Mercy finally pulled the paper from the patient bird's leg, slipping it out of the thin string.

She opened the paper, scanned it with her eyes, and then quickly traced a response on the paper with her index finger before tying it back to the bird’s leg.

She lifted her hand and the bird set off, the group silently watching it set back off into the mountains.

“How does it know where to go?” Hector asked.

“I dunno.” Mercy looked at the others. “I guess I should try to find that out.”

“What did it say?” Hector continued.

“It was asking for where I am,”

"And what did you write back?”

“That I'm here.” Mercy sighed.

The walk back to the wagon was quiet. Jon felt like nobody wanted to take a step forward, and that they all took turns doing so.

“This doesn’t feel fair…” Tallow said as they got closer. “I know this is what we’re supposed to do… but…”

She sucked her teeth. “At least with the twins, they chose to leave. We’re being forced to bring Mercy back. Like people are just possessions.”

“It's okay,” Mercy said. “It’s… my responsibility to return to my peo-.”

“It's bullshit, is what it is,” Hector said. “And I shouldn’t have ever signed up for this job.”

“Actually,” Mercy said, grabbing onto his arm. “I’m glad you’re the one to do it.”

She let go of him and led the way back to the wagon.

Hector’s nose flared, but not from anger. His face turned red.

“I'm glad… I… I… did too… I… guess… I don’t…”

“Take a breath,” Mallory said, patting Hector on the back. “You’re capable of doing good things.”

“I know… that…” Once Hector found himself, he and Mallory climbed into their usual positions at the front of the wagon.

Mercy, Tallow, and Jon climbed on in the back.

“Our last hurrah,” Mercy said, downtrodden. She pointed alongside the direction of the border. “We just have to go this way for-”

“What the hell?” Hector muttered.

“Oh, what now!” Tallow stood up and turned to the front.

Jon and Mercy stood up as well.

Ahead, both UIltimare and Jack were standing ways in front of the wagon. They both looked the worse they’d ever been. Jack’s face had bruises, and his top half was still covered in potato.

Ultimare had returned with the accumulated damage that everyone had done to him showing on his clothes, including the stab from Mercy’s blade and the mana explosion afterward, leaving parts of his robe in tatters. He also had bruises and dirt on his face, and his long blonde hair had lost its earlier sheen.

“I”m not done with you!” Jack yelled, pointing with his sword. “I'm here to give you a proper fight!”

“Me and the jackal have put aside our differences to destroy you!” Ultimare yelled.

“I’m gonna ignore that for the sake of the partnership!” Jack added.

“Helia’s not even…” Hector grumbled as he gestured towards the two men in disbelief.

“What’s the call, Hect?” Mallory asked.

Hector waited in silence before he finally stood up himself.

“I’m only saying this once,” Hector said to the two men in front. “Move.”

“You’re gonna have to make me!” Jack yelled, raising his sword.

“Fine.” Hector dropped back down into his seat. “Tallow?”

“On it!” Tallow had drawn her razor grip and began winding it, facing the path behind the wagon.

Mallory was crawling to the back to join Jon and the others as well when he watched Mercy draw her energy blade sword and stab it into the floor of the wagon.

A white circle appeared around Mercy’s feet, and white energy surged around the entire wagon.

“Is that… a spell?” Mallory asked. “Holy shit!”

“Holy shit is right,” Mercy said with a grin. “You wanna help me?”

Mallory stepped on her small spell circle with one foot.

“This looks better than it looks,” Mallory said. “Trust me.”

Another circle extended from Mercy’s circle, surrounding Mallory’s own feet.

The mana flowing around the carriage became even stronger.

“Ha!” Hector whipped the reins. The horses ran forward.

“I’ll protect the horses!” Mallory yelled. “Jon? Tallow?”

Jon and Tallow looked at each other and nodded.

They turned to the back of the wagon.

Tallow swung her sword. Jon fired.

The wagon zoomed forward at high speed.

If that wasn’t enough, fire started spreading from the front of the wagon presumably Hector’s way of participating in the charge.

Jack’s eyes were struck with fear, but it was going too fast to feasibly move out of the way.

