But for a Slime

* * *

Gwenvair grew deeply concerned when she saw Joe’s upset, “We… we are studying your dao. Are you unwilling?”

Joe quickly shook his head, “No. It’s fine. It’s… just a bit weird for me, I guess.”

Gwenvair calmed at that, “Then… you are willing to share?”

Joe laughed, shrugging, “More than willing… guess I’m just a bit embarrassed. Don’t look too much into it. I was just fighting.”

Gwenvair hid her shock, barely keeping the smile from her lips as she nodded, “Then, I thank you.”

Joe waved the thanks away, “It’s fine. Really. Just… embarrassed.”

Gwenvair’s smile grew, relief flooding through her and looked back to the stage as the Epic began a third time. I must see… I must see all I can.

* * *

When his Epic started a fourth time, Joe sighed deeply and found himself utterly bored. The fifth time when the people cried for it again, Joe stood and turned to everyone.

“I’m glad you guys are enjoying this. Please, enjoy your time, but I need to rest and get some sleep.”

Kilniara looked up at him with torn eyes, obviously wanting to stay, but just as obvious in her worry for Joe. Joe quickly put a hand on her shoulder and calmed her down.

“Stay. Enjoy this and have fun. I’m just tired, OK?”

Gwenvair relaxed with that and Joe felt an eyebrow rise with some confusion. Why was she concerned? Or… ooh… man, she’s such a great friend… worried about her. Glad they can both stay and keep enjoying this. Guess if you never have TV, this is the same as bingeing.

Kilniara put a hand to his, “Are you sure?”

Joe nodded, “Yeah. I’ll head to sleep. Just… all … can you make sure you all head back together? I don’t… please be safe.”

Kilniara flushed at that, a soft smile on her face as she ducked her head and nodded, “I will.”

Zilnek and Garnedell both stood and came forward, “She will be safe with us.”

“My sister will not be harmed,” Zilnek added over Garnedell’s words.

Joe smiled at the two boys, clapping a hand on their shoulders before turning away, “So… can someone guide me back to my room?”

Gwenvair quickly nodded and called for an aide. The young woman came forward quickly to his side, “Please follow me, sir.”

Joe waved goodbye to everyone before turning to the young woman, “Thank you… very much. Just home, that’s all.”

She bowed and began to lead Joe towards his villa, although she seemed to walk a bit fast. It took Joe a bit, but then he got it. Ah… she’s missing out on the entertainment… right…

“We can go faster, please.”

The woman looked back at him, nodding, but he did notice her relief and smiled, “We could run, if you want?”

Her relieved looked turned to a grateful smile and they were soon jogging down the road. When his villa came into sight, he recognized it, but verified with the young woman.

“Is that it?”

She nodded when he pointed, bowing as well with her nod, “Yes, eccentric. That is your villa.”

Joe returned her bow with a small head nod of his own, “Then head on back and enjoy your evening show. I can make it home myself now.”

“You… are you cer…”

Joe cut her off, “Go. Go have fun. I’m fine.”

Her smile lit up her face, “Thank you! Thank you so much, eccentric.”

“Run fast!”

She turned and sprinted back the way they came, and Joe shook his head before turning back to his villa. He entered, bathed, and then sat on his bed, preparing to sleep, but vibrated in agitation. His mind melted under the exhaustion of the day, even as he attempted to portray a pleasant attitude throughout the rest of the evening since that is what people seemed to expect from him even while his emotions ran wild under his iron will keeping them hidden beneath a smiling mask. But now, he was exhausted and without the social impetus from a surrounding crowd, he had no need to keep it in. So, his emotions rampaged, and his rage welled like a tide rising, cold and implacable. His earlier immediate reaction had burnt out, but there was something beneath it all that wouldn’t calm, but only grew. He didn’t understand nor could he figure out why or what was driving it. He only felt.

After awhile, he could no longer sit and he stood and found himself wandering through the villa, alone. His agitation swelling and driving him until finally he even went outside. It was so dark, with the odd glows off in the distance that Joe quickly realized were the massive celebrations of the city. The celebrations, in abstract, seemed odd, then so tiny in a world that was so complete in its darkness. Much of the brilliant light of the gas giant was now hidden by the curve of the planet, with only a portion of it above the horizon. About… half… maybe a third? Guess we’ll hit an eclipse soon? Maybe? Yeah… and ooh! What?

