Zehra was deliberate and rigorous with their eating schedule.

Every day began with a meal—often the scraps leftover from whatever dinner the last night had been—and every day ended with a meal, which was something fresh Zehra had caught. At precisely midday, she would stop to hunt. Though the terrain grew rough, sparse in both vegetation and animal life, she always found something to bring back. More than that, she always returned with two kills: one with the snowy pelt or feathers of the animals she called Pure and one not. She made certain to keep them separate while preparing a meal, but Aiko wasn't sure which one she was being fed. They looked the same once they were skinned, cut up, and cooked. Day in and day out, Zehra's religious, purposeful preparation of meals was beginning to unsettle Aiko.

It was eerie.

Still, she accepted every meal she was given with a pleasant smile and a thank you when she remembered. She ate in silence and kept her gaze locked on anything but Zehra. While she was thankful that her stomach wasn't eating itself, shoving her onto the verge of collapse, she almost missed Felix's forgetful mindset toward food. Or maybe it was just that she yearned for his company and the way her stomach flipped when he gave one of those awkward, half-blank smiles.

Most nights, she dreamed of him. He was someplace far out of reach and he couldn't hear her no matter how loudly she called his name. Most of the time, she screamed for him until her voice gave out, but there was never a response. Shadows concealed his face from view—not that it mattered when she wasn't close enough to see it anyway. When she tried to run to him, her legs remained anchored in place, as unmoving as if they were carved from stone. Yet he drifted freely, floating farther and farther away. The dream stretched on until she was wrenched awake the next morning by Zehra gently shaking her shoulder. As soon as she was upright, a warm meal was thrust into her hand.

"You should eat," Zehra would say. "We'll get moving as soon as you're done."

The repetition began to drown Aiko in a sea of blurred memories and monotonous conversation. She only sank deeper into it with each day that passed, and the closer they got to the cliffs, the more numb she felt. Her flame flickered uneasily, shrinking back from the thorns that choked her. Weak and insignificant, like her when she walked in Zehra's shadow. No matter how close she got to the cliffs—the doorway to Felix's rescue—she was still too far away. The thorns of regret tightened and cut off the air to her lungs.

On the tenth night, Aiko curled up on her makeshift pallet and pulled her blanket up to her chin. She turned her back to Zehra, ignoring her nightly dinner offering. Sharp rocks dug into her side and the cold mountain air had only grown more vicious the more they climbed. The numbness in her chest embraced it, though her flame bristled, spitting a hiss like Mae when Ameris approached him. It wasn't long before her eyes grew heavy, pulled down and drenching her vision in blackness. Sleep came as a gentle embrace this time, cradling her flame as it led her into depths. This time, she let go and sank easily into the dark.

When she opened her eyes, she found herself in a replica of the once-beautiful throne room of the castle of Niveus. Its arched ceiling spread out over her head, glistening gold like thousands of tiny stars. Her black boots sank into the plush red carpet. Portraits and trinkets lined the walls, leading her gaze toward the dais at the back of the room, where the elegant throne sat.

Sprawled atop the throne, legs dangling over one arm while she leaned against the other, was Aiko herself. Or rather, she was identical to Aiko, but she had tamed her wild curls into a long braid that draped over the arm of the throne. Her crimson dress shimmered with threads of gold woven into the fabric. It cinched tight around her waist and bust, the back open in a split that was tied up with a gold ribbon. When she raised her head and turned her gaze toward the entrance, a wicked smile split her wine-red lips.

Not Aiko. Cinere.

"You!" Aiko summoned a dagger—lighter in her grip than her spear. "How are you still here? You were supposed to have died with the Core!"

Cinere clicked her tongue against her teeth and righted herself, swinging her legs over the seat of the throne. Her skirt fluttered around her before falling gracefully back into place. "Come now, is that any way to greet an old friend? A simple hello would suffice."

"An old friend?" Aiko spat. "You clouded my mind with the Core's whispers. I couldn't think. I wasn't myself anymore. You're not my friend; you're a curse. I was supposed to have been freed of you—you were supposed to have been killed!"

