“We never agreed to this,” Aaron protests. He summons a circle of flames surrounding them, protecting them from the red-eyed Family members. Cedric and Nicole huddled behind him, holding hands.

“They’re not exactly the most trustworthy people,” she said, holding her sword out.

“They usually stick to their word,” Cedric replied, taking his pistol out of his jacket. “I don’t know what got into Alice.”

Maybe it had to do with the fact that she was basically a god now. But Nicole didn’t know if she could bring herself to tell him. She was still trying to process the fact that a girl who barely reached puberty could create life with her bare hands. Not to mention that she just witnessed a goddess die in front of her.

Lillian had said she was the true Mother of the Charis Realm, that she couldn’t escape her fate as the ruling goddess. It baffled Nicole that she could die so easily. If she had a few more seconds to think about it, she might’ve come to the conclusion that maybe Lillian wasn’t actually dead. Sadly, those extra few seconds were lost to a bunch of shapeshifters who penetrated their circle of fire by transforming into monsters with rock-like skin. She tries to stab them with her sword, but the metal of her weapon bounces back. One of the monsters hit her, sending her flying towards the stage.

She makes a move to get back up, but Alice kicks her down, stomping on her with a pair of sturdy boots. She swings her sword at Alice’s stomach, but the girl easily dodges, using the momentum to stomp on her again. Some of the Family members climb on the stage to help Alice, but personally, Nicole didn’t think she needed it. She was pinned beneath the girl’s foot with no way out.

Beneath the stage, the Lord and the butler were fending off more Family members. Although Nicole’s sword couldn’t break through the skin of the shapeshifters, Aaron’s claws easily cut through them. The butler had completely stripped off his glamour, showing his true form to those who dared to gaze upon him. If they didn’t go mad staring at him, he made sure to maim them.

He plows through the shapeshifters, making his way up the stage with Cedric behind him. A few of the Family members tried to follow them, but the Lord held them off, firing his pistol at their legs.

Meanwhile, at the center of the stage, Nicole was finally on her feet, keeping her sword pointed at Alice. They were surrounded by three members of the Family, one of which was Irene. She recognizes the others as the girl who summoned the zombies at the debutante ball and the black chimera who broke into the manor.

“Why couldn’t you let me leave? Cedric didn't want to harm anyone,” she said, staring down the blonde, red-eyed girl.

“You don’t belong in the Charis Realm,” Alice replied. “You were made by the Fallen Mother to topple Ileana’s reign. If I let you live, there will always be a chance that things would go back to the way they were. Besides, it’s always smarter to kill your enemies before they get to you.”

“I was going to leave the realm.”

Alice laughs. “How? On what carriage? Lillian is dead. My brother and his incompetent demon servant would’ve had nothing to offer the Gatekeepers.”

“You should’ve never killed her. Reality will collapse in your hands,” she warned. “The Higher Order won’t like that Ileana has deviated from the blueprint.”

The baby in Alice’s arms glares at her. “I am the Mother. My desires are the blueprint.”

“You know that isn’t true,” she said, speaking directly to the goddess. “Lillian was supposed to go on trial. You had no right to kill her.”

Alice looks down at the goddess. “Is this true?”

Before the baby could respond, the Lord and the butler finally reached the stage, making their way towards Nicole. She covers her eyes, already dizzy from staring at Aaron’s true form. Alice blinks rapidly as if she couldn’t process the butler’s existence. The three Family members surrounding them have a similar reaction, nearly falling to the ground in confusion. Only Ileana and Cedric remain unfazed.

“Let’s go,” the Lord said, grabbing her arm. The shapeshifters turn their eyes toward him, relieved to have something to focus on that wasn’t the butler. They pry him away from her, pulling him to the side. Aaron tries to reach him, but his feet are glued to the boards of the stage. She looks over at Ileana, whose eyes were glowing red with power.

That is one evil baby, she thought. She moves to rescue the Lord herself, but the girl from the ball stops her, using her necromancy to summon a wall of corpses. She slices through the dead bodies with her sword, chopping off heads and severing limbs. But, no matter how fast she slices through the bodies, they march forward, pressing into her. The scent of rotting flesh fills her nostrils and she suppresses the urge to vomit.

