The door to Gavial's office opened, and out stepped a certain white-haired lung. Yua had just finished getting examined by the archosauria.
Yesterday as she was spending time with her mother, Swire, and Hoshiguma, Ch'en had strongly suggested that she had best go and see Doctor Gavial and get an examination now that she was infected with oripathy.
Gladiia did inform everyone that she had got in contact with Ulpianus and that he was on his way to Rhodes Island, until he arrived or they discovered the location of the future Skadi, Ch'en thought that this was the only time the white-haired lung could get herself examined and find out how badly she was truly infected despite Yua being part alien.
Now that the examination had finished, the white-haired lung was on her way to Ch'en's room to tell her mother the results. "Not as bad as I thought. But still, that's only because of my alien blood. Doctor Gavial did say that it looks like my infection will worsen much more slowly than anybody else's infection. Just like Doctor Kal'tsit said, my oripathy will take much longer to kill me. But, how long exactly will it take?" The lung pondered to herself over her infection.
Yua then looked at the oripathy suppressor that was now on the wrist of her infected arm. The suppressor was a grim reminder that she was infected just like her mother and so many others at Rhodes Island. Yua could not escape the reality that this disease would kill her eventually. Even though the white-haired lung knew she had more time than anyone else, she would still suffer the exact same fate as every other infected...
She would die if a cure was never found...
Yua was regretting getting infected the more she thought about it. While she was now able to use her originium arts without any drawbacks, it also meant that she would possibly die long before her father did. That was if they were able to rescue him from the hands of the future Skadi.
Her father, the doctor, would more than likely see her die one day. Yua knew it would crush the man. The doctors race was incredibly long-lived by Doctor Kal'tsit's words. Her father would definitely see her mother, Amiya, herself, and so many of his friends die long before him. Yua felt truly guilty and saddened at the thought of her father losing so many people in the years to come.
The white-haired lung wished she could go back in time and prevent herself from getting herself infected so recklessly. But, even if she had a time-machine, all Yua would be doing was stopping another version of herself from making the same mistake.
Yua had made a conscious choice to get herself infected, now she had to live with the consequences of that choice...
"No! I can't think like that! I need to remember why I did this! This is for the future! This is so I can stop Skadi from destroying the world again! If it means I die earlier because of this...then so be it!" The white-haired lung remembered why she had gotten infected in the first place and tried to convince herself that it was worth it if it meant stopping the future Skadi from destroying another timeline.
Yua decided that it was best to focus on the goal of defeating Skadi and saving her father from the future aegir's clutches, if he could be rescued then maybe one day he could find a cure for oripathy. If the doctor couldn't be rescued then Skadi would kill her anyway, there would be no point in worrying about being infected...
The white-haired lung carried on walking to her mother's room, when she arrived Yua knocked on the door and waited for a few seconds until it opened up. When the door opened, Yua expected to see her mother. However, the one who had opened the door wasn't the blue-haired lung, but instead it was her aunt, Talulah.
This caught Yua by surprise, "Aunt Talulah? What are you doing here? Where's mother? Is she here?" The lung asked the draco if Ch'en was inside her room. Talulah looked at her niece with a smile, "Yes Yua, Ch'en is here. We were just talking about you. Please, come inside." The draco stepped aside and allowed her niece to enter her sisters room. Yua stepped inside Ch'en's room and could see the older lung sitting at a table, there was another chair next to her which indicated where Talulah was sitting moments ago.
"Good to see you, Yua. How did the examination go? What did Gavial have to say?" The blue-haired lung asked her future daughter how her examination went, Ch'en was eager to know the results. Talulah closed the door and sat down next to her sister again. The draco then looked at the white-haired lung with the same anticipation as Ch'en, both sisters wanted to know Yua's results.
Seeing that both of her relatives were eager to know her results, Yua decided to tell them, "Well, my results were better than what I thought they would be, mother, aunt Talulah. Though, that is because of my alien blood. Doctor Gavial reckons my infection will spread much more slowly than most other infected. She has also given me a suppressor to wear to slow it down even more." Yua told her relatives then showed the pair her suppressor now located on her infected arm.
While both the blue-haired lung and the draco were happy to hear that Yua's oripathy wasn't as bad as first thought, both were still upset that the white-haired lung had made such a reckless decision in their minds, "Yua, I want your honest answer. Do you think getting infected was worth it? You know what happens to the infected, right? You know how others outside of Rhodes Island will look at you now. I know you want to stop Skadi, but is it worth the price you will pay?" Ch'en was the one who questioned her future daughter.
"Listen, mother. Whatever regrets I may or may not have, we need to look at the bigger picture. Skadi could destroy the world, countless innocent people will die if we don't stop her. I don't want to see that again. I want to stop her. I want to save father. If we fail, then it doesn't matter if I'm infected or not. Skadi will kill everyone, just as she did before. If we don't save father, then we will never find a cure for oripathy. If getting infected gives me a chance to beat her, then it is worth it." Yua responded to her mother's question with her honest answer.
The blue-haired lung and the draco were still uncomfortable with Yua being infected but, both sisters could understand her answer. The future Skadi was the biggest threat to Terra at this moment. Oripathy was still a challenge that Rhodes Island could finally overcome in the future, but putting an end to the aegir's plans was something that needed to be dealt with now. Ch'en and Talulah knew they needed every advantage they could find to beat the future aegir.
While Mostima's plan was the best idea, there was no guarantee it would work. Rhodes Island needed to think of every possible way that they could defeat Skadi...
Even if it meant using methods and ideas that people like Ch'en were not comfortable with...
