Return of the Runebound Professor Chapter 862: Fixed

With eyes stretched wide, Brayden gaped at Noah. “Holy shit. That sounds like a load of shit. A whole lot of it. Shit.”

Noah shot back, lips quirking in faint amusement, “I think you might be drunk.” Noah, Brayden, and Lee lounged in their cramped inn room. Brayden sprawled across Lee’s bed, sagging it deeply under his bulk, while Noah and Lee took spots opposite him on Noah’s side.

A crate brimming with beer and random meats—snagged from a roadside seller on the return—sat right before Brayden. It had started in the room’s middle. But once Brayden dove into the booze, the crate mysteriously scooted nearer and nearer to him.

Lee had naturally polished off every scrap of food. Noah had just wrapped up an hour-long tale of his ordeals since Father’s death. It was a massive pile—way more than he’d figured. From the Beyond, popping into the Citadel’s maze with the Devourer, breaking free from the Citadel itself, plus the twisty journey to link up with Lee and reach Aqua Terra… Noah marveled that he’d crammed it all into just sixty minutes.

“I’m not drunk,” Brayden insisted, swiping his mouth with his wrist’s back. “Since that last fiasco, I’ve sworn off drowning too deep in the ale. Can’t risk blabbing all my secrets again.”

“Yeah,” Lee chimed in. “You’ll spill anyway. Booze or no.”

“Hey!” Brayden objected. “I’m not that bad!”

Noah and Lee fixed him with sharp stares. Brayden winced.

“Fine. Maybe I was. But I’ve improved. It’s simpler to zip your lips about a mission when you truly believe in it. Serving Father… wasn’t the most satisfying gig. But that’s history now. No more headaches from it. Praise the gods for that. Those cursed Plains—I still can’t fully wrap my head around him being gone.”

“He is,” Noah affirmed.

“Oh, I get it. You’ve hammered it home a dozen times,” Brayden said, shaking his head. “It’s just a ghost in my mind. Nothing real.”

“You got a demon in your head?” Lee queried.

“Just a saying, Lee,” Brayden clarified. He let out a brief chuckle. Then his gaze returned to Noah, his face turning grave again. A storm of feelings flashed across it in an instant. They faded, leaving only one.

Sadness.

“What?” Noah prompted.

“Nothing,” Brayden muttered. “Just… damn, Noah. You’ve endured pure hell. I doubt I’d keep my wits if it happened to me. Trapped in endless void, breaking out only to land in a nightmare millipede pit, then hearing from some eldritch horror that escape’s impossible—that’s brutal.”

“You think?” Noah replied, brow creasing faintly. “Didn’t dwell on it then. No real options. Couldn’t linger in the Beyond, and no chance I’d chill in the Citadel after busting to Obsidia. Had to push forward.”

“That’s one perspective,” Brayden said, chuckling wryly while shaking his head. “Wish I viewed it like you—pure certainty. People counting on you means success is non-negotiable. Only one path forward. Sounds insane, doesn’t it?”

“I call it channeling positive vibes to summon victory.”

Brayden erupted in laughter. “That’s gold, Noah. No—there’s a gap between fierce resolve and striding forth like triumph’s guaranteed, just waiting on the clock. That’s no mortal mindset.”

“Maybe test it out,” Noah suggested. “Bludgeoning obstacles till they yield has worked miracles for me. Though, uh, dodge the dying part—that’s key for normals. Haven’t kicked the bucket once in Obsidia! Wild, right? Not a single time. I’m nearly back to full strength. But you’re looking solid, Brayden. Bulkier. Tougher. Seems like fortune’s smiled on you too. Your style hasn’t exactly screwed you over.”

You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

Brayden’s mouth twitched, though amusement had largely fled his face from moments before. “Not as much as on you.”

“Comparison steals joy. Or whatever. Point is, we’re here. We made it. That counts, yeah?”

“You made it,” Brayden amended. He sighed softly and shook his head. “Nah, sorry. We made it. You’re spot on. Didn’t mean to drag the mood. Perhaps you nailed it—I might be tipsy.”

Noah leaned forward, his brow creasing deeply. “Hold on. What’s troubling you, Brayden? Something happen?”

“Noah, I love you in every way a man can cherish another who took over his worthless brother’s body, restored his name, aided his old students, and slew our tyrannical father. But I doubt you’d grasp this.”

“That whole sentence has me stumped,” Noah replied deliberately. “I feel kinda confused. Did I screw up somehow?”

“No, no, not at all.” Brayden rubbed the bridge of his nose. “Truth be told, I never planned to bring this up. Perhaps I should quit the booze altogether. It makes me too loose-lipped.”

