The Achievement Junkie 232 Leaving Federal City

"Wait!" A hand firmly grabbed Daliea's wrist. "Can I have one of those massages? I could use one… Right now…"

The gray-skinned girl chuckled and looked back at Jack. "Sure. Lay on your belly."

"All right!" With a spry eagerness, Jack jumped onto the bed and landed belly first. "I'm ready!"

Daliea stretched her fingers and loosened her joints, readying herself to give Jack the best massage she could. She stood over him and started to work on his upper back, going slow and pushing deeply to knead the stress out of him.

"Oh… Yeah…"

Still somewhat unsure of herself, Daliea's fingers gradually crept down to his lower back. She followed down along the spine in search of knots in the muscles.

"You're good at this…" A sigh of relief fled from Jack's lips.

She didn't say it but Daliea was very excited and happy that the massage was going well.

Jack continued to throw random comments as Daliea worked her magic on his back. They didn't realize it but they had lasted almost 30 minutes without keeping track of the rest of the world. 

The experience wasn't anything crazy or life-altering, but Daliea was extremely happy to be of use for Jack to make things at least a little bit easier for him. Jack had already been unconscious for some time now but Daliea kept going. Only after removing all knots from his back, arms, and legs did Daliea leave the room.

Everyone in Jack's party, other than the young hero himself, used the night to either prepare for the journey or to enjoy each other's company one last time before they split up.

All grew quiet in the Heavenly Palace Inn. No visitors came this time. No surprise guests found their way to Jack's door.

The fresh morning air was peaceful and heartwarming. While Jack tumbled out of bed, Martha and Marisha were already saying their goodbyes to Maura and little Lina, as well as the other girls.

Zariff was sharing one last brundy with both of his former association mates. Rayard stayed in the kitchen to make sure they offered them a wonderfully extravagant breakfast to send them off. 

Other than the goodbyes there wasn't much else to say, so they didn't say much. Even Argyle, who was generally concerned for his daughter's safety, had come but showed little worry and was glad to see his daughter growing together with the husband he thought was perfect for her.

Jack smiled and greeted everybody, also saying his goodbyes. But everyone could tell that something was still off. It wasn't as bad as it was the night before but there was still something different about Jack. 

But now was not the time to push him to learn more. Instead, they enjoyed each other's company until the table grew bare and the food dwindled from their plates. As their bellies filled, one by one people left the private dining room. Once Argyle and Zariff left, Marisha was the next to follow and then finally Martha.

The party all looked at each other and eventually found themselves watching Jack, who was still staring down at his empty plate.

"It's time to go, ain't it, Jack?" asked Maynard.

Jack nodded. "Yeah… Let's get going. We'll take a ride on Appa to speed things up."

"Who's Appa?" Lina tilted her head as she blinked at Jack.

"You'll remember him when you see him." Jack pushed himself up from the table and made his way out of the private room, letting the others follow suit as he continued to talk, "Based on his speed we should be able to reach Talmook in four days' time. That should speed things up a lot."

"Seriously?!" Rydel was astounded by that fact. "That's almost as fast as Ayden."

"True, but I'm sure Ayden can maneuver better. And that's not even counting having so many people on his back," reasoned Jack. "In that case, it'll probably take us about five days."

Maynard shrugged and smiled. "Well, I guess we've got a few more days together then. Maybe we can stop by another shrine or temple on the way?"

Having totally forgotten about the need to make more pledges, a lightbulb suddenly went off in Jack's head. "Oh yeah… Actually, you might be right about that."

"Really?!"

"There is one god that we could check out after we reach Prachten, before reaching Talmook, but it might add some time to our journey and depending on that we may not have time for it."

Eliza's eyes lit up as she leaned in toward Jack. "Which God is it? Will it be mine?"

"No, it's Jin."

"Finally!" Maynard pumped his arm into the air rocketing both fists up and down in excitement.

"Everybody, calm down. Remember, right now our main focus is to help Trodar in any way we can," reminded Jack. "If Jin's shrine happens to be somewhere difficult to access or would take too long to find, then we'll have to give up on it temporarily because we're running against a clock."

Before Maynard could reject, Rydel nudged him and gave him a serious look. "Right, if we don't hurry up and get this done, then there won't be a Trodar left to save."

"Fine, fine. We'll just check it out and I won't complain if we have to come back later. But after you guys do your thing I say we visit Jin next," reasoned Maynard.

Not arguing with Maynard, Jack decided to leave that topic alone. "Just make sure we don't stand out too much during all this. The last thing we want is unwanted attention. It's not too bad here in Federal City, but once we enter the warring nations, things will get a lot more complicated if people know why we're there."

They talked and bantered until they were finally outside the city limits. 

No longer within sight of any unwanted spectators, Jack released both Bowzer and Appa from storage. Jack rubbed Appa's head, stroking his feathers to keep them aligned and unruffled. "Hop on everybody, and hang on tight."

Lina was the first one to dart up onto the giant bird's back, followed by Maura and Eliza. Maynard was next to find a spot on Appa's back, while Daleia and Keela were the last.

Rydel brought out Aiden and mounted the magnificent roc in turn. "Let's get a move on or you won't be able to keep up." Without any warning, Aiden took off into the distance, heading southwest.

"Hang on tight!" Everyone grabbed hold of Appa's feathers as Jack led Appa to chase the speeding roc.

Though the girls carefully tended to their hair that morning, Eliza in particular, all their effort was lost in moments. The raging winds blew past their faces and their skin bounced and rippled from the pressure they faced. Their hair flew back as if the wind was trying to rip it off their heads, undoing all effort made to make their hair seem tame.

Maynard, on the other hand, retrieved a bottle as he held on with the other hand. Leaning in close to the bird while tilting his head sideways to drink, Maynard couldn't help but laugh. He couldn't hear Eliza shouts thanks to the wind but he could enjoy the disappointed look on her face as she tried to reign in her hair.

Jack was still unfazed and busy mulling over the forced conversation he recently had with Daruun. Even if he could momentarily distract himself, Jack's train of thought would always return to worrying about endangering his friends.

'Jack, what's got you so down?' While laying across Jack's lap Bowzer looked up to his friend's solemn face. 'Is something wrong?'

'No… I've just been having a lot of my mind lately,' replied Jack. 'Don't worry about. Just give me some time.'

'Okay… But you can tell me anything if you need to,' added Bowzer.

Suddenly, Rydel's voice echoed in the minds of everyone,' So, where exactly is this shrine? It might help if I knew where I was going.'

Out of reflex Jack opened up the map in his system and pinpointed Jin's hidden shrine. 'Look's like we're heading for Sunset Valley.'

'Oh, you don't say?' The curious tone of the hunter's voice gave a sense of familiarity. 'In that case, I'll keep the lead. I've never been there but I've heard all about it and have an idea of where to go. Once we get close we can ask the locals but I can point us in the general direction.'

'By all means.'

Chapter end