Jake was not alone.

He'd brought only an ally, but a very valuable one --- Jinn. He was always recognizable because of his tall frame and because was the one who was the closest to becoming a monster — both his features and voice were unnatural. But I could see his eyes. The look in them was pure hatred.

"Oh, too bad the Russian bastard didn't come to the Academy," Jinn said. "I so wanted to kill him."

Maybe Vitaly simply hadn't wanted to face Mister Winter again after all those years. But it was also possible he'd used up too much energy. He could be mad by now, or worse... dead. Arcanes were the proof gods could die. 

I realised Jinn had said it to rile me up. I decided not to give him the satisfaction.

"Well, why didn't Set show up?" I replied cockily. "I so wanted to kill him."

Jinn laughed at that. He was laughing at me, but I told myself he had a sense of humour in order to feel better.

"He's returning the council of gods as we speak. I have no idea what he's going to tell the others, but probably that you destroyed the Empty Mirror. There's a reason Jophiel is the pacifist god. The others aren't very forgiving, even Eingana, the one who helped you."

Jinn moved his hand. At first, I felt like I was electrocuted. Then, like my insides were freezing. And then I felt humiliated like one of those dreams where you're naked and I had those terrible cramps like my stomach was made of ice. Oh, and I wanted to puke too.

I could see from my friends' faces that they felt the same way too.

"Let's start with you, Raegan," Jinn said. But I couldn't hear him well, it was like his voice came from thousands of miles away.

"Start?" Raegan asked, trying to fight back the tears. "I thought it was all over by now."

Jinn looked at her as if he was thinking about killing her, but then he looked away.

"You know," he said. "I noticed you had potential. Joining the Reapers, years ago, required some challenges. Like this one." He made a sewing needle appear out of thin air. "It's magical. I'll get one drop of your blood, and I'll be able to read your private secrets." He pierced Raegan's finger.

"I'll tell everyone your weak spot," he added. "Why do you want to avenge your parents so badly? You're not really violent. Not at all. It's all pretend. You could hurt somebody, to change the world into a better place, but it would cause you great pain. I think you'd even have trouble defending your friends without feeling remorse."

But revealing Raegan's weak spot wasn't the worst part. It looked as if he was digging deep into Raegan's soul to find the information he needed. My friend was clutching her finger and trying hard not to scream — as if she was being tortured.

"Even your witty sense of humour is just a mask," Jinn added. "You would like to be a bad person. You have faced a lot of wrongs and prejudices, and you feel so broken up about it you wished you were actually bad. If you were actually a bad person, all of this would make sense. It wouldn't be unfair anymore. But your heart breaks, because you know you didn't deserve this. Not at all. But it was done to you all the same. And by convincing yourself you're a bad person, you find a reason for all the bad things your parents did to you. Still, here lies your contradiction. You loved them so much, you would die avenging them. If you want to die for a better cause, and live for yourself only, if you want to be so bad, then become bad. Be one of us, Raegan. You know black magic already."

Raegan was almost passed out, barely conscious and she had a hard time breathing.

"Here's your turn, Jeff Winter," Jinn said, confirming our worst theories. "Everyone calls you Jeff Tanaka. But Winter.... I like this surname." He laughed as he said the last sentence. It was more of an evil giggle than a proper laugh this time.

"I cannot believe my father was your leader," Jeff replied. He almost spat at Jinn while getting the words out.

The Reaper spilled a little of Jeff's blood, from his finger, and Jeff grit his teeth as if there was something poisonous that had made its way in all of his veins.

"You've got a lot of secrets, Winter," Jinn said cheerfully. "You love drawing, but you've never told your friends. You would rather have them believe that the frescos in your room were made by Sean. You're very good at it. Then, why do you hide it? Because you're used to hiding things about yourself. I feel a very strong source of magic residing inside of you. You must be one of the most powerful Enchanters in the world but your grandfather knew how dangerous you could be, and he decided to restrain you. You must always be restrained."

