"The past has no power over the present moment." – Eckhart Tolle
Reaching for the sky, Katherine pulled herself one more time and finally got out of the cave they were dumped in; heaving a deep breath, she crawled onto the pale earth and stood up before dumping her heavy human baggage onto the floor. Art yelped as his body hit the ground with Alexis right on top of him; he remained on the ground for but a moment before he slowly sat up and watched Katherine catch her breath with her hands resting on her knees as she bent forward.
"Couldn't," Katherine heaved air into her lungs as she slowly turned to face Art, "You have," she breathed deeper as her eyes slowly turned to a glare, "Climbed on your own?"
Art chuckled humourlessly as he slowly got up, whilst holding Alexis by an arm over his shoulder, then said; "If I had then you would have gone and did two trips up this cave."
Katherine merely growled at him as she slowly stood up straight and walked over to him, then took Alexis off him, then carried her on her back before she wiped the sweat on her forehead; Art just kept quiet as if he did not wish to incur more of Katherine's anger and silently followed her. He heard the crack of thunder and that made him flinch for a moment before he noticed how much darker the sky was than it was earlier; there were sparks of lightning at the distance as he saw Katherine move towards it.
"Chica," Art downed the slump hanging on his throat and followed Katherine behind, "I know how badly you want to clean all this up, but," Art halted as he caught up with her and tried to reason with her by saying; "Shouldn't we leave this world saving thing to the professionals? I don't know, maybe Superman? Or maybe Batman? I heard he was always prepared for anything."
Katherine ignored him as she kept going forward, completely uninterested in what he was going to say or try to convince her to do otherwise.
"C-Cause I'm really not sure," Art stammered as he tried not to panic or at least show how afraid he was of going back to face death – not after what he went through all that fighting at the castle, "I-I mean I'm just human you know? A human who can escape pretty good from a lot of things, but this my friend, we only have one shot of escaping this nightmare and that moment is now."
Pleas falling on deaf ears, Katherine kept going as she felt her body ache for a moment, but ignored it; she does not seem to care about the condition her body was in, aware that she cannot control the wolf that has been caged inside of her. There was something inside her – like a disease – that she cannot seem to figure out; how could her powers be controlled by someone else and that someone else being the queen of this hive.
This question bothered her for it was troublesome, but what was much more bewildering for her at that moment was the fact that the queen knew about her and was personally there; it made her think of who it was that was there all along. The answer was somewhere in her head but she could not find it as much as it was just at the tip of her tongue; it was so familiar but at the same time it felt so vague.
She was trying to find it within her but the sound of Art's irritating complaints was getting on her nerves, which made her want to strangle him just to be quiet for the rest of the journey; she did not wish to hear how tired, hungry, or afraid he was of the place and what he thought of this whole thing, or how he did not really wish to be a part of this whole journey to begin with.
"Chica, I don't know if I should tell you this," Art spoke as he exhaled a soft sigh whilst his eyes remained on the ground, obviously weary from all this walking, "But-"
"Art, I don't really want to hear your whining for the whole journey, so please shut up!" Katherine finally roared her irritancy out on him as Art jolted his eyes up at her, but she refused to meet his gaze, "Do you think this is a game? People are going to die if we don't do something about the billions of hungry souls wanting to feast on the innocent souls of the living. I have no time to listen to you complain about your needs when there is a greater need ahead of me."
"Chica, I-"
"Enough, Art!" Katherine raised her voice as she turned to him with fury in her eyes; Art looked at her with sadness in his that nearly looked as though Katherine was yelling at a puppy, "If you don't want to help me then fine, but I don't want to ever see you again!"
"Zander died, Kathie."
Silence fell upon them as the fury in Katherine's eyes slowly dissipated; her furrowed brows calmed itself to a straight as she stared at him, unsure what to say. How could he die... again? she thought as she stared at him, asking more questions than she can hope to answer. Slowly, she looked away from him as she felt her chest heave deep air, unsure what to feel about the news that she just heard.
