Quintess had woken up a short while ago, his entire body, or rather, his Vessel, throbbing all over. The Strawlers scrambling to help him recover had startled him at first, but after he'd recalled everything that had happened, he relaxed – as much as he could have, of course, considering…

He'd remembered it all in reverse: the blow that knocked him out, Skullius' words, the trigger of rage he'd been flaring with, and of course…

<Why did you spare me then?> 𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂

"Would you rather I'd killed you? Were you that eager to run from your grief to the point of wishing for death? Are you still?"

<You played a part in Rorsetta's death.> said Quintess scathingly. <You don't regard her. You didn't regard her. So, why regard me?>

"Fulgardt was going to kill her with or without the inspiration he got from stealing his way into this place. And, unfortunately, Rorsetta was the weakest link between us all. If anyone was going to die, it was her. You know that better than anyone else."

Quintess flared. His massive frame was wreathed in Amras. The Strawlers around him were sent flying from his battered Vessel.

<You have no right to mention her name! You know nothing about her – nothing about how she lived, about how she wanted to live!>

Skullius met the anguish with a placid face.

"I know more than you could imagine. Unfortunately."

<That's enough!>

Suzamete was seated next to Skullius, her face buried in her hands. At her outburst, Skullius and Quintess fell silent. This was the first time the Deitess had said anything since Quintess had told her that Listafelle had been killed. With as much grace as she could afford, she broke down without spilling a sound.

Whether she'd shed tears – if her vessel afforded such liberties – or not was unknown. As a Deitess, Suzamete could process her emotions infinitesimally faster than a mortal, however.

Perhaps she'd gnashed her teeth, remembering Rorsetta's kindness from back then, when she (Suzamete/Kaella) was fragile – a lily among brambles. Kaella had aspired to be like Rorsetta for the longest time. Unlike her, Rorsetta was a hard-boiled combatant, even though she had it in her to be indulgent in the thrills that came with studying different kinds of creatures and formulating strands of genetics to create assortments of living beings, like Parrhaya. She was a kind soul, in the end. However…

Suzamete locked her fingers and shuddered. She then lanced Quintess with an accusing look.

<You sealed Rorsetta's fate first.>

Quintess was taken aback. He sobered from his rage.

<What?>

<You forced Ciumin to regard you and her with a grudge the day you sealed him under Aigas. What did you expect would result from that?> hissed Suzamete. <I'll tell you this: before I knew for certain that Skullius could fend off Ciumin's rage when it inevitably came, I was ready to take it all upon myself. I betrayed him – whether it was justified or not – so I deserved to die for it.> She gnashed her teeth. <You should have known… I should have known that mixing anomalies – Fulgardt, no less – into the whole affair would skew things further than I could predict.>

Skullius sighed. Quintess hung his head. He sobered from his hypocrisy as well.

Right. He did know the truth, so why did he bother blaming others?

If he were to be completely honest with himself, it probably wasn't Fulgardt who dealt the killing blow on Rorsetta.

<Rorsetta's ambitions died a long time ago.> Saying the words cooled Quintess off further.

Suzamete regarded him with a solemn look that could melt glaciers.

<When she professed her love to me all those Consternals ago, I knew she'd reached her limit as a Deity. She couldn't look beyond me – what she and I had built. I was terrified. I tried to convince her to see beyond it, like I did. As far as I was concerned, we were just getting started. There was so much more to hope for – to dream for – but she hoped that we would flee the Aspire to Divine and settle somewhere instead.>

He couldn't bring himself to meet Suzamete's eyes.

<She shouldn't have been here when Boron pulled us back. I should have forced her out of the battle.>

"That would not have worked. It's no use tormenting yourself with meaningless what-ifs at this point," said Skullius flatly.

Quintess' fury was reignited. <You—

"I spared you because I can identify with grief and the strength it creates for anyone who bothers to suffer through it at all," interrupted Skullius. His voice grew deeper for emphasis. "That means something, you know, coming from me. Take a moment to think it over. If you feel differently, I can easily correct my mistake."

The thinly veiled threat in the words reached Quintess as intended. He paused.

He'd been making every attempt to disregard the entity standing in front of him, but it just wasn't working. The creature with several arms floating over Skullius' head sharpened with warning every time he dared bare his fangs against Skullius. It had every capacity to strike him down, he knew. Perhaps it would have, if Skullius willed it. But Skullius was merciful.

Quintess cooled off once more.

For a while, there was silence between him, Suzamete, and Skullius. Suzamete finally broke it, posing a question to the Hybrid Warmoth:

<What became of Ciumin?>

Skullius folded his arms.

"What you both wished for," he said, regarding Quintess. "It came at a price, but Ciumin learned what you intended to teach him by imprisoning him in Aigas. For better or for worse, he became a real Deity before he died."

Suzamete and Quintess took the message in their own way, but neither said a word.

"What do you intend to do after this?" Skullius asked the latter.

By now, it was clear that he wouldn't prefer to die than to handle his turbulent grief.

"I'll stay on Aigas for now," said Quintess. "I'd like to look at the sea for a while."

"I see," said Skullius. He got the Deity's meaning. Soon, he opened a gateway out of the mini resort. "You're welcome to stay here until you've recovered. Tell the Strawlers when you're ready to leave, and they'll escort you out."

Moments later, Skullius was beckoning Suzamete out into the lobby of the First Layer of the Hatcher. The Deitess was reluctant to leave Quintess, though. She must have wanted to share a bit of Quintess' grief. Perhaps together, they could overcome it quicker.

…But that was a luxury she couldn't afford. Perhaps she wouldn't be able to afford it for a long time.