~ Main Timeline ~

Revelation meets Genesis and Vinna

One day while within one of the Eye of Michael facilities, loyal soldier Revelation is experiencing a flare up of their chronic issues: it is violent as usual, and, it having come on suddenly, Revelation takes to hiding somewhere as they allow the carnage to be stored back inside them through their medicine. While in the midst of this, they run into... Genesis. Genesis is a rather kindhearted member of the EOM, a part of this group for reasons that are a lot different than the typical member. When it sees the pain Revelation is experiencing- something that she herself has experienced before with his own partial plant-ness- Genesis offers kindness and mercy, even a shoulder to lean on. Up until this point, whenever the two interacted, Genesis had been rather afraid of Revelation due to their demeanor- but this incident creates a bridge between the two. After this, Revelation recovers, and the two of them begin to interact more, creating a strong bond and friendship. Genesis begins to bring out the humanity in Revelation: Rev, until this point, had not viewed themself as human, only a weapon, but the more they interact with Genesis, the more they come in contact with themself: they realize there are things they like, things they dislike, things they like to speak about, and the other facets of being a person. Genesis was the beginning of that reawakening.

Meanwhile...

A while into Revelation and Genesis's friendship, a certain experiment is discovered running from the scientists of the EOM. In an act of hiding, they stumble into Revelation, who, unthinking, hides them. The gentleness Revelation had become privy to is extended onto this experiment- who reveals their name as Vinna. Vinna finds immense comfort in the larger person, and soon becomes attached: upon noticing that Vinna seems to be more calm and cooperative when with Revelation, the Eye pairs them together, having them be together most of the time now. On missions, they're together, in facilities, they're together. It starts off silent, but within time, Revelation and Vinna become extraordinarily close: Vinna steals Rev's heart and vice-versa, and the two of them cling to one another in the hellish conditions they both experience.

Achilles meets Chester

As time progresses, the health of the aged Laganas does as well, until eventually Anna, the wife, dies of older age. The town grieves, most notably Achilles and Chariloas, her husband. Death's rites and rituals do not wait though, and while deciding how to put her soul at rest, a certain wandering gravestone-maker tumbles into town.

Chester enters, offering the service they need: she'll etch a stone for them no problem, and only will really take food and entertainment as payment. Chester etches the stone they have picked out with the design they chose, and as he works, he begins to yap and form bonds in this town, just like she has done so many times before. Firstly, she connects with Chariloas over games of chess and old-people gossip, before his attention turns to Achilles: Chester is hopelessly obsessed with interesting-looking folk. She craves uniqueness and wants to see everything this planet has to offer, so when he encounters Achilles, he takes immediate interest. Another thing too- the look in his eyes. Chester is sharp as hell, and knows the look of grief from a mile away. Achilles has experienced far worse than this, he clocks, and that look of grieving, of 'I could have done something different' is familiar to another person Chester knew. It's enough to make her want to annoy, bother, and twist herself right into Achilles's life.

Sure, Achilles is a hothead who gets easily annoyed, but a respect grows between them as Achilles sees how seriously Chester does take the topic of death and gravestones- a person's headstone is important to his culture and beliefs, after all. This is the number one way they bond, actually: Achilles is a man who experiences much hardship. The death of the Laganas, the death of Silas, the death of all the men that fought beside him- Chester is there for all of it, coaxing the stories out of him and offering support no matter how Achilles explains his guilt and how it was his own fault. The two's bond truly clicks over time, cementing them as deeply close friends- something that Achilles had not expected at all from the silly gal.

Gabriel's Panic

It was mentioned before that Gabriel is a wanderer. There... is a reason for this, aside from that Gabriel likes to study people. The notorious Eye of Michael has actually been after him this entire time. Why?

Because he is an Independent Plant.

Gabriel has been on the run from them, but after staying in this town for an extended time, the group finally caught up to him. Gabriel is attacked and, in defense, his rather unstable powers kick in to protect him- right in the center of town. He does not have a handle on them and they are extremely destructive- and the sight of a monster twitching and causing havoc in the town center leads the other citizens to decide to kill him to defend Valley Haven. Achilles should be on board to defend his home, his people, something he has always preached- however, he discovers that this is Gabriel, his Gabe. Fuck. He tries to talk to the citizens, to let them let HIM through so he can go talk down Gabriel. The men do not listen though, and Achilles winds up fighting his way to Gabriel, utilizing his skill in combat to make it to him.

He makes it to Gabriel, but by this point, it is too late: his attempts to help Gabriel gain control do not work. He had the opportunity to kill the Blond, but... he chose to spare Gabriel's life. He chose Gabriel over the town. In turn, Gabriel winds up losing complete control and sets off a blast that makes a crater the size of the town: everyone in the town is killed.

Well... Everyone but Achilles.

Achilles, miraculously, survives the blast for reasons that are unclear (for now). He awakes from unconsciousness to find Valley Haven destroyed, merely a crater now- and his Gabriel gone. The assumption is obvious: Gabriel is dead. Everyone is dead. Achilles has lost... everything.

... All but one.

Chester returns to town. He had been on her way there for her regular visit and had witnessed the explosion from a great distance. Now, she finds Achilles weakly trying to carve people's names into stone graves. There is one nearby, a half-finished 'Gabriel' left in it.

Chester, gentle as she can, takes Achilles's shocked-self and coaxes him out of town, leaving behind the ruins.

He leaves behind his golden shoulder-piece unintentionally.

Gabriel survives the destruction.

Gabriel awakes alone.

He comes-to a few miles away from Valley Haven, the blast having completely knocked him out and sent him flying- and the energy spent from the blast turned the roots of his hair black. Despite being weak and exhausted, he worries about what happened to Valley Haven, and treks back to where he knows the town is at. Once he arrives- he finds nothing. Nothing, except the golden shoulder-piece Achilles wore everywhere.

The entire town is gone. He killed everyone.

He killed Achilles.

That revelation decimates him.

Gabriel, as he was before finding Achilles, is completely alone. He doesn't know what else to do besides continue onward: Gabriel picks up the pieces of himself and begins travelling again. This time, the EOM are on his heels and his shelter was compromised, so he goes fully into hiding, trying to keep a low profile and avoid most people. All the while, he utterly grieves Achilles.

Gabriel's capture

Many, many months pass, but he cannot run forever. Despite Gabriel's best attempts, he finally gets captured by an EOM member known as 'Eve', who has the ability to create illusions/mirages of people. She uses this trick on Gabriel: she creates a vision of Achilles who is unharmed and alive as a way to lure in Gabriel. Gabe has been alone and grieving for nearly a year now and, weak and sick with mourning, he falls for it.

Once he is captured, Gabriel comes face-to-face with another Independent Plant named Knives, who is angry at Gabriel for getting so close to humanity, the thing that this Plant views with absolute hatred and disgust. When Gabriel argues his case, that humanity can be kind and worthwhile, Knives inflicts him with visions of other Plant's suffering and mistreatment over the years that humans have been stuck on Gunsmoke. Despite how horrifying this is for Gabe, though, he does not give in, not after everything he has seen and experienced himself (Deuce Dump, Chester- Achilles). Because of Gabriel's continued resistance, Knives decides instead that he is going to absorb Gabe into himself to gain more power. This, however, is interrupted by...

Revelation and Vinna's escape.

Revelation and Vinna have been traveling together for years now. The two of them are closer than close- individuals that should not be separated. They're each other's comforts in this hell they live in. So... When Vinna is removed from Revelation's side after all this time, it is an issue.

Revelation is a loyal weapon. They do not fight to begin with despite the feelings that arise with Vinna being taken- but this changes as they realize why Vinna was taken. See... Vinna was initially paired with Revelation so that the Eye may keep control of it. Vinna was a loose cannon, something that they struggled to keep a grip on, but pairing them off with Rev was a good way to ensure Vinna behaved: it's unstable, but Rev was a bandaid to that problem. Now, though, they see that they have created another problem: Rev has been encouraging Vinna to not take the experimental medication the Eye uses to worsen Vinna's condition, and their closeness proves an issue in that Vinna acts out worse when not with Revelation. After years of dealing with this, the Eye... has finally decided that Vinna is too dangerous and unstable to keep in the Eye any longer. They lock Vinna up, intending on collecting the last bit of data from this experiment they can before eliminating it.

Revelation is then told that they will be the one to kill it. They know all of Vinna's weak points, don't they?

...Revelation has been put in this situation before. In another life, they chose to murder the person closest to them for the EOM: they're utterly loyal.

They go to where Vinna is being kept. There, they are met with a weak, fragile version of their friend.

This time... Revelation decides to save them.

Revelation is one of the Eye's best and most skilled members- so now, they turn the skill that was baked into them entirely against the Eye. Revelation destroys where Vinna was being kept, grabs them, then fights the entire facility to get Vinna out of there: the two of them are used to fighting as a unit; therefore, Revelation is able to fight while holding Vinna and running through the facility. Their escape is a massacre: Revelation proves that they are now loyal to Vinna, not these people who have hurt and stolen their memory, their humanity, and everything they have.

As they escape, they do run into a familiar face: Genesis. Genesis, however, does not fight them: she merely watches, before letting Revelation through. He does not choose to come with the two of them- Genesis has more work to do here, first, but the two of them recognize their friendship and appreciation for one another in a silent moment, before Revelation escapes.

Rev runs for miles. For the rest of the day. Adrenaline and their vials keep them going until they collapse far, far away from the facility, where Vinna sleeps for days until finally awaking. The two of them share a quiet, relief-filled moment with one another: they are free. They're both... safe. They're free.

Genesis winds up assigned to be the leader of the search party for the two run-away members. It, however, is still on these two's side: she subtly sabotages the search when they can.

Aftermath.

Gabriel, in the chaos caused by Revelation and Vinna's escape, manages to get away from Knives and escape where he is being held. After this, he goes back to his wandering- months pass by, before he does finally come to the personal realization that... he really has to do something about this. The fact that he was so easily tricked by an illusion of Achilles makes him realize that he cannot grieve forever, as much as he wants to. So, he decides that he will return to Valley Have to bury Achilles's brooch, the one he has been wearing since he found it in the initial blast that killed Achilles. Lord... has it really been over a year since then?

