102. ( ๑‾̀◡‾́)σ

They found Evan in one of the sick rooms—a cozy little thing on the fourth floor with a grand window overlooking the Faction's north side. You could see the fountains spurting up in the town square from here.

Evan lay in a little bed. He wasn't alone—there were three nurses there, all giggling. A brunette whispered something in his ear, and he gasped, "Woah! really?" There was more giggling. One of them pinched his cheeks. Another ruffled his hair. He just lay there happily. He was a little confused but he also liked being petted.

Zane was speechless. Weren't they supposed to be healthcare professionals? … Should they be doing that?

To the side, Reina looked on with an arched brow.

The nurses noticed them and broke off blushing. Evan meanwhile perked up.

"Zane!" He beamed. He scrambled out of bed, scampered over, and hugged him. Suddenly, Evan felt emotional; he mumbled something heartfelt into Zane's shirt. He was sniffling a little. Zane didn't hear what the boy said, but the feeling behind it was pretty clear. He patted Evan on the head.

Then Evan looked up and saw Reina. His eyes went wide. He shuffled behind Zane a little.

"This is Reina," Zane explained. "I've told you about her. My girlfriend."

Reina's face didn't change, but she felt very happy hearing him say it.

"Ohhh!" said Evan. He tugged on Zane's arm and Zane bent over. He got on tiptoes and whispered in his ear, "She's really pretty…"

"I know," said Zane.

Evan shuffled out from behind him. "Hi! I'm Evan. It's so nice to meet you!"

Evan felt nervous. He tended to be around new people, but he was even moreso right now. He felt a little scared. Zane got why. Reina was studying him. She could be intimidating—it was in how she held herself, how she looked. She just looked like a queen. She had a presence to her.

Still, Evan put on a smile. He tried not to show it.

Reina smiled too. "It's nice to meet you too, Evan. I should thank you. Zane tells me you helped keep him out of trouble in Titansteel."

"I did?" Evan blinked. Then he looked at Zane, and Zane gave him a pointed glance.

"Oh! Um… uh-huh!" Evan felt quite guilty; lying didn't seem to come easy to him. He tried changing the subject. "Zane talked about you all the time! He said you're really awesome."

"Did he, now." This made Reina even happier. She was also a little speechless. "That's… very sweet of him."

Zane scratched his head and looked away.

"Mhm!" said Evan. "Thanks for letting me sleep in your hospital, by the way! It's so comfy, everything's so big and pretty. And everyone's been so nice to me!"

"Yes, well…" Reina frowned at the nurses, who all flinched. But she smiled at Evan. "I'm glad you're enjoying it. We've worked very hard."

"She built all this, you know," said Zane proudly.

"Well—I wouldn't say that," said Reina hastily. "Lots of people helped."

"Reina is super smart," said Zane, nodding. "She gets the job done. You should see the rest of the place."

"Wait. Can I?" said Evan, wide-eyed.

"Alright," said Reina, flushing. "That's enough." She directed that bit to Zane, though he could tell she liked it. To Evan—"And… sure. We can arrange a tour."

Evan was just about to say something, all excited, when his stomach growled. He blushed. "Um. Can we get something to eat?"

Reina softened. "Of course we can."

***

They had a little private dinner at Reina's house, a cozy little cottage a little ways out in the Moon Tree orchards. Reina got some good stuff out of the B-rank Beacon—fancy-looking chowders steaming with essence and a high-grade Dungeness crab dappled with red and blue spices. The meat was sweet and tender and it just dissolved in your mouth.

Evan started sniffling in the middle of the meal. Reina asked what was wrong.

He was in tears. "I—I think—I think this is the tastiest thing I've ever eaten…"

Then—"Um. Can I hug you Miss Reina?"

Reina was a little surprised. "… Sure?"

He waddled over and gave her a hug. Then he waddled back and went back to eating; he gave a little 'ahhhhh.' He was in bliss.

Zane often marveled how Evan could squeeze so much joy out of the smallest things. He wondered if you could learn this skill.

"So Evan," said Reina. "Zane tells me it's your first time out of Idaho. Is there anyone you'd like us to contact to let them know you're okay? Our Beacon has national coverage."

Evan deflated a little. He put down his fork and swallowed. "No…" he mumbled, looking at his feet. "My uncle passed away right after the Change."

