I opened my eyes and beheld a sacred image that burned into my eyes. I had no words to describe it other than beautiful and frightening, as if staring at a lioness, or perhaps a mother wolf would be more fitting.

She was a goddess, no doubt about it.

I could not tell which was stronger, her presence of death, which engraved itself into my mind like a chisel upon a stone. I only felt longing, not even pain, not even agony, only an emptiness that filled me with dread.

Or her beauty, which was like a statue of ice in the middle of summer. Ephemeral, impossible, wondrous, and… Divine. Her hair was as black as the night, and her skin as white as the purest snow, her lips as red as blood, with eyes as empty as the void.

It filled me with hope, with devotion, with a desire to serve and bend the knee.

“Damned Angel… I like that title, but-“ I stared up at the goddess on her throne of ice, her dress of snow covering her form, akin to how it covered the land. Surrounding her were more of the golems of ice and spirits of those floating women.

However, something else caught my eye. There were mirrors on the wall, yet instead of reflecting the fairest of them all, I saw other figures, silhouettes that caused my mind to pound in a familiar jolt, which caused me to stare directly at the goddess.

“I’m here… To ask you for a rose.”

My voice felt like it echoed more than hers, as all around me, silence fell.

Before I could even think, everything went dark, my senses were snuffed out, and my mind went completely blank.

Then, a branch broke apart, and I felt my body once more. For a moment, it was as stiff as tree wood. My arms were branches and my fingers were leaves. I sprouted and was remade, jumping out of a bag as my body reformed as fast as I died, now on all fours in front of the goddess again.

“Veles’s tricks? Is that who sent you here? To mock me?”

Her voice grew, and it was like a mix between a violin and the waiting of the deceased, echoing like a whisper in a cave.

’So that was the surprise tool, he gave me three lives, huh. Thanks, I guess.’

“N-No, not like that. I just wanted to ask you for a rose, oh great… Morana.”

“You are the scourge of the world. An echo that should not have been spurned. What purpose would a rose do for you? How shall you use it to destroy this world?”

I had to make something up quickly or else she would just kill me again.

“When I... Saw you as I traveled throughout creation. I noticed how… Beautiful, you looked, and I wanted to meet you.”

‘Yeah… That’s right, I mean she is hot, well she’s cold… I don’t know anymore, man.’

She narrowed her eyebrows and stood up from her throne, causing me to nearly double over as she was like thrice my height. But with each and every step, she shrank down until she was a few inches taller than me.

I felt her stare into my very being, not reading my mind but sort of mapping my life history, looking through it as if she were trying to watch what I did.

“You… Is this to consume me? Is this to ensure my power joins yours? Why else would you ask me for such companionship?”

‘What the fuck does that mean?

“I ask it of you because it’s what I desire. I… I don’t want to consume anyone, or anything, that’s not what I’m here for- Even before, that wasn’t exactly me- well it was me, some part of me, but like not me me, the one standing right in front of you-“

She raised her hand, razor-sharp wolf-like claws appeared forth from her fingertips, and I nearly froze up.

“It just means that I won’t do it, and I don’t think I can. I don’t want to use this power like that. I actually just…” My voice faded away as I looked up at her.

I remembered Carey’s voice of anguish, her pain. She probably hates me because I'm the reason she’s trapped here. Kariya and Leonid were the same; I was nothing but a burden to them.

“I don’t know what I want in the end, but right now it’s to make sure that gods, monsters, dragons... I wish that they would stop trying to attack me and my friends. Big ask, I know, and it’s stupid you all are right for trying to jump me because I’m a danger to all of you, but I’m not right now, and I’m telling you that I don’t want to be.”

Those in her court all stared at her, as if waiting for something to happen. None of them dared to speak out, however, as if they were holding their tongue in fear.

“I can’t attack you, nor will I ever be even able to attack you. You literally killed me without even giving me a moment to think. I’m nothing to you but an ant to be squashed.”

“But you can be so much more. You’ve witnessed it yourself. For a moment, when you unveiled your form to us all in the Nawia, I saw strength that could one day rival and overcome us. And even if right now you deny that you would ever conceive of the notion, you have imbued it into yourself before.”

She was right. That hunger, that desire, it consumed me. I wanted it, just like when Bartholomew took control over me… No, it was even worse. It felt like I was listening to every single soul at once, trying to grant all of their wishes.

