Adabelle walked with purpose as they headed out of town to the Danger Zone, the area where she would practice her disaster magic. The look on her face told Trevor that she wasn’t ready to talk, and the way her tail whipped through the air screamed it. Still, he held her hand as they walked, and she slowed down enough to walk beside him.

“Quest Master, point to Speed, please,” he whispered.

[[Stat increase complete. Speed is now 3. You have no banked points left.]]

Despite the mood, Trevor couldn’t help but smile now that his Strength, Dexterity, Stamina, and Speed were all even at 3. His Magic and Mana were both 1, though he didn’t care much about that, and his Capacity was at 5, but that was in a special section so it didn’t count.

“You didn’t have to do that,” Adabelle said, tempering her tone.

“The faster we get there, the faster we can talk about it,” Trevor said with a gentle squeeze of her hand. His walking pace sped up, though not drastically, and she matched him easily. “Plus, now my main stats minus the magic stuff are all 3. So, that feels good.”

“Yes, I suppose it does,” she replied with a sad smile.

After that, it didn’t take long for them to arrive, enjoying each other’s company as they walked through the forest surrounding the Danger Zone. Their feet crunched on the ground until they went to the same boulder they had the first time Trevor was brought here. Adabelle sat first, and he followed suit.

They sat there, watching the thin layer of dust swirl around the area in silence. While Trevor was in a somber mood over Jackson’s imminent departure, he knew that she had to be feeling worse. Adabelle had been here for several years longer than he and knew the elf much better. She was his apprentice, after all, and successor.

So, Trevor waited and watched the landscape with her while she gathered her thoughts. For Adabelle, he had near infinite patience.

Eventually, the ground began to shake. The tremors started slow, causing all of the rocks aside from the one they were sitting on to tremble. Trevor squeezed her hand in concern, but she shook her head and he waited, nervous but patient.

All around them the ground broke apart, causing large, jagged stones to overlap one another. They were quickly returned to something resembling flat land as she tamped it back down, leaving rubble behind.

The earthquake stopped as quickly as it started as the winds began whipping up the loose stones. Dust flowed all around them as they sat in the eye of a small tornado. Trevor’s heart raced as he watched what was going on, but didn’t let go of Adabelle.

No matter the disaster, it never touched the boulder they sat on. The tornado changed to rain, which changed to snow that froze the water, which changed to overbearing heat that caused the thin ice to quickly melt. It was an impressive display of power that left Trevor speechless, and it was readily apparent how she had been able to drop a lake on a dungeon that she sunk into the ground. The disasters cycled one after the other until Adabelle took a deep breath and everything went still.

“Thanks for not getting scared,” she said softly.

“Thanks for not showing it, I think you mean,” Trevor chuckled. “I know that the safest place I could be is right next to you, so I wasn’t really worried. Your Power is pretty versatile.”

“Most Powers get bigger and better when you put points into your specialty stat,” she explained. “But when I do, I get more control over them, and I can make the disasters smaller. Early on, I focused mostly on the stats everyone had, relying on my swordsmanship because that’s what I knew. Jackson was the first one to tell me not to be scared of my Power.”

“It’s a lot of responsibility to be sure, but if I would trust anyone with this kind of Power then it’s you,” Trevor said.

Adabelle gave him a small smile. “That makes me feel better,” she admitted before looking back out over the soggy wasteland. “I never wanted to admit it before, but I feel like this has been coming for a long time now. Jackson leaving, I mean. Just little things, like how he acted, or the things he’d say. It makes so much sense now that I realize it.”

“He told you earlier this week, didn’t he?” Trevor guessed.

To which she nodded. “We’ve been getting the Summoner’s Tower set up for the ritual,” she said. “It’s been weighing on my mind. I’ve been trying to keep it under wraps, but I know I can get a little hard to deal with when I’m stressed.”

“Not at all. I mean, I wish I could have helped you more, but you kept it to yourself,” Trevor said. He leaned over and pulled Adabelle into a hug. “As did I, which I would normally apologize for but it wasn’t my place to tell anyone and he asked me not to."

"Jackson told me he asked you not to tell, and I'm not going to be mad at you for keeping your word." Adabelle shook her head as she wrapped her arms around him. "I couldn't, because that's one of the things I admire about you."

