Haku took to the sky, following the scent of the spell and its creator. It was easier to think in dragon form. The crushing emotions he experienced in his other physical form were dulled. He was left with only one overpowering emotion; rage. Pure, white-hot and it burned through him. The spirit he pursued had hurt his mate, possibly killed her. He would have stayed by her side but even he could not disobey the old laws. He was driven to complete the task she had appointed him. His will had no bearing on the situation. His anger was directed at her also. If she had not been so loyal... she would never have come for him, she would have lived. He fed the fires of his anger and such thoughts vanished.

He was hunting and his prey was not only highly intelligent, it was cold-blooded and ruthless. He had underestimated his prey and it had cost him both mate and child. He roared his outrage to the speck in the sky that was his target. His prey was fast, but Haku knew it was only a matter of time before he chased him to exhaustion. He poured his hatred into his serpentine muscles and streaked across the sky like a white arrow fletched with green feathers.

Kenshin would never have thought the dragon would come after him. He was infatuated with his mate, surely he would have stayed with her? Perhaps he had miscalculated and she was dead already. It was difficult to maintain any speed as his talons clutched a large obsidian ball. The wing muscles of his bird form ached and the cold desert night seemed to penetrate his feathers. There was not enough strength left in him! He could not waste his energy on a chase. The dragon would catch him! This was clearly something he could not let happen. He had sacrificed everything for what he carried. He would not allow an enraged lizard to snatch victory from him now!

He folded his wings and plummeted to the ground. He landed awkwardly and changed form. He heard the dragon bellow. There was no time left. Kenshin brought his wrist to his mouth and bit it, tearing out a chunk of flesh so he did not immediately heal. He did the same to his other wrist. Blood flowed steadily from the wounds as did the residual power within him. He crouched and pressed his wounds to the black ball. The stone absorbed the viscous fluid, letting not a single drop spill to the sandy ground.

Kenshin reflected that it was fitting that a spell that was born from his blood was now to be completed in the same way. Donating his own life force, he knew he was sacrificing the last thing he had left to give. He watched the sky dispassionately. He hoped he had enough time, he refused to surrender. He had no doubt that Haku would show him no mercy. Kenshin smiled to himself. He would have done exactly the same in Haku's position. He felt his body begin to struggle. It was protesting at the loss of both blood and power. Kenshin overruled his instincts. His own discomfort was nothing, the spell was all that mattered. That and the new world that would be forged from it.

When Haku landed he found his prey slumped over a large ball of black rock. He knew what his prey had done. Red light was bleeding into the light sky from the ball. It was complete; the spell now had enough energy to sustain itself. In a few short days, the border between the worlds would be erased. The dragon's heart chilled. Had he failed? Could he not even grant his mate her last wish? He did not even have that as consolation?

Fury made him cruel. With a snarl, he took the limp form of his still breathing prey between his jaws and tossed him away from the spell. The small smile of triumph and the calm acceptance of his fate only succeeded in infuriating the dragon more. Haku lashed out with razor-sharp talons, just as a cat would. He felt his claws etch marks on his prey's bones. He did not savage him for long. There was little point. His prey made no sound and did nothing to defend himself. Haku snarled. There was no satisfaction in killing something that was moments from death anyway. Why rush the process? Chihiro had been left to suffer; now her murderer would suffer as she did. It was not enough for Haku. He wanted revenge, he wanted to best his enemy and see the look of defeat in his eyes before he expired. Haku's gaze fixed on the obsidian ball at his feet and then followed the path of the beam of light it emitted into the sky. He snarled again. The spell was practically indestructible. He could drop it into a lava pit and it would still complete its purpose.

"Your efforts are useless, dragon," said a weak, broken voice behind him.

Haku was surprised his former prey could even talk. He decided he should have ripped his tongue out. He ignored the dying spirit, however; he was trying to think. If his incarceration had any benefit at all, it had sharpened his wits. He was driven to complete his mate's wish but if he did so quickly enough then perhaps she would still be alive and he could attempt to save her and the baby. He knew his hope was a feeble one, but it was all he had. He forced his rage down and tried to view the situation objectively.

"You cannot destroy it," said Kenshin, voice rasping. "Go back to Chihiro."

Haku growled and snapped his jaws in warning. His enemy had no right to even say her name! His attention returned to the spell. He watched the red light swirl over the surface of the ball. It seemed familiar to him somehow. Haku suddenly realised why. Nearly a third of the energy in the spell was his own power.

