Chapter 303

Etson, Florida - 11:09 AM

I stood there awkwardly, leaning on the Staff of Raphael, as Thomas walked towards me. Gabrielle was not far behind him. The fact that I couldn’t read his aura was messing with me a bit, especially since his face was set in stone and could mean any number of things. Regardless, I held my ground, taking in what I could. Namely, their gear.

Thomas Brown wore plastic studded leather armor that covered him from the pauldrons on his shoulders down to the greaves. He had the metal gloves, boots, and belt that belonged to a matching set, but he wore nothing on his shaved head but a diamond earring. Hanging from his waist was a warhammer not unlike the one he had used in our fight back at the Safari Resort. The oversized sword on his back was more his speed these days, though.

The woman beside him was small compared to the bulky man, and she was clad fully in robes befitting a healer. It was a big change from the bulky chain shirt and leather helmet she had worn during the Vespae raid. She still had the Dove’s Rod of Peace in her hand, which had probably been upgraded a few times with Enhancement Jewels. The pacifist’s buff to her healing would still be great today regardless of how long ago she picked it up.

I said nothing as Thomas approached with the gait of a man on a mission. Our last conversation before we left Etson came to mind. He had been understandably distraught at the loss of his sister, Gloria, and blamed me for her death. It sucked, but I was the person who pushed for the attack, and it had been the best decision we could have made. One thing stuck with me more than anything else.

“I hope that son of a bitch you’re running from catches you,” Thomas had said.

That ‘son of a bitch’ had been Jeremiah Wilson, Pustibule’s pet Shadow Sniper, and Thomas had wanted him to put a bullet in me. Thankfully, he hadn’t succeeded.

“I’ve been waiting for you to come back,” Thomas said as he covered the last few feet between us.

I had expected him to stop before reaching me, to stay out of my personal space. He, apparently, had other plans. One of his hands reached up to grab me by the head.

There was no physical reaction from me, but my response was swift. Four Constructed daggers appeared behind him, inches away from his back. Gabrielle squeaked in surprise when they materialized, but didn’t have any time to say anything.

I was ready to attack at a moment’s notice. Any injury would light a beacon that would call other players to my location, so I didn’t have room to play. Despite that, each one was pointed towards one of his non-vital areas, meant to damage but not kill. Thomas was too important for that, and I didn’t want his death, anyway.

To my surprise, his other arm wrapped around me and he pulled me in close. With one hand on the back of my head, the other one thumped me behind my shoulder.

“I’m sorry,” he said, his stone facade breaking away as he hugged me tightly.

“Ant—” Gabrielle started to say, but I released my hold on the Constructs and she stared at the now empty space with wide eyes.

“After I lost Gloria, I was in a dark place,” Thomas continued, unaware of what I had done. “I lashed out at you because you were the easiest target and I was feeling that loss on a level I hadn’t been on since our mother died. It wasn’t right. I shouldn’t have pushed you away, or put blame on you.”

I returned the embrace with gusto, activating Peacekeeper’s Will at the same time for good measure. Thomas immediately relaxed at the feeling. “Water under the bridge, friend,” I told him earnestly. “The attack was my idea, and—”

“No,” he interrupted. “It may have been your plan, but what happened to Gloria wasn’t your fault. We all knew the risks. She died out there doing what she knew she had to, killing bugs and saving lives. Without her sacrifice, we could have lost a hundred more people out there. What I said to you was inexcusable.”

“I disagree,” I replied, shaking my head. “You had just lost the sister who raised you, man. Nobody blamed you for what you were feeling. Not me, not the Mills. Your reaction came from a place of love and pain, Thomas, and I understand that. I’m just glad that you’ve had time to mourn.”

“My reaction would have gotten me slapped upside my head if she had still been there,” Thomas said softly. “And call me Tommy. We’re friends, if you really can forgive me.”

“And who doesn’t need a good slap upside their head every now and again?” I asked with a chuckle. Mentally, I changed his name in my head. Being able to call him by his nickname again felt better than I thought it would. “You lashed out, and that’s fine. It’s a process. I’m still really sorry that Gloria isn’t with us anymore. The world is lesser for her passing, and I truly mean that, Tommy.”

He took a shuddering breath as he nodded, and then let out a halting chuckle. “You know, I never would have forgiven myself if that bastard did catch up to you and put a bullet in your head,” he admitted. “I regret those words.”

“He’s tentatively on my side now, so, all’s well that ends well,” I said. “You’re alright, though? Like, you’ve had time to process and all that?”

