[ic] from the earth thou springest

[honouraryfitz]

Rusty still isn't sure how she got here--the door she'd opened was supposed to be to a supply closet, not a glittering hotel--but she's not about to complain. The huge crystal chandelier hanging from the ceiling is like something out of a movie, and same with the marble floors and huge wooden front desks. Maybe you could see something like this in New York City, but she certainly hasn't before.

It's funny to think of being like a pioneer in a big, empty hotel, but that's what she feels like. Now more than ever, she's on her own, and she'll need her wits about her to figure things out. First things first: Don't hotels usually have restaurants? She might not be able to afford it, but she could offer to work for some food.

When she gets up to the restaurant floor, there's a buffet piled high with everything she's missed about America: great pots of baked beans, mounds of fluffy mashed potatoes, thick cuts of brisket and turkey, slices of apple pie with sugared crust, and more. Best of all, there's no price listed--to the contrary, the sign seems to indicate she doesn't have to pay at all. Rusty's too hungry to debate further; she piles up a plate with food and sits down to eat.

Comments

[honouraryfitz]

Rusty finishes her first plate and figures she probably oughtn't be too greedy with seconds. Maybe she'll just have some dessert. The worst part about England is how there's nothing sweet: no ginger snaps, no chocolate bars, no ice cream sundaes with shaved coconut and maraschino cherries. All they've got is spotted dick and fruitcake, it seems like.

She can't resist, therefore, the call of a slice of apple pie, nor a dollop of vanilla ice cream to the side of it. As she heads back to her seat, she catches sight of a guy sitting a little ways away. He looks like a tramp, with his long hair and the nasty scar on his face, but for all that, he doesn't give off an unfriendly air. And it's been so long since she actually had a conversation with anyone.

"Hi," she says, walking over to him. Rusty figures that if he doesn't want to be bothered, he'll tell her to buzz off, and that'll be that. "Mind if I eat near you?"

[kethedammit]

Mildmay has finished eating long before the girl comes over, and has been sitting placidly in his chair, thinking about what he'll do when he gets back. He's almost a little surprised when the girl comes over to him, and he turns so that his scar isn't facing her, an attempt at hospitality. "Naw," he says. "Sit where you like." Real welcoming, Milly-fox.

[honouraryfitz]

"Thanks," Rusty says. Believe it or not, this is the friendliest anyone's been to her in weeks. Girls at school ignore her, or she gets a oh, go away, Virginia Creeper in response. She sets her plate down and takes a seat across from him. "My name's Rusty. Nice to meet you."

[kethedammit]

"Mildmay," Mildmay says, because he can tell people his real name, and ain't that refreshing as a lit match in a lake. "Yeah, pleasure." He considers it; should kids be here alone? "You here alone?"

[honouraryfitz]

"Nice to meet you, Mildmay," she says, and takes a stab at her pie. It's delicious, and the filling is still warm. There's nothing like it in England, and isn't it a sadder country for that? "Yeah, I came here by myself. Are you?"

[kethedammit]

"Yeah," Mildmay says. He intends to tell his brother... eventually. He's kinda been putting it off. "You're the first I seen of other folk, is all."

[honouraryfitz]

"Same," Rusty says around a bite of ice cream. "Of course, I haven't been here too long. Is this place abandoned?" There's too much hot food for that to be the case. But there's no one here to eat it but them...

[kethedammit]

"Dunno," Mildmay says. "I dunno shit about magic." Which is probably the best indicator of anything he should tell Felix, but...

[honouraryfitz]

"Magic?" Rusty raises an eyebrow. Everybody knows magic isn't real. "You think this place is magic?"

[kethedammit]

"'Couse it is," Mildmay says, a little confused as to why this girl-- Rusty?-- would think it wasn't. "If there ain't no people-- which there ain't, I checked-- who the hell d'you think makes the food?"

[honouraryfitz]

"Maybe they're back in the kitchens," Rusty says. "If you're gonna have this swanky a place, you might not want people to see the waiters."

[kethedammit]

"That don't make no sense," Mildmay says, because it don't. "Flashie folk always want you to see the waiters. Means they can afford to hire 'em."

[honouraryfitz]

Rusty shrugs. "Yeah, but magic's not real. So maybe this place is just weird."

[kethedammit]

There's a pause. Mildmay doesn't react visibly, but he does ponder, a bit. "Why d'you think magic ain't real?"

[honouraryfitz]

"It's just in fairy tales," Rusty explains. She doesn't do it like Mildmay's stupid, though, just like it's a fact. Rusty's a little too tired of people talking down to her to try it on someone else today. "Like Snow White. You don't get brought back to life because somebody kissed you."

[kethedammit]

Mildmay is about to argue with a child about whether or not magic exists, when another sense starts tingling, and he decides to follow that far safer path. "Who's Snow White?"

[honouraryfitz]

"You don't know Snow White? Well, it's a fairy tale. You want to hear it?"

