“Was anyone else hit by glowing weapons?” Daniel shouted once it was clear the rate of Sigron’s crystallization was slow, but not stopping or immediately imperiling his life.

  “One grazed me,” Khiat said, holding her side. “On the chitin.”

  From a casual glance Daniel couldn’t see what she was talking about, but he wasn’t leaving anything up to chance. “Does the wound feel odd?”

  “No?” Khiat probed one spot on her carapace and shook her head. “Just a scratch. It’ll grow out in a day. Why, what’s wrong?”

  Thank god. It looked like only direct flesh wounds got infected. As for why his didn’t, well, he had at least three guesses, which the lingering backlog of notifications pared down.

  System Alert: A recent Attack has afflicted you with Effect: Astral Corruption. You are inherently immune to this effect due to possession of ???. The effect has been negated.

  What exactly the ??? referred to wasn’t known for sure, but it was most likely his Spoke. Perhaps its possession of the astral domain had a protective effect. As far as Willow, the spark pterodactyl must have nobly taken the corruption from both hits before dying and being consumed by it. The revelation wouldn’t help Sigron. It’s not stopping. Simple fixes first. If nothing works, we’re getting him to Thomas as soon as we can.

  “Here!” Daniel exclaimed, pressing a potion into Sigron’s hand. The absence of a healer was about the only way his team was lacking, aside from maybe an Arcanist, but Soraso had at least given them a supply of potions for emergencies to reinforce those he’d already purchased.

  The Knight didn’t hesitate to throw it back, and Daniel received another surprise when he gave a closer inspection of the wounds. His armor didn’t self-repair, something Daniel was going to fix at the first opportunity, so the surface damage lined up with what had happened underneath. Two of the injuries had spectral hands covering them, the same two human ones from before. Those didn’t have any crystallization around them, and when Sigron took the potion, they healed completely. The hands then vanished, only to reappear at two other wounds and stop the crystallization from progressing there. While the potion had seemed to help the parts of him that were injured but unaffected by the ‘astral corruption’, those that were hadn’t changed.

  Those hands, is this all from one power? People like Tounaki had powers all related to one medium, but elderly hands? That seemed too specific and a little weird. If it’s stopping at least some of the growth, I don’t care.

  “Oh shit,” Shuni said behind him, her approach completely unnoticed. “You got anything for that?”

  “Willow, meet us in the center!” Daniel shouted across the stadium, ignoring the question. “Sigron, can you move?”

  The Knight gave a sharp if pained nod, sheathing his sword and stumbling on. His torso had received the most punishment, though every part of his body below the neck had purple glass-crystal supplanting tissue. There were a few breaks in the metal arm where it hadn’t fully held up against attacks, but that at least had been enchanted with self-repair and was immune to the corruption.

  The Spirit Master and an irate-looking oversized gecko took in the Knight, Willow quickly moving over and taking her own reading. “There’s nothing here I’m picking up,” she reported sadly. “Those aren’t giving me anything either, not that I noticed anything the first time.”

  Sigron looked where she was pointing, and Daniel saw an eyebrow raise. “My Focus is saying it’s ’astral corruption’. If you can’t help…” he glanced at the rift too. The last few pulses hadn’t increased its brightness, but it had stripped practically all the color away to leave a pure white rectangle. Before the edges had been uneven, giving the appearance of a dark pool, but now it was perfectly centered in the stadium as if it had been included in the room’s original design.

  Was it? The corrupted avianoid, who he’d feared would show up in the back of his head the entire fight, had used another rift to teleport away. Were these meant to do that when the ruins were first made?

  He attempted his various means of identification on the rift next, including throwing Willow at it, but stopping short of Beast Mode. Still too risky, and he wanted his phone functioning to receive system alerts. Nothing, and the corruption in Sigron only worsened, the two hands not enough on their own to stop every source.

