Upon Vestia: Chapter Twenty-Four

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Dawn chuckled and shook her head a little "I don't need a party." She said softly, chuckling.

~~~
Skye looked to the door then came over to open it "Mourn? What's up?"

"Asher's super well behaved and totally boring." Matt told Jewel. "in a good way." He snickered and grinned at Asher to show he was going to give as good as he got.

Jewel laughed, enjoying the banter between the two of them.

"Hey, I'm not that well behaved! I was arrested once!" Asher protested good naturedly. He looked amused, that day had been stressful, but it had been funny how surprised Kay had been to see him, of all people, behind bars.

Matt snorted. "Yeah but you only got arrested for protecting innocents, beating up assholes isn't even a real crime."

Asher feigned gloom. "You're so picky. I'm just trying to have a reputation here!"
They reached the med bay. There was someone singing in there. Asher looked amused. "Sounds like Kay's not in there."

~~
Meanwhile Vestia was double checking that everyone was on board for departure.

"Wonder where he went to then?" Matt wondered allowed. He wheeled ahead and peered in to see James.

---

Kay had gone to do some last minute things in town but returned a while back, now he was just taking some time out with a book.

Armin was chatting to Amity in the cafe.

Hewitt was having a nap.

Esk was sitting with Dawn and considering if he wanted desert.

Mourn was about.

"Maybe Kay decided to avoid my brother," Asher mused.

James had finished mopping the floor and was scrubbing a countertop, singing a song that was definitely not safe for work.
He spotted Matt and waved, grinning, then spotted Asher and Jewel, and stopped singing abruptly, looking sheepish. "Oh heyyy, new passenger?"

~~
Ellie was in Hydroponics, doing plant stuff.

Dawn did get up to get dessert because she just wanted to.

Skye was on the top deck, staring at the sky through the glass.

Jewel giggled at the song and nodded "I'm Jewel, nice to meet you James."

Esk found cake and sat down to eat that. Yep, the food here was definitely better than anywhere else.
"you know, I think I can tolerate my idiot brothers if it means the all you can eat buffet." He snickered.

Matt laughed. "You know some interesting songs man." He nodded to Jewel. "She's a jeweller apparently, cool right?"

James looked smug, glad Matt appreciated his musical taste. He set aside his cleaning cloth and pulled off his gloves, tossing them out before going over to Jewel. He held out his hand to shake, although the size difference might make that awkward. "Jewel the jeweler, huh? Good to meet you."

Dawn chuckled at that and looked to the donuts she had gotten before nodding "The food is very good here."

~~~
Jewel was used to the size difference and flew closer to hover in front of his hand and touch hers to his, though she didn't actually shake hands, it was as close as she could get. "Yep, I make jewelry, but right now, we need your help to fix my door so I can get in and out easier."

James looked at Asher, "Did you volunteer me for this?"

Asher grinned. "Maybe. Come on, we need someone who can actually walk. You'll be doing a good deed, and you'll get paid."

James humphed, but then nodded. "Okay, I'll help. Lead the way, Jewel, let's butcher your door!"

~~
Meanwhile, Vestia made a few final checks of her systems, sealed her airlocks, requested clearance for departure, and then slowly, majestically lifted off.

Unlike smaller craft, she didn't need her passengers to buckle up. They'd hardly feel the acceleration at all.

Jewel grinned and turned to fly to her door again. She felt the change in pressure when the doors sealed and knew they were leaving now.

Esk paused in his eating. Hm, they were leaving? He picked up his plate and got up. This was kinda worth watching.
"Better than Acus' cooking anyway." He nodded to the door. "I think we're leaving."

--

Mourn patted Vestia's wall, he could feel the tiny vibrations of her thrusters. "bye bye guild."

---

Matt grinned. "We'll cheer you on." He told James.

Ellie went and pressed her nose against a window to watch the Guild slowly fall away below them. Yay, they were leaving!

~~
---I am so ready to go exploring again--- Vestia told Mourn.

~~
"Okay, cheering helps," James said. He followed Jewel along the hall. "Man, are we leaving? I think I'm detecting a bit of pressure change."

