CHAPTER 26: Rebuilding

After the ceremony ended, the residents headed back to their houses. The embers still smoldered in the Chamber as the initiates stood in a loose formation near the burning structure, their faces shadowed by flickering flames.

Rebel stood before them, arms crossed, her gaze sharp and unwavering. She let the silence settle before she spoke.

"Look at that fire," she said, nodding toward the Chamber. "Those were your fellow initiates. Many of them were family, friends. People you trained with, fought beside. And now, they’re gone."

Her voice was steady, but there was a hard edge beneath it. A fire of her own burned within.

“I want you take whatever you’re feeling whether its anger, grief, sorrow even guilt and use it. Because in a week, I expect you back here, ready to sweat, to bleed, to push beyond your limits. This isn't just training anymore. It's survival."

She turned away, as if finished, but then she hesitated. Without turning back, she added, "The enemy came to our doorstep and fired a shot at us. And yeah, it hurt. It broke us. But being broken doesn't mean we stay broken. We will rebuild. We will get justice for those we lost. We will carry their hope and take their missions as ours. Because now…the real work begins.”

A cold wind swept through the group, and though no one spoke, the fire in their hearts burned just as fiercely as the flames in front of them.

Then, with a sharp nod, Rebel dismissed them. The initiates dispersed, each retreating into the night, carrying the weight of loss and determination for what’s to come next.

Rin’s footsteps echoed softly against the worn stone roads of the seventh district of the Regens. The streets were quieter now, the last few residents slipping into their homes in, their lights flickering out one by one.

She reached her family’s door, hesitating for a brief second before lifting her hand to knock—

It swung open before she could.

“Rin?”

Her mother’s eyes widened before she pulled Rin into a tight embrace, warmth enveloping her in an instant.

"Mom," Rin murmured against her shoulder, inhaling the familiar scent of home.

“Where have you been? The ceremony ended hours ago.”

“I was catching up with some friends,” she answered, though the words felt hollow.

A scoff came from behind her.

“So, you actually came home? Rebel must be getting soft on you guys.”

Rin turned to see her older brother, leaning against the wall, arms crossed. His usual smirk was absent, replaced by something unreadable.

"Hiro…"

"Get inside," their mother urged.

But Hiro didn’t move. His sharp eyes locked onto hers.

"You should know something," he said quietly. "About the Deviants' attack."

Rin stiffened, her heart racing.

"There’s a traitor in the Dome."

Her stomach dropped.

"What?"

Hiro glanced toward their mother, then back at her. His voice dropped even lower.

"Inside. Now."

Whatever he knew—it wasn’t good.

Jace stepped into the small house, the familiar creak of the floorboards grounding him. His mother was seated at the wooden table, crocheting a thick blanket, her fingers moving with practiced ease.

The moment she saw him, she let out a relieved breath and stood.

"Jace…"

She scanned him with sharp, dark eyes, checking for wounds before pulling him into a tight hug. He let himself sink into it—just for a moment.

Then, two small bodies crashed into his legs.

"JACE!"

Orion and Imogen clung to him like magnets, their tiny fists grabbing onto his jacket.

"Miss me that much?" he teased, ruffling their hair.

Orion pouted. “Mom doesn’t like it when you stay late!”

Jace’s grin faltered slightly. His mother said nothing but watched him closely.

"I'm here now," he said, kneeling to their level. "And I’m not going anywhere."

The morning after the ceremony in the Founders’ medical wing, Emma sat beside Adelle’s bed, watching the slow, steady rise and fall of her chest. The burns had mostly healed, but Adelle still hadn't woken up.

"You’re stronger than this," Emma murmured, gripping her friend's hand. "So wake up already, okay?"

There was no response, other than the rhythmic beeping of the monitors filling the room.

She exhaled and leaned back in her chair, arms crossed.

She would wait.

At the Glades, Brock wiped sweat from his brow, shifting into a defensive stance. His injury still ached but he refised to let it slow him down.

Natasha circled him like a predator, watching his movements with sharp, calculating eyes.

"You’re still too slow," she said. "If you freeze like that again, I’m hitting you, I don’t care.”

