(Not) Far From Home - A Dream

[Rosco Agassi]

Rosco moves rhythmically back and forth across wooden floorboards, debating what to do. It is late, but Holdfasters aren't known for an early bedtime; it is perfectly fine that he has been pacing the bunkroom for the last 20 minutes.

He picks up the note, reading it over yet again before finally coming to a conclusion. If they wanted to be left alone, why would they leave this? Why not sever ties completely?

They need a friend.

Rosco sits with his back against the wall, using the training he got from Z to push his psychic energy in one direction. It's natural to him by now, but as the dream takes shape he still finds wonder in what he is able to create.

He chooses a rocky beach, the smell of salt water and the sea distinct enough to feel real but not overpowering. The night is dark and clear, illuminating the water under a full moon as Killick appears from the shoreline. No doubt they were on their own journey before Rosco brought them here - probably somewhere much more peaceful than Holdfast.

[Killick]

Killick blinked at the ocean surrounding him. What was this? Moments ago he'd been stuck in that dream again- sitting at the base of the beanstalk, passing mana through his fingertips as he waited for the sound of anything but the shriek of the Gull's song in the distance. For a second he thought he may have woken but this wasn't home. There was no sign of Whisper's cliff or Fisher's lighthouse. Then they noticed Rosco and froze. What was this? They looked around for anything else out of the ordinary but nothing was familiar enough to be unfamiliar.

They swallowed nervously. Whatever it was it clearly knew he was here. "Rosco?" He called tentatively.

[Rosco Agassi]

Once he had been spotted Rosco jumped up from his spot on the rocks. He smiled, not yet realizing the obvious: Killick knew very little about psychics as it was, and sending a dream was a far less common action than Holdfast made it seem. His smile faded as he thought about it, white-knuckled grip on the paper he had brought with him.

His shoes were gone and his pant legs rolled up, allowing him freedom to step into the water. He worried about moving too fast or saying something wrong. He worried about scaring them. "It's good to see you," he started, taking a few steps closer. "You probably have no idea what's happening, but I can explain if you'll let me."

[Killick]

He planted his feet and stared at him but nodded expectantly. The curiosity that had gotten him into this mess was still getting the best of him. If this wasn't really Rosco and whatever weird magic existed in Holdfast running probably wasn't a real option anyway. Either way he'd rather have whatever happened next happen on his turf, feet still in the water.

[Rosco Agassi]

Rosco waited for approval before continuing, careful to make sure every decision was made with Killick's consent. It had been difficult to explain a lot of things about Holdfast to a literal mind like Killick's. So many things in the town had little explanation beyond "it's just like this," that the logic of psychic energy seemed like a welcomed relief.

"A psychic can use their energy to do a lot of different things. I'm sure you've seen me heal with it, you may have even seen people use it to disappear. One of the things it can do is put the psychic in someone else's dream. You're still asleep, but whatever you were dreaming about before this was interrupted by me. I created this place so I can have a conversation with you even when you're at the bottom of the sea." His words were punctuated by his conjuring of a small crab highlighted in purple light. It scuttled across the beach, but not before stopping to wave at Killick. "It's how I talk to my friends when they're away."

[Killick]

Killick listened to the explanation, sighing in frustration about how little the psychics made sense. He had a million questions. Still, his eyes lit up at the sight of the little crab. “I’m sleeping but you control the dream now.” He couldn’t ask every question all at once so he started with two, “Can all the psychics do this? Will I remember when I wake up?”

[Rosco Agassi]

Rosco smiled. Killick's sigh was exactly what he was expecting. "Not all psychics, no. It takes training that not everyone wants to commit to, I learned it from a very good friend of mine just before he left town so I could keep in contact with him."

"You'll remember when you wake up," he confirmed, answering each inquiry patiently and with that same small grin. "Any other questions?"

[Killick]

Too many. He studied Rosco questioningly. It seemed like him. But it would be a bad trick if it didn’t. “Could you make yourself look like someone else if you wanted to?”

