Chapter Ninety

Joe woke, his shoulders stiff, and he groaned softly. His entire body ached and he moaned as he woke early in the morning or late at night, Joe wasn’t sure which. He sat up with a second moan and looked around the room with bleary eyes. He noticed his bed still occupied and frowned with some anger. He stifled his irritation, understanding the situation rather quickly before considering himself. Realizing he wasn’t tired, he turned to practicing as normal, exercising through his mana, mana points, and skills. After practicing for much longer than he felt he’d done any other night, he finally felt exhausted enough to try sleeping again. He found himself stumped for a bit, staring around the room before wandering a bit as well, struggling to find a place to sleep. Definitely not that couch … not anymore!

After wandering around pretty much the whole villa, he found an empty room and collapsed in the bed and fell asleep. He woke a bit later, but still very early in the morning. The sun hadn't even breached the horizon yet. However, he was too awake to sleep, already rested enough. He sighed and stretched to remove the pain and missed the last few weeks of waking with content where stretching was a pleasure and not a something to remove kinks or overwork. This bed… is so… so nice! He finally removed the kinks and sat up, stretching his neck. After a bit, he turned to exercising his mana, mana points, and skills once again, spending another hour or two, if Joe’s estimation of time was any good. The sun finally began coming to the edge of the horizon, the false dawn brightening the day and letting Joe know the day was soon to come. So he stood and prepared for his physical exercises. Well… vacation’s done, right?

Joe didn’t wake the others, however, leaving them all in their rooms and went out alone to the courtyard with the sun just peaking over the edge of the horizon. Suddenly, a yawn hit him. Man… work hard… sleep hard… heh. Joe sighed, missing being able to sleep through the entire night. He’d been able to do so a few times during the monster tide. Guess… gonna go back to waking in the middle of the night again… He looked around the courtyard and came back to the moment before grinning, grateful for the larger area, then began doing his stretches and forms. It felt like only a few moments later when he felt a presence beside him and turned to see Gwenvair and Kilniara joining him.

He smiled, “Morning.”

Both looked up at him with their own happy smiles, “Morning!”

“Good morning, Joe,” Gwenvair offered with a bit more formality.

Joe chuckled, “Get some good sleep last night?”

Gwenvair looked up at Joe, although she blushed a bit, and mumbled softly while nodding, “It was very pleasant.”

Joe snorted but said nothing.

Kilniara chuckled but pouted, shaking her head, “I didn’t even know you were there.”

Joe smiled softly, “I didn’t want to bother you. I slept in another room.”

Kilniara frowned and then grew a bit angry, “Why didn’t you?”

“Gwenvair was with you. I didn’t want to bother you or wake you up. You were both asleep by the time I got in there.”

Kilniara’s face fluctuated, sorrow and upset attempting to break through her stoicism. Joe stopped when he noticed Kilniara’s serious demeanor, and yesterday returned to him in a flash. He stepped forward and wrapped her in his arms, hugging her tightly.

“Whenever you need to cry, scream, or just be in pain, I’m ready.”

She shuddered in his arms, but did not cry. She did snuggle in fiercely, and they simply held one another. A few moments later, a second pair of arms joined his, and wrapped both of them in her arms. Joe glanced up to look at Gwenvair. She noticed his look and glanced up as well. She smiled, but it was a soft look of weary pain and he nodded to her, both understanding each other in that moment, then both returned their focus to Kilniara.

She enjoyed the hug for a few moments before pushing both of them back and away. She quickly wiped a hand past her eyes then glanced up at both of them with a false cheer.

“I’m OK… reall… no, I’m not OK, but… I’m… doing a lot better, really. Being with you last night … it helped… a lot!”

Gwenvair smiled softly, “I’m glad. It is as I should do, I promise.”

Joe nodded, “I’ll be there for you.”

Kilniara came back into Joe’s arms, a bit more calm and now seeking him in her happiness instead of fear, “But… I missed you.”

Joe smiled, nodding, “Maybe… for one more night… two more nights. But next time, go with Gwenvair, OK?”

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Gwenvair quickly nodded as Kilniara looked towards her and Joe only felt some relief that she was willing and that Kilnaira took it gracefully. Joe hugged her once again and Gwenvair inserted her own hug as well. They all quickly broke apart when the boys came out to join them. Garnedell remained silent, although the smirk on his face overwhelmed Joe’s own with a soft red blush. Zilnek was less polite, grumbling.

“Why’d I wake up to exercise if all of you are just going to sit around hugging all day?”

Joe glanced over at Zilnek with a bit of shock before smiling when he noticed Zilnek’s smirk.

“Alright, alright. I get it. Let’s exercise. We’ll do a couple extra rounds since you’re so eager, Zilnek.”

Everyone groaned, and Garnedell and Kilniara both turned to lay a couple punches on Zilnek’s arm in faux anger which devolved into a moment of laughter and powerful camaraderie. Joe sighed deeply, relieved despite yesterday’s horrible events, and enjoyed the moment. We’re good. We’re all good… we’ll work through this! Joe smiled to see the happiness of the group but it was now a happiness thinly covering a darkness, a darkness which would hopefully fade with time.

