NationStates Jolt Archive

It has been six years since his death, this very day marking it. The room was deadly silent, as she had wanted to be left alone. She leaned on the railing of the balcony, looking out over the sea as the sun rose. She had gotten no sleep that night. But then again, she always had trouble sleeping. Her sun kissed skin was illuminated by the morning suns rays; however, she seemed deadly pale this morning. The air was cool and iced her lungs as she inhaled deeply. Her crimson eyes wet with moisture indicated even more reason for her to be left alone. A black dress donned her figure, satin and backless. She had worn it that day of each year and only that day. It had used to be the one she wore to the awards ceremonies at the academy. Her auburn hair fell softly down her back, tousled by the wind slightly by the ever persistent breeze.

In her right hand a deep red rose was held lightly between her finger tips as she stared off into the rising sun. It’s been six years, Vaughn… she thought softly to herself, as she had become accustomed to it. And every day I wish that we could freeze every moment we had together and live in that forever. But…I know we can’t. a tear fell from her eye, as much as she had tried to suppress it. You should see our daughter now…she’s beautiful. You would have been proud of her… She brushed back the front of her hair with her nails on her left hand, trying to hold back what lay within.

She found it hard even to think anymore on that day, even if it was just morning. She shook her head softly, kissed the sweet petals of the rose gently, and released it to fall into the sea below. …rest in peace my love. She pressed her back against the frame of the doorway as she stood their alone. Not a sound was heard but from the soft breath of the woman.

Ravelyn brought her hands o sweep the tears from her face. She did not want to be seen like this. She sat down at her desk. hand against her forehead looking down to block the view of her eyes. Sarah...

"Get the f-ck out of my way!"

The driver was waving his hands frenetically. Before him was a urban mess. Wouldn't it have been for the buildings, he would have had hard times distinguishing how the streets were crossing. Cars seemed to be going in every possible direction. Except they weren't moving. At all.

He turned his big, round red face to the back seat.

"I'm sorry, young lady..." he began to say.

But he stopped. The girl's eyes were wet. Her make-up had fallen apart into pointy black lines that were apparentely seeking for the ground. She was looking strainght at the windshield but it was obvious she wasn't paying any attention to what was going on outside.

"Miss?" the taxi driver asked with a concerned voice. "Are you all right?"

She slowly turned her eyes onto him, finally getting back in the very car.

"Yes... yes..." she answered with a thin voice. "I'm all right."

She looked back at the windshield. This time, she saw Beamont Crossing, she saw the traffic, she realized what was going on.

"Are we... blocked?" she muttered.
"Oh well," the driver replied, uneasy, "could take a long time, you know."

She closed her eyes for a second and breathed heavily.

"I'll walk then," she said in a neutral tone.

She paid him and opened the door.

"You're sure you'll be all right?" the driver asked before she got out.
"Yes," she said. "Don't worry. It's just that... It's just that it's my birthday today."

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Elaïne tried to get up. Again. But she fell down on the floor. Again. She looked around, trying to atune her perceptions. Oblivious. She felt like a blind woman searching for light.

"You won't go any further I'm afraid," a cold feminine voice said behind her. "Given your wounds, it's even a miracle you're still alive."

Elaïne put her palm onto the floor, gathering all her energy. All she could feel was the moisture of her own blood. Her own blood which was getting colder and colder, outside of her body.

"Can you feel it?" the voice asked. "Life slowly fading away from you?"

The woman made a step in Elaïne's direction.

"You shouldn't have came," she continued. "You shouldn't have tried to fight me. I am far more powerful than you can imagine. Right now, I can even taste your fear, hear your thoughts. You cannot hide. You cannot hide anything. I'll kill you and I'll know everything you know."

Elaïne's jaws were contracted. She could feel the presence within her, she could sense etheral hands searching her memory and there was nothing she could do to prevent it.

"I see..." said the voice. "I see."

The tone was calm but surprised.

"So he's not really dead," the voice stated. "And he's working for... That changes things, for sure. How many times will I have to kill him, I wonder. Now all I need is a way to drive him out of there. Something he would care for so much he couldn't help bu to disobey orders."

Elaïne's mind was doing the work for her attacker. Images were spreading before her eyes. Things she would have prefered unknown.

"Could it be?" the voice asked with a burst of hatred. "So he gave Rave what he never have given me. So be it."

Cecilia turned at the man beside her.

"Get her outside, in the woods, and finish her."

The man nodded and took Elaïne into his arms. To him, she was as light as a leaf of paper. Cecilia watched as he got out of the room then she sat down in front of her desk.

"So be it, Zacharian," she whispered to herself. "You wouldn't come for Rave, would you? But will you stay hidden if I try to kill your own child?"

Rave rose from her desk. Such memories tormented her so. In the end, she was alone...she should have known it from the beginning. It was a harsh reality to face for her, but she'd have to come to terms with herself eventually.

I need to find Sarah... she thought to her self quietly, her eyes still downcast toward the ground. We need to get out of this place. She slowly stood up, making her way out the door rather staggedly. She crossed down the stairs to grab a long white jacket at the door.

"Where are you going?" A voice said to her. She turned around to see it was Genesis.

"Out." Ravelyn replied. "I need to find my daughter." She lifted white hat as well.

"Now!? Rave you can't go now...not so soon after your restoration...and the school and you have a confrence with---" Gene then noticed Rave's reckless expression. "You just can't go."

"Yes I can." Rave said, and was out the door in seconds.

"Rave com'mon!" she yelled after her. "Don't leave me with all this work! Argh!" She threw her hands up in the air, already getting a headache just thinking about what she had to deal with now.

She opened the door to her car and stepped in. The engine revved as she drove off toward the city. Sarah.

"C$20", "C$30", "C$14".

The prices were lined up into some kind of liberal dance.

Thirty Crystals for this shirt, she thought. Thiefs have shops now.

In fact, she didn't care. At all. She was trying to pass time, trying to get rid of these feelings that were arising every year at the exact same date.

At every one of her birthdays, she felt the same. Like a ghost. Like the continuation of another's life. Her very existence was linked to death. Death of someone she could never meet, of course.

She crossed the street in a hurry, as to convince herself there was something interesting to look at on the other sidewalk. But the mall on the other side was as empty and pointless as the others. Crowded with hundreds of faces she couldn't connect to. Adults, children, families, smiling at eachothers, living their everyday bliss. She couldn't feel more alien.

She kept on trying though. Like her aunt had told her: "no one is as different and alone as the one that refuses to enter the world". Sarah knew she had to make efforts, she knew she had to go for a normal life. Even if her very essence was so special she didn't even try to completely understand it.

Yes, she had to do efforts. She had to get rid of her sadness. She had to accept her father's death was her birth. She had to accept she had a mother. She had to accept her mother was so much alike and so much disalike her at the same time. She had to grow up.

She had to see Rave.

Sarah, she heard as a call in the depth of her mind.

Mum? she replied.

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I hate trees.

He tried to find a better position but wherever, and however, he tried to sit down, there was always something to hurt his back.

And my butt, damnit!

Beside, this mission was stunningly boring. He hated that. He hated the fact he was always sent for surveillance. He hated trees, forests and anything non-urban in general.

All of this is so sweet it's almost disgusting.

Even the birds were giving him a smilish expression. But what could he have expected from the elf? She was always going for retreats in the nature. She couldn't help but to sit down near some river, lake or anything with water, meditating for hours.

If not for days.

He sighted. It was not like she needed help anyway and he was convinced this mission was some kind of punishment. Why would Yakori punish him? That was another question.

Suddenly, he heard a noise. He plunged his eyes down, expecting the elf to appear. She did. Unfortunately, she seemed unconscious. A man (but was it a man? He decided to go for the word "creature") was carrying her onto its shoulder. There was a spark in its eyes that the observer couldn't miss.

Looks like this thing will get rid of her.

The elf was wounded, badly. For a second, he wondered if she was still alive, but he could feel her presence. The creature, on the other hand, seemed non-existent. That reminded him of a Vapor, even if the thing seemed quite consistant.

Yeah. Seems like this mission won't be that boring finally.

Azerzdat smiled, getting in position to jump onto this new-found enemy.

"You shouldn't be that nervous," Yakori stated, as neutral as usual.
"Well, you don't do that everyday, right?" Witz answered, anxious.
"Everything will be fine," Yakori answered with a subtle smile. "She loves you, doesn't she?
- Yes, yes," Witz babbled. "I guess she does. I don't know why, but I think she does."

He remembered the first time he saw her. He remembered he called her an elf and that it made her laugh. He knew he would remember this laugh forever.

So many things had changed. Back in the days, he had felt entrapped by Vaughn, crumbling under responsibilities. Now that he was in Vaughn's position, he could understand what responsibility truly meant.

The hesitation came again.Was it safe to bring a being he cared for into this life? Of course, Gene was not one to fear danger but, still, he couldn't help but to think about Rave and Vaughn: their love, the dramatic way it ended. Would he be strong enough if he had to face the same choice Vaughn had to?

"You're strong enough," Yakori said, as if he was able to read into Witz's mind like in a opened book.

Witz sighted.

"I hope you're right, my friend, I hope you're right."

He gave a last glance at the ring and closed the box. In less than an hour, he would ask Gene to marry him with his one and only friend, Yakori, on his side. Maybe not his only friend actually.

"Where is Azerzdat?" he asked Yakori as he suddenly realized the ex-demon was nowhere to be found.

Yakori's lips trembled lightly. His face looked suddenly concerned which was as common as Titanium bending.

"What is it?" Witz asked, his eyebrows bent, somehow scared by Yakori's demonstration of feelings.
"Nothing... nothing," Yakori answered. "Let's call it... intuition."

Then the japanese man remained silent and Witz knew there was no way he could get more information.

As usual, he decided to trust Yakori.

Rave headed toward the response. Her mind ached her so, and trying to focus it this time was difficult for her. She shouldn't be overexerting her abilities, not so soon after her restoration. Grave danger would follow should she be against someone, and suddenly pass out. But that was the consequences until her DNA accepted itself, and the body did not reflect her soul.

The world was falling apart, and she knew it. Not once has there been two seraphim on the earth, and yet there was now. What could this mean? And with her knowledge now of being off "Hell's" and "Heavens" radar, it would mean that she was dead. But she wasn't, she was there, wasn't she? It still kept track with vampiric blood before. And if you were to blame it on the demonic blood in her veins, then why can't hell call upon her? And given this fact, why does she still possess her wings as a spirit, yet bear none physically.


Yes, something was wrong. Just not with her friends or family, but with every one and every being. Something big is coming, was the only assumption she could make. The lines between good and evil were drawing thin, and you couldn't be sure anymore. According to Enamarcia, she shouldn't be alive right now. She shouldn't have survived her restoration.

It was the anniversary of Vaughn's death and Sarah's birthday. One on side, she wanted to gain retribution and continue her search. On the other hand, she wanted Sarah to be happy and actually go out for the girl's birthday. Somehow things never work out along the path...but what's at the end?

She pulled up to the side of the curb, and stepped out of the car, long white coat falling to her ankles behind her. Her back dress fell above her knee in layers, and her white hat concealed her crimson eyes. It was more like in a magazine than a casual day out. She had left in a hurry, and didn't bother changing into jeans or such. She looked, like she was going to an awards ceremony....


A police officer stopped her as she stepped out of the car, and she did not look at him. "Excuse me, miss." he said. "You can't park here... "She lifted the brim of her hat with her fingertips revealing soft crimson eyes. The man was taken back a bit, but was careful not to make a scene. "Miss Shentavo? Oh, I'm so sorry." She closed the door to her car and began to walk away. "What can I do for you?" he yelled after her.

She turned around and looked back at him. "Um...yeah," she replied with a smile, letting out an inaudible laugh (the first one that day), "Could you watch my car?"

You can't be serious, he thought to himself and shook his head.

And why is that? she looked back with an even bigger smile, sure that the officer would pass out in shock at the voice in his head. She turned and entered, lifting her head toward no one as to keep a low profile. It's not every day she would travel to a mall, but it was for something far more important than a C$30 shirt.

She walked along the tiled floor not shifting even an occasional glance to anyone of the people, yet she could navigate herself around them; she could hear their hearts beating if she concentrated. The endless chatter of their minds was more efficent however. This left her with somewhat of a headache. She wished that the side affects from the restoration would leave her for two minutes in peace. She did her best to conceal it, and did most of the time.

A whistle was heard as she walwked past a bench, and glimpsed at the source to see the man. She continued walking, her fists then tensed slightly. If I had the time, an "etiquette" lesson would do him good. A tinge of color flushed her cheeks in annoyance of it, but she kept walking.

Yes, Sarah, she called to her. Both needed to get away from here. Versai would be a destination well suited for them. She had both direct ties and estate there. It was beautiful, though not as densly populated as this nation. It would be there...yes...

Gene stood helpless at the door, not pleased that Rave was leaving her with all this. But her mentor had been doing it her entire life, and she wondered how Rave coped with it alll; shifting between mother to empress to protector to God knows what...and all the time Gene had thought it had been so easy for her to do. She was now realizing it wasn't.

Qui kept his full attention toward Katarina, training her as well as acting as her sire. It took many by shock to learn that he had killed Kenja, his previous fledgling of many years. It made her think of why he would do such a thing. And if it hadn't been for Gene's reflexes, Qui would have gotten to Rave. But things were set straight, and as far as anyone was concerned, Qui would not be bothered, and it was assumped he had enough to do. She had thought about taking on a protègèe, but decided against it.Hence, she was left with the work in Rave's absence.

She sighed heavily, bringing her arms in to fold across her chest, but then shook her head. No...she needs to get out of here. I don't blame her. She most probably needs it out of all of us. she dropped her hands to her side, and walked out of the doorway back into the mansion. She could tell it would be a long day, and that she would need a break. The mansion seemed awefully quite. She ran her fingertips along a mahogany table as she passed out of the main hall, and noticed something fall. It was a note. She picked it up:

Gone out with Katarina. Be back some time on a day that ends with a "y"...
Yours eternally,
~Qui

She crumbled the paper within her hand. This is so typical... She let out another exasperated sigh. She ran her hand through her light blonde hair, sweeping it back from her face. She made her way through the first left door into an office. She sat down at a computer, and typed in her password. She looked through the various files, and her eyes widened.

Completed...completed....completed...they're....they're all completed... A stunned look was set upon her face. she finished them... She sat back, realizing that Rave had finished all of the work that needed to be done. She looked at the folder before her, and opened it.

There was a solitary piece of paper there. Take the day off, Genesis. it read. She was slightly tired of people leaving her notes rather than speaking with her directly. Still, she was not complaining in the slightest bit.

She jumped as the phone rang, knocking down some of the files on Rave's desk onto the floor. She cursed to herself and picked up the phone.

"Hello?" she inquired to the other person on the line. There was a brief minute of silence. "Oh...the date is better anyway? Glad to reschedule?" she was a little shocked. "Of course....I..." she paused momentarily to listen. "Yes, I'm sure her grandfather will be fine." She containted her laughter. "Yes, thanks again. Bye." She hung up the phone and let out a laugh. You do all of this and can't think of a better excuse Rave? She chuckled. Your grandfather? she shook her head with a smile. Well...I hope he's doing alright to...

She looked at the papers that had fallen onto the floor, and began to pick them up, a grin still upon her face. One paper had fallen under a small side table. She picked it up, but as she did so, noticed a crest engraved in the floor in enoch. "Cè Neava?" she questioned herself. Suddenly, the crest moved downwards and a rotating sound could be heard. She stepped back and looked around to see where it was coming from. A shelf had flipped around revealing thee small shelves each lines with purple velvet and with amber orbs the size of a fist on each. There had to be about forty to fifty round spheres! She was intrigued greatly, and picked one up. It was hard like marble, yet it was warm.

She set it down onto an analyzing tray next to the computer and ran a scan on it. The screen went black. It can't be crashing, it's too advanced equitment... It remained black for several seconds, then a picture appeared. It was somewhat static and lines ran through it at random intervals as if it had bad reception. A man appeared on the screen, looking back as he held someone's hand. She realized it was from that person's perspective. She looked closer, then was taken back in shock. "Vaughn?!" she questioned as she recognized the face. She assumed the other to be Ravelyn...then new it was by her voice. The two were running so quickly together. She stumbled slightly, but Vaughn had pulled her up to continue. Over the shoulder shadows could be seen behind them. No....vapors? What were they? Then, the screen went blank and another came up. it was the normal desktop again, with a window open of text.

"Last accessed..." she read aloud and sifte through it. It had marked that #27 had been just accessed. She looked below it. 30,31,and 32 had been accessed just that morning. She looked to the shelf, and saw that three were missing. She did not know where the numbers came from, but figured that Rave knew which was which, though she wondered how. She set the orb back.

"These are her memories..." she said softly, in awe, and scanned through the file more until she came to text. Her blue eyes read it hungrily for information:

These are my memories, my experiances. They are clips of what I can not describe in words. I can not record any of longer time; my mind can hardly handle this. They are all i have to archive what has happened. Maybe it's because I don't want to forget...

She read the entire file and was taken back by everything. How did she record this? How could she remember everything in such detail? Sure there were some glitches, but still...it was so clear. She closed the file an turned off the computer. She looked at the sphere's on the wall, wanting to know what they contained. She ran her hand over the crest again, the shelf shifting back to rows of text and literature.

She did not pry, but her curiosity tore at her; more so at the three that weren't there than the ones that were. She knew some contained secrets that Rave would most probably not wish others to see. She wondered how and when she had done this. It must have been clearly over a period of time. There was so much for her to take in, including the image she had just taken in. Who had they been running from? Where was this? What happened? She got up and walked out of the room, setting herself down upon the couch, trying to sort everything out and let it sink in.

"So? Where are we?
- As if I knew," Zacharian replied between several irregular expirations. "This thing could have thrown us to the other side of the planet as far as I can tell.
- Yeah, that I know. Question is: what planet are we on exactly?"

Zacharian stared at Sarek. The reptilian humanoïd smiled.

"Can't take a joke, can we, Zach?
- Listen, Snake-Head," Zacharian said with anger. "You came to me, you asked for my help and you brought me here.
- Heh, man... isn't that supposed to be your job?"

Zacharian's expression darkened. He closed his eyes, washing away memories.

"That's none of your business," he simply said, getting back to a neutral attitude. He opened his eyes, they were fixed on Sarek. "None of your business, understood?"

Without any more word, Zacharian sat on a block of rock nearby, waiting for his wounds to regenerate. He looked at the horizon.

I could use a cigarette.

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"So... do I look good?"

Yakori nodded.

"Well, you don't waste words, I give you that," Witz stated with a little smile.

He was standing in front of the door. He was dressed casual: no suit, no tie...

No bullshits.

He was wearing a simple jean with a white shirt and leather jacket. Nothing fancy.

I wonder if she'll remember the outfit, he thought as he was giving a last look at his clothes.

"Will you ring the bell before the End of Times?" Yakori asked.
"Errrr... Y... Yes... it's just that...
- Do it damnit!"

His finger moved towards the button... slowly... slowly... finally, something rang. Except it was his cellphone. Witz took it out of his pocket. Yakori rang the door bell with a strange expression.

"That way, it's done." the japanese man said.

Witz hung up.

"Jeremy Witz speaking.
- Heya there," a voice replied at the other end of the line. "how are things going?
- Azerzdat?
- Yes, well... 70% of it I guess. They do make cybernetic arms at the Sotek corp, right?
- W... What the Hell are you talking about?
- I'm just subtlely asking for medical assistance."

Witz stood silent for at least ten seconds, staring at Yakori.

"Err... anybody there?" Azerzdat asked.
"What the Hell happened?
- Oh well, Yellow-Boy asked me to follow Sarah's aunt. At first I thought it was a joke. But... really... now that I have fought at least a dozen of... err... things... well... you know."

"Why didn't you tell me?" Witz asked Yakori.
"It was just...
-... intuition, yes you told me that."

"Azerzdat?
- half-alive and kicking, yeah," The ex-demon replied.
"Where are you?
- I dunno, looks like a big forest.
- How precise.
- Man, I'm using this cell from Armag, you know the new model and sh-t. Just get my coordinates with one of your fancy satellites, ok?
- Yes, that's what we'll do.
- Yeah and be quick. I dunno if the stasis will hold for long now.
- Stasis... what stasis?
- Well, the one I set up for Elaïne.
- W... Why?
- Well, so that she doesn't die... err... like now.
- So that she doesn't die?!?" Witz shouted, shocked.

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Sarah sat down on a bench. She didn't know what to think. She had fell all the changes within the Shentavos. She had done her best at getting away from them all. Confusingly, Sarah was convinced her father would never have died if he hadn't met Rave in the first place. But everytime Sarah looked into a mirror, all she could see was her mother.

Now matter she had tinted her hair blond, cut it short, put blue color lenses, she was still the near perfect copy of her mother. She had had a lot of conversations with her aunt about that. Elaïne was definitive about one thing: "Given how you came into life, rest assure you look exactly as your father wanted you to."

There was more to it, anyway. Sarah knew Elaïne had information she didn't. Regarding her father.

Maybe it's time for me to ask some questions. Yes. Next time I see her, I ask her.

But this was not the time. Sarah had to face the unknown today. Why today? Would there be any way for her to get a normal life out of death and suffering.

Everything's falling apart.

She passed her hand into her short blond hair.

Mum? she sent. Are you here?

Yes, Sarah. she replied softly. She reached her hand inside the pocket of her trenchcoat, reassuring that they were still there. She had to see them. Every second of them. First, they needed to get away from this place. A tear fell from her eye, but she dismissed it quickly.

Emotions left unanswered were as powerful as those spoken for, and contained within her, her own battle raged. She was full of anxiety, she indeed need a break. Her head started to hurt her more intensly, and she winced slightly, but concealed it behind her soft features. I could use a cigarette.

She continued to walk until something stopped her.She looked up to see her daughter across the area as people passed in between them. It was the only person Rave had fully lifted her eyes too.
_________________

Genesis slept on the couch which she had just sat down for a minute upon. Her black shirt was thrown off her shoulder, and the edge of her pants fell loosly across her hips.

She fell off of the couch as she heard the doorbell ring. "Gah!" she let out a short cry as she fell. "Ugh..." she mumbled and got up. She looked around. "Huh...must have fallen asleep..." She sighed softly, then remembered the spheres in the back of her memory. Was that all a dream too?

She looked toward the door, and dragged herself to it, brushing her hand through her hair to push it back from her face. She stumbled slightly, hoping whoever had rung the bell didn't hear that. She reached the door, and opened it.

"Azerzdat?!? Azerzdat?!?"

The line had gone dead. Witz looked up at Yakori.

"Can we trace a logged comm?" he asked in a hurry. "We..."

The door opened. Genesis appeared. She seemed on edge... or just sleepy, Yakori couldn't tell. Witz babbled unheardable words. His face was pale, covered with an expression of great concern, sweat beginning to appear at his temples.

"Oh... err... Hi there," He finally managed to say, handing his cellphone at Yakori.
"Yes, we can trace it," Yakori said, neutral. Then he bent at Genesis. "Always a pleasure to see you, Keigo."

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Sarah spotted Rave as soon as she had shown up at the corner. Rave's face was contracted and Sarah could read the pain onto it. She didn't know her mother that much. She had tried to get as distant as possible from her. But it was as if their souls were somehow connected and Sarah started to feel Rave's confusion inside of her own soul.

The girl should have been used to it, but everytime she happened to connect to others, she felt like a thief.

It's like raping minds.

She tried to smile as best as she could, but it ended up into an unconvinced grin. Sarah stood up and walked to her mother, anxious to know what this woman who still was a stranger to her had to tell her.

Rave attempted to smile as well, and she wished she could, but it was a failed attempt much like her daughter's. She could understand why Sarah would blame her, she, in fact, most of the time blamed herself. She wondered what would have happened if she had taken his advice and let him alone. They would have never known love to eachother, and nothing would have happened. But would that ever be able to add up to what they had? She doubted it at the end of the day, by which time, she had eased up on the situation.

She looked at her daughter, realizing how quickly she had grown up. This time, she managed a smile. She took a deep breath. "Sarah, it's time we get out of here..." she said, her voice soft and melodic. "out of this nation...for a week or so. I have so many things to show you...so many things I'm not even sure of yet. Please, come with me."
___________

Genesis was much suprised to find Witz standing there. She looked out as the sunlight poured in, flinching slightly as she had just woken up."Always a pleasure to see you, Keigo." Yakori said and had realized that Witz had not come alone.

She looked at Witz, and smiled softly. "Sorry..." she said in explanation for her rather vague demeanor. "just woke up...er...come in."

Yakori stared at the cellphone in his hand.

"I'm sorry," he said without even looking at Genesis. "I'm afraid duty has called.
- Maybe," Witz started. "I could...
- I can handle that," Yakori cut him with a small gesture of the hand, then, bending at Genesis once again: "I let Mr.Witz under your protection, Keigo. I know he will be safe... within your arms."

He smiled slightly, walking away, already barking orders in japanese. To whom? That was a mistery.

Witz was staring at his bodyguard. He wondered if he shouldn't just go with him.

This doesn't sound good.

He looked back at Gene and all will to go away vanished in the second. He tapped his pocket nervously and suddenly remembered why he had came to this place.

"I... I... err... May I come in?" he asked, forgetting Genesis already had told him to do so.

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Sarah stared at her mother for a few seconds. Her eyes deeply fixed onto hers. All of this was very confusing. It didn't sound right. Ravelyn Shentavo was somehow sounding like a Vaughn and Sarah had no clue what to think about that. Was it that Rave had changed more deeply than her daughter had thought at first? Was it that Rave had always been like this and Sarah had failed to see through it? Beside, what was that, in Rave's pocket, that was so important the woman couldn't get her hand off it?

"In every indecision, there's a message. Everytime you doubt, question is not if you have failed to consider something, question is: *are you failing to consider an element, right now, in the present?*", Sarah remembered her aunt had told her. "Look at what is in front of you for this is the only way you can see through it."

Right now, her mother was right in front of her. And Rave looked sad, devastated even. At this very moment, the great Ravelyn Shentavo appeared to Sarah as a widow, fiancée of a dead man. Suddenly, Sarah realized Rave was looking at the only link with her lost love she had left. In a burst of guilt, she realized her mother was paying the same price as herself: loneliness. And she felt responsible.

This is stupid, she thought. We've always been acting as if we were both alone, orphans. But we are both alive and we share the same grief.

"Your car or my car?" Sarah finally asked with a real, warm, smile.

"M... Mor... Morier."

