Chapter 86: Chapter 84: Betrayal

Anala looked up at the castle in front of her in anticipation. It was…big, ornate, and imposing, but…the doors were wide open. More concerning, though, was a small, gated area near the doors, upon which was mounted a sign that read “Weaklings here – E”.

“Do we…really leave them in there?” Bruce asked. “This seems really fishy.”

“We need to trust Eve.” Ava said. “I’m sure she’s doing her best to protect everyone, so it’s…probably safe. Besides, what other option do we have? If we just leave them out somewhere else, then they’re just as vulnerable as they are here.”

“She’s right.” Anala said, nervously shifting from foot to foot. “We should only be about an hour, anyway. When the Queen of Monsters dies, we’ll be able to come out and take them with us. If we fail…well, if we fail, then they were never going to be safe anyway. It has to be done.”

Raesn nodded. “All the more incentive for us to finish fast, then.” He walked over to the small wagon he had constructed, where they had been keeping the still-sleeping people. He towed the wagon into the gated area, then rejoined the group. “Let’s do this.”

Anala’s party stepped inside the castle, only to find it…empty. There were decorations and stuff, sure, but there was nothing living; no monsters, no sound, nothing. It wasn’t until a ways in that, finally, something happened.

“Glad to see you made it here.” Anna said in a monotone voice, stepping out from behind a pillar. “The mistress will be seeing you now.” She was dressed in a maid outfit, and, like Saria had said, her eyes were glazed over, and she clearly wasn’t all there. Her dogs were nowhere to be seen, either, which was disconcerting; Anala had never seen Anna and her dogs separated for long.

“Anna, are you okay?!” Ava said, rushing over to the girl and gripping her shoulders. “What’s going on?!”

“The mistress will be seeing you now.” Anna repeated, seemingly not noticing Ava.

“Bruce?!” Ava asked.

Bruce shook his head. “I…can’t see anything on her. Nothing I can break, anyway. Whatever’s going on, it isn’t magic we’re used to. If I had some more time, I might be able to figure it out, but…”

“The mistress will be seeing you now.” Anna disentangled herself from Ava, and began to walk down the hallway. “Follow me.”

Anala’s party shared a look, but followed Anna. She led them through more eerily empty halls before, eventually, stopping in front of a huge, imposing set of double doors. “The mistress is waiting inside.” Anna intoned. “Do not keep her waiting any longer.”

The doors opened, seemingly of their own accord. Beyond was the room from the Queen of Monsters’ broadcasts, opulently decorated. The throne was facing away from the door, so Anala and her party could not see the Queen of Monsters sitting thereon, but they could feel her.

Her presence was…unlike anything Anala had ever felt. It was overwhelming, something that filled Anala with the knowledge that she was facing something far stronger than herself. The closest thing she had ever felt to it was the High Arbiter, but this was more…malevolent, an aura that sought to crush the spirit rather than simply let others know who was in charge.

Anala found herself pushed into the room, and the doors shut behind her and her party. There was a moment of silence, and then the throne rotated, revealing…Eve.

“Tis I!” Eve shouted, an unhinged grin on her face. “Eve, Queen of Monsters! Tremble before me!”

There was a stunned silence, and Eve’s smile grew even wider. “What, cat got your tongues? Perhaps you would recognize me more like…this?” Eve snapped her fingers, and suddenly she was the tall angel that was the Queen of Monsters, looking down on them with a cold smile. “I can’t believe you idiots didn’t even question me and my party.” She said smugly. “But I guess that’s to be expected. Who would guess that the girl you worked with for so long was actually your greatest enemy?”

“W-what?!” Ava shouted, seemingly regaining her wits. “That doesn’t make any sense! We knew you for...a long time before this, and you were the greatest help we had in fighting back against the Queen of Monsters’ army! What’s going on?!”

Eve laughed, a cruel laugh that made it clear she was looking down on Ava. “And for a long time you had no clue that I was gearing up for this. Furthermore, who else would have all that knowledge of the army? Everything that’s happened this war has just been my plan going exactly as expected.”

