Chapter 37 Decisions and Determination – Cassis

It was only noon, and Cassis decided the best course of action was to speak with everyone involved in receiving this medal Brice had mentioned. This wasn’t something they could just accept without consulting the others.

Before making any moves, he pulled out his phone and called his mother.

“Hi, Mom. Officer Dan Brice just showed up here,” he began, keeping the revulsion out of his voice. “He told us about receiving a medal and asked for some other things. I think all of us should talk about it in person. Do you have the Morrisons’ and the Bristols’ phone numbers? Could you ask them if they have time this evening to talk about the situation?”

His mother didn’t hesitate. “Of course. I’ll call them now. I’ll call back you as soon as I hear from them.”

A few minutes later, his phone rang.

“They’re all home and can meet us in at around 7 o’clock at our house. Can you come here?”

“Yeah, that’s great,” he answered.

“Good. Then let’s do that,” she said, but her voice softened as she added, “When you come, be prepared. Matteo and Felicia… It’s been six years since we last saw them, and they’re so young. They don’t remember us at all. Matteo is distraught, but little Felicia—she hasn’t spoken a word since her parents…” She trailed off, not finishing the sentence.

Cassis swallowed hard. “Died,” he finished for her. His voice was rough, thick with emotion.

“Don’t bring it up,” his mother warned gently. “Just introduce yourselves, okay?”

He closed his eyes briefly, forcing himself to stay calm. “Yeah, we’ll be careful with them.” They would need a lot of emotional support. He knew his parents would care for them like their own children so they were in good hands.

The call ended, but he stayed still for a moment, gripping the phone tightly. He was so angry that this had happened. That two innocent children had been thrown into a nightmare.

But he couldn’t change that. In the other timeline, Matteo and Felicia had died along with their parents. He and Arianna had changed the future. They had done something incredible. So why couldn’t he feel proud of that instead of horrified?

He looked to Arianna and Helen, still feeling the intimidation aura coming from Arianna. It would take four hours to disappear. So, they were good to meet in the evening. He couldn’t bring her before the children with that aura. He thought back to their conversation with the soldiers. She had smiled so sweetly but her aura had greatly thrown them off. He had to laugh remembering that.

Still, having the meeting at 7 o’clock gave them at least four or five more hours of training. After that they would still have time to shower and drive to his parents’ house. It was good that Helen had driven their car to his apartment.

He told the other two about his thoughts and they agreed to train, though Helen did so excitedly and Arianna with a groan.

They made their way to the small park nearby and started with a light workout of running, then strength and balance exercises. At least, Cassis considered it so. Arianna, on the other hand, rolled her eyes when he called it a light warmup. He smirked but didn’t comment.

Once they finished, they moved on to their drills. Cassis stood back, watching Arianna as she practiced her bludgeon exercises. She was strong, her movements controlled and powerful, but something was… off. He had noticed it before, but until now, he couldn’t quite put it into words. It must have been the reason her skills hadn’t ranked up beyond Intermediate.

It was Helen who pinpointed the issue.

“Did you learn that movement from Cassis?” she asked Arianna.

Arianna nodded. Helen crossed her arms. “That explains it.”

Cassis turned to her, intrigued. “What do you mean?”

Helen tilted her head, studying Arianna’s stance. “It’s not that the movement is wrong, per se. It just doesn’t fit her body.” She turned to Cassis. “You’re a tall man with a lot of muscle mass in your upper body. That makes your centre of gravity higher, so the movement Arianna is using fits you perfectly. But Arianna is smaller, and most of her strength is in her hips and legs. Her centre of gravity is much lower than yours, so she needs to adjust her technique.”

Cassis thought about it. That explanation summed up perfectly what had been bothering him, though he hadn’t been able to articulate it. Arianna seemed satisfied as well.

“Is that always the case?” she asked. “Do all men and women have different centres of gravity?”

Helen shook her head. “Not always. It’s just an average trend—men are usually taller and have more upper body strength, while women tend to have more lower body strength. But it varies. Take me, for example. I’m almost as tall as Cassis. My build is smaller than his, but my centre of gravity is a lot closer to his than to yours.”

Arianna nodded again. “Then how should I change my movements? I can’t really feel if something is wrong because all these movements felt unnatural at first.”

Helen hummed in understanding. “Then let me guide you for a bit. I’ve helped out other women at ‘School.’”

She adjusted Arianna’s stance, changing the angles of her grip and swing. Then she had her try again.

