"Well, hell," Reed said, irritated. Ccoa had just taken down Brenner. When the battle had been engaged, instead of Night Sun coming to the High Priest's call to summon a deity, Ccoa had come. It hadn't helped anyone's mood in the defenders of the People of the Land. It meant they were going to have to do yet another repeat of Ccoa followed by Night Sun.
The chaplain had been quoting a very long passage in order to keep them all up long enough for the latest flood of Adventurers to be pushed back. It had properly tanked them all up, but he'd taken the fall because it had been long enough for the High Priest's curse to get off and hit him full force.
"So...what does that do?" Michael asked.
"Not much, since we got the bye to have in-place resurrections because technically we're outside the Sect war rules. ...Except Ccoa can keep souls from resurrecting as one of the death gods," Reed said bitterly. "And that curse just asked for that miracle."
"I see," Michael said. "So take down one of our main pillars for good and we're in trouble, eh?"
"Not really," BillyBoy said. "I've looked one up for that, knowing what the death gods can do."
"Nice," Reed said. "Any time."
"On just one, this early? You don't want me to wait for more?"
"Not really. Intend for it to affect the rest of the battle as an update to the game dynamics," Reed instructed. That's how he'd been handling all the change requests like that, and so far it had worked just fine.
BillyBoy blinked. "Okay...I guess I'll try that." He took a bit to rearrange his direction of thinking, then opened a larger book than he'd been holding earlier. Michael flew to attack the High Priest directly to distract him long enough for BillyBoy to get his reading completed.
"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
"Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations: that the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ.
"Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of your brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently: being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever. For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away: but the word of the Lord endureth for ever."*
There was an immediate answer as a swirl of wind placed the Archangel Brenner back in his place where he belonged. When Michael let the High Priest breathe enough to see Brenner back again, the High Priest raged. They let him until he started another cursing. This time they boxed him in, quite done with him.
"Caretaker, you can have him now," Michael said. "He's quite unrepentant. Maybe the rest of them will answer more positively if he isn't here to cow them into submission." He wasn't sure he believed it, but sometimes that worked.
A large insubstantial finger reached down and covered the High Priest's lips, making his chant halt in the middle. The rebound was horrible since it bounced around the shield for a while. His underlings stared at the suddenly empty location in shock. Ccoa howled.
The Caretaker appeared. "Ccoa, return to your temple. I can't prevent you from being able to participate in the final battle in the Gate of Time when it begins, but I no longer have the patience with you out here. Your true followers are gone, properly defeated. These aren't your followers. Night Sun has deceived you, not wanting you to know by what means he was defeated."
"Wait," Reed said, confused. "I thought these worshiped him, too."
"No," Purrcy said, "by game rules, Ccoa can only be worshiped by demihumans. When you purified them all in the previous engagement, you removed all of his worshipers in the base realm.
"Night Sun has allowed him to play a part in exchange for some of Night Sun's power in replacement. But Night Sun has done it because he's afraid to face you again in this place. Instead he sent Ccoa to see if the Adventurers will be enough to defeat you instead."
"Wait, Night Sun is afraid?" the second highest priest among the Adventurers asked.
"Never. Night Sun is not afraid, not even to mock the Caretaker," Ccoa scoffed.
"Didn't you see me kill him earlier?" Michael asked the Adventurers around him. Some looked like they were trying to remember. "Here, I'll jog your memories."
He was suddenly large, four armed, and winged again. Before Ccoa could dodge, the God Cleaver had struck him a blow that made him tumble through the air. Ccoa crouched in a fighting pose and hissed. His wound seeped, unable to heal.
Purrcy suddenly flinched and a thick grey shield appeared over their heads. A resounding crash sounded overhead, and the shield cracked into radial cracks. "You will die next, all of you," Purrcy cried. "Relent now and repent and I can help you."
She was stared at dumbly. They couldn't even comprehend her words. "What is it?" Reed asked.
"Night Sun is watching to see what happens. His anger and fear are very great. He's decided to act now to take all of us out at once," there was strain in Purrcy's voice.
