Dark deeds are carvings on a stone, the marks of which barely diminish,

When a soul has a lot unfulfilled, somewhere it does return for some business to finish.

Will paradise unfurl or will it be the demons that rise?

Will the dark clouds ever fade, who shall pay the ultimate price?

The night before the battle

It was a surreal feeling, something which was beyond words, beyond any explanation, whenever she was intimate with him.

It felt as if a part of her was resurrected, letting her explore some new dimension about her own self, which she would have never learnt about.

And tonight was no different.

She thought with a blush as she looked at the wall clock and saw the time.

It was already half past 11 in the night, yet sleep was far away from her eyes.

As promised, Arnav had left on her insistence, and gone to stay with his family for the night. She sighed as she reeled in the effects of the moments spent with him, only sometime back, and held her pillow close, breathing in his scent from it, as it was too prominent in the air, even after he had left.

She smiled to herself before getting up from her bed, looking at her own reflection in the mirror on the wall, as a strange thought struck her mind.

From the time she had learnt of their impending battle tomorrow at the old castle of Zienne Valley, a part of her had constantly bugged her, about nothing in particular, yet giving her a strange warning about something that was coming, for her, and for their kind.

Something that she could not anticipate, something she barely had a reason for.

She quirked her brows as she looked at her reflection keenly, and that is when out of the blue, an old vision of that same face, doing uncountable dark deeds flashed in front of her eyes, making her take a step back.

The flashes of the scenes from decades ago, when Meredith, her own ancestor had mercilessly taken the innocent lives of Grace and Valerie, suddenly seemed to bother her, and disrupt her otherwise quiet mind, and she didn't know why did this suddenly happen after months.

.

.

''Damn it!''

Khushi uttered to herself before making up her mind for getting some air.

She knew that what was going to happen tomorrow was going to be far from her hands, but for now, she wanted to live this one last night in some solitude.

Taking a deep breath, she took one final look at the books and Amelia's grimoire that rested on one corner of her bed, before stepping out of her room.

And even she didn't know why, two things prominently resonated in the back of her head as she stepped downstairs.

One, the riddle of Amelia, which by now she had given up solving.

And two, the ''obscurum'' magic—the mark of the cent sins spell.

.

.

As the cold breezes greeted her senses thoroughly, she yet again got one new reason to let go of her quagmires for the time being and let only nature do its job, as she closed her eyes and breathed in the lovely essence of the purest and fundamental thing in the world—the air, the trees, and the silence.

She briefly recalled at that very moment how she had spent days after days in these same woods, sometimes for the right reasons and sometimes worse, when it came to making peace with her world of Witchcraft.

There were innumerous accounts when she had been dangerously trapped in parallel realities, from where Arnav had always managed to save her, she recalled with a smile. Whereas, there were moments when she had deliberately come here, sometimes to just have a little time of introspection, while the rest of the times, she wanted to practice magic and test the perimeters of her own skills, when everyone else in the town slept peacefully in the nights.

She sighed as she finally opened her eyes, darting them at all directions, as the deafening silence soothed her tense muscles.

This was her night.

Her moment.

Her time.

And she deserved it, for herself.

She thought for the first time for herself, letting this moment belong to just herself, Khushi Elise Vermount, when suddenly a strange invasive sound piqued her senses, in the form of a barely audible sob of a little girl.

Khushi narrowed her eyes as she tried to fathom whose voice that was, when a silent fear crept through her heart, alarming her instantly, and she shook her head, wishing fervently, that the Avizhas shouldn't have trapped some little soul.

Without a second thought, she headed towards the area where the sound came from, and as she kept moving forward, the sound of the sobs became more prominent.

Her heart thudded at the thought of what this could mean, yet something in her didn't find any logical explanation to this as she wondered that when Aloysius had himself made it clear for her to come and handover the bracelet to him, and she had agreed for the same, then what was the point of these new ploys?

She hated the fact that she had hoped for even a tiny glimpse of humanity from that monster as she now headed towards the narrow dark passage on the extreme end of the woods, and the sound of the little girl's sobs now was too close from where she stood.

