"Never forget that I will never leave you."

Zeus awoke with a start to see that Riley was sound asleep, and he snuck out of his bed and got his armor on. She never moved, and he scribbled a note. It stated:

Don't worry about me. I'll be fine. I've got to make a return to Arcadia and get what I need. I'm getting Derek and Erica. Don't worry, I''l be back soon. I love you.

He put the note on his pillow and kissed Riley's cheek. She rolled over and smiled and covered up with the blanket. He grabbed his boots, and walked out the door quietly with his helmet and boots in hand. 

"What are you doing, Spartan?" Z asked as the door shut.

"Have you seen Derek and Erica?" Zeus asked, whispering.

"They're both in the Med Bay. Where are you headed?" Z asked, whispering back.

"I need to go to Arcadia. I left something there." Zeus said.

"But what of your mate?" Z asked, puzzled. "Her and Reeva can't-"

"Can't do what, Z?" Reeva shouted down the hallway. Zeus sighed. She approached him. "Hey cutie," she said, stroking his cheek, "where ya headed at 12 in the morning?"

Zeus backed away. Apparently Reeva didn't believe in boundaries. "No-nowhere," he stammered, awkwardly. "Please, leave me be until I return." He sprinted to the med-bay, where he found Derek and Erica in each other's arms.

Derek saw him first before he could back out of the Med-Bay. "Y-yes, Zeus?" He asked nervously.

"I'm sorry for interrupting. You two wanna get off this tub? I need to go back to Arcadia." Zeus stated, embarrassed by what he saw.

"I'm in." Both Derek and Erica said in unison, and the three ran to a Pelican and left the station.

------------------

1:00 AM, Harvest's Surface

Zeus opened the back of the Pelican to a cold, snowy landscape. Even through the thermal coating that kept him warm Zeus could feel a freezing cold wind piercing his clothes.

"How cold is it, Chappy?" Erica said, not faltered at all by freezing cold temperatures.

"-4 degrees centigrade," Zeus said, trying to ignore the cold. He walked up to the rubble of what used to be his house. His heart, for the first time in a while, didn't ache as much as it had used to.

"Zeus, what do you want us to do?" Derek asked, seeing that his friend wasn't in as much pain as he hated seeing him in.

"Stand guard, I don't think that Asher would leave this area silently." Zeus said, cautiously. He saw the pile of rubble with the box with his name on it. He picked it up and strapped it to him, and turned around and saw Asher's knife pinned to the wall, with a note underneath it. It stated:

You will die here, Chapstick. I'll make sure you never leave this system alive.

Zeus saw a fire in the distance. "Erica, Derek, I know you both don't want to leave me here, but I have to go investigate that fire. Get to safety." He said, determined.

"I have to go to the museum to recover artifacts," Erica said, "so I need you both to come with me."

Zeus shuddered. The fire came from where the museum in Arcadia was located.

They're leading us to where they want to box us in, Zeus thought.

"Let's go. I got your back if things go south or if Asher is there." Derek sounded determined to take Asher down.

----------

The three Spartans sprinted closer to the fires.  With every footstep, Zeus became even more scared that Derek or Erica would lose their lives. 

They arrived at the place with no one in sight. Derek cocked his shotgun and Zeus checked the clip on his DMR.

"Erica, if we don't make it..." Zeus began.

"Chappy, if we don't, you'd better fulfill that promise. Why did you become a chaplain?" Erica asked, while the three skulked through the ruins of the museum.

"Well..." Zeus began, "It was right after I had arrived at the Training Facility. I had no one but Jesus. Even though I was only ten at the time, I understood what loneliness was. I used to sit alone and watch everyone else play and it drove me to be better than them, because if I was better than the best, maybe I would have been accepted. Well, that thought process burned out whenever me and Asher, the best Spartan III in our group, went at it and most of my brethren chanted for me to die by his hands. I had Derek and five others who became my friends that day, and from that point on I remembered that what my dad had said was right- that God's acceptance was all I needed. I arose with a new motive: to lay my best on the line for Christ- and to never give up even though it was hard. At the graduating ceremony, I announced I wanted to be a chaplain, and a majority of my brothers and sisters laughed. But that time has changed. They mostly respect my decision even if I catch flak for it." He sighed and gave her the last of the details after that.

"I want to have a faith that never gives up, like yours." Erica said with remorse in her voice, and Zeus led her through a prayer.

"You can't just say that prayer, you have to say Jesus Christ is the Son of God and is Lord. You have to make a confession." Zeus said with compassion.

Both Derek and Erica said it together- but added their own twists on it.

"Jesus Christ is the Son of God and is Lord of our lives. We will go to the ends of the universe to pursue Him."

Zeus smiled and joy arose from his heart. The three stopped running after they had reached the end of the corridor. 

"I'm sorry for teasing you when I first met you, Zeus." Erica said while opening the door they needed to get through.

"No, it's okay. Call me Chappy, I was starting to like that name." Zeus said, and laughed. They reached the artifact they needed- and got out of the room.

"Hey, Chapstick, you're surrounded." Finn's picture flashed on the inside of Zeus's visor. Finn's eyes had darkened and he wore a wicked grin.

"Finn, my quarrel is not with-"

"Bull! You tried to kill Asher, and for that, your friend is going to pay."

BANG! A sniper shot sounded, and he heard a thud come from Derek's direction. He turned around in horror, to see that Derek hadn't died- he lost his arm.