His anger simmered then cooled before his curiosity when he saw a rather large black dot up in the night sky easily seen before the majestic canvas of the gas giant. He puzzled on it for a time, staring at it with knitted eyebrows before realization hit and his eyebrows smoothed. Ha! Another moon! That is … so cool. Pretty easy to see. Heh… seems like… wait… His eyebrows quickly knit again. That seems… really … really big! That’s… should it be that big? That… Seems way too big or… way, way too close.

His mind chewed on that for a time, but wasn’t exactly sure what he felt was wrong about the image he was seeing. He wasn’t sure, his education not having been enough with astronomy to explain what he was feeling was odd, but he was certain that something wasn’t adding up with what pop astronomy he knew.

Soon, his curiosity had cooled his anger and all that was left was his exhaustion. The cool night of the air and the solitude of the curated grounds called to him, however, and he remained outside for a bit longer, using the time to practice his skills and level them up as he wandered around the villa, lost in his thoughts. By the time he felt ready to sleep, he was no closer to why he was angry and he turned back to his room, slipping into the villa in the dead of night.

As he walked through the villa, it was dead silent. It was a silence so complete that Joe found it unnerving until he realized that what he was missing was the soft sounds of a thousand different tiny motors and engines that ran in the background of any modern home: the hum of the fridge, AC, washer, or dryer; the drip of water or the wash of running liquids. But here, with all the people gone and him alone, the only sounds were from what he generated, and the rare random small breath of a breeze.

It gave him pause, for a moment, but then his fatigue washed over him again and he climbed into his bed, exhausted. His emotions utterly wrung out like an old rag. He made sure to use up all his job changes, pushing his skill increases before he fell asleep almost instantly.

* * *

Joe woke with a soft start, breathing deeply when he felt his blankets pulled back and the soft scales of Kilniara slid across his chest. She slid onto his left arm, tucking her head into the crook of his shoulder and falling asleep. Joe sighed, enjoying the cool silk of her skin across his left side. He wiggled deeper back into the bed and snuggled into Kilniara. She shifted slightly, her soft furry hair sliding across his right arm then settled into his shoulder again.

Joe smiled to have her there, grateful for her return, then frowned in frustration that she sought him out when he asked her not to come but quickly berated himself when he remembered her day. Completely… makes sense… maybe… just for a day or two… she needs it. But, she’s gonna … yeah… let’s see.

Joe lay there for a bit, but as he remembered what happened that day, his anger swelled and he found his agitation growing once again. He tried to lay and hold Kilniara, but after a while, could no longer stay and rose to his feet cautiously. He made sure Kilniara didn’t awaken and covered her with a blanket again before slipping out into the hallway. He walked to the living room and paused in some surprise when he saw Gwenvair there.

“Oh! Hi. You OK?”

Gwenvair jumped in surprise, staring at Joe, “Joe!”

Joe grinned, “Yup. Is everything OK?”

“I… yeah… no. I’m worried about Kilniara.”

Joe grimaced, “Yeah. She’s … she’s going to struggle for a bit.”

Gwenvair nodded but remained silent, seeming a bit embarrassed before she looked up and spoke a bit in a rush, “Are you well? Why are you out here?”

Joe sighed, “Too… angry. Need to vent a bit.”

Gwenvair smiled at that, grinning, “Vent. That is a good word.”

Joe chuckled, “Yeah.”

They fell silent again, the awkwardness growing more and Joe quickly interjected to fill the silence, “Kilniara came into my room. She’s… sleeping. I think she’s OK now.”

Gwenvair nodded, but said nothing.

“Did you want to see her?”

Gwenvair shook her head no, then paused with some nervousness before quickly speaking, “If it’s OK with you?”

Joe chuckled, “I’m not there, so that’s fine. It’ll probably be good for her to have someone there.”

Gwenvair nodded and seemed to grow more nervous, so Joe turned to leave, not wanting to bother her more, “I’ll head out for a bit.”

She replied rather quickly, “OK. Joe.”

Joe felt his agitation wane with the conversation but when he stepped outside under the cloudless sky deep in the night, the loneliness left him with this thoughts and emotions, allowing them to swell once again. He marched around the villa, his movement quickly shifting from a relaxed meandering to a pounding strut infused with rage. He couldn’t really think. He couldn’t really do anything, except be angry. His anger surged, growing ever more along with a frustration as he struggled to understand the source of his anger.

Certainly, a part of it was what had happened to Kilniara, but there was more to it than simply that, and it itched at him, irritating him further. After he’d circumnavigated the villa a few times, he sought something to distract him, and turned back to mana and skill practice, but made sure to choose something that was rather mindless so he could continue to focus on his frustrations.

