The first thing he sensed when he got through the girl's natural mind defenses, was cold. His mental image materialised in a middle of snow covered plains. His surroundings confirmed what he already thought; the girl's mind wasn't altered by spell, it was broken by steady mental pressure. Broken mind can be repaired, but it takes a lot more effort and bears more risk than simply undo a spell. He had to find the core. Every mind had its core where the personality and source of all emotions resided. He scanned the plains and discovered a big construction made of ice behind him in approximately two hunderd meters distance. Nothing else disturbed the monotony of the mindscape. Sure, he could fly or just float in the air or even teleport there, but he prefered the most natural movement, as it required only minimum of his concentration.

When he came near, the structure gained shape of an icy cage. To his surprise it was designed to keep things in and not out as he would expect in a broken mind. Countless spikes grew from the bars and pointed inside. A figure dressed in rich black dress stood in the middle and when he approached, she opened her sky-blue eyes.

"Ah, a guest," she said. "Or should I call you intruder?"

Kaisinel didn't respond immediately. Instead he watched her carefully and tried to find the remnants of Chellia's personality which he saw the last time he sought through her memories. That person in the cage had her face, but nothing else looked similar.

"Why are you in this cage, Chellia?" he asked.

"My name is Apsu," she replied and more spikes appeared on the bars. Something felt off, but he couldn't tell what.

"No," he objected. "Your name is Chellia. You are a daeva, a child of two Empyrean lords, Nezekan and Triniel."

"I AM APSU!" she screamed. "I am lord Beritra's queen!"

"The Dragon Lord Apsu is dead for millenia. She was killed by Tiamat in a battle for power."

"NO!" the woman clutched her head in her palms and more and more spikes were growing out of the bars.

"Go away... go away..." Kaisinel heard a weak voice coming out of the cage. What he thought was just a pile of snow now moved and a very young girl with Chellia's face was looking at him and crying. "Leave me alone."

The Lord of Illusions froze with shock. He had seen countless mental diseases and instabilities, but never such personality split. Of course some people tried to protect their minds by either closing themselves in or creating another part, but never combined. Chellia apparently did that. She closed herself in this cage, guarded it against escape and then gave birth to this Apsu part. But why would she do that? Did Beritra force her? Yes, that's the only explanation. Beritra had no use for Chellia, he needed Apsu. In order for her to survive, she had to become what he wanted. And she decided to preserve her original conscience by closing it inside where he couldn't find it. It was clever, but extremely dangeours. The only way how to return was to make the little girl accept the Apsu part as her own.

"Chellia, tell me, what happened."

"Why?" the little girl sniffed. "Are you here to kill me? If so, please kill her first."

"No, I'm here to help you. I promised your father I will bring you back unharmed. Let me help you."

"I don't need your help!"

"If you stay like this, you will die."

"I should have never been born, you said that yourself," more tears flowed from her eyes and more spikes grew on the cage. This time from both sides. "Please, kill me. And the other one too."

"Calm down and listen, Chellia," Kaisinel tried to keep self-confident image, but he had no idea how to talk with someone who was this hurt. "By giving birth to you your parents broke Aion's law, but you are alive now and no one has the right to kill you just because you were born."

"I don't believe you! You tried to do that!"

"Yes, I know. I was wrong. When I saw you, I got furious. Even from that first sight it was clear who you are. You have Nezekan's eyes, but otherwise you look like younger version of Triniel. And I hate her. I hate her so much I wanted to kill you just to hurt her."

"And why did you changed your mind now?"

"Nezekan stopped me back then. And since he already knows about you, killing you would hurt him too. And I won't allow that."

"Why? Do you love him?"

Kaisinel sighed.

"Yes, Chellia, I do love him."

"So all your hatred towards her and me is just... because you're jealous?"

"You can say it like that too. Now, do you believe me I don't want to hurt you anymore?" a hint of anger appeared in his voice.

"Uhm... maybe..."

"Alright, then tell me what happened. Why did you split your mind?"

"I..." the little girl started shaking and looked at the Apsu part, who in the meantime became half transparent. That was good, it meant she still didn't play the dominant role in this mind. "She killed Cyhiraeth. And she helped Beritra to get weapons against us. She's not part of me!"

