Time had long since stopped meaning anything to Hector. What use did ghosts have for the passage of time? Every day was the same. Every year was just another drop in the endless sea that was eternity. He knew that eventually he would lose himself, and he feared it in the way that the living feared death. It was an inevitability that he tried his hardest to not think about.

Hector didn't really know how long the journey between Corona and the Great Tree was, and he was afraid to ask. He didn't want to know how much time his siblings were spending just to lay his body to rest. They had their own lives to lead. They'd been just fine moving on without him before. They'd said goodbye to their pasts. Why should they bother sparing him another thought, just because they knew the truth now?

He wasn't worth this effort. And through their inaction his siblings had shown that they knew as much. What was the point of pretending otherwise?

Edmund had asked him to be around them more, but it was hard. Every time they looked at him he could see the longing and pain in their eyes, and he hated that there was nothing he could do to get rid of it. If he left, they grieved. If he stayed, they grieved in a different way.

Hector tried to visit them more, just because it made Edmund happy. He didn't face Adira though, because how could he? He'd kept the truth from her, and when he finally told her he'd done so cruelly. He wanted to blame his inner darkness, but he didn't know how much of it was that and how much of it was just him letting his fear of rejection make him push her away before she could leave on her own.

He was a monster, and had been long before he'd died.

The storm was still raging in his soul, and he couldn't help but pull his siblings down with him. Not as long as they somehow thought he was worth fighting for.

He couldn't handle all of them at once. It was so much more overwhelming, and even if they all got along, and he could almost pretend that everything was fine, he could still feel himself slipping. It just reminded him of what he'd lost. Of what he'd never truly had.

He could handle company one-on-one though. He and Edmund could sit for hours and just talk about the moon. Her beauty. Her mysteries. Her cruelty. More than their other siblings, they knew what it meant to sacrifice everything they were in her name. Maybe it had all been in vain, but they could still relate to and understand each other.

Quirin liked to talk about their childhood, before they'd even become knights. Hector had forgotten that period in their lives, when they'd just been outcasts who felt like they didn't belong. Quirin had been the child of a noble and a knight, but he'd been more interested in common craftsmanship than learning the rules of the court or the training field.

Hector had been the child of refugees who had sought sanctuary in the borders of the Dark Kingdom. For the first several years of his life, his family had been on the run, and he had never learned why. The Dark Kingdom was the only place that they had truly settled down. It had been his first and only home.

Hector and Quirin had been drawn to each other for a time. Quirin told him how he could become a knight and protector of the realm, to pay back the kingdom that had given him everything. In return, Hector had brought Quirin beyond the borders and showed him what he knew about cultivating the land and surviving outside of the moon's protection.

It wasn't long before their group included Adira and Edmund, and their excursions outside the kingdom had to end. During those early days though, it had just been the two of them.

Varian sometimes joined Hector and Quirin for their discussions. The kid seemed reluctant to leave his dad's side, and Hector understood the feeling too well to insist that they have some privacy. Sometimes though, when Quirin was out hunting, Hector and Varian talked alone, just getting to know each other.

Hector thought that it was cruel to let himself into this kid's heart when they both knew it wouldn't last, but when they talked Varian smiled at him like there was nothing else in the world that would make him happier, and Hector couldn't take that from him.

They didn't have a lot in common, but it didn't take them long to find three important things they shared. They both had a hard time getting along with people, and were seen as threats to society before they'd even done anything to earn that title. They both shared a love for animals, just because their pets had been more consistently affectionate than their family was.

And they both knew what it was like to lose sight of who they were. Granted, in Varian's case it had happened early enough, and he eventually got the support he needed, that he was able to come back. Hector thought it was too late for him. His soul was darkening, and he couldn't stop the process. Merely slow it down.

Still, Varian understood him in a way that the others couldn't, despite how they tried.

While he longed desperately to talk to Adira the way he had before she knew the truth, he knew that he had lost his chance. If she approached him, he'd talk to her, of course. But she couldn't even look at him. She rode in the airship with the others, but as soon as they landed she went off on her own and didn't return until they were getting ready to leave again.