Achilles's Journey during all this time:

Achilles and Chester's Travels

Following the events of Gabriel's panic, Chester decides to stick with Achilles indefinitely for now, not wanting to leave him alone after all the losses he faced- she is deeply worried about him. The two of them travel together for months, and over this course of time, the two of them grow extremely close: Chester witnesses the worst of Achilles's mental state, and in the process, Chester too opens up a bit. Despite everything he sees out of Achilles, Chester does not leave him.

Achilles's state, while at least stable for now, does not improve: he's still steeped in grief. Realizing this, Chester thinks about bringing Achilles to a place she knows people have healed at- Deuce Dump. She's thinking particularly of Jerboa. So, he decides to bring Achilles to Deuce Dump.

Deuce Dump

Achilles arrives alongside Chester in Deuce Dump for a short period of time. While here, he gets to meet the girl Chester has long spoke about: Jerboa. That, and he gets to meet a few others there- Jamie, Brandy, Hilda, etc- but he is still mentally... not doing well at all. He meets all of them in his absolute worse state. The most notable two he meets is Chester's closest comrades: Weevil and Jerboa. Jerboa is his "darling", the woman she adores, and Weevil is the two's closest friend, a sort of emotional third to their unlabled relationship.

Despite Chester's continued efforts, Achilles eventually realizes that he just... cannot be around the people he cares about right now. He loves Chester, but the guilt is becomming too much, and being surrounded by all these people just serves to remind him of everything he lost. So, without any sort of warning, after a very short period of time in Deuce Dump, Achilles gathers his things and leaves in the middle of the night. Chester merely wakes in the morning to find him gone.

Paradeisos

Achilles, on his own, wanders into a town he's never seen before: Paradeisos. He wound up initially passing out somewhere nearby it, to which he was then discovered by a younger girl named Janah.

Janah is a character obsessed with the idea of love- so when Achilles appears to her like someone out of one of her romance novels, young and naive Janah gets it in her head that they have to get together. Her attempts at courting are brushed off by Achilles, who has no interest in that: he has not, and will not, "get over" Gabriel. Achilles is still miserable; however, he doesn't really have anywhere else to go right now. If he goes back to Valley Haven- well... And he doesn't particularly want to go back to Deuce Dump. So, miserable and experiencing a loss of motivation for much of anything, Achilles decides to simply remain in this town for now.

While here, Janah continues her attempts at "wooing" him. When they do not work out, she grows frustrated and tries to hammer in the point that Achilles lost Gabriel - which he admitted to her in a moment of weakness - and that Gabriel is gone. He isn't coming back, he needs to move on. These words cut Achilles deeply, heightening his misery.

This section reaches its climax when Achilles, in the height of his depression, contemplates his life on a cliffside. He curses, begs, spits at the Gods, and reaches a point of panic before he catches sigh of a familiar face: Gabriel's. For a dizzying, out-of-it moment, he sees Gabriel, and the sight nearly makes him walk off the cliff's edge. He is only stopped by Janah's voice- which causes him to lose sight of the apparition. She talks him down from the edge, causing him to come back to some amount of miserable calm. What comes out of this incident, though, is that Achilles finally accepts that Gabriel is truly gone.

News of Vinna

Sometime after the cliff incident, news reaches the town of Paradeisos about a certain incident at a facility nearby and how it caused damage to a town. Something about a person that happens to fit the description of the sibling Achilles lost to the Eye of Michael all those years ago- Vinna.

Hearing the news that *one* person Achilles cares about, the person he pledged to protect at a young age, is alive gives him renewed strength. He cleans himself up and leaves Paradeisos behind, following the path that this mystery person has left behind.

Siblings Reunited

Achilles, after a few weeks of trailing their path, finds Vinna. Well- he still thinks of them as "Octavia", the name they were given at birth; he isn't aware of Vinna's name change. Or really, how much they've changed in general. The young girl, Octavia, he knew is gone- this is Vinna, the Eye of Michael survivor. Eye of Michael... Achilles has a notorious hatred for this group: they took Vinna, his Valley Haven, his Gabriel. While he cannot hate Vinna... he can direct every bit of his rage and grieving into their companion: Revelation.

Achilles copes via rage: he directs all of his hatred into Revelation, choosing to label them as responsible for everything that has gone wrong for him. He's lost right now, torn apart by grief and trying to hold onto the one thing he think he has left in this world, Vinna. Revelation reciprocates this hate, not willing to trust Achilles at all due to his attitude towards Vinna (he's been gone- how dare he return and claim he will protect Vinna?). This hatred grows between them, until it finally comes to a head: Achilles, in an act of grief-fueld vengeance, decides it would be best if Revelation were entirely out of the picture.

Revelation vs. Achilles: the First Fight

It is the middle of the night, when it happens. Revelation had gotten up and went out, unable to sleep due to their thinking, and, to their detrimental mistake, they had not anticipated Achilles making a move this soon on them: they're unprepared. Achilles manages to sneak up on them.

Now, Revelation is an incredible fighter- they were deemed one of the EOM's most important assets for a reason; however, anyone can even the playing field a bit if they catch someone off guard. Achilles does just that- he catches Revelation unprepared and strikes over and over, being ruthless in his approach. Revelation goes into defense, struggling to block Achilles's attacks. Despite the sneak-attack, Revelation still puts up a good fight- but ultimately they fall. Achilles manages to knock Revelation to the ground, where he proceeds to stab them repeatedly with his spear as Revelation crawls on their back. The plant DNA within them fights back, ripping out of them, but Achilles merely stomps on the wings and continues his fury. As he attacks mercilessly, Achilles begins ranting: he shouts about how it feels to be *helpless*, how it feels to *hurt*. How he lost all his men to these people, how he lost *everything* to them. He shouts that Revelation is experiencing what he has been through- that they deserve this, that they and their people were the ones that turned Achilles into this ("Look what you've turned me into- Look what we've become").

Before delivering a final blow, Revelation manages to break an EOM vial between their teeth, swallowing glass and healing fluid as Achilles raises his spear to end them. Before he can, Revelation raises their foot and kicks, using the spurs of their boot to *tear* into the meat of Achilles's thigh and ripping it open. Stunned for a moment, Revelation uses the way Achilles falters to get up and *run*. This is the first time they've ever had to retreat like this.

With all the blood scattered and Revelation gone... Achilles makes another decision: while he failed to kill Revelation, he can lie to Vinna and say that he did. It's for their own good anyways, right...?

Revelation's Retreat

In their retreat, Revelation runs into a face they haven't seen in a while: Genesis. Neither have seen each other since Revelation escaped the EOM with Vinna. In their weakness, they run into Genesis in a similar state Genesis initially met them in, and... the two of them are delighted. They share a quiet, pleasant moment with each other, where Revelation gathers their strength and reestablishes their friendship with Genesis. It's a small peace in this storm.

When Revelation heals up, they go to find Vinna- and Genesis, wanting to help, follows. The two of them reconnect over the course of time they follow Vinna's trail.

Vinna's Grief

Vinna just lost their only anchor. This is the first time a death has truly affected Vinna- sure, the death of their parents was devestating, but it was young when that happened. This death is the first one that has truly *wrecked* them- Revelation was Vinna's everything. Now alone and adrift, Vinna sticks with Achilles merely out of the fact that Achilles feels like the only thing Vinna has left. Achilles has inflicted on Vinna the same tragedy he went through himself so that they would develop his same problem: clutching onto each other.

One of the main issues with that, though, is that Revelation was Vinna's emotional support. So, with them gone and Vinna's emotions all over the place, old habits return... Vinna goes on a destructive streak across Gunsmoke, with Achilles merely only able to follow it. Vinna willingly turns their mind and body over to the worms, letting themself be used to destroy towns in their grief. Achilles can only follow, trying to offer support that he himself doesn't even have.

Revelation and Genesis follow this trail of destruction close: Revelation recognizes it as Vinna's. And, eventually, they and Genesis manage to catch up as Vinna arrives at the final town in their destructive streak: the remains of Valley Haven.

Revelation vs. Achilles: the Second Fight

Revelation catches up to the siblings at the wreckage of Valley Haven. Here, they find Vinna breaking down with Achilles trying to calm them... and their presence is noticed. Vinna spots Revelation- and for a dizzying moment, each other is all they can focus on. Vinna stutters to a hault, before their breath hitches and they start to run to Revelation.

The two reach one another and Vinna buries themself against Revelation, soaking in their presence. Their emotions are still all over the place, but at least right now, they have their Rev back; Revelation holds onto them and tries to calm them down. Unfortunately, Achilles, even after everything, still deems Revelation a threat: he points his spear at Revelation and threatens them, demanding they step away from Vinna. And Revelation... is furious

Revelation as a character is rare to truly get *angry*. See, there was anger involved in their escape from the EOM- however, they never have reached this level of fury before. Their Vinna was hurt, was left to destroy, was left with this madman who tried to kill Revelation out of some twisted sense of protection- and Revelation is furious over it. Achilles's threat sparks the second of he and Revelation's fights.

This fight is far longer and much, much bloodier. Revelation was not taken off guard this time, and now they fully show off the fighting abilities they were feared for. Achilles is given his strongest opponent yet: the two of them tear into one another, with Revelation showing absolutely now mercy. While Achilles monolouged in his fight, Revelation does not have the patience for that: they are fighting to *kill*. This fight has slowly shifted from Achilles fighting Revelation to trying to survive Revelation.

Before this fight, Revelation asks two things of Genesis: keep an eye on Vinna, and, whatever happens, do not interfere. This is their fight, and they wish it to be life or death; if they fall, they fall. Genesis is in a paralysis as she watches: she is the only one who has truly seen Revelation be terrifying before this. He tries to keep the promise he made Revelation, however... Vinna is utterly overwhelmed. There are too many sights, vibrations, sounds, and those are two people Vinna knows *killing* each other. They cannot handle it. Vinna scatters, running away to hide further in Valley Haven. Genesis finds themself unable to do anything- and feels utterly helpless to the carnage, for once.

