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JAIME FONTOYA

I spent the majority of the next day curled up in bed wishing I was dead. Going to sleep to escape the booming headache was to no avail. Every now and then I would get too dizzy from my spinny vision and I'd throw up in a bucket Ilias provided for me.

"It hurts so much," I wailed. "I didn't know hangovers were this bad. They're much worse than I thought."

"Being drunk is the best feeling ever, but the next day is when you suffer the consequences."

"You're hungover too, right? How are you able to move without feeling like you want to vomit? Ugh, saying that word triggers my gag reflex."

"It's your first hangover. Your body doesn't know it yet so it's much worse. Also, I didn't even drink that much." He put on his hat and grabbed his staff. "I'm going to visit Vienna so I can heal her bones."

I did everything to get rid of this hangover. Bread, coffee, more alcohol—everything that was suggested. The best cure I found was closing my eyes and singing to distract myself from the pain.

Most of the alcohol had been flushed out of my system the next day, though it felt like the world was spinning once in a while. I was able to help out with packing our things for our departure tomorrow.

A good amount of time was spent choosing which six horses to take from the stables. Three horses would be in charge, a strong one would carry Montgomery's body and our share of the bandits' loot, and two meek ones for the prisoners.

Permission was given to Florence and Vienna to see which two horses were most comfortable around them. The reason why we wanted meek horses for them was so ours could easily scare theirs into submission if they ever thought about escaping.

Our rations mostly consisted of dried and non-perishable food.

We made a secret agreement to wake up and leave early tomorrow so we didn't have to say any goodbyes to the villagers.

I didn't know why, but I had the urge to visit Messina's grave one last time to pay my respects. I had nothing to gain, but it was like my body wanted me to remember him.

I get it, my soul is letting me know how I'd end up if I lose sight of my goal. Dead and all alone.

My body woke up way ahead of everyone else, so I masked my aura and visited his resting place. For a long while, I just stared at the cross I fashioned from two sticks.

"I didn't take you for an early bird." Ilias approached. "Morning."

"Morning, Ilias."

"You shouldn't have hidden your aura—or you could've at least done it when you were far from me." He joined my side. "It woke me up, and it's a good thing it was me who noticed."

"Sorry."

"So you're the culprit behind Messina's disappearance. It's nice of you to bury him near his brother."

"I know him killing everyone in this village isn't justified, but his reasoning was. I want to kill Scar like Messina did to the murderers of his brother, but what if Scar turns out to be like these farmers? And I'll become just like Messina. I had to bury him because if I ever become like that, I'd want others to do the same."

"You won't turn out like him. You and Messina crossed paths to show you what not to become."

"What if I get blinded by my own quest for justice that I too will be too far gone? When I meet Scar, I want it to be just. I want to be in control—I don't want to be blinded to the point that the only colour I see is red. I don't care if I don't avenge my parents, I don't want that look of vengeance in my eyes."

"Do you believe Messina and the farmers could've found peace if they simply talked?"

I nodded. "I do."

"Then when you find Scar, promise me that if he agrees to it, talk to him. If everything can be settled without bloodshed then you won't have a miscarriage of justice."

"But what if I still cross the line?"

Ilias shook his head. "I won't let you. I won't let your eyes yearn for red. I'll make sure to pull you back and I'll stay by your side to make sure it never happens."

"Thanks, Ilias. I'm glad we became friends."

The first rays of the sun rose from the east. The birds, beasts, and trees sang their morning tunes.

Ilias faced the village. "You said before that all we have is each other. Askeladd said we had to learn how to work together—be a team. I want to become one. Taking Messina's body was something I should've known."

His shoulders had become so broad. When did he get taller than me?

Ilias focused on my eyes. "From now on, we can't keep any more secrets from each other."

"Sure, but since you suggested it, it's only fair that you go first."

Ilias stared blankly for a while as if whatever secret he was hiding was hard to let go of. He'd held onto it for so long that sharing it felt wrong. He must've fought his entire being just to speak those six words.

He sighed, easing his tense shoulders. "I'm the reincarnation of Decan Lancaster."

I should've laughed or at least shrugged off his comment as a pathetic way of lightening the mood, but I didn't. The only words I managed to say were, "I see."

"You're not going to make fun of me for saying something so absurd?"

"You said no more secrets, right? A team needs to have trust in each other. It would've hurt if I laughed at you while you struggled to reveal something personal. I'll accept whatever you say. Trust goes both ways."

"Thanks," he sniffled. "You don't know how it felt holding onto that for so long. I felt so alone."

"But thinking about it now, prior events make much more sense. You were able to easily defeat me in swordplay when we were younger because you had the unfair advantage of being the greatest swordsman that ever lived. You were only mature because you really were. And you weren't smart, just smart for a kid."

"Yeah, sorry about that. The Colonel was hard on you because of me."

"And back when we first met, you were crying in the library while reading about your history. Now I see why."

"You still remember that?"

"Of course I do. It was the time I met my first friend."

He nodded. "Well, I promised to be a jynxist because I couldn't perform jynx in my previous life. I'll give you permission to usurp me and become the greatest swordsman."