Her voice sounded like a subtle variation in the wind. Her face was as pale as a cloudy sky over snowy mountains. Rays of the new born sun had found their ways through the trees, gently caressing her face. Her lips formed a shy blossom and her whole body laid there, like a flower in the underbrushes. Her eyes, closed in perfect curves, had to be the Moon's daughters, lost in a fresh morning.

Never had she looked that beautiful. Or, maybe, never had Azerzdat looked at her that intensely. Each feature on her face, as perfect as one could be, was like a dart, a wound that Azerzdat, he could foresee it, would carry for the rest of his existence.

"Rest easy," he said softly, gently passing his hand within her hair. "Stay calm."

The stasis had just gone. After all these fights, after the run, after this terrible night, Azerzdat didn't have enough energy left. Elaïne was dying and there was nothing he could do to prevent it.

"Sa... Sarah... Uuma... ma’ ten’... rashwe," she whispered like a last advice. "ta tuluva... a’ lle..."

And this was the last time air ever went out of Elaïne's mouth for the shroud of eternal peace covered her face.

"I don't understand elvish," Azerzdat said.

Then he cried.

Gene laughed to herself with a smile, and grabbed Witz arm. He seemed so preoccupied with work. Maybe that was the way he would be from now on? Or perhaps it was just at the moment. There were a lot of things to take his mind off of it. I'm sure I can handle him, Yakori... she smiled at the japanese man as she spoke her silent words.

She looked to Witz. "So what do I owe the occasion to see you?" she questioned lightly. They hadn't seen each other much, but she made due. She had been busy as well. Teaching psionics was complicated. He seem so preoccupied, I'm beginning to think he forgets even who he is...

Her blue eyes settled upon him brightly, encompassing him in whole. It was then, she realized something.
____________________________

Rave smiled softly. "Well..." she said in a new tone, rethinking things over. A spark returned to her eye, if but for one moment. It was dull, but it was there. "Let's take mine." She led her daughter out toward the front, all the while thinking of what had separated them in the beginning.

The police officer was there, guarding the car as if it were Fort Knox. She looked to Sarah and exchanged a light glance of humor. A laugh escaped her lips, though a quiet one. She smiled. "I beleive you can leave now." she said to the man.

"Oh...oh..yes...anything else...miss...a...She...Shentavo?" he stuttered, rather flustered. She rolled her eyes, but they were shielded from his view by her hat.

"No..nothing at all..." she couldn't help but have a curious smile upon her face. She looked back to Sarah. There was so much of Vaughn she could see in her, and saw none of herself. No, she was mistaken. She saw both combined.

"Come on." she said, the words playing of the tip of her tongue with a slight inflection at the end. This would be quite and interesting journey. Her hand passed back into her pocket, reassuring once again that they were there.

"I guess these are not your keys that you keep touching... in your pocket, I mean," Sarah said as she just couldn't wait any longer.

What the Hell is it?

She was staring at Rave with curiosity in the eyes. For a second, the world was reduced to her mother's face and the answer Sarah was waiting for. Then it all disapeared.

Sarah collapsed and fell on the ground, unconscious.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Here we are," Sarek said, waving at the landscape beneath them. "The Chain of Klorn."

Zacharian's eyes wandered onto the sharp lines of red rocks. Even at that height, temperature was high and humidity seemed to have escaped when confronted to the two orange suns that had appeared at the horizon, an hour before. Sarek lead him into a circular route as if he wanted his companion to marvel at the beauty of the mountains. Zacharian had to admit the place was stunningly beautiful. Frighteningly rather. He wondered if there was a single place where they could have landed without being cut in two by those razor-like stones.

"I don't understand why you brought me here," he told Sarek. "The flight is enjoyable, for sure, but I should be gone by now.
- Keep cool," the reptilian answered, subtlely incurving his course as if he had finally spotted their mysterious destination. "You paid my people a great service by eliminating the Morgol. I know someone who would like to..."

He had looked back at Zacharian as to make sure he was still behind him. But he found no one. Turning back as fast as possible, Sarek looked all around him. Several feet below, Zacharian was falling down like a stone.

"What the..."

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Yakori closed his eyes.

So it happened.

The whole Guild was currently working at picking Azerzdat's location. This was just a question of seconds. But, deep inside of him, Yakori knew Elaïne was no more. It brought back memories he thought had gone with his soul, centuries before, during the Sacrifice.

No time for regrets, he thought to himself, passing into this semi-meditative state he used to hide in whenever he needed peace.

A red light began to glow, lazily, onto Witz's cellphone. Azerzdat had been found. Yakori read the coordinates onto the screen.

"I'll go there myself," he said out loud before fading into the air.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Witz blushed.

"Well, I... err... I wanted to see you," he babbled. "and discuss... a little... about... oh well, see you."

He looked down at the floor, not knowing what to say or do, walking like a kid as Genesis was litterally dragging him into the depth of the Manor.

"...3
...2
...1"
*click*
_____

"Sarah!" Rave remarked and immediately was at her daughter's side. She cast her hat aside as people began to stare. She didnt' notice their eyes; Sarah was her only concern. The police officer jumped.

"Should I get an ambulence?" he asked. The angel turned her blood red eyes up to meet his, in a desperate look. He immediately rushed off to get help. Whispers could be heard around them and people began to form a loose circle twenty feet to watch around them. She didn't notice their presence.

She took off her coat, wrapping it around Sarah as she picked the girl up in her arms. She didn't look physically able to do this as swiftly as she did. But then again, appearances are deceiving. The world is falling apart... she quoted herself, and realized it would take it's toll eventually.

Sarah come back to me... she said to her silently. She looked around. There were so many people. She wouldn't be able to take her soul form here and risk both hers and Sarah's life. The seraphim looked around quickly, and she saw the police officer. She rushed toward the squad car.

Suddenly, a brilliant fire erupted as her car exploded. She was taken back in shock, as were the people. There was a panic which had broken out as she climbed into the car with her daughter, and it sped off toward the hospital.

"I don't want you to panic," rave said calmly to the officer whom was driving her. "I will be unconscious. Do not stop. Do not check and see if I'm alright. Just drive. When we reach the hospital, do not touch anything."

"Yea...yes mam'" He sped down the highway. "What exactly are....are...y-you planning to do?" Rave did not reply to this. She took the items from the pocket of her coat around Sarah into the top of her dress. She had no where else to put them, and they'd be safe there.

"Just keep driving..." Rave snapped. Sarah... she whispered softly. Her eyes slowly changed to a pure white color, and then closed. She remained motionless as her mind began to take action. Could she complete the transformation fully enough to reach her daughter? Or would not being fully restored take it's toll...and leave her dead in it's wake before she could open her eyes?...
______________________

"You're quite elusive, love." A deep voice said as he watched the events unfold. "I'll give you that." A dark figure walked away from the flames, throwing a cigarette to the ground. I'll give you that... he repeated in the safe confines of his mind.
______________________

Genesis turned around and smiled at him, nothing more. Her deep blue eyes gazed upon him, not in question or accusation, but simply in wanting to see him. Her fingertips turned his face to hers as she looked up toward him. And for a moment....it seemed time had stopped.

(ooc: sorry for the delay... I'm a bit ill :/ )

Witz took a deep inspiration. Genesis's smell entered into him like fresh air into a wooden house, when windows are opened on a shy morning, in April or May. His body got filled with peace and rest, as if this wind called Genesis carried the true meaning of his life. Eyes closed, unable to think anymore, he kissed her. Then, pleased and confused, he looked deeply into her eyes.

"I have something to ask," he said gravely. "Is there any place where we could sit down and... talk."

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Morier! Morier! Uuma ma’ ten’ rashwe, ta tuluva a’ lle.

Sarah couldn't see, feel or hear anything for her mind was submerged with the sentence, repeating again and again, imprinting itself restlessly onto her very soul. Somehow, she could feel her surrounding. She could feel her mother's arms. She had heard the explosion. She had sensed the confusion of her mother as she was attempting the transformation, risking her life for a loved one.

But everything was so far away. Everything was cold and distant. A dead voice was speaking throughout the young woman.

"The Dark One!" Sarah whispered, instinctively translating from elvish. "The Dark One! Don't look for troubles as they'll come to you."

Genesis tilted her headd in the slighteset bit. "Yes...yes of course." She lead Witz down a corrider to an open room. It seemed to be filled with light, as there were many windows about the walls of the roojm. The gentle breeze drifted in calmly. She sat down on a white lined couch.

I wonder what this could be about... she thought inwardly. Witz was naturally jumpy, but this was a little too on edge for even him.
____________

In this, her body fell limp in the seat. It was an automatic reaction for the police officer to pull over, however, he had to follow her commands. He kept driving toward the hospital.

She drifted into a deep sleep, rather concentration then sleep for her mind was all the more alive. On the outside there was seemingly no physical transformation. There was a lot going on in the inside however.

To enter her daughter's mind was not an easy task. Sarah had taken on some of her mother's traits as well as her fathers. However, she had a dirrect link to her daughter, as would her father. This would be her connection, and through this, she would find Sarah.

She entered a white space, and felt the confusion. Her amber eyes sifted over the space before her. Her hair was a very light brown and fell in soft waves. It is how she had been before the change. Her spirit had never changed.

Sarah... she called to her, looking around.

Farther, in the middle of the white space, right in front of where Rave was standing, was a dark mass. Made of winds or made of shadows, it was difficult to tell, but the thing seemed always in movement. It could have been a hole, but it was to distant for her to clearly see where it could lead.

Suddenly, something touched Rave's shoulder.

"I've been expecting you," a soft feminine voice said.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"What happened?"

The Marikia Lood was staring at Zacharian's body. Her eyebrows were bent onto her clear blue eyes. The riddles forming on her blue-green face were curved and somehow pure. She was old, but she was still an incredibly beautiful woman.

"I have no clue," Sarek answered. "I got my eyes off him for like a minute and when I looked back, he had passed out. He's lucky I could catch him before he hit the ground.
- You may not be a believer, Sarek," The Marikia Lood said with reproach in her voice. "but I would have thought you'd be wise enough not to confuse Chaos and Fate. Especially in this temple."

Sarek looked down at the floor. The room was small, ceiling and walls were made of the same red rock but the ground was more like earth.

"I'm sorry, Wise One," he finally said. "I didn't mean to disrespect you.
- Disrespecting me is not the issue," she answered. "Disrespecting the Maker is. Don't forget you're talking about his envoy." She waved at Zacharian. "Everything that happens in this world has a meaning, a purpose. This being's presence and what may happen to him even more than the rest.
- Are you telling me this was meant to be?" he asked with a grin. "That the Maker has done it to him?
- If you weren't an orphan," The Marikia Lood said with a sad tone. "if you had had the education a warrior like you should have had, you probably wouldn't even question that." She walked to the door. "See after Zacharian The Maa'kresh and let me know when he wakes up."

She stepped out of the room, leaving Sarek alone with unanswered questions.

If he ever wakes up, the warrior thought, sitting down on the ground.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Witz put a knee on the floor and looked intensely at Genesis.

"You know... I'm not gifted when it comes to talks. In fact, I'm just clumsy when I ever have to talk to you. I'm simply unable to show you how much I love you, how much you're important to me."

He closed his eyes, seeking for courage. He had realized that words couldn't do his feelings any justice a long time ago. So he opened his eyes and took the little box out of his pocket. He opened it right in front of her, so that Genesis could clearly see what was inside.

http://www.diamondsunlimited.com/platinum-wedding-ring-bb1.gif

"Huh?" Ravelyn said, turning around slowly to face the source of the inquiry. The touch on her shoulder felt so strange, as if there was a connection between the two from the beginning.
_____

Gene said nothing for a moment, taken back in shock of what Witz was doing. He took out a small box and opened it. A ring shimmered within, and she knew what words could not express.

She opened her mouth as if to speak, but no words came out. Maybe even the eloquent were at a loss for this. "I...I don't know what to say..." She was at a loss for words. She bent down to him, and kissed him. No. Words could not express it.

Witz took the kiss, making it last as if it couldn't stop, ever. But anxiety kept on growing in him. Tears formed in his eyes. There was more than his feelings for Gene: these weren't tears of joy.

Her lips on his, wasn't that a yes? Then what was wrong? Why did he have the feeling this was an end and not a beginning? Why was he sensing urge?

All in a sudden, he opened his eyes widely for he understood matter was talking to him. How could he have been so blind to these abilities he discovered, in the cave, years before, when Vaughn died? He was too focussed on Gene.

Love, my friend, Vaughn used to say. Is what I fight for but not what I seak for. It is the essence of things but it is also what may drive them into bliss, the first step to oblivion. Why do you think people close their eyes when they kiss?

Finally, in a burst, he came to realize his doubts had nothing to do with Gene or their relationship. It was something else. It was pure danger... in this very room.

"How charming," said a cold voice, as to confirm Witz's fears.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Rave recognized the being as soon as she put her eyes on her: it was Elaïne... or rather her image, a translucent and weak reflection of what the elf had been. The place seemed as empty as before and Rave realized she was indeed alone in this corner of her daughter's soul for it was Elaïne's ghost who had talked to her.

But this reverberance of a dead woman still captured her beauty, every one of her movements, slow and measured, still carrying the quiet and peaceful nature of the elves.

"I don't have much time," the ghost said. "I tried to contact Sarah but there is a part in her I cannot walk in. Inherited from my brother or so it seems."

Her voice was barely audible and every word spoken was driving Elaïne farther from life, weakening the link she had managed to keep with this world.

"I will travel to the West Shores," she continued. "But someone pushed me into the Sea. Cecilia. Cecilia is coming."

Elaïne's expression darkened, shrouded with pain. She was no more than a subtle variation on pure white.

"Zacharian... he... could..."

But the voice vanished. And the image vanished. Forever.

She couldn’t tell him. She couldn’t bare to tell him that one day he may wake up and find her gone. She couldn’t tell him of what her new position held in store for her. She looked at Witz, a tear dismissing from her eye as well. It wasn’t that she didn’t love him, she did. In becoming a maester, she would spend a lot of time alone, by herself, and secluded. She hadn’t spoken to him of this; she wasn’t thinking he would propose to her.
She opened her eyes, the two being connected in the sense of feelings. He could sense that she was holding something back from him. But indeed the world was falling apart…and this time, Rave may not be there to tie together the strands once again. She did not speak of her ordination, but he could sense that something was wrong… She had said neither yes nor no…

“How charming,” she head in a voice behind them, and looked toward it.
________________________


"Elaïne?" Rave remarked, looking at the translucent figure before her. What was she doing here?

Rave listened with a keen ear. Any information that she could provide would be vital in her quest. Cecilia! Rave shouted in her own mind. Indeed, if it hadn't been for Cecilia...Vaughn would not be dead right now, or perhaps he would have been...but maybe under better or other circumstances. Revenge was not her concern, she had passed that long ago. All that mattered to her was the safety of her daughter, and in her heart, the finding of her beloved.

"Zacharian... he... could..."

But the voice vanished. And the image vanished. Forever.

How Rave wished that she could have finished that sentence. But she could figure out the end of it... She closed her eyes, kissing the palm of her hand and touching it to the seeming ground where Cecilia vanished. "Pass in peace, sister..." Ravelyn said gently, an allusion to her ties. "May you be guided..." she paused momentarily. "I'm sorry I'm not to be the one to guide you..."

She lifted her head, and raised herself from the ground. Something was in her hand, a white rose. She laid it down. How many must be layed on this day?

The police officer drove into the hospital and saw that Rave nor Sarah were not moving. He cursed to himself, and waited. He couldnt' touch them until one of them started moving...as he stuck to his orders.
__________

A black limo was not to far off. "Driver..." a deep voice commanded to the driver as the widow was rolled down. In the rear-view mirror, a pair of dark brown eyes could be seen in the reflection. "Do be careful not to draw any attention... I don't want her knowing of me. Let's play a game..." His expression darkened greatly.

Except... YES

Then, to his surprise, two eyes opened. The young lady within Ravelyn Shentavo's arms was looking at him... or rather beneath him.

"What..." she said as if she was unable to output more than a single word.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"That's a hell of a story," Sarek said. "And you believe your ex is up to something?
- I don't believe it... I know it."

Zacharian shook his head. Everything seemed unreal. Her sister was no more and a part of himself had disapeared with her. Elaïne was dead. Gone to a place when only their mother could be.

Unless she's back. he thought, remembering the words of her sister about reincarnation.

"So what's your plan?"

Zacharian stared at Sarek.

"Plan? What plan?" he asked, puzzled. "As if I had a choice."

Sarek smiled and stood up.

http://www.julianhope.com/sarek.png

"You know," the reptilian being said. "I can't fear what I don't believe in. And, beside, if this Maker is such an ass, I don't give a damn about disobeying him."

He bent to Zacharian.

"So we'll find a way out and you will help your daughter... and your promised one."

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Yakori couldn't breathe anymore. Not that he needed to anyway. But this was quite an uncomfortable position. He looked down at the fist around his neck.

"W... What are you... trying to do?" he asked with difficulties.
"I will break every one of your bones and I'll throw them in the nearest sea. All over it."

Azerzdat's eyes had turned red. Yakori had never seen him in such a state of anger before. All of the ex-demon's muscles were contracted. His friend was holding him in the air as if he had been made of paper.

"You knew," Azerzdat continued. "You knew she would die. You didn't tell me. What was it? A trap?"

Yakori's mouth opened but couldn't form any word.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Witz had spotted Gene's expression.

She seems as tied up as I am, he thought.

But something was here and it smelled a lot like what he had to fight the day his powers had been unleashed. He faced the newcomer. A thin man, with too pale a skin, covered with a cloak.

These damn people and their cloaks. What is it? Theatrical craze?

"Yes, charming indeed," the cold voice continued. "But it's unwise to lower your defenses. Especially when the Stealer is not around to save you."

The stranger drew out a sword. Its blade was of a cloudy white and vapor was pouring from it.

Ice, Witz realized, drawing out his own sword out of nowhere it seemed.

"Stay aside," he told Gene without even looking at her. "This man came for me."

Genesis was hardly ever the one to stand down, however in recent times; she needed to conserve as much energy as possibly for her quest. She looked at the man, whom had entered, and tilted her head. Was he to cause such a stir? How the hell did he get in here? As if the defenses of the mansion weren’t enough to stop a fly. Hesitantly, she stepped off to the side, slightly behind Witz towards the wall. Her hand brushed by a table as she picked up Rave’s white summoning staff and concealed it behind her back without a word. She said nothing, but watched on. Be careful…
____
A pain short through Rave's mind. She was weak. Though it didn't show on the outside very much, the restoration was certainly taking it's toll. She felt dizzy for a moment, but steadied herself, still searching for her daughter's presence or vision.
____
The driver looked back toward the girl, who seemed to be stirring. He thought he had heard the girl speak. "Miss, are you alright?"

A black limo passed beside the police officer's car, and haulted. The window rolled down, and the police officer stepped out of the car. "Can I help you?" he asked, looking into seemingly complete darkness. He nearly jumped back as he noticed the pale face of a man who hid his eyes behind reflective sunglasses.

"Yes," he paused, and grasped at the police officer's throat. The police officer took his gun and fired repeatitively at the man. The bullets were lodged within him as his silk shirt became stained with blood. In a quick flick of the wrist, a snap is heard.

The man in the limo dropped him on the ground and the driver came around to open the door, ignoring the dead body. As the man stepped out, it was clear that he wasn't of weak stature. A long black coat hung around his shoulders and sweeped an inch above the ground. He was around 6"5 with jet black hair. He peered within the police car and smiled.

"Well well well..." his smile widened. "What do we have here..." He punched through the glass to unlock the door to see both Rave and Sarah in the car. He had no idea who Sarah was, for he was not aware enough to recognize the resemblence between the two. Luckily, Sarah had died her hair blonde, and with the contacts, on first appearance, you wouldn't make a connection.

"I said you were elusive, Ravelyn." he said, as if he had known her for years. "Not uncatchable." He reached into the back seat, pulling Rave from the car and over his shoulder. He set her gently into the limo, and looked back towards the car with Sarah still inside. He scoffed. In not knowing who she was, and getting what he came for, he got into the limo, and they sped off down the highway.

He looked over at Rave, who lay unconscious. He brushed his fingertips through her hair. "My dear Ravelyn..." he smiled softly. "We have so many things to discuss..."
__

In that instant, Rave's connection with Sarah was broken with a cry, and her soul had returned to her body. She did not bare the strength to wake up, however. Thus she remained unconscious. The restoration had indeed taken it's toll.
___

Qui heard shots from outside, and looked out the window. There was a police car outside, and some man dead on the ground. He sighed softly, and looked back toward the beautiful nurse beside him. Unexpectadly, he grabbed his leather jacket and pulled it around his shoulders.

"You leavin'?" she asked with inflection in her voice. "That's it?"

Qui gave her a look. "Sorry, love..." He looked down to her. "Unfinished business to take care of..."

In a quick motion her hand struck firmly across his face as his head tilted slightly, but did not move. I suppose i deserve that... he thought to himself, and walked out of the room. He walked down the steps of the hospital and looked to where an officer lay. He knew he was dead, for he couldn't hear the man's heart beating. he looked around. "Any survivors?"

She couldn't move. She hadn't been able to. Something was terribly wrong. Someone had taken her mother and here she was paralized.

Elaïne is dead.

The thought of her aunt not being anymore was unbearable. Her father, her aunt, anyone related to her seemed to disapear one way or another.

Rave... Rave...

Could it be that her mother was next on the list. Why was Fate playing against her? Why?

Family...

She gathered as much of her energy as she could. There was only one person that could help her now but she had no clue where he could be.

This is easy. This is easy, she kept on repeating herself, unsure if she could do what her aunt was so good at. Was.

So she tried to feel the strings of destiny. The links between people and facts, the very matrix of the world around her. She could sense the vibrations of the strings and she decided to go for a simple melody.

Qui heard the gunshots. Qui heard the gunshots, She sang out loud where no one else could hear her inner voice.

"Any survivors?" she heard as an answer.

But she couldn't speak.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

He had watched all the scene. The men hadn't touch at the target so he had decided to stay at a good range. They had been gone for a couple of minutes and he thought it was time to act.

If she's not conscious, this will be... SHIT!

A figure appeared. Someone he knew all too well: Qui Shentavo.

Bad luck.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Be careful, Genesis had sent. But Witz couldn't hear the call now that the seal had been broken. He took a position she already had seen, years ago, when Yakori had provoked the guards in the embassy.

"I see you've learned, Aberration," the man stated, walking sideway to keep both Witz and Gene in sight. "The Stealer has taught you his art, it seems.
- You'll see I'm full of surprises," Witz answered with a determination Gene had never heard from him. "I know you, Salazar. But, I didn't expect you to come freely to your death."

The man, Salazar, laughed out loud.

"And who's to bring me to the void?" he said with an even colder voice. "You're just a kid... and..." he looked at Gene. "... you have your weakness now. As your mother was your father's one. Maybe I could kill her too."

Witz's eyes grew thiner. The room seemed to get warmer and his skin took a slightly redish color.

"This is the last time you ever threaten anyone I care for," Witz said, nearly letter by letter.

Then he jumped onto Salazar so fast it was nearly impossible to see him anymore.

Qui wiped the red lipstick off his face in a hurry as he rummaged around the wreckage. He peered at the police officer, knowing that he was dead, and took his badge as a “souvenir”. He flipped it into his pocket and peered into the police car.

“SARAH?!” he remarked, and quickly pulled the door open, breaking the lock. He bent the seat back and pulled the girl setting her in the front seat. He took off his trench coat and wrapped it around his sister. “What happened to you…” he said softly, looking her over. Nothing appeared to be physically wrong, and for this he was relieved. He shook his head, strands of short white hair falling into his eyes. He dismissed it quickly with his hand, and lifted the girl into his arms. He did not shiver, though the cold wind swept past him, his chest now exposed because his trench coat was around Sarah.

Must have left it in the room… he said, now realizing that he had misplaced his shirt. It wouldn’t have been the first time. His skin was terribly pale, but that was the price he paid for being immortal. He didn’t mind.

He carried her inside, and made his way towards the indoor parking lot at the other side of the building, saying not a word to anyone. He saw the same nurse pass him, and the angry expression on her face.

“Who is she?”
…

After another slap, much to Qui’s irritation, he continued on.


Gene refrained from saying that Rave was not her mother. She only had one daughter, Sarah. Only one son, Qui. She never told Witz that her and Rave were not actually related in the way he thought they were. She was Rave’s protégée, nothing more, well…that could be debated.

She had never seen that side of Witz before. Never did she think he had the drive. She had much to learn…which made her think of a decision even more. It was torturing her. And who was this Salazar? She rolled the staff in her fingertips and waited.

How he had done that, Genesis couldn't tell. He had hardly moved, if at all. She just saw Witz's hand flying in the air, detached from his arm, while his sword rolled on the floor. Salazar's blade was still immaculate. A smile appeared on his face.

"Don't underestimate me, kiddo," he said.

Witz looked at his hand on the floor then at the blood pouring from his arm. He too smiled.

"Fast, aren't we?" he said between his teeth.

The dead hand on the ground faded away, reforming at the end of his arm as if air had decided to take shape. For a moment, Witz's eyes crossed Gene's and there was something like guilt darkening his expression. Salazar laughed.

"So.... she didn't know," he said with his loud voice. "That's grand." He turned at Gene, slightly. "About to marry a freak... now I wonder what the kids would look like." His eyes got back onto Witz. "Not that it's actuality anymore."

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sarah tried, but words were kept at bay, within herself. Touching the Strings of Destiny had driven all her energy away.

At least it worked, she thought as Qui was holding her.

Then she fainted.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"I don't agree."

Loki had nearly yelled.

"Why?
- He has not proven anything yet," he replied, angrily. "He's not one to be trusted. I won't even talk about her.
- He had already proven everything before he came upon Me. You know that. As to her, she just need to rest."

Loki looked puzzled for a second or two but everything made sense.

"Loki, you will let him go. You will even follow him.
- What?" The archangel said. "Like... a bodyguard.
- Like a guide.
- But...
- Or a learner, who knows?
- You do!" Loki replied. "You do, as always!
- It may be so but I advice you watch your tone. I am the One to judge, not you. You are here to repair errors. Even your own."

Genesis did not look up toward Witz but only once. There were secrets she did not want him to know either. Her path must be seen by him at sometime...one of which included a select few. It was on that day she wanted to ask Witz to be her guardian...

She raised her piercing blue eyes at Salazar, revealing the staff behind her back. Witz knew that staff...it had been Rave's. She had been on a journey before the time that Gene had met Witz for the first time. Her quest was given up the day she met Vaughn. Genesis had chosen to continue in Rave's quest.

