"I'm just saying, this might not be a good idea!" Raevyn protested for the millionth time, struggling to keep up with Korral, who was rapidly ascending the ladder in the Forza Province. "They only came down here for the good of their own city. Besides, a war is the last thing we need right now!"

"I never called it a good idea," Korral snapped back, his voice echoing throughout the narrow area. "It's what needs to be done. No one has dared to intrude Rifugio for the last two thousand years at least, and I intend to keep it that way."

More like they didn't even know it existed. Raevyn bit back the words. If he'd learned anything from working for Preciser his whole life, it was that there was a time and place for snark and sarcasm, and this situation was neither. Especially not with Korral so angry.

He'd protested a dangerous number of times since the moment his king had announced what he was going to do, and nothing was working. It was a miracle Korral hadn't shoved him off the ladder yet.

In a glum and defeated silence, Raevyn kept his eyes glued to the floor for the rest of their climb, only raising them when they reached the top level. Korral pushed the door up and slid it open a few feet, enough for them to climb out.

The moment they'd both emerged, Korral left him to close the door again. Raevyn eyed him worriedly as he paced to the edge of the alley and stopped, surveying the crowds of Italians shuffling through the streets. They all looked calm, blissfully unaware of what was about to happen.

Inwardly he cringed as Korral stepped out into the sunlight and shouted, his voice somehow sounding over the cars and chatter, "I demand that Night and Sunray show themselves!"

Collectively, the people stopped what they were doing and looked at the Rifugian king. Raevyn saw a lot of confusion in their eyes, and caught the name Preciser murmured several times. No one seemed to know how to react.

Muttering to himself in frustration, Korral began making his way through the crowd, which quickly parted to let him through. Raevyn stood up and meekly followed him, squinting at the blinding sunlight. He honestly didn't know how humans could stand such painful brightness, though that opinion probably came from living underground in a dim environment his whole life.

"You." Korral grabbed the shoulder of a cameraman standing with a reporter and a few other workers. "Are you live?"

Standing stiffly with wide eyes, the man shook his head. Raevyn turned his gaze elsewhere, pretending he knew what they were talking about. Is he asking if the dude's alive? Isn't it kinda obvious?

"Turn it on, then," Korral ordered, lifting his spear and pointing the blade at the man's head. "I have a request to make."

Request?! That's what you're calling this?! Raevyn clenched his fists, hardly registering the pain as his claws dug into his palms. He was torn between furious and nervous, and kept having to bite his tongue. The one thing he missed about Preciser was getting all that alone time to clean. When he'd been able to mutter to himself, hum, think aloud, and complain to empty air all he'd wanted. It'd only been once every few hours that he'd had to stay silent and stick to "Yes, master, as you wish, master."

He wasn't going to deny that he'd hoped Korral would not remember his existence and neglect him entirely. But nooo, of course he'd remembered. "Oh, yeah, there's that one Forzan servant who can still think for himself. Better keep an eye on him as much as I can, make sure he doesn't try anything. And if he does, I can just kill him, without having Preciser around to stop me this time."

Sometimes he really hated his life.

Today, he'd been brought along to this oh-so-pleasant meeting because one, Korral wanted to keep an eye on him, and two, if Night and Sunray didn't respond well, he was expected to give an example of what a Rifugian soldier could do if Milan didn't cooperate.

The worst part? He hadn't even gotten a chance to warn Jakira about it. Everything had happened too fast, and he hadn't had a single free moment. So now, all he could do was hope they didn't do anything that would displease Korral to that level.

Meanwhile, the people were scrambling around to obey the Rifugian king. As they lifted a large camera, Raevyn backed up a little, shuddering at the sensation of electricity pulsing through it. It was a dizzying, numbing feel, one he was far from used to, living deep underground.

The cameraman motioned to Korral, who then repeated his "request," this time staring coldly at the camera. Again, Raevyn hid his confusion, not even knowing how Korral might punish him for showing anything other than strength.

He kind of hoped Jakira and whoever Night was would ignore the demand, but a few minutes later he saw the crowd shifting— parting to let two familiar figures through. Sunray's glow was barely visible in the direct sunlight, but there was fire in her eyes. Her wariness was obvious in her tense shoulders and slow, cautious steps. One of her hands was slightly curled, as if she was ready to summon her weapon at any second.

