Bethyinine got up and walked over to the podium. The podium was empty, save for a piece of paper underneath the microphone. She glanced at the paper, watching as the words shifted rapidly, as if the paper itself was deciding its own contents. She picked up the paper and at once the words stopped shifting, the paper’s contents were clear to her now. This was his eulogy, her brother’s eulogy, only this one looked different from the one which Luxcious had read. The paragraphs were longer, the words were in white ink instead of black, and it was addressed as if it were a letter. She squinted so as to make out the words on the page with a bit more clarity.

To my dear sister

You may see my corpse before you and question my passing. Know that I am sleeping, I find peace in the stillness of death. Do not mourn my loss, do not cry over what has passed. I really don’t want you to bring me back, it’s much too nice here. And I swear to Nadahr, if you do bring me back, I will kill you. Only joking though, I’d rather repeat this again before I ever harm you.

Sincerely, Silas James Mori

Bethyinine finished reading the eulogy and began to shed a few tears. She placed the paper back on the podium and walked outside into the pouring rain. Her eyes glanced towards the ivory spire off in the distance, perhaps the archive there would be of use to her? Bethyinine sprinted off towards the spire, leaving Silas’s body alone in the cathedral.

On her way towards the spire, she passed through a small marketplace, the harsh scent of smoke filling her lungs. She turned her gaze to a nearby fire, with a single peasant in front of it. The fools prostrated in worship, and his eyes fixed on a white clay statue. Bethyinine squinted her eyes so as to get a better look at the statue. She took a few steps towards the peasant, whose head turned to her upon hearing her approach.

The peasant, a tall gruff man in his early thirties, rushed over to her. Immediately, he fell to his knees and prostrated himself in prayer to her.

”Mistress, I offer myself in sacrifice to you.” He said, his voice hoarse.

”Why are you throwing your life away? Shouldn’t you be begging for money instead? What good will death do for you?” Bethyinine growled.

”My sacrifice will only serve to strengthen you, my Mistress. Why must you refuse my offer?” The peasant pleaded.

Bethyinine simply rolled her eyes and growled as the peasant grabbed her by the knees. Fear shot through her as the bastard gripped her scales. She writhed and struggled, trying to get herself free of his hold. Yet his grip was too strong, or she was too weak. Bethyinine yelped as the peasants grip tightened, her eyes darting around for someone to try and help her.

She could feel the peasant working his way up her body. She could also feel something else, something different, something strange. Magic, Bethyinine thought, he wanted to control her, to make her kill him. All because I told him not to throw his life away, she chuckled.

Bethyinine could feel her self-control beginning to slip as the bastard’s magic took hold. She hissed and writhed, her her efforts were futile. Her mind went numb as the peasants control over her strengthened. If he extorted too much control over her, she’d go unconscious. Bethyinine could hear the bells of the cathedral ring and closed her eyes, waiting for the peasant to work his magic.

Bethyinine could feel the last bit of self-control she had begin to slip. She was just barely holding on, only by a single claw. Yet just as she was about to fall off the metaphorical cliff, she felt the ground beneath her feet again. Bethyinine quickly opened her eyes again and found the peasant unconscious on the ground. Then she felt someone tap her on the shoulder and sprang up in a panic.

“Sorry I scared you, madam.” Her savior apologized.

Bethyinine nodded, glanced over at the person, and noticed that he had on a merchants attire. She then rummaged around in her bag, pulled out a pouch, and took five gold coins from it. She smiled and gave them to the merchant.

”No need to pay me.” The merchant said as he turned down her offer.

”You need the money, don’t you?” Bethyinine asked.

”My business has been good to me lately.” The merchant answered.

Bethyinine sighed, nodded, and continued her trek towards the spire.

Finally, after having gotten past the horror of the market, Bethyinine gazed up at the spire. Noticing the seven black rings orbiting its peak. She knocked on the door and waited for an answer. Mere moments later the door was opened by a rather short old man carrying a cane made of elm wood.

”Ah, what business does an Umbräk have regarding someone like me?” He asked.

”With all due respect Aliyas, I come here seeking knowledge.” Bethyinine replied.

”Knowledge on what?” Aliyas groaned.

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”How does one cheat death?” Bethyinine asked as a faint orange glow appeared in the depths of her eyes.

Aliyas rolled his eyes and allowed her entry into his humble abode. The two of them ascended the spiral glass steps towards the library together. Bethyinine had only visited the Warden once before in her entire life, when she had gone out hunting as a child. Back then Aliyas thought nothing if her, to him she was just another creature in the Abyss. Just another piece of the food chain, another grain of sand along life’s endless beaches. Now the Warden of the Abyss saw her for what she was, an equal, someone who could control their population.

”How have your people been?” Aliyas asked as the two of them continued to climb.

”They’ve been alright, some of them tried to establish a place of worship for me, I promptly shut them down.” Bethyinine replied.

