"Ariadna..." Zintra uttered, cold sweat covering her body.

Eve simply smiled.

Then Eve shouted and swung her scythe at the gypsy. Immediately, Zintra raised her red-hot iron wand and blocked the blow, but she was thrown towards the monolith, right beside Elsie. The little girl screamed in fear.

"No... it can't be. Ariadna's spirit is supposed to reside within the girl," Zintra said. "How can it be you?"

Ariadna said nothing, only diabolically smiled again and, with her scythe of black fire, advanced toward Zintra. The cardinal then raised her iron wand and shot a lighting bolt that threw Eve towards a nearby tree.

"Mom!" Elsie cried out.

Eve got up as if nothing happened and began running swiftly toward Zintra. The gypsy then fired lighting beam after lightning beam, but Eve managed to dodge them all. She reached Zintra and clashed her scythe against Zintra's red-hot iron wand again. Sparks began to fly... Zintra knew she couldn't win in a clash of power. So, she began to vibrate at great speed, turning into wind, and the scythe pierced through her, hitting the monolith.

Zintra materialized meters behind Eve; she began to levitate in the air...

"Now I understand... you're not Ariadna, or at least not the genuine Ariadna," Zintra said to Eve. And she fired another beam, yet, like before, Eve dodged it.

Ariadna continued laughing manically; liquid not only flowed from her eyes but also from the corners of her mouth. Then she coughed, and more black liquid spewed from her mouth.

"So, Ariadna's possession isn't complete..." Zintra said. "You're against the clock, Ariadna, not only because midnight is approaching. That makes things easier, Ariadna."

Then the woman began firing lighting beams at Ariadna, who evaded them one after another. Whenever she jumped to strike Zintra with her scythe, Zintra flew away. Ariadna began to pursue her.

"It's useless. I'm a cardinal, I command the wind as I please! You're in my element, Ariadna. It doesn't matter if you're just an empty shell of the original, if I keep away from you, your time of possession will end," Zintra said, laughing.

Then Ariadna took another step but spat out another black vapor. Zintra seized the moment and fired another beam at Eve, hitting her directly.

"Mom!" Elsie screamed again, trying to free herself from the chains.

Eve stopped smiling and now wore a serious expression.

"It seems you've reached your limit much sooner than expected," Zintra said. "Goodbye, Ariadna..." Zintra raised her hand to fire another beam; however, she realized she no longer had her left arm. "Huh?"

"Ahhhhhhh!" Zintra screamed in pain, falling into the snow and writhing.

Zintra hadn't noticed that Ariadna had swiftly severed her arm. A primal fear seized the gypsy; as if she knew that no matter what she did, she couldn't defeat Eve... The cardinal raised her eyes filled with panic. Her voice broke in her throat; not a single sound could escape.

Eve began walking toward Ariadna, the black fire scythe in her right hand was brighter. At that moment, Zintra knew that the possessed woman was only playing with her. So Zintra reacted, grabbing the iron wand with her free and only hand, igniting it again.

"Stop, Ariadna!" Zintra screamed in terror.

However, Ariadna just smiled again.

Zintra's hand trembled... Then she aimed at Elsie. "I said stop!" the gypsy shouted and fired a beam that landed beside the girl chained to the monolith.

"Ah, mommy!" the girl screamed.

Ariadna stopped.

"I know you can't do anything to me!" the gypsy shouted. "Because you need that girl as your vessel. If I kill her, you'll have to wait another year to revive again. Ariadna!"

"Do you really believe that?" Ariadna said.

"So, you can speak."

"Yes..." Ariadna replied.

"Excellent," Zintra said. "Let me propose you a deal: I'll give you the girl, and in return, you let me go."

"No..."

"You're kidding me! You don't understand what this means! You can keep the girl; you can be alive again!"

"I can't let you go because you're already dead," Ariadna said.

Ariadna then raised her hand and made a cut in the air with her palm.

"Oh no...!" Zintra screamed as a deep cut appeared in her throat; a final beam shot towards Elsie. However, before the beam could hit the girl, He appeared...

From the nighttime sky descended a tall, strong man with a long grayish beard and gray hair. He wore a black grenadier's cap, a red coat with black pants, and a long black cloak. The man raised his gray eyes towards Zintra before she died.

"She's not yours to reclaim her life..." the man said in his deep voice.

Finally, the light left Zintra's body, and her iron wand fell into the snow.

"Alexander..." Ariadna said. "How many years have passed since the last time I saw you? 11 years, maybe?" Ariadna asked.

"It's been 10,000 years, here," Alexander Noelius replied.

Ariadna let out a mocking laugh...

"I see, 10,000 years. I suppose it has been a long time," Ariadna replied. "There are no more trees with red crowns, no more dancing leaves. I see no more forests but only death and snow. You became the king of Purgis, consumed by the crown, controlling the magic of winter. How many gifts do you give to human children? How many gifts must you give to wash away the blood of all those you've killed during the midnight ritual?"

