Felicia stumbled along a battered stone path, trying to stay within arm's distance of Ray. Her arms shook uncontrollably as blackened veins crawled underneath her skin. The pain was turning into a monotone echo, emanating through her entire body. She hugged herself and maintained her breathing. The trees surrounding the area seemed far too dry to be alive, yet they felt sentient, pulling and groaning as the group passed them.

Cautiously opening her palm, Felicia forced herself to look at it. The skin was purple and matted with black spots, almost pulsating. She tore her gaze away and hid it back under her arm. How long would that take to go away? She wanted to rest so badly, to somehow sleep it off. Her eyes drifted aimlessly as she realized she just wanted to go home. There was so much going on, so much that wasn’t right. What was she supposed to think about? The fact that they were in some perversion of the City? Kashire’s death? Or, maybe who killed Kashire?

She had to have been hallucinating from overusing ether. There was no other explanation. But it all looked so clear, too clear.

“Felicia?” A voice snapped her out of her trance. Ray examined her carefully as she stuttered a response. “Y-yes?”

“Everything alright?”

She paused and looked away. “... um- yeah.”

The sound of his footsteps slowed and his clothing shifted as he turned back around. She kept staring at the ground, following the cracks as the wind blew past her head. Floyd walked beside Aldrich while nudging him with his elbow. After a few more unresponsive prods, Floyd spoke up. “Something’s wrong with you, right?” He tried to pull Aldrich to the side but was unable to stop him. “Oh come on, just let me help.”

Aldrich kept moving and Ray turned around. “Is something going on?”

“Yeah, something definitely got knocked loose and he’s not letting me fix it.” Floyd grumbled and jogged to Aldrich’s side. Ray shrugged and checked their surroundings. “It would be best to fix it in case we get attacked again.”

“See?” Floyd pointed to Ray. Aldrich stopped and looked from Ray and then to Floyd, his visor still shadowing his face. Floyd patted a nearby rock, ushering him over. “Come on, it’ll take a minute.”

“Is there a reason he doesn’t want to?” Ray leaned his glaive on his shoulder while fiddling with his gauntlets. Floyd sighed and moved to Aldrich’s helmet. “Probably because he doesn’t want to hold us up, you could probably keep scouting ahead if you want.” He finished taking off the buckled and heaved the helmet off, revealing Aldrich’s face. Felicia stared for what she knew was an uncomfortable amount of time, examining him. He had short black hair and gaunt features, but the main thing that caught her eye was a metal plate embedded on the side of his skull which held a pipe connected to a smooth steel jaw. Half of his face was either contorted or mechanical, the gruesome wound partially covered. His dark almost black eyes flicked to Felicia, causing her to flinch and murmur an apology. Aldrich grunted as Floyd twisted a small dial and pulled on a rod. There was a gap that opened on the side of the plate which revealed the inside of his mouth. Staring again, Felicia realized his tongue was cut off. Ray started to walk forward, scanning the area. “I’ll see if I can find anything of note, I won’t be far, so call if anything happens.”

Felicia started to walk as well. “I-I’ll go too.”

“It might be dangerous-”

“That’s okay- I mean…” She struggled to phrase it right, looking up to Ray and hoping he got the message. His eyes flicked away from hers and he nodded. “Stay close then.”

She took a glance back at Floyd who gave them a wave before returning to Aldrich’s jaw. Trudging after Ray, she let out a shaking breath she realized she was holding in. They continued to walk, moving further down the path. The wind came in sharp waves, disrupting the eerie tone and sending a chill down Felicia’s spine every time. A root caught her foot and she stumbled, catching herself on a branch. Cursing herself for not watching out, she looked up to Ray whose eyes drifted to her hand. “Felicia, what....” He moved toward her, reaching out his palm. He barely gripped on, holding her quivering and corrupted hand. “Why didn’t you tell me it was still like this earlier?”

“I… There were more important things.”

“You can die if it stays like this.” He looked her in the eyes, realization slowly dawning on him. “... Are you alright?”

“... No, I’m really not.” She shook her head and took her hand away. “How could I be alright? What am I supposed to be thinking right now? I have no idea what’s going on.” Stepping back, she shook her head and wrapped her arms around herself. “I don’t even know who I’m supposed to mourn. What am I supposed to do?”

“I… I don’t know.”

“I’m sorry, I… I’m just so lost, and… I don’t want to even think that it could be worse.”

Ray shook his head. “I didn’t know it would be like this either, but I…”

“I can’t bear to lose anything else. I just wanted everyone to be okay, was that too much to ask of the world?”

He gripped his glaive as the wind blew once again. “... Let’s just make it back to the City. The real one.”