Trevor smiled. "Still, you’re going through a tough time and I’m not going to hold anything against you. I am here for you, Adabelle, no matter what you do.”

“Thank you, Trevor. I may lean on you for a while longer.”

“Lean away, lady,” he replied. “It’s what I’m here for, to take care of you.” Brushing some hair away from Adabelle’s face, he noticed her ears twitching as if she heard something strange.

With a sudden quickness, Rashie was in front of the two of them, ankle deep in the rain water. Trevor blinked in confusion; he hadn't even heard her splashing.

“Are we interrupting?” she asked, hands on her hips.The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

“Rashie?” Adabelle asked, pulling away from Trevor. "First Wayne sneaks up on us here, then the shark. I don't think we can be alone in the Danger Zone."

The shark girl sniffed the two of them, starting with the young man. “That smells like… concern,” she said before switching to Adabelle. “And that smells like sad!” Gasping, she jumped up onto the rock and hugged the demonkin tightly.

“Sad?” Trevor playfully gasped before hugging Adabelle even tighter. “We can’t let that happen, Rashie.”

“No, we can’t!” she agreed.

Adabelle laughed as she was attacked from both sides. “Cut it out, you two!”

“Never!” Rashie yelled.

“Never ever,” Trevor agreed.

Sighing, Adabelle shifted her arms so that she could pull Rashie onto her lap and lean against Trevor. A smile was on her face despite herself, and she took to stroking the shark girl’s back before she realized what had been said. “Wait, are we interrupting?”

Giggling, Rashie pointed back towards the path. Trevor and Adabelle looked to see Wayne standing on dry land, arms crossed, until he saw them looking. Then he started waving. “I’m not getting my boots wet for this!” he yelled. “You guys should get on over here!”

“Wayne’s a big baby when it comes to water,” the shark girl pouted. “But he wants to talk about Jackson.”

Adabelle and Trevor looked at each other before he let her go to wave at Wayne. “Come on! Stop being a big baby and get in here!” he yelled.

“Yes, Wayne, it’s just a little water!” Adabelle said.

They could hear his grumbling despite the distance as the dwarf pulled off his boots and socks, folded up his pant legs, and started walking through the water. Rashie jumped back down to help him avoid any sharp rocks that had come up with the earthquake, and he was soon scrambling up onto the boulder with them as the shark girl started to circle them.

“Great, now we’re all sitting on a rock surrounded by muddy water,” Wayne complained as he crossed his arms. “What now?”

“Well, first, how are you doing, Wayne?” Trevor asked. He retrieved a fluffy towel from his inventory and offered it to the newcomer.

Grunting, the dwarf shook his head but took it and began drying his feet. “Upset, but I’ll get over it,” he admitted before jerking his chin towards the shark girl running around the rock, splashing water everywhere. “Jack just found Rashie and I, and we both explained what was gonna happen.”

Trevor grimaced before looking down at the girl. “And how are you feeling, Rashie?”

“Just fine!” she replied, kicking the water. “I’m excited!”

“But Jackson’s leaving,” Adabelle said, frowning. “And you’re excited about that?”

“Yeah!” Rashie exclaimed, turning to face the Summoned. “He gets to explore a whole new world! That’s so cool, isn’t it? I got to see what life was like outside of the ocean and live on land and it’s amazing, so I can’t help but wonder how awesome his next world is going to be. Is it going to be covered in rocks? Or lava? Or water? Oh! What if he goes to my world and becomes a Larashae! That would be the best, for sure.”

“Yeah, she’s fine,” Wayne chuckled.

“Wayne! We have to tell Jackson to be a Larashae if he can, with the tentacles and stuff,” she demanded.

“He’ll be whatever he’ll be,” he replied. “We only got to pick because of the Quest Master, and there’s no guarantee he’ll be in a place with something similar.”

“That was basically Trevor’s response, too,” Adabelle said. “He told Jackson that he needed to take care of himself.”

“Trevor said that?” Wayne asked. “Our Trevor? This Trevor? How does he know about that concept?”

"It is very strange, to be sure."

“Alright, enough of that,” Trevor laughed.

“I don’t know, is it enough of that?” Adabelle asked. “How much work have you done since we got back?”

“Nearly none!” Trevor defended. “I helped move Drelik’s statue of his wife now that it’s finished, and I’ve been making food. For once, I am relaxing.”

