PftA Book 2 - Chapter 36

A/N: There is a pretty hefty time skip in this chapter. I hope it isn't too abrupt. I'm really excited for what's to come. I hope you are, too!

Chapter 36 – The Apocalypse Approaches

My thoughts were somewhat prophetic as Xavier became increasingly attentive toward my movements, both within the office and outside. I noticed him following me several times when I left the building like a normal person instead of teleporting. I mentioned it to Rhona, and she talked to the alphabet agent, but her efforts did little besides getting him to change his approach.

Being able to read the man easily, Rhona had let me know he had no intention of changing his behavior. He was firmly convinced I was an alien sympathizer and was working against the humans of Earth. I wasn’t sure how he reached his conclusions, but I supposed being forced into a geas hadn’t endeared the Alliance to him.

My clear cooperation and friendly disposition toward Rhona and the others likely influenced Xavier’s beliefs. He was careful not to cross too many lines, so I tried to ignore him whenever possible.

By the following summer, my patience for the spy and his antics had grown thin. I was starting to actively look forward to the coming apocalypse if only to be done with the man and others like him. I wasn’t sure what he thought he could accomplish by stalking me, nor did I understand his goals. He couldn’t stop the changes. Even if he somehow managed to, it would be a death sentence for everyone on Earth. Only a crazy person would choose certain death for an entire world over accepting assistance from the Alliance.

As I watched the New Year’s ball drop from a lonely rooftop in Times Square for the last time, I considered the world with bittersweet nostalgia. Few of the revelers knew about the impending changes. I wondered if those who were aware realized this would be the last New Year of the old world. In just a few short months, everything would change.

So much had already changed.

Bell was pregnant, which was a huge divergence from the last timeline. Additionally, Justin was on track to awaken during his physical the following week. Rhona had been monitoring his mana levels closely, and he had finally reached the point where a small push would break through the worldwide suppression the Alliance had in place to keep natives’ interfaces from activating before they were ready.

During our last conversation, Rhona admitted that if he didn’t break through during the standard mana sensitivity test, she’d give him a stronger one to expose him to additional mana to ensure he awakened. It wouldn’t technically be forced awakening, given the circumstances.

Bell was a bundle of nerves, and the pregnancy didn’t help. Her mood was all over the place, making it hard to interact with her sometimes. I’d never experienced pregnancy hormones myself, so I couldn’t really sympathize with my former roommate, but I tried not to hold her sometimes erratic behavior against her.

Surprisingly, Justin had been ecstatic to learn about the pregnancy. Even though they’d taken steps to prevent it, once Bell told him she was pregnant, he wholeheartedly supported the idea. I’d initially felt guilty since I’d provided Bell with a birth-control enchantment and assumed it had failed. However, she quickly let me know that the item had not failed. She just forgot to put it back on after swapping the charm out for something that looked nicer and went with her outfit.

Once I overcame the shock, I was happy for the couple and told them I’d do what I could to ensure things went smoothly. Justin probably thought my statements were empty platitudes, but he’d understand soon. In another week, he’d be aware of the upcoming changes. I hoped he didn’t hold our silence against us.

When I arrived at my parents’ house for Sunday dinner later that evening, I found Bell sitting at the kitchen table eating a huge plate of assorted fresh fruit. Mom and Amie were outside doing something in the garden, and my brother and dad were off who knows where. I didn’t sense them nearby, and Dad’s truck was missing.

Noticing my arrival, Bell flushed prettily before becoming defensive when she saw how wide my eyes were at the amount of food piled on the plate.

“What? The baby wants fruit.” She rubbed her still flat stomach lovingly before returning to her snack with gusto, smirking when I remained standing in the doorway. After verifying Mom and Amie were still in the garden with Spatial Sense, I removed two large melons from my ring and held them up teasingly.

Seeing the naked desire in her eyes, I decided not to tease her and stepped forward. “Here,” I said, setting the large fruits on the table beside her plate. They were similar to cantaloupes, though the outside was much tougher, considering they were Tier Two fruits. “I’ll pick up some more the next time I delve the rift in Hawaii.”

I paused and considered current resource shortages. “I should probably see if Rhona will let me set up a Tier Two training area now that the ambient mana level has increased enough to support one or two. Maybe I can seed more fruit in one of the rifts for you,” I mused.

By this point, the siphons had been fully disabled, and ambient mana levels for most of the world were solidly in the upper half of Tier One. There were pockets that reached Tier Two levels in a few locations, with some places – like Antarctica – already reaching peak Tier Two.

I wasn’t sure how Atlas managed the areas, nor did I know how they kept everyone in the higher-tier areas from spontaneously awakening. It was pretty far above my paygrade, so I tried not to think about it too much.

I was far from a system scholar, and my knowledge of how the system worked was limited to the bits and pieces I’d picked up over the years. I knew from talking to my former party that humans on Earth were different from others around the Alliance in that we gained access to the system with what amounted to a black status.

Elsewhere in the universe, newly awakened young adults would already have a status screen populated with an accurate representation of any skills or abilities they’d learned throughout their lives. I was reasonably sure it was because the system was active but locked for children within the Alliance, unlike here on Earth.

Perhaps it would be different when Amie gained access to the system in eleven years or so. By then, the system would probably work more like it does on other planets that haven’t been suppressed and mana-starved.

Bell eagerly grabbed the head-sized melons. “Yay! Thank you! These are my favorite.”

