A Grim Reminder - Part 2

"Fuckin' hell, you don't have to baby me," Etriyya complained, her voice bridging the brief transition between the Barrier and the Order's manor. "My arm's as good as new, I could keep swinging a sword all night if you let me."

"We only have an hour left anyway, it's not like we're cutting it all that short. We trained for nearly as long as last time," John pointed out. Though technically true, last time they hadn't depleted their healers and their own mana to this degree, and certainly not so quickly. If John hadn't been conservative about raising the dungeon levels, they could have actually gotten themselves into serious trouble.

"And we have matters to attend to that are best handled with some measure of sense left in us... and all of our limbs in proper, functioning order," Moira snarked, giving Etriyya a measuring glance. Etriyya's complaints died as they were, her spine seeming to stiffen of its own accord.

"Yes, Warden. What would you have me do?"

"Get some rest, and tend to any wounds that I didn't completely mend once your mana returns." Moira's tone immediately returned to a weary one once Etriyya was toeing the line again. "I need to speak with my father about the matter of Adantia, and pray that she has the sense to contact us before long. I only hope she isn't bleeding out in a burrow somewhere right now…"

"I get the impression that she's not that easy to kill." John's words were meant to be reassuring, but the words didn't seem to cheer anyone up. Kim's expression actually grew darker.

"Which is precisely why this training is so important," Kim warned, her eyes focused, but fixed somewhere beyond the training room's walls. "If she truly bested Moira's father, whatever creatures they conjured up must have been tremendously powerful. We cannot afford the missteps we made today to be replicated tomorrow. We must return fully rested and with our minds sharp... and we must make sure that by the time we leave Springfield behind, we can defeat even creatures capable of doing that to one that once stood in line to join the ranks of the Deities."

"Much as I'd like to chastise your brashness, you have a point." The admission made Moira frown deeply, but she didn't shy away from it. "We need to continue to improve as quickly as we can. It seems this crazed training regimen may well be necessary, despite its dangers. But for now, we need our rest. John, please take care during your next dungeons. Don't forget that you were as shaken as the rest of us."

"I won't," John vowed. "I'm going to head back now, and I'll use the spare hour to rest up. Besides, I'm almost at my maximum level now."

"I should be able to reach level 91 in the first few hours. Everyone else will be rested and ready to go, so I can just let them take care of the hard work until I max out. I'll spend the rest of the night doing low-level dungeons to clear out the completion bonuses. Even after I Reincarnate I'm way stronger than I ever was before; at this point, I probably won't even need to use mana to clear dungeons up through level twenty or thirty, even if I'm alone."

"I appreciate the confidence... but I'd appreciate it more if I thought it was tempered by caution," Moira muttered. "Take care, John. I'll see you tomorrow."

"See you tomorrow, everyone."

"With no unexpected disruptions, this time!" Kim's words were the last sound to reach John's ears as he shifted between worlds, phasing into reality in front of his home.

His entrance was notably more peaceful than the last few times he had returned. The kittens appeared to be laid down for a mid-afternoon nap, and even the gentle click of the door did not stir them. The others mostly seemed to be in their rooms, save for Yvara, who was tending to a set of dishes in the kitchen, wearing a recreated version of the maid outfit she'd seared to ash. Once she noticed John's arrival, she quickly skittered over to greet him.

"Lord John! I wasn't expecting you just yet. I believe the others haven't quite finished preparing for tonight's training; should I inform them that you're back and ready to go?"

"No, that's alright. I'm not going to start early, we just finished up a little earlier than planned at the manor," John explained. "I'm going to take a bit of a breather and tend to a few things before I go."

"I see. Well, if there's anything I can do for you, please let me know. I set up another batch of potions for you while you were gone, according to the lists that you made for your brewing goals. I also took the liberty of cooking for the others so that they could save their energy for your training," Yvara explained. "I'm... not the greatest cook, as I believe I've explained, but I wanted to try making a contribution of some sort."

"Thank you, that's a big help, Yvara. Without you, I probably wouldn't have half the potions brewed for this war. And I'm sure everyone appreciated the meal. Especially if the state of the kittens is anything to judge it on." Between a hearty meal and the turmoil in the living room, it was no wonder they'd hardly stirred. Anything short of an all-out brawl was unlikely to wake them at this point.

"Well, Orria's help saved the day. She's quite skilled, especially with dishes using those fruits she loves to grow."

"You could say she knows just about every aspect of the plant life around here, inside and out," John agreed. "Have you noticed anything about how Aclysia and Farrah have been since I left?"

