Dr. X: So, I forgot to put down Masha's wish in the last chapter. So, I am going to rectify that right now.

"I wish for a world where supernatural creatures are accepted." - Masha DeLisle


Kamen Rider SideRide Chronicles: Oscura's Encore

Intermission: Truths and Revelations

After the last mission, everyone decided to go back to their rooms to rest. They needed it as they had spent the whole night hunting down Jacob. Luz, however, could not sleep. Last night, she had nearly killed a man. It may have been Jacob Hopkins, but she had been prepared to execute him on the spot, just like four years ago. She even thought she had killed him after destroying his ID Core, but that simply removed his memories of the DGP and his ability to transform, permanently.

Normally, she and Amity would sleep together in the same room, but Luz's fiancée had asked her to let her sleep alone tonight. Luz understood. Amity was upset when she thought she had killed a man.

That voice had been goading Luz, pushing her to go back to the dark side. She had resisted it on her own but how long could she do it by herself before it fully consumed her? She needed help. She needed to speak with Amity about Empress Oscura's voice in her head.

"Let's hope she doesn't think I'm crazy," Luz said to herself.


Luz stood outside Amity's room. Raising her knuckles to the door, she hesitated. What if Amity did not react well to the revelation? No, this was something important and she could not put off speaking about it with her fiancée. If they were going to tie the knot someday, there could not be any more secrets between them.

Luz took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and knocked on the door. She heard footfalls before Amity opened the door.

"Luz, is there something you need?" Amity asked. She was already in her pyjamas but did not look like she had fallen asleep yet.

"I..." Luz swallowed the lump in her throat. "There's something important I need to tell you."

"Come in." Amity let Luz inside and closed the door. She sat on Amity's bed and steepled her fingers as she thought carefully of what she needed to say to her fiancée. Her eyes went to the ring on her finger and, for a moment, it looked like it had turned into the Darkness Ring before shifting back into the engagement ring.

God, she was a mess.

"So, what did you need to talk about?" Amity asked as she sat beside her.

"I...I'm not sure how to say it," Luz admitted. "The thing is...the truth..." The lump in her throat formed again. It was making it hard for her to say it. She needed to spit it out. "I've been hearing voices in my head!"

Amity's eyebrows rose at the confession.

"What do you mean?" Amity asked carefully, putting her hand on Luz's. Luz flinched at the contact. "What voice?"

"Her voice," Luz answered. "Empress Oscura's."

Amity's eyes widened in alarm when she heard this.

"How long?" Amity asked.

"Ever since we were banished from the Demon Realm. Every time I hear it, she's trying to convince me to do bad stuff, but I've been ignoring her. I thought she was a manifestation of my unresolved guilt, but even after my wish was granted, she was still there. I hear her voice whenever I sleep and when I'm awake, and it's been getting more frequent since...since I got the Oscura Buckle."

"Luz, why didn't you tell me?" Amity questioned. This sounded serious and Luz had been dealing with this all on her own for four years.

"I...I wanted to, Amity. But I was so afraid, afraid that I'd scare you away. I...I just didn't want you to think I was becoming her again. And the longer I waited to tell you, the harder it got. But after everything that's happened, I just couldn't keep it to myself any longer," Luz explained. Her shoulders trembled as tears formed in her eyes. "I...I think I need help."

Amity wrapped her arms around Luz, pulling her into a gentle embrace. The witch rested her chin on her fiancée's hair. Luz had been struggling with her guilt for years now, but none of them knew that it manifested as Empress Oscura's voice. She thought it was her guilt talking, but this could be something else. Was it a lingering echo of the Empress' presence trying to corrupt her?

If only Amity had mastered the spell to walk into Luz's mindscape, she could see what it was that was bothering her and find out for sure if this voice was an entity or a figment in her mind. Unfortunately, Amity did not know how to cast the spell, and it was also dangerous. One mistake and she could irreparably alter Luz's psyche.


