How can I save the world if I'm no longer the hero?

"How are you feeling?" Bauteut asked as she gently stroked her hair.

"Miserable," Joan mumbled, her eyes closed and head resting on Bauteut's lap. "I'm so tired of dying all the time. Most people only have to do it once, you know."

"We'd all be quite a bit happier if you could die a little less," Bauteut said softly. "Qakog? How about you?"

"I'm fine," Qakog said, though he sounded nowhere near as boisterous as normal. Considering he was sitting and resting against Bauteut as well, Joan suspected he was still feeling the after effects of their transport.

Not that she could blame him, it had been a rough journey, though now it felt like it had happened weeks ago. Maybe, to her, it had. She didn't think she'd been stuck there that long, but time tended to lose its relevance when it didn't work right.

Joan glanced over at Chase, who was busy slowly opening the orbs of ice, one by one. That was the Chase she knew. He'd torn apart the Gauntlet as he moved, gathering up every living thing in protective spheres and, while they were a bit rough of a journey, he'd made sure to make them as stable as he could.

Unfortunately, the things in the Gauntlet seemed to be more monsters and abominations. Instead of anything he released being grateful to him for the rescue, they mostly seemed intent on assaulting him.

But considering what he'd just done to those tunnels, she wasn't going to feel any remorse for anything that had such a small amount of survival instinct.

The sound of heavy footsteps came from the tunnel and Joan glanced over and saw Penthe walking out from it, dragging her feet as she went. Her armor was covered in mud and while her face couldn't be seen, she certainly seemed exhausted.

Penthe stopped when she came close. For a few moments she just stared, before shaking her head. "What's… this? Bauteut, are you okay?"

"You get used to it," Bauteut said with a small shrug. "I pet Searle sometimes too, when things get to be too much there. People just like leaning on their healers."

"I see," Penthe said before glancing up. "Vampire?"

"Other dimension," Joan said. "I think."

"… Statue?" Penthe asked.

"I took out the sword and she dragged the vampire off to some other dimension, I think," Joan said.

"Dixon?" Penthe asked.

"Not sure, yet," Joan said. "Letting Chase finish to see if anything he saved is actually going to not try and kill him."

Penthe just sighed before sitting down with a heavy thump. "You okay?"

"I miss my sword," Joan said. "I burned alive like five times and I am so tired of burning alive…"

"Wait, what?" Bauteut asked.

"What?" Penthe asked. "Burned alive?"

"Can we wait for Chase to finish? Or for us to get somewhere less dangerous?" Joan asked. "I just… don't want to go over it repeatedly. The vampire had some kind of weird reset magic and I died a lot. I just… I'm just tired. I had to grab a weapon that kept burning me alive and I just… I'd just like to lay down and not think about it for a little bit? Please?"

"Fine, once we're done here I want to know everything," Penthe said before glancing to Bauteut. "Searle, truly?"

"Everybody needs comfort now and again," Bauteut said. "Even the Chosen."

"She's not wrong about that," Joan mumbled softly.

"As humans go, she makes a good leaning post," Qakog said.

"I… thank… you? I think? Is that a compliment?" Bauteut asked.

"Yes," Qakog said.

Penthe just sighed.

"If you want, you can join the pile too," Bauteut said in a lightly teasing tone. "I have another shoulder."

"Here I thought Joan was supposed to be the only strange one of her little group," Penthe said.

"I surround myself with only strange people," Joan said. "People who aren't strange run away too often. Are you okay? You seem as tired as… well, us."

"Chase trapped me in an orb of ice," Penthe said, her voice filled with annoyance. "And it got stuck on a ledge further into the tunnel. Then time stopped and I got trapped in it."

"Sorry," Joan said sheepishly. "That uhhhh… was kind of me."

"How is it that you came here to help me, yet now I feel like I'm superfluous to this?" Penthe asked.

"You're super fluids… ish," Joan said before her cheeks went red. "I don't think I know what that word means…"

"Redundant," Penthe said, shaking her head.

"Oh!" Joan said, her cheeks going red. "I would have loved having your help. You can pet me too, if you like? Or do you want to have Bauteut pet you? It is incredibly soothing."

Penthe just gave another exhausted sigh.

