Mission 8: How Strong Am I final part

"She saw you go," Shadow continued, "and she went after you. Into that house."
"Please..." by this point, tears had already started falling down the girl's cheeks.
"When she found you in there, you got into another argument about how in danger you were for being there. There was a sudden snap and..."

{Mom: Zarina, look out!}

The image of her mother pushing her out of the way of a falling beam replayed in her mind over and over again. Then, the voices.

{Ace: What did you do?!}
{Hugo: This is all your fault!}
{Jett: You never should've been born!}

Then everything shut down. Zari lost her will to fight back. Sadness and horror playing on her face.
"Such weakness," Shadow said standing up, "it's so amusing. I almost feel sorry for you."

{Why?}
{I tried so hard to be strong...}
{What was I thinking?}
{I knew this was hopeless}
{I should've listened to my head}

Shadow was just about to give the final strike. Without even realising it, she was on her feet again and dodged Shadow's attacks.

(What's going on?)

"Hold still!" Shadow yelled. For some reason, her body was moving on its own. Zari couldn't understand it. Why was she refusing to quite? Why-

(I promise)

"What?" she muttered to herself.

(I promise, mom)
(I'll keep moving forward)
(I'll get stronger)
(I'll protect those I love)
(I won't give up)

"My promise, I almost broke it... I'm sorry, mom." She looked to Shadow seriously.

"I won't lose to you," Zari said, "that's a promise."
"Oh," Shadow smirked, "and how do you plan on beating me?" without answering, Zari sprinted forward, "Charging head first? Like that's gonna-" she threw her sailcloth on her opponents face before getting behind her and kicking her down.
When Shadow regained her feet, filled with rage, she charged forward. Zari quickly took out her bow and notched an arrow, then shooting one at Shadow's feet, causing her to change direction.

"Why you little," Shadow clenched her teeth, "I'll kill you."
"Good luck with that," Zari stated, "I've never broken a promise. And I'm not starting now." Shadow lunged again but this time, she was too fast for Zari and grabbed her arm with the bow.
"I don't need luck, dear." she attempted to slash at the young knight, but she was just able to break free, losing a great deal of hair to the dark blade. Looking down to the greyish-black strands that lay on the floor, she assumed that at least an inch from her ponytail remained. That wasn't her greatest concern though. No, that was the person who cut it. This person in front of her wasn't her. She was determined to beat this... thing. And that is was she's going to do.

Zari quickly looked around to locate her sword before smiling, "Be right back." she stated before making a break for it.
"Hey!" Shadow yelled before taking out a bow and arrow, "don't think I don't know what you're doing, flower." Quickly notching the bow, she released. Zari saw the bow coming and dodged it, but collapsed in the process.
"Hng!" she twisted her ankle, "What a drag..."
"Sorry, darling." Shadow was about to strike her down when something blocked her. A blade, Zari's sword that she reached in time.
"Honestly, enough with the stupid pet names! You're so annoying. I need to get back home, there are people waiting for me."
"Don't you get it?!" Shadow yelled as she pushed down, "The world's already turned its back on you before! How do you know it won't do it again?!"
"So what?" Zari asked as she pushed up harder, "I don't care what you say. There's always someone who's there for you."
"What, you referring to that desert boy? Even the sweetest people have their limitations. Kokono was right, you should listen to your head more."
"Sorry," Zari started, releasing one hand from her sword, "but, people have their own ways of doing things, understanding them, learning from them. Forcing your ideals onto someone isn't right. Especially if it's for negative reasons!" Gathering whatever strength she had left, she drew her fist into Shadow's face, causing the dark entity to fall and evaporate. She picked up her necklace and sighed.
"She was right about me..." Zari admitted, using her sword to help her stand up, "I'm not strong and I am scared. But, I guess that's why I can relate to people who are considered weak... I know what it's like to lose someone you love and to be helpless to stop it. It's... the worst feeling in the world, like your life loses meaning... I hated that feeling, I don't want anyone to feel that... I don't want anyone to go through the pain of losing their loved ones... I became a knight because I want to help those people, with everything I am. I want them to be happy with their loved ones... for them to know they'll be safe."