Since the last mission had lasted until sunrise, everyone went to bed and did not wake up for breakfast. The Game Master allowed them to sleep late and would inform them of the next mission when the time came. Amity woke up, holding Luz who slept beside her. The Latina had confessed something important to the witch and she resolved to help her fiancée through it. Right now, Amity needed to eat. She looked at the clock on the wall and saw that it was one in the afternoon.

Amity gently extricated herself from Luz's embrace and replaced herself with a stuffed doll for her fiancée to snuggle. Quietly, she got dressed and stepped out of the room to head to the lounge to grab a bite to eat and maybe bring something back for Luz when she woke up.

When she arrived at the lounge, she found someone she wasn't expecting. Thankfully it was not Boscha, although she was keeping a close eye out for her. The person sitting at the bar was, in fact, Sasha Waybright. The human girl glanced towards the door, acknowledged Amity's presence, and went back to sipping on her coffee. There was an empty plate of food in front of the blonde. Even though it was technically lunchtime, Sasha had ordered something for breakfast instead.

Amity wasn't sure if she should bother getting something now, considering how much animosity there was between the three of them. Unfortunately, with all of them living in the Desire Temple, it was inevitable that they'd run into each other outside of missions. So, deciding to just deal with it, Amity walked up to the bar and sat down a couple of stools away from Sasha. Mr. Butler, who was quietly cleaning the glasses, turned to Amity.

"What can I get you, Ms. Blight?" he asked.

"Some jasmine tea, please," Amity requested. "Oh, and a breakfast burrito. Plus, one more to take back to my room."

"At once, Ms. Blight."

The two girls continued to sit in silence as Mr. Butler prepared Amity's order. Sasha and Amity would glance at each other, making this situation incredibly awkward. After a few minutes, Mr. Butler finished Amity's order and put down the cup of tea alongside a plate with a breakfast burrito. The witch girl gratefully took the tea and took a few sips, letting the warm drink soothe her from the inside. She then picked up the burrito and took a bite. It was delicious.

"I've got a question for you, Blight," said Sasha.

"Yes, Waybright?" Amity asked as she put down her food.

"Is it true that Noceda killed your mom?" Sasha asked.

"I'm guessing Boscha told you about that." Only Boscha could have told that to Sasha.

"She did. So is it true then?" Sasha inquired.

"Yes, it's true. Empress Oscura killed Odalia," said Amity in a nonchalant tone.

"So, how's it feel having your mother's killer bang you?" Sasha followed up.

Amity, mistakenly, decided to take a sip of her tea, and that's when she spat it out and accidentally drenched Mr. Butler. To his credit, Mr. Butler seemed unfazed by the sudden shower.

"I am so sorry!" Amity apologized, blushing from both embarrassment and remorse.

"No harm done, Ms. Blight," Mr Butler said calmly. "I will, however, need to take my leave to…wash up."

Sasha and Amity watched as Mr. Butler stepped through the staff door and left them alone. With the older man gone, Amity turned to fully face Sasha, her brow furrowed with anger.

"You've got some damn balls, Waybright," Amity hissed.

"Am I wrong? Noceda killed your mom, and now you're spreading your legs for the person who killed her. Honestly, how can you live with yourself?" Sasha accused.

Amity felt the urge to seriously hurt Sasha, but after taking a moment to calm down, she figured that this was just more of Boscha's doing. The triclops stoked the fires of Sasha's ire by only telling her what she wanted her to hear about Luz.

"You don't have all the facts, Waybright. So, you shouldn't be going around throwing accusations like that," Amity advised.

"Oh, then enlighten me, please, Blight. I'd like to hear how someone can just betray their family and let the person who killed their mom basically have free reign over their body," Sasha hissed.

"Tch." Amity rolled her eyes. "Well, I'm not surprised that Boscha left out some crucial facts about my so-called 'mother'. Did you know that she wanted me to be friends with Boscha and another witch named Skara? And that I had to stop being friends with Willow, my real friend?"

"Pfft, rich people problems," Sasha scoffed. "So what? I've had that happen a couple of times with the kids of my dad's work friends. But Anne and Marcy are my real friends, so I'd never abandoned them."

"Even if your parents threatened to make Anne and Marcy's lives a living hell if you didn't?"

