The plateau was filled with a buzz of noise. 8 minutes. I had to survive 7 more– if I could keep up Divine Incarnation for that long, perhaps I could make it. Runes spread up my arms and across my torso, glowing darkly as did the stigma on my chest. My irises turned amber as my pupils turned fully white along with my hair, which burst from the ponytail I had put it in and hung down to my shoulders.

I took in a breath, and stepped forward. I could feel myself launched at Xiăo at blinding speeds, my fist slamming sharply into his arm, causing him to stagger backwards. The world had become a black-and-white monochrome through my eyes as I continued my perpetual assault on the Guardian, not even stopping for a moment to breathe.

He threw me off and I righted myself in mid-air, taking note of a congregation of red soul particles near my face. Dropping down, a boom echoed as the particles formed an explosion in mid air. So he'd begun using his fire magic. Why now? Letting out a growl, ice spread across the plateau, freezing everything in sight. I then charged the ice with large amounts of heat, causing it to expand and then explode violently, even causing the wind barrier to shake somewhat, though Xiăo remained unscathed.

If it was anyone else, he'd likely have died. Lightning charged in the palm of my hand, which converged as I compressed it repeatedly, until the white had turned to a black and jumped from my hand to the stone beneath my feet. Everything the lightning touched crumbled to ashes, and I raised my index and middle fingers in the shape of a finger gun towards Xiăo.

[Chaos Lightning]

The electricity shot out in a wild yet controlled blast towards the Guardian, far more potent than my previous one. This time, it burned the sleeve of his hanfu, reaching his skin and causing small blisters in the top layer from the heat of the attack.

Whilst he was focused on that, I followed up with a flame-infused strike to his stomach which actually landed this time. The flames exploded as my attack landed, causing him to skid back a few metres, but nothing much.

Divine Incarnation wasn't much of anything other than a power-up. I could see the soul in greater detail as well as the fact I now had better control over it, but that was about it.

I wasn’t aiming to defeat him here. Ever so often, my eyes flicked back to Diana’s dying body, knowing that I had to stall him for as long as feasibly possible. Plants grew thickly from the surroundings, curling around Xiăo’s arms and legs and pulling, but they were almost immediately cut to bits by the sharpened air.

Multiple blasts of air were headed my way but I cut through them, focusing on splitting the bonds between the soul particles with Requiem. Well, that was useful to know– in my second stage, I could cut through spells.

My arm raised, just as Jasper had done. Mimicking his every movement, I held my blade up, flames converging at the tip of the blade. The blade heated up, reaching searing temperatures as I swung it downwards.

[Hellfire Blade]

The blade connected with the ground, resulting in small sparks flying as a gash ripped through the plateau, splitting it in two.

[Absolute Zero]

The temperature lowered immensely as the vines that had been there previously died out, and the flames that Xiăo had been charging sputtered into non-existence.

I waited, the seconds counting down.

“STOP!” Meryll yelled through the barrier, which immediately fell at Xiăo’s command. His expression was unreadable as usual, and my transformation fell, my appearance returning to normal as my vision swam. Blood dripped from my mouth, nose, eyes, and ears, running down my face and onto the floor as I crawled over to Diana. My head pounded, and everything pulsated in agony, but I had to reach her, had to save her.

Hua ran over, helping me as I stumbled over to the dying dragon, a weak smile appearing on my face.

“Fancy.. seeing.. you.. again,” I quipped, to which she rolled her eyes.

“We can talk about the fact you're prone to getting hurt later. Let's just save your dragon friend.”

Falling to my knees in front of the dying dragon, my thoughts raced at over a million miles a minute as I tried to think of something. Anything that could help her.

Isabella. She always seemed to know what to do– and so for the first time, I turned to her instead of the other way around.

‘Isabella, please. You must have some way to fix this.’ There was silence for a moment, but then she responded.

‘Not fully, no. Her consciousness– which is what made her defective– is dying, along with the fragile artificial soul made for her.’

—

‘Can't you save her like you saved me?’

‘No. She no longer has the will to live. It would be immoral of me to force her to. However, if she wishes…’

‘What?’

‘I can transfer my consciousness to her body and reforge her soul core. Her soul will pass away as she wishes for it to, but her will and mark on this world will not. Due to the connection between you and I, she will become your bond from then on.’

I bit my lip. Was this truly the only way?

‘What do you need me to do?’

‘Firstly, meditate and form a link between your soul and hers. I will aid with this process. Next, we will need to venture through her Mind's Eye to find her. Once I have successfully taken her place, you will need to stop the soul from overflowing around her body and causing it to explode.’

