"Wake up..."

"Grnnnggg, let me sleep, my head hurts," Laska muttered as she kept her eyes shut and tried to ignore the throbbing in the back of her skull. "My whole body hurts..."

"I'm not surprised after seeing you take such a tumble," the voice spoke in an oddly pitched tone.

"Ow!" Laska cried out again after feeling another stab of pain. "Another stab of pain. What's going on?!"

"I don't know," the voice said, "I've only just now started to try to rouse you with this hammer."

"Cute," Laska turned to sit up and opened her eyes... and suddenly found herself confronted with a monster holding a small hammer. It was a ruddy-colored lobster-shaped creature with grotesque limbs, covered with spikes and an insect-like head.

"Ah!" Laska shouted out and was immediately on the defensive, only to find herself armor-less and unarmed. Instead, she raised her fist and prepared for a fight to the death.

"Oh, please, sit down," the creature spoke. "You just fell into a bottomless pit, so don't strain yourself."

"Are you who I think you are?" Laska asked, never taking her eyes of the creature. "Are you gonna screw with my head like you did with Sarevok? Make me nuts and hungry for power?"

"No," the creature spoke. "With Sarevok I could do no more than whisper in his mind. It was enough, in the end. Now you, you are a different story. This is actually the very first time we meet. Your elven nature was doing a fine job of keeping my taint separated from your mind, but now that your spirit has been stripped from you, it opened the door for me. And there is quite a bit of me within you, Laska. About one fifth of my entire essence. Don't you know how important that makes you?"

"I really don't give a damn," Laska said. "But I'm not going to let you control me! No one controls me!"

"Irenicus did a good job at it, though," the creature chuckled raspily.

"That's different..."

"Well, I can't make you do anything you don't want to do," the creature rasped, "but I find that subtle influences work best..."

"If you know what's good for you, you'll keep your influences out of my head!" Laska retorted.

"What are you going to do, huh?" the creature spoke. "Kill me? Been there, done that..."

"How come?" Laska smirked and crossed her hands.

"How come what?" the creature asked.

"How come the God of Death and Lord of Murder is such a big nerd is real life?" Laska grinned. "I mean, are you really that impressive? A huge bipedal lobster that looks like it's sneezed? Do you have any idea how rediculous you look? Hmmm, you'd look good in a hotpot. I've got some pretty good recipes for the likes of you. I bet you taste great in some garlic-butter."

"Gh, sptf, wha..." the creature sputtered in outrage. "I resent that!"

"Oh, my," Laska mocked, "'I'm not only a member of the chess-club, but I'm also the president'. NERD!!!"

"Nice coming from someone who grew up in the biggest library of the Toril! Don't push me around, elf!" the creature rasped. "Do you know who I am?!"

"I don't know, but you look like something that's been vomited out," Laska grinned. "And you smell like that too. Go take a bath. Dead gods tell no tales."

"I see that a subtle word-play between us two is out of the question," the creature sighed. "Alright, crude one, let me just show you something, then."

"Oh, no, we're screwed we're screwed we're screwed!" Sharess wailed as she fidgeted with her robes while staring into the Celestial scrying pool. All gathered were definitely not in high spirits after seeing Laska being stripped of her spirit and left in a catatonic state... but when the creature invaded her mind, it became even worse.

"Can this ever be salvaged?" Liira sighed.

"We've lost her, haven't we?" Sune was close to tears. "Poor Rose..."

"She's the last half-decent Bhaalspawn left!" Meilikki sighed. "Excepting Imoen..."

"Imoen has lost her soul too," Tymora said. "And she didn't turn to his evil. Why should Laska?"

"Imoen has a mere fraction of Bhaal's essence," Meilikki said. "Laska has one fifth!"

"That doesn't have to matter," Tymora said. "Laska might be weakened, but she is still in charge of her own destiny. Her spirit might have been weakened, but it still won't give Bhaal control over her. We just have to hope for the best."

"But she's our champion!" Sharess wailed. "She's supposed to win and be great and kick ass! That old fart Bhaal's supposed to be asskicked by her!"

"That might still happen," Eilistraee smiled. "But remember, there's still my champion."

