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Libitinia's POV:

Yuri stood tall, looking down at us as we lay scattered from the Speaker's attack.

Her lavender, blood-stained hair flowed effortlessly around her body, as if she had her own personal wind current flowing around her.

Her outfit looked worse-for-wear, a sweater with holes and black sweatpants, all splattered with crimson.

Her piercing, purple eyes shimmered with a fiery red, her forehead projecting a cloudy eye.

"I'm proud of how far you've come, truly." Yuri says towards me.

I struggle to my feet, eyeing myself over to make sure I've no serious injuries.

"Yuri…..the Speaker….he said….." My voice started, my mouth betraying me.

There were so many things I wanted to say, all of the colliding with my mouth at once.

She held up a single hand as if to silence me.

"I trust he filled you in well?"

She elegantly let her opposite hand flow outwards, the strange dark-purple essence shimmers around her palm and forearm.

"It has been quite some time since I've felt…this in control."

I hear grunting beside me and see Andrew struggling to his feet.

"Yuri….what happened? What the hell is all this? First you like get like weirdly open and touchy, then we're here and next thing I know you're standing here after going on a killing spree and there's talks about you trying to take over the world."

She turns her head, and she listens to him, a small smirk stuck on her face.

"Ah, I understand your confusion, dear. I know I acted rather peculiar but what can I say? I was excited." She punctuates her excitement by clapping her hands together, cause us to flinch. "I finally could feel my calling, my destiny nearing closer. I had the last piece of the puzzle to truly put this all into motion, and it was all because you helped."

He palmed his forehead while shaking his head.

"Wait, wait, no-What are you talking about? I haven't done anything, I just….was there! You were acting funny about the book and-"

"Yes! The Portrait of Markov!" Yuri exclaims excitedly, cutting off Andrew. "You helped me find it! The one thing I needed to find myself."

Andrew still stood there stupefied.

"I don't….I don't understand…." He says, more-so to himself. "You were talking about saving your sister and breaking people out of prisons, I don't…"

Yuri started to giggle to herself, making my hairs stand up.

"Of course, we're here to save my dearest sister and everyone else out of this prison! Well, everyone that deserves to be free. The prison, of course, being the terrible present that this world lives in."

In a flash, Yuri is standing up next to me, taking my hand into hers.

I looked up into her eyes, my shaky blue meeting her fiery purple.

"And after everything you've been through over the past night, the things you've endured and power you've shown, I'd say you are more than capable to stand by me."

I furrow my brow and open my mouth to speak.

"Yuri, I'm not-"

I blinked while talking and she was no longer in front of me, but now in front of Andrew.

She's so close to him that she wraps one arm around his back. She places her free hand on his chest, softly running her fingers on him.

"As for you…" She coos at him. His eyes were wide, and he scanned her face, most certainly uncertain of what's happening. "…you are twice the man I ever thought you would be."

She brings her hand up and caresses his cheek, having him visibly flinch.

I feel Ilia's hand slip into mine as her and Allison move up to me, unhurt.

"I never thought for a day that you would ever help me in my cause for all of this….even if it was only for your survival. I'm glad you're still standing here now."

She leaned up and captured him in a kiss, much to everyone's surprise. Andrew looked very much caught off guard, his eyes never closing.

She slowly broke away, slowly opening her eyes and giggling creepily to herself.

"We will figure out the details of our arrangements and how to get you your wonderous powers soon enough."

She pokes his nose and pivots in place, walking out in front of all of us.

"Yuri!" I call out to her, getting her attention. "I am not going to go on a killing spree around the world for you!"

Her smile slowly fades from her face, her eyes narrowing onto me.

"What do you mean by that?" She says to me, her tone chilly.

"I said…" I start, taking a step forward. "I am not going to kill innocent people for your 'new world'."

The energy around Yuri shifted dangerously, her hair flowing around more erratically.

"Libitina, dear sister," Yuri starts, slowly pacing a circle around me. "I hold you dear to my heart. However, my destiny-our-destiny is unfolding. There is a world out there that is waiting to be cleansed, and we all are the ones to do it."

"Yuri, this isn't right! You of all people should understand the hell that is in this place!"

She began slowly pacing around Ilia and Allison, staring at them as if dissecting them.

"I understand what this place aims to achieve, Libitina. While the methods were unorthodox, we would be foolish not to be grateful for our gifts."

Her voice took shape of a cool, steely tone, completely opposite of her excitement from a few moments ago.

"Gifts? For god's sake, Yuri, we were taken from our families! Don't you know what that means? Don't you wish you could even remember what that was like? What our lives could have been, together, if we lived it that way?"

Yuri jerked her gaze to me.

"We were taken from our previous lives for a reason. We showed true potential and they gave us the necessary instruments for perfection!"

"Well what about them?" I yell back, starting to lose my calm demeanor. "What about our parents, Yuri? What the fuck would they think of all this? How are they know, hm?"

Yuri storms towards me, a sharp-purple aura flowing around her.

"They are dead, Libitina! Dead!"

I felt my anger falter.

"D-Dead?" I stammer out, stunned.

