Drew frowned, opening his mouth to argue, then stopped. If there was an argument against that point of view, he didn’t know what it was. It had been a long time since he was a religious person, but it still felt wrong to say he was better than someone else. While he had his internal debate, Ares stood up.
“Drew, I look forward to talking to you more, but you should slot those xatherite and go back home. It will be time for you to wake up soon.” He came around the table and put a hand on Drew’s shoulder, “No life should be spent cheaply, Drew. Just remember the lives you can save, focus on the good you will do-not the bitter path we walk.”
And with that he was gone, back through the door and onto the bridge, shouting orders as he went to prepare the fleet for departure. Themis saluted him as he left, and then turned to Drew. “If you will be so kind as to remain seated while you slot the xatherite, I will ensure you wake up back on Earth.”
Drew sat back down, then looked at Themis’ impassive face, “Is what he said true? Am I going to be required to send people to their deaths?”
Themis frowned slightly and then nodded his head slowly, “It is not my place to pass judgment on the actions of the Pantheons. But Admiral Ares is well known for keeping as many of his men safe as possible. But even an Assault Mage of his caliber cannot save everyone.”
Drew nodded his head in acknowledgment, if not understanding. Then, leaning back, he slotted Aeon in the violet slot nearest the origin, leaving him with only one violet left on the entire map, and put stricto mentis clypeus in the green just to the left of major blink step. When he clicked to accept the changes, he felt a massive pain flow through his entire body for a split second before he sunk into unconsciousness.
Drew woke up on the couch. The windows showed that the first rays of dawn weren’t far off, and he sat up, rubbing his forehead. “Weird dream,” he muttered to himself before he opened his xatherite map to check. To his surprise, the two xatherite given to him by Ares were there. It hadn’t been a dream at all. Was he relieved that it had been real?
Now in his early thirties, Drew had been drifting for a long time. Joining the Coast Guard had been an attempt to get direction in his life, and it had mostly worked. He had never really felt like he fit in before; he’d always had friends, and his family had always supported him, but he had never felt…important before Advent.
Was the fact that he was literally the most important person on Earth something he wanted? He didn’t think so; he remembered the look in Ares’ eyes as he told him about having to send people to their deaths, about not being able to save everyone. Already, he had encountered times when he couldn’t save everyone; Juan, Mitch, and Rob had all died when he should have been able to help them…when he should have been stronger.
“What was it about?” Katie asked sleepily from where she sat in a bucket chair near the couch. She lifted her arms into the air and stretched. Drew sat up and did the same with a smile.
“Outer space,” Drew said, looking around for Sarah. Katie opened an eye and raised her brows to question it. “We should do a patrol around the building. Do you know where Sarah is?” There were several sleeping forms surrounding them, but he didn’t see any with Sarah’s telltale curly brunette hair.
Katie frowned, “Not sure; she might not have gone to sleep.” Katie pulled her hair out of the ponytail she had kept it in overnight, and pulling out a comb, began brushing her hair. “Come back when you find her. I should be ready by then…and grab some food if there’s anything warm.”
Drew grunted and set off to look for the ensign, not sure how anyone would have made hot food. As he walked through the building, he was somewhat amazed by the level of activity that had continued through the night. Most of those who had taken him up on the rain had been working to create weapons or armor. When he asked around, he was told Sarah was back with Min Sun getting her armor fitted.
Sarah was indeed dressed in Troll skin leathers when he found her and was reattaching the spider leg to a spear shaft with Min Sun’s help. When he entered, Sarah looked up long enough to smile and then went back to the task at hand. Min Sun, on the other hand, looked up, and seeing him, smiled very broadly.
“Mr. Drew, I fix your clothes. Try on. See if need fix,” she commanded him. It took Drew a few seconds to realize she was talking about his armor; the diminutive Korean lady must have picked it up after he removed it before falling asleep the night before. He noticed as he did so that she had changed the position on several of the buckles to make it much easier to get on. She just smiled at him when he commented on it. Drew wasn’t sure how much English she understood. He assumed she was one of the soldier’s wives and had come back with him after a tour in Korea. It was a fairly common practice, and most of the army towns he had been in had strong Korean communities.
Glancing at the armor, it appeared Min Sun had managed to finish attaching the chitin pieces that the Go’rai had originally used to reinforce the armor. Putting the armor back on, Drew discovered it was indeed a much better fit. Min Sun tsked and made a few alterations with her skill, and by the time she was finished, the armor was much snugger to his frame, which had lost a few pounds with the lack of good food and exercise he’d been getting the last few days. While he was finished getting his armor fitted, Sarah had rewrapped her spear, adding a thin leather grip to the metal pipe we had originally attached it to.
“Come on, I want to take you and Katie on a patrol for a bit; those trolls sniffing around yesterday before the storm have me worried.” They retraced their steps to where he had left Katie. She was ready to go, eating a few dry granola bars with some water. She whistled when she saw Drew in his new armor.
“Nice. So, where are we going?” she asked, as she picked up her own spear while eyeing Sarah’s alterations with a little bit of envy.
“Just out for a quick survey of the area, want to make sure those trolls didn’t leave any stragglers behind,” Drew answered, while Sarah began casting her buffs on the group. “Leave the knight here. It will be more useful blocking the door than out there; we might need to climb a bit.”
Katie nodded and the three of them set off for the front entrance, but JP and Robbi had apparently heard that Drew was up and about and came looking for him, finding them right as they were about to leave.
“Hey Drew, where you off to?” JP asked with a slight frown upon seeing the two women with their spears.
“Oh, just going to do a quick circuit of the building, make sure there are no trolls around.” Drew answered then glanced back, “Stay here and guard the building. We should be back in less than thirty minutes; with the small approach paths, you’re a better choice for that than me. I work best in open spaces.” JP frowned again but nodded his head in agreement.
Turning towards the open entrance, Drew furrowed his brow. Was it always this easy for him to give orders? Most of the people here had been rescued by him, so they were more inclined to do what he asked of them, but JP and Robbi were another story. Was this part of being a red mage? His mind continued to grind away at the many questions it had acquired since Advent but generated no new answers. When they were far enough away that Drew didn’t think anyone could overhear them, he told the two other coasties about what had happened to him during the night, editing it only so as not to include anything referencing Aeon.