Chapter 39

A/N: This is the longest chapter I've written yet.

In the dead of the night, there were unnerving sounds of sirens and hovering helicopters outside the apartment. Diana's eyes had shut open to see Sucy's face hovering over hers.

"We need to talk again," she murmured, moving away to give Diana space, "about our mothers."

"S-sure," Diana replied as she bolted upright to sit. The word she spoke sounded like fear. Diana had her burner phone under her pillow. One dial and she could bring back up to help her, but Sucy told her something and she could never deny that, especially not when Diana was desperate, as Sucy seemed too, now.

Wordlessly, Diana followed Sucy back to the living room, where the dishes were still dirty, all piled on the sink. Nobody turned on the lights, it was as if both of them were content to chat in a darkened room.

Sucy was holding a huge black tome, probably her book of spells. Weirdly, Diana couldn't stay angry, even considering all the loved ones Sucy murdered. It took too much energy to fight against their calmness all around the city of Blytonbury looking for their escaped alleged convict.

"How did you know I was going to be here?" Diana asked, breaking the silence first when it seemed clear that Sucy wasn't going to.

"I have my ways, Cavendish. Do you really think I have no connections?"

At the sound of that, it didn't take Diana too long to figure out. "Did Lotte tell you?"

"She did it out of love for me. I love her loyalty."

"Perhaps," she said as she drawled on the word.

"My mother is dead." Sucy hissed at her. "Akko was all I have."

"I did not take Akko out of your life, Sucy. The doll did."

"Now, you're pointing fingers," Sucy whispered as she revealed the cursed doll under her robes.

"Is it too late to ask why you do the things that you do?"

"I couldn't keep Akko back to where she was before—adrift, uncertain, at risk. I needed to have the power."

"You took quite a risk yourself," Diana said.

"I've always been willing to go to lengths to protect Akko." She derided. "Unlike you, Akko's the real angel. You're nothing but a second rate, trying hard, copycat. I want to rip off your fake wings and show the world your blood is just the same as everyone else."

As if on cue, the helicopters flashed a light towards the apartment's window. Bright lights peaked through the binds.

"They are still looking for you."

Diana tried jostling her mind into recalling that she was safe within the apartment walls; none of the coppers, neither the Wild Hunt nor mundane people can see her here and yet still her skin prickled with nerves.

"I am quite surprised that they all believe the trapped you have set me at all, but then again, my escape would destroy all doubts that I am indeed the Blytonbury Killer."

"But look at our situation right now, isn't it curious?" Sucy asked. "Fate and circumstances had returned us to this moment."

"I would say poorly thought-out collusion." Diana crossed her arms. "This is exactly the same situation where our mothers fell in love, isn't it?"

Sucy smirked. "If you can't tell, Diana, my voodoo doll is laughing right now. You know about Loa, don't you? I figured that all the neutral parties who chose your side had finally told you."

"They did."

"Did you come here to end this once and for all?"

"You look like you wanted to as well, considering you didn't call for help when you can, earlier. You know, I used to plan everything to protect Akko. Kill all her bullies, and people who hurt her, kill my foster mother and own the Adams money and possessions. It would be a perfect utopia. Until you came along. That's where everything went south. I planned everything intending to protect myself. You were a threat to me. Your intelligence and your fondness for Akko was a threat to my utopia. I did all my best to kill you, but you've got people protecting you, throwing out their life for you. You have all of those people who would do that for you. I have none. I only have Akko, and you'd even steal her from me. That was until I met Lotte and how she told me the best revenge was to see you break. And she was right, death is peace, while living is war. I would love to see you at war at all times, Diana."

Diana flinched and balled her hands into fists, but kept her expression neutral. She heard everyone's voices in her head, imploring her to stay calm, no matter what Sucy had to say.

"When Amanda came and did what she did days ago, I had faith that you would stop me. That you can stop me. After all, you were unstoppable, equal to me. What I lacked, is what you have, and what I have is what you lacked. I mean, the only person worth killing to me is you. Not Amanda, not the Mets, and certainly not the boys. You are the one who fights to keep the others alive.

"The glint in your eyes and the curve of your lips that you always have when facing the impossible was so satisfying to see, especially when that glint faded out, making you stand still in a plateau, in danger of falling. I, a vulture, watch you, circling you behind the dark clouds. I never knew it could fade more than it could, and I've seen it countless times, and how I have achieved success each time in making you suffer.

