"I'm sorry, can you repeat that part again?"

"You heard me, Cade," Hallez said, looking out the window nervously. She supposed she should be thanking Mercury for opening the Transit up for them again. She doubted they could've found it by accident—the timing was too convenient. "We rescued Mercury, who opened up the Transit. That brought us to the sewers, where we found Nowad, then I phased us up to meet Medusa and Arvyn after encountering those bats."

She didn't want to repeat the part about Travis. She hadn't even been able to spare a glance long enough to make out the details of his statue without feeling a rising sense of regret. Hallez couldn't help but think that if it were possible, if she had been a little more daring, and a little more reckless...

She would've gotten a good scolding from both siblings, but at least both siblings would be there to give it.

Cade stuck close to her as the three of them slowly walked through the endless hallways, the ground below them zipping by as if they were going the speed of an airplane. He was quiet, she had noticed. Not as quiet as her normally, but as quiet as Hallez on a particularly chatty day, which was saying something.

She was, undoubtedly, worried. She had to stop herself several times from just grabbing Cade's shoulders and shaking him, just to make sure he was there, real, alive, and not dead.

Nowad, on Cade's head, nestled in his hair and seemingly asleep, was occasionally making little noises that...could be counted as a snore for drones, perhaps. It was so oddly, unfairly cute when it wasn't insulting someone with its sass, even in this dire mood.

There was something off about the whole ordeal, something that didn't seem to add up. It had been at the top of her head earlier, but now, she couldn't pinpoint it. She couldn't figure out why there was this constant unsettling feeling.

She shook it off.

Cade is here, alive, Hallez reminded herself.

And at what cost?

Fiona walked in front of them, which was not what Hallez would've liked. She had strapped Travis' statue to her back, and was somehow carrying his entire weight without much effort nor complaint. Hallez didn't want to stare at his face—his frozen, terrible face in his last moments—so she resorted to keeping her eyes low to the ground.

Fiona had also stayed quiet. Before, she had been a lively individual, quite on par with Cade, but now, she was silent. Since they'd entered the Transit, and began walking back, she hadn't spoken a word. Hallez supposed it was the aftermath dread of the situation catching up to her. Now that they were out of danger, there were gaps in conversations, moments of silence and stillness, where one could properly think and overthink. And Hallez knew that, like herself, Fiona was thinking of what exactly transpired back in that hall.

And in the silence, no one could pull themselves away from their own thoughts.

They also had to break the news. Go back and tell Lavi and the rest of the legion. Tell everyone that they had won, yet at the price of a life.

The very thought made her gut—which she thought she'd thought she'd left behind somewhere—twist into knots.

Cade finally exhaled. "That's... a lot."

No doubt. She'd just told him everything that happened in the last five days. She still couldn't believe it had only been five days. It felt like months.

And...

"I overheard something," Hallez murmured, but in the corridor, it sounded like a shout. "You're a grandson of Bellona...?"

He scrunched up his nose. "Who?"

"She's a goddess... Never mind. We'll figure it out eventually. We just need to go back to the warehouse, and then take the Fluvius back to the Castra."

"We'll have to deal with Mercury first," Fiona said quietly from up ahead.

Hallez had a sudden idea. "Do you think he'll...heal Travis? Unpetrify him?"

Fiona stopped walking suddenly. She turned to the two of them, wary hope in her eyes. "Do you think so? Really? Are you sure?"

She suddenly regretted telling her the idea. It was a mistake to give her something to expect, to give her something to hold on to, only for Mercury, the god himself, to potentially dash her hopes and throw it on the ground. Hallez knew the chances that he would actually agree were small to zero. He was a god, after all. He may have shown unprecedented kindness, and did them a few favours, but he was a deity, with powers beyond most human's imaginations, and absolutely no morals, if all the stories in the myths were true. Plus, he also expected Hallez to repay him somehow.

"I...wouldn't get your hopes up," Hallez suggested.

She looked through the window again. They were above land again, even though a moment ago, it was a field of dark, open ocean. Clusters of lights from the cities and towns lit up the continent, and seeing it, she was transfixed. The lights blotted out most stars, but some still shone in the sky. The moon shining bright like a spotlight.

"Wow..." Fiona, who had also glanced outside, seemed to forget all about their troubles. She touched the glass gently, and leaned up close, peering down.

