Fifteen minutes before midnight, Cainen's eyes opened and he turned towards Isaac and Lenna. "Are you ready, young ones, to witness the power of wishes?" He asked them with the smirk of an old man about to show some children the most interesting thing that they would ever see, because he was.

Isaac nodded. "As long as you've made sure that we aren't going to turn into a chimera or something." Isaac replied with an easy smile that hid how anxious he actually was.

Cainen got a glint in his eye. "That is one of the better outcomes, actually. At least you each have half of your brains and thirty four levels packed into one being." He said and then grinned. "Take off your magical gear, all of it, and empty your strange storage."

Isaac frowned and took a step off to the side of the entrance with Lenna. "Xlen, if something happens that prevents our wish, I will hold this kingdom, in its entirety, personally responsible."

Xlen met his eyes and saw absolutely no hesitation or even a hint of jest. The old warrior nodded slowly. "I understand, though I beg you to reconsider." He replied calmly though it was clear that he had shifted into a very high alert and ready state just by his body language.

"We'll watch over you." Walter told them with a nod. He then looked down the hall and grinned. "You were almost late." He told Lord Ashborne as the second truly ancient warrior quickly walked down the hallway towards them.

Isaac sighed with some relief as not one, but three maximum level powerhouses were looking after them. Isaac shrouded himself and Lenna with a wall of shadows thick enough that no one would be able to see through it.

"I don't like this either." Lenna confided in him. "I also don't think that he is making us do this without reason."

"I know, and I agree." Isaac replied. "Let's just hurry." The duo then quickly stripped off all of their magical gear and donned casual street clothes, which was still made of fine fabrics but was noticeably at a level that was affordable to most mid level adventurers. After Lenna was out of her armor, Isaac had to help her otherwise it would've taken far too long, both of them had then changed. After that, Isaac let the shadows disperse and looked around for a place to put his Inventory.

"Just toss it in a pile, Gypsy'll make sure nobody touches it." Walter told him with a knowing smile.

Isaac sighed and made a small wall of shadows interposed where his Inventory screen was positioned. "Fine." He grumbled and pulled out his armor where he tossed each piece onto the ground at his feet. He had used his Inventory to doff the armor faster which was why it was in there and not already on the ground. After that, he tossed two swords, a dagger, a clearly magical sword hilt, a handful of throwing spikes, some potions, a few hundred coins of various denominations, a few changes of clothes, and a few days of food and water. He then looked over at Cainen. "Is that good enough?" He asked with a raised eyebrow. Isaac knew that the old sorcerer knew far too much about him and definitely knew about Shamesh.

Cainen shook his head. "No. All of it." He replied.

Isaac sighed. "Walter, you'd better keep everyone from freaking out. I have a pretty powerful skeleton in my closet after all." He finished with a smirk.

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Walter chuckled, because it very much was the artificer's kind of joke, and nodded in affirmation. "I'll do my best." He promised and then turned and started explaining what was going to happen to Xlen and his father. He began with: "Now, when you see him, don't freak out. He's friendly."

Isaac just shook his head and gestured to his side where his shadow extended and darkened into a perfect void black. "Shamesh, rise."

A creature in the shape of an elf made entirely out of bones rose out of the void black shadow. He was draped in ribbons that fit and flowed together to form the rough shape of a suit. Under the ribbons there was chain mail clear to see against the pure black garments beneath it. Around his head there was a band of silver, orange, and black braided cord. His eyes blazed with black fire that saw through a person and into their soul. His gaze panned the room and then he bowed low and reverentially towards the Lord of all that is Dark. "My Lord, is there anything that I may assist you with?" He asked in a voice less harsh than any onlookers were expecting, but just as serious as when Isaac had threatened the entire kingdom.

Isaac shook his head. "You need only stand there and watch." He told his retainer. "What you are about to see is something beyond your imagining and should be committed to memory."

Shamesh raised slightly from his bow just to bow a little deeper. "So you have said, so it will be done, my Lord." Shamesh replied and straightened.

Lord Ashborne and Xlen were staring with their eyes glued to Shamesh, and for the first time that Walter could remember, he saw actual shock in Lord Ashborne's features, there wasn't a lot of it, but it was still there. "See, he's friendly." Walter told the two old warriors with a wide grin.

"Good." Cainen's voice cut across the room with ease. "We are almost ready to begin." He looked at Isaac and Lenna. "Do not resist." He spoke calmly and reached out his hand towards them. "I beckon thee across land and sea, come to me and heed my plea." He chanted.

Isaac and Lenna felt magic embrace them and then there was a sudden yank and they were both standing directly in front of Cainen. Isaac staggered slightly but Lenna's firm grip kept him from falling. "I have so many questions." Isaac whispered. He wanted to know why Cainen had used forced teleportation to bring them to him when flight would have worked and he also wanted to know how a spell like that could even function after what Karthen had told them about spatial magic. Any other questions were just followups to those two.

"Good, good." Cainen thought aloud. "Your strands are firm despite your damaged integrity." He then looked deeply contemplative for a moment before he smiled to himself. "Fate, you sly mistress." He said to himself and chuckled with a shake of his head. His attention then shifted back to Isaac and Lenna. "Sit with me, both of you, but mind the threads."

Isaac and Lenna nodded and sat crisscross just like how he was. "Do you need anything else from us?" Lenna asked the old sorcerer. Her features were on full display but he didn't seem to mind her purple skin and silver hair and eyes.

Cainen smiled. "No, child, just relax and listen." He instructed her with a glance towards Isaac so he would know to do the same.

"Alright." Isaac affirmed that he would do so by immediately not doing so.

"Hold hands." Cainen instructed them and held out a hand to each of them. They held hands with a triangle-shaped open space between them as their knees were nearly touching. "Good, now, close your eyes with me and do not open them. Listen and feel, do not speak or see." He gave them their last instruction and closed his eyes along with them.

Isaac could feel the power starting to build all around them, but he did as he was told, and kept his eyes closed as he listened to the swirling power as if it were a tornado forming directly on top of them but purely in the magical sense.

"I Wish." Cainen began and a ripple of magic and power shot across the streams of mana in all directions with no signs of stopping. "For two threads to entwine, unify, meld, and merge. For two to become one yet remain distinct two, like orange and black string woven into cord but split on one end. Two bodies, two souls, two strands of fate that are also one. Two fates become one even as two strands remain unassimilated. That is my Wish, outlined by my Intent, strengthened by my Soul, and bound by divine Honor." Another pulse of power rippled out across all of Primatia as Cainen Su'Sol, the last Fate Weaver, made his final wish, not for himself, but for the love of two others.

Isaac felt the mana recoil as a touch of something distinctly 'other' reached into existence and just, ever so gently, poked him. He felt his entire body stop moving as if it was removed from time itself. He felt a strange disconnect between his body and soul and for a moment he thought that maybe the wish had killed him somehow. It was then that he felt a slight pull towards where he knew that Lenna was. He felt a part of him brush against a part of her, spiritually speaking, as their souls and the strands of fate that bind and guide them were actively tampered with. Then, he felt something far more disconcerting and strange.

Isaac felt the blanket in Lady Jikan's metaphor about Soul Integrity. The metaphor had become real and he felt his blanket get gently unfolded as a denser blanket was laid on top of it. One thing that was strange was the size difference between the two. Isaac's was as large as his front yard but the one that had been laid on top of his was the size of a baby's crib blanket. Right as he was starting to realize that the much smaller blanket was Lenna's, he heard something that he never wanted to hear. A sound that would haunt his dreams every time they were apart for the rest of time. He heard Lenna scream in pure rampant and unchecked agony.

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