Forever Fall

They entered the small town that Raftina had come to earlier to talk to the elders. The people looked at Moonspark with a bit of confusion. “I thought you said you had some pegasus stock here.” “We do… They’re just not really domestic anymore… We have teleportation pads; we don’t need things like horses or cars or anything like that. And we just…walk when we need to get somewhere. Most of the towns and such here aren’t very big. Maybe ten thousand to twenty thousand people. No skyscrapers or anything. The tallest buildings are only maybe seven stories.” Well, that did make sense… Elw had always preferred walkable cities and towns, but it wasn’t like every town and city could be small enough to support that philosophy. With only ten million as thewholepopulation, they could spread things outwaymore and keep things condensed as well. “Will Moonspark be allowed into the teleportation pads?” Raftina sighed. If she couldn’t get her pegasus in, she would need to havewordswith people. It was so frustrating to think that she might be thwarted by codes and regulations when she was normallyabovesuch things. “There are some outside ones. Some peopledokeep animals so we need them outside for health and safety unless someone has a service animal like a dog or mini-horse.” “That makes sense.” Well, at least they still looked out for their less fortunate… Mental health wasn’t even athinganymore on Filgaia. They could easily jumpstart colleges and universities again for higher learning since they stillhadthe materials in the heavens. Textbooks and such were available… It was just printing on a large scale that would be an issue. Same with electricity… So much lost, so much to redo… But that wasn’therworry anymore. All she could do was trust her mother would figure out how to best handle things. They went to a teleportation pad and the woman in charge looked at Moonspark as if she were a mythical creature. Elaeah just ignored her and put the coordinates for where they needed to go into the pad. And, within a few moments, they were outside of a large manor on a lake. A pleasant breeze blew off of the large body of water, stirring Raftina’s hair a bit. She hadn’t felt a breeze like this infartoo long… She really missed Filgaia before the war and how gorgeous the planet had been… She’d honestly almostforgottenwhat a normal planet felt like due to being so separated from pre-War Filgaia. “It honestly feels like a dream, seeing this…” She couldn’t quite hide her feelings this time. It was a dream to see such a beautiful, amazing, whole Filgaia again. She hadn’t really had any time to take it in during the Second Demon War when they’d been here briefly to fix Rudy’s arm. She’d watched over Rudy to make sure things wouldn’t go awry but it unfortunately did. That dream demon, Elizabeth, had come to claim Rudy and try to make him stay where things didn’t hurt… Thankfully Cecilia had rescued him from that terrible fate. “Honestly, it’s causing me some whiplash… I knew Filgaia was bad, but I didn’t know it wasthatbad. It’s good to be back home.” Raftina couldn’t even be offended. It was causing her whiplash too. But she was entirely glad to be here where she didn’t have to worry about food or anything like that… Well, there wasoneworry. She frowned. “What about my medications?” She’d been prescribed by Anna, but she had the bottles with her… She would probably need to have an appointment with an Elw psychiatrist in order to get them filled while here. She really just wanted to relax as much as she possibly could. Though she would also need to have a word with the cooks before anything like that could happen. “And I don’t have insurance coverage either.” Insurance was such a pain in the ass. She didn’t have anything like that here because of the fact she didn’t live here and probably wasn’t seen as a citizen either… “We’ll get it figured out. How about we get all settled firstthenworry about it?” “Fair point. I’ll get Moonspark settled in the barn, then deal with my clothes. See you later.” She gently tugged Moonspark’s reins and the pegasus followed obediently. She found a barn which wasobviouslymeant for horses. At this point, horses were more a luxury than anything else. But she got Moonspark all settled in and then went up to the manor home. It was four stories tall with no doubt fifty or more rooms within. She wasn’t entirely certain where to go. It wasn’t like she’d been here before. She asked a servant for help and the woman led her to a room where she could hear Elaeah unpacking one or two doors down. She unpacked all of her own clothing yet again, then made her way down to where the kitchens were. It was surreal to see electric stoves, ovens, kettles, and such again. She’d gone so long cooking over fires and such that it was beyond surreal to step back into what should’ve been normal for Filgaia. If anything, it should belongadvanced past this… It looked like the Elw had stagnated quite a bit but it was still lightyears ahead of where Filgaia was. She spoke to the cooks about how much she needed to eat and they did look a little stunned. She gave a wry smile. “Elw don’t have Fast Draw users, normal mages,orTenno,” she told them. “All three groups need elevated levels of food. I’m a perfect storm of needing an absurd amount of food.” Yeah, that was all it came down to. Tenno weren’t