Muffled sounds woke Selene from her slumber. Her groggy mind couldn’t make sense of anything. She couldn’t move, her head hung low and she lacked the strength to lift it. All she knew, was that she was sitting.

Seconds passed as she slowly regained consciousness. Sounds became clearer around her. She heard muffled shouts and exclamations, and slow footsteps.

Little by little, her strength returned, and she was able to raise her head. Her vision was blurry as her eyes opened. She couldn’t move her arms or legs. Her breathing turned rapid as her heart started racing in her chest.

Her vision slowly cleared, revealing the large room they’d found at the top of the spire. Chairs were lined up in front of her, and she saw her teammates tied up on the chairs. Cheela was positioned right across from Selene, with the others to the sides.

Walked between them was a muscular, red-haired woman.

“Me-Meelara?” Selene’s thoughts were sluggish. “What?”

Selene’s lips quivered as her breathing hitched. She recalled the events before when she saw the others passed out around the tables. Meelara stopped her pacing and looked at Selene. A smile spread on her face.

“Selene!” Meelara said loudly. “You’re finally awake. Hah! You’ve got to stop passing out like that!”

“What’s going on?” Selene asked. She tried to move her arms and looked down at herself when she failed. She was tied to a chair. Her arms were tied behind her back and her legs were tied to the chair legs.

Meelara’s expression shifted. She still smiled, but her eyes turned cold.

“What’s going on?” Meelara asked in a low voice. “Girl… This is the end. The final act of my great play!”

She spread her arms wide and turned around.

“Finally!” she exclaimed. “It’s over. Done! I must say, girl; you played your part to perfection.”

She smirked at Selene and walked slowly toward her. Cheela was glaring at Meelara’s back while the others looked confused and afraid.

“It’s sad, really,” Meelara explained. “You were so desperate to escape, so weak and frail, clinging to any hope you got. All I had to do was give you the rope; you tied the noose and hung it around your neck yourself.”

“Wh-,” Selene’s words caught in her throat as her breathing hitched. “What do you mean?”

“Oh, come on!” Meelara threw her hands in the air. “You can’t be this dumb! How could a weak, underfed human girl defeat a Stage 3 like Lon Thrast? How could you escape from his palace so easily? Didn’t you ever question that? It was me! I did that! I’m the mastermind behind your ascension, and now… Now, I’m going to claim your fate.”

As she spoke, Meelara reached up with one hand and grabbed her face. She pulled it off like a mask, revealing a white void behind it. An ethereal voice sounded from that void.

“This mask… Ah, I had such hopes,” it said as its hand turned the mask around. “But, ultimately, it proved disappointing. Meelara has no hope of advancing to Stage 3. All I could do was orchestrate a greater fate.”

Her hand, with the mask, came closer to Selene’s face as if Meelara was putting the mask on her. A shiver ran down Selene’s back, but no matter how she struggled, she couldn’t extricate herself. She was bound too tightly.

“Heh,” the voice laughed. Selene saw ripples in the void. “It’s no use. I’ve bound you quite well… Hehe, remember? This is almost like when we first met.”

“P-please,” Selene pleaded as tears streamed. “Don’t…”

“Gahaha,” The voice guffawed. “Everything that you are, everything you’ve achieved, it’s all thanks to me. If not for me, you’d be dead! Lon Thrast would have had his fun with you and dumped your body by the morning. In a sense, you died then. You’ve only been keeping my new body warm for me.”

The mask approached Selene’s face, moving slowly as if it required a great effort.

“It’s not an easy thing to do,” Selene realized.

“So, it was all a lie?” Selene lamented with a trembling voice. “Everything was a part of your plan?”

“Of course,” ‘Meelara’ snickered. “I managed to join Lon Thrast’s personal guard. When I found the perfect target, you, I snuck some poison into his food. It would rob him of his vitality, in a sense turning him into a normal human. At least as far as defence goes. Then I dealt with the guards, keeping most of them busy elsewhere, while altering the patrol plan, leaving you a clear path out. After that, I only had to volunteer for the tracking squad.”

“And the training?” Selene asked. “The conversations, and time we spent together?”

“I had to ensure you kept me close,” the void continued. “It also allowed me to guide your progress. I had to ensure your Path was a good one, right? I wasn’t going to make the same mistake again.”

The mask came even closer, but it had started to move even slower. Selene had bought some time, but no matter what she did, she couldn’t escape from the chair.

“I can’t access my System Status or the City Interface,” Selene lamented as her expression fell.

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“Ah, you’ve finally realized,” the creature in front of her laughed. “It’s no use. I’ve sealed your access to the System. Another handy purchase from the Store. Thank you, by the way. If you hadn’t done that, I’d had to wait for a while longer before an opportunity presented itself.”

The mask was centimetres from her face now, and Selene felt her body grow cold, as the mask was stealing all her heat.

“Now,” the void said. “Be a good girl, and let me d- Guh!”

Meelara’s body suddenly flew to the side, the mask following behind, quickly fixing itself back on Meelara’s head. The flaming sword appeared in her hand and swung wide, causing the body of her assailant to dodge backwards.

