Who: Marie-Christine, (NPC Mathilde) and ANYONE What: Taking up Dawn’s offer and showing up at the hotel When: Noonish? Where: The Hyperion Hotel
Being ripped from a year that hadn’t visited France (or the rest of the world for that matter) in well over two centuries had the potential to confuse a girl who had never once witnessed a women wearing pants, let alone seen a bright yellow sports car racing down a paved highway at speeds previously unimaginable. One moment she was at the guillotines, staring as her Watcher was beheaded, and only seconds after seeing his head roll towards her, she was being pushed, seemingly down into a black portal, until she hit the ground with a loud rush of muffled sound. When this happened, the Slayer was prepared to curse and stomp, but then little Mathilde was thrust into her arms by something unseen, and that was enough to quiet any noise that would have come from her mouth otherwise.
Nearly two days had gone by now and Marie-Christine and the little girl were staying with a middle-aged librarian above her brick fronted library, where there was a kitchen, bedrooms and even a closed in space with a box that admitted sound and showed actual people talking and walking about. Mathilde was captivating by the unusual sight and sat in front of the television for hours on end, scrutinizing and bewildered by what she saw. Marie-Christine on the other hand, wasn’t as thrilled and couldn’t force herself to sit still long enough to actually take in what was happening on the glowing screen. Instead, she left Mathilde to her wonderment and explored the downstairs library, where she looked at shelves overflowing with every book imaginable and spoke with the woman who had taken them in. Anna Harper coddled them but couldn’t answer the Slayer’s questions. She didn’t know why they were thrown into another time, another place, and she had no idea why the sun didn’t shine.
The kindhearted woman could offer them shelter and food, but she could offer no answers, at least not the kind that Marie-Christine was desperate to hear. It was understandable that she’d want to go to the hotel, Anna had told her. An old librarian like herself wasn’t best suited to help a young girl from France, so she did what she could for the two new arrivals and watched them walk out the door. She’d gotten a new dress for Mathilde to wear, blue and rather pretty. She’d also gotten her white sandals to cover her feet, which the child would not allow Marie-Christine to put on her without a struggle. The shoes felt funny, and she kicked and whined until the older girl finally did the clasps and backed up to take a good look. She was lovely and she let her know it too. The girl just giggled and jumped into her arms. She had never received a complement like that before.
The Slayer was given black pants with a white belt, a black satin top with sleeves that stopped near her elbows, and white vans, that would make it easier to run if the need arose. The clothing and the shoes felt strange and uncomfortable at first, but after ten minutes of walking around in them she found that they were actually better suited to move around in. The new garments would also be so much more comfortable in a fight as well, which she knew that she’d get into soon or later. It was unavoidable, for she was a Slayer and her prey did like to throw kicks and punches just as much as she did.
It turned out that they weren’t very far from the Hyperion after all, and Marie-Christine could walk there easily. She said goodbye to Anna and took Mathilde by the hand, leading her down the sidewalk and across streets covered in cars. She was cautious and kept herself alert as they went on, always clasping the child’s hand tightly within her own. Mathilde didn’t cry once, but from the look on her face she could tell that she was frightened and started to move faster after picking her up and settling her comfortably on her hip.
She reached the building in no time and pushed the door open, walked across the threshold and pushed the door back into place. Her eyes immediately started to take in everything, but Mathilde hid her face against her neck, still too startled to be amazed.