The two men finished their rather lavish and caloric meal—extra decadent because the old couple thought Xard was looking a bit too thin. Which he probably was compared to how they remembered him. They lingered a bit longer when things were done to just chat and catch up. Since the restaurant was mostly empty at that time of morning, barring a few coming in to grab takeout, they could discuss more sensitive matters without fear of being overheard.

But when it was time to depart, they left out the side entrance towards the residential quarter. And they bumped into a woman that Xard didn’t know, but she seemed to know him. “Pleasant to see you again, Xard,” she courteously nodded her head. Her radiant strands of shining alabaster hair moved with her, like they were light itself. “I hope you are having a good morning on this fine day.”

“Uhh, who was that?” Xard asked once the woman was inside the restaurant, doing his best to try and place her. “She seems so familiar. The Beacon maybe? No, the build’s too different.”

“Haha, I can see why you’d struggle,” Tize could only laugh. “That was Kaizu.”

Xard’s entire head shuddered in shock, his mind refusing the possibility, so he gandered back over at Tize, desperate for an explanation.

“Like me, she became a Fiend through an alternative method,” the man elaborated. “After the tournament, after she nearly killed Nachi, Kaizu cut out killing entirely. But her Curse Marks didn’t like that. Things were fine at first, but she steadily got worse by the day. And eventually, the damned things drove her to madness and she snapped.”

“But fortunately, Gatrim was around and managed to subdue her. Though it wasn’t pretty or clean, and she nearly killed him. He was fine after some healing, but his eye was destroyed to the point that even Ahvra couldn’t fix it.”

“After that, Kaizu, uhh… she was so distraught that she… locked herself in her room and flayed herself. Crazy woman grabbed a dagger and peeled off every single Curse Mark until they were gone completely. And you know that almost her entire body was covered in them. How she didn’t die of blood loss I’ll never know.”

“But when she came back out a few days later, she was a Fiend with new pristine skin. Her only Curse Mark now is a small one on her eyelid. You can see it when she blinks or closes her eyes. It’s the same wound she gave to Gatrim.”

“Her Curse is something else. I let her test it out on me and barely survived. It hones in on your guilt and makes it tangible, summons sort of shadow-like creatures that will try to attack you. For me it was soldiers that I’d failed to save during my time in the military. Everyone can see them, but only the person she’s targeting can damage the specters.”

“And they don’t hold back either. For someone with heavy guilt, odds are they’ll die very quickly, unless Kaizu herself deactivates her Curse. But if you do manage to defeat your guilt and win, the prize is worth it. That guilt fades away, lifts out of your body and mind, and you feel relief like never before.”

“So it can be dangerous both ways. Either a big danger to whoever is feeling guilty, or even worse if a horrible person was able to shed their guilt. That said, when you head outside, you might want to take her with you. It’s a power best suited for one-on-one fights, but it’ll also serve as a great distraction.”

“How interesting, the lot of it,” Xard then spent a second pondering what his guilt would be, and decided it’d be better to not dive down that hole. “But how’s Gatrim doing? Is he adapting well with his injury?”

“Hmm, I’d say even better than before,” Tize mused for a moment. “Maybe not with fighting, though I’d say it hasn’t deteriorated. His aim took a while to get used to, but he’s back to his old form. As for himself as a person, I’d say he’s improved in leaps and bounds, really grown as a man and a member of this group.”

“He’s become instrumental and irreplaceable during the chaos of the past few months, really stepping up and taking charge with helping others. I’d even go so far as to name him my right-hand man throughout this. Whatever needs doing, he’ll get it done, and jumps to help however he can without anyone asking. There’s not a shred of that spoiled noble left. Now he’s a man who stands tall on his own. Though he’s still beaming with pride, it’s for what he does, not who he is.”

“Wow, that’s another change I didn’t expect,” Xard was pleasantly surprised. “I guess we really have been away for a long time.”

“Yes, and he’s who I’m taking you to see. It’s a big change, so it’s best to see it in person.” Tize led Xard towards the apartments until they got to a new building that was still under construction. “Hey Gatrim, come down here for a moment.”

Xard couldn’t see him at first, since he was silhouetted by the blinding morning sun. But Gatrim landed on the ground a second later, jumping from at least four stories up in the air. “Whatcha need, T— Oh, Xard! Hey there, welcome back. Good to see you again, sir!” The Memory performed an elegant bow.

Standing in front of him was not the man that Xard remembered. There wasn’t even a trace of pompousness or his previous superiority complex, carrying himself like a new man. It was if the air around him had completely changed, replaced with the same reliability that he felt when looking at Drim.

And the man’s looks had adapted as well. Instead of his usual noble vestments, he was significantly dressed down in some more casual garb—loose durable clothing more suited to construction work. He didn’t have his rapier, but still gingerly held the nail gun in his hand, as if he was ready to strike with it at any moment. It went along with a few other tools dangling at his hips.

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His golden locks had been tied back behind him, almost to the length it had been before he’d cut it. And between the scruff growing on his face and the eyepatch strewn over his right eye, the man had become rather rugged. As an appreciator of such things, Xard would go so far as to now call him downright handsome.

And that wasn’t the only surprise. “Are we taking a break then?” A woman swooped down from the construction as well.

“Sure, Ancett,” Gatrim nodded. “Kaizu should be back soon with our food anyways.” The woman then skated away upon hearing the news.

