Max and the rescue group had returned to the One Hundred Steps of Patience. They avoided going up the stairs, but they didn't know where else to go. None of them could see Tiffany's spirit, and they didn't know where to start the search.

Max tried to look on the bright side.

"At least her body's a little more solid now," Max said. "What do we do now?"

"If Fajra Forest has evil spirits, then it must have kind ones," Aster reasoned. "We can get them to help us find her. "

"I guess I could try what I tried in the desert," Max replied. "Maybe Tiffany will answer."

He gave Tiffany over to Aster, who gently held her in his arms. The others reluctantly approached the Steps of Patience and tried again to ascend it. Max cocked his head to the side and a funny thought came to him.

"Hey Azure, I have a question for you!"

The friendly AIA slowly faded in. The sound of static crackled, and it's feline body took shape. Azure curled around his legs and meowed softly.

"Max, what use is an AIA right now," Seraphine asked.

"Maybe it knows things we don't," he replied.

"I know all sorts of things, Seraphina," Azure said with pride. "I know that you spend an average of 10 hours-"

"That's enough," she laughed nervously. "Let's get on with it."

She took a large step away from the cat.

"Azure, tell me, why do they call it the Steps of Patience," Max asked.

Azure blinked twice, a digital bling noise went off, and he had found the answer.

"The One Hundred Steps of Patience is named after Paciĝo, the daughter of the two people who created the temple. They wanted her to find a husband who was patient enough to wait for her while she slowly went up the steps. She was blind but many claimed Paciĝo could see what others couldn't."

The phrase, see what others couldn't made Max remember his strange nightmare on the river with the eye-less woman.

"We need to try walking up the stairs with our eyes closed," Max said.

"That's stupid, we're gonna slip and fall without those angry ghosts doing it," Seraphina said.

Kylan was tired of waiting and was willing to try anything. He closed his eyes and took one step onto the stairwell. There wasn't any difficulty like before and he laughed. Kylan opened his eyes, and turned around to boast.

"Guys, c'mon, we can-"

He was shoved down to the ground and everyone flinched from the brute force he was pushed with. Kylan looked up from the ground and his nose was bleeding but he still had a goofy grin. Max took his hand and helped him stand up, and Kylan boasted that he took one for the team.

"Let's try something else," Max said. "Azure, what else do you know about here?"

"Reportedly, the spirit of Paciĝo and her husband can be seen in Fajra Forest. Some say that if you meet them while with your lover, you are fated spirits, always to be together in this life and the next."

"That's really romantic," Seraphina said. "Maybe this place isn't so bad."

"Yeah, but you're single, it doesn't apply to you," Azure replied.

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"Max, I am going to kill that thing."

Max quickly shut Azure off and thought about the basic facts of the story. He looked at Aster and said something odd.

"Aster, do you want to be my Paciĝo," Max asked.

Everyone else looked at the two of them with intense curiosity. It was an odd time to be flirting. Aster did not overthink it and was more than happy to be Max's Paciĝo. He gave Tiffany to Seraphina to hold and tried to contain his excitement for what Max was going to say next.

Max took off one of his gloves and held out his hand.

"Take my hand Aster," Max instructed him.

Aster nodded yes furiously, took off his gloves, and gripped Max's hand a little too hard. Max led him to the steps and looked him in the eyes.

"Aster, never let go of my hand," Max instructed him.

"Never," Aster replied.

"Walk beside me no matter what."

"Of course."

"Now close your eyes."

"Right here? Right now," Aster asked. " In front of other people? You're so bold."

"You're my Paciĝo. You need your eyes to be closed when we walk up the stairs."

Aster's disappointment could be tasted in the air.

Seraphina and the others tried to hide their laughter at his disappointment.

Aster finally closed his eyes and tried to see the unseen. He didn't see anything but he definitely heard the laughter of others behind him. He reluctantly took one step up and Max went up with him. They waited a few seconds and neither of them were pushed down, so they tried again.

The next step up was uneventful as well, as Max was now positive his lucky guess was correct. They went up a few more steps, and Aster noticed that even though his eyes were closed, he felt like he could see. There were shadows walking up and down the steps, shadows of people.

Aster stood in place and stopped Max.

"We're in the way," Aster said. "To the left or else we'll get pushed again."

They moved a bit over to the left, and to Max's surprise he felt a slight bump on his shoulder when they continued up the steps. When they had finally made it up to the top, Aster and Max saw two very different things.

Max saw an old temple, with a little welcome sign, a tourist info board, and a giant arch at the entrance with many cracks and faded paint. The Fajra Temple had clearly seen better days.

Aster saw it at the height of it's glory, and then some.

A gate to Elysium sparkled in the center of the illustrious red arch. Various souls in the forest were walking towards it, ready to begin the next journey of their after-life. Aster held out his left hand and could physically touch the Threads connecting to the Ten Paths, and it made him shiver. The Threads that touched his hands wove around his fingers, but those that didn't crumbled at the ends. Aster wanted to touch all the ends, but it was impossible and he was sad that he never could.

"It's so beautiful. Close your eyes," Aster said.

Max was skeptic but he wanted to find Tiffany. The cold was starting to seep into his bones and hunger was making him irritable. When he closed his eyes, he could truly see, and was in awe of what he had been missing on the mountain for the past two days.

He let go of Aster's hand when he found Tiffany.

She was standing at the edge of the gate, transfixed and hypnotized. Her body was murky, a brown shadow, a sad, horrible thing next to the wonderful world of colors. Max broke her free from its hypnotic spell when he hugged her from behind.

"What are you doing here," he asked.

"I don't know," Tiffany said. "I saw...everyone walking into this thing and I thought I'd follow them."

Max shook his head no and gave her another tight hug.

"No, not yet. It's not time for you to go there yet. Let's go back."

He took her hand, and the murky brown shape became more clear. She smiled and her entire body glowed a bright white light.

"Why does Aster get to go but I can't," Tiffany asked.

"Oh no."

Max quickly strode over to Aster and asked him to open his eyes.

"Never," Aster announced. " I will never- ow!"

Max flicked him in the nose, Aster opened his eyes and he was now standing at the entrance of a dingy old tourist trap. Max's eyes were still closed, and it looked like he was holding onto an empty space from Aster's view while he held her hand.

"Time to go back," Max said. "It's been a long morning."

"Don't worry," said a voice from below. "Delivery is here!"

Kylan was carrying Tiffany's body on his back, while his eyes were closed, and Seraphina was the one who led him up the stairs. She was very underwhelmed at the site of the old temple and immediately let go of Kylan's hand.

"OH SHIT," Kylan shouted. "THIS IS AWESOME! THE COLORS!"

Seraphina saw a fat paser eating an old piece of bread on the ground and saw nothing awesome about it.

With all the bravado he could muster, Kylan carried Tiffany over to Max, and gently placed her on the ground. Tiffany's spirit saw her body and then understood she was not where she was meant to be.

"How do I get back in," she asked.

"I have an idea," Max replied. "I saw it in a dream. Well, a nightmare."

"Okay, what do we do?"

Max bit his lip and apologized before he gave Tiffany's spirit a hard push in the direction of her body. With a loud gasp, she sat up and came back to life. Tiffany looked up at everyone, her body covered in sweat, her mouth dry, and heaved.

"I died and came back for this test," Tiffany wheezed. "Tomorrow's can't be worse, right? Right?"