[kethedammit]

"Yeah," Mildmay says, because that was the answer he was hoping for.

[honouraryfitz]

"O.K.," Rusty says, setting down her fork. "Once upon a time, there was a king and a queen, and they had a little daughter with black hair and pale skin, and they called her Snow White. Then the queen died and the king remarried, and Snow White's stepmother was an evil, vain kind of lady. She had this magic mirror she'd talk to--Mirror, mirror, on the wall, who's the fairest one of all?--and the mirror always told her she was the prettiest woman in all the land. Well, Snow White's pop died, too, and she was left alone with her wicked stepmother.

"Everything was O.K. at first. Not great, because the wicked queen hated Snow White and made her wear rags and clean the castle like a servant, but at least Snow White was alive. But one day, the queen asks the mirror her question, who's the fairest one of all, and the mirror tells her that Snow White's prettier than her. And the queen doesn't like that, because she needs to be the prettiest in the kingdom. So she gets the royal huntsman to take Snow White out into the woods and kill her, and tells him to bring her back Snow White's heart as proof.

"Well, Snow White's a nice girl, and the huntsman's kind of soft-hearted, so he doesn't kill Snow White, just tells her to run away and never come back. And he takes a pig's heart to the queen. Snow White goes running through the forest, but she's never been alone in the woods before, so she doesn't know what to do. Eventually she finds this little house and peeks in. It's empty, and there are all these little beds, and she's exhausted. So she decides to take a nap, and when she wakes up, there are seven dwarfs looking at her like they never saw a girl before in their lives.

"They let her stay with them, and she cooks and cleans for them while they mine for gold and jewels. It's a nice setup, because even if she's still kind of a servant, she's alive. It's all O.K. until the queen talks to her magic mirror again. Mirror, mirror, on the wall, who's the fairest one of all? And the mirror says Snow White, even though the queen thinks she's dead. Well, the queen figures out that Snow White's alive and makes the mirror show her where she is. Then she uses magic to make herself look like an old hag--warts, liver spots, wrinkles, everything. And she goes to the dwarfs' house and finds Snow White and says she's selling apples.

"Snow White thinks this is just a nice old lady offering her an apple to try, so she takes a bite of the one the queen gives her. But it's poisoned, and she dies. The queen's satisfied with that and leaves, and the dwarfs find her. They're all heartbroken, because they've become friends and all, and they decide to build a glass coffin to put Snow White in, where anyone who comes by in the forest can see how beautiful and good Snow White was.

"So one day, a prince comes by from the next kingdom over, and he sees Snow White. She's still the most beautiful woman in the land, even if he's dead, and the prince thinks she's swell. He kisses her, and because it's true love's kiss, she comes back alive. And they ride off together on the prince's horse and live happily ever after."

[kethedammit]

Mildmay thinks about this, mentally picking at the story as she goes. It's a lot like the story of Saint Cuthbert and Raleigh-Of-The-Oaks, except nobody gets their feet sawed off by Forest Nan. But it's got good bits, and Mildmay thinks there are chunks of it he could salvage for later. The evil queen is clever, and the idea of the pretty princess cleaning the castle is something to remember. He notes away the rhyme about the magic mirror, too-- without that, the story doesn't work.

"Nice," Mildmay nods at its end. "I never heard that one before."

[honouraryfitz]

"Huh. I thought everybody knew Snow White." Rusty even has vague memories of hearing her mother tell it to her when she was a little girl, back before the war began. So that means they even have it in England. "What fairy tales do you know?"

[kethedammit]

"Naw," Mildmay says. "I'd've heard of it." Because he would have. It's a pretty regular kind of story. Mildmay looks at the girl's hair and her eyes-- maybe she's Corambin, which'd explain it. Mildmay'll have to ask Kay if he ever heard of no Snow White next chance he gets. For now, fair's fair, and he owes the kid a story. He tries to think of one he likes telling, but that everyone don't already know. Maybe a Merrows story. "You ever hear the one about Pelageia's endless woes?"

[honouraryfitz]

"Uh-uh. What's that one about?" Rusty's intrigued, even if it's kind of hard to understand Mildmay when he talks. He seems really interesting, about the most interesting person she's gotten to meet in a long time, and if he comes from somewhere without Snow White, he probably has some stories she's never heard of.

[kethedammit]

Mildmay's been itching to tell Pelageia's story for a while, now, so it's nice to finally be able to. He mixes her story with the Coronation of Saint Aramis, so it has a happy ending (she's just a kid...) and starts right off. He starts with Pelageia isn't a princess, which ain't to her favor, and how her village was poor and she didn't have no food for the coming winter.

"She needed to marry somebody rich, but there wasn't nobody who wanted to marry her on account of how damn ugly she was. She had a true heart, but that don't count for nothing if nobody could see it, and I seriously don't suggest you going and cutting it out. Luckily, Pelageia was as a mind to mine, even if that still left her with no options. She decided she'd go a-travelin', because starving at home's just about the same as starving someplace else. While she was walking through the big ol' forest behind her village, she met a beggar who was hungry too. Pelageia says to the beggar, I ain't got nothing for you, I ain't hardly got nothing for myself. And the beggar says alright, well, if you ever get something, just whistle."

