The rest of the day was fun and uneventful. Contrary to my innermost nightmares, I did NOT meet the bogeyman of the entire mortal universe. My mom apparently had tea with him while Zeke sulked on the shuttle, and my friends and I ran around sightseeing and doing random things all day until it was time to go.

My personal favorite part of the trip was definitely seeing how happy it made my sister. She and Bethy had really hit it off given a chance to interact without terrifying death on the horizon. Bethy had sort of taken Chelsea under her wing, able to tell she didn't have much experience having fun with friends and helping her navigate the ship, letting her try new food and activities as she chatted with her about everything under the sun.

Since I'd met her, I'd always been struck by how poised my sister was. She was friendly enough, but it was a reserved friendliness. With the exception of maybe me, she was distant with people her own age, even Callen, but it was functionally impossible to be stiff or standoffish when dealing with Bethy.

By the time mom came to get us, Chelsea was grinning from ear to ear, breathless from laughing and bolting around with the Vampire like a kid on a sugar rush.

We were climbing some sort of haunted mountain when she came to get us, where tame ghosts popped out and shouted creepy limericks at you in an attempt to get you to laugh. It was pretty much the weirdest place I'd ever been, and Bethy told me her dad had it made for her when she was a kid to help her learn to read. She did NOT explain how it accomplished that in any way shape or form, but I supposed that was Bethy.

Once we returned to the Necromedes, Gabe and Bethy in tow, Killian called the crew together to inform everyone of our change of course. A few guests seemed put out, but he offered them a refund and told them he'd be willing to talk to some of the departing factions about hitching rides for them. Some of them took him up on it, some of them decided to stay and enjoy a free ride.

I was honestly shocked he'd been willing to just up and change course like that, but mom WAS an A-ranker, and given the whole mess with the coming war and the conclave, I didn't think anyone was going to find it odd that he was prioritizing the trip she hired him for. Once that was done, we all headed to sleep, agreeing to meet up as a group and talk things over in the morning. After that, we all retired to our own rooms.

In the morning I felt...energized. Another trip, but this one I couldn't be spending the whole time training. I'd worked my ass off during the last three months, but this next stretch was going to be all about relaxing. Mom had to leave for conclave stuff, but my sister was here, and all my friends, and we had plenty to do on the ship.

My first order of business was to whip up some breakfast. I decided to make cheese blintzes, and after a scan ring call to let everyone know we were eating at my place, I started cooking up a storm. The kitchens were stocked, and it was child's play to whip up a few dozen crepes and then a nice cream cheese filling. I folded them up neatly, then served them with some fruit compote I made from a mix of strawberries, blackberries, and blueberries.

Callie, of course, was already at the table, eyes practically shining as she awaited her massively overstuffed plate. I'd made a LOT of blintzes, because there were tons of us and we were all higher ranked. Abel, Mel, Benny, Jessie (with a mini Randall who I gave his own little plate), Bethy, Nat , Valk, Chelsea, Callen, Celine, Cark, Cass, and Gabe all piled in one at a time and took their places as I served the food, each of them apparently ravenous.

Honestly I wasn't sure a few dozen was even enough by the time everyone arrived, but I wasn't making more, so they could suck it up if not. I just slumped into my chair and dug into my own plate. Everyone was wolfing down their food, and it took a minute for anyone to talk.

Cass broke the silence. "That's a really pretty dress." She said to Bethy with a wide, partially fruit smeared smile.

My Vampire friend grinned at her, managing to somehow keep her fangs from showing while letting us see teeth. It was actually really impressive. "Why thank you. My name's Bethy. Fashion is kind of a hobby of mine. I could teach you a bit if you want?" Her tone made it clear that 'teach you a bit' meant 'dress you up like a tiny doll because I find small cute things adorable' but that didn't seem like a huge deal, so we all just watched in amusement.

"I appreciate the thought." Said Cark firmly. "But I think she's a bit too busy for that. She has training and cartoons and she spends lots of time outside exploring."

Stolen novel; please report.

Bethy grinned at him. "That sounds like fun." She glanced at Cass. "Do you have any pets? I have two cats, a dog, and two hundred and fifty seven flying squirrels. Plus I can turn into an army of kittens. It's pretty cool. I think pets are the best way to spend time. You should totally get one!"

Cass shot Cark a wide eyed look of such tear jerking desperation that I had to look away, but I didn't look too far to see the bounty hunter glaring at my friend. "Maybe when you're older." He answered the unspoken plea. "Space isn't a good place for animals."

