Meanwhile…

Lee's day had started well, he'd woken up to Maria calling him over for breakfast. He wasn't feeling any negative effects of his high Mana use from the day before, his stats were high enough that he could walk and after a trip to his newly functioning toilet, he was in high spirits.

As for the toilet, he'd managed to put a Rune in the tank that generated water to refill it and when the ceramic didn't break he had started going door to door, upgrading toilets as well as bathtubs for drinking water. At least he did inside his building. The water generation was slow since the Rune had to be weak but he guessed he would get at least one tank a day.

Alejandro had brought him a few more van doors and Lee could feel the bits of his Soul scattered around the complex as he tried to decide what to do next. Then a new message appeared, startling him and changing everything.

You do not hold full Dominion over your (Twin-Soul)

Solution applied. All parties involved gain Skill [Soul Awareness]. Skill Progression Speed Reduced and Balanced.

"Stanley must have…"

(Twin-Soul) Rebalance Begun.

Lee stared at their Soul floating in the void that surrounded him. "So that is what it looks like… could be worse." It felt similar to how his Runes felt and he floated closer with a thought, until he was inside. He saw the glowing white crack. "That's what almost killed us..." And there sitting on the blinding crack, Lee smiled at the sight that greeted him. "Hello…"

"I did this." It was Stanley’s voice in his head.

Lee looked out of the inner Soul and saw something that he knew was his brother, hovering and looking at their Soul. Lee could feel the weight and sorrow that was bearing down on his twin like a heavy blanket of darkness, crushing him.

"We did this." Lee tried to reassure him. "We chose life over death."

"Was it even worth it?" Stanley sounded beaten down, defeated, exhausted.

Lee looked back to the inner area of their Soul and smiled. "You tell me." Stanley looked up and Lee could feel a spark of something flickering to life inside him. "Come in and see what we did." Lee told him with a smile.He watched Stanley as he entered and felt the weight lifting from his brother as he took in the inner sanctuary.

"It was worth it." Stanley breathed with a growing smile. "We will survive." Rising strength and resolve echoed in his words.

"Yes." Lee managed to keep his response calm, even as he looked at his brother and saw what was weighing him down. "I'm building a home over here for when you get back, twin."

"I'm working on it." Stanley replied softly.

Lee forced himself to smile. "No big rush. I can see you're in a bit of a rough spot." He glanced behind Stanley again. "It'll just give me more time to spruce up the place." His heart ached and his mind screamed at what he was seeing. Stanley had been fighting for his life since this started and even now he was trapped in the dark and being hunted.

Lee could see forms lurking around his twin. The details were indistinct, unfocused but he could see the way that each one clawed and pulled at Stanley. He was surrounded.

There was a towering shadow that made Lee think of that first night. A searching, grasping cloud of shadowy tendrils around a ring of glistening teeth. All around were glowing red eyes and above… above was a bright, terrible glowing form with wings stretching across the sky. Behind it the sky was covered in glowing eyes and flapping wings.

Lee forced his attention away but not before he saw the small pug, almost lost in the tide of horrors, sitting in front of Stanley and staring up at him with adoring eyes.

There were so many Monsters… and yet it wasn't all bad, there were a few glowing Souls that stood protectively around him. A golden shield flanked by two others.

"Some new friends." Stanley said as he looked back and saw what Lee was looking at. "Some of them will have to go." Anger leaked into his voice as he spoke. Lee heard the determination, strength and rage in his twin's words, but underneath, deep below, he felt the pain, the fear.

"Naturally." Lee kept his voice calm as he felt whatever had drawn them in, now pulling them back apart. "Be seeing you." Lee knelt and rubbed Caffeine’s head as the pug whined sadly. "I missed you too, Caff."

"I Will be back." Stanley stated with conviction.

"I know." Lee replied, and then he was alone. "Take good care of him, Caff. He needs you now more than ever."

Lee sank into his [Mana Mind] as he returned and let the soothing flow of the Mana calm his racing pulse. "Hang in there Stan." He thought. "Don't worry about me… I'll make sure you never have to."

He didn't know what his new Skill did, aside from the name, and while he thought he felt something, it was drowned under the Mana from his [Mana Mind].

Lee opened his eyes and stood up. He knew what he needed to do now. He took a step and swayed on his feet. "I can do this." He strode on weak legs to his front door and out onto the porch. He could feel the Mana of people moving around in the courtyard below and others on the balconies underneath him. "I have to do this." He strode to the railing and looked down.