Sasha blinked.

"...Wait, what?"

"Willow was my best friend but then my parents forced me to break things off. It was more Odalia's doing since my dad went along with her. She said she would make sure Willow would not get into Hexside and ruin her future. So, to protect Willow, I did as I was told and stopped being friends with her. I had to act like a bully to her too, just to make it look real as well," Amity explained.

Sasha seemed to falter upon hearing this.

"Uh…okay, that does sound shitty. But…I mean, you're really not about to say she was irredeemable? She's still the person who gave birth to you, she must've cared about you," Sasha argued.

"She never loved us. We were just a project for her, something to mould in her image, as extensions of her. Odalia was a narcissist who only loved herself, her reputation, money and power. Everything was a means to an end for her, including her family."

Sasha was losing steam here, but she managed to regain her vigour.

"But did that justify killing her?" Sasha retorted. "Noceda brought her back to life, along with all the other people she killed. But when your mom was in the DGP, Noceda didn't even try to save her. She just watched her die. She basically killed her twice."

Amity crossed her arms and huffed.

"If Odalia died again, that meant she only brought it on herself. I bet the first thing she did was try to get back at Luz."

Sasha opened her mouth to retort but stopped when she realised that what she said was true. Odalia had attacked Noceda. Despite getting pinged with a penalty for each offence, and putting her score in the negative, she had not cared. She just kept attacking her, again and again.

"Okay…yes…she did. But I can hardly blame her. She saw the person who murdered her. Why wouldn't you want to take them out?" said Sasha.

"You blame Luz for Anne's death, and yet you seem to be able to restrain yourself," Amity pointed out.

"Only because I want to avenge Anne without risking my wish!" Sasha shot back. "Still, you don't see me simping over Noceda like you do! Sure, your mom was a grade-A bitch, I'll give you that. But c'mon, you're not going to sit there and tell me that it's 'normal' to be sleeping with your mother's murderer, a mass murderer at that! You say that you're not under any kind of spell, but with all that, I'm starting to wonder if Boscha has some kind of point. I mean, what did she do to you that made you so devoted to her? The person who ruled your whole world with an iron fist and made a game out of you trying to assassinate her?!"

"You don't think I understand that this isn't normal?" Amity sighed heavily. "Of course, it isn't. No one in their right mind would go out with their mother's killer, a former tyrant. But then again, the circumstances of her transformation into that monster were not normal. If anything, it was the result of a series of mistakes, and it all technically started with me."

"What do you mean?" Sasah asked.

'Unsurprisingly, Boscha glossed over that too,' Amity thought.

"I cursed Luz," Amity confessed.

"You what?!" Sasha yelled.

"Luz challenged me to a witches duel because I bullied one of her friends. At that time, I was turning into a mini-Odalia, becoming a bitch in my own right. I accepted Luz's challenge and cast a spell called the Everlasting Oath. It was a binding spell that would force us to keep up our ends of the deal. Luz's condition was for me to admit that humans can do magic, and mine was for her to admit that humans can't, and to never be able to use magic."

"Uh…Wow, so, Noceda could use magic before all this?" Sasha asked.

"At the time, she only knew how to make light through the use of glyphs. Still not sure what those were…Anyway, long story short, her mentor had cheated on her behalf because Luz didn't know any actual spells to fight with. Her sister, my mentor at the time, cheated as well, but I didn't know. She slapped a power glyph on me that gave me greater strength than I should've had. I invoked the Oath and made her admit she wasn't a witch in front of everyone in that stadium, and the crowd laughed at her…" Amity hugged herself as she recalled that moment, the greatest mistake of her life. "But what I didn't know was that the curse hurt Luz in another way. Whenever she tried to use her glyphs, the Oath would scar her as a punishment for going against the agreement. It got so bad that she ended up being covered in scars."

"Wait, but Noceda doesn't have any scars, at least none that I've seen," Sasha interjected.