"And now, your eyes are telling me that you will overcome this, as well. You might have the others support, Diana. But would you let them keep dying for you when all you have to do is to die and I'd stop? They won't die because of you anymore, the pain, the guilt, the sorrow would stop. Tell me, Diana. Why does it seem like despite everything, every damage, every blow I gave to you, you still have the will to follow through, and the resolve to step forward?"

There was a distinct strangeness in Diana's limbs and inexplicably longed to move closer to Sucy. She felt torn. Her body rebelled in revulsion and fear while something she couldn't name pulled her closer still; as if she shared some bond of loneliness with Sucy. The angst of unfulfilled dreams and desires seemed all too understandable.

"I suppose that is not obvious to you, is it not?" Diana mocked, refraining to smile when she visibly had the upper hand in making Sucy feel inferior. "Does it keep you up at day, wondering how I am able to live while others have died because of me? But worry not, I will spell it out for you. The answer is simple. What keeps me forward, are the many words given to me by the people I hold dear. The ones who have died, the ones who have lived—they have saved me, encouraged me, and pushed me. They taught me that doors would stay locked unless I move forward and search for the key. To not let the void fill me in. Their words gave me the will to take action."

Sucy rolled her eyes, as she massaged her forehead. "I didn't know the answer was stupid."

"Do you actually believe them when they told you that our mothers were lovers?" Diana asked, all of a sudden, catching the Filipino off guard.

"I do believe. Even if I wanted to deny it, there are so many things it would explain. It all makes sense now."

"Ever stopped and thought that it could have been better if my mother simply stopped following the family's virtue and told the cops of your mother's whereabouts?"

"Not really."

"My mother once said that courageous actions do not have to lead to tragedy. I have been courageous, and I have you see possess that trait too. Let us end things here, and call it a truce—again, please. This time, let us make true to our words." Diana's sweat turned cold as she waited for Sucy's reply.

The Filipino merely stared at her, unblinking, as if she was contemplating what to do with her or chanting a wordless incantation to attack her. "Hey, Diana, am I evil? Am I considered evil with the circumstances of my inheritance?" Sucy inched closer towards her. Diana's lips quivered to speak, but the girl hissed aloud. "Don't answer that, I know that's how the world will measure me, but... are society's principles in the right? Aren't they just a fabrication so those who deny their deepest desires can show that they are good people? I judge my own actions and justify them.

Sucy shoved the giant book to her hands. Diana cautiously looked at the oldest leather-bound book that was still in a bright condition she ever held, flipping through the pages, unable to read some foreign words written in it in faded ink.

The moment she stared at the pages, every muscle in Diana's body felt like it was on fire. Her shoulders were rubbed raw. Her calves and thighs vibrated with exhaustion and threatened to give out any second.

A malicious smile plastered in Sucy's face. "Diana, you are right. Let's end things here. I reject being punished."

Sucy squatted down low. Pulled one knee into her chest, and with all her strength, kicked Diana square on the side of her kneecap. Harsh words came out of her lips as her leg most likely splintered under her, and she dropped the book beside her, and herself to the ground like she had been shot.

Diana curled herself into a ball, but Sucy wasn't having any of that. Sucy sprawled her and had her pinned to the ground.

"You're going to suffer, Diana Cavendish! Suffer! If not by the voodoo doll then by my hands!" she held a dagger on top of her and struck towards the neck.

Diana was able to halt it in time, now both girls struggle for reasons important to them—one to kill and one to live.

"Basically anything that you own or came from your body could be used against you. There was a story that Loa told me, about my grandmother. She can even hex you by just walking towards you. She will utter a chant in Latin and then blow air towards you, and the only way to deflect her hex is to pray the Lord's Prayer and one Hail Mary. The black book that I handed to you contains all the spells and secrets and rules of my family's witchcraft, and a curse has been placed on you the moment you read it."

"You have set me a trap?" Diana asked. "How many more will you have to do until you are satisfied, Sucy?

"Your innocence in my own brand of witchcraft will lead to your downfall," Sucy smirked. "And besides, the process is still ongoing."

"What?"

Sucy re-claimed the knife and flung it across the room. Due to shock, Diana was unable to stop Sucy from seizing couples of the hair strand and tied it around the voodoo doll's neck. Diana bolted to her feet to retaliate, but in a flash, she fell face flat on the hardwood floor. She wrenched a gasp, and the air she tasted was full of dust. She pushed herself upward with a feeble groan, her body trembling.

