Nitesco and Gwydion entered the inn where Austin was supposed to be. Seeing his friend sitting at a table, Nitesco wore a broad smile. Austin glared angrily at him in return.

"We need to talk about what happened out there," Austin said, slowly rising from his seat. He winced, still feeling the pain of his recent injuries.

"Easy, easy," Gwydion said as he and Nitesco walked over. "We can talk, but don't strain yourself. You need rest."

Austin waved his hand dismissively and addressed Nitesco. "What you did today was unacceptable. Absolutely unacceptable."

Taken aback, Nitesco's smile was replaced with a look of defensiveness. "What are you talking about?" he said coldly. "We won, didn't we? Nuts and Dolts is ours now. Celtic is crippled. We're doing great. What's the problem?"

Austin furrowed his brow. "The problem," he said, "is that you were completely out of control. I don't know what you said to your men, but I saw things out there that I never wanted to see—" he stopped himself before saying the word "again." Clenching a fist, he continued. "I saw defenseless peasants, men, women, and children alike, children, cut open and bleeding on the ground. People whose only crime against you was running away. You had military targets to focus on, objectives to complete, an army to defeat. What the hell possessed you to prioritize committing atrocities over completing the mission‽"

Nitesco gritted his teeth. "My priority was rescuing you and Samurai. That's exactly what I did. A little thanks would be appreciated."

Austin sighed. "I can't thank you for this. Samurai and I weren't worth all of the blood on those streets." He looked at Nitesco the way a disappointed parent looks at a guilty child. "You went too far, Nitesco. Way too far."

Incensed, Nitesco walked up to Austin and pressed a finger against his chest. "You, of all people, don't get to lecture me about ethics. You don't get to act like what I did was reprehensible, or even unusual. This is war, right? I did what I had to do. What I felt was best. Those people served Celtic. Their continued existence was an act of hostility. If their blood is the cost of winning the war, then it's a cost I'm more than willing to pay." He turned to exit. "I'm going for a walk. Come find me when you remember why we're here."

Austin opened his mouth to respond, intending to stop Nitesco from leaving. Unable to find the words, he sat in silence as Nitesco walked out of the inn.

Gwydion stood uncomfortably. "I'm going to go check on Samurai. He's still being treated for his wounds."

Austin nodded, and Gwydion departed. Austin sat alone with his thoughts and regrets.

Nitesco walked the streets of Polendia for a while, before eventually settling down in a park that had been left mostly untouched by the fighting. He sat on a stone bench and absorbed his surroundings for a while, letting the sounds of plants and wildlife fill his ears and distract him. Suddenly, he heard a familiar voice.

"I figured you guys would make your way here soon enough."

Startled, Nitesco jumped up from the bench and turned to see who was talking to him. What he saw left him speechless.

"Hey, friend," said Quixotic. "How have you been?"

Nitesco blinked. For a second, the two stared at each other, unmoving. Then, Nitesco made his move.

"You sold us out, you son of a bitch!"

He charged Quixotic furiously and tackled him to the ground.

"Woah," Quixotic said nervously. "At least buy me dinner first."

"What are you doing here‽" Nitesco yelled while pinning Quixotic down.

"I've come back to help."

"Oh, yeah, because you really helped us last time. Why the hell should I trust you after what you did?"

"Please," Quixotic begged, "can I have a chance to explain myself? If you aren't satisfied with what I have to say, you can imprison me, or execute me, or whatever. Just hear me out."

Nitesco hesitated. He spent a moment staring down at his former comrade, trying to read his expression. Quixotic wore the most earnest face Nitesco had ever seen from him. Quixotic had always been sneaky with his actions, but he had never been anything but honest when expressing his emotions. Nitesco sighed and stood up, allowing Quixotic to stand as well.

"Fine," he said. "Say what you're going to say. It'd better be good."

Quixotic smiled and allowed himself to relax. He walked over, sat down on the bench, and motioned for Nitesco to sit next to him. Nitesco complied and took a seat, still eyeing Quixotic with suspicion. Quixotic took a deep breath and started talking.

"Back at Guns 'N Roses, I was set up. Nachbar was an old friend of mine, but he betrayed me and sold us out to Celtic. I made a mistake in placing my trust and our fates in his hands, but please understand that I never intended to do any of you harm."

"And what, I'm just supposed to take your word for it? Because you say you aren't with them, I should just believe you?"

"No. You should believe me because I've been taking the fight to Celtic every single day since we parted."

