They were back in their dorm room, each sitting on their own bed, the tension from earlier still hanging in the air.
For a moment, no one spoke.
Then Riven broke the silence.
"So… who was that guy?" he asked, leaning forward slightly. "And did we really have to run just because he gave us five minutes?"
There was a pause before Harkel answered.
"It was my brother," he said, rubbing the back of his neck.
"Brother?" the wallborns said at the same time, clearly shocked.
"Yeah," Harkel replied. "My older brother."
Jordan frowned. "Okay… but he didn't act like one."
"Yeah," Joey added. "If anything, he seemed… emotionless."
Harkel's expression darkened instantly. He stood up, anger flashing across his face as he moved toward Joey—
—but Riven stepped in front of him.
"You know nothing," Harkel snapped. "So don't speak on something you don't understand."
Riven didn't move.
"Sure," he said calmly. "You're right. We don't know anything."
Harkel hesitated.
"But you know what we do know?" Riven continued, his eyes narrowing slightly. "We know you want to win this game. And we know you're working pretty damn hard to make sure we get stronger."
The room went quiet.
"So that makes me wonder," Riven went on, his voice steady. "Why? What's your reason? Fame? Girls? The units? The feeling of being in charge?"
Harkel's expression shifted just slightly.
Riven caught it.
"…No," he said, shaking his head. "You don't strike me as that type. It's something else. Attention… recognition?"
Harkel didn't answer.
He didn't need to.
Riven already knew.
"But here's the problem," Riven said, stepping back slightly. "You made it seem like the second-years were our biggest issue."
He pointed around the room.
"They're not."
Everyone stayed silent.
"We've got bigger problems right here," Riven continued. "Leo's got a sister who clearly hates him, and everyone can see he wouldn't hurt her."
Leo looked down.
"We've got Joey…" Riven glanced at him. "Who I care about, but let's be real—you're too much of a pacifist."
Joey gave a small, awkward smile.
"And then there's you," Riven said, looking back at Harkel. "You and your brother."
He let that sit for a second.
"I'm not saying you can't be the leader," Riven added. "But if you want to be one, you need to deal with this stuff first."
With that, he turned and walked back to his bed.
"I've said everything I needed to."
The room fell silent again.
Harkel stood there for a moment… then slowly sat back down, thinking.
Before anyone else could speak—
Luka raised his hand.
"My name is Luka Velmire."
Everyone turned to him.
Jordan's eyes narrowed slightly. Velmire? he thought. Wasn't his last name Thomas?
Luka didn't explain.
"My goal," he continued, "is to find what's left of my family. I want to see them again… and ask what happened. Why we were split apart in the first place."
The room stayed quiet.
Then Riven suddenly raised his hand with a grin.
"Alright, fine. Guess we're doing this again."
Harkel blinked. "Doing what again?"
"When we were kids, we used to do this," Joey said with a small smile. "Though Luka's goal was… different back then."
Riven nodded.
"My name is Riven Harlow," he said.
He paused for a moment, actually thinking.
His old goal had always been simple—protect Jordan.
But now…
Things were different.
Nyx's words echoed in his mind.
Fairy…
Level ten.
Change.
"My goal…" Riven exhaled softly. "Is to figure out where I fit into all of this. And how I can actually help."
He lowered his hand.
Jordan went next.
"I'm Jordan Harlow."
He hesitated for a second.
Riven and Luka had already told him what happened earlier—at least most of it.
And after everything… the Walls, the way people were treated…
He understood something now.
"My goal," Jordan said firmly, "is to prove that being wallborn doesn't define us."
Everyone looked at him.
"I want people—inside the Walls and outside—to stop looking down on us like we're lesser. Like we're already doomed to fail."
His hand slowly lowered.
Joey raised his next.
"My name is Joey Cross," he said with a bright smile. "My goal is to stay by the side of the people I consider family… and make sure they always have a reason to smile."
Silence.
Riven stared at him.
"…That's it?" he asked. "After all this, that's still your goal?"
