14 YEARS AGO

  ROSCHER CEMETERY

  ROSCHER, GRATA - 5:27 PM

  A murder of crows flies by the Roscher Cemetery as the cold wind howls. 6 year-old Nick Altair sits on the grass beside three graves, those of his family.

  As the sun starts to set, footsteps approach from behind him. Nick looks back, seeing a grizzled man in a trenchcoat walking towards him. Worn out and exhausted after a year of living by himself, Nick stays still, accepting whatever fate the conspicuous man would give him.

  Fortunately that man would turn out to be Zack Evergreen who wanted to pay respects to his te teacher, Raymond. Zack approaches the solemn child, taking pity on him.

  “What’re you doing here, kid? Are they your family?” Zack asks as Nick nods. Zack looks around, seeing nothing but graves lined up in the distance.

  “Who’s with you?”

  “Nobody.”

  Zack doubted Nick, managing to recall that Raymond had a daughter, but never a son. However, this child was the spitting image of Raymond Altair. As far as Zack knew, Raymond was the only person in South Lavia with bck hair, the very same shade as the kid in front of him. Perhaps the child was telling the truth; Zack was in isotion, cut from contact with the outside world for 9 years, after all.

  “Do you have anybody looking after you?” Zack continues interrogating Nick as the tter shakes his head. Zack contemptes for a moment before remembering Lily and the family he was never able to have.

  “...What’s your name, kid?”

  “Nick Altair,” the child answers.

  14 YEARS LATER - PRESENT DAY

  EVERGREEN RESIDENCE A

  VIRTUM, GRATA - 9:47 PM

  Taking refuge in his home in Virtum, Zack smokes a cigarette in his room. He puffs smoke out the window as he reminisces of the first time he met Nick. His phone vibrates, prompting him to check the notification. A text from Nick detailing his current whereabouts awaited Zack who chose not to reply and instead finish his cigarette.

  Hey, I hope you guys are safe. Elena and I are currently staying at my old house in Roscher, the one my father owns. I’m sure you’d all like to rest after what just happened, but we need to discuss our next move soon. Let’s meet at my pce tomorrow

  Zack resumes his smoke session, ignoring Nick’s text for the time being. He continues reminiscing, this time of Nick’s return from Precidia.

  2 WEEKS EARLIER

  NEVERGLOW

  LUTHERFORD, AETERNUM - 7:00 AM

  Nick and Elena arrive at the flower shop for their early shift. Nick tries to unlock the door, only to find it already open. The two enter, greeted by Zack Evergreen inside.

  “You’re back,” Zack comments while slouched on the couch.

  “Uh, yeah,” Nick awkwardly says, tossing the keys to the flower shop onto the counter. He was not expecting Zack, of all people, to be present at the flower shop this early.

  “You a customer?” Zack asks Elena, who waves her hands in denial.

  “No, I’m just here to accompany him.”

  “Hah. You finally did it,” Zack proudly says as he stands up, tagging Nick in the shoulder.

  “What?” Nick confusedly asks, sitting behind the counter as Elena stands in the corner.

  “Haven’t you been raving on and on about finding true love?” Zack turns to Elena as Nick twirls his finger around his left ear.

  “Crazy,” Nick mouths to Elena behind Zack’s back.

  “...Is that so?” replies Elena, pying along with the joke as Nick gets flustered.

  “How’d the two of you meet?”

  “He saved my younger brother from some very dangerous people. Thankfully he’s good with kids, so that’s at least one green fg,” Elena pyfully says as Nick ys his head on the counter.

  “Already thinking about kids? Sorry, but I’m not gonna let Nick settle down just yet,” Zack jokes as the two sit on the couch.

  “That’s too bad… I kind of want him for myself,” Elena says, leering at Zack.

  “I knew you were bad news the moment you walked in,” retorts Zack as Elena smirks.

  “Alright, alright, that’s enough. I don’t know why the two of you have it in for me today, but we gotta talk about something serious,” Nick butts in, interrupting the two’s imaginary feud for custody of him.

  “Right. Why don't we start with your vacation in Aurus?”

  “Yeah, um… It was nice, for the most part. I met Elena over there in Aurus,” Nick says, pointing to Elena who waves at Zack.

  “From Aurus?! The hell you doing all the way out here?” Zack asks Elena.

