"Thank you."

Something had to come out of my mouth sooner or later. At least a compliment for Ravenna going this far is the least I can offer in this situation. I wanted to hug or see my mother, but apparently there's a limit even to that.

I'm a tough nut to crack, but there are those moments when you just want a moment of conversation with the person you truly love the most... Oh, wait, I don't have anyone like that anymore!

"Haha... hahaha..."

"What are you laughing at, Darius?"

"I'm laughing at life. Living is shit."

"I have to agree, but I think you suffered too great a shock to react like that."

"You think? Look at me, Ravena. In the middle of the night, standing in front of my mother's tombstone, thinking about how my father on the other side is doing, trying to understand something in this mess of my identity. Fuck, am I Darius Moonlight or Rafael? Do I love my mother here or my father there? I don't know, I don't know, and it's driving me crazy."

I lower my face, clearly not wanting to face her back and start crying like a child. I look pathetic, I know, and also... Ow, holy shit! What the hell was that?!?

Did I just get slapped? Did Ravenna just slap my face out of absolutely nowhere?!?

"Hey, who the hell do you think you are to do that?!"

"Excuse me, you showed a ridiculous face for a moment, it was stronger than me."

"Oh, now that's going to be your game? Damn it, girl, I could at least understand you before you started with this game of being cold and distant, now I don't know shit!"

Instead of backing away, Ravenna grabs my collar and brings her face closer. I can feel her hot breath hitting my nose, she's too close to the point of making me uneasy. All it takes is a snap of her fingers and I'll turn into fried meat.

"It wasn't for this man I fell in love before..."

"What...?"

"Where is the real 'you'? I'm not talking about the Darius Moonlight of this world, nor Rafael from the other, I'm referring to the person who planted an idiotic dream in my head and who supported me when I felt I was at rock bottom."

Now the conversation is going to turn to this? The worst part is it's hard to argue back that way. She takes a deep breath, fixing my collar with her nails before touching the tip of my chin.

"Darius, neither of them would want you to keep hurting yourself over this. They don't care where you are, nor do they care if you are the bastard son of a noble or a low-class boy, they care about your happiness."

"Wait... how...?"

"I talked to my parents before we left on this trip. That's what they told me. Why wouldn't your mother in this world and your father in the other wish the same?"

Ah, now it makes sense. I should have expected her to start communicating with the dead. The original Ravenna died early in Sword of The Iron Maiden, but this one in front of me went through the ritual and for some reason didn't entirely follow the villain's path.

Yes, she's crazy, that's a fact, but... she's an empathetic crazy person too. We went through similar things, I helped her in the past, and I'm getting repaid for it. Fate becomes a curious thing when you start interfering with things like this.

In other words, this woman, this haughty gothic witch, decided to slap me so I would return to reality. She won't bring me back with gentle words or a moral speech, but by force.

Ravenna... she understands me well.

I breathe deeply, unsure what exactly to say. It's the first time I've been backed into a corner by someone else like this, and the feeling is awful.

"Alright, can you just put that hand down?"

"I was going to give you another slap to ensure we were talking about the same thing..." She finally lowers her fingers and shows a sincere smile. "You don't need to tell me things directly. I can see through your face or just read your mind, did you forget?"

"Read my mind? You didn't do that while I was sleeping, did you?"

"Nooo...?"

She looks away, giving me that playful expression and just filling me with dread. Seriously, Ravenna is missing a few screws.

How can someone show zero reaction to me and suddenly become like this? It's hard to understand, let me tell you...

I hear a branch snapping. I deeply want it to be an animal, because now is the worst possible moment to be interrupted by anyone. I tilt my face in the direction of the noise and... ah, for fuck's sake...

A pair of red eyes stare at me from a distance. She is leaning against one of the trees, watching us. The smile on her face isn't that of someone who caught a couple enjoying a private night, but one of those psychotic expressions that says "You belong to me, and it doesn't matter who else tries to get close".

Her gaze shines with a possessive delusion, fixed on me and Ravenna as if she had already decided our destiny.

Damn you, Scarlet.

The witch next to me immediately follows my gaze, only to meet the terrifying image I'm staring at, yet it doesn't even cause a flicker in her. As for me, I'm frozen. I can't move a finger.

The air rushes from my throat, with me locked in time and space right there. What do I do? Can I run? No, Scarlet would catch me first. And Ravenna? Will she be directly in the path of this psychopath? What should I, what should I, what should I, what should I...

