Chapter 129: A Rough Start (Patreon)

For security reasons, Moeldywn had Melia close down the portal to the demon castle as soon as they returned to the human kingdom. Just as well, since [Sunrise] didn’t want to return to the demon lands. Perhaps it might have been a shortcut leading back to U’lindala, but if they were concerned about travel time, they could have always taken the [Aetherstone].

As the crow flies, [Az-tiki] was closer to the demon castle than it was to Oasis. But when a group had access to a dragon willing to carry them around on her back, things like travel times and flight paths were somewhat moot. All it cost them was a little bit of awkwardness as they clambered up her wing like a rain-slicked rolling staircase. Melia wondered if this was how airplanes felt.

Once again, Melia ignored the surprised cries of the people on the streets below as she flew. They didn’t exactly sound panicked; more shocked with an edge of apprehension. She took this as a good thing and chose to believe it was the city warming up to her presence…even if she didn’t have any evidence to support her claim.

Melia cast a blob of magic over the top of her head where all her friends sat. Jessica, by far the most experienced of the bunch– having racked up a ton of frequent flier miles –was coaching the others on how to properly stay on top of a dragon’s head without falling off. Not that they really needed to worry even before Melia cast her barrier: her body was both large enough and magical enough to be more like a movable platform instead of an animal’s head. Besides, this wasn’t their first time riding her. But one trip did not a dragon rider make, even if it did wonders toward calming everybody’s nerves. Ellesea and Y’cennia even ended up engaging in a tile-based game Melia wasn’t familiar with during the trip, and unless she missed something while flying, the catkin hustled the [Arcanist] out of a silver.

Melia took the flight slow…at least according to how fast she could travel. She did her best to exit Horizon airspace as peacefully as possible, once again gaining a wary escort of winged guards, but she maintained a steady flight path and followed a suddenly stressed-looking griffin as it ferried a rider somewhere else. Once she cleared the city limits, Melia turned south and set a course for the desert. For the first several minutes she observed Ellesea and Y’cennia’s game, but Melia had other things vying for her attention.

Mainly, the upcoming dungeon.

It struck Melia that, technically, she’d never run a dungeon. Not “honestly,” one might say, or “as the developers intended.” All her experience came from playing a game or being laughably overpowered. So far, she never really needed to follow this world’s dungeon rules.

And now she needed to.

Melia wouldn’t say she was afraid. Not even nervous, not really. Perhaps a little anxious, a touch apprehensive, with a hint of bubbling excitement? She really was looking forward to experiencing a dungeon just like a native in this world. And, yes, technically she had run the [Palace of Darkness] with everybody, but even in its native format, it was the exception, not the rule. What’s more, during that run, her role was DPS. For [Az-tiki], she’d be filling the role of tank.

Now, Melia would consider herself a competent tank. Yes, she preferred DPS, but what dual-wielding [Warrior] with massive swords didn’t? But having a preference didn’t mean she was incompatible, and on the occasion when Hank wasn’t available to play, Melia would step up.

She did a stealthy checkup on her stats and abilities, seeing which ones were available and those that were locked off. Her healing spells were still gone and Melia had a hunch she’d never see those again. While that removed a little bit of self-sustain from her standard rotation, it only mattered when she played certain classes, since [Warriors] didn’t have spells in the first place. She figured she’d be content to run a full [Protection] spec for their first dungeon and they’d most likely be fine.

Al was still getting used to having potent healing spells of his own, so it would be a learning process for both of them.

After roughly an hour of flying, they passed over Oasis, gave the glinting towers of Phantasia a wide berth, and touched down at the edge of the desert near the southern mountain range. Melia hovered for longer than was strictly necessary and gently lowered herself to the ground so as to not upset her riders. A little jostling was unavoidable, but she didn’t want to make them uncomfortable. As soon as they were all safe and sound on the ground, Melia returned to her gnomish form.

“So this is [Az-tiki], is it?” Ellesea asked, as if she hadn’t just ridden across a country on a giant dragon's head. “You said this was a ritual site for an ancient sun god?”

“Yes,” Melia nodded. “But we won’t need to worry about fighting him today. This temple was already a ruin and the original worshipers have long since died off.”

“Were you part of this dungeon’s formation?” Y’cennia asked.

Melia glanced up at the catkin, slightly taken aback. The question was valid, but the offhand, almost passing way she asked it threw Melia for a loop.

