I stared across the camp at the others while they slept. Everyone looked so damn peaceful despite being trapped in a death garden by some plant-collecting psychopath. Their faces relaxed in sleep, bodies curled toward the spring like sunflowers following light. The water itself glowed faintly under the twin moons, casting everyone in a weird blue-silver sheen.
Even in this hellscape, they managed to look like they belonged in some fantasy painting. Meanwhile, I sat with my back against a tree that might try to eat me, wondering if this was all some cosmic joke played by an asshole god.
Raphael sat nearby, his amber eyes scanning the perimeter. Neither of us had spoken since taking first watch together. He kept flexing his hands, opening and closing his fists like he was itching to punch something.
I closed my eyes and tried again to reach Nel.
Hey, Nel. You there?
Nothing. Just static and a faint headache for my trouble. I mentally poked around for the status screen, and unlike before, I got somethingâa flickering, half-formed interface that looked like a TV with bad reception. Most of it was garbled, but I could make out a few things:
SATORI NAK---Level: 2 | Title: KO---, TS---Schema Points: 15--ATTRIBUTES:Strength: F-0 [BASE:--50]End--ance: F-0 [BASE:--00]Dex--rity: F-0 [BAS--:--50]Agi---ty: F-0 [BASE--:--00]Ma--c: F-0 [BASE:--00]ACTIVE A---TIES (--/3):Em---, Se---PASSIVE ---ITIES (--/--):Mys--cism, Pro---tion Fr-- Ar--ws
Great. Basically useless. I could still feel my abilities workingâthe Protection from Arrows had saved my ass during the Harvester fightâbut without the Systemâs interface, I couldnât check my Schema Points or do anything with the Gacha.
I was stuck with what I had. No new toys, no status updates, no smartass commentary from Nel. Just me, my bat, and whatever abilities I could remember how to use.
"You planning to stare at nothing all night?" Raphaelâs voice broke through my thoughts.
I opened my eyes to find him watching me with that perpetual scowl of his. "Just checking something."
"You look constipated."
"And you look like someone pissed in your protein shake. Whatâs your point?"
He snorted, almost like a laugh but meaner. "Never thought Iâd die in a place like this."
"Youâre not going to die."
"Bullshit. Those Harvester things nearly took us out, and thatâs just the gardening equipment." He picked up a small rock and crushed it between his fingers. "Whatever this Arborist thing is, itâs been eating S-Ranks for breakfast. Weâre fucked."
"Wow, such a sunny outlook. Tell me more about your positive visualization techniques."
"Iâm being realistic."
"Youâre being a dick."
He glared at me. "Some of us have people depending on us, you know. Not all of us can afford to die in this shithole."
That caught my attention. Raphael rarely talked about himself beyond threatening to kick someoneâs ass. "Like who?"
He went quiet for so long I thought he wouldnât answer. Then: "My sister. Sheâs twelve."
Well, shit. That wasnât what I expected. "Parents?"
"Dead." He tossed the crushed rock pieces away. "Dad was a low-rank Hunter who got himself killed in a Gate when I was fourteen. Mom followed him two years laterâheart attack, they said. Stress, more likely."
"So itâs just you and your sister?"
He nodded. "Mira. Sheâs staying with our grandmother while Iâm at the academy. Old bat can barely take care of herself, let alone a kid. I send most of my allowance home."
The pieces clicked together. Raphaelâs perpetual anger, his obsession with proving himself, the chip on his shoulder about the guild rankingsâit wasnât just ego. He needed to succeed to support his family.
"Thatâs why you were so pissed about being put in Onyx House."
"Yeah, no shit." He scowled. "Top-ranked guilds get better missions, better pay. I was supposed to be in the Phantoms, but..." He trailed off, his face darkening.
"But you lost control during the tryouts," I finished for him. Iâd heard rumors about itâhow Raphael had unleashed so much power that heâd injured other prospects and destroyed part of the training arena.
"I didnât lose control." His voice was tight. "I showed them exactly what I can do, and they got scared. Called me a liability. Said I was too unstable."
"So instead of the elite guild with the big paychecksâ"
"I got stuck in the fucking doghouse with a bunch of rejects." He glanced around at our sleeping teammates. "No offense."
"Oh, full offense taken. Weâre all deeply wounded."
The corner of his mouth twitched. Not quite a smile, but close enough.
"Look," I said, "I get it. You need to make it out of here. We all do. But we have a better chance working together than if you keep trying to be the lone alpha wolf."
"Rich coming from you. You think I donât see how you operate? Always watching, always calculating. You donât give a shit about any of us except what we can do for you."
I couldnât help but laugh at that. "Wow, project much? But youâre not entirely wrong."
That seemed to surprise him.
"Iâm not here to make friends," I continued. "Iâm here to survive and accomplish my goals. But right now, those goals include getting everyone out of this Gate alive, because we need each other."
Raphael studied me for a long moment. "You know what I canât figure out about you? Sometimes you talk like youâre fifty years old with all this cynical, seen-it-all bullshit. But youâre the same age as the rest of us."
If he only knew. "I grew up fast."
"Yeah? How?"
"Not everyone had the luxury of parents who stuck around until they died." The words came out harsher than I intended. "Some of us were abandoned from the start."
It wasnât entirely true for Satoriâs backstory, but it was true enough for Kaelen that it felt real when I said it.
Raphael nodded slowly. "Fair enough."
We fell into silence again, but it was different now. Less hostile, more... companionable, I guess. Two fucked-up kids with responsibilities bigger than they should be.
"What are you thinking about?" Raphael asked.
"How to kill the Arborist."
"Got any brilliant ideas?"
"Working on it." I glanced at his hands. "Your Aspectâcan you store energy for longer periods? Or does it have to be used right away?"
He frowned. "I can hold it for maybe an hour, tops. After that, it starts to leak out, gets unstable. Why?"
"Just thinking about combinations. Your stored energy plus Juanâs charged cards plus Celesteâs iceâwe could create something with enough punch to take down something big."
"Maybe." He didnât sound convinced. "Assuming we can even find the Arborist. This place is massive."
"Weâll find it." I nodded toward Monicaâs sleeping form. "Weâve got the plant network on our side now. They want this thing dead as much as we do."
"And you trust them? For all we know, this could be another trap."
"Of course I donât trust them completely. I donât trust anything in a Gate. But their interests align with ours for now."
Raphael shook his head. "You really do think like someone whoâs been doing this for decades."
I smirked. "Maybe Iâm just smarter than I look."
"That wouldnât be hard."
"Says the guy who punches things for a living."
He almost smiled again. Almost.
A soft rustling sound came from the edge of the clearing. Both of us were on our feet instantly, Raphaelâs fists glowing with stored energy and my bat in hand.
A small, furry creature poked its head out from between two bushes. It looked like a cross between a rabbit and a squirrel, with oversized ears and a fluffy tail, but its fur glowed with the same bioluminescence as the fruit.
"The fuck is that?" Raphael whispered.
"No idea. But donât kill it yet."