Hexad

[Demeter]

Leo lightly swatted Josse's fingers away from the red and purpling bruise spreading across down the left side of his face. "Knock it off; your sister said to let it heal naturally. She thinks it'll be gone in a day or two."

"Hurts."

Leo hitched the deceptively slim man higher up on his lap and stroked his hair. "I know it does. Do you want those pain killers Genesis said you could take?"

Josse shook his head. "No painkillers. Can I have a cold pack?"

Leo sighed; he knew that Josse would reject even the simplest of pain killers. A past portion of his history included an addiction to opioids. He flicked his gaze towards his wife and Alice bounced off to get the requested item from her infirmary. One of the best things about being part of a triad was the ability to communicate without speaking. While Alice was off getting the cold pack, Leo glanced around at the motley gathering of people in his living room.

Of all the people in the world, he had Carmine Valerio sprawled out on his couch. Twenty minutes ago, he'd shown up on the front porch, growling and holding an injured Josse against his side. Luckily, the man had passed out between have his dislocated shoulder popped in place and having his broken nose set. He really wasn't sure that he wanted to know why Carmine was growling at him. Usually, a growling Carmine heralded bad and painful things.

The man's spouses had shown up not long after that, also displaying uncharacteristic growling tendencies. The growling had settled down but it unnerved him that the three warriors seemed upset with him. Not that he didn't have an idea of what they might be angry about. He was supposed to protect Josse and he'd obviously failed.

He encouraged the man in his lap to shift positions so that Alice could doctor his face with the ice pack. The three of them were in the very slim percentile of triads who's relationship was more friendship based then romantic. While they were all super affectionate with each other, Josse did nothing for Leo, sexually, and while there was no blood relation between Alice and the other healer, they behaved more like siblings.

This, of course, led to Josse seeking that sort of companionship from others. Most potential partners fizzled out, soured by the knowledge that Josse's affections would always be shared. Josse's latest beau apparently was very offended that Josse would never be his completely and violently displayed his displeasure. On Josse's face and body. If Leo weren't comforting his brother-by-another, he'd be kicking himself for not noticing the beau's possessive temper.

'Oh, stop it. You didn't notice and neither did I or Alice. And you have good reason to have been distracted over the past few days."

Leo first glanced towards the speaker, the staff casually propped against the arm of his chair, and then towards Alice. The staff's voice was correct; Alice had just given birth to their own set of triplets two days before. Already Genesis was shooting meaningful looks at her employee, no doubt ready to order her back to bed. The pregnancy had been difficult and labor hard and long. He and Josse had hovered at her side for the duration.

"He said since they weren't my offspring, I shouldn't have been so involved. He had plans for us and me cancelling upset him. I mouthed off when I shouldn't have."

Josse must have picked up on his thoughts. "Doesn't mean his reaction should have been to strike you. You won't see him again."

Josse knew the difference between statement and question. He shook his head, groaning as the movement jostled the icepack. "No, I won't return to him. Besides, if you think I'm in bad shape, you should see the damage Carmine delivered."

Leo looked towards the other couch. "I'm not sure I want to. He seems rather displeased with me."

Josse shifted closer, snuggling into Leo, and murmured. "I can hold Talos. I shouldn't be able to do that."

Leo felt his first real spurt of panic and fear. The staff named SoulShine was silent on the matter.

***

Zhara almost sighed at the feeling of Rune's impatient nerves. True, if it weren't for her insider knowledge, she'd probably be feeling the same nerves. But she'd been sworn to silence by a bunch of gods so she couldn't say anything.

"Patience is a favored virtue."

Zhara rolled her eyes at the sword displayed on Leo's coffee table. "Its been over two decades. Its about damn time that something has happened to spark this," she complained to the sword on a tight, narrow band to avoid spilling anything to Rune.

She glanced towards her husband. She'd given him the job of propping Carma up while applying ice packs to his shoulder and face. It kept him occupied and not pacing a trench in the carpet. She also mused that it was probably a good thing that Carma had passed out during the resetting of his bones otherwise he'd be the one stalking around, swinging his sword and snarling. Not that she'd blame him; after all, a fourth had just picked up and handled Talos.

A fourth who had his own God Tool. She knew the thoughts in Carma's mind before medical treatment. Had he finally been forsaken by Talos? Had one of his mates been forsaken? Had Josse been forsaken by SoulShine?

