The entire world seemed to melt away. My ears perceived no sound, everything beyond my reflection in the pond was blurry. Nothing else existed beyond the pond. The terrible pounding of my heart was rattling my weak frame. My hands and dress were wet with my salty tears.

    I am Memortra.

    My hands bear the blood of children. I have murdered. I didn't want to believe it, but in my black and twisted heart knew it was true. I could feel the screaming souls of the ones I killed scape down my spine in agony. They knew I was the one who took their life.

I stared at my reflection in the pond in petrified horror. I am a murderer. I am a murderer. I am a murderer.

    The image in the water changed and Indivar's face replaced mine. Lucille's granddaughter stared at me with dead, lifeless, unforgiving eyes that burned freezing holes into my soul. I let out a dry wheeze, no sound coming out. I think I was trying to scream.

    My heart pounded recklessly inside my head as I looked up and saw one face. It was a face I would remember for the rest of my life, magic or no.

    Ren's eyes, stretched wide in fear at the sight of me. He was afraid of me. He was afraid of me. I killed him. I killed him.

    "Galia." His terrified, trembling, voice splashed through my thoughts.

    "Galia please." He begged, shaking my shoulders. "Are you alright?"

    I blinked, taking in my surroundings. Celeste was staring me like she would be ready to kill me if I turned bad again.

    She's scared because I can take her out just like I did with my father.

    I let out another dry heave, coughing up onto the ground. Some black goo splattered onto the grass. That can't be good. Someone was patting my back as I heaved again.

    Lucille looked afraid. She wasn't afraid of me. She looked afraid for me. It was strange, he face had never shown such raw emotion before.

    "Say something Galia, please..." Ren.

    I gawked at him, his face morphing from terrified to worried in an almost dreamlike fashion. In fact he seemed as though he was never been frightened of me at all.

    Did I just imagine it?

    "I...I'm sorry." I wheezed, before bursting into tears.

    Blistering, boiling tears rolled down my face in small rivers as I sobbed loudly.

    "Galia-" Ren started, putting a hand on my shoulder.

    I slapped it away, he looked afraid again, and I could physically feel my heart shattering.

    "I'm a monster." I wailed, clutching my chest, suppressing the urge to keel over.

The three of them stared in silence. The quiet wrapped itself my head and squeezed, I was suffocated by the lack of sound. I was in agony.

Feet slammed against the dirt and gravel of the forest floor. Rocks cut into my bare feet, even though I don't remember taking my shoes off. I didn't care. The farther away I was from Ren the better. I couldn't stand the look on his face. I could stand the fact I had hurt him so badly. I was the reason his family was ripped apart. Everyone ounce of sadness he had every felt was caused by me.

I stopped running when I heard a cruel laugh echo confusingly around the foresty hill I had stopped in. I gulped in breaths of fresh air, my lungs were like starving animals. I looked around wildly and screamed.

She was standing there.

I was standing there.

Warm air left puffs of condensation from her nostrils and strands of red mane blew out of her face. Her horn had a crusty red stain on it. She was covered in sweat just like she had been in my dream.

"You poor, poor girl." Memortra spoke, her voice was like a cold, sterile, knife.

"H-how." I choked. "You're me...how are you here?"

She blinked, and laughed, frothing salvia dripped from her muzzle. "You summoned me here Galia, I'm you from the past. You're imagining this all right now."

I back against a tree as she prowled closer to me, green eyes fixed on my face as she kept her horn pointed forward, like she might stab me at any minute.

"It's good to be back." She hissed, with a devilish smile alighting upon her lips.

"Y-you can't be here!" I insisted, still not believing I had lost my mind yet.

"Yes I can!" She commanded. "You've finally cleared your mind Memortra, we finally one again."

"DON'T CALL ME THAT!" I screamed, wrapping my hands around my head to stop them from shaking so badly.

She breathed into my face and let out another low chuckle. "It's time to pick up where we left off Memortra, time to start killing again. So many impure souls that must be purged."

