Edward barely finished his words when the smile froze on his face. A chilly feeling seeped into his soul and he tried to move away from Circe.

Seeing the terrified look on Edward’s face and hearing his heavy breathing, Circe frowned and caught his hand before he was out of reach.

“Are you alright?”

Edward shook his head as memories of his endless hunger came back to him one after another. He remembered his rage, his fight with the ancestor, his devouring of the prisoners.

Looking into Circe’s eyes, he remembered even trying to eat her. He let go of her hand as he grabbed onto the bite mark on his arm.

“Fenrir, I…”

[I’m sorry, Edward.] replied Fenrir, able to feel Edward’s fear herself.

Sitting down with his hand not leaving the bite mark, he asked: “What happened? Tell me everything. I only remember a small part.”

Circe looked down at the shaking Edward and remained silent. She has seen Eddena go through something similar, so she knew he needed time.

Fenrir slowly recapped the events that happened in the dragon kingdom, stopping when her story reached the teleportation into the south.

Edward felt a minor relief after hearing her story. Finally looking up again, he peered into Circe’s clear eyes and he could still remember the desire that took over his soul. The hunger that sought to plunge that very soul into the abyss.

“Master, I need some time alone.”, said Edward, his body taking his wolf form in the next moment.

Without waiting for her to reply, Edward ran in a random direction as fast as his feet would take him.

Twenty minutes later, he reached a small body of water and stopped. Reverting into a human, he walked by the side of the water and sat down.

“Fenrir, I became one with it…”

[I know, I’ve seen and felt it happen.]

Edward took a few more deep breaths and said: “But how? I understood the curse taking over my body and feeding on what it pleased, but this time… this time it was my mind, Fenrir. I could feel it, the hunger, the madness, the malice. It was me and I was it. I wanted it. To eat, to consume, to devour… It was me.”

[… Sigh… I know what you feel since I felt it too.]

[I’ve always had a desire to consume, but it was more of a lust for power, the power I would gain from it. When my soul was cursed, that desire changed. It turned into a senseless hunger. There was no purpose behind it anymore. That is what’s most terrifying about it.]

“But what do I do? How do I escape from it? What if the next time I won’t be able to stop myself? What if I end up hurting the ones I care about?” asked Edward with a lost look in his eyes.

Fenrir fell silent since she didn’t have any answer either. She’s been fighting the same curse for longer than anyone else.

Edward remained to stare at his reflection in the water for half an hour, trying to sort out all the turbulent thoughts passing through his mind. Half an hour later, he heard footsteps behind him.

Edward didn’t turn, knowing it was Circe only from the slight chill in the previously hot air around him. Circe walked to his side and sat down, her long legs stretched forward in the shallow water.

“Are you feeling better?” asked Circe.

Edward remained silent. He did not know what exactly he was feeling right now.

Circe saw the confusion in his eyes and gazed into the distance. She remained quiet for a long time.

“No matter how hard it is, or what obstacles keep appearing in your path, you must press forward, Edward.”

“As long as one keeps going forward, the path will always be a thorny one. You’ll slip, fall, and get hurt. You’ll be pushed back sometimes, choose the wrong way, or might even stop for a moment to catch your breath, but you must never stop going forward.”

“It might feel like a journey, but it’s much more than that. It’s a race. A race against the world.”

“In that race, you’ll pass by others and others will pass you by. Some might give you a hand, pulling you forward along with them, but most will just look to trip you so that they could go on ahead.”

“If you sit in one place too long or get put down by the obstacles ahead of you, the entire world will pass you by. What will you be left with then?”

“This of what’s happening now as just another obstacle that appeared in your path. It’s a big one and maybe you don’t think you can pass it, but you forgot you have us. Let me and Fenrir land you a hand this time and stand up to try again.”

“Maybe you can make it. Maybe you won’t, but remember. You are not alone.” As her words ended, Circe stood back up.

Edward finally looked to the side to find a smiling Circe extending a hand toward him. He became absentminded for a moment before slowly grabbing her hand.

Taking another deep breath, he nodded with a smile and pulled himself up.

“Thank you, master.”

Circe chuckled and shook her head: “I guess it’s about time you stop calling me master. You’re already stronger than I am.”

“Who cares about strength? I still have many things to learn from you.”

“Do what you want.”, said Circe before looking towards the north, “Speaking about that, what do you plan to do now?”

Edward frowned and looked towards the north as well before asking: “Since we’re near Oasis, I need to do some things there. Will master do me a favor?”

“Sure. What do you need?”