"It's very dangerous for you to be like this, you have to merge back to your original self."

"No, I won't do that! She's not me! She's someone else! I would never help him, I would never aimed that weapon at my friend..."

"I know," he nodded. "You wouldn't hurt someone you care about. And you cared about her a lot, right?"

"She was my friend," little Chellia sobbed.

Kaisinel's body suddenly flickered.

"What are you doing?" the girl asked with fear in her eyes.

"I don't have much time left here. The spell I cast is extremely exhausting. I'll pass out soon."

"So you won't help me?"

"Chellia, listen. I know you're in great pain, I can see it all around here. I also know you're strong and you can overcome this. You need your mind to become one again and then break this cage. What happened while you were captured by Beritra, wasn't your fault. It was him who forced you, he is that powerful. Please, come back to us as Chellia, not Apsu. Your parents are worried about you. And... if it's revenge what you want, you can help us against Beritra."

After the last sentence his concentration broke and everything around him faded into blackness.

~ x ~

After an hour of Kaisinel's trance state Nezekan begun to worry. He knew the master of illusions could spend even more in one's mind, but this time it was his daughter and she was in danger. Few more minutes passed. Suddenly Kaisinel's body twitched and few drops of blood fell from his nose onto the blanket.

"Chelli..." Triniel made a step forward, but Nezekan stopped her.

"Don't, we can't disturb him right now," he whispered. His love just nodded and anxiously watched their sleeping girl.

The following moments felt like infinite. Finally the Lord of Illusions took a deep breath and opened his eyes. Triniel immediately knelt beside the bed and caught Chellia's hand. After few moments, during which the girl still haven't moved, she turned towards Kaisinel.

"Why can't she wake up?"

"Let her sleep for now," Kaisinel replied. "But don't renew the spell, it will be the best if she wakes up naturally."

"Will she be alright now?" Nezekan asked with his usual calm, but deep inside he was as worried as Triniel.

"I don't know," the mind expert shook his head. "I did what I could, but it was far worse than I expected. I know it will sound like a cliché, but it's up to her now. You should stay here, or someone she trusts, she shouldn't be alone when she wakes up."

"I'll stay," Triniel decided and looked at Chellia again. "The spell should wear off in few hours. Thank you for your help."

"I'll escort Kaisinel to Elysea and I'll be right back."

"No need, Nezekan, if you want to stay here, I'll find my way out myself."

"Will you be alright? That spell looked very exhausting."

"Yes, I'll be fine. I'm a Seraphim lord, not some candy doll," Kaisinel frowned. "And I'm going only to the Beacon, I have some things to deal with there. Stay with your daughter, she will need you."

"Alright, just be careful."

Kaisinel nodded and left the room. The way to the teleporter was very easy to remember and quite short, but after few steps he stopped to take a deep breath. He was tired from the spell, but it wasn't the cause of his sudden need of air. Chellia called him jealous. He didn't like the meaning of that word. He knew his hatred for Triniel was always too intense to be reasonable, but still he hated the label jealous. That's why he let Nezekan stay with his family. He took few more deep breaths and continued his way out of the Spire.

After Kaisinel left, Nezekan gently helped Triniel to sit on a chair instead of kneeling beside the bed and brought a chair for himself too. Then he took her around her shoulders and silently watched their girl.

"I'm sorry, Nezekan," Triniel said still holding Chellia's hand.

"Don't be, Triniel."

"I know you're suffering too," she continued without looking at him. "And I know I should support you, but I... everyone thinks I'm strong, they expect me to be strong and I though I was, but since Yuffie died, I... I can't... I have never considered she could leave for good."

"I miss her too," Nezekan sighed sadly. The fact that Triniel called Yustiel like this meant she loved her sister very much and even though they became enemies, it didn't change.

"I remember when we first met, the three of us, before Aion has chosen us. We were in hurry, but when she saw you lying on the ground and dying, she started healing you and refused to leave until you got better. She was the complete opposite of me, I would have left you there."

"I know, Triniel, you said that the moment I woke up," he smiled.

