Yzer was drinking tea.
That was the first thing Qaritas noticed.
Not the Ten Markings.
Not the chamber.
Not the doors that had sealed behind them with a sound disturbingly similar to teeth closing.
Not even the thing sitting beneath his ribs—
that instinctive certainty that they had walked directly into a predator's mouth.
Tea.
Yzer sat in an ordinary chair beside a small black table.
One leg crossed elegantly over the other.
Lavender fingers curled around white porcelain.
Steam rose lazily from the cup.
A plate of tiny cakes rested beside him.
As though he had not spent the last decade psychologically tormenting the girl standing beside Qaritas.
As though he had merely been waiting for guests.
Qaritas remained beneath the silver cloak.
Nothing.
Less than nothing.
His existence slid around the room rather than through it.
Even reality had difficulty acknowledging he stood there.
Xheavend—
stopped.
Qaritas noticed immediately.
She didn't stumble.
Didn't gasp.
Didn't reach for a weapon.
She simply—
stopped.
One foot slightly ahead of the other.
Shoulders rigid.
Hands hanging at her sides.
Eyes fixed on Yzer.
Too wide.
Too still.
Qaritas had seen Xheavend afraid.
He had watched her face creatures capable of swallowing cities.
He had watched her bleed.
Watched her laugh while surrounded.
Watched her threaten things considerably larger than mountains because they had irritated her.
This wasn't that.
This was older.
Her body had recognized Yzer before her mind had caught up.
Ten years.
It had been ten years since she'd stood in the same room as him.
Ten years since she'd seen him in person.
And somehow—
her body remembered everything.
Yzer took another sip.
Then looked directly at her.
His eyes softened.
A faint flush touched his lavender cheeks.
Almost shy.
Almost pleased.
Almost—
aroused.
"There you are."
Xheavend's fingers twitched.
Yzer smiled.
"My precious little pet."
Her face changed.
Barely.
But Qaritas saw it.
The nine-year-old girl was suddenly standing beside him again.
Bare feet.
Torn nightclothes.
Blood.
Eyes constantly measuring exits.
A child who had once told him she'd rather die than return to this creature.
Xheavend swallowed.
"Don't call me that."
Silence.
Yzer lowered his cup.
Then—
he blushed harder.
Actually blushed.
"Oh."
His smile widened.
"I missed that."
Qaritas's hand slowly closed around the hilt hidden beneath his cloak.
Yzer leaned back.
"Ten years."
His gaze wandered over her as though inspecting a painting he'd once owned.
"Ten entire years since I've been permitted the pleasure of seeing you properly."
Xheavend said nothing.
"Though..."
His head tilted.
"...I suppose permitted isn't quite the correct word."
His eyes narrowed fondly.
"You've always been exceptionally poor at granting permission."
Qaritas felt something cold move through him.
Xheavend's thumb touched her index finger.
Then middle.
Ring.
Little.
Again.
Qaritas knew that habit.
Grounding.
Four.
Again.
Yzer noticed too.
Of course he did.
"Still counting?"
Her hand stopped.
Yzer's smile deepened.
"Four fingers."
He tapped his cup gently.
"Four breaths."
Tap.
"Four objects."
Tap.
"Four sounds."
Xheavend's jaw tightened.
"Stop."
"Your father taught you that."
"Stop."
"He taught you so many useful little tricks."
Yzer sighed almost wistfully.
"The tragedy is that after enough years, it becomes terribly difficult to remember which pieces of yourself belong to you..."
His eyes gleamed.
"...and which ones someone else put there."
Something moved behind Xheavend's eyes.
Not her.
Qaritas recognized it immediately.
End.
Not fully forward.
Not yet.
But awake.
Watching.
Listening.
The atmosphere around Xheavend seemed to tighten.
Yzer noticed that too.
His attention sharpened.
"Ah."
The smile returned.
"There you are as well."
Xheavend's eyes narrowed.
Yzer lifted his cup toward her.
"I wondered whether you still listened."
Qaritas's stomach tightened.
End didn't answer.
Of course End didn't.
Yzer continued.
"I remember you."
A pause.
"Or perhaps I should say..."
His eyes returned to Xheavend.
"...I remember what happens when you stop being entirely yourself."
Xheavend's breathing changed.
Slow.
Controlled.
Four in.
Hold.
Four out.
Qaritas knew the story.
He knew all of it.
Two years after she'd escaped Yeitshoja—
Yzer had sent men after her.
Not ten.
Not fifty.
Not even a hundred.
Six hundred soldiers.
Rescuers.
That was what Yzer had called them.
As though kidnapping someone became benevolent when the chains were polished first.
They had been ordered to retrieve his ward.
Bring her home.
Return his property.
They never did.
Because Xheavend—
and End—
had killed them.
All of them.
And afterward came the poison.
Eight years.
Eight years of swallowing Goro's Black Elixir.
Eight years of deliberately corrupting her own blood so Yzer couldn't use it as a road into her mind.
Eight years of shaking hands.
Numb limbs.
Blackened veins.
Vomiting.
Pain.
Eight years of choosing poison because poison belonged to her more than Yzer ever would.
Yzer sighed.
"I still think about those six hundred."
Xheavend went completely still.