"When everything was over, she was healed, but she still carries them on the inside. However, I wasn't the only one who brought about the rise of Oscura. Lilith, my former mentor, almost killed her, making her tap into the forbidden power she used to break the curse. She tried to use her powers for good, but each time she did, she was pushed further and further towards her darkness. When she took down the Emperor and exposed his genocidal plans, the people turned against her. She tried to be a hero, but everyone saw her as a monster and when she looked to those close to her for support, they turned their backs on her."

Amity slammed her hand against the counter, making Sasha jump.

"We all had a hand in Oscura's rise to power! We all forged the monster that would come to cause us pain and strife! But the greatest sin was still upon me because I had the chance to stop it all from happening! Luz came to me, and begged me to unbind the Everlasting Oath! But my pride and Odalia's influence kept me from doing the right thing! So, yeah, Oscura was a tyrant, a monster, a great evil, but one that we all created! Luz, the girl I love, is not that anymore!"

Amity pressed her left hand against her heart.

"Although she's not exactly the girl she once was, she's managed to regain something close to what she used to be. So, to answer your original question: how can I 'spread my legs' for my mother's killer? How can I justify 'simping' and 'devoting' myself to a mass murderer? I can't. Because that's not who Luz Noceda is!"

Amity got off her stool so she walked closer to Sasha and got in her face, staring down the blonde.

"Let me ask you something, Waybright, and be honest with me: if you found out that Anne became some homicidal, all-powerful evil being, and that it was your fault she became that way, what would you do? Do you think you'd have what it takes to help her after it was over? To be there for her knowing that you created a monster that was hellbent on inflicting the pain she felt onto everyone and everything? Would you be able to separate the monster from the person you cared about?!"

"That's just a stupid hypothetical question!" Sasha furiously retorted, brows furrowed as she stood up. "Anne wasn't a monster! She could never become what Noceda became, what she still is!"

"Heh, I'm sure Willow and Gus thought the exact same thing. That someone as good and pure as Luz could never be corrupted, could never become a monster. But when you're pushed to the edge, when your friends and family turn against you, and no one is willing to help you, even the kindest, most gentle soul, can become a monster of unimaginable cruelty and destruction. All of us have a breaking point, Waybright. Me, and others, found Luz's breaking point, and just kept stomping on the pieces until something dark arose from the remains."

Sasha averted her gaze for a moment, but then Amity stepped back and went to her stool where she sipped on her tea.

"I fell in love with Luz Noceda. Although she may never be the same girl as she was before, she's healing. And like I said, I know our relationship isn't normal, it's practically unhealthy, but we're making it work by helping and healing each other. We became best friends and then even more than that. Because only we knew the pain we've been through, only we could help each other through it."

Sasha sat back down as she mulled over Amity's words. She was already having suspicions about Boscha's information regarding Blight and Noceda, but now…

"You didn't answer my question," Amity prompted.

"What question?" Sasha asked.

"What would you do if Anne became a dark version of herself? A being similar or worse than Oscura, one that you had a hand in creating. What would you do?" Amity clarified.

Sasha grasped her cup tightly. She honestly didn't know. For one thing, she could never imagine herself hurting Anne or pushing her to such a point. She'd rather die than hurt the girl she loved like that. But for a moment, she went along with the hypothetical, letting her mind imagine a scenario where she pushed and hurt Anne so much that she became a monster like Oscura. Sasha shuddered, imagining Anne as some twisted dark version of herself, devoid of all love and filled only with a desire to destroy all things. The image was so vivid in her head that it actually made her physically ill.

"I…I don't know…"

Amity glanced at Sasha, noticing that she had gotten pale.

"It's not easy, is it?" the witch asked. "Imagining someone that is so good turning evil, hurting so much that they feel the need to hurt others. And knowing that you helped to create that evil, that you were responsible for twisting them into that. It hurts... so, so much... and it's something that I will have to live with until the day I die."

"How do you live with it then?" Sasha asked as she spared Amity a glance.

"I try to bury that pain with all the good memories I've made with those around me. I've found a new mother in Camila, I have friends in Vee and Masha, and I have the love of someone I cherish. I will not allow myself to forget what I did, nor the pain I caused, but neither am I going to let it completely rule my life. I want to move forward, just like Luz. I want to forge a new future for the both of us. Winning this season of the DGP and getting Anne back will be the last step in her atonement. But we owe Anne this much either way."