While fighting, Revelation goes on a speech of their own, righteous fury carrying their voice much louder than it has ever been. It sends chills through Achilles, especially since Revelation's words hit directly on the points Achilles is most sensitive about: Revelation is just confirming everything Achilles thinks about himself.

As this fight progresses, both begin to look worse and worse: Revelation's feathers sprout out of every wound they acquire, bloody and violent but largely ignored by Rev themself. As for Achilles... His heritage is finally revealed: the combined stress of everything finally sends his plant powers spiraling. Feathers begin sprouting out of places in his own body, making panic surge through him as he doesn't understand what is happening to his own body.

Towards the end of the fight, both Revelation and Achilles's weapons are tossed to the side, leaving the two of them to use their bare hands. It becomes a bloody, exhausted brawl, with both of them merely tearing into one another. They yank and rip, tearing open each other's wounds in a bloody brawl, just one's strength against the other.

The end of the fight finally comes: the two of them are utterly spent, torn apart by one another and barely able to remain standing. And Achilles...

The stress of it all becomes too much. Achilles has been through too much- the grief of everything he has ever faced, the guilt that Revelation dragged to the light, the utter self-loathing he holds within himself, it all becomes too much. His body and mind have been pushed to their limits. Revelation sends him stumbling to the ground, where he can only writhe, clutching his head as panic and pain overwhelm him. That, and... a sense of giving up. He thinks about the day he contemplated his life on that cliff again, similar thoughts resurfacing now. Why is he even still fighting...? He's only ever hurt people. Why keep going?

Revelation also sinks to the ground onto one knee, a small distance between the two of them, since exhaustion leaves them unable to stand: they've already used the amount of vials they can in one fight without killing themself. Though, while Achilles is overwhelmed, Revelation glances over to see Achilles's gun from earlier they had smacked away. They begin to reach for it.

It seems like the end of the line for the Warrior; however, it is then that Achilles hears a voice cut through the agony...

The POVs recombine here.

Gabriel returns to Valley Haven

Gabriel has returned to the remains of Valley Haven, brooch in hand and ready to finally give up the memory of Achilles. He is going to try and accept the loss, to allow himself to live with the memory of what he did, of what he destroyed. He soaks in the sight of the old town, appreciating the cliffs he sees, the small, hidden entrance to its haven- the places he hasn't seen in over a year now. It has been so long... and he knows within himself this will be the last time he will see any of this. He takes a deep breath, then enters the entrance...

And hears fighting.

Gabriel hears fighting occurring within the town and, despite himself, he goes to it, curiosity always having been his flaw. When he appears, he sees the carnage occurring: two bloodied bodies, another nearby shaking and watching helplessly. And one of those bodies...

His breath hitches. That's Achilles

Gabriel calls out to him in a desperate shout. The interruption from a voice so familiar to Achilles, something he has craved for over a year now, is what drags him out of his haze: he jerks up, eyes latching onto Gabriel. The two of them stare for a long moment... before a choked sound escapes Achilles, and he starts crawling towards Gabriel. Gabe *runs* towards him, skidding down to his knees and scooping the bleeding man into his arms. Achilles, in raw relief, collapses into him.

The fight from here seems... over. Revelation loses the last of their strength: the gun they had pointed at Achilles falls, their hands sinking to the ground.

Gabriel becomes smeared in blood as he holds his lost love- something that begins to boil his blood. He looks up, fury crossing through him as he sees Revelation. he demands, "Did you do this?"- but his rage is held off as Genesis comes running. It comes to Revelation's side, worry coursing through it, something that has Gabriel easing for now. Achilles needs medical attention too: fighting an already beaten opponent can wait for now.

Genesis helps Revelation to their feet. Even as they sway, Revelation, hoarse, asks Genesis where Vinna went, who tells him that they ran off to hide. There isn't many places to hide here... Revelation knows the kind of places Vinna hides. They find the little bug quickly enough, using the last of their strength to do so. Vinna regards Revelation for a long moment... and Revelation, in a near whisper, simply apologizes. "I'm sorry" encapsulates how they know how terrifying they seemed, how they must have scared Vinna. Vinna, after a brief hesitation, merely jumps forward and hugs Revelation, squeezing them as tight as it can: it doesn't care about that. Its just happy Revelation is alive.

There is a sort of tentative peace between the two groups then: both take residence in the remains of the town, using broken-down houses and their own camping material to set up a place to rest. Gabriel carries Achilles to a medical-tent while Revelation, Genesis, and Vinna take up shelter nearby.

The Aftermath

Things are tentative, for a while.

Revelation cannot drink their vials for about a week, leaving them to have to recover from everything normally. This leads to the first scars they've ever received. Once they awake, Vinna is by their side, taking care of them the same way Revelation did for them so long ago. The two of them talk and finally have the reunion they earned. Revelation apologizes once more, to which Vinna comforts them. Then... Vinna quietly explains what they did, which Revelation already was aware of since that was how they found Vinna. Revelation affirms that they still love Vinna: they both have always been destructive, no? Not that that's an excuse, but... Revelation understands. They both have hurt people, they're not the greatest of people themselves. For now, they can just focus on doing good and being good. They will heal together.

As for Gabriel and Achilles... Achilles takes a few days to awake compared to Revelation. Once he does, it is while Gabriel is outside the tent, so despite his injuries, he stumbles out of the tent looking for him. The two lock eyes and...

It's complicated. There is a part of Achilles that longs to go crashing into Gabriel's arms, but... another part of him feels stained. Revelation's words ring in his ears alongside the thoughts he had during the fight, about how many people he has hurt. He has so much blood on his hands. His guilt swells. When Gabriel takes a step towards him, Achilles falters and takes a step back.

With that... Achilles begins to explain that he isn't the man that Gabriel once knew. He has changed over the time they have been separate: the amount of people he has hurt is indescribable. He isn't worthy of Gabriel now- the blood on his hands is too thick, it will burden and taint the blond. Gabriel listens to all of this, expression unreadable...

Before he grows pissed

Gabriel bites back that he did not grieve Achilles for nothing. He did not spend this length of time utterly spent, grieving, emotionally *devastated*, just for Achilles to come back and tell him that they cannot be with one another. Despite the injuries, Gabriel rattles him, breaking into his thick skull that he never stopped loving Achilles. He doesn't care about the blood on Achilles's hands, because he knows Achilles and knows it wasn't done with evil intent: Achilles is a good man, one that screws up, but he is a *good man*. And Gabriel will love him, this man's self-loathing be damned. Gabriel's love is stubborn, he will not give it up because of violence. Who does Achilles think he is? The very suggestion that he would stop loving him is an *insult*.

Achilles has a habit of putting loved ones on pedestals in his mind: first was Vinna, far removed from the one he knew and shifting into a figurehead to base his vengeance on. Next was Gabriel: rather than the love he was, Achilles remembered him as a figurehead of everything he has done wrong, something pure that Achilles cannot possibly taint. But Gabriel's rant is a reminder that Gabriel is just a man- he isn't some holy figure, he is a *man*, one that happens to still love Achilles despite everything he has done. One that has been hurting just as much as Achilles.

Achilles, emotionally worn, shudders, before he and Gabriel finally properly embrace. They cling to each other with all their might, both crying messes.

Recovery

The two groups focus on recovery for a while.

Revelation, within a week or so, is able to use their vials and get back to decently-full strength, though the scars still remain and they do still have a little weakness. They and Vinna seem to be doing alright, though.

Achilles is able to walk by then. He is still weak and shaky, a non-threat, but he is recovering. Gabriel and he discuss the feathers that were coming out of him- and come to the realization that Achilles would not be able to do that if he didn't have some kind of Plant-ness within him. Gabriel can sense that he isn't an independent, though... something is remiss, there. It isn't anything they can completely figure out yet, but both believe Achilles might be, in some way, part-Plant. This is also where Gabriel fully admits that he himself is not human- that he is a Plant. It's a little much to wrap his head around, but it makes sense, and who is Achilles to be put-off by that?

Vinna and Achilles during this time are... strained. After everything, their relationship is in pretty decent shambles. Vinna makes the executive order to leave Valley Haven for a while with Revelation since they do not want to be around Achilles right now: in a rare show of seriousness, Vinna explains to Achilles that they cannot hate him, as Vinna also destroyed innocent lives in their fury. They understand hurting people after losing a loved one, and therefore cannot cast too much judgement onto him. But they make it clear that they can make their own decisions: it isn't the little girl Achilles once knew and had to make decisions for. Vinna is an individual, one that has chosen to be with Revelation, not forced. With that, they leave with Revelation and Genesis.

Shortly after leaving, Genesis splits off from the two. He and Revelation exchange goodbyes in good-terms; while Genesis worries for them, it's clear they are going to be okay. It isn't clear when they will have contact once more, so the two embrace, reaffirming their love for on another before Genesis leaves the two.

Revelation and Vinna focus on recovering emotionally, after this. The two skip from town to town trying to just... live. They want to simply live. Both start trying to work on the separation issues they have as well, though it is slow going. Vinna, similar to what they did with Achilles, has a talk with Revelation about being an individual and not something for Revelation to look after, which Revelation agrees with. The two of them are hurt and it takes a lot of work, but they begin to work on themselves as individuals while also just enjoying getting to live outside of the dangers and stresses they previously faced. It's healing for both of them. In this time period, Vinna starts selling the jewelry they've found that they love making.

Gabriel and Achilles are left alone for a short while, focusing on recovering themselves. Achilles is... weird, during this time: sure, Gabriel re-affirmed his love, but Achilles does still struggle with his self-guilt. It's a slow process. As they remain in Valley Haven though, Gabriel remembers a freckled-face... and reminds Achilles. Who promptly goes pale.

Right. Chester...

Hopefully she isn't too mad at him for disappearing off the face of the planet, right..?

Chester beats Achilles's Ass (Not Actually)

Yeah, she's pretty mad. Moreso worried, though.

Achilles writes out a letter not entirely explaining everything: he simply says that he is in Valley Haven and wants to see the brunette, where he will explain everything. Chester comes pretty quickly, as he has been horribly worried about Achilles for a while now.

