In darkness, deep within the soul of Anna de la Lune…

Before the gaze of Anna’s brown eyes, standing so close such that they were both within a breath of the other, was a silhouette stained in red. Its facelessness, formed in the shape of her, of shadows and blood.

“Who are you?”

In response to Anna’s question, the silhouette laughed with a voice much like hers. Gentle, girlish, and yet, accented with a malevolent relish.

“Once, I was Hellbourne…”

“Hellbourne…”

Anna winced, as a frown formed upon her lips. She remembered that same word being uttered by the dragon, Terask Dagon, and it felt alien and guttural. Hard, and ugly. Perhaps it was because of the sound of his voice, and yet, for all that she knew, it was still utterly esoteric.

“How… why do you look like… me…?”

“I assumed a form that a mortal living under the Holy See of Arcadia would comprehend.”

“What’s that even… supposed to mean…?”

“The Lightsworn and the Central Church have hidden so many truths from the people they purport to protect…” the silhouette said, its voice a sweet whisper that caused even the tiniest of hairs upon Anna’s skin to stand. “You wanted to travel the world, and see places far beyond this city, do you not? This, and more, is what you will see and come to behold. In time, of course…”

“How did you know that I want to…?”

With what appeared to Anna like the briefest hint of a smile, the silhouette placed its shadowy hands upon her shoulders.

“Silly Anna, of course I would know. Now, I am you.”

“What?”

“You remember the Bloodstone, yes?”

Anna nodded. Her memories were a little fuzzy, but she remembered the black stone held within the hand of the elven servant who carried the Sorcerer King’s will. And she also remembered, very lucidly, its crimson glow.

“Before I was brought before you, it was my prison…”

“And now? After I…”

“Now, you ask? We are, as one.”

“I mean… what happens to us?”

The silhouette moved away from Anna. Placing one shadowy hand upon its bosom, it took a bow like a gentleman and offered its other hand to her.

“Would you care for a dance, other me?”

Wordlessly, and slowly, Anna placed her hand upon the silhouette’s shadowy touch. It felt soft, like she was caressing her own skin. Natural, even. And when she looked up towards its dark and bloody visage, it was like staring into her own shadow.

“Come…”

Upon the dark and formless floor, they danced. First, the quick-step. And then soon enough, they settled into a waltz, their feet shuffling slowly and gracefully together amidst the deathly silence of their surroundings.

“You dance very well…” the silhouette remarked quietly. “I am impressed.”

With a gentle nod, Anna’s eyes remained upon her partner’s facelessness. Where eyes ought to be, in lieu of darkness.

“My sister, she… she taught me the steps of this dance. Whenever it snowed heavily in the afternoon, we’d practice the living room with the gramophone playing our favourite songs, and I…”

She paused, closing her eyes shut in a bid to blink out the tears forming within.

“I…”

“I also had someone special teach me the steps of this dance,” the silhouette remarked wistfully. “He’s gone now… I know his place in my heart, for he was everything to me. We were once… fellow sorcerers, and yet, I can’t remember his name, or even how he looks like…”

The silhouette stopped moving. Anna too, stopped as well.

“I love him, other me. I… still do. Forever. I would do anything for him… just as you would do the same for her…”

“Sis…”

“Yes. Claire de la Lune. I sensed her name in your memories, and her presence within your desires...”

“Then you'd know that I must save her,” Anna stated. “No matter what, I must!”

“Yes, you must. You walk the same path as I once did. Yearning, for it…”

With a grimace, Anna nodded. It was clear, what had to be done. There was no going back to what once was, or what may have been. If only, for the sake of darkness, and no more dreams.

“We shall awaken, as one… you remember his name, do you not? Your ‘master’, your so-called ‘Torturer’.”

Anna grit her teeth, gnashing them as she took a deep breath.

“Vhal…”

“I sense what we intend for him, soon enough.”

“Yes. For her sake…” Anna whispered, closing her eyes as the silhouette embraced her. “No evil is beneath me.”