A/N: Sorry for not updating for so long! I'll have a longer note at the end, but for now, enjoy!

Adam's Point of View:

I feel like I'm dreaming, but I'm not. Sitting in the back of a lurching car for hours gives me a lot of time to think things over. Maybe too much time. Sarah's asleep, too tired to stay awake after the Mogs' ambush. I wish I could fall asleep that easily and experience the relief of losing consciousness.

Scenes keep flashing across my vision. The lunging Kraul. The splintering window. And then chaos. I remember shooting blindly, rejoicing every time my gun made its mark, but at the same time, feeling the successes gradually carve out a deep, hollow hole inside of me.

I felt One's legacy inside me surge as I saw him, and I felt my anger taking over. It pounded through my soul and trembled across the floor, shoving down the Mogs in front of me. I didn't stop. My hand raised and my finger pulled the trigger, and I didn't stop.

Until it was done. Until he was gone.

The general. My father.

I don't know what I'm supposed to be feeling. Before now, when I dared imagine this moment, I saw myself rejoicing, content and satisfied with my revenge. But now?

My ears still hear phantom ringing caused by the blast that jerked my arm backwards, the one that shot the bullet that pierced through his fancy, useless uniform. A sick, horrible feeling claws at my chest.

Should I have been scared of him?

I wasn't.

Maybe I should have saved him.

But I know he wouldn't do the same for me.

I know I never was his favorite son. I know he didn't even regard me as one after I stopped believing in his cause. My mother was disgusted with me after he told her the truth. My whole family was. I don't want to go back, anyway. But now, I know that I can't. It's impossible. It's time to forget the fact that I lived with them before, that I had been one of them before...before I was changed. I was no different from them, until One came along. She changed my life in exchange for her own.

That did it. I can't hold it back any longer.

I can't believe I'm crying. A silent tear streaks across my face. Day has already turned into night, and I'm thankful for the darkness to conceal my face while I think my bitter thoughts. I was never accepted into my family or the Mogadorian society, was I? I was never talented enough for them. My father had always looked down on me with scorn, and so did the other officers. I know I'm never going to feel included or appreciated at my old home.

Now? I guess I have Malcolm and his son Sam. They've been very welcoming, not caring about my race or where I came from, only the fact that I'm here now, and that I'm on their side, but they can't replace One. I won't ever be able to forget the expression on John's face when I first saw him, though, with the disgust winding itself into his features. I knew the expression too well. It was the same one that greeted me every time I met my father's eyes.

"Adam?" Malcolm says from the front. Sam starts turning around.

Shoot. I use my sleeve to swipe at my eye and clear my throat. "Yes?" I grunt.

"Are you okay back there?"

"Yes," I reply, fidgeting with my sleeve. "Sarah's fine, too, but we might need to hurry." The car grinds over a slight rise in the road, and I steady the chests next to me to keep them from toppling over. Sam told me there's something called a healing stone inside them that would solve all our problems, but we can't access them without the Garde. Sam catches sight of Sarah and winces.

"Don't worry, I think there's another city up ahead. We'll use the fake IDs to get Sarah to a doctor," Malcolm says.

If only John were around, then he could heal her. But I couldn't save him and help the cause that One prepared me for, even though I was right there when it happened, standing within a couple yards. Even with my new legacy, I couldn't make a difference, I couldn't prevent what happened to John. It was my fault that he was captured, the effect of my futile attempts to follow through with my promises to One. The thought hit me with the same force as before, when the first tear forged a trail across my cheek.

I'm sorry, One. I failed you.

I imagine One's voice in my head, chiding me for blaming myself, but her made-up voice can't stitch up my torn feelings.

We'll find him, I tell her silently, wishing she could hear. We have to. We have to win this war. I hear a slight buzzing sound as my eyes droop, but my tired brain doesn't register it. My father's face looms up in front of me as I close my eyes, lulled to sleep by the sways of the car. His eyebrows are furrowed, and his lips are stretched taut. He narrows his eyes, and he directs his thoughts towards me with a burning, murderous look. Even though I know that it's not real and only a figment of my imagination, I shudder inside. He opens his mouth, and a harsh whisper slithers out of his lips.

You will pay.

A/N: I really hope you enjoyed this chapter! I hope I made Adam's point of view realistic. He's not going to be so emotional later, I promise. Unless you guys like him like this? Please tell me what you think :) Sorry if this was a boring chapter/too short of a chapter for you! I promise the next chapter'll be more interesting :)

Special thanks to I'm Number Eleven, Marina3Eight, and Paragon Eight for their encouragement! And thank you, Meerkat 78, for being supportive and amazing!

I can't believe it! The next book's title is the Fate of Ten! There's a book for 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, and 10 now. Can you see which number we're missing? I shouldn't get my hopes up, though...