"Purification barrier over the entire battlefield," Reed ordered.
Michael looked at Purrcy sadly, then bowed. "Please, stay strong. I'll go and face him. You mustn't let him through. We won't be able to defeat him if he eats this many Adventurers."
Purrcy was very torn, they could tell. "Then ask me to kill him myself," she almost begged Michael.
"No," Michael said.
Purrcy threw a full on temper tantrum. "You always, always, ignore me and my desires to protect you all. You throw in my face my worry, my care, my concern, and tell me that you're strong enough without any help, yet you stand here and tell me to help in a way that's weaker than what I could do to prevent it from happening in the first place.
"I don't have the strength to hold this barrier, even if all of you prayed for it. They don't understand and don't care until they see and are being eaten. But to cast the spell to prevent him from even moving is as easy as a cantrip. Why won't you let me act when it is simple?!" The scowl on her face and her lashing tail were rather dramatic, to match the rage in her voice.
"Oh, well, that is simple," Reed said suddenly. "Put him in pause for a moment, please Hahaue."
Both Michael and Purrcy stared at him for a moment, then Purrcy flinched again. This time the shield shattered as it was impacted, but instead of a god swooping down to swallow a crowd of Adventurers whole, a god slammed into the ground with an impact that shook the earth and raised a cloud of dirt and dust.
As they blinked, Reed humbly said, "Thank you. You may return from interrupt." He mildly put his hands behind his back.
Purrcy turned back to Michael, then glared back at Reed. "You're just as bad, thinking that just because it was an exam or because you have to appear on the other side of things, you can't approach me when I know full well you need just as much help as any of us. Give up your stupid pride, the lot of you." She was glaring at all the Eagles she could see now.
Her voice rang out over the entire battlefield, "Just because you showed up on Theldesia and gained strength in strange and artificial ways doesn't mean you aren't still just weak men on Earth. What the hell are you thinking? Life is still hard and you still need other humans to survive.
"Let me help you every once in a while when it's a simple thing for me and you won't be making my life harder and sadder. How hard is it to understand that I love you and want to help? You already know I'm not going to step in unnecessarily. I'm still going to let you earn your points for yourself like you want to, but stop being so stupid about what I can and can't do.
Start asking for the early and easy things so you don't have to have it so hard. You aren't meant to throw yourself at everything hard enough to break every time. Only when it's necessary, and it isn't necessary on this battle. We need you to survive this one. That is a requirement."
She finally turned on the Adventures in the field. "And the rest of you have got to stop the madness. Do you know how many Adventurers you've driven to madness because of the very real sacrifices you've been making?
"It won't make it any better for you all to become sacrifices too since then you'll all be broken even more than you are now, but many days it's been very tempting." An entire field of Snap Sparks appeared. "Wake up!" she demanded and they all went off. Those among the Eagles who'd been on the receiving side of those winced.
"If you really are all that evil, then I'll put you all to sleep until the final battle, then take you all down first so we don't have to deal with you anymore. Then you can go home, wake up in your beds, wet your pants, and cry to your psychologists. And I'll make sure the families of those you broke know who you are and sue you into a hole in the ground.
"Decide! Decide now! Will you relent and play nice from now on, or will you insist this is a dream and you really are the fully black-hearted evil people you've been pretending to be?" Her hands were on her hips and she was blasting the entire field.
Reed's expression was one of complete bliss and contentment. BillyBoy's mouth was opened, but eventually it closed, he swallowed, and then he nodded. That was about the right level of scold for what they'd done, in his book.
"Who are you?" one of the closer Adventurers finally asked in complete confusion.
"I am Purrcy: Adventurer, wife, mother, Caretaker and Assistant Administrator of Theldesia, Game Moderator of Yamato, and angry woman who can't fathom how the lot of you have lived the way you've lived for the last three years. What gives any of you the right to give away your humanity and decency just because you got dragged to a different planet?"
The people looked over to the god-become-meteoroid, then looked at her. "You did that?"
