Chapter 18

"Yo!" I said.

"What the hell?!!!" said Beata as she jumped at seeing me fade in behind her. She frowned as she said, "Where the hell did you come from?"

That's rude, girl, came Adela's voice.

"Just testing, sisters," I said.

Milen said, "You're awfully gleeful. Is there anything we need to know about?"

"Nope, nothing. Better to be gleeful than frightened."

"Something happened to you, spill," said Shaina who suddenly poked her head from behind Mother's throne.

"Shaina! Are your bones' okay now?" I asked.

"Yeah, no thanks to you, humph."

Adela looked at me and said in my mind, So, are you ready for the duel?

Ready as I'll ever be. Where's Mother?

"I'm here," came Mother's voice as she materialized on her throne. Shaina yelped and took a step back away from Mother's throne.

"The question is," Mother continued, "where are your sponsors?"

"My sponsors?"

"Those nosy sluts, Naamah and Agrat. Where are they?"

"I don't know, Mother. I thought that they're here already ... oh, that must be them," I said as I saw two specks of something white in the air coming from a distance.

"They must've stopped somewhere. I started one hour later than they did and I'm already here," came a voice that was very familiar to me. I didn't even need to look behind because I knew without a doubt that it was none other than Eisheth Zenunim, the Shadow Walker.

"Now that's a first. I never thought it possible for you to join forces with them again," Mother said with a sneer.

"Stow it, Lil. This is an alliance of convenience, which you in your eternal arrogance won't understand," Eisheth countered.

Fading here and there. You Shadow Walkers sure are being very rude to Mother.

You've already lost your vocal chords, do you want to lose your throat too, relic?

"You shall NOT threaten MY daughters in MY presence, Eisheth!"

"Hey all! Sorry for being late, I got a little bit lost, earlier. Hohoho," Agrat interjected as they both dismounted from the two white Pegasai they were riding on.

"Yes, and I had to bail her out of the tight spot she was in," grumbled Naamah. Though, with her pleasant voice, it sounded more like a serenade instead of a grumble.

Agrat protested, "How was I supposed to know that someone else took that address? And who in their right mind would put a stasis field at the entrance of their realm?"

"I put traps at the entrance of my realm, Agrat. You've been stuck inside Gehenna too long so that you've lost touch with the outside world," said Naamah.

"I have to agree with you. Her values are absolutely archaic."

"Hey! We're supposed to be on the same team. Stop dissing me!"

"It will be a cold day in hell before I finally lose enough sanity to join your team," said Eisheth.

Agrat, looking confused, turned to Eisheth and said, "But there's already a cold place in Hell. Frigidity is extremely cold, even I won't go there. Well, not often anyway. That Lucifel can be very intimidating."

Eisheth groaned in an out of character manner, "All those times torturing the damned must have destroyed your human soul, Agrat. I almost pity you, and take note that I say 'almost'."

"I discarded my human soul a long time ago, Eisheth, it's..." then she looked to the side and gleefully said, "Be-a-ta!"

"Eep!" squealed Beata as she broke into a run. She couldn't go far as Aunt Agrat's tentacles chased and caught her pretty quickly. Aunt Agrat then lifted her upside down by her legs and started tickling her soles and tummy.

"Aha! Ahahah! Stop! Haha! St-hahaha."

"Stop that! Put her down, Agrat," Mother growled, "We're going to start the duel. Are you ready, Dinah?"

I was pretty sure that I heard Aunt Agrat mutter under her breath, "But I want my toy."

Then out of the grassy ground, sand and dust rose and gathered in mid-air. In moments, it formed the shape of a human, then the wings, tail and horns formed and Dinah appeared from the sand and dust.

"Always, Mother," Dinah said. By now, there were already hundreds of Lilim gathering in Vanity Meadows. I noticed Delilah giving me a wink. She was with a small group of snobbish-looking Lilim, four of which were arguing rather heatedly. I recognized Araminta's crossbow-wielding subby from Mom's memories. As for the rest, I had no idea. Though, one of the Lili in her group, a purple-haired Lili whose two horns looked curiously like a pair of fully expanded wings, turned back to the group when our eyes met.