Yeah, it was probably a very good thing that he'd passed out when Genesis had set his nose at the same moment Rune had relocated his shoulder. Carma didn't deal well with change and they'd all been under stress lately. First the thing with Alessia and now the deal with Luca. Kayden's continued defiance and silence. The two younger girls had discovered puberty and were constantly at each other's throats. Regina was being a snot. At least her Luc was as steady as a boulder and not given to drama or fuss.

Worry for Luca gnawed at her. And now she had the fear and cantankerous insecurities of her husbands to deal with. Zhara fixed her gaze on Talos. "Now can I tell them?"

"Let me confer with Soulshine."

Now Zhara did sigh as she flopped into a chair. Stupid animate swords. She was distracted, momentarily, when the newborn triplets were brought out to Alice. While she bounced and soothed a fussy baby, Zhara thought back to the events surrounding the formation of her relationship with Carma.

She'd always known of Carmine Valerio. Learning of the Gods and the highest of their pledges had been part of her girlhood education. She'd seen him from afar when he'd join Darius in a review if the dragon-mounted troops of Italy. The first time she'd seen him up close, her husband had been snogging the hell out of him.

She'd always known that Rune had been utterly loyal to her. She also knew that directly before the wedding he'd been in a very intense relationship with Carma. Back then, she couldn't honestly claim she won't have behaved differently if Lorenzo had appeared before her. She'd married to get away from her mother and protect Luc.

Surprisingly, Rune had become her friend. Well, they'd become more then just friends because, well, the twins existed, but Rune had never held her the way he did Carma. Before coming across the two men in a dusty alcove at the Chateau's library Zhara had never had cause to use the words torrid embrace.

At first, she hadn't been able to tell the two men apart, not until Carma pushed away from Rune. He'd separated from his former lover just enough to speak; Zhara was sure that their lips brushed as Carma murmured words she couldn't hear. And then Rune, in a surprisingly powerful and commanding manner, had told Carma that, oh, yes he could, before yanking the man up against him to plunder his mouth. Zhara had skedaddled from the library when Rune had shoved Carma up against the wall.

She wasn't ashamed to admit that seeing her husband so...domineering with one such as Carmine had been exciting. He'd shown up in their rooms that night, looking guilty, and confessed about what had occurred in the library. She'd easily forgiven him and maybe she might have started planning on how to solve everyone's problems.

Three days later, she found herself kneeling on the third floor stair landing, trying to staunch the flood of Carma's life blood.

Mars also dropped the bomb that Rune was able to handle Talos without fear of pain.

That was the night five Gods appeared to her and extracted from her a vow of silence. Long after Carma had fallen, after Rune's collapse, and after Mars had appeared to save his chosen. After the two men had been hustled off, she'd still been kneeling on the blood saturated carpet, unable to comprehend what had occurred. The man who had every right to loathe her existence had sustained a very mortal injury while saving her children. It was her brother who'd hauled her off the carpet and carted her to her rooms. He'd stripped off her bloody clothing and washed away the blood.

Carmine's blood had gotten everywhere.

Once she was clean and dry, he'd bundled her into fresh clothing and sent for the children to be brought down. Zhara had clung to all three. People came and went; Genesis had arrived shortly before midnight to tell her that Belladonna had found the poison's antidote and it was administered.

Towards midnight, when her brother and children had drifted to sleep; the five Gods appeared. Mars at the center, Rune's Vidar, her own Jupiter, the one she now knew to be Josse's Asclepius, and Tavi's Saturn. Mars held Talos out to her, hilt first, and asked if she was brave enough to accept what that meant.

With Tavi for a brother and Darius for a father-in-law, Zhara knew exactly what that meant. "You're kidding, right?" she asked as she took hold of the sword.

They hadn't been joking around and they'd filled her head with all sorts of future knowledge. Not anything important, like the fates of two of her children or the names that would eventually join them. And then she was sworn to silence by five divine beings.

"Bring the woman to the kitchen. Take myself and Soulshine along."

Zhara was jolted back to the present when Talos spoke. Rising, she passed the baby she held off to one of Leo's grown daughters. The men had all drifted off to sleep. She approached Alice and asked to meet her in the kitchen. Before leaving the room, she scooped up both sword and staff.

