Dorothea met Ariana’s glare, gulping past a lump in her throat. She’d expected questions along these lines, and she owed it to her new allies to answer for her inaction. “At the time, I didn’t think it possible for me to prevent a sickness whose source I didn’t know or understand,” she said quietly.

“But you learned that later, didn’t you? You could have warned someone, anyone. In fact, what’s to stop you right now from going back in time to try and stop it? Why not stop the whole damn war from happening?” Ariana demanded.

“You don’t know what you’re talking about, so shut your mouth,” Shark snapped.

“Cool it,” Iree ordered. “Now, Atlin. It’s enough for me that you’ve agreed to help us now, but I’ve gotta admit that I’ve been wondering the same thing.”

“Me too,” Hollyhock agreed. “I didn’t care when I thought we’d never see each other again, but now I really don’t know what to think of you.”

Right. Because everyone’s opinion of her always depended on how she was willing to expend herself for them and their cause. Before Shark could explode, Dorothea laid a hand on their arm. “No, no, it’s alright. This is a good gateway into telling you all.” She looked at Shark, and they nodded; Rhys’ gaze was heated on her face as well. “The use of Juncture takes a toll on the body. Essentially, I trade life force to turn back time.” There was no way such a monumental undertaking wouldn’t cause some sort of strain.

“Aren’t you leaving something out?” Shark asked pointedly.

“What?” Too late, Dorothea realized what they wanted. “Shark, no—”

“The Atlin way of dying,” they announced.

“Shark!”

“Look, if you don’t tell them, I will. They’ve gotta know what they’re gonna do to you.” They continued without waiting for her response. “As the Atlins get to the end of their lives, the stress of turning back time becomes too much for their bodies. They get torn apart by it, literally. It’s fucking gruesome. That’s why Ophelia Atlin only fought for Sacer for a year. She succumbed to Juncture.”

Dorothea bit her lip to stop it from trembling. Shark was right; the Sacerians needed to know the full scope of what would happen to her each time they made a strategic choice to use Juncture. But still. They were staring into a raw, weak part of her now, and she felt disgusted with herself.

Iree’s mouth hung open. “That’s, uh…not quite what I expected. It complicates things…” She looked downwards and cupped her own chin as she sank into thought.

Dorothea took a breath to collect herself, swallowing her emotions and locking them down. “So, to answer your question, Ariana… Every time I decide to use my magic, I try to consider every single factor. In the case of stopping the epidemic and the war, there are far too many unknowns. Who, specifically, was the cause? What drove them? How many underlying factors were there, and how many of those do I need to contend with? Will stopping a single person or a group of people actually prevent the conflict, or will it just start in a different way? If I or anyone else could completely answer those questions, then maybe we’d have a start. But I have no idea.”

“Let’s not forget that Thea and I are from neutral territory,” Shark supplied. “She never had an obligation to clean up the shit someone else started. None of us ever got a say on whether or not this war started, but how we responded to it was a choice we were free to make.”

“Bullshit,” Ariana muttered.

Dorothea stared down at the table. “I’m sorry.” DShe had no idea why Iree thought it was a good idea for this person of any and all possible options to be her guard, but they needed to at least try to be civil.

“Don’t apologize,” Ariana said, words calm but glare scathing. “It means nothing, and it’s downright insulting.”

“Almost as insulting as acting like you have a right to dictate how someone else should live their life,” Shark shot back.

“Everybody shut up,” Iree ordered. “Listen, Atlin. Knowing this is valuable. I’ll use my best judgement when it comes to asking you to use your magic. From now on, you need to let me know when you’re hitting your limit, okay? We’re comrades now, and that means we take care of each other.”

Dorothea nodded, meek. “Okay.”

Iree gave her a reassuring grin. “I know this is hard. Come to me with your troubles, alright? Better yet, bother Rhys.” She punched his shoulder. “He gives better advice.”

Rhys sighed. “It’s true. That aside, I have a question, Dorothea.”

“Yes?”

