Chapter 512 - The Long Night (Patreon)

There was always something new. Someone asking for attention, someone knocking on my door.

Knock knock knock.

Iona and I traded looks.

“I’ll get this one.” I hauled myself out of my far too cozy couch, idly wondering if I needed to stash some of my books somewhere else before Auri arrived with the phoenixes.

Made me wonder if the two were related. It wouldn’t surprise me at all if Arachne had sent over some reinforcements my way, like Atlas and his team to help keep the phoenixes happy. She knew my social reputation, and if they were left in my care…

Well, we’d be lucky to have an Exterreri Empire still standing before the next Immortal war. Might as well grab a pair of pointy ears and practice my High Elvish.

The woman naturally entered my view of [The World Around Me] before I could get to the door. Didn’t recognize her at all, but I could tell she was human. I opened the door.

“Hello? Can I help you?” I asked.

“Yes! Are you the lady of the house?” She asked brightly.

Uh oh. I had a bad feeling about this.

“I am…” I said warily.

She clapped her hands together.

“Oh excellent! I’m Flavia! This home of yours looks wonderful! I sell enchantments and enchantment services to make living at home much easier and more comfortable! We offer a wide range of-”

Ugh. I knew it. I KNEW IT!

Door to door salesmen. A scourge in any reality, in every world. There was no escaping them! There was no getting away! I started to close the door in her face, with a quick “No thank you”.

“Wait!” She said, throwing her arm in the door.

Risky move - my level suggested I could accidentally crush her arm off if I wasn’t careful or slightly unbalanced. Thank goodness for dexterity.

“OneOfOurFavoriteItemsIsASlideToEjectUnwantedSalesmen.” She blurted out in an impressively fast go.

I paused closing the door.

The idea of feeding a tiny bit of mana to an enchantment and watching door to door salesmen go flying was awfully tempting…

I opened the door a hair more.

“Tell me more.” I said.

The beaming look on her face told me I’d been got, hook, line, and sinker.

==========================

Iona handled most of the negotiation, and we agreed to review a contract a week from now for a ‘slip and slide salesman-be-gone’ that would, with a little trigger enchantment by the door, make a narrow friction-free slide from our door, all the way down the mountain to the road. We declined the optional ‘stink them up’ package.

Mostly because it sounded like a fuckton of fun for us to use ourselves. A magic slide almost an entire mountain long? Yes please!

I was reading a book the slow way, halfway through the climax, when another knock came on our door.

I whimpered in faux-pain. Iona glanced at how far I was through the book - only a bit left! - laughed, and patted my leg.

“Alright, I’ll get this one.” She said.

“Love you too!” I replied without ever taking my eyes off the page. I closed my ears and didn’t listen in on what was going on, I had to know!

Page after page flew by as I ‘cheated’, reading far faster than I was supposed to in order to find out what happened next.

“Noooo!” I cried out as I got to the end, Iona entering at the same time. I looked up, my eyes brimming with tears.

“He got home sixteen years later after defeating the evil, but that was right when his girlfriend decided he was dead, moved on, and married his friend! It’s not faaaaair!” I said. The book had been like a punch to the gut. True love was supposed to win! He was supposed to get it all! I’d been rooting for the two of them! Sure, it was entirely unrealistic and unfair, but I was a bit of a sucker for the ‘love against all odds’ stories.

Iona paused, rapidly shifting gears back and forth.

“Atlas sent a runner. They’re wondering what the optimal accommodations for them in this area are, since the phoenixes are going to be here. I was thinking we’ve got the room for all of them?”

I nodded.

“Yeah, but food and cooking is going to be interesting. We should have a meeting with them to figure it out.”

I was getting oooooold. I was the one planning out meetings and arrangements, and the best ways to get things done. What had become of me!?

“Good plan.” Iona said. “I think I heard something rattling on the roof, I’m going to go check it out.”

I tilted my head and listened, filtering through the thousands of small noises I could always hear until I got to the sound Iona mentioned.

