Chapter 25 Adaela
Alfhame
We walked together through the village, chatting about nothing and everything as we browsed the wares in each shop we came across.
We admired the craftsmanship of the leather work, the weapons in another shop, and the clothing that was hand-sewn by some of the best seamsters in all the realms. We didn’t have money on hand, since we lived in a society that eschewed money, but Vada had bartered some time and resources to help train the Elven army in exchange for clothing both of us liked.
If she wasn’t careful, I’d fall in love.
Wait, was I already in love? Was this too soon?
“I will never get enough of you, sweet girl. The freckles like constellations on the small of your back near the right side of your body, the way you flush when you’re close to coming.
The way you call out my name when you’re in the throes of an orgasm.
They’re all mine, and I will cherish it for as long as I live,” she whispered, growing more serious.
“For someone who seems as stoic as you do on a regular basis, you sure know how to make me blush,” I replied, trying to break the tension.
I didn’t want serious Vada today. I wanted playful and joyous Vada.
She might’ve been a little bit of a grump, but she let her guard down with me, and I wanted all her joy today.
Chuckling, she kissed me softly. “I’ll never not tell you how incredible I think you are. You were worth the long wait.”
I blushed then, nuzzling my head into her neck to avoid her seeing it.
We grabbed some Elven food, consisting of chopforest, a type of salad with brussels sprouts, cabbage, and other varieties of vegetables, and we also grabbed some bread and mushroom butter.
Elves mostly ate a vegetarian diet unless they hunted for their food.
As Elves were typically stewards of the world they inhabited, they spent a ton of time making sure that they were creating a space that they could exist in their very long lives and leave for their next generations to come.
Tradition was important to the Elves, and their culture and people were better for it.
While they were a peaceful species, they still were warriors.
The Elven way of life was what we tried to emulate with the Pax, but we tried modernizing it a bit and improving on their governmental structures to best suit the needs of every faction.
Elves still dressed as if they lived in the Middle Ages, though they were a progressive society.
If an Elf identified as trans, no one batted an eye.
They were considered an integral part of their society.
Maybe it was because I was a lesbian, but I didn’t want the Pax to be anything like how humans treated other humans on Earth.
We made the Pax in Alfhame’s image because if there were to be peace amongst all the factions, we had to make sure every single being there was enthusiastically welcome.
I loved Alfhame. It was a city amongst the mountainside, with the cleanest air imaginable.
It would outlast anything we had on Earth, unless the Pax could convince the rest of the world that living the way they were would eventually be its downfall.
Alfhame was romantic in all the ways Earth romanticized certain cities across the globe, but better.
The rivers and lakes were clean, and it was so quiet that you could hear the critters of this realm clearly.
People lived slower lives here, but that lifestyle led to unimaginable innovation.
They also prioritized family, community, and love over everything else. It was a sight to behold.
The days passed, and with each day, I felt more like myself.
I was getting used to having the colostomy, but this was the longest I’d gone in decades without working out.
My body needed more movement than what I was currently getting.
This might’ve been the most severe injury I had ever suffered.
I was antsy, and it was making me cranky.
We had been in Alfhame for more than a week before I was medically cleared to start light training.
Vada and I decided that we would go hiking up the mountain as we eased back into working out.
We put on the hiking boots we had gotten at one of the leatherworking shops and set out toward the mountains.
“If you start feeling even a little bit tired, we rest. We don’t need to injure you further and set back your progress,” Vada said for the fifth time.
“I know. Gods, I promise, I’ll let you know.
We have packs with food for the hike, and if we need to, we can stop and rest. If I’m too tired to continue, we can move back down the mountain.
It’ll be easier going down than up,” I replied.
She genuinely meant it, so I couldn’t be mad at her, but I was grumpy in my reply nonetheless.
Vada kissed me quickly. “Good. I’m just making sure you know that you don’t have any reason to push through too quickly. The Pax needs you in shape before we can do anything about the issues going on elsewhere.”
