"It's nice, right?" I asked and smiled a little at Dy.

Her eyes were heavy, but she met my gaze and nodded. "Yeah, this was a good idea." She looked back down at the water and wiggled her feet a little.

"You feeling alright?"

"Sore," she murmured. "Getting shot sucks."

I very gently put my hand on top of hers. "I can imagine."

She snorted. "You must think I'm a wuss."

"No, Dy. It's not a contest."

"You lost your arm and-"

"I was out for three months. It's been a week and you're already up and walking. You're so much more hardcore than I am." I leaned in and kissed her cheek.

She smiled and closed her eyes. Mine were closed too as I kept kissing her but then I felt her stiffen. I opened my eyes and slowly turned my head. Nila was standing on the other side of the creek, looking a little awkward.

"I didn't want to interrupt."

"You didn't," I said and smiled. "Come join us. It's really nice."

She walked across the creek, without actually touching the water and sat down next to me. Nila removed her shoes and put her bare feet into the water. Her black-blue skin was a stark contrast to the turquoise water. Just like her white hair was. Nothing about her really looked human.

"It is nice," she said and smiled.

"Right?" I chirped.

She nodded and splashed a little water around with her legs.

"Nila, can I ask a question?" Dy asked hesitantly.

"You just did," Nila replied and smirked a little. "You can ask another if you'd like."

"Thanks," Dy chuckled a little nervously. "How long until we'll be able to leave?"

"You need to heal. You've done remarkably already but your body is not ready to travel. And Alvina has some work to do while we're here."

"Work?" I asked and arched a brow.

"Yes. I'd like to teach you." Nila smiled again. Every time she smiled, her eyes turned into arches and it looked cute.

"I'd love that." There was just about nothing I wanted more than to train with her. Besides getting back to Quinn obviously. And have Dy fully recover.

We sat in silence for a while. It was so beautiful here. All the colours were so much brighter and vibrant. Birds lived here too, and they were nothing like the ones outside of here. These birds were blue, green and red. Had long tail feathers, flying in the wind behind them in the air.

"Hey Nila," Dy said then, disturbing the otherwise comfortable silence.

"Yes, Dy."

"Are you coming with us?"

Nila turned her head, her eyes wide. "Would you like me to come with you?"

"Well, yeah. You saved Al and me. And you've been a good host while we've been here. It'd be nice if you came with us."

Nila grabbed her hair and twisted it into a thick rope almost nervously. "If you'd both like me to accompany you, I will."

"Hey, only if you want to too," I chimed in.

"I would very much like that."

"Then that's settled."

"See that one," Dy murmured from behind me and pointed to a purple bird.

"That's so pretty." I looked up and kissed her jaw. She was leaning against a tree and I was in between her legs, leaning against her. Bird watching with Dy was something I could get used to very fast. It was so nice to forget there was a world outside of this.

In all honesty, I didn't want to leave. I wanted to stay here. I was being selfish, but I was so tired. There were so many things we needed to do but sitting here with Dy and looking at birds, it was just so simple. And nice. There was no pain here, there was only the two of us, enjoying each other's company.

She circled her arms around me and pressed me back against her. I felt so small and protected in her arms. She didn't treat me like a delicate flower but sitting here with her made me revel in feeling like one.

"Oh, look at the tail feathers on that one," Dy said and pointed at another bird. Its tail feathers were long, swaying being it as it flew over the small creek.

"What a show-off."

She snorted and rested her chin on top of my head. "That'd totally be you, if you were a bird."

"Really?" I laughed. I pointed at a big red bird. "That'd be you then."

"Because it's large or what?"

"Nah, because it pushes its chest out and walks around all hardcore."

Dy laughed out loud and pressed me back against her again. "You're not very nice."

"Of course, I am." I looked up and she looked down. "You love me."

"Yeah," she breathed and took my chin in her hand, softly turning my head so she could kiss me. "And you love me."

"Yeah," I breathed against her soft lips.

Nila sat across from me, just looking at me with those black pools that were her eyes. She looked calm. Which actually didn't make me feel very calm. I wasn't sure what we were supposed to do and what she were going to teach me.

"I have asked you to come because there is someone you need to meet," Nila said, her voice calm as ever.

I looked around for a second, confused who I was supposed to meet. I looked over my shoulder to make sure no one was behind me. There wasn't. I turned my head back toward Nila and was about to jump out of my skin. A boy sat next to her now wearing a wide smile.

"Hi, I am Barr."

I got my heart under control and took a deep breath. "Dramatic entrance," I panted.

"I do like my dramatics." He shrugged a shoulder.

He looked like Nila. They both shared the same very dark skin tone and those dark eyes. Barr was a little lighter than Nila though, but from his elbows to the tips of his fingers his skin just faded from dark blue to completely black. His hair was also jet black.

"I am Quinn's spirit."

