Wish upon the Stars chapter 112

Callie looked mostly unamused at the question. "We go in obviously, before the fight attracts even more of these damned undead and we end up  ass deep in a skeleton army." I snickered slightly. In her defense I  had known that, there wasn't really another valid move after all this,  but I felt like poking fun at her for checking in with us all the time,  even if I did appreciate it. I knew from her smile she didn't take the  ribbing too seriously though, and with her eyes still blazing a now  fading emerald green from Jessie's ability she was more than up to  leading the way.

Everyone gathered up in front of the door  to the crypt. The entrance was, despite being ten feet if it was an  inch, ludicrously small in comparison to the rest of the massive marble  building. The iron double doors were thick and dark, with intricate  scroll work displaying screaming faces and huge skeletal figures. It was  literally the most morbid piece of decoration imaginable, and the pair  of cold blue torches on either side of the doors were yet another  chilling touch that made it clear how absurdly creepy this place was.

Luckily  the doors were just normal iron. With our Might stats opening them was  child's play. We could have ripped them out of the marble if need be, so  we were able to open and close them quickly enough not to have to worry  about the undead swarming us. Once we were inside, I expected to have  to find some light, but sure enough, those same creepy blue torches  flickered eerily down the length of a dimly lit marble corridor the  split off just ahead of us in three different directions, all headed  into the building at a downward angle.

With the door  closed we were able to relax a bit and stare into the depths of the very  large building. Sarah nodded unhappily. "Like I thought. This is the  tip of the iceberg. We're standing at the peak of a massive underground  complex." She bit her lip uncertainly. "I was really hoping it was just a  few underground tunnels, but this is a full on complex, which means  we're probably looking at real city of the dead. Maybe even a kingdom."  She turned to Callie." This isn't going to a short trip. Is this really a  good use of our time?"

My girlfriend sighed unhappily. "I  think so. There are only a few death aligned materials on the list  true, but if this place is that big the undead may have been collecting  materials of their own. Even if we don't find the exact things we need,  we can stumble on a treasure trove we could trade or sell. We might lose  a few days or even a week down here, but in the long run this is going  to be the best way to get ahead quickly. Solomon, can you find the right  way for us to go to get deeper into this place?"

I'd been  expecting that, and I triggered Seek Hidden. Finding the 'right way'  was pretty amorphous, but since there were only three routes it was less  of a strain than it could be. Despite that though, it was a strange  experience searching for a path. A cloud of red mist drifted up off the  marble floor down one hallway, hanging at about waist height to  demonstrate where we should be heading. It was almost as difficult as  straining the skill to show me two things at once to change the input  like that, and I stumbled slightly before Callie caught me.

I  gave her a nod of thanks and pointed down the hall that was marked. I  relaxed my hold on the skill and managed to keep a faint tracery of red  active. Letting it fade helped the strain a bit and after some rest I  was able to continue. "That's the way. Can't see much besides general  direction but that's where we need to head. Keep an eye out for any  other undead we might come across, I won't be able to watch for them and  pathfind at the same time."

Jessie's hand on my arm was  accompanied by a rush of energy as she pushed life force into me,  helping me get back into fighting shape from the initial drain. It was a  nice pep in my step. We started forward down the tunnel, eyes peeled  for wights or skeletons, or even new types of undead we'd never seen.  The death knights were probably out because of the horses, though it was  hard to say if they could walk around without them. I decided to ask  Sarah, our resident expert on all things undead. "Hey, are those bone  horses part of the death knights?"

She shook her head,  clearly happy to have something to focus on other than the creepy marble  hallway lined with ghostly torches. "No. They can walk normally, though  the ones summoned as cavalry tend to be slightly stronger in exchange  for the loss of their ability to dismount. We might run into some down  here though, so we should keep an eye out. Bone archers are common in  confined spaces like this too, and that's going to be a big problem if  we come across it. Do you have some way of dealing with projectiles?"

I  just pointed at Benny, who held up his arm triumphantly. Callie rolled  her eyes. "Yes, we can shield, it's much more effective than using one  of our party members limbs as a long term pincushion for foot long  shafts of wood." She curled her fingers the shadows rose up off the  floor, washing up in front of us in a sort of translucent dome. It was  like looking through black glass, and I was shocked to see she'd  mastered yet another use of her power when I wasn't looking. I was  really starting to lag behind. I needed to get with the program.

