Vera was barely holding onto consciousness. The feeling of one's body rotting around them was not comfortable to say the least.

  As Cirai tended to her, Vera saw Arden and Podren come crashing through the wall, defeating the monstrosity alongside his sister. Again, she couldn't be more proud.

  As she was entering the twilight zone of her consciousness, she heard her other self panic from inside her.

  “He’s here! My Arden is here!”

  That was as far as Other-Vera got before Vera was brought back to the waking world via the healing powers of Podren.

  “How are you feeling?” he asked.

  Vera scrambled to her feet just in time to see both Arden and Sya pale and get knocked back from the monstrous body.

  Everyone stopped as they saw Other-Arden rise from the body of the flesh creature. Arden’s other self had gone through quite a few changes since Arden had last seen him before the cascade began.

  His messy black hair was even more unkempt. The black cracks that scoured his body were stitched together with green threads. His eyes which used to show a faint hint of madness were gone, with only empty black sockets in their place leaking a thick tar-like substance colored green and black.

  Like a showman, Other-Arden took a bow, shaking off the remaining chunks of viscera from his clothing. Blood still dropped from him, but he didn't seem to mind so long as there were no masses of flesh still clinging to him.

  “My friends, I greet you once again!”

  He looked around the room, his gaze lingering on each person for several seconds.

  “I see we have some new faces here tonight. Not to worry! Whether you are a newcomer or a die hard fan, it matters not!”

  He clutched his head and laughed maniacally, dragging his fingers through his face as he did, drawing blood.

  “Judgement arrives all the same!”

  Sanity returned to Other-Arden's face. The tar-like tears flowed thicker. With a small smile, he spoke softly.

  “Allow me to put you to rest before the final reckoning. That is my mercy.”

  *****

  Cirai looked between the facsimile of her friend and his base form with shocked eyes. The appearance of a corrupted clone was impossible. The only way that this could possibly be explained would be a mimic like Celestial.

  If that was the case, then this was much worse than the cascade itself. Celestials increase in intelligence as they get stronger. At low tiers, they were mindless beasts and eventually gave way to some form of warped, broken intelligence in the orange tier. For a Celestial to be capable of human communication…

  “White-tier…” Cirai whispered.

  If this was a white-tier Celestial, the entire continent was at risk, possibly all of humanity. It took a single yellow-tier Celestial to spell doom for a continent in the past, and white-tiers were impossibly stronger than a yellow-tier.

  Her heart pounded in her chest and echoed in her head.

  The mimic turned to her and laughed after a slight pause.

  “Don’t worry your pretty little head, Cirai,” it said. “I’m no Celestial. Strictly speaking, I’m no human either.”

  There was a pause before he laughed again, cackling like he’d just heard the funniest joke in the world. Wiping a green tear from his eye, he spoke, watching the tear slowly fall from his finger to the ground.

  “Actually, now that I think about it, this life energy makes me more human than anyone else in the world. Funny that, isn’t it?”

  Other-Arden continued to laugh for another minute. Eventually his laughs turned to chuckles, then to snickers, then he awkwardly coughed.

  “Tough crowd.”

  “Why are you here this time?” Arden asked

  Both Cirai and Podren, the ‘newcomers’ as Other-Arden put it, stared at Arden in shock. What did he mean by ‘this time?’ They’d crossed paths before?

  “This may come as a surprise.” Other-Arden began. “But I need the Legacy. Now more than ever.”

  “I told you before, I’m not giving it up. Besides, its sealed. You have no use for it.”

  The green strings holding Other-Arden’s body together glowed softly.

  “You’re right. In its current state, it is unusable to me. If it's been weakened to the point that you can control, then I can forget about being put back together. It is worthless to me. But not to my new boss. If they get it, I get my wish.”

  “And why does your boss want the Legacy?”

  Other-Arden shrugged.

  “Hell if I know. It's outside of human territory to know why an Archon does what it does. Regardless, a deal’s a deal. I’ll be taking the legacy.”

  Other-Arden summoned a familiar sword from the ether. It looked like it was crudely carved out of concrete. Arden recognized it as the one that was thrust into his stomach during his first encounter with the paradoxical being. The only difference now was that it had more of the green strands of string interwoven with the stony blade.

  Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author's preferred platform and support their work!

  “Put up a better fight this time.”

  Other-Arden leapt forward with the blade in his right hand. His right elbow was out in front of his face like he was sneezing into it. As he approached, the stone sword flashed horizontally through the air leaving a green afterglow in its path.

  Arden hurriedly raised his hands, protected by his first Satellite to block the strike. He groaned in pain when he did so, as the impact was great, as expected from a sword carved from stone. His hands and wrists strained under the power, but he held strong.

  Arden wasn’t going to lose a second time to the menace wearing his face. Once was enough.

  Other-Arden grinned cruelly as he pressed his full weight against the sword. Both sword and claw rattled against each other, neither one willing to yield.

  “You’ve improved,” Other-Arden, praising Arden.

  Arden smiled back, clenching his teeth.

  “I had a great teacher.”

  As soon as he said it, Vera flew towards the doppelganger with her axe above head already making a fast descent.

