From the top of the Altar, Dio watched everything - The approach of Golgothas, the threatening clouds rolling across the sky, and the beginning of the merging of the worlds - with a growing concern. All her life, she had worked for this moment, but now that it was here it meant nothing.

"Ah, Golgothas, good of you to come." Rasheed was walking up the steps next to Lord Golgothas, an innocent expression on his face. Dio eyed him blandly, beginning seeing his true character for the first time.

Sniveling wretch, she thought suddenly. He doesn't care about freeing the dead at all - he just wants a piece of the pie!

Golgothas said nothing to Rasheed in response; instead, he turned to face Dio head-on. The mystic woman recoiled in horror as her eyes met his battered frame - the fight with Raltise had left him bruised and broken, a shadow of his former imposing self. A silken black cloth draped around his waist was all that remained of his garments, covered several shattering bones. Yet still, somewhere in the depths of his hollowed eyes, a demonic purple light still shone. The Warden of Hell had one last ace up his sleeve, and he intended to use it.

Tracy sat up on the table and stared at the newcomer curiously. For the first time since she met the two ghosts in her living room, something didn't feel right. It was as if the air around her had turned to ice, her blood running cold as she stared from Rasheed to Golgothas. Their expressions matched perfectly - a cruel hunger, reminiscent of a wolf on the prowl, played across their individual features. Rasheed's cold black eyes had a fanatic film over them, causing them to sparkle eerily in the little light of the altar. His smile was mangled, concealing the secret the mystic had kept from his charge all this time.

"Dio," Golgothas stepped forward, his skeletal expression deranged, "Are you ready to receive the power?"

Dio stood in the center of the altar, frozen in place. The dry air around her was penetrated by a thick, cold wind, which whipped through her hair and tainted the edge of her mind with fear. It was the wind of change; it had returned, bringing with it all the power of the prophecies told throughout the ages. Dread clutched her heart as her hand brushed across her hip, itching to feel the comforting chill of her dagger. Destiny was at hand, but it was up to her whether or not to listen.

"My Lord," Rasheed interjected, stepping between the skeletal warden and the mystic woman, "Dio is ready."

The unrecognizable chill that had touched Tracy grew stronger by the moment, giving her the courage to stand up and go before the skeleton Lord.

"What power do you speak of?" She snapped angrily, her fury covering for her mounting terror. "Why is the merging of the worlds not complete?"

A sickening peal of shrill laughter cut through the sky, echoing around the altar. Rasheed's eyes danced with a demonic light as he thrust out his arms and grabbed Tracy by the shoulders, pushing her back into the stone table. Her spine slammed up against the rough slate, assaulting her with a shockwave of pain.

"In order to merge the worlds, the powers of light must be mixed with the powers of darkness in a ritual sacrifice! And you, my dear, are the offering! Dio, bind her to the table!"

"No." Rasheed whirled around to stare at Dio in complete and utter amazement. His jaw was dropped as she spoke again, soft but resolute.

"No. This has gone far enough. I refuse to sacrifice Tracy for all of this!" The mystic swept her hand wide, indicating the chaos around them. "All of this destruction, all of this suffering, none of it bringing any good! I won't do it!"

Tracy stared on in horror as Rasheed grabbed Dio by the collar of her top, yanking her close. His expression was twisted with mutant fury as he stared deeply into her eyes, possessing her with his own will.

"You WILL bind her, Dio, or I will destroy you!" He screeched, shaking her roughly. Dio slowly lost her grip on reality, falling into the all-too familiar power of Rasheed's gaze.

"I will..." She echoed, slipping deeper and deeper into the trance. Her body went limp as the male mystic pushed his powers even further, consuming every fiber of her will.

"Dio, no!" Tracy jumped into action, powering up a burst of PSI before the others had time to react. It shot through the air and hit Rasheed directly in the arm, shattering the bone beneath the robes. He clenched his eyes shut and screamed in pain, clutching his arm to his chest. Dio dropped to the ground, the mist immediately fading from her eyes.

"Dio! Rasheed is controlling you!" Tracy cried out, grabbing Dio protectively. Dio stared up at Rasheed in horror, a new clarity now forming over old memories.

"Rasheed, tell me this isn't true," She pleaded, threads of their former friendship still lingering in her mind. Rasheed threw back his head and laughed maniacally, his eyes alight with contempt.

"You simple fool! I've been controlling you since we first met, oh so many years ago, and you only see it now! I give you too much credit! Now do as I say," He screamed, lunging at Tracy and knocking her aside, "And tie her up!" Dio tried to roll away from Rasheed's grasping hands, but it was to no avail. He grabbed her roughly and pulled her up, lifting her off the ground. Gritting his teeth with rage, the mystic focused his black orbs on the woman in his clutches one last time.

