Ev slashed wardingly at the panther, stopping it in its tracks. The large cat settled down onto its haunches, growling lowly, and prowled just out of reach, eyes fixed on them, unblinking.

“Well, well, the boy is starting to gain some confidence,” it hissed. “Your sword’s cute.”

“So you can talk, huh?” Ev said, eyebrows furrowing, keeping their blade pointed at the cat.

“Why couldn’t I? I’m you after all,” it said, baring its teeth. “The part of you that protects you.”

“Yeah? Seems like right now you’re trying to kill me.”

“Only because you’re trying to meddle in things you’re forbidden. I’m simply here to make sure you never discover what’s behind that gate, even if it means your death. You told me this when you created me.”

“Like hell I would,” Ev grumbled.

“Ohoho, you absolutely would, you did, and you were crying like a lost child when you gave me the command.” A sneer flashed across its face. “But I digress. If you’re going to see what’s at the center of this garden you’re going to have to kill me, so why don’t I make things a little more interesting?”

The panther warped and bubbled, bones liquifying and changing shape. The fur fell out and its skin shifted lighter and bluer. Its paws turned to hands and feet, and the claws receded into finger and toe nails. It stood up on two legs, and shrunk in height until it was Ev’s size. Its face flattened, whiskers sucking in and teeth shortening, and its ears slid down to the sides of its head, of which white hair was sprouting. Wings burst from its back, unfurling and shaking out.

Sybil stood before them, smiling devilishly. She stooped down and yanked up a nearby rose cane, which morphed into an elegant rapier with elaborate silver sweepings.

“How about now?” she asked, assuming a graceful fencing stance. “Do you think you can kill me?”

"No . . ." Ev said. “. . . but I can try this.” They took their sword, held it point down, and assumed a commanding pose. They thrust their chin into the air and said, “As the owner and creator of this mindscape, I’m now ordering you to stand down.”

She burst into laughter, and it was several moments before she had composed herself again. She wiped a tear off her cheek and smirked.

“Hmm, nice try!” she said.

In an instant she was upon them. A flurry of jabs forced Ev to whip up their sword and block, taking steps back. She was fast. Another round of attacks kept them stumbling back. They tried to slash again and again, which warded Sybil off for a moment, but every time she whipped her rapier around and was attacking before Ev had even followed through. Ev found themselves scrambling just to defend, and it took everything they had just to keep up. They were forced back along the wall, step by step, until suddenly there was nothing to step on anymore. Ev was at a dead end.

Sybil’s rapier made contact with Ev’s shoulder and sank in. Searing pain tore through their body, and they screamed in agony. They fell to a knee, accidentally dropping the sword, which reverted to a puff of mist. Waves upon waves of throbbing pain radiated from the entry wound, and Ev felt the warm trickle of blood run down their chest. Panting, they looked up and saw Sybil relax and pull back.

Wearing a nonchalant expression, she ran a finger across the bloody rapier.

“You know,” she said, “I can offer you a way out of this.” She put the blood-covered finger in her mouth. “Here, I’ll even make it easy for you.”

She waved a hand, and the labyrinth walls began to shift. A pathway, heading directly out of the garden, emerged. Not just out of the inner garden, but the outer too. A straight line path with no obstacles led all the way past the flowers and the hedge into the grass field outside. Ev could see the faint light of the setting sun just beyond.

“Walk beyond the field outside the garden and you’ll wake up. You can go on living a normal life. You can forget about this place. You can be Everett, the teenage boy, and grow up relatively easily, with friends and family by your side. How does that sound?”

Ev growled, clutching their shoulder.

“I don’t want to be Everett. I don’t want to be a boy.”

Sybil sighed.

“Well then I guess I have to kill you,” she mused. “Shame. Things will probably get boring when Everett dies. Still, the body will still keep functioning and living without you, so don’t you worry. It’s for Everett’s own good.”

Ev desperately looked around for something, anything.

They saw the real Sybil, far off in the distance, contending with giant waves of plant matter. Huge plumes of fire shot from her hands, incinerating massive holes wherever they struck. Damn, Ev sure could use some magical fire hands right now. Maybe if they thought hard enough something would pop up, like the sword did. They concentrated, hoping against hope that some magical power from within would manifest and--

The brambles were gone.

The blackberry brambles had moved! The path to the fir tree was clear! Sybil did it!

Ev looked back and saw Not-Sybil standing over them. Her eyes raged with fire and murderous intent, and she smiled menacingly.

"My task is to protect Everett," she said, "but I would be lying if I didn't admit that I'm going to enjoy this."  She lined the point of the rapier up to Ev’s chest, primed to deliver a fatal thrust to the heart.