“I wouldn’t say I’m all good, but I’m definitely better than some of the people out there,” he sighed. With one more hearty thump on my back, Tommy let me go and took a few steps back. “It’s good to have you back home, Ant, no matter what that scum sucking son of a bitch is trying to play by making you the enemy of this scenario.”

I smiled at him calling Seraphim a scum sucker just like I did, and nodded. “While I was trying to make a stealthy exit, it’s good to see you, too. And you, Gabrielle, obviously.”

The healer’s smile was warm and all nervousness had left her aura as she closed the distance. “Welcome home, Big Tipper,” she said as she wrapped her arms around me.

“Big Tipper,” I repeated with a snort. “Forgot you ended up calling me that.”

“And then I never even got to spend your money,” Gabrielle grumbled as she pulled away. “Punk ass system, keeping me from my hard earned buck.”

“I can spot you fifty points if you need it that bad,” I said with a teasing half smile.

“Normally I’d take what I can get, but things haven’t been bad lately,” she admitted, glancing up at Tommy. “Like, yeah, everything’s a shit storm and half of the city nearly burned down, and a quarter of it did, but it doesn’t feel like we’re scrambling anymore.”

“We’ve jumped into the deep end but we’ve finally figured out how to swim,” he added.

I nodded. “That’s a big first step. I was worried that the scum sucker was going to come down hard on you all after I left.”

“He did, but it’ll take more than what he’s been throwing at us to put us down,” Gabrielle stated proudly. She reached out and affectionately slugged me on the shoulder. “But what the hell happened to you, man? You’ve been gone for ages now.”

With a smile, I shrugged. “Not much to say. I have my own train. Won a tournament in Atlanta, started a guild in Pittsburgh, traveled across the states, fought the next two evolutions of the Writhing Juggernaut, and went to Ireland. One of my guildmates, no one y’all have met, is actually going to meet me in Stanley.”

“Hold up, there was more of that bastard you and Gloria took down?” Tommy asked incredulously. “Past the Zeppelin thing, right?”

“Yeah, which the administration made specifically to kill me,” I answered with a dark chuckle. The Writhing Nautilus and the thing protecting its heart, the Writhing Guardian. Those were not fun fights. Well, in their own way they were, I just don’t like having to fall back on hypotheticals.”

“That sounds rough.”

“It is what it is. We made it through, so it all ended as well as could be expected.”

“We?” Gabrielle perked up. “Kayla and Jeff are okay?”

“Oh, yeah. They’re part of my guild and everything,” I said with a grin. “Corwin, too. He can turn into a big ole Demon dog now. Still precious, though.”

“That’s great to hear. Have Francis and Jess caught up with you?” Tommy asked.

“They… No?” I replied, arching an eyebrow. “I didn’t realize anyone was looking for me. Well, anyone from Etson. Well, anyone from Etson who didn’t want to put a bullet in me. When did they leave?”

“Not long after you did,” Gabrielle answered, shrugging. “Francis kept talking about how he wanted to find you, but Jess just wanted to get out of here. I wouldn’t be surprised if she kept sidetracking him.”

“Knowing her, that’s exactly what happened,” I said, turning my gaze northward even though I couldn’t see. “If they didn’t go straight to Atlanta by train then there’s next to no chance that they would have found us. We might have been sticking to major cities for a while there, but it’s a big country.”

“I’m sure those two are fine,” Tommy sighed. It didn’t seem like his heart was in it. They would become powerful as a Fire Mage and Carbon Cutter combo, but they were also easily distracted and didn’t plan far enough ahead. “At least, we’re praying they are.”

“I know a guy. If they’re still alive out there, I’ll be able to figure out their general whereabouts,” I said before returning my gaze to the duo. “Though, speaking of people who aren’t here, I got kind of nervous when I didn’t see John with you. Is he around, or…?”

“He’s fine,” Tommy answered, crossing his arms. “He was the frontliner for Seraphim’s little get-together with this new scenario. I figured he could handle whatever popped out, if anything did at all.”

“Not you?” I asked, surprised.

“Nah. It seemed too easy, you know?” the Justicar said, scratching the back of his neck as he looked back towards the college. “Seraphim hasn’t made anything easy so far. When he came out with the new quest saying to meet up in one place to instantly defeat the new foe? I got suspicious. So I let John take the lead and sent out a few teams to scout the area. Because, you know, we can’t trust the scum sucker.”

“Smart,” I replied, nodding.

“Then, Ish led me to you,” he finished, gesturing towards me.

I tilted my head. “Ish?” I asked. There were plenty of Patrons who had that sound in their names, but none that I thought of when it came to Tommy.