She could classify dungeons in one of two ways: pre- or post-game. The first were dungeons, even in Ebonvale lore. This meant that, during the Age of Upheaval, people of the time knew and recognized them as dungeons. Places like [Astoria Boondocks] and the [Palace of Darkness] fell into this category. The second type were dungeons that formed because of significant historical events. Most raids and pivotal plot moments would not have been dungeons 100 years ago, and have since been turned into them by Chaos’ hand.

As strange as it was to think about, Melia and her friends were all part of the second type. As heroes in this world, they took part in its most decisive battles.

“No,” Melia said after several seconds of thought. She racked her brain for all the lore she could and determined that this was a purely “optional” dungeon. It wasn’t anywhere on the main story route and players never needed to set foot in it, no matter how cool it was.

Nor how much it made the players who beat it feel like a boss.

“The team of explorers trapped inside were from before my time. I couldn’t tell you exactly when, but I doubt it was more than a decade.”

“May Chaos have mercy on their souls,” Alastair said solemnly. Melia didn’t know how to respond to that, so she said nothing. The group did not meet a particularly pleasant end, no matter how effective a team of delvers was.

Instead, she began setting up her [Changing Room] so she could get ready to tank, while Lethia and Layalee started building a camp. Melia didn’t know how long it would take to beat [Az-tiki] in real life, so the group was preparing for a slog. Each of them carried two days' worth of provisions and an emergency sleeping roll, but otherwise, they deposited all of their non-essentials with Layalee for safekeeping.

Melia stepped behind the curtain and pulled out her old [Warrior] gear. If she was going to be level-synced, running around in a set of Halloween cosmetics wasn’t going to cut it. She stashed her [Reverie] and put on the [Raiments of the Stormforged Commander]. Melia felt the weight of her station (more than the armor itself) settle on her shoulders. People were counting on her to keep them safe. Her friends. Her treasures.

Her family.

Her [Executioners] wouldn’t work as a tank, since she needed to wield a shield. Melia put away her twin blades and pulled out the tried-and-true staples of [Warriors] everywhere: a single-handed sword and a mighty tower shield. Melia swung the sword in her right hand, listening to it whistle as it sliced through the air, and marveled at the curved hunk of steel and spikes that was almost taller than she was.

…perhaps it wasn’t the most inspiring sight.

Melia never thought about it in the game, because any race at any size could be a tank. But here, in the real world…gnomes wouldn’t make a very good tank, would they? Her shield, which was sufficiently impressive to Melia, wouldn’t even cover Ellesea’s full body, and she was the next smallest member of the party. Not only that, but Melia was a [Warrior] and not a [Druid] or a [Paladin]; her skills and abilities required rage, not mana or stamina.

[Warriors] generated rage in three ways: hitting enemies, getting hit by enemies, and blocking oncoming attacks with their shield. Melia was slightly concerned about that last part, because only so many enemies could physically attack her at a time before they started getting in each other’s way. But unlike a game, enemies couldn’t clip through each other. Also, if she were at her normal level, practically invulnerable and able to laugh off a dog pile, she wouldn’t care how many monsters started munching on her, but when her level got inevitably slashed by the synchronization…she’d be just as vulnerable as any other gnome her level.

More or less.

She was, technically, still a dragon.

Melia rolled her shoulders, grimaced at how her helmet seriously reduced her peripheral vision, but otherwise did her best to mentally prepare for the upcoming trial. She put her [Changing Room] away and found the rest of her team waiting.

“I said it the first time I saw that, and I’ll say it again,” Jessica mused, looking down at Melia with the closest thing to respect the gnome had seen from the girl. “That armor just hits different. I might go as far as to say that even I would follow you into battle.”

“Which is good,” Al chuckled, “Seeing as she’s the one leading this run. I’m healing, remember?”

Melia got a good look at their [Paladin]-turned-[Valorant]. He was still wearing a metal breastplate, but he’d swapped out his pauldrons for a comfy-looking length of cloth that was almost certainly going to get in the way. His normal hammer was gone and a smaller, gilded mace was hanging from his belt.

Melia smiled. These were gifts from his order upon receiving a class evolution. They weren’t particularly valuable in the grand scheme of things, being green items that offered minimal amounts of stats, but they were an excellent starting point for healers looking to prove their worth.

