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MAGGIE'S POV

I wake up drenched in sweat on the floor of Lila's bedroom.

I'm not sure how long I've been unconscious, but my body is still burning up like I have a terrible fever. The amount of pain that I'm in brings tears to my eyes, and if I hadn't been on a mission to help Laudon against Zul, I'd have prayed for death to come take me away.

The back of my head continues to throb relentlessly, and all my muscles ache as if I pushed past my limit in doing an intense workout. My vision is blurry and it's hard for me to get my eyes to focus as I attempt to turn over and sit up. That's when I feel it, the nausea and the tightening of my chest. Both happen simultaneously, overwhelming me as I begin to gag like I'm about to throw up. My heart is hammering so fast that I swear it's rattling my ribcage.

Despite whatever is happening right now, I refuse to die like this. I refuse to die in Hell.

"Neira," I choke on her name, gasping for air because it feels like all of it is starting to slip out of the room. "W-Where are you? I... I really need your h-help. Think I may be... dying."

A sharp pain shoots up my back and wraps itself around my skull, squeezing tightly as if someone has placed several rubber bands around my head. I scream out loud, not giving two shits about who can hear me, as fresh tears stream down my face. The room begins to spin, and I'm scared that I may pass out again, suddenly feeling lightheaded.

"What is happening to me?!" I pant, looking down at my trembling hands. "What the fuck?" My trembling hands no longer look like mine. I blink several times, thinking that my eyes are playing tricks on me until I realize this delusion isn't going away. My brown skin is now pale white, my new fingers elongated and slender. "Goddamn it, this hurts!"

I fall flat on my back, convulsing wildly as I feel my limbs being tugged and stretched in the most unnatural ways. The pain becomes too much for me to bear, and I begin to slip in and out of consciousness after that. At one point, I even find myself floating in midair surrounded by a bright yellow light. Silence then fills the room; I can no longer hear myself crying and I fear Zul's snarky statement from earlier about me meeting my maker may very well come true... until I hear her voice.

"Maggie, can you hear me?"

"N-Neira? Is that..."

"Yes, it is me. I am here with you."

I feel a cold hand brush against my damp cheek, my eyes blinking open to find a translucent version of Neira sitting next to me on the ground. I gasp in shock and sit up quickly, feeling none of the pain that I was screaming through seconds prior, and I hug her tightly. It's such a weird thing, how she feels solid yet I can also see right through her.

"H-How are you here right now?" I ask the most important question.

"First, I need to apologize for not being clear when we last met. I should have asked for your permission, but I was desperate and wanted to get to Laudon before he..." Neira pauses, breaking eye contact. "Before I met you, I never thought it would be possible for me to ever escape my prison in Heaven. Then I discovered just how powerful you are, and that Kalleste lives within you, so I selfishly took a chance assuming your body could handle it."

"You're not making any sense, Neira. Handle what?"

"Carrying my spirit. My physical body is still locked away in that cage, but my spirit is here with you. It is what you are looking at right now."

"Wow. I don't even... This is literally so insane. And yes, you totally should've asked for my permission! I thought I was fucking dying a few minutes ago, but now I know that it was just you coming out of me and God, that sounds so fucking wrong..." I exhale a shaky breath, closing my eyes and willing myself to calm down. "I hate everything about this and I'm glad that it's over. But, I understand you did it to help Laudon, so I guess I forgive you."

"Thank you, Maggie. And again, truly, I am sorry."

"Just tell me upfront the next time that you're about to use me and my body like it's a Taxicab."

"There will be no next time. Of course, I knew the risks beforehand, but the longer that my spirit is outside of my physical body, the closer I am to death. I can feel that I will fade away soon..."

"Not before we get to Laudon." I stand from the ground feeling re-energized and ready to take on the world. Neira, on the other hand, has yet to get rid of the gloomy expression on her face. "And then, with my permission this time, you can do whatever you did before so that we can get you back to Heaven. I promise you, after we help Laudon, he and I will come together to try to figure out a way to free you permanently. It's something that we both want."

Finally, she smiles.

