Chapter Text
“Is she still sleeping?” My younger brother has grown curious, too curious perhaps for his own good.
“No, she’s awake”
“But she’s not talking?”
“Not for some time, no”
“Can I see her?” This was not the first time I was asked this. My new sibling is the only one not to have met Jip. He never says what he wants to see her for, it’d be unhelpful if she was to die, too risky to give my new brother an answer.
Inside the ship my self-proclaimed girlfriend is moving around slowly, wandering back and forth across the living room. The tv is off, the lights are off though the lighting must be dim, I’ve moved her closer to the sun, so she’s not covered completely in darkness. Ever since that meeting, she’s been like this, she’s barely talked to me.
“The experiment” Older Brother was making a demand of me. I’ve promised to work out the events behind Jip. It has so far not bore fruit, worse still is the amount of time I’ve had to dedicate just to her.
“Coming along”
“You are changing”
“New information requires change” that was true enough, even if the overall goal was not yet done. The recent attack almost ended in failure, the plane was destroyed yes, and civilians were saved but that was never the goal. I needed to cause a certain hero, a little nobody hardly anyone has ever heard of, and make them a somebody. That failed, but for now Cauldron is keeping their eyes on me, if I didn’t intervene then they’d make a mistake and their god would turn against them sooner. Two years is all I had.
“What is it like?” Younger brother was speaking again; I glanced down to the blue planet beneath me and saw him. He was in Rio at the moment, doing battle with the local heroes and of course our creator, he should focus more on the battle he’s in and less on the battle he’s absent from.
“What is what like?”
“Being inside her mind?”
I do not read minds, though most humans believe otherwise. I guess that makes me akin to Tattletale. Rather the scream I project is a mindless projection; it exerts almost universally on everyone. Jip, however was special, it was akin to an open drain, sucking my scream in gluttonously. Like most things with Jip it’s easy to tell that this was because of who was projecting it rather than what was being projected. From this came backwash, this was as close to Jip’s mind as I could read and even then…
“It is like being in a labyrinth after Theseus”
“What do you mean?”
“The labyrinth was a great structure, confusing to traverse and at its center lies the minotaur, a beast that consumes human flesh, in the story of Theseus traversed the Labyrinth with the help of golden string and slew the minotaur. Jip’s mind is much the same, it is an endless winding passageway that has a designated path, things it wants to show me, but if I stray too far then I am shut out quickly, only to be let back in later”
“It’s that powerful?”
“I am not sure if Jip’s mind recongises power, I think it simply operates on a different system altogether, my success is likely permitted. I am her guest of honour”
“And the minotaur?” Elder brother asked, he had taken an interest in Jip from the first time he saw her.
“I believe that at the center of the labyrinth I’ll find the minotaur’s corpse”
The conversation was cut short, Jip had begun to move around again. She was eating at this time, it was more food than the last few days, good. The issue of what Jip did, how she did it and how we could use it is one that needed an answer and we could not get that answer if she was starving herself, it only made her mind harder to traverse. Still, she could use a healthier diet and more food on top of it, humans treat their bodies so very poorly.
I checked, looking forwards and calculating my actions, I’ve done a few hundred times now, nothing else for me to do. Jip’s upset because of the meeting, I knew of the meeting of course, Khonsu’s job was in essence of facilitate it, though he could attack South Africa more Moord Nag wasn’t contributing as much as she needed if Cauldron was to win their future battle. There was nothing to be done, Jip needed to attend that meeting to give details about me and so the heroes would hesitate on firing up here, I would survive but Jip would be lost.
In every other time Jip ended up snapping at me when I pressed too early and it delayed our date for some considerable time. Two years was of course plenty of time, but I wanted to have our date sooner rather than later, there was something I wanted to show her. Motionlessly I sent a message to Jip’s phone, just as I foresaw and hoped Jip almost immediately moved to check my message.
> Let us have our date now
> There is a special thing I want to show you
I don’t know <
> Come on, I haven’t seen you in so long
> Please?
Jip put her phone down and covered her face. She was feigning thinking it over, the depressed parts of her brain was begging her to think about this but I know Jip and she wouldn’t listen to them long. Not while I was on the other side telling her to take that leap, to come to me.
