Eva was quiet for some time before she forced out these words from her lips, ''Will you believe me if I said someone just gave it to me?'' She looked at them, blinking innocently.
''Yeah, sure, someone just came up to you and handed you their space bag. I absolutely believe you,'' Julian replied, his tone dripping with sarcasm. Eva flushed but she didn't change her story as they moved forward.
Ethan's lips twitched when he saw her reddened face. He coughed into his hand, quickly regaining his serious expression as they stopped in front of the oasis warp gate.
Eva looked at the name, searching her memory for anything about this city. She swore she had read the book completely- even if she had skimmed three chapters and skipped a few pages, she didn't miss anything.
'So this city might be some hidden city... or it wasn't part of the storyline.' She tilted her head as she thought, Ethan had to drag her by the hands and pass through the gate. That familiar feeling rushed through her body, her vision buzzed and a bile rose in her throat.
When they got out, she held the walls, heaving for breath as sweat slid down her face. 'I thought I was used to the feeling after passing through two warp gates. Or... is this location really far?' She wondered feeling confused as she caught her breath. Suddenly, something was placed in her mouth, and a burst of sweetness filled her tongue.
She blinked in surprise but sucked on the candy, nodding at Ethan in thanks. Julian's hand, halfway to his own space bag, paused. He glanced at Ethan with a frown but smiled when facing Eva's satisfied expression.
When they passed through the door, Eva's eyes lit up, her mouth dropping open as her candy nearly fell out.
Julian reached over and gently lifted her chin to close her mouth. 'Woah!' only these words filled her mind as she looked at the metropolis city in front of her.
Sky-high buildings towered around them, the sky was dark filled with artificial stars and a moon which looked so real, the road was busy with fast cars driving passed. She could see patches of green on the road, even a freaking tree. Then something dawned on her, and she moved backwards, holding her space bag tightly with a distorted face.
'No, no, living here would be freaking costly! no way!' She thought fearfully, her head shaking back and forth. Julian held her head in place fearing her head might fall out by the way she was shaking it.
Ethan wondered why her mood had changed from awe to fear in a split second, was this city bringing back memories to her? He frowned at this thought.
''Leader, I'm poor! How much for the air here?'' Eva asked in a crying tone and looked at them hopefully, Julian and Ethan shared a look, confusion filling their eyes.
''Two gold coins,'' Ethan replied with a normal tone.
''Ahh!'' Eva quickly covered her nose in shock, trying not to breathe in the air. 2 gold coins- that's 200 silver! 'f*uck what daylight robbery! She doesn't have that amount on her card. Zero, nada, nothing is in her cards.' At this point, she can't afford to breathe.( ･ั﹏･ั)
Seeing her hopeless expression like she had nothing to live for, then it clicked. She was simply broke. They unconsciously breathed a sigh of relief, they thought something bad happened, not knowing it was just a problem of money that was the issue.
''Don't worry about anything. The perks of being in our team is all those taxes are paid for, you only need to work hard when we need your help in the dungeon and grow things,'' Julian said in a coaxing tone as he moved her forward by her shoulders.
Eva looked at their expression carefully to see if they were being truthful and not playing a sick joke on her. Noticing their sincere gaze she relaxed a bit and promised to work for them with all her heart.
Calming down, she felt Julian's hands over her shoulders and entangled herself, stepping forward to walk beside them. A flash of regret crossed his face as his hands fell empty, but he brushed it off with a smile.
They moved through security strict checks before they were allowed inside the City. Julian pulled out his phone, dialling someone.''Bring the car to the city gate,'' He ordered before hanging up.
They stood on the sidewalk waiting for the car to arrive, Eva's eyes darted around, taking in the busy streets with curiosity. It had been so long since she had seen such a lively scene- cars speeding past, people bustling by. She was used to the eerie silence of her world, where zombies wandered aimlessly.
At least humans here are surviving their apocalypse pretty well, she mused. 'If only the cost of living weren't so high, this place would have been perfect. Back in her world, zombies had overrun everything, and only a handful of humans still fought to survive.
Just then, a sleek black car pulled up in front of them. The window rolled down, revealing a muscular man with brown hair. ''Masters,'' He greeted Julian and Ethan respectfully, barely sparing Eva a glance.
Ethan opened the car door, motioning for Eva to get in. Eva entered slowly, it seemed her body had reverted to her slowness. The man was shocked in his heart at Ethan's action, he had to look at Master Ethan again to be sure he was his original master.
He met Ethan's cold gaze and felt relieved, before quickly looking away as he wiped his sweaty palms on his thighs. Julian entered through the other door caging Eva in the middle.
''Blaine, give me an update on what's happened since we left yesterday,'' Ethan instructed, leaning back into the seat.
''Master, the people of the scientist guild came to find you and some suspicious people were watching the mansion….'' Blaine reported as he started the car and drove towards their estate.
Eva, clueless about the discussion, stayed silent, watching the passing view through the window.
They drove for hours, and Eva slept at some point, the car stopped in front of a huge gate and Eva stirred a bit and settled in comfortably on Julian's body as she slept. Julian's fingers played with some locks of her hair and carried her down carefully under Blaine's widened eyes.