Nitesco's eyes widened slightly upon hearing that, but he kept his composure. "Taking the fight to him how?"

"By managing my own network of scouts and spies, while inhibiting his. By covertly gathering information on troop movements and Celtic's grand strategy, as well as finding and eliminating many of his special operatives, and those operatives' operatives. You should see how this guy's organized, it's operatives all the way down—"

"Stay on topic."

"Right. And also by sharing that important information with you in the form of anonymous intelligence reports."

Nitesco put his poker face to use. In a completely neutral voice, he said, "Reports?"

"Yes, the reports. The reports that told you where Celtic would be at his most vulnerable. The reports that you used to capitalize on his weak points. The first of which I slid under the door one night while you guys were playing chess. The reports."

Nitesco blinked. "That was from you?"

"Yes."

The two sat in silence. Around them, the sounds of nature could be heard. Birds chirped frantically. A squirrel scurried between trees. Wind blew, and the grass rustled. A man groaned.

"Okay," Nitesco said, pinching the bridge of his nose. "I believe you."

Quixotic raised an eyebrow. "Nitesco? What's the matter? Did something happen?"

Nitesco tried to regain his composure. "It's fine," he said. "I'm just a little… you know. This war's been getting to me, the people around me have been getting to me, and all of a sudden you're back. It's getting to be too much. I just feel so helpless." Nitesco jumped when Quixotic suddenly placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Hey," Quixotic said.

Nitesco stared at Quixotic, expecting him to say more. When he didn't, Nitesco replied.

"Uh, hey?

Quixotic strained, trying to find the right words. "Listen," he began. "I haven't been around for a while, so I don't know what's going on. I can't really help you solve your problems. I can barely solve my own." He shook his head. "My whole life, I've never really felt in control of myself. My job and my commitments pulled me around from place to place, with or against my will. I am a spy and a scoundrel because I never could have been anything else."

Nitesco didn't make eye contact, but he continued to listen.

"You're different," Quixotic said. "As a person, you've always stood out to me because you seem to be exactly where you want to be. You've taken your life into your own hands and decided to do the things you want to do. So, don't worry about living up to anyone else's expectations. You choose your destiny. You decide who you will be, and what you will do with the world. That's one of the things I like most about you. Remember that."

Nitesco found himself struggling to hold back tears. He smiled at his friend. "Thanks. I appreciate you telling me that, I really do."

Quixotic took his hand off of Nitesco's shoulder and looked away uncomfortably. "Or, you know, do whatever, I guess. It's none of my business."

Nitesco laughed. "I missed you. I was angry, but I missed you anyway."

Quixotic blushed. "Well, yeah, I missed you too." He scratched his head. "Look, now's not really the time to be sappy, okay? We've got important stuff to do."

Nitesco nodded. "Do you want me to take you to meet the others? I'm sure they'll want to hear anything you have to tell us."

"Actually," Quixotic said, "That's why I came to you first." He chuckled.

"I need you to make sure Austin doesn't kill me on sight."

Gwydion and Austin sat at a table in one of the inn's suites in tense, uncomfortable silence.

They turned as they heard a knock on the door. Nitesco cracked it open and peeked his head in.

"Hey, guys. I, uh, brought someone to meet with us."

"Who is it?" Gwydion asked.

With a gulp, Nitesco slowly pushed the door open, revealing Quixotic standing next to him. Austin and Gwydion stared, wide-eyed, as Quixotic gave a nervous wave.

"Hello," he said. "How've you been?"

Austin stood and pointed furiously. "You sold us out, you son of a—!"

"Let him speak," Nitesco interrupted. "Please, let him speak."

Austin grunted, but said no more. He glared back and forth between Nitesco and Quixotic.

"Tell them what you told me," Nitesco said. "About what you've been up to."

Quixotic did. He described his actions over the prior months, spying on Celtic and aiding rebel causes, including the cause led by ANGQ. When he finished, Austin remained skeptical.

"What you've said is interesting, if it's true. But I don't think I believe you. All you have is words. How can we be sure you aren't lying?"

Quixotic simply nodded. "I thought you might not, which is why I left a little something in each of my letters. Do you have them with you?"

Austin squinted. "Yes, I do." He walked over to a box on an end table and pulled out a folder of documents. "This is where I keep my letters," he explained. After a bit of digging he pulled out a piece of paper.

"Which one is that?" Quixotic asked.

"It's the one we received during the chess game."

"Okay," Quixotic said, and thought for a moment. "For that one, I think you need to look at the first letter of the eighth word of each paragraph."