Mildmay whistles a trilling tune. Details make a story stick, after all.

"So that's that. Pelageia keeps on walking, and she comes to a castle, and knocks on the door, hoping they got something for her they can eat. The owner of the castle is a mean old hocus by the name of Styrch, and I dunno if'n you heard Styrch stories before, but he's fuckin' nasty. Of course, Pelageia didn't know that, because she's from bumfuck nowhere in a shitkicker town, and a Merrow besides. So she says oh, Lord Styrch, ain't you got any food? And Styrch says he do, and invites poor Pelageia in."

Mildmay goes on about how Pelageia is presented with three trials, all deceptive and seeming to be about smarts and beauty, none of which Pelageia has. But she solves them all with her pureness of heart. Styrch gets angry, though, and cuts off Pelageia's hand. Pelageia gets afraid, "because who wouldn't," and runs away, back off into the forest.

"She runs until she's tired, and then she walks, and then she walks until she's tired, and then she sits, and then she sits until she's tired, and then she starts crying. And she can't think of nothing to do, so she whistles."

Mildmay whistles again.

"And just right there, the beggar appears. Except he's all handsome suddenly, and he ain't wearing rags no more." Mildmay imitates his brother's voice, all flash and proper. "Do you have something for me? And Pelageia says yeah, she do, and gives the beggar his other hand. And the beggar thanks Pelageia and gives her two hands made of gold and clockwork. And Pelageia asks why, and the beggar says he's in love with Pelageia, and a prince can't marry no handless woman."

[honouraryfitz]

Rusty listens with interest, nodding along as Mildmay talks. The longer she listens to his voice, the easier it is to catch most of the words. By the end of the story, she thinks she gets it pretty well. "So they get married? And live happily ever after?"

[kethedammit]

"Yeah," Mildmay says, because he's pretty sure that's the case. At least, that's what the kid seems to want it to be, and Mildmay isn't about to upset her. "You never heard it before?"

[honouraryfitz]

Well, that's how fairy tales end. It's not Rusty's fault. "Nope, never heard of it. You said her name was Pel--Pelageia?"

[kethedammit]

Not all of them. But enough. Mildmay shrugs, "yeah. Think she might be the same as Pelgy-Gala from the Tinderbox Queen, but it ain't like I got proof."

[honouraryfitz]

Rusty shrugs. He might as well be speaking Greek when it comes to the titles of his stories. "I haven't heard of that one, either. Where're you from?"

[kethedammit]

"Marathat," he says. "And I'm guessing you-" Wait, she could be Corambin or Caloxan, and you ain't never supposed to get those two confused. "I'm guessing you ain't." Real clever, Milly-fox.

[honouraryfitz]

Rusty shakes her head, her plaits swishing back and forth in front of her shoulders. "Uh-uh. Is Marathat down south?"

[kethedammit]

"Yeah. Past Alchemic, next to Kekropia."

[honouraryfitz]

Rusty frowns. "What states are those in? I lived in New England when I was in the States."

[kethedammit]

Mildmay would frown if he could. "Uh, good enough state, I guess. The fires was years back, so things're okay."

[honouraryfitz]

"No, I mean..." She begins counting them off on her fingers. "Kentucky, or Virginia, or North Carolina...? One of those?"

[kethedammit]

Mildmay pauses to consider. "I ain't never heard of none of those."

[honouraryfitz]

"The United States of America? You've never heard of it?"

[kethedammit]

"Nope," Mildmay says. "It far north?"

[honouraryfitz]

Rusty shakes her head. "It's in the middle of North America." She's not sure what to do with names as alien as Marathat and Kekropia, so perhaps she'll just have to let them go. "Anyway, it's where I was living before."

[kethedammit]

Mildmay shrugs. "Ain't never heard of no America. Know some Americos, though." They're mostly assholes. "You live here, now?"

[honouraryfitz]

Rusty shakes her head. "In England. I guess you haven't heard of that one, either, huh?"

[kethedammit]

"Nope." He looks around, and thinks a minute before saying anything. "'Spose we're from different... worlds?" Like roses in the sky.

[honouraryfitz]

"Is that possible?" Rusty grins. "You don't exactly look like a little green Martian."

[kethedammit]

"The fuck's a martian," Mildmay says, shaking his head. Of course, he's only ever envisioned different versions of normal people on other worlds.

[honouraryfitz]

"Boy, you swear a lot." He almost reminds her of Beth Hatherly, except the accent's different, and she likes the word 'bloody' a lot more. "A martian's an alien. From the planet Mars."

[kethedammit]

"Huh," Mildmay says. "Never heard of them, neither." Mildmay tries to think of something everyone on Meduse knows about, no matter what. "D'you ever hear of Cyllumene?"