Kalos had been tinkering with Reu for what felt like hours.

The veiled repository didn’t have a sun or moon, so Kalos couldn’t tell how much time had passed since his arrival.

Saya patiently waited as he fine-tuned Reu to be purely made of light.

“Stand here,” Kalos instructed.

Saya did as she was told. She stood on the spot where Kalos had pointed at before Kalos swung Reu across her neck.

“Nothing,” Saya said, but Kalos wasn’t done yet. He quickly pumped as much darkness as he could into Reu before cutting her again.

Saya shrugged her shoulders.

“Still nothing.” She said.

Kalosýni’s dropped Reu before sitting down.

“Do you know how long this is going to take-" Saya stopped as her eyes widened.

Kalos watched her tremble as she walked towards the cave's mouth.

He then felt a strange force pulling him into the wall, but due to Saya’s expression, Kalos decided not to resist as he slowly blended into the cave wall. Some of his face still poked out, allowing him to breathe and see.

“Mother… how many times must I say it before you learn?” A deep and rather familiar voice asked.

Saya slowly backed away as a man floated into the cave.

Kalosýni’s eyes narrowed as he saw an extremely tall man with beautiful purple eyes and long black hair.

The man, who Kalos deduced was Anton, glared at his mother before slapping her.

“STAY PUT!” Anton yelled as he paced around the cave.

“I’m starting to think that you do this on purpose,” Anton said as he placed his hands on his waist.

Saya sat motionless on the ground. She kept her gaze low as Anton glared at her.

“S-" She tried speaking.

“What? Speak up. Every second I spend here, countless worlds fall out of balance.” Anton said.

“I’m sorry,” Saya said, but this only infuriated Anton.

“What?” He asked before kicking Saya in the face, breaking her nose in the process.

“Sorry doesn’t bring back the trillions you killed. Sorry doesn’t rebuild the broken worlds or heal the countless scarred. If you’re truly sorry, you’ll never crawl out of this hole again!” Anton said before floating out of the cave.

Saya sat on the damp cave floor for some time before releasing Kalos from his stone prison.

Kalos stood up and walked towards the cave's mouth.

“Mmm…” He droned as toxic winds blew by.

The two sat in silence for some time.

Kalos then took a deep breath before turning to Saya.

“Listen, I’ll help you create your weapon, but I’d be far more efficient if I knew that my family was safe,” Kalos said as Saya stood up.

She slowly nodded before raising her hand.

Kalos felt himself rise off the ground as the space around them warped.

He eventually found himself engulfed in a never-ending nothingness. Saya looked out into the nothingness with a wistful look, but Kalos didn’t care.

They eventually returned to Kalosýni’s world.

Kalosýni’s feet touched the ground and his eyes quickly widened as he noticed that the carriage was gone.

He sent out a pulse of magic and found a rather suspicious life force.

Kalos walked over to where Kalnae was buried to find three other graves next to hers.

He knelt over what he felt was Raymond’s grave before completely falling to his knees.

He tried to cry, but tears wouldn’t fall.

He punched the ground softly before whispering his father’s name.

“I’m sorry.” Kalos wheezed.

He felt the pain that’s usually accompanied by tears, but for some painful reason, none fell.

Kalos summoned Reu before chopping Saya’s head off.

She instantly regenerated, but didn’t speak.

Kalos then stood up before walking south with Saya in tow.

“Won’t he punish you for doing this?” Kalos asked.

“It doesn’t matter. I’m used to it. All that matters is that you get the focus you need to craft my weapon.” Saya said.

They then spent the next few hours making their way southeast.

They eventually arrived at an open field that housed a rather large cave at its centre, but what caught Kalosýni’s attention was the gigantic Haevrul corpse next to the cave.

Kalos walked toward the cave only to be greeted by four elafriá and a human.

“Stop right there!” The human said, but Kalos ignored her as he made his way into the cave.

“What should we do? He’s way more powerful than Peeta and he looks pretty upset.” One of the elafriá said as Kalos beheld the sweet sight within the cave.

He saw a large silver beast with closed eyes and huge sharp teeth. Within its gentle grasp, slept a woman and a child.

Kalos tilted his head when he saw what looked like a glass man walking about.

[Hello Kalos.]

Peeta greeted.

“Hello,” Kalos said as he walked up to the large beast.

He then grabbed its arm and hugged it tightly.

“Thank you. Thank you so very much!” Kalos said as his chest ached even more.

Peeta lowered his muzzle before gently pushing Kalos towards where Estella was.

Kalos slowly walked into Peeta’s arm and knelt over the sleeping Estella.

[After witnessing… that, she broke. I’m no good with these types of things, but I did my best to keep her as healthy as possible.]

Peeta said as Kalos gently ran his hands through Estella’s hair.

He saw a sleeping Keema resting peacefully in Estella’s arms before noticing that the glass man was comically raising his fists as though he wanted to fight with Kalos.

