Day 372. 06:00 hours.
The central mansion.
The Atrium.
The narra table.
Breakfast.
The household gathered; one day left, twenty-four hours until the seven arrived.
Hua served rice, soup, fish; the fish was good.
Nearly nine months pregnant with Eun-hae, her belly heavy under the apron, Hua waddled between kitchen and table; she moved slower than last week, but she didn't stop, due Day 388, days away, and she still ran the kitchen because that was what Hua did.
"Sit down, Hua" Jae-min ordered with worry, watching her.
"I will sit when the food is served" Hua countered with defiance, steady; she set the last plate down, then sat, hand on her belly, breathing heavy: days away.
Jae-min sat at the head with Alessia on his lap; nearly six months pregnant with Jin, her glow warm against his chest, his dark eyes moved across the table: working, even at breakfast.
Alessia's hand rested on her belly — doctor and patient, carrying the heir; Jin pulsed soft amber inside her, four months to go, Day 482, Medical and Support commander, she had stockpiled the hospital for casualties; she braced, ready, or trying to be.
Ji-yoo sat on Jae-min's left; she hadn't slept, she had spent the night in the command deck with Mei tracking the ship, Soulcleaver leaned against the wall behind her chair; the Right Hand steeled herself, ready.
Anna sat beside Ji-yoo; two days in the compound, she had learned the names, faces, and routines, she had trained with Strike Team yesterday, knife in her boot, CQC Preta-trained; the new Right Hand kept her hand under the table, close to Ji-yoo's, she stayed grounded, here.
Min-joo sat beside Anna; his black eyes watched his girlfriend's face — the hands, the closeness, the way Ji-yoo and Anna moved together.
"There's something there, something Ji-yoo isn't telling me; I won't ask, not before the war" Min-joo ached with suspicion, filing it cold, he stayed patient.
He filed it; Hell Katana at his hip, Shadow power banked, Asura captain, Hua Chen's counter, he had trained yesterday, moving through shadow; he readied himself.
Yue sat at the far end, jian on her hip; she had drilled Blink and extraction yesterday, the cracks in her marble skin showed more since she held Little Jae-min, softer now; she would Blink the team out if everything failed, she resolved with duty, ready.
Gabriel sat beside Yue, bounce quiet; golden eyes on Jae-min, two days without a kiss since Little Jae-min's birth, waiting, frame substitute, pilot without a frame, Solar Wind was aerial support; she would fly, she hungered with need, ready.
Jennifer sat with the Omni-Mind, blue eyes soft but focused; passive broadcast checked the household's mood — no alarm, one of the five who knew about the regression, about Anna, she guarded the secret; she centered with calm, ready.
Elaine sat at the table, nearly nine months pregnant with Elena; due Day 398, days away, Command Team, Haitao's daughter, Jae-min's sixth wife, she watched Federation comms and worked with Mei; spy, she focused with intent, ready.
Paolo stood at the door with his four: Carmen, Esperanza, Sofia, Lina; all nearly eight months pregnant, all waddling, Marco, Mara, Diego, Bella — five weeks to go, Day 406, they wouldn't fight, they would hold in the hospital with the babies and Little Jae-min; not ready for battle, they steeled with resolve, ready to hold.
Mei sat in her wheelchair with Chocho, violet-blue eyes on her tablet; the data genius tracked the ship, tracked the seven, she had the coordinates; the brain calculated with precision, ready.
Yi Chen sat at the corner, golden eyes steady; Deva captain, he had betrayed his family and knew the seven, he would fight his own relatives; he resolved with grief, ready.
Sakura sat beside Yi Chen; Deva vice captain, she had chosen, defector, she anchored with loyalty, here.
Haitao sat opposite with James; Gedo Group, Command Team, restored hands flat on the table, surgical eyes steady, Sight Destruction took eyes; captain, commander, he steadied with purpose, ready.
Wei Chen and Ji-hoon Park stood behind; Strike Team reserves, they had trained yesterday, they braced with discipline, ready.
Vasquez, coalition captain; Earth Manipulation had built the wall that held against 108, would it hold against seven? She was reinforcing it now, making it deeper; she fortified with determination, ready.
Yoona, Asura vice captain; Min-joo's second, she would hold the Asura line; she steeled with grit, ready.
