"I'm sorry, what?" Fiorella asked. She took a look at their helper. She looked to be in shock from the current ordeal, sitting on the couch with her hand covering her mouth in a desperate attempt not to puke. She was in a cold sweat, clinging onto the weapon.

"Priyanka, was it?" Capri asked, sitting down next to her. She felt the temperature around her fall.

"Yeah." Priyanka whispered. Fiorella tried taking the weapon from her, but she clutched it harder. She was practically attached to it, with her arm being the only thing that wasn't shaking.

"Sorry, darling. Can we have that back?" Fiorella asked.

"It's not yours!" She yelled out. Capri jumped back, but Fiorella stayed where she was.

"Well, I think we have a little more claim to it then you do."

"What?!" Priyanka screamed. "This is the Gurut hammer?"

"We know?" Fiorella replied.

"Well, what the fuck do you know about Gurut?" She kept going, hoisting the weapon over her shoulder. It was clearly too heavy for her, and Capri held onto the end a little bit in an attempt to give the support she clearly needed.

"What do you know?" Fiorella asked, getting a little fed up with her attitude. "Did your little trips to terrorize the people there help you learn about the country?"

"I've never been there, I just learned!" Priyanka replied through slanted eyes of disdain. "I know the grand was originally founded by Rashmi Bachchan, with the country he ruled working on stonework in the pre-sky era, more specifically the marble and basalt industries. And while it started off as a constitutional monarchy, it was among the first grands to adopt a democratic system, which was in part due to pressure from the stonework companies wanting more of a say. But the first elected ruler, Ravindra Banerjee, was able to strike a perfect balance between the two, leading to decades of prosperity-"

"Okay darling, we get it." Fiorella mumbled to herself. "So, tell me this. Did you ever do anything there?"

"Nope." Priyanka whispered. "Only the top fifty of the legion can go on missions to the place they were taken from. They said it was in case the community senses something wrong with you and attacks, but it was always in case you remembered someone there and didn't want to leave."

"I see, so what did you do for the Legion?"

"I…murdered the king of Sangaria."

The noise that emerged from Mia's throat was heard from the wheel room. Capri got up from the couch, and Fiorella stepped away in disgust. Fiorella summoned her axe and held it against Priyanka's throat. She didn't react beyond a slightly disturbed facial expression.

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"Well…I guess admitting to that is pretty brave." Capri chuckled, her eyes darting between the two women.

"Why did you do it?" Fiorella asked, the axe inching ever closer to her neck.

"We had to." Priyanka said. "Chelic gave the order, and there's no fighting back against those. The goal was to get the shield. We tried to sneak in, but Marcel got us at the last minute. He ended up fighting us, and we accidentally broke his neck."

"Accidentally?" Fiorella yelled. The axe stayed perfectly still.

"Yes!" Priyanka yelled out. The sweat was beginning to drench her clothes. "I didn't have a reason to kill anyone! That would have just made the escape way more complicated!"

"But you still did." Fiorella muttered.

"Look, Fio." Capri said, pushing the handle of the axe away from Priyanka's neck. "I get that she was Legion. But she stole the Hammer back from them and let us escape. Not to mention how pissed the guys on that level looked. So I'd say it's pretty obvious she's on our side."

Fiorella glared at her, but dematerialized her axe. Priyanka took the biggest hit of oxygen she ever took before slumping onto the couch.

Fiorella took another look at the hammer.

"How'd you get this past them, anyway?"

"Chelic's assistant let me." Priyanka said, staring into the ceiling with a strained look on her face. "I asked if I could look at the weapon after it was secured, and he let me while Chelic was with his girls. He watched as I observed it. I asked again a few more times, and he obliged. He sat me down and asked about why I was so obsessed with it, so I explained that it was the only connection to Gurut I was allowed to know about. He didn't say anything, but after that was my first mission outside."

"Just like that?" Capri asked.

"If I were to guess, he wanted me to build up enough of a good reputation so I could get permission to go there."

"But why would he do that?" Fiorella asked. "You had the relic, so what reason would he have to go back?"

"Maybe he wanted to do something nice?" Capri asked.

"Second in command of the Legion?" Fiorella asked through clenched teeth.

"Would Chelic and the other guy have issues?" Capri asked, looking at Priyanka.

"He just seemed like an assistant. But he always knew more than him, even if he tried not to show it. So maybe he had some agenda opposite him?"

"Who knows?" Fiorella sighed. "Look, I'm gonna go talk to Mia."

Fiorella approached Mia, who was driving the ship. Her eyes fixated dead on the empty skies. Fiorella sat on a supply box at the left side of the room.

"You hear all that?" Fiorella asked, her arms crossed.

"Perfectly fine." Mia said, not moving her eyes.

"What you make of it?"

"Of what?"

"Of the girl defecting. You think it's for real?"

Nearly every part of Mia's mind and soul was screaming not to let her. This was a legion member they were talking about. Letting her in would be suicide. If not to her or anyone close, to her career and credibility as a politician. And besides, this girl admitted to killing Marcel! Luminita wouldn't just let something like that sit idly by, and she had every reason to!

But one voice was slowly getting louder in her mind.

Zach.

Zach would welcome her. As much as she hated to admit it, both him and Cassandra had a point. A lot of those kids were sick, but at least just as many were just kids, as scared and confused about what was happening in there as she was. Zach and Cassandra were right. Demonizing them wasn't going to help anything. The young mind was like a sponge, and all the refusal does is ensure more mental holes for Chelic's poisoning to soak into. All it took was for one person to reach out and help.

"Fiorella, tell her she's with us now. Her clothes will be seized and replaced with new ones just in case of any traps on it. She'll also go through a full medical test. But minus that, I'll tell Gurpreet to work on finding her birth family."