Chapter 349 (1/2)
“What.... how did he seem?” Sydney asked softly, her fingers tapping the wood of her desk. Although her voice did not quaiver, she had lost a sense of her question halfway through, which was not something that Drake was used to seeing. When it came to this Ghosthound character… it seemed everyone and everything went sideways, even the System.
Not that the man didn’t deserve it. From there two brief run-ins, the man had enough strength to warrant the attention. And yet he didn’t seem like the type to go mad with power, like Dauntless, or lose himself in pointless rigamarole and pomp, like Star Crossing. He raised a village of discipline focused elites, and spoke only sparingly.
Drake’s mouth twitched. Even he was starting to admire the man. It was just… when it came to Sydney…
“He…” Coppernicus finally answered, seeming to think very deeply about the question. “He seemed… driven, focused. He also… was visibly shaken when I mentioned your name. Do you two…?”
Even Vandal perked up at that, although the kid did his best to hide it. Everyone immediately underneath Sydney had a small crush on her, no matter how deeply they suppressed it, or denied it. It wasn’t her looks either, although she was clearly beautiful, made more so by the System.
No, if Drake had to put it into a word to it, Sydney was…
“Fate…” Sydney said in a whisper, while her voice seemed so broken, so tired. “Insists on pushing us together. Before the System, before everything… we knew each other. He’s my first memory…”
Drake blinked. The word would have been insatiable. Sydney always seemed to have a furious disregard for what everyone else thought, almost purposefully rejecting the status quo in order to pursue her own goals. But now, as she talked about this man, with only a sentence… he seemed to unravel that.
In Drake’s heart, something hardened.
“...Anyways, what do we know about the Raid Dungeon?” Sydney said, snapping her focus back, instantly that intensity returned to her gaze.
“Very little that wasn’t included in the notification. Star Crossing is scrambling, and the Ghosthound’s party is traveling rather slowly back to the village.” Drake reported. “Our sources will likely know more when they meet with the Executive Board there. Assuming they begin to gather a party to clear the Raid Dungeon, should we…?”
“Do nothing for now.” Sydney said, flexing her hand and creating a goblet of ice. She grabbed a bottle, snapped off the top, and poured herself a glass. The red liquid looked eerily like blood, even though Drake knew intellectually that the crimson liquid was just wine. After swirling it, and sipping it, Sydney continued. “He will come here on his own.”
“Looking for a fight…?” Vandal muttered, clenching his fist, but Coppernicus spoke louder.
“How do you know he will come?” The Skeleton man asked, folding his arms.
“...because,” Sydney said, the wariness back. “That’s how fate works.”
****
The group continued its steady trek back to Star Crossing. Most everyone rode Neveah, or at least those from Donnyton, while Simon was on the back of his Soul Bound companion, watching the Ghosthound, who was sitting with his eyes closed. His attention seemed a million miles from here, which made Simon nervous.
Because his attention had just been… well a lot of miles from here, and what he had found had made Simon extremely nervous. And he had been looking for an opportunity to talk to the Ghosthound.
His emotions over the past two weeks had been hot and high, but after seeing that final fight against the Skeleton Knight, Simon felt some of his stubbornness crumble away, just leaving him feeling foolish. Sure, being lied to sucked, but… why did he really take it so harshly…?
Simon knew the answer to that. Because he had been so desperate for the very thing he thought was invalidated by the lie that he had force all of his own insecurities about never having a friend on someone else. He had blamed it all on David, on the Ghosthound. Which wasn’t fair.
David was just a name. They… they were still friends, right…? Nothing had really changed, right…?
Well, except the two weeks of Simon avoiding any contact… Which some might see as a reason to stop being friends, but the Ghosthound had seemed regretful and somewhat guilty about the lie, right…? So he would definitely understand…
Back and forth his thoughts went, chasing himself around in a circle of doubt. Such a thick cloud of doubt, that he didn’t notice when his mount simply trotted up next to Neveah and threw Simon onto her back.
He landed awkwardly, next to the Ghosthound, who cracked an eye to see who had approached. Then the Ghosthound blinked, the other eye focusing on him.
“Uh… hi.” Simon said, unable to think of anything else. The Ghosthound nodded, his expression carefully neutral, although SImon could tell from the intensity of his gaze that his thoughts were shooting rapid fire behind his eyes.
“Um… I don’t want to take up much of your time…” Simon said weakly, dragging his foot across Neveah’s bone carapace. “But… I had some things I wanted… um… we should talk.”