Qaritas's grip tightened around his weapon.
Yzer swirled his tea.
"I sent them to rescue you."
Xheavend laughed once.
There was nothing amused in it.
"You sent them to kidnap me."
"Such an ugly word."
"Accurate one."
"I preferred retrieval."
End pressed closer.
Qaritas could almost feel her through Xheavend now.
A pressure.
A door beginning to open.
Yzer's eyes glittered.
"They were good soldiers."
Xheavend said nothing.
"Mostly."
Yzer considered.
"Some screamed disappointingly."
Qaritas felt Void crawl along his fingers.
Xheavend's voice lowered.
"You shouldn't have sent them."
"No."
Yzer smiled.
"I shouldn't have."
A strange delight passed through his face.
"Because that was when I learned something fascinating."
Xheavend's eyes hardened.
Yzer leaned forward.
"Sometimes..."
"...you end."
The temperature seemed to drop.
Qaritas felt it.
Not cold.
Finality.
End had heard him.
Yzer's expression became almost reverent.
"Six hundred lives."
He whispered the number like a treasured memory.
"Then silence."
His gaze traveled over her.
"You were magnificent."
Xheavend's lip curled.
"Don't."
"I had never seen you like that before."
"You weren't there."
"No."
Yzer's smile thinned.
"But I saw what remained."
Something inside Qaritas wanted to remove that smile permanently.
Yzer continued.
"Bodies."
"Armor."
"Blood."
His eyes brightened.
"And things that could no longer properly be called bodies."
End moved closer.
Xheavend's fingers curled.
Qaritas stepped slightly nearer.
Not touching her.
Just there.
Yzer's gaze flicked toward the empty space Qaritas occupied.
Only for a fraction of a second.
Then back.
Interesting.
He couldn't see Qaritas.
But perhaps—
he felt something.
Yzer continued.
"That was when you began taking it, wasn't it?"
Silence.
"The poison."
Xheavend's expression shut down.
Yzer tapped one finger against the porcelain cup.
"Eight years."
Tap.
"Eight years of poisoning your own blood because of me."
Tap.
"Eight years of nausea."
Tap.
"Shaking."
Tap.
"Numbness."
Tap.
"Pain."
His smile softened.
"How romantic."
Qaritas nearly moved.
Xheavend spoke first.
"My body."
Yzer stopped tapping.
"My blood."
Her breathing steadied.
"My choice."
End settled behind the words.
Not replacing her.
Standing with her.
Yzer watched.
His expression changed.
Only slightly.
Interest.
"Choice."
He repeated it as though testing an unfamiliar language.
"Yes."
Xheavend lifted her chin.
"Something you never gave me."
A small silence.
Then—
Yzer smiled.
"You're right."
No excuse.
No denial.
Somehow that made Qaritas hate him more.
Yzer rose.
Slowly.
He placed the cup onto the table.
"I confess..."
He adjusted one white glove.
Purple eyes embroidered across its surface seemed to blink as his fingers flexed.
"...the poison was clever."
His gaze traveled over Xheavend.
"For the first two years, you were still so easy to hear."
Her jaw tightened.
"Your blood was loud."
He stepped closer.
"Every frightened heartbeat."
Another step.
"Every spike of anger."
Another.
"Every lonely moment."
Xheavend's pupils contracted.
Yzer smiled.
"Every night."
Something shifted.
Qaritas saw it immediately.
Xheavend's mouth tightened.
Yzer paused.
Then laughed quietly.
"Oh."
There was realization in it.
Old realization.
A memory.
"I remember when I finally understood that."
Xheavend's face became blank.
Yzer's voice softened.
"I thought you were refusing to sleep because you were afraid of me."
Qaritas felt anger burn beneath his ribs.
Yzer hadn't known at first.
Qaritas had.
He knew about the curse.
Knew sleep was not something Xheavend simply struggled with.
Her curse prevented it.
There was no peaceful surrender waiting at the end of exhaustion.
No closing her eyes and escaping for eight hours.
Her body could become exhausted.
Her mind could unravel.
Her limbs could tremble.
But sleep—
wouldn't come.
Yzer had learned that later.
And like everything else he learned about her—
he had turned it into a weapon.
"I used to wait."
Yzer's voice became almost nostalgic.
"Do you remember?"
Xheavend's nails pressed into her palms.
"I would whisper."
Silence.
"And whisper."
Her breathing shortened.
"And whisper."
Qaritas's jaw clenched.
"Waiting for exhaustion to finally drag you under."
Yzer tilted his head.
"But it never did."
Xheavend stared at him.
"And then I realized."
His smile widened.
"You couldn't sleep."
End surged.
The floor beneath Xheavend cracked.
Just once.
Yzer's eyes lit up.
"There."
Qaritas moved closer.
Xheavend whispered,
"Don't talk about it."
"But that changed everything."
Yzer looked delighted.
"I'd thought I needed to wait for dreams."
His smile became monstrous.
"Imagine my joy when I realized you never received the mercy of them."
Void spilled silently down Qaritas's blade.
Enough.
Yzer kept talking.
"And then you poisoned yourself."
He sighed.
"And suddenly..."
His fingers snapped.
"...quiet."
The word echoed.
"For the most part."
