“Yeah, but you can walk away from your mom, can’t you?” Byron asked.

“Yeah,” I said. I sighed.

“I really appreciate that sigh. Maybe you get it,” he said, leaning his head back until it rested against the wall, his face turned skyward. “He thrives on competition, you know. He’ll be a terrific hero, probably. Put a challenge in front of him, and he’ll give his all to kick its ass.”

“But?” I asked.

“That’s him. That’s who he is, intrinsically. I don’t know if there’s a but. It’s reality, and it’s reality that I’m the challenge and he’s energized when it comes to the tug of war over this one body we share. He thrives on it in a way, and I’m… drained, beaten down.”

“We have your back,” Sveta said. “Not just Tristan’s. We’re backing Capricorn, and we’re invested in finding answers for both of you.”

“I appreciate that. But I don’t like this. At best, it’s… more draining. More of me being beaten down and left more exhausted. At worst… Moonsong might be right.”

“At best,” I said. “It’s Tristan doing what he’s good at doing. What happens if he doesn’t have that outlet?”

I didn’t get a response.

There was a knock on the door. Anelace, the dagger-themed member of Foresight.

“Can you join us?” he asked.

We migrated from the team’s lunch room to the office where the team leader, Moonsong and Tribute were seated.

The leader stood by his desk, one foot on his chair. He looked larger of frame, and had Foresight’s symbol on an eye patch. A bit of a corsair look, with a jacket and lots of belts, and long black hair tied back into a sailor’s ponytail. Veins of gold decorated his costume.

“Sorry for the hassle,” Tribute said. “History. Things never really resolved so much as we all walked away with the situation left halfway through a disaster.”

“It’s alright,” I said.

“We’ve been having a conversation with the Shepherds,” the leader of Foresight said. “They’ve explained some of the history. It muddies the waters.”

“We understand,” Sveta said. “Sorry about this.”

“They had the suggestion that we make sure both of the Capricorn twins are on board with this plan of yours.”

“Why’d you have to drag me into this, Moonsong? This doesn’t help. I don’t want to own any part of this, whatever they do.”

“I will always fight to give you your voice.”

“I don’t want to speak,” Byron said. “I want to ignore this side of my reality and conserve my strength for the fights that need it.”

“Is that a no, then?” the leader of Foresight asked.

“No,” Byron said. He seemed to flounder for a moment. He looked at me. “Fuck.”