"I haven't seen either of them." Yvara shook her head with a somber look. "I did put some food outside Farrah's door earlier, though. I just haven't wanted to disturb them."

"That was very thoughtful of you. Thank you, Yvara." John merely had to stroke the dragoness' cheek with his outstretched hand to tint every inch of skin she had a darker shade of red. The change in body temperature was so drastic that John could feel it shift as his fingers moved, and a little heat haze formed over her shoulders, but to her credit, the second iteration of her dress held without as much as a wisp of smoke.

"Y-you are too kind. Should I fix something for you to eat as well, Lord John?"

"I might make myself something in a little while, depending on how this goes." John pulled his fingers away from Yvara as he spoke, and the devoted woman gave a little shiver as the sensations lingered for a moment longer. "I have an hour, and I wouldn't mind relaxing with a snack afterward. Otherwise, I'm not too worried about it. My mana will recover decently whether I eat or not, and I'll be using Reincarnation and resetting it sometime in the next few hours anyway."

Yvara nodded, not trusting herself to speak, and looking just a little relieved at not having her cooking tested by her Lord's tongue. John was almost fully turned toward the stairs when a flash of bright gold in his periphery slowed him, bringing him to a halt just as his nose bumped lightly into a very giggly incubus.

"Hey there! Welcome home, Master," Aria purred, wrapping her arms around him. It seemed that the deep-set fears and anxiety from earlier had dissipated in full, and there was nothing but utter adoration shining in her eyes as she looked up at him. "Did I hear you say you have an hour to spare...?"

"Yes, but I was going to use it to check up on Farrah... and you. But you seem to be right back to your usual self. I'm glad."

"I could try to look really sad, if that means you'll spend a little more time with me," Aria proposed in a way that was just a little bit too eager for it to be entirely playful. John found it too difficult to resist the urge to lean in and kiss the top of her head, giving the demoness a few affectionate scratches on her back before separating himself from her.

"You're adorable, but that's not necessary. I need to make sure that Farrah's doing alright, but if I have a chance for a break before the next rotation, we can spend it together, alright?" John's offer brought the sunken corners of Aria's mouth back up, and she begrudgingly let him pass unmolested as he moved toward the staircase.

"Hey, um, Master?" Aria's quiet words brought John's head swiveling around just as his foot set down on the first step. Her shimmering golden locks swayed slightly around her pale face as she shifted on her feet, hands behind her back, looking almost sheepish. "Thank you. For, erm, for everything, I mean. I was terrified the whole time we were out there today, but you actually made me feel safe. You acted like you actually cared about me. And I can feel your emotions, so, y'know, I can tell you actually meant it."

"Of course I did." John swayed a little, taken aback by her sudden shift. "Why wouldn't I care about you, Aria?"

"Because I'm just some demon?" Aria offered with a resigned shrug. "Because what I am goes against what your friends believe in? Or because I caused you problems today, which is pretty much all I've done, since I haven't really been useful to you at all since I got here?"

"I wouldn't say that. You've helped me in plenty of ways; just because you don't train, and because we haven't..." John's eyes shifted toward the living room. The kittens still seemed to be sleeping, but he opted for discretion and left that thought unfinished anyway. "That kind of thing isn't why I care about you anyway, Aria—or about anyone else here. I care about all of you because... well, because you're you. Just you being who you are makes me happy."

Aria didn't say anything in response to John's words, but as he spoke, there was a shift in her eyes. Her smile was gone, but it didn't seem to have broken; rather, there was something more complex taking its place. He wasn't the best at reading expressions, but even he could see something deeper than the incubus' usual joy simmering beneath her fiery irises.

"And don't worry about today," John added, giving Aria one more assuaging smile as he resumed his journey up the stairs. "It all worked out a lot more easily than I expected, and it takes more than a little clash of beliefs to tear us apart, believe me. No matter what happened, though, I wouldn't have blamed you for being what you are. And I wouldn't let you suffer for it, either. I'll always protect you, Aria."

John lingered for a moment, but when Aria didn't have a response to that, he didn't press her for one. With one last affectionate smile, John turned and climbed the stairs, this time without interruption.

Aria watched him go silently, not speaking until she heard the sound of a gentle knock, followed by a door opening and closing on the floor above. Even then the words only came out in the tiniest of whispers, though the smile that accompanied them was anything but.

"You actually mean it, too."

John had been expecting to wait outside for a time, but he'd hardly finished knocking before Farrah's door swung open.