This time, it looked right.

Helen smiled. “Just like that.”

Arianna continued drilling the movement while Helen turned to Cassis with a smirk. “I don’t think you need my help with training, dear nephew. How about a sparring match?”

Cassis felt a thrill of excitement. “Unarmed?”

Helen took her stance in answer.

They went at it, neither of them holding back. Cassis had to admit—Helen was good. Great, even. She didn’t have his raw strength or speed, but her technique and ability to anticipate his movements were incredible. They fought several rounds, trading victories. Sometimes he won. Sometimes she did. They were nearly evenly matched.

When they finally stopped, Helen looked at him with approval.

Cassis was embarrassed to realize how happy that made him—just like when he was a little boy, beaming whenever Helen praised him. Some things never change, he thought, feeling unexpectedly content.

Arianna, however, looked like she wanted to murder both of them. Her dark glare was almost comical.

“Let’s practice Parry and Deflect,” he said, ignoring her expression.

Arianna sighed but went along with it. She knew that she needed to get stronger and that this would help her. Helen helped her adjust some minor details in her posture while Cassis watched.

Before Arianna could do too many repetitions, he turned to her. “Can you buy Helen a basic knife?”

Helen raised an eyebrow. “I have a hunting knife.”

Cassis smirked. “I’d expect nothing less. But a pre-System knife won’t stand up to my sword, and then we can’t spar with weapons. You said you prefer knives, so let’s do that.”

Arianna shrugged and a moment later, she handed Helen a simple combat knife. Then she fixed both of them with a strict stare.

“If you get hurt, tell me immediately.”

Helen and Cassis exchanged amused glances before moving to their sparring positions.

With weapons in hand, they fought with the same intensity as before. Neither was afraid of getting injured, and soon enough, they had to ask Arianna for healing. Helen gutted Cassis once. He nearly took off her arm in retaliation. She gave him a deep slash across his leg, and he ran his sword through her shoulder. They weren’t fatal wounds, but they hurt.

Every time they turned to Arianna for healing, she scolded them.

But Cassis didn’t care.

Sparring with Helen like this—it felt right. She understood what it meant to fight for survival. For the first time in a long while, he felt closer to his aunt than ever before.

When they finally stopped for the last time, Helen looked at him with pride in her eyes. He smiled.

Afterward, they headed home, showered, changed, and then drove to his parents’ house.

As they got into the car, Cassis explained his thoughts about Matteo and Felicia to Arianna. She listened quietly before nodding. “That makes sense. We should be there for them.”

Then she made Cassis drive so she could help Helen with her Mana Sight. Other than her soft instructions from the back the drive was quiet, the mood weighed down by everything that had happened.

When they arrived at his parents’ house, his mother greeted them at the door. “Oh, my sweet boy,” she murmured, pulling him into a warm hug. Then she turned to Arianna and hugged her just as tightly, causing Arianna to stiffen slightly before melting into it.

Even his father hugged him, clapping him on the back. Then he turned to Arianna. “Is it alright if I hug you?”

She smiled and nodded, allowing a brief but warm hug.

Liam, standing awkwardly off to the side, simply waved at everyone. Arianna responded by waving and giving him her typical sweet smile.

Cassis then turned his attention to Matteo and Felicia.

“Hey there,” he greeted gently. “I’m Uncle Cassis, and this is Aunt Arianna.”

The titles weren’t technically correct—he was their cousin once or twice removed, something he never really understood himself—but this was probably the easiest way for them to process the connection. He was old enough to be their uncle, so he would be their uncle.

Matteo looked up at him, his expression distant. He greeted them, but his voice was hollow, his eyes dull. Felicia remained silent.

Cassis nodded, understanding their feelings better than these children could know but probably still not understanding their full grief. He had lost his parents in the other timeline. He hadn’t seen it but came upon the aftermath with half-eaten body parts strewn throughout the living room and blood splatters everywhere. These children had lost their parents in the most brutal way imaginable, watching it happen. It would take time—possibly years—and a good psychologist to help them heal.

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For now, his mother gently guided them away. “Come on, let’s play something,” she encouraged. Distraction was probably the best thing for them at the moment.

By 7 p.m., the guests had arrived.

The Morrisons—Benny, his wife Elena, his father Joseph, and their children, five-year-old Noah and baby Jessica—came first. Not long after, the Bristols—Luke, Nadine, and their eight-year-old daughter Violet—joined them.

