“All of us are going to be involved anyway,” Crow pressed. “There’s no reason I should be the only one of us who isn’t.”

Astra didn’t bat an eye in the face of his argument, unless arching counted as batting, and a single brow an eye.

For the past forty-five minutes, she’d moved more across the seat of her armchair than her decision had regarding the task. That was nothing new, Crow had rarely been able to move her on such things before.

“And if there were only one of us being involved, you’d still be saying you ought to take part.”

“But there’s more than one of us involved. All of us are involved.”

She didn’t appear to be shifting even a millimetre. He couldn’t entirely blame her.

It was true that the details of the task they’d been given clearly stated all of them were to take part, however it also specified only four would be filling a combat role. Crow’s hope was that Astra wouldn’t take note of that fact.

“But not all of us are involved in fighting.” She shot back.

Damn.

“You haven’t had a problem with me taking part until now.” Crow answered, trying to shift strategy slightly. “Why are you suddenly so desperate to keep me from fighting?”

“Because you don’t necessarily need to fight to earn credits, this is a pointless risk.”

Crow hadn’t thought of that, and he found his mouth working silently as he tried to think of a counter. Thankfully, Gem spoke up in his place.

“There’s nothing to suggest he would get credits for the non-combat role, either. Certainly not an equal amount. We all agreed to let him take part in all of our tasks purely so he has a chance of winning the Eclipse’s Nectar, didn’t we? There’s no point in that if we don’t do everything to maximise his credits.”

Unable to think of anything else he could add to Gem’s point, Crow settled for showing his support by nodding instead.

It seemed Astra was equally incapable of detracting from it, as her face began to quiver the way it always did when she knew she was wrong. Sighing defeatedly, she raised her hands.

“Fine, Crow’s fighting.”

He didn’t manage to hide the victorious grin sprouting on his face.

“That still leaves us to decide who’s taking the non-combatant spot, though.” She added, apparently not content to dwell on a topic she unsuccessfully argued. “Any volunteers?”

“I’m fine taking that position.” Gem murmured. So quietly, so unlike her usual self, that Crow took a second to realise it had been her to speak.

“Your injuries are healed up, aren’t they?” Astra said, an edge to her voice.

Gem’s eyes met the floor.

“They have.”

She gave no further response than that, and Crow saw Astra stare as though she were suspicious. Finally, she turned back to him.

“Who do you think should take the non-combat role, then?”

Taken off-guard by the question, Crow’s tongue fumbled with its answer.

“Uh, I don’t know. Maybe…”

He racked his brains, trying desperately to think clearly and put aside the distractions of whatever was happening between Gem and his sister.

“Unity?” He said, tone far more questioning than he’d intended. “He’s really smart, and not that great in head-to-head battle. I’d say he’s the best choice to sit out of the actual fighting.”

Astra nodded slowly.

“Yes, that makes sense. The fact that the non-combat role is still a role in the actual task implies that there’ll be something to do for whoever ends up with it, I can’t imagine what that would be save for some kind of intellectual job.”

Crow didn’t say anything, content to let her think he’d considered that much himself.

“Shouldn’t we ask Eden himself, before deciding?” Gem cut in, voice strong again, face confident and questioning.

Seeing the lop-sided grin back on her lips made Crow wonder whether he’d simply imagined her earlier gesticulation.

“Do you really think he’d say no if we told him to sit back and avoid fighting anyone?”

Gem tilted her head fractionally, acknowledging the point scored.

“Fair enough. Xeno at least should be brought in on the talks though.”

Astra frowned at that.

“I assumed she’d want to take part, and with her lack of injuries and… well, the power she showed in the last task, aren’t we all in agreement that she should head up this one?”

“She just fought an orc, Astra. You should know better than anyone else here how horrifying that must have been for her. Things aren’t always as logical as who’s the best for the job. I’ll believe Xeno’s ready when I see her say she is, and even then I’ll be careful as the pit to see through any false bravado.”

“When you put it like that, I seem unreasonable.” Astra muttered.

Gem grinned.

“How are you holding up, by the way? You took a beating last task, I’m surprised you didn’t volunteer to take the non-combat role.”

That sent Astra’s right shoulder flexing, a wince tugging at her face with every little shift.

“Getting better, but expensively. I was never that hurt to begin with. Unless our next task is tomorrow, I should be at full strength for it.”

Not for the first time, Crow gave himself a second to marvel at his sister’s toughness. He didn’t imagine many people could get pummelled by an orc only to remark on how lightly they got off.

“That’s good.” Gem said. “It looked like you took one pit of a strike there, with any luck the other teams made the same mistake I did.”

“My thoughts exactly.” Astra replied.

“I had three stars on you getting another concussion.” Rang a voice, drawing all eyes to the suddenly open door of Unity’s bedroom. The artificial grinned as he stepped out.

“Don’t suppose you’d be willing to take the lump next time? We could split the winnings.”

