Eliza walked away, a slight spring in her step. Yes, they were about to go back into Grimhold to fight a major battle, and while Gary was definitely up to something, kneeing him in the face had felt highly gratifying.

“How do you do that?” Leah asked from beside her, and Eliza turned to look at her, slightly confused.

"What do you mean?" Eliza asked.

She cleared her throat and then continued, “How can you be so…easygoing after attacking the commander of a military camp? Aren’t you afraid of what he’s going to do?” She anxiously turned her head to look back at Gary, who was no longer there.

The smile returned to Eliza’s lips, and she raised an eyebrow, “Coming from you, the person who blew up a temple's inner sanctum?"

"That was different."

Yes, it's arguably worse, a lot worse."

“I- I was angry then, and Leo, Leo wasn't injured. So I felt like it would be okay….” She said, trailing off as she looked away from Eliza

Eliza’s smile softened. “Remember, You don't only have Leo now."

“That's beside the point; won't he lash out at us before he hands us over for this ‘Citizenship'?” She asked.

"If Demitrus pulls through, We'll be out of her by tonight. He's pretty confident in his ability to remove these marks, and, as frustrating as he can be, he hasn't let us down yet. So we can trust in him." Eliza said.

“Leo’s injured, and we need to fight through the Demons to escape. Demitrus is talented and confident, but his confidence borders on overconfidence. I'm getting the feeling that it's going to come back and bite him soon. ” Leah said.

“How bad are Leo's injuries?” Eliza asked.

“Pretty bad, he went way past his limits, Leah said, shaking her head sadly," He can move around, but he'll be pretty weak for a few days at least.

Eliza could see the worry for her brother in her eyes, and Eliza felt the urge to comfort her. She wasn’t sure how to comfort someone, but she had to do something. The only thing that came to her mind was what she always wanted when she needed comfort. Seeing nothing to lose, she decided to try it.

Eliza stepped in front of Leah, stopping her in her tracks. Before Leah could say anything drew her into a hug. Leah stiffened up, surprised by the movement.

They stood like that for a few moments before Leah spoke up, “Um, Eliza, what is this?”

"A hug, My mom always did this, and it helped me calm down. Why, is it not working?” Eliza asked worriedly.

Unexpectedly, Leah giggled, and her body relaxed as she returned the hug.

“I feel a bit better, thank you.” She said as she pulled out of the hug, and they stepped away. They continued walking.

“I'm sorry for bothering you, I know it's not a good excuse, but the past few months have made it hard to be optimistic about things,” Leah said sadly.

“No, I understand, trust me,” Eliza said, looking away. The last few months hadn’t been easy on any of them.

Leah hesitated for a few moments before speaking again, “mind keeping a secret from the other two?”

“Of course,” Eliza said seriously, wondering what it could be.

“You cannot tell the others this, especially Leo; promise me.”

Eliza blinked a couple of times, had Leah not heard her the first time?

“I promise.” She said,

A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

Leah let out a heavy sigh, and her shoulders sagged under a weight she looked too young to bear. “I can’t help but feel like I've been a burden to you guys, Leo especially. All I can do is tie grass together and hold a torch. Sometimes I wish I could fight as well as any of you guys.

Eliza wasn’t sure what to say. At first, Leah, for the most part, had seemed pretty happy-go-lucky. She had thought that Leah was more concerned about her small projects, but now she realized that Leah probably focused on them so that her worries wouldn't consume her. Leah continued.

“Leo constantly stands up for me; It’s always been like that. We were born in an auxiliary family in the temple, which apparently made it okay for the kids in the main family to pick on me. Leo wouldn't stand for that and then he would get hurt. I said that I blew up the temple's sanctum because they sold us out, but it was more than that. It was the only way I could think of that I could do to get back at them. He doesn’t know it, but every time he got hurt for my sake, It would hurt more than any pain I felt because of the other kids. But now…” She began to tremble, “...Now he got hurt defending me again. And I feel pathetic.

Eliza grabbed one of Leah’s trembling arms, causing Leah to look at her, “Don’t forget that your ability to weave and sew allowed you to alter my clothes and armor for me. You probably don't know, but armor that doesn't fit you may as well be a liability in battle. And if you didn't hold the torch, then we would be unable to see or fight, and we'd probably be dead. I can’t speak for Leo or Demitrus, but I can certainly say that you are not a burden to me.” Eliza said seriously, looking directly into Leah’s ruby-red eyes. "As for being a good fighter, that comes with experiences you haven't needed to have yet. So don't worry about it for now, and do what you can once we get out of here.

They stayed like that for a few moments until Leah teared up a started giggling. She broke eye contact to wipe the tears from her eyes and said, “Thank you. You're very strong, Eliza; I’m sure your parents would be proud.” She said with a small smile coming to her face.

