Chương 48: Day Forty-Eight

Dear Diary, So, yeah. Today was pretty boring, really. PT with duBois, partnered with Saffron for most of the day. Some of the stretching and posing brought some heat to my cheeks from more than exertion, but if he noticed he didn't say anything. Kind of an interesting side effect of what happened between us yesterday, although I'm not sure if I like it or not, yet.

At one point when I sat there, legs splayed as far out to the sides as I could get them while she threw her weight into shoving my torso as flat to the ground as it could go, she screamed, "c'mon, Diaz! I know you're more flexible than that!" I couldn't even glance around, what with her using my face to polish the pavers, but nobody did so much as chuckle.

She wasn't the first to holler at her partner by any means, and after a moment I realized that the only reason I really found her words embarrassing had absolutely zero to do with bedroom fun and everything to do with the fact that I was kind of slacking, since her weight really wasn't enough to force me down if I didn't want it to. Yesterday.

Okay, yesterday I went on at length about the results of the night before last, and while I would be lying if I said we hadn't played some serious tonsil hockey last night after lights out, we spent the night together with Sister Siobhan's knowledge and blessing. Literally in that latter case, and it seemed like a real insult to her to spoil it by not getting the sleep she knew I needed.

I had one nightmare, and in the morning woke from another dream of boredom so endless it seemed almost worse than the screaming terror from midnight, but overall I woke rested and ready for a day of PT, as did Saffron. Yeah, I know I'm kind of telling this backwards, but My Diary, My Complete Lack of Anything Resembling Rules. So we wound our way around to the Infirmary, taking the long way to avoid having to walk past Sister Trease's office.

The frequent pauses on the steps that evened out our heights in the near abandoned back stairwell had absolutely nothing to do with it. When we got there, Sister Siobhan took one look at us and arched an eyebrow, expressing the sentiment of 'Really, Diaz' more eloquently than anyone else ever had. Before Siobhan or I could say anything, Saffron stepped into the breach.

"Good morning, Sister. I brought Tabitha along to meet Isnomi and Grandma, but before then we need to talk to you about some stuff that I'd really rather not discuss around her." Sister Siobhan just looked heavenward for a moment, shook her head, and replied, "it never fails. I assure you, girls, no matter how intense your love for one another, nor how fervently you express it physically, you cannot make one another pregnant." My mouth dropped open, and Saffron gabbled wordlessly for an endless half second.

Right about when I burst out laughing, she finally found her voice.

"I know that, Sister!"

"Oh, thank you, Canta." She shook her head again and said, "You have no idea how many times a year I'm forced to disabuse some girl or girls about that notion. I shudder to think what Doctor DeLeon must go through with the boys." After a moment or two to catch her bearings, she moved over to a desk against the wall, spun the chair about, sat down, and said, "now, your grandmother and daughter are waiting, so I'll stop making mistaken assumptions and let you two tell me what you need."

She lifted a hand before either of us could speak and said, "just because I'm required to report any 'impropriety' to Headmaster Miles and," unaccustomed venom filled her next two words, "Sister Trease, your Patron is Diana, yes? Nothing improper with the two of you according to my understanding of her doctrines." I raised my hand, only just now realizing Saffron held my other one.

"Uh... Sister?" She looked at me, suddenly suspicious.

"Yes?"

"Artemis isn't my Patron." She and Saffron both winced a little at my casual use of Diana's other name.

"Who is?"

"Loki." She actually spluttered a little at that, looking around like she wanted to be sure the man himself wasn't hiding in a corner, waiting to jump out at her. She rallied, saying, "I have little idea as to the details of his doctrine. Something about him not having a High Priestess here in Phileo City, or in any other City that I'm aware of. Does he approve of your actions?" I shrugged and thought, Hey boss, you got a problem with what me and Saffron got up to this morning?

thinking about the part where we kept setting one another off just in case he missed the whole encounter. He replied almost immediately, acerbic amusement laced through his tone. Tabitha Diaz, I got fucked by a horse in order to con Wotan's general contractor out of his rightful pay. I am the last Deity who would find fault in my devotee's choice of partners, nor with any particular activity they find themselves engaging in, so long as they both agree and find the acts amusing.

The only fault I find in anyone at this moment is in your Sister Siobhan, who is presumptuous and incorrect; either alone I could forgive, but both together must be corrected. Inform her. Before I could do so, he appended, Oh, I also have unintentionally misinformed you in the past, as my third wife has refused my offer of divorce, so it seems I only have two ex-wives. Carry on. The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

I looked Sister Siobhan dead in the eye and said, "yep, he's fine with it. He says you're presumptuous and incorrect though." She blanched, but recovered gamely.

"So what did you want to talk to me about?" I tried to speak, but couldn't. Saffron came to my rescue.

