(Well, that was interesting, wasn't it? I'm sure you're wondering what happens next?)

I woke up on a cot with a strangled cry. (Shocking) Yeah, my head felt like it was able to explode. Either that, or someone hit it with a hammer multiple times. I groaned, sitting up from where I laid and looked around. I realized drearily that I was in the infirmary where Luna and I treated a handful of wounded soldiers. And then I realized that I wasn't the only person in here.

"Oh...Fuck me." I mumbled as I caught sight of my team laying on cots around the room. None of them moved a muscle. I also spotted some of the guards that had fought beside my team laying on cots as well, and they weren't moving either.

I stood up, only to fall back onto the cot. I sighed, then caught sight of my staff by the cot I was currently sitting on. Grabbing it, I stood up again and used my staff as a crutch so I wouldn't fall down again. I looked around the room and caught sight of a white tail. My heart rose up to my throat as I hobbled over to Luna's resting place.

"L-Luna?" I began in a small voice. "You there?"

I grew more frantic as I was greeted by silence. "Terra to Luna. Come in Luna."

Nothing. Not even a peep...

Growing even more distressed, I tried to find her pulse. Without thinking, I placed my hand on her chest to see if I could sense something: If her aura was still present, if she had a heartbeat, anything that would tell me she was alive and not...

Just when that thought crossed my mind, her eyes fluttered open. Luna blushed when she saw where my hand was.

"Um...Helix?" She breathed. "Wh-What are you doing?"

I jumped, falling backwards and landing on my backside. My face was red hot, and I was reduced to a stuttering mess: "It-It's not what you think! I-I-I was trying to see if you were st-still alive! You weren't responding to anything I was saying! I thought you were..."

A cleric walked into the infirmary and frowned at me as I sat on the floor, "What's going on in here?"

Blood draining from my face at record speeds, I fainted. The cleric apparently placed me back on my cot because I didn't wake up on the ground.

Catching my gaze, the cleric shook her head slightly, "Do not get up."

I sighed, then heard this from one of the cots: "Good job dumbass. You just groped your girlfriend."

Then: "That's not what he was doing, Analise. He was just checking on me."

"You keep telling yourself that, Luna," She replied smugly, "You've got yourself a keeper, and you didn't even bat an eyelash when I called you his-."

"-Shut the hell up Analise," Luna shot back.

"Not gonna happen, kitten." Ana responded.

Even when we're bed-ridden, the chit chat is still fucked up as always.

A few minutes later, I heard Dorrian speak: "So, uh, what now?"

I got my wits about me before I replied: "I suppose we get better, then head back to Volhime. We still have to defend the city from the main hoard."

"Excuse me?" He demanded, sitting up to look at me with wide indigo eyes. "What do you mean 'the main hoard'? There can't be more of those fuckers."

"I'm afraid there are," I replied gravely, "However, we did take out a sizable amount of the hoard itself, so we'll have somewhat of an easier time fighting the main force that attacks the city."

"Are you even listening to yourself?" Analise demanded, "Sure, we defeated 'a sizable amount if the hoard,' but we almost fucking died while doing it. How the hell do you think fighting the rest of the remaining hoard is going to be 'easy'?"

"You guys wouldn't have died. I would've been the first to go down since I was the one to share my reserves, and so you all wouldn't have received any detrimental effects."

"That still begs the question, Helix." Nova chimed in, "How are we going to defend Volhime?"

She had said what was on everyone's minds.

"There'll be more strategic locations," I began, "More troops, better weapons-."

"Please for the love of all that is holy in this world, don't include Dante," Nova interjected.

"He'll be an incredible source of help-both as a weapons dealer and someone to help protect Volhime. I'm sure there are tacticians in the city that can help us, yes?"

Nova shrugged, "You can find anything in Volhime."

"Good," I replied with a sigh of relief, "My overall point is: we'll have more options available to us the next time we engage this hoard. For one, we'll have a small army to back us up."

"Quick deviation," Ben chimed in. "How about you tell us about the strange things you did during the skirmish? Like the glowing sword and the pack of wolves."

After asking the clerics to leave the room, I took a deep breath. Finally, I told my team everything. As I have said before, a good leader doesn't lie to his team. However, a great leader tells his team all, for better or for worse.

I told them about what Virrius told me before I went to Brooksvale, the memory of my first night as an exile, and a few other things I decided to tell them. I merely brushed over the 'dark years' of my life, and I still shudder when I think of those four years...what I did to survive. I couldn't bring myself to tell them that. Not yet.

When I finished talking, silence greeted me.

"I-I shouldn't have asked," Ben stammered, struggling to find words.

"Don't worry about it: you all needed to know anyway." I replied, "As I've said, I've been in denial until now."

"Is that why you hide your face?" Luna asked me.

I tried to look away from her, "Y-Yeah. Pretty much."

Her gaze was still focused on me, "Helix, what's wrong?"

"I," I paused, forcing myself to remain calm. "I'm not sure I want to pull those skeletons out of my closet right now."

Luna nodded in understanding. "Alright...My apologies..."

After that, everyone grew silent. I closed my eyes as the magnitude of what almost happened hit me in the stomach. My foolish decision to share my reserves with my team almost led to their demise. I always put my team above everything else, and yet I almost lost them...

The chief of the village walked into the infirmary and bowed deeply when he saw me, "This village owes you a debt I cannot repay. You saved my people from certain annihilation. For that, I am in your debt."

I shook my head, "This is my job: I don't expect to be paid when I'm trying to protect innocent civilians from enemies of the country. Please, don't worry about repaying me. You'll need the money later on to rebuild your village. Besides," I continued, looking at my team, "This party's far from over."