  “Ok, I’m out of ideas besides my last resort. Anyone have a suggestion?” No one offered anything helpful, aside from Khare briefly waving a dagger before correctly interpreting the team’s facial expressions. “Well, here goes. Stand back, I’m going to touch it.”

  …

  “Let me go!” Hunter roared, every word its own bite directed at the half-formed man barring his way. Grave had seemed nervous about the direction they were heading but didn’t dissuade Hunter or make further comment until they reached the edge of his destination.

  Hunter couldn’t describe what he saw ahead of him, other than it was the most complicated landscape he’d seen yet in the Astral. By now the regular surface had formed pits and peaks, river beds, and areas where it had most of the flatness as it had originally. At rare times they’d come across something… strange, but nothing in the environment itself had been dangerous. Between himself and Grave, none of the monsters that appeared here could be a threat.

  Where Daniel had gone was the exception, according to Grave. It reached into the sky, the mirrored not-substance still providing enough contrast to get an idea of the shape, at least in theory. Parts of it looked wrong, like staircases that looped back on itself and yet moved up and down, paths twisting in an enormous tangle. It extended below the sea’s surface too, far deeper than he’d ever seen.

  Hunter had only gotten to the edge before Grave had manipulated the ground to trap his paws. He’d tried to use freedom to escape, but the god had mournfully told him that it wouldn’t be enough. He didn’t understand why he was being held back if Daniel was in such danger, and Grave either couldn’t or wouldn’t tell him.

  “This isn’t a place we should go,” he replied softly, not moving from where he was, looking at the confusing jumble ahead. Grave had continued to regain himself, color and texture beginning to fill out the silhouette. He didn’t look like a normal human, yet, but his face was almost there. “I wouldn’t dare to if I were by myself.”

  “Why?”

  “I… it is not safe. It is one of the deepest wounds of this place.” Grave sighed and took a seat, his control of the terrain not weakening in the slightest. “There are others. We were so arrogant. So, so optimistic. Even though we won, everyone lost. I tried to tell them to find another way but they wouldn’t listen.”

  Grace had that distant tone that told Hunter he was half-remembering things, mouth moving according to a mind that would forget what it was seeing once his attention was brought back to the real world. Or, at least, Hunter’s current closest approximation.

  “We had not conceived it possible to sin against the fundaments to the point they would break entirely. What it would mean for the world, for the Astral. I took my mantle because I felt the deepest remorse. You.” He looked at Hunter directly, and the ringcat shifted as he realized Grave had found his way out of the fugue. “Your kind are a monument to our sins. The toll we have caused by our actions, even to this day, I can’t describe the pain it causes me.”

  It was hard to stay angry at someone relentlessly beating themselves up in such an arcanely morbid way, yet Hunter was still glued to the floor. “What does this have to do with Daniel?” he growled.

  “He is in the very heart of our sin. The reason spirits exist at all, here.” A curious expression lit on Grave’s face. “Have I not explained that? Have I not remembered until now? You, at least, should know the truth. Souls, they are meant to be inviolable. It is a fundament, a fundamental law, and yet each and every one has a way it can be bent. Here, a great and terrible mistake fully broke this one. Without that fundament’s protection, souls here can be abused to the point that they too break. Becoming spirits. Only rarely do they land here, in the Astral, as the one we rescued did.”

  “I lost part of my soul?” Hunter asked. He felt a sense of wrongness then, not in himself but in… something else. A revulsion, almost. Time and memories lost to him that would never return. “What does that mean?”

  A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

  Grave walked closer, meaning to pat Hunter somewhere, but he bared his fangs and the god took a step back. “For you, what is lost is lost. That is the tragedy. At least through friendship you have regained some semblance of self. I recall…” Grave thought to himself for a moment and nodded. “Yes. In the last cycle we had success in rehabilitating spirits another way. Grafting. Artificial archetypes introduced into spirited monsters, helping them evolve into people. Hammer and I worked on it with a group of rather precocious mortals.” Grave laughed as if retelling a fond story, though his smile turned to a frown. “The first few attempts, they weren’t, well, as complete as I would have liked. They were necessary, we figured out where we were going wrong, but I had always meant to correct the issue. Never had the chance.” He gestured to himself.

