Chapter 18

* * *

After sitting with everyone for half an hour, I suddenly realized how overwhelmingly tired I was, not physically, but rather mentally. I wanted to go back to my room, just to be alone, to digest everything, so to speak, and, claiming that I wanted to sleep, I said goodbye, packed my things, and left the party.

Of course, I was not going to sleep, as I had told the boys. As soon as I went back to my room, I closed the door and shook the dust off the table. I turned on the computer, threw off my jacket and shoes, and sat down in a chair. To immerse me in the net and read what viewers and rare professionals had written about the past tournament. I did not want to do it in front of the team because I know that most will criticize both the organization and all participating teams. So why am I going to read all this? Because even in a sea of faeces you can find a really valuable opinion, and I have long ago developed an almost total immunity to online criticism and trolls. But my plans weren't going to come to fruition as I had barely clicked on the link when there was a knock on the door.

Weird? I'm not waiting for anyone. Illea? So it's a full moon tonight, and it's almost eleven o'clock. Even friends don't go out this late on a day like this. It's tradition. Daas? No, he won't come first, that's for sure. It can't be any of the Goons either, I said goodbye to them not more than a quarter of an hour ago, and they know my phone number. Maybe one of the neighbors, but I don't know any of them.

I went to the door and opened it without even asking "Who's there?" There was a very beautiful woman standing at the threshold; it was hard to tell her age in the semi-darkness of the corridor, but I feel she was older than Illea. She was dressed in a deliberately simple, casual way: skinny jeans, tall, high-quality leather boots, a light jacket over a light jumper, and a folded umbrella in her hands. Her light brown, slightly curly hair fell to her shoulders, which, together with her incredibly bright, emerald-colored eyes, gave the stranger an unusual, almost mystical charm. I've never seen this woman before, but I know exactly who stands before me. I'm sure there's not a hint of error in my guess.

"How long?" Instead of "hi" or "hello", much less "how can I help you?", I ask my guest. In response, without saying a word, she waves her eyelashes and tilts her head slightly, as if to ask. "How long have you been meddling in my life?" I repeat the question directly.

"Why do you think..." That voice, the intonation, yes, I'm not wrong.

Without letting her finish, I close the door in front of her and flick the latch loudly in defiance.

One...

Two...

Three...

"Okay." A very theatrical sigh from outside the door. "I'll say this, your injury and broken hand... not exactly an accident..."

I open the door and swing it open for my guest.

"Come in." An inviting gesture. "Have a seat." I swung the chair towards her. "Tell me." I settled myself on the bed, sitting in the lotus position.

With an elegant and very feminine movement, she removes her jacket and takes a seat in the offered chair, having first kicked off her shoes. Her movements are so refined and plastic it is not wrong to say there is a master of martial arts. A martial artist of the highest caliber. With all the training I've gone through in the last two and a half months, and even with my legendary Face, she would kill me without too much trouble. Kill me with a single movement of a well-groomed brush. I am aware of that, but I am not afraid of her at all. For some reason, I am so important to her that she came on her own, in person, given that she hasn't even visited her brother in years.

For a minute and a half, we stare at each other with frank curiosity. During this time, I realize that my games of silence, of trying to manipulate her at the level of gestures and facial expressions against her foresight, are somehow quite child's play.

"If you want tea, there's a kitchen block behind you. Use it." with a subtle chuckle, I offer, realizing I'm going to lose the staring game.

A second, and she's already rummaging through the kitchen drawers, turning on the kettle. Gaia, one zero in her favor. I was pretty sure she would refuse my offer.

"Shall I make you some tea?" Kronos, the way she does it. I feel like I'm her guest!

"With bergamot on the top shelf, with one sugar cube." I'm having a hard time pronouncing it without hissing, but I seem to have managed it. "And how much do mercenaries cost? How much is hiring for Prayer now?"

"What do you mean?" The guest asks in a mundane voice, taking out a second cup.

"Since my injury is not an accident, I am curious about this particular aspect." I need to at least knock her down a little bit, just a little bit, to regain my confidence, which is melting inside me with every passing second, like a piece of ice thrown into the mouth of an active volcano.

