Revealing Vision

The steady beat of nearly scalding water cascaded over Aeolia’s fit form, soothing away the accumulated aches of the worst day of her life. Unfortunately, the heated balm did little to ease away the mental pain.

‘Hopefully meeting this Vivian will give us more info,’ she thought as she let the spray rinse the shampoo from her hair. ‘And then we can….’

Her thoughts drifted away as the future became harder to plan for. Would this ‘Renox Solutions’ offer aid and manpower for their manhunt or leave them out to dry? And from there, how would they hunt down their quarry.

‘Are we even a ‘they’?’ Aeolia couldn’t keep that thought from further darkening her mind. True, John had stuck with her, going with her to their base and agreed to continue, but…

Unbidden, the image of John crumpling to the floor after trying to use that power of his on the wall played in her mind. It added to the guilt she felt over her vote in taking the job that led to her family and guild’s demise and her inability to avert their deaths.

‘Stop thinking like that’, she chided herself, pushing those thoughts aside as she turned off the shower, letting the water drip from her form as she took a few deep breaths.

“You can’t change the past”, she said quietly, her voice still filling the modest bathroom. “And I’m not going to let it drag me down. We’ve got a lead, and we’ll tackle whatever comes next when it comes.”

Her determination reaffirmed, Aeolia shook her wings, throwing the lingering drops of water onto the walls and shower curtain. Content with the state of her wings, Aeolia drew the curtain open and carefully exited the shower, her taloned feet clicking upon the tiled floor. She reached for the towel hanging off a rack and began to dry herself, body first, then hair.

Aeolia ran the towel through her hair, shaking her head as she finished. She caught sight of her reflection on the cabinet mounted mirror above the sink and choked back a sad laugh. Her hair was a wild mess, puffed up like a dandelion, and she couldn’t help but remember when Zeph would tease her over it.

She wiped away an errant tear and composed herself with a deep breath. Then, she pried open the cabinet, hoping to find a brush to tame her hair.

“There we go,” Aeolia said, finding her quarry and quickly taking the stiff bristles to her out of place locks. A quick glance at the other contents of the cabinet revealed a number of other personal care items, a can of hairspray drawing the AvenFae’s attention. Aeolia took the can, and with a few sprays, brought her hair back to her preferred reversed mohawk style, drawing her hair into two six-inch peaks on the sides, with a long fringe left hanging over her right eye.

Satisfied, Aeolia smiled at her reflection before she returned the brush and hairspray to the cabinet. She then moved to dress, sliding her feathered dress up her toned figure and over her breasts, snapping the golden clasp around her neck. After running her hands down the dress to smooth out any wrinkles, Aeolia picked up her thigh highs and slipped them up her legs, the dark material blending seamlessly into her avian ankles.

Dressed, Aeolia left the bathroom and quickly returned to John’s room, finding him staring at his computer, a pair of goggles perched atop his head.

“Already bought something from the Auction?” she asked as she slipped into the room, closing the door behind her.

John flinched at her sudden reappearance, reflexively closing his browser, and spun his chair around to face her as she drew closer, revealing that he had changed from his school uniform into a pair of jeans and a simple black t-shirt.

“Oh, hey,” John said, a hand reaching up to remove the googles, extending it out for her to take a closer look. “No. I, uh, got these from my powers. Well, from Gaia, actually, because she wasn’t really clear with a Quest and kinda handed them to me as an apology.”

Aeolia spent a moment studying the goggles, yellow eyes examining the device.

“What do they do?” she asked, before a small smirk worked its way onto her face. “Or are they just a fashion accessory? And what was that Quest you had anyway?”

John could keep the wide smile of his face as he re-positioned the Tinker’s Goggles on his brow. “The Quest was to ID people at school with magic. There was someone on my bus with some kind of talisman. I started thinking that there were others with powers like mine. When I walked into my first class, a Quest popped up that would give me XP for every person connected to the Abyss I identified. Apparently I found two people, but Observe didn’t give them away. These goggles should let me see magic and auras so that doesn’t happen again. Mind if I test that out on you?”