"How," Katherine mumbled, "Can a spirit die again?"
Art nodded slowly, "We watched him wither into nothing."
"Hailey," Katherine spoke softly, "How did she take it?"
Art shook his head, "She was blinded by rage and eventually you two fought, then we got caught and now you're here."
"So, it's my fault," Katherine exhaled in disbelief before she bit her tongue at the thought, then gritted her teeth whilst anger slowly built up inside her that the cage where her powers were trapped shook; the werewolf within her was thrashing around like a rabid dog looking for his taste of blood for supper. Clenching her fist, Katherine turned to Art and said; "Climb on, Art. We have things to do."
Seeing the calm in her eyes, Art merely nodded and walked towards her as she bent down for him to climb onto her back, whilst she brought Alexis to her front; she did not wish to squish her body between them, aware that she was carrying sharp object in her thick Lolita and gothic style clothing. Once Art settled, Katherine sprinted forward at the drop of hat; it made Art cling onto her neck tight enough for her to breath.
"Kathie," Art spoke as he felt the wind against his face as Katherine zoomed past everything; their destination ever closer by a second as much as the horde of enemies were in sight. "You can't fight all of those alone, so please, just drop us off somewhere so we won't get in your way."
Looking around, Katherine found nothing in the waste empty space to leave them; it was just a wide plain between them where the grass could not be any greener. Thunder boiled in the distance as lightning challenged the earth. Katherine did not wish to involve them, but if she left them somewhere, there was a chance they could be captured and used against her like Hailey had been, and she did not wish for that to happen; on the other hand, if she brought them with her, there is a chance that she can protect both of them since Alexis was immobile and was doubtful that the enemy would pay attention to nothing but a corpse.
"Art," Katherine spoke, "Can you get Alexis's sword?"
Art titled his head for a bit before he grabbed the protruding blade off the sleeping assassin, then unsheathed it from the scabbard tied around the girl's waist. The sword was light in his hand that it almost felt as though it was a feather, but was heavy enough to deal a lot of damage; he caught a few glimpses of Alexis's fight earlier and was certain that this sword truly packed a punch however small it may seem.
"I can't leave you somewhere," Katherine spoke as she stormed even faster as her heartbeat hastened to the flow of the wind, "But I know you can at least swing that sword until we reach the gate."
Swallowing his spit, Art merely nodded and gripped the sword tight as he heard Katherine roar forward; her eyes beamed a bright yellow with fire burning around the edges. He could see the fight in her, the drive that kept her forward, but wondered if it was truly enough. Closer and closer, their enemies finally saw their approach; inhuman screeches erupted amongst the sea of dark winged human forms, but skeletal in figures; the rear most line of fighters turned to intercept them, believing they were enough.
As the fight between an ant and a swarm of cockroaches was fast approaching, Katherine clenched her jaw and burned her body with anger; her veins sprung out of her skin as nose flared with anticipation. Roaring, Kate rushed head first into the fray, pushing away every enemy in front her; the force flung the first wave away as Katherine, duck and dodge their scythes.
Just as Katherine instructed, Art swung the blade at anyone that got near them; from the sheer amount of force that came from Katherine speed, the enemies that came at them were blown away and with Art's help, they were sent flying even farther. They were like a bull running through a crowd without stopping to breathe; Katherine could feel her body quiver within at the feel of her power slowly withering away as they got closer to the gate.
It doesn't feel like their leader is here, she thought as she rammed through the horde of renegades that were dead set on exterminating them; she merely roared out loud and kicked anyone who got closer, spun to create a spinning hurricane when they surrounded her, and leapt away from those whose scythes were inching closer to them. She did not give them the luxury of hurting them further; not anymore.
Inch by inch, they got closer to the gate; Katherine was trying her best to carry them both, fighting at the same time, and trying to figure out how to close the gate that was mocking her as she got closer. Her mind was running through question after question, but there was one question in her head that she does not want answered: is Hailey still alive?
