I managed to get some sleep later that night. I don't know how I did, but I found a way. My alarm went off as it usually did. That same annoying beeping that I've become accustomed to. Dolum tried to talk to me again, as did Auxy, but I didn't feel like talking. I told them we could talk after the rankings. After I learned what I needed to.

I had almost forgotten about the rankings since my time in Equestria. We don't have enough Spartans to mandate it currently. It was more of a way for the Terradisians to keep tabs on the Spartans. Know who's better than who, what we're capable of, and that their taxes weren't being wasted. We always took it as a challenge among the ranks. Because in the end, it was all about who was better than who. Usually these were combat trials. See who could clear a course the fastest or lay down the most amount of fire in the shortest time. Typically against bots. Always televised. It had to be. It's part of what made us so damn popular.

People down here needed the distraction. We needed to distract them from the fact that we're in hiding, and that the fate of our species was at stake. Races, bot fights, athletic sports, they all did well enough. But blood sports? Watching people fight for their lives. There's no comparison. And true to Terradisian fashion, there was zero accountability for them. It's to test us, keep us combat ready. Why not gamble on the outcome? Why not idolize the people who will fight for our very existence? We're Spartans. We forgone our morality so they could prosper. It was all part of our agreement, way back when Novus Romae was founded.

"... so we'll start with the wedge formation and work our way from there. We've done this before and we'll do it again. Got it?" Dolum asks the room. We're all in the armory getting the last bits of our armor on. It's strange to see everyone again. I was happy at first, but that ended quickly. I don't even know if this is real, so I should hold myself back for now.

"Who will be the anchors this time?" Eximius asks.

"Inficiunt and me," Dolum replies.

"Why do I have to be anchor? I was anchor last time!"

"Because I said so! Now stop being a little bitch and get your shit together! We're not losing our ranking, you understand?" They continue to argue with each other, but I start to drown them out. There's too much to think about right now. I just want to get this over with so I can have that talk already. Nothing else matters to me right now.

What is he going to say? I can think of a few subjects, but I can't imagine the excuses he has! How do you find your child, a child you thought was dead, and just... leave them? Never tell them what they wanted all along was right next to them the entire time. What could drive a person to do that? I can't think of a single reason he would do that... At least, none that aren't depressing, that is.

"Miles?" I look over as Tenera takes a seat on the bench beside me. I must have dozed off. I go back to latching on my leggings, trying to ignore her. "How are you holding up?"

"That is a question I could even begin to answer properly." I tell her. Real or not, she's still my teammate. It's hardwired for me to answer her.

"Cause of your daddy issues?" Inficiunt asks, immediately getting slapped upside the head by Sine.

"Don't be an ass Cunt," Fidus chastises. It's even weirder seeing her again. She still has all of her hair. And she's talking! She must not have had... it must not have happened here. "But seriously, Miles? Don't fuck up today. I don't want to lose our ranking."

"Fidus!" Tenera snaps, getting her to put her hands up. "We'll be fine. We always have been and we always will be! Now give Miles some space before we head out there!"

They all go back to getting ready. Tenera squeezes my shoulder for a moment before leaving me too. I consider her for a moment before finishing attaching my gear back on. That's right, she had a thing for me. I guess things didn't end so poorly here. Given, if nothing happened to Fidus, she would have no reason to hate me. So this isn't an event that has happened before. And judging by how Auxy looked, it couldn't have been too far afterwards either. When is this all supposed to be taking place?

A buzzer sounds off in the back of the room. It's time to go. I reach for my helmet... and consider what I'm about to do. This is a test of our power as a unit. But if it's not real, then there's nothing to lose. And there's one easy way to test this all. So I leave the helmet on the table and line up with the others. The door in the back of the room slides open and we file in.

Just before us in the small narrow room in another door. Beyond that is the arena. The room can modify itself to create any type of environment. I only recall it making urban setting though. Strange. I wonder if it could create a forest setting.

"Ladies," a technician in the small control room beside us says sleazily. He's just some typical guy. Hasn't done anything important, probably never will. His orange jumpsuit has the name Sero stitched into it. "Try not to break a nail, heh heheh!"

He opens the door before we can say anything back to him. He's an asshole. Some guy that says shit because he thinks nothing is ever going to happen to him. His perfect little world lets him prey on others that have to work twice as hard as he does, and there's nothing that's ever going to change that.

"Miles! GO!" Dare yells at me from behind. I go, but I don't go out the door.

I go to the control room and grab his collar. He tries to pry me off, but I drag his sorry ass out into the arena. Those behind me try to stop me, but I push past them. A bright light shines down on us as we step out into the open area. The stands are full of people waiting to see their favorite sport play out. Violence and destruction with total ease of mind, what's not to love?

