Half an hour later, Nar stepped out of the blaster.

  His whole body stung, and his skin protested against his new set of clothes. He had blasted himself until his skin had taken on an angry red, and it had been worth it.

  He stepped out of that blaster feeling like he had been born anew.

  “Hey, looking good, Nar! Glad to see you’re finally awake,” Tuk said.

  “Yeah, me too,” Nar replied. He scanned the trugger up and down and smiled. “You look alright too.”

  “Man, that 500% healing whatever? I’m telling you, I’ve never had a better sleep than that. And the blasting that morning? Hmmm!”

  Nar laughed and pointed behind him. “I know!”

  “It was like being kissed by the Crystal Itself!”

  Erhm, too much…

  “By the way, I see you’re still wearing the old gear.”

  “The what?”

  Tuk pointed at Nar’s [Climber’s Shirt], then at his.

  “Not purple. Purple. How did you not notice?”

  Nar looked down and stared at Tuk's clothes. Instead of the almost white, light gray color, his clothes were now purple. And when he moved, Nar saw the same iridescent effect on the material as he did on his own sword, except it was much more subdued.

  The shape of the clothes itself was the exact same.

  “Where did you get that?” Nar asked him.

  Tuk’s eyebrows shot up. “Wait! You haven’t opened your notifications yet?”

  “I-No?”

  Tuk slapped his arm.

  “There’re rewards, man! Gains! I even got a skill upgrade! Wait! I even got a new attribute, man! It’s insane! Go on! Look!”

  “Ah, okay! I will!”

  “Wait, Nar!”

  In the blink of an eye, Nar had his UI up and had immediately noticed the flashing notification symbol. However, as Kur approached him, he made the UI go away again.

  His party leader also wore the new gear, and physically, he looked healed from the ordeal. However, there were dark circles under his eyes, and he avoided looking at Nar’s face. That alone made his stomach twist uncomfortably.

  “I’m glad you’re awake. Like Tuk said, the rewards are quite something. However, before you have a look at them, I was hoping I could have some of your time. With everyone.”

  Nar repressed a sigh and nodded. Best to just do it.

  “Yeah, of course Kur. Whatever you need.”

  “I… Thank you. Maybe, we’ll just get to it, then? Tuk?”

  “Yeah. That sounds great, man.”

  Here we go, Nar though, as he followed after Kur.

  “Everyone,” Kur said. “I know it's early, and I know we all just woke up. We’ve been through a lot, and we deserve the rest. But I think that, unless we talk about a few certain things, and make some decisions, none of us will be able to properly relax.”

  Nar sat down with Tuk, by the edge of the party, and looked at the others.

  Cen and Mul sat together, as he expected them too. Cen’s mouth was a thin line, and her eyebrows were deeply furrowed, but he couldn’t read anything from her, which was rare. Usually, Cen wore her emotions openly. Mul looked equally as impossible to read. His face was completely blank and devoid of anything that betrayed his thoughts.

  Gad looked stern. That was the best way he could describe it. Not angry, not sad, and certainly not scared. She looked like there were things she wanted to hear being said, and she would say those things herself if nobody else did.

  Viy, next to her, didn’t even acknowledge Kur.

  That left Rel and Jul. The two of them sat together, backs straight against the wall.

  Jul looked pale, and he could see the sweat glistening on her forehead. She was definitely scared that her real class was one of those certain things that needed to be talked about, and decided upon. All of a sudden, Nar felt bad for teasing her. She was probably scared witless that she was about to be kicked out of the party, even if the thought was utter nonsense. No one was ever going to kick her out, but Nar didn’t put it past her to worry about it. It was too late to do anything about it now, though.

  As for Rel, she stared blankly at Kur. Was she worried that he would not keep his promise? Or did she feel like whatever was about to be discussed had nothing to do with her, other than the fact that she and her former party members had caused all of this to happen?

  And speaking of party members, I forgot she killed Tas. Should I… Talk to her about it?

  He was still sore from his recent failure with Tuk. But Rel was not Tuk, was she? Was she even one of them? Should he care about her, at the same level as he did the others? He wasn’t sure.

