They woke up early the next day to return to earth. Victor made sure to gather up all the belongings, Seeds and weapons they’d confiscated from Cecilian and his Vices. He let Aidano take a fair share of the loot too, because he needed his allies to live if they were going to help him.

Aidano had prepared a parting gift for him as well. Some healing Seeds and a Communication Seed that they had in reserve. Victor hadn’t expected the gift and so he accepted it graciously from the Vice.

He’d need to take one of them sooner or later, anyways. Now that he was down one of his most powerful Seeds.

“You are welcome back here any time that you would like, Victor,” Aidano told him.

“You finally got the name right.”

“Oh, did I, Vic-tor?”

“And back to the teasing,” the Timewalker chuckled.

Aidano held out a tiny hand for Victor and waited.

“You shake hands upon parting, don’t you?” he asked.

Victor took the Altesian’s little pudgy hand and gave it a squeeze. Aidano looked over him one last time for bruises and wounds and nodded with satisfaction. The only ones he had left would heal with time.

“You should enjoy yourself more, Vic-tor. You were barely around your friends last night,” Aidano told him.

“I’ve got a lot of work to do, chief.”

“A healthy body requires a healthy mind. If you worry all the time, you’ll forget what you even worry for,” the chief advised.

“Ironic, coming from the puffball who wouldn’t stop shaking when I told him I’d take down Cecilian.”

“I was not familiar with your strength. But I am now, and I respect it. But you should respect yourself a little more too. Enough to give yourself a break, Wielder,” Aidano told him.

Victor focused his gaze. There was nothing in the Vice’s movements that seemed insincere. It seemed… like Aidano truly wanted this for him. For him to be able to take a break, appreciate those around him.

He didn’t know how to feel. A Vice? Wanting good from him? He’d spent the past four loops being an enemy of so many different kinds of Vices, he was amazed that one of them wanted well for him.

Pepin Village was the only other place he knew, and even they were simply grateful to their saviours. Aidano… Aidano only cared how he was doing.

Victor realized he’d been staring at the Vice for too long and shook his head.

“I… I will, thank you,” Victor told him.

They packed up their belongings and left after that, but Victor had the Tetni group in his mind the entire time. Would they make it out? Would they survive living out above ground? Those kinds of questions made him worry, and he resolved himself to a single truth.

He cared about the Altesians. Both from Pepin and the Tetni group. They were the only good Vices in the world. The only ones who had not tried to kill him on sight. The only time they’d been aggressive was after he’d killed an Angelo. A Star in their eyes and basically doomed them in that loop.

He would save them too, when the time came. When he found the right decisions, the right words and the right path to protect his world.

****

Lillie was floating on a cloud waiting for them. there was a bejewelled crown sitting atop her forehead that shined with power. The Windswept Crown was a great match for Lillie’s abilities, at least Victor thought so.

He wouldn’t mention the other part where it really brought out her deep amber eyes, since that was basically irrelevant.

“Are you hurt?” Lillie asked him. “I was worried you wouldn’t come back when you cut communication for a few days.”

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

“We’re back. And we’ve got ourselves an ally in an Angelo.”

Lillie scowled when he mentioned the name.

“Are you sure we can trust it?” Lillie asked.

“The Angelo? No. But the Altesians backing it are trustworthy.”

“How do you know, Vic?” she asked.

“Believe me, they are.”

That was the end of that thread. The other Wielders crowded into the apartment complex, spreading out to the ones around Angel Heights.

Even doing that, they were crowded. There were so many people coming in and out he couldn’t find a place of privacy.

You need to expand again.

It was the easiest solution. Grab the mall and fortify it. But if he did that, the Vices would know where they were, and they’d have a repeat of the last loop. Invaded and destroyed, all because he put a target on their back.

If he wanted to stay under the radar of the strongest Vices, he needed Seeds. Leo had the right kind, but he needed many more if he was going to make an underground base for the people. Victor needed people to get those Seeds for him, and he knew just where to get that manpower.

