Chapter Five: Truth Is, She Saved Me

Lok

The clock had worked its hands around a full hour's worth by the time my body stopped protesting in pain with my every movement I made. I was able to at some point use Everheal to attempt healing my twisted ankle, but my energy was so minimal that I knew I only had an hour or so before the pain returned, my efforts slowly healing it but not enough to prevent the pain from whatever damage remained. I limped over to the table and tossed my blood spotted shirt on a pile of clothes that I had turned into my laundry spot.

I then looked into the mirror for a moment and saw that my hair was beyond bed head messy and I really needed to comb it though sometime soon. My eyes on the other hand looked so blue and hollow with rings under them that it was actually a rather depressing sight. And on top of all that, I looked sickly pale- but I think that was from all the rigorous experiments and blood drawing Klaus had done for the past two weeks.

I tilted my neck up and pulled the neckline of the crew shirt down to see the scars the needles had left on my skin and the cuts that were healed away only a couple of hours ago. I looked at myself again and tried to look for anything different. Analyzing my reflection, looking for anything that made me- not look like me.

Though I had gained a couple pounds of muscle from fighting off both Titans and Seekers in the gauntlet and had gained some new mastery of spells when put under threatening conditions- I still looked, well at least in my opinion, like the same sixteen year old that came here. What I see in my reflection isn't someone who was giving up, but someone who's fighting to not let this experience become the thing that defines him. And that was all I've ever really wanted for myself since the start of this.

0o0

Two Weeks Ago

"Why do you keep looking into that mirror, Lok?" Cherit asked me as I stood before the room's vanity. "Looking for scars?"

"Oh, I know by the time we get out of here-" I started to answer before I glanced back over at him, "And we will get out of here- all four of us."

He seemed to smile at that as I went on, turning back to face the looking glass. "I just- I want to look in the mirror and see me."

"But you are you!" Cherit exclaimed as he flew over from the bed and to me as Sophie murmured something unintelligible and turned in her sleep. Cherit grimaced for a second realizing his volume before he continued in a near whisper, "You can't see another person in the mirror- or... actually, well, what do you mean by that?"

I sighed as I braced my arms against the vanity's counter. "Just- let me talk it out? It kinda doesn't make any sense."

Cherit nodded and waited, listening attentively. I let out a heavy breath and just spoke- trying to give words to thought.

"I don't want to look in the mirror and see- see those experiments." I paused as I looked into the eyes of my own reflection. "I don't want to see some kid so utterly lost and- broken."

I grit my teeth, "I want to like what I see, identify that as me. I want to see the truth. And that's someone who is fighting every fucking day to stay whole and not let them under my skin or in my head.

"I never want to look in the mirror and hate what stares back. I don't want to see empty eyes and a broken will. I don't ever want to see someone who's giving up."

I couldn't help but look back at Sophie.

I found myself thinking the tackiest thoughts when it came to her, and I always tried to come up with something better. But nothing except corny statements could ever explain my motives.

As long as she wishes for me to be a part of her life, I will always fight for her.

That thought. Those words explained it all. Yes, they were corny and trite, clichéd as all hell. But there were no truer words that said it all.

I will never give up and I will do whatever I can to protect her.

"I don't want my scars going any deeper than my skin." I muttered even though I had meant to keep it as a thought, "I don't want something to mar me so much that time can't heal."

True to his word, Cherit had listened to all of it. Waiting for me to turn back to him with a nod to affirm I was done.

"Those sound like very familiar words." he mused, shocking me. "Or maybe because they sound like someone we used to know."

I hung my head at hearing those words but at the same time something akin to pride swelled in me. I sounded like Dante?

"He was very much like that, too." Cherit murmured, "When he was very young, he sounded so very- well, not old... but mature. Forced to give up something akin to normal life in order to go crusading around the world to keep Titans and relics from the wrong hands.

"You sound very mature, too." he went on, taking flight and perching on my shoulder, "No matter what, Lok, sometimes you can't escape what happens to you. All that's left for you to do, is accept who you see."

I let the words soak in for a moment and then glanced back over at the mirror.

Yes, I'm not that bright and cheery teen who always saw the best side of things. But my reflection...wasn't half bad.

