The hotel room was quiet, but the silence wasn't peaceful. It carried weight—the kind that settled over a team fresh from battle. Worn, tense, and too aware of what still lay ahead.
Amir sat on the edge of the bed, his broken arm resting in a makeshift sling. The pain was obvious in the tightness of his jaw, but he didn't complain. Zach leaned against the far wall, arms crossed, his eyes flicking between me and Nel. He already knew where this was headed.
Nel stood by the window, arms folded. The faint city lights reflected off the glass, but she wasn't looking outside. She was looking at me.
"You didn't have to kill it," she said. Her voice was sharp, but beneath it was something else. Frustration? Guilt? It was hard to tell.
I exhaled, rubbing a hand over my face before meeting her gaze. "It wasn't human anymore, Nel. You saw what it was. And even if it was—"
"That's not the point," she cut in. "We're not the judge of life and death. That's not our job."
I let out a short, humorless laugh. "The thing is, when we put on these suits, we literally are."
The words hung in the air like a blade between us.
Nel's expression darkened. "So what? We just decide who lives and who dies based on what we think is right? Just like that?"
"It wasn't a choice," I said evenly. "It was a call. A call I made because hesitating would've gotten us killed."
"Then explain the slogan," she pressed. "'What fortune grants, it may just as easily take away.' You didn't hesitate to say it when you killed that thing. That's not just a call, that's a belief."
My jaw tightened. "It's just culture."
Nel scoffed. "No, that's a creed. It means something. And if you're going to hide behind it, at least admit that you believe in it."
I held her gaze. "I do." My voice was steady, unshaken. "Yes, I'm an agent. Enrolled in the academy at that . But I'm also a Fortune."
She opened her mouth to respond, but I cut her off.
"Scratch that. I'm the Fortune. Son of Solaris—Shes the current Fortune Keeper btw. I already rank high enough in my clan to call in platoons if I wanted to. So don't question me or my clan's ways."
The room tensed.
I let out a slow breath before continuing. "That said, I put being an agent first. As long as it's for the betterment of mankind."
Nel's jaw tightened, but she didn't respond.
The silence stretched, thick and unrelenting, until Deya—who had been quietly listening from the couch—finally spoke.
"Look, you're both right. And you're both wrong."
That got everyone's attention.
She leaned forward, elbows on her knees. "Ron, you made the call. And yeah, sometimes we don't get the luxury of second chances in the field. But Nel's right, too. The moment we start thinking of ourselves as executioners, we lose sight of why we fight in the first place."
I shook my head. "If y'all won't do it, I will. I intend to lead a Forsaken Realm raid one day. Any threats to my team or civilians—monster or human—their essence will rejoin the world. Objections?"
Zach finally spoke. "No." His voice was calm but firm. "We do our jobs."
The argument settled, but it didn't feel resolved. Not really.
Nel turned back to the window, exhaling slowly. "Backup's on the way. We'll move in the morning."
I nodded. "Then we rest. We go in with open minds, but we stay on guard. No mistakes."
The weight in the air didn't lift, but at least, for now, it was set aside.
This mission wasn't over yet.