"We need to talk."

Cassandra, Irene, Levi, Gordon, Jason, Riana, and Terry stood around Gayle's dining room table. The arrangement of where everyone stood made it perfectly clear that Terry was the one on the spot here, and that the others would not be tolerating any evasion.

Terry nodded. "I would expect nothing less. I will tell you what I can, there are some things that I won’t tell you. I may have changed my mind about my allegiance, but I'm not going to discard my honor."

"You discarded your honor already," Levi growled. "When you decided that kidnapping women and children and helpless innocents and locking them up in a dungeon full of monsters was a good idea."

Terry, looking uncomfortable, didn't respond.

Irene put a hand on Levi's shoulder, and he realized that his hands had gone to his weapons. "We're okay," Irene said. "We’ll be fine."

Levi stiffly put his hands behind his back, gripping them around each other and working very hard not to imagine that being Terry’s throat.

"I could try to pretend that I didn't know what we were doing,” Terry replied, “but we all know that any claim to ignorance would be based on my willful decision not to seek out the information, rather than anything that could be construed as innocent. I know what my organization – former organization – did is unconscionable. That’s why I have now left them and stopped participating in said unconscionable acts. If you don't want me around, I understand completely. Just give me the information you want spread, and I’ll do my best to share it on my own time and in my own ways. You don't ever need to see me again."

Levi kept his mouth shut. Right now, his instincts were tugging him in too many different directions for him to be sure of anything. Part of him wanted to tear the man apart from what he had done, been party to. Another part wanted to recruit him on the spot. He was high-level, higher level than Levi himself.

Terry was undeniably a valuable asset. He had saved them all by helping to steal a mana plane.

But the mere fact that he was so high-level while operating within such an organization was damning. The system’s impartial numbers betrayed the depth of his participation.

"I'm not sure I can forgive you," Cassandra said, breaking the cold silence, "but I will acknowledge that you are capable of changing your ways. Unless this is an elaborate trap, in which case I reserve the right to murder you later."

Terry made an uncomfortable chuckle in response which did nothing to lighten the mood.

"As much as I understand everyone else's reluctance," Riana said with careful deliberation, "I am thankful for your help in getting us out safely. I know it wasn't easy, and I know what you're risking. You did the right thing, and I for one applaud you for it."

She stood a bit stiffly, shoulders tight as though expecting disagreement or fight. Irene gave her a brief nod, allowing Riana to relax slightly when no one else immediately jumped in to argue.

"I wish I had done more sooner." Terry's eyes met Cassandra's, strangely vulnerable. "I'm the one who should be thanking you. You're what I needed to snap me out of it, make me look objectively at what I was considering normal. Things like this, the way they end up… it’s not the way we started. From the inside, it’s easy to overlook how things are shifting, how the ideals we started out with get twisted up. You don’t recognize the excuses you’re making for things that shouldn’t be excused, and that's not who I want to be. Without you, I would've kept going down the same path without ever looking back."

Silence fell as Terry finished speaking, and not a comfortable silence.

Riana looked down at the table, as though she’d fully expended her quota of speaking up in front of the adults. Though she was plenty old enough to be considered a full member of their council, she seemed to have withdrawn into herself significantly after the kidnapping incident.

Cassandra’s face was grim. Irene looked sad. Jason lounged against the wall as though none of this mattered to him.

"I, for one, don't particularly care," Gordon finally broke the silence. "Why you do what you do, or even what you do… I don’t see how it's my business. The only question I want answered is, are you going to help us save the world, or try to get in the way? It sounds to me like you're saying you're ready to stop being an obstacle and start being an asset, but if I'm mistaken please do correct me."

"You're not mistaken. I didn't know the real stakes, and now I do. It was… almost like a game. It feels wrong to admit it, feels wrong to think back to it, the way we were treating people." Terry's eyes flicked guiltily to Irene, who returned his glance coolly.

"It wasn't the sort of thing that you can plan for. Magic and monsters appearing out of nowhere. It's not real, it doesn't feel real. It feels like a created scenario, not like something that would really happen." There was a note of pleading in Terry's voice, desperate for them to understand his perspective.

