Chapter 311

The Angel Express, New York - 5:44 PM

I jumped up the moment I received Jamie’s message that our guildmates had escaped from the Emperor’s Ascent triumphantly. Not wasting any time, I used Celestial Wormhole on the dining car’s door and swung it open before backing up.

One by one, everyone started filtering in. Jeff and Kayla, Mercury and Bethany, then Ash and Jamie with Corwin in tow. It seemed the Evolution Hound had missed her, but he changed targets the moment he noticed me. My grin got wider as I Pushed the door closed before anyone else could follow them.

“Friends!” I greeted as I looked everyone over, and they brightened up at the sight of me. Leaning down, I started petting Corwin with both hands, and he tried his best to bowl me over with affection. “I know it’s barely been any time at all, but I’ve missed you guys.”

“It’s only been a couple of days, yeah, but we’ve been really busy up there,” Kayla agreed.

“We’ve missed you, too,” Jeff said, smiling as he approached with his wife.

Kayla’s armor and gear were in excellent condition with only relatively minor damage. Seeing as she had a husband who’s entire class revolved around protecting her, that was no surprise. The Double Agent was a rogue that essentially multiclassed into a support caster with light healing capabilities and she was using her stealth skills to great effect, even if she couldn’t match the ninja on the team. She smiled brightly as she hugged me.

Because Kayla was in good shape, it made sense that Jeff was a complete mess. His Stinging Yellow Jacket was torn with large gashes making it more leather scraps than an article of clothing. The pants he wore weren’t much better, though my attention fell to the weapon on his belt.

“That’s not Killer Queen,” I said, pointing. “Did Ash—”

Before I could finish, Kayla backed away and Jeff came in for a hug. The larger man’s arms wrapped around me and he attempted to pick me up, as he usually did after we had been away for a while, but found that he couldn’t budge me.

“—Finish your new rapier?” I continued, returning the hug.

“You’ve gotten heavy, boss,” Jeff laughed, patting me on the back before backing up.

He ran his hand through his blonde hair with a big grin before drawing his sword. The blade was bone-white with green lines running down it. Its hilt was a sleek black affair with an elaborate guard, and the pommel glowed green.

“The Death Dragon’s Kiss,” he announced proudly. “The blade is made up of one of the Soul Shearer’s thighs, and it’s been enhanced with the venom of the Dragon Ash put to sleep.”

“It was just a big ass snake masquerading as a Dragon,” the Bostonian Monstersmith scoffed. “Good to see you, psychic boy.”

She approached and punched me on the shoulder. Normally, the red-haired woman was covered in grime and soot from her forge, but it appeared as though she had put some thought in her attire today. The black dress she wore was more attention grabbing than she normally went for, and I knew that was definitely for Jamie. 

“Good to see you, Ash,” I returned, smiling as I pulled her into a one-armed hug.

She rolled her eyes, but didn’t try to escape. “Go ahead, Jeff, keep talking.”

The Queen’s Knight nodded excitedly. “The hilt is made from the big robot you fought in Hanford, and there’s a rocket booster effect on the pommel so that my thrusts can get a little extra to them, whether to throw off my opponent’s timing or to give me some extra piercing power.”

“That sounds like a dangerous thing to have in a weapon,” I said, arching an eyebrow.

“Sounds fucking awesome, more like,” Ash scoffed.

“It’s a small blast, so unless it’s right up against my chest I’m not going to get caught by it,” he informed, still giddy. “Between the venom and the Reaper debuffs, it still lets me mess up my opponents. Oh! And I used Blank Skill Books so I could keep Honey Clot and Vespae Queen’s Touch.”

“Damn, so between that and the Papyrus skill you got in Pittsburgh, you’ve got the potential for five debuffs on every strike, right?” I whistled.

Jeff nodded, his goofy grin plastered on his face. “That’s right. It’s awesome.”

I let go of Ash and turned to her. “Thanks for taking care of everyone. You exceed expectations every time.”

“Yeah, well, everyone already knows that,” the Monstersmith said, pulling away and returning to Jamie’s side. Her face was flushed and she hid a smile. Praise was always her biggest weakness.

“Sure. I’m going to have something big for you to work on once we get moving, so don’t get too far, yeah?” I requested.

“Easy enough. Kind of excited because of what you told me before, if I’m being honest.” Ash pulled Jamie to one of the dining car’s tables so that she could examine the woman. I smiled as she started feeling the Weapon Master’s scales. 