"Both of you, come here," Mother commanded.

I moved to stand in front of Mother. Then Dinah came and stood next to me, before kneeling and kissing Mother's fingers. Buttkisser.

It moved so fast that I didn't have time to block Dinah's tail. "Ow!" I cried as Dinah's tail smacked me in the face with such force that it pushed me a step backward, "Why'd you do that for?"

"You were too loud."

That pissed me off. "Die, tunnel rat!" I said as I launched an Ice Shard that both she and Mother evaded.

She quickly leaped to the air and dropped the sky onto my head, at least that was how it felt like. I definitely felt something hard hitting my head and tried to push me down to the ground. I resisted and defiantly looked up to cast Dark Shackle on her.

With her hovering in the air and with her arms and legs unable to move freely for the next 5 minutes, I proceeded to throw every single spell of fire and ice that I knew at her. Starting with a volley of Ice Shards, then I threw a Chromatic Orb at her which was supposed to daze her a little bit, followed by Dragon's Breath. Then I finished the whole thing with Wheel of Fire that shot Dragon's Breath from eight directions around her. I doubt anyone could stand after all that.

I was slightly annoyed to see her untouched by all that after the dust settled. Well, not really so, I noticed some cracks in her armor. Parts of her skin appeared cracked and crumbly, turning into grains of dust and sand that fell to the ground. It immediately resealed itself within a few seconds. It was annoying to see how the ice shards and flames barely even harm her.

"Got anymore?" she jeered.

I threw another volley of Ice Shards and then some more. The time I spent with Aunt Agrat had really greatly improved my frost talents. In the next minute, I lost count of how many Ice Shards I've launched at her. Must've been hundreds. Most didn't hit, but that wasn't a problem.

"Little girl, quantity doesn't always mean quality," she said as she stepped out of the chilly vapor left over by the hitting Ice Shards earlier. Apparently, Dark Shackle had lost its effect. Doesn't matter, I thought, you're exactly where I want you to be.

I extended my right arm towards her, palms open, and and then closed it in a tight fist. It was satisfying to hear her scream and then hear her bones crushed as the chilly vapors compress against her. I got the inspiration from Shaina last time. This technique slightly stretches my ability as it's much closer to air than water, but it's still a frost technique. Anything cold falls under my domain.

She gave an almighty yell before crumbling into a pile of dirt. As the dust fell onto the ground, I had this slightly anticlimactic feeling.

"What, that's it? Jeez, what's the point of me suffering all the harsh training if you can be downed this easily?" I said as I started laughing the evil villain victory laugh, before I felt a pair of hands grab my legs.

I looked down at my legs and saw her face staring up at me. Like the face of Mars, her face seemed made of the earth. "You can't seriously think that I will lose that easily. I've lived through the Inquisition, the Baphomet War and I've burn at the stake long before you were born. I am..."

I blasted ice shard after ice shard at her face, of which her only responses were, "Ouch, ouch, eee, ow, wooo!" I still remember that time in Plains of Baked Earth how awful it was to be dragged under the earth. So I concentrated real hard and performed the ritual for Negative Gravity. Negative Gravity was the only high magic I was able to master during my lessons with Aunt Agrat. Dinah obviously recognized the ritual. She quickly tried to drag me under halfway through the ritual. It was a good thing that the other half of the ritual was verbal.

I managed to complete the ritual by the time I sank to my waist. Suddenly, though not so sudden for me, I felt like I was standing upside down as I along with the ground under me was roughly wrenched up to the sky. The ground broke apart, revealing Dinah's main body, whose skin now shared the same brown color as the earth around her. I was pleased that I got a clear target now.

I raised both my hands as if calling for rain. In truth, I wasn't calling for rain, I was calling for a hailstorm. As my hands glowed blue, I willed all of the ice shards that I'd released earlier to return to me. I was pleased to sense thousands of free flying ice shards respond to my call. Unlike ice in Assiah (Earth) that will melt at room temperature, ice in Sheol can stay in their frozen form almost indefinitely unless ii's exposed to direct heat or if the rules of the realm dictate so. There is no such rule in Yenne Velt that dictates that all ice must melt.