“You planned to lose an entire army?!” Anala snarled, drawing her sword. “Yeah, right. You’re just trying to cover for your own failures.”

Eve chuckled and snapped her fingers, returning to the form they had grown familiar with. “Please. Do you think I actually cared about that army? All that invasion stuff was just a pretense, leading up to this moment.”

“And what’s that?” Bruce asked, preparing his staff. “An elaborate suicide by hero? Real nice.”

Eve laughed that cruel laugh again. “As if. No, I just want a fight. Nothing here has been enough to keep me entertained for years. And, once I’m done with you here, you’re going to become my subordinates, just like Anna and Jameson did in the past.”

“If you wanted a good fight, you should have just picked one with the Perfect Chimeras!” Raesn shouted, reaching into his toolbelt and pulling out some gadgets. “There’s no reason to attack everyone like you did!”

“They’re boring.” Eve said, reaching down and drawing a wicked-looking sword with a gloved hand. “Ever since I got this, they’ve been child’s play. And the High Arbiter refused to face me in single combat, instead choosing to send you lot. I can’t wait to see the look on her face once she realizes her “heroes” have fallen.”

Eve swung the sword lazily, and a beam of energy flew out towards Anala’s party, forcing them to jump out of the way. It carved a deep gash in the stone where they had been standing before it vanished, and Eve let out yet another laugh. “No more talking. Let’s do this.”

She tensed, and then she was suddenly right next to Anala, swinging the sword down on her. Anala barely brought her shield up in time to deflect the blow, but, to her horror, she felt the shield strain against the sword, the material being warped and pushed inwards by the force of the blow before it finally stopped it.

That…had never even come close to happening before. No matter what had been thrown at it, it had remained firm and unyielding, something Anala could always rely on to protect her. But…there was no time to worry about that; she had to move if she didn’t want to get killed.

She activated Weight of the World and pushed Eve backwards before striking out with her own sword. Eve raised an arm to block it, and there was a sizzling sound as the sword met Eve’s arm. Eve screeched and jumped backwards, a deep, cauterized gash left in her arm where the sword had touched her.

“That’s a bit more troublesome than expected.” Eve panted, face screwing up in concentration as the wound seemingly closed itself. “I suppose you’ll be able to entertain me after all.”

Bruce finished his chant, and a series of magical bullets flew towards Eve, followed closely by a few of Raesn’s gadgets. Eve tensed again, and looked like she was about to dodge, but Bruce was faster.

“No you don’t!” He yelled, and Eve lurched forward, movement halted by a spell.

Eve grit her teeth and sliced out at the magic bullets, a wave of energy leaping out from her sword and destroying the bullets before they could do her any harm. Raesn’s gadgets, however, were completely unaffected, continuing unerringly in their path towards Eve.

Eve was suddenly shunted to the side as the floor below her rose up, neatly throwing her out of the way before returning to its former, flat form.

Ava was already there, though, both of her swords thrusting out to catch Eve in midair. Eve flapped her wings, a powerful blast of air pushing Ava back and throwing Eve to the side. A moment later Raesn’s gadgets detonated, and an explosion rocked the hall.

In that confusion, Anala activated Spatial Rend, appearing next to Eve and slicing towards her heart, seeking to end things then and there. Eve wasted no time, once again bringing up an arm to stop the blow. Anala sheared straight through the arm, lopping it off, but her trajectory was thrown off, and the blow wasn’t fatal.

Eve responded by thrusting forward with her own sword, catching Anala in the side and scoring a deep gash. Even with Weight of the World active, that hurt, hurt more than anything Anala had yet to feel. She doubled over, the pain racking her body, intensifying with every passing second.

And then something impacted her side and the pain lessened immensely, one of Raesn’s gadgets doing its work and partially sealing her wound while also taking away her ability to feel pain. Or…it should have, but there was still lingering pain, pain of a kind Anala had never really felt before. It…couldn’t really be described as words, it was…like it was more the concept of pain than an actual, physical sensation.