[Rosco Agassi]

Rosco stopped to think for a moment. He'd never tried that before - why would he? If he was sending a dream then he wanted the person to know it was him.

"I don't know," he admitted after a moment of reflection. "I've never tried, haven't had reason to. I did know someone once who used this to send someone perpetual nightmares, though, so I guess anything is possible."

[Killick]

He blinked at him in confusion. "You put all the work into learning and never even asked? What did you ask?" He shook his head, huffing another exhausted sigh. "Do you know if I'd know I was having a psychic dream if you didn't tell me I was? Do you know if the psychic has to have seen and spoken to the person before they do this?"

[Rosco Agassi]

Rosco laughed lightly, shaking his head. Killick was correct - he came up with questions Rosco never even thought to ask, and likely ones he never would have. In the last few weeks Killick had shown Rosco exactly how much more there was to learn about the world around him, and he genuinely appreciated that.

"You probably wouldn't have known if I hadn't told you. There are some hints but not everyone picks up on them and the psychic can hide them if they really don't want someone to know. And yes, the psychic has to have touched the person in order for the dream to work. I couldn't send a dream to someone I had never met."

[Killick]

Killick considered those answers. "You could still be Nero lying but I think Nero would rather come up with a better lie than pretending he didn't even ask a basic question so I'll believe you're Rosco for now. It does sound like something that Rosco would do. But if the people in Holdfast know that psychics can do this why does no one sound worried that people that live there aren't being spoken to by Nero in their sleep? Did nobody manage to touch him when you fought? Because if he didn't even need to touch anyone last time you know that there's no way you're going to win this time, right?"

[Rosco Agassi]

"We do worry. Nero doesn't need to have touched us to get into our heads, he's got power beyond that. We also worry that he can hear what we're saying in dreams we send, but that doesn't stop us from sending them. It's not like anything I came to talk to you about is incriminating." He shrugs, "Nero is more powerful than any Holdfaster, that's why it has been so hard to defeat him. He has potential to take over whatever land and people he wants; we're tasked with stopping that."

[Killick]

Killick's expression became troubled, voice rising with his concern, "Then what makes you think you can defeat him this time?"

[Rosco Agassi]

The answer to this was easier. It was a question Rosco had been asking himself since their first defeat. "We've weakened him considerably, killed one of his Heralds and have a better weapon. Not to mention, this time we will be fighting in Holdfast and we've fought him before - we have a better idea of how he and the collective operate. I think we can do it."

[Killick]

"You mean Verbena?"

[Rosco Agassi]

"Yeah, Verbena. She and the other Heralds are so powerful, they caused us probably more problems than Nero last time." He sighed, remembering his own brief tussle against Verbena. He was no fighter but he was one of the few left standing after that first wave of psychic energy, and he was proud to have kept her distracted for at least a small amount of time. "I've seen town kill an ascended before, I know we can do it again."

[Killick]

He frowned. “She fought against you last time?” Then he remembered the answer to his own question. “Because Nero was in her mind. What if he’s got someone else? What if he did it in their sleep? Will your new weapon work against them too?”

[Rosco Agassi]

"We don't need a fancy weapon against the collective members, just strategy and our normal swords or staffs." Rosco paused for a moment in thought; he liked that about talking to Killick - he liked exploring the "why"s and the "what if"s. "The reality is that there's no way to know for sure, but we can have a plan if someone turns on us. I will check in with the guild, but I know that they are already thinking about it too. There's three of them, so if one is corrupted then there are two more to combat that."

"Usually Nero is pretty obvious in his corruption. You will see him in your dreams or hear him in your mind. He wants people to join him willingly, even if that means giving them the ultimatum of being imprisoned or joining the Collective."

[Killick]

"Do you actually have a plan? Or are you just sacrificing as much as you can bear to and hoping it will be enough?"