Cassis’ parents’ house wasn’t big enough to host this many people comfortably, so they made do. The dining table was surrounded by their usual chairs, plus a few desk chairs still there from the first wave to make space for everyone. His mother was still with Matteo and Felicia, keeping them distracted, so she wasn’t present for the discussion.

Noah and Violet briefly said hi to everyone and then went to find his mother. They had become very attached to each other. Not surprising considering what they went through. Benny then put Jessica and her stroller in one corner of the room.

Once everyone settled, Cassis got straight to the point.

He explained what Officer Dan Brice had told them earlier about receiving a medal for their actions during the first wave. The others already knew about the offer as Brice had visited his parents’ neighbourhood before Cassis’.

Most of them were fine with the idea of accepting the medal—it was, after all, a recognition of what they had done. But when Cassis mentioned that the government would gain the right to recruit them in emergencies, the room fell silent.

He had expected that reaction. Brice wouldn’t have told them that.

Before anyone could voice their concerns, he pulled out the contract Brice had shown him. “They included a written promise that they won’t use this as an excuse to draft us into service,” he said. “It’s legally binding.”

Joseph Morrison, Benny’s father, frowned as he skimmed the document. “I don’t like public affairs like this,” he admitted. “But I understand why the government is doing it. They need people like us to keep morale up.”

That seemed to ease some of the tension in the room. One by one, the others nodded, agreeing to accept the medal.

With that settled, Cassis moved on to the next topic.

“Arianna and I made another deal with them,” he said. “We agreed to train some of their soldiers. In return, we’ll gain access to the government-controlled dungeons.”

That caught everyone’s interest.

“Then you should train us too,” Benny said immediately.

“I want in,” Luke Bristol added.

Joseph nodded. “If we’re going to fight more, we need to be prepared. After all, that was only the ‘first’ wave. That means other will follow.”

To Cassis’ surprise, Liam spoke up as well.

“I want to train too.”

Cassis turned to his little brother, surprised. Liam had always been the quiet, reserved type. Even now, sitting among people he had fought for survival with, he still seemed slightly uncomfortable. But there was something new in his eyes—determination.

For a brief moment, Cassis saw the memory of Liam standing beside him during the first wave, fighting with a desperation that had shocked him.

He’s changed, Cassis realized.

A surge of pride filled his chest.

Arianna glanced at him, silently asking if they should agree. He nodded.

“Alright,” she said. “We can train all of you over the next few days.”

That led to a brief discussion about logistics. Cassis’ parents’ house was already full—his parents, Liam, Helen, plus Matteo and Felicia. There wasn’t space for him and Arianna to stay as well.

“We have a guest room,” Nadine Bristol offered. “You’re welcome to stay with us.”

Luckily, Cassis and Arianna had anticipated staying for a night or two and had packed overnight bags. It worked out perfectly.

With that settled, the conversation shifted to the Awakener Bureau.

Luke and Nadine were both going to work there, and Arianna took the opportunity to clarify something.

“Cassis and I will be working with the Bureau,” she said. “But not for it.”

Nadine nodded, while Luke chuckled. “I expected as much,” he said. “And honestly? It’s a smart move.”

Luke had already been a government worker for a few years. He had just been transferred to City Hall because he and Nadine had finally managed to buy a house here. He knew how the system worked.

“I’ve seen too much corruption in my old position,” Luke admitted. “I’m hoping to keep the Bureau as clean as possible, but the reality is… government structures don’t change overnight. It’ll be a fight.”

Cassis leaned back in his chair, considering Luke’s words.

“Then it’s better if we stay independent,” he said. “That way, if anything does go wrong, we can put pressure on the government to keep the Bureau running properly.”

Luke smiled. “Exactly.”

The conversation shifted again, this time to training other Awakeners.

“It would be great if the Bureau could also train new Awakeners,” Cassis said. “You and Nadine will have more access than we do. Can you push for that?”

Nadine exhaled, thinking it over. “I’ll try,” she promised. “But first, we need more people actually working at the Bureau.”

That was a fair point.

Then Helen spoke up. “We’ve also been working on a different project,” she said, leaning forward. “We’re planning to launch a website with information from Sapphire.”

That immediately caught Elena’s attention.

“You’re making a website?” she asked, eyes lighting up.

Helen nodded. “It’ll be a place where people can find reliable Awakener-related information. We want it to be a mix of educational content, dungeon reports, and news updates.”