Cade didn't seem as mesmerized as the girls. He looked down with something like caution in his eyes, staying a good few inches away from the windowsill. Hallez looked at him with concern.

She needed to ask about this odd behavior of his. "Cade—"

Then, she spotted stairs where the corridor abruptly ended. It was not there before, but evidently, it was the way out. She stared, and suddenly remembered what was beyond it, what going down those stairs meant.

Hallez suddenly wanted to stay in the Transit forever.

Stepping out would mean the end. But stepping out would also mean they were done with the quest. Done, completed, finished. There were no more, no more chances, no more dangers, no more mysteries.

Sometimes, wrapping everything up was more difficult than one would think.

Tapping on both Fiona and Cade's shoulders, she gestured to the descending stairs. "Let's go."

It felt final. It felt like the end of a film, or a story, where the credits would roll, or a large, bold, the end would be. The descent caused her heart to beat in her chest like she was in zero-G, except the cause was completely different.

The stairs grew darker gradually until all light faded.

She only knew Fiona and Cade were beside her based on their breathing, and the faint energy she could feel. She supposed this was something like a sixth sense, courtesy of being a daughter of Letum. Her connection with her powers had grown over the last few days. She was able to feel the life force of others, albeit faintly. There was Fiona's energy, and also something close to her, just behind her, even fainter, like embers compared to a flame.

That was strange, but Hallez's attention was pulled away by something else.

Cade had no life force. She couldn't feel anything.

No, wait, there was energy from Cade. It was just...faint, and seemed to stretch in another direction, a thread connecting him to something far away. Something wasn't right about that. Shouldn't his life force be with him—?

Then light flooded her retinas, and the feeling was lost. Flinching, Hallez lifted her arm and shielded her eyes, hearing the shocked groans from Fiona and Cade next to her.

The brief feeling of wrongness was washed away as her eyes adjusted to the white artificial lights above. There was also a shriek of excitement, piercing the air, and footsteps of someone running towards them.

Blinking excessively, Hallez opened her eyes, and saw that they were back in the warehouse. The lights were on, shining down at them where they were between two large metal shelves. She glanced over her shoulder, and like before, the Transit had disappeared without a trace.

"Oh gods!"

Hallez turned, and saw Lavi, her hair in a braid for some reason, and she'd changed into clean clothes at some point during their absence. She was running towards them with a pack of what seemed to be first-aid supplies in her hands.

"Goodness— Sit down, you two! You're both bleeding and—"

She skidded to a stop a few feet away, her eyes widening. The first-aid pack dropped to the floor with a loud clatter.

Hallez had forgotten she was injured. The blood flow had slowed to a trickle, where Medusa had scratched her arm. There were cuts on her cheek and on the side of her abdomen she did not remember getting. The bullet wound still throbbed, but she was partially used to the pain by that point.

Cade, meanwhile, looked fine, but he still seemed mentally shaken, his skin covered with dirt and grime, his hands shaky.

Fiona's injury was more severe. Medusa had caught her by the shoulder and sides, her claws having sliced a path down, her clothes torn and bloodied. She also had cuts and smaller injuries, and she was hunched over with the weight of the statue on her back.

The statue that Lavi was staring at.

Hallez felt her heart drop.

Now she knew. That feeling she'd had when she pushed Lavi and Travis together in a hug—it was the feeling of knowing Travis would...become like this.

Fiona, as if finally letting the exhaustion and weight of carrying her dead brother take over after pushing it back for so long, lowered herself to one knee, putting down the statue of Travis. When she unstrapped herself from him, it was obvious she was shaking from head to toe, and not entirely from the exertion.

Lavi stepped forward slowly, staring into Travis' frozen eyes. She put a hand on his outstretched arm, and stopped, frozen in place like a statue herself.

Hallez tore her eyes away as she heard Lavi fall down to the ground, next to Fiona. Sobs echoed in the warehouse, and she had to push down her own tears threatening to spill over.

As she turned away, she spotted Cade standing on the side, awkwardly, trying to shuffle away without disturbing the two girls. She couldn't blame him. They were both out of place in such an emotional scene—Hallez because she didn't like showing her emotions, and Cade because he didn't know Travis at all—so she grabbed his arm, and gently pulled him away.