No one ever said how all of the Shentavos became what they were; exactly that; Shentavo. Qui was Rave's son that was known. However, what of Seth? Of Mar or Seni? Of Genesis... They...They were Rave's guardians. They had been the ones that were chosen to protect her and go with her along the journey. The journey was never completed... and now it was becoming apparent.

Genesis was chosen as Rave's protégée...a psion to take her place should she... should the journey not go as planned. Rave had been on that journey until the time of her encounter with Cecelia. She had never told Vaughn. She had never told him what sacrifices were to be made. The burden had been placed upon Gene's shoulders. And she had accepted.

Genesis had not been as fortunate in Rave in finding guardians. Rave had commanded with more experience, more drive, and more resolve. Genesis was still young in her eyes. It was not Rave’s fault she couldn’t have completed the journey… It was Gene’s now… and she now realized that it would mean sacrificing more than she had ever wanted to. She wondered how Rave had coped with it. She remembered the expression when Rave told her she was the final psion, and that her path had been interrupted. She would never forget the look in Rave’s eyes, asking so much of her apprentice who already knew it was coming. A guardian turned psion after her psion had died.

There was a problem in choosing Gene’s guardians. Ravelyn, a former psion, could not journey without it being reinstalled within her being. The restoration made this fatal. Rave could not journey to the destination without her past coming to steal her away. Rave could not be her guardian. Seth had agreed very much to Gene’s relief. Seth had been like a brother to her throughout the years, but in her first journey…he had been slightly more than that. She remembered very well who went on the first journey for Rave; herself, Seth, Qui, Mar, Saria, Zodiac, and Daja. Daja…

…Perhaps that’s why the journey ended

Maybe it never ended…

It would continue with Genesis until it could be completed. She know realized why Rave had kept the amber spheres in her office; her memories so precious. She may have not have ever came back to Vaughn. She may never have come back at all. There was the problem in selecting guardians with Genesis…she didn’t want to have to say goodbye to them on the summit. But without a psion to complete the journey, the world only spirals further down the rabbit hole.

The double doors of the front blew open with wind as Gene closed her eyes. She raised her right hand holding the glimmering white wooden staff to her side as well as her other hand. “Guarding light, cast before my eyes,” she said in a melodic, yet commanding voice. Her ethereal presence lingered in the breath drawn in from the room. She called upon what would force her to continue where Rave had left off; to the summit of Mt. Evanescing, where the two worlds meet, and her path ends: her psionics.

Don’t look at the light. she said softly to Witz as it cut across in a ray before both of them. Right as it past, it faded, like a vapor trail in the sky. It left a shimming fluid like wall, which only could be seen at certain angles when the light hit it at the right place. It was a translucent protection. It would not stop an attack at all, but it would lessen the damage done to both Witz and herself. It would not, however, stop the damage to be inflicted on Salazar.

There were some things that she apparently hadn’t spoken off. Witz knew that she was a psion…but he had never seen her use light before. She had always used her elementality. Her elementality had been taken from her the minute she had chosen to resume Ravelyn’s path…six years ago.
___________

Qui carried Sarah into the back parking lot and set her gently into his jet black Lamborghini Diablo. He closed the door and got in on the other side. He locked both of the doors, and leaned back. He glanced to his sister. If you are here…where is Rave? he silently questioned himself. I sensed her being there, but she was not… He revved the engine. Probably just my imagination… He turned out of the garage and down the road where a sunset was setting upon the horizon.
__________

“Hmmm…” Ravelyn let out a soft sigh as her eyes slowly began to open. She felt so drowsy, and knew the restoration had taken its toll. Though it is only a temporary drowsiness, it was frustrating. “Where…” she looked around, light shining on her face from a window, “Where am I?” Her voice was not more than above a whisper.

She felt the drowsiness hit her again. It should have been gone by then. She looked warily over to her arm and noticed a needle within it. The crashing sound of the dripping liquid in the IV above her echoed in her ears. She pulled the needle out of her arm with great effort, seeing the sanguine color of her blood bead up in but a few drops on her skin.

Her first thought was that she had been taken to a lab, and that scared her immensely. It was the only thing that did. She staggered up from the bed she had been lying on, realizing that her clothes had been changed. Her long white coat was no where near by, nor was her hat. She wore a floor length, form fitting black satin dress. It had a slit up the side toward her hip, and a low-cut V-neck where the delicate fabric caressed around her neck. Her back was exposed to her hips. It was certainly not something to be worn at a hospital. It wasn’t hers either. “What’s do I owe the occasion?” she asked herself, and made her way to the door.

The slick silver handle evaded her hand, and she nearly fell. She winced, and stood up once again, gripping it and pulling it open. A long narrow hallway was before her, that is how she saw it. The room seemed to be spinning. There were doors on either side of her, part of a mansion most probably. There were no windows in this hallway. She staggered down the hall, her hand on the wall for support.

“Have a nice sleep, Ravelyn?” A familiar voice said from behind her. She cast her crimson eyes on toward the figure behind her as she turned around. Everything seemed to be moving, but she could make the face out clearly. It was one she would never forget. She turned to run, and staggered once again, falling to her knees like a broken lamb. The figure simply walked behind her casually in amusement.

She gathered her strength again to stand and braced her self by placing a hand on the wall. She stumbled forward, and fell once again, wincing in pain. All her muscles were sore, and she let out a soft cry. The figure walked behind her and picked her up into his arms from the ground. “It would be a shame to get that dress ruined before the ceremony, love.” Her crimson eyes closed as she fought to keep them open. She was so tired, and felt herself being carried back into the room.

She felt the sheets of the bed upon her back and looked up at the man before her. She knew that face all too well; the piercing black eyes, jet black hair, and deadly pale skin. Her eyes shifted, trying to regain her focus. She felt a syringe being inserted into her arm.
“What are…you…doing…” she managed to say with much effort. “I…I killed you.”
“Death,” the man said softly, “Is only the beginning. Wasn’t I the one to teach you that? It would take more than trying to drain me dry, Mrs. Desuray…”

“…Desuray?” she asked softly, trying to take everything in. She couldn’t make sense of it right now. Daja smiled softly before her, his wicked grin twisting to her into a threatening omen.

“We are set to be married in two days, Ravelyn.” He said softly, with the same wicked grin upon his lips. She shook her head in disbelief and objection, as she felt her wrists being bound by his hands. “No use resisting…” he said with a sigh. “It’s a smart match to have a demon lord as your husband. The demon lord of the Underworld of Evanescing…strange how things work out, isn’t it? If you had finished your little expedition Azrael, the capital would have been gone by now… but it has grown.”

Ravelyn flinched. It couldn’t be…Evanescing was a place of meditation and solitude. It was the source of her connection. All her thoughts were spinning around in her mind, she couldn’t think straight.

“You shall become fallen, Azrael. Queen of a hell, my queen…” he smiled, revealing his fangs. His eyes were intoxicating. “And I am your king.” She couldn’t bring herself to form any words. She felt herself slipping off again, but fought to stay awake. She struggled, but what was a struggle to her was merely a tensing of the muscles to him. “I could have chosen someone else…but you, my dear,” he brushed his hand against the side of her face. “You have evaded me for too long.”

He drew closer to her, and she turned her head away. He turned her face toward his, releasing one arm. He knew that she wasn’t able to put up a substantial fight in her state. He pressed his lips to hers, and she could feel the fangs against her lips. She turned her head away with a futile burst of strength. A cut ran down the side of her face from the razor sharp canines. He shook his head. “Now look what you’ve done.” He paused, and looked down hauntingly at her. “No matter…” he brought his lips to the open wound as it healed instantly. Her eyes watered as she struggled. He backed off slightly, and looked her dead in her crimson eyes. “In two days, I’m sure you’ll soften up to your fiancé...”

She shook her head, and spat at him. She glared at him defiantly. He turned his head, and then looked back at her, striking her harshly across her face with the back of his hand. He stood up, and walked toward the door, turning around to look at her, unable to fight back this time. “You’ll soften up…just wait till you see the wonderful view at Evanescing, my love.” He closed the door tightly, and she heard it lock. She heard him walk down the corridor outside. Then, everything became dark as she slipped out of consciousness.

They were sat side by side. Yakori was regenerating, slowly. Azerzdat had his head into his hands, covered with blood.

"So... crisis passed?" Yakori asked.
"I still hate you," Azerzdat answered. "I..."

A bass came out of Yakori's shirt. The sound was breathy, subtle. His face turned white and it seemed to Azerzdat he was about to faint. The bass came out again and again and again... After a dozen of them, Yakori finally got a necklace out of his shirt. His eyes were wide opened. Azerzdat hadn't moved an inch, completly stunned by Yakori's attitude.

The japanese held the object in front of himself. Azerzdat had never seen it before nor had he ever heard of it. It was a transparent sphere within which some kind of dark vapor was turning around, like a tiny twister. And each time the matter rolled onto itself, exploding into the confined space, the same bass was coming out.

"It... It..." Yakori babbled, hypnotized by the vapor. "It can't be."

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Salazar laughed.

"Maybe later then," he said, fading away in the air.

Witz looked around him as to make sure his foe was gone for real. Then, he made his sword disapear with a simple gesture of the hand. It seemed to Genesis the way the blade went away was very similar to the way Salazar had. She knew it to be elemental but she also knew no being could control air with so much ease. Except maybe...

Witz turned at Gene.

"I'm sorry," he said with sadness in his voice, eyes wet. "I put you in danger. I..."

A bass came out of his shirt.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"I don't like this."

He looked around, nervously.

"Calm down," the other one whispered with the voice of the one who commands. "You insisted that you should come with me. Now get back to your senses."

The tone of Zacharian surprised Sarek so much it actually worked. Tension went away, just to start growing again as he was peering into darkness. The laboratory would have looked like a set from a Frankenstein movie to him if the reptilian being had had the occasion to see one. But everything was just alien.

I'm on another planet... maybe even another world, he thought, trying to bring back logic in his troubled mind... to no avail.

Using the Gate was probably the biggest heresy he had ever committed. Stealing the key hadn't been a problem given Zacharian's abilities. In fact, it had been so easy that it even surprised Sarek. For a minute or two.

Of course, only a fool would do something like this.

So what was the point into securizing the Gate?

No one would dare to enter into the Sacred Room, right?

Sarek couldn't help to think about the Marikia Lood.

She's gonna kill me for this.

That wasn't a figure of speech. What he had done was probably one of the worst offense for his people. Only a Maa'kresh like Zacharian could use the Gate and only if the Maker were to allow it.

Which is damn far from being the current situation.

He turned around, his senses focussed on every possible sound or feeling. Anything. Looking back at where he came from, he saw Zacharian bent onto her. That's when he remembered he hadn't liked the Maa'kresh when they first met.

He had found Zacharian pretentious, pompous even. Then he had seen the fight with the Morgol. It's not every day that you see a man your size defeat a creature a hundred feet tall with enough magic in a single finger to destroy half a continent. At least, that was the idea Sarek had of Morgols, vicious infants of the Void itself that seemed to have no other purpose than neverending destruction. Anyway, Zacharian won his respect for that. But now.

Now was something completly different. Bent onto his fiancée, with this falsely neutral expression, hardly covering concern and fear, Zacharian appeared as vulnerable as a child. Here (but where they were exactly, he had no clue for the Gate had led them in this very room), before his eyes, the man of great power had his hand onto a beloved face. Here, there was nothing more important than love and that idea, that truth, seemed so concrete to Sarek he felt like walking around it so that he could get a better view at it. But the air seemed to be filled with so intense a bond he couldn't really move forward. He felt out of place.

Why have I done this? It was like I was compelled to help him.

And even to tell Zacharian what to do. As if a superior will had toyed with his very soul, as if Destiny had taken his hand and walked him where he was meant to be. But that was a concept an agnostic like Sarek couldn't fully accept.

"Any idea why she's sleeping?" he asked, breaking silence with as soft and smooth a voice as he could, washing away his internal struggle.

Zacharian didn't look at him for he had his eyes stuck onto Rave's closed and immaculate lids.

"I have no idea what's going on," he said. "but I think I can easily guess who's behind all this.
- You ex?
- Her ex.
- You never told me she had an ex," Sarek said, a bit surprised.

Zacharian stared at him. A sad smile appeared onto his face but his eyes were filled with anger. This seemed strange to Sarek, a Maa'kresh demonstrating so much passion and contradiction but, somehow, it confirmed what he had always thought: Maa'kreshes were more like slaves than envoys. Surely they all had something to redee, a secret to hide and the guts to keep it sealed or to let it explode. That was their choice.

The reptilian waved his hand in a "nevermind" gesture he hoped would cool things down but he clearly saw Zacharian's expression getting darker, sharper, deadlier as he plunged his look back onto his fiancée.

"Wake up. Wake up," Sarek heard the Maa'kresh say. "Wake up, my love. Come back to me."

But nothing happened and Zacharian stood up, thinking so intensely his eyes were moving into continuous and erratic movements. Finally, they got back onto Sarek.

"Do me a favor," he said. "Find my daughter.
- What about you two?" Sarek asked, puzzled.
"I'll stay here with Rave," Zacharian answered with a determined voice. Then his tone went vengeful. "I have someone to meet."

Genesis had her eyes sent to the ground. The white staff clattered to the ground breaking the deadly silence in the room. It seemed to echo in the room and reverberate through the halls. She closed her eyes, assuming an indifferent air about her; something not of her character. She didn’t know if she was angry. She didn’t know if she was sad or hurt…or even if she was happy. She was confused…she needed time. She couldn’t tell Witz that she was going to leave that morning. She had to ask him though. She had to make the journey to Mt. Evanescing, with or without her guardians behind her.

“Witz,” she said softly, in nothing above a whisper. “I…I…” she couldn’t finish her sentence. “I will be leaving in the morning, and I wanted to ask you…if…if you would be my guardian.” Her eyes still dwindled still upon the ground, hiding the true emotion behind her eyes. She…she couldn’t bring herself to ask him the questions she wanted to. She needed to know if he would journey with her.
____

The IV in Rave's arm continued to continuously pump the lethal drug into her, rendering her unable to gain her strength back. She moved her head slightly, and let out an almost inaudible sound, but she did not wake up. Her auburn hair fell as if it were placed upon the pillow with the most delicate hands. There was a light flush to her cheeks, as if she had been out running five minutes before. While her body remained silent, her mind rushed with thoughts.

She ran down an empty corridor. There seemed to be so many doors that she could turn down. She headed toward the end, hearing the footsteps behind her. She was out of breath, her endurance failing her. She had been running for hours. She tried a door to her right, but it was locked. She backed up, and then rushed at it, kicking it open to where she was consumed in darkness.

She looked around nervously, panting lightly. She was afraid, and didn’t know why, or what was chasing her. For the first time in her life she felt scared. She looked around nervously, and heard the door close. She knew who it was. She backed herself up against the wall, a pale light illuminating his face. “Stay away from me,” she said softly, blood now apparent from an open wound on her face. Her crimson eyes flickered as she watched every move of his.

“There is no need to run away from me, love.” He said with a smile upon his face. “Actually, stagger away from me. You’re not looking well at all.” He chuckled to himself, and advanced towards her. “At least you’ll be well enough to go through with the ceremony, today.”

“Today?” Ravelyn asked, in surprise and fear.

“Yes,” he replied in a haunting tone. “You’ve slept for two days straight, my dear.” He smiled. “Of course, without the sedatives, you may have woken by now.” He advanced again, and there was nothing she could do. He grabbed her wrists, pressing her back into the wall. With a wicked smile, he pulled her forward, dragging her out of the room and into the corridor. There were tears in her eyes as she resisted, but it was no use. She was brought toward the door directly at the end of the corridor where heat seemed to be emitted from. He paused for a moment, sensing another’s presence in the physical realm. He grinned to himself. “Be back in a moment, my dear…” he left Rave on the ground, tears in her still eyes as she lay there; helpless, and alone.

Daja appeared in the doorway of the room only to see Zacharian and another standing there. The Maester of Evanescing had a wicked smile about his face as he glared at the man. He looked at his affection toward Ravelyn, and narrowed his eyes. It was because of Vaughn that he had tried to take Ravelyn that night, and she had killed him…to her knowledge. It was because of his jealousy of what they had together which he would never experience. But all that was about to change…he would finally have her, with or without her vow.

“Sorry to interrupt you,” he said in a refined manner, something not so right about the tone of his voice. “But Mrs. Desuray has a wedding to attend. She will not be returning after the ceremony…and guests not on the list are most unwelcome.” He knew exactly who Zacharian was as he stood there. His eyes glowed with fire momentarily to signify what lay within him. The demon lord looked at Ravelyn upon the bed, and smiled. He held out his hand. “Come, my dear. I wouldn’t want you to be late.”
Tears fell from Ravelyn’s closed eyes. She opened them slightly, unable to make out any of the beings before her. The drugs had taken their desired effect much to Daja’s delight. She could not sense Vaughn next to her, nor the man before her. She couldn’t sense anything.
He tilted his head, and the entire room went black. Even with those of powerful vision, it was sheer darkness. The lights flickered back on. Both Ravelyn and Daja were gone, leaving Zacharian and Sarek behind…
___

Qui’s car slowed as it reached the mansion. He got out and picked up Sarah from the seat. He walked into the mansion, pushing through the double doors to see Genesis standing there, her staff on the ground, along with Witz. A shield was dissipating before both of them. He looked at the staff once again. Genesis had used her psionics. A state of shock swept over him. If she had taken up the path then…
He held Sarah within his arms, and Gene lifted her eyes to both of them

little, not disturbing bookmark 'cause it takes too much time to read all this at once and I want to read it

Witz's eyes were closed. Somewhere, inside his mind, the soothing sentences Yakori had taught him had been unleashed, as they were everytime he had to deal with the unexpected.

Salazar was nothing more now than a blurry concept, a little imperfection on a porcelain plate, a scratch on a cd where no data was stored.

The voice of Gene was a vague sensation, the warmth of sunrays, filtered by a cloudy sky. Leaving, morning, guardian, the words didn't seem to have any meaning to him.

All his soul was pulsating, synchronized with the sphere below his shirt. Bass after bass. Thought after thought. Bass after bass. Souvenir after souvenir.

He remembered the day Yakori and he had discovered the two spheres. This was the day they had opened the Vault. Witz had always put a capital V for this little box whose code was known only by Michael Vaughn had always seemed to him as a kind of mythical artefact. It had been quite a deception when he realized how easily Yakori broke into it.

Inside, they found Vaughn's diary which Witz refused to open and gave, later, to Sarah. But on top of them was a little box. It contained two spheres of transparent glass.

"It smells like Vaughn," Witz remembered Yakori said when he looked closer at them.

There was a little piece of paper with them:

If you find these, then I'm probably dead, or so you should wish.
You can keep the Resonators, whoever you are, so that you hear me coming back.
Whether it will be good or bad news is up to you.

Yakori and Witz kept it secret, not letting anyone know about these things. About the strange promise written from the very hand of Vaughn. As years passed, they had nearly forgotten them, wearing them as men would keep wedding rings, symbols of a long extincted love. The spheres were always there, touching their skin but hope had faded away.

Now Witz's sphere was pulsating. He could feel it colder then usual and he could hear this bass coming out of it, again and again. For sure, Yakori's had awaken too.

Keeping his eyelids shut, oblivious to Qui and Sarah's entrance, he uttered the words:

"Vaughn is back."

:TAG:

Oh... noooo! Well, I'll watch this anyway. Here's hoping it takes a more depressing stance! Cheers!

The rage. Sarek had stepped back as much as he could, somehow hoping for the wall behind him to open so that he could go away. In front of him, Zacharian looked like an animal in a cage, his body seemed close to explosion, his face had turned as red as a rising sun and saliva was pouring out of his mouth. The room had went dark when Daja had disapeared but it seemed the will of Zacharian was slowly summoning the true essence of nothingness. Darkness.

"IS THIS WHAT I PAID FOR?!?" the voice echoed in the room

Sarek could sense the vibration all around him. He didn't know if it was his vision or if the laboratory was really torn by an invisible force.

No, not just the room, he realized. The very reality.

Then he had this impression, this electric signal at the back of his neck: Someone was looking, someone was waiting, someone wished to intervene. How Sarek came to sense it was beyond him but he knew he had to do something. Whether Zacharian would destroy the piece of world they were standing on together, whether the mysterious presence would destroy Zacharian before, Sarek knew he had to do something.

"Calm down!" he yelled, seeing his own arm deformed like any other object in the laboratory. "You need to calm down!"

A spark passed onto Zacharian's eyes, as if Sarek's words had unleashed something within him. All in a sudden, the room got back to its normal state, light began to invade it back and Zacharian fell, soundly, on the floor. But was it Zacharian?

The man on the ground seemed smaller. His hair cut short. Something feminine about his whole body, unatural. The man on the ground looked up after a few seconds. The face was unknown to Sarek who stood still uneasy.

"It's all right, my friend," said the man with a soft a calm voice. "You've been wise to call for me."

Michael Vaughn was breathing heavily, he looked around, inspecting every corner of the room, every inch of shadow as if an army could have came from it. But nothing happened.

Someone is here, that I can tell, he thought.

Then he stood up.

“What?” Qui’s mouth dropped open. “What did you say?” he tilted his head to Witz, still holding Sarah, the girl unconscious in his arms. Gene looked at Qui and Sarah, knowing that she was the only healer present. She quickly scanned over the girl with her eyes, but it was something she couldn’t pin point. Something deeper…something within her heart.
___

She breathed in deeply, taking the silence in. A dull blue light illuminated the area. Her crimson eyes scanned over everything. She was soaked. She still felt the rain fall upon her face, slowly trickling down her skin and washing away her tears as they fell. The water level was just below her chest. Her hair curled slightly due to the moisture. She was alone.

She clenched her fists in frustration, realizing both were in chains. She knew this wasn't reality, She knew she was trapped within the confines of her own mind. She knew where she was being taken. But no one could stop it...no one knew.

She crashed her hands down on the surface, causing the water to break in ripples. Frustrated, she let out a cry. She soon drifted under the water, looking up at the moon above. She knew it wasn't the real moon. It was all in her head.

Daja had taken Ravelyn in his arms, taken the girl far away from the town of Summerset where she had resided. Evanescing was his destination. Then they would prepare, and then the angel would fall. He looked down at her...knowing she was trapped.

"Don't like feeling helpless," he said softly. "Do you Azrael?"

"Yes?
- Hi, sir, Pierce speaking," said the voice at the other end. "There's something... unusual.
- What is it?
- It's about... our accounts on Earth. There's been a withdrawal half an hour ago. Nothing important," Pierce added quickly. "Something like 50 grands.
- The card and code were correct?
- Yes... but...
- But what?
- The code, sir, it was... err... reserved... to Mr.Vaughn, sir."

Yakori smiled. Never had he been so happy in his entire life.

"I see," he said to Pierce. "Everything is under control. Don't worry about that.
- Oh... err... all right sir...
- One last thing though.
- Yes sir?
- Where was the withdrawal done?
- Summerset, Shentavo, Ambrosial Coast, sir."

Azerzdat looked at Yakori as the japanese had ended the communication.

"Shouldn't he be coming to us?" the ex-demon asked.

Yakori's eyes were stuck on the horizon, his mind trying to make sense out of what was happening. Elaïne was dead. Vaughn was back. But something was wrong. This didn't look like the kind of exchange his ancient boss would have accepted.

"No... no", he finally answered. "This is a message, a confirmation. He's letting us know he is alive and where he is. If he had wanted to join us, he would have contacted me."

Yakori stared at Azerzdat, remembering all they had done together. Things began to make sense.

Sarah... Witz...

"Dammit!"

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Witz took the sphere out of his shirt. Shadow was pulsating into it and still the recurrent sound.

"Vaughn is back," he repeated, coming back to reality. "This thing awoke so Vaughn is back."

He looked deeply at Qui, slowly recovering his connection with his surrounding. Then he realized Sarah was within her brother's arms, unconscious.

"What happened?!?"

The doorbell echoed in the mansion.

Qui’s muscles relaxed, but he still held Sarah slightly. He did not know the reason why. “I was coming out of the hospital---“

“You got hurt?” she said softly, wondering why he would be in such a place. She looked up towards him, her pale eyes running over the red marks on his neck. He shifted uncomfortably, and she made her assumptions. She looked at Qui intensely. Nevermind then…

He looked at Sarah once more, then to Witz. “I’m not quite sure what happened. I had walked down the steps and there was a car there. It was smashed up pretty bad if you ask me. There was a dead officer on the ground…but that isn’t what caught my eye. I found Sarah in the back of the police cruiser. I took her out, got in my car…” he made a light nodding gesture. “And here I am…”

“Where’s Rave?” Gene asked suddenly, not bringing her eyes up to meet his for some reason, she had turned from all of their views. She drew in a breath.

“I don’t know…I didn’t see her there. Why?” Qui persisted, getting slightly worried now.

“She said she was going to find Sarah. Said there was something she needed to show her…” she paused momentarily. Qui looked over Sarah, and closed his eyes. His hand past along the girls wrist and he felt something underneath the fabric of the jacket. There were three orbs, small dimly glowing spheres. He held them in one hand, and tilted his head.

“They are not meant to be seen, Qui,” Genesis said in an unusually solemn tone, still turned away from the rest of the group.

“What are they?” he asked, his scarlet eyes looking down upon the three orbs in one hand as he held Sarah resting against his chest with the other.

“Some are her memory spheres; bits of reveries and experiences not wanted to be forgotten. Some are her prophesies from the time when she had begun her journey as a psion until the end. Some confuse me; I don’t even know what they are. There is a deeper message, something she’s trying to get across in a lot of them.” Her tone was usually calm and collected. After a few moments of silence, Gene held out her hand before her, away from the others. “Give them to me.” Her voice was melodic and clear, yet it was so soft.

Qui tilted his head, not quite sure what to make of Gene’s change of demeanor. His mouth was slightly ajar, in awe of her sudden change, and a glint of fangs could be seen. Without warning, the orbs shot out of his hand and into Genes. Her slender hand grasped firmly around them, and she placed them inside of her blouse. Qui gently set Sarah down upon a white couch nearby, and looked toward Gene. He stepped toward her and placed his hand upon her shoulder, forcing her to turn around.
He stepped back at shock of what he found. The small diamond-like jewel on her forehead caught his eye immediately. Her eyes had twisted into a light shade of amber, beautiful none the less. They had been as Ravelyn’s had. She looked toward him, and he shook his head in disapproval.

