—Chapter9 Tom and Hinba 

Tom looked down at his bagel that was only missing a singular bite and his coffee had remained untouched for almost half an hour. The midnight shift of wait staff had stopped coming by to ask if he wanted the check. Choosing instead to allow him to flag them down when he was ready to leave. 

His eyes drifted to the window and he watched entire galaxies form and decay in the vast emptiness. The ubiquity of time and space screaming at him in a silent display of cosmological grandeur. 

“Go away.” He squeezed his eyes shut to will away the images. His hallucinations were getting worse. When he opened his eyes, he saw only his reflection in the well lit diner and droplets of rain chasing each other to the ground outside the glass. 

Tom was looking more like a ghoul than a man these days. Two weeks ago, he celebrated his thirtieth birthday. It could have easily been his ninetieth birthday and no one would have been the wiser. His eyes had sunken into his skull, his skin was gray. He brought a shaky hand up to his chest and pushed slightly against his sternum. It bent easily under his touch, but at least it didn't hurt. 

Two months ago he had announced his retirement. Tom was the only one calling it “retirement.” Everyone else at the firm was calling, “medical hiatus,” or “temporary wellness leave,” or some other bullshit to make everyone believe he would be coming back to work at some point. Tom knew better. Whatever he did, or tried to do to the worldstone was killing him. 

Speaking of the worldstone. Four months ago was when he informally stopped looking for another way back to the forest. He had already started to feel the negative effects of whatever happened to him, so he focused on trying to mitigate his symptoms. With the ambient time dilation between the forest and the human world, Hinba wouldn’t have even experienced a full day go by since they said their goodbyes. At least that’s what he thought at the time. That all happened six months ago. For Hinba, she was about to experience the end of the second full day without him. 

Tom tried to stomach another bite of his dry bagel. His teeth sunk into the doughy bread and he chewed slowly and bitterly. Why did he feel bad? He asked himself that question several times recently. He could understand feeling bad about his deteriorating health. That was easy. It appeared he would never know for sure if their fool’s gambit actually freed the villagers. Again, that was understandable; to feel upset at the uncertainty of the outcome from his efforts, but Tom always prided himself on his boundless optimism. 

“It had to work… It had to work.” Maybe he knew exactly why he was sad. He had gone on a mystical adventure, toyed with magic, stared down a giant, stared down a different giant, and what did he have to show for it? He didn’t even have anyone to share his story with. Sure, he could burn through a fourth therapist but nothing compared to just talking with someone who knew the stories as more than just fantasy .. or psychosis as the second therapist suggested. After the third, they stopped needing names.

Movement brought Tom out of his daydream. “Mind if I sit?” A petite woman with red hair tied up neatly in a bun was standing at the foot of the table. 

Yes , Tom wanted to say but he was working on trying to be nicer to strangers. It had been eighteen days since his last angry outburst and he was trying to beat his record of twenty one days. He might not get many more chances.

“Miss, I’m afraid I’m not good company at the moment, but there are plenty of open tables…” he motioned to the mostly empty diner. 

The woman sat down across from Tom “I’m told you’re the one I need to talk to about finding missing assets.”  

“Missing assets?” It was probably another disgruntled employer wanting to send a message to a former employee with sticky fingers. Tom wasn’t having it. 

“I’m retired.” 

“I’m Celeste. It’s nice to meet you.” Her voice twisted into a chipper glee. “We should start right away, so I was-”

“Ma’am , I’m retired. Would you like the number to my former firm? I’m sure someone-”

“I know you’re dying, Tom.” 

Tom had had enough. He slammed his hands down on the table. “Didn’t you hear me? Leave me alone so I can eat my stale bagel and shitty coffee in peace!” It had been zero days since his last angry outburst towards a stranger. The wait staff were quiet for a moment to gauge if they should call the police. Tom’s only saving grace was that he was a regular, one casual wave to his waiter was all he needed to avoid being dragged off in handcuffs. “Who are you?” 

“I told you my name, didn’t I? Shouldn’t that be enough?” 

