- BUT YOU WON'T STOP WORKING A MASTER
PIECE. IN THE FLESH, IT'S YOUR PUZZLE.
(puzzle pieces, saint motel)

"He won't last very long now." Earthquake says worriedly, resting her hands on her lap. Blaze's eyes moves towards Thorn, who rests on her shoulder; the female spirit had forced the both of them to separate bodies momentarily.

"How long does he have left?" Blaze asks.

She puts her hand on Thorn's cheek, "Less than a week." The news left him utterly speechless. "His body is weakening." A sad smile decorates her features, "That is the life of a wish-granting supernatural."

Blaze huffs, crossing his arms. He didn't like the truth one bit; Thorn had managed to live this long with Earthquake's conjoined soul.

"Isn't there a way we can save him?"

Earthquake drops her fingers, "I suppose, yes." This made the boy perk up with a huge smile. "There's a solution to it. But only he knows."

"Does that mean we're going to have to wait?"

She couldn't mask the hesitation in her voice as she replies, "Yes." They both look at the supernatural, whose life is now limited. "He's in deep sleep. All we can do to save the both of them, is to hope that he eventually wakes up."

Thorn's face distorts slightly, earning the attention of the two Wonders. He cracks an eye open. "Were you guys talking about me before?" A smirk graced on his lips.

"Were you awake all this time?!"

"I'm touched!" Both of Thorn's eyes eventually flutters open, and he wraps his arms around Earthquake's waist, "Welcome back, mama."

"I told you not to call me that." She scolds him lightly.

"OI!" Blaze yells, diving between them and pulling Thorn off Earthquake, who smiles at the boys' actions. Thorn pouts, hanging onto the First Wonder's arms as the other number drags his legs. "DON'T TOUCH EARTH LIKE THAT, YOU'RE DISRESPECTFUL!"

Earth laughs softly, "It's alright, Blaze."

Thorn sticks his tongue out, "Sucks to be you!"

"Cih," Blaze turns away from the pair and sits himself into the chair with a visible vexed expression. He doesn't try to let this bother him. "Oh, Thorn," The question he had wanted to ask pops back into his mind, and this time he was sure that the said apparition would answer it.

"Hm~?" Thorn hums, "Are you jealous?"

With an irked face, he smacks Thorn on the leg and averts his attention to Cyclone, "You said something about Cyclone's soul." He leans forward in his chair, "This has to be related with what happened fifty years ago, correct?"

"Ah.. fifty years ago today." Earthquake's eyes drooped.

"The day you died." Blaze harrumphs coldly, staring pointedly at them. "What exactly happened? I saw you die." He was referring to the First Wonder, who nods hesitantly. "Then why and how did you merge bodies with him?" He looks at Thorn up-and-down.

"It's best if we hear it from the person himself."

"Right," Blaze crosses his legs together, "Care to explain?"

Thorn's eyes flicker, rising from his position and sits upright. "Fifty years ago, hm?" He grasps his other hand, deep in thought. "Oh, I remember now." He frowns sadly. "The day that I bent the laws of Life and Death itself." He looks down, guiltily. "The day I tried to revive someone."

"You what?!"

"Just listen, okay? I know, it was so stupid of me. But it was fifty years ago. 1970. What did you expect from a clueless, 16 year-old who's family had chosen to abandon him?"

Desperate, was the word that entered Blaze's mind.

Thorn's face was agonized with pain, nostalgia and also the constant yield of regret. "I tried to revive my dead twin brother. As a human with nothing left decades ago, all I could think of was how to have a friend by my side." He gulps his tears in, "And I'm so selfish for wishing that."

"T-That's not selfish.."

"It is." The supernatural continues, "So I traveled to any type of matter that had a link to the spirit world- because I knew that eventually, I'd find someone who is able to revive the dead. Someone. A necromancer or something was what I had in my mind."

Necromancers are known to be humans who have signed the pact with the devil, learning black magic and using them to their fortune. There aren't many in the world, but the numbers have started to grow since then. Earthquake, who heard this, huffs away. As the guardian of life herself, she disagrees with the idea of bringing back the dead.

"And that's how I found her, the deity of life." Thorn turns to Earth, who dips her head in agreement. "She was the grand master of the time, yeah? Well she agreed to help me out after hearing my entire story, with one condition."

"H-Hold on," Blaze raises a hand, "Earthquake's a deity?"

The said woman exhales, "My secret's out now. I used to be."

"Hoo.. okay. This is a lot to take in. What's the condition?"

Thorn fixes his dark, green eyes into Blaze's scorching orange ones. "You know what they say? Eye for eye, tooth for tooth.."

"Soul for soul." Blaze whispers the remaining part, earning a generous bob of Thorn's head. "So you died in exchange for your brother to live?" He gawks, splitting his attention between the former goddess and the apparition in front of him. "W-Why?!"

"Because he deserves to live, more than I do."

"That doesn't make any sense, you idiot! Everyone deserves to live a life of their own, and nobody's worth less than anyone else." He couldn't believe what he was saying, but he kept on going, "Don't you remember? In the end, we're all the same underneath the same sky!"

"You're right." Earthquake kindles her head to the left.

Thorn agrees with a curt nod, "But that wasn't what I thought. You see, humans are always so sensitive. They tend to make decisions with their emotions and experiences, rather than logical reasons." He tilts his head at that, "So tell me, Blaze. What would you do if Ice was killed?"

"I-I'd.." Cry a lot, become depressed- or wish to revive him.

"Exactly," The green-eyed supernatural grins, "Earthquake died mysteriously, fifty years ago was what they said.. well it isn't exactly a mystery." He scratches the nape of his neck, "Her deity form passed away because it was too deep into the dead world."

"Can't you form it into simpler sentences?"

"Chicken-head. In other words, Earthquake died reviving my brother. Why? Because," He reaches forward and places his index finger on the flower that Blaze had put down on the table. In an instant, it turns black, its leaves started to rot and the stem shrinking quickly.

Blaze stood up, unable to believe his eyes, "S-So y-you're.."

"I apparently hold the power of Death." Thorn retracts his digit then clenches both fists on his lap. "And those who continually touch me will eventually lose years off their life."

"H-How does that happen?" He pries forward.

The green-eyed apparition said nothing further about the matter and flutters his eyes close, "And that's how my brother died in my own hands." He whispers the last part, "I was the one who killed him, unknowingly. And I still regret it to this day."

"Wait, does that still apply to now?"

Thorn doesn't reply. A ghost of a smile graced his lips.

But they all knew that there was only one response to that.

woohoo :) sneak peak of the lil
chapter series ahead! everything's going to
be unpacked about thorn's past.. lol
i could barely sleep last night! too excited ✨