RWBY: A Huntress's Amnesia

by SeraKallisto

A young huntress wakes up in the middle of Forever Fall with a big problem: she doesn't remember who she is. Luckily, she's rescued and brought to Beacon for something almost scarier than the Grimm-School. Follow her journey to pick up the pieces of her past, make new friends, and discover who she's really destined to become. And to see her fight monsters and villains, of course.

53. The Cabin Part 2: Child of Shadow

Sera woke with a start, lying face down with her cheek pressed against the cold floor. She groaned and climbed to her feet, her head throbbing like it'd been Yang's newest punching bag.

"Ouch..." she grumbled, holding the side of her head tightly. "Jeez, what the hell hap-p-p...?" she trailed off, finally seeing what her surroundings looked like.

Blackness, accompanied by the usual fog that floated above the invisible floor. The abyss of her old dreamscape was what she was standing in. Her eyes widened at the sight, a chill running down her spine. The only time she was ever here with her "actual" body, it meant that she was getting paid a visit.

Sera didn't want a visit.

"Ohhh, great..." she mumbled irritably. Sera lowered her hand from her head and balled it into a fist, raising it up at the darkness defiantly. "Okay, let's get this over with. Where are you, Psycho Queen?"

Kassandra Kallisto manifested in front of her in the blink of an eye. Her hand was on her hip and her scrunched eyebrows gave her an annoyed look like a fly was buzzing in her ear. Sera should know, she made the same face fairly often.

"Just me," she stated.

"FUCK!" Sera jumped back, a wild look in her eyes. "Gods, don't do that! Nearly gave me a heart attack!"

"Nice to see you, too."

Sera straightened herself out and crossed her arms, looking around at the endless darkness around them. "What're we doing here, anyway?"

Kassandra sighed and put her hands on her hips, looking around like Sera was. "Dunno. Spooky, huh?"

"Tell me about it," she muttered. "Not like I spent every night in this place before you came along."

"Ouch."

"Sorry," Sera put a hand to her forehead. "Just... Usually when I'm here, with my body, it means Salem's about to go on a creepy rant."

"...Ah," Kassandra said. "So... where the hell is-?"

Suddenly, a familiar, sinister presence washed over them and made the girls falter. Their skin prickled with nervous energy, and the two of them immediately went into defensive stances with their fists clenched.

Sera had to take a moment to just appreciate how in-sync she and Kassandra were. They mirrored each other's stances in an instant, as if they'd been fighting alongside each other for years. In a way, she supposed they had.

The fog transitioned to a deep shade of red and Sera's blood ran cold. Kassandra's expression tightened, her jaw clenched.

"Well, it seems you two are getting along. A little too well, I must say," Salem's voice was as cold as ever, and full of contempt for the two personalities of Kassandra Kallisto.

"Gods, I hate her," Kassandra muttered.

"Tell me about it," Sera said under her breath.

"You've made a mistake, young huntress," Salem laughed coldly. "Separated from your friends and Ozma, stranded in the middle of nowhere with people you don't even know, and now you've wandered into the one room in all of Anima that would shatter your pathetic little life as you know it."

Okay, that was a little off putting. She and Kassandra traded nervous glances, each of them thinking the same thing—what the hell was the crazy witch talking about?

Sera glared into the darkness, at one specific spot in the red fog. "Okay, I'll bite. What the heck are you on about? What's with that creepy room?"

"Yeah," Kassandra said, clenching her fists tighter. A smug smirk played on her lips. "Not sure there's much you can do to us now. Bet you weren't expecting us to join together like this, huh?"

They felt Salem's presence rumble with annoyance. The red fog seemed to look more agitated, if that was even possible.

"I admit, your connection was unplanned. As for the room... A remnant, of a very interesting group of humans who specialized in very interesting hobbies. They were many, and it seems you've stumbled upon one of their last denizens of corruption. But that doesn't change the fact that you've awoken something far worse than a few old memories."

"Like what? You gonna throw some more vague threats and another ominous speech my way? Do you practice those in the mirror, or do they just happen on the spot?" Sera quipped. She was still a little stuck on the "denizens of corruption" bit. That was some cryptic shit.

Kassandra snickered. "Probably the mirror. The only thing she was good at back in the day was failing to off herself."

"Zing!" Sera gave Kassandra a fist bump.

The following tremor nearly threw them to the ground. Sera struggled to keep her balance. The red fog trembled angrily, swirling in the air as if it was alive.

"Still a little sensitive about that, I guess," Kassandra muttered.

"Enough games, Kassandra," Salem snapped. "You know exactly what's going to happen next. How long did you hope to hide your true self?"

Sera flinched. She glanced at her dark-haired counterpart. "What's she talking about?"

Kassandra shifted on her heels. She wouldn't look at Sera. "She's lying."

"The only one lying is you," Salem mused. "Your true self, a final gift from the Brothers of Creation. I'd love to see Ozma's face when he realizes the young hero of his past has resurfaced, only to be corrupted by the darkness within. Did your little transformation make him nervous?"

Sera thought back to when she'd first transformed in front of Ozpin. The look of pure anxiety that'd flashed on his face. But he'd tried to get her to do it. Why?

Her eyes widened. She didn't know what the hell Salem was getting at, but if there was one thing she did know, he'd wanted her to control her power. Whether or not it was to prevent this "darkness" or whatever, she wasn't sure.

Kassandra looked shameful. What exactly had she been hiding? Sera wondered.

"Looks like you and I are gonna get to have another talk," she said.

"...Yeah, looks like it."

She put a hand on her shoulder, and Kassandra looked up.

"For now, let's just get this evil bitch outta our head, yeah?" she flashed a smile.

Relief washed over Kassandra's face. She smiled and gave a determined nod, then they faced the red fog again.

"Look, do you have a point you're getting at?" Sera asked.

"Or are you going to just keep talking and not really say anything at all?" Kassandra finished.

Another deep rumble from Salem. Only now, it seemed a little shaky. Like she was hoping to turn them against each other, but realized she'd failed to do so.

"My point, dear Sera and Kassandra, is that the room you so happily entered carries enough residual energy to do more than awaken the third mind within your shared head. The one responsible for your failure in Beacon is free, and I'm sure she has more than a few things to share with you. Have fun," Salem laughed. A loud, ear-splitting sound that reverberated through the darkness and slowly faded, along with the withdrawal of the witch's presence.

Once the menacing laughter had disappeared, Sera shuddered as a chill went down her spine. "Well, at least she finally said something that wasn't entirely hidden in riddles."

"Even if it did sound terrible," Kassandra mumbled.

Then they noticed something—the red fog hadn't faded. It lingered over the invisible floor ominously, like a bad omen. Before either of them could speak, the fog in front of them swirled and grew taller, getting denser and larger until it was vaguely human-sized.

Sera and Kassandra glanced at each other, neither of them liking what they were seeing.

"So, we just gonna let this happen, or...?" Kassandra asked.

"What else can we do?" she shrugged helplessly.

"Good point."

The red fog changed and morphed in shape and color until they were looking at a person. At first, she wore nothing but the fog around her body. Then clothing appeared on her body that was identical to Sera's old Beacon outfit. At first, even the colors were the same. Then the white jacket and pants darkened to black, and the violet tank top and belt morphed to a shade of crimson that matched the eyes of a Grimm.

Her hair was white like Sera's, and in her old short and almost-to-her-shoulders style, but her eyes were crimson red. Her skin was pale, but not pale enough to look like her transformation. Plus, her sclera was a normal white color. When she smiled, it made Sera's skin crawl.

Just like Kassandra, it was a perfect copy of herself. But... off. Her smile was too cruel, her eyes too manic. In an instant, she knew that Salem had been right—this was the person who'd killed her best friend.

She scowled and reached for Jupiter, but only grabbed air. Oh, right. Dream.

"Be careful," Kassandra murmured, her eyes glued to their clone. "I don't like this."

For a few seconds, they just stared at each other. Red eyes flicked between Sera and Kassandra. Her posture was relaxed, but she looked ready to pounce at a moment's notice. It gave Sera the creeps, because it was so eerily familiar.

The clone smiled wickedly, that manic light dancing in her eyes. "Hello, Me and... Me. Been a while. How's that stab wound feeling?"

Sera scowled, glaring at her. It was like looking at an evil twin. When she moved, the clone mirrored her exact motions. To test it, she rolled her wrist and curled her fingers. Evil Twin copied her. With a smirk, Sera jumped into the air and clicked her heels together. That was copied, too.

"What're you doing?" Kassandra hissed.

"Just testing something," she murmured. Then she raised her voice, "What do you want?"

The twin smiled wider, and it sent a chill down her spine. Not in a million years did Sera think she could imitate the look of pure malice on her face.

"Thought we could catch up a little. I see you and Kassie there have been getting along famously. What? I can't join the party?" she gave a shallow pout.

"Not after what you did," Sera said firmly. "In fact, I think it's time for a little heart-to-heart. You're getting out of my head, because I don't want you here. You're not hurting any of my friends ever again. I won't let you."

"We'll see," she chuckled darkly, pinching her chin with two fingers.

"What is your deal?" Kassandra demanded. "The three of us should be working together."

The clone's expression soured. "You don't get to speak to me. I'll deal with you when I'm done with the new and improved you."

Sera scrunched her eyebrows together and looked over at Kassandra. "What's with the hate boner she has for you?"

Kassandra kept her eyes on their evil twin. "I think I have a hunch."

She resisted the urge to roll her eyes. Sera settled on the new girl. Aka, the newest personality in her crazy head. "Who are you, exactly?"

Of course, she just smiled in response to the question. Sera was hating her more and more.

The clone put on a strange pouting expression as she gestured to herself. "I'm bad Kassandra." Then she grinned and pointed at Sera. "You're good Kassandra. You're goodie little two shoes, goodie little two shoes!" she cackled as she started to perform jig, repeating "goodie little two shoes" over and over, sounding more manic every time.

Sera blinked and looked at Kassandra, but her past self just shrugged her shoulders, just as disturbed by the strange sight.

"What the hell do you want?" Sera demanded, trying to keep track of the clone's crazed movements.

The evil twin froze, her posture returning to normal as her eyes slowly looked up until they met Sera's.

"I want what you have," she said plainly, her smile growing wider. "As for the who. Well, I haven't really put much thought into that. This is all so new, I think," she chuckled darkly.

Sera and Kassandra glanced at each other, both of them unsure of what to make of her. They both knew a fight was coming. It was inevitable. Mostly because Sera wanted to tear her limbs off and beat her to death with them.

"Hm, this is so weird! No one's asked me for a name before," she said with a hint of exasperation.

The strange girl put her knuckles to her chin and frowned thoughtfully. After a moment, she grinned and snapped her fingers, her eyes on Sera.

"Since you're Sera," she said the name like it gave her a bad taste in her mouth. "I suppose that makes me... Eras."

(Y'know I intended for it to be Sera's name backwards, but then I realized that would be 'Ares.' Pretty cool, but doesn't fit.)

Sera's eyebrows raised. "Eris? Why?"

Eras smiled wider. "Because I'm everything you don't want to be—what would've happened if you were in my place all this time locked in her head," she pointed a crooked finger at Kassandra.

I am so lost... Sera thought.

"It's your name," Kassandra realized. "The letters are rearranged. Not 'Eris' but Eras."

Sera blinked. "...Huh. Weird."

"Your opposite," she said, staring at Sera with wide eyes like she'd witnessed a murder. "Not my opposite. Yours. Where you're the light, she's the..." Kassandra trailed off, her eyes wandering towards Eras.

"What? Light? What the hell are you talking about?" Sera demanded.

Eras laughed smugly. "You really don't know anything, do you? Gods, how have you survived for this long with how slow you are?"

Sera clenched her jaw. If there's one thing she absolutely wasn't, it's stupid. Sure, a little dim every now and then, but she wasn't dumb.

She rushed the wannabe and threw a punch at her. Kassandra looked like she wanted to intervene, but Sera was already halfway to Eras.

Eras responded in kind, grinning wildly as she took off running. The two girls closed the distance in seconds and each raised their fists. When they collided, Sera's right fist struck Eras's left cheek and vice versa.

As soon as their fists came into contact with each other, stabbing pain erupted within each of their skulls as if their brains had suddenly decided to hemorrhage. Their heads turned with the force of the blow and they each flew backwards and landed on their sides.

Sera and Eras clutched their heads and screamed in agony at the stabbing sensation in their skulls. In a word, it was hell. Sera's vision flashed white and her nerves lit up in agony as it spread to the rest of her body. It felt like she'd suddenly been wrapped in tinfoil and shoved into a microwave. Kassandra was experiencing it, too. She fell to her knees and held her head with both arms, groaning in pain along with her counterparts.

It lasted nearly a minute, but felt more like an eternity to all three of them. Finally, the stabbing slowly faded until it was only a dull throbbing in their heads. Sera's body gradually relaxed on the floor until she was lying there with her head in her arms. Once she felt normal enough to sit up, she looked across from her to see that Eras had done the exact same thing. They stared at each other with a mixture of confusion and contempt.

Kassandra stood to full height, still holding her head tightly. "Don't do that again."

"You said it..." Eras grumbled.

So, fighting her hurts me, too? How the hell am I supposed to get rid of her? Sera racked her brain to try and think of a solution. If they fought, it might end up killing all three of them in one fell swoop. She had to think of something else.

She climbed to her feet cautiously. She was scared that stabbing pain would return if she moved too quickly. Across from her, Eras mirrored her movements until they both stood with their arms at their sides and fierce glares on their faces.

"Well? What're you gonna do now?" Eras asked haughtily.

She glanced at Kassandra for answers, but the dark-haired girl just shrugged. She was just as lost. Sera returned her eyes to Eras, but the clone was just staring at her silently.

After a moment, a smirk played on Sera's lips. Eras's eyes widened slightly, wondering what she was up to. The huntress flared her aura until a layer of violet light danced across her skin, then she focused it towards her hand.

Hey, this was her dream. She should get to control how aura works.

