Nothing.

Empty.

Then suddenly, light–blinding white light. It washed over him as a mothers tender touch, caressing and cradling him, filling him, all at once, with strength and courage–with life. And in that fleeting moment, the darkness simply was no longer, banished from mind and body. Then, the white light faded, reduced to a faint hum, which filled the room with chordless song.

Leo rose to a seated position, groggy, barely in keep of his senses. All around him, the malformed and twisted corpses of students lay, not a speck of the dark affliction anywhere in sight. It seems that in its final moment, the shadows decided to take the most precious thing of all with it–their lives. Maybe a victory…but only a hollow one. Too many had died that day, far, far too many.

At the center of the room, where just a moment prior the ominous black orb had hung, was a gleaming orb of radiance, flooding the surrounding with a soft light that pierced even the most stubborn of pillars, somehow not a single shadow anywhere in sight.

Leo grunted as he rose to his feet, stumbling over to Karfice’s form resting helplessly amidst the piles of students. He pulled Karfice from the pit, ensuring that he, Maria, and the black haired elvish boy were all properly seen to and uninjured before turning his attention back to the orb. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he couldn’t help but worry where Garrote and Kiva were, but he knew better than to doubt. They were capable. Surely, wherever they were, they’d be alright.

“...Trenton in there?”

Yissle stood next to Leo, gazing out at the orb with keen interest, a deep sense of fatigue clear in the slight slouch of his shoulders, the haphazard flit of his eyes, the languid swing of his arm rising to support his bleeding temple. He looked more or less alright, plus or minus a couple new nasty, festering gashes cut deep across his body, a sickly yellow pus mixing with crimson blood in a pool beneath him.

“Oh gods…w-what happened to you?” Leo asked, his tongue slow to move.

Yissle grunted, shifting his weight from foot to foot, “I got into a bit of a scuffle while you all were gone. Don’t worry about me, I’ll manage,” he nodded towards the orb, “Trenton in there?”

“I uh…think so,” Leo rubbed the back of his neck, feeling a slick that wasn’t supposed to be there–blood–undoubtedly. “I didn’t get to see what happened very closely. Trenton went in, everything went dark, and then…”

“Then?”

Leo motioned to the orb, “T-that. I…don’t really know.”

Yissle sighed, rolling his shoulders and letting loose some tension resting in his upper body, “I wish I could help, but I’m just about as lost as you are. I’ve never seen the core look like that, and,” Yissle clutched at his forehead, pressing the creased skin flat, “My head isn't feeling too great. I-I think…” Yissle fell backwards, collapsing hard onto his posterior, “...I’ll need a moment…” He clutched his head in both hands, whispering unintelligible words to himself.

“Are you alright?” Leo knelt down, barely managing to keep himself aloft.

Something about the shadows' influence on his mind, even though it no longer physically remained, left a scar in his mind, a dull throb that even the light couldn’t quite banish.

“Fine, fine,” Yissle waved Leo off. “Get Trenton.”

Leo hesitated for a moment. At closer glance, Yissle really did not look good. His cuts were deeper than Leo originally thought, and based on the subtle bruising about his arms and collar, it was safe to say his internals weren’t holding up much better. But he was wont to listen, despite his mental protests.

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Leo approached the orb, allowing the hum to fill his heart as he got closer. In a way, it almost felt like it was trying to speak to him, tell him something, that beautiful hum rising to harmonic melody. Without so much as a passing thought, Leo reached out to the orb, grazing his finger against the edge of the light.

Immediately, the light splintered, shattering into thousands of little specks, which swirled through the air, each one vibrating with a note bespoke for it, and it alone. Alone they were marvelous, breathtaking at the slightest glance, but together, they were something else entirely, a melody which swelled and swelled, falling and rising with the flutter of Leo’s heart–the melody of life.