[Rosco Agassi]

"Even if this weapon doesn't work, we have other ways we can hurt him and we've got a good amount of information on what the weapon needs. That's all from some very powerful and reliable sources. The guild has been doing more than you would think, they're just careful about what gets spread around."

"Listen, I'm not going to ask you to come back to Holdfast, but I want you to know that as terrible as that place is and as stupid as we are, we have a plan. We will still be standing if you ever want to come back."

[Killick]

Without understanding why Killick felt tears prickle in the back of their eyes. "Nothing that Holdfasters do makes any sense." He was used to the sound of the somewhat exhausted and irritated monotone he usually spoke in. The desperation and concern that tinged his speech this time was foreign and unidentifiable. "I don't remember who the Guild are because no one has a name that make any sense, and I don't know what your weapon is. I never understand anything and as soon as I think I might everything changes again. But Lexicus says you're giving up parts of your souls and the cats were thinking about making themselves human and you said you'd give up your medicine. You aren't octopods, Rosco. Even if you can use your magic to regrow a limb. You aren't smart like they are. You don't just run and blend in until the danger is gone and it's safe to recuperate, you just keep lopping limbs off and believing that enough people will be waiting in the Inn to patch you up again. You all just think that everything's going to be okay because- because of nothing. Because you believe or you hope but you don't know how to survive and you don't know how to organize. Verbena went with Nero to keep him away from you all and then he just got her in his forces. Then you got addicted to drugs and got your territory sieged and all the people on land are starving. Now you say you just have to sacrifice who you are and hope it's enough and I don't understand why you're all still so stupid. At what point have you sacrificed enough? At what point do you admit that something else is the apex predator? You say that you all stay in Holdfast to protect your friends but it wasn't enough to save Verbena, and without your medicine how do you help them keep fighting, and if you give up who you are what are you left defending?" He was fully crying now. "You aren't like fish. That's why you have names. And that doesn't mean anything if you stop being who you are. You all keep acting like this is something that you have to do but what makes it your responsibility? What makes Holdfast so special?"

[Rosco Agassi]

Rosco instinctively took a step forward, reaching out as if he was going to place a hand on Killick's shoulder. Instead he thought it better to sit down, letting the warm ocean water soak through his clothes. "No one else is going to kill Nero, Killick," he spoke softly, no sign of judgement in his voice. "If we don't do it, then Nero will take over everything - he will get his hands on everyone I - we - love. So yes, I am considering sacrificing my ability to be a surgeon for a short period of time, but I have ways to make sure I can keep doing what I need to help the town. We've been here before, we have faced apocalyptic scenarios and we have won, and there's something beautiful about the way Holdfasters come together to do that. That's why I said you could leave, none of us have to do this - we want to. Every single person has a different reason, but we all share a common goal." He gestured to the sand in front of him, silently offering the waterkin the ability to be closer if he wished.

"Holdfast is special because of it's land, and that land which is so rich in power holds townsmembers who are special in a hundred different ways. Some think the power is what attracts all the weirdness to us, others theorize that it's the people themselves but I don't think it matters either way. What matters is that we are special, and that no one else has a shot at taking down Nero the way we do."

[Killick]

Killick sat in front of him in a motion that was as much collapsing as it was sitting. He stared long and hard at him, not knowing how to make sense of any of the things happening inside of him. Eventually he whispered, "I never wanted to be special."

[Rosco Agassi]

"Me either," Rosco admitted quietly. "I went to Holdfast to help people and apparently in doing that I walked right into the special-ness. I don't blame you for leaving, faerie knows I've considered it more than once. Things are new, they're different and they don't make any sense; that's hard to process when you're used to one thing your whole life." As he spoke Rosco conjured another crab, this one taking the time to scamper up to Killick like a therapy dog looking for affection. "It's worth it though, y'know? It's worth all the heartbreak and pain. The fear, the sacrifice - they all make sense after awhile. You do it because you love the town and you love the people in it, often you do it because the town becomes your home. I wouldn't trade it for the world."

[Sponsored content]