Previously on TRUE & LIE
Rafael and Berzebit stepped into the Game of Life—and paid the ultimate price. Bound by Viviane's twisted rules, they faced the Mirror of True Self and fought a battle that tore their souls apart.
In the end, there was no victory. Only blood. Only silence.
Two brothers, once bound by light and darkness, fell together… their sacrifice echoing through eternity.
Chapter 9 – Who We Are
The mirrors shattered. Silence hung like death in the air.
Viviane sat upon her obsidian throne, a cruel smile curving her lips. Then she laughed—soft at first, then swelling into a chilling echo that devoured the room.
"Hahahahaha… how interesting. You made my job so easy… dying together like that."
Her crimson eyes glimmered with wicked delight as she rose, stepping gracefully over the shattered glass and the blood-soaked floor. She moved between the two broken bodies—Rafael and Berzebit—lying motionless, lifeless.
Kneeling beside Rafael, she stroked his bloodstained cheek with mock tenderness.
"Even though I wanted to kill you myself… with my own hands."
Then her gaze drifted to Ben—still unconscious, his breathing shallow, faint sparks of strange energy crawling across his skin.
Viviane smiled, her voice dropping into a whisper that dripped with venom and false sweetness.
"Wake up soon, my prince. I know you won't be happy with this…" She paused, tilting her head as though admiring a masterpiece. "…but this had to happen."
Her grin widened, her eyes burning with secrets too dark to speak.
"When you wake… you'll finally understand who you really are."
And with that, she dissolved into shadow, her laughter echoing through the chamber like the tolling of a death bell.
Ben's fingers twitched. A ragged breath escaped his lips. His eyelids fluttered.
The nightmare was far from over. Ben's eyes opened slowly, the weight of exhaustion dragging against his soul. His vision blurred at first—shards of broken mirrors glinting faintly in the darkness. Then the shapes came into focus.
Blood.
His heart stopped.
"Rafael…? Berzebit…?" His voice cracked as he crawled forward, his hands trembling violently. He touched Rafael's shoulder, cold to the touch. Berzebit lay a few steps away, his lifeless eyes staring into nothingness.
"No… no, no, no… wake up!" Ben shook them, his tears falling fast, mixing with the blood on the floor. His breath grew ragged, chest heaving with sobs as guilt crushed him like an iron weight.
"I should've been here… I should've protected you…" His voice broke. "Why… why did it have to be you?!"
He screamed—a raw, tearing sound that echoed against the black walls. Sparks of energy flared wildly across his body, glowing like embers on the edge of a storm.
Then a voice drifted through the silence. Smooth. Mocking. Deadly sweet.
"Well, well… the little prince finally wakes."
Ben froze, his blood boiling at the sound. Slowly, he turned his head.
Viviane stood in the center of the shattered chamber, her crimson eyes glimmering with cruel amusement, her steps as silent as a predator's.
She smiled faintly, tilting her head.
"We've all been waiting for you, Ben. Even after you rid us of the First Guardian…" Her laughter slipped out, sharp as a blade. "…we knew you were the one. The one destined to begin the fall of Satan."
Her words slithered into his mind like poison, burning through the grief and into the core of his being.
Ben clenched his fists so hard his nails cut into his palms. The sparks crawling over his skin ignited into a faint blue glow, pulsing with each throb of his heart.
His voice was low, trembling with both agony and fury.
"What… did you do?"
Viviane's grin widened. "What needed to be done."
The air around Ben cracked with power. Shadows bent. Light fractured. His tears still fell, but behind them—something darker stirred.
The beginning of something unstoppable. Ben's rage surged like a storm, the ground trembling beneath him as sparks of blue and white light danced across his skin. The air grew heavy, vibrating with raw, untamed energy.
Then—
A voice, calm and resonant, cut through the chaos.
"Calm down. What does not kill you… makes you stronger."