He was greeted by a strange sight. There was a man sprinting across the middle of the open area while small colorful balls flew at him from the lower balcony. The man ducked and weaved, dodging some of the balls but getting hit by a few. At the end of the courtyard he jumped high into the air, his hand raised, and high fived a small child who was giggling on the balcony a floor higher.

"Is that Gabriel?" Lee couldn't see clearly and then the man was sprinting back the way he came, dodging more colorful balls. At the other end Alejandro waited, his makeshift shield in one hand and a metal bar in the other. The running man hefted an identical bar and ran right up and started attacking Alejandro. They clashed with a loud clanging of metal on metal until a voice yelled, "Enough! Next."

The runner handed his bar off to another man who started sprinting across the courtyard, dodging the balls. "Some kind of training." Lee realized and he turned, heading for the stairs.

Lee kept an 'eye' on the action as he laboriously climbed down the stairs. When he stepped into the courtyard he could see the ball throwers above. They were children, all laughing and having a great time trying to hit the adults below.

Lee waited and watched as he caught his breath and saw another man explaining something about how to hold a sword to Alejandro.

Finally they stopped when the other man called out, "Break!" and Alejandro turned to him, smiling. "Hi Lee. Come for training?"

The unknown man next to Alejandro looked Lee up and down. "Too weak." He stated. "Hmm… I'll have to figure out a different workout for you."

"I'm not here for that." Lee said quickly. "I need to talk to Alejandro."

"I'll still get a workout for you." The man stated as he studied Lee.

"Alejandro." Lee took a deep breath. "I'm not going to hide." He stated, his voice came out weak and he took a deeper breath.

"What are…" Alejandro started but Lee cut him off.

"This place… I won't hide, I…" He looked around at all the people watching him and Alejandro. Some looked at him with pity or disdain, likely because of his frail appearance, others were scared, and a few were just annoyed at the interruption.

"Are you training everyone to fight?" He asked Alejandro as he glanced at the man next to him that had been giving pointers.

"Yes." Alejandro glanced around. "This is Martin." He nodded at the other man. "He has a Class that helps him train others. It's great!" Alejandro exclaimed. "Everyone's stats are going up quickly. You should let him help you."

Lee glanced at Martin and spoke as the other man opened his mouth. "I appreciate the help, but…" He trailed off at the memory of what he had seen in his brother's shadow.

"Alejandro…" Lee whispered. "This place… our home…" He spoke louder. "It cannot… it will not Fall!" He was almost shouting by the end.

"What is…" Alejandro started again but Lee continued.

"I saw my brother…" His vision started blurring and his eyes burned. "He…" Lee swallowed. "I will make this place, our home, Unbreakable!"

"There will be a home waiting for you Stanley." He swore to himself. "Don't worry about me… just save yourself."

Alejandro clapped a hand on his shoulder. "Wonderful!" He looked Lee in the eyes. "What do you need?"

Lee straightened his back. "Everything. Bring me every weapon, every shield, every armor. I will do every last thing in my power to make our home survive." Alejandro was smiling still but looking slightly worried now.

"There are worse things… so much worse things out there." Lee said. "My brother is trapped in a Dungeon that is miles across… he is fighting against armies of monsters, armies of..." He trailed off his mind replaying the vision of the hordes chasing his brother. They hadn't been perfectly clear, more akin to shadows but it didn’t matter, he saw enough. "There are much worse things than that snake…"

Alejandro was looking very worried now but he smiled at Lee. "Then let's do it! We will make this place unbreakable!" He thrust his sword into the air. "Right, recruits?"

Only some of the people nearby cheered, the rest just looked worried. Alejandro chuckled. "You might have made our volunteers nervous. We'll work on that."

Lee turned to the small crowd. "Thank you for being willing to help." He tried to stand as tall as possible. "I will make sure that every one of you has the best enchanted gear that is possible." He tried not to notice how young and small some of them looked even as the scared faces watched him.

"I don't care about Cores," Lee continued. "I will do whatever I can." He tried to think of all the things they would need and turned back to Alejandro. "Ask Wilson what he needs!" He said. "Or ask him to come see me… I don't think I'll be able to walk if I leave the…" Lee trailed off. "The wheelchair!" He exclaimed. "I can go find him."

He turned to go and Alejandro caught his arm. "I'll ask Wilson." He assured him.

Lee opened his mouth to insist he could handle it and Alejandro continued. "I'll make sure that all the gear is brought here for you to… enchant?"

"Okay, okay." Lee glanced around, his mind still racing, trying to think of anything else he could do.

"We've got someone in the garage." Alejandro said, and Lee looked at him. "What?"

Alejandro smiled. "Go down and see. You might be able to help." He nodded at Lee and then added more quietly. "Don't worry the buff goes down there."