  “I… it’s a long story.”

  “We, uh… we were scammed and accidentally involved ourselves in an insurgence,” Nick continues as Zack looks bewildered.

  “We had a meeting with Mayor Watts who basically bckmailed us into doing his bidding. Look, I even have a recording saved,” Nick expins as he turns on his new phone, opening his personal drive where he uploaded his meeting with Darren Watts. He pys the recording for Zack and Elena to hear.

  “Do you have any idea why we intend to carry out this demolition pn?”

  “To try and change the status quo. To lessen Estreval’s power-”

  “-and to gain some of your own by inciting a rebellion.”

  “Exactly. With that being said… are you prepared to die for the cause?”

  “If it’s for the good of Aurus, then so be it.”

  “A deal’s a deal. You’re the ones pnting the bomb, after all.”

  “Why… why would you go against Eternal Drive?”

  “I ask the questions here. Who the hell do you think you are, brat?”

  “I’m just a kid with a dead family and dying dreams.”

  “It’ll be such a shame when Eternal Drive wipes that smile off your face.”

  Nick shuts off the recording as Zack covers his mouth in disbelief. Elena was shocked as well upon learning that Nick had trimmed and edited the recording to portray them in good light.

  “So… you two were involved in the Aurus terrorist attack? Did I hear that right?” Zack asks Nick who nods.

  “Why… Why’d you do it?”

  “Like I said, we were scammed. I wanted to repay the gun that I broke, and this recruiter guy told us about a high-profile job. I should have known it was a scam the moment they offered us 10,000 dies,” Nick solemnly expins as Zack ughs.

  “Hah! You got scammed twice in the span of a week. You gotta know better than that if you wanna settle down in South Lavia.”

  “Hey, you’re the one who took the job from Elena’s kid brother!” Nick retorts.

  “Alright, I’ll admit I fucked up there. I took a look at our messages again, and I just realized that the kid was using AI to generate his texts, make them seem all professional. Hey, speaking of, how’d he find out about us?” Zack asks Nick.

  “Oh, I… forgot to ask,” Nick replies as Zack side-eyes him.

  “Don’t worry. When I scolded Zico about it, he told me he heard it from some drunk, blonde guy at st year’s festival,” Elena expins as Zack and Nick gnce at each other, uttering the same name.

  “Luke…”

  “Luke…”

  2 WEEKS LATER - PRESENT DAY

  EVERGREEN RESIDENCE A

  VIRTUM, GRATA - 9:53 PM

  Finished with his cigarette, Zack tosses it out the window. He looks up towards the luminescent moonlight…

  ALTAIR RESIDENCE

  ROSCHER, GRATA - 9:53 PM

  …as it continues shining through Nick’s window. Laying on his bed, the two recently lovestruck demedioms converse.

  “Are you sure about this? I feel like you’re pushing yourself too hard…” Elena asks, embracing Nick from behind.

  “Laine, just imagine what’s scrambling through Estreval’s head right now. He might have destroyed Neverglow, but we dealt a heavy blow to E-Drive. We proved that they aren’t invincible,” Nick replies, determined after he forced Trent Omega to retreat.

  “I know, but meeting the others as soon as tomorrow? You’re still injured… And who knows about their conditions…” Elena comments, lifting Nick’s wounded left arm.

  “He won’t allow a repeat of what transpired. I’m sure he’s gathering an army as we speak. We need to take action now before they get to us first,” Nick says, caressing around the injured area. He briefly flinches at touching the wound, but continues caressing it nonetheless. He needed to be prepared for even worse injuries. In his mind, if he could not handle the pain of one bullet hole, then he should not have bothered rebelling in the first pce.

  “Okay, but you seriously need to rest. Let’s get some sleep now, alright?” Elena asks as Nick nods. The two touch foreheads before kissing once more.

  “Goodnight, Nick.”

  “Goodnight, Laine,” Nick replies as Elena lies down. Nick takes one more gnce at the moon before following suit.

  ALTAIR RESIDENCE

  ROSCHER, GRATA - 6:37 AM

  Waking up, Nick finds himself alone in bed. He heads downstairs, assuming that Elena had woken up before him. Arriving at the living room, Elena is nowhere to be seen. He begins to panic as his phone vibrates. He checks it and sees a notification from Elena.