Ev had promised not to run away anymore, but, well . . .

“Bye.”

Ev slipped off the wall, landing and tucking into a roll. They sprang to their feet and sprinted across the empty field, towards the iron gate.

“Bastard! Get back here!” Sybil's voice shouted after.

“Not a chance,” Ev muttered, throwing everything they had into running towards the center of the garden, towards the fir tree.

 

Tomp! Tomp! Tomp! Tomp!

Ev could only hear their footsteps pounding into the hard earth. The dirt had been tilled by the upheaval of the dense network of roots and brambles, roughed into rugged clumps and chunks, making for difficult running conditions. It was dry and barren of nutrients, and Ev felt the pain of the harsh rocks scraping against their feet. Sparse weeds and crabgrass were scattered throughout the field. Without the bushes, this garden was nothing more than a desert.

Was this really what Ev had let it become?

A piercing screech of a bird-of-prey echoed behind them. Ev spared a glance behind their shoulder and glimpsed the beast in the form of a large hawk, soaring above, following them with ease.

Damnit, it was just too much!

Ev was just too far away from the center of the garden, too far away from the gate. There was no way they could make it in time! No matter what they tried, the beast could always transform into something to outmatch them.

Ev tripped on a dusty clod of dirt. Flailing, they tried to recover, but their foot was flaring with pain and they fell to their knees. Clambering up again, they desperately tried to limp towards the gate, managing only a few steps.

Another screech alerted them of the predator overhead, and they looked up behind them. The hawk, directly overhead, tucked its wings in and dropped out of the sky. It dive bombed straight towards Ev, pulling its talons out and angling them forward.

Time slowed and Ev became hyper aware of their surroundings. They felt the crusty dirt under their feet, lifeless and barren. They breathed the stale, dusty air which nearly made them cough with every breath. They saw the labyrinth, a cold foreboding mass of stone and rock, designed at its core to mislead and trick anyone inside. They heard the sounds of Sybil reigning fire down upon masses of thorns and canes, brambles which wouldn’t have even existed if Ev hadn’t created them.

In that moment, Ev felt empathy towards the beast they had created.

This place was truly awful, and this was its home.

Ev knew what they had to do.

They stopped limping, and stood still before the plummeting hawk. This was going to be painful.

They outstretched their arms and closed their eyes.

Thump!

Ev snapped their arms closed, and all hell broke loose.

Razor claws pierced the skin of Ev’s chest, sinking deep. The claws on one side latched onto their ribcage, grabbing the bone and puncturing a hole in Ev’s left lung. Horrifying pain lanced from their chest, and Ev felt the lung deflate. The claws on the other side missed their grip, and raked across Ev’s chest and stomach, over and over again. A sharp beak pierced and tore through Ev’s shoulder, ripping it’s way through the flesh. Wings thrashed and beat, and feathers flew in all directions.

Ev could feel only agony. Each scrape, each cut, each chunk of flesh ripped off sent screaming pain coursing through every corner of their body. Every instinct told them to let go, run away, stop the pain. Ev steeled themselves and focused on one thing:

Just hold.

The burning sensation of tearing skin and muscle near the abdomen roared in Ev’s mind, and they felt something inside them slipping and sliding out.

Keep holding.

Hot liquid ran down Ev’s body, and their mind grew dizzy. Strength was fading fast from their arms, and the anguish from the stab wound earlier caused spots to appear in the darkness of Ev’s squeezed shut eyes.

Hold!

Ev now felt a million miles away from the sensation of pain. Very far away, they felt the dull thud of their back hitting the ground from falling over. Ev could barely breathe and it felt like a ton of bricks was placed on their chest, yet they inhaled what they could and attempted to speak.

“It’s okay.”

The sound felt like barely a whisper in a cavernous hall. They had no idea if the beast could even hear it outside, but they continued.

“It’s okay, and I’m sorry,” they coughed. “You’re here to protect me, aren’t you?”

“I’ve caged you up in this horrible garden, with no love and no warmth. I put you here, gave you nothing but desolation, and forced you to defend my secret. I feel it, you hate me for what I’ve done to you.”

A ripping cough tore its way through Ev’s body.

They were losing breath, fast.

“I’m sorry. Truly. You don’t need to protect Everett anymore. Please, trust me. I’m here to help.”

The frenzied clawing and flapping slowed.

“Please help me save us.”

The noise and the commotion eased, bit by bit, until finally, it stopped.

Silence.