"I have no reason to act so bluntly." The guest shrugged her shoulders without turning to me. She was busy making tea. "It was enough to go to the university forum in the section where they discuss applicants and various changes in admissions... And write a few lines about the innovation regarding the changes in general scholarship places in favor of the new intake with cybersports scholarships." One lump of sugar goes into the mug under her right palm. "And since the main visitors to these forum threads are parents of prospective students..." The kettle boils, and she pauses briefly. "Let's just say it was quite enough." Turning to me at these words, she tilts her head slightly and asks with genuine curiosity. "As much as I think about it, I can't understand what you're so unhappy about."

That simple question almost made all my self-control go away completely! Oh, wow?! She really doesn't understand?!!

"When you're manipulated, not many people like it..." It's very hard to make your voice sound quiet and calm.

"Did something bad happen to you? An injury? So I knew it was temporary... But what would you be if it hadn't happened? Have you ever thought about it that way? So you don't have to have my talent to make your future read like an open book in that case. Doesn't it? Championship? Don't be ridiculous. You know very well what your level was without the Face of Ulysses." I don't keep track of my face, and she continues, shaking her head slightly. "Exactly. That's what surprises me..." The guest turned away, making tea. "You know what I mean, but you hate me so much that you can't say simply thank you."

She's driving me so mad right now that I want to grab a chair and drop it on her head! It is only the realization of the utter futility of this action that is stopping me.

"I... don't believe... in the gratuitous kindness... of strangers." And I don't care if my voice trails off into a hiss. I don't care anymore. Playing against her? I have to admit I'm trivialized to such a confrontation. And since there's no chance in that, then to Cronos all these games.

"That's it!" She returns to her chair, handing me a full cup of scaldingly hot tea. "Business talk at last. I thought you'd be swimming in your anger and playing word games until morning." Before I could snap back, she raised her palm in a gesture I knew so well. I've seen it performed more than once by my boss. "Then... I suggest we make it simple..." Her lips touch the edge of the cup, and only after taking a small sip, she finishes. "I'll just tell you everything, and then you can ask any questions you want."

"Any?!" To say I'm surprised is a massive understatement.

"When I tell you, you'll understand." She nods, and I can't tell if she's lying or not! I can detect a lie, even by Ten Daas, but she...

She is generally a blank wall, or rather water, which flows and adjusts to the interlocutor, reflecting but not showing its true essence.

"Good." Gaia, why is the tea so hot?!

"Then listen... I can't completely control my talent. Sometimes I get to see what I want to see, but most of the time it's a spontaneous process. People, places, names, pictures, plots, often I don't know what I see at all when and who. Often, but not always, of course. The closer a person is to me, the more often my visions concern their life, their interests, and their future. More precisely, options for the future." This makes sense to me. Daas explained about the options quite clearly. "Nine months ago I first saw..." Oh! There's the first real expression of emotion in the guest's voice!

"I saw my brother die." Hot tea went up my nose, and it hurt! Only my surprise was so great that I hardly felt the pain. "The next day the vision repeated itself... I tried to see other options, knowing from experience that human destiny is not a one-way street and there are always options. But then, a diamond cut diamond. Too much of Dan had merged with his Face, so much so that no matter how much I Watched, I couldn't see my brother celebrating or just marking his thirty-fifth birthday... No... There was no such future, no matter how hard I tried to see, to discern... Empty... It's hard, time after time, to see the death of the closest person..." Hard? You couldn't tell it from her. She was completely calm and unemotional. You could only tell from the small micro pauses in her speech that she was really feeling.

"Different deaths, for different reasons, sometimes completely ridiculous and impossible... There is no fate, but the bond of souls is so strong and influences us so strongly that... However, you already know that. Dan leads himself to his doom, step by step, inexorably bringing it closer, escaping one trap, he confidently sticks his head in the next..."

"Should you tell him?" I interrupt her.

"Not the best option, I've seen..." And there's no arguing with that argument.

"And when will I appear in this story?" She is outwardly calm, but sitting next to me, I can feel the heavy burden this beautiful woman bears on her shoulders. Nevertheless, I can't feel pity or sympathy for her.

"Already... I was just getting to that point." I wonder if I'll ever reach the level of self-control available to her. "It went on for a long time, endless visions... Death... Death... Death... But thanks to my grandfather, who raised me not to retreat and give up. Six months ago, in a vision, there was a glimmer of hope. Who did I see in that vision? Exactly... You, of course."

