Isalithe watches as Clarence’s mother enters the Dining Hall.

  She’s still for just a heartbeat before she breaks into a dead sprint down the hall in search of Clarence. She’s faster than she has been in any of the past iterations, and Isalithe’s mouth falls open at the sight.

  "Holy shit, holy shit, holy shit!" Isalithe casts Thunderfall, and begins running at max speed through the house. She frantically searches each floor, each room, each nook and cranny in search of her target. It takes nearly all the time this iteration will permit to find Ethel, who is cradling a baby Marcus in a dim, windowless nursery. Just before Isalithe can call out to her, the world begins to crumble away, and she’s forced to head to the forest again.

  "Third floor, East wing… Third floor, East wing… Third floor, East wing…"

  On the next attempt, Isalithe knows where to go.

  "We’re going again! I know where she is this time, are you ready?"

  Clarence stares blankly ahead, unresponsive. His mind is clearly somewhere else.

  Isalithe yanks him up, but he holds onto his chair, dragging it along with him.

  "Let go of the chair, stupid! You can’t take it with you!" Isalithe demands, and drags Clarence to the hallway where she smacks him on his back. "Start running!"

  Clarence obeys, and begins to run ahead.

  Isalithe makes her way to the Eastern wing of the third floor, and… Ethel is not where she should be. Isalithe renews her search, but is unable to find Ethel no matter how hard she looks. As the world begins to fall apart, she makes her way to the front door but just before she runs outside, she hears a whistle.

  Isalithe turns to find Ethel in the Grand Hall, sitting at the end of the table with a baby in her arms.

  "You… you vile woman! Why did you move? You were supposed to be on the third floor, East wing in the nursery!" Isalithe shouts, and Ethel merely shrugs.

  "Maybe I didn’t wish to be found," Ethel says, and rocks the infant in her arms. "It’s not like anything I do will change the past. Although I am willing to have a conversation with you if you promise to answer some questions of mine when we next meet."

  Isalithe groans, and pulls at her hair as the world around Ethel breaks away into white void. "Yes, you have my word, you obnoxious spirit, you!"

  "Fifth floor, the most Northwestern room," the void answers.

  Next round, Isalithe makes it to that very same room. Ethel can be seen sitting in the windowsill, looking out at the moon.

  "I’m here, now hurry up and ask your questions!" Isalithe announces, and slams the door shut behind her.

  "Very well. You are from the future, correct?"

  "Uh, yeah, no shit."

  "How old is Clarence now?"

  "I don’t know, I just met the guy. If I had to guess then he’s probably around my age? Fourteen, fifteen?"

  "Is Clara Crowsong with you?"

  "Which one is that? There’s like 20 of you… is she the blonde with the childish haircut?"

  "Clara is the blonde with the beautiful pigtails."

  "If that’s what you want to call it, sure. I think I saw her at the beginning of the second trial?"

  "So you’re in a dungeon then, and you found yourself under this spell? Who were you with before this?"

  "Just Clarence and Sen, we passed the third trial and then I lost consciousness on top of Clarence…"

  "Who is Sen?"

  "Oh he’s some tree that... Er, a dryad that hangs around with Clarence. From the looks of it, they’re pretty good friends."

  "Interesting…" Ethel says, and she seems to think for a moment.

  "I’ve answered enough of your questions, right? Clarence’s mom will find him soon, and when that happens, everything goes wrong! What is this place?"

  Ethel crosses her arms, and leans her head back as she looks out the window once more. "Judicium Animarum, Judgement of the Soul, or Trial of the Heart, this memory could be caused by any of these spells and more. Clarence is meant to come to confront an event that has left a scar on his heart, and overcome it."

  "Okay, that makes sense, but why is it that you’re the only one that can see me?"

  "That’s simple enough. The spell you find yourself in was intended for one person, and a safeguard is included. The strongest, and most prominent person in the memory is meant to seek out any invaders, and kill them. Being the nanny of the Crowsong household, this role seems to have fallen onto my shoulders," Ethel says. A faint golden glow illuminating her features.

  "I passed out on Clarence and invaded gis dream... Why haven’t you killed me? If you’re the safeguard of this memory."

  "Shortly after my death, I acquired an affinity to resist external influences on my psyche. Thankfully, this carries on to any memory, or recreation of me. That sounds strange to say out loud, doesn’t it? In simpler terms, we can just say that I am a faulty safeguard. Of course, that’s not to say I don’t want to kill you. The urge is there, but I’m able to maintain my sense of self and resist it. If you’re an ally of Clarence, then you are an ally of Clara, therefore you should be allowed to live." Ethel scoots off of the windowsill and makes her way toward Isalithe. She's easily a foot taller than Isalithe and has to look down to meet her gaze. "So, tell me about Clarence’s trauma."

  "Clarence’s mother dies, and he blames himself for it. Every time the memory restarts, he starts stealing things. It’s getting worse each time we go back. Also the world falls apart, it’s just this empty white void. Like this world only exists around Clarence… What would happen to me if I fell in it?"

