Rue stood by the wall, close to the exit and looked at Stolos whose face was unreadable.

"Why are you hiding your claws? You think that will change who you are?" Rue spat out suddenly when she noticed that Stolos' fingers looked human again.

Stolos rose his hand to his eye level and then looked at Rue.

"I don't want to make anyone even more... uncomfortable," he said and lowered his hand again.

"Stop pretending like your human. That got us into this situation in the first place. If you want to talk with me, let me see you for who you are."

Stolos sharply breathed out, his eyes red for a moment before they faded away again.

"So, can we talk?" Stolos asked once his fangs and claws were back in place.

Rue explored him with her eyes, ending up her gaze on his claws.

"You know what," Rue said, coming a bit closer to Stolos and raised her head to look him into the eyes, "I know what ya gonna tell me. You are sorry blah blah blah. So, let's skip that. I just want to tell you how is it possible that you are bazillion of years alive and still don't have yourself figured out? Going apeshit like that? There's no excuse for that. Like have you ever heard of this cliché sentence with great power comes great responsibility? Like what the fuck? And you are so out of it that you almost killed us? And well... still on it I suppose when the world is ending right?"

Stolos closed his eyes as his breathing quickened. He knew all of that. And there was no excuse for sure. Only fault that fell on him. He felt dizzy, so he held onto the corner of an armchair he stood beside, however his legs gave out soon after and he slid down on the floor.

"What... are you doing?" Rue slowly said as she saw the big piece of man suddenly on the floor, breathing heavily. He rose his index finger and stuttered: "Give... give me a minute..."

"Woah, man, are you having a panic attack?" Rue realized as she recognized the symptoms right away. She had so many herself. She sat down to him and squeezed his hand.

"Hey, look at me," Rue said to Stolos who had his eyes shut tight, erratically breathing, "open your eyes and look at me."

He did so, realizing that Rue was pretty close to him which he did not expect. He was glad, though.

"Uhm, the red eyes don't mean you're gonna destroy something, right?" Rue said which made Stolos close his eyes again.

"Sorry," he said weakly and laid his other hand on his chest.

"Yeah, you need to get that breathing under control, okay? Try it with me, look at me and focus."

Rue showed him how to take a deep breath in and out which Stolos tried to copy. Eventually, he dropped his hand from the chest and breathed out, his eyes landing on something behind Rue.

Rue also looked behind her to see Jiao-Long in the doorframe, standing anxiously.

"It's okay, J-L, he's fine. Don't worry," Rue reassured him.

"As she said," Stolos confirmed which made Jiao-Long bow a little and back out of the room.

"Thank you," Stolos finally said to Rue who took his chin into her hand and turned his head to the left and to the right.

"Yeah, you seem okay now."

"Thank you for being honest with me," Stolos said as she withdrew her hand.

"It's not easy, you know. To be honest."

"I know," Stolos said, understanding that she said all of this despite feeling fear towards him, "You are really strong."

"Yeah, sure. I am just rude."

"Not at all," Stolos said with a smile, "I am proud that you are my family."

"Stop that, man," Rue said, turning her head to the side, feeling her eyes water up, "first you wanna kill me... then you say this."

"You are precious to us, especially to Michendros. That's why I threathened you."

"So, you are saying you wanted to tear my throat out because you care? That's fucked up."

"It's a bit more complicated than that... but eventually... yeah."

"Why is everyone so weird around here," Rue looked up at Stolos, noticing tears flowing down his cheeks, "Jeez... and you are crying now."

Stolos chuckled and touched her shoulder gently.

"You don't have to be bothered by it. I've heard what you wanted to say. And I agree with it. I know I can't fix what I did... so I am sad about that as you can see. It's fine, you can go, I'll just," Stolos wiped away his tears that kept coming nonetheless, "calm down real quick and-"

"Damn it," Rue said, also feeling her tears coming and threw herself into Stolos' arms, hugging him tightly. Stolos was at first surprised but it didn't take him long to repay her the embrace.