"Tabitha has been having terrible nightmares. She didn't sleep Wednesday or Thursday, and she only slept most of last night because I sat with her." Sister Siobhan deadpanned, "sat with her." My cheeks warmed as I tried to explain.

"That happened after. This morning. Swear to god." She just nodded and said, "these nightmares. Do you remember them?"

"Yes." I shuddered just thinking about them.

"Well, that's a starting point. Are they at all coherent?" I nodded, and she continued.

"That's something, at least. Incoherent night terrors can happen for a variety of reasons ranging from physiological imbalances to outright attacks by malign entities, but it is deucedly hard to ferret out the causes without anything to work with. Now, are the events in the dreams themselves the sorts one would normally associate with fear?" I nodded. I tried to speak, but leftover fear glued my lips together.

"That's actually a good thing. If the nightmares are coherent and inherently frightening, it typically means they are either memories, prophetic, or attacks by particularly unimaginative malign entities. Can you describe them to me?" I nodded, opened my mouth, and said... Nothing. I couldn't force words out of my mouth. Me, Tabitha Diaz, woman who couldn't shut up, couldn't speak from leftover terror I'd already gotten bored with. I'd just started getting mad at myself when Saffron saved me. Again.

"She told me about them, Sister. She dreams about the attack on the Aquarium, only in her dreams she died during the attack, but remained conscious despite being dead, conscious and abandoned at the bottom of the river." My fury at myself dissipated as Saffron spoke, not because I'd stopped being mad at myself, but because it had been so long since anyone did anything like that for me gratitude overwhelmed me. I closed my eyes, put my arms around her, buried my face in her hair and murmured, "thank you."

Sister Siobhan spoke, shudders clear in her voice.

"I had never thought of what it might be like to become one of the Undead. To the rest of us, they are typically abomination, our fear of death given form, but I see how terrifying it must be from within. Even hearing your nightmare described second hand it is... It is disgusting violation of the most foul kind." She took my hand in hers, pure, cleansing Mana flowing from her to surround first my hand, then my arm, and eventually my entire body. Saffron's as well.

"I know not whether this is your own fear making itself manifest in the most disturbing way possible, or if your nightmares are the result of some malign entity turning your memories against you, but the dream does seem fixated on past events, not future ones. In any case, I have placed a Ward over both of you; should it protect Tabitha from a malign attack, the attacker might turn their sights on you as the person closest to her, Saffron."

"Thank you, Sister," we inadvertently chorused.

"Now, my recommendation to you is to visit the Aquarium when next you have the time free to do so. If your issue stems from twisted memories, seeing the reality may help your subconscious recognize that you are not, in fact, trapped at the bottom of the river. If you can swim or arrange appropriate magics, you ought even visit the bottom where some part of you may think you still lie, just to reinforce the reality of what is, rather than the might-have-been that plagues your dreams."

I nodded, leaned down and murmured, "will you come with me?" into Saffron's hair. She pulled away, shooting me a crooked grin before she said, "of course I'll come with you, you big goof." She turned to Siobhan and said, "will that be all, Sister?"

"Unless you've got more you need to discuss. Your daughter is waiting." We walked back to the curtained off alcoves, all the way back to the last one in the corner, where an old woman sat letting a baby play with her fingers. Saffron lit up, a glorious smile stretching across her face as she said, "hey, baby! Guess who's here!" The little one's head wobbled around immediately, her expression mirroring Saffron's the moment she caught sight of her.

Saffron rushed to her as the little one held her arms out, scooping her up and cradling her as she spun her about, both of them giggling before she carried her daughter over to me.

"Isnomi, this is my friend Tabitha. Tabitha, this is my daughter Isnomi." Now, I'm not the biggest fan of crotch goblins in general, but when a baby looks at you, you make with the friendly. I smiled my goofiest smile and held out a finger for Isnomi to grab, babbling.

"Hi there, Isnomi!" I kicked a leg back and swung my other arm around in a goofy impression of a formal bow, never looking away from her or moving my finger out of her grasping range.

"It is a pleasure to meet you, Isnomi Aetos." Isnomi looked me up and down, then turned back to her mother screaming like I'd just set her on fire or some shit. Luckily Saffron had the magic mom power to interpret a baby's wail, or the kid had enough in common with me that she could apply a surprisingly similar general remedy. Way faster than she'd done this morning, she pulled back her jacket and untied her shirt, slapping Isnomi's wailing mouth onto a nipple.

Happy suckling noises replaced the wailing to the relief of all three adults in the alcove. Grandma Aetos looked me up and down, then half turned to Saffron.

"Taller than he was, at least."

"MA!" Her grandmother just snorted.

"If my daughter and I didn't like them short, you'd be taller." Grandma Aetos had zero filter and zero chill. I liked her already.