Wayne narrowed his eyes at Trevor before leaning towards Adabelle. “Ditched him for a shapechanger in Eskretet, did you?” he whispered conspiratorially.

“No!”

“Thought about it, but I like the original too much,” the demonkin said, reaching up to stroke Trevor’s chin.

“If he was a shapechanger, then I would have already ate him,” Rashie confidently interjected from the water. “But that’s Trevor all the way.”

“Gee, thanks,” Trevor said, laughing as he saw the two smiling. “You two helped turn me into this, you know.”

“A functional human being?” Wayne asked, arching an eyebrow.

“Oh, be nice to him,” Adabelle said, reaching up to move some hair out of Trevor’s face. “Otherwise I’ll be forced to defend his honor.”

“Forced, you say?” the dwarf asked, stroking his beard. “Rashie, make fun of Trevor’s honor.”

“But Trevor’s nice to me and he makes me food,” the shark girl protested. “And he’s a cinnamon roll.”

“Is me calling him a cinnamon roll a valid reason to not make fun of him?”

Rashie stomped her foot, splashing water everywhere. “It’s the proudest of all pastries!”

“Is it?” Trevor asked, unable to help himself. “I mean, I know we’re talking about me here, but I feel like a croissant might be prouder.”

“A croissant? You could have mentioned an Éclair but you go with croissant?” Wayne asked.

“What about the vaunted macaron?”

“Might as well have said a strudel.”

Trevor snapped his fingers and pointed at Wayne. “Tiramisu, definitely.”

“Oh, tiramisu. Yeah, that’s it. Definitely. And now I want some,” Wayne drawled. The two Americans nodded to themselves while Adabelle laughed.

“You two are ridiculous,” she said in good nature. “Though, now I have an idea. Trevor, are you willing to put in a little more work?”

“Is it work if I’m doing it for you, lady?” Trevor asked.

Adabelle paused. “Yes,” she said. “That’s why it’s work.”

“Oh, then yes. I’m willing to put in a little more work so long as it’s for you.”

“And Wayne, are you up for some grilling?”

“Always,” the dwarf snorted. “What do you have in mind?”

“We’re here, but we shouldn’t be,” Adabelle explained.

“You mean stuck on this rock on the pond you made? I wholeheartedly agree.”

“No. This is our family, but it’s not the whole family. It’s missing someone really important.”

“Mr. Tiggles, right,” Wayne said.

The demonkin smacked his arm, causing him to rub it. “No! Don’t be mean,” she chastised. “We should be having this moment with Jackson. He’s leaving in a week, and we’ll never see him again. What are we doing out here, throwing a pity party when you and I are the only ones who are actually sad about it, Wayne?”

"Okay, yeah. I’m picking up what you’re laying down.”

“We should be celebrating with him,” Trevor agreed. “Spending time with him until then. You know what? Let’s go above and beyond and get the town involved. Everyone’s going to want to spend some time with him before he goes.”

“Let’s get his permission before we do that, but I do like it,” Adabelle replied. “We might need you to go pick up a lot of food if we’re going to make it a big event.”

“I’ve got no problem with that whatsoever,” the young man said with a grin. “He brought me here. While we may not have spent a lot of time together, I can see how much everyone cares about him, and that’s more than enough for me.”

“I’m down to grill for as long as there’s people needing to eat, though I’m sure some of the townsfolk will want to cook and cater as well,” Wayne added.

“I can catch fish!” Rashie said, jumping out of the water to land amongst them. “I can go down to the lake and catch a bunch of fish and then Trevor won’t need to be gone for so long!”

"You can't just summon them?" Trevor asked.

"No, of course not, they disappear when they die," she said loudly, pouting as she stamped her foot on the rock.

“Okay, calm down, Rashie,” Adabelle laughed, patting the shark girl on her shoulder. “Let’s ask first before we start endangering the local fish population.”

“Yeah, I guess,” she sighed.

Trevor pulled his socks and shoes into his inventory as he rolled up his pant legs. “Alright, we’ve already settled on a plan, so let’s do it,” he said as he slid off of the rock. “Let’s go throw a party at Jackson’s place.”

The group cheered, their sadness forgotten in the face of a festive occasion, and started marching back to town to be with their mentor, mayor, and friend.