They found Curwyn in the lounge, feet up, apparently unbothered by the events of the last hour.
"Took you long enough," he said.
"Were you waiting for us?" Levi asked.
"King's orders. He wants to see you three as soon as you're ready." Curwyn swung his legs off the furniture and stood. "Which is now, ideally."
"Can we eat something first? We haven't—"
"I know." He walked out of the lounge and came back with three energy bars and three drinks. He held them out. "These will get you through the afternoon. Let's go."
The trio ate while walking, which was not elegant but was effective. By the time they reached the palace the bars were gone and Levi's stomach had downgraded its complaints from urgent to manageable.
✦ ✦ ✦
The King was standing when they entered, which Levi noted — Gabriel had sat on his throne for formal meetings, had come down from it for people he liked. Max didn't seem to use the throne at all. He stood at the room's centre with the quality of someone who hadn't decided where his authority came from yet and didn't need the furniture to make the point.
"Good to see you're all upright," he said. "I trust Curwyn's people looked after you."
Levi kept his expression neutral and didn't look at Curwyn.
"I've done some background on the three of you," the King continued. "SSS class MK Generals. Wonder designation from your trial. The Olympicõ battle." He paused. "You've had a remarkable few months."
"We had good training," said Levi.
"You did. And now Olympia has fallen and you don't have a home to return to." Max looked at each of them in turn. "Which is why I'd like to offer you a place here. Formally. As members of the R.K Squad."
"What's the R.K Squad?" Levi asked.
"Blizzaria has two threats," Max said. "Myths — which you're familiar with — and the Forsaken Rogues. For the past decade, the Rogues have been attacking cities, towns, and villages within our borders. Not randomly. Strategically, with myths operating alongside them, the attacks coordinated in ways that suggest something organised behind them." He paused. "The R.K Squad was formed to stop them. They also handle myth incursions when needed."
A decade, Levi thought. Strategic, myth-assisted, unpredictable. Someone running a plan. He'd heard that pattern before.
"We'd be honoured to join," he said.
"Good." Max looked at something in Levi's expression. "You're filing something."
"The Rogues' pattern sounds familiar," said Levi. "I'll tell you when I know more."
Max held his gaze for a moment — the specific consideration of someone deciding whether to push — and let it go. "One more thing. King Gabriel's daughter has asked to join the squad. She'll be coming to the HQ soon."
"Charlotte," Levi said.
"We saw her when we woke up," Sylvia said quietly. "She and Queen Abigail are here. Gabriel sent them during the attack." She paused. "Before."
The room was quiet for a moment.
"She's been through a great deal," Max said simply. "Look after her." He nodded to Curwyn. "They're yours."
✦ ✦ ✦
"Welcome to the R.K Squad," Curwyn said, as they walked back. "Before I introduce you to everyone — context. This squad is made up of people who lost family to the Rogues. The king saw what that kind of loss does to people who are already talented, and decided to direct it toward something. Every person in this squad is here because of what they survived and what they're capable of." He looked at them. "He must see the same thing in you."
"No pressure," said Priscilla.
"All the pressure," said Curwyn. "Come on."
The training room was occupied — the kind of occupied that suggested these were people who trained because they couldn't stop rather than because they were scheduled to. The energy in the room was focused and specific, the way people were focused who had grown up in difficulty and learned to channel it.
"Curwyn's back," said one of them — a young woman who looked up from her sparring with the uncomplicated pleasure of someone who liked most things and showed it.
"With new blood," said Curwyn. "Pay attention." He moved through the room as he talked, pointing as he went. "Those two are the Twinz — Kylie and Kiyandra. Fight freaks. If you want to improve your hand-to-hand, they're your people. Best sparring partners in the squad."
The twins looked enough alike that it took a moment to notice they weren't identical — same build, same quality of stillness that belonged to people who were always reading their surroundings, but different eyes. Kylie waved. Kiyandra assessed.
"The short one is Zoe." Curwyn pointed. "Best healer in the squad, one of the best in the kingdom. She is also, for reasons that remain unclear to me, the person everyone here goes to with their problems."
"I'm approachable," said Zoe, with the confidence of someone who had never questioned this about herself.
"She is extremely approachable," Curwyn confirmed. "Ross—"
Ross had apparently been mid-exercise when they entered and had not stopped. He finished his set, stood, and turned around, and the physical presence of him required a moment to process. "Vice-captain," said Curwyn. "Multiple martial arts disciplines. Also — and I say this with full professional respect — the gym has become a significant part of his identity."
Ross struck a pose that was entirely unironic and entirely committed. Priscilla pressed her lips together. Sylvia looked at the ceiling.
"And finally," said Curwyn, "Winters. Kylie, go get him."
