Tim, having used the Stone of Opening in issue 42 to open himself to the world, now lies on the beach in the rain, unable to do anything, overwhelmed by all the information about the world, and its people, that rolls over him. He sees a vision of a man planning a school shooting, and a young girl about to be sold into sexual slavery, and can't do anything about it because there is just too much for him to keep track of, or do something about. He wonders about how people can be so terrible.
He comes to himself when Araquel flies down, and it starts to rain blood. Araquel touches the Stone, and it unravels itself from his neck and falls into the bloody water. Tim asks whose blood this is, and Araquel points to the sky--it belongs to a warring mass of angels and devils fighting over access to Tim.
They fly down, and threaten Araquel, whom they (angels and devils) both consider a traitor. Araquel slaughters them easily. Araquel says there's nowhere on Earth they can hide, so Tim takes them to the Dark Tower, an edifice whose inhabitants have long been rumored to have it in for Tim.
They are on a long thin staircase in the dark, with nothing around them but skeletons who are eating the stairs. Araquel says they are failed magicians. A woman on an elephant appears, and says they are in fact all Openers like her and Tim, but they failed to achieve the godhood she now has.
She sprays them with water, and she and Tim reappear in a Hindu temple. She wants Tim to be her high priest, but Tim is in no mood for any gods, considering what he saw of humanity in his Opened vision--how could a god let this happen?
She shows him that he could be a god, and how to treat humanity solely as objects for his desires, but Tim doesn't get her intended lesson. Instead, he finally understands what it means to be an Opener--the magic isn't in himself, he is just able to Open the world to the realm and power of magic.
He returns to Araquel, and Opens himself as a portal fully, releasing all his magic back into the magic-starved world. He no longer wishes to be someone with power, since he sees that those with power only ever want to use it to avoid life, and control others.
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