When he gets there, Chester lovingly chews Achilles out for leaving her so worried and only inviting her back now that he's apparently injured. But, as soon as he's done, he hugs the man as tight as he can, mumbling that its good to see him safe. Achilles gets a bonk on the head then a loving forehead kiss, reestablishing the two's care and importance to one another.

Then Chester catches blond in his peripheral, and... Is that Gabriel?

Achilles is sat down and made to explain things to Chester: he tells the little guy some of the story, though Chester can tell there's more to it (he'll weasel is out of Achilles later). The important part is that Gabriel is alive, Achilles is alive, and everything turned out kind-of okay.

Chester sticks around for a good while after this. She puts a brief pause on his current duties to stick around, because Achilles admits to needing help rebuilding Valley Haven. Chester has an adoration of architecture, so she begins building plans- a skill nobody actually expected him to have. She lays out building plans alongside Achilles, then, using his millions of resources around Gunsmoke, calls in favors from people to begin rebuilding: some of which include Blythe Owens and Teddy Miller. The rebuilding of Valley Haven beings.

Chester has always been able to gently tug stories and guilt out of Achilles: over this course of time, he manages to get the full story of what happened to Achilles while they were separate out of him. How he nearly died multiple times, one of which by his own hands. How he hurt so many people. Chester comforts him. He confides to her that he always feels so *angry*, that this is something he has always been- and he doesn't know what to do now that he's too weak to fight. Chester offers insight: he has spent so long operating on vengeance that he doesn't know who he is outside of that now, right? It's a grief response- he only survived through anger. Now that its gone, it makes sense that he feels empty. Maybe it is time to focus on who he is *outside* of that, you know?

It is... incredibly insightful. Achilles has to sit down after hearing it. But Chester is right- after this, Achilles starts trying to make that effort.

New Valley Haven

Valley Haven is restored. It isn't the same town it was before, of course: the people who once remained here are long gone, but the spirit of the place remains. It is supposed to be a haven. The town is dubbed New Valley Haven, representing a new beginning for it.

This was the best thing Chester had ever gotten to work on, he cites: she has always wanted to do this. The brunette thanks Achilles for the opportunity, before returning to her usual ways: she'll drop in every so often like she used to. Just... don't blow up anymore towns in the meantime. The two of them exchange hugs before he goes. This also establishes ties between Deuce Dump and New Valley Haven: Achilles visits Deuce Dump occasionally and people from there visit New Valley Haven. He and Jerboa speak a lot, now.

Vinna and Revelation also come and go in the same vein as Chester: they visit every so often, focusing on themselves and their desires to experience what life has to offer outside the town first. Vinna and Achilles's relationship is slowly improving- though Achilles and Revelation never grow to like one another.

People who knew of the old Valley Haven come to settle down. Achilles, with much coaxing from Gabriel and the need of the people, takes up a Head position for the town, though he doesn't continue on Charilaos's work of going out and destroying gangs with men from the town. He's... He's focusing on healing and his anger/vengeance problems, right now (for now).

Another thing: Achilles starts writing for the newspaper here. Achilles has always adored books, and he begins writing for himself about his travels and his extensive knowledge on Greek Mythology and other subjects. When Gabe and Chester manage to coax him into writing for their newspaper in the town, Achilles does so under a pen-name- but it's liked! The two get excited about it. Eventually, Achilles is offered to start teaching some of the information he knows as well: he starts teaching history and mythology to the school there, earning a role as a teacher. It's a good job for him, he enjoys it.

Gabriel, for work himself, decides to begin working with the Plant facilities nearby the town. He has not forgotten what Knives showed him- while he disagreed with Knives's notion that all humans should be destroyed because of their mistreatment of Plants, Gabriel does agree that something needs to be done, so he begins working in the facilities to ensure his Sisters are taken care of and treated better.

Revelation and Vinna are still on their own for the most part. They're doing well- though, as the years pass, they eventually decide to settle down in Valley Haven. Revelation and Achilles are still incredibly argumentative (Achilles's side) and petty (Revelation's side), they won't hurt each other. Achilles has always been decently afraid of Revelation after that fight, though... Regardless, the two settle down here.

Everything is going well...! It's a much needed break. Gabriel and Achilles remain with the title "boyfriends" during this time, though the idea of marriage is something out of the picture for a while with how busy their lives are.

Back to the Usual: Missions and EOM

It was mentioned that Achilles hadn't kept up Charilaos's tradition of going out and attacking gangs nearby. Well... that's half-true. Achilles isn't doing that with the men of the town- he's just doing it by himself now. More specifically, it isn't gangs he is doing it to, but any rogue EOM members.

See, Achilles wants to destroy their facilities and work after everything, but he wants to do it discretely this time, not involving the men in the village since he doesn't trust himself to lead men like that anymore. No, he chooses to do this alone now. Old habits die hard; at least he is far less brutal about it this time, though.

But, see... Revelation lives in town now, which means they are no longer travelling as much. However- they still need their vials, which is a resource that came from the EOM. They need this to survive and no longer have a supply of it. To gain their vials, then, they must go get them from the EOM- which generally means raiding facilities or taking it off the corpses of other members. Revelation has no moral trouble with doing this.

So, as one might expect- the two run into one another while doing this. This happens often enough that the two of them begrudgingly just begin doing it together: it gets the job done quicker when there are two of them fighting, anyways.

Forced proximity and fighting is the push that these two needed to actually speak to one another outside of petty comments. They start to communicate, and realize... they're both rather similar in what they hold dear. Both are just extremely stubborn and very deadest on the idea of protecting what is dear to them, hence why they butted heads so much: they are cut out of the same cloth. Achilles is a man who believes himself to be a monster, and Revelation is a monster who is trying to simply be a man. They both have done horrible things and hurt people- and now want to just protect their loved ones. Really, there are so many similarities in their goals. They still fight, but... there's something more than hatred between them, now. And understanding.

They carry on like this for a long while, a few years actually. Then, while on a mission one day, an incident occurs: on an attack on a facility, a man nearly stabs Rev- but is intercepted by Achilles, who takes the knife for them instead. Revelation makes quick work of the rest then carries Achilles out of there, questioning why he would ever do something that stupid. Achilles cannot offer much of one, pride and stubbornness preventing him from saying he kind of cares about the person now. Revelation is conflicted by it, as this represents the fact they no longer want to see the other dead. This isn't an instant fix on their relationship, but it lays the groundwork for the two of them to being to get along: its a recognition that they do not despise one another anymore.

This will be the beginning of a decade-long developing friendship between the two of them.

Omiros(?) Alexopoulos

Things are calm for a little while after that- but, well, Achilles is an Alexopoulos, which means things are kind of prone to happen to him. The latest of which happens to be a massive family-revelation. Two, actually, but the first is from a man named Omiros.

Achilles is aware by this point that his old family is very dead and very long gone- his parents were killed by his own fault, and even Vinna is a different person than they once were. This is a fact he has come to terms with... However, old wounds tends to break open when a face you thought was long dead suddenly appears before you.

Omiros Alexopoulos. The man that created Achilles, the man that Achilles looked up to so much- he comes to Valley Haven.

Achilles recognizes him. Well, he is lacking his old beard now and looks skinnier, more frail, but that's to be expected in age, right? It still looks like his father. He is overcome by the sight, by the man who clasps his shoulder and calls him son, something he hasn't heard since he was very little.

When questioned, Omiros explains that he survived the incident that Achilles caused... somehow. Achilles is a bit too overjoyed in the moment to question it too much.

Omiros starts to stick around, then, with Achilles giving him housing and accommodation with no cost. There... are issues, though.

Omiros acts wonderful to Achilles! Everyone else, though, he... isn't, simply.

He's a complete dick to Vinna, his other child: Vinna attempted to make him a bracelet, only to have it broken, something that upset it greatly. That, and he happens to keep misgendering them. It leads to Revelation to put on their full display of intimidation, rattling the man a bit before they take Vinna and leave Valley Haven for the entirety of the time he is staying there.

Gabriel isn't particularly fond of him either: Omiros has stated plainly that he doesn't like Gabriel, doesn't like the fact that Gabriel is his son's boyfriend- but while Gabriel would love to tell him off, he refrains for Achilles's sake.

He also happens to treat another of Achilles's friends poorly: Chester.

Chester's friendliness comes with the Chester-experience, so she is nice to Omiros, but it does not last. One evening, while Chester is stepping into Achilles's tent for something- a common habit, he has no sense of privacy with that man- Chester stumbles across a concerning sight: Omiros stealing from Achilles and Gabriel. She is frozen for the moment, before Omiros acts: he pins the brunette and threatens her with his gun, telling her not to breathe a word about it.

Chester... has issues with guns. This is something he has never truly spoken about outside of Achilles, but something that his closer friends have picked up on. That, and he especially has trauma related to witnessing robberies- it is how his father was murdered, after all. So, faced with a threat like this, a weapon to his head that brings extreme fear to her... Chester runs. Her base instincts are that of a flight creatures, after all.

Chester books it from Valley Haven, not even saying goodbye: he runs as fast as his weak legs will take him, and only realizes later that she forgot something: her bandana. Fuck... That bandana means the absolute world to her, it was her last gift from her father. It's not like she can go back, though...

Achilles only hears about Chester's flight from, none other than Omiros.

The man explains that he caught Chester stealing from him and Gabriel and, when confronted by it, Chester took what he'd stolen and ran from town. Oh well, friends can be fickle, can't they? That's why family is forever. But... But Achilles knows Chester wouldn't do that. Hell, it's not even a question- he has stuck with this goofball for so long, Chester has been there for the worst of himself and knows him better than anyone. Achilles knows she wouldn't do that. This is confirmed when he spots the bandana Chester left behind: that's it. Chester would never willingly leave that.

Achilles, for the first time, starts to see what the others were talking about. That Omiros might... not be the best, actually. He's protective of his friends, and that wars with his desire to have a father figure once again, leading to his opinion shifting. He tells Omiros, a bit angrily, that they'll talk when he gets back- he's going after Chester, first.

Achilles leaves to chase her, leaving Omiros with the rest of the town.