Aclysia was the one to answer, her face rigid and reserved, almost as if she'd reverted back to her old self. Farrah remained lying on the bed, with her hair down, ribbon removed and the lengthy brown locks splayed out messily underneath her. She lifted her head to greet John with her usual smile, one that John was grateful to say looked a lot more like her usual self.

"Welcome back, Creator John. I heard you talking downstairs... I assume you'd like to speak with Farrah?"

"I just wanted to come check on her, make sure everything was okay, ask if either of you needed anything," John explained. "If I'm interrupting anything, or if you're not feeling up to company, I can just head back out."

"No, no. That's alright, I'm feeling much better," Farrah assured him, shifting closer to a sitting position. "Come on in, John."

Aclysia seemed immediately relieved to hear that John wasn't coming to **** Farrah to relive things with questions about what had happened. That relief also softened her expression enough for him to see doubt in her eyes as she glanced over at Farrah. Aclysia was quick to hide the brief flicker by the time she turned, though. She was smiling again by the time the two of them joined Farrah, settling down on either side of her.

"Did your training go alright? I hope I didn't cause too much of a delay," Farrah said, putting a hand in front of her lips nervously. "I know your time is limited."

"Uh, we're actually back early. I'm realizing now that I should probably get more clocks for everyone." John added clocks to the growing list of home renovation projects he'd need to make a shopping run for in the future. "There were other issues to attend to after what happened, anyway. My training is the last thing you need to worry about, Farrah."

"Guess if I'd done that from the start, I wouldn't be in this mess, huh?" Farrah laughed a little as she spoke, but it was tentative, almost frightened. "I thought I'd be able to handle being around you while you were fighting, but I couldn't even handle whatever-"

"Easy, easy." The tension in Farrah's body was subtle, but he didn't miss the way she started to draw in on herself, not with the images from earlier still freshly burned into his mind. He only had to lift his arm up slightly and Farrah immediately latched onto his hand with her own. "We don't need to talk about any of that. And you can stop worrying about it. You didn't cause us any problems, Farrah."

"Not even with Aria?"

"Should have taken that conversation outside, I guess..." John cursed his own inconsideration. He hadn't considered that Farrah might not lock the door to activate the silencing enchantments. He didn't often have conversations he wasn't fine with the whole house hearing anyway, and with how fast everything had happened…

"Not even with Aria. If you heard me talking downstairs, I hope you heard that part too?" John pressed, quirking an eyebrow at her. "I wasn't just trying to make her feel better, and I'm not doing that to you, either."

"I know. But it's hard to tell sometimes!" Farrah objected, pouting. "You're too nice."

"I've heard that one before, but I'm not making any plans to change yet," John teased right back. "Really, though. Seems like this is still eating at you. Is there anything I can do for you, Farrah?"

"No, John. I'm... r-really-" Farrah's voice hesitated, then dropped away, a realization seeming to dawn over her features. "Um, maybe, actually. John, what was Arista like?"

"Wha-" Just hearing the name was enough to blank John's mind for a moment. "Ah, I told you most of what I know. Is this related to what happened today, somehow?"

"No. I mean, I don't know. Maybe? It's kind of silly, and, um, you have to promise not to be mad!" Farrah actually pulled away from him as her voice grew more nervous, shifting from eagerly grabbing his whole hand to a dainty, rather adorable grip on the tips of his fingers. "It wasn't real. It was just... whatever that thing affecting me was."

"I'm not going to get mad," John assured the timid woman. It was difficult to make himself "feel" more genuine, but he did his best for her sake.

"So, I was thinking a lot about how I felt. Um, you know, when all of it was happening."

"Farrah, I-"

"I know, I know. But I was thinking about it for my sake as much as yours," Farrah interjected quietly, stifling John with a finger against his lips. "I need to try to figure out what I can while it's fresh. I mean, something that awful? What if it happens again? What if you're not there to whisk me away next time, or... what if getting away doesn't fix it?"

John saw his discomfort reflected in Aclysia's face across the bed, but he gave a slow nod all the same.

"Anyway," Farrah said, abashedly clearing her throat before resuming her explanation, "I still don't really know what it was. It kind of felt like an emotion, but it also didn't. And it didn't feel like anything I've gotten from any of you. I can't really put words to how it felt outside of me, but... inside…"

Farrah's eyes fell toward the sheets, and the hand that wasn't wrapped around John's fingers crinkled the blankets nervously. She jostled her legs slightly, and for a moment, John almost insisted on breaking off the conversation. But it didn't seem to be fear that was bothering her—not the kind that he'd seen in her eyes back at the manor, at least. It was...

