The stretched corpse sinks into the honey below us. Wander stares at me, his gray skin contrasting with the red of the spreading blood. If I had come a second earlier, just one, perhaps he would have been able to prevent his mind from contemplating the evil act, to prevent his hands from performing the profane rite.

  Necromancy.

  “What happened?” I say.

  Wander swallows dry. “They-they attack me and… Listen, I had to do this! I didn't know you were close! I tried to beat them normally, I swear I tried! It's just that…”

  I frown. Cloud connects the dots and stares at Wander, horrified. “… Did you do that? Did you use necromancy?! How?!”

  Wander stands up and gesticulates, but Cloud steps back and points at him. “Step back! What do you think you're doing?!”

  “Listen to me, please!”

  “Did you know that, Sieghart?! Did you know he does that?! What does that mean?!”

  “I have no control! I kept it hidden until now! Look, except now… But it was self-defense! I had to, or I would die! And Nia too!”

  Cloud scratches his head and walks disoriented, still reeling from his injuries. “Shit, shit! That's impossible! Is that why you know so much about bones and the human body?! Since when?!”

  “… Look, I…”

  “You wanted that, didn't you?” I say.

  They both stare at me, their faces pale.

  “What? Sieghart, I tried-”

  I shrug. “You still have mana to conjure, and I was only a few meters away from you. If the creature was killed by a zombie or bones, then it was not strong enough to kill you in the next few minutes. You… have you tried, really?”

  Wander frowns. “Yes, I tried! Do you think I wanted that?!”

  “… I don't know. You wanted that?”

  Wander stared at me, then clenched his fists. “I did not tell you my secrets so that you would try to get into my mind! How can you talk about me when it's your fault your village disappeared?!”

  Cloud gritted his teeth. “Watch your mouth! You haven't passed a tenth-” he says, heading towards Wander, but I interrupt him with a sign.

  “My village disappeared because of me. What about you? Do you want Nia to die because of an uncontrolled zombie you reanimated? If this is the case, continue. Make another excuse. All of them will be justifications, but the reality is still the same. You failed. What do you think will happen if you continue? Do you think that being sad or desperate will simply redeem you and save you from the consequence?”

  “…! I never wanted it to redeem me!”

  “And yet, that's all it does. Then what? What are you going to do about it?”

  Steps. In the midst of the conversation, the echo of light footsteps leaves the cave. Nia leans against the wall and squints to see us, still groggy from a possible faint. “G-guys? What's happening?”

  I blow up the corpses with a fireball. Its heat vaporizes the flesh in an instant and erases all traces of any evil magic that might have passed through there. Although the girl can't tell that the corpse has been reanimated just by looking, I don't want her to be surprised.

  “… Nothing.” I tell her, ignoring the subject. “These two thugs have just died, and we are cleaning up the bodies.”

  “By the Light, Sieg! You look awful! And Cloud too! Were they that strong?!”

  “… Yes.” Cloud said. “That was it, yes.”

  His words, not mine. I wash my hands of lying to her.

  “Well, come here soon! You need to rest!” She says, going to the bottom of the cave again.

  Wander faces us. “… What beat you?”

  I shrug. “Ourselves.”

  The elf raises an eyebrow, but ignores it and continues walking into the cave. We make a camp, check for signs of monsters, and go after supplies around the sugar mount. Wander hand-picks a few plants, I try to check them so he doesn't poison us. Then we raise barricades around the cave and formed a makeshift shelter.

  Now that my blood had cooled, the pain weighed on my shoulders. I managed to ignore it for a while, but it was too much for me to resist. Chapped lips, bruises, fractures and displaced bones. I must admit that the bastard knows how to fight. Fortunately, he is also bad.

  But that's even worse in our situation, isn't it?

  Nia bandages my body, Wander prepares soups and medicinal teas. Cloud stares at each of them, searching for something strange meticulously before eating. Despite mistrust, because of the situation, he does not refuse help. Reluctantly, we heal our wounds and rest while the pain passes.

  They more than me, of course. I can't regenerate, for some illogical reason that I still don't understand. In any case, the warmth of the campfire warms and comforts us, even if it is not cold, and makes me forget a little about the pain.

  Wander inspires. “Maybe it would be better to talk about it later, but if there is no topic, I would like to start this reunion with something important.”

