Clarence is on his knees, and he reaches out to a black, charred outline of a body beneath him. The left leg is missing just below the knee, and the right side seems to have taken the brunt of an explosion. Half of the face is just bone, and the eye socket is an empty crater. The only recognizable trait is the blue robes that have been singed at the ends. They fuse with what skin remains, and just next to the body is a pair of broken glasses.

  Clarence has a hand on her shoulder, and he shakes it gently. It looks as if he’s trying to rouse her from a nap, but this is no nap.

  "Raise! Raise! Get up! Come on, I said get up!" His voice is loud, and is grows more raw as he screams. "Please," Clarence whispers, and presses his head against Isalithe’s.

  "Clarence, she’s gone..." I say.

  "Don’t you think I know that?! Nothing I do is working. I keep trying to find her soul, but it’s like…"

  "It’s like your necromancy isn’t working," I finish for him, and then glance back to Terra, who is still lying facedown in the dirt. "This whole area is under the effect of one of the forbidden spells. Divine Abrogation. It severs one's connection to their deity. For us, that means no necromancy for the time being."

  Clarence’s hands go slack, and Isalithe’s head lolls to the side. Her remaining eyelid matted shut with blood.

  "No, no, no, we need necromancy. How else are we supposed to fix her!?" Clarence shakes his head, then bares his teeth at me. "Clara, we…wait, what if we kill Terra? He wouldn’t be able to defend himself in that sorry state he’s in, and if he’s dead, the spell will be lifted!"

  Clarence moves to stand, but I grab his wrist. "No, it won’t. The spell will hold even with Terra’s death. Sometimes people just die, Clarence. We don’t get to decide. Isalithe isn’t the first to die on this journey of ours, and sadly, she isn’t going to be the last."

  Clarence rips his hand away, and for a second I think he’s about to hit me. Levi even hisses at him, but instead, Clarence simply begins to cry. "You do though! You’ve cheated death more than anyone. If you wanted to, you could save her. I know you could! Why is she here anyway? We were all on the bridge, and she just started running away from us like…like she was possessed!"

  "There’s nothing to be done," Elen says. "She’s in a better place now."

  "I don't want her to be in a better place, I want her to be here with me! What would you two know anyways? Neither of you know how the fuck to stay dead! Why does it have to be okay when it’s her?!"

  Sen is perched on Clarence’s shoulder, trying his best to plug his little ears Clarence looks at him, then back at Isalithe, then at me. He picks Sen up and holds him for a short moment before turning, and throwing the poor dryad right at me.

  "Hey!" I catch Sen just before he collides with my face.

  He begins to claw his way up my arm, and onto my free shoulder.

  Clarence doesn’t answer though. Instead, he has his hands pressed into Isalithe’s chest and he's chanting a spell under his breath. "Animasculus Ex-"

  "Stop him!" I command, and Elen lunges for Clarence. She’s fast, but not fast enough. Just as Elen’s hand closes around Clarence’s neck, she’s blown backward by a shockwave of raw, explosive power. The air grows white and hot; like I’m standing in front of a burning pile of thermite.

  Levi hisses, a long, wet sound, and I clamp a hand around his jaw to silence him. My other arm is wrapped tight around Sen, who is fighting to hold on. My hair whips around my face, and the air reeks of boiling blood.

  Clarence is glowing a fierce orange, and radiates enough light to cast shadows in all directions. His soul burns brighter than any star in the night sky.

  "Whatever you’re going to do, make it count!" I yell. "You have seconds, do you understand me? You can use any spell you’ve experienced up until now, so that means-"

  Clarence is already ahead of me. "Lightning Fugue!" The words come out fast, and Clarence is everywhere at once, a blur of motion circling Isalithe’s body. He tries spell after spell he knows in an attempt to fix her.

  A purple ball of flame flies out from Clarence's body, and is heading straight for me. Levi’s tail snaps forward, hitting it hard. The spell is redirected into the air, and fizzles out after a while.