Austin traced the page with his finger and read the letters aloud. "Q…U…A…I…L." He looked up. "Holy shit."

"You believe me now?"

Austin burst out laughing. "Yeah," he said. "Yeah, I believe you. Gods, how did we miss that?"

"Well, it wasn't particularly obvious," said Gwydion. "But yes, I can't shake the feeling that if we had looked a little harder we might have found that."

Nitesco nodded at Quixotic. "Now that we all believe you, tell us what you need to tell us."

"Right," Quixotic said. He reached into his shirt, pulled out several documents, and placed them on the table. "You guys need to hear this."

"You see, I was hoping to catch you all here because it just so happens to be very close to this location." He pointed to a small line on a map that stretched from their current location to a crudely drawn castle in the heart of Celtic's territory.

"There's a mountain pass that leads from here into his territory. If you march your armies through there, you can eliminate Celtic and all his lieutenants. That's not all, however."

He pulled out another map, one which detailed the defenses of Celtic's fortress.

"Celtic wants you to attack from the front, but there are actually two other methods of entering his fortress." He pointed at one break in the walls off to one side.

"There's a secondary entrance there, but it's fairly well-hidden. In case an army gets close enough to storm the castle, some of the reserve garrison can come out of there and counterattack."

His finger moved to another, smaller break in the walls.

"That's the emergency escape route. It leads directly to the Council room, and that's not too far away from Celtic's main throne room." He leaned back and folded his arms over his chest, proud of himself.

"Wow," Nitesco remarked. "This could win us the war!"

"We lead our army through the pass, and take a small team to infiltrate the castle," Austin recapped. "Then we can kill Celtic while the battle is going on, leaving his forces leaderless."

"And of course," said Nitesco, "We have our small team right here! The four of us can sneak in, get to wherever Celtic will be hiding, and—"

"Wait," Quixotic said. "The four of us?"

"Well, of course," Nitesco said, brimming with excitement. "Me, you, Austin and Gwydion. Don't you want to join us? We can end this war together!"

Quixotic hesitated. "Of course, I want to," he said. He looked at Austin and Gwydion. "But only if you all will have me."

Gwydion shrugged. "I'm fine with it. I think you've addressed any misgivings we might have had." He turned to Austin. "What about you?"

Austin placed his hands on the table and furrowed his brow, deep in thought. After a minute, he looked at Quixotic.

"Jaeger. Frasian. You remember those names?"

Quixotic looked down. "Yes."

"Those are the names of good people who died because of you. People who can't be brought back. Regardless of your intent, you're responsible."

"I know."

"So, you'd better make damn sure you never forget them. Never forget the pain you've caused. You have a lot of work to do if you expect to make up for what you've done. Am I understood?"

Quixotic couldn't meet his eyes. "Yes," he said again.

"Alright, then." Austin relaxed. "You can join us." He chuckled. "And of course, it has to be the four of us, doesn't it? We've never been very good at delegating."

Nitesco grinned and placed a hand on Quixotic's shoulder. "It's good to have you back," he said.

Quixotic smiled in turn. "It's good to be back."

"We've got a bunk you can stay in here, if you like," said Gwydion. "And if you don't mind, we'd all probably like to spend some time with you this evening. It sounds like we've got a lot of catching up to do."

"Alright," Quixotic said. "Let me go get my stuff; I was staying at another inn in a part of town I figured wasn't likely to be destroyed in the fighting." He moved to exit. "I'll be back in a little while."

"We should probably head out for a while too," said Austin. "We need to search the city for assets and supplies."

"Alright, then," said Gwydion. "Let's all meet up back here in a couple of hours."

Nitesco suddenly raised a fist in the air. "Yeah! Go team ANGQ!" he shouted.

His teammates stared at him.

"That was the cheesiest thing I've ever heard," Austin said. However, he couldn't keep a smile from crossing his face, and Gwydion and Quixotic both chuckled.

At last, Team ANGQ was reunited.

Jokey lurked through the streets of the city, scanning faces as he walked by. He hoped his disguise would keep him from being recognized; he was suddenly deep in enemy territory, and he couldn't afford to be spotted. Having searched for hours, he'd seen no sign of his targets. Either he was having bad luck, or they had chosen to remain in the castle, surrounded by guards. With a sigh, Jokey leaned up against a wall next to a deserted street and began forming a plan to infiltrate the keep. Suddenly, a person walked onto the street that he had not expected to see.

Quixotic Quail.

