Monroe

Chapter Two Hundred and Thirty-One. That's a big fuckin' hole.

"Bob!" Eddi's voice rang out across the tavern.

Turning, Bob spotted Eddi, Harv, and Elli sitting at a table with a man he didn't recognize. As he approached the table, Eddi hopped out of his seat and pulled another chair from the wall while the rest of the table shuffled a bit to make room.

"Good morning, everyone," Bob smiled at his friends, nodding his thanks to Eddi as he sat down, carefully sliding Monroe off his Makres and depositing him on the floor next to him.

"So this is the legendary Bob," the stranger smiled warmly at him. "Henry Schofield, a pleasure to meet you," the man delivered a half bow from his seat.

Bob took him in at a glance. Late seventies, early eighties maybe, but not gone to seed. Clear, bright eyes indicated that his mind was still sharp. "Henry," Bob nodded, "I'm guessing you're from Earth?"

"And here I thought I was blending in nicely," Henry's smile broadened. "What gave me away?"

"You're old," Bob replied bluntly. "Here on Thayland, thanks to increased Endurance, people don't start to suffer the rigors of age until they're nearing the end of the road, at which point they grind out the crystals to increase their level, and thus their endurance, extending their lifespan and staying or even turning back the clock, or they die trying."

Elli shook his head and laughed while Harv rubbed the bridge of his nose. Eddi nodded happily, while Henry shrugged. "I was thinking it would be something more deductive, like my clothing or the scent of my aftershave," Henry chuckled. "I always loved Sherlock Holmes."

"So Eddi, how is your leveling going?" Bob asked.

"Awesome," Eddi replied happily, "I miss my rexettes, but Rexy is still as powerful as ever, and Wayna and I are on our way back up. We've done some experimental Dungeon building already, and we're going to start working on dropping them underneath the Endless Towers soon."

Before Bob could reply, a young woman appeared at their table, handing out plates to everyone except Bob. "Sorry," she said brightly, "I didn't see any other orders for table eighteen." She pulled a cell phone out of her pocket and tapped the screen.

"I just joined them," Bob replied, "I'd like a big breakfast for myself and a bowl of raw diced ham for Monroe." He reached down and lifted the kitty of mass consumption, displaying Monroe's magnificence for her appreciation.

"Oh, my," she cooed as she reached out and ran a hand down Monroe's neck and back. "He's so soft," she murmured. "Of course, he can have a big bowl of ham," she said, "only the best for such a handsome kitty." She grinned at Bob, "I suppose it's only fair that I feed you at the same time," she tapped her phone again. "I'll be back in just a few," she advised him, giving Monroe a final ear rub before darting between the tables toward the kitchen.

"You appear to have weaponized your cat," Henry observed.

Bob shrugged. "Monroe's better with people than I am," he replied. Turning his attention to Eddi, he continued, "So, I'm heading back over to Earth to do some hiking and sightseeing today, I've always wanted to see the Grand Canyon, and I was wondering if you'd like to join me."

"Can I bring Wayna?" Eddi asked hopefully. "It's our day off too, and I know she'd like to go hiking."

"Sure," Bob replied. He'd accepted that Eddi and Wayna had become a package deal, sort of like a much younger, newer version of Dave and Amanda.

"It's truly magnificent," Henry added wistfully, "it's been a good twenty years since I took the grandkids to see it, but it never failed to make me feel humble."

"I'd ask to go along, but we have another batch of students to teach this morning," Henry nodded to Elli.

"What are you teaching them?" Bob asked curiously.

"Swordsmanship," Henry replied. "I have a dojo back in L.A. where I was taught and trained as I grew up, and now I teach there."

"I saw him at the Convention Center," Elli explained, "he was amazing, so I asked him to teach me. I saw how they taught their children, and I wanted to see about bringing something like that back to Thayland."

Bob nodded. He was aware of Elli's family's legacy and his passion for swordsmanship. "There are a lot of amazing swordsmen on Earth," he agreed, "although I think you'll need to adapt the techniques for fighting monsters rather than people. Is that why you went to L.A.?"

"No, we finished making our cancer cure, and we needed to test it, so we were over there waiting to confirm that it had worked," Harv explained. "We were staying in a hotel, but we had Carol-Ann guiding us around, and when Elli saw a billboard advertising the martial arts expo at the convention center, there was no stopping him from going."

"Like you weren't interested in the people demonstrating their spear styles and techniques," Elli elbowed Harv in the ribs.

