Chapter 297 Younger
"Evans... it's really you?"
Van, whose eyes were previously completely sedated and uncaring, immediately lit up as he quickly looked towards Charlotte, who was now pointing at him with her hands trembling. Or more specifically, she was looking at Van's hands, which were previously vibrating.
"Only... only the boy could do that," Charlotte let out a slight gasp as she covered her mouth, "I taught... I was the one who taught you that, I remember... I remember now."
Charlotte's stuttering chuckle whispered through the ear, garnering the attention of the group of elves that had their weapons pointed at Van.
"Another High Human?" The leader of the group of elves could not help but blink a couple of times as she looked back and forth between Van and Charlotte, "What is this? For two Vanirs to be in Jotunheim at the same time surely could not be a coincidence. We were right with our assumption, my brethren. They are truly the ones who blew up Jotunheim's Gate!"
"...I think I already saw the other High Human, Sana. She was already here when we left from Alfheim."
"Are... you sure?" The female elf, Sana, could not help but furrow her eyebrows as she looked at her companion, "Even before Vanaheim?"
"Yes," one of her other companions added, "I have also seen her, I think she has a shop near Midgard's end."
"A High Human... living on the Branch? Why was I not made aware of this?" Sana once again looked at Charlotte, looking at her from head to toe, "But that doesn't change the fact that they know each other. We've all but confirmed that the small High Human was the one who massacred the members of the Sleipnir... and only a Vanir would be capable or even have the guts to blow a Gate!"
"Miss... maybe we should back down," one of Sana's companions then slightly pulled her to the side, "These are two High Humans... even if they are guilty as you say, let's let the Aesirs deal with this. This is beyond our authority."
"Nonsense!"
Even with her companions pleading to her, Sana instead raised her two swords, pointing each one to Van and Charlotte.
However, it was as if their whole dilemma was no longer of any concern towards Van, as after he had heard what they wanted to say, he quickly disappeared from his spot, only to appear in front of Charlotte.
"!!!"
Sana's companions could not help but flinch, before looking at each other and hiding their weapons.
"What are all of you doing!?" Sana roared, "They--"
Before Sana could even finish her words, she felt her vision slowly darken, with the strands of her blonde hair swaying in front of her. But not before she saw one of her companions punching her in the stomach, "W... why?" She managed to whisper before being gently caught by the companion that punched her.
"You'll thank us later, Miss Sana," the man whispered as he handed Sana to the other elves. He then turned towards Van and Charlotte, and even though they seem to no longer be minding their group, the man still bowed his head, "I apologize, High Humans. Lady Sana still does not know the ways of the world, I hope you can forgive her."
The man stayed bowing for a while, waiting for Van and Charlotte to respond. But since the two seemed to be in a world of their own, the elven male let out a sigh of relief before gesturing to his companions to leave.
The other races that were looking at the commotion also slowly dispersed, with some just maintaining their distance as they were too curious as to what was happening. It was not every day that they saw 2 High Humans together, and on the Branch at that.
Like the other elves, some of them knew who Charlotte was, as they had been seeing her on the Branch for quite some time. But since she was a High Human, they were either too scared or too nervous to approach her, especially as she did not seem right in the head.
Out of all the people present, only Lorei stayed near Van and Charlotte.
"You… live on the Branch, Miss Charlotte?" Even though Van was relieved that he finally found one of his friends, he did not really know what to say as he was too much at a loss and too much excited at the same time.
"It's really you."
Charlotte, however, did not answer him and only lightly tapped his face, as if trying to check if Van truly was right in front of her. And as soon as she was able to touch his face, Charlotte's eyes started to turn red.
"Evans. You… you don't know how long I have been here," Charlotte worded out, "Years… years and years, I don't even know if my mind is even working properly. I am seeing things, sometimes I think I am back in our world, only to return here. Alone… I have been so alone."
Van could not help but widen his eyes in surprise as a torrent of tears started to fall from Charlotte's eyes. Charlotte had always been one of the strongest people that Van had met, and now here she was, bawling her eyes out like a child. Perhaps because she looked a lot younger than she did before, a certain feeling of pity was starting to grow inside Van, causing him to wrap his arms around her.
"It's okay, Miss Charlotte… I am here now… I'm here."
Van had only been here for probably less than a month, and he had already felt lost and alone. He could not imagine what it was like for Charlotte, or even how long she had been in this place.
***
"A… thousand years!?"
"Yes, maybe even more… I truly for the life of me can not remember."
Van's words traveled inside what seemed to be a dilapidated tavern, with only Charlotte and Lorei as its recipient. After Charlotte calmed down, she quickly offered Van to her house, which was half a tavern.
And like what Van heard from the elves earlier, it was on the far end of the Branch, almost touching Midgard's atmosphere. Van used a fraction of his speed as he had to follow Charlotte's speed, who had to carry Lorei as she was too slow.
He could not really take a good look at Midgard yet, as he was still too invested as to what Charlotte had to say. And now that Charlotte said she had been here for more than a thousand years, Van's curiosity was at its peak. Lorei, who was eating at the side, also could not help but widen her eyes as she heard Charlotte's words.
A High Human, living on the Branch for a thousand years? She knew how long the Aesirs and Vanirs could live, but why would a High Human even torment herself so much as to live on the Branch for that duration? She thought before almost spitting out the food she was eating as it tasted like sand. But since a High Human cooked it, she did it subtly.
"If you've been here for that long… then what about the others? Have you seen the others?" Van hastily said as he sat back down.
"No… no," Charlotte's voice quickly became sedated as she heard Van's questions, "Even after this long, I have not seen any sign of my family or my friends. You… you're the first one."
Charlotte then chuckled awkwardly, before abruptly walking back to the kitchen and giving Lorei more servings, in which Lorei could also only awkwardly chuckle as she thanked her.
"Eat up, I have a lot of ingredients saved up since no one has visited my shop for years," she said before returning to Van's table.
"Sorry about that, I didn't think I'll be having a customer at this time," Charlotte then said.
Van was about to nod, but then he noticed something amiss as she looked Charlotte straight in the eyes, "...Customer?" He said as he took a glance at Lorei, "You mean her?"
"Yes." Charlotte blinked a couple of times in confusion, "I actually haven't had customers for a very long time now, so I was a bit surprised someone dined in."
"Miss Charlotte… you carried her here," Van then said, "She's not a customer."
"W… what?" Charlotte could not help but stutter as she looked back and forth between Lorei and Van, before letting out a small chuckle and waving her hands, "Of course, of course. I was just kidding."
"Miss Charlotte," Van then once again stood up as he dragged his chair nearer to Charlotte, "Why do you look so young?"
"Why thank you," Charlotte let out another chuckle, "Is what I want to say… but I have full control of my body, remember? I made myself look younger every time my skin already wanted to drop on the floor."
Hearing her words, Van could not help but let out a long and deep breath. Besides the Olympians, he had met a couple of people that were aged above a thousand, one being his mother, and the other Clark Hearst.
And both of them were bat-shit crazy. He hasn't had the pleasure of meeting Andrea's mother, Skylar, extensively. But she was probably also crazy, she wouldn't be in a cage the last time he saw her if she wasn't.
Since Charlotte looked younger, Van had instinctively thought that she was healthy… but it would seem that no matter how much she made her body younger, her mind was of a different matter.
"Miss Charlotte…
...just what happened to you?"