Every day the poisonous doubts in Hector's soul screamed at him that she was gone for good, and she wasn't going to come back. That once again he was responsible for pushing Adira away from her family. If it weren't for him, she would be here with their brothers and getting to know Varian.

If it weren't for him, they would all be back in Corona, without a storm to worry about. They could sleep in warm beds, and bring Horace back into their family.

It would all be so much better without him, but Hector couldn't bring himself to leave. He needed his family.

While he was trying hard to spend time with his family, even though it made him feel guilty, there is one place that he refused to follow them. All too soon they got closer to the Great Tree, which meant that they were near the cliffs.

He wanted to get this over with, just so he could kill the hope that this could actually work. But Hector didn't want to see his body. After twenty years he was sure that it was just a skeleton, and wouldn't be recognizable at all, but he didn't think he'd be able to handle it.

Hector had only seen his body once, and that was one time too many. He hadn't become a spirit immediately. At least, he didn't think so. One moment he'd been sprawled at the bottom of the cliff, broken both physically and emotionally, too tired to hold on. He'd closed his eyes, and then the next thing he knew he was in the Great Tree, completely separated from his body.

He'd immediately known he was a ghost. Lacking a body wasn't really something that people failed to notice. Hector hadn't really freaked out at first. He was just relieved to not be in physical pain anymore. And he could use his powers to scare away intruders.

Eventually he'd gone back to the cliff, just to find his bearcats. He'd lost his rhino, he couldn't lose them too. He'd found them protectively nuzzling against something, clearly grieving. He could tell they were upset, and he had wanted to comfort them, so he'd approached. What he saw still haunted him to this day.

It was him. His body. Lifeless. Useless. Completely abandoned. It didn't even feel like it was him, but he knew it was, and it made him sick. That day was the first time that Hector had felt the darkness inside of him, threatening to take him over completely.

The darkness was so much stronger now. He felt like it was going to overwhelm him. He didn't want to know what would happen if he saw his body now.

The bearcats had brought his body into a cave, both to keep it safe, and to keep it out of Hector's sights. They knew just where to find it. They'd be able to lead their family to it, and Hector was going to stay as far away as he could.

Quirin went towards the cliffs, led by the bearcats. The plan was for him to retrieve the body while Edmund kept an eye on Varian. None of them really talked about where they would bury his body, and Hector desperately hoped that they didn't ask him. He wanted nothing to do with his corpse, including where it was laid to rest.

Adira had been doing her best to avoid any acknowledgement that Hector was dead. And yet when Varian suggested that they start digging a hole, she had a passionate opinion about it.

"Not here." Adira said in a tone that left no room for argument. "He's been at the cliffs for too long. He should be at the Great Tree. It's where he chose to go when he was left behind. If we have to leave him anywhere, it should be somewhere he likes."

Adira finally looked at him, and even though Hector couldn't care less where his body was, because he'd separated himself so much from it, he wanted to be buried at the Great Tree. It was what Adira wanted. And she wanted it for him. She was trying to do what was best for him, so he could find peace, even though it was obviously overwhelming for her.

Adira didn't stick around. She left, heading towards the Great Tree. Hector felt like he shouldn't, but he followed her. He stuck to the shadows and the wind. As long as he didn't present himself physically, the weather wasn't influenced by him unless his emotions were completely out of control. And as long as the weather was normal and the storm didn't follow them, Adira shouldn't know that he was there at all.

Adira walked slowly, and it took her a few hours to get to the Great Tree. She didn't say a word, and Hector didn't reveal himself. She went into the tree, resting her hand against the wood.

"The legends said you were full of life and goodness." Adira said quietly. "You were corrupted. You lost your life, but a shadow of your power remains. Just like Hector. Maybe that's why he stayed here even after…after…" Her face fell, and Hector hated the tears he saw gathering in her eyes. "I should have been here. I should have helped him twenty years ago, but the least I could have done was check on him afterwards. I should have made sure he was okay, and I didn't even try."

Listening to her felt invasive, but hearing her blame herself was more than he could take. He couldn't let her wallow in this guilt.

