Having tried battering and shouting, Finn twisted Yurie's doorknob. The door was locked, and he felt that he had no other choice but to break the slim window along its vertical middle to twist the indoor lock. 

The shards on the floor crunched when Finn, with Lena in his arms, entered the house and positioned her motionless body on the green couch. He cried for Yurie and for help but received no answer.

Finn did not want to leave Lena's side, but after continuous calling, he decided to look for Yurie in the bedroom and found Arrakis on the window seat instead. At his left knee, where his leg ended bluntly before, now a metal construction replaced his shinbone and foot. It was less prosthesis as it was a hollow silver brace.

"If it isn't our beloved Phineas," said Arrakis, carefree and undisturbed.

"Arrakis!" Finn wheezed, cold sweat running down his neck. "Where is Yurie?"

"Out there, looking for you."

"What?"

"When the snowstorm hit, she wanted to make sure you're okay. Sadly, you are."

On the couch, Lena came to. She spit out some blood and heard Finn in the next room.

"We are far from okay! Pacu is gone and Lena is dying! You poisoned the carrot, didn't you?"

"And now you want a reward for figuring it out?"

"I want the antidote!"

"Good one," Arrakis made a brief laugh before striking Finn with a serious look of formidable menace.

"Lena will die!"

"Serves her right."

"She doesn't deserve death! She's a kind-hearted person, caring and sweet."

"You've mistaken me with someone who cares," Arrakis sneered.

It may have been the shadows thrown by the candlelight, but a deeper shade of enmity engulfed Arrakis' features, burying his dead soul behind those dreadfully smiling eyes.

"Screw you," said Finn and turned, "I'll take her to the healing lodge."

Arrakis stood up, hiding his pain behind an even wider gesture of hauteur. "They won't be able to help her. The venom is from Pluviam."

A small test tube in Arrakis' fingers caught Finn's attention. It was sealed by a cork and contained a liquid identical to water, but Finn knew it wasn't.

"All I had to do was drench a needle and poke a few tiny holes into your rations. Child's play."

Finn's last string of patience tore apart, he rammed Arrakis against the wall, drew Kassiopeia's knife, and pressed its whetted edge against Arrakis' throat. Finn felt the temptation of making a cut but hoped that Arrakis would give him a reason not to. His never-dying smile grew only larger; a deliberate attempt to provoke conflict.

"You high-handed self-absorbed psychopath! Give me one good reason why I shouldn't just cut your artery right now!"

"Kill me, and she'll die."

Finn's grip loosened, but immediately tightened more than ever.

"Just what is it you want?"

"I want you dead!" Arrakis snarled, his smile turned into a threatening glare.

"Why? What have I done to make you wish death upon me?"

"It doesn't matter. Your life for hers."

"Why didn't you just poison my food?"

"I did! You were just lucky enough not to eat it."

Arrakis felt the arctic blade on his skin as Finn pushed it closer. "Give me the antidote."

Not one pearl of sweat was dropped by Arrakis as his answer remained no. Finn kicked Arrakis' disabled leg, whereupon he groaned and slid down the wall.

"I'm giving you one last chance," Finn arched his back to meet Arrakis eye to eye, the knife's point still placed on his throat. "Give me the antidote!"

Arrakis leaned forward, stared fearlessly into Finn's desperate eyes, and, while aggressively biting his teeth, said, "Go to hell."

For one protracted second, Finn shut his eyes in regret. "Meet you there."

He impelled the blade, but scarcely fracture the skin, for Lena interrupted the act and prevented the murder.

"Finn?" Beneath the door frame, Lena stood hunched, her bloody hand leaving prints on the wall, while the other held on to her stomach.

"Lena!" Finn breathed. Feeling no less angry, he let go of Arrakis to brace her.

"Get a room you two."

Finn sighed. His eyebrows pushed against each other, his looks brought with fierce but by defeat nevertheless. "You want me dead? Fine."

Finn aligned the edge of the knife with the artery of his right wrist.

"Finn, no!" In agony, Lena sank to the floor. She coughed and found no strength to get back up.

"I won't let any more people be harmed because of me," said Finn sorrowly.

"Save your hero speech," intruded Arrakis. "We're not doing this here. Not like this."

"You're sick!" Lena shouted at Arrakis and wiped the blood from her chin.

"Put the knife down and leave the house," was the command, and Finn, unable to overcome his timidity to disobey, passed Lena without looking down at her, as it would have broken his heart to watch her bitter tears hit the floor. Arrakis followed him on his way out of the room, but Lena, who had one of the shards hidden in her hand, stabbed him once and left the broken glass stuck in his thigh.

"Stupid gull!" he rasped and removed the shard. "I should slaughter you! I don't know what he sees in you, thinking you deserve to live."

"Give her the medicine," said Finn, standing at the exit.

"Not until I'm sure you'll do as I say. I need you handcuffed and blindfolded."

"How long does she have?" Finn asked in fear.

"Not long. Move it."

"Finn!" Effort and will brought Lena back on her feet. "Don't do it, I'm begging you! Not for me."

"I'm sorry," was all he said, for he knew that any more words would be a stuttery pile of shattered syllables.

Arrakis shoved Finn out the door, once his hands were tied behind his back, and his vision was blocked.

"No!" she screamed and sobbed.

"Jesus," Arrakis pointed a pistol at her head. "Phineas, please tell your girlfriend to shut up, or I will."

"You have a gun?" Finn said, having heard the distinctive mechanics, "so why don't you shoot me already?"

"I told you, this is not how it'll happen. Now shut her up, before somebody sees us."

"Lena," Finn said, walking up to her until Arrakis held his arm out as a barrier.

"That's close enough."

"Don't do this, Finn! Please! What about the ship? What about Nitha?"

He shook his head. "Maybe I was never destined to find them."

"Please, I'm begging you!" she cried.

"You have five seconds to quiet her down," Arrakis reloaded the pistol.

"Lena, listen to me. Remember when we fell asleep on Kassiopeia's roof? That night you made a promise. You said you'd stay by my side and leave only if I asked you to," he tried to stay strong, but it stung his heart to even think of the words he was about to say. "Lena—I'm asking you to leave me. Keep your word, and let go."

"Please don't make me, Finn! You are all I have! I—"

"That's enough," Arrakis yanked Finn's arm to turn him away.

Unable to bear the pain and horror, Lena dropped onto the doormat with the poking surface and the iconic welcome written on it. "I won't take it! I won't take the medicine!"

"Then he'll die for nothing," said Arrakis, unbothered, and kept his gun glued to Finn's spine as they walked away.

"Where are we going?" asked Finn.

"Keep walking."

"Are you going to shoot me?"

"I'll stuff your mouth if you don't shut up."

They walked up a hill, steering towards a bleak forest. Finn cared no more about orders, "Where is Yurie?"

"Man, you're either a terrible listener or bad with memory."

"You said she was looking for us, but I would have passed her on my way back."

"Maybe I lied. Maybe I sent her away. Maybe, I told her to go have a drink."

"You knew I'd be coming back."

"I was hoping you'd be dead."

"You poisoned Pacu's favorite pet!"

"No, you did. I simply poisoned the food."

"Lena was right. You are a monster!"

Arrakis kicked Finn's calves and knocked him down. His knees landed in the shallow snow, around him dispersed a few tall firs, hiding his presence from the villagers. 

Arrakis removed the blindfold, letting Finn gain a last glance at life. He looked up at the sky, as the chilling metal muzzle of the pistole touched the back of his head. A bright flare with a tail of red flames whizzed by over their heads. An odd-looking shooting star, Finn assumed. But he made no wish.