The spell was partly his.

Hope flared. It was still indestructible but he could possibly direct it. An idea formed. It could not be undone but he might not need to undo it. In fact, he planned on speeding it up! All he needed was more of his own energy and enough willpower to fight the side effects of his scheme. He picked up the ball in his mouth. It tasted of blood. He sneered down at his former prey. There was still a chance. Kenshin had not accounted for the ingenuity that could be born of desperation. He needed to get to water. Anything would do; a river, stream, anything that was connected to the sea. He could reconnect with his own river through the unending cycle of water that connected nearly every place in the spirit world together. This was not like his previous separation from the source of his power. He knew where his home was and he could contact it from a distance.

He had never really tested the true limits of his power, he had never had to. Keeping Chihiro in the human world while maintaining a corporeal existence had been a trial. It had weakened him, leading to his capture. He should have swallowed his pride and taken his true form, but that would have sent the bathhouse into a panic. He was a dragon, that alone was enough to intimidate most; his true form was raw power, he would have scared the customers! Still, in his true form, he would not have felt the effects of the power drain and certainly not have been captured. He sometimes forgot, himself, that he was a member of one of the oldest races still in existence. Nature cherished his kind and it was said that dragons were created purely from old magic at the birth of the planet. He was not only classed as nobility, he was a God! He did not have to accept what this mere air spirit had done. Kenshin stared at him, or rather the eye that was not ripped out stared at him.

"You will kill yourself if you try to interfere," he warned.

"We will see," Haku thought at him. He knew he was probably indulging the arrogance his race were famous for, something he tried desperately to distance himself from for his mate's sake, but he had ceased to care in this instance. His enemy was ancient, far older than himself, but he had forgotten there was a hierarchy in the spirit world for a reason. Power, not age, was what ultimately divided the species and classes. He had only once dropped all masks and showed a being what he truly was and that had been Chihiro. The Old Ones knew, of course, but had never witnessed a demonstration.

Chihiro had not been able to comprehend what he had shown her. He had found it endearing. She only saw the person he was and was unaffected by his standing in society or his capabilities. She may not know his true nature but she loved him for who he was, not what he was. He might be a young dragon, but he was purebred and his mother had been one of the most powerful beings in both worlds. Even the humans were respectful of the waters she ruled because she could be cruel far more often than she was kind. The Black Dragon River the humans called her. She had not raised him, she was purely elemental and had not taken physical form for millennia. He had inherited her abilities none the less. He did not miss her presence in his life; he had never known her so there was no emotion associated with her. He might have been the same as her. He had almost become a creature of pure element, content to think of seasons and flow rates for the rest of existence, had it not been for a little girl and her pink shoe. She had loved him even without understanding him. He had not minded, he grew attached to the form he had made for her and happily accepted the limits it imposed on him. Living was better than existing! His abilities, however, were much reduced in his flesh and blood body.

He turned to the dying spirit and for a moment let him see. Haku dropped all guises. He lost his form. He hated feeling so disconnected from physical sensation. He could not maintain his elemental form long, not without a connection to his river. Natural laws would not allow an elemental to exist without form in the physical realm. It was why the bonded spirits had to take a form to visit the bathhouse. They were forced to take a shape of some description. He snapped back to the world of scent and sensation with relief. He even welcomed the pain of the impending loss of his mate... at least he felt something; in his elemental form he felt no emotion.

The display had been seen by his enemy and he had the capacity to understand. The delicious scent of his adversary's fear shuddered through the air. Haku had very good reason to be arrogant and disregard lower spirits at times. He was so far above them that it was difficult to register them as fellow beings. It was a stubborn and infuriating human woman who had made him see differently...That and losing his power and living as a witch's servant... His enemy shrank back from what he had seen, attempting to drag himself away from the dragon who had returned to his serpentine form and was as angry as a hurricane-driven storm surge.

"Why?" Kenshin's voice quivered. "Why do you suffer to live as you do?" He gasped and gurgled, signalling that his body was giving up the fight. "I could never have captured you if you had lived as nature intended."

Haku picked up the ball again. He had dropped it during his transformation. His elemental form could touch nothing, hold nothing.

Kenshin began laughing a little hysterically.

