Camaxtli looked at Lakshmi and frowned, ever so faintly. For him, it was a broad expression of disapproval.

“Why are you so upset with this news? You have previously expressed a great deal of excitement at the opportunity to go places unseen to the Empire before, to learn things unknown in the Empire before. Are you truly this upset with Lilyanna for giving the other pirates money?”

Lakshmi jerked backwards like she’d been slapped.

My eyes grew wide in shock. Was that really what she was thinking?! She had been acting angry, but… but I thought?! I shivered.

“Lakshmi, is this true?” I asked, and I hated how my voice sounded, weak and frail and quiet.

My friend! Why would she… but of course friends do misunderstand, don’t they?

“No! Well, I mean kind of, but…” She huffed and crossed her arms looking away from me.

Oh dear. That tells me everything I need to know.

“Alright.” I said, stepping over to her. “I understand. I did something Air Pirates in the stories don’t do. I ‘helped bad guys’.” I sighed and tipped my head to the side. “Would it have been ok if we’d just murdered them when we fought them? Just put them down, not worried about trying to save their lives? Maybe not even murder them, just… not bother to heal them. Even though we could.”

“Would that have been ok?” I asked, feeling my throat tight.

Lakshmi glared at me. “Stop trying to twist things!” She said angrily. “That would be different!”

I felt my eyebrows rise into my hairline at that. “It would? Really? So… all we have to do to ‘not murder’ anybody is just… make them so angry they take the first swing, and then… well, we’re free to just chop off their heads, cause they made the first move?”

“Stop doing that!”

Daniyel said “Is Lilyanna using {Persuade}, Captain?” He looked at me, and I felt a chill rush through me.

He is still sworn to protect her, she is still a princess. I thought worriedly.

Lakshmi jerked, her eyes widening. “N-no. I… I didn’t mean. No! She’s not doing that, she’s just being… all twisty with words!”

Eshaan took a hesitant step over to Lakshmi and raised his hands, then dropped them again. “Lakshmi…” he trailed off, clearly unsure what to say. He fumbled for a bit, then said “You know those stories… they’re not real, right?”

Lakshmi spun on her heel and snapped at him. “I know that! I’m not stupid!” She almost shouted.

Camaxtli blinked slowly, then said “So. There has been a miscommunication?” He looked between Lakshmi and I, then nodded slowly. “I would recommend convening a meeting, and-“

“No!” Lakshmi and I said emphatically, at exactly the same time. We stared at each other in surprise for a moment, then burst into mingled laughter at the same time.

It wasn’t even really all that funny, but the feeling of release…

I reached out and placed my hand on Lakshmi’s arm. “I won’t claim this was a seer thing. It might be easy, but… it wouldn’t really be true. I just…” I gave a long sigh. “If we don’t kill them, but then don’t give them solid ground to land on, they’ll just wind up doing the same thing over again. And maybe they will anyway. Bad people… do that sometimes. But sometimes, they don’t.”

Soriya started laughing, and then said “Plus, there’s the fact that Lilyanna scared them half to death, with the threat that she would hunt them down and skin them if they did it again!”

I spun to Soriya, my mouth open in horrified surprise. “I said no such thing!”

Lakshmi asked “You didn’t tell us that! Did she really?!”, her voice shocked.

“No, I did not!” I protested.

Soriya laughed again. “As near as!”

“You just said that you’d tried ‘scarynice’ and used some kind of seer thing!” Lakshmi turned to me. “What did you do?”

I sighed. “Do you really want me to try this? It’s weird and I don’t… I really really don’t want to be rude to show off!”

“Ok, now I really want to know.” Eshaan looked at me expectantly, while the others clustered around.

Soriya plopped down on a nearby bench and smiled. “Oh, I can’t wait to see this.”

If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.

I sighed heavily and slumped. “Fine. Just… promise not to laugh, ok? There’s no way this is going to work.” I muttered under my breath.

I turned to the group and put on my best smile, amping up a {Persuade}.

“So, let’s please not fight everyone? Because if we fight, then bad things happen. Sometimes to us. And I would very much not like to fight my friends! So please, let’s all remain friends!”

To my genuine surprise, I saw the whole group recoil, and Eshaan actually took a few steps backwards.

Lakshmi’s eyes went wide. “Woah. You looked… you looked like one of the court ladies, after she’d just uncovered some really juicy gossip and was about to blackmail someone!”

I grimaced and swallowed back the taste of bile. “Oh yuck! Gross!” I said fervently. “That’s… yuck! I told you this was stupid!”

Daniyel slowly shook his head. “No. I would say rather proof of the opposite.” He glanced at Lakshmi sidelong, then turned back to me. “Though perhaps not the most tasteful of examples, it was certainly germane to our experiences.” He gave me a formal bow. “I thank you for the example, lady Lilyanna.”

Lakshmi looked down, then back up, like she was chewing on something. “So you used… that on them?”