Violet energy moved across her body like sunlight reflecting underwater and settled in her palm. It formed a wide cylindrical shape and expanded, growing longer and wider near the bottom until she was holding something that looked like a glowing purple guitar. Its shape became sharper and more defined until it was a perfect copy of Jupiter, but glowing like Raven's and Cinder's aura blades.

Kassandra's eyes widened at her, staring at Sera's back as she held the glowing guitar at her side. "What are you doing?"

Sera glanced over her shoulder and flashed a confident grin. "I think there's really only one way to settle this. If fighting each other hurts all three of us, I say we do it another way."

"Rock, paper, scissors?" Kassandra asked.

"She wants to have a guitar duel," Eras said irritably, crossing her arms.

"Well, no shit!" Kassandra seethed, then returned her eyes to Sera. "What the hell are you thinking?"

The huntress sighed, a little disappointed that the only person on her side was raining on her parade. "Look, we can't fight her. You saw what happened. What if fighting could kill, like, all of us? Like some kind of brain hemorrhage because we're doing this in our head? This is a much safer way."

"What about rock, paper, scissors?"

"Forget about the rock, paper, scissors!" she and Eras said in unison, then glared at each other.

"You want to settle your grievances like this? Fine. What's in it for me?" Eras asked.

Sera smirked lightly. "I win, you never even try to take control of me again. I don't care if you're 'free' or whatever like Salem said, but you will not use me to hurt the people I care about. You win, and you can have me."

"Don't gamble our body on playing guitar!" Kassandra said angrily.

"Deal," their evil twin smiled wickedly.

Eras stuck her hand out and mimicked what Sera had done. Sinister red aura ran down her arm and to her palm until an identical guitar appeared in her hand, glowing with energy just like Sera's.

Kassandra rushed to Sera's side and grabbed her by the shoulder. "What the actual fuck are you thinking?!"

"Chill out," she smiled lightly. "Look, I'm the one that knows how to play, right? This'll be a piece of cake. She'll play some crappy tune and I'll mop the floor with her and shred like-"

Eras smirked, and her fingers flew across the glowing strings of her aura guitar. In a clearer quality than Sera could ever get from an amp or Jupiter's built-in speakers, Eras played a fast and heavy riff that used all six of her strings. Kassandra's jaw dropped, her eyes going wide as their evil twin shredded like a professional. She finished big, strumming her strings with her fingers one last time before raising her hand high above her head as she hit a pose with her feet wide apart and her left hip jutting out slightly.

"...Ruh-roh..." Sera murmured.

"Think it's a good fuckin' idea now?!" Kassandra demanded, pushing her shoulder forcefully.

Eras gave a smug smile and gestured for Sera to take her turn.

"Yeah," she thought aloud, getting into her usual strumming position. "Yeah, no problem. She's goin' down."

"I certainly hope so!" Kassandra exclaimed.

The huntress took a deep breath and locked eyes with Eras. The red-eyed girl looked confident, but so did Sera. She raised her hand high and snapped her fingers. A thin bolt of purple lightning hit her hand, and a violet guitar pick appearing between her fingertips.

Eras raised her eyebrows slightly, admittedly a little impressed.

Leaning into the whole "lightning" idea, Sera flashed a grin and let her hands fly into action. Hopefully, she could will some other instruments into existence like she had the guitar pick. Sera played hard and fast to imitate a familiar song she's come to love, suitably named Ride The Lightning.

As if on cue, she willed a pair of single drums appeared on either side of her in flashes of violet lightning and added a beat to her music. A bass guitar floated above her, its strings played by invisible hands to complete the solo act.

Kassandra gaped at her, amazed by the performance she was putting on. Her surprised expression quickly morphed to a broad smile and her posture relaxed, feeling a bit more hopeful that they weren't about to lose their body to a psycho.

Sera poured all of her experience into playing one song. The music got her blood pumping and heart racing, and a wide grin spread across her face as she got into the rhythm. Sera rarely got to play as loudly as she was now, and she intended to enjoy every second of it.

Her fingers flew across the false Jupiter's neck and strings, playing different chords with ease to send blasts of sound through the void of her dreamscape.

She finished big, playing the final chord before raising her arm into the air with her fist tightened, her index finger and pinky pointed at the black sky while she breathed heavily.

The floating aura instruments dissipated, and she stood alone on her side of the void. "Try to beat that," she said smugly to Eras, who was standing with her arms crossed and her red aura guitar dangling from her neck by its strap.

"Hmph," the girl smirked. "You know, it's funny. Everything you can do, I can do. What are you hoping to achieve through this meaningless display?"

Sera opened her mouth to speak, but before she could, Eras's hands flew across her guitar to perfectly imitate the song she'd played. Everything was identical, only she didn't use any of the floating instruments Sera had.

She didn't play for as long as Sera did, either. Eras didn't have to. She'd proved her point. When she finished, the red-eyed girl let her guitar dangle from her shoulder and crossed her arms smugly.

Kassandra glanced between the two of them, like watching two thunderstorms move towards each other. Their eyes burned into each other, violet meeting red. She cleared her throat, "So, you're saying that this is pointless. You two are evenly matched?"

"Basically," Eras smirked.

"She's bluffing," Sera muttered, her eyes narrowing at her evil twin. There had to be a reason why she hadn't summoned more instruments like Sera had, unless she just knew she didn't need them. She hoped Eras just wasn't able to do it like she was.

"Am I?" she smiled wickedly. "I know all of your tricks. I'm you, but without your weaknesses. Because that's exactly what you are—a scared, weak little girl who can't even save herself, much less those pathetic children you call friends."

Sera's skin prickled, the hair on the back of her neck standing straight up as she glared at Eras. "You don't know the first thing about me."

"Really?" she scoffed. "You couldn't stop the attack on Vale, couldn't stop Cinder from sticking a sword through your gut, couldn't stop the attack on Haven, got your ass kicked by Cinder again, and that's just the parts that have to do with Cinder. What happened with that train under Vale again? Got it to blow a hole and let Grimm flood into the city? And how did that fight against Tyrian go? Or how about that train you were just on?"

Kassandra shot a glare at Eras. She and Sera both knew they did the best they could in every situation mentioned. But Eras didn't stop there.

She spread her arms, a cruel smile etched on her cold face. "And to top it all off, you led the girl who only wanted to be with you right to her death. Did you enjoy seeing the life fade from her eyes?"

"Cerulean died because of you," Sera managed, her voice shaky and hoarse. "If you hadn't reared your ugly head, her and Pyrrha would still be just fine."

"Keep telling yourself that," Eras spat. "Your failures outweigh your successes."

"What is your deal?" Sera demanded. "You show up out of nowhere, take part in destroying the only home I've ever known, and now you're what, gloating? What is your problem?"

Eras's smile only widened. It sent a shiver down Sera's spine just knowing that her face was capable of forming such a cruel expression. Eras was right about one thing—she was everything that Sera wasn't. And she'd be damned if she ever let herself turn into something like that.

"You're evil," Sera muttered, feeling even more hatred for the girl in front of her. She was a dark reflection of herself. Everything she hated about herself personified, with a dozen other different things that was all wrapped in one red-eyed package.

"And who's fault was that?" she laughed, casting a sideways glance at Kassandra. "Now, are we going to keep this stupid charade going, or would you like to just hand over the body?"

"You'll never get it," Sera promised.

"We'll see."

Sera's fingers curled around her aura guitar, and Eras did the same. Each of them raised their hands, a glowing pick pinched between their fingers. Their eyes met, practically shooting lasers at each other with how fiercely they were glaring.

Then the girls brought their hands down fast and hard, and twin blasts of sound launching towards each of them from their guitars.

The blast blew their hair back like gusts of gale force winds, and Sera had to plant her feet just to avoid being thrown backwards. The noise made her ears ring, but she resisted the urge to cover them. It'd be a sign of weakness that she dared not let Eras exploit.

Weirdly enough, they played the exact same chord. She wasn't sure if Eras had been watching her finger placement, and it was far too unlikely to be mere coincidence. Had Eras been telling the truth when she said they were the same? She certainly hoped not.

Just like when Eras had first appeared, the two of them moved in perfect sync as they continued playing. Sera had just chosen a riff at random, but Eras mirrored it perfectly. That was only slightly less jarring than the cold smile on the girl's face.

Kassandra could only stand there and watch as they played, their fingers moving in sync with the other. Apart from their facial expressions and contrasting colors, it was like looking at a strange trick mirror. When Sera bounced her heel to the beat of the song, Eras did too. When Sera gripped the neck of her aura guitar tighter, so did Eras.

True to her word, they were perfectly evenly matched. Strangely, Sera didn't summon those other instruments to help her, but Kassandra had a feeling she knew why. She wanted to win on her own, fair and square, to prove Eras wrong.

For Sera, a whirlwind of conflicting thoughts was raging in her head as she tried to figure out a weakness on Eras. If she was right about them being the same, then Sera's weaknesses were her weaknesses, too. Except Eras didn't fight for anyone else but herself. She was cold and unfeeling, happier to destroy what Sera loved than find something of her own.

A lightbulb shined brightly behind Sera's eyes, and a grin spread across her face. That was her advantage against her twin.

"What're you smiling about?" Eras narrowed her eyes as she continued to play.

Somehow, Sera could hear her voice over the loud and clashing noise of their guitars. She smiled wider and strummed harder, mostly because she was happy she'd get to rub this right in her smug bitch face.

"Because you're right," she said. Eras raised an eyebrow. "My losses may outweigh my wins, but there was always one thing that was always there for me no matter what. Something you'll never have, because you're a cruel, mean bitch. My friends."

Eras scoffed, her face tightening with disgust. "Friends. Please. Without them, you'd be useless."

"Exactly," she spoke softly. "We're there for each other, and we have each other's backs. You're alone, Eras. That's why you hate me so much. You're angry, and jealous."

"As you put it," she scowled. "You don't know the first thing about me. Is that really all you have? Petty insults? You're not going to win like that."

"Not alone, anyway," she said, growing more confident as her fingers moved across her glowing guitar's strings. "See, the neat thing about me and my friends is that we're always stronger together."

Sera closed her eyes, relying on her muscle memory to keep playing, and concentrated on trying to summon something else. Around her, the glowing instruments appeared out of thin air again. They floated above the ground at Sera's sides, but they didn't play. Only floated, almost like they were dormant. She glanced beside her and counted them, just to make sure she hadn't miscalculated. In total, there was a microphone, another electric guitar, a bass guitar, and a full-sized drum kit. Each of them glowed a shade of deep violet, matching Sera's aura and the guitar in her hands.

"This trick again?" Eras scoffed.

She opened her eyes, not even trying to suppress the wide grin on her face. "Kinda."

Sera stopped playing and raised her hand. She winked at Eras slyly, then snapped her fingers.

One at a time, the floating instruments changed in color. The other guitar morphed to a vibrant shade of red, unlike Eras's. The drums settled onto the invisible floor and changed to a bright yellow, almost like the sun itself. The bass's already purple shade became a bit darker and more vivid. Finally, the microphone brightened until it was pure white and shining like a star.

The aura on the instruments flowed outward, forming vaguely human-like shapes until Sera was looking at glowing apparitions of team RWBY in their old Beacon outfits. Each of them was made up entirely of aura and semi-transparent, but nonetheless, Sera was happy to see them. She glanced between each of the girls, every member of the team smiling brightly as they held their instruments. Even Blake, which was mildly disturbing. Sera's eyes lingered a bit longer on Weiss before she returned her gaze to her twin.

Eras only stared at them with an emotionless expression, apparently unimpressed. She started to say something, but Sera interrupted her.

"A one! A two! A one, two, three, four!" she shouted, then she and every member of RWBY flew into action.

Her glowing pick struck the guitar's strings while her fingers flew across its neck, and fake Yang immediately started to beat her drums with glowing yellow drumsticks, and Blake joined in to provide a bass line. Ruby's red guitar pick flew across her guitar's strings and added the rhythm to their song. Weiss took a few steps forward, a confident smile on her white face as she lifted the microphone to her mouth. Then, she sang. Steady and controlled at first, then reaching a crescendo once the lyrics really picked up.

They were playing the same song Sera had played when she first got Jupiter after Torchwick's train blew a hole into the streets of Vale. A song that she'd memorized every detail of just in case she needed to put on a show like that again. She was just glad she had imaginary RWBY instead of the real thing, because she doubted the real ones could play this well. Apart from Weiss, maybe. That girl could sing.

And the song was This Will Be The Day, something she'd picked up from Ruby at some point during their time in Beacon.

The sound wave that blasted from the five of their instruments was powerful enough to blow Eras right off her feet, a wild look in her eyes as she flew backwards. Sera cackled at the sight and kept playing. They'd finally reached the chorus of the song, and Eras was being held to the ground by the constant force of their sound. Like she was trying to keep from being pulled into the air from a tornado's powerful winds.

Kassandra couldn't help but grin at the sight. Eras was struggling to ground herself with little luck, forced to stay low to the invisible floor.

"All right!" Eras shouted. If not for Sera's weird ability to hear her, the girl would've been completely drowned out by the loud music.

"Sorry, can't hear you!" Sera lied.

Eras screamed in frustration and shot her a glare that would've stopped a Nuckelavee in its tracks. Sera and her new band, however, were completely unfazed.

Precisely one minute and fifty seconds later, the song was over, and Sera stood triumphantly with her glowing friends at her sides. Ruby flashed a grin. Weiss twirled her microphone in her hand, a smug expression on her face. Blake shouldered the bass and crossed her arms, her hip ever so slightly cocked to the side to give a confident look about her. Yang spun her drumsticks in her hands, a broad grin on her face as she mutely chuckled at Eras on the floor.

When the music stopped, Eras crawled to her feet with a murderous expression on her face. She scowled at Sera, then at each of the glowing girls at her side.

Sera smirked, genuinely pleased with herself as she inspected the disheveled state Eras was in. Her hair was messy like she'd gone through a wind tunnel, her black and red clothes looked sloppy, and the look on her face screamed with murderous rage.

