Ludwig found them at breakfast.
Which already meant trouble.
He stood near the entrance to the dining hall wearing his old military jacket despite the mild weather, arms crossed, coffee mug in one hand, expression carved directly into stone.
Atlas sat beside him like a wolf pretending to tolerate civilization.
The entire room felt the danger instantly.
Aglaë stopped mid-bite.
Octave slowly lowered his cup.
Ishtar grinned immediately.
Mia looked between all of them with growing suspicion.
Ludwig took one slow sip of coffee.
Then:
"Which one of you geniuses borrowed my truck last night?"
Silence.
Beautiful. Perfect. Dead silence.
Atlas sneezed loudly.
Traitor.
Ludwig nodded once.
"Thought so."
Ishtar leaned back in her chair with absolutely no survival instinct.
"To be fair," she said, "we brought it back."
Ludwig stared at her.
Long enough for Aglaë to physically shrink into her seat.
"You also brought back," Ludwig replied calmly, "half the forest on the tires, blood on the passenger door and what I sincerely hope is beer inside the back seat."
Mia slowly lowered her eyes toward her plate.
Octave remained perfectly motionless.
Professional level self-preservation.
Ludwig pointed toward the exit with his mug.
"All four of you. Outside. Five minutes."
Then he walked away.
Atlas stood up immediately and followed him with the satisfied energy of a creature witnessing inevitable punishment.
Aglaë whispered: "We're going to die."
"No," Ishtar answered cheerfully. "If we were going to die, he'd be quieter."
Mia accidentally laughed into her coffee.
And for a brief second, the tension cracked open.
—
Rain clouds still hung low above the Sanctuary grounds when they reached the garage area.
Ludwig already stood beside three large vehicles:
the truck,
an armored jeep,
and an old black SUV that looked capable of surviving civil wars.
Buckets. Soap. Brushes.
Military-grade humiliation.
Ludwig tossed gloves toward them without ceremony.
"You use my vehicles," he said, "you maintain my vehicles."
Ishtar caught hers one-handed.
Octave caught his effortlessly.
Aglaë almost dropped hers.
Mia missed completely.
The glove bounced off her shoulder and landed in a puddle.
Ishtar laughed immediately.
Mia glared at her.
A dangerous mistake.
Because Ishtar apparently interpreted glaring as flirting now.
Ludwig pointed toward the truck.
"You two. Exterior."
Then toward Octave and Aglaë.
"You're handling the inside."
Octave nodded like someone accepting a diplomatic mission.
Aglaë looked terrified of the vacuum cleaner.
The work started in relative silence.
Mostly because Ludwig remained nearby drinking coffee while watching them like a disappointed mountain spirit.
Mia sprayed water across the side of the truck aggressively.
Ishtar leaned casually against the vehicle beside her.
"You know," she said, "for someone who ran away this morning, you seem surprisingly calm."
Mia froze for half a second.
Then resumed cleaning.
"I didn't run away."
"Mhm."
"I woke up early."
"Mhm."
Mia sprayed water harder.
Ishtar's grin widened.
God, she enjoyed this too much.
Nearby, Octave cleaned the interior with terrifying efficiency while Aglaë folded cleaning cloths with the concentration of someone trying to survive a hostage situation.
Then disaster arrived.
Naturally.
Aglaë accidentally pressed the hose trigger while turning around.
A violent stream of cold water blasted directly into Octave's chest.
Silence.
Everyone stopped moving.
Aglaë went pale instantly.
"Oh my God."
Water dripped slowly from Octave's perfectly controlled face.
For one dangerous second, he looked genuinely offended by reality itself.
Then Ishtar burst out laughing.
Not normal laughter.
Full-body. Violent. Uncontrolled laughter.
Even Mia choked trying not to laugh.
Aglaë covered her mouth in horror.
"I'm so sorry—"
Octave slowly removed water from one eyelash with absolute dignity.
Then took the hose from her hands.
"Understandable," he said calmly.
And sprayed Ishtar directly in the face.
War.
Immediate war.
Ishtar roared something deeply insulting in at least three languages and charged toward him through the rainwater while Octave retreated with the cold tactical precision of a man committing calculated violence.
Aglaë laughed so suddenly she startled herself.
Real laughter.
Bright. Young. Alive.
Mia stood frozen for a second just watching them.
The Sanctuary.
Not training. Not therapy. Not survival.
Just idiots throwing water at each other under grey skies.
Something warm twisted unexpectedly inside her chest.
Then Ishtar grabbed her wrist.
"Traitor," Ishtar declared, pulling her closer.
And suddenly Mia was dragged directly into the battle.
Cold water exploded across her back.
Mia gasped loudly.
"Oh, you're dead."
The sentence came out before she could stop herself.
Ishtar's eyes lit up instantly.
"There she is."
Mia attacked first.
Water. Soap. Chaos.
Aglaë nearly collapsed laughing when Ludwig himself got splashed accidentally across the boots.
Everything stopped.
Instantly.
Four traumatized young adults stared at him in complete silence.
Ludwig looked down slowly at the water dripping from his pants.
Atlas backed away preemptively.
Wise animal.
The entire group waited for judgment.
Then Ludwig sighed deeply.
The sigh of a man questioning every decision that led him here.
"…Children."
But there was something dangerously close to amusement hiding beneath it.
Very close.
And for a few rare minutes beneath the rain, the Sanctuary stopped feeling like a refuge for broken weapons.
It almost felt like a home.
Which, naturally, made it far more terrifying to lose.