Ollie sat against the wall where Gale had left him. The broken picture frame of Cassie and him still grasped in his hands.

You’re becoming someone who hides from life behind an endless string of noble causes.

His hands trembled as he remembered those words. These were the same hands that once stole wallets to take care of the sick girl in a run-down apartment. It was a shabby apartment, but it was warm. Looking around his office, all he could see was grey and the thermostat set at 19C, slightly below room temperature.

This place isn’t your salvation. It’s become your coffin.

Gale was right. Everything here was just an excuse built up brick by brick to hide the mask of guilt he wore.

Ollie… that name she had given him. Hated at first, now it’s stuck in his identity. He had promised her they’d never part again. Life was supposed to be good after meeting Raven. All of this was just to give him excuses to tell her that she was living her dream to cure the world.

Pulling out his phone, he sent Alexei a message.

[Ollie: The deal is off.]

His phone rang immediately. He ignored it.

Getting up from the floor with the picture frame in hand, he walked up to his desk and sat down. He sat the shattered picture frame beside the laptop carefully. Looking back at the glass fragments, blue outlines covered each one as they floated to the trashcan.

Ollie turned his head to look back at the picture. Cassie smiled under the cherry blossoms of High Park. Her dark hair turned brown when it caught the light. He’d forgotten how endearingly stupid, quippy, bright, smart, annoying, emotional, funny, and romantic she was.

His hand went to the bottom right drawer, unlocking it with telekinesis. He pulled it open and took out an old phone that was hooked up to a cable. Unplugging it, he turned it on.

The screen lit up. The wallpaper of Cassie’s sleeping face on their bed greeted him on the lock screen.

1-0-0-7

October 7th. The day he met Cassie at that laundromat. He could still remember his reflection in the mirror, purple and bruised eyes, when he got out of that washroom to fend off her pursuers.

Ollie tapped the message app and scrolled through the texts. Years of conversations saved exactly as they were.

[Cassie: Text me when you get home, ok?]

[Oliver: ok]

[Cassie: Good morning sunshine! Rise and shine!]

[Oliver: It’s 5 AM]

[Cassie: Early bird gets the worm!]

[Oliver: The worm should still be asleep]

[Cassie: Made too much pasta. Again. Your fault for teaching me wrong]

[Oliver: The box says 4 servings not 40]

[Cassie: Math is hard ok]

[Cassie: Don’t forget milk on your way home]

[Oliver: Didn’t realize following instructions was that hard.]

[Cassie: And bread]

[Oliver: Ok]

[Cassie: It was too vague!]

[Cassie: And maybe can you get ice cream?]

[Oliver: What flavour?]

[Cassie: Can’t decide between green tea or chocolate]

[Oliver: I’ll get both and see you get fat]

[Cassie: Love you Ollie]

[Oliver: Love you too, Cassie.]

Ollie found himself smiling as he scrolled. She never forgot to tell him to text when he got home. Never missed a good morning or goodnight even when they were both home together. Even on their worst days, when they fought about money or jobs or the risks he took, she always ended with those same words.

He reached deeper into the compartment. A crude bracelet made of coloured rope lay next to a stack of photos. Cassie had made it when she was in her braiding everything phase.

You see, I’m a genius. I get so good at anything I want to do.

He laughed, even remembering her voice as she said it. The photos showed their life together. Cassie trying to cook, flour on her nose. Ollie with a fever, Cassie putting a cold cloth on his forehead. Birthday parties with dollar-store candles. Just two kids making a life together.

A tear ran down his cheek, the first real one in longer than he could remember.

Gale’s right.

He wasn’t honouring Cassie. He was chasing her ghost. All to hide the grief, and at what cost?

Gale ruined everything. After he came back, his mind had been a complete mess. The boy that came back from the red hollows represented a time when things were simpler.

Just get out of the rift and run back to her. That was the goal.

Now that goal’s changed. He needed to help his friend. Gale needed him. And for once, Ollie knew exactly what to do.

He tucked the old phone into his blazer’s inner pocket. He stood up and walked out of his office.

The elevator came fast after pushing the button. 52nd floor. The lab was the destination. Yet the ride to the floor felt longer than usual. Ollie walked through the HR department’s cubicle farm, counting rows. Third row from the window.

He picked up the landline and held it to his ear. Immediately, a soft click faded the walls beside the cubicle, allowing him to enter through as the walls closed behind him.

Inside the lab, Dr. Sarah Chen stood alone at her workstation. Her dark hair was pulled back in its usual tight bun. Multiple screens showed the structures of the shard.

“Ollie, wasn’t expecting you here so late,” she said.

“I’m taking the shard,” Ollie said.

She spun around. “What?”

“I’m taking the shard. Get ready to leave in five minutes to Humber River Hospital.”