Eve had moved on from Anala, and was pressing the attack on Ava, who was defending as best she could. Raesn and Bruce were trying to keep the pressure up on Eve, but she always seemed to have some answer, be it some sort of quick move with a sword, a lightning fast piece of magic, or just moving out of the way.

Losing an arm really didn’t seem to slow her down, and Anala could see that the arm was already beginning to grow back. But…she already seemed to be at her limit with holding off three people.

Anala forced herself to her feet, though her body wasn’t working like she wanted it to. Everything was just…slower, more than it should have been from the wound she had taken. Eve must have done…something to that blade, something that was messing with Anala.

But, fortunately, Eve didn’t seem to notice, she was too busy trying to dispatch Ava. Anala grit her teeth, activated Spatial Rend once again, winced as there was another explosion of abstract pain, then lunged forward.

Eve reacted far too late to do anything other than shift slightly to the side, turning the blow from a fatal strike to the heart to merely a grievous injury to the lung. She coughed, spraying blood out onto the floor below, before hitting Anala with the hilt of her sword.

The strength left Anala’s arms and she was forced to let go of her sword, leaving it embedded in Eve as she stumbled backwards.

But Anala wasn’t the only person Eve had to be worried about. Ava used the opportunity presented by Anala’s surprise strike to deal a decisive blow to Eve, and Raesn and Bruce weren’t far behind.

Anala was dizzy and not totally cognizant of everything, but she could see as Eve stopped moving and crumpled to the ground. “Well…fought.” She croaked. “I…lose.”

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Her body shimmered before returning to the appearance she had shown on the broadcast, lying limp on the floor. Raesn walked over and unceremoniously beheaded her, before sticking several blades in vital points and pinning her arms and legs to the ground.

“What…was that for?!” Ava yelled. “She was already dead!”

“We can’t be sure of that.” Raesn said. “Even now, I’m not totally convinced she’s gone. That was…too easy.”

“Yeah, easy for you to say.” Ava huffed. “You weren’t directly in the line of fire.”

Raesn lifted his shirt, revealing a series of scorch marks traveling up and down his back. “She got me good.” He said. “There was some sort of damage reflector that I wasn’t expecting. And she still had time to launch a few shots at me and Bruce while she was attacking you and Anala.”

Bruce knelt down at Anala’s side while the other two argued, and began to apply magic. “Hold on for a bit.” He said. “This one doesn’t look like it’s going to be a clean fix. How are you feeling?”

“It…hurts.” Anala croaked. “Raesn hit me with one of his pain numbing things, but it still hurts.”

Bruce frowned. “What does it feel like?”

“Pain. It feels like raw pain. I can’t describe it any other way.”

“Well, give me a minute to –”

“Well done.” A voice said. “You have truly exceeded my expectations.”

Anala turned her head to find the High Arbiter standing over them, a smile on her face. She knelt down, gently shooing Bruce’s hand away before applying a burst of magic to Anala’s wound. Suddenly, everything felt…better. There was no phantom pain, the wound was completely healed, nothing. It was like it had never existed.

“If…if the Queen of Monsters just wanted a fight, why didn’t you satisfy her?!” Ava yelled. “We wouldn’t have had to deal with any of this! People died, and this all could have been avoided!”

The High Arbiter stood up. “I will explain myself in due time. I am here to heal your wounds and inform you that you have ten minutes before you will be teleported back into my dungeon. Make whatever preparations you need, everything will be explained then.”

She cast that same magic on Bruce, and then was, seemingly without moving between any of them, over with Ava and Raesn, doing the same to them. Ava blustered a bit more, but the High Arbiter departed without a further word, leaving the four heroes alone.

“What…preparations do we need to make?” Bruce asked. “Why give us ten minutes?”

