While Jack certainly had experienced and seen a plethora of corruption among the wealthy, he didn’t feel like fully barring his soul about all of it. Instead, he chose to share a number of stories about some of the things that he had discovered while he had been living as a thief. As their conversation went on it eventually turned from the darker topics it started as into more lighthearted ones. The two shared a number silly and amusing stories helping to clear the air of the depressive feeling the conversation had left at the beginning.

It was a little surprising but the two were left to enjoy their talk and the outdoors for a decent amount of time. Jack knew that his cries of emotional release earlier were definitely heard by more then just Charise, but it seemed the others figured that it was a good idea to let the two have some space.

A warm feeling blossomed in Jack’s chest at the thought. While he certainly needed someone to talk to in order to help him clear his head. Having an such an emotional talk with any of the staff of the place that had kept him imprisoned was not an appealing proposition.

Even talking to Charise had its own edge of unease. They had certainly bonded on one level after sharing the experiences of the previous night. However, those same experiences had started with the two putting each other in mortal danger.

Over half an hour had passed with them chatting, and they eventually hit a lull in the conversation. Sitting next to each other they stared out into the lightly forested area next to them. Simply reveling in the feelings of peace and freedom.

After a little while Jack turned slightly so that he could see Charise out of the corner of his eye and spoke quietly. “Hey, I just wanted to say thanks and sorry. I know that last night was a shitshow, and I know that you said you were glad to be free, but really. Thanks for sticking with me and being here this morning. It means a lot. I’ve never… you know what? Never mind.”

Charise blinked in surprise. A heartfelt thanks and apology were pretty much the last things that she was expecting this morning. As she had tried to imply earlier when she talked to him, she didn’t really blame him at all for his desperation last night. Though perhaps it was her genuine acceptance and understanding that had led to his desire to apologize.

She felt like she should respond somehow but wasn’t sure what the best way to do so was. She sat there thinking in silence for a moment in order to put her thoughts in order and get what she wanted to say just right.

In the ensuing silence Jack shifted nervously and did his best to not focus on his insecurities. Normally his doubts and fears would simply get shoved to the back of his mind. He had long ago promised himself that he would no longer let fear stop him.

After having made that promise he had done well in keeping himself centered and in control. However, with everything that had happened to him during this case he had been pushed well past the edge numerous times. Now he found himself struggling to keep even the smallest degree of control.

Eventually Charise broke her silence. “I don’t think there is any real need to apologize. Really. You were just doing what you needed to.”

“No. I do need to apologize. I put you in an insane amount of danger, and I chose to do so again while you were in an emotionally compromised state. I didn’t even try to have any kind of safety net.” Jack broke in protesting.

There was another pause as Charise considered his words and emotional state before she answered, “Yes, you did. But at the same time, it’s not like you were in a situation or state where you had many options. It was a risk that very well could have killed me. But I will say this, I fully accept and thank you for what you did. If you hadn’t, I wouldn’t really be me at all. Just trapped in an endless dream as my body was moved around by something else’s will.”

Jack sighed, both from a sense of profound relief as well as emotional exhaustion. “I wish I knew how that worked exactly. I’m not entirely sure it’s just the system puppeting the body. If it was then why would it keep the spark of your mana and who you are alive. There has to be some reason it was doing so and I have no idea what that could be. Besides that, it actively spoke to me for a short bit when I was freeing myself of its control.”

“It spoke to you? Really? I never had any feeling of it talking to me.” Charise asked surprised before considering, “To be fair I was also unconscious while you were clearing out its influence in me.”

“Yeah. It tried to tempt me with a whole slew of my dreams and desires that I know will be hard to accomplish. Ha! And when that didn’t work it moved to threatening me! Pounding my brain with all the crap from my life.” Jack laughed bitterly.

“Is that part of why you keep spacing out all the time? I mean I’m sure part of it was exhaustion, we were both running on fucking empty. But you seemed to… you know.” Charise asked, curious.

Shrugging slightly Jack nodded, “Yeah, it’s part of it. Whatever it did to me for making me feel that stuff literally caused me to constantly be bombarded by those memories any time I feel those emotions. It has been… fun.”

Charise grimaced, “Sounds like.”

Both fell silent again. Slipping into a more comfortable silence then before.

Eventually their tranquility was shattered as a loud bang came from the guard tower. Two pairs of eyes landed on the doorway as both of them shot to their feet ready for a potential fight. There was a tense second before they both let out a breath and settled back down.

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

It was just one of the guards who had accompanied the director out here. She was staring at the door in surprise, clearly not having expected it to slam open like it had. Eventually she shook her head and looked around, clearly having left the building for a purpose.

When the guard spotted Jack and Charise sitting under the tree their face brightened. It seemed that she had been sent out to collect the two of them.

Jack let out a small groan and said under his breath. “Well at least I got a small break. I needed that. Well, I need more then just that but I should be happy that I got any relaxation at all considering how everything’s been going recently.”

While Jack had meant to just whisper it to himself Charise managed to hear him. Chuckling she whispered out of the corner of her mouth. “Oh, more rest is definitely too much to ask for.”

Jack rolled his eyes and replied. “I’m sure it is.”