He dropped his sword and turned and run away, but it wasn’t enough.

“What are you doing?” Ultimate yelled back at him. “My magic will protect-”

The wagon collided with the two men.

“Ahh!” Jack disappeared underneath the charging wagon.

There was a crunch and the wagon bounced from the bump underneath them.

Ultimare was still holding on to the surrounding mana shield, floating above the horses as he sneered at the occupants of the wagon.

Jon had half a mind to shoot him off immediately, but Hector seemed oddly unnerved by it all, so Jon decided to wait to see what it all meant.

“Your spell is inferior to my breed of spellcasting!” Ultimare yelled through the shield. Even with his untidy hair and shredded cloak, he still appeared menacing. He was already raising his other hand and trying to cast a new spell.

“What spell?” Mallory asked. He lifted his foot.

Ultimare’s eyes widened as the shield beneath him disappeared and he fell into the path of the wagon.

He also disappeared under the wagon and there was a second big crunch as the wagon bounced again.

“...Is he dead?” Tallow asked.

“Don’t care,” Hector said, the wagon still moving at full speed.

There was a silent agreement not to turn back and see what was left.

Once the apparent danger was gone, the mana spells all ceased from around the wagon.

It continued moving at a casual speed, until it slowed down, and then came to an eventual stop.

Hector turned to the rest of the group. Mallory had stayed behind in the back of the wagon while everyone recovered their breath.

“Is that them?” Hector asked. He pointed towards the mountains that they had run alongside.

The border had moved further inland, as to make way for greener land. Standing on a full green pasture was a small dark blue carriage, with two black-clad figures standing on either side of it.

“Yeah…” Mercy said. “I’ll take care of it.”

She stood up. Everyone, including Hector, stood up with her.

“I’m not going yet,” she said, embarrassed. “I’m just gonna check-in. Promise.”

She jumped off the side and walked up casually to the two men.

“I don’t think these guys are jokers,” Mallory noted.

That was the only comment as they watched Mercy speak. The figures didn’t react to anything Mercy said to them.

After some time, Mercy finally came back to the wagon.

“It’s fine,” she repeated. “We have time to… to…”

She looked away. “To…”

Tallow jumped down next to her.

“We have time,” Tallow said. “That’s it all we need to know.”

“Well, how much?” Mallory asked as he gently lowered himself off.

“Time,” Mercy repeated.

“Enough,” Hector said. He groaned as he came down as well, signaling his weariness. “Whatever we have should be enough-”

Mercy ran into Hector’s chest, hugging him.

“There’s not enough time for this…” Hector muttered.

“Let’s sit,” Mercy said. She walked onto the pasture and sat down.

Jon followed her and sat down next to her.

“We’re gonna have a picnic?” Tallow asked. “What good is a picnic without any food?”

Despite her protests, she walked over and sat down as well.

Mallory gestured for Hector to walk first. Hector rolled his eyes but started moving.

Mallory followed after and sat down, but Hector was still standing with his arms crossed, eyeing the two Ninjas afar.

“Sit down," Tallow said.

Hector grumbled.

“I don’t think he wants to relax near the border patrol,” Mallory pointed out.

“Hector.”

Hector looked at Mercy.

“Sit,” she said gently. “Please. They won’t hurt you.”

“Apple doesn’t fall too far from the tree,” Tallow muttered.

Hector locked eyes with Mercy until he sighed and rolled his eyes again. He sat down cross-legged.

“It’s like you’ve tamed him!” Tallow exclaimed. “Amazing!”

“I don’t feel like being teased right now,” Hector said. He shifted again so that he was laying on his back, staring up at the sky.

“She’s just teasing because it's deflection for her emotions,” Mallory said. “It just means she feels self-conscious around you.”

“Shut… shut up!” Tallow yelled while her cheeks burned red. “It’s not like that! I just think he should relax!”

“How can anybody relax?” Hector asked. “I can’t…”

Mercy crawled over to Hector’s side and sat down.

Hector looked at her curiously before turning on his side so that his back was facing her.

“Stop avoiding me,” Mercy said without any hint of annoyance.

