“Alina?” I sputtered, as well as more or less everyone else. Alina, as in the goddess Alina?!

  We were fighting this world’s creator?!

  Avaline crossed her arms, and a look of amusement spread across her face. “It’s unlike you to give up your secrets so easily, Sylvis.”

  “They were bound to find out eventually. This way it was on my terms—not yours.” Sylvis smirked.

  She had called Avaline her other self… Did that mean they were both the goddess? But… how? Hadn’t Alina died? Do goddesses just split in two when they die?!

  “Yes,” Avaline looked at me. “Sylvis and I are both the Goddess Alina. As such, we are capable of using all magic ever created, including Ethereal magic and mind reading.”

  I jolted. She had been reading our minds all this time?! No wonder she knew so much about us! But then, why had she used Ether Recollection on us?

  “Maybe I should explain. I can’t let Sylvis have all the fun, now, can I?” Avaline crossed her arms. “After Etheria split, Sylvis became bound to the continent you call Meridia, and I to Vafir. When the continents split, the ether didn’t split evenly with it. Meridia’s ether is rather balanced, but Vafir has an abundance, which is how the ghula came to be.”

  The room fell silent as we processed Avaline’s words. What she had said was what was depicted in the murals, then.

  I watched Maverick’s body shake with what I imagined was anger. “You were… And you never told me?!” he shouted at Sylvis. For a moment, I thought he might try to fight her. His gaze turned to Rosalie. “Did you know about this?!”

  “Yes,” Rosalie answered without hesitation, her arms crossed.

  “I’m sorry—it was a secret I couldn’t tell just anyone.” Sylvis’ shoulders slumped as she frowned. There was guilt in her expression—guilt that only seemed to grow as she studied Maverick’s reaction.

  I was losing my mind. I had so many questions. Aidan’s head kept rapidly turning from Sylvis to Avaline, Marge’s jaw had been open for the past minute, Maverick was a bundle of rage, and Finn seemed decently surprised.

  “Sylvis… How are you here?” Zephyr asked the other question I wanted to know. “I thought you couldn’t leave Meridia?”

  “It’s true that my body can’t leave Meridia. My soul, however, can temporarily leave,” Sylvis explained. “This body isn’t actually mine—it’s Letheria’s,” she paused, and her expression instantly changed. “D-don’t look at me like that! Letheria offered me her body.”

  “And she’s getting it back, right?” Marge asked.

  “O-of course! Assuming I haven’t miscalculated anything…” Her voice got quieter with her last sentence.

  “Then that body of yours has limitations.” Avaline summoned her other spears again, pointing all nine of them at Sylvis. Being so close to her this time, the spears looked ginormous… Each was a beautiful orangey gold color.

  “It is true this body houses less ether. However, it’s the soul that manipulates ether, not the body. And you’re reeking of ether. Considering we are one and the same, there isn’t any reason why I shouldn’t be able to control your ether.”

  The look on Avaline’s face changed to a scowl. “You’re right—we’re one and the same, so we’re evenly matched. However, I have the stronger body.”

  “And I’m not alone.”

  Energy pulsed through me, and I could see a white light enveloping the others just as it had right before we faced Avaline. She wanted us to fight.

  Oh gosh, she wanted us to fight!

  Before I could really process anything, Sylvis launched at Avaline while summoning a beautiful white rapier. Five of Avaline’s spears held her off, while Maverick and Rosalie both flanked her. The remaining four spears held the two of them off, but they weren’t letting up. Finn struck behind her with his lance, and Aidan followed up with a blast of fire magic. Finally, they had begun to hit the shield.

  Avaline’s spears circled around her before pushing each of them off. Oh no, you don’t! With a blast of wind, I sent her spears flying.

  Sylvis was once again on her, the two of them exchanging blows with incredible speed. Before anyone else could approach, a vortex of wind surrounded them, blowing back anyone who came near. Crap, did I inspire that?

  “Goddess damn you!” Rosalie shouted. She used her sword to try to create ice along the vortex, but the wind was too strong and instantly broke it.

  “Good thing I can teleport.” Maverick shrugged before disappearing. And then he reappeared. “…Good thing I didn’t take into account that she can also teleport, including teleporting other people.” He winced as he massaged his back.

