Chapter 22 - Chapter 22- Paths Entwined

The day had come for Bow and Helios to decide whether to move on or stay put. They had earned more than enough coin to live comfortably for a while, but both of them hungered for something more, a new place, a new challenge, a chance to expand their horizons. The two sat in their room, a worn map spread across the table between them. The inked lines and names meant little; the land was foreign, and neither of them knew where to begin. "I can't think of anywhere to go," Helios muttered, leaning back on his bed, frustration written across his face. Bow sighed, tapping the map with a lazy finger. "Yeah, I get how you feel. I've got no clue either. Honestly? I think we've already learned everything we can from this place." Helios sat up, his eyes narrowing with thought. "The only thing I still want to work on is my sword style. But that's just me, it's about control, about pushing myself to think outside the box. I don't need to stay here for that." Bow stood, stretching, and swung the door open. "Then maybe it's time we get out of this room and ask around. Someone out there's bound to know where the real opportunities are." Helios jolted upright. "Yeah, you're right. I don't like sitting still anyway." Together, they stepped out of the inn and wandered into the streets. The city buzzed with its usual rhythm, vendors calling, carriages rattling, strangers brushing past, but Bow and Helios kept their focus, stopping to ask questions, searching for whispers of lands worth traveling to. As Bow walked backward, animatedly talking to Helios, he bumped hard into someone. The impact nearly sent him stumbling. "Whoa, sorry about that," Bow started, then froze as the man turned. Helios's eyes widened in shock. "Halo…?" His voice softened. "You okay? You don't seem like yourself." Helios's eyes widened as Bow bumped into the man. "Oh… Halo." His tone dropped low, cautious. "Are you alright? You don't seem like yourself." Halo's gaze shifted, his jaw tight. For a moment he said nothing, just breathed heavily through his nose. Finally, he muttered, "Alright? No… not really." Bow raised a brow but kept quiet, sensing this wasn't for him to interrupt. Halo's eyes flicked toward Helios, and for the first time, there was no fire in them, just something heavier, worn down. "I've been… thinking since our fight. About who I am. About who I've been." His hand trembled slightly at his side, curling into a fist. "That rage in the arena, it wasn't strength. It was weakness. My weakness. I let it control me. I let it define me. And in the end… it broke me." Helios stood silent, watching him. "I've spent my whole life chasing strength, thinking it meant victory, thinking it meant standing above everyone else. But when I lost to you… I realized something. Real strength isn't just in winning. It's in failing, and getting back up anyway. It's in learning, even when it cuts you open." Halo stepped closer, his voice low but sharp, each word deliberate. "I am imperfect. I am reckless. I let my emotions chain me like a dog. But I don't want to live like that anymore. I want to change. I want to become more than a man who hides behind anger. And I know…" His eyes locked with Helios's. "I can't do it alone." The words hung heavy between them. Bow shifted his weight, wide-eyed, clearly caught off guard. "I want to follow you, Helios," Halo said, his voice steady now. "Not to be your shadow, but to be your rival. To grow beside you. To fight and fail and rise again until I find what real strength means. If you'll let me… I'll walk this road with you." Helios stood silent for a moment, words forming at the back of his throat. "Halo, I…" "Hold it right there!" Bow suddenly slid between them, hands up like a referee. "Are we just… forgetting the part where this guy tried to pulverize you two days ago?" He jabbed a finger at Halo. "Look, I get it, heartfelt speech, big turnaround, super emotional. But maybe we don't just let Frothing Rage Guy join the party without thinking about it, huh?" Helios frowned. "Bow…" "No, seriously! Imagine him as a travel buddy. Day one: fine. Day two: fine. Day three: he screams DIVINE JUSTICE and suplexes us off a cliff because we didn't season the stew right." Halo scowled, jaw tightening. "You exaggerate." "Do I?" Bow cocked a brow. "You were foaming at the mouth." Bow adds. Helios sighed, dragging a hand down his face. "Enough, Bow." He turned back to Halo, expression firm but not unkind. "You want to come with us? Fine. But under one condition." Halo straightened, nodding. "Name it." "You're the one who knows this land," Helios said. "Bow and I don't have a clue where to head next. If you join us, you lead the way. You tell us where we're going." Bow threw his hands up. "Really? We're letting him pick the road? Oh, this is perfect. Nothing says safe adventure like taking directions from Mister Emotional Breakdown." Helios smirked faintly. "Then it's a test. If he can guide us, he's worth having around." Halo let out a short laugh, bitter, but real. "You're insane, Helios." Helios extended his hand. "Maybe. But if you're serious about what you said, then welcome aboard. Don't make me regret it." Back in their room, the lanternlight flickered against the walls. Bow sprawled out on the bed, flipping a coin in the air, while Helios leaned against the window, looking out at the quiet street below. Halo sat with the map stretched across the table, eyes scanning the lines like he'd already been thinking about this for hours. "So," Halo finally said, tapping a spot on the parchment, "our next stop should be Sanctus. The holy country." Bow snorted. "Sanctus? Sounds like a place where fun goes to die." "You'd be surprised," Halo said, smirking. "Yeah, it's religious, very religious. The people there worship their Priests like a god. Holy knights guard him day and night, loyal to the faith above all else. But Sanctus is also overflowing with knowledge. Archives, sacred libraries, old scriptures locked away… places outsiders rarely get to see." Helios turned from the window, narrowing his eyes. "And what do you expect us to find there? Books?" "Not just books." Halo leaned in, lowering his voice. "Markets. The kind you won't see out in the open. Sanctus bans Apex Gems, calls them the devil's stones. Possession alone can get you executed. But that means gems trade underground. The black market there is said to have pieces you won't find anywhere else." Bow stopped tossing the coin and sat up. "So, holy knights on one side, smugglers on the other. Sounds messy. My kind of place." Helios stayed quiet, but his thoughts wandered. Sanctus. The holy knights. The bishop he and Bow had run into in the underground not long ago, the man's words still lingered, heavy with meaning. If Sanctus was where that bishop had come from… then heading there might not just be about knowledge or gems. It might be about answers. He stepped closer to the table, eyes settling on the spot Halo's finger pressed. "…Sanctus, then." Halo gave a satisfied nod. Bow groaned. "Great. Another country that probably won't like us. When do we leave?" "First light," Helios said without hesitation. Bow flopped back onto the bed, covering his face with his arm. "First light, he says. Guy acts like we don't need sleep." Halo chuckled. Helios only smirked. Helios's gaze lingered on Halo as he disappeared down the corridor, the faint echo of his footsteps fading into the quiet of the night. He shifted back to the window, letting the cool breeze brush against his face, but his thoughts weren't on the night air, they were tangled in the weight of the archbishop's words. Malvek… Shidan… fell from grace. The names replayed in his mind like a warning he couldn't yet grasp. Helios felt the familiar tightness in his gut, the kind that only came when something significant was just out of reach. A sense of inevitability gnawed at him, urging him to piece it together before it was too late. He leaned on the windowsill, letting the city lights stretch beneath him, thinking. Sanctus. The holy country, the archbishop, the knights… Everything seemed connected, but the pattern was still hidden. Helios knew one thing for certain: whatever truth lay waiting in Sanctus, he would face it head-on, and he had a feeling that when the pieces fell into place, nothing would ever feel the same again. A low exhale left him as he straightened, gripping the edge of the window. I'll find the answers. I have to. The quiet of the room felt heavier now, the night outside calm but electric with possibilities, as Helios turned away from the window, already planning for what was to come.