Project Seraphina [LitRPG, Magitech, GL]
3.42 A Needed Recovery

We waste no time in making it back to the Jacobs’ residence on the far side of town. Even though it’s nearly five o’clock and the highways are beginning to congest with rush hour traffic, the skyways are smooth and nearly empty. Not completely empty; there are a few people who have taken to the sky, either through artifice like my wings or under their own power.

Interestingly enough, there’s such a wide variety in how people are able to fly. Some use wings like either Chloe or me— and there are people with both Etheric and artificial wings. Others are like Yulia, able to control the wind and air currents directly. One individual— a girl who can’t be any older than I am— seems to have the ability to disperse herself into a cloud-like fog and travel aerially in that insubstantial form.

And finally, higher up in the sky than I am, there’s someone dressed in green holding herself aloft on a quartet of wings that look like pink rose petals. Though, when I look at this creature more closely, I realize that it doesn’t look human. The eyes are too rich— a deep amethyst that seems almost soulless— and it’s not just the being’s shirt that’s green. Its skin and hair are also green, plantlike. I don’t know who or… what that being is.

But though I sense a deep malice buried within it, it doesn’t seem actively hostile. At least not to Chloe and me. And as we head home, the creature fails to pursue. Still, that being… it isn’t natural.

“You’re worried about that person watching us, right?” Chloe asks.

“Yeah. I don’t know what it wants. And I don’t know if we can stop it if it tries to attack.”

Chloe takes my hand. “If it does come to that, then we’ll get through that the same way we have everything else to this point. Together.”

We fly quickly the rest of the way home, partially to get out of the sky sooner rather than later, and partially because I really, really want a nice hot bath. One which I’m able to avail myself of the moment we step into the house, while Chloe goes to take a shower.

Half an hour later, I emerge from the bath and am greeted by Chloe, who is wearing quite the revealing nightwear. However, while the prospect of an evening with her excites me, I’m more interested in the three envelopes she has in her hand. One of them is from the university, probably relating to the job offer I was informally offered a couple of weeks ago. The other is from Mrs. Jacobs’ attorney, and probably relates to the debacle down at the pawnshop a few weeks back

The other is unmarked. Not even a return address. Addressed to me specifically, my name in printed, blocky, all-capital letters. And unlike the other one, it’s a thick, padded envelope, and I sense some sort of artifice within it.

I decide to start with the one from the university, which is pretty much as expected. What isn’t expected is the salary: A hundred and sixty thousand a year as a base, with options to increase that contingent on receiving grants and successful publication in peer-reviewed journals. Again, it seems a little too good to be true. There really ought to be a catch, but I’m not sure what it is.

“You seem worried,” Chloe says, glancing over the offer letter. “I don’t know all the stuff about research and how hard it’ll be to meet those requirements, but it seems like a good offer, and a position that you’d enjoy.”

“I’m just worried that there’s some hidden catch here that I’m not seeing.”

“Why do you think that, Sera?”

“Because there always is.”

Chloe wraps an arm around me, pulling me toward the couch. “Do you think that there’s a catch to my affection, Sera?”

“I’m– I’m sorry, Chloe.”

“That’s not an answer, Sera.”

“I’m just… I’m still scared, and I feel like I’m doing a horrible job of being your girlfriend. I hurt you in the Tower the first time, and then you got hurt a second time because we didn’t pay enough attention to your warnings and–”

Chloe pulls my head into her lap and rubs her fingers between my hair. “You did. And you apologized. When you used those spells again, you took extra precautions to avoid hurting me.”

“But the snowbeasts–”

“You’re not wrong; it was painful for both of us. I know.

“But I think Stefan was right about one thing. We don’t know that the other path wouldn’t have been worse. Maybe there was a boss on the tenth floor that we wouldn’t have been prepared for. What if it had taken place underwater, and we’d all drowned and suffocated? What if it’d taken place in the sky, and Stefan would have been completely useless without the three of us constantly keeping him aloft? What if we had run into that… whatever that was, from the third floor? We wouldn’t be here right now.”

Chloe continues before I can object. “You are right about one thing. I don’t like the world we live in right now. I don’t love all this fighting. I don’t love the fact that we have to keep fighting and killing and forcing ourselves through these challenges. If the System went away and we could go back to our old lives, I’d choose that path in a heartbeat. But we don’t get to choose that for ourselves, do we?”

“Not to my knowledge. And I don’t see any other way to make the System go away than to continue to hone this power I have.”

Chloe nods. “Given that, we have to make the best of our situation. And right now, there’s one thing that I know for a fact.”

“What’s that?”

“Continuing to go through those trials is the best way we can help the greatest number of people. I realized it when I was healing all the people who were injured by the harpies and otherwise in the aftermath of their attack.”

I nod as Chloe continues.

