Chapter 11 #3
They spent the next hour searching and compiling information.
Fly went with his instinct once they were done.
“I propose we reconnect you to your ancestor through her belongings. The Quipu of Shadow could hold knowledge of how she closed the font. Information artifact. The silver owl effigy is a protective totem, ties to your callsign, and confirms the through-line in her bloodline, spiritual artifact. The last item, the royal burial bundle, Quri’s bones.
Finding them would be a very emotional retrieval, an identity artifact. ”
She bit her lip and nodded. “I agree.” Flash’s hand squeezed her shoulder.
She moved away. Flash sat down.
“You two okay? You seem…better,” Fly said, his voice a low, careful probe. He watched them, the Visionary in him seeing the subtle shifts in their energy, the new, fragile equilibrium between them.
“Yeah, we worked out some stuff, but we have way more shit going on that even I can’t quite figure out yet,” Flash said, his voice rough. He ran a hand through his hair, a gesture of pure exhaustion that didn't quite hide the new, raw openness in his eyes.
“Again, this is awkward and invasive, but you guys are connected. We all felt it. What exactly happened when you got together?” Fly’s gaze was direct, not prying, but seeking understanding. He needed the data.
Flash glanced over at Lechuza, who was pretending to study a map, but Fly could see the tension in her shoulders, the way she was listening to every word.
Fly squeezed his shoulder, a silent gesture of support.
Flash took a hard breath, the sound loud in the quiet library.
Fly continued speaking firmly, “All of this is overwhelming, and we’ve had very little time to process it.
” Fly leaned forward. “Big fucking feelings. I know. Time isn’t on our side, as you know.
Raw honesty is what’s going to save us.” He leaned back, the leather of the chair groaning softly.
“I got something from that hunk of rock, and it resonates with me, deep down.” He looked at Lechuza, a flicker of awe swirling in him at her courage.
“She could have forced all of us into transforming. That’s how much power she had, but she held back for our sake.
” Fly looked over at Lechuza, seeing her in a new light. “With you, she couldn’t.”
“Why?” Flash asked, studying her with the same awe.
“She has feelings for you, something that feels, to me, ancient. Even through a fractured channel, she instinctively reached out for you.” A shiver went down Fly’s spine, a premonition of truths he couldn’t yet grasp.
“That’s what I mean about deep connection.
She’s always reaching for you, even when she resists.
” He closed his eyes, the message from the font so strong now, a clear bell in his mind.
“We will get to the bottom of all of this.”
Flash smirked, a ghost of his old self. “You mean you will, Visionary. Sounds to me like you’re holding up your end of the bargain.”
Fly laughed softly. “What I said? The blind leading the cosmically blind still stands. Hopefully, I get it, and we’re not all fucked, cause like there’s no pressure.”
“Isn’t that why they gave you those bars, sir?”
“You want me to start issuing orders, sailor?”
“If it gets us closer to getting off this merry-go-round, bark away.”
“Okay, what happened?”
Flash’s brows rose. “Exact details?”
“I think it’s best.”
“Fuck.” The word was a puff of air, a surrender.
“I’ll keep it to myself, Jae. You can count on that.”
“You’re an earnest son of a bitch…sir.” Flash lowered his voice, then lifted his shirt. “I got this a year ago, because I wanted to be close to her. What she went through with Herrera was brutal.”
“Sexual assault?”
“Yes. When we found her, she was naked and locked in a small cell, and I offered her clothes from my pack. She accepted them. She never flinched…later she called me her star-spangled eagle.” He turned, his movements stiff.
“My back.” Fly pulled at the neck of the T-shirt and saw the wings, a masterpiece of ink and shadow.
“When she saw my chakana tat, she touched it and I almost lost my mind, the connection was electric, and it affected every part of me, but mostly in my…dick.”
Fly breathed out a soft exhalation, trying to keep his expression neutral. “How did it feel…”
Flash gave him a wry raised brow, a man-to-man look that said, seriously, bro?
Fly chuckled. “I get that part, but move your mind away from your junk, and tell me what you felt.”
“Fuck, as a SEAL, we’re not big on the sharing of this shit, man.”
“I fucking know, and I wouldn’t ask if it wasn’t so important.
We’re in much more than a physical fight, Flash.
This is spiritual, cosmic, and the universe doesn’t just spin on math and physics.
It’s built on human feelings, like a wheel that gathers and stores all that shit.
What we do, say, think, and believe matters.
Don’t ask me how I know. I just do…maybe it’s the way I rewired my brain, this Zen Fool stuff.
I haven’t a clue, but I feel it in my gut it’s important. ”