Melissa ran through the sandy plains.

Flashes of random thoughts went off in her mind just as fast as her heart was racing. Her chest shut like a closed fist as her body temperature rose thanks to the merciless heat of the Ugandan summer night that refused to make the sprint easier for her, blowing its rounds of dry winds onto her.

The granular terrain she slammed her feet into made even her limber muscles lock up. But the cocktail of pain beaconing from various areas on her body didn’t break her run.

She was no stranger to pain. It had been her best company for years now.

It came out of nowhere after that meal and stayed ever since.

Melissa zoomed past an overfilled dumpster. Its sour stench followed her, but she gagged only briefly. Nothing was worse than the smells she’d breathe in daily on the streets of Saint Petersburg.

Melissa looked over her shoulder. Her opponents were nowhere in sight. She had a gift for escaping, an ability she first explored when she decided to run from that infernal home. A man who had no right to the title of “father”, a mother who did nothing but watch, and a younger brother she had to leave behind. The family name Lukyanenko had to stay behind as well.

“Twisty” was the name the other street kids came up with for her.

With hyperflexibility she practiced contortion occasionally and it was the one thing that brought joy to her in that hellhole of a home, and in the slums, she gained an audience and the money was good enough to help her and her fellow runaways survive another day. It beat having to resort to prostitution and drug dealing she lost some friends to. God knows where they ended up now…

Melissa ran now with a smile on her face. Her vision blurring the path in front of her. She could hear the applause and cheers of the past from Russian passersby when she and her friends put on a show, the excitement she felt and sensed from her comrades whenever something softer than coins dropped into the hat, knowing that they were going to fill themselves silly with sweets and soda afterwards.

And then came Rainbow Bridge. The memory violently pushed its way into Melissa’s head. The painted faces of jesters and harlequins standing before her and her friends, beaming them with their malicious smiles. They became competitors of the Zaro travelling circus (Rainbow Bridge’s Circus Division). That offer…. that stupid offer… changed everything.

Rainbow Bridge was facing difficulties in their operations during those earlier days and desperately needed a new strategy; with young faces on their side… luring in kids would’ve been much easier.

I should have said no… why did I say ‘yes’?

She later learned that she was the only one they wanted. She was the true talent, after all. Fed up with living on the streets and wanting to perform for a bigger audience with the promise to see the world and live a life of luxury. She sold her soul.

Melissa slowed down as the rabble of shouting, pubescent voices filled her mind. She pressed on, running along with the thoughts, the arid wind prickling the back of her throat, sweat stinging her already bloodshot eyes. She endured all of it until an image of those emaciated children appeared in front of her.

Melissa stopped, almost tripping over. She blinked and tried to shake the image out of her head, but it would always return, clearer every time.

She worked with them for years, having no contact with the kids in the shelter until that fateful day she and her circus companions were called in for a celebratory meeting with the boss. She walked into the wrong room and witnessed the horror. There was a bundle of them, squeezed against each other and some piled on top of one another like cattle in small cages. At first, she thought she was staring at a pile of corpses, because of the fetid smell, but it was a red herring.

The laboured breath and faint whimpering she heard made her realize they were alive despite their motionlessness. They were of different ethnicities, but shared a similar graying complexion. The visage of their skeletal frames and gaunt faces burned into her mind as they all stared at her at once.

She must’ve been in that room for no longer than a minute before someone came to get her. Later on, the circus division was treated to a deluxe five course meal in an extravagant restaurant. The members slurped their soup, chomped their nutritious salad, chewed their meaty entrée, guzzled their booze, and scraped their dessert plates clean all the while children they knew and were directly involved in their capture, starved in a shelter that was not too far away from the restaurant. The agony in her gut swelled from the moment she had that first spoonful of soup.

From there, food became harder to consume.

The memory finally went away, leaving Melissa alone with herself in the dry night. She stood there, thoughtless. Sweat stains dotted her gaudy outfit. No sound reached her ears. She couldn’t feel her exerted body or the hot tears cascading her flushed cheeks. All she could feel, all she could focus on, was despair. It spread through her like an infection. She sobbed. She clenched her muscles to keep from collapsing, but swayed forward a couple of times.

