We stepped into the ballroom, which may have been one of the only rooms with reasonable interior design. The walls were a light peach color, with elaborate white details thoughtfully painted on the walls. Whatever furniture was in the room before was long gone. The room was empty save for Avaline and ourselves.

  Avaline… She floated in the middle of the room wearing a sleeveless golden gown with hues of orange, which was cinched at her waist. The side of the gown was bustled, making it look all the more elaborate. Not at all what you’d expect someone who was preparing for battle to wear. She floated there, wordlessly, the expression on her face impossible to read.

  “So… How’s it going?” Maverick extended his hand out, motioning for her to respond.

  “I see you’ve broken out of my mind control magic,” her voice was deep yet melodic. It didn’t have the same sharp tone she had when we’d seen her at the banquet. "However, you know my secret, and for that you must die.” She summoned nine spears that floated behind her, the tallest in the middle.

  “There’s no way we can get you to reconsider, is there?” Maverick summoned his sword in his hand.

  “Not so long as you know that imposter you call Sylvis.” The two definitely had history.

  “Then so be it!”

  The rest of them summoned their weapons as I took a few deep breaths. I was surprised to see that Aidan carried his orb—he must have been practicing.

  Finn stabbed his lance into the ground and launched himself into the air. Two of her spears moved to intercept him. Marge slid under Avaline and tied her legs together with her yo-yo. The wires instantly snapped. Aidan levitated behind her, no doubt using his wind magic. A blast of fire exploded, hitting the spears behind her, but they appeared unharmed. Zephyr’s shots were wild and unpredictable, which I assumed served as a distraction.

  Maverick launched himself into the air and struck directly at her, but her spear moved to defend her. Screw having an impenetrable shield, we couldn’t even get to the shield!

  “If you surrender now, I’ll ensure your deaths are quick,” Avaline taunted.

  I clenched my fists at my sides—the offer almost sounded tempting. At the rate we were going, we’d exhaust ourselves by the time she lowered her guard… I closed my eyes and released my breath. I held one hand up, hoping to use my Talent. Unfortunately, it didn’t seem to work on her. There wasn’t anything we’d be able to use against her.

  “There’s no way we’ll continue to let your power go unchecked!” Maverick shouted as he ran behind her. I assumed he was trying to grab her attention to give the others an opening.

  My body jerked forward on its own, and I had the distinct feeling that something just happened that we were unaware of. The others looked unfazed, still battling her.

  Avaline let out a deep chuckle. “My power unchecked? Wasn’t it yours that nearly destroyed Meridia?”

  Maverick’s eyes widened, but he didn’t seem to let it affect him. Avaline turned her attention to Aidan. “You know that my love for you is eternal, don’t you? Nobody has ever truly loved you. Least of all your mother, who abandoned you.”

  “Shut up, shut up, shut up!!!” Aidan’s screams grew louder as a meteor crashed down from the ceiling, knocking the chandelier that had been hanging there down. Maverick cursed as he nearly dodged the explosion, and I watched as the others struggled to get out of the way on time. I could see Finn focusing on Aidan, most likely calming him down internally.

  “And you—what exactly did you hope to achieve? Here or in Meridia?” Avaline taunted Finn. “All you ever do is run away anytime things get a little hard. Your father would be disappointed in you—”

  Finn launched at her, slamming his lance into her so many times that she lost control of the spears that were holding him back, and he managed to hit her shield.

  And then she turned to me. “Little weak Elaina. You don’t belong here, and you don’t belong on Earth. You don’t belong anywhere, and yet you’re forced to live ten times longer than the average human. Why don’t you let me grant your wish and put you out of your misery?”

  I stumbled back, not knowing how to respond. It felt like her eyes were looking into my soul, as if she had access to every thought and memory—

  Had she used Ether Recollection on us? But… how? I was the only one with that power!

  “Ella?” a familiar voice called out, and I nearly jumped. How… How was Rose here?! She was standing right next to me, her hair pulled into a bun as she wore the pink dress I had helped pick out for her. “You left us! You lied to us and disappeared again! Do you have any idea how worried we were?”

  Tears formed in my eyes. I hated it when she yelled at me. I hated it even more when she was right. Everyone back home must hate me, or at the very least feel betrayed and hurt. “It’s not really her, Elaina! I can’t read her memories. She must be a creation of Avaline’s.”

  The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

  A creation of Avaline’s? It made sense, but a small part of me clung to the idea that this could be the real Rose, and Avaline had summoned her to use as a human shield. I couldn’t risk hurting her—

  Rose shrieked as fire enveloped her. To my surprise, she remained untouched—a faint green shield protecting her.

  “She’s not real, Ella!” Marge grabbed me by both my shoulders and shook me. I looked at her and tried to form a response, but I felt so empty inside. Everything felt hopeless. We were facing what was most likely the most powerful being to ever exist, and I had nearly gotten myself killed. What did I think I was doing out here? Why had I even wanted to visit Celut to begin with?

  “We know what you are, Avaline,” Marge shouted at Rose. Rose had a devious smirk and shrugged before revealing herself to be Avaline, or rather, a second Avaline. Had she split herself in two?!

  If fighting one Avaline was difficult, fighting a second one was impossible. I watched as Maverick and Finn were tossed around like rag dolls. Aidan was sent flying across the room, his scream horrifying me as his back hit the wall.

  Zephyr’s eyes were wide, and I saw the rare look of fear on his face. He summoned illusions of us, but Avaline didn’t even seem to notice. I needed to do something, but what?!