He caught her eyes, and she was caught by how clear and placid his were. His general presence was very calming, and now she felt grateful for it. “Do you have a record of some sort, with notes about your magic? I’m asking because it doesn’t seem like the Atlins would have wasted their time experimenting to see what actions cost what and so on, but you still know a lot.”

“Yes, that’s right. There’s… There was a log passed down through the family. Almost like a diary. Based on the conclusions of each person from each generation, the next can make more calculated choices and know more about the nature of Juncture than the last. Of course, with Equin destroyed, the log will be gone now as well. But I still know what I’m doing without it. I have a natural sense of what my limits are and how much time I have left to work with, roughly.”

There was a lengthy pause. It seemed no one had the desire or the guts to ask how long she had left to live.

“So…” Iree began. “One important note. Versus bringing back a life or patching me up like you did earlier, what’s the cost to you?”

“It depends on the extent of the damage. Your leg, for instance, was only a few minutes. The lives at the border, though, were a few months each. Approximately three.”

Cerid blanched. “So, because of my ineptitude, you have lost… What, close to a year of life?”

Dorothea reached out to touch his arm. “Please don’t guilt yourself. I offered my help knowing the consequences.”

He bowed his head, shoulders shaking. “I am sorry…”

Rhys spoke to him gently. “Remember what I said, Cerid. Turn your shame into something you can learn from.” He turned back to Dorothea. “A lot of magics have their drawbacks, but I’ve never heard of anything like this. I’m sorry.”

Now that was interesting. “Drawbacks for other magics?” She’d never heard Shark complain about something like that. Besides, this was a great chance to get the focus off of her.

Rhys paused, considering. “We can think of them as side-effects of varying degrees.”

“For example, I get hot flashes,” Iree offered. “My magic is called Pyre. You saw a bit of what it can do earlier. My body temperature is naturally hot, so I have to be careful not to get overheated. Like, a lotta cold showers in the summer.” Her eyes lit up. “This is a good ice breaker. Everyone, explain your magic.” She seized Rhys’ arm, raised and waggled it. “Rhys goes next!”

He waited for her to let go before speaking. “My magic is called Shower. It lets me control water in just about any form. In regards to a drawback… Hm. Well, that’s…”

Iree grinned mischievously. “Say iiit. Say it!”

He pursed his lips. “My hands are…basically they’re, er, moist. Sometimes. Not all the time. It’s not sweat, but it’s… My power is concentrated in my hands, just like Iree’s is. Her hands are always warm, for instance. Most magics have concentrated outlets in the hands or feet, as you know. So water gathers on my palms sometimes if I don’t focus on it.”

“Oh… Well, pardon me for making light of it.” Dorothea began with an apology since he was obviously embarrassed with Iree, Hollyhock and Ariana all snickering. “That’s not so bad, though.”

“You’re right. It’s not so bad at all.” He smiled apologetically at her, and Dorothea felt both shy and indignant in the face of his pity.

“That’s nice and all, but please don’t use the word moist,” Ariana laughed. Her chuckles were deep, sharp and resounding, and it was nice to see she had non-angry expressions.

Rhys was back to frowning. “Hey, Iree.”

“Yeah?” She wiped at eyes teary with amusement.

He leaned in to have his lips close to her ear. “Mmmoist.”

Iree shuddered and let out a screech, though initially her cheeks had reddened some when he got close. “Why would you do that?! She’s the one who said it!” She pointed at Ariana with an accusatory finger, and the girl broke into a newfound fit of laughter.

“Yes, but you were the one laughing first,” Rhys reasoned flatly.

Dorothea tried to swallow giggles of her own, but a titter escaped, and Rhys looked at her with a wry smile. Some of the pieces were fitting together, she thought. The way Iree had reacted, how Rhys knew how warm her hands were, Hollyhock’s wariness of other women becoming close to Rhys… There had to be something between the commander and captain.

Cerid cut in. “As you know, my magic is Thaw,” he stated. “I can nullify any magical attack. In terms of bodily aftereffects, my nerve endings are less sensitive than those of other people.”