"Cherit," I started, "About Dante? I know he's done things that he never tells us. And- do you know if he-"

Would ever want us to follow in his footsteps? That was probably what Cherit thought I would ask because before I could finish my question- and for a rare time in my life, I noticed that the Titan seemed to be a tad depressed.

"Lok, my boy- as much as he was someone you look up to..." he seemed to say this with a heavy heart, "I don't want you to share his fate or his fire. It- It got him killed and I can't bear to see you-"

I shook my head. "Cherit, that wasn't what I was going to ask. I wanted to know if he ever- you know- accepted what he saw?"

"Yes." Cherit said rather glumly as he flew over to his corner languidly, "He did. But he did not wish anyone else to go through what he had."

I was about to say something when Sophie's voice broke through and I saw Cherit fold his wings and lay down.

"Lok, why are you still up?" she asked groggily and she slid across the bed so that she was close to the wall. "C'mon, you need some sleep."

0o0

I still hoped that I didn't change much because I didn't want to see this place leave a mark on me I couldn't overcome. I didn't want those scars to go so deep and leave such a mark that could never heal.

I braced myself against the vanity's table and sighed. I knew I was being naïve and optimistic in thinking that I would walk away from this unscathed with only scratches and nightmares that would fade with time. But as I explained to Cherit that day, I didn't want to change.

When or if we ever got out and returned home, I didn't want to have to deal with people hovering over me asking me if I was all right because I seemed different. And I didn't want them asking if I was going to be okay... I didn't want that. I didn't want to face a different way people would react to me or act around me. And I didn't want to one day look in the mirror and just define myself and my experiences by my scars... never able to accept what I saw.

The lights flickered overhead before I could continue my thoughts but I ignored it. It's happened on more than one occasion. But when the lights went out, I could not very well ignore that and I annoyingly shot a Bolt Flare to illuminate the room.

"What the hell is going-" I started when there was a sudden knock on my door that took me by surprise because... no one in the Organization knocked. And any others would have opened the door right after if the knocking had been a courtesy warning.

The heavy knocking didn't abate as time ticked on and as I approached the door warily.

Knock! Knock! Knock!

Whoever was knocking had a heavy hand.

"Lok?!" came a hoarse voice that cut through the steel and glass.

I pressed myself against the door, putting my ear by the holes in the plasti-glass. The voice was a godsend if I wasn't hallucinating. I heard him call my name again and I jumped back a little.

"Montehue?!" I yelled as I slammed my palm against the door in an effort to reply to his knocking. "Montehue!"

"Oh, good, right door!" I heard him say as I heard him shuffle outside as if fiddling with something, "Yea', it's me, boy. Now, how do I get this blasted thing open?!"

"The access panel." I said and no sooner had I done so did the metal door slide open to reveal the Foundation agent on the other side.

He was just as large a man as I remembered him. But there were more whites and grays to his hair from last I'd seen him. Even then, I'd never been so happy to see the man in my life. If there had been no glass, I would've hugged him right then and there.

Actually, that was weird of the glass still being there. If the door had opened, usually the glass went along with it. I reached up and knocked on the glass in front of me, but he only nodded and gestured for me to step back. As I did, I leaned a little to the side and noticed the remnants of the access panel scattered on the floor.

Oh, that explains it. That was the reason the glass didn't open as well. A safety precaution.

"It's warded," I explained to him, hoping he wasn't going to blast the glass with some sort of magic or else it would rebound on him and I'd be out of a rescuer.

"Don't worry, boy. I know." the man assured me as he pulled something from his pocket and placed a circular looking device on the glass.

Upon contact, the glass glowed with an eerie purple light, but, as fast as it was seen, it disappeared. And that's when Montehue's axe came crashing down against the glass, shattering it into thousands of pieces. I took a moment to appreciate and be glad that I had taken a step back or else the crashing shards would've hurt a lot. But then, I ran through the opening and into the clear and immediately, I wrapped my arms around him- well as far as I could around him- in relief and found that he wasn't a mirage or a hallucination but real. In the flesh, human... real.

"Thank you!" Suddenly, I backed away, half wary and half wondering. "Wait, what're you doing here? Did you hear about what happened at Transylvania? Is there anyone else here? We-"

"We have five minutes before that tranquilizing spell wears off and I doubt certain people will be affected by it much. So, let's say we have two minutes before those people wakes up." he said as he headed off down the hallway.