"Let's go get Mercury," she whispered, though she doubted the two girls could hear her even if she shouted in their state of mind. "It's...a slim chance, but it's a chance nonetheless."

Cade nodded, albeit uncertainly. He shot a glance over his shoulder one more time, before turning back and awkward-power-walking alongside Hallez, towards where she remembered Mercury was. She could tell he was still in the warehouse, if the energy and life force radiating from somewhere deep in the building was any indication. It felt much stronger than before—Lavi must've done a good job healing him.

Passing by an aisle, Hallez spotted something normally wouldn't be spotted in an abandoned warehouse. Not that a group of injured teenagers with parental problems were something normally spotted in an abandoned warehouse, but that was besides the point.

She stopped, and Cade nearly crashed into her. Hurrying into the aisle, she grabbed the saddle that the horse that helped them escape from CEIRA had worn. He must've decided to finally embrace his freedom, and left.

She didn't really know what to feel about that. There were many things she didn't know what to feel about, and most of them were things she didn't particularly wanted to feel anything about just yet. She wasn't ready.

Cade looked like he wanted to ask, but decided it was smarter not to. Instead, when Hallez tucked the saddle under her arm and kept walking—with a bit of difficulty—he followed.

"Ah, Hallez Kane."

Hallez nearly forgot what purpose she had in that particular aisle. She jumped when Mercury suddenly appeared next to her. When did he stand up? How did he get so close?

The god let off a wave of radiant energy that seemed to attempt to blind her newly-found sixth sense. He was actually standing several feet away, but his presence was everywhere, and it seemed like he was right in front of her.

"Mercury," Hallez blurted. Should she use formalities? Titles? Actually, screw that, why should she? Though if she wanted his help...

No, it wasn't worth actually calling him Lord Mercury. Even if she didn't hate the gods anymore, she had no desire to be formal.

"Yes, that is indeed my name." He grinned enthusiastically. "Well, judging by the presence of the divine Ancile over there, and this gentleman—the hostage, I take it—standing in front of us, you have returned successful?"

Hallez wasn't going to correct him. Though, if she wanted him to heal Travis, she supposed it could count as correcting. But now that she was standing before the god himself, she was second guessing herself. And would Mercury even consider her request seriously? He was a god, after all. The lives of mortal demigods didn't concern him. And the more favors she asked for, the more she owed him. The Transit was to pay back for her saving his life, and the additional information he told her was a favor. This was the second favor already.

But if there was even the slightest chance that Travis could be brought back, she had to take it.

Mercury was patiently waiting, a smile still gracing his lips, an unnaturally bright expression on his face, which unsettled Hallez. He had his hands in his pockets, and stood casually, as if he wasn't just in critical condition just a few hours ago.

"Mercury," Hallez began, pausing, then forcing herself to continue, "could you...do me a favour and bring Travis back from his—?"

He cut her off before her question could get too hopeful, his cheery expression fading slightly. "I can't. I may be a god, but I'm merely the god of travels. And no, Apollo can't either."

Hallez frowned. Even Cade looked a little perplexed. "Why not?"

It had been on her mind when she mentioned Mercury. Apollo was the patron god of the Fifteen Legion, and the god of healing. If anyone could, it would've been him, right?

The god of travels and thieves sighed. "My brother may be some kind of doctor, and his son Aesculapius did bring people back from the dead, but with petrifaction it's...different. I could be considered a minor god of medicine myself, so I know a thing or two—"

He cut himself off, and suddenly looked off to the side. He frowned. Hallez wasn't good with reading others, but she had a feeling he was having telepathic arguments with another god. If the fact that Mercury seemed to glare with what seemed to be literal fire in his eyes was anything to go off of, he had lost that debate.

"Although...that information is going to have to cost you a significant amount more than the information I gave you a few hours ago." He looked back, and was suddenly grinning again. "It's no worries though! Travis lived a fulfilling life; his end was fated to come sooner or later, and who knows, maybe this is mercy, not a tragedy! Now, I believe I've stayed for too long—I'm healed good and proper now, so I believe I will be heading back. Good bye!"