Sera; Lightning — Signature B, her beacon had burned the sky, Olympus Defense; she sparked with power, ready.
Mark Jordan; Black Hell Flame was the forge, R&D commander, Yu Chen's counter with Heat, amber eyes steady; he banked with control, ready.
Aiko; Metal Manipulation — steel obeyed, Olympus Defense; she hardened with will, ready.
Rico wasn't at the table; hospital with Marie and Little Jae-min, he hadn't left, Olympus Defense commander working from the hospital, running wall defense from Marie's bedside; uncle, he focused with care, ready.
The household ate; one day left.
"One day" Jae-min declared with certainty, captain's voice quiet and steady; "the seven arrive tomorrow, dawn, Day 373, the ship, seven fundamentals, the real force."
The table went still.
"Mei, status" Jae-min requested with command, looking at her.
"Ship departed Taipei 10:00 Day 370, course south, twelve knots; ETA Manila Bay: Day 373, 05:00 hours, dawn" Mei reported with precision, fingers moving on the tablet.
She scrolled: "Ship carries seven Enhanced signatures, fundamental-tier, all confirmed; four known: Wei Chen, Ling Chen, Yu Chen, Hua Chen, three unknown — signatures found, not identified; no change in course, no escort, the seven are coming."
"One day" Jae-min confirmed with resolve; "one day to prepare, one day to train, one day to hold."
"The compound holds" the table echoed with unity.
— • • • —
Day 372. 08:00 hours.
The compound.
Training yard.
South wall interior.
Final training.
Strike Team assembled; eight: Jae-min, Ji-yoo, the woman in white, Yue, Mark Jordan, Gabriel, Anna, Min-joo, the eight who would fight, the counters and the reserve.
Jae-min stood at the center.
"Last day" Jae-min announced with focus; "tomorrow: the seven, today: we finish preparing, scenarios, counters, combinations, four known, three unknown."
"Gravity" he continued with strategy, "Wei Chen, I counter; space versus gravity, gravity crushes — space holds, gravity pins — space moves, I open the void tear, I close it, I'm the anchor, the exit, I counter Gravity."
He raised his right hand; the void hummed, a three-meter hole tore open, training yard visible through it; stable, the exit, the anchor.
"Force" he pressed with planning, "Ling Chen, Ji-yoo counters; gravity and force versus force, force pushes — gravity holds, force throws — gravity anchors, force breaks — gravity absorbs."
Ji-yoo raised her hand; gravity hummed, Soulcleaver formed — eight feet of packed gravitational energy, her prime weapon; her counter to Force.
"Heat" Jae-min measured with analysis, "Yu Chen, Mark Jordan counters; Black Hell Flame versus Heat, heat melts — the flame is hotter, heat burns — the flame doesn't burn, heat destroys — the flame eats."
Mark Jordan raised his hand; Black Hell Flame lit up, burning without fuel, the forge, his amber eyes turned orange-black; banked, ready.
"Shadow" Jae-min finished with clarity, "Hua Chen, Min-joo counters; Shadow versus Shadow, only Shadow user in the compound, shadow hides — shadow finds, shadow moves — shadow tracks, shadow kills — shadow hunts."
Min-joo raised his hand; he vanished, the yard empty, then not empty — he reappeared three meters left, Asura Hell Katana in hand; the counter to Shadow.
"The four known" Jae-min summarized with order; "counters set, four fundamentals, match is even, reserve: the woman in white, Yue, Gabriel, Anna, you adapt, you respond."
He looked to the woman in white on the east wall.
"Blades, regeneration" Jae-min instructed with trust; "you hold the line, if counters fail, you hold, regeneration keeps you standing, katanas keep the enemy back; you're the wall that doesn't fall."
She nodded; green eyes behind goggles, dual katanas on her back, the wall.
"Yue, Space, Blink, Extraction" Jae-min directed with faith; "you pull out the wounded, you Blink the team out if everything fails; you're the safety, the exit when I can't hold the tear."
Yue nodded; marble, jian on her hip, the safety.
"Gabriel, Solar Wind, Aerial" Jae-min addressed with confidence; "you fly, you scout, you see what we can't from the ground, you strike from above; you're the air."
Gabriel nodded; golden eyes, bounce returning, the air.
"Anna, CQC, Knife" Jae-min finished with trust; "you fight close, fast; you're the Right Hand, you fight beside Ji-yoo, cover her, cover the team; you're the knife."
