Gelland slid the blade out of his head, dropping it to the floor. It clanged like metal as it hit. She noticed a glassy covering over the hilt, which she guessed was what Lixo used to protect his hands from the burning weapon. As well it would have to her, even though the creator of it was her father. If she had made it herself, it wouldn't burn her, but it would to everyone else. She had never seen a plasma object that wasn't hers, and likely never would, depending on what came next for her after this.

Stepping back from the body, she bit her lip, realizing something. I did exactly what I came down here to do. Even though I changed my mind, even though I could think of it as justice for Father and these others here, I wouldn't have been here unless I planned on killing someone. Gelland looked at her friends. The four stood, staring at her expectantly. She opened her mouth to speak, but words did not come. She sat down next to her dead body, legs crossed, cheeks in her hands. She was barely lit by the remaining torch across the room.

"What's wrong?" Teragram asked, his hand covering the gash in his chest. His shirt was covered in blood, but it seemed it had stopped bleeding. She had to assume that he had only been slashed lightly. "You're alive and you came back and saved us!"

Gelland sighed through her nose. "Do you think I did the right thing?"

He crouched before her, "If you think it's the right thing, then of course it is."

Gelland frowned. "So when I was rude to you before, you thought that was the right thing?"

He shrugged. "I don't have to like what you do, but in the end, it's all your decision. You choose who you are and what you will be. Ask yourself what would make you happiest, and then do that."

Her frown deepened. That just doesn't sit right with me, anymore. Other people enjoyed hurting me. Am I supposed to accept that that is right?

The group of four started prodding Lixo's corpse. Gelland cocked her head. "What are you all doing?" she asked.

"He stole all that you have. You can't go back to what you had before, now." Zolda said, frowning at her old body. "I remember people changing their bodies. But never have I seen one discarded. This is something new. The best thing to do is take of his what you lost. Besides, no one is coming out here to gather him up, and we can't let what he has go to waste."

Gelland hesitated, then nodded slowly. What had Zolda said? She was in shock, she was sure of it.

They found nothing besides his bag holster for chips and a ring, which they brought to her. Taking two fingers, she double tapped each of them, giving her a view of what was stored. Hovering stationary above one that she checked was a large leather satchel nearly full to bursting from what she could tell was heap. After putting down each of the chips, the projections faded away.

After finding the heap, the currency of clacking magnets, she was content to check the rest later, which included a safe chip. Gelland inspected the ring. The base was black stone, feeling like what the chips were made of. There was also a thin metal on the outside, and the only remarkable thing on the band was the inscription of his surname. But while looking on the inlay, Gelland saw a glob of dark red as if it swirled around the inside. 

"You could sell that, probably." Zeraphel said. "Although it would look very questionable." 

"More questionable than having it found out that we killed the guy?" Zolda responded. 

"No matter how awkward it is, I think out of respect, we should give it to his son," said Gelland, chewing on her lip. Maybe I'm just saying that because I want to be in the city one last time?

"When we saw him tonight, he really did seem to love his dad, so I think that's best." Teragram said. He looked at her. "I'm sorry for your loss, too."

She nodded to him, pocketing all of Lixo's things. Before walking on, she turned again to the blade on the ground. She gulped. Its dark red glow gave her an uncomfortable feeling. The blood of many covered its length from its very creation. Speaking of inheritances... The sword was massive by itself, over six feet long, but didn't weigh much.

Having his chips on her person, she could've tried the dismiss sign. But she couldn't get them out unless she knew the word. Being the owner of the stockpile in town, he could call things to himself without needing chips on him. This sword was not something to be left around near his family, however. She disconnected both from their respective chips with a sign, and stored them anew under different signs. The blade she called, "Cinder." They both vanished instantaneously. 

This boon did not feel like a memento to Kolen as much as a curse on his legacy. "This is what they made of you, Father, but I'll find a way to make your memory burn so much brighter." she whispered, the two turning to catch up with the group who continued down the passageway. The room stopped at a wall. When inspecting with the fire in their hands, they found writing on a black stone slab: 

  Above this, Gelland saw words that glowed like her Vein's swirling light: 

   Between the words Manifestation and Long-Suffering, there was a symbol. A diamond shape, also in magenta. Inside the diamond was an eye. And as the pupil of the eye was a flame. What did this mean for her?

