Kael.
"So it's burnt potatoes again tonight," I said.
Rael kept walking.
"I'm just asking so I can emotionally prepare. Last time I bit into one and it was burnt on the outside and raw in the middle. That's not cooking. That's sabotage. That's a personal attack."
"Then cook."
"We've had this conversation."
"And it ends the same way."
"With me suffering."
"With you refusing."
"I am not refusing. I am strategically avoiding the communal kitchen, which is controlled by three territorial adventurers and one guy who sharpens knives while making eye contact. That is not a cooking environment. That is a battlefield."
Rael stopped.
Not slowed. Stopped. Mid-step. Eyes closed.
"…That's new," I said.
She didn't answer.
Then I felt it.
Ki.
A presence.
Close.
Attached.
Her hand snapped out. She grabbed something invisible and yanked.
Someone came flying out from behind a wall, boots scraping the stone. They landed already shifting stance. Rael's fist was already moving.
"WAIT—"
I jumped in.
At the exact same time someone else jumped in from the other side.
Rael's fist connected.
THUD.
The sky was very blue.
I woke up on a bed that was not my bed. My face hurt. The left side. The "I regret my life decisions" side. Someone on the next bed was already staring at me.
We stared.
"You jumped in," I said.
"Same time as you," he said.
"…We're idiots," I said.
"Yes."
"Kael."
"Kairo."
We didn't shake hands. Moving felt risky.
"How's your face."
"Still attached. Yours."
He shifted slightly. "…Complicated."
"Right."
"You do that often?" he asked. "Jump between people and incoming violence."
"More than I planned when I became an adventurer."
"Same."
"What's your ability."
He explained the construct sword. Stored force. Increasing weight. Releasing impact.
I blinked. "That sounds illegal."
"It's technically not."
"That's disappointing."
"You."
"Arc affinity. Critically low Vein depth. I compensate with timing, positioning, and poor life choices."
"Tactical fighter."
"That's the polite version."
The door opened. Rael walked in. Behind her were three others.
They stopped.
We looked at them.
"You're awake," Rael said.
"Barely."
"And talking."
"We bonded over shared stupidity."
"You were unconscious."
"I regret everything."
"I carried you."
"…Thank you."
Jane crossed her arms. Branik leaned against the wall like he had already accepted reality. Liora stepped forward and checked Kairo first, then me.
"You'll bruise," she said calmly.
"I already am."
"It will worsen."
"Encouraging."
She stepped back.
Kairo sat up slightly. "Iron Relay. I'm Kairo."
He gestured.
Jane lifted a hand lazily. "Jane. I don't usually introduce myself after getting punched, but here we are."
Branik nodded once. "Branik. I didn't hit anyone. I'd like that on record."
Liora gave a small polite smile. "Liora. I recommend not stepping into punches in the future."
"I will add that to my growing list of regrets," I said.
"Nobody's Party," I said. "Kael. Rael."
"In a very physical introduction," Kairo added.
Rael looked at him.
He didn't flinch.
Jane tilted her head. "Nobody's Party?"
"Two of our members are missing."
The room shifted.
"We've been following the same trail," Jane said. "Four months."
Rael crossed her arms. "By attaching a thread to me."
Jane shrugged. "It worked."
"You got punched."
"…It mostly worked."
"Come with me," I said.
We crowded into the girls' room. Branik took up half the available oxygen. Liora moved quietly to the side. Jane positioned herself where she could see everything. Rael leaned against the wall.
I crouched and pulled the papers from under Mira's bed. Laid them across the mattress.
Jane froze.
She picked up the sketch.
"…Celine."
Branik straightened slightly. "That name again."
"You know her?" I asked.
"I know of her," Jane said. "Fourteen years ago. A village wiped out. The Ravine Dogs."
Liora folded her arms. "I've heard that story."
"One survivor," Jane continued. "A little girl. Found standing over her sister."
Branik's voice was low. "Didn't cry, right."
Jane nodded.
"She just stood there," Liora added quietly.
The room went still.
I looked at the sketch. Silver hair. Blue eyes.
Then the alley.
Mira turning.
Blade already at my throat.
Eyes already decided.
I looked back at the drawing.
"…So it was Mira."
Rael's voice came quietly from the wall.
"…That explains her eyes."