As the two whispered the guard made her way over to them at a sedate pace. Making it clear that while she was to get them it wasn’t any kind of emergency. At about the halfway point she called out to the two. “Good morning! It’s good to see you have calmed down. Madam Director was wanting me to check to see if you were up for coming in and going over the specifics of what comes next. She said no rush, but the sooner we have it done the sooner we can go get some breakfast.”

At the mention of breakfast Jack’s stomach gave a growl. It had been some time from when he last ate. He wasn’t even sure just how long it had been.

Charise tried to stifle a giggle at the loud rumble only to have a surprised look cross her face as her own stomach also exclaimed its discontent. There was a beat of silence and then both Jack and Charise found themselves laughing.

The guard watched the two, waiting patiently for their answer. A little bewildered by their sudden outburst of laughter but she chocked it up to it being just one of those things.

Chest heaving, Jack eventually got himself back under control. Only letting out the occasional chuckle as he wiped his eyes. He glanced over at Charise holding her sides trying to keep her laughter contained. As he did both of their stomachs gave off another unhappy grumble sending Charise back into another fit of laugher.

Barely keeping himself from joining Charise, Jack turned to the guard and managed to wheeze out. “Go ahead… and tell her…. We’ll be right in.”

As soon as he was done letting the guard know, he couldn’t hold it any more and let out another burst of laughter.

“Alright I’ll let her know.” The guard nodded politely and walked away shaking her head.

It was about five minutes later when Jack and Charise walked in, having finally composed themselves. As they went through the doorway into the building Charise gestured to Jack to follow her. “This way Jay.”

“Jay?” Asked Jack confused at the nickname.

Charise shrugged, “Yeah, I’ll be honest. Your name sucks. I get your thought and everything to prove that you aren’t worthless, but I sure as shit don’t feel comfortable calling you by it. Whoever named you that should be beaten to death for doing such a thing to a kid. Fucking assholes.”

Jack scratched behind his left ear as he replied. “Thanks… Got to say, I am a little surprised. Especially considering I know for a fact just how bad the language growing up on the streets is. I’ve made an extraordinary amount of effort to change my own speaking habits after trying to become a private eye.”

“Yeah, I still got some of my habits from then, but I draw the line at slurs and shit. Just don’t think it’s right to be judging someone like that. Felt that way even more so after being judged for where I grew up.” Charise shrugged again this time a little awkwardly. “Anyway, yeah. I don’t want to call you that. So, I figured I would try Jay for a bit and see how well it worked. If you really don’t like it, I’ll figure something else out.”

“No, no. It’s fine. Just caught me by surprise is all. You know it’s kind of strange but most people haven’t ever really tried to or given me a nickname. I know a few that just call me man or guy or similar to avoid using my name, but not a nickname. I wonder if I just give off the feeling that I don’t like them or something.” Jack shook his head and waved off her concern.

After a short jaunt the two had made it to the room that Jack had heard all the voices in earlier. Entering the room, they saw the director along with three of her staff sitting there. The director had large bags underneath her eyes. It was evident that she had not rested at all during the time that Jack had been asleep.

Looking up and seeing them enter, Madam Blue did not waste a moment, “Oh good, you’re here. We need to do a quick go over what needs to happen next here. Rest assured I will of course abide by what we put into the oath. Not like I have much choice there of course. I suppose the first question would be how soon do you think you would be up for showing my researchers how you managed to cure Ms. Riverstone here?”

“I can do that at any point here. Now that I have had at least some rest it should be even easier to manage. We… brought someone out with us to use as an example?” Jack agreed before his tone got unsure as he struggled to remember just all of what he and Charise had done the previous night.

Charise nodded as Madam Blue spoke. “Indeed. A young beastfolk woman. If you are feeling up for it, I will make sure that all of the people that would need to examine the process are here and ready by later today. What requirements do you have for doing it?”

Jack thought for a moment before talking. Listing things off on his fingers as he did, “Well. I only have the one time that I’ve done it so far, so I would recommend that we try to replicate what we can. So… she should be mana deprived like all of the patients are. We’ll likely want her to be unconscious. Um… let’s see. It would probably help if I had some way of restoring my own mana. Hmmm.”

Hemming and hawing for a bit Jack struggled to remember everything about when he freed Charise. “Oh! Do your staff have anyway to monitor or affect mana flows within the body? That was an important part of what I did. Other then that? I can’t really think of anything though I could easily be missing something. As I said I have only done it the once.”

“If we don’t have anything on hand that can do that, we should be able to get something easily enough. Is there anything else that is an immediate concern?” Madam Blue said nodding.

Jack thought for a moment before he pursed his lips, “Yeah. I may need a place to stay and it can’t be in that agierforsaken place. I don’t know for certain just how long you lot kept me there but I have the feeling it was long enough that I might no longer have a home.” He paused a moment before he added. “Charise too. Pretty sure that she was there longer than I was, so chances are she is in the same situation”

“I’m sure that we---” Right as Madam Blue began to speak Jack interrupted her.

“Oh and something will need to be figured out for anyone else who ends up getting cured. I bet that a number of them are in the same situation that we are.”

The director gave him a scowl as she more forcefully stated, “As I was saying, I’m sure that we can get something worked out for that. If that’s everything that’s needed, let’s head out.”