  “If I get back,” Hunter said, this new topic quelling the urgency to get to Daniel, “Could this be done to me?”

  “It already has. Or, rather, it was accomplished through a different method. Your soul is whole, without needing our intervention. I will have to learn how this was done.”

  “My body?”

  Grave waved a hand dismissively. “What is form, aside from Hammer and Star’s domains? A sufficiently powerful Transmutist could give you any body you wished, assuming that class is still active in the Octyrrum. You have already taken the most difficult step. Is it that you no longer wish to be seen as a monster? That, that I could understand.”

  “I could be human?” Hunter pressed, conflicted hope within him.

  Grave clearly felt as challenged by the question as he turned away. “All things are possible. With your archetypes, though, it isn’t likely to find this power on your own. You live in the shadow of the Octyrrum, even if you aren’t wholly encompassed by it. Under the right circumstances, perhaps if my plan for us succeeds…” Before Grave could elaborate, his head snapped towards the landscape ahead. Sudden shock and anger engulfed him, the ground beneath his feet undulating in waves that went out and over the parts trapping Hunter’s paws.

  “What is he doing? How!? That, no, how!?” A sharp, iron gaze flicked to him. “I sensed his nature, but this is beyond our control, our system. He, he has a Spoke within him, but… but these domains. How? Wait, I see…“ Grave’s anger fled, replaced by profound sadness. Darkness grew in the air around him as if the sky had descended. “I remember. My brother, after all this time, why? Why!?” he shouted into the sky toward the tangle of Astral.

  Hunter tried to shift out of floor, hoping Grave’s distraction would provide an opportunity to escape, but he remained locked in a way that Freedom wouldn’t overcome. The other didn’t even noticed his attempt but continued talking to himself. “I was making things right. I was going to help them after everyone else left them for dead, and they killed me! Because you gave them that chance.” Hourglass slammed a fist into the ground, causing a small earthquake. Cracks formed in the ground, though they slowly began to repair when the shaking was done.

  “You’ve given up.” Sadness broke the anger, but only for a moment. “After all we’ve been through, you’re giving up!? Working with the Illustrious and the Origin Beasts to create that thing. Hammer, Torch, myself and the new gods, we’ve kept the goal in sight for longer than anyone has the right to live! Do you think my mind has not strained? My heart not broken countless times!? I… I…”

  The god held his other hand to his head as the darkness continued to thicken, almost to the point of shrouding him from Hunter’s sight. Grave then laughed slightly, but Hunter liked nothing about the humor he heard. “It’s meaningless. It’s all meaningless. I kept my promise, my regrets, for so long. I thought I could change them, fix everything.” The cloud around Grave began to invade him, and he didn’t resist. “It’s too damaged. If the world won’t break and end this madness on its own, then I’ll just have to do it myself.” When it was done, a human stood before him, fitting the rough silhouette Hunter had seen this whole time. It was still Grave, but the eyes weren’t. Hunter looked and saw only darkness there.

  “It has to end,” Grave proclaimed. Hunter strained against the floor again, desperate to get away from whatever Grave had turned into, but a cage formed around him as it took notice. “I’m sorry. I thought we were still playing by the rules, but there aren’t any rules. Not anymore. The hope I’ve given you is false. The only kind thing to do now is to stop the suffering, and for that I’ll need…” He looked away, and then steeled himself. “I’ll need to do something unforgivable.” The cage began to move, and no matter how much Hunter struggled, he could not stop Grave from taking him away from Daniel.

