The darkness around me felt suffocating, as though I was trapped in a void that mirrored the chaos inside my own heart. The weight of everything that had happened, everything I had become, was closing in on me. I could feel the pulse of my heart racing, but it was as if the darkness was swallowing me whole, leaving me with nothing but questions.
Where am I? What happened to Zeff? Is Yuki going to be alright?
I walked, each step dragging me deeper into the unknown, my mind racing with uncertainty. As I moved through the oppressive blackness, a shape appeared ahead of me. It was a human figure, trapped in a cage. My instincts screamed for me to help, but no matter how hard I reached, I couldn't make contact. The distance between us seemed to stretch infinitely, no matter how close I thought I was.
Desperation clawed at my chest. I tried calling out to her, but my voice was swallowed by the void. Still, she noticed me.
"Why didn't you join them?" she asked, her voice quiet but sharp, as if it carried the weight of all the regret and pain I had buried deep inside. Her words hit me like a punch to the gut, and confusion gripped me.
"Who's them?" I asked, my voice barely a whisper, unsure of what she meant.
Suddenly, she stood, her movements erratic and desperate. She shouted at me, her voice filled with pain, "WHY DIDN'T YOU JOIN THEM?!"
The realization hit me like a lightning bolt. She wasn't just speaking to me—she was me. She was a reflection of everything I feared, everything I had struggled to overcome. Her bruises, the blood on her face, the hollow, tortured look in her eyes—it was me, in a different form. It was the part of me that had almost succumbed to the darkness, the regret, the shame of everything I had done.
And then, the words I had long since buried surfaced, unbidden.
"Once a villain, always a villain." The quote from Katara echoed in my mind, a haunting reminder of what I could become if I let myself. If I allowed that part of me to take over.
I reached out, gently cupping her face in my hands, feeling the tears that she shed, tears that mirrored my own hidden pain. "We have to change," I whispered, my voice soft but determined. "We have to be the heroes, right?"
Her eyes, filled with doubt, searched mine. "Are you a hero now?" she asked, the words almost breaking me.
I smiled at her, trying to give her the hope I had found. "Yes," I answered firmly, the word ringing in my ears like a vow.
Her gaze softened for a moment, but then she pointed to something in the dark space. I followed her finger, my heart racing as I saw it: a green flame, flickering eerily in the void.
The green flame—it was a part of me, a manifestation of my power. I remembered it from that fateful moment in the snowy forest when I had first tried to control my abilities. It had been terrifying then, almost suffocating, but now I could feel its pull, its strength.
As I stepped toward it, her smile seemed to glow with something I couldn't quite place—pride, perhaps, or hope. I reached out slowly, my fingers brushing the flame, and a sudden wave of memories flooded me. The fear, the struggle to control it, the anger that had once consumed me—it was all there, locked within the flame.
"Welcome back," I whispered, my voice trembling. "You tried to control me in the snowy forest, am I right?"
But as I touched the flame, something shifted. Katara's voice echoed in my mind, chilling and persuasive.
"Use that to rule the world."
The words sent a shock through me. Panic surged in my chest, and I instinctively pulled away from the flame, gasping for air. The weight of the thought almost crushed me, and I felt a panic attack claw at my chest. The flame flickered, fading before my eyes, but before I could retreat completely, I reached for it again.
No. I wouldn't let it control me. I wouldn't be afraid of it anymore.
As I wrapped my arms around the flame, I closed my eyes, breathing through the fear. "I won't be scared of you anymore," I said, my voice steady.
And then, it took me.
When I opened my eyes again, I wasn't in the void. I was back on the battlefield, surrounded by the wreckage of our fight. Yuki stood before me, her icy armor cracked and damaged, and Zeff was still unconscious, lying on the ground. I stood up, but the moment I looked into the shattered window of a nearby building, I saw it—the glow in my eyes. It was green, like the flame, and it burned with an intensity that frightened me.
It was the power. I had control over it now.
Yuki noticed me first. She turned, her eyes wide with concern. "Lena, you're injured," she said, but there was a trace of something else in her voice—fear? Worry? She seemed unsure of how to approach me.
I smiled at her, trying to reassure her, even as I felt the heat of the green flame coursing through me. "Don't worry about me," I said softly.
But her eyes never left the green glow in my pupils, and I could see the hesitation in her movements as she backed away, moving quickly toward Zeff to check on him.
The leader of the Autokrator—Thoas—was watching me from a distance. A cruel smile spread across his face as he observed my transformation. "You are truly a wonderful species," he said, his voice dripping with amusement.
His words, as usual, only fueled my anger. I glared at him, my fists clenching. "You are the worst humankind I have seen," I spat.
Thoas laughed, an unsettling sound that made my skin crawl. "You will join me, even if you don't want to," he said, and in an instant, he was behind me.
Before I could react, a knife sliced through the air, aimed straight at my back. Instinctively, I blocked the attack with my sword, but the fight that ensued was fierce and fast. Thoas was strong—stronger than I had anticipated. His movements were fluid, almost inhuman, as we clashed again and again.
I knew I was losing ground. I needed to end this fight, and fast.
I activated my powers. The air around me began to melt, the very ground beneath us warping in response to my overwhelming force. Thoas backed off, his expression shifting from amusement to annoyance. He wasn't expecting this.
I smiled, the rush of power filling me, but it didn't last long. Thoas's aura surged, and he attacked with renewed ferocity. I knew then that I had to do whatever it took to defeat him.
With all the strength I could muster, I rushed forward and sliced at his neck, aiming for a clean strike. But to my shock, my blade passed through him, as though his body had turned to liquid.
He laughed again, the sound maddening. "You're mine now," he whispered.
I wasn't done. Not yet.
My arms erupted in flame, green fire twisting around my limbs as I launched myself at him. My punches landed one after another, each blow stronger than the last, each punch a desperate attempt to break him.
And then Yuki shouted, her voice filled with panic. "Lena, stop!"
I froze mid-strike, my heart pounding in my chest. I looked down, and my breath caught in my throat. Thoas's upper body was cut open, blood pouring from the wound. He collapsed to the ground, coughing up blood, but I didn't stop. The flame inside me urged me forward, and I took another step, my hand reaching for his hair.
As I burned his head, a voice inside me screamed to stop. But I couldn't. The flame—it had control over me.
And in that moment, I realized what I had become.
The very thing I had feared. The villain.
I had crossed a line. And there was no going back.