  Heyyy! Yesterday while cleaning I noticed that there isn’t any food here, nor is there electricity to cook. I’ve headed out for a bit to order some food, so stay put for the meantime! <3

  Relieved, Nick heads back upstairs to rest some more. Before proceeding to his room, however, he makes a slight detour at Candace’s room. He pulls out the photobook from the box under the bed, skipping to the sixth page where a picture of him as an infant being carried by his mother rests.

  Nick slides the photo out of its sleeve, turning it to reveal a message.

  Oct. 6, 1997

  On this day we were blessed by our second child, Nichos Sirchen Altair. Raymond wanted to name him Jr, but I thought it would be unfair if he lived under his father’s shadow.

  It’s funny; every night, Candace prayed for a younger brother after watching that cartoon where two siblings would mess around. I’ll never forget the look on her face when we told her it was a boy.

  Nick returns the photo, having re-read the message; the st time he had seen it was when he moved out. If there was one regret that was out of his control, it was that he had never met his mother. Rose Altair passed away shortly after Nick’s first birthday from a sudden heart attack. Raymond had expected it as her family had a long-running history of heart problems, but her death still struck the household with grief nevertheless.

  As Nick heads back to his room, he hears footsteps pacing under him as he rushes downstairs.

  “Hey. You’re up early,” Elena greets Nick, as she sets down two pstic bags containing oyster pails and cups onto the table in the dining room.

  “Well, we did sleep early,” Nick replies as he enters the dining room. He opens a radio in the corner, which pys pop music at low-quality.

  “I’m shocked that thing’s still running”

  “We never really used it because of our TV.”

  “How’s your wound?” asks Elena, taking a seat as she opens one oyster pail, filled to the brim with fried rice.

  “Um, still hurts. Not like it’s gonna heal overnight, anyways,” says Nick as he sits down adjacent to Elena.

  “If I give it a kiss will it hurt less?”

  “Maybe. Now that I think about it, my lips hurt quite a bit, too…” Nick jokes as Elena smiles, breaking apart her chopsticks.

  “Say… If you could choose one superpower in the world, what would it be?” Elena asks as she takes a bite.

  “Oh, man. Teleportation, easily,” Nick answers as he digs in with a pstic spoon. He was never accustomed to using chopsticks as Zack preferred heavy, beefy meals.

  “Can’t you already do that?”

  “No, I mean like… to be able to instantly teleport anywhere in the world.”

  “Interesting… How come?”

  “There’s just… A lot of pces I wanna visit that I won’t ever have the chance to because of the barrier E-Drive put here,” Nick replies as the two continue to eat while conversing. Due to Lavia’s extremely advanced technology as a result of the demonic research, Eternal Drive built a barrier that prevented any foreign nations from pilging the country as well as preventing the people of Lavia from ever leaving.

  “What kind of pces?”

  “Oh, you know… The wonders of Gihen. Infernum's Crimson Keep, the Valley of Bones in Bestia, the Northern Lights of Duratus, Esper’s Grave of Heroes…” Nick answers, listing several ndmarks of the neighboring continent. He stops himself from speaking, remembering that Elena was from Esper. He awkwardly takes a bite and swallows as Elena stares at him in silence.

  “What? Is that all?”

  “No, I just… remembered…” Nick replies, drinking iced tea from a pstic cup.

  “What? That I’m half Esperian?”

  “Yeah… It might be a touchy topic. Sorry,” Nick apologizes.

  “Nick, I know I've had a lot of shitty experiences with the people of Esper. I won’t deny the beauty of its architecture, though,” Elena responds as Nick sighs from relief that she was not upset.

  “Maybe you can show me around sometime?” jokes Nick as Elena recoils back from disgust.

  “In your dreams. I’m never going back there,” replies Elena as the two continue eating their meal.

  “-Oh! And the waterfalls of Faireater! Can’t ever forget that,” an enthusiastic Nick adds to his bucket list.

  “Faireater is a myth. It’s no more than a children’s fairy tale that spread far too quickly,” Elena answers, immediately shutting down Nick’s dreams.

  “You mean the story about the secret treasure hidden there? Ha! I don’t give a fuck about that, I just wanna see the pink, upside-down waterfalls.”