  “So,” Kur began, in a level voice. “We’ve all just been through something… Something beyond describing. Thank the Crystal, we are all alive. Give it up to luck, or the Crystal’s mercy, I still can’t believe that we all survived what we did, and that we came out of it as well as we did.”

  Nar found himself nodding, along with most of the others.

  “You guys did amazing. All of you. And the rewards you’ve all received are proof of that. I’m incredibly blessed to have you as my party.”

  He took a deep breath, readying himself.

  “However, I cannot ignore that none of this should’ve happened. And I'm not blaming Nar for it. His heart was in the right place, just as it’s always been. I don’t think there is anyone here that thinks that Nar is to blame for what happened. He acted correctly, and he is still right at this very moment, now that we know it was all a trick. We have been let down by Climbers before, and we were let down again. But I ask you to remember that there were many others with whom we had no issues with. Only a few had malicious intentions in regards to our AUCs, and I don’t think anyone here has forgotten Row and her party.”

  He cast his eyes about the faces before him, making eye contact with each one of them. When Kur stared at Nar, his stare lingered, and Nar read the pain within him.

  “So, don’t blame Nar, and don’t blame yourselves. We were victims. We were tricked and lied to. It was not our fault. All we can do is learn from this. Learn that there are good people in the Nexus, and not so good people as well. Be it Climbers down here, or people up there, I want to believe that the vast majority of sentients don’t have bad intentions towards us. So, there is no point in blaming the victims, nor in believing that the whole Nexus is out to get us. From now on, we will just be cautious with anyone and everyone. Whoever it is, they will need to work to earn our trust. I don’t want us to ever end up in a situation like this again.”

  He had been running out of breath at the end there, and took a moment to gather himself again.

  “However, I also have to admit that we should have handled this better. A lot better than we did. We practically did their job for them, and that needs to be said. And I’ll start with myself. The worst failure in all of this…” he said, and swallowed hard. However, he did not avert his eyes from them, and stared squarely and openly at the party. “As your party leader, it's my job to look out for the party. Yes, it’s on all of us to take responsibility for doing our best for this party, and yes, you guys didn’t do it. But it was primarily my job, as the leader, to interact with another party and safeguard us from them. To keep watch. To be vigilant. To not…”

  His voice faltered and he looked away.

  “Go on, Kur,” Cen said as Kur covered his mouth. “It’s alright. We’re all to blame here.”

  “We are,” Mul said. “But Kur, you’re right that yours was the biggest point of failure. Still, just talk to us, man. Nobody here wants to kick you out or have a different party leader. So let's just throw it all out and figure shit out.”

  Kur wiped his eyes and nodded.

  “I… Yes. I was going to ask that. If you want me to step down.”

  “You’re our party leader,” Tuk said. “And I refuse to have another.”

  Kur nodded again and took a deep breath.

  “There were a few things. First, the magic. When that piece of shit told us that there was magic, I lost it!”

  Tears shone down his face as he forced the words out.

  “He said it existed, and I… I just felt so, so… I can’t even describe it. I couldn't stop thinking just how close I had been to breaking your path, Cen and Tuk, and Mul too, if Tas hadn’t stopped me. I had almost ruined your future! All for something that we should have never touched. Something I refused to touch!”

  Cen inhaled wetly, and Mul passed an arm over her shoulders. It was hard to tell from his red neon eyes, but Nar swore that they shone in the soft yellow glow that emanated from the ceiling.

  He knew his own eyes must have been shining too.

  “[Aura] was just a trick, a test! How could I have missed that?” Kur continued. “How could I have allowed you guys to go down that path? And then the stuff about the Sentry, and how to fight the soldiers? Crystal damn it! I just felt like the most stupid, useless party leader ever! And he crossed the bridge with only two deaths! More than fifty people died when we crossed it! Even with [Aura], even with everything we threw at that challenge, over a quarter of us still died there!”

  The last words had come as a shout, and Kur’s raw pain poured from him. Nar looked away, feeling the tears fall down his own face.

