I charge at Vermidia but Mia dashes in front of me in a gust of snowy wind to block her from me.

"No, don't do this." I plead with Vermidia.

"It's not me, it's her. I told you, she's mine now. She'll do anything to protect me." She cackles.

"I won't fight you Mia!"

She raises her hand and pushes me to the ground in a frosty breeze.

I hit the ground hard, the icy wind cutting through me as Mia stands above, her expression cold and distant. Vermidia's laughter echoes in the air, her twisted amusement feeding off my helplessness.

"Mia, stop!" I shout, but she's no longer hearing me, only the whispers of Vermidia inside her mind. The snow swirls around her, her power surging, but it's not hers anymore. It's tainted, corrupted.

I scramble back to my feet, my chest tightening as I face her. "You have to fight this! You're stronger than her, I know you are!"

But her gaze is empty, her movements mechanical as she lifts her hand again. A sharp blast of frost shoots toward me, and I barely dodge it, the air freezing where I stood seconds ago. My heart races, every second Vermidia keeps control over Mia, I lose more of her.

"I won't fight you, Mia," I say again, but my voice is wavering now. How can I fight her? How can I stop this without hurting her?

Vermidia steps forward, her grin widening. "And that's why you'll lose, Hail. Because you won't do what needs to be done. You're weak. Pathetic. Just like your father."

Her words stab into me, but I push them aside, focusing on Mia. There has to be a way.

"Mia, please..."

She raises her hand once more, this time gathering a swirling storm of ice around her. The temperature drops sharply, and I can feel the bite of it even from where I stand. She's preparing to attack me again, an attack I know I can't survive if it lands.

But I can't fight her. I can't.

"Mia..." I whisper, my heart breaking. "I'm sorry."

As the storm builds, I feel the Crux in my pocket again, its energy vibrating through me. A surge of desperation hits me, and I grab it, pulling it out. The moment it's in my hand, the world around me seems to warp, the air heavy with power.

"Mia!" I shout, holding the Crux in front of me. "If you can hear me, fight this! Don't let her take you!"

For a split second, Mia hesitates. Her eyes flicker, the dark energy wavering, and I see a glimpse of the sister I love beneath the storm. But then Vermidia's influence slams back into her, stronger than before, and the frost around her intensifies.

"You're too late," Vermidia sneers, stepping closer. "She's mine, Hail. Forever."

The storm Mia's building is reaching its peak, the snow and ice swirling faster, the cold biting deeper. I don't have much time.

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I can freeze her, I can freeze her and then I can defeat Vermidia one on one. Maybe that can release her.

With one last burst of desperation, I raise my hand high, feeling the icy energy flood through me. I turn to Mia and release a blast of frost that covers her. She's locked in place now.

I look to the storm she was building around us. I begin to pull my arms around in a spiral, pulling all of the energy of the storm within me and condensing is snow into a spear of ice. It hums and glows blue.

"Combining our power, we can defeat her." I say.

The spear floats above my head and I push it out through the air, releasing it towards Vermidia.

She stands still in shock as the massive ice sickle flies towards her. I then watch as she summons black tendrils that wrap around Mia's frozen form and pulls Mia back towards her.

"No... No!" I shout and reach for the spike of ice but its momentum is too hard to fight now.

Vermidia pulls Mia in front of her and dashes out of the way. The spike slams into Mia and pushes straight through her into the ground.

Vermidia cackles loudly as time slows. I stare at Mia, lifelessly empaled by the very ice I created. I run towards her body as tears run down my face.

The reality of what has happened crashes over me. I touch the spike of ice and it shatters. Mia's body crumples to the ground, her eyes still swirling with the darkness Vermidia left behind. My chest tightens, the world spinning as I drop to my knees beside her. I reach out, my trembling fingers brushing her cheek, but it feels cold, far too cold.

"Mia," I whisper, my voice barely audible. "Please..."

She doesn't respond. Her body is still, lifeless.

