(Zack)

"Morning, Zack," Nik greets me, and I give him a curious look.

"Why did you come out to my house?" I ask suspiciously.

"Have you calmed down?"

After my rampage in the mines yesterday? Yeah, a bit. Level 10 Kobolds are nothing against me. According to Nik, they actually have higher Level caps further down. Those will give me more Experience, but for now, I'm waiting for Luca and Braden to return. It'll probably be awhile before I return to the mines, especially since I need to train my team, especially the ones currently here. Travis and Blaine promised to bring them directly to me once they return from their individual training, and I'm holding them to that.

"Zack?" Nik asks.

"I've calmed down," I tell him. "A little."

"What set you off?" He asks. "You seemed to be enjoying yourself, then… you went berserk. I could tell you were in control, but still. What happened?"

"It's fine," I tell him, then give him a smile. "Don't worry about it, Nik. I promise. I just… got really mad, and there were lots of easy targets to take it out on around."

And it net me four Levels and another Demon Form Level.

Nik accepts that, then leaves, and I return to relaxing up here on the roof, up until I sense someone lying down next to me.

"Are you really going to be invisible when you know I know you're there?" I look at him, and Nathan appears in my view a moment later, laying the same way I am: hands behind his head, feet sticking straight down. "Hi, Nathan."

He nods, staring up at the sky, and I return to staring at the sky. After a few minutes, I open up another bottle of wine, take a drink, and offer him some. Nathan takes a drink, then holds it. I take it from him a few minutes and take another drink.

We repeat this, taking it from the other after a few minutes to take a drink, until the bottle's empty. Then Nathan puts it into his Inventory. And the cork. I'm not sure why he does, but he does.

A few more minutes pass after that, and I pull out one of the three boxes of candy canes I received from the Santa Boss's sack. I place it on his stomach.

"I don't like candy canes," I tell him, and he chuckles. "You're a healer, and a son of the god of healing and holy things. I was wondering… if you had issues Leveling Priest, when you first took it on?"

Nathan gives me a curious look, then nods.

"Luca is, too," I tell him. "I find that… weird. I'm pretty sure he was still at only two percent of the way to Level 2 when I left him with Travis, but logic said he should've had more. He'd been healing me all the time ever since he first learned Heal, and-"

"Healing you?" Nathan asks.

"Hey, you're actually talking," I grin at him, and he blushes. "Yeah, he's been healing me. I've been hurting myself so that he has someone to heal. He wants to heal his brother, but… I want Braden to increase his Endurance and Vitality, and the latter won't increase as much if Luca's healing him."

Nathan's silent for a few moments.

"It's because he's healing you that he's taking so long."

"What?" I sit up with a jolt, staring at Nathan in shock. He was completely honest. "What do you mean?"

Nathan grabs the box of candy canes and sits up, inspecting the item for a few moments, before looking at me.

"You're too much more powerful than him," he says. "He needs to heal people closer to him in power and Health. Because he's healing a tiny fraction of a percent of your maximum Health, it's as if he's failing."

And because it's like he's failing in his healing, even though he's not, it's causing him to gain less Experience than he should.

"So I should let him heal Braden?" I ask, and he shrugs. "But Braden's a combatant, and he'll be in more danger than Luca. He needs more Vitality."

"Monsters target the healers," he tells me. "They would target Luca before Braden in a serious fight."

"I'll not let them," I shake my head. "I don't want Luca to get hurt."

If Luca gets hurt in front of me, my rampage yesterday would probably be considered calm. Gold… and Bryce. Both were hurt in front of me, and both times, something serious went down. Something far more serious than just me slaughtering monsters. All I did was rip out their hearts or rip off their heads.

I obliterated a horde. I shredded a powerful Adventurer.

"He needs to heal people closer to him in power and Health," Nathan tells me, interrupting my dark, depressing thoughts about the past. "It will register as more successful, as he's healing a higher percent of theirs and it's comparable to his own. And Zack, better to hurt Luca yourself, than to let someone else hurt him, yes?"

"But-"

"If you hurt him, Zack," Nathan says. "You can control how he's hurt while still helping him grow stronger. What if something happens, and he receives more damage than he has Health, all because you don't want him to get hurt?"

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I cast my gaze down. He's right, that could happen. I don't want it to, and I refuse to accept the situation where it could, but… he's right. I need to build up Luca's Endurance and Vitality, and the only way to do that is to hurt him. And if I want him to grow stronger as well, he needs to use his Heal on Braden, which would slow down Braden's own growth in Vitality.

That doesn't make me happy.

"Can't I wait until the next member of my team shows up?" I ask. "Or… or Gold? I'm sure Gold would happily let me hurt him if it meant helping Luca. They're close in power and Health."

"Does Braden trust you?"

"No."

"Do you think not allowing his brother to heal him helps with that?"

No, it doesn't. Not at all. But Braden needs to improve his Vitality, he needs to increase it. The way he is… he's rash, and even though he's like me in a lot of respects, he's not as careful, not as calculating with the risks.

One day, he's going to pick a fight with something that can do a lot of damage, and I want him prepared for that, at least Health-wise. Maybe I should…?

No, I shouldn't. It's better for Luca.