  I focused all of my magic on my fear. It would be nice if one day I could utilize an emotion other than fear, but I had a feeling that day was years away. If I could freeze one of the Avalines, that could buy us time to— Nope. Of course she instantly broke out of the ice.

  Screams filled my ears once again, and I wanted to disappear into a quiet corner of the world. I was tempted to try teleporting out of the room, at the very least.

  “What’s the matter?” Avaline’s melodic voice taunted us. “I thought two of you were Ethereals? The rightful heirs to Etheria’s most powerful magic?”

  That was it. “Elaina, no!” I let every emotion in my body take control, fueling me with energy I hadn’t felt since Meridia’s ether was out of control. Right… Avaline must have so much ether that it’s leaking out! We can use it!

  I focused on feeling the ether around me, and it wasn’t long before I saw the pink swirl of ether. I relaxed as I let the flow of magic guide me. If she could clone herself, so would I! I split myself into four copies and focused an element onto each of them. My copies hit her with everything I had, but Avaline didn’t even seem to flinch.

  My copies disappeared, and I fell to the ground out of breath. Blood trickled onto my hand, and it took me a moment to realize it wasn’t mine. Maverick was crouched down next to me, and it was his blood that had trickled onto me.

  “Don’t ever do that again.” His voice was hoarse and quiet.

  “So, you can sacrifice yourself for us, but I can’t?” I asked, my voice equally as hoarse.

  “You don’t owe this world anything.”

  I watched as my friend lie collapsed on the marble floor, unable to fight. Talus had said we stood a chance, that we could win. Was that a lie? Was she working for Avaline? Why would she send us to our graves?!

  “You know, it isn’t very fun when you don’t fight back,” Avaline’s melodic voice called out. My body moved, like a magnetic force had dragged me across the room, and I realized she had compiled our bodies into the center. She was going to kill us all in one simple strike.

  For the first time, Avaline stopped levitating. She landed with grace, and her spears disappeared as she walked towards us. I fought with every fiber of my being to get up, to stop her when I saw her caress Aidan’s hair, but my body wouldn’t move. “I could spare you, if you’d like.” She whispered into Aidan’s ear loudly enough for me to hear. “Just promise to love me, and you will achieve eternal happiness. You won’t remember any of the pain you’ve ever experienced.”

  “G-get away from me, you bitch!” Aidan shouted hoarsely.

  Avaline scowled. “Then so be it. But first, I really must thank all of you. If it weren’t for you, I would never have absorbed all of Vafir’s energy. It’s such a shame that Talus revealed herself and my secrets to you. If it weren’t for her, you would all be blissfully unaware back in Meridia. So, if you’re going to hate anyone, you should really hate her.

  “Farewell, descendants of Lira and Prisaa."

  I closed my eyes, hoping my next life, or wherever I’d end up, would be much happier.

  A bright light caused me to open them once again, and I saw… Sylvis! Sylvis had come to save us! We were going to be all right!

  The weight on my body released, and I was able to sit up, as were the rest of us, so we could watch the two. I wanted to cry tears of joy—we finally stood a chance!

  “Sister, you must have known that I would see you coming,” Avaline said. They were sisters?! Would that mean that Avaline wasn’t able to leave Vafir?

  Wait, how was Sylvis here if she couldn’t leave Meridia?

  Sylvis didn’t speak; she merely rushed forward with sword in hand. Avaline summoned a spear, and the two of them clashed. Columns of light appeared around Avaline—light that Sylvis must have created, considering Avaline was incapable of it herself.

  “I have to say, something feels different about you. I don’t remember you being so… weak.” Avaline pushed Sylvis back with her spear. Sylvis still said nothing.

  The two continued to fight, and I wondered how difficult fighting in a pencil skirt was. Sylvis seemed to be doing a good job regardless. I swear those two picked the least practical outfits to fight in.

  Avaline swung her spear over and over, and Sylvis reflected it each time, though she appeared to be getting tired. Something about Sylvis’ fighting style seemed oddly familiar, though, like I had seen it before.

  Sylvis’ sword appeared stuck beneath Avaline’s spear as she seemed to grow weaker and weaker. My heart sank—was this really all Sylvis was capable of? If even Sylvis was struggling to hold her own, we truly never stood a chance.

  I wanted to cry. I should’ve just stayed on Earth, where evil empresses only existed in history books. I wanted to be stronger—to save everyone, but I was still the weakest of all of us…

  Please… Sylvis… I want to go home! Back to Meridia!

  Sylvis’ knee gave out as she fell to the ground, and Avaline shoved her back into the wall. Upon hitting the wall, Sylvis turned into Rosalie…?

  “You! You’re not Sylvis!” Avaline shouted, her statement sounded close to a question. “Who are you? And why would you pretend to be her?”

  “Because you can see the future.” Rosalie smirked as blood dripped from her lips. She licked it off, which made me nauseous. “And if you thought you could defeat Sylvis this easily, you wouldn’t be prepared to fight the real Sylvis.”

  A flash of light blinded me, and when my vision corrected, I could see Sylvis standing in front of me. The real Sylvis this time, supposedly. This time, she wore a white gown with a high slit on the side, showing off her shapely thigh. Light surrounded her in a way that made her look truly ethereal—angelic, even. She truly seemed like a higher being now.

  “What the world has come to that I’m facing off against my other self,” Sylvis spoke, her voice more melodic than usual. “Wouldn’t you agree, Alina?”