"Yes! They perished many years ago. With the Speaker's help, they were able to give us up to this organization, to live a life we wouldn't have been promised anywhere else."

I was at a loss for words. Even though I can't remember a single thing about any previous family I would have, I still know it existed. To know this was the plan all along, it hurt.

"I, for one, am not going to let this second chance go to waste." She says with determination in her voice. "I will bring forth a new age in our lives-no, for humanity!"

I steel myself and look directly into her eyes.

"Not if I can help it, Yuri."

She furrows her brow and I feel pressure surround me, making me feel like I'm suffocating.

"You really leave me no choice, Libitina. I trusted you, trust that you'd be there to bring us to safety."

I opened my mouth to breath but had nothing to fill my lungs. My eyes, filled with fear, stared right back at Yuri's.

"Leave her alone!" I hear from beside me.

Yuri's attention turns to the sound and I feel air fill my lungs once more. I fall to the ground, huffing and coughing from the experience.

I look up during my fit to see Ilia standing closer to Yuri.

"She is not the killer you want her to be, and she's been through hell just to stand here to be with you. You've tricked her and I won't stand for that any longer!"

I was stunned by Ilia's courage. Her normal optimistic behavior was overshadowed by her sheer protectiveness for me.

"Do not worry, you have to." Yuri says.

She thrust her hand out towards Ilia, a dark energy seething off of her and slowly appearing around brunette's body, causing her to start clawing at her neck.

"Yuri…" I cough out, reaching a hand to her.

Yuri dons a smirk, and the dark aura thickens. Ilia desperately reaching for her throat, blood dripping slowly from her tear ducts. In a single move, Yuri moves her hand up, bringing Ilia's head with it. Her small, lifeless body falls limp to the floor as her head floats effortlessly in the air, her spine dangling freely.

"Ilia!" I scream with all the air in my lungs.

Yuri gives out a screeching laugh and tosses her head aside.

Allison runs to her deceased sister's body, crying uncontrollably.

Yuri begins to float, the dark purple essence flowing around her.

"The new age will begin, with or without you, Libitina."

With that, she elegantly hovers out of the room, leaving me seething with hatred and sadness from the loss of my best friend.

...

...

Andrew's POV:

I stood completely dumbstruck at the events that unfold. My mind was collapsing in itself, trying to make sense of what just happened.

My ears were ringing, feeling as if I was just flash-banged. I could faintly make out Allison sobbing over her sister along with Libitina screaming into the air.

I wordlessly scanned the room, eyes glazed over. My gaze fell to Ilia's head that lay a few meters in front of me.

As if by some sick unknown force, her face lay staring straight at me, her lifeless brown eyes locked onto me. Her mouth was agape, and her drained face was stained from tears and blood. Her head slowly became surrounded in a puddle of her own blood and her spine lay connected like a snake.

I blinked hard several times to bring myself back to reality.

"How could she…" I hear Libitina sobbing, a mixture of disbelief and anger bleeding into her voice. "…How could she just take her from me? Like it was nothing."

I lock my eyes on her to see sitting on her knees, hands placed on Ilia's body.

I opened my mouth, but no words came out. I had no idea what to say. Allison had her face laid down on her sister, sobbing uncontrollably.

"She…..she will pay for what she's done." Libitina says, her voice sharp and full of malice.

I took a careful step forward, slowly reaching my hand out.

"Libitina…" I softly say, trying my best to keep my voice level.

"I will stop her."

Before I could reach her, a red eye misted around her forehead. A dangerous, powerful aura radiated around her being.

"She is mine to deal with." Her voice says, sounding like it was layered once more.

She bolted to her feet and sprinted out of the room with godlike speed, leaving a forcefully burst in her wake.

I instinctively cover my face, shielding my eyes from the blast.

The aura was gone as quickly as it came, leaving me alone in the room with a sobbing Allison, the one girl during this whole ordeal that I have barely spoken to.

I pace over and kneel next to her, unsure of what to say. She paid no notice to me, only sobbed into her sister's deceased body.

I gingerly placed a hand on her shoulder, being careful not to disturb her.

She slowly sat up, causing me to jerk my hand back.

Her glossy, brown eyes met with mine. Her cheeks were flushed and stained from her tears, her lips a quivering mess.

"Sorry, I…" I start to say, trying to explain myself.

She cuts me off by diving into my chest, sobbing once more.

It caught me by surprise, but I took it as my cue to try and be comforting.

"We will stop her. She won't get away with this." I awkwardly tell her.

She makes no comment and continues to silently cry into me. I decide it would be better off to give her a few moments to herself.

I looked towards the exit, an anxious feeling rising in my chest.

'Libitina…..please be safe. We'll be there as soon as we can.'

Moments pass that I few was an eternity. I was torn between forcing us to go to Libitina's aid and staying to give the girl a brief moment of mourning.

Fortunately, my problems seemed to have fixed on their own when I noticed Allison slowly calming down.

Her crying slowed down to normal, labored breathes. I carefully rubbed her shoulders, thinking of my next words carefully.

"I….never thanked her." Her voice speaks up coarsely, stunning me.