"Ah, yes, the one who joined the Five?" Sharess mocked.

"Don't mock," Eilistraee spoke. "She and Laska are both elven Bhaalspawn, and even though they both possess a lot of the Essence, they are still their own persons and in control of their own destinies. It can only get better from now on."

"We just have to hope for the best..." Tymora sighed. "And hope she is strong enough."

"Don't forget her friends," Sharess smiled.

"I should hope not," Liira said. "Considering all the trouble we had to go through to get that group's paths to cross. I'm surprised they just took to each other like that."

"Are you kidding?" Sune smiled. "Love conquers all differences. We did manage to influence a group of new and old companions to get together and they ended up stronger than ever."

"We did well enough," Tymora said. "We never expected the Broken One to go after a Bhaalspawn. Remind me to tear Rillifane a new A next time I see him."

"From what I hear," Eilistraee smiled, "dad already did that."

"Easy when your dad is Corellon, Listy," Sharess grinned. "So, did he buy you that new chariot for your sixteen thousand birthday?"

"Nah," Eilistraee smiled. "But he did give me a new bow."

"Anyway," Tymora said. "We should have faith in Laska. She is our champion, after all. We chose her, but even if she knew we were supporting her, she would reject our meddling. She's a stubborn one, and I don't doubt she's strong enough to resist his mind-games, even without her spirit to keep her safe."

The first thing Laska noticed as reality formed in front of her eyes were the fires in the near distance... then the smell of acrid smoke and charred corpses bit her nostrils. She was standing on a hill overlooking an army of elves. Though they were elves, they seemed to be using some very non-elven weaponry like catapults and ballista. Otherwise, they all seemed to wearing finely crafted elven chainmail while the warriors are brandishing beautiful elven longswords and longbows. Clerics of what seemed to be Shevarash, the elven god of war, were running around healing the wounded, though they were precious few in numbers. Mages were still bombarding a burning city in the distance with deadly spells, and it was glaringly obvious that the elves had won this battle.

The fields in front of the city were littered with the bloody corpses of armored humans. The cries of the wounded were carried on the winds, and Laska noticed that on the sides, elves with longbows were busy putting the fallen humans out of their misery.

Laska then looked towards the city, and watched the high flames lick at the ruined buildings. Most had collapsed already, but one tall obsidian building Laska immediately recognized... it was the Iron Throne building.

The city in flames was Baldur's Gate.

"What the hell happened here?" Laska asked.

The creature, who had formed beside her, chuckled briefly. "Why, she happened, of course."

Pointing to a command tent near the outskirts of the camp, near the front lines, the creature told Laska where to find the leader. Immediately, a tall elf emerged from the tent. Standing over a head taller than most elves on the battlefield, the elf make a regal impression in her ornate Asyfarund Elven Chainmail. Two serrated longswords were strapped on her back, almost completely covered by her dark hair, which hung loose and was so long that it almost reached the back of her heels. More striking however, were her tattoos. Half her face was covered with a black tattoo containing many swirling patterns. The patterns merged at her neck and disappeared under her armor, though Laska knew it probably went all the way down to her hips, possibly even lower. A second tattoo was on her cheek : the symbol of Shevarash. But the most frightening was that this elven warrior looked just like her.

"Laska Leafwalker," the creature grinned, "meet Laska Leafwalker."

"My, my, my," the alternate Laska spoke while her troops listened intently, "I certainly do love the smell of burning monkeys in the evening!" Immediately, her elven troops cheered to their leader.

"Laska," one of the male elves said. "We spotted a group of refugees trying to flee from the city. Most of them were monkeys, but there might have been some elves among them."

"Take yours bows and pick them off one by one," Laska grinned, and was answered with cheers. "Make sure you spare the elven refugees... Oh, and if there are any half-elves among them, make sure to give them a merciful death. A life of near perfection is worse than death, but their elven half need not suffer."

"Aye, Laska," the male said and pointed out a few archers to come with him. Laska nodded and turned to gaze upon the burning city.

"For I am Laska Leafwalker," the alternate Laska whispered into the breeze, "look upon my terrible works, humans, and despair."

