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Penitent Book 2 Ch 60: Goodbyes
🕑 Added 2025-09-18 12:00:09 +0000 UTCMichael decided to find Lys first. He had the sketch of her and Trina by Davi he wanted to give them before he went anywhere. He also felt like he owed her a conversation given how much time they’d spent together. It had been casual, but that didn’t mean it wasn’t affectionate. He found Lys staring at a stump and looking into the swamp. Michael stood next to her for a few moments and looked out at the swamp with her. The sun was breaking through the thick canopy of trees above them and creating beams of light that scattered on the wet Earth. It was beautiful.
“I heard about Davi,” said Lys, her voice clear, but tired.
“I heard about Devahn.”
They sat in silence for a few moments, and Michael handed her the drawings. “Davi did these. I found them in his pack.”
She looked at them and a slight smile tugged at the corner of her mouth before fading. “Did he do any of Devahn?” Michael nodded, pulling those from his pack as well. He was planning on asking the twins who he should give them to.
Lys looked at them for a few moments and nodded. “He has a sister in Vagante. I’ll make sure these make their way to her along with his pay and other effects.”
She paused for a few moments. “Did you lose a lot of people? In your old life?” she asked.
“I lost everyone from my old life when I died and came here,” he responded.
“I’ve gotten very used to it. Even before Gemini, when I was a guard. Sometimes I wish it still caused that same pang it used to. Now I just feel distant for a while. I don’t even remember the faces of some of my friends I saw die. I’ll remember a smell or a smile every once in a while, but not what they looked like. Not clearly anyway.”
Michael held out a hand and she took it. They sat in silence for a while. He loved her. Not in the same way he’d loved Sara, but in the same way he loved his friends. There was a warmth between them that he appreciated, a companionship that they’d both needed and wanted.
“I’m going to be leaving Gemini.”
She took a deep breath and sighed. “If you were anyone else I’d call you a coward. This has to do with your gods, doesn’t it?”
“It does.”
She squeezed his hand. “Don’t let them get you killed.”
He squeezed it back. “Stay safe.”
They shared a long kiss and then he left her to look out into the swamp. After a short wander through their makeshift camp he found Trina and Clara sitting together. Trina was holding Clara’s hand and Michael could see small threads of gold travelling between them.
“Is everything okay?” he asked.
“I just fell and twisted my wrist. Nothing too bad,” said Clara.
“Still breaking in those boots you bought last minute in Southwind? I told you they were probably too small.”
“Small or not, they’ve kept the swamp off my ankles so they were worth having.”
“They had another pair that fit you better.”
“Those were the wrong color.”
Michael chuckled, feeling as if he was back on Earth for just a moment, arguing with his daughter.
He pulled out the pictures of Clara and Trina that Davi had done and handed them to each of them.
“This is beautiful,” said Trina, staring at her.
“Davi did this?” asked Clara.
Michael nodded. “I didn’t know he’d done this many, but yes.”
“I’m going to go and do an ink transfer or two of this. Maybe have it sent to my parents. Hopefully mother won’t use it to try and marry me off,” she stood up with her healed wrist and moved across the camp.
Trina looked up at him. She’d changed a lot since they’d first met. She was more muscular, but still lean. She walked with confidence, and her stare had a certainty to it, as did her words.
“I’m proud of you,” he said as he looked at her.
She blushed a little before recovering. “That’s a very odd thing to hear from someone who looks my age. But thank you.”
“It’s even weirder when you hear it from people younger than you. When they were little my kids used to tell me they were proud of me when I came home from buying food. Like I’d hunted it myself.”
She laughed a bit and went quiet for just a moment. “You’re leaving, aren’t you?”
“How’d you know?”
“Seras. I can hear her voice sometimes. Just little flickers of information, but this time was a bit louder. Almost like she was worked up over something. Then she was quiet again.”
“The gods do that. They fade in and out and can be hard to understand a lot of the time. I don’t think it’s because they want to be vague. I think they just don’t have a choice.”
Trina nodded. She’d taken the most to worship of anyone he’d ever met, and Seras had responded to her devotion in kind.
“I met the last of them. Judgment. Her name is Estaid. She was… kinder than I was expecting.”
“They’ve all been kind. Even strength was kind to me in the last battle.” She paused for a moment. “I know you’re going because it’s where the gods need you to be, but I’ll miss you anyway.”
