Re-l, still hunched under the tree, was doing her best to pull all the splinters and bark out of her body. Luckily there wasn't much skin or flesh on her knuckles, and so the wounds were easy to clean. When she had finished cleaning them, she tore up her handkerchief and knotted the fabric around her left hand. Her right would need help. Only when she was finished did she speak.

"I can't do this," she said. "I had enough trouble looking after Vincent, and he was immortal. How on earth am I supposed to protect someone who sabotages themselves at every turn? What do I do the day you decide to make something so far beyond your capabilities that you die?"