After that, Orochi provided Alesha with some midnight snacks, namely strawberry shortcake, a strange gelatinous dessert filled with popping candy, and chili-pepper popcorn. Alesha enjoyed the cake most out of all of them, but Orochi seemed to like the popcorn best.
Her opinion of Orochi gradually lightened, despite the fact that he was essentially her stalker, a Patron of the Games, and the son of Krogor. He just seemed too childlike to stay mad at.
[Are you sure you won't regret this?] Rogork asked as she left, following another glass golem back to her room.
"I don't know," Alesha answered honestly. "But hating someone who isn't the cause of things won't do me any good. And besides, he was kind of cute."
[Ohhh? Do you want to eat his heart, too? He was a rather handsome dragon, if you ask me.]
"Eew, no!" She retorted. "I meant cute in the way a puppy is cute. And I know you knew that, so stop it."
[This is where I'd shrug if I were capable of doing so,] Rogork added. [But unfortunately, I lack a physical body, so I am stuck telling you that I'm shrugging.]
Alesha rolled her eyes.
Once again, she was struck by the memory of what Cecilia had said: that she and Rogork got along well, like siblings.
She shuddered at the thought.
----
The next morning, she was quickly ushered to a simple room with a large circular platform. Zorhellian stood nearby, but he was ignoring her, instead engaged in deep conversation with a woman in a red, purple, and gold dress. Her voluminous, mahogany-colored hair floated as if weightless, undulating gently as if underwater. Had it been under the influence of gravity, it'd have easily reached her ankles in length.
As Alesha looked at the woman, fear, an eerie sense of familiarity, and awe filled her chest, so intense that she felt she might burst. She stopped in the middle of the room, gasping for breath.
The woman turned, looking at Alesha with a flat expression. Her glowing red eyes, sculpted eyebrows, high cheekbones and luscious red lips created a picture of deadly grace.
Heart pounding in her chest, Alesha felt like she should know the identity of this woman, but that it was just out of reach.
The moment seemed frozen in time.
Alesha and the woman looked at each other, one filled with trepidation, the other with cool nonchalance.
A ripple traveled across the woman's body, like a glitch in reality. Pixelated, warped images of horrifying monstrosities overlaid themselves on top of the woman's image, so gut-wrenchingly malformed that Alesha couldn't find the words to describe them. Her skin appeared to be fire, lightning, acid, smoke, cracks in the earth and more, flashing by in quick succession, almost too quickly to be recognized.
Then, it was over, and the woman's appearance returned to what it had been at the start.
Alesha crumpled to the ground like a dropped rag doll, fighting nausea.
What was that?! Who is that woman?!
[You haven't realized it yet?] Rogork asked in a humble voice, so very uncharacteristic of it. [That, Alesha, is none other than Toltura, the Goddess of Chaos Herself.]
Alesha curled her hands into fists, anger bubbling up alongside her nausea.
She glared at the Goddess, who had since turned back to her conversation with Zorhellian.
Why was she here? What did she want from her? Why had she altered the Games in her favor?
Alesha didn't know.
And she didn't get a chance to find out, because right then, the Goddess vanished, and Zorhellian turned to face her.
"Alesha Jane Williams, my heartiest congratulations once more on winning the Games. You may return to the place from which you were summoned, or you can be teleported to the nearest habitable zone, since the place you were summoned from is, according to my magical analysis, now a barren wasteland. It is up to you."
"A wasteland?" Alesha asked numbly. She'd been afraid of that.
"Alright, can you teleport me outside the nearest habitable zone? Far enough that I can safely evolve, but not so far that I can't find my way there?"
Zorhellian nodded. "Understood."
Then, under his breath he added, "I wish I'd known about your evolution before the Games began, then I'd have sent you right back and taken that old debtor instead! You were damn well not worth the complications, even if you did end up winning!"
With that, a swirling maelstrom of golden sand appeared around her, not unlike when she had first come here over a year ago. She subconsciously hugged Collin's dead body closer to her.
Wait, did that mean she'd turned 23 sometime while she was here??
[Lol you only now realized that?] Rogork mocked.
Shut it, Alesha thought, rolling her eyes. She'd had way bigger problems on her hands before.
As time slowly passed, Alesha felt her heartbeat slow and her vision dim.
Was she reverting to her sword form now? Did that mean she was about to evolve?
Consciousness fled before she could find out the answer.
--
An empty black expanse surrounded Alesha, feeling somehow warm and comfortable, like a heated blanket.
In this strangely cozy place, a profound and welcome sense of peace filled her. There were no worries here. No evolution, no kill or be killed, no System, no future to prepare for, no past to be burdened by -- only the present, comfortable embrace of the welcoming darkness.
It felt incredibly natural, as if this were how things were always meant to be.
"Human child," A deep, smooth voice called for her, causing her core to rumble in response to its summons.
As if her eyes had been closed but were now opening, a ghostly blue being gradually appeared in front of her. It had a magnificent crown of horns, a powerful body, dozens of batlike wings and a long, thick tail. Long, thin, slightly curved spines ran down its back.
"A dragon?" Alesha murmured beneath her breath.
"Indeed, I am a dragon," the ghostly, pale blue figure replied, its tail swishing slightly as it puffed itself up proudly. "None other than Kalszoth the Ethereal."
"Who now?" Alesha asked, not recognizing the name.
A flicker of annoyance crossed the dragon's face. "Kalszoth the Ethereal, none other than the soul weapon you have been wielding in battle of late. I cannot fathom the reason your puny mind might have forgotten such a thing. I was even so courteous as to leave you with an introduction letter!"
"Oh! Sorry, I guess it just slipped my mind. Nice to meet you."
Alesha, upon remembering the note that had come alongside her weapon, saw no reason to doubt his words. His overall aura seemed to match the note precisely.
"Wait, but why are you here? Come to think of it, why am I here?"
"I have called you here to bestow upon you my power, having found you worthy. Your prowess in battle impressed me greatly; especially your tenacity in the face of grave injury and your mercy in killing your opponents quickly. Are you amenable to this? Would you accept my power?"
Alesha blinked, surprised. He had found her worthy?
"Sure, why not?" She replied.
Lately, she had seen the importance of strength in surviving, and she didn't think it would be any different back home. If she wanted to survive, she couldn't afford to be weak. And any power that came from a source other than the System was doubly welcome -- perhaps, eventually, she'd even be able to break free from its influence altogether.
She just hoped whatever price she had to pay for this power wasn't too great.
"Fear not, little one," Kalszoth chuckled. "The price of my power is not steep. I have seen your heart and, aside from those influences which seek to corrupt you, you are indeed worthy of my strength. Alesha Jane Williams, I, Kalszoth the Ethereal, hereby bestow upon you my power and my legacy. As part of inheriting my strength, and as the price of doing so, you shall absorb my life essence and thereby grant unto me eternal rest. Do you accept?"
Alesha's eyes widened upon hearing his condition. He wanted to die? Was he, perhaps, tired of living?
"Indeed, I am weary of the world; but that matters not. Of greater import is your answer to my question. Alesha, do you accept my power, and the terms I have set for the inheritance of it?"
"I do," Alesha answered.
"Then take my power, and with it, I hope you find what you are looking for," Kalszeth said.
He then dissolved into mist, which swirled into a funnel, came towards her and entered her body.
After that, she woke up.