Malcolm Tent
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Wish upon the Stars chapter 665
🕑 Added 2024-07-09 21:54:51 +0000 UTCIt was hard to really encapsulate the feeling of standing in space, looking down at your home planet. There was nostalgia, joy, triumph, and a little bit of disappointment. Everything seemed so much…smaller. Even from up here, I could focus enough to get a decent glimpse of most of the major cities I remembered. Valen, Rajak, I could see home.
But everyone looked so small and insignificant from up here. I knew they weren’t obviously. I had friends and loved ones on Callus. But I kind of got how people like Zeke could become so detached from their humanity.
Oddly, I think the thing that saved me from that was how fast I was getting stronger. I could still vividly remember my life before cultivation.
“We should jump it.” Said Benny confidently. I turned and glared at him. He shrugged. “What, it would be so cool. Imagine us breaking through the atmosphere like fiery comets and then landing in cool crouches like all the famous heroes.”
I smacked him upside the back of the head. “And exactly how would we do that?” I demanded. “Assuming our legs wouldn’t break on impact, which admittedly they probably wouldn’t, do you think a pseudo D-grade planet would hold up under a cannonball from someone at E-rank…from SPACE?”
He paused, halfway through yelling at me for the head slap. “Huh. Actually probably not. Oh well, guess we’ll have to go down the boring way. Still, it’ll be nice to be home.”
“I’m so excited to see my mom!” Squealed Callie, practically bouncing with joy. “It’s been ages. I try to call home when I can, but it’s not the same.” She glanced at her wrist, where the starpluck bangle sat. She was obviously thinking about being able to come home to visit whenever she wanted.
Jessie was staring down at the planet with a sort of fond melancholy in her eyes, and I threw and arm over her shoulder, distracting her by ruffling her hair with my knuckles. “Hey, we’re almost to D-rank. You’ll have your brother back soon enough.”
Her face lit up. ‘Yeah. You’re right. I can’t wait to tell him all about our adventures. He’s never going to believe it.”
“You thinking of sticking around after we bring him back?” I asked, trying my best not to let my tone betray any discomfort at the idea. It would suck to lose her, but Jessie had the right to make her own decisions.
She just smiled and shook her head. “I don’t think so. I mean, I’ll visit, but…I’ve changed so much since he died. Seen so much. I’ve helped so many people, made new friends, been to amazing new worlds. I just can’t imagine going back to being plain old Jessie Evans who works at the flower shop.”
“Are you sure?” I asked her in surprise. “I know how much you wished for your old life back.”
“No. I wished for my brother back.” She said firmly. “I still do. Don’t forget where you met me. I always wanted to go on adventures, that was why I joined the Unity to begin with.”
Callie stepped up on her other side and bumped her with a hip. “Well you’re always welcome wherever we go. You’re family, and you always have a home with us. Speaking of home, I think it’s about time for us to head down. Stella and the others are going to meet us in Rajak.”
I grinned at her excitement. I was looking forward to seeing Amelia and Alexander and the others too. She was right that phone calls weren’t the same as seeing someone face to face. We headed for the hanger, and when we got there, Killian, Zeke, and my mom were all waiting. “I was wondering where you all got off to.” Said the owner of the Necromedes.
“I wasn’t.” Said Zeke with a chuckle. “First time seeing their planet on a return trip. It’s a hell of a sight.”
Mom beamed at us. “You ready to go down and get started? I’ve been talking to Amelia on the trip over, lovely woman. I think she has a surprise for you too, Calliope.” She winked at Callie, who seemed just as puzzled by that as I was.
Waving a hand, mom pulled an ENTIRE fucking shuttle out of her space ring. We all gaped, because the sheer size of that thing combined with the opulence of the shuttle was completely out of left field. I turned to Zeke. “Wait…do you have one of those on you? Have you been carrying a shuttle the WHOLE time?”
He shrugged. “Of course. What kind of B-ranker doesn’t keep a ride on them. But I couldn’t let you use it. That would have been violating the terms of my geas. You had to do it all your own way. Unless you paid me, but you don’t have anything worth a ride on any of my shuttles.”
“He’s right.” Said my mom apologetically. “Market price for a seat on something like this would be several A-rank chits. I doubt his are quite that nice, but they’re still well out of your price range.” She patted the side of the white and gold shuttle affectionately. “My Halcyon is a beauty though, isn’t he?”
I had to admit she wasn’t wrong. The white metal that made up most of the shuttle was polished to a near mirror sheen. The front was a golden lions head, its open mouth allowing the windshield full visibility. A pair of golden wings folded back to frame the open doors on the sides, and traceries of golden runes swirled over the surface of it beautifully.
This thing wasn’t just powerful, it was clearly made by an artist, and I was blown away by the delicacy of the work. I could pick out individual hairs in the lions man, and the capillaries in the feathers on the wings.
