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    t didn''t take long to fill in the others, and once I was done  catching them up we all sat in silence as they digested everything.  Benny was the first to say anything. "Why." He groaned. "Does everything  we do end up going wrong in the most catastrophic possible fashion."


    Callen  chuckled. "Those who carry the blood of gods tend to have even more  interesting lives than most. But your fate sense would guide you toward  dramatic action in any case."


    "I knew this was Shane''s  fault somehow." He said with a sigh. "Whatever, we have to find the  others. Celine and I got separated in the fight, and I haven''t seen Nat  in a while. If there are traitors out there we need to warn them.  Another one of those message delivery wishes should do it. How many  wishes do you have left today? Actually can you even grant wishes in  here?"


    I nodded. "I can now. Once we got here I got access  again. Well...after I woke up anyway. We only used one so far. Callie  wished for a compass to find Jessie. Speaking of which, whatever you  wish for, I hope she can be the one to do it, because I desperately need  a top up on heal bursts." While I couldn''t tell people WHAT to wish for  without possibly compromising the fairness of the wish, I could make  requests for how I wanted to be paid, and heals were top of my list.


    My  blonde friend sighed. "Yeah, it''s been a while. Sorry I didn''t even  think about it. You spent months working with Benny and we never had a  chance to replenish your supply."


    "That''s not on you." I  said firmly. "I should have considered that I was running low before we  came in here.  Anyway, who are we looking for next?" I didn''t make any  suggestions, not wanting to ruin the wish, but Jessie was smart enough  to come to the same conclusion I had.


    "I wish I had a  compass to lead me to where Celine was." She smiled at Benny. "You''ve  been trying way too hard not to talk about her. You normally don''t shut  up about the girl when she''s not around. I know you must be crazy  worried. I''ll pay with ten charges of heal bursts."


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    I  exhaled in relief, allowing the familiar electricity to build on my  skin as I confirmed the wish. There was the usual sensation of  compounding power, then an explosion of purple lightning as another  compass manifested, this one greenish gold with leaves all over it. I  dropped it in Jessie''s hand, feeling the power feedback from where the  electricity touched her, refilling my stockpile of heals.


    With  that done, I was feeling a lot more secure. I''d also refilled from my  reserves of triple strength density shifts when I saw Benny, and while I  had none leftover, my stockpile had grown to nine. Jessie tossed the  compass to my friend, who looked absolutely overjoyed to have a lead on  his lady love. I smiled, putting a hand on his shoulder. "Hey, don''t  worry about Celine. This is the forest, she''s probably in a way better  position than any of us."


    He laughed at that. "True. This  is her home turf. She''d been improving just like the rest of us too. She  doesn''t advertise, but she''s been working hard. Training, wishes from  Nat. In here she managed break both shackles." He paused. "I mean, we  all did, actually. Those steps were no fucking joke. But she had a lot  to deal with. I think hers were weighing her down more than most."


    Walking  over, I gestured for him to follow. We left the others to prepare to  break camp while he and I sat down. I didn''t need to talk. He had  something to get off his chest, and I knew Benny well enough to know  that sometimes I needed to shut up and listen.


    "What she  did to me." He finally said. "To all of us. I forgave her, eventually.  Rather than lose her, which would have been worse. But she never forgave  herself. As she got closer to me, to Callie and Jessie. The guilt got  worse. She was having trouble sleeping. Wasn''t eating. It was killing  her. I think that''s what the whole training thing on the ship was about  for me more than anything. I couldn''t stand seeing her hurting but I  couldn''t help."


    I blinked at him in shock. "But I didn''t even..."


    "Notice?"  He laughed. "News flash Shane, you''re not exactly Mr. Sensitivity. You  do ok with Callie, because you''re basically plugged into her brain, but I  wouldn''t call you an overly empathetic person in general." His hands  went up as I opened my mouth to respond. "That''s not a dig, man. It''s  just a fact. Your life is nuts, and you get wrapped up in your own  stuff. Plus she didn''t want you guys to know. She''s trained to conceal  that kind of shit too, so that made it harder to tell."


    I  let out a breath. "Damn. But the trials helped? She''s...better? She got  past it?" I''d been so focused on my own emotional journey and Callie''s  I''d completely ignored my other friends. What they must have gone  through.Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.


    "She''s getting there." He chuckled. "She came to  terms with some things about herself in the maze, and on the steps, that  knocked her for a loop. I wasn''t there to see the aftermath for too  long before we got separated. But I do think this was good for her. I  won''t tell you what her shackles were. Nobody deserves to have info like  that spilled behind their back, maybe someday she''ll tell you herself."


    Noticing  the tone of his voice, I raised an eyebrow. "And what about yours? You  gonna tell me what they were? What you needed to free yourself from?" My  voice was gentle, trying to make it clear through tone alone that I  wouldn''t push.