Ben froze, chest heaving, eyes wild. The words seemed to come from everywhere—woven into the very air he breathed. It was neither male nor female, neither near nor far. It simply… was.
He looked around, fists trembling, searching for the source—but there was nothing. Only the echo of that voice lingering in his mind, soothing his fury, drowning his rage in a chilling calm.
Ben sank to his knees, his breath ragged. His power flickered and dimmed. Slowly, the tears returned.
"…Leave me alone," he whispered hoarsely, his voice breaking. "Please… just… leave me alone for a bit. I need… to be alone."
From across the room, a soft laugh broke the silence—sharp, almost musical.
"Alone? My dear, you've never truly been alone."
Ben lifted his head slowly, eyes hollow with grief, meeting hers—Viviane, standing with perfect poise, her crimson eyes glowing like liquid fire.
She smiled faintly, tilting her head in a mock gesture of kindness.
"And please," she added sweetly, "don't call me miss."
Ben swallowed hard, his voice a low murmur.
"…Then what should I call you?"
Her grin widened, teeth glinting like the edge of a blade.
"Call me… Viv."
The name lingered like poison on his lips, heavy with promise and threat.
And somewhere—beyond the walls, beyond the shadows—the voice spoke again, so faint only Ben could hear:
"Remember… this is only the beginning." Ben stayed kneeling on the cold floor long after Viviane vanished, his sobs breaking the silence. He pressed his forehead against the bloodstained ground, his tears hot, his chest hollow. No matter how hard he wished, no matter how much he begged, nothing could change. Rafael and Berzebit were gone.
Minutes passed—or maybe hours. Time itself felt meaningless.
Then—shadows rippled. A familiar laugh slipped through the air like broken glass.
Viviane appeared once more, her crimson eyes glittering.
"I hope you had enough time to cry and grieve in peace."
Ben's voice was hoarse, raw from screaming.
"You were gone for… what, an hour?"
"Yes," she replied casually, tilting her head. "And that is more than enough. Now—wipe your tears. It's time to prepare. The war is about to begin."
As she spoke, her body wavered, fracturing like a cracked mirror. Ben's breath caught as seven faces bled through her form, layered one atop another, shifting and flickering with every heartbeat.
Her voice multiplied, seven tones speaking in perfect unison, each carrying its own venom.
"You must eliminate the Devil at all costs. We will make sure of it. That is why Rafael had to die. But you… you interfered. And because of you… Berzebit fell as well."
The words hit Ben like knives. His fists tightened, his chest heaving. Guilt twisted deeper, sharper, until it felt like his very soul was splitting apart.
Viviane's seven voices leaned closer, a chorus of command and condemnation.
"This is your burden now, Prince. You will not run from it. You will carry it—until the end."
Viviane's seven faces flickered like broken glass, her voices overlapping in a chilling harmony.
"And do not be angry with me, Ben. If you walk with sin… you will become one. Had you continued to follow Rafael, his corruption would have spread to you. And as for Berzebit—" her smile sharpened, cruel, "—his death lies at your feet. You are the cause."
Ben staggered back, his eyes wide, his fists trembling.
"No… no, that's not true!"
"It is truth," the seven voices boomed. "And now you will bear it. Prepare yourself—in thirty minutes, I will return. We begin your training."
Ben's voice cracked, torn between rage and grief.
"But how will my friends be buried? How will they rest in peace?"
Viviane threw her head back and laughed, the sound echoing like shattering bells.
"Hahahaha! Foolish boy. Fallen angels cannot rest in peace. And the bloodline of Cain—" her eyes blazed, every face twisting into malice, "—can never rest in peace."
Her laughter rang louder, drowning the chamber in venom. Then her form dissolved into shadow, leaving only her words behind:
"Forget about those fools. Prepare yourself."
And with that—she was gone.
Ben dropped to his knees again, his tears spilling freely. The silence pressed down like a tomb. He was alone. Completely, terribly alone.