The remnants of the Arcana order retreated to the stars, leaving behind many we captured. Including Xain, we'd captured almost 200 mercenaries and prisoners. We managed to free many of the Prison staff including Auntie Izabella, who now rested in the Asterism's infirmary. Despite our victory and the many advantages we gained, we did incur some losses.

At least 20 of our own perished in the fighting and triple that were injured. We managed to recover the bodies of only 19 of our dead. The only one we couldn't get back was Clarke. As we docked with the Asterism, all officers were called to the briefing room to be given the after-action report. Something that I was utterly dreading to even speak of.

As the Ragnarok returned to its hangar I couldn't bring myself to disembark. Satomi still held onto me, tears floating about in her helmet as she mourned Clarke's death. I'd been disconnected from the Animus long before we docked but I still held on to the control yoke. I wanted to reactivate Ragnarok and tear through the ship until I reached space. Yet, what good would that have done?

How was I even going to explain this to Andrew? Oh, Gods what about Claire? She put her faith in me to keep her brother safe yet he just ended up dead. I wasn't thinking when I allowed him on the mission with us. He'd have been better off with Andrew or still aboard the Asterism.

Satomi squeezed me tighter as I remembered she could hear my every thought. Her eyes returned to normal as she looked up at me. She sat up, taking off her helmet allowing her hair to float freely and she held my hand. She didn't have to say anything at all, I knew very well what she wanted to say. The cockpit doors began to open and standing at the entrance was Andrew.

"Come on Soran... Warden Serebreyakov and the other officers are expecting us."

"Everyone... Already knows right?" I asked as I forced myself to look into Andrew's eyes.

"Yeah... You don't have to explain things if you don't want to... Believe me, when I heard about it, I was going to keep everyone from stopping you... But that's not what he would want right?"

"Yeah... I guess so..."

Satomi got out first, Andrew helping her out. Getting out of my seat I felt something brush past me before completely disembarking. I looked back for only a moment to see nothing was there. A weird moment for sure but something I could easily place in the back of my mind. Andrew and I helped Satomi as the three of us made our way to the briefing room.

Both Claudia and Auntie Izabella had been waiting inside, the latter seeming to have suffered a broken arm as it was wrapped up in a sling. The two of them stood to their feet and saluted me as I entered.

"I thank you for rescue nephew," Auntie Izabella spoke. "I'm delighted that you have no wounds."

"It's no problem to help out family," I replied. "I'm just glad we were able to get you out of there."

"Though I am normal, you have experienced much suffering. Come... Sit... You have earned it."

She pulled out her chair for me and though I wanted to continue helping out Satomi both she and Andrew waved me away.

As I took a seat at the head of the table, everyone else, except Claudia found seats all around. It'd be a few silent moments before Alice and Minerva would enter along with Talia. Claire was the only one who wasn't present for our meeting, and no one had to say why.

Claudia cleared her through before addressing all of us. "Our mission was a success despite the causalities and injured. The Asterism and her crew were able to successfully rescue Warden Serebryakov and provide enough of a distraction to allow the infiltration team to conduct their mission."

She paused for a moment to look at me as if asking if I wanted to speak. I stood from my seat and even though everyone looked as though they wanted me to sit down and take it easy. As a Commander, there wasn't such a thing.

As my mouth opened to speak, I felt my mind drift off somewhere else. I told them about our encounter with Xain and how much Intel he was willing to share with us, as well as Lucian's true goal. Though I hadn't known what this Arcanum Astra was it was the best we had right now. We at least knew he was after a dangerous artifact or weapon. I didn't say anything of Clarke's death at all, everyone in the room knew. Repeating it would be tantamount to stabbing myself and everyone else in the hand.

As I finished the debriefing I did something subconsciously, something even I wasn't thinking I'd do. Bowing to my comrades, I began to let the tears I held back flow freely.

"I-I'm sorry you guys... I'm sorry for the way I acted... I'm your Commander and I put you all at risk... I even got one of our..."

I couldn't muster the desire to finish speaking. The room fell silent as my voice trailed off

"Recognizing one's failures is the hallmark trait for being a leader," said Edwin.

Wait... Edwin? Looking up, I found Edwin sitting right next to Auntie Izabella. He'd been sitting there as if he'd been inside this room this entire time.

"Huh? Oh right... I'd forgotten I just let myself in." Edwin held up his hands before everyone could adequately react. "Do not worry I will not harm any of you. Just don't do the stereotypical soldier thing and start pointing your guns at me."

Weirdly enough, that was a jab at Seraph and Claudia, who'd been reaching for their respective weapons. Though oddly enough, Auntie Izabella didn't seem too surprised.

"So you live 13," Auntie said.

"Yes indeed Comrade Serebryakov, I'm happy to see no one marred that beautiful face of yours."

"I'm shocked you still have a face...."

