Drip-Fed
Season 5 Finale – Delivery

“We’re sorry,” Atlas apologized.

“You best be,” Aclysia was the first to respond. The angel had taken poorly to the attack four days ago. She was far from alone in that, although she was the one most overtly angry about this lapse in virtue. “Your greed has overcome you.”

“Can’t… fully deny that,” the Warrior responded and scratched the back of his head. He kept it lowered, as did his comrades.

After separating, Apexus had led his group an hour away from the Atlas Party. Had it not been for the fact that they needed a boat back to Stallious, they would have stayed far ahead. The Inevitable were notably faster on foot, especially when their pursuers had spent the first two days of the catch-up getting their lack of proper sleep sorted.

“You wish to justify yourselves then?” Apexus asked.

“That’s gonna be a tough task.” The redhead took her eyes off the task of polishing her Runeblade, all to throw the Atlas Party a dismissive glare. “Korith holds grudges.”

The kobold gripped the edge of her seat, one provocation away from jumping to her feet. “You tried to steal!”

“They did it for me,” Alabasta spoke up.

The attention of the Inevitable shifted to the white-haired elf. “Explain,” Apexus prompted.

“My family has fallen out of favour in the Court of Dreams. I am adventuring for the prestige and money it brings…” The Hunter trailed off for a moment. “…if we got that land on this Leaf, we could establish a new estate, securing ourselves for generations.”

“I see. I find that reprehensible.” Apexus did not care to hold back his words. “It is yet more of your wealth seeking behaviour.”

“It is not greedy to want one’s family to be well-off,” Alabasta disagreed.

Apexus tilted his head. “Why not?”

“I am doing it for them, not for me?” Alabasta could not help herself but sound like she was explaining this to a child.

“It is your family. Their riches ultimately come back to you. Even assuming that they won’t, you are making the welfare of your kin supreme to the welfare of others to the point of exploitation.” Apexus shook his head. “That is the line of greed. You are dissatisfied with merely coming out ahead, a good deed done in the process. You would sacrifice the virtue in the deed to accrue more resources to yourself. You are off-centre.”

His words did not ring with the party before him. Neither Atlas nor any of his comrades considered what Apexus had just said true. As far as they were concerned, putting one’s kin and comrades ahead was the higher priority to helping a stranger, always.

Seeing this truth in their postures, Apexus only had one more thing to say to them. “I reject your apology. Thank you for what you taught us. I wish you wisdom in your future endeavours.”

“…You really have an arrogant core,” Rahesia remarked. “We have come to-“

“Didn’t you fucking hear him?” Reysha growled. “We are done with you. Get the fuck out of our sight.”

Lips were pressed together. The Atlas Party straightened up, then turned away from the Inevitable one after another, marching off into the rest of the city.

___________________________________________________________________________

The party retraced their steps. From Finaven to Stallious, from Stallious to the Lamb’s Court, from the Lamb’s Court to the westernmost point of the Lanaan Hives. From there, via ship, back to Drowse. A journey of 6 more weeks, to get back to where they had started. Long, somewhat dull, and uneventful. They meandered a bit in their path to check on some of the settlements in the Lanaan Hives Influences Zone, but otherwise moved fast.

The Atlas Party was always close behind them. At first, Apexus and Aclysia feared that they would attempt to attack them properly, but nothing like that ever happened. They were simply going for the quickest route home themselves, and that naturally put them in proximity. No hand was extended between them.

Apexus did not enjoy breaking with people he had considered friends in this manner. On the last night before they arrived back in the city of Drowse, Reysha broached the topic with a question that weighed on her mind.

“If I hadn’t fucked up so royally and tried to better myself, do you think I could fit in this party?”

“I do not know,” Apexus confessed. It was a question that had been surfacing in his mind as well. 40 days of walking left plenty of time for such thoughts and meditations on them. “We witnessed evil that day. Treachery and selfishness of a scale that it forced us to contemplate our own value in the world. We were taught by men and women that had lived in this flawed world until it broke a part of them, and they wished for us to be better.”

