Chapter 60 part 3

As they walked, Jenn tried wracking her brain with what the issue could be. She hoped that it wasn't something she'd forgotten, but at the same time, she couldn't deny that it could also be something more serious than she'd expected. Especially with how much there was going on that was completely new to her.

"What did you need me for?" Jenn asked after they'd covered half the distance from where they were and where Jenn's 'room' was. The place she'd been relaxing when she'd learned about Rick being nearby. Even though she hadn't been aware that it was Rick.

"It's nothing serious, my Blue Rose," Maelia replied, almost hastily. Jenn wasn't sure if she should put a stop to… whatever it was that made such haste feel necessary. "It's just that you had mentioned that you'd like to have everyone learn to read and write, but you didn't give any suggestions on how quickly to do that."

Jenn nodded. She hadn't thought too much about it. Especially since there was just so much more to do that felt more vital to get accomplished. "You're right, though why bring that up?" she asked, hoping that she hadn't overlooked something important.

"It's just that a number of the women who were either cultivating the fields we had to abandon on the other world are left without anything to do. The women who had been searching for metals or hardwood to work with still have things they can take care of, so they're not without tasks that can be assigned. Yet, the ones I mentioned are starting to bother others with getting something to do."

Jenn nodded. She understood the issue, though she didn't really understand why those who had been in charge of the fields on the other world couldn't do just that there or get reassigned to other things just as easily. Yet, at the same time, she didn't care to let others know just how much she didn't know. As she suspected that doing so would only create more problems for her down the road. Problems that would merely make things more than a little problematic overall.

"Okay, so are you suggesting that they get taught to read and write at this time?" Jenn asked. "Though, shouldn't we have those who were looking for metal and wood join them as well? I mean, they were searching the other world for all of that. On this world, even if they find some, it could be considered stealing. Which I'd rather not have to deal with."

Maelia nodded. "I understand that. I just wanted to let you know the situation clearly before you made a decision about what to do about it all."

Jenn nodded, though part of her felt like she'd just been manipulated herself. Like she'd been the one played rather than her otherwise calling the shots. She hoped it wasn't so, but without using her magic to do what she'd already forbidden herself from doing, there wasn't anything she could do about that in the end.

"Anything else?" Jenn asked as she walked into where her mattress was.

"No, my Blue Rose," Maelia replied.

Jenn nodded. "Okay, find someone to teach all of them. If they need to take it in shifts, then find something for them to do, even if it's nothing important, okay?"

"Of course," she said, bowing before leaving Jenn to the evening. Which Jenn was more than happy to accept. Especially with all that had been otherwise a peaceful day.

Only, she knew that it was likely going to be her turn for guard duty soon. Which also meant that her time by herself like this was mostly taken up in a way she couldn't really be happy about. Despite the circumstances involved and what she'd been wanting to do in regards to the subjects involved. Especially with the escaped slave that turned out to be Rick.

Humming the tune to 'In the End' by Linking Park, Jenn started to get ready for her shift. It wasn't her favorite job, but it was better than having everyone always look at her to solve whatever problem they currently had in their minds. Even if it wasn't really a problem, but rather a disagreement.

_

Beth was torn in her emotions as she saw the castle that was where Marquis Denshia lived came into view over the rise of a small hill that they'd just finished climbing. The emotions were largely because she was ready to just relax and not walk around so much. Yet, at the same time, she knew that she'd miss being on the road. Meeting all the new friends she'd acquired up to this point and some of the things she'd seen and experienced for herself had made her more interested in exploring more of this world.

However, there were still points that she needed to confer with her friends about before just moving on to the next adventure. Such as seeing if Tim had found anything about griffin canyons or maybe even where Charlie had ended up. Though, she had her doubts on the last one. Partly because she hadn't taken the time to notify them about what she'd found about Charlie being the slave who had essentially cured a case of spotted plague and then having gotten sold for more than any of them could have gotten together.

Aside from selling the plastic rings that they had been given by Heathcliff. Though, she wasn't sure if that had been his intention or not, but it was at least something that they might be able to use to fund their search for the griffin canyon from this point on.

Especially if it led them to locations more isolated than the mountains on the northern end of this country. As those were a good distance away from other civilization that Beth had been able to see at least.

Then the closer they got, the more apprehensive Beth felt about the reuniting with her other friends. Especially since they'd added to their group with the slaves that had chosen to join them. Though, Ralph didn't seem to be able to shake Lily from him, despite how he at least acted like he didn't care for the fact that she'd take a clear liking to him.

