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The last thing she could remember was a desperate attempt to bring her and Selen out of the Inverted World after some… slight miscalculations.

\'Why the hell did the entrance f*cking implode like that? I know I set it off but it shouldn\'t have exploded that way.\' Alice muttered inwardly, trying to stand up but flinching from the pain.

Looking around, she saw Cayla resting on the bed, unmoving as she seemed exhausted and drained of energy.

Just as she was about to look for Alyss, a voice called out.

"I\'m here, no need to look around too much."

Glancing back, Alice could see Alyss resting on a seat with one leg up and the other down.

"Want a game of chess while we talk?" Alyss offered as another seat appeared with a table between them.

Atop the table was a chessboard set.

Although Alice was a little confused by Alyss\'s offer, she didn\'t reject it and sat opposite her.

"Want to take the first move?"

Nodding her head, Alice moved the white pawn in front of the king two squares up.

In response, Alyss moved her black pawn in front of the bishop two squares up.

"Cayla\'s pretty tired you know? Even though she\'s sealed, her vitality and yours are still linked together. There\'s a certain amount of… force? She can exert through your body. She kept you alive despite the damage we took. The Void tearing us apart, our regeneration being taxed to the absolute limit." Alyss explained, watching Alice\'s next move before moving her knight.

"It\'s the first time this has happened. That our regeneration completely stopped."

"Have we lost it? Or is it still there?" Alice questioned.

She wasn\'t familiar with the game of chess and so far, she\'s just been playing the pieces she thinks are right.

"We still have it. It\'s just recovering right now. Rather, our Spiritual Heart is recovering. Whatever happened in the Inverted World sent a wave of energy back to us right after we tried to close the realm. A sort of backlash if you want to call it that. We\'re pretty vulnerable." Alyss shook her head.

Moving her pawn, she took Alice\'s pawn and in response, Alice\'s knight got revenge.

Alyss moved her other pawn.

"I\'m guessing Selen is keeping us safe."

Alice moved her bishop.

"Alive and fed. She\'s got a good heart in her. Even though we\'re the source of her misery, she\'s repaying the debt she owes us. For freeing her of the Zenias and bringing her out of that collapsing world." Alyss nodded, moving her second knight onto the field.

As they began to move the other pieces, pawns started to disappear while they made sure their more important pieces were out of harm\'s way.

"And what about you?" Alice asked with a heavy heart, moving her queen diagonally to take Alyss\'s knight.

"Me?" Alyss glanced up momentarily before using her rook to take Alice\'s bishop.

"Mnm. With everything we found out in the Inverted World, I\'m sure you\'ve gotten some new thoughts."

"Hmm… Just a few. But even if I have thoughts, it\'s not going to change much about our situation, is it? Knowing that I\'m the remanent of the original Alice. On the other hand, I can ask you the same question. Knowing that you\'re… Nyer\'s product and that you\'re part of the reason why our family changed so much." Alyss decided to be blunt.

Both of them had to face the truth and Alice had already abandoned her expectations for the Zenia family back in the Inverted World. If there was a time to talk and reveal the burdens in their heart, it was now.

Alice wanted to say that things could change but she hesitated. It felt like an empty promise.

She couldn\'t deny that Alyss was now shackled to her body, serving as the Spiritual Heart. If she was to get rid of Alyss, she too would become helpless and vice versa. They needed one another.

However, even if they needed one another it didn\'t change their stance where one is the prisoner and the other the warden.

Taking Alyss\'s rook with her queen, Alice let out a sigh.

"I don\'t know. Even if… I\'m the reason that the Zenia\'s changed, it still doesn\'t change the fact that they exploited me. Deserved or not I suppose. After giving up my expectations for them I\'m taking Allura\'s words and lessons to heart now."

From the start, Allura had been trying to teach Alice the importance of her own body, her own individuality and how she should be free from the Zenia\'s shadow. It was only now that she truly began to see the value of Allura\'s lessons.

The chains belonging to the Zenia\'s that wrapped around her limbs felt lighter than before. Each breath she took felt liberating. In this sense, she felt truly free.