Nevertheless, Sucy made sure that Diana was situated on the ground. She grabbed a vase on the counter and placed it on top of the doll, unknown forces caused Diana to gain thrice the gravity she had.

She lied there, unmovable. Her entire being twitched with the recognition that she was prey for the beast that was without mercy. She could feel her heart begin to rabbit about in her chest as if it would break free to save itself. Her legs began to shudder with the urge to run even as she felt her hairline grow damp with tension and fear.

It dawned on her that she was the Titan Atlas cursed to carry the sky forever, and would be crushed to death on a single slip. It was maddeningly heavy. The only thing she could feel was the panic flooding her veins.

Diana tried to scream but was unable to produce any sound. Another knot formed in her already clenched stomach as Sucy continued on her procedure. It would happen any second know. She knew what Sucy was about to do.

Her thoughts of misery halted when she heard Sucy ambling over to the fridge, surveying its contents. "Did you know... that the powers of black sorcery may be gained after a practitioner learns the methods of malign magic, and establishes a relationship with a spirit that supports this magic? There might be 13 witches family left in the whole world, but there can be more if they will all learn."

Diana tried to push off the weight off of her, screaming as she did so. In her failure, sweat trickled down to her face, her vision losing its focus. "W-what are you are you trying to say?"

Sucy pushed a button in the microwave, defrosting some meat she found in the refrigerator. Her eyes widened with malevolence. "I'm trying to court the favor of malign spirits with food containing no salt, of course. It's a complicated séance so it would please me immensely if you would shut the fuck up."

At first, the small bell began to ring in the back of Diana's mind but as she looked around at what Sucy had done, the tinkling shifted into a cacophony of cathedral bells. Diana felt her skin ripple across her shoulders.

With no sense of time, Diana watched in horror as Sucy neatly piled the raw meat on the floor, beside her. If Diana hadn't known any better, she was sure that Sucy was about to cook her.

Sucy began chanting words in Latin with candles lit all around them, her voice sounded far off as the clanging roared around her head. Then even closer the sound rippled across the floor; strange and unknown it pierced the night. It was a cry of some sort. A song of longing which seemed to waft through the air. It wasn't a musical note, nor a voice rising in a joyful hymn but something otherworldly.

Diana cast her eyes towards Sucy as the night cries sounded again. It waxed and waned but still, Sucy didn't stop her unsettling chanting.

The call came yet again, louder and more triumphant then was cut off as if the source of its sound wished to hide its location. Strange ululating cries next came from the east. It reached their ears seeming different and far closer than the first unnerving sounds. It was a clarion call and for some unknown reason, Diana sensed that it was a call to battle. Diana strained her ears to identify the sound. All she could surmise was that it was not a lone creature that now announced its' presence in the dark but rather marshaling forces that sought the death of some other animal in the night.

It lurked just beyond the reach of the candles and shied from the light. The rational intelligent part of her knew that she was making a fantasy out of the strangeness of the evening while her skin prickled with the knowledge that something was there; waiting with an unholy hunger and Diana didn't have to see to know it was there.

Her unease deepened and yet in that last burst of song, she felt a sudden odd, queer chill traipse down the back of her neck. The sensation as she recalled was much like what one would expect should a ghost reach out to trail cool fingers along one's nape.

Diana's blood turned to ice as the shadowy figures crept closer, their expressionless, masklike faces, coming into chilling focus. But nothing was more terrifying than their bloodshot red eyes, coal black skin and razor-sharp long claws. Every few moments, another ear-ringing shot ran out, followed screams, or worse, silence. Her spine was coiled and cramped. Her legs were numbed. She attempted to kick, just a little force but then her leg erupted in excruciating pinpricks.

The malign spirits had spread throughout the room, searching for signs of food as they gobbled everything up, leaving strange ashes on its wake. It was unclear to Diana what kind of curse they can be laid out. She tried to brace herself for devastation, but the scene before her was still like a punch to the gut.

Diana's pulse sped up, goosebumps prickling on her arms as the villains hovered over a hapless body. She looked death straight in the eye. On the other hand, Sucy stopped speaking as she spread her arms out like a soaring eagle, offering herself to the unknown beings, and for a minute there, Diana feared that they would both be eaten alive.

