“Open your eyes now!” Leda says, and I do so to reveal whatever surprise she has in store.

As I do, the first thing I notice is that she’s wearing a new set of clothes, one which I didn’t get her. The second thing I see is her hand holding a box. A Nintendo Switch?

“Uhh…” Is all I can say. Pride. Pride, is what she’s radiating, in addition to her usual bubbly happiness, now stronger than usual. Is that a gift? It’s not packed…

“I bought a Switch!”

“Yeah, I can- wait, how did you get money for that?”

“I sold stuff, like you!”

“That actually worked? I thought they chased you away?”

“Nuh-uh, I didn’t do anything wrong, but there were police, maybe they thought someone would attack me because I’m almost a dragon.”

Uh, yeah, about that… “Alrighty, then.”

How did she buy it? Ah, well, I guess she has learnt how to buys stuff from me. “Why a Switch, though?”

“Because you wanted one!”

“Oh, you’re giving it to me as a christmas gift?”

“What? No! It’s mine!” She yells, bringing it close to her body, before continuing calmly, “But I need to put it in your apartment to use a big screen. But you can play with me!”

“How magnanimous.”

“What does ‘magnanimous’ mean?”

“Generous, kind. It was sarcasm, by the way, but you bought it for money you earned, so it’s not like I can complain.”

But then what she said, and the way she said it, catch up to me, “Wait, how did you know I wanted a Switch? I never told you.”

“I just learnt it from you.”

“But I didn’t tell you, didn’t teach you? I don’t even think I’ve talked about it.”

“But you wanted it, and I thought it would be fun, and then we can play together maybe.”

“Okay, wait, pause, I think we have a misunderstanding again, like with that heart. Use the mind bond, how did you learn from me?”

As it turns out, that was just how she learnt from me. I’ve been impressed by how quickly she learns, but knowing that she can -and do- learn things directly from my mind explains that, and is also worrisome, as I shouldn’t be sharing that much.

Further explanation reveals that she can’t just bypass all my mental defences (some she can), but I leave basically all ‘knowledge’ open and free for her to ‘mind read’. Well, that and she has found a trick to actually read my mind without having to rely on me actively sharing things.

Similarly, that I wanted a Switch was probably a stray thought I didn’t ‘broadcast’, but also didn’t ‘hide away’. Through some testing, I figure out how to do that very same thing, and then she finds out how to block it, and teaches me. And if nothing else, you still need the mind bond for it to work, so it’s not like some random person can read your mind. At least, not with this method.

With that cleared up, we have fun playing in the snow. Running around with the wolves, starting a snowball fight that I have to end when things escalates and Leda starts making a blizzard to take on the four wolves coordinating with Tåke to harass her with hit-and-run from all sides. They’re freakin’ guerilla fighters…

Evidently, Leda’s love for children extends to the little furballs too, though they aren’t allowed anywhere near her main body. She stops pouting when I point out she’d use the puppet to play with them anyway.

After playing for a while she seems satisfied, and thus turn to me in her now furry form: “Let’s go to your apartment so we can play!”

It’s only when we get there and I set it up and start any updates she realizes she didn’t buy any games, and upon questioning reveals she only bought the console itself, with no screen protection or carry case or anything else. That kinda sucks, since all the stores are closed, so instead we end up watching anime for the rest of the day.

On the day of the flight I wake up in a UK hotel, having flown here yesterday. Thanks to having made absolutely sure to get enough sleep the days before, I feel well rested. After a breakfast in the hotel, I head out to meet the record… judges? Observers? The people from Guinness World Records, and my ‘team’ from the space company. We do final checks on everything that should be checked, primarily my aeronav suite

And then it’s off to the airport. Going through security and all of that as a VIP is really fast, and I’m led to one of those big arrival rooms. While it’s not used for that purpose right now, it’s by no means empty, and as I enter a large group of reporters take photos of me, completely crumbling my thought process.

It’s not just reporters, I count at least four cameras, one of which belongs to the BBC, of all things. I… this… this is not what I expected when the organizers asked if I could do some interviews.

First up I do my usual introduction, or the latest iteration of which, and I must say I’ve managed to largely cut it down to what I need to say. They ask a few questions about the practical things like “how long have you planned this?” before the question “how did you come up with this idea?” is asked.

“Well, as I started to get some fame I noticed that I got interest from all over the world, including a significant number in America. Separately from that I got better and better at flying and related magic, and at some point I asked myself how far I could fly. Combine the two, and America seems like a natural option.”

“I could land several times on the way, the Faroes, Iceland, Greenland, then the tip of Canada. I started looking into things, and got even better at flying, so wondered if it’d be feasible to fly the entire way.”

“Now, I was already working with the space company, and together we’ve made the communications set I have here. Of course, ‘flying across the Atlantic’ sounds like it would be some sort of record, so we contacted Guinness.”

“Sure enough, ‘fastest non-vehicular flight across the atlantic’ is going to be one. Without landing, too, if nothing goes wrong.” I glance at the time on the display, then turn to some employee from the airport. “Should I get outside and ready?”

A few minutes on an airport bus later I find myself off to the side from the actual runway, waiting for a plane to take off, having double- and then triple-checked my gear. After it takes of the tower asks if I am ready.

“This is Lima November Dash Charlie Lima Echo, I am ready for takeoff.”

A couple minutes later, I take to the skies for the longest trip yet, with cameras rolling. I continue west at an an altitude of two thousand five hundred meters until I am clear of the restricted air zone. Shortly afterwards I spot the first of several follower planes. They’ll keep track of me, stay in contact over short-range radio, film me, and be available in case of emergency.

