*Y/N's POV*
Something...isn't right.
I glance around my surroundings, only to see that I'm standing in what appears to be a calm, ancient swampy forest. The sounds of frogs croaking fill the air, while golden fireflies sparkle in the air as they fly around.
I look around, confused, and wondering where I even am. One moment, I was sitting by Alastor's bed side.
And the next...
"I was wondering when you would show up," a soft, female voice speaks behind me, with a subtle southern accent.
I flip around, for my eyes to widen when I see who stands behind me.
A woman, twenty-two at best, wearing a crimson skirt with decorative black stitching while she wears a long sleeve black blouse with a lace rose head attached to the left side of her chest.
Her face is round, her cheeks a rosy color, and her hair put up in a 1920's style bun underneath a pink colored cap.
Something about her face seems familiar to me, and when a few seconds of me staring at her pass, realization sinks in, and my eyes widen.
"Elizabeth?"
She smiles, nodding before she steps closer to me, her face holding a stoic yet beautiful expression.
"Bu-but how can that be? I-I thought your soul reincarnated into...me?"
Elizabeth giggles behind her dainty pearly white hand. "Just because my soul is in your body doesn't mean that you still can't see me. I'm always here, whether inside you, or...in this dream state." She looks at our swampy surroundings, her smile softening and her eyes...becoming sad.
"I do miss seeing New Orleans though," she whispers, her eyes falling to the small pond, decorated with white and pink lily pads that are in full bloom. "Being out here...it makes me feel like I'm home again."
She looks at me. "Though that isn't the reason why I came here. I came to warn you," she takes my hands into hers, her fingers soft and delicate against mine. "You're in terrible danger, Y/N. And you don't have much time before it's too late."
"Before what's too late?" I ask, "what do you mean I'm in danger?"
A few ideas come to mind. Maybe I'm in danger due to how many demons want to slit my throat because of how I tried to get answers about the Overlord's name. Or maybe I'm in danger because of...
I gulp. "Donovan."
"Yes," Elizabeth nods as her hands release mine, "Donovan is extremely dangerous, greedy, manipulative. If there is anything he wants, he'll take it. And what he wants right now...is you."
"He's not going to have me, I'll make sure of it," I respond firmly. I won't give up easy, I'm not going down without a fight when it comes to this fucking demise threatening to kill Alastor, or this obsessed, sicko called Donovan.
"There's something else..." Elizabeth waves her hand in the air beside us, and a little cloud appears before us, and scenes of Donovan standing in what appears to be in this castle made of obsidian, an evil, sadistic, smile on his face.
Even though he isn't here, just seeing his face makes me shudder to the point I have to wrap my arms around myself to keep steady.
"You found out that the demise is actually an Overlord. But you've been blind to see that the man you've been looking for...has been right under your nose since day one."
The scene changes again, this time, Donovan standing in front of a black crystal ball, laughing softly. Inside the crystal ball, I see something that makes me throw my hands over my mouth in horror.
Alastor.
I look at Elizabeth, feeling the world crash down on me, and I'm not able to hold its weight. "Donovan..." I whisper shakily, "he's the Overlord that's killed others with this demise? HE'S the one killing Alastor?"
Elizabeth nods.
All along...this motherfucker was right there, right in front of me. Lying to my face and trying to act like a friend to both me and Alastor. When really...he's killing Alastor in secret. But why? What could he want and gain from killing Alastor?
"He wants you," Elizabeth says suddenly which makes me jump a little, though she ignores my reaction and continues speaking. "He'll do anything to get you, too. Which is why he's killing Alastor."
"No, no no no," I step backwards, my knees wobbling so much that I end up collapsing onto the moist swampy ground, my hands thrown over my face as I try to control my breathing.
This can't be real...this has to be a nightmare. If I just pinch myself, I'll wake up in me and Alastor's king size bed in his mansion. When I wake up, Alastor will tell me good morning, kissing my forehead before slipping out of bed, full of energy with a wide smile on his face as he tells me it's time to greet the world with a smile.
When I wake up...there won't be a demise killing Alastor. Or Donovan. None of it will be real.
Please...please let me wake up from this nightmare.
Elizabeth kneels in front of me, her hands lowering mine so that she can see my face. Her E/C are bright, and sparkling in this moonlight that casts down upon us.
As I stare at her, at the face of the woman I used to be, and the face that Alastor had fallen in love with when he was a young man, I can't help but wonder...if I stare hard enough, will I be able to see all those memories that were forgotten when I was born?
Will I see how Alastor acted towards and around Elizabeth, and is it any different then how he acts with me? Will I see all the sweet, romantic moments shared between the two, the kisses, the hand holding...
Will I see it all? Or is it out of my reach?
"There is a way to stop this, to defeat Donovan, Y/N," she whispers, squeezing my hands, "the crystal ball."
...a crystal ball? The one that I saw in that little cloud bubble that played the scenes of Donovan standing beside it?
"What do you mean?"
"The only way for Donovan to reach through to others, is through that crystal ball. All his powers are tethered to it. If you manage to sneak into his home and find that ball, you must destroy it. Do that, and Donovan loses all his powers..."
My eyes widen, when a memory plays in my head of the small conversation me and Donovan had on the balcony hours ago. He told me that he abused the powers Lucifer gave him...does that mean that the crystal ball was a gift from Lucifer to Donovan, who then twisted it into dark magic?
I swallow the lump in my throat. "I don't even know where he lives?"
Elizabeth stands up, bringing me up with her. "He lives nearby actually. Everyone believes that he lives in another circle, when actually...you need only look down."
My brow furrows, before realization sinks in. Down...as in, underground.
He lives underground, beneath Pentagram city...
"You need to go there first thing. You need to destroy that crystal ball before Donovan unleashes the final part of his plan. Please..." she squeezes my hand, the look of desperation filling her face and eyes as she whispers. "You need to save him."
Save him...
My heart pounds in my chest, as I stare at the woman whose soul reincarnated into me. The woman who gave her life to save Alastor's human self.
Who truly, still loves him...even in this ghost form.
I reach out and hug her in a comforting way. "I'll stop this, whatever it takes."
When I pull away, I notice how Elizabeth is beginning to sparkle a golden and white color, as bits and pieces of sparkles detach from her, but she still holds her smile, as if unaffected by the whole thing.
"I believe in you," she says, her voice echoing. "And when this is all over...may you and Alastor be blessed with all the happiness in the world."
"Wai-"
Suddenly, everything goes black. And Elizabeth is gone.
★★★
I gasp, sitting up in Alastor's bed, breathing heavily as my mind replays everything that happened seconds ago.
My heart pounds hard against my chest, and I raise a shaky hand to where it pounds, trying to steady myself by breathing in and out slow breaths.
I feel Alastor's body shift beside me, before his hand touches my leg.
"Are you okay?" he whispers, still in a half-asleep daze, his eyes shut and his breathing slow and steady.
I feel like breaking down crying right now, knowing who's causing Alastor to be in this state, and my encounter with the ghost self of Elizabeth.
I inhale a breath. "I'm fine. Everything...is fine."
"You're lying," he responds.
I shut my eyes. "Yeah, you're right. I am lying..."