Her arm is a machine now, hacking without purpose. The dead bodies imprisoned her in a cell of bones and maggots, making it hard for her to breathe. Stars creep in at the edge of her vision. She falls to her knees, exhausted and unable to keep up. Her chest feels tight, unwilling to suck in more air. The pain in her arms built up, aching so much that she thought they’d fall off. Just when she thinks she can’t take it anymore, it all stops. Her vision turns white and she could feel something lifting her off the ground, letting her feet dangle in the air. Then, all at once, the butterflies come out of her, all a brilliant shade of blue. They attack the corpses surrounding her, turning the legion of the undead into piles of dust.

“Great Mother,” Alice whispers.

The butterflies turn towards the necromancer, attacking the girl before moving on to the two shapeshifters. But something wasn’t right.

Before Nicole was three Cedrics, each dressed the same. She rubs her eyes, making sure she wasn’t hallucinating. The butterflies pull back, surrounding her in a deadly, blue swarm. Her feet touch the ground again as her head whips back and forth between the three copies of the Lord. Which one was the boy she loved?

“My Lord,” she said, greeting the three men.

“Nicole,” said the Cedric on her right. “I’m glad that you’re unharmed.”

“My lady,” said the Cedric on her left. “You know I’m the real one out of these imposters. You’re too clever to be fooled.”

Only the Cedric in the middle didn’t speak. He only begged her with his eyes to see the truth.

“I told you not to call me that,” he said, trying to help her with his words. “Remember?”

And that was when she knew who the imposters were. In a single fluid motion, she stabs the Cedric on her right, shoving her sword through his stomach. The imposter’s glamour immediately crumbles, revealing Irene beneath it. She pulls her sword out, leaving the shapeshifter to bleed out on the stage.

She faces the remaining two Cedrics, ready to attack the one on her left. The two men were squabbling, moving around so much that she couldn’t tell which one was the imposter. She sends the cloud of butterflies towards them, hoping to destroy the other shapeshifter’s glamour. Instead, they cluster around one of the Cedrics, decorating his coat with their glittering blue bodies.

Was he the real one? She wasn’t sure. She tries to discern the imposters using the same method as before.

“My Lord,” she said, addressing both men.

“Call me Cedric,” they said simultaneously, using the same stern tone.

“Which one of you is the real one?”

“I am!” both exclaimed. They face each other. “No I am,” they said at the same time.

Her gaze lingers on the Cedric covered in butterflies. If he was the shapeshifter, his glamour would’ve broken down by now.

She approaches the other Lord, the one without any butterflies. “You’re the real one,” she said, pointing to him. He smiles, triumphant. She moves closer to him, enveloping him in a hug.

The real Cedric looked at her, aghast. He seemed disappointed that she hadn’t named him as the authentic one, but she threw him a wink. She had a plan in mind to kill the imposter.

“Come,” she told the shapeshifter, grabbing their hand. “Let’s go back to the manor.”

The imposter follows her, none the wiser, with the real Cedric trailing close behind.

“What about the fake? Shouldn’t we kill him?” asked the imposter.

“Yes,” she said. “We should.”

She shoves her sword into the shapeshifter’s chest, but her movements are too slow. In the nick of time, the imposter shoves the real Cedric in front of him. She realizes too late that she killed her lover and lets go of her sword, shocked.

“Did you really think you could fool me?” The shapeshifter casts off their glamour now, regarding her cooly with beady red eyes.

Aaron lets out a howl of pain from behind her, causing her to whip her head around in time to watch the demon crumble to ashes. Cedric lies on the stage, blood dribbling out of his mouth.

“I’m sorry,” she said, kneeling next to his body. “I didn’t mean to kill you. I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry!”

“It’s not your fault,” he said, taking her hand. Even on the edge of death, he was trying to comfort her.

“It is!” she exclaimed. “I stabbed you! You’re dying now because of me!”

“I’m not dead yet,” he said, giving her a weak smile. Tears run down her face freely. She wills her butterflies to heal him, for the blue light to grace her hands and save him. The magic that coursed through her body so freely was dormant, deaf to her pleas.

Alice stands over them, kneeling beside his body. “This wasn’t supposed to happen. He was supposed to be protected.”

“Save him,” Nicole said, sobbing. “You could do that, right? Irene told me you were a goddess now.”