"See, when you have others by your side that you trust more than anyone in the world to fight with you, you can handle just about anything that's thrown your way. Especially some sad copy of a badass like me. You've lost, Eras. I won. My body will never be yours," she announced, her words confident and her posture strong. She was feeling pretty good about herself right now.

Eras laughed, which sort of came as a surprise. She didn't seem upset that she'd lost their contest. If anything, she was almost... relieved.

"Yes, you've won the battle," she said once her laughter died down. "But the war is far from over. I'm free, Sera. No longer confined within this void in your head. If you think it's been hard to adjust to her being in your mind," she cast her eyes over to Kassandra. "You have no idea what you're in for."

Sera tossed her aura guitar aside, and it dissipated into a flash of light. Immediately after, the conjured forms of her friends faded into darkness, and she was once again alone with the voices in her head. She stepped forward, closing the distance between herself and Eras until they were mere feet away. Her stride was confident, elegant even, with her fists at her sides and a stoic expression on her face and her eyes trained on the red-eyed clone.

Once she was in front of Eras, the girl straightened her posture and lifted her chin defiantly as if expecting an attack. For a moment, the two of them stared at each other, trying to see who would falter first.

Sera put her hands on her hips and bent forward slightly, just so she could look her right in the eyes.

"Bring it on, you bitch. I am not going to let anyone stop me from reaching my goals, least of all you. I'm going to take Cinder down once and for all, then I'm gonna wipe Salem off the face of Remnant before she can hurt more people or put fucked up minds like you in other's heads. So, give it your best shot. We'll see who comes out on top."

Eras regarded her coldly, a flicker of a smile playing on her lips. "You really don't know, do you?"

"Know what?" she asked, unbothered by her unexpected words.

"Salem didn't put me here, you idiot. Not exactly, anyway," she smirked. Eras's eyes flicked towards Kassandra. "She did."

Okay, that was the last thing she expected to hear. Sera blinked, her eyebrows scrunching together as she tried to process what her twin had said. Before she could ask about it, Eras flashed one last smile, then faded into nothingness, leaving behind only the weight of her ominous words.

She looked over her shoulder at Kassandra. The blue-eyed girl was held one wrist in front of her, her shoulders slouched and a rather defeated look on her face.

"You?" she asked, unsure of what else to say.

"Sera-"

"You put that psycho in our head? How? When? Why?" she demanded, marching towards her with her fists at her sides.

"I can explain!" she took a step back and held her hand up defensively before Sera could wrap her hands around her neck.

Sera clenched her jaw tightly, her mind reeling from what she'd learned. If she pummeled the girl, she risked putting herself through that same pain from when she and Eras had traded blows. Instead, she took a deep breath and forced herself to relax.

"Talk."

"I..." she started, her fingers curling into the hem of her blue shirt. "It's... It's better if I just show you."

"Do what you have to," Sera replied, her voice dripping with venom.

She nodded hesitantly and closed her eyes, her face tight with concentration. In an instant, Sera's vision whitened, and she felt her body fade away faster than she could blink. When the blinding whiteness faded, she was looking through Kassandra's eyes at a distant memory, back when the hero was still alive.

Kassandra was standing atop an enormous hill that overlooked a bustling city. It wasn't Mistral, that much was clear. The environment was snowy and blanketed with icy trees. Tall stone structures filled the city's interior, with many low buildings surrounding them. It was the biggest settlement she's ever seen, even larger than Argus or Mistral.

"I can see why Ozma thinks this place is a good spot to hide a Relic..." Kassandra murmured, just taking it all in.

Coincidentally, this city was also where the Staff of Creation was supposedly hidden. Ozma had used the Relic of Knowledge to ask Jinn, the genie of the lamp, to show him and Kassandra where the other Relics were hidden in Remnant. The genie's appearance was... unsettling. But she did show them where the Relics were. Now, Kassandra was fulfilling her end of the deal by retrieving them.

The Crown of Choice was somewhere in the dense forest that took of most of Vale, in a ruined old castle nearly perfectly hidden by the trees surrounding it. The Sword of Destruction was located in an underground complex deep beneath the sands of Vacuo, buried in the tomb of some ancient king or emperor. It seemed that in some point in the past, the Relics had already been found by others. Probably regarded as holy artifacts that only royalty could be in possession of.

The Staff of Creation, however, was behind the tall stone walls of the vast city that lay before her. There were Grimm at the walls, but not enough to launch an attack large enough to break into the city. Even from this far away, Kassandra could see the mounted ballistae that fired down upon the Grimm to keep them away.

The tricky part was getting inside and finding the person who held the staff. Luckily, she had a pretty good plan for both. For getting inside, she knew that Atlas was famous for taking in outsiders and adding them to their population. That's how the kingdom had grown so quickly. They took in people seeking refuge and put them to work, whether it be constructing new buildings or getting enlisted in the kingdom's army.

As for how she was going to find the Relic, Kassandra figured she could just ask around. Either whoever held it loved to flaunt their newfound power, or they were hiding it away so no one could take it from them. Asking about people that either could do incredible things or crazy shut-ins seemed like the best bet.

While she was examining the city's walls and architecture, someone spoke up from behind her.

"Amazing, isn't it? You puny humans can do truly incredible things when you're not too busy with petty squabbles. And despite this city's strength, there are still those who would take it for themselves rather than join together against the real foe, being the Grimm. It's impressive, really. Not even the threat of imminent death can dissuade your greed and lust for power."

Kassandra rolled her eyes and glanced over her shoulder. Behind her stood a tall, pale woman with long white hair that reached the middle of her back. Glowing crimson irises surrounded by black sclera bored into her, a sort of playful light in them. Like she considered Kassandra to be something small and unimportant, but found her amusing for some reason. The woman was garbed in a sleeveless black robe that looked like it was sewn from pure shadow, seemed too little to be wearing in the snow, and hung from her shoulders and revealed a little more of her pale white chest than Kassandra was comfortable with. Dark veins webbed the sides of her face, her neck and chest, and down her arms and hands, giving her an even more unnatural appearance than she already had.

It was the woman from Ozma's past, the one who'd caused the downfall of the first humans on Remnant—Salem.

Salem had approached her not long after Kassandra and Ozma found the Relic of Knowledge, pleading with her to talk. Of course, Kassandra would've rather run her through than be put at the mercy of this witch. If not for her curiosity, and the fact that Ozma had actually asked her to find Salem, she never would've considered it. But she's always had a firm belief that there were two sides to every story, and this time shouldn't be an exception.

Weirdly enough, Salem's story matched what Ozma had told her to the letter. Only, rather than being hellbent on the destruction of Remnant just so the Brothers could finally end her suffering, Salem told her that she wished to see if the Relics—particularly the Staff of Creation or Sword of Destruction—could do the job instead. All she asked was that Kassandra tries to kill her, and to not tell Ozma that she'd brought the Relics so close.

"And what have you done to try to help?" Kassandra asked. "I don't see you killing Grimm or protecting those who need it. You'd rather skulk about and wallow in the past."

Salem's eyes narrowed dangerously. "Don't forget who you're speaking to, girl."

"Don't forget who you're speaking to," Kassandra rebutted. "You're not the one who knows where these Relics are. I am. So, I'd bite my tongue if I were you the next time you decide to smart off."

The woman's scowl deepened. A ball of swirling purple energy appeared in her palm as she glared daggers at the girl before her, but Kassandra didn't falter. She just stared right back into those glowing red eyes.

"Hmph," Salem extinguished her magic by closing her fist. "If you weren't right, I'd have turned you into a pile of ash."

"If I wasn't right, I wouldn't have said it at all," she remarked.

"Funny," Salem deadpanned.

"Nothing funny about it," she muttered, turning her eyes back to the distant city of Atlas.

"So," Salem stepped closer until she was standing right beside her. "What's the plan, little hero?"

Kassandra suppressed a frown. "I go in and find the Staff. You don't set foot in the city. Last thing I need is for you to draw attention. When I get it, I'll see if the Relic's genie can make something to fix your little problem."

"And how do I know you're not going to just run back to Ozma once you get it?" she raised an eyebrow.

"You don't," she said. "So, you're gonna have to trust me."

Salem frowned. "The last person I trusted was Ozma, and you know how that turned out, girl."

"Yep," she turned, trying not to smile at the woman's annoyed face. "Looks like you don't have much of a choice though, huh?"

The ancient woman stared at her as if regretting not blasting her into dust particles when she had the chance to. After a brief moment, Salem sighed. "Go. Before I change my mind."

Kassandra started making her way down the hill, then flashed a devious smile at Salem. "You got it, your highness."

Salem scowled, her jaw clenching as she glared at the hero. Kassandra kept walking, secretly trying to put as much distance as she could between them before Salem remembered she could shoot magic from her fingers.

Ω Ω Ω

Reaching Atlas's walls didn't take long. Kassandra picked the nearest entrance that had the least Grimm and made a run for it. She could practically feel Salem's red eyes burning into her back the whole way over.

Kassandra evaded a charging Beowolf by ducking under its paw and letting it fly past her. She slid between an Ursa's wide legs and shot to her feet, sprinting towards the city as fast as she could. After dodging and running past more than a dozen of the creatures, she reached the tall gates that led into the city. Fortunately for her, one of the guards was nice enough to let her in.

The gate lifted just enough so that she could slide under it. As soon as she cleared the gate, it dropped and hit the ground with a loud thud. Behind her, a Beowolf's arm shot through one of the wide holes in the gate and tried to grab her. Kassandra jumped to her feet, the monster's claws coming just inches from her arm.

"Jeez!" she exclaimed, her heart racing.

The guard who'd opened the gate for her jabbed a long spear at the Beowolf, and it retreated with a pained whimper. Kassandra kicked the gate, muttering to herself about stupid Grimm. Behind her, a small crowd had formed to see who the newcomer was. A few more guards appeared, but they didn't seem agitated by her presence.

"That was a close one," the guard chuckled, his voice gruff and kind of scratchy.

She looked over at him, quickly assessing his gear and appearance. After all, the guy was holding a spear. He was decked out in layered steel armor that looked designed to be lightweight. His arms were exposed except for a pair of leather gauntlets. His legs were covered in greaves from his shins to his calves, and the long blue tunic he wore under his armor reached down to his knees. The guard was armed with that long spear and a massive rectangular wooden shield that looked nearly as tall as Kassandra. He was tall and his face was rugged, like he'd seen a lot of action. On his head was a simple metal helmet with flaps covering the sides of his face.

"Thank you," Kassandra dipped her head slightly. "If that gate didn't open, I-"

"Probably woulda gotten chewed up by all those beasts out there," he finished. "Not a problem, miss. 'S my job. Where're you from?"

"Argus," she replied. "Just a traveler. I'm looking for, er, someone."

"Well," he planted his spear and removed his helmet, flashing a kind smile that contrasted his rough appearance. The soldier gestured to the stone buildings encompassing the city and the many people that milled around in the wide, clean streets. "Welcome t' Atlas."

Ω Ω Ω

Fortunately, it didn't take long to find some rumors about strange individuals in Atlas. The city guard guided Kassandra to the nearest tavern, and asked around to see if anyone knew anything.

There were many strange stories, such as a woman who was supposedly convinced her deceased husband had been reincarnated as a Beowolf, an alleged fortune teller that believed the end of the world would come when there all but no Silver Eyed warriors left, and a young girl that had power over the elements themselves. Plenty more followed, but those three stuck out to Kassandra the most. Specifically, that strange fortune.

The person who told her about the fortune teller spoke rather highly of him. They said he'd helped plenty of people by telling them if their dreams would come reality, if their love was true, and dozens of other mundane things that people usually went to fortune tellers for. But in the last few days, he's become a little unstable. It didn't take a genius to figure out that it was because of his latest prophecy.

Kassandra decided to visit the fortune teller and the girl first before she asked around further. The fortune teller shop wasn't hard to find, especially since the building was decked out with strange decorations. Carved bones hung above the door in an odd ornate pattern, and the empty windows revealed rows of old bookshelves and dust-covered books. Herbs hung from the ceiling to dry out, and Kassandra spotted a large cast iron pot in the corner with steam emanating from the top. A cauldron, she figured.

She entered the shop and a tall wiry man's head whirled around when the door closed. A thin smile spread across his face and he spread his hands in greeting. The shop keep's appearance put her a little on edge. His greasy black hair clung to his forehead. The guy's beady eyes were wide and energetic, like he'd recently been electrocuted. His frame was thin and his arms were skinny as if he hadn't been eating. He seemed kind enough, though.

"Welcome, welcome!" he said, sounding almost too cheerful that he'd gotten a customer. "Can I help you with something? Palm reading, perhaps? A new mortar and pestle for ingredient mixing? Maybe a potion that'll sharpen the eyes and strengthen the will?"

"Are you the fortune teller that foretold the end of the world? With the Silver Eyes?"

"Oh, yes," he bobbed his head up and down, eyes wide. "Unpleasant stuff, really. Truly, I wasn't expecting to do such a reading! That was three days ago. I haven't slept a wink since!"

Kassandra resisted the urge to take a step back. His demeanor was erratic and it put her even more on edge. She wasn't sure if he was crazy, or if the supposed fortune had driven him to this. Either way, she wasn't a fan.

She cleared her throat and steeled herself, taking a few steps forward in hopes of getting the guy to calm down. "What was the fortune, exactly?"

The shopkeeper hastily took a sip of some mystery concoction in a wooden cup, never taking his eyes off of her. "Who's asking? No offense, but I don't know who you are. And I know a lot of people in Atlas! Lots of them worried about little ol' Sortis these days," she chuckled breathlessly.

"Kassandra," she said, her tone calm and even.

The shopkeeper, apparently named Sortis, gasped sharply like he'd had the wind knocked out of him. "K-Kassandra? Kallisto?"

She blinked in surprise. "How did you know that?"

Sortis set his cup down heavily and paced back and forth, holding his hand over his mouth as he muttered to himself. "It's real. By the gods, it's real. Why? Why me? Of all the lowly soothsayers on Remnant..." he cursed bitterly.

Kassandra shifted on her heels, unsure of what to make of the strange man. "What are you talking about? What did you predict?"