"That... is not me," Laska spoke to the creature as she watched her alternative self carousing with her troops.

"Why not?" the creature said. "She's a tattoofreak, just like you. She treats her companions like equals, just like you. She drinks like a fish, just like you. There's a lot of anger in her, just like you. She loves to fight, just like you and she lives life to the max, just like you... For all intents and purposes, she is you... And she is not you."

"Stop confusing me, you nerdy freak!" Laska snarled in his face.

"Alright, alright, allow me to clarify some things. This is another you in another part of the multiverse. She is you in many ways, but not you in just as many ways."

"Sure, sure, but..."

Suddenly, Laska's eye fell back on a human woman that two warriors were dragging towards the alternate Laska. She recognized the woman immediately : Lexi, the noblewoman she had used after the defeat of Sarevok.

"Laska, what have you done!" Lexi shouted at the alternate self. "You promised me it would be a swift victory! You promised me that helping you would save lives."

"And help you did," Laska smiled. "Thank you for opening the gate for our troops. You have saved countless of elven lives which would have been lost if we would have stormed the city. Oh, and the victory was swift, as you can see. You see, I never said the lives saved would be human lives. You added that yourself."

"Laska," Lexi was near tears. "I love you..."

"And I," the alternate Laska moved close to Lexi, and for a moment, Laska thought the two might kiss, "could never love a monkey. It took hours to wash your stench from my body." Lexi's eyes widened in surprise as the alternate Laska grinned and slowly, very slowly, carved a serrated dagger across Lexi's throat.

Laska wanted to jump her alternate self and pommel her senseless when she saw that her alternate self was using a technique that would cause Lexi the most pain. Indeed, the noblewoman's eyes bulged, and though she tried to scream in pain and terror, she could not muster the breath to do so. As the blood gushed down her throat and gown, Lexi staggered forward in a desperate attempt to hold onto the alternate Laska, but she stepped back, causing her to fall to the floor to die lonely and in pain.

As Lexi's blood seeped into the earth, the alternate Laska looked upon the corpse, "Jingiul, please dump that corpse on a pile with the others and set it on fire. I'm going to take a nap. Tomorrow, we celebrate our victory... Oh, and clean my dagger, would you? I don't want it smelling of monkeys."

"That... that... cold bitch..." Laska snarled as she watched her alternate self step into the tent. "That is NOT me!"

"Guilt, eh?" the creature grinned. "You betrayed Lexi too in your reality. Actually, Lexi is what we call an eternal loser. In almost every reality in every multiverse, Lexi is betrayed by you in one way or another. Well, except in one reality where you have taken up leadership of the Flaming Fist in Baldur's Gate after defeating Sarevok and you two are married, but that is one exception on a very, very broad rule."

"How did I... get so... stonecold?" Laska asked. "Did you have anything to do with it?"

"Sadly, no," the creature spoke. "She is doing murder's work, but I had nothing to do with it. Like you, her spirit has kept my influences at bay. No, dear Laska, what you see there is all you."

That statement sent cold shivers down Laska's spine.

"The difference between her and you is that her mother never knew Gorion, so instead of leaving you with him, her mother took her with her on her travels," the creature spoke. "The other Laska enjoyed it a lot, seeing all those new creatures and meeting new people. But, you know, I find that the fragile young years are the best times to influence a person. I got to the most Bhaalspawn at that age and..."

"You're babbling, nerd," Laska snarled.

"Geez, spitfire much?" the creature snorted. "Anyway, I only imagined the fragile mindset because the elven village they were staying was attacked by human bandits and she was out playing in the yard when they slaughtered half the village before the defence was set up. Of course, her, your mother being quite the mage helped greatly to drive back the invaders, but the whole thing made quite an impression on her young mind. Eventually, young Laska found out the elven race had suffered at the hands of the humans and decided something to do about it. She started small at first, gathering some like-minded elves to go to the forest and bust up the occasional humans passing through, until she ended up with that huge army. All the elves you saw there have been wronged by humans in some way and desire revenge... or a better place for the elven race."

"Why?" Laska muttered. "It's all so senseless and meaningless."

