“Yo, hurry up,” Agravaine shouted to the clean-up crew. “The sooner the goo’s gone, the earlier we can leave this forsaken water dump.”

He pulled out his phone and opened up Ragna Griffin’s InstaNorse account. Her timeline showed that her last update happened a few months ago. Agravaine exhaled in relief.

Ragna had yet to upload the footage and had kept her end of the bargain. She might have taken an oath and made Lutz vouch for her, be he knew better than to trust a woman. And Ragna, for sure, didn’t improve his opinions.

He leaned against the door of vines he had constructed to keep the clean-up crew from seeing Vishnu as they removed the sludge and collected the Judas Group’s bodies.

The last thing he needed was having to kill them all. This mission ended with zero causalities on their side, and he would keep it that way.

“I checked the facility for enemies.” Bedivere walked up to him. “Couldn’t find anything.”

Agravaine clicked his tongue. “So, they only guarded the western part. That’s odd. That also means we can’t interrogate any of them.” He sighed. “Did they think letting that abomination loose was enough? Not that I expected much tactical finesse from their part.”

He would have left some members of the Judas Group alive had he known. They had dealt with the threat, but many questions needed answers. How did they get inside the facility without anyone noticing? And how had they been able to control that abomination? But what concerned him the most were the comments of the two guards on the platform. They had mentioned that they had found a way to immunize all Vaixians from the fallout. How would that even be possible? It could have been just propaganda the Judas higher-ups had told their goons, but his instincts told him that this wasn’t the case.

“They’re really all dead?” Bedivere asked. “How did you get out of that situation anyway?”

“Grendel’s team had arrived, and since the Engel was already active, she couldn’t affect the newcomers. Before we could take her in, that hood guy appeared and used some weird Void magic. She could escape, and he disappeared. I pursued her while the rest took care of the soldiers.”

“So, the mooks are dead, and the mysterious one is at large. That’s gonna cause trouble later down the line.” Bedivere crossed arms. “By the way, should we tell the Archimago about Vishnu? They made you team leader, so it’s your shot.”

Agravaine looked inward for a few seconds and then spoke up. “Let’s just tell him that the abomination destroyed the door, but I was able to cover it up with my runes before anyone could peek inside. It’s not worth the trouble. We should tell the professor, though.”

“Will do.” Bedivere gave out a fake chuckle. “And since I’m at it, I’ll tell her to smack your head. We need to correct that attitude of yours.”

Agravaine shrugged. “Oh, shut up. Just don’t forget to travel with Ragna Griffin’s group.”

“Yeah, yeah. And make sure she doesn’t upload the video. Got it. We both would be screwed if she did.” The two remained silent until Bedivere nodded at the vine door. “What do you think?”

“I knew what was inside. Seeing it with my own eyes …” Agravaine pulled his scarf further up to his nose, muffling his voice as if he feared others could hear their conversation. “It’s disgusting. When I became a Knight, I accepted that I would have to carve a bloodstained path for Avalon. But this is something else.” He shook his head, his voice almost turning into an incredulous chuckle. “And there’s nothing we can do about it.”

“Makes you wish that she would just upload that video.” Bedivere lowered her eyelids. Agravaine couldn’t discern if she was joking or not.

“Sir Agravaine. Lady Bedivere,” one of the cleaners shouted. “You need to see this.”

The two Knights turned their attention to the cleaner and walked to him. Within a puddle of sludge, a robotic, silver boar lay sideways.

“What’s this?” Agravaine asked.

“We don’t know,” the cleaner said. “We found it within the sludge when we tried to clean it up.”

֎

“Thank you for your assistance.” Ilias smiled and offered his hand. “It was quite something. Not sure how you felt about everything, but I feel like I broadened my horizons.”

Ragna and her companions had all left the facility around an hour ago. They were standing at Heorot’s coast with their backs to the sea as the waves soothed against the stone beach.

They had rejoined with Eric, who had stood on standby to let them teleport into safety if the situation went out of control. Bedivere and Agravaine observed the clean-ups, and Ray went to the hospital. He had protected Agravaine from the Judas Group’s attacks, tanking the hits for him.

