Disclaimer: You know the drill. I don't own the characters in this story, except very technically Albert. Eden belongs to my friend. SquareEnix owns the rest.

Chocobos did not have a pleasant smell.

Ardbert grimaced as he stepped through the portal leading into the Crystal Tower on the First. How did people of the Source stand it? How had Albert? He hoped he could have a bath to wash the smell off before submitting to whatever tests Beq Lugg might need to conduct.

The first person he saw however was not Beq Lugg, but Lyna getting to her feet from where she'd been kneeling as if in prayer.

"Albert!" She greeted him, clearly flustered. "Is all well?"

She'd likely noticed his grimace. He smiled and pulled out the letter addressed to her, holding it out by way of reply.

"Hm?" She stepped forward to take it and frowned at her name before she flipped it open. "This is…."

Ardbert put a hand over the letter. "Best to read that in private, I think." He said, for the first time using Albert's voice, though he wondered if the deception was worse than the truth. "Do you know where Beq Lugg is?"

She took a moment to focus on him, then her spine straightened. "Beq Lugg? They're in Amh Araeng treating the Light Sickened. I believe they will be back in a couple of days. Why?"

Ardbert shook his head. "It's nothing. Thank you." He stepped past, leaving her to her puzzlement and her letter.

He stepped outside, squinting slightly at the lighting difference before looking up at the sky. "Clouds." He murmured, and smiled before continuing down the steps into the Crystarium proper, letting his steps lead them where they would while he considered what to do.

A couple of days to wait. He could stay in the Crystarium, likely get Albert's old room in the Pendants. Or he could chase down Beq Lugg. Albert's memories told him he would need to go to the Inn at Journey's Head, but Ardbert had to admit that area was a bit traumatizing to him personally and he didn't relish the idea of going there. Beq Lugg wouldn't have the means to help Albert while they were there anyway, so why upset himself with memories of the Flood and his friends' last sacrifice when it would come to naught?

He stopped walking and looked up toward the sky. He had to admit there was one more thing he could do. It was selfish, terribly hopelessly selfish, but if he really had to wait for a couple of days, couldn't he afford a little selfishness?

"No…."

Ardbert turned to see that of all people to find him, Ryne had and she was staring at him in horror, hands clenched by her chest.

"Your soul….what happened? You were fine! You were whole!" She stepped forward, reaching out before aborting the motion to draw her arm back, and met his eyes. "...I'm not speaking to Albert, am I?"

For being so young, she really did see so much. He sighed softly. "I'm Ardbert. I don't know what happened to Albert, but when Beq Lugg returns I'll talk to them about it. I'm hoping they can help."

"...You're the part holding him together." Ryne reached out again, pressing her hand to the armor over his heart. "You saved him from the Light tearing him apart, or at least gave him the strength he needed to defeat Emet-Selch….but he was whole. The cracks were gone, and now..."

"...How bad is it?" Ardbert asked softly, dreading the answer.

"...Bad." Ryne stepped back and met his eyes. "It's not cracked, it's torn. As if someone took a knife to his soul."

Ardbert scowled in thought. Maybe Elidibus had done something? Albert's memories didn't indicate anything of the sort, but thinking on it Ardbert noticed that the memories of fighting Elidibus were harder to grasp than before. It was definitely getting worse then. Maybe it was worth tracking down Beq Lugg after all. Maybe they could stabilize Albert long enough to return to the Crystarium.

"...I don't know what happened." He put a hand to his chest. "I don't know how to stop it…." He smiled grimly then as a revelation came to him and he found actually he did. If his joining with Albert had helped him however temporarily, then the best solution was to travel to the other shards somehow and find the rest of the pieces of their collective soul.

He closed his eyes. Sure, maybe he could do such a thing, but at what cost? He had already compromised his morals once for what he thought was right, and ended up with a century to regret it. Besides, if the flow of memories went both ways Albert would know what he'd done and be left with the burden. That wouldn't be fair to him.

He opened his eyes again to find Ryne staring at him in concern. "Do you...is there anything you could do to stabilize him? It doesn't need to last forever, just long enough for Beq Lugg to do something about it."

"I could try…" Ryne reached out, looking unsure. She touched his arm this time and closed her eyes. Ardbert closed his own and imagined what a sight they had to have been, just standing there.

Whatever Ryne did took several minutes before she let go and stepped back again. "There." She said. "I've...I've done what I can. Hopefully it'll last long enough."