"You work in a bathhouse!" he croaked incredulously. "Why do you bother with the physical world at all?" Haku sneered at him. Had his enemy thought him weak for such activity? Or had he assumed that Haku was of mixed blood? A dragon, but not one born as a force of nature. A tame dragon? He gave a derisive snort. He was not about to answer such idiotic questions. If Kenshin did not know the reason that Haku chose a life rather than an existence then he would not comprehend an explanation anyway.

He had wasted enough time. He had made his point and now the spirit was no longer certain of his victory. He would die, never knowing if his life had been given in vain. It was a punishment and it was enough for Haku. He had to complete his mate's wish. He had decided that he was not going to accept her death either. He was a God. If he had to give all his power to save her, then he would. She deserved life and even if he had to shatter natural law he would ensure she had it! Their child deserved life! Even if he had to reincarnate her soul himself he would do it! His life was over without them and even his elemental existence understood that. Survival was programmed into him; it was one of his most basic instincts, that now extended to his mate and child.

He was sure his mother would have aided him as a child if he had ever thought to ask. He wondered if she would know how to reincarnate a mortal... Haku realised his thoughts were drifting. He was mentally and physically exhausted. Something else he did not suffer from in his elemental form. Kenshin was quite correct when he had said that the physical realm limited him.

He knew he was deluding himself. Even a dragon had very little power over death. That was nature's domain and she did not take interference kindly. He kept thinking he could change his fate. If he stopped to consider his situation rationally then he might become mired in despair. He had a wish to fulfil. He would tell himself pretty little lies until had completed his task. He took off and left his enemy to die.

Chihiro's eyes slowly slid open. The first thing she was aware of was her pulse. It was slow; she could feel it throbbing lazily on either side of her neck. Her thoughts were slow also. She felt cold but her body seemed to be unable to shiver. She wondered where she was. The sky above her was still black and blurry pinpricks of white light were all she could make out of the myriad of stars. She sighed, her breath bubbled and something warm splattered onto her lips. Pain shot through her chest and she almost cried out, but making a sound would have taken more energy than she had to give.

Breathing was what concerned her. She needed to live. She had to. The baby would die if she gave up. She forced her uncooperative lungs to draw in shuddering breaths and then exhale with a wheeze. The pain was like nothing she had ever felt; hot in her chest, burning, but the rest of her body was so cold. She had thought her end had come when she had blacked out, now she gritted her teeth and struggled to stay conscious. She could not die! She would not!

"Chi?" said a strained voice. It was not one she recognised.

"Chi! Nod if you can hear me!" demanded the voice. She wanted the voice to go away so she could concentrate on not dying. Something in the voice, however, was hard to ignore. She let her head loll to the side. It took Chihiro's eyes a moment to focus, but a pale blue face with white eyes and white blood-stained hair sticking to it eventually swam into view.

"Linca?" she thought. It was odd to think that this woman had a name. Chihiro realised that she had not recognised the low throaty tones the women spoke in because she could never remember hearing her voice. She smiled at her former servant, glad she had survived.

"Chi, who did this?" Linca asked, dragging her weak body closer. It seemed the spirit woman could not walk and was forced to pull herself over the white stone floor with her forearms. Blood continued to ooze from the wounds in her forehead. She left a smeared blue trail behind her as she moved forward. It glistened wetly in the moonlight, almost glowing.

Chihiro reflected on the irony that her former servant could now speak while she was now rendered mute. It would have been funny if she was not so badly wounded. She could not answer the sprite's question so she simply stared back at her.

"I thought for a moment I had lost you!" gasped Linca, pulling herself closer still. "You would not wake up." She managed to get close enough to touch Chihiro. Linca's blood slick fingers felt the pulse in Chihiro's throat. Her white, pupil-less eyes drifted to the sword in the human's chest.

"Haku's sword!" she cried. Her eyes narrowed and she cursed in a language Chihiro did not understand. "Now that is just too cruel!" Chihiro blinked, not understanding.

"He stabbed you with the blade Haku made. At least I am assuming tall, pale and psychotic did this to you... You modified the sword, of course. You had to; it broke..."

Chihiro could not keep up with the stream of constant chatter. No wonder the sprite had been made mute!

"Where is Haku?" Linca suddenly snapped. "There is no way I can deal with this alone!" Her eyes swept around the moonlit hall. "Oh," she said softly. "The spell is gone." Her eyes flicked back to Chihiro. "He followed Kenshin?" she asked, not expecting an answer. A sad smile pulled at her lips. "I also presume leaving you like this was not his idea..." Chihiro made the effort to nod this time, once, wheezing as she did so.

