Emily, still seduced by her friends Shame and Fear, kept her gaze glued on her and Ian's feet. She didn't want to attract Beth's attention after the old woman had humiliated her so many times. She simply listened attentively to what the old woman was saying. She didn't even realize that the strange woman had frightened them all by transforming into that. But that was because Ian hadn't even flinched. That was so like him. It seemed that nothing frightened him. He always knew how to act. Emily wondered if he had been the only one who had asked about the terms of the agreement. She thought embarrassed. "I never even suspected they existed."

Without realizing or understanding how, she was suddenly alone. Everyone had disappeared. The silence began to take its toll on her. "How could they have disappeared like that? Could it be another vision of the old woman?" She searched for them, looking in all directions, but in vain. Everything was darkness. Everything except a patch on the floor beneath her feet. Emily felt that she would sink into nothingness if she stepped into the darkness. So she stood there, waiting for almost a minute.

When she had almost convinced herself to take a step in some direction, a voice at her back startled her. She let out a suppressed scream in response.

"Don't be afraid Emily! Nothing here will hurt you. "Those words did not reassure her as much as the voice wished. A voice that was different from the old woman's, but sounded very similar.

When Emily decided to turn to look, she was no longer in the darkness. Inexplicably, she was in her room, with her things arranged. Everything was neat in its place. That wasn't very common, she thought in embarrassment. "Looks as if mom has tidied everything up. Even the dirty clothes I left lying around. It's spotless."

A man had his back to her, looking at her "collection of worlds" as she called it. A collection that nearly filled all the shelves. Comics, movies, music, manga, games and even some figures of her favorite characters. The man had his head cocked to one side as if reading the spines of the titles. No one had ever seen her collection, because she had no friends to share her tastes with. She didn't even talk to anyone in the MMO's she usually played. Influence of Laziness and Fear, would be the answer to this strange behavior.

The man had his hands behind his back and was wearing a white outfit that was barely distinguishable. She couldn't tell if it looked like a robe or not. It was too bright. So much, that it was hard not to feel dazzled as she looked towards him. For a moment, Emily thought it was God. But God isn't interested in manga, comics, movies, music and video games, does he?

"So many examples of heroes and brave adventurers and no one can say that you are like the least remarkable of them." The voice of that man seemed to resonate everywhere.

Emily lowered her head, ashamed. The man continued. "No one but me. Of course!"

Emily opened her eyes wide and tried to look up at him again, but the man had turned to look at her face and she didn't dared to look directly at him. She felt a certain elation and joy. "Does he really believe in me or does he do it out of pity?"

He responded to her thought, blushing her. "Believe? It's not belief, Emily. I know you well! Very well."

The man continued. "I know what you think about when you transport yourself to all these worlds and live all these lives. I know what you think about when you embody such brave heroes living their adventures" A short silence preceded some answers. "You think of those amazing friends you no longer have, fighting by your side. Side by side. You think of the courage it would take to face such adversity. You think of the fear. Of the pain of the wounds. In that they never feel alone."

Emily wanted to say yes to everything and add much more, though she didn't. She was also thinking of the anger and frustration built up over the years as she vented killing monsters in video games. In those worlds where she didn't feel like a disappointment to anyone. She could beat and kill all those cruel and evil antagonists.

"Violence disguised as justice, Emily." The man added to her surprise.

The strange man sat on Emily's bed. A narrow bed with a childish quilt. She looked at the floor feeling uncomfortable as he continued."You will have to prove everything you've learned and lived within these four walls. In this little temple of yours, where you isolate yourself and hide from the world, believing it can't reach you. But I see you. I do it every day and I see with disgust how you repress something inside you. Something that has grown beyond your control. Too much hatred and violence that even you can't see yet. All that and much more of what you carry inside that brave and repressed heart. Believe me! Where you are going to go, you will need it. Not only to fight, but to know yourself better. Because, until you do, you won't be who you want to be and therefore, you won't be able to give the best of yourself.”