His eyes narrowed.
"Not entirely."
Xheavend said nothing.
"You could never completely erase the road."
Yzer stepped closer.
"Only bury it beneath static."
Another step.
"Mud."
Another.
"Noise."
His voice dropped.
"But mud dries."
Qaritas felt Xheavend's heartbeat increase.
"When your blood becomes clean again..."
Yzer smiled.
"...our dance begins."
End growled inside her.
Not aloud.
Qaritas felt it anyway.
Yzer's eyes briefly sharpened.
Then—
his attention shifted.
Not toward Xheavend.
Toward Qaritas.
Directly toward the place where he stood.
Yzer stared.
Qaritas didn't move.
The cloak held.
The universe continued pretending he wasn't there.
Yzer smiled slowly.
"Although..."
He looked back at Xheavend.
"...I see you've brought one of your watchdogs."
Xheavend's expression didn't change.
But Qaritas knew she understood.
Yzer walked around her.
"Only one?"
His gaze wandered around the room.
"I expected two."
A soft sigh.
"Such a pity."
His smile became unpleasant.
"I was hoping your larger friend might visit."
Goro.
Qaritas knew immediately.
Yzer looked disappointed.
"I've always thought his skin would look beautiful on one of my spies."
Xheavend's face twisted.
Yzer continued casually.
"Perhaps stretched over something thinner."
Qaritas's absent edge appeared against Yzer's throat.
Fast.
Silent.
One moment—
nothing.
The next—
a blade capable of erasing existence rested against lavender skin.
Xheavend's eyes widened.
Yzer stopped.
Silence.
Then his smile returned.
Slowly.
"Hello."
Qaritas said nothing.
Yzer couldn't see him.
Not truly.
But he could feel the pressure of the blade.
"I wondered when you'd become impolite."
Qaritas pressed the edge slightly closer.
"Step away from her."
Yzer's eyebrows rose.
There.
His first time hearing Qaritas speak in person.
Yzer repeated softly—
"Q."
Qaritas's stomach tightened.
Of course.
That was what Xheavend called him.
Q.
That was all Yzer knew.
He didn't know Qaritas.
Didn't know what he was.
Didn't know whose blood ran through him.
Didn't know—
Eon.
Yzer tilted his head.
"You've been remarkably troublesome for someone with only one letter."
Qaritas said nothing.
Yzer's gaze shifted toward his chest.
Not his face.
His chest.
Deeper.
As though listening.
Qaritas understood immediately.
Eon.
Still asleep.
Quiet beneath everything.
Yzer could sense something.
Not enough to identify him.
Not enough to know what slept inside Qaritas.
But enough to be curious.
Yzer smiled.
"How strange."
Qaritas's blade remained steady.
"What?"
"Nothing."
His gaze sharpened.
"Or perhaps..."
He leaned slightly toward the invisible Qaritas.
"...someone."
Void moved.
Yzer didn't flinch.
"Your second presence is very quiet tonight."
Qaritas went still.
Xheavend looked toward him.
Yzer's smile widened.
There it was.
He was fishing.
Testing.
Trying to provoke a reaction.
Qaritas knew better than to give him one.
Eon remained asleep.
Silent.
Yzer continued.
"I've felt it before."
Qaritas said nothing.
"Not clearly."
Yzer's voice became almost conversational.
"A shadow behind a shadow."
His eyes narrowed.
"Something standing behind Q."
No answer.
Yzer smiled.
"Sleeping?"
Qaritas's expression didn't change.
Inside—
Eon remained motionless.
Yzer looked disappointed.
"Hm."
Then he suddenly said,
"Perhaps I should hurt her."
Xheavend's eyes flashed.
Qaritas's Void surged.
Yzer saw it.
Not the cloak.
Not Qaritas.
The reaction.
His smile sharpened.
"Interesting."
Qaritas understood.
The bastard wasn't threatening Xheavend because he expected Qaritas to react.
He was watching for something else.
Watching to see whether the second presence would wake.
Whether another voice would answer.
Whether another creature would look through Qaritas's eyes.
Yzer didn't know Eon's name.
Didn't know what he was searching for.
Only that Q carried something.
Qaritas lowered his voice.
"Try it."
Yzer's gaze remained fixed on the empty air.
"And?"
Qaritas frowned.
"Is that all?"
Yzer asked.
Silence.
"No hidden voice?"
Nothing.
"No second mouth?"
Qaritas didn't answer.
Yzer's smile thinned.
"How disappointing."
Then he moved.
Qaritas barely saw it.
One instant Yzer stood beneath the blade.
The next—
pain exploded through Qaritas's chest.
He hit the floor hard enough to crack stone.
The silver cloak tore backward.
Its hood fell.
Reality remembered him.
Yzer stood over him.
"There you are."
Xheavend moved.
"Q!"
Qaritas pushed himself onto one elbow.
Yzer studied him.
Not casually anymore.
His eyes moved over Qaritas's face.
Hair.
Eyes.
Bone structure.
Something changed.
The amusement faded.
Only slightly.
Recognition—
or something close to it.
Yzer crouched.
"So..."
His gaze narrowed.
"...I was right."
Qaritas's fingers closed around the absent edge.
Yzer's smile returned.
"You are his kin."
