"Oh?" Eyes of the Forest smiled smugly, giving Sirius shivers. "What do you see?"

"An owl..." Sirius stammered. He felt like a mouse that moment, as large eyes were scanning him up and down.

"You caught my Visage. Spirit reflects the path of a person. I was focused on observing so much, finding inspiration from Crystal Owls' way of seeing, and it influenced my appearance."

"Do all druids look like that?"

"Not only druids. All shapers, some more, some less have altered their Spirit in their pursuit for power. Some intentionally, like us, some... not so. Like you."

"How do I look like?" Sirius was both intrigued and scared.

"Oh, it is... hard to do in your state. Let's say your alterations aren't the most... elegant, so to speak."

"Can you describe my Visage to me? Do you have any mirror?"

Eyes of the forest sighed and thought for a little before giving an answer, "oh, World, help me. You can see with any part of your Spirit. Just imagine your eyes opening in your hand, like so," her huge eyes closed, and in her hand appeared one shining eye, much smaller and ethereal, like a drawing.

Sirius tried several times, and after a bit getting accustomed to having his vision outside his head, he turned the palm towards himself. Instantly, his face sunk, as he observed his own Visage. Dark, covered in thin golden lines, like a cracks. No fancy clothing, no tools, just a black blot with vaguely humanoid silhouette. Unintentionally, Sirius opened his eyes, and saw his own Astral Body do so as well. Golden pits without irises, faint emotions shining from within. Sorrow, anger, curiosity, resentment, fear, rage, everything swirled inside at once. And his face... No mouth, no ears, a slight bump in the middle as a sad excuse for a nose, and bloody red tears streaming from his eyes, sinking into darkness on his skin.

"What am I..." Sirius mumbled.

"You are an amalgamation of your terrible experiences. Without a concrete path or goal, you are lost and unsure."

"What does it all mean?..." Sirius was on the verge of breakdown. Eyes of the Forest was unsure how to console the boy, so she could only describe what she saw in order to distract him.

"Oh, boy... When you came here, your battered body scared everyone around. Parasites, curses, deep scars... All that was not unheard of, but not at the same time. Please remember, that there is also Ghost of the Past attached, so it might influence your Visage. As soon as we cleanse your Spirit, you will revert to your true appearance, and you might even influence it a little as it goes."

"So that is how I look..." Sirius finally closed the eye on his palm and hugged his knees. The temperature in the room dropped a few degrees, as Sirius closed his eyes, squeezing stray tears out, "all this time... I was like this."

"It is not as bad as you think. You should look at others, when you recover. Maybe it will help with your self-consciousness. In my life I saw much stranger Visages."

"Fine... I will try not to think about it for now..."

"That's good. Are you ready for getting rid of your last affliction?"

"Yes..." Sirius remembered what was the original plan, and took a breath to calm down, "I'm ready."

"Oh, World." Eyes of the forest muttered, while gathering her thoughts. "Here's was we'll do. You should separate your Spirit from your body. Since the Ghost is safer in your material body, it will take over the control. You shouldn't be afraid, since in the end it is still yours, and if the Ghost was more powerful, it would kick you out long ago." she gave Sirius a reason to be wary about Ghosts in future with that last remark. "While in that state, you can converse with the Ghost. It will try its best to persuade you to leave it be, but you should push him out little by little anyways. You can even try to pull it out with your hands when you are ready."

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"What are they?"

"Oh, Ghosts? The stray memories imbued with mana. You caught one when you touched the leyline. Your affinity with mana is making living alongside you rather comfortable for them, so you are lucky it is just one. Questions?"

"No... It's just... Am I killing it?" Sirius looked at Eyes of the Forest with sadness.

"Such are the ways..." she could only answer with pity. "It's you or it. Just remember that it is not human, despite its looks. Just a Ghost of a person from the past. It will return into the World, and becomes one with the mana around."

"Don't you use 'Become one with the World' instead of 'death'?"

