The aftermath of that day was quickly dealt with. Too quickly for John to really digest fully what had happened. Regan got out of the barrier in time. He suffered from blood loss and even though the wounds were healed, the after effects of the physical trauma stayed for a bit. Regan shrugged it off eventually saying, “This is not the first time I almost died.”

Victoria vanished almost immediately after confirming Travolta’s death by taking his pulse. All she had left them with was a notice that the Bloodfallen would get in contact with them soon to discuss their future. “Appoint a new guild master until then,” she had ordered. John had no idea if he ever wanted to deal with the Bloodfallen again but the choice wouldn’t be his apparently. They were in no position to negotiate. Not at this time.

John, Rave and Aclysia had then worked to free Travolta from the pile of dirt that had been his ultimate demise. John found that despite him being the one to deliver the final strike, he didn’t feel guilty about this whole thing. He felt a complicated knot of emotions, none of them pleasant, but the gnaw of true guilt was not one of them.

Was that another side-effect of his Wisdom? He was certain that it had been the only way but still he had just killed an actual person. Just like that first encounter with the Wall Shadow, the death left him unfazed. He knew what needed to be done and so he did it. That was all there was to it.

Brooding over all of this, he had called Jimmie.

It had been only 16 o’clock when it had all been wrapped up. In a single day John had found out the truth about the attacks, about Travolta’s paranoia and his sudden new strength, had moved to confront Victoria, killed his guild leader and broke the news to Jimmie. A mere 8 hours from breakfast to the grave. A sobering thought.

Sunday noon they met again in the Protected Space. They were wearing their usual stuff, in John’s case because he didn’t know what else to wear, in the Hollmeys’ case because they knew that this was just another day in the Abyss, in Jimmie’s case because John’s final attack had destroyed the cellar.

They were standing around the beaten and broken corpse of Travolta Meyer, former guild leader of Collide. John had covered him with a blanket to save Jimmie from the view.

“I guess it really is disgusting under there, huh?” Jimmie asked in an empty tone. They had postponed the funeral until he was released by the Apothecaries.

“Yes.” John answered in a similar tone.

“I will keep him in my mind how I remembered him…the last time I spoke to him was before the explosion.” Jimmie giggled a bit, “Bastard cursed at me. Typical Travolta.”

John just nodded. He himself had difficulty discerning what he remembered more. The ornery man who had just begun to warm up to him or the scarred and shambling creature he had become. Forcing the image on Jimmie would have been cruel. “He cared for you in his final moments.”

“Idiot had a soft core somewhere down there. Always went on about human potential this, future that,” Jimmy said.

“He left with a lot of my money.” Regan drily grumbled, “I will miss him. It was clear that our relationship would end like this, however.”

“Why?” John asked, he felt that the common sense of a funeral didn’t apply anyway so he might as well try to fulfil his curiosity.

“Because unlike you or me, Travolta was born without any power. No talent for martial arts, no light-controlling ability, no control over Illusion Barriers and certainly no reality warping Gamer powers. He was just a grunt in a world that is not nice to people without power.” Regan lit a cigarette. It was the first time John had seen him smoke or even caught a whiff of tobacco from him. “He had the will to reach for power. Too bad it never could have been his power.”

‘So that was the reason,’ John thought to himself as he understood. Travolta was, had been, what Rave called the lower class of the Abyss. These people were quick to drown if they didn’t find a way to distinguish themselves. Travolta had survived being weak. He even thrived a bit thanks to his relationship with Regan. Nothing like that could be satisfying. He had gone to find power from other sources and made the wrong choice.

Just a slip of his hand and that drove him to madness. A bit of greed and the Bloodfallen had turned against him. The Abyss was no place for those without the power or the luck to reach higher places. John clenched his fist. “Isn’t that just unfair?”

“Whoever promised fair, Latebloomer?” Regan asked as he exhaled a plume of smoke. “Equality is a lie the mundanes tell to each other. One that Gaia maintains, for now.”