"That was brutal, Chi," muttered the sprite. "You really have no idea..." Her breath shuddered in a half sob. "You idiot," she whispered in a fond tone. Her sticky fingers trailed over Chihiro's cheek.

"You owe nothing to anyone, Chi; why are you throwing your life away on this? You have so much to live for!" The volume of her voice increased until she was almost shouting. All Chihiro could do was look at her angry expression and feel the tears welling up in her eyes again.

"This was the only way!" she thought at the sprite. "I'm not strong enough to see this through to the end. I'm just a weak, pathetic human. Vermin in the eyes of spiritkind. What difference does it make if I live or die? I can't finish this, but he can. He has to!" She knew she was beginning to despair, her resolve was wavering. She could not help it. The cold she felt seemed to be seeping into her bones and all her energy was draining away. She just wanted the pain to go away, she was so tired...

Linca seemed to sense what she was feeling and sagged, her injured forehead resting on Chihiro's slightly rounded belly.

"Don't cry, Chi, please don't," she begged in a small voice. Chihiro gave a silent sob, followed by a gurgled scream as the blade in her chest shifted slightly. Linca struggled to sit up and leant over to rest her hand on Chihiro's forehead. Her hand was deliciously warm against the chilled skin.

"It's okay," the sprite cooed. "I'm here, you're my beloved sister and I am going to fix this." Chihiro relaxed, believing her despite the impossibility of her words. Linca sat back and glanced around the room.

"I just need a moment to think," she whispered. After a brief pause, she gave a small distressed whimper. "If only I had my power!" She hissed, suddenly angry again. "That bloody chemical is still making me crazy. I don't know how much time I have before I start to crave my 'lover' again," she spat. "Kenshin's power no longer binds me so I have nothing left to temper the addiction." She glanced down at Chihiro and patted her head. Chihiro did not understand. She did not know what Linca was talking about.

"Nothing for you to worry about, Chi; I'm just thinking out loud," she said with a tight smile. "I'm not useless to you yet." The sprite yanked at her unusable legs so she was now kneeling at Chihiro's side. "What do I do?" she murmured, her eyes darting left and right. "What do I do?" she repeated. "I'm not sure I have enough energy left to transform. If I can, is there enough time left to get help?" Chihiro's fingers twitched slightly and then shifted to touch Linca's hand. She sighed and hoped her mouth shaped the word correctly.

"Stay," she breathed and mentally added. "I don't want to face this alone, I'm scared!" Linca's eyes widened.

"CHI!" Linca protested. Chihiro tried to smile at her.

"You can do nothing," she thought. "Just stay with me. It will be easier for me."

Linca's eyes hardened to chips of marble. Unlike Haku, she was not panicking, and Chihiro appreciated that. Still, Haku had had few options and Linca had none at all. Her power was gone. Surely she was just trying to give Chihiro hope? Even if it was false hope Chihiro loved her for trying.

"I refuse to let you die, human!" Linca snarled as if guessing her thoughts. "That's my niece inside you and there is no way this aunt is going to let her leave this world before she has even had a chance to see it!" Chihiro's tears flowed faster. Linca was making this so hard! She needed help to face her final moments with courage; denying the facts was helping neither of them.

"By rights, it should be me with a sword in my chest," muttered Linca. "I'm the one who made you surrender to Kenshin." She stroked Chihiro's hair and smiled at her.

"You are so young. I'm over 400 years old. You have a baby and a mate, I only have you and Haku... and Rin, of course, but you won't remember her." The sprite sniffed and Chihiro thought she might be about to cry. "You've been so kind to me, but I'm lonely, Chi." She moistened her blue lips and there were indeed tears trailing down her smiling face. "I guess there is no other way, my darling sister. I guess this is fitting really." Her smile held such aching sadness that Chihiro would have hugged her if she could. Linca's fingers reached out and brushed lightly against the hilt of the protruding sword. Chihiro's eyes widened with fear. What did she intend to do?

"What do you say, swordy?" said Linca to the blade. "How about we both redeem ourselves?"

"Yes," said a crisp, deeply sad voice. It was the same voice that had told Chihiro about the power of final wishes. Chihiro thought she might have jumped in surprise if she had been able. The sword could talk?

"You know what is required, land spirit?" it asked.

"Yes, but I will need your help. I might miss at the last moment," she said with a rueful chuckle.