Jeff was reacting to his words as if he was feeling physical pain, just like Raegan had done.

"But here lies your contradiction — the thing you are, but you don't want to be. Your father's son," Jinn told him. "So single-minded it drove him to madness. If you want to put that stubbornness to good use, join us."

Now Jeff, just like Raegan before him, looked as if he had been drained of all energy. I knew what was waiting for me.

"Ryan, there you are," Jinn was unstoppable. 

He spilled my blood. This was like a game to him. Telling us those things, while he hurt us with his mind, all of this was disgustingly entertaining to him. In the corner of my eye, I could see Alice battling Jake. I trusted her to get the job done. Not that I necessarily wanted Jake to die... Jinn's next words made me snap out of my thoughts.

"When you were a kid, you always thought you couldn't be loved," he said.

I was horrified. But eventually I gave up trying to think about it — the more he talked, the more I felt my whole body ache. It really felt as I'd imagined — a prickling, painful sensation that started from my finger but moved on to my circulatory system.

"Well, well," Jinn added. "What does that say about you? You know it doesn't make sense, but you still feel that way. Still, you don't do anything to buy love or affection from other people. You're selfless. Pay no mind, it's not a compliment. That's your worst trait. Not that all of your other traits are good, obviously. But putting others' needs first can lead you astray. Deep down, you know no one has ever loved or understood the real you, and so you strive to find a connection with new people. But always doing things for others and not for yourself is not living. If you really want to be some kind of superhero, you have to decide. The way you act damages your team work. You'd be more than willing to suffer for all of your friends, but have you ever asked yourself what it is they want? Sometimes we must admit that we can't have control over certain things in life — such as love, or tragedies happening to people who don't deserve them. You won't be able to suffer in their place forever, and they don't want that either. You think you'll end up doing some things for yourself, but you'll only do it to prove your worth to others. If you want to stop feeling like you have to prove you're worth something, Ryan Barnes, you should really join our side."

"And Edgar Wollstonecraft," Jinn started saying, as he pricked my friend. "What is your one true weakness? Why, you need people. You put all of your hope in a certain someone, and..."

"Stop," Edgar growled. "Stop. Don't say anything more. I know what you are going with all of this. Those were what the Greeks would call fatal flaws."

Edgar grit his teeth not to scream. I'd been curious, for about a second, about what Jinn was about to say about the certain someone Edgar didn't have to trust, but then I realised I didn't care.

"But our flaws, as human as they are, are not fatal!" Edgar exclaimed. "We completed the quest! We made it. We finished the one thing you never could. And why would we join you now?"

He performed a spell that made Jinn scream out in pain. I was surprised. I knew Edgar wouldn't go as far as to kill — he never used black magic, unlike the rest of us. But if he kept hurting Jinn that way, he risked seriously maiming him.

While Jinn was still screaming, I ran to Alice. Jake was tied up in bonds made of flowers --- a spell performed by Sean. Alice told me we were waiting for the Law Enforcement Squad to arrive.

"I hope they'll be lenient," she said. "But if they don't... he brought it upon himself." Still, she looked sad.

Edgar joined us. "Jinn has fainted," he explained. "The others will hand him over to the law. Ryan, I think you should go to the gods' council and stop Set."

"Are out of your mind?" Raegan asked. "There is absolutely no good reason he has to do this alone."

"If we take Set together we stand more chances, that's true," Edgar replied. "But remember --- it was Jinn who told us. His words could have been a trap. If Set comes attacking the school, we have to stay here. While if you go to the gods' council, you can meet up with Jophiel and tell them of Risa."

I looked at him in wonder. He'd thought up this plan, this mad plan, to give me a chance to save my only family.

"Don't overthink this," Jeff told me, putting a hand on my shoulder. "We wouldn't tell you if we didn't believe you and Vitaly could do it."

