The light flares so bright I have to close my eyes.
When I open them again, she’s looking at me.
Really looking this time.
Her hand lifts—trembling, uncertain—and reaches toward me.
Not toward where Ethos was. Not toward the memory.
Toward me.
I don’t think. Don’t hesitate.
I reach back.
Our fingers brush, and the world explodes.
Light bursts from the contact point—silver and black and something else that feels alive. Her Ether wraps around both our hands like binding, like claiming, like something permanent and terrifying and perfect all at once.
Ecstasy shoots through me so sharp it borders on pain.
I gasp, body jerking forward, and for the first time in longer than I can remember, I feelfull.
Connected.
Alive.
But there’s pain too—deep and visceral, like something vital is being pulled out through my skin. Like her magic is feeding on whatever small spark of life I have left.
I don’t care.
Let it take everything.
Let her take all that I am.
As long as I get to feel this for one more second—
The light fades slowly, reluctantly.
I’m shaking. My whole body trembles like I’ve been struck by lightning, and I can barely breathe around the sensation still echoing through my bones.
But I’m still holding her hand.
A thread hums between us now. Thin. Alive. Unfinished.
I don’t know what it means, but I can feel it like a tether pulling tight.
Her eyes start to flutter closed again.
“I’ll find you again.” The words tear out of me, rough and desperate and more honest than anything I’ve ever said. “However long it takes. I’ll find you.”
She doesn’t respond.
Just sighs softly and sinks deeper into the cushions, her face smoothing into something that looks like peace.
Her hand goes slack in mine.
The Ether around her dims, and I watch in horror as the silver fades almost completely beneath the black.
