Chapter 16: what the people saw

The gods had been watching Umbra for what seemed like eons as he was caught in an unending circle of life and death. They had done all they could to push him, make him see some light to give him that hope he once had. But the boy withered away, his spirit crushed beyond recognition. The gods had grown tired of their efforts, but something gnawed at them-something refusing to let them truly let him go. They could not abandon him fully. Not yet.

It was the deal they had made, one that bound him into this endless loop, but they had misjudged how much his pain would be. They had misjudged the amount of his despair, and by now, even their godly manipulation would not be able to turn his heart.

But they didn't quit. Speaking in divine voices, speaking to him, their voices tangled with emotions that Umbra wouldn't understand.

"Umbra," they whispered, "if you live until you are sixteen years old, you will be reunited with Akari."