The current was ferocious, a whirlpool that would have shattered anyone... but it was nothing I couldn't handle. I had several ways to get out of there, even with Hannah in tow. And yet, I didn't. I let myself be dragged along.
Every time I tried to force an exit—to rise above the water, slow the drag, propel us toward the bank—a stabbing dizziness hit my head. It wasn't unbearable; I could ignore it... until I insisted. When I did, the sensation returned with greater force, like a warning.
It was as if my prophecy ability was activating on its own, involuntarily, but not to show me a possible future, but a worse one. I couldn't fully explain it, but I understood: if I forcibly avoided this course, something more serious would happen.
Then I grasped it. This was the consequence of playing with destiny. The forced prophecy, the imposed fate... they were exacting their toll. I had manipulated one future route, and in return, another route had closed in on me. Now I was obligated to follow this path; if I tried to evade it, a worse one would open, and if I avoided that, an even darker one... an endless chain, perhaps until I died or until destiny itself collided with limits it couldn't surpass.
It wasn't that there were no ways to break it. Destiny was a fundamental law of this world, but it wasn't invincible. I could feel it: my [abilities] were not blocked. My wizard magic, however, did feel contained, weakened, as if I could only use it in small doses. And I was sure that if my blood magic, or any of the powers I gained upon reincarnation, belonged to the laws of this world, they would also be obstructed or perhaps rendered useless.
But there was something else: Elise's power flowed within me. Divine power. And this, for some reason, seemed capable of resisting destiny, of fighting it. Even Elise had noticed it when talking to one of my clones; she told me she felt something strange about me. Now I knew what it was.
Despite that, I chose not to use any escape. I could ask Elise, or the Merchant, or even the Archmage for help... but I decided not to. This wasn't that serious, and I feared that any attempt to skirt this game of destiny would only make things worse. I promised myself I wouldn't force my future again until I had enough power to ensure there were no consequences. If merely ensuring I had sex with McGonagall when it wasn't guaranteed had caused this... I dared not imagine what trying something more risky might provoke. Hannah was already involved, and I had no doubt that destiny would strike those I love to punish me if I committed a greater indiscretion.
So, knowing my immediate fate, I held Hannah tightly and used what little magic I could to keep the water from drowning us and mitigate the current's damage... although, in reality, my own body bore the brunt of it.
Hannah was terrified, clinging to me as if I were her only anchor. She didn't open her eyes, nor did she dare to scream. She just wanted me to get her out of there... but the journey would be long.
The current was abnormally fast, almost impossible to compare with anything natural. I received several blows as we advanced uncontrollably, but I could feel that the objective of all this wasn't to hurt me... at least not too much. Rather, it sought to drag me far away.
I could have saved Hannah immediately, thrown her to a safe spot, and let the current take me alone, but I didn't trust that the previous fight zone was really safe for her. My destiny was uncertain, but I knew I could protect her. In the worst case, we would end up in the [Fief], and there I would await destiny's next punishment.
...
We were dragged for a long time, with Hannah so tense in my arms that I thought she would faint. I didn't blame her: for someone like her, this must have been terrifying. I was constantly healing her so that her body wouldn't suffer the wear and tear of the impact and the cold water.
Over time, the current's force began to diminish, though not entirely. Still, I let myself be carried away, knowing I had to follow this imposed course. By then, Hannah had opened her eyes; the water no longer violently struck her face, allowing her to look around. My magic had formed a faint membrane around our heads to prevent water from entering our nose or mouth... but nothing else. All the other sensations were still there. Luckily, with her face buried against my chest, she had avoided most of the blows.
Finally, the current slowly pushed us toward a clear bank. Our immediate destination had arrived. As soon as I felt the solid ground slow us down, I stood up, holding Hannah, who began to stir despite the numbness and slight pain—nothing compared to what she would have suffered without my protection.
I carried her out of the water and placed her on the dry grass. Then I took a few steps forward to observe the surroundings. I didn't believe this was the end; my prophetic ability—the same one I planned to seal completely until further notice—told me it wasn't over yet. It was useless now, and only complicated things; it wasn't profitable.
Behind me, Hannah was kneeling, coughing up a bit of the water that had entered her mouth and rubbing her lips to get rid of the "Amazon Water" taste. We were both soaked and uncomfortable, so I took out my wand and conjured a burst of hot air that dried us completely.
"Thank you..." Hannah murmured with some difficulty, sitting on the grass. She was panting; all this had been too much for her.
"Are you okay?" I crouched beside her and took her hand to check her condition.
"Yes..." she replied, though she looked exhausted and a little embarrassed. "I'm sorry... I didn't mean to... I don't know what happened, I just..."
"Don't apologize," I interrupted softly. "It's not your fault."
I knew perfectly well whose fault it was. Her accident had been nothing more than the trigger destiny needed to force me into the water. And now here we were, following an imposed path that I myself had provoked.
