Our Mirrored World

Chapter Thirty Seven - Adapting

After Kirstin left, Zarina stood up and looked for the candles that she bought in the kitchen and lit them up. It was getting dark from the outside and she had to prepare for it.

A lot of things have been going on and she feels like she just decided to ignore it, being able to visit Wizardia made her forget that there’s still a crisis going on in their city.

Things were a mess especially on the news, a lot of people were rallying because it’s their right to voice out what they want and need.

Everyone was livid that the mayor of their city wasn't doing anything, but she thought it would also be hard since the outage affected all of Lander City, everyone’s still trying to adapt.

And also every time she went outside after work, she would stop by to charge her phone and laptop at the charging stations.

She doesn’t like to be there since it was too crowded, but she has no other choice but to be there or else she couldn’t work.

People were even quarreling because everyone wanted to be first since all of them gave their reasons why their gadgets needed to be charged.

It was a pain in the butt to hear them quarrel against each other, but she has no right to say something to pipe them down, it would just add fuel to the fire, Zarina thought. 

Sometimes, she doesn’t go out when the generator in their apartment is turned on, she always takes that opportunity to charge everything she has that needs battery and energy.

And despite those crazy things that have been going on in their city, she noticed an ad saying a solar power charger was created and it would charge everything for free if you just placed it under the sunlight for hours until night.

She thought it was convenient despite that it’s expensive. She now also planned on buying solar lights tomorrow so she would not accidentally burn her apartment with these candles since she’s trying to save money.

But even if her apartment will be set on fire, she knows for sure that Luther would be there to help her.

She just sighed, she hates it when she’s now relying on him too much, “Zarina, are you sure you should be out of bed?”

Zarina stopped after she heard Luther from the bathroom, she rolled her eyes before blowing the match that she just set on fire, “It’s getting dark Luther, I have to give myself some light, or else I might be bumping on some walls or furniture,”

“You should’ve told me so I could do it for you,” Luther insisted, so she just sighed while walking towards the bathroom.

“I’m not crippled, Luther, plus muscles should be exercised or else it would be sore and weak we can’t take good care of our own sickness,” She claimed.

She then opened the door as her heart fluttered after she saw Luther dressed in another style of his wizard clothing, her heart was telling her mind that she missed seeing him.

Zarina shook her head before massaging her temples. She feels like she’s losing her mind because of the sickness they’re getting from visiting both worlds.

“I’m so glad to be blessed with beauty today,” Luther sighed in relief while taking off his hat, “I’m glad you feel better now,”

Zarina didn’t say anything as she just looked at him intently, “How about you? Do you feel alright?”

Luther just nodded at her before smiling, “Yes, I am better now thanks to you, so I wish you full recovery tomorrow,”

She just sighed in relief before placing the candle near the sink. She always places three candles in different places, one in the living room, her bedroom, and one candle that goes wherever she goes.

Sometimes, she uses her phone flashlight to give her light, she already planned on buying numerous flashlights too just in case she wanted to go outside to grab some late-night snack.

“Why did you laugh a while ago when Kirstin asked me if I was conceived by ice?” Zarina raised her eyebrows.

Luther flinched before scratching the back of his head, “W-Who wouldn’t laugh? She just stated exactly what I asked you before!”

Zarina glared at what he just said to her, “But still, you have to be careful, what if she forces her way inside of the bathroom? You may never know who will see you, Luther,” She just sighed.

“We can’t add to people’s problems now since everyone is probably at the edge of their patience,” Zarina informed while looking at the news on her phone, “I forgot how our life here is getting worse,”

Luther got bothered at what she said for a moment before gazing at her, “Is the strange outage getting under people’s nerves?” 

She just nodded at him before biting her lower lip, “Yes, they’re creating a commotion at the city hall,”

“People are probably scared of what might happen if this outage continues,” Zarina added, so Luther stared at her intently.

“Not all people could easily adapt to new things just like me, so I understand everyone’s frustrations,” She added before gripping the edge of the sink.

“Why can’t they just fix this? They won’t tell us anything, they just keep on saying they’re doing everything they can to fix it,” 

Zarina held onto her forehead as she felt like her brain was pulsating on the inside, “Calm down Zarina, you have to remember that you’re still recovering, emotions like that won’t help,” Luther scolded.

“And you don’t have to act tough, people have their own weaknesses and strengths, you may have the ability to adapt, but that doesn’t mean you’re not feeling scared,” He added, so she looked at him intently.

“I’ll be here with you until that strange outage is fixed,” Luther nervously said before scratching the back of his head.

He couldn’t erase the nervousness that he’s feeling on the inside because he might be one of the reasons why they had that problem in their world.

“Thank you, Luther, I’ll probably rest for tonight and will be going out tomorrow to buy more solar lights and flashlights,” She informed while grabbing her toothbrush.

“You’re going out? No! I can just summon a flashlight there, you have to rest!” Luther exclaimed, but she stubbornly shook her head at him.

“Luther, just because you’re a magical creature doesn’t mean I can depend on you always, there are times I have to do it on my own,” She firmly said, making Luther pout.

