Lila's eyes fluttered as her mind spiraled into oblivion. Her body, shattered by Omizen's attack, had been rendered nearly lifeless. And yet, faced with death's doorstep, a voice called out to her.
"Lila."
A cold whisp of air brushed against her nose, glowing dim as an ember. Her mind stirred, aching for something it yearned to remember. Yet such a vivid painting, lost and abandoned in the snow, did not belong to Lila.
But it called to her.
"W-what is this?" Lila coughed as she awakened in a Psionic mindscape. "Am I...dead?"
The girl's body, still crumpled and beaten even within the dream, struggled to right itself. After some effort, Lila finally managed to open her eyes as her hands pressed against the icy floor. She stood at the foot of a mansion.
"The others." Lila pondered, realizing her friends were likely facing Omizen in the real world. "I..."
With no clear way out of the mindscape, Lila had no choice but to press on regardless of the pain that consumed her. Her wobbling feet climbed the slippery steps with an embarrassing amount of effort, leading her towards a large wooden doorway. She hesitated for just a moment before pressing her hand against its cold surface.
"Ivy..." Lila muttered as she felt a warm sensation coming from within the manor.
The door gave way easily enough, practically forcing Lila into the luxurious foyer. From where she stood, even the patterned floorboards filled her with awe, allowing the extent of the heiress's wealth to enter her mind. Surely a mere dream couldn't hold such complexity.
Lila nearly toppled over as she felt something latch onto her feet. "Whoa!"
Looking down at herself, the Earthling gasped in disbelief as her appearance began to alter. Her clothes disapeared into a sea of white butterflies, replaced by a flowing red gown dotted with iron braces. Lila's hair also became unraveled, allowing it to flow long and free.
"How?" Lila stammered, staring at her reflection on the polished floor.
She was gorgeous, her priceless clothing matched only by the delightful imperfection found on her freckled cheeks.
Stumbling around on what she could only assume were a pair of red heels, Lila did her best to navigate the dream. Her sense of confusion and dread only increased in strength, however, as she ran through the foyer and down the endless hallways. She could practically feel the energy behind each painting on the wall, its haunting imagery seeping into her mind every time she glanced over at them.
"Family." Lila groaned, clutching her temples as she reminded herself of her own familial plight.
The anxiety clung to her heart like a feral vulture feeding on its rotten meal. Sour and putrid, she began to emanate a familiar sense of misery. Such pain, of course, was nothing compared to what had bored its way into the heiress's blackened soul.
She had to get out of there.
Lila ran, unsure of how to properly carry herself on high heels. Her dress dragged on her knees, and after one bad step, she tumbled to the ground. Such was her fall that she slid across the floor before bashing her way through a set of doors.
"Stupid dress!" Lila punched the floor. "Why am I even in-."
The vibrant soundscape of a crowd suddenly enveloped the chamber she had unwittingly entered, causing the Earthling to look up in fright. There she was, surrounded by a vibrant ballroom filled to the brim with only the wealthiest suitors. As if trapped in a fairy tale, Lila could do nothing but watch with widened eyes as she took in her surroundings.
There were men and women, dozens of them, dressed in suits and gowns the likes of which she had only seen in the old human legends. They talked, danced, and ignored the servants around them as they tried in vain to match the sheer brilliance of she who stood above them.
"Ivy." Lila gasped.
There she was, as gorgeous as a winged angel, her beauty matched only by the seething hatred in her eyes. Far away, far from home, Lila stared at the heiress with a longing gaze. If only for a moment, she forgot where she stood.
"Interesting," a stern voice spoke from behind Lila. "Never would have predicted Algernon was into bringing something so libertine."
Lila spun around to see a tall, black-haired man, handsome and tightly fitted into a silver suit. He wasn't alone, as several eyes suddenly turned their gaze to the Earthling.
"I beleive the word you're looking for is exotic." A woman jeered from a distance, placing her gloved hand on her lips. "Isn't she adorable? Just look at her face. Deformed."
Lila placed a hand on her freckled cheek. Both envious women and lustful men quickly encircled her. Trapped without any apparent use of her Psionic powers, she felt helpless and naked.
"In a primitive, filthy sort of way." The man agreed as he approached Lila. "How about a dance, little girl? Algernon had to have brought you far. It would be rude to waste his effort."
Lila pulled away, pressing a frightened palm against her chest, its surface partially exposed by her gown. In her current attire, it had become readily apparent what kind of girl she was to be found in such a place. She wasn't the first to be an attraction in that manor.
"Wait!" Lila panicked.
Suddenly, the tide against her was stemmed, silenced, and frozen by the approaching footsteps of another. Whoever and whatever may have desired Lila were left speechless by she who bore the pale wings.
"Ivy..." Lila spun around to see the heiress standing behind her, her gloved hand extending outwards. "You-."
Ivy smiled, her lively face decorated with a plume in her hair, as well as a pair of silver earrings depicating her father's sigil. Her gown, wrapped around her body in the style of qipao, featured a set of writhing vines glimmering with diamonds. She was the perfect model of feminine decency, yet at the same time, the windows placed around her chest and hips teased Lila with the possibility of something more.
"Uh-." Lila blushed, staring at the heiress's hand.
Ivy's offer soon turned to a forceful grasp as she pulled Lila in.
"This dance is mine."
Leading her by the hand, Ivy guided Lila through the ballroom's music as she spun her round and round in circles.
"I-I don't...know how to dance!" Lila squeaked.
"Follow my lead," Ivy whispered into Lila's mind, using her Psionic grasp to compel the girl's body.
Taking center stage, the two glided their way through the ballroom with a dancer's whirl, holding each other tight. Long ago, far from home, their place was with each other. It was as if the heiress's dream had rewritten history to be as it always should have been.
A world with Lila at her side.
Spinning the girl around, Ivy placed her hands around her hips with unyielding confidence, concluding her simple message. She understood. She felt the girl's pain. And she wanted nothing more than to share in it.
"Ah!" Lila's legs quaked in a nervous breakdown. "I-Ivy!"
"You. Always you." Ivy muttered, her breath trickling down the girl's nape. "My soul. What's left of it."
The dream began to fade, leaving the girls in an isolated corner of reality. Lila's heart quivered, her eyes glued to the floor in bashful shame. Some part of her knew Ivy was no mere dream.
It was her.
"You!" The heiress's voice blurted out, this time from the front.
"Ivy?!" Lila stammered, realizing the heiress was still behind her. "How are you-?"
"Get your hands away from her!" Ivy fumed, her eyes glowing with a cool blue sheen.
Lila looked up, leaning her neck to catch a glimpse of the girl who held her from behind.
Her eyes were red.
"She's mine." The other Ivy hissed, her eyes glimmering with crimson passion. "Mine."
"She's a pathetic primitive! Unfit for our station!"
"I need her!"
"She's dragging us down!"
Lila began to panic, her breathing becoming labored. She didn't quite know how to handle two Ivys once, especially not after they began to tug at her from both ends.
"She's my soul! Something you'd never understand, you hollowed freak!"
"Oh, please, she's a pet at best. A toy you washed up on your first day outside of Father's grasp. Throw her away and get it over with."
"This is why Mother never loved you."
"She never loved us! Too busy drinking herself to death to ever even look us in the eye!"
Her heart and mind at war, the heiress began to spill the truth. No one held her safe and warm, not even within her own domain. Beyond her mother's mechanical face, the true lie was her love for her daughter.
That was the illusion.
Lila struggled to escape, only to find a warm palm pressed against her face from both sides. Smothered and suffocating, her face turned red. She had nothing left to do but give in and collapse onto the floor in a pathetic heap.