Chapter 194: Chapter 54 part 1
Amelia knew it couldn't last. She'd been using the quarantine house as an excuse to avoid meeting with the marquis and his daughter. Not so much because she didn't like them, but because of how she looked so much like Milyah, the marquis' wife and mother of his daughter Kystia.
When she first entered the house, she had only planned on staying in there long enough to heal those who were in there. She didn't plan on letting them die if she could help it. She wouldn't be able to live with herself if that was the case.
However, the longer she stayed in there, the harder it became to leave. The people who had been in the quarantine house at the start had already left weeks ago, but Amelia still kept herself in there. However, the others who had been brought in since then were almost fully healed and would be leaving as well. Which meant that she'd no longer have an excuse as to her staying in there, since she'd otherwise be the only person in.
Assuming Cinder opted out then, that is. Since he only joined Amelia so he could maybe learn to assist her as a nurse. Which Amelia certainly appreciated. As it at least helped reduce the amount of effort she had to put into the job as well as relieving a good amount of stress the job had as well.
Hannah often came by sometimes to talk with her about some of what had been going on, such as her lessons in learning how to read and write in the language of this part of this world. As Amelia had a feeling her friends were taking the language spoken in this country to be the only language on this world, which as far as Amelia was concerned, that would merely only work if this world wasn't anywhere near as large as Earth.
However, given the gravity on this world seemed to be about the same as Earth's, she had to assume it was about as large, which also meant that there was likely a good number of different languages on this world. Which further meant that they couldn't assume the language spoken in this country was the dominant language for this world, either.
Despite that, Amelia kept her mouth shut on the matter, since she really didn't care to debate with anyone about it. Though, she couldn't be sure if she'd encounter another language from this world while they were here. Not with the level of technology this world has.
Yet, she still couldn't rule out the possibility that they were close to the edge of where the language of this country lay. After all, they really didn't know anything about this world, just what they'd merely encountered so far. Which really wasn't that much, comparatively to how big this world likely was.
Yet, irrespective of that, Amelia felt like she was in the middle of a crisis with the last person who had the spotted plague that she'd treated having reached the end of their quarantine period. Namely, in the morning he'd be able to return to his regular cleaning duties around the castle. Meaning, she was going to have to leave as well.
"Amelia, are you alright?" Cinder asked as she sat at the table, after they'd finished cleaning up after they'd eaten dinner. "You look like you might be unwell."
Amelia shook her head slowly without looking at Cinder. "Let's just say I'm tired, okay?" she asked, not sure if any other answer would sound any better than that. "After all, it's been a long… what? Five weeks?"
"Actually, it's been almost three months," Cinder replied, his tone making Amelia wonder if her suggestion about saying that she was tired might have been more accurate than she'd thought.
However, she wasn't sure if she should admit that or not at the moment. Instead, she didn't say anything more, but merely sighed. If she replied to Cinder's last statement, she wasn't sure if she'd say something she'd either regret or give away some of her true thoughts. Not that keeping them inside made her any less tired, but some things just couldn't be kept hidden if others became aware of them in the first place.
While she trusted Cinder, and he was becoming a good nurse, given the limitations of his education and the lack of training all around, she couldn't say that she was interested in sharing with him the secrets that she was dealing with at the moment. Maybe if it was Hannah, then she'd be more willing to talk about it, but she wasn't sure how she could do that at the moment without risking people she really didn't want to know learning about it.
Not to mention that she couldn't say that Hannah wouldn't tell her to just suck it up and deal with it. After all, sometimes Hannah was like that, especially when it was in regards to something that Amelia was rather hesitant to do. Although, typically Amelia would admit that Hannah had made the right call later on, but this time she couldn't say that would be the case. Not with the elements involved in this instance. Elements that she'd never had to deal with before.
"Is there anything I can do to help?" Cinder asked.
At this, Amelia looked at the boy. While she had expected to see his look more determined at the moment, she felt a little surprise to see that he was looking more worried. Which wasn't something she'd expected to see from Cinder. Not with how little time they'd interacted outside of Amelia giving him directions in regards to taking care of the patients she'd had in here.
She could see that he wanted to do something himself, but she couldn't say that there was anything specific for him to do. After all, no matter how good she would get, there would always be some who she wouldn't be able to help. No matter how much she might want to help them.
Sighing, she just smiled at him. "Not this time, I'm afraid. I just wish I had an excuse to stay in here longer."
