Aria
The air grew thicker, as if the very space itself was trying to swallow us. Each breath became harder, as if the oxygen had turned dense, impossible to process. The blinding light that had once illuminated the mansion vanished, leaving behind an unsettling void filled with a heavy energy that made me feel trapped, as if the walls themselves were pressing in on me.
My legs, weak from the wounds I had sustained in the battle with the villagers, trembled with each step. Despite the exhaustion, there was something else, an invisible force pushing me forward. Something told me I couldn't give up.
Ignis was there. I could feel him, but something wasn't right. Something inside him had changed.
"Ignis…" I whispered, my voice barely a murmur lost in the jagged sound of my breath.
The air seemed to vibrate around me. With every step I took, I neared the mansion, yet at the same time, I felt something much larger and darker surrounding it all, like a presence looming over us.
Ignis – 15 Minutes Earlier
The darkness was absolute. My vision was completely blocked, but my senses remained alert, overflowing with energy. The runes of the mansion had trapped me in this plane, an emptiness where light didn't exist. Everything was immersed in a profound blackness, but I wasn't alone.
Lira was close. I could feel her in every corner of this shadowy world. Her presence seeped through the air like poison, tainting everything in its path.
"This confirms my suspicions," I said, trying to calm my mind, though I knew the situation was dangerous.
"Oh, really? And what would those suspicions be?" Lira's voice echoed in my mind, a whisper close to my ear, mocking.
I turned toward the sound of her voice, but saw nothing. The darkness gave no answers, only more confusion.
"That you're a witch worse than my ex."
"How cute…" Lira replied with a mocking laugh, materializing in front of me. Her figure was elegant yet macabre, more like a specter than a woman. Her green eyes glowed with malice. "Honestly, your sharp tongue is starting to annoy me."
"That's a bit cruel for a witch," I replied with a feigned tone of pain, trying to distract her.
An unsettling feeling warned me that my attempt at distraction wouldn't work. Something far more dangerous was brewing.
"Fuu… You know, I really hoped you could help me with my revenge. After all, we're not that different." Lira's tone changed, sounding sweeter, almost trustworthy, as if her magic was seeping into me, trying to make me lower my guard.
"Sorry, Lira, but I don't see the similarity between a handsome exorcist and a revived witch."
"Oh, but Vorax told me you could help me." The mention of Vorax made me tense. What did he have to do with all this?
"Are you two friends?" I asked, trying to gather more information while analyzing her words.
"Jealous?" Lira laughed, seeming more alert to my attempt to probe.
"Let's say I help you, how do I fit into your plans?" The thought of this witch using an entire village repulsed me, but the mention of Vorax made me think that what was at stake here was much bigger.
"You don't, Ignis… Laplace." With a sharp gesture of her hand, she slammed me to the ground with her green energy.
The impact left me breathless, the pain stabbing in my chest from the wound she had dealt me earlier. The heat of my inner fire grew in response, but it was insufficient. The darkness absorbed everything around it.
"Is this all you've got?" The mockery in her voice hurt even more.
"I'm just warming up." I replied, my fury about to erupt.
Suddenly, a shadowy claw ripped across my back.
"Ahhh!" I screamed, falling to my knees as the darkness continued to assault me.
Lira approached me with terrifying calm, materializing a spear of green energy.
"This is boring, Ignis. Make it more interesting."
The spear dissolved into a green glow and pierced my chest with deadly speed. Blood spurted from my mouth.
I felt… like a shadow of what I was. My vision blurred, and I felt Lira holding my head, causing everything inside me to break.
I could hear her victorious laughter, a laugh that echoed inside me like an infection, filling me with hatred. I wanted to silence her, end her, but it wasn't her laugh… it was mine.
"Ignis…" Lira's voice called me, now with a hint of doubt.
"Ha… ha… ha… ha, ha…" My laughter echoed through the emptiness, not with distress, but with wild, frantic liberation. I was losing control.
"I am a God!" I screamed, my body trembling as a fiery energy filled my veins. The inner fire that had once been a spark now became an uncontrollable blaze.
Lira recoiled, confused. Her face reflected a mixture of fear and surprise, but soon it was replaced by a smile, a smile that irritated me even more.
"Laplace?" She asked, incredulity marking her voice.
"Shut up, witch." My voice was lower, deeper, but was it mine? No, something much darker and more dangerous was taking control.
The change in my tone made her step back, but not enough. I could see her eyes glowing with desperation.
"How pathetic, how dare you interrupt my joy?" The words came out of my mouth filled with hatred. I couldn't stand that this woman dared to interrupt me.
"Welcome, Laplace." She bowed before me, but I couldn't care less.
The darkness, which had once seemed like an external presence, now felt as though it had a will of its own. The shadows seemed to obey every gesture I made. I felt like I could destroy everything around me. But not only that.
I could see the souls that Lira had been using. The young women trapped in her curse fought to maintain their form, but I saw them, I felt them.
I wanted to silence them.
"Shut up, witch." I growled, enveloping her in shadows. The energy of her magic began to fade, unable to withstand the force I now controlled.
"Ignis, stop!" Lira shouted, but my laughter turned into a roar.
"I'm not Ignis." The energy around me grew even more, palpable, almost physical.
"Nor Laplace. I am your death."
My body seemed to move by pure will, each step toward her a reminder that her defeat was inevitable.
Aria
When I reached the main hall, the air was thick with dense energy. Everything in the atmosphere seemed altered, as if the whole world was on the verge of an explosion.
I saw Ignis standing, his body wrapped in shadows. But his eyes… they weren't Ignis's. They were dark, empty, filled with something terrifying.
"Ignis…" I murmured, stepping toward him, but the figure I saw before me was not the man I knew.
He turned slowly toward me, a cruel and inhuman smile curling his lips.
"Aria. I'm glad you're here. This is just the beginning."