Lloyd broke out of the forest and onto the dirt road. His feverish sprint caused the women to look at him as he approached. Lloyd barely noticed them but slowed to a manic pacing as he took in his surroundings. He could see the broken body of the massive warrior that he threw with his powers lying on the ground. A ring of bodies lay off to the side where Regal must have fought his last stand against the remaining warriors. Looking further to his right, he could see a man lying on the ground wearing purple robes. The man was on his back with his face to the sky. The broken staff lay on his side. He was the one who killed Cassius.

Lloyd focused on the robed man. He felt prickles of energy swim over his skin, then pushed the power outward and felt the tendrils of his telekinesis wrap around the man. He picked him up and threw his lifeless body against a small fir tree, which shattered both body and tree upon impact. Lloyd then picked up the wooden shards and pierced them into the man's corpse. He failed to vent all his anger and chose another body to mentally throw into the woods. This happened a few more times before a beastial roar surged from his mouth. His anger subsided, and he fell to his knees, hands pushed firmly into the grass, clawing at the dirt underneath.

Lloyd felt a hand on his back and looked up to see Regal standing above him. Lloyd looked around to see that both Sheena and Colette were wide-eyed and staring at him. Sheena had her hands on her blades. He got up, shook his head, and looked at the women. The last few minutes had seemed like a blur to Lloyd. He felt an anger rise in him that he had never felt before.

“I'm sorry for that. I might have lost my temper a little bit,” Lloyd said.

“Completely understandable. It also answered my unasked question about your powers. Telekinesis is a powerful ability,” Colette said as she turned to Sheena. They went to scavenge the closest bodies. Lloyd let out a chuckle as he looked at them. The women paused yet again to see if their current travel companion was crazy.

“What's so funny?” Colette asked.

Lloyd’s short laughter subsided. “I just realized that I made your job a little bit harder when I tossed those bodies further away. That's all,” Lloyd said.

Sheena was the one to laugh this time. Her laughter was soft but deep. One of those laughs that you didn't expect, the one that rose from deep within your soul. “I suppose we will have to make do,” Sheena said.

Lloyd and Regal picked through a few bodies themselves, finding little worth taking. The group walked towards the wagons and found a much better hall. Each wagon held a large wooden chest. All four horses were neighing loudly and wearily pacing as far as their harnesses would allow. Sheena walked up to the horses and put her hand on their side. She gently stroked the animal until its fidgeting and worry went away, heading to the next one until they had all calmed down.

“What do you think? One chest for each group?” Lloyd asked.

“That sounds fair. Actually, it's more than fair. We didn't do any of the fighting, so technically, all of this loot is yours,” Sheena said.

“True, but without Colette, I wouldn't be alive right now. I think it's more than fair to allow you half the loot,” Lloyd said.

“I couldn't agree more. My brother’s life is worth more than anything we could find here,” Regal said as he turned to Lloyd. “Now, ladies first. Pick whichever one you want, and we will take the other one,” Regal said, motioning his hands toward the wagons.

Milla hopped up on one of the wagons, making the choice for the women. Regal and Lloyd hopped up into their own wagon and popped open the chest. Inside contained many vials with red liquid that Lloyd hoped were more healing potions. There were also a few pouches filled with gold coins, almost a thousand in total. Lloyd wondered how many people this group killed or stole from.

Lloyd picked up a large pouch and loosened the string around the top. A set of various colored flowers and herbs sat within. Regal leaned over to see what was in the pouch and shrugged your shoulders.

“Are either of you two good with herbs? Looks like we've got a pouch full of them here,” Regal yelled toward the other cart.

“I'm pretty decent at identifying them, but I can't do anything worthwhile with them. Toss them here and I can let you guys know what you got. The only things in here are a few potions and some money,” Colette said.

Lloyd tightened up the string on the top of the bag and chucked it over to the other wagon. Colette was ready to catch it, but Milla jumped in the air and snagged it with her mouth. Colette was wearing a fake frown before Milla turned to her and flipped the pouch at her. A fairly good toss for a fox. Colette caught the bag with smooth efficiency and opened it.

“This looks like a pretty good hall. There are some common herbs in here that are used for basic potions, both healing and Mana. There are also a few rare herbs here that can be used for more advanced potions. I would definitely ask an Alchemist to be sure. Maybe we can see about making potions or maybe just selling the materials for some money,” Colette said.

They had all finished looting the caravan and were now back on the road, poised to head in the same direction. Everyone looked at each other, and an awkward silence filled the air.

“So, I guess we really haven't talked about it, but were you guys wanting to venture with us to the Kingdom?” Colette asked.

“Yeah, the more the merrier, honestly. Plus, teaming up with a healer seems mighty helpful. Sheena and Milla can finally add some attack power to the group,” Regal said with a smile that never reached his eyes. They would never replace Cassius.