Night, on the other hand, appeared far more emotionless. He was walking a few paces ahead of his partner, obviously leading the two of them. His expression was both neutral and fierce, and his gait was calm. Only the stormy look in his dark blue eyes betrayed any emotion.

They halted a safe distance away from Korral, and Night held out his hand in front of Sunray, motioning for her to stay a pace behind him on his right. Ready to protect her, Raevyn realized, with a twinge of both envy and respect. The guy was still recovering from almost starving to death, and yet he was still thinking of his partner's safety first. Raevyn just wished he had a close friend like that.

Sunray obeyed Night's wordless command, but turned her head and swept a silent warning glance over the crowds of people around them. After a moment, they all began shuffling inside the surrounding buildings, locking the doors behind them. This was routine for them, Raevyn remembered. Just under slightly different circumstances.

He expected them to ask roughly or coldly what Korral wanted, but when Night spoke, his tone was quiet and even, almost gentle. "Can we help you?"

"Help me?" Korral laughed. "If you can go back in time and change what you've done, sure. Don't play dumb. You both know why I'm here."

Night stared back at him silently. Raevyn couldn't help but feel a little amazed at how much these two could communicate without a single word. The dark guardian's expression clearly read, Care to enlighten us?

"I said don't play dumb," the king repeated sharply. "You both broke one of the most basic laws in existence, and if you thought I was just going to let that slide, you're mistaken."

Both guardians exchanged a slightly exasperated look. "We already apologized for our actions and explained our intentions," Night pointed out, his neutral tone not matching the faint frustration in his eyes. "We had no intent to hurt the city itself, and we have no plans to enter it again."

"Also, neither of us knew you were the king until just a few days ago," Sunray put in. "We were led to believe Preciser was the Rifugian leader."

Korral narrowed his eyes, his cold gaze shifting back and forth from the two of them. Raevyn unconsciously held his breath, hoping their words would get through to his stubborn ruler. He knew they were all reasonable and true, although— in the back of his mind— he hoped they didn't mean the part about never coming to Rifugio again. As impossible and conflicting as it was, he really wanted them to be his friends. He didn't have anyone else.

But at the same time, I just can't . . . It would be too hard!

"A few days ago, you said?" his king asked icily, and he inwardly facepalmed at Sunray's choice of words. Why didn't she just say "recently"? "Since our first meeting was just last evening, you knew I was the true ruler when you invaded."

Night hesitated for a few seconds, his eyes drifting downwards, then jerked them up in surprise when Sunray spoke up. "Actually, it was just me who knew," she admitted. "My partner didn't know until after the incident last night."

Korral studied her curiously. "Interesting," he murmured. "And of the two of you, whose idea was it to invade Rifugio?"

Sunray closed her eyes, took a deep breath, then opened them and replied quietly, "Mine."

Raevyn cringed, while Night reached over and took his partner's hand, concern briefly shadowing his otherwise emotionless expression. Even in that little gesture, something seemed . . . different about their dynamic today. From what he'd heard and seen about them, he'd figured out there was mutual interest, but neither had said anything. Maybe one of them finally had, and they were official now? The thought made him smile a little in satisfaction, but he also hoped Korral wasn't picking up on it, too. It would make it far easier to target them.

Thankfully, Korral had closed his eyes, but was shaking his head with something like disapproval, like he'd just gotten a child to confess their wrongdoing. "And there it is," he said scornfully. "Thank you for your honesty, Sunray." He stepped closer to her and hissed, "You've just sealed the fate of your entire city. Milan and Rifugio are officially at war. I'll meet you both in this very place a week from today." The moment he'd finished speaking, he whipped around and headed back towards the Forzan door.

Night and Sunray both stood like statues, their faces blank with shock. Raevyn hesitated for a moment, his gaze darting back and forth from them to his king. Finally he rushed closer and quickly whispered to them both, "Meet me at the door around midnight tonight," then turned and dashed after Korral.

This was not how he'd wanted the meeting to go.

