Twisted Returns

The memory stings of pain and everything bad in the world. An overload of unpleasant senses, but completely senseless.

Like a gruesome scene, the foulest odors, the screeching of tortured people, the bitter taste of acid, and the worst pain imaginable all rolled into one. And multiplied by a million.

But buried under the dystopia that is the memory, is bliss. The sensation of euphoria doesn't cancel that pain, but rather numbs it. I was bringing it on myself.

I was happy.

"It was indescribable."

"What was?"

"The memory. The pain..."

"She... she did go through it," Amber says. Her eyes are wide with fear. "I've seen her happy, sad, surprised. But not scared. Never scared.

"What does this all mean?" I ask. The sound of my own voice sounds strange. Their voices, they all sound strange.

The air smells the same. Clean, sweet. At the same time, it's different, like I shouldn't have a sense of smell at all.

I look at the faces of the Council. They seem... off. One by one, I look. Wrong, wrong, wrong. Until I reach him.

He's perfect.

"It... tell me, Dana. What is everything like now?"

It's a strange question that can't be answered. How am I supposed to tell her that it feels like I'm an alien in this body? That pain still lingers from the memory, eating away at me, and it feels good? That it seems like the beauty has been sucked from everything, leaving it so ugly, that it is, in a way, still beautiful?

So I simply say, "Different."

"Pain, senses changed, and a different view of the world. Are you, or have you, experiencing any of these?"

"All of them," I say carefully.

"Then we know for sure that there has been some splitting going on here."

They haven't actually said what splitting is. But I can tell it isn't good.

"Hold on. Let me see the necklace," Marigold says. Alina hands it to her. She holds it in her hands. "Interesting..."

"What is?"

"This magic... it's powerful, yes," she says. "And it feels like a transfer. But it is not Diana's. I know her magic too well to mistake it for this."

A murmur goes around the table and I just want to sink into my seat. I had thought that this was all my fault before. But that was a thought. Now, I know it's true.

"So did she not split her soul?" the bald man asks.

"She has all the signs of it..." Alina says. "Unless she killed someone and used their magic for this transfer. It's highly unlikely though."

"But you never know. I never thought Diana would do something like splitting. Yet that's being considered now."

I feel like his words are true. I don't know myself anymore.

"Dana," the perfect voice whispers. "Please remember more. Please."

My mind wants to do anything to please this voice. Anything to see that smile again. That happiness. Anything.

----

I know this is it.

I know what I'm doing. I know the consequences. I know the pain will come. But I know I want to do it. I step in front of the mirror, wondering if I'll still see everything the same way again. Wondering if this is really worth it.

The answer comes quickly and easily. I think of that smile, that laugh, those eyes. That voice, those lips, and the words they speak.

I would give them anything and everything. Even if it means my soul.

I stare into my own eyes. I wonder if I'll change. If people will know what I had been through. But I turn away from the mirror.

With a steady hand, I lift the bottle to my lips.

----

"I did it."

"Did what?" Isabel asks. The room is dead silent.

"I split my soul."

"How - how do you know?" Marigold asks. Her voice is shaking. Loos like she didn't know her daughter as well as she thought she did.

"I remember. I wanted to do everything to make him happy. Even if it meant giving my soul."

"Charles," Isabel says severely, "did you ask for this to be done?"

"No. I didn't want her to do it, even though i had no idea what she really did," he says, his voice so breathtakingly beautiful. But everyone still looks skeptical.

"He's right," i say, backing him up. "He never asked or anything. But I knew how badly he wanted magic. I wanted him to be happy."

"It's all falling into place," Alina murmurs. "But... where is the original necklace?"

No one answers. The silence is piercing. The necklace must have been one of the most important things in the universe.

"I... I never knew anything," Dean says. "I didn't know the true importance of the necklace. I supposed she never told me for my own safety. That doesn't mean I didn't protect it. I always had it with me. Always."

The Council exchanged glances. "I believe him," Marigold says. "With these conditions, there is no reason to lie."

"Unless he is with the attackers. And there's still the matter of the original necklace."

"They... they have it," I say, realizing at once. Everything is falling into place, like Alina had said. "The attackers. They stole it."

No one has an argument to this, because they all know the truth when they hear it. And the truth hurts.

"What do we do now?" Amber asks. Her sunshine is gone, and the clouds have moved in.

"There's now way to fight it. They're too powerful," Alina says. "You know what has to be done."

The Council looks at me, their eyes filled with fear and pity. Dean reaches for my hand under the table.

"What is it?" he asks.

There's another silence. More glances. Everyone looks at Isabel. She clears her throat, her expression unreadable.

"Diana has to die."