Vora freed the young boy bound to the pillar. When he was free, he cried into Vora's clothing. She looked around while comforting him by tapping his head with her hand, recently crushed by chains.

"I want my mommy!" The boy wailed. The other children joined him, asking for their loved ones.

"It's not attractive at all to sob. When you get home, do you want to claim you were sobbing? Or that you were brave?" Vora pushed the child to arm's length and winked at him. "Be brave for the beautiful witch."

The boy nodded, and everyone quieted and agreed together. Vora unlocked the other cages and now had an army of kids to deal with.

Then, through the reflections of the children's eyes, she saw a brass spike on a chain coming for her. She turned around and held her position as the barb pierced her right kidney.

“You won’t be taken 'em away. They’ve been the greatest candidates so far.” Gretgle stood there in his dirty green robe, entirely unharmed. "Over hundreds of years of research to synthesize a new species takes many bodies."

Vora used the Eoa from the spike injury to create a knife to cut the chain attached. "How many was that then?" Behind her back, she signaled to run. "Bet you can't even count, mindless monster."

"Oh, I can count... I just don't remember at the moment. I have the exact number somewhere, but thousands. They never suffered long before burning away. Oops. Can't let you leave." Gretgle's finger glowed, and a brass gate rose from the floor and sealed the exit. "You're terrible at distractions."

I need more. Vora graced the scar on her thigh and scowled. She broke off a nearby pipe, spun it, and said, "I don't know how you're alive. I felt your skull split in half."

"Stop fighting and give me the children!" he demanded, shaking the room with his scratchy voice.

Vora stabbed herself through her stomach. Her left eye cried, cracked, and whitened, and an explosion of butterflies came from her. They shredded the gate, and the children ran.

"You're a lil' brat. Always were!"

The butterflies regrouped and created a large crystal disk in the air. It spun like a saw, and a screeching noise came from it. Then, it swiftly sliced Gretgle in half vertically. The halves fell away, and liquid brass spilled onto the floor.

Vora pulled the pipe out and focused on healing her wound. She sat and panted. Then a voice came from her right.

"Eh. You were a brat, but I still liked you."

Gretgle was beside her. She scrambled away and looked to where she thought she killed him. The split body was still there.

"I'll give ya a bit o' insight. I'm making the future. A new species. Half human. Half Chime. None of the negatives." Gretgle pounded his chest. "I've sacrificed so much of myself to make it come true. For Maiden Sympha. And so he won't be an outcast."

"I don't care," Vora scoffed. The left half of her body was now paled and cracked. She was worried but ignored it. "How are there multiple of you? Divinity?"

Gretgle cringed at Vora's body. "I don't want to vivisect you anymore."

"Rude. My organs are beautiful, too."

Vora learned that tapping into that suppressed sorrow and insanity allowed her to draw Eoa from it. Her body would change based on how deep she went. Maintaining control was easy with her left eye glassy, but if her whole left side had changed, control was iffy. She kept tapping in as a last resort. Like her witch alter ego, Vora named this part of herself Monarch.

Vora unleashed a shotgun blast of pupae and shredded Gretgle’s body. The one near her fell from the fatal attack, but another Gretgle divine stepped atop the marble pillar and cackled.

“Only Sympha surpasses my divinity!" he claimed, copying one of Vora's earlier attacks and sending many small light discs at the purple-haired teen. "You're ruining everyone's future.”

Vora was nicked by many of the blades and cut deeply by three. Now, her right eye cried and changed. The room was filled with a tornado of Eoa wings. The swirling mass diced Gretgle into paste. Then the storm stopped, and some butterflies reentered Vora's chest.

I can't heal anymore, Vora thought desperately. If I do, she takes over.

Then, a blade poked out of Vora's heart. She looked down on it in horror.

"It’s been fun, girl," Gretgle said, releasing the brass knife from behind Vora. "Time to gather some kids," he hummed and rolled his sleeves. But before he could divine step, he was grabbed from behind.

Both sides of Monarch displayed corruption. She was crying. "I know now. This isn't your body." She removed the knife from her chest and punched a hole in the false Gretgle. "But your real body must be close to control these puppets. And they can't divine step without you."

Monarch pulled a slug creature from puppet Gretgle's chest. It was translucent goo surrounding liquid brass that glowed brightly.

