At Damon's ruined fortress,the air is thick with tension and faint traces of dark magic. The Trix exchange pleased looks when they see only two magical presences.
"Only Musa and Riven?" Icy smirks. "I was expecting the whole cavalry.But I guess that they'll do just fine."
Her hands glow icy blue, ready to strike, but Darcy grabs her wrist.
"Don't waste your energy,Icy," Darcy warns coolly. "Let's use our strength sparingly. We might need it for our future plans."
Stormy nods in agreement.
"Musa and Riven are no pushovers either.We might have the numbers but at our current power level… the fight could go either way."
Icy groans in annoyance.
"Fine. What do you geniuses suggest then?"
Darcy smiles slyly.
"How about we play some good old fashioned mind games with Damon's guests?"
Icy grins despite herself. "I like the sound of that."
But Stormy fidgets, glancing toward the fortress interior.
"You two handle that. I'll go find Damon."
Her sisters shoot her looks.
"Ew,you're so besotted," Icy says.
"Am not,"her little sister says defensively.Then she continues to say,"Look,If he dies, we can kiss our plans goodbye."
Stormy then flies off.
Darcy rolls her eyes.
"She's been such a bore lately."
"I know,"Icy agrees. "Anyway—enough talk. Let's have some fun."
"We need to separate them first," Darcy says.
"Leave that to me." Icy smirks, summoning a frost-laced mist that snakes through the corridors.
After a while,Darcy adds her own little tocu to the mist.
Musa and Riven were in for a terrible time,she thought with a smile.
******
MUSA
Her and Riven are moving cautiously through the fortressa,looking for Damon, when a sudden cold wind blasts down the corridor, followed by thick, creeping fog.
"Where did this come from?" Riven mutters.
"I don't know," Musa answers, not liking this creepy development at all.
The mist thickens until they can't see each other at all.
"Riven?" Musa calls.
"Musa!" he shouts back—but soon, they cant even hear each other's voices.
Silence.
Musa's heartbeat quickens.
She didnt like that she was alone.
No. This is what Damon wants me to think,she thought with clenched hands.
But something about the mist… felt familiar.
Too familiar.And not like Damon.
But it can't be, she thinks. The Trix are dead.
Then—voices. Whispering her name.
"Who's there?" she demands.
No reply. Only giggles echoing faintly.
"Damon, if you're trying to scare me—just know it's not going to work!" she says, her voice trembling slightly.
"We're not Damon," says a familiar cold voice.
"Have you forgotten us, Musa?" another asks sweetly.
"I think she has, sister," says a third.
Three ghostly figures materialize before her—the Trix, pale and transparent, eyes glowing faintly.
"Hello, Musa," they say in unison.
Musa stumbles back, horrified.
"You're supposed to be dead!"
"We are," Icy whispers from behind her, cold breath brushing her ear. "You murdered us, remember?"
"It wasn't murder!" Musa protests. "It was self-defense! You left us no choice!"
"That's not true!" Stormy snarls. "You could've spared us,found another way—but you wanted us dead,because youre monsters!"
"No!" Musa screams, covering her ears as their voices echo around her.
******
Meanwhile, Riven moves through the mist, cursing under his breath.
"Stupid fog. This has probably Damon's doing."
He presses forward blindly, calling out, "Musa!"
A familiar, weary voice answers.
But it's not Musa.
"Riven…"
He freezes.
No,it couldnt be...
"Varel?" he says, turning toward the sound.
The old man's ghostly figure steps out of the mist, eyes sorrowful.
"You let me die, Riven.How could you?"
Riven's grip tightens on his sword but he just closes his eyes.
"This isn't real. It's Damon's trick."
"You were like a son to me," Varel continues. "And yet you left me to die."
Riven's jaw clenches.
"Stop it."
"Didn't I matter to you?"
"Of course you did!" Riven shouts.
"Then why didn't you save me?" Varel's voice echoes in his skull. "Looks like I was wrong to rely on someone so weak."
Riven shakes his head, backing away—only for another voice to join in.
"I was wrong about you too."
He turns and sees...Sky.
"Sky?" Riven whispers, horrified.
"You let me die," Sky says bitterly. "You were too distracted by Musa to protect me. Damon killed me because you failed."
"And me," adds Varel.
He falls to his knees,clutching his head.
"No…"
Riven's sword slips from his hand.
"NO!" he screams as the ghosts close in.
*****
The corridors of Damon's fortress were eerily silent, the mist Icy had conjured curling along the walls like living smoke. Stormy's boots echoed faintly as she flew through the shadows, looking for Damon.
When she finally found him, her heart dropped.
Damon lay sprawled against a stone column, blood darkening the floor beneath him. His breathing was shallow, his eyes half-lidded.
"Damon!" she gasped, rushing to his side. "Oh, no, no, no…"
She knelt beside him, her usual confidence replaced by panic.
"You're in bad shape," she said softly, brushing his hair from his face.
His eyes flickered open just enough to meet hers.
"Stormy… where are your sisters?" he rasped, his voice barely a whisper.
"They're… taking care of Musa and Riven," she answered quickly.
He nodded weakly, then frowned.
"And why… why aren't you with them?"
Stormy hesitated, suddenly flustered. The sharp, reckless witch who once mocked weakness now found herself tongue-tied.
"Because…" she started, looking away. "Because I wanted to check up on you.I...care about you."