-

His next nine hours were spent working on chores, which he actually didn't mind. It gave him silence and time to process what had happened that morning, and to start working on a plan. So far, it consisted of telling Sunray and Night all about Korral and Rifugio, to possibly give them a slight advantage for the coming battle.

The only abnormal thing about his work that day was having to clean up the mess in Preciser's throne room. He wished he'd told the guardians to try to be tidy in their fighting, although most of the mess was from the accidental explosion they'd caused along with the bodies of the darkalds who'd died in it. It was sickening, especially since all the cleaning he'd done before hadn't come close to involving a bunch of corpses.

After the three and a half hours it took to finish working on the throne room, Raevyn headed to one of the branching halls and slumped down against the wall for a break. He hadn't eaten anything since before the meeting that morning, but getting rid of the dead bodies had successfully destroyed his appetite.

He lifted his head slightly at the sound of approaching footsteps, even though they were probably still far down the hallway. It was just one of the evening patrols.

Five minutes later, the little group came into sight. Their heads turned as one in his direction, only to resume facing forward the moment they saw it was one of their own.

Raevyn lifted a hand and said, "Hi," as they passed, but none of them paid him any attention.

"We should be friends!" he called after them, knowing all too well they couldn't understand. "Did you guys hear what happened last night? Technically, we don't have a master anymore. Other than Korral, but he has his own servants to do the maintenance in his place." He hopped to his feet and bounced after them. "Hey, I got an idea! How about, instead of waiting for them to choose a new viceroy, we form an escape plan? Sounds fun, right?! I want to have some fun for once, don't you?"

Just as he'd expected, they didn't acknowledge him or his words at all. He stopped, watching them cross through the throne room and into the opposite hall.

"Don't you?" he repeated more quietly, his shoulders slumping.

Bored, lonely, and tired all at once, Raevyn turned around and almost instinctively started heading for the dungeon to chat with Tizian, but then stopped and sighed. Tizian was free now, he reminded himself for the umpteenth time. He was glad his old friend was finally home, but . . . having absolutely no one to talk to was driving him crazy. When he'd first asked Preciser permission to pay Tizian visits, the reason he'd given was so that they could keep the prisoner sane. But . . . even though that was true, the visits became essential to keeping him sane as well. He needed some kind of companionship, no matter how vague and shallow. But all he had now was a bunch of brainless fellow servants and authority figures who only kept him alive to serve them.

Preciser was the only one in the dungeon now, and he was the last person Raevyn wanted to talk to. After the amount of both physical and emotional hardships that giant had put him through, he wanted absolutely nothing to do with him.

Numbly, he finished his chores in sullen silence, then headed to his tiny living space to rest for the remainder of the day. There were still four more hours until the meeting with Jakira and . . . Night, whoever he was. Raevyn suspected he was the neighbor guy that she apparently spent a lot of time with (according to what Preciser had learned once he'd discovered her identity), but he supposed he would find out tonight.

He flopped backwards on his cot and pulled off his hood, grateful for the privacy that allowed him to do so. He was used to concealing his appearance, but that didn't mean he enjoyed it. Whenever he got the chance to relax and drop the shields in sweet solitude, it felt like a breath of fresh air after a full day of suffocating.

About five minutes passed before he got bored.

He had no books to read other than the depressing and mind-numbing textbooks Preciser had forcibly given him for his education. He still wasn't hungry. All the chores were done.

Exhausted, yet too restless to sleep, Raevyn hopped back up and started obsessively cleaning the room, although it was already spotless. No dirt on the wooden floor? Impossible, wood floors were always dirty. Closet was already organized? Nah, there had to be something out of place. Something to fix! Something to do!

"Tizian, come baaack," he whined, pacing restlessly in circles around the room. "I don't want to . . ." His eyes caught sight of a spider sitting comfortably in a web in the corner of the ceiling, and he trailed off and groaned, "Not you again."

The little pest had bitten him during the last few nights, and although the bites felt more like a nuisance than anything else, he was ready to be rid of this thing.

He pulled his hood back on, slipped outside, and ran to the nearest janitorial closet to get a broom, then raced back. This is a stupid idea, a part of him thought as he pushed a little corner table against the wall and stepped up onto it. But hey, what else is new?