“Genesis!” he said in both exasperation and helplessness. Thoughts rushed through his mind, and he shook his head once again in defiance. “I can’t let you finish the journey. I will not stand here and watch as you…as you send yourself to Evanescing. I can’t let you make that journey…”

She looked back at him, with a slight sadness in her eyes of her fate. But it was the risk she took when she became a psion. Some were born with the destiny, others were not. None had completed it. “My time has come Qui…” she said in almost a whisper. “You and I don’t have any control over it. You should know that Qui…you were her guardian.” She looked toward the balcony, the sea below crashed upon the rocky cliffs in gentle waves, breaking the eerie silence.
You can not go…you can ignore the call and stay with those you love. It won’t be the end…
I am the beginning Qui. That is why I am called Genesis. I was the first psion of my kind, spawned off from the ancients such as Rave. You knew this…it just came now. I can not avoid it. I…I have no choice.

“Without your guardians, Gene?” he asked aloud.
“I can not bare to have any with me…” I…I can’t say goodbye.
She walked toward the balcony, looking over the edge; she climbed up on top of the railing. Qui stepped towards her to stop her, but she turned around, holding her brilliant staff. Qui took a step backward. She looked towards Witz. He could tell of the sadness within her amber eyes. He could sense the sorrow that was in her heart. However, she had no choice. “Don’t worry,” she said in what reassurance she could provide. “I have my wings.”

She looked toward him, helpless in what she was pressed to do. She closed her eyes, and dove off, the wind flowing through her hair. A golden griffin dropped from the sky, great wings spreading to catch her. She landed on its back and opened her eyes. She didn’t look back; she had already disappeared amongst the clouds.

“A Griffin?” Qui asked softly, almost inaudibly to himself. “Those…creatures lay extinct for over five thousand years…” He stepped back inside, looking to Witz, unable to do anything to lend comfort to him. He could not. He knew where she was going, and how it would end. He must go with her…but he needed to stay with Sarah.

“She’s going to Evanescing.” Qui said softly, walking back towards Sarah and placing a hand on her head. “…where she will complete her journey.”

He then heard the doorbell ring loudly again. He was so confused. With Raevlyn gone, Sarah unconscious, and Genesis on her way to Evanescing as a revived psion...it was becoming too much information for her to handle.

"What the Hell is that?"

Azerdat waved at the silhouette in front of the mansion: something he had never seen though he had crossed many boundaries and visited many different worlds and people. The thing pressed the doorbell. The gesture was funny somehow, as if the reptilian had never seen a button before.

And what with the wings? Looks like a flying lizard on acid...

Yakori wasn't listening, or so it seemed. He had given a quick glance at the being but now his eyes were turned high in the sky for he had seen a strange shape flying away from the building. Some kind of mythical figure even he hadn't seen elsewhere than on books.

Things are moving fast, he thought.

Then he went back onto the door.

"I have no clue who this is," he said. "However..." he sniffled a little. "... I know this smell."

He put his hand in his pocket, grabbing the Resonator, still pulsating. Vaughn back, Elaïne gone. Things were moving fast indeed. He closed his eyes, concentrating on the depth of the mansion, oblivious to the psionic protections, relying only on matter, seaking for Witz's presence.

"Yeah, right," Azerzdat said in a grunt. "Go to sleep and don't tell me what this smell is."

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Witz stood still, unable to move, inthralled by indecision as he hadn't been for a long time. Yakori's lithany wasn't helpful anymore for he foresaw choices and loss to come, confusingly.

He finally walked to Sarah, stopping beside Qui. It felt strange. Never had he thought of himself as someone on par with a being like Qui Shentavo. But things changed. They changed fast. Now they were just two friends, together, facing too complicated a life. "Friends", as he couldn't find a better word.

Witz's eyes went thiner as more pieces of a puzzle were dancing into his mind. That included himself. He began to feel small, as insignificant as a snowflake in winter, heading wherever winds or God himself wanted him to go. He felt out of control. He felt relieved.

The Resonator was still pulsating. He had thrown it onto the desk. He knew, now, and the sphere was of no use anymore. Vaughn was back and Witz felt he wasn't in charge anymore. He wasn't central. He didn't have any grasp left on his surrounding. He felt relieved.

Then a smile formed onto his face, a real smile, a confident one, a smile as he had never ever shown before. At that very moment, Jeremy Witz achieved detachment. Jeremy Witz became as Michael Vaughn had always wanted him to. And the doorbell rang again.

"Well, my friend, I think we should go and see who's there," he told Qui with such inflexions in his voice the room seemed lightened. "Then you will tell me all I have to know about Evanescing. I won't let Genesis down."

He looked closer at Sarah.

"But, first, we'll take care of our little treasure."

Then he sensed the exploration. He sensed Yakori was outside and he called for him.

"That's per-fect!"

The man had too pronouced a smile and, for a moment, it seemed to Vaughn he could see the price of the suit imprinted onto the taylor's deep blue eyes.

"It seems like those were meant for you," the man added, passing his hand onto his client's back.

Michael Vaughn wasn't really listening. His eyes were stuck onto his own image in the mirror. He could feel Zacharian, not so deep inside of him, staring at what the powerful being he could be had always seen as his weak side.

Safe side, rather, isn't it?

But no answer came for Vaughn and Zacharian knew the truth now. The truth about where power lied and how to unleash it.

"You were right," the taylor said. "This is the best suit you could take for a wedding.
- Given its price, one couldn't expect less.
- Oh... err..." the taylor's face turned slightly red. He was not used to people telling their mind like this. "It's an Armani. They're meant for...
- an entire lifetime, yes, I know," Vaughn cut with a smile. "That's why I needed a new one, I guess."

The taylor didn't get the joke, but how could he have?

"So..." he said, trying to disguise his confusion into curiosity. "Is that the wedding of... a relative?"

Vaughn stared at the taylor with too calm a look and his smile widened.

"Actually, I expect it to be mine."

Her crimson eyes looked up as she surfaced, breaking the solid water line of the lake. The water was extremely clear, illuminated by a strange blue light. It was almost iridescent in quality. She knew that the chains were broken around her wrists. They fell to around her knee, but they had been broken there by her efforts. She was strong; however the drugs had taken their affect, trapping her within this coma.

And it's always little things
that to the surface brings
the comfort in the pain
the fear behind the smile

She looked up to the sky and the stars, smiling softly as the rain fell down on her. It had been like this when she had met Vaughn.

we lose along the way
the things we leave behind
along the precipice
of things we should not climb
and I’m the first in line

“With so much to lose,” she said softly, remembering, “I persisted. I still journeyed on…and it brought me my death.”

And it's always little things
That to the surface brings
The space you need to breathe
Before the curtain call
The light that leads the way
Before you hit the wall
The mountain that you climb
Just to take a fall
For blind among the blind

She ran her hands over the water, sensing a presence behind her. She turned, but to no avail, there was no one there.

And all we have to lose is time
And what lose we leave behind
Stay around and we will shine.


There's an anchor around my heart
Dragging me down
Beneath the waves in silence i fall
There's a halo above my head
Spinning me 'round
'cause i don't know if I’m alive or dead
A dagger in my hand
Bleeding me dry


Genesis walked slowly up the decent toward the summit of the mountain. She knew very well it would not be an easy path. It must end here. It must be stopped. She had to keep going, guardians or not. She thought of Witz, his presence never leaving her mind. She had to go; however she couldn’t say goodbye to him. She loved him. As much as others may have protested, she loved him wholly.

Her staff supported her along the way, as she felt a heavying within her soul. A path of a psion is never easy…especially one who is destined for Evanescing.
_____

Qui shook his head softly. He couldn’t tell Witz. This was too much for him to comprehend. Everything was falling apart, none of which involved him but all of which indirectly tied to him. “Y-yes.” He said softly. It was the first time he had stuttered in his entire life. He was an arrogant and prideful man, this was not in his character.

Her crimson eyes looked up as she surfaced, breaking the solid water line of the lake. The water was extremely clear, illuminated by a strange blue light. It was almost iridescent in quality. She knew that the chains were broken around her wrists. They fell to around her knee, but they had been broken there by her efforts. She was strong; however the drugs had taken their affect, trapping her within this coma.

And it's always little things
that to the surface brings
the comfort in the pain
the fear behind the smile

She looked up to the sky and the stars, smiling softly as the rain fell down on her. It had been like this when she had met Vaughn.

we lose along the way
the things we leave behind
along the precipice
of things we should not climb
and I’m the first in line

“With so much to lose,” she said softly, remembering, “I persisted. I still journeyed on…and it brought me my death.”

And it's always little things
That to the surface brings
The space you need to breathe
Before the curtain call
The light that leads the way
Before you hit the wall
The mountain that you climb
Just to take a fall
For blind among the blind

She ran her hands over the water, sensing a presence behind her. She turned, but to no avail, there was no one there.

And all we have to lose is time
And what lose we leave behind
Stay around and we will shine.


There's an anchor around my heart
Dragging me down
Beneath the waves in silence i fall
There's a halo above my head
Spinning me 'round
'cause i don't know if I’m alive or dead
A dagger in my hand
Bleeding me dry


Genesis walked slowly up the decent toward the summit of the mountain. She knew very well it would not be an easy path. It must end here. It must be stopped. She had to keep going, guardians or not. She thought of Witz, his presence never leaving her mind. She had to go; however she couldn’t say goodbye to him. She loved him. As much as others may have protested, she loved him wholly.

Her staff supported her along the way, as she felt a heavying within her soul. A path of a psion is never easy…especially one who is destined for Evanescing.
_____

Qui shook his head softly. He couldn’t tell Witz. This was too much for him to comprehend. Everything was falling apart, none of which involved him but all of which indirectly tied to him. “Y-yes.” He said softly. It was the first time he had stuttered in his entire life. He was an arrogant and prideful man, this was not in his character.

Witz sighted. In a gesture so obvious, so natural he surprised himself, he put his hand onto Qui's shoulder. And he just stared at him, eyes in eyes. Time stood still or so it seemed. The Mind Breaker and the Aberration deep into a silent conversation, somehow oblivious to one another's presence, only aware of their belonging to the same world, the same time, the same chapter in the same chronicle. And, then, it was as if a belief, a promise made its way from Witz's mind to the very surface of his eyes.

I won't let Genesis down. Qui thought he could have heard if Witz hadn't been soul-less, for the Mind Breaker had understood that for a long time now. I won't let any of you down.

And still onto Witz's face, painted as by the most gifted painter, respect, humility, honesty, confidence and trust showed.

Just trust me.

But the door broke opened all in a sudden for Azerzdat and Yakori entered the room, holding tight the most peculiar creature ever: a green reptilian humanoïd about the height of Qui with wings behind his back.

"Not quite who I was expecting," Witz muttered to himself, turning at the newcomer.

But the creature answered in a language no one could understand in the room. Witz gave a quick glance at Yakori who nodded positively as to confirm there was no danger. Jeremy arched an eyebrow.

"Maybe you could help us there," Witz asked, bending back at Qui.

Qui was quite suprised at this gesture. He had a few well placed friends, Katarina...who was quite more than a friend, and his family. That was it. He didn't bother with "petty" ones such as he would consider Joshua. He rather make alliances with Phoenix to kill Joshua. He already killed Kenja, Joshua's fianceè. But that was unknown behind his eyes.

I will do what I can, Qui said rather firmly. They just needed to get there before Genesis did; a task that would not be easy. If they arrived before...perhaps they could stop her.

I knew this was a trap, Sarek thought as the two men had pushed him into the room.

Then the other one, a man who reminded him of Vaughn... yes, that's what Zacharian's counterpart said he was to be called... someone like this Vaughn had talked to him but, unfortunatly, in a language Sarek had no clue how to decypher.

"Man, if only I could understand a single word of what you're saying."

And he could see on the other's faces they hadn't understood a single word. But Vaughn's double had bent to another one... someone different, stronger or... Sarek couldn't tell but, definitly, someone with more power or wisdom for, even if he saw how troubled Qui was, he couldn't help but to keep his eyes on his face.

"Now, You! You look like someone who could understand me," he told Qui in his extraterrestrial language. "You look like Zacharian... somehow. He told me to come and take care of his..." his look went down onto Sarah. "his daughter," he finished with concern in the voice.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Yakori sensed. The air in the room was troubled. It was quite strange. At first, he had thought it was because of Sarah but now... now he knew something was wrong with Qui.

Urgency, came into his mind as he was analysing the air of the room.

He looked deeply at Qui, puzzled by the man's lack of confidence. Qui was different. Qui was on edge.

Qui reminds me of Vaughn, Yakori thought, surprised by his own idea, for he knew all too well Vaughn had struggled to achieve detachment in order to avoid such states of being. But Vaughn is back, he repeated to himself as if the words were carrying enough hope for even a hopeless Qui.

Qui instinctively stepped in front of Sarek, blocking Sarah from him. He didn't know how, but he understood what he was saying. It was so strange...as if the language had been a part of him his entire life. He replied in the same manner, "MY* sister," he said, rather firmly to get his point across. Sarah was under his protection as long as he was alive. That's what he did. It was the only person other than Katarina that Qui would give his life for. "and my sister in unconscious at the moment. Right now you are in my home...and I suggest you leave. Now."

He let his fangs show in response to Sarek in automatic protection of her. "I am in no mood to piss off at the moment..." his left blue eye, which was in drastic contrast to the other crimson, turned into it's own sanguine shade of red. A low growl emitted from his throat. It was known of Qui's quick temper...getting it from his mother, one of her faults. The only one who had been able to stop it in a heart beat had been Vaughn. Then, of course, she had spent the rest of that energy on him...
___

Genesis out toward the gates of Evanescing and the mountain ahead. She rose in the air, still upon the griffon. It was a magnificent creature with brilliant tan wings that glistened like gold in the sunlight. The young vampire waited until the griffon drifted over the base of the mountain before jumping down to the ground.

She rose up steadily, looking at what she had to ascend ahead. Why had this happened now? Could it not have happened before she had met Witz? Why couldn't Rave have lived and finished it. She would have been the one then. Why had it chosen now? If she had just let Witz take care of it all...if she had not used psionics, then she wouldn't be faced with this plague. Either way it was death to her. Should she refuse to make the journey, she would end up with her energy being taken from her. And she would die. Should she go, and not complete it through the trials...she would die. Should she make it to the end... she couldn't think of it.

The trials lay ahead of her. Without a guardian nor weapon less her staff...she would take on this task alone.
_____________________


Rave's eyes shot open as she looked around her instinctively. She felt her hands bound, and attempted to pull them to her side. They were bound by shackles which chains attached to the wall. It seemed so hot, as if the temperature was of summer. She struggled violently, but with every contraction of muscle, the drugs seemed to set in. She looked up to see him there, sitting at a rectangular table with a glass of wine, laughing in amusement.
“What would it take you to lose for you to marry me?” he growled.
“I will become fallen if I marry a hell hound like you,” she said in insult. “Nothing you could ever say to me or threaten me with would instill fear within me, nor would it make me bend to your will. Nothing you could ever do would make me accept your offer. I would rather die…I would kill myself before taking your disease ridden hand.”

“You never cease to amaze me,” he said softly, and raised his glass. He then set it down on the table, and stepped towards her. “Oh my dear Ravelyn…I know very well that you would sacrifice yourself. You had no problem with that before, for someone very dear to you. Too bad he is in hell, burning because of you. Don’t even think about him anymore…he is dead to you and the world.” Daja then could sense the anger within her eyes. “No worry. You don’t have to sacrifice yourself again…except to me. Sure…you’d kill yourself in a heartbeat…what about Qui, eh?” his smile twisted into a wicked grin like that of a snake.

“What the hell are you talking about? My son can take care of himself…” Ravelyn replied, but grew suspicious of what lay behind his eyes.

“He’s my son too, Azrael.” He said in reply. “And he took to the darker side of things from the beginning. You think I do not share a connection with him as well?” Rave’s eyes widened. “You will take my hand…or I will slaughter him with a flick of my wrist.”

After moments of silence passed, Rave spoke up again. “Go ahead.” Daja looked shocked at this. “He’s just been a rebellious bad-ass for all the years I’ve known him. If you want to kill him, go ahead.” Daja was clearly not pleased with this. He could not tell if Rave was serious or was she simply saying this to deter him…

“What of Genesis then?” he received no reply except for a shaking of the head. He held up a glimmering amber sphere, and Rave’s eyes shot up. “What of this then?” He noticed Rave’s reaction, and proceeded in tossing it up in the air and freezing it, pointing a gun towards it.

“Alright.” She said in urgency. The orb dropped back in to his hands, and he set the gun on the table. “Alright. I will.”

He stepped out of the shadows. He saw the magnificent creature and he saw her, another magnificent creature indeed. It had always been a strangely pleasing shock whenever he had the occasion to meet her. She was not Rave but he knew everything he loved in Rave existed, at least potentially, within her. He had always felt this connection. He had always seen Witz as his heir and Rave surely always saw Genesis as her own... or so it seemed, at that very moment, to Michael Vaughn. It was funny how he hadn't seen things coming. When Genesis and Witz began their relationship, how couldn't he have seen what was as natural as the passing from Summer to Autumn? How couldn't he have seen Rave and he were meant to bond?

He smiled.

He didn't have any experience of paternity but he had always pictured Witz as his son. Confusingly, the same feeling was arising as he was walking to Genesis. She was the continuation of the woman he loved and, as such, the closest thing he had from a daughter. Except for Sarah, maybe, but how could he know since he had never met her.

And maybe I won't... ever.

His face contracted a little. The pieces of information he had gathered weren't enough to get a complete view at what was going on. All he knew was that he would have to fight Daja because Rave's sire had lost his mind, confusing love and possession, maybe not having ever known the difference. And Vaughn was convinced there was nothing he could say or do that could drive Daja back to reason.

And if he doesn't listen, I'll have no choice but to unleash Zacharian.

But, still, where to go? What to do? So many questions he couldn't find an answer to. So he had used The Sentence, not knowing what to expect for this magic was not his but hers. Then he had seen a shape that transformed into a body, a face, a woman: Genesis. And so he came here, to meet her.

Silently, Vaughn thanked his sister for the present she had given him when they were kids: this little pieces of soul they had echanged as normal children would with blood. Without this part of Elaïne within him, he would have never known about her death and he wouldn't know that, at that very moment, the most important person was Genesis. Why? He had no clue. If he had been to trust his feelings, he would have flied whenever Rave was, because he could be with her in a second. If he had been to trust his feelings, he would have sought for Cecilia because she was the only one able to kill his sister.

But no.

He preferred to trust his sister's feelings. After all, wasn't it thanks to her presence within himself that he managed to be Vaughn and control Zacharian? This piece of soul was his salvation and whatever it was saying, Vaugh would follow its guidance blindly... saying The Sentence out loud when needed.

He stopped and looked deeply at Genesis's back as she was staring at the top of the mountain. What was the mountain's name? He didn't know. Something important for Genesis, that he could sense. He could feel her lack of confidence, her lack of faith but also her will to go whatever the consequences. That was something he could relate to. All too well.

"Seems like a nice walk," he said with as neutral a tone as he could. "Care for a companion?"

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sarek stepped back.

"So you're Zacharian's son?!?" he said, troubled. "You look as dangerous as he does, I give you that."

Yakori, Azerzdat and Witz were observing the two of them, unable to understand a single word but conscious of the tension rising between Qui and the reptilian.

Sarek opened his hand in a gesture of friendship.

"Your father sent me because he said your sister needed protection," Sarek continued. "I mean her no harm. He couldn't come himself because he had to find your mother. There's this guy... her ex... Jada or something like that. He kidnapped her. And Zacharian... I mean, your father, he thinks his ex... Celia, if I remember correctly... she may be after Sarah."

The reptilian seemed confused but sincere. Qui could sense pressure within the being and he could easily picture Vaughn, in his evil Zacharian incarnation, threatening Sarek just as he was himself.

"And..." Sarek babbled. "You father said only your sister would be able to defeat his ex... and she's... unconscious now..." His voice was sad, hopeless.

Genesis stopped dead in her tracks as she saw Vaughn, unable to believe it was him. She remained awestruck for a few moments. She tried to grasp this information. “Rave was taken?” she asked softly, in not above a whisper; her pale eyes running over the figure in front of her. “Daja? He…he’s alive? It can’t be….she killed him when…” It was hard for Genesis to take this all in. There was something different about her. Lightness even… “After you died, he…” Gene struggled with the right words. “And…she killed him.”

But it would explain a lot… she thought to herself. He’s the God damned reason that this hell remains active if he is alive…then my journey is solely because of him. He will be the end of me…

“If he is the one that took her, if you say…” she was trying to take in all of this information. Ravelyn had always been like a mother to her. Always… She had always cared for her. She had taught her everything. But in whispers…it was rumored that Daja had been the one to give her fangs. Nothing has been confirmed. “Then she is within this…fortress…” She said, looking ahead up the rocks. “My journey brings me to the summit…yours will lead you into it halfway up. I…I can take you to Evanescing…but will not continue on from there. I have things to see to.”

Genesis masked her emotions well. This was too much. Rave was taken, and Vaughn had returned. “I warn you…the Maesters that run Evanescing are creatures of pure darkness. They are chosen from those whose sin engulfs their entire life. I would not be surprised that if Daja had died, he remains undead and has become a maester of Evanescing. The less there are, the more power is divided amongst them. If there is one…then it will take more than a blade.”

As she walked with Vaughn, she told him the history of the mountain. “Evanescing used to be a quiet place. It was serene and the land remained untainted. With springs and lakes so beautiful that one would think they could walk the glassy surface under the ethereal glow; a paradise.”

“There was one man, however, who felt differently of this place. He found a way into the mountain, and the fires of hell began to grow beneath it. It offset everything. People were murdered there, the land became tainted. The flowers died, the lakes turned black, and the rocks sharpened themselves. This man was Quissera, a psion of the worst kind. Where Daja fits in, I will get to later. Quissera led an uprising against the psions of Evanescing. These psions were highly trained, and protected what they could. However, in the end, the last died, but with them, they took the hell and stifled its hold. But eventually…it would grow again, and a psion would be needed to end it.”

“Quissera had his way with everything…” Gene looked up to Vaughn. “A servant of his gave birth to a son. In him, he instilled a gift of darkness. However, not wanting to cause a fuss, the son was sent away….never knowing of his father.”

“Daja is Quissera’s son,” Gene said. “Daja had left Rave because he shied away from the light. The light was so beautiful; he had to have her just as his father would have. He named his son Qui, in short. He hoped that the darkness would win over his soul, however, Qui had Rave’s blood within him…and it kept him level. It was years later of the birth of their son that Daja had realized that Ravelyn was Azrael of the heavens…and that she was a seraphim. That is why he was able to return…”

“He took her blood…” she continued softly, not knowing how the information was pouring through her mouth. She then realized it was because of the journey. It had been Rave’s before… “If he did return, and is alive. He may be a maester of Evanescing…”

“If one of such darkness takes Ravelyn’s hand, as you say. Then… She will fall. She will be bound to him by the chains of eternity, and the darkness will overcome him. If a seraphim falls, it will bring darkness on this land. You’ve seen what Rave’s capable of…put a toxin in her bloodstream and she will do damage…This is why he has taken her, regardless of his carnal desire.”

Genesis seemed to blank in and out of reality. “And this is why I must make my journey…and you must make yours. Come with me, but only halfway. I must go alone. I can’t…” she dismissed the thought with her hand. “I can see now. I have an insight…I know all of this, and I can’t explain why…follow me. Quickly…”
______

“Vaughn is not my father,” Qui said in reply. “Though I wish I could say he was…” He paused momentarily. His eyes shot up at the mention of Daja. “HE took her?” Qui said, now terribly alarmed. A growl clearly emitted from his throat. Out of sheer anger he punched the wall, causing quite a break in the wall, for he had used his force. His eyes flared a deep crimson, almost darkening for a moment. He calmed himself as the room went completely silent.

He looked down at the reptilian, “THAT is my father…” It was clear to see that there was no other bond between father and son that held such enmity as they did.
_______

The fire was everywhere, and countless demons were gathered. There was a long narrow pathway almost like a bridge which separated a few from the thousands below and across. Daja waited at the top, sitting in a chair, and enjoying the atmosphere all too well. Rave was lead through the clawing hands up the stairs. She was pulled, violently foreword. A hand clenched her wrist, and she let out a cry. Daja snapped up, his hand out, when forty feet away, the hand that grasped Ravelyn’s was torn violently from his bride. “Don’t touch her,” he said viciously to the demon. “She is mine.”

She was pressed forward, and she walked the path towards him, loathing his very essences. Halfway, she was stopped. “If you would be so kind,” Daja said in a gesture, having the guards back away from her. Ravelyn clenched her fists and glared at him. She closed her eyes, and her wings tore through her back, sending blood cascading down her back. It healed quickly, and her wings spread out in full; a mark of a seraphim.

“Enchanting,” he said softly. She was forced to progress forward, but struggled, her fist hitting a demon squarely in the forehead, killing him instantly. Two more went down, and Daja sighed. “No more of that…” He lifted his hand, and she ceased, knowing that the pressure around her neck was not normal.

It took ten minutes before they could get her by his side. It began.

Sarek stepped back again as if Qui had suddenly changed from a friend to an enemy. A terrible enemy. Only Qui could understand what Sarek had said but everyone in the room could analyse the change on the reptilian's face. As for Qui's punching on the wall, everyone knew that to be a gesture of anger that had nothing to do with Sarah's protection.

Witz pondered the situation. He didn't know Qui all that well, but he could see Ravelyn's son was not threatening the reptilian anymore. How Qui came to talk the same language was beyond him... surely a psionic thing, something he would be oblivious to... forever.

Genesis...

"Qui," Witz said, suddenly anxious. "What's going on?"

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Vaughn followed Genesis.

Quissera.

The name reminded him of his father. Why? Vaughn couldn't put his finger on it... but he was sure of one thing: his father had something to do with this Quissera.

In these moments, when everything around him seemed to have been connected a long time before, Vaughn always felt empty, like a doll thrown down into Fate. Everything was becoming mechanical. The fact that his encounter with Rave may be a part of a bigger plan made him dizzy.

I wonder whose errors I'm constantly fixing.

For a long time, Vaughn had thought his father to be the source of his curse. But, now that he had had the occasion to discuss those things with him, he couldn't tell. Apparently, his father had also been running the world fixing things he had nothing to do with.

Maybe it's a... function, he thought. Maybe I'm a kind of... tool.

