Valentine paced and paced.

Something was happening. Nothing was right. It had to have been Raven in the courtyard. It just had to be. But his voice was entirely dissimilar. And Van’s warning…

“But he’s in league with Raven,” she said to herself. “He was tricking me.”

She stopped. That couldn’t be true. Van was a good person. Even if he didn’t know who she was, he wouldn’t do anything underhanded. But wait, he knew her name, right? In the courtyard, he shouted her name. And he was trying to save her! She shook her head, frustrated. Everything was so confusing, and it all happened so suddenly. She had to figure this out!

But what could she do? She was somehow stuck inside her own mind. She didn’t know how she knew this, but she did. Even so, she didn’t know where she was or how to escape. It felt like an eternity since she had appeared in this dark place, and she tried very hard not to look at the glowing object close by, even though she knew what it was. The image of it… she couldn’t handle the horror there.

Focus, Valentine.

“This all has something to do with that seal,” she said. “Maybe Van stopped it from being deadly or…”

“You think he could stop me?” a voice replied.

Valentine shuddered and whirled to face the sudden intruder. Just like before, the masked man approached out of the darkness, a vile drawn face grinning wickedly. His voice was gritty and echoing, an avalanche of muck with every obnoxious, nerve-pinching word.

Valentine whipped three pandora from her pocket, holding them out like weapons. He only smiled all the more, raising his arms. A pandora floated out from the sleeves to each of his hands.

“Who are you? I demand an answer!”

“I am DEATH.” He cackled, apprehension growing vulture-like on his painted face. “You robbed me of my rightful possession. I’m here to claim what’s mine.”

One of his cards ignited. Enormous apparitions appeared all around them, hands of the blackest ink. The multitude of appendages clenched into giant fists slammed into the floor. Valentine dodged, dashing from spot to spot just to keep from being crushed. She raised two of her pandora. Wings of light appeared behind her back, and she immediately burst from the ground, flying up into the air.

Her attacker frowned in anger. Her second pandora then materialized, forming an exquisite ivory sword that floated in mid-air and aimed right for her attacker’s heart.

“Well then…” she said, courage filling her face. “I should be glad you’re here. You took my brother and sister before me.” She motioned to her two pandora. “But you won’t have me. And if you really are Death incarnate, I’m actually looking forward to this. A little revenge is in order.”

The sword exploded by some unknown force, jettisoned toward the enemy. One of the many hands came down, blocking it, but the weapon glanced off and attacked again and again, whirling, slicing, and thrusting. Valentine directed its movement with her hand while flying freely through the air. Her wings shined brilliantly, untouched by even a pinch of the dark.

Raven Shield silently dropped to the floor. He looked up, careful to make sure he wasn’t noticed. In the far distance, Raven Sword kept Valentine’s mind engaged in battle, with her gaze drawn asunder. He doubted it was necessary at this point, though. The whole time observing her, she was unwilling to even look at her own frame.

He couldn’t blame her.

What Raven saw up close was shocking. The rectangular frame of her mind stood on a black dais, about six spans high and ten spans wide. It was solid gold, so lustrous that a visible glow cascaded from the surface of all four sides. Standing in front of it on each side were Valentine Shield and Valentine Sword. The two personalities of her psyche couldn’t hear or see anything, including him. But their arms were outstretched toward each other while facing away from the frame. They held what appeared to be a solid white rope, keeping it taut. Many other rope-like objects were strewn across the dais, ripped into pieces.

This was unlike anything Raven had ever seen, but he now fully understood what happened to her, confirming his theory. The Splits truly embodied its own title. The “rope” her two personalities held was all that remained of her Holy Frame of Mind. During the Lamgard Division, her mind was broken, and the psychic cords of her frame were ripped to shreds – these were the mental conduits granted to her at conception, unique to herself. The destruction of them should have meant the annihilation of her very being. Yet somehow, she managed to keep one cord united. By the strength of her own psyche, she kept her sanity. The rope wasn’t even connected to the frame, but because Shield and Sword held tight, she survived. They formed a deliberate partnership and worked together to save herself from the void.

Both fascinated and awed, Raven looked from her Shield persona to Sword and back again. While Valentine Shield stared ahead, looking very much like her physical self, Valentine Sword was riddled with painful-looking scars from head to foot. And long-dried blood dyed many portions of her skin.