“... Yeah.” She nodded and took another look at her degraded hand. Breathing a long sigh, her limbs felt lighter and her head felt a bit woozy. Everything just came out, she didn’t mean to just spout all of that, but it happened anyways. Honestly, she wanted to throw up instead. Staying closer to Ray, they continued down the path. She quickly wiped her eyes and shook her head, trying to regain her composure, but as much as she tried, it was already gone. Maybe Ray was right, that she should’ve just stayed with Floyd and Aldrich, but she needed to be useful in some form. Even so, being here in general was just dragging the others down.

They walked for a bit longer before Ray slowed his steps, gently lowering his glaive and propping his arm onto a nearby tree. “I think we can stop here.”

Felicia slowly nodded while trying to hide her face from him. As he started to turn around, she felt a sudden pain in her head, causing her to stumble back. Gasping for air, she let the agony subside as her blighted ether crawled through her. Normally, the sensation in her skull would’ve been pleasant, but the amount of ether she had burned made it into burning thorns. Ray’s lips moved but she couldn’t decipher what he was saying, and instead looked around her. Something was pulling at her.

Clumsily moving forwards, she glanced back at Ray and tried to explain. “I- there’s something that’s- um…” Her words failed her and she hoped that he got the message. It was something big, something that had a lot of ether. Eyes straining, Felicia looked around her. The sensation was overwhelming, too large to figure out where it was coming from. It had to be a crystal or some other inanimate source. A cracking twig caught her ear and the pain suddenly dissipated. She blinked as it slowly dawned on her that she was being called out to. Quickly looking up, her eyes met a set just a tone lighter than hers.

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Long silver hair blew softly and pale white skin seemed to reflect the light around. A bloodstained shirt rippled under the breeze and a pair of lips started to move. “... Felicia.”

She stared, mouth slightly open. “I…” She stepped forwards slowly. “I thought that…”

Avaria stared back, mesmerized. “I was, for a short time, but…”

Before Felicia could run to meet her, a hand gripped onto her shoulder and yanked her backwards, nearly pulling her off of her feet. Ray hissed in her ear while lighting his glaive ablaze. “Felicia, that’s what killed Kashire.”

“Ray that’s-” She stared at Avaria as she stood perfectly still, her hands still by her sides. “That’s my mother.”

He took a second to process the information and then looked back to Avaria, scanning her intently. “... No, what are you?”

She slowly grabbed onto her arm and nodded somberly. A blue light quietly blinked in and out on her palm as she burnt a bit of ether. Felicia tried not to gasp as Avaria looked up with two glowing red eyes. “I’m not completely sure myself. I won’t pretend I’m fully human, but… please, I don’t want to hurt you.” She held her hands up defensively, her voice slightly shaking. Her eyes drifted over to Felicia and down to her hands. “I can help with the pain, I just…” As she slowly stepped forwards, Ray pushed in front of Felicia. “Not a step closer.”

“Please, I just want to help.”

“You killed my friend.”

“I…” She stopped and lowered her hands. “I’m sorry.”

Ray stood firm in his place as she shook her head and looked him in the eyes. “I know that’s something I can’t fix, but if it would make things right, kill me.”

“... Excuse me?”

“You saw yourself, I couldn’t die if I wanted to.”

“Then what’s the point?”

“Well-” She looked away and let out a long sigh. “... I don’t know, penance?”

He stared at her for a second before shaking his head. “Stay back.”

Felicia tried to move out from behind him while struggling to find her voice. “R-Ray, please, don’t do this.”

“It’s not your mother.”

“She is!-”

Avaria’s voice cut her off. “I’m sorry Felicia, he’s right.” She took a deep breath and gripped her hands by her sides. “I don’t… remember anything, about who I was or who you were. I didn’t know you existed until today, and-”

“T-that doesn’t matter, I still need to… to…” Her sentence trailed off. There were too many things she wanted to do, too much time that needed to be made up for. She shook her head, hoping that Ray would understand. “None of that matters, I don’t care if we can’t go back to how it was before.”

The red of Avaria’s eyes softly burned as she smiled. “Thank you.” She returned her attention to Ray who still had his glaive aimed at her. “I just want to talk, and I know you don’t trust me, but I just need some time.”

Ray hesitated for a moment and quickly glanced back at Felicia with anxious uncertainty. A thundering crash interrupted him followed by a deafening howl of the wind. Felicia instinctively covered her head as the ground shook and a bright orange light bloomed behind her. She quickly turned around, shielding her eyes as a pillar of fire burned brilliantly in the sky. It took her a second to realize what was going on. “... Floyd.” Her body froze and Ray dashed past her, running towards the explosion.

She started to move after him, but was stopped by a muffled scream calling from behind her. Whipping around, her eyes widened as Avaria’s hands flailed towards her face where a hand was clamping a cloth down over her mouth and nose. A man with a blackened arm and piercing green eyes stared back, sending a chill through her. Before she could rush forwards, Avaria reached out with pleading eyes, trying to shake her head. Felicia looked from the man to Ray who was getting even more distant. A green and blue flash emitted outwards and her mother disappeared in a wisp of light.