The ground is a synthetic metal meant to be easily replace but still be reasonably durable. It gives an off white glow from the lights in the dome above. Portions of the floor have risen to make the arena into a small sort of valley. Portions of a hill take the left and right side. The far end in flat and leveled, just like our end, with a red flag standing there. Bots have taken positions on both sides of the hill, giving them a clear advantage to defend.

The crowd is cheering wildly as we file out from our opening. Those that came out first took off quickly, giving as much covering fire as possible. That cheering starts to waver off as I march straight into the center of the arena. The bots know not to fire at the civilian, giving me a clear line to enter.

"You fucking idiot! They'll fucking drop your rank for sure! How much of a coward are you!" The technician growls at me as I force him to walk forward. He's given up on fighting me. He knows he won't win that fight.

"There are things I've always wanted to test out. But they're been too unethical to try out. I guess now is as good a time as any, isn't it?" I ask him. He looks back at me and sees that I'm being completely serious.

"Whoa-whoa-WHOA! There's no need to do anything ir-irrational! C'mon! Look, we can talk about this! Y-you wouldn't want to lose your rankings, right!?"

We stop in the center of the arena and the crowd has gone silent. No one knows what's going on. There isn't any fighting. A civilian has been taken prisoner and they don't know what to think. And they won't know what to do when I get started.

All human magic is based off of the human soul We take that energy and manipulate it into various energies or with different matter. Adding water and cooling the energy creates ice. But what happens when you take a living soul and try to manipulate that? And not just a portion of it, like what most healing spells. I mean go into what makes a person's soul and change the script for it. Change the person. What can you do with that? Could I make a bigot empathize? Could I give a weakling power? If we can change the physical makeup of a person, what can't I change the astral makeup of someone?

The man is still begging for me to let him go. As far as he knows, I'm going to use him as some sort of flesh shield. His tears do little to sway me though. Even if this turns out to be real, there won't be any real consequences for him. Other than a relatively quick death that is.

I flare my hand and shove it straight into his back. He screams in terror as I pierce right into his soul and start to manipulate it. This terrifies me. He has a soul. I know now, without a doubt, that this is not a dream. My mind cannot create another soul. It simply cannot happen. But that just raises even more questions. I know my time in Equestria was real, there were souls there as well. But, for now, I'll end this fight so I can start answering my questions.

I treat this as I would when making the Elements. Manifested intent. Take what was hatred and make it something else. What will happen? Will I change what makes him hate? Will changing that make him a different person altogether? Or will changing something about him force his body to reject his soul? So many possibilities. That's why I tested it on rocks before. If I had tested it on people there would have been too many variables. But now... let's see...

FWWTHNK

My shoulder is pulled back when a round slams into me. It's enough to stagger me back, but it doesn't pierce my armor. A bot has taken a shot. They must have thought there was some sort of mistake. Civilians aren't allowed in here after all, they had to figure out what was going on. Took them long enough. I take my free hand and raise a shield as they all start to fire down on me. They're being careful not to hit Sero. I guess he did turn out to be a flesh shield.

I can feel the tethers of intent and will that make up his soul. It almost feels as if I'm grabbing a bundle of cables that tie him together. Some feel... stronger, than others. Some feels loose, while others seem... slippery. I've never done this within a person before, so it's all new grounds really. Normally I would do this in some sort of simulation or write out formulas for weeks on end. Have it peered reviewed. Test spells. Not today.

I can hear all of my friends yelling at me. They don't understand what's going on with me or what I'm doing. All of the bots are focusing on me, moving to flank me. Pretty soon I'll have to address them. If I had more time I could attempt to do something with the guy, but that's simply something I won't be able to do.

How am I going to deal with all of this? I have a few seconds before I need to act. I can think of something by then. I should try using some of the new spells I've learned in Equestria. If they work, then that's proof that my time there was real. Or, at least, it'll be evidence.

Darkness? No, they don't need light to see. Flare? No, their lens's should be able to compensate for that too. Stupid advance machines. Machines... that'll do.

I take one last look around before pushing Sero forward and leaping into the air. The bots follow right after me, sending bolts of energy up and towards me. When I make it a decent height up I kick the air behind me and magically propel myself towards the ground. This does a good job of avoiding their fire and getting me into position to hit as many of them as possible. When I hit the ground I set off my spell with as much power as possible. Rust.

I don't know how this wasn't a spell that I knew already. It's fairly obvious now that I think about it. And simple. Adding water to metal and forcing it to oxidize. I guess with water being a limited resource here, using it as a weapon wasn't on everyone's mind. Still, it's clearly effective. A wave of red-orange energy ripples through the ranks and forces the machines to slow to a halt. Their metal bodies turn to rust and crack under the pressure. They are made to withstand magic, at least slightly, but not at this level.