He paid Jokey no mind and seemed not to notice him. Jokey suppressed a laugh. He couldn't have asked for a better opportunity. As Quixotic passed, he drew his blade from under his clothes.

Quixotic, with trained ears, heard the sound of a blade being drawn and turned just in time to see an assailant lunging at him. He quickly dodged out of the way and pulled out his own dagger, prepared to engage in combat. As he looked at his attacker, he suddenly recognized him through the disguise. He gritted his teeth.

"You," he hissed.

Jokey grinned like a maniac. "Hello there," he said.

Quixotic went on the offensive, taking several swings with his dagger. Jokey deftly dodged each strike, relying on technique and predicting Quixotic's movements. Jokey attempted several counterattacks, each of which was dodged by Quixotic in turn. The two fought back and forth, each struggling to land a hit.

"You're tougher than I remember. A pity Nachbar didn't play you for longer."

"I may have been played, but at least I'm not a flunky," Quixotic retorted.

With a desperate thrust, Quixotic stabbed at Jokey's neck. Fatigued, Jokey tried to move out of the way, but was unable to avoid being sliced. Shouting in anger, Jokey thrust his own dagger into Quixotic's arm, causing the latter to scream in pain. Jokey pulled out his weapon and stepped back, watching Quixotic while using one hand to examine his neck. The cut was deep, and Jokey realized he wouldn't be able to fight any more until it was treated. He kept a hand on the wound to prevent blood loss. Quixotic, meanwhile, stood screaming in pain, holding his arm.

"One out of four will have to do," Jokey growled. He turned and walked away. Quixotic staggered after him.

"Get back here… you little…" He fell to the ground and screamed again. He lay there for a minute before hearing a familiar voice.

"Quixotic!" Nitesco shouted. He sprinted to his comrade's side and knelt on the ground next to him, followed closely by Gwydion and Austin.

"What happened?" Nitesco shouted, frantically. "Are you okay? We heard you screaming. Talk to me!"

Quixotic breathed heavily. "Got stabbed. Hurts. Like hell. Agh!" He screamed once more, clutching his shoulder.

Austin bent down and examined the wound on Quixotic's arm. It was surrounded by a discolored mix of red, yellow, and sickly green pigments. He sighed.

"He's been poisoned."

Gwydion turned and yelled, "Medic! MEDIC!" He hurriedly glanced back at Quixotic. "Hang in there, friend, I'm going to get you help." He ran the way the three had come, calling desperately for help. Quixotic coughed and gasped for breath, clutching his chest.

"Hold me," he said. "Please hold me."

Nitesco obliged, sitting and lifting Quixotic's head and upper body into his arms. "Hang in there," he said. He couldn't keep fear from entering his voice. "We're going to get you help, okay? Just hold on, you're going to be fine."

Quixotic winced and clutched his chest, struggling to suppress another scream. "Don't think so," he said. He shivered. "Not this time."

"No, no, don't say that, that's not true," Nitesco said, panicking. "We're supposed to fight Celtic together, remember? We're going to end the war. We're going to save the Subreddit."

Quixotic gave a pained smile and looked up at Nitesco. "Is that right? What else are we going to do?"

Nitesco trembled. "And after that, we're going to hang out together and share war stories. And you're going to tell me more about yourself. We're going to get normal civilian jobs and we won't have to worry about people killing us anymore."

Quixotic nodded. "Keep talking," he said, his voice barely above a whisper.

Nitesco held Quixotic closer. "We can play games, and get drunk, and maybe go for a walk or see a play." He sniffled. "We're going to do all of that stuff, okay? So just hold on. Don't die, you can't die yet!"

"I'll try," Quixotic said. He turned his head slightly to look at Austin. "For what it's worth," he said, "I really am sorry about Jaeger and Frasian."

Austin nodded. "I know," he said softly. "Don't worry about it."

"Ah!" Quixotic shouted, clutching his chest once more. He closed his eyes. "It hurts. It really, really hurts." He grabbed Nitesco's arm and held it tightly.

"It's okay," Nitesco said. "I'm here. I'm here."

Quixotic's grip loosened. His breathing slowed. He opened his eyes slowly to look at Nitesco.

"Remember me," he whispered.

Quixotic's hand fell. His body went limp.

"Quixotic? Talk to me. Come on, stay with me. Quixotic!"

Austin placed two fingers on Quixotic's neck. He searched. He shook his head.

"He's gone."

Nitesco buried his face in Quixotic's chest and wept.