Project Seraphina [LitRPG, Magitech, GL]
2.71 The Aftermath II

My time in the hospital is boring as all shit. So damn many tests. They draw blood and they want urine samples and… I feel like this is less a check-up and more an opportunity for the government to get samples of all my biometric data. Which, considering there are brand new poisons and diseases to worry about… I suppose there’s some societal benefit to it all. I still don’t like it. But I oblige for the sake of Chloe. And the sake of not causing a huge ruckus, to a significantly lesser extent.

Thank the goddesses, but after two hours of being constantly ordered around by the nurses, I’m finally given a clean bill of health and permitted to leave the sprawling medical complex.

I take Chloe in my arms and lift her up into a princess carry. She turns to me and grins.

“So, you’re going to take me flying over the city?”

“If that’s what you want. Just hold on tight.”

Chloe’s grin gets even bigger, as though such a thing were even possible. Her arms wrap gently around my neck as I flap my wings. And after a moment of adjusting my center of mass, I take to the air, to the shock of a number of bystanders entering and leaving the complex. More than one kid gasps in awe, grabbing their parents to watch as the two of us fly off. I take the opportunity, while so many people are staring, to lean in and give Chloe a nice, long kiss.

At this point, let them stare and raise hell! If they want to throw a hissy fit, they can seethe in their own bigoted anger.

Chloe licks her lips as we break our kiss. “That was… incredible.”

I smile. It really, truly is.

We head up higher, not so high that we are likely to interfere with any of the handful of commercial or military flight patterns. And to my shock, I’m not the only one flying about. Even more shocking, as the green-haired woman approaches, I realize that I know exactly who this is. And she seems to notice me as well, considering she is diverting her course over toward me.

“Sera?” Yulia asks. “Is that you? And Chloe too?”

“I was just asking the same,” I say. “What are you doing out here?” I also consider asking how she’s flying, but I think better of it.

“Oh, Amari got invited to speak at some conference down here at the capital. I don’t know all the specifics, but it’s about new technologies that she’s been developing since the Integration happened. I’m not much for stuffy conferences, so I’m just flying around and enjoying the lazy summer afternoon.”

“So, uh,” I mumble, not really sure where to start. “Can we continue this conversation on one of the nearby rooftops? As much as I hate to admit it, I can’t stay airborne indefinitely.”

Yulia laughs and points to a larger building a couple miles away. “Of course.”

We make our way over in relative silence, just the wind whistling and the heat of the high noon sun blazing down upon me. The heat is dissipated just a bit as we pick up the pace, the winds still containing enough of the morning chill to make it ‘a touch warm’ instead of ‘horrifically oppressive’. Though, were I not already draining my [Ether] to maintain my flight, I would Manifest an inverted [Heat] glyph right now to suppress the temperature around Chloe and me just a bit.

Yulia touches down upon the concrete rooftop with such subtlety and grace that I could’ve sworn that she’s flown under her own power many, many times before today. And considering she’s hinted at being from another world just like me, I would believe her if she has. Even as she lands, embellishing it with a gentle flourish, her wavy jade locks continue to sway, almost as though they are generating their own breeze.

“It’s a bit warm today, isn’t it?” Yulia half-asks, half-states. “Would you like me to offer you a bit of ice water?”

“That’d be lovely,” Chloe says. “It’s been a long day already.”

Yulia closes her eyes and makes a series of hand motions. [Ether] swirls about her, forming the air about her into a solid yet translucent mass in the shape of a glass of water. Another wave of her hand and a small trickle of crystal-clear water materializes forth, filling into the cup of solidified air nearly to the brim. She hands it to Chloe with a smile.

Chloe hesitates before taking a sip. But she does, and eagerly drinks the lot of it. I have no reason to believe that Yulia would intentionally try to poison Chloe, or that Chloe couldn’t cure any poison Yulia might concoct. In addition, I’m still not convinced that conjured water is safe to drink. I don’t say anything about that lingering doubt in the back of my mind, though. A doubt I have to attribute to some lingering tension after the events of the morning.

“Delicious!” Chloe says. “I’ve never tasted water so crisp, clean, and refreshing before.”

“I’m glad to hear it. Just let me know when you’re done and I’ll dispel the glass back into the breeze.”

I sigh. “You are quite a gifted mage to be able to conjure something so delicate, and maintain it so effortlessly.”

Yulia smiles, looking out toward the main part of the city to the south. “It’s something that comes with having lifetimes of experience. I’m sure you can understand, Seraphina.”

“Unfortunately not.”

“Oh? Your aura isn’t native to this world. I assumed you were a World Wanderer like Amari and I are.”

“A World Wanderer?” Chloe asks.

“There are countless worlds— different planes of existence. Normally, they are kept far apart from one another, separated by an incalculably vast void. But, due to actions in my world a long, long time ago, I was untethered from my world and forced to wander in that vast emptiness. At least, I was, until a sudden shift in the dimensional boundary brought my love and me to this world.”

“You mean Amari?” I ask.

Yulia nods. “We both found each other and fell in love again, even with our memories lost. It wasn’t until the System arrived that we regained those again.”

“I wish I could be so fortunate,” I say. I hesitate about this next part, but I feel a sort of camaraderie with Yulia, one that breaks past my desire not to inform others of my past. “You’re partially right. I am from another world. Sadly, I only have tiny bits of my memory, so I can’t say much with any certainty. This next bit is conjecture, but I don’t think I’m a World Wanderer in the way that you describe. I also believe that the incident that brought me to this world is the one that funneled you here as well, but I have no proof of that.”

