Ethan searched for Elira fast.
Not far away, in another culture vat, a tiny figure lay curled up.
Her dazzling Divine Sovereign Moth wings were pressed tight against her body. Her eyes were shut, and fear still clung to her face like it wouldn't come off.
"Elira!"
Ethan pulled the white orb of energy back into himself.
The power spread through his limbs, refueling what he needed to break down into particles again. But after firing off attacks nonstop—and after merging with Lily—there wasn't much left in him that he could still draw on.
He had to move. Now.
His body disassembled again.
Black particles slipped around the barrier overhead, passed straight through the culture vat's transparent outer wall. A thin ring of ripples appeared on the surface of the container, but it didn't trigger any obvious alarm.
Ethan moved down the narrow aisle between the vats, reached Elira, and pulled himself back into a solid form.
"Elira?"
He crouched and gripped her shoulders.
"Wake up."