"Wait!" I cried after him as I matched his long running strides. "How did you find me?"

Yes, the idea that this could all be a trick came to mind. But I trusted my instincts. Most of the work in this escape was being done by someone else other than me. I wasn't wasting energy and they were heading in the right way towards the exit. I didn't have a reason to fight, yet.

"You'll be amazed at what we can do now." he simply said as he turned another hallway.

It didn't escape my notice that he had said 'we' and that word was enough for me to relax. In my gut, I believed that this was no trick. And since he said 'us', then it meant that there were others, other Huntik Seekers here that were probably helping him with this escape- or this break-in and rescue.

"How do you know your way around this place?" I asked as he took the right turn that I knew led to the elevators and stairs, which was our exit out of here.

"Now's not the time for twenty questions. We'll explain once we all get to the plane!" Montehue answered as he threw open the stairwell door and headed up two floors.

He approached the exit door cautiously and opened it slowly to make sure there was no sound. He looked through the small opening and then, once he opened the door, he glanced over the shoulder to make sure the path was clear. He looked back at me, "Listen, we need to move, and we need to move very fast. I know you're a bit weak, so just watch my back, let me worry about taking out whoever comes after us."

I nodded as he placed a hand on my shoulder in a comforting and kind gesture.

"It really is good to see you again, Lok." he said with a kind smile before he turned and went down a familiar hallway.

I followed close behind him, occasionally glancing over my shoulder as I kept pace with him, slightly jogging right behind him as he naturally took longer strides. As we went along, I only saw Suits on the ground, unconscious and unmoving, out cold due to whatever spell the team had used. There were no signs or noises of any other activity. We were pretty much in the clear.

As we rushed down the hall together, I wondered why I recognized it. Then, suddenly, it clicked when we hit an intersection of hallways. As Montehue looked down each hall, I recognized the one that I had traveled through numerous amount of times. I dashed off without a word- without a second thought, ready to challenge any that got in my way.

"No!" I heard Montehue whisper harshly, afraid to shout as if it would wake up the unconscious agents close by.

I ran down the hall, jumping over bodies if they were in my way. I was heading towards the prisoner holding cells and right towards the private prisoner wing. And all that time, I could hear Montehue running behind me, calling out to me.

"Lok!" he cried, tailing behind. "Lok, boy! There are others getting Sophie and the rest of the prisoners out. We have a plan!"

Nothing and no one but Sophie and Cherit were on my mind. "I have to see her!" I argued as I ran passed more cross-sections of hallways and well into an area I knew like the back of my hand.

Within the first two weeks of capture, Sophie and I observed the hallways we went through so that we knew where we could go if we tried to escape, or if someone came to see us. We had gone through it so much that for a long while, my dreams consisted of our escape routes or me navigating the halls we had memorized.

When I was moved to a different room, I tried to piece together what I could in order to find my way back to Sophie. I was hoping Zhalia would have helped me fill in those gaps for the escape plan. But I guess I'd never know, huh. I mean, this way nothing could come back to her. To my knowledge there were still other high ranked people here and if there was a team present then there would be no way this would come back to her. This was a good thing.

She had her life. And we would soon have ours. We would not be endangering her. She could be safe.

Could.

Being part of the Organization, there was no telling what could happen next.

For a moment, the thought of facing Zhalia as an enemy with no restrictions made me pause, and I found that I was running with no tail. At some point, Montehue must have turned a corner, following whatever pre-planned strategy was given to him because I didn't hear his heavy footsteps behind me. I shook my head. Thoughts of the future would have to wait. I was running low on time.

I took a right at the next hallway and ran down some stairs, into the private sector, running down a couple more hallways until I saw Scarlet opening the prison doors one by one on the left while… Sophie was doing the same on the right. I pushed my way through the rushing crowd of escaping prisoners and watched as she freed the last of them. Cherit was perched on her shoulders looking to see that every room was cleared.

"Sophie."

I had barely said her name above a whisper, but, even then, she had heard me.