My attention was diverted as Mercury pushed Bethany towards me. The little girl reached out and pet Corwin, who was still trying his best to knock me over, and he settled down. As a good boy, he was always much gentler when she was around. After a moment, she looked up and smiled.

“We missed you,” she signed. “I’m glad you’re back, Anthony.”

“I’m glad to be back,” I returned, both vocally and with my hands, as I smiled as she used my namesign. No matter what it was, that never got old. “It’s much better here with all of you instead of only having Jamie for company.”

“Hey. Watch yourself, Franklin,” the Weapon Master warned.

I chuckled. Bethany’s expression brightened as she hugged me, and I returned it. She lingered for a few seconds before backing up into her brother. When he offered me his fist, I bumped it, and the ninja grinned.

“Would have been nice to have you in that last fight, but it was nothing that Sol Ligatus couldn’t handle,” Mercury said, thumbing his nose.

His bravado made me look down at his clothes. The black ninja garb he had gained when he got his class wasn’t as torn up as Jeff’s, but he was still far worse off than Kayla. Parts of it even showed off his skin underneath, but not much. He had been put through the ringer.

“Clearly. I’m glad you’re all in one piece,” I chuckled.

Kayla arched an eyebrow. “You’re blind,” she said from the side where she was leaning against her husband.

“Huh?” Mercury and Jeff asked at the same time.

She nodded upwards at me. “He’s looking at you, but his eyes aren’t moving,” she elaborated. “They’re not misting over, but you’re blind, aren’t you? What happened, Ant?”

“Man, I love how perceptive you are, Kayla,” I laughed before taking a step back and sitting on the stool at the dining car’s bar. “That’s my second in command for you. Sharp as a tack.”

That made her cross her arms. “Flattery isn’t going to make my question go away.”

“An unfortunate series of events,” I told her. When she opened her mouth to argue, I held up my hand. “We’ll get into it. I’m not going to keep you in the dark. My sight’s fine enough through my aura, and I can see that most of you need to get your clothes in order. We’ll have some down time, so feel free to get changed and y’all can do laundry later.”

Jeff and Mercury looked down at themselves. “That does sound pretty nice,” the ninja admitted before disappearing completely. I felt him reappear at the end of the car as he walked into the other sleeper car where his quarters were.

“We’ll be back in a couple of minutes,” Kayla sighed before leading Jeff to their room, which was the one next to mine.

I tapped Bethany’s shoulder before pointing towards the table next to Ash and Jamie, and she nodded. We joined them with Corwin sitting on my feet, and I sighed comfortably as I settled. “Public transportation doesn’t have anything on the Angel Express,” I said and signed, making sure the Tea Witch could be a part of the conversation.

“You can say that again,” Jamie agreed as a steak covered with onions appeared in front of her.

“So,” Ash started, leaning onto the table. “You get what we need?”

Instead of answering right away, I leaned back in my seat and looked upwards towards the ceiling. “Sara? How are we looking?”

<<<>>>

[[Patron Message]]

One moment, finalizing now.

<<<>>>

“How are we looking on what?” the Monstersmith asked, confused.

“This is still a delicate matter, so she and the Dealer has whipped something special up. Sara just needs a little help,” I told her. “She says it’ll just be a moment.”

“Just a moment for wha—”

<<<>>>

[[Safe Zone Notice]]

An Administrator Black-out has been sponsored by the following Patrons.

[Unknown Patron] - Anthony Franklin

Skuld - Kayla Mills

Athena - Jamie Summers

Grandmother Hearth - Bethany Langston

Marishiten - Leonard Langston

This Administrator Black-out will affect the whole of the safe zone at all times.

<<<>>>

“No Coyote?” I asked, arching an eyebrow.

“Your new Patron is Athena?” Ash asked Jamie. “That’s fucking awesome.”

“A lot has happened since we left,” the Weapon Master said with a nod. “Most of it is good, but not all of it.”

“What happened to Coyote?” I asked again, waving my hand to get Ash’s attention.

“He left the same time you did,” Kayla answered as she returned to the dining car in her long sleeved pajamas and pants. “Jeff was pretty torn up about it, but we all knew that the Patron was capricious.”

“Considering he followed me all the way from Sedona and likely only joined up with your knight because it would get him more access, I wish I could say I was surprised,” I sighed. “If he’s not back, then I’m betting I know where he is. Though, I wish that was something we had discussed before, Sara.”

<<<>>>

[[Patron Message]]

I did not know, and Marishiten didn’t bring it up. When I said hello, there was no response from him, so I thought he was just doing what he normally did.

