The Coins of Unity had recharged. Theo felt a glow warming up his pocket as he sat in the clearing.

His mind was somewhere else. It was hard to force the images he’d seen earlier that day from his mind, but the cultivating had helped.

But now, as the moon stared down at them, at the surroundings lit with specks of mana, he couldn’t help but wonder if those bodies were seeing the same thing. If the moon, as gentle and welcoming as its light was, would seem harsh upon bones exposed to air.

Maybe The Woods had subsumed them already, and all the moon shone down on was where bones used to be. That seemed colder, somehow.

Theo shook his head, trying to stop that train of thought.

Francis was also sitting there, having not moved at all from where he’d been all this time. Meanwhile, Theo had stretched, walked around a few times, and taken a nap as the ambient mana reached its saturation point. In fairness, once the ambient mana hit that point there was very little that he could do to help. It didn’t stop him feeling guilty, with Francis nearby.

At this point, Francis was more statue than person. In fact, the only signs of life were the motion of his chest as he breathed, and the layer of sweat that had accumulated on his person as the day went by.

Theo wondered absently if he’d fallen asleep and was just very good at staying upright (it would make him feel better about that nap, if he was). The mana had been funnelled into the herbs slower and slower as the day had gone by.

They had grown, almost knee-high now, but it was uneven. Some were growing faster than others, and some hadn’t grown much from where they had been at the start of the day. There were waves of growth, radiating out from where the roots of The Woods were closest. In the moonlight it almost looked like a snapshot of a stormy sea, flecks of mana taking the place of seafoam.

“It’s time to take a break.” Theo was startled out of his thoughts by Eva putting a hand on Francis’ shoulder.

Francis didn’t respond (or even register Eva’s touch), and Theo felt more confident that he’d actually fallen asleep.

“Francis, you’ve done enough for the day. You need to take a break.” Theo’s theory was immediately proven wrong, as Francis took in an audible breath, and sighed.

“I can’t. There’s too much to be done. We don’t have time. The Woods needs this.” He refused to move, shaking Eva’s hand off, eyes still closed as he tried to keep focused. He scrunched them up, visibly gritting his teeth.

“You haven’t taken a break all day. You need to rest.” Eva rubbed her temples, looking over at Theo in exasperation.

“There’s too much to be done.” Francis repeated himself.

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Eva pinched the bridge of her nose. “And you won’t be able to continue doing it if you continue the way you are. This is not sustainable, and we both know it. You’re getting less and less done as time goes by.” Ah, that explained the speed of infusion decreasing.

“But what else can I do.” It was less a question and more a quest for an answer that didn’t exist, and he knew it. There were no easy answers. It didn’t stop Francis from searching for one, and for Theo to start considering the same. What else could he do?

Eva didn’t respond immediately, and when she did, she didn’t give a response to the one question that mattered. “The Woods will be able to manage. We are not so weak as to not be able to defend ourselves when it comes down to it. Even now, the damage caused by that skirmish is being healed. Take a break.”

“But what can I do. How do I make an impact.” There was something in Francis’ voice. Not quite determination, nor steel. It was more desperate (like a dying man’s attempts to right wrongs and find redemption).

Eva frowned. “I know seeing those bodies was…confronting. But-“

“I swore an oath.” Francis interrupted.

“When I was a child, I swore an oath to help those in need.” Finally, Francis moved. He folded in on himself, resembling a shrimp as he held his face in his hands. He flopped backways, legs still crossed as his upper body squashed some of the herbs underneath. He paused, getting back into a sitting position as he checked all the plants and their stems for any damage.

Once he was certain there was none, he carefully parted them, and gently laid down once more. He disappeared underneath the herbs. “And I do. I help, and I help, and I help. And every time, it isn’t enough.” It doesn’t matter how much food I hand out if there are those who do not trust us, if there are those hidden away that we cannot reach.”

A mix of frustration and powerlessness crept into his voice, and the herbs around his (now hidden) body reacted in response. They sucked in more mana, and thorns and spines started to form along stems and lining leaves.

“It doesn’t matter how much food I grow if the nobles use that as an excuse to not improve invest in agriculture.” Theo yelped, as he felt a prick on his calf. Looking down, he saw that the thorns had spread close to him. “It doesn’t matter how much I help these herbs grow if they don’t stop Etol from invading, it-“

“Stop!” Eva yelled, hand pushing the herbs away from Francis’ face. Theo could see that spikes covered her body, making her almost half-hedgehog.

“Sorry.” Francis took in a deep, shuddering breath as he sat back up. The spines shrank back into Eva, the plants lost their thorns, and Theo stopped looking carefully at his legs.

“Every single time, the obstacle in my way, the thing stopping me from making the world a better place is other people. Is greed, is pain, is…something that I cannot fix with my skills.” Francis laughed to himself. “And now, now that there is something I can do, it’s not enough.” He looked at Theo, and Eva, a bittersweet smile on his face.

Theo started to realise that sweat was not the only thing that made Francis’ skin shine. He was crying.

Francis’s eyes lost focus, and the grin slipped into a haunted look of shattered dreams. “I just want the world to be a better place. Is that so much to ask?” Francis whispered, more to himself and the world than to Eva or Theo.

Silence reigned, as nobody had an answer (or wanted to answer).

Theo felt warm. He reached into his pocket, and pulled out the Coins of Unity, which were almost burning a hole into his side.

As he pulled them out, the usual map popped out. But instead of showing a marker in another location, it showed two marker next to each other, one of which he knew would be him as always. And then the map expanded, zooming in until the dots became sticks, then silhouettes, then figures, then people.

It zoomed in once more, and the map was filled with a face. One Theo was very familiar with, because he was staring right at it. The interface was displaying Francis.