"Oh, Bela, Cassandra, Eveline! What's up?"
Daniela, basking in the solarium's warm sunlight, beamed at Bela, Cassandra, and Eveline, who'd slipped in unnoticed. Unlike her sisters, who were hunting Ethan, Daniela wondered if they'd come for a tea party, her thoughts carefree.
"I worked things out with Bela and Cassandra, so how about you join us, Daniela?" Eveline said.
"Hehe, come on, Daniela," Bela purred.
"Be Eveline's family with us," Cassandra added.
"Huh? What're you three talking about?" Daniela asked, tilting her head.
Confused, Daniela froze as Bela and Cassandra, now liquid mold, seized her arms. Even Daniela, the most delusional of the sisters, sensed danger and tried to scatter into insects. But the exits were sealed by mold. Chased by Bela's fluid form, Daniela darted around the solarium in insect form, desperate. Cassandra, nodding to Eveline, pulled a lever on a pillar, changing everything.
"Cassandra, what—AAAH!?" Daniela screamed.
The skylight opened, cold air rushing in. Daniela, forced back into human form, writhed on the floor, freezing. Bela, Cassandra, and Eveline loomed over her as she shivered, barely able to look up.
"A-ahh… Cassandra! How could you!? I'll die!" Daniela gasped. "Why… why aren't you two affected?"
"We've been reborn!" Bela said. "As Eveline's sisters!"
"I don't know why I resisted," Cassandra murmured.
"Be my real big sister, Daniela," Eveline sang. "Not taking no for an answer♪"
Bela and Cassandra dissolved into liquid mold, enveloping the frozen Daniela, consuming her.
"This is a dream… No, I don't want to die…" Daniela whispered.
With that final cry, the last of the sisters vanished. Eveline licked her lips, rubbed her stomach, and shaped the mold into Bela, Cassandra, and Daniela, making them stand by.
"How's it feel, Daniela?" Eveline asked.
"Absolutely divine!" Daniela said. "Thanks, Eveline."
"We're together forever now," Cassandra said.
"But just us three and Eveline feels lonely," Bela added. "Let's grow our family!"
"Starting with Dimitrescu… but maybe we say all three of you died?" Eveline mused.
Dissolving the sisters back into mold, Eveline floated toward Dimitrescu, a wicked grin fading into a mask of despair as she spoke.
"Dimitrescu! It's awful—Daniela's been killed too!"
"What!?" Dimitrescu roared. "Eveline, you were there and—!?"
"I can't touch anything! All I could do was warn her Ethan was coming…"
"Ugh, useless!" Dimitrescu snarled. "That man… he'll pay for taking what's mine!"
Eveline smirked as Dimitrescu stormed off, furious. If she killed Ethan, great. If not, Eveline would consume her first.
"In Karl's words, it's the ultimate showtime. Entertain me!"
The scene shifted to the castle's climax. Dimitrescu, transformed into a dragon by the poisoned dagger's sting, clashed with Ethan. Eveline and her internalized sisters watched from above.
"Mother's really losing it. Can we stop her?" Bela asked.
"I've never seen her like this," Cassandra said. "Kinda thrilling."
"She thinks Ethan killed all three of us, so no wonder," Daniela said.
"I wish she'd given even a bit of that love to me," Eveline muttered.
The sisters, watching Dimitrescu's aerial battle with Ethan, realized Eveline was right—despite Dimitrescu's advantage, Ethan was overpowering her.
"You dare try to save your daughter after killing mine!?" Dimitrescu roared. "You filthy human!"
"Screw you, Dimitrescu!" Ethan shot back. "I didn't kill any of your daughters!"
"Liar! Bela, Cassandra, Daniela—all gone! Who else but you!?"
"Not suspecting me? Dimitrescu's such an idiot," Eveline sneered. "Or maybe she just underestimates me?"
Eveline mocked the bickering duo as they traded blows and bites. She sent black mold creeping up the tower, waiting for her moment. When Dimitrescu, battered and unable to hide her wounds, landed on the tower, Eveline struck, binding her limbs with mold, pinning her to the summit.
"What… I can't move!?" Dimitrescu bellowed. "Ethan Winters, what did you do!?"
"I didn't do anything!" Ethan yelled. "Whatever, time to end this!"
Immobilized, Dimitrescu thrashed, trying to tear free as Ethan unloaded his sniper rifle into her. She smashed the tower's stone floor with her head, her severed right arm grabbing Ethan to drag him down with her.
"You… Winters!" she roared. "I'll take you with me! Too late—you'll never see Rose again! Know your powerlessness!"
"Damn it!" Ethan grunted.
"Nope, you can't die, Dimitrescu," Eveline said.
"Eveline!?" Dimitrescu gasped.
As Dimitrescu plummeted through the tower, the mold on her limbs multiplied, spreading from the walls, engulfing her. It invaded her wounds, covering her face, turning her into a writhing mass of black mold that crashed at the tower's base. Ethan landed on her, cushioned, as she struggled.
"You… Eveline! What is this!?" Dimitrescu cried.
"Eveline!?" Ethan shouted. "She's here…!?"
"If you die, you can't be my family," Eveline said. "That'd make the sisters sad, right?"
Ethan was flung against the wall as dragon-Dimitrescu writhed, desperate to escape the mold. It coated her, rewriting her mind to worship Eveline. Three human shapes formed from the mold—Bela, Cassandra, Daniela—giggling mockingly. The truth hit Dimitrescu.
"You… Eveline! You killed my daughters!?" she roared.
"'Killed' sounds so harsh," Eveline said. "I just made them my family. To get them out of this castle, I had to. I tried to find a way to save them as they were, but Bela was suicidal. I couldn't let her die, so I changed my approach. Oh, Karl doesn't know. He'd hate this—too much like Miranda."
"Oh, Eveline… my hatred for you fades…" Dimitrescu murmured. "Why do I… love you, when you're not my daughter…?"
Forced back into human form, Dimitrescu reached out weakly and collapsed. The mold consumed her face, reshaping her into part of Eveline's fungal network with a sickening squelch. Feeling genuine love from the transformed Dimitrescu, Eveline squealed like a child.
"Right, right! You're the lord who loves family most!" she cheered. "You'll be my new mama, better than Mia! You won't abandon me, hate me, or put anything above me. You'll protect me, be the kindest mama ever! I hated you, but as my ideal mama, you're family!"
Like a conductor, Eveline waved her hands, shaping the mold into a three-meter-tall figure. The reborn Alcina Dimitrescu knelt, offering a gentle smile she'd never shown Eveline before.
"Yes, Eveline," Dimitrescu said. "I'll crush anyone who hates my beloved you. Starting with that half-dead wretch!"
"Hold it," Eveline said. "Not Ethan yet. You can't beat him now. We'll grow our family, eliminate Miranda, then have our fun."
Manipulating the mold, Eveline grabbed a flask, placed it before Ethan, dissolved the Dimitrescu family, and leaned on her hand, staring at him with a grin.
"Oh, it's gonna be fun, Ethan, Ethan, Ethan," she purred. "You plunged me into despair and killed me brutally. I can't wait to make you despair and strangle you with my own hands."
The father awoke, unaware his nemesis was near, tilting his head as he left the castle—Eveline, like another self, trailing at his side.
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