I stared at the ghostly image of my fiancé across the room.

"Jacob… Jacob, can you hear me?"

She ran towards me, falling to her knees with her elbows on the bed. Her feet made no sound. Her elbows didn't sink into the mattress.

"This can't be real..."

Cynthia grinned, reaching out to put her hand against the side of my face.

"Does it feel real?"

It was warm. She was warm.

My eyes widened. The room blurred. For the second time in one day, tears ran down my face. I was too happy to be annoyed.

It was real.

Every time I heard her voice—felt her touch... I wasn't imagining it.

I wasn't crazy.

"How?!"

She laughed.

"It was the rings! When I died, my ring trapped my, I don't know… soul? And then you came along..."

She slid her hand up my face, brushing a stray loc of hair behind my ear.

"When your ring got close to mine, whatever effect within it triggered, and our souls bonded."

Van Lagos' words echoed in my mind.

Your fire has two wills.

"Two souls in one body..."

"Our body," Cynthia said, patting my cheek.

"Our body..."

Spirits below.

"Why now? Why couldn't I see or hear you before?"

She narrowed her eyes.

"You tell me."

I frowned, pushing myself up to lie on my side.

"I was suppressing my emotions, my memories... you. It was too painful. I tried to make myself numb. I thought it made me strong."

I laughed.

"I was so stupid!"

Cynthia pushed herself up to sit on the edge of the bed. She leaned forward and flicked my nose.

"Ow!"

"That made me really angry, by the way. I don't like being locked away and ignored. You pushed me down so deep I thought I'd never get out."

"I'm sorry… I didn't know…"

Cynthia huffed.

"I guess it worked out. There were cracks in the walls you put up, so I managed to slip out every now and then, but it was the journey back that made those walls crumble. I've been so happy to be home."

"So, you're free now?"

Cynthia gave me an incredulous look.

"Silly boy, what do you think bonded means?"

She pointed at the bed, and I saw it, a thin, ghostly thread sprouting from the side of her hip to the top of my right shoulder.

"Oh, that's weird," I said, passing my fingers through the tether connecting us.

"You can ignore it, Jacob. I have to leave a piece of myself behind when I leave our body."

Her eyes lit up.

"Yesterday, I made it to the other side of the Castle before I was pulled back. I think I can go further if I concentrate."

I smiled.

"You were always a wanderer."

Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

She smiled back.

"I thought I was going to be alone like this forever. I'm happy you can see me now…"

Cynthia's expression changed from relieved to mischievous.

"You should lie down."

"Why?"

She gave me an innocent shrug.

"I want to try something."

I quirked an eyebrow and rolled onto my back.

Cynthia smiled and slinked over the bed on her hands and knees. Like her elbows, they didn't sink into the surface. She straddled my hips, pulling her shift up around her thighs.

I felt the weight of her body.

I felt a lot of things.

She leaned forward until her face was an inch from mine.

"It's been two months, and I missed you."

Spirits below. The rings were actually magic.

# # #

The first rays of sunlight streaked through the window. Cynthia's breath tickled the side of my neck.

It was morning, and only one thing on my mind: Mr. Reeves.

It all made sense.

The way he was always distracted—always walking around in a dreamlike trance.

Now I knew why.

His husband was always beside him, whispering in his ear, running his fingers through what was left of his hair.

Who wouldn't be distracted?

I still wish he had warned us. If only to be better prepared for when one of us died.

I sighed.

"You awake?" Cynthia asked.

I blinked, staring up at the stone ceiling.

"Yeah..."

"Good. I don't sleep."

Cynthia nestled her head into the crook of my neck. Her index finger traced a circle on my chest without ruffling my shirt.

It was strange. She was able to affect my body, but not my clothes or our surroundings.

I raised my hand to the ceiling, clenching and unclenching my fist.

"How does this work? Why do you feel like flesh and blood?"

"Because I will it."

"You have will?"

"Of course, I do. It takes will to leave our body, to move around, to…"

She wiggled her eyebrows.

"Create sensations…. My ring transferred my will along with everything that made me… well… me. I'm like a revenant with no physical form, and you're my will well."

I blinked in amazement.

Cynthia gave me an offended look.

"What?! I was around for Isla's lessons—Shay's too."

I nodded, stiffening as I realized something else.

