Serenity would probably never know why Cymryn and his people left a few days after their conversation. He definitely would never know why the army that had been terrorizing the north simply disappeared several days before he talked to Cymryn.

What he did know, on the other hand, was that it was over. He was fairly confident of that on his own, but Quest completion was conclusive. It came when Esme Tillon’s forces finished dealing with the only group they could find, the group near Willowrock, and Esme picked up the final token.

[Quest Completed: Tokens of Terror]

[Ancient tokens of a member of Order’s Council have been discovered on Asihanya. Although the one who once held the tokens is long dead, the tokens can still unlock things better left locked. Recover the tokens and return them to the safekeeping of Order’s Guild]

[Status:

Attackers: 8/8

Tokens: 5/5

Four attacking groups were driven off rather than destroyed. One left a token but the others are likely no longer on Asihanya]

[Completion Condition: Collect and securely store the Tokens]

[Reward: Path assistance for a person of your choice at their next Tier increase. May not be used on yourself.]

Serenity took one look at it and chuckled, then directed his question to the Voice. That reward change is because I’m already getting Path assistance, isn’t it?

[Effectively, yes. I am unable to offer you additional assistance]

That meant that Esme probably got Path Assistance for herself, almost certainly not the “minor” variety originally offered. That was a good reward, especially when the hard parts were all things she’d have done anyway. The only thing she or Serenity had added was searching the place afterwards to find the tokens.

As for Serenity’s award, he already knew exactly who he wanted to use it on. It would be helpful for almost anyone, but there was only one person whose Tier increases had the potential to kill. Can I spend that to help Gaia?

There was a delay before the Voice answered. It almost sounded startled when it did reply. [That is not the expected use but it does meet the requirements. Do you wish to spend your reward on aid for Gaia during her next Tier increase?]

The Voice must need a formal answer for some reason. The answer was simple. Yes.

[You will need to be present during her next increase in Tier. As long as you are on Earth, I will open a way for you to reach her at that time]

It was already time to head home. This was simply another reason to. Serenity picked himself up and went to go find the others.

He couldn’t wait to see his parents again. Come to think of it, they hadn’t written for almost a week. Serenity wondered what they were up to; the last message had mentioned another trip out to sea, but he hadn’t yet heard the results. It was probably another failed attempt to reach the center of the island; Bethany had mentioned horrible winds that made the helicopter back off on the previous two attempts.

It would be good to see Russ, as well; he didn’t talk about it much, but he’d mentioned that he was wrapping up the Soloman vase investigation with all of the missing vases recovered. The last message had mentioned something he “needed to talk about in person,” which wasn’t reassuring.

Serenity stopped short when he entered the tent. Tirmanak was playing with Jenna as a small dragon. It was incredibly cute to see her pounce at him only to barely miss as the Guildmaster moved just out of her reach each time. The fourth time she jumped, Tirmanak didn’t move and Jenna wrapped herself around his arm and tried to gnaw on it.

Tirmanak put up with it for a moment, then grabbed one of the soft toys that turned out to work well as a dragon pacifier and offered it to Jenna instead. She clamped her jaw around his arm firmly but stopped worrying at it.

“Good news, I hope?” Tirmanak didn’t take his eyes off the hatchling when he spoke to Serenity.

“Yeah,” Serenity agreed. “We’ll be heading home soon. Is there anything you need before you head back to Ranar? You’ve been a huge help with Jenna.” It was more than the fact that he played with her and taught her all sorts of small things Serenity wouldn’t have thought of; Tirmanak seemed fond of her and was almost always there to guard her, especially when Serenity couldn’t be around himself. He’d miss that almost as much as he missed Tirmanak’s company.

“I’m not headed back to Ranar immediately - at least, not if you’ll let me follow you to Earth. I have a perfectly capable assistant; she needs the chance to spread her wings and fly. Or fail, if that’s what happens. I don’t think it will, but I’ve been wrong before. A few years without my immediate oversight will tell the tale.” Tirmanak grinned at Serenity. “You don’t have to look so shocked. I was told I’d be needed, and somehow I don’t think that was just to tell Hand Esme that you were who you said you were.”

---

Phoebe stood in front of the door to Rissa’s house without knocking. She’d already stood there for more than five minutes without managing to take that next step. She turned her head to look back at her cousin Red. She was incredibly nervous, but at least Red was being as much of a support as she could. She sometimes wished she hadn’t pushed Russ away, hadn’t told him to give her space. Hadn’t yelled at him.

And yet she still didn’t see any way she could have avoided it. It was wrong but it was very natural. At least, that was what her therapist said. She’d also encouraged the step Phoebe was taking now.

This may not fix things, but it’s still worth trying anyway. Then you will know.

Did she want to live with the chance and uncertainty of not knowing or did she want to find out and then deal with whichever was the truth?

