Wish upon the Stars chapter 520

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."

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 an 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.