“But you’re recovering from the sickness, I can just summon what you want and you can just do that again if you’re better,” He suggested, but Zarina was determined to reject his suggestions.

“I’m going out tomorrow and that’s final, aren’t you supposed to be working on why we keep on getting sick when we visit each other’s worlds?” Zarina raised her eyebrows, so he just flinched.

“I-I am but studies aren’t supposed to be done that quickly, I still have to gather my hypothesis before I can analyze my findings,” Luther explained.

Zarina wanted to chuckle because instead of seeing him as a wizard, she just sees a mad scientist before her, “Good luck with that, also don’t forget about what will happen to us just in case some of us stayed for days,”

“If we have to find that out, one of us needs to choose who will stay in our worlds for that experiment,” Luther informed, so she just slowly nodded at him as she started brushing her teeth.

“Alright, but we can’t do it this week, we should plan that next week so that people won’t find it weird why I get sick and recover so quickly,” Zarina mumbled, so he furrowed his eyebrows at her.

“Wait a minute, are you saying that you should be the one to stay here for days soon?” Luther looks thrilled and worried at the same time.

Zarina just nodded at him, “I don’t have any magic to take care of you properly Luther, so if anything happens, you can use your magic to take good care of me, so our best option here is me,” 

Luther sighed in disbelief because even if he wants to decline, what she planned is truly the best option for them both.

“Fine, especially the ice queen who gave me the permission to take good care of her, I wouldn’t decline that,” Luther playfully winked, so Zarina stopped brushing as she felt her heart thumping against her chest.

“Shut up and let me rest okay?” Zarina rolled her eyes before rinsing her mouth from the toothpaste that she used.

“Zarina?” Luther called, so she slowly raised her head at him before tilting her head. Luther got that body language for him to continue.

“Are you going to be mad at me if I was included as to why your city has a strange power outage?” He curiously asked, so Zarina thought it was a strange question.

“Why would you think that you’re included in it?” She confusingly asked, so Luther wet his lower lip before sighing.

“I appeared after the strange outage had occurred, what would you do if I may have some part of it?” He asked, nervous about what he might hear from her.

“I don’t know Luther, I haven’t thought about that,” Zarina honestly replied before turning off the sink, “If you’re part of it, I wouldn’t mind,” She added before turning her back at him.

“I would be mad if you didn’t tell me sooner,” Those were the last words that she said before walking out of the bathroom.

She didn’t mean those words because what if Luther doesn’t have any idea why it happened? He must be just as confused as she was at first. The rest of the night went by like bliss as she descended to her bed.

Her thoughts were too clouded as she just decided to lay down while staring at her ceiling. It was dark since she turned off all of the candles that were surrounding her place a while ago.

“Zarina? Are you still awake?” Luther called from the bathroom, so she gazed at the opened door of her room before sighing.

“I am, why? Is there a problem? I already drank my medicine so you can stop reminding me again,” She complained, which made Luther laugh.

“That’s not what I called you for, well at least not now, after hearing your statement,” Luther sniggered, so she rolled her eyes.

“I just want to confirm about the wish you would like me to have,” Luther mumbled, so she stopped gazing at the ceiling for a moment.

“I haven’t forgotten about that, so rest assured that you can wish for it anytime after you visit my world,” Zarina reassured him, which made him smile even though she couldn’t see him.

“I know you wouldn’t, I’m just curious on what I should wish from you,” He admitted, “I honestly have no idea what your world has and you know a lot of things from mine,”

“I just want to get to know you better and the world that you live in,” Luther added, which made her heart thump against her chest.

She still couldn’t understand why she always feels this restless every time Luther says something that catches her off guard.

“Zarina? Are you still there?” Luther called out, which made her flinch before shaking her head. She has to get it together.

“D-Do you want me to inform you about a lot of things from my world? We can do that tomorrow after I finish buying what I need,” She suggested, so he just smiled even though she couldn’t see him.

“That would be great! I can’t wait for tomorrow!” Luther beamed while clapping his hands as he decided to rest for the night.

“Imagine knowing things that are electricity-dependent, can some of your things there create fire too?” Luther wondered so she smirked as she thought about her stove.

“Yes, some of the things here can make fire, just like how the matches I use produce fire,” Zarina thoroughly explained that piqued Luther’s interest.

“I can’t wait! Humans are such interesting creatures!” Luther exclaimed, and that made her smile. Zarina thought that it’s probably going to be fun talking to him about human history and how they differ from mythical creatures.

It was silent in her unit for a moment as she decided to close her eyes when Luther spoke again, “Also, how can a water come out straight from the thing you called shower here?” He curiously asked so she opened her eyes before glaring at the ceiling.

“Luther, shut up, and let’s just talk about it tomorrow okay? I’m tired and I want to rest,” She furiously complained, so he just chuckled before sighing.

“Fine fine, we’ll talk about it tomorrow,” Luther finally stated, so Zarina closed her eyes and felt that she was slowly drifting into the darkness.

Luther heard that her breathing pace changed as he knew that she was already in a deep sleep, he smiled and felt his heart thumping against his chest.

He knew how much he likes this woman and no matter what happens, he would find the right time to tell her how he feels.

“Good night, my beautiful Zarina,”

To be continued...