He seemed less cheerful and more panicked now, for reasons Hallez could not fathom. Before she could get another word out, he snapped his fingers hurriedly, and abruptly disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Hallez stared at the empty space where the god had been just moments before, clutching the saddle, her knuckles turning white. It had...been a while since she'd felt such the unexplainable twisting sensation of grief in her gut. She was out of practice. She'd spent the last few days around people she could trust, and considered her friends, that she'd forgotten what it felt like to have life completely throw a curveball, and smack you in the face when you least expected it to.

She'd forgotten how unfair life was, which was perhaps a little ironic.

If you don't show what you want, they will give you what you want.

She had squeezed her eyes shut. She'd gotten her hopes up without realizing it. She'd let her guard down, and she was paying the price for it.

Cade wrapped his arms around her.

She should've listened to her own philosophies a little more. Maybe then, she could've saved Travis.

†††

There wasn't much fanfare going back to the Castra. Entering the base of Legio Fifteenth Apollinaris, however, was another matter.

Hallez had been informed by Lavi later that morning, while she was healing her, when the sun had risen above the horizon, returning to the sky, that the consuls and praetors would know they were coming, and that they had succeeded, thanks to some kind of technology that detected magic within a certain radius. The divine Ancile was full of magic, so they would've already known about it as soon as they had exited the Transit, and emerged into the warehouse.

Naturally, there was a welcoming committee, and Hallez couldn't hide her surprise when the entirety of the Fifteenth Legion appeared to greet them. Appearing from the Fluvius, a sea of legionnaires, in armour and still carrying weapons from that morning's battle, started yelling, shouting, cheering and throwing their weapons up into the air, somehow not skewering anyone.

Hallez was carrying the divine Ancile in one hand, and holding Cade's hand in the other, but she was immediately caught in the excitement of the crowd, and separated from the rest of her contubernium. Everything after that was a blur of just about six hundred cheering faces, until somehow, in a whirlwind of the madness of people from the age of puberty to twenty, she ended up between the two consuls, Tim and Pauline.

Thankfully, they saved her and brought her back to the Praetorium, where the praetors were waiting inside, caught in their own drama of bickering.

Honestly, she wasn't sure if magic or some kind of cutting-edge technology had been used to get her out of the crowd, but she was almost certain that there was.

The first thing they did was cheer as well. Clapping and patting her on the back, they got a little more physical than Hallez would've liked.

Pauline was studying the Ancile with clear, unveiled interest, while Tim did the talking.

"Congratulations, Hallez!" Timmy opened his arms wide, though he wasn't getting hugs from anyone except the air. A huge grin was on his face. It was an unusual sight, coming from the consul, of all people. But then, in an abrupt, unexpected turn of events, he dropped it. "And... We know about Travis, of course."

Mark and June suddenly seemed awkward, the former looking down at his feet, and the latter crossing her arms and suddenly finding the architectural design of the building very interesting. Pauline was finally snapped out of her dazed staring at the divine Ancile. She gave Hallez a sympathetic look.

There was an odd silence for a split second.

"...Whatever you want to say," Hallez began, forcing herself to meet their eyes, "you should say to Fiona and Lavi. They were a part of his contubernium from the beginning. I've..."

"By no means have you not belonged in that same contubernium," Tim interrupted. "You're as much a part of maniple 10C, the seventh contubernium, as the rest of them. So does your friend."

Hallez stared at him. That phrase just...wasn't quite computing in her mind. "Sorry...what?"

Tim breathed out, and patted her awkwardly on the shoulder, then retracted his arm, as if sensing her discomfort at physical contact. "Hallez, you're a part of the Fifteenth Legion now. You're one of us. You just essentially saved Rome Ultima—you're an official legionnaire. And your friend that you saved is emitting some pretty convincing energy of a second-generational. He belongs here too. You both do."

Of all the combination of words she was expecting to hear, it was not that. In fact, she'd expected anything but that. That wasn't to say she didn't feel a little spark of relief, excitement, and joy at hearing those words, however. Despite the grim reality and outcome of the mission...this was something she thought she must've subconsciously, in the deepest part of her mind, hoped she would hear.

"We'll hold a special funeral in Travis' honor—I'll make sure of it myself," Pauline chimed in. "We've misjudged the people of the lower cohorts, I'll admit. But I promise, he would not have died in vain." Then, with a glance at her wound, "And you should look to get some medical attention as soon as you can too."

