Chapter 113: Chapter One Hundred Thirteen

It took a few minutes for Jessie to cry herself out. I imagined she  had been building up quite a bit of pressure and frustration, and having  a release for all that tension in the form of hope was bound to take  the wind out of her sails. As mentioned she couldn't use here energizing  ability on herself, and after the tears she had actually fallen asleep  on my shoulder. I considered waking her, but we were as safe as were  were going to be for the foreseeable future, and having our healer  running on fumes seemed...ill advised.

Callie came over to  smile at me as I set her down. "She finally decided to talk to someone  huh?" I cocked my head in confusion and she chuckled sadly. "She's been  running herself into the ground trying to get stronger. I would have  brought it up but it was something she needed to open up about on her  own. I honestly have no idea what you said to her, because I couldn't  think of a way to help. Losing a loved one like that isn't something you  can just shrug off." She gave the younger girl a soft smile as we  bunched up her cloak under her head so she could sleep on the hard  marble flooring.

She turned to look at the others. "We're  stopping here for a while. Agria needs some rest, and I think the rest  of us could use a bit of time to decompress. Solomon and I will take  first watch, the rest of you have something to eat and relax a bit.  Maybe catch a nap yourselves, we'll wake you up well before any undead  get close." Everyone else seemed happy to take the time off and was able  to relax a bit, though I saw Benny looking at Jessie with concern. He  tapped Celine on the shoulder and pulled her over to stand by our  teammate so they could talk and watch her at the same time as Callie and  I pulled off to stand at the door to the hallway.

Despite  being on watch, I could tell Callie was relaxing a bit herself, and I  put an arm around her shoulder and pulled her against me as we watched  the hall. She let herself snuggle into my side, and I saw a tension ease  from her that I hadn't even noticed was there. I even reached up to  remove my mask since my back was to the others and my hood kept me  mostly protected from sight. "Wow, you were really worried about her  weren't you? Am I just a giant asshole for not noticing she was hurting  so much? I just picked up on it today, and I kind of wish I'd known, I  might have been able to...help somehow. I don't know."

She  leaned up to press a kiss to my lips. "No. You aren't an asshole.  You're someone whose been dealing with problems of his own. I was  worried, but I'm the leader, that's my job. The emotional health of my  team is important to me, especially you. I had faith she would confide  in one of us soon, and if she really did bottle it up for too much  longer I'd have said something to her. I just...I know how hard it is to  lose someone close to you. Not like she did, I know she and her brother  were inseparable but..."

I put a finger to her lips.  "Hey, you're allowed to mourn your friend. I know he was there for you  in a really dark time in your life. Just because Jessie lost someone  doesn't make you less deserving of your own grief. Feel how you feel. If  it's your job as leader to take care of us then it's my job as your  boyfriend to take care of you. Someone needs to if you're going to worry  about everyone else." I gave her a lopsided smile and she chuckled  wetly, giving me a grateful nod even if she didn't say anything out  loud.

Callie hadn't really had time to mourn Batty now  that I thought about it. Hell most of us hadn't had time to process any  of this. She'd gone out of her way to talk to me about my issues and  check how I was doing, and had apparently been keeping an eye out for  Jessie, but I hadn't even noticed how much trouble my team was having.  Basically the only one of us who seemed genuinely unaffected was Benny,  and I knew how my friend liked to repress everything. I decided I'd talk  to him about everything soon, to take something off Callie's plate,  because she'd been stuck with way too much lately.

We sat  there like that for a while. I had my Seek Hidden skill active and  scanning for skeletons, and I knew Callie had her eyes peeled even if  she was trying to take a beat to just let things go. I felt bad I  couldn't give her that time with no distractions, but that wasn't where  we were at right now. After a bit of time for her to gather herself and  some silence, she finally spoke. "What did she ask you? You don't have  to tell me if you think it would violate her confidence, but I'd like to  know, if that's ok."

I couldn't see a problem with  answering honestly. I'd promised Jessie the team would have her back,  and Callie was part of that. Benny too. I was pretty sure she wouldn't  mind them knowing what we had planned. "Her brother. She wants to bring  him back. Either on her own or with my help. She tried wishing for it to  see if it's possible, and while it is, its beyond the scope of my  ability, which means it's probably absurdly expensive. Still, one way or  the other it can be done, so I agreed to help her." I kept my tone  even, though I was curious what her reaction would be.

