As I stir from my short slumber, the first rays of sunlight pierce through the twisted branches that hang overhead.

  A dull ache pulses through my body, a reminder of the physical toll our journey had taken over the past two days. We’re far to the south of the Crowsong manor, yet still near enough to Wraithwood-Hollow’s perimeter to feel its oppressive presence.

  "Morning," Clarence grumbles, his face contorted with pain as he stretches his stiff limbs. He glances around at the seemingly endless expanse of trees surrounding us and asks, "Just how big is this forest anyways?"

  "If you were to look at it on a map, it takes up well over 15% of the continent of Astrovia."

  I groan, pushing myself to my feet and brushing leaves and dirt from my clothes.

  "Stay close," I say, taking the lead as we venture deeper into the forest. "It's all too easy to get lost in this place."

  "Alright," Clarence says, his voice barely audible over the haunting sounds of the Whispers that seem to emanate from all around us.

  The longer we walk, the more disoriented I feel, the shadows stretch and twist around us, seeming to mock our futile attempts at progress. It was as if the forest itself was sentient, and it wanted us to stay here forever.

  "Are we even getting anywhere?" Clarence asks hesitantly after what felt like hours of aimless wandering.

  "Yes. We just have to keep going. The first layer can be especially difficult during daytime. You’d think evil spirits would be more active at night, but that’s actually when the more malevolent ones are asleep…"

  The whispers grow in intensity, tendrils of sound snaking through the branches and earth around us. A shiver runs up my spine, the voices are barely audible but they’re impossible to ignore.

  "Can you hear them too?" Clarence asks, his voice trembling slightly as he glances at Terra and I.

  "Unfortunately. They’re just trying to get in your head, don’t worry."

  "More like our hearts," Terra says with a grimace, flicking a nearby Whisper out of the air. "This place is dangerous."

  "It’ll be fine, just focus and…and…"

  "Oh… Mrs. Crowsong, you’re here." A voice stands out among the Whispers, and I recognize it immediately.

  Propped up against the base of a nearby tree is someone who’s far too young to be a man, but he’s also old enough to not be considered a boy anymore. His intricate snow-white armor, and royal blue surcoat, are stained a deep crimson now as he stifles a breath. One of his eyes is missing, along with an arm.

  "Leo?... Leo!" I shout, running to him as I drop to my knees by his side, "It’s okay, you’re going to be alright. I’ll stop the bleeding!" As I reach for him, he grabs hold of my wrist.

  "It’s no use. Very soon, I’ll be dead," Leo says, pulling a piece of cloth away to reveal a gaping hole in his chest.

  I hold a hand over my mouth at the sight, trying to hold back the rising bile in my throat.

  "No, no, no! Not you too, what are you even doing here?! You’re out of formation, you weren’t supposed to be here!" I cry out, reaching for his chest regardless. I wish to piece it back together, but there is nothing left to piece together.

  "After I heard about little Gabe, I couldn’t just stand by and keep acting as a figurehead. I may have underestimated the Second King," Leo says before flashing a cocky smile, "but it wasn’t entirely one sided." Leo glances to the side and I follow his gaze to see hundreds of shadowy arms sprawled across the forest floor.

  My hands still hover over his unhealable wound, and Leo grabs a hold of them with his remaining hand.

  "Tell Gareth that I passed peacefully. I’ll never hear the end of it if he knew what became of me," Leo says, and then coughs violently. Blood seeps from his mouth, and every open wound on his body as he continues to cough more and more. Each one grows weaker, and more airy than the last.

  "Of course, and what else?" I ask, trying to hide the quiver in my voice. This only causes Leo to laugh though.

  "What else? That wasn’t enough for you? You’re right, there is one more thing. I want you to promise me something."

  "Anything!"

  "If fate allows it, I’d like to study under your tutelage once more. In another world? Another life? Whatever comes next is fine… Just one more time, teacher."

  "I’ll always find you, and I’ll always make you my beloved student. I’ll teach you for as long as you like, until you’re sick of my voice, and then I’ll keep going! I’ll talk until my throat goes hoarse, I-... Leo?" Leo’s grip loosens, and he lets go of my hand.

  I’m left alone with another corpse, and all I can do is hug it tightly.