I nodded, fidgeting nervously.

“Then I guess… maybe. It might work out.” She said.

“Would it help if I asked next time?” I said.

“No! Yes! Maybe?” She twisted.

I gave a slight twist of my lips. Well. We are all still teenagers, after all. Even if I’m only sort of one.

I bowed deeply in apology to her, amusement and sincerity mingled in my voice. “Then I promise, Captain Lakshmi. I will ask before I try experimental psychological warfare on captured foes.”

Lakshmi was silent for a long moment, staring at me, and then she suddenly burst out laughing.

She gasped for breath, then said. “Oh goddess, I just realized how wrong that felt! It was like being back in court and everyone wanted something from me, everyone bowed and scraped and sucked up and… I just realized how incredibly wrong it feels to have you doing that!”

She giggled then nodded. “Alright. Yes. I was… I still am mad about helping out people who did us dirty. Who did me dirty, they tried to steal my ship!” She glared at me. “That’s another loss I’m tacking onto your account!” She said accusingly.

I could tell she had largely forgiven me, the teasing tone was back in her voice. It was an honest relief.

She’s my friend. And yes, she’s a little petty and childish and who am I to pretend to the moral high ground?! I’m still giddy that I’m on a jrpg adventure, alternating with pure terror as a death mark shows up! I thought.

With the latest drama behind us, I returned to the map.

“So, yes, it looks like we’re going to have several days of flying to get back to the eastern continent, and then several more just to reach Nanwe.” I said.

“So… around a week?” said Soriya, gazing at Lakshmi quizzically.

Lakhsmi tapped her lips and then nodded. “Yes. Around a week, I think. I guess we’ll be getting a lot of use out of your board games.”

“I’d like to use Gate first, and return home. Supplies and things for the ship, and a real bath at the bathhouse!” I whined sadly.

The others laughed, but I could see the nods of agreement.

“Then we’re agreed!” Soriya clapped her hands decisively. “Breezewood, supplies, and then a bath.”

Eshaan said “Lakshmi, will you need fuel?”

Lakshmi shook her head. “Oh no! I got plenty from the cruiser we shot down!”

I sighed mentally. I really was tempted to find out if I pressed her on this, would she lock up like Miss Buxby when I asked her for directions… but somehow that felt rude.

And maybe a little scary. I just… don’t want to press on the walls too hard anymore. It was funny when I didn’t know what the stakes were, what I was doing. Now I think maybe the System is just fudging things for me and Soriya.

I had a little chill down my spine at that thought. As much as I disliked it, I could still hear Deacon’s voice accusing me of being just a puppet for the system, compelled to obey the tropes of ‘girlfriend healer’.

We returned to Breezewood, and to my relief absolutely nothing earth breaking occurred! We spent several days getting food and supplies, and I spent several hours of each day with Mother, tracing out outings on the map of the world she’d bought.

Mother’s healing potions continued to gain strength, and with them, increased trade demand. From my old perspective, we were rich now. From my new perspective of helping to build an airship and negotiating with the sylvani queen, it was a modest and useful sum.

I did worry a little, healing potions of that quality could possibly draw unwanted attention, but Mother assured me that she was taking precautions, and Breezewood was a) supposed to be destroyed, and b) far too small to be anything but a backwater. The empire’s war was really heating up, even the news sheets that we got delivered from Farna were filled with news of the war. All propaganda, of course, heroic victory after victory in the great clash against the evil Kushistan nation and it’s villainous allies.

So. Well done Deacon, so very well done. Is anyone in this world even real to you? I wondered bitterly. I was very much afraid that I knew the answer to that.

The trip across the ocean was equally boring and uneventful, aside from the regular arguments between Camaxtli and Lakshmi who should be flying. I was right on the verge of pushing a {Persuade} at her, when Soriya said the unexpected.

“I think we should all learn how to fly the Sparrowhawk.” She said. “Look at what happened with the pirates? What if one of us had been incapacitated? Or kidnapped?” She glanced at me, and I felt an entirely rational surge of anger and frustration flow through me.

Daniyel nodded. “In any battle group, it makes sense for as many people to be trained in a critical task as possible.”

“Plus, it looks super fun!” Eshaan said with his trademark enthusiasm.

I struggled mightily to refrain from rolling my eyes, and in the end, Lakshmi finally caved, and over the course of the next week, we got lessons in how to fly the ship.

It was a lot more complicated than driving a car. It seemed that as a prototype, there was more than a few things that should have been automated that were very much not. Or at least, the user friendly score for the Sparrowhawk left a great deal to be desired.

So, after seven and a half days of steady flying, the jungles of Nanwe appeared under the keel of the ship, and Soriya and I prepared to cast our finding ritual once more.

Once more into the breech. I thought. I hope I can make friends with this one. It seemed so incredibly angry. I’m so tired of punching people to be friends, can’t we just be friends from the start? I thought.