She reached across the table and took his hand.
"I don't want you to go," she said, with the particular honesty she reserved for moments that mattered most. "I want you here, close, present. That's the truth, and I'm not going to dress it up as anything else." She met his eyes. "But I also know that every day you stay here, Chronus gets closer to finishing. And the people already inside whatever boundary he's drawing—"
"—get closer to being permanently gone," Satou finished.
"Yes." She squeezed his hand. "So go. Not alone — take Seraphina at minimum. And you check in with me. Every day. If you can't reach me directly, you find a way to send word through Morgana's relay."
"Every day," Satou agreed.
"And the moment you have a location — the moment you know where he is — you tell me before you do anything else. I need to know."
"I will."
"And you come back," she said. "After."