“No. Now who are you? Don’t make me ask a third time.” 

Celeste waved off his comment as if it were a persistent fly. “Oh hush, we both know that Hinba took all the fight out of you long ago.” 

Tom’s eyes went wide and he choked on air. After a short bout of coughs, he looked back at Celeste. She had a raised eyebrow to show she was clearly enjoying this. “What do you want?” 

“Me? Oh nothing…” 

“Cut the shit.” 

“I’m serious, I’m here to talk about what you want or what you don’t want to be specific.” 

Tom nodded. “You have two minutes before I walk out the door. Keep talking cryptic. See if I give a fuck.” 

“Fine. Your little stunt with the worldstone caused quite the spectacle on the other side. Zmera had a lot of choice words to say about you.” Tom looked out the window, choosing not to engage whoever this was. He only agreed to listen. “And… there was an unforeseen consequence, namely your condition. See, the worldstone is not strong magic but it is old. It has a certain… survival instinct.” 

“Ninety seconds.” 

“You tried to kill it, and in its deeply fallible wisdom, it latched onto the only living thing that was already a vessel for two other forms of magic… The worldstone attached itself to you.”

Tom turned to face her but didn’t respond, nor did he betray the slightest hint of emotion on his face. Honestly, that was not the explanation he was expecting for his impending doom but it made enough sense considering the warnings in the tomb of the mages. Celeste stared at him for a moment, clearly expecting a response of some kind. “Sixty seconds.” 

“Magic like that is not designed for this world, Tom. When you die it's likely to pass from one human to another, killing each one a little faster. You… You at least had some experience resisting magic, you learned to control amber and held your own against Hinba’s charm, but everyone else. It would kill thousands without a proper means of disbursement…” 

She paused again allowing Tom a moment to ask questions. “Thirty seconds.” 

“The forest!” she said as if Tom knew what she meant. “You need to be sent back to the forest to die so the worldstone doesn't ‘off’ half the continent. I know a way to send you back but…” 

Tom held up his hand. “You should have started with that. Am I just as dangerous to humans in the forest?” 

“Yes, but you’re harmless to nagas, that’s why we’re sending you to Zmera. She promises to make it painless. There‘s this willow sap that-”

“Am I harmless to Oni?”

Celeste bore a toothy smile. “Zmera also said you would ask that. Yes you are harmless to Anything that’s not a human but we already agreed on a spot that would send you back close to the coven. I can’t guarantee-”

“Send me to Hinba.” 

“It might take some time to properly estimate the correct location… We might not-” 

Tom wanted to interrupt her sooner but opted to wait until she confirmed his suspicions. He had already mapped out large portions of the forest and knew the approximate convergence point for the town. It was just on the other side of the bay. “I’ll get the location. Let me double check a few of my maps back at my apartment. Then we can head out.”

“I’m coming with you. We can’t have you passing out on the sidewalk now…”

—-

[Six months ago] 

“You know… normally when I get a noise complaint about some abandoned building. I assume it’s just a few teenagers getting into mischief. Sometimes I find a junky but those are not as common, at least not from a noise complaint.” The burly officer stood at the foot of Tom’s hospital bed. His curly black hair was at one point combed to the side but as the day wore on settled somewhere in the middle of his head. 

He was still handcuffed to the hospital bed but that didn’t bother him. A bag of clear liquid steadily dripped into a tube that fed into his arm. He didn’t remember what this liquid was called, but it numbed him better than any alcohol. In fact, he knew if he had access to this lovely clear liquid from his apartment he might never need to drink again. For a long moment Tom wondered why he’d never gone to hospital before. Maybe he assumed that if he were ever unwell enough to need a hospital visit, Hinba might also think he was “unwell” and try out her own “treatment,” 

The officer snapped his fingers a few times. “I’ll try and make this quick but you gotta focus for me, alright?” He read the name on the chart once more. “Mr. Crowley? Was it? Normally, trespassing would be a misdemeanor but seeing how Doctor Torrez says you’re lucky to be alive and there was nothing valuable in the house to begin with…. I’d be willing to look the other way.” 