His eyes flew to her, wide and frightened. After a moment, Sortis laughed. It started as a chuckle, then grew until he was laughing uncontrollably like that of a loon. Before Kassandra could quietly leave the shop, his gaze fixed upon her with a wide grin on his face.

"Do you know what this means? I'm not crazy! Gods, for the last three days, I was convinced!"

He surged forward and grabbed her by the shoulders, an almost manic light in his eyes. "You're her! By the gods, you're the one!"

She struggled to get out of his grip, but this wiry man was surprisingly strong. His fingers clenched her shoulders like a vice. If not for her aura, it probably would've hurt.

"Get off me!" she screamed.

"Don't you see?!" he shook her vigorously, and she looked up at the crazed expression on his face. "You're the savior! The one that'll stop it from happening! It's fate!"

She forced herself to relax. He wasn't making any sense, and she wasn't liking what she was hearing. If she wanted to get answers, she had to calm down and get Sortis to tell her everything.

"Okay," she said, her voice barely a whisper. "Just relax. I don't know what you're talking about, Sortis. Just let go and talk to me."

He blinked, apparently snapping out of whatever stupor he was in. Sortis's face tightened with confusion as he looked down, seeing his hands on her shoulders. He let go and took a step back, and Kassandra's hand flew to the sword on her hip.

"Dear me," he muttered, running his fingers through his greasy hair. "Forgive me. I... I don't know what..." Sortis looked up to meet her eyes, visibly much more stable than he was just seconds ago.

"You need rest," she urged. "Three days with no sleep is no good for anyone."

"You don't understand," he sighed heavily, shakily straightening his tunic before hurrying to a counter at the back of the shop. He gestured for her to follow.

The counter was covered in wrinkled pieces of parchment and random objects that she assumed was for reading the future. Sortis sorted through several of the parchment sheets before plucking one out of the pile and smoothing it over the table.

"See here? After I did the reading, I wrote it all down to try and decipher its meaning. These other sheets are the result of it. Really just pages of blabbering nonsense, until..." he pulled out another sheet scribbled with words.

At first, it looked like a poem, but then Kassandra saw her name, and her heart skipped a beat. She snatched the parchment and brought it closer to her eyes, meticulously reading each word.

It read: In ages hence, when time bends still,

And echoes wake the ancient will,

A child of shadow, cast in night,

Shall rise to meet the child of light.

Yet darkness stirs, a void untamed,

A foe of whispers, wrath unclaimed.

Its hunger vast, its reach profound,

To shroud the world where hope is found.

Kassandra Kallisto, bound by fate,

To sleep through centuries' quiet gate.

Yet life shall cling, though time may wane,

Her heart unbroken, though split by pain.

Three faces shall the savior bear,

Of light, of dark, and truth laid bare.

Through inner wars and fractured mind,

The strength to conquer she must find.

The silver-eyed, her fated peer,

Shall call her forth when doom draws near.

Together, they must bridge the divide,

To heal the earth, and turn the tide.

Beware the shadow's endless maw,

Its silent pull, its ancient law.

For only united, light and shade,

Can stand against the dark unmade.

The parchment fell out of her shaking hand, her eyes staring at the table. A whirlwind raged in her skull and made her feel lightheaded as she tried to process it. Not only had the prophecy called on her by name, it claimed all sorts of other disturbing things would happen to her.

A child of shadow bound by fate? Sleep through centuries? Heart split by pain? Three faces? A path to wholeness with a fractured mind? What... What is this? She frantically asked herself, desperately trying to make sense out of the twisted, confusing words.

Sortis watched her with a pained look in his eyes. Something like this could break anyone, so he gave her as much time as she needed.

Finally, Kassandra asked, "What is this...?"

"Your destiny," Sortis said gently. "The most complex one I've ever seen. Forgive me, I... I don't know what to say."

She stumbled backwards, trying to put distance between herself and that sinister prophecy. It couldn't be true, right? That's not even possible. It predicts that this will happen in hundreds of years. I'd be dead by then! How... Just... How...?

Kassandra bumped into a table and stopped, her frightened eyes glued to the parchment just feet away.

Sortis cautiously picked the sheet up with two fingers, as if it would suddenly explode in his hands. "I'm sorry, Kassandra. I've been over it again and again. There are no mistakes or mistranslations. This," he glanced at the parchment. "is fate. There's no getting around it."

Once the initial shock faded, Kassandra began to think a bit more clearly. "How did you discover this? I mean... you specialize in palm reading and fortune telling. So how...?"

"Ah," he dipped his head slightly, a subtle smirk on his lips. "This may sound silly, but... it came to me in a dream."

She blinked, her eyes narrowing slightly. "A dream?"

Sortis set the parchment down and leaned onto the table, as if gathering his thoughts. "My family is... special. Some people say blessed by the gods. I think that's a load of crock, but what I do know... is that my dreams come true. Yes, I do meager things like predicting one's success or loss in a future endeavor, or casting bones to read someone's future to see if they'll lead a fulfilling life. But sometimes, I am given a dream that peers into one's destiny. Until now, it's been rather lax. Seeing the death of a stranger, or some natural disaster that would destroy a kingdom. But you..." he looked up at her. "I've never seen someone's fate so... interesting."

"Interesting?" she scoffed in disbelief. "That's your take on this? I find out that something impossible is going to happen to me, and you find it 'interesting'?"

He chuckled lightly. "Apologies. I know this must be very difficult to process, but from my point of view, yes."

Kassandra tightened her jaw. Her bafflement was replaced by anger, fueled by the ridiculousness of the so-called prophecy and the fortune teller that found it amusing. She surged forward and grabbed him by the neck of his tunic, using all of her strength to lift the wiry man off the floor.

"What does it mean?!" she demanded. "What's going to happen to me?"

"I don't know!" he managed, the neckline of his tunic cutting off his air. "I only know the destination, not the journey!"

"Then what's the destination?!" she shouted, lifting him a little higher and her fists clenching around his tunic.

Sortis's eyes saddened and his expression deflated as he looked down at the angry girl. "Heartache."

Kassandra dropped him, and Sortis landed like a sack of potatoes on the floor. She clenched her fists and took a deep breath, just trying to calm her nerves. That prophecy had her mind reeling with questions with no one to answer them. After a moment she scooped the prophecy up and stormed out of the shop, ripping it to shreds with each step. All the while, Sortis watched her go, wishing there was more he could've said to ease her mind.

Ω Ω Ω

The memory fast-forwarded until Kassandra was sitting in a tavern with several emptied mugs sitting at her table. The black-haired girl held her face with both hands, her elbows resting on the tabletop as her mind swam through a dense, swirling fog brought on by the mead she'd drank.

"I'm only showing you the parts that matter," Kassandra said to Sera. "Gathering the Relics was just a small part of this tale. You'll... You'll see the rest soon."

Sera was at a loss for words. She was still trying to process what she'd just seen in that shop, but she couldn't deny that some of it made sense. A heart unbroken, yet split by pain. That kind of summed up what she's been through so far. The fractured mind and three faces sounded like her, Kassandra and Eras.

She couldn't try to decipher it all right now. Her head felt like it'd been turned to oatmeal just from seeing the memory.

From what Sera could tell from Kassandra's mind, it's been months since that day in Atlas. She never went to find that young girl with alleged control over the elements, but she did find the Staff of Creation. By accident, really.

Kassandra had run out of the shop and directly into an armed escort protecting a tall man with royal robes and a golden laurel wreath on his head. Kassandra had somehow run right past the guards and into the man they were protecting, knocking each of them to the ground and a tall, golden staff capped with an ornate head and a blue glow emanating from it out of his hand.

It was the same staff she'd seen in Jinn's vision. Her eyes bulged at the sight, and she scooped it up and took off running before the guards could impale her with their spears. She ran all the way to the same gate she'd entered the city through, and had luckily gained a bit of ground on the guards. While they were trying to make sure their king was all right, Kassandra ran as hard and fast as she could to get away.

She'd waved down the same guard who let her in and yelled for him to open the gate, claiming bandits were after her. It was pure luck that he'd actually listened to her. The guard jolted and hurried to open the gate, not even questioning why there were people after her or why she hadn't simply asked for help. By the time he realized something was off, and that Kassandra had a very familiar staff in her hands, she hit the ground and slid under the gate.

That's when the king's guards had finally caught up. Some of them tried to open the gate and called for reinforcements to give chase, and the others arrested the guard who'd allowed her to escape. Kassandra regretted that. That guard was kind enough to let her into his city, and she didn't know what had happened to him after she got out.

She'd become an enemy of the Kingdom of Atlas in less than a few hours. Kassandra didn't stop running until she knew she was outside its borders.

With the time she had alone, she summoned the genie of the Staff of Creation, Ambrosius, to ask him if he could forge a weapon mighty enough to slay an immortal woman. Unfortunately, he could not, and he declared that only the Brothers of Creation could undo such a curse. And on a side note, Kassandra found his appearance more pleasant than Jinn's.

"Blech," Sera gagged at the woman's less than lady-like inner thoughts towards the genie. She, however, did prefer Jinn over Ambrosius.

Now that Kassandra knew Ambrosius couldn't cure Salem's problem, she kept moving, lest she incur the woman's wrath. Turns out she did just grab the Relic and run off, even if it was unintentional.

Once she returned to Mistral and handed the Staff over to Ozma, she immediately set out to find the next one. Kassandra didn't wish to share her newfound prophecy with the old man, because she didn't know what to make of it. And because she thought that if she ignored it, it couldn't come to fruition. So, Relic hunting took her mind off of it.

But first, she had another plan.

In the dead of night when Ozma was asleep, she retrieved the Relic of Knowledge from its hiding place and snuck out into the Mistralian forest get far enough away that she wouldn't be disturbed. Once she felt she'd put enough distance away from the city, she pulled the lamp out of her pack and released it in front of her, allowing it to float freely just above the lush grass.

Kassandra took a deep breath and exhaled, "Jinn."

Around her, the noise of the forest slowed to a dead stop. The bugs went quiet, the rustling leaves of the trees froze still, and the wind died in an instant. The lamp's blue glow brightened and lit up the pitch-black forest, and dense blue smoke emanated from the Relic until the entire forest floor was covered in the stuff and Kassandra couldn't see her own feet through it.

A glowing, beautiful blue woman appeared out of the lamp and floated above it, her posture relaxed and care-free as she "laid" down on the air and rested her chin onto her open palm.

"Ah, Kassandra," she said, a soft smile on her lips. "Do you have a question?"

She stepped forward, her fists clenched and spine stiff, and took a deep breath. "What... is my destiny?"

"...Ah," Jinn chuckled. "Yours is a very complicated and difficult to read future. This question is not as easy to answer as the previous one."

"What?" she blurted. "You're supposed to be all-knowing and answer any question you're asked, and you're telling me you can't?"

Jinn tapped her fingers against her forearm. "It's not that I can't answer it. One's destiny is a very tricky subject. You cannot avoid it. And in trying to circumvent it, you may hurry it forth at a much faster rate. Knowledge of your future is dangerous, Kassandra. When you attempt to alter the predicted outcome or avoid it all together, you'll likely end up doing more harm than good. I know your destiny. It is saddening, but necessary. If you continue on your current path, it'll cause the least damage than if you attempt to change your future."

Kassandra deflated. She couldn't believe what she was hearing. "So... What? I just let it happen?"

"You must," she said softly. "It is your fate."

Her vision blurred as a ball of tight, uncomfortable tension formed in her chest. She felt something wet slide down her cheeks, and Kassandra clenched her jaw and squeezed her eyes shut to prevent herself from sobbing. "I don't want to die..."

Jinn floated a little closer to her, and Kassandra opened her eyes when blue light brightened her vision under her eyelids. The genie's face was just a foot away from hers, a sort of playful light in her eyes.

"Who said you were going to die, my dear?" she asked, her voice barely louder than a whisper. Jinn waved her hand, and a cloud of blue smoke swirled in front of her eyes. Its surface morphed and changed until she was looking at an image of herself, only... different.

It was definitely her. She'd recognize that determined look in her eyes anywhere. Only, her eyes were purple. And her hair was white. This different version of herself was dressed in strange clothing and standing atop a wide, floating colosseum that overlooked a vast city of enormous, shiny buildings. Most of those buildings were on fire, and Kassandra could make out the distinct black shapes of Grimm in the night sky.

This white-haired version of herself held a strange weapon in her hands, a purple two-bladed axe with an odd grip that appeared to have thin metal strings running along it. She looked confident, determined to take down the Grimm flying through the skies. The other Kassandra wore a white jacket that reached down to her knees, white pants, and a violet low-cut shirt. A silver belt buckle with the same symbol as Kassandra's tattoo resided on a dark belt around her waist.

Beside her, Kassandra saw others that seemed to be looking at this white-haired version of herself as a leader. There was a short girl with dark hair dressed in black and red, a boy with shaggy blond hair and a sword and shield in his hands, a tall girl with scarlet hair and golden armor with a matching headpiece wielding a red spear and golden shield, and a slim girl with icy blue eyes and white hair wearing a snow-white dress-like outfit with a long and thin sword in her hand. Beside the red-haired girl stood another girl with dark blue hair, sapphire eyes, and an ornate trident in her hands. Several others of varying colors and weapons stood alongside them, each of them looking out at the burning city with a mixture of determination and nervousness etched on their faces.

Kassandra felt a flicker of a smile play on her lips, a fleeting sense of hope filling her mind as she stared at this strange alternate version of herself.

"You will not 'die,' Kassandra," Jinn waved her hand, and the smoke dissipated. "I shouldn't have shown you that, but I wish to put your mind at ease. At least a little. The only thing you need to fear is the journey between now and then."

The hero blinked and shook her head to clear her mind. The image she'd seen was already beginning to fade away, no matter how hard she tried to cling onto it.

"I... I don't know what to say," she looked up at the blue lady.

"Don't say anything," she chuckled softly. "Just don't fail. And please, don't summon me again unless you have a question I can actually answer."

She smiled lightly. "Okay. Thank you, Jinn. That does help... a little, I suppose."

