The journal page blurred, and it wasn't until a tear splattered down that I realized I was crying. My hands trembled so violently that I could barely read the words. When the crushing weight in my chest grew to the point I couldn’t breathe, I whirled and threw the book with all my strength.

Clover flinched as the journal slammed into the wall, pages scattering like fallen leaves. She turned back to me, eyes wide and wary. “What the hell, Frederick?” She snarled, but then she paused, taking in my disheveled state.

Slowly, she raised her hands, palms out. “You need to calm down…”

A broken laugh wrenched out of me. I shook my head, gesturing towards Gregory. “That's my oldest childhood friend. They chained him here because his sister died in the next room over. Sara, who I helped raise, died to that fucking scorpion, and they dragged him away. He refused to eat and I can’t blame him. I would too in his position!”

Unholy rage welled up inside me at the situation and the world as a whole. Gregory had been a good man, and Sara, a sweetheart. They hadn’t deserved this. No one deserved this! To see your sibling die and then be forced to stay in the room next to her corpse was a punishment fit for the worst fiends in Nexus.

Not Gregory. Never Gregory.

The unfairness of it all, the injustice, burned like fire in my chest, turning everything to ash. The room dimmed around me as I let the fury blaze.

What would I have done in his position?

Images of Daedra or Beatrice impaled by the scorpion’s tail, dead before I could react, flashed through my mind, and I shuddered. “I would have destroyed every last person in my way to get to my sisters.”

Friend or foe, it didn’t matter. Nothing would have stopped me from going back for my family.

Grief and rage merged into a twisted mess. This never should have happened, not to them.

“Frederick, stop! You’re channeling your spirit’s power!” Clover’s shout dragged me back to the present. Light now radiated from my skin, painting the walls gold. This had never happened before, not even when I used Retribution, but I couldn’t bring myself to care.

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The power, fed by my emotions, drowned the pain. I needed that. It wrapped me into a protective shield, away from the world and its unfairness, but just as I was about to sink fully into it, a shout pierced through my head. This time, it wasn't Clover.

“Frederick, you must stop! The power you’re harnessing now will kill you! You’re not strong enough yet to survive holding this much of my power. It will break you!”

The spirit’s presence warmed the air, heavy with concern–and fear.

It helped anchor me. I shook my head, shutting my eyes against the overwhelming grief and rage.

Nothing about this was fair or okay, but I had to pretend it was?! As if my friend wasn’t dead a few paces away, and his sister hadn’t met a grizzly end she didn’t deserve.

The spirit’s voice came again, lower now. It’s echo eased into a hum that slid into my soul, a blanket of comfort.

“Life isn’t fair; that is a fact. Good people die or suffer horrific things. You can’t save them all; no one can. But you can’t allow this to stop you. Your goal hasn’t changed. By killing the Mad King and his dragon, you will save thousands–but not if you die here. Breathe, my Chosen, and listen to your cleric.”

My cleric?

Like the first breath of air after nearly drowning, I heard her. Clover.

“Frederick, you need to listen to me. Whatever power you’re harnessing, it’s breaking the floor underneath you. I can see your Hit Points dropping from here. The one who killed that girl is dead. It doesn’t fix anything, but you avenged her. Now you need to stop before it’s too late.”

Through the haze, I felt her arms encircle me, holding tight as if to keep all the broken pieces together.

“Your friend wouldn’t have wanted you to die and I don’t either. So you need to breathe.”

The spirit’s presence slipped away, and I opened my eyes, taking in Clover's honey hair now tucked against my chest. The ground beneath us had partially shattered, just like she said, but despite that, she still chose to hug me.

The armor must have been uncomfortable, but Clover didn’t comment, nor did her grip loosen. She held on tight, and finally, the suffocating rage eased. She was right. Gregory would have smacked me for losing control like this.

The thing that killed Sara was dead, either by our hand or the scorpion we’d killed. I couldn’t bring either of them back, but we had avenged their deaths. It didn’t feel like enough, but it would have to be.

The gold glow faded, and I curled around Clover, soaking in the comfort she offered.

“I’m sorry.” I choked out, the words thick with grief.

She slipped a hand into one of the gaps in my armor and rubbed my back. “This isn’t something to apologize for, Darling. Just…breathe for now. I’ll be here to help you put the pieces back together afterward.”

Every breath burned my lungs, cutting into them like glass, but I did as told. She was right–I wasn’t alone. And right now, I could only be grateful for that fact.