The empty lobby of the so called 'TD Tower' reached three stories high, the highest ceiling Gale had ever seen. Fancy shiny polished beige rocks used as walls and floor. The group's footsteps echoed in the emptiness as they reached the elevator.

  Gale helped Ollie into the elevator, still on his shoulder. The shorter boy's shoulder slumped. Dark circles under his eyes became much clearer under the harsh lights of the lobby.

  Tank Top and Red Jacket followed them into the elevator, dragging their feet against the floor. Ollie pressed 54 and then 58. The numbers ticked up until the first destination.

  "Tomorrow," Ollie said. "My office. 9PM sharp. We'll discuss details of our new arrangement."

  "Yes sir, Mr. Glory, Sir!" Tank Top and Red Jacket scooted over to the corner.

  Gale noticed both men, at least taller than 6 ft, cowered at Ollie's presence. That was a given from how the fight played out. But seeing it up close and how Ollie was shorter than himself was much more amusing.

  "And bring proper documentation this time." Ollie failed to straighten himself. "No more off-the-books nonsense."

  The elevator doors opened onto the 54th floor. Red Jacket and Tank Top practically bolted out, vanishing down the hallway without looking back.

  "Pfft, criminals," Ollie chuckled weakly. "No spine when you actually confront them."

  The elevator continued up to the second destination. When the doors opened again, Ollie and Gale walked to the end of the hallway to meet the heavy double glass doors and glass walls.

  "Office sweet office," Ollie said.

  Through the glass, only one desk sat in the middle by the floor-to-ceiling windows. A panoramic view of downtown Toronto stretched across the view. A bar cart sat in the corner just beside the minimalistic wooden desk.

  Gale opened the door and helped Ollie inside and laid him down behind his desk onto his chair. Glass cracked under his shoes. Looking at it, he saw a picture frame beside the wall. Broken glass fragments everywhere. A mark on the wall told him that the frame had been thrown.

  Ollie didn't even glance at it.

  "You look like shit," Gale said.

  "You should see the other guys." Ollie laughed but quickly turned into a grimace. "Actually, you did see them."

  "I'm serious." Gale leaned onto the desk, looking to the side at Ollie. "What happened to you?"

  "Me? Nothing happened to me. I just... adapted. Built something bigger than myself." Ollie's smiled, looking down. "What about you? Last I saw, you were..."

  Last I saw, you were staying behind so we could escape. Gale knew what he wanted to say and neither of them could say it.

  "Got out eventually," Gale whispered. "Took longer than expected."

  "How long?"

  Gale looked over the windows behind Ollie. City lights flickered below and people passed by even though the sun hadn't risen yet. "After I got left behind… maybe two months. I don't know. It was always night there."

  He paused. "Then I made it back here. They told me 10 years passed."

  Ollie's smile cracked for a moment. He sighed. "For the record, we only came back five years ago. But… we really thought you were dead. People lost hope after the first year." He reached for the bar cart, fingers trembling as his legs buckled under him. "Shit."

  "Here." Gale grabbed the bottle he was reaching for. He filled the glass with something amber to the top. "Drink some water and rest."

  Ollie narrowed his eyes at Gale. "You trying to force me to rest with that much alcohol bud?"

  "Alcohol?" Gale looked at the bottle. He's never had alcohol. Adults liked this kind of stuff.

  Ollie laughed, then took the glass from his hand and chugged it down in one go. "I've got meetings in three hours. Can't stop the machine once it's running. Besides, you haven't told me how you got out."

  "That can wait." Gale put the bottle down. "What's really going on, Ollie?"

  Ollie's smile returned, "Maybe I just pushed too hard tonight. That stuck-up maiden was also a Resonant."

  [Target continues to display severe physical deterioration. Muscle tremors indicate systemic fatigue beyond normal parameters. Threat level: Minimal.]

  No one asked you, stupid Guide.

  "You're burning yourself out," Gale said. "Even back then, you… you didn't stop looking for the exit."

  "Back then." Ollie stared into his empty glass. "We were different people back then, weren't we? Simpler. Just trying to survive that place."

  Ollie set the glass down. "Now look at us. Me with my empire built on… it doesn't matter. You're still the same. Still innocent."

  "I'm not as innocent as you think." Gale moved to pick up the shattered picture frame by the wall, but Ollie's voice stopped him.

  "Don't." The word came out sharp. Then softer, "Please."

  Gale pulled his hand back. The glass crunched under his shoes as he returned to lean on the desk. "You can talk to me, you know. Like before."

  "Before." Ollie closed his eyes. "That's the problem, isn't it? There's no going back to before. Not for me."

  Ollie leaned back on his chair. "So, tell me about these new abilities of yours. That fighting style was something else."

  "Ollie-" Gale started but was interrupted.

  "Please." Ollie said while his eyes were closed. "I can't... not yet. Let me have this moment where we're just two buddies sitting somewhere in the forest, and you telling me some weird thing your parents taught you."

