It was clear Mari was not going to make it back in time.

When they all piled into Phoenix's minivan, he tried to drive as fast as possible to the nearest city. As they zoomed over the golden and lavender fields below, Eric looked outside and saw a gorgeous tree. It was on protected land and rumored to be one of the oldest trees to have ever existed in all of Centrum.

Raindrops started to pelt the car, and it was making it difficult for Phoenix to see. He desperately wanted to land, but time was precious.

"Dude, I know where we are," Eric said.

"What? Yeah, we're in the sky! Please don't talk to me right now, I'm stressed," Phoenix replied.

"No! The Tree. This is the Gate to Elysium."

"The gate to paradise is next to a prison we just left? How fitting," Aster said.

"I've got an idea," Eric said. "This sounds insane, but you've got to hear me out. It's for Mari."

"Go ahead," Phoenix replied.

He told everyone the absolutely deranged idea his sleep-deprived brain had come up with.

"Yeah, no, I'm going straight for a hospital," Phoenix said.

"We're not going to-"

"Don't say that," Aster shouted. "We will make it!"

He was holding Mari, and had never let go of her. Not since she fell to the ground. He felt responsible for her since he believed he should have saved her, even though he was not the one to hurt her in the first place.

"Denying what everyone else can see won't make it go away," Eric said. "We can try my idea, or we can start figuring out what we're gonna tell her parents."

Phoenix weighed his options and sighed.

"Fuck it, you only live once anyway."

He changed course to the Gates of Elysium.

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The Gates to Elysium was the skyscraper-sized tree that loomed over the fields of gold and purple flowers. When Phoenix landed the mini-van, he rushed to the trunk and got out a shovel.

"Let's get to work," he told them.

Eric and Phoenix led them to a corner of the tree. There was a rock used as a headstone, and on it, a singular sigil. It was a diamond.

Phoenix started digging, and Aster sat on the ground, holding Mari close and quietly praying. It was an awkward moment until someone decided to ask a question.

"Why are we here and not a hospital," Aster asked. "This is ridiculous."

"That crazy bitch said there can only be one, right? So let's make sure Mari's soul is tied down to where it should be," Eric said.

"A grave," Aster exclaimed. "Are you kidding yourself!?"

"This is the grave of our ancestor, The Stormweaver," Eric replied.

Aster leaned back on the tree and shook his head in disbelief.

"The Stormweaver discovered the final path one night, in a storm just like this," Phoenix explained. "Right under this tree."

"This is where he was born, died, and buried. It's where he'll be born again," Eric said. "I'm sure of it."

Aster refused to believe them, but he didn't have any other suggestions on how to save Mari. He watched while everyone else took turns digging up a grave.

In a horrible attempt to lighten the mood, Phoenix tried making a joke.

"So uh. When does this become grave robbing or is it just archeology? Is it grave robbing if we put someone in a grave?"

One of the recruits started to laugh, but quickly stopped when he felt the death glare from Aster.

After about two hours, they finally dug up the grave of the Stormweaver. He was put inside a stone coffin, and it took three of them to move the lid. All that was left inside was a few scraps of fabric and a skull.

"Oh gods above and below, you were serious," Aster said.

"Yup," Eric grunted. "Now give her to me."

He stood in the stone coffin, hands outstretched ready to put her to rest. Aster didn't want to let go, so he brought her over into the coffin himself and sat next to her.

All that was left was to wait for her to die.

Mari was quick to cry, and easily intimidated, but she never gave up. She always made sure to try her hardest. She was just sad because she felt her hardest was never enough.

Aster held her charred hand and told her it was okay.

"You don't have to try so hard anymore," he told her. "It's okay. Let go."

Her hand went limp in his before he finished his last sentence.

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Everyone woke up in fright to the sound of screaming.

Phoenix clutched the shovel close to his body and whipped his head frantically, searching for the enemy. There was no enemy but it wasn't very hard to find the source of screaming.

It was Mari.

She was sitting up in the coffin, screaming at the corpse that lay in her lap.

It was her own corpse.

Mari was naked and terrified because the last thing she remembered was playing poker with some very friendly comrades. Now she was awake, naked, and looking at her own demise. Mari kept screaming and climbed out of the coffin. Everyone stared at her then the body, and then back at her.

She wobbly stood up, looked down at her crotch, and then her eyes went wide. She rubbed her chest and something was missing. The giant blue gem was still where it had always been, but something more important was gone.

"Do you want some pants," Eric offered her. "There's an extra pair in one of the uh...backpacks."

Mari nodded rapidly yes, and within five minutes they were wearing a pair of pants. Mari took out the deck of cards from the corpse's pants and stuffed it in their own. She looked down at what used to be her body and tried to process it all. It didn't work, and again Mari started screaming and hyperventilating.

When Mari had calmed down and drank a juice box from the minivan, she was ready to ask what everyone else was thinking.

"Why do I have a penis," Mari asked. "What did you do with my boobs?"

"If it's any consolation, you're still pretty in the face," one of the recruits replied.

"Oh. Oh, that's..oh..."

She started biting on the juice box straw and was trying to keep it together.

"I don't want to sound ungrateful," Mari said. "But can you do something about....this..."

She gestured to her wildly to her entire body and made a strange noise in exasperation.

"Let's just deal with this later," Eric said. "I'm tired."

"What am I going to tell people," Mari shouted.

"We can make up a story on the way back," Phoenix assured her. "Tell them you wanted to speak your truth."

Immature snorts and giggles were given by everyone and Mari's face turned bright red.

"Let's just go home. I need to pee and I don't wanna figure out how to do it differently out here."

Mari got into the minivan with the others and waved goodbye to the person she used to be.