"I've sacrificed myself for those I love and respect. My body couldn't take it anymore, and now I'm this."

Monarch smiled. "That's hilarious," she replied. She squeezed strongly.

"You kill me, then who's going to cure the children?" he pleaded.

"What children?" she asked blankly, continuing to squeeze. Eoa began to seep from her skin. That was until her hand flew across the room after a sneak from one of the puppets. "Oh, no," she reacted sadly.

The slug could finally divine step over to a panel on a wall. "I have many more bodies than these." He flipped a switch with his ooze, and a massive, spinning sigil appeared on the factory floor.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

Monarch paid no mind as she picked up her hand, commented, "Silly thing," and reattached it.

***

The children found escape from the mine into the full-moon sky. They engulfed the air they hadn’t had in many months. A mixture of crying and cheers exploded from them.

Then, one worried girl asked, “Where’s the witch lady?”

The top of the hill the mine dug into erupted like a volcano. The kids screamed as a long, segmented creature burst through the earth and silhouetted from the moon. Monarch was darkened by the white orb, loosely flipping along with the monster in the air.

From below, the sky became filled with pretty butterflies of all colors. They swirled and swarmed the monster, which fell behind the hills and out of sight.

The witch crashed beside the children on her feet and stood quietly for a moment.

“Witch lady, are you okay?”

The witch swiftly looked at them. Her white eyes and unnatural skin were frightening. After a sharp smile, she swiftly vanished, leaving blades of grass airborne.

"Witches are fast!" a boy cheered.

"And scary," a girl added.

***

Monarch leaped through the rocky hills until she confronted Gretgle again. His centipede body had long humanoid arms, three black mandibles on a human face, ten golden eyes darting around, and his body was decorated with his famous brass chains. A glow could be seen through the flesh of the head.

"You'll never understand!" He opened his mouth, and a beam of holy light sliced the earth, missing the Monarch. "This is beyond your bitty mind, Vora. You'll never understand what the Bell does for you." Gretgle grew dozens of heads across his body and multiplied the rays.

"Do you feel it?" Monarch questioned. She orchestrated thousands of crystal beings to prune monster Gretgle of his limbs. "The Eoa. I have more to share." She giggled.

Gretgle's body endlessly mutated and grew sporadically. He continued his assault on Monarch, changing his tactics and weapons every two seconds. But Gretgle's growing was countered by overwhelming Eoa blight.

"Mom, I'm scared." Monarch dug her fingernails into Gretgle, twisted like she was turning a dial, and created a flowing stream of caterpillars that burrowed into mutant Gretgle. "It's beautiful, like me."

Slug Gretgle burst from the mutant’s head before it was consumed. A sigil appeared beneath Gretgle. Then another bigger one emerged, then more and more, making many different-sized sigils of light stretching for miles. Then, all at once, the circles collapsed to the center point.

After a flash, Gretgle had the body of a rugged middle-aged man. He peered at his open palm and had a smile of reminiscence. Then he scowled and threw his ivory hand skyward. Monarch watched him from a few yards away with a blank stare.

A sigil of light a mile wide stretched beneath the clouds. Then, another appeared to the north. Then, the South. O'Landra's sky was cluttered and beaming.

"Before I dissolve away, I will kill you! Even if it takes all of O'Landra," he announced madly. Millions upon millions of chains started their meteoric descent upon the city. "The Chimes will survive, an' I will be a martyr for Sympha!"

“I’m tired and hungry.” Maiden teared up. “Can we go home?” She held out her arm, flipped her palm downward, and snapped her finger.

Gretgle exploded into brass mist as thousands of Eoa crystals fled violently from his core. The sigils up high, purpled and crumbed. The chains shattered to dust and fell like twinkling snow.

Back at the entrance, the children's bodies changed. A harmless fire burned away their ivory flesh and golden eyes like a lit dandelion.

The Monarch returned to them, and they cheered. But the children failed to read the cold nature of the teen. She approached them, stretching her hand with ill intent.

Before the Monarch closed the distance, a blonde boy leaped over some rocks and tackled her to the ground. He had his knees on her back and restrained her arms.

“Stop it!”

“The witch saved us!”

“You're hurting the lady.”