"Alright," I sigh. "But not immediately. In a week. I'll see if Gold would be willing to act as healing practice for Luca. Or maybe Kylie? I mean, she's definitely a bit stronger than him, but she'd be close enough, right?"

Nathan sighs.

"You really want Braden's Vitality to increase, don't you?" He asks.

"Yeah."

"Did you use the Stat Tokens?"

"Yes."

He shrugs, and I realize why. He was thinking I could've used them for Braden. That would be an additional 150 Health for him.

"Oh," I say. "I used them to increase my Wisdom. I need a lot of Mana, since I have some pretty potent Skills, but they all have immense Mana requirements, comparatively."

I sigh. I should've let Braden use them, but I didn't think about that. Maybe I can alternate how I do it? Luca doesn't heal him in the mornings, only the afternoons? That would still slow down Braden's Vitality gains, though.

Nathan thinks for several minutes, then sets the box of candy canes on his lap and pulls out a small wooden box, roughly the same size as the one with the candy canes in it. Then, he hands it to me. It looks like the ones with the candy canes, only the red and green coloration is faded.

"Um, Nathan?" I ask, and he looks at me expectantly. I open the box and find a bunch of chocolate in it, the same kind of chocolate… that the Chocolate Slimes drop. "Chocolate?"

"I don't like it," he says. "You eat chocolate, right?"

"Yeah," I smile. "Thanks, Nathan."

He nods, then we lie back down, setting our boxes on our stomachs. He puts the chocolate in an old box, rather than selling it? Or was he planning on selling it? It's full now, so probably. The chocolate doesn't seem bad, either, so has he been collecting it only since the start of their appearances? It's only been a couple of days.

Where did he go that he killed so many?

"Zack," Nathan says after almost half an hour of silence.

"Yes?"

"I was in a place, in a Fallen City," he tells me. "And I found the full prophecy."

"The full… prophecy?" I remember as I ask about the prophecy that I first decided I'd be the child of, then realized I was the child of. "You know it?"

"When a Child of Existence walks the Boundaries once more,

"Defying death itself many times over, refusing to be claimed away,

"The tides of war will change when trouble sires three;

"When he first Ascends, then restores the power of the Cities,

"And in the end, forges a new path and Class for others to use,

"The Shadow of Life will fall soon after, his eternal life ended,

"The brothers who died twice each possess the power to do the deed,

"By realization or the blade, the darkness will be felled."

He stops talking, leaving me to mull over that. The first half of the prophecy is only what shows the sign of the end of the war against Alexander, not a sign of who it is who will be the one to kill him.

It references brothers who died twice. Does that mean someone like Luca and Braden? Together, they've died twice. Technically, Luca's died twice, though so far in his life, he hasn't, since he hasn't reached the Ascension Trial yet.

I've died twice, but so far, I've no brother who has. Big S is still alive, even if he 'died', and Bryce is dead-dead. He's not coming back – he can't come back. Resurrection won't work if his soul's passed on, and all Fallen Adventurers' souls pass on once their bodies change.

So who are the brothers who've each died twice? Or could it be my initial thought, and it's a pair of brothers who've died twice when their deaths are combined – like Luca and Braden?

And what does it mean by 'by realization or the blade'? The blade seems pretty obvious – he's killed. But realization? Does that mean that Alexander may, by one of the brothers, find his way into reality, his goal realized? If that's the case, then his darkness won't shroud the Boundaries anymore, is that what it means?

That can be a way of felling the darkness.

The prophecy… it's pretty specific about what the sign is that the end of the war against Alexander is near, but it couldn't be more helpful about who kills him?

My mind travels to the part that shows the signs. So far, I've only met one of them. Nathan's getting close to Level 250. He'll reach it soon, I'm sure. It's very possible he'll manage it during the massive battle. He's also probably studied the Enchanted Altars before.

If his father were Existence, then I'd say it could possibly be him. But it specifically states a Child of Existence as the harbinger, as the sign. I've certainly defied death – three times. First to come into the Boundary, again when Alexander tried to kill me and nearly succeeded, and again when I returned to the Boundary.

That's two parts of the sign. Now all I have to do is 'restore the power of the Cities', which is obviously a reference to the Enchanted Altars, and to forge a new path and Class. I've an idea for that last one, but I can't do it until I reach my second Ascension.

The important thing is finding out who those brothers are. I know Big Flame would've told me if I had another brother around, so it can't be me, and I don't like unknowns, not when it comes to something so serious.

If one brother will help Alexander achieve his goals, we need to ensure the other one succeeds in killing him.

I try to exert my power of sight to see the truth, but it fails. I can't see who the prophecy's chosen ones are. There's no sign, no indication. Does that mean they don't exist yet? I'm a lot more powerful than I was before, this should be within my domain.

Crunching catches my attention, and I look over to find Nathan with a candy-cane sticking out of his mouth. He's looking at me with red cheeks. Several seconds pass, then he slowly resumes chewing, sucking the candy cane in a little more at a time with every bite.

He doesn't seem concerned by the prophecy, but I know he must be as well. Has he told his team yet? Or does he want to wait until there's more information available?

Sighing, I close my eyes and rest. Better to relax now and come back to this when there's more information available. I can worry about it later, once we're at the point of the turning of the tide. The full turning of the tide.