A darkened studio.

In front of Gemini, dozens of photographs are strewn across the floor—blurred images, torn memories, moments frozen in time. She kneels among them, carefully lifting one with delicate fingers, tilting it toward the light.

“Happiness. That’s the promise, isn’t it?”

She studies the image—its edges burned, its contents obscured.

“Narcissa, you’re offering them happiness like it’s something you can just… give. A neatly wrapped little gift with a bow on top, a fairytale ending they didn’t even know they wanted. And Grimskull? Drewitt? You’re listening. You’re actually listening.”

She exhales sharply, shaking her head, setting the photo down among the others.

“But let me ask you something. Have either of you stopped to wonder why she’s offering it? What the cost is? Because happiness, real happiness, isn’t something that’s handed to you. It’s something you fight for. Something you bleed for. And the moment someone tells you they can give it to you without struggle? That’s when you should start running.”

She picks up another picture—this one of herself, eyes bright, smile unguarded. A moment before everything changed.

“I know what happiness is. I know what it feels like. It’s not some perfect world where nothing ever hurts. It’s not a lie dressed in gold. It’s standing in the storm and knowing that even if everything crashes down around you, even if you lose everything, you are still you. It’s not running from the past—it’s owning it.”

She looks up now, her gaze direct, unwavering.

“Grimskull, you think you’re cursed, doomed to walk through fire with no end in sight. And Drewitt, you—” she hesitates for a moment, pain flickering across her face “—you just want something that isn’t suffering. I get it. But this? What she’s offering you? That’s not happiness. That’s surrender.”

“She tells you that happiness is a mirror, a reflection of what you want to see. But mirrors break. They shatter the second you press too hard. And you know who’s left picking up the pieces?”

She presses her palm against her chest.

“We are. Not her. Us.”

Gemini stands now, stepping over the scattered pictures, letting them fall away like discarded dreams. Her voice rises, a fire behind her words.

“Nox, I haven’t forgotten you. You stand in the background, the vapor that fills the air, poisoning everything it touches. You don’t care if Grimskull and Drewitt take her offer—you just want to see how far they’ll fall. But I’m not letting them go that easy.”

She lifts her camera.

“Grimskull, Drewitt, I won’t tell you what happiness should look like. That’s not my place. But I’ll tell you this—you don’t find it in a gilded cage. You don’t find it in the promises of people who have never bled for you. And you sure as hell don’t find it staring into the mirror, hoping the cracks don’t show.”

Click.

“Narcissa, you don’t own happiness. You don’t get to decide who deserves it. And after Invasion, you’ll learn that the difference between us is simple.”

She lowers the camera.

“You offer them happiness. I fight for it.”