Leaving Gabriel with him.

Achilles, within a day, catches up to Chester. Achilles embraces him, to which, tired and emotionally worn, Chester collapses into it in a rare willing show of weakness. Chester, distraught, tries to explain herself- and Achilles explains that its okay. He makes sure Chester wasn't hurt, then starts to bring her back to Valley Haven- only for Chester to stop him and try to fully explain what Omiros did.

Yeah, that's the final straw. Nobody threatens Chester like that.

Concerned, protective, and seeing how tired Chester is, Achilles tugs her onto his back, carrying her and letting him rest as they travel back.

And before Achilles returns- Omiros and Gabriel finally have a proper argument.

Omiros has come out completely to Gabriel as being an ass. He tells Gabriel that Achilles doesn't deserve him, that he isn't worth him, and all sorts of other things. Gabriel until this point has taken all the comments, the aggravation, and... he's finally had about as much as he can take.

Gabriel finally snaps. He goes off on Omiros completely in a rare show of true Gabriel-anger, to the point that the two even nearly get into a physical fight. It's stopped, however, by the appearance of Achilles and Chester.

Achilles leaves Chester away from Omiros, then goes over to break up the argument- by punching Omiros himself.

He explains that he is not going to mess with the family Achilles has created here, no matter if he is blood related or not. That, and Omiros can get the hell out of town- he is not the man that Achilles once looked up to and respected, and he can get out of his town.

And Omiros... Actually confirms that.

Spitting and defiant, Omiros finally explains that he isn't Omiros- he is a man named Christos. Christos Alexopoulos- Omiros's twin brother and Achilles's uncle.

Achilles didn't actually know he had family outside of his mother and father, for he never met any of them before, so that information is even more of a shock. It doesn't matter in the moment though... he wants Christos out. Christos reaffirms that Omiros is dead, before being chased out.

` ` Your father didn't die a hero. He died how we all knew he would- violent, young, desperate- stupid. But I guess he always got what he wanted- some distance from the rest of us! And we all knew how Omiros always got what he fucking wanted. ` `

...Achilles throws him out.

Finally, he's gone.

Achilles apologizes to everyone, who tells him its okay, that they forgive him and know he didn't intend on any harm befalling them all. The group affirms their love for one another, before letting this incident go: they'll try to forget about it, even if the fact that Omiros might have had siblings still rings within Achilles's head.

Revelation and Vinna return shortly after. Revelation, as usual, tells Achilles he should've seen it from a mile away. Achilles tells them to shut up.

Dawn Alexopoulos

The next big family-crisis comes a while later after that.

Chester is stopping by Valley Haven again when she runs into a nice woman on the way: a woman named Dawn. She's a little off-putting, but very polite and friendly. Chester is a good read of character and can tell she's just fine.

Dawn explains that she is searching for her son. The last time she saw him, he had this lovely shade of black hair, he was covered in freckles, and... oh! He had the prettiest gold eyes. Chester thinks for a moment...

Welp! Doesn't sound familiar. But he's heading towards this town nearby, if Dawn wants to look there? Dawn agrees, and Chester leads her to Valley Haven.

Inside, Dawn meets... Achilles. Achilles, who resembles a man she knew named Omiros. Who looks just like her son.

She comes to him.

Now, Achilles is more wary after the Christos incident, but Dawn is genuine and Chester seems to like her: she comes to Achilles and cups his face, utterly delighted to see him as she explains that she is his mother. It makes both of them emotional.

Once all of them get sat down, Dawn explains herself: she is an Independent Plant, one that, shortly after having Achilles, had to go to another town away from Omiros to assist them with their malfunctioning Plant. Dawn came to care for the town and, knowing they would die without a Plant, decided to stick herself in a tube and allow them to draw energy off herself. It was only recently that Dawn was released from this duty, hence why she now set it upon herself to find Achilles.

But... Dawn is an Independent Plant. Doesn't that mean that Achilles...?

Achilles is revealed to be part-Plant, something that makes a lot more sense now considering past events. Dawn manages to answer some questions he has: his past feathers from the Revelation fight likely resulted from the Plant parts of himself activating due to his extreme stress. As for the white streaks in his hair that developed over time... Well, the only thing similar she can think of is the fact that a Plant's hair turns black when they use too much energy, like what happened with Gabriel.

Ah... The white showed up after Achilles protected Vinna in the explosion in their childhood that caused Vinna's hearing issues, the same one that marked his back with scars. He would've died had it not been for the Plant within him- only leaving him with white streaks. This explains why he was the only survivor of the blast Gabriel created in Valley Haven and why he developed more white streaks after that incident.

Damn...

With those out of the way, Dawn quickly makes a reputation of herself as being the nicer Alexopoulos family-surprise: she is utterly delighted by Vinna despite having no blood connection to them, and she is even delighted by Revelation. She tries to hang out with them a lot and tells them they're very sweet and polite- something that leaves them bashful. It's cute.

She seems utterly fond of Gabriel and Chester too: she tells Gabriel what a wonderful pick he is for Achilles, embarrassing him a bit by telling him he's handsome and sweet too. And Chester is just an utter delight to her: she's happy her boy has a friend like him.

Dawn is a wandering spirit, so she doesn't stay around Valley Haven all of the time- especially since she states that, with one son located, she wants to find more of her family, something that is vague to Achilles. Still, she's a warm member of his family, one that Achilles is overjoyed to get to know. It's a wonderful contrast to the Christos-incident.

A... Problem / Chester's Goodbye Tour

Chester turns 35.

Chester, as a character, has always known he wasn't going to be here very long, ever since birth. He's sick. Really, she lived 5 years after her expiration date already, but... it starts hitting her. His body has been steadily growing weaker, and he knows he isn't going to be able to travel much longer.

So... Chester goes on a "goodbye tour". He knows most people on Gunsmoke, so she decides to dedicate his 34th year to saying goodbye to everyone she's ever met- without officially saying goodbye. She tells some towns that she's retiring, some others that he is settling down and won't be coming back- various things to make people understand that he isn't going to be here without telling them it is because she's going to die soon. Because Chester has never told a soul outside of Jerboa this information- who is with her during this, actually.

She decides to save New Valley Haven as her last stop. Mostly because... well, he hasn't decided if he is going to be able to tell Achilles the truth yet. He deserves to know, right? But he's already been through so much... It's complicated.

Still. As a last stop, she comes to Valley Haven- but there, she finds...

A Proposal

It's been long enough. Years of peace have allowed Achilles to finally breathe and think about the future- and now he has decided that he wants to marry Gabriel. They're already basically married- they live together- but who can deny a big ceremony, right? To pull this off, Achilles invites over some of the people he has gotten to know over his life to New Valley Haven (Chester, Jerboa, Blythe, etc) and plans a big proposal to Gabe.

Chester didn't receive the letter on account of the fact she was out and about. So she and Jerboa simply step into New Valley Haven, unsure of what Achilles is planning until he does it: the man bought a ring that meant a lot to him, planned all of this out, and decided to go through with a proposal.

Despite Achilles's horrible social anxiety, he manages to do it! And Gabriel accepts! It's the happiest either have looked or acted- it's emotional, seeing how much Achilles has grown.

... Then he asks Chester a question following this: he asks if Chester will be the best man at his wedding.

... Ah.

Chester knows this was going to be the last time they ever saw each other. After he leaves this town, Chester isn't going to be able to come back. She knows this- she knows she will not be able to fulfill that wish. She won't get to see their own marriage.

She won't see anything.

How the hell is she supposed to tell him that, when he looks this happy? Chester has been with this man for a while now, has helped him through so many of his troubles- he is so damn proud of Achilles for getting to where he is. How is he supposed to ruin that by dropping this bombshell of information on him...?

He can't do it. God help her, she can't do it.

So he accepts the offering. She wishes him well. Then clings to Jerboa that night and just... grieves.

Chester's Goodbye to Gabriel

Chester stays for a little while, about a couple weeks. He soaks in everything here, sights he won't see ever again, people she won't see again. Then, on that final day... She says her goodbyes.

He speaks to Gabriel first. He and Gabriel have always had an interesting relationship: they both love Achilles (in different ways) and have helped him immensely. They both adore humanity. From that point, though, they are perpendicular to one another: Chester represents all the skills that Gabriel wants. She is able to effortlessly shove herself into social groups and people's lives and help them, is able to be endlessly annoying and ramble after being told to shut up- all while Gabriel struggles to speak to people without feeling as if there is a wall between him and them. He's scared of being told to shut up so he does it himself. They're foils, in that way.

That, and... Chester, for a short time, resented Gabriel. Gabriel, when he died, wrecked Achilles, and Chester witnessed that grief first-hand. She witnessed how Achilles couldn't move past it, couldn't stop blaming himself. She's watched him grieve so many people, but not to that extent. ...To Chester, Gabriel was a horrible reminder of what Chester is going to do to Achilles. He knows that his death is going to tear that man up unbelievably, she knows him so well. It is hard not to resent the thing that showed her what was to come, right?

But... Chester hates resenting people. He has a sympathy and understanding of Gabriel. He cares about him, even despite her complex thoughts to do with him. So, when it comes time to say goodbye, he does so the best he can: he tells Gabriel that he knows the two of them will be happy. That he needs to be there for Achilles when he can- make sure he doesn't go off the deep-end, but don't forget to take care of himself either. The way all of this is worded... its so sincere, such a sincere goodbye speech that it has Gabriel questioning why she is saying all of this now. He's suspicious that there is more to this, even after Chester assures him it's just because the idea of their wedding has her emotional. Gabriel... lets it fall. He figures he'll ask more about it the next time Chester is here.

...He comes to regret that.

Chester's Goodbye to Achilles

This is the big one.

Chester says goodbye as she is leaving the town, since Achilles has always escorted him out of town. There, Jerboa and Chester exchange a look... before Chester has her step away so he can say what he needs to.

He and Achilles have their usual banter, until Chester says that, after what Achilles told him about being best man, Chester had some things he wanted to say.

With that, Chester kisses his forehead one more time: a blessing and a finality. After this, he says goodbye, leaving Achilles and Valley Haven behind.