"Why? When we first came in here, you said that you hoped to get back out as soon as possible."
Amelia blinked. As Cinder spoke, she remembered saying that, which meant she couldn't honestly deny it. She also couldn't help but wonder when she'd forgotten having said that.
"It's complicated," Amelia said after she realized she was silent for a minute after Cinder's question. "Maybe I have been in here too long, but dealing with what is outside of this building is another matter entirely."
"It'll be okay," Cinder assured Amelia. "I'm sure the people here are grateful for your helping heal so many of the spotted plague. They won't look at you like a threat."
Amelia shook her head as she gave Cinder a wry smile. "That's not quite what's complicated. It's more the fact that I look like the marquis' dead wife. To the point where he even thought I was her."
Cinder looked at Amelia, looking like he wanted to say something, but was keeping himself from doing so. "Look, you've already said a good amount, so just spit it out already. I promise I'm not going to bite in response."
Cinder looked at her doubtfully, but answered anyway. "If they think you look like her, why not let them treat you like her?"
Amelia sighed. That's precisely what she considered the worst-case scenario of what was possible to happen. Also exactly what she wanted to really avoid. However, any words tried to assemble to explain that fact merely seemed to either crumble as she assembled them or seemed incredibly inadequate.
"Let's just say it's a personal thing, okay?" Amelia said after a minute, wondering if she should at least try to give an inadequate response. Maybe it would help her out more than just staying silent about it had.
"Well, whatever you decide, I hope you'll let me continue to help when you heal people," Cinder said.
Amelia nodded. "Of course. Having someone to help certainly will make my job easier. Especially when dealing with multiple patients a once."
With that conversation with Cinder, Amelia felt like she could at least make it to the bottom of the steps of the quarantine house in the morning before she had either a meltdown or a freak out. She wasn't sure which was more likely, but wondered which might help her more.
_
Jenn felt tired. She wasn't sure why, but her body ached all over. Then there was the fact that she was covered in dirt from head to toe. She wasn't sure what had happened, but had a feeling it involved the request she'd made from the Lost about getting her back to where they'd taken her from after helping her escape being a slave. As well as inadvertently saving several other slaves in the process.
The forest around her was dark, and she was only certain she was in the forest because she couldn't see any stars. Stars that she had seen during times while she was travelling in a caged wagon.
While it was dark, she also felt like she was able to see around her. She wasn't sure how, but she didn't care to think about it that much right then. There was always the possibility that it was the Lost giving her a little extra help, but somehow she didn't think that was the case.
She focused on putting one foot in front of the other as she walked, only happy that she was alone because she knew she wasn't wearing anything.
What happened to the tunic and leggings she'd been wearing when she let the Lost take her again, she hadn't a clue. Yet, she couldn't say that she was surprised either. It at least felt par for the course with what her experiences with the Lost were so far. If she found even the clothing from when the Lost had taken her before, she felt that she'd be surprised.
Not that she had any clue as to where the clothing even in her pack had ended up. For all she knew, her friends had found it and taken it with them. She wasn't sure if that had happened, but it was enough of a possibility that she didn't think it would be worth her time to try to search for it herself.
However, as she thought about her friends, she wondered if maybe she should try to get them together in a dream conference. If she could do that, then she might be able to find out if they'd found the griffin canyon yet. She wasn't sure if they had even continued looking for it, but she was pretty sure that they would have. Simply because it was to help Petals, a friend of even theirs.
Although, she also couldn't help but wonder if all of her friends had stayed on this world, since she hadn't actually been able to see who had been 'playing' the music she'd heard on the evening she'd been sold at that auction. Not that she would expect they'd all stay together like that.
Yet, at the same time, she hoped that they were all here, even though she also hoped at the same time that they would have all left when she walked away from them. A decision she wasn't sure she should have made at this point.
If she hadn't gone off on her own, she wondered if maybe she would have been taken by the lost then or if that still would have happened. She wasn't sure which might have been the case, but it was feeling like she was the one who had made the mistake when she'd left.
She wondered if she should pull them into a dream conference so they could all meet up and get back together again or something. At the very least, she'd be able to tell them what had happened with her. Such as helping everyone in the caravan with her becoming free.
She even would love to see Beth. To know that she-
Jenn stopped dead in her tracks. Beth. She was the primary reason Jenn had been looking for a reason to leave her friends. Somehow she knew that if she sought out her friends now, it wouldn't end well. At least not for Beth.
