We waited for about half an hour that consisted of Obsidian rapidly teleporting back and forth between the battle and where we were waiting, until he returned with Puffy, who looked exhausted.

"Battle's over!" He announced.

"How do you teleport like that all the time?" The hero asked him, gagging slightly.

"Eh, you get used to it I suppose. Don't know what to tell you." Obsidian glanced around. "I'll go get the others."

"That'll be fun for them." Puffy muttered wryly, shaking her head at the memory.

"How many times did you have to practice teleporting?" I asked, repressing a giggle.

"About six times. I was out for about twenty minutes the first time. Was fine the second, but I felt sick. We all had to practice first so we didn't collapse in the middle of the fight when he teleported us there, and then he had to rest for a day because he spent all day teleporting everyone back and forth, so really we should've been there like a day ago, and then-" she broke off, staring at my face as sadness and horror clouded her features.

"What happened to your face?"

"Nightmare." I mumbled. "I fell asleep. He used his powers. No big deal." I turned my head away, embarrassment flooding through me. I probably looked stupid.

"Aw, no, sweetheart. We need to clean that up and get you to a doctor." Puffy glanced around as Royal and Obsidian appeared. "Royal, can I have some water or something?"

The hero nodded, confused, and summoned a sphere of water.

"Thanks." Puffy waved her hands in an odd motion and the water floated over to her. "Look this way." She instructed me. I obeyed, turning my head in a different direction. I winced slightly as she started using the water to clean up the burn, closing my eyes. A few seconds later, she stood back and I opened my eyes. "It hasn't done much, but it'll have to do till we get you to a doctor."

I nodded. "You know, I forgot that you had water powers." I said, raising one eyebrow quizzically.

"Ah, yeah, most people do- they only care about the flashy shapeshifting." There was a thoughtful pause. "Kinda weird that there are two heroes with water powers, but the difference between mine and Royal's powers is that he can create water out of thin air while I can only control water that already exists."

"I see. Interesting."

There was another flash of purple light as Obsidian reappeared, bringing Crepitus and Gemstone with him.

"Is that everyone?" Obsidian mumbled, looking a mix of dizzy and tired.

"Yeah. Thanks, mate." Royal said brightly. "Whenever you want to arrange the protection for Deactivator, just head down to Headquarters and give anyone who gives you any trouble this." The hero pressed a piece of paper with some writing on it into Obsidian's hands.

It reminded me of the note my father had given me the day I first met Sam and Foolish. God, that feels like so long ago now. And look how far I've come.

Obsidian nodded, doing a small salute of sorts and disappearing in a flurry of amethyst sparks.

Crepitus ran over to me. "Are you ok?" He blurted. "Are you-" he frowned, grabbing my chin and gently lifting my face into better light. There was a long silence. "What did he do to you?"

"Dream magic and stuff, it's fine, honestly, I-"

"It's not fine. It's not fine at all." Crepitus mumbled, his voice shaking slightly.

"It's fine! I'm fine! I'm fine now that you're here." I hugged him, burying my face in his chest.

There was a pause before he hugged me back. I stepped away, glancing around. "So... back to headquarters?"

Puffy shot me a knowing look. "Back to headquarters indeed."

What's she looking at me like that for?

"Yeah, we need to get the burn on your face looked at." Gemstone muttered, glancing around.

"Let's go then."

———

It had been a few weeks since I had been somewhat rescued from Nightmare and Spectre (although I still considered it as me saving myself). Both of the villains had been moved to top priority, to be reported on sight if seen, and if caught, to not let them go for anything. Swift had shot a look at Zaeim as he read out the last part, clearly remembering the time when the two let Spectre escape to protect me.

I remembered when Sam had returned to Headquarters with me.

"They still think you're on the mission?" I had whispered, walking up to the door. We were in the corridor in Headquarters, and were about to enter the room Eret and Foolish were in.

"Yep. It only took us about an hour and a half to get you out of there, and the doctors basically said that the burn will heal by itself." Sam muttered.

"You sure you want them to see you like that?"He had asked, gesturing to the burn.

"Yeah. It's gonna scar according to the doctors, so they need to get used to it." I said with a shrug.

There had been a loud yell from the other side of the door.

"I don't care what Swift said, I'm going on the damn mission, Eret-" It was Foolish.

"Foolish, this is exactly why they didn't want you to go, because you'd get worked up like this." That was Eret, his voice full of sympathy. "Best we can do now is just carry on looking for Y/N in case that isn't where they're being kept."

"I don't care! This isn't me getting worked up, Eret! This is me wanting to help! It's my fault!"

That's it. I pushed the door open. "None of that was your fault, Foolish! You shouldn't be thinking so negatively, you know."

Eret and Foolish both spun around, staring.

They both cried in unison, "Y/N! You're ok!"

I nodded with a small smile. "Yep. In fact, I was in the middle of breaking myself out of there when everyone showed up." I exchanged a glance with Sam, who rolled his eyes.

The rest of the conversation consisted of Eret talking about how he was glad I was okay, Foolish repeatedly apologising for letting me walk by myself, and both of their shocked reactions when they noticed my face.

Then I went home and relaxed. I also had to come up with a lie to tell my friends who weren't heroes to explain the burn on my face.

I sat on my bed replaying recent events in my head (hanging out with Foolish, fighting villains with Eret, serving Sam at the cafe) and then I realised something.

I was in love with three people at once.

Crap.