"Not enough to silence my conscience," Alexander replied quietly.

"I see... that's why they call you 'Santa Claus,'" Ariadna said.

Then Alexander Noelius removed his cloak, revealing a saber on his back with a black blade emitting smoke, crimson fractures shining in the spectral winter.

"Would you truly lift your weapon against your wife?" Ariadna said to Alexander.

"You are not my wife... the Ariadna I knew in that autumn of uncertainty no longer exists; you were consumed by Avon the Progenitor's blood. Do you know how many died? Do you know everything I lost because of you, all those who abandoned me? I lost my family, my friends... our son."

Ariadna began to laugh again. "Forgive me, Alexander... but that's my nature, as Avon's daughter..."

"I know, your nature is to plunge Purgis into complete darkness, just as my nature as the king of Purgis is to stop you," Alexander said, pointing his saber at Ariadna.

Then Ariadna extended her arms.

"Come to me, my love..." said Ariadna, extending her arms.

Alexander rushed towards Ariadna, attempting to strike her with his saber, but instantly Ariadna summoned her scythe of black fire and blocked Alexander's strike. Alexander then began a series of strikes one after another, all of which were evaded by Ariadna. Similarly, Ariadna was unable to land a hit on Alexander.

Ariadna somersaulted and from the snow beneath her feet, she summoned icy black ice chunks towards Alexander. However, the ruler of Purgis cut through the ice with his saber. This gave Ariadna enough time to leap and deliver a downward strike with her scythe. Alexander barely managed to block the blow, which generated a blaze that started burning the surrounding trees. The scythe's tip managed to wound Alexander's shoulder.

"What's wrong, husband? Has age finally caught up with you?" Ariadna mockingly asked Alexander.

"After 10 millennia, it catches up with anyone..." Alexander replied. "I won't be the impetuous younger man you once knew, but with age, new powers have come to me." He then began conjuring a series of shooting stars from his hands and hurled them at Ariadna, but she evaded them. Then she delivered a strong slap to Alexander Noelius, causing him to crash against the monolith.

"You know, husband, it doesn't matter if you're the king of Purgis because in the end, I cannot be defeated by you or the magic of my father's kingdom. Purgis is Avon, and I am his daughter..."

Then Ariadna once again spat more black liquid, but this time, the black liquid consumed her. "No, not yet!" Ariadna shouted. "I still need a bit more time, I still have to wait until midnight!"

"Mom!" Elsie shouted again.

"Elsie, mommy is here!" Eve said. The woman's eyes returned to their traditional green color. "I've come for you, baby I came to save you."

"No, Mom, be careful!" Elsie screamed.

Then Eve turned her head, there he was, Alexander Noelius, wounded on the shoulder and limping.

"You've been a very naughty girl, Eve Night," Alexander Noelius said and delivered a strong slap to Eve's cheek, disorienting her for a moment... when suddenly she felt a sharp pain in her abdomen.

Alexander had plunged the saber into her belly.

"It can't be..." Eve said incredulously.

Then the tolling of bells could be heard in the nighttime sky...

"Midnight is here," Alexander Noelius said.

"No!" Eve said and tried to walk, but her wound wouldn't allow it... so she fell to her knees in front of Alexander. "Give me Elsie back... give me my daughter," Eve said as she clung to Alexander's thick wool pants.

"I can't. Eve, I can't do that. I'm truly sorry," Alexander said without even looking at Eve... then he snapped his fingers, and a winter storm began to carry Eve away from the scene.

"Mom!" Elsie shouted again, this time in desperation because the girl knew she wouldn't see Eve again.

"No... I must go back, I must go back for Elsie," Eve said as she tried to fight against the blizzard transporting her away from the monolith. Eve managed to break free from the blizzard and fell into the forest, from branch to branch until she landed on the ground...

Despite being in great pain, she stood up and began to gasp for air. She realized she was in another place, in a cemetery with graves whose names were covered in moss. In the middle of the path, there was a monument of a stone sword.

Then Eve remembered the tarot card that Zintra had shown her... that sword that resembled the one in that monument. "Saint Joseph of Arimathea"

So Eve started to walk to the sword...

"Stay calm, Elsie, he hasn't finished with mom yet. I'm on my way, my girl, just hold on..." Eve said, but her legs failed her, and she felt exhausted on the stone-paved path just a few meters from the sword. "I'm coming, Elsie. I'm close," Eve said. "I'm sure I can rescue you..."

The snow began to fall once again and suddenly she realized what happened.

Eve saw two blurry figures approaching her, the first one a man wrapped in furs, and the second one a young blonde woman with spiraled horns, like Zintra's.

Then Eve took her last breath and closed her eyes...