Kylie disappeared. A minute passed. Then the door opened and the temperature in the room dropped — not dramatically, not enough to see your breath, but enough that the quality of the air changed and everyone in it registered it without being told to.
Winters was tall and unhurried, with the specific posture of someone who moved at their own pace because they had decided long ago that the world could either wait for them or not. He looked at the three newcomers with the focused attention of someone who had been told something was interesting and was verifying.
"Finally," said Kiyandra.
"My apologies for the delay," said Winters, without particular apology.
"Winters," said Curwyn. "Brains of the squad. Lazy, but exceptionally smart when he chooses to be."
"You actually complimented me," said Winters. "Unusual."
"Don't get used to it." Curwyn turned to the trio. "Everyone, these are Levi, Sylvia, and Priscilla. R.K Squad as of today."
—
"Arcana Flux abilities?" Winters asked, cutting straight to it with the focused directness of someone for whom this was the relevant data.
"Lightning," said Levi.
"Telekinesis," said Priscilla.
"Hybrid — fire and enhancement," said Sylvia.
"A hybrid," said Winters. "Rare, especially here." Something shifted in his expression — not warmth, but genuine interest. "Good set of abilities, all three."
"What are yours?" Levi asked.
They went around the room. Zoe: healing Arcana, near the top of the kingdom's practitioners though she acknowledged Kesiah was in a different category entirely. Curwyn: cloning Arcana — people, objects, abilities with a DNA sample. The twins: what Kylie called martial arts Arcana and then amended to chi Flux, the manipulation of chi energy expressed through martial arts forms.
"I'm having trouble visualising it," said Levi. "Can you demonstrate?"
Kylie turned to the ultimatium pillar at the room's edge. She settled into her stance, inhaled, and the chi gathered visibly in her hand — a concentration that was different from Flux, older somehow, the specific quality of an energy that had been cultivated rather than inherited. She exhaled.
"Fist of the Azure Dragon."
The chi released in the form of the name — a dragon shape, blue, striking the pillar with enough force to leave a significant dent in the ultimatium. The sound it made was the sound of something that hadn't held back.
"That's—" Sylvia stopped, genuinely arrested. "That's not something I've seen before."
"I'd like to spar with you both," Levi said to the twins. "When there's time."
"We'd like that," said Kylie.
"Kiyandra?" Levi asked.
"When you're ready," said Kiyandra. The implication in it was not unkind.
Ross: sound Arcana Flux, which he demonstrated by saying nothing and letting his Arcana do a brief thing in the air that made everyone's back teeth feel strange for a second. Effective, Levi thought. Concise.
"And Winters?" Levi asked.
"Ice Arcana," said Winters, with the tone of someone performing mild reluctance around something they had actually come to terms with long ago.
Levi looked at him. "I thought so. You have a similar quality to King Max but colder." He paused. "That's not an insult."
Winters studied him. "You noticed that from one meeting with him."
"I notice things."
"So do I." Winters looked at him for another moment. "We'll get along."
"I think so," said Levi.
"New bestie," said Zoe.
"Don't," said Winters.
✦ ✦ ✦
"All right," said Curwyn. "Now that everyone's introduced — sparring session. Let's see what the new blood can do." He looked at his squad and at the trio and made a decision. "Sylvia and Kylie. First up."
The room rearranged itself — people moving to the edges, the training space opening up. Kylie rolled her shoulders and stepped to the centre with the loose ease of someone who was comfortable in this context. Sylvia stepped out to meet her.
"Show them what you've got, Sylvie," said Levi.
"Obviously," said Sylvia, and activated her 2nd Form.
Levi watched her transform and felt something stop in his chest.
The fire that came up wasn't orange. It wasn't the red-gold of her ordinary 2nd form or the orange-red of the 3rd form he'd watched her use for months. The tips were blue — not the desperate blue of the Blazed Furnace she'd found in grief in Olympicõ, but something steadier. A permanent shift in the colour of her ability, running as the baseline of her 2nd form the way orange had run as the baseline before.
She's evolved, he thought. While we were recovering, while everything was happening — she crossed a threshold. Her Intermediate Phase. The fusion that had been the Blazed Furnace became her foundation.
He looked at Priscilla beside him. She had seen it too — her expression carrying the same quiet recognition.
Across the training room, the R.K Squad members were looking at Sylvia's flames with the specific attention of people who understood what they were seeing and had updated their assessment of the new blood accordingly.
Kylie, in the centre of the room, studied the blue-tipped fire for a moment. Then she settled into her stance with the expression of someone who was genuinely pleased to have a real match.
Sylvia looked at her across the training room floor. The blue fire ran steady and hot.
The sparring session began.