Ok! <
Let me get dressed! <
> I have finished the repairs and we’re safe here, come outside
Are you sure? <
> I want to see you
Jip was blushing at the comment. She was practically beat red as she quickly rushed to her room and began to pick out what dress she would wear, give her enough time and she might figure out it’s irrelevant because she’d be wearing a space suit over it anyways. I considered tipping over a coat hanger and causing Jip to jump, she would knock over a glass which would thankfully not shatter but roll out of her room and after retrieving that she would see the airlock and realise her mistake, but I was content in watching her scramble.
I soon realized my own mistake when Jip was getting ready in the airlock, cursing to herself mentally about taking so long to dress up, I was so distracted watching Jip prepare that I had forgotten to get my own dress. The dress and coat was on the other side of the planet, locked safely in a metal container I had created from the remains of several of Dragon’s satellites, she could do with a few less backups, it made her less of a threat to my future plans.
I suppose, in some ways I was thankful to not have to get a dress. Despite spending most of her life seeing me without clothes, something about me in that dress made Jip imagine what I looked like without it and she was very detailed. Her mind almost demanded that I explore it in those moments, she thankfully wouldn’t dwell on nudity for long.
The outside doors were opening; this would be the first time I would see Jip with my own own eyes. Though I could scan the future and see Jip whenever I wished, it was still something I felt unsure about, as if the future could be corrupted. It was very important for me to see Jip. I hurriedly positioned herself in the best pose she could muster and moved my hair in a way Jip would like; I still had to play the part of the perfect girlfriend after all.
The Jip that went through was not as excited as I hoped she would be. Though the suit did its best to cover it up, Jip was still pale and the bags under her eyes were clearly visible through the helmet’s visor. Something rushed through me, regret? I would logically feel regret, the more affected Jip was meant that I had a harder time cracking the vault of her mind, I moved one of my hands close.
“Good morning honey” It was a meek greeting in Frisian. Jip had all but abandoned English when she arrived here. She was so pitiful, I was almost lost in thought when I realized I hadn’t given an answer and let my balled-up fists calm themselves.
“Good morning, Jip, are you ready for our date?” she gave me a weak nod, her eyes fixed on the planet below us. This wasn’t good, I needed to find a way to cheer her up quicker, or else be shut out of her mind completely, then I would be forced to watch her mope about for months.
“I have a special day planned, are you looking forward to it?” Jip had made another meek nod. A sense of calm washed over me, I had already looked through this date to ensure everything would be perfect but seeing her in person was something else.
I nudged my open hand to the young woman and she grabbed it tenderly, like a boating being towed out to a calm lake I dragged Jip into the depths of the night. Even while depressed she took in the sights, the great blue dot beneath her and the sky of many hues above her were witness to this date after all.
But Jip was silent, frustrating. This wasn’t how she was during our first and second date. Something was missing, but what? “Do you like space?” it was an immediate question, not something I had planned.
Jip was less drowsy while she was thinking; that ponderous face of hers I imagine could have won her many dates from young women her age and maybe a few men, though Jip would have turned them down. I felt bitter, why? I didn’t know and the emotion soon faded away. Watching Jip, though it was a chore, was something I had begun to take delight in, a puzzle I didn’t understand.
“She is taking a while” my brothers were interfering, how annoying.
“Let Jip think, it is better than having her depressed, I struggle when she gets like this”
“Is that true?” I struggled to answer him, thankfully Jip had finished thinking and opened her mouth, only to close it again in short succession. She was choosing her words carefully, Jip was a very careful woman.
“I used to look up at space a lot” she finally began, glancing up at me and then to the stars behind me “I think I started when I joined the toybox, back in Leeuwarden, even after the surprise, the light pollution didn’t let me see the stars and I was always kept in the interior of the city, they thought I’d run away if I was near the outskirts, I mean I did run away once I was in the outskirts but that was because I was joining the toybox” Jip continued her rant, her voice was a soft thing, even when it is strained by the weight of the meeting, listening to Jip’s rambles was a highlight. It allowed me to work out her thoughts, of course.