"Yes. I did. I have that right and ability. That is a construct of the game that you've been foolishly bowing down to and harming your fellow Earthlings and the innocent locals for, just to get a few goddamn more levels. IDIOTS!" She had pointed to the frozen deity, then clenched her fists as her anger spiked.
Michael's hands came down on Purrcy's shoulders and she immediately closed her eyes and just breathed. Shivering violently, she said more calmly and very sadly, "For just a few, temporary, unreal, unearned levels that have no meaning in this place and even less on Earth. So much pain, suffering, death, and hatred all because one programmed god of war wanted to gain his very real power over this planet at our and their expense. I want to kill him so badly, Michael."
She breathed in a few more harsh breaths that didn't want to get past the pain in her chest, and then she had to let them out. The cat wails echoed painfully her deep sorrow and grief. "Oh how low we have fallen, to have done such things," she cried. "We who were once isolated and lonely and understood what it was to be outcast, have now become pariahs of even this world that cannot look upon us with mercy or kindness, nor should it.
"We had found home here, in this place we could play and forget the pains of our real world. How can we play here now when we will only be looked at the same as we were on Earth? How can we go home and face the shame of what we've done? Anger was not an excuse for unkind and evil acts against the innocent, and certainly not against our own who were only lonely like us and like us had found a home here in Elder Tales.
"Shiroe," she cried miserably, "please, tell me it can be undone." Her sobs continued unabated as Michael held her comfortingly in his arms.
Michael looked at Reed and smiled. "Good job," he said.
Reed turned off the spell that made the scolding be heard around the world at all the battlefields. "I figured it had to be about now. I'd kind of wondered if it would be last time, but you were both too playful, really. That beginning was an obvious spousal scolding in the making."
Michael nodded. "Experienced you are."
Reed shrugged. "Not like we don't all need it every once in a while."
"True," Michael agreed. The words of the scolding that had halted the fighting in all parts of the world had finally been said.
"Come on," he said softly to Purrcy. "They'll handle it here now. You need to get back and let Nyanta-san finish comforting you so you can focus on the other places you still have work to do. Thank you. The Hahaue scolding was what they all really needed." He hugged her a little tighter, then let her go to hold her shoulders again until she could nod and disappear.
When she was gone, Michael walked over the the Paused deity and killed that aspect of him as coldly as he had the last time. Ccoa had already disappeared in fear.
The Adventurers around them had the same questions that were being asked all over the world, but it was the request made in South Amerka that answered it most. When all of the levels gained by sacrifice disappeared, every Adventurer understood. Penalties for wrong game play were common, particularly for very bad choices - like sacrificing not only NPCs but also by PK and becoming a dark priest for a dark god.
That was one of the oldest no-nos in the book and far more had chosen it than ever in any game, because they'd been blinded, because they'd been fearful, or because of pride or greed - it didn't matter. When looked at by the rules of the game, the penalties levied weren't out of line. When looked at by the laws of Earth, life in prison or the death sentence wouldn't be out of line nor unusual for such behavior.
There were a lot of Adventurers suddenly lost and becoming afraid again. Afraid that they couldn't go home now.
Reed stepped over to Brenner. "Okay. We're ready for that last miracle from Izanagi now."
Brenner nodded. "What do you want?"
"I want for all those Adventurers who came and made that very bad and very wrong choice to follow after dark gods to be able to have hope. While we have them all in once place, please let the Idaho Falls preachers teach them all again one more time what the world quests are and the rules for playing nice.
"Erase their memories of what they did. Let them think that they arrived recently, within the last six months or less, and we're teaching them how to get along with those of us who got here back three years ago. They'll have to work hard to get the People and Creatures of the Land to forgive them, but if you can do that much, the rest of us will forgive them. We want them to still be able to go home, too.
"Fix the memories of those who they sacrificed and broke. They also should think they're newly come and just learning. That way, they'll all be able to properly play together until the final battle at the World Tree, and they may even be able to enjoy their one game on the planet before they go home again...and some may even be able to choose to stay and have fun for a very long time."