“It has always been like this, John.” Rave grabbed his hand. “In a world where the bottom is easily replaceable, life is a struggle for those who dwell there.”

She turned back to the blanketed body. “I will still miss him though.” She admitted with a sad sigh. That was all the emotion she could muster over the death of somebody she had known for years.

It was Jimmie who changed the topic, “You guys will need to decide if you want to keep Collide running, even if it's just in name.”

“You guys?” John asked. “What about you?”

“Me? I am out,” Jimmie made a shaky smile and adjusted his cap. The simple motion made him drop the hat. Barely, he managed to pick it up and place it back on his head with unsteady hands. He pulled the cap over his eyes to hide the rising tears. “This is too crazy for me. I’m still weak enough to pass as mundane. I’ll take it.”

““What?!”” It was a universal question. Regan asked because he didn’t want a young talent like Jimmie to be gone, Rave asked because she was dumbfounded, John asked because he simply couldn’t believe it.

“Don’t be so shocked. I was in the Abyss in the first place because of Travolta.” Jimmie put his hands into his pockets as he stared at the blanket. “I have enough money to get along for years in the normal world. I will move to some of my distant relatives in the countryside and stay away from all of this.”

“Jimmie, you…” Regan started.

“…you can do whatever the hell you want.” John interrupted him. “I’ll miss you. If you stay… we’ll make it through this together.”

“Thanks.” The mechanic just nodded and zoned out of the rest of the conversation.

“Listen to me John.” Regan whispered, “Jimmie cannot just leave, he is…”

“No, dad.” This time Rave interrupted him, “He has very little mana, he can just leave, nobody is going to spot him.” It was nice to see her being on his side on this. He lightly squeezed her hand as a moment of silence filled the Protected Space.

“Well, then.” Regan sighed and accepted that this was the last that would be said on the matter, “This is my goodbye. I have work to do.” He turned and walked a few steps, never looking back on the corpse of his friend. Why would he? It wasn’t the first and certainly not the last friend he would lose during his life.

“What do we do for the funeral?” the Gamer asked.

His girlfriend answered, “I say we tear down the barrier. Travolta may have been bat-shit crazy at the end but I think he would have liked this being his personal graveyard.” John looked at the old building. It had a certain charm to it, an old arcade for a young Gamer like he was. It was also destroyed and the aura of bad memories hung over it. He would regret never being able to set foot here again. He wouldn’t ever be able to call this his home.

“Yeah, that would be the best.”

“I will see to that.” Jimmie said, now a single tear was rolling over his face, “You guys can go now. I will see this through and then go far, far away.” He looked at the two of them, not even forcing a smile. “This is our farewell.”

Rave parted from John for a moment to hug Jimmie, “I hope you do well in the future.”

“Might be the first nice words I ever heard from you.” The mechanic said afterwards and tipped his cap. “I hope you two do well. It’s been a blast. Don’t let the Abyss eat you.”

“I hope you do too.” John answered after a deep breath and with that all was said. The two of them turned around and walked over to Aclysia.

“Why did you do that?” Aclysia asked, having watched from a distance. “Saying goodbye to somebody who can no longer hear you seems illogical.”

“It is not about him.” John tried his best to explain, “It is about the ones he leaves behind to find an end. To have certainty about the fact that even without him the world will turn, just… without him. It's also to demonstrate to each other that, when we die, there’ll be people to remember us.” Aclysia either understood or had no more questions about the matter.

They walked away from the alley and into the main city. “I guess that makes ya guild leader.” Rave said in a bit cheerier tone.

“Just like that?”

“I am not going to do it.” She stuck out her tongue, “If we ever make it big you get stuck with the paperwork.”

 John laughed at that and it felt good to laugh, even on such a bleak day. Especially on such a bleak day. The people that he thought he knew were no more. Travolta was dead, Jimmie was gone, Victoria a traitor. There were many trials in their future but as long as he could hold Rave’s hand, maybe that could be dealt with.