"I can make sure you do not," replied the blade imperiously. Linca sighed with relief and nodded.

Chihiro desperately wanted to know what was going on. Linca looked down at her perplexed face and laughed.

"Swordy and I are about to make one of the oldest of bargains," she explained. Her hand closed around the hilt of the blade. Chihiro winced as it moved in her chest slightly.

"What sort of bargain?" Chihiro wondered, hoping her question would show in her eyes.

The sad and brittle smile melted from Linca's face. She looked straight at Chihiro and for a moment Chihiro thought she was gazing into her soul.

"A life for a life," she whispered.

With that, she ripped the blade from Chihiro's chest with a quick jerk. Chihiro gasped and gurgled in an attempt to scream. It hurt! It hurt so much! She watched in horror as Linca took the red and dripping blade in both hands and closed her eyes. Then, in a movement so fast it blurred in Chihiro's vision, Linca changed her grip on the hilt and the blade swung towards her. She hesitated for a moment then plunged the blade into her own chest.

The blade sank straight through her small body and protruded from her back. Her high pitched scream echoed through the marble hall. A pure note of perfectly expressed agony. She was motionless for a moment, head thrown back, mouth open, white eyes staring into nothingness.

She crumpled sideways, her head landing in a pool of blue blood that was steadily spreading around her. The silken strands of her white hair soaked up the blood like a sponge, turning powder blue. All Chihiro could do was watch in shocked silence as blood began to pump from the exit wound in the spirit's back, matching the rhythm of her heartbeat. Linca coughed and blood leaked from her mouth. Nothing proved her inhumanity more to Chihiro than when Linca turned to look at her, smiled and then spoke.

"I did not miss," she gasped. "I thought... I thought I might back out at the last moment." She chuckled weakly, more blood spattering from her lips. "I've never had to stab myself before, I was not sure I would go through with it." She moved one arm slowly, obviously fighting against the pain of the wound. Her blood slick fingers laced through Chihiro's.

"Listen to me, Chi," she said softly. "I know you hurt, but you have to accept my gift."

"Gift?" thought Chihiro, her mind still reeling. "What...?" Then she realised.

Linca was offering her life.

She did her best to shake her head. She could not do this. Linca gave her a penetrating look.

"It's too late to say 'no'," she sighed. "You will die quickly and painfully now the sword is gone and my body is too weak to regenerate. I will die slowly and painfully." She clenched Chihiro's hand tightly. "I would rather die than go back to what the love talker has turned me into," she whispered harshly. "There is no cure for what ails me, Chi. I know you don't remember, but my life is over either way. I choose to pass on rather than it being decided for me and I am offering everything I have left to you," she explained breathily.

"I can't!" Chihiro's mind cried. "I can't let you do this!"

Linca guessed or sensed what she was thinking.

"The choice is mine, not yours, sister," she said softly. Then her expression and voice darkened. "I die today no matter what you decide. At least allow me a chance to leave this world with honour. The knowledge I have saved one I love will carry me happily onwards. I will be at peace." The grip on Chihiro's hand became so firm her finger joints popped in protest. "You do not die here today, I do. Refuse me and I will kick your arse in the next world."

All Chihiro could do was look at her and weep. She was not strong enough to bear this. She could not accept this. How could she let someone die for her? She sent Haku away to prevent him doing something like this. Fate, it seemed, loved to give her the hard choices.

"At least I am giving myself to someone I love; you are about to die for people you have never met and will never meet." Chihiro blinked. She had not really thought about it that way. She was not trying to be a martyr, she wanted to live, but at such a cost? Could she be that selfish? "You have a child," Linca pressed. "I will save her too." Darkness began to creep into Chihiro's vision. "I can't make you do this, Chi," whispered Linca. "This is a gift that must be taken voluntarily." She grinned; her teeth were now also stained with blue blood. "I would have made you do it already if I could, but ancient magic is a bit of a bugger. Got to follow the rules or it won't play with you." She sobered again and gave Chihiro a pleading look.

"Accept or we both die," she whispered her lip wobbling. "Do not make my sacrifice meaningless." Chihiro could not look away from those pain-filled white eyes. "This was in the prophecy," Linca continued. "One will make the ultimate sacrifice," she quoted, confusing Chihiro. "It was talking about me, Chi. This is my moment, my sacrifice, my redemption." Her hand slackened on Chihiro's; she was weakening. "Don't take my destiny from me, Chi. Accept my gift and let me pass on with a smile. Do you accept?"

