After a few minutes of just observing Aesir spin away, I feel Miah suck in a breath, and for the first time since we got here, I see her actually look around the room we find ourselves in, though I still catch her gaze wandering back to the viewing window.

I see the unbridled excitement and joy in her face, only somewhat drowned by an underlying confusion, and... and there is no way I am getting all of that just from looking at her face... I take a moment to really look at her expressions, and, sure if I squint hard enough, I can make out how her eyes briefly betray that look of unbridled enthusiasm. Still, it is a very slight thing, one I certainly didn't catch while I was half paying attention to her and the elephant in the room, that being that we are in SPACE. So the question is, how did I know what she was feeling? And why is that confusion bleeding away to one of embarrassment and slight lust-have I been staring for too long? Shit! Quick, say something smooth-

"Glad to know that the real stars are just as beautiful as the ones in your eye, though I must say I prefer the way yours changes to such a desirable violet when you get flustered."

Nice, I didn't screw up too badly. It could've been better, true, but what can you do with only- why is the confusion back? Crap, did I say something stupid? Or insensitive? Maybe her culture places too great an importance on the stars, and what I said was blasphemy? Or maybe-

"My eyes don't change color." Miah interrupts my spiraling thoughts.

Huh?

"What? No, they do. I may have been a bit drunk on lust, but I wouldn't forget how alluring it was to see them turn redder and redder." I say, confused by what she means and, by the looks of it, also confusing her more.

"No. They don't." She insists.

And before I can refute her, after all, I am positive I saw them turn another color, she suddenly points to a point in the sky, slightly to the right of Aesir, and says-

"See that cluster of purple and blue stars. The one with eight stars in an almost-circle, and the two just to the side."

It takes me a few seconds to identify what she means, but soon enough, I do spot it and nod. She, seeing me nod, moves her pointed finger just slightly to the right.

"And that one with the twelve stars in a spiral shape," She continues, and following her finger, I do spot it.

She then points to her eyes, and I can suddenly see the point she is making.

"The stars in my eyes aren't just an illusion or a random collection of fragmented irises. They are a literal reflection of real stars, more specifically, the Spirae cluster for my left eye and the Miah cluster for my right one. I.e., they are mostly static, with only the tiniest bit of movement or change indicating a massive cosmological event, and the stars in those clusters are all quite young, so unless something was happening to those stars, the real ones, they would not change, much less turn an entirely different color, and much much less reverting that change."

"Right. That's actually awesome and a cool way to get a name, but I am a hundred percent sure I saw your eyes change color. It was very noticeable, and it stayed like that through the whole... act. Shit, we can even re-crea...te, it... I mean, only if you're up to it, that is." I say whilst feeling my face burning from the insinuation. Come on, where was that confidence I had earlier today? I know for a fact she's into me. She made it very clear during the act, and we both had fun with it, so why am I suddenly feeling nervous now?!

She doesn't respond immediately, which might as well be adding liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen for what she is doing to my face... huh, where did that analogy come from? I am stopped from pondering on the nature of my thoughts as Miah finally answers.

"Maybe, but we'll need video evidence to confirm it's not a quirk made up from your domain that makes you see color where there is not; also, we may need to confirm if it affects other states of emotion, as well as see how fast the reaction happens and how long it lasts; also we need to do simultaneously be observing the actual real stars to see if it affects them or if this 'thing' you observed only affects at a local level, i.e., disrupting the link that provides a real-time reflection of the stars as we observe them, though that might well prove tricky since the change might actually happen but take too long for the light of the color to travel to Aesir, as well as-"

I interrupt Miah, who is saying all of that with a plain face, practically ignoring the fact she just suggested we film a sex tape and then watch it for any discrepancies.

"T-that sounds all well and good, more than good in fact, but I think we should discuss our next sexual/scientific encounter when we have a solid plan on what we are doing. Cause while this viewing platform is amazing in its own right, we still don't know the exact nature of our situation. I mean, for all we know, the oxygen we are breathing was only the one that was carried through by the portal, and we are, in fact, about to run out of it."