"I'm destined to save T... Dan?" My lips tighten into a string.

"No..." She shakes her head. "There's no predetermination. There's a chance to be saved. A chance..."

The way she says it gives me a bad feeling.

"A chance? What happens if I try and fail?"

"He will die... You will die." How can she drink tea like that calmly now? "I will die..." She goes on. "Illea... Will die... Rick... Lance... Will die..."

"What?! All at once?" I can't take it anymore.

"Who's pulling your tongue?!" the guest raises her voice just a little bit for the first time. "You're all cowards, you can't admit... Why did you say that? Well, blame you for that... Stupid... When I got my brother out, I buried him myself... And not alone but with everyone he loves. Instead of one death, I condemned all he holds dear to oblivion... And even if you did, I should have known better than to play gods' games, even with my talents. And if I did, it was my fault. I should have known they would strike through the one I thought would save me. With my knowledge of myths, history, and talent, I could have calculated and should have done so, but I did not see the obvious... I did not want to see when a guiding light of salvation of the nearest kind dragged me and all those around me straight into Tartarus. The gods never forgive mortals for interfering with their handiwork. Never..."

"If it's that bad, why are you here? If it's too late?"

"Chance... It exists... Try it..."

"Do you realize what you're asking? Who's your brother to me? The boss? A promising partner? A pledge of a bright enough future? And for that,z should I risk my life? I'm capable of doing very well in life! I have a family, sisters... But you haven't thought about them... Who they are to you... And what do you care how they feel when I'm gone?"

"I have nothing options left... Except ask... You..."

"What are the chances of success, you must have seen?"

"I don't know..." Any answer was expected, but not this. "After my recent call to you... I can't see anymore... At all... They took a price for interfering, depriving me of the Gift. I'm blind like all humans now."

"For interfering?"

"By pushing you towards the Arch, I intervened in the forbidden. A light touch, but I interfered. Granted the spirit of Odysseus the most suitable, and I was left to blame..."

"The most suitable?" Let the world fall apart, but that was a question I had to ask.

"The Souls of Heroes... They change people, but they also change... Not like us, slower, more reluctant, but they change, with each Fusion they take something from people, just as we take from the Faces. One by one, century by century... Some of them faster, some slower, some of them unable to change at all, and some of them changing so rapidly that you cannot follow... So yes, you really are the most suitable person for Ulysses, the spirit that he has become in many centuries of Fusions..."

I should probably say something to that, and answer it, but I don't have the right words. All my fears, all the things I feared more than death, all of it... Delusion... Or almost all of it...

"So, how does everyone die?" After five minutes of silence, I find the strength to ask the question.

"Illea went to the pharmacy today, and after buying the test, she was completely sure of her assumptions."

"Uuuugh!!!" I literally howled, I told her to use PROTECTION! Bloody Gaia! Idiots!!!" I'm screaming at the top of my voice.

"It's already happened." The guest is surprised by my reaction. "It can't be changed... Shouting is useless."

"I understand that!"

"Then why shout?" She really doesn't understand. Or maybe her calm isn't a game or a mask. It's just who she is... Different... Her gift, how has it affected her personality? I don't know how, but it sure has.

"Okay, I'm not yelling anymore. Go on."

"Her Fusion is too strong, and she is well aware that she will give birth to a boy and..."

"I got it."

"Offering her an abortion or other forms of... Don't... At all... And no one. I've seen where it leads. So that's not an option. She has one chance: to change the Intent of the Link of Souls. In the first days after conception, make a Plea to change the sex of the unborn child."

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"Is that even possible?"

"On the Full Moon, even crazier prayers are fulfilled." The guest answers my question. "But only on this day, for only the Face of Hades can do such things. Only he has power over the dead as well as the unborn."

Kronos!!! That's right! There's a full moon tonight!

"She'll pass the Arch..." I whisper. "Tonight."

"Already on her way, yes."

"Is it useless to talk her out of it?"

"Yes."

"Ten know?"

"He found the test, and he has had a beacon on her phone for a long time. He is too clever not to understand and add two plus two."

"So he will go after her."

"Yes."

"What does this have to do with Lance and Rick?"

"In ten minutes, the two will arrive at the restaurant and Daas will read his will to them. The brother realizes that he is thirty-four, that he is in fact engaged to an Amazon, and that there are no such things as "just coincidences". He knows he is going to his death..."