A piercing scream erupted from Diana's throat as a rush of molten heat flare up through her body leaving wicks of pain as they all started to bite her and suck her life force.

Diana was alive and conscious but badly injured; there was blood coming from somewhere on her head, and her face and shirt were drenched. The spirits Sucy called upon had all dispersed after doing her dirty work. And the golden hair which she tied around Loa began to turn into ashes.

Loa's control on Diana faded. But Sucy wasn't in any hurry to hold her down, especially since the girl was weakened. Diana was doubled over in pain, gagging, and coughing. She couldn't speak, but she looked up and locked eyes with Sucy. There was a pathetic, pleading look in them that gave Sucy satisfaction.

The Brit tilted her chin higher, and clenched her fists, inhaling sharply through her nose. "W-what did they do to me? What did you do to me?" she demanded.

Sucy glared. She looked paler and her cheeks more hollowed after she offered some of her blood to finish the exchange. "Bet you rue the day you started crossing me, Diana." her whole body relaxed as she turned the blonde over and placed her foot firmly in the center of Diana's chest, pinning her down. It felt good to see her trapped like the rodent she was.

A powerful, satisfied feeling coursed through Sucy, but something else awoke in her too. It wasn't an emotion she was used to, she didn't know she was still capable to feel it. Even though everything, she recognized it right away. It was a pity.

"Who would have thought that you and I would have been sisters if our mothers ended up together?"

"W-who says we couldn't be sisters now?" Diana sputtered.

Sucy studied Diana's dirty and bloodied face. Her hands were clasped together, trying to lift the foot off her, and begging.

"H-help me, and I'd forgive you…"

Conflicting emotions surged through Sucy—her desire for vengeance and the deep-seated knowledge of what could have been if they were brought up together. She wouldn't grow up in an orphanage, Diana would have someone else in her life besides her antagonizing aunt and cousins. Her brain was already full of awful memories she'd never be able to shake. The possibility of having memories with Diana Cavendish as a sister certainly won't mean that circumstances would deviate from this moment.

Diana didn't deserve a place in her heart or in her mind, to begin with.

"You're going to rot here, Diana." She spat to her face and began to chuckle darkly. "There are no miracles! No one will help you. We did it, Loa. Diana Cavendish now owns you."

"I definitely can feel the power shifting. Blood Transfusion via magic... you are the first to pioneer this operation successfully."

"I think this is goodbye now."

"It definitely is."

"Aww, don't be sad, Loa. I'm sure Diana is a worthy master."

"Oh, I'm not sure about that. You hate her."

"What?" she barked out a laugh. "My opinions should not define yours?"

"But your opinion matters so much, Sucy."

Sucy's eyebrows became one line as she stared at the doll questioningly. "What do you mean?

"Lotte Jansson was right about one thing, Sucy. You should have demanded all of the truth from me."

The color drained from Sucy's face, and she almost looked inhuman in the cold, gray light left by the opened fridge. "What? That wasn't all?"

"I am the omission of verity, Sucy. One more question about the truth, then I would have revealed to you something that might destroy your trust to me. Do you have any idea what it is, Sucy?"

Gently…Loa was being so gentle. But Loa was never gentle. Loa was a killer, and a liar, and a—

"D-did you kill my mother?"

"Yes, I did." The doll began to glower as it floated on air. "Such a shame, Sucy, I was rather looking forward to seeing you finish yourself off. But, I guess this will have to do."

Sucy kept walking, to the front door for her chance of escape. Loa doesn't stop her, but she knew the doll was three steps way ahead. Her throat bobbed as she swallowed aloud, the fear clawing at her. "Are you going to harm me, Loa? You know you can't. You told me that yourself."

"The rule states that my new owner can't harm the previous owner. But since my new potential master hadn't accepted me yet, I am unofficially bounded still. Left to wander alone using what's left of the energy I sucked off from the previous master. I have the temporary energy to live and I have the temporary power to harm you."

As if on cue, her lungs caught on air. Every breath she exhaled was warmer than usual, and she felt as if she swallowed a lump of live burning coal. "No," her voice deepened in rising rage as her knees collapsed, hitting the floor. "I will not go down like this, not with a traitorous shit like you." Sucy cried frantically, as she shook her head. Several more involuntary coughs escaped her throat, and Sucy felt that metallic taste flood her mouth.

And that damn doll laughed at her.