"Yes," Chihiro breathed, and closed her eyes, already damming herself for her selfishness.

"Thank you," whispered Linca simply. She sounded so grateful that Chihiro cried harder. She did not realise she was weeping out loud until she half-choked and snorted. Her chest did not throb in response. Carefully, she moved a hand to her chest. There was no wound. Her flesh was smooth and unmarked. The only evidence left that she had been injured was the hole in her clothing. She gasped and rolled over. It took her a moment to struggle shakily to her hands and knees, she slipped several times in the blood on the floor but she eventually managed to crawl the short distance to Linca's side. The sprite was smiling at her, her skin now almost completely white. Her chest rose and fell in rapid gasps. The sword had vanished, but the wound was still there.

"Good... choice..." Linca gasped.

"Linca," Chihiro whispered her name in a reverent tone. She had no idea what to say. She reached out and brought the limp form of the small sprite to her. She pulled her to her chest silently. No words could express the emotions that pulled at her heart. She thought it might literally break from the strain. She was elated, ashamed and grief-stricken all at the same time. She could feel the blood seeping from Linca's chest. It ran beneath her own saturated clothes, between her breasts, down her stomach to pool and congeal in her lap. The sprite shuddered in her arms, too weak to even return her sister's embrace.

"Don't feel sad," she whispered, voice shaking. "I've got someone waiting for me... He has been waiting so long." She swallowed and shuddered again. "I have missed him so much."

Chihiro could feel the pulse in Linca's neck slow where it was rested against her shoulder. She did her best to listen to the sprite's every whispered word; she wanted to remember them forever. It was all she could give in return.

"You will live a long and happy life, Chi," the sprite ordered. "When I see you again I expect you to have lived to a hundred and five and have spawned many siblings for the little dragon in you right now to play with." Chihiro sobbed brokenly at this and buried her face in the sprite's shoulder, smearing blue blood all over her face. She did not care. This blood had been shed for her; it was precious. This woman bled so she could live. She may have forgotten much but this she would never forget. She would make sure this woman was remembered.

"You... will be different now," Linca breathed in her ear. "It's not something I can help, but you will still be you." Chihiro did not care. Linca had saved her, she would accept whatever the spirit's gift entailed and be grateful. "Be happy or I will be angry," Linca ordered again. "That is all I ever wanted for you." Chihiro nodded against the sprite's neck. "He loves you, Chi," sighed the spirit. "You will remember." Again Chihiro nodded. She would do anything Linca asked. "Don't you dare... disappoint me...sister," Linca struggled to say. She gave a shudder and her breath failed her. Chihiro gritted her teeth and waited. Linca did not draw breath again.

Slowly she lay the sprite on the floor. Her eyes were closed and there was a peaceful smile on her lips. Chihiro smoothed back the blood-stained hair and tried to wipe some of it from Linca's face. Tears dripped onto the sprite's face, making clean patches in the blood smears. Chihiro took the spirit's small hands in her own and kissed the palms with trembling lips. She rested the lifeless hands on the spirit's stomach.

"Thank you," she whispered at last. "I will make you proud of me, you have my word."

The spirit woman's skin began to glow, appearing translucent for a moment, then became so bright Chihiro had to cover her eyes. When she looked again the body was gone and all that remained was a bundle of white, blood-stained feathers. Chihiro stared at them, numb. A chilly desert breeze sighed through the hall, stirring the feathers, threatening to carry them away. Chihiro grabbed a handful of them. The ones that escaped her grasp rose into the sky, fluttering and eddying away on the wind. Chihiro stared until she lost sight of them. She felt empty. She had no idea what to do next. She opened her hand and looked at the feathers. Her hands were stained with both her and Linca's blood. The feathers were becoming sodden with the mixed blood, rapidly turning them purple. Soon she had a handful of sticky lilac feathers. She knew they were meant for her, proof of Linca's gift to her. She closed her hand and held the feathers to her chest. She had thought she had no tears left; she was proved wrong. Heavy sobs shuddered through her. Her body rocked back and forward in her grief. Strange animalistic noises were released from her throat. Finally, she threw her head back and screamed in bitter anguish at the stars.

She did not notice the cracks forming in the marble around her, or the building shuddering with her every sob. Even when she did notice she did not care. She continued to cry as the building fell apart around her. It was as if it represented her breaking heart.