Brenner nodded, then said, "Inari-no-Izanagi, you heard what he said. I think we'd all like that." There were a lot of amens from their own group and they thought they heard a few from the opposing army, but they weren't sure.
As Izanagi worked on that rather large spell, Reed turned to BillyBoy. "Make sure you teach them how to deal with those who will still refuse to give up greed, selfishness, and those other darknesses in us. There are too many who already came with that in them, and came by it honestly, I suspect. They'll need to be kept in check just enough for us to get to the final battle."
"You got it, Boss," BillyBoy gave a salute and went to gather up his party to discuss the details.
Reed clapped, bowed, and clapped again. "Inari-no-Izanami, I'm sure we've confused the hell out of you, but please, keep up the multi-space zone around here until we can get the teaching out of the way. That part's important to finishing the quests you've put us to. I would think most of them will be done except the little cleaning up once that's done.
"I'd like to let the People of the Land go home, now. They've been very patient until now. I do hope you locked it to the pens and not to them." He bowed again.
The High Priest appeared, surprising Reed. "Mew do ask for a lot, Reed," he scolded. "Yes, mew can send them home. Yes, mew can preach, but the window of time is still set, so don't delay. The repairs will be completed by the time the People of the Land are gone from the zones. Mew can expect sudden movements of people as we will have to place them where they expect to be for the lesson. It is not simple."
"No," Reed agreed. "I'm sorry for that, but it was the best solution my poor limited brain could come up with that would allow all sides a proper resolution."
"Very well." The High Priest sighed slightly. Then he raised an eyeridge of whiskers at Reed. "Mew're sure mew won't also -"
"NO!" Reed scowled darkly at him. "I appreciate the trust, but ... just - NO!" The High Priest bowed slightly and disappeared.
"No what?" Michael asked him.
Reed sighed. "They're asking me now if I want to become a god, too, now that you've opened up that hole for them."
Michael gaped at him, then put a hand on his shoulder. "Sorry, man. Just keep saying no. They still have to ask. They aren't Adventurers." Reed nodded miserably. They'd gotten around that by making Reed the traitor, but it really had been necessary.
He sighed and they got to work letting the People of the Land go. He wasn't surprised when most of them disappeared on their way out of the gate. Izanagi was going to use any portal to get them where they needed to go. Likely some were going straight for the west coast of the northern continent. They were very needed there.
Once their memories were erased of the evils done to them, because the gods themselves would be erased, Reed wondered if they'd still remember the Guardian even, since their reason for needing him would be gone. It was his intention that would be what broke the flavor text binding Michael. He had a sneaky suspicion Izanagi was just as likely to plant other reasons for knowing about him as replacement memories.
Reed really hoped Michael didn't get angry when he found out he'd been deified regardless, just like Purrcy had been. Reed's last hope was going to be that whatever ace Michael had up his sleeve to break the flavor text at the end worked for them both. He'd better work up a Plan B just in case it didn't.
-:-:-:-:-
"So...Billy," Brenner settled down in the small circle of the Twin Falls party with their diminutive leader after the lessons to the Adventurers were over and they'd all finally been able to collapse. "That resurrection scripture. That sounded familiar."
"Sure. It's from First Peter, chapter one," BillyBoy nodded.
"You read the Bible, too?" Brenner asked surprised.
"Yeah. We have two books. We use the King James version of the Bible," he pulled out his scriptures and held two in his hand, one thick and one about a third of the depth. "Mrs. Purrcy was kind to let us have both. The other one is The Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ.
"It's the history of two different people who came over here to this continent, one at the time of Jeremiah when God was getting all the people who believed in his warnings out of Jerusalem before it was destroyed. The other one was at the time of the Tower of Babel and the people were scattered.
"It talks about their dealings with God and Jesus Christ on this continent, since God loves his people everywhere on the planet, like He does here, too, on this one."
BillyBoy frowned a little at his little scriptures. "I didn't get to use two I'd thought of using. One of them I think fits you guys and us even, so I was really hoping to." He shrugged. "I guess it's probably better to not have had to."
