“And then we kind of just walked out,” Joan said with a small, nervous chuckle. “It was actually kind of anti-climatic at that point. Soldiers showed up, Chase escorted Penthe to the teleportation circle so she could summon her armor. We got a lot of confused looks. Then she brought me back here, shoved everyone out of the room and helped me get the armor off. Still not sure how worried I should be about that.”

Bauteut took a slow, deep breath. Then, very slowly, she reached out a hand and placed it on Joan’s shoulder. “Joan. I just want to say, I truly do appreciate knowing all of this.”

“Really?” Joan asked.

“Yes,” Bauteut said. “Because when you just disappeared? All we knew was that you were gone and some weird guy had popped into the middle of the building. It’s good to know you didn’t intentionally run off after we got here.”

Joan gave a sheepish smile to her. “Y-yeah. Sorry about that. I really did want all of you to come here. And uhhh, sorry, Francis. Ifrit.”

“Why are you sorry?” Ifrit asked, her head resting on Francis’ shoulder.

“Because I kind of did everything for you two,” Joan said. “I was supposed to help you but then I did it myself. I’m uhhhh, not always the best at getting help.”

“Ifrit is okay,” Francis said, though there was a bit of hesitancy to his words. “That’s all I care about. All I ever cared about. You’re sure they won’t come after her again?”

“Doubt it,” Joan said with a shrug. “But… that doesn’t mean others won’t. I mean, Ifrit, you’re kind of…”

“One of a kind,” Ifrit said softly.

“Close enough,” Joan said. “I’m sure there’s others like you in the world. But if one person found out about you, others might. Word might spread and well…”

“More people will come after me,” Ifrit said. “Until I die, they’ll keep coming after me.”

Francis reached down and took her hand, giving it a small squeeze. “I’ll protect you, I promise. I won’t let anyone hurt you.”

Ifrit just gave a small nod, though the smile she gave was halfhearted. Joan couldn’t really blame her. There was no telling when the next person would come and decide her life was a fair price for their wish. But at least Francis wouldn’t leave her, so one of her wishes could come true.

“You can stay with the Chosen,” Joan said. “They’ll keep you safe.”

“So those really are my options, aren’t they?” Ifrit asked. “Running, hiding and being eternally a bother to those around me?”

“You’re not a bother,” Francis said firmly.

“I’m not sure what else you’d call it,” Ifrit said. “I do appreciate it, truly. Having so many people I can depend on is… more than I ever expected. But…”

“But you’d like a chance to live your life without all this weighing you down?” Joan asked. The djinn gave a small nod. “I can’t blame you. It sucks. We’ll find a solution eventually, I’m sure. Just ask Qakog,” she said before glancing to the demon.

Qakog sat up in his chair a little taller. “Indeed! I’ll find a solution and earn the title… uhhhh…”

“Wishslayer?” Bauteut offered.

“YES!” Qakog said, the giddy grin and excitement in his tone infectious. Within a few moments they were all snickering lightly.

“I’m sure there’s a solution, somewhere,” Joan said. “And we’ll find it. Maybe Penthe has some solutions we can try. Though, speaking of Penthe…” She glanced between Bauteut and Qakog. “I’m surprised you two haven’t been asking more about her. Last time you two saw her it wasn’t exactly… well…”

“We’ve seen her a lot in the last few months,” Bauteut said. “Not talked to her much, but she’s been one of the most… visible amongst the Demon Lord’s forces.”

“Oh,” Joan said, the smile falling off her face. “Right. You two have been there. How uhhhh… is that going?”

“Difficult,” Bauteut said. “I’m sorry, Joan. I know you want to be a part of this, but… it’s difficult. If I wasn’t a healer, I wouldn’t have been there either. Every day it feels like something else goes wrong. There are still so many people who want to fight. If the Chosen weren’t there and on the forefront of the negotiations…”

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“I know,” Joan said. “It takes the literal gods to make peace, doesn’t it?”

“Something like that,” Bauteut said. “There’s a lot of people on both sides who just… want to keep fighting. The Demon Lord can’t control the demons anymore. So many of their weapons are either gone or just… turned on their forces. The death and destruction they’ve suffered is incredible. There’s so much hatred and just… it’s not a place you should be right now. It’ll just be another excuse for some people.”

Joan nodded. It wasn’t like she didn’t understand that. She just… didn’t like it. She wanted to help. But diplomacy like that was never what she was good at. She’d always been better at fighting things than discussing things with them. “I know. So… Penthe has been around you a lot?”

“She met with Hardwin a lot,” Bauteut said. “Delivers a lot of letters. We haven’t really talked with her, though. She’s probably said more to you in the last day than she said to us all the months we were up there. Met her sister, though.”

