The firelight dies slowly around us, embers drifting upward like fading stars. The battlefield is quiet now, its silence heavier than any roar of combat. The Gnosis rests just ahead—still pulsing in its crystal cradle, still waiting to change hands.
I step toward it, my breath slow and deliberate. Every instinct in me says to take it now, secure it, finish the mission. The Fatui will be watching. They always are.
But before I can close the distance, her voice stops me.
"Wait."
I pause, hand inches from the Gnosis, the shadow in my veins buzzing with tension. I glance back.
Mavuika stands there, framed by scorched stone and flickering remnants of her flame. Her armor is cracked, smoke rising faintly from her shoulder, but she stands tall—like she always does, like nothing can shake her.
"I want something," she says.
I arch a brow. "After all this, you're asking me for more?"
"Not now," she says, stepping forward slowly, her voice steady but unreadable. "Later."
The word hangs between us, sharp and strange. "Later?"
She nods once. "I'll let you take the Gnosis. I won't fight you on it. But you owe me a favor. Not today. Not tomorrow. When I call for it—you answer."
I stare at her, unsure whether to laugh or draw my weapon.
"You expect me to agree to that blindly?"
"I expect you to remember that you wouldn't have made it here without me."
I hold her gaze. She's not bluffing. There's no smirk, no smug satisfaction. Just a calm certainty that rattles me more than any threat.
I want to say no. I should say no. But something in the way she says it tells me this isn't about leverage. This is something else. Something that matters to her.
I turn back to the Gnosis, the weight of her request pressing on my shoulders.
"One favor," I say. "No betrayals. No tricks."
She doesn't smile. "I'll hold you to that."
I reach out and claim the Gnosis, its glow crawling into my palm like a heartbeat. The weight of it is more than power—it's promise. One I just made, and have no idea how it will come due.
Behind me, Mavuika says nothing more.
But I know this isn't over.
Not between us.
Not by a long shot.