Xheavend froze.
"His?"
Qaritas looked at Yzer.
He had no idea who the bastard meant.
Yzer noticed.
That delighted him.
"Oh."
He stood.
"You don't know."
"Know what?" Xheavend demanded.
Yzer looked at her.
Then Qaritas.
Then smiled.
"No."
He shook his head.
"That would ruin the fun."
Qaritas stood.
His cloak hung partially from one shoulder.
Yzer studied him again.
"An Ascendant."
A pause.
"But not one born from my universe."
Qaritas's eyes narrowed.
Yzer seemed pleased with himself.
"You've gotten stronger, Q."
His gaze drifted toward the absent edge.
"Much stronger."
He stepped backward.
"Perhaps someday..."
His smile widened.
"...you'll become strong enough to kill a Fragment like me."
Qaritas attacked.
Yzer disappeared.
Pain flashed.
Then—
Qaritas hit the floor again.
Something felt wrong.
Not pain.
Absence.
Xheavend screamed.
"Q!"
Qaritas looked down.
His right foot was gone.
Cleanly removed above the ankle.
Blood struck the floor.
For one strange second, Qaritas simply stared.
"...Oh."
Xheavend looked horrified.
"YOU DON'T HAVE A FOOT!"
"I noticed."
"Q!"
"I'm working on it!"
Bone erupted.
Muscle followed.
Tendons curled downward.
Skin stretched over everything.
Seconds later—
his foot returned.
Xheavend stared.
Yzer stared too.
Then slowly smiled.
"Ascendant."
Qaritas stood.
"Unfortunately for you."
Yzer laughed.
"No."
His eyes glittered.
"Fortunately."
Qaritas hated the way he said it.
Like Qaritas becoming stronger simply made the eventual game more interesting.
Yzer turned back toward Xheavend.
She immediately stiffened.
Qaritas saw it.
So did End.
The presence inside her pressed closer.
Yzer approached.
One step.
Xheavend stayed still.
Another.
Her hand trembled.
Another.
Qaritas started forward.
Xheavend lifted one finger.
Wait.
He stopped.
Barely.
Yzer stood in front of her.
His white glove rose.
Purple embroidered eyes.
Xheavend's breathing stopped.
Qaritas saw her disappear.
Not physically.
Behind her eyes.
Nine years old.
Yeitshoja.
Hands.
Gloves.
Eyes.
A voice calling her pet.
A voice telling her she belonged to him.
Yzer's fingers touched beneath her chin.
Her entire body locked.
End slammed forward.
The walls groaned.
Yzer's smile faltered.
Only slightly.
"Still there."
He whispered it.
Not to Xheavend.
To End.
"You've grown."
Xheavend's lips parted.
Her voice came out layered.
Not fully.
But enough.
"Remove."
A tremor moved through the chamber.
Yzer's eyes brightened.
"...your."
The floor cracked.
"...hand."
Yzer released her.
Immediately.
Not from fear.
Curiosity.
He stepped back.
"Beautiful."
Xheavend sucked in air.
Her hand flew to her own throat.
Qaritas moved beside her.
He almost grabbed her shoulder.
Stopped.
Ten years ago he would have.
Perhaps even one year ago.
Goro's voice returned to him.
Protection could become another cage frighteningly easily.
So Qaritas held out his hand instead.
"Can I touch you?"
Xheavend stared at it.
Breathed.
Four in.
Hold.
Four out.
Then nodded.
Qaritas placed one hand against her upper arm.
Nothing more.
She leaned toward him.
Barely.
Enough.
Yzer watched everything.
Fascinated.
"You've taught him."
Xheavend's eyes lifted.
"What?"
"How to handle you."
Qaritas felt her tense.
Yzer smiled.
"How sweet."
"No," Qaritas said.
Yzer looked at him.
"She taught me how to respect her."
Silence.
Something about that answer irritated Yzer.
Very slightly.
Good.
Qaritas wanted to do it again.
Yzer looked at Xheavend.
"Do you remember what I used to call respect?"
Her face hardened.
"No."
"Obedience."
End shifted.
Yzer smiled.
"Love was possession."
Another step.
"Protection was imprisonment."
Another.
"Games were punishments."
His eyes glittered.
"And you..."
He whispered,
"...were my ward."
Xheavend's hand tightened around Qaritas's sleeve.
Qaritas understood then.
Not merely what Yzer had done.
How.
Ten years.
Words.
Definitions.
Associations.
He hadn't simply hurt her.
He'd tried to rewrite language inside her head.
Make cage mean safety.
Make obedience mean love.
Make terror mean affection.
Make stalking mean devotion.
Make ownership mean protection.
Make ward mean property.
Xheavend had escaped his castle.
Yzer had spent years trying to ensure part of his castle remained inside her.
Then he smiled.
"Even after you poisoned the road."
A pause.
"You still checked rooms twice."
Xheavend's face went blank.
"Still listened when shadows moved."
Her fingers trembled.
"Still wondered whether every voice was mine."
Qaritas's anger deepened.
"Still wondered whether the people beside you were real."
"Stop."
"Still wondered whether your own thoughts belonged to you."
"Stop."
"Still wondered whether—"
"Enough."
End spoke that time.