  "He’s given up on basic spells and is fusing spells together at random," I mutter. "He’s relying on brute force to find a spell that can save her…"

  And then he finds it. A small flame appears in his palm. It isn’t a fireball, it’s something softer, more gentle. A living ember. He kneels, and places the flame into Isalithe’s chest.

  "I saw someone do something like this for Sen once…" Clarence says, and the Soulburn ends.

  "I burn half my soul to undo this withering, and the remaining half to deny Death this treasure!"

  I remember it well. I was surprised to gain Sen as a companion back in the Withered Dreads, and even more surprised to be rid of one of these marks, but half of one's soul is a steep price.

  I want to call out to Clarence, to beg him to stop, but I never stopped when Aetheria pleaded with me, did I? So I don’t bother trying.

  "All I have is my flames," Clarence whispers, "so I had to make something just for you. The flame that keeps you alive through the deep, dark depths of the night. Hearth."

  Clarence closes Isalithe’s hand over the small flame, and the deep orange color seeps into her flesh. Clarence slumps, and grows weak as he holds onto Isalithe’s hand. Finally he pulls away, and her remaining eye opens.

  But the pupil is dull, and drifts aimlessly.

  "Hey, it’s your lackey. Isalithe? Can you hear me?" Clarence waves a hand in front of her face, but there is no response.

  No spark.

  "What’s wrong? Clara, what’s wrong with her? She’s awake, she’s alive, she has a pulse, everything's okay! So why? Why isn’t she moving!?"

  "You’re right, she is alive. But she still doesn’t have her soul. Death can get particular about these things. Sometimes he holds onto some souls tighter than others."

  Clarence’s shoulders sag. "But I told her I’d steal her away…"

  "Sorry, Clarence," I say, and move to place a hand on his shoulder.

  Something in the dark catches my eye though. A single glint, a piece of metal that catches the moonlight perfectly. Clarence sees it too, and he scrambles across the ground on his hands and feet to it, fingers clawing at the dirt. I dive forward and reach for it also. The Leviathan acts as an extension of my will, coiling along the length of my arm. He clings to my wrist and snaps at the object, but Clarence’s hand closes around it first.

  It’s a ring. A simple band of metal, but I know it’s no mere ring, and Clarence knows this too.

  "I’ll steal her from Death if I have to!" Clarence slips the ring onto his finger and then barks out a command. "Take me to Isalithe!" The ring flashes, and Clarence vanishes into thin air.

  "Jesus Christ!" I shout, and turn to Levi, whose gaze is locked on the spot where Clarence disappeared. "Why did you let him do that?" I ask, but I know the question is meaningless. Deep down, I know he was only enacting my own will. I wanted to give my cousin the chance to challenge this cruel fate of his. The serpent returns to his perch around my neck, and I hold a finger out for him. He begins rubbing his chin against my finger, and doesn't answer my question.

  "Master, what happened?" Elen asks, brushing herself down as she walks up.

  "The Ring of Wandering. It lets you travel to anywhere in this world, or any other you can imagine. It’s a powerful relic, but-"

  I’m cut off as Clarence reappears. He’s on his hands and knees, gasping for breath, a small orb of light clenched in his fist. He slides the ring off and tosses it aside, then collapses over Isalithe’s body. He presses the orb to her chest, and it sinks into her, vanishing without a trace.

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  "How did you manage to sneak a soul out of the Eternal Dream? There’s no way Death just let you take her!" I say, but Clarence just shakes his head.

  "Turns out that stealing from Death is harder than I thought. I ended up having to make a deal," he says. "I gave up my necromancy in exchange for her." Clarence’s eyes soften as he says the last part, and he looks down at Isalithe with an even softer smile.

  "You…You gave up your necromancy? You’re limiting yourself this much just to save one person?"

  "I’m not limiting myself. When I needed it the most, my necromancy failed me. I think the only thing I can rely on is myself, and when I’m with her, I feel like I can do anything."