It was Eliza’s turn to look away, a lump forming in her throat. She wished they could be proud of her too. However, as far as she knew, there was no afterlife for those accused of betraying the Gods. More than them being proud of her, she just wanted that place to exist. Then at least, she had a chance at seeing them again.

She swallowed the lump in her throat, “I hope so.” Was all she could say to Leah, her voice quiet and raw.

Leah smiled brightly, “They are, I’m sure of it. Let's get out of here.

Eliza took a deep calming breath and nodded to Leah, returning a small smile, pushing the thoughts of her parents away. Speculating about what had happened to them would get her nowhere, and she needed to escape first.

“Let's go,” Eliza said, steeling herself.

They had reached the food area at this point, and it didn’t take long for them to find their way back to the table where Leo sat. Leo didn’t react as they approached. Soon they were only a few tables away from him, and he didn’t seem to respond at all. It was strange to Eliza because he would generally notice them at this point.

When they were a couple of steps away, Leo shot up to his feet, turning on them. His body tensed up., and Eliza froze, and they all stood in a standoff.

“What do you want?” Leo snarled.

“What's wrong, Leo? It's us,” Leah said, speaking in a calming voice.

Upon hearing her voice, the tension left Leo’s shoulders, and he sunk back down into his seat. Letting out a sigh of relief.

“Oh, It's just you guys.” He said,

“What’s wrong? Did something happen?” Eliza asked, concerned; something was definitely going on.

Leo sighed, “it’s nothing; how did it go?”

“We got good news and bad news,” Eliza said, walking over to her seat. She kept an eye on Leo, and his blank gaze followed her as she walked like normal.

“Of course, Let's hear the bad news first.” He said,

“We pissed off Gary like planned, but unexpectedly, he is giving us all citizenship out of spite,” Leah said as she took her seat.

“What, why? He should think we believe it's a good thing to get citizenship. Why would he give it to us when you pissed him off?” Leo asked disbelievingly.

“I may have told him that we would never accept citizenship from the likes of him. For some reason, he decided to force it on us, reinforcing our idea that 'citizenship' isn't what they're telling us it is.” Eliza said, scratching her cheek.

“...Alright, what's the good news?” He asked.

“I suspect we’ll be ordered to go into Grimhold soon so that he can give us this ‘citizenship’ since he doesn’t know we're planning to escape, So we can leave before he can do so,” Eliza said

“Won’t do us any good unless we get these marks off us. Do either of you know what Demitrus’s status is?”

“Ready to go whenever you guys are.” A voice said from behind Eliza and Leah. Startled, Eliza spun around to see Demitrus standing with a wider-than-usual smile. In his hands, he held a book that stood out, not because of any grand design of any sort, a plain, brown hardcover, but because he was holding a book at all in a prison camp of all places.

Eliza wondered why he had it; maybe it was the book that Lycus was looking for.

“You have a bad habit of sneaking up on people,” Leo grunted.

“Naturally. I try to make my entrances as impactful as possible. Doesn’t work on you, though, unfortunately.” He strode forward and stood where he usually sat.

“Right, Did you hear everything?” Leo said as he stood up from his chair, it was subtle, but Eliza noticed him wince in pain as he stood up.

“About us leaving for Grimhold right now? I heard, and I’m ready to go. When we get into Grimhold, I’ll remove the marks.” He said lightly, bouncing on his feet. Eliza could tell that he was excited about something, and she would even go so far as to say he was anxious.

An officer approached the group, and they all fell silent. “Your squad is to go to the outpost your team helped secure; move out immediately.” He said dismissively before walking away.

“Does anyone need anything from the tent? Speak up now if you do.” Leo said, standing up.

Eliza couldn’t think of anything she would want, so she kept quiet. So did the other two.

“Alright, let's get going then. By tomorrow we’ll be out of this horrible place.” Leo said as he started walking in the direction of the armory. Eliza got up and started following behind him and the other two.

Eliza watched as Leo almost walked directly into a large stone. However, He managed to stop just shy of hitting it and walked around it. He usually had no issues walking around the food area., and something was very wrong. Thinking back, didn’t he say that he could see around him because he was channeling his Ki? If that were the case, then it would explain everything. He probably could barely see anything right now.

They walked out of the food area and joined a growing group of prisoners heading toward the armory. Presumably for the same reason as they were.

She looked at the other two to see if they knew they weren’t showing it. She mentally added it to the growing list of problems they needed to deal with, and she would bring it up with the group inside Grimhold when they had a more private setting.

They followed the group until they reached the armory and armed themselves. Once they were armed, they left the armory they were directed to head inside by a guard. The group met each other's eyes before silently heading in.