Chester's death.

After much running, death finally comes for him.

Chester spent his 35th year unable to travel. She stayed in Deuce Dump, and soon into it, she started spending more and more inside Jerboa's home. he started rarely coming out, unable to with his increasing weakness. Before he did, though, he managed to complete a few more gravestones in Deuce Dump: specifically, one for she and Jerboa. It was a double, made for both of them.

Then, shortly after her 36th birthday...

He finally passes.

Jerboa keeps the body in the house for 40 days.

Completely alone, she grieves those 40 days. Alone, I cannot emphasize that enough- she faced that terrible decayed death and the aftermath of grief alone

Weevil was the first to notice Jerboa and Chester closing themselves off. These two are everything to Weevil and have always insisted on it joining them- why are they suddenly closing off? What is wrong with Chester? Jerboa denies anything is wrong through, even as time progresses and Weevil begs to know what is wrong.

No one else in the town knew why Chester had rarely come out of the house- they assumed he was simply feeling unwell. None of them knew about the body or the fact it sat there for so long- not until Jamie comes to check on Jerboa and discovers it ("Chess? I heard you're sick. I haven't seen you in a while. Are you doing alright?"). He goes into shock upon seeing it, throws up, then calls Samir to come help (When someone else comes up he's probably leaning on a railing or something still covering his mouth and eyes shut tightly. Whoever is there, he tries so hard to warn them, "Chester.... it's Chester, Chester is..." He can barely get the words out.)

Jerboa, after this, falls completely into denial. She becomes convinced that Chester will return- that he is simply out of town right now. He's coming back.

Weevil's Message to the World

The aftermath of Chester's death is...

It isn't good. The news passes slowly through town, quiet but devastating: the people can feel a shroud over the town once it reaches all corners. No one expected that little light to go out this soon, this early.

Most devastated of all, outside of Jerboa, is... Weevil. Weevil just witnessed the fall of the individuals it cares about most. His Jerboa and Chester- one of them is dead and gone and the other is emotionally just a wreckage now, submerged in denial and grief. How... How is he supposed to function, with that?

They have to get away from it for a while. So, Weevil takes it upon themself to spread the news of Chester's death around Gunsmoke: the people Chester loved deserves to know, after all... Weevil is emotionally absent, faced with the people who adored Chester. They share stories, gifts, and anything they can with Weevil in memory of the brunette.

Valley Haven, in what appears to be a pattern, is the last stop.

Weevil comes to Achilles. The wedding hasn't happened yet- they've still been planning it, but, well...

Weevil tells him. And Achilles reacts about as well as expected.

First, he denies it- because who thought Chester would ever die? He isn't one of those people a person would ever think about not being there. She was such a constant in Achilles's life, she couldn't just be... gone...

Next, comes the anger: he immediately lashes out against Weevil, grabbing him by the collar demanding to know why it would lie about this, why they would ever suggest something like this- but Weevil shows off the bandana it brought, the thing that Chester never went anywhere without. Proof that he truly is gone. It's undeniable...

Achilles sinks back, dropping Weevil. The information feels so wrong, so unfitting- she couldn't be gone. He never even... He never even got to say goodbye.

The information hits both Gabriel and Achilles like a truck- and Gabriel realizes what Chester's final goodbye meant. That was- that was a serious goodbye. When he tells Achilles, the two of them cannot deny that this was planned. That Chester really knew this was coming, that she's gone

To say Achilles is devastated is an understatement. This was a death he could never prevent. A death that isn't his fault, but hurts more than that could have, because he at least knows what to do with guilt. Now, though, he isn't left with anything to cling to but regret and grief. It's crippling.

...The wedding is postponed until further notice.

Moving On

That news is devastating. The world keeps turning, though.

Achilles spends a while grieving, trying to cope with the fact that Chester is gone, that he didn't even get to say goodbye. Eventually, he decides to just outright go visit Deuce Dump to try and... cope, with it.

Here, Achilles meets with Jerboa once more. He sees how far in denial she is- and it hurts to watch. This entire place does. But... He doesn't run from Jerboa. He sits with her and talks: they talk about Chester, about what he meant to both of them. Little things and memories shared together. Their friendship can remain, even if the one who brought them together is gone.

Achilles also visits Chester's grave. It looks beautiful... For a long moment, he stares, soaking it in, before he begins talking to it. He never got to say goodbye, but he can give one to this gravestone. Chester always believed in ghosts, anyways... Maybe she can hear him.

He says everything he needs to.

With that, he tries to continue living.

He visits Jerboa pretty often, after that. His travels to Deuce Dump increase, as he has decided he wants to keep an eye on Jerboa for Chester. It feels good to have someone to share memories of her with- that, and he starts to understand what Chester saw in the woman. She is lovely. Their friendship grows. Anytime he visits, too, he always stops by Chester's gravestone and speaks to it as well, catching the brunette up on the things going on in his life ("You would want to know.").

The Wedding

After much postponing, it finally happens.

Achilles and Gabriel go through with the wedding. It is an emotional experience for both of them, as they never thought they would get here- hell, Achilles never thought he would ever be this happy. Everyone the two know are invited, even if that means the wedding party is a bit crazy.

Jerboa is chosen by Achilles to walk him down the wedding aisle. Chester received an honorary seat at the wedding, beside Jerboa. As for the role of best man- in a surprise to both of them, Achilles offered that to Revelation.

The two's relationship has grown overtime from a hatred, to tentative friendship, to legitimate friendship. Sure, they're still a bit petty, but it isn't as heated as it used to be: Revelation isn't scared to tell Achilles when he is being an idiot, and both have come to an understanding of one another. Still, Revelation is shocked by the offer, especially since they've never done anything like this before.

It's a good day, despite the reminders of the many people who didn't get to see it.

A... Kid?

Time passes after that.

Revelation and Achilles still go on their missions, though at this point its mostly because Revelation needs their vials rather than Achilles's bloodlust: he has started to calm down overtime.

However- Achilles receives a request to destroy a particular facility, so, with a shrug, he and Revelation set out to do so. While there, they claim what they can- Revelation's vials, ammo, etc- and start to burn down whatever else is left. However, before they quite go through with that last step... they come across some odd tanks.

There are dead things in these, suspended in liquid. Achilles finds them disgusting, but one in particular sticks out: something young. A... baby? Poor thing. Not really much they can do though, everything here is dead. Revelation... is given pause over it, though.

Even after Achilles's surprised shout, Revelation breaks open the case and lets the experiment out. Something in them- something to do with their Plant DNA- reacted with this creature, some kind of twitch that there was something more to this. And, they were right: that's an infant, they realize. That's an infant kid and its alive

Revelation tries to figure out what to do now while Achilles rummages through the files nearby, freaking out as he reads. He comes across one in particular that makes his blood run cold: that's an Independent Plant they're holding. That, and it was apparently created artificially using DNA from Gabriel, from when the EOM had captured him so long ago.

Well. That's quite the discovery. It's alive and it belongs to his husband, so, both of them too sympathetic to just kill an infant, elect to take the child with them, burning down everything else.

Achilles takes it to Gabriel, who is equally shocked. The two of them agree that they can't just leave her to the wolves though- and they can't just pawn her off, she's a Plant. So... they decide to keep her. They spend days trying to decide on the name, eventually deciding on "Chessy"- the name was picked with Chester in mind.

Achilles and Gabriel immediately run to Jerboa for help- the brothel and saloon are used to this, after all. Jerboa and the other girls help the two out, giving them all the information they need, and from there, the raising of Chessy becomes a sort of team-effort: she is raised by Jerboa, the brothel women, and Achilles and Gabriel. Their visits to Deuce Dump become far more common.

Revelation and Vinna become "Auncles", a term given to them by Chessy herself. Adorable. They really like the kid actually- Revelation is softer with her toddler-self than they all expected (they... had no idea how to help with her raising as a infant).

A notable occurance that happens somewhere in this section: a certain salesman wanders into town going by the name Machiavelli. He sells some fake-gold rings to Achilles, pissing the guy off so bad he promptly has to run out of town to avoid getting killed- nothing new for the little guy. Just... remember that, for later.

Vinna's Death

it's a good period of time for everyone, but... well, nothing is guaranteed.

Vinna and Revelation have never had a guaranteed long life-span either... They're both experiments, and are aware their bodies have been through enough abuse to wear out faster than others. Vinna just happened to be the first of the two to go. They've always been sickly, even with the years they have spent being treated healthy. All the harm that experimentation brought onto their body never left, though...

Vinna gets sicker and weaker, something that everyone takes note of- though Revelation knows what is wrong. They help Vinna get around, even carrying them when necessary- which it does, in the later stages.

The basics of what is happening is that the worms that reside in/around Vinna begin to eat them out from the inside: Vinna begins losing their senses one by one, a slow decay. Revelation does everything they can to make it manageable for Vinna.

This one isn't kept from Achilles. He talks to Vinna a lot, getting out everything he needs to in those final weeks. As Vinna's time approaches, he gets to give them a final goodbye before Revelation takes them: Vinna didn't want him seeing how horrible it was. It didn't want anyone to actually, outside of Revelation. So, at Vinna's request, Revelation takes them outside the town to experience the last things they wanted to before they're gone.

It's an awful death, but Revelation is as gentle as can be with Vinna as always. They take Vinna to see the stars, an activity the two did a lot. And, in their arms under a sky they adore, Vinna knows it isn't alone, even as the last of its senses flutter out: the one they have left is the ability to at least hear Revelation's gentle rumble as they hum to Vinna, the thing that has always been such a comfort to it.

Revelation holds them as they lay dying. Their presence is the last thing Vinna feels, before their brain shuts down.

...After that, Revelation simply sits there with the body, holding it. They watch the worms burrow out of Vinna's skin and fly away, leaving the corpse.

...They are the one to bury Vinna.

Revelation's Death

Revelation does not last much longer after Vinna dies: they last only another year or so. Vinna was their reason for everything: for rebelling, for becoming a person. Without them, they have support, but it's not the same. They're missing a part of themself.

...Do you recall those animals that die from grief?