Lee nodded, uncertain, and headed for the stairs. "In the garage?" He could see people below him with [Mana Mind] but couldn't tell what they were doing.

Finally, tired and out of breath again, he made it down the stairs and stepped into the parking garage under the building. The garage was only one level, sunk halfway underground with metal bars on the upper half letting in plenty of light. "Ooh. Is that..."

There was a woman and a couple of men working in a corner and as he got closer he could see what they were doing. "Are you… is that a forge?" Lee looked at the anvil nearby and the various tools around it.

One of them, a young man, jumped at the sound of his voice and spun around. Lee saw Mana surge inside him and towards his hand, but it calmed and stilled back down when he saw Lee. "Sorry." The young man apologized and turned back to the others who had by now turned to look at the newcomer.

"Jumpy…" Lee noted.

They exchanged glances and turned back to watch as the young man lifted his arms and rock materialized out of thin air on top of some kind of brick oven. It formed into a cylinder and then extended upwards leading out through the iron fence around the top half of the garage.

Lee watched the Mana as it flowed from the young man's Core, down his arms and out into the air. It flowed to the growing chimney and into a pattern that Lee couldn't quite make out against the bright glow of the Runes all around them, and then the Mana just faded away…

Lee blinked and tried to look with his eyes as well as his [Mana Mind]. "Is it becoming the stone?"

As he approached it, the chimney started growing vertically, up alongside the building and Lee saw more clearly. "Curious… it 'is' becoming stone." He was intrigued, partly because it was so unlike his own Skill. Then the young man's Mana bottomed out and the stone stopped appearing. The man breathed out heavily and sat on the ground. "I'm out, gotta regen." He told the others.

The sight of it reminded Lee of something. "You were the one who helped with the snake?" Lee asked. "You hit it with a rock…" Lee mused as he remembered Alejandro mentioning something about… The young man flinched suddenly at the mention of the snake and his face went pale .…something about him getting swallowed by the snake. "Probably not a good memory." Lee chided himself.

"I… I already told Alejandro." The man said, while looking around wide eyed. "I won't go out and fight monsters." His voice was breathless and he sounded like he might hyperventilate. "I can't!"

"Relax." Lee said and noticed the other two people now glaring at him. "I wasn't going to suggest that..."

The other man, a tall thin fellow, was patting the scared stone Mage on the back while the tiny Asian woman glared at him. "Do you need something?" She demanded.

"I came to help. Alejandro said…" Lee started.

"What can you do?" She cut him off, her expression doubtful as she eyed his decrepit form.

"I…" Lee looked at the trembling young man. "Can you build walls?"

The man sighed out a deep breath as he gathered himself. "I'm already doing that, but Alejandro said this was the first priority." He looked at his hands and up at the unfinished chimney. "I only have so much Mana…" He glanced around the garage. "And I can't use the stone inside here for some reason. I have to create it all so it's going to take awhile."

"Likely the building wouldn't let him pull pieces out of it." Lee deduced. "But I think I know how to help." Lee smiled. "Three, Add…" He sighed. "I don't know his name." Lee walked the rest of the way and up to the trio. "Hi. I'm Lee." They all looked at him. "I'm here to help." All three continued to look at him, now skeptically. Lee didn't let the looks bother him. "What's your name?" He asked the young man that had been summoning the rock.

"Bradley… Rivers." He responded hesitantly.

"Three? Grant… What was it? Right. Grant Full Mana access to Bradley Rivers."

Full Mana Access Granted. Subject: (Bradley Rivers)

Lee saw Bradley's eyes widen at the same time that his [Mana Mind] showed the man's Mana rapidly refilling. "I can't hoard the Mana Well…" He thought. "Plus if I give everyone access then no one needs to kill me for it…" He hoped he was making the right decision but he knew he would need allies to survive.

"You did that?" Bradley asked Lee.

"Did what?" The woman asked while looking back and forth between them.

"Mana… access?" His eyes were unfocused as he looked at something, likely his Status. "How much Mana…"

"A lot." Lee said. "I don't know if there is a cap or not." He paused and then added. "Also you have to be inside the building to get it… I think?" He assumed as much at least.

Before he created or more accurately, enchanted the building, he'd had to touch the Well to get Mana but now the building could transfer it to him wherever he was.

Lee looked at the two others. "Is one of you a blacksmith?" He asked them.

"I am." The woman said. "I'm May. What's this about Mana?"

Lee looked back and forth between the tiny woman and the taller man. "I can…"

"What? A woman can't be a blacksmith?" She asked.