Jinn smirked and gave her a sly wink, then disappeared in a puff of blue smoke. The smoke receded back into the Relic, and time resumed around her. Kassandra grabbed the lamp's handle and stuffed it back into her pack, then turned around and began her hike back to Mistral.

In the "present," she was drowning her sorrows in mead and trying to shut herself away from the world. The only thing on her mind anymore was that damned prophecy. Its words were seared into her memory, and she practically heard it on repeat day in and day out. At first, Jinn's vision had helped to ease her mind of her thought-to-be impending doom, but then she started to overthink it.

Why had the alternate Kassandra looked so different? White hair and purple eyes? Where did that come from? Who were the others that stood by her? What city was she in? Why was it under attack? How was that colosseum floating in the air?

It was maddening.

"Hehe..." she giggled drunkenly. "I'm fated to save the world hundreds of years from now..."

Kassandra laughed more until it sounded like the cackling of a crazy person, then her laughs turned to desperate, sad sobs as she cried into her hands. It felt like her entire world had been turned upside down even more than it already had been after learning of Ozma, Salem, and the Relics. She hadn't realized it yet, but her fate was directly entwined with the fates of Salem and Ozma.

The memory fast-forwarded again, and Kassandra was standing in the Vacuoan desert with a blue scarf shielding her face from the sandstorm raging around her.

She's already found the Relic of Choice and brought it to Ozma. Now, she was searching for the fourth and final Relic to end her journey and move on to the next phase of their plan. The Staff of Creation made it much easier for Ozma to build the school of Haven, and forge a vault mighty enough to house the Relic of Knowledge. Kassandra was supposed to work as an instructor to train young warriors to become "huntsmen," but after learning of her destiny, she wasn't sure where the future would lead her.

"Just one more," she muttered to herself as she struggled to walk through the sandstorm. Her aura was working wonders for traversing the desert, but the sand was beginning to get annoying.

The sandy beaches in her home city of Argus weren't too bad, but she hated this desert sand, and she hated getting it in her clothes. The stuff was coarse, rough, and got everywhere. If she never had to step foot into another desert in her life, it would be too soon. Ozma could have at least sprung for her to get a horse or camel or something, anything to make getting through the desert easier. It was hot, dry, and the only reason she'd even made it this far is because she made sure to fill her pack with enough water to survive for weeks on end.

Jinn's vision didn't exactly give a clear location as to where the final Relic was. They knew it was underground in the Vacuoan desert, but they didn't know where. So, for months, Ozma researched into the matter using every available source he could find. That made for a very long time for Kassandra to wait, and for her prophecy to marinate in her mind.

Fortunately, she hasn't seen Salem, but the ancient woman made sure to contact her. One day, Kassandra found a letter under her door that expressed Salem's displeasure for being abandoned in Atlas, and a very clear threat: "Come to the Grimmlands once you collect the Sword of Destruction, or everything you've been working towards will end."

She didn't really want to anger the scary pale woman any further, so once she found the Relic, she planned to do just that. Even if she really didn't want to go into the Grimmlands, the most cursed and dangerous area in all of Remnant.

After just another few minutes of walking, and she hit an unexpected soft spot in the sand. Her boot sunk into the sand, and Kassandra raised her eyebrows.

"Of all the stupid..." she grumbled as she reached down to grab her ankle and pull her foot out.

As soon as she did so, the sand fell inwards as if pouring into a funnel, and the ground disappeared from under her. Kassandra fell straight down, a startled yelp ripping from her throat as she went weightless.

She fell for nearly thirty feet before landing on a pile of barely soft sand, but with her aura activated, her fall was cushioned enough to not hurt too badly. The part she detested was when she felt sand go into her clothes, and more of the stuff raining down on top of her.

Kassandra sat up and rolled off of the pile, irritably muttering to herself as she dusted herself off and shook her clothes vigorously to get sand out of them. She raked her fingers through her black hair to comb as much of the stuff out as she could, then looked up at the distant circle of light from where she'd fallen.

"Terrific," she sighed heavily.

Then she brought her eyes down, and she saw an enormous, glittering gold sarcophagus sitting just a few dozen feet away from her. Kassandra glanced around at her surroundings, finding smooth sandstone walls with elaborate reliefs carved into them. If she was an archaeologist, she'd have a field day just studying this place. But she was not, and she had bigger things to worry about.

The wide room was dark, lit only by the sun shining through the hole she fell in. Gilded chests lined the walls and surrounded the sarcophagus, but she didn't care about any of that. Treasure has never been that important to her, but... it might not be a terrible idea to have some extra funds. There has been a pretty nice shield she's had her eye on for a while...

Kassandra shook her head to dispel the greedy thoughts. She came here for the Relic, not for riches. Taking a deep breath, she approached the golden sarcophagus with her sword in hand. Once she reached it, she tried to push the heavy lid off with no luck. Kassandra groaned and sheathed her sword, then pressed both hands against it while planting her boots against the sandstone floor. With some effort, and a fair bit of cursing, she managed to shove the lid off and it hit the ground with a loud BOOM.

"Eugh..." she pinched her nose shut once a foul smell reached her nostrils. Kassandra peered into the sarcophagus and gagged at the sight of what lay inside.

A shriveled, dusty corpse laid with its arms crossed over its chest. Thin, dead skin clung to its skeleton and its hollow eyes stared up at the high ceiling. Its jaw hung open lifelessly, revealing only three teeth in the corpse's mouth. And one of them was gold. An ornate golden headpiece rested on its head with glittering jewels decorating its front. And held to its chest beneath its crossed arms, was a golden double-edged short sword with a leaf-shaped blade and an ornate hilt with a glowing blue jewel embedded in the pommel.

The Sword of Destruction's gilded surface glowed with a blueish light in the dim tomb, pulsing with power even after lying dormant for who knows how long it spent down here.

"This is gonna be so gross..." Kassandra murmured, eyeing the corpse as she reached into the coffin.

Shoving her revulsion aside, she gripped the hilt of the sword and tried to pull it free. To her surprise, the dead guy had a pretty firm grip on the thing. Kassandra shuddered in disgust and shifted her heels to give herself better footing.

"Okay, okay..." she sighed, staring at the corpse's blank face.

For a scary second, she thought it was going to sit up and yell, "Rah! Hands off my sword or I'll cut off your skin and wear it!"

Kassandra chuckled nervously at the twisted image. Maybe I am going crazy...

Before she could back out, she squeezed her eyes shut and yanked the Relic as hard as she could out of the corpse's dead hands. It came free, and a sigh of relief left her lips. Kassandra smiled and opened her eyes, holding the Relic aloft.

Then she saw a pair of bony hands clinging to the sword's hilt, less than an inch away from her own.

The scream that came from Kassandra's mouth was the most terrified she's ever sounded. She dropped the sword and shook her hands in an attempt to rid herself of the corpse's touch.

"Ew, ew, ew! Gross!" she said frantically.

Once she calmed herself down, Kassandra pulled the scarf from her neck and used it to pry the hands off of the Relic. With some patience, and a lot of trying not to throw up, she managed to get them off and threw them back into the sarcophagus. She used the scarf to rub down the sword's hilt and cleanse it of dead-ness. It may not have actually done a whole lot, but it made her feel better about touching the thing.

Kassandra sighed and shoved the Relic into her belt beside her sword. She gave the coffin one last glance, muttering, "Sorry, corpse breath," then walked away at a brisk pace. She wanted to get away as fast as she could.

Unfortunately for her, after a few steps, the Sword of Destruction started smoking. Kassandra didn't notice until the sandstone floor was covered in the stuff. Her thought process was something like, "Hey, that's the blue smoke that Jinn and Ambrosius put out when they're, like, out. What the heck's that doing here? Hey, wait a minute..."

She stopped in her tracks and drew the Sword of Destruction. Sure enough, the blue jewel in its pommel was glowing bright enough to light up the dark tomb, and soft blue smoke was emanating from its golden surface. The sword suddenly wrenched itself out of her hand, and Kassandra instinctively jumped away from it.

A concentration of blue smoke shot from its sharp tip, and Kassandra watched a distinct human-like shape form in it. The smoke solidified until it took on the form of a woman with blue skin and shoulder-length azure hair and golden gauntlets with chains attached dangling from her narrow wrists. Another chain hung from one shoulder and wrapped around her bust, and a golden necklace adorned her neck. A set of earrings with sapphire jewels dangled from her ears and emphasized her bright blue eyes. She looked kind of like Jinn, but with a bit more muscle tone and more, erm... "well equipped." She kind of reminded Kassandra of this one warrior woman she fought with, but she doubted she was as dangerous as this genie.

The woman stretched her arms wide, her spine arching as she yawned deeply and announced, "Nine-hundred years will give you such a crick in the neck! Jeez!" She floated towards the sarcophagus, pinching her chin lightly as she inspected its contents. "You didn't age well, old friend. I guess you aren't as immortal as you thought you were," she chuckled darkly.

"Um..." Kassandra murmured. She felt embarrassed by the genie's appearance. Sure, the other two looked just as nude as this one, but this woman looked like she'd been designed to be eye candy like Jinn and Ambrosius.

The genie turned around with a curious look on her face. When she saw Kassandra, her eyes widened. "Oh! Sorry, I forgot you were there. Who are you?"

"Kassandra Kallisto," she managed, looking up at the large woman.

She smiled brightly. "Well, thank you, Kassandra! Gods, I've been cooped up in here for centuries. It's nice to be out and about for a change" The genie glanced back at the sarcophagus. "Did you kill Lanses over there?" she quirked an eyebrow.

"What? No!"

"Oh, right," she smacked her forehead. "Centuries. You wouldn't have been alive."

Kassandra gulped, accidentally remembering her own alleged fate to be alive hundreds of years from now. Plus, the genie made her nervous.

"What, um, is your name?" she asked.

She beamed. "I'm so glad you asked! I..." she spread her arms, putting on a confident smile as her skin glowed so brightly it nearly blinded Kassandra. When it faded, the genie proudly announced, "Am Eversor!"

Above her, glowing blue letters appeared in the air that pulsated with energy and spelled "Eversor."

"...Right," she said, unsure of what else to say. "Like... 'Ever Sword'?"

"Hmph..." Eversor crossed her arms. "Everyone says that. No, like 'obliterator' or 'extinguisher'. To some, 'destroyer'. That clear it up?"

"Uh, yeah?" she shrugged. "Why are you like, out of the Relic, though?"

"I'm starting to dislike you," Eversor noted. "Because, Kassandra, I've been cooped up in that dusty old sword for nearly a millennium, so I thought I'd get some fresh air! Is that too much to ask?"

"I guess not," Kassandra said. "I'd be a little pissy, too."

"At least we're coming to an understanding," Eversor said. "What now? You want to use me to vanquish your enemies? Take over rival lands? Turn you into a ruler like this old coot?" she hooked a thumb at the corpse of Lanses.

"Er, none of that, actually," she said.

Eversor's eyebrows raised. "Then what in the Brothers' names do you want? Please don't tell me you're not going to stick me in a museum, or something."

"I don't think there's a museum on Remnant that can hold you," she chuckled.

The genie smiled. "I think I take back what I said about not liking you."

"Well..." Kassandra said, uncomfortably rubbing the back of her neck.

She went on to explain her and Ozma's plan to build vaults to protect the Relics and keep them out of the wrong hands. Eversor listened intently, gradually looking more irritated the longer Kassandra talked. When she was finished, the genie pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed.

"So, I am going to be stored away again in some stuffy container."

"It'll be bigger than that coffin at least," Kassandra said hopefully.

"Perhaps," she lowered her hand and looked at the hero with hard eyes. "But I get so bored being alone for so long. I haven't had any sort of fun in literally hundreds of years."

"We can go fight some stuff on the way?" she offered.

"Hm," Eversor pinched her chin. "It has been a while since I've dismembered something. Okay, but what else? Unless you're planning on killing enough to sate me for the next few centuries, that is."

Kassandra racked her brain to try and come up with a solution. She had to keep the Relic in the Vault, but she had to make sure Eversor would be entertained during her stay. Without thinking, she blurted, "I could come visit you in the Vault. You know, talk and stuff. You could tell me all there is to know about being a badass kingdom-leveling super weapon. And I could like, use you to fight some stuff. That sounds better than just rotting in an old sarcophagus with only a dead guy to keep you company, right?"

Eversor rubbed her chin thoughtfully, then pointed her index finger at Kassandra. "You drive a hard bargain, girl. But I suppose that's the best I could hope for. After all, you're right, I'd prefer to stay out of the hands of some power-hungry wannabe dictator. I thought it was too good to be true when Lanses finally died! I hated that guy. But then I had to sit on his rotting corpse for what felt like an eon."

"...Do we have a deal?" Kassandra asked hopefully, raising her eyebrow at the large blue woman.

Eversor smiled brightly and extended her hand. Kassandra blinked, then grabbed it and shook to seal their agreement.

"You have a deal, Kassandra. Come on, let's get out of this stuffy old tomb."

"One problem," Kassandra raised her finger, then pointed at the hole thirty feet above. "That's the way out."

Eversor blinked at the hole in the sand. "...Huh. What, did you just fall in?"

"Pretty much, yeah," she said embarrassingly.

The genie chuckled, holding her hand to her cheek. "You are adorable! Way better than my last wielder. Okay, grab my hilt."

"Uh... Okay?" Kassandra said, hesitantly reaching for the Relic. It felt strange for a sword to tell her 'Grab my hilt.' Her fingers closed around it and she looked up at Eversor.

"Tighter," the genie commanded, a smirk on her lips.

Kassandra gulped, then did as she was told. She gripped the sword as tightly as she could, then looked up at Eversor again to confirm that she was, in fact, grabbing her hilt.

"Good," Eversor purred. "Now, hold on."

"I thought I wA-A-A-A-S!" she screamed as the Relic suddenly flew straight up in the blink of an eye, carrying her with it as the wind blew her hair straight back and ripped through her clothes.