"Vengeance shall be mine!" he shouted, swiping the broom head at the web, only to swing too hard and end up losing his balance. He crashed backwards off the table and onto the floor, while the broom with the spider on it fell in his bed.

Instantly he flipped back to his feet and yelped, "Ack— no, no, no!" He started aggressively brushing off the cot, until he finally just flipped the whole thing over. "You will not triumph! I'm higher on the food chain! Probably? Do you have giant family members above ground? I could probably kill them if you do."

He suddenly heard the slightest creak behind him, and immediately whipped around with the broom held up like a spear. Seconds later, his eyes flew open wide and the broom slipped from his hand as he realized it was Korral standing there, one eyebrow arched and arms crossed.

"S-Sorry, your Majesty!" he stammered, hastily resuming a dignified stance. "I didn't— um, there was a spider—"

"Save it," Korral interrupted. "I just want you to check on Preciser. See if he's dead yet."

It's only been a day; somehow I doubt he would die that fast.

The thought of doing this terrified him, but it didn't involve hurting anyone he cared about or breaking his own morals, so he didn't have any real reason to disobey. "Yes, your Majesty," he mumbled.

"Good." Korral turned and started walking back out into the hallway, but then paused. "And until we find a new viceroy, you can call me master."

Raevyn's heart skipped a couple beats at the title he'd come to dread, but he stifled his real reaction and nodded meekly. His king nodded back, then left, leaving the door open.

Preciser's not my master anymore. He's powerless now. He can't hurt me. He can't hurt me anymore. It became a mental chant as he made his way to the dungeon in a daze. His heart beat faster with every step that brought him closer. It's okay. I'm okay. He can't hurt me anymore. I can do this. I can control this. His steps faltered a little as he caught sight of the doors, but he forced himself to keep walking.

I can do this.

He reached the doors, but stopped before entering. His heart was racing like he'd run the whole way. Not too long ago he'd come here for nice, easy conversations with a kindly man who would give him a break from the stress that came with working for Preciser. Now, that wretched giant was the one behind these doors.

I can do this.

Wait a sec, didn't that explosion leave him blind and deaf? He won't know I'm here! I can just duck inside to see if he's alive or dead, then I can leave!

Struck by a sudden surge of confidence, Raevyn straightened up and pushed inside, only to freeze in his tracks when he saw Preciser turn his head and fix him with a cold glare.

"What do you think you're doing here?" the giant snarled, his voice raspy yet still intimidating.

Raevyn stared back, his heartrate rising again. "Korral healed you."

"Did he send you?" Preciser demanded.

"Y-Yes, he sent me." He took a quick deep breath, frustrated that he couldn't seem to relax. "He wanted me to . . ."

"See if I'm dead yet?" Preciser asked dryly, and Raevyn shut his mouth with an uncomfortable nod. He was trying so hard not to panic, he completely forgot until later that Preciser had no power over him anymore.

"And . . . I can see that you're not," he forced himself to add, hating the way his voice trembled ever so slightly. "I'll go tell him." He turned and started heading back to the doors, but froze again at the giant's scoffing voice.

"He's your new master?"

No.

Yes.

I hate this.

"Good, at least he'll have the power to deal with you however he wants." Preciser had apparently taken his silence as a yes. "I want you to keep something in mind," he snarled.

Raevyn instantly quickened his pace, dashed out to the hallway, and slammed the door, but still heard Preciser's words thanks to his obnoxiously sharp sense of hearing.

"Korral has no reason to keep you alive. He's already tried to kill you once, and he's going to try again."

-

He's going to kill me. I know it. I'm going to die. I'm too young to die!

Raevyn wasn't entirely sure how long he'd been sitting on the floor in his room, his mind clouded with panic. He'd reported to Korral, then gone straight back to his room and faceplanted the ground.

He stared at the wall in a daze. I'm going to die.

Then his thoughts shifted. Turned cold. Numb. Tired.

So?

What does it matter if he kills me? I'm one rebellious servant among thousands of obedient ones. For all I know, that's all I'll ever be.

But what about Night and Sunray? They care! They're the first in a while.