"And he'll still go anyway?"

"Yes."

"And these two will go after him. They won't be able to let him go?"

"Lance yes. His Face is a paragon of nobility, sung in the ages, he cannot do otherwise."

"Rick?"

"Aeneas was once persuaded to let Hector go to meet Achilles, and you know how that ended..."

"But Rick is not Aeneas!"

"He won't let him go alone again..." Words are like sentences. Do they always sound like this: calm, mundane, unemotional?

"How will they catch up with Illea, since she left earlier."

She is a smart girl. She realizes that she is likely to die trying to deliver her Plea. This one is hard to decide on. For an hour or two, she will be skiing in the mountains.

"But Ten can't know that!" The guest averts her eyes. "I see..."

"I couldn't... Death isn't the worst thing that can happen. It's far scarier to die by a soul, and the death of a loved one when he could have tried to save her... It's a far worse death. Postponed for a little while, but death... I could not remain silent. Better he goes away fighting than like this..."

"And me?"

"Without you, there are four of them. They don't have a shadow of a chance on Such a Night to come back from the Veil."

"The Goons, any of them, I'm sure... Though there are no more Legend Faces among them... " I thought aloud.

"Even if Dan had his best friend over tonight..." Is she talking about the commander Mint? Yeah, she's talking about him. "That wouldn't have helped. So it's just you. You're the only one in the whole world. No one else."

"In all this string of deaths, there's none of yours, and you mentioned it."

"I will have no reason to live... Just no reason..." For the first time, I believe her completely.

"I don't see my own benefit. With my stats and Face, I'll get the championship anyway, yes not this year, but I will. Daas and his empire, Rick and Lance and the Goons team are all speeding it up, but they're not the only way."

"Not the only one..." The emotionless guest echoed after me.

"So why... Should I...Take ... Such the risk?"

"I... Please..."

"If she were to cry now... But... No... Not a muscle flickered on her beautiful face. She is the epitome of serenity."

Or...

Or madness...

"You can change all that." Unable to stand it, I jump up from the bed and almost hover over her. "Stop Lance. Let only two die this night..." Her eyes... "All right, let three..."

"If these two don't go with my brother, only Illea will die that night. Dan will return from behind the Veil. But he will come back another... Completely mad. Not even your imagination can imagine what a mad Achilles is capable of, a monster in human form, invulnerable to modern weaponry. The number of victims will not be in the dozens, not in the hundreds... Thousands... And among the first will be you and me, Lance, Rick, Anton, Phil, Mek, Hotey..."

Names.

Names...

At first, there are few of them and they are familiar, but soon it moves on to people I don't know at all.

And she goes on talking.

Names...

Names...

In their whirlwind, I feel like my mind is about to leave me.

"Stop!"

"Whatever you say." The guest shrugs, ending the madness.

I breathe often and deeply, but I still can't get enough air. All my fears, all the things I've been so afraid of in my life. Kronus! What little things it was all about! What it means to be afraid, what real FEAR is - I only realized that now, as the impassive lips listed countless names...

"It's still early." It comes to my ears.

What was she talking about? Oh, yes... I, being confused, then darted away from my guest and was next to the door. Apparently, she thought I was going to leave the flat.

"I'm not going anywhere just yet." After catching my breath a little, I manage to pull myself together. "So what's early?"

"Lance and Rick have just walked into the restaurant." She answers, glancing down at her wristwatch.

"It's early now, but when will it be too late?" I believe what she told me, but I have no sympathy for this woman, for whom spinning other people's destinies is as natural as breathing.

"Ten minutes." The guest answers in a still nonchalant voice.

Deep down inside, everything she'd told me was making me feel a little feverish, but it was inside. Thanks to Lance's training, I managed to get the outward manifestations of frayed nerves under control. Even my voice is almost as calm as hers when I ask her:

"How does it feel to know that you could be the cause of so many deaths?"

Her gaze is as clear as the morning dew.

"I have saved millions in my life."

"Millions?" Her answer blows my mind.