“In the world that you did not doom Ctania, we would not be following a path of morals this closely – probably.”

“Dunno, there was that whole White Wood incident. You two always had a moral core.”

“We are instinctively altruistic,” Apexus responded. “As this journey has proven, not always for the better. Altruism must be wielded with wisdom as well. To be the most helpful person in a room full of sociopaths is a task of self-destruction.” He shook his head, then returned to the initial question. “I do not know if we would stay on the same path in this other world. I am glad we are in this one.”

“For what that’s worth, I think you’re a good person,” Korith threw in. “Not that I, you know, knew you before all of this stuff happened.”

“Awww, thank ya, Korith. I love you too.”

“Well, I wouldn’t go that far…”

“Ack!” Reysha held her chest, as if a dagger had just been plunged into her heart. “You reject me? That’s it, I’m turning evil!”

They laughed around the fire of the Mobile Estate’s hearth and bantered the night away.

The next morning, they finally returned to Drowse.

With every step, the city came closer. It was a nostalgic sight. They had spent almost a year in that city before they had gone out on the Quest. Now, that city welcomed them like it welcomed all adventurers: with warm indifference. That was, at least, initially.

Plenty of people recognized them as they advanced through the streets and more than a few decided to put down what they were doing. That the Atlas Party was right behind them only created further buzz. Atlas smiled and dissuaded anyone who approached him with questions of what had happened. Apexus stoically stared ahead, ignoring any such attempts to be talked to. Their respective parties followed the examples of their leaders. A few of the people hasted ahead, either to inform the Guildmaster or to get better viewing spots by the Guild.

Tarath waited for them.

That fact was odd to all that were present. The human noble was not usually seen in the city, known as a reclusive figure by the few that knew about him beyond the matter of his Quest. Still, he was right there at the right time, waiting for the parties to return. His usually nervous demeanour was replaced with serenity, his grey hair, streaked with the brown it had once been, was pulled back into an orderly ponytail. His expensive clothes were clean and untouched.

“You bring the cure for my daughter?” the lord asked with a hopeful smile, his eyes wandering between the two parties. When Apexus and his women were the only ones to step forwards, he locked onto them.

“We do,” Apexus answered and opened the Mobile Estate. He retrieved the flower and its pot from within. It had not opened again since they had moved it, but it was healthy. “We believe, at least.”

“Can you pluck it for me?” the noble requested.

Apexus found the request odd. He did as requested, however, and pulled the plant out by the stem. As he did, the bud once more flowered into a gorgeous lotus. Tarath took it and smelled the pleasant fragrance.

“You have done well, adventurer.” The noble extended his hand, offering the flower back to Apexus. “You have completed the Quest I have given you.”

“…What about your daughter?” Apexus did not understand, not until the noble placed his hand on his face – and lifted it off.

The collective crowd mumbled in awe when they bore witness to the revelation of the mask beneath the mask. It was black on one side and white on the other, with a colour inverted, curved line indicating a smile and a frown. The eyes followed that example, appearing sad on one side and happy on the other. It could never quite be said which side was which.

It was the face of Hashahin, 33rd of the 33 original gods.

Several members of the crowd immediately fell to one knee, others just watched. The Atlas Party stared slack-jawed at the god that they had attempted to get all of their worth from.

“Take it,” Hashahin insisted. When Apexus did, the god of Acts and Actors stepped away for a moment, instead approaching the Atlas Party.

“We didn’t know that-“

“You do not need to explain, I know,” the god calmed them. “You are not being judged for any shortcoming; besides the ones you would admit to yourselves. To desire prosperity is in every soul and I will not shame you for it. Coin is the reward that mortals have for each other and you sought coin in an engagement between you and, what you perceived to be, a fellow mortal.”

Hashahin stepped away from them and walked towards the Inevitable party. He beheld each of them. When he locked eyes with his daughter, the two-faced mask turned into a singular smile for several, lingering seconds. His gaze was large enough to encompass the four of them.

