They took some distance from the door. Distance from the distorted demonic voice, and the frail, horrified timbre of Jessamine.

She's alive. She's herself. And she wants to come back?

Ada swerved from one end of the basement to the other. Her expression was concealed, her chin dipped down, but every few seconds she uttered something, grimaced, whispered "no, not that," then fell silent.

There was no response from the other side of the door. Jessamine and the demon must have known they needed a minute to figure out what to do, and they'd graciously accorded them some time.

But the clock was ticking, and with every passing instant, Jessamine was in danger. The world was in danger.

Someone needs to sacrifice themselves.

"So, what are our options?" Avery hadn't wanted to interrupt Ada's thought process, but he grew restless, starting to pace as she was. "Could we ask Jamie, maybe? He's dead, he's a fresh soul, probably strong?"

He hadn't expected Ada to hear him over her mumbling, but to his surprise, she shook her head. "No, not Jamie."

"Okay, so someone who's been in Limbo longer, then?" Avery grimaced. "Jamie mentioned there were some old-timers or something down there. Spirits who never figured out their unfinished business. Or Amy? She may be stronger, having gotten the hang of being a ghost for a while now."

Again, Ada shook her head. "She wouldn't work either. And the so-called old-timers... they won't do it. No, we... we have to think deeper."

Avery scoffed and threw out his arms. "Deeper? How much deeper can we get? The fuck does that mean?" She had no reaction to him. "Fine, then it's your turn to give a few names, yeah? I have no idea what I'm doing here, what the requirements are. Me? Do they want me?" He gulped. "Do I need to die and be shoved into that realm to take Jessamine's place? Because I'll do it, though I won't be happy about it."

A bead of sweat dripped down the side of his face, tickling him. He swiped at it, then felt the heat radiating off his skin. He was feverish, and now that he thought of it, his stomach ached, something ominous brewing within.

It was him they wanted; his body knew it, was reacting to it. The door craved him, ever since he escaped the first time. It wanted revenge, it wanted to gobble up Avery's soul and make him its own.

And of course, the demons had hungered for him, they'd poked and prodded at him as if he were fresh meat. They wanted him, too. Wanted him in their ranks to continue planning their disastrous world domination ideas.

It was terrifying, to be required in such a sinister way. But if Avery were to die and then be sucked into the demonic dimension, it'd save Jessamine from her current fate. It'd save the planet.

"I mean it. I'll do it," said Avery, stretching out his arms, showing his wrists to Ada. "You can slice into me now, bleed me out, then once I've had my last breath, you can," he absorbed a trembling gulp of air, "push me in. I'll replace her, I'll sacrifice myself for her. I... love her."

Pain shot across his forehead, and warmth flowed to all his extremities. Admitting his love for her, again, took a lot. It dug into his psyche, messed with his senses. That, or the door really was calling to him, and was accepting his terms before he'd even formulated them coherently.

Ada took some time to acknowledge his offer. She pursued her muted muttering that made no sense, swerved back and forth a few more times, then paused. She whooshed over to him, blocking him in his pacing; somehow, he hadn't stopped walking despite the agony in his limbs and his spreading dizziness.

"No," she glowered at him, "absolutely not. Not you. You're not what they want. You're not dying. I'm not killing you; I can't, anyway. This is not how things will go down."

"Then how? And who?" Avery marched through her, her cloudy substance of a body cooling him down almost instantly. "A ghost, then? That's the only solution, isn't it?" He flipped around to watch her as her shoulders drooped. "Ghosts are dead souls, and they want someone dead. And you've got plenty in Limbo, plenty who would definitely volunteer to anything you need of them. So do you have any that are strong enough? Brave enough? Truly willing? Should you go ask someone?"

Ada hung her head, moving it from side to side. "There's no one to ask. It's not a ghost they want, Avery." She closed her eyes, and her mouth twitched, possibly trembling. "Think about this. Think hard on how they formulated their request. They want someone dead, someone powerful, someone to balance out Jessamine's absence. Who, or what, do you think fits that bill?"

"Dead, powerful—a ghost, dammit, that's what!" Avery wanted to kick at something, and his fists balled at his sides.