supposed to have either normal magicorFast Draw magic, but since her mother had been creator, the normal laws had been bypassed and se’d received both. Tenno had forged their own unique brand of magic but since she had normal magic, she didn’t actually use Tenno magic. Thankfully, the cooks were more than willing to give her what she needed, so she headed upstairs to… Well. She wasn’t really certain. There were a lot of things she could do now. One thing she’d not done inwaytoo long was go swimming, but… She needed to get her medication issues sorted out first. Otherwise, without them, it wouldmassivelyprolong her recovery. Sheneededthose medications in order to sleep. Though maybe an appetite stimulation wouldn’t be a bad idea either. The sheer stress and weight of everything made her not feel as hungry as she should have been despite beingliterally starving. She found Elaeah who smiled at her. “What can I do for you?” “Wereallyneed to get the medications sorted out. Sooner rather than later. I don’t think I can relax until we get it sorted.” Yeah, she was stressing. With the strengths of her medications, she needed a fill every 30 days. Anna had originally been taking care of this, but now that she was in the Elw dimension, she needed to go through Elw doctors. Elaeah’s smile vanished and she nodded. “All right… We’ll see what we can do.” Pretty much the rest of the day was spent making all sorts of calls. Unfortunately, it seemed like one thing thathadn’tchanged with bureaucracy being terrible. She didn’t haveanythingon file in the Elw dimension but shewasa Guardian, so they wanted to make sure she could get what she needed. Thankfully, in due time, they managed to pin down somebody that would fill her medications. Of course, a conversation about therapy every week ensued, but Raftina denied it for the moment. She wanted to focus on getting better physically first,thenshe could focus on the mind. When they finished, it was nearly dark. She’d missed lunch. “We should get something to eat…” Though she really wasn’t that hungry because of the stress of everything that had happened. Elaeah nodded. “Yeah. And I’ve barely had any water today too… Let’s get something to eat and drink.” Raftina nodded and followed Elaeah down to the kitchens. It was dark already so they would be eating late… Geden would’ve gotten on her case for missing a meal, but it wasn’t like they could exactly stop when in the middle of a conversation. She was surprised that places were open during lunch though… She remembered Elw places generally being closed between like twelve and one in order to take a break. Elw were big on work/life balance and making sure people could relax as well. “Do places not close for lunch anymore?” “Not teleporter pads or insurance places. But yeah, most places still close between like twelve thirty and one thirty.” “Seems like things change just as much as they stay the same,” Raftina mused with a smile. She was glad that not everything she’d known about Elw culture had completely disappeared. They still relied on elders and had gone back to ‘the old days’ quite a bit, but it seemed like a mix of old and more recent stayed in place. She was glad to know that most places still closed… Not that she would’ve been happy about it and she still remembered the fact that she’d beenbeyondfrustrated when trying to do business with Elw and them being closed around lunch for a midday break. They reached the kitchens and Elaeah spoke with the chefs who led them to a small nook and had them sit down. Raftina wanted to say something but…she found herself lost for words. She had no idea what to say. This whole setup was a strange one for her… She knew Elaeah but notthisElaeah. She was so similar in many ways, but Raftina didn’t know her life experiences… There were three centuries that Elaeah had lived without Raftina in her life when it’d only been around a decade and a half when they’d met initially. Elaeah’s ears twitched and she looked at Raftina. “By the way, will the no meat thing bother you? I hope it won’t… We don’t even eat meatsubstituteswhich we had before the War.” Raftina shook her head. “It’s not as easy to get calories without meat, but I can deal with it. I’ve been to fully vegan planets before where they didn’t eatanyanimal products… That was admittedly pretty rough, but I can deal with it.” “We still do cow’s milk products and eggs. Just no meat.” Raftina nodded. “Well, that hasn’t changed either… What do you do with the cows and chickens when they get old though?” When they’d lived with humans, humans got the older animals to turn into meat. The Elw couldn’t stomach killing and eating animals when they could feel their life energy like that. She just…wasn’t sure what they did with animals once they were too old to produce. “The farmers humanely kill them then take the bodies back out to nature. We already had a large database of animal DNA before the War so we’ve cloned a lot of animals to inhabit the forests and such. We managed to be able to build up DNA labs and so the carnivores eat what we’ve left for them. We just leave the bodies out for predators like wolves, foxes, and coyotes. Though of course there are vultures and other raptors as well. No lead in the bodies, so no need to worry about poisoning the raptors.” Raftina nodded. “That does make sense. It gives back to