When they reached the front gates of the castle, Jenn was close to needing to take a break from sheer nerves, if nothing else. She hoped that her friends hadn't either caused other problems while they were away or that other problems hadn't occurred, but the only way for them to find out was to show up and find out for themselves. No matter what else might happen or that they should expect.

"What do you want?" the guard at the gate demanded when they approached.

"We're here to speak with Marquis Denshia," Beth said, feeling a little uneasy at the reception. Had he forgotten about them or was there some other reason that he might have turned rather cold towards them?

"Names," the guard said. Though, while the guard had seemed rather bored, her face perked up and even took on a little bit of a bluish hue as she heard the names being spoken to her.

While she hadn't appreciated the guards tone at first, she did feel a little bad at how the guard looked at this point. Which told Beth that this guard had only been told the names, and not what Beth and her friends looked like.

When they were done, they were quickly ushered in, almost making Beth wonder if she should 'hang' out a little with the guard. If only to see what the guard's reaction would be. Though, at the same time, she quickly dismissed the idea. She wasn't that bored. It would take more effort than she'd care to put into it right then. Which wasn't something that she cared to expend on something so trivial and pointless.

Though, if nothing else, it was an entertaining thought.

Hesha and Feon moved on ahead with the slaves that they'd rescued and travelled with for a bit. Beth wasn't sure if she should worry about them or not, but couldn't think of a reason. After all, this was supposed to be safe for them. Even if only because they'd helped return the marquis' daughter to him safely and without condition.

Besides, she was more worked up about seeing her friends again. It'd been a while and she was rather interested in learning what it was that they'd been up to during this time. Her thought's couldn't settle on anything specific to ask them, even as she saw Hannah and Amelia approaching in the distance.

The first thing that she noticed was how much finer the clothing Amelia wore than Hannah. It wasn't so much that she was essentially 'dressed-up' or anything, but rather the quality was very clear. Which made Beth wonder if that was an effect Amelia had from looking so much like Milyah or if there was another explanation. Such as how well Amelia had done with healing those that everyone else had considered gone already.

"I'm so glad you guys finally got here!" Amelia declared as they exchanged hugs, while Tim approached from the distance.

"Oh?" Wes asked. "Any particular reason? Or is it just that you got bored with Hannah and Tim so much that you needed Ralph back here?"

Amelia looked like she was thinking about that possibility, but quickly shook her head. "Nah, sorry. I don't think I've been that bored before."

"So, what was the reason then?" Beth asked, half wondering if they were going to have to spend half the day trying to drag it out of Amelia before she shared. Sometimes it felt almost like a game to her, which Beth was pretty sure that the rest of them didn't really mind all that much.

"Actually, it's because she said that we had a dream conference, but she was the only one who could remember," Tim said when he reached them and started exchanging hugs again.

"Awwwww…! I was gonna say that!" Amelia whined, though Beth was only half sure that she was doing that for her own entertainment.

"What? In ten, fifteen minutes?" Tim returned. "I think we all have better things to think about other than your games."

"You're no fun!" Amelia muttered.

"Actually, I was telling them the same thing about a dream conference," Ralph said, startling Tim. "We had just finished checking the third griffin canyon we learned about and were about to return here when we'd gotten pulled into a dream conference."

"If you were part of it, maybe you could tell us what it was about?" Tim asked, sounding almost like he was testing Ralph.

However, if he was, Ralph certainly didn't pick up on it. "Not a chance. I got woken up before we even got to that part. I think all we talked about was something like how Charlie had gotten free from being a slave or something. Something about the Lost or other, and then the last part I remember was that she said that she was in an 'undisclosed location' and I was about to say something on that when I got woken up for my watch."

"Didn't you want to check in on it again?" Hannah asked.

Ralph merely scoffed at that question. "Of course I wanted to check in on it again, but it's not like I could pop in whenever I wanted. I mean, Charlie's the one who gets it set up and all that anyway."

"Well, it tracks with what Amelia said anyway," Tim said, sounding a little annoyed.

Which Beth could understand how he felt. If there was a dream conference, then why couldn't the rest of them remember it? What was it that Charlie had wanted to say… or maybe it was something that she'd shared too much of, Beth suddenly started to wonder. If nothing else, it would give a reason why Charlie might have terminated it, or whatever, early.

"Oh, by the way," Ralph suddenly said, drawing attention back to him. "I just remembered something. Something about the dream conference."

"What is it?" Wes asked, sounding like he was waiting for a bad joke. Which Beth couldn't blame him for. Ralph did do that periodically when he wanted to be the center of attention and all that.