Jessica and Ellesea didn’t look much different, wearing the same old gear that Melia had grown used to, but Y’cennia was sporting a bandolier-style chest strap and a rugged belt filled with potions. 16 various potions were lined up like grenades or large bullets, ready to be launched at the first fool unlucky enough to cross her path, or she could weaponize her healing in a pinch. Getting smashed in the face by a high-velocity potion bottle would probably cost a few hitpoints and would definitely sting, but it was much preferable to the alternative when the choice was between pick shards of glass out of your cheek and death by disembowelment.

“Are we good to go?” Melia asked. “Ready check?”

“Ready.”

“Ready.”

“Yup.”

“I’m good.”

She was met by a chorus of agreement and made her way through some tumbled rocks into the forecourt of the ancient ruins. Two broken pillars were etched with ancient and unreadable hieroglyphics, eroded by the sands of time, and between them stood the swirling vortex of a dungeon portal.

Melia had Alastair assist her with a double-check, just to make sure they weren’t missing anything.  

They were all part of Melia’s party (with the awkward invitation screen) and the difficulty was set to normal. This particular dungeon didn’t have a harder mode, which was fine anyway, since the real difficulty came with synchronization.

​

[Party set to: Synchronize Mode]

​

Melia felt a ripple of power rush through her, but otherwise, nothing happened. The same was probably happening to her teammates, who all shivered and did varying iterations of the jitterbug dance. She glanced at her status; still level 3700.

“What level do you think you’ll be?” Al asked quietly. More than just for curiosity’s sake, he wanted to know just in case his healing wasn’t good enough.

“Somewhere between 440 and 460,” Melia said with a frown. “If we want to go the distance, the last boss is going to be rough. It’s level 500.”

“It might be wise to cut things short, then,” Al agreed. But behind him, Jessica spoke up.

“Shouldn’t we see what Order’s quest entails first?” She asked.

“When do we find out what he wants?” Ellesea chimed in.

“I’m not certain,” Melia said, frowning. Stuff like this was so much easier in the game where she could see a giant floating exclamation point over an NPC’s head.

“Only one way to find out,” Alastair said. “Melia…after you.”

​

The first step through the portal was like getting dunked in a bucket of ice. Worse than that, actually; it had a viscous, tactile feeling of being lathered in sludge. Like those game shows Melia used to hear about where contestants might get bombarded by bright-green goo. Even though it left no physical trace, it was unpleasant and left Melia feeling gross.

Still, nothing had changed in her stats. Despite opting in for synchronization, she was still fully leveled. That was…until she noticed that time seemed paused and her party members were frozen mid-step as they also entered through the portal. Melia couldn’t move, and a system notification immediately appeared.

​

[Outside forces are attempting to suppress your status. Overruled.]

​

Then, directly following that, another screen popped up, and Melia got the picture that this one was somehow exasperated.

​

[Chaos wishes to synchronize your level. Do you consent?]

​

Melia rolled her eyes and hit yes. Immediately, the world lurched into motion and she fell to her knees, gagging. Alastair finished stepping through the portal next and quickly rushed to her side and picked her up.

“Melia! Are you alright?”

“I’m fine,” she wheezed, gently patting his hand on her shoulder before nudging it away. Truthfully, Melia wasn’t actually sure she was fine. Not from how she was feeling. She kept her face as neutral as possible, but behind her stoic mask, she was shaken.

She actually felt when Alastair picked her up. Not just the physical sensation of being touched, which she always felt, but the raw emotion of being vulnerable. Normally, in her gnomish form or dragonkin body, whenever she raised her arms and somebody whisked her away, she felt content. Like a cat getting its way if it wanted to be petted.

Here, she knew he could latch onto her and she’d have to exert real force to break free. Not a ton of force; she was still over 50 levels higher than Al, but now that her stats had been cut so drastically, Melia felt weak.

She hadn’t felt this bad since coming to this world, and it reminded her of her old body. She knew she’d get used to it, but it left a bad taste in her mouth.

Because she needed to know, Melia pulled up her status sheet.