  “After all that, what right did I have to lead you? With what delusion, or pride, or arrogance, could I pretend to know better than he did? Who cared if he behaved like shit? Who cared if he shattered our party into pieces? He had stuff to teach us. He was getting results! As long as he could take us all to the end, it didn’t matter to me who was the leader! I just wanted everyone to get out safely!”

  Kur knelt down and leaned on one knee, covering his face.

  “I’m sorry. I’m sorry that I gave up my responsibility. I’m sorry that I gladly did it! I threw it onto Tas and he did whatever he wanted with us. And I let it happen. I. Let. It. Happen!”

  Kur looked at them, tears streaking down from his red eyes. He slammed his fist hard against his chest.

  “Me! I did it! I almost killed us all! It was all my fault!”

  He cried and beat his chest. Cen ran to him and threw herself into his chest, wrapping her arms around him, and stopping him from further hurting himself.

  “It was not just you!” she shouted. “I blamed you! I hated you! What if you ruined my chances at getting magic! It was all that I wanted! It was my biggest fear! How were me and Mul going to survive on the surface without it? And what was going to happen to our paths? I saw it all happen just as well, and I let it happen. I felt used, even though it was my own choice, and I hated you all for using me! I’m sorry! I’m so sorry!”

  Nar bit his lip and looked down, covering his eyes.

  She’s right. She’s absolutely right. I used her. I used Tuk. I made them open the way for me, while I protected my own future. I can’t deny it…

  “I felt used too,” Tuk said. “I felt like I had sacrificed myself for nothing.”

  “And I felt like you didn’t deserve Cen’s sacrifice,” Mul said, in a low voice. “A sacrifice that I was about to make as well. You guys used us. You are guilty of that, and that guilt made you all jump at the lie with both feet. It was your way out of what you had done to us, and which you had refused to do yourselves!”

  “You’re right,” Gad said. “I felt guilty and then I felt relieved. I used you.”

  So did I! So did I! Nar thought. But I had no choice. I can’t give it up!

  “I swore to myself that if something bad happened to your paths, that I would protect you guys for the rest of my life. I would never abandon you! Never!” Kur said. “But it wasn’t until that moment that I realized what I had done.”

  “Rel,” Jul suddenly asked, drawing all eyes to her. “Is there really no magic? Or was Wik just lying again?”

  Rel considered the party, and sighed. “I wish he was. I don’t know if there is or there isn’t magic. But we never found it. Our caster died before the cannibals got to us. He died on that bridge. The only bridge we crossed, into the Mid-Levels.”

  “So that was a lie too?” Kur asked, nearly choking on the words. “About the easy crossing?”

  Rel grimaced.

  “Yes. It was horrible. There were nearly three hundred of us, and less than half made it through.”

  “Crystal…” Kur whispered, stunned.

  Rel nodded, apologetically, and looked back at Jul.

  “All I’ve ever seen is [Aura]. No fire. No ice. No lightning. To be honest, I don’t even know what those words mean, other than that they represent those squiggly lines drawn into the icons at the chapel.”

  “I believe it's real!” Cen said. “More than that! I know magic is real! But I also believe that it doesn’t matter anymore...”

  “No, Cen, you can’t give up! I’ll never ask you to use [Aura] again!” Kur said, holding her hand. “I’ll learn it! I’ll use my [Aura]. I have it too after all!”

  Cen shook her head and took a deep breath.

  “You don’t need to ask me, Kur. I have decided that [Aura] is in my path.”

  “But… What? Why?”

  “Because I’ve come to believe that we have all truly been using it, and thinking of it, wrong. With the power of my [Aura Projectile]s, I have opened the way for us many times. [Aura] has saved our lives again and again. I refuse to believe that it’s just a test, or that the Crystal is being cruel to us, forcing us to use it. I’ve used [Aura] for almost all of my life. It’s a piece of myself that I carry from our home, and I think it's time I accepted it. I will understand it. I will understand why using it feels so wrong. At least, I now understand why we all kept gaining it.”

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  “The Pressure,” Kur breathed. “It was the damn Pressure all along.”

  Cen nodded. “It was always painful, but it was tolerable. Just enough to strengthen us. To make us use our [Aura] without us even realizing we were doing it.”