Blinded by her thoughts, she roared her anger inside as she kept going; Art was screaming out loud as he swung the blade, like a lunatic driven mad. Spirit after spirit, Katherine and Art fought their way through the crowd, balancing both defence and offense; if Art goes for a kill, Katherine pulls back to run and make sure both of them have enough space for a counter.
Hope stirs inside her chest as they got closer and closer, but as they got closer, fatigue was getting the best of them; Art was sweating buckets that were pouring down on Katherine, the stench nearly nauseated the teen, but placed aside her disgust as she kicked back the renegades closing in on them. Her arms were getting tired, cramping by the second as she kept a hold on the two of them, making it difficult to time her kicks; her legs were long, but her reach was shortened because of Alexis being in the way
"Chica, look out!" Art gasped in exclamation as a winged renegade dove down to pounce on them; Katherine was in the middle of a kick when her head turned to face the incoming foes. Her eyes were burning with anger as her mind was cursing endlessly, unable to deflect this incoming attack. Quickly she spun and tried to avoid the scythe heading their way, but as she waited for it to arrive, she felt a hand hold her by the ankles; it was one of the renegades she had kicked, holding her down and prevented her from moving.
Fuck! She cursed as she struggled out of it but the hands that held her were holding on just as much as she wanted to break free. Art noticed her immobility and found the root of the cause, he dipped the blade into the renegade's skull, that set them free, but as they were, the scythe came down on them. Toppled off of Katherine, Art grunted as he held his head and tried to stand up, but as his eyes steadied to his surroundings, they widened at the sight of the enemies around him; getting his feet under him, he raised his hands to defend himself, only to realise that the sword was not with him, possibly knocked off of him earlier.
Backing away, Art tried to find a way to get back to Katherine, who was in a much similar predicament as him; the only difference between them was he was powerless against them, for he was none more than just human. Katherine growled at all of them as she tried to get rid of them all around her; they had their hands on her, trying to suppress her as they forcefully made her get on her knees with her head readied for an execution.
"You have bothered us for the last time!"
"Off with her head!"
"Kill that dog for good!"
Katherine merely growled at them as her eyes fumed with anger as she struggled out of the hundreds of hands that held her down. The scythe was raised above her as they all screeched around her, deafening her eardrums to nothing; she gritted her teeth at the ululating sound around her that had her brain running mad. Growling to bar their screeches, she struggled even more as her executioner raised his scythe higher as Katherine merely looked at him with eyes that bore no regrets; she was unafraid, certain that it was not her end.
"Any last words, dog?" her executioner mocked.
Katherine merely looked at him, then lowered his eyes for a moment; releasing her tense body she allowed herself be carried by the weight of their hands as she closed her eyes, then looked at the ground. She stared at it for a second as she tried to silence everything; there were a lot of things in her head, but death was surely not in them. The fire of her hope burned brighter even under this circumstance and that made her chuckle.
"You think you can kill me?" Katherine threatened as she slowly raised her golden eyes to the wielder of the scythe. A smirk played on her lips as she tightened her fist, growling at his futile attempt to scare her; the spirit in front of her did not wince and readied to slice her head off. Katherine merely chuckled and eventually laughed, which caught the eyes of all those holding her.
Without wasting another second, her executioner dropped his scythe as Katherine merely growled at him and got her foot under her, then pushed those holding her back just by a few inches. The scythe missed her neck, which made Katherine smirk and bite the middle of his weapon, then forcefully broke the blade in half; with hastened speed, she sliced the ones holding her right arm before she forcefully pulled those holding her left arm towards the blade in her mouth.
"Get her!" Commanded one amongst the crowd as Katherine got on all fours and sprinted towards Art without thinking; she rammed through anyone that got in her way. As she ran through them, their scythes scratched her body all over, but she did not wince at every slice; she ignored the run of blood outside her body as she continued heading for Art, then finally saw him.