<<<>>>

“No worries. If you didn’t know, then you didn’t know. I can blame this one on Marishiten,” I said easily.

<<<>>>

[[Notice]]

The Patron [Marishiten] pouts at the unfair shade being slung at her.

<<<>>>

“Alright, I won’t blame you on this one, either,” I chuckled, waving a hand. “Like I said, it’s not really a surprise.”

“But you think you know where he is now?” Kayla asked, taking a seat at the table next to me.

“Yeah, and it could be either really good or really bad. There’s no way to know for sure until he shows back up,” I answered with a shrug, and I turned to face her. “How’d everything go after we left?”

“I’d much rather hear how you managed to get blinded,” the Double Agent snorted.

“I bet you would, but that’s really more of a whole team kind of discussion,” I replied.

“And that sounds like I’m not going to be getting my hands on that damn blueprint anytime soon,” Ash said with a scowl. “Even after all this has been set up.”

“You would be correct,” I returned. “But you’re going to be very, very busy for the foreseeable future.”

“How’s that any different from how I usually am?” she scoffed.

“Because the item you’re going to make is going to help save the world,” I told her honestly, and the Monstersmith blinked at me. I offered Kayla an apologetic smile. “Sorry, let me take care of this first, then we’ll get into how you guys did in the Emperor’s Ascent.”

“Take care of what?” she asked, arching an eyebrow.

I looked at Jamie, and she nodded and opened her inventory. My hand hovered over the table and we both summoned clothing. An unassuming brown leather smock, thick gloves, and a pair of safety goggles appeared in the Weapon Master’s hands, and she slid them towards Ash.

On my table, I summoned a dark green dress with a white pattern on the front that almost seemed to be a smock, and a matching witch’s hat. I pushed them towards Bethany across from me.

“The spoils of our latest outing,” I announced with a grin. “Well, for you two. We have a few skill books to pass around, but these are class items for you two, specifically.”

“Huh?” Ash asked, looking down at the Monstersmith items.

Bethany was much quicker to accept our gifts, and she grinned. “Thank you, Anthony!” she signed excitedly, picking up the hat and shoving her head inside of it. The item shifted automatically to fit her.

“It was his idea,” Jamie said, tilting her head towards me. “Kayla and Jeff are going to have to get their class items the hard way, but apparently you and Bethany here are going to be left in the dark without us.”

I nodded. “That’s right. Normally we’d stop and do some crafting competitions, which both of you knock out of the park, and get your class set for you. Since the timeline has been accelerated, that’s not really in the cards.”

“So we’re just admitting these things out loud now?” Ash asked, crossing her arms. She hadn’t touched her equipment yet, but Bethany ran off with her dress to change. “What happened to being discreet?”

“The time for that is over. A lot has happened, and we’re in the stretch before the end game,” I said, leaning forward on the table. “Which means we’ve got a lot of work to do, and not a lot of time to do it. Every day will be dangerous so we have to move with speed.”

“That gear will help you craft things faster,” Jamie offered. “They’ll add better stats, have a chance to automatically upgrade skills on completion, and a couple other things.”

“Could have waited to make Jeff’s new fucking rapier if I had known you were getting these,” Ash sighed.

“Nah, he’d probably still want that for the Ascent’s final boss,” I said, shaking my head before looking at Kayla. “I assume it came in handy?”

“Big time,” she confirmed.

“Then it was a good choice,” I reiterated. Pausing, I pushed out my awareness aura. Both of the showers were running, though I didn’t invade their privacy enough to see the men inside, and I nodded. “We probably have some time before Mercury and Jeff get back, so there’s something I need to discuss with Jamie before we start moving.”

“I like how you asked me how the Emperor’s Ascent went, and then immediately got distracted by other things,” Kayla said, reaching out to tap me on the head.

“Sorry, a lot has happened and the list I have in my head is a bit disorganized,” I replied with a sheepish smile. “Last thing, then we’ll talk about the event. Then, after that, we’ll talk about my event.”

“Then I’ll get to work?” Ash asked.

“For sure.”

“Good. I want to get started asap. I’m ready for another challenge.”

“And you’ll get one,” I said.

“So, what do you need from me?” Jamie asked, crossing her arms.

“How strong is your throwing weapon ability?” I asked, leaning back so I could see her better.

The Weapon Master looked confused. “One away from being maxed out, why?”

“Good. Perfect, even,” I said before grinning. “I’ve got a little bit of a side quest for you, if you’re willing. How do you feel about bowling?”