"Oh, interesting," Gendry remarked, as Suzanne watched Camus quietly, her expression neutral. He was already far, and still holding strong. Would he really reach 500? Marcel was glowering beside them, already very upset.

Amelia sat in her closet, tucked deep behind clothes as she cried quietly into her hands. She didn't understand, she didn't... she didn't want this. She wasn't sure what to think right now either, with so much happening all at once.

After taking in the looks of the people below, Camus continued. The distance to 300 was easy, but he began feeling the weight again as he reached 350. It didn't become an issue until he reached 400, where he was feeling it really pressing down on his shoulders. The distance to 450 was even more difficult, leaving Camus struggling to walk upright. Each step from there was more difficult than the last, and he could feel it. It was like back home, when he carried just a little too much and he could feel it in his back. 460, 461, 462, 463, each step he counted in his head as he made his way up. Even from here, despite all the steps looking the same, he could tell which one was 500. He knew in his mind's eye which one it was, and he felt a pit in his stomach knowing that wall was still in his path. He was still on his feet as he approached it, but he had a feeling the 500 wall would fix that.

Grim looked at Hypha said "You heard me, I was telling him to stop." getting kind of offended.

The knocker, knocked louder.

Hypha turned to glare at Grim. "AFTER he was already collapsing from exhaustion," she said. "You can't seriously think that saying "hey stop" after he's already stumbling is okay, can you? You should've stopped him ages ago." She huffed, rolling her eyes. "No, I'm fine. You need to go make sure he hasn't overworked himself to the point of not being able to do anything tomorrow. You know that overworking is counterproductive right? How are you this bad at mentoring?"

Amelia STILL didn't hear.

After a moment and it was clear Camus wasn't continuing on, he was teleported back down to the base of the steps and met with a crowd of shocked faces and dead silence. It had been a few years since anyone had beaten the Gatekeeper, sure, several that fell at 499, but it had been a long time since anyone actually passed 500. Suzanne had a small smirk on her lips, somewhat surprised he had actually did it. So he wasn't full of it, then. She was also delighting in Marcel's outrage, at the realization he likely didn't have anyone to top that. She poked him with her foot, the smirk growing to an almost malicious extent as he turned back to glare at her. "I win."

Camus let out a heavy breath, the enhancement magic on his body ceasing. "Alright, who's next?" He asked with a confident look as usual, looking around the crowd for the next volunteer up.

Emily knocked on the Closet door and said "Princess Amelia are you okay?"

Grim looked over Bair and said "Why did you keep going?"

Bair said "I just...I wanted to..."

"You wanted to speed this up?" Grim said with a sigh "I understand you miss Veronica...but she is the reason you're here...isn't she?"

"I'm fine! Go away, Emily!" Amelia called back, managing to keep her voice from shaking.

"Well, guess that's that," Delphi said. "How was it?" she asked, craning her neck to look up at Camus.

"I'll probably be feeling that gatekeeper impact tomorrow morning when I wake up." Camus laughed slightly.

Ken rolled up his sleeves as well, sprinting up the stairs full speed. As he got to the 12th step, his foot caught one of the steps and he tripped, twisting to avoid landing on his face. He ended up falling off the side and onto his backside, back at the bottom with an "Owwww," mumble.

Emily stood there for a second, she turned to leave as ordered but stopped gripping her belt a bit. Friendship overrid any sort of logic and reasoning as she turned quickly saying "I'm always here if you need an ear...your majesty."

Grim looked at him as Bair sat up. "I still remember, you know? Ryker was the one who got me through a lot of the Academy. He taught me the basics, the forms, and did so much for me. When we saved Hollow, it tore me apart that Ryker never got the credit he deserved." He sighed and said "The public just looked at my story, some no named kid from Eternal Gardens saving a princess and then marrying her. People eat that sort of story up."

"The real heroes" Bair said quietly "They're the ones...who we never see again."

"A little less zealous, yeah," Delphi agreed, patting Ken on the back. "Go get 'em."

"Not right now, Emily. Please, just leave me alone," Amelia said quietly.

"Okay, here I go." Ken turned to go up the stairs and immediately hooked his foot on the first step, but managed to catch himself and walk up it normally. "At a normal pace."

Camus watched Ken go for a moment before turning and walking over to Suzanne and two other people he didn't recognize. "So? What'd you think?"

Emily looked away and walked away.

Bair looked at him quietly as he asked "Why would he say no?"

"He's hurt" was Grim's response "And not in a way that heals easily like a cut. You may never have intended it, I don't think any of the royal family did either. However, you hurt his pride. He had everything going and was the future of the Enforcers. However one day when you and Ryker went above and beyond the call of duty. The Public saw you as the hero, and him as just being there. It doesn't matter what you or the royal family says. That danages a person...their pride. He may never want to come back."

Bair curled up a bit as Grim sat closer to him. "I miss him though, me and Veronica both"

"I understand that, but he may not feel the same. By all means, seek him out, but if he doesn't want to talk, or even if you do he doesn't want to come back. Respect his wishes. He's not a child or a possession...he can think for himself" Grim said quietly as Bair looked away in silence.