Mindplay's arm was bandaged, and color returned to his face. Beside him lay the unconscious Raya with white and black hair but no red as it was when I left the room.

The conscious Raya with red hair looked down at her sleeping self in bewilderment.

"How is this possible?" asked Raya to no one specifically.

Nadra answered but was no more sure of her answer than anyone else in the room. "Normally, I would allude to the strangeness of Sanctuary. That's still the case, but this is my first time seeing anything like this."

"Do you know if this has happened before?" I asked.

"I have no doubt, but finding a record of such an instance would take days."

"Can you reverse this?" Raya looked at Nadra in a panic. She was less reserved and more open with her emotions than before.

"Once you leave Sanctuary, you will return to how you were for the most part."

"For the… most part?"

"Think of it this way. If you experienced a change not brought on by another person, it will stop affecting you once you leave Sanctuary."

"What if I wanted to go back to normal?" There was something about Raya's question that sounded like she wasn't asking for her own sake.

Nadra took a moment to think. "What you're experiencing is caused by the shadow realm. The power needed to override its changes is beyond anyone here. I'm sorry if this is an inconvenience."

"It isn't," Raya said quickly. "It's strange, but at least I get to move around. Let's go, Silver."

I blinked as if she didn't call me by name. "Go where?"

"I want to see the rest of the city."

"I would get stopped by pedestrians if I did that."

"Then we'll take the roofs. I know you can keep up with me."

I looked back at Nadra, hoping she could convince Raya to calm down. Nadra shrugged and said, "She seems healthy enough to explore."

That's not the issue, I thought. I was still trying to wrap my mind around two Rayas existing. On top of that, this Raya acted so much differently than I was used to that I didn't know how to deal with her.

Nadra continued to speak. "You should take the time to relax, Silver."

I grumbled, knowing she was right. The jinn was my most taxing fight, and now that I was tired, it would do no good to go to Claymore.

I followed Raya through the clinic's back door while BD flew behind us. Raya expertly jumped from wall to wall and eventually reached the roofs. I mimicked her moments and could get the roofs and land beside her. She didn't give me a chance to speak before she was off again, jumping from rooftop to rooftop. Her jumps kept close to each structure she vaulted over, giving her less air time and quicker recovery to start running again.

I couldn't match Raya's technique and needed to catch up. To catch up, I used BD as a glider.

"That's not fair," complained Raya despite still smiling. Her smile was unnerving. In a good way, if you could believe it. It was simple but was so different from the thousand-yard glare she seemed to have before.

It wasn't supposed to be fair. I was trying not to lose Raya in the city. Despite that, Raya's new carefree attitude started rubbing off on me. I stopped using BD to help me and tried to parkour like Raya. Despite not matching her skill or speed, she would slow down and look back at me, giving me time to close the gap. She laughed when I tripped.

Eventually, she stopped right before we got to the city's center. She watched people move busily through the streets and around a fountain that was the square's centerpiece. Food stalls gave the air a pleasant stench of grilled produce and spices. Raya's smile hadn't faded. It might have gotten bigger since we left the clinic.

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"So what exactly is this?" I finally asked Raya about her current state. "I've only known the Raya who would sooner snap my neck before she laid eyes on me."

Raya sat at the roof's edge and asked, "I wasn't that cruel, was I?"

"No," I responded with a laugh. BD landed beside Raya and watched the people. "Nadra mentioned that you have multiple personalities. I was wondering how that connects to Gahara's curse."

"This isn't because of Gahara per se. A few years after I killed Gahara, my mentor died at the hands of a horde of monsters. I avenged him by killing them all, but in the process, Gahara started to take over my body. I searched for a way to minimize his influence and stumbled upon a shaman who taught me to split my consciousness into three. In doing so, I split Gahara's essence, weakening his ability to overpower me. The only drawback was that I had to keep the personalities separate lest they naturally come together and restore Gahara. I did this by choosing one of my dominant personalities while pushing the others away unless I needed their skills."

Even after Raya was done talking, I stood in silence.

"What?" Raya asked, sounding annoyed that I wasn't responding.

"Sorry. I haven't heard you talk this much about your personal situation."

Raya's cheek brightened red. "I didn't notice. It felt natural. Is this also because of Sanctuary?"

I shrugged. "I know a lot about this palace, but how it works is still a mystery."

"How are you doing, by the way?"

I blinked at her, not sure how to respond to this Raya. "What do you mean?"

"Before everything went gray for me, you started to go berserk. Was it because you were using Silver's Cry?"

"...Yes, for the most part. Using that ability forces painful memories to surface. I tried pushing past the pain because I needed the power to defeat my foes. Ultimately, all I can think about are the people I hate."

There was sympathy in Raya's eyes as she looked up at the lighting on the ceiling. "We should be heroes, not avengers."

"What?"

"It was something my mentor said. He was a part of the Order, too, but he didn't believe killing all monsters would bring peace to humanity. I still don't know if he was right, but he was a good man."

"Heroes…"

Before I knew it, Raya was back up again, approaching the city's center. It didn't take long for us to reach it, and we made our way to the ground. The light that was illuminating the city came from a pool of water. Inside were all kinds of fishes and water-bound monsters. Despite the water's clearness, we couldn't see the bottom where the light was. It was mesmerizing to watch the ripples and people swimming in the water. The sounds of children's laughter echoed like distant memories.

"I wish I could live here for a time," she said almost in a whisper.

"What's stopping you?" I asked. I didn't want to tempt her one way or the other. This was the first time I could comfortably talk to Raya. Was I getting carried away?

"Myself. I can't allow myself to rest while someone out there needs saving from monsters."

"Does your organization rely on you that much?" I tried to be careful to not say the name, Order of the Eye, out loud. It wasn't likely that anyone in Sanctuary knew about the Order or even cared, but I wouldn't risk it.

Raya's forehead creased. "They have other people that are almost as capable as me…" She suddenly shook her head violently. "No. I can't think like that. Can I?"

"Raya?"

"I'm so used to thinking the way the lion does that I didn't think there would be this much of a difference."

"The lion?" asked BD.

"The me with the white hair. The stoic one." Raya's eyes darkened with fear and confusion. She looked at her open palms as if they weren't hers. Turning to me, she asked, "Why is this happening?"

Unexpectedly, I hugged Raya. Her body stiffened, but she didn't attempt to push me away. I didn't let go until her heartbeat had slowed down. As I let her go, I looked into her eyes and smiled.

You have some things to work through. Don't worry about the world. It will survive a day or so without you."

Raya waited to respond. "In a way, I know you're right, but I still have a mission to bring in Shadow Fang. I can't let that go unfinished."

"I understand, but I want to leave in an hour."

"I'll be ready. I think Mindplay will be as well."

"Will you come back here once Shadow Fang is defeated?"

Raya placed a thumb on her lips as she took a moment to ponder the question. "I would like to come back." She looked over the water as if to burn the image to her memories. "But I'm not the personality you have to convince. This was fun, but I don't think I will be coming back."

"I'm sorry if I was making you do something you didn't want to do."

Raya smiled. "I would have never admitted it and may never after we leave, but I appreciate your help and friendliness. I should be sorry that I may never be able to repay that the way I currently am."

The huntress had resigned herself to be a monster hunter for as long as she lived. Was it guilt or an oath that bound her to this role? I decided to leave her be. We would defeat Shadow Fang together and go in hopes of never seeing each other again. If we did meet, it would be as enemies.

But for this moment, I smiled, knowing I had given her a happy memory.