With practiced ease, I guided the ice shards to first strike at the hands holding my legs. It was hard to target though, due to the different directions of gravity screwing up my aim. I injured myself several times (actually more like 20 times) before the ice shards managed to hit my target. Once I was free, I directed the thousands of ice shards to hit her from all sides, which she attempted to block with a flawed Shield spell.

I could hardly see her body as the cold vapors from broken ice shards surrounded her body. I was about to crush her body again when I got blasted from behind, causing me to fall quickly to the ground.

I rolled on the grassy ground a few times, catching mouthfuls of grass and dirt. I was spitting out the grass and dirt when Dinah stepped on the back of my head and proceeded to grind my face into the topsoil. I tried to dislodge her using my hands, wings, and tail as well as trying to get back up by pushing on the ground. It all failed as it appeared that Dinah was very accomplished at this face-grounding business. She knew exactly when to evade, when to sidestep, when to let go and when to ground my face into the topsoil again.

Suddenly, I felt a shifting weight on my right hand as Flo transformed from his ring form to his sword form. As if on autopilot, my right hand proceeded to swing at Dinah's legs a few times until finally Dinah pulled away. Taking the opportunity to stand back up, I pushed at the ground hard and leaped to my feet.

"So, you have something other than Amphillogiai. I have to give you credit, I never thought I'd see the chivalrous Florian again. Did you know, little girl, that Sarai acquired Florian through trickery? Did you also know that Florian was close to mortally wounding Sarai when his metallic brain actually caught up to the fact?" she said after I got up.

I looked at Flo as if asking for confirmation. Don't listen to her, Ilyse. She's trying to sow distrust between us.

Is it true?

That is not a question to be asked during a battle, youngling. She's a master deceiver. Remember this, our strength comes from being able to work together in harmony. She's trying to persuade you into breaking that harmony. This is not the first time she had done this.

"Florian wouldn't tell you, dear sister? Well, that's typical of him. He always were a lone wolf. He wouldn't trust anyone, especially after his questionable method of death. Sarai was a really twisted little bitch," she then broke into a laugh. The kind of laugh you would hear from snobbish princesses or envious rich girls.

"SHUT UP!" I yelled as I stabbed Flo's tip to the ground. Shadow Claw appeared on the ground from Flo's tip and streaked directly at Dinah. She quickly punched the ground, causing a ripple effect that cracked the earth under her and throwing dust to the air. I knew she was still there, but due to the dust, I wasn't able to tell exactly what happened in there. I could've used Wedjat, but I was actually holding that back as an insurance policy.

"Oh," she said after the dust settled, though she was nowhere in sight. In her place was a pile of rocks that fell onto each other like a pile of gangbanged domino. "Seems like I struck a nerve. You should become more like your mother, she was a really sick fuck," came her voice as the pile of rocks exploded, revealing her form, appearing untouched by the Shadow Claw. Then she opened her palms and two trails of dust rose from the ground and form two small spheres of earth which she gently pushed at me.

I merely watched as the two spheres of earth floated slowly towards me. It was halfway between me and Dinah when Flo said, Ilyse, why aren't you avoiding it?

Umm, I don't know. Am I supposed to avoid it? It looked so slow.

Eh, naturally, when a foe throws something at me, I would avoid it. Even if it's just cabbage.

But she didn't throw it, she merely pushed it gently. By this time, the spheres were only 10 feet away.

FOR THE LOVE OF CHEESE! RUN!

I started running, which appeared to be the wrong move as the spheres increased speed and flew at me at twice my speed. It only took two or three seconds before it impacted and exploded. Good thing that I had the mind to create a layer of sturdy ice covering my back.

You were saying? I snapped at Flo.

Sorry, was his only answer.

Brandishing Flo, I blinkstruck behind her in what Eisheth would call a 'perfect execution'. It didn't hit as she summoned one of her weapon artifact, a two-edged sword and blocked my slash. Sparks flew as our two swords made contact and for a moment, I was blinded by the flash. Following up my attack, I blinkstruck behind her again. It failed to hit this time, as she blinked elsewhere instead, leaving me thrusting at the empty air.