He wandered the night for quite some time, his anger fluctuating and twisting him up inside. When he finally sighed, and turned to head back inside, his exhaustion finally overwhelming his emotions, he turned back to the door and began trudging in, giving up trying to find the answer. He reviewed the day, instead, worried about the others since he’d been so focused on Kilniara. Garnedell… he’s fine… so is Zilnek… which seems screwed up… it was his sister… so… Gwenvair… more worried about Kilniara… and me. His eyebrows knit as he began considering things again, turning his thoughts to think on all the various people who’d been a part of the process that day and grew more upset as he realized there was something in the memories of the bystanders that bothered him. He paused in his walking, thinking, then huffed in shock, staring up into the sky with the realization before his anger spiked, raging through him as he screamed silently at the sky. No sound came from his voice, but anger radiated from his entire being as he erupted.

He remained in a tense silent scream for a time before he finally relaxed and fell from the anger and felt his emotions collapse. He turned back to the villa and went back inside, demotivated and utterly depressed. No one was angry. No one was upset. A couple were … ill… like seeing something disgusting, but… no one was enraged by the injustice… This is… just… normal for them… something regular! He felt nothing with that thought, except a monotone depression.

Joe wearily headed back to his bed, his exhaustion now complete as he had no emotions left; just a throbbing despair that was bottomless and left him without hope. He headed down the hallway and slipped into his room, pulling off his shirt as he did so, coming towards his bed.

He made it to the bedside before he stopped in befuddlement, noticing two girls on his bed. Oh… yeah… Gwenvair came in for Kilniara…well… crap. Gwenvair lay in bed, entwined with Kilniara who seemed to be sucked onto her desperately, even in her sleep. Joe smiled, saddened by the need that Kilniara had, but also glad that she had such a good friend in Gwenvair.

Joe considered for a bit, then decided he couldn’t wake them. He sighed softly and turned to look at the room, noticing a small chair and a rather uncomfortable, but almost long enough sofa. Better than nothing. He headed to there with a sigh and settled into the sofa, grumbling and twisting for a time, but despite the discomfort, he fell asleep almost immediately, his exhaustion almost complete across his entire being.

* * *

The Saga abbot of Coushar practiced his vigil deep within the temple as Tidesend took the city in a wild storm. He’d not joined the festivities, his duty to his goddess of greater importance. He did make sure to encourage others to seek out their choices, although attempted to faithfully teach the wisdom of appropriate priorities. They needed to find their own way in this, but offering hints of wisdom was always wise.

Just in the evening, with the arrival of the night, one of his most significant advisors interrupted his vigil rather forcefully. The abbot sighed in frustration, but knew his advisors, all of them, would never interrupt without something of meaningful importance and he rose to greet his fellow saga believer.

“Greetings, my brother.”

“Abbot. Please. Come quickly. We have found him.”

The abbot blinked in some surprise, knitting his eyebrows, “Him?”

“The one who climbed through saga monk and became a chaplain in only a five day… maybe a week!”

“He’s here?”

“No, but… please come, abbot!”

The abbot nodded, understanding the importance and the two quickly threaded the maze of the temple basement. In moments, they were out of the temple in to the great temple plaza and the abbot searched the crowds around for the man, but all were turned away, their eyes avidly taking in the Epics that played at the center of the plaza. As the abbot struggled to find the man, his advisor interrupted him.

“Abbot. Please. The epic.”

The abbot looked at him with some confusion then turned to look at the epic. It took some time, but after a few moments, the epic of the Eccentric revealed a close up of the eccentric, his heroic figure easily seen by all, and his face one that was easily recognizable. The saga abbot breathed with some surprise, eyes wide and excitement coursing through him.

“The eccentric! Of course!”

The advisor said nothing, waiting patiently as the abbot excitedly considered his thoughts before rapidly turning and plunging back into the temple.

“Quickly. Call for the council! We must have a meeting to consider…”

His advisor interrupted him rather quickly, “Abbot. Abbot! Brother, please…”

“What?!” the abbot abruptly cried before turning to face him.

His advisor stopped, turning to face the abbot as well, but did not back down, “Abbot. It is Tidesend.”

The abbot considered, thoughtful, then cursed with a frown, “After Tidesend! Immediately.”

“Yes, abbot. Immediately following Tidesend.”

The eccentric! Of course! Who else could it be? We must immediately send our best to him… how could we … hmm… what would be the appropriate gift!