Yulia turns to Chloe. “And you, Chloe?”

“No, I’m just a regular person from this world, born on Earth eighteen years ago, to regular parents.”

Yulia gives Chloe a wistful look, as though she doesn’t quite believe my girlfriend’s words. “You two are together now?”

Chloe and I both look at one another. I blush. “Y– Yeah,” I stutter.

Chloe grins. “Damn right we are.” She wraps her arm around mine.

“I’m glad. You two make for a cute couple.”

“Thanks,” we both say in unison.

“So, what are you going to do now?” I ask. “Stay here in Red Clay City, head back home? Head off and explore the world, just you and Amari?”

“Amari wants to do more research into these glyphs and the magic of this world. It is like the magic from my own world in some ways, but yet so terrifyingly different in others.”

“Let me know if she ever wants to work together on the topic. I’ve been studying them myself and I’d be willing to share what I’ve learned so far with her.”

“I’ll relay the message. Now then, it was wonderful getting to see the two of you, but I’m afraid I must be off.” Yulia smiles again, that soft, slightly somber smile, before she again takes to the sky and floats off seemingly without a care in the world.

Chloe finishes the last of the water and then, without her needing to say a thing, the cup vanishes. The thin, jade veneer holding it together dissipates back in the air, just as Yulia had insinuated.

I can’t help but wonder what to take from her conversation. So many, many more questions I have. About these so-called World Wanderers, and about the space between dimensions. About how whatever brought me to this world might have brought others with it. Likely beings far less benevolent than Yulia and her girlfriend. As much as I hate to admit it, it also suggests that that lingering thought of mine about having brought the System to Earth with me might well be the case. Which means, from a certain point of view, everything that happened since the System arrived is my responsibility.

Chloe wraps me into a long hug. We don’t say anything for a good while. Instead, we just hold each other. Her arms press against my back and I let her bury her face into my chest. And she starts to cry. Goddesses, I feel the need to cry too, just to release all these pent-up emotions and start to try to process. But I hold that dam in place through sheer will, being strong for now as she allows herself time for the catharsis we both so desperately need.

“So horrible,” she says. “So many bodies. So much blood. Couldn’t save…”

I hold her more. I know today has been hard on her. Even though she’s steeled herself in preparation to take a [Combat Medic] type of class at her Level 32 class change, I know how much it affects her. Not just the fighting, but treating the wounded, and coming to terms with the fact that she can’t save everyone, no matter how much she tries. She is— I realize more every day— a truly kind, empathetic, caring person who deserves only the best in life. And even though I might not be nor ever will be good enough for her, it behooves me to try as much as I can to reach those lofty goals. For her sake.

“I’m here for you,” I say in between her sniffles. “I’ll always be, as much and as often as you need.”

And we hold each other for a good long while, moving to one of the only patches of shade on the roof to shield ourselves from heat and sunburn alike. Finally, once Chloe is cried out, she turns to me with those puffy red eyes, still looking so beautiful and gorgeous. No, I correct. Even more beautiful than she already is.

“Did you figure it out?” Chloe asks.

“Figure out that I want to be by your side? That I want to be here with you, sharing in your joys and sorrows, supporting you as you support me? Yeah, I figured out all that a good while ago.”

“No, not that, Sera. Did you figure out what the cultists wanted? And how to meet that need?”

I think back to our conversation shortly after we learned about the cultists and what they were doing. I’d almost forgotten about that conversation, about trying to understand them. I got too self-assured, overconfident that they were just monsters who wanted to kill to lord over humans like petty tyrants. I think the anger of what they did at the capitol, and the damage they would have caused had they not been stopped. Despite my laudable intentions at the beginning, I lost sight of the real objective.

I didn’t understand, not until the very end. Not until those last words with that Oracle, and the visions that he supposedly had. Visions that were different from the ones I’ve been having, but might well have been visions of a distant past. Or the very near future. Of how scared so many people are. Some of them bury their heads in the sand and go about their lives as though nothing has changed. Some go insane. And still others turn to any quacksalver or demagogue who promises a quick fix to their problems.

“I do, Chloe. They wanted certainty. Assurance. They wanted to be able to sleep at night, knowing that even though the world is in turmoil, that all of this struggle will have had meaning. And that there will be a bright future at the end of it all.”

“We’ve got to give it to them, Sera. We might be among the few who can.”

“We need to find your father as well. Theo said he ‘knows more about me’.” I sigh. “I’m sure he’s alive.”

“How do we find him?”

“I– I have an idea. But not today. Not right now. Today, I think we both need a long, long rest.”

“Let’s… Let’s head home, love.”

“Let’s.”

We again take to the skies, heading back to the guildhall for our last night in Red Clay City before heading back to the Jacobs residence. But before I get more than a few feet off the rooftop, the System sends me a notification.

[You have gained the General Skill [Overland Flight]. Would you like to learn this Skill? (General Skill slots remaining: 2/6)]

[[Overland Flight]: The challenges facing a [Mechanical Angel] are not confined to one location, nor are they content to remain groundbound. Wherever she is needed, she goes, whether that’s the next block over or the other side of the world. This Skill enables all Skills or equipment which allow for flight to enter into a low-power, gliding mode. While active, maximum speed is halved and maneuverability is diminished, but [Ether] cost of maintaining flight is reduced by 80%. Skill can be freely engaged or disengaged at will.]

I take the Skill, mostly because I could really use its help in getting back home tomorrow. In the longer term, I think I can fuse it with [Cybernetic Body] as well.

The two of us depart, ready for an afternoon of relative peace, the first in quite some time.