Sky's breath caught in his throat. His feet were rooted to the ground. Outside the hospital, all was quiet. The battle wasn't over, but in a sort of pause. The squids could come again at any time. And that's exactly why Sky couldn't move.
   Because he knew what Void was going to say. What he was going to do. And he was terrified.
   He felt a prescience beside him and he didn't have to look to know what it was.
   "Amanda, Turner, and Rent are all dead." Seto said softly. "Tom is unconscious, serious concussion."
   Sky took a deep breath. "Every single leader is unable to fight." He said. "Damn Teuthidans are getting smarter..."
   Seto looked at him sadly, then at the closed door in front of him. "...What are you waiting for...?"
   Sky hesitated. "Courage."
   "...I understand..."
   Sky sighed and looked at Seto. "Seto... Were you there when..."
   Seto swallowed. "I don't want to talk about it."
   "I get that..." Sky nodded.
   "...Don't waste any time." Seto said. "You should get in there."
   Sky winced. "Is it that bad?"
   Seto shook his head. "Old man's stubborn. But there's no telling when he's gonna pass out."
   Sky didn't reply, staring at the door.
   Seto stared at him, his expression emotional and yet somehow unreadable. "...How long has your eye been like that?"
   Sky looked at him quickly, then sighed loudly. "Don't sorry about it."
   "No, no." Seto grabbed his arm. "I'm your doctor, I have to know."
   Sky groaned. "Alright, alright... Fine. It's been like this three years. Ty was born blind, I donated the piece of my right eye he needed. So now we can both see out of one eye. Happy?"
   Seto nodded. "Seems like something you would do."
   Sky just looked back at the door. "...I'm going in..."
   "You should."
   Neither moved.
   Sky was completely still, before he covered his eyes with one hand. "I-I know what he's going to say..."
   "He has no choice." Seto said softly. "You have to trust him. You can do this."
   Sky wasn't wholly convinced, but he nodded. Seto lingered beside him a few seconds longer before he was called frantically to help other patients. Sky stared at the door for several long moments.

   "Adam?" My mom said, but I barley heard her.
   I couldn't go in there, I couldn't handle saying goodbye to him. The most important person in the world to me. I couldn't do it. I took a shaky step back. "I-I can't..."
   "Adam." Ty said my name, but I just didn't hear it. I just couldn't do it. Yesterday my dad and I were making plans for a road trip, now he was dying in a hospital. I couldn't handle it.
  Then, suddenly, we could hear his heart monitor flatline in his room.
  I instantly regretted everything.
  "DAD!"