“Put me to sit down, please, Hua.” I said to the girl beside me, who followed. All smiles fell as I slowly stopped messing around, the gravity of the situation settling in. As much as I wanted to use laughter and jokes to alleviate the pain, to push down my emotions and never have to face them again, I couldn't. And only by facing myself could I save her.

I sat, cross-legged in front of the dragon’s small body, hands cupped on her face. Her eyes fluttered open ever so often for mere seconds, before returning to being closed faster than I could react. The gentle hum of soul passing between our bodies was audible as I slipped further and further into the darkness of her mind. This falling was somewhat familiar, reminding me of the first time I had met Isabella.

I descended through the darkness, landing squarely on my feet, reaching for Requiem only to realise the blade wasn't there, and it couldn't venture to this realm with me. Instead of grasping the blade, I felt a familiar warmth in my hands. Head turning sharply, I was met with steel blue eyes, and a face I had come to know very well.

Isabella. Dressed in the same regal, yet divine clothing as always, her feet made ripples across the dark waters we were currently standing on top of as she walked, leading me through the endless sea like a beacon in the night.

Diana's Mind's Eye was nothing like what I expected it to be. If it was the soul, then her soul had been shattered a long time ago. The dirt was grey and the plants were withered. Buildings stood half-crumbled, and the sun no longer rose, shedding a dark light across the place.

“We must hurry.” Isabella spoke calmly, yet with unrivalled confidence that I could never find in anyone else. “If we don't, we may lose her– completely.”

The journey through Diana's mind was tiresome. Although all the physical damage I had accrued could not be felt as I was using my soul body, I wasn't accustomed to being in someone else's body. I knew that at least Meryll and Hua would protect my body– and Xiăo seemed like the type to stay true to his word– but the longer I spent here, the less likely I was to be able to go back. Not to mention if I died here, I would never return.

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“I've found her.” Isabella's voice dragged me out of my own mind as I ran over, pushing over large amounts of rubble to reach her, being met by a sight I'd never expected to see.

A small girl, shivering, knees tucked against her chest. Black hair flowed down her shoulders, curly and unkempt until it stopped around her mid-back, with two violet eyes that should have been filled with wonder. They should have been filled with all the light in the world, if not–

If not for the cruelty of this world.

The world was unfair, and that was the only fair reality presented to all. If a god existed, I wondered why the world existed in this way. In response to my thoughts, Isabella seemed to visibly bristle, before helping Diana up to her feet.

I enveloped the girl in a hug, feeling her shivering slowly but surely calm down as I held her in my ears. She blubbered, tears rolling down her face and seeping into my shirt as I held her tightly, like a parent's warm embrace.

“It'll be fine, I promise. I won't force you to do anything you don't want to,” I soothed. “If you want to go, that's fine. If you want to stay, that's fine too.”

“I'm scared…” She whimpered. “I'm scared that I'll be all alone if I go.” Her skin had slowly begun to crack and float away in the distance, her life fading. Just like mine had, before Isabella had saved my life. My eyes darted over to the woman, who nodded.

Letting go of Diana, I allowed Isabella to take a step forward. Diana's eyes widened, and she bowed hurriedly, struggling to get the words out of her mouth.

“M-mother! I didn't expect you to g-grace me with your p-presence. A god like yourself–”

Isabella simply gave her a small, pained smile. I did wonder why Meryll, Xiăo, and Diana all referred to her as ‘Mother’, but I didn't pry. She would tell me when she was ready.

“–If I were a god, I would be the most useless and incompetent god in the world. Unable to save my children, unable to save my people, placing my responsibilities on the shoulders of a child.” Her words held far too much pain to be a simple metaphor, a figure of speech.

“You won't be alone.” We both said at the same time.

“Can you promise me something?”

“Of course.”

“Then… Remember me. When all is said and done, remember me.”

“Truly, I tell you,” Isabella said, as we watched the Diana's body slowly begin to fade away into dust faster now, a single tear rolling down the girl's cheek, “You will never be forgotten. If I can stop one heart from breaking…”

She smiled sadly, pressing her forehead against Diana's.

“...Then this life will not be in vain.” I finished Isabella’s sentence, cradling the girl gently, rocking her from side to side until she disappeared.

—

I didn't even realise there were tears painting my cheeks until I let out a pained cry, my mask of emotional absence shattering as I sunk down to my knees, breaths wracked with sobs as I gagged, trying to breathe. But I couldn't, as my gut writhed with pain, Isabella rubbing my back gently.

I didn't know how long I had been crying when the tears finally stopped coming, my broken heart drained of any remaining emotion. They had surged forth from my heart violently, my fingers red from clawing at the ground desperately, trying to change this, begging to change it. But all of that had been buried, deep beneath the mask of indifference I put on in an attempt to stop myself from feeling, to focus on the task at hand.