  A hand grabs a hold of me from behind. I feel my heart sink from my stomach, and into my boots. I turn, trying to hide Leo’s body.

  "Gareth, I’m sorry-!"

  "Who the fuck is Gareth? The Whispers are getting to you, girl!" With this, a hand meets my cheek. It’s not hard enough that it hurts, but the slap is audible, and it stings.

  I blink several times, and Leo’s body is gone. The entire time I was clinging to a lifeless tree. The Second King’s arms are nowhere to be found, nor is the blood that coated my arms. Instead, I’m drenched in sweat.

  Standing over me is a spirit, shoulder-length hair hangs in ragged tangles, and a vicious scar runs along her face, over her eye, and it meets her scalp. Her attire is nothing like any Crowsong I’d ever encountered. She looks more like a barbarian with how little is covered. Nonetheless, she was family. Seraphine Crowsong. Her name didn’t fit her appearance, but I guess that was out of her control.

  "How long was I out?"

  "How should I know? That little welt over there is the one who asked for my help, told me to take care of ya," Seraphine shouts, and points a thumb at Terra, who’s kneeling next to Clarence.

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  Clarence is holding his head and rocking back and forth slightly, and I make my way to him as I place a hand on his shoulder.

  "Clarence, you have to wake up now. It’s just a bad dream. Hey, why’s there so many Whispers? What’s going on in that head of yours?" I swat at a handful of Whispers that float overhead, and Terra does the same thing.

  "Marcus is dead, and it’s all my fault…"

  "That’s not true!" I say, but I don’t believe it. If Clarence had never sold our clan out, would the attack have been prevented? I wasn’t sure.

  "Oh come on children, pinch it off!" Seraphine’s crude voice cuts through my thoughts as she grabs a hold of a Whisper. She squeezes the poor thing until it pops, and she proceeds to do this with every Whisper she can get her hands on until the last one is gone.

  "And what are you talking about ‘so many Whispers’ for? You must have had a hundred on you. Whatever you’re going through? Forget it, the memories fucked if that many Whispers can take advantage of you."

  "I’ll keep that in mind, thank you for your words of wisdom, Seraphine…"

  "What do you kids want anyways?" she barks, hands on her hips as she glares at Terra with undisguised contempt. "I know you didn’t just bring me over here to help with a few Whispers. Whose kid are you anyways? Don’t recognize any of ya."

  "Your soul was being used as energy to fuel a ritual known as Soul Harvester. We stopped the ritual, and collected your remains."

  "Did ya now?" Seraphine snorts, turning to face me again as she kicks up a clump of dirt. "Well shit. That means I died, don’t it?"

  I can’t help but feel a twinge of sympathy for her, despite her abrasive demeanor. It seems she hadn't fully realized her own demise yet.

  "Yes, you died. You were inside a dungeon, and there was a cave-in. It looks like you were crushed to death."

  "Of course," she replies bitterly, her eyes sweeping over our surroundings before settling back on me. "Everything was going so well until I got too excited and caused that damned cave-in... If it wasn't for that then I would have punched that ugly fucker all the way to Lord Death himself!"

  "I'm sorry about what happened to you, but we're here to help-" Clarence reaches out a hand toward Seraphine, only to have her smack it away.

  "Stay away from me, weakling!" she spits, a wall of flames erupting from her hand and forcing Clarence to retreat. Clarence’s face flushes red with embarrassment, and he conjures a fireball of his own, hurling it at Seraphine. She effortlessly steps to the side, and smirks as she walks towards him.

  "Seriously? You throw like a girl," Seraphine taunts, her voice dripping with disdain. "And what was with that puny fireball? That thing wouldn’t even be able to start a forest fire."

  "Leave him alone, Seraphine."

  "C’mon, I’m just having some fun!" Seraphine shouts, a ball of fire forming in her hand. It condenses in her palm. It appears as if she were holding magma itself before it slowly disperses. "You’ve just gotta put some mana into your spells to act as fuel. All you’re using mana for is to initially ignite the flame."

  "Really? Is that all it takes to get some more firepower?"

  For once, I agree with Clarence. It was far too simple, but I had to admit that Seraphine's method was effective.

