THEOS

The Rebel glared at them. Her single remaining eye darted between the chariot ensconced within a golden bubble, and the duo riding the griffin, while she clutched the stump of her arm with her hand. For a second, her storage ring flashed, and a bandage wrapped itself around her wound. Heracles, savagely upped the frequency of his attacks.

Unease spread through the battle field, as they desperately tried to assess how the battle would now play out. With Nel’s arrival having broken the stalemate they had found themselves in, none of them quite knew what to make of it.

This could either be really good, or really bad. Luke thought to himself, as he sent out another attack.

On one hand, her griffins speed was bound to be a massive advantage, one she had already proven by taking the Rebel’s arm. Which was the most substantial damage they had done to her since the start of the fight, discounting Heracles taking her eye hours ago.

On the other hand, while Nel no doubt had some means to protect herself, he wondered if they would be enough to stave off someone an entire tier higher. The only reason they themselves had hung on for as long as they had, was because of Heracles’s deep pockets. Without his nigh endless talismans, she would simply lack the ability to withstand sustained serious attacks from her, and try as he might, Luke couldn’t see an easy way for them to give some to her.

Everything he could think of, risked interference from their opponent, but leaving her potentially vulnerable was also a no go. He had no doubt in his mind that neither Lukeus nor Heracles would stand by and let the Rebel so much as lay a hand on her. Even if it meant that they would die.

Not that Nel seemed worried about her safety.

“Hey Heracles.” She yelled, waving excitedly to the Son of Zeus. “It’s nice to see you again.”

Luke resisted the urge to palm his forehead as the man in question blushed, and settled for shaking his head. Funneling a half-point of mana to his sword, he sent another arc of energy racing towards their enemy.

His own sword-light, as he had come to call it, traveled substantially slower than Heracles’s arrows, allowing her to dodge them with little effort.

On occasion though, he had been able to sneak an attack by her, albeit with a lot less frequently than the elder warrior, and almost always when she risked a more major injury from one of Heracles’s attacks.

Her griffin circling a mile above them, Nel adopted a stern expression, her gaze locking on to the other two riders on the chariot. “Lukeus, Luke– Are you two insane? You two were literally mortals days ago, and now you’re trying to kill a Hero, and one that almost killed Grandfather?” She admonished them. “Do you have any sense, or any idea how much stronger she is than you?” She pointed to Tyrisa. “Luke I can understand, he’s never sparred with grandpa, but you? You should know better than this, Lukeus.” She admonished him. Somehow managing to project her voice clearly through the air.

I need to learn how to do that.

“Nel–” He started to explain, only to give up when he saw her glare.

“Don’t Nel me! Do you know how worried mom is?”

“Can we talk about this later…”

Luke listened to their argument with half an ear, and stared contemplatively at their target, activating another protective talisman while he waited for an opening.

For a brief moment, his eyes met Tyrisa’s, and he couldn’t help but be taken aback.

The Rebel, in spite of her terrible appearance, looked a mixture of angry, embarrassed, and for the first time since the battle began– scared.

Luke thought he knew why, and like a shark, he smelled blood in the water.

It was already ridiculous that they, as mere warriors, had lasted as long as they had in this fight, and now two of them turned out to be freshly advanced rookies, which already added insult to injury.

They had a seemingly inexhaustible supply of Hero-tier talismans, that she had still not been able to deplete, and instead had been accruing countless small injuries as the battle wore on.

Now, a new arrival had joined, with a powerful steed and it had already taken her arm.

She started this battle, likely thinking of us as a minor nuisance that she needed to take care of, while she rode off into the sunset and licked her wounds for another day. Instead, we’ve dragged this out for hours, and she’s down an eye and an arm. So she’s probably desperate to end it.

I don’t see us running out of talismans anytime soon, and I bet at this point, neither does she. I don’t know if they have an equivalent to the sunk cost fallacy here, but if she’s really as old as she is, she’ll be considering cutting her chances and running.

Fucking hell, the way this battle is going, pretty soon she’ll be a eyeless, limbless torso. If I were her would have run after an hour. This battle might as well be pointless to her.

I’m guessing she can’t.

The Rebel’s figure blurred and shot towards the sky towards the griffin.

Luke’s heart dropped in his chest, and straining his eyes to keep up with her movement, he slashed his sword as fast as he could.

A hail of arrows, and an arc of sharp light attempted to cut her path towards Nel, while Lukeus tugged on Nutbutter’s reigns, and sent them climbing in the sky after her.

Their aid, however, wasn't needed. A single flap of her griffin's wings saw them retreat a mile away, leaving the rebel to deflect their hasty attacks.

“YARHHHGG.” She screamed in frustration and pain, when the wave of energy from Luke’s sword nicked her neck.

So she’s going to try and get rid of Nel first then. Luke frowned, as he thumbed an explosive talisman, before deciding to pocket it. Now would have been a good time to activate it, but they didn’t do enough damage to make the risk to Nel worth it.

“She’s going to run.” Heracles cursed under his breath.

A moment later, her storage ring flashed and a clay plate appeared in her hand.

From her position in the sky, Nel unleashed a dozen of her lightning covered spears straight towards her. Before any of them could reach, a portal opened up underneath her.

