Carolina didn’t dream often.

She knew she had lost consciousness after getting jumped by Maximus the Grand. After that, she found herself in darkness. With no way to tell the time, Carolina was adrift. To make the matter worse, the darkness wouldn’t leave her alone. It cursed her with flashes of memory and time to ponder on what she left behind.

First, Carolina saw a brunette girl. The girl was too familiar to her liking. She was a dirty little thing. Other kids often picked on that girl. It wasn’t strange. That kid was a weirdo who hung around a graveyard with a cranky, decrepit Gravekeeper with a funny hat. Carolina watched the memory of their interaction. She missed him. That old man often told stories about a beautiful place in the west. The land of vast mountains and forests. Carolina was young back then, so she gobbled it up and forgot about it.

Trapped in darkness and cursed with time, the adult version of that girl quickly pieces together what was lost to her younger self.

The only place west of this Continent was the Western Continent. Yes, there was a mountain-range there, but the land was mostly a hostile rainforest, dead mountains covered by immense Black Mana, and something else. Judging from the wistful tone of that old man, and what Maximus told her, Carolina guessed the cataclysmic battle 150 years ago utterly wrecked the place of what it was today.

If Maximus was truthful, it was her family fault too. Yay. Was collapsing their nation a genetic curse? 

The scene shifted.

Now, an older Carolina finished burying her guardian and only friend. It was a solemn memory. The town's kid picked that day to surround and jeered at her to celebrate the occasion. Those bastards came right when she finished burying the old man. How wonderful. She lost her role-model and the only consolation was mean kids celebrating the death of the old man and calling her names. They even grabbed the rocks.

Carolina smiled at that memory. It was a terrible memory, but a proud one.

Whack!

There she went. Little Carolina punched out the bully's teeth and kicked him in the crotch. The little psychopath started hunting the rest of the bullies. The sound that the girl who called her ‘creepy witch’ made against the rock was wonderful. That was Gravekeeper’s certified judo throw. Oh, then there was that fatso. All body-weight and no skill, a fist-full of sand in the eyes, and he went down.

Carolina watched her younger self climb over the fatty and began beating him in the teeth with rocks.

It was a montage of disturbing violence from a little girl. Carolina was proud of her savagery. How many little girls could win a fight that brutally? None. Carolina was the most terrifying little girl on the entire planet (barring one Nuan Yulong).

The parents tried to go after her. The usual avenging their kids, but she was long gone Carolina left nothing behind in the towns. She already forgot the name of that insignificant childhood home. It brought nothing but pain to her anyway.

The next memory was her true beginning.

…

A band of soldiers was sent to subjugate a group of bandits.

Instead of resistance, they found silence. The place was too quiet. It was a testament to what had happened in this place. The massacre that occurred.

The group of soldiers crept into the bandit’s hideout and witnessed the scene that would haunt their eyes.

A girl in her early teens and scruffy clothing was waiting for them. Bodies of dead bandits laid neatly in the cavern. There was no sign of conflict or struggle. All that remained was the grisly suffocated result.

The head of Curtis’ bandit subjugation looked at the teenage girl who was standing beside the rows of their targets, lying on the floor like cold-blue decor. The girl’s smile was creeping him out.

“Who are you?” he said. “What are you doing with the bandits?”

“Hello,” the girl curtsied. “My name is Carolina.” She kicked one of the corpses. “I hope my audition is impressive enough for the Curtis’ Military Police.” She winked at the squad. “You can take the credit for the dead assholes, but please put my name as a contributor to Lord Westerna.”

One soldier walked to the bodies. “My god... What did you do to them?”

“A creative trick with classic rat zombies,” Carolina answered. “Who knew sleeping with rodents blocking the airways can lead to a deadly result.”

…

Carolina watched that memory with glee.

It was the beginning of her decorated career. Few years later, after seeing her potential, Hunter Westerna adopted her as his right-hand-woman. It was a romantic rise of the girl who was born with nothing on her back and climbed her way to the top with nothing but grit, bravado, and hard work. Carolina reflected on her life with no regret.

Smart as she was, the Necromancer was far from wise. Wise men knew fortune and misfortune came to intertwine. This murky place Carolina found herself in wouldn’t give her what she wanted to see forever.

No, it was about to balance karma with a chink in her armor.

…

The next memory was a party inside Curtis capital. Back then, the capital was still called Romulus, not Hecate. It was a time before Etaceh and the Magic Tower. The period where Edmond still reigned.

It was the night of the party.

Also a very lonely night for a certain Deputy Commissioner who had just received her title yesterday.

Carolina was hanging on the balcony. She was drowning in champagne alone, while couples tangoed on the dance-floor with the scent of food and the rhythm of music strumming the joyous mood.

It was the time for merriment. Everyone but three had their dances.

No one was asking Xiahana La Louve because everyone was intimidated by the glorious queen of the female pyramid. Anyone who dared would probably get mauled by other jealous men.

Elizabeth La Louve was turning everyone down. She gave them a polite smile, hiding the queen bee of all vanity.

Then there was Carolina the creepy. Everyone knew her reputation, and they steered to the opposite of her presence.

Dressed in a black Victorian ball gown with a glass of wine in her hand, the undateable woman tried to bury her pain beneath the moonlight. It was then a familiar middle-aged man walked up to her. She recognized the man. He was the man who Carolina greeted so many years ago as a teenager — the leader of the unit sent to subjugate the bandit.

“Feeling lonely?” the old soldier said.