Instead of a gang of Gods, a single woman greeted her in the kitchen. Dressed in flowing white, The Oracle sat on the counter and munched on a shiny green apple. Zhara would have preferred the Gods; the Oracle was exhausting to deal with. "Greetings, my Lady. I assume you've been tasked with telling this lot what is going on?"

She nodded. "Last time, there was a matter of urgency and Mars interceded himself in order to preserve Carmine's life. This time, things have born fruit and are not quite as urgent. I thought I'd start with the woman, as women are often far more logical, before bringing the men into it. Alice, how good to see you. Now, let's make this quick as both Rune and Leo are quietly loosing their minds."

"They saw me pick up the staff, didn't they?"

The Oracle nodded. "Indeed but their mouths are shut and their butts are glued to their seats. Alice, you and the others are part of a hexad. Because, let's be honest, a triad of warriors is laughable. As is a triad of two healers and a pacifist. You all need each other. Carmine, like many bound to a War deity, needs more than just one other Warrior to keep him sane. Zhara and Rune have balanced him till now but now there is chaos in his soul and heart. He needs the quiet compassion and easy presence of Josse.

"And Josse needs those who understand the true nature of a Triad. These three beings will understand that the hold you and Leo have on him is no threat. Also, he may yet be in danger. Genesis is well guarded, as is Titus, but Josse remains vulnerable. You may have incapacitated him for a time, my Lady Alice, but Petros is on the move. And he's no longer bound to the oaths of the healers; he's joined with the Godless who would love having such a house to their cause."

The Oracle shifted, sliding off the counter, and took Talos from Zhara. She flinched a little as, even with divine intervention the sword protested even her hold, and held it out to Alice. "Take hold of the blade, Lady Alice. Your future awaits."

[Maira]

Distracted by caring for Josse, and then snuggling the triplets, Lady Zhara's request to join her in the kitchen was rather unexpected. Still, she handed off the babe that she'd been snuggling and followed the other woman. She was still distracted and didn't notice that Zhara had grabbed the staff Soulshine until they were actually in the kitchen. Alice didn't have time to wonder why Zhara was holding Soulshine, because almost immediately she noticed the surprise guest sitting on her kitchen counters.

Left speechless by the sudden appearance of the Oracle in her kitchen, and somebody not of Soulshine's triad holding the staff, Alice just listened as the two other women chatted. Only when the Oracle spoke her name was Alice actually able to focus on Charis's words. Listening more carefully now, Alice couldn't help but gawk. She eyed both women warily, trying really hard not to obsess on Soulshine on in Zhara's one hand and Talos in the other.

With the explanation of why Zhara the two triads seemed to be connected, as evidenced by Zhara holding both God Tools, came some hurt feelings. She hadn't been mentioned at all. Neither had Leo. What was their purpose then? She kept her face as neutral as possible and took hold of Talos when she was instructed, not really realizing what she was doing.

Only when a slight tingle and feeling of greeting surged up her arm, originating from Talos, did Alice actually understand what Charis had said. "Wait... What?" she asked, voice flabbergasted as the truth of what she was doing hit her.

[Demeter]

Charis remained perched on the kitchen counter. "We Alati are all about things being in balance. The triads of Talos and Asclepius are not balanced and that causes chaos. One has to high of a drive towards violence and bloodshed; the other not nearly enough. Leo and your Lion self would do a creditable job guarding Josse but, in the long run, it would damage your souls."

Charis cast a withering glare at Zhara. "Those three have hot tempers and are far too prone to running off, swords swinging at the slightest hint of conflict. If the three of you can talk reason to the three of them, then everything would be worth it."

Charis slipped from the counter and wrapped an arm around Alice. "Unions of the God Tools are delicate things. Normally confined to three beings but there are special exceptions. Carmine is a exceptional warrior but he cannot be at war all the time. That is why Rune and Zhara are important; exceptional warriors themselves, they can challenge Carmine's drive for battle, blood and violence in most cases. But neither of them are capable of the soothing comfort the chaos of his soul needs. No offense, Zhara."

Zhara shrugged. "I cannot be angered by what is true. We've balanced him, somehow, till now. All three of us are adrift now."

"And Josse is exceptional healer and not just because he is from a clan of exceptional healers. But he has been battered, body and soul, by the matters of his past. You and Leo are healing all most all those scars and easing away his nightmares. These three," Charis jerked at thumb at Zhara, "would ease nightmares by swinging swords and that is not what he needs.

