Elara nodded, a silent promise in her eyes, and as she and Alice raised their linked hands toward the Sins, a glow began to build between their palmsnot of anger or hatred, but of…confidence.

  It wasn't a ball of Void energy this time.

  Elara and Alice combined their strengths into something new—a single pulse of golden Void made real.

  It was a force of pure resolve, fueled by Alice's hope, and Elara's faith in both herself, and Alice.

  When the pulse struck the Sins, it was as if the very weight of their own flaws had turned on them, striking harder than any blade.

  But Wrath had his own plan. Before the pulse of Void Energy made contact with any of the Sins, Wrath shot Alice and Elara with a ball of dark mist that made the two disappear the instant it hit them.

  ★

  Alice woke with a gasp and found herself in a room she'd never seen before.

  "What?" she muttered, rising shakily as she looked around, hands automatically going for weapons that were not there.

  Everything here felt wrong, like looking at a nightmare. The walls were an eerie crimson, dripping dark ichor like paint-laden tears.

  Alice realized, with increasing dread, that Elara was missing.

  Then a man's deep voice behind her.

  "You look lost.”

  Alice whirled, hands still clenched into fists as she took an instant to assess the source of the voice.

  A tall figure stood facing a wall of mirrors, arms folded behind their back toward her.

  Alice narrowed her eyes. "Show your face.”

  The figure slowly turned.

  And Alice froze.

  He was a middle-aged man with short black hair and mahogany skin that blended into the darkness of the room. He was draped in a black leather coat lined with glowing silver threads that pulsed like veins, and matching pants and boots.

  "Lost?" he echoed, voice smooth as cracked glass. "No. You're right where you need to be."

  He took a step forward with a smile. "I have a few questions for you. How you answer them decides if I help you out of here or not."

  Anger flared inside Alice, quick as lightning. She was not being anyone's pawn again.

  "Why should I answer?" she said. "Who even are you?”

  The stranger chuckled. "I have many names and identities. But the one you're speaking to as of now is 'Iblis'."

  He stepped closer, crimson eyes never leaving her face.

  "Now, I have a few questions. Answer them and I'll be your ally rather than your foe.”

  Alice's nerves tensed at how close he was, but she kept herself outwardly calm.

  "What questions?"

  'Iblis' smiled, taking only two more steps to stand directly in front of her, forcing her to tilt her head back just to see him. "Two questions only."

  He reached out and grabbed her chin to hold her still, like he was holding an unruly child. "First, answer this." He looked Alice in the eyes.

  You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

  "Is a chair still a chair, even when there's no one sitting there?"

  Alice blinked at the absurdity of such a seemingly pointless query, but considering 'Iblis' will aid her if she answers...she decided to bite:

  "...Yes?"

  'Iblis' nodded before moving to the next question.

  "But oh! Is a chair a house?"

  Blinking again at the even more absurd question, Alice answered with a drawn out "No?"

  "Then, lastly," 'Iblis' prompted, his eyes narrowing, "Is a house a home when there's no one there to hold you tight, and no one that you can kiss goodnight?"

  Alice frowned, not liking the implications of such a strangely personal line of questions. "No," she answered, "it's not a home then."

  Her expression flattened. 'Is he messing with me?'

  Satisfied with Alice's answers, 'Iblis' beamed, fixing his coat around himself.

  "I like how you think," he praised, his eyes now turning to a gentle brown color as he proudly extended a hand towards Alice for a shake. "You may now call me Ronzonius."

  Her eyes narrowed as the man's appearance changed entirely, now he looked less like a shadowy monster and more...normal.

  Ronzonius, the middle-aged man, seemed harmless, but Alice had learned the hard way that appearances meant nothing.

  "What do you really want?" she demanded. "And where is Elara?”

  ★

  Speaking of Elara…

  She was trapped in a separate room of her own. A figure standing in the corner of the room turned. Elara froze.

  The figure looked... exactly like her.

  Same eyes. Same face. Same stance, and most importantly...the same Black Star tattoo on the lower back.

  The Elara clone took a menacing step forward. "I'm you, Elara. Not the soft one who clings to the Light... but the one who survived the Darkness alone."

  "I had nothing!" the other Elara spat, her voice rising with fury. "No Alice. No team! No lasso of light to hold onto like a child's blanket! I survived by embracing the Darkness—by becoming it!"

  She took another step forward, her eyes burning black at the edges. "You've grown soft with friendship, Elara. And softness gets you killed."

  Elara stepped back, but only to steady herself.

  Then she locked eyes with her dark twin and said:

  "No... You're wrong."

  "I'm not weaker because I have people who care about me." Her voice grew stronger now. "I'm stronger because now I have something worth fighting for beyond just survival!"

  "Don't kid yourself. You are working with the enemy, the same woman that killed your family. Your kin. And feels no remorse about doing it.”

  At the mention of her family, Elara stopped short. "How... How do you know about that?!"

  The other Elara crossed her arms, smug. "I know everything you do. I am you, after all. Your memories... Your pain... Your rage. Your hate..."

  "Shut up," Elara snapped. "You're not me.”

  "I'm the part of you that remembers what Gabrielle did," the dark Elara hissed, stepping closer. "The flames. The screams. Your mother's last words 'Run, Elara! Run and never look back!'"

  Elara staggered as if struck.

  Her breath hitched.

  "...You don't get to say her name."

  Dark Elara smiled coldly. "And yet she's still alive, isn’t she? Sitting on a throne built from your people’s bones... laughing while you waste time holding hands with Alice instead of ending her!"

  Elara trembled not from fear, but from fury rising like a storm in her chest.

  "You think I forgot?" she whispered, then louder: "You think I don't remember every second of it?!"

  She clenched her fists so tight they bled black Void energy.

  "But I’m not killing Gabrielle for revenge!"

  "I'm doing it because it's right. And this time… I won't do it alone.”

  Dark Elara stared… then laughed long and sharp, like glass breaking.

  "Right?" she mocked. "There is no right in war, only survival. And you? You’ve traded strength for sentiment."

  She raised a hand and the room twisted.

  Walls bled black sigils. The floor cracked open into a chasm of swirling Void flames.

  "I am what you were," she said, stepping forward again as her form shimmered with dark power. "What you should still be. Alone. Unrelenting. Free."

  Then her voice dropped to a whisper:

  "You don’t get to choose light... and still call yourself strong.”

  Elara narrowed her eyes, defiant. "I don't care what you say. I'm not like you... I won't be like you."

  Dark Elara scoffed. "You already are."

  "No." Elara said firmly. "You've lost everyone you loved. I still have Alice. And she's my key to finding Kairy."

  Dark Elara tensed when Alice's name left Elara's lips, then snarled ferociously. "You'll lose her like you lost your family! You'll lose Alice and never find Kairy because you're too WEAK.”

  "No," Elara said firmly, taking a step forward. "I won't lose her. And I will find Kairy... not because of hate. But because I believe in something more."

  She raised her hand, the lasso’s golden light flickered into existence, not from Alice this time… but from her own heart.

  The glow cut through the darkness like dawn breaking.

  Dark Elara stumbled back, hissing at the light as if burned. "That’s not real! That bond is just a lie to make you feel safe!"

  "Maybe," Elara whispered, but then her voice surged with power: "But it's MY lie! My choice! And I’d rather die believing in it than live like you—alone, bitter, and hollow!"

  Using Increase to rev up her aura, Elara gripped her lasso tightly, ready to put her dark counterpart in her place.