Dio struggled vainly in Rasheed's grasp, but she could feel herself losing power once more. Desperate to keep control, she dug through all of her mental reserves and balled them up into one force, pressing them back at what she imagined to be Rasheed's own power. He gasped slightly, but the power was not enough. The male mystic’s power all but dominated, leaving Dio with control over nothing more than her voice and mind. Despite all of her best efforts, her body was Rasheed's slave.

"Rasheed, please, listen, don't do this!" She gasped, feeling her body move about like a puppet on strings. Rasheed said nothing as he directed her toward the altar, his face solid stone. Tracy put up a good fight, but her unwillingness to fight the Dio she knew still existed under the control was a fatal handicap. The female mystic soon had Tracy bound to the table, all of her movements restricted by the taut ropes. Rasheed cackled in triumph, turning the skeleton lord when his slave was through.

"Now, Golgothas, give Dio to the power to complete the sacrifice!" Lord Golgothas stepped forward slowly, his arms stretched out in front of him.

"As you wish, Rasheed." The skeletal warden raised his hands above his head delicately, crossing them at the wrist. A fine black aura surrounded his body as he channeled his mental abilities into Dio's body, giving her the power of almighty darkness. The energy of Hell itself crackled across the sky, ripping across the battlefield. Both undead and human looked up in horror to see Dio glowing with a purple light, soaking in the demonic power. The demons below basked in the energy, allowing it to imbue them with power. The reaction of the humans was quite different.

"Tracy's up there! We've got to stop her!" Ness cried, making a mad dash for the steps. The others ran behind him, amazed at his belligerence. Why did he not understand that it was not Tracy who needed to be stopped?

Ness made it to the top of the steps in record time only to find himself confronted with an intense outpour of demonic energy. He braced himself, crossing his arms in front of him in a simple barrier. The others reached his side just in time to see Golgothas lower his hands, signifying that the energy transfer was complete. The aura of darkness had left him, finding a home around the figure of Dio.

"Now, Dio," Rasheed bellowed, well aware of the dozens of eyes on him, "Kill the child of light and complete the sacrifice!"

Dio let out a wail of terror as her hand slid into her pocket and gingerly withdrew the bone and silver dagger. Her fingers clutched the smooth handle, directing it toward Tracy's chest. The bound girl shrieked in fear, but her cries fell upon deaf ears.

"Rasheed," Dio sobbed, tears now running down her cheeks, "Please don't make me do this! There has to be another way!" Rasheed refused to respond, focusing all of his energy on directing her with his mind. Her hands shook violently as she pressed the dagger to Tracy's chest, the point making the tiniest of indentations on her shirt. Tracy shook with fear as she stared up into Dio's eyes, seeing nothing more than a shell look back. As Dio lifted her hands into the air, positioning the dagger for the final fall, Tracy offered her the last thing she could give - absolution.

"I forgive you."

Dio let out a bloodcurdling scream, tears flowing freely onto Tracy's body as the dagger slammed into her stomach. Tracy let out a weak grunt of surprise before she collapsed, desperately struggling to hold onto consciousness.

Rasheed released his hold on Dio, allowing her to let go of the bloody dagger. It clattered to the ground, where she collapsed next to it. The mystic eyed the blade in revulsion, clutching her stomach.

"I'm going to be sick!" She gasped, staring at Rasheed in horror. "How could you do that? How could you force me to do something so foul and evil?" Before he could answer, a shot of pain lanced through Dio's body, eliciting a shrill cry from her throat.

"I really am going to be sick!" Dio stared down at herself as a nauseous, unearthly feeling gripped her being, striking her with brutal force. This sickness was only amplified when she saw Rasheed looking down at her struggling body, a twisted grin on his face.

"You pitiful creature," Rasheed sneered. "You're the true mystic, yet you knew nothing of the power of the demons you fought to summon. Didn't you realize that the darkness you sought to control would kill you in the end?"

"Rasheed," Dio panted, feeling the life drain out of her body. "Why? Why did you do it?"

"You were nothing more than a tool, Dio - you held no more importance to me than scissors or a knife. I utilize you to do a job, and now that the job is complete, I dispose of you. Ever since the beginning, it's been like this!" Rasheed noticed the look of shock on Dio's face and let out a sickening laugh. "Don't pretend you didn't know! Think, Dio, think back to the night that has haunted you for countless years. You were going to amplify our power that night, to make us Demons! But something went wrong, didn't it? Yes, something went oh so very wrong! But you never knew what it was, did you?"

Rasheed leaned in close here, allowing Dio to see the glint of malice in his eyes. His sharp teeth split into a cruel sneer as his words continued.

