A/N: The epilogue. Ties up some loose ends, really short. Think of it as an introduction to the sequel that I will eventually get to writing. In any case, the sequel-ish prequel begins from where the last chapter left off.

Epilogue

Darkness leaned over the parapet, surveying the nighttime streets of Kastinon. We were on the roof of the castle, taking a break. Or at least, I was taking a break. Darkness had been up here all night, doing something or another.

"Why..." he muttered, trailing off. It was the first time he had spoken the whole time that I'd been up here.

"Why what?" I asked, my curiosity piqued. What was he thinking about?

"Why did Itaph act like that?" he elaborated, sighing and burying his face in his hands.

"He lied to you, that's all. Is it that hard to believe?"

"Yes it is that hard to believe." he snapped, whirling around. "Itaph is my brother not in body, but in soul. He has characteristics extraordinarily similar to mine. That means he is clever and stubborn, but exceedingly honest!"

"People change." I supplied.

"Exactly. People change. But souls can never do that. They cannot reverse their attributes. And that's exactly what it seems Itaph has done. It's as if he was a whole other person, decisive and deceptive. And, come to think of it, he wasn't particularly stubborn at all. Then... there's only one thing that could have happened!" Darkness shouted. He was working himself up, getting more and more agitated. He paced back and forth across the roof.

"So what happened?"

"Someone's impersonating him! But still, that makes no sense. That girl was Itaph, I know it; no one could pretend to be him so well!"

"Well, didn't he have a sister?" I asked, sighing. Everything was so confusing! I had never known that Darkness even had a brother. It was never mentioned in any texts.

"His mortal sister was a human, nothing more. She was the one who created the plain fakes of the books, to throw us off." Darkness explained.

"Incidentally, if uh... Itaph was male, why was he born into this world as a female?" I asked. That question had been nagging me this whole time.

"Good question. This leads me to believe that his impersonator is female. No one wants to go through a gender change when they're reborn. That's just so strange. And besides, he or she wasn't actually reborn. His or her existence in this world was attained by trading off with the life forces of Ridillyn's father and uncle." he paused, his eyes widening. Then he banged his head on the parapet repeatedly.

"What? What's wrong?" I cried, jumping up to stop him. It was bad for people to hit their head like that.

"I've been such an idiot! It was both of them! That was why they had to kill off two people. They were two souls living in a single body. Itaph and one of the other fai. But that still doesn't explain why he kidnapped Ridillyn. Then again, it doesn't matter why, does it? There's a way now. Itaph and his friend left the spirit world in one piece by trading lives. That's how we can too!" Darkness exclaimed. I shook my head.

"Does that mean we have to kill someone in order to get out of the spirit world?" I muttered, horrified.

"Yes." he replied indifferently. "So?"

"But... But... But, killing someone..." I spluttered.

"We'll trade with someone under my jurisdiction so other gods won't go after us." he said. I stared at him and sighed in defeat.

"That wasn't the point." I grumbled.

"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's GO!" he screamed, grabbing my hand and dragging me through the trapdoor and down the stairs towards the corridor where the entrance to the termite passage was. We came out in the archives and hurried for the section where the Demonica was kept. Darkness arranged the books in the correct formation and pulled me into the center. He chanted the same words that Itaph had said the first time, and we disappeared in a blinding wave of red light.