‘Daraga-what now?’

My mind began to auto-translate it for me as… ‘Dear’. My cheeks blush a bit. That was… A bit more endearing than I expected, honestly.

I took the roses gingerly, like accepting any piece of high-value jewelry. They were surprisingly heavy, as if made out of ice… Which I suppose they were.

“T-Thank you? Uh, I think we’ll work together perfectly fine. Two peas in a pod… Well, there’s supposed to be three, but since we’re weird, I guess two is enough.” I gave another awkward smile while silently hoping she wouldn’t blast me to kingdom come again.

“It appears perhaps those you are connected to were right about your nature.”

I blinked. “Those that are connected to me? What do you mean?”

Morana snapped her fingers; suddenly, the mirrors on the wall defrosted, revealing the figures within their reflective surfaces.

“Holy…” My eyes widened as a smile grew on my face. For the first time in a while, I felt hope, joy, and connection. For in those mirrors were the visages of those I have come to dearly miss.

“Hey Pete. Glad we could still help you out, no matter what.” Andrei waved at me, smiling as he clutched his ever-bleeding abdomen.

“What kind of mission are you on to consort with the gods of those in Galfania?” Bartholomew asked as he carefully eyed me.

“I’m sure it’s to help out with whatever mess he got into before. I don’t think any of us want a repeat of the giant golem fight, even if it was pretty cool.” Robert muttered as he waved at me.

“Bah, gods and their games. Why haven’t you left yet? If you were as powerful as before, why do you continue to stay? You could return to Phorash and become one of our top agents.” Rook was busy grumbling in the corner, looking much more frazzled than usual.

”He’s being watched everywhere, from Nawia to the real world. Peter won’t be able to leave for quite some time until he gets that mess sorted out. Might as well butter them up while he can.” I saw Rodion grinning up at me from one of the other mirrors.

“As long as he’s trying to fix up this mess… And as long as he’s going to deal with Jane, I don’t see anything wrong with this.” I saw Henry in one of the mirrors as well, now that was a shock, but I did remember him in the Smorodina fusion.

I turned to Morana first. “Why are they all here? Did you trap them?”

Morana shook her head as she walked towards the mirror walls, tapping on them softly as she muted them all.

“I collected them after Zmey disassembled all of you. They flew across the Nawia, and I placed them here since they appeared to be those who knew you. I studied them and their paths to understand the monster I was facing, for I did not know that he would be in front of me on this day.”

“Huh, is that why I can’t exactly hear them anymore? So if you un-collect them, do I get my powers back?”

I looked down at my body. I already missed when I could shoot off black spikes or grow giant. That was fun, really fun.

“Your connection to them still exists. Your string of fate is now tied to theirs.”

I wanted to ask if she could explain that again, much more clearly, but I had a feeling that if I did, I would be joining her “Collection” soon enough.

Instead, I tried to connect what she said earlier. I carried their burdens, and I was connected to them, the strings of fate and whatever.

“So you’re saying that I can still use their powers? Like, nothing really changed? But I don’t hear their voices in my head anymore, and I kind of miss that.”

“You have a connection to all of them. Even when broken off, they are still part of you. You are able to contact them, to connect with them. All you need to do is remember them, to carry their burdens as you put it.”

To carry their burdens… Their responsibilities. My races to when I said that to Bartholomew, to when both Robert and Andrei helped me out of my rut. I carried on their burdens, their legacy. I wanted to keep their promise… I failed, but if they’re still here, and if they still believe in me. I can always try again. I will try again.

I focused, not on me, but on someone else, reaching out to Andrei, remembering our conversation, his hopes, and his dreams. They were simple; he wanted to save others… And that’s what I wanted to. I wanted to save others; I needed to save others.

We were one in the same in that regard. So we needed to help each other. So I concentrated, I connected, and when I reached out my hand to his, he held it and suddenly…

Teni sprouted from my chest, tendrils of shadow quivering in delight as I found a bounce to my step. I felt more alive, more reactive, my senses sharpened, and I felt like I could hear every shimmer in the world.

I laughed and his voice came with mine, a fusion, it wasn’t me at the helm nor him, it was the both of us. He was me, and I was him. We were at this point, one and the same.

I once more turned to face him in his mirror, and he was still there, but he was also in me. I touched my head. There were no more sharp memories piercing into my skull, only a strange haze that permeated, but even that was slowly clearing up.

“Whoa… Welcome back, buddy. It looks like we’re as good as new.” I laughed a bit as I turned to Morana. “You’re right, I can feel them, all of them. I can’t believe they’re still in me- Or well I’m connected to them.”

