“Ugh, where am I?” I mutter, blinking the darkness out of my vision. I’m on a bed in a clean-looking white room with the right side of my vision covered. “Kali? Kali! Where are you?” I bolt upright in bed, ignoring the sharp pain in my back.

“Penny, I’m right here.” I hear Kali’s gentle voice come from beside me. “Lay back down. Don’t hurt yourself,” she adds, setting her hand on my shoulder and gently pushing me back down onto the bed.

“Where are we?” I ask after a second. 

“In the hospital, silly,” she says with a chuckle. “The ambulance got there not long after you passed out. They ran you here and got you fixed up.”

“Was anything really bad?” I ask, holding my breath.

“No, you’re fine,” she says, fast enough to tell me that she’s hiding something.

I turn my head to look at her. “What’s wrong?” I ask, dread building.

“Well, there was one thing,” she says, playing with her hair. “Your… your eye was pretty badly damaged.” My heart sinks. “The doctors weren’t able to save it. I’m sorry,” she says, casting her eyes to the ground. 

I reach a hand up to my hand, feeling for my right eye. My breath hitches as my fingers pass over a smooth patch where I should feel my eye. 

Kali looks at me. “Are you going to be okay?” 

“I…” I hesitate, looking at the room in front of me and only being able to see half of it. “No. I need both eyes,” I say, my eyes welling up. “I need both of them. I…” I stare into space, my hand dropping to the bed. “I’m going to be useless.”

“Penny, you’re not useless,” Kali says, setting her hand on my shoulder and squeezing. “You’re still the same person.”

“That’s not what I’m talking about!” I exclaim. I try to get my breathing under control. “I… I can create illusions,” I say, sitting up in the bed. “Or at least, I could. All sorts of things; visual illusions were my best. I… I don’t know how it works, but I need my eyes to create them. So, if my eyes are shut, I can’t create illusions. Now that I just have one…” I cast my eye over to the corner of the room and try my best to create an illusion, but all I get is a flickering of the light. “I’m useless.”

“Oh, Penny, it’ll be fine,” Kali says. “You don’t need illusions to be an amazing person.”

“I need my illusions to be Amethyst Star,” I say, my hands shaking.

“You don’t have to be Amethyst Star,” Kali says, shaking her head. “Why can’t you just be Penny Brenyn? I don’t want you out there risking your life anymore. I want you at home, with me. When I saw you in that alley, I was terrified that I would lose you. I don’t want to live with that fear.”

“Amethyst Star is my life!” I exclaim, angrily. “She’s everything I couldn’t be as Penny. She’s my escape. She’s my way to help people. She’s _everything _to me.”

Kali looks at me, hurt flashing across her face. “There was a time you said that about me, too.” She stands and leaves the room, shutting the door behind her. 

I slam my fist into the bed, a tear slipping down my cheek. I knew this day would come, I just hoped it wouldn’t today. I don’t want to choose between my lives. Between my other self and Kali. When I lose one, I lose the other. 

I look back at the door, hoping for Kali to step back through so I can apologize. No one comes. 

My eye wells with tears and I draw my knees up to my chest, pressing my face into my knees. I was wrong. I’m not ready for this. Not at all.