''I swear if you hurt another innocent soul, Aloysius! I would rip you off myself no matter what it takes!''

She muttered to herself, as the passage only got more dark with the steps she took, and she had to constantly move the haphazard loose branches coming in front of her with both her hands.

As she made it to the extreme end of the route, looking everywhere frantically, her heart thudded loudly against her chest, as she looked for the little girl, the cries of who had tormented her deeply, and with labored breaths, she averred, this time a little too loud,

''ALOYSIUS! If this is another new game of yours, I swear to god, I will kill –''

''Oh my god! You are more courageous than what that naïve face of yours gives away!''

.

.

Khushi halted in her tracks as she heard that mocking remark greet her ears, the voice being extremely, extremely familiar to her, as her eyes opened wide in shock and she turned to look at the person she thought had been dead all this while.

''You!''

She exclaimed with dread in her eyes, the state of shock not shrinking even an inch as the person on the other end smiled at her viciously, and before Khushi knew, a strange force gripped both her wrists into two steel shackles and in a blink of an eye, she wasn't there anymore.

.

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Present day

Zienne Valley

He saw only darkness unfurl in front of his eyes, as the daunting realization of Meredith standing in front of her finally began sinking in and along with it, came the realization of Khushi's abstinence from the place.

His heart raced at a jet speed, as words defied him and never reached his mouth, and he could actually see the same turmoil, same predicament mirror in the visage of the Satanic figure called Aloysius, who stood still silently, looking into the eyes of the one woman he once loved immensely, who was also the only woman he also resented impeccably.

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''This.. This can't be.. How can you..''

Aloysius stuttered as he looked into the eyes of Meredith, the woman who stood there with a silent small smile tugging at her lips, the same woman who had once caused the biggest tornado in his life, and seemed to have no repercussion for the same whatsoever.

''You were dead! NO! This can't be possible!''

Aloysius averred in a state of shock, as if trying to convince himself more than anyone, while Arnav was their silent spectator, his insides burning with rage at the sight of Meredith, while his heart pounded with fear worrying about where Khushi would be.

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''I was dead.''

Meredith said with a smile as she looked at Aloysius, before turning her face to look at Arnav, making his blood boil, and it was so evident that she enjoyed the sight of his agony.

''You, Arnav.''

She pointed at him, making his heart skip a beat. It was for the first time, he was witnessing this person, this crude, cruel person, he had only heard about and read about, for real, and if something could be beyond tormenting for him, it was the fact that this vile, merciless woman had the face of that innocent, selfless girl he loved more than himself, his Khushi.

''It's a pity even you didn't feel for a second that it wasn't your girlfriend, but me, from the morning we were together.''

She mocked him with a tone blended with the essence of pity while Arnav turned his gaze away, hating the sight of seeing such a demon with the face of his one true love, while the core of his heart berated him constantly, because it was true that he couldn't understand that the one with whom he had started this journey to Zienne Valley since the morning, wasn't Khushi.

''How are you back?!''

This time it was Aloysius who began to regain his composure and asked her out loud, making her shift her attention from Arnav to Aloysius, as she tilted her head a little, looking at him from top to bottom, before she said,

''That's for me to know and you to never find out.''

.

.

The night before the battle

The darkness haunted Khushi as she shook her hands for the nth time, but the shackles won't budge an inch, and she looked at that one person who she thought had been her friend, with whom she had thought she shared a good camaraderie, who she had seen dying in front of her own eyes.

''I thought you were dead!''

She said in a voice barely audible, while the other person looked at her, before taking Khushi's hand in hers, chanting verses to herself, making Khushi look at her with shocked eyes.

.

.

''What are you doing?''

She became paranoid as she felt the effects of the verses being uttered make something happen to her from the inside, making the panic rise in her chest and before she knew it, the edge of the pointed knife touched the delicate skin of her arm, and the next thing she knew was blood oozing out of her skin, being collected by the vicious person in a small vessel.

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''Aaaah!''