“Yeah. My Patron, Ishmekarab,” he answered.

“The Mesopotamian god of justice, nice,” I said, nodding. Normally, Tommy was able to get himself a Patron, but his upgrade to Citizen’s Justicar must have helped him pull in a bigger fish than usual.

“Damn, you know that right off the top of your head?” he chuckled before gesturing towards my head. “I forgot you had all those memories in you. We could have used some warning about what was going to come before you left. I mean, I know I’m at fault there, but still.”

I shook my head. “If I left you with anything, then I’m sure Seraphim would have changed things. Either making them more difficult, or turning it around so my advice would hinder more than help. Nah, a clean break was exactly what we needed. The sooner I got away from here, the better it would have been for us all.”

“Because the moment you come back, he’s already scheming to kill you,” Gabrielle said, frowning. “He must really be obsessed with you.”

“Yeah, unfortunately,” I sighed, running my fingers through my hair. “Which also means I should be getting out of here. The sooner I’m gone, the sooner things will go back to normal for Etson. It’s not just the scenario, but he really does have a vendetta against me for reasons I can’t talk about. I managed to negotiate safe passage so he couldn’t trap me here.”

“Hold up, you negotiated with him?” she asked, arching an eyebrow.

“It’s a long story,” I said with a shrug. “Either way, you should get a day or so of peace before a monster spawns in that fits the description. In order to make the scenario work, you know.”

“You shouldn’t be in such a rush to leave,” Tommy stated. “There’s a lot of people here that are going to be sad and disappointed that you didn’t stay.”

“Yeah, and I’m sure there’s going to be a lot of people who are going to be just as happy to put a sword through me,” I laughed. “It’ll be better for everyone if I just slip away quietly. If that scum sucker does drop a Doppelganger or some kind of shape shifter that looks like me, for catharsis reasons or whatever, then you can kill them with no issues whatsoever knowing that it’s not the real deal.”

Gabrielle and Tommy shared a look with each other. “If someone looking just like you comes here and they’re not you, then we’re going to have some issues,” the healer said.

“What do you mean?”.

She pointed at her chest, right over her heart. “Can you not see the new logo?”

Frowning, I shook my head. It wasn’t a patch, so it didn’t pop up in my aura. “Okay, so, full disclosure, I’m actually blind right now,” I admitted. She opened her mouth to ask a question, and I held up a hand. “I can see through my aura, but my eyes aren’t working. Neither is the left side of my body, which I’m keeping up using psychic powers, and I can’t taste or smell anything, either.”

“The fuck happened to you?” Tommy asked, eyes wide as he looked me over.

“Something necessary, but ultimately very harmful,” I answered. Gabrielle’s aura pulsed and I felt a soothing wave of healing wash over me. I smiled. “Unfortunately, what happened to me is far more spiritual than physical. It happened when I was in my Angel form, and my Patron is looking up ways to try and reverse it.”

“Damn, dude. That sucks,” she said softly. “Wish I could fix you up. You sure you can’t find a healer for it?”

“There’s options,” I reassured her with a small nod. “It’s on the to-do list. After meeting up with my friends, but before throwing myself into a nuclear reactor to get parts.”

“That sounds like a really shitty to-do list,” Gabrielle said, putting her hands on her hips.

“Yeah, well, my plans always did look like they were coming straight off of a terrorist’s manifesto. Call in a bomb threat to the library, knock over a grocery store for some ham, lead a semi-truck through several buildings before causing a massive sinkhole to appear downtown, to name a few,” I chuckled. “But that’s neither here nor there. What’s this about something on your chest that I can’t see?”

“First thing you should know is that the Etson Faithful isn’t a thing anymore,” Tommy told me.

“Oh, sweet,” I replied, grinning. I turned to Gabrielle. “Did you take over? Or did you guys merge with the Tumblers?”

“The Tumblers don’t exist anymore, either,” the healer said slowly, looking at Tommy. “Not the way you know them, at least.”

I arched an eyebrow. “What are you guys calling yourself now?”

“We’re, uh…” the Justicar ran his hand over his bald head. “We’re Anthony’s Faithful, now. On account of, you know, the whole Angel thing. You rocked a lot of people’s world on that battlefield, man. It’s kind of blown up.”

“Huh?” I asked, blinking as I tried to process the words. There was something about them that disgusted me down to my core. “I mean, what the fuck?”

“Yeah, we’ve got a lot of catching up to do,” Gabrielle said with a sympathetic smile. She reached over and patted me on the shoulder. That didn’t reassure me as much as I thought she wanted it to.