Wish upon the Stars chapter 68

In the end we made off with about ten trolls. Aside from the two  Jessie and Benny took down they were a bit worse for ware, but still we  did take them down. My Touch of Tears was instrumental in managing it. I  avoided the second tier poison skill because it would have melted them  into puddles of sludge, but the tier one was meant for prolonged combat  and managed to down them after one hit, doing enough consistent damage  to offset their regeneration and allowing me to just pummel the big  bastards unconscious.

Once we finished collecting them we  headed back to the tower. We used the street entrance for drop-off this  time, and we collected a thousand H rank chits. Once that was done we  retired upstairs to rest, all exhausted from a long day of battle and  work, before finally heading to sleep. The next day I got a call from  Zeke right after I woke up. I answered the call groggily, still waking  up. "Yeah, what is it?" I didn't bother to play polite for my Uncle, he  wouldn't have believed it anyway, and he'd have been just as snappish if  I called so early.

He must have been up all night because  he laughed at my expression when the screen connected. "Well aren't you  Mr. morning sunshine? I'm calling because I finally got the living  quarters sorted out for us all. You're still bringing your posse with  you right?" Because finding a place for all of us was a pain int he ass  on short notice, and if you tell me it was a waste of time I'm going to  be pissed."

I laughed at that, starting to get my brain  working as I sipped a deep pull of coffee I'd just made in the kitchen.  "No. They're coming with, it's fine. I even told them my secret.  That's...not a problem is it?" I hadn't considered Zeke's reaction to  revealing myself. I wasn't sure he was actually going to be on board  with me spilling the information about myself and the WCP.

To  my shock though, he just laughed and shrugged. "Not my neck on the line  kid, and not my friends. I don't know them well enough to tell you if  you can trust them or not, and in the end it's all your call anyway.  You're the only one at risk from sharing. If you think they're going to  be with you for the long haul then that's up to you. They seem like ok  kids to me from what my sources say though. The question is, do YOU  think you made the right call telling them? Do you have any regrets?"

I  paused to think about it before shaking my head. "None. They've been  there for me since this mess started. Jessie shared so much with me  about how she was feeling after her loss, and Callie..." I blushed a bit  and he gave a booming laugh. I cleared my throat, brushing past his  knowing smirk. "Callie and I have a lot in common. I'm excited to see  what we can all do when we're working with all the assets we have  available."

He chose to let the blush slide, shrugging  again. "Well, there you go then. If that changes then handle it. I've  never been one for worries or second guessing. Do what you want, and  make a spectacle of it. Life's more fun if you put on a show. If things  go wrong just call for curtain, and try something different the next  time." His casual smile told me he was being entirely serious about his  advice, and I had to chuckle at how very him it was. Zeke might not have  told me everything while I was growing up, but I clearly knew the real  him, absurd powers aside. It was a comforting thing to be sure of.

He  seemed completely unconcerned by my thoughts on his philosophy, which  was also just like him. "Alright, I'll get the others and head over. We  can take a skyride right? Or is it far enough away to have to request an  air shuttle?" I didn't even know if they would let us use one of those  things. They seemed expensive, and as much as Academy membership and my  seed contract made me valuable, I had no illusions that I was a high  ranking member of the Unity. There were probably tens of thousands of  people with more authority here than any of us.

Zeke  smirked. "Ah, I see you've started to get an idea of what travel can be  like in larger cities. Trust me, it gets so much worse. You should see a  capital on an A rank planet. This one barely counts as E rank. As a  general rule the higher the rank the larger the planet and population.  Anything higher than E will be an exoplanet. Or a cohesive planetary  system connected with spatial transport. But no, I kept you in mind.  It's part of what took so long. I found a place nearby."

I  blinked at the concept of places bigger than this. I wondered how  people even got around, but that was a question for another time. I was  just glad we could actually get to the new digs. Not to mention being  close meant it should be within easy travel distance of the Academy,  which was another big concern. I thanked Zeke and got directions before  heading down to the garage to try to get a new skyride. I texted the  others the basic shape of things on the way so they could meet me down  there.

When  they arrived we set off, choosing to head out before I filled them in on  the details, making sure to use Seek Hidden to check for any listening  devices. Once I confirmed there were none I caught them up. "So my Uncle  Zeke contacted me about a new residence he managed to secure. I think  having our own place will make everyone more comfortable, I know it will  for me. Zeke is my guardian for all this candidate stuff, and is crazy  high rank, so he had a lot of contacts and was able to get us a nice  place on short notice. If you guys don't want to move in you don't have  to of course, we can just treat this as a visit."