Faster and faster, she ran underneath his thighs and ran using her two legs as she carried him on his back. Relief washed on Art's face as Katherine ran towards the Alexis's body as much as the sword was next to her; he noticed the pain the wolf was in and wanted her to stop, but all he could do was avoid the scythes that were coming his way. He was not made to withstand their weapons much less live more after one cut; he was just a human caught in this trap.
After one final push, Katherine got to Alexis and Art immediately pulled the sword out of the ground and swung it around, enough for Katherine to pick Alexis up, then ran once again; but this time, she was running not away from them, but towards the gate. They continued their rampage earlier and Katherine tried as much as she could to avoid the aerial attacks, finally reaching the cliff.
"Chica, we're going to make it!" Art exclaimed in joy as he kept slashing away the scythes around as Katherine merely growled at her enemies, kicking them whenever she had an opening, then ran whenever the path was clear. Her eyes were set on closing the gate and now that she was near it, she knew not how to do so; her only other option was to get to the other side and get help. "We're going home!"
Hailey, wait for me, she thought as she leapt off the cliff and dove into the light as spirits flew behind them in an attempt to capture them once again. Katherine closed her eyes as the light embraced them; it made her body warm as though it was the embrace of someone so familiar – a caring mother or perhaps a loyal lover – it was as warm as the summer sun. Silence surrounded them as Katherine surrendered to the light, letting go of Art and Alexis as they disappeared into the light.
As the light engulfed her body, her eyes slowly opened and in that blinding ray of pure white, a figure of a young teen was looking right at her; there was a smile on his lips as much as the dimple on cheek deepened as his smile curved further. A feeling of familiarity enveloped Katherine's chest as the figure reached out to her; reluctantly, Katherine reached out to the figure as it mouthed words that seemed to make sense to her, but at the same time it did not.
The figure merely chuckled as Katherine tried to piece together a question in her head as much as she was trying to piece together the fragments of her memories that was trying hard to recall where she has seen that smile before; as she tried to remember, the tip of their fingers grazed the other that made Katherine's eyes widen with the truth. Her heart pulsated, her breathing hastened, her body quivered as tears threatened to escape her eyes.
"You...?"
The figure merely smiled sadly and said; "Something caught your eye?"
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
"Stand your ground, men!" Ford rallied his troops as they kept their defensive line intact; his strategy was without a doubt, fool proof, but he did not calculate the numbers that would come at them. Holding down at the pit, Ford and his men blocked every entrance, then sealed the students and staff in a barrier that not even ghosts could penetrate. "Don't just fight for your life! Fight for everyone!"
Hails of bullets rained the forest as the spirits rushed towards them, nearly unscathed from the bullets that hit them; the silver rounds Ford and his men carried, merely passed through their enemies' nearly translucent, skeletal figures, which made it too difficult for them to fight. Half of his men had resorted to going melee and have found it successful after they have taken their weapons; the others have got their backs as they tried to turn the tide without falling out of ranks.
As the battle raged on, a ball of azure fire was hurling towards them which made Ford call his men to shield themselves, but they were too slow; the flame bashed the earth and seared everything around them, but much to Ford's surprise, the flames did not touch them. Those much closer to the impact were left unharmed as the fires merely touched their bodies as though it was the wind; it left them astounded, but at the same time afraid.
Their enemies screeched until they could not, fading into nothing as the azure flames engulfed them alive; their screeches left Ford and his men speechless, all they could do was stare at them as though they were still begging for their lives. Some of their enemies even tried to crawl away from the fire, even reaching out to some of his men as though asking them for help; all Ford and his men could do was grit their teeth and face forward.
Vanishing, the azure flame cleared the area and allowed Ford's men to rest for a moment as another wave was fast approaching; they were tired and some were already too worn out to fight. There were several bodies lying on the ground, lifeless and immobile – a casualty they were ready to face, but never ready to see; it made Ford click his tongue as he reloaded his rifle.
Out of nowhere, Cecilia emerged and walked over to Ford, then asked, "Are you alright?"