“Huh, never thought she’d join up,” Xard was starting to feel the weight of all these oddities piling, like he was a bit of a stranger in his own home.

“Well, she still really hasn’t,” Tize corrected. “She’s not a member or a resident, but rather a hired contractor. Per the terms she asked for, she assists us in projects but nothing more. Turns out her Curse is extremely useful for construction. Mostly she just holds things in the air for others.”

“Like a member, she gets room and board for her service, but that comes out of her salary instead. And as such, we can’t call on her for jobs or anything else. She divides her time pretty evenly between here and West, but she’s almost always working, so I wouldn’t expect to see her much. We also have a few Bisomote citizens under similar contracts who lost their jobs because of the siege.”

“I see,” Xard nodded along. “Well hopefully all of that will be over very shortly.”

“Let me know if you need help with anything,” Gatrim offered. “I’ll be around here somewhere. Haven’t been going on many jobs lately since there’s always so much to do. And while I wouldn’t mind a chance to fight again, I’ll go where people need me.”

“Thank you for all your hard work, Gatrim,” The Artillery expressed his gratitude. “I’ll be liberating Bisomote here shortly if you and Kaizu want to join.”

“Well that sounds like a more exciting day,” The Memory didn’t refuse the offer. “Alright, when Kaizu’s back, we’ll go get ready. I was going to suggest you visit the school, since Senli and the kids would love you see you I’m sure, but it seems you have bigger plans in mind.”

“Right you are,” Xard agreed. “Pleasantries will have to wait for a while longer. And don’t rush, I still need to get ready myself. But let’s meet out front of the mansion in an hour.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Gatrim’s eyes lit up with anticipation. “I shall fetch my rapier.”

“Well then, I guess we can’t keep dawdling around,” Tize moved things along. “Let’s get you to the mansion so you can get cleaned up and ready.”

It was a quick stroll over to the general's mansion, delayed a few times by Fiends and residents starting their day who wanted to speak to Xard and welcome him back. When they approached the mansion’s front door, it slammed open and they were bombarded with a greeting, but not from anyone the redhead expected.

“Babuu!” Drimini screeched with unfettered excitement. But then she saw who it was and slammed the door shut with one more grumbling, “babuu…”

“Sorry about that,” Tize stepped forward and opened the door again, the little plant girl nowhere to be found. “We think she’s entered the equivalent of her teenage years, not that we have any idea what her lifespan is. So don’t take it personally.”

That was a bit compounded by what Xard had briefly seen. The plant had appeared a bit taller, a bit more slender in form, and even a bit more humanoid. Maybe one day she’d be just like them. Hopefully not, since Xard always appreciated how unique she looked and how carefree she was, not to be bogged down by human drama and problems. But it seemed everyone still had to go through the pain of growing up, even her.

“Oh, and if you’re looking for Pox, he’s been mostly at West recently. He’s been a big help disposing of all the industrial trash from the construction there. Though he’ll come back to check up on Drimini just about every day, and they still go on adventures together.”

“You know it’s odd I haven’t seen Mallea yet,” Xard brought up suddenly as he looked around at the mostly unchanged mansion. To his surprise, it also had that same ever-so-slight layer of dust and use over time. Even if she was busy, it was hard to imagine. “I’m surprised she hasn’t come rushing out to ask about Drim yet.”

“Ah, Mallea she’s…” the tone in Tize’s voice changed and his voice turned stern. “She’s down in the lab. I’ll take you down to see them all when you get back from your mission. For now, enjoy your shower, and I’ll let you relax. But there’s one more thing I want to talk to you about when you’re done, before you face off against Humanity. I”m gunna go make my rounds in the meantime and make sure everyone’s got what they need.”

All that was a bit ominous, but Xard decided to take it at face value for now. On the way up to his room, the man did a quick poke in Drim and Phon’s rooms to confirm his suspicion that they’d been there. As expected, their combat gear was missing, but everything else was untouched. In Kada’s room, nothing was missing, so she wouldn’t have her anchor, but she probably wouldn’t need it anyways for what she was doing, and she could find new swimsuits anywhere.

Back to his room, Xard checked briefly to make sure everything was where it should be before heading into the shower. After a quick wash-off, he decided to head back out to the mansion’s large public bath, wanting to soak away the year’s worth of prison funk out of his body. That along with the meal he’d had earlier really made him feel like a person again.

It had been tough, extremely tough, and the man had almost reached his breaking point on more than one occasion. He often found himself wondering why Drim hadn’t put him to sleep too. Was he not worthy of the same salvation? But the answer he eventually settled on was that Drim believed in him, that it wouldn’t break him, and that’s what he leaned into.

And now with the task he’d been given, it could have been just what he’d needed to help him grow. Before that torment, he may not have had the stomach to carry out such an order, but now his skin had grown thick. He was ready to take on this burden, to become the axe of justice for the Fiendish King, to be his executioner.

After getting out of the bath, Xard dried himself off properly, not wanting to get his new clothes yet. Once he donned his combat suit, the man finally felt whole. And he barely winced as his rings merged with his nerves once, shivering at the surge of power. Xard then took one last look in the mirror, deciding if he wanted to cut his hair back to how it was. But in the end, he decided to leave it—slightly long and tied back. He felt it suited the new him.

Then Xard headed back outside, knowing it’d be just a bit longer before he could properly return home.