Ev relaxed their arms, all of their adrenaline-fueled strength disappeared, and they flopped to the ground. Pain rushed to Ev’s head, prying its way back into their mind and they nearly passed out from the crushing amount of it all. Every inch, every muscle fiber, every flap of skin howled and shrieked in torment. Throbbing and biting, waves of anguish spread over their body, refusing to be ignored now.

Ev opened an eye, and immediately closed it again once blood dripped into it. They tried to lift an arm, but with no adrenaline, there just wasn’t any strength or muscle mass left. Another hacking cough shredded its way through Ev’s windpipe, feeling like it would cause their whole body to fly apart. More pain seized up everything that Ev could feel, and they lost all sensation as they passed out.

 

~~~

 

Fwoom! The heat from another blast of fire tingled Sybil’s skin. The pile of bushes in front of her dissolved into ash and fell to the ground with a poof.

Nearly done. The few remaining hordes of brambles were sluggish, and slow to regroup after each shot. The main mass was nearly completely incinerated, and Sybil was covered in soot from the remains of it all. She inhaled another flake of ash and coughed.

It took only a few more blasts from her hands and she had cleaned up most all of the thorns. It hadn’t been too difficult of a fight, but she was exhausted.

Knowing that if she sat down at that point, she probably wouldn’t have the strength to get up again, she slowly trodded her way across the blackened warzone. Scanning for Ev, she saw and heard only silence. Concerned, she picked up her pace towards where she had last seen them.

She crested a small hill, and her stomach sank as she saw a horror show.

Lying on the ground, a few dozen feet away from the gateway, was the remains of Ev. They looked more like a pile of skin and flesh than a human, and the soil all around them was soaked with blood. A small black labrador retriever stood next to the body, slowly licking one of the hundreds of gashes that crisscrossed Ev’s remnants of a chest.

“Oh god! Oh god, no!” she cried, dashing towards the heap. The dog leapt up and bolted away at the sight of Sybil charging towards them. It paused at the iron gate, and she absently heard a click before it turned tail and ran off into the labyrinth.

“Ev! Ev please! No, please! EV NO!” she wailed, approaching the body.  She felt the cool wet sensation of tears sliding down her cheeks. She barely even recognized Ev’s face, it had been torn up so much. There was so much red! Loose flaps of muscle and skin dangled off of exposed bone. Oh god, there were organs hanging out!

“Ev . . . no . . . “ She knelt down next to her human, weeping. She cradled the mangled form of Ev’s head in her arms, blood and mud smearing and mixing with ash and tears.

“Please . . . I had just found out . . . I had just found out who you really were . . .

“Please don’t leave me like this . . .”

She rested her head next to theirs, rocking back and forth, and soft, fragile wimpers escaped her lips. She stayed there, sobbing, for what felt like an eternity.

Suddenly Ev sucked in a sharp and shallow breath, and their chest rose weakly.

Ev was still alive.

Sybil gasped with relief. They were still alive.

Seeing Ev’s condition though, they wouldn’t be for long. Sybil strained her memory for any knowledge of healing spells or power, but none came to mind. Damnit! Healing spells weren’t taught until sophomore year! They required too much precision for freshmen, and Sybil and Ev had been failing in their magic classes anyways. There had to be something she could do!

Cradling Ev’s head in her arms, she felt the stream of life-force that flowed through every human. It was so weak, barely a trickle. But she thought maybe, just maybe, she could feed some of her own into Ev’s.

“Please work,” she whispered, and began pouring her own life energy into Ev. Drop by drop, she used the Bond as a causeway, and gave of her own life to save her human.

At first, nothing.

And then, slowly, small gashes began to close. Then bigger ones. Skin and muscle started to knit itself together, exposed bones were covered, and organs sucked back into their proper place.

At the same time, Sybil felt weaker and weaker, similar to the night that she had nearly died of starvation. Her body became more and more emaciated, as the matter that composed her very being began to atrophy. Ribs and bony joints became visible, her face sank in, and her skin dulled. She was running out of life to give.

Ev coughed up blood and fluid, and their chest heaved, sucking in air. They coughed again and again, arching their back, flopping to their side, and thrashing themselves around.

Sybil gasped and stopped the flow. It had taken so much! She sat back and nearly collapsed. Her vision swam, and darkness settled in the corners of her sight. She took steady, measured breaths, and concentrated on just staying conscious.

She sat like that with Ev for a very long time, and by the time Ev began to stir, the sun had set and it was twilight. Very slowly, they sat up and groaned, before coughing again. Sybil shuffled over and put a steadying hand on their back.