Confusion and anger warred inside her, fighting for control over her flame. Her skin warmed as the fire inside her blazed to life. She had a suspicion that Cinere remained with her since leaving Niveus, but she could never fully resolve it. Now, the reflection of herself, mingled with the will of the Core, sat before her—in her throne. It couldn't have been just a dream. She only entered this place when she truly spoke with Cinere.

Cinere sighed and perched herself on the edge of the throne. She swung her sandaled feet, brushing the dais with her toes. Her fingers drummed against the seat. "I'm suspicious of Zehra," she remarked.

"No." Aiko tensed, digging her nails into her palm—but as it always was in the throne room of her mind, no pain penetrated the skin, only the searing heat of her flame. Gritting her teeth, she studied Cinere. She seemed unusually tense, though her lips were permanently fashioned in that cruel smile. Realization slammed into her. "You don't get to make that statement," Aiko snapped. "It was you who accepted her deal in the first place, wasn't it?"

"Oh, come now," Cinere cooed. She rose gracefully to her feet, smoothing her skirt down. The dress's bodice hugged her curves so tightly that Aiko's face burned just looking at it. Unbothered as ever, Cinere stepped down to the second step of the dais. "Don't you want your Felix boy back? As much as it bothers me, this is your only shot. You're welcome."

Heat crawled up Aiko's neck. "He's not my—" She cut off her retort with a groan, dragging a hand over her face. "Whatever. Fine. Would you please put something else on? It's like the top half of you is naked with how tight that dress is and it's making me sick."

"I've always worn this dress in your mind."

"Cover up, Cinere."

Cinere huffed, defeated for once. She snapped her fingers and a bright flash of light surrounded her. A thick blue cloak dropped over her shoulders, concealing her red dress beneath its midnight folds, shimmering with starlight. She giggled and twirled, blue and red fabric flaring out around her. "Better?"

Aiko's expression hardened. Anger simmered beneath the surface. "Is that Felix's cloak?" she hissed through gritted teeth.

Cinere grinned as she descended another step. "Looks nice on me, doesn't it?"

"You're sick."

"I hope I can be well again soon." She reached the bottom of the steps and leveled Aiko with her gaze. Gone was the look of teasing and mischievousness. In its place, concern glittered in the depths of Cinere's hazel eyes. Her brow furrowed and her lips lost their smile, taking on a deep frown instead. "Listen, Aiko," she said, her voice uncharacteristically soft. "I ask that you be wary of Zehra. Hunting the Pure is one thing, but consuming them?" She folded her arms and rested a fist to her chin, shifting her gaze away. "It's unnatural and should not be trusted."

A million questions crowded Aiko's mind, fighting to be first to take shape on her tongue. It formed a throbbing headache behind her eyes. She squeezed her fist again—finding the dagger to have disappeared from her grip—and tried to sort them out. One thing at a time. Start with what's important. Taking a deep breath, she seized control of the storm and quelled it. "What are the Pure?" she asked.

"Your cat friend—May, I think you called him?" Cinere waved her hand.

Aiko narrowed her eyes. "It was Mae. Mah-eh."

"Right. That's a terrible name for a cat, by the way. So needlessly confusing."

"Get to the point."

"Mae was a Pure," Cinere said, lifting her hand. Sparks danced at her fingertips before taking shape in a tiny flame, fashioned in Mae's image. The little flame-cat spun around her flat palm, tail waving in the air behind him. Cinere held out her hand and the cat to Aiko. "They are creatures born of the magic that hangs in the air, ordered to protect this world by the Primordial Three. If the Reapers are the punishers, the Pure are the guardians. They take the shape of animals—snow white with brilliant blue eyes—but they are beings of extreme intelligence. Their only downfall is their physical form, whereas the Reapers are purely magic. They can be killed, despite all their power."

Mae's body flashed through Aiko's mind, bloodied and broken beyond repair. Dread sank to the pit of her stomach, stirring up the unease within her until she tasted bile on her tongue. She swallowed against it. "What does consuming them do?"

Cinere closed her fist, extinguishing the fiery image of Mae, and dropped it to her side. "I don't know, but they are not meant to be consumed. Humans can't wield magic; putting magic inside their bodies is just asking for disaster. But... Zehra is no fool." Again, she looked away, her expression thoughtful. "Watch her. Unlike Felix, I see no way to control her if the situation goes awry. She's too unpredictable."