The children tossed small objects at the boy.

“I’m trying to help her. Oww,” Klev wined when a rock hit him between the eyes. “I’m her friend.”

"No, you're not."

Monarch tossed Klev off quite far and faced him. Her look went from a scowl to a glum frown. "Klev Bekkan…” She aimed an arm at the children.

"See. She knows me," Klev yelled, pinning Monarch down, face-to-face this time. "Now. I want you to do two things for her. One: Run down this hill until you hit the city and make as much noise as possible until you're back with your parents." Monarch tried to lift an arm, but Klev restrained it. "And two: promise you’ll keep this witch's identity a secret. Please, promise,” he pleaded.

The children exchanged looks, then agreed and left Monarch and Klev alone. Once they were gone, Monarch became docile.

“You in there, Vora?” After moments of a blank expression, Klev replied, “Oookay. I've come the realize this is inappropriate." He got off of Monarch. "I don't know what to do. I'm no good at this—whatever this is." His heart raced as he panicked. “I can't take her home like this. Can't take her to a hospital either. “Follow me then, demon Vora."

Klev stood and motioned her. She stood and wrapped her arms around him. "Klev Bekkan.”

He felt hot all over. "Y-Yeah. That's me. I guess."

***

Vora's bed was firmer than usual. After tossing a few times, she sat up and opened her eyes. A frightening surge traveled within her body when she learned this wasn't her room. Sports teams, pin-ups, posters of movies she would never watch, and toys of a masculine nature.

Hearing heavy breathing, she peeked over the edge of the bed to find a blonde boy snoring on the floor. She screeched, and Klev bolted up and covered her mouth.

“Please don't scream. The last thing we both want is my father finding out."

“Hmmm hmm hmm mhhm mhmhm.”

“What? I can’t-I'm dumb." Klev released Vora's lips.

“Your hand smells like bananas.”

"It's our hand soap. New product."

“It’s… lovely. I have three questions you must answer. I imagine you know what they are,” Vora boldly presumed. "Last I remember was healing my injuries after killing Gretgle." Vora looked at the holes in her clothing. "It worked. Wonderful. Not even a scar."

"Not sure what all happened. I heard and saw mad chaos and knew you were involved with it."

“Rude, but true. Gretgle was the one who kidnapped the children. We got into a dispute."

"That’s awful. When I found you, you'd lost control and were about to blast some children."

“That’s one answered….”

“I decided the best place for you to return to normal was at my place. While I was around, you were like... like a docile, clingy toddler."

Vora blushed, looked at a wall, and rubbed her arm. "Huh. So strange. Yeah. That's two." She cleared her throat. "I can't deny it anymore. You were right. Clearly, I have no control. I almost hurt kids. I've kept something from you about... that part of me."

"Go on then."

"I've had this gift since childhood. A horrible gift of inescapable torture. But, the reason I haven't gone insane is because I subconsciously diverted nearly all the Eoa into a separate, isolated part of me." Vora stood from the bed and fiddled with some sci-fi toy. "That part of me—Monarch, I felt was an appropriate name—is nothing but agony and stronger willed than me. Hard to believe, I understand," she added with a shrug.

“Could you please not-“ After Vora dropped the toy and it broke, Klev sighed, “No, it’s alright. Don’t concern yourself with it.”

"Sorry. I’ll pay for that. It's a part of me. I can't remove her. And I don't know what to do. I need help, and you're the only one I can turn to." She whimpered and teared up. "I'm-I'm so sorry."

“Please don't cry. I failed to realize that I've been a bad friend. I abandoned you because I was scared, but that’s not what you would do for me. You've been doing this because you're scared of yourself. I wasn't being manly at all."

“No.” Vora removed her tears. “Man up, Klev Bekkan,” she giggled.

“What was the third question?"

Vora breathed gently. "Can we talk again? Like we used to?"

"No. Different from what we are used to. I want our words and thoughts closer than before," Klev grinned.

“How romantic, Klev Bekkan. Did you get that from an MP?” While the question paralyzed Klev, Vora giggled to the window. Before leaping out, she asked jokingly, "Did you do anything ungentlemanly while I was out?"

“No. I’d never—”

“I know. I’ll call you on the wire later.” she giggled, jumping out the window casually.