"Why?" Sasha questioned. "Why does Noceda even want to bring Anne back?! That's been driving me crazy! I get that she regrets what happened, but why would she fight so hard to bring back someone she just met?! And why did you say 'we' owe her? Now that I think about it, you two seemed kind of…fond of her or something."

Amity chuckled as she finished her tea.

"Oscura wasn't defeated by me nor anyone on the Boiling Isles. The ones who defeated her and saved Luz were two Kamen Riders who came from an alternate universe. One of those Riders was another Luz who became a hero and the other Rider was another version of Anne."

Sasha's eyes widened upon hearing this.

'Another version of Anne…saved Oscura?'

"You're shitting me," Sasha accused. "There's no way that's possible."

"We're literally sitting in a temple outside of regular space, fighting monsters for the entertainment of viewers from another dimension who have the power to grant us whatever our hearts desire. Whether you want to believe it or not, Sasha, the multiverse exists. So, Luz and I, we owe Anne. Even though she's not the Anne who saved her, she's still Anne and we want to save her too. There's no ulterior motive, no next game, this is it. Luz doesn't want to fight anymore after this is over." Amity got up from her stool and turned around to walk out of the lounge. "I know it's a lot to take in and I doubt anything I said here is going to change your mind, but considering that I'm from a dimension inhabited by demons and witches, you might want to be a little more open-minded."

Sasha watched as Amity left the lounge, leaving her alone with her thoughts.


Confessional: Sasha Waybright/Soaron

"I…I just…I don't know anymore. I've seen the way Oscura fights, felt that pressure from her, but…why does Blight's question bother me so much? Imagining Anne becoming like Oscura…it makes me sick just thinking about it."

Sasha looked away from the cameras as she calmed herself.

"Blight...could be telling the truth, but then again, Boscha could be right about Oscura having some kind of hold over her. If she did, then everything she said was just to throw me off."

Sasha scratched the back of her head as she growled with frustration.

"The multiverse…another Anne…another Luz…both Kamen Riders that aren't DGP-related? Is…Is that even possible? There's only one person I can ask, but at this point, I'm not sure if she'll give me a straight answer. But maybe I can make her slip up and tell me the truth. She's already on thin ice with me so if she knows what's good for her, she'll tell me that much."


Sasha was going to hate herself for this if it all ended up being for absolutely nothing, but she needed to know. There were too many contradictions, too many half-truths. The only way for Sasha to get some answers and dismiss the lies was to get them directly from the person who was feeding them to her in the first place. Although she was reluctant to use this method, desperate times called for desperate measures.

Sasha walked up to the door that had Boscha's nameplate on it and gave it a few knocks until she got a response.

"Ugh, who is it?" Boscha complained from behind the door.

"It's me, Bosch. I need to talk to you," said Sasha.

"Sasha? One sec." The sound of Boscha walking echoed from the other side and, a moment later, the door slid open. "What's up Saaaaaaaa…sha?"

Boscha hated to admit it, but perhaps Amity was onto something when it came to humans, Oscura aside. The three-eyed witch was staring at Sasha, who had come dressed in a loose-fitting tank top, and a pair of hip-hugging shorts. Sasha let her hair down, allowing her golden locks to flow down her back, with a few strands resting over her shoulders. The sight of the blonde made Boscha gulp audibly. She spared a glance at herself, realising she was just wearing a T-shirt and some pyjama pants, nothing really attractive like the human in front of her.

"Hey, sorry for waking you," Sasha apologised.

"W-What? No! It's fine, it's fine! Who's Boscha?" Boscha babbled.

"Oooookay. Anyway, do you mind if I come in? I wanted to talk to you."

"Uh…" Boscha glanced over her shoulder. "One moment please!" The door slid closed and Sasha could now hear some rustling. After about thirty seconds, the door slid back open. "Come on in!"

"Thanks."

