aftermath

---Present Time---

Jan and I pour over the scene of the battle. There was a violent altercation here, but it isn't clear what happened. The trees that blossom from the earth, Jan tells me, are fabrications of the Wood Magician's power. Judging from what else is here, we can't say for sure what attacked her. There's no sign of any other magic.

Still, something is nagging at me in the back of my mind. Rav went up the mountain, didn't he? Is it possible he's the one who fought against the Magician of Wood?

"Oh!" I exclaim, pointing at something tucked behind one of the trees. "I think I found someone!"

I run to the mound. It's roughly human-shaped, but if it was a person, they've breathed their last.

Jan walks up to the corpse and puts her hand over her mouth. "Eusevia!" she gasps. "No, no..."

Jan steps away from the body, her breathing becoming erratic. "Who could have done this," she snarls, looking around the area frantically. "Who could have even known..."

I look at Jan, frowning. "I'm not sure." I don't have anything I can say to help the situation, and Jan is clearly stressed.

"Could it be the famine spreader?" Jan questions herself. It's like she's forgotten I'm even here. Lost in her speculation.

My hand reaches for the glowing axe that Jan gifted me earlier. I guess it's too late for this - whoever defeated Eusevia is long gone. Could Rav really have done this?

"Should we bury her?" I ask. Jan turns to me, looking at me as if I were insane for suggesting it. 

"She was your friend, wasn't she?" My eyes flicker with a moment of doubt toward Jan. Her expression seems so inflexible. Like someone who just had a minor inconvenience, not like someone who's work partner is laying on the ground dead.

"You can," Jan says quietly. "Thank you. I need to look around some more. She may have left us a clue."

My magic isn't great for digging, so I'm only able to blast out a shallow hole. Still, it'll be deep enough for a body. I take hold of Eusevia and lower her into the makeshift grave I've created, but as I do I notice something strange. She's quite heavy for a human of her size. 

As I move the body, the veil over her face falls away. There's something different about her skin. It's tough and hard. And her body is wrapped in tiny vines...

I retreat away from the body. This isn't a person at all. This is just another doll.

I run to Jan. She's investigating the ruins of what was once a house. There are scrambled papers and drawings all over the place, but nothing seems to draw Jan's attention. What is she expecting to find, I wonder?

"Jan, was your friend...noticeably wooden when she was alive?" I am unsure of how to broach the subject.

Jan snaps her fingers. "Of course!"

Jan's attention drifts from the disarray and toward me. "You're clever. Very clever."

Gee, thanks. But what's the story? I almost ask, but she continues talking and answers my question pre-emptively.

"A fake corpse. It was meant to look as if she died. Whoever did this to Eusevia, they've taken her alive."

Jan's yellow eyes lock onto me, and desperation I haven't seen from her before grows evident on her face. "If they've gone so far as to attack Eusevia, then I fear they are already in their endgame," Jan frowns. "But why? How did I not sense them coming up the mountain!?"

Jan slams her fist on the table, knocking off what little remains on it. "What does it mean...how...why?"

Jan turns to me. The look in her eyes has grown colder and more determined. Her demeanor is haunting.

"August, I'm sorry to have to ask you this, but I need you to perform a purification. Can you do that for me?"

I furrow my brow as I look at her. "I mean, I'd love to...but I don't know how to do anything like that."

Jan smiles. "Oh, yes you do. All Nephilim do. I can teach you. It is a power that resides in your wings."

"My...wings? No, you don't mean - "

Jan nods solemnly. "August. I lost my wings long ago, but you are still whole. You can spare one petal. Just one - trust me, I know. I've done it before. Your Nephilim wings have the power of purification. A petal of your wings, thrust into the ground...it will cleanse this land of famine."

"I don't...think that's a good idea," I say, guarded. 

She steps to me, attempting to console me. "It won't hurt at all," she whispers. "And in fact, it will make you stronger."

"Stronger?" I ask. "Wouldn't doing this mean losing a part of myself?"

Jan laughs through her smile. "Yes. It is a small sacrifice. You will get hungrier, more often - you'll have the appetite of a regular human. But you could live with that, couldn't you? If it meant saving an entire region from famine?"

I do not like the suggestion at all. Giving up a piece of myself to save others - on paper, I understand. But was I willing to do such a thing? Would it even work?

"You're wondering if it will work," Jan says, reading my face. "It will. August. I was born a Nephilim too. I know much about the world. And your wings."

Her voice trails off, a haze of mystery surrounding her words. "I can teach you all about them, August. What each piece of your wings grants you. The powers you can obtain by discarding them. The miracles you can bring to the earth."

"My wings can perform...miracles?" I ask. I shake the thought out of my head. What sense does it make, thinking about this stuff? There's no way I can actually go along with it. 

"For every power gained, there is sacrifice," Jan says. "I would never ask you to give up more than you are willing to. You wish to stay a Nephilim. A noble goal. But would one single step closer to humanity truly be the death of you?"

"I don't feel comfortable talking about this." I shut down the conversation. "I'm sorry."

Jan smiles all the same. "Please, do not apologize. I should have never suggested such a thing. You have no duty to these people."

Everything feels fuzzy. I'm not sure if I'm making the right decision here. 

"I'll do it," I say quietly. "Only if it's our very last option, okay?"

Jan bites her lip. "If only it were that easy. Were this famine to spread any further, I fear your wing's petal would not alone suffice."

It feels like there are a million reasons to say no in this situation, and only one reason to say yes. But that one reason is so important to me. I just found Jan - my only family in this entire world. She's depending on me, just like everyone else from Little Moon Town. If she were still on the moon, I would do everything for her. Just like I have been, every day, for everyone up there. So, why should this be any different?

If my mom needed me to do this, or Rosaria, Venetio...Rylin. I would do it. So I'll be a little hungrier? Is that truly the biggest drawback, when I can save an entire region of people?

"A little hungrier?" I ask. "Just like a human?"

"Yes."

"And this...can make me stronger?"

"Yes. Fruit and vegetables especially are high in natural mana. The more you eat, the stronger your mana capacity will become. You'd need to depend on your Vessel less. It would make things easier on both of you."

This could reduce some of the burdens that Kieran faces?

I exhale. The breath is warm, a big burst of fog erupting from my mouth as I release my doubts into the cold air. 

"How do we do it?"

I feel a twinge of unease, but I push it aside. Jan wouldn't mislead me, right?