Beshaba called cloak and her sister smiled

Traveling through the next passage proved to be more difficult and despite receiving a blessing from Cid I nearly drowned.
This room presumably served as a distillery and contained nothing but a small cauldron. Behind this room however, a bigger cavern could be found. The walls were covered in the same bluish fluorescent mushroom we had seen before, and in the middle of it lay a gigantic blue Ooze that had formed into a cube.
 
Cid thought it to be a good idea to introduce himself to the cube. To no one’s surprise, the cube swallowed him whole and began to digest the old man. I called out for Nabi who had already sneaked past the creature. She put her Schnöffel to good use, spooning the ooze bit by bit, spreading smaller, seemingly harmless cubes all over the ground. Meanwhile, Oxton and I bombarded it with spells and the cube lost volume ever so slightly until it finally exploded. I have to admit, I got really excited because this was the first time ever I had the chance to conjure a fireball to throw at someone or something in this case.
 
After we caught our breath, we followed Nabi into the back of the cavern. Another icosahedron rested there. She tried to interact with the structure but this time it did not respond. I felt bold and stepped onto the pedestal. Time stopped. My surroundings had disappeared. Only I was there… and a mirror image of me vis-à-vis followed by another two to my left and right side which were mirrored again. Uncountable duplicates mimicking my every move.
 
Looking closer, I spotted slight nuances in their appearance. A lock of hair that curled in a different direction. A faint difference in skin tone. The further away the image, the greater the differences seemed. I tried to focus and push through the overstimulation and realized that I was offered an opportunity to change my own timeline, just as Nabi had previously changed Godards.
 
If I had had more time, I wonder if I would have chosen differently. But I didn't have that and I didn't know what to look for either. Eventually I made a choice.
 
They say when you die, your life story flashes before your eyes before the light encompasses you. I'm sure I didn't die because the interior of the brewery was just as dark as it was when I touched the stone that now rested in the palm of my hand. Yet, when I stepped into my mirrored image, my perspective changed and I found myself staring at a much darker version of me.
 
She was as beautiful as me, but that was about the only thing we had in common. Her delicate curves were swathed in black leather armour with a slightly asymmetrical cut. She wore tight leather pants and high boots, further emphasizing her feminine features – unlike anything similar to the couture of my homeland. However, one look in her eyes filled me with horror. They were unmistakably my eyes but their expression told a tale of sorrow and scorn, both emotions I could not relate to. I felt the urge to avoid her gaze but was unable to turn away and then, without speaking, she told me her story.
 
Her father, a renowned and prosperous tradesman had signed a pact with a malicious entity long before she was born. The creature ultimately possessed his body and consecutively murdered her mother mere hours after she had delivered. In his remorseless cruelty, he then sold his daughter to a band of slavers who abused her and forced her to work day in and day out. It was then that she learned to hate humanity. She endured this ordeal for nearly two decades before she eliminated the leaders through a ruse and usurped their modest criminal empire. She ordered the abandonment of the slave trade within her organisation and instead focused on minor robberies, extortions, and the occasional kidnapping. One fateful day, a woman appeared to her who offered magical power in exchange for seemingly small favours. It was only later that she would learn, that her patroness was the same entity that had killed her parents years ago.
 
Understandably enough, her experiences had left her scarred, reflected in her cold and calculating gaze.
 
They weren’t my memories and yet, I remembered as if I had lived through it myself. Suddenly she gave me a liberating smile and I once again could hear her voice in my mind.
 
Thank you.