Michael held open his arms and they hugged. He held her for a few moments before squeezing her one last time and letting her go.
He reached into his shirt and untied his six sided pendant, holding it out to her.
“The diviner that trained me, a woman named Meera, gave me this pendant. It has a title that provides protection. I want you to have it.”
Trina looked at it with wide eyes before reaching out and taking it. “I’ll wear it with pride.”
Michael smiled. “I don’t care if you wear it as an anklet as long at it blocks an arrow or two that are heading your way.” He took her hand and gave it a squeeze.
“Be safe,” he said.
“Seras will watch over us both.”
He nodded and began to look for the twins. They were the last two he needed to speak to before he and Ollie would pack and leave. He found them having a conversation with a number of Breaker mercenaries who broke off just before Michael arrived.
Finn noticed him first. “Michael, do you need something?”
He took a deep breath. “I’m leaving Gemini,” he said as he met Finn’s gaze.
“I see,” he responded, his face hardening. “Are all of the other Stent takers going with you?” he asked.
“No, just Ollie.”
“The mage. Of course.” He pulled a small black book from his hip and started making some notes. “Breaking contract early means I’m halving the last pay to you both. I’ll have it gathered for you momentarily.” He closed the book and turned away. “Goodbye.”
Michael stood there, he had expected some coldness from Finn, but at least he’d been polite about it.
“Fuck that,” said Kai. “Why are you leaving? Fighting get too hard for you? You afraid of a second death?” He pushed closer, getting into Michael’s space.
“The gods are calling me to Old Hume. You both already knew I preferred fighting the rifts. It’s what they want from me.”
“Well isn’t that convenient. The second we start getting in the shit the gods tell you it’s time to go. People will die with you gone.”
“More people will die if I stay,” replied Michael simply. He understood why he was upset. Losing a healer like Michael in the midst of a campaign like this would hurt. Still, with support from Cantalian alchemists like Tallant a lot of that could be mitigated, not to mention Trina’s growing skills. Kai had seen Michael fight, seen him call on the gods, but they weren’t his priority and Michael understood that.
“What about your friend? What about Davi? You don’t want to go in there and crack some skulls? You don’t want them to bleed for killing him?”
Michael shook his head. “Davi was a soldier. He’d know revenge is pointless in a war. He was also my friend, and he’d understand me doing what I need to do.”
Kai spat on the ground and turned his back to stand next to Finn, effectively banishing him.
“I hope I see you both someday,” said Michael honestly as he turned away from them. They didn’t respond, just staying silent as he walked away from them.
He reached Ollie, Pyotr, and Marcus who were laughing about something as he arrived. As he approached Marcus held out a small pouch. Michael raised an eyebrow, but took it, hearing it jingle as he grabbed it. He peeked inside to see gold shining back. He raised an eyebrow at Marcus.
“Consider it an investment. Eventually I’m going to piss off the wrong person and I’ll need somewhere to flee.”
Michael put it carefully in his pocket and wrapped Marcus in a hug which he returned.
“I will miss you, brother,” said Pyotr embracing him the moment he’d separated from Marcus.
“Try to learn some Cantalian dances while you’re here,” said Michael with a smile.
“I have already learned some Burndan ones on the battlefield, so I think I can do this.”
“I’m gonna miss you cunts,” said Ollie, hugging them both at once with his long gangly arms.
“I’ll miss you too you fuck. Whose going to be on the back line with me when you’re gone?” asked Marcus.
“Now you can be on the faaar back line like you’ve always wanted,” replied Ollie with a smile.
“I will miss your humor, brother,” said Pyotr.
“I’ll miss you calling me brother all the time. Though I wish you’d call me comrade just once.”
“We must save something for when we’re reunited.”
“Fair enough.”
Michael took one last look at his friends, committing their faces to his memory. They weren’t their original faces, but they were the only ones he’d ever known for them.
“Gods, Divine, please watch over my friends and keep them safe.”
A cool breeze passed over them tinged with a bit of divine energy.
“Let’s fucking go before I start crying,” said Ollie.
They laughed as Michael and Ollie waved their goodbyes and started heading South.
Comments
Samatar
BTW why is Tai called Kai now? Is it a mistake or has his name been changed?
AdvocateOfDoors
TFTC!