They fell back to silence as Joe went back to exercises since the others had joined. They began doing both strength and endurance training after draining stamina as well as practicing the forms while recovering their stamina. He spent most of the time with Gwenvair, getting her up to equivalency with the others as they’d had a bit more time to practice, although Garnedell was still quite far ahead of the others with his forms with his extra several months practice. They exercised and practiced for a good hour or so before the groaning of the others had him stop.

“All wiped out?” Joe chuckled as he looked at the others collapsed on the ground.

Zilnek shot him a dirty look while Garnedell groaned, “OK. OK. Rub it in. You’re a master. You’re the best!”

Joe laughed, “You’ll be doing this pretty soon, too; maybe another year or so and this will be nothing.”

Gwenvair seemed excited, perking up, “Really?”

“You should, although… that is true for my people, and we are all just base humans. Maybe it’s a bit different for acokzau or ulvans… so, but… yeah.”

Zilnek really seemed to perk up at that, returning to a seated position, “Then we should be able to do it even faster!”

Joe laughed, “Really? Maybe… I really don’t know how different our bodies are, so… I’m not sure. But… maybe?”

Zilnek eyesbrows fluctuated, knitting and unknitting with some surprise, “Base humans are almost always weaker!”

Joe laughed, then shrugged, “We’ll see. Maybe you’re right, but I don’t know… so I can only believe you.”

Everyone fell silent as they rested a bit longer, although Joe remained standing staring down at them. He waited patiently for them, and soon all four were struggling back to their feet. He smiled at each of them and gave them some basic encouraging feedback.

“Not bad, today. You guys did well. Let’s go have some breakfast, then we can head out to the dungeons once more.”

Gwenvair looked up at that, “Baths first, please?”

At the mention of bathing, Kilniara seemed eager and looked up at Joe with puppy dog eyes. Joe snorted in laughter before turning to the boys. They seemed more reluctant, but honestly more because they were hungry rather than rejecting bathing. Joe shrugged.

“Sure. Why not?”

Everyone headed towards the baths, although the girls proved much more eager in their rush. He and the two boys simply walked, but once they were in the hot water, the two proved just as happy to be there. Joe didn’t push anyone, although with how relaxed everyone was, they would be arriving at the dungeon quite late in the midmorning. After a leisurely bath, the five enjoyed both a wonderful meal and excellent conversation, most simply focused on humor and the excitement of the epics from the day before. As they finished up their breakfast, an aide came scurrying in to speak with Gwenvair.

“First in Line for Matriach, the … women from yesterday are ready.”

Gwenvair looked to Joe, “Ah. You wished to meet the … women that had been captured by the breeders yesterday?”

Joe focused, “Oh. They’re here?”

The aide interjected, “Ah, apologies, eccentric. They are not here at the moment.”

“Oh. Then… where are they staying?”

The aide was taken aback, shocked, “I… I don’t know. Apologies, eccentric.”

Joe turned to Gwenvair, “Do you know?”

“No, I do not,” Gwenvair looked away, obvious embarrassment on her face.

“Why are you embarrassed? It’s fine. Why would you know? I’m just a bit worried. If what you say is true, then… they likely had nowhere to stay?”

Gwenvair seemed to come to the same realization quickly, at that, and her eyes widened. Joe turned back to the aide.

“Please bring them here. Prepare them rooms and the use of this villa for the day until I return. I expect them here within the hour. Can you do that?”

The aide looked to Gwenvair, who quickly nodded, and she bowed back to Joe, “It will be done, eccentric.”

Joe nodded back, “Thank you.”

He waited until the aide left and then turned to Gwenvair, “I’m… sorry. I should have asked first. I apologize if I was… out of line offering this place for today.”

Gwenvair quickly shook her head, “It’s perfectly fine. This place is yours to use.”

Joe smiled, “Well, I’m incredibly grateful, but it should be the last day. We should head back to the city tonight.”

Gwenvair looked at him carefully before nodding, “Mother would likely be more than willing to allow you to stay.”

Joe smiled, “My people have an … excellent saying to explain this kind of situation. What do fish and guests have in common? They both stink if they stick around too long.”

Everyone snorted in laughter at that, Gwenvair seemingly shocked the most as she struggled to maintain her dignity. Joe just smiled smugly at her before turning away.

“Right. Let’s head out?”

Everyone quickly agreed and they stood from the breakfast table before trooping out of the villa. The boys ran out ahead, but Kilniara slipped to his side and slipped her cool hand in his while Gwenvair looked up at him with some concern before glancing at Kilniara. Joe smiled softly, grateful Gwenvair’s concern and nodded. Gwenvair’s smile grew and she slipped around to Kilniara’s side, wrapping an arm around her. Kilniara seemed surprised, glancing back and forth between the two before smiling with relief. Joe turned back to their surroundings and they all continued through the inner city in two loose groups; Zilnek and Garnedell rough housing around them while Joe walked with the two girls, he and Gwenvair comforting Kilniara.