Ragna accepted Ilias’ offer, rolling her eyes. “Please don’t ruin this with some sappy speech.”

Ilias laughed. “I could channel my inner Arturo and talk about some sticky experience.”

“So, he’s like that all the time?”

“Yeah.” For a moment, Ilias frowned, and his face became blue. He shook his body and shuddered. “Anyway, it was nice fighting with you. I’ve added you all on Insta, so let’s hope we meet again.” He waved them goodbye and left.

“And off he is.” Eric crossed his arms, a wry smile on his face. “Still, I can’t believe that Vishnu’s the Sea Mither.”

While they promised not to tell the public, Eric technically didn’t count as ’the public’. As a team member, he should know the truth as well. Same for Ray, though Grendel had protested to no avail. He could also tell Puck about Vishnu if he wished to do so.

“What do you think?” Ragna asked, lowering her eyelids.

“I wasn’t there. Not when that decision was made, and not when you made yours.” Eric faced the sea, staring at the distance. Despite his tone, Eric’s face didn’t show any joy. Whether he intended to show it or not, he had made his feelings clear. “I’m in no position to judge or fault you. I’ve my own ideas and even more theories about the implications. For now, I would rather keep them to myself.”

“I see,” said Grendel. He had returned to his human appearance and turned his back.

“Where are you going?” Ragna asked.

“There’s stuff I’ve got to deal with, first. Honestly, I’ve much to think about, too. You’re going to Avalon, right?”

Ragna nodded, her voice emotionless. Grendel might have forgiven her for her actions and words, but it had to sting. Not that she could blame him. “Tomorrow in the evening. Or today. I’ve no idea what time it is.”

“Okay. There’s still stuff I’ve got to do. I’ll catch up with you in Avalon. See ya.” Grendel raised his thumb and left.

֎

Jareth threw a punch and hit Ragna right in the face, catapulting her against their room’s wall.

Ragna tumbled and winced. “Are you happy now?” She groaned, massaging her swollen cheek. Her voice contained neither sarcasm nor anger, asking him a genuine question.

Ragna’s jaw cracked, and she pressed her palm against it, popping it in position.

Damn. Jareth had quite the hook. Her jaw would hurt for days. With his reliance on magic technology, one would think he wouldn’t be that strong. But seeing him now, he could win a brawl, as well.

“No.” Like Ragna, Jareth’s voice contained neither rage nor hatred. He might have been talking about which side he would roll his toilet paper. But unlike her, these emotions roared inside him, even if his words didn’t voice it. “But not expressing my disappointment in its rawest form would worsen it.”

“If you wanna convince me to release the video or end Vishnu’s pain, don’t bother. I’m not gonna. It’s out of my hands, and there’s nothing you can achieve.”

“I’m aware of that. Yet, I still cannot tolerate a disregard for an individual’s claim for their fate. But I also realize that arguing with you won’t change this reality. While I am following our contract, I’ll be thinking of a way to free that man. And once this is over, I’ll put my plans into motion.”

Ragna shrugged. “Do whatever you like. At that point, I won’t have any hand in that game.”

“But that’s what I wanted to say. To make it clear. I won’t compromise my decisions if we face such a dilemma again.”

Ragna gave him a sad smile. “Then let’s hope we won’t disagree next time. Wouldn’t that be great to do good, to be a hero? But this world’s complicated. And sometimes, to do the right thing isn’t the right thing to do.”

“I wonder if you’re complicating the state of this world more than necessary.”

Ragna chuckled. “Do you hate me?”

How ironic. Her past continued to echo beyond its death and haunt her. If that idiot girl saw her now, what would she think? How much would Ragna Griffin loathe this stranger wearing her face in Heorot?

“For your choices?” Jareth shook his head. “I don’t. So far, you haven’t given me a reason to hate you.”

“I’m glad I met you.” Ragna walked forward to Jareth. Her smile grew ecstatic, and her voice lowered, drawing out her words. When millimeters separated the two, and her breath could brush his skin, Ragna’s arctic-blue eyes lustered at Jareth. She raised her hand and caressed his mask. “Ah, I wonder. Will you show me one day what’s behind that mask?”

“I hope so.”