“Maybe?” I agreed. “I could believe we’ve got something loose up there.”

Iona laughed.

“All the skills and levels between us, and neither of us have a [Repair], [Home Owner], [Handyman], or [Fix] skill between us.”

“Really good on the battlefield, less great with the domestic stuff.” I joked.

Hmmm. It might actually be something of a problem that neither of us had more mundane day-to-day life skills. Like, I had some skills, just not the Skills.

A wave of sadness and grief unexpectedly hit me.

I missed my mom.

I missed my dad.

They were supposed to be here. They were supposed to be the people I could talk with. They were supposed to be around. Dad and I should’ve been on the roof together, him showing me how to fix things. Mom should’ve been able to walk me through my first pipe leak, giving me the basics on how to repair it.

I didn’t have that. I’d been robbed of my time with them by the fae. I couldn’t ask them simple questions about owning a home, or ask for life advice from them. They wouldn’t be at my wedding, they wouldn’t see me married. The seats of honor for them would be empty, a glaring absence from what should be a joyous occasion. There would be a family-shaped shadow on the event.

“What’s wrong?” Iona asked, stepping up and wrapping me in a hug.

“I miss them.” I whispered, not needing to explain more. “I miss them so much.”

Iona didn’t say anything, but she was there for me, comforting me.

=========================================

A third knock came at our door that night. I was about ready to throw the book I was reading into the fire in sheer frustration. It didn’t help that the opening was pretty weak.

“Quoth the raven, nevermore.” I practically snarled, getting up. Iona let the non-sequitur brush over her.

“You want me to get this one?” She asked. I waved her down; she’d just gotten a fresh cup of tea and was halfway through a sketch.

“Nah, you got the last one, it’s my turn.”

That, and I was fantasizing about all the different ways I could non-lethally eject a door to door salesman. The grease spell was a classic, and what the earlier person had suggested regarding ‘make them slide all the way down the mountain’ was ringing in my ears. Two [Parallel Thoughts] were spun off, trying to work out the best way to modify the spell on the fly, while also making sure it was non-lethal and non-harmful enough that I didn’t accidentally violate my [Oath] half-pranking, half-rejecting random salesmen.

Then I saw who it was, and my pace tripled in my haste to get to the door. I flung it open, caring a little how badly it banged.

“Night!” I cried out in happiness at seeing my old mentor once again. He had a toothy grin at my obvious excitement.

“Dawn. I would normally ask if I were welcome, and making sure that I was not intruding upon you, but it seems as though my question is already answered. Would you perhaps find the time additionally to walk with me? While I have nothing in particular to discuss with you, I do believe you have a few things that I may help you with.”

Oh right! Arachne had mentioned something about that.

I turned my head and yelled into the villa.

“Hey love! Night’s here, we’re going for a walk.”

A moment later her voice echoed back.

“Have fun!”

“Why don’t we start heading back to Sanguino?” I suggested. “Don’t want you getting caught out in the daylight.”

Night slowly nodded.

“A most admirable consideration.” He clasped his hands behind his back, and the two of us slowly walked down the mountain side by side as I organized my thoughts.

War. Death. Tragedy. The sheer horror and pointlessness of it all. So many had died, for what? For Bob to be declared [Emperor] over Billy?

I was still trying to process it all. I’d compartmentalized so much of it, and I needed to let some of it out in little dribs and drabs before it started to cause me real problems.

Night, bless his heart, was willing to give me time to think before he said anything.

“The first return from a war, a true war against other thinking, living beings, is a rough transition, to say nothing of the war itself.” Night said. “Indeed, it was the end of the Formorian War and the start of the Shimagu War where I noticed a marked difference in a number of commanders, generals, Ranger teams, and yes, even Sentinels. Now, I must add the caveat that with how my memories are currently filtered, there could’ve been an earlier timeframe in which the events and reactions were brought to my attention, but as of this moment I am unaware of them. It is of no importance. The observation I had was a number of Sentinels and soldiers who were able to handle the rigors of battling the Formorians utterly failed to adapt to the shimagu.”

