Cassian.
Mortis' blood ran cold.
"How are you here?"
Cassian offered a faint smile.
"I told you… I found you."
Mortis couldn't respond.
He had almost convinced himself that his childhood had been a hallucination.
But here Cassian stood.
Not a shadow. Not a ghost.
Real.
Mortis could feel it—the steady flow of blood through his veins.
"Can I be of service, my Lord?" Cassian asked.
Mortis nodded numbly.
Something flickered in the corner of his vision.
Red.
He reacted instantly, sprinting toward it.
Cassian moved faster.
In a blur, he overtook Mortis, seized the figure by the neck, and forced it to its knees before him.
The motion was brutal.
Veins along the creature's neck ruptured, spilling blood onto the stone below.
Mortis froze.
The blood—
It wasn't normal.
It shimmered.
Shifted.
Like something alive.
His lips trembled.
Memories.
The blood was full of memories.
Cassian looked down at the creature with cold intensity.
"I've caught it for you, my Lord."
Mortis stared.
What is this thing?
He stepped forward and knelt in front of it.
"No, my Lord," Cassian warned sharply. "You must not lower yourself to its level."
There was something fierce in his voice. Protective. Almost desperate.
Mortis ignored him.
He looked into the hollow sockets where the creature's eyes should have been.
And somehow—
It looked back.
Mournful.
Empty.
Familiar.
Mortis' breath caught.
It was his height.
His build.
A shiver ran down his spine.
A jagged slit where its mouth should be twitched.
It was trying to speak.
Mortis looked up at Cassian. "We need somewhere secluded."
Cassian nodded immediately. "As you wish, my Lord."
He lifted the creature effortlessly.
Blood dripped as they walked, staining the ground—and Cassian's golden armor.
"No!" Mortis said suddenly.
Cassian turned. "My Lord?"
Mortis stepped closer. "Let me heal it first."
Cassian hesitated.
Then, reluctantly, he set the creature down.
Mortis placed his hands on its shoulders and closed his eyes.
A breath.
A focus.
[Divine Blood Purification activated.]
The red light surged.
Mortis had begun to understand—this ability was more than purification.
It was restoration.
Reconstruction.
Life itself.
The creature's wounds sealed.
The blood on the ground reversed its path, flowing back into its body.
Even the stains on Cassian's armor vanished.
The creature became whole.
Mortis exhaled slowly.
"Let's go."
Cassian nodded.
Mortis followed, gently taking the creature's hand.
A message appeared.
[You have united with "A Figment of the Past."]
[Do you wish to view your past memories?]
Mortis frowned.
Another message.
And another.
And another.
[Do you wish to view your past memories?]
[Do you wish to view your past memories?]
[Do you wish to view your past memories?]
He clenched his jaw.
Not yet.
Cassian led them to an abandoned building.
An orphanage, long forgotten.
The door creaked open as if it recognized him.
"You first, my Lord," Cassian said.
Mortis stepped inside.
The messages continued.
Relentless.
[Do you wish to view your past memories?][Do you wish to view your past memories?]
Mortis turned to Cassian. "Guard the entrance."
Cassian bowed. "With my life."
The messages flooded his vision now.
Endless.
Unyielding.
Mortis knelt in front of the creature, holding both its hands.
It didn't resist.
It simply waited.
[Do you wish to view your past memories?][Do you wish to view your past memories?][Do you wish to view your past memories?]
Mortis closed his eyes.
Took a breath.
And nodded.
"Yes."
[The past is here.]
Everything went black.
Mortis collapsed.
For a brief moment, he felt arms catch him.
And then—
Nothing.