Chapter 145: Interlude Twenty-Seven: Maria - Two Hours Blank

Retreating to the door to escape the intense, focused force pulsing out of Rachel, she looked at the hare’s mother. "Aye, do you have any...powers? You feel... Shit, I can’t explain it! There’s this fire blazin’ in this place, and it’s got me seein’ things. Ugh. Gosh damn, it’s bright."

A relieved sigh came from Molly as she ran her fingers through her messy black hair. "A few more days then..." A short giggle followed as she gave her a respectful bow. "I’m just a mother, worried about her daughter. I wouldn’t say The Oscillation gave me any powers; well, none that I’m aware of. Anyway, thank you for healing my daughter."

"Uh-huh..."

Waving her off, Maria left the room in somewhat of a daze; it almost felt like she was drunk.

"Hermana!"

"Hmm?" Maria fell, legs tingling as her brother and Ron moved to support her. "Shit... Mmgm. My head..."

Mateo’s face became a scowl. "Are you sure you’re okay to leave, Ms. Espinar? You don’t look well."

"Damn straight, I’m ready to leave," she snarled back, rubbing her eyes. "I just...felt something off in here. Bitches think I’m feeling sick..."

"Hermana...you’re slurring your speech."

"Huh? No, I’m..." She turned to glare at her little brother, who truly looked concerned. "Uh. Shit. You’re not lying... I don’t hear it. Whatever. Fine, you can drive," she grunted, stumbling out of the room and down the hallway, leaving Molly looking concerned. "Aye, where’s that lil’ fairy chica?"

Maria did feel a little tipsy, but not slur-speech tipsy. Felix guided her by the arm down the hall, wearing a supportive smile, reminding her of the first time she’d slammed alcohol hard for the first time. She had been fourteen, and her little, nine-year-old brother had had to help her all the way home for Zarita to scold her.

"She’s over here, Sis. You sure you’re good? No, if you say you are, then you’re fine," he said with a laugh. "You never lie."

"Mhm. I’m just a little wired..."

A rush of events flashed before her eyes as if seen through a third party as they entered the next room. An anxious fox woman. Fiona hovering and all sparkly. Anthony and the girl she couldn’t heal. Somewhere along the line, the fox was gone with all the doctors and nurses.

Now, they were on some stairs, Felix helping her down, one step at a time, with a cheering fairy hovering nearby. Suddenly, she was weightless, falling down the stairs—or was it the air—in somersaults. On the ground again—with shaky feet—she saw a snickering fairy and her little brother hovering nearby. The world stretched, and Roy spontaneously appeared out of nowhere, making her stumble.

"Son of a bitch!"

Wait, what? Something’s weird, but I can’t...

As she fell back, the military man reached out to steady her.

"Whoa! Haha. You’re really having some trouble?"

"She’s a total mess," Fiona giggled, floating nearby, hands held behind her back. "She keeps mumbling nonsense like a total drunk. I used to see it a lot when I worked at my uncle’s bar back in Ireland. She doesn’t want me to levitate her, though. It’s kind of funny that the healer needs healing."

"Shut yer wings," Maria said, running her fingers through her hair to find it braided.

Huh? English? Is it because of this hada alada?

"When the hell did—"

"Your hair?" Fiona asked, shaking in the air with laughter as tears came to her eyes. "Erika did it when you told her I’d be up in, like, five minutes. Did you forget she had to go check on her boyfriend because he wasn’t answering her calls or that your brother went to get the car?"

"When..." Felix was now gone. "I’m trippin’ balls... Ugh. He better not scratch the paint or rims," Maria mumbled, still seeing some spots. "Shit... That was hell. Aye, hands off, gato."

Roy carefully backed away, taking his hands with him. "Yeah, Erika was sweet. She seemed a little worried about you, Fiona. Will she be okay?"

The fairy’s green-hued eyes lowered, her voice turning melancholy. "Erika stayed with me, even when her boyfriend asked her to meet up... Ever since I was a teenager, she’s always looked out for me, and she promised my parents she’d make sure I was cared for when I left home."

"Pretty close then, huh?" Maria asked, rubbing between her eyes and blinking; the fog in her mind was beginning to clear. "How old are ya?"

"Twenty..." Fiona sighed, arms crossed and looking down at herself. "I’m in such trouble. Look at my size... I need so much more help. I’m seven centimeters tall, for goodness sake."

Maria passively scanned the hospital’s more secluded back parking lot, which the Coast Guard had blocked off to keep the place under control. What was she even doing? No, there was something she had to do before anything else, and that was away from here.

Fiona’s shimmering green wings brought her gaze back to the fairy as she floated down, waving at her with a sad smile. "Am I that boring and annoying? Sorry..."

"Naaa. Haaa. Something just...hit me up there—shit, I don’t know." Her gaze went to a brown-haired woman in her mid-twenties as she jogged across the parking lot from near the ocean rise. "Huh. What were you sayin’? I’m listenin’."

"Right, umm...it’s nothing. I just think I take too much of Erika’s time. She hasn’t, umm, had the best luck with relationships due to all the work she does," Fiona whispered as she turned away. "Usually, she comes over, and we play mobile games together to unwind, laughing at our bad free pulls, or she helps me with stream stuff... She’s kind of...my only friend in the US."

Rubbing her arms as the tingling sensation finally faded, Maria crossed her arms tightly, glaring at the brown-haired woman approaching them; Roy moved to block her path. "Aye, you’re hanging with us, so relax; life’s too short, ya know... Uh, why are you with us, again? And who’s this bitch? I’m lost as hell."

Fiona forced a laugh as Roy went to engage the random woman. "You said if I’m lonely, then I should join you guys because you’re going to have a party, and, umm, I wanted to see the leviathan your brother was talking about. She, umm, kind of came at the end and saved Erika and me."

"Leviathan—the hell, I don’t remember shit?! Yo, Roy, what’s the deal with this chica?"

"Hello, I’m Jeanna!" the woman chimed in with a light French accent, holding up her phone as they drew near. "I’m a reporter from—"

"Not interested, bitch," Maria flatly shot down. "Go get your story from some other sucker. I’m pissed and confused as it is, so I don’t need some bimbo tryin’ ta catch me slippin’."