> Everything has a soul. It is what you do with it that defines your life, child."

>

> - The Bearer of Gifts to the First Iteri.

Elena, full of the hope and ecstasy of her blooming destiny, met William at the same fountain from the day before. He stood before the church, still gazing at the moon and the metal rod jutting into Rykard’s chest. He wore the same clothes as the previous day and looked more like a runaway than a homeless man. He seemed slightly too clean.

When she approached, he cast a warm smile. "Hello, miss. Did you dream the day away?"

"Of course. I dreamt of black cats and voodoo dolls."

William placed a hand upon his chest, and, looking utterly shocked in a mocking sort of way, uttered, "Miss Elena, I did not know you listened to church music!" He nudged her with his elbow, “You’re with us now. Stick with me, I'll show you some better music.”

Elena smiled as William bobbed his head to invisible music. He looked stiff, like he hadn’t danced in ages. Altogether, he seemed silly. She looked up to the moon, full in a way that she had never seen before, taking in the full weight of the night she experienced. This night would start everything. Yesterday she changed, but tonight she would seek her reason for being.

"Ready to go?" Elena asked, beginning to walk towards the university entrance.

"Not yet, there's someone you have to meet. He, uh, wants to help." William began walking towards the church, the same one with the impaled statue of Rykard. Inside sat a man regarding the old, torn, and burned artwork that no longer graced the stone building with majesty, but rather with the brutal truth of decay and endless loss.

"This is Erasmus," William began. "He knows the Deuda better than anyone I've met. He's also looking for the Necromancer, same as us." William didn’t move to join him. Instead, he opted to stand beside Elena, a comforting presence in the face of a potential unknown.

Upon William uttering these words, Erasmus' eyes lit up with acknowledgment as he looked at them. He pulled at his coat and dusted himself off. His pale black suit made him look all the more distinguished, as though he were ready to either utter a sermon or be ready for the ball. His smile, and pure white teeth made him seem all the more alive.

"Hello, Miss Elena; I am Erasmus, caretaker of this university and all who reside therein. William told me all about you, and I want to help."

Elena looked to William uncertain at first, but Erasmus continued. "I've been looking for the Necromancer myself," he said as he unbuttoned his coat sleeve. "I've been working on finding the man, but I've had no such luck." He pulled back his sleeve to reveal the rotted flesh of his forearm, the bone and tendons visible, moving as he moved his hands. "It goes up to my shoulder on this arm,” he said, eyeing her with uncertainty. “I just want to get patched up. It wouldn’t do if I went around the town a shambling mess. You understand.” He lowered his coat sleeve, and rebutted his coat.

Elena, seeing the rotted flesh of an undead for the first time, had wanted to look away. A part of her knew she should feel disgusted, but another part of her felt sorrow, and sadness for Erasmus. He should be taken care of, same as her. People shouldn’t be abandoned, or forced to suffer. “Sure, I can help you find him. It'll be easier with more people." Elena forced a smile.

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Erasmus put his arms out before him, as if ready to embrace Elena in a hug, but quickly stopped himself, and began straightening his coat. "Perfect, thank you, Miss. I just need to know what he looked like. Neither William nor I can remember what he looks like. William says you do remember?"

Erasmus sat back down, eyes ready and alight with curiosity. William sat across from him, on a nearby, half-burned bench, holding the same tired eyes he had when she first saw him. The liveliness he expressed not ten minutes ago, was all gone. She sat beside him. "There's not much to say, really.” Erasmus continued to stand, hand under his chin, “He had a purple robe, pale skin, a hooked nose, no facial hair, and a weird necklace."

"Necklace? What did it look like?" Erasmus asked, the black charred walls behind him giving him a menacing air that matched his demeanor as if he were made from the same worn material.

"The necklace looked like it was made from bones. Why? Is that important?"

Erasmus paced a moment and placed his face in his hands. He looked at the burned artwork as if seeking guidance, or perhaps out of habit. Then he spoke, “it might be, but it might be nothing. The robe sounds familiar, and the facial features will give us something to go on. The bones worry me, but I wouldn't let it worry you, miss."

Elena sat there a moment longer than she intended, feeling uneasy at the man before her. He radiated, not malice, something more akin to dread. She felt for him and his circumstances. Yet, Erasmus, whoever this man was, felt wrong. Elena put on a smile and looked at William who sat there, arms wrapped around himself as if being in the church felt uncomfortable.

William turned, their eyes met, and a smile spread across his face. "You ready to go," he asked.

"Yeah, let's find the Necromancer." Elena turned to leave, but as she turned, she noticed William say, in a hushed, dour tone to Erasmus, "good luck with the cult.”

Elena and William walked through the university, the night air gradually chilling around them, and Shade running on ahead, bounding through shadow and bush. "So, I was thinking," William started, looking more comfortable in the night than he did in the church, "we should start where you saw him, and try looking around there."

"Sounds good, it's at the nearby bridge that leads out of the city." They continued walking, Shade stopping to smell and lick random plants, hiding amongst the rocks, only visible when the unusual moonlight reflected off the sheen of his fur. He seemed happy.

When they reached the bridge, Elena pointed at the ledge and said, "this is where I jumped and died.” She paused for effect as if her own death were just an event in a long line of events without weight or purpose. "Then, as if by destiny itself, the Necromancer brought me back!"

She forced a smile, and, now that she was here again, saw how long of a drop it was. A long enough drop to kill her, but not fast. She had been lucky to have been turned, taken out of her broken misery.

Shade scampered up to the edge of the bridge, looked down, and did what all cats do, and rolled around. He didn't fall, but his being so close to the edge made Elena uneasy. She snatched him and cradled him. William smiled.

He walked towards the edge of the bridge, he looked down into the dark. "That must've hurt." Elena didn't reply, William continued, “best guess is that he must've been walking around in the hills and found himself down there. You got lucky, most people get turned when they're all gooey, but you're as fresh as a daisy, Miss Elena."

He smiled as he usually did, one that warmed Elena to see, as if it didn't matter in the end how bad the world was, that it’d be okay.

"Onward and upward," he said.

"Onward where?" Elena asked under the lamplight of the bridge. "There's nothing out there."

"Now, we don't know that yet, do we, miss? I've looked in the city myself and never found the man, but if he's been hiding out there all this time, in the dark, amongst all the spirits of the damned? Well, then it makes sense." He flashed another grin as if he said the most profound joke in the world.

Elena knew that there were no spirits out there, but couldn't help but smile back. "Onward and upward." They crossed the rest of the bridge and ventured out into the wooded hills behind the Deuda.