Harkel and Leo both looked surprised too.
Joey scratched his cheek, a little embarrassed.
"Well… yeah."
Riven blinked. "You couldn't think of anything else?"
Joey shook his head.
"I don't really have anything else," he said honestly. "I knew my parents, so there's no mystery there. And after they were gone…"
He paused.
"…people were scared of me. Or they picked on me because of my ability."
No one interrupted.
"But you guys didn't," Joey continued, smiling softly. "You stayed. Even from the start."
His eyes moved across all of them.
"So yeah… I just want to stay with you all. That's enough for me."
This time—
No one argued.
They couldn't.
If they did, it would feel… wrong.
Messed up, even.
The room stayed quiet for a moment before Joey clapped his hands lightly, trying to lift the mood.
"So… which one of you is next?" he asked, looking between Leo and Harkel.
The two exchanged a glance.
After a second, Harkel raised his hand.
"My name is Harkel Voss," he said, his voice steady. "And my goal… well, it shouldn't be a surprise."
He leaned back slightly.
"I want to become the head of my clan."
His eyes hardened just a little.
"And I want people to be seen as people… not as some kind of byproduct of a treaty."
The others didn't fully understand what he meant.
But that didn't matter.
What mattered was that he meant it.
Slowly, their attention shifted to Leo.
He had been quiet the entire time.
Harkel didn't expect much—Leo was usually calm, reserved, the type to keep things to himself.
But then—
Leo raised his hand.
"My name is Leo Ashvale."
His voice came out louder than expected.
Stronger.
Everyone looked at him.
"My goal…" he continued, his fists tightening slightly, "is the opposite of Harkel's."
The air in the room shifted.
"I want to kill a leader of the Ashvale clan."
The words hit hard.
"They'll bleed," Leo said, his voice filled with raw emotion. "For what they did to my family."
Harkel stood there, stunned.
He had never seen Leo like this before.
Did that interaction with his sister really change him that much?
Leo lowered his hand slowly, his mind racing.
It didn't take long after they entered the dorm for him to realize something.
It was never about protecting his sister.
That wasn't the problem.
What he realized—after what happened with her and Axle—was that the real issue was himself.
The choices he made.
The risks he took.
After their parents died because of their father's past, everything changed.
Because of who their father was—a great warrior of the pack—Leo and Tessa were given something no one else would ever get.
A choice.
An ultimatum.
One of them had to take the burden.
It was supposed to be simple.
But neither of them accepted it.
They both stepped forward.
They both offered themselves.
Neither willing to let the other suffer.
So it turned into something else.
A fight.
A duel.
One winner.
One decision.
And that winner…
Was Leo.
"…that's a bit—" Joey started, about to say it was too much.
"Then stick to it."
Harkel's voice cut through the room.
Everyone looked at him.
He stepped forward, staring directly at Leo.
"If that's truly what you want," Harkel said firmly, "then stand by it."
There was no hesitation in his voice now.
No doubt.
Because finally—
He understood what they were all trying to say.
"Thank you… I think I found my flaw in this leadership thing," Harkel thought. "What kind of leader only focuses on himself? I should've asked Leo this a long time ago, but I only had myself in mind. And he's been hiding his emotions, encouraging me instead of talking about himself… which I'm grateful for. I guess wallborns are more than what meets the eye."
He lifted his head, looking at all of them.
"These are our goals," Harkel announced. "This is what we'll be trying to accomplish while we're in these games. Will we complete all of them? I highly doubt it. But what I do know is that we'll do everything in our power to help one another, because we're a team."
"And a family," Riven added playfully, pulling Jordan and Joey into a headlock.
"We'll support each other no matter what."
"Ohh, we need a team name," Luka said excitedly.
Everyone, except Riven and Joey, looked at him like he had just said something completely unnecessary.
"Nice idea. What should our name be?" Luka continued, already ready to throw out suggestions, but Harkel cut him off.
"Another time. Tonight, we sleep and resume tomorrow. Got it?"
They all nodded, the energy settling as they prepared for the next day.