"You can't even talk, can you?" Loa's mocking voice taunted. "Well, here you don't have to."

Sucy was trying to comprehend what the sentient doll was saying, but everything seemed muted and her vision was blurry, like one of those paintings done by an impressionist; the basic premise was there, but when she tried too hard to concentrate on the details, her mind began to hurt. She felt like she was floating…but Loa was still talking, and Sucy forced herself to concentrate on Loa's voice.

"You just have to listen and watch as I finally, after all these decades, be able to fulfill my lifelong revenge."

Sucy strayed a hand to her hips, for the knife she carried. But the weapon was gone entirely, she berated herself for throwing across the room. Even if she had it, it was useless. The only weapon that can stand a chance against the voodoo doll was anything holy.

She had no weapons at all and Loa knew her dilemma.

Loa grinned, the stitch white and wicked.

Sucy eyed the condiments at the counter. If there was a slight chance there could be salt, she could be safe. She could stand a chance.

"Why are you doing this, Loa?" she questioned, it was a brash show, her forced nonchalance. Her eyes dart, quicker than before, not over at Loa but at the counters so she can move when Loa move, run when Loa lunge.

"I WAS A HUMAN WHO ONCE ROAMED THE LAND OF THE LIVING. ABLE TO FEEL, ABLE TO BREATHE. UNTIL I WAS CURSED TO RESIDE IN A DOLL TO SERVE COUNTLESS GENERATIONS OF MANBAVARAN BLOOD! I WAS CURSED TO SERVE THE DESCENDANTS OF THE WOMAN I DESPISED SO MUCH! AFTER SHE STOLE EVERYTHING FROM ME, AFTER SHE DESTROYED MY DIGNITY, SHE TURNED ME INTO A PLAYTHING!"

Sucy's heart pounded so loudly she knew Loa can hear it. She clutched her chest, trying to contain the beating, but Loa's button eyes traced over her in a way that is too familiar and too close, despite the distance between them. The doll focused on her throat, on the vein pulsing with all the fear.

Loa's chest area wrenched open, revealing a strand of puce hair. A hair which is the same color as her own.

Sucy gasped. "Y-you kept—?"

"My apologies, Sucy." Loa interrupted her train of thoughts. "I don't have anything against you. It just so happened that your mother had irked me for trying to destroy my soul. And yourself because you're a Manbavaran who finally gave the chance of revenge."

"Y-you manipulated me. You made sure everything leads to this."

"As you have manipulated countless others. Like the wretched Manbavaran you are. I'm merely using your own malevolent tactics against you. No hard feelings, Sucy."

Then Loa began chanting. A spell Sucy had never heard of.

"Kill the messenger, kidnap the princess, murder the king, and rape the kingdom. Down into thy soul from the eyes. Open your mouth and spill your sin."

Sucy stumbled back, surprised, almost tripping over Diana who laid unconsciously at the ground. But she recovered quickly, the salt container tight in her hands as she continued forward to spread the salty mineral towards the doll.

But before her arms swung at Loa, pain overwhelmed her whole body. She fell down, resorted herself into a fetal position as if a protective stance could lessen the pain.

Sucy craned her neck upwards. It was entirely different to become the person at the end of the razor. She was used to being at the other side, where she was the one pointing the blade, calling the shots, and watching as the life escaped her victim.

It was never a thought that strayed on her mind that the position could be switched.

As Sucy lied there, fearing for the worst, she inhaled harshly as her tears stung. She wanted to be saved, but all she saw was color, dark stains coming out of her like black butterflies, and this infectious thing swilling in her that she can somehow witness with senses that aren't sight, were about to spill over her edges.

The pain, thank goodness wasn't as insistent as before, and Sucy felt her eyes close as body started to relax. In fact, Loa's voice wasn't as insistent as before—Loa was still talking, but the voice was far away and growing fainter with each passing second.

Loa's voice has grown fainter as time passed, but the doll never truly receded. Sometimes Sucy wondered if Loa planted a seed in her, leaving it to bloom even after its disappearance. Sucy doesn't know if cursed dolls can do that. But it's an easy explanation for the murmurs and the mutters that rattle around in her skull.

Sometimes it could be just memories. But Sucy woke up far too often from an uneasy sleep, the words ringing in her ears, for Loa's voice were simply a product of her own mind. Loa was here with her still, whether she wanted Loa to be or not.