"This is exactly what you can't do," Rue mumbled, "you can't hide everything all the time."

"When did you become an expert in this?" Stolos laughed and pulled away from the hug to see her.

"I don't know... I guess that old man who taught me stuff... was really wise also in other stuff. And now I couldn't even go to him anymore... since I am in fucking Sweden. And now he will die, too," Rue said, sobbing.

"Rue," Stolos said and put her hair away from her face.

"No, I know. You are sorry..."

"That I am," Stolos said.

...

"Is it alright to leave everyone like that? Without talking it out?" Thomas wondered as he sat down on the bed and watched Michendros take of his clothes.

"What do I know," Michendros shrugged and slowly approached the bed where his pyjama pants where.

Thomas laid down, covering himself with the duvet up to his chin.

"Hon," Michendros whispered and scooched over to Thomas, also lying down and turning to the side so he'd see him.

"How does the reincarnation spell work?" Thomas suddenly said, turning to the side as well, being just a few centimeters from Michendros' face.

Michendros didn't answer at first, thinking of the reason why Thomas asked.

"Where would you wanna reincarnate us, though?" Michendros asked.

Thomas pulled his duvet over his lips and closed his eyes, "a paralel universe?" Thomas said really quietly as if he was ashamed to say so.

"Why are you hiding under the duvet? One can barely hear you," Michendros chuckled and touched Thomas' nose with his own.

"You heard me well enough," Thomas said.

"What if there isn't any paralel universe?" Michendros asked.

"If Stolos is powerful enough to destroy a world... then it should be possible to create one, no?"

"You are asking the God of Calamity and the God of Death to create life?" Michendros said neutrally.

"I don't know... but there has to be something out there you can use."

"That's possible," Michendros admitted.

"Really?" Thomas said with slight excitement and pulled his head out of the duvet.

"Tommy," Michendros chuckled and kissed him, "I can't promise anything."

"But you'd have to take everyone with us," Thomas said.

"Everyone as in?"

"Everyone on Earth."

"Hm..."

"What do you say?"

"That sounds like I am going to loose you again," Michendros said and crawled underneath the duvet as well, pulling Thomas closer to him.

"But we'll meet again," Thomas said.

"I suppose we should use all the time we have, then," Michendros said and kissed Thomas who slid his hand into Michendros' pants.

...

Stolos walked through the hallway and stopped at a door. He waited at the door, listening in.

I can come back later, Stolos thought as he heard two steady and long breaths. Stolos walked down the hallway and sat down into an armchair, thinking.

He was going over many possibilities how to cancel out the curse he ignited, however he couldn't come up with anything.

Suddenly, he heard quiet steps closing in. Stolos stood up and put his hands behind his back.

"I thought you were asleep," Stolos said as he saw Credence turn the corner.

"I was. I guess I knew... that you were looking for me."

"You didn't have to wake up for me, though," Stolos offered him a polite smile. Credence walked closer to Stolos and hugged him.

"Credence," Stolos exhaled and put his hands aroud him.

"You don't have to say anything. I understand. The only important thing is that you are here now," Credence said.

"I just want to make sure that you know how much I care about you," Stolos said.

Credence never heard those words out loud. He always knew that Stolos treated him like his own, but he never talked about his feelings this openly.

"Thank you for saying that," Credence said and pulled away.

"So, I am not the only one with fangs now?" Credence changed the topic, making Stolos give out a chuckle.

"It would seem so."

...

She was walking around the house, exploring it. Since the moment they came here, Lydia was mostly focused on her training and never really looked around. She passed a big clock standing at the wall that said six minutes after midnight.

"Maybe, I should go to bed," she said to herself, stopping at a slim door at the end of the hallway. "Or maybe I will just check this room out real quick first."

She opened the door and walked in. The light switch wasn't anywhere to be found, so she pulled out her phone and turned on the light. There were stairs that led down.

"A cellar then," she commented and walked down the stairs carefully.

"Where is the light switch, damn it," she said and walked around, looking at the walls. Suddenly, she tripped. A wire or something like that. She fell hard on the concrete floor and swore: "Fuck."

