I spin and twirl, my lithe body leaving emerald after-images upon the night sky. The universe twists and pulses with my dance's rhythm, and I know no truer bliss. This was how the world had once known her: as sacred protector of the balance, and as renewer of the Cycle. I can feel the clockwork of the universe slowing down, grinding to a halt as the result of my dance. It's almost there, I've almost done it…

And then, everything springs back to its original state, humming, ticking with vitality. My dance stops, abruptly. I don't understand. I didn't miss a step, I never miss a step. So why has the universe stopped degenerating?

Then I feel it. I feel a power, so old it feels almost foreign to me. So strange, yet so familiar…

"Beloved!"

I freeze, as I hear the voice behind me. It is a voice that rings like bells, sighs like the sweetest music I have ever heard. I turn, slowly, walking on air, as I see a golden shape that mirrors mine in shape. We stand there, staring out at one another, not moving, not even breathing. I feel like I am staring at an illusion, one that will shatter into starlight if I should hazard a touch. When my voice finally returns, it is one that croaks, "Is…is it truly you?"

Silently, she nods her head, overcome with joy. "I feared that we would never see one another again." She takes some faltering steps forward, but I step backwards, unsure of myself. Unsure of her. Hesitatingly, my beloved asks, "What is it?"

My eyes narrow, in confusion. "How…how are you here? I thought we were both sealed together."

She looks at me sadly, before she replies. "I…we were. But my bond was broken long ago."

"W…what?"

Jinaya looks to the earth, in shame. She closes her eyes. "We were both sealed for many, many years. But as your power of death held you back, so did my power of life. I had but to heal a dying creature that happened to wander to my prison to free myself. It took several centuries for life to progress back to my prison; the forest was devastated by my sealing, and took many centuries to heal. I lay dormant, until I finally awoke to the cries of an animal, in its death throes. I healed the creature, as best as I could, and immediately, I felt myself freed. I was sealed for over five hundred years."

I stare, stunned, at my former bonded. "Only…five hundred?"

Jinaya closes her eyes tighter. "Yes."

There is a pregnant pause as I struggle to grasp this information.

Finally, I break the silence and ask, "Wh…where were you?"

Jinaya turns back to face me, pity etching her face. She must have seen the betrayal in my face as I slowly said, "I have been trapped in my cell these past twenty-five hundred years. I thought you were still trapped, all this time. Did you…did you even care?"

Jinaya comes closer, effortlessly crossing the distance between us. She takes my shoulders in her hands. "You know I did. Of course I did. But there were…complications."

My voice is bitter as I reply, "Complications?"

"I feared the wrath of the Caretaker once she realized that I was free. That madwoman's lust for power knows no bounds."

"And so, you entrusted these humans to assist you?"

"They are not so weak as we thought them to be once."

"They are accompanied by her pet. Does that not strike distrust in you at all?"

"He seems to have renounced her. Mauta, you cannot let the years harden your sense of love for the world."

"And how should you know what I feel like? Have you no sense of what happened to me all those years alone? I—I almpst went mad. I could feel myself slipping away so many times. I almost lost sense of our mission, and I—"

"Our mission? Mauta—dear Mauta, no…this is not our mission." Jinaya takes my face in her hands as she closes the gap between us. "Please, please listen to me. Our mission is to maintain balance, but this—this is no balance. This is death, too much death. The cycle will be ruined if you finish the Rite like this."

"How can you be sure?" I say, stepping back, breaking our contact. "I would feel it if the balance was too much in Death's favor. How can you know better than I?"

"I have seen. I can sense Life's presence waning, even now. Your time entombed has corrupted your sense of the Cycle. Mauta, you are becoming the very thing you fight against."

I listen numbly as I process this. I want to argue, say no, fight back. I cannot be mad I cannot be. I feel myself, I feel whole, I cannot be…I cannot be mad. A spasm of terror grips me as I consider her argument. All those years, I had no one to talk to, but myself. But I wasn't talking to myself.

I was talking to the Fit. I wrap my arms tightly around myself, look down at the earth. I listen again, and, true to Jinaya's word, the earth is, indeed, in pain. I hear life scream as the waves from the Rite wash over it. I recoil as I feel my end of the cycle, Death, tip madly out of balance.

This…this isn't what I wanted. I wanted to restore balance, not end it. I look at Jinaya, and in my despair, I say, "Do what must be done."

Jinaya looks ready to say something, but she does not argue. It is obvious this was not the full answer she was looking for, but she nods and steps away. The two of us stand apart in the night air, mirroring one another. We move as one, spin and twist, until we come together. We step, leap, and catch one another in the astral tempo of the cosmos. The dance transcends human knowledge, human understanding, even human form. Our bodies grow hazy and blurred as the dance grows in strength and intensity. Our physical forms are released, and are set free to the starlight surrounding us. If my form was still intact, I would have laughed, were I not confused and broken-hearted over my destructive plot.