“I’m surprised you haven’t tested that on yourself already,” Aeolia responded, her posture shifting slightly and a rush of heat coloring her cheeks.

“I did, but it didn’t show me anything,” John said, before he noticed her flushed face and swaying stance. “Are you feeling okay?”

“I’m fine,” Aeolia asserted in a chipped voice. A moment later, her stomach emitted a loud growl that increased her blush, the red of flushed skin spreading to the points of her ears.

“Oh,” John said, a blush of his own blooming upon his face as his need for food echoed his companion’s. “Um…” he trailed off trying to think of the right words to say, “how about some pizza?”

John’s bluntness, coupled with a desire to move on from the awkward situation, found Aeolia waiting at the Newman dinner table while John finished up placing an order.

“And that’s that,” John said, locking his phone and stowing it in his Inventory, “should take about ten to fifteen minutes.”

Aeolia shifted on the edge of her seat slightly, her wings lightly brushing against the wooden back. “Are you sure no one's going to come waltzing in here? Really don’t want to risk getting wiped out of existence by Gaia.”

“Mom shouldn’t be home for a while,” John said in an attempt to assuage her, sitting down on the opposite side of the table, “and the pizza guy can’t see in here from the door. We should be fine.”

Aeolia’s posture relaxed slightly. “Alright. So, let’s test that new toy of yours.”

“Yeah.” John nodded, an eager smile blooming on his face as he lowered the goggles over his eyes. For a moment his vision was unaltered. Then at a thought, pale green energy flashed into existence around Aeolia: thin strands of wispy energy flowed out from her center, coiling around her head, limbs and wings like mist on a cool morning.

John watched as the streams of light pulsed in time with what he assumed was Aeolia’s heartbeat, transfixed as the light swelled from her center and flowed outward.

‘I’ve seen this color before,’ John thought as he studied Aeolia’s aura, ‘that curtain at her brother’s room. Observe said it changed its color to match nearby auras. When we got close it was a mix of this green and black. Is my aura black? I wonder what the colors mean?’

Aeolia twitched slightly as John pondered, drawing John’s gaze from her aura to her more physical assets. No longer distracted by the fantastical dance of magical energies, John felt his dick respond to the twin mounds of wonders just across the table.

“Well,” John said, carefully averting his gaze from his companion and lifting the Tinker’s Goggles from his eyes, “these do what they say. Not that I have any clue what I was really looking at.”

“Don’t go asking me,” Aeolia chimed in, an inquisitive look on her face. “What did you see, anyway?”
“Er,” John said, forcing himself to not think about her breasts, “your aura’s a pale green, it seemed to come out from around your heart. Wait, um, is your heart in the same spot a human’s heart is?”

“Last time I checked it was,” Aeolia said cheekily.

“Right,” John continued, “so yeah, as it flowed out, it kind of swirled around you and pulsed with light in time with your heartbeat. At least, I think that was what was happening.”

Aeolia hummed. “Mind if I give those goggles a try?”

“No,” John said, quickly slipping off the leather band. “Can’t say I’m not curious what my aura looks like.”

Aeolia took the offered goggles. “I wonder why they didn’t work when you looked at yourself?”

“I’ve got two ideas,” John answered, “Either I don’t play by the rules or the goggles can’t read the aura of someone wearing them. Since your aura was coiling around your head, I think the goggles might have something that filters out the aura of the person wearing it.”

“Well,” Aeolia said, pulling the Tinker’s Goggles onto her head, careful to avoid messing up her hair, “let’s see if you’re right.” With the lenses in place, Aeolia stared at John and willed the goggles into life with a slight nudge of her Mana.

Inky black energy sprung forth from John’s chest like a dark tide, coating his torso like a thin layer of gel that mostly obscured the features of his shirt. It frayed as it flowed down his limbs, snaking down them in dark rivulets. Sparks of green, blue, violet, red, gold and orange broke the dark streams and drew Aeolia’s eye as they twinkled like stars in the night sky.