"She made amazing tea back then. She loved making tea, even after her Ascension between all that fighting she still found time to make tea for us. I haven't tasted it since the Cataclysm. I wanted to, but I was too proud to talk with her as a sister. If I did, she would still be here and Chellia wouldn't go to Inggison..."

"Triniel," Nezekan caught her by her shoulders and forced her to look into his eyes. "It wasn't your fault. Every one of us could do something in the past that would make things much better, but we didn't. It's the past. It should be me who lead the Storm legion to Morheim instead of Deltras. If I was there, I could talk some sense into Zikel and this war didn't have to even start."

"But that's something completely different," she objected.

"No, it's the same. Would you blame Zikel for falling in love with May? And then asking Yustiel for help when May was dying?"

"No," she shook her head.

"Then, please, don't blame yourself either," he caressed her cheek. "I know you loved her and you miss her dearly. You can mourn as much as you want, there's nothing wrong with that. But don't blame yourself. Yustiel didn't blame you either. She would be miffed that you didn't tell her about her lovely niece, but that's all."

"Nezekan, I... thank you," Triniel finally smiled and gave him a light kiss. "I'll mourn later, I must be strong for Chellia right now."

"You won't be alone, I'll be here for the both of you."

"I know," she turned back to her daughter and held her hand again. She was still concerned about Chellia's state, but Nezekan's arm around her shoulders gave her strange feeling of peace she haven't felt in a long time.

It took several more minutes before Chellia's right eyelid shivered and she slowly woke up.

"Chellia," Triniel got up from the chair and sat onto the bed next to the girl. "How are you feeling?"

"I..." she was confused. "You know me?"

"This is Triniel," Nezekan said. "Your mother, Chellia."

"My... mother?" the girl looked at the Lady of Death. "Mother..." tears appeared in her good eye. "I so wanted to meet you."

~ x ~

May looked at a plate with her breakfast and sighed. Then she took a sip from her cup of tea and returned to the paperwork she had to do. She felt guilty for eating so little in the last few days, but even looking at food made her stomach go on strike, unless she was really hungry. She didn't find any traces of illness in herself so she blamed the stress and exhaustion from the conference. Someone knocked on the door.

"Come in, please."

"My lady," her servant carefully made one step into the room and bowed. "Lord Vaizel wishes to visit you."

"Send him in," May smiled. She still found it weird to be served like this, especially when some servants looked like they're afraid of her, but she could do nothing better than smile. They were happy when they saw their lady pleased.

"Hey, May! How're ya doing?" Vaizel entered her office in a good mood.

"Hello, Vaizel, what brings you here?"

"I was just around here and I thought you'd like to see me," he grinned.

"Seriously, Vaizel, I know you visit Sanctum only when you have to..."

"You're no fun, May. Ah, well, I finally found the time to question that Lora girl. Ya know, since she attacked you, I had to be there personally to show them I take it seriously and stuff."

"Oh," May looked at him in surprise. "What did you find out?"

"First I researched her background. She was working here in the Lyceum, timid girl but very devoted to Yustiel. And when Yustiel died, she couldn't handle it and collapsed. Then some woman whom she has never seen before offered her to join Lepharists and promised her justice or something. The rest was the same as that templar wrote into his report, she regrets what she's done and she doesn't know the location of their hideout."

"What will you do with her?"

"That's why I came to you. Some call for death as a punishment for attacking a Seraphim lady, but considering what happened in Sarpan, I don't know. The Asmodians didn't execute that sorceress for burning Zikel either."

"She was just protecting me," May sighed. "I agree Lora must be punished, but execution won't give her chance to learn from her mistake. And she didn't attack me from an ill will, the Lepharists used her grief against her. Could she describe the woman who lured her?"

"Yes," Vaizel nodded. "But that description fits to half of Sanctum."

"Hm, okay. She's a daeva, right? Could we... send her somewhere?"

"Yeah, we can leave her few months in the prison and depending on her behaviour let her serve somewhere for half wages. Of course all ranks and titles she has will be removed. Not that she has many of them."

"That sounds appropriate."

"Good, I'll inform Perento to take care of it. And, by the way," the Lord of Freedom looked at the plate with unfinished breakfast. "Are you feeling well?"

"Of course I'm feeling well, why do you ask?"

"This seems to be too little for lunch."