Anna nodded; knife in hand, CQC Preta-trained, the knife.
"The three unknown" Jae-min stated with gravity, voice dropping; "we don't know their powers, their skills, their names, Yi Chen couldn't brief us; the Chen Family hid them."
He paused.
"They're the reserve, the backup" Jae-min explained with caution; "the Chen Family sends them only if the first four fail, if the first four fail, the three come; we'll be fighting seven, not four, seven against eight, still in our favor, but unknown."
"Seven against eight is in our favor, but we can't counter what we don't know" Jae-min calculated with cold logic, behind his dark eyes.
"So we adapt" he declared with resolve; "reserve adapts, woman in white, Yue, Gabriel, Anna — you four are the flex team; you react to whatever the three bring, you adapt, you counter, you hold."
"Today: we train the scenarios" Jae-min ordered with command; "four known, combinations, what if Gravity and Force work together? Heat and Shadow? All four at once? We train, we prepare, we hold."
"Train" the team echoed with discipline.
Training began.
Captain as void; twin as gravity and force, woman in white as blades, marble as Blink, man as Black Hell Flame, wife as Solar Wind, Right Hand as knife, Asura captain as shadow.
First scenario: Gravity and Force; Jae-min and Ji-yoo faced each other, Jae-min opened a void tear to take the gravity, Ji-yoo sent a gravity field to stop the push.
Space against gravity, gravity against space; Del Rosario twins, powers that match, they had trained together since Day 10, they moved as one.
"Good" Jae-min assessed with approval, watching them; "if Wei Chen and Ling Chen work together — Gravity holds, Force breaks — I hold space, Ji-yoo holds gravity; two of us against two of them, even."
"Even" Ji-yoo confirmed with exertion, breathing hard, scythe humming.
Second scenario: Heat and Shadow; Mark Jordan versus Min-joo, Black Hell Flame against shadow.
The flame missed the shadow, the shadow missed the flame; counter to Heat and Shadow, learning each other.
"The shadow stays out of the flame" Min-joo noted with focus, reappearing; "if Yu Chen and Hua Chen work together — Heat burns the ground, Shadow kills in the chaos — I stay in shadow, track Hua Chen, hunt her, Mark Jordan takes Yu Chen."
"Correct" Jae-min confirmed with approval; "Min-joo hunts Hua Chen, Mark Jordan takes Yu Chen; separate fights, don't let them join up, separate and engage one by one."
"Separate and engage" the team echoed with understanding.
Third scenario: all four at once; Strike Team moved as one, Jae-min held void, Ji-yoo held gravity, Mark Jordan held flame, Min-joo held shadow, woman in white held the front, Yue held extraction, Gabriel held the air, Anna held the flank.
The eight moved as one.
"If all four attack at once: we hold" Jae-min declared with absolute faith; "counters take their matches, reserve holds the line, woman in white: front, Yue: extraction, Gabriel: aerial, Anna: flank; the eight hold, the eight do not break."
"Do not break" the team echoed with conviction.
"The three unknown" Jae-min pressed with urgency; "if they show up: reserve adapts, you four react; whatever they bring — you counter, you adapt, you hold, they're the unknown factor, the risk; we can't plan for them, so we plan to adapt."
"Adapt" the team echoed with readiness.
Training went on, hour after hour; scenarios, the eight prepared, ready, or trying to be.
Anna trained with Ji-yoo; knives talking, bodies understanding, they moved together — Right Hand and contact, no words needed.
"She moves with me, like she always has; her body knows mine, two days and we move like two years" Ji-yoo felt with wonder, the feeling raw and warm.
"My body knows her, moves with her; I don't know how or why, but my body remembers something my mind doesn't" Anna shivered with confusion, something older than thought waking up.
Min-joo watched; black eyes on the two, he saw the sync, the way Anna guessed Ji-yoo's move, Ji-yoo guessed Anna's.
"There's something there, something I don't get, something Ji-yoo isn't telling me; hers, I won't ask, not before the war, after, I will." Min-joo ached with jealousy, filing it cold and patient.
He filed it; didn't ask, patient.
The training yard held; Strike Team trained, the last day began.
— • • • —
Day 372. 10:00 hours.
Central mansion.
command deck.
Level 2.
