The simply irony of that nearly made him laugh, though the sound would have been so twisted that it would have made the universe cringe away. He kept it inside, listening to the sound of it in his own head, but his lips twitched, hinting at the shadow of a snarl, of the vicious hurt that raged inside.

"You leave me for a "chance"? You do not even have the promise and you..."

He shook his head, the ache only growing. Gideon had persuaded Felix on a chance. A chance! He had not made the promise, not taken him back, and still Felix left. No, no he had not lost to a shadow at all.

He had lost to the faintest flickers of redemption.

He had given him a new reality, a new opportunity, but not redemption. Ashura could never give Felix that, and this he knew. Which only made it worse, a failing.

The chair creaked as he stood, turning his side to Felix, no longer able to look at him. On the table, the ring remained, the epicenter of the spider-web cracks.