Read Soul Stasis --Arc 1-- "Aphrodite" :: Soul Stasis - |Ep 4, Part 3| - "The Tattered Crow"

Alex and Thana are yet again seen in the wake of the dark, open space of gothique architecture. Sensing this new shadow, Alex finds that another skeletal figure appears. This one is in a white cloak and has a mask adorned halfway across its face. As it comes closer, darkened mauve hair unfurls from the cowl. Glistening white skin sparkles amongst the light-greyish granules of the planet. As it approaches, it is knocking its staff, a large ovular crest at the top, curled into fangs pointing inward like a snake. It withholds a black hole similar to that of Thana's but inverted. The staff itself is somewhat jagged as if several attempts at creating it were made. It was glistening in places where it's been chipped, yet jet black. Although fettered, the staff looked very sturdy and able to withstand almost anything. A white, beaded accessory was hanging from the base of the crested top, pearlescent white in nature, shining softly as it nested itself once the entity had stopped in place.

The new shadowy figure halts on the other side of the cairn the other two were settling. Alex stares at it with angst, resulting in him backing away. Thana witnesses this and holds Alex's back. They look at this thing in front of them, looming with tattered clothing. "Ker… stop scaring the boy. He's been through a long enough journey…" Thana stops a moment, looking at Alex with the corner of their eye and looks back. "Through... the threshold." Ker vanishes and reappears right in Alex's face, staring intimidatingly in his eyes. He looms over him like a crow, considering pecking his mind with information. Instead, he retorts, his eyes rolling behind his mask. "By the Quies… this is absurd. Why did he rebirth as this… this THING. It's disgusting. I want to break it so badly." Thana shakes their head. "You know your place, Ker. Leave it be. He's here again. Aren't you grateful we finally have someone to fix everything?" Ker tilts their head as they have their back turned, sighing angrily as they leave through the shadows without a trace.

Alex regains his stomach's stability but drops to the floor with vertigo. "What… am I…? Why am I here?" Thana looks at Alex with disdain of his treatment by Ker. "Sorry to have gotten Ker to bring you here, Alex. Like I spoke of before. You need time to adjust within your body and mind before you can know the truth. Your memory is fragile right now. If you gain too much information, your mesophasic brain–" Thana looks down. "I may have said too much. Just wait it out. Find more about souls in your journey. It will lead you in the right direction." As he says this, Alex slowly gets up, exhausted in spirit. He is distorting slightly, his body fading from this plain. Before he leaves, Thana has one more thing to say. "Before you are revived, you must understand. That scorpion is important, it can help." Alex vanishes from that realm and as he does, his soul is whisking in a specific direction, fragmenting as it disappears. All is the space solemnly left behind, as always it has been. Thana looks back at the cairn, picking up again, the jellyfish-like soul. "Don't worry. You will meet again in due time." He puts it back in the smoking essence. "Along with your precious machine…"