His mind suddenly could no longer make sense of the concept of love, and so he stopped thinking about it. Instead, he focused on escaping his curse. “I-I must break the curse, therefore, I must leave this house. But I’m sure… Lollia will be out there, waiting for me.” 

Adrianna went to the door and stood by it. “I have an idea, Maruka.”

Maruka waited patiently for her to elaborate. 

“If I leave… this house--you--will be at her mercy… but if I could lure her inside this house, I could lock her in with me, and let you get a head start. I was thinking you could go out the back window, while I let her in the front.” Adrianna said.

“But what will happen to you?” Maruka asked.

Adrianna lowered her eyes with a smile. “I’ll be okay.” 

“But you don’t know this woman!” Maruka exclaimed. “She will kill y-you!

“Maybe, but I’ve lived a long, full life. Something tells me that you still have a life to live. But I will try to survive, I promise.” Adrianna said. 

Maruka was silent for a time. He looked at Adrianna intensely. She had a noble sort of presence that only came from the wisdom of living a long, unshackled life. His life, while very long, had been shackled… he hadn’t seen very much, despite living for so long. His life had felt empty, but when he looked at Adrianna, he saw the face of a woman who had lived a life she was content with. He didn’t know if he could let himself be taken by Lollia again, without at least trying to live the life he wanted to live. He slowly nodded. “Alright. I’ll go out the back.”

Adrianna smiled at him. “Then I’ll let your ‘soul mate’ in, then.”

***

Taylor and Tock were taking a break in the woods. Tock glanced at her often, admiring her beauty. He thought after gaining control of a body that had gone mad for so long, he would find her considerably uglier, but he didn’t. The woman whose body Taylor had taken was a stunningly beautiful girl in her own right. According to Taylor, she was a Banshee–ancient creatures who had long been extinct. They were born dead, and were only given the gift of life by the grace of moonlight. When the moon shone on their faces, they opened their eyes and cried like any other baby. 

Inside of the banshee’s body, Taylor now had the blackest of eyes and hair, a long, elegant face and neck, pale skin, and was a bit taller. 

He didn’t think she was as beautiful as she was before, as Tock loved blonde hair and sweet faces, but he knew it was never her body that he was attracted to.

“The way I see it,” Taylor was saying, stretching her legs out on a nearby rock. “We should conquer Trella first. I think it would be great to make them suffer for what they did to you as a child.” 

Tock glanced up at her with a faint smile, and then back down, thinking of Terran. “Taylor… how do you justify your actions? How could you so cruelly let Terran die?”

Taylor turned away silently. For a moment, she said nothing. Eventually, she murmured, “I didn’t let him die. Eory was the one–”

Tock stood up, stomping his foot furiously. “Stop it, Taylor! Stop lying to me and yourself! You were the one who I taught how to shoot! You had the confidence. Eory never took it to heart. It was your confidence and knowledge that was allowing him to shoot so well. Tell me why you let a good man die!” 

Taylor stared at him, stars from above reflecting in her black eyes. “It’s… I wouldn’t have been able to take control if I didn’t do something drastic. I could only take control when I messed up his life. I could only follow through with my plan to transfer my soul if I made Eory unstable enough. In order to do that, I had disrupt his life. I had to make it so no one wanted him around anymore.”

Tock shook his head, tears in his eyes. “You killed him. I wanted to be like him. He was a good, honorable man. He had a wife, a child… that’s all I’ve ever wanted. I want to be loyal, but I could never find a woman I wanted to be loyal to, except for you.” 

Taylor stood, flipping her black her behind her shoulder and walking over to him. She sat in his lap, running her hands through his hair. “Then be loyal to me. Be a good man, like he was. I know I’m horrible for killing him, and I imagine I’m going to have to kill many more in order to achieve my aims. I won’t force you to go with me, Tock, but if you do choose to come with me, I need your loyalty.” 

Tock rubbed his hands up and down her legs. He snorted with a forlorn smile. “You’re horrible.” 

Taylor frowned deeply. “I am horrible. And I intend to continue being horrible until I get what I want. But I… love you Tock.” 

He rolled his eyes heavenward. “Right. You love me.” 

But there were tears in her black eyes. “I’m serious. You were the only one who ever wanted me around. Eliita didn’t want me, Pollyanna didn’t want me, Terran didn’t want me… not even my own parents wanted me. If it weren’t for you, I would have disappeared. I could lie and tell you that I was determined enough to wrest control over my body through sheer tenacity, but I’d be lying. I wanted to see you again… besides, I know you want the same things I do. If you wanted to be a good man who faded away with history, you would have gone with Eory. But you went with me because you want to be remembered.” she stroked his cheek lovingly, and he leaned into it, kissing it affectionately. 

She was quiet for a moment, her hands were running all over his body–up his arms, along his face, and under his shirt. Tock’s grip on her thighs tightened. 

“I always thought I wanted my life to reflect my father’s and my mother’s… they had lots of concubines, lots of bastards, but they were useless since they didn’t have Arrozan blood. But I know you’re the only one I really want. I want you to be my husband. I want to have a million kids with you. You’re the only one I trust.” 

Tock found himself smiling at her, despite knowing what she was. There was something about the fact that she needed him–that she wouldn’t even exist if he didn’t want her around–that made him feel like he was impossibly hers. He whispered, “We can give it a million tries.”