[414] 5.38 Within the Jet Stream

“I thought for sure that I was going to die,” Lindsey says as she finally comes to.  She shakes her head.  “No, I definitely should have died from that.  I guess I have the two of you to thank for saving my life.”

“I didn’t reiterate my choice to continue choosing [Healer] classes at Level 96 just so I could watch my friends and loved ones go through unnecessary noble sacrifices for the sake of things like honor and valor,” Chloe says.  “If you have a death wish, that’s your own damn business, but you’re not going to carry it out on my watch.”

“That’s… That’s not what I meant.  I was expecting that that potion was going to kill me when it was all said and done.  Should have fried my [Ether] channels and torn me apart from the inside at the cellular level beyond the ability of any known healing magic to repair.”

“It took four potions down your gullet to prevent your [Health] from zeroing out for long enough for Chloe to cast three consecutive [Greater Restorations],” I say.  “On top of that, I had to basically drain my own [Health] and [Ether] to zero to ensure she had enough [Ether] in the tank herself to pull it all off.  We were both running on fumes by the time she finally got you stabilized, but it wasn’t like we weren’t going to do everything we could short of getting ourselves killed as well to stop you from pulling any of that heroic sacrifice shit.”

“As if you’re one to talk about heroic sacrifice shit,” Chloe says.  “Has there ever been a time when you haven’t gone headlong into some perilous situation all the while waxing poetic about how it’s your duty or some shit?  I love you, Seraphina, but give me a goddess-damned break.”

Lindsey just chuckles at our lovers’ spat.  “So, where exactly are we right now?  All I see is the ocean down below and a few landmasses in the distance.”

“We’re currently gliding east along the polar jet streams to conserve energy while we find somewhere to land.”

“And how long have you been flying?”

“About five hours or so, though I’m just vaguely keeping track.”

“Not extremely helpful.  How long do you think you can keep going?”

“A while,” I say.  “Flight takes barely any effort for me anymore, I’m more or less fully healed, and I can stay awake for two or three days at a time.”

“Don’t ask her how she knows that,” Chloe says.

“Oh, you’re right.  Now that I’m Level 100, it’s probably closer to a week at a time.”

“Well, your poor sleeping habits aside, Seraphina, I think it’s time for you to let me go.  Preferably before Chloe bites one of us.”

“Joke’s on you, Lindsey.  I’m into that.”

“And I didn’t want to know that, but here I am.”  She rolls out of my arms and starts gliding just behind the two of us.

“By the way, Lindsey,” Chloe says.  “I never thought to ask earlier, but whatever happened with you and Stefan?  You haven’t once mentioned him ever since we started on this voyage.  Do you miss him?”

“I mean, a little bit.  But…  I thought I told you that the two of us had a falling out about eight months ago.”

“I don’t think you did, but I’m sorry to hear that,” Chloe says.

“You don’t have to be sorry or anything.”  Lindsey shrugs.  “It’s not like all of us have a childhood friend with whom we become inseparable, and then fifteen years later decide to marry them.  Clearly it does happen, but it’s not the norm or anything.”

She continues after a wistful sigh.  “No hard feelings or anything between us.  He just wanted to stay behind and continue to manage the local militia, while General Richardson personally requested I rejoin the Armed Forces in earnest and had me enlisted into his special operations task force.  I still see Stefan from time to time, though, whenever I get suitable leave.  Not like I’m going to turn down an opportunity for a good lay.”

“Lindsey!” Chloe shouts.

Lindsey smirks. “And now we’re even after earlier.”

I can’t help but chuckle at that.  “So, do you have any idea on where we are or where you want us to try to land?”

“I mean, I might be able to tell you something if you had some clue where on Earth we were.  Maybe I could point out one island or another or–  How about we land there?”

I take one last look around the skies, just to make sure we’ve not attracted the attention of any griffins, drakes, dragons, or other sky creatures I’d rather not be involved with.  Then we descend down into the glaciated island, landing on one of the small patches of greenery on the northern edge of the island.

There are… a lot of penguins here.  Entire flocks of them, thousands large, just waddling around and jumping into the deep to catch their daily fish.  They aren’t scared of us, some even approaching and pecking at Lindsey’s boots.  We take care not to accidentally harm any of the creatures as we scout the area.

The one thing we haven’t located is any signs of human settlement.  Lindsey doesn’t seem surprised.  According to her, technically, most of these subantarctic islands are under the jurisdiction of some nation or another.  Legally, most of them have strict regulations regarding travel to and from the island.  Practically, if Bouvet was being used as a military base, then all of these islands could hold dangers unknown.

Lindsey pulls out a trio of granola bars and hands us each one.  “If you’d like.”

We eat and we float around the island, looking for any signs of… well, anything of note.  It would be great if there were some hidden treasure, some relic cache that said ‘Welcome to the ass end of the Earth, here’s your prize for coming out here.’  I shake the feeling aside.  Even if there were such a thing, even these remote islands would have been trawled over in the past three years by people thinking exactly what I just did.

My gaze catches something along the inner side of the large caldera in the center of the island.  “Is that some sort of cave entrance?”

Lindsey confirms.  “Are we heading in now, or do you want to take a few hours to rest and recover first?”

I turn to Chloe.  She gazes up at the long twilight.  Then she sighs and pulls out a tent.  Lindsey just shakes her head.