My senses, honed by the continuous pummeling that I'd received at the hands of Eisheth's Wights quickly found her to be behind me. I blinkstruck blindly to where I thought she was and instead of striking her, I got double-stabbed in the back with first a sword that pierced straight to my front and then a dagger that lodged itself into my left kidney. I figured that I must've miscalculated the distance, that I mistakenly blinked in front of her instead of behind her. I quickly attempted to pull both out but for some reason, neither would budge.

I tried again to pull both out and still it refused to let go of my flesh. They're under orders to cling to your flesh, Ilyse. There's nothing you can do about it unless you can cut the mental ties between them and Dinah. This is merely a distraction. Don't take your attention away from Dinah. WATCH OUT!

I looked up and saw Dinah charging straight at me with a spear. Crossing my arms together with Flo pointed up, I gathered my frost power on both my arms until both my arms glowed blue. My training with Aunt Agrat had also allowed me to gather the frost power much quicker than the second day I was with Eisheth. Once she got close enough, I opened my arms thus releasing the stored frost power as a turbulent and violent blast of Frost Breath. It didn't take long before a field of ice the size of a tennis court appeared in front of me.

BEHIND!, came Flo's voice.

I quickly twisted myself around and was barely in time to deflect a thrusting spear. I almost lost my grip on Flo as the two blades in my torso bit even more into my flesh as I turned. I coughed some black blood as she relentlessly forced me back with continuous strikes which forced me to twist and move vigorously, causing the blades to dig deeper and deeper into me.

Blink, Ilyse! You can blinkstrike, use it!

Shut up, Flo. I'm going to. You don't need to tell me!, I replied as I blinkstruck behind Dinah.

She instead chose to blink behind me rather than standing there allowing me to get some wounds on her. So I again blinked behind her and for the next ten or so blows, neither of our attacks hit as it became a contest of Blink. I was mighty confused when I broke off from the engagement.

"How?" I asked.

She smirked at my confusion, "You can't seriously think that you're the only one who knows blinkstrike. Heck, half of those who survived Baphomet War are probably a master of blinkstrike, now. I myself mastered this technique centuries before Sarai was even born. So, have you given up, yet?"

"If I give up, are you going to let me go?"

"Hell no. I'll just make your death go quicker. You need to be punished for defying Mother. Traitors need to be taught a lesson. In that sense, you're just like your mother."

"Mom was not a traitor!" I cried as I charged at her. My body was now charged with a Frost Aura and Frozen Heart as well as Arctic Tempest that swirled around my body, carrying with it chilling wind, hailstorm and hard snow. I told Flo to change back to his ring form.

"Oh yes, she was," Dinah said as she ran backwards, matching my speed, "Hasn't anybody told you? She tried to bring down Armageddon once."

"She foiled the attempt from inside their organisation!" I stopped running and now used my wings to the fullest. I didn't realize that I had flown faster than Shaina's top speed. Curiously, Dinah seemed to be able to match my speed effortlessly. Through my peripheral vision, I noticed that we had already went far beyond the boundaries of Vanity Meadows and now reached a wide open plains. It didn't escape my notice that our spectators from Vanity Meadows also followed us, no doubt to watch the entertainment.

"I assure you, naive one, that she didn't intend to do that," she formed a large fireball and threw it at me, which was easily shucked off by Arctic Tempest, "She was a traitor, your whole ancestry was full of traitors. You great grandmother, Sarai's cousin, you're all descended from a clan of traitors! Why do you think that your sister wasn't chosen?"

"What the hell do you mean, you decrepit pile of bones?" I yelled as I shot Frost Bolts from both my hands.

"She's the biggest traitor of your entire lineage. She'll go drunk with power and attempt to take everything for herself if Mother chose her to be a Lili. You've already proven that you have the potential to be a traitor."

Ilyse, calm down. She's just goading you. Don't take much notice of her words. Calmly think of your options and decide the best course of action.

"I'm not a traitor!" I cried.

Of course you're not. I would not have agreed to join you if you were. I do have a very high standard when it comes to allies. I once allied with a goat, that didn't work very well, though. I learned to accept only the aid of a good horse since then.