“This Divine Quest did not exist to shame those that live to serve their own interests. Had you brought the flower to me, I would have given you all that had been agreed upon.” Dramatically, he raised his hand. “No, this Divine Quest exists to praise the selfless. Mortals offer coins – the currency of the gods is acknowledgement. Rare is the soul for whom an advantage is good enough. Know that you embody the ideals of the divine – but know also that you are yourself lacking.”

“I am always aware,” Apexus responded.

“Truly, the answer of a Monk,” Hashahin said and took an actor’s bow. “The flower is yours to keep. It will do as advertised, to a degree. Do not expect it to cure a blight brought by a creature far beyond what you are now. As for the coin promised…” he made a flourishing gesture with his wrist, then tossed a purse at the party. Korith caught it. “…there you are! 50 Platin, paid in full! God, exit stage, up!”

Hashahin turned into a pillar of red, summerly light, as he ascended to the heavens. For a moment, the veins of the Leaf became visible in the sky. A gorgeous scarlet spread through them, visible across the entire world. Then, it ebbed away and left behind the clear sky.

Aclysia took the purse from Korith and stowed the money away. She also took the flower from Apexus, after he offered it to her. “It is yours,” he simply said, before turning to the mildly flabbergasted Guildmaster. “I thank you and all others for your hospitality during our stay here. We have decided to travel to the next Leaf now.”

“Not even going to stay for a victory feast?” one of the onlookers asked.

Apexus recognized them as one of the many people that he had come to know over the months. Familiar faces surrounded them on all sides. They were people comfortable with this life, comfortable with being in Atlas’ shoes.

“No,” Apexus answered simply. “Guildmaster, I would like to speak to you before we leave. We have information on Trauma and other Dungeons we wish to sell.”

The older man nodded at that. “My door is open to you.”

“Well, ya heard the big guy,” Reysha said and waved her personal posse of regular party-enjoyers. “See ya around, meowbe.”

“Was the pun truly necessary?” Aclysia wished to know, as they began their slow walk towards the estate of the Lady Frashina. They had a report to give before they vacated the world for good.

“Puns are always necessary!” answered the redhead.

The crowd made room for them, watching the Inevitable party leave with as little fanfare as they had arrived.

Once they knew that they could never see Atlas and his party, the most popular people among adventurers on this Leaf, in the same light again, it had only felt natural to move elsewhere. Beyond that, they had cleared the greatest challenge this world had to offer, save for an area they had no chance of competing with.

Thus, it had been an easy choice to make.

Those that were left behind gradually scattered, each of them contemplating what they had witnessed. That an avatar of a god had revealed itself caused a ripple effect. News that the gods would reward altruism caused a spike in such behaviour. This ripple, however, ran out of energy after some time. When there was no tangible or quick reward to their selfishly selfless behaviour, most dispensed with it and went back to how they had operated before.

The Atlas Party did not make the pretence. After a night spent in contemplation, they agreed that being normal was good enough for them. They continued to prioritize rewards. As before, that priority never got so overwhelming that they took on heinous tasks. They simply worked for what they considered the proper reward for their work.

Their level did not rise much higher, as they found a rhythm that was comfortable and rewarding. After several years, their constant efforts awarded them enough money that they acquired sizeable plots of lands. After a few more years, Alabasta managed to leverage the dwindling influence of her family to assure that they were all elevated to nobility. They became the founders of 5 Baronies, which they built up with the funds that they gained from adventuring. On the day that taxes became more lucrative than combat, they all settled down.

They governed over their townships well. Not exceptionally, but well, and that was good enough for them and those beneath them. The Atlas Party would enter the annals of the Leaf as a noteworthy one and none would be able to describe those years of Drowse’s history without mentioning them. Their flaws were as much remembered as the wealth they had brought to those beneath them. Ultimately, they were regarded as flawed but good people.

And that was as much as most people could hope to be.