Sadly, going at such a high level has a secondary effect. I was willing to hit myself for this, but I also hit all of my teammates. As well as part of the stadium too. Several civilians are screaming bloody murder at me, angered that I rusted their phones or watches. I don't care right now. This fight is over now. And that's what I wanted.

"Miles!" I try to turn to look back, but my rusted armor makes it nearly impossible to do so. Captain Bellum comes walking into view, infuriated. I don't care. I want my answers, and I wasn't going to wait to play these little games. And I had the added bonus of finding out how real this all is. "Sweet Abigail boy! The fuck is wrong with you?"

"Oh sweet Barbra..." That doesn't prove anything until he admits it! How times have I heard that before!? Maybe it's just something I learned from him?

"Are you looking to be court marshaled? Are you really looking to throw everything away and rot in jail to... to... I don't even know what you're trying to prove here!" he yells, pacing before me.

"I have questions I want answered, Susurrans." I reply, still stuck in my attack pose. I try to get up to be standing, but I guess I over did it.

"First and foremost, do not disrespect me like that. I will put you in your place soldier! Do not test me."

"I would be scared if you weren't a coward." The crowd around us gasps at that. I... honestly forgot they were there for a moment. I guess we're doing this live. "Tell me. Tell me now or be branded a coward by all of Terradisia, Susurrans Bellum. Who is Eremita!?"

The Captain stops before me and stares down. Not at me though. He's looking down... in shame. I've never seen him so... scared. Ashamed. Sad. I'm pressing something that clearly means everything to him. But my moment of pity is lost almost immediately when he remains silent. Pure anger and resentment swells up within me as I stare up at him, waiting for him to finally speak. I try to move, but I don't make any real progress. This rust was a really bad idea, now that I think about it.

There's a silence in the air as the entire audience awaits his answer. I doubt anyone knows what's really going on. But this drama is worse than any drug out there for them. This is the entertainment they live for. Wonder what they're going to do with whatever answer they receive.

"Eremita... was my Captain. She was what a Spartan Captain should be... and I will not allow you to tarnish her legacy."

Before I could question him further the rusted metal around me rips apart and flies past me. I couch a few times as the dust bellows around me. Captain Bellum stands before me, sword at the ready, hands flared, waiting for me to engage him.

"Fight me or submit to my authority!" he bellows at me. That's out of character for him. He's not one to yell. Maybe I'm not thinking this clearly or maybe I just don't care, but I raise my arms and flare my hands. I want to fight him. I want to challenge his authority. I want to see if I can beat him.

He takes a step left, so I step right. I'm at a disadvantage right now. No weapons, no armor, just my magic. I do have one edge over him though. I know what that sword does. He takes another step left, so I step right once more. It stores energy within it and sends it back on attacks. While that's not too crazy, it's the raw amount of energy that it can store that is impressive. I don't think I could fill it in a reasonable amount of time by myself. And that much raw energy coming back at you, it's enough to make me think twice. We step again.

And the storing energy bit. Any momentum coming towards him will be absorbed by that sword and stored to come back at me. Throwing large objects won't be effective, no matter how large they are. My best bet is to attempt a direct spell that can get past his sword. But if his sword is that insane, what does his armor do?

"Have you finally learned patience? Or are you just scared to attack?" he mocks, getting the crowd to chatter. They probably think this is some grand play for them. Something to entertain them, like the ancient Roman gladiators. This is their blood sport. Their daily distraction from the impending doom. The world is a little less claustrophobic when you get to bet on the outcome of a battle. And we Spartans play our parts, willfully feeding their falsehoods.

"I know what that sword does now." I tell him as we continue to step around each other. My friends are being carted off the field, still stuck in their armor. "And it benefits me to wait. All I need is one opening-"

Before I could finish he stepped forward and took a swing at me. I was able to step out of the way of the blade, but he was able to swing it once more. I keep my distance from him as I wait for my chance. His attacks are quick and precise. He's calculating each swing, leading them towards some big payout. But he won't be able to get it. I see my opening when he goes to swing his sword back around. I thrust my arm forward and attempt to blast him back.

Something goes terribly wrong. It doesn't make sense to me, it shouldn't even be possible! His opening was a trap. He gave an opening so he could bring his hand in position to catch my attack. He caught the beam of energy and is holding it in his fist! As if it was a physical rod of some sort! The excess energy is blasting away behind him, billowing dark clouds in the distance. Even worse, I'm somehow stuck casting the spell. The area behind him is being obliterated by my destructive magic, but he has total control over it.