"We're trying to manage," Ford responded as he approached their wall of sandbags, "We're completely outnumbered here," he admitted as he looked at his men, "We may not be able to keep this up even longer."
Cecilia looked away and could only feel sorry for his men, "Athena and I are trying our best to make sure they don't break the barrier," she admitted as she looked up at the sky where a thin veil was protecting them, which Ford could not see, but nevertheless looked up as well, "We need to close the gate soon, else there would be no tomorrow."
"That won't happen," Ford assured her as he placed a hand on her shoulder, then gave her a small smile, "You're the infamous Crimson Dragon, aren't you?" he smirked as Cecilia imitated him, "So just burn them all so we can all go back to sleep."
Chuckling, Cecilia nodded and floated up; she was about to fly away, but turned to Ford and said, "Stay alive and I'll buy you a drink."
"Don't worry," Ford chuckled just as the wave was fast approaching them, "You're going to buy all night."
With that, Cecilia chanted three balls of azure fire towards the incoming horde before she vanished to quell the renegades trying to break the barrier; Ford and his men stood their defensive line along the Pit's entrance, putting their all into their work. Bullets rained the battlefield once again as a few of his men, took the fight to them, by using their own weapons against them; it was a fight where both sides have an advantage, but a fight that will end soon at the expense of humanity.
Meanwhile, Athena was at the heart of the horde with her sword sheathed whilst the enemies around her were dropping like flies as they attempted to get closer; she was walking tall in a straight path without so much as lifting a finger against her enemies. Her powers were unexplainable that even Cecilia would not be able to match despite her reigning title as the most powerful mage known to take lives in seconds; if the Crimson legend had seen this, even she would not be able to believe what she was seeing.
There was an unseen force around Athena that seemed to be dispatching anything that got near her, although the trees around her remain unscathed as though the target of this unknown force knew whom to take down; it was confusing at first to see renegades dropping like pigeons around her, creating a river of ectoplasm in the wake of her power, that nearly made her look as though she was walking on water. Eyes straightforward, she kept on walking with the same indifferent expression she had the moment she arrived, eager to end this dilemma as soon as she could; it may not seem like the world was ending in front of her, but her only mission was to stop whatever was trying to destroy her family's future.
Walking down the path to the gym, a loud explosion erupted and destroyed the building where the renegades were coming out of; debris flew all around as Athena kept on walking without even shielding herself from the flying broken pieces of glass. A pillar of blinding white light sprung out of the explosion and kissed the heavens; a mass of black spirits emerged out of the light and flew away in different directions, screeching maniacally as they got farther away.
"Beautiful isn't it?" a voice spoke as Athena directed her gaze at its direction, "A new world is dawning upon us," the masked spirit holding a spear continued as Athena halted her step, "Do you feel the wind of change yet?"
Athena did not speak and merely examined this masked one; there was something about him that felt oddly familiar, but she did not bother with her gut. From the way he spoke, she knew right then and there that it was he who was running this whole show, for none other than him ran like a mindless minion obeying their master; he was there talking to her as though proud of the destruction he had caused.
"This world is ours now," the masked spirit spoke as Athena paid him no heed and looked at the pillar of white, thinking of a way to shut it close, "You cannot close that door even if you tried."
Turning to him, Athena felt an itch in her palm that told her that this talkative masked figure knew the answer to how to close the trench that was growing by the second. Walking towards him, Athena kept her eyes on him as she rested her hand on her sword and waited for him to make a move; as she got closer, he did not move an inch and they both stared at each other as though refusing to take the first move.
Impatient, Athena sprinted towards her opponent, who quickly readied his spear, but Athena merely adjusted her body by a few metres to the left and resumed her sprint; as she got closer, she stretched her arm to grab her opponent by the neck, hoping to end this as quickly as possible. At an arm's length, her opponent sidestepped out of her way and dropped the length of his spear on her, but Athena deflected it with her left arm; a wave of air escaped at the impact that told her that her foe was not to be reckoned with.
