The Systems Challenge

Elin sat next to Heather as she could feel Heather's magic flowing into Sonya's injured foot. While she couldn't say why it wasn't healing as quickly as Heather had been able to heal the rest of them the day before, Elin could sense that Sonya's foot was slowly starting to get better. Just not as fast as she would have expected.

"Assess," Elin said, looking at Sonya's foot. She didn't expect that her spell would interfere with Heather's healing, but she did worry that Heather's emotions might be taking a turn for the worse with how long it was taking. She hoped to find something that she could share with Heather to keep her from despairing about her efforts.

As Elin felt her MP flow out of her, she saw a window appear in front of her. As she read the text that was in the window, she wasn't sure she even understood it. "Uh, my spell says something about Sonya's foot being hurt by something astral or other and that it's not going to heal like it should until the effect wears off and that it can't be dispelled or removed through other means."

"What do you mean?" Sonya asked, sounding a little aggravated, not that Elin could blame her.

"My best guess is that it just means until the effect wears off, that we won't be able to fully heal your foot," Elin answered.

"How long will that effect last?" Heather asked, sounding just as happy as Sonya was about the news.

Elin sighed. She could see what it said about that, but for some reason, it was giving her weird symbols or characters that didn't make any sense to her. "I-I'm not sure," she replied after a moment, not sure what else to say. "If you'd like, I could see if my treat spell would affect it in any way."

"I thought you said that it couldn't be dispelled or removed," Heather asked, sounding like she was on the verge of losing hope.

"I know what I said, but what it says for when it'll go away is just weird symbols and stuff. I'm not sure when it'll go away like this, but if I use treat, then maybe those symbols will change to something I can understand."

"Go ahead," Sonya said. "It's not like we've got anything to lose."

Elin didn't waste any time after she heard that from Sonya. "Treat," she said firmly,

She knew her spell took effect, but wasn't surprised when Heather's healing didn't speed up. While Elin could see that Sonya's foot as healing slowly, she wasn't sure how long it would take at the rate it was going. Although, she was pretty sure that Heather probably would give up in despair long before that would happen.

So, she felt she should check it's status again, hoping that it would have a change in when that status effect would go away. Although, as she opened her mouth to speak the word, she couldn't help but wonder if the condition didn't just affect her foot, but all of her as well. She couldn't say she'd be surprised if that was the case, but she also didn't think that she should rule that possibility out either.

"Assess," Elin said, this time focusing on just Sonya rather than her foot.

As she read the text in the window again, she felt like she'd just confirmed at least one of her fears. That it wasn't just located in Sonya's foot, but throughout her entire body. Yet, on a positive note, she saw how long the effect was supposed to last for. Though, it wasn't a pleasant length of time.

"Well, I have good news and bad news," Elin said, mirroring something she remembered Jonas and Elmo saying sometimes since they'd been traveling together.

"Go with the bad news first," Sonya said. "It'll give us something to look forward to." Elin opened her mouth to reply when Sonya suddenly added, "Besides, it's always nice to end things on a high note."

Elin wasn't sure what that meant, but she didn't feel like arguing that point or suggesting anything else. "Well, the bad news is that the condition I mentioned isn't just with your foot, but through your entire body."

"Okay, not as bad as I thought it'd be," Sonya remarked. "What's the good news then?"

Elin suddenly felt like she should have said this was the good news. Though, she wasn't sure how she could have packed the first thing as 'good news' in the first place.

"That I managed to find out how long that condition will last," Elin replied, only thinking of phrasing it that way at the last moment.

"How long?" Heather asked, looking rather hopeful.

Elin suddenly felt like she was stabbing herself in the heart as she saw Heather's desperate expression. She wanted to say something other than 'three weeks' but she was confident that anything other than the truth would merely cause a rift to form between then, possibly even threatening their friendship.

"Three weeks," she replied quietly, not sure how else to phrase it so it'd sound better.

Heather mouthed the words to herself, her hands falling from Sonya's foot.

"Hey!" Sonya complained. "Give me some warning next time!"

"Sorry," Heather said, putting her hands on Sonya's foot again.

