Icon stepped back as the light finally died down. Hundreds—maybe even thousands—of rune-like engravings were carved across her skin, all glowing with an ethereal blue light. Instead of her usual eyes, twin orbs of pure azure energy stared at Icon, and Icon stared back, his red eyes boring into her soul. Yet now they seemed minuscule compared to her boundless power.
"You hurt him," she said, clenching her fists. The words came out low and dangerous, vibrating with barely contained fury.
The shock and surprise left Icon's face. He stared at her with cold calculation. "Yes, I did. Pretty badly, too."
She moved forward without giving Icon a second to think or react. Her feet kicked off the ground as she ran toward him, fists glowing with blue energy. Icon swiftly ducked under the first punch, recognizing it as a feint. The second fist slammed into his stomach. A blue flash of energy erupted from the impact, and Icon flew back several feet before quickly anchoring himself on the ground to lower his momentum.
*She's strong,* he thought, his mind racing. *I should have known. I thought all of our kind died off when the Old King of the demons ordered us to conquer any civilization we could.* Most demons had no idea what the Old Demon King was like, since the new one had been around for far too long. The Old King had wanted to strike fear into every other race—even the humans—and they had eventually succeeded. But he was overthrown by Griffin, the new Demon King.
Icon's thoughts darkened. Not only was Griffin a man of his word when it came to promises, but he was also a man who had witnessed the power of the Old Demon King firsthand—the one who wasn't civilized, the one who cared nothing for his people, the one who ruled the demon realm with an iron fist. Icon remembered those days with bitter clarity. During one of those fear-conquering days of war, he had fought against the Marky race. He and a few other demons had nearly caused the entire race to go extinct. Unfortunately, they couldn't find any more to bury. Some had escaped.
This wasn't good. The Marky race was the most troublesome race he had ever fought, and now one of them stood right in front of him, radiating power that made his skin crawl.
"I see. So that's why your brother hates demons so much," Icon said, smirking, though unease churned in his gut. "I didn't know you were of the Marky race."
Every individual in the Marky race was insanely strong. They had nearly caused his entire group to go extinct. If it wasn't for the backup they had received from the Old Demon King, they most likely would have died in that fight.
"You hurt him," she repeated, walking forward. Each step was deliberate, measured, terrifying in its certainty.
Icon didn't give her a chance to close the distance. He was going to end this quickly. He didn't need her fighting back—he didn't know if he could even beat her. He needed to strike first and continue striking, never giving her a chance to do what she needed.
He leaped forward with his full speed and strength, punching her right in the stomach and sending her flying back. Then he struck her again mid-air and continued punching her in rapid succession, creating a brutal circle of attacks.
"I'm not letting you land another hit on me," he growled as he grabbed her mid-air and slammed her into the ground with full force.
The attack was brutal. It caused a large crater in the ground. Anyone who looked inside would see only darkness—until a small blue light began to glow from the depths.
She blasted from the crater, her entire body radiating blue light like never before. She leaped forward with astounding speed. All Icon saw was a blur, and then—*bam*. The punch was so strong that it sent a large shockwave rippling around her fist. Icon flew with astounding speed and hit the ground, his body carving a deep trail as he rolled.
Icon tried to get up, but his body wouldn't respond. He looked down at himself. There was a large hole in his stomach. That should have been fatal, but Icon had been through worse—way worse. *My body's going to heal. It senses that I'm in a near-death situation. But I can't afford to die. I can't.*
He smirked despite the pain. "Well then, come at me."
A blur, and she was right there, her fist cocked back and ready to strike.
---
*What in the world is she doing?* the hooded boy thought as he tried to get up, but his body was far too weak. The wounds that Icon had inflicted on him weren't healing anytime soon. His sword lay destroyed, broken in half during the battle.
*What is going on? How is she...?*
The shock of what was happening overrode his hatred. He was seeing his sister somehow breaking through a barrier he'd never imagined she could cross. He knew that after she finished fighting, she wouldn't be able to move much from the strain. But he couldn't move at all, so how was he supposed to help her when the fight eventually ended?