“What’s wrong with him?” Kalos asked.

[Don’t mind silly old Glass. He’s just a bit defensive and strangely self-aware, even though he’s just a lump of my darkness.]

Peeta said as Glass punched the air in front of him.

Kalos tried smiling at this, but his face refused to move.

Peeta then turned his muzzle toward Saya.

[Mmm… She’s not dead yet. Is she that strong?]

Peeta asked with a growl.

“Yes. That and she’s immortal. I’m currently trying to figure out how to kill a being who’s just like her.” Kalos said as he walked out from Peeta’s arm.

[Does that mean you’re leaving?]

Peeta asked.

“Yes, but I will return,” Kalos said.

Peeta nodded his large head.

[The carriage is just outside. Take whatever you need.]

He said.

Kalos did as instructed.

He walked out into the snowy plane and quickly found the carriage.

He saw the indentation Saya created and tightly squeezed his fists before rummaging through the carriage.

After about ten minutes of searching, he finally had everything he needed.

Kalos made his way back to the cave.

[Oh?]

Peeta sounded as Kalos entered the cave.

[It could just be me, but you’re starting to look like the you from your vision.]

Peeta said.

Kalos looked at himself.

Yes, he had grabbed the scarf Eevana made for Crimwal, along with pieces of Raymond’s armour, two of Crimwal’s pots and his father’s pendant, but that was just so that he could feel close to them-

“Oh.” Kalos realized.

[Yes.]

Kalos tried to smile again, but failed.

“Goodbye,” Kalos said as he walked over to Saya.

[Goodbye, Kalos.]

Peeta said as space warped around Kalos and Saya.

Kalos felt himself be enveloped into the nothingness and quickly found himself falling.

He turned to Saya and found that her face was expressionless.

Kalos sighed before the veiled repository appeared below him.

“Would you prefer to work in the cave from before or…?” Saya asked.

“The cave will do,” Kalos said as they floated over to where the cave was.

They eventually reached the cave and Kalos wasted no time as he sat in a comfortable position.

Saya remained silent as Kalos closed his eyes.

Reu appeared in front of him and he began tweaking it.

Kalos dug into his very core to retrieve the brightest of his light and the darkest of his darkness.

He then pumped all of the pure magic he could muster into Reu, but this only made Reu sharper and more magically changed.

No, what Kalos wanted was for Reu to reach into the void.

The space between spaces was reachable. Kalos knew this as he had once accessed it.

But getting a weapon to do that would require a ton of power and luckily for Kalos, he had just that.

The chaotic realm that was the veiled repository trembled as Kalos created a dark device.

It was shaped like a tall rectangular prism that was hollow and had a strange rectangular cutout at its base.

It had many intricate parts to it and Kalos took inspiration from what he’d read in the journal of Romulus Xormae about the spire, but his knowledge was still lacking in some areas.

“I’m sorry, but we’re going to have to return to my world again,” Kalos said as he stood up.

“Not a problem at all. Anton only punishes me when I interact with his worlds. Otherwise, I can do some free-roaming with relatively no consequence." Saya said before transferring both she and Kalos to his world.

Kalos then erected four dark pillars and charged them with darkness.

A red portal appeared in front of Kalos.

“You’re not running away, are you?” Saya asked.

“No, you can come along-" Kalos stopped himself before looking in the direction of where Peeta, Estella and Keema were.

Saya had transported them to a spot quite far from the cave and so Kalos felt a little restless.

He sighed before jumping into the portal.

Saya joined him to find herself in a dark realm with a dark tower at its heart.

She felt that time was distorted within it, but she paid it no mind.

Kalos landed on the platform at the bottom of the dark tower and saw on its gross surface before closing his eyes.

He then created a dark rectangular canister and sent some of the dark realm's essence into it.

He spent what seemed like hours siphoning the essence of the dark realm into the canister before creating what looked like several little gears and screws.

Kalos worked tirelessly as he meticulously configured the parts he created. He then stood up and stomped on the dark platform as he sent some of his darkness into the spire of sin.

Nar' Agrun must have felt this because the dark realm trembled as Kalos raised his hands.

The spire of sin shifted and began rising as the darkness of Nar' Agrun rose.

That darkness funnelled down the spire of sin and washed down toward Kalos and his creations.

Kalos and Saya moved aside as darkness cascaded down the spire and off the platform, coating the dark pieces in the process.

The darkness eventually settled and Kalos fitted the gears he’d made into the dark canister.

Saya watched keenly as he worked.

“Can you sense magic?” Kalos asked.

“No, why?” Saya asked.

“If you could, you’d know just how powerful this device is, but you’d also know that it’s still not enough,” Kalos said as he worked.

“Oh? So what’s the point of all this?” Saya asked as Kalos pointed up.

“Now, we get the third piece,” Kalos said.

“What is it?” Saya asked.

