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Seto paced the void – or so he preferred to think – but it was more likely that his spirit did not move at all, that pacing did not even exist.
Learning as much as he could was valuable only if he could do something about it.
And what that might be was still unclear, considering his current state of being. If he could see, hear, and even feel what Chelona experienced then his assimilation was no doubt quickening. And in a place where time was fleeting but also vague, and where he had no control over where or whether he was shown what Chelona saw, it was the perfect recipe for desperation.
And impotent fury.
Mila had not reappeared and so he could not even turn to her for advice, since she clearly understood the void at least somewhat. And her urging him to stop Chelona had its own ring of desperation – after all, he was as trapped as she.
Yet no sooner had his thought escaped than the warm walls of her cottage surrounded him.
Mila held no tea this time, instead she was merely seated, waiting.
“Your time is near.”
Seto smothered a flash of fear – there was still too much to accomplish. “How can I prevent it?”
“If she wills it, you cannot,” Mila said. “But I suspect the process will afford you a single chance to act.”
He leant across the table. “Then I shall take it. How, Mila?”
“You will not like my suspicion.”
“I do not doubt that,” he replied. “Yet hear it I must.”
Mila sighed. “The price will be high.”
“So be it.”
She appraised him a moment longer. “Very well. Here is my guess, which I have based on others who have already come and gone before you. Should your desire be strong enough, I suspect there is a point where you might be able to influence Chelona.”
“Do you mean her thoughts or actions?”
“I do not know. Surely it would be a small way only, and what I noticed was fleeting indeed,” she replied. “There was one whose name I never learnt. But at the moment of his final joining with Chelona, my body seemed to falter. It seemed that Chelona had lost control for just a moment. It did not last of course, and he was then no more.”
“I see.”
“Having doubts?”
“No. I simply hope it will be enough to do... something.”
Mila spread her hands. “Such opportunities seem few but if there is a chance, it is now while Chelona is distracted by her many obligations.”
Seto folded his arms, though he nodded at her words. “Then I will wait for the right moment to strike.”
“Good.”
Growing bitterness was undeniable but he would not let it ruin what would be, it seemed, a final roll of the dice.