"Let's enter," an eerie but beautiful voice spoke. The sound was like a choir of all things perfect and immaculate, its completeness beyond proper description. That voice stirred something deep inside Ignis Lumen.

"Yes, mother," he answered with a beaming smile. It had been too long since he last could speak with her. Her form was unlike his own: It was constantly shifting between a sphere and cube of pure Truth, which embodied her existence to the point where she itself was the Truth. With a single step they traveled infinite distance as well as no distance at all, within an instance as well as an eternity. Side effects of existence before time and space came to properly be. In the nothing in front of them, a majestic gate suddenly materialised out of thin air, although there technically was not yet any air. It contained a total of 9 intricate symbols. 8 of them were on the sides and were respectively showing: straight parallel yet intertwining lines; a perfect spiral encircling an empty circle; a single drop of something inside a rectangle; a horrifying monster with 8 limbs and 10 legs; a sapling brimming with vitality; a crowned walking corpse; a vast planet; and finally a million overlapping words, making each unreadable. And in the middle of these 8 symbols the gate was adorned by one which surpassed them all. An eternal flame, shining boldly among its own inextinguishable embers.

When Ignis Lumen and his mother approached the gate opened on its own, welcoming them inside. What appeared before the was a transcendent hall, the apex of all architecture from before time and after. Pillars of indescribable shapes and forms supported the countless fractured ceilings which, despite their division, formed one flawless whole. And in that room, upon his exalted throne, sat a single being. His left eye was emerald green while the right was a dark shade of gray. Despite the clarity with which Ignis Lumen could see him he was simply incapable of pointing out any other details.

"You have arrived," the monarch spoke with an energetic smile "all of you."

It was at this point that 8 other beings appeared in Irwyn's eyes, but as though it was a mirage he could only properly see one: A young boy, unlike himself, with long and pointy ears. Ignis Lumen smiled at his brother and the gesture was returned, but when he wanted to return his gaze to his father he found himself incapable of doing so.

At that moment everything began to shift.

Before Ignis Lumen knew it a crown had appeared on his brother’s head. It was adorned by countless vibrantly glowing jewels of all shapes and colour, some surpassing what could be described by words alone. He could not understand why, but he felt dread from that sight, as tears of blood began to run down his brother’s cheeks. His eyes flickered around the room and realised that his mother has disappeared. In fact, all that remained were 3 people, he, his brother, and his father upon his throne. Yet the monarch’s eyes had grown dull at this point, the former burning vigor nowhere to be seen; his skin has grown shriveled, and his previously immaculate gown was now tattered and shredded.

Suddenly a new form materialised behind the throne. Albeit the silhouette was only partial Ignis Lumen knew instinctively who it was. HE WANTED TO SHOUT OUT A WARNING. HE WISHED TO TELL HIM BEFORE IT WAS TOO LATE. HE DESIRED NOTHING MORE THAN TO UTTER A SINGLE WORD WHILE THERE WAS STILL TIME. But his desires were denied, as his mouth refused to open and his dread-filled eyes seemed to give no hint. An irresistible force tugged on his body, and despite his efforts, he was being pulled back from where he came. When there was no hope of resisting this immense force by himself, he reached forward his hand, hoping that someone, anyone would grab it.

Yet no one did.

As his body was launched beyond the door he could see the traitor reaching for Ignis’ throat. The first flame gave his son one last weary smile, and for a single moment both his eyes became vibrant green.

And then the gate shut closed, leaving Ignis Lumen to be swallowed by darkness. In that instant what just transpired also completely slipped out of his mind. Forgotten.

When he next saw light he was looking at an immaculate white ceiling, likely marble. Irwyn felt his body was covered by sweat while there was a slightly unfamiliar warmth in his right hand. With a very quick look around himself he realised there were all sorts of medical equipment stacked in the spacious room, as well as that there was a black-haired man in scrubs, his face also adorned by a short goatee.

“What happened?” Irwyn asked out loud, only now realising that even this simple feat appeared to be surprisingly tiring. But what exactly happened? He could remember the meeting with the necromancer. Then… he came to pick up Alice and they went to the auction house, where they, unfortunately, didn’t manage to find the catalyst. Next, they walked back home without any major incidents, there he finished the lesson about necessary etiquette in the presence of royalty and went to sleep.

“You are finally awake, lord Irwyn,” the, presumably, healer spoke “the wounds on your organs unexpectedly reopened despite the weekly recuperation therapy session from just before we left. We were... notified and rushed in to stop the internal bleeding.”

“So that is what happened,” Irwyn sighed, partially in relief that he was not just losing his sanity, but there was an inkling in his mind that he had was forgetting something, “What hour is it?”

“It's currently 4 hours past midnight,” the healer dutifully answered him.

“So, I still have about 5 hours to rest,” Irwyn just bitterly smiled. He felt extremely weak, and even felt signs of delayed pain spilling from beneath his chest and belly.

“5 hours?” the healer looked confused at first before realisation struck him and a frown surfaced on his face “You cannot be serious, you still intend to attend the meeting with the princess. As your physician I absolutely forbid you from doing so!”

“You have your struggles, and I have mine,” Irwyn just bitterly chuckled; he absolutely had to attend that meeting, “I cannot simply reschedule my meeting with the princes.”

“You can just claim you were ill,” the man advised, realising that he had significantly overstepped his bounds with the previous command he now tried a much milder approach.

“Not to mention the political implications it would have, it would show the vultures a weakness to exploit,” Irwyn maintained his bitter smile “My sister died to make them wary, if I miss this meeting because something as petty as a possibly terminal illness they might just lose the fear I earned back then,” or so he said in order to convince the man. In reality it was an unlikely conclusion, but relaying his true intentions ran the risk of reaching Avys’ ears.

"But…" the man wanted to retort, but knew nowhere near enough about politics to confidently deny what Irwyn had claimed. Although he was rather persistent he had good intentions so Irwyn wasn't really mad, "At least let me accompany you, just in case something happens," the healer eventually said.

"Hmmm," Irwyn thought about it. Based on what he could feel inside his own body, the wounds reopened because his control over his sealed soul slipped while he was asleep. Very much unlike him, but it at least meant that further spontaneous internal bleeding was unlikely. On the other hand he couldn't explain that to the physician and going along with the man's idea likely meant he would stop insisting, "Fine, I am sure they will let you sit in a free room nearby."

"Thank you, lord Irwyn," the man gave a slight bow. It was almost ironic that he thanked Irwyn for letting him do his job.

"Now let me rest," Irwyn said as he tried to move into a more comfortable position, but then realised that something was holding his right hand beneath the beds surface. Looking over the edge he realised that there were two sleeping girls he hadn't noticed before because of the height difference between their seated bodies and the tall medical bed. They looked almost sisterly as Elizabeth's head lied on Alice's shoulder while Alice's lied on Elizabeth's raven black hair. It was in fact Elizabeth who was holding his hand.

"They seemed extremely worried when we brought you in. As soon as we stabilized you, they rushed into the room and stayed here since," the healer answered the unsaid question "not long after you were safe you began to reach out for something with your hand and yelling something in a language I couldn't understand. The younger girl seemed really worried and held your hand."

"I see," Irwyn acknowledged as an unfamiliar warmth flowed to his chest. Usually, that would disturb him, but right now he was too tired to care. He just lied back to his bed and closed his eyes, not removing Elizabeth's hand.

"Goodnight," the healer said, about to leave the room.

"Goodnight," Irwyn nodded and went to sleep. The warmth of Elizabeth's hand accompanying him until his consciousness entered oblivion.