“Nope,” Carolina lied. “Perfectly happy. I just got promoted yesterday. How could I be lonely?”

“You can’t trick me, kid,” the wise man wasn't a fool. “I see it in your eyes. You have ambition, but the thing about ambitious folks is that they are often empty.”

“Empty,” Carolina snorted. “Look at me! How am I empty?”

“You look lonely. I think that is empty enough.”

Carolina growled, refusing to continue with the conversation.

“I know what you are thinking,” the wise man explained. “You think every problem can be solved with more power. I’m not good with magic, but hung around our King long enough to know how a mage can fall for their own color. Black's weakness is selfishness and unscrupulous nature, isn’t it?”

“Oh please,” Carolina frowned. “What do you want me to do? Shed tears for every lost life. People die. Pretend all we want, but our existence is sinful the moment pure little animals are butchered as our steaks. We aren’t saints, and we shouldn’t pretend to be one.”

The wise man nodded.

“Fair enough; Your honesty is comforting in these days and ages,” the old man got to the point. “But what is the purpose of all the power?”

Carolina opened her mouth to answer, but she got nothing.

“You amassed all this power and influence for no reason except you can?” the old man shook his head. “I know you aren’t this shallow, young lady. There must be a reason for your quest for power.” The man looked into the eye of the Black mage. “Perhaps in pursuing your ambition, you have lost sight of that goal.”

Carolina didn’t answer back.

“Think about it, young lass,” the old man turned and left. “Maybe when you find that answer, you might find someone to dance with.”

…

Carolina tried to forget that night. She buried it beneath her consciousness and career.

Carolina opened her eyes with the fresh memory. She sat straight and looked around. Flashes of memory blasted through her mind — her aim in Montgomery and the disastrous meeting with Maximus the Grand returned in full forces.

The last thing she remembered was darkness, but she wasn’t there anymore.

Instead, the room she was in was oriental in design, with a sliding door, straw mat, and beautifully crafted wooden furniture. A comfortable, thick duvet laid beneath her. Carolina took account of the room in finer detail and found a window.

What she saw confirmed she was no longer in Acceltra?

She was in a starry purple cosmos, overlooking nothingness. It was like the entire house was hanging on the edge of space. Carolina blinked a few more times to make sure she wasn't seeing things.

The slide opened, and a familiar presence made itself known.

“That scene surprised me the first time too,” Betty greeted her old frenemies. “Quite beautiful, but downright jarring.”

Carolina looked at Betty who came in the room dressed in casual clothing. The moistened hair on her head suggested the woman had just bathed

“Where the hell am I?” Carolina said.

Betty winced, “Okay, I know you have questions. Truthfully, I don’t want to be here.” Betty let out her real thoughts. “But since I get along with you better than most, I am saddled with the explanation.”

Carolina started, “‘Better than most,’” she repeated. “Most of what?”

“Oh boy,” Betty tried to plan the way to explain the concept of Harem to Carolina. “This will be a Herculean job. What is the last thing you remember?”

“Why should I—”

“This is serious, Carolina,” Betty said. “You have only two allies, maybe three, counting me. The rest of us are leaning toward tossing you back at Montgomery and yelling good riddance. You need to give me something to convince them.”

“Wait,” Carolina only got more confused. “Who wants to toss me at Montgomery?”

“Xia and Hikari,” Betty said. “Karma is a bitch, right?”

Carolina tried to process the information, “Hikari is alive?” She believed the former Gold Leader of Eleanor had died in the ditch somewhere, but it seem she was wrong. “And how did Xia get involved with this?”

“Xia got involved because she outranks me,” Betty said.

“Wait!” Carolina was confused. “Hold up. Explain from the beginning. Where am I? How are you here? And how did Xia outrank you?”

“Remember Xia’s mysterious boyfriend?” Betty said.

“Yeah, the guy we couldn’t find, no matter how much we scoured Curtis,” Carolina answered, recalling her vain effort. “The mysterious fraud she threw her position and career away for.”

Betty growled, “Fraud? You are right to be fair. That guy is a nasty liar, master of hitting a low-blow, king of insensitivity, and the world's most unfaithful bastard.”

Carolina noticed some rage in Betty’s voice, “Is it me or does this sound personal?”

“It is bloody personal because I am in this too,” Betty let the cat out. “We are in his place. That is why Xia was so smug that none of us could find him. He is here in this alternate dimension all the damn time.”

“What kind of guy has a pocket dimension?”

“The guy who got a nation to fund him using cookies, became an artificing grandmaster at a breakneck speed, beat Romulus the Great at a tactical board game, and just bagged an Archangel In his body count,” Betty yelled about Ciel’s feat. “You must have met Maximus, right? News flash. Ciel is that guy's relative.”

“Your brother-in-law is a relative of Maximus the Grand,” Carolina’s brain ground to a halt.

“He isn’t my brother-in-law,” Betty tried to swallow her embarrassment. “Remember what I said about that unfaithful asshole who is annoyingly good with everything.”

Carolina noticed how Betty was blushing and put the equation together.

“Holy shit,” Carolina couldn’t hide her glee. “Are you serious? You are dating the same guy as your sister.”

“We already went beyond a date,” Betty blushed. “To be fair, we have a good reason.”

“Unreal, your father must be rolling in his grave,” Carolina teased. “All those men in Curtis trying to woo you, and you fell for the same man as your sister. The entire Curtis will explode when they realized—”

“Carolina,” Betty cut Carolina’s sentence. “We have a bigger problem, starting with the fact you are dying.”

Carolina blinked.

“What?”