He sat at the foot of his best friend's tree, a bloodied gown covering his scarring body. He could probably fix it if he wanted to, but right now, he just wanted to relax. After waking, his first reflex had been to come here.

“I see my meds kicked in.” A cloud followed him, hovering around his head. He hadn't even noticed Serena walking in. “You seem to be making a habit out of this, Slava.” Hearing her words, he twitched. Raising his hand, he put up two fingers. “I would appreciate it.” Serena looked at him confused before finally answering with a chuckle. “A smoke? You never cease to surprise me.” Snapping her fingers, the tree's branches moved, a leaf dropping from them. It coiled itself up, absorbing the surrounding fog, landing between his fingers. In a swift movement, a spark travelled up his arm to his fingers. “How old-fashioned of you, I didn't know you smoked.” She said as he inhaled his first puff. “I don't,” he answered, holding back a cough. Something he had never done even in the military. Joining him in his respite, she leaned in over the railing.

“At times like these, you remind me of Nic.” How ironic that she was saying this in front of his statue. “He used to hate winning, he just wanted to push himself as much as he could.” He kept forgetting that Kolya used to be a gladiator, every time he passed by an arena, it came back to him. Almost every city in the world had one, specially tailored to accommodate one of the most popular sports in the world. “He would fight endlessly, not giving up, despite never having a clear goal…” Wait… what was she insinuating? “He caught me with those eyes, those unwavering eyes…” following an awkward silence, their gazes crossed “Oh, why are you looking at me like that? Don’t worry, it happened once already, I won’t let it happen again.” Hearing this, Slava let out a sigh of relief. “Besides, you’re nothing alike, you don’t have his charm.” His charm, huh? He couldn't help but think of that look he always gave to those he cared about. And as he thought about it, Mayhem's dark eyes flashed through his mind. Charm… something Mayhem certainly had none of.

“Do you know anything about Kolya’s family?” He suddenly asked. The air grew chilly as Serena’s shoulders shivered. “Tell me everything you found out.” She didn’t even bother lifting a finger. The tree’s branches extended themselves, forcing him to move to her side. Being brought to the railing, he immediately sobered up.

“Wait, no, he never had a brother.” Once he had voiced his thoughts, she immediately rejected his hypothesis. “He was an orphan taken in by a temple…” Her words sounded more like she was trying to convince herself. That part of Kolya’s past had always been an enigma to him. A temple that housed prophetic insights as well as the knowledge to train someone like Kolya. A temple that one day disappeared without a trace. There was definitely something there, something they couldn’t see. “Are you sure it wasn’t…” Slava interrupted her instantly, knowing what she was about to ask. “I thought the same at first, but the profiles don’t add up, he might’ve been an artificial sibling, a genetic deviant, but definitely not a pure-blooded clone,” something he wasn’t sure even Serena or Angel could do.

“Shit, I should’ve beaten the shit out of him,” she whispered under her breath. “Sorry, what did you say?” He asked in turn. “Never mind that, tell me what else happened?” Wait, didn't Sasha… “What? Sasha didn’t tell you.” Now that he thought about it, where was she? “As soon as she woke up, and she saw your ugly state, she stormed off.” Right, he'd been treated… but for what? “I mean I don’t blame her, you were pretty fucked up, I would've run too if I wasn’t treating you. The winged one also seemed pretty pissed.” So Angel had also helped. Gazing at her, he wondered how they worked together. But then, her expectant gaze brought him out of his thoughts.

“Well, the infiltration went smoothly, but it was a trap. They were clearly waiting for us.” Serena was unfazed, “Yeah, we knew that, the others also returned battered and bruised.” Seeing his eye twitch, she continued. “They were fine, however…” Slava held his breath. “The two kids you seemed to be fond of were enraged.” What happened for them to be so 'enraged'? Did they fight someone? “The other one though, your guardian, he simply dropped off an unconscionable Ceator and left. Don't ask me why or where, I have no clue.” He looked down at his hand. Should he call him now? “I told him about your condition. All he did say was: ‘I trust in my master's strength’.” Something had definitely happened to him. He'd probably be fine, no matter what he would return and whatever he was doing, Slava definitely couldn't stop him.

“That’s good and all, but that's not what I was asking.” Hearing her words, he grew confused, if she already knew everything, what was she looking for? “How did you get back here and in that state?” With the twist of her wrist, a holographic figure appeared on his retina.

Days? He was out for days? And this… was this him? He looked like a ghost; stiff limbs, torn and twisted muscles, burns covering the rare parts of his skin that didn’t reveal bone… You could barely call that thing human, and the worst part was that there seemed to be… Slava grunted, unable to control his thoughts. His mind wandered elsewhere, waltzing through scenes he couldn’t remember, almost as if sifting through a record.

“I got us out of there,” he said, frowning, his eyes still closed. “I know that, but how?” She asked expectedly. “Slava, what did you do?” He'd met Mayhem, Major Suvorova and… “Lord… he wanted Sasha, there was a trap to incapacitate her…” he struggled to speak as he tried to remember. Why? It was like two opposite forces were fighting in his mind. “Isn't that guy dead?” She didn't seem shocked as much as she seemed curious. “No, he and Black Hydra are the same…” Serena went silent.

“There wasn’t much I could do… I knew they were coming. 15 minutes. Around 15 minutes for them to use the beacon to get there and make their way down.” Slava didn't even notice her pensive gaze as he continued. “I was running out of time…” seeing the images unfold before him, he hesitated. His sight; disrupted by Lord’s holographic distortions, then his hand; on Mayhem’s chest, a link forming through him. The feeling of hundreds of thousands of lives being taken, their souls, their thoughts and wills being transmitted to him. And then… darkness.

“So what did you do?” Serena repeated herself. She undoubtedly understood that something was wrong, that he had done something… “I broke through the Purple Sea.” It took him some time to come up with a somewhat viable answer. “You what?” She exclaimed in surprise. One of the rare times he’d felt her display genuine shock. “I needed to get stronger.” Suddenly, his thoughts became more vivid. Visions of himself, walking through various tundras, wastelands and deserted forests. He walked for what felt like years, slowly but surely, carrying Sasha, his body falling apart, and his eyes focused on his goal. He didn’t remember much, but he did remember holding onto her for dear life, focussing on her condition, her stability.

“You…” Serena sighed as he opened his eyes. She knew… she knew what he had done. Weakly smiling, she shook her head. “What else did you find out?” Was she letting this go? Did she not care? What about… “I said; what else?” She insisted, her gaze turning cold. “Well?” What was she trying to do? Unable to process her reaction, his mind began to race as his thoughts spilled out. His mind felt numb. Was this her doing?

“Suvorova… she has a grudge against The Union. I think she might’ve been a descendant of the oligarchic aristocracy.” The anger in her voice was still vivid in his mind. “They wanted to recruit me and when things didn’t work, Lord stepped in.” His breath became irregular. “It was odd how much interest he had in me, enough to abandon his original plans.” He frowned as his recollections reached their end, he could still feel his blood boiling. “He also said something about Sasha being a puppet…” He was reliving his memories feelings and thoughts. “A replacement for some host.” With his eyes clearing up, he came across her strange gaze, a mix of shock, disgust and… fear. “A safeguard against...” He couldn’t finish his sentence. His tongue became numb, and his head began to hurt.

“I've heard enough. I think you need to go see her.” Even though she didn't specify, he knew exactly who she was referring to. “Yeah, you're right,” he said, holding his head. His thoughts were hazy, he couldn't think straight. And before realizing it, he'd reached the doorway. Without thinking, he passed through it. As the vines moved to separate them, he heard her sigh.