Night paused at that, letting me think it through. We were trying to set a slow pace, and yet, the trees, rocks, and bushes of the mountain flew past us as I pondered.

If the Formorian War to Shimagu War was the first time Night had noticed a problem or not with people wasn’t important. It was good to have an example I was almost intimately familiar with.

It also made sense that different wars and battles would hit people differently. I had absolutely no issues throwing as many [Fireballs] as I could into the endless formorian hordes, but even when directly confronted by the shimagu I’d struggled on a deep and personal level with what I should do. Even today it made me stop and think, made me wonder if there had been another, better solution somewhere.

I suppose, in a way, history had borne me out. The combined races of the world had banded together to eradicate the shimagu to the last.

“I can believe that.” I said after a few minutes of quiet pondering. “Are there any specific examples?”

Night nodded.

“Oh yes. Sentinel Ocean in particular struggled deeply with the problem, and quickly requested retirement from the front lines, to better manage the issues and problems around the Nostrum Sea. Monsters did not care nor understand that we were in a war, they continued to rampage and cause problems just as they do to this very day. I will say, I do believe we have quite a bit of a better grasp on the issue now than we had back in the day, but that is simply a function of where we are at in the great cycle of Immortality. Unimportant for the moment - unless you wish to have a discussion along the lines of monster hunting to briefly distract yourself?”

I wanted to immediately shake my head, but instead I thought about it for a minute.

Did I want to talk about monster hunting instead of the Han Civil War?

No, not really. I’d spent a good amount of time running and dodging the problem for a bit, this was the time to tackle it head-on.

Hang on, wait, no.

I was being a huge idiot.

Night tended to have a policy that basically boiled down to ‘I’ll keep my hands off things unless I need to’ combined with ‘let people make their own mistakes and discoveries’. He’d try to guide me and give me advice, letting me think through things, but what if I just cut straight to the heart of the issue?

What happened if I just asked him what the best, most successful way of dealing with this was? He probably had the most lived experience of anyone ever, and he dabbled in a thousand and one different things.

“What would you do in my sandals?” I asked Night. “I’m… I don’t even know all the right words to describe how I’m feeling. What I’m feeling. Just that war sucks.”

Night flashed an approving grin my way, a sparkle of acknowledgment that I’d asked the right question glinting in his eyes.

“Excellent.” He said, and the single word filled me with joy. It lightened my steps, and was like a cool balm filling my heart.

He gave me half a minute to bask in the feeling before carrying on.

“There is no one magical skill to all your problems.” He said. “There is no singular solution, and I do not promise that any advice I give shall work. Indeed, if you simply go through the motions of the steps I suggest, that could be worse than doing nothing at all, for at the end you shall not find catharsis, but instead a deep and gaping disappointment as your work has borne no fruit. It is something you must go into with your eyes open and your heart ready to bear a heavy burden.”

I spent a minute digesting that, idly noting we were on the road to Sanguino, the glittering stars above half-coated by the ashen mantle of the city.

Basically, Night wasn’t offering me a shortcut. Simply a roadmap. One I’d have to walk myself, and I couldn’t try to skim or cheat it.

Seemed fine to me. Better than just wandering in the dark.

I chuckled at my own bad joke. Night lifted an eyebrow, and I waved him off.

“Stupid joke I thought to myself.” I said. “Alright, I think I’m ready to hear it.”

Night let the joke pass - he’d probably heard it a thousand times already - and started to speak.

“First is an acknowledgment of what has happened. Of what was done, and to who, by whom. It is my understanding that men and women were left behind in the Han Empire. It is no failing to acknowledge that, and the feelings that stem from the events. It is no issue to review what happened, when, and why. Understand, review, learn, and grow. But do not fall into the trap of wondering what you could’ve, should’ve done, and obsess over it. Analyze. Think. Learn. But do not stay trapped in the past, for the past is inaccessible and will kill you. It will seep and suck all life and joy out of your existence. On that note, you may find it valuable to talk with the families and friends left behind from those who are no longer with us. Should you choose to do that, remember to look at the other side of the coin as well. Find those whose lives you saved, who you pulled from the clutches of Black Crow himself, and talk with them. Eat with their family, get to know their friends, for the lives you saved are just as valid, if not more so, than the lives no longer with us. Recognize both life and death.”

