One day, my son Ampyx finds me on the beach. He tells me that his mother is dying, and that I need to come and see her, one last time. I stand and follow him. The people waiting disperse, perhaps to return the next day.

"Did you forget us?" Ampyx demands as he leads me through the streets of Acis. "You've been on that beach for years, and you've never sent so much as a word to me, my brothers, your wife. Now she's dying and it's too late for anything."

"I've not forgotten, my son," I say slowly. Conversation doesn't come naturally to me anymore. "I have my role in this community, and I am needed. My personal feelings are set aside. As much as I care about you, I want you to lead your life free of influence."

Ampyx doesn't answer, but leads me into a hospital. Nurses and physicians hustle back and forth. My son draws back a curtain and Io is there, at once as beautiful as the day I first saw her and withered into a husk of death.

Without a thought, my flask of Miltha is in my hand and at her lips. The waters of life and resurrection trace a glowing light from her throat and chest, then belly and hips. In moments, she is renewed, shimmering in radiance. Ampyx is crying.

"Sergio," she tells me, her eyes wide, "it's all so beautiful, is this what you see all the time? This is how you see the world? It's like layers and interconnected webs and ..." Io turns her hands over and over, marveling at their contours and veins.

"It is how I see, my love," I tell her. "I want you to join me as I restore and remake this world. Now we are eternal, you and I, and all the realms shall be as one."

Ampyx places his hand on my shoulder. "Father, may I also drink the Miltha and join you?"

Shaking my head sadly, I say, "Ampyx, when your heart is right, you'll come to me and I'll give you this drink. But your heart is full still of resentment and war. You have much to atone for. Go and make things right."