Sasha strolled into Boscha's room, purposefully putting a little sway in her hips as she did. The blonde glanced slightly in Boscha's direction, noticing that the witch girl had a blush forming on her face.

'You're obsessed with Blight, but I guess you're not above enjoying a side piece, huh?' Sasha thought.

Sasha sat on Boscha's bed, leaning back to allow her loose-fitting tank top to expose a little of her midriff.

Boscha, after snapping herself out of staring at Sasha, managed to speak.

"So, uh, what did you want to talk about?" Boscha asked.

"I've been doing some thinking. And I wanted to say…I'm sorry," Sasha apologised.

"Huh?" All three of Boscha's eyes blinked.

"I've been harsh on you, Boscha. Way harsh. I'm sorry for that. I just want Anne back so badly and got a little carried away," Sasha confessed. "She was…more than a friend to me. You get it, right?"

Boscha rubbed her left arm as she took a seat next to Sasha.

"I…I do. It's the same for me and Amity."

"Oscura took the girl I love from me. Through her own inaction, she caused her death," said Sasha.

"And she stole the girl I love." Boscha narrowed her gaze as she stared down at the floor. "That's who she is, Sasha. Oscura takes, corrupts, and destroys that which we love the most. She took your crush away from you, making it so you can never be with her and she brainwashed the girl that I love and stole her away to that hellhole of a world!" Boscha realised what she just said about the Human Realm to Sasha. "Uh...no offence."

"None taken," Sasha shrugged. "You're not wrong. Earth can be pretty shitty here and there. Don't get me started on all the homophobia and constant bickering between nations."

"Ugh, why in the hell would Amity want to stay in a world like that?" Boscha gave Sasha a smile. "I think you'd like the Demon Realm. You'd be able to be at the top, I can tell. And I know a few witches and demons who'd drool over you. Uh, j-just saying, 'cause you're attractive and all, speaking as a teammate, though!"

"Uh-huh, just as a teammate?" Sasha inquired, giving Boscha a half-lidded gaze.

"W-What?" Boscha stammered.

"Boscha, I want to ask you something, and I want you to be honest with me."

"Okay…"

"Who saved your world?"

"Huh?"

"Well, you keep telling me that Oscura was so powerful that no one in your world could beat her. That your struggle against her was just a game to that monster. But something or someone managed to bring her down. Who or what was it?"

"What does that matter?" Boscha asked. "It was in the past."

"Maybe we can use that against her."

"It can't happen."

"Why not?"

"Because…"

"Boscha." Sasha reached out with her right hand and gently turned Boscha's head to look into her eyes. "I was angry at you for attacking Blight, but I realised that it was because I didn't want to see you eliminated. You have so much pain, and I want to help you because we've both been hurt by Noceda. The last thing I want is to lose you."

Boscha's face was growing redder.

"You…really don't want to lose me?" Boscha asked.

"I've seen the way you've looked at me. I can't say that you're not attractive as well. Maybe we can help each other?" Sasha suggested.

"I…I mean…Amity…"

"Would it help if I said you can still have her?"

"What?!"

"I'll fight to make you the God of Desire. Then, when you come back to the DGP to defend your title, wish me to your world so I can live someplace better."

Boscha, not really thinking, pushed Sasha onto the bed and loomed over her. The three-eyed witch's face was still bright red. She suddenly panicked, thinking she just went too far, but Sasha didn't seem offended. In fact, she was smirking.

"You're…You're really willing to let me win? What about Anne?" Boscha asked.

"I love Anne but, compared to you, she's not all that. She just followed me around, riding my coattails. Anne was a total pushover who did anything I told her to do. I didn't really mind it and I kind of wish I could see how far I could take it with her before all this happened. Missed opportunities, I guess."

"Heh, her loss then." Boscha leaned down and began to kiss Sasha, with the human reciprocating. The witch broke their kiss and panted heavily as she stared into the blue eyes of the human below her. "She definitely sounds nothing like the Anne I met."

"…What?" Sasha responded.

"What?" Boscha echoed.

"What did you just say?" Sasha questioned.