“We can do better than that,” she says.  She pulls out a full-sized mobile home, complete with an Etheric generator system already hooked up.  Apparently her military salary is quite a bit more generous than I would have expected.  “You don’t have to give me that sort of look.  Sometimes I’m on missions for weeks at a time.  That doesn’t mean I have to spend every day roughing it without hot meals or showers.”

“I was just expecting it to be like old times,” I say.

“If you really want to go back to that, you’re more than welcome to sleep under the stars.  I will be doing no such thing.”  She doesn’t say another word before she passes through the front door.

Chloe and I follow.  It is nice inside, especially by the standards of what I’ve heard about prefabricated homes.  It is… nicer than the home in which I grew up, in terms of furnishings, though not in terms of structural integrity or space.

Lindsey has claimed the first shower before either of us have the opportunity.  Instead we raid the kitchen.  The refrigerator and the pantry are both well-stocked, and after a few minutes of talking it over with Chloe, I decide to start throwing a meatloaf together.

Chloe decides to demonstrate the versatility of her [Blade Dance] by employing it while wielding a [Simple Kitchen Knife] as her weapon of choice.  Stainless steel cutlery meets token resistance in the form of baby carrots, red bell peppers, and sweet onions as all three are diced into a perfect mince all within the span of seconds.

“Well, if the whole magical healer job doesn’t end up working out for you, you certainly have a career path as a food processor.”  I giggle.

“I have a better idea, Sera.  I’m going to take these onions, and I’m going to mash them between my fingers.  And I’m going to make sure that all of the lacrimatory compounds get smeared all over my hands.  And then I am going to rub your eyes with my hands, and I will do absolutely nothing to heal you until you get on your hands and your knees and beg for repentance.”

“Three points, Chloe.  First, if you want to get me on my hands and knees, you don’t have to make up an excuse.  We can head to bed right now and you can do whatever you want.  Second, I have a pain suppression Skill.”

“And the third point?”

I raise up my exoskeleton, covering my eyes completely.  “Good luck reaching them.”

“Oh, it is on, Sera!  It is so on!”  She pauses.  “Get the ingredients mixed together and throw it in the oven, and then meet me in the bedroom.  You have five minutes.  Be there, or else.”  Despite the words themselves, the tone is nothing but jocular.

I, of course, have no choice but to oblige.  As I pound the meat— double entendre very much intended— and mix in the eggs, the bread crumbs, the minced vegetables, and the seasonings and a little extra garlic, my mind starts to wander.  It’s only been about a week since all this shit started to go down, but it’s been one of the busiest weeks we’ve been through in years.  I’m glad Chloe decided to stop for the night rather than dive right in.  I didn’t realize how much I needed this brief respite until now that I finally have a chance to relax in relative comfort and safety.

It seems that I still have those needs.  Even now that I am [The Sentinel of Humanity].

I leave a note on the counter by the oven once I’ve put the loaf in.  Then I follow Chloe into the back.  She’s fully clothed, still, though no longer armored, staring out through the curtains at the starry sky above.  I’m not… disappointed.  Never disappointed, not ever, not in Chloe.  A little surprised, though; I figured she’d want to get right down to it.

“Do you remember there at the end, Sera?  When we were working to break down the barrier surrounding the heart.”

I nod.  How could I forget that ordeal after less than a day?

“Well, by the end of it all, you had stopped directing me.  I don’t know if you could realize it then, but I could see what you were seeing.  The vibrations, the… resonance, I think you had called it.”

She closes her eyes.  “Can you see what I see, Sera?  Can you look through my eyes?”

I try, but I fail.  I can see myself from her perspective with my own abilities.  My [Veilsight] is sufficient for that purpose.  But I relent.  It takes a moment to fully disable the Skill, at which point, I start to wonder how I ever managed to make do with such a limited scope of perspective.  Not even a hundred and eighty degrees of vision, no ability to see [Ether], limited ability to process inscriptions, no assistance with dodging projectiles.

“Your eyes,” Chloe says.

“Did they change?  I can’t see how they look right now.”

“They’re beautiful, Sera.  Just focus on our bond, and you can see them for yourself.”

I do so.  I focus on Chloe, on the connection we share, on the love between us, the continued commitment to our partnership, through the good times and especially the not-so-good ones.  It takes a moment to finally lock on to the specific aspect of the bond itself, but when I focus on it, I can see both my own vision as well as hers.

My eyes aren’t quite as vivid as they usually are.  The rich combination of azure mixed with silver has faded back to my previous teal color, and the sparkle that shines when I use [Veilsight] is but the faintest echo of a glimmer in my eyes.

The surroundings grow more vibrant.  I can again see the wisps of ambient Ether, though not to the same clarity as before.  The rest of my vision sharpens as well, though it is still limited to the physical dimension and only about two hundred and forty degrees around.

Chloe’s vision narrows in on my own face.  Then her lips touch mine and the two of us start kissing for a good while.  Both our eyes close, and I don’t have to worry about anything else but Chloe and me and us being together at this exact moment.

“Sera, Chloe,” Lindsey says.  “You better get out here and clean this shit up right now!  I’m not getting paid enough to deal with your dirty dishes!”

I roll my eyes as I reactivate my [Veilsight].  Perhaps the universe read my mind for the sole purpose of deliberately rebuking my previous thoughts.