Tom knew he didn’t have shit on him. The property had been abandoned for years. It was honestly a surprise that the building wasn’t condemned as a safety concern and demolished. The officer even remotely considering the option to “let it go,” was a clear indication that he was probing for more information and nothing more. He probably did a simple background search of Tom and the building and couldn’t begin to guess what brought the two together. A lowly misdemeanor charge wouldn’t be worth the headache just to satisfy his curiosity. 

“Could you tell me why you were in that building?” 

Tom didn’t turn his face from the window. 

“Do you even remember what happened?” 

Tom had checked out. He watched intently as the window morphed into an elaborate vision of a distant solar system. Tom saw a small creature that looked like a cross between a snake and a shark try to slither its way onto the shore of a muddy beach. The beach was on the southern hemisphere of a small rocky planet that was circling a large yellow star. Tom could see the last bits of reactive elements being used as fuel to keep the star alive. It wouldn’t be more than a decade or so before the fusion reactor at the core ran out of juice and the star would collapse in on itself. That small creature that was so pivotal in pulling the life of its host planet onto dry land for the first time, would likely also live to see its entire solar system eradicated by an impending supernovae. 

Another snap, this one was right in front of his face. Tom slowly turned to face the looming officer as he started to undo his handcuffs. “Just don’t let me catch you there again, alright?” 

“Yes, officer Green.” Tom said in the most monotone voice he could muster. He didn’t forget that the officer had compared him to a teenager just moments ago. He might as well play the part.

“Seriously, Crowley? Are you going to make me regret this?” 

“No, officer Green.” 

With a small click, the handcuffs came off and officer Green headed for the door. Before he was completely out of earshot, Tom heard him mumble, “jackass,” under his breath. 

“Right back at chu’ buddy…” Tom replied after he was actually out of earshot before promptly going back to sleep. 

—-

“Nice place you got here.” Celeste looked around Tom’s apartment but stayed in the main area. Tom noticed she even wiped her feet on the welcome mat. 

“Thanks, the rent is prepaid through may and even then, it’ll be another month or two before they finalize an eviction. Feel free to crash here if you like.” He threw his jacket over a bar stool and made his way to the office to review his maps. “It’ll just take me a minute, make yourself at home.” 

Celeste nodded, “I might just take you up on that.” As Tom rounded the corner her eyes drifted to the bar. There were two mugs on the countertop along with a bunch of small tools and electronics. She was about to disregard the two innocuous mugs but something caught her attention. While one seemed like a perfectly ordinary white mug the other seemed to be held together with a web of silver material. Celeste reached her hand out to grab the strange mug but before the noise of Tom barging back into the room caused her to flinch and retract her hand. 

“We’ll need to cross the bridge. Come on, we can take my car.” Tom was already moving past the stunned Celeste. 

“That was quick…” she hurried to catch up with him. 

—-

Tom started with the radio on but had turned it off before they reached the bridge. Apparently he wasn’t the only one who felt sick of constantly monitoring his words to avoid mentioning the forest or any hint of magic. “Wait did you just say your ‘first therapist’? How many therapists do you have?”

“Fine, Dr. Cooper,” Tom said a bit louder than he should. “-said that idle hands weren’t helping my mental state. She told me I needed a hobby that didn’t involve maps but where I did use my hands. I figured since I still had the pieces of a broken mug…” he shrugged his shoulders as he trailed off. 

“Does it actually hold liquid?” Celeste was stifling a laugh but only moderately successful. 

“Fuck no! I’ve had pasta strainers that hold more water.” 

“Then why don’t you just get a new one? I knew humans were sentimental but that’s-“

“Humans?” Tom almost stopped the car. 

She nodded, “Yeah, I mean they-“ 

“What are you?” Tom felt like an idiot. If this red haired bitch was tricking him, he was playing right into her hand. She probably just wanted an excuse to teleport him to the forest so she could kill him herself. He didn’t even have his gun with him. 

“What’s got you so worked up?  You didn’t actually believe I was a normal human, did you?” 

