Argonaut - The Vestige (Part III)

Epilogue - The Future

Epilogue – The Future

8th Sep 1:22 PM

I looked out at the rest of the Argonauts, leaning against the charred remains of my old armchair. Coming to terms with what had happened before my resurrection hadn't been easy, and I was still unsure about a lot of things, but this was what needed to happen.

"There'll always be wars," I said firmly, "Our presence can't do anything to stop that. Do you really want to be fighting for the rest of your lives?"

'We've given enough,' Serena thought, intertwining her fingers in mine, 'Not again.' She turned to Cassius, 'You told me a long time ago that it was our job to sacrifice so that others didn't have to, so that people would be safe. There are other heroes that can do it, and I don't want to be an Argonaut anymore if it means I have to lose everything. I don't want to kill in any more wars, and I can't lose the people I love.'

"We're leaving," I added, "dropping off the radar. You're welcome to come with us; actually we really want you too. You're all the family we have left. We'll come back if we're really needed, and if there's no one else that can help, but short of that we're done."

Cassius looked stunned, taking a few seconds to respond. "Are you sure?" she asked, "This is all I know, this is my life. You're talking about cutting ourselves off from our entire species. You two have each other, but what about us?"

'We won't be cut off completely,' Serena shook her head, 'We can trust a few people with the secret. Solomon, Ren, Salazar, Belisarius, and even Chiron so that they can contact us if we're needed, and so they know the dangers of starting another war.' The metal fingers tightened around my hand.

"And where do you suggest we go?" Nathaniel asked.

I shrugged, "I don't know. Wherever we want to I suppose, but America's too hot now. We don't have to stay in one place, we can travel. Solomon's already fixed up the Penitence, so we can go anywhere."

"And what about you?" Nathaniel pointed out, "Don't take this the wrong way, but I think Solomon'll have a few questions about your return from the dead."

'We're not telling anybody else about David being back. Coming back from death isn't a card anybody should have up their sleeve. People would abuse it and start even more wars. As far as Solomon's concerned, we left with Five to help him heal.'

The captain sighed, "You're really set on this, aren't you?"

We both nodded. "The Stygians are dead, the Archaeans have Charlemagne, and Israfel was incinerated. I think we've done pretty well, more than our fair share. I honestly don't give a shit what happens next, so long as you can all get out of the cycle alive. I'm tired Cassie, we're all tired. I'm still going to keep Five's promise, and keep the peace between the races, but from a distance."

She looked at all the other Argonauts questioningly, "If you all want to do this, I'll join you. My place is with you, whatever you decide."

Niccolo hesitated, "Honestly, retirement sounds pretty good right now captain." He turned to Sebastian, "Bro?"

"Seconded. I could really go for a nice vacation at least."

"I agree," Nathaniel nodded, "We take ourselves off the chessboard, and come back swinging if anybody starts another campaign."

Elena gave a slight smile. "Yes. We need this Cassius, at least for a little while. We can always come back if we get bored, right?"

"This is our freedom Cassius," I said, putting my hand around Serena's waist to pull her closer, "But you're our captain, and we follow you. What do you say?"

She paused, looking at all of us in turn, and nodded. "I say hell yes. Let's get out of here Argonauts."

'Do you think we'll be okay?' Serena's voice asked in my head, a little concerned as all of the other Argonauts went to gather their things, amidst noises of celebration.

'I think we'll be just fine,' I thought in return, kissing her softly, before leading the way back to our room. We had a lot to do if we were going to ditch North Brother Island before sundown, and daylight was burning.

End of Part III : The Vestige