"You're a paradoxical creature, elf," the creature smirked. "You love a small-scale bloody battle, but you abhor war."

"Yeah, when it's just a fight it's only a few willing participants who run the risk," Laska said. "Wars are different."

"Hmmm, well, if you really want to know," the creature smiled. "Why don't you ask her?"

"Ohcrapohcrapohcrapohcrap!!!" Sharess wailed. "This is gonna suck!"

"Pipe it down, would you?" Liira spat. "We're trying to watch here. These are tense moments."

Again the universe shifted, and suddenly Laska found herself standing in what looked like an arena. Her feet sank into a sandy floor while chains hung from the walls. The round room had a high ceiling and above were seats for spectators. Though there was only one right now : the creature.

But she also became aware that another person had appeared inside the area... Her alternate self. Laska could feel her eyes burning through her as she gazed upon her. "Who are you?!" her alternate self demanded. "A doppelganger."

"Hey!" the creature shouted. "I'm not going to explain it again, so just... accept that you're both Laska Leafwalker!"

"Why?" Laska asked. "Why that carnage?"

"You saw?" The alternate Laska grinned. "Marvellous victory, wasn't it? A grand victory for elves everywhere."

"Is that why you burned a whole city to the ground?"

"Cripes," the alternate Laska spat. "You're not one of those deluded human lovers, are you? Believe me, you will learn what humans can do. They've stolen our ancestral lands, killed our people and are destroying our culture bit by bit with every generation. They breed like vermin and behave like pigs! They are plague on the world."

"Not all humans are bad," Laska said. "Granted a lot of them are, but not all of them. You'll pay for what you've done today. This will not go unnoticed."

"I will not submit to a bunch of chattering apes," her counterpart spat. "We are elves! Lesser species have no right to judge us!"

"That seals it," Laska shook her head. "You're mad as a hatter. You're even more arrogant than a Gold Elf."

The alternate Laska laughed mockingly. "Well, human-lover, we will take care of the disease by cutting it from the body."

"You can't be serious!" Laska was horrified as it dawned onto her what her alternate self was saying.

"The Great Cleansing!" her counterpart grinned. "More and more elves join our cause every day. Together we will destroy every trace of the human infestation on Toril. We've already destroyed nearly a hundred of settlements, villages and cities and more will follow... Until all humans are nothing but dust in the wind. Their books will be destroyed, their culture erased from legend... Nothing will remind us and we will once again be the masters of Toril, as we were meant to be!"

"And what about the others?" Laska said. "Someone will stop you."

"Oh, the dragons, the gnomes, the halflings, the dwarves," her counterpart said. "They are not so bad. Perhaps they will qualify as... second-class citizens in the new Empire of the Elves."

"Someone ought to knock some sense into that empty head of yours!" Laska snarled. "I nominate me!"

"You are welcome to try. But think about this. The humans knew we were coming and we have scored victory after victor every time we battled with them. All fell to our blades and spells. That should just show how inferior they are."

"Yes, so inferior you needed to trick poor Lexi into opening the gates for you," Laska said. "Sure is impressive."

"I'd do anything for my followers," the alternate Laska said with sincerity. "They are my friends, my confidants, my family. I weep for every elf who fell while under my command and I will always remember them. It is for them that I keep going..."

"And what about the half-elves?" Laska spat. "Don't they have a right to live?"

"No," her counterpart said. "They are pitiable creatures. Close to perfection and yet so far away. It is better for them to die than to live in such misery."

"I happen to be in love with a half-elf," Laska said. "And I hope she lives a long and happy life."

"Couldn't get the real thing, could you? Had to settle for less?" her counterpart smirked. "I'm starting to think you're not much of an elf."

"Maybe you should seek out a lover," Laska said. "You might mellow out a little."

"I already have a lover. Her name is Viconia and she means the world to me," her counterpart said sincerely.

Laska blinked... hard. "Then I'm afraid you're doomed."