"That being said, Josse is more then just a healer. He is the chief devotee of Asclepius as well as the head of the Le Serre clan. Like it or not, he's a target and Petros is aiming for him. These three can give him, as well as Leo and yourself, the needed protection. These three can also give Josse the physical relationship he craves."

Charis squeezed Alice's hands over Talos. "I can only imagine how overwhelming this is but two out of balance is two to many and Petros is coming for the Le Serre clan. What do you say, Alice? Will you help preserve these two Triads?"

[Maira]

With the exception of her lion side it seemed that she had no value to Josse's triad and she wasn't mentioned in connection to Carmine's at all. Quite against her will, Alice felt tears well up in her eyes. She was already squeezing Talos tight when Charis laid her hand on top of her own and that was more than Alice could handle.

Ripping her hand, and in it Talos, from beneath Charis's own, Alice then tossed Talos across kitchen where it clattered against a stone wall. "I don't know why you bother asking my help!" she shouted at the Oracle. "If the only part of me that matters is the lion part then maybe I should just shift and stay that way. At least then I could protect Josse! I'm no good with swords or weapons. All I can wield is a needle and bandages. Josse is more my brother than a lover so its not like he would even lose anything if I went purely lioness."

Turning to Zhara she added with a snarl, "And all three of you are more to Josse than I ever will be and I matter nothing to any of you! So what is the point in even pretending I can do anything to help?"

Before Charis or Zhara could muster an answer, Alice let her lioness surge out of her skin. Her clothes were shredded and left in a heap as she bolted from the kitchen. She found the always open library window and leapt out of it to the ground before escaping into the night air. They'd all be better off finding somebody more useful, somebody better equipped, to be part of the triads. As she ran through the night, feeling her muscles burn with exertion, a dark place inside of her heart whispered to her that even her children would be better off without her.

[Demeter]

Charis caught Zhara around the waist when the woman made to follow the lioness. "Let her go for now," she murmured and steered Zhara towards the living room. "We have a roomful of fretting men to soothe." She honestly did not want to tell Zhara what was about to happen outside of this house. She could feel the rising panic of an entire pantheon of deities as a precious soul teetered on the brink. She did not want to add the mama bear instincts of Zhara to the mix.

She had enough trouble keeping the cell phones of the Mars triad quiet. They would just make it worse at this point.

***
Luca Valerio had two thoughts running through his head. The first was that the Dads were going to be so pissed when they saw the damage to the Ducati. The second was that pissed off dads were better then hovering dads. He'd ditched the back, or, rather had been forced to ditch the bike when the road had suddenly vanished and a tree had randomly popped up in his path. Thankfully, the alcohol and intentional overdose of painkillers had numbed the pain of the crash.

Unfortunately, none of it had killed him. The bottles of vodka hadn't yet done him in, nor his entire supply of Alati-strength painkillers. Slamming the bike into a tree hadn't worked, though he'd gashed open his cheek, earned some serious roadrash down his right side and he was pretty sure he'd fractured his knee. Again.

As he stumbled through the forest, Luca contemplated other means of death. Something had to be done; he couldn't go on reliving that nightmare and he was a danger to his family. He was as angry and frustrated with his parents as they were with him. He jumped out of his own skin whenever his younger sisters ran past him, shrieking with laughter and joy. Only Luc, steady as a boulder Luc, seemed capable of dealing with him. But Luc couldn't stay away from his estate forever and Mother refused to let him go with Luc.

And today the worst if all things had occurred. He'd bumped into Billy's mother and instead of screaming at him, the woman had clung and sobbed on him. He'd stood there, stoically bearing it while refusing to tell the woman about the last moments of her son's life. No one needed to know how that young life had been snuffed out.

Luca stumbled over a branch and went down. He heard the crunch if bones as his patella further fractured but didn't care. Perhaps, if he just laid there, he'd eventually starve to death. If he could avoid Aunt Mirage long enough.

A rustle of the bushes had him craning around but he merely blinked as a feline tumbled into view. Oh good, he thought while pushing up to a sitting position. He could be dinner for the animal and there would be even less chance of Auntie finding him alive. He sat on the forest floor, battered and bleeding. The cat didn't seem to be taking the bait; perhaps it was nose-blind?