“Hey, easy now,” Sybil said. “You nearly died back there.”

Ev groaned one more time. “Ouch,” they said, rolling their left shoulder a couple times, “everything hurts.”

They looked up at Sybil and noticed her skeletal figure. “What happened with you?”

“I had to pour most of my life-force into you just to get you breathing again! You seriously looked like a slice of lasagna tossed into a wood chipper, what the hell happened?”

“I uhh . . .” Ev chuckled and coughed again. “I bear-hugged a murderous hawk.”

Sybil’s jaw hung for a moment.

“Are you insane??”

Ev shrugged and grinned. “Hehe, most likely. But hey, at least the beast’s taken care of, right?”

Sybil smacked Ev on the back of the head as gently as she could. “Idiot,” she said, then pulled them into a tight hug. “I’m so glad you’re alive.”

They stayed that way for a long moment, then Sybil stood up, offering a hand to Ev.

“Come on, let’s get to the center of this garden.”

Leaning on Sybil’s shoulder, Ev slowly limped their way towards the iron gate. Upon reaching it, to their bewilderment, it was unlocked. 

Inside the ring of stone wall, in the lingering purple twilight, was a small lawn of grass and dandelion flowers. Faintly illuminating the area were clusters of fireflies, blinking their lemon-yellow lights back and forth in a whimsical dance. In the center of the lawn, stood a fir tree. Not just any fir tree, but Ev’s fir tree. It was much younger and shorter here than at home, but they recognized the way the branches hung and the trunk grew from the soil. It was the same one. Sitting nestled in the tree, about ten feet up, was a treehouse. Painted a subdued red, it had a small porch and a rope ladder dangling off the front.

Ev recognized some of the boards on the floor and a section of railing. This was what the treehouse had looked like back when it was built, wasn’t it? Before time and nature had decayed it to near complete ruin?

Ev felt a nudge and looked at Sybil. She was grinning from ear to ear, and despite her gaunt figure and dim glow, the light from the fireflies sparkled in her eyes. Did she already know?

“Before you go in there,” Sybil said, “if we wake up after this and I don’t get the chance, can I hug you one more time? It’s . . . well it’s really nice when we’re the same size.”

Ev nodded, and they embraced one last time.

Pulling away and shooting a grin back at Sybil, Ev slowly walked across the lawn. Taking hold of a rung, Ev hoisted themselves up with great difficulty. Step by step, they climbed, and once at the top, Ev noticed there were chalk drawings on the floor and childish pictures carved into the walls. Pictures of a black dog, pictures of roses and berries, and pictures of a brown-haired girl.

A soft sniffle came from inside.

Ev stooped down to clear the short doorway. What they saw inside came as no surprise anymore.

A small girl, with long tangled brown hair, sat huddled in the far corner, crying. She was tiny, and couldn’t have been more than five years old. She was covered in scratches and scrapes, some healed into scars, and she looked skinny and malnourished. She looked exactly like Ev, and she looked like she hadn’t seen the sunshine in years.

“You’re . . . me,” Ev sighed gently.

The girl jerked her head up and scraped her way further into the corner. She cowered, making herself look as small as possible. Fear shone in her eyes in the dim light. Ev approached slowly and carefully, then crouched down in front of her. Seeing her closer, the scrapes and scratches criss-crossing her body were nearly all-encompassing.

“You’ve tried to escape many times, haven’t you?”

She nodded curtly, then braced herself, squeezing her eyes shut, as if Ev would hit her for her response.

Ev’s heart broke.

“I’m . . . sorry. I’m so, so sorry,” Ev said, kneeling down, eyes welling up. “I’m sorry that I locked you away like this. I’m sorry that I hid you from the world. I--I’m sorry for ev-everything!” Ev broke down, bending down and prostrating on the floor.

Drip by drip, tears fell and splashed onto the newly painted wooden floor.

“I lost my way, and I ran from you and abused you out of fear. I was so, so wrong. I don’t deserve to be you after what I’ve done!” They slumped to the ground and sobbed and sobbed.

Ev felt a small hand on their head. Looking up, they saw the girl kneeling in front of them, wearing a cautious smile.

“Please, can you f-forgive me?”

The girl silently wrapped her arms around Ev’s shoulders, pulling in close. Ev shuddered and sniffed, then sat up and gently held the small girl, hugging as if she might run away at any moment.

Warmth seeped into Ev’s body like honey. The two melted together. Fingers intertwined and slid together, then arms and legs. Their chests seeped and blended together, and lastly faces, cheeks pressed together. The expression of a hopeful smile on the girl lingered until it too had faded into Ev. They had become one.

Eve stood up.

She had never felt so whole in her entire life.