A Fresh Start

Adantia’s insistence on privacy did cause some hesitation in John, his baser instincts wondering if she was simply going to return to her Barrier and not return. Of course, John knew it didn’t make sense – she was worried about privacy and being discovered; if she intended to return to hiding, surely she would kill or at least capture him before returning to her sanctuary. Even with Rachel as a wild card that might reveal her at any point in the future, she wasn’t just going to leave a loose end lying around.

Well, hopefully. He still didn’t know much about Adantia aside from their similarities. He knew what he would do in her situation… and that was both reassuring and incredibly frightening.

But for all of his hesitation, John was a bit relieved to have a chance to compose himself and deal with some… particular issues. What little he’d managed to talk with Adantia about so far had been enough to convince her to leave her home and assist him, but it was shaky ground at best. And there was one thing – one person – that John worried might still upset the shaky agreement they currently had.

Arista.

John may have failed to do his research on Adantia or Paix before their encounter, but he was fairly confident in a guess that his enslavement of Arista would be looked down on poorly at best. Adantia's earlier comments led him to believe that while she'd restrained herself to sarcasm, it was mostly because of all the other crazy things he'd thrown her way... he didn't think prolonged time in a confined space with a person actively enslaved by that collar would bode well for John's future alliance with her. Besides, with Adantia agreeing to come back to Springfield with him and the unknown portion of his trip behind him, John’s need for Arista had passed. While he’d intended to set her free when they returned to Springfield, he couldn’t say that there wasn’t some pleasantness to the thought of being rid of her all that much sooner.

After Adantia had left, John used his communication rings to give Sophia a quick warning before calling her with Summoner’s Warp. Despite his insistence that he was safe and that they were not in a fight, Sophia’s eyes were on a swivel the moment that she appeared, scanning over their surroundings for an instant until she seemed satisfied that they were alone.

“Father, has all gone well? Did Vallya’s plan work?”

“More or less… with plenty of speed bumps on both sides,” John admitted. “But I think we’ve finally got an ally who can help us out with this war.”

“If she is willing to fight and die for you, then I will gladly call her sister,” Sophia said, nodding firmly.

“Let’s… take that one step at a time. She’s willing to fight, at least,” John said, sounding more sure than he felt about even that simple fact. “How is the new girl doing, by the way? Sorry I didn’t warn you of her arrival.”

“There was no need; we were unsure of what to expect, but she has been made more than welcome. As you called me to your side, Orria was busying herself with introducing Yvara to our world and giving her a full tour of the land. She seems like an excellent addition to our flock, Father. You should create more like her.”

John fought back a wry smirk at Sophia’s words. “Can’t say I should’ve expected anything less enthusiastic from you. I get the feeling you two might get along well. Regardless, I need to get back to the others, but I’m not completely sure where Layla is, and I’m a little bit unsure of where exactly we are. Fly around the outside of the plateau and find Arista – she should still be waiting at the bottom of the cliffs where we climbed up. Hopefully Layla isn’t too far away. Once you find Arista, come and pick me up.”

“By your command.”

A flash of light momentarily dazzled the dull ruins around them while Sophia’s massive wings formed in their full glory just before she lifted up off the ground and took off. John watched her until she was little more than a remarkably speedy black speck in the sky, zipping around in a large circle. A remarkably large circle, actually – in spite of her speed, it was clearly going to take a few minutes for her to fully encircle the cliffside if she wasn’t lucky enough to spot them early.

”Really starting to wish I’d kept that phone in my inventory instead of dumping it in the chest last time, would’ve made finding Layla so much faster. I wonder if Mom tried to call me… what does she think happened to me? I wonder if my spell is still making her think nothing is wrong. And what about Moira and Tricia? I hope that Moira was right about having an entire month…”

John bit his lip at the mixture of anxieties those thoughts caused him, resisting the urge to start tapping his foot as he waited for Sophia to return to him. After nearly two-thirds of a full circle, Sophia finally arced backward, approaching John’s position at high velocity. He was fairly used to her rapid landings by this point, but it was still a little breathtaking to watch how naturally and effortlessly she dove at terminal velocity, only opening her magical wings a few feet off the ground to slow herself the tiniest amount, easily landing with enough **** to crack pavement.