Whatever the answer, he was feeling more and more tired. For years now, had he worked hard to pay back for sins that weren't his. But it had taken time for him to clearly understand he wasn't the one he thought: he wasn't responsible.

Then... who was?

Vaughn had always turned his reproaches toward his father and then himself. He had gone as far as blocking a part of himself so that he could be sure not to cause troubles. Now he knew. He knew he was dangerous but he also knew he was not evil. Here was more than a subtle difference: Zacharian was not evil. And if Zacharian wasn't evil, than Ravelyn Shentavo couldn't make things worse: there was nothing to worsen.

I love you, he sent to Rave as if he hadn't been more sure of his feelings.

Then he looked at Genesis.

"How come you didn't come with protection?" he asked.

"Protection?" Gene questioned. She shook her head. Whether she was the most powerful psion still around or whether she was the weakest was still a mystery. "I...I didn't want any guardians. I can handle myself quite well..."

She lead him up the mountain, the blackened stone seeming to laugh at both of them. She let her staff lead and support her. Even though Michael was with her, never did she feel more alone.

They came to a small clearing, eyes watched from all directions. Instead of being nervous, Genesis was unusually calm. The demons seemed to grow closer, and Gene looked at the ground. They were almost in striking distance. A few leapt up towards her, but she, herself, jumped into the air, flipping backwards. Her nearly white eyes flashed, and a light was emited from her staff, nearly blinding those whom watched. She landed on the ground, skidding backwards, but she brought herself to a hault, standing firmly with her staff still raised.

All the creatures lay dead, fallen from sky and earth. She took in a breath, and looked at Vaughn, giving him no more than a glance. She returned to her reserved self once again. "You're path is here..." she said softly, looking to an opening in the mountain where heat roared out of. "I can journey no longer with you...." She turned from her, beginning her decent up the mountain, trying not to look back.
_____

"Daja has taken Ravelyn..." Qui said in a low growl. "He is the cause for all of this!" Qui snapped, the growl growing louder with his vicious words. He was clearly not someone to be around at the moment.

He looked Witz dead in the eye. "He is the reason that Rave will fall, and that this land will be destroyed entirely if that happens. He is the reason that Genesis will die."

Witz's face turned white.

"I'll be damned if she dies," he said firmly. "Azerzdat, you stay here to protect Sarah and keep that..." he pointed Sarek. "... thing under control."

Witz turned onto himself. Everything in his attitude was different. He was a leader.

"Yakori?
- Yes?
- You sense the ring? (ooc: I assume Gene took the wedding ring... she did, right?)
- Of course I do."

Witz turned back at Qui.

"This could feel... uncomfortable... to someone not used to this kind of... material transfer."

He sighted.

"Now!" he said out loud, not even looking at Yakori.

Qui, Witz and Yakori disapeared from the room.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

- We could try something.
- What are you suggesting?
- Remember the City of d'Aangstryl?
- I remember you almost smashed the moutain down if I hadn't...
- Exactly my point.

Vaughn's eyes suddenly flashed. Zacharian was right. Genesis needed protection, Rave needed to be saved. And he could feel the energy all around him. Zacharian needed to be free... Free of Vaughn... out of control. This was dangerous, of course, but...

- The risk is acceptable, Zacharian's voice said. Agreed?
- Agreed, Vaughn answered.

With the left hand, Vaughn described his symbol in the air. With the right hand, Zacharian described his. Their body slowly faded into a mass of vapor, shadow with no clear shape. But when everything took form...

"It worked," Vaughn said.
"Of course, it did," Zacharian replied. "I never fail.
- Well, try not to once more, ok?
- Deal."

Zacharian looked around him, seeking for his path while Vaughn rushed after Genesis.

"You'd better wait for me, kid," he said to himself, playfully.

Gene rushed up the mountain, knowing that there was someone following behind her. I don't want to hurt you... she said softly. To herself; I dont' want to say goodbye to you ...

She reached the summit. There it was like a cliff, looking down into vapors which concealed what lay below. A blue hue lit up everything, but it was as dark as night. She looked out, twenty feet away from the edge.

She closed her eyes softly, taking in a deep breath.
________

"Take my hand..." Daja said to Ravelyn. Her hand trembled slightly. She reached out hesitantly, and he took her hand in his. The ceremony proceeded, but Rave just heard it as babbling and murmurs. She felt a nudge from him, and looked at the demon before her whom had haulted his words.

"I...I..." she couldn't form the words it would seem. With those words it would be accepted, as well as her fate.

"Say it," Daja said. "And no harm will come to them..."

"I---"

"I'm sorry to disturb this noble assembly, but I'm afraid this lady is already engaged..." The enormous voice had echoed all around the place as if walls themselves had spoken. "... to me, I might add."

Out of nowhere it seemed, Zacharian appeared. His movement had been so violent and unexpected he almost looked like a ghost. His dark long hair was flying in the air, electric, and the very fabric of the world seemed to vibrate at every one of his breath. The flash came then. And bodies flied all around. Flied, burned or exploded, it was quite difficult to say. But Daja was down on the ground, his wrist broken, while Zacharian was smiling with so much confidence and energy Hell itself seemed as weak a concept as a kindergarten, Zacharian with eyes darker than ever, Zacharian was holding Rave, already disapearing into the shadows.

Come and find me in there if you can, smartass, He sent Daja for he was already in the Dark Path.

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"Where do you think you're going?" Gene heard a voice say right in front of her.

Ravelyn had not seen it coming. She felt herself being swept up into someone's arms. She didn't have to look, she knew. Her arms were around his neck in seconds, burying her face into his chest. [i]I...never thought I'd see you again..." He felt the grip weaken as Rave passed out. The drugs were coarsing through her veins, and she was weak.

Daja roared with anger, his fangs bearing as the maester's eyes glowed red. He was the only maester...he had the only power. He lifted it's wrists, seeing the bone protruding from the skin, it healed. "Boy, you've made a grave error." In seconds Daja was into the dark path, with pure rage unknown to Qui.
_____

Genesis clenched her fists. She didn't want to open her eyes... she didn't want to say goodbye. "I'm going to end this hell..." she said softly. "If Ceclia hadn't have killed you...she would have been the one standing here."

"Cecilia? Killed me? What the..."

Then Genesis realized. This wasn't Vaughn's voice. It had the same inflexions, the same syntax but it was someone else's: it was Witz's for, if she had opened the eyes, she would have seen her fiancé, Qui and Yakori standing between her and the edge.

Yakori looked on his left. Vaughn appeared, walking casually, as if he was expecting the others to be there. But something else flickered at the periphery of the asian's vision. Something in the shadows.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Zacharian plunged his teeth into his finger. His black and deep blood began to pour from it. As Rave was fainting, he put of his own blood into her eyes, keeping them opened with his other hand.

That's the way I make people like me, he sent to her. Maybe it'll break the chains that have enslaved you for too long.

All of this had taken only a few seconds. Zacharian let Rave there, laying on the ground. He was so deeply worried he could have forgotten about the danger but he knew all too well what was going on.

He turned to face Daja.

"I see," Zacharian muttered. "I hoped we could avoid that confrontation but I guess there's nothing I could say to bring you back to your senses, is there?"

- Michael, Zacharian sent to his other self. I could use a little help.
- What's going on? Vaughn answered.
- Daja is in the Dark Path.
- uh?!? WHAT?!? But that would mean...
- Yep, she's surely around here... somewhere. Keep your eyes opened.

(ooc: AAAARG! Gotta go... I'll try to get online tomorrow... but not sure :/)

Rave felt something rush through her veins. It was intoxicating, whatever it was. It was counteracting the drugs as well. She felt herself being placed on the ground. How much she would have clung to him and whisper in his ear the knowledge she possessed.

Daja looked at Vaughn and sneered. "My senses?" he asked. "I'm Maester of Evanescing...if you think logic plays into that, then you are much deceived." he let out a laugh.

"Zacharian, you've been in hell before. Welcome to mine..." He awaited his attack

"Deceived... Now that's a word you must deeply relate to..." Zacharian said, keeping his distance. "Isn't it, Daja?" A cynical laughter went out of his throat. "Maester. How pompous. What do you think you're mastering?"

Zacharian waved at the place around them, the Dark Path, the black and white copy of the world, the frontier between two very different worlds. The Dark Path and its emptiness: the void in which one enters using shadows.

"See where you're standing..." Zacharian continued with a strangely patient and didactic tone. "... for this is the kind of places you've been standing in all your life. In fact, Daja, the only thing you ever mastered and you will ever master is the leak, the hole, the nothingness that is your soul." Zacharian smiled to his enemy as one would smile to a child, a lost child. "You talk about Hell? Hell is no place, Daja. There are thousands of worlds that pretend to be Hell but fact is Hell is inside of every one of us. Hell is a concept. Hell is a virus. Hell is the little voice inside of you that you cannot make stop, that drives you crazy. Yes, the voice you let decide for you."

Zacharian gave a quick glance at Rave.

"Can't you see?" he asked Daja, looking back up at the Maester of Evanescing. "Can't you see why you want her? You're not that stubborn. You even happened to be clever from time to time. But you don't wanna understand that, do you?"

Zacharian nodded negatively.

"What will you do? Get her by force? Then what?" He looked up at the sky, the fabric that was the sky in the Dark Path. "THEN WHAT?!?" he yelled. "What... will... it... change? You won't have her... not by her free will. You will win a prize that is not what you're seeking for. WHY THE HELL CAN'T YOU SEE IT?!?"

Zacharian's face contracted.

"You will become powerful? How pathetic! You will 'destroy the world'?" he added, sarcastic. "How dull! Fact is Daja is nothing more than an empty shell, a tiny point on the timeline, a son achieving his father's wish: a person with no purpose, no mind and no soul."

Zacharian paused a few seconds.

"But you already know all this, Daja, don't you? You can feel how empty your life is... that is why you want her. This has nothing to do with prophecies or heritages. Unfortunately, no one can be good for you. No one can feel for you. Like I said, your Hell is not a place: your Hell is YOU."

Yakori stepped between Qui and the things that had appeared, drawing his katana out, in a defensive position.

"Vapors," he muttered to himself. "Now that doesn't smell good."

Witz gave a quick glance at his bodyguard, still unaware of Vaughn's presence. He saw two dozens of these shadow-made beings appearing next to Yakori. Then he heard a voice. A voice he hadn't heard for too many years.

"These are not vapors!" Vaughn yelled, running to them. "These are demons!!! Demons that can use the Nacht!"

Too late. Yakori's body had already been cut in two, his legs falling on the ground while his torso was still turning in the air. Blood seemed to explode all around him, touching Qui right into his face.

Witz's eyes widened: Yakori hadn't had the time to react.

Impossible!

Vaughn rolled by his step-son's side, a blade made of shadows in the hand.

"With me," he said, giving a quick glance at Qui and Witz.

Azerzdat was bent onto Sarah. Sarek was working on the desk. It had been quite difficult for the two of them to communicate but Azerzdat had finally understood Sarek had an idea... something that may help the girl.

The ex-demon was anxious. The grief of Elaïne's death was still vivid within him, like some kind of rempant parasite that would have found a scratch suitable for it. Surely, this was due to the transformation. Before he became a human being, Azerzdat had never felt emotions... at least not that way. It was as if human beings had been cursed with negative feelings.

Meant to suffer, He thought, passing his hand into Sarah's tainted hair, sensing the heat, her sweat.

He looked up at Sarek. The reptilian had taken all sorts of plant samples out of his little leather bag and he was using an ashtray to make... to make what? Azerzdat didn't know. Hopefully, some kind of medication. Azerzdat would taste it before anyway... to make sure it wouldn't be dangerous for Sarah.

Well, if it's poison, it won't change anything, the ex-demon realized, smiling at his own stupidity.

"Interesting..." A feminine voice suddenly echoed into the room as calm as it was surprising. "... I don't know what's going on but defenses are quite weak in this place now," the voice continued, sarcastic and threatening. "Maybe the owners are concentrated on other matters."

Cecilia looked at Sarah, oblivious to Azerdat presence. The ex-demon tried to move but he was paralyzed.

"Here you are, sweet-heart," Cecilia said with too soft a tone. "I've been... looking for you."

Daja burst out in irrational laughter. It was clear to see his rational side was gone. "You know," Daja said. "She is more than a prize..." he looked up to Zacharian with a wicked inplacable smile that twisted at the ends. "So much more than that. And if not by free will, then by force. I see no difference..."

Daja was at such an angle of concentration, he was not able to see Rave pushing herself up from the ground in a catlike manner. Her ethereal eyes beautiful and frightening at the same time. It was then that a viciousness was send about her... She wasn't exactly the happiest person with Daja at the moment. She knew Zacharian would draw no attention to her. If Daja would have noticed that where there once lay Rave only lay a few drops of blood no the floor from her wounds. Rave had disappeared. If he listened hard enough, he would have been able to hear the deep growl in her throat watching him with anticipation.

"Emptiness is what I live for. I do admit though, I get a rush when I kill..." he drew a large shimmering blade from his side, and glanced at Zacharian. "You're words are worthless to a man without reason left. The question is...are you prepared to die again?"
______

Qui turned his head slightly as he felt the blood across his face. It fell across his lips as well, to which he simply licked. He glared at the demons, and cracked his fingers, brass knuckles on each hand. His alabastor skin was shaded in definition of his muscles. His bare back was oblivious to the cold air sweeping by.

Genesis' eyes intensified as the psion raised her staff and turned in a circle, the staff sending a white essence around her. "Chains of light, bind them..." Rays of light flickered from the orb that had formed around her, twisting like chains in search of the demons to bind them to their deaths.

Gene, the quiet one...such she never spoke of nor showed... Now it was apparent...The light disappeared, and Gene was gone. She had come to the other side of Witz and Qui, a few feet from the edge. I can end this...I can end this plague and this suffering...

The demons had disapeared under Genesis' attack.

"Something's wrong," Vaughn muttered, glancing at Qui. "Nice make-up, by the way," he added with a smile for it was as if Yakori's blood formed a red tatoo on Qui's face.

Genesis felt a hand grabbing her shoulder.

"Don't you jump," Witz said firmly, his lips nearly touching her ear as he was by her side although she hadn't seen nor heard him move. "Don't you leave me." His grasp slowly faded into a hug.
"Don't lower you defenses, Jeremy," Vaughn shouted at Witz, waving his blade of shadow within his right hand. "We are not rid of them." And he was right, for the demons reappeared one by one. "No," Vaughn continued. "They are quick. Quick enough to enter the Dark Path before they got hit."

Listen up, he sent to Qui and Genesis. The only way we can solve the problem is by teaming. I can block them so that they can't get in the shadows. Not for long but that can give the both of you an opportunity for a shot. He paused. Come on, Gene, he added with warm feelings. we need you here... alive and kicking.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Die?" Zacharian asked with a mocking voice. "Come on. You make it sound as if it was an accident. I sacrificed myself, Daja. That's a bit of a difference."

In a glimpse, Zacharian's body covered itself with an armor of shadow and a blade of shadow formed within his left hand. He walked slowly around Daja.

Something is wrong, he thought as he was somehow with Witz, Qui and Genesis on the top of the montain while facing Daja in the Dark Path. Why isn't she here?

His eyes widened.

Sarah...

This was the exact moment Daja had patiently waited for. A moment when Zacharian was not focussed on the combat anymore.

(ooc: let's see what Daja will do with this window ;) )

Qui chuckled at Vaughn's remark. He did not bother to wipe it off. It just added to his intimidating presence.

Gene had long since closed her eyes, wrapping her arms around Witz. "Go now...before they come back..." she said softly. "Please." She rested her head upon Witz' shoulder. "Evanescing is not a safe place...for anyone."

"Course it's not..." Qui said, with a laughter in his eyes. "I was born here..."

Gene lifted her eyes to see Qui a few feet behind Witz, closer to the edge than she had been. "What?"

"I was born here...the skies are blackened for a reason, as is this land."

"But, wasn't it---"

"Why the hell do you think my name is Qui?" he said softly. Gene's eyes widened in shock. "Mmm..."

"What?"

"Qui, Quissera...no relation there of course..." he said in his usual sarcastic way.

"You're not---"

"No, no I am not. That man died a long time ago after my father fell for an angel." He paused momentarily. "So you know, Gene, I can't let you die on my account. I'm too stubborn for my own good. I kill at random, I have so many affairs that I am suprised Katarina is still by my side. She's young and powerhungry...she'll find someone else to hang on." He shook his head with a lighthearted laugh. He looked to the edge, then back at Gene.

"You can't...you're not a psion..."

"Please," Qui said rolling his eyes slightly. "If you honestly think that a son of two psions would not possess the gift himself, then you are very misguided. While my skills aren't as honed as yours are..." He cracked his knuckles. "I certainly can handle those demons better than you can."

He walked to the edge, and turned back. "Vaughn...I...I am sorry that I didn't get to know you better. I would have liked having you as a father, but of course I had to maintain my reputation. Take care of her for me..." he sighed softly. "I was always so rebellious. I never settled down. Hell, I still am. But that's just my nature, a natural depravity perhaps. We fought so much, but in the end she just ended up saving my sorry ass. I chose fights, and I dont' know when to stop. I never will. I'm impulsive and don't like being told what to do. I am drawn to the darker side of life; Azari...we'll end it there. But when it comes down to it, I'm really soft at heart..." He chuckled to himself, then waved his hand as his mother would have to dismiss the thought. "Ahhh, who the hell am I kidding. I'm a bad ass by blood. You can blame my mother for that one. Ask her about her life before she ruled the land, and you'll get some pretty interesting stories."

He then turned to Genesis. "Genesis, what can I say. You've been my rival, and sort of my sister for as long as I can remember. I'm sorry about that scar, and yes it was a cheap shot, but what else can I say?" he paced slightly. "I remember when you and Eclipse had quite the confontation. Seth then fell for her, and you couldn't stand the sight of her. 'member? I had to hold you back from tackling her to the ground because she interrupted you on the day you had met Witz." he shakes his fist in laughter. "Damn those vampire slayers who end up falling for members of a Shentavo bloodline..."

"Witz..." he said, still laughing to himself. "Take care of her, eh? Never let her jump, because she will....I know that for a fact." He walked up to Witz, turning him away from Gene, and holding his shoulders rather harshly. His tone darkened. "Know that the only reason I am letting you be with Gene is because your intentions are good and that's a hell of a ring. If it ever changes, I will put an end to you..." He backed up slightly, and gently pushed Witz on the shoulder with a smirk on his face; signaling it was a joke. Although he was joking, he had been pretty convincing, which sent shivers down Gene's spine.

He turned, but she grasped his wrist. He paused momentarily. "I'll be back," he said softly. She tilted her head downwards to hide the disapproval in her eyes. He lifted it up with the tips of his fingers. "Keep your head up, ya?"

She nodded in response, with a forced smile. Her hand slipped from his wrist, and he looked at them. He walked to the edge. “Don’t worry about me,” he said with confidence and a bit of an attitude. “I’ll end this…”

“And Gene?” her head perked up as she heard his voice again, like a puppy’s would have.
“Yes?”
“Tell Katarina…I’m sorry that I couldn’t complete her training.”
Gene’s jaw dropped. “That’s all you want to say to her?” she said in surprise. He turned around and shrugged.
“Yea, well…I was never one to love.” He scratched his head. “Besides…she just likes power and my incredibly awesome physique.” Gene laughed at this. He always had been egotistical at sometimes. However, that’s what gave him his persona. He wouldn’t be Qui if he wasn’t arrogant or headstrong…but she knew there was something more. “And don’t worry…they never dealed with a…God I can’t even classify myself anymore. Well, they’ve dealt with deadly psions, but never with a very very very dangerous man.”
He turned, and jumped. Gene rushed to the edge, and she saw the fading outline of one with razor sharp wings heading into the fog below. She smiled, and nodded.
I wish you luck…
Luck? Who are you kidding? I’m Qui Shentavo.

Daja saw this opportunity and immediately struck out with his blade at Vaughn, striking his arm in a diagonal slash. He brought the blade up once again, toward his stomach in a horizontal cut. He rounded the magnificent blade within his right hand and thrust it toward Zacharian. He felt the blade cut though the flesh. He felt something was wrong.
He looked at which it had cut, and saw Ravelyn before him, blade through her chest. Daja’s eyes looked her over, she was not falling down. He held the handle as she walked toward him, the blade pushing completely through her and up to the hilt. Her eyes were a blood red. Her hands quickly gripped the hilt as Daja released it in shock. She pulled it from herself quickly, whipping it through the air to pierce through Daja’s arm. She growled loudly, and lunged at him.

The metal claw like weapon around her hand slashed across his face. He tore the blade from his arm and through her once more, this time directly into her heart. She hit it with such force that it was pulled from her as his arm contracted.

He stepped back and yelled in frustration. “WHY WON’T YOU DIE!?”

She smiled, and looked back at Zacharian, shifting her gaze back toward Daja. “I’m Ravelyn Shentavo, maybe I’m just lucky.” She spun around quickly, delivering the heel of her boot into Daja’s jaw. Red energy flickered in her hand with the clawlike weapon of which Zacharian hadn’t seen before. Rave reached toward Daja, her hand becoming transparent as she reached inside of him. She pulled out a black orb and looked at him as his eyes expressed his horrors. She clenched it, and it shattered. He disappeared.
Stay dead this time… she said softly to herself, and looked back to Zacharian…now unable to speak to him.

Zacharian sighted.

"Remind me not to give of my blood too often," he said with mixed feelings. He walked to Rave and put his hand onto her shoulder. "My love," he whispered. "God knows I'd like to keep you in my arms. God knows I'd like to make love to you for hours, days, months, until the end of time if it was to happen. But I think we've been deceived, as much as Daja had."

He walked backward, his face darkened. He turned around Rave and looked deeply into her eyes.

"See. We're both here. Gene, Witz and..." he hesitated slightly. "...Qui are here too. Yakori is dead. Isn't there someone missing?"

He nodded as he saw Rave understood.

"I'm sure Cecilia has something to do with Daja's return. The fact he came into the Dark Path is a proof if I ever needed one. But her target... of course... her target had always been Sarah. That's why she killed Elaïne in the first place: she needed Sarah unprotected."

His eyes went wet.

"I'm telling you because..." his voice was but a breathe. "I'm telling you because I honestly don't know how much time I have left here. Given my... runaway, I'd say I may be gone shortly and for quite a long time. The person I work for, now, that person doesn't take betrayal lightly."

He stepped back again, fighting against his desires, trying not to take Rave into his arms. It was so strange to see him that way, Zacharian, not Vaughn for Rave could sense Vaughn was not there - even if she couldn't truly understand what that meant. Zacharian, the powerful being, about to crack into tears because he loved someone but was bond to another person.

"There's been someone... around," he continued with a sad tone. "I know I'm being observed. I know I've been somehow authorized to intervene. But I also know this person will take me back once I have finished what I have to."

He stepped forward, speaking softly but still keeping his distance from Rave.

"I may be gone any minute, so I must talk to you, my love. My lips can't kiss you, we don't have time for this. There are things you must know. You must know about Elaïne, Sarah and me. How we're connected, the three of us, and what Cecilia could do with Sarah."

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Vaughn looked as Qui jumped not knowing what to do.

Zacharian would have loved to be your father, he couldn't help to think.

He looked around, the demons were still staying away, though Vaughn couldn't clearly understand why. He looked down at the remains of Yakori and smiled as some parts were already massing together.

You take your time, today, my friend, Vaughn thought, remembering the old days when Yakori and himself were travelling all around the world.

"We can't let him go alone!" Witz shouted out loud but somehow to himself.
"It's his decision," Vaughn answered, still staring at the demons. "Not yourse. Not mine. Not Gene's. I can relate to what he feels. I know how it feels to be one's father's son.
- But that's stupid! He's powerful, I don't deny it, but he'll surely need help.
- Think, my friend, think," Vaughn said with a sarcastic tone. "And I had imagined you had learned while I wasn't around. What a fool I am!
- Think about what?" Witz asked angrily. "Think about what?
- We have enemies here, all around us. We need to team to fight them. And..." Vaughn's voice took into strength. "... if I really thought Rave's child to be in danger, I would have jumped myself. Rest assure of one thing, Qui is not alone. That I can sense."

Then the demons rushed onto them.

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Qui was falling. Qui was falling alone. Then what was this feeling? What was this scratch on his ego that made him convinced he was being followed?

The very very very dangerous man's eyebrows bent slightly.

(ooc: there's someone, he cannot sense that person, deal? ;) )

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"The machine is ready.
- Good," Cecilia said with an incredibly satisfied grin. "Very good. Get the girl and put her into it."

The Vapor began to walk to the cells.

"Oh," Cecilia added. "And make sure to release the Abominations in the Dark Path. We wouldn't want her parents to spoil the party, would we?"

The Vapor simply nodded.

“You left me once Vaughn,” I say softly, drawing the stray strands of brown hair from my face to set them back in place. I didn’t know if I was alive or dead in his words. They saved me, and at the same time tore me in two. The words, so many wanting to be said, only got caught within my throat. No matter how hard I struggled, I could not say all that was needed to be said. In my possession, I had one thing to end this… “I will go with you this time.”

I fight to keep the tears from my eyes, trying to remain strong as the emotion cuts at my skin. While he can fight it, I can not. I had spent too many years fighting it to let it pass by. For several years now, I had not seen his face; only in my spheres could I see him. Then, it was just memories. I would die for that memory.

I watched as he backed up slightly from me, tension building in my wrists as I clenched my fists. The metal of my weapon dug into the palm of my flesh as I did so, however I did not care to see the blood dripping from my hand. I felt like I was living and dying in the same moment. I felt myself falling, my hands reaching out to hold him. Buried my cheek into his chest and held him so tightly. I knew that he may not have a lot of time. That also meant that I did not either. “Tell me,” I say softly, urging him to continue.
____

“Qui will be alright,” Genesis said in a usual tone. “I’m sure of it.” For the first time, she smiled. She straightened up as she saw the demons around her. The psion lifted her glasslike eyes towards them, and raised her white staff before them. A burst of white light shot in small wisps like shooting stars. Each twisted into the nearest and caused them to fall to the ground. But there were more then the ones struck down, and she could not cast again so soon. “Let’s do this…”
___
Qui landed swiftly, his wings fading behind him. They were battered and blackened anyway. It suited him. He held his sword resting on his shoulder, possessing the arrogant strut that was so accustomed to his character. He walked down the black marble path, his boots clicking against the stone.

He made his way to two double doors, majestic in beauty. He walked up the steps and tried to open them. They did not give way. Even with his magic and tricks he could not make them budge. He rolled his eyes and walked back down the stairs.