nature.” All in line with the Elw philosophy to live in harmony with nature as much as possible. She was a little surprised that Elw killed the animals though… Then again, without humans to be the main farmers that would kill, it did make some level of sense that some Elw would need to learn to kill animals. Plus, it wasn’t like it was for personal gain or to senselessly kill an animal. They were animals that could no longer produce and were possibly in pain or sick. It was mercy rather than cruelty. Elaeah nodded. “Therearesome that took up the practice of falconry.” Raftina blinked. “Really? I don’t remembereverseeing an Elw practice falconry before… Granted, maybe there were before the War. It’s not like I could keep track of every single Elw on the planet.” Yeah, she wasn’t omniscient like Eveen practically was. She couldn’t see things as they happened. She was limited like most other Guardians and individuals. It just seemed to conflict with the Elw philosophy to not kill unnecessarily. Elaeah shrugged. “They’re older and remember humans doing it pre-War. I don’t really get it and it’s not like they’re destroying the environment by killing off a couple dozen rabbits during a hunting season. It’s not reallythatwidespread either. Still, it’s odd to go out into the forest and hear someone hunting with their bird.” “I can imagine. I remember the Tenno werebiginto falconry. We had outrightdomesticatedraptors that were warm, loving, and companionable.” She had never had a raptor herself, mainly because she wastoo busyto be able to fly a bird. Nobody kept raptors simply aspetsbecause, even though they’d become domesticated, they were still apex predators that should be flown and hunted. There werestringentlicensing regulations that needed to be met for housing, keeping, and hunting. Not justany random personshould be able to own a raptor. Something like a kestrel could easily be killed due to improper weight management and golden eagles werenotfor beginners in theslightest.Raptors were complex animals even following domestication because they still maintained so many instincts and were built to hunt. “Did you ever hunt?” Raftina shook her head. “I was embroiled in politicslongbefore I would’ve been allowed to hunt. Back in the day, you had to be at least twenty to be able to officially own a raptor and be able to hunt with it. I was sixteen…when I met you before you died.” It was still surreal to be able to talk to Elaeah again, yet she had no memory of their previous life together… She still didn’t know how to handleanyof this, if she were honest. But she was just treating it like any other relationship more or less… This Elaeah was a stranger even if she did havestrongsimilarities with her previous life…but she’d still been raisedentirelydifferently so Raftina was certain that they weren’t entirely the same person. “I just got deeper and deeper and deeper into politics… You need at least several hours a day to hunt during the hunting seasons and you need to be able to hunt more often than not. I heard Harris hawks were pretty easygoing but you should still hunt them more often than not. Accipiters especially weren’t something to take on lightly.” Elaeah nodded. “I guess that makes sense…” She frowned. “Did I…prevent you from being able to do something you wanted to do in my previous life?” Raftina’s heart froze in her chest at the question. She was quiet for several minutes before speaking. “We shouldn’t focus on your previous life. It’s not fair toeitherof us.” Of course, she could andwouldfeel guilty for not spending enough time with Elaeah. That guilt hadn’t eased forthousandsof years. She’d been a shitty partner more than once out of the sense of obligation she felt to Filgaia. But to try to get Elaeah to remember and force her back to where they were… It wouldn’t be fair toeitherof them. She knew that sometimes Elw could regain their memories, but there was no real rhyme or reason to how and when it happened. She didn’t want to try to force that to happen here. She…really wasn’t sure what would happen tobothof them should that happen. Elaeah sighed. “You’re probably right on that one…but I still can’t help but feel like I want to know what our previous life together was like.” She shook her head. “Wouldn’tyouwant to know?” Raftina frowned. “I’m…not really sure.” She couldn’t put herself in Elaeah’s shoes in this case. She never could nor would reincarnate. If her physical body died, then she’d be stuck in the heavens unless her mother built her a new one to revive her. It’d be what they did for Endolia. It’d be the same soul with all its memories intact, just put into a new body. She wouldn’t go through the same process the Elw did when reincarnating. She just…didn’t know what she’d do because she couldn’t imagine going through life a second time. “I guess that’s fair…” It was about then that the cooks put their food on the table, though it took several people to bring all of Raftina’s food over. Elaeah blinked. “Wow, I know you said you needed an absurd amount of food, but seeing it is another thing entirely…” Raftina shrugged. “It’s what I need just tomaintainweight, letaloneput weight back on…and I’m trying to put weight back on.” She really needed to regain a lot of bodyweight… She’d dropped so much from stress and lack of good food during the First Demon War, then in the time