18-Coping

Max woke to find himself in the same bed they left him in before.  This time, he wasn't alone, Lora was above him, examining his arm, and talking casually to others in the room.  Realizing he was awake, she stepped back from the bed.  Sitting up and examining the wound, Max found it had already closed up again, probably some sort of magic. He glanced around the room to find Riku and one of the maids observing Lora's work.
"How long have I been out?" Max yawned loudly.
"About three hours," Riku pulled himself up off the wall he was leaning against.
Relieved to no longer have people out to kill him, Max noticed that he wasn't wearing a shirt, but his own wasn't to be found.  His sudden self-cautiousness aside, he looked up at Lora, "So, how did you get here?"
"Even took me hostage," Lora glared off into nothing, "He was trying to trade me off for you."
"And Des declined?" Max fished.
Riku spoke first, "She did, but by that time we were already fighting."
"And Even?"
"Dead," Riku smiled, "But you saw that."
"I just wanted to make sure," Max let out a lengthy sigh and retrained his eye to Lora, who wasn't exactly paying too much attention.  There was a look in her eyes that read of pure dread, and she looked like she was completely drained of energy.
"Where's Duke?" Max spouted out.
"He's," Lora's face crinkled as she skirmished for the chair behind her, "dead, I guess."
"Oh," Max didn't expect that, but having just met the guy, and not really liking him all that much, he really didn't feel the full gravity of the situation.  He wanted to comfort her, but wasn't quite sure he could do so.  But he tried anyway, "What happened?"
"Even was looking for you, and he found us," Lora shot him a dreadful glare.
Missing the point of her blaming him for Duke's death, Max let the room fall into an awkward silence, followed by an even more awkward him dressing in a tunic they were gifting to him.  Shortly thereafter, they returned to Desholt, who was waiting to speak with the three of them, that is minus the maid.
Along with them was a woman with blue skin, and short green hair, but otherwise rather attractive to the general public.  It was a short while before everyone had found their seats, but after a shuffle and realizing they were one short, so Riku remained standing and out of the way.
"Introductions are in order then," Desholt smiled.
The blue lady reached a hand out for whoever would take it, "I'm Eisha Trisham, Goddess of Water."
Max shook her hand, "Macillious Threego, Wind."
Lora remained silent.
"I hear I was a little bit late arriving," Eisha leaned back in her chair and tried to get comfortable.
Desholt stared off at the wall between her guests, "We had our best man on it."
Riku afforded a smile.
"So, I guess this business with the evil priest is over with," Max scratched the back of his head, "What now?"
"I was coming to make an offer," Eisha sighed, "That is, if your business with the Lord of Darkness has come to an end."
Desholt's face dropped to a sudden distaste and back to a neutral smile in the span of a second, "No, I believe I'm done with him.  He did help take out a major competitor."
"Is that what you wanted me for?" Eisha rolled her shoulders.
"We will handle your debt another day."
"Right," Eisha returned her focus to Max, "Me and Tal have been looking for you for a long time, and we've been making plans for you."
Max grinned nervously, "That doesn't sound-"
"No, it doesn't, does it?"  Eisha tried to rephrase it, "We wanted to help get you get to terms with your powers and responsibilities.  Preferably before your identity became public."
"That doesn't sound too much better."
Eisha rolled her eyes, "We want to sponsor you a good school, help you train, protect you while you're coming to power, and generally make you're life less difficult while you're still a child."
"Actually," Max laughed without a reason anyone could find, "That sounds great, thank you."
Eisha leaned forward to address Lora, "This offer extends to you as well."
"I'll pass," she responded immediately.
"Are you sure?"
"Yes," Lora shook her head, "But if you're headed off world, I'm in terrible need to get out of here."
"I can do that," Eisha leaned back, a little disappointed.
Desholt waited a moment, then certain the discussion was over, she dismissed everyone but Riku, who she needed to talk to privately.  On the way to the front room, Max decided that he was going to approach Lora about her depression.
"Are you alright?", obviously a stupid question, it was what Max blurted out anyways.
Lora exhaled heavily, "I'll be fine, I think."
"He was a great guy," Max stumbled, "I mean he seemed like one."
Lora paused, "Who?"
"Duke," Max considered for a moment, "That's why you're down, right?"
"Him too," she shook her head, "My father died yesterday."
Max pried a little further, "How did that happen?"
"I don't know.  We shared an aura, and his presence ended."
Max was suddenly reminded of his own father and silenced.  He mulled over old memories and trying to focus on how his father looked exactly, dreading the idea that he might be forgetting already.  Then he considered all that Father Even had put him through and how many times he nearly died, wondered where Aportir was and if she was being targeted by villains as dastardly, and questioned if he'd ever see Tyler again.
In the end, his adventure wasn't anything like the computer games he would play.  Things hurt and girls didn't swoon over him, but at least he had magical powers.  In the end, isn't that all that matters?