Mei sat at the twelve-monitor hub, Chocho in her lap, violet-blue eyes on screens; the brain monitoring.
The ship moved south on her screens; carrying the seven, one day away.
"Captain" Mei called through comms with clinical detachment; "ship status: course south, twelve knots, no change, no escort, seven signatures stable, four known, three unknown; ETA Day 373, 05:00 hours, dawn, twenty hours."
"Twenty hours" Jae-min confirmed with tension from the training yard.
"Manusya comms" Mei continued with focus, scrolling; "Wang Li called general mobilization, Manusya: thirty-six Enhanced, regular forces, getting ready to move, Naraka: pieces regrouping, Tiryagyoni: patrol groups moving, Preta: Rose McDowell, twenty-three hunters, moving."
She paused.
"The Federation is getting ready" Mei reported with warning; "regular forces will follow the seven, the seven break the wall, regular forces pour in."
"How many?" Jae-min asked with concern.
"About eighty" Mei answered with precision; "eighty regular Enhanced, Signature B and C, plus seven fundamentals, eighty-seven total; against the compound's 102 Enhanced, numbers are good, but seven fundamentals are the problem; they're the tip of the spear, they break the wall, eighty are the wave."
"The wall holds" Jae-min stated with defiance; "it held against 108, it holds against eighty-seven."
"The wall held against 108, but they weren't fundamental-tier" Mei countered with logic; "the seven are, Yu Chen: Heat, earth melts, the wall is earth; it may not hold against Heat."
"The wall may not hold" Jae-min confirmed with realism; "if it falls: we fight inside, seven mansions, heated corridor, buildings, street by street, room by room; if the wall falls: the interior holds."
"The interior" Mei confirmed with planning; "seven mansions, heated corridor, Olympus Defense holds the interior, Strike Team takes the seven, Deva takes left side, Asura takes right, coalition holds center; if the wall falls: the interior holds."
"The interior holds" Jae-min confirmed with resolve; "Mei, keep watching, every move, every message, every signature; I want to know the second the ship enters Manila Bay, the second the seven move, everything."
"Everything" Mei confirmed with duty; the brain, the eyes, ready.
— • • • —
Day 372. 12:00 hours.
Hospital.
Marie's master suite.
Rico had come downstairs; Olympus Defense commander running wall defense from the hospital, from the desk cleared of bandages and covered in maps.
Marie lay in bed, four days after birth; listening, she had opinions, she always had opinions.
"The wall" Rico began with concern, M4 against the wall beside him; "Vasquez is reinforcing, Earth Manipulation, deeper base, thicker top, stronger than two days ago; but Mei's right, the wall is earth, Yu Chen: Heat, heat melts earth, it may not hold against a fundamental-tier Heat user."
"Then don't let him reach the wall" Marie declared with conviction from the bed; steady, auntie who was right.
"Marie" Rico murmured with affection, turning.
"The wall is earth, heat melts earth, so don't let heat touch earth" Marie pressed with certainty; clear, certain, "Mark Jordan counters Yu Chen, Black Hell Flame is hotter; Mark Jordan hits Yu Chen before Yu Chen reaches the wall, fight happens outside the wall, not on it."
"She's right, fight happens outside the wall; Mark Jordan hits Yu Chen before he reaches it, the wall is the second layer, not the first" Rico realized with clarity; sharp, precise.
He stared at his wife; heard, understood.
"You want Strike Team to hit the seven outside the wall" Rico measured with understanding; "before they reach it."
"Outside the wall" Marie confirmed with strategy; "seven are fundamental-tier, trained for war, but they're seven; compound has eight in Strike Team, plus Deva, plus Asura, plus coalition, hit them outside, in the open, where we have numbers, space; don't let them reach the wall, don't let Yu Chen melt it, fight them out there."
"Out there" Rico repeated with agreement; processed, filed, agreed, "hit outside the wall, Strike Team meets the seven south of the wall, open ground, Deva and Asura flank, coalition holds the wall; if Strike Team fails, wall is backup, if wall fails, interior is backup."
"Three layers" Marie stated with certainty; certain, "Strike Team, Wall, Interior; the seven have to break all three, seven cannot break three layers."
"Seven cannot break three layers" Rico confirmed with belief; he picked up comms, called Jae-min: "Jae-min, new plan, your auntie has opinions."
