Chapter 65 - A New Normal

Over the next month, Eclipse began to settle into a new normal. Nothing after Midnight's attack went back to the way it was. Guild members were more cautious now. A few survivors who were learning qi gave up. They walked out of the guild the day after the memorial ceremony and were never seen again. Those that remained were more steadfast and eager to gather qi and step foot through the golden gate. Eventually, within a few weeks, the remainder did indeed take their first steps toward their new lives as awakeners. Blue stood in front of the golden gate as the last of his new recruits walked through.

"You seem proud."

Blue looked back. "I am, actually. How's everything else going?"

Eve turned around. "Well, the repairs are finished. You know you have to go see Terrance, right?"

"I know."

"We've all gone already. You can't keep putting it off, Blue."

"I said I know! Damn."

"So that means you will go today?"

"Oh my gosh, fine... yes, I will go today."

"Good." Eve patted Blue on the back. "I have some paperwork to fill out. Oh, by the way, your first challenge as a ranker came in. Though I told them you aren't able to accept right now."

"Thanks, Eve."

"Of course, but know I can't hold them off forever. Your protection period is over. If you decline too many challenges, you could lose your ranker status."

"Is there anything else, Mom?"

Eve punched Blue in the arm.

"Owww. Was that necessary?"

Eve smiled and walked to the elevator. Before the door closed, she pointed at Blue and yelled, "GO SEE TERRANCE... NOW!"

The elevator doors closed.

Blue shook his head. "She sure got bossy since I gave her the guildmaster position."

Blue made his way outside to see Chris, Darrien, and Samantha sparring. They'd been doing this more and more as of late. Each of them wore prototypes of the armor Terrance was finishing. As Blue watched, a fireball flew past his head and smacked into the wall behind him.

"Instead of staring, why don't you join us?"

Blue laughed. "I can't. I have to go see Terrance. Besides, I think you guys are scaring the other guild members plenty on your own."

The three of them turned to see the stunned faces of other guild members watching them spar.

Blue shook his head and walked out of the front gate of Eclipse toward the Association building.

Blue stood outside the Association building as flux users and construction workers rebuilt the demolished sections. As Blue watched them work, Terrance walked up beside him.

"I see me harping on Eve about you showing up finally paid off."

Blue half smiled. "Yeah, I suppose it did."

"Wonderful. Come. Let's get started."

Terrance led him to his office in the basement of the Association. Inside were four full sets of armor hanging from small shop cranes. Blue stared at them before looking to the left. Two shop cranes were empty. Terrance's eyes drifted toward them. He pushed one of the empty cranes to the side.

"She was working on them down here in her spare time. Didn't feel appropriate to move the crane for her own armor just yet."

Blue walked over, grabbed the crane, and moved it back into place. "Don't move it, then. It's right where it belongs."

Terrance smiled and grabbed a measuring tape. "Okay, well, let's get started, shall we?"

"Why are you measuring me? Can't you just, ya know, make the metal stick to me?"

"She didn't get to tell you much, huh?"

"Well, no."

"Well, we came up with a bodysuit that allows the armor to weld together properly while still letting your body breathe and making it more comfortable. It has heating and cooling pipes running through it as well. So with the flick of a button, you can change the temperature of the suit."

"She really did think of everything, didn't she?"

Terrance chuckled. "She sure did. The suit itself will be coded to you, so only you can put it on. Which means no one else can use the armor. Just like she asked for. Now stand still."

Terrance began taking Blue's measurements. He finished and wrote everything down on a notepad.

"Now, with the others, we incorporated things that can help with their abilities. We don't know anything about qi or your core, so for now it's going to give you much more protection than a battle suit. But that will be the extent of it."

Blue smiled. "That's all I need. Oh, and can you attach a sheath on the left hip for my sword?"

Terrance licked the point of his pen. "That's a fantastic idea! Let me jot that down. Any specific color you'd like?"

Blue scratched his head. "Purple. Like a, uh, dark purple?"

"Dark purple it is. Now, it may take a few weeks to get it built and sized to you specifically. So you'll have to come in periodically so we can make sure it all fits properly. Is that okay?"

"Yeah, that's fine."

"Wonderful. Well, I don't think I need anything more from you at the moment." Terrance put his arms on Blue's back and started to push him out of his office. "So if you'll leave me to it, I'll holler when I need you."

The door slammed shut behind Blue.

"What a weird dude he is."

"Indeed. He is most certainly odd."

"Grayson... what do you want now?"

"Well, I came to find you!"

"How did you find me?"

"Your guards, silly. They came strolling into the Association out of breath. Appears you've gotten very good at ditching them in the past month."

Blue clicked his tongue. "Fucking annoying, they are. I can't go to the bathroom without them standing outside waiting."

"It is for your protection until the Association feels it is no longer needed. You understand, don't you?"

"Yeah, yeah. So what do you want?"

"It's not what I want, but rather what I can offer you."

"There's not much you can offer me at this point, Grayson. You've given me enough."

Blue looked past Grayson as his two guards appeared, both with frustrated looks on their faces. Grayson turned and smiled.

"There's a gate that appeared in the wastelands, just outside the western gate. It's an S-rank gate. I thought I'd offer it to you. You know, get you back into the flow of things, maybe help you clear your mind."

"You know, that actually sounds like something I could use right now."

Grayson clapped his hands. "Wonderful. Now, do not go alone. It is an S-rank gate. We can't have anything happening to you."

Blue rolled his eyes. "Fine, but those two stay here."

Grayson snapped his fingers as the two guards approached. "You two will stand at the entrance of the dungeon when Blue enters. Under no circumstances are you to enter with him. Understood?"

Both men nodded. Grayson looked at Blue. "Satisfied?"

Blue nodded.

"Fantastic. You have forty-eight hours to enter before the Association assigns it to someone else. Sorry, that's all the time I could buy."

"Thank you, Grayson."

"No worries. Anything to help out." Grayson winked and walked away, heading back upstairs.

Blue exited the Association and made a beeline for the Buckeye Guild. The two guards followed close behind. Blue stopped right at the edge of where the Buckeye Guild campus started.

"You two can, ya know, go do something else. Go eat, fondle each other. I really don't care."

The two guards looked at each other, then back to Blue with serious looks on their faces.

Blue sighed. "Fine. Weirdos."

Blue walked around the campus as awakeners from the guild trained and worked to rebuild the guildhall that Derek had destroyed. Blue caught Aaron standing nearby, yelling instructions at a crane operator.

"AARON!" Blue yelled as he ran toward him.

Aaron turned around. "Hey, Blue. How are you?"

"I'm okay. Just taking it a day at a time."

"I said fucking left!" Aaron shouted into a walkie-talkie. "So what's up?"

"Well, there's an S-rank gate Grayson assigned to me. I wanted to see if you'd like to clear it with me."

"Hrmmm... I'd love to." Aaron gestured at his guildhall. "But as you can see, I'm busy trying to rebuild all of this. SERIOUSLY! DO YOU NOT KNOW LEFT FROM RIGHT? GOOD LORD!"

Aaron looked back at Blue. "Sorry. If I leave it to them, I'm afraid the Leaning Tower of Pisa would look straighter than what these idiots could put together. You should ask Titus."

Blue sighed. "Yeah, I understand." Blue turned and walked away. "I just fucking came from the Association." Blue kicked a few rocks around on the ground. "Whatever, I'll go see Titus tomorrow."

Blue looked back at the guards. "Let's go home, knuckleheads. I need a nap."