At the end of the break, Serenity held the half-emptied bag of trail mix in one hand.

I miss Rissa. It must be the middle of the week by now. We were supposed to be planning for that trip to meet my parents. I hope she’s contacted them. They’ll be worried if she hasn’t.

“Serenity?” Raz’s hand on his shoulder brought Serenity back from the fog of loneliness. “We should get moving.”

Serenity stood up. “If you two are ready, yeah.” He offered the partial bag to Katya, but she waved it away, so he stuck it in his bag.

“What had you so distracted? I called your name a couple times and you didn’t notice.” Raz seemed much perkier than he had before the rest. Serenity would have to make sure they started the rest earlier next time.

Hopefully that would be after they left the dungeon. He still had some time left, but he wasn’t sure how long. The Heart’s progress seemed to have slowed when it started on his limbs, but even so it was nearly done with his arms. It was barely started on his legs, so he guessed he probably still had a day or a bit more, but it was hard to know.

“I was just thinking of home. I need to figure out how to get back. They need me, and I miss them.” There were a lot more people who needed Serenity now than there ever had been before. Rissa and his parents, definitely - but he also counted Echo, Lancaster, Moira, Doyle, Nightwitch … and everyone else he’d met in all of the Tutorials.

For that matter, he was probably needed at work as well. He wondered if he even had a job, after everything. He wasn’t sure if he cared, either. Yes, his job was important and paid well - but someone else could do it, and the number of people who could handle the invasions was much lower.

“Well, we’ll be at the Shining Caverns soon, you should be able to catch a teleport from there. They’re not too expensive, generally a tenth over the actual teleport cost,” Katya reassured him. “Some places try to charge more than that, but if I go with you they’ll know the Phoenix is watching and they’ll stick to the usual rates.”

Serenity shook his head. “That’s - well, that’s not all of the problem. There are no teleport points on Earth. At least, there weren’t when I left. If there are any now - it’s unlikely, but even if there are, I don’t know a destination to teleport to.”

Katya shrugged. “Why go back, then? Send a message to your family, tell them to meet you somewhere better. I’m sure you can find a city somewhere that will be better than living in the wilderness on a planet that low Tier.”

Serenity shook his head. “It’s not exactly the wilderness. I’m from a city. That doesn’t matter. What’s important is that the only coordinates I have for Earth are the planetary ones, not a particular crystal, since they don’t exist yet.” Serenity stopped himself.

He knew Earth’s planetary coordinates. “I could get there with an invasion crystal. Sneak through or set up my own.”

“Your planet doesn’t have an invasion shield? That's primitive. I don’t see how that helps you. The travel time if it lands you in a bad spot-”

Serenity interrupted Katya. “Isn’t that bad. They always open near water, within twenty miles of a significant population center, at least two miles from the city center. There aren’t any significant population centers that are more than a few days’ travel from my home. The problem is far more likely to be people than travel time.”

He looked down at his claws and sighed. “It all depends on where it is. There are places where it would probably be better to be assumed to be a monster, unless I can get to an embassy.”

Serenity was enthusiastic now. “But - that doesn’t matter. I know who the invaders in my parents’ city are. If I can figure out a way to sneak through their invasion portal…” The hard part would be getting to Sterath. No, the hard part would be figuring out where the portal was on Sterath - if it was even on Sterath. They held more than one planet, and Serenity wasn’t sure which one had originated the first portal. He didn’t think he’d forgotten, he’d probably never known. By the time Vengeance had reached the Sterath homeworlds, they had six portals open, each from a different world. “Maybe it would be better to open my own and try to resonate with theirs to end up somewhere close?”

Serenity hadn’t forgotten that his Path Quest promised “transportation home”, but this wouldn’t be the first time he’d seen a Quest give the pieces he needed to do something rather than directly handing him the reward, especially Quests given directly by Order’s Voice. The Voice was parsimonious, and liked to give rewards that you had to work for. Or perhaps rewards that taught something; Serenity wasn’t sure which.

[Path Choice Quest (Branching) Step 4: Home is where the Heart is?]

[The goal sets the Path. Choose your goal by choosing your destinatination]

[Patience is a Virtue: Eventually, someone on Earth will set up a Crystal with teleportation capability. Wait and you will be able to travel home easily with as many others as you want]

[Conditions: Travel to Earth using an Earth-established Teleportation Crystal]

[Reward: Transportation to Earth]

[Conditional Reward: If Earth falls or your people fail while you are gone, you will transition to a new Path]

No, it really isn’t a virtue. Not for something like this.

[Friends are the Family You Choose: Don’t worry about going home; simply make new friends and a new family]

[Conditions: Establish a home that is not on Earth]

[Reward: Transition to a new Path]

Serenity had done that. Not well, perhaps, but he’d done it time and time again in the past that never happened. Always after the old home was gone, though, not simply because the task was difficult.

He wasn’t going to give up without trying now.

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[Home is the People, not the Place: Earth is a dangerous place now, and there are safer places to be. Your friends and family would be better off in one of the safer places]

[Conditions: Find a way to bring your friends and family off Earth]

[Reward: Confirmation of Path: People First]

Serenity had to admit that there were points in that. He didn’t like the idea, but running did have some advantages. The disadvantages weren’t minor, though; just because he could leave Earth didn’t mean it was the best decision, and it felt like the wrong decision. That would be giving up without trying.

