Unchosen Champion

The serene harmonies of gentle winds flowing off the sea soothed Coop down to his core. Outstretched palm fronds swayed in the light ocean breeze, reacting to oscillations in the ephemeral currents, and bathed the island with a musical salve that fully immersed his mind in tranquility.

Coop was in a state of consciousness somewhere between dreams and reality, enjoying the natural wind chimes and subtle bustle of his tropical home while all of the stresses of his life completely washed away. He needed what was essentially a full reboot after being confined to the oppressive and stagnant underground layer for over a month. Weeks of fighting, sporadically interrupted by days of traveling in the magical equivalent of solitary confinement had done a number on his state of mind. It would be hard to overstate how much he missed his home.

With the conclusion of the Underlayer Event, Coop returned to Ghost Reef and recounted his journey for all of his advisors. It felt like a rare occasion to have everyone together and the Town Hall became a hive of activity, filled with welcoming faces. The end of the event had reunited all of the residents for the first time in almost 100 days and Coop hadn’t been the only one with information to share.

Coop made sure to provide every detail, whether relevant or not, of his interactions with strangers across the planet, knowing that he had barely scratched the surface on his own. While Neon Park’s alliance was a known entity, the European Emergency Community had only made contact as a result of sending scouts to Ghost Reef after meeting Coop. Then there was the Assembly of Settlements in Africa, who no one had really met, though Coop had forced his way into networking with their champions, the Grand Horde, who sought a much closer connection with Ghost Reef after meeting the Avatar of the System, and their hostile, alien influenced counterparts in the Abundant Grasp.

Coop also told his advisors about the individual settlements that either had no presence in the Underlayer and were not a part of one of the known major alliances, like Zahamena and Wakatobi, and the ones that had forces who encountered Coop in the underground, such as Can Gio, Gangcheon, and Shinjuku Gardens. There was a whole assortment for his advisors to sift through, and that only included the ones he had personally visited.

The armies of Ghost Reef had done their own networking, connecting with the Twin Settlements of the Navajo and Apache, the larger alliance of the Pacific Republic which was centered around Silvervalley and protected the west coast from Mexico to Canada, the 20 individual settlements in South America with various levels of presence in the underground, and finally the lone powerhouse of a settlement in New Zealand.

Adding on the existence of forces like the Jaguar Sun in Central America, or even Bobby Jon and the Swamp Lord in the Everglades, and the collective population of humans painted a picture of survivors spread thinly across the entirety of the planet. Coop wasn’t sure how they would fare with connecting them all, but if anyone could get the ball rolling, it was Ghost Reef’s assortment of advisors and residents.

They listened carefully to Coop’s recollections before they made their own assessments, and in the end their principal suggestion for the next step had been for Coop to take a break while they reorganized. He had already accepted that he wasn’t someone who would ignore good advice, so he took the opportunity to relax without argument.

There were more than two weeks before the admittedly flexible date of the meeting between coastal alliances in Kansas as they prepared to subjugate the Fallen Zone. With access to the Underlayer, what would have been a long and potentially dangerous trip to the Heartland would be majorly simplified for all parties. Ghost Reef had time to make preparations and get their own affairs settled before departing.

The chance to take a break finally released the tension that had been behind Coop’s forward motion, and once he stopped, he was done. It felt like he was decompressing after a deep dive in the ocean, such was the thickness of the mana within the ley lines and the pressure that he had been under. He had been cramped, despite the expansive caverns that he wandered through, thanks to the crushing weight of responsibilities he accepted for the event. As soon as he returned to Ghost Reef he experienced a sense of relief that couldn’t be properly described. He was exhausted and could finally wind down. The next time he had the bright idea of trying to save the entire world, he’d remember to think twice about his ambitions.

The simple fact that he had solid ground beneath his feet, rather than the soft dirt, was a delightful change that instantly elevated his mood. After having his thoughts cluttered with worries, he finally found a sense of peace outside of chasing the grind, with Ghost Reef acting like an anchor for his mental state. The salt in the air was a balm for his soul. The tropical sun purified his spirit. The steady waves provided a peaceful chorus of solace. It was good to be home, no matter how brief.

Sunny found him as soon as he was free of any ‘official’ duties and was absolutely determined to make up for all of the lost time that should have been spent rubbing his ears. Coop obliged, sitting on a bench outside of the civilization shard’s citadel after applying the event’s settlement award. The next thing he knew, he was gradually waking up from what he assumed was a short and well-deserved nap.