"The earthquake in Japan in two thousand eleven... If I hadn't guided my brother and his friends behind the Veil at the right time and told them what to ask for... Then the destruction wouldn't just affect coastal areas. The nuclear power plants at the Fukushima power complex would be destroyed, and the four power units with broken core protection circuits, leaks, radiation streaming into the ocean..." My throat was dry. "Thailand two thousand four. Thanks to my actions, the coastal zone was completely evacuated, and instead of hundreds of thousands of victims, the tsunami destroyed only the infrastructure. Shall I continue?"

"That's enough." Kronus, she's unbreakable! She's got an answer for everything.

I deserve a shot at it.

"At my expense?"

There is no answer. She is simply silent. She has seen so many versions of the future in her life and has intervened in human destinies hundreds if not thousands of times. It is as natural for her to use people as tools as it is to breathe. And yet she's vulnerable. I could morally destroy her now, crush her... If she's not lying about losing her gift, it's as simple as tying her to a chair... She won't resist because she's afraid to confront me... Take her word that she won't try to free herself and leave... Leave her in the dark about my actions. She's used to knowing everything. She'll eat herself up with doubts from within. She's been on the verge of madness for a long time now. It will break her. I can see it as clearly as she once saw it coming. It's that simple... Revenge for her manipulation of me. Revenge right now. It's not hard...

But why?

Why for?

What will this revenge do for me, apart from the moral satisfaction?

Looking at a beautiful, perpetually lonely woman trapped in her gift, could I do her any worse than life has already walked all over her?

And no matter how much I delude myself, the answer is simple - I can. But to do so would turn me into the person I had feared I would become all those weeks after the first Arch. My revenge would not only destroy her mind, but it would also push me down a slope from which there was no return.

I feel a little sorry for her now... If I refuse now, by saying it right to her face, she can't get back at me either. Even if she was lying, and she has her gift with her, she still can't... Because the mere threat of revenge for refusing to pass the Arch is an Interference with Free Choice. She'll die before she gets her revenge. She'll slip and fall badly, or she'll have a stroke, or - I can't count the options.

I need to think. No, not under those icy eyes. I shoved my feet into my trainers, slipped my jacket over my shoulders, and took a step towards the door.

"What have you decided?" It comes from behind me.

I turn around and stare into her impassive eyes for a few seconds until fear appears there. She realized... She realized that I didn't know the answer myself, and it scared her, really scared her. The uncertainty...

No, I'm not going to tie her down and torture her even more. My leaving unanswered is not revenge, I really need to be alone.

Closing the door, I went down two flights of stairs and sat down on the steps with my arms around my head.

But why? Why now? Why with me?!

Things were just starting to get better!

And so...

I want to scream and punch the wall until I bleed and fracture.

Sto-o-p!

No need to immerse yourself in this self-pity now.

People's lives depend on me.

And first and foremost the life of a man called Utis Jirzeic, that is me.

To help or not to help?

How do I know Pat hasn't been lying to me this whole time?!

Pf-f-f...

No, I'm lying to myself right now.

It all fits together. All the lines, everything I doubted, explains Patricia's story. She's not lying, and I shouldn't lie to myself.

Is it worth risking your life for Ten Daas?

No!

A grown man made a choice. Let him take responsibility for it! I had nothing to do with it.

For Lance Crow and Rick Deckart?

As far as I can see, no one asked them to go after Daas at all; they will go on their own. So, because of the quirks the size of my fist that have settled in their heads, do I have to stick my head in the dragon's mouth, too?

No!

Because everyone is responsible for their own whim.

Illea?

Kronos! I don't even know her last name!

Who is she to me?

The one away from home who replaced my big sister? Was it worth it to bring grief to my sisters?

Yes?

No!

I don't know!!!

And I don't want to die. Especially not to die like that, stupidly... because of other people's mistakes, hopes, and plans.

So...

No?

I went out the back door and exposed my face to the cold drops of the winter night rain.

I don't go...

Don't go!

Coward?

If it hadn't been for Pat's manipulation, if I'd known differently, I would have gone, but...

I disgust myself.

Nasty.

But adults are different from children in that they are responsible for their actions. And Ten, and Illya, and Rick and Lance - they brought it on themselves.

What's it got to do with me?!

A possible savior in Pat's eyes?

This is her delusion.

Everyone is responsible for...

For...

I fall to my knees right into the puddle, not feeling the cold.

I'm scared...

But I can't go.

Because...

I'm also responsible...

For Anton, for Phil, for Hotey, for Meck and Gerhard, for...