“Arista is in that direction, still alone at the bottom of the cliff,” Sophia said, pointing off to a spot somewhere past a few miles of ruined buildings. “Layla is nearby, at the edge of the city, still atop the plateau.”

“She must have been monitoring me as best as she could from that distance,” John mused. “Very well. Sophia, would you mind carrying me to where Layla is?”

“It would be a true honor to be of service, Father.”

The words of reassurance that Sophia was always of use died out over the sounds of rushing wind, as John and Sophia soared over the ground at supernatural speeds, carried up and over even the tallest of the buildings around them in only a matter of seconds.

”If I was saying something important, that would’ve been really inconvenient,” John noted. ”Sophia has gotten so strong she can land with so much **** it would kill a normal human on impact without even flinching, but sound still obeys the laws of physics without a specific spell. This is the kind of thing Adantia and the other mages that have been around for decades and centuries have probably prepared for a thousand times over…”

John frowned as they soared through the air, consumed by thoughts of the Northern Ashes. Talking and communicating wasn't an issue with the rings he'd crafted, but the reminder of how little he thought of such minor details stung him. He was about to get into a war, he couldn't afford to make mistakes like that. What kind of battle were they really preparing for? How many contingencies, how many preparations, how many soldiers did the Northern Ashes have? John hadn’t even had time to glean more information about them than that they were a necromantic army slowly pushing their way south from Canada and slaughtering any Abyssals in their path…

”No, that’s not true. I had time, I chose not to use it.”

It was an unpleasant thought, but that didn’t make it any less true. John had been in such a panic he’d rushed out of Springfield without a thought, and although the time constraints still felt like a weight on his shoulders, they still had more than enough time to make it back to Springfield. The proper response would’ve been to do research and gather intelligence on the situation.

”I need to improve my… everything. I don’t even know how I would begin to improve myself in the ways I’m lacking. Learning one mistake at a time isn’t the right way. Sooner or later it’s going to get me killed. I need someone to beat proactiveness into me… possibly literally.”

That sour thought in his mind, John noticed that they were beginning to descend. After snapping himself back to awareness, John easily spotted Layla. Not only was Sophia descending almost directly toward her, but Layla herself was frantically waving one arm to get their attention.

Sophia landed more gently this time, perhaps because she knew John wasn’t as used to sudden landings. John’s feet had hardly steadied themselves on the ground before Layla closed the distance between them, stopping only a foot away and looking awkwardly twitchy, as if she were fighting the urge to tackle John. After a moment’s hesitation, she seemed to give into the urge, throwing herself forward and wrapping her arms around John’s chest.

“John, I’m so glad that you’re okay! Please, don’t ever do that again,” Layla said, her eyes welling up slightly, though no tears fell. “I wanted so badly to come help you, but your aura disappeared, and I didn’t know where you’d gone! Don’t ever do that again!”

“I’m glad you’re okay too, Layla.” John tightened his grip on Layla and pulled her head into his shoulder, a gesture that seemed to shock her, but she made no attempt to push him away. She actually began to quiver slightly as John pulled her close.

“I was worried about leaving you with her, but I didn’t want to risk you even more by bringing you with me. Everything was so fast, and I just… are you okay?”

John thought that the quivering was just due to nerves, but Layla was actually shaking in his grasp. Wondering if she’d been more upset about his sudden departure than he’d initially thought, John pulled back – but the look on Layla’s face was not concern or sadness. Her face was reddened, her breath was coming quickly, and was she… biting her lip?

“I-I-I’m f-fine,” Layla managed to eke out. “Sorry, it’s… it’s your aura. It’s… hard to ignore when we’re this close.”

“Oh, is it uncomfortable? Sorry about that,” John said, stepping a little further away.

“N-no! Just… a little overwhelming. I don’t know why your aura is so unique, but…” Layla trailed off, not continuing the thought.

John thought to ask questions, but Layla seemed awfully uncomfortable and he didn’t want to make their reunion more awkward.

“So… did you succeed? Did you find Adantia?”

“And convinced her to help, too… At least, I think so. She’s supposed to join us at the bottom of the cliffs in a while, after she’s prepared to leave. I guess we’ll see if she shows up. If not, I don’t think anything I say will convince her.”