  When Nathaniel learns of this he’s going to be livid. He'll tell him how stupid he is, and how he wishes he had never done this, but… Nathaniel can’t see the look on Clarence’s face right now, so of course he wouldn’t understand it.

  Clarence has made peace with his decision already, and there’s nothing more to say on the matter.

  Clarence cradles Isalithe’s head in his hands, and for several long seconds, nothing happens.

  Then, finally, she blinks, and her remaining eye lands on Clarence.

  She starts to sob, high and thin. Whether that’s due to the miracle of life, or the pain she’s in, I’m uncertain. Clarence holds her tight, and she clings to him, shaking violently as she does so. Sen jumps from my shoulder and lands on her hip, burrowing into her side.

  I decide it’s give them a moment, and turn my back on them.

  "Levi, do you remember those weird eyes that Talia had? The red ones," I whisper, and he hisses in response.

  "Give me those eyes of hers, just for a moment."

  The Leviathan bumps his head against mine, and my vision shifts, taking on a red-tint. Is this how Talia saw the world?

  Looking back, I see it. Above Clarence and Isalithe’s heads, I see matching numbers. 15 years. They have 15 years at most. The numbers flicker and change from time to time, but the total never gets higher than that. Clarence burnt away over half his lifespan, and then split the remaining half with Isalithe throught he use of Hearth. The fool quartered his life.

  All this for a girl.

  "Did we win?" Isalithe’s voice is a low, wet rasp.

  Clarence nods, still hugging her.

  "Yeah, we won."

  "What about my Divine Aspect? Did you grab a good one for me?" Isalithe tries to laugh, but it comes out as a pained wheeze.

  Clarence glances back at me pleadingly, and I let out a sigh.

  "Elen, help me collect Terra’s parts. We’ll be patching him up soon."

  Elen nods and begins her search. Her eyes are good, and even in the dark she should be able to find the pieces quickly.

  I make my way to where Caedis met his end, and I begin digging through the brittle remains of his once resplendent armor.

  "Looking for these?" Terra asks, and he holds out three folded pieces of cloth. It’s hard to see, but two of them are black, and the remaining one is brown.

  "Yes," I say, and take them.

  The first has the insignia of a shield.

  "Levi, I’ve gotten used to seeing messages this time around. Can you mimic them for me?" I ask, and the result is instant. Levi’s eyes flash, and a message appears in my vision.

  Divine Aspect, Whisper of The Aegis: Increases the user’s bone density by 50%, making them far more durable, and boosts their affinity with geomancy by 25%, allowing one to learn spells faster. The added mass will slow movement permanently.

  It's only a whisper, but it's already this strong? This one must have come from Cirelian. He may have been durable, but with the monsters he was fighting, that only helped him so much. I close my fist around the Aspect, and claim it as my own. Instantly, I feel heavier. My bones ache, but the sensation is almost comforting. I'll regain some speed with a stronger body, but that will take time. Zephyr’s Burst will have to compensate for my loss of speed for now.

  The next cloth holds a tiny, beating heart, studded with bone.

  Divine Aspect, Eidolon of Reclamation: Allows the user to reconstitute their own body, as well as assimilate compatible body parts from others into themselves. This process is instant upon activation, but is faster the more danger the user is in.

  This one must have been Caedis’s, or whatever it is that he turned into. When a Divine Aspect becomes an Eidolon it starts talking to you, and I don't want anything related to that psychopath in my head…

  "This one’s for you," I say, and hand it to Terra. The moment he touches it, the Aspect fuses with him, and Elen brings over the rest of his body parts. They begin to slide into place, reattaching with a slow, sticky sound.

  Elen stays by his side, nudging and guiding the pieces into the right sockets, and ensuring they don't go on backwards.

  The last cloth is nearly empty, but in the right light I see a shadowy hand, that is just barely visible.

  Divine Aspect, Fragment of Tenebris: The user will acquire a helping hand that only exists in shadows. It grows stronger the darker it is.