For the team.

For the MINE team.

What will happen to them if the Goon project collapses, will they be able to get out of their problems with the Faces without the support of Lance, Rick, and Ten?

No...

They couldn't.

I am their captain.

I took it on myself.

Myself.

Pat had nothing to do with it.

It was my choice.

Only mine.

I am the captain and these are MY people.

It's mean...

I get up from the mud and shake off my trousers.

Strange, my hands don't shake at all.

I chose.

My stone is only to be carried by me...

And also...

I also don't want to lose something I've been working towards for so long.

Besides, Ten will owe me a lot, and I know what I'm going to charge him.

I know where to apply my skills, abilities, and 'talents'.

I have now realized what I want to dedicate my life to. And Ten Daas will help me do that.

Perhaps it's only when you get to the edge that you realize what you really want...

All you have to do is go... and come back.

And be sure to come back...!

* * *

"Four!" Rick shrugs it off. "That's not a problem at all! We'll get Hotey. He's always up for any kind of mess!"

"We're going, and don't argue." Lance looks straight at Daas, who looks away.

He looks away and notices me standing in the doorway.

"Ahem!" The boss is really surprised when he realizes who he is seeing.

"Utis?" Rick turns around as well.

"You'd better come back later... Tomorrow." Lance sends me away.

"I go." My voice is calm, and having said that, I grab a chair at the bar and sit down next to them. "Fifth."

"Look, this has nothing to do with you at all." Daas isn't hiding his irritation. "Go back to your place!"

"I can't, my room is occupied."

"And who chased you out of it?" The boss's voice is full of sarcasm.

"Guess it right off the top of your head." I can see he doesn't understand. "She's got thirty-five cake candles in her purse... She's been carrying them around for a long time."

Ten Daas's eyes now resemble huge lakes full of immense wonder.

"Ah?!"

"So I'm going."

"Utis." Lance's tone is deceptively calm. "You don't even know what, why, or where..."

"I know." I brush him off like an annoying fly. "The boss would confirm."

"He knows... - After my words, Daas's face changed, turned grey, he understood... He understood without explaining. "Is it that bad?"

"Even worst."

Rick and Lance look at each other, not sure what we're talking about. But the boss, I can literally see him remembering my appearance, adding up, putting it together, calculating, and his shoulders slumping lower with each passing moment.

"You are coming." He lifts his eyes - the look of a man on the scaffold. "But only on one condition."

"You're in the wrong..."

He interrupts me before I can finish.

"I take the responsibility for Patricia! You will not retaliate against her and will pacify your Face in this matter. When we get back, if you want to, you can kill me, I won't resist." Rick feels like he's going to have a heart attack from those words. "But you won't even look at her. It's all on me, or you don't go. It's the only way."

"An unprofitable proposition." And these words of mine made even the unperturbed commander jerk. "We hadn't parted ways very well, and I wouldn't leave SUCH an enemy behind."

"I will sort it out." And I realize that 'yes' he will sort it out.

"Deal."

"Can you explain what that was about now?!" Rick comes in, looking at our handshake.

"The thing is, we're all in the ass deep as Tartarus itself..."

I thought the boss would interrupt me, but no, he let me speak.

"Don't think I owe you." Descart snorted after my story.

"I don't need that." I give him his own smirk back.

"You've decided..." Only Lance. He was the only one who seemed to understand me completely. "To talk a man out of his decision is to waste air." And turning to my boss, he asks. "Are we going to be late?"

Daas glances at his smartphone.

"Yes, it's time..."

Sitting on the back of the bike, my face catches the wind and raindrops, perhaps the last thing I feel in this life...

"You shouldn't..."

On the Temple steps, Illea weeps with her face against Dass' chest, making her words slightly muffled.

"Because of me, you..."

"Woman, don't argue with men!" How Rick could be in such a good mood to even joke around is beyond me, but he does smile. "My life would be dull and grey without your cooking!"

He's talking bullshit, nonsense, but his words seem to be hitting the mark. Illea pulls away from his lover and straightens her back. Why don't I have the gift of telling women what they need to know right now? I envy...

"What's the matter with you?" He elbowed me in the side of Descart. "A full moon is a trifle. Look at us. Look at our Faces! Achilles, Hector, Iphito, Odysseus and Aeneas! Considering that we won't meet Hercules or Theseus behind the Veil... Who can resist us?!"