The word was quiet.
The entire chamber shook.
Yzer stopped.
His expression became almost euphoric.
Then—
he smiled.
"There's my girl."
Xheavend recoiled as though struck.
End surged violently.
Qaritas stepped between them.
"No."
Yzer looked at him.
Qaritas's absent edge rose.
"You don't get to call either of them that."
Silence.
Yzer stared at Qaritas.
Then—
laughed.
Softly.
"Oh, Q."
His attention once again drifted toward Qaritas's chest.
"Still nothing from your quiet friend?"
Qaritas's eyes narrowed.
Yzer sighed.
"Pity."
Eon slept.
Qaritas was suddenly very grateful for that.
Because if Eon woke—
Qaritas wasn't entirely certain whether Yeitshoja would remain standing.
Yzer returned his attention to Xheavend.
"Do you know what else I remember?"
She said nothing.
"Every grave."
Her face changed.
Qaritas felt it before he understood it.
Her hand went cold against his sleeve.
Yzer saw.
And smiled.
"No."
Xheavend whispered it.
Yzer's eyes brightened.
"The Betrayer."
End went utterly still.
Qaritas looked at Xheavend.
Her breathing stopped.
Yzer continued.
"You still visit."
She said nothing.
"Cleaning the stone."
Her eyes glistened.
"Removing whatever they've carved into it this time."
His voice became sweet.
"'Traitor.'"
Xheavend's jaw trembled.
"'Coward.'"
"Stop."
"'Monster.'"
"Stop."
"The flowers are a nice touch."
Xheavend lunged.
Qaritas barely saw her move.
Her fist flew toward Yzer's face.
Yzer caught her wrist.
Instantly.
Everything changed.
Xheavend vanished behind her own eyes.
Her body locked.
Her pupils widened.
Her breathing shattered.
Nine.
She was nine again.
Captured.
Held.
No choice.
Yzer smiled.
Qaritas didn't.
Void exploded.
The room tore apart between them.
Yzer released her and slid backward across broken stone.
Qaritas caught Xheavend—
then immediately realized he'd done it without asking.
He released her.
Instantly.
"Sorry."
Xheavend stared at him.
Qaritas held both hands where she could see them.
"I shouldn't have grabbed you."
Her breathing came hard.
Then—
slowly—
she nodded.
Yzer watched.
Something unreadable moved through his expression.
Xheavend turned toward him.
Tears stood in her eyes.
"You don't get to talk about them."
Yzer brushed dust from his burgundy sleeve.
"Why?"
"You know why."
"Because you loved them?"
Her face broke.
Just slightly.
Yzer smiled.
"I remember their death."
Qaritas felt Xheavend's entire body go rigid.
Yzer tilted his head.
"Very clearly."
End rose.
The cracks beneath Xheavend's feet widened.
Yzer's voice softened.
"One of my favorites."
Silence.
Even Qaritas felt something inside him stop.
Xheavend looked at Yzer.
No anger.
No rage.
Just—
hurt.
Old.
Deep.
Unhealed.
Yzer watched it appear.
And enjoyed it.
That—
more than anything—
made Qaritas understand why Goro despised creatures like him.
Yzer stepped closer.
"I remember the exact moment hope disappeared."
End snarled.
The sound came from everywhere.
Yzer smiled.
"I remember wondering what you'd do when you learned."
Xheavend shook her head.
"No."
"Would you forgive them?"
"No."
"Hate them?"
"Stop."
"Blame yourself?"
"STOP!"
The chamber shook violently.
End burst through Xheavend's eyes.
For one terrible instant—
Qaritas saw something impossible standing behind her.
A silhouette stretching farther than the room.
Than the mountain.
Than the world.
A horizon ending.
A last breath.
A final page.
The certainty that everything—
eventually—
stops.
Yzer stared upward.
His smile disappeared.
Not completely.
But enough.
End looked at him.
And Yzer—
finally—
looked small.
Then Xheavend gasped.
End receded.
Not gone.
Never gone.
Just behind her again.
Yzer's smile slowly returned.
"Ten years."
He whispered it.
"You've both become extraordinary."
Qaritas moved in front of Xheavend again.
Yzer looked at him.
Then toward his chest.
"Three of you, perhaps."
Qaritas said nothing.
Yzer smiled knowingly.
But he didn't know.
That mattered.
All Yzer had was suspicion.
Q.
A second presence.
Something asleep.
Something he wanted to wake.
Qaritas intended to keep it that way.
Then—
the doors opened.
All ten of them.
Dread entered first.
The Ten Markings followed.
Condensed.
Smaller than the cosmic horrors Qaritas had seen above Yeitshoja.
Still enormous.
Still wrong.
Black robes crawling with eyes.
A humanoid corpse-star whose mouths whispered independently.
Living cathedral flesh folded into something vaguely person-shaped.
Black water walking upright.
A chained giant forced small enough to fit inside the chamber.
An executioner leaking upward-falling snow.
A burning queen whose flames produced no heat.
Golden banners made from bodies.
A shape Qaritas refused to focus on.
And finally—
absence seated upon something resembling a throne carried by nothing.
Xheavend went still.
One of them bowed.
"Little Ward."
Yzer's head snapped toward it.
"No."