"That's breakfast," May frowned. "I can't eat it all at once, especially in the morning, but it's just stress. I'll be fine, don't worry."

"Stress, you say?" Vaizel gave her a thoughtful look. "And you feel sick in the morning? Are you pregnant?"

"What? Pregnant? Don't say nonsenses like that, Vaizel."

"It's not a nonsense," he objected with a smirk. "Ask Triniel. And considering what you and Zikel did in Sarpan and how often, it's quite possible."

"You were spying on us?" May blushed.

"Pff, I didn't have to, it was quite obvious," he laughed. "So, are you sure you're not pregnant?"

"I don't know, I haven't checked..." she put her palm on her belly and cast a simple spell to find out if Vaizel's guess was correct. After few seconds her face became pale. "I'm pregnant... What should I do?"

"I don't know what you should do, but I'm going to Asmodae to have a drink with the new daddy," he grinned.

"Please, don't!" May stopped him. "I mean... have a drink if you want, but don't tell Zikel. Yet. Don't tell anyone, please. I... I'll tell them myself when I'm ready."

"Hm, but my silence can cost you something," Vaizel reached across the desk and touched her cheek.

"No, Vaizel, please, don't..." May begun to panic.

"Nah," the lord of Freedom laughed and went to the door. "I don't have a death wish. I won't tell anyone, unless I get serious reason. Take care."

I will have a baby. Zikel's baby. How will he react if I tell him? And the others... it's against the law. Will they want me to... no, I can't tell them. Not yet.

~ x ~

The dream he used to have in Danuar Spire returned occasionally, but now the person who kissed him had a face. This night she had not only a face, but also a full body and very interesting tiny dress. She was hot, as expected from a fire sorceress. Shade still couldn't move, so he only watched her when she walked closer, knelt next to him and kissed him with passion hotter than the fire around. He forced his hands to move and caught her by her waist, the desire inside him arose and he wanted more than just kisses. But the dream ended. Again the awakening was as sudden as it was during his time in the Spire. He watched the ceiling and thought about his dream that felt so real this time. Too real, he thought when he looked under his blanket. Before anything else he'll need a shower.

After the morning training he took a shower again and went to the Hall of Freedom to check the request board to find some easier tasks. The recovery procedures became boring, so he wanted at least some change. Health-wise he was already alright, but he still needed to work on getting back his former strength and agility. Fortunately his reflexes didn't recede much, he would probably freak out if his reactions became too slow. He read several requests, until he found one that caught his attention. It was very simple, delivery of some packages to several places, the interesting thing was, that one of the places was Kaisinel's Beacon. He didn't have to think twice to decide if he should use it to see the woman from his dreams again.

~ x ~

Canta has left for the whole day to hand over her monthly report to Sanctum and Shien suddenly felt very alone in the Beacon. The requests for portal to Danuar Spire appeared only few times a day, she could spend the remaining time all by herself. She wasn't allowed to be slacking off, it was still a warzone here, but she was relieved from the regular watch duties, they needed her to create a portal immediately in case of emergency. There was a several things a sorceress of her qualities could do. They didn't let her to even look at the fortress's shields, she was an Asmodian after all, but some really welcomed her help with preparing potions and magical scrolls. The time when she was free from the lab she usually spent either in the modest library or walked to the ruins uphill at the edge of the fortress and tried to practice spells. She had to tell her commanding officer where she was going so they could call her when needed, but she could be alone here, without all those annoying Elyos around. Her body refused to cast any offensive spells when there was someone else. Even though they were Elyos, she was scared to unitentionally harm them.

After making sure she was really alone, she opened her palms and summoned small flames. Then she shaped them into spirals, flowers or simple ornaments to make sure she still could control them. Her heart was beating faster, when she put more power into the spell while maintaining the control over its shape.

"Get down!" someone bumped into her, tumbled her down and landed on her. Then he shifted his weight off her and asked: "Are you alright?"

When Shien recovered from the initial shock, she recognized it was that Canta's friend called Shade. She felt a sudden loss of breath from her snuffed out spell and she couldn't reply, just stared at him. And her head hurt, it must have hit the ground when she fell.

"Stay down, I'll deal with it," he said with serious face and carefully looked around while unseathing his daggers.