"Mnm, that\'s good." Alyss revealed a small smile as she ruthlessly took Alice\'s rook on the other side of the board.

Hesitating for a moment, Alice opened her mouth.

"Do… Do you want to let the Zenia\'s go? Now that we know it was my fault to begin with." Personally, she couldn\'t let it go. While she may have given up her expectations, this hatred was still fresh in her heart.

The bare minimum she had to do was to completely root out all the scholars and research they\'ve produced.

Alice took Alyss\'s final knight using her second bishop.

"Why would it be your fault? Didn\'t you see that it was Nyer who planted you in me in the first place? I will admit that in these past few days, I have thought about what life could\'ve been like if none of it ever happened.

"If I remained the first daughter for Luthor and Sienna Zenia without thinking I\'m a mutation or a split personality created by you. But if Selen can look past it can take care of us while we\'re injured, I suppose it\'s only right that I do as well." Alyss looked at the chess piece in her hand as a conflicting swirl of emotions stormed her heart.

She didn\'t know if she hated Alice, pitied her or liked her. The same goes with her own family. With everything that came to light, her mind was a cluttered mess and even with the time she spent alone trying to figure it out, Alyss still felt lost.

Perhaps she felt it would\'ve been better if she was indeed the product of Nyer or a split personality. At least then, she wouldn\'t have needed to think about her relationship with the Zenias. Seeing the love her mother showed and the desperation of her father despite being forced to cut off her arm planted a seed in her heart.

"But it\'s not that easy is it?" Alice asked, noticing the conflict in Alyss\'s eyes.

"Indeed it\'s not. You might\'ve given up your expectations while I\'ve gained some new ones. Ironic isn\'t it? Since we were the opposite before this." Alyss let out a chuckle, placing her piece on the board.

Nodding her head silently, the game was coming to an end as the two of them started to take important pieces while looking for a way to checkmate the king.

Alice promotes a pawn to queen.

"However, all of this doesn\'t change the fact that the Zenias are committing heinous crimes across the world. I wouldn\'t be surprised if the pandemic was caused by them in order to drag us out of the Inverted World." Alyss placed her bishop in place, trapping Alice\'s newly promoted queen in a trap of bishop, rook and queen.

"We also have evidence of the research they conducted at the orphanage." Alice added, using the queen to take out Alyss\'s queen.

Taking out the queen using her rook, Alyss nodded her head.

"We can\'t exactly just throw the evidence to the public either. None of the three religions are reliable, especially Enris since she\'s thrown her lot with Nyer. Not that I would suggest her in the first place since Ria hates them.

"The moon is a no go since they have ties with the Zenias. I won\'t be surprised if some of their experiments were ordered by the moon since the b*tches there are obsessed with longevity." Alyss shrugged.

"I\'ll withhold my thoughts on the sun for now since we haven\'t exactly gotten to know them. But if I had to choose one, the Sun is looking to be our best option if we want them to fight against the moon." Alyss suggested, watching Alice move her piece forward in order to threaten a check.

"This can wait until we get more Sigils though. We\'re too reliant on drinking the blood of others to \'promote\' ourselves to the next level. If this secret gets our we\'re f*cked." Alice scratched her chin.

"Exactly. So take your time enjoying the surface since we\'re finally out. I\'ll sort out my thoughts in the meantime. Oh, I\'ll leave my piece here and call it a draw." Alyss chuckled, stepping away while Alice furrowed her brows.

"What do you mean it\'s a draw? You haven\'t- wait…" Pausing for a moment, Alice realised that if Alyss had moved her piece a single space forward, it would\'ve been a complete checkmate with her king anchored into a corner by Alyss\'s pieces.

Scratching her hair, Alice leaned back and let out a frustrated sigh.

She thought she was doing pretty well but in the end, Alyss still got the better of her.

Shaking her head, she glanced over at her twin who made a bed on the other side of the mental space and Cayla who\'s still sleeping. Feeling glad that none of them disappeared, Alice slowly opened her eyes in reality as she could feel the shaking of a wooden cart.