Tom sighed audibly but was unable to stop from white-knuckling the steering wheel, trying his best to seem annoyed. He knew the question he wanted to ask but needed to hide it under a different query. “Normal is a scarce commodity these days. So where are you going once we’re back in the forest?” If that wasn’t obvious, Tom didn’t know what was. 

“I can’t go back, Tom, I am completely trapped here” She looked genuinely unhappy as she spoke. 

It could likely still be a trap, but Tom was choosing to bide his time before making any drastic decisions. “I’m sorry to hear that.” 

“It’s not your fault, I’m not stuck here because of your antics with the worldstone.” Celeste left out a frustrated huff and redid her bun, apparently uncomfortable with the direction of the conversation. 

There were so many questions Tom still wanted to ask but they would arrive at their destination soon, and he needed to think of what he was going to say when he got back to the forest. 

—-

It was little more than a public gazebo. There were a few scattered lights that hummed in the quiet of the night. After they exited the car, Tom handed the keys to Celeste. “Please don’t make me regret this.” 

Celeste winked at him. “Sure thing.” 

“So how does this work?” 

She pointed to the center of the dimly lit gazebo. “Stand there.” Tom watched her as she walked around him tapping the floor with her foot. He listened to the wood echo and raised an eyebrow. “Just making sure you have a soft landing. Now stay still and think of the forest. We've only got one shot at this.” 

There wasn’t an opportunity to wonder what she meant by “only one shot.” Tom took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and tried to focus his mind. He wasn’t exactly sure what happened next but he felt a punch to his chest and fell backwards. The gravel was incredibly unpleasant to land on, but at least the sun was warm…

—-

[Six months ago]

“Hinba. There’s one more thing I need to tell you before we head out.” He held out the amber stone so it was in full view. 

“Why do you have one of those?” She pointed at the yellow rock in Tom’s palm. 

“Please just listen. This thing is, apparently, really fragile.” Tom took a deep breath. “In a minute you’re going to forget this conversation. You’ll remember only when we’ve found the worldstone, but Hinba I want you to know that I’m going to find my way back to you. Even with the worldstone gone, I’ll find another way. I belong by your side and nothing will ever change that.”

Hinba waved her hand absently. “Stop with all the sentimental bullshit. You really think anything would keep me from torturing you for eternity?” She cooed, grinning widely. 

“I need you to hear this and know that I'm telling the truth.” Tom said 

Hinba put her hands on her hips and her face twisted into a scowl. “Why are you telling me this right before I forget about it?” 

“I don’t have time to explain, Hinba.” Tom sighed. He looked down at the amber in his palm. The naga told him that the effect would only work to hide one idea, but there was something else he needed to say. It would need to hold out because there was one more thing he needed her to hear. “You have to promise me that no matter what happens, you will find the person responsible and end them. You can’t let this happen to anyone else. Maybe they had noble intentions. I don’t know, but as long as they are alive, they are a danger to every human in the forest.”

“Fuck that! Don’t talk as if we're never going to see each other again. I’m not about to let my pet get away just because he couldn’t find a better way out of this shit. Think harder!”

Tom grit his teeth. “This is the only way! We spent so much time looking for clues, looking for answers, and this is all we have to go on! Everything we have learned points to us needing to destroy the worldstone. And this,” He gestured to the yellow amber. “This is our best shot.”  

“I could just take it from you, y’know? Overpower you, pin you to the ground and just rip that little rock from your hand. You know I could do that, right?” 

Tom sighed and moved the stone back to his pocket. “Yes, but you won’t… no matter how much fun that might be and you wanna know why?” He didn't wait for a response. “Because you know that I'm telling the truth and I will always belong to you no matter what happens. Now come on, we’re uh… heading to the marina.” 

—-

“Celeste… you bitch…” Tom tried to speak but the wind had been thoroughly knocked out of him. He rolled over on the rough gravel while still clutching his chest. Whatever she did to him had left him with several broken bones in his chest, or potentially none, and he was just less resilient than he once was. He tried to look around but he was having trouble adjusting to the daylight. Eventually he was able to make out several people coming to help him back to his feet. 