She kind of shrugs at that.

"Not as big a problem for me, but I see your point, and before you ask why it's not a problem. It's because Planarkin, of my nature, don't actually need air to survive. We were made for living in a vacuum, which I can explain later since we don't know if 'Empyrians' have the same capabilities or not, and I'm not sure you want to find out in these circumstances."

I nod absentmindedly since I am still reeling a bit at the fact that Miah apparently doesn't need to breathe... the possibilities. Anyways I shake myself out of such perverted thinking (which is something I find myself having to do more often than I'd like) and actually really take a look at the room we found ourselves translocated to.

Besides the spinning dials, the room is similarly barren to the one in the tower we were in before, with only the glowing lights of the dials revealing a slit in the otherwise smooth silvery walls of this chamber, symbolizing a door there.

The dials themselves, though, are interesting, each with their own unique drawings above them, and all of them asynchronous in the position of their spin.

The one closest to aligning the arrows depicts a twisted tower with a spiral pattern emblazoned on its side. By the speed of the dial and how far away it is from aligning, I'd guess this was 20 minutes away from lining up and presumably teleporting us to this tower.

On the other end, the dial furthest away from aligning is one with an etching of a smooth tower that widens as it gets closer to the bottom, its design reminding me of the tower we were exploring if it was intact. I'd guess it would take 1-2 hours for it to align again, seeing as the arrows are just barely misaligned.

"Alright, I guess this station is some kind of connection port to make teleporting to these locations possible or easier? Whatever, the point is if it is working correctly, and it should, seeing as we just used it, we'll only have to wait 20 minutes to get out and 1.5 hours if we want to go back to where we came." I say, breathing a sigh of relief that we aren't trapped here.

Turning to look at Miah, I see her nod absentmindedly while frowning at her shard interface.

"Hey Sophia, try checking your shard, I was preparing to start recording, but I got a weird notification. Can you see if yours did too?"

Unsure of what she means, I obey, pulling my shard and whispering the command for activation, and as the screen lights up into a now familiar sight of my sheet.

"Umm, not really, just showing my sheet as of now; why? What does your show?"

Instead of answering just turns the shard floating beside her, making the screen turn with it, and in the display, there is a small square above her sheet saying:

Would you like to connect to 'local transportation station #IDCR001'

YES                          NO

I furrow my eyebrows at that, not only for the oddity of whatever this means but also at the repeat of that acronym 'IDCR' and the slight headache that's building into something fiercer the more I think about it, so fierce in fact that I fail to notice Miah trying to pull my attention until she snaps her fingers in front of my eyes.

"Oh, finally got your attention back. You doing alright?"

I take a moment to shake my head, free of whatever I was thinking.

"Yeah, just had a reaction to that acronym. Seems like another lost memory."

She nods thoughtfully.

"I think it's pretty fair to say you had some major connections to this branch of the forgotten we have found. The question now is how?" She shakes her head, likely trying to banish this line of thinking lest she starts wildly speculating on something we can likely find out, should we keep exploring (again, now way I got all of that just from her shaking her head, there's gotta be something more to this, probably my Domain acting up, gotta talk to Miah about it later).

"Not the point. As I was trying to say, you think we should accept?" She asks me, though I can see she has already made up her mind. The look she is giving that screen is not subtle, I gotta say.

"Might as well, can't really think of a reason not to."

And practically the nanosecond, I confirm she presses 'YES' on the screen, and almost anticlimactically, the screen just disappears.

A beat passes.

"Well, guess that's that," I say to a more than slightly annoyed Miah.

She shakes her head.

"No way, that's all. There's probably some command that is unlocked or some way to see what that connection means. Just gotta find the right command word."

"So what, you planning just to try to guess what it is?"

"If need be." She says now, bringing the shard close to her and whispering words to it.

"Miah, that could take hours, and we don't even know if it unlocked anything; I mean, besides the acronym, my memory isn't even reacting to anything." And it isn't, though that by itself is also weird.

Miah stops whispering for a moment and looks up at me.