They don't know me. They're not like me. They couldn't understand.

But they're friendly . . . Jakira said they wanted to see me again. She said thank-you. She wasn't even mad when I forgot to give her flashlight back.

Raevyn sat up straighter, taking a deep breath. "That's good enough," he decided, then stood up. "In your face, Mr. Ha—"

He stopped himself, remembering that he was in the present. That thing wasn't.

One more hour till midnight. He could make it.

He ended up spending that hour carving smiley-faces into the wood around his room with his claws, humming an old Rifugian tune, thinking through the plan. Finally, ten minutes before midnight, he slipped his hood back on and carefully made his way to the door to Milan.

As quietly as he could, Raevyn climbed out onto the road, slid the door closed, then immediately covered his ears with a wince. It was so loud up here. Between people shouting and talking, honking sounds, and sirens, it was like an instant sensory overload. He backed up and scrunched down beside the back of the alley, clutching his head for a few seconds.

How could humans stand to live here? Too bright during the day, too noisy 24/7, geez. Their senses must've been pathetic compared to darkalds'.

After a few seconds of adjusting, Raevyn stood up again, walked to the front of the alley, then closed his eyes and stepped out among the people. Dressed the way he was in the cloak and hood, he could almost pass as human at this hour- except his eyes would give him away. Human eyes didn't glow like his, and they looked very different.

He simply had to rely on his other senses to get around up here. Feel the vibrations in the ground from footsteps. Listen to voices and breathing, detect which louder sounds were closer and which quieter things were farther. Scent the clarity and density of the air— or try to, since there was so much air pollution it was kind of hard. Follow his training.

The main problem was the fact that almost everyone he passed had some kind of electric device on them. Not to mention the general feel of it in the air all around him. Above, beside, behind, in front . . . Every time he passed someone, his ears started ringing, he got vertigo, and it just hurt.

At least he was almost there. If his calculations were right, then he had . . . about half a mile to go.

A few minutes later, however, he ended up ducking into another narrow alley to take a quick breather. Thankfully, it'd gotten a little quieter in this section of the city, but the feel of electricity was still pretty heavy in the air. He rubbed his face wearily with a sigh.

Dumb humans.

Suddenly, he heard a familiar voice approaching his alley, quietly conversing with someone else. He peeked outside to see Jakira nearing him on the sidewalk, walking close beside a tall, dark-haired guy. Raevyn recognized him as her neighbor friend, then realized that his theory had been correct; he was Night.

He poked his head out and hissed, "Jakira!" remembering with a rush of embarrassment what he'd tried last time they were in this situation.

Jakira instantly stopped and looked towards him, at the same time the guy did. A smile crossed her face, and they both turned and headed over to join him. He took a few steps back to give them room, since the alley wasn't wide enough for them to stand in a circle, and crouched down so they would draw as little attention as possible.

Jakira knelt down about a foot in front of him. "I thought you said to meet at the door," she said with a little laugh.

Raevyn shrugged. "I was tired of waiting. So I made things easier on you guys. You're welcome."

"Thanks, I guess." She shook her head with a grin.

"Yep." He glanced past her to the guy sitting partially behind her and partially beside her. "I assume you're Night, but what's your real name?"

The guy smiled a little and waved. "My name's Alex."

"Gotcha." Raevyn nodded. "Okay. What do you guys want to know about Korral, or should I just info-dump?"

Alex and Jakira briefly exchanged looks. "Just . . . anything important about him and the city and culture that we should know during a battle," Jakira clarified.

"Okay." He hesitated, trying to sort through the information he had planned while also trying to ignore the discomfort from the electricity in the air. "Rifugio is divided into five provinces. Well, six if you count the Central Palace for the royal family. Korral is king of all of it. Preciser was the viceroy of the Forza Province— the one directly below you guys and the first one established. Each province stands for a different battle strategy, which altogether would make the most powerful army on earth."

"Why the need to base the city's entire system on . . . violence and battle?" Jakira questioned tentatively. "And why does your city's name literally mean 'safe haven'?"

Raevyn hesitated again. "That's . . . a long story for another time," he mumbled. "Anyway, Korral's the only real member of the royal family in office right now. His mother was the queen before him, but she— um, she's dead now."