"Oh! I'm...so sorry."

sed."No, it's okay!" said Evan. He gave a little smile. "He died saving me from a Monster. The last thing he told me was that I've got to use my powers to help those who can't help themselves. So I'm going to go around and help as many people as I can!"

"That's wonderful..." said Reina softly. She was taking a real liking to him; Zane could feel the warmth in her heart. She felt an urge to mother him. "But you don't have a Faction, Evan. Have you been wandering this whole time?"

"Yeah..." He looked sheepish. "I don't really have somewhere to go back to. We were the only people in our Safe Zone."

Reina and Zane exchanged a glance.

"Well, if you need somewhere to stay," said Reina gently. "You can stay with us."

Evan looked stunned. "Really?"

"Yes," said Zane.

Evan looked to him and then to Reina, then back to him. "Aww geez…" he started tearing up again. He scrambled over and gave Zane a big long hug. Then he gave Reina a big long hug.

"You guys are the best!" he sniffled.

He went back to finish his crab.

***

After dinner, they found Evan a place to stay. A quaint little 2nd-floor apartment right around the main square. It was lit in soft warm candlelight; oil lamps dangled from the ceiling under crisscrossing exposed wood beams. A fire murmured in a hearth. A plush wool rug ran the length of the wood floor, ending at a four-poster bed draped in soft furs.

It was supposed to be a temporary place until they found something bigger. But Evan fell in love with the place instantly—he gasped as soon as he saw it. He kept gasping as he went around exploring. Then he sank into the bed and disappeared into it. He was just gone.

"I love it!" squeaked his voice from somewhere in the furs. They left him there and agreed to meet up the next morning for breakfast.

***

Zane and Reina went off to do their own thing.

The night passed. Zane went to pick up Evan the next morning. The first thing Evan asked was, "Where's Miss Reina?"

Zane winced. "She's still sleeping."

"Oh. Okay!"

He was glad Evan didn't ask for details.

You had to be careful with this kind of dual cultivation. Essence gains were based on the intensity of the pleasure. He… may have overdone it a little. She'd asked him to—quite loudly in the moment—but he still felt kind of bad. On the bright side, she got two Levels out of it.

Evan was pretty much ready to go right away. He seemed to have a similar thing to Zane—for him, he just wanted to adventure and go on quests and help people. Do hero things. For Zane, he wanted to fight things. Different motivations but they ended up in a similar place.

The Pacific Northwest was pretty cleared by now. Zane had checked the Beacon map. He was mainly eyeing an A-ranked dungeon down in Los Angeles now. It was the highest-ranked dungeon on the West Coast.

Evan, meanwhile, still had a bone to pick with those Tomb Kings, who he thought were just the worst bullies. They decided pretty quick they'd go together. Or rather, Evan said, "Can I go with you? Please?" And Zane didn't have the heart to say no.

***

Before they left, they got a message from Avery.

𝙸'𝚖 𝚋𝚘𝚛𝚎𝚍.

𝚆𝚑𝚊𝚝'𝚜 𝚝𝚊𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚜𝚘 𝚕𝚘𝚗𝚐, 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚋𝚒𝚐 𝚐𝚘𝚘𝚏? 𝙸𝚝'𝚜 𝚜𝚘 𝚌𝚛𝚘𝚠𝚍𝚎𝚍—𝙸 𝚜𝚠𝚎𝚊𝚛 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢𝚘𝚗𝚎'𝚜 𝚊 𝚆𝚘𝚛𝚕𝚍 𝚁𝚊𝚗𝚔𝚎𝚛! 𝙸 𝚞𝚜𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚔 𝙸 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚜𝚙𝚎𝚌𝚒𝚊𝚕.

𝙰𝚝 𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚏𝚘𝚘𝚍 𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎'𝚜 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚐𝚘𝚘𝚍. 𝙰𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚒𝚛 𝚠𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝙲𝚊𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚗 𝚘𝚏 𝙸𝚗𝚜𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚒𝚜 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚂𝚎𝚊𝚆𝚘𝚛𝚕𝚍 𝚘𝚗 𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚘𝚒𝚍𝚜, 𝚜𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝'𝚜 𝚋𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚏𝚞𝚗. 𝙱𝚞𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚎'𝚜 𝚐𝚘𝚝𝚝𝚎𝚗 𝚜𝚘 𝚕𝚘𝚗𝚐 𝙸 𝚌𝚊𝚗'𝚝 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚗 𝚐𝚎𝚝 𝚊 𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎𝚜𝚕𝚘𝚝 𝚗𝚘𝚠𝚊𝚍𝚊𝚢𝚜. 𝚂𝚘 𝙸'𝚖 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚕𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍 𝚋𝚞𝚖𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚏𝚘𝚘𝚍 𝚘𝚏𝚏 𝙴𝚕𝚒𝚊𝚜. 𝙳𝚒𝚍 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚌𝚊𝚗 𝚖𝚊𝚔𝚎 𝚜𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚎𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚜𝚞𝚖𝚊𝚋𝚕𝚎 𝙲-𝚛𝚊𝚗𝚔 𝚝𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚞𝚛𝚎𝚜? 𝙸'𝚖 𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚊 𝚍𝚘𝚣𝚎𝚗 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚖 𝚊 𝚍𝚊𝚢, 𝚒𝚝'𝚜 𝚐𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚝!