He continued staring with only one eye open—his other eye was swollen shut. The rest of his face was badly beaten, as was his body. He looked up from the red-tinted ground and stared at the battle, but he couldn't watch for long. His energy was slowly dwindling.
*I can't keep...*
He couldn't even finish the sentence before he passed out.
---
*Never thought I'd see you here.*
She looked around in the dark area, confusion washing over her. Where was she? Wasn't she supposed to be fighting Icon? The transformation had finished, and she was fighting him—but how was she here? How was she in this black, empty room?
She looked around and saw two versions of herself staring back at her. They both waved in unison.
"Hello there," one of them said, stepping forward. "You finally broke through, huh? Never thought I'd see the day." Then her voice turned serious. "Look, I'm sure this is your first time breaking through, so let me give you the rundown on everything that happens. First, let us introduce ourselves. My name is Mia, and the one beside me is Maya."
"Who are you? Why am I here?" Layla asked, her voice trembling slightly.
They both smiled with an almost sisterly warmth.
"This is your mind," Mia responded. "And we are—technically, I guess—something you would call different personalities. We can take control of your body as well. Well, at least we can now. We couldn't do it before because you simply haven't broken through yet. This is your first time breaking through."
Maya smiled. "Exactly what she said. Now that you've finally broken through, we can technically control your body at any time. But we're not that heartless. We're going to give you permission before we take care of anything we need to. We're basically here just in case you can't handle something. I specialize in that blue energy that's surrounding you right now. I'm very good at manipulating it, although combat hasn't been my strong suit."
"However," Mia interjected, "that's my strong suit. I'm very good with combat and whatnot. I don't really care about that magic stuff. Look, if you want to beat Icon, you have to let one of us take control. If you take control of your body now, you won't be able to handle him. Your rage will consume you, and you'll make sloppy decisions that might get you killed—that might get *us* killed."
Layla stared at the two in front of her. They were right, she knew that much. But she was still getting used to all this. She had been alone in her mind before—it was just her. Maybe when she had broken through, she'd been able to contact these two aspects of herself.
"So make your decision," Mia said. "Which one of us is going?"
Layla took a deep breath, feeling the weight of the choice. "I'll let you go, Mia."
Mia smiled. "Great. Hold on, give me a moment." She closed her eyes and manifested a nice cushioned chair inside the room. "All right, looks like I'll be going now. Don't worry—I'll beat him for you."
She walked forward and sat down on the chair. When she opened her eyes, Icon was in front of her.
And the rest was history.
---
"Do you think we'll be seeing what she's seeing?" Maya asked.
Layla smirked. "I don't know. This is my first time, same as yours, so I have no clue if we're going to see what she sees or not."
Then they both opened their eyes and began to see whatever Mia was seeing right now. They both smiled at each other—or rather, they couldn't really see one another because they were all compacted into one body, but they could feel each other's presence.
---
*Why do I feel so much rage?* Mia thought. *I mean, I get it—I'm controlling her body—but don't tell me that her emotions are taking over me as well. I never thought this would happen. I thought that if I took control, her anger would calm down, but apparently not.*
*And why do I feel such an urge to kill this man? To rip his body apart?*
*No, that's not the right thing to do. I can't let her just take control of me.*
But she couldn't help herself.
"You hurt him," she said, and shock appeared across Icon's face.
*What am I saying? I thought I had control. Never mind that—I need to quickly beat this guy.*
---
Soon they were back in the black room.
"Oh my," Maya said, staring. "What's your name? I never really got it, considering we rushed into this way too fast, and you were technically in the middle of battle when you broke through. So now that Mia's in control, what's your name?"
"My name is Layla," she said softly, still processing everything.
"That's a beautiful name," Maya said warmly. "Hey, that makes me wonder—if we're technically all the same person, I guess three bodies in one mind, would we all have the same name?"
"That's not true," Layla said. "Technically, we're all different minds and consciousnesses, right?"
Maya smacked her lips thoughtfully. "You're right about that. Interesting. Well, I guess we'll just have to sit back and watch the show."