Hermes ran down into the hold, shoved aside a crate, and sunk into the dark hollow beside it. His arm was throbbing. Tears kept streaming down his cheeks. He pulled his knees up to his chest and buried his face. Why can't I stop crying? Damnit, I should be stronger than this.

Rashad had left him to die. Wasn't Rashad supposed to be his friend? No. Not friend. More like kidnapper. Of course he wouldn't care if I died. The Edict would just go to someone else. Someone stronger, like Narsil. Hermes pounded his fist into his leg. What did they expect? He didn't know anything about fighting. He never stood a chance against Narsil.

"Sup, kid? You okay?"

Hermes looked up at the goblin. Rumble stood just outside the shadowy place Hermes had wedged himself into.

"Go away." Hermes turned his face to the side. He didn't want the goblin to see him cry. Rumble nodded and looked away.

"Yeah, I could do that, if you want. I just heard something down here and thought I'd check it out."

The goblin glanced at him once more, frowned, but he started to walk off. Hermes looked up.

"What do you people want from me?" he said.

Rumble paused, and looked back at him. He was silent for a moment, then stepped towards Hermes and motioned with his hand.

"Scoot over, kid."

Hermes pushed the crate a bit to make some more room, and moved over. The goblin sat down next to him.

"I ain't a Courier," the goblin said, pointing to his neck. "No scarf. That probably don't make you trust me any, and there's nothin' wrong with that. I dunno about Rashad and them, but as for me?" Rumble shrugged. "I just wanna go home."

Hermes looked up. Getting home had seemed to be the last thing on anyone's mind on this ship.

"Where's your home?" Hermes sniffled, and wiped his nose with the back of his hand.

Rumble stared at the floor.

"Node called Seremit. There ain't much of it left. Arcadias decided he didn't like my home, I guess. Ripped a big hunk of rock right out the planet and flung it at the moon. Some of us got out. Most didn't."

Hermes nodded.

"I ain't tellin' you that to try to scare you – you're scared enough as it is, I guess. Got a right to be." Rumble looked towards him. "Arcadias is a scary fuck. All the more reason he's gotta be stopped. You're a long way from home, but you still got one out there. If we don't stop Arcadias, it's only a matter of time 'til you don't."

Hermes looked down. The thought of home not being there had never occurred to him. His family had always seemed safe, no matter what Hermes was going through. Could Arcadias really destroy his world? He did it to Rumble's, Hermes thought. Why not mine? If I don't stop him – if I can't stop him – they might...

"I don't think I'm strong enough to do it," he said.

"You got strength, kid. You summoned the Caduceus, didn't ya?"

"You heard about that?"

Rumble shrugged. "Pretty wicked trick, if you ask me."

"Heh. Yeah, it is kinda cool, I guess," Hermes said. He glanced down at his feet. "Narsil hates me. He wanted me to fail." He took a deep breath and exhaled. "And I hurt my arm," he added.

Rumble reached out and gripped Hermes' arm with his long fingers. He didn't squeeze hard, but it still hurt. Hermes had to grit his teeth to keep from crying out, but he was proud that he didn't pull back.

"Ain't broken," the goblin decided. He pulled a metal flask from his jacket and handed it to Hermes. "Drink a bit of that. It'll take the edge off the pain."

Hermes blinked and eyed the flask warily. "Um. What is it?"

"Firejuice," the goblin said.

"I dunno, dude. I'm, uh, underage."

Rumbled laughed. "We make exceptions for god-slayers, kid."

Hermes Swift, God-Slayer. Hermes laughed at the thought. He eyed the flask again, but shrugged, took the lid off the flask, and took a small drink. At first, the firejuice tasted like honey, but it quickly turned hot in his mouth, and it burned his throat all the way down when he swallowed it. He coughed a bit, and passed the flask back to the goblin.

"It's, uh, good," he said, and coughed again. Rumble laughed, and took a swig for himself.

"Don't worry about Narsil, kid. He's proud, but he's too stupid to be scared. He wants to be the Edict bearer because he thinks it'll bring him glory." Rumble shrugged. "That shit's important to him, I guess. Don't see what good glory does you if it gets you killed."

"So what do I do?"

"He thinks you're weak," Rumble said. "He's gonna think that until you knock him on his ass."

"I'm just a kid, Rumble."

"Yeah, but that makes you smaller, quicker," the goblin replied. He took another swig of the firejuice and tucked it back inside his jacket. "Tell you what. Talk to Autolycus. He spars with Narsil a lot. He can probably give you a few pointers."

Rumble clapped a hand to Hermes' knee, then stood up.

"You'll be okay, kid. I gotta get back to the engine room. That last jump gunked up something in the resonance generator. Come by later on, I'll show you how the thing works."

"Yeah, okay," Hermes said. He leaned back against the wall, and wiped his eyes. He did feel better. His arm even hurt less. He wasn't sure if that was because of the firejuice or not. Rumble grinned and started to walk off.

"Hey, Rumble?" Hermes said.

"Yeah, kid?"

"Thanks."