“It doesn’t work like that,” she said. “I can only remake him if he dies.” Alice was remarkably calm for a girl who was witnessing her brother’s death. Or at least she appeared so. If anyone were to look at her hands, they’d see how angry she was, fingers clenched in the cloth that swaddled Ileana.

Frustrated, Nicole gets up, grabbing the hilt of her sword to yank her weapon out of his body. Rather than obeying her hand, the blade sinks deeper into his chest. Cedric lets out a soft whimper of pain. Alice shoves her off the sword, setting Ileana to the side.

“Don’t touch him,” she hissed.

“No,” he croaked, mustering as much effort as he could to say the one word. “Keep her here.” Sweat was beading on his forehead. He didn’t have much time left.

“But-”

This time Nicole shoved her aside. “You’re going to go against the wishes of your dying brother?”

Alice didn’t dare utter another word.

Nicole crouches near his body, holding his hand in hers. She cups his cheek with her other hand, watching his mismatched eyes flutter. The light in his gold eye was fading, losing its luster like a rusty old coin.

“You’re not supposed to die,” she said. “Aren’t you a demon?”

“Only part-demon,” he confessed. “I was mainly Aaron’s anchor to the Charis Realm.”

“Tell me how I can save you. Maybe I could summon Aaron again. He’ll know what to do.”

The Lord shakes his head. “I forbid you from making that sort of sacrifice for me. You know how bloody the first summoning was.”

“Don’t you want to live?”

“Not at the cost of an innocent life.”

“Don’t you love me?” She knew she shouldn’t have said that, but it came out of her anyway, pleading for him to stay with her.

“I love you,” he said. For a moment, the brightest smile lit up his face, so beautiful it seemed like he was going to live, like death was just an illusion. Then, he closes his eyes and breathes his last breath.

She sobs over his corpse, overcome with despair and helplessness. For all the magic she had, she still couldn’t save him.

She turns to Alice, not caring that there were tears still in her eyes. “He’s dead now. Won’t you bring him back?”

The red-eyed girl looked uncomfortable. “I can remake him, yes. But he won’t be the same.”

She thinks back to the creature she saw in her cell. “You’re afraid that you’ll make him into a monster.”

“There is one way to remake him whole, to bring him back just as he was.”

A bud of hope blooms inside her. “I’ll do anything.”

“Be careful of what you say,” Alice warned. “Anything really does mean anything.”

Did she think that she was stupid? She was willing to take any risk. Maybe it was the fact that Alice was younger or that it was she who had inadvertently caused Cedric’s death, but her words only served to make her angry.

“Don’t tell me what to do,” she said. “You killed him, or at least your minions did.” She points an accusatory finger towards the shapeshifter standing at the side of the stage.

“I killed him? If I’m not mistaken, that’s your sword in my brother’s chest.”

She balls her hands into fists, lunging at Alice. The girl easily dodges, sending Nicole to the floor. Alice climbs on top of her, wrapping her small hands around her neck in a surprisingly tight grip.

“You said you would do anything for him to live again. Does that mean you’ll die for him? You should, just to pay for your crime.”

Nicole wheezed, trying to speak, but Alice cuts off her airflow, squeezing her neck even tighter. As her vision became littered with black spots, she wondered if death was really such a bad thing. If she had to die for him to live, then her sacrifice wouldn’t be in vain. And if it didn’t bring him back to life, at least she would see him again. She relaxes under Alice’s grip, waiting to enter the afterlife.

A single butterfly caresses her cheek. She expects it to be blue, like all the butterflies she summoned, but instead, it was white. It clung to her skin like a snowflake, cold and small.

You couldn’t have prevented his death, Lillian said, her voice echoing in her head. Just because he died doesn’t mean you deserve to.

I thought Ileana ate you, she replied. Perhaps this was just a hallucination, the kind people had seconds before they died.

As I said, I’m the rightful Mother of the realm. She cannot kill me, even if she tried. But that’s not the point, my faithful Hand. You must stay alive. The boy was never supposed to die. That was Ileana’s fault for disobeying the Higher Order’s blueprint. They killed him to punish Alice.

What’s the point of living? He’s dead. She was barely conscious, her eyes fluttering shut.

I thought you cared about your cat, Lillian sneered.