    "I...I kind of got swept up in all this."  He admitted. "Back when it started, it was exciting. An adventure. But  as we went along I started to get left behind. I wasn''t your best friend  anymore, I was just a tagalong. I wasn''t even your sidekick, because  you spent all your time with Callie." His eyes widened, as if he''d said  something he hadn''t meant to. "Not that I don''t like Callie. But for a  long time it was just you and me."


    I blinked at him in  surprise. "I didn''t know it bothered you." I said slowly. "You seemed  fine. You had Celine, and you and Jessie are close and-"


    "And  they''re not my best friend." He said bluntly. He laughed bitterly. "But  how selfish is that? With all this crazy shit happening, how much of an  asshole would I be to throw a fit because we don''t hang out as much  anymore. I think that''s part of why I jumped into things with Celine so  quick. Not that I don''t love her. I do. I just...I wanted what you had, I  wanted someone to share things with."


    I swallowed hard.  He was right. I''d been totally ignoring him, so caught up in all the  nonsense and craziness. "I didn''t mean to." I said quietly. "You''re  still my best friend, you know that."


    "I do." He said.  "But I needed to get there on my own. My mind shackle was thinking I  wasn''t good enough to keep up, and my heart shackle was understanding  that just because we''re not always together now doesn''t mean we aren''t  still close. Honestly I''m glad you didn''t notice. Obliviousness or no, I  needed to face this myself to get past it. Same with Celine. I can tell  you want to blame yourself for missing it, but don''t."


    "How  the hell can I not?" I snapped, suddenly irrationally angry. Not at  him, but at me. I didn''t let it control me though. I''d felt worse on the  stairs. This was just a quick spike of temper. My voice smoothed out.  "I''m the leader." I said more reasonably. "I''m supposed to take care of  you guys."


    He laughed at that. "In battle maybe." He said  sadly. "But you can''t solve all our problems for us Shane. Not even with  your powers. Wishes can''t fix everything. And they shouldn''t. Pain  makes people stronger. Problems define us. I''m not upset you didn''t  notice how unhappy I was, because I didn''t WANT you to notice. And  despite you knowing me better than anyone I know you too. I know how to  hide my issues from you better than anybody else. That''s the downside to  about a decade of friendship."


    That wasn''t what I wanted  to hear. It was fair, and he wasn''t wrong, but I hated it. Did I just  have to give up on helping my friends. On fixing things for them? Was my  power even worth anything if it couldn''t do that?


    "Oh  don''t throw a pity party." He snorted in annoyance. "I recognize that  brooding silence. Your powers help with the big things. I''m not saying  you can''t do anything for us. Look at Jessie. After she lost her brother  she was...devastated. She put on a brave face, but I don''t know if  she''d have ever recovered. You gave her the most important gift in the  world. You gave her hope. Hope she can see him again, hope she can fix  things and be happy again."


    I shrugged. "Anyone would have  done that. Hell, any candidate could have made her the same promise,  and probably followed through faster."


    "But they didn''t."  He retorted. "Why would they? She was nobody. Still is in the grand  scheme of things. Sure she''s useful at our level, but do you think the  Wishmaster gives a shit about some F-ranker? Do you think your dad does?  Not a chance. But you do. You care. You''re a fucking walking miracle to  her. That girl hero worships you. Why do you think she tries so hard to  keep everyone happy and functional. To try to take pressure off you."


    My  eyes widened as I stared at him in shock. "She...she does? I mean I  knew she always plays peacemaker, but I figured she just didn''t like  conflict. She did that when Callie was in charge too."


    He  rolled his eyes. "Because you adore that girl. The slightest smile from  Callie brightens your whole day, and anyone with two working eyes knows  it at a glance. Don''t get me wrong, Jessie loves her like a sister, but a  lot of what she does to keep up all sane and happy she does out of  gratitude. Because she doesn''t think she can ever repay you for what  you''re doing for her. Not that she''d ever tell you. She doesn''t want to  put any pressure on you."


    I glanced at Jessie where she  was laughing and chatting with Callie as they packed up the tent that I  could only assume had been in one of their spatial rings. I wondered  what her shackles had been. She and Benny had both hit green (twenty  five and twenty percent respectively), so she must have broken them.


    But  hearing how much she worried about me, and how much she was keeping to  herself, I decided not to ask her. If she wanted to share she would, but  I wouldn''t push. I was happy she''d gotten past them. All of the things  I''d learned churned in my head, and I felt...helpless. Which I knew was  Benny''s point when he told me not to be so self pitying. I sighed,  looking to my friend. "Fine. I''ll let you deal with your own problems.  But you have to ask me if you need help. Promise me."


    He  smiled at me then, a beaming grin that showed me just how much he was  worrying over me. "Promise." He clapped me on the shoulder, standing up  and then offering me his hand. "If it means anything though...I''m happy.  Getting past my problems was a big step for me and now...now I can just  enjoy this awesome life. It''s not perfect, but it''s pretty fucking  amazing." I laughed as I let him pull me to my feet. He wasn''t wrong  about that.