It was difficult to read their expressions. "What do you mean, the only real member?" Alex asked.

"I mean . . . his father's technically still alive," Raevyn answered. "But he's human, not originally native to Rifugio, so he decided he only wanted to rule one province instead of the entire city. That's Jacyr. He's viceroy of the Scienza Province. He's a pretty decent guy, from what I know about him. He sure doesn't approve of what his son's been doing."

"So why hasn't he done anything to stop him?" Jakira asked, sounding confused.

"He can't," Raevyn replied simply. "In our city, loyalty is everything. The king is the absolute monarch. His word is law. And as of roughly seven hundred years ago, Rifugian law states that disloyalty to the king is counted as disloyalty to the entire city— basically, if you openly disagree with the king, it's treason, and is punishable by death."

Jakira's eyes widened. "So Korral can't find out you're doing this? Or else he'll kill you?"

He half-shrugged. "Pretty much."

Alex looked stunned. "Wow, that's . . . extreme."

"It's an absolute monarchy. That's just how it works." Raevyn sighed. "Anyway, all but one of the viceroys has a special talent linked to what their province stands for. Korral— as the king— has all those powers, plus one of his own choosing. He chose sound. Sonic blasts. And he has a fancy spear that corresponds with it."

Alex nodded, but Jakira appeared lost in thought. "Wait, go back," she said slowly. "I just thought of something. You've said before that all the other servants are brainwashed. And now you said the whole 'disagreeing with the king means death for you' law wasn't always a thing. Seven hundred years . . ." She paused. "And you're six-hundred twenty something . . . How old is Korral?"

"Hold up, you're over six hundred years old?!" Alex squeaked.

Raevyn looked back and forth between them for a few seconds, blinking. "Okay, yes, that's my real age, and it's really not that big of a deal for my species. We can live up to six thousand years, so my age isn't a big deal. How old is Korral? That's a bit of good news." He grinned. "He's only fifty-six years older than me."

Both Alex and Jakira stared at him blankly.

Raevyn rolled his eyes. "You humans and your vaporous lives," he muttered. "Okay, fifty-six years sounds like a lot to you guys, but for a darkald, again, it's really not that long. Well . . ." He hesitated, thinking. "Korral's not really a darkald, but his extended lifespan . . . Okay, so mentally speaking he is more like fifteen years ahead of me . . . AY. Humans age fast. Darkalds age slow. What we'd consider a year is the same as fifty years for you guys. Does any of this make sense?!"

". . . I think I get it," Jakira said slowly. "It's kind of like dog years, but it's the other way around? And way more drastic?"

He snapped his fingers— or he tried to. His gloves made it kind of hard. "Yes. Exactly. Basically. About Korral, it's kinda confusing. He's . . . technically human; he's Jacyr's son. I said the former queen was his mother, but . . . she really wasn't, she was more of a mentor who became a mother figure to him. The only relation she had with Jacyr was allowing him to become a Rifugian citizen and creating a new province he could rule. She needed an heir, but she didn't have kids. So with Jacyr's permission, she made Korral her heir and trained him. She just . . . made a mistake." He paused.

"Something specific?" Alex asked warily.

Raevyn continued to hesitate. Yes, the answer was yes. There was even a possibility they could guess, just by looking at Korral and considering some of the information he'd just given them. But . . . maybe it was too risky to let them know. If they knew . . . what if it just dropped too many hints . . . and they figured it out . . . and then the biggest thing his entire culture had taught him to hide away would be out there and then maybe they wouldn't want to be friends with him anymore because—

"Raevyn, is everything okay?" Jakira's gentle voice cut through his racing thoughts, and she started reaching out towards him. Instantly his heart lurched, and he jerked away before she could touch him.

"Yes," he answered, swallowing. "Everything's fine. I just don't think I really need to go on about that, since it wouldn't help during a battle."

The triggering conversation and the fact that Jakira had now tried twice to touch him had set his heart racing. Suddenly, everything seemed too loud. People walking and talking outside their little alley. Horns. Wind. Was that the sound of metal? Like a knife? Or a spear. Or an arrow. It was a threat. No, it wasn't a weapon. Plastic bags. To suffocate someone?! Clicking sounds. What was coming closer? His head and shoulders aching, his ears ringing from the electricity in the air.