Eversor disappeared into her Relic as Kassandra got further and further away, then, the sword flew up and out of the hole and didn't stop. Kassandra went higher and higher until she dangled a hundred feet above the sand. She screamed her head off, genuine terror gripping her as her heart raced and lodged an uncomfortable spike of anxiety deep in her chest.

The Relic of Destruction suddenly flew horizontally, and Kassandra sailed through the air like she'd been launched from a ballista. Her level of anxiety never dropped, but she did slowly begin to calm down. She just hoped her fingers didn't get tired soon.

After nearly ten minutes of flying like a bat out of hell, she reached the edge of the desert that blended into Vale forestry. The vast ocean was to her left, and she could smell the salty breeze even from here. She spotted a large island in the distance, like a tiny patch of land in a sea of, well, sea.

Heh, 'Patch'. That's a good name. She thought.

Then her fingers started to slip from the Relic's hilt, and her initial terror returned in force.

"Go down, go down! I'm slipping!"

The genie's voice came from the Relic. "Party pooper."

"EVERSOR, GO DOWN!" she shrieked, reaching up with her other hand in an attempt to get a better grip.

With a sigh of annoyance, the Sword descended into the trees and Kassandra released its hilt when she was a comfortable distance away from the ground. She landed in a roll and came up fast, rubbing her hands to alleviate the soreness in her fingers.

"Jeez, you almost got me killed," she muttered, looking up at the golden sword floating in front of her. Blue smoke came out of it like before, and in no time, she was looking at the genie held within.

"It's not my fault you have no grip strength," she shrugged indifferently.

"My grip strength is fine! I just can't hold onto a flying sword forever!"

"It was like, fifteen minutes. Huh. Not bad actually, I guess."

Kassandra sighed and threw her hands in exasperation. "Why didn't you just do that in the first place? Fly out of that tomb, I mean."

Eversor frowned. "Because, girl, that was a very heavy lid on that coffin. And I can only move freely like that when someone is holding onto the Relic."

"...Fair point," she said. "You magic items are so weird."

"I take it you've met my siblings?"

"Jinn and Ambrosius, yes. I didn't speak with the Relic of Choice, though."

"He's a little shy," Eversor shrugged. "What do you think of me compared to them?"

"You're certainly more... talkative," she said.

"Hmph," she huffed indignantly. "Fair point."

Kassandra snickered. At least she was getting along with all-powerful destruction genie.

"Can we go fight something now? You promised we'd fight something," Eversor said, almost sounding whiny.

She grinned. "Yeah, I know someone we could fight."

"Who?" she raised an eyebrow.

"A freaky immortal witch with magic powers."

The smile that spread across Eversor's face sent chills down Kassandra's spine. Her eyes lit up and she was practically shaking with excitement.

"Kassandra, I think you and I are going to get along just fine."

"Glad to hear it," she gave a curt nod. An idea popped into her head, and she pulled out that same scarf she'd used to pry corpse hands off the Relic. She tied it around her wrist and across her palm, then reached towards the Sword of Destruction. "Ready to fly again?"

The Relic flew into her hand at the word "fly." Kassandra laughed and instinctively tightened her fingers around it, then went to work wrapping the scarf around its cross guard and hilt to secure her hand tightly. When she was ready, Eversor disappeared into the Relic, and the Sword launched itself into the air with Kassandra in tow.

Ω Ω Ω

They flew across the ocean. Kassandra couldn't believe it, but she was flying across an entire ocean. With her scarf holding her hand to the Relic's hilt, she didn't fear falling to her demise.

The flight took a little while, but after just a few hours, she saw land in the distance and recognized the familiar Mistralian coastline. Kassandra had a grin plastered on her face the whole way over, occasionally whooping with delight at the joy she felt from being in the sky.

It was the most fun she's ever had in her entire life, and she was almost sad when she realized it would come to an end. Then she saw the dark skies and black crags of the Grimmlands, and her heart dropped.

She'd almost forgotten that she was about to face Salem. If the Relic didn't succeed in striking her down, she didn't know how Salem would react. They'd tried the Staff of Creation, the Relic of Knowledge told her that only the Brothers could undo her immortality, and she doubted the Relic of Choice had the capabilities to do such a thing. The Sword of Destruction was Salem's last chance, besides gathering the four Relics and summoning the gods to wipe humanity off the face of the planet. If Salem survives and goes on a rampage, she has to escape before the Sword of Destruction is lost to her. There was no telling what Salem could do with it, and she didn't want to stick around to find out.

"Wow, this place has really gone downhill. Used to be the Brother of Destruction's worship site, you know," Eversor noted.

"I know," Kassandra said grimly, watching the wasteland pass beneath her as they sailed over it.

"What's eating at you?" the genie asked.

"Oh, you know. Just my potential death against the woman we're about to try to kill. But hey, apparently, I'm supposed to save the world in a few centuries, so I've got that going for me."

"Yikes," Eversor hissed. "That sucks. How 'bout you don't die?"

Kassandra chuckled. "Thanks, I'll try."

Then she saw a vast pool of pure blackness atop a short, craggy mountain. A black tree stood alone on a tiny island in the center, and Kassandra viewed it as a sort of omen. It made her blood run cold and a ball of anxiety form in her chest. She gripped the Sword tighter, silently urging the genie to take them there.

As they got closer, Kassandra witnessed creatures of Grimm clawing their way out of the black pool and onto the crags surrounding it. None of them touched the tiny island with the tree, strangely. That's when she realized that this was the Brother's site. This was where Salem lied to him to bring Ozma back from the dead.

A lone figure stood amid the sea of newborn Grimm, and Kassandra recognized the woman's scowl before she even saw her eyes.

"There," Kassandra said.

"That's her?" Eversor asked. "Jeez. There goes the neighborhood."

"Hope those Grimm don't attack me..." she murmured.

"If they do, you've got a super badass sword to cut them down with," the genie said helpfully.

"...Yay."

As she got closer, Salem looked up to watch her. With a wave of her hand, the Grimm moved away to form a large circle on the black crags and allow Kassandra to land safely. The hero's boots thudded against the rock, and she rested the Relic across her shoulder as she stared down Salem. They were about thirty feet away from each other, but Salem's cold stare made her feel like they were much closer.

"Well, here we are," the witch said, her voice devoid of emotion.

"Here we are," Kassandra repeated.

"That's an interesting trick, by the way. I wasn't aware the Relics could fly a person around like some bird."

"She just call me a bird?" Eversor vibrated in her hand.

"Shh," Kassandra said. She didn't want Salem to know the Sword was sentient. Then she cleared her throat and met her glowing eyes. "I didn't either. Pretty handy trick, though."

She glanced around at the dozens of Grimm surrounding her. Each of them stared at her hungrily, like they were imagining her on a silver platter with an apple stuffed in her mouth. Ignoring them, she tightened her grip on the Relic.

"We gonna do this or not?"

"We are," Salem nodded. "However, I have to know—why did you lie to me in Atlas?"

"Wasn't intentional," she said truthfully. "I sort of ran right into the Atlesian king and knocked the Staff out of his hand. Scooped it up and ran as fast as I could out of there until I made it across the border."

Salem regarded her coldly, trying to decide if she was being honest or not.

"If that were the case, why did it take so long?" she asked smoothly, her voice like silk.

"Well, I didn't run into him immediately," she chuckled nervously, still feeling the many eyes of the Grimm on her. There were Beowolves, Creeps, Ursai, and Alpha variations of each. Not very heavy hitters, but there were dozens of them forming an ocean of black fur and glowing red eyes, with her and Salem in the eye of the storm.

"Do tell," Salem said passively.

She shifted on her heels. "I asked around the taverns, trying to find rumors of strange people that might have the Relic. I went to find one that stood out the most, he said some stuff I didn't like, and I walked out and bumped into the king. Had like a dozen guards, so I got out of there with the Relic. And here we are."

She chuckled, pacing back and forth a few feet. "That was months ago, but 'here we are'."

Kassandra eyed the Grimm, her heel bouncing anxiously. "Do you want to die or not?"

"Oh, I do," Salem exhaled. "Gods, I do. But," she looked at Kassandra, her glowing eyes boring into hers. "I'd like to have my affairs in order beforehand. Namely, making sure my favorite assistant isn't lying to me. What was it that man said to make you run out like that?"

She clenched her jaw. When she heard a growl come from the right, she glanced over to see an Alpha Beowolf start to move towards her. Salem raised an eyebrow, awaiting her response.

Kassandra debated if she should reveal the truth, or make up something to get out of it. She had a feeling that Salem was pretty good at telling if someone was lying.

"A prophecy," she said hesitantly. "My destiny, actually."

"Your destiny?" Salem chuckled darkly. "Recite it."

It wasn't a request, but an order. When Kassandra didn't immediately respond, the Alpha Beowolf growled deeply.

She sighed. Taking a deep breath, she repeated the poem-like prophecy she read in Sortis's shop.

"In ages hence, when time bends still, and echoes wake the ancient will, a child of shadow, cast in night, shall rise to meet the child of light. Yet darkness stirs, a void untamed, a foe of whispers, wrath unclaimed. Its hunger vast, its reach profound, to shroud the world where hope is found. Kassandra Kallisto, bound by fate, to sleep through centuries' quiet gate. Yet life shall cling, though time may wane, her heart unbroken, though split by pain. Three faces shall the savior bear, of light, of dark, and truth laid bare. Through inner wars and fractured mind, the strength to conquer she must find. The silver-eyed, her fated peer, shall call her forth when doom draws near. Together, they must bridge the divide, to heal the earth, and turn the tide. Beware the shadow's endless maw, its silent pull, its ancient law. For only united, light and shade, can stand against the dark unmade."

Salem didn't respond at first. Kassandra could tell she was processing her words, scrutinizing every syllable to commit to memory.

"Very interesting," she said, a cold smile spreading across her face. "And this 'darkness' is me, I presume?"

Kassandra tightened her jaw. "You know, I wasn't really sure at first. But after months of hearing it in my head over and over again, I think so, yeah."

"And that must mean that the Relic in your hands lacks the ability to finally end my life," she deduced. "But how do you expect to be alive that long? That prophecy states that it's predicted to happen well past your expiration date."

"I haven't figured that part out yet," she admitted. "But I'm sure I'll get there somehow."

"Hmph," Salem scoffed. "We'll see. And what's this about eyes of silver? It couldn't mean those Silver Eyed warriors, can it? Well, I suppose I'll have to fix that."

"Fix it?" Kassandra blurted. "I thought you wanted to die. Wouldn't you want this prophecy to come true just to finally end it?"

"True," she tilted her head slightly, then spun on her heel with her palm raised at her. "But I can't wait that long. So, I'll be expediting it a little by taking that Relic, then gathering the others. Goodbye, 'child of shade'."

Before she could even say anything, a ball of swirling black and violet energy formed in Salem's palm and shot at her like a cannon. Kassandra instinctively raised her sword and squeezed her eyes shut, preparing herself for death.

"I don't think so..." Eversor chuckled, speaking directly into Kassandra's mind.

CHIIING

Salem's magic was cleaved in two by the Relic's blade. Each half of the ball was thrown behind her and directly into the lines of Grimm. Kassandra heard a pair of loud explosions, and she opened her eyes to see two piles of smoking black shadow that used to be Grimm on either side of her.

Salem cursed and flicked her wrist, a cruel, sinister light in her eyes as she screamed, "Kill her!"

The Grimm erupted in roars and growls as they lunged the hero, their teeth and claws ready to tear her apart.

"Up we go!" Eversor announced, and she pulled Kassandra straight into the air to avoid them. Salem glared up at her, raising her palm to shoot more energy at her.

"Whoa!" Kassandra yelped, still trying to process the last few seconds.

"Point and shoot!" Eversor said.

"What?!" Kassandra exclaimed.

"Just point the sword!" she replied, exasperated.

Kassandra blinked and pointed the tip of the Relic towards the sea of Grimm below her. Blue light coursed along its blade and shot from its point. A beam of energy hit the ground, and the explosion that followed blew a crater in the black crag. Bits of Grimm flew everywhere, but even with the dozen or more she just killed, more took their place.

She fell towards the ground, a terrified scream erupting from her throat the whole way down. Just before she could get snatched up by an Ursa, the Relic caught itself in midair and pulled her higher to stay out of their reach.

"Can't fly and blast at the same time!" Eversor shouted.

"Great!" Kassandra groaned.

A ball of violet energy sailed towards her, and she threw her body to the side to avoid it. Salem fired another and nearly hit her in the chest.

"Take me down!" Kassandra yelped.

"Are you crazy? We have to get out of here!" Eversor replied.

"I have to kill her I have to try! If I don't, other people are going to get hurt because of me!" she countered.

Another ball of energy sailed past her and exploded close enough to blow her hair to the side.

"Ugh!" Eversor groaned. "I hate that you're right. Okay, going in!"

The Sword of Destruction dipped towards the ground and Kassandra flew at it like a missile. She swung her sword just before she hit the ground, lopping off the head of a random Beowolf. Kassandra rolled to shift her momentum, then came up fast and stabbed an Ursa through the chest. Before her very eyes, she watched blue energy flow through the blade and into the Grimm, and the Ursa looked up alarmingly just in time for its body to explode into shadow.

"Gross," Kassandra muttered. She'd gotten a front row seat in the splash zone of the latest and greatest hit: Grimm Explosion.

She wiped black goo off of her face and swung her sword into a Creep, sending it flying over the heads of its comrades before it exploded in midair.

Okay, Eversor can make them explode by touching them. I can work with that, she thought excitedly.

More Grimm rushed in, and Kassandra leapt into action. She hacked, slashed, kicked, rolled, and parried incoming slashes until she'd killed over a dozen of the monsters without even realizing. That ranged beam attack worked wonders for clearing out wide areas. Whenever her sword struck one of them, the Grimm exploded into shadow no matter if it was a fatal shot or not. She started to laugh as she waded through the sea of monsters. A crazed, manic laugh that she was almost sure couldn't be her own and reflected how unraveled she'd become since learning her destiny.

Meanwhile, Salem was running out of patience. While Kassandra cut through her minions like a razor-sharp sword through butter, she was considering blasting her magic anyway even if the Grimm were in the way. Collateral damage is how she saw it. Plus, there could always be more Grimm. This small army she'd formed had been raised in less than an hour.

Salem smiled coldly and willed her magic forth, using both hands to send orbs of destructive energy at Kassandra. When the hero felt an explosion erupt right beside her, she was thrown to the side and into a pouncing Beowolf. She and the Beo toppled onto the ground, with her landing on top.

When she realized where she was, Kassandra looked down at the snarling face of the Grimm she was sitting on.

"...Come here often?"

The Beowolf roared, and she swiped her sword to lop off its ugly head. Kassandra rolled to the side and landed on her feet, then drove the point of her sword into another Grimm. She yanked its blade out and swung it in a deadly arc, slashing across the chests of several Beowolves and Ursai before they promptly exploded into shadow.

The more she killed, the more that took their places. Grimm continually crawled out of the black pool behind her to rebuild the ranks of Salem's army, and Kassandra was starting to get tired after fighting for so long.

I wish Gus was here... she thought bitterly. Then she yelled a fierce war cry and charged the Grimm.

Salem sat back and watched Kassandra tire herself out against wave after wave of Grimm. All she had to do was wait for the girl to collapse, and she could move in to take the Relic once her Grimm cut her down. There was no point in wasting magic on her further, she decided.

The only problem with her plan was that Kassandra wasn't going down. She just kept fighting, killing creature after creature while she yelled and threw herself around the ancient site like some sort of twisted dance.

Once she cleared out a significant portion of the Grimm, more dangerous creatures began to emerge from the black pool. A Deathstalker clawed its way onto the black crags. A pair of Nevermores erupted from the surface and took flight, hurling some choice insults at her in the form of loud caws. She even spotted a pack of Beringels making their way towards her.

Kassandra gritted her teeth, feeling her exhausted muscles tensing as she stood. Her legs trembled like she'd run twenty miles. The Sword of Destruction was starting to feel heavier in her arms. Nevertheless, she charged.

Using Eversor's ability to fly, she leapt straight between the Deathstalker's massive pincers and landed on its boney exoskeleton, screaming in defiance as she plunged her sword into its white carapace. The Relic sank down to its hilt, and the Grimm's spotlight eyes dimmed. She wrenched her sword free and leapt away, just in time for the Deathstalker to explode and send white bone flying in every direction. Its pincers cleaved through the horde of Grimm until they lost their velocity. Bits of bone shrapnel killed dozens of them on impact, and Eversor was helpful enough to will her blade to deflect any pieces that flew at Kassandra.

She landed on the shoulders of a Beringel and slammed the hilt of her sword into its ugly face. It roared painfully as black blood dripped from its nostrils, and Kassandra put it out of its misery by plunging her sword into its chest.

As the Beringel went down, she launched herself off its shoulders and straight into the air. A Nevermore swooped down to try and snatch her at the apex of her jump, and she grabbed onto its leg before it got the chance. Kassandra pointed the Relic straight at the Grimm's belly and a bright beam of blue energy fired straight through it, leaving behind a hollow, circular hole that glowed bright orange. The Nevermore croaked weakly, the red light fading from its eyes as black goo poured from its wound.

Just before Kassandra could hit the ground, Eversor halted in the air, and she landed on her feet. Surrounding her was nothing but pools of shadow from the Grimm she'd dispatched, but there were plenty more of the creatures surging towards her to get revenge for their fallen comrades.

"Now can we get out of here?" Eversor pleaded.

Kassandra panted heavily as she swayed on her feet, her blue eyes glued to Salem's distant figure. "No."

"What if I said... pretty please," Eversor added.

"Do you wanna kill an immortal witch or not?" she panted.

"Apparently, we can't kill her!"

Kassandra exhaled a breathless laugh. "Not gonna stop me from trying."

"Why are you doing this?" she demanded.

She tightened her jaw, the words of her prophecy repeating in her head. "Trying to cheat fate."

"By dying in this hellscape?!"

"Whatever it takes," she breathed, eyeing the incoming horde of Grimm. "Can you do another explosion like before, but like, way bigger?"

Eversor chuckled smugly. "Can I do another... just sit your pretty little head back and watch me work."

Kassandra laughed, then winced as a wave of exhaustion washed across her. She swayed in place, nearly losing her balance, and pointed her sword towards the Grimm. Blue energy surged along her blade, growing brighter and hotter until a ball of pure light formed at its tip. She winked at Salem, then let the energy loose.

A wide beam of blue light fired through each of the Grimm in front of her and reached Salem in an instant. As soon as it touched the pale witch, the energy exploded outwards, washing across each of the Grimm as they roared in agony and melted into pure darkness.

The blast wave that immediately followed threw Kassandra backwards, spinning end over end until she came to a stop directly beside the pool of black goo that had birthed so many Grimm. For a second, she wondered if all Grimm came from this one vast pool.

Kassandra's ears rang with high-pitched noise that blocked everything else out as she stared at the black sky above. She'd suffered no injuries thanks to Eversor, but she was more exhausted than she's ever been in her life. Never before has she faced down so many Grimm at once, much less come out unscathed.

Her chest rose and fell heavily, her sword still tight in her grip as she was sprawled out across the black crags of the Grimmlands. Kassandra shakily turned her head, exhaling in relief when she saw that not a single Grimm was left standing. Every one of them was gone, dissolved into shadow.

The only thing that remained was the dark stump that remained from Salem. Her torso had been blown clean off of her, with only her legs left standing in the center of a wide crater from the blast.

Kassandra laughed, relief washing over her as she stared at the remains.

"Did... we win?" Eversor asked in astonishment.

"I..." she said as she looked into the sky, just barely able to hear her own voice due to the ringing in her ears. "I think so..."

"Uh-oh..." her sword's natural blue glow dimmed slightly.

"What?" she asked.

She turned her head again, and her eyes went wide. Where Salem had stood, what remained of her body was quickly reforming. Pitch-black shadow washed over her ruined remains until her familiar shape had been remade. Her body twisted unnaturally as it straightened itself out, her arms and neck bending and cracking until she was back to normal. Even from this far away, Kassandra could clearly see the cold smile on her pale face.

"Oh, fuck..." Kassandra cursed as Salem strolled towards her. She tried to get up, but her body wouldn't move. Her muscles tensed painfully. She was spent.

She'd lost.

"My," Salem chuckled as she approached Kassandra, an amused expression on her face as she looked down at the fallen hero. "That was truly something. I was right about you, Kassandra. You truly are the most powerful hero this pitiful planet has ever seen. It's a shame you had to make all the wrong decisions in the end. But then again, this isn't the end for you, is it? So, I'll just make an investment for our future together."

"The hell are you talking about?" she managed.

Salem bent down and touched her wrist, instantly burning the scarf that kept her hand secured to the Relic. As much as she tried to resist it, Salem wrenched the blade from her and ran her fingers along its edge. Then she smiled at Kassandra, her eyes glowing with manic, sinister light.

"Just..." Salem cooed, pressing her fingertip to Kassandra's temple. Swirling red energy flowed from her finger and into the hero's skull, and Kassandra gasped at the sudden stabbing pain in her head. She screamed and screwed her eyes shut, her entire body convulsing on the ground as more and more of that sinister magic went into her. A cold smile spread across Salem's face, thoroughly enjoying the agony she was inflicting upon her.

It felt like a knife had plunged into her temple and started swirling around inside her head. She could feel it behind her eyes, across her brain, and shooting down her nervous system to the rest of her body. Her limbs tightened and her muscles tensed, then she went still, her eyes rolling into the back of her head.

The Relic of Destruction glowed dimly in Salem's hands. Eversor couldn't bear to watch what Kassandra was going through, no matter if she'd only known her for a day. She'd gotten rather attached to the annoying girl, and it pained her to see her endure such torment.

Finally, the last of Salem's magic flowed into her, and the witch withdrew her hand. She cupped Kassandra's cheek in an almost motherly way, but Kassandra was too numb from pain to notice.

"There," Salem spoke softly. "You will be woken when you're needed, but it won't be for the reasons you think. You're mine, girl. You always have been. You just didn't know it yet."

Kassandra laid on the ground in an almost lifeless state, her entire body motionless as Salem held her cheek. Then the witch rose to her full height and eyed the pool of darkness before her. With a cold smile, she looked down at Kassandra, and kicked her into the black pool.

In an instant, Kassandra submerged beneath its surface and negative, destructive energy assaulted her body. It was enough to snap Kassandra awake, just in time for her to scream in agony as the black goo seeped into her body. An invisible force shoved her from behind, then another from the front to throw her through the pool.

Salem's wicked smile could stop a Wyvern in its tracks as she watched it happen. Kassandra's blue aura glowed beneath the surface, and the witch gleefully witnessed the girl struggle to break free.

"So this is what it looks like on the outside," she chuckled darkly.

Kassandra could feel her life force ebbing away the longer she remained in the pool. The black liquid felt like it was burning and freezing her skin simultaneously, and all she could do was let the unseen force throw her around within the goo.

This is it, she thought faintly. My destiny was a lie, after all. And Jinn's vision was a lie. I won't survive this.

Strangely... she wasn't afraid. If anything, the realization that she was dying brought her comfort. It had been foretold that her alleged destiny would hold only heartache and misfortune, but now, she didn't have to worry about any of that. All she had to do was let go, and all her troubles would just fade away...

A blinding green light suddenly lit up the black goo that held her, and Kassandra's eyes shot open. She looked up as best as she could, and an ear-splitting scream reverberated through the pool. She winced and tried to cover her ears, but her body still wasn't responding to her commands.

Something dove into the pool, and she was afraid that a Grimm was coming after her. Then she saw that green glow again, and a familiar face appeared in front of hers. Strong hands grabbed her sides and hauled her up and out of the pool, and she was thrown onto the black crags beside it.

Kassandra rolled until she came to a halt on her back. She gasped sharply and coughed hard, expelling a mouthful of the black goo onto the ground.

"My gods..." a familiar voice muttered, and she looked over to see a bearded face looking down at her.

Ozma placed his hand on her chest and cradled her head gently, his expression full of worry and fear as he inspected her.

"Your eyes... My gods, your eyes..." he murmured.

Kassandra's once sapphire blue irises looked distorted and discolored. Red sparkles of color appeared in the blue, slowly morphing their color to a shade of violet before his very eyes. At least he got her out before she could undergo the full process that turned Salem into who she was today.

Beginning at her roots, the hero's hair gradually lightened until it was just as white as snow. The process was slow-going, but sure enough, her hair was turning from black to white in a matter of minutes.

A weak smile formed on her lips as she looked up at him. Out of the corner of her vision, she could see the edges of the man's body seem to melt into shadow by the second. When she shakily raised her arm, she noticed the same thing on her own body. The goo was destroying her, even after she'd been rescued. She didn't have an immortal body like Salem. Just as she'd been told, the pool would kill anyone who dared to enter it.

Then she noticed something even stranger—her wet hair clung to her forehead and hung into her eyes. Its usual pitch-black color was now white, transformed by the black pool that had begun altering her body to look like Salem.

On the ground laid two golden objects—a familiar sword and a tall staff capped with an ornate head.

"Where is she?" Kassandra asked, her voice raspy and hoarse. She couldn't speak louder than a whisper.

"Gone, for now," Ozma said, his eyes searching her frantically. His expression morphed into one of outrage and he tightened his grip on her head. For a second, she thought he was going to finish the job and kill her. But then she saw a tear trail down his face and into his beard. "You stupid, stupid girl! What were you thinking?!"

"I thought..." she winced. "I thought I could win. I'm sorry. There's-There's a reason why-"

"Don't talk," he urged.

She scoffed weakly. "I'm going to die, old man. You said yourself that this... this place would kill any mortal."

Then her eyes rolled into her skull, and she went limp in his arms. That was when Kassandra's memory ended, but somehow Sera was given a view of what followed. She wasn't sure why, or how, but she just kept watching. Only now, she was looking through Ozma's eyes. Everything she's seen so far left her at a loss for words, her eyes fixed solely on the scene before her.

Ozma clenched his jaw, eyeing the Staff of Creation beside him. He swallowed, "Not if I can help it."

He grabbed the staff and gave it a wave, uttering, "Ambrosius."

In seconds, the muscled form of the Staff's genie appeared above them. By then, the black goo had spread across Kassandra and enveloped her limbs. She shivered, and Ozma clutched her head a little tighter in his lap. Her skin was as cold as ice.

"Whoa, that's not good," Ambrosius commented.

"Help her," he urged.

The genie's blue face leaned in to inspect Kassandra's fading body with a monocle. "Not sure if I can, man. You're not looking too hot, either."

"I'll be fine," Ozma said. "Help her. Do whatever you have to!"

Beside Ambrosius, Eversor appeared out of blue smoke and cupped Kassandra's cheek softly.

"Do what he says, Ambrosius," she insisted.

"Please!" Ozma begged.

The Staff's genie curled his lip, his face tightening with concentration. "I don't know where to start. I can't just remove that black stuff. It's on her, eating at her very soul."

"Then move it," Ozma said. "Take all of it, and move it into her. Lock it up, so it can't get free. I know you can, Ambrosius."

The genie's eyes darted back and forth as his mind went into overdrive, considering all the possible ways to do it. He pressed a hand to Kassandra's forehead and closed his eyes, sensing everything going on inside her to properly assess the situation. "I could... Yeah. Yeah, that might work..."

"What?" Ozma demanded.

"Okay, listen," Ambrosius clapped his hands together. "I take all that stuff and everything it's done to change her and lock it inside her like you said, but the only way I can think to do it is to take a piece of her and create a new container to store it. Her mind is breaking, dude. From what I can tell, it has been for a while. I don't know what caused it, but some kind of stress has been unraveling her like a thread. She was close to snapping when she came here."

"What?" Ozma said. "That's... No."

Kassandra groaned weakly.

"Clock's ticking, old timer," Ambrosius said impatiently.

"Do it," Eversor said. "Whatever you have to. This girl... she's important. Trust me, brother. This one is worth saving."

Ambrosius looked to Ozma for approval, and he gave a reluctant nod.

"Okay!" the genie rubbed his hands together and pressed them into Kassandra's chest.

"Wait," Ozma said.

He quirked an eyebrow. "Uh... You sure? She doesn't have much time left."

"If you create a personality to house all the negative energy and her unraveling sanity, I want you to create a second one to hold her positive aspects. Everything good in her, her inner light, I want you to split that far away from the negative side to ensure a future for her. This will represent everything Kassandra was. Take away the bad, leave only the good. So that she can't relive what drove her here in the first place."

"And Kassandra herself? What of her? The original, I mean. Both bad and good experiences. You can't just wipe her clean, like some sort of blank slate. What if she remembers her old life? Don't you think she'll want to know how this happened to her?" Eversor said.

Ozma considered it for a split second. "...Lock her away, too. Not as tightly bound as the negative side, but enough that she will retain her core aspects. Her personality, her sense of heroism, etc. As for the memory... use mine, that's happening right now. If she remembers, she deserves an explanation."

"Dang," Ambrosius whistled. "You're fast. Okay!" he flashed a grin. "We ready? Time's wasting."

"Yes!" Ozma and Eversor said simultaneously.

"Operation Inner Light is a go!" Ambrosius said proudly. Soft blue energy flowed from his hands and into Kassandra. Slowly, the black shadow faded, receding into the girl's body until it looked like she'd never taken a swim in the Grimm Goo to begin with.

It felt like an eternity, but finally, Kassandra's breathing steadied, and her heart seemed to stabilize. When Ambrosius was finished, he smiled at his success and lifted his palms from her body.

"There," he dusted his hands. "One girl, one head, three personalities. Sounds like a party."

Ozma exhaled a deep sigh of relief. "Thank you, Ambrosius."

Meanwhile, the shadow had spread across Ozma's form. Nearly his entire lower half was covered in the stuff, but he didn't care about that. Ozma pressed his palm to Kassandra's head, silently thanking the Brothers for making Ambrosius.

"Am I done here?" the genie asked impatiently.

"Oh my gods, yes!" Eversor rolled her eyes.

"Hmph," Ambrosius crossed his arms stiffly.

"No," Ozma said, looking up at him. "Make sure she gets away from here—far away. She can't be found, not by her."

"Who are you?" the female genie asked.

"Ozma," he said, his voice hoarse.

Her eyes widened. "Oh, you're-Oh. Oh. I... think there's something you should know."

He blinked uncertainly. "Like what?"

As best as she could, Eversor recounted Kassandra's conversation with Salem, including the prophecy of her fate. Ozma listened carefully, his eyes widening as she spoke.

He looked down at Kassandra's peaceful expression, wondering how this girl was supposed to save the world. Then the pieces started to fit together.

Child of shade, born from darkness...

Kassandra had suffered the experience of falling into the Brother of Destruction's black pool. Its darkness had just been sewn into her very being, courtesy of Ambrosius. Her hair had turned white, meaning that she'd begun to undergo the same transformation that Salem had endured. And she'd survived. Unintentionally, Kassandra had become a child of darkness.

"We have to preserve her," Ozma thought aloud, the gears in his head turning rapidly. He turned to Ambrosius, who was filing his nails, and said, "Ambrosius, I wish for you to grant her a body that will not age, so that she can fulfill her destiny in the distant future.

Without lifting his eyes, Ambrosius said, "Easy." He tossed his nail file aside and pressed his finger to her forehead. Blue energy flowed into Kassandra's skin and washed across her body. She gasped, and the light faded. Ambrosius folded his arms behind his head and floated in the air.

"How did you do that?" Eversor asked.

He shrugged and flashed a grin. "I created new cells in her body to overwrite the old ones and grant her a body that will never age. I did exactly as you asked. However, she can still fall to 'unnatural causes,' if you get my meaning."

"That's fine," Ozma said. "I doubt she'd want Salem's brand of immortality. I have two more wishes. Both of them are simple."

"Man, you are making me work a lot today," he sighed. "Shame I don't get overtime pay."

"We don't get paid at all," Eversor noted.

"Exactly!" he said exasperatedly.

"Ambrosius," Ozma urged. "I need you to make sure she stays asleep. I need you to make sure she doesn't wake up until she's needed, when it's time for her to fulfill her destiny."

The genie snapped his fingers. "Done-zo."

"Thank you," he exhaled. "Now, please make sure she's transported away from here. Far away. I don't have much time left in this body, and there's no telling when I'll return. I must ensure that nothing happens to her."

Ambrosius chewed a toothpick. Where he got it from, Ozma didn't know. It had just appeared out of nowhere.

"Sure," he said. "I could stick her in a pocket dimension kinda like that Vault you were wanting to make. Hey, you know what? I could design it so like, she'll be held in there while she sleeps, and when she's needed like you say, it could poof drop her off where you're at. Sounds good, huh? Man, how do I come up with this stuff?"

"That's... a very good idea, Ambrosius. Thank you."

"My pleasure! Hey, I like making my customers happy," he raised his hands, a broad grin on his face. "You ready for this?"

Ozma blinked. "Yes?"

The genie clapped his hands twice, and Kassandra disappeared. In just a blink, she was gone. Ozma gaped, his jaw hanging open.

"How...?"

"Pocket dimension!" he beamed. "Set on a sort of automatic timer to drop her off at your feet. Cool, huh? Although, my calculations for the drop-off may be a little off..."

"A little?" Eversor raised her eyebrows.

"I'm sure it's fine," Ambrosius waved it away.

Ozma took a rattled breath. He glanced down, eyes widening at the shadow that'd reached his neck.

"O-Okay," he said. "Last thing..."

"I thought the last thing was the last thing," Ambrosius whined.

Ignoring him, Ozma continued. "I need you two to get far, far away where Salem will never find you. She cannot gather the four Relics. You don't want to see Remnant blown to pieces, do you?"

"Well..." the genie of the Relic of Destruction said.

"Not particularly," Ambrosius admitted. "This place has pretty good food."

Eversor scowled. "We don't eat, brother."

"And?"

A far away scream of pure rage shook the ground at their feet. Ozma winced and glanced towards it, knowing that Salem had finally recovered. His magic kept her from reforming for a time, but it couldn't last forever.

"Hurry," he urged. "Take yourselves far, far away. If Salem gets you, she's one step closer to the destruction of the very planet.

Ambrosius sighed melodramatically and twirled his finger. An oval-shaped portal appeared out of thin air, like a mirror with gold trim surrounding its outer edges. On the other side, Ozma saw the inside of the Vault he'd designed with Ambrosius's help. Mistral.

"Come, sister. Let's hurry before the scary lady uses us to wipe humanity off the planet," he said unenthusiastically. Ambrosius raised his hand, and the Staff of Creation flew into it. The genie floated through the portal and to the other side.

Eversor willed the Sword of Destruction to fly to her hand and approached the portal. She took one last look at Ozma and frowned. "She was a good warrior. I don't think I've ever been wielded by such a person."

Ozma nodded and looked to the ground. The shadow enveloping his body had reached his ears, leaving only his face untouched. He could feel his life force ebbing away, being consumed by the black goo of the pool.

Eversor entered the portal, and it shrunk to a single point before disappearing entirely. Ozma was completely alone.

He sighed shakily, his breath already sounding like a death rattle. "I'm sorry, old friend. I didn't think we'd meet our end this quickly."

An inner voice spoke to him—the original owner of his body, Trajan. "That's quite all right, I think. It was a good life, much better than I expected it to go before your arrival."

"I just wish we accomplished more before I moved on to my next life," he said bitterly.

"Are you serious?" his host scoffed. "You laid the groundwork that will ensure the safety of future generations. Once those academies and Vaults are built and your huntsmen roam the land, the world will be much better off."

"I do hope so," he murmured.

The shadow spread to the sides of his face.

"Was it truly the only solution to split Kassandra's soul into three separate personalities? In the future, her condition will be similar to ours."

Ozma smirked lightly. "The man with two souls and the girl with three fragments of one. Quite a team, I must say."

A shadow suddenly fell upon him, and using what little strength he had, Ozma forced his head to look up. Salem descended to the ground in front of him, a very dissatisfied look etched onto her face.

Despite everything, a small smile tugged at the corner of Ozma's mouth. "Hello, my love."

"Ozma," she noted. "Where are the Relics?"

"Hidden," he said. "I'm afraid you won't be getting them."

Salem inhaled through her nose and set her jaw. She glanced from side to side, an eyebrow raised. "And the girl?"

Ozma smiled.

"I see," she exhaled. "I'm sure you know of her prophesied destiny."

"That, I do," he forced the words out. The shadows had spread to the corners of his mouth and almost touched his eyes.

"You don't look well," Salem noted with a hint of satisfaction. "Did you catch cold during your swim?"

Ozma glanced at his blackening skin. "This is nothing. I'll be back, and I'll keep fighting as long as needed to ensure that you don't reach your twisted goals. No matter the sacrifice it takes."

She bent down, her red eyes boring into him. "Is that the logic you used when our daughters were killed by your own selfishness?"

His eyes narrowed. "You killed our children, Salem."

"And it. Was. Your. Fault," she laid her hand on his forehead.

Ozma glared at her, feeling all of his old hatred for her intermixing with the pain from the loss of his children. After a moment, his expression relaxed and he sighed. Ozma looked up at her with sad eyes, murmuring, "Where did it all go so wrong, my love?"

For a split second, the angry glow in Salem's eyes dimmed. Her expression faltered. Then it came back in an instant, and she dug her fingers into Ozma's scalp. "The first time you died and left me alone."

Before he could speak, burning red energy passed from her fingertips and into Ozma's skull. His eyes widened, a split second of searing pain, and everything went dark as his life force faded into nothing.

In a matter of seconds, the man's body had turned completely gray. His form held for a short while, then crumpled into dust at Salem's feet. She looked down at it distastefully and turned away, her heels clicking against the black crags as she left the black pool and Ozma's remains behind.

Ω Ω Ω

For years and years, Kassandra Kallisto slumbered. The effects of the Brother of Destruction's pool of darkness and Ambrosius's magic had taken their toll on her body, transforming her very atoms until she was completely different than she had been before. The black goo whitened her hair and seeped into her soul, held in check only by the Staff of Creation's light.

Salem's magic had sewn the seeds of control, ensuring that the hero could be utilized when the time was right. That red energy made its presence known, inadvertently aided by the black pool, to change the color of her irises to violet. The red intermixed with blue, and their new purple shade was the result. The red was always there, just under the surface, and activated whenever Kassandra accessed the power of her strengthened, transformed state that been given to her by the pool's destructive energy.

With no memory and no clue of who she once was, Kassandra wouldn't awaken until she was freed from the restraints that held her. She'd be allowed to look, to peer through Sera's eyes every now and then, but until she was released, her own body was out of reach of her.

Then one day, when the forces that sought to destroy the world were moving in to enact the first phase of their plan, she woke up in the middle of Forever Fall Forest to fulfill her destiny.

It turned out that Ambrosius's calculations had been off, after all.

Ω Ω Ω

Sera was pulled out of the memory like she'd suddenly surged from the bottom of the ocean and broke its surface. She gasped sharply and stumbled backwards, clutching the sides of her head.

She was back in the endless void of her mind with Kassandra standing just feet away from. Her mind was reeling, trying to adjust to the sudden shift from Kassandra's memories to her own head. Everything she'd seen was too much to process at once, but the most prominent of the memories stood out like a sore thumb.

There was a prophecy, and she was the main act. She'd been pushed into the Brother of Destruction's pool of darkness and almost been completely destroyed by it, then blessed with Ambrosius's power to be given a body that will never age. That's how she's still alive after so long. Knowing that alone partially unraveled the ball of anxiety that's been in her chest ever since she could remember. But it was quickly replaced by more stress once she realized she was effectively never going to die, unless those "unnatural causes" Ambrosius mentioned got to her.

"Sera?" Kassandra put a hand on her shoulder, and she jumped.

Sera backed away, a wild light in her eyes as she looked around the void of her dreamscape.

"Whoa, hey," Kassandra raised her hands. "It's just me. How, uh, how are you feeling?"

She ran her fingers through her hair and held the sides of her head, staring at the floor. "How am I feeling?" she chuckled, looking up at her original self. "How am I feeling?!"

Kassandra deflated a little. "You wanted to know the truth."

"Of course, I did!" she yelled, then laughed breathlessly as she held her head tighter. "But this?! I'm supposed to be some savior of humanity? I'm just a huntress! A crazy, out of my godsdamn mind huntress!"

"You're more than that," she said gently.

"How?" Sera demanded. "I already knew I was just some split personality of you, but jeez!"

Kassandra stepped forward and grabbed her shoulders. "You, are so much more than I ever was. Didn't you hear? You are everything I couldn't be, without any of the bad shit that was messing with me in the end. All that loss, the pain, and the craziness of learning that stupid prophecy."

Sera set her jaw. "Yeah, totally. I've got a whole new brand of pain and loss, plus the prophecy. Go me!"

"That's not funny," her expression hardened.

"But it's true!" she pulled away from Kassandra, pacing the invisible floor. Her hands raked through her white hair. It somehow felt cursed now, just knowing how she got it. Sera whirled towards Kassandra and spread her arms. "What am I supposed to do, huh? You couldn't kill Salem, and you had the freakin' Sword of Destruction? How am I supposed to top that?"

"Did you already forget the lines of the prophecy?" she smirked lightly.

"What? Light and dark together? What the heck does that even mean?"

"What about the light side?"

"I thought I was the light side."

Kassandra sighed. "You're my light side. Eras is the dark side. And the three of us have to join together if we have any hope of taking down Salem. But that's not what I'm saying. Who did it say was the light side in the prophecy?"

She thought for a minute. "It didn't it just said something about..." she trailed off, her eyes widening in realization.

"Silver eyes," Kassandra finished, smiling that Sera had finally put the pieces together.

"But... That means..."

"You're right," she said. "We have to find your friends. Fast."

Sera gulped. "Ruby."