The two of us finish our breakfast rather quickly, and once we get done cleaning up and putting all the dishes away, I slip into the bathroom and turn on the water, getting the water all nice and toasty before I step inside.

I’m not overly filthy, at least not physically speaking. But I often do my best thinking in the shower, and though the System’s arrival has changed much, some things are simply too ingrained to be altered by anything as trifling as the end of the world as we once knew it. And so, as I step into the shower and feel the cascading water droplets permeating my hair and warming my scalp, I close my eyes and reflect on the option before me.

I want to be with Chloe, forever and always. That much is beyond any doubt. I love her.

But that doesn’t mean I’m anywhere near ready to marry her. Goddesses help me, I’m still only eighteen and still trying to figure out who and what I even am, all while the world is changing around me and I’ve got an entire past life of experiences locked away in the back of my mind, inaccessible except for a few brief memories.

No, I suppose I’m not about to literally marry Chloe and get the government and societal recognition and whatnot. But accepting this bond with her feels a little bit like marriage, for reasons I can’t fully grasp but nevertheless instinctively know to be true. I… I don’t know, but it feels like in my past life, I once held such a bond.

I focus on that idea, trying to knock loose some memory of me and my bonded partner. But my memory doesn’t avail me. I push a trace of [Ether] through the [Ether] channels in my brain as I did that one time back in Red Clay City, hoping to ignite those memories more forcefully, but that too fails. I could push harder, but I don’t want to risk damaging my body. Or, even worse, permanently and irreversibly changing my brain, my very sense of who I am.

My hesitation isn’t because I don’t want this bond with Chloe. It’s… because of my fear of the System. My fear that forming a bond like this is, once again, going to permanently alter both of us in ways we won’t be able to foresee. Though, when I think about it, isn’t that the same for love more generally? Just without the System, without stats and Skills and levels and Experience and everything else it brought with it.

Yeah, when I think about it in that light, it’s all so simple. And… yeah, I screwed up with Chloe. As I knew I would. But at the same time, it felt a bit unfair to me to have that sprung on me without so much as a moment to consider. I sigh, a few droplets of water squirreling their way into my mouth and down my throat in the process.

After drying off and slipping into some comfortable loungewear, I strap my wings back on and make my way downstairs. Chloe is there on the large, navy blue couch. She still looks crestfallen, and her eyes dart away as soon as I look at her. I drop my head in contrition, but I’m unable to get a word out before she cuts me off.

“I’m sorry, Sera,” she says. “You were right. It was wrong of me to ask you to do something like that without warning. I should have given you some time to think about things and not try to rush you into something that we both might regret.”

“And I’m sorry that I didn’t properly take your feelings into consideration, Chloe. I should have understood how important this was to you and… at least tried to understand what the bond would entail before–”

“No, you’re right,” Chloe reiterates as she wraps her arms around me. “We should talk about this bond first before we rush into accepting it.”

“I agree. Let’s talk about it. What do you know?”

“Let me see if I can pull up and show you the description…” Chloe mutters to herself for a few minutes. She places her hand on the small of my back and wraps herself around me, all while remaining stuck in her mind trying to figure out a way for me to see what her new Skill does for myself.

After a couple of minutes, she finally looks up into my eyes and places her hand on my forehead, pushing ever so slightly. I feel a bit of her presence entering her mind, and with it, it seems that I can see at least a few glimpses of what the Skill ends up doing.

[You are being offered an [Angelic Bond] with [Heavenly Saintess] ‘Chloe Jacobs’. Would you like to accept this bond? This bond will take a General Skill Slot (Remaining: 1/6) (Warning: Bonds are binding and cannot be easily unforged. Attempting to sever a bond will have negative consequences.)]

I focus on the small connection in my mind with Chloe. She looks up at me, her eyes glowing brightly as she activates her [Ethersight] to gaze into me. And as I focus on Chloe and what the bond will entail, I get another System notification describing the effects in greater detail.

[[Angelic Bond]: Since the dawn of mankind, angels have watched over humans, offering support and protection. Some watch from the heavens, offering general prayers and supplications to those who beseech their intervention. But others descend to take a more interventionist road. Of those who do, a select few take up the role of guardian angel, choosing one individual to protect through hell and high water, until death do you part. Take up this pact with your partner, and together, achieve greatness.

[Angelic Bond] has the following effects:

1. When within 1 mile of your partner, you can communicate telepathically. Neither partner can read each other’s mind or avail themselves of thoughts not specifically sent to them. (While in range, this connection is always open and does not consume [Ether] to use or maintain.)

