Jayln dropped the tray, the meal spilling onto the floor. Matius stepped quickly into the room glancing at the cell. Fenrin was still as death, blood dripping slowly onto the floor.

With a gust of wind, the door ripped open and Matius ran inside, hand glowing. He lowered it slowly. "It's alright, it's just a minor wound, he's alive."

Jayln's heart flipped and she moved closer with relief. Fenrin's forehead was a bloody mess, his fingers and nails crimson. He was breathing but it was ragged. His finger twitched. "Lost..." he moaned.

Matius and Jayln looked at each other and then Matius took a deep breath. "Into the fray we go."

It was loud, Fenrin's battle. Jayln looked around, trying to find the man himself. Matius gripped her arm pointing. Fenrin was walking across the battlefield, pierced by dozens of dark shards. A black shape seemed to follow him, occasionally waving a hand which caused another memory to slice into Fenrin. With a grunt, Fenrin took another step forward, his sword dragging in his bloody hands.

"Is that...?" Jayln looked at the black form which came more into focus, the very being seeming wrong in her mind.

"Niv. Or at least his mind's version. Let's see if this works."

Matius muttered some words and held his hands out, blue light emanating from them. The shadow being turned, its red eyes boring into Jayln like screams of agony. It recoiled from the light and Fenrin paused looking up at them.

"Jayln?" He looked at her, a glimmer of recognition.

Slowly, she moved up to Fenrin and reached to pull a shard from his shoulder as Matius pushed the Niv form back.

“Now this feels personal. I know for a fact you're not her lover, so then who..."

Fenrin wrenches the man up by his hair pounding his head against the wall. "I'm her brother, you bastard."

The man grins, blood dribbling from his split gum. "Ah, she never mentioned a brother but I know she hated her family. Damned them whenever she could. We had a real nice thing going here until your little time limit sent her off."

Fenrin's rage simmers and the memory flashes red and skips, Fenrin has the man in front of him, hands tied behind his back.

"You're a dead man. The guild will track you down and when you die I'll piss on —"

Fenrin slices off the man's right pinky, covering the man's shout of pain with his hand. He tries to bite him but Fernin moved his hands back, forcing the man out of the alley.

"Every word until we're out of the city is another finger."

Jayln winced as the memory cut her but she wrenched it out. Fenrin gasped. Gritting her teeth, she grabs another.

Lyra opens the door and pushed her brother out before locking it behind her.

"Well that was enlightening." She says as they walk down the hall. Fenrin slows, "Ly..."

His sister freezes and sucks in her breath. "Don't."

"But—"

"Don't pretend like we weren't ready to tear each other apart. To fight for blood on our birthday. Just...don't."

She moves forward, practically running, without looking back at Fenrin who lowers his hand from where he'd reached out.

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Jayln backed up, her mind hurting from sharing memories. There are dozens of them, there's no way she could remove them all. She glanced at Matius who had pushed the Niv form back and with a screech it disappeared. A tinkling sound made Jayln turn to see Fenrin collapse, the shards dropping out of him to the floor.

She knelt down beside him. "Fenrin, we're here. What do you need us to do?"

He blinked at her confused. "I lost the sea. Where did it go?"

Jayln looked up at Matius who shrugged. Fenrin sat up, nearly knocking Jayln over. He cocked his head and fear flickered across his face. "It's coming."

"That doesn't sound good," Matius said, licking his dry lips and glancing around.

Fenrin turned, "Jayln."

She nodded and his eyebrows pulled down in focus. He grabbed her hand and stood up, pulling her along. She glanced back at Matius who shrugged and ran to follow.

They ducked through the battlefield, blurred faces screaming and falling around them. They reached a large oak door and Fenrin threw it open revealing a blackened interior. He flipped the charred table and pulled Jayln behind it, a finger on his lip.

She crouched beside him following his gaze to the crack in the building wall. A figure flickered through the opening and Jayln fell recoiling at the second Fenrin.

This Fenrin had open wounds across its body, its eyes wild and its mouth open to bare its fangs. Hungrily it eyed Jayln before pouncing at her. The Fenrin at her side pushed the table forward which crashed into his beastial copy.

Matius skidded into the building and as the first Fenrin glanced over, the second seized its chance, pouncing and digging its fangs into the original's shoulder, fully transforming into a grey wolf with blood red eyes.

"Makers! What is that?" Matius asked his eyes wide.

"The Wolf—I mean it's Fenrin, or at least a part of him," Jayln said, scrambling up and closer to Matius.

The Wolf and Fenrin roll on the floor, biting and tearing at each other. Matius raised his hands again but this time the blue light had no effect. Jayln turned to him, "Why isn't it working?"

Matius glanced down at his hands. "It's not part of Niv's power. It's something that's supposed to be here."

Jayln turned back to the battle. Fenrin cried out as the Wolf raked it's claws down his chest, dark blood pooling out. He caught her eye and reached, shouting, "Give it to me, I need it!" He looked to her side and Jayln glanced down to see another glittering memory shard.

"Now, Jayln!" Fenrin called again and Jayln grabbed the shard and tossed it.

"It's important. Tell me, what is your goal? What is it you want to do?"

"And what makes you happy Fenrin?"

"It's in no one's nature to murder." "On that we disagree."

"But they are people, and I won't just leave it alone Fenrin."

"You're really throwing it all away." "Hoping to make something better."

"She and I have a business arrangement that I value above this whole ship."

"I know how these things go. If you can't learn to trust that, then this was all a waste of time."

"I will not talk with a wolf. When you've decided to start being a man, I'll come back."

As the shard whistled through the air, fragments of memory and voices pouring out, it shimmered into a sword and Fenrin caught it. With a triumphant grin, he plunged the sword into the Wolf which whined and jumped back. Fenrin, bloodied, stood and swung the sword again. The Wolf growled but turned tail and ran disappearing into the battle.

For a moment is was quiet save the huffing of Fenrin and then Matius whispered, "That was a good thing, right?"

Jayln stepped closer to Fenrin who looked at her with sorrow in his eyes. "I couldn't kill it." He looked at the sword in his hand which dissolved into smoke and seeped into him. "It wasn't enough."

He seemed to shrink into himself, metal curling up from the floor surrounding him. Jayln reached, trying to take his hand, but the barbed metal bars blocked her. Sharp shards moved like creeping things towards him and Jayln turned to Matius, "This isn't working!"

Matius nodded and waved his hand. With a lurch, they were back in the cell. He touched Fenrin's forehead, his own wrinkling. "I'm going to try to put him to sleep again."

After a moment he pulled back. "It's done but I don't know for how long. Clearly it didn't last time."

Jayln used her sleeve to wipe the blood from Fenrin's face. Despite the clawing, the mark was still there, black as night. "Was there anything like that in Yu'jana's mind?" she asked.

"No, it was a wreck, but nothing attacked. I think..." he hesitated and Jayln looked at him until he sighed, "I think that was all Fenrin. Aside from the Niv we saw at the beginning. I don't know if my magic can help that."

"But it worked at the beginning," Jayln pressed and Matius chewed his cheek thinking.

"Yes, against Niv's influence. I can keep doing that. Cleansing any lingering enchantment...but the rest is his own mind tormenting himself."

Jayln took Matius's hand staring down at the unconscious man, surely there was something she could do?