The battlefield lay in ruin.
The Veil's fractured ground smoked with embers of light and shadow, colliding remnants of the blast Elena and Kael had unleashed together. The air quivered, trembling under the pulse of a greater will.
The Entity's presence lingered—thick, suffocating, hungry.
Elena staggered to her knees, chest heaving, her golden aura dimming as if the clash had torn light straight out of her veins. Her gaze snapped toward Anna, who lay sprawled on the cracked stone, strands of black mist curling from her body like chains fastening her to the ground.
"Anna…" Elena whispered, reaching out.
For a moment, silence. Then—
Anna's eyelids fluttered open.
Her irises were twin pools of obsidian, bottomless, swallowing the faint glow of the battlefield. And when she blinked, it wasn't Anna who looked back—it was something hollow, something wearing her skin.
"Elena." The voice was soft, but fractured, like two tones overlapped. "You should have left me. You should have let me go."
Elena's heart lurched. "No. I will never leave you. Not again."
But even as she said it, the shadows around Anna surged higher, curling like talons.
Anna's Nightmare Realm
Anna blinked, and when her vision cleared, she was no longer lying on stone.
She stood in the hallway of her childhood home.
The floorboards groaned under her bare feet, and every picture on the wall was warped—faces of her parents and Elena smeared into shadows, their smiles twisting into sneers.
A voice echoed, deep and resonant.
"You were always second best. Forgotten. Left behind."
Anna clutched her head. The voice was everywhere. It dripped into her ears, into her heart. Memories—real ones—flashed. Elena with friends, laughing, shining, while Anna lingered on the edges. Teachers praising Elena's bravery, while Anna's quiet efforts vanished in silence.
"No," Anna whispered. "That's not… Elena never abandoned me. She—"
But the voice cut through her thoughts.
"She left you. She chose others. She'll do it again."
The walls cracked. Black vines tore through the hall, wrapping around Anna's arms, her legs, her chest.
Her knees buckled. "I… I can't…"
Back in the Veil
Elena's fists clenched. She felt Anna's soul slipping deeper, the shadows devouring her.
"She's trapped." Elena bit her lip, forcing her shaky body upright. She pressed her palm against Anna's chest. A faint glow of gold seeped into the dark mist.
"Anna, listen to me. I'm coming to you. Hold on."
Kael's voice cut through the din. "Elena—don't!"
She turned.
Kael stood several paces away, blade in hand, his entire form trembling. Shadows writhed around his arms, spreading like black fire across his veins. His face was pale, sweat running down his jaw.
"I'll hold the Entity back," he growled, though his voice cracked with strain. "But if you dive too deep, you may not come back."
Elena's eyes softened. "Then I'll just have to drag Anna back with me."
Kael's jaw clenched. For a heartbeat, something flickered in his gaze—fear, desperation, and something darker.
"Just… hurry."
The Entity's Advance
The air warped.
From the center of the cracked battlefield, a vast shadow rose—an immense horned silhouette pressing its form through the thinning Veil. Its voice reverberated like thunder.
"You defy inevitability, little sparks. You think light and shadow can resist eternity?"
Kael staggered as the pressure crushed down. The shadows around him twisted violently, responding to the Entity's call.
His blade pulsed black, his veins burning.
And Elena saw it—saw him falter, saw the shadows welcoming him.
"Kael…" she whispered.
But before she could move, Anna's body jerked violently. Her eyes snapped open again—shadows pouring like tears down her cheeks.
"Elena…" Anna gasped, but her voice was shredded, half hers, half the Entity's. "Save… me…"
Elena pressed harder against her chest, letting golden light flare, burning her palm.
"I'm here, Anna. I'll always be here!"
The glow sank deeper. Her vision blurred, as if she were staring through a pool of water. And then—
With a final breath, Elena let go of the Veil.
Plunge Into the Soulscape
Darkness swallowed her.
For a moment, nothing.
Then—flashes. A corridor. Shadows laughing. Anna screaming.
Elena landed hard on cracked tiles, her breath knocked from her lungs. She rose to her feet and looked around.
She wasn't in the Veil anymore.
She was inside Anna's soul.
A world of broken memories stretched around her. Houses warped into jagged ruins. A sky bled crimson, torn open with veins of shadow. And in the distance, Anna knelt on the ground, shackled by vines of pure blackness, her hands covering her ears as the Entity's voice echoed in the air.
"You were never enough."
Elena's fists trembled. Her chest ached with love, grief, fury.
"No more," she whispered. "You're wrong."
She took a step forward. Golden sparks trailed in her wake.
And as she walked, the shadows hissed, recoiling from her light.
Anna lifted her head, eyes brimming with shadows. Her lips parted, and the Entity's voice poured from her throat—mocking, venomous, endless.
"Elena… even here, you will fail."
And before Elena could answer, the nightmare-world itself convulsed, as if the Entity had turned its full gaze upon her.
Inside the Soulscape
The nightmare world trembled.
Elena pushed forward, her boots crunching across broken tiles that dissolved into ash behind her. The crimson sky bled shadows, and every step closer to Anna made the vines around her thrash like serpents.
Anna lifted her head, obsidian eyes glowing with malice. The Entity's voice crawled through her throat.
"Why fight, little light? She has always doubted you. She has always envied you. Do you not taste the bitterness inside her?"
The words were venom, aimed at her heart.