My brother’s girlfriend immediately placed one of the melons in her storage ring before cutting the other one in half with a Tier Two knife she’d purchased from an Atlas merchant. Leveraging her Tier Two strength, she made cutting through the thick skin look easy. However, I knew that even a stronger-than-average unawakened male would have struggled to cut through the melon.

Given how dainty she appeared, I could only giggle at the thought of some tough guy trying to harass her.

Bell, Natalie, and Sumi had all reached Tier Two after our second delving trip, and I’d brought them along on several Antarctic delves since then. Sumi’s situation had mostly resolved with a little help from Rhona, but it had taken six months before she could delve regularly. That was the biggest reason the trio’s ascent to Tier Two had taken as long as it had.

Even so, it was quite fast compared to most others.

Now, the issue was getting access to delve slots and the sudden loss of one of their party members. I couldn’t fill in because I’d reached Tier Three several months earlier. Since then, I’d only gained a single level. I already knew that delving down a tier was rough on experience gains, but the world wasn’t capable of supporting a Tier Three rift just yet.

If things progressed as projected, I’d be able to advance the rift in Antarctica to Tier Three shortly after the apocalypse. It wouldn’t give me much time to advance before the portals opened, but every little bit helped.

“Mmmm. It’s so good,” my former roommate said while chewing on a piece of bright orange melon that she’d scooped into her mouth after removing the seeds in the center. “I need to develop an instant chill device so I can always have cold melon. They’re even better cold,” she told me knowingly.

Shaking my head at my friend, I sat in the chair next to her and tried to keep the conversation light. A few minutes later, Amie and my mom walked in with a vase of roses they’d collected from the bushes outside.

“Emie! We got roses! Aren’t they pretty?” my four-year-old niece asked proudly as she held out the vase.

“They are beautiful, just like you!” I said, pinching her cheek lightly before leaning forward and inhaling the faint floral scent. Most of Mom’s roses were chosen for their visual appeal, not their scent. Only one or two bushes out of the dozen or so she’d planted around the house produced highly fragrant flowers. Unfortunately, Amie’s vase didn’t contain any of those.

But they were still quite lovely.

“Ahhh, that hit the spot,” Bell said after finishing the last of the melon and setting the rind aside.

Noticing the scraped rind, Amie pouted, “No fair! That’s my favorite!” She folded her arms across her chest and puffed out her lower lip. “I want melon, too!”

“I’ll bring you melon next time,” I said, trying to suppress a smile. I wasn’t worried about feeding Amie mana-infused foods since it wouldn’t cause her to awaken early. I was almost certain the system would follow normal awakening rules once whatever suppression effect the Alliance had in place on Earth was removed. Otherwise, children on higher-tier planets would awaken much earlier than those on lower-tier planets.

= = =

I had just gotten into the shower the next morning when my phone started ringing. The thought of dripping water all over the floor was enough to convince me to call whoever it was back when I finished. Most likely, it was just a telemarketer anyway. Even though I’d joined every anti-spam list in existence, it didn’t stop the unsolicited callers from harassing me.

Five minutes later, I was on the phone with a distraught pregnant Bell. Instead of trying to figure out what she was saying through her tears, I used a mix of spatial magic to arrive in her bathroom so Amie didn’t see me arrive. I didn’t sense Justin in the apartment, but that wasn’t a surprise, given the bits I could make out between Bell’s sobs.

I called out as I exited the closet, letting my former roommate know I was there. I found her in the kitchen staring at a half-eaten melon with twin streams of tears pouring from her eyes.

“Okay, I’m here. What happened? Where’s Justin?”

“He’s gone!” she wailed. “I woke up, and he wasn’t there. I thought he got up early, but I found this!” Bell motioned toward the melon. “I think he was taken.” Bell looked at me desperately. “Do you think he was taken? We have to find him!”

“Let me call Rhona. I’m sure she’ll know more. Maybe he had to go in early or something,” I said unconvincingly. It was a long shot, especially with Amie still asleep in bed. Given the noise Bell was making, I wasn’t sure how the preschooler was still sleeping.

“Rhona, it’s Emie,” I said when the call connected. “Justin’s missing. He might have eaten some Tier Two melon during the night. I don’t suppose he’s somehow there?” I asked hopefully.

There was a groan and a couple of whispered swears that were inappropriate to be uttered by a princess. “This is what we were trying to avoid,” she said before muttering a string of curses toward a selfish old researcher who cared nothing about the trouble his actions caused. It took her a few minutes to start talking again, and when she did, my heart sank.

“I’m sorry, Emie. Oh, and Bell… she just found out she’s pregnant. I… I don’t think there’s anything I can do. Even if Sir Eri’Non wanted to, Mercer can’t return until the portals open. I’m almost certain he won’t allow your brother to remain onboard his ship until then.”

My stomach felt like lead. “So, he was definitely taken?” I asked, causing Bell’s cries to increase.

“Yes. The old elf is nothing if not thorough in his documentation.” There was a pause as Rhona read. I walked into Amie’s bedroom just in case she woke up. I didn’t want the first thing she saw to be her mother figure bawling on the kitchen floor.

“It looks like your brother’s system activated last night at approximately 22:09 local time, and he was listed as a participant in Sir Eri’Non’s study at 22:10,” Rhona informed me in a tone of weary acceptance. “Based on the notes, your brother has already received advanced compensation for the secondary study, meaning there’s nothing anyone can do. Willing or not, your brother will be part of the next cohort of test subjects entering the Realm Dungeon.”