The world dissolved for them and it was same for Lana too.
One moment, Lana was enjoying the tension between Dante and that little fire-starter, Erica.
The next, she was alone. Trapped in a hallway of endless mirrors.
The others had screamed. She thought she heard Dante's name. Probably from that pathetic redhead.
She just laughed.
'A private little party? How thoughtful of this forest.'
The labyrinth thought it could break her. It was adorable.
It started by showing her things from her past. The suffocating walls of the orphanage.
The pinched, disapproving face of the headmistress. Her voice echoing from a thousand reflections.
"You are a troubled child, Lana. Full of darkness."
"And you're a boring old hag," Lana chirped. Extending her Verdant Iron Staff with a flick of her wrist.
CRASH!
She smashed the reflection into a shower of glittering dust. "Next!"
The labyrinth tried again. Creating a ghost of her cheating ex-boyfriend.
He was on his knees. His face a mask of terror. Begging for a forgiveness he didn't deserve.
"Lana, please," he whimpered. "I made a mistake. I love you."
"I know," she sighed dramatically. Resting her staff on her shoulder. "Loving me is a very common mistake."
She swung the staff in a wide arc. Shattering his phantom form.
'It was even more satisfying the second time around.'
This wasn't a trial. It was a highlight reel.
The labyrinth was trying to torment her with her demons. But it failed to understand a basic truth: she had already made her demons her pets.
They didn't scare her anymore. She fed them.
'These ghosts are pathetic. My past? I burned it all. The only thing that matters now is him.'
When the walls finally slid away and she saw the others again, she had to stifle a giggle.
They looked like frightened little mice.
Erica was pale and trembling. That quiet one, Talia, looked like she'd seen a ghost.
Even Dante, her beautiful, unbreakable Dante, looked... weary.
The labyrinth had tried to show them their deepest fears.
It had only shown her a good time.
Then the floor glowed. And the crystal copies of them began to rise.
Five of them. Perfect, silent, and utterly deadly.
'A new set of toys to break.'
"Oh, this is going to be fun," she whispered.
As if hearing her thought, a invisible wall appeared between each of them. Trapping them with their crystal twin.
She saw Erica light her fists. Preparing to fight her copy. But she couldn't reach her.
No one could interfere. It was a duel.
Just her and... her.
Her crystal copy stood opposite her. Its form a perfect flawless mirror. It held a staff of pure crystal. And it mirrored her stance exactly.
But its eyes held same cold and a mocking intelligence.
"Finally," she purred. Spinning her staff. "A worthy opponent."
She charged. Her copy charged.
CLANG!
Their staves met with a sound like a thousand shattering chandeliers.
The force of the impact sent a shockwave up her arms. But her copy didn't even flinch.
It moved with her speed. Her grace. Her knowledge.
It knew every feint. Every block. Every brutal strike she was capable of.
'Of course it does. It's me. Which means I know what it's going to do too.'
She spun left. It mirrored. She struck high. It blocked. She swept low. It jumped.
Perfect symmetry. Perfect stalemate.
"You can't win," it said. Its voice a perfect echo of her own. But with all the warmth stripped away. Leaving only cold cutting cruelty.
"You can't beat yourself."
"Watch me," she snarled. Lashing out with a sweeping strike aimed at its legs.
It leaped effortlessly over the attack. Landing with a soft chime.
"Why are you even trying?" the crystal Lana asked. Its head tilted in fake curiosity. "This isn't about strength. You know that."
"This is about him."
It gestured with its crystal staff toward the real Dante. Who was locked in his own silent battle.
Lana's grin faltered. Just for a second.
"You think he wants you?" her copy laughed. A sound like ice cracking. "Look at you. You're a broken little thing from a broken home."
"A storm of chaos and need."
"Shut up!" Lana screamed. Her playful attitude cracking.
She lunged. Her staff a blur of motion. The copy blocked every strike with infuriating ease.
"You're exciting, yes," the copy continued. Its voice never stopping. "A beautiful disaster. Fun to watch burn."
"But a man like Dante doesn't want a disaster. He wants a tool. Something he can use. Something he can control."
'No. He... he needs me. I saved him. I'm powerful. I'm useful.'
"He sees you for exactly what you are," it said. Circling her like a predator. "A weapon. Powerful, yes. Unpredictable, absolutely."
"And in the end, disposable."
"You're lying!" Lana parried a vicious thrust. The impact jarring her teeth.
"Am I?" The crystal Lana smiled. A terrible, knowing smile. "Think about it. Really think."
"When you volunteered to be bait at the lake, what did he say? He rejected you. Said you weren't good enough."
"When you offered your skills, your strength, he dismissed you and chose himself instead."
The words hit harder than any physical blow.
"He was protecting me," Lana said. But her voice lacked conviction.
"Was he protecting you?" the copy whispered. Moving closer. "Or was he making sure the valuable artifact went to him, not to the chaotic girl who might lose control?"
"Look at the little fire-starter. Erica. She's pathetic, yes. A shy, obsessive little mouse."
"But her devotion is simple. It is pure. It is controllable. She is a loyal dog."
"You? You are a rabid wolf he keeps on a very short leash."
Lana's breathing quickened. Her grip on her staff tightened until her knuckles turned white.
"Who do you think he truly values more?" the copy pressed. "The loyal pet, or the beautiful monster he knows he'll have to put down eventually?"
"We're the same!" Lana roared. All pretense of playfulness gone. "He and I are the same! We understand each other!"
She poured all her rage into a powerful overhead strike.
SCREEECH!
Their staves met again. The sound screaming through the room.
This time, a crack appeared in her copy's crystal weapon. It had felt that.
Her rage, her true, pure madness, was a power it couldn't perfectly replicate.
It saw the crack. And its smile widened.
"The same? Oh, sweetie, no," it whispered. Its voice dropping to a poisonous purr. "He is a demon building an empire."
"You? You're just a broken girl who likes to burn things."
"You don't want to rule with him. You just want to be the only thing left in the ashes."
"You think that's love? He knows it's not."
"He knows you would burn him, too, if it meant you could have him all to yourself."
Lana's breath hitched.
'No. That's not... I don't...'
"You're not his partner," the copy continued. Each word a carefully aimed dart. "You're his stalker. His obsessed, violent shadow."
"And the moment you become more trouble than you're worth, he will cut you loose without a second thought."
The words were poison. Each one hitting a place deep inside her she refused to admit existed.
The place that knew her obsession was a sickness. The place that knew Dante's tolerance of her was just that tolerance, not affection.
The place that whispered: 'You're too broken. Too chaotic. Too much.'
Her grip on her staff weakened. Just a fraction of a second.
And in that instant, the crystal Lana moved.
Its own staff, though cracked, was a blur. It wasn't aimed at her head or her chest.
It was aimed at her knee.
CRUNCH.
It struck with a sickening, crystal-on-bone sound.
A bolt of pure, hot pain shot up her leg. She screamed. A real scream this time. A sound of pain and shock.
Her leg buckled. She collapsed to the crystal floor. Her staff clattered from her numb fingers.
She looked up. Panting. Her vision swimming with tears of pain.
Her copy stood over her. Its face showing no emotion. Its cracked crystal staff held ready.
"See?" it said which felt like a final whisper. "In the end, even you can break yourself."