"Auntie always has opinions" Jae-min answered with fondness, smiling through comms; listening.
"Hit outside the wall" Rico reported with clarity; "Strike Team meets the seven south of the wall, open ground, seven never reach the wall, Yu Chen never melts it; fight happens out there, Deva and Asura flank, coalition holds the wall, three layers: Strike Team, Wall, Interior."
"Three layers" Jae-min repeated with acceptance; heard, processed, agreed, "Auntie is right."
"Your auntie is always right" Rico confirmed with pride.
"I'm always right" Marie affirmed with humor from the bed; smiling, tired, happy, right.
"New plan" Jae-min declared through comms with authority; "hit outside the wall, Strike Team south, open ground, seven meet Strike Team before they reach the wall; three layers, Strike Team, Wall, Interior, they break all three or they fail."
"Or they fail" the comms echoed with resolve.
Marie lay back; four days after birth, she had just changed the battle plan from her bed.
"Auntie" Jae-min whispered with warmth; "you just changed the defense plan from a hospital bed."
"I have opinions" Marie answered with humor, smiling.
"You have opinions" Rico confirmed with love, smiling; loving, here.
— • • • —
Day 372. 14:00 hours.
Compound.
South wall.
Parapet.
Jae-min walked the wall, boots crunching frost-covered stone; spatial sense reached three kilometers, passive, south, field, snow, approach.
Open ground south of the wall; the field where the seven would arrive, where Strike Team would meet them, Marie's plan.
Flat, snow-covered; two hundred meters of open ground between wall and dead tree line, trees frozen since the freeze, clear field, no cover, no hiding; seven would cross it, Strike Team would meet them there.
"Vasquez" Jae-min called with focus on the parapet, eyes on the field.
"Captain" Vasquez answered with respect; Earth Manipulation had built the wall, her hands on the stone, she felt the earth.
"The wall" Jae-min asked with inquiry; "status."
"Reinforced" Vasquez reported with confidence; "base five meters below frost line, top three meters thick, wall four meters above frost line, earth packed, pressed; strong."
She paused.
"But Miss Marie is right" Vasquez admitted with honesty; "the wall is earth, heat melts earth; if a fundamental-tier Heat user reaches it, the wall falls."
"The wall does not fall" Jae-min stated with certainty; certain, "Strike Team hits outside the wall, seven never reach it; the wall is second layer, not first."
"Three layers" Vasquez confirmed with understanding; "Strike Team, Wall, Interior; I hold the wall, coalition holds the wall, if Strike Team fails, wall holds, if wall fails, interior holds."
"The interior holds" Jae-min confirmed with faith; "Paolo holds the gate, Gabby holds the east wall, Sera holds lightning, Reyes holds the rifle, you hold the wall, coalition holds."
"The coalition holds" Vasquez confirmed with loyalty; ready.
Jae-min looked south; field, snow, trees, approach, where the seven would come, tomorrow, dawn, twenty hours.
"Twenty hours" Jae-min whispered with tension; standing on the wall, dark eyes on the field, ready, or trying to be.
— • • • —
Day 372. 16:00 hours.
Central mansion.
Master attic sanctuary.
Third floor.
Private.
Jae-min stood at the window, dark eyes on the snow; alone, thinking.
"Tomorrow, the seven, the war; eight babies, eight names, Jin: my son, my heir, four months away, Elena: Elaine's daughter, named after her mother, days away, Eun-hae: Hua's daughter, days away, Little Jae-min: Uncle's son, four days old, Marco, Mara, Diego, Bella: five weeks; eight children, eight reasons to live through tomorrow" Jae-min weighed with dread, the feeling heavy and warm and permanent.
Five wives in the master attic.
Alessia on the bed: nearly six months pregnant with Jin, glow warm.
Jennifer beside her: Omni-Mind quiet.
Yue at the far end: marble, jian on her hip.
Gabriel beside Yue: bounce quiet, golden eyes on Jae-min.
Hua at the edge: nearly nine months pregnant with Eun-hae, belly heavy; she had come upstairs because Jae-min told her to rest.
Elaine wasn't here; command deck: working, spy, Command Team, nearly nine months pregnant with Elena; working, even now.
"Come to bed" Alessia murmured with tenderness, warm and quiet; doctor who carried Jin, "you haven't slept."
