In Which Justina Waits for a Door

One day in early spring began just like all the others. Justina rose at dawn with Blessed Lyrian and her daughter. She joined them in their morning rites and helped with chores. In the afternoon she walked down to the sea. But on this day as she stepped out onto the beach her feet sank into soft moss instead of rounded pebbles. The surge of relief and joy that filled her spilled out of her mouth in a peal of laughter and she spun around searching the vines for Skipper. They leapt into her arms and, still laughing, she hugged the fluffball fiercely and scratched them behind their ears.

After a while Skipper looked up at her with bright eyes. "Tell me everything!"

"You first, how are you doing?"

"I'm good! I slept for a very long time, I don't really know how long, but when I woke up I was quite a bit better! That wasn't why I woke up though. I think I would have slept a while longer but something shook me hard enough to rattle my teeth. It sent reverberations out through the whole Metaverse! I tried to open a door for you right away but I was still very sore so I couldn't hold it. But I couldn't get back to sleep either because something felt wrong out there and I needed… I'm not sure why but I needed to know what was happening. I followed the wrongness ripples. It was slow going. I kept coming back here to make sure I wouldn't lose the way again but eventually I found the bad spot! It made my bones ache. I got as close as I could but I couldn't figure out much. It was a locked metaverse, but I'm sure there was more to it than that because they don't usually cause this much chaos. I mean, I only remember seeing it once before, and obviously you can't lock an entire metaverse without there being some chaotic side effects… Only this was way more and I'm not sure why! But then I realized… Oh, I'm not sure I should tell you this; but it was your Metaverse! It took me a while to recognize it because it feels so different now it's locked, but when I figured it out I came right back here to tell you! My door opened easily and it hardly aches at all anymore! Now, what happened to you guys!?"

For a moment Justina tried to process what they had said but it was overwhelming. I'll… I'll think about this later.

"Where do you want me to start?"

"Everywhere ideally!"

It took hours to fill Skipper in, and was perhaps not as chronological as she would have liked, but eventually she felt as though she had told it all.

"And… That's everything as far as I can remember." She smiled at Skipper.

"It's all just like in my dreams! That's amazing!"

"You dreamed about us?"

"Yeah! Mostly I had normal dreams but every once in a while I would dream about you guys and it felt more real and less real at the same time. Sometimes it was just voices and the feeling of cloth around me but I dreamed about the weddings like I was on Xanaria's shoulder! So beautiful. Both of them! I didn't think they were real, especially since it happened twice, but you say there were two weddings so it all makes sense!"

"From her shoulder?" Justina said slowly an idea forming in her mind. "Or around her neck?"

"Oh! Yeah that sounds right! Why?"

"Just a thought. We can test it later."

"So…" Skippers voice got quieter, "Do you think Xanaria will come back?"

"I'm sure she would love to come for visits but I don't think she will want to leave her wife behind again and Lupe has a job to do."

"Can she come visit now? I wanna say congratulations and good luck and all the things you are supposed to tell people who got married!"

"I can send her a letter and I'm sure she'll come as soon as she can. How far off is your time from here time?"

"I'm not sure. I wasn't aware of time when I was asleep and I went away and came back so I might be at a different speed now."

"Well it's not hard to test. I'll write Xanaria a letter and we'll synchronize two watches. When I get back from sending the letter we'll see how far off they are from each other. From that would you be able to calculate the difference?"

"Oh yes! I'm very good at that kind of math!"

"Perfect."

Justina and Skipper wrote the letter together. Right before Justina was about to go through the door Skipper wrapped a tail around her ankle exclaiming "Wait! I was so happy to see you I almost forgot! I learned how to do something new! Can I show you?"

"Yes! Of course!"

Skipper grinned, then screwed up their eyes and flattened their ears against their head. And after a long second the ever present light of the surrounding stone flickered and dimmed. Justina felt a rush of panic. Oh, shit! They're hurt again! Wait, no. She forced herself to take a deep breath and kept watching Skipper. Look. They're fine, just concentrating. They are fine. The lights came back up and Skipper relaxed, opening their eyes.

"Isn't that cool!"

"Yeah, how did you figure that out?"

"Well, it happened when I was hurt so I knew it was possible. And then when I was traveling all alone I needed something to fill my time! And I kept working on it, trying to remember how the lights going off felt without having to be in pain, and eventually I got them to flicker! Then I just kept practicing. The longest I've been able to be dim is 47 minutes and 16 seconds, but I haven't been able to get them to go all the way off yet."

"That is very impressive, although I'm really sorry it had to happen that way."

"Don't be sorry." Skipper's expression grew more serious than Justina had ever seen it. "I think I need these experiences so I can relearn what I can do. I need my friends to help me find out what I am."

"And what's that?"

"Don't know! But isn't that exciting!?" And just like that all seriousness was gone. "Oh! Let's add that to the letter!"

"Or you could surprise her with it."

"Or both!"

Justina laughed unfolding the letter. With a postscript added, she headed toward the door again.

"See you when you get back from your mail trip! Watch check?"