Emily heard that sentence feeling transported many years ago. She was in the park, playing with Ian and other children. An old woman approached them. An old woman who looked too much like the one she saw earlier that afternoon. She had asked them. "Why do you always play the same game?". Ian had replied contentedly. "We like to play adventuring heroes". The old woman had smiled. "Don't you want to be a fireman or a policeman when you grow up? Those are heroes too." They had replied almost in unison. We want to be heroes who live adventures; fighting dragons, bandits,… !"

Emily came to her senses and looked up, but she couldn’t get a good look at the strange man. From the front, his clothes shone even brighter. She could only make out that he had no hair, his skin was black and full of strange scars. One thing she could barely discern was that he had neither pupils nor irises. His eyes were completely white. Incomprehensibly, she stopped feeling nervous. The voice was strange, but had been kind all along. She was emboldened. "Who are you?"

The man smiled slightly without showing his teeth. Then, whispered as he offered her his hand, still sitting on that bed full of butterflies and patterned flowers. "You already know who I am."

Emily was puzzled, searching for the answer she was supposed to know. Without finding what she was looking for, she realized that he was offering her his hand. A hand full of scars with claws instead of the last phalanges of each finger. Despite this, Emily didn’t hesitate. She couldn’t remember the last time she had done something without hesitation, maybe that’s why it seemed so strange to her to act like that. As soon as she touched the strange man's hand, her whole room disappeared into darkness.

Suddenly, she was a little girl playing in the park again, and the strange man was there; watching her from some distance in the dark. "Do you remember me now?" She innocently shook her head. The man looked at his clothes. "Oh! I know why." Unexpectedly, his clothes changed and turned dark. He grabbed his hood and put it on. Emily felt a shiver. The man continued to speak to her in a kind tone. "I started talking to you when you were nine" I offered you a deal and you accepted. Remember?"

Emily looked at the strange man in amazement. It no longer looked like a man or a God. The being walked in circles around her. Slowly. Without overwhelming her. "Do you remember what your eyes and hair looked like?"

She whispered. "They were brown and my hair was black."

The strange being smiled nodding. "And now your eyes are green and your black hair has turned somewhat red. I remember you told other children about me. They wanted to talk to me, but your mother didn't like it when you told her about me. She thought I was Satan”.

Emily anxiously asked. "Are you?"

Emily found herself tied to a bed. She got extremely nervous. The strange being kept walking in circles, calmly. "Your mother thought you were possessed by the demon when your hair and eyes began to change. She even cut your hair incessantly when you refused to worship her God. When you wanted to be a brave adventurer who fought against all evil. She forced you to undergo useless rituals to exorcise you. I am not a demon Emily, and you are not like them. You haven't been for a long time. Do you remember all that?

Emily frowning and on the verge of despair whispered. "I'm trying to forget all that. It was a damn nightmare that lasted two years."

Relieved, she noticed that she was back on her feet. She was at least two years older. "When all that was over, and you became a shadow of your former self, you stopped talking to me despite my insistence. We had a deal and you almost broke it."

Emily felt cornered. "A deal? What deal?!"

The strange being smiled kindly. One we're going to resume. I've been patient for years, but I've grown tired of waiting. Those who accepted my deal, just as you did, are now brave adventurers. Strong, skilled and bold. You're neither of those things. You will have to make up for the lost time, Emily. You will have to reach them.

When she realized, she returned to her present appearance. The strange being moved a little closer to her. "Besides physically catching up, you'll have to do it mentally as well. You must mend what you've broken"

Emily looked overwhelmed, without understanding. "What have I broken? I didn't break anything!"

The strange being pointed at her. "You. You're broken inside. Fractured. You've already seen it."

Emily understood. "I thought it was a vision. I thought…"

The strange being interrupted her. "It was at the beginning, but a part of you destroyed that vision."

Emily thought. "A part of me? But, there were many figures just like me."