Rosalie stretched her arms out to the sides. Spirals of black smoke began to form around her—like loops of souls twisted by pain, anger, and the thirst for power. Her shadow rippled on the ground, and every twitch of it tore the earth apart, sucking the life from it.
"This is the place of my birth. And here you will die," she hissed.
Jeremy stepped in front of Julie, shielding her with his body, but she grabbed his arm and forced him to stand beside her.
"You won't fight alone."
Their hands intertwined, and from the seal they had lifted earlier, a beam of light shot out, shattering the darkness around them like glass. Power reflected in their eyes—a force unlike any known being—a mixture of memory, sacrifice, and love.
Rosalie screamed as the first wave hit her. It forced her to step back. But her rage only grew.
"Strength doesn't come from love! It's an illusion!" She raised her hand, and from her shadow emerged a creature—formless, predatory, forged from the essence of cursed dimensions.
The beast lunged at them.
Jeremy sprang forward, leapt into the air, and from his outstretched hands unleashed a fiery sphere with a dark red core—it fell upon the monster like a meteor, shattering it into black shards.
Julie rushed at Rosalie, and from beneath her feet grew bright tendrils—echoes of her hidden power, rooted in the purity of her heart. Her body glowed with a subtle light, which Rosalie instinctively had to avert her gaze from, as if it burned her.
"You… are… only human!" Rosalie shouted.
"Not anymore," Julie replied, her voice piercing the air like a bell.
They clashed in a whirlwind of forces—Rosalie surrounded by crows, darkness, and the screams of the damned; Julie fighting with light, the memory of a vision where she saw the end—and the beginning of something new.
Jeremy joined her. His hand transformed into a blade of ethereal fire, and fury inherited from his father blazed in his eyes.
Rosalie's shadow began to retreat.
But then… something inside her broke.
She screamed—not with rage.
It was fear.
And something else.
A betrayal of her own essence.
Jeremy's and Julie's light surrounded her. The seal spinning between them shone fully, creating a dome of energy that halted every dark spell Rosalie cast.
And then Jeremy stepped forward.
"Rosalie, you are strong. But you don't have to be alone."
Her shadow trembled, as if hesitating.
Julie reached out her hand. "You can end this. Or… together we will burn you to ashes."
Rosalie looked at them in disbelief. Her own body began to crumble.
"This wasn't supposed to happen," she whispered. "I was meant to win…"
But their power was already enveloping her. Slowly tightening.
Everything was to be decided now.
*
The light pulsed. Each second felt like an eternity. Rosalie, half submerged in shadow, half engulfed by glow, trembled. Her eyes—always so cold, unreadable—were now full of… confusion.
Julie did not look away. Her hand remained extended. Jeremy stood beside her, ready to strike, but with a heart torn apart. They fought for more than victory. They fought for a chance to break the cycle.
"Decide, Rosalie," he said softly. "Either you let this dark light consume you… or you return. Not to us. To yourself."
The shadow around the girl quivered, then… something broke.
Rosalie screamed—not in pain, but in effort. Her own power—long driven by anger—tried to break free, but instead of striking, it began to recede. Waves of darkness, instead of attacking, melted away. They fell from her like dirty mist, like dust from the past, like a weight she had placed on herself.
"I thought this was the only way…" she whispered, kneeling. "That since no one wanted me, even Martha left me… I had to be something more. I had to be… power."
Julie knelt before her and gently placed a hand on her shoulder.
"You don't have to be power. It's enough that you are."
Rosalie looked at her—not like a queen of darkness. Like a girl. A child. Who never had a chance to be loved except through fear.
Tears flowed from her eyes.
And then something happened that no one expected.
The sky above them parted, and from its center burst a column of light that came neither from heaven nor hell.
It was from beyond.
From the depths of existence.
Jeremy, Julie, and Rosalie looked up, shielding their eyes.
And then… they heard a voice.
It belonged to no deity they knew. It was neither human nor angelic.
It was… primal.
"The decision has been made. The cycle is broken."
The light vanished.
Rosalie collapsed into Julie's arms. Jeremy caught them both, maintaining balance as the ground shook, and all illusions around them disappeared.
Darkness ceased to exist.
It was not defeated.
It was… forgiven.