"Then maybe you play the wrong kind of games.” Levi understood his perspective all too well, and it was a dangerous one that he refused to condone. “If this is what you think ought to be done in this scenario, then I'd very much like to have a severe word with whoever is in charge of your training."

Terry's expression closed down, becoming flat and hard. "I understand. Will you be confiscating my mana plane, sir? Or am I allowed to keep that."

"I don't need your mana plane," Levi snapped. "We've got too many people to fit in any way."

"It could be invaluable for smaller teams getting around though," Riana put in timidly. "Not everyone can stamina drag as well as you can."

"I think it's for the best that he go," Cassandra put in. "No offense, Terry, I'm sure you’re valuable asset, but it looks like your presence would be a distraction. Right now, we can't afford any more distractions. I hope that we can meet peacefully in future if the circumstances align, if not, I can get you a few boxes of pamphlets to hand out and a case of the new book, and you can be on your way. Tell everyone you meet how to unlock their system, walk them through the leveling process, and point them to the nearest dungeon with a sufficiently large group that they won’t get themselves killed." She looked around the table, daring anyone to protest. No one did.

Their group had grown large enough, it would be counterproductive to keep adding to it indefinitely. Levi’s, Peter’s, and Mark's minions would more than make up for the lack of more humans, and the best option for the long run was to get the word spread as far as possible. As much as he would've liked to fight alongside Terry as fellow defenders, it was probably for the best that the man was well out of his reach.

"For what little it's worth," Terry said at the door, "I am sorry."

Riana nodded acknowledgment, and Terry walked away, letting the door fall closed behind him.

They stood in silence for a long moment, then Irene spoke up. "I'd like to help Mom set up a daycare."

Levi, who'd been aware of her desire for some time now, didn't react, but the others turned around to stare.

"Mom is never going to be comfortable delving dungeons or fighting monsters," Irene held up a finger as she spoke, then added a second. "Not everyone we recruit is going to have children old enough to join us. Some will need taking care of while their parents or older siblings are out delving dungeons or fighting demons. Having systems in place for taking care of families before the world becomes a battleground is going to be essential." She added a third finger. "And Mom knows how to make things happen. She's a stubborn old biddy, but one thing I trust is that if she sets her mind to do a thing, it'll get done."

Levi smiled faintly, unclasping his hands and letting them fall to his sides. "You Jackson ladies had to get it from somewhere."

Cassandra smirked at him.

Riana raised her hand. "I'd like to help. This whole kidnapping experience has showed me I'm really not ready to be a primary fighter, but I want to help. And I'm good with kids."

Irene nodded and patted Riana on the shoulder with a motherly smile.

When did that happen? Did they adopt her or something? Levi put the thought out of his mind. That didn't matter right now.

"Not that I have anything against all of the family drama," Jason spoke up for the first time, "but I thought this was supposed to be some kind of war meeting? Aren’t we here to plan out how to fight the apocalypse?"

"Oh, we know how to fight the apocalypse. It's getting everyone else ready that’s the hard part."

"So why are we talking about giving up our scout plane and starting a daycare? None of this is going to be important once flaming aliens start dropping out of the sky."

"That's exactly the point. It will be essential once flaming aliens start dropping out of the sky." Cassandra gave Levi a look, as if to say, why did we let this guy in again?

Levi half shrugged. They had a representative from every other class, it didn't seem right to leave scouts out. But he did have to admit, Jason's personality might be a bit on the caustic side.

"Speaking of giving away our spy plane," Cassandra said, starting for the door, "I need to be sure Terry gets the literature he needs. Not much use to send him off unprepared."

"Like anyone's gonna be prepared from reading a book," Jason grumbled. "I thought we were going to fight stuff? When do I get this death-defying danger I was promised?"

Levi grinned wickedly. "Oh, don't worry. That's coming up very soon. I'd like you all to spend a few days training maneuvers together as a group, and I have a few errands to take care of in the meantime, but after that you'll get all the excitement you could want. I have a long-standing appointment with a certain hidden boss."