  “Ah, when you put it that way… so do I.”

  “Maybe someday, I’ll be able to teleport there. So what about you? What ability would you choose?”

  “Um, probab-”

  Elena stops in the midst of her sentence when Nick’s phone vibrates. He opens it up, seeing a text from Zack.

  We’ll be there by 1.

  Nick shuts off his phone, facing towards Elena as he puts it aside.

  “They said they’ll be here by 1,” he informs her.

  “Alright. I guess no one’s willing to rest, but fine,” Elena replies as Nick sighs, his mind diverting to another topic.

  “Elena… About everything you told me st night…”

  “I’d prefer if we kept it just between us. We’re already stressed enough from fighting against Eternal Drive; I wouldn’t want to complicate things any further.”

  “You’re right, but… Don’t you think they deserve to know the context behind Damon Estreval?”

  “The only context there is to that man is that he is a vile being full of hatred and jealousy. Knowing his past won’t change that,” Elena answers Nick, who shrugs as he proceeds once more with his meal.

  ETERNAL TOWER - 7TH FLOOR

  EVERNIGHT, NAZENDEL - 9:44 AM

  Lying on a bed in an isoted facility, an injured Trent Omega moves the metallic fingers of his new cybernetic arm to get a feel after Nick severed his natural one. He clenches his steel hand into a fist, remembering how Raymond’s son completely humiliated him in Lutherford.

  The door to his room slides open as Damon Estreval enters. Trent takes one brief look at him before looking away towards the wall. He knew he had failed his mission and was afraid to face Damon after sacrificing a portion of Eternal Drive’s army, only to yield no results.

  “How’s the arm?” Damon asks as Trent stares at him. He was expecting several insults alongside a scolding, yet the first thing Damon had shown was concern.

  “It’s decent. I’ll definitely have to make some modifications to it…” Trent replies as Damon approaches him, grabbing his prosthetic arm before setting it down.

  “Unfortunately it’s a model from 10 years ago. I’ll supply you with a better one ter, but as it stands right now, I need my right-hand man back on his feet,” Damon tells Trent as he looks up at him.

  “What do you have pnned?” Trent asks as Damon steps away.

  “Oh, no worries. My pn is none of your concern. I will, however, offer you a chance at retribution once I execute this pn,” Damon answers as Trent’s eyes widen.

  “I will give you Nick Altair. That much I can promise you,” Damon says before leaving the room. A wide grin forms on Trent's face as he thinks of the endless possibilities. Zack was put through extreme torture as a result of mere disdain; Nick was a man who hurt his ego. The humiliation of defeat, being forced to retreat and losing his arm fostered hatred inside Trent’s heart.

  Death would be too kind for the rebellious archer.

  ALTAIR RESIDENCE

  ROSCHER, GRATA - 12:37 PM

  Parking in Nick’s driveway, Zack, Luke and Celeste step out onto his porch. Elena opens the door as the three step inside.

  Luke and Celeste look around the house as Zack immediately gets to business.

  “Hey, I’m so gd you guys are al-”

  “Where’s Nick?” Zack interrupts, walking towards Elena.

  “He’s upstairs, in his room…” Elena answers as Zack zips past her.

  “Sorry, he’s been really cranky after everything that happened,” Celeste tells Elena.

  “Yeah, don’t take it too personally. He’ll get over it in a few days,” Luke states as Celeste nods.

  Upstairs, Zack enter’s Raymond’s room, where Nick is asleep, on the bed. Zack closes the door and inspects Raymond’s accodes lined up on the wall above the bed. Being Raymond’s apprentice, he had always wanted to follow in his footsteps and achieve even bigger accodes. Focusing back on the task at hand, Zack shakes Nick awake.

  “Rrrgh… You’re here…”

  “I said by 1, didn’t I?” Zack replies as Nick takes a look at his phone, seeing the current time of 12:40 PM. Nick sits up as Zack turns away.

  “I’ll call the others,” Zack says before heading downstairs.

  “Luke! Celeste! Let’s discuss upstairs!” yells Zack as the three make their way up. Luke and Celeste successfully enter Raymond’s room, however Zack stops Elena just as she is about to step foot inside.

  “Not you. This is a personal matter,” Zack stresses before locking Elena outside. A frustrated Elena bites her lip as she begins eavesdropping through the wall.