Elena practically jumped at the idea.

It turned out she worked in the Social Media field advertising and posting there for the company she worked at. She thought this was an excellent opportunity—not just for goodwill, but for building a strong network and even making some money.

“Do you have anyone in mind to advertise the site and maintain your Social Media?” she asked.

Helen glanced at Cassis. He shook his head thinking of Ben. “Not really. We know of someone who can probably create the site and maintain it, but advertising is something different, right?”

Elena grinned. “Yes, those are different jobs. Mine involves analysing trends and keeping up the online presence. Those pesky algorithms are hard to understand. I also deal with the press. I want the job.”

She was very direct about it. Cassis liked that. He preferred people who got straight to the point. After a brief discussion, they agreed to work with her. They already knew and trusted her, and having someone they could rely on in this role would be invaluable.

Things were moving forward.

After they decided to hire Elena, Cassis cleared his throat and glanced at Arianna. It was time to bring up another major topic.

“There’s something else we need to discuss,” he said, looking around the table. “Arianna and I are planning to form a guild.”

That got everyone’s attention. Even Helen raised an eyebrow, intrigued.

“The guild system was explained to us by Sapphire,” he continued smoothly, the lie now easily spilling from his lips. “It’s structured like this…”

He then laid out the system, explaining how it worked like a company with different divisions and sections. He emphasized the hierarchy of guild members, the ways they could be paid—whether in money, equipment, monster parts, or items—and the quest system that allowed members to earn small amounts of experience.

But the most important part, the part that made everyone sit up straighter, was the enforced loyalty clause.

“The system itself prevents betrayal,” Cassis explained. “Anyone who joins will be bound to the guild and its members. If someone betrays us, they’ll lose everything they gained through the guild.”

Silence hung in the air for a moment as everyone absorbed the information. Then Luke, ever the pragmatic one, asked, “And what counts as betrayal?”

“Good question,” Arianna answered. “The guild master and vice masters can designate someone as a traitor if they provide sufficient evidence to the system.”

Liam whistled softly. “That’s… a big deal. No backstabbing. No corruption.”

“Exactly,” Cassis nodded. “This ensures that the guild will stay strong, with people we can trust.”

Joseph leaned back, rubbing his chin. “And who will be the guild master?”

Cassis met his gaze. “Me.”

No one looked surprised. Helen smirked slightly, and Arianna gave him an encouraging look.

“And the vice masters?” Nadine asked.

“Arianna will be one, of course,” he replied. “For the other position… we haven’t decided yet.”

Elena, still processing everything, finally spoke up. “So, this guild… do you want it to be big? Or more of an elite group?”

“Elite,” Arianna answered immediately. “At least at first. We don’t want just anyone joining.”

Benny nodded thoughtfully. “This could work. But it also means we’ll have to be careful about who we recruit.”

Cassis smiled. “That’s why we’re bringing it up now. We want people we trust involved from the start.”

There was a brief pause, then Helen grinned. “Sounds like fun. Count me in.”

Cassis chuckled. “I figured.”

The discussion shifted slightly as they began talking about what their guild could look like, who might be good recruits, and how they would balance it with their other responsibilities. But in the back of his mind, Cassis knew—this guild was going to change everything.

But the discussion was far from over.

Arianna shifted in her chair, exhaling slowly before bringing up the next topic.

“The experience-sharing bracelet,” she said.

Cassis felt the headache before it even started.

The bracelet was an incredible item, capable of sharing experience with others. It was, however, a double-edged sword. They could use it to prepare children approaching their fourteenth birthday, ensuring they had a better chance of survival. But the cost? Their own advancement.

Cassis and Arianna couldn’t afford that.

He clenched his fists under the table, ashamed of the words forming in his throat. Even feeling this way left a bitter taste in his mouth. But there was no avoiding it.

“Arianna and I can’t be the ones to wear them. They're items that bind to their owners. That means nobody else can use them,” he said finally.

He forced himself to meet their eyes. “All our plans—working with the government, the Awakener Bureau, putting pressure on the government, the website, the guild—all of that depends on us being strong. The strongest.”

Silence.

Then Joseph sighed, rubbing his temples. “That’s understandable,” he admitted.

“We get it,” Benny added. “It’s not an easy choice, but… we all feel the same.”

Everyone who had fought to protect baby Jessica had received a bracelet. And they, too, struggled with giving up their own experience. They needed to become stronger—not just for themselves, but to protect their children.