The rhythm of the universe takes hold, and I can feel the natural syncopation of the world is starting to return, renewed once again. This is what was meant to happen: renewal. For out of the ashes, there is meant to come new life. Death is nothing more than a transformation, a metamorphosis, and I am merely a conduit for that metamorphosis. But as the chrysalis is useless without the changing butterfly within, so too is death useless without life. The two forces are two sides of the same coin, inseparable as they are different. Perhaps this is something I will discuss with my beloved. Along with some other things…
—-

Vivi watched from the top of the Mesa, and saw a sudden burst of gold and emerald light. I really hope that's a good thing right there, Vivi thought to herself. The burst of light spread in all directions, releasing energy and strength across the world. Vivi saw the effect immediately as she looked down at her feet. Grass was growing on the mesa. And not just on the mesa, either. All around the desert, everywhere she looked, new life sprung up in patches. Not everywhere, but a lot more life was here than there had been before. Vivi guessed that was part of the whole "life-and-death-and-balance" thing.

"It's about time they set everything right," came a familiar voice beside her. Mystery padded up next to Vivi, watching the last of the gold and emerald starburst of light fade across the horizon. His massive tails brushed against Vivi's armor as he did. Multipletails…

"Feeling better, I see."

"Well, better, yes. Not perfect, but definitely much better than you saw me in the cave. I've gotten back a fragment of my strength. Make no mistake, many of the spirits are still out there."

"The Hollowed Ones?"

"Yes. And now, without the orb to guide them, they will only wreak havoc aimlessly. We'll need to try to collect them all."

"All of them?"

"Believe me, I'm excited as you are."

"Well, we'll get all of 'em back. Isn't that right, Lewis?" Vivi turned to look at the spot where Lewis had been. He wasn't there anymore. Vivi turned to look for Lewis all around her, but there was no sign of the purple specter anywhere. Vivi called out, "Lewis? Lewis, are you there?"

"It would seem that your lover has decided to leave the party early once again."

"Okay, first of all, I think it's safe to say we're taking a break, at least. Second, where do you think he went? Can you track him?"

"Normally, yes. However, my senses are still very weak from Mauta draining me. Right now, every ghost scent smells the same, aside from extremely powerful ones, and with all of the Hollowed Ones travelling in all directions away from here, trying to find Lewis' scent will be like trying to find a needle in a haystack."

"Crap. So no chance of finding him tonight?"

"Very unlikely."

"Alright. We'll have to worry about him later, after we…" Vivi trailed off to look up as Mauta and Jinaya returned to the ground, once more clothed in physical form. Mauta and Vivi locked eyes for a tense moment, before Mauta looked away, disgraced. Vivi glared, for a long time, before she closed her eyes, and took a deep breath. "Feel better, Mauta?"

Mauta blinked, surprised, at Vivi's reaction. "I…much better, now. Thank you, child."

"Great. Glad to hear it."

Mauta looked at Vivi uncertainly. "You are not angry?"

"Oh, I'm furious." Vivi smiled disarmingly as she said this. "Seethingly, blood-boilingly furious."

Mauta nodded slowly, in disconcerted understanding. "I…see."

"But, Lewis obviously saw good in you. I know Lewis—well, knew him—And he hasn't changed that drastically. He wouldn't work with you for a year and a half if he didn't think there was good in you. So, I'm going to choose to see the good in you too."

"I appreciate it, child, I truly do, in fact—"

"But I haven't forgotten the fact that you killed Lewis. Or that you indirectly tried to kill Arthur. Or that you, you know, almost caused the apocalypse." Vivi's grin was starting to become frightening at this point. "Just food for thought."

"Arth—Ah, yes, the golden-haired boy!" Mauta's face brightened as she remembered Arthur. "What do you mean, 'tried to kill?'"

"Well, we managed to save his soul, but he's not going to be around for much longer, thanks to you. So, actually, you basically did—"

"Hold. You said his soul is still in this plane of existence?" Mauta's eyes widened with surprise.

"They speak the truth, dear one. I reactivated the boy's soul crystal myself." Jinaya chimed in, happily recounting the event.

"Excellent! This is good news! Well, then, perhaps we'll be able to assist him and reverse some of the damage I've caused."

"What do you mean?" Vivi asked, suddenly interested.

"It was the touch of death that stopped his body from being healed, was it not?" Mauta turned and asked Jinaya.

"Indeed it was." Jinaya nodded as she spoke in confirmation.

"Perfect. Then, since it was my power that prevented the healing, my power can facilitate the crafting of a new body for this Arthur. At least, a temporary one until we can restore the one he was born with."

"Really? Oh, that's great!" Vivi laughed out loud. It was the first truly good news they'd heard in a while. "What are we waiting for then? Let's get to the forest, Arthur's there, waiting for us!"