She turned just as Cherit launched in a beeline towards me and grabbed me into a tight embrace. His arms were wrapped around my neck and his furry face nuzzled against my cheek.

"Lok, my boy!" the Titan cried gleefully, "You're safe!"

I winced when his tail hit me across the shoulders. I had been struck by an Augurfrost there when a Suit thought to repay me for beating him in the gauntlet. It was still bruised from impact.

"But hurt." Cherit added.

"No thanks to Klaus and Rassimov." I told him as he unwrapped his arms and without a word, flew off somewhere behind me. Probably to direct traffic and make sure once again that all the rooms were clear.

With Cherit away, I locked my eyes on Sophie, even as people still pushed past me to get away. I forgot to breathe for a moment and let out a breath I didn't know I had been holding. She approached me slowly, as if she were wary of me being some sort of trick. She stopped just a couple feet away, her hand extended as cupped my face with her hands.

"You're really here?" she asked, her voice shaky and- nervous?

"Yeah," I smiled at her, "I'm here. It's really me."

Her eyes were bright and watery almost. Was she- crying?

Well, if she was, that wasn't good.

She was close enough, within my reach, and I pulled her against me and held her. She wrapped her arms around me and it felt so right.

"Hey, everything's gonna be alright." I assured her, "We're getting out of here."

We broke apart for a moment and I brushed away the trail of a tear on her cheek. I didn't mean to make her cry, I just wanted to-

I didn't give myself a moment to hesitate. I leaned in and kissed her.

I'd always wanted to, but I could never bring myself to cross that line in fear of rejection and making things more awkward in the cell we shared. But, right now, I couldn't help it, the moment felt right- I- I wanted to kiss her. So, I did.

And before another thought could cross my mind on whether or not I should stop, I felt her kiss me back. Until then- I didn't realize how happy I could be.

When it ended, I smiled at her and could feel muscles ache because I hadn't used them in a while and they were being stretched. I knew that on my part it was more than just a simple impulse, it was backed with feelings, and I hoped it was the same for her as well. But as I looked into her eyes, I don't think it registered with her the same way it did with me because I saw that familiar hesitant expression... one I would see in those rare moments when she doubted something.

Oh no, what have a I done?

But before she could question me and I could berate myself, I pulled her into a hug. And with that, I felt her bury her face against my neck.

"Thank God, you're safe." I whispered against her skin before I broke from her to overlook her for any bruises and scratches. "Are you hurt? Are you all right?"

"I'm all right now." she replied with the same low inaudible voice meant for just me to hear.

Wait- so... does she- is that-

Her fingers brushed against my neck against a healing cut I knew was there. Though I could see no trace of harm on her besides the same needle marks I had on my arm, she, on the other hand, found plenty of weak points on me as she pressed lightly on certain places to see if I were hurt. I grimaced at some points when she found old bruises and sore spots.

"What did they do to you?" she asked me, her voice dripping with worry. It was rather endearing and I appreciated the care.

I held her close against me once more, my hand on the small of her back as my other hand brushed away the light honey brown hair that stuck to her face. I didn't want to answer her. Didn't want to tell her. It wasn't important. What mattered was that she safe and unhurt. She met my eyes and I felt the urge to kiss her again.

"Lok! Sophie!" It was Tersely. His voice echoed in the hallway. "C'mon! They've cleared everyone else!"

It was then that we both realized we were alone in an evacuated hallway and we were on a time limit that was rapidly closing.

If I could have, I would have kicked myself for taking up time with Sophie now instead of spending time with her when we were all safe.

I took her hand and started to run, following our friend who disappeared around another corner. I honestly didn't know how much adrenaline could do until this very moment, and it was what was giving me the strength to run, to keep hold of Sophie's hand as we headed to the escape... to freedom away from this place. Together, we passed the hallways in a blur and staircases were the one thing that slowed us down a bit. We reached an area listed as the sub-lobby, an area I guessed that was just underneath the building that posed as a bookshop. This level was probably what functioned as a garage and there were probably cars around here- maybe that was the vulnerable point they were-

Lok.

There was familiar voice ringing all around me, but I immediately recognized that it was solely in my head. Sophie or Tersely hadn't stopped or showed any sign of hearing anything. And Sophie had nearly yanked my arm off when she ran to follow Tersely.