“You’re right. I won’t let it prevent me from healing.
We can’t afford it,” I said, reframing the way I thought about how she was begging me to take things easy.
She’d already known that I overworked myself, and that I was prone to doing so to my own detriment.
I just believed in what the Pax was doing so much that I would suffer if it meant others got to live their lives free of tyranny.
“You’re right, we cannot. I also cannot afford to watch you do that to yourself anymore,” Vada said, a little choked up. I tried to put myself in her shoes. If she was the one who I’d traveled realms to save, I would likely have mother henned her, too.
I hugged her close to me, just breathing in her scent for a few moments.
I would never take the safety of her arms around me for granted again.
The mountain’s path was intimidating, but I viewed it as a challenge that I had to conquer in order to get back into the fight.
We couldn’t afford any more delays. “You ready, baby?”
She nodded, then gestured for me to go ahead of her. “You just want to stare at my ass,” I jested, starting up the trail.
“Obviously,” she laughed as she began to follow behind me.
We walked in silence for a long while. I felt out of breath a lot quicker than I normally would.
I wasn’t exhausted necessarily, but I could tell I hadn’t kept up with my routine for even a week.
I was going to be sore later regardless.
As the trail started to get steeper, we stopped for a few moments to add spikes to the bottom of our shoes and fashioned a couple of fallen branches as walking sticks.
We came close to the biggest waterfall I’d ever seen diving down into the lake below. We weren’t even halfway up the mountain, but decided to stop for snacks and to catch our breaths.
“I’ve been thinking…” Vada started, plopping down on a large, smooth rock. “I’m curious what might’ve been released from the Box. Do you know what contents were in it?”
I was quiet for a long minute. “No, I can’t say that I was ever curious enough to open it, for fear of starting a plague or something.
Every text I’d read about what could be in it seemed to be geared toward stories of the Four Horsemen, or all the aspects of human nature that humans believed to be antithetical to their ways of life, such as illness or harm done to one another.
Other stories told of how feminine sexuality and impropriety were housed in the jar.
Since I know who the Horsemen are, I doubt that is what it was holding. Have you heard anything?”
“I can’t say that I have, other than those same myths. I know there were some demons in Hell who had mentioned that they were the Horsemen, but I genuinely believe they were using it as leverage to boost their rankings in Hell.”
“I should get the Sluagh on their asses,” I snorted. “That’s what I’d heard, too. I don’t think whoever stole it knew what was in the Box. And since I received the Box from Tartarus, someone has to know.”
“Do we think it’s one of the Greek Gods or Goddesses?” she asked.
It was a good question, considering where I’d received the Box.
I hadn’t spoken with any of them, but maybe I’d bring it up to Athena next time I saw her.
I bit into a piece of fruit and chewed while thinking about it.
“I’m not sure. I could see that, but with how passionate they are about keeping Cronus locked up, I would think they’d have chosen to keep their treasures locked up somewhere they could forget about its existence.
Not because they’d want to forget about it, but because it was safer that way. ”
We sat in silence again, both of us thinking about what Zeus could have gifted to Pandora all those years ago.
I wasn’t even sure that the gift still existed.
What if it was something else? Someone else?
“I’m wondering if Poe and the Fates would know.
I haven’t heard of Pandora since the myth’s creation.
Do we think she was real, or just used by the Greeks as a cautionary tale? ” I asked.
“That’s a great question. I don’t remember ever hearing if Pandora was real or not either. I’m surprised you haven’t asked Poe yet,” Vada replied, gazing across the waterfall while she chewed on some jerky.
“I didn’t even let her know that I had it in my stash of items. I was the only being, aside from Cronus, who knew about the jar leaving Tartarus,” I said, thinking it over.
Vada nudged my shoulder with her own. “What else do you have in that office of yours?”
I leaned my head against her shoulder. “I can assure you, that was the most dangerous of the possessions, but if you want to stop by when we get back to St. Louis, I’ll show you. May even take you on a tour of my office, if you get my drift,” I said back playfully.