"Oh-er, thanked her for what, Allison?"

She slowly sat up, wiping her nose on her tattered gown.

"After all the time we've been separated, she continued to write me small messages, made sure I knew that I still had someone after….everything that's been happening…" She says timidly.

I clamped my mouth shut and let her speak, feeling this was a rare occurrence.

"I've always been quiet, I've always kept to myself. It always made everyone mad, or judge me, or pick on me. But not Ilia. She never cared once about it. She would always-" She paused to take a deep breath. "-told me that I would find my powers one day, that I would become strong like everyone else."

I bit my lip and tilted my head towards her.

"You never…..saw your like, superpowers-thing?" I carefully ask her.

She meekly shakes her head.

"Not even once. They tortured me harder for it, said they would 'break me' eventually, but it never came. Out of everyone here, even in a world of outcasts, I was different."

I looked down at the body, feeling a ping of sadness.

"I know I have barely known you guys, but I'm grateful to have met you and her. Wouldn't be this far without any of you."

I could see her face start to distort as if to sob again.

"I didn't do anything, all I did was stand in the way."

I placed a hand on her shoulder, softly gripping it.

"No, Allison, you were ours, er-rather her, motivation to keep us safe, to keep fighting. We all want to get out of here and you gave her the will to keep pushing on."

Her eyes stared in the distance, her minding reeling.

"I don't know, Andrew…" She says softly.

"This won't all be in vain, Allison." I start to tell her. "We will stop Yuri and she will pay for everything she's done. We just can't leave Libitina to fight alone."

The room began to rumble, and I scanned around to make sure nothing was crumbling on us. I locked my eyes on Allison and reached my other hand out.

"I think that's our cue to find Libitina. We have an evil witch to stop."

Her honey-brown eyes scanned mine and she slowly grabbed my hand.

We stood up together and began to walk out of the room, her clutching hand onto mine like it was the only thing keeping her grounded to Earth. As we exited the chamber, I tried not to notice Allison looking behind us, as if getting one last look at her eldest sister.

Together we burst through the doors into the Labs once more, trying for the exit.

"Where could they be.." I mumble to myself, before laying my eyes upon dangerous carnage before me.

Libitina was propped up on one knee, breathing heavily, while Yuri was standing, proud and elegant as ever with a big smile on her face.

"My dear Libitina, do you honestly think this is the best idea?" She coaxes at her beaten down sister.

Libitina struggles to her feet, her shimmering aura sparking dangerously.

"You killed her. With no regard to anyone but your fucking mission."

Yuri began to giggle to herself, the sound ominous and playful at the same time.

"I've stated before, I've no time for the weak. This regime will be for those who are deserving, proud and above all, worthy. Your friend, however, was none of the three."

Libitina screamed a war cry and thunderously charged at her sister. Yuri simply sidestepped and kicked her in the back, sending her crashing into a wall.

"Yuri!" I scream at her.

Her eyes locked onto me and she smiles widely.

"Darling! Welcome, sorry you have to see me destroy my dear sister."

I turned to Allison and nodded my head, ordering her to stay in place.

"You don't have to do this, Yuri. There's room for everyone, there's always time to change the plan…"

She giggles and wags a finger at me.

"Tsk-tsk. Andrew, you're adorable when you try to reason. You couldn't possibly understand the matters at stake here, but I love see you try to help."

I clench my fists, getting frustrated with her nonsense.

"Yuri, can't you see? You're destroying everything. There won't be anyone or anything left to work with."

She sighs and begins to hover once more, her dark aura surrounding her.

"Darling, I have more than enough to work with. Starting with you."

I felt a force grasp around my neck and my feet left the ground.

"Yur-urge!" Words seemed to literally be caught in my throat as my feet dangle, a strange force emanating around my body.

"Stay still, my sweet." Yuri coos at me. "This is the beginning of a wonderous adventure together."

I hear a battle cry and force my eyes to my side, seeing Libitina standing tall once more.

"This ends now, Yuri."

Libitina once again charges at Yuri, who scoffs disapprovingly. The two collide and an invisible blast blows the three of us away.

I crash into one of the giant containers in the room and tumble to the ground, groaning out loud.

"Fuck…" I moan, my eyes dazed from the attack.

I hear the clinking of a glass object and see the syringe from my pocket spinning on the floor.

"You are either foolish or very brave." I hear Yuri saying.

I look up to her hovering, her dark aura extremely potent as she kept her gaze locked onto Libitina, who lay propping herself up on one forearm.

"I will always love you, dear Libitina, I really will. I do this for the fate of our kind. Farewell, dear sister."

She stretches out her hand and a dark smoke begins to slowly leave her body.

"No!" I groan out helplessly.

My eyes lock onto the strange red syringe once more.

I use my strength to push myself up and crawl to the vial. Palming the container, I stare down at my abdomen.

In one swift move, I stab the syringe into myself, hissing in pain and injecting the shimmering-essence into me. The emptied syringe drops to the ground, breaking in the process.

My hands began to shake uncontrollably as I felt the feeling of my blood turning into fire inside my body.