What.
That was it. That was the whole thought. One word sitting flat in the middle of his skull while a familiar ugly brown ceiling stared back at him.
Then it hit him.
Not the regression itself as he'd felt that coming. But the where. The when. He sat up slowly and looked around the room and something cold settled in his chest that had nothing to do with the hollow.
It was a cheap inn located on the North side of the Capital. The leak stain in the corner that hadn't spread yet.
Two years in.
It wasn't the beginning. It wasn't the end. It was somewhere in the middle of a life he'd already lived. Eighteen years old, two years into a journey that had taken twelve, with a body that barely knew what it was capable of yet and a mind that knew exactly.
He almost laughed.
Ten years back. They'd taken ten years from him and dropped him here like this was mercy. He was back in the Samara domain.
He pressed his hand against his chest.
His heartbeat was steady and unbothered. The hollow sitting beneath it like a room someone had emptied in a hurry.
He stared at the ceiling for exactly three seconds. His gaze shifted to his weapon.
Ah how I've missed you, Genshi.
He was reunited with his beloved katana. He had a soft spot for his weapon.
Then he got up and started getting dressed.
The Capital was loud this time of morning. There was a strange smell of burnt ash in the air. It was the domain of fire and vigor after all so it wasn't anything strange.
Arie moved through it with his hands in his pockets and his eyes on everything. He knew this city the way he knew his own breathing. He knew every shortcut, every vendor worth stopping at, every face that was going to matter in the next six months and every face that wasn't. He'd spent years here the first time, learning it slowly, making mistakes, trusting the wrong people.
He wasn't planning on mistakes this time.
He was halfway down the main street when a group found him.
Three of them, well equipped, moving with the easy confidence of a group that had already established itself. The one in front was tall with a clean jaw and the kind of smile that knew it was working. He'd seen that smile on recruitment boards. People knew their name.
"You're Arie, right?" the tall one said. Not quite a question.
"Depends."
The smile widened. "I'm Kael. I lead the Vantage group. You've probably heard of us."
Of course he had. In his first life he'd watched them clear Samara in record time and spent approximately two weeks wishing he'd joined them instead of who he did. They were talented, organized and genuinely good at keeping people alive.
"We've had our eye on you," Kael continued. "A solid fighter with no group yet. We have an opening. Honestly you'd be lucky as we don't approach many people."
Arie looked at him.
Then he looked at the other two behind him. Both capable, both watching him with that expression of people who already considered this a done deal.
"No," Arie said.
Kael blinked. "Sorry?"
"I'm not interested."
The smile flickered for just a second. "We're one of the top ranked groups in the Capital. Our last trial run was—"
"I heard you." Arie nodded once, politely, the way you nod at someone you're never going to think about again. "Not interested. Good luck with your trials."
He walked away before Kael could find his next sentence.
He found them exactly where he knew they'd be.
A small group tucked into the corner of the market square, away from the busy recruitment boards, away from the noise. There was no banner, no crowd gathered around them, nobody stopping to look twice. Just four people sitting on a low wall sharing a meal and talking quietly among themselves.
They were nobody. Completely, thoroughly, nobody.
Arie stopped in front of them.
Four faces looked up at him. He knew all of them. Every name, every fighting style, every habit, every specific way each one of them was useful and every specific way each one of them would eventually decide he was too dangerous to keep around.
Demi noticed him first. She always did. That sharp attention that missed nothing was the thing that made her invaluable and the thing that had made her dangerous.
"Can we help you?" she asked.
"I want to join your group."
There was silence.
They looked at each other. Then back at him. The specific silence of people trying to figure out if they were being mocked.
"We're not exactly—" one of the others started.
"I know what you are," Arie said. "I still want in."
Demi was watching him carefully. That look she got when she was calculating something. He remembered that look. He'd trusted it once.
"You just turned down Vantage," she said slowly. "I saw that from here."
"You were watching?"
"It was hard not to. Everyone was watching." She tilted her head slightly. "Why join us?"
Arie looked at her. Completely calm, completely open, giving away absolutely nothing.
"I like the odds better," he said.
Another silence. Then Rosh sitting at the end of the wall let out a short laugh. "He's insane," he said, but not unkindly.
Demi looked at Arie for a long moment. He held her gaze without effort.
"Fine," she said finally. "You're in."
Arie sat down with them and smiled like he hadn't died by their hands.