  “I’m not alone this time!” Arden said

  Sya also began pelting Other-Arden with rocks from her slingshot. They might not have worked against the incredible resilience of the shell that Other-Arden wore previously, but now he was in his human skin. He was vulnerable.

  In a split second, Other-Arden kicked Arden away and spun around to greet Vera’s weapon with his own, sidestepping out of the way of the rocks that flew in his direction. Her weapon of choice didn’t go unnoticed.

  “What happened to being a sword prodigy?”

  “A rusty sword can only get me so far. I need something stronger to pound your face into the dirt.”

  “Ooh, feisty. You seem a lot more on edge this time.”

  Vera hooked the sword under the edge of her axe and pulled it closer to her, weakening the doppelganger’s hold on it.

  “Back then, I thought you were a friend. Now, I know you’re an enemy.”

  Pain flashed across the doppelganger’s eyes for a split second.

  “That really hurts,” he mumbled.

  Vera felt the sorrow in her own soul as well. Even though she was wide awake, she was still able to feel the presence of her other self.

  “Let me do this!” came the voice in her head. “Let me talk to him!”

  Other-Arden didn't let go of his sword, even though his grip was loosened. He followed it, making sure that no matter far it was pulled, he would be there to wield it.

  Vera knew as she watched him instinctively stick close to his sword that he was much more skilled than her current Arden.

  It was clear to her that he excelled in all three of the facets of combat. His movements were fluid enough to see that he had repeated them ad nauseum. He had more experience than probably anyone in the world, living through the end of his world and beyond, continuing to fight.

  Most importantly, he achieved clarity.

  He saw what was necessary and acted so quickly that he was practically flawless.

  Vera snapped her leg forward hoping to kick him, but he caught her leg with his free hand.

  “What kind of monster did I raise?” she asked.

  “You turned me into one of the best.”

  Other-Arden could have broken Vera’s ankle or her leg but didn't, electing instead to use her like a club, swinging her behind him and throwing her into Arden who was making another approach.

  Arden and Vera groaned on the floor together after the hit. Thankfully, nothing was broken, but everything was hurting.

  “Vera, listen to me! Let me at least try! He's hurting!”

  “We're not so hot here either,” she mumbled beneath her breath. “Besides, that isn't your Arden anymore. He's a wild animal.”

  There was silence from her other self for a moment as Arden and Vera got back to their feet.

  “You don't trust me.”

  Other-Vera wasn't asking for confirmation. It was a statement.

  “You think that I'll join him once I have control over your body. That I won't be able to stop him because I won't want to.”

  Arden and Vera rushed forward with Sya laying down covering fire. Podren approached with a nervous Cirai at his side.

  It was five on one, but Other-Arden didn't falter. He only smiled at the challenge.

  “Whether it's my Arden or your Arden, I want to keep them safe. And right now, my Arden is at his breaking point. Enslaved to a will he doesn't understand.”

  Vera could hear the torment in her other selfish words. She could feel the despair in her mind. It resonated in her soul.

  “I won't get in your way. But I won't stop fighting for him.”

  Vera realized her vision was getting blurry. She felt her consciousness being ripped away as the other soul inside of her flared to life.

  “Just this once, let me take control. Let me in.”

  As soon as Vera heard those words, she realized she was back in the black void of her soul where she talked to Other-Vera. Now, she was the one here, and she was watching her other self pilot her body from within.

  Maybe it was due to the pair of Vera's having the same soul and having the same fundamental existence. Or maybe it was because Other-Vera was a paradoxical entity.

  Whatever the reason was, Other-Vera took control.

  The law of the inviolable soul was shattered.

  “Hey!” Vera yelled. “What the hell are you doing!?”

  In the outside world, Other-Vera spoke quietly.

  “Protecting Arden.”

  The air around Other-Vera cooled down considerably as everyone launched their attack. Everyone except Other-Vera.

  Arden and Sya’s eyes widened upon seeing that Vera was seemingly about to use her special technique. If she used that, the already awkward atmosphere would get even worse. Hiding an evil clone was one thing, but hiding special powers as a mundane was quite another. Arden knew this from experience.

  Other-Vera's eyes turned bluer than the ocean and the icy white hair chilled, frosting over while her black hair turned white. The aged sword she was wielding had grown in length and girth thanks to the ice reinforcing it.

  Only the two Arden's were able to see frozen tears glide down her face as she brought the sword above head faster than anyone else.

  Other-Arden's battle frenzied smile fell from his face as he watched the sword fall from above her head.

  It was a sword strike that he was familiar with. Intimately familiar with. He fell in love with the person capable of using that technique. One of his greatest reasons for growing stronger was to be worthy of a man to stand beside that woman.

  “First Phase!” Other-Vera cried out. “New Moon!”

  This wasn't the strike of this world’s Vera. It was too practiced. Too flawless. The Vera here wouldn't be capable of this for a long time.

  This wasn't the sword dance created by Vera.

  No.

  This was the sword dance perfected by his rival, his lover, and his goal. By his Vera.

  Other-Arden didn’t attempt to block the attack.