A few days later...

I entered the temple, still rubbing my sore arm. Calvin turned around and smiled when he saw me.

"Good evening Miss Jesse!" He said. "Nothing unusual happened while you were attending to your duties" I smiled.

"That's great" I replied. "Did the doctors come by?" I asked.

"They did" Calvin replied. "They tended to both Hadrian and Mevia. Unfortunately, there conditions are the same as before. Mevia is still in her coma, and Hadrian is growing weaker by the hour..." I frowned, though managed a small, sad smile

"At least it could be worse..." I said. I looked up and smiled. "I need to thank you for coming here on such short notice Calvin. Radar was pulled in to help assist Harper and Ivor on their task in Ground City, which is why he's been absent. And without my intern, I can't attend to anything without leaving Hadrian and Mevia alone in the palace..."

"It's fine Miss Jesse" Calvin said with a smile. "I'm always happy to help a friend of Miss Olivia's and our dear Ellegaard" I smiled sadly when he mentioned Ellegaard, another death that occurred for someone undeserving of it... Even without her presence however, Olivia continues her legend and work in Redstonia proudly alongside her own intern, Calvin, who Olivia sent to assist me while Radar was busy in Ground City. He was supposed to return the day I sent him, however Ivor and Harper needed an extra pair of hands, so Radar volunteered to help. Luckily, he was returning today with both Otto and Harper, though not until around sunset.

"Is Hadrian awake?" I asked Calvin. He nodded. "Great. I'll go watch over him for the time being. Do you mind watching over Mevia?"

"Not at all Miss Jesse" Calvin replied. I smiled as Calvin walked over to Mevia's room. I held my sore arm and winced at the pain slightly, the scar from the spider I fought still visible. I shrugged this off however as I walked over to Hadrian's room. After he told me about his argument with Mevia and comforted me, I've been compelled to help to help him as much as I can until the inevitable dawns on him. I failed to help him before, but I can still help him now. I lightly knocked on the door, before coming in. Hadrian was in his bed, looking out the window, though he turned his attention to me once I entered. He smiled

"Hello Jesse" He greeted. "I didn't know you liked using our armour" I chuckled a little. I was called to the mines as a hoard of spiders had taken over, and I decided to use 'Tim's' armour for the job

"What can I say? It's durable and actually really pretty" I said. "I can't believe you guys made this just for the whole Tim lie" I immediately regretted spouting that sentence, however Hadrian chuckled lightly

"That armour is much older than that whole Tim ruse" he explained. I cocked my head to the side as he continued. "That armour actually belongs to Mevia. She used it all the time back in the day, when she was around your age in fact. When I came up with the whole Tim story, Mevia and I just decided to use her old armour since no one at the Games knew it was hers" I looked down at the armour I wore. This used to belong to Mevia? I tried to picture Mevia wearing the armour, and it suited her perfectly. The pure white armour rimmed with gold and light blue highlights perfectly blended with her cyan blue hair and pale skin. In my mind, she almost looked like a pure hero, a god if you will. The armour was very durable and also quite pretty, one of my favourites to use. However, now knowing the armour belongs to Mevia, I felt a little bad using it so often

"... Would she want it back?" I asked Hadrian. "If she does, I'll glad return it" Hadrian shook his head.

"You keep it" He told me. "You'll get more use of it than Mevia will these days. Besides, it suits you. Although the blonde streak is a little out of place..." I ran my fingers through the streak where my hairclip would usually be, now replaced by a bright blonde streak

"I dyed it" I explained. "For Lukas" Hadrian didn't look too surprised, he must've known Lukas and I were together, even if I had restrained from talking about him to not upset Hadrian himself, since he can't see Mevia at this time. Actually, now that I thought about it, I hadn't talked about much of my friends at all to Hadrian. It didn't seem like an ideal topic considering what happened at The Games. Besides, the only one willing to help him and Mevia is Olivia. The rest outright despise them, especially Lukas. While he does respect my choice on helping them, he did tell me he will not assist me unless I absolutely need him. At least it's a step above Axel and Petra... Just then, there was a soft knock at the door. I turned around to see Calvin

"Miss Jesse, Radar has arrived" He announced. I smiled

"Please bring him and the guests here" I asked. Calvin nodded and left. I turned to Hadrian, who gave me a slightly confused look

"Guests?" He asked me. I only smiled

"I want to help you as much as I can Hadrian" I started. "So I sent Radar to gather some of your friends" Hadrian's eyes went wide

"You don't mean...?" As if on cue, another knock came at the door as three people entered

"H-Hello Jesse, sorry we're late" Radar apologised to me with a slight bow. I only turned my attention to the others guests, who were staring at Hadrian, both in shock, horror and confusion, with Hadrian returning the same gaze. Finally, he spoke;

"Harper? Otto...?"