"To be fair, most of this was Chase," Joan said before motioning towards the Chosen. "He got us through that… all of that. I didn't think he was going to come, though. I wonder if the Nameless One…" She trailed off, not finishing the thought.

"What?" Penthe asked.

"Penthe, you know the Nameless One, right? Like, you know what they are?" Joan asked.

"As well as you do, I imagine," Penthe said. "I'm not sure I know what you're asking, though."

"So, ummm, during all of that," Joan said softly, motioning towards where the statue had once stood. "They had an opportunity to… take advantage of things. I offered to… make a deal and ummmm…"

Bauteut's hand stopped and she stared down at her. "You did what? Oh gods, what did you give them?"

"I offered them uhhh… anything… really…" Joan mumbled sheepishly. She tried to sit up but Bauteut put a hand on her shoulder and refused to let her sit up. "They declined!"

"They declined?" Penthe asked. "What exactly did they ask for?"

"Nothing," Joan said softly. "They had a chance to make a deal with me, but… they said since we already had an agreement of sorts, it wouldn't really be fair to make a new one."

"They didn't really strike me as the kind of creature to care about 'fair'," Bauteut said before glancing towards Penthe. "What do you think?"

"They're a monster," Penthe said. "They're an archfey, one of the children of the Hungry One. We should have purged them from existence lifetimes ago." Then her head shifted towards Joan. "But someone interfered with that."

"I mean, it has been working pretty well for me so far," Joan said sheepishly.

"Of course it has," Penthe said bitterly. "And it will continue to work that way until suddenly it doesn't. They are bound to the realm of the fae. They have spent countless lifetimes working with, studying and growing with other archfey. Whatever they want from you, it won't be good."

'She never did like me,' the Nameless One's voice echoed in Joan's head, making her jump.

"Uhhhh… they're… ummm, listening to this talk," Joan said sheepishly.

"Of course they are," Penthe said. "They know what they are."

"They did help, though," Joan said softly. "They didn't have to, they—"

'I received plenty from this, little Joan,' the Nameless One said. 'Not that your… offers in the heat of the moment weren't tempting, but they wouldn't have advanced my plans nearly as much as I wanted. Especially not for the trouble it would have caused me if I did anything to the Chosen's precious little… hmmm. What would you be now? Their mascot?'

"I-I am not the Chosen's mascot!" Joan said, her cheeks going red. She then looked up at Bauteut. "Wait, I'm not the Chosen's mascot, am I?"

"You're probably their greatest source of stress," Bauteut said before finally moving her hand off Joan's shoulder. "But no, you're not their mascot."

This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

"If anything I think they're more your mascot," Qakog said. "At least, judging by the way they speak about you."

Joan gave a light groan before sitting up. "The Nameless One said it wouldn't be worth the trouble they'd get from the Chosen to bind me into another agreement there."

"Don't trust them," Penthe said. "They're up to something."

"I'm not intending to," Joan said softly. "I'm not done, I just… I got emotional. Our agreement for now is only until we find Dixon. Then we'll decide where to go from there. It's not so bad, maybe—"

"Don't you dare," Penthe said.

"I couldn't have gotten through this without them," Joan said. "They helped. I know you hate that, but they did. I wouldn't have realized the sword was pivotal without their help. And—"

"And who knows what that thing you released was," Penthe said.

"What?" Joan asked. "I mean, it was just… uhhhh…"

"An angel," Penthe said. "Not exactly something common in our world outside of a handful of legends. Few things like that we run into are friendly."

Joan was silent for a moment, glancing back towards where the statue had rested. The sword had been furious. What if the angel was worse? They'd left somewhere together, but for all she knew she had just unleashed something far, far more dangerous than Saga. She lowered her eyes. "I'm sorry. I… didn't mean to screw everything up. I just… I thought I was doing what was right."

Penthe was silent for a moment before she walked forward. She placed a hand on her head and, gently, patted her. "It's okay. I… know you were trying to help. The Nameless One can't be trusted. They're not like either of us, their goals aren't going to be to protect this world."

'You know, of the two of us, I never tried to kill you,' the Nameless One said.

"Yeah, but you're the one who has been trying to manipulate me almost every time we meet," Joan said.