Her hands were cracked and raw, her feet swollen and aching. Every inch of her was in pain. And all she could think was more. Anything to distract from the dark thoughts that infected her mind like rot. Anything to make her forget her situation.

Sucy's stomach lurched as she was spun onto her back and launched to the side onto the leather sofa.

"Ah Sucy!" The faux-angelic lilt made Sucy want to vomit. "This is what goodbye should mean. Thank you for giving me this chance. I promise you that I'll take care of your body and your dead foster mother's riches."

"It's over, Sucy!" Somebody banged the door open, revealing stoic, calm and deadly Atsuko Kagari. She stood firm, silhouetted in the narrow opening. Her black cat stood beside her, hissing at them, her tail and all of her furs standing.

Without blinking, Akko slid through and shut it behind her. Something gleamed in her hand, flashing in the dim light—a knife. Thin and small but sharp enough.

"I've tried so hard to protect the two of you from each other. Yet look at what you did."

"Akko..." Sucy called, her voice came out hoarse from the doll's stitches. It felt so weird. "That's not me..."

Loa smirked a second, knowing Akko was clueless, before sprinting for the other side of the room and burst into the window at a chance of escape.

Akko's cat immediately lunged towards the impostor. Loa shrieked at the needle-like claws that landed on the face, trying to pull the cat's grip. "GET THIS FUCK OFF OF ME!"

With disregard for other living beings, Loa managed to remove the furious cat off and tossed the feline out the window. Salem's wail could be heard as she fell and would surely land on all fours.

Loa winced. Sucy did too, for there were multiple deep lashes on her face. There was another deep bite on her cheek that was nearly chunked off.

Akko was faster than Loa, but she followed at a languid pace. Haunting her, teasing her. She could run her down at any second, but she didn't. She was livid.

"Who are you?" she demanded.

"I'm your worst nightmare." Loa laughed with gusto with the cracked joke while holding onto the wound.

Sucy heard the shuffle of reluctant footsteps and then, abruptly, the sofa shifted beneath her and the pale, red-eyed face of Akko slid into her vision.

"Sucy?" Akko gently held her small humanoid form, raising it close to her eye line.

Sucy saw herself in Akko's eyes, reflected as a doll. She saw Diana, Lotte, the Professor, and the Detective. All they did to get here, in the middle of the end of the world. Sucy lied and was lied to, betrayed and was betrayed. She hurt many people and so many people hurt her. Sucy wondered what Akko saw in her eyes when it has nothing to reflect. A grim reminder that she now has a button for eyes.

"I'm sorry, Akko."

"It's okay…" Akko replied as if she heard her. "It's okay, we can fix this. I can fix this."

When Akko saw what Sucy had done, she couldn't believe it. Though it took her a while to figure out that the Filipino girl standing before her wasn't Sucy at all, and that Sucy was turned into the doll, then her blood went hot red.

Akko knew if she stepped forward, she'll have no weapons at all. She wasn't sure if the imposter had the ability to do magic, so there was no shield, no guarantee she can fight unscratched.

Yet fate was kind to her. She saw the knife glistening from the floor, and she swiftly picked it up. It felt suddenly heavy. She could just drop it, leave the blade and run.

She could let her live. Or she could kill her. The chance was easy and so different.

Akko held her ground, her grip tightened on the steel. Her mouth felt dry when she demanded. "What did you do to them?"

"I did nothing to Cavendish. To Sucy, I think it's obvious." They said. "Sucy's ancestor gave me this wound. She locked me away, drained my ability, made me live like a wasting ghost."

"Akko be careful! That's the spirit that resides in the voodoo doll!"

Professor Ursula and Detective Inspector Croix revealed themselves from behind Loa. They entered the vicinity through the window, catching Loa off guard. They mirrored Loa's cautious movements, refusing to let the wretched villain escape through. The lethal dance was achingly slow, and they never broke their stare. They don't even blink, walking on a tightrope over a pit of wolves, barely keeping balance. One wrong move can result to be attacked by fangs.

Loa went deathly still, face white as bone. Not even the icy eyes move. When Akko took another step, coming within arm's length, Loa doesn't seem to notice. Akko balled a fist at her side, bracing herself.

Slowly, Loa blinked and Akko saw nothing in her.

Loa was empty.

And somehow, Akko could have just imagined if she were still herself a year ago. It was undeniable that some piece of her heart would break for someone so irrevocably lost. But a lot of things happened recently, and Akko, could not give a fuck.