The specks scattered, each one diving into a single student's body, reinvigorating their corpses with the beat of life. One by one, their eyelids fluttered to life, hearts coursing once more. Where just a moment ago had been a field of corpses, now was a great nursery, the students placid rest like that of a newborn’s first sleep. Leo stood there, slack jawed, watching the impossible take place before his eyes. Surely it wasn’t real. Surely it was just another cruel twist of fate, a faint glimpse of hope before the hand came crashing down.

“Ugh…well, that…worked remarkably well, actually…”

Karfice shakily rose to his feet, staggering towards Leo with awe in his eyes, something clearly holding attention. Sure enough, while Leo was distracted with the specks of life, Trenton had reemerged into the world. He floated where the orb had just a moment ago, loving eyes cast down upon the small, glowing white orb with shifting flickerings of leafy green cradled within his arms.

He touched down lightly onto the uneven ground, stone shifting as he touched it to allow himself a stable platform to stand upon. He said nothing, made no movement. He simply stood there, mouth hanging slightly open, holding the orb, silent tears welling in the corners of his eyes.

“Trenton…are you…?” Karfice started, voice drifting off.

“She’s beautiful, isn’t she?” Trenton spoke, voice softer than Leo had ever heard before.

“What?”

“This was her…is her…I’ll protect it, protect her…I have to,” he shook his head.

“Are you alright, bud? You sound a little different.”

Trenton looked up, suddenly snapping out of his daze, “Yeah I’m…alright…I’ll be alright. It’s been a long night…I’m…just tired is all,” he gave a halfhearted smile, clutching the orb tighter to his chest. “Where’s Kiva and Garrote? Did they…” Trenton stopped, noticing Karfice’s darkening expression. “No…no, no, no. That can’t be right. Th-th-they should’ve…they were…oh gods,” Trenton stumbled forward a couple steps before stopping, pupils shifting ever so slightly as he stared wide eyed at Karfice.

“They got separated from me…” Karfice mumbled, staring forlorn into the earth.

“But that means…” Leo trailed off, voice cracking as a horribly, sickly feeling overwhelmed him, banishing the light's warm presence from his mind.

“You lost them…they were with you and you lost them!?” Trenton took another step forward, a wild fury creeping into his twisted face.

“There was nothing I could do, Trenton. I-”

“You saved Maria well enough! Were they not important enough to you!?” Trenton took another step forward, Karfice matching the step.

“It was everything I had to even keep myself alive! Don’t forget who dredged you from those bodies!”

“Everything you could do!? DID YOU EVEN DRAW YOUR BLADE!? WELL, DID YOU!?”

Karfice took a step back, mouth pulled at the edges like he’d been stabbed in the heart, voice low, dangerous, “You have no idea what you’re talking about. I made the right call. I saved as many people as I could.”

“Of course, you saved yourself,” Trenton spat. “Anything to make sure you live. You’re a fucking coward.”

“Stop…please gods stop…I can’t take this…” Leo burst into a violent fit of sobs, falling to his knees and clutching at the cold stone for support.

“I’m a coward…do I truly mean that little to you? Is it truly that easy for you to forget everything I’ve done for you? Months I’ve followed you. Months I’ve fought for you, when no one else would. Have I not made myself useful enough? Have I not bled for you, Trenton?”

Trenton stared cold into Karfice’s eye, a snarl pulling his lip upward, “...no, I don’t think you’ve bled a single time, actually. If you really care…you’ll pick up a blade next time,” he started past Karfice, taking the orb and moving to leave, but just as he did, he stopped, eyes agape at something off in the distance.

Karfice, too, turned to look, anger and hatred falling from his lips like molted iron. Standing there, body completely unharmed, gazing with that usual piercing glare of his at the scene around them, was Avardis, and next to him, Millie, Kiva, and Garrote, all breathing. He stopped when he noticed Trenton and Karfice’s stare, brow furrowing as they stood there in shocked silence.

“...I missed something. Elaborate.”