"I'm sure it will." Ardbert said with more confidence than he felt. He put a hand on her head before he could think to stop himself, since while Albert would have done such a thing, she didn't know him. "Thank you."

Ryne seemed surprised at the contact, but not bothered and smiled after a moment, lifting her head when he moved his hand. "What will you do? I think Beq Lugg will be gone for a few more days."

Ardbert considered his options again, then smiled slightly. "I think I'm going to visit an old friend. Hopefully Albert won't mind."

He'd stopped by the market to buy a bedroll and some food, then gone to the Amaro Launch and set a course for Il Mheg. He couldn't help but grin giddily as he rode on the back of the amaro. A much smoother ride than a chocobo provided and a better smell besides. He pitied the Source for their lack of amaros. They had no idea what they were missing.

Landing in Il Mheg, he wasted no time getting out of pixie territory as quickly as possible, but even that didn't prove quickly enough.

"Ooh, his soul's all torn up, the poor thing!" A disembodied voice commented.

"You must be hurting quite a lot, looking like that!" Another said.

"You should stay. We'll take good care of you!"

"Yes! Stay!"

"Stay with us!"

Ardbert had stopped walking when the first obfuscation had gone up, and now he sighed. [The King wouldn't take it well if they found you trying to harm their beloved sapling.] He told them in their language.

There was a moment of stunned silence before they began to argue with one another about him knowing their language and how bad his pronunciation and accent was. While thus distracted, Ardbert began to walk, letting his mind lie idle and not calling forth thoughts. The obfuscation faded away, for the magic could only ensnare an engaged mind. They were still bickering when he left them behind, likely so confident he'd have to stay put they hadn't been watching him.

He snickered to himself at having pulled a fast one on them, though their words reminded him of just how bad off Albert apparently was. He put a hand to his chest as he walked. Ryne had stabilized him, and hopefully it would last long enough, but he felt a pang of guilt that he was indulging himself instead of seeking out Beq Lugg. Amaros could see souls too. What if the sight distressed Seto? Would his friend be angry at him for his selfish wish?

Ardbert clenched his other fist and sped up his pace instead of turning around. Well if Seto told him to go to Beq Lugg, then Ardbert would without a single protest even if he really didn't want to go there. He knew his old friend wouldn't let him be selfish if he thought he was causing harm.

He found his old friend was absent from his nest when he arrived at it, and climbed up with the intention of waiting for him there when his boot snagged on something and sent it tumbling.

"Oh, my crystal." He made a grab for it before it could tumble out of the nest and held it up to look at it. Dulled to gray, it certainly held no power in it now. He remembered Albert had given it to Seto, but it really was funny that the amaro was keeping it.

He turned his gaze to the sky, only to see Seto winging his way back, the medallion Ardbert had given him long ago gleaming in the sun from a new necklace of what he thought might be leather. He stepped back to give Seto space to safely land and watched him with a smile.

Seto landed outside his nest and peered around it at Ardbert with clear bewilderment. "Albert?" He asked. "What's happened to you? You seem….unwell."

Ardbert frowned at that. "Well, I guess that might be a way of putting it." he said, walking around the nest as Seto climbed up to settle into it. He placed his crystal back before straightening up to look at him. "Take a closer look, Seto."

Seto made an inquisitive noise and stretched his neck out to get a good look indeed. "Ardbert?!" He exclaimed a few moments later, rearing back and blinking at him. "...I don't understand."

Ardbert smiled faintly. He was right, this was just upsetting him. "I don't either, old friend. I...shouldn't be here, in any sense of the word. I should have gone for help….but I came here instead. I wanted to see you again….talk to you."

Seto grunted and settled his wings. "...Something very bad is happening, isn't it?"

Ardbert nodded. "His soul is coming apart. It….should be stable for now, and I'll go back to the Crystarium in a couple of days to see Beq Lugg-do you remember them?"

"The nu mou?"

"Yes, that's them. They're good at soul work. I'm hoping they can help Albert. But in the meantime….I'd like to stay with you, if that's alright?"

Seto stretched his neck out to gently nuzzle Ardbert. "Nothing would bring me greater joy."

It was almost like the old days, but better. Ardbert slept against Seto's side under his wings that night, and in the morning shared in a foraging hunt with him-though Seto's broad back made it hard to sit comfortably. They reminisced and talked about happy things. Ardbert's heart was full.

On the morning of the second day he found himself nudged awake.

"The King is here." Seto murmured.