She inspected the larger piece of text more closely. Grunting, she said, "this section is blurred out." She moved closer. "It's not even connected to the wall!" The blurred image hovered outwards from the wall in a gray swirl, like smoke. "You would think that you not being dead would be the thing that you would remark about!" Yova raised eyebrows at her. "Really, you died, Gelland! How are you feeling?" "I feel great. Like I've been woken up from a really bad nightmare." "That doesn't sound like a really good thing. And I feel like we're going to walk into something worse when we get back," Teragram said. "Well I guess I just mean that there was a different kind of nightmare I was going through." Gelland took out a chip, and pointing its face towards the slab, finger spelling Likeness, capturing the image.   

They soon found some footprints on the ground leading to a long ladder. Next to it, Gelland found a note. "Gelland, I hope you found your revenge. I know how much this troubled you. I never wanted you to have to face him in your current condition, but if he wasn't stopped tonight, I fear that he would never be. I hope I see you again. "P.S. My family and I are free, but at a great cost." "Oh, Cross... revenge was not the answer. I hope you really do get free, friend. From whatever that's blinded us."  

Gelland rested a few hours, allowing them to recover and prepare for the walk back. She had retrieved her pack and dressed. Teragram approached with her clothes from her old body. His hands were bloody from handling them. He made to give them to her. The shirt and mail had blood crisped edges around the hole on the chest, that flaked off when they shifted. The titanium links had easily buckled under Lixo's strength. She waved the useless clothes off. He must have handled her body to get them. 

After resting for a few hours and healing up a bit, they made their way up the ladder. Reaching up through a latch, she pushed out and smelled fresh morning air. They went back along the south road to the city. They found where their lirams and carriage had been left. Yova decided to take the reigns, while they sat in the carriage with the window open to talk freely.

"You can guide a carriage?" Gelland asked.

"Of course!" Yova said. She gave no further explanation.

Instead, they explained to Gelland about the night before, about how they discovered Cross' parents. They had heard screams, and rushed in to find the two unresponsive in a burning building on the East side of the city. The four were bewildered, saying they hadn't seen death before. Not an uncommon thing. There had also been an open flask on the floor. When Gelland suggested poison, they swore they didn't know what poison was. And that was hard to believe, even with their memory as it was.