  “Alright, let’s recap. June 22nd I sent Nick a text about two incoming deals,” states Zack as Luke and Celeste sit on the bed, beside Nick.

  “Both of which went pretty badly…” Nick comments.

  “Hey, your ass is in one piece, isn’t it? Anyways, how was the deal in Briken?” Zack annoyedly replies.

  “The deal itself went well. We just got attacked by a demediom in the area,” Luke answers.

  “By Project Bivelli, right. And what about Aurus?”

  “There was never a legitimate deal. It was set up by Elena’s kid brother who wanted to protect her from E-Drive douchebags.”

  “A bit odd that someone as powerful as her needs protection, isn’t it?” Zack ponders.

  “Elena tries to hide her strength. And besides, you can never be too strong for anything,” argues Nick as Zack paces around the room.

  “Speaking of… Remind me, Nick. What was our deal seven years ago?”

  “...Only use our powers in case of emergencies,” Nick softly says, looking down. He had abused his power by attempting to bckmail Darren Watts, however it miserably backfired.

  “So you do remember. Now, why did you reveal to Elena, a complete stranger at the time, that you were a demediom?” Zack frustratedly asks.

  “She revealed herself first!”

  “And?! If she throws herself off a cliff, would you follow suit?”

  “That’s a terrible analogy…” Nick mutters to himself. Celeste and Luke gnce at each other uncomfortably as Nick and Zack continue arguing.

  “Not so terrible when you consider that she involved you in a terrorist attack. Basically the same as suicide, though fortunately for you, you’re a demediom who goes running around doing whatever he likes!” Zack scolds Nick who sits up straight.

  “That’s… No! It was my own stupidity that…”

  “How blind are you? That woman will be the death of us!” Zack shouts as Elena continues eavesdropping. Elena’s eyes fall to the ground, Zack’s words adding to her already tremendous guilt and shame.

  “She saved me! She saved you!”

  “What? From her pursuers?”

  “I… What do you have against her?” Nick asks, perplexed at Zack’s sudden antagonistic manner towards her. Just a few weeks ago, the two had been joking around. Was there a hint of legitimacy in their imaginary feud?

  “Tell me, Nick. Has any incident like this ever happened in the fourteen years we’ve known each other?”

  “Things were going to go south at some point or another. We’ve been illegally selling firearms, that was never going to be without risk.”

  “But to step foot at our doorstep and demolish everything we’ve worked so hard to build? For fuck’s sake, you don’t even know how she became a demediom! She could be an E-Drive spy for all we know!” Zack yells. His accusations sounded awfully familiar to those of Entro Gruff, who simirly accused him of being a spy to provoke an emotional response.

  “No! She’s nothing like Trent Omega, or any other spy. She’s a genuine person who has her own share of problems, just like us! We were only caught in the crossfire because of my own stupidity and pse in judgement,” Nick says, taking the bme and defending Elena who begins tearing up outside.

  “Would you stop thinking with your dick for one second and try to look at this rationally?” Zack insults Nick who looks at him in disbelief.

  “I know you’ve been dying to experience love, but this woman is a poison. Nothing but bad events have taken pce since she came into your, and subsequently, our lives,” Zack concludes as Celeste and Luke stare at each other awkwardly. The two had long wanted to leave the room since the argument started, and the tension had just reached its climax.

  “...Seriously? Are you saying that I can’t be happy because you aren’t? You tell me to move on from my family’s deaths, but you’re over here acting as if I’ll repeat the same mistakes you made with Lily!” Nick retorts as Zack clenches his fist in anger. The argument was getting lower and more personal with each passing insult.

  “Sorry! Is that what you wanna hear?! Sorry that I’m trying to finally enjoy life after being stuck with a miserable, old cunt like you for the majority of it!” Nick angrily says as Celeste and Luke silently gasp. He finally snapped after years of living with the three, seemingly comfortably. Zack appears defted as he exits the room following Nick’s hurtful remarks. He had never seen Nick in that state of rage, nor was he expecting the usually subservient archer to snap at him.

  Stepping outside, Zack stumbles upon Elena in the hallway, who was still eavesdropping at that point.

  “I hope you’re happy,” Zack says to Elena as he walks past her, heading downstairs. Inside, Nick calms himself as he ys back down to rest.

