Gemini’s limbs were heavy, and the blankets around him rustled gently as he tried to struggle against the feeling of helplessness. There was a persistent ache inside his body, as though as some of his organs were off-kilter. It was probably the side effects of being revived by the God of Space, but given that there probably wasn’t much literature on such a phenomenon, Gemini had no way of being sure.

Heavy footfalls broke the peaceful silence, and two men rushed in.

“What happened to you?” Paragon Ortega asked. “You went missing for an entire month, and when you finally showed up at the doorsteps of Ark City, you fainted a moment later.”

“Long story,” Gemini replied. “Can I have some water first?”

Major Degurechaff took out a bottle from his flowy coat and handed it over. “You might want to sip from it, rather than just gulping it down. Don’t want you to choke now, do we?”

Gemini nodded, and started drinking from it slowly. A faint, burning sensation plagued his throat as the cool liquid ran down it.

“The Congress received the news about Ars from you, but we aren’t going to go back to the Five Lands,” said the major. “As we speak, a small group of senators, led by Senator Alexandre, are spearheading efforts to gather the scattered tribes that were once under Ars’ protection. Most of them are standing with us, and those that didn’t have followed the remnants of Ars into the Five Lands.”

“That’s about what happened while you were missing,” said the Paragon.

Gemini lowered the bottle and capped it. “It hurts somewhat.”

“What does?” asked Ortega.

“Getting revived forcibly by a great god.” Gemini smiled feebly. “Somehow, I don’t feel that perfect.”

“Revived by a great god? Which one?” Paragon Ortega paused for a moment. “Wait, you died? Someone managed to kill you?”

“Yeah.” The Constellation winced as he pushed himself upwards. Some water had spilled out onto his pillow while he was drinking from the bottle, and it was starting to feel a bit uncomfortable. “Hereward, the Sentinel of Space, was the one who revived me after I was killed.”

“How did you die?” Degurechaff asked quietly. “We knew that you headed off to lure a whole bunch of Lords away, but surely these Lords didn’t kill you, did they?”

“What happened when I encountered them is quite a thrilling story, but no, they didn’t take me down. I managed to shake them off my tail after buying some time,” replied Gemini. “I was attacked by a mysterious masked person in black and purple after I left my hidey-hole. It was…”

He shivered. “A nearly-instant kill. The attacker got behind me and struck out with a single blow that incapacitated me on the spot, and then…”

“And then?”

“I don’t know, but according to Hereward, I looked like human jerky strips.” Gemini grimaced. “Whoever my killer was, he must have hated me to the core. He wanted me dead so badly that a nearly zero percent survival rate was not good enough.”

“If you were in the Five Lands, something like this happening isn’t all that improbable, unless you were on a roaring rampage of raping and pillaging while you were in Ars,” Paragon Ortega replied. “Which certainly doesn’t suit you.”

“Exactly,” Degurechaff chimed in. “Maybe he wanted to vent his anger or something.”

“Maybe, if not for the fact that he knew who I was. As in, he knew that I was the Constellation Gemini.”

The two men froze. “He knew?”

“Yes.” Gemini rubbed his temples. “He had an assistant too. Something like a robotic voice had confirmed my identity and my threat level.”

“A robotic voice…it’s probably an intelligent artefact,” said Major Degurechaff. “Incidentally, when you say threat level…”

“I wasn’t much of a threat to the artefact’s owner, apparently.” Gemini shook his head. “Even though I’m a Constellation, a Paragon. When put in these terms, I feel rather worried about the safety of Ark City. What happens if my killer realises that I’m not so dead after all? Especially since he had some way of tracking me down…”

“But you were revived, were you not?” Major Degurechaff frowned. “Surely that can happen to you again.”

“It was a one-time service, after I…” Gemini’s words trailed off. His subconscious mind was drawing some nebulous connections, and he raised his hand to silence Paragon Ortega before the latter could talk.

“Don’t tell me…” murmured the Constellation.

“What’s wrong?” Ortega asked.

“The Champion Support System,” Gemini said quietly. “I was allowed to be revived because I activated it at Ars. But what if its activation enabled my killer to track me? The Stabiliser was being very roundabout regarding it, but the way he phrased it…”

He thought back to the words that the God of Space had said, and the more he replayed Hereward’s words in his mind, the more certain Gemini felt.

“It seems that you’ve made your own connections,” said Major Degurechaff. “You’re a Constellation Hero. You have your own secrets. But that’s okay. If you need anything, just tell us. We’re all in the same boat now.”

“Thank you.”

Ortega sighed. “But either way, we should beef up our patrols and security measures. Since your killer’s able to track you down with a name to boot, it’s likely that the perp knows that you’re still alive. You should stay in Ark City as much as possible. Increase your strength through training and equipment, and most importantly, by not moving alone.”

“In addition,” said Degurechaff, “we’ll be assigning a security detail to you. It’s best if they never see battle, but from the looks of it, conflict is unavoidable. Your killer has it in for you. Carving people into jerky strips isn’t a mark of a professional assassin — it’s a show of hatred.”

“The problem is that I didn’t do anything,” Gemini replied, a sour look on his face. “You two know that as well as I do.”

“Maybe sitting around with some tea and snacks might be a good way to resolve this problem.” Paragon Ortega rolled his eyes. “And yet, I get a feeling this isn’t a misunderstanding at all.”

“Gentlemen,” Degurechaff abruptly said, “we’ll need to table this discussion for later. Another attack is forming up against us, outside the walls of Ark City. We’ll have to leave this for later. Gemini, you stay here. It’s a small one, so you don’t need to make an appearance. We’ll come back in an hour or so.”

Without waiting for the Constellation to reply, he strode out of the room, Paragon Ortega following closely behind. Gemini stared at the closing door blankly, and then cussed under his breath for a few minutes, before pushing himself off the bed.