2. When within 1,000 miles of your partner, you gain a general sense of your partner’s mood and status. (This effect is always active while both partners are within range.)

3. Healing spells cast by either partner on the other heal double the normal amount of [Health].

4. Buffing and Protection / Shielding Skills used by either partner on the other are twice as effective.

5. This Skill cannot be forgotten or overwritten through ordinary means.

6. If either partner dies or the bond is forcibly severed, both partners will lose three levels.]

It’s… Honestly, it’s not a bad deal at all. I’d be bound by the System to protect Chloe, just as she would be to me, with substantial penalties if we attempt to break our bond, or if, goddesses forbid, one of us dies. But the drawback isn’t that bad. I’ve already sworn to myself that I’d protect Chloe to the best of my ability, to the death if I must. This Skill will help in that.

Having the ability to communicate telepathically will be incredibly useful for negotiating and discussing things that might be overheard or otherwise used against us, and I sure would love to be able to sense Chloe’s mood a little better, considering how terrible I am with emotions. The effect says that I wouldn’t be able to just rummage through her thoughts, nor would she be able to do the same to me, and that knowledge definitely assuages a big concern I have.

Honestly, the Skill seems… fairly benign. It doesn’t seem to come with any compulsion on either of us to do more than continue to protect and love one another as we have to this point. It’s just… a little committal, and I’m a bit cautious about that.

“Chloe,” I say.

She looks at me, and even without having formed the bond, I can see her mood in her eyes, a complex mix of so many emotions. Hope for me, and for us as a couple mixed with the boundless love she’s always shown, ever since she first confessed her feelings for me. And probably held back for far longer than that. But there are other emotions buried within her eyes. A fierce resolve and commitment, an iron will. And a bit deeper, fear. A fear that I’ll reject the bond. That I’ll reject her one day.

And that fear, hidden behind those beautiful glowing eyes of butterscotch, nearly moves me to tears. Chloe is so pure, so innocent, so wonderful to me and the world at large. And again, just the way she looks at me causes me to melt in her arms.

“Is this something you really, truly want?” I ask. “Remember, there are no take backs. This is you and me stuck together, for life.”

Chloe answers instantly. “Together forever, Sera.”

I take a deep breath and wrap my arms around Chloe. “Yeah, together forever.”

I accept [Angelic Bond].

The connection between Chloe and I which was just a trickle before now rushes open. The emotional flood rushes in, and for the first time, I can sense just how deep her love for me is. I clutch onto her even more tightly as I acclimate myself to this new sensation in the back of my mind. At the same time, I try to convey a sense of protectiveness, that I am reiterating the vow I made when the System arrived.

That I will protect Chloe, that I will serve as her sword and her shield. That, if necessary, I would do the dirty work so she can go through life with a clean conscience. Because even this gritty world based around fighting and killing needs people with a certain sense of kindness and gentleness still in her soul. And I can think of no one more suited to carry out that role in this world than she is.

The flood of emotions slows back down to a trickle, but it’s still there, accessible with but a thought. I can sense that Chloe is happy, healthy, and not suffering from any deleterious effects. Moreover, I see a pair of glyphs manifesting themselves on the backs of each of our right hands. Hers, a pair of wings, mine, a set of saintly robes. They glow with a rich golden glow before gradually fading back into the color of our skin, though I sense I could make mine visible again with but a thought.

One last thing to test. I focus my mind on Chloe, and on that connection that exists in the back of my mind. “Can you hear me?” I ask through our bond.

Chloe looks up in surprise. “I can,” she says, eyes now full of wonder. She focuses for a moment. “Can you hear me, Sera?”

“I can. And, it looks like the bond was successful.”

I cast [Angel’s Grace] upon Chloe. “This should be stronger than usual. Can you tell me what the System says about it?”

“It… Oh, that’s even better than I’d thought. Not only is the stat increase twice as large as it normally would be, but the duration is doubled as well. Let me try now.”

Chloe taps my right hand, right in the center of where my bonding glyph now lies, and fills me with the power of [Saintess’s Cloister]. Sure enough, the effect is what I’d expect.

[You are now under the effect of [Saintess’s Cloister]. [Angelic Bond] doubles the effectiveness of [Saintess’s Cloister]. The next 6,600 damage that would be dealt to you will be prevented. (Remaining duration: 01:05:59)]

I hug Chloe tightly, holding back only enough to make sure that I don’t inadvertently hurt her. “Let’s… Let’s stay like this for a little longer.”

Chloe nods, her head buried in my chest. “Let’s, Sera. A long, long while longer.”