"You are smart, and you have power to spare. But there is much for you to learn." I watch in terror as he sets his sword against my beam of energy. I feel it contact, but it ignores the physics of my spell and sits against it, gathering energy at a high rate. Etchings along the blade slowly start to appear one the weapon, making their way up from the hilt. "Do you think I am Captain because I have a fancy sword? Or maybe I just knew the right people."

"I don't care how you became Captain. All I care about is the truth!" I try to break free, but it's as if he has a grasp of my very soul!

"Be careful of what you wish for. The truth is never as easy as the lies we live with." He releases my magic and takes a readied stance. The spell finally ends, giving me a moment's respite. "Yield."

I take a deep breath and look up to him. I can see the etching on his blade starting to spell something out. E,R,E. With the raw amount of energy he's absorbed, a single swing from that sword could rip a tank in half. He doesn't even need to hit me at this point. All he really needs to do is hit near me and the resulting explosion would do the rest of the work.

"You can't win Miles," he says to me in his usual quiet tone. Soft, slow, deliberate. He's being careful with what he says. But he's saying what he takes as fact. "You could yield and re-challenge me. But it'll just come back to this. You can't hold this position, and that's what matters most. You can't be Captain if you can't hold the title. And you can't hold onto power if people believe they can challenge you. Without unquestionable authority, you cannot lead these soldiers."

"And what if I had something none of them could touch? And what if I had something so powerful that matter itself crumbles before it?" I have Icy Void. Nothing can stand before that. It's my final trick. My last chance.

"I have been to the voider plane. I have seen the world without, the place that has never been. I have spoken with the husks that line the here and the there. There is nothing you can do that I can't do better. Yield. Regain your thoughts, there is still much for you to learn."

I stumble back when he says this. What the fuck is the voider plane!? What the fuck are all of those redundancies supposed to mean!? I try to think of something to say, something I could do, but... if what he's saying is true, there's nothing I can do to him. Every trick I've ever thought of, every edge I thought I had, he's been four steps ahead of me. No matter what I do, I'll never be the Captain he was. I'll never be as good as him.

"I yield." My pride is crushed. I drop to my knees as my shame starts to overtake me. I came to terms that this was something that I could reign over him. Something that I could fantasize about that would defeat him and make me his equal. But those were just dreams. He's been ahead of me the entire time. I have nothing that could ever stand to touch him. How can I call myself Captain when I'm so clearly outclassed?

He sets his sword down and approaches me. I can't look at him right now. I can't because he's my better, and I can't bring myself to look up to him again. He takes a knee just before me and sets a hand on my shoulder. It... calms me, ever so slightly. There is no animosity between us, despite the cruel words I spoke. I look up to him and can sense his acknowledgement and understanding.

"Your journey has just started Miles." He slips something into my pocket. I try to look, but he grips my shoulder more firmly, forcing me to look up to him. "In time you will learn of your mother's past. You cannot avoid it. But... there are secrets that you will have to learn. Secrets that will shake you to your core. Listen well and let your flame guide you. And though we walk the valley of the shadow of death, we will fear no evil. It's time you started to learn of your father's past, and why you will never meet him."

CLAP CLAP CLAP CLAP

I look back and feel my blood boil as he starts to approach the two of us. He looks just as I remembered him. Thin, pale, long blonde hair that's tied back. And those eyes. Those piercing red eyes! With that crooked, smug smile of his! The man that took everything from me! The man that tormented me and belittled me! The man that killed my father! Altum Stans!

"How quaint of you two to have this little spat of yours-"

He started to talk. He tried to mock me once more. But I will not have it. Never again will allow him to belittle me! Even if it didn't happen, even if it was just some sort of dream, his existence is too much for me to bear. Just as he was about to move past me I shot up and swung for his face. My fist aimed true and I was mere hairs away from breaking his jaw. At the moment of contact I punched a hole in the wood paneling of the lodge.

It takes me a moment to realize what just happened. In the nano seconds it took for me to punch Altum, I have somehow appeared back in the lodge where I was before all this madness started. I feel myself shake as I look around, unsure of what is happening. I take a few tentative steps for the door before I break into a sprint. I burst outside and slow to a stop. Lights are strung throughout the street, giving off a warm glow. A large bonfire is set in the center of town as everybody is preparing for some sort of festival.

I can see all of my Spartans here. Storm, True Will, Dust, High Flier, Shifted, all of them. I'm back in Equestria. I'm... home?

I reach into my pocket and pull out a thumb drive. Whatever clue he was about to give me, whatever secret he was about to share, I have in the palm of my hand.

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