After a while, when all you see around you is loss and decay, you start to notice eyes filled with grief. White had them that time. While I was telling her and Chester everything about Shade, she gave me her undivided attention, but deep in her eyes, I knew how much she missed Beast. Her support of my journey included putting her own feelings aside. That wasn't something I desired. I couldn't truly feel better myself until I gave her the time she needed to grieve too.

"You miss him, don't you?" I asked and with this single sentence, our whole conversation shifted from my Shade problems to Beast's sudden demise.

"What? Eddie, what does that have to do with..."

"Please. I have been talking about myself long enough. I don't want to take away your feelings anymore. So if you're sad, angry, or any other emotion, now it would be your turn to confide in me." I offered her the same luxury she gave me, not paying attention to the shadowy figures in the room. Fortunately, for now, they were silent.

"I... I am sad, yes. But, I can also feel myself slipping away. It's hard to imagine it but I think I am starting to accept that we won't make it." Those words hurt me more than anything before.

"So... you think I can't beat Ifrit after all?"

She looked me right in the eyes. This was the first time I'd seen her this cold. Before we went to Everstar, she was happy, sad, and occasionally furious, but now, it was different. It was as if she dropped all emotions and focused only on facts.

"I will be honest with you Eddie. You are not doing okay. What you've been describing to us, that's... bad. Very bad. Those things, the 'Shades', are created by the Divine Creativity. Your mind is so clouded with blame, guilt, and god knows what else, that instead of granting you power, it is only taking it from you. Do you have any idea how hard it is even for a god to create a living projection of a personality? And you just made that. And not one, but many. This requires some professional help, which sadly, none of us can offer you. Ifrit is closer than you think and we cannot wait. So the only hope is that you will pull through on your own. And considering what has been happening so far–"

"I get it," I interrupted her monologue and turned my eyes to the ground. Her face was something I couldn't look at.

"That doesn't mean I don't believe in you. I have seen you take care of the Gunslinger. You have it in yourself to save this world. But logically speaking... the chances don't look good." She waited a while for my response, but I had nothing to tell her. Any sort of apology would make me feel even worse and wouldn't bring anything useful. At that moment, I wished to find a solution. To be able to snap my fingers and let my godly powers eliminate all of my problems. But sadly, it didn't work like that. Hell, it barely worked at all.

"Hey, White? Mind if I have a moment with Eddie?" Chester spoke up after staying quiet all this time.

"Sure. I'll go check on Soul and Foof. You guys do what you need." She left the room with only me and Vincent now remaining inside. I wanted to ask him what he wants, but before a single tone could leave my throat, he grabbed me by my tunic and pushed me against the wall.

"What the fuck happened to you? When you were at my house, you managed to nearly kill me and then cut up some Darkness to save my life with it. You were badass! Now? Now you're nothing but a wimp, hiding behind shades and shadows! Trembling at the sight of a single obstacle or an enemy."

His words were the final push I needed. My nerves overflew into a fit of anger. "You think I wanted this?! That this is something I do on purpose?!" I wanted to say more, but Chester's hand quickly landed on my mouth and stuffed the inside of it with a plant of sorts, so that I wouldn't bite him. Considering all my anger, I am pretty sure I would be capable of that.

"On purpose? No! But you CAN do something about it, yet you choose not to! Do you blame yourself for their deaths? Why?! This is war! People die in wars, that's just how it is. You can grieve about the losses of your comrades, but only when there is time for it! And before that, take all those emotions inside you and forge them into a weapon. I have heard of what you did in Sunwalley, and I know how your power works. The anger fuels you. You just need to channel it. All those Deaths, their sadness, their dreams, their hopes. Everything shattered because some jerk in charge wished for it to be so! Imagine his face! Burn it into your mind! And when those shadows appear again, make sure to turn their wrath against him!" Finally, he let go of me. I didn't know what to say, but something about his speech was right. I nearly killed him when we fought back then. I slaughtered Gunslinger when we traded blows. Where was that power now? What happened to me? More and more shadows started appearing around the room, sometimes even as floating heads to save up space. If it wasn't for White's sudden arrival, I am pretty sure I'd lose my mind altogether.

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"Guys!" she shouted at us from the door. "They... I... Trouble!"

As soon as we heard it, we sprinted outside. I wasn't willing to let anyone else die today, but what I saw scared me far more than any Shade. Walls of nearly transparent smoke were erected all around the central area of the shopping mall. They seemed like nothing but fog, but to touch, they were as hard as metal. Beyond them, we saw Soul fight with something we could barely describe. A massive grey dragon with a long body was floating around the place. At first, I thought it was another Burned until I noticed his claws. They were long, just like those I'd seen back then during my visit to the past. According to what I saw and knew, there was only one creature they could belong to.