"Read it to me," Brenner offered. "I know how it feels to want to share the words that have meaning, and if it's applicable to us, then that's even more important."
"Okay," BillyBoy flipped through the book. "It's Alma chapter forty-three, verses forty-five to fifty:
"Nevertheless, the Nephites were inspired by a better cause, for they were not fighting for monarchy nor power but they were fighting for their homes and their liberties, their wives and their children, and their all, yea, for their rites of worship and their church.
"And they were doing that which they felt was the duty which they owed to their God; for the Lord had said unto them, and also unto their fathers, that: Inasmuch as ye are not guilty of the first offense, neither the second, ye shall not suffer yourselves to be slain by the hands of your enemies.
"And again, the Lord has said that: Ye shall defend your families even unto bloodshed. Therefore for this cause were the Nephites contending with the Lamanites, to defend themselves, and their families, and their lands, their country, and their rights, and their religion.
"And it came to pass that when the men of Moroni saw the fierceness and the anger of the Lamanites, they were about to shrink and flee from them. And Moroni, perceiving their intent, sent forth and inspired their hearts with these thoughts—yea, the thoughts of their lands, their liberty, yea, their freedom from bondage.
"And it came to pass that they turned upon the Lamanites, and they cried with one voice unto the Lord their God, for their liberty and their freedom from bondage. And they began to stand against the Lamanites with power; and in that selfsame hour that they cried unto the Lord for their freedom, the Lamanites began to flee before them; and they fled even to the waters of Sidon." BillyBoy looked up at Brenner.
"That is an appropriate one," Brenner nodded agreement. "That would likely have been a powerful one, too. That's right up Purrcy's alley. She's been a fighter for family, liberty, and individual rights from the beginning."
"Yeah, I thought she'd like it," BillyBoy said. He paused, then said, "There is one more. I suppose it's more appropriate now, though, now that we're all done and everyone settled finally."
"Oh?" Brenner raised his eyebrow.
BillyBoy nodded and thumbed back a little bit. "Alma twenty-six, verses eleven through sixteen:
"I do not boast in my own strength, nor in my own wisdom; but behold, my joy is full, yea, my heart is brim with joy, and I will rejoice in my God. Yea, I know that I am nothing; as to my strength I am weak; therefore I will not boast of myself, but I will boast of my God, for in his strength I can do all things; yea, behold, many mighty miracles we have wrought in this land, for which we will praise his name forever.
"Behold, how many thousands of our brethren has he loosed from the pains of hell; and they are brought to sing redeeming love, and this because of the power of his word which is in us, therefore have we not great reason to rejoice? Yea, we have reason to praise him forever, for he is the Most High God, and has loosed our brethren from the chains of hell.
"Yea, they were encircled about with everlasting darkness and destruction; but behold, he has brought them into his everlasting light, yea, into everlasting salvation; and they are encircled about with the matchless bounty of his love; yea, and we have been instruments in his hands of doing this great and marvelous work.
"Therefore, let us glory, yea, we will glory in the Lord; yea, we will rejoice, for our joy is full; yea, we will praise our God forever. Behold, who can glory too much in the Lord? Yea, who can say too much of his great power, and of his mercy, and of his long-suffering towards the children of men? Behold, I say unto you, I cannot say the smallest part which I feel."
BillyBoy was breaking up by the time he got to the last verse and tears fell from his eyes. He paused to wipe his cheek with his hand and sniff a bit. "How grateful I am that we were able to be part of that kind of work here on Theldesia, even from the beginning.
"Just like it was hard for Ammon and his brothers and friends to do the kind of work they did, it was hard for us, but we've been as blessed as they were. I'm so grateful," he stopped, the tears too much and overwhelming him beyond speech.
Brenner put his hand on BillyBoy's shoulder. "Yeah. I get that. I really do."
When Brenner returned to sit with his own grouping, he was asked, "Why'd you do that?"
