"Hey what are you talking about?" Lara ambled over to us. She had been lazing about with Marley. Seeing us actively talking must have brought her over.
"How the towns compare to the ones we know," I replied.
She laughed, "Compared to the town's I know everything here is so different I can't explain it."
"Really? Try me," I smirked provokingly.
Ronalt took a step back, "As much as I'd like to be here for this conversation, I must speak with the captain." He left while Lara and I eyed each other down.
He was replaced with Ardent and Earnest however as they came from below deck with fishing rods. Hearing us they promptly joined in.
"Oh I'd quite like to hear more about your world," Ardent nodded keenly and sat down attentively.
Earnest leaned on the rail beside me, "I as well would like to hear of your home. To raise a warrior such as yourself you must have gone through much training."
Lara smiled awkwardly, "Well not really." She cleared her throat. "I already told you that my world doesn't have magic and because of that I think we progressed in a pretty different way. We don't even fight with swords or bows and our ships are entirely made from metal instead of wood."
"Hmm," Ardent scratched his chin. "And there is no spell used to lighten the load of the ship?"
"Not magic at least. To be honest I don't know much about it."
"It's basic laws of buoyancy right?" I said. "If the ship is shaped correctly there wouldn't be a problem. You could even make it out of concrete."
Lara nodded, "We also have planes that fly through the sky. If you ride one you could travel around the entire world in less than a day."
Earnest laughed mockingly, "That's not possible. Lara is this your form of a joke?"
She huffed annoyed, "I'm serious."
"Well if I had enough mana and the correct tools I could possibly do the same," Ardent replied in thought.
I looked at him intrigued, "Really? But it would be just you right? The planes Lara are talking about can carry hundreds of people."
"Yep," she nodded. "I've been on them a few times when my family and I went on holiday."
Earnest folded his arms, "I still don't believe you. To fly is the capability of only the most powerful magicians or creatures beyond our reach."
"I mean it should be possible even in our world. With magic it should be easier even," I backed up Lara.
"You're really not fazed by anything I'm saying are you?" Lara turned to me.
"Well it's not in the realms of impossibility," I replied easily. After all compared to coming back to life each time I died, believing in a flying machine was much easier. Earnest however wasn't convinced and as Lara tried to explain more of her world, he continued to shake his head. Buildings that touched the skies and a machine capable of connecting all the people in the world. Where Ardent and Earnest felt it was hard to comprehend, I nodded easily. Maybe it was because I was used to being taught a lot of different things, I understood Lara's speech.
"If you really don't believe me why don't you take a peek at my memories?" Lara declared pointing at Earnest challengingly. "It shouldn't be too hard right Ardent?"
He scratched his chin, "Ordinarily it would be a terrible invasion of privacy and difficult to maintain. If it's you however it should be fine and if you're offering I'd like to see firsthand as well."
"Is this like what you did with me earlier?" I asked, referring to how Lara dug through my memories back in Servius' village.
"Kind of but it's me showing you purposely," she sat down and gestured for us to join her. Earnest and I who were still standing did as we were told. She looked up, "Taylor do you want to join us?"
Taylor dropped down from the mast landing on the deck silently, "So you saw me. I'll pass, I'd rather not be part of your magical get together. I'll keep my mind where it is, wouldn't want to scar you if things went wrong."
"Okay then," Lara smiled wryly and reached her hands out to me and Ardent. We joined hands and sat in a circle. "Hang on. Let me just get the right memories to show you…. Here we go."
Almost without warning a buzz of energy shot through my arm and coiled into my head. My vision cascaded to white, flashing colours and sound into my brain. Even my sense of smell was triggered. Then all at once my body was pulled away and standing in front of me was Lara but it was different. We were in a street paved with asphalt. It was clean and houses sat regularly apart from each other, each with its own garden and fence. A car waited in front of us. Lara's red hair blowed softly in the wind. The car drove away quickly turning the corner.
The world shifted and we were now standing inside a large building. People, humans to be precise, walked around shopping and wearing vivid clothes. Rows upon rows of stores surrounded us and it even continued to rise upwards, level after level. Outside the window taller buildings reaching the sky, and reflecting the sun, stood as if looking down on those around them. Lara was walking ahead of me, as she turned towards me the vision shifted once more.
It was a runway. Lara held a bag in her hand and we walked together with other people towards a large aircraft. In the distance other such vehicles were taking off into the air. Soaring upwards and then quickly out of sight. I had already believed her words and seeing it personally just confirmed what I thought they were.
Then the world began to fade. It stayed dark longer than I expected and just as I thought something was wrong a crack began to stretch across my vision. My eyes cleared and I was standing in a room. A mirror was placed in front of me showing a face I couldn't place. My instincts told me it was a male but he had a delicate build and soft features befitting a girl. I had the sense he had quite the complex about it as his clothes remained firmly boyish. Then he smiled and I realised I was in his body. My arm moved as his did. Was this how the spell worked? To see Lara's memories from another person's perspective?
"Jane are you coming or not?"
I turned around to see Lara at a nearby door. She was dressed as a normal girl, I couldn't even sense any part of a Hero from her.
"Hey, don't just stand there."
My mouth opened but no words came out.
A rush of pain pierced through my skull and I flung myself back releasing the grip I had on Lara and Earnest. My head thumped and sharp pangs stabbed into my brain causing my vision to flutter and turn.
"Rain!?" Lara's voice called out first.
Someone helped me up. It was Taylor, "See this is why you don't join in weird magic rituals."
"Rain are you feeling alright?" Ardent stood beside me and rested his hand on my shoulder. "Hmm I feel disruption in your system. You best lie down and rest. It could be due to your mana situation."
"Right…," I had to stop myself from throwing up.
"Rain, I'm sorry I didn't know," Lara stood beside me concerned as Taylor walked me away.
"It's fine," I grit my teeth. "I saw some interesting things."
"You could say that again," Earnest sighed mystified by the experience. "It was strange seeing it through your eyes Lara. I still can't believe it."
For a moment my headache lessened, "Wait, you saw it through Lara's eyes?"
"Did you not?" Ardent asked curiously.
"No I saw it like I was next to her," I replied.
He rubbed his chin, "Strange… that shouldn't be possible. After all it was Lara's memory not yours. I really must inspect you in more detail one day."
"For now I'm going to lie down," the pain began to crawl back in. I wished that was the worst of it but as I looked around the boat, flashes of the world Lara came from scarred into my mind. Lara's hair changed to red only to flip back to white. The deck of the boat merged into something else. The water splashed from its muddy colour to a clear blue. In the distance the trees on the riverbank formed into buildings and cars drove on top invisible roads. It felt like that time Margaret had experimented on something strange and we both ended up hallucinating. By the time I laid down in my bed, I had to close my eyes or be overwhelmed. A single question came to my mind. Just who was Jane?