Life Review Ch. 04

From the individual ridges of his core, to the thick muscles of his chest, lats, and traps that all fed into the corded steel of his arms and legs, his body was sculpted into the image of power and efficiency. His hair had changed little in the trips between the worlds, which meant it was still a mess and needed a trim.

The glaring difference was that his raven locks were dusted with silver that gave him the odd feeling he should model for one of those hair dye commercials targeted at men in their fifties. Admittedly, his hair wasn't grey and one could only see the silver coloring when the light shifted, otherwise it just looked blonde and it was hard to see individual blonde hairs in a sea of black ones.

Shawn felt the biggest change was his eyes. Originally his eyes were a forest green with a yellow corona around his iris', but the yellow had been completely replaced by a starburst of silver that spread out into a dusting of sparkling silver stars. It was both alluring and disturbing to him.

Cassidy seemed to like the new look, but then again Cassidy liked the new everything everywhere. The truth was that he looked and felt like a completely different person. If he were to meet his friends from back home as he was, none of them would recognize him and they wouldn't believe him unless he had medical proof.

He allowed the menu to fade into the background of his mind and opened his eyes. Cassidy was sitting on her perch by the window with her back pressed against the wall while she was reading from her grimoire, and Denza was sitting perfectly still at the foot of the bed with her eyes closed and her breathing steady.

Shawn glanced down in time to see the last of the crystals in her lap give off a hum that was just at the edge of human hearing and slowly turned to dust, layer by layer. The crystal dust was drawn to Denza's skin and was absorbed effortlessly, leaving behind a healthy glow that made her look vibrant and alive.

"Cool, huh?" Cassidy said once she noticed he was awake.

"It was quite the experience, did you unlock anything interesting?" Shawn asked, scooting himself over until their shoulder touched, the way they usually sat when they would read books or study. It was a comforting and familiar routine.

Cassidy smiled and rested her head on his shoulder, closing her eyes and sighing contentedly, "I was able to get a handful of useful ones, nothing too flashy yet. I was a bit bummed when I couldn't summon lightning like Nessa could, but I got the next best thing which is a spell called 'Lightning Orb' which I'm pretty sure looks like a tesla ball.

"Sounds like a stun grenade," Shawn joked.

"Exactly, that's what I thought. I figured that would be more useful than some of the more situational spells like 'Levitation' which is only designed for small objects and the energy curve for ramping up the potency is really inefficient." Cassidy lamented. "But they are spells designed for beginners."

"Has anything been added to the grimoire?" Shawn motioned to the open book in her lap. The pages it was open to were filled with diagrams and lines of text that his mind couldn't focus on, one of the book's protection spells that thwarted outsiders' attempts to read it.

"Oh, yes!" Cassidy bubbled happily. "As you know, I only had the spell to summon my tutor, which was a repurposed version of the familiar summoning spell. While you and Denza were both off taking in your nutrient bath, I summoned her."

"It's supposed to be her memories, right?" Shawn tried to think back to the specifics.

"The spell is basically a snapshot of Tricha before she finally passed on, so up to a few days ago. The tutor has an archived memory that activates whenever I call her, so she will remember anything from the times she is summoned. It's a pretty ingenious bit of spellcraft," Cassidy stroked the pages of the grimoire affectionately.

"So does it show you anything different then the spells in the menu screen?" Shawn asked.

"No, but I can cast all of them if I really wanted to," Cassidy shrugged. "With enough practice I think I could gain the spells for free, in a manner of speaking if we are using Essence crystals as a form of currency that are the represented as point values we see."

"Thinking about it, I did get my Elemental Fists and spear fighting style completely by accident. I think that would be considered learning it the normal way through time and effort," Shawn flexed the fingers on his burned hand, suffering only minor twinges of pain.

Both of them looked up when Denza began to stir. She opened her eyes and stretched her arms above her head, "Am I the last to finish up? How did your meditation go?"