"So, how do you propose we get out of here?" I ask, pointing at the door. "Lila, the owner of this room, locked me in and warded the place up so that only a few people are allowed to enter. I have no clue if or how that will have any effect on me trying to leave."

"Maggie, you mustn't keep forgetting about the power that you possess. No demon in Hell is a match for either of us," Neira smirks. She then looks at the door and, with a simple flick of the wrist, unlocks it from the outside. "Now you try to open it."

"But how—"

"Just concentrate."

"Okay, okay..." I exhale and shake off the nerves, focusing all my attention on the white door.

I call to my powers, internally, and much to my surprise they answer immediately. My hands are encased in soft blue light, my body feeling heavy but steady as I imagine the door opening for me. I can feel the energy in the room shift, the air becoming cooler as the blue light abruptly expands. It shoots out of my hands and lands directly in the center of the door so hard that it flies off the hinges.

"Practice makes perfect." Neira laughs. "I feel that Laudon is close by, and he is not alone. I can get us to him quickly. Take my hand and do not let go."

I nod and take Neira's hand.

We levitate a few inches above the ground, and I hold on tight for the ride, screaming nonstop as we fly through a maze of corridors. I end up closing my eyes halfway through it, not opening them until we come to a harsh stop and I slam into Neira's back. I'm a bit disoriented when my feet touch the ground. Seconds later is when I'm being shaken like a ragdoll by Lila. She doesn't look happy to see me.

"I explicitly told you to stay put and rest, you stupid girl! And who the hell is your ghost friend?" Lila whispers, shooting a sharp look at Neira. "Do I even want to know how she got here? Ugh. Just forget it! You two need to leave before Laudon notices—"

At the sound of his name, the floor beneath us shakes as if a massive earthquake has struck. Lila releases me while looking up, her eyes widening as all the color drains from her face. I feel Neira grip me tightly by the arm, her hand shaking as she follows Lila's gaze. I turn around to see what all the hype is about, and I somehow manage to lock eyes with Laudon instead.

My heart instantly shatters into a trillion pieces.

His long black hair is a tangled dirty mess, his handsome face and shirtless torso is covered in bleeding cuts and dark bruises. He has no shoes on and his pants look like they've been passed through a shredder... meanwhile, Zul stands a few feet away looking exhausted but less of a disaster.

The gear that I saw him in earlier is long gone, presumably was ripped off by Laudon. Zul is also shirtless and covered nasty battle scares, though much less than Laudon. He holds only one sword in his hand, and the tip of the long blade is missing. I can't even begin to imagine how that might've happened. Instead of looking my way, like Laudon, Zul looks up like Lila and Neira.

"Someone better start praying that he shows us mercy instead of immediately slaughtering us all," Lila whispers before kneeling on one knee, keeping her eyes on the ceiling. "This is precisely why I told you to wait in my room, stupid girl. Your reckless act of defiance has just put you on Lucifer's radar. Laudon will not be happy about this."

I finally break eye contact with Laudon and look up to see that there's a giant black hole in the center of the dingy ceiling.

Silence fills the entire arena. It's so quiet that I no longer hear Neira and Lila breathing. The ground continues to shake as two large figures descend from out of the black hole, a man sitting on the back of a massive reptile-like bird. Its fur is a deep mahogany color and its large eyes resemble that of a cat. Its head is about the size of a small car, and the wingspan on the gigantic beast stretches out so far that one flap would send everyone in here flying to the opposite side of Hell. The rider gracefully climbs off the beast, and with a snap of his fingers, it disappears along with the black hole.

The man then begins to shrink right before my eyes, getting smaller and smaller until he stands just a few inches taller than Laudon. He actually looks like an older, vastly more muscular version of Laudon but with olive-toned skin, short hair, and a beard. He emanates pure evil, it's damn near suffocating, and I find it hard to see how Neira fell in love with him at first sight. The Lucifer that I'm looking at right now isn't giving off any of the warm vibes that Neira made it sound like he had when she described their love to me. In fact, as Lila had said, I'm praying that he doesn't slaughter first and ask questions later.

I didn't make it this fucking far to die. If only for Laudon's sake, I have to see this through until the end.

. . .