Chapter 14

Chloe strolled through the ethereal grass field, taking in how comfortable the soles of her feet were as they pressed into the cushioning surface, having removed her boots and socks to carry them beside her instead.

She shortly took off her beanie as well to let the air weave through her flapping hair; it felt like an aura cleansing her of any negativity.

She soon walked into a swarm of butterflies, all different variations of the colour blue and purple flocking around her.

One of them perched onto Chloe's wrist as she raised it, another on her shoulder, on her head, back, and so on.

"Wow, Max." Chloe exclaimed and giggled. "This is one hella butterfly fetish you got here!" She raised an eyebrow mischievously. "I wonder why?"

At that moment, Chloe peered ahead to see a yellow glowing aura strolling up to her from the mist, and then it stopped before it could come into clear view, idling there as if wanting her to come over instead.

All the butterflies latching onto Chloe fluttered away abruptly, as if startled by this new presence.

The girl, on the other hand, felt no such trepidation, as she surely enough recognized this presence. "Rachel? Is that you?"

The aura didn't answer. Instead, it spins around, revealing its shape to be a doe, her spirit animal again, before disappearing.

"Hey, wait up!" She reached out.

As she herself ran to catch up, the rising sizzle of oceanic waves reaches her ears, followed by the faint squawking of seagulls. Also, the corner of her vision caught the outline of a towering lighthouse in the distance, wheeling its searchlight around its landscape vigilantly; she was definitely nearing a beach.

"That's our lighthouse, isn't it?" Chloe pondered aloud to herself. "Where Max and I began and ended our time quest… or so it seemed."

"Where she made her final decision." Rachel added.

Chloe hung her head regretfully. "Yes…"

"Don't, Chloe!" The voice commanded sharply, easily reading her thoughts. "Don't do that again!"

"It's hard…"

"I know." Rachel softens her tone again. "But we can only move forward now, for Max. She'd want that too."

Chloe sighed. "You're right."

She journeyed on a little further until the prickling vegetation basing her steps turned into dry powder; it was sand. The wind blowing at her front escalated, parting the mist that obscured her vision to reveal a beautiful colour scheme landscaping the shore.

The orange halo from the low-hanging sun lit up Chloe's moistened eyes as much as it sparkled off the humbled ocean.

"The scenery's so beautiful." She choked. "It makes want to paint something."

"Why don't you?" Rachel had to prod.

Chloe cleared her throat, unsure for a moment until the right answer came to her. "Because I'm a self-loathing dumbass."

She could swear that she heard Rachel chuckle at her right then.

"You always did fancy art, with all your tattoos and graffiti snaked all over your room."

"And some public places that would get me arrested."

They shared another laugh; it was like old times again.

Once that was out of her system, Chloe shook back to her senses, remembering their mission, and started left along the wet sand, feeling that it was the right way to go whilst enjoying having her feet dirtied and washed over and over again by the lapping water.

"I think I'll tell Max about this."

Right then, another question popped into the girl's head. "Hey, Rach!" She called up to the heavens.

"Yes?"

"What am I supposed to do once I find her?"

"Whatever you can to bring her back."

"Wow, way to be cryptic." Chloe looked back ahead, now a little worried about what her answer might have meant. Regardless, she refrained from pressing her further.

Along the way, something not too far ahead caught her eye, and she stopped to squint ahead, finally letting her boots and beanie fall free from her fingers.

It looked like there was a sailing boat up there, sitting just next to water, ready to be carried away, but not just that; there was someone sitting in it as well, a blonde young girl.

Chloe quickened her pace until she was basically jogging towards that boat, deciding to forget her boots and hat, as she was eager to discover whom the person inside it was.

Her first thought was Max, which was quickly withdrawn. Her second and more sensible guess was that it could be another form of Rachel.

Once Chloe slowed near enough to the boat, the mysterious blonde girl finally turned to face her with a mirror that turned her clock five years back. She stood agape at her features that matched her own, from the long chin, to the narrow face, and to her diamond eyes that reflected a sparkle of life long forgotten through her teens.

She was staring in the face of her younger self.

"Hi." The young girl waved to her shyly.

"Hey." Chloe waved back in the same way. The gloss around her eyes starts to produce tears that streamed uncontrollably down her face. "How are you?"

"I'm good." Her younger self answered with a smile, which fell short when she noticed her tears. "Why are you crying?"

Chloe shook her head and half-chortled. "I… have no idea."

"Here…" Without thinking twice, the younger Chloe climbed out of the boat and threw her arms apart so she could run over to hook them around the older girl's waist. "You look like you need it."

Chloe squatted to her level and returned the hug. She tightened her hold around this warmth, this innocence, this flame, when she wheezed loudly and broke down.

Two bodies, two manifestations sharing one soul and one heart drowned in each other's comfort.

The child didn't flinch; she just held this teen for as long as both needed as emotions came pouring out like water squeezed from a wet rag, patting and rubbing her back even until her pops gradually settled.

"I… m—miss you." The older Chloe managed to choke out. "I've lost you… for so long."

The little girl pulled herself off of the bigger Chloe's shoulder to face her; suddenly, they were two sisters who knew each other more than any other.