Whatever fight was left in Revelation to fight against the Plant in them dies alongside Vinna. Their vials have been steadily decreasing in their effectiveness to fight that Plant DNA, and it regenerates less skin and protection every time. The feathers on their cheeks are out almost all the time now, and soon enough, Revelation realizes their last vial didn't do anything. Their death is coming, they know it, can feel it.

The night they feel it happening... They go to Achilles.

Nobody wants to spend their final night alone- especially someone who has always had someone beside them. So... They come to Achilles that night, and something in their expression tells Achilles that its serious. The two of them go out to the cliffs, nearby where Vinna passed, and the two just... talk. They share drinks and re-affirm their friendship under the same stars Vinna died beneath. Revelation has always loved these, after all.

Their friendship is on peak display here: they no longer enemies, but genuine friends, ones that can laugh together and share a night together. It's comforting, even if there is an air of something needing to be said.

Which... comes, eventually. Revelation, hesitant and quiet, finally explains that this is their final night alive. They didn't mean to burden Achilles with it, but they just couldn't bear the thought of being alone tonight- and, well... someone needed to know. They know their body won't be recognizable after this happens, after all.

Revelation is a character that rarely shows vulnerability to other characters aside from Vinna. So, the fact that they came to Achilles- the person they despised a decade ago- to just ask for some company before their death... It is such a human fear, something Revelation always struggled to feel like. They are human. Imagine knowing that you are dying tonight, and that it will be excruciating. They're just scared, something that Revelation never quite shows, yet willingly does here.

In that moment of fear and weakness, Revelation asks something of Achilles. One final request: that... that if their death gets too bad, if it is too painful (which they know it will be), they want Achilles to put them out of their misery ("I thought that if anyone could- would- kill me, it would be you.").

...Achilles spent so long wanting to kill Revelation. But, here in the end, when being told by Revelation themself to do so- he no longer wants to do it.

He remembers a promise he made years ago. A promise on the River Styx that he would be the one to kill Revelation. Funny, how he never escaped that one.

Here, in this moment of weakness, they both finally admit how much they mean to each other. They even embrace.

...Soon enough, though, it starts to happen.

Revelation can feel it. They back up, giving themself space, then wait. It starts as a prickle, as always... Then grows. For once, Achilles gets to truly see what Revelation has been holding back all these years.

It's horrifying.

It is violent and agonizing, like Revelation predicted: their body nearly splits open. The Plant DNA that tries to escape them breaks them open like a shell and tries to drag itself out in a flurry of limbs, appendages, and feathers. Achilles can only stare at first as he watches it progress: he watches Revelation fall to the ground, things ripping out of them. The imagery is terrifying: he is shaking, surrounded by screams from Revelation he has never heard before.

He didn't think he would be able to do it, gods-help-him, but the screams become too unbearable: Achilles fully understands why Revelation gave him that final request. Despite the agony in having to do so, Achilles fulfills it: he kills Revelation. He stabs them with his spear in where he imagines the head is, then a few more times for good measure, until the screams end- simply leaving a twitching mass of feathers and limbs.

The imagery is framed to look the same way it did the first time Achilles tried and failed to kill Revelation: them beneath him, speared.

Revelation, at least, did not die alone.

...Achilles buries them beside Vinna after that. For a long time, he sits there, processing. Grieving. Replaying the images of that sight in his mind. How is he ever supposed to unsee that?

He stays there all night. There, he speaks out loud to Vinna, to Revelation. Then... alone, he buries the body next to Vinna's grave. He makes a placeholder one for now, carving Revelation's name into it.

He speaks to Chester, then. The one he imagines. They sit together, her voice ringing to him as he speaks to a ghost, the sun beginning to rise. ("You could've done a better job with the graves.")("The effort is what matters though, right?")("I guess" ... "This is the end, isn't it?")("Yeah, big guy. Yeah.")

Achilles stabs his spear into the ground in front of the graves, the spear he has had since childhood. It is still covered with the blood from Revelation's body, but he does not clean it. He simply leaves it between them: a finality. This is the end of the fighting. The end of this era. He will no longer fight.

Achilles leaves the spear behind as he goes home, leaving behind the weapon.

A New Era / Chessy's Raising

Life moves on.

Achilles and Gabriel try to move on from everything that has happened to them: for now, the two of them are trying to focus on raising their daughter, Chessy, which proves to be a group effort. They travel to Deuce Dump very often as she grows, allowing her to grow extremely close with the Brothel there; Jerboa and Hilda are very fond of her, to the point that Jerboa offers Chessy a very important keepsake, her namesake's most treasured item: Chester's bandana. The bandana was passed down from Chester's father to Chester, to Jerboa, to, now, Chessy. It's old and a little worn, but its important to all of them, including Chessy, who understands the weight of this.

Chessy, despite all the grief her parents have been through, grows up experiencing a relatively normal life. Well... Almost normal.

The Salesman and the Kidnapping

Chessy is a naive little kid, one that loves talking and meeting new people. This... also gets her into trouble a lot. Most notably, the fact that she thought it was a good idea to talk to a gang nearby Deuce Dump- leading to her getting kidnapped.

As you can imagine, this does not settle well with Achilles and Gabriel.

The two of them begin scouring the planet, with Achilles sinking back into his old skillsets of planning search parties and sending men out to look for her- but he is very obviously panicking and upset, as is Gabriel. The two of them, for the first time in a while, genuinely start to fight with one another here on their approaches: both of them are horribly stressed and it comes out on one another, especially with how frustrated they are becoming with each other's approaches to trying to find her. They get to the point where they won't speak with one another, heightening their problems.

It's about a month, that Chessy is missing...

But!

Little to Achilles and Gabriel's knowledge- despite all their fretting and worrying, Chessy has remained relatively unharmed. That is because, very shortly after being taken by that gang, she was rescued by another- one headed by Isaiah (see: the Cowboy Freak Union storyline).

One member of Isaiah's group in particular, named Machiavelli, was the one to find Chessy. Machiavelli has a big heart when it comes to children- for reasons his gang were not aware of yet outside of Isaiah- so when he sees Chessy, he has the rest of his group, Adam and Azazel, help him rescue her. The group are all very good fighters... they succeed, leading to Chessy remaining with them for the entirety of her time away from her fathers.

The gang spends that time searching for Chessy's parents, all while Machiavelli dotes on her. He's incredibly good with kids, and it shows in this time: Chessy bonds immensely with him, even beginning to call him uncle. She grows close with the others as well, but its clear that Machiavelli enjoys the role of father- something he was, once.

See... Machiavelli used to be a father himself. His little girl was eight, when he lost her- around the same age as Chessy, now. He's grieving worse during this time, Chessy just rubbing salt in his wounds- but he cannot help but care for her as he once cared for his own, even if it does hurt. Isaiah can see him hurting so much- and knows they cannot do anything about it. This will hurt, when it's over...

Eventually, after much traveling, the gang finds Valley Haven, where Chessy states she is from. It's a relief: Vel and the others bring her inside, where Achilles awaits. He barely has time to react to these new people: he can only run to Chessy and embrace her, squeezing her tightly and rocking her in his arms. Gabriel finds them a moment later, and rushes forward himself, cupping her cheeks and embracing her as well.

Achilles looks up then, seeing who saved his daughter- and thanks them for bringing her home. It's bittersweet for Vel, who is grieving the daughter he once had himself by giving up Chessy, but he lets her go willingly, knowing Achilles was experiencing what he himself went through. God, does it hurt, though...

It takes a moment, with the veil that Vel wears everywhere, but soon enough, Achilles processes where he has seen this guy before- its the same guy he ran out of town ages ago. The hell...? There's a moment where the gang bristles, preparing to protect their Vel, but Achilles does not attack: he is too overcome with gratitude for him protecting his daughter, especially when Chessy runs to him and introduces Achilles to him, explaining how he helped her.

The gang is willingly welcomed into Valley Haven after that. Achilles lets them stay as long as they want. It's really nice to have a town that doesn't want to run them out for once.

New Friendships

Machiavelli and Achilles have a decent talk, after that.

It isn't hard for Achilles, someone who has lost everything once, to recognize that same look in Machiavelli's eye- and vice versa. The two of them sit down to discuss everything that happened with Chessy, so Vel can explain what happened to her and how she was safe with them.

The Union sticks around for a while, leading to Vel and Achilles chatting more. They talk about Chessy, and... through this, Achilles coaxes the weight Vel has been carrying with him out: Vel had a daughter, once. They both talk about theirs; Machiavelli talks about his, Charlie, and what she liked, how she acted, things she got into. It's just two fathers talking about their kids together... Though Vel always winds up getting emotional, something that Achilles doesn't mind.

See, the man is far older now, different than how he was back then. Through the people in his life- Gabriel, Chester- he has stopped caring so much about openly weeping. It's good, to feel that emotion, especially when he knows people around him won't judge him for it. It's good for Vel to hear that and embrace that, too.

Quickly enough, the two become good friends. The Union makes a habit of stopping by Valley Haven every so often, allowing Vel and Achilles to get drinks together and just talk. Both of them haven't had a casual friend like this in a while... It's nice.

Chessy further bonds with Vel and the Union, too. She's horribly attached to all of them, dubbing all of them Uncles and, in Isaiah's case, Auncle. It's cute- the four end up really liking her. They get to watch her grow over the years, and in turn, she watches them age.

...

She even gets to see them when Isaiah stops showing up, when the three of them get sad and quiet whenever she asks where he went. They don't talk about it, but she understands it, having had the same thing happen with Revelation and Vinna: she has learned that adults never outright say they've lost someone. Well, Achilles never did- Vel alludes to it in a way she understands by this age though.

Charlie

Chessy is just approaching her 20s by this point. Valley Haven and her family have been peaceful for years, with Chessy now sometimes visiting Deuce Dump on her own.

Machiavelli and crew swing by for one of their regular visits, to her delight; though... something is different about Vel this time. He's smiling more, very obviously excited, until it becomes clear what it is: he drags another person forward, someone these Alexopouloses have never seen before- a girl named Charlie.