Though the thought of admitting it made her toes curl, Aiko couldn't deny the truth behind Cinere's words. No matter what she said, Zehra had always been solely focused on whatever she predetermined she would do—a decision that was locked away behind that unyieldingly blank expression. Unlike Felix, who cracked when she needled him, Zehra was an unmoving marble statue. She hunted when she deemed fit, she walked until she decided to stop, she slept when she chose to sleep, she ate when she chose to eat. She helped me when she saw something useful... However, what she may have seen was beyond Aiko. She couldn't help but remember herself. Always scheming, always ensnaring others, always trying to be the master of the game. There was no way to control someone like her.

Control... She stopped herself with a sudden jolt, snapping her gaze up to meet Cinere's. Control... Felix. The words came so easily from Cinere's lips, stated as if it were only natural to speak of him the way one would speak of a wild beast. Aiko summoned her dagger again and swung it at Cinere's throat, stopping a breath away from her skin. "How are you here, Cinere? You were part of the Core, part of the curse of the Bright Soul."

Cinere blinked. For once, surprise lit the fire in her eyes, but it vanished as her mocking smile returned. Laughter burst from her lips, her shoulders shaking. Aiko startled at the sound of it and flinched back. Cinere's smile stretched in a grin, her red lips striking against her dark skin. Up close, Aiko could see the kohl that lined her eyes, giving them a sharper look. It undermined the mirth in her voice with something more sinister. She tightened her grip on the knife. Is this what I look like? No wonder people were afraid of me.

"Oh, Aiko." Cinere sighed, the last of her laughs fading. Gently, she pushed one finger against the blade and guided it away from her neck. As she leaned in, Aiko caught a whiff of her spiced perfume. "You're so naïve. I fear that your time with that poor assassin has made you quite dull—but then again, you have always been so single minded, unable to see anything that wasn't right in front of your nose." She tsked and shook her head, a sorrowful look putting a crease between her perfectly sculpted brows.

Aiko gritted her teeth. "Answer the question!"

"Very well. No need to get upset." Cinere turned, braid swinging and skirt flaring out around her legs, and made her way back to the dais with her hands clasped behind her back. Each step was purposeful, flowing from one to the next in an eternal dance. Aiko could never master the sway with which she walked, but she could remember the feeling of doing it herself—of Felix's eyes on her back while she moved with Cinere's grace. When Cinere reached the foot of the dais again, she stopped to stare up at the throne.

"I fused with the Core piece by piece over the years," she said. For once, her voice came out soft instead of irritatingly loud and mocking. "But I was never part of it. I didn't come from it." She tilted her head, glancing over her shoulder. The flame in her hazel eyes brightened, visible even at a distance. "I was always part of you. You created me."

Aiko gasped, fumbling for breath as if she had taken a punch to the gut. The room began to spin, her knees weak and shaky. She pressed a hand to her forehead and squeezed her eyes shut. "That's not true. I tried to get rid of you. You made my life hell!"

"It's true," Cinere sang, swaying in place. "But that doesn't really matter since all you want is the answer to your question." She jerked her hands out to the side. Flames burst to life around them. Slowly, her feet lifted from the ground, body pulled upward by an unseen force. She hovered in the air, surrounded by warm amber light, her eyes glowing with the full blaze of her flame. Her smile cracked with pride. "I consumed the power of the Ember Core completely. I am the Phoenix god reborn. I'm the reason you survived the Core's death. I kept you safe and brought you out of there alive. Don't you see, Aiko?" Another fit of laughter seized her, this time high with elation. She raced over to Aiko, still floating, and took her hands. She squeezed them, her matching signet ring digging into Aiko's skin. "I protected us. We are the Phoenix god, Aiko. That deserves a thank you, don't you think?"

"No!" Aiko yelled and wrenched her hands free, slapping Cinere's back. "No, I didn't ask for any of that! I never wanted to be a god, to be the Bright Soul. All I ever wanted was to be free—all I want is to be free with Felix. Thank you?" She scoffed, backing away. "All you ever do is take—from me, from Felix, from everyone!"