"It's not your fault." Hector said as he let himself appear. Adira didn't turn towards him, and she didn't seem upset or surprised that he was here. She had somehow known. "Adira, it's not your fault."

"Well, that's a change of heart." She whirled around and faced him. There were still tears in her eyes, but also a passionate fire. "What happened to earlier? When you were throwing my absence and failure in my face?"

"I made a mistake." Hector said, his tone both apologetic and defensive. "This storm, this darkness, I can't fight it. You know I can't." In the past Adira would have continued the fight. She would have scolded him very passive aggressively for his lack of control, and the argument would go on for hours. Today Adira just sighed and looked away.

"I don't want to fight you." Adira said. "I'm so tired of fighting."

Hector felt a rush of fear at her words. He didn't think she meant it in the way he did, but if there was even the smallest chance that she was losing herself in her own darkness…no. He couldn't even think about it.

"Why did you stay here?" Adira asked. "I know you grew disillusioned to your duty towards the moonstone. You could have returned to the Dark Kingdom, or stayed with Quirin in Corona. You could have…you could have come with me. We could have seen the world together."

Hector would be lying if he said he hadn't even considered it. There hadn't been a single day where he hadn't missed his siblings. One thing always held him back. "I didn't think you would want me around."

Adira's breath hitched, and now Hector was the one who refused to look at her. "We were a family. We were all each other had."

"And then we left." Adira said quietly. Hector shook his head.

"We had different paths." He said. "I knew you would leave eventually. I didn't like it, but I understood. That wasn't the problem." It had hurt to watch his siblings walk away, but what hurt more was the memory of it, and recalling that his siblings had walked away without hesitation, not once looking back.

"You didn't come back." Hector said. "None of you kept in touch. You didn't reach out, or see if I was okay. You were just gone. You moved on without me, and I didn't know how to do the same."

Adira reached out and took his hand. For a moment it passed right through him, but he solidified the grip. "I didn't think you wanted me either. You were just so angry and hurt the last time I saw you, and I didn't want to make things worse. And…and I was hurt about what you had said before we went our own ways. I was just trying to save our people, and you threatened my life. I knew you didn't really mean it, but that didn't make it hurt any less."

Hector had no excuse. He couldn't blame those cruel words on the fact that he was losing himself. He'd just lashed out harshly, because that was what he'd always done.

"I'm sorry." Hector said quietly.

"So am I." Adira said. "For making you doubt me." She was quiet for a long moment before she squeezed his hand. "I can't change what I did, but I can do better. I will do better. We can start over."

There was hope in her voice, and Hector didn't have a good feeling about this. "What do you mean?"

"We can go." Adira said. "We can travel together. We can see the world. Magic is everywhere. There has to be something out there that can stabilize your spirit and give you control. You can put this storm behind you. We can move on. Nothing has to change."

The suggestion was terrifying and beautiful to think of. Being with his siblings, or even just one of them, was everything he had ever wanted. But he wasn't meant to be here. He was barely an echo. A pathetic shadow. He was supposed to take his place in the sky.

But if he moved on that would be it. He wasn't really scared of what would happen to his soul. He was past the point of being afraid. But he knew how it felt to be left behind, to know that his siblings would never be at his side again. Moving on meant putting them through that, and how could he do something so cruel?

"I can't promise I won't change." Hector said. "This darkness is strong."

"We'll figure it out." Adira said. She'd always been the most optimistic of the two of them.

This was a terrible idea, and Hector knew that it was just going to end with heartbreak for the both of them. But he couldn't leave Adira when all she wanted was for him to stay. He could never hurt her like that.

"I'll stay." Hector said, even as his soul screamed at him. "As long as you want me here, I won't leave you."

She breathed a sigh of relief and leaned closer. She hugged him, and Hector couldn't help but return the embrace. He knew she was doing this to just remind herself that he was there, to better pretend that nothing had changed.

That was fine. Hector didn't think he was strong enough to last for too much longer, but he could pretend. As long as his sister needed him, he could act like he was just fine. It was the least he could do for her.