"Don't be too sad, about it, there isn't anything we cand o about it anyways, you were already quite fast, that much I have to admit, though I still preferred it when Cades was the only one in touch, and of course, when there was only one Cades, and in the end, I can help you with one of the issues at least.."
Lich perked up at these words, after all, both of these issues seemed invincible, like an endless ocean of adventures needed to overcome them, like he would never ever get rid of them, after all, one could not go back in time, at least he couldn't, and one could not simply get rid of their body, at least he couldn't, though in the end, both of these things were possible, though in another way than one might think, ways neither Lich nor Cades truly understood yet.
But still, he wasn't too hopeful, right now, he was dulled, he was shocked, he didn't understand how it was possible, both of these things, but he did know one thing, he knew that he was unable to do anything about it, that was something he could accept, so why did Cades now claim that he could do something about it when he had already given his heart over to acceptance, skipping most of the cycle that was supposed to show how humans deal with such shocks, and even grief, in this case, grief over himself, over the person he once was, over Cades face, over the face of a Kirgun, because, in the end, he did admit, he was still, never-changing, a Kirgun, raised by his mom and his dad.
Still, a faint string of hope found it's way into his heart that had bene turned inside out within this place, a place that was so serene, so calm, yet so violent and wild, and so purple as well as black, so silver and so full of absence, the colour he could not describe being the colouring his mind despaired to find a way to convince himself of it's non-existence, so, he listened intently, his thoughts having stopped in their tracks after a few mere seconds, his heart having begun to beat again, his blood non-flowing in this place, his chest simply feeling lighter, as if a physical representation of how he felt, something fitting, as, while he didn't even notice it, his body had begun to flow apart, just as Cades constructs tended to do whenever he stopped keeping them up on purpose, perhaps also as a show of what he was able to do in this place.
"This body wasn't empty, and in the end, I am the one who rules above all that is hidden within the soul, such as an active that a certain friend of us used to wield, a friend" Cades corpse grinned, if that was even capable of being called a grin, "was so kind as to give us his body, battered and formerly headless, from what I'm able to tell.."
Manug....so this was Manug's body, a body that he had completely destroyed, a head he had injected lightning into, lightning that had cause it to explode, the brain melting and boiling, an impossible deed of healing magic, the healing of a corpse being only a side of that, but more so the fact that everything was gone, yet, he didn't care right now, already having a theory as to what Cades was talking about, a passive that had always been present when he looked at Manug.
Cades was probably talking abo-
"Yes, and yes I am interrupting you again, partially to distract you from everything that is going on right now, so, what I am talking about is indeed Manug's passive, as he had called it, the passive causing his eternally, disgustingly, absolutely, perfect beauty, a beauty that had almost made the two of us throw up if I remember correctly, a beauty I am very much willing to apply to this corpse of a body, literally, now that we are working together..."
Lich felt disgusted, he felt as if he was living in Manug's corpse already, something he was actually doing after all, he felt as if he had betrayed him, as if he was stealing that which made Manug Manug, his everything, his face, his body, his soul, or at least parts from it, whichever parts might've been within that golden stone, but still, he was disgusted at himself as he felt the relief at having another face than that of a corpse, and he felt disgusted at himself for thinking of that as disgusting, he was simply disgusted, not even certain what to be disgusted by, simply feeling, simply longing, to feel disgusted at something.
Then, only silence followed, Cades already having vanished, the world having become an endless mirrored expanse of nothing, and Cades simply sat down, his head on his knees, still covered within the cloth that had been rebuild with surprisingly great detail for Cades normal constructs in this place, and he did nothing.
At first he thought about it all, he got deeper and deeper into it, hating everything, but then, he calmed down, and realized it was all for naught, not over seconds, not over minutes, but over entire hours, though they seemed to change nothing in this place.
But in the end he just stood up, having understood that he couldn't change anything, having broken down silently and efficiently this time, something he had begun to understand, the correct way of breaking down completely, and something he despised the fact that the knew of it.
Perhaps this had been Cades intention all along, to make him despair, to shock him over and over again, just so he calmed down quicker, having been sent into despair too many times, having his heart miss a tune too many times, having been shocked so much he had partially not even felt it anymore.
Instead, he felt as normal as he could feel, though something was off within his stomach, something moving along the edges of the horizon, something he didn't even want to know about yet, perhaps something that Cades was planning on.
Then, he once again felt Cades communicating with him..
"It'll take some time for me to manifest outside, the light of dominion won't be active right away after all, but for now, I'll say goodbye to you.."
There was nothing once more as the intent resounded, now an actual voice, calm and collected, as if his own father said it, "good luck"
Finally, he was returning back to the challenge, though he was uncertain as to why he was happy about that.