Interlude: Thanks...Alito.
"Chris...Chris..."
"What am I? Where am I? Who's calling me?" Chris found herself in a void; where no one exists, save for only voices echoing through the inky darkness.
"Chris...you could have saved us."
"Why can't you save us, Chris? You know you want to, and yet you didn't!"
"You are smart, and yet you can't save us from the grip of death!"
"DoN't yOu lOvE uS aNyMoRe, ChRiS?"
The berating grew louder and louder. Chris shook her head as she placed her hands on her ears and rushed across the dark hallway, not knowing where she was heading.
"No...NONONONO!" Chris screamed as she felt herself slamming through door.
The Icy Maiden found herself in a room with a big, king-sized bed, fluffy pillows, blue carpets, and a vase of lavenders, her mother's favourite flower.
She turned around, and she saw two portraits. One is a portrait of Chris's mother and father on their wedding day, and the other was a family portrait of the Fuschias.
She looked into a mirror and saw her reflections as an eight-year old - small, vulnerable, shattered, and traumatised.
The Icy Maiden was powerless; she could not scan things, neither could she manipulate ice, nor access her weapon.
Chris realised where she was...her parent's bedroom - the days leading up to the Fuschia's demise.
"WhY?! YoU cOuLd HaVe sAvED US!"
"HaVe YoU No sOuL, yOu UnFilAL wHoRE!"
"YOU DESERVE TO DIE!"
"yOu WilL SufFeR As wE DiD!"
Chris brought her hands to her face, writhing in anguish as she huddled on the floor with her face close to her knees.
"No more...please, no more!" Chris cried, her tears of anguish welled up in her eyes. Dark chilly wind burst through the broken window as rain poured into the room.
"YoU hAvE bEtRAyED uS!"
"A sHaMe tO US aLl!"
"wEaK AnD pAtHEtIC!"
"YoU aRe A foOl tO be bOrN iNtO tHiS WoRLd!"
Chris shook her head and screamed in anguish, "Stop it...JUST STOP IT! STOP THESE VOICES IN MY HEAD! STOP IT!"
The memories of the Fuschia's death began flooding into her mind once more. The day where Chris stood close to her loved ones, watching helplessly as their lives slowly drained away.
"It had already happened...This is just a dream...a nightmare! Wake up, Chris...WAKE UP!" Chris frowned as she soon backed away, failing to notice that she was inching closer and closer to a window. When Chris realised where she was, her moment of shock caused her to trip over and nearly fell off the building.
In a moment of instinct and fear, the Icy Maiden held the window rails with every ounce of her strength. Despite her best effort, however, she could feel her strength slowly draining away from her body.
"No...This is not my time to go off from the face of this planet!"
"gIvE iT uP..."
Chris could see several branches of black, gooey substances grabbed her feet and threatened to drag her down.
"C...Corruption? Is that Corruption?" the Icy Maiden gasped as she recalled what happened at the Drenchfort hours ago, the time when she keeled temporarily after feeling an ominous wind rushing into the wounds on her back.
"It must be the corrupted ashes that got into my wounds while my systems attempting to isolate it!" Chris frowned.
Try as she might, Chris's little body could not overcome the strong grip of Corruption.
"gIvE iN tO yOuR eTeRnAL DeSPaIR!"
Chris shook her head once more as beads dripped from her forehead. "No...I must...go on! I won't give up, no matter how many times you drag me down...no matter how much you attempt to Corrupt me...I won't become what I am fighting against! I WON'T BECOME A CORRUPTED ASSHOLE LIKE YOU!"
"bUt yOu ArE tHe CaUSe oF yOuR DeSpAiR!"
"tHe fAuLt LiES wItH yOu!"
"dRoWn iN tHE mEsS yOu hAvE mAde!"
The sounds of damnation continually hammered Chris's determination down, slowly loosening her grip with the window rails.
"I can't vanish of this place of the planet...I can't lose myself...but it might be just too much..." Chris's eyes became dark as despair began to claw into her heart.