They made sure both watches read the same and Justina gave Skipper one last hug before heading out.

Justina burst through Blessed Lyrian's door with a thump that almost caused the older woman to spill her tea.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you." Justina said but didn't stop smiling. "Can you mail this letter to Xanaria for me? Thank you so much for everything you've done! I have to go now. I'm just going to gather my stuff."

"Is everything okay?" Blessed Lyrian got halfway to her feet before Justina waved her back down.

"Better than okay! Everything is wonderful. The friend I've been waiting for arrived and they're safe and now I am going to leave with them! I'm so happy they aren't dead and I'm going to miss you. I promise I'll come back to visit but right now I'm half afraid if I leave them alone too long they'll vanish again even though I know that's irrational."

"You should bring them by for tea, I would love to meet them."

"That's impossible I'm afraid. They would love to, if they could!"

"Well, alright then." Blessed Lyrian took another sip of tea as calm as if she had actually understood all of that. "Will you feed the chickens on your way out?"

Justina nodded her agreement and went to gather her stuff. It didn't take long. She didn't have much that was actually hers and not borrowed from Blessed Lyrian. On her way out she paused and doubled back to kiss Blessed Lyrian on top of the head like she used to do with her own mother.

"Thank you for everything you've done for me." Justina told her quietly.

Blessed Lyrian tried to hide her blush behind a sip of tea. "Safe travels. And be sure to stop in next time you come this way, will you?"

"Of course, you'll be my first stop." Justina grinned and waved and then she was gone.

Blessed Lyrian made herself a second cup of tea.

"Well then." She said aloud to the empty house and then set about rearranging chores for two people again instead of three.

Xanaria found Justina's letter almost a full day after it was delivered in her piled up inbox. She smothered a jolt of annoyance that it had been buried. She'd told the clerk Lupe had assigned her that Justina's correspondence was personal and should be set aside so she could see it right away.

No, don't be ungrateful. He does a lot. I hadn't realized quite how busy I'd get when offered to help out.

She popped the seal open and began to read.

Hey Xanaria,

Skippers back! Skippers back and healed and happy! I'll be moving back in with them. Skipper wants you to visit. They say they'll do their best to open the door for you for one hour everyday around midnight so no one will accidentally stumble through. They say please bring Lupe if she has any free time!

See you soon!

Justina

P.S. I learned a new trick!

Love Skipper

Xanaria stood up so fast her chair clattered against the floor as it threatened to fall over. She left without another look at the pile of papers she had been working on. She found Lupe in a meeting and stood in the door until Lupe called a short break and came over to talk to her.

"Is everything okay?"

"Yeah, it's great! I just got a letter from Justina. She says Skipper is back and healthy! I really need to go see them."

"Will you…" Lupe paused and bit her lip. "Will you be coming back?"

"Of course! I just need a few days to travel out to Lyrian's, assure myself Skipper is, in fact, in one piece and say goodbye to Justina. I'm not ready for a long trip just yet."

"When will you be leaving?"

"As soon as I can be spared. The sooner the better, but I can take a day or two to make sure all my work is covered."

"I'm glad your friend's feeling better."

"Would you… Would you like to come along? Meet Skipper yourself? You are invited."

Lupe bit her lip and looked back over her shoulder at the council table. "I would like to. But I'm afraid I can't just yet. Maybe someday, in a year or two when things are more settled. After all, I'm sure you'll want to go adventuring again one day. And I want you to! But I also want to know who will be watching your back when you do."

"I love you."

The next day later Xanaria was on a good horse riding for the Goddesses forest.

Xanaria knocked on Blessed Lyrian's door just as it was getting dark. The woman didn't even blink at having an unexpected guest for dinner, just welcomed her in. There was a supplicant staying the night at Lyrian's so Xanaria didn't say much about her plans, but she asked Blessed Lyrian if she had any way of knowing when it was getting close to midnight. Blessed Lyrian showed her the water clock she kept out back. It looked like a big upside down glass cone held over a glazed ceramic bowl by a copper stand. Bowl and stand were covered in art that invoked the drowned goddess. The glass was clear enough to see the water level inside but cloudy with fading swirls of white, like a morning ocean fog. Time was indicated by painted rings and numbers around the cone.

"A grateful pilgrim had this made for me after he got home, but it's just a little too fragile to live inside." She poured a pitcher of water into the cone and hesitated peering through the glass. "I'd say it's about seven now? So five hours." She poured a bit more in as water began to drip from the base of the cone into the bowl. "There. When the cone is empty it should be around midnight."

"Thank you."

After the household went to bed Xanaria sat out by the clock. She couldn't sit still. She needed something to do with her hands badly. Back inside the house she dug out Lyrian's sewing basket and set to fixing clothes people had donated to the priestess. As the water sank to within a hand's breadth from the base of the cone Xanaria ran out of patience. Leaving the mending on her chair, she set off for the sea. She paced up and down the last bit of trail what felt like a hundred times before, between one step and the next, she found herself ankle deep in moss and had to catch a vine to keep her balance.