She gasped in pain as the wound created by the knife stung her bad, and the next thing that happened left her tongue tied, because the healing spells she was uttering to herself wasn't working at all.

Khushi couldn't control the lone tear that escaped her eye as the pain continued to hurt her, and when she tried the spell yet again, she was stopped in her tracks, as the person said glaring at her,

''There's no point of your spells. Only dark magic works in this place. Only dark magic.''

.

.

''Khushi's heart skipped a beat as soon as she heard that, and a part of her began to warn her incessantly, coaxing her to run away from here, but the shackles in her hands didn't let her move an inch.

She breathed heavily, as the uncanny air around her made it impossible for her to stay calm, and a voice within her constantly told her that something, a fear of hers that had always dwelled in the core of her mind was soon going to resurface, something that she hadn't expected even in her wildest nightmare.

As she saw the vessel containing her blood kept on an altar, she counted the alphabets backwards, trying to restore some sanity within herself when the next thing she saw was the person bringing in another vessel, consisting of something that looked like..

''Ashes''

She whispered to herself, as a chill ran down her spine, and warning bells rang in her head, as she finally yelled, not caring of anything else,

''WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING!?!''

When no answer came her way, she lost her senses and the remaining bit of sanity as she screamed out loud,

''JUDITH! I AM ASKING YOU! TELL ME FOR FU*K'S SAKE! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?''

.

.

She was still shaking in the effects of her own voice, and that's when she saw Judith, the person she had believed to be dead all this while, look at her, with a faint yet deadly smile tugging at her lips, before she said in a voice as casual as ever,

''I am going to resurrect her.''

.

.

Khushi's heart skipped a beat as her conscience already alerted her about where this was going, but her brain still wanted a validation, as she silently asked,

''Who?''

.

.

She had believed in the fact that spoken fears could often come true, and that's precisely why she had never verbalized her uncanny connection to one of the deadliest sinners in their world, but it looked like spoken or unspoken, today all of it was back to resurface, just like the ocean waves made lost things resurface a little too often, and with that, she could not blink her eyes, as she heard Judith say,

''Meredith.''

.

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Present day

Zienne Valley

''You can't do anything, Meredith! I am an immortal! I have powers beyond your understanding!''

Aloysius spoke out loud as his voice echoed in the silent chambers of the castle in Zienne Valley, while Arnav stood silently, watching the confrontation of arch-rivals with a history that was beyond his understanding.

''That immortality spell, belonged to me.''

Meridith averred with ease, as a smile lingered on her lips, making Aloysius vexed with rage, as he stepped forward and said,

''I thought it was supposed to belong to us. But you!''

He pointed his finger at her, making her look directly into his eyes,

''You betrayed me!''

.

.

As a brief silence greeted the walls of the castle, Arnav silently hoped for Khushi to be fine wherever she was, for he had already anticipated that given the turn of things at this moment, there was only a slim chance for him to make it out of here alive.

He was only too lost in his own musing when the sudden breach of silence took him by surprise, as Meredith's precarious laughter echoed in the air, making him look at her with wide open eyes.

.

.

Aloysius too was taken aback as he watched her laugh like a mad woman, as if her sole objective here was to mock him, and that aggravated his anger.

But before he could transform that anger into a spell to cease that unexplained laughter on Meredith's face, she stopped as she looked at him intently, before saying,

''The immortality spell. The gift of forever. You really thought I would share it with someone like you?''

.

.

Her heartless tone was an eye-opener for not just Aloysius but also Arnav who finally got to witness the living reality of no mercy, no heart, no compassion in the form of this woman who stood in front of him, who was unfortunately an ancestor of the girl he loved so dearly.

''The spell is a treasure of the Vermount bloodline, Aloysius. And you never deserved it.''

She stated out loud, creating a whirlwind of rage build inside Aloysius as he stepped forward in quick strides, the demonic pride of being an immortal and the leader of the Avizhas resurfacing on his face, as he gritted,

''It's good that you came to remind of that. Of your betrayal. Perhaps I needed it after all these decades, because I should remember till eternity the poison behind this angelic face of yours.''