"What?" Penthe asked.

"Sorry, I was talking to the Nameless One," Joan said. "I'm… I'm going to try and do better, okay? I promise, I—"

"Don't," Penthe said, pulling her hand back. "Just let me deal with things. I never should have involved you. You've… become far too hurt, far too often. You're doing fine. This is just too much for you."

"You were going to die," Joan said firmly.

"The Nameless One said I was going to die," Penthe said. "I've survived more than you can imagine."

"So have I," Joan said. "And I die or almost die all the time. Why can't you just accept that you might need help?"

"Because I don't," Penthe said.

"But I—"

"Okay, let's stop here," Bauteut said.

"But—" Joan tried.

"Neither of you are going to convince the other right now," Bauteut said. "All that's going to happen is you will argue in circles. You're both exhausted and we still have a lot of work to do. So, for now, let's just calm down and have this discussion when we're somewhere where we aren't likely going to have to fight for our lives soon."

Joan blinked a few times before glancing to Penthe. Then, slowly, she nodded. "Agreed?"

"Agreed," Penthe said coldly.

------

"So, ummm, what… about them?" Joan asked softly, her eyes wandering past Chase to the few things that had not tried to murder Chase once he released them. A dryad and two massive spiders.

Compared to the things that Chase had been forced to end, Joan was admittedly surprised the dryad had managed to survive at all.

Then again, considering how she was fawning over the two spiders that had legs nearly as large as her and one of them was carrying her tree, the spiders might have been her pets and at that point her survival made a lot more sense.

"They'll be coming with us," Chase said. "I'm not leaving them here."

"I didn't expect you would," Penthe said. "They're going to want to keep out of sight, though. Saga ruled here and once they realize he's gone there is going to be chaos. There's a summoning circle here, we just need to unbury it and then get Korgron to re-activate it."

"There is?" Qakog asked. "Where?"

"In the remains of the palace," Penthe said.

"Is that why you said we'd see it later?" Qakog asked.

"Yes," Penthe said. "It was made long before Saga took over. When this was a dwarven city."

"This was a dwarven city?" Bauteut asked.

Penthe just sighed and shook her head. "No more questions. Follow me, stay close, ignore the smell and keep them out of sight." She then paused and glanced towards Joan. "Actually, we should probably keep all of you out of sight."

"I can see where this is going and no," Joan said, quickly shaking her head. "I don't want to ride on any more spiders."

"When did you—"

"I just don't, please," Joan said softly.

"Then can you let me do the talking?" Penthe asked.

"Fine," Joan said softly.

Penthe nodded before walking to the main doorway. It was made of two massive metal doors, one of which was half buried in rock and likely hadn't move in centuries. The other was covered in rust, but slightly cleaner with streaks along the stone where it had been opened and closed. Penthe grabbed the massive metal ring connected to the center of it and pulled, filling the air with the sound of metal scratching against metal through the air.

On the other side was a tunnel, half collapsed and damp, the sound of water dripping echoing down the tunnel. A thick length of chain was on the ground, cleaved into three pieces and just left there. "Are you sure this doesn't lead to another one of those tunnels?" Joan asked nervously.

"It was the way we came from," Qakog said. "Though, ummm… I'm not sure we'll all fit."

"It's not that-- oh," Joan said, glancing back towards the dryad and her spiders. She gave another shudder at the idea of being stuck in a small tunnel with those behind her.

Penthe gave a sigh and shook her head. "Of course. Chase, go with them. I'll help her find another way."

"Are you sure?" Chase asked. "You won't try to leave them?"

"If I did, you'd just come back," Penthe said, her voice filled with annoyance. "Just keep her out of trouble. There's likely a few other ways out. Qakog, show them to the palace."

Chase gave a nod before motioning them to head into the tunnel, which they began to do.

The tunnel was dark, but not too dark. She could make out the rocks of the tunnel and, occasionally, she swore she could even see things skittering along the walls and out of sight. She hoped they were lizards or insects and not something too dangerous. The dripping, however, was constant and their steps made soft, squishing noises as they walked. "Hey, Chase?" Joan asked as she walked back near him.

"Yes?" Chase asked.

"Are you okay?" Joan asked.

