Rain pelted Rufus and his child companion. Clouds covered the sky and cast the land in a greyish hue. It was too long since anyone chased them, yet Rufus' wounds wouldn't stop bleeding. He felt weak and his power pulsed in and out of reach. Trees surrounded and blocked them from view, but it provided little comfort.

Something rumbled in the ground and air. He lost his footing and crashed to the wet ground.

His blood turned to fire and veins surged with the rush of loss. Agony flared inside him like his whole body was stripped raw. And the other presence fled like mist upon meeting the morning sun. Corrupted power evaporated and all strength left him with the unnerving sense of Other.

Krile hit the ground beside him and Rufus choked out a groan before he struggled to his knees and shook her by the shoulders. "We need to keep going. Don't sleep."

"I…" She gasped out shallow breaths. "Can't."

His throat seized up and the weakness of his body reminded him of his fatigue. "No. No, we need to go now."

Her back arched and she coughed. "It's so cold."

"We can light a fire."

Her eyes turned red, but the rain kept him from knowing if she cried. "A fire sounds… nice."

Rufus wiped his forehead and his hand came away red. He wrapped his arms under her back and strained to lift her tiny and frail body. "I'll make it. You just rest."

"… Okay."

He stumbled under the girl's weight, but he forced one foot after the other. He felt an urge to reach for an entrance to the twixt and jump to the safety of his Gaia, but no such energy remained. His muscles ached from overexertion and he forgot the strength that came from possession. That meant they could finally return home, free of the twisted influence of Bhunivelze.

He readjusted his grip on Krile, whose cold body chilled him through his wet and ruined jacket. Her eyes barely fluttered. Birds flew near and away again as if hearing a call and forgetting it immediately.

"Stay with me." His voice strained. "We'll find the mages and the space farers and they'll take you home."

Her mouth barely moved and her breaths grew weaker.

"Please. Stay alive, Krile. You don't need a god in you to keep going."

They trudged forward and glimpsed the end of the forest, signaled by thinning trees and the skyline of a large kingdom surrounded by stone walls.

His foot caught and Rufus hit mud. It stained Krile grey-brown.

Her eyes closed. Her chest stilled.

Rufus let out a cry and scrambled to her side. "No! No! Don't—!" Words caught in his throat and he doubled over in pain. The cold pervaded every part of him, and he panicked.

He grabbed her arm that fit in his fist like a pack of lighters and pulled her closer.

Her lids remained frozen half-way closed, and her dark eyes stared sightlessly past him. Rufus wiped his bloodied hands on his coat and discolored them with mud. When he touched her head to feel her temperature, it smeared her face with blood and dirt.

"Please," he choked.

Silence. Her mouth, a splotchy mess of red and blue, hung ajar and showed bloodied teeth and frozen lips.

Rufus looked about him, frantic for the sight of vines or rope or anything he could use to take her further. They could still heal her. Krile would make it out of this. She had to.

But it was so hard to see in the dim grey and the trees made it almost dark here.

He took her by the waist and dragged her further. He could barely walk, could barely breath, but they had to find a mage or white materia.

Wood cut into his knees and he felt it. He wished for the power of light one more time, just so they could make it out of this. He would trade his life for hers. One more person would make it out.

He wished he could breathe. He wished the rain and tears didn't make it so hard to see. He wished it didn't hurt to blink and that he had the strength to stand. He wished he could carry Krile another foot forward.

It remained dark even after they left the forest. Rain slammed them with heavy drops that turned the ground to a shallow river and soaked into his shoes.

The stone wall stood so far off.

"We're almost there," he lied. Krile slipped out of his grip and he grabbed desperately to keep her close. His nails scraped her skin and too little blood seeped at the cuts. "Just… don't—"

He looked up to the wall too far ahead.

He heaved a breath and forced her body back into his arms. Hauled them both to his feet and he took a single step forward before he buckled under her weight. He remembered hunger and his legs felt like noodles beneath him.

"It's so far," he gasped, air barely fitting into his lungs. "Damn it, how can I—?

His vision flickered and the sky turned darker. He couldn't move for the weakness in his limbs.

Distant shouts sounded in his ears and he crawled toward Krile. He could shield her with his body if they came under attack. He could save her.

"Get up." He wanted to carry her, but that didn't work. She had to walk. "Please."

"Ah, shit," said some man.

He choked back a wretched sob. She was just another victim. They didn't lose him sleep before. He was too damned for that.

Whispers behind him before footsteps approached.

"I'll need a white mage," said the man. "A'ight, yo, let's get this done."

Vision flickered again and Rufus registered something under his back. The rain stopped and he felt warmer. Cracking an eye open, he caught an outline of red before losing consciousness.