"Ghosts aren't powerful," said Ada, lifting her chin as she opened her eyes. They were glossy, wide and alert as they zoned in on Avery. "They want something with power. Powers."

Avery opened his mouth to protest, but then her words hit him. The impact of each one smacked him on the cheeks and reanimated the uncomfortable heat in his chest and belly.

"No." He made to step up to her, to bar her route; but seconds into the movement, he remembered her untouchable body, the misty substance that composed her. "No, Ada, you can't be serious."

"I am," she said, turning to the stairs as a group of Guides came rushing down, all staring at Ada. "Ah, you're just in time."

"You called us?" Faz detached from that group, his eyes scanning Ada, then Avery, then narrowing on Ada again. "What's going on?"

Avery had no idea how she'd summoned them all while she was having a conversation with him. "No," he said, sliding in front of Faz, his back to him. "You can't do this. It's not... it's not what they want."

"It is," Ada used her energy to gently push Avery aside, "and I can do it."

"Do what?" Faz's small, innocent voice echoed in Avery's mind; a kid misunderstanding a punishment, a puppy unsure what he was being taught.

"I'm afraid I have to go," said Ada, a sad smile spreading across her lips as she addressed her constituents, ignoring Avery's conflicted looks. "I must leave this plane to go to another one."

"Temporarily?" A voice came from the cluster of Guides; Avery didn't know whose it was.

"Like a... shoot, what do humans call them?" Another voice—younger, smoother. "Oh, right! A vacation?"

Ada flinched. "No, not a vacation. This would be permanent."

Faz floated forward. "Where?" He was serious, now; no fear, no confusion. It was evident he knew where Ada was going with this, and Avery got the vibe that he'd do anything to stop her.

Good, because I physically can't do anything.

"The demon realm." She cleared her throat and clapped at the Guides as they began to protest, to mutter concerns; some came forward in an attempt to intercept her with their hands. "Yes, I know what you'll say: Guides don't go in there, ever. And those who try never return. But I must." She twisted to the door, its outline glowing red, almost turning her eyes the same color. "They need an exchange, to give us back Jessamine, and to seal the evil gates in their realm. It's important; it's essential to the world's balance and prosperity. And what more can I do than assist with that? It's my role."

"No," said Faz, zooming in front of Ada. "Your role is to guide spirits to Afterlife, to the ghost portal. Not to go save a woman whose destiny it was to die, to dwell in a demonic realm for her actions—"

Avery was about to yell at him, but it was Ada who spoke first. "Jessamine wasn't responsible for her actions; you yourself said this many times, Faz. And she's not dead. She's a living being, which means she doesn't belong, and the demon dimension is freaking out because of it. They need me, in her place. I'm dead—wasn't quite alive to begin with—and I'm strong. I'm a supernatural being, like the demons. Not human. I'm a Guide, and it's me the realm will want."

The Guides wailed in protest, and Faz continued to get in Ada's way as she sought to get closer to the door. Avery joined him, agreeing; Ada, as much as he loathed her, was needed in this plane, to take care of dead souls in ways only she knew how. That was her mission, not to save Jessamine.

Saving Jessamine is my thing, not hers.

But it was no use; Faz and Avery were no match for Ada and her stubborn self. She shoved them both sideways with her energy, a little more forcefully than earlier. Avery landed against the wall, his upper arm jamming into the plaster, hard.

"Stop trying to change my mind." Ada perked up, rolled her shoulders, huffed. "I'm responsible for this prophecy in the first place. It came to me, making me tethered to it. It would only make sense for me to be the one to break it by giving myself up. I misinterpreted it; it's my fault all this happened. The after-math, the tiny clauses that I hadn't detected; those are all on me. I should have known it wouldn't be that easy, that there'd be things about the universal balance that would be affected by Jessamine's fate. I should have known..." She squinted at Avery. "I'm sorry, but I should have insisted that you kill her, no matter what. But my feelings got the best of me. Feelings I'm not supposed to have, as a Guide. I'm defective, and for that, I should go."

More Guides dashed over to bar her from approaching the door, all crying and pleading with her to reconsider, reminding her how important she was. She knocked them aside without so much as a glance, a breath; nothing would stop her, not even those who'd pledged their service to her for eons.