The interaction between the two eased the tension in the room but only to the smallest degree.

"It's alright everyone," I said. "We'd be dead already if he wanted to kill us."

That got everyone to calm down enough to sit again. Even though we were quite literally sitting in the same room as a murdering lunatic wearing a three-piece suit.

"Well then... I believe I will cut to the chase. I wish to join you lot in your fight against Lucian."

"You want to join us?" asked Andrew. "You seem like you can take on a few armies on your own. What makes you want to join us at all?"

"A very astute question my blonde companion, with a very simple answer." Edwin reached for something on the table. As he reached through his hand seemingly slipped into something within the space between the table and the open air. From that strange tinge of nothing he'd reached into, he'd draw a dagger from it, the very same he used back in Necron Arcadia.

"As you all know, Arcadians possess the Markers, powerful abilities that allow them to manipulate the world around them at large. Yet what you don't know is that we are the only race that should possess them."

"It does seem rather strange that we can use such powers," said Satomi. We aren't even beings made of Ether like you are."

"That's precisely the problem. The fact that you have the Markers makes Lucian's plans so dangerous. It is also why Seraph and I must educate you all... Including Alice and Soran."

Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author's preferred platform and support their work!

The fact that Alice and I were included had some very dangerous implications. As far as I knew, Alice had been traveling the cosmos with Seraph this entire time.

"So the question now is what exactly is Arcanum?" Claudia asked.

Edwin held out his hands, shaking his head. "Unfortunately, I don't even know the answer to that.

"Oh great, the crazy murder hobo doesn't even know what he's talking about," scoffed Andrew.

Minerva gave Andrew a short glare after he made his highly insulting remark, yet Edwin's smile hadn't changed. "There is a reason I do not know. It is because, to keep anyone from abusing Arcanum, its owner erased any evidence that it existed in the first place from everyone but four individuals. I hold one of those pieces of such information."

If Edwin held such valuable information, it must've meant Lucian knew something we didn't, meaning he also held some sort of advantage over us.

"That must mean Soran must have a piece of information as well," stated Alice. "Perhaps Solomon left it to him in his memories."

I shook my head as everyone turned to me. "Solomon didn't mention anything about Arcanum... Though I'm sure now that's what he wanted me to find."

It was likely because Solomon couldn't risk Lucian getting his hands on the info. Great, another hurdle we'd have to overcome.

"That shouldn't be the case," corrected Edwin. "The moment you activated your Anima was the moment you should've received such information. It likely is due to my secondary reasoning for being here."

"That being?"

"Well isn't it obvious? It's you, my tiny friend."

The tiny comment aside, I couldn't see why I'd be so fascinating. Considering my blunder too, there should've been absolutely no reason to side with us.

"It's probably because of how weird you are Soran," Andrew jokingly pointed out.

"That's correct, surely you all have noticed it as well? It's not usual to have two powers within one Marker."

Two? There was no way I had two powers. Yeah sure transmuting stuff with fire was probably weird but other than that I was sure I just spit flames everywhere.

"Now that you mention it," said Claudia. "It is rather unusual that Soran can utilize two different kinds of flame, and the destructive power he displayed on the surface."

I looked at my hands calling the white and black flames to my hands. The white flames burned with such positive energy yet it seemed incredibly weak right now. The Black flame was more erratic yet was more alive.

"So that's the issue," Edwin said as he stood from his seat, making his way over to me. Taking both of my hands he examined the flames.

"Woah that's a little dangerous old man," Andrew chirped. I thought so too until I saw neither flame was affecting him in the slightest.

"Oh please... I may be horribly older than anyone else in this room, but I've held women hotter than this boy's flame.

That was something I didn't need to know, even if he looked as young as we did. As he examined the flames his face tensed up. "So... Solomon was right after all..."

Before I could address it, Edwin dropped my hands and scurried back to his chair. "Alright, we should probably hurry along now. We must get a head start on finding the others before Lucian does."

"Wait a moment," said Minerva. "We've just returned from a large-scale operation. We cannot abscond to the far reaches of the galaxy for those we do not even know if they're still alive."

"Do not worry my dear," Edwin shrugged. "While resupplying does take priority, the preparation needed to take on our enemies comes first. But we must ensure we have an overwhelming advantage against Lucian."

As much as I wanted to argue how nonchalant he was being about it all. We did just assault a heavily fortified prison without much information to go on. It was probably better to learn of our enemies through someone who knew them best. Seraph probably could've told us something but there's no way to tell. Alice had been in the same boat as me an Arcadian who knew only what was told to her about her people.

"Very well," I sighed. "We'll allow you to join us if you can provide us with as much information as possible. Starting with those who remain of the Arcana Order."

"Excellent... You may just live up to your predecessor after all."