Sighing, Luca scratched around the ground until he found a sharp rock. "Look," he said to the animal while rolling up his shirt sleeves, "I maybe soaked in Vodka but there's plenty of protein on these bones. I'd be a decent meal for a few days. So, do us both a favor and just eat me already."

He dragged the rock up his arm, using considerable strength and force to cut the skin. With each pass, he named one of his fallen fellow comrades. When he reached Billy's name, he dug the rock deep, cutting into muscle and veins and bone. Even as his arm turned crimson and the rock became slick, he cut. He forgot about the cat, only focused on finding repentance.

He blacked out instead, slumping over to bleed out on the forest floor.

***
The woman was not there one second and there the next. She used Alice's momentary shock to freeze her body. One flick of her fingers froze the body, another froze her ability to turn from woman to cat and a third flick draped a length of cloth over her.

Ignoring the growling woman, Eiru sat at Luca's head and stroked his hair. A fourth wave of her hand had Alice plopping down on her bare butt. "I wanted to thank you, in person, for stopping the bleeding. He is not mine, not yet, but precious to me all the same."

She looked up. "His destiny is great; being the reincarnation of Lancelot. Excalibur is waiting for him; the champion of the High King of Avalon and his queen. But the path is still fraught with danger; no one saw it coming, the events that led to this sorry state. I'd thank you for preserving his life but you've merely delayed it. He seeks death and he will find it if something is not done."

Eiru shifted, cradling Luca's head in her lap. She knew about what had occurred in Alice's kitchen. "I could reward you; take you away to Avalon right now where you would be lauded as a heroine for this moment." She tilted her head, noting that Alice's eyes sparked with interest.

"Of course, you should know what would happen if you went away now. Not what may but what will most likely happen. It isn't pretty but there is always the chance that some new hope will come along. Are you willing to listen?"

When Alice gave a hesitant nod, Eiru spoke. "Luca will die; driven to it by his own parents who hover but cannot help. The Excalibur union will suffer and be delayed in returning to strength. When the other two thirds come together, the binf will be weak, brittle and breakable. In turn, all of Avalon and the other Knights will be weakened.

"Outside of Avalon, the death of Luca will cause The Talos Triad to fail and Talos itself will be recast for another's hand. Zhara will take her own life, Carmine will falter and perish. Rune will grow cold and bitter and turn against his father. The future is uncertain here; the successor to Shattersoul with either avenge Darius' death or fall herself. If she falls, even greater disaster will happen.

"Without the Talos Triad, Petros will succeed. Josse will die. Leo will become a feral animal to be put down. Ari will be targeted and die, along with the child he does not yet know of for Petros will not allow that bloodline to continue."

Eiru focused narrowed eyes on Alice. "Plenty rests on your shoulders, Lady Alice, and you are then lynchpin that holds together the future. I would not blame you if you sought to run away but you are more then just good for patching people up. You, and only you, can talk sense and reason into three grieving parents who cannot, by themselves, save their child.

"You cannot see it but your brim with warmth and comfort. You take joy in easing the aches and pains of those who come to you. In time, you will become one of the greatest healers. You are the warmth and comfort Josse seeks out when the horrors of his past, which are more then just his own father trying to kill him, overwhelm him. But you are not the physically intimate relationship he needs, unless you are willing and able to go to his bed and find pleasure there. You, and Leo, are the warmth and comfort that Carmine needs that his mates cannot provide in quantity and quality. You would do a serviceable job of protecting Josse but at what sacrifice to your healer's soul? What is coming isn't random nut jobs but an organized attack meant for slaughter. The senseless killing driven by greed and a lust for power. The Talos Triad is meant to preserve your peaceful soul, guarding you against the evils in this world. Dovie guarded Soulshine for her father but, in all honesty, Josse was holding the Staff for you.

"The choice is yours, Alice. You can go and live on Avalon or you can return and rise up to your destiny as a great healer. One who calms the turbulent souls of warriors and rescues the truly lost and alone. A source of light and hope, bringing light to the dark places of this world."

[Maira]

As a lioness, she was able to crash through the underbrush with only minimal difficulty. If she'd been smaller, like a cougar, the forest would have been even easier to traverse. As it was, it caused her just enough effort that she had slowed to a trot instead of a flat out crashing run. Her Alati self was nearly asleep when the lioness scented something wrong in the forest.