"Tinker instinct, my domain is telling me this unlocked something." She says, looking oddly certain.

"Huh...ok-didn't know domains could do that."

"Do what?" She says in between whispers of more and more esoteric words.

"Y'know, act passively. I thought you needed to activate it consciously, like magic," I say, trying to put my incongruity into words.

"Hmm, quite the opposite, in fact."

"Huh?"

"Look, I didn't exactly major in DR research, but from what I know, most, if not all, Domains are mostly passive-Like take, for example, my Domain. I don't just suddenly activate it when confronted with technology; it's always on. It's extremely hard to describe, but from what I've heard, Domains quite literally warp your perception of the world to make it so you are in line with them, so for me, I get these hunches about devices, and I can then derive how they work from these hunches. Of course, there is also the conscious part of the Domain, one also has to be creative in how to use them-Think of it like this, your Domain makes it easier for you to come up with ideas to better use it, of course not consciously, more like it's simply giving you another perspective on reality parallel to your own... Basically, Domains are passive until you think about them and how to use them." She finishes up with a face that just screams satisfaction on a job well done and goes right back to whispering.

But, huh, so maybe I was right then. These insights are my Domain acting up. Then what else has my Domain provided that I was unaware of? Maybe... no.

"Hey, Miah, is there a way to turn your Domain off?" I ask, feeling dread build.

"Uuuh, not by yourself, I don't think, unless your domain allows for you to control in both directions, that is. Why?"

"What do you mean by that?" I ask, ignoring the question.

"Well, some domains let you control reality in both ways, i.e., creating and destroying. For example, let's say a guy had a... I dunno- a rain Domain, and for the sake of the thought experiment, let's also assume he has a big enough range to reach the skies. A person with that type Domain-I can't recall the exact names of the types of DR, so let's name it an environment type Domain-anyway, a person with that type can either create a new storm or rain from scratch, as well as modify it to their liking, but they can also erase existing storms and things that relate to rain, like water. My Domain only allows for creating. I can't really unmake stuff, as it were." She casually explains while occasionally pausing to whisper a word.

"So if I were to try this-" I say while reaching deep into myself and imagining my lust evaporating.

And, aside from being able to look into Miah's eyes without slightly blushing or not really feeling much of anything while gazing at her body, nothing changes.

"Uh, try what?" She says, puzzlement creeping into her expression.

I take a deep breath and, with fear leaking into my voice, relay my worries to her.

"I'm trying to figure out if I accidentally made you sexually want me with my Domain or, worse, coerced you into sex with it."

"Oh, well, that's easy then. No, Sophia, I was not mind controlled into having sexual relations with you." She says with ease.

"Wuh, I mean, how would you know? If you were-"

Halfway into my speech, Miah simply walks back a good 8 feet back.

"Yep, still feel like you are the most gorgeous girl in the world and still would've tapped that given the chance. So there you go, not mind controlled, lest you forget your range is only 5 feet." She says as she walks back. "Though you do bring up a good point about Domains and their dangers, especially ones that affect the emotional, there is actually a method to determining if your mind has been compromised."

I'm still a bit stunned by her blasé attitude, but I quickly shake my head and ask her-

"And what would that method be?"

"It comes down to paying really close attention to yourself. If you notice something odd or dissonance with the way you expect reality to play, you should use your past experiences as a comparison point, and from there, if you can discern any inconsistencies, you should then figure out if it is your rationale or your emotions that are being played with, if one is compromised use the other, and if both are jeopardized, just try to remain calm and not make any decisions."

"So what, if I notice my mind being played with, I just do nothing?"

She shrugs

"Kind of. In the best-case scenario, you have a buddy that can help you out of the controller range or, better yet, deal with the controller themselves. If you were to act while compromised, you could easily be made to act opposite to your interest, like, say, attacking your pre-aforementioned buddy."

"And what if you don't have a buddy?"

"Then you're fucked. You're best off waiting until your controller somehow fucks it up and lets you out of their range, then get as far away from them as possible and try to get more people involved."