after they’d returned from spreading the word of the Guardians’ return, she still hadn’t had enough to eat. She was still dropping weight because Filgaia justcould not support her anymore.The desertification of the planet had sapped it of so many resources… She was glad her mother was back and returning the planet to its former glory. The farmers wouldn’t know what to do with their bumper crops when they really only had enough to get buy and maybe give some to the nobility whose land they lived on. She was looking forward to the planet returning to democracy and move away from monarchy. Hopefully, at least. Elaeah nodded. “It is pretty easy to tell you need the food though. Your cheeks are hollowed out and your eyes are sunken in…” Raftina sighed. “You don’t need to remind me.” She was a goddess renowned for her beauty. Despite her rough shape, she still had people fallingall over herwanting to get with her or bang her. It was one reason she didn’t often go down into town now… Mortals were absolutely enamored with her and crowded her when she was just trying to get some new clothes or goods or something. Peopledid not understandthat she really wasn’t that much different than them. But no, they gaped and gawked at her as she walked down the street and tried to do her usual business. “IknowI’m in rough shape. My poor wings…” She flexed them a little to let them extend out slightly. She couldseethe stress bars on them. “Hopefully my next molt will help them look better.” The lack of good nutrition, general stress, and lack of sleep had all contributed to the stress bars. “Is there anything you need for them?” “Well, there’s a specific oil I need to help them maintain their waterproofing. I had a good stock in the heavens and brought some with me, but even so, I’ll eventually run out…” “There has to besomebodythat knows how to produce it. We’ll have to look into it. I’m sure somebody here knows.” Elaeah smiled warmly and Raftina’s heart skipped a bit. It was so hard to not want to hug Elaeah when she looked at Raftina like that… Her heart still ached for the loss. She had never gotten over it. Between her Tenno programming as well as just who she was as a person…moving on wasbeyonddifficult for her. “Do you have anything like a wireless network where people can communicate and such? I know you have phones but…” They had had to callsomehowso yes, they had phones. She just wasn’t sure about wireless networks that would connect people. Elaeah nodded. “Yep! There’s no problem there. We can post on a forum and see if anyone knows anything. But that’s probably something for tomorrow, not tonight.” Raftina nodded. “Yeah… Today was a headache and a half.” She honestlyhateddealing with bureaucracy and all of that nonsense. Elaeah had handled it pretty admirably and she wasn’t upset. Raftina was going to need to print off all the forms and such in order to get everything signed over andreallybe in the system. They didn’t really have any protocols for dealing with somebody that just…wasn’t in the system but needed help immediately… But due to the fact she was aGuardian,they’d let quite a few things slip. Especially with the sheerseverityof her situation. She really couldn’t evensleepwithout the heavy-duty tranquilisers and nightmare blockers. Without those, she wouldn’t begin to recover physically because sleep wassocritical to any living being. She was a Guardian, so she couldreallyextend things out, but even so… She had limits and she had definitely hit hers quite some time ago. “It really was. We’ll have to finish dealing with more of this nonsense tomorrow.” Raftina sighed. “I didnotmiss dealing with insurance…” She really hadn’t. Filgaia had been in such a bad state that insurance companies had basically folded during the First Demon War. They didn’t really exist currently on Filgaia…but knowing how her mother wanted to reintegrate things, they would probably be back within the century if they could kickstart the planet enough. Filgaia would be green again by year’s end no doubt, and she was pretty sure it’d only be a matter of time until knowledge, professions, and universities and such were returned to the planet. Therewereuniversities, but not in the same way they had been before the war. But she wouldn’t see any of it, not for a long time. Sheneededto stay here in the Elw dimension until she was truly back up to par. She was removed from the politics of Filgaia which meant she would have no influence. The Elw had their own political system that had been running for over a millennium without Guardian interference. Theydid notneed her. So she could truly get the rest and relaxation she needed even if it would bebeyonddifficult for her to truly relax and not worry about what was going on with Filgaia. “It’s a pain, that’s for certain…” Elaeah sighed. They finished up eating and Raftina withdrew to her room for the night. She changed into a nightgown and hid her wings, then took her meds and laid down. Well… She would see how she responded to this entire setup… She was always the early to bed, early to rise type but maybe,just maybe,her body would let her sleep in for once. The curtains were dark purple andthick,obviously meant to block out light completely. She closed her eyes and buried herself in her pillow and blankets. It’d been much,muchtoo long since she’d had a microfiber blanket…