​

Name:

Meliastraza Obsidianheart

Title:

the Magnificent

Race:

Archdragon

Class:

Destroyer of Worlds

Level: 3700 (460)

HP: 257B (225,987)

Mana: 3.9M (2,400)

Rage: 0/500

Energy: 1000/1000

Constitution: 1,000,030,744 (10,624)

Strength: 793,242,877 (7,288)

Dexterity: 403,966,152 (4,055)

Agility: 398,125,009 (3,799)

Intelligence: 8,752,461 (920)

Wisdom: 2,650,039 (690)

Spirit: 2,602,998 (690)

​

More than weak, Melia felt ill. Phantom impulses in her mind immediately reached into the depths of her memory, attempting to recreate the feeling of slowly wasting away as her body destroyed itself. She shook her head, banishing the darkness.

That was her old body. Her new one was much stronger. Even reduced as it was. She was a dragon! Formidable and dangerous at any level! Though she was currently sitting at a fraction of her normal stats, they were still grossly inflated compared to a normal Human. Alastair, for example, at level 383, only had 16,000 health, and nearly a third of Melia’s strength. By numbers alone, Melia could probably clear this dungeon by herself despite the extreme handicap.

And speaking of Al…level 390 was cutting it a little close to the limit, wasn’t it? More so Jessica. She was several levels below him at 383. Monsters here were up to 100 levels higher than her.

Back in the game, that would be a death sentence. One scratch from an elite monster might send her to the grave.

“Guys,” Melia said seriously. “I don’t know if this is a good idea. Some of the monsters in here are much higher level than you, and I’m worried I won’t be enough to keep you safe.”

“Are you worried my heals won’t be sufficient?” Alastair asked, worried.

“No,” Melia shook her head. “I’m pretty confident in my health pool. But…I’ve got over 200,000. You all can’t say the same.”

“Damn dragons,” Jessica sighed. “Cheaters, all of you.”

“Then we do it as we always do,” Alastair said. “Show of hands. Do we abandon the dungeon here and now?”

The group looked pensive, but no one raised a hand. He turned to Melia and gave her a lopsided grin.

“We’re used to this sort of thing,” he explained with a waggle of his hands. “We know we’re not the toughest. We’re cautious and we’re slow…which helps. We’ve come all this way; maybe we should give it a try? At least tackle the first few monsters, see if they’re more than we bargained for.”

Melia didn’t look thrilled, but she felt her smile forming.

“Fine,” she nodded resolutely. “I’ll do my best to keep you safe.”

“That’s all we can ask,” Alastair smiled in return.

As if waiting patiently for them to finish deliberations, a new system message popped up. The group staggered again, not expecting a new notice, but Jessica immediately laughed.

“I guess that answers that question.”

​

[Quest: Order’s Orders]

​

Level: ∞

Rarity: Divine

​

Order would like data from dungeons. Kill one (1) of each major monster type (not including critters).

Now entering: Az-tiki.

Dungeon: Required.

Accept?

​

Melia laughed too and hit yes. A new quest appeared in the party screen, indicating that everyone was on it.

“That doesn’t seem so bad,” Ellesea said. “Kill one of each type of monster? That’s doable.”

“Don’t be deceived,” Alastair warned. “I bet it also includes bosses.”

“Eesh,” Jessica grimaced. “That…could take a while.”

“Probably,” Melia shrugged. “But there’s not a ton of dungeons on the list and there’s no time limit. While I’d like to get these done as soon as possible, there’s nothing saying we can’t take our time.”

“For the strawberry?” Jessica asked.

“For Brandy,” Melia grinned.

She hefted her shield, readied her sword, and strode forward with the confidence of a conqueror.

​

…Things went poorly.

Fights were rough and encounters immediately went downhill. Melia’s stats weren’t a huge problem, since she had enough health to survive full packs of mobs, even with Alastair’s rookie healing.

Truth be told, his healing left a lot to be desired. Melia was immediately reminded of pick-up groups yelling loudly at poor healers and did her best not to judge, but it was clear his primary passion and experience didn’t lie in the land of restoration. His heals were good; Melia couldn’t fault him there…especially since she didn’t have any of her own.

But they were slow in coming, as if he was hesitating or reacting too late. Despite Melia’s health pool, she took real damage whenever she got hit, and things battered her even when she blocked them with her shield. She’d burn through her cooldowns, bolstering her defenses, and still she’d watch her health pool dip by notches at a time. Most of the time, Al would only start healing once she hit 50% health, which would be fine in other circumstances, but when his most powerful healing spells only restored a quarter of her life, Melia began to worry. She had a couple of powerful “Oh Crap” skills to use if she ever dipped into the 10-20% range, but if they got that far, they were in dire straits.