  “Nick… Did you really mean that?” Celeste asks as Nick turns away to sleep, refusing to answer. Elena meekly enters the room as she stares at Luke and Celeste.

  “Did he say anything to you?”

  “Um… No…” Elena replies. Even after suffering continuous insults from Zack, she still chose to protect his image. Luke and Celeste stand up from the bed and face Elena.

  “I… suppose you heard all the yelling?” Luke asks as Elena nods to confirm his suspicions.

  “Zack… He’s been through a lot. We all have. I know that… what he said probably came across as hurtful and super hostile but…” Luke tries to assure Elena, struggling to find the right words.

  “I… just want you to know that we don’t take it personally. I know, the flower shop and the greenery were my life’s work, but I don’t hold it against you. I’m sure Zack doesn’t either, he’s just looking for someone to bme for all the shit that’s happened. If anything, we all know who to bme and it certainly isn’t you.”

  “Please don’t hold it to heart. Zack sometimes says a lot of hurtful stuff, but sooner or ter he comes to regret what he says. He tries to put on this tough-guy facade but…” Celeste tells Elena as Zack smokes another cigarette downstairs, his hands trembling as he inserts it into his mouth.

  “...he’s actually a very emotional person, dealing with scars that might never heal,” Celeste continues as Elena approaches Nick on the bed.

  “I appreciate the sentiment… but right now I’d really like to be left alone,” Elena replies as she sits down beside Nick. The two nod as they leave the room.

  ALTAIR RESIDENCE

  ROSCHER, GRATA - 7:16 PM

  Nick wakes up to find Elena by his side, cuddling him. The two had spent the entire day sleeping after the intense argument earlier. Nick sits up, prompting Elena to follow suit.

  “Ugh… What time is it…?”

  “About 7 PM. Luke went out to get some food,” Elena solemnly answers as Nick looks at the wall dejectedly. He had been hoping that the argument was merely a bad dream, yet he knew from Elena’s tone that it was not.

  “How do you feel?” asks Elena, concerned for Nick’s wellbeing.

  “I should be asking you that,” Nick replies as Elena softly smiles.

  “You shouldn’t worry about me,” Elena says as Nick’s phone vibrates from Luke’s texts.

  im back

  dinners ready

  “...I can bring it up here, if you want,” Elena offers, trying to avoid any further conflict.

  “No. I’ll have to face him at some point. Might as well tonight,” responds Nick, standing up.

  ALTAIR RESIDENCE

  ROSCHER, GRATA - 7:18 PM

  Downstairs, the five gather around Nick’s circur dining table as the radio pys orchestral music. Nick and Zack sit on opposite sides, avoiding eye contact with each other. Luke opens up the food containers, passing one to each person seated around the table, starting with Nick and ending with Zack. Luke passes Nick a rice meal, but forgets to give him the utensils which are all the way in Zack’s position. Thankfully, Celeste notices this and quickly levitates the remaining utensils towards Nick, avoiding an awkward situation.

  The five eat in silence as Luke uncomfortably gnces back-and-forth at Nick and Zack, who have not shared any eye contact despite sitting in front of each other. Luke tries to break the silence.

  “So… how’s the food?” Luke asks as Zack finishes his meal, getting up and stepping outside the front door.

  “It’s- it’s good, yeah…” Celeste answers as she stares out the window, seeing Zack go for another smoke. He had gone through an entire pack in a day.

  “Where’d you get this stuff?”

  “Oh, just around the block. I didn’t wanna wander too far since… y’know… nevermind,” Luke quickly retracts to avoid unintentionally guilt-tripping Elena. It had been too te, however, as Elena bows her head in shame from piecing his unfinished sentence. The four continue eating awkwardly with countless thoughts flooding their heads. Luke screams inside from frustration and cringe, trying to diffuse the situation yet only managing to make it worse. Elena wants to head back to Raymond’s room to sleep as soon as possible but does not want to rush her meal, seeming disrespectful. Celeste uncomfortably recalls her past, remembering the countless times her family argued in front of her. Nick, meanwhile, fosters a wildly different thought.

  “I think… it’s time we went our separate ways,” Nick states, catching the three off-guard.

  “Sorry?” Celeste asks, in disbelief at Nick’s procmation.

