Elias takes Alara to a hidden temple high in the mountains, a place where the boundaries between the physical world and the Astral Plane are thin. Here, Alara undergoes a final ritual to confront her dark twin face-to-face in the Astral Plane. In this surreal realm of shifting lights and shadows, Alara learns that the dark twin is not merely a curse but a fragment of her ancestor's soul, twisted by centuries of isolation.

The dark twin offers her a choice: merge with it completely to unlock the full power of the Astral Key, or destroy it and risk losing a part of herself. Alara, torn between her duty and her fear of the darkness, decides to accept the dark twin as part of herself. The fusion grants her the strength and wisdom of her ancestor, but it also means living with the constant threat of the darkness within.