“Well… it would be nice to have someone else to help defend our home,” Layla said, though something about the words seemed off.

“We haven’t really talked much about the whole… invasion thing,” John mumbled. “You didn’t seem all that worried about it.”

“Well… I’m doing everything I can to help you find a way to stop them, so that’s what we should focus on, right?”

“Yeah, I guess. What was your plan for if the Northern Ashes broke past the current front lines and made it to Springfield?” John asked, morbid curiosity still playing in his mind.

“Well, I know some people who are very good at concealing themselves. These particular necromancers don’t seem interested in establishing an empire, only razing the territory they pass through. If stopping them wasn’t viable, I’d likely try to hide away. If that failed, I suppose I would flee elsewhere and try to start over. I don’t have many ties to Springfield as it is.”

“I thought you mentioned something about having someone close to you? A… roommate, or…? Sorry, it’s been a while, I don’t remember exactly what you called them.”

“I… lost touch with them a while back,” Layla said, her voice quiet and weak. “We don’t really talk much anymore.”

“Oh… sorry, I didn’t mean to open that back up,” John said, not expecting his question to turn things so awkward so quickly. “Uh, maybe we should just get moving. Adantia will be here soon and I’d rather deal with Arista before she gets here.”

“Deal with her? John, are you going to free her right now? What if she turns against us?” Layla asked, looking quite surprised. “Or are you planning to…?”

“No. Despite what she did… she faced her punishment. I’m not worried about freeing her, either. I Observed her a while back to figure out how powerful she was, so I could be sure she couldn’t break free of the collar or the prison I kept her in. She’s only level 57,” John said, immediately elaborating when he saw a flicker of confusion pass over Layla’s face. “It’s just a number, but it’s a pretty low one. She’s no match for us. You’re…”

John flicked his eyes over to a menu that popped up as he cast his Observe.

Layla Viorica
Level 72 Aurorist
<?????>
HP: 1,380 / 1,380
Alignment: 5
Relationship: 201

“...You’re level 72,” John said, after a pause he knew was far too long to come off as remotely natural. “That’s way more than enough for us together to handle her. Wow, I knew you were strong, Layla, but I don’t think I realized quite how powerful. Yeah, Arista isn’t going to be a problem.”

”She probably lost a lot of power by sitting restrained in that Order prison for nearly a full year like a calf destined for veal. I wonder how powerful she used to be?” John mused for a moment.

“If you’re sure… what will we do if she attacks us?” Layla asked. “Are you even sure that you want to let her go? She knows a lot about you now, doesn’t she? You’re a wonderful man, John, but I would hate to see you… regret letting her go free.”

“I thought about that too…” John said, letting a small sigh escape him. “I’m hoping she’ll just accept the second chance at life. If she does attack us, we’ll have to deal with that as it goes – but as long as I know we’re strong enough to handle it, I want to at least give her the chance. That said, we still have to actually get down there… would you like Sophia to carry you? I can handle the landing, I think.”

“That would be great, thank you,” Layla said, bowing her head slightly. “You’re so kind, John. But are you sure it won’t inconvenience you?”

“Not at all,” John said, hiding his minimal uncertainties behind a confident smile. He didn’t know for a fact that his Elemental Infusion ability could support the weight of a fully grown man since he’d never used it that way before, but he was pretty confident – and he had enough backup plans that he wasn’t concerned about a quick descent.

“Alright… I’ll see you down there then,” Layla said, offering a soft smile before she turned to Sophia and her face became more neutral. “Should I raise my hands up, or…”

“As you are is fine. I can easily handle your weight.”

“Did you just comment on-”

Layla’s words were lost in the wind as Sophia hooked her arms under the Aurorist’s shoulders, effortlessly lifting her up and carrying her away. John eyed their departure for a long while, watching the outline of the two as they soared away, before he turned his eyes back to the cliffside only a mile or so away from the edge of the city.

”Guess I’d better get moving.”

John covered the distance in under a minute, a bit slower than the flying harpy but not by much. Sohpia had begun her descent and was nearly halfway down the cliff when John arrived at its edge.

”Guess it’s time to find out if I was right about being able to use Elemental Infusion to fly… or at least slow a fall,” John noted. Scaling the cliff was fairly quick, mostly because he was able to essentially throw himself upward with his magic-enhanced strength. Going down quickly… well, there were a few ways, but they all amounted to controlled falling.