Dorothea was fascinated. The course of magic through one’s body was a miracle, but the vessel was also fragile. It was almost comforting to know that there were others like her whose power had an influence, though she was glad theirs weren’t so destructive.

“Come on, Ariana,” Iree urged. “Just a few sentences.”

Ariana clicked her tongue. “Sprout lets me unsheath a blade of grass from my right hand. Drawback? Think about it and it’s obvious.”

“Hah!” Hollyhock guffawed. “Sprout sprouts out! Get it?”

“We do.” Iree patted his head. “You did great.”

“Now me!” Hollyhock wiggled in his seat. “My Horizon can create illusions. The bad part is that I get spotty vision if I use it too much and, well, it’s kind of easy for allies and enemies alike to get caught up in it if I’m not careful. That’s kinda why I hang back here more often. Doing what I’m good at!” He cracked his knuckles.

“So nothing,” Ariana quipped.

“Guess I’m last,” Shark said, begrudgingly trying not to laugh at Ariana’s joke. “Shatterer is a magic that lets me manipulate the earth. I get dry skin sometimes, but just on my hands. So, like the opposite of Mr. Moist over here.”

“Please stop.” Rhys tugged on his ponytail as the table once again dissolved into laughter.

Iree clapped her hands once everyone had had their fun again. “Alright. That’s done. Hopefully everyone here will at least try to get along. Right? Good. All that aside, Atlin, I’m going to take a bit more time to plan our next move. As soon as I can, I’ll have a plan drafted and put up to the council for approval. Then all we have to do is wait for them to say yes. In the meantime, you and Olyen need a place to stay, right?”

“Yeah, and we’d prefer it if it could be in the same house. Space isn’t an issue, we can share a room,” Shark stated, and Dorothea nodded.

Iree looked to Hollyhock. “How about it?”

“Hey, they’re always welcome, but we don’t have two spare rooms between your bedroom and Mom’s office.”

“Okay… Creed?”

Cerid’s brows knitted in contrition. “Miss Dorothea would be welcome, but Shark… I do not think my father would be happy about welcoming a guest of their, er, background. Please, understand that I have nothing against you, it is just—”

Shark laughed. “It’s okay, Cerid. I get you.”

“Uh, Iree? I’ve got two spare rooms. Neither of my parents would mind, I’m sure,” Rhys offered, eyeing her as if she’d been acting odd.

Iree let out a huff. “Fine. Sort it out between you all. Today, preferably. We don’t need to worry about it going forward.”

“Oof. Not cool, Rhys, not cool,” Hollyhock sighed.

Rhys shook his head. “I’m not sure I even want to understand what you’re talking about.”

Dorothea wasn’t sure she wanted to know either. Also, staying in Rhys’ house? Everything was moving so fast.

Iree looked pouty, almost. “Whatever.” She stood and stretched. “Now that that’s settled… Rhys, Hollyhock, meet at the usual place for planning tonight. Creed, Kingfisher, bodyguard detail starts first thing in the morning. Get used to being all up in each other’s business.” She grinned. “Have fun!” With that, she sped away fast as a furious rainstorm’s wind.

“She never stops, does she?” Shark observed dryly as the rest of the group started to go their own ways.

“Not at all,” Rhys agreed. “Well… If the two of you are ready, we can go and see about putting you up at my place.”

“Is Iree really okay with that?” Dorothea asked.

He shook his head. “Even if she isn’t, your well-being takes precedence, both of you.”

“Aww. How sweet.” Shark waved him on. “Let’s go, then. I wanna sleep in a real bed tonight. Call me spoiled.”

Rhys chuckled. “Sure.” He led them at a moderate pace, leaving some distance so that Dorothea and Shark could whisper to each other privately.

“They seem to always be working hard for others,” Dorothea noted. “He and Iree. They’re good people.”

“Yeah.” Shark smiled gently when she grasped their hand. “It’ll be alright, Thea.”

“I know.” So long as she had this hand to hold, she could go forward and do anything.