Meredith chuckled as she heard him say that, as if she was not at all affected by the fact that she had truly betrayed the trust of someone. But reality was that, she never had any guilt of anything, it wasn't in her nature, be it about murdering someone as little as a 3 year old for gathering energy of power or betraying the one man years ago, whom she claimed to deeply love.

And so, she didn't spare him a glance even this time, augmenting his despise for her all the more, as he averred in a dangerous tone,

''Your betrayal, ended with your death decades back. And it shall, even today.''

The moment he said this, Arnav's eyes widened in shock as a strange fear clouded his mind, and he screamed, ''No!'' making both Aloysius and Meredith look at him.

He curled his fingers into fists as he spoke out loud, his insides burning with both rage and fear, while his mind tried hard to find a solution to this riddle, ''You won't kill her, Aloysius! Not until I know where Khushi is! They are connected by blood! What if something happens to Khushi if you kill her?!''

.

.

Meredith smiled viciously to herself as she looked at Arnav, making his nerves ache to go and stab her by himself, but he resisted the urge, and she looked back at Aloysius, as she remarked sarcastically,

''There's some love in here that's unconditional.''

Her statement became Aloysius' undoing as he was reminded of all those moments from that tainted past of his, where he was abandoned because of the dark powers of his own magic and ended up taken by the Avizhas, where years later Meredith became a part of their cult, and how he lost his heart to her. He recollected all the moments when he had shared his deepest fears and secrets with her, and she had only acted to have understood him, promised to be there for him, only to learn more of dark magic from him to attain the immortality spell, Sophronia's spell.

And as her betrayal once again hit him, this time far more prominently than before, he stepped close to her, as he spoke out loud,

''I don't care! Meredith has to DIE!''

And with that, he curled his fingers into tight fists as he began the verses of a dangerous spell, only to be stopped by a silent voice, her voice, and the words that came his way, made a strange sensation build in him from the pit of his stomach.

''You really think, you're still an immortal?''

The words resonated with the greater magnitude than the pitch of the voice she had used to say them as Aloysius narrowed his eyes to look at her, and Arnav's countenance too held the same confusion.

''We both know Sophronia was one of the first Vermount witches and the immortality spell belonged to her, making me a descendant of that spell, and my blood, a prominent anchor to it! The same blood, which you used after killing me along with my bracelet to attain immortality.''

Meredith stated factually, making Arnav listen to her keenly, as the shocking realization of Khushi being a descendant of Sophronia hit him, while Aloysius looked at her with confusion, wondering why she was stating the obvious facts right now.

''The bracelet and Vermount blood is what binds and unbinds the immortality spell, Aloysius. You do remember that, don't you?''

She said as her eyes glistened with a silent pride, one that didn't go unnoticed by Aloysius, before he said with a maddening rage,

''And the bracelet is with ME! What would you do without it, hmm? Your blood is as important as the saline water to drink without the bracelet, you bi*ch!''

Meredith's smile deepened as she witnessed the boundless confidence in his eyes, before she looked at his hands, and said in a voice barely audible,

''Are you sure I gave you the bracelet sometime ago?''

Arnav's heart skipped a beat as a warning bell rang in the back of his head, and he knew that an ugly set up was going to unfurl here right in front of him, and he stepped back, as the next thing he saw, make his eyes pop out of their sockets.

.

.

''NO!''

Aloysius exclaimed in disbelief as the ornament he held in his hand, which was handed over to him some time ago by her, when both him and Arnav believed her to be Khushi, turned into a venomous snake, making him shake his head in denial at the possibility of this and he threw it with force at one corner, and before he could even regain his stand to come back in the battle, he stared at Meredith in utter horror.

.

.

Arnav's throat became dry as she held the ornament, the real bracelet in her hand, cutting her wrist as fresh drops of blood oozed out from her skin, settling on the bracelet, and right then a vicious course of air settled in the chambers of the old castle as she began to utter her verses, the unbinding spell in her mind, and Arnav watched in utter horror, as blood began to drip from Aloysius' eyes, nose, and ears, making bile rise in his throat at the horrendous sight in front of him.