Her voice cracked slightly at the end, surprising even herself.
Something cunning flickered jnto Damon's eyes but Stormy didnt see it. He smiled cutely at her and reached out a trembling, blood-streaked hand and took hers.
"And for that…" he murmured, "…I care about you too."
Then his grip went slack. His eyes closed.
"Damon?" Stormy whispered. She shook him gently. "Damon! Wake up!"
No response.
Panic surged through her. She pressed a hand to his face, he was fading fast.
For a long moment, she just stared at him. Not as a tool for power or their dark alliance—but as him.
"I won't let you die," she whispered fiercely.
She closed her eyes and focused, channeling her own energy into him. Lightning arced between their hands, red light flooding the dark room. It hurt—every spark she transferred weakened her—but she didn't care.
All she cared about was the image in her mind,one of the two them,together, forever.
******
From their hiding place in the mist, Icy and Darcy watched with smug satisfaction as Musa and Riven got tormented by their own illusions.
Musa screamed into the fog, clutching her head as ghostly versions of the Trix closed in.
Riven knelt nearby, haunted by phantom figures whispering blame into his ears.
Icy smirked.
"Well, that didn't take long."
Darcy folded her arms, pleased.
"They're done. The illusions are deep — their minds won't find a way out easily."
"Good. Our work here is done," Icy said, flicking her hair. "Let's go check on Stormy."
The two sisters turned away, their laughter fading as they left the chamber.
*****
Musa stood trembling in the swirling mist, the spectral Trix circling her like vultures.
"You killed us," Stormy's ghost hissed.
"You wanted us gone," Icy taunted.
"You enjoyed it," Darcy added cruelly.
Musa pressed her hands to her ears.
"Stop it! I didn't—"
Her voice faltered. For a moment, guilt clawed at her heart. But then another thought pierced through — Riven.
Where was he? Was he seeing this too? Was he okay?
The thought of him suffering came into her mind, consuming all her other thoughts.
That fear — that need to protect him — grew stronger than the illusion's hold. She lowered her hands, eyes fierce.
"I need to find,Riven,"she told herself.
"Are you sure you wont kill him too,murderer?"Darcy taunts.
"I would never hurt Riven," she said, her voice steady. "And you're not real."
The ghosts tilted their heads, smiling eerily.
"We're real enough to destroy you."
"You can't destroy me with lies," Musa snapped. "I fought to protect my friends — and I'd do it again!"
A pulse of energy radiated from her. Music — soft but powerful — filled the air, weaving through the mist. The spectral Trix screamed, their forms dissolving into smoke.
The fog around her thinned, and for the first time, she could breathe freely.
"Riven…" she whispered. "Hold on. I'm coming."
She ran through the corridor, following the faint echo of his voice.
*****
RIVEN
Riven stood surrounded by the ghosts of Varel and Sky, their faces twisted in accusation.
"You let us die," Sky said coldly.
"You failed," Varel added. "You were too weak just like I always knew you were."
Riven clenched his fists, his heart pounding.But then he realised something important.
" Sky wouldn't say that."
The phantoms stepped closer.
"You were distracted," Sky said. "You cared more about her than your duty."
That struck something in him — but not guilt. Anger.
"You think I regret caring about her?" he shouted. "You think I'd rather be the soldier who never felt anything? No."
He stepped forward, glaring through the mist.
"Sky trusted me and I know Bloom and the others wouldnt let him die.. And Varel — you taught me that strength isn't about never falling. It's about getting back up."
The ghosts faltered, their eyes flickering with uncertainty.
Riven raised his sword, his voice steady.
"You're not real. You're just an illusion trying to break me."
With one decisive swing, his blade cut through them — and they vanished into light.
He exhaled shakily, lowering his sword.
"Nice try, Damon."
Though shaken by their words, he pushed it aside and started running — Musa needed him.
******
The mist started fading completely as Musa kept walking. She turned a corner — and there Riven was.
"Riven!" she cried, relief flooding her voice.
He looked up, just as startled, then smiled — a real one, full of warmth.
"Musa…"
She ran to him, and he caught her in his arms. For a long moment, they just held each other — no words, no magic, just the steady beat of two hearts that had fought their way back together.
"I thought...I thought I might never find you," she whispered.
"Not a chance," he murmured back, resting his forehead against hers. "Damon tried, but he couldnt keep me away."
"Or break us,"Musa added.
The last traces of Darcy's mist faded away completely, leaving the two of them standing side by side — bruised, shaken, but unbroken.
But then something occurs to Musa and she slowly,pulled away.
"What?" Riven asks her.
"This mist...the illusion and the things they knew....It feels like the work of other people,not Damon,"Musa said.
Riven looks at her,confusion etched im his features.
"I dont understand.If it wasnt Damon who else could it be?"he asks.
At that moment,they hear voices and become still, suddenly alert.
An unpleasant feeling crawls up Musa's spine.
Those voices...it couldnt be...
Wuthout saying another word,Musa follws the direction of the voice.
"Where are you going Musa?"Riven whispers but she ignores him, determined to ascertain her suspiciouns.
Riven follows her.
They arrive before the door of the room from where the voices were coming from. Musa stealthily peaked inside.
She almost revealed their presence by gasping at the three faces she thought she'd never have to encounter again,the Trix.
And they were actually alive this time.