"Hello and welcome! Take your time to look over the menu and let us know when you're ready to order", the waitress said as she handed the menus to RJ and Tatterhood.
The Lotus Noodle House could best be described with the words: quaint and homey.
It was a small restaurant with about seven tables that could each for four comfortably with the kitchen being open to public eye, separated by a short wall.
The smell of peppercorns, oil and meat floated in the air, tickling one's appetite and causing their tongues to drool as well...or in this case, the mouth of one Tatterhood.
"Herregud, everything on this menu looks great. Love the little pictures", Tatterhood said as she flipped through the menu.
Eventually the two settled on ordering two bowls of Chongqing Noodles, a Couple's Delight and a Chongqing style Grilled Whole Fish...also I'm aware how odd the dish names are, but these are a hundred percent real and are delicious.
A moment of silence settled between the two as they waited for their food...which was soon broken by Tatterhood.
"Go ahead".
"Pardon"?
"I know what you've been wanting to ask, so go ahead. Ask me", Tatterhood replied with an easy smile.
RJ hesitated for a bit before deciding to bite the bullet.
"Alright...Tatterhood".
"Yes?", she asked with exaggerated ease and teasing look.
"What...are you"?
"Hmmm. Well...the story of me, of Tatterhood, is said to be a story of female empowerment", Tatterhood said simply.
"Huh? What does tha-"
"Let me continue", she said while holding up a finger to interrupt RJ, "To others, I represent the lesson of never judging a book by their cover, for the contents may surprise you. And to even more, I am the belief of individual choice, that I am who I am because I choose it to be. Now what do these three things have in common"?
As she asked that last question, she pointed at RJ as if to add emphasis. Being put on the spot, RJ took a bit of time before giving his answer.
"They're...all interpretations of your story"?
"Exactly", a pleased smile appearing on Tatterhood's face, "as the story of Tatterhood was interpreted over and over again, those interpretations came to embody me. I am the embodiment of those interpretations, I am the story being interpreted, I am Tatterhood".
"That's... confusing", RJ replied with a perplexed look on his face, "So...what's the deal with 'The World Between the Lines'"?
"About tha-" "FWOOSH"! "AAAAAH"!
But before Tatterhood could answer, a sudden scream came from the kitchen. The duo leaned from their seats to see what could be the cause, only to see several jets of flame shooting out of the oven, the stove and the fryers.
"That's not normal", RJ said in a stupidly obvious manner. A moment later, his phone let out a notification tone that he never heard before.
"I suggest you take a look at that", Tatterhood said mysteriously before turning her attention back to the flames.
"Rule 2 of magic stuff: Roll with it", RJ thought as he checked the notification. The Grimmemoria app spring to life and presented him an alert screen.
[Spirit detected. Activate Mage Eye?]
[Accept] [Decline]
With a shrug he clicked [Accept], causing the phone's camera to turn on and a spell circle to form over the lens. The game soon instructed him to look around the area with the camera.
"Huh...okay that's cool", RJ commented quietly before pointing his phone towards the most likely spot, i.e., the kitchen that was currently spitting out flames.
Unusually, the spell circle on the screen took a moment to focus on the burning kitchen, before suddenly shattering to reveal what was causing the fire.
"Well that's unsettling".
On the phone screen was the image of a man-sized , bright red rat with burning fur around it's neck and paws. A moment later, the phone screen shifted to another screen.
[Emergency Encounter: Huoshu]
[Difficulty: F]
[Description: A fire type spirit from the Eurasia continent has manifested and is wreaking havok. Calling on any local users to either exorcise or capture it].
[Accept] [Decline]
"I say do it", Tatterhood chimed in, "I'm hungry and the sooner it goes bye-bye, the sooner I get to eat".
RJ looked at Tatterhood a little helplessly before sighing and clicking [Accept] once more.
The world began to spin.