  Gale wanted to push, unsure of what to say to get him to talk. But there was pain in that voice that he recognized. Was it right to push? Ollie was different from before. For all he knew, the man in front of him probably only felt like he was seeing an acquaintance from long ago. Maybe they weren't as close as he thought they were. It was better to leave it.

  "Fine." Gale sat in the chair opposite side of the desk.

  "What happened after we left?" Ollie smiled softly as he opened his eyes. "You never said how long you fought those things alone."

  Gale's fist clenched, remembering the world that only wanted him dead. The Blue Moon's gaze that shot out blue lances that could burn through the darkest stone. The army of thralls had poured out from the castle. Elliot's deranged smile and the insanity of the dark knight.

  The shadow this office would have made him double check everything. Look for any potential threat and set a trap at any given choke point.

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  That wasn't socially accepted here though. No enemies out for his neck. Only stubborn bureaucracy that he couldn't kill. Here was a different kind of forest. Behind the vast panoramic view were trees made of concrete, bricks, and metal.

  "Come on," Ollie said. "You can't drop 'two months alone in hell' and leave it at that. I'll even let you say 'as you know'"

  Gale's face burned hot. "How do you know that?"

  Ollie laughed. "You know, you were always the topic of conversations. Especially with Rachel. She'd bring you up whenever we'd meet, wondering if maybe… well, she kept reminiscing. You know. Women. Always wondering."

  "Rachel?" Gale's heart skipped a beat as he heard her name. "How is she?"

  "Wouldn't really know right now." Ollie wrapped his fingers around the armrest. "Haven't talked to her in a couple of weeks or maybe a month. Keeping to my own circles these days. Business takes up most of my time."

  "What kind of business needs this much from you?" Gale looked him up and down.

  The smile fell from Ollie's face. He reached into his desk drawer and pulled out a small vial. His fingers tightened around the vial. "This is Dust. Performance enhancer for Aurians. Gives them a boost in power, makes them feel invincible. But there are... side effects. It gives you a rush of pleasure while on it as well. Highly addictive as an awakened. Mundanes getting exposed to it is a whole different matter."

  Gale analyzed it.

  [Modified Dust Vial]

  [Description: Lethal combat enhancer.]

  [Effects: Efficiency base+15 x 105%, Max Load base+15 x 105%, restores essence by 50% of max.]

  [Duration: 600 seconds.]

  It was similar to the one he used against the dark knight, but he didn't feel any of the side effects that Ollie mentioned.

  "They call it dust corruption." Ollie set the vial down softly. "It starts small, unnoticeable. At first, you don't even see it outside the skin, and then just a crystal or two breaks through the skin. That's when you know it's too late. It spreads faster. Grows. The pain... The screams never stop until they're fully crystallized. Takes about eleven days from first exposure."

  That sounded like what happened to the homeless man. His face… he had run away from the man who was clearly in pain. Nothing else he could've done. Running away, like always.

  "Every lab, every deal, every bit of research..." Ollie's voice grew quiet. "It's all focused on finding a cure. Something to stop the spread, reverse the crystallization. The Path… the Path doesn't care about civilians. They're just expendable to them. So someone has to step up."

  "Why push yourself this hard?" Gale asked. "You're killing yourself over this."

  "Don't." Ollie said firmly. "Just... don't ask about that. Please."

  Silence filled the office. Far below, early morning traffic began to build. A car honked its horn. A garbage truck's hydraulics hissed from picking up garbage bins.

  "You know Carl or Jonathan or whatever he told you his name was?" Ollie asked suddenly.

  "Yeah." Gale said. "He found me half dead. Took me to a medical facility and then told me to join the Path."

  "Shit." Ollie sat up in his chair. "That was you? He mentioned someone coming out of the Red Hollows last month, but I didn't think..."

  "Red Hollows?"

  "Big chunk of west Toronto. Lakeshore West Heights specifically." Ollie pulled up a map on his phone. "About a kilometre wide. Ten years ago, something happened there. Exactly when we were all sent to that hellhole. The government covered it up and called it a terrorist attack. But really?"

  Ollie zoomed in on a circular area marked in red. "Everyone inside just vanished. Thousands of people, gone in an instant. Transported to the Eclipsed."

  Gale stared at the map. The centre of the circle was right at the orphanage. "I was in that circle too when it all happened. I was just in the orphanage."

  "Me too. My master dropped me off to a house and told me she'd be back after getting milk. And then bam. Shit hit the fan. Wait, hold on a second." Ollie looked Gale up and down. "You look like a hobo. You even got proper ID? Background that makes sense here?"

  "The Path set me up with basics," Gale said. "Enough to blend in."

  "Blend in?" Ollie snorted, pulling out his phone. "You look like you've been sleeping in alleyways. Are you even eating? Give me a day to set things up. I'll get you something proper. Set you up everything: money, documents, whatever you need."

