Gareth's mental plane turned pitch black.
The cracks that had appeared like grass in space, like fractures in the fabric of his consciousness began to spread. They split the darkness, shattered the silence, opened channels to something beyond.
Gareth smiled.
His face still dark, still transformed, still filled with the malice that had poured into him twisted into an expression that was almost peaceful.
"The sun truly is setting on..." He paused, as if tasting the words. "...now."
He opened his eyes.
He woke up just in time.
His body was different. The wounds that had covered him the cuts, the bruises, the broken bones were gone. His flesh was whole. His strength was returned. His will was sharpened.
He lay on the deck of the destroyed vessel, the storm still raging above, the sea still churning around him. The Black Ledger sat beside him, peacefully staring at him with his one remaining eye.
Gareth looked at him.
He did not move. Did not attack. Did not react with the rage that had consumed him before. He simply looked.
"Is it because of that..." His voice was calm, almost conversational. "...your stupid obsession with anatomy?"
He paused.
"The reason why you refuse to kill your enemy?"
The Black Ledger smiled.
His face was a ruin one eye gone, one hand missing, his body broken and bloody. But his smile was warm, genuine, peaceful.
"You are a fascinating specimen." His voice was thick with blood, but it carried. "A wonder to behold."
He leaned forward.
"To understand your excellent anatomy..." His voice dropped. "...I would like to explore it."
His eye gleamed.
"And understand it."
in the space between the question and the answer, between the devil's healing and the scholar's obsession.
Gareth lay on the deck.
The Black Ledger sat beside him.
And the sea roared.