"After my family disowned me because of my beliefs, I was devastated," the alternate Laska looked generally downtrodden. "Viconia filled the gap. Heh, imagine the irony. My older sister called me 'Drow' when I left home... and two moons later, I meet the Drow who now shares my life. But my family... they'll turn around when the humans are gone and they'll see how much better the world has become."

"I... I have an older sister?" Laska gasped.

"And an older brother too, but he's got the right ideas about elven purity."

"Ladies," the creature spoke. "I hate to interrupt your conversation, but this IS an arena, so start fighting to the death already."

"I am not fighting an elf, no matter how annoying she might be," the alternate Laska spat. "I do not fight the People."

"Too bad," Laska said. "I'd love to fight you, but I don't have any weapons and armor... but I suspect that was his doing."

"What is that ugly thing anyway?" the alternate Laska asked.

"I don't know, but it looks like somebody sneezed," Laska chuckled.

"Alright, alright!" the creature huffed. "So, to make matters more interesting, I can say that you are both trapped here forever until the other dies... And to make matters more interesting, what would you say that there is only one body to return to. One spirit must win," the creature snarled.

"He's lying!" Laska told her counterpart. "I have my own body and you have your own body."

"I'm sorry," the alternate Laska spoke while she drew her serrated blades, "but I'm not willing to take that risk. The cause is too important to risk on this, and the thought of never feeling Viconia's lips on mine again is unbearable."

"That feeling I understand," Laska said as she took up a defensive stance and thought of Rose. "To the death, then?"

"For death, glory and honor, my elven sister," the alternate Laska greeted.

"Hey!" Laska said. "You might have some weapons, but what about me?"

"Life's unfair," the alternate Laska shrugged and thrust one of her blades towards Laska's exposed abdomen. Laska jumped up into the air and did a backflip, narrowly avoiding the slashing blades.

Laska noted that fighting herself was not easy. Her opponent was fast, very fast, and Laska kept falling back to avoid her opponant's terrible swords. Laska ducked and felt one sword slash mere inches over her head, and was barely able to dodge the second sword by rolling to the left.

Though her counterpart was heavily armored, having only her vest and pants did provide somewhat of an advantage in speed. As her counterpart thrust both her blades forward, Laska jumped up and twirled in the air, extending her leg and delivering a massive round-house kick to her counterpart's jaw. Her counterpart's head snapped back and to Laska's satisfaction, she felt the impact had broken her opponent's jaw. But her joy did not last long. Immediately, Laska was treated to slash across her abdomen as she once again landed on her feet.

Laska yelped and fell to the floor on her stomach. She had never felt the slice and, for a moment, she feared that if she would get up, her intestines would spill out over the floor. However, after feeling her abdomen briefly, she was relieved to find out it was only a superficial cut. Moreover, she found a long wooden shaft in the sawdust, a remainder from a broken polearm. Grateful, she took the weapon and rolled on her back... just in time to block the two savage blades bearing down on her.

Laska didn't hesitate and kicked at her counterpart's knee. As her counterpart drew back in pain, Laska jumped to her feet and aimed the polearm at her enemy. Laska noticed that anger was starting to overtake her opponent now, and as soon as her counterpart prepared another attack, Laska thrust the sharp end against her wrist, managing to lift one of the serrated blades from her hands and deftly catching it.

As she looked back at her opponent, she was ready to give her a 'look what I got'-smirk, but when she faced her, she suddenly noticed an gauntleted fist racing towards her. It was too late to dodge... the metal crashed into her nose. Blood spurted through the air as cartilage tore and bone shattered. Laska ended up sprawled onto the ground, still holding onto the blade and barely rolling away in time as her enemy slashed at her again.

Laska got to her feet while tasting the blood from her nose seeping into her mind and attacked her enemy again. This time, she managed to get behind her opponent and smashed her face against the wall. However, her enemy recovered quickly and slammed her blade into hers. Steel on steel... so it continued for what seemed like ages. Nobody made any progress.

That was until Laska had to duck to avoid another blow, and her opponent decided to cheat. Taking a dagger from her belt, the alternate Laska slashed it down and buried it deeply in Laska's thigh.