As she continued to bawl, her mind wandered, looking for an answer. She turned to the side and, at that moment, she cringed at the universe’s sense of humor.

It was a wedding dress shop. A long sleeve mermaid dress stood behind the display window. The sobbing let up as Melissa fixed on the dress. Chris appeared in her mind.

There were running footsteps in the distance.

Melissa grit her teeth and called, “Ungaikyo.” The radiating pink slit opened on her forehead, and her Relic stuck out. She equipped it and hurled it at the display window.

###

Tayte and Chris stopped before a wedding dress shop. A yellow light gleamed from inside and out of the smashed display window. Without sharing a word or even a look with each other, they jumped through the broken window.

They found Melissa posing flamboyantly in the center, with racks and display stands to either side. Tayte found it quite amusing, but was later even more intrigued by the state of her makeup was a smeared mess, but she maintained a proud look. “Oh, what a beautiful coincidence. We’re at a wedding shop.” Melissa said. She twisted her body a bit and eyed Chris. “Or is it ironic?”

“I say it’s nothing,” he responded caustically. “Just a wedding shop.”

Tayte put her observation abilities to the test and her eyes narrowed, as she stroked the shaft of her Relic.

Melissa read off her look and jeered, “Want to take a photo, dear?”

“Were you crying?” Tayte asked.

Melissa’s face turned grim, and she straightened herself. She pulled back and looked away, dropping her chin to her shoulder. “What does she have that I don’t?” she mumbled and then stole a glance at Chris.

Chris’ expression twisted with confusion. “What are you talking about—?”

“You said we couldn’t beat the Trials together because we were representing different gods,” she said vehemently. “And yet, you’re working with her. She’s on Izanami’s side and you’re on Walumbe’s. What gives?”

Chris looked down at the scoped pistol in his hand. He brushed over the scratches with his fingers. “I didn’t say that was the only reason why I didn’t want to work with you, Lissa.”

“You’re the real scumbag, Chris.” Melissa’s voice came out brittle. She cleared her throat, lifted her head, and forced a smile as she glanced at Tayte. “You drop all your beliefs when something better comes along.”

Chris took a step forward. “I was forced into this team-up, you know!”

“Don’t say it like you regret it. I see what is going on. You think she’s pretty and resourceful. The perfect partner.”

Chris rolled his eyes. “For crying out loud…”

Melissa shot another look at Tayte. “Just to let you know, he’s using you. He knows he can’t beat the Trials on his own. And this way, he gets to win, all while being accompanied by a beautiful face. He’s just an opportunistic horn dog. I wouldn’t be surprised if he tried to put some moves on you by now.”

“Oh, he has,” Tayte confirmed.

Chris looked over at Tayte with wild eyes. “What? When!?”

She gave Chris a smug look and chuckled.

Chris’s face fell. “This isn’t the time to try to be funny…”

Then, Tayte realized Melissa was focused on them for a while and her hand settling over her gut.

“You hungry?” Tayte asked.

Melissa’s face contorted terribly. “Shut up.”

“If he is using me, that’s okay. I’m using him, too,” Tayte said. “He’s my ticket to fights like these.”

“This is what you like, huh, Chrissy?” Melissa let her hand slip from her sunken stomach.

“Stop with that already,” Chris said. “Look, we can just put an end to this right now with nobody having to die.”

“I loved you, you know.”

Chris looked back into Melissa’s glassy eyes. “I loved you, too,” he said. “You think you’re the only one who had their heart broken that day?” Chris made a fist. “After you told me about what you did, I appreciated your courage and honesty, but it confirmed a lot of the suspicions I had about you at the time. I worked directly with you, Lissa, and you seemed to have the most fun when a job involved tormenting someone. You’d injure people severely when it wasn’t necessary and always did more than what was needed. I always knew that there was something wrong.”

“You’re no saint, either! Ugh, stop talking like you’re better than everybody else!”

“Your relationship sounds like it is in desperate need of a Nether-Mum,” Tayte said.

Melissa’s eyes snapped wide. “You know about them?”

“And used them.”

“Didn’t Chris explain to you about the damnation thing?”

“Yeah, he did.”