However, Chris could feel a warm, firm, yet familiar grab on both of her hands. The Icy Maiden looked up and her eyes lit up with hope...
Alito...
"MY LADY! Don't give up now! We promise to go through this phase of grief together or die trying! DON'T DIE ON ME, PLEASE!" Chris's confidante frowned as she mustered up every ounce of her strength to pull Chris out of danger.
Chris could feel a warm glow surrounding her body as Alito tried her best to pull her up. Feeling a surge of energy rushing into her, the icy Maiden gritted her teeth, gave out a war cry, and made an arduous attempt to break free from the strong grip of corruption.
Soon enough, Chris's pocket shone, revealing a sapphire dagger with a green hilt floating out of her pocket and shining just above the Icy Maiden. The Corruption screamed in fear as the blinding light soon vaporized the amoebic mass into nothingness, giving Alito enough strength needed to bring Chris back to safety.
The Corruption that infected Chris's wounds earlier in the day had not given up yet as it soon took on a life on its own, transforming into an avatar that resembles very much like Death's description of Absalom...
"Everything that I touch will fall under my influence; no one can escape the power of Corruption, not even Death!" the avatar screamed.
Chris looked down.
"You will never escape your nightmare, Chris...The failures of saving your loved ones will forever be etched upon your mind until the day you die, so you might as well join me and forget the pain that have numbed you for so long!" the avatar cackled.
"You forgot one thing, Corruption..." Chris frowned as both she and Alito brought out their daggers that Valus created for them hours ago. "Even if no one could understand my pain, even if there is not a single person on Earth who could empathize with my thoughts, and even if it is my fault that my loved ones died...I still have someone who could be with me until the end and prevent me from losing myself!"
Chris's dagger and Alito's dagger glowed green and blue...
"And that someone is a person who has supported me ever since her arrival in the Fuschias when she was ten! One who has looked after me during my highs and my lows! One who does not give up on me even during my darkest days! She is the one who was willing to go through hell and back, just to see me safe! That someone...IS ALITO!" Chris screamed as beams of blue and green shot out from the hilts of Chris and Alito's dagger, and struck the approaching Corrupted Avatar.
"No...NOOOOO! The light, THIS IS IMPOSSIBLE! I THOUGHT ONLY THE ROD OF ARAFEL IS CAPABLE OF SUCH CLEANSING! IMPOSSIBLE!" the avatar screamed as his body began to vaporize.
As Alito held Chris close to her chest, both women saw the vaporizing black mass cursing...
"Even if you have overcome your Corruption for now...Chris and Alito...you will never be able to defeat the armies of my creation! I will be looking forward to you becoming nothing but a bloodied mess, a failure forgotten in the endless Abyss itself!"
With that, the Corrupted Avatar completely vaporised into thin air, the storm calm down as the clouds cleared up, revealing a clear full moon upon the night skies. The wind became as gentle as a soft, motherly touch as the curtains flow smoothly.
Alito embraced Chris once more, relieved that her Lady had not given in to the effects of Corruption...
No one uttered a single word; they knew that nothing needed to be said...
They are thankful they have each other, side by side, even through the hardest times.
Back in the real world, Chris quickly opened up her eyes and saw Alito sleeping while wrapping her arms around the Icy Maiden's waist. Both women are sleeping close with their nose touching each other.
Alito's breathing was ever so soft, calm, and yet...with a strange sense of maturity.
Chris could feel a warm glow between them - their daggers.
"Look at each other's heart and you will find each other...Is that what Valus is trying to convey with these daggers?" Chris blushed; a smile soon crept onto her face.
The Icy Maiden gave a small kiss on Alito's lips and the latter responded by tightening her embrace around the former's waist, mumbling gibberish from her mouth, and smiling sweetly.
"Sweet dreams...Alito. And thank you..." Chris whispered, simpering as she soon drifted into a sweet dream in Alito's warm embrace.
"Thank you...Alito. Even if I am suffering through this grief of mine, I'm so happy that you are always by my side..."