  "Ollie-"

  "Don't argue. Consider it payment for saving my ass back there with the Knights. Besides..." Ollie glanced at the broken picture frame again. "I owe you. For getting everyone else out back then."

  The man in front of him had definitely changed. Years of it distanced them apart. However, in that moment, Gale saw flashes of the old Ollie. The one who'd joked about becoming rich and buying up whatever he thought of while they huddled around the campfire made in the dark forest.

  "You know what the worst part is?" Ollie said, lifting up the vial of dust again. "Sometimes I miss it. That place. At least there, everything made sense. Stay alive, keep moving, watch each other's backs. Now it's all politics and money and watching people die slowly while I try to..."

  Gale put a hand on Ollie's uninjured side's shoulder. All he wanted was for his friend not to pretend in front of him. Not here or ever in front of him.

  Ollie looked at him with one brow raised. "Getting sappy Mr. Shut up and Keep Moving?"

  Gale laughed awkwardly. "But, I don't think I'm like that anymore. I'm… trying to be more normal."

  "Normal? You're fine. It's better to not be normal." Ollie leaned back, some of the tension leaving his shoulders. "Normal people try getting close for reasons. They want the connections, the money, the guy who can make things happen. But you? You just want me to crack bad jokes like we're back in that hellhole."

  "Someone has to and those were some bad jokes back there."

  "Thanks." The word came out soft, genuine. Then Ollie's eyes lit up. "Speaking of surprising things. Since when can you go toe-to-toe with two Attuned? That was some fancy demonic footwork back there."

  Gale shifted in his chair. "Not clear on all these rankings yet. How do you even know someone's level?"

  "Right, you missed orientation day." Ollie pulled up a holoscreen from his desk. "Remember what I told you about power levels back in the forest? It's all about how the energy manifests. Awakened, that's you by the way, it's like looking at a blurry photo. No real shape to it."

  Ollie manipulated the image, showing different patterns. "Attuned starts getting clearer outlines. You can actually track it. You can start doing more things like shooting streams of water that cut metal."

  "Makes sense." Gabriel and Helena did some things that were clearly out of the norm that literally broke reality. Mary and David as well.

  "Me?" Ollie grinned. "I'm a Resonant, just a rank above an Attuned. If you thought making giant balls of water was fancy, wait till you see what I can do with my telekinesis now. I can literally fly, bro. Would've handed both their asses to them if I wasn't running on fumes. Though watching you fight, you've changed your style."

  "I had to…" Gale paused, not sure what to say about a knight beating him until his body learned how to move. "To learn not to die."

  "Sorry," Ollie whispered. "You know, I could use someone with your skills. My operation's growing, and I need people I can trust."

  "What kind of operation?"

  "Legitimate business, mostly." Ollie's eyes slid to the vial on the desk. "Some side ventures. Research."

  The night sky beyond the view turned from night to an orange colour. It was Gale's first time being this high up in the world. Even higher than he was when he climbed the highest tree in the dark forest, hiding from shadows. Here, those shadows represented a different kind of danger.

  "Tell me more about these side ventures," Gale said.

  Ollie's face lit up. "Well, first thing we'd need to do is get you proper gear. No more running around looking like a hobo… unless that's your thing. I'm thinking custom kit, maybe some-"

  A notification pinged on Ollie's phone, cutting him off. His expression shifted as he read the message. He pushed himself up from the chair, swaying slightly. "Gotta go right now. Lab results are in. Rain check on that chat?"

  "You sure you should be heading anywhere right now?"

  "Time waits for no man, my friend, not even those ladies that could spew out golden vomit at you." Ollie went to the side of his office and opened a closet. Taking off his current torn jacket and shirt, he put on another white shirt and a blue blazer that fit his dimensions perfectly.

  Ollie walked to the glass door and continued. "Especially not in this business. But seriously, it'd be nice to fight side by side with you again. My door's always open for you."

  "Before you go," Gale stood. "That picture frame..."

  "Don't." Ollie's tone was much firmer, his smile clearly fake, as he walked to the door. "Some stories are better left for another time." He paused at the door. "But Gale? It's good to have you back. Really."

  "Try not to pass out before you reach the lab."

  "Please." Ollie waved dismissively. "I once ran ops for three days straight on nothing but coffee and spite. This is nothing."

  Ollie hesitated a bit before continuing. "Although if you're not busy... How about I give you a tour of where I'm going, Lab 7?"

  A tour sounded nice. Tours were something rich people paid for. This one was free. He's got nothing else to do anyway and be like a normal kid that skips class. Besides, he could see more of Ollie's world. He could also watch his friend just in case he falls over.

  "Lead the way," Gale said finally. "But you're buying breakfast first."

  "Deal." Ollie laughed. "Fair warning though. My breakfast meetings usually involve at least one assassination attempt."

  "Got it. My senses got us covered."

  "That was a joke, Gale." Ollie laughed.

  Bonus chapters are dropped the following day whenever a goal is hit!