Melissa paused. “Wow. You’re like a superhero.”

“So, you don’t use them?”

“No.”

Tayte glanced at the Relic in Melissa’s grasp. “So, what is it going to be this time again? Copies? Inversion?”

Melissa threw the mirror off to her side, and it transformed into its monster form before hitting the floor.

Chris let out a groan and raised his gun.

Tayte dropped her pale hand onto his shoulder. He looked over at Tayte.

“Chris, hold on.” She started. Tayte watched the Relic hop and conjure a floating mirror facing Melissa.

After her copy was hurled out of the mirror. Melissa reached for a wedding dress on a stand behind her. She tore off a piece of the skirt.

“I am going to need you to do a favor for me,” Tayte said to Chris.

Chris looked back at her. “What?”

“Get out,” she said in a sharp tone.

“What, why?”

“Just do it.” Tayte gave him a warm smile.

Chris held her smile and the longer he stared the more evident the horror on his his became.

Tayte’s smile wasn’t of a young girl asking for someone’s aid. It was the smile of a psychopath wanting permission to wreak havoc.

Afterward, Chris turned to the door and ran out.

Melissa ran back to her idle copy from behind and wrapped the piece of fabric around its head, covering its eyes.

Tayte put on her fighting stance. Holding up the scythe to her side horizontally and kept her hands crossed over each other, gripping onto the middle of the shaft. “Is damnation the reason you want to beat the Trials?” Tayte asked. “Is that what you want to ask for? To escape damnation?”

Melissa sighed as she tied the fabric behind her copy’s head. “It doesn’t matter how much good I do from this point forward.” She tied another knot. “I’m destined to go there. This is the only way.”

“Do you actually feel bad or is it just the thought of damnation that makes you regret it?”

“I…”

“Would you still have done it if you knew Hell didn’t exist for sure?”

Melissa froze in place.

“Chris said that if you really felt bad and wanted to repent, then you’d wish for everybody involved in the child abduction plot to go to hell. Hm… maybe, you are just evil.”

Melissa’s sardonic smile returned, but her watery red eyes remained. “J-J-Just come at me already.” She let out a brittle laugh and patted her copy on the back.

The copy crouched down slammed its hands into the ground and the entire area flashed a blinding pink glow for a second.

Tayte looked around and whispered to herself, “How did we not notice that the first time?”

The copy waited for Tayte to recover and stood up. “I think you two would have a better chance beating the inversion while working as a team, no?” The copy said as Melissa retreated and lounged onto an armchair. “And this time you’ve got no way to get rid of me,” it added.

“It doesn’t really matter if everything’s inverted,” Tayte said, spinning her Relic slowly, “when I can blow winds in every direction.”

Melissa and the copy’s face dropped at once as Tayte sped up her spins and wind collected by her feet. She tossed the Relic into the air and caught it by the very end of the shaft. She spun, stretching the Relic forward. The wind ascended, wrapping her in a white typhoon blowing in every direction. Melissa was ejected from her chair as it spun around the room alongside the other furniture, the golden racks, and a bouquet of dresses.

“Kaze-no-saikuron-hakai!” Tayte roared from inside the booming windstorm.

Melissa and her copy were hauled along for the wild ride. The cyclone punched a hole in the ceiling and all those swallowed by the rotating column of air were whirled high into the night sky. The windstorm tore all its reluctant occupants to shreds like inside a giant blender — Melissa and her copy were lacerated all over, coloring the winds with red.

The winds dissipated without warning. Melissa and her copy fell silently. Not far behind was a rain shower of shredded fabric, sliced metal, and chopped pieces of furniture. The floor made a massive thud as they crashed into it. More thuds followed as the rest plummeted their way back into the shop. Melissa’s copy vanished.

Despite her best efforts, Tayte got hit by some pieces of furniture, letting out hisses and groans accordingly. She dropped the scythe and slogged her way around the wreckage and to Melissa who lied facedown, covered with bleeding cuts.

“Why didn’t you just do that earlier?” Melissa asked, her voice wheezy.