"Huh, okay, is this really common knowledge? Because that sounds like a scary world if it needs to be."

"Meh, kind of. I mean, controllers aren't really common in the types of Domains that exist, but I think even if they didn't exist, I feel like it would still be common knowledge to not walk alone in places you don't know or not to let a stranger approach your personal space, though even without that I agree, it is a scary world, but-" Miah turns to the viewing window" It's also really pretty."

I nod.

"Woah, that was a tangent and a half, I mean, it was stuff that you should know, and I was bound to explain it to you anyway, but don't distract me again. I really gotta figure out what the deal with the connection is, and we have limited time as is."

"Oh, so we're taking the first teleporter out."

"Yeah, as much as I would love to stay and explore every literal nook and cranny, we still don't know if it's actually safe here, and also, we don't have any food or water, so..."

"Yeah, I get it. I agree. Well, as long as you are figuring the deal with that shard, I guess I'll take a look around and see if anything pops up."

"Hmm," She just hums in approval, going back to her routine. I take it as my sign to go off and explore. I take another look at the spinning dials, and if I'm not wrong in my estimation, the spiral tower is still about 10 minutes-ish away. Going to the opposite side of the room, I start making my way to what I think is a door, paying close attention to the complex patterns the golden flooring is made out of, so much so that I almost don't notice the slight buzz my shard makes when I approach the door.

Alarmed at the suddenness of the event, I almost drop the shard as I pull it out of my pocket (though seeing it immediately float from my hand, perhaps it wouldn't have mattered anyways.) The shard then projects a screen with just the word "OPEN" written in it.

"Well, that was fast," I murmur to myself, then out loud, I say to Miah, "Hey, Miah, I got a screen projecting the word 'open' here. I feel like we should check it out before we teleport out."

By the time I turn around to face her, she's already by my side, practically salivating at the opportunity, though that is somewhat cut short by the surprise of seeing her shard also float and display the word 'open.'

"Oh. Oh, fuck off." She says equal parts, annoyed and still somehow maintaining her excitement.

"What, got something in your tinker sense," I ask, confused.

"Ok, first of all, how did you figure out what I internally call my Domain vision? Second of all, no, the opposite, actually. This is what the connection unlocks, or rather the connection allows for one's shard to interact with the station's commands."

"Ah, yeah, that's unfortunate, but hey least we have more to explore, right?"

"Quite, and seeing as there is no warning of any kind about opening this door, I don't think we have to worry about it leading to the vacuum of space."

"Uhm, I guess you're right, but it somehow feels like you jinxed us, so if you don't mind, I'd prefer to have something tying me down to the station."

"And I'd be happy to oblige, but unfortunately, we left our rope back at the tower, so unless ya magic's back, I'd recommend you stay far away from the door, and in case it does open to the vacuum, I immediately close it, and don't worry about me being sucked off, still a Space Planarkin, we were made for this environment."

"Hmm, alright, sounds fair, though just for your information, my mana's like 10% percent back," I say, grabbing the floating shard and making my way to the opposite wall.

When I do, I give her a thumbs up, and she returns it quickly and even quicker. She presses on the screen.

The door opens, and it's hard to see through from here, but the other side looks dark, not space dark, so that's the vacuum theory out, but still darker than the room we are on, so much so that I can't exactly make out what it is that makes Miah take a step back.

I seeing the look of shock that Miah sports, sprint to her and am greeted by a strange sight.

A forest, more specifically, a pine forest of the biggest trees I have ever seen, stretching as high as 300, maybe 400 feet. And as I crane my head up, I see an ever stranger sight.

A sky, one in what looks to be twilight, but even still a sky with stars and- two moons?

I look back at Miah, hoping for an explanation, though by the looks on her face, this place does not bode well.

"Sooo, what the fuck?"

I see Miah gulp and look at me with genuine terror.

"I-I this can't-" She takes a breath to calm herself, and I can see her features slightly relax. "This is the Plane of Twilight, a realm that can sometimes connect to the material in high Hume areas where reality splinters."