This was possibly the best outcome she could've gotten.

"We'll test your friend as well," June suggested. "He seems like a promising recruit. We just need to find out his heritage, then we're set. And we need to hear the full story from all of you."

Mark seemed to perk up at that, though he still had a vaguely downcast aura. "Oh! Right, we need to get a full picture of everything that happened! It was interesting staring at the app the last few days—random bursts of unusual energy and magical activity all around California."

"I-I'll make sure to tell you everything that I remember," Hallez said without thinking it through clearly, though she wouldn't have minded much either way.

Did she...really just found a place where she was finally accepted? Somewhere where she didn't have to hide who and what she was to be acknowledged, and respected, and accepted?

It didn't feel real.

Then a thought occurred to her.

"What about Nowad?"

Tim frowned. "The drone in your friend's hair?" He scratched his head, utterly befuddled. "Well...we have drones here, I'm sure we can figure something out. Never seen a drone sleeping in someone's hair though..."

A blanket of silence fell upon the building, but it didn't carry the same weight, the same tension, as the previous one.

"You should run along now," Pauline suggested. She smiled gently, which, for reasons Hallez could not explain, felt like a rare happenstance. "Tell your friend the good news. We'll help Fiona and Lavi...we understand loss better than most legionnaires here. The interviews can also come later." She shot the two praetors a sharp glance. They both looked away sheepishly.

There wasn't a doubt about it—this was the best outcome that could have occurred.

Now that she thought about it, however, there were still loose ends, mysteries, and confusion riddled about. But...in all honesty, it wasn't something she wanted to think about, or care. At least not for the time being.

She was content so far.

She wasn't sure how it happened, or when, but at some point in time during that morning, somehow, she was in front of Cade.

They had escaped from the craziness of the rest of the crowd, which was dispersing slowly anyway. The cheering had quieted down when they realized Travis was dead, and quickly dialed back up again when they tried to boost Fiona's and Lavi's moods.

But standing together outside the Castra, downstream of where most people went to travel via Fluvius, with only the sounds of the valley surrounding them, Hallez wasn't sure what to say.

Cade began the conversation.

"So, what is it that you wanted to tell me?"

Ah, that was right. She'd dragged him away, claiming that she needed to talk to him.

Instead of using her voice, however, she let her actions speak for her. Slamming into him, she pulled him into a hug, and let herself just relax, even if it was just for a few moments.

But after the moment passed, and he wrapped his arms around her as well, she decided purely actions weren't enough.

"I understand if you don't want to be friends anymore." She felt him tense as she pulled back, looking him straight in the eyes, pressing on. "You were kidnapped because of me, and I understand if you don't want to be associated with someone like that. I understand if you decline the legion's offer to join us, because of what you experienced. I understand if you just want to go back to our team, and become the new captain. I...don't think I'm going back, not for any other reason than to visit everyone at home, anyway. I understand if you don't want anything to do with this side of the world, after what you witnessed. I understand—"

"I'm staying."

She stared at him. "What?"

Cade smiled a familiar smile. "I'm staying, Hal. I'm staying with you. I would never, and I have never, thought you were a person I couldn't be friends with. You are my friend, through and through. Hallez you...you need to know that you are not alone, even when you think you need to be. You are never alone. You never were, and you never have been. You're just too afraid of us rejecting you that you isolate yourself." He grabbed her shoulders. "Please, don't do that. You have me, and you always will. I'm staying."

He paused. "And...I think it would be better for me if I finally had a change in my life. This is only the perfect opportunity."

Hallez didn't expect that answer.

Her brain had completely shut down at that point.

Instead, she did something that she did more of in the last two minutes than her entire lifetime. Which was, admittedly, kind of sad.

She hugged Cade again.

And he hugged back.

Then something thumped into the grass beside them. There were the indignant clicks and whirs of an angry drone, as it flew up to eye level, and projected several very colourful words.

The two of them ignored it.

Cade was doing it on purpose.

But Hallez...she just had one thing on her mind.

Perhaps, in a way, things weren't the worst they could be.

---

:D

Anyways, uh, ending note is gonna come out in a few days—

AND HAPPY BELATED LUNAR NEW YEAR!!

-Lunya