When I came to, I sat straight up, despite an electric pain running through my back. I felt a hand on my shoulder, and tried to swat it away, but I was held firmly in place.

Shivers went down my spine as my time at the lab came to the forefront of my memory, and fears of being used in human experimentation again swirled in my thoughts.

However, those all came to an end as a warm tongue entered my mouth, and began to kiss me. That did the trick.

I finally became grounded in reality, as well as my surroundings. Hazeel and Vanessa were at my side, Vanessa holding me down, and Hazeel kissing me.

She separated, and gave me a small smile. The first thing I noticed was their hair. Hazeel had a streak of black going through her silvery hair, and Vanessa had a similar streak, but this one was blue.

Vanessa said something to me, but I couldn’t understand it. Well, more like I still couldn’t hear altogether.

“Can’t hear. The second roar broke them again after the healing.” I hoped my voice still worked, as Vanessa and Hazeel looked up and into the distance.

Suddenly, a warm feeling embraced me, and the extreme pain I had felt when Leresa healed me doubled.

Leresa. My heart sank as I thought about her and Rexir. What was I going to do? I made a promise to them, and to Rexir. I-

“Leo, can you hear me?” A familiar voice spoke from behind me, and I turned to see Zare, my heart falling even farther.

“If you can hear me, lift up one finger.” I did as she asked, and an innocent smile worked its way onto her face.

“Thank the gods, I was sure you were a goner. It was a good thing that I found you all.” I just stared at her.

“How long have I been out.”

“Only a few minutes.” Vanessa answered. “We found her as soon as we changed back. We didn’t want to move you just in case you suffered a brain injury.”

I nodded, and stood up fully, wiping some wet leaves off of me. “Oh, and don’t worry about those people from the Valkyries.” Zare said with a grin. “I healed them up nice and well before I came here.

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“That she did.” Katherine said, appearing behind Zare. “She saved us a lot of trouble.” She grinned at me, and lightly hit my shoulder.

“So, we did it. The world has been liberated from the grasp of Christian Armando, for the last time.”

She smiled, but it was hard for me to feel anything but disappointment. “So, where’s my brother?” The question I had been dreading finally arrived.

“Oh, and my sister in law too. She still has a ways to go before she’s worthy of Rexir, but give her a few years and she might redeem herself yet.”

Zare blushed at that last part, and it was with a heavy heart that I stood up, and started walking in the direction of the white house.

I opened my mental connection back up, and the flood of worry and sadness almost made me cry right then and there.

However, I held it together, and told Vanessa and Hazeel to stay quiet. I was going to be the one to deliver this news.

We reached the destroyed gates, and slipped through, making a beeline for the national monument.

Upon entering the White House, I felt a looming sense of dread over what was going to happen, but my actions were set in stone. It was too late to go back now.

I opened the door to one of the offices, where I had teleported Leresa. Tears started welling up because of the position she landed in. It just looked as though she was taking a nap on the table, resting her head on her arms.

Zare beamed and ran up to the princess, only to stop dead in her tracks as she got close enough to see the wound on her back, and the broken hilt of Rexir’s blade.

She sucked in air, and started bawling like a child. I heard Vanessa begin to cry as well, while Hazeel just let her tears flow without so much as a sound.

I wanted to curl up into a ball and cry myself, but unfortunately, my job wasn’t over yet. I walked up behind Zare and put a hand on her shoulder.

She, of course, responded with a roundhouse kick that probably broke my knee in several places.

I remained standing upright, even as she rained blow after blow upon me, venting her shock and anger.

“You had one job!” She screamed through sobs. “Just one! You were going to keep my brother safe! You were going to make sure we all returned together!”

She broke down in tears and clung to my waist, sliding to the floor on her knees. I lifted her off the floor, and handed her to Hazeel, who cradled the girl in her arms.

She fought it at first, but soon began crying into Hazeel’s shoulder. I took a shaky breath, and opened a black hole in that very room. Vanessa moved to pick up Leresa’s body, draping what was left of Rexir on top.

“Leo-” Katherine began, but I raised a hand to cut her off. Then, there was silence, save for the sound of Zare, quietly sobbing on Hazeel.

“Tell Alpha that I’m done with this world. That we’re done with this world. I destroyed the evil that I allowed to fester, so now it’s on him to make sure that doesn’t happen again.”

“But-”

I shook my head. “This is goodbye, Katherine. I’m glad you got closure for Rob, and that your squad suffered no casualties. I hope that together, you build a better future. One that doesn’t involve me.”

Katherine reached out, but it was too late. I had already stepped into the portal.