"That traitor..." I mumbled to myself, unable to handle it all. "FOOF, YOU BASTARD!!!" No matter how loud I shouted, not a single vibration made it past the smoke wall. It isolated us completely from the events inside.

"You did seem like a smart one, but I never knew you were THIS bright. Tell me, what gave me away? Everyone else trusted me, yet you didn't. Before I tear you apart, I want to know the mistakes I've made." The dragon's voice was deep and coarse. It was nothing like the Foof we knew from before. If the rest of us could hear it as well, it would surely terrify us.

"Mistakes? Oh, there were so many. The moment you came to our world with that story of yours, I knew something was off. It all sounded a bit too convenient, don't you think? But there was far more. You came and without a problem, you brought us information on how to get to Ifrit much faster than we originally planned. Such precious information doesn't appear out of nowhere."

"I see. Well, I was never one for plans," the dragon grinned. He was annoyed that he got discovered, but at the same time, excited for finally being able to let loose.

"But honestly, it was your acting in the city that really brought my attention to you. The way the Burned appeared was simply too convenient. They attacked the building we were in, then they were swarming the place that was in our way, and all of a sudden, one of the most powerful ones decided to appear just next to us? That didn't make sense. They had the whole city to play around in, yet they caused us constant trouble. That meant somebody had to be directing them. And out of all of us, only you were someone who I had trouble trusting. In other words, you were trying to be sneaky but failed miserably. Heck, even your acting blew your cover when you dropped that 'cute little dragon' facade at certain points."

Fulgur started laughing. There was no response in him that fit better the cluster of information he just heard.

"What is so funny?"

"All of this! I can't believe he made me do it. Infiltration? Lying? Playing pretend? None of that is my style. I'm more of a mass murderer kind, but I did as Ifrit asked. Not like I had a choice. Partially, I was afraid. That friend of yours, 'Beast', had power even I can't use. Black flames... that's scary. But now, the strongest of your fighters is gone. And since you found out about me, I have no need to hold back anymore." He arched back and swiped at Soul with his massive claws, but there was no feeling of contact. His hand merely passed through the grim reaper and his gaseous body. Confused, the dragon floated back a bit and observed his hand. It seemed fine, and its claws were sharp as ever.

"Heh, so naive," If Soul's body allowed him to smile, that would be the expression decorating his face. "Just because we called Beast 'our strongest', you automatically assume you can take us on? That the rest of us are weak? You see, his power was judged merely on its destructive properties. But in a battle, there is more than just that. When it comes to overall skills, I am the strongest!"

Soul's upper body stretched out as if he was a gin flying out of a bottle, a small orb of dark green swirling miasma appeared in his palm. Fulgur felt the wind around him move a bit. It was now blowing in Soul's direction, pulling him closer bit by bit.

"Hmm? Gravity magic?" he thought to himself and took a deep breath. "This will be fun!" A massive wave of flames erupted out of his mouth as he exhaled.

Soul's body quickly retracted back to its original humanoid form as soon as he saw the attack. The smog in his hand reformed into a protective shield, saving him from the heat as the flames flooded the rest of the room.

"Oh, that is annoying," the dragon mumbled. Soul's powers exceeded his expectations when it came to their versatility.

Suddenly, there was another gust of wind, but this one was far stronger. Before Fulgur knew it, he was being pulled backwards. He quickly looked over his shoulder to figure out what exactly was causing such an effect. Only then did he realize the amount of trouble he was in. The walls were all coated with the miasma, which sealed away the exits. By the looks of it, even this part of Soul's magic was capable of pulling objects closer.

The smoke moved a bit, forming a collection of sharp spikes. The dragon didn't need to think twice to know that those would probably cause great damage. He already tried touching the walls before with his claws. The smoke was as hard as metal. He wouldn't be able to break through it, but there was still something he could try. He twisted his long body into the shape of a ring and started spinning as fast as he could. The wind generated by this movement was enough to blow away the spikes on the wall, saving him from any injuries.

"Yes! I finally get it!" he growled and smashed his tail against the ground, finally stopping all the spinning. Explosions of fire started travelling from the point of the impact, moving towards the Death. Soul didn't seem to be too bothered by any of Fulgur's counterattacks. He simply raised his foggy shield again and watched as the flames avoided him. However, his confidence slowly started to disappear when the ground beneath him shook. He raised his head and saw the dragon smiling, just for a second, before the earth beneath them gave up and Soul fell into the underground section of the store.

"Now, this will be interesting," the dragon grinned as he watched the faint traces of Soul's confident expression finally leave his face.