The sight was a thing of brutality and nothing else. Never in the entire world had there been so much blood in a single space. Cade felt her instincts trying to turn her from the sight, but it wouldn't even have mattered if she had turned away. It wasn't just the sight. The area assaulted every sense. Her eyes stung, and her expression twisted at the horrid stench. The air tasted of iron, salt, and feces.

Corpses were littered all around, turned, twisted, and mutilated. All eyes in the room were hard and lifeless like stone mixed in with pale flesh. Cade had forgotten what it felt like to be looked at by eyes that didn't see. She searched around only to find body parts lying lonely, looking for their owners. Blood dripped from the ceiling into the palm of a severed arm.

At first, she thought he wasn't there. But the state of the hall told her he couldn't have left. Not after such a battle. Still, she couldn't make out any sign of him.

"Aurelius?" she called, her echoes sounding small in her ears. She glanced around.

'He has to be near,' she thought as she walked in the endless pool of blood, stepping over dead bodies in the middle of the hall.

Then he saw a distant glimmer in the dark. A single lock of golden hair hanging from a head of bloody hair. It twirled over the face that was barely visible under a mess of grotesque slices. Most noticeable, however, were the eyes. One had been sliced over and the white of it dyed red while the other was wide, staring at nothing.

Despite everything, Cade recognized Aurelius absolutely and immediately. It was only her horror that held her from at first accepting that those young, bright eyes that had shined at her long ago had been stolen, turned dark and gray.

For a microinstant, she lurched numbly in a premature grief. Then came an unconscious shriek. "Rey?!" She shot towards him and crossed the hall in an instant.

As soon as she made it to him and saw the foam that had formed in his mouth, she rushed to his side and worked to open his airway. She then promptly ripped his shirt open. Somehow, even while having expected the worst, the sight shocked her. Aurelius' musculature had been refined far beyond what it had been. Almost to an impossible degree, where every fiber seemed developed to its highest extent. And even then the layers and layers of scarring, wounds, and coating of blood were all she saw.

There was more black blood there than she'd ever seen. 'Just how many enhancers did you take?' she thought, biting her lip.

She pressed her ear tightly to his chest. The moment seemed to last an eternity. Arrows of emotion shot through Cade's body, ricocheting around in the vast emptiness. She froze in suspense waiting for just the slightest sign until it finally came. A single, faint beat of the heart.

She drew back and looked at his face. Perhaps she thought he would be all there, smiling softly at her with his vibrant spirit restored. He wasn't. She hurried to hear his heartbeat again. After another wait, she heard it. It wasn't his life returning to him, and it certainly wasn't the past being called back and remade, but it was something. Cade could live with that.

She lifted Aurelius into her arms, determined to do anything for him to survive. In his state, that seemed like foolish hope, but she knew that if it was possible, he would live.

Something rolled out of Aurelius' fingers when she lifted him. It hit the ground with a meaty sound. She looked down to find that it was a heart. And only then did she notice the other man who lay on the ground at her feet. His frame was slight and seemed frail to an almost pitiable extent.

She recognized his face somehow. It quickly occurred to her where they had met before, and it seemed like another world was revealed to her. She couldn't begin to comprehend it. She didn't want to.

The man had a hand-sized hole in his chest, but somehow his lips were stuck, curved upwards. Both his hand and eyes were pointed where Aurelius had been.

'Is that... him?' Cade thought.

Her upper lip curled as he looked down at the man, hugging Aurelius' large frame more tightly. Then she raised her foot over the man's head, sending an electrifying burst of enhancement through her body before stomping down.

***

Cade rolled to her side as she woke. Opening her eyes slowly, she saw a dark figure beside her. He was a broken man, wrapped in bandages from the neck with his face lined with sewn wounds. Still, his eyes lay closed.

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Almost a month had gone by since she brought her to Aleyah's. From then on, she had tended to him daily, never leaving his side. There was something nostalgic about it. Maybe it was because of how vulnerable he was again. In his unconscious state, it was easy to pretend nothing had happened.

Cade scooched closer under the sheets, putting a hand to his chest. His heart was still beating. Surprisingly, it wasn't so faint anymore. Cade hurried to put her ear to his chest to be sure. There he heard a lifelike pulse, the first real sign of recovery.

Cade drew herself away to sit beside him on her knees and see if there were any other changes. When she looked up, however, it was already happening. Aurelius' eyes fluttered.

Cade raised a hand, muttering something. She was excited to see him, but fear also struck her. A fear that only something related to Aurelius could stir her.

Aurelius looked around confused before jolting. Cade hurried to calm him. "It's me, Aurelius."

"Ca... de?" he said with a pained whisper.