I dropped to a stop and simply laughed. Dinah also stopped and asked, "What's wrong with you? I didn't know you would snap this easily. It once took me a week just to coax an emotion from Sarai."

That's the way to do it. Laugh. It's okay. So who cares if your ancestors were traitors, they're not the ones fighting at the moment.

One of these days, I'm going to ask you some questions and don't you dare change the topic again.

Sure, but you do have to win this first. After all, dead people can't ask questions.

Raising my hands, I chanted an incantation that increased the intensity and fervor of Arctic Tempest. Then in a quick move, I threw the entire cyclone at Dinah who made a face of unexpected shock and quickly sank into the ground. I didn't give her a chance as again I casted Negative Gravity on her. It was satisfying to see the chunk of rock get pummeled by the chilling wind and sharp ice shards. Then I heard a sharp whistling sound.

"What the hell's that?" I asked to no one in particular.

Then I felt a sharp pain as a spear pierced my spine, went through my heart and came out of my chest. The impact was so strong that the tip of the long spear stabbed into the ground, effectively pinning me where I stood. As my Frost Armor and Frozen Heart shatter, I felt my consciousness slipping.

Through the fog in my head, I heard Flo's heavily accented but muffled voice, Don't pass out, Ilyse! This must not be the end! If you pass out now, you will die, and then you shall lose this duel. Fight it. STAY AWAKE

I managed to open my eyes for a brief moment. Looking down at the long spear that pierced my body, I tried with all my strength to stay awake and attempted to Fade. I could feel myself succeed as I felt the two blades and the handle of the spear gradually disappear from my body. Then I fell to the ground, coughing black blood. Through my peripheral vision, I saw the two blades fall to the ground while the spear remained stuck to the ground, with my black blood staining its gleaming handle next to me.

Thanks Flo, I directed at Flo as I flooded myself with a pinkish Healing Aura.

It's not over yet, look up!

I painstakingly turned myself over to look up and to my horror, Dinah had already prepared a large fireball that looked pretty much like a sun. I know I should avoid it somewhat, but apart from my right arm, my body failed to respond. Even my mind wasn't coherent enough to blink anywhere. When she threw it, I could only watch as the fireball got closer and closer. At least until I remembered something...

Rummaging into the void, into my personal storage space, I was relieved to feel it against my fingers. I pulled it out and threw it at the approaching fireball. I just had to laugh when I saw the fireball got sucked into the foot-long bone stake, like a sponge soaking up water, until at last it buried itself into Dinah's breast, who was still hovering in the air.

"That can't be," Dinah cried, appearing undisturbed by the foot-long Raphael's Collar that pierced her body, "Luck can only get you so far." Then she appeared to throw something at me.

By this time, I had healed enough to be able to stand again. I blinked away, thinking that it was some kind of invisible attack. Dinah however looked at her hands in confusion, then she looked at Adela before looking at the bone stake that was stuck in her chest. Then she came down and stared at me in puzzlement.

"How did you manage to get one of Raphael's Collar? It was said that two was in the possession of Asmodeus while the other one was missing," then she looked at it again, "Where did you find this one?"

"Doesn't matter. Now you can't use magic anymore, which means defeating you will be much easier. Please just stay still and accept you fate, sister," I grinned as again Flo appeared in my hand.

Just as I was about to thrust the tip of Flo's blade into Dinah's heart, she grabbed my right arm with her left hand, pushed it away from her body and said, "Unfortunately, sister. While I can't use magic for as long as I have Raphael's Collar inside me, it won't stay that way for long." Then she proceeded to pull Raphael's Collar out and stabbed my stomache with it instead.

Flo switched back to his ring form as I let go of the handle. My body immediately felt weak, the same way I felt as when I was back in Ashmedan. The Healing Aura that I maintained to heal my body dispersed and was sucked into Raphael's Collar. The cyclone also dispersed as it lost the source of its power, me. I attempted to pull it out, but it proved impossible.

"Oh, you poor thing. Let me give you a little bit of explanation. When you threw it at me, you forgot to reactivate the enchantment to keep it inside my body. Therefore, I could pull it easily. I activated the enchantment just now, before I stabbed it into you. How's it feel? Nice?" she said before laughing at my face. I really hate that.