  "I see… After the death of his mother, Clarence blames himself. He copes with having stolen a life, by stealing more things… Kleptomania born of trauma. You haven’t known him long enough to be sure of this yet, but this is likely the case. If you were to fall into the out of bounds area, you would likely have mere seconds before you undergo ego-death. You’ll forget who you are in your entirety as your mind is wiped clean."

  "Then what are we supposed to do? How can we help him get past his past?..."

  "I do know of one way. When Clarence frees his mother’s spirit, he runs to me. Despite how I may easily resist the spell now, once the event begins, certain actions are set in play. I cannot go against it. I do not have the words that Clarence needs to hear. If you were to kill me here and take my place as the one who comforts Clarence after his mother’s passing, it may be entirely possible to alter the memory."

  "You want me to lie to him?..."

  "Yes, lie to him. Kill me, take my place, and hold him in your arms as he mourns. Lie to him, tell him that his mother’s death was not his fault. Lie to him time and time again. As many times as it takes. Clarence is a weak boy, so this may very well be the only way to overcome this trauma of his." Ethel drops to a knee, and leans her head back. Her collar sinks down low, revealing her neck as she closes her eyes. "I should die easily enough if I suppress my mana and allow you to strike me down. We’ll likely have to do this every iteration, but that’s okay, I can take it. I’m ready when you are."

  Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.

  "This is really the best idea you can come up with? A weak boy?... You have absolutely no faith in him!" Isalithe’s hand balls up into a fist at her side as her voice rises to that of a roar.

  Ethel opens her eyes and meets Isalithe’s gaze once more.

  "It's as you say, I have no faith in Clarence Crowsong. You asked me what we should do, and I’ve given you my answer. This is not something he can simply overcome."

  "What would you know?!"

  "I may just be a memory, but I know him more than you may think. I was there for his birth, and I have been here long after. Even though his mother raised him up until this point, who do you think helped her? When you’ve lived for as long as I can, you can read an individual with relative ease. A shy girl will grow up to be a shy woman. A curious boy will grow up to be a curious man. Clarence is a weak boy, so I'm certain that he grew up to be a weak man."

  "That’s not true! He isn’t like that. A weak man… a weak man would have left me to die down in that ravine! A weak man wouldn’t have been able to fuse two different elements together! A weak man wouldn’t have made a Soulpact with himself just to force out an impossible spell!" Isalithe’s hand shoots forward like lightning and she slaps Ethel. The noise echoes through the room, and a small bead of ectoplasm runs from Ethel’s mouth.

  "Do you have any idea just how much pain he endured for me? And afterwards all I could do was call him my lackey! Clarence is not a weak man! He is…" Isalithe loses her voice, and glares down at Ethel who simply reaches up, and wipes a bit of ectoplasm away on the back of her hand.

  "You hit hard despite your size, that’s good. It brings me joy to hear that Clarence has a strong companion like you. He really went so far as to impose a Soulpact on himself to do something he otherwise couldn’t? This is surprising…" Ethel begins, but her voice trails off as her gaze moves to the door. "The dream is shifting. Whatever it is you decide to do, I hope that it works, for Clarence’s sake." Ethel stands, and makes her way to the door.

  That same white void begins to eat away at the edges of the room, and Isalithe dives for the open windowsill. She jumps from balcony to balcony, landing on each one with the likeness of a cat. She finally lands on solid ground and looks up to see she’s right behind Clarence.

  Isalithe chases him into the heart of the woods, and as the three wraiths surround him, she’s met by the same barrier from before.

  "If you were to fall into the out of bounds area, you would likely have mere seconds before you undergo ego-death."

  Ethel’s words ring fresh in Isalithe’s mind as she places a foot forward, digging it into the muddy ground beneath her. "I’ll just have to be fast then, won’t I? Faster than I’ve ever been, faster than I’ve ever thought of being! You did it like this, right Clarence?" Isalithe holds a hand out, and in it she holds one spell.

  Her other hand begins to glow a faint blue, and crackles with electricity. Two Thunderfalls.

  "You’ll forget who you are in your entirety as your mind is wiped clean."

  "Ego-death be damned! I’ll just push past that barrier so fast that it won’t be able to keep up!" Isalithe forces her hands together, willing the spells to fuse. They repel one another, but she fights through it. When her hands finally clasp one another, the two spells fuse and she instinctively knows the new spell she has just created.

  "Lightning Fugue," Isalithe commands, and pure white lighting with disparate streaks of indigo coat her body in a protective layer. The spell is exponentially more powerful than Thunderfall, and Instantly, Isalithe breaks past the barrier. She’s going upwards of 30 times her normal speed, and is nothing more than a blur of light and motion as she crashes into the first of the wraiths.

  The world does not slow for her like she thought it would. Time marches on all the same, but Isalithe acts quickly. Over two dozen spells go off in rapid succession, completely obliterating the first wraith into a streak of pure light. Isalithe turns on her heel, and looks down at her arm as it dissolves away into nothing. She’s already diving at another of the wraiths as it draws close to Clarence. With her remaining hand she unleashes a barrage of spells that explode around the wraiths body, and it too is felled in less than a second.