He practically sauntered his way to the living room, not bothering to hide his glee. It almost unsettled Crow to see the boy so chirpy. Unity was his friend, but he knew full well that his sources of amusement were rarely good harbingers for others.

“You can use your own injuries for that, Eden.” Replied Astra, coolly.

“Ah, but my own injuries are something I’d very much rather avoid, you see. On the other hand, if you were to become horrifically wounded and mangled, I could profit from it without needing to suffer any of the inconvenience such a thing would incur.”

“How much did you hear, Eden?” Gem asked. She seemed to have no time for his usual games.

“Not much. But I’m fairly sure I know what I missed. Don’t suppose either of you have come to your senses on Crow’s unnecessarily lengthy suicide?”

Neither Astra or Gem answered.

“Thought not.” The artificial remarked, dryly.

“Are you going to give us any actual input, or do you just want to make sure you can say “I told you so” after your friend dies?” Astra snapped.

Unity’s answer seemed oddly subdued, coming after a slight pause.

“Give Warper the non-combat role.”

“Any particular reason?”

“You mean besides her being as clever as me?” He asked, mockingly.

Gem arched an exaggerated eyebrow, mouthing the word “as” and smirking at him. The artificial ignored her before continuing.

“She had a few good moments in the last task, but she’s still not consistent enough to rely on in battle. It’s safer to keep her out of things.”

Astra cut in at that.

“And why not wait a bit? For all we know she’ll have another spike in power right before the task.”

The look Unity gave her might have urged someone to check their shirt for drool.

“Because we’ll presumably need to register who’s taking part and in what roles hours before the task begins. We all saw how much her power spiked in a matter of minutes during the last task, there’s nothing to suggest it can’t suddenly drop in the same way.”

“Unless she’s stabilised herself for good.” She shot back.

As Unity opened his mouth, Gem cut in hastily.

“I thought we already agreed to ask Xeno whether she wants to take part, rather than assuming she’ll be completely fine using her power right after almost dying.”

Astra’s eyes fell to the floor, and Unity’s levelled at Gem.

“I suppose,” he grunted. “I should at least be grateful to see you being consistent when weighing people’s personal feelings against such things as the risk of violent death or crippling injuries.”

Gem ignored the jibe, turning to Crow.

“You went to see Amelia after her task, didn’t you?”

“Um, yes?” He answered, taken aback by the question.

“What sort of condition was she in?”

Crow thought back to Amelia’s state, his stomach lurching as he did so. He’d always been good at remembering sights- perfect, even. Just another gift of his strain, Galad had supposed.

It didn’t feel like a gift to him, not when it made sure he could so clearly recall every detail of his friend’s mangled form whenever his thoughts turned to her. He suddenly felt very sick.

“Not good.” he answered, hoping to avoid elaborating further.

“Can you give a bit more detail?” She asked.

He licked his lips, forcing himself to do just that.

“I saw broken bones, lots of blood, she seemed to be struggling just to stay awake… I don’t think she’ll be able to fight for a while. Even with treatment from relics.”

To his horror, Gem seemed pleased to hear that.

“We might have a chance to get back into first place then…” She murmured. “Besides Amelia, there’s only one other contestant who can really threaten us. I figured she wouldn’t be in fighting condition for a while, but it’s good to have a testament from someone who saw her up close.”

Astra elbowed Gem lightly, almost sneakily. When the girl glanced at her, words seemed to pass silently between the two of them. Gem then turned back to Crow.

“And sorry, about… well, Amelia. It can’t have been… pleasant. To see, I mean.”

Not sure how to respond to that, both due to the words and the clear distraction with which they were delivered, Crow simply nodded.

He found himself irritated at Gem, an irrational grievance, but one he couldn’t help.

You’re so clever. He thought. Why couldn’t you think to keep yourself from being so callous?

“Crow…” Unity began, voice unusually gentle. “You don’t need to bottle up your thoughts on Amelia, nor do you need to decide what to do with them on your own. There are people far better suited to processing such things than you are, I think you’d benefit from asking them.”

Despite himself, Crow couldn’t keep the surprise from his face.

“Are you talking about yourself?”

Unity laughed at that, outloud and unrestrained, though not mocking.

“God no, nor do I mean anyone in our team, for that matter.”

He shot a scrutinising look at Gem and Astra, who bristled accordingly.

“Though I’m sure one of us knows someone you could speak to about it, even if it’s not anyone you know. Sometimes strangers give the best advice, and it’s all the better for coming from someone with no personal stakes or partiality towards you.”

“Are we done here?” Gem blurted out, making Crow jump with the hard edge lining her words.

Unity turned to the girl, looking impassively for a moment and leaving the silence to thicken between them. When he spoke, it even relieved Crow.

“If you say we’re done, then I suppose we are.”

Gem didn’t stop to say or hear anything else before turning to leave, an unusual amount of haste in her gait.