  I remember the shadowy hands that had tried to twist, and contort my sin. This one belongs to that little smudge hiding in the Radiant Vanguard. It would be bad if this one was an Eidolon, but thankfully it isn't to the point it was speaking yet. A smile spreads across my face as I fold the cloth back over itself neatly.

  "I know just who to give this to. Good job, Levi," I say, and cock my head to the side as he rests his own against mine.

  I find Clarence still holding Isalithe. I don’t say anything, I just drop the Divine Aspect down his collar. He shivers, and then swats at me. A shadowy appendage follows closely behind, and Levi leans back on my neck, causing me to fall on my rear. The shadowy hand just narrowly misses me before returning to Clarence.

  Clarence holds a hand out and he watches as his shadow stretches across the ground, much farther than it should. He forms his hands into a point, and the shadow mimics it before striking the corner of an arena. It leaves a sizable cut. It's only a few inches deep, but if that were to hit a person, it could easily be fatal.

  "It feels weird," Clarence says. "It’s just like a hand, but not? What is this?"

  "That is your first Divine Aspect. Since you lost use of your necromancy, it’s only fair you got something to make up for it."

  "Hey, what about me? I helped too!" Isalithe barks, her voice a little stronger now. I can’t help but laugh.

  "Levi, you’ve got a pretty good feel for what Divine Aspects are now, don’t you?" I ask, and he hisses in response.

  "You bit a rather sizable chunk of meat out of the boss earlier. There was a girl with a healing factor in there, remember her?"

  Another hiss.

  "Yeah, that’s fine. Do what you have to do, just make her one."

  Levi’s body begins to glow a faint green. His jaw unhinges, and something falls out. A green cloth hits the ground with a solid clink. I pick it up, and unravel it.

  Divine Aspect, Whisper of the Old World: A pitch-black, abyssal eye that slowly heals Isalithe over time. It restores injuries at an agonizingly gradual pace; mirroring the method The Leviathan once used to mend himself under the weight of the ocean. You will be whole again. Just wait, and bide your time.

  The wording is unique, but I kneel next to Isalithe and push the eye into her empty socket. It grows in size to accommodate the wound, and for a moment, she freezes.

  "I can see…"

  "That’s right. It works like a real eye, and it’ll regenerate your body over time. You’ll heal from anything. Lost limbs, missing organs, if you’re alive, you’ll get them back. But it’s slow, and…"

  I hadn’t noticed it before, but Levi is covered in scars. His scales regrew over them, but that didn’t mean they weren’t there.

  "...It’ll leave scars. Congratulations, you two will have matching scars! How cute is that?" I slap Clarence on the back, and he grins at Isalithe, who’s already trying to sit up. She leans heavily on Clarence though.

  It’s not much, but I can see connective tissue taking root on Isalithe’s cheek. It would be slow, but maybe this was a good thing. It would get her to slow down for once.

  I feel myself smile at the sight. Despite the odds, we all made it, but just barely. More than that, I have Levi at my side again. I offer him a finger, and he stretches out to rub his jaw on it, but that’s when he falls.

  I try to catch him, but he hits the ground hard and begins to thrash wildly.

  Something inside of him is forcing its way out. The shape is that of a body, a human body, and it’s far too big for the serpent.

  Levi’s jaw unhinge and a pair of feet emerge, followed by legs, and once the hips pass through his mouth, the rest of it comes out with ease.

  It’s a woman.

  Golden-haired, pale skinned, thin limbed, and trembling. She’s as naked as the day she was born. Her hair is long enough it covers the important parts, but I know her face.

  Evelyn Cromwell.

  Clarence scoots back, dragging Isalithe with him, and Sen helps, conjuring up what little mana he has left to push Isalithe out of harm's way.

  Evelyn sits up right, and begins to shiver as she holds her hands over her arms.

  "Elen, get over here!" I shout, and hold my hand out to Levi as he slithers back up to my neck.