  The last wraith cleaves blindly, and as its machete comes down, Isalithe holds out her hand and a torrent of lightning erupts from her palm. Thirty individual bolts of lighting collide with the wraiths frame, and all that’s left in its wake is tattered robes. Isalithe can only see out of one of her eyes, and the right side of her skull is already disintegrating into nothing. The threat has been dealt with, and with one desperate lunge, she dives back into the safe part of the memory.

  Numerous patches of her body have fallen away and are floating in the out of bounds area, alongside her arm, and a part of her head. Her memories feel fuzzy, and everything hurts, but…

  Isalithe looks up at Clarence, who is diving into his mothers embrace. The two cry as they hold each other. "Mom, you’re okay! Mom!" Clarence clings to her tightly and Isalithe forces herself to her feet, limping until she stands just a few feet away from the pair.

  If she did this a few more times then Clarence would be able to just believe that his mother was alive, wouldn’t he?

  "Clarence is a weak boy, so this may very well be the only way to overcome this trauma of his."

  Isalithe shakes the thought aside.

  She can’t let this be. She has to save him, otherwise this memory would only come back to haunt him later. Isalithe closes her eye, allowing the two only a single moment longer before she speaks.

  "But this isn’t what actually happened, is it?"

  Clarence lets go of his mom, and turns to face Isalithe, looking up at her.

  "What do you mean?..."

  "Your mom died, Clarence."

  "N-No… that’s not true, my mom’s right here!" Clarence turns once more, and is greeted by a grotesque, dismembered body.

  "You blame yourself for taking her life, and to cope with the grief, you take things. Whatever it is you can get your hand on. You’re a kleptomaniac, through and through. You hope that if you take enough things then one day you’ll find something that can fill that empty hole that this grief dug out of your heart."

  Clarence shrinks back, but Isalithe lurches forward, wrapping her remaining arm around his body as she pulls him in close.

  Clarence pushes his hands up into her ribcage and tries his best to free himself, but Isalithe doesn’t let him.

  "L-Let go of me! My mom needs me!" Clarence shouts, and tries to pull himself away now. Isalithe still holds onto him all the same.

  "Did you know? Wraiths torture the souls of their victims after killing them. Just when you think the pain is over and gone, they drag your soul back down and continue their vicious assault. You were unable to do anything as your mother’s life was stolen away, but you did help her soul pass on. You were a good boy, Clarence. What you did for her was a kindness. I bet your family looked at you differently after the incident, didn’t they?"

  "They did, they all said it wasn’t my fault, but I…I’m not dumb! I saw the way they all looked at me, their eyes, their glares, they were all lying…" Clarence cries out, and tears soak Isalithe’s shoulder as she smiles down at him.

  "They’ll likely always look at you that way. They can’t understand that it was all a mistake, how could they? They aren’t anything like you, you who didn’t leave me in that hole to die…" Isalithe whispers and wipes her sleeve across Clarence’s wet face. "Tell me, why did you run from your mother on that day?"

  "She was overbearing, she was always overly protective of Marcus and I. My cousins all looked at me differently before the accident, and they look at me differently after. No matter what I do, they’re always looking at me with those eyes of theirs, judging me…"

  "They weren’t judging you before, I think...they were envious. You had something they all wanted, and now that you’ve lost it, you have that hole in your heart. I’m sure they all feel the same as you do."

  "But what do I do about it? This feeling won’t go away no matter what I do, no matter what I take… I don’t know what to do."

  "Why not take me?"

  "What?" Clarence questions, and looks up through blurry, tearful eyes.

  "You heard me! I’m not good for much of anything, I have a superiority complex and I look down on people I think are dumber than me. But… I understand how you feel. I lost my mother when I was little. You don’t have to change, but at the very least, I want you to stay true to yourself. You’re a strong person, and you have a good heart, regardless of what others may think of you."

  Clarence no longer looks like a younger version of himself. He’s grown, and is the same as Isalithe remembers him. His jaw is agape, his eyes wide.

  "You mean you won't get upset with me for taking things?…"

  "I’d be pissed if you didn’t! Clarence Crowsong, world renowned thief!" Isalithe flashes a grin down at Clarence as she gives him this title, and Clarence smiles back.

  "I think I’ll start by taking these then." Clarence runs past the barrier, and collects all the lost fragments of Isalithe’s being. He brings them back to her, and puts them into place as if he were solving a puzzle. Her head is whole, her arm is back, and the patchy holes have vanished.

  "There, all fixed."

  "See? Taking things isn’t all that bad! But on a more serious note, I’m not a perfect person either. The only reason I ever came to this dungeon was to get a Divine Aspect. I want to be strong enough that nobody has to worry about me. So tell me, will you take me as your partner in crime? Our first heist will be to steal a Divine Aspect!"

  Isalithe extends her hand towards Clarence, and he reaches out for it, but stops just short of grabbing it.

  "Come on, lackey. We’ve still got to get to my trauma. It’s nowhere near as exciting as yours though, so don’t judge me too much, okay? Also… I’m counting on you."

  Clarence takes her hand in both of his, and holds it tight. "I’ll take you! I promise, I won’t let you down!"

  The world around them falls apart, and turns to white.