After checking on Bell and finding her sound asleep, Zane and Tarni quietly slipped out of the room. They walked down the sterile hospital hallway in search of Lily, needing to let her know they and Kai were heading home.

  Kai had gone to collect his bags from reception, where he'd left them earlier in the rush to see their mum.

  They eventually found Lily and James at the administration centre, both looking visibly upset. Lily was speaking to a staff member, her brows furrowed and her voice tight with frustration.

  “What’s going on?” Zane asked, stepping up beside her.

  Lily turned, clearly trying to hold her composure. “They’re saying Mum’s transfer home isn’t covered under her health plan. It’s going to cost over thirty thousand dollars.”

  Zane’s jaw tightened. “Thirty grand? You’ve got to be kidding.”

  “And they want it upfront,” Lily added, clearly stressed. “Or else we have to take out a hospital loan at 21% interest. That’s robbery. I know you don’t have that kind of cash lying around, Dad. I didn’t know what else to do.”

  Zane felt the weight of it immediately. He couldn’t bear the thought of delaying Bell’s transfer, not when every moment counted. His mind was already racing through bad options—banks, favours, selling something—when Tarni stepped forward.

  “I’ve got this, Lil,” he said calmly. “Don’t worry about it.”

  Lily blinked. “What?”

  Zane turned to him. “Tarn, what are you talking about?”

  Tarni was already pulling out his wallet. “I’ve got more savings than I know what to do with. You think I spend my nights at the pub 'cause I’m broke?” He offered her a reassuring smile. “It’s not even a question. Bell’s family.”

  Lily looked stunned, her mouth opening and closing for a moment before she said softly, “Are you sure?”

  “Absolutely,” he said. “Let me handle it.”

  Despite protests from both Lily and Zane, Tarni insisted. Eventually, they relented, watching in disbelief as he filled out the payment forms with his bank details. A quick call later, it was approved.

  Zane still couldn’t believe it. “Mate… thank you.”

  Tarni just shrugged. “You’d do the same for me.”

  After that, Zane filled out additional paperwork giving Lily the authority to act on his behalf while Bell remained in the hospital.

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  With the administrative chaos finally behind them, Zane and Tarni pulled Lily into warm hugs. Zane held her for a second longer, his heart swelling with pride and worry all at once. Then they shook James' hand—firmly, maybe a little too firmly on Zane’s part—and said their goodbyes.

  “Look after her,” Zane said to James with a quiet nod.

  “I will, sir.”

  Leaving the admin centre, Zane and Tarni made their way outside to meet up with Kai and find the car. The full moon was rising over Sydney, casting long white rays over the concrete.

  They were heading home again—this time to clean up the blood, the broken things, and prepare for what was coming next.

  But for now, there was at least a little peace in knowing Bell would be home soon.

  The car ride home was longer than Kai expected—not because of traffic or road closures, but because they stopped for food. Constantly.

  First it was burgers. Then meat pies. Then a servo stop for chips and chocolate milk. By the time they hit the halfway mark, Zane had pulled into a kebab shop on the outskirts of a small town.

  Kai sat in the back seat, watching in disbelief as his dad devoured a lamb kebab stacked with the works. Tarni sat beside him in the passenger seat, grumbling the entire time while messily tearing into his own.

  “I swear this thing is trying to kill me,” Tarni muttered between mouthfuls. “My Poison Resistance is going off like a car alarm.”

  “Then stop eating it?” Kai offered with a smirk.

  Tarni shot him a look. “It's delicious. And it’s the principle of the thing. If I don’t eat it, the kebab wins.”

  Kai just laughed and shook his head.

  Back on the highway, the car filled with the low hum of the engine and the occasional rustle of snack wrappers. That’s when Zane decided it was time to explain more of what had been going on.

  “We didn’t want to drop it all on you at the hospital,” he said, eyes fixed on the road ahead. “But now’s as good a time as any.”

  Tarni twisted in his seat to face Kai. “You’ve seen some of it already—System stuff, goblins, all that madness. But there's more to it.”

  They took turns filling him in on everything. How the System had appeared near Zane’s house first. The way it granted skills and stats. Their first fights with goblins. The danger. The insane rules that didn’t feel like any game they'd ever played. And of course, the healing potion they were hoping to use on Bell—if they could find a way to register her into the System.

  Kai didn’t say much at first. He just listened. Frowning. Nodding occasionally. Trying to keep up with the sheer absurdity of it all.

  “You seriously expect me to believe goblins appeared out of noware, you fought them?” he asked finally, voice dry.

  “Mate,” Tarni said, holding up his left arm and pulling up his sleeve to show a gnarly purple bruise. “You think I did this tripping over the coffee table?”

  Kai leaned back and blew out a slow breath. “Okay… let’s say I believe you. What’s the plan when we get home?”

  Zane answered without hesitation. “First, clean up the house. There’s blood. Broken fridge doors. And if we’re unlucky, maybe another goblin or two.”

  “Great,” Kai muttered.

  “Second,” Zane continued, “we need to figure out how to get your mum into the System. She needs that potion. It's the only shot she has.”

  Tarni turned back around, facing the windshield again. “And third—we get ready. I don’t think this thing is done with us. Not by a long shot.”

  Kai stared out the window, the countryside rolling past in a blur of green and gold. It all felt surreal—like he’d stepped into a weird video game storyline. And yet... something in their voices told him it was real. All of it.

  “Alright,” he said finally. “Let’s go see what kind of mess you two made when we all left you alone for what, one Week?”

  That earned him a chuckle from the front seats.

  They weren’t just heading home.

  They were heading back into the thick of it.