The Marking stopped.
Yzer's smile vanished.
"She doesn't like that."
Qaritas stared at him.
That was worse.
Somehow—
that was worse.
Because it meant everyone here knew.
Her wounds had become etiquette.
Yzer had trained monsters to navigate her trauma.
Not out of kindness.
Ownership.
Only I may hurt this one.
Qaritas hated him.
Yzer returned to his chair.
Picked up his tea.
"The Ten have designed transportation for you."
Qaritas glanced toward the Markings.
That immediately concerned him.
"Why?"
Yzer sipped.
"Because she's leaving."
Xheavend frowned.
Yzer looked at her.
"Go."
Silence.
"Explore."
His smile returned.
"See my universe."
He gestured lazily toward the doors.
"Meet civilizations."
"Kill monsters."
"Make friends."
His eyes gleamed.
"Fall in love."
Xheavend's face hardened.
"Build a life."
Another sip.
"Run as far as you like."
Qaritas felt the trap before Yzer spoke again.
"You will still be my ward."
Xheavend's breathing changed.
Yzer smiled.
"No harm will come to you unless I wish it."
Then his eyes moved toward Qaritas.
"But naturally..."
His smile sharpened.
"...that courtesy does not extend to the people around you."
Void flooded Qaritas's hands.
Xheavend suddenly whispered,
"Red door."
Qaritas looked at her.
Her fingers were moving again.
Four.
Four.
Four.
He understood.
Pandeminium.
So he answered.
"Green sign."
Her breathing slowed.
"Guest."
Qaritas nodded.
"Guest."
"Not ward."
"Not ward."
"Not pet."
"Not pet."
Her eyes lifted.
"Not property."
Qaritas's voice hardened.
"Never property."
Yzer watched.
Xheavend breathed.
Four in.
Hold.
Four out.
Again.
Qaritas lowered his voice.
"You got yourself out once."
Her eyes met his.
"You can do it again."
End moved quietly behind them.
Not taking control.
Standing with her.
Xheavend looked at Yzer.
For a long moment—
she said nothing.
Then—
"You don't own me."
Yzer smiled.
"Not yet."
Qaritas almost killed him.
Almost tried.
Xheavend turned away first.
Choice.
Her choice.
She walked toward the Ten Markings.
Qaritas followed.
They were nearly through the doors when—
"Xheavend."
She stopped.
Qaritas did too.
His anger sharpened.
Yzer had used her name.
Not pet.
Not ward.
Not girl.
Her name.
Xheavend looked back.
Yzer stood beside his chair.
Waiting.
He didn't command her.
Didn't beckon.
Just waited.
Qaritas hated that too.
Because after ten years—
Yzer had learned enough about her to know that commands sometimes made her run.
Choice drew her closer.
Xheavend looked at Qaritas.
He said nothing.
This wasn't his decision.
She turned.
And walked back.
Every instinct in Qaritas screamed.
Yzer leaned down.
His lips touched Xheavend's forehead.
Qaritas's blade was in his hand before thought.
Xheavend lifted one finger.
Wait.
He froze.
Yzer whispered something against her ear.
Too quiet.
Qaritas caught only fragments.
"...grave..."
Xheavend's face drained.
"...remember..."
Her eyes widened.
Then—
"...one of my favorites."
Her breathing stopped.
Yzer's smile touched her ear.
"When you're ready..."
A pause.
"...I'll tell you what the Betrayer said just before they died."
Xheavend's eyes went somewhere else.
Far away.
Yzer stepped back.
Qaritas was beside her immediately.
He almost said—
Look at me.
Stopped.
Changed it.
"Can you look at me?"
Nothing.
"Xheavend."
Her eyes moved.
Slowly.
Found him.
"Can you look at me?"
She did.
Qaritas nodded.
"Good."
Yzer smiled behind her.
"How gentle."
Qaritas ignored him.
Xheavend breathed.
Four.
Again.
Four.
End was there.
Holding the edges with her.
Qaritas could feel it.
Not consuming her.
Helping keep her from falling apart.
Yzer returned to his tea.
"Goodbye, Xheavend."
She said nothing.
His eyes moved to Qaritas.
"Goodbye, Q."
Then toward Qaritas's chest.
A thoughtful pause.
"And goodbye..."
His smile slowly widened.
"...to your quiet companion."
Eon slept.
Qaritas stared at him.
Yzer chuckled.
"Become stronger."
He lifted his cup.
"You'll need to."
The doors closed.
Qaritas walked beside Xheavend.
The Ten Markings surrounded them.
For several minutes—
nobody spoke.
Xheavend repeatedly rubbed the place Yzer had kissed.
Again.
Again.
Again.
Harder.
Her skin reddened.
Qaritas reached toward her.
Stopped.
"You're hurting yourself."
Her hand froze.
She looked down.
"Oh."
"Can I?"
She nodded.
Qaritas gently lowered her wrist.
Xheavend stared at her reddened skin.
"Sorry."
Qaritas frowned.
"For what?"
She opened her mouth.
Stopped.
Her brows pulled together.
"I..."
Silence.
"I don't know."
Something inside Qaritas broke.
Ten years.
That was what Yzer had done.
Not eight.
Ten.
Eight years of poison had made the road quieter.
