Inferno ➵ OUAT

2.11 | Forged from Steel

A gaping hole in the solid rock marked the entrance. Above, Neverpeak's summit towered like a heavy storm cloud. She took a deep breath of the cool night air before she stepped over the threshold.

Damp, thin air surrounded her. The interior was cast in a plain shade of gray, illuminated dully by an unseen light. The ground beneath her feet was smooth, stretching out for a few feet more before it dropped in a deep decline. The bottom disappeared into darkness. Off to the left, the mouth of another cave interrupted the expanse of the stony wall.

Curious, Adi crossed over to the second opening. She wondered what would happen if she were to step into it now, before she had faced the first cave – would the mountain crumble around her? Would an invisible force plow into her and knock her to the floor? Would the stone give way beneath her feet and send her plummeting to death?

Adi warily pressed her hand to the opening. To her surprise, it was none of the above. What felt like solid stone barricaded the entrance, and though she could clearly see through to the nearly identical chamber on the other side, she got the unnerving sense that if she tried to push her body through, she would shatter like glass.

She raised her other hand to touch the shield, more out of interest than self-destruction, but a voice caused her to whirl around with her fingers twitching over her shoulder for an arrow that was not there – and had not been for four years.

"I wouldn't go playing with that fire if I were you."

The figure behind her was shrouded in shadow. Had the pitch not been feminine, Adi would have labeled it as Pan by the arrogant taunt in the tone. As the person stepped into the light, Adi's breath hitched in her throat.

The person had hair the color of night in a sleek curtain around her shoulders, cold blue eyes. She was dressed in a ripped emerald outfit similar to Pan's with a dagger in her right hand and her left on her hip, her eyebrows raised mockingly.

The person was undeniably Adi.

A cleaner, more confident, thinner, taller version of her, but Adeline Morris nonetheless. She flashed a pearly white smile, and Adi found herself hating herself even more – a thought which made no sense at all.

"What?" the real Adi managed.

"Don't tell me you came here unaware of what these caves do. Even you cannot be that stupid. Beware of your deepest desire," the girl that wasn't her recited in a singsong, taking a step closer. "And I believe that would be me."

Adi was unsure if she was breathing. She stared at her (herself?), confused beyond words. "I desire...myself?"

Fake-Adi rolled her eyes. "Are you always this slow? No, don't answer, that was a rhetorical question. In case it wasn't pressingly obvious, I am the better version of you. Adeline 2.0."

"Yeah? And what makes you so different from me, other than a worse outfit and a better haircut?"

"I'm the version of you who stayed by Pan's side. I was so much better for it – leaving was the biggest mistake of your life."

"Leaving was the best decision I ever made," Adi retorted.

"Actually, that's where you're wrong. Let me tell you, you made the wrong decision, sweetheart. I mean, you're going to give in eventually – it's just...fate – but make it easy and stop resisting. See how much better I am?"

Adi's lips twisted at the word fate.

Not-her wasn't finished. "It would have been better if you'd stayed in the first place, but hey – go back now and we can start damage control earlier."