I want to believe him, but I know it's not so simple, and our chance of returning is as good as staying behind the Arch forever. And who are we going to meet there? I don't even want to think about it. What's the point of thinking? I'm about to find out...

I don't like going through the Veil. It's an unpleasant feeling like you're wading through honey-smeared cobwebs.

Where am I?

Darkness around.

Where is everyone?

Why am I alone?

I looked around, standing on the edge of a small patch of land, no more than twenty paces from the far edge, floating in the void. On a large boulder sits a tanned, athletic-looking, black-haired middle-aged man wearing only a loincloth. He stood up from the rock and walked towards me at arm's length.

"Have I changed so much?" He asks.

He's not asking me... but himself...

It's not the appearance he's looking at. It's deeper, much deeper.

Listening to something inaudible to me.

"Is that what I've been missing? Perhaps..."

But how? Why can I see Him? Illea told me that only by accomplishing my true feat would I be able to communicate with Him!

"A feat." He curves his lips just like me, which on someone else's face looks... Strange. "An empty word, an act is always secondary." It's clear. My thoughts are no secret to him. "Decision is the right word."

He stares into me, and I can feel him looking into my soul.

"I don't know..."

And I fall somewhere before I can say a word. I fall, and I see his eyes. The eyes of Odysseus, frozen with... Waiting?

Tartarus! It hurt! I fell to my knees right onto the stone pavement. Not even the greaves could save me from the impact as if I'd fallen from a couple of meters.

"Why can't your legs hold you up?" Rick picks me up by the arm and helps me up.

"Ah?"

I get to my feet and look around. The five of us are all here, and it's obvious that Descart, Lance, and Ten are dressed almost identically, except that the helmets are slightly different, and the colors and patterns on the shields are different. I shift my gaze to myself. That's right. If I were a little taller and a little more muscular, I'd be indistinguishable from the boss if we closed the visor. I'm wearing the same armor that Achilles was wearing, not the same armor, but the same armor, which is a curious paradox. My chest is covered by a heavy and even seemingly rugged hippothorax, an anatomical cuirass, my head covered by an Illyrian helmet, and my arms protected up to my elbows by leather-braided wristbands. On my feet, in addition to the customary high sandals, I wear knee-high greaves, behind my back the customary weight of the Ithaca shield, above my shoulder my faithful bow, and at my belt, I wear a sheath in which Thetis's Tear is sleeping.

We are all standing in the center of the large gatehouse square of the ancient city. Judging by the light reflected from the clouds, dawn is coming, or it has already begun; it is impossible to see this detail because of the tall, twenty-meter-high, massive walls.

But despite the night, it is not dark at all. There is a fire burning behind our backs, something wooden and big.

I look up.

Gaia blood...

I know it's such a blaze.

Trojan, Kronus take him, Horse!

The world around us is frozen as if pressed to pause. Only our five are moving.

"Suddenly appearing on THIS side?" Humor from Lance? Judging by the fact that his question is addressed to Ten, yes.

"Are you sure we are the defenders and not the heroes hiding in Horse?" Question after question is answered by the boss.

"I'm sure it's obvious from our position." While I was looking at my weapons, the commander wasted no time in assessing the situation.

"I guess you're right." With a glance around, Daas said. "The attackers are divided into two groups. One." His palm points to the ajar city gate. "Removed the blocking bar and, having overpowered the gatekeep, is now holding the gate until reinforcements arrive. Second." The boss's hand goes up and to the right, pointing to the gatehouse wall, to which an open Z-shaped, wide stone staircase leads. "Attacking the guards of the main castle and removing the binding chain, they now hold positions and support the lower team with fire from above. So yes, standing here for the attackers is not logical."

He said that, and I looked at the frozen faces of the Achaeans, and I looked with fear, for the leader of the group that sat in Horse was none other than Odysseus! I look and see no familiar face.

It's as if my head is squeezed by a light hoop, not for long, just for a fraction of a second. It's not like a briefing or any other formulation of the problem. It's like I'm remembering something I've read quite recently, even though I definitely remember never reading those words.

Objective: Troy must not fall. All original Heroes are excluded. Allies: Trojan garrison and allied forces. Opponents: The combined army of the Greek polis and the Pilgrims' five.

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