"Nothing much, just that when we talked to Charlie in the dream conference, for some reason I couldn't help but think of her as 'Jennifer' rather than just 'Charlie.' Though, I'm not sure what the reason was for that."

Wes looked like he wanted to say something, but Ralph's response had wiped that chance out, which Beth had to admit, had surprised her a little too.

_

When they'd had a chance to fully catch up, make introductions with the new additions to their search party, and to have freshened up a little, they were all invited to dinner.

Ralph would have been fine being by himself, but Lily seemed insistent on being with him. He wasn't sure about her, especially since she'd stuck with him when they were discussing the dream conference earlier, even though he was pretty sure that he was the only one who'd noticed her.

"Happy to get a break from being on the road?" Ralph asked her as they walked towards dinner.

While he wasn't sure about what was going through Lily's head, to Ralph it almost felt like she'd decided he was her father or something. He wasn't sure what the details were, but he would like to know. Though, with how quiet she typically was, he couldn't say what the chances of that happening were.

When he asked the question of Lily, she merely looked back at him expressionlessly. He wasn't sure what to make of that, but since he'd had to change her clothing, he had a feeling that she might agree with anything he'd say at this particular moment. That her expressionlessness was because she wasn't sure how to respond to be more like Ralph himself.

In a way, he couldn't help but find it a little flattering. Though, he still found it rather annoying. It wasn't something that he had been looking for and he certainly wasn't interested in being a father to anyone right then. Part of the reason he hadn't thought about trying to sleep with anyone like Beth had bee. As he didn't want to deal with getting anyone pregnant on this world, as in his opinion, having sex was, in a way, consenting to the possibility of getting pregnant. Even if he had some way of creating 'magical protection' or something, he couldn't imagine that it would be any more effective than what they had on Earth, and so therefore, there was always a chance at the 'protection' failing, since it wasn't completely guaranteed anyway.

Yet, here he was with a girl who was essentially his daughter otherwise. The only upside he could really think about was the fact that he didn't need to deal with late night feedings and changing diapers. As this girl seemed to have already passed those phases by.

The problem with her arose from the fact that she wasn't talking much and even when he'd used his magic to speak to her, she didn't really respond at all. Though, she still understood what was being said to her well enough, getting her to respond in a way that they could understand was the biggest trouble from her.

However, Ralph was confident that she'd eventually open up. He wasn't sure if it was because of something in her past that had her locked up so tightly, but he was confident that they'd eventually be able to work through it. Regardless of what it was.

As they reached the dining room, Ralph could hear a 'yapping' sound, and he was confident that it was Beth's hellhound puppy. He wasn't sure how safe that dog would be when it grew up, but he had to admit that it was certainly good to have something that felt more 'normal' than what they'd been doing. Even though the dog had four eyes.

Ralph was about to head towards the nearest open seat when he felt a gaze on him.

He looked down to see Lily looking at him, with an almost imploring look. When she saw that she had his attention, she then looked towards Flare, who was almost dancing around Beth's feet. Then she looked back at Ralph.

While he wasn't completely sure what she was asking, he had a feeling she was wanting to at least say 'hi' to Flare. Which he couldn't see a reason not to. Especially with how this was the first time that he could be certain she was essentially asking him for something.

"Hey Beth," Ralph called out, keeping his gaze on Lily. "I think someone wants to meet Flare."

Lily looked startled, almost as if she hadn't expected anything to happen. Like this was the last thing she wanted to have happen.

"Well, if that's the case, then we'll send Flare over on an express, okay?" Beth replied rather playfully.

While Ralph would have rolled his eyes any other time, he couldn't help but feel that for Lily, it should be like that. If only to try and help her feel more at ease around them. More to open up with what might be troubling her at any time. Even if she didn't really know what the root cause of her staying so quiet was.

As Beth picked Flare up, who wasn't too happy about not being able to move around as she wanted, Lily looked like something dangerous was being brought over to her, so she half hid behind Ralph. Which brought a chuckle from everyone around them.

Beth then set Flare down a few feet away, making it clear to the dog that she didn't have to get closer if she didn't want to. Though, Flare looked around, like she knew something was expected of her, but wasn't sure what that 'something' was.

At least until Ralph gently pushed Lily out completely from behind him. He didn't receive much resistance, so he was pretty sure that she wanted to meet Flare, but her shy nature was certainly getting in the way of doing that.

Flare looked at Lily and stopped struggling against Beth's hold for a moment. Then as she started her struggling again, Beth set her on the ground where she ran over to inspect Lily.