She stopped and turned to me."Lok, c'mon! We need to-" she urged as she pulled on my arm.

Lok.

Something else was on my mind. Or was it someone else was in my mind?

I grounded myself and took a moment to listen to whatever was tugging at me.

Suddenly, I felt a presence. Something or someone was behind me and an energy was compelling me to look back. I lightly pulled Sophie back and she looked at me, alarmed.

"What?!" she asked, thinking that something was wrong with me, "What's wrong?! We need to go!"

"I don't kn-" I started to answer as I ignored Tersely calling back to us, worriedly.

I slowly turned to look behind me. Sophie followed my gaze and saw what I saw.

A silhouette was carved into a bright light. The light was an effect of a spell I knew but it was too bright for me to look onto the person's features. Judging from the cut out it was... a man carrying a smaller figure- a woman. Another member of our rescue team with-

"Lok. Sophie." the shadow said gently greeting us, his voice calm and smooth. So familiar... My breathing quickened with anxiety and I felt my heart speed up. That voice-

"But Lok and Sophie they're-" I heard Tersely dimly in the background, but someone else was talking to him. Then, there were no voices. Instead, something sounded like it had closed. A portal maybe?

The portal they had used to come in here.

Wait... we're still here!

Welp, yeah, I was right. That whooshing sound I heard was a portal being closed. Sophie confirmed it with a side comment, that I knew was more for herself than for our ears.

It was now just the four of us. And I stared at him, finding that I couldn't reach a word. None came to mind anymore and I must've looked like an idiot to him.

"Y- You're alive?" That was the best I could manage as I squinted, trying to see whether or not my mind was filling in the blank. Maybe, it was just someone who sounded just like him.

The man tilted his head to the side to allow for the light to reveal his features knowing that we couldn't see him clearly and when the light from the hall spilled onto his face, we saw him clearly... along with the scars he wore as testaments of times we had missed. There were four parallel lines across his left cheek and above his right eye, a thin scar dissected his brow that actually looked rather recent and still slightly dark red. He had a bruise on his jaw and cheek from a fight with a right-handed person as indicated by the blue and black areas favoring the right side of his face. Yet, other than that, he was the same. His red-brown hair, bright eyes, even his clothes- everything down to the trench coat were the same.

How many of those trench coats did he have?!

His gaze locked onto me then shifted to Sophie and he wore kind, familiar smile. I could only imagine the looks on our faces. Shock. Disbelief. Hope.

"We'll have a little reunion later," he promised, "but we've got to get out of here, now."

He walked towards us and it was then that it registered to me. He was carrying her. I looked down to see that in his arms was an unconscious Zhalia.

"Is she okay?" both Sophie and I asked.

For a heartbeat, I was hopeful and glad that Sophie and I had the same reaction. I knew why my first instinct was of concern and I hoped that it was the same for Sophie as well.

Maybe Zhalia was able to let Sophie in on the plan.

I glanced over to her for a second but there wasn't really much I could observe that affirmed my belief.

"Grab onto my shoulders." Dante instructed us as we heard commotion down the hallway.

I looked beyond him and got a good look at the light behind him. It was actually a wall of light that was blinding Suits to see what was on the other side, and it also provided us with cover. No doubt the wall was some sort of barrier spell meant to stay up as long as the Seeker who cast it, had the energy to keep it up. It was smart.

Without any further hesitation, Sophie and I grabbed onto his shoulders. Sophie his left and I to his right. Shadows were cast against the hallway floor as magic started to swirl around us.

Well, this is new.

I stared in awe at the sight around us and I watched.

"Omniport."

The spell was obviously new, too and was most definitely powerful. Dante's voice seemed to echo with power as he said it and the sound reverberated almost in the air all around us. Then, in a heartbeat, the ground disappeared from beneath my feet and I was sent flying through the air. My grip on Dante's shoulder was lost and I was swirling around in a vortex of wind and dim light, with nothing to tell me what was going to happen and no knowledge of whether or not I was going to come out of this. Everything all around me were dark shades of purple and black and midnight blue.

I was deafened by the roar of the wind that was in my ears and I couldn't see anything but white mist against the darkened- what I can only assume to be- skies. For a moment, I was scared, thinking that something had gone wrong and I was now lost somewhere between space and time. But I closed my eyes and let my trust take over as I listened to the raging gales around me.

