Can you imagine watching a battle to the death? Being a part of one is a lot different. Your body is overflowing with adrenaline because it's your life on the line. There is no time for worries. However, if you are just a spectator, it is a whole different feeling. I can't believe that ancient people used to watch gladiator fights for fun. Were they not feeling the same way I was? Were they not terrified at the sight? Who knows.

We were all peeking over the edge of the window and staring at the massive angel-like Burned, whose full attention was now focused on Beast. What Foof said before scared me.

"What do you mean he has to die?" I whispered to him, afraid that despite the distance, the Divine Mark might still hear us.

"Look at that creature! Do you think he can beat it? I doubt that." Foof's sudden lack of optimism or sympathy was worrying me, but I didn't want to point it out. Right now, my only focus what to watch Beast and see if he manages to get rid of the monster.

With a single wave of his arm, the death conjured up four bright balls of blue flames. They hovered in the air for a while, but as soon as the Divine Mark made a single step forward, they flew out towards it. Each of them hit a different spot, shattering into tiny sparks, which in the next seconds formed much larger burning orbs of blue fire on the creature's body. It opened its mouth and screamed. The few remnants of skin around its jaw snapped as the maw flew open. Shivers ran down my spine.

"Can't we help him?" I asked and turned my attention to Soul.

"No. That wouldn't be good. My abilities can't deal with something this big, and White needs to make physical contact to hurt it. That would be difficult to do with an enemy whose skin is scorching hot." I frowned. There had to be something I could do. Very briefly, my eyes turned to the ice-cold sword lying on the ground.

"No! We can't risk you! You're way too important!" Foof growled at me and with a nearly non-existent child-like strength started pulling me away from my weapon.

"Trust Beast, Eddie. He might not look like it, but his strength is greater than all of ours combined." White's words actually managed to pour a bit more hope into my mind. I returned to the window and watched what transpired in the nearby area.

The creature was definitely angry. It screamed at Beast, and after a few seconds, several bright orange tentacles sprouted from its back. I wanted to shout at Beast to run, but he just calmly stood there, as if he had everything under control. The glowing limbs began striking. They were like six massive whips, and when each of them hit the ground, a small explosion occurred. Beast dodged all the physical hits from the tentacles, but there was no way he could avoid the flames. As they engulfed him I wanted to rush for my sword, but Soul pressed me against the window frame with a massive force.

"Idiot! Watch closely!" he whispered. I could feel part of his cloud-like body wrapping around my mouth. It looked like a mere dark fog but felt like an actual hand.

As the clouds of dust settled I noticed Beast standing among the few remaining embers the Mark's attack. The heat seemed to be twisting around him in all manners, but never getting too close. He was in control of all the fire, not just his own.

Before the Burned's whips could strike again, Beast leapt into the sky. Bright yellow flame, conjured up from underneath his feet, propelled him backwards, towards a nearby building. He flew into its window with incredible precision. With that move, he left my sight. I had no idea what he was doing in there, so my attention turned to his foe. The beast clearly didn't like the idea of him running away. It growled and ran up to the building, the ground shaking under each step. When it finally got into range, it slammed its massive fist right into the remains of the skyscraper. The place was completely shattered and rubble started falling down, hitting the creature's head with seemingly no effect. That was the moment when I saw Beast again.

It was as if he expected what would happen. Pink fire shot out of his palms and stuck to one of the falling chunks, like a strand of spider's silk. A few similar movements followed. The flames connected the falling rubble into a net, which slowly descended onto the giant creature. It screamed again as this web, weighted down by the broken pieces of the building, pulled it down onto the ground.

Our friend landed gracefully right in front of the monster, slowing down his fall with flames flowing out of his feet. Suddenly, everything around him started turning dim. It was as if I had a dark spot in my eyes. Beast's magic sucked up all the light from the area. When we could finally see what is happening again, we saw the Divine Mark still trapped underneath the net, but this time, with several parts of its body erupting in a pitch-black fire.

"Oh wow, he's smart!" Foof praised Beast's strategy and his ears stood up.

"What do you mean?" I asked, not having a clue what happened.

"He knows that the Burned are resistant to fire. He tested that with the blue one first. Extreme temperature, but it still had no effect. He knew it wouldn't work, so he planted tiny black flames into the blue ones. Those got stuck to the creature's body. And now that it can't move, he could finally activate it." I could hear in his tone of voice that the little dragon was very impressed. And to be completely honest, so was I, both by my companion's ingenuity and by Foof's ability to make sense of what was happening.

"Black flames, huh?" Chester commented on the new information.

"Yeah. They aren't hot, unlike other types of fire. These break things apart. Total disintegration of molecules. Crazy stuff," Soul told us a bit more than we already knew. Knowing this made me feel confident in Beast's abilities. He won. I could feel it.

The Burned screamed a few times, trying to break free, but all of its body, except for the head, was tied to the ground and slowly withering away. There was nothing it could possibly do. We thought so at least. It wasn't a movement we would expect. Just a little tap of its toes. It didn't look threatening at all.

