"We're taking him to the Holy Church," Xylia said, addressing the group. "Here in Jenora. After what you sensed... we need specialists. Priests who've dealt with cursed mana before."
Astral nodded. "The Church has resources. Knowledge. It's a good choice."
Vale glanced at the sun—late afternoon now, edging toward evening.
"We should go as well. Our mission takes us east." She looked at Piers one last time. "Be safe, little one."
Milliana stepped forward and gently booped Piers on the nose.
"Goodbye, tiny human. I still think we should've kept you."
Xylia's grip tightened fractionally, but she smiled. "Thank you. All of you."
The two groups separated—Vale's party heading east, the family turning toward the church district.
But as they walked away, Milliana paused.
She'd felt it. Just for a second.
The air around the child had rippled with heat. Like standing too close to a forge.
She glanced back at the family disappearing into the crowd, then hurried to catch up with her party.
After several minutes of silence, Vale finally asked, "How bad is it? Really?"
Astral didn't answer immediately.
"Bad," he said finally. "That mana isn't just unstable. It's growing. And I don't think the suppressant will hold it for long."
"Will he survive it?" Borin asked.
Astral looked back toward where the family had disappeared.
"I don't know. But if he doesn't learn to control it..." He paused. "Then one day, that storm is going to break free. And everyone near him when it happens is going to die."
[NULL SYSTEM - STATUS UPDATE]
[CORRUPTION LEVEL: 44%]
[SIGNIFICANT REDUCTION ACHIEVED]
[EMOTIONAL RESPONSES TODAY: 4]
Excitement (escape): -0.5%
Annoyance (catfolk): -0.5%
Amusement (father's joke): -2%
Joy (family chaos): Additional stabilization
[MEMORY FRAGMENT "RINO": 31% INTEGRITY]
[CURRENT ATTACHMENTS:]
RIGAS (Father): 15% (+11%)
XYLIA (Mother): 15% (+10%)
STYX (Sister): 14% (+8%)
RINO (Original Sister): 31% (Stable)
[ANALYSIS: FAMILY BONDING THROUGH SHARED ABSURDITY HIGHLY EFFECTIVE]
[NEW DISCOVERY: HUMOR IS A POWERFUL EMOTIONAL CATALYST]
[RECOMMENDATION: SEEK ADDITIONAL HUMOROUS/ABSURD SITUATIONS]
[SECONDARY OBSERVATION: HEAT SIGNATURE DETECTED DURING HEIGHTENED EMOTIONAL STATE]
[CAUSE: UNKNOWN]
[INVESTIGATING...]
[SYSTEM NOMINAL]
Piers rested his head against his mother's shoulder as they walked toward the church, feeling the warmth of her arms, the steady rhythm of her heartbeat.
He'd laughed today.
Actually laughed.
At his father's stupid joke. At the absurdity of the situation. At the chaos and violence and the sheer ridiculousness of it all.
And it had felt...
Good.
Strange. Unfamiliar. Almost uncomfortable in its intensity.
But good.
His corruption had dropped three percent in a single day.
That was significant.
Very significant.
The system had confirmed what he'd started to suspect: emotions reversed the void. Real, genuine emotions—not the fake ones people performed for social acceptance, but the raw, honest ones that came from actually feeling something.
Excitement. Annoyance. Amusement. Joy.
All of them pushed back against the emptiness.
Which meant he needed more of them.
Needed to feel things. To experience things. To find situations that would crack through his deadened affect and force genuine reactions.
The problem, of course, was that seeking emotions when you couldn't feel emotions was like trying to find water when you didn't know what thirst felt like.
Difficult.
But not impossible.
He'd laughed at his father today.
That was a start.
His mother's arms tightened around him slightly, and he heard her sniffle.
"My baby boy," she whispered. "My precious boy. I'll keep you safe. I promise."
Piers said nothing.
But somewhere deep in his chest, where the void had hollowed him out, a tiny spark of something warm flickered to life.
Small.
Fragile.
But there.
He closed his eyes and let himself be carried through the streets of Jenora, toward a church he didn't want to go to, surrounded by a family he was slowly—very slowly—starting to remember how to care about.
Tomorrow, he decided, he would experiment.
Test the limits of this new discovery.
Find out exactly what kinds of situations lowered his corruption most effectively.
But tonight...
Tonight he would let his mother hold him.
And pretend, just for a little while, that he was a normal three-year-old child who'd gotten lost in a big city.
Instead of what he actually was.
Whatever that was.