Sonia feels like she is in literal hell.

She never expected her day to end like this. Standing under pouring rain, almost blown off her feet several times by the howling wind, surrounded by extremely hot fire, on rubble that used to be an apartment floor and is threatening to collapse at any second.

Literal hell.

"How much longer do I need to keep this up?" Sonia shouts. She can barely hold on. Purifying water demands far more effort than holding a shield, and she does not know how long she has been at it.

Of all the people I could be doing this for, I cannot believe it is a Monfort.

She is beyond exhausted. What little strength she has left is nearly gone, and her eyes are threatening to close at any moment.

Around her are people she met literally a few hours ago.

There is Maeve, another Light. Just like her. Maeve is not in much better shape. In fact, everyone is more or less the same. But each of them knows that if one collapses, the rest will follow not far behind.

Then there is Julian, Earth. He is the only thing stopping the entire building from collapsing around all of them.

And Alicia, Wind. It does not look like much from the outside, but it is Alicia who is keeping the fire from spreading to the surrounding buildings. It is remarkable what a single Wind can do.

And then there is the bald man who arrived last. The others call him Hawk. He looks older than the rest of them. He actually climbed the outer wall of the building to get here.

Respect. Sonia thinks.

He also looks like he is about to collapse. He has been keeping the fire away from all of them, but Sonia can tell that he is not Fire. She does not know what he is.

But not Fire. That much she is certain of.

And last, there is Thea. The young woman with the whitest white hair who Sonia cannot make sense of at all. She is young and visibly frail, and yet everyone listens to her. Not humoring her. Actually listening.

How is that possible? Elder Maer never listens to me. Elder Loujt does, sometimes. But mostly they dismiss me for being too young. Thea cannot be older than twenty. And every single one of them listens to her. Including Hawk, who looks like he is in his forties.

I need to learn from her.

Then her eyes land on Liam Monfort. Sonia inwardly rolls her eyes.

A Monfort. I cannot believe I am standing next to a Monfort.

But she cannot dismiss what she has seen either.

Hmph. For a member of a traitor family, his ability is decent enough.

That is as much credit as she is willing to give him. Her hatred of the Monforts has a way of making her ignore inconvenient realities.

Liam is in the worst condition of all. He is fighting on more than one front simultaneously. First, Arthur’s blue Fire. Then the rainwater, which he has to draw in and purify before he can use it. And then, the most draining of all, the corruption itself.

Now that he knows about the green mist, he has to maintain constant awareness of it without a single lapse. Anyone who tells him that is easy is welcome to try it themselves.

"We can’t give up. We need to keep going." Theo’s voice cuts through.

"Look at Arthur. He is fighting too."

Sonia looks. Theo is not exaggerating. Arthur’s eyes are clenched shut. His jaw is locked tight. Lips pressed together. Both fists closed so hard his knuckles have gone white. The veins on his neck look ready to burst.

Everyone can see that Arthur is in there, struggling alongside them. His blue Fire has formed into a tornado with him at its center, and every one of them is working to keep it contained where it is.

"We need to keep fighting, just like he is."

Sonia closes her mouth. She knows when not to push.

Theo turns his attention back to Arthur. He is not in good condition himself. His chest wounds have opened again and are bleeding freely. His clothes cling to him, soaked and uncomfortable. But no one is paying attention to that. Each of them has their hands full.

------------------------------

"God damn it! How is it this strong?!" Arthur curses, dodging another attack.

"This has to stop. I need an opening. I need to defeat the green mist." He pauses. "I need that blue Fire."

He makes the observation quietly, almost to himself.

"My siblings and friends are fighting alongside me out there. I can’t let them down. Even my own consciousness showed up to fight. I need to do more."

Arthur gets slowly to his feet. The hesitation is gone.

"I said I would give my life if it came to it. But I was never truly ready for it." He smiles.

"It’s time to mean what I said."

He stands tall. He stops dodging. He looks at the attacks coming at him and does not move out of their way. He clenches his fists.

Then he runs straight at the green mist, Fire surrounding him, wrapping around him like armor.

"Argh!"

He charges. He leaps. He crashes directly into the green mist.

"Here I come!"

And explodes.

------------------------------

Theo feels something snap.

He feels like he has been plunged into freezing water. His heart is nearly bursting out of his chest. His mouth hangs half open. He gasps and holds his breath.

The next second he is up from the concrete chair and screaming. "NO!"

Everything seems to slow down.

He rushes forward toward Arthur.

Everyone around him startles. Some of them try to stop him from running into the raging Fire tornado.

"Thea, stop!" Julian shouts.

"Thea, no!" Maeve screams.

"Wait!" Alicia lunges for him and misses.

Liam can only snap his head toward him.

As Theo gets close enough to the Fire tornado to be burned by it, everyone watches in horror, bracing for the moment he catches alight.

The Fire tornado slowly dies down.

Theo reaches Arthur just before he fully collapses and catches him. But Theo is not strong enough to hold him and they go down together.

The Fire tornado is completely gone.

Everyone freezes.

Then the next second, they all rush in at once.

"Thea, are you okay?"

"Arthur!"

"Are you okay?"

Voices overlapping, everyone moving at the same time.

Theo ignores all of it. His entire focus is on Arthur.

"Arthur?" He calls softly, one palm against his cheek.

"Arthur?" He calls again. His thumb strokes the cheek gently.

Nothing.

His eyes are closed.

"Arthur?" Theo’s voice rises, panic climbing.

He places a hand on Arthur’s chest, feeling for the rise and fall of breathing.

He cannot feel it.

"Arthur?" He calls louder, shaking him slightly. Tears pool in his eyes.

Julian drops to the ground beside them.

"Art?" He calls. Watching Theo begin to cry, he panics. His own tears well up.

"Art, please. Don’t scare us." He begs.

Maeve presses one hand over her mouth. Tears already falling.

Liam crouches down and takes Arthur’s hand.

"Arthur. Don’t scare us. Don’t scare your siblings. Wake up!"

Theo looks up at Maeve, half pleading.

"Maeve, please. Check him. Please." His voice breaks.

Maeve is fighting her tears. She lowers herself to the floor and places one hand on Arthur’s chest. She closes her eyes and tries to calm herself from the inside. She is terrified of what she is about to find.

She sends her Light into Arthur. Searching carefully.

When she opens her eyes a few minutes later, Theo already knows the answer. He does not wait for her to speak.

He turns to Arthur and slaps him hard.

"Liar! You said you were going to protect me! How dare you lie to me. You liar!"

He slaps him again.

"You said you were going to protect Julian. You are a liar!" Theo shouts at Arthur.

Hawk, Alicia, and Sonia stand behind them, watching in silence. They cannot do anything else.

Hawk and Sonia do not know Arthur. But they can feel the bond between the five of them, how deep and real it is, even standing on the outside of it.

Alicia cannot believe it either. She may not know Arthur the way the others do, but she has known him long enough to know that this is exactly him. Giving everything he has for the people he loves. Tears slide down her cheeks.

Julian weeps openly.

Maeve sobs beside him.

Liam is silent and still. He can only stare. He is numb.

Theo keeps hitting. Slapping. Cursing at Arthur.

Liam does not move. Does not speak.

Theo is crying uncontrollably now.

The storm still raging around them is nothing compared to what is happening inside the Rhaenas household right now.

After a few minutes, the full weight of it reaches Theo all at once. He lets out a raw, blood curdling scream that tears itself out of him.

And then his world goes dark.