Still hovering in the air, Cinere flipped herself upside down in the air, arms crossed over her chest. A slyness glittered in the depths of her eyes, buried beneath her roaring flame. Her lips curled in a smirk. "You take just as much from him. Remember what he told you?" She leaned in, drifting forward until her breath tickled Aiko's ear. "You're selfish," she whispered. "You're the one who only wants to take from him. I just want to protect us."

A growl tore from Aiko's throat as she shoved away from Cinere. "What do you want?" she hissed. "You brought me here, didn't you? Get to the point."

Cinere pouted. She spun herself right side up and landed gracefully on her feet, her skirt and cloak twirling around her legs. "You're the one that derailed me with all your questions."

"I'm done asking questions now. Get. to. the. point."

"Patience," Cinere said, wagging her finger. "Don't you know anything about suspense?" With a sigh, she added, "This is why we need to rescue Felix. He appreciates me."

The mention of Felix made Aiko's heart stutter. Her mind swirled, throwing her back to that night in the forest. Her lips against his, her fingers skimming his jaw, soft, tender, warm—wrong, he told her, right before he thrust a wedge between them. Right before he was taken from her, stealing away her chance to make things right between them. And yet, she was there in that moment, bound to herself and tangled in the web of reality. It was never Cinere. It was her.

You're selfish.

Tears blurred her vision. She blinked them away furiously, ducking her head to hide behind her wild curls. Though there was silence between them, she could hear the ring of Cinere's mocking laughter in her mind. It crawled beneath her skin, coiling around her flame until it flickered and darkened. She raised her shoulders, preparing herself for the teasing she knew would come.

However, Cinere was too caught up in her theatrics and pacing the hall to notice. She climbed the steps of the dais again and sank back into the throne, swinging one leg over the other. Lounging there, above Aiko and still glowing with the light of her fire, she truly did take on an aura of power. In the gold and red room, the picture of Niveus's wealth, she was the perfect image of a queen. The one Aiko could never be, the one she never got the chance to be.

"You still hold the power of the Core," Cinere said, leaning her elbow against the armrest. Felix's blue cloak shifted, sliding from one shoulder to reveal the blood-red dress beneath. "In fact, you're more connected to it than ever. Remember when you struck the tree?"

The image of the burned tree danced at the back of Aiko's mind. She could still remember the tingling in her fingers she felt when she slammed her spear against the bark. She nodded.

"You will be able to continue to use the Core's magic and command its flames. Use this to rescue Felix—but be quick about it. A mortal cannot last long in the world between worlds."

"But I will be able to save him, won't I?" Aiko murmured. Her tears rolled down her cheeks, strikingly cold against her skin. She sniffed and wiped them away. "I will get there in time, won't I?"

Hesitation darkened Cinere's perfect features. She chewed her lip and looked away. "Be cautious of Zehra," was all she said. "Do not eat the meat of the Pure."

Aiko opened her mouth to ask another question, worry flickering along the back of her mind, but Cinere waved her hand again. The scene wavered and vanished, swallowed by darkness. Again, Aiko found herself alone.

Behold, the return of everyone's favorite cryptic "seer," Cinere! Surprise! She's not dead. Just like Aiko, you can't escape her. She lives in Aiko's head rent free; if you're not careful, she'll do the same to you. Today, she's here to mock, drop some sketchy warnings, and... oh wait, that's what she does all the time. 

This chapter marks the end of Act I! Last year, when I finished Act I of Ashes to Ashes, I took a short break before posting Act II. I'm considering doing that again. I want to wrap up my ONC novella and I have some higher priority writing I need to do. If you don't know already, I am a published author now and I have work-related writing deadlines to meet--which is honestly still crazy to me! On top of that, I have school, and that likes to disrupt my plans with papers and tests on occasion. 

Anyway, I haven't decided yet if I'll be going on break. If I do, it will be short--no longer than 3-4 weeks so I can get my stuff in order! I'll keep you guys posted.

Thank you for reading, and thank you for your patience! It's been a rough semester so far but I'm determined to finish Dust to Dust. See you next time!