"Thank you, Red... I don't know what would have happened without you..." Hannah said, trembling, looking at me with shiny eyes. At that moment, it didn't matter if I could be a bad boyfriend, a pervert, or a womanizer... To her, I was still someone trustworthy when it really mattered.
"It's alright... I'm sure you would have managed even without me. You are very capable," I tried to encourage her, gently stroking her hand to calm her down.
"I don't think so..." she murmured, lowering her gaze. "When I fell into the water, I froze. I couldn't take out my wand... I felt the water imprisoning me. I tried to transform into a bee to escape, but it was worse... I was soaked, I couldn't take flight, and the current hit me harder. It almost knocked me unconscious."
She looked defeated, frustrated, embarrassed.
"Don't worry," I replied with a calm smile. "Everyone has moments like that. Even I have times when I can't do anything. Don't punish yourself for it."
While comforting her, I used my powers to fully restore her physical condition, eliminating tension, impacts, and the exhaustion from the scare. When her breathing became calm and her body recovered its warmth, we could focus on what was important.
"Where are we?" Hannah asked, looking at the unknown jungle around us.
"I have no idea," I admitted while looking at my [Map]. The only thing registered was the stretch of the river we had been dragged through. I could follow it back, yes, but I wasn't going to do that without first finding out why destiny brought me right here.
"We have to go back..." Hannah said insecurely, looking at the jungle suspiciously and then at the river with a much deeper fear. "Can't you... I don't know... take us back to Castelobruxo? Apparition? Something?"
She truly believed I could just teleport us, and under other circumstances, perhaps I would have... but not this time.
"No..." I gently denied, biting my lip as I analyzed the environment. "Not this time."
The [Travel] ability would have been the perfect solution: fast, safe, definitive. But that same suffocating feeling that something horrible would happen if I tried to use it was still latent, like an invisible dagger in my chest. I couldn't risk it. I had to follow the imposed path.
"Then... what do we do?" Hannah asked nervously, following with her gaze every place I looked, as if fearing a wild creature would jump out from the trees.
"We move forward," I replied firmly. "Slowly, but without stopping. Sooner or later, we will find the way back. Don't worry... I won't let anything happen to you. We might be lost in the immense Amazon rainforest, but not even this can defeat me."
A warm and dominant aura enveloped me, reinforcing my words and transmitting security to her. I felt her fear instantly subside.
Hannah nodded, regaining some courage. She stood up and took a deep breath while I looked around one last time. Then we began to move... not toward the correct direction to return, but toward where I felt we should go.
She didn't question me. She simply walked beside me, very close, trusting that I would lead her safely, just as I had promised.
There was, however, one small piece of bad news that we only just realized: Hannah had lost her wand.
Yes... at some point, while being dragged by the current, the wand had slipped from her hand and disappeared downriver. She became very sad, almost ashamed for having lost it, but she wasn't completely helpless. She still carried the secondary wand we had bought earlier; she had it tucked away in her robes purely out of habit... or, perhaps, by the work of destiny.
And I thought about that... destiny. Hannah had lost her old wand from England only to be left with that other one, created from elements of the Amazon jungle itself, the same one we were now lost in.
Anyway... we continued to make our way through the jungle.
We advanced slowly, forcing our own path through the vegetation, admiring everything around us. As time passed, and under the constant protection of my auras, Hannah left behind the initial fear and tension. Little by little, she began to marvel at the majesty of that wild nature.
This place was different from the paths we had traveled before: denser, more primitive, more alive. There were no marked trails; we were the ones creating them as we pushed branches, parted giant leaves, and climbed uneven ground. The journey was exhausting... but fascinating, especially for someone like Hannah, who loved nature with all her soul.
At one point, she even started grabbing my clothes to point out plants, insects, or small creatures hidden among the trunks, as if we had gone from "children lost in a disaster" to "improvised jungle field trip." Seeing her like this was... beautiful.
The atmosphere was intense. The jungle was comfortable and dangerous at the same time; pure, alive, overwhelming. On more than one occasion, I felt the beast within me trying to wake up. A primitive part that was excited by every smell, every noise, every movement among the trees. My aura was enough to keep the most aggressive creatures away, but we still encountered jaguars watching us from the grass, poisonous snakes slithering among roots, enormous insects... all dispersed by one defensive spell or another accompanied by my auras.
Hannah was delighted, even with the animals that could eat us. As long as I was by her side, she seemed to have completely abandoned her fear.
The only thing that really worried me... was myself.
That animal instinct inside me wouldn't stop whispering in the depths. Sometimes my gaze drifted toward Hannah without me being able to stop it: fragile, sweaty, trembling from the humid heat... a perfect prey. A female to pin down on the grass and copulate with.
I think she perceived it too, because on more than one occasion she blushed and hugged herself, covering up a bit without saying a word. I didn't say anything either.
I suppressed that wild instinct. It wasn't the time. Not now. Not here. I still had to find out what destiny had in store for us...