The laboratory had fallen back into a fragile calm.
The security systems hummed softly, as if denying what had just occurred. The traces of the confrontation had been erased, but not the tension still hanging in the air.
Elias supported Tiana as they moved through the glass corridors. His pace was slow, measured. He watched every step, as if a single misstep might break her further. Tiana was breathing with difficulty, but she remained standing—by will more than by strength.
They stopped in front of Alaric Vale's office.
Elias entered first.
Tiana followed.
Alaric looked up from his files. He did not need to ask any questions. He immediately saw the exhaustion, the injury, and that silent determination that did not ask permission to exist.
"I'm listening," he said simply.
Elias took a deep breath.
"Master… we can no longer stay here."
His voice was firm, but restrained. He was not pleading. He was stating a fact.
"What happened tonight was not an accident," he continued. "Someone tried to steal ASTREA. And it won't be the last time."
Tiana gently tightened her grip on the white plant before speaking.
"This world is becoming too fast," she said. "Too greedy. We are creating things we no longer control… and we call it progress."
Alaric remained silent. His hands slowly came to rest on the desk.
"We want to leave," Elias said. "Leave everything. The Order. The titles. The laboratories. The weapons. We want to live elsewhere. Differently."
The silence stretched.
Alaric studied Tiana. Her pallor. Her still-fresh wound. And above all, the plant she refused to let go of—a mute reminder of what she was truly protecting.
"You understand the cost of this decision," he said at last. "The world will not forget you. And some of those you leave behind will never forgive you."
"We know," Elias replied without hesitation.
Tiana nodded.
"Leaving is not running away," she added. "It is refusing to become what we are fighting."
Alaric closed his eyes for a moment.
When he opened them, his decision had already been made.
"Very well," he said. "I will not stop you."
Elias held his breath.
"But remember," Alaric continued, "leaving the Order will not protect you from the world. It will force you to create something new. Something fragile."
He stood.
"If you fail… I will come. Not to punish you. To help you."
Elias bowed his head.
Tiana felt tears rise in her eyes.
"Thank you," she whispered.
They left the office together.
Behind them, Alaric remained alone, motionless, aware that by letting them go, he might have just saved two lives…
or condemned thousands.