"Shut up!" I insisted, I wasn't crazy, I can't just be imagining this...wait.

I stood up straight, walked forward on wobbly ankles and stared her dead in the eye.

"If this is all in my head I'm not afraid of you." I gasped, forcing the words out of my mouth with whatever bravery I had left.

Memortra didn't even blink. "You should be. You should cower at me feet and beg me to spare you life. We are the same."

I sucked in frightened breaths one after another. "No."

"What?"

"No we're not." I repeated.

Memortra's blood-red mane waved delicately in the soft cool breeze. I took a deep breath, my hand on my dagger.

"The thing is, we're not the same person. My name is Galia, sure, I don't remember I come from, but I am not Memortra. I would never hurt an innocent soul. I have a mother who never gave up on me. I have guardian who will never leave me. I have a friend who I love more than anything on this earth. I have no memory of being Memortra, nor will I ever remember you!"

As soon as I spoke the last word I let out a fierce scream with everything I had left in my body and swung my tiny knife at Memortra's face. I grunted as I felt a satisfying thunk.

    Memortra howled in agony.

    I fell back against the tree, the unicorn whinnied frantically and danced around slamming her head against the ground as if she were in pain. I breathed in and out as I struggled to comprehend what had just happened. Something hard rolled against my foot. I glanced down and despite myself let out a satisfied smirk.

    I picked up Memortra's severed horn and gripped in tightly in my hands.

    "HOW COULD YOU?" The mere horse caterwauled from across the small and crowded clearing.

    "My name is Galia, and you will no longer haunt me." I breathed, holding her severed horn towards her.

    She let out that vicious horse scream and charged me, hooves flying. I panicked and tried to pulled out my knife. Dust and confusion was flying everywhere. I gasped as I realized I wasn't dead.

    I shuddered as I felt Memortra's warm breath on the backs of my ears and opened my eyes to see she had stopped, just short of slamming my body into the tough bark of the tree. She was staring at me, her eyes filled with a cold dead anger. I looked down and realized my hand hand pressed against the tree, angling the unicorn horn out like a small sword.

    Memortra had impaled herself on her own murder weapon.

    The unicorn's green eyes flashed red before rolling back into her head. Her body sunk to the ground. I sucked in desperate gulps of air as I watched and her body dissolved into black goo, like the ick I just coughed up, and sunk into the earth.

    I breathed out shakily, holding up the unicorn horn in my hand, there was something carved into it, a string of letters.

brx fdq qhyhu nloo d whqheulv

    Then the black unicorn horn melted into the same black slime as Memortra's body and splattered to the ground. I wiped my hands on my dress, feeling dirty and disgusting. I heard a twig snap and looked up to see a boy with stormy blue eyes staring at me with concern.

    "Ren...." I started, then trailed off, not knowing what to say.

    He balled up his fists. "Please down run away from me like that again, it scares me so much. I don't who this Celeste girl thinks she is but there's no way you and that evil unicorn are the same. You wouldn't hurt anyone. I tried to tell Celeste that but she said you might-mmf!"

    I couldn't help myself, I ran forward, curling my hands in his hair and pulling his head forward to kiss him. He was tense for a moment to take in what I had just done, then melted into embrace and wrapped his hands around my waist to close the space between us. The moment lasted eons, until finally we broke apart.

    I breathed in exhilaration. "I love you, so much."

    He blushed and grinned from ear to ear. "I love you too."

    I smiled, watching as he paused for a moment before adding, "m'lady."

    What a dork. I laughed and hugged his chest, enjoying the moment. For a moment we hung there in content silence, listening to the forest.

"Seriously though as much I love you we kinda just left your mom and Lucille back in the glade thinking you turned evil again." He pointed out, patting my head lightly.

I blinked. "Right! I have something to tell you all, pertaining to that subject."

He frowned. "You didn't actually turn evil did you?"

I shook my head and giggled. "No, you don't have to worry about that."

I grabbed his hand in mine and together we walked back, curses broken and our entire lives ahead of us.