"What is this place?" —Arabel asked when she and Geminia found themselves in an unfamiliar space after finishing their conversation. Geminia used her power to teleport them both out of the Temple and into this mysterious place.
"We are in the middle of the Doppelganger Forest, not far from the Core of the Forbidden Zone. Follow ," Geminia said calmly and started walking forward. Arabel looked around and followed her.
The atmosphere was a little oppressive, but in Geminia's presence Arabel felt more confident. Surprisingly, the presence of the Energy of Madness no longer affected her, as it had on their first visit to the Forest of Doppelgangers.
Arabel realized once again how much she had changed after the second ascension test.
Soon they found themselves in front of a familiar building, woven from a multitude of Perfect Doppelgangers.
When Geminia and Arabel appeared in front of the building, it swayed slightly as if welcoming them, and then the door automatically opened, inviting them inside.
Once inside, Arabel, as before, felt a lot of eyes on her. She had expected this and was not particularly surprised. Without wasting any ti, she followed Geminia into one of the rooms.
"Co in," Geminia invited Arabel into a small room. There was nothing inside except a bed, a table, and a chair.
"In the next few days, this room will beco your second ho."
"Days?" — Arabel asked, not sure if she had heard correctly.
"Yes, days, Arabel, days," Geminia confird, then, with a wave of her hand, she pulled out two chairs and placed them in the center of the room.
"Let's sit down," Geminia suggested, pointing to the chairs. She took one of them, and Arabel sat across from her on the other.
"I know that ti passes more slowly in Limbo than in Junonia and in your world, and that Idan will be back in a few days, as he said. But it's only one or two days in Limbo, which is too little to help you," Geminia shared her opinion.
"Therefore, using my power and connection to Limbo, I am inverting the ti inside this room."
"Eh? Inverting the ti ans that instead of one day, I'll be here for more days?" asked Arabel, surprised by Geminia's words.
"Yes, instead of one or two days, you will have about ten days," Geminia roughly calculated, taking into account the ti difference to determine how long it would take Idan to return.
"Are you against this?" she asked Arabel.
"No, of course not," replied Arabel, who was even glad that she would have more ti to try to understand what was happening to her, under Geminia's guidance.
Arabel was aware that her side effect was not only bothering her, but also inconveniencing Idan.
She was eager to understand and get rid of this side effect as soon as possible. However, realizing the complexity and connection with the Energy of Madness, she already understood that this would not be an easy task.
At first, she didn't want to leave Idan and follow him. But then, on reflection, Arabel realized that she had beco too attached to his presence and had beco too dependent on him. After breaking through the rank, this addiction only intensified due to the side effect.
Arabel realized that this was wrong, and if this continued, it would lead to nothing good. She began to be afraid of herself, fearing that under the influence of this unhealthy addiction and outbursts of uncontrollable jealousy, she might do sothing terrible.
"Don't worry, you won't be alone, I'll be there to help you control the Energy of Madness to minimize the effects of uncontrolled outbursts," Geminia said, trying to calm Arabel down.
"First we need to understand what the root of all the problems is..."
So began Arabel's attempts, under Geminia's guidance, to understand what was causing this side effect and find a way to deal with it.
The days won by Geminia passed quickly.
During the day, Arabel tried to control the Energy of Madness to the point of exhaustion under Geminia's supervision, but every ti the side effect made itself felt. Geminia, using her Soul Force, closely monitored Arabel's condition and recorded how the Energy of Madness reacted to every uncontrollable change in her behavior.
After exhausting day and night attempts, Arabel fell asleep like a log and recovered. And the next day she continued her training.
After all, all these efforts were not in vain. Arabel discovered sothing that changed her view of its side effect. Every ti it appeared; her thoughts were always focused on Idan.
Her mind was filled with all sorts of questions about what Idan was doing, where he was, and if he was okay. She wondered if he was dating another girl, and sotis these thoughts beca so crazy that Arabel herself began to tremble.
Gradually, she ca to the conclusion that the side effect was related to the mories that had been erased by System. These thoughts and feelings belonged to the version of Arabel who participated in the second ascension trial and beca imnsely dependent on Idan. Even after System erased those mories, the feelings of that version of Arabel remained, and each ti they affected her current experiences.
This realization changed her approach to dealing with the side effect. After all, to so extent, all these feelings belonged to her.
Just like the mories of the first ascension trial.
One day, after negotiating with Geminia, Arabel realized this and thought about her Ice Valkyrie bloodline.
Arabel rembered that after returning to her world, she had barely tried to take control of her bloodline.
Realizing her current situation, Arabel only laughed bitterly, finding it a little funny.
The Ice Valkyrie's bloodline seed to be dulling her emotions, trying to make her forget about her feelings for Idan. However, the side effect increased her dependence on him.
Both of the first Ascension trials played with her feelings, taking them to extres.
Arabel didn't want to choose between them.
It's been three months since they first t, and just over a month since they beca an official couple. Arabel began to have deep feelings and attraction for Idan. She knew she was falling in love with him, if she hadn't already. However, she couldn't say exactly what it ant, as she didn't know what true love was.
Arabel didn't want to forget these growing feelings for Idan by taking the side of the Ice Valkyrie bloodline. At the sa ti, she resisted the side effect of becoming addicted and insane in her relationship with Idan.
She also couldn't give up on both powers. These two powers were necessary for her.
Arabel rembered Idan's words about not giving up, and his trust in her. He believed that she would be able to overco this problem and turn it into her strength, becoming stronger.
Sighing, Arabel decided to take a chance and find a balance between the two forces that were causing her difficulties.
Assuming the form of a Valkyrie, she began trying to use the Energy of Madness, slightly surprising Geminia, who was watching her.
Without Idan, the flaw of the Ice Valkyrie was gradually making itself felt, trying to suppress Arabel's emotions. At the sa ti, the side effect of the Madness Energy intensified her feelings for Idan, and both forces finally turned her feelings into chaos.
But no matter how hard it was, Arabel continued to struggle and find a balance between them, pitting one force against the other.
It was risky, and Arabel knew it. But she couldn't just wait any longer to see what these two forces would lead to if she didn't try to control them.
The first days of these attempts were very difficult and exhausting. By the end of the day, Arabel's thoughts were confused and she couldn't think straight.
However, she gradually began to get used to and gain control over these forces. Geminia had helped her deal with the strong influence of the Madness Energy from ti to ti, while Arabel's bloodline influence had to be dealt with on her own.
Thanks to the higher synchronization rate, she was able to contain it even without Idan.
Ten days passed quickly, and by the end of that ti Arabel had made so progress.
Arabel realized that in order to achieve the final result, she needed to fully control her bloodline. This is the only way she can suppress the uncontrollable urges caused by the side effect.
When Arabel erged from her seclusion, Geminia noticed this and, using her power, teleported her inside the Temple.
Arabel's appearance in front of everyone caused everyone to be surprised. Her presence had changed significantly, which caused concern to everyone present, especially Idan, when he looked at her and saw the smile she gave him when she t his gaze.
Arabel exuded a completely new presence, different from her usual one.
It seed to Idan that for a brief mont he felt the presence of icy madness in Arabel's smile.
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