"Yeah," she rubbed her arm, understanding his shock. He must've thought he would die. There was no knowing what effect that could have on him.

Aurelius' body relaxed at her touch, and he tried to open his eyes, succeeding only on one side. His right eyelid was sewn shut. He touched it briefly before looking at Cade. His left eye was a deep, deep blue. "Is he... Is Gadreel dead?"

Cade knit her brows. The last thing Aurelius remembered must've been him holding Gadreel's raw heart in his hand, and still, he asked if the man was dead. "Yeah."

"Am I..." He trailed off. Cade expected him to continue. He did not. He tried to move. The only thing that moved was his expression, from thoughtful to anguished. "How long has it been?" His voice trembled slightly.

"A month or so."

"How bad is it?"

"You're going to be alright, Aurelius." She smiled faintly at him. "Just like every other time."

He looked down into his lap and whispered a thank you.

Cade put a hand on his thigh. He froze before slowly turning to look at her with his one eye opened wide.

'Oh, no,' Cade thought.

"My leg," he whispered. He jolted into action, pressing and hitting his legs all over. "I can't feel..." Aurelius' voice turned panicked and breathy. "I can't feel my legs, Cade. I can't—"

"They—they're just numb. You've been in bed for—"

"No, no, no." Aurelius shook, his face twisting.

"Calm down. We can figure this out."

Aurelius buried his face in his hands in what must've been terrible pain. He stayed like that for a while, not making a sound until suddenly waking. "Stab them," Aurelius suggested, breathing fast, in obvious pain from his sudden movements.

"What? No."

"If they're just numb, I'll feel the stab, right?" He talked fast as if in a rush to prove his darkest thoughts wrong. "Right?"

"No, I can't just. What if I nick an artery or—"

Aurelius grabbed her hand. "Please. Just... please. He was breaking under that voice. "Try my toes or something." His pupil seemed to tremble in his frenzy.

Cade yielded and moved to his feet before materializing a thin spike of essence. He took hold of Aurelius' right foot and looked up, hoping for Aurelius to have felt it suddenly. He stared back, unflinchingly waiting for her to do it.

He stuck the needle in his big toe. Blood pooled out and dripped on the pristine sheets. Cade glanced up before pushing it in further. She felt sick. She'd blown up heads without reacting, but somehow she felt like puking at the sight of that light blue needle being plunged into flesh.

The needle came to a stop, and Cade looked up, her heart silent. Aurelius still looked expectant. "What is it?"

"Do you feel anything?"

"No. Just go deeper."

"It hit bone."

Aurelius was startled but didn't let it show for long. "So what?"

"So... what?" Cade repeated.

"So what?!" Aurelius yelled, only to regret it when he painfully remembered the condition of his jaw.

"Aurelius, I can't stab any deeper. Mutilating yourself will just cause more damage."

"What good is not causing damage if I'm already paralyzed?" Aurelius seethed. "Fine, if you won't do it..." Cade got ready to stop him as soon as she saw what he was going to do.

However, after Aurelius raised his hand in the air, nothing happened. No materialization came forth. Cade sat back, shivering slightly, as she looked at Aurelius struggle. Aurelius stared at his hand, every joint popping as he tried to force something into existence that wasn't listening to him. His expression turned even more agonized.

"I can't... do it," he said, his body tense in effort. "Why can't I even..." His breaking voice made Cade feel just as helpless as he was. She'd imagined that things couldn't get worse, but it seemed they had. "Why... why, why, why..." he repeated, hitting himself on the forehead with his palm. It wasn't just frustration. He was trying to hurt himself.

Cade jumped in to restrain him before he could do any real damage. "Stop it. Stop. It's temporary. Your legs too. You'll be fine, I promise. It won't last forever." Cade held him tightly and let go when she realized it was hurting him even more.

Aurelius mumbled under his breath. His forehead was red as he laid back into what must've been an uncomfortable position. He seemed to have given up on his legs as well. His face went loose with utter despair.

Gazing at the emptiness in his expression, Cade wondered. Paralyzed and rid of essence, what was Aurelius?

All his astonishing physical capabilities: strength, speed, dexterity, endurance. All aspects of his spirit: courage, perseverance, pride. Even the centerpieces of his moral character: altruism, empathy.

In that moment, all of them seemed to be wiped away, leaving only some scarred husk, in a twisted position, staring with hollow disappointment down at his body.

"He won," Aurelius muttered.

"What?" Cade asked, coming closer to comfort him.

Aurelius didn't even seem to be reacting to her when he repeated, emphasizing every letter, "Gadreel won."

Cade felt her stomach sink, and she moved away from Aurelius. She didn't know everything that had happened between the two, but she knew one thing: Aurelius was alive, and Gadreel was dead.