  “S-so what do we do now?” Aidan asked.

  “I think we should let Sylvis handle it,” Marge said while… snacking on a cookie?

  “Where did you get that cookie…?” I asked as my gaze followed her cookie. My stomach rumbled. I want a cookie…

  “Oh, I pocketed a couple from Avaline’s fake kitchen. Want one?” Marge pulled out another cookie from her pocket and handed it to me. I stared in awe at the cookie, feeling my body grow lighter as I reached for it—

  The cookie was snatched from me. “We don’t know what’s in this thing—” Finn was interrupted.

  Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

  “Give me the cookie!” I shouted as I grabbed his arm and snatched it back. My cookie. It tasted so good! It was like chocolate chip, except it wasn’t chocolate! At least I didn’t think it was chocolate. It had pink chunks in it.

  “If anything happens to you…” He facepalmed.

  Rosalie rolled her eyes and turned around to look at the fighting. “I’m certainly not going to stand around eating cookies while Sylvis is—” A cookie was shoved into Rosalie’s mouth, stopping her from finishing the sentence. I watched her swallow as she turned around, and… the biggest smile I had ever seen was on her face. “What is this? It’s so good! I’ve never tasted anything like it before!”

  “Right?!” Marge agreed enthusiastically.

  “C-can I have another…?” Her voice was so quiet I nearly missed it. I never thought I’d see the day when Rosalie prioritized a cookie over Sylvis.

  “Nuh uh. Last one.”

  Finn cupped his hands around his mouth. “She’s cheating on you!” he called out to Sylvis.

  “I-I am not! This dessert is incapable of romantic feelings!” Rosalie crossed her arms and looked away.

  “How do you know that?” Marge asked while… chewing on another cookie… Oh, that little liar…

  The vortex around the two finally disappeared, which meant cookie time was over. Rosalie wasted no time rushing over to…explain her love affair to Sylvis? Sylvis couldn’t seem to care less as she held up her rapier, blocking spear after spear. Rosalie had to keep crouching to stay at eye level.

  “We should probably help Sylvis,” I said.

  “Probably.” Maverick’s arms were crossed as he smirked. “Probably,” he repeated. He really had no intention of moving, did he?

  I rolled my eyes and jogged over to the two. I really wished I had a weapon… I launched fireball after fireball, which dissipated as soon as they hit the shield. The shield, on the other hand, looked completely fine. The others joined in, and even Zephyr had begun fighting instead of relying on illusions! Maverick and Finn relentlessly attacked the shield with their weapons until, finally, it broke. Maverick’s sword pierced her back, and I watched as she stumbled forward.

  The remaining shield broke—Avaline must have no longer been interested in using it. I looked at the floor to see five of her spears broken. Sylvis’ shoulders had begun to slump, and her body was bent slightly forward. She was getting tired. Rosalie, who was standing next to her, looked fine, other than being pissed.

  The blood on Avaline’s back disappeared, and her wound and fabric completely healed. She repositioned her spears so there was one on each side of her. No problem, there were four spears and eight of us.

  Her right spear moved to defend against Rosalie, while her back spear defended against Finn. Maverick took advantage of this and attacked from the back right. His sword slipped right through the spears, and… right through Avaline? His eyes widened as he stabbed her again, and again, but she completely phased through like a ghost.

  If Alina had died, did that make Avaline a ghost? I shook my head. Something told me this didn’t work like that.

  “It’s called phasing,” Sylvis called out to us. “She can phase through any object.” Well, clearly that was the thing Talus should’ve warned us about!

  “So, how do we hit her?!” Finn asked as he continued to defend himself from a rabid lance. Seriously, that thing was flailing around unpredictably! I guess if Avaline didn’t need them to protect her, she could freely use them however she saw fit. Suddenly, its chaotic movements made more sense.

  “I’m unsure.” Sylvis took a step back. The rest of us stepped back as well, deciding it was best not to waste our energy.

  “You can’t hit me.” Avaline’s voice was smug. “Neither magic nor physical attacks will affect me—I can phase through it all.”

  Ugh, there had to be something! Could we phase the attacks out? Could phasing hit phasing? No, that sounded stupid. What else would work? If there were only a way to hit her without something tangible…

  Wait, didn’t Lumi’s weapon do that?