Shawn and Cassidy glanced at one another, Cassidy replied, "As well as to be expected I think, how did yours go? What was it like?"

"Well," Denza said slowly, screwing her face up in concentration. "I started by immersing myself in the feeling of the crystals energy. Then once I was completely enveloped, certain memories would play before my eyes, sharpening with clarity as I began to understand different aspects of what I was doing. What about you two?"

Cassidy gave Shawn a questioning look, it was his turn to answer, "Pretty much the same. Cassidy and I gained knowledge of a few new spells and we were discussing those we picked up along the way. Still staying away from magic?"

"Definitely," Denza's lip curled in distaste. "The two of you can handle all of that, I like what I'm doing."

The three of them sat quietly in companionable silence before Denza asked, her countenance turning meek and fragile, "So what's the plan going forward?"

"What do you mean?" Cassidy cocked her head to the side.

"I mean what are our plans for the future. You've completed the task you've set for yourself. You joined the Expeditionary Guild. So what's next?" Denza elaborated, looking suddenly nervous.

Understanding suddenly dawned on him, "Denza, are you worried that we aren't going to help you look for your sisters?"

Cassidy's eyes widened as she understood Denza's behavior, "Denza, we promised we'd help. We don't really know much about how things work, so we assumed you'd take the lead once we got settled." she said earnestly.

"But I can't," Denza mumbled, ears drooping sadly. "If Shawn wants to go another route, I cannot refuse him. I feel conflicted. I feel selfish for leaning on you for help and for keeping you from what you might otherwise be doing."

Shawn suppress a chuckle, knowing it was inappropriate but he found it hard because he found her unsuredness adorable, "Denza, we'll make it our top priority. It's not like we have much else to do. We can start in the morning, I promise."

"Really?" Denza looked at him with an awed expression. Her usual intensity and confidence was gone, leaving her vulnerable and completely open.

"We're a team," Cassidy insisted. "It's what we do."

Denza's eyes welled up with emotion. She covered her face and began to cry silently, her shoulders shaking with silent sobs. Cassidy gave him a sharp look at gestured impatiently to the overwhelmed Elf. Shawn leaned forward and gently pulled Denza by the hand until she was cradled against his chest, "Everything is going to be alright. You aren't alone in this anymore." Shawn crooned, his lips pressed to her sensitive ear.

Cassidy leaned back against Shawn and they waited for Denza to cry herself out. Shawn could feel the depth of her sorrow that had been building for years. She cried for her sisters, for her lost brother, and for surviving brother Quin, and for her parents. She was fast asleep by the time her sobs had quieted. Cassidy helped Shawn shift Denza under the blankets before she wrapped her arms around him and settled in for the night.

Shawn lay awake between the two sleeping girls and couldn't help as his mind strayed back to Jenny. He wondered what she was doing. It would only be five weeks to her, but what would she be doing in the five weeks? Going about her normal routine he supposed, just as he would have. Five weeks wasn't really that long of a time. Would he wake up after fifty years to a younger body and see Jenny sitting next to his hospital bed? It was a bizarre thing to contemplate.

He wouldn't forget about Jenny, or let her go. There was no moving on from her because she represented the home he would be returning to. He took in the wild scent of Denza's hair and felt himself relax. In a strange way, Denza was his present and Jenny was his future. Cassidy was his everything, as she always had been. He shifted his head so that his forehead was resting against Cassidy's. Her eyes opened and gazed into his. As if she sensed his thoughts, she gave him a sleepy smile and pressed her lips gently against his before nuzzling into his neck and drifting off once more.

Shawn smiled as he admired her sleeping face. He was content with his lot in life for the moment. Once his body was healed up, they would be off on a grand adventure to rescue Denza's sisters. Who knows where that expedition would take them. For the first time since arriving in Niverra, Shawn was looking forward to the next step in Cassidy's and his journey. He kissed Denza's long, soft ear. He was glad she was along for the ride too. Sleep finally found him and he gladly went on to dream of their future.