  “So that we could cross the barrier?” Tuk asked.

  “That, and perhaps more,” Cen said. “I just don’t know yet, what is coming ahead of us. But this is power. I have no doubt about it. It’s a power that I have, and that is mine. It might even be outside the Source. I used my own [Aura] to power my projectiles when we got to the barrier. I had no choice. Through stamina it was too slow and too weak. But with my own aura?”

  She shook her head. “I felt invincible!”

  “By the Crystal. Is that true?” Tuk asked.

  “I noticed it,” Nar said, speaking for the first time. “I saw you. But I also saw the blood running down your eyes. Your nose, your ears!”

  “I will fix it,” Cen vowed. “I’m not going to give up. I owe it to myself to get to the truth of this. There’re just too many things that don’t add up about [Aura].”

  “And I will do it with you,” Mul said. “I had already made up my mind, and all this shit has only made me regret not going through with it, when I had already decided that I would. I know now that I was right. What I want is [Aura]. Something that is mine and that won’t be taken away from me or used against me. After all, if the Crystal grants magic, who knows what conditions it imposes for it?”

  The brawler shook his head.

  “I’m sick of all this magic talk. I’m taking my [Aura] and doing what I want with it.”

  Cen hesitated, but then she nodded.

  “Me too,” Tuk said. “I love you guys. If anything happened to you guys, I… I can’t… I couldn’t…”

  Nar placed an arm over Tuk’s shoulders and squeezed. The guilt and shame of how badly he had failed Tuk burned inside him. He still needed to talk to the trugger about it.

  “I think that, from now on, we should all learn to use our [Aura],” Kur said, in the silence that followed Tuk’s words. “And I think we should all take turns using it.”

  “What? No!” Tuk shouted. “I’m more than happy to do it!”

  “I won’t use you again, Tuk,” Kur said. “I can’t. I won’t. I won’t use you either Cen, and I will not use Mul. We all have a responsibility to contribute to this Climb in equal measure. And I think none of us want to carry this guilt and commit this unfairness anymore.”

  “I will learn,” Gad said. “And I will use it. All I ever did was push carts around. Tuk had to basically drag me through that barrier. So, I don’t know if I’ll be any good, but I have some [Aura], and I will do the best I can with it.”

  “I will learn too!” Jul said.

  “Not sure if I count,” Rel said. “But I would like to at least learn it as well.”

  Nar nodded, closing his eyes. “I’ll learn it too.”

  And there was no other answer he could have given. There was no more running to be done.

  Had he not fought his aura, tooth and nail, again and again... Who knows how different things could have gone.

  Who knows the horror he could've spared them all from?

  That Climb almost ended... he thought to himself. Everything almost ended. Me. Us. My dad... Our dreams. All gone, because of me...

  He clenched his jaw, hard enough that it hurt.

  I...

  “I will too,” Viy whispered.

  Nar, along everyone else, at her in breathless surprise.

  “No one should use anyone. We’re all together,” Viy said, still staring at her lap.

  Having said that, she went quiet again, and Gad kneeled down besides her to whisper something in her ear.

  “And I will learn too,” Kur said. “And that makes all of us. And we will all contribute. Cen, Tuk, I hope you guys don’t mind teaching us.”

  “Of course not!” Tuk said.

  “I will do my best,” Cen said smiling.

  “Thank you. And still on this topic, I think it's time for all of us to come clean about our [Aura] attributes. It has been a source of great anguish for all of us, and it has been something that we’ve all worked to hide. Some more than others. From now on, we will keep it out and in the open. We will know, we will all accept it, and it won’t be something that can be used to break us apart like this again. This is not up for discussion. We will all do it.”

  “Great to see some leadership again,” Mul said.

  Kur simply nodded, gracefully taking the well-deserved jab.

  “I will go first, then. I have 15 points of [Aura],” Kur revealed.

  Wait? Now? Nar thought, a tide of panic rushing through him. This is... This is happening now?

  “I have 11,” Gad said.

  “I have 25,” Jul said.

  Nar’s heart hammered in his chest, thundering so painfully he thought he was about to pass out.

  If I tell them... If I... If I...

