Butterflies. Nicole found herself in a greenhouse surrounded by hundreds of them, their glistening blue wings making up every individual patchwork of the sky. Several more clung to her dress, tickling her with the constant beating of their wings.

Every step she took felt light and airy, the butterflies lifting her, which made the act of walking pointless. There was something about flying that made her feel oddly invincible.

“That’s because humans can’t fly,” someone said. “But you aren’t human, are you?”

She turns around, searching for the source of the voice.

“Down here. You look like a confused bird.”

Nicole descends from the top of the greenhouse, the butterflies following the pulse of her thoughts. She found herself facing Alice, who was wearing a red dress that perfectly matched the crimson of her eyes. Her platinum blonde hair hung past her shoulder in waves, reminding her of a beautiful and wicked vampire. She couldn’t believe she was related to dark-haired Cedric.

“Not all siblings are identical,” Alice said, speaking without moving her mouth. “Some are simply born more powerful than their brothers.”

“How are you doing that?”

“What?” Alice tilts her head to the side.

“You’re talking but your mouth isn’t moving,” she said.

Alice maintains a neutral face. Just as Nicole was going to ask the question again, Alice reveals the bundle in her arms. A baby?

“I’m clearly moving my mouth,” the infant said, offended. “Esmeralda was right. You do need to get your eyes fixed.”

“Who’s Esmeralda?”

“The woman who sold you those tarot cards,” the baby answered simply. “Then again, it’s not entirely your fault. You’re a glitch in the system. You don’t belong in this world.”

Nicole tries not to look surprised. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

The baby sighed. “I would advise you not to lie. I can read every thought you’re having. The contents of your brain are an open book to me.”

“But you’re just a baby,” she said.

“And you’re a girl who would sacrifice her life for a cat,” the baby said. “You foolishly believed that Lillian would grant your wish, so much so that you traveled to another dimension to attempt to kill a being a hundred times more powerful than you.”

“And who are you?”

“Forgive my manners,” the baby said, their high pitched-voice ringing through her head. “My name is Ileana, Second Dimensional Mother of the Charis Realm. Your days of doing the biddings of the Fallen One are over.”

Nicole remembers the old woman at the stall telling her to pledge her loyalty to Ileana so that the new dimensional mother would spare her. The baby giggles. “Don’t bother swearing yourself to me. You’re Lillian’s creation, which makes you corrupt and worthless.”

She glares at the goddess, trying to choose between a few nasty words to call her before realizing that the endeavor was pointless if Ileana could read her mind. She decided it was more useful to ask a question instead.“What are your plans for me?”

“What do you think my plans are, Fallen One? You’ve meddled with the dimensional affairs of a Mother. Two Mothers, in fact, when you placed that girl in Evelyn’s dimension,” Ileana said.

“I’m not Lillian,” Nicole protested. “Why are you talking to me like I’ve committed her crimes?”

“Sure you aren’t,” Ileana said, the sarcasm in her voice sounding especially annoying in the high-pitched voice of a baby. “You’re inhabiting the same flesh vessel as her so you basically are the same person. I thought I would let her know since she’s been living here in your subconscious the whole time.”

“You’re lying,” Nicole said. “Lillian isn’t here. She’s hiding somewhere in my dimension.”

"Is that what she told you?"

She remains silent. Ileana giggles again.

"No, it's what Aaron told you. Gosh, you really believe whatever that demon says? Granted, he's a prince, but he's been banished from Hell for a while now," Ileana said. "I'll let your little mortal brain process that later. But Lillian is here. I'm certain."

The butterflies around Nicole beat their wings faster, agitated. Some try to fly to Ileana, but the baby snatches them from the air and tears their wings off.

"You can't hide, Lillian," Ileana said. "Don't make this harder than it has to be."

A puddle of water forms at their feet. “I know you’re in this greenhouse. You can’t run from your sins forever. Just come out!”

“You can’t just summon me like a lowly servant,” Lillian’s disembodied voice growled. “Besides, I’m not leaving until I get Raven back.”

“You fool,” Ileana said, waving her chubby baby arms. “He’s dead. He’s been dead for a century. Get over him!”

The puddle turns into a shallow river, soaking Nicoles’s feet. The butterflies, noticing her discomfort, lift her into the air.

“You’re the fool,” Lillian sneers. Her face briefly flashes on all the greenhouse windows, taunting Ileana. “He’s alive. The demon prince made sure of it. He made a deal with Death for Raven’s life. Some Mother you are if you didn’t even know one of your children was still alive.”

“Asmodeus? That lowly demon has nothing to offer a god. He lied, Lillian. Thanatos would never soil his hands making a deal with someone like him,” Ileana said. The water levels surge with her fury, flooding the greenhouse as if she were trying to drown Lillian.

“If I may speak,” Nicole said, trying to cut into the conversation.

“You may not,” Lillian said, her voice icy. “You betrayed me when you agreed to sell yourself to that demon. What do you call him, Aaron? Ridiculous name. Fitting for a traitor pretending to be human.”

“You didn’t give me a choice!” The butterflies carry her to one of the windows of the greenhouse. “I couldn’t kill him. He’s invincible! I needed your help so many times and what did you do? You just disappeared and hid in my mind like a coward!” She spat on Lillian’s image as if the goddess were right across from her.

“All you had to do was stab him! It couldn’t get any easier than that. Look, I’ll even show you,” the goddess said, appearing beside Alice. She summons a dagger from thin air and stabs the red-eyed girl, blood spurting from the wound.

Nicole raises a hand to her mouth, horrified. Alice blinks, unbothered by the blood leaking out of her. Ileana tries to reach out to Lillian, but her tiny baby arms don’t touch the goddess in time before she disappears and reappears before Nicole.

“You were the last thing that I made before I fell,” she whispered. “Yet somehow, despite my greatest efforts, you’re my least functional creation.”

“It wouldn’t have worked,” Nicole said. “Aaron’s soul wasn’t in his body. His blood was on the dagger and I still couldn’t go home.”

“Silly girl,” Lillian said. “This dimension is your home.”

“But Ileana said -”

“Ileana has no control of this place. I made you, just like I made the Charis Realm,” Lillian said. “Asmodeus can be killed. You saw the way he looked at the dagger. Why do you think he was so eager to give you his eye?”

“The girl still trusts him,” Ileana said. “She won’t believe anything you say. Give up, Lillian, and turn yourself in to the Higher Order so that they can take care of your mess.”

“Never,” the Fallen Mother said. She vanishes, giving Nicole one last pleading look.

“It seems I have no choice,” Ileana said. “Lillian refuses to leave your body. I’m afraid I will have to force her out by making this flesh vessel unbearable to live in.”

“What does that mean?” The water levels begin to rise again, reaching her legs even as her butterflies bring her closer to the greenhouse roof.

“Torture,” Ileana said. “How else?”