“Did we want to take the horses?” Colette asked.

Sheena looked at the animals for a moment before answering. “We could. We will have to find them food and water every day. That might be a bit challenging. Sure, we could move faster on the road, but we won’t be on the road the whole time. I say we let them loose and continue on foot,” Sheena said, and Milla nodded in confirmation.

“Sounds like a plan to me,” Lloyd said.

Sheena undid the reins, and after a few gentle pats, the horses took off into the woods.

“Won’t they die out there?” Regal asked.

“Most likely, but they have a better chance out there, untied, then stuck to these carriages,” Sheena said before taking off down the dirt road, Milla in tow.

After only a minute of walking together, Colette turned to the boys, “What’s your guys’ story? I know you mentioned that you are brothers, but if I'm being honest, I don't really see the family resemblance. Different dads?” Colette asked.

“And different moms,” Lloyd answered with a smile.

“Ah, that makes sense. So, who is adopted?”

“That would be me,” Lloyd said as he rose his hand.

“Thanks for indulging my curiosity,”

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“She does that. She doesn’t have a filter,” Sheena said dozens of yards from ahead. Lloyd was surprised that she could actually hear their conversation from that far away.

“Well, if I acted like you, we would never talk to anyone and never learn anything,” Colette yelled back.

“Sounds like a nice life to me,” Sheena said.

Regal motioned to Lloyd that it was his turn to speak.

“I guess when I was around a year old, this woman dropped me off at Breakwater. Regal had just been born, but his parents took me in and took care of me. So yeah, I guess they weren't my birth parents, but they are the only ones that I have,” Lloyd said.

“Oh, I'm sorry to hear that. It sounds like your family was caught in the middle of the Cataclysm. I would have guessed that Regal was older than you,” Colette said.

“Yeah, I used to get that a lot growing up. I would say that probably by the time Regal was four or five, he had already grown to be bigger than me,” Lloyd responded.

“Oh, yeah, story time!” Colette said as she jumped up and down. “I want to hear all about when you guys got your powers initially when you were five. I’ll go first! Mine is pretty boring. I was sitting in the middle of the yard and must have called out to my mom or something. She ran towards me and tripped on one of the toys that I left out in the yard. She stumbled into a briar bush and cut up her hands pretty good. She was yelling something fierce, so I ran up to her. I still remember this like it happened yesterday. I grabbed her hands, and mine started to warm up. Then this magnificent glow started, and her hands began to heal. The look of surprise on her face, I imagine, was mirrored in mine. Then we both just sort of smiled and laughed,” Colette said as she stared up into the sky with a smile on her face.

“You first,” Lloyd said to his brother as he realized he was fucked.

Lloyd hadn’t had a chance to talk to his brother yet, but he wasn’t sure how to explain the way he got his powers. He wasn’t even sure how it happened. He remembered drinking the potion that mimicked Altered powers, so maybe it had something to do with that. Maybe he was Altered this whole time, but he was a late bloomer? Maybe he needed real combat to bring it out? The beam of light came after he killed that man, so perhaps it was tied to killing? His mind rattled with possibilities, none really making much sense. That wasn’t something you wanted to casually drop in a conversation with strangers that you just said you would walk for months with. Lloyd smiled, thinking about all the times he imagined himself gaining abilities and what those abilities might be. He supposed it probably would not be that difficult to come up with a story that he already imagined hundreds of times before.

“Yeah, I wish I could say that my initial grasp on Powers was his gentle as that. Lloyd and I were a little rambunctious as kids. We have a little brother named Jimmy, but he wasn't born yet, so it was just me and Lloyd. I remember loving having an older brother. I always looked up to him, and if he wanted to go into the forest, I was definitely going to go with him. I still do, of course, man,” Regal said as he looked over to his brother. Lloyd choked as his face turned a light pink. He wasn't aware that Regal felt that way about him. Lloyd always thought he was the one that looked up to him, not the other way around.

“Lloyd mentioned that he wanted to go outside the walls. He and I had found a hole in the briar barrier that our mom had erected around the town. It wasn't that large, so we had to squeeze our bodies through the opening. We both got cut up as we went through. Our clothing didn’t make it through unscathed, either. We walked around outside for a while until we ended up wandering into the forest. This sharp, shrill shriek came from deeper within the forest, and then a bunch of sticks cracked and some of the brush moved. Lloyd and I turned around to run out of there, but Lloyd ended up tripping on one of the fallen logs. By the time I stopped and looked back, I saw there was this pack of three mangy black squirrels with brown spots. I don't think they had powers, but I remember those red eyes, and I remembered that all three sets of them were focused on my brother. I helped him to his feet and stepped in front of them as the first squirrel bit me. It dug in deep and tore up my arm. Lloyd ended up picking up a stick and started swinging at the one that had followed him while I was stuck trying to fight two of them.”