  Panic took his brain, and all thinking faculties broke and shattered before it.

  “26,” Rel said.

  “19,” Viy said.

  “29,” Mul said.

  Sweat broke out across Nar’s forehead.

  They're going to know... They're going to...

  It was here! The moment he had feared for so long! The moment of truth! The moment they would know!

  And the moment they would kick him out...

  “I have 34,” Tuk said, grinning at Mul. "Ha! I win!"

  Only Cen left now! Oh, my Crystal! I need to speak! I need to… I need to say something! A different number! Yes! A lower number! Something that's not susp...

  “I’m at 36,” Cen said. “Four points away from my first modifier.”

  Nar was going to get sick. The safe room zoomed in and out of focus. Heat was rising... His heart was going to jump out of his chest.

  I need to... I need to...

  “Nar?” Kur asked.

  “Y-Yes?" he shouted, a jolt running from the tip of his head and all the way to his toes.

  Crystal! He was shaking!

  “How many do you have?” Kur asked, smiling at him.

  They all stared at him, expectantly. They were all smiling. But for how long?

  “It’s okay, man. You got this. We’ll never force you to use it,” Tuk whispered to him. “You do more than enough for us already.”

  Nar took a deep breath and licked his dry lips.

  No way out... There was no way out.

  The moment had come.

  And after everything that had happened, he couldn't even bring himself to lie about it.

  These people… Who had been strangers. Clean. They were now more… So much more. And he couldn’t give them anything other than the truth.

  He exhaled slowly, and his whole being seemed to let go.

  There was nothing he could do.

  “I… I haven’t checked them yet. My gains, that is. But after the bridge…" he took a deep breath.

  Their faces were blurs before him. Was he crying? He had to say it! He had to force the words out! No more lies! No more secrets! He had to come clean... Whatever happened afterwards... He would deal with it.

  "After the bridge... It was at 48.”

  Complete and utter silence.

  All he could hear was the sound of his own heartbeat, trying to claw its way out of his chest.

  “What did you say?” Kur mumbled. “I think I heard wrong.”

  There were stunned nods from the others. Heat ran down Nar's cheeks.

  This was it...

  “I have 48," he said, his voice low and raspy. "[Aura] has my first modifier.”

  “And you haven’t checked your gains yet?” Mul asked, his tone low with shock.

  Nar nodded. The worst part was coming... It was still coming. And there was no escaping it.

  After everything they had gone through together... After accepting them... Caring for them... It was always going to come down to this moment.

  “How is that possible?” Cen asked. “Have you been using your [Aura] all this time? Without telling us?”

  Nar shook his head.

  “Started... 21,” he mumbled.

  Even his tongue wanted to run away from that conversation. So that it didn't have to utter the word. The one, single word that had ruled and defined his entire life!

  And yet, it was still coming...

  “How?” Kur asked, frowning. “You’re not a caster.”

  Nar looked down from their stunned faces. He couldn’t bear to see their reactions when he finally told them. Not even Kur’s. Not even Gad’s. Not even Jul’s. Not even Tuk's, or Cen's, or Mul's or Viy's... To see it on their faces, after everything they had been through together... He couldn't see it. For despite it all, he had come to care for them. And hope, deep down, that the feeling was mutual...

  "Nar."

  A voice that had not spoken yet.

  He raised his eyes... And Gad's face came into focus.

  Her all-black eyes seemed to stare deeply into his soul. No judgment. No curiosity. No fear... No. He saw in those eyes what he had hoped for. Longed for, even without knowing it.

  More tears came down his chin.

  "Nar," she spoke again, her tone soft. Gentle. Welcoming. "Say it, Nar. It doesn’t matter."

  Nar inhaled shakily, taken aback by her words.

  "Gad? What are you..."

  The tank raised a hand to silence their party leader.

  "It won't matter," she told Nar. "I promise you. We are not like that. We won't do what you fear."

  "You knew..." Nar whispered. “You’ve always known…”

  The knowing looks. The strangely accurate words and subtle questions… Gad had always known. She had always known!

