The jungle was silent.

  Not the hush of leaves in wind, or beasts slinking through dark branches —

  but the silence between life and something… else.

  ?

  Jarrell stood in a place without color.

  No ground. No sky. No weight.

  Just fog that curled like breath from a dead fire, and silence that felt like it remembered things.

  Then — a voice.

  Soft. Gentle. Trembling with memory.

  “You were never meant to arrive.”

  Rell turned.

  There, pulsing like a faint ember, floated a woman made of light and echo. Her body shimmered, fragmenting at the edges like smoke held in place by memory. Wings of feathered energy folded behind her. Her face was veiled — not out of secrecy, but grief.

  He blinked. “...The spirit.”

  She nodded. “Not a guide. Not a goddess. Just a mistake. A consequence.”

  ?

  She drifted closer, sadness crackling like static around her form.

  “When I died… my Grace did not scatter. It split.”

  She hesitated.

  “The other half fused into a corpse that had no soul. I didn’t mean to. But your soul… it was passing by. Your sacrifice. Your death. The energy was chaotic. You were caught in the crossfire.”

  Rell took a step back.

  “So I was never chosen. I was... hijacked?”

  She didn’t answer.

  Instead, she looked ashamed.

  “I wanted to ascend. Instead, I created a prison. You, me... and the other.”

  The fog churned — and for a moment, Rell saw something massive stir beneath it. Horns. Fangs. A twisted mirror of his own form.

  “The demon,” he whispered.

  “The demon.” she confirmed. “It saw the body as a relic. A vessel of potential. It clawed inside. I fought it. I sealed it. But my strength fades with time.”

  She placed a hand over her chest — her light flickering, briefly distorting into a familiar outline — his own.

  “We exist only because this body still exists. But it will not last. Not unless you choose to accept it fully.”

  Rell’s face hardened. “You want me to become one with it?”

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  “Yes.”

  “No.”

  His voice cracked — quiet but full of pain.

  “I didn’t ask for this. I didn’t ask to fight your war, or carry your sins. I want to go back. I want to see my sisters again. I want peace. I deserve peace.”

  The spirit drifted closer, almost collapsing in on herself.

  “I know.”

  ?

  Then, with a wave of her hand, the fog cleared — and Rell’s heart stopped.

  Brooklyn.

  His block. His building. His sisters.

  Alive.

  He saw them. Laughing. Cooking. One of them staring at a photo of him with red eyes.

  “...You can show me this?” Rell asked, trembling.

  “Yes.”

  “Then send me back. Let me go home.”

  She shook her head. “Not like this. Not until it’s whole. Not while the demon exists.”

  “Then kill it.”

  “I can’t. But you can.”

  ?

  She stepped forward now — hands glowing.

  “Live as if it is your body. Feel joy, pain, protect others. Bind this vessel to your soul. Only then will the demon have no foothold. Only then can I fulfill the promise: to send you back… in this body. Whole. Alive. Free.”

  She paused — light humming around her voice.

  “And once you accept it fully… the body will begin to grow. It will match your real age. Your spirit’s age. You’ll feel whole again — not trapped in a shell. But only if you unify.”

  Rell clenched his fists.

  He remembered the jungle.

  The Trials.

  Selena — burning. Screaming.

  His breath caught.

  “I... I killed her.” His voice broke. “I lost control. If I stay, I’ll just destroy more.”

  The angel flinched — as if feeling his guilt like a wound.

  “You did not kill her. But if you run from this… you may kill the rest.”

  ?

  For the first time, she kneeled.

  The glow faded. She looked human now — tired, haunted.

  “Please. Become one with the body. Choose to stay. Choose to fight for what’s left. Choose… good. Or the corruption will take you both.”

  Silence.

  Then…

  Rell closed his eyes.

  And whispered:

  “…Alright.”