"It's rude to stare at others during a private moment," Ravenna's words snap me out of my panic, but they don't improve the situation at all. "Come out of there and show yourself. I really wanted to know who was causing fear to my future husband."

The sound of footsteps wasn't enough to prepare me for the sight of Scarlet approaching, slowly, as if she were in a trance between reality and a daydream. Her red eyes flashed in the darkness, the smile on her lips was one of pure delight. She dragged her fingers across the bark of the trees, marking her territory.

"Ah... what a sweet sight." Her voice was soft, almost a drunken whisper. "You, Darius... and her."

She tilted her head to the side, a childish gesture, but one that only reinforced the feeling that something was wrong. No, that's the wrong word, sick would fit better. Of all the moments to hell with my life, why now?

"Scarlet." My mouth moved before I even realized it.

The half-elf gave a sharp, forced giggle, mimicking a wind-up doll.

"It's good that you remember me... I was afraid you had forgotten. You didn't forget, did you? You couldn't."

Ravenna steps between us, not caring about the woman's clearly altered state. The silver scar on her back gain a slight glow.

"So you are the main problem my mother-in-law spoke about. I truly wanted to meet you."

Scarlet raised her hand to her chest, making a theatrical gesture of reverence.

"Scarlet, mercenary, devoted lover, inseparable shadow... whatever he needs, I am it."

Her smile widened as her eyes slid to Ravena.

"And you...?"

"Ravenna." The witch crossed her arms, raising her chin. "You don't even deserve to hear my titles, vermin."

What a chill down my spine, I can barely breathe properly. I felt my heart hammer in my chest, unable to interfere. It was like watching lightning strike in slow motion, knowing the explosion was coming.

Scarlet drags her body forward, I see her chest rising and falling in a frantic rhythm, while her fingers tremble with anxiety.

"You stole the place that is mine. I waited so long, so long to be able to take care of him again... and you... you...!!!"

She lunged with absurd speed. Short blades slid from her sleeves, reflecting the moonlight. Ravenna raised her hand, the shadows around twisted like snakes, enveloping her and forming a black shield. The clash between blade and darkness echoed with a metallic crack.

"You are just a parasite" Ravenna spat the words out with a look of utter disgust.

The shadows spread across the ground, trapping Scarlet's feet, but she laughed, laughed too loudly, licking her lips.

"I lived for him! I fought, I bled, I killed for him! YOU don't know what it is to be necessary, what it is to be the only one!"

With a snap, she broke the shadowy restraints, while her eyes glowed in ecstasy. She charged Ravenna, but the witch dissolved into a flock of black crows, reappearing behind her. The shadows took the shape of claws and dug into the half-elf's arms, forcing her to the ground.

Scarlet howled, arching her body, but instead of pain, it seemed like pleasure. The insane smile remained plastered on her face.

"No matter how much you cut or tear me, you can never tear me away from him!"

Ravenna narrowed her eyes, giving no quarter to delusions. Her hands went up, a black flame appeared, distorting the air with its morbid heat. Red shadowy lightning bolts snaked around the magic.

"I am his present. You are just his rotten past."

Scarlet tries to break free, her eyes glazed with fury and desire, but the shadows were crushing her. Ravenna released the flame against her, and the explosion illuminated the woods in a flash.

When the smoke cleared, Scarlet was on her knees, gasping, her clothes scorched and her eyes still reflecting that possessive delusion. However, it was no use, Ravenna won, placing her foot against the lunatic's chest to proved it.

Even worse, a black mass began to circle the area, slowly immobilizing every limb of the half-elf lying on the ground. The mass became a set of chains, which began to sink into the earth.

"I'm going to kill you! I'm going to kill you! I'm going...!"

Her voice dissolved when only one of her eyes remained visible.

Ravenna stretched out her finger and... what the hell is this? She just tore out the eye with her bare hands, without any scruple!

The rest of Scarlet's body disappeared, while the witch offered the eye to her bone serpent patron. What... what the hell was that?

"Your problem is solved" she finally said, turning to me. "I will judge this woman in my territory. Remember, Darius, you are mine, and I would never let anyone hurt you."

Ravenna's icy hands touch my face, causing my cheeks to tremble and also giving me the fear of ending up losing one of my eyes there. In the end, I can only respond with one simple thing, since I don't want to die here:

"Y-Yes..."

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