"I said she's nothing like…" Boscha's eyes slowly began to get wider when she realised what she just blurted out. "W-W-W-WAIT, I MEAN–!"

The tables suddenly turned as Sasha managed to flip their positions, now pinning Boscha under her as she glared daggers at the witch.

"You've met Anne before?! How?! When?!" Sasha demanded.

"I…I…" Boscha stammered.

"Did you meet her when she fought against Oscura?!"

"WHO TOLD YOU–?!" Boscha shut her mouth, realising she had once again said too much.

"You bitch…You knew Anne too! Another Anne from another universe who's also a Rider!" Sasha accused. "Tell me I'm wrong! TELL ME!"

Boscha struggled to throw Sasha off her, but the blonde was aware of the witch's ability to draw spell circles after seeing her and Amity in action several times so she had her forearm against Boscha's throat, keeping it firmly pressed to choke the witch if she even thought about casting a spell.

"O-Okay! OKAY! Yes! I met Anne before! But it wasn't the same Anne you knew!"

"But it was Anne, and if she was there, that means you also saw the other Noceda, right? The second Kamen Rider who helped take down Oscura!"

"Amity told you, didn't she?! S-she's lying! It was – ACK!"

Sasha pressed her forearm harder into Boscha's throat, cutting her off.

"Stop fucking lying to me! You just said you knew Anne! That means you've known this entire time that Oscura was defeated by a different version of both Anne and Noceda! They destroyed her, and that's why there's the Noceda we know now. Because they got rid of the true Oscura inside of her!" Sasha stated.

"Y-You're…You're wrong! You've seen the way she fights! The way she acts! They may have destroyed the monster on the outside, but she's still Oscura on the inside! She's just playing with you, Sasha! If she wins again, she'll just rejoin the DGP and then she'll wish to rule both our worlds! Do you want that?! Do you want her to rule over all of us?! If that happens, she'll make our lives a living hell because we defied her! I won't let that happen again! I won't let her take anything else from me!"

Sasha slapped Boscha across the face, cutting off her rant and stunning the witch. The blonde got off Boscha and the bed to stand over her.

"Boscha. I don't doubt that you've been through some shit. That probably messed with your head and you didn't get the right kind of help for it or if you're anything like me, you just ignored it and decided to just deal with it your own way. I get it but you lied to me, Boscha. You've been gaslighting me from the start. You purposefully left out details that I needed to know."

Boscha managed to come back to her senses as she got up.

"I'm sorry! I really am! But you wouldn't have teamed up with me if I didn't tell you what you wanted to hear! But you know I'm right! Oscura is evil! She's still the monster that hurt me and my world! The one who stole Amity away from me! I can't just stand by while she gets to live her life with the girl I love! She has to be stopped!" Boscha grabbed ahold of Sasha's arms as a desperate expression befell her features. "You've seen her darkness too! She took Anne from you! Just help me kill her! Please! I'll make sure that the DGP doesn't notice and you can still get Anne back! A-A-And when you win, you can play again and help me get my wish! T-that's fair, right? C'mon, Sasha, we're the same!"

"I don't attempt to rape the girl I claim to love." Feeling disgusted, Sasha removed Boscha's hands from her. "Marcy's been trying to convince me how toxic you are, but like the stubborn idiot that I am, I kept ignoring the obvious…God, I really had some huge blinders on. But no more. I'm still going to fight Noce – Luz – but if I get eliminated along the way, then so be it."

Boscha watched as Sasha was about to walk away from her, unable to believe that she just lost her only ally.

"You're willing to just give up on your wish?!" Boscha cried out.

"No, if Luz wins, I win. If Marcy wins, I win. And if I win, all three of us win. Simple…tch, well, it should've been simple. But from here on out, Boscha, you're on your own. Oh, and I don't know if you really are the Mole or not, but when the time comes to vote someone off, trust me, you're not going to be safe."

Sasha reached to open the door, but she was suddenly lifted off the ground and thrown back to the bed. The blonde was about to bolt out of the bed, but was stopped when a yellow aura wrapped around her body and forced her to lie down on the bed. Sasha struggled against the magical aura but it was too strong. That was when Boscha roughly hopped onto the bed and straddled her.

