The winds of the Ludlow Soul Festival had long gone silent. Lanterns flickered in the distance, but the festival's joy didn't reach this clearing—this forgotten edge of the harbor, where Gendai stood alone, her green eyes distant as the crashing sea.
Riah finally found her.
Riah:
"There you are."
Gendai didn't turn.
Gendai:
"Don't bother. I know what you're going to say."
Riah:
"I don't think you do."
Behind Riah, Tyrone approached but kept a respectful distance. He stood at the edge of the tension, silent, as if sensing something more was brewing.
Gendai:
"You always act like you're better. Like he only sees you."
Riah:
"This again? Kazimir doesn't choose sides—"
Gendai: (sharply)
"But he did. And it was never me."
The wind howled suddenly, and the air warped—dense, electric, unnatural.
Gendai's body shuddered.
Riah:
"…Gendai?"
A pulse of corrupted green light flared from her chest.
Her shadow stretched unnaturally, flickering like fire before breaking free.
Riah (eyes widening):
"No…"
A second figure emerged from the rift—a twisted reflection. Dark Gendai.
Her hair was no longer green, but streaked with jagged black and white stripes. Twin crimson eyes glowed with malice, each marked with a chilling white X at the center of her pupils. Blood dripped slowly from her left eye like a crimson tear, staining her pale cheek.
She smiled—wide, unhinged.
Dark Gendai:
"Oh, finally. You stopped pretending."
Her voice was sultry and feral, layered with venom and mockery.
Tyrone: (in disbelief)
"What the hell…?"
Riah instinctively drew her flames, stepping forward.
Riah:
"Back off, whatever you are. I'm not letting you touch her."
But before she could strike, Gendai threw her arm out.
Gendai (firmly):
"NO. She's… me. This is my fight."
Dark Gendai laughed, twirling her twin blades—gleaming like polished fangs under moonlight.
Dark Gendai:
"That's cute. Acting brave for once. Too bad it's a little late for you to grow a spine, little echo."
Gendai: (gritting her teeth)
"I'm done hiding behind others. If you're the part of me I've buried all this time… then it's time I faced you."
The two stood locked in a deadly mirror—light and shadow, fear and fury. The wind swirled as Tyrone clenched his fists but didn't move, knowing she needed this.
Riah (quietly, watching):
"…Prove her wrong, Gendai."
Dark Gendai licked the blood from her cheek, grinning wider.
Dark Gendai:
"Let's see if you survive your own reflection."
Moonlight pierced through the clouds, casting silver ribbons across the forgotten edge of the Ludlow coast. The ocean churned, as if sensing what was about to unfold.
Gendai gripped her spear with both hands—knuckles white, breath steady, heart a storm. Across from her stood Dark Gendai, barefoot on the stone, twin swords hanging low like hungry fangs. Her striped black-and-white hair whipped in the wind, crimson eyes wide—one bleeding down her cheek like a broken seal.
Dark Gendai:
"Show me what you've got, failure."
She vanished in a blink. Gendai spun, just in time to block the first slash with the shaft of her spear—the impact sent a jolt through her bones. Sparks flew.
Gendai: (thinking)
Fast… faster than I am.
Dark Gendai's blade came again—horizontal this time—aiming to split her open. Gendai ducked low, rolled, and swept her spear across the ground. It caught her shadow twin's ankle, but Dark Gendai flipped, landing effortlessly on the post behind her.
Dark Gendai (grinning):
"You're hesitating again. Want me to carve the fear out of you?"
Gendai (shouting):
"I'm not afraid of you!"
She lunged.
Her spear became a blur of precise thrusts, striking like thunder. She feinted right, then jabbed left—catching Dark Gendai in the side. A hiss of pain, but no blood—only shadow mist.
Dark Gendai: (laughing)
"That's it! Get mad! Bleed with me!"
She lunged forward—swords clashing like lightning bolts against Gendai's spear. The blows were relentless—one sword high, the other sweeping low, a rhythm meant to break her guard.
Gendai twisted, letting her spear whirl behind her back. She parried a strike upward, kicked Dark Gendai in the gut, then unleashed a burst of demonic energy from her palm, sending her double flying across the dock.
Gendai (panting):
"I'm not your puppet. Not your fear. I'm me."
Dark Gendai skidded to a halt—white hair now ragged, blood dripping more heavily from her left eye.
Dark Gendai (growling):
"You think you're stronger than what made you?! I AM THE REASON YOU SURVIVED! I HELD BACK FOR YOU!"
She screamed, and the world seemed to shrink into that moment.
The twin swords fused into one massive blade, jagged and pulsing with black fire.
Dark Gendai:
"Then DIE with your pride!"
She charged, blade raised overhead. The blow came down like the wrath of everything Gendai ever hated about herself.
But she stood still.
Eyes closed.
Gendai (softly):
"No more running."
The moment the blade neared, Gendai's form erupted with a brilliant surge of emerald demonic light. She caught the blade with both hands—bare palms against corrupted steel—and shouted, forcing her succubus aura outward.
It cracked the ground beneath them.
Gendai:
"You're not my monster. You're my pain—and I'm not ashamed of you anymore!"
The blade shattered.
Dark Gendai gasped, stumbling back, as her body cracked like porcelain—fragments of black and crimson light spiraling upward.
Dark Gendai (fading):
"You… you were supposed to need me…"
Gendai (whispering):
"I do. Just not like this."
Dark Gendai's form collapsed into shimmering motes of light and vanished—leaving only silence and the sound of the waves.
Gendai fell to her knees, spear clattering beside her.
And from the shadows, Tyrone stepped forward silently, placing his coat over her shoulders.
Tyrone (quietly):
"You won."
Gendai didn't answer. She just wept—and for the first time, they were tears without shame.