Missing having friends, and a job and feeling like I'm moving forward in life. But I guess that's just how the train goes for everyone this year. This is the end of the arc I envisioned several years ago when I was working in NYC. Glad to finally get here, and if you're looking for something else to read, there's always Grand Delusion. Thanks for sticking with me all these years.

"My brother didn't always used to be like this." Xiao Gui stood on the edge of the cave, just behind Lineir, whispering to his back. Dried tears carved tracks of salt down her porcelain skin as she tried to explain all she had to say, but it was pointless. No amount of tears could mend a heart that was no longer there. "Well, he was always a scoundrel. That much is true. But he didn't used to be a lich. You're probably wondering how we can be related, me, a human, and him, a denizen of the Hells." She paused, seeing if Lineir was listening, but there was no reaction from the man in front of her. Just specks of white ash crumbling away as his body continued to fade as it had been doing ever since the Three Step King made his last blow irrelevant.

"..." Lineir was silent.

"Well, it is odd isn't it? We're not related by blood. The Three Step King is his father, but I'm not truly the Three Step King's daughter. Remember when we first met? At the Midnight Pond?" She paused again, sneaking a glance at Lineir's back. Some sign that there was someone inside listening to her. She didn't know why she cared so much but she hoped he was. "My father, was known to the forces of Humanity as Lord Midnight, one of the four generals of the Unbound One. I was born to him in a special situation right before the eve of the final battle. My spirit was special, a spirit of the sword, one which was incomplete, bound to fail without the utmost care. However, my father was about to enter the most perilous battle of his life, of Humanity's very existence. How could he have time to worry about me, a newborn child, not even a cultivator yet?"

"..." Lineir's stoic figure did not move.

"He sealed me in a crystal, a massive sword of pure amethyst imbued with 108 scriptures and pillars. A copy of the seal of the Heavens themselves. Then he marched off to the final battle. A battle from which he never returned. However, Lord Midnight had another name, one used by another people. To the denizens of the Hells he was known as the Midnight King, for before the final battle, the Hells and Humanity were allies against the Heavens. At that time, the Three Step King was but a young cultivator in the melee. He survived the frantic chaos and escaped, and my father entrusted him with a task. To find me, and to protect me from the Heaven's wrath. It took many years, a generation to undue the seals and to figure out how to fix the flaws in my soul. But the Three Step King never stopped. He found me and took me in, taught me the way of the sword even though I am a human and he is a demon. I'm sorry Lineir. I couldn't let his son die in front of me. No matter if he deserved it. I owe him too much." Xiao Gui's tears glistened and she took a step forward, wanting to reach out and touch Lineir. However, she did not dare to step past him and look back upon his face. She was too terrified of what she would see behind the ever unravelling white ash. "Don't you have anything to say?"

"..." Lineir was silent for so long Xiao Gui almost thought he would not answer. But then he whispered in a dead voice, "Why are you telling me this."

"I..." Xiao Gui's voice trembled, the tears coming ever faster. "I just wanted you to know!"

"Do you seek forgiveness from the one you invalidated? My purpose is gone, my master dead, my cultivation failed. Do you really think it matters if you tell me why?" Lineir shook, his body vibrating for a split second. The white ash curling off his skin came ever faster, wispy motes trailing off into the empty sky. "Go."

"I...I...I'm so sorry...!" Xiao Gui reached out to him, she stepped past his back to stand beside him and look at his face, but when she saw the missing tracks of skin, the great voids of his face which had turned to ash, she grew afraid to touch him, afraid that the slightest disturbance might hasten his demise. She looked him all over, the tears flowing freely over her beautiful face and then settled on his finger. Gently, as gently as she could, she reached out and held the index finger on his hand. It was cold, cold and dead though the ash had not yet reached it yet. Then she whirled and turned, unable to face him anymore. The empty dead eyes, devoid of anything but Madness never looked at her, but she could feel them following her. They would haunt her forever, a demon in her heart.

"..."

"I'll stop bothering you then. Goodbye, Lineir!"

**********************************************************************

"You made my daughter cry." The Three Step King's voice was not stern. He simply spoke the truth and Lineir didn't bother to answer.

"..."

"I...I interfered with a fight amongst juniors." Though he had faced down angels, the Three Step King had no idea how to face the dying boy in front of him. "I can't save you, but...I can offer you many things. Whatever you want."

"Let me kill your son." Lineir's voice was cold, a cruel voice. One no one would ever have associated with him in the past.