She  flinched away, looking...almost confused. "That's...sweet revenant. I  didn't even know that was possible, though now that I say that out loud  it seems silly. It's just...death. That's so final, I can't even imagine  it not being a constant. I wonder if that's a common option for people  who are high enough ranked. It just kind of highlights how different the  world gets as you grow stronger. How much the rules change. If you can  help her like that though....bring him back. Can you do that for me? Can  I wish for my friend back?"

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I just shrugged. "I don't see  why not. I mean keep in mind it might be a while. Judging by the  feedback this might be pretty damn late game, but if you want to  wait...yeah, I don't see a reason I couldn't. You don't think it's  stupid then? Or crazy? You'll help? Because honestly even thinking about  it feels crazy in a way. Living for a thousand plus years because of  Impact is one thing but death just being something you can...fix, it's  such an absurd thing to even consider. I half expected you to bust out  some obscure cultivation factiod to tell me it wasn't possible."

That  got a snicker. "Nope. That kind of thing is well above my paygrade.  This isn't exactly a top tier planet, not that I've been to one. There's  plenty about cultivation I don't know." She smiled wetly and poked me  in the ribs. "I just seem knowledgeable to you because you have no idea  what the hell is going on." That was probably fair. I had no clue what  was happening to me most of the time, as much as I had fun with the  process. Callie glanced over her shoulder. "You might want to put your  mask back on by the way, looks like our watch is over."

It  was a surprise to me that it had ended so quickly, but I guessed we had  been here longer than I thought. It had been nice spending time with  her. Callie had this knack for helping keep me in the moment. I didn't  overthink or analyze everything when I was with her. Whether it was  helping with her burdens or just sitting with her and talking I was  always present when we were together. I shot her a grateful smile and  gave her another quick kiss before I slipped my mask on, and we stood up  to turn and meet the next pair of watchers.

Benny  and Celine were waiting for us, Cark having taken over sitting with  Jessie, and it was all I could do not to laugh at the image of them  switching places with us. I gave my best friend a sarcastic nod. "You  guys have a reservation? Apparently this is the hot new place for  couples to spend time together, so I'm gonna have to check the guest  book." After the shit he gave me about Callie before we got together I  wasn't going to miss a chance to rib my best friend about his new  romance.

Celine  didn't respond, though her incredibly pale cheeks reddened so  imperceptibly I'd have missed it without my enhanced Perception stat.  Benny just gave me the finger. "Yeah, table for two under go fuck  yourself." I cracked up at that and we stepped aside to let them  through. Benny kicked my ankle as I walked by and I yelped as it landed  right on the bone, getting a snicker from my friend. I didn't begrudge  him that back and forth. I could tell he was as worried about Jessie as I  was. The familiarity of us messing with each other was a comfort with  so much changing.

I  expected Callie to mention it, but she just shook her head in  exasperation at the two of us. We found Cark sitting back against the  wall napping and the two of us sat down on the other side of him near  Jessie to close our eyes too. I spread my cloak out on the floor at the  base of the wall as we settled in for a nap. I didn't know when the next  chance to sleep would come, so since we were here it made sense to at  least try to rest. Callie agreed with me it seemed, because she snuggled  up next to me and we both did our best to drift off to sleep.

As  I drifted off though I thought back to what I'd learned from Jessie, to  what I'd seen in Callie's eyes. I spent a lot of time focusing on the  good and trying not to get lost in the various terrible things that had  happened interspersed throughout my time as an Ascendant. My dad  disowning me, finding Batty's body, those eight sleepers who Aiden had  killed in G district. There was real darkness there as much as I tried  to avoid thinking about it. But I'd been ignoring the most important  thing. My own team.

Benny  had left home for the first time and basically abandoned his family to  follow me. His parents and he weren't always that close but they loved  him and he loved them. He and Maria were thick as thieves, and he had  left all that behind to come with me. Some of that was a desire for  adventure, but I knew him well enough to know some of it was looking out  for me, even if he'd never say it. Callie was dealing with Batty's  death and everyone elses problems, and Jessie had been suffering without  me even noticing.

I  made a promise to myself. To help my friends with their demons even as I  tried to work on mine. To take care of my team for real, not just  ignore them outside of fights. I planned for us all to be together for a  long time, and I wanted us to thrive, emotionally and in terms of  power. I fell asleep like that, my girlfriend warm against my side as I  drifted off, and despite the dire revelations I was smiling. Knowing  there was a problem was a good first step. Tomorrow would be a better  day.

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