Rock around the clock...

Eilidth puts the first emergency kit on a table and takes out two chairs. Lucius gives me a questioning look and I explain to him that the pouch contains the necessary things to heal wounds.

"You don't use herbs?!" is what he says.

No man, not in the twenty-first century. Eilidth chuckles and tells us to come amd sit next to the table. I tell her that I'm alright, but that Lucius go a pretty bad beating.

He doesn't make us pray him, he immediately takes off his leather belt and his weird brown shirt, and what I see is a body full of scars and bruises. I don't feel well...

"Huh, I don't see any blood or scratch on the torso... If you have some arnica for the bruises I would be very much grateful, Milady," he says.

Eilidth looks at his upper body with a frow, then nods, goign once again in the back-room.

"I've got an arnica macerate somewhere. I think that could do it," her voice is barely hearable, covered by the thuds of bottles and probably boxes that she moves up and down to look for the craved elixir. Lucius looks so happy that is almost endearing...

Seriously...

There are still some people in the twenty-first century in Europe that uses plants for curing bruises. Lucky him.

"Still, what happened to you guys to be reduced in this state?" Eilidth says as she came back. "And don't try to extirpe yourself. Once I've finished with Don Quichotte, you'll be next and no discussions about that", she says at me as I already stood from the chair to go to the counter. The tone of her voice clearly leaves no room for discussion. I was on my way to the counter, but I go back as soon as she says it. Can't be helped... She sounds too much like my mom. If they have the same temper, better not disobey her.

"So, who wants to start?" Idriss asks.

I turn to face Lucius and he is already looking at me, making a grimace as Eilidth cleans the wound on his cheek. Actually, all the eyes are on me... Even Kheira took seat right next to me and has this expectation sparkling in her eyes. I got it, I'll speak first...

I told what happened right before the flash of bolt, then how I met Lucius and we found ourselves running for our lives as that bunch of mad people was throwing us the arrows. I don't have the guts to talk about the library employee, and I guess Lucius thinks it's better to keep it like that because he doesn't mention her either.

I also tell them how we ended up in a building while it was raining and how we got out of there during the flooding. I briefly mention the fight we got into while we passed the district before the bridge without going into the details. I realize I still need to sort out my feelings about that particular incident, and I make a mental note to deal with it later tonight when I'll go to bad.

"Interesting. I think we probably come from different times, although I can tell the gap between each one of us is different. I found myself in this world after a light earthquake. The lights were flickering then everything went dark. When I woke up, I was in my pub with Kheira, but this time Idriss was also here," she said while wrapping up the bandages on Lucius' arm.

"Yah. I was getting a nap on my couch at home. 'Got no memories of earthquakes whatsoever... We thought it would be better not to talk too much about what happens in our respective times. Better not to know what holds the future, ain't it?" said Idriss.

"Wow, we're timetravelers!" shouted Kheira, jumping down from the chair, "That's so cool!" If only she knew how uncool it is...

"I guess it's too late for me though. Have you heard the Danese invasion of 1015?" Lucius is putting back his shirt, and I can't shake off my mind the scars that are carved on his body. I suddenly wish he was a former gangster before becoming a theater actor. If the timeline is messed up like they say...

"Oh, I remember! It's King Cnut who led the expedition right?" Eilidth pulls up my T-shirt without prior notice and puts a plastic bag of ice she got out of the fridge a little while ago on the spot that has been bothering me for some time. It burns like ****. Someone has to explain me how women know before-hand things you never bother to tell them... Wait, I know the answer. Women's intuition...

"Exactly! This servant of Satana and his despicable men kept ravaging villages and city without sparing innocent souls," he says with a grave tone that almost made me believe he witnessed it all. "In my last memory, I was hiding in the woods. I was injured... It was already night-time, and the vikings took the village by surprise. It wasn't enough to have his father burn down Norwich and the neighboring towns, they had to invade us a second time... I wonder how little Ella doing..."

