Jack's P.O.V

As soon as Stacy left, realisation dawned upon Shelby's face. "I took Cory's Death magic," she said.

Stacy and Yammy appeared again. "The only Death magic we have is Jack's?" Yammy asked.

"Yeah..."

"I'll just have to give him mine. He... he should have it. You can't give back what you took, but I don't have the motivation to go in and fight like him," I shrugged. "Let's revive him, take him back to base, and go from there."

"O-okay..."

It took a few seconds for Cory to open is eyes, gulping in air. Before he could say anything, I told him gently, "We'll explain everything soon. First, back to base we go!"

Everyone hugged each other and stuff. I noticed Ross about to go punch Shelby in the face, but I quickly ran over, deflecting his punch. "HE'S STILL DEAD!" Ross cried. "IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT!!"

Shelby looked to the ground next to her. "You think I don't know..?" she whispered. "You have every right to be mad at me, and I know I hurt you, but... I-I..."

"She's still vulnerable. If you aren't careful, she'll kill you again," warned a child's voice.

Frisk stood, a spirit next to Shelby. All the people who were once dead looked in amazement. "Frisk... Dreemurr?" Cory breathed.

"Yeah, it's me. I've... only just been brought back, after... after Shelby was reformed. I only want peace among you all. And please, do understand... everything she did wasn't entirely her fault. It was the fault of magic out of her control."

"She took my magic!" 

"As I am aware. And I don't know how to get it back. Life, Death and Manipulation magic have all collided, and Shelby and I are now the Soul of Bending. Anything; inanimate objects, nature, anything man-made... can all be shaped and control at Shelby's will. This doesn't include minds, no mind control. But she can still control the bodies of people and stuff. It's a lot, and no-one knows all that much on it, other than it's the most powerful soul out of them all."

"How do we bring Max back?!" Ross demanded.

Frisk looked over to Max's still body, the days of being in Life's chamber now catching up, the smell starting to make me sick. "If it took more than one attempt... I don't know. I don't know when he'll wake, if he'll wake, how we could wake him..." Frisk replied. She looked around at us mentors. We all shook our heads. Frisk sighed. "I don't think we can... bring him back. I'm sorry, Ross."

Ross pushed me out of the way and punched his cousin in the face. "I LOVED HIM!! I LOVED HIM WITH ALL MY HEART, AND NOW HE'S DEAD BY YOUR HANDS!!" he screamed.

A few drops of blood came from Shelby's nose, but she didn't fight back, taking every hit and kick thrown at her. Ross wouldn't let anyone intervene, and all we could do was watch in horror... until the roar of a lion rang out.

Sasha's P.O.V

After thinking about Frisk, the discussion that was just had, what's happened after everything... I decided it wasn't fair to let Ross beat the crap out of his own cousin, who'd done all she could to make things right. In the form of a lion, I leapt between Ross and Shelby, who was about to fall on the floor. I growled at Ross, who was scared now. I heard little feet behind me. I glanced back to see Liam and Will carrying Shelby away to the other side of the room. I growled again. My tail flicked, and Ross slowly started to back towards the door. I transformed back into a human. "Can you not see that Shelby just did everything she could to try and bring you all back?! Those spells are draining. Jack and Shelby risked a lot to perform that spell at least three times. Max is GONE, we can't do anything about that. If God wants it to be that way, then so be it. But that doesn't mean we can't fight in memory of Max. Fight with the determination he had. Just as he'd want us to," I said.

"She's a MONSTER!" Ross huffed.

"If you don't wanna associate with her, then why don't you just leave?"

"What? To where?"

"That's your problem."

"Alone..."

"You'll find someone out there," Jess shrugged, floating over. 

"You're... still a ghost."

"Yeah, personally, I like this, it fits my element. BUT THAT'S OFF TOPIC. If you want to hurt our family here, then... go."

Shelby slowly made her way over, tears in her eyes. "Ross... I can't tell you how much you and Max have meant to me over these years," she said. "I don't want to lose both of you. But... if you're toxic, then I have no choice but to cut you out of my life. With much regret, I ask, like everyone else, that you leave." I could tell she was struggling to stay composed. "You may return when you're ready to apologise. Just know that... I regret all that I did. I can't say sorry enough."

"Fine. Bye. Don't expect me back any time soon," Ross spat. He walked out the door.

Shelby immediately wrapped her arms around me, crying hysterically. "Thank you," she choked out. "I'm sorry..."

"I know you are," I smiled. 

I noticed Frisk was nowhere to be seen. Back in with Shelby, my mind guessed. I hugged Shelby back. "You'll be okay. He'll come around," I reassured her.

A bunch of little arms wrapped around us. Graser, Will, Em and Liam all joined our hug. Our new friends got in on the hug as well. The other mentors joined in too, as did Joel, Oli, Lizzie, Cory and Callum. Jess circled us, seeing as she couldn't really touch us.

It felt good to be together again. Happy. Like a family.

Even though we've lost friends, we've gained new ones.

And the love between us all is stronger than ever.