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Irene followed suit, meeting my look with one of her own – a hasty look, an almost pleading look, imploring me to continue hearing her out. That what she was declaring wasn’t as batshit as she had made it sound.

“Most of the work has already been done, I had Sera see to that. That’s why I had you bring her. At first, it was just a test, just a series of random things I would have her do, I was just curious… but as soon as I learned what she was capable of doing, I knew this might just be possible.”

So this was where Sera came into the mix. A lab partner of hers in this mad science experiment that was going on here.

“And just what was she capable of doing?” I asked.

“It’s… hard to get into the specifics,” Irene said, her lips flattening in search of an answer. “Sera’s different. The magic she wields is… atypical of you and me or from anything else I know, to be honest. Hers does not stem from her intrinsic nature as a Fey, it can’t even be classified as magic what she’s able to do… or at least not any kind of magic that I’m aware of. Though there are similarities… in technique, in process… it’s sparse, rare, few and far between.”

And for a brief moment there, she got hopelessly lost in theory-crafting than actual answering and she was so engrossed in her own thoughts, I didn’t want to disturb her.

“Her story. Sera’s history. As I recall, she was – what?” Irene asked finally, glancing at me sharply. “A being touched by Lady Enstar?”

.....

“According to her lore, yeah,” I quickly answered. “As an infant, thrown down the well, Enstar sustained her, kept her alive.”

“Then, I suppose that’s it. She’s able to do what she can through Lady Enstar. Her powers, her prowess with them, harnessed from Death itself. It’s remarkable,” Irene peered at me again, a hardened glint flashing only briefly. “And also dangerous.”

Dangerous.

And if in the wrong hands, if given free rein – free will – a simple act of defiance, a slight change of heart… simply catastrophic. The very same girl, the very same hands, still wishing to be free.

Mmm…

“But, wait, hold on,” I frowned. “Sera’s a fictional being, isn’t she? She’s from a game, from Astra. There’s no account of her in your world. She isn’t even supposed to exist. So her abilities, her affinity with death – it shouldn’t be real.”

“Your Elf is too, isn’t she?” Irene pointed out. “She seems pretty real to me.”

“The logistics of it,” I clarified. “I just don’t – ”

“You made it real, remember?” Irene said, heavy eyes harkening darker times. “There’s a reason why summoning beings isn’t a regular occurrence, why it took years, hundreds of attempts, hundreds of talented men to even bring your father into existence again. For that one brief moment in time, when you were hunkered down and giving it your all, reality itself had to adhere to you, and it did. You made Sera real.”

Before I could even speak, or even think, I felt a sudden jolt stiffen my fingers. Irene laid her hands above mine, taking them and gently caressing them with hers.

“Which is why I know you can do what I need you to do,” she said. “Because you’ve done so much more beyond that already.”

Vote of confidence. She was frighteningly good at instilling that, honestly. Making every insurmountable hurdle feel like a small little hop over a crack in the sidewalk.

She stared at me with that earnest gaze, spoke to me with that softness in her voice… and suddenly conquering death felt like nothing more than weathering through a mild fever.

Utterly irresistible in more ways than one.

“Say I’m going along with all of this for now. That… that I agree to go against death or whatever,” I said slowly, taking a breath of pure apprehension. “How would you make me go about doing something like that anyway?”

The slightest hint of compliance, and here she was smiling like she has it all from me.

Probably does, honestly.

“As I was saying earlier, I made a breakthrough with Sera. I won’t wear you down with the details. So I’ll just… let’s just say I had her make for me an air filter of sorts.”

“An air filter?”

“Think of Lady Enstar’s influence as a sort of… pollutant, alright? Bad air, dirty air, and it’s everywhere, okay? And slowly, gradually, even as we are speaking, it is being filtered out of this space until it is barely there.”

“Barely – ? Wait, how do you know if it’s even working? Does Lady Death leave an odor you can smell or…?”

“Ria,” Irene simply said, nudging towards the white door at the end of the hall. “She’s getting hotter. Lady Enstar’s influence on her is waning. The dream is fading.”

And then she sighed, lifting her hands up and away into tightened fists resting atop the counter.

“But it is not enough. In order to wake her, we need to fully cleanse this place of Lady Enstar’s presence. You will need to keep her away, shut her out.”

“And how am I supposed to do that?” I asked.

“Form a barrier,” she said. “Just like your mother had that one time before. One that Lady Enstar may not be able to come through.”

I could have fallen out of my seat. Part of me was genuinely convinced I misheard. The rest of me just completely stopped functioning at this point.

My lips fell open, but my jaw could only move in a stammer.

“I… but… I-I don’t think I know how to – ”

“You’ve dismantled one. It’s the same process but reverse,” Irene quickly interjected. “And you have. In paintball, you made one for yourself, I didn’t forget. You cheater.”

“That was different. This… This is bigger, Irene.”

“I’ll teach you. You’ll get the hang of it soon enough. I know you, and I know you will.”

“If it’s just a barrier and the know-how you need. Couldn’t you just make one yourself?”

“In order for this work, I need it to be extraordinary,” she said. “And you are as extraordinary as it gets.”

To me, it wasn’t a matter of confidence or capabilities. Whether or not I can actually make this barrier of hers was another matter entirely.

Something else was bothering me instead.

“We do this, we wake her up, Irene,” I said, lifting my shoulders into a shrug. “Have you even thought about what she’d say?”

She closed her eyes, shifted herself, and later, quietly, muttered out words that clearly had gone through a bit of deep contemplating.

“Which is why I don’t intend to keep her awake. The barrier won’t hold, Sera’s work will fade. Lady Enstar will resurface no matter what we do. But for a while, a few hours… just enough time to actually celebrate tonight with her. That should be okay, right?”

“Even if it’s only for a while,” I continued on. “Irene, you know what she wants. Is it really alright to do this to her?”

For once, her persistence faltered. For once, she couldn’t answer right away.

“I don’t know,” she admitted quietly. “Which is partly the reason why I decided to delegate the final task to you. I want you to be the one to decide whether we should do this, whether if this is right. If it was up to me, I’d let selfishness cloud my judgment. But since it’s you…” a smile flashed amidst her sullenness. “Well, I trust you far more than I do myself.”

There it was again, that softness, that assurance. The weight of the whole world could be on my shoulders, but just upon glimpsing her, and it’ll all feel as light as a feather.

Yet somehow the weight I feel now just feels a whole lot heavier than that.

“Whether we do this or we don’t, let every set up I made go to waste,” Irene spoke up again. “I don’t mind either choice so long as you’re the one making it. Because then I’ll know the right choice has been made.”

“You really trust me this much, huh?”

“Of course I do,” she smiled again. “You’re you.”

There was still so much more to discuss, so many more questions to ask, so many more answers to give… but then, out of nowhere, the doorbell rang, a three-chimed melody resounding throughout the house; there was a scraping sound, and Irene plopped out of her seat, heading towards the front door.

“You have plenty of time to come to a decision,” she said, glancing back toward me. “Midnight’s still a couple hours away, after all.”

The doorbell rang again, and Irene picked up the pace.

“For now, some dinner with you sounds nice.”