He was right. Overthinking something like this would have killed me.

"Go," Edgar added. "I'm putting all my trust in you. I swear to every god I wish it wasn't so, but I do."

I winced, "Thanks."

It turned out Mr Winter knew where the council was, and even accepted me to take me there. Just outside of Brighton, near the South Downs Way, there was a place in the hills concealed from humans eyes, but I could feel its power from miles away. It was like pure, concentrated aether.

And then, walking close, it resembled mist. When walking inside of it, I could see an old Druid temple, with a stone circle. But the stones weren't just monoliths, they were also seats.

"I cannot go inside the circle," Mr Winter told me. "Too much bad blood between me and the gods. I'd be struck down as soon as they see me."

It was a very weird thing to say, especially because from his face, I could tell he was being serious and not a coward. But I nodded, and I walked inside.

The inside was hidden from the prying eyes of the outsiders. The stone circle appeared bigger, a room with an open roof made of stone. The seats were much bigger, and only one hosted a god.

It was Set's seat. Jinn hadn't lied. But I felt a knot in my throat. Jophiel wasn't there. No one else was.

Set looked at me. While his face was monstrous, I'd always been good at reading the expressions in it. He was puzzled.

"Patrick?" he asked tentatively.

I thought about the strange dreams I'd had, where I lived in other realities and my name was Patrick. They were from my life before, and they seemed very far away. But no, I was not Patrick. I was Ryan Barnes --- and Set knew it.

"Why have you come all this way? You have no means to beat me," he added.

"Do you want to talk or do you want to fight?" I mocked him.

"You think words don't have meaning, but they do, useless orphan," he said in a derogatory way.

His words hurt me, indeed. I couldn't suck in air, as if I'd been punched.

I could barely recover from the blow, that the room around us changed. I couldn't see anymore... I couldn't breathe... and then I realised Set was trying to drown me in a whirlwind of sand. I tried  to use my own power over the wind to break free, but I could barely move my hands... much less think.

Set must have seen it, and wanted to stop me, because my head started hurting like crazy. Somehow, he'd hit me. I think it was magically.

I tried to concentrate on something, anything. For some reason I thought about my friends telling me that I could do it, I could defeat Set, about Vitaly who made a sacrifice I didn't think I would have had it in me to make... about Edgar telling me that he trusted me.

I tried to reach my powers. Everyone always told me I was very powerful... uncontrollable. Well, I didn't want to be in control at the moment.

I unleashed as much magic as I could muster, and freed myself from the sand. A gust of wind as forceful as a little hurricane hit Set right in his chest, and I sent the god flying and landing with his back on one of the stones.

"Wait," Set rasped. "I wasn't lying before. You don't know anything yet. Vitaly did try to tell you everything, but he couldn't. He couldn't. He swore an oath of secrecy to me. I am not a god... Well, I wasn't always a god. I am an Enchanter too, very much like you!"

I laughed maniacally. The whole thing was so insane, it was somehow funny to me.

To my surprise, Set laughed too. And maybe I was seeing things, when I was hit on the head, because I'd just noticed something.

It was hard to see beneath his Typhon exterior, but Set laughed a lot like I did. And even though I looked a lot more like Vitaly Malinov, Set looked a little like me too.

"Oh, look at you!" he exclaimed. "The perfect mix of myself and Vitaly Malinov. I had my doubts about it for a while, you know. Brooke and Nathan's son, I thought, could very well grow up to look like that."

"I don't understand. Am I Nathan's son?" I asked.

"My brother tried to keep your birth a secret for a while, because he couldn't marry your mother. And then, you disappeared. Everyone who knew about you thought I had killed you. I knew I didn't, but I had no idea where you were."

"Your... your brother?"

I was starting to feel nauseous.

"You're Samuel Winter?"

"Now that you know, do you still want to kill me, Patrick Matthew Winter?"