“If you want me to destroy a stone wall, give me a hammer, but if you want me to kill a god, give me the stars," Kalos said.

“That’s not very specific,” Saya said.

“Open a hole to the void,” Kalos instructed and just as he said, Saya opened a small hole that led into the void.

It threatened to pull Kalos and Saya in, but Kalos stuck his dark device into the hole and Saya watched in awe as the device actively absorbed the nothingness of the void.

“How are you doing that?” She asked.

“I’m forcefully pulling at the void using that device. Let’s call it a dark eater. It's using extremely strong pincers. They’re actively pulling the void into the device and storing it. Once it finishes absorbing the amount of void I need, we’ll return to your realm and begin the construction of your weapon.” Kalos said as he sat down at the platform's edge.

He noticed that the ocean of darkness that was described in Romulus's journal was indeed far lower than the journal described.

Kalos let out a weak chuckle as he realized that Peeta was right.

“How long is this going to take?” Saya asked as she sat next to Kalos.

“I can't say. I don’t know what the void is. All I know is that it’s there and it's tangible as the worlds live within it. We’re kept tightly in its embrace and even though your son may shift things here and there, the void remains unchanged.” Kalos said.

“Mmm… you’re pretty resourceful, aren’t you,” Saya said, but Kalos scoffed.

“I just want to get back to my family, that’s all,”

“Mmm… I wish Anton saw me the way you see your family.” Saya said, but Kalos didn’t care. He wished that the device would hurry up and finish its business.

“I wish he didn’t hate me so,”

Kalos stood up and walked away from her.

“Where are you going?” Saya asked.

“Somewhere that’s not here. I hope you haven’t forgotten that you killed three of the people I loved. If I wasn’t so weak, I’d have tortured you for an eternity before even beginning to torture you. But I am weak, so I shall obey your commands. Oh and if you are a woman who has even a single shred of honour or mercy. You’ll let me return to my family after I create your weapon.” Kalos said as he walked towards the other side of the platform.

There, he sat and waited, but not thirty minutes passed before Saya walked in his direction.

She pretended to be inspecting the spire of sin as she looked around. Her dark red and black dress flew elegantly as Nar' Agrun’s dark winds blew by.

“So… will you need anything else to create the weapon? Maybe something in another world?” Saya asked, but Kalos remained silent.

“I’ll take that as a no.” She said as she paced around where Kalos was.

She then began humming a rather beautiful tune, but Kalos had grown tired of her presence.

He summoned all four of his Reu’s and jumped into the ocean of darkness.

Saya watched as he ripped through the ocean, killing hundreds, if not thousands of dark creatures.

Nar' Agrun trembled as Kalos took out his anger on any poor being which decided to exist in his path.

He tore his way through the darkness as he ripped into the bodies of his foes… or victims.

The dark realm must have realized that Kalos wanted something to kill and so, just as he made his way further into the dark ocean, Kalos saw not one, but one hundred Haevrul. They slowly emerged from the darkness as their flesh materialized.

Unfortunately, this also lowered the dark ocean even further, but Kalos didn’t care.

He flew over to the first Haevrul and drove straight into its eye.

The beast cried out in pain as Kalos dug into its brain and out of the back of its skull.

Covered in blood and pulsing with hate, Kalos then flew over to the second Haevrul in his way.

He dug his Reu’s into its forehead before a superstorm of blue lighting instantly cooked the beast.

Kalos then fell to the bottom of Nar' Agrun.

He raised his Reu’s before stopping himself.

If he broke Nar' Agrun, there was no telling what would happen to the rest of the world and so he dashed towards the third Haevrul in his way and ripped its legs to shreds.

Kalos then emerged from the dark waters and his body was assaulted by a storm of blue lighting as he fully charged his Reu’s.

He then shot at the Haevrul with all his might, nearly ripping the dark realm in two.

.

..

Kalos took deep and pained breaths as he yanked his Reu out of the skull of the last Haevrul.

He took comfort in knowing that the darkness from the mortal realm would eventually replenish that which Nar' Agrun lost.

Kalos slowly walked on the now dry ocean floor.

The spire of sin war several kilometres away, but Kalos wanted to delay returning to the spire as much as possible.

That’s when he saw it.

A saepenar, rising from the dark ocean floor.

Kalosýni’s heart ached even more as he tightened his grip on all of his Reu’s.

The saepenar looked at him with its large black eyes before the top half of its head slipped off.

Kalos walked past its body as it fell.

He would have regretted being alive if Estella, Keema and Peeta weren’t waiting for him above.

Kalos began humming the tune he’d heard Estella hum so many times before.

He fell to his knees as his chest tightened.

Yes!

Kalos celebrated as his face burnt up and his stomach twisted itself into knots.

But his face rapidly paled as no tears fell from his eyes.

“No.” Kalos wheezed.

“No. NO! NO!” He yelled into the darkness as it hung over him.

“Dad!”

“Crimwal!”

“Eevana!”