  In that moment, everything snapped into clear focus and razor-sharp clarity. His heartbeat seemed to fade away. The heat vanished. Even the party, silent and stunned by what was happening... Disappeared.

  It was just him, and that pair of unyielding, gentle black eyes.

  "Is that really so surprising?" Gad asked, a smile forming on her lips. "Did you not consider it, when you first heard about my position in the cubeplant?"

  "Your..."

  The realization slammed into him with a force greater than that Pressure barrier!

  "Of course..."

  The one job that was almost as bad as theirs... The group of Clean that interacted the most with the Unclean. Those bringing the aetherium to the furnaces operated by the Unclean.

  "Trolley pusher..." he breathed.

  She nodded.

  "You knew. You saw me..."

  Gad nodded again, though this time, pain lanced through her eyes.

  "I did," she said. "I saw you. And I saw… Your people. Every single day."

  As taken aback as he was by the revelation, he combed his memory for her. Had he ever seen her? There were so many morsvar coming and going, and avoiding eye-contact with the clean was the best way to ensure a smooth day… So, no, he didn’t remember ever seeing her.

  A loud gasp shattered the moment, and Nar was back in that suddenly stifling room.

  Across from him, Mul had gotten up in shock.

  "You... You... You are..."

  "Let him say it!" Gad snapped, her voice booming and filling the room like a physical force. "Let. Him. Say. It."

  Mul licked his lips, and swallowed hard. But he looked at Nar, and nodded.

  Nar looked down at his feet...

  Say it... Say it! Finish it! Finish this once and for all! Enough is enough... I'm tired.

  He looked up, taking them all in with a long glance, and opened his mouth to speak the words at last...

  “I am… Was, one of the Unclean.”

  As the words left his lips, it was as though the entire Nexus was lifted off his shoulders.

  Whatever consequences were coming his way now, it was done. It was over. It was all over.

  If the silence before had been complete, this one was deafening. Obliterating even. For a couple of seconds, nobody remembered to even breathe.

  Then darkness slammed into him, throwing him backwards.

  An attack! But his [Instinct] hadn't even warned him!

  Pain crushed him, and for a split moment, he wondered if he should reach for his sword. But he couldn't summon the will to pull it out his inventory, and turn it on them.

  This is how it ends. Killed by my own party... I can already feel my blood running down my neck...

  And that's when he heard it.

  Sobs.

  "I'm sorry, Nar! I'm so sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm..."

  Nar flung his eyes open.

  The ceiling greeted him back to reality, and he realized that a small body was fiercely hugging him. Crushing him with four, mighty arms.

  "Jul?"

  "I'm sorry!" she cried again, louder this time. "I didn't know! I didn't know!"

  "I... Hmm, that's okay," Nar said, stunned at the sudden turn of events.

  Whatever he had been expecting, that hadn't been it.

  "But it's fine, you hear me? It's okay! You're here now! With me! With us! No one's ever going to hurt you again! I won't let them! I swear!" she shouted in his ear.

  "Jul..."

  She hugged him even tighter, and cried with abandon. Nar raised his arms slowly, and wrapped them around her too. He patted her hair.

  His sight went blurry again. "Thanks, Jul. That means... That means everything to me."

  Heads appeared above him.

  The emotions written on their faces were... Conflicting.

  "Hmm, you can stay like that for now, I guess," Kur said, grimacing. "Just... Just listen, okay?"

  Nar nodded against the top of Jul's head.

  "I think... No, I know that I speak for all of us, that if you're worried about getting kicked out of the party, then... Well, don't," Kur said, smiling at him, though it didn't fully reach his eyes. "After everything we've been through together. After everything we've learned. After all the wrong that has happened to us... Something like that is... It would be…"

  He pursed his lips, frowning, lost for words.

  "Fucking pileshit is what it is!" Mul muttered.

  "Mul!" Cen said, horrified.

  "What? It's the truth! We never believed any of that shit! I never even beat up any Unclean!" Mul shouted.

  "Oh, you meant it like that," Cen said, breathing in relief.

  "How else would I have meant it?" Mul shouted.

  "Fucking Crystal, man!" Tuk said, raising a hand to his heart. "I thought the worse too!"

