I woke for the first time, my mind was sluggish and new, habits and reasons still unformed, uncreated. But now things were different somehow.

  My first awareness was to suffering. Not my suffering, but the suffering of a large piece of me. Half of my whole. I wasn’t her, but I could feel its echoes all the same, the way tears stuck to my cheeks, the way my chest ached with sobs that were now silent.

  I let it sit for a moment, I let myself feel and take note of her pain, feeling as fresh tears welled up at her suffering. Why did the world have to be so cruel to a person? She was a person, much more of a person than she ever thought she could be.

  But she was safe now. I would make sure of it.

  I stood up, my expression peaceful, but pained. Pained at the suffering around me as people cried and friends hugged corpses. Eliax had been alone a moment ago, but now everyone was back, bearing witness to the death and destruction. By the sparks that brought the heavens into existence, it was so painful, so full of emotion.

  I wanted to go around and hug each person one by one.

  Someone materialized beside me, her eyes violent, her posture crazed. She surveyed the area, finally turning to look at me. “Sparks! You’re alright?! I felt something happen!” she paused as she took in my expression. “Eliax? You’re… crying?” She seemed utterly baffled at that.

  I shook my head, still watching the pain around me, feeling it fill me up, “They’re all crying, Eliax is crying too, Kinthek died, Taenseva died, Ashevian died, Talfaxin died. I hardly even know their names.” A fresh load of tears emptied themselves from my eyes.

  Fora seemed taken aback, she hesitated, “Eliax?”

  I shook my head again, she didn’t understand. “Eliax is resting. I’m sorry, I just-” I sobbed, “Oh they hurt her so much!”

  Fora stepped forward, putting her hands on my shoulders, in support. “Who are you?” she asked calmly, but I could tell she was worried.

  So I stepped forward and hugged her tightly, feeling her own pain. Hugs were good, they let you just squeeze all the emotion out. “I’m the part of you that wants to know why.” I found myself whispering. “I’m the part that motivates you, I’m the part that sees the world and looks for the stories in it. I look for all that pain so someone will feel it.” I felt the tears continue to fall, “I don’t have a name yet.”

  Fora seemed shocked at first, but she barely even hesitated before she hugged me back, unreserved and just as tightly. Squeezing that emotion out as we both cried, “I always knew it would happen, that we would keep fracturing.” She sobbed, “Sparks I’m so sorry you had to appear at a time like this!” She withdrew, looking around at the others with their own tears. “We’ve been… so fractured, me and Eliax. Is it… really better to be apart? If it means we can’t understand each other?”

  I smiled, still crying, we needed each other. That’s why we existed. “It’ll be okay, Fora, I can do this for us. Just rest.”

  Fora nodded, and then dismissed her clone body, her mind and my own melding back together like a long lost puzzle piece. Eliax in the back, curled up against the pain, was embraced by both of us. It’s alright to be in pain.

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  Finally, I got to my feet, walking toward the first person who was filled with that pain. I knelt beside her, a red-haired woman who clung to a small dragon. He was barely the size of a horse. I let my eyes stray to the dead as I knelt beside the two of them. “Can you tell me about them?” I asked softly.

  Filfinde looked up and met my eyes, she seemed to understand that I wasn’t quite the same person she’d come to know. She opened her mouth, her throat hoarse from crying. The dragon that was circled around her whimpered slightly, clinging tighter to her. “Ash… Taenseva… Kinthek… Talf…”

  “Yes.” I confirmed, sitting down attentively, “Tell me, what’s something that always made them happy?”

  Filfinde sobbed, but she started talking, and that was enough. The other bedraggled victors were drawn by her speech, stepping forward and adding their own memories to the tale. Stories of things they’d cherished, things they’d done. Stories that were like a balm for the pain, even if it was still there. Some were wounded, others were whole, but each one had something to add.

  It was painful to think that these things would never happen again, but that was the nature of stories. They were there to remember joy. The art was in how its fleeting nature made it more precious. Even to remember it brought that same precious knowledge.

  I nodded every so often, smiling when the others smiled and crying when they felt the need.

  When it came time to speak of Kinthek, Eliax stirred finally. I stepped back from control, letting her come to the front. A new sob echoed from her, but none of the Leftbites seemed to notice it, it wasn’t out of place after all.

  They spoke as the hours passed by, and slowly, ever so slowly, the group picked themselves up. The pain wasn’t gone, but it could become a part of their purpose. As they stood up and began to take stock of the wagons, I found myself back in control. I looked around at their still sharp pain. I took in their emotions and purpose.

  “The last person with magesight died recently.” I blinked as a silvery figure appeared out of the corner of my eye. Astral. “If you ever make it back to Virna, you’ll be the only one.”

  I turned to face him, taking in the form that I understood was halfway between Niortak and Larborak. “I’m sorry, I can try and get Fora or Eliax to come out?”

  “No, I’m talking to you. Don’t you think it’s strange how Eliax stopped being able to control her instinctive teleports? But Fora could still do so? Don’t you think it’s strange how easily Eliax could grasp her soul abilities, and yet Fora could hardly shape it herself?” Astral raised an eyebrow, boring into me with his eyes.

  “That’s connected to what you said before then?” I furrowed my brow.

  “You’re their ability to see. Both literally and figuratively, to understand and to look. But you’ve been here all this time. You were too patient to ever force your way forward, because you didn’t want the two of them to lose something that could connect them. They needed to realize separately that they are so much less than they are together. You recognised this, even before you decided to fully form.” He paused, “It’s extraordinary that someone who hasn’t existed until today could make a decision like that, taking into account damage, and pain.”

  I felt my eyes widen, sparks. “I’m not-”

  “I’m not going to say what you are or what you aren’t. But my friend, you were the piece that first attracted my attention. You’re the balance between them. When you return to Virna, they will recognise your uniqueness. You can see the runes that make up the world. You can see the connections. You can balance things instinctively. Balance the pain with joy, balance the sorrow with hope.”

  I gaped at him, eyes still wide, “Then you lied to them then! Fora and Eliax! You said they were the ones doing that!”

  “And yet they are. They are perfectly worthy of using my title. But you who are nameless, are also worthy of it.” He regarded me for a moment before inclining his head, “On Virna, they will name you by your unique ability. I recognise this for them by the will of my grandmother, Time herself. I give you the title they someday will, it is a pleasure to meet you, Runesight.”