"What? No." Lee sputtered. "It's just… nevermind." He sent a thought to the building.

"Speak up, old man!" She started as she took a step forward. The man beside her just rolled his eyes with a small smile. "Don't tell me, back in your day it…"

Full Mana Access Granted. Subject: (May)

She trailed off as her eyes unfocused. "Oh… oh!" She spun to the forge and slapped both hands against the bricks. A glow appeared inside as her Mana drained and Lee felt heat billowing from the opening. "Haha!" She exclaimed as the glow brightened and Lee saw her Mana plummet again before rapidly refilling.

"Is it…" Lee started to ask but she cut him off to yell out, "Get the metal! All of it!" She laughed louder as the glowing furnace increased in intensity again.

Lee opened his mouth to speak again and a hand pulled him gently back. "Just leave her be." The tall man said over the sound of her manic laughter. "Let's get the metal." He started leading Lee away. "I'm Dennis by the way."

Lee followed after the man, leaving the crazy woman behind. "She's not gonna burn herself, is she?" He asked with a glance back.

"Nah, don't worry." Dennis drawled. "She knows what she's doing."

Lee decided to let it go. She probably couldn't burn down the building. Most likely… "What's your Class?" He changed the subject. "Do you need Mana?" Dennis didn't answer but Lee could see Mana draining from him and into his hand. The man turned and handed Lee a banana. Lee took it hesitantly. "Did you…"

"Yep." Dennis said seriously. "I am a [Banana Summoner]."

Lee blinked at him. He looked at Bradley and back at Dennis.

The man nodded at him and then smiled slightly. "Yep. I thought it was some kind of prank and tried to stump it with the most ludicrous idea I could come up with."

Lee blinked and tried to keep a straight face. "I see." He felt his mouth twitch. "You… summon…"

"Bananas." Dennis said soberly.

Lee lost it and cracked up laughing.

When he caught his breath, Bradley was frowning at him. "Not cool, man."

Dennis chuckled. "It's fine, Bradley. It's good to laugh."

"Can I eat it?" Lee asked, now curious.

"Sure." Dennis replied. "I've been eating them every time my Mana regenerates." He frowned. "Unfortunately my wife, May, hates bananas."

Lee grinned but managed to not laugh, then he did a double take back to the forge and the still cackling woman. "That's… unfortunate." He looked at Dennis seriously. "Wait… Does it actually take all your Mana to summon just one banana?"

The man nodded. "It does… I think it's because it was a low Affinity Class… but how did you know that?"

Lee waved as he peeled the banana. "Oh, I can see Mana." He took a tentative bite. "It's… it's a banana." He chewed and swallowed as he looked pensively at it. "It's an emergency food supply if nothing else."

Full Mana Access Granted. Subject: (Dennis)

Lee wondered briefly about how the building didn't need the full name to grant access. "Maybe it can sense who I'm looking at or what my intention is…" It had given emergency access to Maria after all. "To save me…" he thought with a small shiver. "I never did ask how much Mana her Skill cost…" He remembered the notifications, she had used it alot… "And the building somehow knew about her Skill and that her Mana was low."

Lee mentally thanked [Three] again and promised himself to thank Maria more. Dennis had summoned two more bananas by then and offered Lee another. Lee smiled and took it as they approached the garage entrance.

He stopped on the ramp leading up to the street. "Guys I can't go out there." He said quietly. "I might…"

Something slammed into him and Lee was dragged down into the darkness and found himself looking at his Soul.

"What the…" Lee saw Stanley, wrapped in magic chains, and next to him... Lee instinctively hid himself as he felt the power of the monstrosity that had somehow gotten in here with them. It didn't notice him and floated inside their inner Soul.

"Lee! Ru…" Stanley started then screamed out. "Help!"

"I'm trying." Lee whispered, even as he struggled to think of how to fight the thing. It was inside their Soul! Could he even use magic inside here? "...be ready."

Lee watched his twin, bound in glowing chains, as he drifted after the monster. He followed them inside a moment later and saw Caffeine bite down on the thing.

Something flashed and Pain erupted. "No!" Lee raged at himself. "I will not let pain stop me!" He clawed his mind away from the pain, forcing himself to see what had happened.

He saw it.

He saw the terrible wound in their Soul and his mind raced desperate for a solution as he fought against his own as well as his twins' panic. And then he felt it. [Three]

It loomed behind him. A fortress. Built from the [Source] and… and from their Soul… Lee leaned into the strength of that fortress as he stepped up to the wound. He ignored the battle raging behind him... inside them... and focused his full attention on what could be done to save them all. "If our Soul can bind Mana and Source together… it can bind itself back together."