Elena's fists clenched. "I don't care what you show me. Anna is more than your lies. She is strong, kind, and mine to protect."
The shadows hissed at the word mine, recoiling as though burned.
Anna screamed. The vines lashed tighter, pulling her to the ground. Her own voice broke through for an instant, weak, trembling:
"Elena… don't… it's too late…"
Elena's golden aura flared brighter. "No. It's never too late for you."
She rushed forward, light blazing from her palm, and slammed it against the vines shackling Anna's chest. Shadows shrieked as they burned away, releasing a burst of corrupted smoke.
Outside – The Veil Battlefield
Kael roared, his blade meeting a wall of shadowy claws ripping through the ground. The Entity's half-formed body towered above him—horned, skeletal, its chest hollow with a burning core of darkness.
Each strike of his weapon carved arcs of black fire. But the more he fought, the more the curse inside him fed. Veins glowed beneath his skin, branching like cracks across his body.
The Entity's laughter thundered through the battlefield.
"Shadow-child. You are mine. Why resist what you were made to be?"
Kael staggered, teeth gritted, shadows flooding his vision. For a moment, his grip on the blade faltered—his hands trembling as whispers clawed into his mind.
"Kill her. Take her. If you surrender, the pain ends."
Kael's chest heaved. His knees nearly buckled. But then—Elena's voice pierced through the noise, faint but clear, carried from inside Anna's soul.
"Anna, I'll never abandon you. Not now, not ever!"
Kael's eyes widened. The shadows retreated for a heartbeat. He grit his teeth, slamming his blade into the ground to anchor himself.
"No," he growled. "You won't take me. You won't take her."
Black flames surged from his blade—not the Entity's corruption, but his own will, forged against it.
Inside the Soulscape – Anna's Memories
Elena staggered as the nightmare around her shifted.
She was no longer in the crimson wasteland. Instead, she stood in a school courtyard bathed in sunset. Children laughed, running past, their faces blurred.
And there—on a bench—sat a younger Anna, clutching her knees, watching Elena surrounded by friends.
The Entity's whisper slithered in her ear. "See? Forgotten. Always second. Even her light left you in the dark."
The scene twisted. Anna's eyes filled with tears. The younger version curled in on herself.
Elena's heart cracked.
She knelt before the child-Anna, reaching out gently. "I see you. I always saw you. And I'm sorry I didn't show you enough."
Her hand touched the girl's cheek. Golden light spread, washing the memory clean. The shadows hissing in the corners disintegrated.
The child lifted her head, eyes softening. "You… remember me?"
"Always." Elena smiled, tears burning in her eyes. "You're my Anna. And I won't lose you again."
The world rippled, shattering like glass.
Outside – Kael's Breaking Point
Kael screamed as the Entity's claw slammed into him, throwing him across the battlefield. His body skidded across cracked stone, blood splattering his lips.
The Entity loomed over him, its hollow chest glowing brighter.
"You cannot resist me. You are my shard, my shadow, my weapon."
Kael coughed, forcing himself up on one knee. His blade pulsed violently, the curse threatening to consume him. For a heartbeat, despair threatened to crush him.
But then—he remembered Elena's eyes. The way she had looked at him, not with fear, but with faith.
His grip steadied.
"If I'm your shard," Kael snarled, forcing himself upright, "then I'll cut you apart with my own edge."
Black flames surged from his body, not wild, but sharpened—controlled. The Entity roared in fury as Kael's aura struck back, clashing against its massive form.
Inside – The Core of Anna's Soul
Elena finally reached the center of the nightmare.
Anna stood chained to a black spire, her real self—ragged, broken, trembling. The vines dug into her wrists, her throat, her chest.
"Elena…" Anna whispered, her voice raw. "Why… why are you here? I don't deserve—"
"You deserve everything," Elena cut her off, fury blazing in her eyes. She pressed her glowing hands against the chains. "And I will not let anyone—not even you—decide otherwise."
The Entity's voice thundered from every direction.
"Foolish light! She belongs to me. Her envy, her fear, her despair—all are mine!"
The chains constricted, forcing Anna to scream.
Elena wrapped her arms around her friend, ignoring the searing pain as shadows bit into her skin. "Then take me too, because I won't let her face this alone!"
Her light exploded.
The spire cracked, fragments shattering into the crimson sky.
Dual Struggle
Outside, Kael drove his blade into the Entity's arm, severing shadow flesh as black fire clashed with darkness. His body trembled, but he roared through the agony.
Inside, Elena pulled Anna close, her golden aura flooding into her, pushing back the corruption. Anna's sobs shook her body, her voice breaking:
"I… I'm scared…"
"I know," Elena whispered, tears falling into Anna's hair. "But you're not alone. Not anymore."
For the first time, Anna's eyes flickered—not black, but faintly blue, her true self breaking through.
The Entity screamed—inside and out.
Its massive form writhed, its hollow chest bursting with light and shadow colliding.
And then—its voice split the battlefield and soulscape alike:
"If you will not yield her… then I shall BREAK HER BODY TO RECLAIM MY SOUL!"
Anna's body on the battlefield arched violently, shadows spewing from her mouth, her hands clawing at the air as if possessed.
Elena and Kael both turned at once—realization striking them with horror.
The Entity wasn't just corrupting Anna anymore.
It was trying to fully manifest inside her body.