If his efforts failed again, he could run then. He’d run before. At least this time he’d have the chance to take family with him.

He didn’t want to run.

He didn’t think most of his family or friends wanted to, either. If they did, he’d help - but he wasn’t going to make that choice for them.

[Hiding in Plain Sight: The Sterath have an invasion portal that leads to somewhere close to Washington, DC. Another group of invaders have a portal into New York City, and many other groups have a portal to elsewhere on Earth. Any of them could be used as a way home]

[Conditions: Get through a portal established by a hostile group to reach Earth, then travel to your home]

[Reward: Knowledge of the location of an enemy portal and confirmation of Path: Heroes are Bad at Risk Management]

Heroes are Bad at Risk Management, huh? Serenity was pretty sure the Voice was messing with him again, but it did have a point. It was a dangerous choice with many possible failure points, and he might not be able to bring others with him easily.

[I’ll do it Myself: An invasion crystal is expensive, but that doesn’t mean it’s impossible. The highest cost, after all, is the people and material sent through it - and the planetary coordinates, which you have]

[Conditions: Obtain an invasion crystal and set it for Earth. Travel through it and find a way home]

[Reward: Confirmation of Path. Others may travel through the invasion portal with you]

[Conditional Reward: Tune the crystal to resonate with an enemy’s invasion crystal. This will allow a portal “near” the other portal, and may provide clues on the enemy portal location]

So far, this was the best option. The lack of a modifier on the “confirmation of Path” either meant that the Voice didn’t have anything snarky to say or that it felt that this choice didn’t change Serenity’s Path.

Probably both.

[Ruby Slippers: Dorothy had a way home the whole time, but she had to learn to use it. You have chosen a strange Path, and it holds answers you do not recognize. You hold one of the keys you need, but you may need to know where the lock is]

[Conditions: Figure out what you need to reach Earth using resources you already have, then go. You have what you need to get home yourself if you know how]

[Reward: Confirmation of Path]

[Conditional Reward: Knowledge of others’ invasion crystals may allow for more precise transit or a way to find them]

[Conditional Reward: Additional knowledge of invasion crystals may allow you to find the portals more easily or even locate potential portal locations before a portal is established]

[Conditional Reward: Your current resources are insufficient to bring others with you, but that does not mean it cannot be done. The aid you seek can only be requested, not forced. One who can aid you has already acknowledged you, but to gain aid in travel you must request it in person]

The Voice is being less helpful than I thought it was from the Path Quest.

I guess I shouldn’t complain too much. It did save my life, and this does lead me back towards Earth, sort of. I’m not sure “do it yourself” is much of a reward, but on the other hand “do this other quest chain” wasn’t much of a quest either, and it looks like it should lead to me figuring out what I need to do. How much of this did the Voice plan ahead of time and how much was made up as I went along?

Serenity reread the last description. I already have a way home?

What does that mean?

I can’t even call home, why are you telling me I can just go home?

[Quest Available]

[ET Phone Home: Home is just a phone call away]

[Conditions: Figure out how to send a message to any of your loved ones on Earth using resources you already possess and simply do not know how to use]

[Reward: Communication and a Clue about the resources you hold]

[Failure Consequences: None]

[Accept Quest?]

Serenity stared at the quest for a moment before accepting.

Did the Voice just call me an idiot?

I think it did.

Serenity muttered to himself. “Rissa, I love you. I’m coming home as soon as I can figure out how. I’ll be there. I promise.”

Serenity concentrated on sending that message. He wasn’t sure what to do. Maybe he could reach out to her through the link he’d created when she gave him Death mana?

Serenity remembered the feeling of the link, the way it simply was when he touched her and reached, and suddenly a message appeared.

[Maximum link distance exceeded. Maximum amplification available with current power reserve insufficient]

Power reserve?

The words were familiar somehow.

Were they from the crystal seed he’d eaten?

He tried to examine the seed. He remembered he’d been able to push mana into it and it had turned into Essence. He tried again and the same thing happened. Maybe he should do something with the Essence?

He fed it back into the crystal and a semi-familiar message appeared.

[Linked stone type currently set to: True Core]

[Effects available: Filter (Dual Mode Active), Amplify Aura (Inactive), Increase Link Distance (Inactive), Change Stone Type]

[Amplification Available: 100%]

[Maximum Distance: Close]

[Power Reserve: Charging, Very Low]

[Available Links: 1]

[Recorded Links: 5]

If trying to send a message triggered the crystal, but it didn’t have enough power even though the Voice was telling him he could send a message home, maybe what he was missing was something else about the crystal.

The only thing he hadn’t tried was Change Stone Type. Could that help him send a message to Rissa?

[Stone type changed: Messaging Crystal]

[Power reserve sufficient for temporary connection to World Capital Core]

[Connecting…]

[Deathlord authentication successful. Link established to Necropolis Core]

[Message stored for transmission to Earth network when established]

[Power reserve exhausted. Link lost]

[Core type reverting to default]

Serenity felt a comforting warmth from his belly as a wave of exhaustion pulled him into sleep and he collapsed to the ground.

It was a good thing they hadn’t left the alcove yet.

[Quest Completed: ET Phone Home]