“You can’t do that,” Dr. Chen said, stepping between him and the containment room. “This is our breakthrough. The data we’re collecting is invaluable. You can’t just take it away for who knows what purpose.”

“Please, Sarah.” Ollie met her gaze directly. He knew his eyes were puffy not from the late nights.

Sarah stared at him, into his eyes. In the four years they worked together, she probably never heard the word ‘please’ from him ever.

“Please,” Ollie repeated.

“I’ll get my things. Gotta at least get some data out of this,” she sighed.

The drive to Humber River Hospital passed in silence. Ollie kept one hand on the case with the shard, knowing full well the mundane suitcase wouldn’t hide the shard’s signature. Sarah glanced at him from time to time but didn’t ask questions.

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They found Mia’s room on the fifth floor. She lay in the hospital bed, skin pale against the white sheets. Her eyes opened as they entered.

“Well, look what the magical world dragged in,” she said in a coarse voice, like she just had the worst cold of her life. “To what do I owe the pleasure, Mr. Glory Industries?”

“How are you feeling?” Ollie put the case on the table beside her bed.

“Like I’m turning into a crystal chandelier from the inside out,” Mia said. “You know, the usual.”

Sarah unpacked her own equipment, placing poles that were probes to read etheric signatures at the four corners of the room. She set up a disk looking device at the centre of the room, which was an etheric imager that was much stronger than an electron microscope but with a higher resolution and didn’t come with all the negatives. Lastly, she connected them all with a single cable and hooked it up to her laptop.

She looked to Ollie. “Ready?”

“What’s happening?” Mia asked. “Is this some kind of fancy last rites?”

“I’m going to cure you,” Ollie said.

“Right. Cure an incurable disease because magic.”

Ollie didn’t answer. Instead, he opened the case and carefully took out the shard. Its kaleidoscope coloured lights filled the room.

Stepping in front of Mia, he had no idea what he was supposed to do or how to make someone ‘consume’ this thing. The idiot twins’ words rang in his head.

When in doubt, use movie logic.

He grinned as he held the shard in both hands, slowly bringing it to Mia’s forehead.

“What are you doing?!” Mia shouted.

The shard pulsed once, bright enough to make them squint. The heart rate monitor went wild, beeping at more than 200 bpm.

“What the hell is this?” Sarah’s eyes widened as she stared at the screen. “What in Aur am I seeing!?”

Ollie didn’t respond. He focused completely on the shard and Mia. The world around him seemed to shake, reality bending slightly at the edges of what he could see.

The room grew darker, as if all light was being pulled into the shard. An audible glass shard shattered somewhere far away, and suddenly the shard in his hand cracked and disintegrated into billions of fine tiny motes of light.

They swirled around Mia like a tiny galaxy, spinning faster until they formed a bright spiral centred on her chest. The light flowed into her heart in a steady stream, each particle finding its place inside her.

Ollie stood still, watching as the last bits of light disappeared into Mia’s body. When the last single tiny mote entered Mia’s heart, the light in the room returned. Monitors stabilized, slowing down from almost 250 bpm down to 130 then 70.

Sarah stared at her readings, mouth open. “That’s… that’s…”

For a full minute, no one moved. Mia laid still, eyes still closed, breathing shallow. Suddenly, she gasped for air as if coming out of the ocean. The colour on her cheeks flushed, fading away the pale complexion.

A couple walked by Gale as he sat still on a park bench. Even at night, where the park’s lamps barely lit the path, joggers still jogged and parents walked hand in hand with their children.

His fingers felt for the ring as it gave off a slight warmth that spread throughout his body. He couldn’t save Mia. Not without that shard, and Ollie wouldn’t give it up.

But maybe there was another way.

Gale closed his eyes.

Open Vianne’s Express Amazing Store.

The display appeared, a shop full of items and weapons he could never even begin to imagine.

Search: Origin.

1. [Flawless Blank Origin: locked]

   [A piece of True Origin.]

   [Consumable.]

   [Stock: 4]

2. [Flawed Blank Origin: locked]

   [A piece of Raw Origin.]

   [Consumable.]

   [Stock: 11]

3. [Origin Fragment: 550,000 points]

   [A fragment of Origin.]

   [Consumable.]

   [Stock: 345]

4. [Origin Shard: 88,000 points]

   [A piece of Origin Shard.]

   [Consumable.]

   [Stock: 12,472]

5. [Origin Grain: 5,000 points]

   [A grain of Origin.]

   [Consumable.]

   [Stock: Unlimited]

6. […]

Gale checked his points balance: 1,100. Not even close to enough for the cheapest option. He closed his eyes, dismissing the store interface. Of course nothing was easy, he sighed.