  Sky closed his eyes and took a deep, shaky breath. Then he lifted a trembling hand and as a wave of bravery flowed through him and he pushed open the door.
  Again, his breath caught in his throat as he stepped into the room. Void was laying there on the bed, his leg bandaged. His eyes were closed, his face pale. But he was breathing. He wasn't wearing his amulet. Sky gulped as he stood silently.
   Then Void smirked slightly. "Just gonna stand there, Rookie?"
   Sky let out an internal sigh of relief. His voice was still strong, even though he looked exhausted. His sharp green eyes opened and he looked up, raising an eyebrow expectantly.
   Sky shuffled over anxiously and sat on the edge of the bed.
   Void closed his eyes again. "Seto doing good?"
   "Y-Yeah, yeah, Remi trained him well... He's just a little overwhelmed."
   "Well there's been a lot of injuries." Void said. "What about the others?"
   "...Amanda and Turner are dead... Tom's unconscious."
   "Damn... Tom doesn't have an apprentice." Void sighed.
   Sky didn't reply, looking down. Void looked up at him, the two talent for over a minute. "...You're a smart kid. You know what comes next."
   Sky cursed. "CV, I can't!"
   "Hey, I didn't train you for three years to hear those words come out of your mouth." Void said. "You can, and you have no choice. I'm sorry kid, it's your time to shine. Not only can I not stand, but I'm old. This would've happened sooner or later."
   Sky sighed shakily, looking out the window. "I know..."
   Void stared at him sadly. "...You can do this."
   "What if it can't? People are depending on me now."
   "You can't think like that." Void said. "...Rookie, you wanna know why I chose you as my apprentice?"
   Sky looked at him shakily.
   "You were willing to make the hard decision to protect your soldiers. That's all a Commander does. You instill confidence in your recruits and try to avoid death. There are gonna be casualties no matter what. Sometimes you just can't do anything to stop it. Can't save everybody."
   Sky sighed sadly. "Okay... Okay..." He said. "Just... Tell me what to do."
   Void smiled softly and he felt something cold and metal press against his hand. He looked down and froze, his eyes widening.
   In his hand was the old gold-rimmed amethyst amulet. Sky stared at it in shock. He couldn't think of anything to say.
   Void smiled, patting his arm as he closed his eyes. "You're up, Rookie..." He said. "Good luck..."
   Sky looked up at him and swallowed. His hands were shaking but he ignored it. His grip tightened on the amulet and he took a deep breath. "Alright. Alright." He stood and put the amulet on. "I'll see you, CV..."
   Void just nodded, his eyes still closed. Sky turned and left the room, pushing down the fear in his chest. Just do what CV would do, he told himself.
   As he walked out of the hospital, he saw recruits lining the street, many wounded, the rest not looking happy. He looked around and sighed. His friends, his team, were crowded together in an alleyway. Ty and Jason sat beside one another on a crate. Mitch was sitting on the ladder of a fire escape, Jerome leaning against it beside him. Seto was still in the hospital helping the Italian doctors and Ian was sitting on the ground, leaning against the wall.
   Sky blinked as he came up to meet them. "...Where's Husky?"
   "Missing." Jerome said. "We have no idea."
   Sky swallowed. "...I'm sure he's fine..."
   Ty looked up at him and froze as he saw the amulet around his neck. "...Adam..."
   Sky nodded. "Yeah, I'm as surprised as you are."
   Jason swallowed. "That puts a lot of responsibility on you."
   "No kidding."
   "Well - Well what are we going to do?" Mitch asked.
   Sky hesitated. I don't know, he thought, but he knew he couldn't say that. Instill confidence in your soldiers, Void had told him. That's what he had to do.
   "We're gonna fight." He said.
   "We don't have any leaders." Jerome sighed.
   "When has that ever mattered?" Sky said, taking most of them by surprise. Sky stared at Jerome. "Are there any military commanders in the Woodlands?"
   "Well... I mean... No." Jerome said.
   "What, has human life made you soft?" Sky asked. "You don't need any humans telling you what to do. Isn't that right Mitch? You two are the rebels. You've never cared about common law. You've never cared about stereotypes. Let's fix that. Instead of not doing what anybody tells you to do, how about you start telling others what to do?"
   Mitch's back straightened and he and Jerome exchanged astonished glances.
   "Adam, you don't mean..." Ty started.
   "Hell yeah, I do."
   "We can't!"
   "Why not?" Sky asked. "Seto's already doing his job, he grew up. Why can't we?"
   There was quiet in the alleyway.
   "We are the apprentices." Sky said. "We are the only chance Roma has. What do you want to do? Do you wanna be big kids and try to save some lives? Or are we gonna sit around like the regular recruits we were and wait to die with them, in unguided chaos?"
   Most of them exchanged glances.
