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GAIDA

I float in a sea of crimson, neither fully conscious nor completely submerged. The Blood Queen’s presence surrounds me, seeping into every corner of my mind. We’ve been locked in this silent battle for what feels like eternity, though I can’t be sure how much time has actually passed.

You continue to resist. Impressive, but ultimately futile.

I don’t respond with words. Instead, I push back against her presence, carving out small spaces of myself that remain untouched by her influence. It’s becoming increasingly difficult as her consciousness expands, filling the mental landscape we share.

The reunification proceeds regardless of your resistance. Look around you. The barriers already weaken.

Yeah, yeah, so you already said. I don’t give a fuck. My guys will find a way to stop you, even if it means staking me to death.

That gives the bitch pause.

Hmm, so I’m right. If I die all this ends before it even starts. Good to know, cuntface.

How dare you ? —

Oh, shut the fuck up. I’m not interested in anything you have to say, and quite frankly, I’m not scared of you. You can languish in my mind if you want, but you will be stopped, one way or another.

A blinding flash reluctantly shows me things I don’t want to see.

MistHallow shivers around us, sections of reality flickering in and out of existence. The sky burns crimson, torn with rifts that reveal impossible landscapes beyond.

Students huddle in frightened groups, and professors maintain protective barriers that grow visibly weaker with each passing moment.

She pushes harder against my consciousness, forcing me deeper into our shared mental space. The outside world fades as I’m dragged into memories that aren’t mine of ancient cities beneath impossible skies, civilisations risen and fallen, powers wielded that defy comprehension.

Do you understand yet what I truly am? What I have seen? What I know?

Images flood through me of the unified world before separation. A reality where energy flowed without barriers, where certain beings evolved to channel these combined forces, growing exponentially powerful with each passing century.

I push back against these invasive memories, carving out a mental fortress where I can retreat. It’s like building a wall with sand; every barrier I create crumbles almost immediately under her relentless assault.

Then, cutting through the mental chaos like a beacon, I hear a voice.

“Gaida! Where are you?”

Dante.

Somehow, impossibly, he’s here in this mental battleground.

No! The Blood Queen’s fury ripples through our shared consciousness. He cannot interfere!

I use her momentary distraction to strengthen my resistance, pushing outward against her influence. I try to call out, but I can’t. It’s a silent scream for help.

The mental landscape shifts as I struggle for control. Fragments of MistHallow materialise around me, then dissolve into cosmic voids, then transform into ancient stone circles. Nothing holds its shape for long.

“Gaida!”

He can’t help you . The Blood Queen’s presence intensifies. You are mine now. We are one.

“We are NOT one,” I growl, focusing all my willpower on creating a stable space within this chaos. “I am Gaida Aragon. I choose who I become.”

The landscape trembles at my declaration, solidifying momentarily into the courtyard of MistHallow before flickering again.

“Dante!” I push the thought outward with all my strength, hoping he can sense me even if he can’t hear me.

“Gaida!” He appears through the chaos like a beacon of hope.

The Blood Queen surges forward, her rage manifesting as crimson lightning that strikes at him. “You do not belong here, vampire!”

Dante dodges, moving with vampire speed. “Neither do you,” he snarls back, fangs bared.

I struggle harder against her hold, managing to solidify a small portion of reality around us, of the stone circle where we first confronted each other.

“Clever,” the Blood Queen hisses. “But this changes nothing.”

Dante reaches the edge of the circle, pressing his hand against an invisible barrier. “Let me in, Gaida. I can help you.”

I push harder against her control, imagining the barrier as a membrane thinning under my will. Dante’s hand breaks through, fingers stretching toward me.

“She’s too strong,” I gasp, finally finding my voice. “She’s everywhere.”

“No,” Dante says firmly. “She only wants you to think that. This is your mind, Gaida. Your rules.”

The Blood Queen laughs, the sound reverberating through the mental landscape. “Foolish child. You think a few encouraging words can change what is happening? The worlds are already merging. Look!”

The sky above us tears open, revealing sights of other realities bleeding into ours. Buildings from different versions of MistHallow superimpose over each other, creating impossible architectures.

“Don’t listen to her,” Dante says, pushing further through the barrier. “Focus on me. On us.”

I reach for him, our fingertips nearly touching. The Blood Queen screams in fury, sending another wave of crimson lightning that strikes Dante squarely in the chest. He staggers but doesn’t fall.

“You can’t hurt me here,” he tells her, straightening. “I’m bound to Gaida by something stronger than your ancient power.”

“Love?” The Blood Queen sneers. “Such a temporary thing compared to the eternal truths I represent.”

“If it’s so temporary,” I challenge, drawing strength from Dante’s presence, “why has it withstood your assault this long?”

The Blood Queen’s form flickers, her confidence wavering for just a moment. That brief hesitation is all I need. I reach out again, clasping Dante’s hand firmly this time, pulling him fully into the circle.

“I’ve got you,” he says, his voice steadier than it has any right to be in this chaos.

The mental landscape shifts again. The stone circle solidifies, becoming less ephemeral, more grounded in my own reality rather than hers. Colours sharpen, sounds clarify. The Blood Queen shrieks, her form destabilising at the edges.

“Impossible!” she hisses. “No mere vampire should have this power!”

Dante’s grin is fierce. “Nothing mere about me, lady.”

I feel his strength flowing into me through our connection, pure and uncomplicated. Just Dante, choosing me, again and again.

“You need to push her out,” he tells me, his eyes never leaving mine despite the apocalyptic visions swirling around us. “This is your mind, your body.”

I shake my head. “No, it won’t work. She will still exist. The worlds will still merge.”

He searches my eyes. “Then what? How do we destroy her?”

I take a deep breath, and I see the second he realises what I’m about to say. He shakes his head before the words have tumbled out.

“No—”

“You have to destroy me.”

“No!” he roars, his face twisting in rage. “No! There has to be another way!”

I clasp his hands tightly. “There isn’t. Listen to me, Dante. I accept this. I’m ready.”

His grip on my hands tightens to the point where it would break bones in the physical world. “I won’t do it. I can’t.”

“You have to,” I insist. “The Blood Queen is right about one thing. I am the conduit. Without me, the worlds can’t be fully merged.”

The Blood Queen surges forward, her presence expanding like a crimson tide. “He won’t do it,” she taunts. “He can’t sacrifice you. That’s the weakness of love. It makes you hesitate when action is required.”

“Shut up,” Dante snarls at her before turning back to me. “There has to be another way. I refuse to accept this is the only solution.”

I cup his face gently with a soft smile. “You have to.”

“No, I don’t.”

“You do. I love you, Dante. Thank you for agreeing to have children with me, even if we will never get that. I know what it cost you. Tell Luke to look after Felix for me. He will need him desperately?—”

“Don’t do this!” he roars. “Don’t say goodbye! We aren’t killing you; Felix needs you desperately. We all do. Luke will…”

“Make sure he doesn’t burn the world down.”

“This isn’t happening.”

We stare at each other, at an impasse. He has nothing to offer, no other solution.

“Go now and decide which one of you will do it.”

“Don’t be absurd,” he snaps. “We aren’t killing you.”

“Bye-bye,” the Blood Queen singsongs and forces Dante out of my head.

I scream, not ready despite my words, but I know they will do the right thing. To save all the worlds, hundreds, maybe thousands of them, they have no choice. My life isn’t worth trillions.

“Gaida!” he yells, but then there is nothing but silence.

With a sob that wrenches my soul, I close my eyes and wait for death.