Despite knowing that his body was probably durable enough to take the fall with minimal harm, actually looking over the cliff filled him with an overwhelming sense of apprehension.

”I guess getting magical abilities out of nowhere doesn’t actually override centuries of evolution embedding a survival instinct,” John mused as he stood for a moment with one foot over the edge of the cliff, a deep and primal panic consuming his mind as he considered stepping over the edge. “Only one way to fix that, I guess... and that’s experience.”

John smiled a smile that turned rapidly into a grimace as he fought every natural instinct in his body and stepped forward, letting his weight carry him over the edge of the cliff. The feeling of gravity overtaking him sent a surge of adrenaline through John that triggered a panic response – something that gave him an experience he’d not had many times before.

As the hormones in his body sent him into a fight-or-flight response, so too did the mana in his veins surge. John’s body reacted naturally to the fear, so naturally that he did not notice the surge of mana in his body until the world around him slowed, and his fall – though rapid to any normal observer – became a gentle descent so slowed it was almost unworthy of mention.

”...Is this really how much faster I’ve become?” John thought idly as he watched the ground slowly approaching him. The first few feet had passed in a flash, before his body reacted naturally to the situation. But now John could almost count the inches as they flew by him, watching the rocky face pass by with a passing interest. Most of the times John moved at his full speed, he was in combat, and the rest of the time John didn’t have many mundane forces to compare himself to. John had never raced a bullet train, never leapt a tall building, yet here he was facing down gravity as a potential foe…

And John was finding gravity quite lacking.

The fall accelerated the further he went, but it never exceeded what John would’ve called a brisk walk, were he to compare it to his normal experiences in everyday life. Even as the distance to the ground shrank to a distance that sent shivers down his spine, John never felt a threat. Even as his fingertips touched soil and his body felt the slight shift of inertia trying vainly to exert itself on him, John’s panic at falling had all but subsided as he brought himself to a relatively abrupt stop, his nose still an inch off the ground as his extended arms and legs connected with the ground, shattering small craters into the ground as he halted his momentum with a considerable amount of effort… but virtually no pain. No damage indicators.

“Holy shit,” John breathed in a long series of gasps, more brought on by panic than exertion. “I… I can do that?”

“Is everything alright?” Layla called out, breaking John from his stupor. John slowly looked up from the ground, meeting Layla’s eyes and then turning his eyes back to the ground below, still overcome with shock.

“Y-yeah,” John eventually sputtered out. “I’m… fine. More than fine, actually.”

With that John set his mind and body to lifting himself up, slowly working his way out of the craters that his limbs had dug into the ground.

“I thought you were going to catch yourself,” Layla noted, though she didn’t sound as concerned once she noticed the lack of harm to John.

“I did too. Decided this was more fun,” John said, leaving it at that as he turned his eyes, gazing along the cliffside until his eyes came upon the figure of Arista, a few hundred feet away from where he’d landed. “Let’s get this over with.”

“At your side, Father.”

Layla remained silent, though John noted a slight blush across her face as she followed along behind him on his left, while Sophia dutifully trailed on his right. Arista had already seen them, probably long before John made his rather brutish arrival at the base of the cliff, and continued to passively stare at them as they approached. Arista made no wry comments, and she didn’t even seem to bristle at John’s approach. As John approached he instead noticed a rather surprising amount of curiosity on her face.

“You were gone for quite a while. I even heard a bit of a commotion… Did you find what you were looking for?” Arista asked.

John frowned, not finding a response particularly worthwhile. He intended to free Arista, and giving her information on his new ally and plans for the war against the Northern Ashes was very unlikely to benefit him.

“Our current situation is irrelevant to you now,” John said, trying to put as much dismissive disinterest into his voice as he could. John took a brief pause to meet Arista’s gaze before continuing. “Our time together has come to an end, Arista. I told you before that I’d set you free after you escorted us here. As much as I hate what you did… I’ve done what I said I would. You did the worst thing I could imagine, and so I’ve done the same to you. Your punishment has ended. I’m going to set you free.”

Arista lifted her head and set her jaw, looking at John as she spoke, loudly. The word was announced with an absoluteness that almost seemed to silence the air around her.