Everything was echoing. There were about seven or eight people around him, trying to get information. “Who are you?” “How did you get here?” “Are you hurt?” “What’s your name?” When Tom didn’t respond they started trying different languages. He was about to let them all know who he was but his voice got caught in his throat. His vision had cleared enough to see hundreds of people. Save for the few that stopped to help Tom they were all hurriedly moving about the town. Tom could see the lines of buildings, several of which seemed well into the reconstruction efforts. Some of the buildings were rebuilt completely with downed logs. It was an easy enough commodity to come by in the forest but Tom was still amazed with their progress. 

He never stopped keeping track of the time difference. Tom knew that forty four hours and three minutes had passed for the forest during his time away. More than anything he was impressed with the reconstruction effort. They had managed to do so much in only two days while Tom had barely managed to stay alive. 

While there were still people trying to snap Tom out of his daze there was one woman that caught his attention. Tom was able to see the black outline of a tattoo against the pale skin of her shoulder. It was partially hidden behind her blond hair but the unmistakable contract drove Tom to focus on her and her alone. She was standing quite a ways away but as soon as her lips started to move Tom could hear her voice as if she were speaking directly into his ear. “Hinba wants to see you.” 

 There she was, not even a moment later. Hinba was carrying several logs of downed trees, presumably for the next building they all were currently working on. She quickly found a safe spot to lay them down and rushed over to Tom. There was an unbelievable amount of grace to how she was able to move over the crowded streets without stepping on anyone, let alone slowing them down. It must have been a practiced art form. 

The crowd that had gathered around Tom back away in unison as a giant red hand came and snatched him up. Hinba didn’t say a word as she brought him to her face. Tom struggled to speak with a burning pain still ripping through his chest. “Safe distance… from humans.” he huffed the words and just hoped that Hinba would understand.

—

“I wasn’t sure if I would ever see you again.” She whispered.

Tom wasn’t sure if he had drifted unconscious or was just still hazy from the transition that he had forgotten the last few minutes. He was laying on his back in Hinba’s open palm as her gentle footsteps rocked back and forth. “We need to be alone.” Each breath felt labored but at least he was able to form coherent sentences. 

“I already told you, we’re halfway to my cave, are you going to tell me what’s going on now?” Tom saw a genuine look of concern on her face. 

He wasn’t sure why, but he felt embarrassed by her comment. “Sorry, things haven’t been going great for me…” 

“I’ll say,” she said quickly. Her fingers started to curl around Tom. “You look like shit.” 

“I feel like shit.” 

“What happened to you?” 

Tom felt himself being brought close to her face. He saw her eyes examining him intently for any hints of what was going on. “The worldstone didn’t appreciate what we did to it. It attached itself to me somehow. I’m dying, Hinba.” 

“So that’s why you came back?” He couldn’t tell if she was angry or sad. Her voice was even and calm, not betraying any emotion. “Are you here to find a way to detach it, somehow?” 

Tom coughed a few times. The pain in his chest subsided but he was still having trouble breathing. “No Hinba, I just need to get away from the others… I need to stay away from other humans or the sickness will spread. Everything we’ve done would have been for nothing if this magic infects the townsfolk.” 

Hinba stopped in her tracks. “You’re actually dying?” Tom nodded and he could see the realization forming in her head. “You’re dying and you brought yourself back to me?” 

He tried to fake a smile. “Here’s a good place. Don’t you think so?” 

“I suppose it is.” She shrugged, unsure what to say. 

“I’m not going to ask you to crush me if that’s what you’re wondering.” Tom sighed. “Or chew…I think we both knew that one day I would end up back in your stomach.”

“You know what you're saying, right? What you’re in for?” Hinba questioned. “Please tell me you’re not going to ask for some ‘quick and painless’ route.” 

Tom shrugged. 

“Holy shit, Tom. You’re not joking…” She found a shady spot under a tree to sit down. “Are you sure? It’s not like I can run to wordstone to get you out of my stomach if you happen to change your mind.” 