"Let's go on a pirate adventure!" She whispered playfully as she then placed a pirate hat on her head before taking out an eye patch to cover her own eye with. "You can be the captain!"

Chloe stood up an adjusted the hat before standing proudly against the backdrop of the golden hour like another one of those children's book illustrations.

"Yes, me hearties!" She stated, pulling off her best pirate impression. "Make you ready!"

"ARRRRGH!" They both cried.

Two Chloes, side by side, sailed away from land to venture forth into parts unknown to either, the older one guiding the sail; it was an odyssey now.

Further on, the wind heightened its intensity again, stirring up the ocean to make their ride a lot bumpier.

"Hold on to your butts!" Yelled the younger Chloe.

"Hey! I'm the one who's supposed to give the orders!"

Nevertheless, they reinforced themselves to withstand the battering as waves crashed against the sides of their boat, now rocking it back and forth, as well as sideways.

"Whoa, shit!" The young Chloe was nearly thrown overboard.

"Language!"

"Says you!"

When the weather settled and the sea leveled again somewhat, both girls sat to catch their breath.

"Sailing… is a lot harder… than it looks." The older Chloe worded out through her panting.

"I know, right?" The young Chloe managed to ease her breaths sooner, and then looked to her captain for directions. "So what now?"

Still a little out of breath to answer her verbally, the older Chloe just shook unsurely and turned to look far out ahead where the sun had began to set over the horizon.

Both Chloes watched as this warm circular orb vanished below the sea line completely, taking with it the remaining gleam of day.

In its place, a moon waxed into existence high in the violet night sky, now glittering with stars all around.

The girls were left idling as silhouettes with only the faint reflection from the moonshine to outline their features as they absorbed this new astronomical sight.

"What now, indeed." The older Chloe repeated before slumping against the rim.

They were stuck, and she couldn't tell whether they made a wrong turn somewhere or not.

"I know a way." The young Chloe suddenly said.

Confused but curious, the older Chloe turned back to the other girl to find her glowing in a bright blue aura that shone upon the entire boat, a building of energy. When she became bright enough that her features were no longer visible, the girl then dispersed into a cluster of butterflies.

The remaining Chloe was thrown back, both from the expelling force and shock. When she got back up, she bounded for the empty space where her younger self; she was afraid that she may have just vanished into nothing.

"Relax." Chloe heard her own voice whisper to her, which immediately settled her down. "I'm still here."

"How the fuck?"

"Language." As she stood up in the boat, those butterflies circled around her and then perched on every part of her body, much like before on the grass field. "Keep still." She was advised.

"What are you doing?"

"Giving you wings."

Right then, Chloe felt a hum of energy build up from the center of her heart and surge outwards through her spine, to her arms and legs, and to her toes and fingers.

Soon enough, just like her younger self did moments ago, she herself began to glow bright blue, only she wasn't quite as calm about the process.

Next, she found her weight being lifted from the boat, as though by a string. Now floating in the air, Chloe unconsciously curled into herself as she felt her back tensing; it felt as though something wanted to come out.

And then she remembered the younger Chloe's last words and realized what was happening.

Eventually, a pair of arctic blue sails ripped out through her skin and bloated outwards to form wings that carried her higher from the sea as they flapped graciously without effort.

At the same time, Chloe felt the end of her hair strands touch the back of her neck and shoulders before sliding down lower to her chest and back; her hair was growing.

When her transformation was complete and the brightness toned down, Chloe split her eyes wide open as she looked down at herself.

"What the fuck!? I'm actually flying!"

Inspecting herself, Chloe discovered that all her clothes had been blown away, replaced by pure white essence that covered and shaped her whole figure until her upper body, just below her arms and shoulders.

She took a handful of her lengthened hair and laced them through her fingers to find the ends glowing as well.

Finally, she peered down at the rippling water to see the reflection of her glowing aura; it resembled a fairy.

"Great, now I'm a fairy."

"Come on, Chloe." Rachel's voice returned to shake her out of her daze. "You look beautiful, but we have to go."

Snapping out of it, Chloe turned herself back to the horizon with a renewed sense of direction and power took off into the stars, allowing her brand new wings to take her as high as she could go with a determined smile.

"I'm coming, Super Max!" She declared. "I'm coming to get you, because I cannot wait to show you my new look!"

Author's Note: Surprise! I got you a new chapter early! You're welcome! This was a pretty exciting but difficult chapter for me to write for many reasons. I wanted to skate through the part where Chloe meets her younger self on the beach and get right to sailing across the sea, but as I wrote through that scene, I actually put myself in her shoes (even though she took them off hawhaw) and decided to let the reunion sink in, leading to that emotional scene. On the other hand, I had a hard time differentiating between the two Chloes. I will come back to refine this chapter and all others in the future; I just want to finish this story first. Her transformation into the butterfly symbolizes Chloe coming to terms with who she is, who she used to be, and who she can still be.

I hope you enjoyed this chapter nonetheless :) Pls drop a review. Let me know what you like about this chapter or didn't like. What's your favorite part of this entire story so far. Pls let me know ;)

See you all next time!