Chapter 44: The Price
Morning came fast at the academy, training grounds already busy by the time the sun cleared the eastern wall, squads forming up for combat drills against practice constructs shaped like the high-class Aberrations they’d faced weeks earlier, while a separate cluster of Guides worked through channeling exercises off to the side.
Reid stood near the edge of the field, arms crossed, watching the fake Julian settle in among the other Guides with visible hesitation, and felt that same cold unease from the day before creep back into his chest despite everything he’d told himself since.
’stay quiet about it,’ he reminded himself, jaw tight. ’the Emperor said watch, not confront. don’t spook it.’
Still, he kept close, closer than strictly necessary, eyes tracking every small movement, every flicker of confusion the fake Julian couldn’t quite hide when an instructor called out a drill name that should have meant something to the real Julian and clearly meant nothing at all to this one.
"you don’t remember the formation drills," the instructor said, brow furrowed.
"I told you," the fake Julian said quickly, voice pitched into that same careful, apologetic fragility it always fell back on, "everything before the mountain is still so blurry."
The instructor let it go, sympathy winning out over suspicion, and Reid’s jaw tightened further.
Logan approached not long after, hovering at the edge of the field with visible uncertainty before finally closing the distance. "Julian," he said, careful. "can we talk. properly, this time."
The fake Julian offered a small, weak smile. "of course."
"I know you’ve been through a lot," Logan said, voice quiet, sincere in a way that made the creature’s borrowed instincts sharpen with interest, filing away every detail of the exchange. "I meant what I said before you disappeared. I want to earn back whatever I broke between us. I’m not asking for anything right now, just... I wanted you to know that hasn’t changed."
"thank you," the fake Julian said softly, eyes lowered, letting the silence stretch just long enough to seem thoughtful rather than empty. "I need time. but I haven’t forgotten what you said."
Logan nodded, something hopeful settling behind his eyes, completely unaware of how carefully calculated the response actually was.
Mika drifted past a few minutes later, predictably unable to resist a comment, arms crossed as he looked the fake Julian up and down with open disdain. "still recovering, I see," he said, voice dripping with false sympathy. "must be nice, getting all this attention for doing absolutely nothing useful."
The fake Julian said nothing, simply looked away, and Mika, apparently bored without a reaction to feed off, wandered away with his usual huff of dissatisfaction.
Jayden arrived last, expression tight with the same worry he’d worn every day since Julian’s return. "how are you holding up," he asked, crouching down beside where the fake Julian sat on the training field’s edge. "really. not the version you tell everyone else."
The fake Julian studied him a moment, calculating, before offering something carefully vulnerable. "some days are harder than others," it said. "today’s one of the harder ones."
Jayden’s hand came to rest gently on his shoulder, and the creature let it stay there, cataloguing the gesture, the trust behind it, filing away exactly how much further this particular thread of access might eventually be pulled.
---
Deep beneath Xavier’s territory, Julian sat with his back against cold stone, staring at nothing, the fox curled tense beside him.
"system," Julian said finally, voice low and rough with exhaustion, "I need you to give me something. anything. I don’t care what it costs anymore. I’m done sitting here waiting for him to decide what happens to me next."
A long pause followed.
[There is one option this unit has not yet proposed, due to the significant risk involved.]
Julian sat up straighter. "Go ahead I’m listening."
[There exists a rare ability classification typically reserved for high-tier Sentinels... a form of spatial displacement significantly more powerful than the short-range teleportation host has already demonstrated. Properly executed, it would allow host to cross vast distances instantly, potentially far enough to escape this territory entirely and reappear near the academy itself.]
Julian’s heart leapt despite himself. "then let’s do it."
[Host should understand the cost before agreeing. This ability was never meant to be channeled by a Guide. Host’s body was not trained for it, does not possess the specialized reserves Sentinels build specifically to survive its strain. Attempting it will almost certainly leave host severely weakened afterward... potentially for several months. Guiding output may be reduced to a fraction of current capability during recovery. There is also a nonzero risk of catastrophic failure, resulting in host being stranded somewhere unknown rather than at the intended destination.]
Julian sat with that for a long moment, the fox watching him with wide, worried eyes.
"months," Julian repeated slowly. "weakened for months. and it might not even work right."
[Correct.]
"and if I don’t do it."
[Then host remains here, with no other identified path to escape, indefinitely, subject to whatever Xavier decides to do in the meantime.]
Julian closed his eyes, weighing it, the memory of Xavier’s hands on his shoulders, of that voice promising *soon* over and over, of rows of silent glass chambers holding faces that had probably once had exactly this same choice and made the wrong one, or never gotten the chance to make one at all.
"do it," Julian said, voice hard and final. "whatever it costs. I’m not staying here one more day to find out what ’soon’ actually means."
[Understood. This unit will guide host through the process. Please concentrate fully. This will hurt.]
Julian pushed himself upright, closed his eyes, and pictured the academy... the training yard, the stone corridors, Reid’s steady voice, the fox’s own trembling weight pressed tight against his side as the first pulse of unfamiliar, borrowed power began building hot and violent in his chest, far larger and far more dangerous than anything he’d ever tried to hold before.