A groggy sensation overcame you and you struggled to open your eyes. When you did, you found that you were floating in a vastness of darkness. "Am I dead?" You ask aloud and look down at your hands and self.

You realized you were naked, your body lightly glowing. In the distance, a light catches your eyes and you move to walk, but instead, float in the general direction. The light became brighter and brighter until you could make out a pentagram floating in the darkness.

A figure stood at the opposite end of you, but you couldn't make out who it was. After hesitating, you place your foot gently on the pentagram and you feel as though gravity kicked in and you gently sunk onto your other foot, now feeling your weight.

A dress materialized on your body as you stepped into the glow of the circle, the same white dress from your dreams. The person before you didn't budge, but their figure was hunched over, their back towards you.

"About time you showed up, do you know how long I've been waiting here for?"

"Who are you?"

"I'm your past, your present, your future..."

The figure stood up and turned around. As it did, the blank face of the creature morphed into yours, though your hair was much longer and darker and your eyes were as black as Abraham's. You heard yourself gasp and the creature only smirked in return.

"What are you?" You whispered, taking a step back.

"A creature born of conflict and fear...YOUR conflict and fear." It smirks wearily, its eyes burning into every fiber of your being. You hated it.

"Okay, well, what do you want? Where am I? Am I dead?"

The creature let out a howl of a laugh that sent shivers down your spine. "Darling, you're in your soul. And no, you're not dead. At least, not yet." It snapped its fingers and you could hear the distant sounds of a fighting going on. "Seems like your friends are here to save you, though it might be a wasted effort when we're done here."

"What do you mean?"

"Darling, this battle you have going on with yourself and your attachment to this place ends right here and now. When we're done, you will either leave this place...or die trying." It snickered. "Your call."

You froze, staring at yourself unsure of what to make of any of it. Was it all a bad dream? Would you really die if you fought this...thing? You turned to leave, your foot placed on the blackness, but instead of floating your foot sunk and you nearly toppled over into the dark pit bellow.

The creature behind you laughed and you fell back onto your bottom, your heart racing. "You've already accepted the challenge, my dear, jumping into the darkness is an instant disqualification. I told you, you will either die or end all of this once and for all. There is no other choice."

You look down at the pentagram underneath you, the glow of it now and then pulsating. You recognized the binding symbol from the scar on your chest, your fingers instantly going to your skin only to find the scar gone, though you knew it was because the pentagram right there was the scar on your chest as seen from your soul. It was a thick barrier between you and the outside world, and it seemed like the only way out really was to give in to the fight you've been avoiding your whole life.

With shaky limbs, you stand and stare at the creature before you. You can feel yourself tremble, though you don't know if it's from fear or pure anticipation. "Okay," you breathe. "I'm ready."

"Good." The creature grinned widely, took a step back and flung its arm towards you. Black feathers flew at you and you barely had time to dodge them, one slicing your arm. You let out a hiss of pain, the creature running at you before you had the chance to notice and slammed its fist into your face hard.

You nearly stumble off of the pentagram but stopped yourself, falling hard to the ground. "It's not fair, I don't know how to fight...and Abraham took my powers!"

"Do you honestly still believe that?"

The creature raised its arms and bars shot out of the pentagram. You rolled out of the way as they slam back down and you stumble to your feet, your heart racing in your chest. The creature flung more feathers at you, but you didn't have time to react.

You flung your arms up and prepared for impact, but it never came. You opened your eyes to find the feathers floating in front of you and you felt your heart skip a beat. You mimicked the movement your doppelgänger made before and the feathers flew back at the creature.

Its eyes widened and dodged the attack just in time, though a feather skimmed its arm. Dark black liquid oozed from the cut, yet the creature didn't hiss in pain or grimace. Instead, it placed a finger in the liquid and brought it to its lips, tasting it, then grinning at you.

"Good, now this fight is getting interesting. I thought it was going to be a boring kill, but I was wrong."

You inhaled and held your breath, confidence building up but the fear still there. The creature jerked its arms up and bars sprung from the pentagram. You spin around, wielding your arms and the bars and shoot them at the creature.

The creature summersaults out of the way, a bar smashing down on its wrist and locks it into place. It lets out a howl of pain, a sound so unholy and unlike anything you've heard in your life.

The pentagram beneath you cracked, but did not crumble. You stumbled, trembling, though held your ground when the pentagram remained sturdy despite the looks of it.

You knew it was the end, though your body shook not knowing if you really could do it. Could you kill someone? Was this creature even a person? You shakily stepped closer and closer to the creature, mumbling under your breath as a few more bars wrapped around the creature like a cage.

You stared down at it and it stared back at you. "Well, aren't you going to finish me?"

Your brows furrowed and the creature seemed to sense your hesitation. It let out a cackle and its face morphed from yours into Abraham's. "Just as I thought, no guts in that useless body of yours. Always been useless, always will be. The only thing you're good for is to be shut away as a favor to the rest of the world."

You felt yourself cringe, tears in your eyes. Its face morphed into your mother's, though her usual soft and kind features were skewed in a sneer and disgust. "Even I gave up on you, why live when I have a daughter as worthless as you? You can't do anything right, all you ever-"

You turned away and willed the bars to move. They smashed into the creature and a loud hiss escaped its throat and it turned to sludge, dead. You trembled, crying, but instead of feeling hurt and destroyed you felt a sense of power and achievement pulse through you that you hadn't felt before.

Your body glowed and you closed your eyes, feeling as though a weight had been lifted off your chest. The pentagram around you cracked over and over all over before bursting into thousands of shards, your body falling into the darkness below.