  "I-I... What kind of piece of shit do you think I am?" Mul shouted. "I mean... I may have called them "dirties" a few times. Maybe even spat once or twice..."

  "Mul!" Cen shouted, her voice distorted with anger.

  "At the floor! Not at them!" Mul said, raising his hands. "Everyone was doing it! What was I supposed to do? People already hated me enough! I was just trying to fit in! I'm sorry!"

  "Not to me! To him!" his sister demanded.

  "Oh, right. Nar, I... I'm sorry."

  Nar half gasped, half made a strange sound.

  His chest heaved erratically, and it became hard to breath as air gushed out of him in uncertain bursts.

  "Is he... Crying, or laughing?" Tuk asked.

  Laughter.

  Laughter bubbled out of Nar.

  He didn't know why. And he couldn't stop it either.

  But Mul, and Cen and Tuk. Even Kur's awkwardness... It had been enough. Enough for him to realize that he was going to be okay. That everything was going to be okay in the end.

  "I think we broke him," Mul said.

  "Mul!" Cen said, and Nar heard a loud smack.

  "Ow! Why?" Mul asked, sounding genuinely baffled.

  "Don't say that! You know what he went through!" she explained.

  "Why would that... Oh. Oh! Fucking Crystal always fucking me, I didn't mean it like that! I didn't even think about it!"

  "Crystal, if You're listening, he didn't mean the other thing either," Tuk said nervously.

  "No, sorry. That one I did mean."

  Nar shook with laughter, unable to stop.

  They were too much.

  Crystal! They were too... Too good.

  "Stop talking and let him breath," Gad said at last. "And Jul, let go of him. Let him sit. And let's all talk properly."

  Ah, Gad... Ever the big sister, Nar thought.

  Jul finally disentangled herself from him, and helped him up into a sitting position.

  Then she dropped down beside him, her face adorably twisted in a determined frown.

  "He's not going anywhere!" she said, folding her arms. "If he goes, I’m going too!"

  "Yeah, me too!" Tuk said.

  "Hey! Come on!" Kur said, glaring at them. "I already said no one is going anywhere. Crystal’s sake!"

  He passed a hand over his face and then rubbed his eyes.

  "Look, Nar. I'm sorry. We all are. We're all... We were all Clean," Kur said, staring firmly at Nar. "But that stuff is all gone. It's all in the past. You don't have anything to fear from any of us. In fact, we are the ones who should be asking you whether or not you accept us. And I don't mean because you have to Climb.... But because we are, you know, together. A party."

  "Friends!" Tuk said, though his tone came out pleading.

  Nar looked from one to the other. The fear was gone. But he was still having trouble believing how things had turned out.

  "You ask me, if I accept you?" he asked. "From an Unclean to a... Clean?"

  Tuk nodded. He nodded a lot, and very energetically.

  Kur nodded too. "Yeah. That's what I'm asking."

  "And you don't have a problem with me being... Me?" Nar asked. "You're not scared that the Crystal is going to kill you all for that? For accepting me?"

  "In case you haven't noticed, the Crystal is already trying to kill us, man," Mul said, matter-of-factly.

  "But everyone in the..."

  "I think that was mostly our parents," Kur said. "My dad never agreed with it, though. And he always treated the Unclean fairly."

  Mul snorted. "Not the kids I ran with. And not my piece of shit dad either. He loved heading out to... Discipline them, as he used to say. Thankfully, I was too much of a disappointment to be useful for even that!"

  He shook his head. "Fucking piece of shit."

  Cen placed hand over his leg and squeezed. "It's okay. He's gone."

  The she looked at him, her eyes shining. "It's all gone, Nar. Whatever happened before, to you, or us, now, here, you are one of us. You didn't commit any grave sin... Not anymore than we did, at least. People were just scared. And scared people do bad things."

  Nar swallowed dryly, but his heart had slowed down. "Are you sure?"

  She nodded.

  "Look at all we've seen," she said, her eyes growing distant. "There are no Clean or Unclean down here. Just us. Just sinners. And whatever non-sense we’ve come up with to fill in the gaps of all that we’ve forgotten."

