Chapter 1611 – Preparing to Depart

Jern and Alis were side by side, cleaning their weapons and armour and talking. Alis had been unusually reserved since Anthony had been taken, and Jern knew she felt somewhat responsible. Which was silly. She’d been on the platform at the time, but the attack on the Nave had knocked her just the same as it had the rest of them. She had nothing to feel bad about, but she seemed to insist on it anyway.

“Jern? Jern! Are you alright?” she asked, looking concerned.

The big man shook his head and smiled at her, causing her to blush slightly. She’d been like this since Anthony had exposed their feelings so openly. He knew she was a little irritated at having their feelings discussed like that, but Jern didn’t mind it. He wouldn’t necessarily thank Anthony for it, but he did feel like the big ant had saved them some time.

“I’m okay. Sorry to worry you,” he replied. “Why do you ask?”

“Because you look so distracted. It didn’t seem like you were hearing a single word I said!”

Alis did not like it when Jern wasn’t listening properly, which he felt made sense. If nobody was listening when you spoke, what was the point of speaking in the first place? Alis tended to have a lot to say, which suited Jern down to the ground, since he never felt the need to speak all that much. Between the two of them, they found a good balance, he thought.

“Anthony is yelling at me in my head,” he explained with a smile. “He’s really loud.”

Alis’ eyes went wide as she stared at him with her mouth open.

“Sh-shouldn’t you answer him?” she said, waving her hands in the air as if she didn’t know what she should do with them. “Why is he yelling at you? That isn’t good! Is it because of me? Is he mad we haven’t helped him yet?”

Jern reached up and wrapped one of his arms around her shoulder, squeezing her against his side. For some reason, she always went quiet when he did that.

“He’s telling us not to go and save him,” he told her. “I’m ignoring him.”

Alis still looked very nervous, even as she leaned into him.

“Is it alright to ignore him though? Isn’t he… like… a god?”

“I think he is,” Jern affirmed his belief, “but that doesn’t mean he can’t be wrong sometimes.”

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“Are gods allowed to be wrong sometimes? Aren’t they just… always right?”

“Anthony? Always right?”

“I suppose that’s a good point.”

Jern smiled at her again. It was easy to smile when Alis was around.

“He just doesn’t want us to get hurt, so he’s trying to tell us to stay away. We don’t want him to get hurt, so we’re going to go and save him. That’s all.”

“It’s all so simple when you say it like that,” Alis sighed, resting her head on his shoulder.