A few moments later, the wind started to abate and the roar dimmed to the sound of a whistling breeze, and before I could anticipate what could happen I landed on grass, on my back, with pain shooting up my spine, again. I groaned. This was about the twelfth time in the past twenty four hours I've hit my back and I was really hoping to look for a medic to help me deal with this pain.

As I pushed myself off the grass and stood, I was greeted by bright sunlight and the smell of grass and flowers. It was too bright for my eyes and I needed to adjust, closing my eyes and taking in the scents all around me. I never knew that grass could have such a distinct smell, but I guess being locked up for weeks in a place with muggy air and smelling mostly of metal and air-conditioning, the smell is at this point something novel. Once my eyes adjusted to the brightness, I opened them and was able to properly study my surroundings. I looked up and into the beautiful, clouded blue sky above me, a sight I hadn't seen in God knows how long. Around the grassy area we had landed in were trees, looking like a forest.

The moment for surveying soon ended when I heard a cry above me. I saw the vortex had opened again, only this time it was opening well above me, in contrast to when it had dropped me close to the ground. I readied myself under the swirling portal and found myself able to look into it. Sophie was falling through rather quickly, being tossed in the winds just as I was, and as she passed the mouth of the portal, she began to slow, making it much easier for me to catch her when she exited the portal and fell into the glade we all found ourselves in.

"Hi, there." I smiled to her as I carried her away from the mouth of the portal knowing that Dante would probably appear any moment. "You okay?"

She smiled and nodded as I let her to her feet. She took my hand after smoothing her clothes and didn't let go. "That was fun." she smiled, sounding breathless as we both turned to the portal.

"Yeah, though next time we should probably hang on." I suggested with a laugh as the portal roared and Dante descended down gracefully landing on his feet with minimal impact, no doubt with the help of Featherdrop. The portal closed once he passed through.

I saw he was just about to say something to us when-

"You gave us a scare back there when you weren't behind Tersely. We ran out of time and closed the portal-" Scarlet said as she made her way over to us with a grin. But that grin quickly faded when she noticed Dante had brought company and he was setting her on the ground. "What?! Are you mad?!"

"Are you crazy?!" Montehue's bellow echoed right after her, as he came from a different direction, "You're endangering us all!" He gestured down to Zhalia. "You are mad!"

"That's what you said when I proposed we attack this place. Both of you." was the reply they got, as Dante smiled at them, amused almost. He sounded so calm and confident, and it was comforting once again to hear it.

"Vale, I'm kinda with them on this one. You're some crazy sonofabitch to think that was a good idea!" said a stranger.

I looked over to where the voice came from to see a Hispanic man leaning on a nearby tree. He looked to be in his early thirties, around Dante's age most likely. His skin was well-tanned, probably from all of his time out in the sun. His eyes were a dark brown which matched his hair and judging by his comfortable attitude and his words, he was an old friend of Dante's.

"I mean, seeing her- sure, I get that." he continued, "But- what do you call this exactly? Abduction? Capture?"

Dante turned a look over to him. "This was a rescue."

Those words got all the adults talking big time, with shouts starting to rise from all others except Dante.

As they exchanged a few words, I finally glanced at our surroundings once again, seeing that we were in an open glade somewhere. Definitely noting that we were in a forest near Vienna. Whatever teleport or transfer spell the group had used was probably one that did not get us too far from the lab.

"Look, if you could give me a minute with these two," he pointed to Sophie and me, "and go check up on the rescued so we can get out of here as soon as we can, that would be productive."

Scarlet and Montehue muttered something about danger, but did as they were told. The man- Kevin, as I heard- left without a word, and with them gone, it left Sophie, Dante, and I alone once again. I let go of Sophie's hand for a moment to walk up to him. To be honest, I was scared to approach him, but I needed to make sure...

"Dante?" I asked, thinking that I would wake up and find that this was all a nightmare. The worst dream imaginable because he was alive and I was with Sophie... and we were safe.

He flashed a smile at me and met me halfway. He extended his hand towards me and I grabbed him by the forearm. Then, as if we shared the same thought, we pulled each other in for a hug, clashing together- though the hug hurt me a lot more than it hurt him. I hid it though.