"Well, to keep getting along, since that's kind of hard for both sides once the stresses are over, but also because I thought Hahaue could use a few more extras just in case. We were under a lot of pressure and a time crunch. I've already read off about seven others myself. She can hike them back in time if she needs them.
"She'd liked others he'd read, so I thought he might have a few more. He's actually reading a few more passages to them since they asked, so she'll have even more. I wouldn't be surprised if everyone who got their favorite words to read are also paying that favor back. She might just be real time-busy for a while." He winked and they chuckled.
They wouldn't mind that kind of assist, now or back then. They'd really needed it in that first battle, and appreciated every surprise assist that had arrived. Really, her scold was unfair. They did like it when she helped them without them asking. She had a light hand and the easy answers were always appreciated. They'd rather not throw themselves at brick walls every time either.
They could forgive her, though, since the wrap-up scold had been super important to breaking the stand-off between the Adventurer armies. There'd have been no end to them at all without it, even without the sacrifices. But then, she and Michael, and almost certainly Shiroe, had probably known that from the start.
It did smack of how Shiroe worked his plans and everyone had fun playing their parts while being completely themselves in the moment. She'd certainly needed to get her irritation and grief off her chest somehow and at a good time in a safe place. That had been perfect.
-:-:-:-:-
"What's next?" Reed asked Michael.
"I don't know," Michael answered. "I expect we send everyone home, with orders for preparations for the upcoming ending dungeon. We've got some praying to do to find the final Overwritten and pockets of demihumans that need to be taken care of. I suppose we could hit the southern Maze of Eternity and make sure they really did fix it up right."
"Pray instead," Clocktower begged. The others nodded. Michael laughed at them and called them pansies, but they didn't care, so he agreed.
"Disappearing into a quiet location to get a real vacation would be nice," Reed said quietly.
"Yeah," others agreed. They were silent after that. Real vacations had been missing...for about three years now. The third anniversary of the catastrophe was only a few days off now. It would be nice to have a vacation around that day, although it wasn't a day to celebrate much. They definitely needed sleep.
Michael leaned his elbows onto his crossed legs and took a deep breath, clasping his hands in front of him. "Inari, Caretaker, we're ready to rest and then to prepare for the journey to the World Tree. We're still in our past.
"Is there anything more you need from us before we call this level done? I'd like to include all of the world quests in that blanket statement. It would be nice to just be able to focus on the final push at this point - once we've recovered anyway."
A warmth came over the party. "It's sufficient. Thank you. Come home and rest." There was a swirling around them all and they disappeared from the camp they'd made outside Panama City.
The Twin Falls party lifted their eyes to see the temple and meeting house of Twin Falls in front of them, and then to see the dragons who'd been with the party appear around them. They all looked at each other, smiled a little, then slumped back to lie on the ground, trying to melt into it. They liked to keep busy, but they were also very ready for a long rest in a place they didn't have to think hard in, nor worry in.
They fell asleep rather quickly, with the dragons watching over them and answering the questions of the people of Twin Falls who showed up curious about who it was and what had happened. The dragons actually had quite a grand time telling the stories while the Twin Falls party snored through it all.
The Eagles lifted their eyes to see a room they didn't particularly want to see, but when they looked at Reed and Michael in some complaint, Michael shrugged at them. "We might just be given the longest vacation of everyone after all that. We could be here a month and they'd hardly know we'd been gone. Where else have we got to go?"
While he got some complaints that sailing on the Oki Watarimono might be more relaxing than being in an apartment of the Gate of Time, they couldn't argue too strenuously. They knew Purrcy would put them back on the ocean at the hint of pressure - she liked sailing with them, too. It would be okay for now. Free soft beds were always a plus when they were this weary.
As the Eagles settled down on the benches of the cafeteria tables to rest, the seventh level boss battle done, the World Tree battle looming ahead, it was quiet. They'd been beaten down with battle after battle, from the Mazes of Eternity stacked on top of each other all the way through fighting the Sect war twice through.
Like many of them who were just weary from being active military for three years now, more if you counted the going back in time and the time served on Earth just before the catastrophe, Schedules' head was resting on his clasped fists. He closed his eyes and had to express how he felt. He opened his mouth and began to sing.