"LET ME GO, YOU PSYCHO!"

"Sasha…I really, really didn't want to do this," said Boscha. "I thought you of all people would – could – understand why Oscura needs to die. But I guess she's managed to corrupt you too…managed to turn you against me…"

Sasha looked into the eyes of the witch on top of her. She looked like she had lost her sense of reason and was just acting out of desperation. Boscha drew another spell circle and a flask appeared in her right hand.

"I don't know exactly what kind of dark magic she's using on Amity to make her so obedient to her." Boscha popped the cork of the flask. "So, I made a potion that would make her obedient to me instead. Hopefully, it would override her dark magic, but…I can't risk losing you to her, too. You're the only one – as much as I hate to admit it – who can match her in power."

"BOSCHA! I SWEAR TO GOD I'M GOING TO–!"

Boscha drew another circle with her left hand and silenced Sasha as she forcibly opened the blonde's mouth. The three-eyed witch quickly poured the potion down Sasha's throat, causing her to squirm. When the potion finally went down, Boscha got off her and released her hold on her, letting the blonde bolt out of the bed and onto the floor as she coughed. She was about to put her fingers in her mouth to stimulate her gag reflex, but it was already too late.

Sasha's eyes glowed yellow before she went still.

"Sasha, stand up and face me," Boscha ordered.

"Of course." Sasha did as Boscha told, not missing a beat as she stared at her blankly.

"Who do you serve?" Boscha asked.

"I serve you, Boscha," Sasha answered.

"Good…Good…" Boscha walked up to Sasha and gently brushed her cheek. "I really didn't want to have this happen but you made me do this." Suddenly, Boscha slapped Sasha across the face, causing the blonde to stumble. "AND THAT'S FOR MAKING ME WASTE MY ONLY CONTROL POTION ON YOU INSTEAD OF AMITY! Titan dammit! I can't even go back to the Demon Realm for more ingredients! But…I guess it's not a complete loss…At least now I won't have to worry about you breaking off our alliance. Now, straighten up."

Sasha recovered from the slap and stood straight before her mistress.

"You will act the same way you have been. Do not draw attention to yourself," Boscha instructed.

"Yes, Boscha," Sasha obeyed.

"But during the next round…"


When Amity returned to her room, she found Luz awake, sitting on the bed and holding an ID Core in her hand.

"Luz?" Amity asked.

"Can you imagine that something so small can decide our fate?" Luz responded in a cold and calm tone, rolling the ID Core in her hand. "The sum of all our experiences in the Desire Grand Prix, our sorrows, strife, victories, all of it in this tiny, little thing. It's truly amazing how our hopes and desires can be condensed into something physically tangible. Something that we can touch with our own hands. Something that can be broken…just like our hopes, dreams, and desires." Luz tilted her head a little towards Amity. "Kinda scary when you think about it."

There was something off about the look in Luz's eyes, like she was there, but also not there at the same time. And for some reason, that look caused chills to run down Amity's spine. Luz stood up, walked up to her and put the ID Core in her hand. Amity looked at her hand and her eyes widened when she saw it was her ID Core.

"We should look after our things better, Amity." Luz raised her left hand and gently caressed Amity's chin, and then her cheek as she kept her hand there. "If we didn't, we'd lose everything about us, wouldn't we? And I wouldn't want to lose you."

Amity remained stark still, frozen like a statue and she found it hard to breathe, as if she was in the presence of a predator. Even the smallest breath would give that predator an excuse to attack.

Luz removed her hand and smiled as she nonchalantly stretched.

"I'm gonna go get some coffee. See ya later, batata."

As the door closed behind her, Amity released the breath she was holding, panting hard as she stared at her ID Core and then at the door. She remembered how Luz told her that Oscura's voice had been trying to influence her. Had it attempted to make her destroy Amity's ID Core?

Now, Amity was even more concerned for Luz. What if this was more than just a voice and Empress Oscura was really trying to come back? What would Amity do then?