On top of that, Al burned through his limited mana pool rather quickly and they needed to take frequent breaks so he could replenish.

Jessica, Ellesea, and Y’cennia weren’t faring much better.

Since the monsters were higher level, it took more oomph to damage them. Killing a single elite inside the dungeon took as much effort as 7 or 8 normal monsters outside it. So when each group had a minimum of 4-5 mobs? Things got dicey.

But not everything was doom and gloom. The group performed much better than Melia thought they should have, all things considered. Their positioning was above average, they followed directions, and they had the spatial awareness that came with the lifestyle of active adventurers. They’d decided that, as enticing as getting a head start on Order’s quest was, they’d only clear up to the first boss today. The experience (for everyone except Melia) was excellent, and Al had already broken into rank 4, so they were willing to push their luck and come back tomorrow.

And that’s where it went downhill.

The tragedy wasn’t any one person’s fault. Nobody in particular was to blame. Or, maybe, fingers could start being pointed and no matter who they fell on, accusations were warranted. In fact, when looking back, Melia couldn’t tell what the catalyst was; it all happened so fast.

[Sunrise] was working their way toward the [Burial Tomb of Zantara], the first boss, fighting off groups of [Jackal Hierophants]. They had to be very careful in this sandy area because it was filled with suspicious mounds, some of which were harmless piles of sand, while others were unmarked graves. If the graves got disturbed, a [Mummy] would spawn. Normally, that wouldn’t pose too much of an issue, since they’d encountered the graves in smaller numbers up to this point. But there, in the area leading up to the [Tomb], the concentration of dunes went through the roof.

And, as it turned out, in real life, the dunes could be activated by anything. Not just an unobservant player.

Melia had carefully maneuvered herself into position to hurl a [Tomahawk] at a buff, shirtless [Jackal] and chucked it through the air. It flew true, striking the mark, but as the pack of [Hierophants] came running, several graves along the outskirts activated.

Instead of fighting 4 monsters…they had to face off against 40.

Y’cennia panicked. One of the zombies burst through a dune next to her and grabbed her leg. Everybody heard her scream.

Alastair immediately started throwing heals at the [Mixologist].

Jessica shot arrow after arrow into the [Mummy], turning it into a veritable pincushion.

Melia used her [Taunt], trying to pull aggro.

Ellesea, sticking to the initial plan, started to burn down the first target.

Melia lost aggro…the [Hierophant] turned on Ellesea.

It took a swipe at her…and a quarter of her health instantly disappeared.

Alastair pushed himself to the limit, throwing out every spell he had. Half the crowd of [Mummies], which Melia hadn’t been able to grab, turned on him. Melia heard Jessica scream and she popped [Provoke].

Unlike [Taunt], [Provoke] was an AoE. She succeeded in grabbing all the [Mummies] and the [Hierophants]...but she was instantly overwhelmed. The last thing Melia heard as she was smothered in black fur was Jessica crying out…before instantly being silenced.

​

Jessica tried to open her eyes, but they were heavy and it felt like they were full of crust. It took her several moments, but eventually she managed. She was lying on her back and her body felt cold…her vision was fuzzy and her mind was rather hazy. She tried to sit up, but she found she couldn’t. It took more strength than she could muster at the moment.

What…happened? At least she was able to raise a hand to her head and rub her eyes. Everything seemed…muddled. Trying to remember what brought her here, wherever here was, was difficult. It was like the last few hours had been purposefully dulled, like she’d gotten absolutely plastered and was too drunk to remember anything.

“Ugggghhhh,” was all she managed to say.

“Oh, she’s awake!” Jessica heard. The voice was familiar, and at the same time…not. She didn’t think she knew the person it belonged to personally, but maybe she’d run across them in passing? Which meant that she was somewhere familiar, didn’t it?

The sounds of footsteps walking away and a door opening and closing helped clear her mind. She was somewhere with doors…which wasn’t a place she should be. While her directly previous memories were still a blur, Jessica remembered something else.

The dungeon.

[Az-tiki].

And the world going to shit.

She tried sitting up again, harder this time.

