"Are you sure we can't..." Aoife glanced up at my question. Her raised eyebrow made me a lot more nervous than it should have. Social anxiety hadn't been that big a thing when I was dealing with life and death, but now that things were back to normal one pretty girl with a dubious expression was all it took to leave me tongue-tied. "You know..." God damn it, Kevin, focus. "Un-Bequest me?"

"I'm afraid not." Aoife brushed a strand of the glorious midnight she called hair away from her face. She stood primly at the back of the boat, one hand on the rudder. This boat was a lot fancier than Patrick's ice raft had been. Smooth wood shone in the light of the setting sun. It was all graceful, elegant curves, with a small mast that Aoife hadn't bothered with. The thing moved through the water by itself, because of course it fucking did. "Once you've accepted the Bequest, the only way to remove the power is to die."

"And die all the way," the Blue Knight added. "The Armor won't let go if there's any chance you can be brought back."

I sighed. "So Nynyane can't..." Nynyane had said the same thing, but I didn't want to believe her. "Can't strip it away of something?"

"If she could do that, she'd have done it to Roderick." Mike pointed out. He was sprawled on his back at the front of the boat, one hand tucked behind his head while the other held the apple he was munching on. "Without their powers, we could run right over 'em."

"Fuck." I looked out at the approaching shore. The little pier we'd originally came from had been shattered, as had a good portion of the concrete ramp that led down into the water. The Servant had made a mess of the place. There were dents and gouges all along the shoreline, along with uprooted bushes and a number of fallen trees. The good news was that the damned thing was gone. We weren't sure it would be.

"I don't get it, man" Mike talked around his mouthful. "Why'd you want out? We got bulletproof armor, super strength, and we can do fucking magic. Shit, man, we saved the world. What's not to like?"

I gave him a flat look. "Our friends are dead."

Pain and sorrow flashed through the Red Knight's face. It took him a minute to reply. "They wouldn't be," he said softly, "if we'd had the power."

"I didn't want this," I continued. I closed my eyes. A future filled with blood and death danced behind them. "I'm not a fighter. I don't want..."

I heard footsteps. A hand pressed into my shoulder. Too small to be Mike's. I opened my eyes to see Aoife. She put her other hand on me, eyes serious. "Destiny does not always call on the willing," she told me. "You were chosen because you are who we need."

"I don't...." Her gaze was too much. I looked down. My chest was tight. "I don't believe in destiny."

"The best Knights never do," said the Daughter in White. She released me and stepped back. "I know you didn't ask for this. I am sorry."

It was the sorry that did it. I started to shake. My vision blurred. I turned, leaning on the side of the boat, trying not to sob. I failed. I wept.

Another hand clamped down on my shoulder. Mike's this time. "It's okay, man. Let it out."

I cried harder. Mike stayed, one hand on my shoulder, looking over the side of the boat like he couldn't see what I was doing. The worst of it passed after a minute or so. I didn't have a tissue or anything, so I settled for wiping my nose with my hand and smearing it on my jeans. I didn't look at anyone, but when I could speak I said, "I'm not usually a crier."

"We know." Mike patted my back and stepped away. "It's aftermath."

I spared him a confused glance before facing the shore again. "What?"

"Aftermath," the Red Knight explained. He sat back down at the front of the ship. "You spent the last few days in emergency mode. Life and death shit. Fear and pain and dead friends you didn't have the chance to grieve. Now that it's over, all that shit's hitting you at once." I wasn't looking at him, but I could still hear him shrug. "It's just the way it works, man."

"Yeah?" I glared out at the lake. "Then why are you ok?"

"Hasn't hit me, yet." Mike shrugged again. "I've probably got a couple more days before I fall apart."

"Ain't no shame in it," said Patrick. "It was the same for me, the first couple times. It gets easier."

"Or at least you get better at dealing with it," said Mike. "It'll be alright. You'll see."

Would it? I looked over at Mike. He didn't talk much about his time in the army. Not even when he was drunk. From what little he did say, I knew he'd seen some shit. He'd come out of it alright, though. Right? He was mostly the same as he'd been before. Only he drank a lot more. Got in barfights. Told dumb jokes and refused to take anything seriously. He was functional, I guess. Had a good job, kept his finances in order. Chased tail but didn't go crazy with it. But I know he didn't sleep much, and he had nightmares when he did.

Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

No, I decided. Mike wasn't alright. Mike might never be alright. I might never be alright, either.

"As for the fighter thing?" Mike bulled ahead, "I don't know. You killed a lot of things this week. I think you did pretty good."

"Both of you did," said Patrick. "You're not the kind of Knight I'd expected, but you got the goods. We wouldn't have made it without you."

We reached what was left of the boat launch soon enough. Patrick helpfully used his powers to make a new pier out of ice. It wouldn't last long, but it kept us from getting our feet wet.

"Thank you again," said Aoife. She smiled with sad eyes. "You saved my mother, you saved my home, and you saved me." She reached out and hugged the Blue Knight. "And you brought me my father."

She gave each of us a hug in turn. Then she said goodbye and got back on the boat. Patrick walked with us a little further up the pier.

"Can I-" Mike started.

"No." Patrick cut him off.

"You didn't even let me finish," The Red Knight protested.