“Is it me?” Lee wondered aloud. She fished out some jerky from nowhere — Noah couldn’t fathom its source. “Want a bite? I stashed a couple pieces.”

A faint smile tugged at Brayden’s lips. “No thanks. I’m good.”

Noah stood from his bedroll and approached to squat in front of Brayden. “So what’s eating you? Come on, buddy. We’ve shared... well, not a ton of moments. Not like others have. But we’ve bonded some. Fought back-to-back. We’re partners. I may not get it fully, but damn it, I’ll give it a shot.”

Brayden raised his gaze from the dirt to briefly lock with Noah’s before darting away. A deep sigh escaped him. “I failed you, Noah. No, wait — I failed, Noah.”

“No need to torment yourself over that. Failure hits everyone,” Noah assured. “Life throws curveballs. My wins stack on countless flops. I’m perched atop a massive heap of my own dead bodies.”

“But it’s not my body underfoot,” Brayden countered. “Janice’s is.”

Noah’s eyes widened in surprise. “Janice?”

“I let her down, Noah.” Brayden now held Noah’s stare steadily. His fists balled up tightly. “She mirrored me closely. Like — Vermil, back before you became him. Merely another of Father’s puppets. Not a saint by any means. None of us truly were. But saving her eluded me. I gave it my all, yet it fell short.”

“Damn, Brayden. I missed parts of that battle, but we were battling for survival.”

“Father dispatched Janice to eliminate us. I clashed with her,” Brayden ground out, jaw locked. “I attempted to reason with her. She wasn’t fully brainwashed. Still, it didn’t work. I lacked the power to restrain her while shielding the rest. Forced a choice on me.”

“You picked the right path available,” Noah said, gripping Brayden’s shoulders. “Without your stand — had she reached the children—”

“I get it,” Brayden admitted. “She’d have slaughtered them. Absolutely.”

“Exactly, so you acted as required,” Noah pressed. “Sorry, man. Sorry Father stole her from you. Yet Janice picked his side, while you defied him. You can’t force another’s change of heart. Don’t blame yourself for that.”

“Like hell I can’t!” Brayden exploded, slamming his fist into the bed hard enough to jolt it. “And don’t claim it was impossible! You’d have managed it, blast you!”

Noah froze in place.

“What?”

“You’d have succeeded,” Brayden insisted. “Had you talked to her instead. If I weren’t so feeble, so poor at persuading, perhaps I could’ve redeemed her. She might be alive today, tasting true freedom at last. But I’m no Noah.”

“Me? How?” Noah questioned. “Janice bonded most with you. If even you couldn’t sway her from child-killing, I’d have failed too. Know our key difference, Brayden? You offered her an opportunity.”

Confusion flashed across Brayden’s face. “What?”

“I’d have ended her instantly,” Noah declared. “No shades for me. My view’s pure black and white. I’ve lingered too long in too brief a span. All’s distant, pulled back so far the grays — light or dark — vanished. I’m blind to them now. You’re not me, nor should you be. No one craves duplicate Noahs. My trail’s littered with them already. I seek those who spot the grays. We prize you as Brayden. Janice likely did as well. Her decision didn’t erase shared history.”

“What’re you saying?” Brayden queried, eyes blinking rapidly.

“Perhaps Janice believed serving Father was her sole option. Maybe it rooted so deep she envisioned no alternative. Nothing you could’ve altered that without endangering the group. Yet hers was no existence. Father’s mere instrument. Death offered her sole liberation, which she’d embrace. You granted that freedom.”

“That supposed to ease my guilt?”

“I don’t know. You knew her better than I did,” Noah said. “But I’d say it’s a better alternative to serving Father for eternity.”

Lee slid from the bed. She walked over to the pair and rested her hand on Brayden’s shoulder beside Noah’s. “It’s okay to not be strong enough sometimes. What matters is being stronger the next time around. Noah is right. He’s not very good at being comforting, but he’s still right.”

A burst of laughter escaped the burly man in a snort. “Well, I suppose we all have our weaknesses.”

Lee nodded with wise solemnity. She offered the jerky strip she had been gripping. “Meat? It always makes me feel better.”

Brayden snorted. “I don’t think it’s going to fix anything.”

“Not everything needs to be fixed,” Lee responded. “You don’t have to fix anything. The past is already gone. Like a piece of jerky someone else already ate. Nothing to do about it. But there’s another piece right here.”

Lee wiggled the strip of meat enticingly.

A twitch pulled at Brayden’s lips. The heavy load weighing on his shoulders lifted noticeably. He then accepted the meat from Lee.

“Yeah. I suppose you’re right.”