“I’m not avoiding you!” Hector declared. “I… I…”

He finally turned back to Mercy,

“I can’t stop thinking about if we hadn’t have lost the period of power.”

“I did,” Mercy said. “I-”

“No, we!” Hector said. “We lost. You and me, Together.”

“We all lost,” Mallory added.

“I won,” Tallow scoffed.

“I failed-”

“You didn’t fail,” Mercy said. She wiped a runaway tear from Hector’s face. He didn’t even seem to know it was there.

“Whatever happened, it doesn’t matter.” Mercy turned back to the rest of the group. “It’s the fact that we’re here now, is what counts.”

She matched eyes with Mallory. “Right?”

“Right,” Mallory said quietly.

“But we won’t be here later,” Tallow said. “So, what’s the point. Wasn’t the point was so that later wasn’t gonna become later, and that now was gonna become later.”

“Now will be later.” Mercy put her hands over her heart. “It’ll be in here-”

“Bullshit!” Tallow stood up. “None of that heart stuff.”

“Tallow…” Mercy approached her.

“No! No way!” Tallow walked back. “None of your lovey-preachy stuff!”

“I don’t do lovey-preachy stuff,” Mercy said. “I only say what I feel!”

“Then say you feel bad or something!” Tallow begged. “Come on.”

“I do feel bad.” Mercy gave a small smile. “You already know that.”

Tallow’s eyes became red.

“Just because I know it…” Tallow seemed to be choking on her words. It doesn't mean… you shouldn’t assume… what people feel.”

“What I feel?” Mercy asked.

“No!” Tallow pointed to herself. “What I feel! You shouldn’t assume that I should feel bad… because… because…”

“Shh…” Mercy wrapped her arms around Tallow’s shoulders and held her close. “You’re like the sister I never had.”

“No way,” Tallow said, her voice muffled by tears. “I mean. Yeah, but I don’t know what it feels like to have a sister, but-”

“You do now,” Mercy said.

“Aw, damn it!” Tallow squeezed Mercy quickly before pulling away and turning around.

Everyone watched Tallow as she looked out into the mountains for several minutes.

“Take as long as you need,” Mercy said. “I wanna give you something.”

“No!” Tallow immediately turned back around, drawing the razor grip and pointing it towards her. “It’s yours! You won it fair and square!”

“I did,” Mercy said. “And it’s mine to decide how to use. So, keep it.”

“You need to practice wind mana!” Tallow declared.

“I do,” Mercy admitted. “Until then, you can use it to its full capabilities.”

“I…” Tallow stopped arguing and looked at the sword. After some silent debate, she drew her own curved sword.

“Take this!” Tallow said, handing over the curved sword. “It’s simple. You should practice with it, because… you like weapons and stuff”

“I… I can’t-”

“Shut up and take the damn thing!” Tallow demanded.

“...I will.” Mercy grabbed the sword and bowed.

“Stop that before I kick you in the face.” Tallow turned away again.

Mercy smiled as she came back up. She then looked in Mallory’s direction.

“Aw, Mallory,” she said. “You were always so kind to me. Even in the beginning.”

“Even when I thought you were gonna drive a sword through me?” Mallory asked. “I was worried about that for a bit.”

Mercy’s smile became sad. “And yet, you were still kind.”

She approached him. “You… you hide it, but you’re a fighter.”

“I don’t think I’m hiding it,” Mallory said. “I think I’m struggling a lot.”

“I think you’re always struggling,” Mercy said. “Always trying to do more.”

“That’s… not what most people want to hear."

Mercy tried not to laugh. “People underestimate you, but I think you prefer that.”

Mallory didn’t answer, but his tightened smile showed that it might have been the case.

“You also do so much for Hector,” Mercy added. “It’s admirable.”

“I owe him.” Mallory shrugged.

“Yeah, but you’re so kind to everyone-”

“And those bastards take advantage of it!” Tallow yelled, turning to the conversation. “They’d all have their heads stuck up in their asses if you weren’t pulling it out for them!”

“Okay, okay…enough about me,” Mallory said while trying to stifle his head. “Let’s talk about you.”

He poked her in the arm.

