Unchosen Champion

Coop was relaxing on a catamaran. He let the ocean breeze wash over him as he savored the feeling. It definitely beat the inside of a prison cell. Even if he hadn’t spent much time inside one, he felt confident in his assertion. He took a deep breath of the evening air and gazed at the cloudless sky in front of them. It seemed like Charlie had managed to consume all of the clouds with her storm for miles and miles.

The horizon was golden with the last vestiges of the day. They were literally sailing off into the sunset. He plopped back into the deck lounge chair and shut his eyes.

“Now, this is the life.” He acknowledged, appreciating the luxury of being sailed on a yacht on calm seas with a tropical island destination. The dog at his feet perked up, but when Coop didn’t say anything else he put his head back down, seeming a little less enthusiastic than Coop felt about being in the open ocean. They’d be at sea for a while longer, still needing to veer way south to head back to Ghost Reef.

A few minutes of listening to the parallel hulls splitting the ocean and they were both already dozing off. For Coop, it was partially the relief of completing an important task and partially just being tired from packing so much activity into the last several days. Even if humans had become sleepless beings of mana, there was no way he would shun the little things that anchored them to reality. As long as he could help it, eating and sleeping would stay high on his list of priorities.

As he ruminated on the delights of slumber, he felt gentle arms wrap around him. When he opened his eyes he got a good look at Charlie’s contented smile. She was hugging him from the side, looking up at him. He couldn’t help but match her smiley expression with his own.

“Thanks so much, Coop.” She whispered, barely even disturbing the breeze.

Coop freed an arm and put it around her shoulders. “No worries. We’re looking out for each other right?” He patted her encouragingly. As far as he was concerned, she had been the first to go above and beyond by coming to Ghost Reef to try to rescue him and Jones.

Charlie looked away, hiding a frown. “You and Camila did so much for me. I can’t live up to the standards you two set.”

Coop looked at her like she was speaking another language. “Weren’t you the one that summoned an entire hurricane out of thin air? I’m pretty sure that was the highlight of this whole adventure. We’ve got clear skies ahead of us because of you.” Coop paused for a second as he thought about it and Charlie looked embarrassed. “That or the cannons would be my pick for showstopper anyway. We might need to have a vote.”

She shook her head, letting her windblown bangs cover her eyes while Coop went ahead and tried ranking the events of the last few days. He held up his fingers and pushed them down one at a time with his other hand, listing what he deemed were the pinnacle events. Camila’s dismantling of the Empire’s guards had to be up there as well. Coop was realizing that it really had been a lot when he added the first Field Boss defeat in the world to his list. It made him even more eager to get home, where the factions and pending global conflict felt so far away.

Charlie waited and eventually interrupted his sorting. “Listen, Coop.” She finally got his attention again. “My mom says she knows how to cure blood curses…”

Coop sat up in the lounge chair, waking up the dog that was still relaxing near his feet. “How?” He desperately wanted to know. There was no point in hiding it. He hadn’t been able to shake the guilt he felt when he left Jones in the line of fire with the Empire and really hoped he could make it right. If they could get Jones back to his old self, it would be even more weight off his shoulders.