Then Helen spoke, voicing the concern from their previous conversation. It had been nagging at Cassis since they got the bracelets.

“We can’t give them to the government. I don’t want them to get any ideas about child soldiers. Most people in our government are good and work for peace and equality. But in every organization, there are some bad ones mixed in. They would become too powerful to stop them, eventually.”

A chill settled over the room.

Luke was the first to nod. “It’s a possibility,” he admitted grimly.

Arianna said. “But the bracelets are too valuable to just sit around with us, unused. They could save the lives of countless teenagers. The best thing to do is put them in the hands of an organization—preferably a nonprofit—that advocates for children.”

For a moment, no one spoke.

Then Liam hesitated before saying, “I know someone who works at an NGO called Justice for Children. Their main goal is to protect children.”

Benny perked up. “I’ve heard of them. I actually wrote an article about them for the paper once.”

That caught Cassis’ attention. “Are they trustworthy?”

Benny nodded. “They have a low corruption rate, and all their projects are well thought out. They’ve actually done things instead of just talking about it. They maintain orphanages and women’s shelters all over the world. They have also started some initiatives for free school lunches in the countries that haven’t done that yet. They employ social workers who can support struggling parents in raising their children. They also have a helpline for children and teenagers. There they can just talk about their problems or get real advice and sometimes help. They finance themselves through donations.”

Cassis glanced at Arianna, who raised an eyebrow. They were thinking the same thing.

He turned back to Liam. “Is your friend one of the higher-ups?”

Liam hesitated, probably knowing why Cassis was doubtful. He was just a student, twenty-three years old. His friends would be around his age. But then Liam nodded.

“He’s a little older than me. We met while partying, actually. And yeah, he’s one of the administrators there.”

Cassis nodded slowly. “Then get us in contact with him. If we feel he’s trustworthy, we’ll give him the bracelets.”

The others agreed, deciding that only Cassis, Arianna, and Liam should go. They trusted their judgment.

That trust weighed heavily on Cassis. He wasn’t sure if he deserved it. He wasn’t sure anyone should be trusted with something like this. But he didn’t voice those thoughts. Instead, he changed the topic.

“Alright,” he said. “Let’s talk about training. We start tomorrow morning. Meet here again, and Arianna and I will do our best to help you.”

A loud voice suddenly interrupted.

“Me too!”

Cassis turned just in time to see Matteo burst into the room, eyes burning with determination.

“I want to train too!” he demanded.

Cassis blinked in surprise.

“Matteo, I don’t think—” his father started, but the boy cut him off.

“Uncle Cassis,” Matteo said, locking eyes with him. “You’re training the others. I saw the video of your fight. I want to fight like you.”

Cassis hesitated. He knew intellectually that Matteo would have to fight later on, but it felt terrible knowing you had to prepare a child to fight for their life. But looking at him now, he realized he had underestimated Matteo. He wasn’t really a child anymore and he was determined.

“Why?” Cassis asked, his voice serious.

Matteo didn’t shout this time. Now that someone was taking him seriously, his tone was calm.

“I will kill all the monsters that killed my parents,” he said simply. “I’ll be fourteen in seven months. Then I can fight them. I won’t lose anything again.”

His eyes shimmered with unshed tears, but he didn’t break eye contact.

Cassis understood those eyes.

They burned with revenge—but also with the drive to survive, to fight, to never let anything be taken from him again.

He knew those eyes well. He had seen them in the mirror for fourteen years.

Cassis exhaled slowly and nodded. “Alright.”

His mother had come downstairs at the commotion, about to protest. But he stopped her with a simple hand gesture. There was no point in arguing. Matteo had already made his decision.

“But there will be rules,” Cassis continued.

Matteo straightened, listening intently.

“First. You follow my orders—during training and in real fights.”

“Second. You take training seriously. No slacking off.”

“Third. When you do fight once you turn 14, at least two adults must be with you. And I have to verify them myself.”

Matteo nodded without hesitation. “Deal.”

Then he turned and walked back upstairs.

His mother watched him go, sadness in her eyes. Then she looked at Cassis. She didn’t say anything.

Cassis hoped—prayed—he had done the right thing. Arianna rubbed his shoulder soothingly from his side. She hadn’t stopped him. Did she think the same?

The parents at the table exchanged glances. One day soon, they would have to have this conversation with their own children too.