Incredible. Normally the Shield persona of a person’s psyche absorbs physical and mental attacks. That’s one of its purposes. But for Valentine, it’s the Sword that seems to have taken all the punishment of the Splits and anything else that assaulted her. It seems she was protecting Shield of her own accord.

Was this what saved her in the end? He didn’t know, but he was exploding with curiosity about the answer. One thing he did know for certain was that Valentine was even more amazing than he first guessed. Just observing the scene before him, he knew only a powerful mind could have accomplished this. She was truly brilliant, perhaps even as smart as Arkh and Noelle. He understood why Van was so taken with her. She possessed a raw will to survive, capable of overcoming any obstacle. In fact, her genius was probably the reason she started the Division so young in the first place. It was no wonder she didn’t seem scared as she battled his other projection. After all she’d been through, even death couldn’t frighten her.

Raven could have spent weeks exploring her mind, but the task at hand was more important and he didn’t have much more time. Producing a pandora, he situated it between his fingers like a pen. The picture on the card was that of a city bombarded by sleet and lightning – a crafting pandora, rare but not unknown. Recalling the frame he previously memorized, Raven began to draw in the air. A white cord erupted from the corner of his pandora, falling into his hand. Just as he predicted, the crafting pandora worked perfectly in the mental plane to rematerialize psychic cords. He reached up and placed it on one side of the frame, where the ethereal material instantly melded into the gold.

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“Well, Valentine,” he said. “Let’s see if I can fix you up.”

Raven Sword continued to attack Valentine, throwing all he had at her while shielding himself from her constant barrage. Her pandora were truly remarkable, but her combat prowess impressed him even more. This definitely wasn’t her first time in battle, sparring or otherwise.

While engaging her, he kept track of his other personality’s progress on the Holy Frame, making sure Valentine kept all her attention on him. It was about halfway through when he made his next move, activating the pandora in his other hand. Rue glowed fiercely, and she cheered.

“It’s my turn!” she said.

A burst of force extended out from Raven’s body, blowing the hands of darkness and Valentine’s sword away. The pulse was so strong, Valentine was sent plummeting to the ground with a scream. She bounced across the floor, gasping in shock with each fall. Raven approached, his gigantic hands rematerializing and hovering just above her.

“That was fun,” he said darkly. “But I’d like to kill you now.”

She gasped, covering her head. But she wasn’t crushed. Instead, there was a muffled thud followed by a hateful growl. She looked up, and then her jaw dropped. Yet another masked person had appeared out of nowhere. But this one stood over her, holding up his arms. By what appeared to be his strength alone, he stopped the colossal hand from smashing them.

He turned his head to look down at her. “Are you alright, miss?” he asked in a righteous, heroic voice. It sounded incredibly familiar and warm. He was wearing a different mask than Death’s, featuring a strange butterfly. Where had she seen it before?

“You!” Raven blasted in the angriest voice he could manage, pointing at him. “Why do you always interfere with my plans?”

Van yelled and pushed up with all his might. The black fist was tossed far away. He offered his hand to Valentine and gently helped her up. A smile of ink spread on the mask. Then he looked at Raven and pointed back.

“I will always be there to stop your nefarious plans, Death!”

Van instantly felt queasy. I can’t believe I just said something so lame in front of Valentine. But I have to remember. This will be like a dream to her when she wakes up. I’ve got to play the part, and this needs to be quick!

“Not this time, hero!” his actor-in-crime shouted back.

Raven’s own unapologetic performance definitely helped Van shrug off his embarrassment. The gigantic, shrouded hands returned in force. Van took Valentine’s hand, and they dashed away.

“Who are you?” Valentine demanded shakily.

“No one important,” he replied, dashing this way and that as humongous fists crushed the ground all around them before exploding into smoke. “Just here to help.”

“Well, I can take care of myself.”

She wrenched herself free from his grip and flew back up into the air. But Raven flashed Rue’s card immediately. The burst sent her plummeting back down. Van burst forward and caught her, crouching low and then dashing to the side to avoid another fist of death.

“I have no doubt about that, miss,” Van said, holding her close in his arms while zig-zagging through the arena. “But I can be your support. Let’s defeat him together.”

She blushed furiously. Her rescuer was very strong, carrying her in his arms with ease. “Put me down,” she ordered without conviction.

Van jumped, just avoiding another fist. The smoke from the impact consumed them in a black fog. When he landed, Van quickly set her on her feet. “I’ll distract Death. Wait for an opening and then attack!”