It takes about three hours to leave the British Isles, at which point the follower plane turns around, and another, a propeller-sailplane, takes over. The ‘sailplane’ (a drone with a radio relay) won’t be able to actually assist me, but it can follow me at my speed across the atlantic.

About sixteen hours later, I see land, and the plane informs me that it’s Canada; I’m slightly off-course (northwards). Considering how long I’ve been flying, I should perhaps be more tired, but there’s still some distance left, and I did get some aerial power naps. Definitely not a proper substitute for good sleep, though.

I roughly follow the shore, with the sailplane soon replaced by another crewed small plane, and as I fly south I see more and more habitation, until the entire ground is covered in city, suburbia or…. Golf courses? Is that…. Super popular here? Or- No. Tired, don’t think. Do. Fly, land, sleep. Good plan.

Either way, I finally see the destination a bit more than twenty-seven hours after taking off, or thirty hours of being awake. Thanks to coming in as a plane lands, I get clearance to land immediately (by the time I get there it is taxing), and am greeted by security, who escorts me to the arrival area to have my passport and papers and whatnot checked.

“Are you carrying any weapons?”

“Uh, yeah, what kinds?”

Of course that leads to somewhat of a misunderstanding, but when I start listing off all the tools that might count as weapons, they specify that they mean ‘real’ weapons. I mention the spear, and they clarify again, to guns, and I just shake my head.

With that done, I am lead through the airport, and we have to practically push past a bunch of reporters (though helpfully, others do the actual pushing for me). There’s only one question I fully register, and in turn, answer. “Feel? Fuckin’ tired.”

After pushing past them I get into a slightly fancy car, which takes me to a pretty fancy hotel, where I get a key, and find my way to a really fancy room. ‘Suite’ is the word, isn’t it?

And then I pass out.

I am woken when cleaning staff enter the room after I’ve slept in (local time), but I wave them off after they politely apologize, saying I’ll be out within twenty minutes. It only takes ten minutes, and I’m happy to discover that breakfast is still available. After that I spend a few hours sightseeing around.

I note with interest that there are quite a few people floating above the roads, and that they seem to follow a modified set of the traffic rules. Notably they stick to the right side of the road, and slow down before any intersections. Some actually follow the lights, too. In fact, as I look closer I notice that they yield for those coming from the right.

By the time I have to head to the record awarding ceremony (or whatever the official term is) I have visited a couple different communities. I’m not exactly a social person, but after seeing a literally magical performance by some black people and asking about it, it struck me that different groups of people use magic differently, and so I decided to talk to various people and see what’s out there.

Back home almost everyone seems to be based around shapeshifting and/or [Mana Manipulation], but there are several distinct ‘magic cultures’ around here. I suppose that’s to be expected given the amount and diversity of people and communities within the city.

I find my way to the award ceremony easily enough, and after being briefed on how things will go down, all I can do is wait. By which I mean I repeatedly change between my main form, my flight form, and a midpoint which is quite avian, but without the bulky wings to get in the way.

Once it’s finally time, after a whole thirteen minutes of waiting, I wait for them to introduce me and walk up on the scene. There’s greetings and handshakes, and then they do things as planned, giving me a fancy piece of paper (a ‘record certificate’) and more handshakes, before I have to answer questions.

Questions like how I’m feeling (Tired and sleepy, but less so), to how my trip went (About as expected. Pretty boring to just see the ocean in all directions), and if I’m going to do more such stunts in the future (Maybe if I feel like it. I do want to travel the world to see more post-Upheaval things). I even get a few questions about my what methods and magics I used.

Once I finally get away from all these people and sit down in the back to get some more rest, one of the top organizers approaches me, together with a man in a fine suit who introduces himself as the mayor of New York. He congratulates me on the record and that stuff, before he gets to the actual topic.

“I know this is on short notice, and I’m sure you have other things to do, but could you perform on new years eve?”

“I can. I mean, it’s possible - I’m not saying yes without more detail. I had intended to find some flat, open place and do the magical equivalent to setting off massive fireworks, maybe with fans and whatnot.”

“Ahh, that’s perfect. I can’t say anything about your fans, though after your stunt you seem pretty popular, but I’m sure we can arrange for you to do some magical fireworks.”

As we discuss he reveals that he wants me to take a slot among other performers (not that I’m one, yet anyway), and basically just show off magic. With some discussion we come to a rough idea of showing off shapeshifting and forms on the scene, then rise into the air with increasingly flashy magic, then I get to go nuts above the buildings. I thought that’d be a problem, but apparently the buildings in the area aren’t that tall.

I’m a bit dubious about the whole thing, primarily because he gives me the impression that it would be really good (profitable?) for him, and all he offers me is that I ‘get to perform on new years eve’. I’m sure that’s a big deal, I mean even I have heard of new years’ on Times Square, but that doesn’t sit quite right with me, and honestly I don’t really care.

And then there’s the fact that practice is needed, and they must approve everything I want to do, which is fair because I don’t have the best track record of thinking things through beforehand, but also really annoying and a bit insulting. I mean, I would plan this out for maximum epic, so I’d scout the area and find out what is safe and not…

One interesting thing he mentions is that there are enough ‘fliers’ (people who can fly) that the city is working on making those ‘air traffic rules’ actual law. Fly high above the ground, stay over the road lanes, and if you stop, do so over the sidewalk.

In the end he presses me for an answer, and I end up saying yes, mostly because it sounds interesting, and I don’t really have any good reasons not to. As for less good reasons, the cons is that it ties up a bunch of my time, and I feel like there are other things I might want to do instead. Oh well.