Slowing to a cautious walk, the lioness listened for any indication of what it was she smelled. It didn't take her long to pinpoint the source of the disturbance in the forest and she pushed her way through the bushes to get closer. The sight of the man, more a boy really, before her stopped the lioness in her tracks. Not giving her Alati half any choice in the matter, the lioness disappeared and left a very stunned woman standing naked in the forest next to a man who was bleeding out. When she saw just who the man was, Alice's stomach dropped. She quickly knelt next to the prone man and directed her thoughts into his biggest wounds on his arm, stemming the flow of blood. She was about to shift back to lioness form, to run and fetch his parents, but the lioness wouldn't come. It was then that some fabric dropped across her body and she found herself on the forest floor next to Luca, his head resting in a strange woman's lap.

The woman started talking to Alice, not even bothering to introduce herself, about things she honestly should have known nothing about. Alice wanted nothing more than to yell at the woman to shut up. She needed to get back to the house, to fetch at least one of Luca's parents and his grandmother Genesis who was still there after helping with the birth of her triplets. He needed more help than her already depleted body could provide. But this can woman wouldn't stop talking!

She only half listened at first, trying to figure out why she couldn't move (let alone shift form). Only when the woman cradling Luca's head in her lap said that he would die if she took Alice to Avalon did the healer finally start paying attention.

Alice listened in silence as the woman continued to paint a bleak picture of the future. If she left the two triads behind, everybody she cared about would be in danger. That wasn't an acceptable option. No matter how useless she had felt in that kitchen earlier, she could never forgive herself for endangering anybody else.

When the woman finally stopped, Alice gawked at her. After a moment she cleared her throat and stated simply, "The staff is Josse's, not mine. I'm dedicated to Cerridwen, not Asclepius."

[Demeter]

Two men and one woman simply stepped from thin air into the clearing. While the males tended to Luca, the female crossed to Alice and turned her length of fabric into a simple, serviceable dress. Together they listened to the men.

One had knelt down and touched Luca; his wounds and the the gore coating him simply vanished. "He'll sleep peacefully for a few days. During that time, he should be removed to a place where there are less things to startle him. If I could, I would remove the memories of those days and nights but that would further damage him."

The other man spoke. "I've summoned his elder brother with orders to take Luca to his estate for a time. I'll inform Carmine and the others that they are to leave him there till their troubles are sorted."

The one kneeling on the ground shifted until he was seated. "Now for other matters. Alice, allow me to introduce us. You, of course, know Cerridwen. The man to my left is Mars, Luca's deity for now. To my right is Eiru, high goddess of Camelot, Avalon and one if the highest in the Celtic pantheons. I am Asclepius, deity of Josse."

He gave the woman a gentle smile. "Josse is indeed still beloved to me and to the staff but he's lost his confidence along with much that had made him Josse over the centuries of his captivity. If you are willing, Cerridwen had agreed to loan you to me and the staff whenever the need for great healing is called for."

Asclepius paused to look over his shoulder. "It is not yet time for Luca to ascend to his true purpose and his horror is still fresh. The Lady deLorme is doing her best but he is determined to wreck himself. What you saw was the result of drug overdose, alcohol poisoning, a motorcycle wreck, and an out-an-out suicide attempt. Having two healers, one who can tap into the staff would be a boon.

"But that would just be a bonus to this mess. While Luca is important; our concern is for his parents and for Josse. While Carmine's path in this life is war and bloody destruction; Josse's is healing but his is now frightened by the power he once used so confidently. His magic maybe sympathic but healing magic gone wild can be just as devastating as a manic berserker warrior with Godly powers. Its happened a few times that I know of, from what little I've been able to pry from him. He does not recall the great healer he once was and only remembers what happened while being treated worse then a abused dog. It would be an honor if you would consent to being, even if only on loan, the bearer of Soulshine until Josse remembers who he is. Carmine and his mates would stand ready to protect you and support you under that burden."

***
Later, after Lucian had retrieved his younger brother (he'd greeted the deities, bowed low to Alice in thanks, and cast such a look at Mars that Eiru commented Zhara was going to have his balls if he did anything to her eldest baby), Mars escorted Alice back to Haven.

"Have faith in Carma and his mates, Alice, to guard, protect and guide you as you heal not only their fractured triad and as you help to guide Josse back to his glory. We'll need him in the future. We need him and the Talos Triad and they need you."