Suddenly, upon his descent, the doors flung open. He saw a man he had only seen in his nightmares; well, dreams for him. Qui turned sideways slightly, tilting his head to better observe him. “ ‘ello granddaddy…” he said in a haunting tone. His blade was brought down in front of him.

Quissera, that's what I thought.

He let his eyes wander onto the stairs, onto Qui's back, onto Quissera's face.

Here to fix errors... even mine, Loki remembered He told him. Now I see what you were talking about.

The Archangel didn't move. He was observing. Surprised that his following Zacharian had lead him in front of an old friend.

Someone that used to... used to and betrayed me.

But Loki was not one to take someone else's place and, as much as he knew he had a part to play, he also knew Qui Shentavo was there for a reason: facing Quissera... facing himself for Qui was much more like his grand-father than Daja had ever managed to.

Daja...

Loki thought about Ravelyn Shentavo and Zacharian... and this "Michael Vaughn", this other personality within Zacharian that the Archangel had never been aware of before.

I'd better keep an eye on those two.

Then he remembered nothing was to happen by accident and he stood still.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Vaughn smiled.

"All right, gentlemen..."

He rushed into the demons. Never had he been that fast or was it that he had never shown his real speed before? Michael Vaughn was nothing but a dark storm, a twister of shadow, a deadly and sharp ghost. His adversaries had no choice but to dodge or jump away. Which, of course, was leading them into light, far from any shadow that they could have escaped through. All of Vaughn's energy was bent onto that: keeping the demons away from the shadow, driving them as close as possible from Genesis and Witz.

"Let's do this..." Witz repeated, stepping forward.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

(ooc: love the fp perspective of the last post)

Zacharian's face was covered with tears.

"I can't... I can't be strong... I'm sorry..." he babbled like a young child. "I'm trying..."

Rave could sense he wasn't really talking to her. But soon, Zacharian plunged his wet eyes into Rave's. He stayed silent, trying to breathe regularly, to no avail.

"And I'm not Vaughn," he said as if this was very important, with some kind of jealousy in the voice.

Then he explained everything about Sarah, about Elaïne and about himself. He explained how a part of Elaïne was inside of himself ("but not right now," he said, mysterious) and, as a consequence, how a part of Elaïne was inside of Sarah. And he explained what could be done with Sarah's blood, what powers Cecilia could unleash (ooc: let's say it's frightening... no details yet ;) ).

"But for that to be done," he added. "She needs Sarah dead."

A few minutes later…

Qui sat at a table across from Quissera inside the front hall behind the double doors. One remained open. Laughter could be heard from both. Qui lifted his glass and hit it against the one across from him, downing it in seconds. “And then…” Qui said trying to control his laughter. “the guy goes over to the other guy and…” his conversation was interrupted by random shots of laughter repeated by Quissera, “slaps him straight across the face. He looks him dead in the eye and says ‘Sorry, it’s the sheep’”

Both men are nearly on the floor in laughter. The close resemblance between the two was remarkable, even if it had skipped a generation. Quissera sighed and set his glass down, “I really wish I had a son like you.”

“No you don’t,” Qui said, laughing again. Was he drunk? “No, you really don’t. I’d end up killing you or causing the apocalypse…well, again.” He chuckled to himself.

“Shit!” Quissera said, and smashed his glass to the floor. “You’re brilliant mother just killed Daja.”

“Bloody ‘ell,” Qui scoffed. “She’s always takes the good ones. I can’t believe he is you son. That’s just creepy…”

“Well, can’t win them all. You know what they say; those demon wenches can sure put a spell on you.”

“Tell me about it,” Qui said with a smirk. “Azari kept me up all night and tried to kill me the next day. What can I say, women are my weakness.”

“Mine too,” Quissera said in agreement. The two were so alike. He leaned back in his chair, throwing his feet upon the table. “So, I heard Rave has turned hellspawn. That true?”
“Yea,” Qui sighed. “Not sure what she is anymore. I don’t even know how she is still alive. Technically she’s not supposed to be. It’s a constant battle, you know?”

“Mmmm…” Quissera nodded his head. “And this Zacharian?”

“Don’t get me into the story about those two…” Qui laughed. He waved his hand in an over exaggerated gesture. “Rabbits*” he said in explanation. Quissera laughed at this. “Well, I enjoyed all of this thoroughly…but I have a sister to save.”

“Don’t tire yourself out too much,” Quissera said with a smile. “And send Gene down here. We DO need a psion.”

“Aw com’mon!” Qui said. “Why don’t you just take me?”

“Because you’re my grandson and too dark,” Quissera said. Qui grinned at this assessment. “I need one of light.”

“I can’t let you do that.” Qui said, drawing his sword.

“Oh…” Quissera stood up, and walked down the steps to Qui’s side. “We have to fight now, don’t we?”

“Unfortunately,” Qui said in regret. “Well, I’ll make a deal with you… There is this pretty demon “wench” by the name of Cecilia. She is threatening my sister and has harmed a many very close to me. Can’t you kill her first and then we’ll fight. That or you can kill her and Gene will fight you. Either one.”

Quissera sighed. He seemed to be familiar with that name. “Alright, but I’m only doing this because I need Gene.”

“And because I’m your favorite grandson,” Qui added, wasted out of his mind.

“You need to handle your blood better…”

“It was over a millennia old! That stuff is powerful…”

“We’ll build up your tolerance after…I’ll see to Cecilia now.”

“Make it painful?”

“Oh, of course.”
_____________

Genesis let out a ray of light once more, but they were still coming. She lifted her staff into the air, spinning it within her fingertips skillfully. A white translucent barrier shifted over the three. Physical attacks on them were reduced by 50%. There was so many, but it did help. She took less damage this way.

She felt her fangs sink quickly into the demonic flesh. She withdrew then, throwing a kick to its face and sending it backwards. Apparently psions were not all serene and calm.

_____

I sensed the jealousy in his voice immediately. “I know,” I say softly. Before me stood the man that I fell in love with. He had to sides to himself, however, Vaughn was a degree of himself if he could just see that. He was part of him. I look him directly in the eyes, wiping the tears with my fingertips from his eyes. I admit that mine were none the better, but I had grown stronger.
I could not hold him any tighter. I wanted to stay that way forever. I drew back slightly, looking up to him. “I love you, Zacharian.” It was the first time, I admit, that I had said that directly to him. It had always been within my heart.
I kissed him softly. I can take you there…I just need to know where she is.

It was so hard for me not to tell him I knew of Gene’s fate. I knew of Qui’s fate. I knew of my own. I couldn’t’ tell him that I was… that I wasn’t… I just couldn’t. If this was true, then why do I feel all this emotion within? Why does it tear at me constantly? God damn it all to hell! Am I here, now?
Or did I die?

"Getting out? I guess you're kidding, right?" Loki appeared, but a thin image at first then consistant, real. "Quissera," he said between his teeth. "So you were still hiding in this shithole. And to think I believed you were in Hell or wherever traitors like you are to end up."

Loki's aura was pulsating, a white so pure even Genesis's would have seemed grey compared to it (ooc: hint hint).

"I made the mistake to trust you, a long time ago," he murmured angrily, "now is payback time."

He jumped onto Quissera.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Witz was battling around Gene, stabbing, cutting, killing but enemies were pouring from every inch that wasn't lighted.

"All right..." Vaughn muttered, seeing the demons were too numerous. "All right," he repeated. "So you give me no other choice."

In a flash of pure light, Vaughn's armor and blade disapeared. All the demons stopped at once, like stunned by Vaughn's radiant face, his hair vibrating like fire. Never had he looked that wise, that old, never had he looked that elvish. His lips were moving, forming words that couldn't be heard. In this state of concentration, he was looking a lot like his deceased sister.

Something crackled all around Witz, all around Gene, all around the demons. Was it the wind? Was it their own heartbeats? It was as if a wave had struck the very essence of every being around of Vaughn. But it was more than that, every rock, every little particle in the air, everything seemed bond to Vaughn's will at that very moment. Everything was depending on him, like a drawing is the property of its painter.

Vaughn's eyes opened suddenly, plunged onto the group of demons. As he spoke, a melody could be heard. Invisible strings resonated, echoing every one of his words.

"You. Never. Existed." he said slowly.

And the demons disapeared.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"I want all of it," Cecilia said, looking at the gigantic carafe under Sarah, already filled with blood. "Until her very essence is within it."

She stepped backward, observing her servants working on the machine.

"Then I'll be able to command to reality," she muttered to herself. "And you will be mine, Zacharian."

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

If only I knew where she was... Zacharian sent back, unable to speak. Maybe... maybe Vaughn could.

He put his hand onto Rave's face, gently caressing her eyebrow with his finger, again and again, immobile.

Yes, Vaughn will be able to help, let's get to him, he sent again but with a smile this time.

Quissera vanished in a swirl of black smoke, reappearing behind Qui. "My world, Loki." He said with a vicious grin. "My rules." With that he vanished as his son had in front of Zacharian.

Qui looked at Loki, then sat down at the table, leaning back. "Yo!" he said and yawned. He stretched his arms up over his head, then relaxed his muscles.
_____

"You...Never...Existed..." The words echoed through Genesis' mind so clearly as Vaughn said them. She watched as the demons vanished around her.

After they vanished, Gene was on her hands and knees, her staff broken in two. She looked up to Witz, helpless. Slowely, she stood up, looking at her hands which had now become transparent.

"No..." she said softly, shaking her head. "I...am only a dream."She stood at the edge as her image faded slightly, and became whole again, each time becoming more and more transparent. She turned and looked back at the two as they stood there.

"I-I'm not real," she repeated. "I feel all this emotion, and wonder how it could not be real. I fooled myself for the longest time, I...I never fully understood what it meant. When I used psionics that day, Witz...I was beginning the ending of this dream sequence. I...don't exist. I am a shade, and...and nothing more."

"Don't risk everything, for a memory..." With that, she turned and jumped off the cliff in a dive. Her image faded before it was supposed to. That was because, she never hit the ground. She never made it halfway down.
_______________

Rave looked at Zacharian, and wrapped her arms around his neck. She held him close, not letting him know of the seering pain that had just entered her heart. "I'll find her."

With that, both vanished.

Witz didn't move. He didn't say a word. Everything was silent. Then the sound echoed, thin but clear.

A ring.

The ring. The promise he had given her, now shattered deep down behind the mist for there was no more finger to put it on, for there was no more Genesis. There never was? Then what was this pain? What were these feelings so vivid he couldn't breathe anymore? What was all this?

Then it began, the tremble, all his body shaken like the toy of a sadistic puppetman. His skin seemed to fade as his very energy was pouring from it. Winds awakened. And the sound. A defening silence. Just the pressure of the air now charged with sorrow. Then it all stopped for something had died within Jeremy Witz.

A tear rolled onto his face then fell down on the ground, breaking into little pieces as it had taken the shape of a diamond. He didn't understand. He couldn't understand.

"Is everything all right?" he heard a voice ask far, far away, or so it seemed to him.

Witz looked up at Vaughn and chuckled. His eyes had slightly turned red, turned slightly insane.

"Gene is no more, how do you think I feel?"

Vaughn stared at Witz, clueless.

"Gene? Who is that?"

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Loki smiled at Qui then disapeared in a swirl of white energy.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

There was a boat, a radiant boat onto the calmest sea she had ever seen. She just had to walk down the hill. She knew she had to. The feel of the grass onto her naked feet seemed to her as an invitation.

This was a warm and sunny day. It was noon but she was sure it was meant to be noon in this place, always,forever. She felt out of time, out of reality, at peace, somehow at home in a fantasy world, in a dream.

Then a figure appeared, a tall and beautiful woman with the most delicate face. She was dressed with a long and white robe that covered her arms only to the elbows and Genesis realized she was dressed alike.

"I've been waiting for you," Elaïne said with the most engaging smile. She waved at the boat behind her. "This is the ship that'll take us to the West, behind the Sea. I thought I could wait for you so that you don't have to travel alone."

As Genesis didn't move, Elaïne came closer to her and putting a hand onto her shoulder. The gesture had been quick but delicate, friendly.

"We are most alike, you and me, Genesis Shentavo," Elaïne whispered. "We are but dreams come to life by chance or by the will of others. But does it make any difference? Not now I suppose." She looked at the sea, at the West. "Your place is with us now. Some are eager to see you, to talk to you... and I'm sure you're eager to see what is before us."

The elf began to walk to the ship, down the hill. She gave a quick glance back at Genesis, still smiling.

"Come."

Genesis followed, keeping her head downcast. If I am a dream, then why do I feel all of this...this emotion in me. Why am I not indifferent? Why am I a tool?! She thought to herself silently, and followed Elaine, saying nothing. She couldnt' say anything.
____

Qui rolled his eyes. "Beings of light, always showing off..." he said chuckling, then fell over, drunk and unconscious.
____

In seconds the two were back at the Academy in the room that Sarah had been in. She saw the reckage from the fight, and shook her head. She then knew it had began a while ago...

She ran her fingertips along the couch Sarah had been on. "Where the hell did you take her!" Rave yelled suddenly in frustration. It was clear for Zacharian to see that her rage had built substantially. Hell knows no fury like a woman's scorn.
____

Celcilia... Quissera whispered silently to her. It didn't seem if he was even present there...perhaps just a communication.

Genesis followed, keeping her head downcast. If I am a dream, then why do I feel all of this...this emotion in me. Why am I not indifferent? Why am I a tool?! She thought to herself silently, and followed Elaine, saying nothing. She couldnt' say anything.
____

Qui rolled his eyes. "Beings of light, always showing off..." he said chuckling, then fell over, drunk and unconscious.
____

In seconds the two were back at the Academy in the room that Sarah had been in. She saw the reckage from the fight, and shook her head. She then knew it had began a while ago...

She ran her fingertips along the couch Sarah had been on. "Where the hell did you take her!" Rave yelled suddenly in frustration. It was clear for Zacharian to see that her rage had built substantially. Hell knows no fury like a woman's scorn.
____

Celcilia... Quissera whispered silently to her. It didn't seem if he was even present there...perhaps just a communication.

Quissera? Cecilia answered puzzled. What the Hell are you up to again?

She took the last sip of the carafe. Her eyes turned slightly red. She smiled, staring at Sarah's dead body, sensing all the energy now flowing into her veins.

"Now I can do what I have to..." she muttered to herself. "First, your weakness..."

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Witz looked at Vaughn, eyes wide opened.

"What do you mean, who she is?" he said, unable to understand what was going on. How could he have? He didn't have a soul. He was matter. He was oblivious to the disapearance of others from reality. Genesis hadn't been erased from his memory for his memory wasn't etheral.

Vaughn walked to him.

"You're sure you're all right? I think..."

Then Vaughn disapeared.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Then your love. Cecilia thought.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Zacharian put his hands around his head and shouted. Pain. Pain. Pain for he could feel a part of himself had disapeared. He turned onto himself, dizzy, blind, deaf.

Rave... Rave... Cecilia... Matter... stick to matter... stay!

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Vapors hadn't seen him coming. Azerzdat had cut one's head, disemboweled the other in rage. He was already rushing onto his target.

One arm is enough. He convinced himself as he jumped onto Cecilia, unaware that she was of her surrounding, concentrated onto reality, onto bending it, onto removing Vaughn and Rave from it so that Zacharian would be hers, all hers. Good thing you never thought of me as someone important, Azerzdat thought, sensing life slowly fading away from him. I have one breath left, and it'll be the witness of your death, bitch!

But he disapeared before he even had the chance to reach her.

In fact, he had never existed.

#tagged

"Cecilia..." Quissera said after a long pause, passing toward her. He took a vile from his belt, filled with a sanguine liquid. He downed it quickly, tossing it to the side as the glass shattered to the ground. "I would ask the same thing as you, except that you are hurting my daughter in law as well as my grand-daughter. That's not a wise move," the prince of darkness said as he stepped toward her, his cold eyes pinning her.

"And what have you been doing?" he said with an unusual smile. She could now sense his immediate attraction to the blood. "Are you sure there is no blood left in her?" she sensed a total change in his demeanor from rage to interest. He walked over to Sarah.

_________________________________

I was unusually calm. There was one very major mistake Cecilia had made. In a haunting tone, I saught out Cecilia's mind as if she were a beacon. I can sense her clearly now...You screw with my fiancè, you sign a guarentee for your own death. But the minute you mess with my daughter, you just bought yourself a torture that will tear at you slowly, ripping parts from you piece by piece, again and again for all of eternity. There will be no escape. There will be no lock that you can break or chain that you can sever...

I help Zacharian up from the ground, and look directly into his eyes. "Give me your pain. I can handle it..." I say softly. I knew he would resist this. There was one thing that I hadn't told him. I wish I could. He would realize it soon enough. I know you're going to be stubborn in this, but your pain is fuel for the fire, my love. I do not wait for him to agree. I kiss him gently, and I concentrate with all my percision. I feel it entering my body. It was something I hadn't expected. It was so intense, that my muscles tensed. After losing him once before, this could not compare.

"Don't worry about me," I say softly. I take a chain from around my neck. The one left behind I had given him once before. I clasp it around his neck, biting my lip to hide the pain now within me. From him, it was hard to hide.

(ooc: you know you trust me... so don't have a heart attack yet ;) )

Rave sensed the attack. But was it an attack really? At first her vision became blurry. It was the pain. What else could it have been? It had to be Zacharian's pain.

It wasn't.

Ravelyn Shentavo was used to fight. She was used to take damages. She was used to give herself to the very limits. But something was definitly, dangerously wrong. Dangerously for there was no enemy to fight. There was no fight. There was nothing. Her surrounding was disapearing. So was Zacharian. So was the mansion. So was the pain. So was her rage which would have proved frustrating if there had been frustration wherever she was falling.

The last thing she saw was her arm, translucent, fading away, slowly vanishing from the very reality. Images poured into her brain. Her whole life passing before her eyes. Millions of images. More vivid than any artefact could have rendered them. Things she thought forgotten, things she thought lost. Millions of images forming, burning and going with the wind. Ashes.

For the first time in her entire existence, Ravelyn Shentavo felt she had lost. Worse, she knew she had lost. She couldn't fight against nothing. She couldn't fight if she wasn't... if she had never been.

Then she felt. Never had she felt so vividly for it happened just right before she truly, definitly vanished. An incredible burst of pain in her back as she felt something penetrating her skin, her flash, down to the bones. Then heat began to flow within her blood, invading her body, warm life, warm reality. Warm.

She finally opened her eyes. She was down on the floor. How could it be? She didn't even realize she had fallen. Zacharian was bent onto her, eyes wide opened, a strange light illuminating his face, as if he had been the witness of a real miracle. He touched her face as to make sure she was really there, in front of him, alive or, more adequatedly, in the same world as he was. His touch was soothing and Rave's sensations had never been so atuned. She was the blind recovering sight.

Zacharian's eyes went up, filled with gratitude, and Rave followed his movement to see what or who he was staring at so intensely. There was the most peculiar being she had ever seen: reptilian, with wings - one being severely damages-, cleaning a blade covered with a mix of blood and of a strange green and viscous liquid. The thing granted her with what seemed to be a smile.

"The Death of the Prophet can prove handy sometimes, it seems," Sarek said in a language Rave knew not to have heard before but understood immediately.

Something strange occured within her. She recognized Sarek to be a stranger, stranger to this world, stranger to the very reality he was stading in at that very moment. She didn't know what he had innoculated but she felt as if she had came from the same place now. She felt dephased. Out of everything. That and Zacharian's blood still running through her veins, she felt anew, she felt reborn, she felt complexified and simplified at the same time. And more stunning was her memory for everything she had seen, all her souvenirs running before her eyes while she was simply disapearing, everything was now clear, logical, ordered, understandable.

Sarek put the big knife in place into his staff. He felt relieved for he had managed to do something useful, unlike when the woman had came to take the girl. Maybe, one day, he'll tell Zacharian and his fiancée what a deadly poison the Death of the Prophet really was. Maybe, one day, he'll tell them that, within a second, he had decided to believe, trust legends he had withdrawn for years. Now he had a proof: there was a Maker for everything that was meant to kill could be used to heal. That was enough for the orphan he was to find a meaning in life. Sarek was at peace.

He laughed.

"What say we go kick some asses now?"

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Quissera looked at the machine. An intricate device with his grand-daughter body levitating in the middle. Wood, ancient stones, metal, all of it looked like a devilry even beyond his own imagination. He would have smiled at the concept hadn't it been for Sarah's body. If that could still be called a body.

A mummy. A piece of paper that is about to fall into ashes, he couldn't help to think for there was nothing liquid left into it. Nothing. Wouldn't it have been for the powerful magic feeding the gigantic artefact, no doubt Sarah's remains would have faded away.

But then, everything disapeared: the machine, the body. And Quissera found himself into an empty room. Just a thought, a thought that wasn't his, echoed in his mind before silence definitely took possession of the room.

I have nothing against you, Quissera. I admire you and I always enjoyed our meetings. What I do is my business just like what you do is yours.

Then nothing for Quissera couldn't sense the presence of Cecilia. At all. Which was impossible but, still, was.

"Where were we?" the voice of Loki broke into the silence. "Oh yes. Paying you back, my old friend."

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

He opened the eyes. Only half of his body was already regenerated. No need to say how painful it was but seeing a friendly face nearly managed to make him smile nonetheless.

"Damn..." he muttered with difficulty. "These things were fast."

Witz didn't answer. Never had Yakori seen so much concern onto his employer's face.

"What is it?" the japanese asked. "What happened? Genesis? Vaughn?
- Gone," Witz answered. "Like... removed."

Witz looked at Yakori intensely.

"You do remember them, right?" he asked.
"Of course, I do," Yakori, the self-made elemental, replied. "why wouldn't I?
- I don't know. It's just... just an idea I have.
- Looks like an idea you'd better share with me.
- Remember the day Elaïne got rid of the elementals, in Earth II?
- Of course I do."

A flash of light passed onto Yakori's eyes.

"You think she stole that ability from Elaïne?
- How could she have?" Witz thought out loud. "Azerzdat had Elaïne's body, right?
- Yes," Yakori said, suddenly feeling pain more vividly as he remembered what Azerzdat had done to him as a revenge for Elaïne's death. "yes he had.
- She would need her body to..."

Witz stood up immediatly.

"What is it?" Yakori asked.
"Get yourself fixed as fast as possible.
- Wh... What? What's going on?
- There's only one other person I know of that can toy with reality...
- Sarah!"

"I've enjoyed are meetings as well Cecilia...just give me my grandaughter..." he said firmly. He sighed as he was taken through this. The light burned his eyes. Drac and Lilith would have likely burned under this. He squinted slightly, and saw before him, Loki.

"Oh come off it Loki," he said viciously. "You can't beat me in this world. You're too weak, boy."
_____

Qui drowsily rose and staggered slightly. He then stood straight and whiped the red liquid from his lips. "Handle my blood better?" he chuckled to himself. "You've got to be kidding me..."

Qui froze. He knew. After he drank that blood, he knew who it was from. "Can't be..." He stood up, and felt it rushing through his veins. "He's not alive anymore... Could this mean that he is part of my bloodline?"

Qui scoffed. "Well, I hold that indirectly responsible for my anger..." He carried his sword over his shoulder and sauntered up the steps.

"You really shouldn't leave Evanescing unprotected...you don't know who will get in..." He got to the door and saw the imprint on it. He brought his hand up and placed it there. Five razor sharp claws clamped down on it and blood poured into it, then through the grooves on the door. The claws then released, and the doors opened.

He stepped inside, and closed the doors behind him.

"Break my chains."
________

I managed a laugh, trying to get over this over overwhelming feeling. I look up to my beloved, feeling his arms help me raise myself. I look down at my dress, noticing it torn in some places. I chuckle to myself. “Well,” I say with a light sigh, “I’m not going like this.” At least I kept my sense of humor. I had lost it several years ago, but it seemed to be returning.

Without time for him to dispute, I pull Zacharian with me as I nearly run through the halls. For the first time, I smiled as I ran. I came to a sharp turn, and wouldn’t be surprised if Zach nearly fell over. I was quite fast. I came to a door familiar to me. It was the one of my restoration. I place my hand on the door, the imprint fitting my hand. Five piercing blades quickly pierce the skin. I do not flinch, as my other hand holds his tightly. I watch as my blood cascades down into the grooves of the door, and it unlocks, the blades withdrawing.

I do not bother to watch my hand heal, I pull Zacharian inside. It was a magnificent place possessing ethereal beauty with a quality that seemed heavenly. There were the three relics I had obtained from the Veruki; Zodiac, Kade, and Aurora. There was the blood fixed within the circle on the floor where I had fought against my own death to regain what I had lost. I walk to the center of that same circle, and close my eyes. “Give me my chains,” I say in Enoch, knowing what would happen.

A light was emitted from above and swept over me. My cuts and bruises were now healed, my hand was as well. A long sleeve white shirt wrapped around my figure and ended shortly after my breasts. There was a platinum belt around my waist set over the white leather. My alabaster boots traveled up my calf to just below my knee, and I was set on doing some damage with those. The chains, unfamiliar to me at first, began to set with me again. Shackles were around both my wrists, a rather long chain link binding them together, traveling to gather on the floor. I throw my arms outward, the center of the chain splitting and breaking, giving a chain from each wrist not bound to a thing.

I step down from the platform, and look at Zach. I then look at the chains, then back up to him… “Not a word from you…” I say with a smile on my face giving him a look he knew all too well. I see Sarek in the doorway.

“I’m ready now,” I say with a fiery attitude that had been known to me long ago. “…Cecilia is mine.” I say it with such determination and strength behind my voice, that if he protests…I will pin him down without hesitation. O_o; I mean…anyway. “I will take care of her…I need you,” I look at Zacharian before. “To get to Sarah.”

"I've enjoyed are meetings as well Cecilia...just give me my grandaughter..." he said firmly. He sighed as he was taken through this. The light burned his eyes. Drac and Lilith would have likely burned under this. He squinted slightly, and saw before him, Loki.

"Oh come off it Loki," he said viciously. "You can't beat me in this world. You're too weak, boy."
_____

Qui drowsily rose and staggered slightly. He then stood straight and whiped the red liquid from his lips. "Handle my blood better?" he chuckled to himself. "You've got to be kidding me..."

Qui froze. He knew. After he drank that blood, he knew who it was from. "Can't be..." He stood up, and felt it rushing through his veins. "He's not alive anymore... Could this mean that he is part of my bloodline?"

Qui scoffed. "Well, I hold that indirectly responsible for my anger..." He carried his sword over his shoulder and sauntered up the steps.