"You fool. You never even saw it coming. I had prepared for that night so well - everything was to be perfect! I had tampered with the ingredients of the spell, bending it to my will, just as I did with you all those years. Once I was made a demon, the spell would backfire and destroy you! But you, like the fool you were, ruined my plan and used the spell first! It killed us both, condemning us eternally to the void! I thought everything was over, but I was wrong. Hell gave me the chance to make alliances, and to continue to flex my powers of control." His voiced dropped to a whisper, so that only Dio could hear.

"I've been controlling Golgothas, Dio, just as I controlled you. Everything is under my power now, and you don't even get to live to see it"! He pulled back and stood up, facing the crowds.

Tracy watched the mystic out of the corner of her eye on the slate table, slowly slipping out of consciousness. An idea was beginning to take shape in her mind, but she could not yet fully grasp it.

Rasheed stood before the group, the winds whipping against his back. He threw his arms up into the air and bellowed around the altar and into the desert sky.

"Repent, mortals, for the day of Apocalypse has arrived!"

"Not...just...yet..." Weak fingers clasped around the blade of the bloodied dagger, dragging it from the ground and into the air. Its master grunted weakly, focusing a dimming green eye on the man before her. Stealing back the tiniest of bits of strength from the power of darkness, Dio whipped her dagger behind her shoulder and slung it forward.

The blade flew like a silver arrow, cutting through the air with a soft hum. Dio's aim was true; Rasheed never even saw it coming. The dagger pierced him through the heart, killing him instantly. All eyes turned to Dio as she let out a satisfied sigh, given up on fighting the darkness.

"Someone...please...make sure Tracy's all right..." She groaned, gazing forward at her one friend, tied to the stone altar. Tracy stared back, the mists of death threatening to take over her gaze. The wheels continued to turn in her head, but now her thoughts shared focus with the plight of the dying mystic.

"Goodbye, Dio," Tracy whispered, doing her best to block out her own pain. Dio offered a weak smile, but did not move.

"Goodbye, Tracy."

A great stillness came over those at the altar as Dio slowly succumbed to death, free from control at last. All the fighters stood in silence, mourning the passing of the tortured soul.

An unearthly, chilling chuckle cut through the silence, sending chills down the spines of all who were present. Those who were observing turned to see Lord Golgothas standing over the body of Rasheed, a skeletal toe rested against the edge of his body.

"Pathetic human." With a contemptuous glance, the skeletal lord landed a kick directly on Rasheed's shoulder blade, knocking him off the edge of the altar and sending him tumbling down the steps. Once he witnessed Rasheed hit the bottom, Golgothas turned to face the group with a quick sneer. His eye sockets were aflame with an eerie purple glow that cast a violet light on his entire frame, making it seem as though he were an angel of justice.

"To think, that a mortal could honestly believe that he could control me, Hell's greatest power. I was able to lead him along, all this time - truly, I am the real puppetmaster!" From his vantage point, Raltise crossed his arms in a defiant sulk.

"I'm the only puppetmaster around here," He mumbled to himself.

Golgothas let out another twisted chuckle as he stared out at the world around him, eyeing the devastation he had already caused. The moment Tracy vanished from the mortal coil, all of this would be his to command! Not even Satan could stop him now!

With all eyes on Golgothas, Tracy muffled a groan of pain as she put her plan into action. Her hand strained against the ropes as she stretched out two fingers, pointing them in the direction of the Nightmare Demon. She bit her lip to keep from concentrating on the pain, instead using her energy to guide the Dali's stopwatch from his pocket. The mythical item hovered through the air, unnoticed by those who were listening to Golgothas. The instant the watch reached her fingertips, she clutched in her fist, never wanting to let go. The demonic power surged through her body as she mustered up a bit of strength and called out to the skeletal lord.

"Hey, Golgothas," She coughed, each breath more laboring than the last. With her last ounce of energy, she rested her finger on the tip of the watch's timer. "Look what I've got."

Golgothas whipped his entire body around just in time to hear a single click resonate from the top of the stopwatch. The Warden of Hell threw his hand up to his eye as two columns of energy burst forth from the stone table, one of the brightest white and the other of the deepest black.

The two strands of energy twisted around each other as they shot upward, forming a helix that pierced the desert sky. Golgothas let out a gruesome scream of defeat as the beam expanded, encompassing the entire altar.

"This cannot be!" He shrieked, unable to comprehend this startling turn of events. The twist of darkness and light surrounded him, pulling him into the air as it expanded all the while. The skeletal lord let out a final scream as he felt an invisible doorway open behind him, pulling him inside. His haunting cry echoed throughout the desert as the doorway pulled him in, slamming shut behind him. Lord Golgothas, Warden of the Underworld, had been eternally sealed in Hell.