  "Of course not, kid. That's just the basics. There's a lot more you can do with fire once you've mastered that part."

  "Like what?" Clarence asks, his curiosity obviously piqued.

  "Like this," Seraphine says, holding out her hand again. This time, the ball of mana she forms is even more dense, its edges nearly invisible against the dark backdrop of the Veilwood Periphery.

  "Seraphine…" The flames that engulf her hand burn brighter, hotter, and more intense than before.

  "Super…" With a wicked grin, Seraphine hurls the fireball at a nearby tree, which explodes into splinters upon impact, showering us with wood fragments and ash. "Fireball!"

  "Whoa," Clarence said, staring in awe of the devastation he had just witnessed. "What else can you teach me?"

  "Plenty. But first, you've got to learn to control your mana. You can’t get any better unless you can use a substantial amount at once."

  "Fine," Clarence says, gritting his teeth in determination. "I'll work on it."

  "Good, now show me what else you can do, kid!"

  I lean against the rough bark of a dead tree. The Whispers seem to keep their distance now, they were probably scared by the cacophony of explosions that the duo were causing in the center of the clearing.

  Clarence forms another fireball now, nearly mimicking Seraphine perfectly. "Clarence… Super… Fireball!" As he shouts the words, he releases a fireball of his own. It was certainly different from the ones he had previously been making. It was bigger, and I could feel the heat from a good hundred feet away.

  It nails the dead tree head on, and to my surprise it doesn’t sputter out upon impact. The flame continues to burn through the trunk for several long moments before dissipating.

  Clarence can be heard shouting cries of joy in the distance, while Seraphine pats his back.

  "At least they get along…" I mutter under my breath.

  I flipped through the yellow pages of Ethel's grimoire, searching for any clue about Seraphine's origin. I had every single one of my ancestors' memorized. but she was absent. It was likely we were only related through marriage, but who would marry such a crude individual?...

  The air shimmers just above us, catching the attention of both Seraphine and myself. Clarence, still basking in his newfound firepower, finally notices and asks, "What’s that?"

  Seraphine squints up at the sky, replying, "It's Soul Divination. A way of communing with the dead. What are you kids doing out here anyway? Soul Divination is so archaic, it's only used in the case of..." She pauses, as if struggling to find the right words, "...an emergency."

  All eyes turn to Seraphine as she attempts to answer the call.

  The sounds that emerge from the shimmering air are distorted and unintelligible. I sigh, feeling a pang of disappointment.

  "I thought this would happen; we’re likely too far from the source of the spell for it to reach us."

  "Or my soul may be too weak to act as a receiver," Seraphine adds, looking defeated. She sinks to the ground, crossing her legs and leans back on her arms.

  Clarence, taken aback, adds in, "What do you mean? You're plenty strong!"

  "Not like that! I know I'm the strongest around, but I’ve just got excess mana to burn through from that ritual. The problem is my soul. It's old, decayed with time. However long it’s been anyways…"

  It was sad, but likely true. I walk towards Clarence and Seraphine, motioning for Terra to follow.

  I unhook Trinity’s Thorn from my waist, and shove it into Clarence’s hands.

  "You’re going to learn how to use a weapon other than magic. This one will be a good fit for you since it already has an affinity with fire. Stay here and train with Seraphine until we come back."

  "Hey, I didn’t sign up for this! I don’t mind showing this little shit a thing or two about pyromancy, but I don’t know how to use a rapier!"

  "Teach him the basics, and spar with him a bit!"

  As Terra and I begin to leave, Seraphine calls out to us, "Hey, where are you two going?!"

  "I’m going to reach my next Requiem! We'll be back for Clarence later. You keep trying to answer that call, burn off some mana, and I'll exorcise you when we get back. Don't worry!"

  "Clara, I don’t want to be alone with this person! I mean sure she knows a few tricks, but she’s a little…unhinged?"

  "Really? I think you two are more similar than you think. Who knows, maybe you're a direct descendant of hers?"

  Clarence and Seraphine simultaneously recoil at the notion.

  "I'm nothing like her! She's super loud and obnoxious!"

  "There’s no way this little shit is related to me, he’s probably adopted!"

  Their denial only makes me laugh as Terra and I make our way deeper into Wraithwood-Hollow.