Oh shit. Feo Ul was going to know immediately something was wrong. Still, there was nothing to do but accept that he'd have some explaining to do and climbed out from under Seto's wing.

There floated Feo Ul, or rather the small manifestation of them. They planted their hands on their hips. "Well that's not right at all." They announced. "What have you done to my precious sapling's soul?!"

"Gods, is all of Norvrant going to get on me?" Ardbert commented irritably before he could stop himself. "I don't know what happened. I'm going to talk to Beq Lugg about it."

Feo Ul made a rude noise. "Oh, I don't think I care for you one bit! Where's my sapling? Where's Albert?!"

Ardbert put a hand to his chest. "In here. Hopefully."

"HOPEFULLY?!" Feo Ul flew up right into his face. "My beautiful sapling's been torn up, and you say 'hopefully'?!"

Ardbert looked aside. "I don't know what happened, alright?! I'm going back to the Crystarium soon and I'll speak to Beq Lugg. Hopefully they can find out what caused this and how to fix it."

"Well you'd better get going then before I get really cross!" Feo Ul stated. "Oh my poor darling Albert…."

Seto heaved himself to his feet. "I'll take you, Ardbert."

"Are you sure, Seto?" It wouldn't be a comfortable ride given Seto's size, but Ardbert would endure anything for a little more time with his friend.

Seto nodded. "I'm sure."

Feo Ul joined them for the journey, and while they didn't continue to nag Ardbert, it was clear they were extremely unhappy. To be fair, Ardbert wasn't in the best spirits himself, and after landing outside the Crystarium and saying his goodbyes to his friend, he headed in with Feo Ul on his shoulder to go present himself to Beq Lugg.

The nu mou seemed recently arrived and was still settling back into their space in the Crystal Tower when Ardbert came inside. Turning to look, they blinked several times. "Albert? My King?"

Feo Ul launched themselves off Ardbert's shoulder and spun around to point at him. "This isn't my sapling! Something is wrong with his soul! Fix it!"

"Not Albert? Oh dear, oh dear." Beq Lugg blinked a couple more times. "If not Albert, then who are you?"

"Hello Beq Lugg. It's been a while." Ardbert said softly, smiling crookedly. "'Bout a century, in fact."

Beq Lugg tilted their head. "...Ardbert? Oh dear, this is serious. I had been told you were a part of Albert, but this shouldn't be possible."

Ardbert grimaced. "I was afraid of that."

"Well, uh...have a seat and I'll take a look." They paused to look at Feo Ul. "I'll do everything I can."

"Good. I want my sapling back." They vanished on those words, and Ardbert made himself comfortable on the floor.

Beq Lugg had gotten Ardbert a chair, which he had been grateful for since everything had taken several bells thus far. The nu mou was still shuffling around, with ample muttering to themselves while Ardbert tried to keep quiet so he didn't distract them.

"Well I can't imagine how this could possibly have happened." Beq Lugg finally said, turning back to Ardbert, their tail tapping on the floor with agitation. "But I believe I can work on fixing it."

Ardbert let out a breath he didn't even know he was holding. "Okay, well….that's fine then. As long as you can reverse whatever happened, I guess how it happened isn't as important…." Though he naturally badly wanted to know.

Beq Lugg nodded slightly and handed Ardbert a vial of cloudy blue liquid. "Drink that and we'll move forward from there."

Ardbert eyed the liquid, then took a deep breath and threw it back. He grimaced and twitched, but managed to swallow before he started coughing.

"Oh my." Beq Lugg commented while Ardbert doubled over, hacking. "I may have made it a bit strong…"

Ardbert wheezed and slowly straightened up again. "Oi, what was that then?! You trying to kill me a second time?"

Beq Lugg's tail slapped the floor hard at that comment, which was followed up by them stamping their foot.

"That was an awful terrible thing, Ardbert! You shouldn't joke about it! Oooh! I was sick in my heart for weeks afterward!" They slapped their tail again. "Terrible and awful!"

Ardbert pressed his hands together. "I beg your forgiveness, Beq Lugg."

"Oooh!" Beq Lugg's tail slapped again. "You are infuriating!"

Ardbert smiled faintly. "Sorry. Payback for that godsawful whatever that was."

Beq Lugg huffed at him and their tail slapped with agitation several more times before they calmed down again and squinted at Ardbert.

"Well you may not have liked it, but it looks like it's doing the job. Of course you'll need several more treatments, taken regularly, but hopefully the Exar-former Exarch can take over when you go back."