I  was pretty sure they did though, and the laugh from Callie confirmed  it. "I for one can't get out of that place fast enough. I wouldn't have  stayed at all if this city didn't have such a problem with securing  housing." I smiled a bit, knowing she just wanted to get away from  Shadowthorn, but still, it was nice to know she didn't mind the team  getting a place of our own.

The  others felt the same, Benny and Jessie both being fairly unattached to  the tower, and we were all excited to see our new home. Judging by what  Zeke said I was thinking it was something similar to the megaplex's but  on a MUCH smaller size. I got the feeling that individual or even small  group dwellings were kind of a rarity here, so I was curious what the  neighborhood around the place would look like. Since the individual  housing locations were probably expensive I was guessing we were headed  for a nice area.

We  flew for about forty minutes before finally ending up in the place we  were heading to. The streets became much more open, with actual lawns on  them, but the houses themselves were...small. Benny leaned forward.  "Aren't they kind of tiny? I mean I thought we were going to be staying  in some big compound or something, not a literal shack." His house had  been like ten times that size, and while it had been unusually large, I  definitely agreed that the places on the road we were settling onto were  much smaller than expected.

Callie  rolled her eyes with a laugh. "You're sitting in a car with a spatially  expanded trunk, and just came from a building that was bigger on the  inside. It should be pretty obvious most buildings here are bigger on  the inside than on the out. If his Uncle is so high rank I can only  assume he got us an expanded place." Her tone was teasing, not genuinely  mean spirited, and Benny just snorted and flipped her off, causing her  chuckle to devolve into full blown laughter.

Jessie  was basically bouncing in place with excitement. "It has a GARDEN! And a  yard! I'm going to grow SO MANY plants here. It's going to look  gorgeous!" I hadn't actually considered that benefit but I added it to  the list of things to thank Zeke for. I was guessing he took that into  account when looking for the place. i wouldn't be surprised if it had a  crafting workshop for Benny and I and a training room for Callie too. It  seemed like my Uncle thought of everything.

We  climbed out of the car, leaving it parked on the side of the road.  There were actually parking structures atop then houses, but we wanted  the full experience of entering the front door for the first time. It  was probably kind of stupid but I couldn't resist getting the chance to  see everything that way. Zeke was waiting for us outside the house,  leaning against the wall next to the door, and he nodded when we  approached. "Took you long enough. Remember to buy a nice model of  skyride or even an air shuttle when you have the cash. Really cuts down  on travel time."

Callie  nodded, making a face. "Yeah the unity car pool is mostly meant for  quantity not quality. There's an executive garage too, but we don't have  the standing in the guild to have access." That answered my earlier  question about air shuttle's at least. Still, that was an intriguing  idea. I hadn't considered buying our own air shuttle. It would probably  be a while before I could afford it, but I was betting I could collect  quite a bit of chits with wishes if I switched over my compensation, and  that would be so damn convenient.

Zeke  held out a hand with a chuckle. "Since the kid is off in dreamland  thinking about a new ride, I'll introduce myself." He gave me a pointed  look before continuing and I flushed in embarrassment. "Ezekiel  Cavendish, but you can call me Zeke. My nephew tells me you know the  score already so no reason not to share my name. I won't tell you my  cape name though, it'll be more fun to see if you can figure it out." He  winked. "It isn't Harlequin in case you were wondering, that's just a  throwaway identity."

That  I hadn't known for sure, though I had assumed it. The others looked  almost as intrigued by it as I felt, but they avoided focusing too hard  on it because we were so close to seeing our new place. Zeke grinned in  appreciation. "Not getting sidetracked by the identity tease. Very nice.  Most people spiral into theorizing about that kind of thing pretty  fast. Though from your lack of interest I'm guessing Shane didn't tell  you exactly HOW high rank I am."

That  intrigued them even more but he just laughed it off. "I'll quit  teasing. I'm sure you're anxious to see the place. I admit my dramatic  nature tends to lend itself to a big build up. I'm probably dragging  this out more than is fair." He turned to the door, taking out a key  with a chuckle and slotting it in, turning it with a click to open the  entrance. As he pushed it open and stepped inside he gestured for us to  follow, clearly anticipating our reaction to our new home. "Please, come  on in, let me know what you think. I hope you find the premises to your  liking." I groaned internally. With this kind of buildup I just knew he  had gone overboard. Time to see for myself.