One glass of spring water was all it took to reverse the Serpeople-effect on Fabe. First, his scales dried up and flaked off, followed by his fins. Then his gills joined with his skin and he was mammal again. His breaths, which had been rapid and heavy, steadied. The transformation took only five minutes. His eyes fluttered open, and I felt a wash of relief to see they were back to his warm hazelnut-brown.

"W-where am I?" he rasped. "Am I dead?"

"I hope not," I said, grinning. "That'll mean we're dead too."

He coughed and touched his neck. "I feel weird."

"You think?" said Marylea, laughing.

We filled in a very confused Fabe on what'd happened. When he heard about the hoodlums, he darted to his feet, grabbed a control panel from the resulting vertigo, and peered out the window. His jaw fell as he saw the four bodies splayed across the grass.

"Everything's true, then," he said, his mouth agape. "I was a Serperson."

"For a little while," I said. "But now you're Fabe again."

"Can't decide which I liked better," said Keenan with a snide smile.

"Now that your friend's cured," said the Keeper, "I expect you'd like to return home."

That was when reality hit home. My euphoria from getting Fabe back dissipated, and more pressing issues reemerged.

"Actually, there's something else," I said, my mouth dry.

The Keeper's face fell.

"Aragonia's refreshing itself," said Marylea. "And it's all my fault. I arrived without Initiation, and now -"

"Without Initiation?" the Keeper asked, alarmed. "That's unheard of. Why didn't your parents initiate you? The consequences are dire." She backed into a control panel as if she'd seen a ghost. "That explains everything."

"What?" I asked. "Explains what?"

The Keeper didn't answer my question. Instead, she shook her head and crossed her arms. "This is bad. No, this is not good at all..."

"We know," said Keenan. "That's why we're here."

"Please tell us there's a way," I pleaded. "Please. People have gone. We need a way to get them back."

The Keeper sighed. "My dears, there's nothing I can do. As I was telling those men, I only govern Shapers -"

"Can we bring my mother in here so she can initiate me?" asked Marylea. "Would that work?"

"Sorry, dear, but your mother has been barred from the Realm, as she requested. It was the only way she would stop entering. Cassandra can no longer return, not even as a rider. Besides, it is too late for an Initiation."

"No!" I cried. "There must be a way. Tell me there's a way."

The Keeper looked at me with widened eyes. "I must ask you to calm down. Look." She pointed out at the river that had killed the hoodlums. "Look at the water. Look really closely. What do you see?"

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

I shot her a pleading look and walked over to the window. "I just see flowing water."

"Watch closely," the Keeper said softly, her foreign lilt caressing my ears. "It's very faint."

I stared at the current until my eyes went dry. I was about to give up when I saw the faintest of shadows - a human body, drifting face-down along the current.

A gasp escaped my mouth. "Someone's in there," I said.

"A soul," said the Keeper. "One of the victims of the refresh. They're in limbo, drifting in the Core, unable to find a home. They're safe here, at least. They'll always be here."

Something clicked inside me. "Does that mean Tem is here?" I asked. "How do we get them out?"

The Keeper touched my arm. "You can never get them out. They will be there, permanently. The refresh must go on."

"Load of trout crap!" I cried, flinging her hand off me. Aragonia - refreshed? Tem - gone? It didn't connect with me. It was impossible.

"I'm going to find Tem." Without another word, I dashed out of the room.

Keenan's cry was faint behind me. "Wait - Ash! He's a soul! You can't -"

I ran faster so I didn't have to hear the rest of his sentence. My blood pumped in my ears. Now that I knew what to look for, I saw a few more souls drifting in the river. If they were there permanently, Tem should be in there, too.

I remembered his sweet, boyish face. The crooked grin he hated so much. His deft fingers and strong arms, flexing as he parried my attacks.

It was only after I'd run into the thick forest before I realized the other implications behind the Keeper's words. Aragonia - refreshed. That would mean Keenan, Fabe, my parents, myself - we would cease to exist, too.

There had to be a way.

I ran along the river, scouring the depths. There were a number of souls floating face-up. I didn't recognize any of them, though I recognized their attire. Then I saw Velamiere in his chef uniform, his eyes closed.

A shock went through my body, fueling new adrenaline. Seeing someone I knew hit closer to home. It also meant more people had disappeared since we left. Time was running out.

I found Tem five souls down. Still dressed in his white-gold Caval, he drifted weightlessly through the currents, his eyes closed, his face pale. He looked angelic. It fazed me to see him so colorless. He floated close to the bottom, far from reach.

"I'll get you, Tem," I whispered. "I'll bring you back."

I followed the current, waiting for a good level ground where I could press myself flat to the ground and quickly scoop Tem out of the water. The riverbank sloped up, down, and finally became level. Seeing my chance, I fell to my knees and thrust both arms in the water.

The river water felt crisp and cool, like plunging your hand into a tub of mouthwash. It was hard to imagine this was the same liquid that had killed Geary and the others. This water is poison. I pushed the thought from my head. My hands touched Tem's shoulders, but my fingers simply went through him. It was like he was intangible, a ghost with no physical body.

"No!" I cried, and grappled in the water for him. It was futile; he slipped through my fingers and flowed on with the current.

Then my skin started to burn. I pulled my arms from the water and stared at them. Fine wrinkles had formed on my hands and wrists, and more were forming. My nails were dry, curled and flaking off.

It took a moment before I registered the pain – hot, searing pain that shot up my arms and down my spine, as if searing coals were being pressed against my skin. I was too shocked to scream; instead I just stared at my aging hands.

"Ash!" Keenan's cry came from the right, behind a thicket. "Ash, where are you?"

"I'm here," I rasped weakly. Pain shot through my spine. I cried out like an animal caught in a trap.

Keenan came bursting through the thicket holding a glass of water. His eyes widened at the sight of my arms. He shoved the glass at my face. "Drink this. Hurry!"

I looked at him helplessly. "My arms. I can't move them."

"Here." He knelt next to me and put the rim of the glass to my lips. "Drink."

My eyes watered from the pain. I closed them and swallowed. The liquid was sweet to the taste and slightly tangy. I swallowed gulp after gulp.

The liquid sent a tingly sensation through my body. It raced down my spine and forked off my shoulders to run down my arms. When I'd drank all the liquid in the glass, I looked at my arms to see that they were back to normal. The mind-numbing pain was but a memory.

"What just happened?" I asked, still feeling faint.

"The water will kill us," Keenan said. "The Keeper said we mustn't touch it, or we'll meet the same fate as the hoodlums."

"Tem was in there," I said. "He slipped through my fingers, just like that."

Keenan placed a hand on my shoulder. "I'm sorry, Ash."

I steeled myself. "Don't be sorry. I'll get him back." I got to my feet.

"Where're you going?"

I stomped through the thicket, brushing aside giant red and orange flowers. "I'm going to make things right."