"I can't sleep" Jae-min answered with exhaustion; at the window, couldn't sleep, "tomorrow, the seven, the war."
"The war" Alessia repeated with understanding; doctor who knew, pregnant, carrying the heir, "the war is tomorrow, tonight you're here, with us, with your wives, with Jin."
Jin; his son's name, the heir, the fundamental baby, four months away, the reason.
"Come to bed" Alessia repeated with patience; first wife waiting, patient, here.
"She's right, war is tomorrow; tonight I'm here, with them, with Jin, with the glow, with the warmth, tonight I'm not the captain, tonight I'm the husband, the father" Jae-min ached with love, the feeling raw and warm.
He turned from the window; dark eyes wet, husband, father, tired, here.
He crossed the room, sat on the bed; his hand found Alessia's belly, felt Jin, fundamental baby, heir, son, here.
"Tomorrow" Jae-min whispered with fear; husband's voice, "tomorrow the war, tonight this."
"Tonight this" Alessia confirmed with comfort; hand on his, glow warm, here.
Gabriel moved first; golden eyes soft, bounce quiet, she came to the bed, sat beside Jae-min, hand found his shoulder, leaned in, kissed him, full on the mouth; lip-lock, claiming, Gabriel, tonight.
"Not now, Abby" Ji-yoo interrupted with annoyance from the doorway; twin standing there, dark eyes sharp, she had come upstairs, saw the kiss, "he needs to sleep, not lip-lock."
"He needs both" Gabriel countered with mischief, pulling back; bounced, not sorry, "he needs sleep and lip-lock; the lip-lock is therapy."
"The lip-lock is NOT a therapy." Ji-yoo fired back with exasperation, crossing the room; sat on the other side, hand found Jae-min's arm, sister.
"He needs to sleep" Alessia declared with authority; first wife's voice: certain, "all of you, sleep; tomorrow the war, tonight rest."
"Rest" Gabriel repeated with compliance, laying back; golden eyes closing, tired, here.
Jae-min lay back; captain lying down, wives around him: Alessia, Jennifer, Yue, Gabriel, Hua, five here, his; hand on Alessia's belly, felt Jin, here.
"Tomorrow" Jae-min whispered with dread, barely a thread; husband, father, tired, "tomorrow the war, tonight this."
"Tonight this" the wives echoed with solidarity; five here, his.
Snow fell against the skylights; master attic, Double King bed, captain and his wives, Jin growing, Eun-hae days away, war tomorrow, rest tonight.
Jae-min closed his eyes; slept, first time in two days, rested, ready, or trying to be.
— • • • —
Day 372. 19:00 hours.
Central mansion,
Atrium.
narra table.
dinner.
The last dinner before the war.
The household gathered, together, one last time before the war; Hua's rice, Hua's soup, Hua's fish — and the fish was good: last meal before the war, quiet and knowing, tomorrow dawn, the seven.
Nobody spoke much, they ate, quiet, knowing; Jae-min sat at the head with Alessia on his lap, nearly six months pregnant with Jin, glow warm against his chest, he held his wife, dark eyes sweeping the table: here, one last time.
Ji-yoo sat on Jae-min's left, hand on Anna's hand, Right Hand's contact, here; Anna sat beside Ji-yoo, new Right Hand, dark eyes steady, ready; Min-joo sat beside Anna, black eyes on the table, Asura captain, ready.
Yue, Gabriel, Jennifer, Hua, Elaine, Paolo's four, Mei, Yi Chen, Sakura, Haitao, James, Wei Chen, Ji-hoon Park, Vasquez, Yoona, Sera, Mark Jordan, Aiko: the household, here, one last time; Rico wasn't at the table, hospital with Marie and Little Jae-min, holding the perimeter from the hospital, here in spirit.
"Tomorrow" Jae-min began with solemnity, captain's voice quiet and steady, "tomorrow dawn, the seven, the war; tonight this, the last dinner, the last night, before."
"Before" the table echoed with weight.
"I want to say something" Jae-min continued with humility, not the captain now, the man: "Thank you, to all of you, for being here, for choosing this."
His dark eyes swept the table.
"The household, the family, the compound, the wall, the war" he pressed with gratitude, steady: "You didn't have to stay, you could have left, run; you didn't, you stayed, you chose, and tomorrow we fight, together."
He paused.