  Nia pulls a branch from my back and I grit my teeth. The girl looks at my back, confused. Wander stares at me. “You are human.”

  “And what's the problem?” Cloud says.

  “… We transform the aura of the world around us into mana when we are recovering, even if unconsciously. You learned about it, didn't you?”

  “… So what?”

  “Nia and I are elves, accustomed to the compounds that exist in the aura of the fairy world. You humans, especially Cloud, are not. The first elves were not only born from the cross between fairies and men, but also because humans were altered, mutated, by the influence of the fairy world.”

  A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

  Cloud widens his eyes. “What are you saying…?!”

  “That the more time we spend here, the more side effects we will have afterward; and the greater the influence we suffer, the greater the mutation.”

  “And you, Sieghart?” Nia says. “Did you feel anything different?”

  “… I met Hilda.”

  Silence. They stare at me and wait for the continuation.

  “She is… Intense. Insane. Fragile. He mentioned old names, things I've done. Next to her, I felt my stomach move. It was more than reflux; as if every part of him were a serpent. I felt my bones change. I knew it was more than a feeling.”

  “… Got it.” Cloud says. “W-Well, maybe it has a cure, right? In Solace, and with good doctors. Your magic is strong. And we have Hoffstein too! He can heal us!”

  “He could… if it was some kind of injury. But I believe it is not, nor will it be. The fairy world transforms you, It does not hurt you. There is nothing to regenerate. Creating more meat will only create more mutations.”

  Cloud frowns.

  “… Then what?!” Nia says. “What's going to happen?!”

  Wander faces the fire.

  “I don't know.”

  Nia squeezes my shoulders, staring at me worried. Cloud wanders his eyes, thinking of something to say.

  “It's okay. We can worry about it after we survive. Our priority is to escape.”

  “And how will we do it?” Cloud says.

  “Morgana told me that there is no way out. So I'll have to create one using chaos.”

  “Can you do that? Come again?” Wander says.

  I shrug. “Something involving space, I think. I don't know the mechanics of how it will work. Morgana said to wait for her signal, so she will probably guide me. We'll know when the time comes. Until then…”

  I get up.

  “Where are you going?”

  “Sleep. I need to step into the Unknown. It works in stages. I need to open the door to the new floor, increase my mastery over chaos.”

  “And why didn't you do it before?” Cloud says.

  “It's not something I can do casually. It requires progression, be it an improvement or worsening. Recognition, learning, knowledge about the world; about myself. I think I've been through enough for now, but I still need to make one last decision. When the time comes, I will get up and fix all this. After all…” I grab my bandaged arm. “I know someone who can help us.”

  Cloud rises. “Hey. Don't paly with this. Are you sure what you're doing?”

  I hesitate, but nod. Wander and Nia look at each other, not knowing what I'm talking about. It's better that way. Without further ado, I leave them behind, walking to the bottom of the cave and being swallowed by the darkness.

  I lean against one of the walls, facing the camp fire. We left some cracks so that the smoke would not suffocate us, but the smell is still bad. The position is uncomfortable, and the sugar enters like sand inside my clothes. Even so, tiredness overcomes me and I close my eyes.

  In the Unknown, I open them. The flames were taken by the red on the horizon. I walk out of the darkness until I step on the green grass of the oasis, go outside the boundaries of its protection and go against the monsters.

  Deformed and defeated, they kneel. Some beg for mercy. Others try to rebel, dying instantly to a whispering spell. All perish before the King. All but one.

  The red light takes the form of a fairy. With wings of a witch moth, deer horns and four meters high. His blue skin has been transformed, his body is just a red construct to represent what it was before. Aldwyn sits on the floor, staring at me from behind the smiling mask with golden eyes.

  “Sieghart. You grew up.”

  “I imagine the demons on this floor have all been defeated.”

  “Everyone who matters.”

  “What are you?”

  “I am Aldwyn.”

  “No. Aldwyn is dead.”

  “These two facts do not cancel each other out. Aldwyn died, and his soul and consciousness were taken to the afterlife. I am what is left: your memories and reason. An echo, created through the chaos that existed in the fairy's body, the same one you took back when consuming her body.”

  “Ah, yes. I tried to take the power I borrowed back. Makes sense.”

  “There are other reasons, of course. The instability of your mind, the uncontrollability, the anger, the physiological need to replace your arm… They all fit.”