Van dashed out of the plume, making a beeline for Raven. He produced a pandora of his own and it flashed. Raven held up Rue and explosive gravity shot at him. It should have blasted him away, but Van suddenly disappeared only to reappear again, a few spans left of where he had been.

Raven growled, and a barrage of dark hands came up to block Van’s path. They reached to snatch him up, but then Van disappeared again! He reappeared instantly on the other side of the wall. Reaching back, Van punched Raven square in the middle of the mask. He was sent flying, skidding across the stone floor and howling in pain.

The moment he came to a stop, Raven looked up. He gasped and rolled to his left just before Valentine’s sword could skewer him. Over and over, her sword made to pin him to the ground, but he rolled away, quickly getting up and dashing for Valentine’s position. She flew up into the air.

Raven held up Rue, who exploded with force. The pulse blasted into Valentine, and she hurtled into two of Raven’s giant hands. The ghostly appendages caught her and gripped her tight. They began to squeeze. Valentine screamed in pain, trying to free herself but to no avail.

Raven laughed loud and evilly, putting his hands on his hips. His magical dark hands squeezed even harder. She choked and began to turn red, then blue. The very life was being sucked out of her. She couldn’t breathe! Just when she thought she was going to die, the hands suddenly relented, dissipating into harmless smoke.

She fell. Vaguely aware, she waited for the impact of her head against the floor, but it never came. Instead, she once again fell into a smooth embrace. Warm hands caught her, strong arms pulled her in, and she was tucked against the body of her strange hero once more.

“Why…?” she managed to whisper. “Why are you saving me?”

The man with the butterfly mask looked at her, and a dashing smile of ink painted itself on the surface, but he didn’t reply.

She looked around, trying to regain her bearings, but everything was a blur. There was a cloaked person in the distance, lying on the ground. Was that blood on the floor? Had her attacker been killed?

“I don’t understand any of this,” she said, feeling very tired. “Why are we here? Why did you save me?”

“I’d like to keep you around, Valentine Chessex,” he replied. “You’re important to me.”

“You know my name?” Her eyes refocused a bit. “Why? Who are you?”

Van set her on her feet, and she stood up but kept a grip on him for support. He reached up to his mask and slowly removed it. She held her breath in amazement when Van’s face appeared.

“Vanyard…” she said softly.

He smiled. “It seems you know my name, too.”

“Of course! I… I’ve always known.”

“Then know this as well: I’ll always be there to save you. No matter what.”

Both Ravens listened to their conversation in the distance. Raven Sword lay very still, pretending to be dead. Raven Shield stood before the newly restored Frame. This was it, and now it was time for the gamble. Would Valentine survive this? He hadn’t allowed himself to wonder if he was wrong before now, but this was the time to ask that all-important question.

“I believe in you, Raven,” Rue said. Her voiced warmed his soul.

He heard Van say in the distance. “Then know this as well: I’ll always be there to save you. No matter what.”

That’s the perfect ending! It was now or never. He reached out to the cord still held by Valentine’s personalities and pulled hard. The cord snapped. Immediately, the arena of Valentine’s mind rumbled. She fell into Van’s arms. Her eyes rolled into the back of her head, and she collapsed. Then, all went dark.

Raven and Van opened their eyes, but Valentine did not. She crumpled, leaving Van to catch her just before she hit the ground. She was incredibly pale, seemingly drained of life, and her breath was as frigid as the night. The cold of the winter air raced to their bones, bringing them back to the present. Raven’s seal dispersed, and the lines faded. The barrier of the seal disappeared as well, and a layer of collected snow fell over them in a light heap. He removed his mask and shook his head free of lingering snow.

Immediately, Fanny Fyre came forward and slapped Raven across the face. Tears brimmed at the surface of her eyes, and her expression was a potent mixture of fear and fury. Raven turned his head back and looked at her with a cool gaze. There were other people in the square now, including Masters Bastille and Czeslaw. They surrounded them in a circle, and all looked just as angry as Fanny, if not more.

Fanny seized Valentine from Van’s arms, and two people came forward to take her, gently placing her limp body onto a gurney before rushing her away in the direction of the city’s nearest medic ward. Soon they were gone, leaving Raven and Van to face the wrathful glares alone.

Czeslaw growled. “Do you have any idea—”

But Fanny held up her hand, silencing him. There was a brief moment of hush as she and Raven stared each other down.

A tear trickled down her face.

“I am going to do everything in my power to make sure you are expelled.”