The faded ghosts of my imagination walked down the halls and chatted in the apartments as I pictured what the city would have looked like at its height. The ghost haunted me, and I thought of the mother and child who used to live in the apartment Cove, and I had stayed in. Even if they'd survived the initial onslaught, they were certainly dead now. It was a somber thought.
The streets outside were no better. Imaginary ghosts of people going about their usual business walked, chatted, and laughed as we passed by. An uneasy feeling rose in my chest, and I blinked. The illusion faded.
Cove strode doggedly through the streets ahead of me, exhausted and silent. I increased my pace, catching up with him to palace a hand on his shoulder, pulling him to a halt.
The purple beneath his eyes stood out in stark contrast to his skin, and his tired eyes took a few seconds to focus. We'd both suffered for our pride last night instead of admitting the dead city was creepy beyond all reason, especially at night. Rather than flaunting our adult maturity, we'd revealed our inner immaturity and pride.
"Cove," I said, drawing his eyes back to me, "I had another dream last night. There's another one here."
Clarity returned to his gaze, and he looked at me sharply. I let my hand drop off his shoulder now that I had his full attention. "Are you sure?"
"Positive."
Recognition burned across his face. "When you went to sleep?"
I looked back at him flatly. When the stupidity of what he asked set in, Cove flushed and took a step backward. He recovered quickly, the color leaving his face. "Right. What I meant to ask was if that was why your magic flared last night. You were a little loopy after it."
"Ah. No. That was something else." My curiosity had gotten the best of me, apparently. "The dream came later."
Cove looked like he wanted to question me further, but I held up my hand to stop him, speaking over whatever he was going to say. My face pulled as I spoke. I told him everything about the dream, including how the dream had gotten more…well, solid, or real as the dream progressed, leading to me almost getting caught.
When I finished, the questions were nearly bursting out of Cove. His eyes dug through me as he mulled over the information bomb I'd just dropped. His finger tapped against his chin.
"And you're feeling completely fine?"
"Like I got a normal night's rest," I confirmed.
His hand went to tussle his hair, and his eyebrows pinched themselves together. "I was awake most of the night…" he muttered. I wasn't sure I was meant to hear that. His voice grew louder as he continued. "And your magic feels normal. How?
Actually, now that he'd mentioned it, it was a little strange. My fragment visions hadn't ever drained me as much as the others. But this time, I'd gone into it exhausted. I should have still been exhausted. Could it have rejuvenated me? But how?
A dark look overtook Cove's face, as he no doubt was wondering the same thing I was. If it was Ava, her abilities were overwhelmingly terrifying.
"What should we do?"
"We can't do anything about the source of your visions for now. Besides, they're insightful. As for the fragment..." he trailed off thoughtfully, "it sounds like the bear has some valuable information." Cove sighed. "This would probably be faster if we went after it first," he admitted, forcing the words through his teeth.
I felt a little empathy. We had spent almost an entire day looking around, only for someone to erase all of our progress for the day. And we had to give up….for now. Despite this, it was now very apparent that Cove's previous experiences would be no help here. Someone else was interfering, shaking up the timeline and revealing information as they pleased.
Where I should have felt concern or confusion, I mostly felt vindication at having been right. Guiltily, I shoved the vindication down and tried to let the confusion wash into its place. It didn't fully work.
We ended up deciding to take Jack up on his offer.
We picked our way back to where we'd encountered him yesterday, noting that the robot carcasses were absent, most likely already picked up by the Mayor and Mattie's father. With nothing but time and no idea when Jack would show up, we kicked back against a ruined building, baking in the sun.
We split a granola bar for breakfast, and Cove used magic to pull clean water out of the puddles from last night to refill our water bottles. As I watched the water droplets drift gently upwards, sparkling like sand as they fell through the lid of the bottle I was holding, I wondered, "Is there any particular reason we haven't been using magic in front of them?"
Some water splashed to the ground as Cove lost his concentration. "We're not supposed to use it in front of nonmagical people," he answered as he beat the water back into shape.
This guy didn't bend rules very often, did he? Well, it wasn't like I was one to talk much. In most cases, I figured arguing back wasn't worth it.
"I get why back home," not only had the witch trials been a thing that happened, but our world governments were not exactly trustworthy, "but why here?"
The last of the water droplets dripped into the top of the water bottle with a satisfying splash, and I twisted the cap shut. We'd both already drank some water before Cove had refilled them.
"We're not supposed to interfere. This isn't our world, so we should try to change things as little as possible. They already have their own problems to deal with." he said it as if he were reciting something he'd long since memorized. They weren't his words.
"They met a talking bear."
Cove's mouth opened and shut as he tried to form a response but couldn't. Finally, he said, "That shouldn't have happened. Besides, do you really want to answer all their questions? It's easier this way."
That was a fair point. I switched topics. "Should we tell her? About the novel?"
Cove's head thumped gently against the wall next to me. "No," he replied, more gently than he'd spoken since we'd arrived here. Under his gentleness lay a firm resolution. "This isn't our world. It shouldn't be up to us to change things for them. We may read the books and know their future, but we aren't gods."
I thought of Sky and the secrets we'd kept from Sera and Aeolus. Of Sera's reaction when she'd discovered I was keeping a vision from them. In a way, Cove was right.
But the thought felt like a betrayal.
Cove continued, his voice growing harder with every word. "That's why we need to collect the fragment possessing the bear next. It's toying around with their lives."
We fell into silence after that, and Cove drifted off in the warmth and comfort of the daytime sun that banished the ghosts of the night. Ani and Ranch darted off on their own, leaving me to sit and think alone.