   "...I'm not an apprentice..." Ian said. "What would I do...?"
   "What have you always done?" Sky smiled. "You have a shield on your arm for a reason. You protect people. That's all you have to do."
   Ian smiled shakily and nodded.
   "Adam, I'm not Tom's apprentice." Ty said.
   "Well you're as good as." Sky replied. He looked around at the others. "So who's up to this, huh? Who wants to try?"
   Mitch and Jerome looked at each other and exchanged a brief dialogue in Latin before they looked at Sky again. Mitch nodded. "Yeah. We'll do it."
   Ty sighed. "I'll try."
   Beside him, Jason nodded too without a reply.
   "I-I'll do what I can..." Ian said.
   Sky smiled. "We can do this. I'm not gonna lie, I'm scared. But our job to these recruits is to make them feel like this fight is worth it. Are you ready?"
   The others slowly nodded, one by one.
   Sky nodded. "Then let's do this."
   He left the alleyway and looked out over the recruits, then huffed and climbed onto the first level of a fire escape, looking over the street. "Hey, everybody!"
   He few of them looked up, but not many. He sighed and whistled, but still, nobody was listening.
   Sky looked at the hospital across the street. Void was looking out the window of his room, watching. As they made eye contact, Void offered a small nod and Sky nodded back. He looked back over the recruits and took a deep breath before raising his voice. "LISTEN."
   His own "Commander roar" scared himself. The roar was a sort of voice that Void told him every Commander had to be able to yell over the sounds of battle.sky had never had to use his voice before, and the volume he was able to reach surprised him. But it did the trick. Everyone was looking at him now. As silence filled the street, Sky felt a sliver of panic rising in his chest. He took another deep breath and pushed it down before he spoke again.
  "Listen." He said, calmer. "I think we've all lost something today. But that can't matter now. When we go home, we can mourn, but now we still have an entire city of people depending on us. We cannot retreat. We cannot surrender. We need to keep on fighting this fight, or else, what are we? The Sky Army was founded to protect, and if we stop protecting, then we may as well quit."
  "But we have no leaders!" A voice said from the crowd and many murmured their agreement.
  "If I hear one more person say that, I'm gonna start throwing punches." Sky said. "You guys, this has happened before. Three hundred years and the Sky Army has switched generations eight times. This is the ninth. We're gonna do just fine. Yeah, we were privileged enough to get comfortable with Void but now we have to move on because we have no other choice. The leaders had apprentices and now it's time to utilize them, because that's what we do in this situation. Dead Army, you're going to be led by General Tyler Ellis, aided by Star Cadet leader General Jason Provst." Sky gestured over to Ty and Jason, who waved from the alley. "Dual Legion, you're being led by Colonels Mitch Hughes and Jerome Aceti. Meds and Sorcerers, you're being led by Seto, who's in the hospital now doing his thing. And everybody else, you're with me. We're gonna keep on fighting here, guys, and we're gonna win. We can still do this. Who's with me here?"
   There was quiet. Then there was a voice, raised in a wordless shout of agreement. With the one, there came more. Sky's team grinned and shouted too and Sky couldn't help but smiled.
   No one liked war. No one liked killing. But triumph in the hearts of wounded soldiers was a feeling that could never be replaced.
   "The squids are advancing!" Shouted an accented voice from the rooftop.
   Sky took a deep breath. "Alright, here's how this is gonna work! Dead Army and Sky Army, you guys work in the center of the city. Protect people, defend. Dual Legion, get to the rooftops if you're a sniper, and do what you were trained to do. If you're not, go to the outer flanks of the city and fight the first squids to come through. Meds and Sorcerers, either heal in the field or in the hospital, your choice. Work together, all of you, watch each other's backs. Let's make our leaders proud." Sky looked over them all. "Good luck. Move out."
   The recruits all ran off to their designated positions. All of them were scared, a lot even terrified. But they had hope that they could succeed, and that's all they needed. Sky climbed down the ladder and high-fived Ty, who was grinning. "Nice!"
   "Totally got them going." Jason said.
   Sky nodded, smiling grimly. There was a lot of work yet to do, but now at least he could be proud. "Let's get to work. Jason, stick with Ty. Ian, do whatever you can. Mitch, Jerome, I trust you guys, but I'd advise you work together. I'll see you all in hell." He saluted casually before he pulled out his sword and took off running.
   The other five watched him go.
   "...That's encouraging." Jason said.
   Ty rolled his eyes and pulled him off after the majority of the Dead Army recruits.

   Just one more time before I go, I'll let you know

   Mitch took a deep breath as he lifted his bow, nocking an arrow to the string.

   That all this time I've been afraid, wouldn't let it show

   Beside him, Jerome swung his axe once in a circle at his side, taking a deep breath. "But you never saw this coming when you crossed that river."
   Mitch laughed, but said nothing as he aimed his arrow at the approaching recruits.

   Nobody can save me now, no nobody can save me now

   Jason shifted, his grip tightening on his gun. "I can think of so many ways we could die right now."

   Stars are only visible in darkness

   Ty rolled his eyes. "It'll be fine." He said. "Don't think about the bad things." From the front line, they could both see the ocean of oncoming squids. "We're gonna make it through this, together."

   Fear is ever-changing and evolving

   Jason nodded, gulping. "Together."

   And I

   Ian ran along the sidewalk, looking for someone to protect. He didn't think about how he could die at any second, he didn't think about how his best friend could be dead. All he thought about was that if he didn't hold tight to his shield and keep looking, more people could die.
   As he turned a corner he skidded to a halt, stopping dead.
   In front of him, facing away, was a man with wings dark as night leaping into the air and fighting.
  Ian could put the pieces together.

  I can poison the skies

  Where there there was smoke, there was fire.
  Where there was one inhuman, there would be three more.
  Sundee slowly started to grin and he let out a cry of triumph. Everything was going to be okay. His brother was here.

  And I

   Sky stood at the edge of the roof of the tallest building in Roma, which was also its only business building. It was at least twelve stories high. From here, he could see the entire city. As he watched closely, the first connection was made between the two armies and Sky took a deep breath. It had begun.
   And he could see the Owlet brothers on a rooftop, thirty feet below. His mind raced with possible options and he looked around him. The building, still under construction, had a coil of wire rope not far away, attached to a pole. Sky held onto it, wrapping it around his wrist tightly.
  He ran back to the edge and peered over the side of the building, down to the street a hundred feet below. Then he looked to the building across from his where the two squids were talking. It was only a few feet across from his, but too far down. He had to get low enough so he could kick off the side of his building and drop down safely to the roof of the other. So he would slide down the side of the building using his rope. He took a deep breath and leapt over the edge carefully, facing the building.

   I feel so alive

   "I'm not letting you do this." Owlet growled.
   "It has to happen! The whelp has to die." Isaac growled. "It's your time to rise. I've trained you for this!"
   "I've never wanted to train for this, I don't want to fight!" Owlet said. "I don't want to be a soldier, let alone a Commander! Please, let me have a life of my own!"
   "Tch..." Isaac growled. "You're so useless."
   Owlet looked heartbroken and he swallowed.
   "Now go on and fight." Isaac said.
   Owlet just lowered his head as he ran down the stairs into the house.
   Isaac watched him go and put a hand on the hilt of his sword. He took a deep breath. His sacrifice would go down in history for the squids. His sacrifice would not go unnoticed. His sacrifice would be the greatest of any.
   He heard feet land on the gravel of the roof behind him and he smiled.
   As if he hadn't known this was coming.
   "Hello, Commander."
   "Hello, you azure fuck."

   Nobody can save you now

   "Ooh, harsh words." Isaac turned, pulling his sword from his sheath and looking Sky calmly in the eyes.
   "We're at war, no harm in throwing around a few insults." Sky growled.
   "Hm... And how's Void? Dead, I hope?"
   Sky snorted. "You wish it was that easy." He started to move forwards.
   Isaac's feet remained planted. "Well he's an old man, I expect he would be weak."
   Sky threw an attack quickly, and Isaac, taken by surprise, just managed to block it.

   King is crown

   Jerome swung his axe, cutting open a squid's side and they fell. Mitch stood at the edge of the building, firing an arrow. Every time a squid got close to Mitch, Jerome would attack it.
   Mitch looked around and lowered his bow as he saw no squids within shooting range below. He ran to the other end of the building, ducking under a squids tentacle which was promptly chopped off a second later.
   Mitch raised his bow, them stopped. He saw Sky and Isaac fighting, yelling at each other. His eyes widened and he raised his bow. He got out an arrow and nocked it, but as he was drawing it back. He was suddenly hit by a blunt force on his back. He yelped and was sure he fractured a rib as he lost his balance and fell over the side.
  "Mitch!" Jerome slid over as well and grabbed the human's wrist, holding on tightly to the edge of the roof. Mitch yelped, looking up. Their eyes connected and they both saw fear. Past Jerome, Mitch saw a squid stepping up onto the ledge, glaring down, raising her sword. Jerome looked around quickly, his eyes dilating and contracting.
   "Mitch, let go." He said finally.
   "Wh-What?!"
   "The coolest shit in your left is about to happen to you, now let go!"
   Mitch looked up at Jerome before he swallowed and let go of his hand.

   it's do or die

   Jerome watched, still holding tightly to the ledge as Mitch fell, but was then caught by a fast moving, flying reptile which roared. Jerome grinned slightly as he saw Mitch's astonished, almost star struck expression as he clung tightly to the back of the dragon.
  Jerome looked up at the squid just as she stepped on his hand and he roared slightly in pain, letting go. The dragon that had been going to get him dived down after him and grabbed his arms with its big sharp talons.
   Jerome let out a huff of slight relief as he saw the concrete  barely ten feet from him and he was lifted up into the air after Mitch's dragon.
   The city is no place for a Bacca, he thought to himself.