I nod at that.

"Ok, I somewhat understand the why, but that doesn't really answer what I was going for. What exactly is it, and why does it scare you?"

She takes another breath.

"Because the other name of this plane is the Faewyld, and if you know anything about the Fae, it is that they only care about fulfilling whatever dark and twisted desire that they call fun and what they enjoy most of all in inflicting this 'fun' on those not native to this realm. This is a place of roving madness and dark debauchery where one cannot trust a single word or thought that greets them there."

And almost perfectly synchronized with the end of Miah's speech, the ground in which we are standing stretches so fast that we are knocked down because of it and, worse, dragged by it deeper into the forest until we are greeted by a most disturbing scene.

In front of us is a clearing with Ghostlight hanging by the trees just outside it; inside, strewn about and hanging by invisible strings, are skeletons, all naked and bleached white, and most importantly, all of them possessing these wings made of blue light that jut out from the backs and stretch a wingspan of at least 12 feet.

All of them are stuck in positions that indicate fear and submission, except for two in the very middle of the clearing that are stuck in a handhold and, with their free hands, are projecting some sort of blue dome around them and a broken crown made of this gleaming silver material in the ground.

And before either of us can react to this eldrich and grim sight, all of the skeletons, save for the two in the middle, turn their empty gaze upon us, boring into what feels like our very souls, then before I can even figure out the strange feeling of mourning and sadness that fell upon me, their gaze turns upwards, and following it I see descending from the canopy of these colossal trees a ball of light, big as myself. It descends quietly and with surprising velocity until it stops just above these floating skeletons, which all have their heads locked into staring at this light.

The ball somehow grows brighter, and with a sickening pop, I see an arm come out of one of the closer skeletons to the ball as it flies to the ball like it was magnetized. And then, another, and another, and then it's not just their arms but also their legs, their heads, their whole bodies encircling this ball and shaping it to a most terrible form.

When the process is finished after what feels like an eternity but is most likely seconds, a beast falls to the ground. With connecting limbs forming eight horse-like legs and ribs and skulls encasing the light in what looks like an approximation of a horse's torso, the most macabre sight is the head, made of two whole bodies fused together to make it seem like the legs are elk horns, their wings fangs and their torso the mouth.

This abomination turns its twisted head to us, and I feel its ill intent oozing out of its borrowed skull, its light filling the sockets in a most vile radiance.

Something about that snaps me out of my daze, and I look back to see how far the door to the station is, and I'm filled with dread as the light from the door seems little more than a pinprick in the distance, too far for us to run to.

I turn back to the beast and see that it is approaching us, their sadism somehow so easily transmitted to me, even though its lifeless and alien visage.

I spot Miah at my side trembling, and that gives me the necessary courage to do what I think of doing.

"When I say go, sprint as fast as you can," I whisper to her.

"W-what?" She asks incredulously.

Offering no explanation, I run towards the beast and yell.

"GO!"

Not bothering to check back on Miah, I take the remainder of my magic and focus on the biggest blast I can manage. I feel the energy coursing through my body and gathering at my fingertips, begging to be released, and I oblige, casting a bolt of violet lightning toward the head of the beast.

The creature stops out of what seems like a momentary surprise and has no time to react as the arc reaches its face and rips out half of it in a resounding boom that echoes in the glade.

Out of the corner of my eye, I see Miah running, except that she is running in the wrong direction. I inwardly curse, but the creature has its full attention turned on me, and I, in turn, focus on whatever tells I'm magically gaining of his intention.

I feel more than see its intent, how it wants to hurt me, to make me submit, and I shudder to realize why I can sense that... this thing lusts for inflicting pain, in making the weak, kneel-which means it will likely not want to kill me, but make me suffer instead, and I can take advantage of that.

I switch to a fighting stance, not that I think I can punch this thing into submission, but more to make it think I will.

