Chained - Jenlisa

Spin-Off 2: The Old Ones

Jennie was left with a desperate kiss, a promise of return, and Cane her bodyguard, as usual. She was upset that Lisa had to leave so soon already but she knew she would return in no time. They'd be reunited as always and hopefully they could stay together for a little while before another mission. But she still couldn't help being sad, knowing flights to Africa would take almost two days, almost four counting the trip back.

  
     Lisa sat in her seat and stewed. Her flight was almost complete. She had a tablet on her lap and Jennie's face was smiling at her, but she was distressed at being so far, and it showed on her face. "You're almost there," Jennie was saying, and Lisa nodded. "How long do you think it'll take to talk to these old people?"

  
     "Old ones," Taeyeon corrected from her seat across the jet. Lisa wasn't using earphones so Taeyeon could hear every word of the conversation. Lisa turned the tablet around so Jennie could see Taeyeon, and Taeyeon went on, "And it will take an hour at the most, if they're not fiesty. But it takes a few hours to get to their tombs from the airport."

  
     "Tombs?" Jennie asked, a little put off.

  
     Taeyeon nodded and adjusted her many pillows. "Shifting plates and rock settlement forced them underground. Their tombs are hidden in catacombs. It's quite fun to play in if you're not human."

  
     "If you are human?"

  
     "Well..." Taeyeon grabbed her own tablet and started tapping at it. "Your kind tends to die when they come across the catacombs. Sorry."

  
     Lisa returned her tablet's screen around so she could lay eyes on Jennie again just as Jennie said, "The more I learn about you guys, the more the movies seem right."

  
     Taeyeon chuckled dryly. "Maybe, but they always get the truly important facts wrong."

  
     "Thankfully," Lisa put in. "If humans really knew how to summon or destroy old ones, the world would be a much weirder place."

  
     "As if it's not weird enough," Jennie mumbled. She smiled at Lisa and made a kissy face. "You'll do fine. I'll be waiting for you here like always.

  
     "Be safe, okay? Protect the baby."

  
     Jennie forced a happy smile, disturbed by Lisa's words. She kept her thoughts to herself. Then she blew a kiss and logged out. Lisa felt something strange in her chest, Jennie's emotions, but she wasn't sure what it was. She slipped down her seat slightly and crossed her arms over her chest, dropping her chin so she could take a quick nap before they landed.

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     Taeyeon had a car waiting at the airport. Lisa marveled at how much the area had changed since she was there last, and remembered to call it Harare now. Her and Taeyeon drove non stop through Zimbabwe, having already stocked on food and drinks just in case. Their destination was Manhenga, or at least an area near there. It took almost three hours to reach the little strip of flat land that passed for a road near the old one's catacombs. Lisa exited the car and shut her eyes against the heat. Taeyeon groaned and fanned herself, grabbing a water bottle for later. The land across the horizon was blurry to both women, the hot air morphing the sky. Lisa squinted against the sun as she shut her door and was glad that her kind could survive extreme weather, but that didn't mean she was comfortable, and she hated when she begun to sweat. She did not miss this kind of weather.

  
     "It's this way," Taeyeon said, waving her arm with the least amount of movement possible. The heat was stifling and her face was in perpetual distaste. "We have to walk from here on."