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The night before the battle

''No! No! You can't do this! No!''

Khushi screamed, trying desperately to break free from the shackles in her hands, but all her efforts were futile, as tears trickled down her cheeks, looking at the bracelet in her hands.

''All your efforts are fruitless, Khushi. Don't try. If you be silent, who knows, maybe you will get to live.''

Judith spoke carelessly, making Khushi's blood boil, as she screamed yet again,

''WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS? DO YOU KNOW WHAT WOULD HAPPEN IF MEREDITH COMES BACK?!''

Judith looked at her in utter anger, as she stepped close to Khushi, looking at her dangerously before saying,

''I AM A PART OF THE AVIZHAS. DO YOU REALLY THINK OUR ANCESTORS WANTED ALOYSIUS AS OUR LEADER? NO! WE FOLLOWED MEREDITH! SHE WAS OUR GODDESS! THE TRUE BEARER OF DARK MAGIC, UNLIKE ALOYSIUS WHO WAS ONLY CURSED WITH DARK MAGIC FROM BIRTH BUT DID NOTHING TO ACTUALLY ACQUIRE IT!''

Khushi's mouth flung open in shock as new revelations greeted her when she least expected it and what she heard next, shocked her further,

''YOU REALLY THOUGHT ALEXANDRA WAS ASKING YOU FOR THE BRACELET FOR ALOYSIUS? SHE WAS DOING IT MEREDITH! WE WANTED TO RESURRECT HER! WE HAVE BEEN COMMUNICATING WITH HER! WE WANTED TO KEEP THE BRACELET FOR HER AND GIVE IT TO HER THE MOMENT SHE WAS RESURRECTED! BUT YOU.. YOU WERE SO STUBBORN!''

Khushi was tongue tied as she heard her once upon a time friend, who she thought was on her side, unveil such dark secrets of their world and she was finally at that point of life, where all the words called trust, humanity, feelings, made no sense to her.

''ALOYSIUS THINKS THE AVIZHAS ARE WITH HIM, BUT REALITY IS, MAJORITY OF US ARE ROOTING FOR MEREDITH'S REVIVAL. WE ARE THE FOLLOWERS OF DARK MAGIC, AND MERCY CAN NEVER BE A PART OF US.''

''WHAT YOU SAW THAT DAY, ALEXANDRA KILLING ME, WAS A PART OF OUR PLAN, YOU KNOW! BUT THAT FOOLISH, RECKLESS ARNAV MURDERED ALEXANDRA! AND WOW! YOU ACTUALLY THOUGHT THAT STUPID KNIFE WORKED ON AN IMMORTAL? JUST FOR YOUR INFORMATION KHUSHI, ALEXANDRA WASN'T AN IMMORTAL!''

''WE WERE WAITING FOR THIS DAY, WE KNEW ALOYSIUS WOULD WANT TO MEET YOU. THAT LONER AFTER ALL, LOVED MEREDITH ONCE, AND YOU, MY DEAR KHUSHI, ARE A BEARER OF OUR QUEEN'S FACE. SO WHAT BETTER DAY TO HAVE YOU HERE THAN TODAY, SINCE TOMORROW YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO MEET HIM! IT'S A BATTLE BETWEEN MEREDITH & ALOYSIUS, KHUSHI. IF YOU WANT TO STAY ALIVE, LET IT GO AS IT IS SUPPOSED TO BE.''

.

.

Khushi's throat went dry as she saw the darkness take over her mind completely and in a fraction of second, she was taken back to the early days of her brush with the world of Spellcraft, where she should often get nightmares, and a voice would constantly nudge her senses, a voice that asked her to find ''the key'' and forced her to embrace Witchcraft.

She knew Amelia had meant for her to know of her reality once she turned 18 and defeat the sinners once and for all, but she also knew that the voice that time, was anything but natural, anything but well-wishing, for it made her quiver and her peace was threatened by it.