"Oh... That... It IS ties to our beliefs, sure, but in this case it is literal. A person is too solid to unite with the World, but this wisp was already part of it, so look at it like releasing it back where it came from."

"Fine..." Sirius was not really convinced, but he had no choice in this matter. As Eyes said, it is either him, or it.

Sirius loosened the connection of his body and soul, releasing Astral Body into the free roam, his consciousness leaving his body behind. Inside his ribcage something bloomed, spreading its tendrils through his limbs, slowly taking control over his shell. Sirius was disgusted by that sight, but it also made it easier to get rid of the intruder. He began pushing out the Ghost, but something began speaking.

"Wait, what are you doing?" Sirius felt his body speak into his mind.

"So, it was you." Sirius spoke from his Astral Body, his words reaching the Ghost.

"What do you mean, youngling? Explain yourself." The body answered, in somewhat arrogant tone, not suitable for desperate being.

"You nearly killed that man from Crimson Crusade. I barely came back in time."

"That red bastard? You feel remorse for that animal?" The Ghost slammed his fists into the bed it was sitting. "Bloody fiends bring only destruction! They should be exterminated!"

"Who are you?" Sirius asked coldly.

"I am the supreme general of the Holy Empire of Man! You must be living under a rock to not hear about our glorious country!"

"Holy Empire... of Man?..." Mumbled Sirius in thought.

"Hmph! Outrageous! We united every human under our banner to protect against the foul witches! Our borders spread from southern mountains to the unending planes of the north! You could not possibly NOT hear about us!"

"What are witches?"

"You truly are an infidel. Witches use their disgusting tricks to taint the world with their bloody magic!"

"So, whoever can do magic is a witch?"

"Of course! Their ungodly powers only do evil! Only a handful pledged allegiance to our Only True God, helping us to uproot the red witches. I led a crusade into their den, and stopped that foul infection from spreading with my own hands! And to think that those rats survived? Unbelievable!"

"I am a mage as well. I do magic."

"Do not tease me, kid! I devoted my life to killing those fiends!" Sirius' body filled with rage, and he could see faint outline of an armour appear in Astral World around the ghost.

"You are already dead." Sirius began gathering powers to push out the intruder. "And you are getting awfully comfortable in my body."

"You... You dare to go against the..." the ghost was cut short, as Sirius plunged his ethereal hand deep inside the body's chest, where the core of the ghost was located. "You... Infidel!.."

"You don't understand." Sirius hissed with poorly contained rage. "You are dead, and so are everyone you protected. Mages now rule the world! There are almost no person who can't use magic at this point!" With every word the ghost's face turned more and more fearful, as Sirius' memories confirmed the words.

"It can't be! Those red..."

"How did they call themselves!?" Sirius tugged at the core, snapping some tendrils.

"Crimson Crusade..." ghost muttered, making Sirius stop.

He wanted to know more, but having the Ghost attached to his own body was dangerous. He could feel tendrils branching deeper into his limbs, trying to restore control of the snapped appendages. Fear of the ghost infected his body, making his mind race. Sirius winced a little and took a breath with his Astral Body. Not that he needed to breath in that state, but that helped him to calm down and come up with a plan.

"Glorious general, listen to me. You see my mind as your own, for you inhabit my body. Those red witches are my enemies as well, and so I will deal with them. Let me take over that banner you carry even in death, so your soul could find its peace," the fear receded, replaced with serene calm, as Ghost thought for a moment.

"Fine. You are right, kid," the Ghost began shrinking his control over Sirius' body. "The dead have nothing to do with the world of living. Forgive my intrusion, young one."

The body went limp, leaving an ethereal ghost in armour sitting on the bed. A man with short cut and black beard looked at Sirius' Astral Body, its black and gold Visage contrasting with brilliant white of the steel chest plate. Sirius was holding it by the core near its heart. The man's stern look softened and he smiled with sorrow. He stretched his armoured hand and put on Sirius' chest.

"You are not like them. Nor you are like us," said an ethereal voice, as the ghost began dissipating into thin mist, filling the room with mana.