"You really shouldn't leave Evanescing unprotected...you don't know who will get in..." He got to the door and saw the imprint on it. He brought his hand up and placed it there. Five razor sharp claws clamped down on it and blood poured into it, then through the grooves on the door. The claws then released, and the doors opened.

He stepped inside, and closed the doors behind him.

"Break my chains."
________

I managed a laugh, trying to get over this over overwhelming feeling. I look up to my beloved, feeling his arms help me raise myself. I look down at my dress, noticing it torn in some places. I chuckle to myself. “Well,” I say with a light sigh, “I’m not going like this.” At least I kept my sense of humor. I had lost it several years ago, but it seemed to be returning.

Without time for him to dispute, I pull Zacharian with me as I nearly run through the halls. For the first time, I smiled as I ran. I came to a sharp turn, and wouldn’t be surprised if Zach nearly fell over. I was quite fast. I came to a door familiar to me. It was the one of my restoration. I place my hand on the door, the imprint fitting my hand. Five piercing blades quickly pierce the skin. I do not flinch, as my other hand holds his tightly. I watch as my blood cascades down into the grooves of the door, and it unlocks, the blades withdrawing.

I do not bother to watch my hand heal, I pull Zacharian inside. It was a magnificent place possessing ethereal beauty with a quality that seemed heavenly. There were the three relics I had obtained from the Veruki; Zodiac, Kade, and Aurora. There was the blood fixed within the circle on the floor where I had fought against my own death to regain what I had lost. I walk to the center of that same circle, and close my eyes. “Give me my chains,” I say in Enoch, knowing what would happen.

A light was emitted from above and swept over me. My cuts and bruises were now healed, my hand was as well. A long sleeve white shirt wrapped around my figure and ended shortly after my breasts. There was a platinum belt around my waist set over the white leather. My alabaster boots traveled up my calf to just below my knee, and I was set on doing some damage with those. The chains, unfamiliar to me at first, began to set with me again. Shackles were around both my wrists, a rather long chain link binding them together, traveling to gather on the floor. I throw my arms outward, the center of the chain splitting and breaking, giving a chain from each wrist not bound to a thing.

I step down from the platform, and look at Zach. I then look at the chains, then back up to him… “Not a word from you…” I say with a smile on my face giving him a look he knew all too well. I see Sarek in the doorway.

“I’m ready now,” I say with a fiery attitude that had been known to me long ago. “…Cecilia is mine.” I say it with such determination and strength behind my voice, that if he protests…I will pin him down without hesitation. O_o; I mean…anyway. “I will take care of her…I need you,” I look at Zacharian before. “To get to Sarah.”

"I've enjoyed are meetings as well Cecilia...just give me my grandaughter..." he said firmly. He sighed as he was taken through this. The light burned his eyes. Drac and Lilith would have likely burned under this. He squinted slightly, and saw before him, Loki.

"Oh come off it Loki," he said viciously. "You can't beat me in this world. You're too weak, boy."
_____

Qui drowsily rose and staggered slightly. He then stood straight and whiped the red liquid from his lips. "Handle my blood better?" he chuckled to himself. "You've got to be kidding me..."

Qui froze. He knew. After he drank that blood, he knew who it was from. "Can't be..." He stood up, and felt it rushing through his veins. "He's not alive anymore... Could this mean that he is part of my bloodline?"

Qui scoffed. "Well, I hold that indirectly responsible for my anger..." He carried his sword over his shoulder and sauntered up the steps.

"You really shouldn't leave Evanescing unprotected...you don't know who will get in..." He got to the door and saw the imprint on it. He brought his hand up and placed it there. Five razor sharp claws clamped down on it and blood poured into it, then through the grooves on the door. The claws then released, and the doors opened.

He stepped inside, and closed the doors behind him.

"Break my chains."
________

I managed a laugh, trying to get over this over overwhelming feeling. I look up to my beloved, feeling his arms help me raise myself. I look down at my dress, noticing it torn in some places. I chuckle to myself. “Well,” I say with a light sigh, “I’m not going like this.” At least I kept my sense of humor. I had lost it several years ago, but it seemed to be returning.

Without time for him to dispute, I pull Zacharian with me as I nearly run through the halls. For the first time, I smiled as I ran. I came to a sharp turn, and wouldn’t be surprised if Zach nearly fell over. I was quite fast. I came to a door familiar to me. It was the one of my restoration. I place my hand on the door, the imprint fitting my hand. Five piercing blades quickly pierce the skin. I do not flinch, as my other hand holds his tightly. I watch as my blood cascades down into the grooves of the door, and it unlocks, the blades withdrawing.

I do not bother to watch my hand heal, I pull Zacharian inside. It was a magnificent place possessing ethereal beauty with a quality that seemed heavenly. There were the three relics I had obtained from the Veruki; Zodiac, Kade, and Aurora. There was the blood fixed within the circle on the floor where I had fought against my own death to regain what I had lost. I walk to the center of that same circle, and close my eyes. “Give me my chains,” I say in Enoch, knowing what would happen.

A light was emitted from above and swept over me. My cuts and bruises were now healed, my hand was as well. A long sleeve white shirt wrapped around my figure and ended shortly after my breasts. There was a platinum belt around my waist set over the white leather. My alabaster boots traveled up my calf to just below my knee, and I was set on doing some damage with those. The chains, unfamiliar to me at first, began to set with me again. Shackles were around both my wrists, a rather long chain link binding them together, traveling to gather on the floor. I throw my arms outward, the center of the chain splitting and breaking, giving a chain from each wrist not bound to a thing.

I step down from the platform, and look at Zach. I then look at the chains, then back up to him… “Not a word from you…” I say with a smile on my face giving him a look he knew all too well. I see Sarek in the doorway.

“I’m ready now,” I say with a fiery attitude that had been known to me long ago. “…Cecilia is mine.” I say it with such determination and strength behind my voice, that if he protests…I will pin him down without hesitation. O_o; I mean…anyway. “I will take care of her…I need you,” I look at Zacharian before. “To get to Sarah.”

(ooc: all right, let's toy around with reality and see where this could lead ;) )

___


Peter Washborn had a headache. A terrible headache. He searched the pharmacy for he knew his wife had something for her migraines.

And to think I believed it was just a poor excuse not to have sex with me.

Of course, Mrs Washborn wasn't as attractive as she used to be. Of course, There were her 330 pounds, accumulated throughout the 20 years they had been married for. In fact, she looked like an unreachable mountain, barely moving out of the house. Now that the boys were gone, living their life as children always end up doing, Mrs Washborn had died inside. Still, a handjob every 2 or 3 years wasn't enough for Mr Washborn.

Tranxoïn, Pelodaïn, Secodeïn,...

... whatever-ïn.

He didn't know what to take and his head was still hurting, badly. Now that he knew how it felt to have two mechanical arms pressing on one's temples, so to speak, he understood this could be a good reason for a marriage to go down-hill. Yet, Mr Washborn was not one to cheat on his wife, not to take his word back. At least, he had cable, with its dozen porno channels... and the internet with its million of submissive and thin women.

He stepped into the living room. The sun had just rised but the room was still plunged into the dark... and cold. Mr Washborn should have nailed the architect for having placed every single window of the house towards the north. Not that it would have changed anything anyway.

He looked at the table, covered that it was with a pile of empty cinamon bread packages. Mrs Washborn loved those.

And that shows, he thought with a grin.

Leds on the dvd player, on the tv and on the stereo were flashing, slowly, regularly, every one of them with its own pace, as to remind him of the electricity bill to come. This was too much for a ill morning. He needed to get out. He needed to breathe. So he headed to the garage.

But when he opened the door, he stopped, stunned.

"Mary?!? Mary?!?" he yelled.

And he stood there, paralyzed, calling for his wife from time to time, unable to get his eyes off the vehicule in front of him. And it took "Big" Mary Washborn 5 long minutes to get out of bed and move her mass from upstairs to where her husband was standing.

"Why are you yelling like that, Pete?" she asked still sleepy.
"The... the car," he babbled, pointing at the vehicule. "The car!
- Yes, what with it?" she asked after having glanced at it, bending at Peter Washborn as if her husband had been a little child. "What?
- It's... it's a Ford.
- Of course, it is.
- But... but that's impossible!!!"

Mary Washborn stared at her husband for a long time. She sighted and got back upstairs.

"You should stop drinking with the guys," she said with a very tired voice.

But Mr. Washborn hadn't moved. He was still staring at the Ford'89 before him, wondering what the hell had happened to his Shentavo Motors '87.

___


Loki stared at Quissera, puzzled. He had expected a lot many answers, but the one his old friend had given seemed wrong.

* To Hell with you!
* All right, let me finish you once or for all!
* Let's go have a glass of blood instead, k?

Yes, that was the kind of attittude Loki would have expected. But not this. Even Quissera's eyes were different than usual. Soft. Or at least softer. His face was contracted but not in its usual demonic flavor. In fact, all of these were just tiny details, but Loki knew Quissera all too well not to spot them.

He looked around, suddenly wondering where he was. This was a kind of hangar, deserted one, apparently unused for quite some time. Tags were all over the gigantic, rusty walls.

Loki stepped back slightly. Suddenly less vengeful, less angry for the Quissera he knew would never have told an enemy into avoiding a confrontation.

Wasn't Loki a being of light after all? Wasn't he mercyful and prone to do good? What was this internal struggle Quissera's sentence had unleashed within Loki that made him remember of all the good souvenirs they had together and none of the bad?

The archangel let go of his aggressive attitude.

"What is it?" he asked, as if he was truthfully willing to help.

___


James Wallace stopped the car right in front of the mansion. He opened the door for Mr and Mrs Kruger, smiling at them, happy to see they couldn't take their eyes off the magnificent building.

"Told you this was an exceptional place, didn't I?" he said. "And you haven't seen the garden yet!"

He would have rubbed his hands together, but he was not one to believe in success too early. For years had he tried to sell Villa Bellezza. But people around this place couldn't help to talk about ghosts and other faery tales. This kind of things was bad for a real estate company.

But today was a warm and sunny day and he was sure the Kruger, german as they were, wouldn't mind legends they wouldn't understand.

"This way," he said, leading them to the main entrance.

___


Zacharian had followed her without discussing, too happy that he was to see her so energic, so radiant, so herself. He had watched as her chains had been given to her, amazed at all the things he didn't know, amazed by her beauty.

"Cecilia..." he heard her say but this wasn't important to him anymore for he was with the one he loved. "Sarah..." she continued.

He stared at her, clueless.

"Sarah?" he asked. "Who is that?"

Then a bang echoed in the room for Jeremy Witz and Yakori appeared right next to Rave and Zacharian. Witz seemed plunged into his thoughts but his eyes widened as he saw Zacharian, as if he had expected him to be dead. Yakori was naked and some parts of his body weren't covered with skin yet. The japanese man seemed to be in a unusual state of excitation, of urgency.

"I thought he had disapeared..." Yakori told Witz. But Witz wasn't listening. "Vaughn," he babbled. "Vaughn... you're alive!"

Zacharian stared at the newcomers.

"Vaughn? What the hell are you talking about, Witz? Vaughn?!? Never heard of that." He turned at Rave. "Sarah?!? Could anyone tell me What's going on?!?
- Shit!" Witz said between his teeth, unable to comprehend why Zacharian didn't know he was Vaughn but somehow understanding all of what happened was connected. He turned at Rave, stepping forward in her direction, completly oblivious to her new attitude, her new outfit. "Tell me you remember that name: Vaughn. Tell me you do!" he cried, tears forming into his eyes.

"WHO THE HELL ARE YOU PEOPLE?!? AND WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING HERE?!?"

James Wallace was standing in the doorway, staring at Rave, Witz and Zacharian as he couldn't see Yakori and Sarek, hidden that they were in the shadow. Never, in his entire career had he seen strangers in a house he was about to sell. But he wasn't afraid because he didn't believe in magic and ghosts. No, he was just willing to make all of them go so that he can have the Kruger sign.

But it was too late for a typical german cry burst in the mansion. Hilda Kruger fainted slowly after for the sight of Yakori's flesh and of a winged reptilian was too much for her.

___


(ooc: now, what would be nice is that only Rave, Yakori, Witz and Sarek actually do remember everything. What I have in mind is that Rave *was* removed from reality, except Sarek managed to capture her back, linking her to his own world - another reality in fact -. So, technically, Ravelyn Shentavo never existed for most people - this'll get fixed, of course-. As for Quissera and Qui I guess it's up to you but I could see lots of reasons why they would still have their memories ;) )

“Sarah,” Rave repeated to Zacharian. “Your daughter.” Everything was moving so fast. Witz and Yakori appeared in the room. In a bit of shock, Rave immediately looked down, turning a way slightly from the man. She scratched her head uncomfortably with a bit of a chuckle.

Witz’ words stuck her. “Of course I remember, Witz.” Rave said with a slight urgency. "What has happened Witz?"

She watched silently as James approached her, confused at who this man was and why he was claiming it to be his house. It then hit her…Am I alive or dead? she thought to herself, letting out a soft sigh inaudible to anyone but Zacharian who was nearest to her.

“I really don’t have time for this right now,” Rave said, frustrated. She needed to get to her daughter. “Listen…” She searched his mind, being quite weak he was in magic, it wasn’t hard. “James-y boy.” She said in a typical condescending mode. “This is my house. However, I was somehow erased from this world and no one seems to remember me. This is my nation, as well as my house. My name is Azrael, or Ravelyn; whichever you prefer to call me. The latter would be the better seeing that only those close to me address me as my seraphic name. My heritage extends far beyond your comprehension.”
She revealed her fangs in a smile as she walked toward him.

“But if that is too much for you to comprehend,” She placed her hand on his temple, the chains gently touching the ground. “Perhaps you should sleep on it.” In seconds he collapsed to the ground in a comatose. Ravelyn looked back to Zacharian. “No time to explain, love.” She said quickly. “Let’s go.”

Mr. Kruger stood still. He hadn't even looked at his wife as she had fallen soundly onto the ground. He hadn't moved as Wallace had collapsed. No, he was staring at Ravelyn Shentavo, completly stunned by her presence.

"Unglaublich," he finally muttered.

Yakori stepped forward, approaching Rave carefully.

"Go?" he repeated. "Do we know where we're supposed to go? Do you have any clue of what's going on... because, to talk fankly, this is far beyond my abilities." He sighted. "Reality changing? Zacharian not knowing about his alter ego or his daughter." He stared at his ex boss whose dark expression was anything but relieving. Finally Yakori turned at Witz: "Any idea?"

Witz looked at his bodyguard then at Zacharian. He gave a quick glance at Sarek who hadn't moved, still unable to understand a single word of what all the others were saying.

"It seems to me someone took Elaïne's magic... or worse... Sarah's." Jeremy said, staying as neutral as possible. "First Genesis disapeared when..." his eyes were wet. He hesitated slightly, enthrailed that he still was in his grief. "... when Vaughn made the demons disapear. Then Vaughn didn't seem to remember her... and shortly after, he disapeared." He waved at Zacharian. "Now he's back. Or at least a part of him." Witz plunged his eyes into Rave's. "How come you do remember? How come you're still here? It seemed to me people with a soul were to lose sight of the old reality quite quickly."

Zacharian chuckled.

"Cecilia," he said between his teeth. "She's erasing everything that could separate us. And I can't remember what she removed." He smiled. "But I trust you all. I know you wouldn't lie to me."

He took Rave into his arms.

"Tell us what to do for you seem to be the only person who could solve this."

"I know what to do," Ravelyn said without hesitation. "I am Azrael." She laughed silently to herself. Somehow, she was extremely accepting of the fact that her existance had been removed.

"The reason I am here and can remember all of this, Witz," She said, turning to him. "Is because my soul is very different from that of a human. In essense, my soul remains seraphic while physically I may change."

She walked past the two on the ground, pulling Zacharian along with her. "Come on...this is not beyond me. If Sarah is my daughter, which I have no doubt of, it would take a lot more than destroying of the body to harness her soul."

"I will take you there, however, it may be a painful experiance, but I feel you'll be able to manage. Questions?" For once, she was acting like her old self again. She was confident and clever. She was a leader again.

Zacharian smiled at Rave.

"Whatever you wish... sir," he joked. "I'm with you."

Witz, Yakori and Sarek, who had managed to understand what was going on without words, all gathered around Zacharian and Rave.

"I wonder what happened to Azerzdat," Yakori muttered to himself, glancing at the reptilian.

Rave raised an eyebrow at Zacharian with a knowing smile. It will be like this later too... O_o; "Alright," she said, breaking the silent conversation with the man next to her. "This...may hurt."

In seconds they were engulfed into what seemed to be another reality. There were so many doors and corriders and paths that they could follow. They seemed to be in the central room, and no one else was there. White wings had settled upon Ravelyn's back. It was beautiful, but Zacharian could see the blood slowly dripping from the source of those wings. They had emerged from her back. She looked toward him, and shrugged.

"Apparently it's necessary for me to get into this world..." She said in explaination, ignoring the searing pain that was shooting through her spine. She closed her eyes momentarily. A few minutes later, she opened them abruptly. Grabbing Zacharian's hand, she ran down the corrider, nearly pulling him across the floor as she had done earlier. Now, however, there were sharper turns. They came to a door at the west side from the central room.

She looked at the inscription, and read it aloud. "Esse quam verdi," she said softly, and the door opened. "Come on..." she said to the others, and stepped though, pulling Zach with her.

As they were running in what he saw as a non-sense, Yakori sighted, for his regeneration had been put to a halt.

You can handle it, he remembered Rave said. Riiiiight.

Witz, Sarek and even Zacharian were very uncomfortable in this place. It was as if every particle in the air wanted them gone. They weren't meant to be there. They felt like tomb raiders.

"What is this place?" Witz asked Ravelyn as to break the painful silence.

But he didn't wait for the answer for his bodyguard, his friend who was nearly touching him, on his left, Yakori disapeared before he even had the chance to pass the doorway.

“It’s what connects me to earth, heaven, and hell. It connects me to every thing. I am the only one who can get into this place and take those whom I trust with me. Cecilia would not be able to get in here… this is where we must bring Sarah. I’ll take care of that fucking bitch Cecilia…” Zacharian had seldom hurt her swear.

I’ll come back for you Yakori…but right now… I can’t help you. Keep this requiem alive.

Rave had not turned her head. The three passed through the door.

“Cecilia…” was the only thing that could be heard. A darkening of Ravelyn’s voice to cut through to the very heart.

They had entered a world of red rocks. Zacharian, and Sarek even more, instantly recognized the place for this was Sarek's world.

"She's trying to get connected to this world..." Zacharian said in a hurry, turning at Rave. "... She's trying to find the connection that kept you real... the liquid..." he had turned at Sarek but the reptilian wasn't there anymore. "F-ck!" Zachrian sweared, which was as unusual from him as it was from Rave.

But that wasn't the worse for Witz appeared blurry, translucent. Fainting.

"No... not him."

A figure appeared. A man, dressed in black with a blade by his side. His speed was much alike Yakori. Zacharian instantly recognized the murderer of Witz's parents from back in a time when Witz had another name.

Salazar waved at Witz and his target immediatly took shape, getting back to the world.

"This man is my enemy and I'll be the one to destroy him," The elemental said before disapearing.

Witz stared at Zacharian but he was looking far beyond him.

"Oh no!" he muttered for a mountain he had seen at the horizon just had disapeared.

As Zacharian turned around, Rave was gone. Another woman stood there. She had ice grey eyes and hair of different hues of light blue. There was a light aura around her, invisible to the eye. Her skin was pale, and translucent angelic wings were upon her back. She turned and looked at Zacharian.

She noticed that she was not recognized. “Ravelyn hasn’t told you, has she?”


“Cecilia, dear.” Rave persisted as she walked with a vengeance through the darkness. There was a sadistic smile upon her face as her chains made no sound against the floor. “Come out and play.”

As Zacharian turned around, Rave was gone. Another woman stood there. She had ice grey eyes and hair of different hues of light blue. There was a light aura around her, invisible to the eye. Her skin was pale, and translucent angelic wings were upon her back. She turned and looked at Zacharian.

She noticed that she was not recognized. “Ravelyn hasn’t told you, has she?”


“Cecilia, dear.” Rave persisted as she walked with a vengeance through the darkness. There was a sadistic smile upon her face as her chains made no sound against the floor. “Come out and play.”

As Zacharian turned around, Rave was gone. Another woman stood there. She had ice grey eyes and hair of different hues of light blue. There was a light aura around her, invisible to the eye. Her skin was pale, and translucent angelic wings were upon her back. She turned and looked at Zacharian.

She noticed that she was not recognized. “Ravelyn hasn’t told you, has she?”


“Cecilia, dear.” Rave persisted as she walked with a vengeance through the darkness. There was a sadistic smile upon her face as her chains made no sound against the floor. “Come out and play.”

Zacharian stared at the woman.

"I admit I..."

He was gone. Gone.

"Nooooooooo!" Witz shouted.

___


He's all mine now, Cecilia thought, stepping in the inter-world. He's all mine... within my mind.

___


"You'll see," Elaïne told Genesis. "The captain is an old friend of mine. He made the journey a long time ago." She waved at the cabin, inviting Genesis to enter the room. "He liked the sea so much he decided to work as a transporter." She closed her eyes. "He's an elf. Someone I really care about and..."

But Elaïne had opened the eyes and Genesis was nowhere to be seen for she had appeared right next to Witz.

Enamarcia smiled. "You really aught to know, Cecilia, that if you have taken him just as he is...you haven't got all of him." The seraphim smiled, for that was in fact what she was. There were four seraphim. One was fallen, one was of the heavens, then two were earthbound; Enamarcia and Azrael.

Sister... Ravelyn said softly. You know what to do.

....

"Cecilia...do you think I'm joking?!" She had cut Cecilia's path off. "What's wrong? You killed me once, didn't you? Why not again?"

One thing was for sure...Ravelyn had acquired her old attitude back. She sounded somewhat like Qui at that moment.

"You want my fiancé for what purpose? Couldn't get any from demons? I understand completely, with a face like yours I'm surprised you weren't taken out back and shot. Now I know why there is a world shortage of mirrors...how many times do you have to look in one to understand why they shatter at your vile image?"

I take that back....She sounded very VERY much like her old self. There were no breaks between her sentences and a vicious fire in her eyes. "You also forget that Zacharian had given himself to a certain person. That woman standing before you, is what you have to get through to get him completely. Are you sure that you really want him now?"

Ravelyn was truly a beautiful, yet frightening sight at that point. The chains around her wrists possessed blade like structures on each ring, able to cut the skin without question. Despite her slender frame, Cecilia knew very well that she was strong. Her crimson eyes washed over the bitch in front of her.

"So sorry, bitch," Rave snapped at her. "This ride stops here and now for you."
___________________________________________

Genesis seemed indifferent at the time. She turned slightly to her left and saw Witz standing there. She stepped back a little, and drew her guard up. “Who are you?”
___________________________________________

“It’s nothing, Loki.” Quissera said passing his hand in front of him to dismiss the thought. “It’s just that…my essence is now free from Evanescing. I can do some damage now…which I’m pleased about. However, my grandson has taken up a great responsibility. And for that, I am sad.”

“I have to do what I have promised though,” he said softly. “Bring me to Sarah’s body, Loki.”
___________________________________________

The doors to the temple burst open, a wind howling out from them. A man stepped out. It was Qui. Upon his wrists were shackles, and a few links of chain on each. His chest was bare, leaving his back exposed to the dropping temperature. The cold never bothered him. It was clear wounds had been inflicted on him, but they were healing. Something was different about him, however; his eyes were black.
The wings, though not seraphic, upon his back were a ravenous black in much contrast to Rave. He grabbed the wine glass off the table and finished the last of the blood. There were chains around his neck plated in gold and silver; as if he were a king.
He reached in his pocket and fished out a cigarette. Lighting it at will, he inhaled deeply, and smiled. In seconds, he had vanished.

Loki closed his eyes.

"Wait wait wait..." he muttered to himself. "Something is moving all around. Let me recollect my thoughts. Someone..." he opened the eyes, shocked. "... someone changed my souvenirs."

The idea seemed so irrational to him that he was close to laugh, but he soon concentrated. White flows of energy gathered all around him and it was obvious to Quissera that these could only come from one being. A being even he, Quissera, feared.

"I see," Loki finally said. "So this Cecilia is toying with the Strings."

He looked deeply at Quissera.

"Problem is: Sarah does not exist anymore."

___


Qui looked around him. This was a dark and cold landscape. At first, he didn't understand. This was not the place he intended to end up at. But then, he realized: he didn't have the cigarette anymore.

"Huh?"

Everything was vaporous and strange... pretty much like in a dream or, rather, a nightmare. But Qui was used to nightmares anyway.

"I need your help," he heard a tiny little voice say right behind him.

As he turned, he saw Sarah, her clothes ripped apart, her eyes wet and tired, breathing irregularly.

"I need your help, Qui," she repeated. "We are in her. I brought Genesis back but..." she stepped forward, nearly falling down. "... I don't have that much energy left. So... so... I absorbed you."

She put her knees on the ground.

"It's the only way," she said as in a trance. "Outside, she has no weakness. We must strike from here."

___


Witz's lips were trembling. The words Genesis had just pronounced had been devastating. It was as if nothing was real anymore, as if nothing mattered.

"I... I... " he babbled, tears rolling onto his face.

But he didn't say a word, staring at Gene's face. Gene that didn't recognize him.

___


Cecilia smiled.

"Indeed, you are powerful, Ravelyn Shentavo," she said coldly. "Indeed, you have this raw drive. Too bad that's all you have."

She chuckled.

"You want him? Get him then."

In a burst of shadow, Cecilia transformed into Zacharian... or had she disapeared and was Zacharian in front of Rave?

No time for thoughts for this Zacharian had attacked Rave with his shadow blade.

"You are much deceived then," Ravelyn said sharply to the figure before her, bringing up both hands and stopping the shadow blade between her palms, twisting it sideways to snap it from him. "You think I actually care about anything right now besides ending your life? You are the only enemy in front of me Cecilia. Which is not looking good in your favor..."

She gripped the blade in her right hand, the small cut on her palm healing over. She smiled. "You've learned nothing, Cecilia. Really, I was expecting more from you." The blade shattered as if it had been destroyed from within. She lashed out with the chain at "Zacharian", the sharp links set on wrapping around his abdomen. She pulled him abruptly forward.

