Eterna

~Chapter 26~ Hatred & Fear

We had all passed safely through the land of Temptation without serious incident, but there was no warning for the entry to Hatred. I felt the anger boil my blood as I stomped away from Devon. My words had burned him and his words wounded me deeper than I'd wanted to admit. We needed no visions of trickery, for we were defeating ourselves.

"Yes, walk away! Ignore the problem! You're all too good at that!" He called out, watching my form become more and more distant.

I tightened my fists and felt as my own nails plunged into the soft palms of my hands. Tears formed in my eyes and I shook my head, realizing the source of the pain was the truth in his words.

Reuben watched Roxy walk away as visions of him and other women danced about her head.

"Roxy, these aren't real."

"I know that! I'm trying to get through them as quickly as possible, so they don't make me angrier than I already am!"

Reuben jogged off after her, keeping his eyes ahead.

"Well, don't leave me behind, woman! I didn't think the thing to push your buttons would be me."

"Really? Really, Reuben? You can push anyone's buttons on a regular day, and you believe this is an exception?" She rolled her eyes, barreling through the ongoing visions.

"Well, when you put it like that..."

"Payne, I can't..."

Payne and Harley continued forward, surrounded by terrible visions of Ava being beaten and violated by Harley's old warden. Despite Payne not even knowing the woman, her own anger was rising in her chest.

"Do your best, Harley. Or close your eyes. Whatever works, we'll get through it."

Harley nodded, gripping Payne's shoulders and letting the taller female walk in front of her.

"Thank you, Payne..."

Before she could finish her sentence, she bumped into Payne, who'd stopped short.

"What's wrong?"

Surrounding them, were visions of Payne's former oppressors, beating down, raping and slaughtering her people. Darklings falling at her feet, begging for her to save them.

"Shit.." Harley breathed out.

"I've never felt much of a connection to my people. But in their suffering..." She gripped her sword, before Harley took her arm.

"Don't. It's not real. Don't let it break your focus. If you get angry now and start cutting down these visions, you'll be here forever, entrapped in this hellish freakin' place. Evelyn needs you to be at her side. Everyone needs you."

"I know!" She growled, swinging her blade, sending a wave of massive energy toward the visions and shredding them into bits of nothing. "It's different when the visions are things that have happened before- things that continue to happen. It's different when you realize, once you leave here, the vision wasn't really a vision at all." She took another swing, crushing the crest of the soil beneath her blade.

"There...you feel better?" Harley questioned, taking a step back.

"A bit, yes. We should continue."

Isaiah and Sera were doing the best of all, managing to use Sera's immense powers of light to glide through the land of Hatred.