Inside the coliseum, Quincy kept pacing near the entrance hall, her steps uneven and restless as she waited for any sign of the others returning. Every time she slowed, she ended up turning back the way she came, only to resume pacing again a moment later. The uncertainty outside the coliseum had bled into her nerves in a way she could not ignore. With everything she had been seeing and sensing from beyond the walls, the idea of everyone coming back safe or alive felt less like expectation and more like hope she was trying to force herself to believe. Even with reports trickling in from returning forces, the situation beyond the coliseum still felt distant and unstable, as if the worst of it had yet to reach them.
She stopped for a moment, rubbing at her arm as she looked toward the sealed exit. "Goddess, I just want to go out there and check," she muttered under her breath. Her owl wings shifted behind her with visible discomfort, feathers twitching as if reacting to the same unease she felt. The urge to fly out and see for herself was becoming harder to suppress with every passing minute.
A number of people had already returned through the coliseum gates, but none of it had been reassuring in the way it should have been. The imperial knights had come back, along with Amos, Lexy, Ulrich, Edluar, Calvinel, and the Guard Commander, but many of them were injured badly enough that they were immediately taken for treatment. Worse still, they had all been returning from the outer regions of the conflict, not the central area where the most intense fighting had taken place. The parts Quincy had been indirectly sensing were far beyond what any of them had described so far. What little information they did manage to gather only reinforced how chaotic and fragmented the battle outside had become.
At least the Healing Springs were open again. That alone meant the wounded were being processed and stabilized, and it was the only reason the coliseum had not descended further into chaos. Speaking of which.
"Still pacing around?"
Quincy turned quickly at the voice and relaxed slightly when she saw Even approaching. He looked noticeably better than before, his injuries fully healed after using the Healing Springs once it became accessible again. The sight of him in one piece brought her a small but immediate sense of relief.
"You're okay again," she said, exhaling as the tension in her shoulders eased.
"Yeah, I am," Even replied, though his gaze was already drifting toward the exit. "But probably won't be for long, because I'm going back out there."
Quincy nodded once, accepting that answer more quickly than she normally would have. "Okay, okay, that makes sense," she said, then added more firmly, "but you're taking a few people with you this time."
Even let out a tired sigh, running a hand through his hair. "I know, I know. You don't have to tell me." He took a deeper breath after that, visibly bracing himself as if preparing to step back into the battlefield the moment he left the coliseum.
Before anything else could be said, a shout echoed through the coliseum halls.
"Miss Quincy! Someone came back!" Came the voice of one of the coliseum staff.
Both of them snapped their attention toward the entrance at the same time, then immediately moved toward it. For a brief instant, Quincy's hope rose again, sharp and involuntary. But the moment they arrived and saw who was standing there, that hope did not ease, it only shifted into something heavier.
Even's expression darkened immediately. "You," he growled at his father.
Samwell stood alone at the entrance. His presence was composed, almost detached from the tension around him. His eyes briefly met Even's as he looked down at his son, before shifting to Quincy.
"Before you ask," Samwell said flatly, already sounding impatient, "I came back myself first. The rest of them are still alive. I do not want to hear you prattle to me about leaving them or letting them die."
Without waiting for a response, he turned and began walking down the long corridor leading deeper into the coliseum, moving with deliberate certainty as if he already had somewhere specific to be after reporting in.
"Where are you going!? We have questions!" Even called after him, sounding very frustrated.
Samwell did not slow down or turn around. "You can ask those questions to them when they get here, boy. I do not care to answer them."
And with that, he disappeared further down the hall, likely heading toward where Matthew was stationed.
"That piece of garbage," Even muttered through clenched teeth.
Quincy placed a hand on his shoulder, steadying him. "At least he said everyone is alive," she said quietly. "That's a good thing."
Even looked at her sharply. "And you believe him? He's just as likely to tell the truth as he is to lie so he doesn't have to deal with any of this."
Quincy hesitated, then looked down for a moment before letting out a small breath. "You're right," she admitted. Then she looked back up at him. "But I have to believe him for the sake of my own mind."
Even studied her for a moment, then exhaled and placed an arm around her shoulders. "Alright. We'll believe him for now. But if they don't come back in ten minutes, I am going out there and dragging him back myself."
Quincy did not argue with that.
So they remained there near the entrance, waiting for the others to return, unaware of the sheer magnitude of events that would be dropped on them when everyone got back.