I wanted to save them. I tried to save them. I thought by making them a part of me, that I would save everyone…”

I clenched my fists and sighed. “You’re right. You’re so right, and I can’t ever take that away from you until I myself make up for it. But maybe, maybe you can help me.”

At this point, I wasn’t only speaking to her for the rose, but also because it just felt right. It felt like I had to talk to her about it, like I had to confront at least one problem in this mess.

“Why would I help you?”

My mind flashed back to the door carvings. That woman there, for spring to come, she had to be slain, and judging her by her look, and all the servants around her covered in blood, I had a feeling that they were one and the same.

“Because I think you know what it’s like to be someone that needs to be put down as well.”

The ritual to bring about spring, to kill winter itself…

“I think you know what it’s like to be a monster that needs to be slain. And I think you understand what that brings, especially to me. Since, unlike you, I can’t exactly always come back… Or well, I think I can’t, well, I can to like normal means I think, but whatever you did-“ I stopped myself before I ruined my point.

“You understand it, maybe more than anyone, so I ask for a rose from you. From one lamb to the slaughter to the other.”

I reached out my hand as if I was going for a handshake. I could feel my mind screeching out of my head as I even saw her followers stare at each other and then back at Morana and I as if we were in a tv show.

“Even… If that were true, you are a far greater danger than I would ever be, than I ever could be. But that pain and sorrow, I can see it in you. Your map of pain is shared with others. Their burdens are upon your back, and you carry them forevermore.”

I shivered slightly. “What… Do you mean by that? Like, forevermore?”

“Their souls, once connected, forever connected. They are a part of you, as much of an extension as your arm is to your body. You tried to carry their burdens, that is… Admirable.”

Her face began to soften, like ice melting into water. I was getting to her; maybe I was finally able to make some progress.

“I would say I would like to carry yours as well.. But uh, I think that would be too much for me.” I let out an awkward laugh that echoed throughout the castle, looking around nervously as I felt multiple eyes land on me.

Morana stared me down before grabbing at my throat, lifting me up high into the air, and pulling me close. Her hands were deathly cold, as if they were dipped in liquid nitrogen. They gripped around my neck like a vice handle. If she wanted to pop my head off, she could have done so then and there without any issue.

“How many roses would you desire?”

“Uh… O-One? Uh…” I thought about it for a second, because for some reason, something in me wanted to ask what appeared to be a stupid question.

“W-Would you be opposed to me asking for more?”

At that moment, I saw every single creature in the room with me, aside from Morana, stare at me as if I had said something incredibly stupid. I could even mentally hear them all gasp. When I stared at Morana, I noticed she had raised an eyebrow.

“You dare ask for more?”

“O-Only if it’s not wrong! I don’t want to get into any trouble… Well, I guess I am asking from a goddess after all, especially someone as powerful and as beautiful as you.”

I gave out a smile, but it looked more like I was trying to internally scream. However, instead of punting me, she further narrowed her eyes.

“What do you intend to do with these roses?”

Fuck. I had to answer that… Well, it was to give them to Veles, but I can’t tell her that. What’s better…

“I want to keep them, maybe I can plant a garden with them-“

Immediately, my entire soul was frozen by her touch, freezing up completely before shoving me into one of the many holes in her walls in disgust.

However, upon doing so, the second tenancy broke, growing a massive tree that broke me out of the ice cube that she had made out of me before I raised my hand.

“W-Wait, sorry I-I didn’t know you would take it that bad! Well, I guess, they’re not roses you exactly grow in a garden… So I guess… Maybe I would just keep them so that I could remind myself of your burden.” I had to make something up. I couldn’t waste whatever this third branch is up and I don’t want to know what happens after that.

She stared at me, and I stared back at her. Silence prevailed against our battle, that was until she raised her claw at me.

“If that’s how you wish… Then you carry the burden of these roses.”

I blinked for a moment. “Yes… That's what I wish for. To carry the burden of your roses.”

I thought I saw a small smile curl on her lips before she beckoned me closer. I walked towards her and in a single hand motion, frost came from her fingertips, manifesting itself into three roses with crystal petals instead of red.

She then handed it to me before she caressed my cheek. I felt something more than cold this time… Something warm.

“I accept your proposal daragaja. I wonder how we shall work together.”