"Are you telling me all those stars are cities?" Leonardo was speechless. The museum was far larger than he had imagined. "Infinitely expanding, conquering the void," he muttered to himself.
"Wait, no!" Elara jolted up. "Those aren't Cities!"
"There are only a hundred cities," Anna corrected. "Those are Eras... I think."
Leonardo stood up abruptly as They spoke those words, walking toward the counter. He wanted to learn how to make coffee. Those two girls had already soiled both of his former goals of finding all the types of cars and securing a job to earn drawings.
He reached but a few steps before being stopped by Elara. "We aren't done yet, are we?" she said, implying more questions were to be asked.
He sighed, signaling his mood was ruined once again. Striding back toward the couch-based chair, he sat, with both Anna and Elara in front of him, wide-eyed as if waiting to ask a question.
"Uh, go ahead," Leonardo said, sensing the evident tone.
"Ahem," Anna cleared her throat.
"How exactly," Anna leaned forward, "is a sixteen-year-old a tour guide?"
"Tour Guide Practical Officer," Leonardo corrected, unable to help himself.
He had learned a few things from his short time with Milah, as he was a naturally fast learner.
"Uh, yeah, whatever that's called," she said, sighing. "And the Tour Guide Practical Officer you keep mentioning doesn't exist."
"How would you know?" he said in a sarcastic tone.
"We would know because we are from the Stem," Elara butted in, looking outside the windows.
"Then what are you two doing out here?"
Anna's tone turned businesslike. "Look, we need someone to guide us through 17 places. You clearly have nothing better to do. Will you help?"
"Seventeen? That's... a lot. He won't like that..."
"Then just escort us back to the tower."
"That I can do."
[You can join them, for now]
"Nevermind, I'll join you, for now," he says slowly, looking at the text.
"That was quick. I was planning on just forcing you. Going to another city to find a guide will be near impossible now," Anna says.
"Yeah," Leonardo responds, not understanding a sentence that came from her mouth.
The moonlight illuminated the entire place.
The intricate, rich mahogany furniture had a glow of slight blue, and plush velvet upholstery created an air of opulence.
It appeared as if stars were falling on Elara's face as she continued gazing through the window. The Stem in question, in its great golden size, washed by the moon's light, appeared somewhat mystic.
The train still passed overhead seamlessly like an owl in the night, soundless to the masses. Its eerie purple light shone greatly in the night. Some called it the "Right Star" for it guided the way to this city for those lost in the endless expanse of hills and various creatures of terror.
The moon in question was a single, incredibly submissive light in the sky having no similarities to the moon "back home". Leonardo stiffened with shock, watching as it stayed abruptly on the horizon.
"There's a single moon?" he continued staring in awe.
"Yeah, why would there be more?" Anna asked, confused.
"Oh no, in my world, there are two and they were much bigger," he said, turning to them.
"You must be from another city then," Elara said, clasping her hands together. "Why'd you come here though?"
"Someone brought me here against my will," he said flatly, his aura indicating to Elara and Anna not to ask any further.
"Anyway, I have to learn how to make this," he said passionately, standing up this time without anyone stopping him and heading to the counter. "Hey miss, do you suppose you could teach me how to make the coffee you gave me?"
Now that Leonardo was talking directly to her, he could see that even though the text could translate the language [kol-nic], somehow the accent still remained. "Ah, sure," she replied, glancing at the vintage clock on the wall. It was obvious she was checking the time.
The museum outside of time had to make it so only a few realms were completely timeless. In the realm they were currently in, time was perceived, though slowly compared to a world under the complete influence of time.
"It appears we still have a few hours," she said, turning back to Leonardo with a smile. She led him to the stove behind the counter built with a ton of machinery and began explaining, evidently trying to get through this as quickly as possible.
"To make coffee," she said slowly, "start by selecting high-quality, fresh coffee beans." The beans are found in the countless estates outside the city, "ideally recently roasted," implying the coffee beans should be new.
"Grind the beans using a burr grinder," she continued, moving over to the machine with the newly ground beans, "adjusting the grind size according to your chosen brewing method—coarse for French press, medium for drip, fine for espresso." "But for your coffee, a French press," she said, adjusting the machine for the method.
"For a French press, use a coarse grind, measure 1 to 2 tablespoons per 6 ounces of water," she said quickly, and Leonardo found it hard to follow but eventually caught up. "Boil filtered water to around 200°F," she continued, with Leonardo's eyes following her every movement. "Add the grounds to the French press, pour in the hot water," she said, moving exactly in correspondence to her speech, "stir, let steep for 4 minutes."
They waited, time moving slowly, Leonardo stressed. Anna staring. Elara smiled. "You're really determined, aren't you?" she said.
"I want to get it right," he said, sweating while looking at the coffee.
"Then slowly press the plunger and serve."
Leonardo looked at his coffee and tasted it with Elara and Anna.
"Hrgh," he almost puked.
It's horrible," Anna wheezed between laughs. "You really—" she gagged, "—tried though."
The lady standing away watched as they tried miserably to make it taste good. "To make cold brew," she said, capturing everyone's attention, "use a coarse grind, mix 1 cup of coffee with 4 cups of cold, filtered water in a jar or cold brew maker, let steep in the refrigerator for 12-24 hours, strain the concentrate, and dilute with water or milk before serving over ice.
For optimal results, use freshly roasted beans, grind just before brewing, use filtered water, keep your equipment clean, and adjust variables like coffee-to-water ratio, grind size, and brewing time to suit your taste," she said in an extremely fast manner.
"Wait, what?" Leonardo said, baffled at how quickly she said it.
"Too fast," Anna agreed.
"Oh, I got it all!" Elara beamed.
"You did?" Leonardo said, continuing, "Could you teach me?"
"Ah, it appears it's time for closing," the lady said in an annoyed tone, pointing towards the vintage clock, which read [11:28].
"Oh, okay," they all said, understanding her annoyed expression and walking out of the café. The door shifted closed behind them.
Leonardo turned towards the sign to see its closing hours: [7:00-12:00]. "What does that mean?"
[Matins*, Lauds, Prime, Terce, Sext, None, Vespers, and Compline.]
"Wait, so they close at Matins?" he said, scrutinizing the text carefully.
"Well, now we can start exploring," Elara said, excitement evident. "Let's go to the Tower first," implying she wanted to get everything set.
"Now that we have someone to guide us, Father won't bother us anymore," Anna said, her former gloomy demeanor overshadowed by her sudden spark of enthusiasm.
"Why seventeen places though?"
"Not places—the 17 Wonders of this realm," Elara corrected.
"And why those?" asked Leonardo again
"The Stem—" Elara started, then seemed to reconsider. "Let's just say it's a quest from someone important."
Leonardo ran his fingers through his hair. "How long will this take?"
"No idea!" Elara chirped.