The morning sunlight in Jangberg Forest brought no warmth. Its rays were pale, slipping shyly through the gaps of pine branches covered in ice crystals, falling onto Kars' face, who lay asleep beneath it.

  Kars opened his eyes. His first reflex was to summon a small blade of light, anticipating any threat that might come. But a sharp pain stopped his movement. Kars hissed softly, glancing at his left arm.

  The arm was not numb; on the contrary, it felt alive. Beneath the torn gray fabric of his robe, the skin looked horrifying. The network of blood vessels had turned pitch black, protruding like tree roots. Dim cracks spread from his fingertips to his elbow.

  He tried to clench his left hand.

  Kars's fingers moved stiffly, trembling violently, accompanied by a sensation like being pierced by thousands of hot needles. But the hand still followed his brain's commands. Still able to grasp, still able to fight, even at the price of constant pain.

  "At least it's still useful," Kars muttered, relieved. He opened his dimensional pocket, reached into the bag, and took out a bandage. He wrapped the bandage around his left arm tightly to the palm of his hand, hiding the damage from view.

  Beside her, Mira began to move.

  “Hah… hah…” Mira’s hands clutched her own chest. Her eyes widened, scanning the surrounding forest with the alertness of a wild animal, before finally focusing on Kars.

  “Kars?” Mira called. Her voice cracked, full of panic. “W-what… what happened?”

  Kars slowly moved closer. He didn’t look at her from above like a teacher, but sat at her level. He placed his right hand on Mira’s shoulder, gripping gently to provide an anchor to reality.

  “Breathe, Mira. You’re still alive.”

  Mira stared at Kars, searching for lies on the man’s face. Then, her eyes dropped to her own chest. She felt a strange heat there. With trembling hands, she pulled back her robe’s collar slightly.

  Mira gasped.

  On his chest, right above his heart, was a living tattoo. A cyan Dragon-Eagle roaring, wrapped in reddish-golden chains that formed an intricate octagonal geometric pattern. The tattoo pulsed slowly in sync with his heartbeat.

  "W-what is this?" Mira asked in shock, staring at Kars with a sense of horror.

  "There is…" Kars was confused about where to start so that Mira could process everything. "...some kind of power, entity."

  "A bird," Mira said in a whisper-like tone. She remembered that before losing consciousness, she had found an injured bird. "That bird?" Mira asked, looking at Kars in disbelief.

  Kars nodded slowly. "He possessed you, almost destroying you from within. Until..."

  "Until?"

  "There are others. She asked me to put it in you as well, so that you could be safe." Kars said steadily, like throwing all the information into Mira's brain directly. "Like a double star, their power will pull so hard that no one will be dominant, no one will destroy you."

  "It feels like... It feels like it's crowded inside my body." Mira closed her eyes. He could feel that there was a small turmoil trying to push him out. It doesn't feel hot or cold, but it does feel very flowing.

  The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

  When Mira opened her eyes again, Kars saw that.

  Mira's left eye was a wild sea blue. Her right eye was a calm reddish-brown. Heterochromia as a result of soul fusion.

  "Listen," Kars cupped Mira's face with both hands, forcing her to focus. "You are not an empty vessel. You are Mira. You are in control. They are just passengers. If they get noisy, tell them off. You are the host."

  Mira swallowed, tears welling up in her eyes. She nodded slowly; she hadn’t expected her life to change so drastically.

  Kars stood up, extending his right hand. "Come on, we need to get out of here before anyone comes again."

  Mira accepted the outstretched hand. As Kars pulled Mira to her feet, she could see his forehead furrowed in pain and his left hand hanging a little stiffly by his side.

  "Your wound…"

  "Just a minor injury," Kars interrupted quickly.

  ***

  They walked through the dense Jangberg Forest.

  The atmosphere felt different. The cold and eerie air no longer engulfed this part of the forest. Some autumn animals were still actively moving around them.

  Especially the Jangberg squirrels. They were a type of flying squirrel that often leaped from one tree to another. Their color was reddish-brown and their eyes blazed like a campfire, glowing brightly in the darkness.

  Mira ate them almost every day, and it made her feel bored. Occasionally, she imagined there were other animals she could eat in this forest. Boars or rabbits, or anything that wasn't the monotonous squirrels.

  After half a day of walking under the sun overhead, they finally reunited with Meir'Dea at the starting location. Among the misleading thickets of trees, Kars managed to track the way back to the elf woman.

  "It seems like a lot has changed," Meir'Dea greeted with a warm smile. She scanned Mira's body from head to toe, then returned to Mira's differently colored eyes.

  "That's not a seed, it's a trap," Mira said impatiently. She could have died just by accepting the elf woman's offer.

  "You wouldn't accept it if I told you to kill a monster." Meir'Dea nodded with a smile. She maintained her poise both as a woman and as an elf.

  “We came to collect on a promise,” Mira continued quickly and without pause.

  “Of course, I will keep my promise.” Even though Meir'Dea looked curious, she didn’t ask what had happened to Mira. She turned to Kars, who had been silent all this time, and looked at his left hand wrapped in bandages. “First, you should come with me. You look like you need treatment.”

  “We need to get out of here,” Mira urged. She no longer wanted to linger in this cursed forest.

  “Let me heal you. Consider it part of my promise.”

  “Then heal us here.”

  “That’s not possible. I have a friend who can heal you.”

  "Do you believe her?" Mira asked Kars that question. She looked at that man's face, which was flat and illegible.

  "If she becomes a threat, we will kill her," Kars replied. He seemed very tired after what had happened, or looked like he didn't care about his surroundings. He is a simple person. If it does not go according to plan, then it is just a matter of throwing it away.

  "So cruel." Meir'Dea turned away from the two of them, glancing at Kars and Mira from the corner of her eye. "Follow me."

  Mira took a deep breath. She felt a growing weight on her chest. Something that kept her from feeling completely free.

  Two monstrous powers now resided within Mira's body. They could awaken at any time. Perhaps they were asleep, or sealed so tightly that Mira could not sense their presence.

  Only the pulsing in her chest beat in sync with her heartbeat.

  How should she live her life like this? One problem wasn't enough, and now another has arisen. Even the birds laughed at Mira's not-so-good fate.

  Good. Lucky. Come to think of it, people in Mira's hometown often described her that way, just because she was the youngest in a noble family. Her life was full of luxury, free from the pressures her older siblings faced. Spoiled and carefree, she got whatever she wanted.

  If that luck had been with her since she was born, why must it end so quickly? Mira hadn't even reached twenty. Not yet mature enough to accept all these realities.

  But she was aware. She knew she couldn't just stay idle in the palace simply because she was the youngest in a noble family ever since those visions started appearing eight months ago.

  Mira remembered it all, recalling every vision that had ever visited her. She herself did not know whether it was a vision of the future or just passing by. But given her current condition, she was certain that those visions were not just nonsense.

  Those visions had meaning. Star magic had meaning. The two entities within her body also had meaning. Everything had meaning. And now, it was up to Mira to decide.

  She closed her eyes and then opened them along with a slow exhale.

  She would reclaim her homeland. And no one will ever stop her.