Mora still seemed largely neutral to the game by the time they landed but Delair had been invested at least, cheering as she won the last round.
“Me and Mora are tied with two wins each! We’ll need to break it later!”
“And Ben, you’re really bad at this! Even Sachel won once.”
“What do you mean, even Sachel?” The oracle asked. “Why wouldn’t I win once?”
“I’m just saying is all, Ben’s pretty bad at this.”
“Eh, games with any element of chance have never been my strong suit,” He shrugged. “Although I’m a lot better at anything without randomness than I used to be. Let’s see you take me on in something like that later then kiddo if you think you’ve got what it takes.”
With the many changes to his mental structure, he could actually put up a good challenge against Thera and Sonya in games like chess or low mage by then, able to think dozens of potential moves ahead in a way that brought his nearly one hundred percent loss rate significantly closer to fifty instead. A fact that still kind of confounded him when he looked at the thousands of minds in his head yet still couldn’t manage a perfect victory but one he’d accepted, happy to take whatever wins he could get.
“Okay, I need someone to grab me Hentath since she needs to know about this too while I talk to Fontesh.”
“I’ll do it!” Delair said, grabbing Mora by the hand and running off with the great spirit before he could react in any way, with Thera getting up to follow.
“I’ll watch them so we’ll be right back.”
“Okay, that leaves Sachel with me. Come on, let’s explain things to your cousin.”
Getting out of the cart like the rest and grabbing the other end of the mini-gate they’d brought along, they walked over to Fontesh’s nearby home and knocked on the door until she answered, looking both tired and like she’d been crying before she registered just who was out front.
A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
Before either could say so much as a hello though, she was already grabbing his shirt, head in his chest and crying again.
“I’m sorry, I know we sprung this on you but Delair wants this so much and I know we don’t have much time and you have important things to do but I just want her to be as happy as she can be while she’s still… I know you must be busy but can you please give her whatever time you can, I’ll do anything.”
“Whoa whoa whoa, seriously misunderstanding things here Fontesh,” Ben rushed to say, gently pulling her away. “I’m training your daughter. She knows that, Sachel knows that and now you officially know that. It’s not what I’m here about.”
“Ah, oh? Ahem, then what- No, um, thank you. I appreciate it,” She told him, wiping her eyes and trying to put herself back together through all of the emotions running through her. Fontesh understood that they were almost certain to lose in the end, every planet before them had, but she’d still decided to let her young daughter go to try and make the girl as happy as she could be with the time they had left despite what had just become some very clear feelings on the matter, he didn’t blame her for getting emotional.
“Don’t worry about it, she’s a good, enthusiastic kid. We’re here because I brought something else to try and make the best of the situation, it’s-”
“The hell are you here raising up a fuss so late,” Hentath called out as she and the others came back, eyeing up Ben. “I almost had a heart attack seeing Delair standing at my door at this hour.”
“Alright, I’m seeing that maybe this could have waited until morning but nice seeing you too Hentath. Now please, everyone into Fontesh’s home so I can finish up here and get a bit of sleep for the night.”
He walked in as he said it, carrying the frame and placing it against one of the walls before reactivating the enchantments on it, letting all in the room watch as a portal was opened between there and Sachel’s home in Stonewall, hearing gasps from the ones who’d never gotten to see a mini-gate before as he turned back to address them.
“Okay, so Fontesh, I understand you sent your daughter to me because you wanted to make her happy but it would drive me crazy to know she’d be so far from her family with everything going on so this was my solution. Delair, when you’re done with work each day you’re coming home to your mom. And Hentath, well, I brought you here because I assumed you’d want to be aware of something in your village but it serves the dual purpose of also creating an escape route for the dryads in the event any disaster ever happens here. When morning comes you should explain this to the rest of the villagers and tell them to run here in case of an emergency… Or if they just want to do some shopping or trade in a larger town, up to them. Either way, I think that’s all from me so we’ll also be taking this shortcut back, the village can keep the cart we came in on and without further ado, I’ve got stuff to handle at home. Delair, keep in mind there's a few hours of time difference between us so maybe get Sachel to come over and wake you until you get used to the change. Other than that, well, it’s now a lot easier to come grab me if there’s any issues so just let me know.”
He didn’t leave them room to comment, instead grabbing Thera and Mora’s hands to walk through the new gate, letting himself through Sachel’s home and leaving her to try and explain anything else before the others in the room had time to so much as comment.