"Perfectly good, why?" Chase asked, giving her a small, friendly smile.

"I've never seen you like that," Joan said.

"Ahhh, sorry about all of that," Chase said with a light chuckle. "We're pretty far beneath the sea. Crashing it all down and sealing it up behind us was the fastest and easiest way to get it over with."

"That's not what I meant," Joan said. She glanced ahead towards Bauteut and Qakog, the two walking in silence. There was no way they couldn't hear, but at the very least they seemed to be giving the two some privacy. "It took me quite a few tries to face Saga, even then I didn't win. But when you fought him… I've never seen you like that. You were… furious. Vicious. Even… cruel."

Chase took a slow, deep breath. "Was I? Yeah… I… was mad, I guess. Sorry if I scared you, just, well. My friends were in danger, I couldn't—"

"Please don't put on a mask," Joan said, unable to keep the sadness out of her voice. Very slowly, she reached out her hand to take his, only for him to pull his hand away. "Chase…"

"I'm fine, Joan," Chase said.

"No, you're not," Joan said, shaking her head. "And… I understand that. It's… it's okay if you're not fine. And you never told me about this 'Gauntlet'. Me or the Hero. So… I understand if you don't want to. I want to understand. I really do. But if you can't tell me, I won't force it. Just… please… know that I'm here for you. You don't have to be alone for this. For anything. Okay? Sorry."

The only sound that followed was the sound of the dripping water and the squishing of their boots in the mud. It wasn't long before a light appeared at the end of the tunnel. Qakog and Bauteut raced off ahead, leaving the two behind.

"You have good friends, Joan," Chase said, shaking his head. "Both of them."

"I have the best friends," Joan said. "You're one of them."

"You're right, though, I'm not fine. That… place, it wasn't like the 'Gauntlet' I knew. They tossed… everyone into that one. Anyone thought was different, or dangerous. Or wrong. Anyone they didn't want to kill themselves. People they wanted to make disappear. I thought it was gone forever but… I didn't know there was another. I never dreamed there could be another."

Joan nodded, keeping her mouth shut and listening.

"I'm sorry I didn't come with you," Chase said. "I… know it was wrong. I'm the Chosen, I—"

"The Hero was scared all the time," Joan said quickly.

"But he still did things, didn't he? Even when they scared him?" Chase asked.

"All the time," Joan said. "But he also did a lot of things he shouldn't have. Pushed himself too hard, almost died all the time, refused to let others help him. Just because you're the Chosen doesn't mean you're not still a person." Her hand slowly reached out and this time he didn't pull away. "I'm not that much better, but I am learning."

Chase gave a soft chuckle and nodded. "You are. And… maybe that's something the rest of us need to learn, too."

"Yeah, who would have thought the people with the world literally riding on their shoulders might have some struggles with taking on too much at once?" Joan asked in a teasing tone.

"You'd know," Chase said. "At least our bodies are made to take it."

"Please," Joan said, rolling her eyes. "I've seen all of you break more often than you can imagine. I've certainly broken more than I can ever express. But… I think we all break sometimes. We're just lucky enough to be surrounded by people who can help us put ourselves back together. Hopefully people we want to put ourselves back together for."

Chase gave a light chuckle and shook his head before giving her hand a little squeeze and then pulling away. "You're… more mature than you seem, somedays."

"Well, I am far, far older than all of you," Joan said, a small smirk on her lips. "Kind of. I mean, I'm not, but I am? Except maybe Penthe. I don't know how many memories she has. But I am the oldest teenager in the world. That and I have some really good friends now who have tried to… help me understand how important self care can be."

"They sound like good, wise friends," Chase said. "Perhaps… perhaps this lifetime we can talk about it. What happened to me. But… not now. I'm not fine. But I'm also not ready to talk about… that. All of that."

"Okay," Joan said. "If… when the day comes that you can? I'm here. And if not me, maybe the other Chosen? You're not alone anymore."

Chase didn't say anything more, he just gave her a small nod. The two walked out from the tunnel, joining Bauteut and Qakog outside.

Finally allowing Joan to see the long forgotten, partially collapsed and oddly moldy city of the dwarves, now smelling of death, decay and mildew.

She was, admittedly, less than impressed.