And now, with such revelations greeting her at this moment, it didn't take her long to realize, whose voice it had always been.

She was dead but she was always lurking around her.

Meredith was always lurking around her.

And that made a chill run down her spine.

.

.

Her senses defied her as her tears dried completely, but her chest ached faintly, as the next thing she heard Judith saw, made her eyes remained fixated only at one direction.

''It's done.''

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Khushi's emotions, understanding, thoughts, beliefs, all bereft her as only darkness created a haze around her, and the next thing she saw was a reflection of her own face, those same eyes, nose, lips, with the only difference being knee length long auburn hair, just that this time, it wasn't a reflection in the mirror, but the person was standing right in front of her.

In flesh and blood.

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And in a flash, her bracelet was taken away from her wrist, while Khushi watched in terror, unable to protest or utter a word, and the only thing she heard her say before she saw her retreating back was,

''I am Meredith. I will meet you soon. Have some unfinished business to take care of.''

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Present day

Zienne Valley

''NO!!!''

Aloysius screamed out loud as he broke down, his knees hitting the rough ground of the old castle, while Arnav's jaw clenched seeing the brutal sight in front of him, his heart unable to believe the face of Khushi being so evil, her body being the bearer of such sins.

As blood kept oozing out of Aloysius' body, his breaths became short-lived, every verse of the spell Meredith uttered in her mind, undoing every iota of Sophronia's immortality spell, bringing an end to the longest tenure of Aloysius as an immortal, while in different parts of the world and the castle, the many followers of the Avizhas, celebrated the return of Meredith, their true bearer of dark magic, who had one promised them immense power, something that Aloysius had always kept them deprived of.

.

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The Woods

Present Day

Khushi looked at the time by her wrist watch and knew the dawn had happened long back and the sun might have already come out more prominently now, although not even an inch of light greeted her sight as she remained trapped in that dungeon, with no sign of Judith or anyone else around.

Her chest clenched at the sight of her other wrist that was now completely empty, her bracelet long gone during the darkest hours of the previous night, where everything had taken a different turn, making her belief from the remains of this world flip, and she silently sat there, all by herself.

''Only dark magic works here.''

Judith's words from yesterday resonated in her mind, as she ferociously looked at the shackles on her wrists, the void within her making her stoic, as she made the darkest choice of her life, determined to make a difference by hook or crook, as she silently whispered,

''Everything is fair in love and war. Forgive me Amelia.''

And with that she closed her eyes, as her mind flashed the obscure spells she had read in that untouchable section from Amelia's grimoire, making knots begin to form in her stomach, as she began to chant verses from the darkest manuscripts that resided in her memory, and in no time, every single flower in the woods, lost its color and life, as they all turned dead, and the same happened, with every creature in the wild, but Khushi had no remorse, no regret.

And the next thing she knew, her shackles broke with such a force, that it created a loud sound, and the passage of the narrow dungeon, was broken in a jiffy.

She stood without blinking her eyes, as she saw the altar right in front of her, with the residue of the dark magic and ingredients that were used to resurrect Meredith.

Khushi didn't flinch even a bit as she wandered her gaze over her own blood, followed by Meredith's ashes from her mortal life from decades ago, before her sight settled on the bones of little humans, and it didn't take her long to understand that it was pure sacrilege of pure, innocent human life, little kids to be precise.

Giving it all one last look, she lashed out of there, her mind only settled on one thing.

She had to end all of this.

.

.

And the end came a little too soon for him.

As the remaining drops of blood left his body, wiping off not just his immortality but also his existence from the world, a deep smile tugged at the corners of Meredith's lips, as she whispered,

''Patience is a virtue. This immortality, this power, always belonged to me, Aloysius. And I waited for this moment since so long. To watch you die in front of my eyes. And now, now the time has come. When this power, this infinite power would be mine! Only mine !''

She vowed to herself, while Arnav looked at the scene helplessly worrying silently for Khushi, and Aloysius breathed his last.

**