"Anyway," Sony added, "at least it's not twenty-one days."

Elin suddenly felt confused. She was pretty sure that 3 weeks was 21 days, so she wasn't sure what Sonya was talking about. Though, she couldn't be sure about what kind of education Sonya had, so it was possible that she just didn't really understand what Elin had just said/

"Don't even joke like that!" Heather snapped, startling Elin. "That's still a long time."

Sonya chuckled. "Why shouldn't I joke about how long it'll take?" she asked, moving her head to look Heather straight in the eye. "I'm sure you can help me feel like it won't take as long."

"Uh, you realize that twenty-one days is three weeks, right?" Elin asked, mostly to confirm what was going on. She felt like she was missing something and wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not.

"Yeah, I'm aware," Sonya replied calmly. "That's what the joke was about."

"Is there anything I can do to help?" Heather asked, like she was somehow responsible for the current situation.

"How about a naked ride?" Sonya asked, her tone so suggestive that Elin couldn't help but blush.

"S-sonya!" Heather protested, her own face going beet red. "Don't say that here!"

Sonya glanced at Elin. "If Elin wants to join why not let her?" she asked, nudging Heather with her nose.

"Join what?" Elin asked, feeling like she was missing something else this time. Though, she wasn't sure if it was something she should understand either.

"Just that…" Heather started but then trailed off. Elin wasn't sure if she should say anything to prompt her or not, since she wasn't confident she should even be hearing this.

"It's where Heather rides on my back while I'm in another shape like this without any clothing on," Sonya finished for Heather after a minute. "If you want to join, I'm sure Heather wouldn't mind."

"B-but I said I'd only be with you!" Heather protested quietly, casting a quick glance to the others in the camp in the distance, as if they might overhear. "You promised that you'd only love me."

"I remember what I said," Sonya said, pausing for a moment, making Elin wonder if she was about to add something to that sentence but stopped. "I'm just thinking that Elin's here and you look like you could use the release and I'm not sure I can shift out of this shape while my foot's like that."

"But isn't she with Kim?"

"Uh, actually, I'm not sure if Kim wants me anymore," Elin said, not sure if she should bring up her own problems right then. "She doesn't care what I'm feeling or anything, so I think she's moved on from me."

"What?!" Heather cried softly, pulling Elin into a gentle hug.

"Wow, I had a feeling there was something different between you two, but I didn't think that would have been it," Sonya remarked.

"Don't worry about it," Elin assured them, returning Heather's hug. "But if you don't mind, I guess I'd like to try that… uh, naked ride?"

Heather looked uneasy, but looked at Sonya. "Sure, if you can help Heather to relax, we'd be happy to have you with us for that," Sonya said."

"Uh, how will this work?" Elin asked, not sure what to do at that moment. For one thing, she certainly didn't want to get naked right there where they were still in view of the others in the camp.

"We'll just walk away for a while," Heather answered. "Then when we're well out of sight of the camp, we'll take our clothing off and climb on Sonya."

"Then she'll walk around with us like that?" Elin asked, feeling like that didn't sound as enticing as what she felt like Sonya had been suggesting with her tone.

"Then I'll fly around, while Heather presses her body against mine and you can press yours against Heather's," Sonya answered.

Elin stood up, wondering why Heather's face was so red at that moment. Sure she understood what it felt like to have another girl pressing her naked body against hers, but she wasn't sure why she also didn't feel the same with how embarrassed Heather seemed to be at the idea. Besides, unless she was touching Heather like she knew she liked being touched or like Kim enjoyed, she didn't see what was so special about a 'naked ride' to begin with.

"How about we take this one step at a time," Elin suggested. "Maybe on the flight you'll be more into it."

Heather stood up, looking like her legs might give out from under her at any moment. "I guess," she said, reaching out and taking Elin's hand in hers. "Only one way to find out, right?"

Elin nodded, not sure which way would be the best to respond with right then. Only that Heather looked like she might change her mind if her being enthusiastic or excited might be the wrong choice. Though, she figured that being calm might help Heather stay calm about it as well.