At the thought of Jessie, her beloved cat with cancer in his lungs, she jolts awake, throwing Alice off her body with superhuman strength she didn’t know she had.

The goddess continues to speak. That’s what I thought.

Alice glares at her. “You shouldn’t have done that.”

“No,” Nicole said. “You should’ve just let us leave the opera house. You killed Cedric. You wanted blood. Not me.”

Alice opens her mouth to say something, but she found that she had no retort. Her bottom lip trembles uncontrollably. It was clear that she was doing her best not to cry.

“Mother said I had to,” she said, her voice shaking. “She said I had to kill the Fallen One and her Hand. I didn’t know Cedric would die because of it.”

Nicole couldn’t help but pity Alice. If she overlooked the fact that the girl had godlike powers and an insatiable desire for destruction, she felt that she could see Alice for what she truly was: a scared child. She couldn’t imagine what it was like having to listen to Ileana every second of the day, to obey someone so irrational.

“But she knew,” Nicole said. “Ileana knew Cedric would die.”

Now, now, Lillian chided her. It’s not nice to lie to her like that. But in this case, you’re right. Ileana did know. And she did not care.

Nicole repeats this to Alice, watching the girl’s face pale with horror. She picks up the baby from the side of the stage, whispering to them.

“Is this true?” Alice asked the bundle in her arms. “Did you know he would die?”

“No,” Ileana said. “I didn’t know. She lies. Don’t listen to the voice of your brother’s killer.”

The girl’s panicked red eyes dart between the goddess and Nicole, unsure of who to believe.

“There’s a blueprint,” Nicole said. “The Higher Order doesn’t let the Mothers run their dimensions purely based on their desires or the universe would descend into chaos. Ileana disregarded the blueprint and the Higher Order punished you for serving her.”

At this point, she wasn’t sure if the voice coming out was hers or Lillian’s. Either way, her words had power over Alice.

She drops the bundle in her arms, letting Ileana’s body hit the stage with a sickening thud.

"Pick me up this instant!" Ileana exclaimed. The baby rose from the ground, pushing themself up with their chubby little arms. She noticed that their head was tilted at an unnatural angle and that blood was leaking from their ears.

"Tell me the truth," Alice said. She had a mad look in her eyes. She looked seconds away from snapping and murdering everyone inside the opera house.

"I didn't know Cedric was going to die," Ileana whined.

"Why wouldn't you know? Aren't you the Mother of this realm?"

"That doesn't mean I could see the future. Being a creator doesn't mean I'm all-knowing," the baby countered.

"Excuses! I can feel the fabric of the universe, dear Mother, and Cedric wasn't supposed to die. That was not written in his fate. Why did he die, huh? What did he do to deserve this?"

"The Fallen One caused all of this," Ileana insisted. "Lillian, that harlot, doesn't belong here. Her presence threw off the balance of the realm."

Alice paused. For a moment, she considered Ileana's theory and nodded her head, agreeing with the goddess. But then, her boot comes down on the goddess's head, smashing it to a bloody pulp.

"And I was born yesterday," Alice said. "If there was an imbalance, my godly powers would've sensed it."

She turns to Nicole, her red eyes glowing.

"I'm sorry," she said. "This was my fault. But there is a way to fix it, something that won't involve killing a baby."

She holds her arms out, pulling something from the air. With great effort, she summons a door onto the stage. It was brown and ordinary, the kind of door Nicole would expect to see in her house, with a round metal knob.

"We both know that Cedric didn't deserve to die. I need you to go to the Underworld and retrieve his soul for me. Goddesses don't have jurisdiction down there so you're the only one out of the two of us that can even be there. Once you have it, find this door again and I will restore it to his body."

Nicole looks at the bloody bundle on the stage. "What about Ileana?"

Alice gives her a crazed smile. "Once I consume her body, she won't be much trouble to either of us."

Nicole shudders. Cannibalism seemed to be a common practice within the Family, even when the cult wasn't headed by a Mother.

She faces the door, hesitant. She was about to enter the world of the dead alone.

You'll have me, Lillian chimed in.

Great. More goddesses.

She twists the doorknob and walks through, letting an icy mist envelop her. Hopefully, she knew how to find her way back. If she didn't, she'd have to spend all of eternity in the Underworld.