“We need to find Anna and Jameson, and deal with the injured people outside.” Raesn said. “We best be quick, though, ten minutes isn’t a lot of time.”

Anala nodded, getting back on her feet. She felt as good as new, and Raesn was right; they needed to hurry. There was no telling what would happen to Anna, Jameson, and the other people during the interval the heroes would be meeting with the High Arbiter.

She left the room through the double doors, and was disappointed to find that Anna was…gone. She’d have to turn the castle upside-down looking for her later, but right now she needed to check on the injured and make sure they were fine too.

She got outside as fast as she could, and found that the injured were exactly where they had been left. The gate had been closed, and, to Anala’s surprise, she couldn’t open it, nor could she climb over and get into the area. There was some sort of…forcefield around the location, and no matter what she tried, she couldn’t break it.

A minute or so later, Bruce showed up, so she left that task to him and returned to searching the castle. But…she had no luck. The castle was completely empty, devoid of even the hint of a living being, and all too soon Anala felt a tugging, and was whisked away to the High Arbiter’s dungeon.

Unlike before, they weren’t put in a near featureless stone room. Instead, they were in something that looked like…well, a normal living room. They were on a plush couch that faced a TV, and there was carpet underneath their feet.

Anala’s thoughts were interrupted by a loud slurping noise from behind her. She spun, and, to her shock, Eve was sitting at a table, loudly drinking a soda from some fast food place.

“Sup nerds.” Eve said, giving the soda another slurp. “I got some fast food while I was waiting. I made sure to get your favorites too, want some?”

Anala sprung into action, drawing her sword and rushing at Eve. Weight of the World had been deactivated, and her stats were low, but she…she couldn’t just let Eve be around like this. There was no telling what would happen.

To her shock, Eve caught the sword in a hand. The same sword that had horribly burnt her just minutes ago didn’t even leave a scratch on her skin. Eve looked at the sword disinterestedly, giving the soda one more slurp before putting it down. “You’re going to get yourself hurt if you keep waving this thing around.” She said. “So, let me just take care of that for you.”

She squeezed her hand around the sword’s blade, and then…the sword broke. Anala watched, dumbfounded, as Eve dropped the pieces, which had been ground to a fine powder in her hand. “I’ll make you another one, so don’t give me that look.” Eve replied, smirking.

“W-what?”

“I said I’ll make you a new one.”

“But…the High Arbiter made this.” Anala said, looking down at the now nearly-useless hilt she was holding. “How can you…”

“Oh please, I can do anything she can do. Now, do you want this fast food or not? It’s getting cold.”

“Where are Anna and Jameson?!” Ava interrupted. “What have you done with them?!”

“They’re spending time with Carmen.” Eve said. “They’ve been gone for quite a while, after all.”

“Wait, we need to back this up.” Anala said. “How are you alive? We ended you earlier.”

“My death was greatly exaggerated.” Eve replied. “Played up for dramatic effect. Simply put, I let you win. Trust me, you couldn’t beat me if you tried.”

She paused, glancing over at Raesn. “Do you want this food?” She asked hopefully. “I’ll feel silly if it all goes to waste.”

Raesn stared at her blankly, not saying a word as he tried to process what was happening.

A door opened, and the High Arbiter stepped in. “Alright, enough of that.”

“You’re no fun.” Eve pouted. “I’ve been planning this for months.”

“I know, and I also know you did everything you really wanted. So, I’m going to say this is good enough and start explaining.”

“Fine.” Eve groaned.

The High Arbiter turned and gave Anala’s party a smile. “Let me properly introduce myself. I am Lilith Clements, High Arbiter. This,” she said, motioning at Eve, “Is Eve Clements, one of my alternate personalities.”

A long silence filled the room as everyone processed that. “You and Eve are…related?” Ava finally asked.

“More than that.” The High Arbiter confirmed. “We are, for all intents and purposes, the same person. I am the main personality, and she is but one of several of my others. But…let’s start from the beginning of this, shall we?”

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