Joan nearly choked and grabbed Bauteut’s arm, shaking her slightly. “Penthe has a sister? Really? Since when?”

“She does,” Bauteut said before giving a light chuckle. “A demon, though. I think… from a ritual.”

Joan cringed. “Was she… I mean… was she nasty? Vicious? Or…?”

“I don’t know,” Bauteut said. “I only saw her once and for a few minutes. I only even knew who she was since someone else mentioned her.”

Joan glanced to Qakog, who merely shrugged. She gave a defeated sigh. “I guess I’ll just add it to the list of everything else I don’t know about Penthe. On the upside, I might be getting some answers soon.”

“How?” Bauteut asked.

“Well,” Joan said sheepishly. “Penthe is going to be here taking care of some things, she said I could help. Before you get mad, I’m sure she’d be okay with you helping too!”

Bauteut gave a soft, exhausted sigh. “You know, we came down here to help you. Then you run off on your own, nearly get yourself killed and come back with Penthe of all people. You sure you want us here at all? You can just tell us if you’d rather we not. We won’t--”

“Don’t say that,” Joan said softly. “Please. Don’t. I don’t…” Her cheeks went a little red and she glanced between Penthe and Qakog. Then she glanced to Ifrit and Francis. Great. It felt embarrassing saying this here, in front of all of them. But… “I… I want you here. I missed you. So much. I can’t even explain how much I missed you. Every day I thought about both of you and… well, everyone else. The Chosen. Even Zorn. I… I miss having my friends. I miss doing things with all of you. And I uhhh… okay so I kind of miss your attention Qakog,” Joan said quickly, the heat radiating off her face so much she swore she could hear sizzling. “I definitely missed having you around, Bauteut. I know. We saved the world, I’m supposed to rest. I did rest. A lot. I then rested some more. And then some more. I’m going mad resting. I thought I wanted to adventure and go do wild things again. No, I do. But… it’s… not the same without everyone. Without my friends, it’s kind of… hollow. Almost empty. It doesn’t feel… right,” Joan said, finally not able to do it anymore. She covered her face with her hands. “Can I just die of shame, now? Please?”

After a few moments he felt a hug. A second later she felt a hug from the other side. She looked up and saw Bauteut and Qakog hugging her from either side.

“We missed you too,” Bauteut said softly once they pulled back from her. “I know the Chosen do, as well. But…”

“But what they’re doing is important,” Joan said. “Fixing the world. I know. Even if we all saved it, it doesn’t mean everything else is done. There’s still so much to do. I know.”

“Things are different now,” Bauteut said. “But… even if we’re not all together, it doesn’t mean we don’t want to be.”

“I know,” Joan said. “It’s still nice having you around and being able to do things with you. And it is sooooo much easier now that the world isn’t ending.”

“So… this means we’re going to have more adventures, right?” Qakog asked.

Bauteut gave a soft sigh. “Yes. I suppose it does. Assuming our resident hero doesn’t mind waiting for us next time?”

Joan nodded. “Fine. I promise next time that time literally stops, I’ll do my best to avoid being dragged into any portals where I have to fight for my life.”

“Well, so long as you try your best,” Bauteut said before gently reaching up and tugging on her hair a little bit. “When is the last time you had a haircut?”

“Uhhhh…” Joan said, her cheeks going a little redder. “Soooo. Ifrit, what would you like to do for now?”

“I guess… I’ll just come with all of you,” Ifrit said. “If that’s okay? It’s probably about as safe as anywhere else. At least one Chosen is around you at most times. And you did solve this. So ummmm… I’d like to help. If I can.”

Joan gave a shrug. “Eh, why not? Still gonna feel weird, though. No offense, Francis. Just…” She glanced to Qakog. “I guess I’ll be going on adventures with three people who used to try and kill me…”

“Four,” Bauteut said. “You forgot yourself.”

Joan gave a light snort and leaned against her, resting her head on the other girl’s shoulder. “I just wanna make sure you’re not borrrrred.”

Bauteut gave a light snort. “As if you could even be boring. Is there anything else we need to worry about?”

“Nah,” Joan said. “Wait, maybe. There’s some ancient elementals but… eh. They’re probably nothing. I should probably talk with Penthe about that. It’ll be fine. We’ll just deal with it while we deal with everything else.”

“You know, Joan,” Bauteut said. “Just because you’re not as stressed isn’t a good reason to make us stressed.”

Joan just gave her a big grin and knew she was going to get glared at for this, but she couldn’t help herself. “Oh, don’t worry so much, Bauteut. It’s not the end of the world.”