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“See you soon, old friend.” Quasar promised with that cruel, sickening smirk as he stood to leave.
“… wait.” The Innkeep called out before they could talk themself out of it. “I need to tell you something, before it’s too late and we both regret it. Something I should have told you ages ago.”
“… really? Now of all times ‘Innkeep’? Fine, what do you possibly have to say?” Quasar asked as he sat back down with a sigh.
“A lot. I have a lot to say.” Innkeep admitted. “But I suppose that the fact this won’t work is a good place to start.”
“Ha! That’s what you have to say that was so important? And how’s that? Your little replacements are gonna defeat me? I doubt it.” Quasar laughed, sounding a mix of amused and annoyed.
“Well, that too. But that isn’t what I am talking about. Even if you defeat them, you won’t find them there.” The Innkeep insisted, taking a deep breath of their own. This was gonna be complicated to explain.
“… what? Why wouldn’t they be there? All souls go there! Theirs should be there too!” Quasar argued, clenching his fists in an attempt to hold his anger at the Innkeep's words.
“… there were five portals that day.” The Innkeep reminded.
“Yes, a byproduct of Kerebosia’s soul being shattered.” Quasar stated, sounding so sure. “So?”
“She was one person. But there were four others.” They started. “Five people in the radius of the spell, five souls, five portals. It isn’t a coincidence.” The Innkeep explained.
“… no. No. Don’t… don’t tell me what I think you are. They… oh #%!$.” Quasar pleaded for a moment before dropping his head into his hands. “Why didn’t you tell me this sooner?” He questioned, it sounded muffled and shaky.
“I wanted to spare you from knowing what you did to them. To give you a chace at not being consumed by your own actions. But I feel you should at least know now, before you choose to continue. To give you an out.” The Innkeep admitted.
“…. So their souls were never going to be in the spirit realm. I was never going to find them because I … So all of this was for… hah.” He laughed bitterly, gloved hands rubbing his face but being careful of the armor. “Fate is cruel.” He sighed.
“That it is.” The Innkeep agreed.
“… so what now? Now that I know the goal I have been working on for the past thirty years is pointless and doomed to fail from the start. Where do we go from here?” Quasar asked, turning his head to look out the window. For a second, the Innkeep could swear they saw tears running down his face, but they decided to mention it.
“… you could try to fix it. You could apologize to those affected by your actions, and try to help clean up the aftermath. They won’t forgive you immediately, people were harmed and some won’t come back. But you could try to fix it.” The Innkeep suggested.
“… hah, when did you get so wise?” Quasar asked.
“Comes with the job.” The Innkeep shrugged.
“I… gosh, I am sorry. For back then, running when you needed me. I never should have done that. I should have stayed by your side and fought till the end.” The Innkeep suddenly apologized, sincerely apologized. Which seemed to take Quasar by surprise.
“… you’re right. You shouldn’t have. I don’t know if I can forgive you for that just yet. But… thank you for apologizing, I suppose. It at least proves you do feel guilty about it.” Quasar sighed. “… and I guess I could try to apologize to your regulars.” He added
“It’s as good a start as any.” The Innkeep smiled. “… we could practice, if you want? Perhaps make sure we apologize to one of my more forgiving regulars rather than one of the more sword-happy ones.” The Innkeep suggested.
“Hah! You just want to hear me begging. But you are right there, I should probably start with the nicer ones, I’d prefer for my guts to stay in place and not to be stabbed on sight, thank you.” Quasar chuckled. “… I really #%&€$ up, didn’t I?” He sighed.
“That ya did!” Una said as she came downstairs as quietly as she could, which was still pretty loud.
“Una, I didn’t know you were awake, sorry if we woke you up.” The Innkeep hummed, looking up.
“Nah, I was awake, I just heard someone come in and I wanted to listen.” Una scoffed, waving her hand dismissively.
“So you were eavesdropping to listen to some drama? You haven’t changed a bit.” Quasar chuckled. “I… suppose starting with you is as good a place as any. I’m sorry about-“ Quasar started to apologize before being interrupted.
“Ugh, nope, you don’t need to start begging for forgiveness to me right now. I heard everything. So ya can shut right up, ya hear me?” Una rolled her eyes. “While I’m here, Innkeep, could ya get me one of your stronger drinks? You know the one.” Una asked.
The Innkeep chucked. “Sure thing, as long as you help our local old man with apologizing to the others and making sure the others don’t attack him.” They smiled as they made Una a Southern Brawler and sent it to her spot.
“Hey! Who’re you calling old? Out of the three of us I should be the youngest!” Quasar said with faux annoyance.
“Ah, a deals a deal I suppose. We can start in the morning with all that apology stuff.” Una nodded and began to chug her drink. “And you are the only old man here. And last I checked fae age really slowly.” She added.
“Ugh, got me on a technicality.” Quasar sighed. “So… who do you think would be best to apologize to first?” He asked the two.
“Well, I’d say Fable, but they are currently out somewhere still from when they were looking for Melli. So they are currently off the list. Next I would say someone like Clay or Archie would be a good choice. They are usually pretty forgiving.” The Innkeep suggested as they cleaned some other cups.