“I need someone to take care of Kali, my dragon. I left him alone for too long and I’m worried about him, but since I’m already here, I also need to check on Violet, so I was wondering if you could go ahead and make sure he’s alright for me.”

Circe agreed in an instant. The two shared one more hug and a few words before she started flying straight north. Being left alone, Edward walked north as well, remaining in his human form.

“Fenrir, you said you were in control of my body before. Did you speak to Circe?”

[I did, and I found out some answers, but she asked me if I could keep some things from you since she wants to tell you herself.]

Raising an eyebrow, Edward asked: “Why didn’t she then?”

[She’s probably hesitant since it has something to do with Eddena. Do you want me to tell you? My promise with you comes before her request.]

Edward looked in the direction Circe had left and asked: “Is it relevant to my current situation?”

[You mean the curse? Maybe. Eddena’s curse might be of the same nature as yours.]

“Hmm… Let’s let it be for now. How is our curse? Will it go crazy again?”

[I don’t know. It’s still slumbering after getting injured by Jörmungandr, so you might even get some actual sleep for a while.]

Edward’s footsteps stopped as he asked: “Are you sure?”

[Yes? Did you think of anything?]

Edward smirked and quickly created a small igloo around himself. Stepping inside, he lay down and said: “Let’s pay it a visit.”

When he entered his soul space, Edward found Fenrir in her human form, leaving him completely stunned.

“Your face looks quite comical right now.” Said Fenrir with a chuckle, snapping Edward out of his trance.

Clearing his throat, Edward said: “Let’s hurry. We don’t know how long it will be out.”

Fenrir nodded with a smile and both of them disappeared. The next thing they saw was the inside of Fenrir’s soul.

The same crown Edward had seen the last time he was here was still revolving slowly, attracting all the chaos energy around, but there was also a small cluster of dark-red energy pulsating at its center.

Tendrils of the chaos energy were escaping the vortex and seemed to feed the cluster of red energy.

“That thing must be the curse…”, muttered Edward as he walked closer.

Fenrir followed him and nodded. “It is. I can recognize it anywhere.”

They reached in front of it and Fenrir brought her head forward to take a closer look.

“It’s not a soul exactly, but it still feels like one…”

Edward had barely any understanding of souls and let Fenrir study it as he fixed his eyes on the crown surrounding the vortex.

A few minutes later, Fenrir’s eyes widened as she exclaimed: “It’s a soul cluster.”

“What is that?”

“Bits and pieces of different souls crumbled together…” her expression kept changing as she continued: “To be exact, it’s the same part of a soul. Yggdrasil must have experimented on souls to create this curse.”

“Pieces of souls put together? How would that work in making a curse?” asked Edward next.

“The soul is what makes us who we are. It is our entire being, and a material body is just a vessel for our soul. She tore a single part of billions of souls and created this… thing by fusing them all together.”

Edward also realized what Fenrir was trying to say and looked at the cluster of energy: “No wonder that hunger was so strong that it can be considered a curse. Is the combined hunger of billions of people, isn’t it?”

Fenrir nodded as she took a deep breath. “Indeed. There seems to also be an unknown energy that was added into the mix, but that’s probably just to allow it to have the strength to fight my soul…”

“Can’t you just consume it?”

Fenrir shook her head: “I can’t. Whatever I consume turns into chaos and becomes a part of me, but this thing is already a part of me. Consuming it will serve no purpose. It will just be brought back here.”

“But what about me? Can’t I kill it somehow?”

“By now, it’s also a part of you, just as much as it is a part of me. The main issue is that, since this curse is an entity of its own, killing Yggdrasil or Vidar will also probably serve no purpose.”

“So, are we stuck with this thing?” asked Edward with a frown.

“Not really. We need an expert in souls that is stronger than me to fight it, but I don’t think we’ll find one of those here. It will probably have to wait until we leave this world and go to Vanaheim, the world of the Vanir.”

Edward nodded and said: “At least we got a clue on how to deal with it. Let’s head out. This thing is creeping me out.”

The two left Fenrir’s soul and returned to Edward’s, where they waited for him to wake up. A few hours later, Edward opened his eyes and noticed that the igloo he had built in the desert was completely melted.

Turning into his wolf form, he started running towards Oasis. He had already spent the night making plans with Fenrir, and it was time to put them into practice.

He ran until it was the middle of the night when a city just as large as the City of Ashes appeared in his sight.

Edward turned into his human form and a small smile appeared on his lips as he fixed his eyes on Oasis.

“Violet, Minx. We’ll meet again soon.”