"Lydia?" Stolos' voice sounded from the darkness.

"Stolos? Where are you?"

She heard his fingers snap and the light turned on. He sat down on his haunches and looked at her with concern.

"Why didn't you turn the light on?" Stolos asked, watching her bleeding knee.

"Couldn't find it," she complained.

"It's right there," Stolos nodded to a string hanging down the ceiling.

"Well... I was expecting a normal switch on the wall!"

He laughed and laid his hand in Lydia's knee, healing it.

"I can heal you," Stolos said to his surprise.

"What do you mean?" Lydia asked.

"Well... these new tattoos I have... I thought it blocked somehow... anything magical between us."

"Maybe it depends on how you use your magic."

"It is true that before not even Michendros could do anything to help you."

"So... I blocked you away?"

"Hm... maybe. And this," Stolos rose his hand, "is maybe only protection from you."

"Hmm, I might be too tired to unravel more mysteries... Why were you here in the dark?"

"Oh... I don't mind it that much. I see well enough."

"Of course you do... but what were you doing here?"

"I wanted to have a look into Mich's wine cellar. I thought we could have a drink."

"A wine cellar? Why don't we know about it."

"You don't? Well, Thomas does probably, he was definitely here."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. Can sense that out."

"Oh, yeah, right," Lydia said and stood up with Stolos' help, "so, let's go check it out."

Stolos took Lydia by her hand and lead her through the hallway that lead deeper down. Lydia watched Stolos' back of the head which seemed so strange to her. His long dark hair was now in a messy bun which made his broad shoulders more visible. Although she did not recognize these features well, she did feel safe with him like she used to.

They reached a small wine cellar with low ceilings which made Stolos to bow down a little. On the left, there were a few wines still in the wall left and on the right was a heavy woodden table and two benches next to it.

Stolos went right to the bottles and looked through them.

"Anything good there?" Lydia asked as she sat down on one of the benches.

"Hmm... some of them are old... but this is the year 2019, so that should be okay."

Stolos took it out and walked to Lydia, still a bit crouched down and set the wine on the table. He looked around for glasses but didn't see any.

"I suppose that we were supposed to bring our own glasses," Stolos smiled at Lydia as he waved above the table with his hand, making two tall wine glasses appear.

"Luckily, you can create dishes out of thin air," Lydia said, also grinning. Stolos chuckled and poured each a glass and sat on the table, one leg loosely hanging down.

"There you go," Stolos pushed one glass towards Lydia's hand which instead of taking it put her hand on Stolos'.

"You know, it was really hard without you," Lydia said quietly. Stolos wrapped his fingers around Lydia's hand carefully so he wouldn't hurt her with his claws.

"I am really sorry that this happened to us, Lyds."

"Yeah..."

"What about the new looks? I must admit that I am a bit worried that you might not like it that much. You did fall for an other face in the end. So, I could-"

"No, no, it's fine," Lydia jumped in and stood up, "I just have to get used to it... you felt a little strange to me but... logically I know it's you," Lydia said and walked around the table so she would stand in front of him, "but you are still very handsome, you don't need to worry about that."

A bright smile appeared on Stolos' face and he pulled Lydia closer to him.

"Well, in that case," Stolos said and moved closer to Lydia's face, "why don't you get to know me a bit better so you don't feel like I am a stranger?"

Lydia chuckled and put her arms around Stolos' neck that was covered in all kinds of symbols, leaning into a deep kiss.

...

The next morning was filled with uncertainity. After everyone finished having breakfast, they gathered in the common room around the table as they did the day before.

Even Jiao-Long sat down next to Stolos, however kept his head down and didn't say a word.

"We've discussed this with Thomas yesterday," Michendros began, "and if we don't have enough time to save the planet, we may as well 'save' us and all the people with soul-transfer."

Stolos supported his head with his fist as he watched Michendros talk. He also thought of this alternative but wasn't sure how they would manage to pull it off.

"Could you just... explain us again what is happening?" Allison asked since the day before Stolos was unable to clarify why is the end of the world coming up.

