Ace stilled.

  “We met because she saved him,” Kyo went on, nodding toward Miles. “Pulled him out of a bad situation when Thane and I weren’t there to do it.”

  Baxter’s eyes flicked to Ava sleeping now, worn, scarred in ways that told their own story.

  “That tracks,” Baxter said low. “She moves like someone who’s had to keep people alive under pressure.”

  Ace didn’t argue.

  “She could’ve walked away,” Kyo continued. “Probably should have. I was… not helpful. Loud. Opinionated. Thought I understood reds and the system better than I actually did.”

  A faint, self-aware breath left him. “She didn’t,” he said simply. “Because she saw a kid who needed protecting and probably two idiots who were going to get killed if she didn’t step in.”

  Ace’s jaw tightened. “And after that?” he asked.

  “After that,” Kyo replied, “she didn’t let us get separated. Taught me how the world works in the Red Zone. How to survive.”

  Baxter nodded once, slow. “She clearly did the right thing. You don’t leave unprepared people out there alone.”

  Kyo met his eyes, grateful but restrained.

  Ace glanced between them, then back at Ava.

  “…Still doesn’t explain why you and the boy are here,” he said. “Where’s Thane?”

  Kyo huffed quietly. “She says it’s because I’m stubborn.”

  Baxter smiled.

  Ace studied Kyo for a long second.

  Then he shook his head.

  “No,” he said flatly. “I’m calling bullshit.”

  The words hit harder than a shout.

  Kyo stiffened not visibly. Just enough that Baxter noticed.

  “You’re giving me the cleaned-up version,” Ace continued, voice low and sharp. “Heroic red saves the kid, adopts the mage, everyone lives happily ever after.” His eyes narrowed. “There are too many holes you’re not filling in.”

  Baxter stayed still, watching.

  Ace took a step closer. “Tell me the truth,” he said, “or I want nothing to do with you three.”

  Kyo froze.

  For a moment, his gaze dropped to Miles still asleep, trusting, unaware. His jaw tightened.

  Then he exhaled.

  “…She didn’t stay because of me,” Kyo said quietly.

  Ace didn’t blink.

  “She stayed because of Miles,” Kyo went on. “Because his father, my brother, died shielding Ava from a stray arrow while she was shielding Miles.”

  The cave went silent.

  Kyo swallowed.

  “I blamed her for his death. For surviving while my brother lay there dead in front of his son.”

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  Baxter let out a low whistle. “…That’s rough on the relationship.”

  Kyo snapped his head up. “We are not in a relationship.”

  Ace snorted. “Could’ve fooled me.”

  Kyo ignored him and continued. “When the revival quest surfaced,” he said, “I leveraged it. I told her she owed Thane. That she owed Miles. I dragged her back into hell by telling her my brother was dead because of her and that his son had no one because she lived.”

  The words tasted bitter even now.

  Ace’s expression hardened not with disbelief, but anger.

  “So let me get this straight,” he said slowly. “You used a woman who stuck her neck out for strangers, tied her to the guilt of a dead father, and forced her back into the worst place in this world for your benefit.”

  Kyo didn’t argue.

  Ace shook his head, disgust plain. “That’s a real dick move.”

  Baxter glanced between them, tension thick but contained. “He’s owning it.”

  “That doesn’t make it better,” Ace shot back.

  Kyo’s voice was flat, stripped of defense. “No. It doesn’t.”

  Silence settled again.

  Ace looked toward Ava still asleep, unaware of the truth being laid bare above her.

  “…Does she know you see it like this now?” he asked.

  Kyo hesitated. “…Yeah,” he said. “That’s why she’s still here.”

  That answer landed harder than anything else he’d said.

  Ace exhaled slowly, stepping back. “Then don’t lie to me again,” he said. “We’re already carrying enough ghosts.”

  Kyo nodded once. “Fair.”

  Baxter cleared his throat, his gaze fixed on the stone floor. “…That revival quest,” he said carefully. “What happened next?”

  Ace didn’t turn back, but his shoulders stiffened. “Did you get your brother back?” Baxter asked. “Thane.”

  Kyo shook his head once. “No.”

  The word sat there. Final.

  “We went through hell,” Kyo said quietly. “A dungeon buried so deep it didn’t even feel like the game anymore. It felt like it was designed to break you before you ever reached the end. Hidden traps everywhere. Mobs frothing at the mouth just to get a taste of you.”

  Neither man interrupted.

  “When we finally reached the end,” Kyo continued, “that’s where we found him. The God of Death. Broderick.”

  Broderick’s optics flickered faintly at the sound of his name, but he didn’t speak.

  “He ran a full scan on all of us,” Kyo said. “Diagnostics no player should ever see.”

  His jaw tightened. “That’s when he found it. Miles wasn’t fully synced.”

  Ace finally turned. “What does that mean?”

  Kyo hesitated. “If Miles were pulled out of Eden like everyone else,” he said carefully, “his brain would get scrambled.”

  Baxter’s breath caught.

  “He’d be pronounced brain dead,” Kyo finished. “No recovery. No chance.”

  The cave went dead quiet.

  “When we realized the truth,” Kyo went on, voice low, “Thane’s soul made the decision to save his son.”

  Ace’s brow furrowed. “How? You just said he was dead.”

  Kyo swallowed.

  “Broderick gave Thane’s soul a choice,” he said. “With no coercion or tricks.”

  “Thane gave his soul to his son,” Kyo continued. “Bound it to Miles not to keep him here forever, but to make sure that when the time came, Miles could leave this game alive.”

  Ace looked away, jaw tight, eyes burning.

  Baxter dragged a hand over his head, disbelief roughening his voice. “Damn…”

  Then, quieter but no less shaken, “…Damn.” He repeated, finding no other words.

  “So let me get this straight,” Baxter said after a moment. “You fought through hell to bring your brother back, only to find out your nephew wouldn’t survive extraction and Thane chose to save his kid instead.”

  He shook his head slowly. “So you lost your brother… but gained the chance to get Miles home. Even though you didn’t know that was ever at risk.”

  Kyo nodded once.

  Baxter let out a sharp, incredulous laugh. “That is some insanely powerful shit,” he said. “Ace, I’m just saying this guy has serious main-character energy.”

  Ace exhaled sharply but didn’t argue.

  Baxter glanced at Broderick. “And you’re telling me you’ve been traveling with the God of Death this whole fucking time?”

  Broderick’s optics brightened slightly.

  “Designation: inaccurate,” he said evenly. “Function: guide. Witness. Custodian of passage.”

  Baxter stared. “…That somehow doesn’t make it any less badass.”

  Ace finally spoke, his voice raw. “You didn’t get him back.”

  “No,” Kyo said. “But he got what he wanted.”

  He looked down at Miles, then back up to the men.

  “And now,” Kyo added quietly, “I know something’s wrong with what’s happening in the real world.”

  His fingers tightened slightly. “And I want answers.”