We  walked like that for about two hours before I needed to take a break.  We decided to stop as a group in one of the few alcoves we had seen off  the main hallway, stepping into the side room and slumping down in  exhaustion. Well, mostly that was just me. Flexing my skill like that,  even minimally, for hours, was exhausting. The others had pretty much  just been walking around so they were fine, but it got pretty banal  walking down the same stretch of corridor for that long so the change of  scenery was nice.

Jessie,  angel of mercy that she was, came over to charge me up while we rested  and I sighed with relief as my body flooded with life energy. With her  this close, even through the mask, I was able to spot some tell tale  signs I think I'd been ignoring until now. Given how busy everything had  been, I hadn't been as focused on my team as I should have been. I put a  hand on her shoulder. "Hey, you doing ok? You seem tired. If this is  wiping you out you can say so, we don't need you to top us off every  five minutes."

She  gave me a small smile. "No. It's not that. I just haven't been sleeping  well. My lifeforce comes from inside so I can't really energize myself  by putting it back. I've just been having trouble getting rest. Even  with Vitality like mine you need SOME sleep. It'll be fine though. I'm  figuring it out." Despite her confident words, her tone sounded...off.  Sad and beaten down.

I  reached up to remove her hand from my chest where she was pumping in  the energy. "Hey. Talk to me. I know it hasn't been that long since you  lost your brother. No one expects you to pick up everyone's slack. You  don't need to work so hard all the time." She looked surprised at that.  "Please, like I haven't noticed how much you've been doing. Callie is  the leader but I do pay attention. You've been working your ass off. I  guess I just hadn't put it together how tiring that must be for you.  I'll talk to the others, ask them to lay off a bit."

She  grabbed my hand tightly. "Don't!" I tilted my head, the universal sign  for being confused in a mask, and she let go of me, sighing. "I...I need  to get stronger. I've been trying for a while now. At first it was to  be useful, and because it helped take my mind off things, but now...I  can't stop thinking about an idea I had. My powers...they let me give  life to things that aren't alive, they heal and animate, and they're  still so weak in the grand scheme of things. If they can do this  now...then maybe-"

I  swallowed as her question hit me like a speeding train. "Maybe you can  use them to bring back your brother someday." It sounded crazy. Dead was  dead. Everyone knew that. But...was it really? In a world where you  could bend and break the fabric of reality was dead really dead?  "I...want to try to talk you out of that. To convince you to move on.  But I can't. Not really, not in the world we live in. So all I can say  to you is that if you do manage it, and I believe you will, he would  want you to be happy. To be safe and healthy. He wouldn't want to come  back to find you a shell of yourself."

She  bit her lip. "I know. You're right. But it's just...it's right there.  Every time I close my eyes I see the next step. The training I could be  doing. Relaxing feels wrong. Like I don't deserve it. It feels like I'm  betraying his memory every time I stop to smell the roses so to speak. I  have so much to do, so far to go before I can even think about fixing  this, but I know if it was him here, he would move mountains to bring me  back if he could."

I  couldn't argue that. But I did dispute one point. "You still need to  live your life. You can't just pour yourself completely into this. Have  you even talked to Maria lately? I know how much you look forward to  those talks." It was only now dawning on my how oblivious I'd been to my  teammate's suffering while I was worrying about my own problems. Jessie  had been hurting all this time and I hadn't seen a thing. Like her pain  just magically went away for some reason. I felt like an asshole. "Plus  you're acting like this is all on you. Like you're alone here. We're a  team. Trust us to help, to have your back. If you can't get this done  with your powers we can do it with mine."

Her  eyes widened in realization. I had never actually considered a  resurrection wish before, but it seemed like it...should be possible.  Probably not anytime soon granted, but if trying helped Jessie realize  she wasn't in this alone than I was all for it. She looked at me with a  flicker of hope in her eyes, and seeing it there after not noticing its  absence broke my heart a little. "I wish my brother was alive again."  Her voice was rough, as if saying it out loud like that was almost too  difficult for her to bear, but she did it anyway.

Wish detected. Grant wish? I confirmed. Insufficient stat points. Requirements: NA. Resurrection beyond the capabilities of Beginner Wish ability. I'd  expected that of course. But it wasn't actually bad news. I shook my  head, but before she pull away I gave her a grin. "It's beyond my  ability right now, but it IS possible. If your power can't bring him  back, then mine will. We can do this. We can bring your brother back to  life." The sobbing missile of healer that slammed into my chest in a  grateful hug was enough to life my spirits like nothing else had in a  while, even spending time with Callie. Because I'd forgotten something  important. Things that were broken could be fixed. Even hearts.