“Hm, that sounds about right from what Gertrude has been sharing.” Quasar stated. “But I guess it would have to wait for tomorrow like the old woman said.” He smirked at Una.
“Oh that’s it! I’m crocheting you socks that are gonna feel velvetty!” Una smirked.
“Eugh, no. That would be a waste of fabric because I would throw them out. Don’t you dare.” Quasar glared lightly.
“Hm, do you even have a place to stay the night? I should have an extra room left over here if you need a place to stay the night.” The Innkeep offered Quasar.
“Ughhhh, fine. I’ll stay here as long as you promise none of your regulars are gonna kill me in my sleep.” Quasar sighed.
“I’m sure none of them will sneak in your room and watch you sleep.” The Innkeep chuckled.
“You never know, I might tell one of them you were staying here because you called me old!” Una joked with a smirk.
“… you would, wouldn’t you? Still as petty as before.” Quasar laughed.
“Una, could you show him to one of the empty rooms? I’ve got to finish cleaning up down here, I’ll head up to my room in a minute.” The Innkeep asked. Una nodded and stood up, Quasar following as she showed him upstairs.
~~~~~
The sun rose in the morning as the Innkeep was already downstairs and getting the Wayfarer’s inn set for the day. Quasar rose with the sun and came downstairs, if only to hide behind the counter if any of the regulars come in.
Which, some did. A few very confused adventurers. Eleithyia, Clay, Jade, and Nils came in. Voy was likely elsewhere.
“… welcome back adventurers.” The Innkeep stated.
“… he wasn’t there. There was no sign of the necromancer when we went there.” Tia stated.
“Well… I admittedly might know why.” The Innkeep hummed.
“You do?” Clay asked with slightly narrowed eyes.
“Yes, I do. So long as you promise to not attack anyone here and to hear us out.” The Innkeep nodded.
“I suppose we can. What is it?” Nils asked.
“He… came here last night. To chat with me, to attempt to get me to join him. Instead I talked him down from doing it and got him to stop. Talked some sense into him. He wants to help fix the mess he made now.” The Innkeep informed, gesturing to Quasar to get up.
“I’m sorry, what?” Jade questioned, glaring at Quasar. Tia gripped her morning star and Clay gripped his sword.
“I… they’re right. I’m sorry. For all of this. I messed up, made mistakes, got consumed by grief and didn’t think clearly. I was so consumed with trying to get old friends back that I didn’t realize it would be impossible to succeed in doing so and didn’t see the harm I was causing to others. That doesn't excuse my actions. I… understand if you cannot forgive me. But I am ready to put in the effort to prove my words with actions.” Quasar apologized and admitted, looking down slightly as if to avoid their glares. The Innkeep put an encouraging hand on his back and smiled at him.
“Hm. I accept your apology! Anger isn’t a fun thing to feel. I certainly don’t like feeling it. And from the sounds of it, you lost a lot of people close to you. I would probably be consumed by anger and grief too if I lost those close to me suddenly. But it will take work for us to truly forgive you completely. But thank you for your apology!” Clay smiled, putting down his weapon, and putting a hand on Tia’s shoulder to calm her down.
“… fine. I accept your apology too. So long as you can prove you mean your words like you say you will.” Nils nodded.
“I’m with the edgelord.” Jade agreed
“Don’t call me that.” Nils glared at her and then looked away, making Jade chuckle a bit.
“I suppose we can accept your apology then. I will go update the others on the change so they get a warning before they come here.” Tia decided. “Before I go, can I get a drink Innkeep? Something to keep my mind steady?” She asked.
“Of course!” The Innkeep smiled, making the seraph a Sparkling Nebula and sending it to her. Said seraph downed it quickly and headed out, Clay trailing behind her as the two went to find and inform the others.
“That…. Went better than I expected.” Quasar stated.
“I told you they’d understand.” The Innkeep smiled.
“That you did.” Quasar chuckled.
~~~~~
Time passed, eventually everyone heard the apology, all having their own reactions but eventually coming to terms with it. Some a bit slower than others, but that is to be expected.
Eventually Quasar and Innkeep spoke at least a bit of their past to them. Talking about stories from their past, about how Quasar was a follower of Cassiopeia much like Tia, but he was an Aurelian Starguard. The group decided that yes, a lot of the old party would get along pretty well with the Innkeep’s regulars.
Archie was practically fanboying over the fact that the Innkeep knew so many folk heroes from decades ago.
Fable returned and both them and Innkeep apologized to eachother. They explained the whole thing to them of what happened, and Fable was pretty understanding.
~~~~~
“… Innkeep, I must ask, what were you thinking when you decided to try to stop me and change my mind instead of just letting me carry on?” Quasar asked, now sporting a new armor that paid tribute to his old armor from back when they first met but also wasn’t technically the Starguard uniform.
“Well, I had to try. It’s better to try and fail than to not try at all, isn’t it?” The Innkeep smiled as they made him a drink.