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Pork stands across from you on the field, knees braced and brows furrowed in concentration. He rifles through his cards, looking for the one that will be guaranteed to finish you. He’s focused – you can tell from the sheen of sweat on his forehead and the way his eyes flick back and forth across his hand. Losing is not an option for him today. He stops on one and seems satisfied with his choice. Sparck occupies another spot, maintaining his usual cool-as-ever manner. He’s also thumbing through his cards, presumably doing series upon series of calculations and predictions to determine which move will cause the most havoc. You observe him as he decides to discard two of his cards and draws from his deck to make up for the difference. He makes his choice and looks up at you. Now, only you are left.
You glance down at your own cards and then back up at your opponents. You have some decent plays left, but there’s nothing that could bring you back from your current trajectory for an inevitable defeat. Maybe there's some other way? You discard everything you have and create a new hand from your deck. Your fingers fumble picking up more cards by their corners rounded from wear. The tension in the air is rushing to your head. The resulting hand isn’t any better. You feel Pork and Sparck’s eyes on you. The only thing keeping you from your defeat is the fact that you haven’t chosen a card yet. As soon as you make your decision, the round will begin. You take a deep breath. It was all bound to end at some point, anyway. Still, it’s a shame that it had to end in this way. In the last round, and you’re grateful for the fact that you go first. You play your move in a desperate last-ditch attempt to lose with dignity. It’s all for naught when Pork follows with a move that effectively undoes yours, and when Sparck finishes it off with a play that secures his own victory, which prompts Pork to let loose a cry of objection.
Defeat.
You never did get the hang of whirlyburly.
Pork waves you and Sparck down to return with him to the stands, where Beans, Bat, and Mellori elected to watch your match. (You wanted to send Beans in as a stand-in for yourself, but he refused, claiming that he’s “a doctor, not a strategist!”) You join them on one of the benches as Pork launches into a dramatic reenactment of the game they just saw themselves. He waves his arms and makes all sorts of faces to explain how close the game was until the very end, how the Wizard could have won were it not for a foolish move back in the sixth round, how he knew Sparck was going to win from the start and Pork chose to let him win… Sparck stands by, correcting Pork’s “embellishments.” Mellori looks thoroughly amused by Pork’s show. Beans and Bat, a bit less. You know they like it though. They’re just too proud to show it. You sit back and let Pork’s words wash over you. Seeing as you played in the game yourself, you don’t exactly need to hang onto every word of a recap.
After finishing your quests in Empyrea and quite literally staring the forces of creation in the face, you were surely due for a break. You’d been formally studying at the Arcanum almost nonstop for quite some time. Ione would have to have been out of her mind to deny you a vacation by that point. Fortunately, your theory was correct. After receiving Sybil’s eerie prophecy about some sort of “Nothing,” there wasn’t much of anything for you to do at the Arcanum besides fill out your report on the events of Empyrea. World reports didn’t usually take you very long. The hardest part was always just getting started. Your Emyprea report was but a small obstacle to your vacation. This time, you finished faster than ever before, because you knew what awaited you once you finished, and for once, it wasn’t another series of quests.
As soon as you stapled your report together and dropped it on Ione’s desk, you hurried back to your own office to dig out the communicator that Sparck had issued you on your post-Medulla visit to Empyrea. It was in one of the boxes of quest rewards that you never unpacked… One of the many boxes. After what felt like a whole year spent unpacking, you ended up finding it beneath a folder of random treasure cards you picked up here and there, and sitting on top of the uniform you received when you first set off for Empyrea. You gave it a few taps, as if waking it from a technological nap, and crossed your fingers that it would work even though the mission it was intended for was over. Did it have any sort of power source? If so, you’ve been neglecting it ever since you got back to the Arcanum. You’re incredibly grateful that no one walked into your office at that moment. You must have looked insane, standing at your desk in a room that looked like a hurricane just ripped through and talking into a tiny foreign device that you held to your ear. Your self-consciousness despite being alone urged you to stop trying after your 15th “hello” into the communicator, but a staticky response on the 16th attempt saved your reputation among whatever ghosts might have been haunting your office.
“Wizard, is that you?”
It was more noise than voice, but you could instantly identify the speaker by their cadence. There’s only one person you know who would pause that many times in a four word sentence.
During your time off, the one thing you wanted to do was to get your crew back together: take Pork, Beans, and Mellori to Empyrea to meet back up with Bat and Sparck. Admittedly, you didn’t have much, really any , down time with them between quests and (reluctant) betrayals, but the time you spent together talking and working was some of the most fun you’ve had since coming to the Spiral. Even if it was in between near death experiences. Alright, maybe it wasn’t fun , then, but a quiet understanding to work in harmony and appreciate each other and their work. You’ve known this understanding before, but for some reason or another, it ended when you were finished with the task at hand. You were too busy, they were too busy… the exact reason didn’t matter. You let too many friends of the past slip by–Dyvim, Zaltanna, Ivan, Ozzy–and you weren’t taking your chances again.