"My mind was made up a while ago," she said, spinning to her Guides, addressing them for what felt like the last time. She had her back to the door, and its red glow outlined her, almost metamorphosing her into someone, something else. "The instant all the chaos unfolded, I had a hunch, and I had to wait for the right moment to reveal it. Well, I'm revealing it now. Instead of locking the demons up," she side-glanced at Avery, who rubbed his shoulder from the pain of colliding with the wall, "I should have listened to them. Now, I will listen."

Avery put his all into one last attempt to prevent her from doing the undoable; from plunging to her doom, living—or dying—in a realm that would swallow her up and regurgitate her on repeat to torture her. But as he loosened his lips, preparing to hurl his speech at her, she zipped his mouth shut. Similarly to how demon-Jessamine had quieted him before, he couldn't pull his lips apart; they were sewn together.

"Apologies, Avery," she said, hovering her hand near his face, close enough for him to sense the chill of her touch. "But you can't get in my way. And you," she gestured at the Guides, "must all get out of here. I won't put you at risk when that door opens, so I want you all upstairs."

They moaned in complaint, but obeyed her command—most likely the last command she'd ever give them.

Avery fought her spell, begging to speak, but nothing came out aside from garbled grunts.

Fuck! Ada, you can't do this!

She hovered in front of the door, leaning her face close. "We've made a decision," she said, her tone firm, confident. Avery battled the impulse to scream inside his head that she had made that decision on her own. "I will take Jessamine's place, effective immediately. Or whenever you need me to."

The demon's voice came through. "Will you, now? And who are you to volunteer?"

"Ada?" Jessamine's tone shook as it breached the door. "No, what are you doing? What's wrong with you?"

"Quiet," said the demon, impatient irritation in its words. "We accept whoever comes forth, if they fit the requirements. So I ask again, who are you?"

"I fit the requirements," said Ada, straightening her arms at her sides. "I'm Ada, a Guide of the living realm. Eons in age, centuries of experience, powers ingrained in me since my conception."

"A Guide?" The demon's scoff was so pronounced, Avery thought he saw the door shake. "Ho, they'll eat you alive in here. Are you sure this is what you want?"

"What I want doesn't matter." Ada's gaze was fixed on the door, so intense that Avery had no means to draw her attention to him. He was waving, snapping at her, internally demanding that she unseal his lips so he could speak.

She can't give herself up like this. She's needed here. Someone else can do this, some other Guide, other being.

"I fulfill all your requirements, you can't deny it." Ada pinched her lips. "I'm dead, technically never alive. I'm powerful, harboring a lot of energy for your dimension to pull from. And my soul is nothing but pure soul. It'll keep the balance without overpowering, like Jessamine did. So let me in."

Whatever spell Ada had put on Avery miraculously wore out; his voice burst out of his mouth in a screech, and it nearly knocked the wind out of him. "Ada, stop, there has to be another way—"

She twisted around and whipped a gust of energy at him, into his torso, immobilizing him. "There isn't, Avery. Quit bartering, quit delaying me. This is how it's going to go, and there's no going back. You hate me, anyway, so why does it matter?"

"It matters because what you do is important," he blurted, unable to check his words before they spewed out. All the rage he'd felt towards her fizzled as he realized that despite their disagreements, despite her lies, her overall demeanor that irked him, she was essential to this plane of existence. Her departure from it would unsettle them, here, in this realm. She was sacrificing herself, thinking to make things better, but her absence would only make them worse.

But as he tried to put all those thoughts into coherent sentences, he staggered. Nothing came out; nothing that would effectively halt Ada in her effort to leave the human realm. He wished she'd read his mind, hop into him, possess him real quick to understand what he was thinking. But the conflicted look she gave him, the drooping, nostalgic smile she flashed showed him it was no use.

She was already gone, her mind, as she'd said, made up.

"Do you want your precious Jessamine back?" Ada blinked at him. "Do you want the realms to stop splitting open and unleashing apocalyptic creatures? Is it peace you seek, like me? I know we agree on all this, so stand aside, Avery. Let me do what I was meant to do."

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