A large fiery ring, within which they could see a single, run down castle.

The Rebel’s figure wobbled in the sky, as she desperately tried to stave off unconsciousness. A spear struck her hand, dislodging her grip on the weapon making it tumble through the sky and into the forest below.

Luke watched with rapt attention as her lone eye closed in exhaustion, and she tumbled through unconsciousness.

“Get there before it closes!” Heracles yelled urgently, and not wasting a second, Lukeus tugged the Nutbutter’s reigns.

“Shoot after her!” Luke barked at the Son of Zeus, and immediately he affixed an explosive talisman to an arrow. It wasn’t to be however, a moment she crossed through, the hole in reality, it closed behind her.

Leaving the five of them flying alone over the scarred land they had battled on.

“SHIT.” Heracles cursed.

“Lukeus, do you know where that castle is?” Luke asked.

“No.” He said blankly, staring at the spot it had closed listlessly. Not that he could blame him. They had spent long nerve racking hours being tossed around by her, only for her to escape.

Now she’ll probably be back. As crazy as this world is, I wouldn’t even be surprised if she managed to find a way to heal from all those injuries.

Fuck.

Luke sighed loudly as the golden bubble around them vanished, and for the first time in hours, he saw the world untainted by its golden hew.

Looking at the remains of the battle, he couldn’t help but be even more disappointed.

All this destruction. All that wealth. All for nothing.

A gust of wind ruffled his sweat covered robes, as Nel maneuvered Aura beside them.

“Hi.” She said, waving awkwardly. Seeming less tense now that their foe had fled the battle.

“Hey Nel, it’s nice seeing you again.” Luke said tiredly, his gaze darting between her and her passenger. “Who’s your friend?” Luke asked heavily. His eyes lingering on her bald head, and her rounded and youngish facial features. He gulped heavily, fearing he already knew who she was. She looked just like him after all.

She barely looks older than twelve. What’s Nel doing bringing her here? He thought angrily. All of Clan Skyscar will know where we are.

“This is Eva. Eva of Clan Skyscar. She’s… Jax’s sister.”

Eva seemed to shrink into herself, as Luke gulped heavily. He already knew, had known since she yelled ‘for Jax’ upon her arrival, but having it confirmed just made it all too real. Forgotten guilt and suppressed trauma formed a lead ball of anxiety in his stomach, as his ears roared with the blood rushing into them.

“I’m sorry about your brother I –” Luke started to say, only for a spear to appear in Nel’s hand. She wacked him lightly in the head with it.

“Jax was my fault.” Nel said. “I killed him.” She said resolutely. A look of regret crossed her face as the little girl shied away from her. “Only I bear that responsibility. You need not be guilty, Luke.”

“I –”

“Agnella told me what happened.” Eva said suddenly. Her fists clenching and unclenching. “She told me you tried to help him, that you could have killed him but you didn’t. Not even when he attacked you.”

Luke looked away from her. Yeah, but I left him on the ground. I could have hidden him, and those guys were mortals. I could have fought them instead of hiding myself. Maybe then… He stopped himself from thinking about what ifs. At the end of the day, Jax had been slain after Nel killed the last of the attackers.

He knew that, but some part of him still couldn’t help but feel responsible for his death. It was him telling her about the Rebel that had led them to joining Nel on her journey to Sophia.

“Right.” Lukeus suddenly clapped his hands. “How's the old man?” He asked Nel.

“Unconscious. His wounds were heavy, and he over drew his mana. Clite said he won’t wake for another few days.”

“But he’s fine, right?” Luke asked.

“Yes. He’ll make a full recovery.” Nel nodded, and Luke sighed in relief.

“That’s wonderful news. It’s a shame that we will be unable to offer him the Rebels head when he wakes, but knowing that he is well, that is a prize of its own.” Heracles said, awkwardly. “Was Jason able to power your teleportation altars with the ship’s core?”

“He was, and we were fortunate that no Hero or Warrior-tier giants attacked in the meantime.”

“That’s good.” Luke nodded, as he looked at the pair of them on the griffin. Something didn’t feel right.

How did they even find us? I mean, yeah we’re not too far from the capital, and we’ve been dropping really big bombs for a really long time, but still. Sylcra is big, and I don’t think we were moving in a straight line the whole time.

And why did she bring a kid with her. I get that she’s Jax’s sister, but if anything, that makes it even worse.

“How did you find us?” Luke asked suddenly.

Immediately Nel shifted uncomfortably on her steed.

“Nel didn’t find you.” Eva said. Reaching into her pocket she pulled out a fist sized glass orb. A single red needle, pointing in towards the forest within it.

Don’t tell me…

“Is that a blood compass?” Luke said… his mouth suddenly feeling dry.

Heracles suddenly slapped him on his back, a wide grin stretched across his face, “You didn’t find us did you, you found the Rebel.” He said, immediately connecting the dots.

“We’re returning to the Capital.” Nel said, glaring at Eva. “Put that away.”

Eva just glared at her in response, and held it higher for them to see.

“Nel. Tyrisa was unconscious when she fell through the portal… If we can get there fast enough…” Luke tried to convince her. Leaving her to figure out what he meant.