"For the eight" Jae-min declared with love, voice cracking: "For Little Jae-min, for Eun-hae, for Elena, for Jin, for Marco, for Mara, for Diego, for Bella; for the next generation, for this family."
"For this family" the table echoed with conviction, here, one, ready.
"Now eat" Jae-min ordered with care, shifting back to captain: "The fish is good, Hua's fish is always good; eat, rest, tomorrow we hold."
"Hua's fish is good" the table murmured with appreciation, they ate, together, one last time.
Yi Chen spoke, Deva captain, golden eyes steady; he had betrayed his family, and tomorrow he would fight his own relatives.
"I want to say something as well" Yi Chen began with formality, "I was raised by the Chen Family, trained by the Chen Family; the seven who are coming: four are my blood — my cousin, my sister, my uncle, my aunt."
He paused.
"Tomorrow I fight them" Yi Chen declared with resolve, steady: "Tomorrow I choose this compound, again; not because I hate my family, because my family is wrong."
"The Chen Family built the cage, caused the accident, controls the machine; the Chen Family is dying, and will die fighting rather than admit they're wrong, I cannot save them, I can only choose" Yi Chen grieved with sorrow, the truth cold and absolute.
"I cannot save them" he continued with pain, voice dropping: "I can only choose, and I choose this compound, I choose the eight, I choose the next generation, I choose this."
"This" the table echoed with support.
Sakura spoke next, Deva vice captain, dark eyes steady.
"I followed Yi Chen" Sakura stated with loyalty, "I chose, I choose again; tomorrow the Deva Group holds, the Deva Group fights, for this family."
Haitao spoke, Gedo captain, restored hands on the table.
"I was a chief inspector" Haitao recounted with reflection, "I became a soldier, I became a captain, I became the leash's enemy; tomorrow I fight, for this family, for the compound, for the eight, for the truth."
James spoke, vice captain, warm voice carrying.
"Gedo investigates" James affirmed with duty, "reports; tomorrow Gedo fights, tomorrow Gedo holds, for this family."
Min-joo spoke, Asura captain, black eyes steady.
"Asura, military war group" Min-joo stated with pride; "tomorrow Asura holds the right flank, tomorrow Asura fights, for this family, for the eight."
He paused, his eyes found Ji-yoo.
"For Ji-yoo" Min-joo added with love, quiet, patient man.
"For Ji-yoo, whatever she isn't telling me, whatever she's hiding, whatever Anna is to her; tomorrow I fight for her, tomorrow I hold for her, the rest: after" Min-joo ached with longing, the knowing cold and warm.
Yoona spoke: "Asura holds" Yoona vowed with loyalty, "for this family."
The household spoke, one by one, each voice, each choice, each here; the household was one, ready.
"Now eat" Jae-min repeated with gentleness, shifting: "The fish is getting cold."
Snow fell against the skylights, narra table, Steinway, household, last dinner, last night, before the war; eight babies, eight names, the next generation, the reason.
Tomorrow: the seven, tomorrow: the war, tonight: this.
The household ate, rested, ready; or trying to be.
— • • • —
Day 372. 22:00 hours.
The compound.
The wall.
The night watch.
Paolo stood on the south gate, ice spear in hand; Snow and Ice Manipulation answered him, nearly a father: five weeks, Marco, he watched the south, the snow, the field where tomorrow the seven would come.
"Marco, my son, five weeks; tomorrow I hold the gate, tomorrow I fight, for Marco, for Carmen, for the baby that's coming, for the gate that does not fall," Paolo vowed with fierce love, the resolve cold and warm and iron.
Snow fell under a charcoal sky, minus seventy and indifferent; Paolo bent the cold to his will and held the south gate with it.
Gabby held the east wall, Glock on her hip, Ji-yoo's almost-smile ghosting her mouth as she ran perimeter watch; Sera held the north, Lightning humming faint at her fingertips — the same power that had burned a beacon across the sky.
Reyes held the watchtower, Celestial Metal arm steadying his rifle; he had requalified, he was the shot now, and he watched everything.
Vasquez held the south wall, the same Earth Manipulation that built it now ready to shatter anyone who tested it.
Five on the night watch, the perimeter held.
Dawn would bring the seven and the war; tonight was for the watch.
Inside, the compound slept, the household rested, eight babies grew.
The compound held — for the eight, for the next generation, for tomorrow.