"Have you... Come in contact with him? Do you know if he's okay?" I asked and bit down on my lip.

"No, his mind is blocked and dark. I try but... I think I need to get close to him."

"Which is why I needed you to meet," Nila said. "Only one can leave this place at a time. I cannot accompany you and Dy when you leave. Barr will have to go with you so he can connect with Quinn."

I nodded. "I understand... But why can't you both leave?"

Nila smiled softly. "It's about balance. Too many spirits in the world would not do anything good. We have urges too. We can be corrupted. Even one spirit leaving the sanctuary is a risk to all humans. Barr will behave himself, though." Nila sent a pointed look at Barr, who was very distracted by a bird landing next to him. He petted the bird's head and then looked up at Nila, sending her a smile.

"What?" he asked innocently.

"Barr will also be your spiritual guide. He'll make it easier for you to get back to your brother. And to lead him on the right path."

"What is the right path?" I asked, having a hard time clawing my eyes off Barr and his new bird friend. The bird didn't even seem afraid as it happily jumped into his lap and settled. He ran his fingers over its blue feathers.

"The one of the spirits," Nila said as if that explained anything.

"And which one is that?"

"We get all connected again and stuff," Barr muttered and ran his hand over the head of the bird, making it utter some small cute clucks.

"And what does that mean?" I was not backing down on this.

Barr glanced up at Nila and she glanced down at him, before she looked back at me. "It means we're ready to reconnect with the crown. To lead you on the right path. To lead you back to faith."

I frowned. "That sounds an awful lot like you want to take over and make everything about religion again."

Nila shrugged a shoulder. "Does it? It wasn't my intention. Our one goal is to connect with the human life we're granted. To serve as a guide to whatever they want to accomplish."

I looked down at my roprothesthic, moving the metal fingers a bit. "I... Need to get back to Quinn."

"And we will help you. Barr needs to connect with Quinn, and you need to rule the country again."

I nodded and ran my actual fingers over my metal wrist. "What if... That's not what I want though?"

"But you just said you needed to get back," Barr said.

"Yeah, but there's a difference between want and need."

"That is for you to figure out." Barr reached out and put his hand on top of mine. "I just need to get to Quinn. Before he destroys himself."

I swallowed hard. "What do you mean?"

"His mind is dark. There's darkness in all of you, painting your blood blue. That darkness can take over and the result won't be pretty." He retrieved his hand. "Quinn is corrupted. We need to cleanse him of his corruption."

"My brother isn't corrupted," I growled and balled both of my hands into fists. "He's struggling. He's fighting. He's not just sitting around like..."

"Like you?" Barr asked and tipped his head to the side.

"Yeah, fuck you, mate." I rose to my feet and turned on my heel, stomping away from the both of them. I knew Nila followed me. I could feel her right beside me, but I kept walking.

"You don't wish to leave," she said after we had been walking for a while.

"Yes, I do!" I stopped and folded my arms over my chest.

"You can't lie to me, Alvina." She smiled softly and put her hand on my shoulder. "I'm with you in your soul. What you desire, I desire. What you want, I want. And you want to stay here with Dy."

I clenched my jaw. "You don't know shit, Nila. You need to get the spiritual mombo-jumbo adjusted. I want to get back to my brother and I want to fight."

She didn't answer to that but just inclined her head a bit.

I mean, both her and Barr were right. I didn't wanna leave and it was eating me up from the inside. I wanted to stay here and never face anything again. I didn't want more pain and I didn't want anything bad to ever happen to Dy again. I was terrified of leaving and every time I thought about it, my stomach clenched. I just wanted to stay with all the pretty birds, with a happy Dy and with the nature staying beautiful around us. But I didn't even get to have a choice. No one asked me what I needed. Because Quinn needed me. Maybe I was the one who needed saving, but no one even stopped to think about that.

I had lost my arm. I was scarred all over and I couldn't remember when I had felt like myself. I couldn't remember when I hadn't been scared and the only thing that helped was sleeping with Dy. She was the only one who held everything at bay with kisses and soft touches. Her body was an escape. And I hated myself for using her like that because it wasn't fair. Nothing was fair. And no one asked me how they could help me. It was all about the damn crown all the time, and I just wanted someone to ask me what I wanted like Dy had done once. No one but her understood anything.

Nila hesitantly took a step forward and circled her arms around me very softly. "It is not fair, what is asked of you. You're almost a child."

"I'm not a child," I said with a small and pathetic voice.

"I am truly sorry, Alvina."

I pulled away and shook my head. "It's fine. I just have to be stronger."

She opened and closed their fists. "I can teach you to become stronger. To access all of my powers. The powers that rests within you."

"The black smoke?" I asked.

"Yes."

"Let's start." I was sure. I just needed to learn and then I'd be brave. I'd handle all of this with ease.

And I'd save my brother.