Fulk and I parted ways after our discovery in the lab underneath Dr. Yves' home, but in later interviews Garbage told me what happened next to the murderer.

Fulk ascended a spiral staircase in a narrow spire, following closely behind Garbage.

"How much further is it?"

"Not too far," Garbage grumbled. "Be patient!"

"You don't have to do this, Fulk."

The voice startled both Garbage and Fulk. Both turned to see the source, Fulk with his mace ready and Garbage with a pair of shears pointed like a knife.

Behind them, a few steps down the staircase, stood a young man whose form was translucent, with a faint golden glow around him. The young man wore pure white robes with a royal blue sash belt, and a thin ring of light hovered above his head.

"Giradin?" Fulk said, lowering his weapon.

The saint nodded to him. "It's good to see you again, Fulk."

"What..." Fulk reached out to touch Giradin's shoulder, his hand passing right through his form. A strange tingling sensation traveled up Fulk's arm and into his chest, causing him to yank away his arm. "Are you a ghost?"

"A spirit," Giradin said, "But not what you would call a 'ghost.' I do not wander this world aimlessly, as ghosts do. I've come here specifically to speak to you."

"I..." Fulk glanced back at Garbage. The homunculus was dumbstruck, his mouth hanging open and his eyes wide. "I'm honored," Fulk said. "What do you need to talk about?"

Giradin gave a sympathetic look. "The course of action you're about to take, Fulk. When I met you, you were a murderer making your penance. During our time together, it was so obvious you wanted to be more than a murderer, to be a good man, but you thought it impossible. You continued to do whatever suited you at the time, trying to use evil to do a little good."

"Here to lecture me?" Fulk grunted and folded his arms. "Some things never change."

"Fulk, when have I ever lectured you?" Giradin asked.

Fulk's expression softened and he hung his head in shame. "I... well, you were so damn perfect after you became a saint that I always thought..."

"That I thought less of you?" Giradin asked.

Fulk sighed. "Aye..."

Giradin shook his head. "Never. You were always my brother. That's why I pardoned you."

"The day you pardoned me I'd come back to kill you," Fulk said. "Turning in Levanna was supposed to be my way back into your good graces long enough to club you over the head."

"I know," said Giradin.

Fulk's eyebrow raised skeptically, "If you knew, why did you pardon me anyway?"

Giradin shrugged. "If you were there to kill me, why didn't you go through with it?"

There was a brief moment of silence between the two of them, after which Fulk finally said, "For the same reason you pardoned me. You were my brother."

Giradin pointed his finger at Fulk. "And that was your first step toward true redemption. The witch had you convinced that you had to kill me to be free of the spirit I'd put in you, but out of compassion for a brother you chose not to. Now you are your own man again, free of the spirit of Dashiel, and any other spirits you don't want."

Fulk nodded and gave a half-smile. "I haven't felt strange for a while. I just... slowly recovered, I guess."

"But now you are faced with another test, Fulk," said Giradin. "It is one thing to keep from murdering your brother. It is another thing entirely to show mercy to your enemy."

Fulk's brow furrowed and his fists clenched. "That bastard up there created Vermin! All the people who died because of him..."

"And God will judge him," said Giradin. "His crimes will not go unpunished. Have faith in that, if nothing else."

Fulk paced, shoving the still un-moving, dumbstruck Garbage out of his way. Garbage stumbled and caught himself on the stairs, but said nothing. The homunculus' eyes never left Giradin. Fulk snarled as he spoke. "What if Dr. Yves makes more monsters and they kill more innocent people? Ever think of that?"

"That would be terrible," said Giradin. "But you're not going up there to kill him to protect those people, otherwise you'd be just as satisfied with taking him captive. No, you're planning to murder him to satisfy your own rage."

"And why shouldn't I be fucking angry?" Fulk snapped. "After Isselhan, Elekvaz, the Monastery of St. Ida... all those people dead because of what that piece of shit has done!"

"If you murder him in anger you will never be free of your sin," Giradin answered. "This is your time of testing, Fulk. God wants to wash away all your sins, bring you into the Kingdom of Heaven. But you have to repent. Don't murder Dr. Yves. Take the final step toward becoming a new man, and leave that blasphemous alchemist for God to deal with."

Fulk grunted and smacked the nearest wall with his mace. The bricks cracked and dust flew up. "Damn you! Why? Why do you have to take this from me? I'm about to avenge all those we lost... all those innocent people, and you want me to show mercy to a man who obviously has none? Fuck you! Where do you get the right? From God? Well, where the Hell does HE get the right? I want this! I want my God damn revenge!"

Giradin shook his head. "God will damn your revenge if you choose to take it, Fulk."

"Then fuck him too!" Fulk said, striking the wall once again.

"Fulk..." Giradin said, his voice and expression both pleading. "Please... don't murder Dr. Yves. Such a thing can only end in ruin for you. The Bowls of Wrath are about to be poured out upon Christendom. Please please... don't be one of the people subject to God's wrath when that day comes."

Fulk looked up at Giradin, the two of them exchanging a long silence. After what seemed like days, Fulk finally said, "I can't promise anything. I'm sorry."