The winds turned cold as the powers of light and darkness stretched into eternity, fading into nothingness. All who stood watch now turned to the altar, expecting to see Tracy in her last moments. What they saw was an empty table, devoid of any signs of life. A deafening silence overcame the group, none of the warriors sure of what to say.

It was Ness who spoke first. He stepped toward the stone table, where Tracy had lain mere moments before. It was only when he pressed his hand against the warm stone, still heated from the presence of her body, that he finally understood.

"She gave it all up to save the planet - she paid the ultimate price." He mused, staring at the table in awe. Talus stepped up next to him, his expression charged with disagreement.

"Tracy didn't give a damn about the planet - she did it to save her friends. Us.." He shook his head, staring down at the empty table.

"She did it to save you too, boy." Ness looked up to see Death Knight Neo step forward, emerging from the crowd. "When you die, you realize quite a few untruths about live, and you see what's important. Enough time as a Death Knight has taught me that." Allowing enough time for the words to sink in, Neo delivered the final blow. "Maybe you didn't notice, but she smiled at you in the end."

Ness stared down at the table, his mind a complete blank. Tracy hadn't died for the planet at all; she had died for him.

"You could learn a thing or two from her." So saying, Neo turned around and began her descent down the steps of the altar. As Ness stood alone at the altar, Talus quickly followed Neo to the bottom of the steps when no one was looking. The Death Knight turned around as he approached, and she gave him an appraising glance.

"Why aren't you up there with the rest of your friends?" She asked, genuinely intrigued. Resting the point of her runeblade against the ground, she waited patiently for his response.

"Where are you going?" Talus burst out suddenly, his voice almost loud enough to be heard by those on the altar. "Why don't you stay here?" Neo laughed, shaking her head.

"I'm not like you, Talus. You turned your back on your race out there to help the humans, and to do what you thought was right. I don't have the courage to do that. I wish to God I did, but my wishes have a habit of never coming true. So for now, I'm going to go back to Hell and remain a Death Knight. This is the path I choose, and I stand by it. However, I can't say I don't envy you."

Talus stood still, stunned by the Death Knight's words. He barely noticed when she touched her hand to his cheek, the same way he had done on the battlefield. Her purple orbs gazed into his softly, and a gentle smile formed on her lips.

"Good luck, Talus - May your choice bring you happiness." With that, Neo withdrew her hand and raised her sword, cutting through the air in an arc pattern. The air around the blade seemed to shimmer as a dark portal opened, its edges meeting exactly where Neo had moved her blade. Lowering her sword to her side, Neo stepped through the doorway and into the darkness. The light enveloped the portal, closing it shut behind her without so much as a trace that it had ever been.

Talus stared into the emptiness, completely and totally speechless. Just as he began to absorb himself in his thoughts, he heard a great shout from the altar.

"Hey everybody, come take a look at this!"

Talus sprinted to the top of the steps to see everyone crowded around the stone table, staring at it intently. It was when he looked down that he saw what they were looking at.

A tiny seed sat in the center of the table, no bigger than the tip of a thumb. Ness picked it up slowly, holding it up to his eyes.

"A seed..." He whispered to himself. "What does it mean?" The group stood in contemplation until Dan spoke up with the answer.

"I think...I think it might have to do with what Anna said back in Altus. Do you remember what she said about the Gods, always protecting the people with the pyramid?"

The group nodded in unison, unsure where he was leading. Gathering up a little more confidence, Dan proposed his theory.

"Anna told us the Gods could help us, using the power of the pyramid. But the pyramid was leveled, so Scaraba had no protection from the destruction. I think the Gods want to fix that. Now that the pyramid is gone, I think that this seed is supposed to grow into the new sanctuary - I think that Tracy's power, along with the Scarabian gods, was enough to create new life to fix everything that Hell's power broke." Dan paused here to look out over the desolate landscape. The temporary merging of the worlds had ravaged the desert - small fires still burned, the rubble from the collapse of the pyramid was everywhere, and a thick layer of dirt and dust covered most of the vegetation.

"I think you're right." Ness cupped the seed in his hand, guarding it as though it were a tiny flame. Without any further speech, he walked down the steps of the altar to the base of what had once been the Sphinx's pyramid of Scaraba. The others followed him wordlessly, knowing well what he was going to do.

Ness knelt at the bottom of the steps, next to a small patch of dirt and sand. With his free hand, he dug a small hole, about the size of a fist. His other hand opened up, allowing the seed to tumble into the empty hole.

"Thank you, Tracy. Thank you for everything."