Tayte shrugged. “I guess I just wanted the fight to go on for a little longer.” She panted heavily. “You know what I think about your relationship with Chris? I think you wanted him to save you. To be your hero. You wanted to find a way to forgive yourself through him, but that dream fell apart after you told him that day, didn’t it? Personally… I think he may be a little immature.”

Melissa scowled, and her legs raised and then stretched to either side.

Tayte backed up as they bent back, lowering in front of Melissa’s face, and in an eye blink, she flexed herself back on her feet.

“You’re resilient. I’ll give you that,” Tayte said.

Melissa cowered and extended her bloody hands. “No, Tayte, please, wait. For just a moment. I’m begging you!” she pleaded. “I see now. You’re right. Chris is right. I can make it so that everybody that was involved dies and goes to Hell, including myself. That would be the most just outcome, so please, you have to let me win, Tayte. With your Relics, I can do that for sure. I can beat Adisa.”

Tayte arched her brow.

“We can torture Chris together to get him to forfeit his Relic. There would be no other way to get him to do it, and then you can forfeit yours over to me. That way you both get to live.”

Tayte chuckled. “Here’s the thing, Melissa. I don’t like that idea. I still want to participate in these Trials, especially after all these mentions about Adisa and now I’m curious to fight him. He must be real fun. I never planned on dropping out and now I’m more determined than ever to get to him.”

“What’s your reason to be in these Trials?”

“Mainly, to help Chris. Personally, I have no reason.” Tayte smiled manically. “But I am having so much fun so far.”

Melissa gulped. Terror took over her expression. “T-T-This isn’t a game. What’s wrong with you? You need help. Chris shouldn’t be paired with you. You need to stay away from him. You’re going to get him killed!”

Chris ran back into the destroyed shop and froze, standing a couple of feet behind Tayte as he locked eyes with Melissa’s woeful eyes. “Melissa…”

“You need to get away from her, Chris!” she shouted. Melissa pointed a shaky finger at Tayte. “You’re a lunatic.”

Tayte raised her fist. “And you’re an irredeemable criminal.” She launched a heavy fist and blood, sweat, and spit exploded out of Melissa’s face right before she dropped.

“No!” Chris sprinted to Melissa and kneeled before her unconscious body. He scrutinized her bony frame in a panic. “Melissa? Melissa? Melissa! Hey, Melissa! Melissa!”

Melissa snapped awake. It wasn’t long before dismay took over. “Did I faint? Oh, no, no, no, no, no.”

Chris grabbed her hand and squeezed it tight. “Melissa.”

Melissa held his stare without strength of her own to squeeze back. Her face scrunched as she wept. “Chris, I’m scared.”

“Why didn’t you just forfeit your Relic!” Chris rasped.

She sat up. “Chris, I-I-I don’t see light. I don’t see any white lights. It’s just darkness.” Melissa’s skin peeled and gray ashes ascended from her all over. She pulled her hand away and fretted, shaking her head and swatting at the ashes rising from her skin. “N-n-n-no, stop. I don’t want to die…”

Chris opened his mouth, but all that came out was a choked cry.

Melissa cupped Chris’s face in her decaying hands. “You have to get away from her, Chris. You can sense the evil in people, you’re good at it, and I know you can sense the evil in her. Don’t sell your soul just to gain something you think you want. I’ve made the same mistake. Get away from her. You still have so much life to live and being with her will just bring you closer to your dea—”

Her eyes sank deep into her sockets until blackness was all there was. Melissa’s mouth stretched open, and she became motionless.

“Melissa?” Chris muttered.

She was just a husk. Cracks sprawled across her face, and she fell to her side, shattering into pieces. And then she was ash that rose until there was nothing left.

Chris stood up and looked back at Tayte.

For the first time, she could understand a person’s thoughts in their entirety. Tayte read the thoughts from his expression like a magazine as she looked back with a stolid face.

Emotionless. Cold. Insane. Evil. His face said it all.

Then, Tayte took a step towards Chris. She breathed in and out, taking another step. She allowed her face to crumple a bit and opened her arms.

She hugged Chris. “I’m sorry for your loss,” she said.

An awkward silence followed, but Tayte didn’t give into the urge of aborting the mission. She endured the painful silence and waited.

She heard a sob.

Chris wrapped his arms around Tayte and wept.