John found Almond, Lily, Rudra, and Ainen on the gathering ground three days after the homecoming, and he didn't waste time working up to what he'd come to say.
"They asked me not to tell you where," he said. "Not out of secrecy. Out of pride. They wanted to prove they could survive it before anyone came looking."
"How do you know they're surviving it?" Lily asked.
"Because I check," John said simply. "Quietly. From a distance they can't feel. Nine people, alive, and getting stronger faster than most anyone I've ever pointed at that place." He met Almond's eyes squarely. "You could go pull them out today. You have the power for it."
Almond was quiet for a long moment.
"No," he said finally. "They didn't destroy their decks because they wanted rescuing. They did it because they wanted the same chance we had." He looked at Lily, then Rudra, then Ainen, and found the same understanding waiting in all three. "We let them earn it. The same way we did."