I wasn't sure about that honestly, given my current track record. Edwin began explaining everything he knew about Lucian and his cronies. The big brooding guy that seemed super loyal to Lucian was known as Kain Judicium. He held the Marker of Judgement and was a close confidant to Lucian even before the War of Sorrows.

Then there was Laufey Morgana, the strange woman that was trying too hard to be pretty. She held the Marker of the Devil and Edwin seemed to consider her very dangerous. Even going as far as to say, "You'd probably best not try to get into her pants. She has a nasty habit of torturing the men she favors." The warning was more for Andrew than anyone else although I knew he'd never try to hook up with an enemy.

"Then there's Haumea of the Lovers," said Edwin. "A very dangerous flower indeed, I'm honestly shocked Soran wasn't completely bewitched by her."

I caught Satomi strangely glancing in my direction, and as I thought about it myself it made me wonder. There was something about her that did catch my attention, though I just couldn't figure out what it was.

"Come on man," groaned Andrew. "How are you gonna have the hots for the enemy? Especially when we have such lovely ladies here."

"Alright, firstly dude, Minerva and Auntie Izabella are my family. Secondly, come on man this is inappropriate."

Many of the girls nodded while Satomi sank into her seat. While I was going to ask if was something the matter, I tried to reassure her as best as I could with the mental link she and I seemed to have. Although the two of us weren't dating, it sometimes got awkward between the two of us.

"While I'm more inclined to agree with Andrew here," Edwin continued. "Those who control the Lovers have strong mental abilities much like the blushing beauty next to Soran."

A statement that caused Satomi to blush even more. I shot Edwin a quick glare and then tried to find a way to move the conversation along. However, there was only one way to do that and it was by asking about the last guy. Andrew would beat me to it, and honestly, that was ok.

"So, what about the bastard with Clarke's blood on his hands," he said through gritted teeth.

Edwin sighed then sat back in his seat. "That contemptible fool's name is Arjun, Kain's half-brother. He holds The Hanged Man. It's sad to say he's an impudent brat that gets off on killing."

The first thought that came to mind was, "so like you." But Edwin was much better than that murdering lunatic.

"Arjun... So that's the bastard's name," Andrew cracked his knuckles and for the first time in a while, he seemed terrifying.

"As much as it will entertain me to prepare you all for your revenge. We must also focus on our objective."

Edwin collected his blades and stuffed them in his coat pocket. That seemed impossible considering how tight-fitting that was but there was no way anything made sense with him.

"Firstly, everyone aboard this ship with a Marker must properly awaken their Anima. Without access to your true forms, you will never be able to face any of the Arcana Order in your current states."

"The Markers, Astras, and Animas we wield all function based on our physical and mental states. Imbalances in such states can cause premature awakenings that are only temporary. And as we've seen with Soran, it can become very chaotic."

As much as it stung to know, losing control of myself and succumbing to my rage. All the things everyone warned me against. It was my inability to properly control myself that nearly caused the deaths of all of my friends.

"Well, I believe we will have time to regroup and prepare ourselves for the next battle," Claudia stated. "We can have the Warden return to Neo Arcadia. I'll be sending my report to the council."

That concluded our briefing for now. Everyone was rather worn out over the day's events and much would need to be done tomorrow. As everyone started to leave, I could see the lightbulb turn on in Edwin's head as he quickly rose to his feet.

"That all sounds swell," cheered Edwin. "Plus we can find the Tower's next of kin. They will need to be brought up to speed on the situation."

I swore if we all could've turned any faster several of us would've died with a broken neck, all except Alice and Seraph. Turning to Alice I tried to formulate some kind of thought of what Edwin could've been talking about. Our eyes only met for half a second before she averted her gaze from me.

"Oh... So they haven't told you?" Well... Seraph... Alice... I don't care which one but one of you better explain things before some people get rather upset."

He pointed to me when he said that, and honestly I wanted to belt him one more than I wanted to say anything to Alice. The latter was too reluctant to speak, she hadn't spoken to any of us at all. As Seraph stepped in front of her as her guardian instincts took over, and Alice stopped her before she could say a word.

"You sure?" Seraph asked.

Alice nodded, and her guardian stepped aside. She approached me and Andrew of all people and while it took a moment she finally looked us in the eyes.

"I should've told you before, but something even we don't understand why is that there must always be 22 Majors... So in most cases, when a Major dies... their Marker passes on to the nearest person in their bloodline. I imagine right now the process has already started."

I honestly didn't know what to do now. It took some time for her words to properly sink in. But I couldn't think of what I wanted to do or say. What came next was something I wasn't even sure I'd reasonably thought of. Turning toward the door I began to push past anyone standing in my way. As I made my way down the hall I could hear something like my name being called. I don't know what it was but I couldn't hear well. I did hear some shuffling about behind me but that didn't matter.

All I was focused on now, was going to see Claire.