Ardbert put a hand to his chest. "...I still wish I knew how this happened."

"That would be nice to know, or it may well happen again." Beq Lugg agreed. They turned away to scribble something on paper and then turned to hand it to Ardbert. "There. See that to the former Exarch."

Ardbert looked at what was written before he shrugged and folded the paper up to tuck away and stood from the chair. "Thank you, Beq Lugg." He said softly. "For everything."

Beq Lugg sighed softly. "...It was good to see you again, Ardbert."

Ardbert smiled at them. "It was good to see you too."

"Ardbert." Ben Lugg's tail slapped the floor, then stopped moving. "I have to warn you, this may not be quick. The treatment could take months. Possibly even years."

"…Years….?" Ardbert touched his chest again and looked down. "No, no. It can't take years! Albert doesn't deserve to wake up an old man!"

"I'll work on refining the treatment, so you'd best come visit again so I can see the rate of progress." Beq Lugg said. "But for now, I don't want to get your hopes up too high."

Ardbert swallowed and nodded slightly. "…..Right." When Beq Lugg said nothing more, he turned to go.

It was raining when he emerged from beneath the excavation of the Crystal Tower, which meant Ardbert sloshed into The Rising Stones on a very unhappy chocobo.

"Tataruuu." He whined once he'd spotted the lalafell. "Please can I have a warm drink? I almost drowned out there."

She blinked up at him, expression first amused and then concerned. "Oh dear, you are rather soaked, aren't you? Go get something dry on and go sit by the fire."

"Thank you." He went to do so, and when he emerged again, Tataru directed him to a table by the fire.

"So, how did things go?" She asked, climbing up onto the chair opposite him. "Were you able to get any answers?"

Ardbert grimaced and wrapped his hands around the mug. "I have a list of ingredients for G'raha to make a foul concoction for Albert's soul. The first dose apparently took well, but I'll need several more….and I'll guess we'll know it worked when Albert's the one who wakes up in the morning. Well, you'll know. I won't, obviously."

"But any idea what caused this?"

Ardbert shook his head. "No one who could see the problem had any idea." He paused. "…..But the treatment might take a while to work fully. Months, likely." He dared not say years. No one would like that answer.

"Months? Oh dear." Tataru frowned, but then she smiled slightly. "Well it's a good thing Albert has you, Ardbert. Otherwise we'd be stuck with his comatose body and no way to get help."

"…Huh. Didn't consider that." So there was a good thing out of him waking up, since he was the only one who could've sought help from Beq Lugg. A small bit of guilt he'd been feeling lifted. He'd rather it hadn't happened at all of course, but under the circumstances, it definitely could've turned out worse. He smiled slightly. "Thanks, Tataru." He looked around then. "Seems awfully quiet. Everyone out?"

Tataru frowned thoughtfully. "Mm. Something about porxies, I think."

"Huh…." Funny little thing, porxies. He shivered violently. "Hopefully they're somewhere dry."

Tatatru nodded to that and gave him a smile before she hopped down to get back to her work, leaving Ardbert with his thoughts and a warm mug of cocoa.

Several weeks passed. Every day G'raha mixed a new concoction to Beq Lugg's specifications-for the instructions stated it had to be fresh or it would lose potency-and Ardburt drank it, even though it continued to taste absolutely horrid. Every few days he returned to the First to check in with Beq Lugg and Ryne to get their assessment of Albert's recovery.

The prognosis wasn't good. The concoction seemed to have successfully halted the progression, but any recovery being accomplished was incremental. Beq Lugg promised to keep working on the problem when they weren't treating the Light Sickened, and they decided to be relieved that it wasn't getting any worse.

Ardbert started keeping a journal, writing down in as exact detail as he could, the last memory he had before awakening in Albert's body, and the last clear memory he could access from Albert, which was defeating Elidibus, after which the memory sharply began to lose focus. He could barely recall what had happened to the Crystal Exarch, and struggled with those details. But bit by bit, he found that memory got a little clearer. Not as quickly as he'd like, but that there was progress at all, even if there was little evidence on the soul, gave Ardbert hope that the treatment was indeed reversing the damage.

The Scions had mostly stopped acting suspicious of him and were at least cordial, even as they tried to keep him out of as much as they could while they mucked about with proxies and Allag. Eventually however, they could no longer ignore the fact that while Ardbert was not their friend, trying to ignore and exclude him was only going to work for so long. He was still a Warrior of Light, and could still be of help.