Ch'en sighed before replying to her daughters answer, "Okay, Yua. I see your point. Still, that doesn't mean I'm happy about your choice to get yourself infected. I know you want to stop Skadi and save your father, I want to as well. I just wish that you thought of another idea that didn't mean you ended up like me and Talulah." The blue-haired lung sounded sad when she told her future daughter her answer.
"Mother, what's done is done. I can't change it now. I know you and aunt Talulah aren't happy about it. But, this is to make sure that nobody else dies at the hands of Skadi. She and her seaborn have already killed countless innocent people. Skadi cannot be allowed to kill anymore. I will do whatever it takes to put an end to her destruction." Yua was resolute in her goal of stopping the future aegir that had destroyed her world and had killed her loved ones. The white-haired lung wasn't going to allow the future to repeat itself.
Seeing her niece's resolve brought a chuckle to Talulah, this brought the attention of both lungs present in the room with her. "What's so funny, Talulah? I don't think this is a situation for laughing." Ch'en questioned her sister sounding very annoyed with the draco.
"My apologies, Ch'en. I'm not laughing at Yua being infected. I'm laughing because you and Yua are so much alike. She is definitely your daughter." Talulah told her sister why she was laughing. Both lungs were confused at Talulah's statement and wanted clarification on what she meant.
"What I mean is both of you have the same drive, the drive to do what's right and protect others. Even if it means that you hurt yourselves in the process. You are also just as stubborn as each other. Nothing will stop either of you from achieving your goals once you have your heart set on them. It's actually a good thing that you are so similar in nature, I know I'm probably the last person who deserves to say this but...Terra needs more people like the two of you in it." The draco clarified what she meant to the two lungs.
Both Yua and Ch'en didn't know what to say to their relative, the draco was right on the money with her assessment of them. The two lungs were also touched that Talulah had said that Terra needed more people like them in it. "Um, thank you, aunt Talulah. I...don't know what to say." Yua replied sounding very sheepish. The white-haired lung began scratching the back of her head upon hearing the praise of her aunt, Yua wasn't someone who was used to dealing with praise regarding her character.
In the future, other than those who knew her personally, many had told the white-haired lung that she was difficult to work with sometimes...
Ch'en was just as sheepish as her future daughter right now. Other than the doctor, Amiya, and those who were close with her, many did find Ch'en to be somewhat intimidating to be around...
Talulah chuckled again at the reactions of her relatives, "They really are so much alike." Talulah thought to herself while looking at Ch'en and Yua. When the two lungs had regained their composure Ch'en was the first to speak, "Right, now Yua, whatever I may think about your infection...it was your choice to make. It can't be changed now, I just hope you think that it is worth it. I'm not going to say anything more about it. What we need to focus on now is Skadi." The blue-haired lung said to her sister and future daughter.
Both Talulah and Yua began to steel themselves for the upcoming battle, they knew that the fate of Terra was hanging in the balance. Rhodes Island couldn't afford to fail, if they did then Terra would surely fall at the hands of the aegir. As much as the trio wanted to begin searching for Skadi's location, they had no clue where she was. Rhodes Island also had to wait for the arrival of Ulpianus, Skadi's father figure. They needed his help.
Without him, Mostima's plan wouldn't work. It wasn't a fool proof plan, but it was their best option. The trio also knew that they needed to have backup plans in case the sankta's plan failed. With this in mind the three began to discuss what else they could do in case Ulpianus couldn't help the present Skadi that was trapped by the Skadi from Yua's timeline...
Unbeknownst to Rhodes Island, a certain individual had just arrived in Laterano. This figure was a female liberi, she looked exhausted and was using her sword as a cane to stand up straight due to how exhausted she was. It was Irene from the Iberian inquisition.
Irene had travelled across the barren lands from Iberia to Laterano as fast as she could by foot to get help. It had taken a few days to make the journey and now she was on the verge of collapsing. Now that she was in Laterano the first thing she wanted to do was to either speak to the pope or see if Rhodes Island was in Laterano.
But, Irene couldn't move. Her legs were jelly and she was finding it more difficult to stay conscious, the liberi was on the verge of passing out. A sankta man could see the liberi in the terrible state she was in and went on over to check on her, "Excuse me, miss. Are you alright?" The man asked sounding very concerned seeing the condition Irene was in.
"Pope...Rhodes Island...need help..." Was all Irene could say before she collapsed to the floor. The man saw Irene fall to the floor and immediately began calling for help, "Somebody! Anybody! I need help over here!" The man shouted as he began to tend to the exhausted liberi. The man's shouts alerted several other sankta and they began to help Irene and wait for medical assistance to arrive...
Kal'tsit was waiting at the entrance of the Rhodes Island landship. Not long ago the ancient feline had received information that a liberi was asking for Rhodes Island. From the news that she had received, the liberi was in terrible shape and was being brought here to Rhodes Island.
Kal'tsit had no idea who it was, or why they were asking for Rhodes Island. But, the ancient feline wasn't going to lie that this piqued her curiosity. While Rhodes Island was waiting for Ulpianus to arrive and trying to locate the future Skadi, Kal'tsit didn't mind having something to do while she waited.
Eventually, after enough waiting, Kal'tsit could see an ambulance arriving in the distance. The ancient feline was aware that whoever was being brought here was arriving by an ambulance, "Right, who could this be? And why have they asked for us?" The ancient feline wondered as the ambulance got closer.
When the ambulance was near the entrance, Kal'tsit headed on over to the vehicle. The medics that were driving the vehicle headed around the back and opened up the rear doors and headed inside. No doubt to bring their patient aboard the landship.
When Kal'tsit saw who was brought out, the ancient feline was left speechless. For this person to have asked for Rhodes Island, it must have meant something dire was happening in their home country.
Kal'tsit had a chilling feeling she knew what it was...
"Irene..."