  “It’s clear to me… that this whole ordeal has been affecting you guys a lot more than you seem to show.”

  “Yeah, but… it’s affecting you too, right?” Luke asks.

  “It is, because I’m the one who started it all. I’m the one who brought them to Aeternum, I’m the one who-”

  Nick stops himself as the radio suddenly switches to a news report.

  “We interrupt this broadcast to bring you breaking news! In a stunning development from the carnage in Lutherford brought by demedioms, two suspects have been identified!

  Nick quickly turns on his phone to witness the broadcast with actual imagery. He pces his phone in the middle of the table as the four watch.

  “-suspect number one, Nick Altair,” states the anchor as an image of Nick in the Aurus Broadcast Station is shown. The anchor gives the next suspect after seven seconds.

  “And suspect number two, Zack Evergreen,” says the anchor as an image of Zack aiming his rifle towards Damon in Evernight is shown. The four are shocked by this reveal, but Nick’s surprise quickly turns to rage when he realizes why Zack was so hostile towards Elena earlier. He quickly steps outside as the three continue watching the broadcast.

  “If you have seen these two individuals, please contact any Eternal Drive personnel immediately. A hefty reward of 25,000 dies per head will be given to those who report them at their area of capture.”

  Outside, Nick approaches Zack, punching him square in the face. Zack is knocked down, caught off-guard by Nick’s sudden attack.

  “Argh… Feel better now?” Zack asks, patting dirt off his shirt.

  “You fucking liar! You said you had no idea who was involved in the hit on Estreval!” Nick yells as Zack grins.

  “Ahh… So they finally made it public…”

  “You… tried to bme Elena! But now that I recall, Omega was asking for you! He called out your name, he asked for your cooperation!”

  “What difference does it make? We’re all wanted criminals-”

  “What difference?! The difference is that she isn’t a selfish asshole who’d drag others down to save herself!”

  Inside, the three eavesdrop as Nick’s yelling progressively gets louder.

  “Fuck you! You don’t know what I’ve been through!” Zack shouts as Nick scoffs.

  “And that’s an excuse to lie about the situation? And bme it on someone else?” Nick says, smiling from frustration.

  “You know what? I’m done. You can go ahead and keep pointing fingers; I’m going to actually do something about it,” Nick says, turning away. Zack pulls him back.

  “Where the fuck do you think you’re going?”

  “Away. From here. From you. I’m gonna kill Estreval myself,” responds Nick as Zack keeps his hand on Nick’s shoulder, still holding him back.

  “Let me go.”

  “Or what? You never had the balls to stand up to me, Nick. What’s-”

  Zack is cut off as Nick bsts him away with electricity. Zack collides with a nearby car, breaking its window. As Nick begins turning away, Zack shoots a miniscule ser that grazes him under his left eye.

  “You… must have forgotten… EVERYTHING THAT I’VE DONE FOR YOU!” Zack yells as Nick touches his new wound. Blood begins to drip from it as Nick manifests his bow. Zack shoots a barrage of sers as Nick charges at him with his electrified bow. Luke blocks Nick’s attack with his bar while Celeste holds Zack and his sers in pce.

  “What the hell’s gotten into you two?!” yells Luke as Elena steps outside, witnessing the falling out of several retionships at once. Nick retracts his bow as Zack gres at him with disdain.

  “I’m grateful for everything you’ve done. But I’ve had enough… and I’m leaving,” Nick says as Luke and Celeste stare at him, heartbroken. Elena grabs his arm, whispering to him.

  “Do you remember my promise?” she asks as Nick nods. Nick takes one st look back at his chosen family before making his decision.

  “Let’s go, Elena. To Nazendel,” Nick says as Elena unfurls her wings. A ray of light engulfs the two as they disappear into the night.

  To Be Continued…

  AUTHOR'S NOTE

  The definition of family is a blur; most would simplify it to having a genetic connection with another person.

  Yet I am positive that quite a lot of us would renounce our so called "family".

  Nick Altair was orphaned at a very young age with no siblings, cousins and aunts to rely on. Thus, his definition of family would be the ones closest to him - Celeste Williams, Lucas Friedman, Zachary Evergreen.

  And he still decided to cast that aside for Eternal Drive.

  Vengeance is a silly thing.