”Why, why would you deny yourself the praise of your own people?” Aliyas said.

“Not praise, worship, I’m not a god Allen.” Beth growled.

”Why do you have to be so informal with me? I’m not another one of your playthings.” Aliyas groaned.

Aliyas nodded solemnly and ascended the final few steps leading into a hallway. Bethyinine followed after him as the two of them entered the library. The ceiling couldn’t even be seen from where they were standing. Bethyinine’s jaw dropped as she looked around at the millions of books covering the walls. Aliyas looked at her and nodded before turning to ascend further up the spire.

”Don’t worry about cleaning up the shelves, the books will do that for you. Just take your time and find whatever you need to, best of luck! And just so you know, the books respond based on your current thoughts!” Aliyas said as he started up the stairs.

Bethyinine looked around at the ground floor and noticed a podium with a large leather book on it not too far from her. She went over and opened the book, it was filled with various pages concerning texts of varying topics. All of them related to various methods by which people could be killed. She growled and closed the book before walking over to another shelf. The library rumbled and the shelves shifted again, all the books having changed.

Bethyinine growled and took one of them from off the shelf. She skimmed through the book, noticing that it was a guide for grief counseling. She sighed, shed a tear, and sat down in a nearby chair. Her attention returning to what Aliyas had told her when she had entered the library. Better to try and focus her mind on how she could bring back James. Everything else would only serve as a distraction, and boy was her mind full of those.

As she collected her thoughts, Bethyinine could hear the shelves rapidly opening and closing. She sighed and turned her attention to her brother, her adopted brother. Bethyinine remembered the day she had first found James. He was dying, and she saved him, saved him from being forgotten. Yet just as she had saved him, James had saved her. Though where she had saved him from death, her brother had saved from from herself.

I was alone then, and he cared for me, Bethyinine remembered.

He saw me as human, he knew I wasn’t just an animal, she continued.

The rest of them saw me as a monster, he saw something else, she smiled.

He saw that I could change, and now without him I feel lost, Bethyinine sobbed.

I don’t care if he doesn’t want to come back. I want him, I need him, I love him. Bethyinine finished as tears poured down her cheeks.

She waited for a moment before wiping the tears from her eyes. Bethyinine then got up and walked over to the nearest shelf. She quickly grabbed the closest book as a smile lit up on her face. At last she had found what she was looking for, a book that actually had what she neeeded. Bethyinine laughed and happily opened the book.

The section which she was looking for was nestled near the very end of the last chapter. Bethyinine hastily tore through the pages in mere seconds, damaging the book in the process. She winced as the sound of paper tearing echoed around her. The books on the walls shook for a moment before returning to their slots in the shelves. This library could feel pain, she thought. She looked back at the book which had managed to repair the damages that she had done to it. Bethyinine breathed a sigh of relief before gazing at the section which she had just reached. The section regarding the actual resurrection of a truly departed individual was rather sparse with specific details, instead it concerned itself with various hypothetical methods of resurrection. All of which were proven outdated at this point.

Otherwise there would be no reason for him to do such a thing in the first place. Just fragment your soul and hide the pieces somewhere where only you can find them. Yet James wasn’t the type of person to do that, life was a game of chess to a man like him. Meaning, if he were to kick the bucket, there would need to be a way to bring him back again.

Bethyinine looked closer at the instructions, only to notice that there weren’t any more. The only requirements were a simple ritual circle, no runes required, and the soul of the deceased. As for the ritual itself, it would require the full concentration of multiple people for a total period of five hours. Bethyinine read further down the page, noticing a half erased note at the bottom.

Possible ritual alternative: the mass sacrifice of souls could be used to power the ritual and resurrect the departed, at the cost of possibly thousands of lives.

Bethyinine smiled and closed the book before scanning the shelves around her for possibly more information. All of the books on this layer were simple history textbooks detailing the origins of the Abyss and those who called it home. She walked towards one of the books and opened it to a random page. All while the sense boredom began to rapidly creep up her body.

Bethyinine had only finished turning the first few pages before she rolled her eyes and closed the book out of sheer annoyance. She bolted across the hallway and sprinted down the stairs. She reached the bottom of the spire in mere minutes and quickly sprinted out the door. She smiled and made her way back to the cathedral.

The only thing on her mind right now was getting her brother back. However, there was one problem with that. She had no way of obtaining the entirety of James’s soul. The only part that she could even acquire was from Luxcious. Bethyinine entered the cathedral and sat down in the aisle. The rain outside was still coming down in droves.

She smiled and listened to the sound of the rain hitting the cathedral roof. James’s corpse lied at the front of the room in perfect stillness. She sat there for a little while before getting up and walking towards her brother’s body. Bethyinine knelt down in front of the casket and examined James’s corpse. There were no signs of any sort of a struggle. All because of the fact that he had probably strangled himself to death. Which meant he most likely took himself out just before he went to bed. Or at least that’s what she told herself, because he could have shot himself for all she knew.