“Um,” John said, slightly unnerved by Aeolia’s silence, “I’m guessing that something’s weird about my aura?”

“I mean,” Aeolia responded, slipping the goggles up to rest on her forehead, “I don’t have a clue if yours is weird, but it’s definitely more interesting than what you said mine looked like.”

She went on to detail what she saw, causing John to frown in thought.

“I hope a black aura doesn’t mean I’m destined to be evil or something,” John said, weakly trying to pass off his worry as a joke.

Aeolia wasn’t fooled. “Look. All auras do is reflect who you are, remember? Maybe having a god wired into you is doing something to it.”

“I guess,” John said, his tone betraying his doubt over the situation. “Just, if I start forming a list of what mistakes not to make when I become an evil overlord, smack some sense into me, alright?”

Aeolia cracked a smile. “You got a deal.”

Before the conversation could move on, John’s ringtone blared in his ears, causing him to flinch at the sudden noise. Aeolia shot out of her chair with wide eyes, wings knocking it to the floor with a clatter.

“What’s wrong?” she said, a small sliver of panic working its way into her voice, eyes darting about the room as if an attacker was about to pop out from behind the credenza.

“Woah, calm down,” John said, a little worried at Aeolia’s quick and aggressive move, “it’s just my phone. I guess having it in my Inventory links it right to my head.”

Aeolia relaxed, looking a bit sheepish as John summoned his ringing phone back to reality, the screen displaying a picture of his mother.

“Hey Mom,” John said as he picked up the call. “Sorry about the wait, phone got away from me. What’s up?”

“Hi sweetie,” Brenda Newman’s tired and harried voice emanated from the speaker, “you’re going to have to make yourself dinner. I have to pull some overtime. Our client just dumped a truckload of documents on us. You’re going to be okay by yourself, right?”

“Yeah, I’ll be fine,” John responded, “I’ll probably just make a bowl of pasta. Any idea when you’ll be home?”

“Most likely not until late,” Brenda answered, her voice reflecting her weariness regarding the situation. “I’ll try not to make too much noise if I come home after you head to bed.”

“Got it,” John affirmed, “I’ll see you later then.”

"Bye honey. Love you,” Brenda said.

“Love you too,” John replied before she hung up.

Aeolia wore a pensive countenance as she returned her chair to its proper position. “Sounds like we’ll be in the clear for a bit.”

“Yeah,” John said, a touch of worry in his voice as he checked the time on his phone. “Food should be here soon. We’ll eat, then see what I can do with Barriers. I don’t think we should do anything that will take a lot of time. I really don’t want to deal with Mom freaking out if she comes home and I’m not here.”

Before Aeolia could add any input, the doorbell echoed through the house. John quickly headed for the door, pulling out a twenty from his money pool. A short exchange later, John returned to the dining room, a large box of pizza casting its delicious and enticing scent around the room.

Aeolia regarded the box with a gleam in her eyes, and as soon as John opened the lid, shot a hand in and pulled out a slice, gooey strings of cheese clinging to the remaining pieces. The triangle laden with pepperoni and sausage didn’t last long as the winged woman quickly devoured it.

John was in no position to critique her eating habits as he followed her lead in scarfing down his first slice. Both had finished their respective slices and reached for the next round. Their eyes met as they withdrew their second slice, and in a moment of pure understanding, began to eat at full speed, trying to win the spontaneous contest.

Slices two and three went down too quickly for either contestant to know which had finished first and it all came down to the final round. The battle ended when John slammed his empty hands on the table as the last of his meal began its trip down.

“I win,” he said as Aeolia struggled to swallow her last mouthful.

“Yeah, yeah,” she retorted, reaching for a glass of water that had been ignored during the impromptu competition. “Guess I can’t stand up to The Gamer in his element.”

John smiled, both because of the rush of victory and the jovial tone of his guest’s voice.

“Well, since dinner’s done,” John said, gesturing to the empty pizza box, “guess it’s time to see what a little training can do for me.”