“Alright.” Levi turned around and faced us. “Liv, you're with me. Jett, you and Keisha. Vey…”

  “I know, I know. Lookout duties again.”

  “Love the spirit.” Levi grinned. “We're on a scouting mission. Don't engage.”

  “Yeah, yeah," I murmured. Keisha was silent. She'd been ever since we were informed of the location of our mission.

  “And don't… get any funny ideas.” Levi glared at Keisha. “I mean it," he added with a harsh voice.

  She glared right back at him but said nothing.

  “We've got tons of land to scour.”

  “What exactly are we looking for?” Vey asked.

  “It's a nest. A breed site.” Levi explained.

  “And we're not destroying it?” I asked. “I mean…”

  "It's due to hatch. The commander said to observe it first.”

  “Observe what? If it hatches into an uncontrollable beast titan or a cute little pony?” I asked.

  “That's what we're finding out," he said and landed the ship.

  We filed out and looked around. I turned to Vey. “Catch you later.”

  “Yeah, laugh at the girl stuck in the jet all alone.” Vey eyed me.

  “I didn't laugh—” but Vey shut the door and activated the thrusters.

  “Alright. This is where we split up.” Levi clasped his hands together. “Jett, you're on the left. Liv and I will take the right. If you see anything, holler on the comms.”

  “Sure thing," I said as we parted ways.

  Keisha and I walked in silence. She wasn’t happy.

  I sighed, “Your hair’s looking nice.”

  She looked at me. “That’s sudden.”

  I shrugged. “I’m just wondering what Mason would think of it.”

  Keisha smiled. “Is that so? You think he’ll like it.”

  “I mean, he’s your pal, right? He’s under obligation to say he likes it.”

  “What did you say?” she eyed me.

  This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

  “Well, he doesn’t have much of a choice now, does he?”

  Keisha bent low and picked up a stone. “You want to say that again.”

  I folded my arms. “I said…” but she flung the stone at me.

  “Really?” I tapped her shoulder. We both watched the sun as it travelled across the horizon.

  “Get off me!” she playfully pushed me away.

  I raised my hands up in a defensive motion.

  “Guys!! I found something.” Vey called out to us on the comms.

  “Jett. Keisha. Rendezvous at Vey's location," Levi said.

  I took out my blade and warped over to Keisha. “Hang on.”

  She took my hand. “Sure thing.” I flung my blade far north and warped over to it. It took one swing to get to the marked location.

  “Levi, we're here. ” I said.

  Levi turned to me, “Just in time. It's about to hatch.”

  “Hatch?” I glanced around the barren field, confused. “There's nothing here.”

  “Now!” Levi barked at Liv.

  Without hesitation, Liv summoned a glowing spear from thin air and slammed it into the ground.

  A wet, gut-churning squelch echoed.

  “Commander Darren’s on comms,” Vey’s voice crackled through the earpiece.

  “Patch him in!” Levi called, already loading his cannon-like rifle.

  “Team Alphys, status report,” Commander Darren’s voice came through, calm but firm.

  “We’ve got a visual on the threat,” Levi replied. “Requesting permission to neutralize.”

  I stepped forward, activating both blades with a resonant hum.

  “Permission granted.”

  “Fire!!” Liv shouted, launching her spear as Levi unleashed a thunderous shot.

  Smoke engulfed the field.

  “Did we get it?” Vey asked, voice uncertain.

  The smoke parted.

  “No,” Levi muttered, springing back. His tone shifted—controlled but tense.

  The ground trembled. We sprang back and watched as it cracked open and a monstrous, spider-like beast crawled its way out of the ground. Its limbs contorted as it continued to swell in size, and its joints cracked with each grotesque expansion.

  Levi staggered back. “Vey, what the hell is that?”

  “I can’t find a weak point,” she said grimly.

  “So we hit it with everything we’ve got.” He turned, giving rapid orders.

  “Jett—use your speed, confuse it, make it split its attention. Liv, Keisha—you’re together. Go for the legs. Cripple it.”

  “Roger.”

  “I’ll go for the core once we create an opening. Vey—eyes in the sky. If it mutates again, I want a warning before it happens.”

  The creature let out a warped, earsplitting screech as jagged armor formed along its abdomen.

  I cracked my neck. “Time to run circles around a nightmare.”

  Liv summoned a second spear. “Keisha, flank left?”

  “Right behind you.”

  I steadied my blades, feeling the heat of battle building around me. “Let’s end this…” I shot forward, a blur of motion. Liv and Keisha surged to either side, blades and shields at the ready. The spider-beast shrieked again, slamming down its front limbs with explosive force, sending tremors across the battlefield.

  And then—

  Everything stopped.

  A pulse of energy rippled through the air, followed by a low hum, like the calm before a storm.

  Could it be a C rank?? I looked around; we'd be totally screwed if another enemy showed up…

  Above us, the sky cracked.

  A streak of blue lightning tore down from the clouds—and decimated the beast. We were all alarmed, but we geared up to face whatever destroyed the colossal beast in seconds.

  A humanoid figure appeared out of the smoke.

  “Boom.”

  That cocky voice. There's no way…

  He turned around with that same stupid smirk.

  Then—

  He doubled over and threw up right next to the beast’s corpse. Then he faced us.

  He looked… exactly as he did three years ago; he hadn't aged.

  Then Keisha stepped forward, her voice catching like it had hit glass.

  “Mason…?”

  He looked at her, confused. Really looked at her. And then I saw it—his expression shifted. Defensive. Alarmed.

  “Who are you?” he asked cautiously.

  Keisha’s face crumbled. Her Afro shimmered under the pale sky, tears building in her eyes.

  “It’s me,” she said, barely above a whisper. “Keisha.”

  He scanned her like a stranger. “No… you’re not.”

  She flinched, and my jaw tightened.

  Mason turned to the rest of us, eyes scanning our faces like they were puzzles he couldn’t solve. Like we were ghosts.

  Then his gaze landed on Levi.

  His brows knit together.

  “Levi?” he asked, unsure.

  He kept looking, kept scrambling, his whole body slowly backing away.

  “This doesn’t make sense… Why are you here?”

  I didn’t say anything. None of us did. We just… let him unravel.

  Then his eyes landed on me again—this time, properly. He saw the hilt in my hand, and his voice cracked.

  “Jett?”

  I didn’t answer. I couldn’t. My throat had locked up. All I could do was stare. Because he looked exactly like the memory I’d burned into my mind—but I didn’t.

  I was taller now. Older. Hardened. I hadn’t slept properly in three years.

  And next to me, Liv was crying openly. She didn’t even try to hide it.

  Mason took a step back.

  “No,” he said again, shaking his head. “You’re not them. You can’t be.”

  “Mason…” Keisha reached out, trying again. Her voice trembled.

  Silence followed. Heavy. Cracked open only by Levi’s voice.

  “It’s been three years, Mason.”

  Mason blinked, stunned. “What?”

  “Since you disappeared.”

  He froze.

  Like something in him just… stopped.

  Then his eyes widened, realization slamming into him like a truck. He seemed to whisper something.

  Keisha moved closer, slowly, gently.

  “We never gave up on you,” she said. “Not once.”

  Mason finally met her gaze.

  And in that moment, I saw the walls in him break.

  The recognition in his eyes.