"Before you kill me, aren't you a little bit it curious as to who I was?" Loa asked, tipping her head like some curious puppy.

"A human bitch," Akko snarled. "I don't need to know anything else."

"It won't end here," Loa murmured, voice low and smooth. "It took me centuries to steal a body, and I intend to use it to live my remaining days."

"You did WHAT?" Akko replied, showing her teeth.

Loa sneered. "Where are your witchy companions? How come they aren't around?"

"There was a minor setback." Detective Inspector Croix said. "Despite what perspired between closed doors, love is to be blamed. The witches are coming, and they can undo what you've done, demon!"

Loa rolled their eyes. "Very well, death is a better alternative than living as a cursed doll anyway. Take my word for it, girl. Sucy will become miserable until she loses what's remaining in her so-called-humanity."

Akko almost expected Loa to apologize, so she lowered the knife but she suffered the repercussions when Loa jabbed at her throat with a closed fist.

"AKKO!" Professor Chariot and Detective Inspector Croix instantaneously pulled Loa away from her as the momentum sent Akko sideways.

The women kept Loa pinned. Loa growled beneath them, trying to force them off, and exhibiting unusual strength and vitality. Loa bit them, hard.

Akko winced at the sight of the clamping down on Chariot's fingers, and the clawing of long nails on Croix's hand. Screams pierced Akko's eardrums along with a bizarrely sound of flesh hissing.

"Akko!" Chariot yelled despite the burning of her hand. "Capture her! One of the witches can return Sucy's soul back!"

Loa pushed through and pried both women's grasp off, biting where it is a must, until Loa was free. The flesh surrounding Chariot and Croix's bitten wounds were dissolving as if Loa's saliva were pure sulphuric acid.

Akko immediately searched the pantry to look for anything to neutralize the corroding flesh of her companions, mentally cursing herself to remember what sort of kitchen ingredient can be used as taught in her chemistry class.

Suddenly Loa's hand was around Akko's throat, squeezing without any restraint, crushing the air from her windpipe.

Her neck ached, bruising beneath Loa's fingers as blood vessels burst. Akko can barely think, her mind narrowing to the knife still clenched in her fist. She tried to raise her arm again but Loa's strength and weight above her made it impossible.

"I never liked you, girl." Loa hissed, cold breath washing over her face. "I always never liked those people whom Manbavarans loved. But listen here, girly... I'm never going back to the doll. You can't make me! I'm not going to, you hear me? I rather die than a return!"

Tears prickled at Akko's eyes when she realized this could be how it ends.

"You can kill me, drag my soul away, but it still won't end any of this. With the body dead, the original soul cannot return. This body will become a corpse! I am well aware of the pain you bear, girl! The pain of knowing that fate is inescapable—that a happy ending, does not truly exist; for the darkness of the sinister hands, shall always reign supreme."

There was a surge of magic that strike Loa's back and whirled on the spot, her gaze flitting around wildly in an attempt to find their aggressor.

The witches arrived, their brooms discarded on the floor. Loa was met with a fuming Chloe and Lotte suffering from visible red handprint on her face while holding onto Salem.

Honestly, if Akko's able to, she'd slap Lotte on the other side of her cheek, and then thank her for rescuing Salem.

Lotte immediately sang words of healing for the wounded Chariot and Croix. Salem hissed once more when she saw Loa.

On the other hand, Chloe's face hardened. She brandished her wand, opening her mouth to cast another spell. Loa was struck once more by a brilliant streak of light. Unable to scream and too shocked to think of trying anything else, they growled at her.

"Quickly, bind her!" Akko commanded.

"I'm trying!" Chloe said as she sent another wave of magic towards Loa who deflected it skillfully.

In spite of Loa's best efforts, she was only one against five. Loa knew they have no leverage on them. They hadn't known Sucy's acquaintances will show up like this, as evident on their face. They might have figured that after their lifelong revenge, they would be long gone and the people would arrive in the aftermath of the chaos they wrecked.

Akko didn't think how or why, but Loa lunged after her once again. They were able to seize the knife from Loa's hand, and just swung wildly towards Sucy's throat—the stolen body that Loa inhabited.

Gasping, as blood sputtered out of the wound. The taste of the blood poisoned her mouth as Loa's eyes—no, Sucy's eyes fade.

It was Akko's turn to scream.