“Your mana mastery is amazing!” Mallory said. “I mean, you control mana like a spellcaster!”

“I mean…” Mercy traced the floor in embarrassment.

“I mean it,” Mallory said. “You know that you always seem to have a never-ending pool of mana, right?”

“Right…” Mercy replied.

“Well, its not just that you have more mana then everyone else. It’s because you carry all of your mana around like a spellcaster! Like, it’s all ethereal and stuff!”

“I don’t know…” Mercy began.

“I mean it!” Mallory continued. “You can gather up mana into your sword and hit people with it, right? But your sword doesn’t have a fix formed! It’s always shifting, like, I bet if you tried really hard, you could change your sword into like any shape, and maybe even cast some lower-level spells! And…”

He stopped when he saw Mercy trying to avoid his gaze.

“You already learned how to do that, didn’t you? What’d you learn?”

Mercy suddenly hugged him.

“I wish… I had asked you more…” she said. “You have so much to teach me, and I have so much to learn…”

“You learned so much by yourself," Mallory said. “I”m not sure if there was anything I could’ve taught you… but…

He reached into his bag and pulled out the book.

“Take this with you!” he said, giving it to her. “Try not to take it as gospel, but use it as a way to expand your understanding. It’s baby stuff, but…”

He tapped the cover of it. “I’m somewhere in there. Like, every page somewhere. You won’t see me, but… you go girl. And don’t let people make you think you’re weak just because you’re different.”

“You’ll be there in my spells,” Mercy responded. “And in my heart.”

They Tallow gagged as the Mallory and Mercy hugged again.

They pulled away and turned to Hector who was looking away.

“He… uhh…” Mallory had trouble finding the words.

“I know,” Mercy said. “I can take care of it.”

She approached Hector from behind.

“Job’s done,” Hector said, “so, you should think about going.”

“Not until we actually speak,” Mercy said.

‘“It’s not fair,” Hector finally said after much silence. “I feel like… I keep losing people.”

“You still have the others,” Mercy said. “Even if I-”

“It still sucks,” Hector said. “I don’t consider anyone better or worse. So, when someone leaves… it’s all the same.”

“I know,” Mercy said. “That’s a heavy burden to carry… but I think it also makes you a stronger person.”

Hector made a soft groan.

“You don’t have to carry the world’s burdens,” Mercy said. “You just need to make sure that you’re okay.”

“I need to make sure my friends are okay… and… I…”

Mercy grabbed his arm, gently pulling him back to face her.

“You already do that,” Mercy said.

“Yeah, but Mercy,” Hector said, “I… I care for you… I… I don’t know… I’ve never…”

“It's fine,” she said. “Stop trying to burden the world’s problems on your shoulders. Even now-”

“No.” Hector shook his head. “It’s my honor to take on the burdens of my friends. I’ll take responsibility. I’ll try to get the borders open between us.”

“I’ll do that on my end as well,” Mercy replied.

“And I’ll make it easier so that you could see Jon again.”

“I can see you again, too,”

“I’ll be too busy, and I’m not important-”

Mercy grabbed his face.

“You’re important to me,” she said. “That’s a fact. You’ve put so much on the line for me. Even if it didn’t start out great, it morphed into something great, and part of that is because of the effort you put in!”

“Or lack thereof…” Tallow muttered.

Mercy continued. “There’s few people I would trust with my life other than you, Hector.”

“In a fight, right?” Hector asked.

“Hector…” she caressed his face. “I mean more than that.”

“Yeah… we’re friends… right…” Hector’s face turned beet red.

She kissed him on the cheek, and Hector’s redness disappeared.

“Take care of yourself,” she said. “You’re worth it.”

She walked away. Hector put his hand to his face where she had kissed him.

She went to Jon.

“Come with me,” she said, reaching out.

Jon nodded and took it.

She turned back.

“Tell Hestatham and Genevive and everyone… how much they’ve meant to me. I think… I think I’ll be able to keep in touch now.”

“Don’t be a stranger,” Hector muttered.

Mercy smiled. Jon felt like he wanted to say bye, even if he knew he was coming back, but he didn’t.

She then led Jon away from the group.