They had started giving Albert's mail to him as part of this, which for the most part he didn't mind. He could fake messages to most of the people who wrote to him, even if his penmanship was his own and not Albert's, he could fudge the syntax and use Albert's memories to tell him how to respond to the inquiries.

Except for one.

Albert had a girlfriend, a Viera woman named Eden he'd known since they were children; he a local of Ul'dah and she an abandoned would-be slave dumped by her would-be masters when they had been in danger of being caught. A woman he had thought of so highly he had found a way to Limsa when she had been adopted and scraped an existence by working part-time on her new family's farm and the rest of the time doing errands for Limsa locals. A woman whose letters told him they had actually been engaged, meaning the proposal had happened after his return from the First, contained in memories Ardbert could not grasp.

He didn't know what to say to her. She was wondering why she hadn't heard from Albert, whether he was having second thoughts about the proposal and what was Ardbert supposed to say?! She was a sweet, gentle soul. Albert's early adventuring partner, the healer and backup defender to Albert's Warrior, then later Paladin, Dark Knight, and Gunbreaker. His Lamitt, but a childhood friend.

Gods, the lengths Albert had gone to keep her safe had been absurd. His loyalty was unshakable to the point of uprooting his life just to follow her until they were old enough to strike out on their own. If soulmates existed, they surely were the prime example of it.

What was Ardbert supposed to say in the face of such a deep-rooted love? How was he supposed to tell her that the person sitting in Albert's skin wasn't the man she'd grown up knowing? It made his heart hurt. He knew he should say something, but the words wouldn't come, and so he said nothing.

He should have known she wouldn't be content until she got answers.

"Bear?"

Ardbert, in the middle of soundly trouncing Thancred at Triple Triad, stiffened and turned his head to look.

There stood Eden, blinking at him with wet eyes behind her glasses. She was more diminutive than typical Viera owing to her early childhood of scraps and hardship. Tiny, brown-skinned, freckled, and adorable, normally perky ears pressed flat against her head.

"Was starting to wonder if she was ever going to get here." Thancred muttered, picking his cards up.

Ardbert swung back around to glare at him.

"Your fault for not writing her back." Thancred said. "Good luck."

"You're a dead man!" Ardbert hissed.

Thancred just shrugged and left the table with his cards, leaving Ardbert to face Albert's 'Bun'.

"Bear?" She said again, her childhood nickname for Albert before breaking his heart further with her adult one. "Alby?"

"Gods…" Ardbert rubbed his face before he looked back at her. "...You should sit down, Eden. We've gotta talk."

She stepped over, hands clutched close to her heart, and sat down in the chair Thancred had vacated, which felt so far away. "...Did I do something wrong?" She asked. "Are you breaking up with me?"

"No...gods Eden, it's not you. It's not you." Ardbert rubbed his face again. He wanted to take her hand, he wanted to hold her, he wanted to comfort her. He knew there was no right way to handle this, but he had to try. Albert loved his woman, and his love was strangling him.

"I...I don't have…." He swallowed and made himself meet her eyes. "I don't know what Albert told you, I can't remember. I'm not Albert. I'm….I'm a forgotten soul from another world. He's...he's here but not here. His memories, but…." He touched his chest. "My name's Ardbert. I...didn't know how to tell you." He squeezed his eyes shut, feeling like his heart was shattering. "Gods, I'm so sorry." He choked out.

"Ardbert…." She repeated. "He...he told me about you." Ardbert heard her chair scrape and he jerked upright, irrationally afraid she was leaving, but she'd pulled the chair closer instead and just as he met her eyes again, as wet as he was finding his own, she touched the hand he'd left on the table. "Are….is….what happened?"

"I don't know." Ardbert whispered. "But...we're trying to fix it, I swear."

"Will he….come back?"

"I hope so...but it'll be…." He grit his teeth, and finally spoke what he now knew had to be the truth. "It'll probably be years, Eden."

Her lip wobbled and her brimming eyes overflowed. It was almost more than he could take, and the guilt he barely kept at bay reared up as the Flood had over Amh Araeng.

He put his hand over hers. "Eden, I swear we're doing everything we can. I'm...I'll get him back to you. I'm not….he needs to continue your story."

She gave him a wobbly smile and nodded before she pulled her hand free and slipped out of the chair. She stared at him for a few moments, then walked away, starting to cry in earnest.

Ardbert put his head in his hands. Just when he'd thought it couldn't get any worse.

