Part Three: Memento Mori

We step through the gateway to a semi barren land. Tall buildings spun of glass stand towards the horizon. The earth is cracked, the trees are dead, or not at all. Even the wind has a rustiness to it. Hard to believe this was once a vibrant world. That this city with its glass towers was once a wonder.

"Is this…

"Yes," I say, blanketing us in darkness.

"Where is she?" he sends through our telepathic link.

"Not here, yet," I send back, "Father time, sent us here a few days before her arrival. We must prepare accordingly."

###

Kazuki runs long, lazy fingers down my spine, just as something tugs at me. She's here, but why?

"What's wrong?" he asks, as I jump out of bed and head towards the tinted windows.

Where are you? Little sister.

"Tell me, what does the Collector look like?"

"Why?"

"She's our way home, I need to know what she looks like."

"I told you unless she wants you to find her there's no way. I've never seen her, it's all hearsay."

"Something tells me will be meeting her soon," I say, as another wave of energy hits me. It's as if she was trying to pull me towards her.

"What was that?" Kazuki asks as he rises from the bed.

"The Collector," I say heading towards the bathing chamber.

"How do you know?"

"I would know that energy anywhere," I say, as I consume the dark energy she sends out. So, this is your trial, let's see who makes it out.

###

Nicole sits cross-legged as we make our way into the parlor. Asher, lies next to her, sleeping in his wolf form, and Wen is nowhere in sight.

"We're being summoned," I say, as Selene steps into the parlor. Something about her feels different, but I can't place it.

"By whom?" Nicole asks, eyes still closed.

Another wave of dark power reverberates through the earth. What if Selene's wrong? What if this is something else? The only time this kind of power was felt was when the collector arrived.

"A little Shadow," Selene says. Just as the first rain in a very long time begins to fall, it's mixed with hail that pounds on the tinted windows with urgency.

###

I pop caramelized peanuts into my mouth as Luca goes over an old scroll. He has a whole pilled he wants to bring home, stacked neatly next to him. Who would have thought, the Prince of Wolves and I would be here together? He sets his scroll down and looks up as I send out another wave of energy.

Father taught me how to use it when I was around nine. It is a type of energy that fully consumes your target until they are hollow. Until the only thing that fills them is sweet death.

"Will she come?" Luca asks.

"She has no choice," I say, as I continue to toss caramelized peanuts into my mouth, "the longer she waits the worse she'll feel."

"What do you mean?"

"Cerin sent out a wave of energy, that Selene so greedily consumed," Roan says as he and Eira steps through the shimmering gateway leading home.

"Is everything ready?" I ask.

"Yes," Roan says, "mother sent you this," he hands me a violet letter, nothing fancy.

I open the letter to find only one phrase is written inside Memento Mori.

"What is it?" Luca pears over my shoulder as the letter ignites. Mother's letters are designed to turn to ash when read by anyone besides the intended recipient.

"My final task," I say, sending out a final wave of energy, just as the rain begins to fall accompanied by hail.