  I ran over to Sylvis and tugged on her arm as if I were a child. When I got her attention, I whispered to her, though it probably didn’t matter when Avaline was a mind reader…

  Avaline scowled as Sylvis’ face lit up with amusement. I watched Avaline wince as blood poured from her stomach, then her arm, then her chest. Apparently, she was so petty that she decided to use the same weapon against Sylvis. Sylvis’ attention would not be broken, despite blood dripping from her head.

  “Now’s our chance!” Finn called out. Right, she would be too distracted to phase out!

  Rosalie and Maverick swung with their swords, causing Avaline to shriek in pain. Marge and Aidan were getting ready to lunge, but Finn extended his arm, blocking them from moving. “Do it, Ella! You deal the final blow!” Finn smiled at me, giving me a thumbs-up with his free hand.

  I smiled and nodded. Now was the time for me to prove my worth. Splitting myself into four clones, I once again prepared to hit her with all the elements.

  At least, that was the plan. What actually ended up happening was that the first three strikes that came from the clones were ice, and my actual attack was fire. Stupid clones! My ball of fire rained down from the ceiling and consumed Avaline. I froze momentarily, terrified that I would see the same scene I saw with Asir. But instead, all that remained were golden ashes. Or golden dust? Whatever, it was pretty.

  “D-did we do it?” Aidan asked. Honestly, I wasn’t convinced it was over either. I was convinced that Avaline had transformed into dust to convince us we had won, and then she’d strike as soon as we tried to leave.

  “Yes, she’s gone.” Sylvis’s melodic voice was quiet. She knelt beside the ashes, placing a hand over her heart. Right… This was her other self. In a way, she was losing a piece of herself.

  The ground began to shake, and the remaining chandeliers began to sway. One of them swayed so violently that it fell to the ground.

  “We need to get out of here!” Maverick shouted.

  “No!” Sylvis ordered. “Without a host, the ether is running wild in Celut! We must find a way to contain it, or the kingdom will be overrun with tainted creatures! And it won’t just be the animals!”

  “How are we going to find a way to contain it?!” I shouted, trying to make my voice heard past the rumbling and crumbling of the palace.

  “I can buy you some time,” a familiar voice said. Talus had appeared in the palace, with her arms extended in front of her, like she was creating a shield. Suddenly, the shaking stopped. “If the palace collapses, it will cause significant damage to the capital. I can hold it in place, but not for long. Nice to see you again, Sylvis.” There was a coldness in her tone, like the two weren’t on good terms. Sylvis would be her mother, wouldn’t she? And she just killed her other mother… Oh… The family drama…

  “Talus.” Sylvis grew stiff, and her voice returned to what I was familiar with. “I believe I can send the ether here to another continent, but…” Sylvis frowned, her face full of concern.

  “But what?” Maverick snapped.

  “I’ve already spent too long in Letheria’s body. Any more, and my soul will completely merge with her body.”

  “Meaning?” Marge asked.

  “Letheria’s soul will be lost. When my soul leaves, it will leave behind an empty corpse.”

  The rumbling in the distance left me on edge. As much as I didn’t like Letheria, I didn’t want her to die. I’d be a pretty mean person for wanting someone slightly annoying to die, anyway. “Take mine,” I said.

  “What?!” Everyone except Sylvis and Talus shouted.

  “You can’t be serious!” Finn ran over to me, standing directly in front of me and blocking my view of Sylvis. I stepped to the side so that I could see her.

  “No, take mine instead,” Maverick pleaded with Sylvis.

  Despite this, Sylvis’ gaze never left me. There was something in her eyes—a look of familiarity. “Elaina will work better. There’s a higher chance of her soul surviving than yours. But let me ask again: Are you sure this is what you want?” The look of seriousness on Sylvis’ face rattled my confidence, but I nodded.

  I couldn’t make sense of what happened next. My vision went hazy, my hearing felt fuzzy, like I was hearing my friends’ screams and shouts from a distance, and I watched as Letheria’s body dropped to the ground and a light enveloped me.

  Something within me wanted to cry, like I was reunited with something I lost many, many years ago.