I was there in the winter of '64
When we camped in the ice at Nashville's doors.
Three hundred miles our trail had lead -
We barely had time to bury our dead.
When the Yankees charged and the colors fell
Overton hill was a living hell.
When we called retreat it was almost dark.
I died with a grapeshot in my heart.
Say a prayer for peace,
For every fallen son.
Set my spirit free,
Let me lay down my gun.
Sweet mother Mary I'm so tired
But I can't come home 'til the last shot's fired.
In June of 1944
I waded in the blood of Omaha's shores,
Twenty-one and scared to death,
My heart poundin' in my chest.
I almost made the first seawall
When my friends turned and saw me fall.
I still smell the smoke, I can taste the mud,
As I lay there dying from a loss of blood.
Say a prayer for peace,
For every fallen son.
Set my spirit free,
Let me lay down my gun.
Sweet mother Mary I'm so tired
But I can't come home 'til the last shot's fired.
Those who also knew the song, joined in.
I'm in the fields of Vietnam,
The mountains of Afghanistan,
And I'm still hopin', waitin', prayin'
I did not die in vain.
Say a prayer for peace.
For every fallen son,
Set our spirits free.
Let us lay down our guns,
Sweet mother Mary we're so tired
But we can't come home 'til the last shot's fired;
'Til the last shot's fired.
Say a prayer for peace (for peace),
For our daughters and our sons.
Set our spirits free (set us free).
Let us lay down our guns.
Sweet mother Mary, we're so tired,
But we can't come home (No we can't come home)
'Til the last shot's fired.**
"We should write our own version of that," muttered Avionics.
"Not like I want to memorialize anything we've done here," Records muttered back, completely splayed out on the table, as if his spine didn't have anything left in it to hold him up at all.
"It's worthy of it, though," Avionics argued back, but without much strength to it, and he let it drop. They'd let either P/R or Schedules figure that one out if they cared enough.
The room warmed slightly and two more presences were felt, but no words were said. Some were initially irritated to have them back yet again, but as nothing was said, no requests, no platitudes, merely a warm presence, they settled into the welcome warmth of having a mother and father present who offered proud comfort.
No one had moved for the kitchen yet, and no one required it, leadership also being weary and knowing everyone just needed recovery time for a while. However, comforting smells of home began to waft into the cafeteria, as if the comforting feeling of being home was being supported by more.
"Country fried chicken," Aviation Safety drooled in bliss, his eyes mostly closed, from where his head also lay on the table.
"Hot buttered biscuits, with homemade jam," H/R said wistfully.
"Buttered corn and green beans," Charlie licked his lips.
"Do we get beer, too?" BlackJack wheedled.
"Not for me," Life Support said, "but a cold soft drink sounds so good right about now."
They rested there until stomachs began to pinch with hunger from the smells, which made a lot of them sit up to look towards the kitchen. The smells had gone from "just starting to be cooked" smells, to "should be about done" smells.
Pitchers and glasses appeared on the tables in front of them. BlackJack and Life Support were first to jump on them and inspect them. They traded pitchers and poured up their glasses. First sips were followed by sighs of relief, then followed by deep droughts. Pitchers were sorted and passed around the tables.
"Go easy on the beer, sons. Eat before you have too much too fast," Purrcy's Hahaue voice said over them. "William broke the alcohol effect barrier. While I'm willing to let you have the relief tonight, please wait until you should."
Those who'd been wishing for it desperately wept and heaped blessings on William's head. That was followed by irritation she'd kept them from it this long, all those other times they'd been in taverns and not gotten drunk like everyone else apparently had been. They knew she didn't care, though, so it wasn't worth complaining openly about it. (Not to mention they'd usually been on duty at those times.)
Food appeared on plates in front of each of them, exactly what they'd been smelling and wishing for - good old American home country cooking. Brenner blessed it, making it an official family meal, and they dug in.