Stolos then repeated what he had already told his brother and added: "It would need enormous power to fix all of that. And a lot of time which we don't have. We would have to gather all beings that are... strong-"

"Unfortunately, they don't really exist anymore," Michendros noted, "a lot of them existed because people believed in them. They lived off sacrifices and other gifts from humans. And if they still exist, am not sure what power remains within them."

"So, why are you two still so powerful?" Rue asked.

"That's also kind of hard to explain. But let's say that we are more self-made. The others for example appeared because of humans. I wasn't always the God of Calamity - I took that from the first one. But he came to life because of all the chaos people created. All the wars and pain. That energy brought him to life."

"And what is this soul-transfer thing?" Lydia asked.

"Well... we would apply the spell we used to reincarnate on everyone else here... and to a different place. With the hope that some other worlds exist," Michendros explained.

"And that would be done with every living being on this planet," Thomas clarified.

"Can you do it?" Credence asked and looked at Stolos who shrugged.

"Can't say. We gotta try first."

"What if it doesn't work?" Allison asked.

"It has to...," Thomas said.

"It could be based on that the soul would be wandering somewhere until it just found a way of being in a living being again," Michendros thought out loud.

"But what if that's an animal in the end? Or some weird big headed alien?" Allison said.

"We'd have to make some restrictions to the spell... so this doesn't happen," Stolos said glancing at his brother who was deep in thought.

"We better start working on the spell right away... it's gonna be a lot of things to do. We have to think of all the possible loopholes," Michendros said and rose to his feet.

"But... so we get a new life somewhere... so what then? Will we know about this life? Are we going to lose each other?" Lydia stood up too.

"That's something we need to work into the spell as well. That we need to remember at some point. And find a way to each other."

Stolos threw his head back and put his hands on his face, running it up and down with his long fingers and letting out a grunt.

"Okay, let's do this," Stolos finally said with a sigh as he knew that this will be quite a task.

The brothers left to the library and talked for hours about how to construct the spell. The rest was anxiously waiting for any news and hung around the house.

After a few hours, Lydia decided to make black tea and carry it to the library to see what the progress is. When she walked in, she saw Stolos lying on the dark woodden floor, reading a book that was floating above his head and Michendros was sitting nearby, writing something into a paper notebook.

"Hi," Lydia said in a low voice, "I have some refreshments for you."

Stolos looked up and let the book fly to the floor as he stood up slowly and stretched.

"Thanks, Lyds," Stolos said and took the tray from her hands, placing a kiss on her head.

Michendros gave her a small nod of gratitude but continued writing.

"How are you doing?" Lydia asked curiously.

"I... I think we're on a good path, actually," Stolos admitted and smiled at Lydia who watched Michendros carefully.

"What is he writing down? He's so focused," Lydia asked quietly and looked up at Stolos who moved to her ear.

"It's the spell. He's concentrating so it won't have any mistakes."

"Oh, okay. And what are you doing?" Lydia rose her eyebrow as she thought that Stolos was slacking off.

"Ow, common," Stolos mumbled as he knew where Lydia was going with the remark, "I am doing research!" he exclaimed and pointed at the books on the floor.

"Research? Well... alright," Lydia said and sighed, realizing that the closer they got to having the spell ready, the sooner they will have to depart from each other.

...

After a few days, Michendros and Stolos called the rest to the common room. The spell was ready.

"So... this is it?" Allison asked.

"What will happen now exactly?" Rue questioned.

"Every living being should be transferred to a different place that isn't doomed like Earth. It won't be painful, don't worry. We'll just stop existing here and start somewhere else as other people," Michendros explained.

"And everyone that is threaded to someone else should eventually find that person. And in our case, we should be able to remember this life," Stolos added.

"Okay, then. Let's do it," Credence said.

They all, even Jiao-Long, held hands and stood in a circle. Stolos and Michendros began working their spell as the others watched them.

"See you soon," Lydia said, a tear dropping down her cheek.

A great silence covered the Earth.