"Hello, Lok." he greeted as he gave me a reaffirming pat on the back before resting his hand on my shoulder. "You tried to hide it. You've learned to hide it well."

I didn't have time to ask him a question because he closed his eyes for a moment and said, "Everheal."

The magic surged over me like a refreshing wave of water on a hot summer day. I could feel each soreness in my body fade. The exhaustion that I had felt down to my bones was washed away by the healing powers of the spell. And when I felt that magic withdraw, I felt as good as new.

As we dropped our hands, I noticed he was looking over my shoulder. "Hello, Sophie. It's nice to see you guys again."

"Y- You're really alive?" Sophie asked incredulously as she walked up to him and pinched his arm. He winced a little, but laughed at that before he too pulled her into a hug and she returned it.

"Yeah, Sophie. I'm alive and I'm real." he answered her, as he planted a kiss on her hair. "Do you want me to-" He was offering another healing spell.

She shook her head. "I'm- I'm alright."

When they separated, Sophie rejoined me and took my hand once more squeezing tightly. I wanted nothing more than the same thing and I gave her hand a reassuring squeeze back as I just struggled to come up with something more to say to Dante than a slew of questions that rose to mind. I noticed that he was evaluating us, that his eyes swept over me and then Sophie; and I wondered what he thought- what he saw.

"What happened?" I finally gained the courage to ask, settling on that question. "What the hell happened to you?"

"Well, isn't that's what we all want to know. Minute's up, Vale." Montehue said, returning to us and staring at Dante with stormy dark eyes. He didn't seem all too happy at the moment and I knew it was something to do with Zhalia. I wanted to defend her, but was cut off-

"We've all been asking how it happened." Scarlet came in as she returned. "He thinks we won't believe it. And we haven't been able to figure it out-"

"It sounds like you guys are disappointed that I'm alive." Dante said with a laugh and met our inquiring gazes, as both Kevin and Scarlet returned to stand near to us. "Look, I'll explain it tomorrow in New York at the meeting. I said I would."

The answer seemed to satisfy some people. "Report?"

"Nine people." Scarlet answered.

"Eight." said Montehue.

"Five, and then there's Lok, Sophie, Cherit, and your girl." Kevin was the last, and his eyes were on Zhalia as if studying her for something. "Oh, and Cherit has gathered all of the others to the center of the glade."

"Good. That's everyone." Dante said as he lifted Zhalia back into his arms and made sure that her head rested against his chest. "We've got one chance at this to make sure everyone makes that plane with this one spell."

"Not to point out the obvious," Kevin started as he literally pointed to Zhalia, "But once everyone realizes you're bringing her on, they're not going to like it."

"So?" Dante asked nonchalantly, "It's not going to stop them from getting on board."

Kevin shrugged in reply and seemed to agree with it as he started to walk, but I could see that not everyone here was okay with the issue.

"She's not part of your team!" Scarlet opposed as she walked in front of Dante, as if to block Zhalia even though she was unconscious. "She's with the Organization!"

"I said at the start of this that I'd save my team." Dante replied firmly as Montehue placed a hand on Scarlet's shoulder as if to placate her. I wondered what developments I had missed while I was gone because that was totally new. "I define, who my team is and she's a part of that."

Along with the others, I found myself shouting a version of, "But Zhalia almost killed you!"

"Obviously, she didn't." Dante answered, stumping us all as he looked down at her for a moment. "In fact, I don't think she even tried much."

I noticed the shadow of a smile on his face before I looked at her, too. To me, she looked calm and innocent in his arms. And for a second, I bet to anyone from the outside looking in, we looked like a functioning group, not a group of refugees who were running for their lives. The familiar feeling of some sort of normalcy was something I welcomed and dwelled on for a moment.

"There's a lot more to the story than what you all think you know." Dante explained, breaking through my thoughts. His eyes, lingered on her as he turned to address us, "The truth is..."

He trailed off for a moment and judging by the curious eyes of Scarlet and the others, no one knew what he was going to say. Until...

"She saved me."

Happy Holidays everyone! Consider this a present!
I'll see you all in the next year!

- Phoenix ~^~