“... No, oh god no-” She trembled before running after Ray, trying to keep her list of priorities straight. The size and intensity of the fire was more than she ever thought Floyd could produce, but there was a reason he used the device to control his ether. The fact he had released that meant something had gone terribly wrong, and there really was only a few things that could force him to do that. Her legs started to burn as she ran and the pain that coursed through her body begged her to stop moving. Moving to the clearing where Floyd and Aldrich were, she caught sight of an abandoned helmet. Deep footprints led down a pathway which she ran down as well.

Smoke filled the air and Felicia coughed while looking through blurry eyes. The trees in the area were crawling with flames, the leaves falling like fireflies. As she blindly waded through the charcoal, she saw Ray standing in the middle of a blackened patch, his glaive held outwards. A groaning of a falling trunk sounded behind her as she slowly walked forwards. On the ground beside him sat Floyd, or at least she assumed it was. His skin was completely blackened and his veins bulged from his face. Blood ran from his mouth and eyes, dripping onto his singed clothing which was already covered in soot. Felicia bent down to her knees beside him, reaching out. His face almost had a smile on it, or maybe that was her mind tricking her.

A clash of metal and a piercing scratch echoed from further down the path. When she looked up, Ray was already moving towards the sound. Felicia looked down at Floyd once more and got up, trying to keep a little bit of hope. The sound of fighting had stopped as she got closer and the air droned with eerie silence that pulled at her skin. She found Ray staring silently in a small clearing. In front of them, Aldrich laid on the floor, a poleaxe embedded in his chest and his arm laying a few meters away. Overtop of him stood Haureulman, breathing heavily and holding onto his stomach. His eyes burned under his helmet as he glanced upwards, causing Felicia to flinch.

He tried to pull his poleaxe out, but his hands slipped from the handle. Felicia stepped back as he stumbled forwards, hunched over yet still taller than her. His legs gave out and he collapsed to his knees with a gargled cough. His hands reached up to his helmet and he slowly removed it, the metal creaking as it came loose. Felicia watched his blood slide down and out from inside it, dripping to the floor. His eyes were a deep orange and his skin was deathly white, same as his hair.

She took a moment to stare at his face before Ray started to move towards him. Quietly putting a hand on his shoulder, Felicia stopped him. “He’s already dying, we…” Her words trailed off as she looked back at Haureulman, feeling a sense of pity wash over her. This man, the one who was hunting them, the one who just murdered people she knew, somehow looked so weak. Black spiderwebs enveloped his face as he whispered. “This is how it ends? I thought you’d put up a better fight. You did before.” He wavered for a moment before collapsing to his side, barely able to speak. “She would’ve been disappointed in us.” He chuckled and smiled up at the dark sky above, his hands limp.

His eyes faded from a glowing orange to a clear blue, unfocused, unclosing. Felicia stared for what felt like forever. She should’ve been happy, or glad that he was dead. He acted like a monster, he tried to be one, yet she felt nothing.

The smell of ashen leaves and blood filled the air, slowly swirling around calmly. It happened so suddenly, maybe she wasn’t processing this all properly. She slowly walked over to Aldrich with vain hope, but knew she would feel no signs of life. With a long sigh, she looked up to the sky. It was past dusk, moving slowly into the night. The moon looked more blue than usual, brighter in a way. It slowly dawned on her that today would’ve been the festival, back in the City. There must’ve been so much to do, so many sights to see. There were the etherblossoms that were handed out, the musicians playing songs in the courtyards, and those little candies that she always had too many of.

Yet here she was, standing in the middle of a burning and bloodied forest of withered plants, surrounded by dead knights. There wouldn’t be any cheers or laughter, no children running or people flocking to performers, only the quiet dark of the woods. She looked up to the moon once again and watched it hang above her, trying to discern how she felt. Reminiscent? Longing? It was all just one big uncertainty, but underneath it all, there was emptiness. No drive to push onwards, no feeling of desperation. She was a little ember among burnt out ashes, slowly dwindling and being smothered by her ether blight.

The tears that should’ve poured down her face didn’t come, maybe it was too much effort? She tried to think about her mother, the fact that she was still alive. But then again, she really wasn’t the exact same as before. Of course that didn’t mean she didn’t want to see her, but something about her not remembering those warm sunny days or those comfy winter nights was disenchanting. Even so, did she have any right to want happiness so quickly after so of the people she knew had died? She should be mourning, or doing something at least, yet she didn’t feel like it. In fact, she still felt nothing. Nothing at all.

“Felicia?” Ray’s voice came from behind her as she continued to look up to the moon.

“Yes?”

“We should move.”

“... Alright.”