Vera found herself in the Afterlife, but she couldn't bring herself to care. All she could think about was how Sonia and her sister hated her. Hated her enough to wish that she was gone from their lives.

'What have I done!?' She hated herself for bringing them so much pain. 'I wish I was gone! Then they could've been happy!'

"Vera---" inquired Bassie.

"What happened?" said Leo.

"L-leave me a-alone!"

"But---"

"I SAID LEAVEME ALONE!"

The twin elves left her inside her room. She wallowed in despair as she reminisced the things she had done.

'I only wanted the best for them! I never meant for them to be hurt! Why couldn't they see that? Why is that when I care about them, they always turn their backs at me and hate me for caring about them!?'

She pulled her hair out of anger. 'Why!? Why does no one appreciate me! I--- I...'

---

Vera came out. Every step she took felt like a spear piercing her. Leo and Bassie gazed at her in concern, but she waved off any of their inquiries.

"Just bring me to Crispin, will you?"

Her voice sounded off and dull, even to her ears.

---

The familiar office of Crispin did not bring any emotions within her. She thought she could be happy, but she felt nothing. She was emotionally tired, drained of any feeling. The only thing that remained was hatred and pain, and she was tired of it. Crispin looked at her weirdly for a while now, and it irritated her.

"What is it?" Her piercing gaze shocked Crispin. She looked so broken, so tired, so empty.

He looked at her with concern. "Are you okay, Vera? You can rest---"

"Why do you care, huh? I've already finished my mission! Just grant me my stupid wish and we're finally done! I can finally wallow in peace! After all, everyone hates me? Right!?"

"That's not true, Vera... we---"

"Not true, huh? I know that you're just forcing yourself to be with me! After all, this is the Great One's orders, right!?"

"We've come to care about you Vera, even if in the first place, it was only for professional matters... but---"

"Lies! Lies! I'm tired of everyone's lies! Just give me my goddamn wish and I'll be done here!"

"But---"

"Give it now!"

"Okay Vera... What is your wish?" Crispin invoked the power of the Great One. He just hoped that Vera wouldn't wish for him, or the consequences would be great. 'There's no going back now...'

"My wish is..." Vera tried searching for the right words. She was just so tired, and empty, that's why she uttered, "I wish that the person that is fated for me appears now. The one who doesn't care about my past, my evils... I... I wish that they'll save me from grief now..."

Crispin paled at her words. 'With those words, she just...'

A red cloud seeped into the office. It condensed and condensed until it revealed Damos, the doppelganger. He faced Vera, and hugged her.

"I've been waiting for this, my beloved... Ever since the Great One meddled with our fates... I've waited for you... And now, no one can stop me from being with you!"

"W-what?" spluttered Vera.

"I am your beloved, you silly!" Damos flicked her forehead. "We were always meant to be! Now, I have come to save you!"

"What?"

"Hmm?"

"You... You still want me despite that I have done?"

"Of course! I've always wanted you even before you came here in the Afterlife! I've waited for you to come here for hundreds of centuries, yet my patience did not waver for I knew it would eventually come... And now that you're here, no one, not even the Great One, can stop me from being with you. So... Come with me?"

Damos held out his hand for hers to take. This was the only time when someone asked her to be with them. No one else did that. They only tried to push her away, shun her away, even if she loved them truly.

Crispin tried to dissuade her. "No, Vera! Don't take his hands! Don't come with him!"

"Now Crispin..." said Vera. "I knew you were lying. You're even trying to take my happiness away from me. You really are a liar."

"B-but---"

"Sir Crispin is not a liar!" defended Bassie.

"Yes! He cared about you! We cared about you! Nothing about it was false! He even---"

"Shut it. I won't listen to your lies anymore." Vera took Damos' hands and said, "I'll go with you. At least someone is telling me the truth here, and it's not them."

"No, you can't!"

"I just did." Damos then whisked her away from Crispin's office, away from their lies and clutches.

Now, she felt free. Cared for. Loved. Wanted.

And no one can take it away from her.