After finally psyching himself up I eagerly waited to watch my father squirm in pain as he forced himself into the freezing lake. More than a little concerned at how excited the prospect seemed.

‘It didn't matter if it was an accident, he almost killed me… Again…’ I let out a sigh, wrapping my arms around my knees as I rested my head on my shoulder. ‘Even if he didn't know it was cold water he shouldn't have done that. He's as bad as Bhaltair, worse even. I'm done putting up with him. I’m going to have to settle things on my own, no matter what he says… I’m going to do things my way…’

I closed my eyes, looking inwardly and circulating my manna through my body. Not only was more dense, but it felt as though it flowed more smoothly too. It didn’t even take effort to activate my magic anymore.

[status]

Listed effects:

frost labyrinths curse

frost labyrinths blessing

purification

Marked as prey

Blessing of the dark moon

dissonance reduced to 0

My head felt like it was splitting again as information forced its way into my skull, but unlike before the headache faded, and the magic remained, not even putting a strain on my body.

‘First I couldn’t use magic, then I only got my magic back because I listened to Khazack and started ignoring all the numbers. It was something I did a lot in my past life. My sister would call it the Put your head down and grind mode.’ I let out another deep breath, leaning back on my hands as I glanced over to Airsidh. ‘It was… Whenever I focused really hard on one thing and shut everything else out… That’s what she would call it… So… Tunnel vision… Is that what he was talking about?’ Relaxing a bit I started changing my focus, messing around with how I could view the status, and see if I could figure out what exactly it all meant.

‘First thing’s first. Having a blessing makes demons hurt me less right? And it cleanses my soul or whatever. So…’ I focused my soul energy towards my eyes, and just like before the colors were all muted. In the same breath, I stopped it. ‘So it still works then. Well, I guess I should move on to worrying about all this…

[frost labyrinths curse: You bathed in the labyrinths cursed frozen lake. Cold resistance - 50%]

[Frost Labyrinths blessing: You bathed in the Frost Labyrinths blessed fountain. Tissue damage from cold - 50%, Purification status, divinity + 10]

[purification: While under the effects of purification, your dissonance will become 0 and people will be able to sense your pure soul and kindhearted nature.]

[Blessing of the dark moon: Dark magic potency doubled.]

[Dissonance has been reset to 0.]

[Dissonance: A percentage scale of how close you are to becoming a demon.]

[Mark of Black Death: The ghoul is hunting you. It has made you its mortal enemy, and will not rest until you are dead.]

‘So wait… that lake is blessed and cursed? Purification is nice I suppose, since I can still use dark magic. And frost labyrinths blessing must have been why I didn't freeze to death, despite the curse.’

‘I guess now that I received the blessing it’s decided to go into the market for a new host… If it really can’t feed off my fear anymore then it makes sense… But it also has no motive to keep me alive anymore either… I guess our final battle really is coming up soon then…’

By the time I was done going through all of my status effects, I had warmed up quite a bit and my father was finally ready to go into the lake, taking his armor and most of his clothes, and taking a deep breath with his eyes closed to center himself.

As he stepped in, I almost thought I heard the sizzle of burning flesh, like that from a grill. He groaned in pain, his whole body tensing up, but he continued, taking another step. He groaned again, and it looked as though his whole body locked up. His motions became almost robotic, but he never stopped, moving in slowly until he was completely submerged.

‘Tough old man…’

The pool began to glow brightly as the water completely surrounded him. The water began to glow faintly until a giant bubble lifted him into the air and carried him back to shore, popping with a splash.

He coughed up water, rolling onto his side, his skin bright red. With a loud groan and a deep growl, he crawled to his feet, drying himself off, and starting to dress again without so much as a shiver.

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‘No… Tough doesn’t even begin to describe it…’

I felt a strange melancholy. I didn’t want to admit it, but I wanted it to hurt more… That made me feel guilty though, and the fact that I felt guilty made me feel like maybe it was a good thing that he didn’t end up in as bad of a state as me.

My logic bounced off of itself several times until eventually, everything settled down. Airsidh was busy sharpening his blade by the time it occurred to me that I still didn’t know if my eyes had changed.

I would have just gone up to him and asked anyway if it wasn’t for the fact that my father was sitting next to him. Of course, I waited around for a while, but neither seemed to move, as if they were playing a game of chicken, neither wanting to cave, both sitting in complete silence.

Eventually, my curiosity got the best of me and I just went to ask Zu instead. He was just eating some dried meat anyway, so he was hardly busy.

As I approached him he started choking, flinching in a way that almost made me feel like I was still naked. Of course, looking down, the shirt may have been a bit large, but the odds of it actually falling off were quite slim. Sure, the collar was big, but I made sure to tie the laces so that the slit halfway down was completely closed, and my shoulders were broad enough to at least hold it on, all be it barely.

“You alright?” I asked, raising an eyebrow, hoping to ease the tension.

“Fine…” He managed to get out between coughs.

He was sitting down on a large stone, so to match his eye level I squatted down in front of him. ‘I’ll just get to the point and make this quick. “Are my eyes better?”

After finally recovering he looked into them, staring intently, but instead of saying anything he just turned bright red.

‘Well… At least I know I don’t look like a monster…’ “Zu!” I waved my hand in front of his face. I tried to snap my fingers, but the fabric from the long sleeves got in the way.