Laska grunted in intense pain as she forced herself to pull out the dagger. And just in time, she noticed her opponent had raised her weapon in an attempt to behead her with a single hew. She knew she had to act fast. Letting out a primal scream, she made a last ditch effort to defeat her enemy and let luck guide her blade as she lashed out.

Time stopped. Blood exploded from the alternate Laska's mouth and Laska immediately saw why : the sword had gone through a seam in the armor and had sliced upwards in her side from her abdomen. No doubt her lungs were filling up with blood.

The alternate Laska shuddered and slid to the floor, defeated.

"You... you don't..." the alternate Laska stammered.

"I do believe the elves should take back what was theirs," Laska spoke with a soft voice as she painfully knelt beside the fallen elf. "And I do believe that elves should be a strong presence on Toril... but not like this... Not like what I saw you do. I could have been you. Those feelings you have, the anger, is within me as well. But I'm not you."

"Fool," the alternate Laska stammered. "The humans will destroy us if we let them."

"Then we won't let them," Laska said. "But there are other ways... I hope you think upon that. But, I think you should know what if feels like if you have your life taken away against your will."

"I take no pleasure in this." Laska took her blade as she limped to her feet. "But still, this is for Lexi."

"V...Viconia," the alternate Laska whispered... before her head was separated from her shoulders.

"No, no, no, NO!" the creature snarled. The placid nerdiness was gone now, and the creature truly resembled the monster it was. "This wasn't what was supposed to happen! You were supposed to lose and go back to your body to adopt her ways to serve Murder! You were supposed to be WEAK! And now you've ruined the other Laska forever!"

"None of this all was true, is it?" Laska said.

"She was real and you are real. She's gone back to her own reality... who knows, she might even give up Murder's work," Creature spoke. "You've ruined everything!"

"We aim to please," Laska grinned.

"If I had known this, I would not have bothered with creating elven Bhaalspawn! Damn Corellon, you are nothing but trouble! I will have my essence!"

"Oh, blow it out your ass!"

"What?!" the creature spoke. "Nobody talks to me like that! I shall cook your brain and devour your entrails!"

"Oh, go sit on a cucumber!" Laska snarled. "I don't give a damn about what you want!"

"I might have failed this time," the creature spoke. "But your spirit will no longer protect you from me! The door is open, and one day, you will be vulnerable... and one day my essence will return to me."

"Okay, but until then, please bugger off and leave me alone? And take a couple of peppermints, please. I can smell you from here."

The creature snarled, breathed on its claw and snarled for a bit... before disappearing with a puff.

"Time to go home," Laska smiled.

"I never doubted her!" Sharess yelled. "Yippeee!"

"Really, I seem to recall," Liira started.

"Liira's open mouthy should be shut!" Sharess giggled. "BOOYAH! In your face, Bhaal."

"See?" Tymora smiled. "I told you this one would surprise you."

"But there will be challenges yet," Sune spoke. "And all we can do is observe."

"No doubt she'll face them too," Meilikki nodded. "But we won't know for sure what will happen."

"Her friends are her anchor," Eilistraee spoke. "Without them, she would have been lost already."

"We can only hope for the best," Tymora smiled.

"Let's go celebrate!" Sharess offered. "I know a good Taco-place!"

"VICKY!" Imoen squealed. "VickyvickyvickyvickyvickyvickyvickyvickyVickyvickyvickyvickyVickyvickyvickyvicky!"

Viconia, who had been sleeping peacefully grunted and slowly rose from her bed. Apparently, this was not fast enough for Imoen, who put her head in a lock and rubbed her knuckles through Viconia's white hair.

"Ack!" Viconia exclaimed many Drow obscenities. "Leave me ALONE!"

Imoen said nothing, but responded by putting her hands on Viconia cheeks and giving her a wet kiss on the forehead.

"AH!" Viconia swore once again. "What the hell is the matter with you?!"

"LASKA IS AWAKE!"

"What?!" Viconia snarled. "Why didn't you tell me in the first place, you nitwit!"

"WOOOO!!!" Imoen raved as both she and Viconia sped to Laska's cot. There, in a still weakened state lay a smiling Laska.

"Home," Laska whispered as she witnessed Imoen's and Viconia's bickering.