"Only if you become the greatest jynxist. We have our whole life to try." I scratched my head. "So... do I call you Decan now or what?"

"Decan's dead. I'm Ilias now. Ilias Van Payne."

"I want to ask so many questions, but I could do that later. I will ask one—did the history books paint you out to be a bad guy?"

"Yeah, the winner gets to rewrite history and I lost." He leaned against one of the trees, grinning. "And speaking of history, Mondatta told me about how if you could marry anyone in history, you said me—Decan."

My stomach began to turn and my face twitched. All I did was freeze as Ilias peered right through me. "Well, that was before I knew. I mean, you were a pretty good-looking guy. I'm talking about Decan by the way."

He nodded playfully. "If it's only about Decan's look, then how come you've fallen for Ilias too?"

"..."

"Back when you were drunk, you blurted out how you were in love with me—Ilias. You were saying how you were so happy that I didn't die at the lake. You were happy to get a second chance to tell me your true feelings."

My body begged to shrivel up and wanted to hide in a hole.

The consequences of being drunk...

"We did just say that we wouldn't be hiding any more secrets from each other. I think my secret is much bigger than a simple crush."

"W-well. It's not a crush. It's just. Umm... I don't really—I do. Whatever I said when I was drunk is true. So—"

"It's okay," he reassured. "I've been in your position before when I wanted to tell Joy that I loved her. You don't have to say any more."

I sighed, controlling my fluttering heart. "Thanks."

"I'll make this proposal to put you at ease—if you still carry those feelings when we get back to Gilead, I'll ask for your hand in marriage."

His initiative pacified my anxiousness. "Yeah. I'll agree to that."

We found the twins along with Florence and Vienna getting the horses ready. Everything was packed up yesterday so all we had to do was secure everything onto the horses.

Ilias and I shared a mount. He controlled its reins while I sat behind clinging to him.

Once that was done, we made our way out of the main gate for our quiet departure.

We may have had our differences, but I'll miss this village and everyone it houses.

"Going without saying goodbye?" Hanzo accused as he leaned against the outside wall smoking.

Roxanne nodded. "We aren't good at goodbyes."

"No one is."

"We'll slip quietly away. Tell everyone we said goodbye."

Hanzo huffed out a puff of smoke, emptying his pipe onto the ground. "Why don't you tell them yourself?"

Figures began to creep out of the nearby houses—familiar figures. The warriors we fought beside, the farmers we laboured with, the children we played with.

Toshi and Ritsu were among them, nodding silently and trying to blend in with the crowd. The kids that looked up to Ilias all waved their hands at their departing big brother.

The twins glanced at each other and smirked while Ilias turned our horse around to face them.

"This village has no name," Hanzo explained. "But we've finally decided on it. This place will be called Asmonto—in honour of the three sentinels that gave up their lives to protect it."

"It's a good name."

Hanzo chuckled. "If any of you ever find yourselves here again. Drop by and you'll always be welcome. You have our everlasting gratitude for turning us into gentle warriors."

"Goodbye," I said simply.

"Aye. Goodbye."

With the twins leading the way, our company comprised of six horses began to make its way to Shoya. We passed by the twin hills watching over the village, paying our final respects and farewells to our fellow fallen sentinels.

Askeladd Bauer.

Mondatta Reggatta.

Tony Bennet.

This is really it—the last time the seven sentinels will ever be together.

Feeling uneasy about the finality of the past three months and the long perilous road ahead, I reached out for Ilias' hand. He held onto it, interlocking our fingers to give me a sense of serenity.

And thus concludes our journey's beginning. The path ahead of us stretches far away.

Volume Four: End

What's next on Rebellion?

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Thanks for reading this far and don't forget to comment and vote as it would help push this story out a lot.

As the final chapter of this volume, what are your thoughts?

This is the first time in the story I killed off characters we took the time to understand, how do you feel about it?

What did you think of the scene where Ilias finally tells someone (Jaime) about him being the reincarnation of Decan? At the same time, Jaime finally confessing her feelings?

What did you think of the final goodbye scene?

Do you have any predictions for the next volume or the story moving forward?

Author's Note: In the original outline, Ilias was never supposed to get Zenyatta or Guns And Roses. But I thought they were such good abilities. I didn't want to waste them when their users died so I had Ilias develop My Way so he could take them.

My Way only giving Ilias three slots and if he decided to 'forget' an ability by replacing it with another is based off of the Pokemon games in how your Pokemon can only learn four moves. So if you add Epitaph, Ilias is basically a Pokemon.

Zenyatta's Stand cry was originally going to be "De do do do do do do do do do, De da da da da da da da da da!" which is supposed to be a reference to the song "De Do Do Do De Da Da Da" by The Police from the Zenyatta Mondatta album. But when I settled on Ilias being Zenyatta's second user, I changed it to "Ora ora ora" to reference Star Platinum's Stand cry instead.

Mondatta's placeholder name was Zarya--an Overwatch hero who's known for putting her team in protective bubbles.

Jaime, from now on, carrying three swords is a reference to Zoro from One Piece. This was planned from the very beginning.