I see the creature raise its now broken head as if to bellow a great roar, but the opposite happens. A wave of silence passes momentarily, drowning any sound I was hearing, even my own now elevated breathing, and then it passes, and I see the bones that were blown away float up next to the creature and begin spinning above its head, each rotation making it go even faster, and then I feel the intent to hurt of the beast briefly increase, and I instinctively roll to the side just in time to see a bone now stuck where I was standing, I don't even have time to ponder on the velocity of these things when I feel the spike of irritation and the lust for pain spike, and I jump backward avoiding a projectile but also moving my hand to where that intent was aimed at. I almost scream out of the pain, only holding back because I refuse to give this abomination what it wants, as I see a bone now sticking out of my hand, piercing it through, and just barely scratching my chest.

Ok, never mind then. I guess this thing will enjoy killing me enough that it doesn't feel the need to prolong it, fuck.

All the while, I'm moving around the beast and dodging whenever I feel its intent rising. It's exhausting, and I can tell I'm not going to last very long if I just keep dodging, never mind the fact I have a bone sticking out of my hand. Something gotta change if I'm going to survive this.

Turns out it was the beast itself that proved to be more impatient. As I see it now started to move its main body toward me instead of just standing there and shooting bones at me.

It charges at me with the intent to gore me with its horn, and I almost prepare to jump to the side when I catch the feeling of satisfaction at seeing me prepare the dodge. Instead, I stand my ground and reach into my Domain, preparing to use it on the beast, I see curiosity spike from his emotions when I abandon my dodge, but it simply continues its charge, and out the corner of my eye, I spot a bone sticking to where I preparing to dodge.

The nanosecond I feel the beast enter my Domain, I imagine its sadism being purged, and as I open my eyes ( when did I close them?), I see that the beast has killed its own momentum and is, instead, jumping away from me. I try to follow it, but that attempt is cut extremely short as I feel its intent of (surprisingly) self-preservation spike, and I jump back as a bone flies at where I was.

I observe the beast continue to back away from me as I take the opportunity to take a breath. The creature stares warily at me, and I spot that its internal light is glowing somewhat dimmer. At least I now know my victory condition.

We circle around each other, the abomination taking the opportunity to gather the bones it shot out above its head, though for some reason, the bone sticking out of my hand doesn't get dragged.

Behind the beast, though, I spot Miah passing through the outskirts of the clearing crouched, I see something in her hand that she is fiddling with, but I get no chance to warn her off the fight as the Bone-elk bellows its silencing roar and begins shooting out their projectiles.

I dodge what I can and use my arm to block what I can't, even managing to deflect a bone with the one in my hand, but after the beast has run out of bones, I am no closer to it than I was before and I now have two more bones sticking to my arms, I can feel my head getting dizzier as the blood flows from the wounds and I have to catch myself from falling several times. In the distance, I can feel the perverted satisfaction the abomination is getting out of seeing me wounded, only somewhat cut by that wariness and self-preservation.

I see it begin gathering its bones again, and again I spot Miah running from a spot in the outskirts to the bone that was left stuck in the ground (when did she even get there?), I see the creature spin its projectiles, and I prepare to act with its intent, except that never comes because, out of nowhere, one of the bones in its spinning crown violently explodes, sending bone shrapnel everywhere and blowing the rest of its face as well as part of its torso up.

I hear Miah scream out in pain, and I barely resist the urge to do the same as bone fragments stick out of my skin. I realize my mistake in my stubbornness too late, however, as I see what remains of the creature turn to face where Miah screamed, and I spot her kneeling in pain as a particularly nasty bone juts out of her leg.

I dismiss my own pain and run with all I have as I feel its sadism spike and its intent to hurt elevate even higher, and it is perhaps because of my desperation to keep Miah safe that I do not notice the bone-elk turn its intent to me at the last second as a bone shoots out not from his crown but from the outskirts, it hits me right in the stomach and sends me flying straight to the dome where the two handholding skeletons reside.

Curiously I pass straight through the barrier and end inside, my back to the forest ground, and my consciousness rapidly fading.

I use all the strength that I have left to get up in time to see the broken bone-elk face to face with Miah, and I cry out for it.