But ten years had existed between that man and the girl beside him.
Ten years of damage.
Two years when Yzer could still reach her far too easily.
Then eight years of static.
Poison.
Pain.
Distance.
And even then—
never complete silence.
Just enough.
Enough that Xheavend sometimes still wondered whether a thought belonged to her.
Enough that words could reopen old rooms.
Enough that a glove could make a grown woman become nine years old inside her own body.
Qaritas looked ahead.
Goro had been right.
Strength wasn't enough.
If Qaritas tried to protect Xheavend by deciding everything for her—
he would only become a kinder cage.
Yzer wanted ownership.
Qaritas had to give choice.
Even when choice terrified him.
Even when someday—
her choice might lead directly back to Yzer.
Perhaps she would be the one who had to kill him.
Qaritas hated that thought.
But he hated the alternative more.
The corridor ended.
Space opened before them.
Qaritas stopped.
Xheavend stopped.
The Ten Markings continued.
Qaritas stared.
"...No."
Xheavend slowly looked upward.
"Oh."
A ship waited on the launch platform.
Except—
ship was generous.
It looked like something had murdered a cosmic leviathan and convinced the corpse it still had employment obligations.
Blackened bone plates overlapped across its hull.
Ribs formed enormous armored arcs.
Stretched skins had been sewn between skeletal structures using tendons thicker than Qaritas's arms.
Veins glowed beneath translucent flesh.
Something enormous pulsed beneath the underside.
Beat.
Pause.
Beat.
A heart.
The bow was a skull.
Not decorated like one.
A skull.
Its jaws slowly opened.
Rows of teeth separated.
Beyond them waited darkness.
Qaritas pointed.
"That is a corpse."
One of the Markings answered.
"Transportation."
"It has ribs."
"Transportation."
"It is breathing."
A long pause.
"Transportation."
Xheavend stared at the enormous beating heart.
"Q."
"No."
"I didn't say anything."
"You were going to."
"I was going to ask if we're actually getting inside that."
"No."
The Marking gestured toward the mouth.
"Enter."
Qaritas looked at Xheavend.
Xheavend looked at Qaritas.
End seemed to withdraw in disgust.
For once—
Qaritas agreed with End completely.
They entered.
The mouth closed behind them.
Wetly.
Qaritas stopped.
"...I hate this universe."
Xheavend rubbed her arms.
"Seconded."
The interior was worse.
The floor gave slightly beneath their boots.
Flesh.
Warm.
Rib corridors curved forward.
Veins pulsed along the walls.
Doors contracted open when they approached and sealed behind them with muscular spasms.
Qaritas stared at one.
"That door has a sphincter."
Xheavend immediately looked away.
"Never say that again."
"It's anatomically accurate."
"Q."
"Fine."
They reached the command chamber.
It occupied the interior of the skull.
Hundreds of eyes covered the walls.
Human.
Reptilian.
Insect.
Things Qaritas couldn't identify.
All blinked independently.
At the center stood a chair built from vertebrae.
Nerve tendrils hung above it.
Qaritas stared.
"No."
Xheavend pointed.
"You sit."
"Why me?"
"You're older."
"That isn't how captains are chosen."
"Seniority."
"We are not employed here."
"Seniority."
Qaritas stared at her.
She stared back.
Despite everything—
something almost amused moved in her eyes.
Good.
He sighed.
"Fine."
He sat.
The tendrils immediately stabbed into his back.
Qaritas screamed.
Every eye opened.
And suddenly—
he could see.
Everything.
The launch platform.
The castle.
The mountain.
The world below.
Stars above.
Behind.
Beside.
Through hundreds of eyes.
And beneath it all—
organs.
Heart.
Lungs.
Muscle.
Pain.
Fear.
Qaritas's face went blank.
Xheavend leaned closer.
"Q?"
"...It's alive."
"We knew that."
"No."
He swallowed.
"Alive alive."
The ship's heart accelerated.
Then the Ten Markings walked away.
Qaritas blinked.
"Wait."
They continued.
"WAIT."
One turned.
"You possess control."
"I DO NOT."
"You will learn."
Another Marking moved faster.
Then another.
Qaritas stared through the ship's external eyes.
The Ten Markings were leaving.
Not ceremonially.
Quickly.
Almost—
discouraged.
One creature composed primarily of mouths glanced back.
Several mouths whispered simultaneously—
"It learns."
Then it hurried after the others.
Qaritas stared.
Xheavend stared.
"...Did the cosmic horrors just abandon us?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
The heart beneath them beat faster.
Qaritas looked down.
"...I think they're afraid of the ship."
Xheavend slowly turned toward him.
"Q."
"I know."
"Q."
"I KNOW."
The launch platform opened.
The ship screamed.
Not metaphorically.
An actual scream tore through every corridor.
Then—
it launched.
Qaritas's head snapped backward.
Xheavend flew across the chamber.
"WHY DOES IT MOVE LIKE THAT?!"
"I DON'T KNOW!"
"YOU'RE DRIVING!"
"I'M SITTING!"
Stars stretched.
Yeitshoja disappeared behind them.
For approximately twelve seconds—
everything was fine.
Then something struck the hull.
Hard.
Qaritas screamed.