The old wooden bench creaked as someone sat beside him. He didn’t need to look at who it was. Breath of the Void already fed him the familiar signature before he even glanced to the side. Not to mention, the pleasant scent of orange and spice as she scooted closer to him.

Rachel leaned her head against his shoulder, her breathing moving in tune with his.

“Bad day?” she asked softly.

Bad day, but he didn’t know what to say. What’s he supposed to say other than he wanted to use the Origin Shard to save his 1 friend and doom the rest of the mundanes corrupted by dust?

Rachel didn’t push though. She just sat there quietly, waiting for him to talk as her breathing remained stable.

Another young couple walked by the bench, talking about ice cream even though it was basically December and the temperatures were almost in the negatives.

Life continued for everyone else.

“Do you ever think about before? How simple it was?” Gale said.

Rachel kept her head still on his shoulder. “What do you mean?”

“When I was a kid,” Gale said, “all I cared about was my parents and myself. Wake up. Train. Eat. Sleep. No other connections. No other responsibilities.”

He paused, not knowing where this was going. All he wanted was just to use his voice to say anything to her.

“Then the orphanage happened. Shawn taught me what happens when you trust people. When you let them in.” Gale gripped the bench’s edge. “But the Eclipsed… the understanding of pure solitude…”

Rachel stayed silent.

“I told myself I would try to make connections and keep everyone at a safe distance. It felt safer that way,” Gale whispered. “But then I reunited with you and Ollie. The Earth I came back to was different. Then… I met Andrew. And Jacob. And Mia.”

Gale looked up at the light polluted sky that hid away the stars.

“She’s dying,” Gale said. “Dust corruption. And I can’t do anything about it.”

“I know you’ve been keeping your distance,” Rachel turned, sat up straight, and looked at him. “From me. From everyone. It’s not like I don’t understand why. When you care about people, you give them the power to hurt you. But caring about people is what makes life magical. It makes life worth living, even with all the pain it brings.”

“It hurts. More than I expected. I’m not used to it.”

“I know.”

“That’s why I pushed you away too. It was easier.”

“I figured as much.”

“I care about you, Rachel,” Gale said. “You know that, right? Does it hurt you when I push you away?”

Rachel shook her head, smiling weakly. “Of course it hurts. But… it makes me feel… seen. Even when you were pushing me away, I knew you were watching. Making sure I was okay. Caring for people isn’t all-in or nothing, Gale. It’s not like flipping a switch. You can’t turn on and off whether you care about someone. Even when you think you’ve shut everyone out, some light still gets through the cracks.”

“If you disappear,” Gale said, “I honestly don’t know what I’d do with… myself.”

As fairy tale as it sounds, if Aurumn’s curse was real… and it probably is, it’d be devastating if she suddenly disappears. Would he still cling on to life, or would he become something like Ollie?

“You know, I’ve always been thinking,” Rachel said. “Thinking about what I can do by myself. Without the background of my family. Away from grandma’s eyes. But…”

Her eyes turned to a man walking alone at night, typing on the phone with one hand. “I know what it feels like to be helpless. To watch something happen and understand that you can’t possibly do anything to stop it.”

A breeze shook the trees around them, sending leaves raining down on the bench. It made her appearance look even more surreal, having this conversation one on one with her.

“Ollie has his reasons for what he’s doing,” Rachel said. “Maybe he’s right. Maybe he’s wrong. I’m not here to judge either of you. What matters is that the research goes on, regardless of what happens with the shard.”

She squeezed his arm. “And I’m here for you, whatever you decide. Whatever happens with Mia.”

“Even if Mia dies?”

“Even then,” Rachel said. “Especially then.”

Gale felt something in his throat. The knight’s words rang true. This is what it feels like to be supported by others. Stronger together, weaker alone. With Rachel by his side, maybe, just maybe, he could accept the horrors of life.

They sat in silence as Rachel put her head back on his shoulder. Gale took deep breaths. She’ll be with you for the pain of it all, just remember that. You can grieve, but you cannot brood. Life moves on.

Rachel’s phone rang suddenly. She pulled it from her pocket, checking the screen. Her soft expression changed to a frown as she answered.

“Hello?” Rachel said.

She put the phone on speaker.

“…broken our agreement,” Alexei’s voice came through. “This is unacceptable. If you want to see your friend alive, bring me the hunter who has caused me so much trouble these past months. You have until midnight.”

The call ended suddenly.

“Ollie,” she said. “He has Ollie.”

Gale stood up. “Where?”

Rachel typed quickly on her phone. “I can track his location. He always keeps his GPS on for emergencies.”

A map appeared on her screen, a blue dot on the maps app showed Ollie’s location.

“The abandoned warehouse,” she said. “Oshawa industrial complex.”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep