Though he can no longer hear Noa's cries for him to stop, the cavern is far from silent. Sloshing water echoes in the huge space as Heli slowly wades through the water, every so often nearly slipping on the coins littering the bottom. It's already up to his knees and getting deeper. Flecks of gold light reflect on the smooth, wet stone as his torchlight reveals more piles of golden coins under the water's surface. The waves have calmed and the cool liquid is completely clear. He scans the bottom for any sign of Shion, but so far has seen nothing hinting at the boy's presence.

There's also something he can only describe as a groaning, coming from somewhere deep in the cave. Not a growl like in the cliffs, but more like a pained sigh. He shivers in the cold. Aside from the water, the air is growing more frigid the deeper he traverses, and a soft breeze seems to whisper as it pulls him along. A strange sound like a melody seems to reverberate, singing a song too quiet to properly hear. Heli isn't sure if the sound is even real, or an insertion of his nervous imagination.

As the water level climbs up to his waist the cavern walls begin to grow closer. It churns around him, the current quickening and threatening to sweep him off his feet and pull him under. He presses a hand to the stone wall to steady himself but as far as he can tell he's reaching as far as he can go. A wall of rock leaves only a long but narrow opening for water to rush through, far too small for him to physically fit through. He can't imagine anyone in their right mind would try to force themselves through such a tight squeeze, at the mercy of the waves.

He turns and braces himself against the rock.

"Shion?"

His voice echoes back, but the only answer is the rushing of water and the whispers of the wind. He must have passed Shion somewhere. He starts towards the way he came, carefully following the opposite side of the stream, hoping he's overlooked something.

He's growing tired and the cold seeps into his bones. He stops to lean against a boulder when he reaches a point where the water grows calm. He calls out for Shion again to no response. His head droops as he tries to catch his breath, staring down into the water. Among the pieces of gold something reflects red.

He sets the torch on top of the rock so he can reach down with both hands. In the dark water, he brushes against something large and soft, definitely not rock, but a body. It drifts slightly and he grabs hold.

Shion's head drops back as Heli raises him with an arm under his shoulders. His eyes are closed and his cheeks are shrunken, his lips blue. He doesn't start breathing even when Heli lifts his head from the water. Heli gives him a light shake.

"Shion," he says quietly. "Please wake up, please."

He brushes some of the hair sticking to Shion's face from his forehead, and an eyebrow twitches. Shion opens his eyes slightly, his gaze circling from the rock overhead to Heli.

He groans.

"Seriously?"

He rolls his eyes and lets out a sigh. Heli frowns down at him.

"What's that look for?"

"I suppose I could have guessed it'd be you," Shion continues, disappointment not even hidden in his voice. "This isn't what I thought Hell would be like though."

"What are you saying? We're not in Hell."

"Are you sure?" Shion squints at him with suspicion. "There's no way you went to Heaven."

"Huh? You're still on Aeaea," Heli says but Shion looks even more disgusted. "I'm not dead and neither are you."

"Even worse."

"I'll drop you back in."

Shion stares up at him a few moments in silence. Then his face breaks into a smile and he reaches up to wrap his arms around Heli's neck.

"How did you know where to find me?" he asks as he pulls away. Though he still doesn't look particularly healthy, the light has returned to his eyes. Heli smiles back in relief.

"That's a long story," Heli says. "We knew you were on the island, but as far as being down here." He pauses to think of the words to explain. "There was something almost calling me."

"Ah," Shion nods in understanding. "Maybe it was the spirits in the water."

"Spirits?"

Shion stands with a stretch. In addition to the malnourished appearance of his face, the seams of his clothes pull apart as the threads disintegrate. He takes Heli's hand as Heli grabs the torch, and leads the way back.

"This cave system runs under the entire island," Shion explains. "Throughout the years all sorts of monsters, creatures and other entities sought refuge here from the changing mortal world. Even down there." He points down into the darkness where Heli had met a dead end. "A monster at the bottom of the sea, that creates currents so strong even a vampire can't escape the wind of its storms. That's what I heard, anyway."

"I see," says Heli. "So is Lamia also…?"

"This isn't Lamia's original home," Shion says. "But she likes it here for the same reason as everything else. Thanks to the sorceress, it's an ideal hiding place for vampires. Or from vampires."

"From vampires?"

"Yep," Shion continues. "There are places even Lamia won't go. She avoids this whole side of the island, actually. Something about using Circe as her carnival name in the middle ages, the real Circe didn't appreciate that very much."

He laughs and the echo of the cave is like the music of bells. Heli squeezes his hand. Having Shion here fills him with immeasurable relief. It doesn't sound like they're in immediate danger from Lamia either, though that doesn't at all explain why Shion had thrown himself into the water or Noa's insistence on leaving him there.

"Are you down here hiding from Lamia, then?" Heli asks. "Noa nearly tried to drown me, but she and I aren't-"

"I know," Shion says. "Please don't be cross with him. We got away while Lamia was preoccupied, I told him not to let anyone down here."

"She was hurting you then, if you had to get away."

Shion pauses before nodding. "She said if we were ever together again, it would have been the end of everything. I thought it was strange she would bring that up, if you were dead anyway. But I realised what she was getting at. She meant to destroy all of us, to ensure we'd never reunite. So to save everyone, I thought, I'll just remove myself from the equation."

Heli looks down on him, with horror on his face.

"You can't have really thought- even if I was gone…that wouldn't…"

Heli had been under the impression it was just him she wanted. He curses himself for his self-centredness. Of course, if she'd do all of this to hunt him down and ensure his destruction, the others would just be in her way. A liability even, for helping him. None of them were safe as long as she could still reach them.

His heart sinks as he fully realises what should have been obvious. If she wants him dead, she'll kill everyone he loves to ensure he has no more saviours.

Shion hums as he thinks. "I'm not really sure how to explain it. Noa and I met an old vampire some time ago, and he said things I couldn't believe. He changed my understanding of everything."

"I heard you met M. L-," Heli says.

"Yeah, that was him!"

"He said you were asking about-"

The sight of the others at the edge of the pool comes into view before he can finish. Jino shouts a greeting as Noa sits with his arms crossed. He perks up as Shion and Heli approach. All five of the others clamour to the water's edge, Jaan taking Shion's hand as he pulls him out of the pool. For a few moments they just stare in awe and complete disbelief.

After all the years and everything that had transpired, they were finally, finally all together.

Their voices are amplified by the echo effect of the cave as they erupt into exclamations.

"Is this okay?" Noa asks, trying to find Shion between the tangle of arms that are all trying to hold him at once.

Shion nods. "We'll find some other way."

Jino shoots Heli an enquiring look, but Heli is none the wiser and simply shrugs. He doesn't feel like pressing them either. He's happy enough that they're all, finally, together. They make their way back to the boat, where Eugene gives the very hungry Shion a bottle of blood from the full cooler. Noa declines his own bottle.

"How have you been eating?" Jaan asks and Noa points back to the beach.

"There's a whole slew of wild pigs," he says. "They're easy enough to catch."

Jino coughs.

The lower deck of the boat was cramped to begin with, but with the seven of them, they're practically sitting on top of each other. And it's perfectly alright. Heli doesn't care about anything else. He could sit here and listen to the other talking, to Shion's laughter and Jino's animated stories. Even Solon has plenty to say and for once Heli doesn't feel like he's ready to fall from a proverbial cliff.

Viken comes down the steps and squeezes beside him.

"We might need a bigger house," he jokes. "Where are we going to put all of you?"

"I can't wait to go home," Heli leans into Viken. Though he'd changed into dry clothes for the second time that night, Viken's warmth is just what he needs to erase the water's chill. "Let's go as soon as we can."

"I think Eugene wants to get some sleep before setting off."

"We've got some other things to take care of, sorry." Eugene stands at the top of the staircase, his head tilted down to get a good view of everyone below deck. "I want to hear more about these caves."

All eyes turn to Shion.

"Okay," he says, rising. "What about them?"

"Do you think you could make a map?"

"Probably," Shion says. "But why-"

"He wants to know where Lamia is," Heli says. "So he can kill her."

Shion looks up at Eugene, his face serious.

"There are maps of the island in Circe's library," Noa interjects. "Is that really why you all came here?"

"It's been his goal from the start," says Heli.

"But we're all on board," Jaan quickly adds. "After everything she's done, I don't think there's any other way to ensure our own safety, other than to get rid of her once and for all."

After a few moments of silence, a sly smile crosses Shion's face.

"I'll show you where she is," he says.

"Right on," Eugene grins back.

"He's been formulating a plan since we left Peter," Viken says, as Shion and Noa follow Eugene back up on deck.

"I'm sure," Heli sighs. "Peter taught him some of his tricks, didn't he?"

"Sure did," Viken says. "I'm guessing you don't want any part of whatever it is he wants to do, but I also don't think he's going to give you much choice."

Heli closes his eyes and lets his body relax as he focuses on the soft rocking of the boat on the waves. Whether Eugene made him decide or not, there was really only one choice. If they want to stay together and live peacefully, Lamia would have to be dealt with, whether that means killing her, or something else.

"I don't think Lamia will ever let me go unless..."

He trails off. Viken shifts beside him.

"So you're okay with this?"

"I am." His eyes snap open. "I want to help them."

"You do?

He transports himself to the upper deck. Eugene may be the team strategist, but Heli is the reason they all ended up like this. The least he could do is be a reason they make it back out. And no one knows Lamia the way he does.

He can say and believe that they will make it back home, as long as they're together again. Eugene's plans may have yet to work out perfectly, but he comes through in the end. Surely the nine of them would have a slight chance against Lamia.

Even a slight chance is better than nothing.

They pore over ancient maps and handwritten notes until the first light of dawn peers over the horizon.

"If you go this way, we can cut her off here," Eugene traces a path with his finger. "As long as Shion and Noa are acquainted with the Shadows, we can predict their abilities and hold them off here."

"Splitting up isn't a good idea," Heli leans back with his arms crossed.

"You don't like this, we all agree a straight-forward assault is a bad idea. What else have you got?"

"Those are really the only options," Solon says, as he turns the map to face him. "Maybe we could switch up the route? The central part of the cave looks to have two openings."

"Shouldn't we hurry up and decide?" Viken says, looking up into the brightening sky. "Go while Lamia and the Shadows are weak?"

"Lamia weaker is still stronger than any of us," Heli says through a yawn.

Eugene frowns, but nods his head. "Lamia may be weak but this lot will be useless. Heli already can't keep his eyes open."

"Let's get some rest then," says Jaan. "Better to face Lamia when we're at our best, with a more solidified attack plan."

Heli can't argue with that. Back below deck, someone throws a blanket over him, and Viken doesn't move from his side, even as he drifts off to sleep.

Though he's looking at an unrolled map, marked with various points and arrows, and has heard Eugene's explanation once again, Heli's confidence wavers, just a bit. He doesn't have anything better to suggest, as much as he hates to admit, and Eugene's idea is the only thing that makes sense. Provided nothing goes wrong, as it's prone to do.

"We're a little lucky," Noa says. "Since Lamia left most of the Shadows on the mainland looking for you, there won't be too many here to deal with. No one here is all that impressive either. She really must not have thought you'd make it here."

"That's why the plan is divide and conquer," says Eugene. He leans over the scroll. The last orange rays of the setting sun are still visible over the tall cliffs.

"Are there more of them than there are of us?" asks Jino.

Shion confirms there are, and Heli shakes his head.

"I still don't think separating is going to work. We need to stick together if we even want to take down Shadows. I said that this morning."

"You're going to have other things to worry about," says Eugene. "While the six of them get the Shadows out of the way, you're going to distract Lamia."

Eugene presses the cursed sword to his chest as he explains. "You're the one she wants, so you just have to stay alive long enough for me and Viken to put together the binding spell, and boom. We have her."

"You make it sound so easy," says Solon.

Too easy, Heli wants to say. Whatever spell this is of Eugene's had better be good. But, he tells himself, if there's one thing Eugene has complete confidence in, it's his spellwork. Heli has no reason to believe that part of things will fail, as Eugene has demonstrated more than enough competency.

"Shion pointed out a tunnel that goes from the caverns under the house here to the network that Lamia has been using. We can start now, even before the sun fully sets."

Heli turns the sword over in his hands, wondering what might happen if someone stole it from him. Best to keep it close, and best not to lose it in battle either.

"Do you want one of these instead?" Jakah holds up a plain, double-edged blade. "There are plenty in the house, though they're not all sharp anymore."

The hilt, though engraved, is uncovered, hard metal and holding it looks like a nightmare. Heli declines and Jakah hands the sword over to Jino.

"Hopefully the Shadows will have something better we can take," Jino says.

Eugene takes one more look over the plan, and all the other, now water-damaged notes about Aeaea and the monsters that inhabit it. Shion and Noa hadn't mentioned anything that might be lurking between them and Lamia, but after the cliff-dwelling monster last night, Heli expected the caves to be full of hidden dangers. As Eugene stacked the crumbled pages aside, one fluttered out from the stack.

Heli picked it up, and as he was about to hand it back, he notices his name in the neat handwritten notes along the edges of a sea chart. Though the ink had run a bit in the seawater, it was still perfectly legible.

Please give this note to Heli, it's not for you Eugene.

Heli - Taho and I did a lot of research, so I hope this is helpful for you. I really wanted to come in person but Eugene never wants to wait for me. Please don't fret too much, I know you'll all come home okay. Let's all go roller-skating when you're back. I'll even allow Eugene to come with.

Sena

"I'm glad she's not here," Heli mutters as Eugene takes the paper. "None of us are safe here."

Eugene casts a quick glance at the note and agrees.

"I need you to focus on yourself," he says.

"I don't want to face her alone," Heli says.

"You won't," Viken says. "We'll be there, ready with the spell."

"I suppose."

"This isn't going to work if you're half-assed," Eugene grabs Heli by the shoulders. "What is she compared to us?"

"Old?" Heli says.

"That's right!" shouts Viken. "She's even older than you, old man! You're pretty dusty so what does that make her?"

Heli knows they're trying to boost his confidence, and he doesn't have the heart to add that old for a vampire means more powerful, so he follows in silence as they all make their way back down into the caves and set off the tunnel trail underneath the hills of Aeaea. He holds the sword close as disparaging thoughts cross his mind.

There's no way she doesn't know they're here. Even if she doesn't have more than a small force of her Shadows, she's going to be prepared. She probably doesn't even need to think about what would happen if they reach her. The Shadows will be more than enough, and she won't need to lift a finger.

And if somehow, he does come face to face with her…

Only footsteps and the occasional jangle of metal swords announce their presence as they traverse through the dark caverns. Heli's not sure how far they've actually gone, but it feels like they've been walking for hours. They can't have gone that far…they've seen nothing and no one else and he feels like their luck so far is too good to be real. He pulls the silver locket out of his shirt, running it up and down the chain as distraction from his own nerves. Each step forward was a new stop closer to doom.

The tunnel opens up into a larger cavern. White crystals glint along the walls, and they stop to marvel a bit. Darkness stretches high above them, and the beams of the torch light don't even quite seem to reach the top.

"We're almost there," Noa whispers. "Keep a lookout for-"

A lookout is unnecessary, as from the shadowy corners of the cave, several figures materialise, their black robes billowing about them as they take shape, the silver of sword blades glinting under the reflected light from the crystals.

What had been a quiet space erupts into shouts. The Shadows were there waiting, and immediately strike. Heli whips around, searching for Viken and Eugene in between the myriad of black robes and clanging steel. He had known they wouldn't even get close to Lamia, he knew it, he knew it, he knew it.

"Heli!" Eugene screams as he ducks under a Shadow whose arm is swinging down only to be stopped just in time by Solon's blade. "Go ahead and find Lamia! I'll be right behind-"

He takes a kick to the side from a Shadow and tumbles across the floor, the torch flying from his hand and rolling in the opposite direction. Heli can't make out anything in the darkness, just the flash of torchlights as everyone is quickly darting here and there, dodging and making blows in equal turn.

He can't leave them like this. It doesn't matter if he finds Lamia or not if a single one of them fall to a Shadow. He draws the sword as a shriek that sounds like Viken pierces through the other noise. Between the echoes on the crystal walls and the flashing lights, he can't tell who is where, nor can he tell where Viken might have ended up. He steps forward, calling Viken's name, but something hits him hard and he stumbles. A soft flutter of fabric is audible just to his left, and though he puts up an arm to block the blow he can feel it coming, and is pushed backwards. His foot falls into empty air. He's not at all prepared for the nothing that's suddenly beneath him as he drops. The sword falls from his hand with a clatter.

He tumbles down, hitting the hard wall of rock until he finally rolls down onto a flat surface. The Shadow that sent him falling is closely behind, and Heli just manages to regain his footing and dodges out of the way. It seems he's been pushed down a large crevice. He can still hear the shouting overhead, but it's distant. He sidesteps as the Shadow takes another swing at him. Down here is dimly lit and an orange glow emanates from further down the cave's tunnel.

The Shadow bears down, ready for another strike. He's between Heli and his sword, which lays on the ground. There's no need to be quick enough to retrieve it. He wills the weapon to spin around and soar through the air, embedding itself directly into the Shadow's back.

He doesn't wait for the Shadow to finish disintegrating as he recovers his sword and tries again to look back up into the gaping crevice. It seems he was lucky enough to tumble through a wider part of it, as he peers into a narrow space. Should he risk trying to go back up? There's no telling what might be up there, waiting to catch him when he materialises where he cannot see.

The decision is made for him as more Shadows fly towards him from deep in the cave. He raises his sword, only able to defend himself from their attacks. They appear and disappear in turn as they manoeuvre down the cave. Heli steps back in an attempt not to allow them to get behind him or out of sight. As they approach the lit end of the cavern, the space widens. Lit torches line the walls, their flames a stark contrast to the dark and damp of the rest of the cave.

The openness makes keeping Shadows off his back even more difficult. As more converge on him, he still hasn't been able to make any offensive blows, and they're sure to overwhelm him at this rate. A Shadow rises, seemingly from the stone beneath him, swiping at his knees. Heli shoots back, out of reach. Not that he's out of danger, as another approaches from his left, sword overhead. Not too much unlike the stance Heli had taken trying to finish the Shadow in the old farmhouse.

A barrier goes up as fast as he can think it. The Shadow freezes, his body stuck as Heli wills it not to move. The Shadow pushes back hard, but the momentary pause is enough for Heli to place a well-aimed stab straight to his heart.

From there it's almost too easy. As another flies towards him, this Shadow too is stopped dead, another victim to Heli's mental powers and cursed sword. As he holds another Shadow, a blade grazes his arm. He's not able to stop more than one at a time as long as they're moving. Having dealt with one he now turns to the offender at his back, and makes quick work of that Shadow as well.

Swords clatter around his feet as the Shadows dissolve into old bones and dust. Heli is panting, an ache blossoming in the side of his head. He puts a hand on his knees as he leans down, trying to calm his heart and catch his breath.

"That's quite the trick you've learned."

Heli's breath catches as he stops cold. Slowly, he lifts his head.

She stands on the far side of the cavern, her expression unreadable in the flickering light. She wears a long, white dress as she always does, her black hair sweeping down around her shoulders. Lamia looks exactly how he remembers.

She doesn't step towards him, or make any movement at all. Had she been there the whole time, watching? Waiting to see if the Shadows would be enough?

He gapes. Eugene probably doesn't know where he went, rendering all their plans useless. Heli's mind goes blank. He's at a complete loss, he doesn't know what to do. All he can think is that it's all going to be over, once and for all before anyone even finds him. For a second time, no help is coming.

And that's how it should be. He straightens up, tightening his grip on the hilt of the sword.

The corners of Lamia' mouth curl slightly.

"You're awfully bold," she says, her voice dry. "I can hear your intentions, Heli. You're not brave, you're impudent. How dare you appear before me like this."

She flicks her hand with no more effort than if she had been brushing away a dried leaf. The sword in Heli's hand wrenches from his grasp and skitters across the stone floor.

How dare he ? After everything she put him through, after tossing him aside like worthless trash, after sending her assassins for him, endangering his friends? He has half a mind to ask her just what she had expected, when all she had to do was leave him alone. He might not have even remembered what she had done to him, that night of the masquerade.

"You…" he starts, barely audible until he finds his voice again. "You took everything from me."

"I took only what you promised."

"I gave you my life!" Though an outburst may not be the best idea, he can't help himself as his frustration pours out. "I gave you everything I had and you still abandoned me! You left me to die!"

"No, I gave you everything," Lamia hisses back.

Heli flinches at the sheer malice in her voice. Her face contorts in anger, becoming for just a moment a monstrous form until she regains her composure and continues in a calmer tone.

"I saw it all," she says. "The things that would have come to pass to you, a poor orphan who was loved by no one, had I not intervened. Your friends too. Would you like to know?"

Heli says nothing. He wants to avert his eyes from her intense gaze as she smiles again.

"Three of you would have met an early end face down in the mud of a land that belonged to no man, unrecognisable fodder to a hopeless cause. Another, lost at sea. One to languish unable to breathe, finally expiring in a makeshift bed. And yet another would have survived those years only to leave this land and never to be seen again."

With each word she paints images in Heli's mind. Thick grey smoke wafts out over a ruined country, burnt trees and craters dotting the landscape. Men scream as they charge forward, dropping in sprays of blood as rain begins to fall. The ground bursts beneath him. He covers his ears but they're ringing. Sharp taps pepper his body and he falls forward.

He's underwater. There is no surface, no up or down, just the cold darkness surrounding him. He already knows there is no escape.

Please stop, please stop…

Lamia pauses, her cruel smile widening. She's clearly not affected at all, not forced to endure the same pain. She seems to be enjoying this.

"But you, Heli," she continues. "You would have lingered on, alone and unwanted, only to die filthy in the streets after selling your every breath for mere scraps."

Heli's body trembles as he looks away and down to the swords on the ground. As she says it, everything feels real. He tries to push her out of his mind, but he's spiralling, lost in years of loneliness and abuse. Decades pass in an instant as she forces him to live through a life that never was.

Around him, the swords quiver as he extends his energy outward, determined to force Lamia out.

"When the undertaker comes and says, 'who would claim this man?', there is no one. And so you would be buried and forgotten, having lost even your name."

She's right. Everyone is gone. There was never anyone in the first place. His chest tightens as despair seizes him. In no iteration of his existence was there going to be a happy ending. Not if he had lived, not even now. They're not going to make it back out of this cave. Lamia is going to make sure of that.

"It doesn't make anyone like you. I would have hoped by now you had more trust in me."

"You're the first and only friend that the twenty-one year old me has made. The me now."

If only they had never met, Viken and Eugene could have lived long, happy lives and never come to this place.

But you did meet.

"I told you I was never letting you out of my sight again."

Thanks to everyone's efforts, she hadn't succeeded in killing him yet.

He takes in a deep breath.

"You don't know that," Heli says. His voice shakes, not a convincing show of assurance.

"But I do!" Lamia says. "I gave you the chance to avoid this fate. I saved you! You could have become something remarkable but you squandered everything I have done for you."

"You're wrong, " Heli says, more forcefully.

That's right. None of this is real.

The edges of her scene grey and dull, fading away until he's back in the real world, the real cavern, staring up at Lamia as she sneers.

He doesn't need to imagine years abandoned in the dark. He's already lived it. She already forced that fate upon him, in his real life, not a made up one. Not one that never was.

"You don't know anything," he says. "If you had, you wouldn't have hurt yourself making an oath with me. You wouldn't have sent your Shadows after me."

"But you are so predictable," Lamia laughs but her voice is shakey. "I will admit, the future is never certain. What I see are the possibilities. All the opportunities the Shadows had to kill you. Each of their failures shifted the image like an ever-moving kaleidoscope. I knew that if all else went wrong, you would eventually be here, standing before me. I understand. It's only natural to seek revenge."

"Revenge?" Heli repeats. "I didn't want revenge. I just wanted to be with you."

He looks up to see her face drop. She should know that's the truth, or at least it was at first. Confusion settles into her face. She was in his dreams, watching him through her Shadows and yet she still completely misunderstood his intentions. Though he desperately wants to try and understand what she was thinking this whole time, this singular moment may be the only opportunity he gets.

He still has a hold of each of the fallen Shadow's swords in his mental energy. He doesn't think about whether or not he can lift them all at once. Though it may have been a while since he's tried, there's no choice but to make it work now. With a quick snap, each one spins in place and rises. Without the resistance of objects actively resisting him, he can move them all and sends them hurtling towards Lamia.

Only one needs to hit in a key spot, though it may be a long shot.

For just a split second her surprise is evident. She lifts her arms and swings them outward, sending most of the swords shooting off to the side.

But not all of them.

Even just the small moment of hesitation allows a few of the swords to slip through, piercing through her legs and shoulders. Heli redirects the ones she had diverted back in her direction. The last time she'd seen him, he was barely able to move a single goblet. Now he's in control of multiple objects. Even Heli is in awe at the ease in which he can move them now. More meet their target, but she's careful to focus her defence on her head and heart. Heli races to the sword she'd flung from his hand. If she's distracted, just a little longer…

He picks up the cursed sword and with nothing more than hope sends it straight for her, aiming for her heart. The trajectory looks perfect, until Lamia raises a hand and the sword stops. Heli can feel her pushing against it. There's an immense pressure on his head, but he has to push back.

She raises her eyes to meet his, as the other swords lodged in her body are pushed back out. The sword between them shudders and it remains suspended between them.

He stands transfixed, his eyes and every thought concentrated on nothing but propelling the weapon forward. Lamia pushes back just as strongly, and if he slips up for even a moment she'll override him completely. She's already more than he can stand. His head feels like it's splitting open.

Little by little, the sword starts to move back towards him. He can't think about anything else, not even if his brain bursts. His vision starts to go white, but still he can't lose sight of that sword. The vibrating of the blade grows more violent as he regains some forward momentum.

"Heli - oh!"

Eugene's voice cuts through Heli's singular thought. To his horror, a smile returns to Lamia's face. Before Heli can react, the sword turns and shoots in a new direction. Silver flies through the air, heading straight for Eugene, who's emerged from the passage behind him.

There's enough time for Heli to insert himself in front of Eugene and push him out of the way.

But he's not quick enough to stop the sword from sinking into his chest.