Xheavend grabbed the chair.
"What happened?!"
"It got hit!"
"By what?!"
"I DON'T KNOW, I HAVE FOUR HUNDRED EYES!"
Micrometeoroids tore through outer flesh.
Each impact became pain inside Qaritas's nervous system.
The ship convulsed.
Muscle tightened.
Wounds sealed.
Bone shifted.
Flesh regrew.
Then an asteroid hit one wing.
Bone snapped.
The ship shrieked.
Bioluminescent blood sprayed into space and froze in glittering ribbons.
Something moved toward the wound.
Qaritas focused.
Small shapes.
Dozens.
Hundreds.
They attached themselves to exposed flesh.
"What are those?"
Xheavend leaned toward one of the eyes.
"...Parasites?"
"Of course they're parasites."
"They're eating it."
"OF COURSE THEY ARE."
The ship panicked.
Its remaining wings twisted.
Space distorted.
They shot sideways directly into a planetary ring.
Rock exploded around them.
Qaritas tried to steer.
He thought left.
The ship went up.
He thought down.
It spun.
"THIS THING DOESN'T KNOW DIRECTIONS!"
Xheavend grabbed a rib.
"YOU TWO ARE PERFECT FOR EACH OTHER!"
Another impact.
Then gravity changed.
Qaritas felt his organs pull sideways.
The ship's ribs bent.
Its skin stretched.
The central heart dragged toward one side of the hull.
Qaritas screamed through clenched teeth.
Xheavend hit the floor.
"What is happening?!"
"GRAVITY!"
"THAT DOESN'T EXPLAIN ANYTHING!"
"GRAVITY REEF!"
"THAT SOUNDS MADE UP!"
"EVERYTHING HERE SOUNDS MADE UP!"
The ship thrashed.
Qaritas suddenly felt something beneath the pain.
Fear.
Not his.
The ship.
It was terrified.
Xheavend felt it too.
Her expression changed.
She crawled toward the wall.
Placed her palm against warm flesh.
The ship shuddered.
"It's okay."
Qaritas looked at her.
Xheavend kept her hand against it.
"We're scared too."
The heart hammered.
"So stop panicking."
Qaritas stared.
"That's your strategy?"
"YES."
The ship steadied.
Qaritas blinked.
"...It worked."
"I know."
"Why?"
"I DON'T KNOW."
The gravity reef released them.
Directly toward a planet.
Blue-green.
Cloud-covered.
Growing rapidly larger.
Qaritas stared.
"Oh."
Xheavend followed his gaze.
"Oh no."
Atmosphere struck.
Fire swallowed them.
Outer flesh burned.
Skin wings ignited.
The parasites vaporized.
Bone armor glowed red.
The ship screamed.
Qaritas screamed with it.
One wing tore completely free.
Xheavend grabbed the chair.
"DO SOMETHING!"
"I AM!"
"WHAT?!"
"PANICKING!"
"PANIC BETTER!"
"I'M TRYING!"
The surface rushed upward.
Forests.
Mountains.
Water.
Too fast.
The ship suddenly curled its remaining wing around itself.
Protecting them.
Qaritas understood only a second before impact.
It was trying to shield its passengers.
Then—
the world exploded.
They hit the ground.
Once.
The ship bounced.
Twice.
A mountain appeared.
They went through it.
Not around.
Through.
Stone exploded.
Third impact.
Then forest.
Trees disappeared beneath bone and flesh.
The ship carved a trench for miles.
Finally—
everything stopped.
Silence.
Qaritas hung against the nerve tendrils.
Xheavend lay upside down against the ceiling.
Somewhere inside the vessel—
the heart beat.
Weakly.
Beat.
Pause.
Beat.
Qaritas opened one eye.
"...Alive?"
Xheavend groaned.
"Unfortunately."
"Good."
"Low standard."
"Still counts."
Something roared outside.
Deep.
Enormous.
The ship's remaining eyes blinked.
Qaritas looked through them.
Alien forest.
Towering black trees.
Silver mist.
Something moving between trunks.
Very large.
He looked at Xheavend.
"Random planet?"
She slowly sat up.
"Random planet."
Another roar.
Closer.
Xheavend pointed at him.
"We are never telling Goro we crashed."
"We went through a mountain."
"He doesn't need details."
"We're sitting inside a wounded corpse ship."
"Q."
"Fine."
She pushed herself upright.
Her sleeve had torn during the crash.
Qaritas's amusement vanished.
A black vein ran beneath the skin of her forearm.
Faint.
Too faint.
He stared.
Xheavend followed his gaze.
Silence.
The Black Elixir.
Eight years of poison.
Eight years of static.
And it was fading.
The vein lightened before Qaritas's eyes.
Xheavend covered it with her hand.
Neither spoke.
They didn't need to.
Qaritas knew what happened when her blood became clean.
So did she.
And far behind them—
on another world—
inside the Castle of Yeitshoja—
Yzer lifted his porcelain cup.
Stopped.
His eyes closed.
Something faint moved across his face.
Not certainty.
Not yet.
Just—
a sensation.
A distant road.
Still buried.
Still muddy.
But clearing.
Yzer smiled.
Because after eight years of poison—
for the first time—
the road was becoming clear again.