Marlow wasn't able to help Cecil.

Penelope took a deep breath as she walked the Healer out of the room. She'd known what was going to happen, but there was no way for her to explain that it would fail. All she could do was watch as Marlow grew frustrated by his failure.

"Different people have different specialties." Penelope tried to cheer him up as he sat on his bed.

"I'll try again later." Marlow covered his eyes with his right arm as he laid down on the bed.

"You need anything?" Penelope thumbed at the door. "I don't mind putting off the training for a few hours."

"Going out there is going to keep people alive." Marlow lifted his arm to peek at her. "If the Dungeon keeps getting bigger, then we might be looking at a four-by-four zone on the next floor." He sighed and let his arm drop. "That means eight teams in a zone."

"He's wrong but still has a good point." Jeru motioned for her to leave. "The close-range fighters are sparring against themselves, but accuracy is going to help the ranged people live longer and protect their allies." He pointed at the door. "The sooner you start, the faster this will be over."

I know. Penelope grumbled. "Don't push yourself too hard. We're going to clear squares again as soon as the processing group catches up to us, so make sure you're rested." She paused at the doorway. "Things are more potent on lower Tiers, so maybe once you hit level twenty-one, you'll be able to heal him."

"A nice thought, but you know it's not true." Jeru nodded. "Look at you, trying to be comforting!"

"Doesn't help him much now." Marlow shooed her with his free hand. "Go, I'll be fine."

Penelope slipped out of the room, leaving him to his quiet.

"You know it's just going to send him spiraling once Caleb is able to heal Cecil's back." Jeru shrugged. "But I guess giving him hope now can put that off for a few days."

I need to know. Penelope paused in the tunnel, placing her hand against the wall to steady herself. I need to know how bad it's going to get.

"You don't want me to answer that." Jeru waved his arms. "The horrors from before aren't yours to relive."

But there are parts that are always the same! Penelope turned to her parasite, staring him in those enveloping black voids. And you know how they've been avoided.

"I know how DIFFERENT people have done things so that the future plays out DIFFERENTLY." Jeru pointed at her. "Part of this is you figuring out how YOUR future is going to unfold." He motioned to his right, towards 16B. "Think about this; they had to have grabbed Nina before the save point. That's the only way that they would have known that Ula was her mother."

Jeru waited until the weight of that sunk in.

"Which means that if Derek didn't kill Abel, then there's no reason for them to turn her over." He motioned behind Penelope, towards the boss room. "She might have had to stay with them until the third or even the fourth floor before you were able to get her!"

You're telling me that Abel had to die so that I could save Nina?

"I'm telling you that sometimes, that's how things are going to unfold." Jeru closed his eyes and sighed. "Look. You have one save point. That's it. And the deeper down you go, the longer it's going to be to relive that save point, and it's going to be even longer to do a full reset. I've seen people go mad trying to path out all of the ways that things can unfold, and it will eat you alive until you can't go on anymore." He opened his eyes and looked at her. "You have to find a future you can live with."

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Penelope's mind raced as she thought about different ways that she could convince Derek to hand over Nina.

"Joining them is not a good idea. Derek can be a powerful ally, but he's not a follower. To make it to the bottom, you're going to have to be in charge."

You're telling me that I'm going to have to kill him? Penelope swallowed.

"I'm telling you that he's not going to follow the lead of someone who was his subordinate." Jeru motioned toward the dining area. "He'll partner with Freddy because he sees her as a rival. All he sees you as is a weapon and a—"

I get it! Penelope cut him off. Which means when I go back, I have to take over the group… A chill crept down her arms. She hugged herself as her lungs tightened.

"Don't think about that right now." Jeru floated behind her and rubbed her arms, forcing warmth back into them. "Right now you need to focus on the job in front of you." He moved in front of her and smiled. "Besides, you'll be able to bring Nina with you when you reset, so it doesn't matter if you figure out a way to rescue her on this run."

If I can convince Ula to bring her daughter into an unknown danger. Penelope groaned. But you're right, that's not a present me problem; that's a future… past? me problem?

"Exactly!" Jeru floated in front of her and pointed down the tunnel. "Now, let's go show some of those newbies how to shoot!"

Penelope hurried down the tunnel with a little more energy in her step. She kept herself from thinking about who was going to be waiting for her by going over how she was going to set up the projectiles for the level ones to shoot at.

She walked into the processing room to hear Patrick yelling at someone.

The balding man was out of his armor and directing traffic on how the monster corpses should be taken apart. He looked up from the Spaeria that one of his team members was deboning.

"Circe already told me we were taking a break while the little ones catch up." Patrick spat on the stone floor. "Probably the smartest decision Freddy's made."

"What about making you the person in charge of resources?" Penelope clamped her lips shut too late.

Patrick eyed her, a gaze that she refused to meet. "Second smartest decision then." He puffed out his chest. "Not that anyone could— Elias! I swear. You said you were good with your hands. How hard is it to cut through the joints!" He stomped over to where a black-haired man in his late forties was taking apart a Duckum.

"There's supposed to be a shooting range for me to teach the next potentials about aiming?" Penelope cleared her throat.

"And you want an escort?" Patrick snorted. "Middle of 15C. You need more lanes; talk to Oakley. I'm busy and— King! That is NOT the way to skin a cat!"

"I'll leave you to it." Penelope turned around and ran into Circe.

"Of course I'll hug you!" Circe opened her arms.

Penelope palmed the other woman's face, pushing her away. "What are you doing here?"

"Looking for you, Pen!" The brunette grinned. "Freddy thought that I could give the noobs pointers while you made targets for them!" Circe motioned for the other woman to follow her. "Come on! This is the coolest shooting range I've ever seen." She beamed as she leaned in closer. "Plus, they have monsters we can actually shoot at!"

"Fine. If you know where we're going, then lead on." Penelope motioned for the other woman to lead the way.

"I can't believe we're going to be doing target practice again!" The Archer beamed. "Last time we did this, I was one of the students. But now I get to teach with you!" She bounced as she walked. "I'm so EXCITED!"

I'm glad you are. Penelope forced a smile. "Hopefully, the group Patrick picked will be more agreeable than the last ones we were with."

"If they aren't, we can throw em in a cell next to Kent!" Circe grinned. "We should have done that on day one when he challenged you the first time. Maybe we wouldn't have fallen apart if we had someone else."

"I kept hoping that he'd realize we needed to work together." Penelope sighed. "That seeing what we were up against would inspire him to work with us."

"The only way people like him learn is when you beat it through their thick skulls!" Circe laughed as she punched her fist into her open palm.

"Let's try talking to people first before we hit them." Penelope shook her head. "Besides all we're doing right now is teaching them how to shoot."

"I wonder if there will be anyone we know." Circe turned around to walk backwards while looking at Penelope. "Do you think anyone from the first class will be there?"

Abel and Robert are dead. Penelope went over the list in her mind. Which leaves Whitney, Julian, and Benedict, but none of them were very good. She shrugged. "We'll just have to see."

"Well, here we are!" Circe motioned at the doorway behind her. "Let's go say hi to the class!"

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