That… I hadn’t thought of that. I’d been so focused on the Leonidus and Specs of the Sixth that I’d forgotten about… well, arrogantly, almost everyone else.

“You did not fail. Not in the small, not in the large, not in the slightest.” Night seemed to sense and know that now was the time and the place for the words.

They meant more than I could say.

Ten minutes passed as I processed, as we walked along. I gave a tiny nod, letting Night know I was ready for more.

“The next part is both easier and harder. Live.” He suggested. “Enjoy planning your upcoming nuptials. I have a minor suggestion for that, another time. Work on your classes. If you would like to discuss them further with me, I always have an ear for you. Indeed, I am quite curious about your options and offerings in your most recent class up, as you have potentially tread new ground that not even I am familiar with. Explore your hobbies, indulge in them, but beware of excess. Do not pick up gambling, drink, or similarly destructive vices. I believe you are in better control of yourself than most, and are less susceptible than others, but I have been wrong before. The greatest [Paragon] I knew fell to gambling, while some of the seediest and least stable individuals have managed to entirely avoid vice when presented. Go to Phantasym, learn magic and spells from the [Witches] and [Wizards] there. Find out how you want to grow and evolve your classes. You have wealth, perhaps commission a [Runesmith] to create a new rune with the singular purpose of generating an entire set of the Medical Manuscripts. I can recommend a few in the Bhutai Provinces.”

Night grew uncharacteristically silent near the end, perhaps having a thought of his own that he needed to mull over.

His ideas were good.

I had no idea where I was taking my [Loremaster] class. I liked the idea of it, I loved the stats, power, and skills I was blessed that Auri’s shared experience had quickly maxed the class, I found learning about all the cool little secrets and hidden niches in the world, but I wasn’t a [Loremaster]. Where did I want to take the class?

Similar question with [Butterfly Mystic]. Right now it was a sort of cobbled-together ‘here’s some neat abilities, OH, by the way, here’s a touch of wizardry, right, let’s go!’ class. What was my plan for it? Did I want to keep it as a hybrid class? Did I want to focus on the sorcery or wizardry? What was my upgrade plan?

Auri’s level suggested it was time to start thinking about it.

“I hesitate to add this last item, for I do not believe it will help, but is certainly a distraction and a great headache which, in large part, is entirely due to your actions so my sympathy is limited.” Amusement tinged Night’s words, and I swear he was grinning in schadenfreude. “Pay attention to Auri and the phoenixes. Work with them. See what you can learn and level from their presence. I do think, in the balance of things, that working with them will be beneficial, but not to the extent you are concerned about the aftermath of the Han expedition. However, I would be remiss in failing to mention your friends. Do not simply work with the friends and family of the fallen and the alive, but pay attention to your own life as well. Your own people. Auri. Artemis. Julius. Your friend with no name, and of course, your new fiancee.”

We were approaching the gates, and I sensed our talk was nearly at an end. Night was amazing. He’d somehow managed to pace his walk in such a way that I thought we’d slowly been going down the entire time, and yet, we’d crossed twenty miles in the span of our discussion.

“These are all good things to think about.” I said. “Speaking of Iona and our wedding, two quick questions. Would you be willing to give her a similar talk that you gave me? And you mentioned a detail about the wedding?”

Night stopped and turned to me, grinning.

“Why, yes. I would be more than happy to have a brief conversation with Iona, should she choose to bend a willing ear to this old man’s words. I have had many opportunities throughout the years to explore various professions. Have you found a priest yet, and if not, may I offer myself up as one to perform the ceremonies for your wedding?”