  “And none of them justify me. This habit of trying to devour things is not very good.”

  Aldwyn laughs. “Maybe. It all depends on the path you want to take. That's why you're here, isn't it?”

  I nod. “It is.”

  I approach the fairy, then sit in front of her and rest my right arm on my knee, using a trunk as a rest.

  If this Aldwyn is an echo of chaos, then it is a mere re-interpretation of mine. It would make more sense if I talked to myself instead of the fairy. But if there is no difference, then what harm would it do?

  “… I'm confused. Maybe I'll die when I get out of here, but it's not in my nature to give up before I try. Even so, I feel there is still some decision to be made.”

  “You look at the Unknown as stages, but the truth is that regardless of what you learn, whether you improve or decline, what matters is your progression. Wisdom, knowledge, experience. With the Green Knight, you reinforced his motivation to trust humanity. If you want, you can go to the next floor; open the door and leave me behind, pretend that this conversation never happened.”

  “I could, but it wouldn't be enough. Not for me.”

  There's also the problem with fae influence in my organism, but I will care about this later on.

  “I see. So we have two paths to discuss.” Aldwyn points to his back. “The first is the path of perfection: of priests and monks.” Then he points to the void behind me. “The second is the path of humanity: of family and friends.”

  “Both can happen.”

  “I'm talking about absolutes. You can isolate yourself in a cave or a tower as much as you want, you will still follow one of them. A mystic may have friends, but not a family. A father can lead a virtuous life, but he will not be as perfect as he could be.”

  “… I understand.”

  It is no longer a matter of trust. The right path has already been chosen, and I will not abandon it. All I have to do is choose how I will suffer to keep walking in it. That must have been why he gave me time to think—but I don't mind deciding now. This is not a moral decision, but a desire one.

  What do I want?

  I don't think I ever caught myself asking that question that way. Having that kind of power shouldn't be possible. It's not. There is a right path to follow, even here. My decision just needs to be according to her.

  And what would it be?

  “If I isolate myself, I won't have to worry about getting undue attention. Monsters will leave innocent people alone to go after me... on some level, at least. I will also not risk being hurt by those around me, nor will I risk hurting them. Sounds perfect.”

  “It seems. But in truth, there is the other side of the coin. If you choose this path, you will also be at greater risk. Without the warmth and tenderness of those you swore to protect, you won't remember why you fight. Your reasons and desires are going to be more difficult to balance. What will you do when you hate humanity but don't remember why you decided to save it? How will you have the strength to stand up when the image he has of the innocent is that of the people who hate you?” He says.

  “There are many paths to perfection. Your role is not to be the king who sits over heaven or over earth, but the one who divides them. Maybe you just aren't fit for this particular path. It will be up to you to decide.”

  “But if I stay, then they will hurt me. And I will hurt them, too.”I frown. “But I've been there.”

  “Don't bother. Your decision has been made, but these are not decisions you make only once. But if that was the reason you didn't decide, then you wouldn't be here. What is it that you want?”

  I inhale and throw the stump behind me away. I throw myself on the lawn and use my arms as a pillow, looking up at the starless sky. The moon still shines, as beautiful as the first time.

  “ ... I never wanted to get close to the villagers. Even Nia and Wander would fall into this category. I feel disgust every time I remember that I devoured you. I didn't feel sad when I cried, or depressed when I felt pain. It must be because I'm becoming more human. Everything is so sentimental now. How do they live that way?” I breathe in. “There's a reason Hoffstein wants me to stay with them. I assume that the former self chose the path of solitude to avoid boredom and human irritation. I would also like to do this. When I heard 'family and friends', I almost chose the other one. That's such a pain.”

  “And yet…?”

  “… And yet, I enjoyed going to the festival, wasting my time and laughing because of nothing. And I want to do that. I want to eat a bad and expensive candy to complain about later, I want to fall into a pile of leaves and grate on the floor, I want to have to clean the floor of a snowdrift after winter. I want to be human.”

  “Despite all this?”

  “… I'm making the worst decision of my life, aren't I?”

  “Perhaps.”

  I shrug. “Ah, well. It happens.”

  I get up, turn my back on Aldwyn and walk. The clearing reappears in front of me. I go down the stairs of the tower, going to the last step, putting my hand on the handle and turning it to free the other side.

  And from the sapphire light of the moon in the heavens, Morgana descends.