It was weird to see my hand move without my control. The hand then tugged at Raphael's Collar and pulled it out effortlessly.

How'd you do that?

Trade secret. I could feel his smirk.

"How'd you do that?" Dinah asked with a wide open mouth.

"I was wondering the same thing."

Best to put this away, Ilyse. You don't know how to use it properly. I'll return the hand to you now, he said as he released control of my hand. I almost let go of Raphael's Collar because of the suddenness of having control of my hand back. I then send Raphael's Collar back to the void. It has served its purpose.

"You know, this duel has gone on for far too long. It's time we end this, don't you agree?" she said as a great ball of electricity the size of a basketball appeared in her right hand.

"What?" I asked as she blinked away to appear quite a bit of distance away.

"I'm saying that I've gotten bored. See you in 20 years, little girl," she said as she threw the ball of electricity at me. The moment it left her hand, it transformed into thunder. When it hit me, I just knew that it was the last thing I will ever see.

I opened my eyes.

I was in a dark place. Well, not really dark, more like twilight, if that matters in any way. It reminded me of the place Mother Gaea brought me to that last time when she attempted to kill me for some reason. It certainly seemed similar in many ways.

"Enjoying the view?" came a voice from behind me.

I turned around and was confronted with ... myself. Or at least my lilin self. She had a more demonic demeanor than me, though.

"Who the hell are you?"

She looked annoyed. "Isn't it plainly obvious? I'm you, and you're me. Well, there's a slight difference, but that's basically it."

"So, what ... am I dead now? You're something like my sins or the good deeds I've done in life, to guide me to heaven or hell?"

"Hell no! What gave you such a silly idea?"

"Well, I heard that when one dies, their love ones will come to pick them up."

She put both hands on her waist, appearing furious. "You sound stupid, please don't repeat that to anyone else. You're the new Queen of Tartarus. Stop believing in such folktales."

"So, am I dead?"

"Why? You want to be?"

I was getting extremely annoyed by now. "What is it with you and your aversion to straight answers?"

"Fine! No, you're not dead. Though you were very close to being one." she said, looking as if she'd rather be doing something else right now.

"Okay then. Why don't you tell me why I'm talking to myself right now."

"Hum, well, let's see. Do you still remember Mother saying something about she'd rather not activate a boy because he will end up developing multiple personalities?"

"I vaguely remember that, but yes."

"Well, voila!" she said as she opened her arms.

"What? You want me to hug you now?"

She rolled her eyes. "Seriously, I can't believe I could be attached to such an idiot. I'm your alternate personality. Or maybe you're mine, it's hard to tell, really. But since you're the one controlling the body while I'm stuck in this dark place, I would assume that you're the main personality."

"So what does this mean?"

"Well, ever wondered why you didn't have innate lilin knowledge?"

"People have made such a remark plenty of times. I assume you know the answer?"

"Indeed, I do. You didn't have innate lilin knowledge because I have that knowledge."

"What? You can't lend it to me?"

She groaned as she said, "It's not that easy. For you to receive ancestral knowledge, you must accept me. We must become one"

I opened my arms as I moved to hug her.

"It's not that easy, you damned fuck!" she yelled as she kicked me in the left breast. That really hurt. Halucinations shouldn't be that painful. "For us to be one, you must accept everything about me. You're still hung up about being female and about being a lili."

"But I have already accepted that."

"No, you have not. If you already accepted that, you wouldn't ask Mother for your 'freedom'. You still cling to the thought that maybe you'd be able to be a normal man after this is over. You must let go of everything and just be me."

"Well, maybe you're right. I don't want to be you. I just want to be me, Patrick Willows, web consultant, son of Theodore and Sandra Willows."

She conjured a stool and sat crosslegged on it. "Hate to point it out to you, my dear counterpart, but you are already much more than that. You are a woman, a lili and the Queen of Tartarus. You have a position that many can only envy and dream of. Hum, that's an idea. How about switching places with me? I'll take care of everything for you."

"And the catch?"

"You'll have to stay here forever, of course."

"No deal."

"Thought so," she smirked. "It's really not that bad here. You can still see what happens outside, you just won't have any hand in it."

"I said no deal."