"Yep, we're leaving," Vestia said.

"Oh man, we gotta find a big window!" James said. "Come on!" He took the lead toward the nearest room he remembered with a big, low window.

Asher followed, amused.

Matt couldn't resist racing James to the observation deck, he was excited to see the view too.

--

Kay glanced up from his book, shook his head, decided he didn't care enough and went back to reading. Honestly he was rather glad to be getting underway.

--

Armin and Amity found a window to look out of.

---

Hewitt continued to sleep.

---

Mourn grinned. "be good get out again, ship no design to sit on ground forever." He agreed.

Dawn chuckled and grabbed her plate to go with Esk to watch them leaving the guild.

~~~
Skye watched space approaching from where she was. She wasn't quite sure what to feel, happy or sad.

~~~
Jewel nodded and followed to wave to the guild, though no one would be able to see her anyway

James made a show of racing Matt to the room, not trying to actually outrun him. When they reached the room, he looked out cautiously. All that empty space out there was terrifying and exhilarating.

Asher followed the others in and watched the Guild shrink in the distance. They were on the road again, and even though he knew there was a lot of heartache ahead, he couldn't help grinning at the feeling of being on the move. It was exciting.

~~
---My engines are probably all cobwebby--- Vestia joked to Mourn.

"poor ship." Mourn patted the wall soothingly. "You fly now, tell Mourn if need anything done. I good engineer." He nodded.

---

Matt actually smiled at the sight of the guild falling away. Sure it was a shame to leave but it meant they were a step closer to getting Thalia back!

--

Esk found a quiet observation deck to eat cake in, watching as the guild fell away into the distance and the stars enveloped them.
He sat down and put his feet up on a table. Now this was better, he actually preferred space. The expanse of it was somehow liberating.

---

Dawn found a chair and sat, looking out the window at space too. It was so much calmer out here than on any planet. She liked the calmness, even though it meant not having the library of the guild to go to as needed.
~~~
Jewel sighed softly and sat n a table, watching space with the others there. She was content with this, as long as they got to her door before bedtime.

~~~
Skye turned over to get up and head to her room once they were free of the guild once more. She didn't expect to ever see Orel again, but they were finally on the way to eventually getting Moone back.

---Thanks Mourn--- Vestia said. The felid was sweet, she liked him.

~~
James would keep watching until the Guild's magical illusions made the star system disappear altogether, as if they had never existed. "Well," he said. "That was an interesting vacation."

Asher chuckled. "I think we need a vacation after that vacation. It was too eventful."

"No one ever thought the guild could be attacked, not really." Jewel said with a frown then a shrug. "The illusion of safety there is broken, how they deal with the aftermath will be interesting."

"Maybe the Anamcara will finally listen to other people." Matt muttered.

--

Esk watched things in silence for a while, finishing his cake quietly before finally looking back to Dawn. "Doesn't look like we'll be finding this place easily again." He observed, the way the guild hid itself would make it very difficult even knowing the coordinates.

James snorted. "I'm not sure their pride will ever deflate enough to let them actually listen to people."

Asher sighed. "Let's not worry about the anamcaras' problems, they get to manage without us now. Are you guys ready to go work on that door?"

"They listen when they agree with what is said" Jewel said softly then looked to the group again.

~~~
"That is the way they want it to be. Too bad the Family could see right through that defense." Dawn said, setting her empty plate down and glancing to him then out at the stars again.

"Didn't exactly go to their plan though did it?" Esk smirked. Oh it made him rather pleased to think of the Family's complete failure. "They thought it would be an easy task, set the foxes off, while there's chaos in the streets and the enforcers are all distracted, march in and take the city. Easy, straightforward, no problems." He snickered. "They didn't count on the Aketi sabotaging their own scanners, or the Guild actually fighting back effectively. Assholes are just as arrogant as the guild and that arrogance let us kick the shit out of them. A harsh lesson for both sides. Maybe now the guild will understand the value of another perspective."

---

Matt nodded. "Yeah, let's go fix that door."

---