"Oh, this is new. But I really don't like this one," Farrah whispered, her hand moving from the blankets to clutch at her stomach. "Feels like there's a layer of metal under my skin, and every time you look at me, or I think about you, it starts vibrating, and I feel like I have all this energy, but in a really un-fun way! I wanna tell you, but I don't. I... promise you won't be mad?"

Farrah's repeated request was even more **** this time around. She was fidgeting more too, almost as if she were ready to leap from the bed directly out the window.

"Farrah, I promise! And if you don't want to tell me, you don't have to."

"I do! I just..." Farrah made a strange noise, something between a squeal and a whine. She pursed her lips briefly and her face turned a deeper shade of pink, then it all came tumbling out at once, "For some reason, I thought about what you said, back when you told me about how you made me! And... and I got angry. Like, really angry, and all of it at you! I felt like I wanted to start screaming at you. B-but I've never felt like that before! Ever! Not even when you first told me, I swear."

"I believe you," John said. It was an easy response, honest and clearly needed, judging by how **** Farrah's words were becoming near the end. "I expected you to when you figured it out, actually. But you got a lot of the details right after I Purified you when I told Adantia, and you sort of pieced the exact meaning of it all together from there. I never really gave you a chance to scream at me after our first meeting."

"Even if there had been, I wouldn't have screamed at you," Farrah said quietly, but with more self-assurance than she'd had since they started talking about the incident. "I don't know why. Maybe it's because there's no tingle of memory, no nagging feeling that I should be something I'm not, so I haven't ever felt like I lost something. Maybe it's just because we both hurt each other, and I'm glad we can be kind to each other like this. Or maybe this is just what was right for us. You did tell me to follow my heart, remember?"

"Uh. Not really?" John felt guilty for the admission, but to his relief, Farrah just giggled.

"I'm not surprised. You seemed like you were pretty shaken up at the time. It was right after you, um, you call it 'Purified' me? You told me it was my decision, and I asked you how I was supposed to decide what to do."

"Oh! Oh, yeah, I remember that." Farrah's words jogged the memories, frazzled as they were in the aftermath of his panic attack. "And you decided to come with me, in spite of all of it."

"I did. Because I trusted you, right from the start," Farrah agreed, nodding happily. "Because...?"

"Because I said I'd be your friend."

"Because you said you'd be my friend. And you never went back on your word." Farrah's hand shifted forward again, exchanging its tentative hold on his fingertips for a more intimate touch, clasping their palms together and lacing her fingers between his own. "That was enough for me, right from the start. Whatever the reason, I've never wanted to scream, or hit you, or do anything like that, John. But in the worst moments of it, it was like... like…"

"Like tearing open old wounds?" John suggested.

"No. I really mean it, John," Farrah insisted, her emerald eyes shining a spotlight on him as she stiffened. "I might have been confused, worried, even scared at the beginning. But not angry, and definitely not like that. This was like tearing open new wounds where there were never any in the first place. Does any of this... I mean, does any of it help you?"

"I'm not sure, to be honest with you." A deep frown creased John's cheeks as he mulled over what she was saying. "No, I am sure it will help. I'm just not sure yet how, exactly. I'll get this figured out though, Farrah. For now, you might just have to stay in the new world for a while longer, until we figure out what's going on. I'm sorry."

Farrah's information asked as many questions as it answered, and the questions were ones he hadn't thought to ask. It felt like someone dumping out all the interior pieces of a puzzle before he'd even begun to construct the frame. All of it seemed important, but he had no idea how to put it all together—he wasn't even sure exactly what kind of answer he was supposed to be looking for.

"I don't mind. This place is really nice! I only asked to go so I could see if combat is as exciting as Aclysia made it sound."

"I'm sorry that I encouraged you to go there, Farrah. I didn't realize-"

"Neither did I."

"Neither did we."

John and Farrah glanced between each other, to Aclysia, and back in a flash. Farrah broke out into a giggle, and seeing how much of the tension had washed away from her brought one out of John too.

"Thank you for coming to check on me, John. I'll be okay," Farrah assured him, giving his hand a final squeeze before she reluctantly let go. "I promise."

"I'm glad to see you doing better. I'll leave you two alone. If you need anything while I'm training, just ask one of the others to tell me with their rings," John offered. "Get plenty of rest tonight, and if you want to tag along on another night…"

Farrah shook her head rapidly, reinforcing the response with a double-handed wave. There was a fright in her eyes, but it had the look of wariness and caution, not true terror.