Achilles recognizes the name. He is in disbelief at first, which Vel explains he was in as well. He is utterly delighted by her it seems: he sings her praises, tells Achilles how strong and amazing she is, and is generally a dork, sweeping all of them into his excitement; his daughter, she is alive

Both he and Charlie explain the situation to Achilles: apparently, the people the destroyed Vel's home and family decided to keep Charlie with intentions on using or selling her, something that Vel did not know: all he knew was that Charlie had inside the house they had burned. So, he spent so long thinking she was dead- but she had survived, left marked by the flames, but alive. She had been rescued by another group a while after and has spent her life traveling with them, searching for Vel.

And now... they're together again. Charlie has a life, so she doesn't stick with him all the time, but it's clear they care about each other so much, still. Despite all of Vel's guilt and self-loathing, Charlie, upon seeing him again, still loved him as her father, and, despite having to learn a lot about each other, they care about each other immensely.

Charlie visits Valley Haven with them sometimes now. Achilles is delighted by her and lets her stay willingly, which is how she runs into Chessy. Which... runs into is pretty accurate.

Chessy takes one look at this gorgeous cowboy and immediately trips and falls over herself. Charlie, who was raised with quick instincts, catches her, leading to a cliche meeting where they stare into each other's eyes... and Charlie stands her back up, awkward but polite as she introduces herself. Chessy is a wreck.

This behavior continues: Charlie is relatively normal, while Chessy trips over herself and is horribly clumsy anytime Charlie is in the vicinity of her. Despite this, the girls befriend one another since they find themselves hanging out a lot- and their friendship develops closer and closer, until...

Girlfriends

Yeah, anyone who knows Chessy could have seen this coming from a mile away- except for Vel and Achilles, who found out pretty last minute. In Vel's defense, Charlie also didn't realize she had feelings for Chessy until Chessy managed to stutter out a confession. Achilles... has no defense, he's still just as dense as he was back then.

The girls start officially calling each other girlfriends after that though! It's a cute relationship, one that further tugs together Achilles and Vel's bond and connection with one another.

Dawn and New Ithaca

Dawn has been gone for a decent while. She stops by every so often, but it's been a bit longer since her last one- but before anyone can get too anxious, she returns, an excited energy to her: she has something to tell Achilles.

If you recall, she had been wandering because she was looking for the rest of her family- and apparently she's finally found them! She tells Achilles that she has located and met them and now wishes to bring Achilles with her to visit. Achilles, seeing how happy she is, decides it has been awhile since he has visited with Dawn anyways and decides to come. He brings along Gabriel and Chessy.

Dawn takes them all to this town that none of them have seen before: a place called New Ithaca. The town itself is very obviously styled after Greece, with most of their architecture reminiscent of ancient times- and Achilles is going apeshit at the sight. He is utterly delighted, fully going "Greek Nerd" mode. Dawn and Gabriel get to see him excitedly running around and looking at things, and, in a rare show of confidence, actually talking to people without his usual social anxiety- though it is only to ask them about the things they're wearing and if the pillars are styled after something hyperspecific that only he would know.

Eventually, they make it to the main part of town: a place dubbed the Palace. See, while most towns are casually aware that they are usually headed by a certain person, this town fully embraces that, letting them live in the palace here. Dawn tugs her son inside, where he runs into a smaller man named Faron.

Faron introduces faerself and shows Achilles around the house, watching in amusement as he fully geeks out over it ("Would you care to tour the place a bit? My wife is in a meeting right now and cannot greet you just yet.")("Would I!? -Uh- I mean- Ahem. Yes, I would like to.").

Here, Chessy and crew get to meet Syceus. Syceus is Faron's son, who is befriended by Chessy is no time. Another member they run into is Argos, since he is often seen with Syceus. Chessy gets along with both of them.

Eventually, Faron hears that faer wife has finished with her meeting, so fae brings Achilles and Gabriel to where she is: their garden. Here, she introduces herself: her name is Ctimene, Ctimene Alexopoulos. And the first words out of her mouth happen to be about how she can tell Achilles is one too. ("Gods, you look just like Omiros, don't you?").

Achilles, if you recall, never got to learn of his family outside of the Christos incident and from Dawn, who only knew Omiros. So, the fact that someone is sitting here with his last name and knowledge of his father... He is hooked.

Ctimene sits him down and they have a lovely conversation, where she explains that they're actually cousins. She is the daughter of Hadley and Erix Alexopoulos- Erix was Omiros's older brother. She has information on this entire family that Achilles never had before: she explains their grandparents, Calliope and Ajax, had four children: Erix, then the twins Omiros and Christos, and then lastly Pyrrah.

This wasn't the family Dawn was talking about, but she is delighted that the two of them are getting to meet one another. This is Achilles's family, after all- and Ctimene is kind.

Here, Faron interrupts, because a dear friend of his flies inside then: an interesting fellow named Ikaros. "Flies" is literal, by the way- he is literally flying, something that sends all of them aback, but only delights Faron. Fae tugs him down using faer cane, where fae then introduces him.

Ikaros flies via these small wings on his ankles and from the sides of his head, usually tucked in his hat. Achilles also recognizes him as a mailmen he has seen a few times- Ikaros is the damn mailman for Gunsmoke, right? The one that always brought letters back and forth between him and Chester! He's always kind of annoyed Achilles.

With Ikaros's introduction, Dawn finally sits everyone down for what she was going to discuss: Ikaros was the family she was looking for. She tries to explain: back when she went to that town's Plant facility, the one she would wind up allowing to use her as fuel, Dawn met another Independent named Zenodotus. The two briefly intertwined, resulting in the creation of Ikaros, who is entirely an Independent Plant, though he is an exceptionally weak one. Much like how she had to leave Achilles, Dawn left Ikaros with Zenodotus before allowing herself to be used for the town.

Ikaros... comes from a massive family actually, because Zenodotus happened to have relationships with a lot of women, one of which was Dawn. So, Ikaros never looked for his mother, since he knew of about three others and of Zenodotus's actual wife.

So, with that explanation out of the way, that leaves Achilles with the knowledge that... him and Ikaros are half-siblings. Damn.

Dawn finally has her family reunited and completely found, so she is very pleased. Meanwhile, Achilles now gets to finally meet a branch of his own and learn about his father and his bloodline, something that brings great interest to him. The palace here even has portraits of everyone-! Ctimene shows him them.

Achilles gets to see the paintings of everyone, from Calliope to Ctimene. And... he lingers over one that he recognizes.

Omiros.

This was the actual Omiros, not the illusion that Christos was. No, this is his father. And... Achilles realizes how much he does look like Omiros, something Ctimene comments on again.

He has heard he resembled the man he looked up to so much, but actually physically seeing it... it leaves him emotional. He is even more so as Ctimene directs him to Calliope, letting him see how much he looks like her as well. It's a very quiet, tender moment.

You know, though, speaking of family... There's another member he hasn't met yet.

Achilles's Grandfather

Ajax Alexopoulos. Did you know, Achilles, that he is still alive?

Ctimene, very happily, gets to introduce the two of them. She brings Achilles to Ajax, who is very old by this point- but is utterly delighted to see that he has another grandchild. For the longest time, he thought it was only Ctimene. Omiros left the house and never spoke to them again- Ajax never knew he had a son.

Achilles seemed to get his tendency to cry easy from Ajax: the two embrace, where Ajax cups Achilles's face and tells him it's incredible to get to meet him. ("What is your name, son?")("A-Achilles.")("Achilles... That's a good name."). Being called son by this man... the feeling is indescribable.

Ajax gets to explain a few more things, then, and Achilles finally gets to fill Ajax in on what happened to the older man's son. Omiros left the family when he aged, outcasted after an incident in his childhood between he and Christos that led to the death of Pyrrah, their youngest sister. Omiros never returned- Ajax never knew what happened to him. Not until they learned of his location and learned how everyone, including Omiros, had perished. Achilles explains the incident that took Omiros- how it was his own fault- and explains how Ajax had two grandchildren, actually: the other was Vinna, who... has passed, now.

Ajax is a man who has witnessed all of his own children die (excluding Christos, who he hasn't heard from in decades), his wife as well. All he has left now is his grandchildren. So having Achilles and his family visit here is... very appreciated. Even more so is when Achilles, hesitantly, explains how he got to meet Christos. Ajax, despite the bad tale, is at least happy to know that Christos is alive. And again, despite how Christos is... Ajax just wants him to come home. He is old and he wants his children, old bitterness forgotten.

Achilles makes a point to visit as often as he can, now. He has his own town to run and he loves Valley Haven, but he knows he has other family out there, now. He and Ctimene make sure to send letters back and forth regularly.

Charlie and Mrs. Ctimene

Chessy, excited about all these new people, decides she needs to drag Charlie with her to New Ithaca a few months later. Charlie willingly goes- why not?

Along the way, they run into the Union, because apparently Machiavelli and the other two were heading that direction! Vel explains to Chessy that he knows about New Ithaca, him and the others are going there to see a friend. One he gets extremely excited about to introduce Charlie into. Charlie takes it as his usual excitement to do so.

When they arrive, Charlie is introduced to Chessy's new pal, Syceus, whom... Recognizes Charlie.

Charlie, when she was younger, grew up alongside one other person: the child of a friend of her mother's. This friend was Ctimene- Charlie remembers Syceus as the boy she grew up with. The two get to reunite, to Chessy's surprise, recounting their childhood and excited to see the changes in one another. They start ragging on one another as they used to do.

The fact that Syceus is here, though, means one other thing... Ctimene.

Charlie remembers Ctimene, most notably as a friend of her mother. This is an important meeting- Charlie loved her mother, and this is someone aside from Vel who remembers her. That, and Charlie always gets nervous / self-conscious around feminine figures.

She sees Ctimene again. Ctimene lights up, realizing who this is before Vel can even introduce her, and embraces Charlie. The two reunite as well, with Ctimene immediately fussing about how big Charlie has gotten, how lovely she looks- and even bonks Vel for not mentioning her sooner. In his defense, he hasn't visited since he learned Charlie was alive! Charlie reflexively still calls Ctimene "Mrs. Ctimene", too. It's a sweet moment. Chessy is elated.