  "Not sinners. People,” Gad rumbled. “People looking for a better life. A bright future. Together."

  Nar was stunned speechless.

  Accepted.

  He had been accepted.

  Just like that? After all those months of worrying? But would the result have been the same had he told them from the beginning?

  The cynical, realistic part of him wanted to say no. But the truth was, he would never know now.

  "I promise you, I never spat on anyone," Tuk said.

  "Yes, yes! I'm the bad guy!" Mul said, throwing his hands at the air. "Fucking whatever! I'll leave the party then!"

  Nar was surprised at how easily his laughter joined with that of the others.

  It just came. And it was welcomed. And it was a part of the whole.

  Because it belonged.

  "It's fine."

  The words came out before he had even fully registered them. The party stared at him expectantly.

  "It's fine," he said again. "It was our reality. It was what we grew up with. There’s no point in blaming you, or questioning you. What’s done is done. There was nothing you could've done to change it.”

  He grinned at Mul. “And spitting is not so bad. I’ve had worse."

  Mul sighed heavily. He looked like the perfect image of regret.

  "Besides, I'm tired. We're all tired," Nar continued, looking around. "So, let's just celebrate that we’re all alive and still have all our bits attached. And focus on getting the fuck out of here together."

  "Together," Gad said.

  "Together!" Tuk shouted, raising a fist in the air. "Whoop-whoop!"

  "Whoop-whoop!" Mul shouted, adding his voice and fist.

  Voices were raised alongside fists. Many hands slapped Nar's back. Many tears were shed.

  Are you going to accept them, just like that? a voice asked Nar, from the depths of his mind. From the place where all of his deepest, darkest memories resided in. Never to be forgotten.

  Nar searched the happy, tear streaked faces around him.

  Maybe... Maybe I will.

  He was one of them. Not Clean or Unclean. Just another sinner, hoping to make it.

  And we will make it, Nar thought. I swear I'll do everything to get us up there.

  “Hmm… Sorry but, what’s an Unclean?”

  Startled, everyone remembered about the newest addition to their party.

  Kur looked from Nar, to Rel, then he made a face.

  "Rel, it's been a heavy few days already," he said. "Maybe another time. Unless of course, Nar, you would like to..."

  "Absolutely not," Nar said, shaking his head. "Absolutely, fucking not."

  The last thing he wanted was to talk about that. Yesterday and today's memories were already more than he could handle without throwing more aetherium into that fucking pile. And she might have saved their lives, but he wasn't about to just start spilling his life story to her just like that. And that was probably another heavy conversation to be had, though not today.

  "Hmmm," Rel said, nodding stiffly.

  Kur reached for Nar's and Jul's shoulders, bringing them in under his arms.

  “From now on, there’s no reason to hide anything from anyone,” Kur said. “Whatever we keep from one another, can be used against each other, and we’re not going to let that happen again!”

  “Never!” Tuk shouted.

  “Never,” Cen said.

  “Never!” Nar said, joining his voice to the chorus.

  “And so, we reach the last and worst point of the agenda,” Kur said, raising his voice above all others. “Jul’s lie!”

  Jul gasped and tried to shrink away from him.

  “I-I…”

  “All in favor of kicking Jul out of the party? Raise your… Wait, I’m just kidding. Don’t cry!”

  Big, full tears ran down Jul’s shocked, frozen face.

  “Kur, come on!” Gad said, pulling the rogue into a massive hug. "You know better than that!"

  “I was just joking!” Kur said. “Jul, I’m just joking. Ah… Crystal’s sake! No one’s kicking anybody out ever!”

  Jul buried her face in Gad’s chest and they all laughed at Kur’s expense.

  Nar joined in on the chastising. Let no one know that he had played exactly the same prank on her.

  The future was still uncertain. [Aura], aether, the Climb, his hybrid path, everything was still dangling over his head. And he would have to deal with all of it.

  But for now, he could at last breath easy.

  At last, he was finally one of them.

  And perhaps, he had always been.

  It felt a little bit weak, given the importance of what was being discussed, especially since it was such a massive concern for Nar across this entire Climb so far.

  All the best,