“When I joined the Toybox, I think it was my first job with Tony on a worksite, so that would’ve been, two months after Behemoth? I mean they didn’t trust me a lot at first but you really prove your worth when you can predict an Endbringer attack, anyways we were working on a job out in the Andes, first time I ate guinea pig, we were working and I looked up when it turned night and the lights were shut off so let us hide from a local cape patrol and I saw the heavens above with like those bright colours you see and I was amazed, I remember I asked Tony if I could stay and see the night sky and he told the rest of the Toybox and we spent the night star gazing
Ever since then I would look up at the heavens and think about you, you know? You saw the stars above and just… lived it, I always wondered what it would be like to come and live with you, up there, I wasn’t very educated back then, even with foster care and school, so I thought you actually lived amongst the stars, so imagined us doing stuff, like having a picnic on a star or me making a necklace for you out of them”
Her mind was off whatever was troubling her. Good, I was getting upset at how long she was taking to get happier. “I guess, I could go amongst the stars if I wished” I answered calmly taking in the heavens above me. I had never really considered them before, too much to do in the planet beneath me and attacking in the sun gave people a better view but when I glanced up I could see why Jip was amazed “But it would take too long, it would take me years to float there and then years for me to float back, everyone we know would be dead by then”
“We?”
“Would you not want to come with me?”
“No! I definitely would!” she was so energetic when she was questioned about me. It was quite a positive feeling, why? If Jip trusted me more than that meant I could get to the bottom of the mystery. Of course.
“Little brother, I am going to show Jip the planet, your attack is visible from space, please mute the fires” It was an ugly splotch on the face of the Earth. Something Jip didn’t need to see right now.
“I cannot”
“Yes, you can”
“I will not”
“Why?”
“Curiosity”
“Curiosity?”
“I want to see her”
“I cannot introduce her to you while there is fighting, it will upset her”
“Why do I care?”
“Because I will not show you Jip”
“Why do you care?”
I didn’t give him an answer when I noticed something grabbing a hold of my wing. It was Jip again, when the sunlight bounced off her and reflected against her helm it almost looked like a smaller version of me. One without the wings but one that was of pure white colour and shone in the light nonetheless, I felt hot for some reason.
“Is everything ok?”
“You surrounded me with your wings, is everything alright?” I had; my wings had instinctively formed a cocoon around us. Though she could not touch my feathers with her bare skin, I could imagine it, her soft muscle resting against my soft feathers, it’d be like… why was I thinking about that?
“We have some time before the surprise; do you wish to visit the Earth?”
She looked down at with apprehension “Not really, where would we visit?”
“I was going to remain in the skyline, fly amongst the clouds”
“Oh, yes please!” she was excited suddenly and grabbed on to my arm as it laid outstretched. I had grown several rings off my wrist just to help hold Jip for this occasion, as soon as she was tightly secured in my cocoon I began to slowly descend to the biosphere and then closer.
As soon as we entered the atmosphere at a safe level it was time to pick up my pace. I raced down till we skidded along the cloud line before smoothly darting in and out like a penguin across the ocean. Giving Jip visions of the ground beneath her in short gasps, too much of a vision and she might see how rundown every country has become since the arrival of Khonsu and his constant attacks.
“It’s beautiful!” I felt warm suddenly, the sun must be beating down on me “Oh! Simurgh, is my family ok?”
I didn’t look, I had been watching for quite some time at Jip’s family and knew the answer already. Watching it was inefficient so at a certain point I would stop, only to watch again to see if things changed, I had stopped almost as soon as the rocket was done “Alex is doing fine, he’s working with Narwhal right now”
“Oh? And what are they doing?”
Fighting Khonsu, that would ruin the date “They are testing out his drones” that wasn’t a lie, why did I care?
“Are you not going to tell her the truth?” Older brother was taking an interest again; it is hard to tell where he stood on my relationship. He helped when I asked but as of late, he’s become harder to read, more distant.
“No”
“You could’ve helped them you know” Little brother was still snippy, bothered his curiosity hadn’t been sated? “I mean, even without coming down their directly, you still could have helped them”
“That would be inefficient” the words felt empty. I chose to focus on Jip rather than deal with it myself.
The bright sea beneath us sparkled like sapphires, I made sure to swing down close enough to let Jip see herself in the reflection before seeing something in the distance and changing course entirely. Soon Jip was joined by thousands of flying fish, rushing across the ocean in leaps and bounds, she was amazed, good.