“My magic was able to cure wounds and diseases that no amount of technology and medical knowledge from before the System could have hoped to accomplish. It’s not fair that I can do all this stuff and people who went to school for decades can’t. But just because it’s not fair doesn’t mean I shouldn’t work hard to do the things that only I can do. It’s the same for you, right?”

“Yeah. If I have this power and these memories, I ought to try to make the most of them.”

“Anyway, we’re alive.”

“Yeah. You and I are both alive.” I reach my right hand up to stroke Chloe’s chin and neck.

She playfully lunges her neck forward and nibbles on my fingertip for a couple of seconds. “Oops, sorry. We should probably save this kind of fun for after the other two letters.”

I open the second one, the one with ‘Johnson, Johnson, and Rutherford, PLLC.’ on the return label. I glance through it, a lot of fluff about being honored to work with me, represent my interests, retainer agreements, fee schedule, and so forth. A lot of technical stuff. So technical that I think I might need a second lawyer to help me digest the thick legalese buried within some of the documents.

Along with the usual legal agreements, there’s also a document from the county courthouse, that my presence is required the day after tomorrow— Thursday, June 29th— for a deposition regarding the incident a couple weeks back.

In addition to seeking legal counsel for the various legal matters that are affecting me personally, I probably also need one to keep abreast of any new legal situations that are soon to arise more generally. I’m sure there are plenty of ongoing discussions regarding the rights and responsibilities of people who choose to develop their power, whether as military and National Guard enlistees, private adventurers, or otherwise. I need to be aware of them quite thoroughly, as well as be prepared to provide my own input if necessary.

“Even though it only lists me on the summons, you should probably come as well,” I tell Chloe. “You’re a witness to the incident just the same.”

“Oh, yeah, I got one of those as well. I don’t know why they didn’t just request we both be there together and save paper, but the lawyers are probably getting to bill extra this way.”

A bead of sweat appears on my forehead. “The legal system is many things. Fast and efficient, are not among them.”

This gets Chloe to chuckle. “Alright, Sera, we’ve gone through the easy two letters. Now let’s see what’s in the last one.”

I take a deep breath. This is going to either be really bad, or really, really good. And considering that Murphy has yet to give me the swift kick in the butt I’m due after surviving the challenges of the Tower, I suspect it’s going to be the former.

I open it up after hesitating for a few more seconds, only to find a bunch of insulating foam packaging and a note on it. The note, much like the envelope, is devoid of any identifying markings. On it is a letter that looks like it was typed on an actual typewriter from years gone by. Only reason I can imagine for that is to try to obscure the origins of the letter from all parties; I’m pretty sure that modern printers all have digital fingerprints which can be traced.

Ms. Seraphina Mortensen

I hope that this letter finds you safely. I wanted to apologize that I couldn’t be there to deliver this to you in-person, but events beyond my control prevent me from leaving my current location. With any luck, it shouldn't be more than another month or so before I can see you and Chloe again. Stay safe out there, and I will be rooting for your continued success. May the artifact contained within provide you protection during your darkest hour.

“How odd,” I mutter. “A letter from someone who plans to see us ‘again’, but who not only won’t identify themself, but is taking great pains not to let any information about their identity leak out.”

“You think it’s… Wait a minute. I think this is from my father.”

“You–” I pause for a moment. Yes, Theo— my fa— no, best not to think of him as such. But those were Theo’s dying words. That Chloe’s father knows something more about me. About who and, critically, what, I am. Yeah, that makes total sense with that added bit of context. He’s almost certainly involved with some sort of high-tech research, and if he really knows about what I am, he might just have some advanced knowledge of Ethertech as well.

Plus, I can’t think of all that many people who would want to meet me ‘again’.

“I think you’re right, Chloe. It’s at least the most likely sender. Shall we see what he gave us?”

Chloe opens up the package— after I sheathe her in the light of [Angel’s Grace], revealing a single garnet-colored feather that glows with a golden radiance. There’s another piece of paper on it, only this sheet is written in glyphs instead of English. It takes some time to properly decipher everything, but as I slowly piece together exactly what this is, my jaw drops wider and wider until it nearly hits the floor.

[[Rekindling Feather]: This feather contains the essence of the legendary phoenix’s rebirth. When equipped as an accessory, this feather will revive a target from the brink of death, fully restoring their [Health] and half of their maximum [Ether] when their [Health] reaches 0. Also removes all status conditions, negative and positive alike. Accessory is permanently consumed upon use.]

And Lindsey and I thought the [Level Apple] was the only artifact out there that was going to cause mass pandemonium if information about it ever got leaked to the general public. But now, the ability to cheat death? Even if it only works a single time, being restored to peak health and curing all sicknesses and diseases?

This feather is a literal panacea, and Chloe and I both understand right away how important it is that we continue to remain extremely hush-hush about exactly what sort of treasures we now have in our possession. Because wars will be fought over something so priceless as this.

Yeah, I’m definitely going to need these next six days to mentally recover, too. And after a light dinner of leftover pasta, sleep comes far too easily for both of us.