Extra platters of fried chicken appeared along the centers of the tables, followed by serving bowls of buttered corn and green beans. Baskets of biscuits with jars of jam were last. Then finally, Hahaue and Chichiue walked out of the kitchen, shedding their aprons to sit with Michael, Reed, and MasterChiefS7.
As the all-you-can-eat meal finally filled bellies and sated both appetites and tempers, Purrcy and Nyanta stood and walked the tables, talking to everyone individually - doing the walk Michael or Reed usually would do. Some found it easier to talk to Nyanta than to talk to Purrcy, needing either a father or even a psychologist more than a mother at the time, but her hugs and kisses were generally appreciated. It was easier to rest with a mom, but easier to talk to a dad.
Purrcy and Nyanta ended with giving their presence and comfort to the leadership table, admonishing them to let everyone sleep and set no watches. There wasn't a need to any longer in the Gate of Time.
They disappeared and leadership allowed as how everyone could now wash up the dishes and end the evening with as much beer as they cared to hold. There was a mad scramble to get to the kitchen with all hands on deck making it very light work.
At the end of the evening, partners had to walk very drunk partners to their rooms, laughing at themselves the whole way. They all dropped into their beds and were asleep very quickly.
-:-:-:-:-
Purrcy looked over her sons with a soft smile as her spell softly spread over them. "How long will they sleep?" Nyanta asked her.
"I was tempted to have them sleep for a month, but that would be hard on their bodies, I think. I've set it for six hours of base time - roughly. The Eagles will still think that was too long - to have slept for three weeks, but it will be enough to make it obvious they did get to rest properly in that way.
"I'll let Reed tell them how they get to rest mentally on his own. He knows what they need better than I do." Purrcy turned to Nyanta and slipped her arm around his arm and gave him a kiss.
"Mew did take into account how much they drank, I hope?" He looked at her dryly.
Purrcy laughed. "Of course I did. They'll get that one wake up to interrupt their sleep. You're on duty for night terror comfort, though. I've put Michael, Reed, and Master Chief out just as hard as the rest, if not more so to make sure they stay put. They are going to all think it really is only the six hours, by the way, so you know how to time it relationally."
Nyanta nodded. "I'm happy to support them that way also. They have worked very hard." They both knew just how difficult this had been. Even they were still having to walk that hard walk without much rest, save the times that had been quiet here and there in the Gate of Time and in the base realm at the same time. (Really quite rare actually given their world-wide responsibilities.)
Purrcy turned to Nyanta a little more and wrapped her arms around his neck. "Thank you, for your help through all of that, too." She kissed him a long kiss. "I do wish we could go vacation on a beautiful green island for a month of base time."
Nyanta held her loosely around her waist and purred for her. "That does sound nice," he agreed. "Purrhaps there will be time when things have settled after the World Tree battle."
Purrcy sighed. "Like, years after."
"Mm," Nyanta groomed her under her ear. "Mew must be weary, for the pessimist to come out." They were suddenly standing on their porch and he was pulling her to sit with him on his lounge chair. "Come and rest with me for a time." She went without complaint. She also had worked very hard and needed the time to recover.
*1 Peter 1:3-7, 22-25, Holy Bible, KJV.
**Til the Last Shot's Fired, Rob Crosby and Doug Johnson, 2008, lyrics © Mike Curb Music.
Level 7.5 Sect War Repeat (Administrator) ends with the heroes finally getting their well earned rest. It's really too bad they were too tired to savor their retribution against the AIs in making them use their own abilities of memory-erasing against them. What a massive undertaking to get that correction. We'll see some of how that plays out in the upcoming final battle, but by now Log Horizon and the VFA-115 Eagles just don't care. They just want it to be over. It's already been too much to get this far.
Vacations are a required must before they can even face the World Tree, but it looms over them and they can't hide from it for long, since they're also too impatient now that the final act is only that far away. The World Tree arc is next. Thank you for continuing on this long and for continuing to walk forward with them and with me into the final chapters on the "prison" of Theldesia - a place where the strange and unexpected is more common (and frustrating) than not.