“Right, right. Sorry, no. Your eyes aren’t black or bloodshot anymore… But, they aren’t exactly normal.”

“What… So what’s wrong with them?” I lifted my hand up and moved it close, then farther away. “I mean, I can still see fine. Better even, and they don’t hurt anymore.”

“There beautiful.”

I let out an uncomfortable groan. “What’s that supposed to mean…”

He shook his head. “They used to be a soft grey, but now it’s almost like they are a sparkling white. You know how my eyes glow sometimes? Like when I’m angry, or…”

“Like right now?”

He cleared his throat. “Yes, well, your eyes look like that… Just… Like I said, white, not purple.”

‘Great, so I've got a streak of white in my hair and glowing white eyes… Even if people don’t figure out I’m a wizard they’ll think I’m a freak… When I do get to school it’s going to be like junior high all over again.’

I let out a disappointed sigh. “Well, at least the markings on my skin are gone,” I slightly pulled away the collar of my shirt, looking down. “Even the ones around my heart, where they were the most dense.”

I couldn’t tell you why, but he started turning red again. It was especially easy to tell, because along with the rush of blood came a pulse of purple light through his horns.

‘Why does talking to him always have to be this awkward… I’m not even doing anything… Am I?’ I slowly lowered my face into my hands and closed my eyes. ‘Sure the shirt rises every time I lift my arms, but it barely gets above my knees, so I doubt that’s the issue.’

The more I thought about it the more uncomfortable I became, starting to wish my mom back from earth was there, sense she was the one that always helped me with… things of that nature. She was always more than happy too, sense my sister would just ignore them completely.

Letting out a small huff I took the blanket off my head and wrapped it around my body again just in case.

He cleared his throat. “Sorry, it’s just, hard to concentrate, knowing that you’re not wearing anything underneath that. I mean you aren’t even wearing pants.”

I froze stiff, suddenly getting chills. ‘Well… Now I know… I can’t believe he actually said that out loud…’ “It’s not like it’s comfortable for me either…” I groaned, tightening the grip on the blanket. ‘But it’s not like it was that uncomfortable either… Till I started talking to you…’ I turned to my armor, suddenly hoping it would dry faster, but realizing it was still soaked, oddly enough my hair seemed to be dry already.

“I can give you mine if you want.” Turning my head back to Zu, it soon became apparent that he couldn’t even stand to look at me anymore… Or think clearly, given his most recent statement…

I felt myself trying to force a smile, but not even getting close. “I… Really don’t think that’s necessary…”

“Honestly I’d probably be more comfortable that way.” He continued.

I took a small step backward. ‘Somehow I don't think I would though…’ “You’re… A really awkward person… You know that?”

He kept his gaze firmly fixed to the side. “I am aware of that fact yes.”

‘Why does it sound like he’s proud of it?’ “Uh… Thanks but I’m gonna pass. I think I’m going to go to sleep now…”

“Sleep well, Ma’am.”

‘Ma’am…?’ I slowly and carefully stepped backward several times before I turned around, walking over to Airsidh and knuging his shoulder.

He turned to look up at me, silently waiting for me to speak. I leaned over and whispered in his ear. “H-hey… You’re… Going to make sure I’m safe right… Like while I’m asleep?”

He quickly glanced past me to Zu before calmly returning to sharpening his sword. “Demons wouldn’t dare come near here. So you don’t have to worry about that. As for any other threat, well…” He glanced over to our father for a split second as well before making another long run down the blade with the wet stone. “Like I said, you won’t have to worry.”

To be honest, I wasn’t actually that worried, insecure would have probably been a better word, and it had more to do with me sleeping in a dungeon without my armor, than the people I was with. A part of me just wanted to hear him say that I would be safe. He joked around a lot, sometimes taking it too far, just like me, but I hadn’t once heard him lie. When he said I didn’t have to worry, it really felt like it was the truth. And while I wasn’t sure whether or not he’d fight that hard to protect my hair, I knew he’d definitely fight to protect me.

He raised his sword out in front of him, looking at the edge closely, with Zu on the other end. “Just to make sure though, I’ll sleep somewhere between you two, and keep my sword drawn. If he moves I’ll kill him”

‘With the way he’s reacting, there’s no way he’d try anything…’ “That’s not necessary, is it? I mean what if he just gets up because he’s hungry?”

“Dead.”

“Ok but–”

“Skewered.”

“But like—”

“Choped like a fine onion.”

Since his voice never changed, I honestly couldn’t tell if he was joking or not, that was the scary part. I let out a sigh, not getting anywhere. “OK, well. I haven’t slept in over 36 hours, and after the day I had I could probably use it, So I’m going to go pass out now.”

“Don’t do that, it’s bad. Sleep instead, much healthier.”

I rolled my eyes gently shoving him, unable to help a smile as I let out a small puff of air. “Goodnight brother.”

“Wait.” He sheathed his sword, standing up and giving me his blanket. “Use this one too. If you don’t need it to stay warm then put it under you to make the ground a bit softer.”

He tossed it to me, so I felt like I had no choice but to catch it, and before I could ask if he was sure he had already started walking toward Zu. I didn't know what he was going to say, but I also wasn’t sure I wanted to… If not only because I was starting to feel guilty about the impression I might have given him.