Thus, when you explained your idea to Pork, you willed him to say yes. If you ever subconsciously learned some form of mind manipulation in your tussle with Medulla, you would have wanted it to activate then. Fortunately, it didn’t take much convincing for you to get Pork on board with your plan. He confessed that your invitation was a relief. He and Beans hadn’t been up to much since getting back from Empyrea, and he was itching for a new adventure. They hadn’t even strayed far from the Arcanum, hence why the communicator was able to reach them.
“Don’t worry about Beans,” he reassured you. “He’ll go wherever I go.”
As for Mellori, it took some persuading Baba Yaga to let her baby go back to the place where she nearly died. Baba Yaga was steadfast in her position until Mellori argued that it was you who was organizing this trip, and you were the one who saved her from death anyway. She was still reluctant, but you promised to keep her continuously updated on your travels, and at last she agreed.
After getting Pork, Beans, and Mellori on board, you could finally get around to the real planning. You had to return what remained of the Ark to the Arcanum, since it wasn’t yours to begin with, but it ended up posing no problem. Pork was delighted to be able to captain his beloved Endeavor again, and bringing it to Empyrea would be no problem now that Spider and Raven had put their feud to rest and the Aethyr storms surrounding the world had died down. Pork and Beans would prepare the ship, and you and Mellori would stop in Wizard City for provisions. Then, the journey would begin.
Upon your arrival in Empyrea, you would first go to Nimbus to convince Sparck to join you, and then set about finding Bat. You weren’t completely sure of where he went after you defeated the Aethyr Titan, but as you were out shopping and discussing what still had to be done, Mellori volunteered to be the one to locate him.
“I got it! Bat couldn’t hide from me if he tried,” she laughed, flipping her hair over her shoulder. “Are those Nana’s brand gummy worms? Ew. My mom never let me have those. Let’s buy some.”
Sparck was easy to get on board. Even a Science Officer needs a break from time to time. And did you know that scientific research supports the claim that periodic breaks boost your focus and productivity in the long term?
Once you picked up Sparck and Bat, your plan was in place. Wandering around Empyrea, taking in the sights of a world no longer tearing itself apart, and living slow was the goal. Talking to locals, trying their food, absorbing the culture–everything that was impossible the last time you were there. And above all, you would enjoy the company of your friends. An adventurer like you knows well that every day could be your last, a truth that sets in deeper after every battle that leaves you trudging out barely conscious with two cards left in your deck. Your life is too short to spend it all in passing. You don’t have the luxury of time. You must make do with what you have.
Blinking back to reality, you can tell Pork just finished his theatrics by the way Mellori is on the ground howling, Beans has the tiniest smirk on his face, and Bat is rolling his eyes so hard that they almost pop out of his head. It’s only your group out on the field today, and it feels like you’re the only ones out there at all. You catch Spack’s eyes, and even he’s smiling. You can’t help but return a wide grin. And then it clicks.
This. This is what it was all for. The laughs, the smiles, the closeness…
For every defeat, failure, and frustration, you are here.
For every time you cursed yourself and saw the end, you are here.
For everything , you are here.
A light breeze picks up, ruffling your hair and sending the clean smell of fresh grass through the arena. In the perpetual daylight of Velo City, you want to stop time and live in this moment forever, in a space free of worries and fear. A space where you aren’t sure of anything besides the warm sun on your back and your friends by your side – a space where that’s all you need.
You’ve been roaming around Empyrea for a while now. Velo City is one of the last few stops on your tour. Sparck will have to get back to Nimbus soon, Pork and Beans will have to move on to their next journey, and you and Mellori will have to return to the Arcanum. You don’t have much longer, but there’s still so much you have to do. You need to take a walk around the Endeavor with Sparck and point out spots for potential upgrades (namely remodeling the lavatories to resemble the ones aboard the Ark). You told Bat you’d show him some of the technology you left on Aeriel. Mellori wanted to see the Dance Hall. You also remember wanting to go with Pork and Beans to visit Khan back in Zanadu…
You can already picture Fitzhume writing out a memo telling you to haul yourself back to the Arcanum immediately. Realistically, you can’t spend all your time with the Empyrea crew. Savior responsibilities take priority. But the beginning traces of a next trip are already beginning to crop up in your mind. What better excuse to stay in contact while the group is on duty in their various jobs? You’ll have to get Sparck to configure the communicators for long-distance before you leave. Your current trip isn’t over yet, though.
So, maybe you can’t stay in this moment forever, but you can live in it as it happens.
Bat has started giving pointers on how to look dark and mysterious. Pork is listening attentively. The others are listening to Mellori recount her Top 10 Wizard Stories (she’s learned a lot about your past at Ravenwood). She gives you a mischievous look after she finishes the Tale of Cyrus Drake’s Laundry to gauge your reaction.
“Listen, I did get to knock him out before I went to Dragonspyre!”
Fitzhume can wait. The Spiral can wait. You’re supposed to be in Samsara Village for dinner in half an hour, and there’s no way you’re ending your trip without having a nice meal with all your friends. (Or without seeing Mellori force everyone to down those horrible gummy worms.)