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Jay, Grieven... knew it too, felt it too, right down to his bones. A definitive, decisive end to these long arduous few days just around the corner now. He had the look of someone with all forms of control completely stripped from him.

Which was just... poetic irony, really.

The stray bit of parchment in Mom’s grasp remained a fluttering, wrinkled curiosity affixed in my sights. Her explanation left much to be desired, and from what I can gather, the only use it seems to have for now was for taunting – as she continued to whirl it around before Griven’s wide, trembling eyes.

“If you’d prefer it, I’d be more than happy to let you do the honors,” She said to him, holding the paper out forward like a golden ticket. “You’re still deeply devoted to the Divines, right? Or perhaps one of them at the very least. The one and only time here, I’ll give you the opportunity to show that that devotion wasn’t misplaced after all.”

Harry kept to his simmering silence, opting only to heave and hate. She saw the piercing look in his eyes, and taunted him further with a sort of knowing smile.

“Ahh, but of course, you don’t love them anymore, do you?” She said, slowly dropping the parchment to her side. “And they certainly don’t love you.”

.....

Suddenly his lips flew open, spewing spit and a scoff from a nasty snarl. “I don’t need them! I never did! I never – !”

“Before you finish that boasting, take a step back, consider your position, think again – are you honestly sure you don’t need them?”

Grieven got quiet again, really quiet, and answered in an uneasy calm. “I’m not talking about me...”

“Oh, I see,” She took a step back, understanding yet still unfazed. “Interesting.”

Meanwhile, all this while, behind the scenes unfolding, Adalia lurked and walked among the shadows – and I could sense magic permeating off with her every step – gradually, I could hear the rain fade, thunder no longer shaking the walls, before in time, the entire barn was plunged into an eerie, stagnant quiet.

The fabric of her black gown, it was beginning to stir, her magic, slithering across her body again. Mom held the blank slip of paper out at arm’s length, and that slithering, writhing blackness started gravitating towards it, pooling as large lump around her waist, and like to live bait – the blackness parted itself wide open like jaws revealed an infinite abyss within and swallowed the parchment whole.

“Are you really planning on leaving me in the dark,” I asked, officially done being with the silent clueless observer. “Or are you at any point going to explain what is happening?”

“Well, you see, I notice the more you ask things, the more you seem to regret ever asking at all,” Mom said, turning a single eye towards me. “But, sure, I don’t mind telling you... but first, just tell me, are you really sure you want to regret this question as well?”

I shrugged, throwing those said regrets to the harsh winds of truth. “How bad can it be?”

She nodded, and as proclaimed, she immediately complied. “The process of extracting this cranky little parasite here is going to require an exorbitant amount of focus to accomplish, and that in turn, would require me just a little bit more effort on my part... but as you very well know, doing anything flashy would very well attract some unwanted attention my way.”

“But it’s not a guarantee that you will,” I remind. “It’s only a risk, a chance of it.”

“A chance that I am not willing to ever risk. Even now, I still won’t dare tread that dangerous line,” then seeing the look in my eyes, very quickly added. “A conundrum, isn’t it? I refuse to use my power, but yet they’re required in order to help you. How do you suppose we resolve this issue, hm?”

I didn’t need a second to think, just a minute ago, she was practically waving the answer in my face. “That slip of paper, right? You called it a prayer.”

“Correct!” She nodded in approval. “More specifically It is a small scripture ripped off from one of the sacred tomes of the Seven Divines. It holds immense power in its writing, that of which can only be unleashed through unwavering faith and belief. But only a rare, devoted few can truly wield its true potential... and given the right circumstances, it can rival my own, or may even trump it. This single piece currently in my possession has the potential to subdue my powers, repress it, repress me... altering it intrinsically into something not quite so recognizable, you see? No one will notice me if it is in effect. But only temporarily, that is... but temporary is all we need, don’t we?”

“It can also kill her!” shouted Grieven from behind, his foreboding stare meeting mine just over her shoulder. “These are words of power – vessels holding the very essence of the Divines! Given the right circumstances, the right person, the right amount of devotion... it’ll kill her. You’ll risk that? Oh, please risk that! I’ve never seen her this weak, this vulnerable! This is the best chance we have of getting rid of this Demon! Let her use it against herself!”

“I suggest you ignore him, he’s only trying to scare you,” Mom said, her gentle expression going slightly stiff. “I’ve already considered every factor, all the risk, if it really is going to kill me – do you honestly believe I’ll let myself die over this? No, of course not, I’m too selfish to be that kind.”

I forced my eyes away from Grieven, and towards hers. “But it’ll hurt you, won’t it?”

“Ooo, yes, very much,” Mom said with a deep breath. “I’ll be an agonizing, debilitating agony while it is in effect, and I won’t lie to you, dear – I am really not looking forward to what’s to come... but I’ll do it, and I’ll do it without complain... it’s for you, after all. What’s there to complain about?”

“Why do you even have that kind of thing, to begin with?” I asked her. “If it’s that much of a threat to you, why’d you bring it over to this world?”

“Indeed,” She agreed. “Why on earth would I ever willingly bring something like that? A threat? A risk? It doesn’t sound like me at all, does it?”

Honestly, I don’t know what sounded like her anymore anyway. After everything... her entire personality was just a big pile of smoke and mirrors. That being said, however – she was right – that didn’t sound like her at all.

So who did it sound like?

That’s when I had a thought – and instantly my eyes flew wide open.

“Dad?”

Mom’s smile slowly begin to form again, to my horror, to my terror.

“Why, though? Why would he bring something like that here?” I asked, breathless, except I already knew the answer in the same instant I realized... asking her, I just wanted a different one, I wanted to be wrong.

But I wasn’t wrong... and she told me much of the same.

“So that he can kill me, dear,” She said, still with that kind smile. “it’s as simple as that,”