Something inside me snaps.

I feel a dark weight take over my mind. It whispers and seethes. "See what you did?" My mind is racing. "This is your fault!" The voice screams. A feint ringing increases and grows louder. "Join me..." a whisper again. It's her, Vermidia. "Join me and I can bring her back Hail... join me."

A deep, guttural scream tears from my throat as tears spill from my eyes. The pain in my chest is unbearable, as if something vital has been ripped out. I clutch at Mia's hand, but even that small connection feels distant, slipping further from me.

I feel the power I felt the day Zen and Eluna died. It courses through me and I can't stop it from erupting. The winds gather in a spiral and flow towards me in a spiraling arc. I feel it building and building.

The temperature around us drops sharply. I can feel the air freeze as my power spirals out of control, feeding off my grief, my rage. Ice begins to form at my fingertips, crawling across the ground, spreading outward in jagged veins that radiate from where I kneel. The sky above darkens, clouds swirling in a violent storm as the winds howl.

I feel the cold surging inside me, pulling me apart, but I can't stop it. I don't want to stop it.

I scream again long and hard as I feel my face and neck turn red.

The ice fires out from me rapidly, swallowing the meadow, racing across the hills and into the forests. Trees crack and splinter as they are engulfed in frost. The rivers freeze solid in an instant. The birds in the sky drop like stones, their wings stiffened in mid-flight as the cold reaches them. The entire valley is consumed in a matter of seconds.

But it's not enough. The power keeps building, tearing through me. The pain of Mia's loss is all I can feel, everything else is drowned beneath it. My tears freeze as they fall, shattering when they hit the ground.

I scream again, and with it, a massive wave of ice explodes outward from my body. The ground beneath me trembles as the shockwave ripples across the planet. Mountains groan and crack as the ice consumes them. Volcanoes are snuffed out, their molten cores frozen solid in the blink of an eye. The oceans beyond the horizon turn to solid sheets of ice, expanding outward to cover the entire surface of Zenot.

I barely register the world around me transforming into a frozen wasteland. I only see Mia.

"Why didn't I save you?" I whisper, my voice breaking.

The energy doesn't stop. It keeps pouring out, unstoppable. Everything in its path succumbs to the ice, entire forests, cities, villages. Life itself begins to fade from the planet as the cold tightens its grip.

I collapse to the ground, the ice spreading from my touch, encasing everything in its reach. The last thing I see is the world turning white, a frozen monument to my pain. The planet, once vibrant and alive, is now an endless expanse of cold, desolation, and silence.

And Mia's gone.

All that's left is the unbearable cold, and the weight of my own failure.

"Seems my plan didn't turn out the way I thought it would... but at least I have this now." I turn around to see Vermidia limping over to the middle of the field where I had just ran from.

She bends over and picks up the Crux from the snow and brushes it off.

"You really ought to get a handle on those emotions of yours though. Here you were this whole time thinking I'm the villain, do you have any idea what you've just done? How many countless innocent lives you've just snuffed out? You've got a real dark side to you, I adore that truly. I also love what you've done with your hair and clothes, the all white look is something I could never pull off. That face though, all covered in frozen tears, you might want to think of adding a mask to your attire, assuming those won't be coming off anytime soon."

I can't summon anymore ice. I can't even move. There's nothing I can do. I'm exhausted by what I've just done. I can barely even form words in my mouth.

"You really were formidable, it is a true shame you won't be joining me. Her too of course, she had talent, a real eye for the craft. I suppose I'll be seeing you again someday hmm? Well, until then, take care. Oh and of course how rude of me, I wish you my condolences."

She cackles as she swiftly slices the air with her blade and cuts a dark purple rift into it. She steps through and vanishes.

I glance back at the mountain as the sun sets, at the fading remnants of Vermidia's presence. I see the ice and snow linger in the air around me. I glance back down to Mia. I rest my head on her shoulder.

I've lost, everything.