"Tell me how to reverse it," I said as I stormed into the room and saw the Keeper sitting at a control panel. Marylea and Fabe sat next to her, their faces dim as the middle of winter.

"Ash," said Marylea, tears brimming in her eyes. "The population in Aragonia - it's - it's -" She broke into sobs and buried her face in her hands.

"It's down to five hundred," said Fabe, his face grave.

That meant half of the citizens had vanished. A bolt of fear ran through me. Was my father still intact? Makerholf, Springy, Trevain?

"You're safe here," said the Keeper. "The Keeper Core is immune to any Realm-wide effects, and besides, you are outside Aragonia's borders. You can stay until the refresh is over."

That thought stung. How could we stay here while our Kingdom perished?

"How do we reverse this?" I asked. "There must be a way."

I caught a glint in her eyes which answered my questions. There was a way, but she wasn't telling us what.

"My dear, it's a lost cause you're fighting for," she said. "Embrace the future. Embrace -"

"Bull crap," I said, and pulled the dagger I'd commandeered from Geary's body by the river. As I pushed the dagger against her throat, pushed her up against the wall, I felt like I'd escaped my body and was looking from above at someone I didn't recognize. She had my face, my body, my clothes, and yet, she was doing something I would've never imagined of doing.

Then she started saying things that would never come from my lips.

"I will kill you," she said in my voice. "I will kill you if you don't tell me how to reverse this process."

"Ash, are you mad?" exclaimed Fabe. "Snap out of it. It's over!"

Keenan, who'd just entered the room, took in the scene with wide eyes. "Ash? What're you doing?"

Marylea stared at me with swollen eyes, still hiccupping slightly from her sob fest.

"I saw it in your eyes, Keeper," the girl said in my voice. "There's a way, but you won't tell us. Why?"

The Keeper didn't flinch. Her steely black eyes met mine. She was calm as a starlit night. "I'm doing this for your own good," she wheezed. She said it so softly the others couldn't hear. But I'd heard it loud and clear.

I saw a ray of hope.

"I knew it," I said. "What is it? What must we do?"

"I can't tell you," she said. "Go ahead. Kill me. If I die I will only be reborn."

"Don't do it, Ash," said Keenan. "Put the dagger down. There is nothing else –"

"She lied!" I cried over my shoulder. Then I turned back to the Keeper. "What must we do?"

"You will die," said the Keeper. "And if I must die to save your lives -"

"We will die?" I asked. "What about the others who've disappeared? What about Velamiere? What about Tem? Tell me how to reverse it. I'll do it alone. One life for the others. Doesn't make more sense than this, does it?"

"Stop it, Ash," rasped Marylea. "It's my fault. If I'd never arrived at the Kingdom, there wouldn't be a refresh, and we wouldn't be here. If you must take it out on someone, take it out on me."

I was floating near the ceiling again, observing the girl I didn't know. This strange girl ignored her friends and stared the Keeper in the eye. "I will kill you again and again," she said. "Until you tell me how to reverse this. I know there's a way. I saw it in your eyes. I'll do it. Unless you tell me."

The Keeper didn't look afraid; instead, she looked sympathetic. "I'm sorry this is happening to your Kingdom," she said. "I cannot imagine."

"I see you've made your choice," the girl in my body said. The arm holding the dagger flexed, and the Keeper closed her eyes.

The dagger fell to the ground in a clatter.

Then I was back in my body again, curled up in a ball on the ground, sobbing with every vestige of my soul and body.

"I - I can't do it," I said amidst hiccups.

I'm sorry, Aragonia. I'm sorry, Tem.

The thought of Tem, gone, banished to be a floating soul in a river, ached so badly I bawled even harder.

I am weak. A whole Kingdom gone, and all I can do is cry.

Slender fingers touched my shoulder. I ignored them, bent on wallowing in self-pity.

The Keeper's voice echoed in my head. "There is a way."

It took a few seconds for her words to register. I looked up at her black, watery eyes.

"You need to block that waterfall," the Keeper continued, pointing out the window at the gushing falls. "After that, I can work my magic to stop the refresh and reverse everything."

"That's all?" asked Fabe. "Let's do it, then! Why didn't you tell us earlier?"

"It's a dangerous undertaking," said the Keeper gravely. "I didn't want you risking your lives."

"I'll do it," said Fabe.

"As will I," said Keenan.

Marylea straightened. "And me."

"You must love your Kingdom." The Keeper met each of our gazes. "I need to prepare. Go outside and think of ideas to block the water flow." Then she whispered so only I could hear, "Stay."

All three looked like new life had been injected into them. "We're on it," said Marylea, and they began filing out of the room, a new spring in their step. Marylea looked over her shoulder at me, expectant. "Coming, Ash?"

"I'll be there," I said. "I just need another glass of that spring water."

Marylea nodded and filed out after the boys.

When the door shut after them, I turned to the Keeper. "What is it?"

Her black, almond eyes drooped sadly. She rested her hand gently on my wrist, as if bracing me for the news she was about to deliver. She spoke slowly, deliberately.

"There's something else."