Once he'd gotten control of himself again, he stood up and went looking for Thancred, though he half didn't expect to find him.

It was to his surprise then that he did, out on the terrace above the marketplace, apparently enjoying the view. He got to his feet as soon as he saw Ardbert bearing down on him, and looked like he was debating jumping off.

Ardbert swung his axe off his back and brought it down hard, forcing Thancred to jump back.

"What the hell was that?!" He yelled. "Putting that on my head without any warning!"

"You were ignoring her letters!" Thancred snapped. "Don't you think she deserved to know?!"

Ardbert growled. "I'm not her betrothed! All that did was hurt her even more and she didn't deserve that! One of you could have...I don't know, lied to her maybe? Said he was away or-"

"If he wasn't fighting beside us, she was his healer!" Thancred interrupted. "Do you think she would've just kept sitting back and not doing anything?! If you've really got Albert's memories you ought to know that!"

Ardbert grit his teeth and looked aside, then glared at him sidelong. "You could have warned me!"

"So you could try to avoid her?" Thancred crossed his arms. "Yeah, that wasn't happening. She deserved to know, and you could have lied to her just like you've been lying to everyone else, but you decided to just not answer her letters."

"...Of course you've been reading the outbound mail." Ardbert muttered.

"Just yours." He shrugged. "It doesn't matter. It's nice of you to not want to lie to her, but you should have told her the truth before it got to this point."

Ardbert looked aside again, fists clenched. Finally he reached for his axe and examined it for damage, smiling faintly when he didn't find any before putting it on his back again and looking at Thancred seriously.

"Yeah, I'm not Albert, but that doesn't mean I don't give a damn. Maybe it had to happen this way, but I really hope one of you went after her because if something happens to her because of this, that's on you."

"Don't worry, I saw her off safe." Thancred said. "And I knew you'd give a damn, or I wouldn't have set this up. You're not our Warrior of Light, but you're still a Warrior of Light." He stared at Ardbert intently. "If it makes any difference, you've done a lot these past few weeks to make up for what you were doing the last time you were here."

Ardbert shut his eyes and drew in a breath to let it out slowly. "...You know, if not for Albert's memories I'd scarcely remember what you're talking about. That was all a century ago to me." Seeing himself through Albert's eyes, the older memories so much crisper than his more recent ones, feeling what Albert had felt about the whole situation. It was enlightening in the most uncomfortable way.

"I'm tired, Thancred." He said softly. "Tired of all of this. Tired of the guilt, tired of the existing. Even if I hadn't given my life for a lie, I should be long dead by now." He opened his eyes to look at the other man wearily. "I'm going to do my part to get Albert to wake up, and in the meantime I'll do what he should be doing. But how about you stop making it harder on me, huh? Stop reminding me of my mistakes. Stop throwing it in my face." His eyes narrowed. "It's not my fault Minfillia-"

"Don't." Thancred snapped. "Don't you even start. It's not about her. You were a pawn of the Ascians, but you also saved my friend from the Light, and if you hadn't woken up, he'd probably be worse than dead now. It's hard looking at my friend's face and knowing a stranger is behind his eyes, but I don't blame you."

"Then maybe I should stop looking like Albert." Ardbert replied. "Give'm a haircut and a trim. It'll grow back so that's not a big deal, and I don't know how he stands his hair this long anyway." He looked down at his armor. "And green. Why'd he have to dye it green? Easy enough to fix all that too." He looked back at Thancred. "Funny how he and I had the same taste in armor though, ey?"

Thancred blew out his breath heavily. "Sure. Maybe that'll help...can't complain about cosmetic changes he can set to right when he wakes up again."

"Great...I'll go see the barber then." Ardbert concentrated on the energies of the nearest major city Aetheryte and teleported away.

Deep in the Lifestream, a hopelessly tired soul observed the living world. By all rights it should have sunk down deep. After 12,000 years of living, it had more than earned its rest. Yet rest it could not, for things were dangerously unwell in the living world. There was talk of the Final Days, and for all that it had failed in its mission, it could not simply let this go. Master of the dead as it was, it was master of its own fate as well, and so it pushed for the surface of the aetherial sea. It pushed toward a suitable vessel, wearily but steadily until it reached its objective.

Tired eyes opened somewhere below ground on the Source. A body stretched and there was the hiss of a lock releasing before a hatch swung open.

"…So it seems my time is not yet spent after all." They murmured. "Very well…"

They vanished into a void portal. It was time to play their part, and prevent the final curtain close upon the shattered star.