He tried desperately to focus. "You guys should know Korral's other powers, right?" he burst out, sounding a little more strained than he'd intended. "Right. His main thing is sound, be careful, he could destroy your eardrums if you're not careful." Ugh, why am I talking about sound of all things? TOO MUCH NOISE. "Um, I think he stole all of Preciser's powers. And he also has all the viceroys' powers."

Too much noise. Too much. I need to go.

At this point, both Alex and Jakira were looking slightly concerned. "Okay, but . . . seriously, are you okay?" Jakira repeated, her eyes wide.

"Yes, I said everything's fine!" Raevyn snapped back, and she jumped. He scrambled to get to his feet, nearly tripping over his cloak in the process, and they stood up as well. "But, uh, I-I do need to go, I have— I have chores . . . and Preciser . . ."

"Chores?" Alex echoed. "At midnight?"

Raevyn shook his head furiously, reaching for his head but stopping at the last second. "No. I just need to go," he said again, pushing past them to escape the tiny alley. He paused to wave, adding, "Don't worry, I'll tell you guys more before the battle," then closed his eyes and took off back towards the door.

Too much. Gotta get back. Now.

It was harder to keep track of his surroundings and "watch" where he was going with his heart racing the way it was. The streets seemed to get more and more crowded the closer he got to the door. The next thing he knew, he'd started hyperventilating, and it only grew worse as the feel of electricity intensified.

Completely flustered, he ended up stumbling straight into someone. An adult, from the feel and sounds of it. He quickly stepped back, his eyes still closed.

"Watch where you're walking, kid," a male voice snapped, but then paused. "Hey, why can't— Where's your face?"

"I'm not a kid!" Raevyn snarled back, shoved his way past the man, and kept running. Almost there. No, not almost there. In his confusion, he crashed into some kind of metal pole, and he staggered sideways with a grunt. TOO MUCH. TOO MUCH. He was trapped in full-blown sensory overload at this point. Everything ached, especially his head, and he wanted nothing more than to get back to his nice, quiet room and sleep.

Keep going.

He picked himself up and resolutely carried on. I can do this! It's just noise and a little electricity. I'm a Rifugian soldier. I've got this! I . . . need to sit down, kieaya.

Muttering under his breath, Raevyn more or less felt his way to the nearest wall and sank to his knees before he could blank out. He rubbed his eyes and head as he rested, waiting a full minute before trying to move on.

Imagine Korral's heading to my room right now. He can't find me gone.

That was the perfect unhealthy motivation he needed. Terror immediately flashed through his mind, adrenaline kicked in, and he sprinted the rest of the way to the door— miraculously without crashing into any more people or objects.

The second he'd slipped back down into Rifugio, he collapsed onto the top platform, wanting to cry from sheer relief. Peace and quiet. No electricity.

Still weary and a little shaky, he made his way back down to his room over the course of the next hour. It was past 2 in the morning by the time he got there, and he could barely see straight. He tried to stumble over to his bed, but ended up tripping over it, having forgotten he'd flipped it over earlier and never bothered to pick it up again. Overtired, he whimpered in frustration as he knelt down and pulled it upright again, then instantly crashed onto it, too exhausted even to take his hood off.

Was today a good day?

We're at war now. I had to handle a bunch of dead bodies. The other servants are still a bunch of mindless puppets. There's a spider in my room. Preciser gave me a heart attack. I was enlightened to the fact that Korral's probably going to kill me. I almost had another episode in front of Jakira and Alex. Then electricity made me sick and could've killed me.

He took a deep breath, then allowed himself to smile.

But Jakira and Alex care about me.

It's going to be okay.

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A/N: WOO, it took a freaking year to write this chapter (thanks to my cousin, who gave me a stupidly brilliant potential plot twist that I needed to make a decision about but just ended up getting stuck in writer's block for eight months, then college and work was happening :P BUT I FINISHED

Eheh, Raevyn in the end of this chapter feels like me writing the end of this chapter XD