“Yeah, I’m good… The worldstone is dying with me, so I don’t think that is an option anyways. Don’t make me beg Hinba, this is tiring enough already.”

She brushed the side of his head with her finger. “But that’s my favorite part. It’s our little  tradition.”

“How about you just trust me? I think we’re able to trust each other… right?” Hinba nodded. She tried to hide a smile but wasn’t successful. “What?” 

“Nothing, you’re right. It’s just… you could have gone anywhere. There are plenty of other predators that would love to have you.” 

“I know. I meant it when I said that I would always be yours.” Tom returned her smile. 

After a moment where neither of them made a sound, Hinba broke the silence. “So when were you wanting this to happen? I can give you as much time as you want, but I don’t know how long…” 

“Now works.” Tom didn’t hesitate. He did what he needed to do and now he wanted to rest. Plus it kinda felt good being the instigator for once. Normally Hinba was always the one to push him into certain situations. Tom might have unconsciously added this to his bucket list right between making partner at his firm and riding a horse. Well, at least he crossed one thing off, he thought. 

He was snapped out of his daydream as he saw Hinba’s hand reach for his wrist. Tom experienced déjà vu as he felt absolutely hypnotized. She, ever so gently, grabbed his right arm, then his left and lifted him up. Her finger zig-zaged across his chest and his clothes fell away from his dangling body. 

“I’m guessing you’d prefer feet first.” 

“Yeah, head first doesn’t sound fun. I don’t know if I would be able to get myself back upright if… well…” he trailed off. Hinba knew what he meant. He didn’t need to elaborate. 

“I get it.” She lifted Tom directly above her mouth. “Thank you Tom.” Hinba lowered him down through her parted lips. 

Tom didn’t register what happened next. As soon as he felt the warmth of her tongue meet his feet and legs, his whole body went numb. Hinba closed her crimson eyes while she traced the lump that traveled down her throat. It disappeared when Tom passed her collarbone. Normally she would slow down to enjoy herself more, but this wasn’t a normal human. 

—

Tom didn’t need to open his eyes to know he was dreaming. When he finally blinked them open, he was greeted with the most beautiful sunset he’d ever seen. The “sun” was about three times larger than the one he was used to, taking up a significant portion of the ocean horizon. It shined with a mesmerizing red and purple hue. 

“I remembered someone mentioning that you wanted to retire on a beach…” He turned to the sound on her voice. She was back in her human form standing in the sand wearing a light purple bikini. Tom looked around for a moment to confirm his suspicions. He found himself in a reclining chair on a white sandy beach. “This is actually a dream within a dream. It’s um… it’ll give us more time together.” 

Tom remembered a prior conversation they’d had. In theory this would give him an exponentially longer amount of time, but it would all depend on how long his body would last in her stomach. Curiosity got the better of him. “How long does it normally take for someone to uh…” he motioned to her midsection. 

“Well normally they would last about two to three hours… but Tom, you shouldn’t-“ 

It was too late. Tom was already doing the mental math in his head. “That could be years in here, right?” 

She shook her head. “I said ‘normally’.” Hinba rested a hand on her stomach, her voice was sullen. “I didn’t notice at first but you’re very weak… you don’t have long.”

“So what? An hour?”

“Maybe you shouldn’t-“

“Half an hour?” He spoke over her.

“Tom, just-“ 

“Five minutes?” 

She sighed, “Probably less.” 

Again, Tom jumped through the math. “That would still give us a month in here right?” 

“Probably less.” Hinba let the words hang in the air. Neither of them wanted to speak. Hinba walked up beside Tom and looked out to the neon sea. 

While Tom wasn’t in a hurry to end the silence, he needed to get his mind off of his current situation. He looked over to Hinba. It never occurred to him that she could choose which form she appeared as in their dreams. She always just seemed to match how she looked in real life. “I didn’t know you could appear as your human self.” She turned her head to give him a quizzical look. Tom just motioned around. 

“Oh yeah… well I can, but it’s just a bit difficult. I’m trying to put as much effort into elongating our time here.” She chewed her lip. “You always seemed to prefer me this way.” 