"Well, yes, but from a purely practical perspective," Harv defended himself.

"Back up a second," Bob interrupted them before they could really start bickering. "Testing a cancer cure?"

"Yes," Harv nodded happily. "We've heard from everyone how awful cancer is and how many people suffer from it, and Carol-Ann had the thought that maybe Alchemy could be used to cure it," he explained. "Regeneration rituals aren't cheap, especially for people who are effectively bedridden. It took a couple of months, and I had to create a brand new Necromancy spell, but we did it," he finished proudly.

"That's amazing," Bob murmured.

"Right?" Eddi broke in excitedly. "Harv can make a hundred doses at once, so it only takes one mana crystal per dose! The Endless have donated a hundred thousand mana crystals to help cure cancer," he finished proudly. "It would have been more," he added, "but we'd already donated three million to the Old Guard for their rescue operation."

Bob leaned back in his chair. He didn't have any experience with cancer on a personal level. He had probably known people who had later been diagnosed with and died from cancer, but up until he'd come to Thayland, his only friend had been Monroe. That being said, he was well aware of the visceral hatred the world held towards the disease.

"I'm still working through those," Harv was reassuring Eddi. "I've made and distributed eleven hundred doses, but I'm just one Alchemist. We have a bunch of the folks we cured who were terminal delving now, determined to become Alchemists as well, and once they've leveled up a bit, we'll be able to really ramp up production," Harv's smile was brilliant. "As an added bonus, I'll be teaching a lot of people Necromancy, which will mean a lot of Necromancers, all of us working to help people, which should hopefully remove some of the unfair stigma attached to those who practice the art."

"That's just..." Bob shook his head and smiled at his friend. "You're a hero, Harv. People are going to build statues of you."

"Well, I don't know about all that," Harv demurred, "although apparently there is someone named Pfizer who wants to talk to me." He shook his head. "I guess he reached out to Carol-Ann, and he's interested in 'patents,' manufacturing, and distribution," Harv finished.

"Pfizer is a pharmaceutical company," Bob explained, "they make medicine and deliver it around the world in massive quantities, like, millions of doses. I don't know very much about it," he admitted, "it's not my area of expertise, but if you wanted to get a lot of medicine to a lot of sick people, they'd know how."

"I'll talk to Carol-Ann about it," Harv agreed, "she knows all about the health care system on Earth."

"Still, founding a martial arts school, curing cancer, you two have been busy," Bob shook his head. "That's what I get for being a hermit, I guess, the world just keeps on spinning."

"It has been a while," Elli agreed. "We should make it a point to do this once a week, meet up for breakfast, and stay current with each other."

"That," Bob replied, "is a great idea."

"Stars and stones," Eddi breathed as he looked over the edge. "That's a big fuckin' hole."

Bob couldn't hold back a snort of laughter. "You're not wrong," he said to Eddi.

Wayna was standing next to him, and her reaction was more along the lines of what Bob himself was experiencing. The Grand Canyon lived up to its name. It wasn't just an incredible sight, it was an incredible experience.

It had been a bit of a drive to get here, nearly eight hours, and they'd arrived late in the afternoon. Along the way, Wayna had gotten her first taste of Earth, which Eddi had insisted be a Big Mac with fries and a chocolate shake. She'd enjoyed the shake and the fries, although the burger hadn't been to her tastes.

She'd insisted they drive with the windows down, basking in the heat rising off the desert.

Bob sat down on the stone ledge that jutted out over the canyon, soaking in the raw natural beauty spread out before him. Two years ago, he would have never made seeing the Grand Canyon enough of a priority to come. He could have scraped together the money for a round trip bus ticket, he just hadn't done so.

He sighed and leaned back on his hands. He'd made a lot of mistakes and wasted a lot of time in his old life. He needed to be careful that he didn't do so again. Looking around, Bob saw another group of tourists walking down the path they'd been on before heading off the trail to the ledge for a better view. They were moving away from them, so Bob took the opportunity to pull Monroe out of his inventory, equipping his Makres and then clipping a retractable leash to it.

Monroe looked at the leash, then looked up at Bob, his expression one of shocked betrayal. "I'm sorry, buddy," Bob said consolingly, "but they have leash laws, and moreover, I'm afraid that anyone who saw you might mistake you for a bobcat and try to hurt you," he explained.