“What next?” I asked coolly, getting to my feet. 'Focus, Atlas. Everything else is a hindrance.'

“I'm going to begin forging a core now.” Isabella’s form shifted, and she took upon a state almost the same as Diana’s small feline form. She closed her eyes tightly and suddenly, we were returned to the dark sea of void.

“You need to stop the soul from bursting forth from her core and reaching her body. Otherwise, we will both die along with her. However– within here, you are unable to use elements. You may only use basic soul as a weapon.”

I nodded, trying not to dwell too much on what had happened. Yet, I simply couldn't get my mind off of it. I was using this to escape. To escape the pain, to escape it all. Perhaps that was a disservice to Diana's memory, but I needed it. Otherwise I'd break down once more.

I had no blade, so I was forced to activate my second stage once more.

[Divine Incarnation]

My appearance changed as did my vision, and I could see the soul particles more clearly. Gently coaxing them into the shape of a blade, I watched as a white, crucifix-guarded blade formed before my eyes.

“Brace yourself!” Isabella spoke sharply. A large tsunami of soul surged forth from the darkness, threatening to drown us both as it approached at high speeds. Stepping in front of Isabella, I took a deep breath and closed my eyes.

All the memories I'd tried so hard to not remember came running back to me. Jasper stood before me in place of the wave, spreading his hands wide, a menacing grin on his face.

“So this is all you amount to, hero.” He mocked, circling me, leaning in closer, forcing me to back off. I didn't want to be close to him.

“Worthless. Useless. Weak. Failed to protect the princess, failed to protect the beast, failed to stop me. What are you even good for?”

My heart raced, eyes widening as I took steps back. My breaths were ragged, uneven, as the sound of blood pounding in my ears muting Isabella yelling at me to focus.

“When will you realise? Everything you've done to push me away, become better than me, stronger than me, was all for nothing. You're becoming just like me. You can't even defeat me when I'm inside your own mind.” He snarled, snapping back.

“Face it, Xeno.” I glanced down at my body, and I had become my previous self. I was more muscled, more built, stronger– but for what? I could never protect anything because I never had anything. And whatever I had, I'd thrown away in the pursuit of more strength. In the process, I'd thrown my humanity away.

“You. Are. Me.”

I shook my head. I had resolved myself to change in this life. I would find something worth fighting for, and defend it until the end. And quite frankly, I had already found something worth fighting for. My relationships with everyone around me. They were my drive, the thing pushing me to reach the heights I was scaling.

Jasper had never had that. He didn't care about anything but himself– and maybe his money. I was nothing like him.

“You're wrong.” I responded. “You're wrong. We're nothing alike. Maybe we were before. But we're not. That's the difference between you and me.”

Jasper's body changed, becoming Xeno, as I reverted back into Atlas’ appearance.

“B-but you're not. We're the same–” He said, in a tone I could only describe as pathetic.

He could only exist because of me. Within me. And if I rejected him… the memory of Jasper would be no more.

“You're right. You are me. But I'm not you. I never was.”

He took a step towards me, and I exhaled. Raising the blade of soul above my head, I uttered a single word that set his fate in stone.

“Begone.”

The blade cut through his body like butter. He disappeared, and was instead replaced by the sea of soul– which had a singular cut straight through the middle of it. That was… Me? The sea parted from the force of the blow, splitting in two before dispersing and being trapped behind some kind of barrier, which slowly closed in on it before becoming a small ball.

A soul core.

The blade in my hand glowed before dispersing as I reverted to normal. Nausea engulfed me as I lay back, vision blurring as I closed my eyes, opening them again to see Hua and Meryll standing over me, Xiăo not too far off, indifferent as always. However, he clicked his tongue, looked at me, and gave a nod of acknowledgement. Whether he approved of me, however, was another matter I didn't want to address just yet.

My eyes darted to my side, where the small beast was just awakening now. Dian– Isabella leapt up and bit my hand, leaving a fresh bite mark as I pulled it away, shaking my hand out with a hiss as I glared at her, rubbing my hand. Within moments, the bite had healed, leaving an oddly-shaped mark.

A bond mark. In this world, humans were able to form a partnership with second-generation Elysian Beasts in order to fight alongside them, which became known as bonds.

‘Testing, testing.’ I heard Isabella's voice in my head. ‘Can you hear me?’

I stared down at the beast's body, clicking my tongue and crossing my arms in utter disbelief. Looking more closely, my bond’s formerly amber eyes had changed to a shade of steel blue.

“Kuhuhuhuhu!” She exclaimed, leaping from the ground up to my shoulder as I got up, only to have my knees buckle, falling flat onto my face as my vision was slowly enveloped by darkness.

Ah, right. I had forgotten how tired I was.