   Nobody can save you now

   Jason fired and quickly turned firing again. He noticed, as the battle raged on, that his aim was slowly improving. He would have to practice when he got back tot he base. That is, if he got back to the base.
   "Get down!"
   At Ty's command, Jason immediately bent over and Ty leapt skillfully over him, kicking a squid hard across the face as he landed in front of him. Jason turned so his back was to Ty and he fired again, hitting a squid in the arm.
  Just as they were almost done with that wave, another three ran in. Ty locked blades with one and shoved them back as Jason shot another, which came closer as he missed. It grew closer again. Behind Jason, Ty stabbed the squid he'd shoved back.
  Jason fired again, somehow missing the squid directly in front of him. The squid spun up and nimbly kicked him hard across the face. Jason yelped and fell to the ground, dazed. His gun fell from his hand and the squid snatched it up pointing it at him.
  Jason blinked, his eyes focusing slightly. He heard Ty shout his name and as he saw his own gun being pointed at his chest, he felt panic rise in him.
  He had felt a similar panic when he first entered this world's atmosphere. He was frozen in terror, unable to do anything, time feeling like it was slowing down.
  Then his leg moved on its own, kicking the squid hard in the shin. He yelped, dropping the gun. Jason somehow managed to catch the gun and fired, pushing himself up on his elbows.
  The squid was obviously taken by alarm and fell back, a look of shock on his face.
  Jason sat there, and felt a significant drain of energy. "H-Hah..." He let his arm fall down beside him.
  "Jason!" Jason looked up as Ty knelt beside him. "Are you okay?!"
  Jason stared at him. He opened his mouth, then closed it again as Ty stared at him worriedly. Then he suddenly sat up straight and grabbed Ty's face, pulling him into a amateur, uncertain kiss.
  Ty froze, his eyes widening in shock.
  Jason quickly let go and the two stared at each other, both in shock. Jason was blushing bright blue, Ty a fierce red.
  "...A... Adrenaline..." Jason got up. "That was... That was Adrenaline."
  Ty remained where he was, still frozen.
  "That - That was... Weird. That. Hm." Jason's finger moved on the trigger and he accidentally fired, almost disintegrating his foot. Ty turned as he heard him yelp and they looked at the smoking black circle the gun had made on the ground in silence.
  Jason cleared his throat slowly. "...Let's - Let's just go fight stuff."
  "Mhm." Ty said weakly, his voice several octaves higher than usual.

   The only sound

   Steel clashed against steel and Sky jumped back. Isaac was more skilled than he expected. He growled and retaliated. Their blades clashed above, to the left, above again. Then Isaac made a wild swing and Sky jolted back. In his distraction of trying to avoid being cut open, Isaac's sword cut upwards and threw Sky's sword out of his hand.
   Isaac smirked and held out his sword to Sky's neck. "What now?"
   Sky stared at him evenly before he suddenly leapt up, spinning and kicking his sword away. He tried to land it, but he ended up falling on his back, just as Isaac picked up the blade.
   Sky panicked.

   Is a battle cry

   Sky jolted forwards and did the only thing he could think to do. His fist connected solidly with Isaac's jaw, sending him reeling back, stunned. He ran back and grabbed his sword and the two both righted themselves and glared at each other.
    Isaac smirked. "Not bad."
    Sky didn't smile back. "I learned from the best."
  
    It's the battle cry

    Then Sky suddenly darted forward and so did Isaac. They both moved fast but Sky moved fastest and stabbed first.
   Isaac stumbled back as he looked down. Sky's sword was in his chest, right over his heart. He let out a dry cough and lashed out at Sky, but the Commander dodged.
   Isaac let out a groan and collapsed to the ground. His face was pale, his eyes open and staring up at the sky lifelessly. Sky walked over and closed the squid's hand around the hilt of his sword. Before pulling his own out of his chest.
    "Goodnight Commander." He said softly and looked up as he heard running footsteps. Isaac's brother stared at him with wide eyes, his face almost as pale as Isaac himself.
   Owlet turned and ran off, looking like he'd just seen a ghost.

   It's the battle cry

Sky caught his breath and looked around. Apparently, word travelled fast among the squids and they all knew their Commander was dead. Without a leader, they retreated back to their base.
    Sky could hear a collective shout of triumph come from everyone in Roma. Citizens or soldier it didn't matter; everyone was just relieved to be alive.
    Sky closed his eyes and listened, the breeze gently buffeting his face. This felt good...
    This felt right.