Deal with what? She wanted to ask, but then she noticed two arrows jabbed into a tree above her. Balaur arrows.

"What's..." she sat up.

"Stay down," he hissed. "And shield yourself."

Shien looked around and tried to calm down. At one place, between the bushes she thought she saw some movement, but when she turned to Shade again, he wasn't there. But he was an assassin, it was expected he wasn't seen. Shien stood up, clenched her fist and created a shield. Just in time, two more arrows flew at her and the aetheric field deflected them. She stretched her hand towards the direction where they came from and froze. What if Shade is there too? What if I strike him instead of the Balaur? Those chaotic thoughts and doubts whirled through her mind and completely paralyzed her. Her whole body started shaking. When a Balaur soldier with a huge wooden club with metal rings and spikes in his hand appeared, she was so taken by her fears she couldn't even shout for help. The Balaur swung his club and shattered Shien's shield and sent her flying few meters back. Before she could get up, he was attacking again. She dodged, but not completely. The club hit her calf and broke it. She screamed with pain.

Where is Shade? A thought of panic flashed through her mind. Did he... left? Am I alone here? Alone... She looked at the Balaur again. He looked like he was thinking where his next attack should land. He was enjoying her pain, her suffering. His cruel gaze made the suppressed anger inside her boil. She stretched her hands towards him and in an instant conjured a giant fireball. The heat from the explosion surprised even her.

"So you wanna play tricks?" the Balaur roared in agony. The skin on his face and his upper arms, where it wasn't hidden under armor, was burnt and covered with blisters. He dropped his weapon, caught Shien by her neck and lifted her from the ground. "How do you like it now, mageling?" his grip became tighter. Shien's vision blurred and her consciousness begun to fade. "You worthless deava scum!" he shouted and threw her away. Her body slammed against a large remnants of some building and dropped to the ground again. She coughed to get her breath again, not able to pay any attention to what was going around.

"Are you... alright?" suddenly Shade was kneeling beside her, heavily breathing. The Balaur was lying motionless not far from them, she could see blood flowing from his neck.

"What... where...?" she was confused.

"I'm sorry, it took me so long, miss Shienar, the archer was better than I expected," he apologised. Shien noticed several cuts on his body and pool of blood forming under him. "I would come sooner, but I haven't fully recovered yet."

"You're bleeding," she finally managed to say something.

"Yes, yes, I know, let's find clerics," he smiled feebly and tried to stand, but wound on his leg caused him to fall back and sit heavily to the ground. "Alright, can you go by yourself? I'll wait here."

"I can't walk," she shook her head and took her small herb knife. Then she cut his pants to reveal really bad cut on his inner thigh.

"You could have just ask me to take the pants off..."

"Shut up, you're bleeding," she snapped and pressed her hand on the wound. "Sorry, this will hurt," she said and called aether to burn the tissues. Shade screamed in agony.

"You must... really... hate us," he hissed when she stopped.

"What? I didn't... it's not because you're an Elyos," anger was taking over her again. "I did it because you're Canta's friend!"

"You have strange sense of friendship then," he grinned. The pain from her saving action was not that sharp anymore and he could concentrate on other things freely.

"With that wound you would have bleed out in two minutes!" she yelled. "I had to do something to stop the bleeding! I'm sorry I'm not a cler..."

Shade didn't wait for her to finish the sentence. He pulled her towards him and gently kissed her. Shien immediately broke away from his embrace and slapped him across his cheek, adding few new cuts.

"What do you think you're doing!" she screamed and crawled away. "Don't touch me! Ever again!"

"Now I can die happy," he chuckled and laid onto the ground. For few moments he watched the trees and sky above him and then he closed his eyes. He was tired, he wanted to sleep.

"Hey! What do you mean by dying? Don't you dare to die!" Shien crawled back. "Don't die! Come on, Shade, don't die."

"The obelisk is not that far," he whispered, his eyes still closed.

"That's not the point. Every death has its consequences and it could even be your final death if the aether decides to reject you!"

"What happened here?!" an Elyos patrol finally showed up. None of them was a cleric, as far as Shien remembered, but chanter was good enough to save lives too.

