. Styrofoam, just like the ones he now held in his hand. Her defense had worked. Realizing what had happened, he tossed his handful of now garbage aside and reached for her throat.

With no further time to react, she did the only thing she could think of- grabbed his coat and concentrated as hard as she could. Only when the fingers that brushed against her throat were removed as quickly as they had contacted, and a scream of pain erupted from her attacker’s mouth, did she open her eyes back up again.

She watched as the trenchcoat, now a layer of sizzling, steaming acid, burnt through his remaining clothing. She fell to the ground, feeling completely drained, and brushed into Sven’s body.

The man ran off, wailing loudly as he high-tailed it from the alleyway, with bits of him falling off en route.

Two more figures soon appeared in her vision, but she couldn’t look up at them. All she could do was stare at her poor friend’s still body, the knife protruding from his chest. He had pushed her out of the way and taken her place. The man she’d only met a mere five hours ago was now lying dead in front of her, beginning to form a puddle of dark crimson around him.

The two men around her said nothing, although apparently trying to decide what to do. She heard nothing until a door opened a few feet from her.

“Heavens, boys! Get that poor lass in here! She looks positively frightful. And who knows when that thing will come back- she’s not safe here! Let’s take her back in, I think she could do with seconds on that hamburger. This time, it’s on the house.”

Cassi looked up at the voice that was speaking, and saw a mouth forming the last of the words. It was connected to a dark haired lady, and that was the last Cassi saw before her body caved to the stress, and she passed out.