"But Bethy has animals!" Complained the nine year old, in that tone that proclaimed to everyone that she she was currently discussing the greatest injustice ever enacted on anyone in the history of the universe. Bethy, her eyes wide and innocent, just snacked on her blintzes as she pretended not to have caused this. Or didn't think she had, it was hard to tell with her sometimes.

Callie, laughing, swallowed a bite and then cut in. "I think we can talk about this some other time. Cass, your blintzes are getting cold, don't you want to finish them?"

Successfully derailed, the little girl went back to eating, causing Cark to sigh in relief. He gave Callie a grateful nod, but didn't say anything out loud. I turned to Chelsea. "So, you ready to strike out on your own? Well, own-ish. You're with us, but this is your first time away from home for a long period right?"

She nodded. "I spend most of my time in grandpa's library. It's certainly entertaining, but reading about ancient civilizations and amazing artifacts isn't really the same as doing things myself."

"You're so much fun though!" Bethy squealed. "I had a blast on daddy's ship, and I'm sure we're going to have even more fun being super stylish army people together." Once again, I questioned if Bethy knew what an army WAS, or if she just had a vague idea that they were groups of people fighting together. Then again, I wasn't entirely sure that an army wouldn't just end up being whatever she wanted when she was introduced, Bethy tended to get her way.

Gabe clearly shared my concerns, because he just sighed. "Bethy, we've been over this. The army isn't just a place to hang out with your friends and wear cute battle outfits. You have to LISTEN to other people. Consistently. Not just run off and do whatever you want."

"I know!" She said in an offended tone. "I have my own army remember. My flying squirrels. I give them orders and they follow them. The army will be just like that. They'll tell us what to attack and we'll all swarm them and beat them down." She slammed a fist into her palm grimly. "I can totally do that. Plus I'll have all those enemies to eat, and eating people is fine when they're bad guys."

Cark looked at Cass sharply. "Eating people is NOT fine when they're bad guys, don't listen to her. And armies don't 'swarm' the enemy. They use training and formations to allow attacks to be as advantageous as possible. Running off to attack them like a mob of random maniacs is the exact opposite of the point."

"That's dumb." Said the Vampire matter-of-factly. "Beating up enemies is easy. You just need to be stronger than them. There's no reason to make it complicated."

Abel burst out laughing. "You know, as big a menace as you are, you're right about things sometimes. I'm skeptical about this training thing. You don't need convoluted strategies. I'll give it a try, but it seems like it'll be a step down in combat potential. I only need one person at my back in a fight, and she's right there." He jerked his thumb at Mel.

To my surprise, the currently unmasked warrior (she'd taken it off to eat) blushed at that. Nat cut in, shaking her head. "Learning to command a large force is integral to any candidate, and learning what it takes for them to operate in battle will be a huge help. Maybe for powerhouse loners like you two it's pointless, but I think Shane has the right idea here. Plus it'll give us plenty of opportunity to grow." She was clearly talking about having plenty of wishes to grant, but her tone was...off putting.

It made me sad hearing her talk like that. Nat had always been mischievous and a little wily, but she'd also been fun loving and a blast to be around. My cousin liked to tease people she cared about, mess with them and make sarcastic jokes. Now...now she was just cold. Harsh. I knew she was hurting, but I didn't know how to help. I was just hoping a few months downtime would help her come to terms with Perit's death and focus on the now.

We all had plenty to get past. This trip was going to be good for us. No training (aside from what was needed for wishes or just for enjoyment, some of us were maniacs like that), no missions, just fun and relaxation and enjoying the amenities here. According to Killian and Blake, we would be flying for about four months this time, so we had plenty of opportunity for downtime and socializing.

Once we arrived we could worry about the rest. And we WOULD need to worry. There was a war on the horizon, new gods coming to power (or very old ones depending on your point of view) and I still had the competition to worry about. Not to mention the conclave next year. Not to mention I wasn't naive enough to assume it would be simple or easy making our way in the Empire.

High rank protection or not, we would need to learn to deal with all the politics and backbiting, plus they used an entirely different type of cultivation, relying heavily on the job system, so we were going to stand out a lot with our costumes and monikers. Not enough to be unique, thankfully, but it wasn't the norm. People would take notice, and not all of that notice would be friendly.

The Conglomerate was a new and somewhat raw area, especially around the edges where places like Callus were recently founded relative to everywhere else. The Empire was a much older and more stable place, much more set in its ways. I had a feeling it was going to be tough to break into that established order, even as mercenaries with obviously useful skills. Whatever came our way though, we'd handle it. We always did. Together.