I hate antiseptiks that scorch the skin, but it's his delusion that I can't take anymore. I have to stop this delirium.

"If you're from over a thousand years ago, how do you explain the fact that you can speak and understand our language?! That's impossible unless you learned it before." I think I raised my tone because Kheira winced. I don't want to be mean, I just want ot make things clear... "I don't believe in that time can be messed up. Maybe I slept over my phone and the last memories I have are all a dream and you guys are still dreaming. Maybe you don't even exist and... OUCH! THAT HURTS!"

Eilidth put a coton imbued with alcohol on my scratched knees. Getting wounded hurts... Getting cured hurts even more...

"Mmh, they say that if it's a dream you can't feel pain. Sorry, I think that this infirms your theory... But it's okay, I can understand it's quite shocking to realize that somethings that are 'unscientific' can be true. Jokes apart, I agree with you about this whole thing being a dream. Realistic dreams do exist. However, I shall let you know that I'm pretty sure that I exist too and I'm not the fruit of your imagination. Same goes for Kheira, Idriss and Lucius. I've been here for three whole days, and I noticed some peculiar things, though. This land is not only inhabited by humans. But anyway... There are some linguist researchers of the twentith century that discovered that the human brain is programmed to be able to speak any language. And I remember having studied in uni that there were cases of people speaking languages they never learned after a severe accident. Might as well be his case, don't you think so?" Eilidth shrugs her shoulders as a meditative silence settles on the room.

Lucius looks as lost as ever. Many things were discovered in a thousand years... Thanks God we didn't need to introduce him to technology. I think his brain would have collapsed.

I sigh and lean my back against the chair while holding the bag of ice on my hurt side. This world makes no sense in the first place. And I have only seen things that make no sense. I might as well aknowledge the existence of time-travelers at this point. And... She might be right. We usually say that something that has no scientific explanation can't be true. But on what grounds? People of the Twenty-first century decided that behind every unexplained phenomenon there is a scientific explanation, but we don't know for sure. We just assumed it because... I get it now... It's because we need to be reassured. I'm like that too. I need security, and I need things to make sense. But now that I think about it, there are so many things in the real world that don't make sense...

Strange. It feels good to acknowledge that.

"I see you got it now," Eilidth gives me that warm smile of hers, and continues "we can go on about this wide philosophical discussion the whole night, but let me give you two something to drink first."

From behind the counter, she takes two glass bottles. One has a blue liquid with flowers and leaves floating in it, while the other looks like a creamy beige liquid.

Me and Lucius go sit on the counter again and she serves me the blue beverage, while she gives the strange creamy one to Lucius.

I don't envy him. It looks like a strange banana smoothy. I don't like banana smoothies...

Eilidth takes out a half lemon and squeezes it on my glass, and the beverage turns.. Purple?

I'm not sure how I feel about it.

"Is this also part of this crazy world?"

"No son, it also exists in our world. I'll tell what it is once you'll visit me in real life", she says with an amused smirk. Did I just thought out loud?

"Changing color drink to calm tormented spirit, and Monkey Vine for battered men for a faster healing," she tells us as she pushes the the two glasses towards us.

"Are you saying that on purpose?" I finally say, and I can hear Idriss and Keira snorting.

"It's stronger than me. You should see the faces you're doing right now, it's really hilarious."

I look at Lucius, arms crossed on his chest, while his eyes goes from the drink to our hotess, to my drink to the Eilidth again. I could almost picture a drop of sweat pearl on his front.

"This is not witchcraft, is it?" he whispers as he leans to my side.

That's when our three hosts burst out a laugh.

"I guess you got your answer Lucius..."

He looks at me then looks around completely lost. Eilidth takes out a tray of fish and chips ready to be put in the oven, and Idriss lifts up his red drink praising God for the good things he created.

I don't remember when it was the last time I had so much fun. And the drink isn't bad at all. I should definitely come here once I come back home...