“Just try it,” Brock muttered, rolling his shoulders. “I’m not asking for favors.”

Natasha smirked. “Then prove it.”

She lunged.

Hector sat on a stone, staring at the ground. Two nights since the ceremony, and he still hadn’t slept.

The memory played in his mind like a broken reel.

A Deviant lunging toward him at the gates of the Elite House.

His feet locking in place.

Then—

Damian shoving him aside, taking the hit himself.

The sound of tearing flesh.

“It’s okay.” The last words Damian said to him as he bled from his neck.

Crispin joining the fight, his abilities flaring to life, trying to hold the monster back. Finn, Rita—all of them pushing forward, giving everything they had.

But their powers did nothing.

Blood. So much blood.

Hector's hands clenched into fists.

“Yo! Hector, you joining us or what?”

He looked up. Oliver and Chance were training nearby, their powers in sync —Oliver manipulating a shard of glass, shaping it into a smooth pipe, while Chance bent it with sheer will, veins bulging at his temples.

“We’re getting there,” Oliver muttered.

Hector exhaled, rising to his feet.

He wouldn’t fail them again.

“Yeah, coming.”

They weren’t just training. They were making sure this never happened again.

Felicity barely dodged left as Ava’s blade sliced through the air, nicking her arm.

Blood dripped onto the white floor, getting cleaned up automatically.

“Do you know what went wrong?” Ava asked.

“No, I don’t.”

Ava sighed pacing around the white room. “Your power is Eidetic Kinesthesia, Fel. You should be able to read and copy every movement I make. You should not be getting hit.”

“I know, I—I don’t know why…”

"You were useless during the battle," Ava snapped. “All of your friends fought desparately, some were injured and some died. But you couldn't do anything to help them.”

Felicity flinched but didn’t argue. It was true, she knew this. It’s the main reason she asked his sister to help her so she wouldn’t be useless again. So that next time she could stand alongside Jace and her friends and fight.

“If you want to stop being useless, you need to be more Fel,” Ava placed a hand on her shoulder. “Anything can happen from now, we could get attacked the next day or the next year. The only way we can survive is…by fighting with everything we have. Okay?”

“Okay,” Felicity replied a tear flowing down her cheek.

“Now, let’s blindfold you this time,” Ava said taking out a rug from her pocket.

Felicity reset her stance as she became temporarily blinded.

In the Elite House, Ma’s enhanced hearing synced with Veronica’s vision as they guided Chester, who was blindfolded.

"Left!" Ma called.

Chester teleported just in time to avoid an incoming strike.

“Again,” Veronica said.

“Now let’s try using two powers at once. Are you okay with us doing that sir?” Ma said to a figure standing next to Chester.

“Yeah, sure but I won’t hold back anymore. And Enough with the sir stuff, call me Juni.”

Chester exhaled. They would get this right.

A few days later in the white room at the Elite, Rebel, Constantine, Ava and Juni sat around a glowing interface deep in discussion.

"We need to change our approach," Ava said. "If we keep training them the way we always have, we’ll just lose more of them."

“Yeah, I agree,” Constantine nodded.

“Let’s move up the Leveling games,” Juni suggested chewing at an apple.

“Hey!” Ava called out grabbing the apple from him. “No food in the White Room." She tossed it into a small hole in the wall, which shimmered and swallowed it whole.

Rebel narrowed her eyes. "I don’t know…it might be dangerous. Should we send them into the deep end after the month they’ve had?"

“I get it but it’s necessary,” Constantine added. “If it were any other group of initiates I would be the first to say this is crazy. But this…group is special, they were able to fight back the Deviants and come out alive. This would nurture their talents and help them harness their strength so they could protect not only themselves but also each other.”

Rebel sighed, rubbing her temples. “Fine. But we change things a bit. Let’s add the junior-level graduates from last year.”

Juni smirked. “This will be the most interesting Leveling games ever. I can’t wait!”

A pause then Rebel stood.

“Let’s go, the meeting is about to start at the Founders,” she said.

“End session,” Ava said as they left the white room.