She managed to raise her neck, which felt like she hadn’t used it in a century. Two things were immediately apparent. One: part of her soreness came from lying on a stone slab. Who the heck placed her on a rock? Couldn’t they at least put her in a bed? At least she’d be able to get better sleep that way, which she desperately needed, because she was exhausted.

And two: why was she covered in a single, thin sheet?

Naked???

Jessica didn't sleep in the buff. Especially since she just bought those fancy pajamas, she’d much rather sleep in silk clothes than al natural.

More and more questions were starting to form, but unfortunately, her brain wouldn’t latch onto any of them. Most bizarrely, Jessica found she didn’t really care. What was the point of thinking about it, anyway? She was tired and sore; her entire body ached, and there really didn’t seem to be any point. For anything. She let out a heavy sigh and considered shutting her eyes…maybe for good. The entire world just felt…dull. Empty. Muted.

“Oh, I see,” an even more familiar voice said. Jessica forced her eyes open.

“Matron?” She asked. Jessica wanted to gag; her throat was on fire and she sounded like a frog.

“Rest easy, child,” the kindly woman said, sitting next to her. “Can you tell me where you are?”

“Abbey?” Jessica asked weakly. Why was everything so difficult? Even just…living?

“Good!” The woman beamed. “That’s very good!”

“Whaddya mean?” Jessica warbled out. “Wuz wrong with me?”

“Ah,” the Matron said, her voice dipping low. “I don’t know if….”

“Tell me straight, doc,” Jessica said, trying her best to sound like her normal self.

“You are correct,” the Matron said, sidestepping the issue. “You are in Abbyton, at the Abbey. You, and the rest of your team, arrived several hours ago.”

“Really?” Jessica muttered. That didn’t add up. “We were in ‘lindala….”

“Yes,” the Matron said sadly. “Which is why you’re in the Respawn room. [Sunrise] had a party wipe.”

“We…died?” Jessica asked, her eyes finally opening fully. Honestly, that would explain why she felt like death. Sure enough, she glanced at her status and saw a damning debuff: Resurrection Sickness. Which gave her a massive penalty to all her stats…also explaining why she felt like a stiff breeze could knock her out.

“Indeed,” the Matron chuckled. “Though we were very surprised when you showed up here. U’lindala is a long way away. You should have respawned at the closest shrine or temple.”

“So…why…?”

“I have some theories on that,” a man’s voice said. Jessica’s eyes bulged and she forced herself upright.

…the sheet covering her chest slipped down.

While she didn’t care, she was just in time to see Al’s head whip up as he stared at the ceiling.

“You should rest,” the Matron chuckled, covering her up. Al peeked over, saw that he was safe, and took a seat.

“I’m glad you woke up,” he said.

Jessica took a look at him…and he looked about as bad as Jessica felt. Dark circles ringed his eyes, his hair was an absolute mess (which, honestly, was normal), and he wore a breathable, thin white tunic…usually reserved for patients after surgery.

“You…okay?” Jessica asked.

“Don’t worry about me,” Al said. “Braum came to visit. He helped me with some things. But overall…I think we were quite lucky. I think Celestara’s return helped smooth our resurrection. It’s why my memory of death is almost nonexistent…though, granted, it happened so fast, I might as well have not seen it at all.”

“Is that why everything’s fuzzy?” Jessica complained.

“Partially,” Al said. “The rest might be because you’re the last to wake up. Everyone’s been really worried about you. Especially-”

“JESSICA!!!” A high-pitched voice wailed. Jessica wanted to laugh. She stared at the door in anticipation, and she wasn’t left waiting.

The door flung open before she could see who the newcomer was…because, as expected, gnomes were too short to see from where she was lying.

“Jessica!!” Melia wailed again, followed by the rapid pattering of feet as she scurried across the stone floor. Jessica tracked the tiny footsteps (and an amusing dragging sound) and wasn't at all surprised to see a round, horned head pop up next to her as the munchkin clambered onto the slab.

“Jessica!” Melia kept wailing, turning into a blubbering mess. She gingerly waddled up to the [Hunter], inched her way into the crook of her arm…and latched onto her side. Within 30 seconds, the gnome-thing was asleep, sniffle-snoring as she passed out.

“Looks like I’m stuck here,” Jessica said helplessly. But she had to admit: whether Melia meant it or not, she was exactly what Jessica needed. Finding out what happened, and where to go from there, would come. But for now…it was time to rest.