“You are connected to all things as you are the Echo; all you need is to spread out and connect again, and you will return to the beast you were.”

“I’ll make sure to never do that. And if I do, that I’ll make sure that I use it to help those who are left in my life. That’s the promise I made, and a promise that I will keep.”

I smiled, both Peter and Andrei, we were one, we were 1. It felt strange, but it also felt right.

“Look at you… You’ve changed so much from that scared and whiny boy we found on the ground…”

“Nah, I’m still scared and whiny. I just make sure to do it in private.”

“Either way, you still have lots to go through, or well, we do.”

“I know, and this is the very first step… Hey, what did you tell her about me? I wanna know if it helped me not turn into a popsicle.”

I laughed a bit and clutched my head. “I simply said you meant no harm, and that even if you talk too much, that you really wanted to help others.”

I looked to Morana, who was watching me talk to myself with the rest of her servants. “Uh, thanks again, I’ll talk to them more when I’m awake.”

I closed my eyes, thanking Andrei quietly before letting go, returning back to normal as I faced Morana who seemed to be studying me very intensely.

“Tell me about yourself, Morana. Before I leave, I want to know more about you and the other gods here. What do you do in the Nawia? Do you like it here?”

Wow, Andrei was right, I really did talk way too much. Oh well, if she wanted to stop me, she should have vaporized me a long time ago, hehe.

“You wish to know about me as well?”

There was an air of uncomfortable silence between us as I felt the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. “Well, I said I wish to carry your burdens too… Haha…”

“How… Peculiar. I am Morana, Matriarch of Winter and Death. I exist as an overseer of those who have fallen, to those who have faded away, those whose souls have joined the damned, and as well as the one who oversees their beginnings. Their rebirth.”

She glided along the floor, carving a window with her finger to stare out into the distance.

“Only Veles exists here, and he is a bothersome god. Yet he prolongs my experience; sometimes, his followers summon him to face Perun in my stead. For that, he has my gratitude and thanks, no matter how many tricks he wishes to play.”

I’ve heard that Name over and over again, there was some mention of a god Named Perun in the archives, some kind of powerful lightning god but there had to be more to it.

“So that’s who you were fighting? Perun? That’s the one with the axe on the door?”

“Ay. The strongest of all gods, rivaled by only Veles. The Storm Maker, The Crack of Dawn, The Ashmaker. The Lightning That Sunders Heaven. The King of Prawia and all of the other gods that live across the land.”

My mind began to see visions of a man, a giant man. He wore ancient battle armor with a helmet that had wings on its sides. In his right hand, he wielded a massive axe, and on his left were many stones that floated right above his palm.

His aura was immense; everything in his presence literally began to either catch fire or explode randomly. Storms followed in his wake, and with every step he took, rivers flowed towards him. He was the thunder incarnate and lightning personified.

When he swung his axe, I saw whole armies in the distance crumble, split into perfect halves as the sheer shockwave sundered mountains. I saw it myself with my own eyes, my men, my people, all of them falling before me as I too was rendered into paste by the sheer force.

I then found myself as an archer in the distance, trying my best to run as far away as I could on my horse. But even if I were valleys away, the god could still find me.

He didn’t even need to raise his axe; instead, the stones from his palm shot up into the sky, causing it to grumble like a stomach ache before they sent out massive bolts of lightning as wide as an elephant towards us.

It crashed into the ground, disintegrating us and the earth around, leaving nothing, not even ashes, in our wake.

I finally snapped out of it, rubbing my head as I beheld such awesome power, turning to Morana. “You’re telling me Veles can match that?”

“Match and even overwhelm it at times. What you saw was only a manifestation, not even a glimmer at his true might.”

“And yet somehow he fears us both.”

“I am Winter. He fears me for what I can do to his followers and what I have done. Thanks to the endless snow, they have all gone up to him. And you… He fears you because you could absorb him, you can become him, and you could become even more than that.”

“I’m guessing if he’s the king, he’s leading the charge against me, against Jane and Marian.”

“The Chosen of the Harbinger and Caretaker, that would be correct. I do not know what he is doing as of the moment, but I am positive he is trying to formulate some plan to ensure your destruction.”

“Hah… So monsters, gods, and possibly two power-hungry crazy ladies are gonna be after me.” I began to laugh, placing my face in my palm, giggling like a madman.

That damned fox was right.

“Oh my gods… I really just became a main character.”