He pulled on his Mana and it responded. Glowing symbols attached themselves onto their Soul, almost too easily, as if the Soul Energy around the Runes was only too happy to bind back into the whole.

Then he heard the laughter. The horrible, grating laughter. He turned and saw what the monster was looking at. "That can't be good…" It was ranting about something and laughing when Caffeine bit clean through one of the 'things' shadowy arms.

It stopped laughing. Magic started gathering again in it's remaining limbs.

Lee saw Stanley move up next to him, saw his glowing chains start dissolving under the flow of energy coming from the gaping wound in their Soul.

He knew what his twin wanted to do. He knew it would hurt. But they had no other options. "Do it!"

The pain!

Lee screamed along with Caffeine and Stanley.

"No!" Lee fought back the pain and buried himself deep into his [Mana Mind], and suddenly he could see himself in two places at once.

He was on the ground in the parking garage, thrashing violently as people around him shouted and hands struggled to hold him still.

He was inside their Soul. Standing in front of a terrifyingly large wound. "It's so big…"

Lee pulled on the Mana Well. "Give me everything." He demanded from [Three]. "I will need it all."

Runes flashed into existence around him, one by one, more and more, until a storm of glowing symbols surrounded him. "More!" He thought. "I need More!"

Then Stanley was there again, gathering up more of their Soul to wield as a weapon.

"Kill it!" Lee told him.

This time he was ready when the gaping wound tore wider, threatening to rip apart and kill them all. Glowing symbols flared and bound to their Soul, Lee screamed out his defiance as Mana Burned through him and it held!

They lived!

But it wasn't over… even as he struggled and bound their Soul back together, piece by piece, he felt the monster. He felt it looming over them, it's claws reaching down to take everything away from them.

"I won't let it!" He raged against the darkness.

Then everything slowed, stilled, and Stanley was next to him in front of their Soul. They gazed at each other. This was it. They would live or die here. And death was the more likely outcome. But they were in agreement, better to die fighting and take their foe down with them, rather than simply cowering and waiting for death.

"Finish it." Lee told him. "I Will hold us together."

He felt Stanley gathering up his power, wrapping it in their Soul. He felt his twin's resolve, his faith in Lee. "I know." Stanley said.

Then he was gone, back out to end this fight, one way or another.

He struck!

Lee screamed outside and inside as their Soul cracked to the breaking point.

But they won!

He could feel that much even as he felt Stanley drowning under a wave of noise that bombarded their Soul.

But Lee couldn't hear it. He was burning in the raging liquid fires of his Mana as he fought against the dying of the light. "I will not let it go out!" He was screaming and he could taste blood on his tongue. Everything hurt so much!

"I will never break!" He kept screaming even as he choked on the blood filling his lungs.

"Never!"

And then something happened.

He felt a link connect to him… Alejandro! Then another… Maria! Then more! And more! He could feel them.

Every Soul inside his building. Every Soul inside [Three]. They all reached out to him. He could feel the fear, the pain they all were feeling. Feeling for him. From him. But they all wanted to help. Wanted him to survive.

Lee latched onto those grasping hands like a drowning man onto a lifeline. And they pulled his head above the water.

Caffeine was there, waiting for him. He stood defiantly before the crack, his feet planted, dug in and refusing to let it split completely apart.

And Somehow it still held.

"Stan!" Lee screamed. His brother was there suddenly. "Do it now!" He knew Stanley would understand. And he did. "You always were the smarter one." Stanley said as Lee felt his twin's resolve hardening.

Lee gathered up all the borrowed power, all the borrowed Soul strands. "Now!"

He felt his twin's Will slam against their Soul. Felt the rage and determination pushing back the void that threatened them.

"Everything that tries to kill us, only makes us stronger…" Lee realized in awe as his other half forced their Soul back together through sheer force of Will.

Caffeine's Soul form stepped forward to the still leaking crack and licked it. Power came from him and for an instant they were whole.

Lee knew it wasn't enough though. He could feel the damage, the weakness, the flaw that had been introduced.

But he had a solution ready.

Runes exploded from him. Tiny bits of his Soul as well as tiny bits of so many other's Souls. Together they stitched a binding, strengthening, healing web of power. Lee used all the power that was offered up to him and he bound their Soul back together, until only a thin line remained.

A scar.

A memento of sacrifice and pain. Of Victory.

"Thanks…" They both whispered. To each other, to Caffeine and to all the ones who helped.

"We rock." Stanley said as he leaned against the giant, now spent and sleeping, pug Soul.

Lee smiled as he leaned against Caffeine as well. "We do rock."