She wasn't sure how she knew that, but it was a certainty in her stomach that she couldn't push away or ignore. Which meant that even if she got her friends together for a dream conference, that she'd need to keep from telling them where she was. Or trying to get them to meet up with her.
Even though she felt that it was the best option to keep Beth alive, she couldn't help but feel rather lonely. A feeling that she hadn't felt in so long that she couldn't help but fall to her knees as tears started streaming down her face.
Why did things have to be like this? Jenn asked herself as she desperately tried to think of a way that she could still be with her friends but not let them know where she was. Even though she knew that logic was already convoluted enough to be impossible.
If she was with her friends, then it could be her mere presence that would somehow get Beth killed, which meant that she couldn't do that.
Maybe she was overthinking things, but she didn't want to take that risk. If she could only know that Beth wasn't in danger, then she'd feel better about that. That it would then be fine to hang out with her again.
Although, she really had no idea how to tell if that might be the case. After all, it was only from that dream she'd had so long ago that she was confident that Beth's life was in danger. It was so long ago that it almost felt like it was from another lifetime ago, but also like it was a dream that she'd just had, despite still not being able to remember most details in it.
Jenn wasn't sure how long she knelt on the ground, as tears continued to stream down her face and her body. It felt like such a long time, yet in that same vein, like it was only a matter of minutes. It seemed like time held no meaning for her during that time, just that some time had in fact passed during the period while she cried.
When she was able to collect herself again, she noticed that the forest around her had brightened significantly. Though it still felt rather dim, like maybe it wasn't quite dawn just yet. However, she still felt better that she could see her surroundings.
Taking a deep breath, Jenn stood up and was surprised to see a pack in the distance, resting against a tree. Jenn walked over to it, feeling like she had to be seeing things. Next to the pack was a pair of hiking boots that looked like they'd gotten weathered a little while they were out here.
While she couldn't be certain without taking a look, she had a feeling that it was her pack and her boots. Yet, as she opened the pack, she saw the clothing that she had been wearing folded neatly. Or as neatly as possible when stuffed in a backpack.
Jenn couldn't help but smile as she pulled the clothing out and started putting it on. She wished she could wash the dirt off of herself first, but at the moment, getting something to wear, especially something as familiar as her own clothing, was more important at the moment, simply because it was right there with her. While water to wash herself with wasn't.
As Jenn pulled her shorts on, she couldn't help but wonder what the people who she'd directed through the gate would think of when they saw her in clothing from her world. Not only was it much different from what they had, but the styles certainly would be something that she was confident they hadn't seen before.
Yet, as Jenn finished getting dressed, aside from her socks and boots, she took a deep breath before looking at the pack again. She could see that she had been a little hasty in pulling her clothing out, given that she could see that a few other items had fallen out and were just sitting on the forest floor.
Jenn knelt down, not caring that she'd given herself extra work. She imagined that her excitement about having her own clothing on again would allow her to make it back to the gate and carry her through to those waiting for her without dimming. She couldn't help but wonder what their reaction to that would be.
In addition to seeing the clothing she was wearing as well, that is.
When Jenn was almost done cleaning up the mess she'd made, she stopped as she reached for the horns that Aina had given her. The leather cord that was tied around them looked just as sturdy as when she'd first been given them, but it was still too short for her to wear around her neck.
Jenn couldn't help but wonder what it might take for those who she'd rescued to be willing to make her something that she could use to tie those horns to and wear around her neck. Since they had to have formed a sort of leadership among them while she was absent, Jenn couldn't help but wonder what she might need to offer to get whoever would be in charge to help her with that.
Still, she couldn't do anything about that right then, so she put it back in the pack before she put everything else back in the pack on top of them and slung it over her shoulder as she picked her boots up. She knew that putting things back in the pack wasn't getting her any closer to the gate, so she could tell that she needed to get a move on if she was to start getting things taken care of, like acquiring a replacement for the leather cord.
As Jenn walked through the forest, she knew she could use her magic to locate the gate, but she somehow knew where every rock, cliff, rise, hill, and stream in this forest was. Or at least that was in this area. Which told her precisely where the gate would be from what she could see around her. She knew that it might take her a few hours to get to it, but that wasn't a concern for her. She just knew she would be there soon enough. So long as she kept moving towards it.