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From underneath the creature's foot came a line of light blue fire. It slid across the concrete and right towards Beast. Now, of course, something this simple wouldn't be enough to take down a grim reaper. He jumped away with ease, dismissing the attack as a simple and desperate last resort. And that was the biggest mistake. The Death didn't even manage to hit the ground again. Right after his jump, several blue darts flew out of the flaming line. He quickly conjured up his own magic to destroy those that would really hurt him, but one single projectile managed to get through. It stabbed his coat and pulled him up to the sky by it. None of us expected that. My eyes quickly slid over to the Divine Mark. There was a glowing orb right in the middle of its halo. For a moment I recalled the explosion from earlier. I wanted to leap out and shout something. A warning, a reminder, anything. But I couldn't. Soul's gaseous body covered my mouth again as soon as I opened it, preventing any sound from getting out. As I fell to the ground, dragged away from the sight by my allies, I saw a bright beam of light leave the Burned's halo. Next came the explosion. It was so loud we all had to cover our ears. At least those who had them. I didn't need any more information. A blast like that was not something one could survive. The scream of souls leaving Beast's body confirmed that for me. It was like an invisible knife stabbed right into my heart. I wanted to scream, but couldn't. I wanted to cry, but couldn't. I wanted to take revenge, but couldn't. At that moment, we all piled together. The shockwave reached us and we just lay there on the floor, holding each other, not making a single sound in the hopes that the Divine Mark would go away, now that it couldn't see its target. And truly, we were right. It took about five minutes, but then came the thundering noise and flash once again, and just like the monster arrived, it disappeared.

But we didn't move for a bit longer than that. I suppose all of us were a bit afraid of what would happen if the creature was still there and we'd look at it. Only after a few more minutes did we all slowly lift our heads. The first thing I noticed was White. She was crying. It was evident that she was trying to hold back her tears, but some still managed to escape and run freely down her cheeks. I wished to say many things to her. Most importantly, an apology, but before I could, I heard the familiar voice again.

"So he really kicked the bucket, huh?"

I knew far too well who it was - Shade, that dark copy of me I didn't manage to get rid of. I turned around to face him, and to show him that I am not willing to let him play with my emotions this time, but as soon as I moved, my body froze completely still. There wasn't just one Shade, there were many. Their presence made the empty room feel so crowded. They were all talking, each saying different things. In a normal world, so many words would result in nothing but a grey noise, but I could hear them. I could hear all of them. The things they were saying were as clear as day, and they filled my head as much as they could, blocking out all other noise.

"How can you hope to defeat Ifrit? You're nothing compared to Beast's power. You're useless!"

"You could've prevented that! Why didn't you grab that sword?!"

"How many people have to die for your cause?"

"Is it really worth fighting?"

"You will only bring more misfortune upon this world."

"Give up!"

"End it!"

I pressed my knees closer to my chest and dug my nails deep into my head, hoping to pull out the roots of this noise. They were all so loud. And each of their words hurt. It was a pain like nothing anyone has ever caused me. This felt different. As if I was in that endless darkness again. As if I died again.

I have no idea how much time had passed. At some point, I felt two cold hands touch my cheeks. Until this moment, I didn't realize that my eyes were closed. When I opened them, all that darkness was gone. White's face was so close I could see every tiny detail of it.

"Breathe, Eddie. It's going to be alright. Come on now, take a deep breath. We're okay. Everything is fine." For some reason, her words always soothed me. I always thought it was because of the years she spent as the grim reaper. She knew how to talk to all sorts of departed souls. But I couldn't help but wonder if she knew how bad I was doing. I could still see the wet streaks going down from her eyes. She was fighting her own battle. One that she pushed aside to help me.

Eventually, even Chester sat down by my side. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small bag full of seeds, which he sprinkled onto me. It didn't take long and they started to grow, spreading and creating a soft and cold layer of moss, like a big blanket.

"I can see things! Terrible things!" I spurted out what bothered me without any warning. I was done with hiding the truth. All I wanted was to get it out there.

"That's okay, Eddie. You can tell us all about it." White pat me on the back and smiled. This hurt even more. She should've been grieving. They all should've been. Instead, I was causing them even more trouble.

"Hey, Foof, you think you can go and get Eddie something to drink? There has to be a can that hasn't been evaporated yet somewhere in the store, no?" Chester asked him.

"I'll take a look. Surely I can find something," the dragon saluted with his tiny hand and then ran out of the room.

"I'll go and... help him out," Soul mumbled and followed the child soon after, avoiding any eye contact with me. I was left with White and Vincent, desperately trying to explain to them what has been happening to me during these last few hours. While I was pouring out my feelings, something else was transpiring inside the store.

"Ah, Soul, you're coming too? Great! We'll surely be able to find something if we split up." Foof didn't pay the death much attention, until a teal mist began rising from the ground, covering the walls and sealing the exits.

"Soul? What are you doing? Are you angry at me? I... I am sorry for your loss, but it wasn't my fault. Surely you can't..."

"Enough of this charade! I've been watching for long enough. And finally, my patience ran out."

"W-What are you talking about?"

"It is all too strange. Too convenient. I think you are full of shit."

"S-Soul... Are you serious...?" Small droplets of tears formed at the edges of the hatchling's eyes.

"Who are you, dragon? What is your real name?"

"But I..."

"Spit it out!"

"Please!"

"Don't bother! Either you'll tell me the truth, or I'll do my job and take your life. So, which will it be?"

A smile appeared on Foof's face. So wide his mouth looked much larger now.

"You were always the smart one, weren't you. I knew it. You should've gone first." The robe the little dragon was wearing tore to pieces. His body started to change. It became longer, almost like the body of a serpent, and the tiny legs soon changed their shape into another pair of hands. The wings in his back grew as well, but they seemed still tiny compared to the rest of his body, which was now filling up a large portion of the room, with the head nearly touching the ceiling. His eyes lost their previous colour and were now only two large glowing orbs.

"You never stopped working for Ifrit, did you? This was all part of his plan."

"Stopped working for him? How could I? It's impossible."

"We all have a choice. Nobody is forced to servitude."

"See? That is where you're wrong. I am not like your casual mortals. Even in death, my soul will not be yours to claim. No reaper ever adds my name to their collection." The dragon's claws extended into large sharp blades, reflecting light as if they were made of metal.

"My name is Fulgur. And unlike anyone here, I'm not one of Eddie's creations. I'm a spirit. Bound to a grimoire from a place farther away than you can comprehend."