"I can't do that. Ask something else." The Three Step King replied. "My power is vast but I have but one son."

"..."

"Anything. Ask me anything, human child. I owe you. Do you know how many would wish for a favor from me?" The Three Step King's voice rose. Lineir turned his head for a moment, and then the dead tone came again.

"Bring back my master."

"I...I can't do the impossible." The Three Step King replied. Lineir's expression remained stunted, but if one could see through the ash, perhaps they could see what was left of his lips lift in disdain. He smirked. Something appeared in his hand. An orb clouded in darkness.

"My sister's soul is here then. It should be simple for one so powerful as you...King. Resurrect her with a new body. Give her the life of eternal peace she would have had if not for me." Lineir tossed the orb to the Three Step King who caught it and stared inside.

"I can purify the darkness within and create a body for her. I will train her myself, she will be powerful enough to sweep aside all her foes-" The Three Step King started but Lineir cut him off.

"NO! She should not have to fight. The eternal battle of cultivators, the death and the killing. She deserves none of it. Make her life comfortable, serve as her shield against all, cherish her with the most nourishing of Celestial medicines. But do not make her fight. That is your job." He uttered and the Three Step King fell silent.

"Is that all?" He asked.

"..."

"I'll let you be then."

********************************************************************

The Solar Martial God appeared one night, at the edge of the cave, above the cliff and joined Lineir at his vigil. At this point, great tracts of his body were missing under his robes, faded away. He was halfway gone, but still standing, a testament to the strength of his Third Heart.

"I'm sorry this happened. I asked you to come." The Solar Martial God said. "I didn't come out to protect you. We didn't anticipate so many players."

"It wasn't your plan." Lineir replied, his voice little more than a hiss. "Why apologize for someone else's misdeeds?"

"Because I was part of it. I may have not been the mind who thought of it, but I was the hand who executed it. I'm sorry, your soul is gone, your body too damaged. Not even my healing powers can bring back that which is no longer there." The Solar Martial God sounded truly sorry, but Lineir saw through the warmth in his voice. "Our side will greatly suffer from your loss. Perhaps the Heavens will finally wipe us out, without the disciple of the Nine Paths."

"..." Lineir didn't answer.

"I'll leave you now. I must report to the Lord of the Necropolis."

"..."

****************************************************************

The bunny stopped by a few nights later. At this point, Lineir had disintegrated to the point where he was but a wraith, some dark figure trailing white ash upon the cliff's edge. An orange eye stared at Lineir, and a furred paw reached out to try to touch his leg. 

"..."

Unable to get a response, the bunny tore a hole through space and entered the void with a sad expression on its face. A burning tear fell upon the rock as the portal closed, melting through the stone.

"..."

****************************************************************

On the last night, as Lineir's Third Heart was on the brink of collapse, a surprise visitor appeared. His bald mercurial head twisted out of the shadows and formed into the strange man that was Amalgate. He examined Lineir curiously before cursing.

"Unbelievable. I can't even devour you. You burnt your Second Heart completely. Not even a scrap left." The powerful man eyed Lineir hungrily but when he did not get a response he turned sentimental.

"You're like him you know. Not as strong of body. Nor of mind. But the will to give up everything. That's something he would have done. Not that he ever would have needed to. He would never have severed everything trying to reach the pinnacle. It's funny that you should turn to ash like he did. But you know, I've been wondering something recently. That guy...he was so strong. Even the Heavens themselves shouldn't have been able to kill him. And yet...they still exist and he is gone. Sometimes I wonder though...what if he's still out there somewhere? I can't imagine how, but what if...?"

"..."

Amalgate shook his head disappointedly, disappearing into the shadows once more as he left.

"I guess I'll leave you then."

*****************************************************

When Lineir's Third Heart cracked, he felt it. The pain was like nothing he had ever experienced, and he was forced to seal it away. Even still, he couldn't suppress it completely, and a shudder rose through his body which shook away the final traces of ash. He looked up at the sky with a face missing all but his red eyes filled with Madness. Gradually, even they began to fade, turning black as the light left them. To a passerby, all they would see would be this strange, hanging robe, a faint white ashen cloud blowing away in the wind, and the vague shape of what had once been a man inside.

I'm sorry Mei. So sorry. You told me to climb the stairway to the Heavens in your stead, but I stumbled on the same step you did, even when you showed me the way. Your foolish disciple is coming to see you early. I wonder...will we meet again?