Her therapist hadn’t minced any words about it. No matter which way this turned out, she had a lot of work to do. No relationship works when one side gives and the other takes. Are you willing to put in the time and effort Russ always has? The time and effort you remember putting in years ago, before you directed all of your attention at Rissa and your prophecies?

She was. At least, she thought she was. She missed Russ, but did she miss him because she loved him or because he was always there for her? They weren’t the same thing and she hadn’t known that until recently.

Phoebe thought once more about turning away and choosing to live with uncertainty instead of having her fears confirmed, but she just couldn’t do it. It was like a prophecy: she’d never been able to bring herself to not look.

Phoebe knocked on the door.

She waited anxiously for it to be answered. The time stretched out; each second felt like a minute as her heartbeats echoed, too fast. Much too fast.

The door finally opened and revealed a scruffy Russ, still in his pyjamas. His feet were stuffed into the bunny slippers Rissa gave him as a gag gift two years earlier; Phoebe didn’t know what the teeth and extra-large mouth were about, but the two of them had certainly laughed about them when he opened the box.

It was a good memory. Perhaps that was why she couldn’t say anything when she saw him. Or maybe it was the way he looked more handsome than ever, despite the clear signs of too much work and not enough sleep.

Or maybe she was just too nervous to say the first word. This was all her fault, after all.

“Phoebe?” Russ sounded incredulous. “Come in, please. I - it’s good to see you.”

He ushered Phoebe in. The house was completely different from what Phoebe remembered; none of the old furniture was there and the replacements were skimpy. They seemed like little more than Russ would need to live on his own. The entire front room was empty, completely unfurnished. There was a square folding table and a set of three folding chairs in the kitchen.

That finally got Phoebe to speak. “Why three chairs instead of four?”

She slapped a hand over her mouth as soon as the words were out of her mouth. That was exactly what she wasn’t supposed to do! She was criticizing him, saying he wasn’t good enough. That was the pattern she needed to break! She thought he had broken it, but now it was the first words out of her mouth when she saw Russ again!

Russ shrugged. He seemed unbothered by the implied criticism. He pulled a chair out for himself but didn’t do the same for Phoebe before he sat down. “Haven’t had any company here since the Rothmers left. It’s not like I spend a lot of time in New York City normally. I don’t need much of a setup.”

“Since the Rothmers left?” Phoebe collapsed into her own chair. What had she missed? “Don’t tell me I missed the wedding…”

“Wedding?” It took Russ a moment to figure out what Phoebe was talking about. “Oh! No, Serenity and Rissa won’t be getting married for several more months. They’re not going to set the date until they’re back on Earth. I was talking about Serenity’s parents.”

“Serenity’s parents?” Phoebe had no idea what was going on now. She’d avoided anything that might remind her of her past for months, and then spent even more months trying to figure out who she wanted to be; she’d clearly missed something important that had happened in the last … four months? Six months? She wasn’t even sure how long it had been. “I know his father resigned his position.”

Russ chuckled. “So did Bethany, though hers was a bit later and much less public. They’re out near Florida at the moment, looking into Lex’s family’s history. Lex doesn’t go into more detail about it than that, at least not with reporters. He wants it to seem boring, after all, like any other retiree looking into their ancestry.”

“It sounds normal,” Phoebe admitted.

Russ nodded. “You’re not here to talk about Lex Rothmer.” He paused and a complicated expression crossed his face, full of wistfulness, pain, and something Phoebe didn’t recognize. “You’re here to talk to me about us, aren’t you?”

Phoebe looked down at her lap and realized that she was gripping one hand against the other hard enough that it actually hurt. She hadn’t noticed the pain in her fingers until she saw the visible strain in her hands.

Russ gave her the time she needed to pull an answer together. He’d always been good at that; Phoebe didn’t know how much of it was his personality and how much was his ability to read emotions and thoughts; he’d always been patient, but he’d learned to control his telepathy before he even met Phoebe.

“Some of each,” Russ admitted. “And if you want me to not hear your thoughts, you need to stop sending them to me.”

Phoebe blushed. He’d said almost exactly the same thing to her decades earlier, right before he taught her how not to accidentally project her thoughts at people she was thinking about. She hadn’t exactly forgotten about it, but she also hadn’t put any attention on it, and that was impolite as well. It might even be painful for Russ; there were reasons he didn’t like cities. He was good at protecting himself from stray thoughts, but it was draining.

Phoebe shook herself. This wasn’t why she was here; Russ was right about that. She should start with why she was here and worry about keeping her thoughts under control later. It was always easier to corral them when she could keep calm. “I want to give us a chance. I know I’m the one that left, but … I, I’ve missed you. None of it was your fault, and…”

A drop of liquid hit her hand. Was she crying? She thought she might be. Dammit, she’d wanted to keep a calm expression when she said that; now he was going to think she was a mess!

Russ stood and walked around the table until he stood next to Phoebe, then crouched a little so that he could put an arm around her shoulders. “I’ll give us a chance if you will.”

END OF ARC 9