"Get away from him!" the chantress yelled. Shien looked at her in surprise.

"We fought the Balaur, not among ourselves," the sorceress retorted. "And he's badly injured, he needs help immediately."

"She's right, Nonni," the templar in the patrol agreed. "Just look around and you'll see too. And he really looks bad, help him, I'll check the surroundings."

"Alright," she nodded and knelt beside Shade. "My apologies, miss."

"The worst wound is on his leg, I had to burn it, he would bleed out," Shien pretended nothing happened.

The templar returned soon, assured them there are no living Balaur in the area and then went to the fortress to get more help. The chantress was good to stabilise both wounded deavas, but it still wasn't enough for them to walk away by themselves. After they were tended and Shien got a splint on her leg, general Tirins insisted on their questioning immediately. The sorceress willingly told him everything except the kiss, but the general was still displeased.

"How could those Balaur get past the fortress's aetheric field without us noticing?" he asked again. It was at least four times of this question being asked today.

"And how am I supposed to know?" Shien's patience ran out. "You won't let me even look at it, ask your sorcerers or whom to find out!"

"Mind your manners, miss. You're important, because you're the only one here who can create portal to Danuar Spire, but I can always ask for replacement," the general frowned.

"Please do, I doubt there's a worse place for me than this," she grunted.

The general sighed. Talking to this woman was always difficult, one didn't need the Balaur sneaking inside the Beacon to make her irritated.

"Thank you for your cooperation, miss, you can go now," there was no need to prolonge the questioning. "But please remember, until further notice, stay within the fortress or within the sight from the fortress, I don't want situation like this to repeat. Next time you might not be that lucky to have a master assassin looking for you."

Without a word Shien got up, bowed and slowly walked away leaning on her borrowed walking stick. She took a book from the library and went to a bench near the teleport station. There were always some people passing by, but while reading a book she could easily ignore them.

"It's good to see you doing better," Shade sat on the bench next to her. Shien pretended he's not there and tried to continue reading, but one thought crawled into her mind. He was looking for me. Why? "Miss Shienar, I'm sorry for what I did. I never intended to hurt you. At that moment... nothing but you existed for me."

"General Tirins said you were looking for me. Why?" she asked without taking her eyes off the pages, although she couldn't concentrate on the text.

"Ah, well, I just wanted to see you," he chuckled, but in a blink of an eye his voice became serious. "And I'm glad I've chosen today. It would be really sad if..."

"Shut up," she closed the book with a thud and looked at him angrily. He still looked pale from the blood loss, but better than before. "And don't preted like you care about me. You got what you wanted, now get the hell out of here."

"No, I haven't, miss Shienar," he shook his head. Shien froze. "I just wanted to talk with you. Just talk. I won't come any closer or touch you unless you wish it."

"Okay, what do you want to talk about?" if her leg was alright, she would be long gone, but now she had to stay. He's Canta's friend, he can't be a bad person. But Canta is naïve, she could be idolising him.

"I must admit, I've been dreaming about you since I was carried into Danuar Spire..."

"You didn't know me back then," she objected. She didn't like the direction of this conversation.

"You're right, I didn't," he smiled. "In my dreams, there was fire. And a perfect being with sunset-red hair who always kissed me just before the dream ended. I never saw her appearance."

"I haven't kissed you," Shien blushed and looked aside.

"Hah, I know that, I knew you wouldn't kiss me..."

"You were dying," she interposed. "I... I just gave you breath. To save your life. No... kissing..."

"Oh," Shade couldn't be more surprised at the moment. "That... explains a lot. I almost thought I've been halucinating from exhaustion," he laughed. "You surely know a lot about saving lives. I haven't seen many sorcerers to have such knowledge."

"My best friend is... she was a cleric."

"I'm sorry for your loss."

"Don't be, I'm fine," she smiled as she remembered the last time she saw Alia. She couldn't tell this assassin the truth, but she couldn't pretend to mourn either.

"You have a good heart, miss Shienar," Shade got up, gently took her hand and kissed the back of it. "And you should smile more often."

She looked at him speechless, her cheeks slowly became more and more red.

"I gotta go, I bet they already miss me in Sanctum. Take care," he smiled and went to the teleporter.