  …

  “I think I felt something,” Daniel remarked as he took his hand away from the rift. Touching it had been his last resort, before using Beast Mode at least. If the Astral domain could protect him from corruption, it was reasonable to assume he might have an effect on Astral rifts like his Spoke did on other Spokes. No contest of wills or heart mana emerged, but he still felt something intangible happen. His phone reinforced the feeling as notifications rolled in.

  System Alert: Registering contact with nearby Astral Rift. All Astral Projections of local Astral Corruption have been purged. The Arcadian has acknowledged your ???, enabling you as a qualified user and granting access to administrative permissions. Presence of ~Undefined~ has additionally made you an eligible conduit for Astral Harmonization, fully dispersing local astral corruption without negatively impacting your surroundings.

  -

  System Alert: Astral Corruption has been dispersed from a nearby Astral Rift. As a qualified user and admin, you have been granted access to it. Function: Arcadian has been added to Feature: Focus Enhancement to facilitate realization of non-endogenous potential. In accordance with Fundamental Law: Balance, your next Power Awakening will be consumed to correct the Spiritual Disparity.

  -

  System Alert: Information from the recently accessed Astral Rift has been used to update Function: Maps.

  -

  Arcadian General Alert

  >Astral corruption from Lectorum A4 has been mitigated.

  >Error: Cannot locate previously registered administrator. Assigning nearest administrator temporary access for duration of the general alert.

  >Total corruption remaining: 99.8%

  >Maximum alert level active. Arcadian systems restricted to qualified users only.

  -

  Arcadian Personal Alert

  >Congratulations! Awardance of fundamental merit has been detected. As a qualified user, you shall receive a full share.

  >Processing…

  >Error: Unknown archetypal filter in use by qualified user. Attempting to divert fundamental merit.

  >Processing…

  >Error: ?!UNKNOWN!? entity preventing merit capture. Tenets of loyalty bond undetected. Registering six anomalous qualified users and one undefined qualified user… done.

  >Alerting security… error, general alert currently superseding lower priority messages. Alert logged for later manual review.

  -

  You have accomplished Feat: Purge Astral Corruption.

  This has unlocked potential for growth. 1 Advancement Potential has been awarded. You may assign them with Function: Settings in addition to expending potential through normal methods.

  It was times like this that Daniel kind of still wished his notifications were curated by Torch and/or his otherworldly clone, if only to save him from considering all of the implications and old truths he was stumbling into. At least in this case there was something to take his mind off of gaining a direct line to an entirely different system the ruins were running off of. This ‘Arcadian’ it appeared the monsters were named after could be what the Octyrrum was called in the deep past, and that was exactly the kind of thing he shouldn’t be considering right now.

  Daniel somewhat awkwardly put two fingers through one of the holes the maulers had caused in the armor, saying as he did so, “Hang on, maybe I can… Damn it!” When he took his hand away, the glassy substance hadn’t faded. Neither had his phone given him any failure notification.

  “What’s happening to the rift?” Willow asked, and Daniel turned to find its colors changing once more. Instead of purple, it was now a mix of blue and gold, with patches of white remaining. He’d know those colors anywhere.

  “Hunter?” Daniel asked the rift, abandoning his thoughts of Sigron as he knelt and put both of his hands on it. “Hunter!?”

  He closed his eyes, straining his soul as much as he could. This was it. This was what Cloak had been hinting at, a connection to the Astral where Willow had assured him Hunter was. Daniel wasn’t sure how this would work, if he’d have to let Hunter share his body for now until they figured out something else, but he was willing to do anything to make it happen.

  He waited, pieces of hope carved off and falling into a growing sea of despair as time passed without any sign of the ringcat’s soul. No one on the team interrupted his vigil, even with Sigron steadily worsening. There was a moment’s consideration of Beast Mode, but he knew somehow that wouldn’t be right. That was something he’d taken to become strong enough to get here. To bring Hunter back he needed to be his true self, the human who had first bonded the ringcat. He was holding out a hand as hard as he could into the astral for his friend to grasp and return to life.

  But nothing was there to reach back.