Then they chased a cloaked figure out of the northern gate, and ended up where Gelland found the carriage. She didn't know if it was a murder by Cross or double suicide, all of which deeply troubled her. "'My family is free'? If he was there when they died, what kind of freedom did he and his family get?" she questioned to herself. Her own death confused her even more. "Did any of you hear a voice when I died? Did you see the writing on the wall?" "You croaked out, 'Help me' before you died. Is that what you mean?" said Zolda. Gelland frowned. "I actually said, 'Thank you for helping me'. But you didn't hear anything else? What about the writing under the words 'Long-Suffering'?" All four of them confirmed that none of them had seen that word, yet had seen the other writing. After discussing, no one had a clue what it meant or for what purpose the room was used for. "The Scales are incredible." Teragram said. "No wonder Lixo wanted them so badly. To bring someone back from the dead..." he said. He then convulsed slightly, putting his hand to his head and the other to his stomach, which growled loudly. "You guys need to take it easy, you went through so much. And I can't tell why you all aren't dead." Gelland said. "Yes, well there sure are strange things happening these days." Teragram chuckled, recovering from his convulsions. "It's probably just a coincidence. Don't think about it too much, girl." He frowned at her, eyes studying her outline. The other three looked suspiciously towards him, then apologetically at Gelland. "Don't be offended by this Teragram person, we are your friends!" Zolda said, also starting to twitch. Gelland wondered at the two of them, but continued, "There's more to this, I think. It's so rare to see one, I wouldn't know what all the Veins can do or where they come from. But, I think mine was special. It didn't respond to Lixo fighting several times before over it. And he got his days ago, yet he didn't come back alive after death. It's special, and I don't think I deserve it." They took turns trying to disprove her conclusion, but she refuted each claim. I ended up just like Lixo. I thought I was so worthy to be respected, and when things didn't go my way, I took things into my own hands. Patience never buckles under pressure. I am not patient. But who is? Gelland made the sign for her cloak, it puffing back onto her shoulders. Putting the hood up, they made their way through the gates towards Lixo's. They left the carriage just before getting to Cross's home, Yova hopping down and giving the lirams rubs along their necks. She noted the burned building. Though the town homes were attached, the flames had only caused minimal damage to those nearby. The homes' facade was of a cleaner looking red clay with a thin layer of clear, densed air. His parents large bedroom window forty feet up had burst, nothing being left of it. At the end of this line of buildings was another, larger segment of homes, all owned by Lixo's family which they had turned into a singular one. It had an overhang of the metallic clear air. There sat the son of Lixo on the railing of the overhang, who although in fine clothes, looked haggard. Deleon wasn't much younger than Gelland, who was in her two and twentieth year. Perking up to see the four, Deleon stood, and with a pained expression, eyed Gelland. Her wet maroon boots looked like they had blood on them. "We have terrible news," Teragram started to say. "What were you four doing all night, and with her?" Deleon said. Teragram continued, "Your father wasn't going to let us live, and we did what we had to. He would want you to have his signet, though." The boy opened his mouth wide, opening and closing it as if it didn't work. Finally he howled, saying "You embarrassed him the day before, and now you kill him?" directing this at Gelland. People from around the area started to gather from the noise. "That's not tr-" one of them was cut off, shouted down by Deleon. "Stop! You're being controlled by her, that Night-Stalker seduced you with some of her weird powers!" "From what I've understood, I don't think that's something they can do," Zolda corrected. The crowd was now getting bigger, and some nodded their heads at the boy's words. What is with this city and big crowds? she thought. A little boy stood on the side saying to his mother, "Is she some kind of monster, momma?" Gelland rolled her eyes at these people. What did I expect at this point? The five of them were cornered, and the crowd turned hostile, calling into their hands pebbles to throw at her. Yova and the others put themselves in their way, waving wind with their hands to block the rocks. "You have to get out of here. They're gonna tear you apart! We'll clear a path for you." "What about you guys? You-" "No! Don't argue, we've made up our minds." Yova dropped to one knee, holding her head. She had not been hit by any rock. "I'm sorry that you can't make our wedding!" Gelland's tears welled up and they embraced. Standing up straighter, she shouted, "I never picked my own surname like I was allowed, but my name is...". The crowd hesitated, rocks at the ready. Remembering the old woman's words, It really will be okay to go Nameless, she decided. Taking out the signet ring, she quickly threw it at Bloom's son, unintentionally nicking his forehead and drawing blood. "I'm nobody!" she finished. Turning to face the mob with long fangs she hadn't bared for the two years she'd had them, Gelland smiled a wide smile, as big as she could muster. It was difficult for her face to stretch that way. She'd make this feel more natural eventually, she believed. It had to look like a snarl to them. The guards made their way to her. They held tall, clear shields with black trim that they advanced with while wielding short spears in their other hand. Her former city had rejected her, and she was going to choose to be okay with that. I can make this better for these four- if they don't have to defend me, I'll be the only one to blame. They would listen to their testimony, and then they'd be free. They did follow my plan, after all. Feeling her body suddenly become extremely light, she took the opportunity and jumped over the crowd and guards all at once. Rocks flew through her torso, leaving puffs of pink, but she was unharmed.

She didn't care to look back at the people's expressions as she went. Trailing magenta wisps of light and her black cloak, Gelland sprinted harder than she ever had before. It felt almost as though the air flowed lightly through her as she went faster than anyone she'd ever seen. She continued without tiring through the open north gate, mentally waving goodbye to the oppression. To the hurt there, though she knew she'd have to endure more. Her "hope" before was never promised to her, to be treated well and to do well herself. But that someone who helped her... they gave her something new. If it was a someone, she'd find them. She would press toward that mark. She smiled broadly up at the white ring in the morning sky, "Even if it takes forever."