But before that, there was a choice to be made. He’d lost a Seed, and now he needed another. The Bloody Tear from Hemotep rested in his fingers, deep red and thrumming with power. He placed it down onto the table, alongside some others he’d considered for himself.

Cutting Star. He’d be able to mimic Loki’s flying slashes. But he had a ranged attack in the form of his lightning.

Holy Fires would let him hurt Vices more than humans.

Knight’s Cavalry was what Jared had gotten before. Defense would be nice, but the armour might hinder Victor.

The last Seed on the table was the Cursed Power. It looked like a bunch of gnarled and dried black tentacles bunched together and gave off an air of putrid power. Victor immediately put it out of his mind. He’d known a single user of the power before, and she’d taken her own life after using it.

He knew it was powerful, but he didn’t want to risk it… for now. He put away that one in a safe location, so no one else would be tempted to take it. Then, he turned to the other four selections and made his own.

Amadeus used it pretty well. Let’s see if I can remember a few tricks with it.

When the Seed was integrated, he left the room and distributed the remaining Seeds among the Wielders. A stockpile of lightning Seeds were left behind, and Victor had a plan for those as well.

The last thing he did was give Lillie one of the new Communication Seeds. He’d need her to establish contact with Washington, but she hadn’t seen the base nor the people there. That was something he’d handle later on too.

****

“You’re leaving on another mission so soon?” Audrey asked him. the old crone seemed as worried for him as Aidano had been, which made Victor a little happy.

“No time to waste, Mrs. Wilson. I’ll be back as quickly as I can. Until then, tell Leo to dig out those tunnels like I ordered him to. We’re going to need the space if we plan on moving people inside,” Victor told her.

Audrey listened and Victor packed up for his next trip. He’d filled up an EV using his Crystallized Lightning and waited to leave. He was bringing Loki along again, just because the man’s strength warranted it.

Lillie was also there waiting, however, despite the fact Victor hadn’t asked her to.

“I’m coming along this time,” she told him.

“Wait, no. I need you here for communication,” Victor replied.

“With who? Washington’s on the other side of the country, and the Seed you gave me just does this,” Lillie said.

In her hand materialized a conch shell. it was dotted with little motes of light that made it glitter. She chucked the thing at Victor and he grabbed it out of the air.

“It’s just like a phone. You turn it on, and then you can send your voice over to someone else across the country,” Victor told her.

“But it doesn’t cover enough distance. I checked. Anyone out of the city won’t be able to get a signal,” Lillie replied.

“For now,” Victor amended. “You just need to keep practicing and eventually it’ll be good enough to reach across to Washington.”

“Or, I can come along, and we can hand out the shells instead,” Lillie told him. Her idea intrigued Victor, so he asked her to explain.

“We’ll chain them together. I can make a few a day. On the ride there, we’ll form a stockpile, then spread them out all over the country. That way, we get a communications system running and we don’t have to worry about the distance. All we need is someone in the middle receiving the call, then forwarding it to the next person in the line.”

When she put it like that. Victor had no choice but to agree. It would help Lillie exercise her powers, and eventually they’ll be able to form a greater coalition with the other survivors. He hadn’t used the Recon Shell himself, and that had made him overlook this possibility in the previous loops.

If we get all those people connected on a single network, how easy would it be to find the Wielders we need?

The idea itself held an infinite potential for the future. Lillie looked proud of herself for having come up with it, and Victor agreed. He just hoped she would be able to implement it.

“Any downsides to the shells?” he asked her.

“It’s harder to get a signal through dirt, rocks and other materials. I think I can do it once I grow the Seed, but I’ve got some limits for now,” Lillie told him.

For now. Victor turned the shell around in his hands.

“Fine, fine, you win. We’ll spread these around any bases we find,” Victor said, tossing the shell back to her. Lillie grinned and threw her already-made back in the back of the car.

“You came knowing you’d win the argument?” Victor asked.

“You’re like putty in my fingers, Amadi,” she teased with a chuckle.

Victor let her have that. He threw his own pack in there with her, and waited for Loki before the three of them could finally depart on their journey.