Knowing what was on the inside, knowing Pan, Jo looked at it as if for the first time. It was obsidian, much like the disk she’d looked through with Samson. Jo held out her hand, thinking of the framework he’d helped her access, and raised it.
Like an architectural sketch visible only to her, the castle’s magical structures laid themselves bare. She couldn’t make sense of what was inside the room, but she could see its structure. And if she could see it, that meant one thing.
“This is going to break beautifully.”
Jo started from one of the flagpoles and worked her way down. With a mighty heave of power, she felt the castle rumble and the tower come crumbling down. Turning her eyes to the next one, Jo exerted the same force, watching as it was reduced to glass-like shards.
After the third fell, a familiar rooftop was exposed.
There. Pan’s treasure room, finally accessible without layers of magic concealing its true nature.
Jo took a leap, not caring for the crunch of her ankles or kneecaps as she landed. She was Destruction; she could find life in death itself. In her own way, she was eternal.
Making her way across rooftops and ledges, Jo found herself on the top of the greenhouse-like roof. Crouching, she placed her hand on the semi-translucent stone. She didn’t even brace herself for the impact among the dagger-like shards of crystal.
As she stood, Jo heard a slow clapping sound.
“Well done! Looks like you made it all the way here,” Pan’s voice echoed from the opposite side of the room. “Too bad it will mean very little in the end.”
“The only end is yours, Pan,” Jo threatened, instantly feeling like some comic book hero brought to life. She had no reason to talk to Pan and she wasn’t going to be lured into it again.
“Well, the bow is right here. So take it.” Pan motioned to a pedestal in the center of the room. “Or, you can join—”
Jo started running.
“I didn’t even finish my dramatic declaration!” Pan half-screeched, half-whined.
She barely got several steps toward the center of the room before a wall suddenly jutted out from the floor. Jo skidded to a stop, stumbling, tripping, bracing for impact only to fall through it like a mirage. Another one of Pan’s illusions.
“They’re not coming.” Pan’s voice echoed as Jo peeled herself off the floor.
She looked around the room and took it in for the first time—it was just like in the Society. There were shelves upon shelves lining the perimeter, stacked with all manner of trinkets and tokens. Jo saw rows of military medals between platemail she’d associate with a knight in medieval times. There was a whole train engine that looked to be made of jade next to a life-sized sculpture of some muscle-bound woman swathed in silks.
“Join with me. End this,” Pan all but commanded. “End it all!”
Once more, Jo didn’t reply. She turned her head toward the sound of Pan’s voice, locating it in the cavernous room, and set the shelves behind her to exploding. Their contents scattered the floor, rolling to clutter the room.
“I really liked that one!” Pan screamed, picking up a platter from the ground. “You’ll pay for that!”
She threw it like a Frisbee and midair the disc morphed, taking on a saw-like silhouette. Jo held out a hand, letting the teeth bite directly into her flesh. It gave her enough of a rush of power that she spun easily in place, sending the disk right back. But before it could hit Pan, it transformed into a raven and flew away.
Chaos and Destruction, an even match for no one to win.
Jo looked back to the bow, more resolved than ever. She couldn’t end this, which meant there was only one person who could, and one plan that even had a chance of working. Putting her trust in Snow and the others, she pushed forward.
Another projectile was thrown at her and Jo didn’t even bother redirecting; she merely dodged. But Pan had closed the gap faster than she expected, and the other woman caught her wrist, wrenching Jo close. Their noses were almost touching.
“Join me,” she hissed. Jo could feel the heat of her breath, the spark of magic that bounced between them, turning into something dangerous.I may want to, a voice whispered in Jo, more tempted every minute. “End this and join me.”
“I will end this,” Jo vowed, finally breaking her silence. With a grunt, she yanked her hands free, feeling her bones snap and twist away from Pan’s unrelenting grip.
Jo began running again, and Pan attempted to thwart her.
Back and forth it went, but Jo gained on her step by step until her hands landed on the bow. A magic not unlike Snow’s coursed through her from an origin that Jo could only suspect was the Life Tree. Like Snow, it was an antithesis to her that was as calming as it was alluring, in a far more wholesome way than Pan.
But the trance was only momentary as Pan yanked on the other end of the bow.
“Do you think you can defeat me with this?” she screeched.