A twitching tail was the only response he received, as Monroe turned around twice, sniffing the air slowly, before settling down on the sunbaked ledge. 'Warm, light, sleep' were the emotions projecting from the big cat, so Bob felt that his trespass against Monroe's dignity by leashing him was likely forgiven. Or so he hoped.

"Just imagine exploring this on foot and horseback," Bob murmured. "No magic, no skills."

"It's amazing what your people have done," Wayna agreed.

"Should we keep walking around?" Eddi asked.

"I think is a pretty good spot," Bob said, "we've about as far east as we can be, so the sunset ought to be amazing from this spot, and I've read that the sunset over the Grand Canyon is incredible."

"I'd kind of like to go down into it," Wayna confessed. "The change from dry stoney ground to lush green trees is pretty drastic."

"They have guided tours, but I think it's too late to join one," Bob replied. "Although," he looked around again, "if you have the mana for a persistent effect, you could probably change into your hawk forms and take an ariel tour."

Wayna grinned and nodded excitedly. "I've got enough mana for that, easy," she looked at Eddi. "You want to?" She asked.

"Stones, of course, I do!" Eddi followed his words with action, his form twisting and shrinking as he shifted into a rather large hawk. Wayna was hot on his heels, and a second later, Bob was sitting on the ledge with a massive Maine-Coon and a pair of economy-size hawks.

With a screech, Wayna and Eddi launched themselves into the air, where they quickly gained altitude, riding the warm currents of air that rose from the canyon.

While Bob was somewhat tempted to join them, the truth was that he'd relied on his flight spell, not shapeshifting. He wasn't about to try flying as a bird for the first time over the grand canyon.

The road trip with the pair had been fun. Ending the day by relaxing and watching the sunset with Monroe was a great finisher.

Mike was not all satisfied with Annisa's answer. "'Magic' does not explain how the huge, fuck off, ring of fire above us is warming up the people but not anything else," he fumed.

Annisa laughed, the sound like the peal of a dozen tiny silver bells. "I told you," she murmured, "the King used a conjunction effect of fire and animancy, targeting only living beings with the heat of his breath weapon." She shrugged, the motion causing all sorts of interesting little ripples in her blouse, which Mike stubbornly ignored. "He's rather famous for it," she explained, "when he's fighting off a monster tide, despite the intensity of his fire, he leaves the environment unharmed."

Mike shook his head. The ring of fire above them had brought immediate relief to the men who weren't accustomed to the bitter cold that came with staying on the glacial shelf. Mike would even admit, to himself, that he'd had gotten the best night's sleep he'd had in a while.

"It's just not natural," he grumbled, "moreover, it's weird."

Annisa shook her head, her hair dancing lightly across her shoulders, her slender neck exposed, begging him to...

Mike tore his eyes away. Annisa didn't have her come hither whammy going, but it was still damned hard to be around the woman and not have a few inappropriate thoughts. "So," Mike decided to change the subject, "how are the regeneration rituals coming along?"

"Quite well," Annisa replied with a wicked smile. He knew that she knew that he was changing the subject while giving himself a reason to look at his tablet rather than at her. "I'll confess that I would love to know how Bob manages to cast them for hours on end, but even without him, we have enough people to keep a steady pace. We'll be out of crystals by the end of tomorrow, though."

Mike shook his head. The Church had supplemented the twenty-five Endless volunteers with seventy-five of their own. They'd been working tirelessly in shifts for the past four days and combined with not having to hold back any taxes, they expected to have regenerated almost three hundred and fifty thousand people, well over ten percent of those who were still waiting. "The King really came through for us," he muttered.

"Of course he did," Annisa chided. "He has dedicated his life to Vi'Radia. While I understand that you aren't used to the idea of beings other than humans, and I admit his Majesty's true form can be rather intimidating, he has never had anything but the best interest of his people at heart. And while you are his guests in Greenwold, he will treat you like he would his own."

Mike grimaced again. He sort of did have certain preconceived notions when it came to Dragons. It didn't help that the King fed into some but not into others.

"You should be honored that he's diverted to many resources to aid you," Annisa continued, sliding her arm under his.

Mike blinked. When had she gotten around to his side?

"He must see the same potential that I do," she said quietly as she raised her hand and traced a finger along his jawline.

Mike carefully disengaged his arm and moved around the table, putting distance between them as he desperately tried to purge the sensation of her touch and the scent of her shampoo. "I need to see the greenhouses," he said, hating the awkwardness in his voice as he fled the tent with as much dignity as he could muster.

Annisa's gentle laugh trailed behind him.