I was too shocked to think. Of course, Vitaly had tried to give us clues... Samuel was a Typhon and the leader of the Reapers. This was true. But he'd never died. He became a god. And this was why Vitaly worked on the council. Brady had told us the two had never abandoned each other. Vitly had warned me that I might hate him when I found out the whole truth.

"You... you killed Jeff's mother!" was all that I could say.

"Being a god drives you crazy," he said. "Didn't you hear it before? Take your time. It's quite a lot to take in. Are you angry? It's my fault your dad died... the foolish quest was my idea. And Jeff might be my own son --- I wonder if he'll hate you when you tell him the truth --- but you are my nephew after all. And who can you trust now? Vitaly Malinov? Me? Mr Winter? So many people are involved in this... so many people knew."

It was true. I was confused. But I knew my uncle would kill me if I hesitated.

I needed a plan, and I needed it as soon as possible.

I tried to mask my thoughts. I didn't want him to know how much this made me feel weak and defeated.

Set cast a spell that could kill me — but I was prepared. I shielded myself again.

And finally, I had a plan.

I took a piece of the Empty Mirror from the pocket of my military jacket.

"I did manage to complete the quest," I said. "I'm at the gods' council, and I am bringing you the very thing you wanted."

Set looked frightened. I wondered what it was that scared him. I didn't think the Empty Mirror could still suck out part of his powers.

I cast a spell towards Set. He prepared to cast one at me.

It's now or never, I thought, one of us gets to live and the other dies. I just had to be faster than he was.

It wasn't the Mudra for killing people. It was one of the basic Mudras, one of those my friends learned as children and Ohda had taught to me one of the first days. To make objects bigger.

The piece of glass from the Mirror became as big as the blade of an axe. I doubted I could wield it without hurting my fingers, but I had to try.

The best thing about my plan was the element of surprise. Set stopped whatever spell he was itching to do, to look at me. I calculated that I had about five seconds, and I wanted to use them right.

I used the air around me to propel me in Set's direction. It wasn't like flying, but it was better than jumping. I could never have covered the distance, and I was never coordinated.

When I landed next to the god, I could have thought about many things. How Vitaly, or possibly even Jeff, wouldn't want me to kill him. How I didn't want to kill him. But it was now or never --- I'd wasted too much time, I'd never get another chance again.

Besides, I had no idea if my plan was going to kill a god or just incapacitate him.

I swung, and severed Set's head from his neck. When I landed on the ground again, I couldn't even look at it. I feared I was going to throw up. My fingers were completely red from both my blood and Set's blood. My head was exploding from the pain of the previous concussion.

I was hyperventilating. I didn't even notice how much time had passed. I just knew that at some point my friends found me, knelting on the ground, Set behind me. Killed, destroyed, maybe forever. And I was pretty sure I was covered in both his and my blood.

"You made it," Edgar commented softly. "I never thought it possible."

"Didn't you trust me beyond belief?"

Edgar arched an eyebrow. "Then it makes sense. I'm never wrong."

Brady was there, too. "Vitaly is free from his oath, now. There is something I have to tell you," he added. "Ryan already knows it. Jeff, Set is your father."

"Are you joking?" Jeff cried out in pain. He looked at the corpse of the god, his head still severed.

"I wish I was. He's always been the leader of the Reapers. They never betrayed him. I will explain everything to you fully when we get home, you need to sit down to hear the whole story," Brady said apologetically.

I realised I'd been so out of my mind I hadn't even asked if Vitaly was alive. And he probably was --- otherwise someone would have told me.

"I killed him," I could only say. "Jeff, I killed your father. My uncle."

"Wait... we're cousins?" Jeff asked.

Brady looked at me. "You did the right thing. Set is not dead --- this is not how gods die. He will find a way to stitch his body again, but it will take some time."

"Perhaps," he added. "We will have time to come up with plans by that time. But for now, you have to come back to the Academy. Vitaly and I are staying there, and there's someone we'd like for you to meet."