Cynthia was always there. Always with me. When I was alone, and when I was with other women…

She smirked.

"Don't worry, Jacob. I'm not jealous. You thought I was dead."

I blinked again, and my jaw dropped.

"You can read my mind?!"

She laughed.

"No, silly, but we share the same body, Jacob, the feelings bleed over, sometimes the memories-"

She grimaced.

"Never the good ones."

My eyes widened. The reason I experienced Cynthia's last moments wasn't because I was Landbound. It was because WE were bound.

Did that mean...

"Every time I use my Landbound ability, it feels like I'm burning alive... Am I… making you relive that memory? I am hurting you?"

Cynthia gave me a sad smile.

"You're hurting us."

A chill ran up my spine, and Cynthia shivered.

"See? Same body."

I opened my mouth to speak, but Cynthia put a finger to my lips.

"Shh. It's OK. Don't feel guilty. I hate that feeling."

I grimaced.

How could I use my Landbound abilities if it hurt her?

"You'll do what you have to do to survive."

I furrowed my brows.

"OK, you're definitely reading my mind."

"Nope! I just felt your guilt. Now, I feel your paranoia."

"You're enjoying this, aren't you?"

Cynthia grinned.

"Naturally."

I smiled back.

"Alright… What am I 'feeling' right now?"

Cynthia's smile dropped. She narrowed her eyes, staring at my face.

"Hope mixed with guilt. You think there's a way to use your abilities without hurting us, but something is holding you back."

I gave her an incredulous look.

Cynthia's grin turned into a sly smile.

"Of course, that's just my womanly intuition. I could be wrong."

"You're not. I want to go to Dahlgesh. I want to learn how to control my fire like Van Lagos. There's some trick that made him immune, and I get the feeling a lot of them have that ability."

"What makes you say that?"

"Because I asked him about it the first time we met. He called it 'quelling the fire'. Something about the words— it sounds like a ritual. What do you think?"

Cynthia pursed her lips together in thought and then nodded.

"I think it's worth checking out. If fire can't hurt us, neither should my memory from the mansion."

I nodded back.

"The fastest way to learn more is to join Isla's mission."

"But you're worried about Cindra."

"Aren't you?! She's going to get herself killed."

Cynthia sighed.

"When our mother got sick, Cindra swore to keep us safe. And when I told her to run, she broke that promise. I don't think she'll ever forgive herself for that. I think… I think she wants to die."

"That's why we have to stop her."

"I don't think we can… I don't think we should."

"But-"

Cynthia propped herself up on her elbows, glaring down at me.

"Do you really want to fight Sin again?! Because I don't… Jacob, we were given a second chance. Let's use it! I'm tired of being in pain…"

She huffed, rolling on her back to lie beside me.

"It's my body too… Don't I get a say…"

I held my tongue. She was right. I'd been reckless since leaving the capital, and Cynthia must have felt every punch from my fight with Sin a few nights before. I couldn't blame her.

"OK, I'll leave Cindra alone."

She reached for my hand and squeezed it.

"I'm sorry for shouting... She's my sister. I care about her, but-"

"Revenge is a fool's game."

Cynthia sighed with relief; her lips curled in an uneasy smile.

"And who knows? She just might surprise you."

I snorted, shaking my head.

I was surrounded by stubborn women. Speaking of...

"Do you think Isla will forgive me?"

Cynthia's eyebrows rose.

"I don't know. Maybe."

Then her eyes twinkled with mischief.

"Should I spy on her?"

"You can do that?!"

"Of course! I'm invisible. I can walk through walls…"

Her eyes narrowed.

I can read your mind.

I laughed out loud.

"I knew it! You have to teach me."

"Later."

Her smile widened and then faltered.

"Jacob… Why didn't you tell me about all this when I was alive? Your training. Sin's lessons. I knew something was wrong, but I never knew what. Why did you only tell Cindra?"

"I-I don't know... I guess I thought you were too pure."

Cynthia scoffed.

"Do you still think that way after last night?"

I shook my head.

"No!"

She smirked.

"Good. I'll go see when that Sumner woman is coming and check on Isla. You should clean up. You made a mess."

Still smirking, she sank through the mattress to the lower floors of the Keep.

Spirits below. I love that woman.

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