𝙾𝚑 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎'𝚜 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚌𝚘𝚘𝚕 𝚙𝚎𝚘𝚙𝚕𝚎 𝙸 𝚠𝚊𝚗𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚜𝚑𝚘𝚠 𝚢𝚘𝚞! 𝚃𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎'𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚐𝚞𝚢 𝚠𝚑𝚘'𝚜 𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚍 𝚘𝚏 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞. 𝙰 𝚕𝚞𝚗𝚔, 𝙸 𝚖𝚎𝚊𝚗. 𝙱𝚞𝚝 𝚑𝚎 𝚑𝚊𝚜 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚗 𝚕𝚎𝚜𝚜 𝚘𝚏 𝚊 𝚕𝚒𝚏𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚗 𝚢𝚘𝚞, 𝚒𝚏 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚌𝚊𝚗 𝚋𝚎𝚕𝚒𝚎𝚟𝚎 𝚒𝚝! 𝙹𝚔. 𝙺𝚒𝚗𝚍 𝚘𝚏. 𝚃𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚍𝚞𝚍𝚎 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚜, 𝚋𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚜, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚜𝚕𝚎𝚎𝚙𝚜 𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚒𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐. 𝚆𝚎 𝚜𝚙𝚊𝚛 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚒𝚝'𝚜 𝚏𝚞𝚗𝚗𝚢 𝚠𝚊𝚝𝚌𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚑𝚒𝚖 𝚐𝚎𝚝 𝚖𝚊𝚍 '𝚌𝚊𝚞𝚜𝚎 𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚊𝚗'𝚝 𝚋𝚎𝚊𝚝 𝚖𝚎 𝚞𝚙. 𝙷𝚎'𝚜 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚜𝚝𝚞𝚙𝚒𝚍 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚙𝚎𝚝𝚒𝚝𝚒𝚟𝚎. 𝙷𝚎 𝚘𝚗𝚎-𝚋𝚊𝚗𝚐𝚜 𝚕𝚒𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚎𝚕𝚜𝚎 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝙸'𝚖 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚝𝚘𝚘 𝚐𝚘𝚘𝚍 𝙸 𝚐𝚞𝚎𝚜𝚜 ¯_(ツ)_/¯

𝙳𝚒𝚍 𝙸 𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝙸 𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚗𝚎𝚍 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚗𝚎𝚠 𝚝𝚛𝚒𝚌𝚔𝚜?

𝙰𝚗𝚢𝚠𝚊𝚢, 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚋𝚎𝚝𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚜𝚘𝚘𝚗 𝚘𝚛 𝙸'𝚖 𝚐𝚘𝚗𝚗𝚊 𝚊𝚜𝚜𝚞𝚖𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞'𝚛𝚎 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚝𝚛𝚢𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚘 𝚊𝚟𝚘𝚒𝚍 𝚊𝚗 𝚊𝚜𝚜 𝚠𝚑𝚘𝚘𝚙𝚒𝚗𝚐! ( ๑‾̀◡‾́)σ"

"Who's that?" said Evan.

Zane thought about how best to explain Avery and gave up. "She's… you'll see."

***

Reina came to around noon. She badly wanted to go with him. But in the end they both knew she was too important. For now, she had to stay here. He promised he'd be back soon.

They had one last goodbye kiss.

He made sure he had all his Law treasures on him. All those Law Fruit, plus those Titansteel Tree Leaves, and that Worldseed he'd gotten, and even that one recording of that Steelheart Conclave Elder's punch—he still had a play left of that. And he'd get to use Elias's super-Caverns of Insight.

Maybe it was overconfident. But to him, it wasn't a matter of if he'd break through. It was a matter of how fast.

Then he and Evan set off for San Francisco.