"Hell, no."

"Come on, man," Mike wheedled. "She's older than you are. It's not like she needs-"

"I said hell no," said the Blue Knight, "And that's final."

"What will you do, now?" I asked him.

"I don't know, yet," Patrick admitted. "I'm gonna stay in Avalon a while. Catch up with Nynyane. Get to know my daughter." He looked back at the boat. Aoife waved. Mike waved back, grinning his trademark "Hide your Moms" grin. Patrick threw him a glower. "And I'm gonna need to do some recruiting. We got a bunch of Bequests now without a wielder." He adjusted his long brown coat. "Meantime, you two need training. Come back here next Saturday at sunrise." He ran a hand over his afro. "Assuming you ain't in jail."

"I've got a plan for that," Mike assured him.

"I hope it works," the Blue Knight shook his hand, then mine. "It's been real. I'll see you next week."

We watched the two of them take their magic boat back out onto the lake. Aoife started chanting, calling the mists. Apparently any priestess of Avalon could do it, and they could take you anywhere with a decent body of water. It had been the main way Knights traveled the world.

"So what's your plan?" I asked Mike.

"Plan?"

"You said you had a plan to keep us out of jail," I reminded him.

"Oh, right." He was looking around, distracted. "Uh, dude?"

"What?"

"Where's your car?"

Now that he'd said it, I noticed what was missing. The little dirt parking lot in front of the pier was empty. That couldn't be right. I closed my eyes. When I opened them, the car was still gone. It couldn't be. I looked around in increasing alarm. "Where the fuck is my car?"

We found it a good two hundred yards from the pier. It was upside down next to a tree. It had been well and truly totaled. As my string of profanity rang across the lake, Mike pulled out a cigarette. "Only got one left," he mourned.

I continued to curse.

"Yeah, that sucks." Mike lit the smoke and took a drag before passing it over. "You've got insurance, right?"

"Liability."

"Oh." He passed the cigarette over. "I guess you need this more than me."

I inhaled the nicotine, staring at the remains of my car. It was official. I'd lost everything. My job. My house. All my stuff. All I had left were the clothes on my back and twenty three dollars in my bank account. "I don't know if I can deal with this."

"Yeah," said Mike. "Could be worse, though. At least we got some sleep. And Aoife's fish stew was pretty good."

"We've lost everything, Mike."

"Not everything," Mike corrected. "I'm pretty sure my truck's still in one piece. And we've got magic swords and shit." He started digging in his pocket. "And cell phones."

"Who you calling?" I asked.

"The police," said the idiot. "I'm sure they'll be happy to give us a ride."

I stared at him. "Seriously? You want to do this now?"

The idiot shrugged. "We might as well get it over with." He dialed.

"We're out of cigarettes," I reminded him.

"Oh." Mike hung up. "Good point."

"I'll call Stephanie," I decided. "We can stop by a gas station before we go see the cops." I pulled out my own phone. "So what was your plan?"

"Huh?" Mike frowned.

"You're plan for the cops?" I reminded him.

"Oh, right." Mike tucked his cell phone back into his pocket. "It's easy. We'll tell them everything."

"Everything?" The look I gave him was dubious.

"Yeah."

"You want to tell the police that we were attacked by vampires." I upgraded from dubious to incredulous. "And that we then hit Vegas, chopped up a sorcerer, and went to a magic island to fight a God?"

"Pretty much."

"That's stupid," I told him. "There's no way they'd believe that shit."

"You don't think so?" The Armor of the Red Knight appeared, encasing his body. Drynwyn appeared in his hand. The sword blazed to life, launching a blast of fire into the sky. "Cause I think they will."

"Ok..." I frowned. "You might have a point, there."

"And if they don't," Mike continued, "We get to do a jailbreak. With superpowers!" The idiot grinned.

"Let's try not to do that." I upgraded my frown to an eyeroll. "We're already homeless. We don't need to be fugitives, too."

"Are you still on about that?" Mike shook his head. "I told you we've got insurance."

I gave him a look. "And is insurance going to get us a new house tonight?"

Mike shrugged. "We'll work something out." He clapped a hand on my shoulder. "Look. I know it's been rough. We lost a lot and we've got a lot of problems. But we'll be alright. We'll make things alright. Cause that's what we do. That's why we're heroes."

I scratched my head, considering his words. We'd saved Nynyane. Saved Avalon. Saved the world, even. We'd killed monsters and sorcerers and a God. We'd fought and bled and sacrificed, and in the end we'd come out on top. I took part in that. I did what I had to do. But hero? I didn't feel like one. "I don't want to be a hero," I decided. "Being a hero sucks."

"I know," Mike turned serious for a moment. "It's not like I never read Spiderman." He pulled out his cell phone. He'd noticed that I was stalling, too afraid to call Stephanie myself. "I'll tell you what I learned from the Army. Fighting's dangerous, but it's not the hardest part. The hardest part is picking up the pieces. Putting yourself back together when it's done."

The sound of a car snapped my gaze to the road in front of us. A jeep was coming around the bend. Finder's jeep. Stephanie was riding shotgun. Mike smiled and put his phone way. "Besides, we've got a friend that can see the future. I'm pretty sure we'll be ok."