"No way in hell you're taking him."
_____________

Quissera looked puzzled. "What?" He thought this over. "So the little girl is erased from reality. I see..." He sighed softly. "What of Qui then?"
_____________

Gene looked at Witz quite puzzled as to why this man was crying. She felt a pang of hunger within her. Had it been so long since she had last fed? Her blood red eyes encompassed him, as if to mimic those of Rave.
_____________

Qui wrapped his arms around Sarah, trying to comfort her. She looked so worn out. "How do you propose we do that?" He looked at the chains around his wrists which had been shattered down the center. They could do quite a bit of damage...but he figured it would be mental rather than physical. Either way...

Sarah didn't speak at first. She hugged Qui like she had never done before. Here, in the depth of Cecilia's soul, they really were sister and brother.

"I'm not sure," she said finally. "We're but thoughts within her. Of course, we can control what we do, more or less... but still."

She put her hand onto Qui's shoulder and stood up.

"You are the 'mind breaker', aren't you?" she told her brother. "I thought you could figure something I wouldn't have thought of."

___


Loki looked gravely at Quissera.

"I'm afraid he's been destroyed too." he hesitated. "And if I trust my visions, I have the feeling his mother is about to be also... all by herself."

___


Witz raised his hand and waved at Genesis.

"You must remember me," he said coldly. "You must, Gene!"

___


Zacharian fell on the ground, a deep dark blood pouring from his abdomen. He made a strange noise as he hit the floor. Rave knew this sound. So many times had she heard Vaughn utter it when he was in pain. And as she looked more closely at Zacharian she saw the transformation, for it was Vaughn lying next to her, Vaughn she had wounded.

"I am not to be toyed with, Cecilia." Ravelyn said, looking down at Vaughn. "Requiem na ventoris...." she said softly as she released her chains from him, placing her hands directly on the wounds.

As they healed at the seraphim's touch, a clicking noise was heard. Ravelyn stood up from Vaughn, his hands now held together by chain. "Sorry love," she said softly. "just sit tight for a minute."

She sighed heavily. "Cecilia...you just never learn do you? You can never understand, can you? You never have been loved...You've never loved someone else." She glanced at Vaughn, thoughts running through her mind.

"If you think that sending Vaughn to kill me, or even Zacharian is going to stop me from killing you...you have another thing coming." She looked at Vaughn, and pulled him up by his wrists, the chains digging into his flesh rather harshly.

Her crimson eyes scanned over his, helpless in what to do. She gently kissed him upon the lips, taking him into the moment. Forgive me. A sharp pain ripped through his chest. As Ravelyn stepped back, she pulled her hand from his chest, an amber orb within it now. She watched as the body fell lifeless to the ground. She looked at the orb, her fingers rotating it in one hand. It then disappeared from sight.

She looked around the room, her eyes hardening. "If you think that there is anything standing between me killing you, you certainly have another thing coming."
_____________

Qui chuckled. "Yea well..." he looked around. "If I destroy her mind, there is a good chance we will both be lost with it." He looked at the chains around his wrists. "Scratch that...you may be lost, I will be tied to Evanescing....hopefully. Is that a risk you are willing to take?"

He managed a smile, his fangs showing faintly.
________

Quissera sighed. "I can't accept the fact that he's dead. He's too much of a little punk to go and die on me. And as for Ravelyn, I could care less."

"Seraphims aren't welcome in any hell."

________

"Why are you calling me Gene?" she asked, tilting her head sideways.

Witz couldn't help but to step forward.

"Because you are Gene... I mean Genesis," he stopped in his track, unsure of his own words. "At least that's what I think."

He looked at Rave's sister.

"I dunno who you are," he told her. "But if there's anything you can do, please, do it."

___


"Well, I think we'd better put our old griefs apart," Loki said coldly. "For the time being the... seraphim... if it ever happens to still really be one... The seraphim is fighting the same enemy that undoubtedly took your grand-son."

The Archangel passed his hand onto his face, thinking intensely, searching for any mean he could find to be useful. Unfortunately, he couldn't find any.

"The Strings are beyond me," he explained. "Only my master could deal with the problem but it is obvious He won't intervene. Why? I have no clue. But I'm sure He won't."

Suddenly, he looked deeply into Quissera's eyes.

"I know this is surely not a secret you wish to share, but how the Hell did you manage to stay around while not being detectable?"

He pondered his own question.

"I mean... as if you weren't part of the world anymore."

___


"Do we have a choice?" Sarah asked Qui with such seriousness in the voice she seemed older and wiser than her appearance would let think. "Mum..." for the first time she called her 'mum' out loud. "Mum can't win. Cecilia has too much control over reality to be 'reachable'."

A spark passed onto her eyes. For a second she looked much like Rave.

"Of course, this bitch doesn't know I'm still here. She thinks she integrated me. If only I could reach her at an unconscious level. But I have no clue where to go... so to speak. I am so weak."

Her eyes went wet.

"Qui, I really need you help here. You must guide me."

She hesitated, as if there were things she wasn't willing to tell her step-brother. But was it time for secrets?

"There's something more. I felt a presence around here. A very powerful presence. One I had never felt before. And I feel connected to it. Much alike I feel connected to you or our mother. As if someone was hidden not so far. But I'm simply unable to locate it."

___


The laugh burst inside the room. It was pouring from the vaporous walls. It was vivid, alive, yet cold and sharp.

"I have enough of his essence to bring him back. At least a copy so exact no one would make a difference. Except it would be as before. Before he tried to kill me."

Slowly, the room took a shape much known to Rave. It was her bedroom and Vaughn's body laid on the couch.

"I have no will to fight you, Ravelyn Shentavo. Your suffering is enough to please me."

The presence faded away.

"Farewell," Cecilia added, sarcastic.

And her very essence vanished.

Rave smiled. What started out as a chuckle turned in to a great laugh. Had she gone mad. It's all a game of luck Vaughn...and I thank God that I'm lucky. She hummed to herself softly, and turned over the body as if it were a daily routine.

The blood seeping through his shirt made her eyes glimmer. It had been after her restoration, but her priority was Zacharian and Sarah. It had always been that way, whether she said it or not. She reached within her pocket, the blood from Vaughn staining her shirt. She raised her eye brow and revealed the amber orb she had taken from Vaughn.

She tilted her head sideways. "A hell of a lot of good that's going to do when you don't have this Cecilia." She snicked. Good thing I'm lucky...not damaged at all...

"Alright," she said softly. "Let's get started." She placed the orb back within his chest, the bones already cracked in his rib cage. She set them back in place, the blood staining her hands red.

She rubbed her hands together,and placed them on the open wound. She closed her eyes as the white light was emited from her hands, sealing it. She drew in a breath, and brought her lips to his, breathing her essense into him; life.

She stood up. With every white magic she used gifted to her as a seraphim, the more of her essense was consumed. She undid the chains around his wrists, the chains unraveling and hanging from her wrists again. She pulled the blanket over him. "Get some rest. You've had a long day." She kissed him gently on the forehead, and stood up.

Now stained with blood, her hands reached out toward the sky, and she smiled as a familiar staff fell into her hand with a blade on the end of it. The blade curved wickedly like a cresent moon. It wasn't a staff...it was a scythe. The blade shone a brilliant black in the light.

"Well...seems there is blood work to be done..." The white feathers on her wings carried flecks of blood as well. For the first time, the ethereal Ravelyn, the frightening Azrael looked very threatening. The first mark was drawn on her wrist. It was a light line. It was the first of seven, and another was appearing like it was clockwork.

"Question is Cecilia...will even you be able to escape an apocolypse? I have nothing left on this earth now, so why not take you and everything else I have created with it?" She knew that her speech was blocked from Cecilia. It was for good reason.

Ravelyn looked out the window. The sky was a fiery orange, and something seemed amiss in the lands. The birds were airborn, startled by the change and now were soaring quickly seeking shelter. One hit the window, and fell to the ground, instantly killed.

Azrael jumped out the window, her crimson eyes now flecked with amber. She landed on the ground with hardly an impact, and picked up the bird within her hands. She threw it into the air as it spread its wings and took off. She smiled, and started walking. The requiem.

“It’s the end of the world as we know it,” she sand upbeat. “It’s he end of the world and we know it. It’s the end of the world as we know it. And I feel fine…”
__________________

“Unable to locate it?” Qui asked. “That’s easy for me to do. I will be your guide. Take my hand.” He reached out his hand to take hers, an icy coldness sweeping over her delicate skin. He wiped the tears from her eyes with his other hand, and pulled her close. She felt a light drop upon her shoulder. She could assume that Qui was crying. Indeed, it was a tear. “I love you Sarah. I would give my life to protect you. You’re my sister, and you could never be replaced in my heart.” He paused slightly, crying softly. She could tell he was trying to stifle it. “Just…when we get out of this…Don’t tell anyone I got soft, ya? Or else I’ll be forced to punch them until they forget, eh?”

He chuckled. He closed his eyes, his mouth slightly ajar. He felt his way through Cecilia’s presence, determining the layout of everything. “Easy.” He said softly in the process. “My mind is a lot more fucked up than hers…” he chuckled softly. “Oh…what’s this?” His physical form had not moved, but he seemed to be somewhere else; spread out among the form. “Let’s see…” A surge of energy rippled off from him, causing a temporary break in reality.
__________________

“That’s not the Genesis you know,” Enamarcia said, turning her attention toward Witz. She stepped toward Genesis, and tilted her head sideways as Ravelyn often did. “Kairi,” she said after a while.

“Who are you?” she asked softly. “How do you know my name?”

“Enamarcia,” the angel explained. “And we really need your help, shifter.”
_________________

Quissera’s smile faded. “There are many places in which to hide…” he said, and didn’t carry on.

Rave smiled. What started out as a chuckle turned in to a great laugh. Had she gone mad. It's all a game of luck Vaughn...and I thank God that I'm lucky. She hummed to herself softly, and turned over the body as if it were a daily routine.

The blood seeping through his shirt made her eyes glimmer. It had been after her restoration, but her priority was Zacharian and Sarah. It had always been that way, whether she said it or not. She reached within her pocket, the blood from Vaughn staining her shirt. She raised her eye brow and revealed the amber orb she had taken from Vaughn.

She tilted her head sideways. "A hell of a lot of good that's going to do when you don't have this Cecilia." She snicked. Good thing I'm lucky...not damaged at all...

"Alright," she said softly. "Let's get started." She placed the orb back within his chest, the bones already cracked in his rib cage. She set them back in place, the blood staining her hands red.

She rubbed her hands together,and placed them on the open wound. She closed her eyes as the white light was emited from her hands, sealing it. She drew in a breath, and brought her lips to his, breathing her essense into him; life.

She stood up. With every white magic she used gifted to her as a seraphim, the more of her essense was consumed. She undid the chains around his wrists, the chains unraveling and hanging from her wrists again. She pulled the blanket over him. "Get some rest. You've had a long day." She kissed him gently on the forehead, and stood up.

Now stained with blood, her hands reached out toward the sky, and she smiled as a familiar staff fell into her hand with a blade on the end of it. The blade curved wickedly like a cresent moon. It wasn't a staff...it was a scythe. The blade shone a brilliant black in the light.

"Well...seems there is blood work to be done..." The white feathers on her wings carried flecks of blood as well. For the first time, the ethereal Ravelyn, the frightening Azrael looked very threatening. The first mark was drawn on her wrist. It was a light line. It was the first of seven, and another was appearing like it was clockwork.

"Question is Cecilia...will even you be able to escape an apocolypse? I have nothing left on this earth now, so why not take you and everything else I have created with it?" She knew that her speech was blocked from Cecilia. It was for good reason.

Ravelyn looked out the window. The sky was a fiery orange, and something seemed amiss in the lands. The birds were airborn, startled by the change and now were soaring quickly seeking shelter. One hit the window, and fell to the ground, instantly killed.

Azrael jumped out the window, her crimson eyes now flecked with amber. She landed on the ground with hardly an impact, and picked up the bird within her hands. She threw it into the air as it spread its wings and took off. She smiled, and started walking. The requiem.

“It’s the end of the world as we know it,” she sand upbeat. “It’s he end of the world and we know it. It’s the end of the world as we know it. And I feel fine…”
__________________

“Unable to locate it?” Qui asked. “That’s easy for me to do. I will be your guide. Take my hand.” He reached out his hand to take hers, an icy coldness sweeping over her delicate skin. He wiped the tears from her eyes with his other hand, and pulled her close. She felt a light drop upon her shoulder. She could assume that Qui was crying. Indeed, it was a tear. “I love you Sarah. I would give my life to protect you. You’re my sister, and you could never be replaced in my heart.” He paused slightly, crying softly. She could tell he was trying to stifle it. “Just…when we get out of this…Don’t tell anyone I got soft, ya? Or else I’ll be forced to punch them until they forget, eh?”

He chuckled. He closed his eyes, his mouth slightly ajar. He felt his way through Cecilia’s presence, determining the layout of everything. “Easy.” He said softly in the process. “My mind is a lot more fucked up than hers…” he chuckled softly. “Oh…what’s this?” His physical form had not moved, but he seemed to be somewhere else; spread out among the form. “Let’s see…” A surge of energy rippled off from him, causing a temporary break in reality.
__________________

“That’s not the Genesis you know,” Enamarcia said, turning her attention toward Witz. She stepped toward Genesis, and tilted her head sideways as Ravelyn often did. “Kairi,” she said after a while.

“Who are you?” she asked softly. “How do you know my name?”

“Enamarcia,” the angel explained. “And we really need your help, shifter.”
_________________

Quissera’s smile faded. “There are many places in which to hide…” he said, and didn’t carry on.

Loki chuckled.

"Come on, Quissera," he said. "If you have found a way to bend reality or, at least, get out of it... even temporarily... that's something you'd better be using now... Unless..."

The Archangel stepped backward, getting back to a defensive pose.

"I came to think about it," he continued between his teeth. "If you have a bit of that power, then who could have possibly given it to you?"

___


Witz looked at Enamarcia, then at Genesis, then back at Enamarcia, then back again at Genesis.

"Kairi... shifter..." he muttered to himself. "What the f-ck is going on? Am I the only non-schizophrenic here?"

Then he stood silent for he realized he was where he was meant to be. He was the Aberration, wasn't he?

___


The swamps were vast. Darkness. Shadows. All the area seemed like a cell for a being that the prison's owner wanted blind. So far, Cecilia's mind had been as simple, as obvious as one of a child. This place was something else.

Qui was used to multiple personalities. He had witness the changes within Rave, within Zacharian, even within the empty host that was Witz... within himself too. Sometimes he had voiced his opinion out loud, but most of the time he had observed and learned. Yes, he knew a lot about complexity, souls and minds but what was before him looked to him as an whole new experience. Exciting in a way. Whatever this was, Qui knew it to be foreign. These thoughts had been integrated... by force or so it seemed. Like souvenirs engraved in their purity. Unspoiled.

He looked at Sarah's face. Her eyes were closed. She was sleeping. She was looking exhausted yet at peace, confident. A sister within her older brother's arms.

And before Qui was the unknown.

Quissera chuckled softly, and lifted his eyes to Loki. “You knew women were my only weakness, Loki.” He smiled. “You’re asking all the wrong questions though.”



He passed behind his old friend. “What you should be asking me, is how Cecilia got her powers.”

________



“Genesis is gone, Witz.” Enamarcia said. “What you experienced was one of Kairi’s forms. She’s a shifter.”



“That’s right!” the woman said in an upbeat manner. There was something almost childish about her.



“Get back to your true form, Kairi. Show him.” Enamarcia said gently.



“Oh yea, I forgot.” She smiled. The form of Gene started to change. Before him stood a girl, who was no older than 16 with reddish-brown hair and brilliant purple eyes. There was a golden medallion around her neck. “Now I remember. I forget things when I take on another image. It can last for hundreds of years as this last one did. I assume the lives of people I knew or have seen that die. The Genesis you know died over two hundred years ago, which means she has never met you. I don’t know I’m Kairi (K-EYE-RI) while I’m someone else, you know?” She smiled and there was an utter absence of fangs.



“She’s a highly valuable tool in this world. She can become anyone she’s seen or touched. However, the risk lies in losing her own identity. In essence, she creates a savior when there needs to be one. Genesis was a savior.” Enamarcia explained.



“Mm… I spoke with her a few times before the war. She was such a brave psion, and led the people to many victories. She was their light. However, one day the light darkened, and the war came to a horrible explosion. And she couldn’t tell him the one thing she wanted him to hear. It was too late; both were shot before she could tell him. In effort to take up this burden, I became Genesis.”

http://homepage2.nifty.com/cloudy_kingdom/image_talkCG/kh_kairi_260.jpg

______________



Qui lifted Sarah up from the ground, and began walking forward. The chains around his wrists jingled softly as he did so. He needed to find a way…



_____________



Enamarcia eyes sharpened, and she turned quickly to Kairi. “But now is your time to go to work, Kairi. She must be stopped…”



Kairi nodded. “Take my amulet,” Enamarcia continued, and handed it to the girl.





Kairi sighed softly. “She knew all along…” She turned her eyes up to Witz. “Ravelyn…”

_______________________



Ravelyn laughed as if she were crazy. Perhaps she was. Another mark had appeared on her arm. “I’ve been a bad, bad girl. I’ve been dealing with a delicate man. And it’s a sad, sad world. When a girl would break a boy, just because she can.” She sung softly to herself, in the middle of that open field. The grass had long since caught fire at her will.

He opened the eyes. His chest hurt pretty badly. He recognized the ceiling, decorated that it was with figures of angels. All white. He could smell the perfume into the room. He was in Rave's bedroom.

He stood up slowly, weak and looked around. She was nowhere to be found.

Where are you? Vaughn sent to Rave.

___


Witz didn't move at first. He stood still. Was he even breathing? His eyes seemed to look far beyond Enamarcia, far beyond Kairi, far beyond everything. Empty he looked for life itself seemed to have escaped his body. Never had his face been that pale, that expressionless.

He walked away from the two women and stared at the landscape, the red mountains around them. Birds were turning around, right under the clouds, inside their shadow, erratic black dots in the grey. The wind was gently caressing his cheeks, cold or warm, was it that important?

Souvenirs passed before his eyes. A long life. An absurd life it seemed to him at that very moment. And, always, the same face, the same eyes, the same port, the same woman: Genesis. Someone who had never existed. An illusion he couldn't live without.

"I'm sorry," he said finally, his back still turned at the two women. "but this is beyond me. If she is not, then I won't be."

In an incredibly fast and violent movement, he plunged his sword into his heart. Blood poured out, flying as if it had been as light as air, like red leaves from a dying tree, the call of winter. He didn't feel the pain, he didn't feel anything anymore.

And he faded away, taken back by the element that had created him.

___


Loki turned at Quissera, not wanting to have him behind him, out of sight.

"I know she took Sarah's energy and I know this is what allows her to touch the Strings," Loki said, puzzled. "But, for sure, she had to know how to use that power before."

The archangel smiled.

"Don't tell me you taught her," he added sarcastic. "Or else, I'll agree women are your deadliest weakness."

___


As he entered deeper into the swamps, Qui felt the change and soon he found himself walking into a hallway.

The floor was covered with a dark red fitted carpet, the walls made of grey marble and the ceiling was made of shadow, vaporous darkness which seemed to light the whole place.

He saw sculptures in the alcoves and paintings: figures he had never seen before, elven, humen and from other races even he had never heard of. Then came known faces: Elaïne, Cecilia, Yakori, Witz, Genesis, Rave, Daja, himself, Sarah and so many more from the academy.

The end of the corridor opened onto a circular room with torches which were not lighted. Here was a gigantic wooden door. Symbols were covering all of its surface, an intricate puzzle of curves and lines. Some of the symbols Qui recognized, some other were so complex he had a hard time believing they could have been used by anyone. Magic of various kinds was pouring from all of them, an incredible mix of contradictory energies. So much power could be felt Evanescence itself suddenly seemed like a normal place in comparaison. How could that be found within one's mind?

The closer he got from the door, the colder the atmosphere seemed, devoid of oxygene, devoid of life. And the sound: a clear and regular heartbeat that echoed onto the curved walls of the room.

As he glanced at her, Qui realized Sarah was paler than he had ever seen her. Her breathe was hardly hearable. Confusingly, he had the feeling she was dying.

Enamarcia’s smile faded. Kairi looked toward her. “You can’t save everyone, Kairi. You did what you had to do. It’s part of a bigger picture.”

“He really loved her,” Kairi said softly. “He loved me.”

“He didn’t love you, he fell in love with Genesis.”

“I guess your right,” Kairi paused. “Take me to Rave.”
_____

Rave heard Vaughn in the back of her mind. It's over Vaughn...finally, all this pain and suffering will end. There will be no more existance here. I...can't take this world any longer. Another mark appeared on her wrist. Get out of here...live your life.

The sky was getting intensly red now, the fire spreading but remaining focused on Rave as she controlled it. "You will meet a young girl named Kate in the future," Rave said softly. "When you meet her, look at her eyes. She's yours. Don't speak of me to her. She wouldn't understand. She's so young, she won't remember me..."
______

Qui helped Sarah carry on, noticing her difficulty. He kissed her forehead gently, the tears now dried. It would be a hell of a long time before, if ever, they would be shed again. "These symbols...could take me hours to decipher. There has to be a trigger...a plug...something around here I can do to shut Cecilia down. "

Vaughn walked to the window.

What's mine is yourse, what's yourse is mine, he sent as a reply. So it goes for everything, and that includes death.

He opened the window, a deadly wind entered the room, filled with the smell of ashes.

If you are to die... he continued. ... then there's nothing I can do to prevent it. I already stole your death once and I still don't know if this was what I was supposed to do. But it doesn't matter anymore. If you go, then you take me with you. It's as simple as that.

___


"We... we..." Sarah muttered, eyes still closed. "We are not really inside Cecilia anymore here. It's like... someone else... trapped here. These... these are this being's defenses... I think it's... I think..."

Her head fell backward and no breathe could be heard anymore. Sarah's life seemed to have gone. The heartbeat echoed more violently within the room, accelerating, erratic: an emotion. This was an emotion and it was coming from the other side of the door.

Qui lifted Sarah into his arms. "Hold on, little one." He looked around. He had no choice. he stepped toward the door, the chains around his wrists wrapped around the handle, pulling it open.
_____

Rave looked back and saw him looking out the window. The ground shook as if it was an earthquake. The land had already started to die, as another mark appeared on her wrist. She looked down for a second, thoughts rushing through her mind. She looked back up at him, tears now visible in her eyes. It seemed as if the sky were going to fall. Ravelyn broke into a run towards him, running faster than she even had before.
Vaughn...

Kairi smiled softly. Apparently, I wasn't needed. Now, how do we stop this land from going into oblivion?

Enamarcia, though not present, responded. We can't.

Loki was staring at Quissera, waiting for his answer but he broke the silence.

"Do you... feel that?!?" he shouted out loud. "It's almost as if..."

But the building was already melting.

___


Vaughn jumped out the window and rolled on the burning floor. His clothes ignited almost immediatly and so did his hair. He stood up and made a step forward in Rave's direction but stopped. He was waiting for Rave to come to him. He knew what was going on but he felt detached. He finally understood why He had let him come back.

My prize is a real death, he thought. A real death together with the one I love. No other world, no counterpart, no bargain. Just a pure and simple disapearance.

It was as if time had ceased to exist and Vaughn felt the world around him falling apart. His eyes were plunged within Rave's. For a second, he thought of Zacharian, of the cell within Cecilia's mind. But it wasn't important anymore. When he was there with his other self, he had felt the presence, called for her. He had felt Sarah had not completly disapeared and, now, he knew Cecilia didn't have a chance. Or so he thought but didn't really care about anyway.

His skin ignited but he didn't feel the pain for Ravelyn Shentavo, his love, was right in front of him, so close he could touch her face with his burning hand.

Together, at last and forever, he told her without moving his lips.

___


The door broke opened in a sinister crack. There had been no resistance as if the door wasn't meant to prevent Qui from entering. Somehow, he sensed the door was, in fact, meant to let him pass. As if he had been expected to come.

The spherical room behind the door looked much more high-tech: white plastic walls, electrical lights. Minimal. The heart beat was now so loud Qui could feel its vibration into his own bones. In the center of the sphere was a humanoïd form. A shadow that seemed to absorb the light as if it could only exist as a negative. The being was struggling against silver chains that he was wrapped into. A simple glance was enough for Qui to understand those chains were not part of the original decoration. But he didn't really have time to inspect them for Sarah had soundly fallen down on the floor.

Quissera chuckled to himself. "It seems to me that Ms. Ravelyn is attempting to end this world. Cecilia may cause quite a rampage...however, I gave her all of her power. She was hungry...and I could feed her. However, she ended up taking more than I planned on giving, and took a good portion of what I had...but it seems now, all that is left to do is for me to go back to Evanescing. Pleasure seeing you again Loki...sorry we couldn't chat more." He vanished.
________

(Qui had picked up Sarah) Qui walked over to the form, Sarah in his arms. "Care to explain what's going on here?"
________

Rave drew him towards her and kissed him, her skin being immune to the flame for the most part. For Vauhgn, a white veil fell in front of his sight, and the pain subsided. Ravelyn felt his body go limp, and she looked at the chains around her wrists. Both fell from her. The flames vanished, and in the middle of the wreckage lay Ravelyn Shentavo in the arms of Michael Vaughn. Neither looked as if they had been burnt at all. It was as both were sleeping. But there was no life left within her blood.

As Vaughn's eyes opened, he saw Ravelyn standing before him in a field filled with flowers. The sky was a brilliant blue with white clouds, and everything seemed so peaceful. "Get up..." she said with a smile, pushing him gently with her hands on his chest. "Come on, get up!" She pulled him up and smiled. It was obvious that the previous world had been left behind.

Vaughn stared at her. He passed his hand gently on her cheek. Mixed emotions showed onto his face: love, doubts, fear and contempt.

"Where... where are we?" he asked finally.

___


"It... It..." Sarah muttered, her face now as pale as the moon. "It has to be my father."

The being of shadow moved erratically, the chains holding it as if they were alive. Even to Qui, the dark figure seemed impressive. Then came the sound, a growl, a shout in which the mind breaker believed to hear a "No".

When he put his eyes back down on Sarah, it was a lifeless girl he had in his arms.

Then Qui heard the crackle. He saw white strips of energy pouring out of Sarah's body, flying around like snakes, rolling around the chains, pressuring them but to no avail.

Hey, c'mon, don't let me starve...write.

(ooc: *sob* )

*running in circles, ripping of hair and grumbling something about Rave under his breath*

*despairing call for Rave*

a bump just to tag this thead for memories.