Beren dodged deftly, before diving back in, delivering several strikes to Meelara’s torso. Arrows flew from the staircase, along with a few spells. Firebolts, Lightning arrows, and Stone spikes aimed at Meelara, but she moved in odd, unanticipated ways, dodging most, using her sword to deflect some, while using Beren’s body as a shield.

Selene’s eyes widened, but no matter how hard she struggled, she couldn’t free herself. She slumped in the chair and followed the fight. Beren was dealing some damage, but Meelara didn’t flinch. She managed to dodge or deflect most attacks. On the other hand, she failed to hit Beren. The fight went on, seemingly at a standstill, as Beren couldn’t deal enough damage to stop Meelara.

From the corner of her eyes, Selene saw movement. The ropes around her teammates were loosening one by one.

They rose from the chairs, and after a moment, they joined the fight, increasing the pressure on Meelara.

Suddenly, Selene felt the ropes against her become loose. There was a flash of light, and she felt her System restrictions fall. With a thought, she ordered her wraiths and her ghoul to rush to her location.

“I shouldn’t have ordered them to hide,” Selene lamented as she dried her tears. “I couldn’t have known… Meelara…”

With unsteady breaths, she looked up and glared at Meelara, or the creature inhabiting her body.

“It was never anything but a monster,” Selene realized. Her eyes turned dark. “She was always a monster… She planned all this…”

Her minions reached the top. Her wraiths passed over the group of people by the stairs, seemingly unseen, while the ghoul leapt over them, causing them to shout in surprise. A few of them targeted the ghoul but missed, and once they noticed the ghoul's target, they returned their attention to the fight.

The wraiths circled, while the ghoul rushed forward, leaping over Beren’s head to attack Meelara. A small, crooked smile appeared on Meelara’s face as fire rose around her, bathing the area, and her assailants in searing flame. Her wraiths dispersed immediately, and the ghoul shrieked and dashed out of the area. It was badly burned, and just as it left the fire, Meelara’s sword flashed. The ghoul's head fell from its shoulders and the body slumped.

Selene’s eyes widened.

“What?” she stood still, mouth gaping. “What happened?”

Beren stumbled out of the area with a large wound on his chest. It didn’t look deep, but it was a long cut.

Meelara’s blade swung out from the fiery wall, striking against the other warriors. Three of them fell immediately, while the rest managed to dodge or parry the attack.

Meelara’s form walked out of the flames, completely unharmed, with a big smile on her face, and launched herself toward Beren. She swung wildly, or so it appeared.

“Beren’s being overwhelmed!” Selene realized. “The others are afraid. They can’t get close.”

Beren was forced back, step by step, and the wall of fire moved with them, keeping the others at bay. Selene stood rooted to the spot, unable to do anything.

“I’m not strong enough,” she lamented. “I can’t do anything… I’ll die.”

As she was fighting Beren, a fiery shape appeared from the flames. It looked like Meelara, and it attacked the others. One by one, they fell, until the forms turned and joined the fight against Beren.

“She’ll kill them all, and then she’ll come for me,” Selene’s legs trembled. She almost sat back down when her eyes widened. “Me! She needs me. She wants to steal my fate or something. If I die, then it’s all for nothing!”

With newfound strength, Selene dashed forward. She heard Cheela shout from behind her, but she ignored it.

Beren jumped backwards, avoiding a wide swing from Meelara, and Selene took the chance to dive in. She kept low and reached out a hand while placing herself in the way of the fiery forms. They stopped in their tracks, unwilling to attack her.

“Now,” Selene shouted in her mind. “Drain Life!”

Her hand gained a purple glow, with specks of black, and she made contact with Meelara’s body. Flashes of golden light appeared and flew from Meelara to Selene. At the same time, Selene channelled Undead Echoes and caused the bodies of the dead to rise. Most rose as simple zombies, but a few of them turned into ghosts and spectres. There were no wraiths.

Meelara’s skin turned pale grey around Selene’s hand, and her body stiffened for a moment.

Beren took the opportunity, before she could move again, and dashed in. He delivered several strikes against Meelara, causing her to stumble back. She snapped out of her frozen state and dodged back while swinging her sword. It swung over Selene’s head, but Beren had already retreated.

Meelara stepped backwards, right into the arms of a zombie, who wrapped them around her and bit into her shoulder.

“Gah!” Meelara shouted. She brought her sword up, but her arm was grabbed by another zombie. More and more approached, grabbing onto her, and biting, as the incorporeal minions approached.

Once again, fire blasted from Meelara’s body, turning the zombies into ash, and dispersing the ghosts and spectres.

Meelara’s eyes had turned bloodshot, and she had a wild look in her eyes. She took a step forward, just as the burned form of Selene rushed into her.

Selene who was badly burned, wrapped her arms around Meelara and activated Drain Life again. Her burned body healed rapidly as Meelara screamed.

Meelara grabbed Selene by the neck, after a brief moment, and threw her to the side, but as she did, Beren was on her and delivered a series of strikes against her shoulder, and arm. In less than a second, Meelara’s sword was sent to the ground and kicked away.

Beren moved around, striking unceasingly, as arrows, and spells began hitting their target.

Ten seconds later, the Meelara fell to the ground.

“No!” a hoarse voice erupted from Meelara’s mouth. “No…”

Beren stomped down, and with a resounding crack, crushed Meelara’s skull.

“Oria!” he shouted. “Purify! Now!”