The inside, as we stepped in, was as spacious as expected. Moreso, even. It was like we were inside a full sized manor house of some wealthy noble, with both sides of the huge space being enclosed by a pair of window walls that showed the outside of the shuttle as if we were watching on a thousand foot screen.
We’d entered through the open hanger sides, but once we were inside a pair of double doors closed behind us. The spaces inside and outside the shuttle were completely separate. “Wow.” I said as I scanned the shuttle. “Swanky.”
“Of course.” Said my mom as she walked over to sit at the large wooden table in the center of the huge entry chamber. I could see stairs leading up and hallways leading away, but the big day room we were in was already impressive on its own. “Would you all like some tea? She produced a steaming tea pot. “I’ve got an excellent Night Jasmine Blossom Brew.”
Smiling, we all took our seats around her. She poured a glass for everyone, and Bethy inhaled deeply before taking a sip. “I love tea.” She said with a sigh. “Not as much as wine, but still.”
“I have some of that too.” Laughed my mother. “But it’s early in the day. Enjoy your tea. I have to say, I’m looking forward to being back on Callus. It’s been such a long time since I was last there.”
I blinked. “Oh, yeah you lived on Callus for a few years didn’t you? Back when we were all together. Do you have any friends there you want to see?”
“A few.” She said with a shrug. “I had a friend named Alyssa who made the loveliest apple cider. This was back in Valen, of course. She owned a sort of farmers market, I have no clue if it’s still there.”
Jessie and Callie perked up, telling her about their time growing up and how Alyssa knew their mothers, and they had a nice chat about her while we finished our tea.
Sadly, the ride wasn’t too long, only about a half hour, and as we came to a stop in front of the hideous orange house we still owned in Rajak, we all stepped off the shuttle with a sense of nostalgia and peace. Well, Callie and I did. I was pretty sure Benny was in the same headspace too.
Abel and Mel seemed mostly ambivalent to be back. Not happy but not upset about it either. Gabe, Bethy, Yvette, Annalise, and all our other friends were just glad to get to their rooms and unpack, having not bothered doing so on the ship.
When we opened the door, the wolves came streaking by, Cass on Jin’s back as Cark chased after her. Blake had been watching them most of the time, but we’d decided to bring them back to Callus to leave them with Amelia. The big puppies were strong enough to be formidable guards here, and a stable planetary home would be good for them.
“We’re HOME!” Squealed Cass as she leapt off the wolf and onto the overstuffed orange couch. “It’s been such a long time! Oh I missed you ugly couch!”
Cark rolled his eyes. “Don’t be so dramatic. The places we’ve been staying have been perfectly nice. You make it sound like we fed you scraps through the top of a crate. Or should we leave you here when we head back out. I’m sure Callie’s mom would love to have a natural disaster around the house.”
She stuck out her tongue at him. “You can act like you aren’t happy to be back, but I know you want to see your giiiirlfriend.” She singsonged the last word maliciously, as if she’d uncovered some dark secret.
The rest of us tried not to smirk as Cark rolled his eyes. “Yes, I’d love to see Sage. And I didn’t say I wasn’t happy to be back.” He stopped. “Why am I arguing with you, you’re not even ten years old.” He turned and walked away as Cass let out an outraged shriek and chased after him.
“Well.” Said my mom as she followed us in. “This is certainly…interesting.”
I nodded solemnly. “Callie picked out the color scheme. She always wanted to live inside of a carrot.”
My fiancee spun and glared at me. “Don’t tell her that! Not even as a joke! If that gets out people will be giving us a bunch of orange furniture as gifts, and if that happens you’ll be the one returning it all.”
“I joke, I joke.” I said, holding my hands up in surrender. “This place used to belong to some pumpkin themed supervillain or other. Zeke got it for us at a steal because no one wanted to live in such a hideous place.”
My mom just laughed at us. Behind her, the door was pushed open and my sister walked in. “That certainly explains the decor.” She said with a laugh. “But please tell me you redid at least some of the rooms?” She gestured to the stoic forms of Callen and Felicity, who had struck up something of a friendship with the stoic swordsman.
“Nope.” I said with a shrug. “Not even one. We had other stuff to be getting on with.” I chuckled at her exasperated look, mirrored on the faces of Serah and Holly as they entered behind the group.
As everyone unpacked, Callie messaged Stella, her mother, and a few other old friends and told them we were here. They’d been waiting at the Unity building, but with Callie’s dad being around none of us felt like stopping there. That confrontation would be handled easily enough, but not on the day we got here.
Looking around the house, I beamed at how little it had changed. It had been less than a year since we’d been here, but it felt like so much longer. I couldn’t wait to see what had changed while we were gone. It was good to be home.
Comments
Matt w Lichens
TFTC! Feels good to be home.
