Ares clutched at where his heart was, or at least where he thought his heart was. The pain was been unbearable, as though his entire body had been racked with flames. He wished for his body to be drowned by Levi again, for that was not quite as excruciating as this was. His flesh threatened to burn off his skin, his bones melting, his mind turned to ash.

He gasped for air as he keeled over, his mind finally coming back to his body. His body cooled quickly as though he had dove himself into ice. He wiggled his fingers, and then looked down to see that his fingers were moving, and then finally he could feel the feel of his wiggling fingers.

“Holy shit. Ah fuck… god damn…” Ares’ ragged breath came to him in waves.

As he continued to wish for air, Ares looked over towards the leviathan and then rolled onto his back to get back to trying to catch his breath.

“You weren’t kidding,” Ares said in between breaths, “that was painful…”

Ares sank into the ground as he closed his eyes, concentrating on his breath. In and out, in and out, that’s it. He let the rhythm of his breath take over himself until he was finally allowed to live in the world without suffering.

Then he hoisted himself onto his bottom and he brought up his hands. He tried to will something to happen with his hands, but nothing happened. He frowned. Then he closed his eyes, let out a soft breath, and willed for something more specific. Fire.

His hands shook for a moment before they slowly shifted into tendrils of white and gold, the heat pulsing out against his body. Yet it was warm, not hot, and the heat that flowed against his skin

His hands then shook slightly, before slowly shifting into white and gold fire. Though he grew warmer, he didn’t feel as though he was burning himself. His hands were no longer hands either, now forming a more leafy shape.

“Whoa…” he whispered to himself and then looked up towards the giant serpent. “This is pretty cool.” He stood up and then closed his eyes, trying to focus himself.

As the warmth flooded through his body, he lifted his arms up, and then swung them down as he shot up into the sky. As he opened his eyes and he looked around, he saw that he was indeed flying.

His heart skipped a beat before finally pounding wildly within his chest. ‘Holy shit… I’m flying…I’m fucking flying’ All he could think was that he could fly. He circled around in a single area around the lake before he then tries to shift his talons back to being his legs, his wings up high as he dropped down, then shifting his wings back to his arms. He looked back down towards his hands, then back up to Levi.

“This is the greatest thing ever…” He said. The freedom that had come with flying felt like a drug to him, and even now he felt as though he wanted to leap up once more, to take into the skies and fly until he couldn’t anymore. Even now, he could feel his heart lift in anticipation. He wiggled his fingers as he felt the electricity ooze through himself.

“It seems as though something has gone wrong with the fusion of the cores.”

Ares snapped his head towards Levi. “What? What’s wrong? Are you alright?” he asked, walking over to the large being.

“I am well. However, it seems as though I now contain both cores, whereas you remain the same.”

“What?” Ares asked, cocking his head to one side. This whole core business did go above his head, he didn’t quite understand how magic worked in this world.

“You should have a part of the core within you, however, it seems as though both remain in my possession. I have gained some ability from the core as well, but you should have a core within you as well.”

“Is that… bad?”

Levi grew silent for a moment, and Ares waited for some time until the large serpent finally bowed his head. “I do not believe for it to be bad. I believe this is for the best.”

“Ah, is that so?” Ares let out a sigh. “Well, that’s good then. Doesn’t that mean that people won’t go after me for my core?” Ares asked, wondering if cores did something else in this world.

“Indeed, it is true that this will no longer be the case.”

“Well, if it’s like that, then I guess it’s all fine.” Ares shrugged. “No point thinking about it if I can’t do anything about it, you know?” He flashed a grin towards the giant serpent.

“Indeed, that does seem to be the case. How is it that you feel?” Levi asked.

“Huh? How do I feel?” Ares then reached down to massage his forearm, then looked around himself. “I think I feel fine. I don’t really feel too different…” He rubbed his chin. “Yeah. I feel like the me from before, well, since I’ve entered this world, I feel fine.”

“Then, do you wish to leave?”

“I should probably get going in the morning. Until then, why don’t we chat a little before I sleep?” Ares offered. He still wasn’t feeling his best after the fusion of the cores, or the lack thereof, but he didn’t want to worry Levi too much. He assumed that his current lethargy was from going through the process.

“Indeed, I would enjoy such a thing.”

So Ares spoke more about his world, letting Levi ask his questions and replying to them as best as he could.

“It seems as though your world, though flawed, has a number of systems in place for your people. Would you be willing to help the denizens of this realm with such knowledge?”

“Well… I’m not really an expert in that kind of thing, but I’d like to help with whatever I can.” Ares replied back, looking up to the giant creature. He waited for the unspoken words that they seemed to be mulling over.

“Very well. I shall allow you to sleep. I shall leave in the night and return with some parting gifts.”

“W-what? Parting gifts?” Ares asked. Parting gifts? What kind of parting gifts? It didn’t sound like a threat…

“Indeed. I cannot allow you to leave without at least something that will help you on your journey.”

“Aren’t these powers enough?” Ares asked.

“Perhaps so, but you would be a strange human in the lands of the beastfolk, I would prefer you were safe from their ire for some time.”

“Ah, right…” He nodded his head. “If you could do that for me, I’d appreciate it.” Ares flushed a light crimson as the warmth of embarrassment filled him.

“Very well. I shall see you in the morning.”

“Good night, Levi.”

“Good night, Ares.”

With that the large creature then submerged into the water. Though it was dark, Ares could see that the blackness that was once his form, had left the water.

Just how deep was that thing?