Harper and Otto only stared at Hadrian, horrified by the condition he was in. Otto seemed the most shocked out of the two and the most affected, already tearing up at the sight of his friend in so much pain, completely speechless. Harper herself was also shocked to see Hadrian in this condition, looking almost a little sick

"Hadrian... What happened?" Harper asked. Hadrian only looked to me nervously, almost like he was expecting me to speak up

"... He and Mevia were caught in a forest fire outside of town" I spoke. "Mevia is... In a coma, and... Hadrian's days are numbered. He's predicted to only have a few more weeks to live..." I looked up at them "It's why I sent Radar to fetch you two. I thought it would be nice for him to see his friends one last time" Harper gasped at the news, however Otto was still rendered speechless, though he was still visibly upset by the news

"Hadrian, I... I'm so sorry..." Harper said sadly. Hadrian smiled weakly

"It's fine" He replied. "I deserve it..."

"N-No!" Otto spluttered. "N-No, you don't!" He slowly walked up to Hadrian's bed and kneeled down beside the bed, now meeting Hadrian at eye level. Tears were starting to roll down his cheeks. "Y-You don't deserve this... Y-You never did..." Hadrian's smile faded when he saw how distraught his friend was and started to tear up himself. Harper was also starting to get a little emotional, however she calmly walked over and patted Otto on the back to help calm him down. I knew Otto was actually Harper's older brother so of course she would comfort him, though what did surprise me was how emotional Otto was right now. He seemed very upset and distraught to see him like this. I had never seen Otto so... Sad before. He was always a calm figure whenever I saw him, but right now... He was slowly crumbling... Radar and I only watched as they all talked, questioning Hadrian on what had happened. Soon, the topic shifted over and Hadrian was tearfully recounting his argument with Mevia. I myself was also getting emotional and furiously blinked in an attempt to dismiss the tears, though they soon fell. Radar gave me a concerned look, though I only smiled to indicate I was OK. We soon turned our attention back to the Old Builders, with Hadrian now in tears

"- I didn't mean to argue with her..." He continued as tears spilled down his cheeks. "I-I didn't want to... I... I just didn't want to hurt anyone anymore... A-And now..." He let out a sob. "I-I can't even apologise... I-I'm never going to see her again..." Hadrian slowly started to cry. Otto and Harper pulled their friend into a hug, though it only made Hadrian cry harder. I saw his arm twitch slightly, seeing he was trying to embrace them both, but he couldn't. He was paralysed. He couldn't even receive comfort properly... I held a sob back as I watched the three embrace, and even Radar was getting a little teary eyed, his glasses a little misty. Despite how upsetting it was to witness all this, I was glad I sent Radar to retrieve these two. I knew that despite what Hadrian did, they would still be willing to comfort their friend in his final days, and I could see Hadrian, despite his sobs, smiled sadly as his friends embraced him. He looked over to Radar and I and smiled, before mouthing 'Thank you' Radar and I smiled back

'You're welcome'

As night fell, Hadrian drifted off to sleep, leaving everyone to move out to the living room to calm ourselves down. Harper had invited Otto to stay with her and Ivor so he can keep visiting Hadrian until his final day and to help plan his upcoming funeral. Otto had agreed and was now on the phone with Slab, informing him on his absence, however I noticed that while he did mention a friend of his was unfortunately going to pass away soon, he never mentioned it was Hadrian, or that Mevia was around either. Then again, maybe it was for the better that Slab wasn't aware of this factor. As he continued to talk, Harper was next to him, comforting him whenever he needed it, while Radar and I sat across from them. I had sent Calvin back after we left Hadrian to rest up, so now Radar was back on the job, scribbling his notes once more. I sipped my water slowly as I watched Otto and Harper in silence. I was glad they came along and that it made Hadrian smile, though while I was expecting some emotional moments, I certainly wasn't prepared for it, my face still flustered from the tears...

"I'll be back in a month or so" Otto spoke over the phone. "I'll try to return earlier if I can" He paused, then smiled sadly. "Aww... Thank you Slab, I appreciate that. I'm sorry this is so sudden..." Another pause. "Thank you, I don't know what I would do without you and the other gladiators. I need to get going. Thank you so much Slab, good luck with the events. Bye" He finally hung up and sighed. "Such a nice fella" He said with a small smile. "He sends his condolences and told me to take all the time I need to recover" Harper smiled at her brother

"You OK?" She asked him, patting him on the back. "You were very distraught before..." Otto's smile faded.

"... I just can't believe Hadrian will..." He paused as he teared up slightly. "I know it's inevitable, but... Not in this way..." Harper frowned and pulled Otto into a hug, which he returned immediately. She patted him on the back as I heard him sniffle a bit. He certainly was upset by this whole event... I had no idea he was this close to Hadrian... At the very least his sister was here to comfort him, but I couldn't imagine is emotional state when Hadrian finally passes away... I didn't want to imagine it, but it would come soon. Only a few more weeks, maybe even days... We had done all we could, but his days were numbered, and they flew by without a real sense of time... All we could do now, was plan his funeral, and wait

Wait for the inevitable to dawn on us all...