“What makes you say that?” 

“Because I could hear your thoughts.” She let out a grin. “I never heard you think that I was beautiful in my Oni form… not even once.”

Tom was a bit taken aback, “that doesn’t sound right…” he thought back then snapped his fingers. “It was right before you put the charm on me. Remember the first time at the oasis?” 

“Really?” She raised an eyebrow. “But you were still so afraid of me.” 

“One.” He held up a finger. “I still am afraid of you, and two, if you’re trying to make this dream last as long as possible shouldn’t you be in that form now?” 

She chuckled for a moment. “Well I guess you have a point…” Hinba walked behind Tom as he kept his gaze forward. When she reappeared on the other side she towered over him. It took considerable effort for her to sit down in the loose sand without causing it to shift too much. As soon as she was settled, Tom sat up and moved his chair closer to the giant woman.

“I see you ditched the bikini.” He said as he sat back down in his lounge chair. 

“Didn’t fit.” Came her curt response.  

After everything they had been through, Tom was at a loss for what to say. It seemed like for the first time since he met Hinba, that he actually had time on his hands. There wasn’t another adventure to go on, not for Tom at least. Hinba still needed to find the culprit behind the whole disappearing act but it’s unlikely that they would try the same thing again anytime soon. For starters, the worldstone was gone, or rather will be gone very soon. Also Hinba was aiding in the reconstruction. It wasn’t clear how much time Hinba spent in the town before they met, but she would be keeping a watchful eye on the place moving forward. Tom knew if she wanted guidance, she would ask. He did his part. The rest was up to her. Besides, Tom wasn’t the “violent retribution” type. 

All of this led him to the rather uncomfortable topic of how to spend his remaining time at the end of the world. “So uh… does this place have Mai Tai’s?” 

—-

Under normal circumstances, Tom was really good at judging the passage of time, but this was far from “normal.” The sun didn’t move, it merely twinkled as it reflected against the water. They had no need to eat, drink or sleep in this strange and beautiful place. Tom guessed they had been there for two weeks at least but he had no real means of knowing for sure. It was just a vague shot in the dark. 

Tom looked up to Hinba. They both spent most of their time just enjoying the sea breeze in calm silence. She had her eyes closed and her head leaned back, taking long deep breaths of the salty air. 

He was about to ask her a question when he felt some warm liquid around his ears. He touched his ear, then he examined fingers. There was a small trickle of blood moving down his arm. Tom didn’t know for sure what it meant but he could take a guess. His mouth opened to get Hinba’s attention but no words came out. After another failed attempt to speak Tom opted to reach out and touch Hinba’s thigh.

Hinba felt a tiny hand on her leg. Without opening her eyes she responded. “Hmm?” 

It was a female voice “The scribe…” Hinba’s eyes shot open. She turned down to look at Tom. The white sand of the beach with dirt and grass. Tom’s short, dark hair was replaced with the long blond hair of a young woman from the town. The human flinched at Hinba’s sudden movement. “The scribe wanted me to come check on you. They said the human with you was unwell.” 

Hinba laid a hand on her abdomen, trying to remember where she was. Her mind was still groggy from the long dream. “He’s…” She searched for any hint of life in her stomach. There was nothing. Tom was gone. “He’s no longer with me.” there was a light bit of warmth that spread through her veins. It wasn’t the massive euphoria that normally came from a willing human but this one had been through a lot.  You can let the scribe know there’s nothing to worry about. He volunteered.” 

She barely felt anything. Normally when a human is convinced to part with their soul, there is an overwhelming sense of euphoria that spreads over her entire body. Nothing like that happened. It could be that she was still asleep for the moment, but that didn’t seem likely. It was possible that Tom decided he didn’t want to give up his soul, waiting until the very last moment to revoke his willingness. No, Hinba thought, that wasn’t right. The true reason was most likely staring her in the face. Maybe she was the problem. Maybe in the final moments, she came to the realization that she didn’t want Tom’s soul. She just wanted Tom.