"C'mon, you fucking bastard, it's me that you want, she can't kill, but I sure as hell can, so come and get me fucker!" I desperately try to appeal to its sense of self-preservation.

But it takes one glance at me and the dome I am under, and it simply turns its sadism to Miah.

I slump to my knees, the dizziness getting too much for me to handle, and I desperately try to think of something, anything.

An idea pops into my head.

I look back at the skeletons and the way they are holding hands. There is clearly love there, and love sure as hell is part of lust.

I reach out and put my hands on theirs and, with all my being, beg.

"Please, if any remaining love that you once had in life still holds and transcends even death itself, help me, help me set things straight, help me put your remains to rest, to bring you the closure that this thing has taken from your final rest, please... help me kill this abomination!"

For a moment, I fear that my desperate idea has failed and that I will have to watch Miah suffer at this thing's hand, but it is cut short as the hands I was holding hold me back, and I see their gaze turn to me, full of compassion and love, then their gaze turns to the creature, and it transforms into that of loathing and hate, both of them then turn inward and stare at this broken crown (one that I just now notice is too big to fit in any beings head) in the ground and I see them reach for it.

They grab it and almost reverently raise it to me, and I, unsure of what possesses me to do it, kneel before them.

I see both of them reach for a spot in their spine as they rip out a gem, and their wings disappear, and then attach it to a spot on this broken crown, and suddenly it spins to life as a pale blue light now encompasses it.

They then bring the crown to a spot behind my head, and I realize that it is no crown at all, as this halo now begins spinning behind me and forming a corona of light.

I suddenly feel a foreign (and yet strangely familiar) energy connect directly into my spine and course through my back as four wings made of violet light appear behind me, but this energy goes further in, into my body, into my soul, and I feel alive again, still bleeding, but not like I could pass out at any minute, and my magic is practically bursting at the seams.

I rise from my kneeling position, now slightly hovering in the air, and look at my opponent.

The beast (or what remains of the beast) feels true fear as it gazes upon my form, and before it can act on its sense of self-preservation by realizing the hostage it has in its grasp, I let out a burst of violet lightning upon its form, this one even bigger than the one I had let out at the start of the fight, blasting this vile creature back, I fly out to Miah and use my meager knowledge of Necromantic magic to heal her wounds or at least stop the bleeding, there is nothing I can really do about the bone jutting out of her leg.

Miah looks positively enthralled by my form, but I pay it no mind as I approach the beast.

The creature tries desperately to run away, to shoot out its meager weapons at me, but with me practically bursting with magic. I simply let out a burst of lighting all around me that vaporizes the bone projectiles.

I finally reach the abomination, hovering above its stolen form, and reach out with my domain, completing what I had tried to do at first.

The light of the bone-elk simply fades as its sadism and terrible lust are purged from reality, and the bones all fall to the ground as a puppet with its strings cut.

I take a sigh of relief at seeing the enemy fade away, I turn to face the skeletons that helped me, but they are already gone, dust in the wind.

I instead turn to Miah and say.

"Hey."

"Hey." She says back.

"When I told you to sprint, I meant to the door, not to the fight."

"Oh, uh, I guess you're glad I didn't ey, didn't look like you were holding up too good." She says, still enthralled by my form.

"...Maybe, still-" What I'm about to say, however, is interrupted by the biggest migraine yet, as I feel a head-splitting headache course through my brain, and this time, I can't resist the scream that escapes my mouth, in some space of my mind I process Miah desperately asking me what's wrong, but I can't concentrate on it as I get flashes of memories, too many memories, and too fast for me to even parse out what they mean, like trying to understand a million, no a billion things at once.

And just as it arrives, it also goes, leaving me panting desperately at the ground, whatever second wind the halo gave me gone. In fact, I can see just out of the corner of my eye that the halo has stopped spinning, and my wings have disappeared.

"Sophia, Sophia, are you back?" I hear Miah ask with worry.

I nod weakly.

"Let's go back to the station; I do not want to stay here another second," I say.

Miah fervently nods back.