“That ratio still holds true today. The only difference is that I’m swinging a slightly better weapon now,” Lloyd said with a smile.

“That is very true. Anyway, I remember the pain growing, and then all of a sudden, it stopped. I ended up tackling the squirrel that was attacking Lloyd. Then, all three were on top of me, but instead of the fangs digging into me, they sort of just nibbled. I no longer felt the pain from their attacks, and we ended up killing them with a few rocks in the area. It took a while to finish the fight, and eventually, we stumbled out of the forest. Once we got into the open field, I wiped at my skin. The blood came off and revealed the cuts were all gone, and only light pink scars remained. Those are the only battle wounds I have now, a few scratches from the briar bushes and a few teeth marks from those squirrels. Everything else now just heals up nice and tidy. Sorry, that was a little bit longer of a story than I realized it was going to be,” Regal said.

“You saved my life that day and, honestly, many more days after that as well,” Lloyd said to Regal.

Lloyd noticed that Sheena and Milla had come from the forefront of their scouting position and seemed to be listening to the conversation. The women’s eyes were on him expectantly. He was still thinking what story he would go with, which could possibly explain his abilities.

“Wait, so Lloyd's older than you by about a year, right? Did you not have control of your abilities during that attack?" Colette asked.

Lloyd looked directly at her, and he could see no malice, no hint that she was calling Regal a liar, just curiosity. Nonetheless, he felt as if whatever he said next, he had to get it right. He had to tell a compelling story.

“I didn't actually know what powers I had,” Lloyd said, realizing that he could make the story more believable by mixing reality with fiction. “Most people, myself included, just thought I wasn’t Altered. I feel kind of embarrassed that I wasn't able to help Regal during that fight. It wasn't until months later, during a fight with a few classmates, that I realized I could move things. Back then, I had to physically touch something with my fingers before I could move it with my mind, and even then, it was fairly minimal distance. I ended up shoving a kid, and when my fingers made contact with his chest, he flew backward into a wall. At first, we thought it might just be super strength, but that would have shown up earlier than that. I remember Mom and Dad testing me until finally, we figured out that I could pick up a rock, toss it in the air, and then move it. It took way too much Mana, and I couldn’t even mentally manipulate anything beyond a minuscule weight. It honestly was pretty junky until I Ascended during that fight. I ended up training with swords in order to make sure that I always had something to fight with. That's when the true power started, although I guess that is pretty much how it works for everybody. Being from Breakwater, our powers are on the weaker side. What about you, Sheena? I'm guessing you have a pretty crazy story,” Lloyd said as he quickly wrapped up his fictitious story. It was an offshoot of many of the scenarios that ran through his mind. He didn't want them to ask questions and begin to pick apart the story. He wasn't sure if it was thoroughly believable or not. Plus, he was genuinely interested in how Sheena had got her powers and how hers had advanced when she Ascended.

Sheena looked over at Milla, and the fox came to brush up against her thigh. Sheena scratched the top of Milla’s head before the fiery fox shuttled off into the forest.

“I suppose it is a crazy story, but not one that I want to talk about," Sheena said as she picked up her pace and found her way to the head of the party, quickly outpacing them.

“Did I do something wrong?” Lloyd asked.

“No, you didn't do anything wrong. In fact, I think it was my fault. I was excited to hear about both of your stories, that I forgot that she doesn't like to talk about hers. One day, she might warm up to both of you and be willing to tell her story. All I can say now is that it is way more gnarly than any of ours were,” Colette said with a distant stare. “So, it sounds like Regal is an Omega. Welcome to the club,” Colette said as she curtsied. “Sheena and I are also Omegas, but you are likely too old Lloyd, right? I know your powers won't be as strong as ours will be, but I wonder, how strong are you?

Regal erupted in a hearty laugh. "I like her. We definitely need to stay grouped up. Oh yeah, I'm way stronger than him,” Regal said.

Lloyd looked at his brother with a smirk as he flexed his fingers and focused on the rotten log that was alongside his brother. Regal saw where his brother's eyes were headed and sprinted ahead. Lloyd felt the tendrils of his magic wrap around the log. It felt soft and flimsy to his mental touch. He quickly picked up while Regal had put a distance of maybe 15 feet before he turned around and saw Lloyd launch the log at him. Regal stopped running and stood his ground, putting up his forearms to block the projectile. The wood crumpled and splintered as it cascaded off of Regal's body, dust filling the air. Regal coughed a few times, and then, when his airways were clear, he laughed.

“See, not even a scratch on me,” Regal said.

Lloyd rolled his eyes, picked up a few large rocks on the side of the road, and catapulted them at his brother. Regal took one to the chest as one missed wide to the left. Lloyd still didn't have very good control over his new powers. Colette walked over to Regal to inspect him for potential wounds.

“I can say, as the healer of this here group, that your brother is indeed scratch-free,” Colette said.