Audrey wasn't sure why she was crying. She didn't even know the girl, but when that single tear ran down her emotionless face, it was more than she could take. Which was actually a really bad sign in hindsight. So when she locked eyes with the spirit, she didn't give her a look of pity. She gave her a look of respect. Audrey wasn't sure what she would do in a situation as such as hers, but she knew darn well it wouldn't be offering strangers her soul. "If you really believe that this will make a difference," Audrey began, trying to find the right words,"I'll gladly fufill your wish." She tried to say it with as much dignity as she could. Her head turned to Melinda. "Was that enough, Mel?" When she didn't respond, Audrey's eyebrows furrowed. She gently placed a hand on her shoulder. "Mel?"
Her gaze wasn't meeting anything but the ground, and that's when it hit Audrey, she wasn't the only one affected by that last statement. Melinda suddenly brought her head back up. "Yeah," she started,"Yeah, I am. I've pretty much accepted you weren't going to back out of this." She looked to the spirit. "I think I get why you're doing this, and if Audrey believes you, well, I guess I have no choice but to believe you. So, I guess I'll gladly eat, wait no, that sounds threatening. Uh, devour? Ugh, no. Take your soul."
"Well isn't this heartwarming?" a voice giggled from behind them, causing both Audrey and Melinda to whirl around, only for their jaws to drop. Standing before them was no other than, Audrey. Well, it had the form of Audrey, but it was entirely black.
"Please tell me I'm not the only one who sees that, right? Please tell me I'm not." Audrey ignored Melinda's comment, and instead signaled her to transform. Thankfully she caught it, and a rapier landed gently in Audrey's hand.
Readying her battle stance, Audrey called out to the imposter. "Who are you?" The thing only giggled in reply.
"I'm you, silly"
"No you're not"
"Well, true. Of course I'm not you. I'm an improvement from you." And then it lunged for her her. It was quicker than Audrey had originally anticipated, and she barely had anytime to roll to the right.
"Really, becuase from what I see, there aren't any improvements," She scoffed, and she turned her head to the spirit. "If there's any way we can...digest you, I guess, without getting preferably stabbed, please do it!" She sidestepped, as the imposter threw a punch at her, but the arm started to change shape, and now took to the form of a blade. The thing threw a hook punch, and Audrey barely blocked it in time. What? she thought, not believing her eyes. Only one substance I know of can do that. Black blood, but this thing isn't...Oh great, we're f*cked. The two warriors broke apart, and the Black Blood changed it's other arm to a blade as well.
"Really now? Because if you haven't been paying attention, I'm dominanting you in combat at the moment. And," it said, running up close to clash blades with Audrey again, who was using all her might not to fall from the sheer weight,"as you will have soon to see, unlike you, I'm flawless. Not some first rate, deadweight like you."