At this speed Jip would thankfully not spend long glaring at India as I crossed from the Punjab. City of New Delhi had recovered nicely, not the least because of the tourism that came from the death of my Eldest Brother, I didn’t like this city. In any instance Jip wouldn’t notice anything wrong with it.
We had already gone high above the city by the time I began to bring her higher, up against the side of Mount Everest. I don’t know if Jip had any particular interest in the mountain, but many people went up here to die so she might like it? I wrapped my wings more closely around her body, her suit protected her from losing oxygen and would keep her safe in the vacuum of space, but I needed to be sure. So she could be relaxed when I checked out her mind, of course.
We parked at the top of Mount Everest, a bit above the peak where there were already a few climbers and joined them silently. They were scared and tired, one of them was likely going to die on the way down, but they were silent as the sun began to crest over the horizon. It wasn’t what I was planning, I wouldn’t need to wait for as long as I did if this was going to be what we needed to make Jip happy, but it would put her in an even better mood.
I heard her chuckle as the light danced across her face and she snuggled into my wings “This is nice, Simurgh” she said my name. Something clicked in my head, what? I wasn’t sure. She laid against me in comfortable silence.
After a moment she spoke again “So, was this the surprise?” She wasn’t fully happy; no I don’t think I could make her that happy now. But I could stand to make her happier.
“No, I have something else planned” she was curious again, her mind was racing with the possibilities. Another scan of the timeline showed her asking me all sorts of excited questions if I did something as little as tilt my head. She read me too easily, it was odd, even my brothers couldn’t tell how I was feeling this easily.
We slowly rose to the heavens, leaving the climbers to their fate. Jip didn’t know, she couldn’t know. I wrapped another wing around her carefully, this way she wouldn’t run out of oxygen quickly. Mostly because she was too… stunned by being surrounded by me to breath as quickly.
We rose back up to the Karman line and I let her float; we had moved to the dark part of the planet “Do you remember our first date?” I asked softly and she nodded eagerly. Others might have called her cute.
I turned her around gently and let her witness it, a meteor shower but this time she was so much closer. The light of a thousand falling stars had dyed us as they fell, she was sitting in blissful ignorance to the rest of my plan. Behind us, quickly, was a Dragon satellite, she was tracking us desperately but didn’t get updates very quickly. Soon the rest of my plan would unfold, I’d save Jip and she’d love me more, dates were getting easier for me to plan, and I more eager to plan them.
What I designed happened, Dragon, only seeing Jip when it was too late colliding with her. Having served its purpose I brushed it away lazily and sent it hurtling back down to the Earth and Jip was launched right before me. My wings would grab her, bring her close to me in a hug and then everything would be-
I saw it.
The light of a thousand dying stars bathed her, soft purples, bright whites and colours I did not care to fathom had stained her suit with their celestial colouring. Her visor was clear and I could see her, really see her, how each star streaked across her skin, how her hair was a floating mess in her helmet how her blue eyes reflected the thing they loved most. Me, Jip loved me.
I was stunned, unable to act for a moment. In that time it was Jip who saved herself, giving a weak kick with her legs and pushing herself back towards me. Her arms wrapped around my waist, and I could feel her panting in and out, I scared her? I felt bad, why? She looked up at me, and I saw myself in the reflection of Jip’s helms, the reflection of her eyes. Was this how Jip saw me?
“Are you ok?”
“You’re beautiful” an answer she’d give me a thousand times, why did it feel different? Did I want to say those words, why?
Jip parted with me and I turned back to the ship “We don’t have a lot of time, let us go home” I nudged her with my wing, but she didn’t budge. She had diverged from my plan already, my first instinct was to scramble and search every timeline, make sure everything was as it should be, but I didn’t. Instead, I listened to the inevitable.
“Why do you do it?”
“Jip”
“Please, I need to know, I can handle it! I swear! Just… tell me”
I didn’t breathe, but if I could. I imagine I would give a heavy sigh. I knew this time was coming, my brothers were trying to give me pointers, telling me to hide it but I drowned them out. This wasn’t for them, it wasn’t for my creator, it wasn’t for Earth or Cauldron, it wasn’t even for the cycle. Right now, it was just for me and Jip.
I began to tell her the truth.