"Do you honestly believe you can win against me?" He questioned as a dragon emerged out of nowhere at the distance; it roared to the heavens, but neither of them looked away from the other. Athena did not speak as she pushed the spear back by a little, but immediately grabbed it, then pulled her body opponent to her; it took him by surprise at the speed she had, but it did not astonish him.
A punch landed on his mask as his head jerked back from the force, which almost made him fall, but he held his stand and returned Athena's punch, but she pulled her right arm quick enough to deflect it; they were on a par as they placed much force into their actions – one of their arms were pulling on the spear and the other arm was placing much energy into either defending or attacking – none of them willing to break apart.
As they caught themselves in a deadlock, the renegades all around them came rushing towards them as several aerial spirits readied their scythes to slice Athena, who refused to break from her foe; she kept her eyes on him as her brows slowly furrowed, which almost made her eyes dance in the colour of gold, but refused to do so.
Mentally, Athena clicked her tongue as she head-butted her opponent that created a crack on his mask which made him jerk his head back at the force, and eventually made him let go of his spear; pulling the spear away, Athena grabbed him by the nape then connected his face to her knee that sent him flying. Spinning around, Athena threw the spear in her hand at the nearest enemy coming at her from the sky and the spear tore through a column of spirits in a single path; at the drop of a hat, she unsheathed her sword and deflected the other scythes coming at her, she pushed them all back at a spin, before she dealt with them with a single slice, decimating them with just one blow.
Turning to the masked man, she held her blade tight as she sprinted towards him, but as she got closer, she heard a crack inside her ears that made her stop and turn to its direction. Looking up, she looked at the barrier she cast upon the Institution; her eyes nearly widened at the amount of damage it took – almost half of it was covered in invisible cracks as though it would break at any moment. She did not anticipate the amount of foes she would face, believing that this simple spell would have been enough; she thought wrong.
"There is no stopping us, fallen one," her opponent spoke as he manifested his spear in his hand, "The end is here!" he raised his voice and pointed the end of his spear at her, "Just accept your fate."
Before Athena could even respond, a roar erupted from behind her that made her look over her shoulder and saw a gigantic ball of fire hurling towards her; in a matter of seconds, she leapt away from the fire's impact point and landed a few metres away from her foe, who also did the same and flew away from the blast. The impact of the fire decimated the spirits that had surrounded her earlier, but there remained an innumerable amount escaping from the pillar of light.
Returning her eyes to her opponent, she noticed a familiar scent near her and recognised it immediately, it made her glad that she was alright, but at the same time, worried on what she was trying to do. Hailey stood by the pillar of light as the dragon landed beside her, and then roared at the masked mad at the sky as though telling him not to move from where he was; from a distance, Athena could see a spirit with Hailey and wondered what she was doing, which made her sprint towards her.
"Shepard, what are you doing here?" Athena queried as she took a quick glance at the dragon.
"Shut up, kid," the spirit with Hailey spoke as Athena turned to him, nearly irritated, "She's going to close the gate, so just keep everyone away from her."
Athena turned to Hailey and noticed the concentration in her form as much as her eyes bore listless focus, making her understand what it was all about. As Hailey took a breath, the swarm of renegades overhead dove towards her, but Athena quickly chanted a spell to protect her as the dragon beside her flew away and chased the spirits away from Hailey; Athena kept those on the ground away from Hailey, aware that she can prevent the barrier from breaking as those trying to break it, scattered to find her as though they were commanded.
Quietly, Hailey began her chant as Scott stood beside her, providing her with the instructions on what to do; she obeyed with as much determination and focus she could muster, silencing her surroundings that had gone to chaos. Quietly, she concentrated on the gate and filled her body with the elements as Scott had instructed, trying hard not to break away from the void that was drawing her to a dark path.
"In sanguine filiorum meorum..." Hailey whispered under her breath as light slowly enveloped her, then slowly turned to a bright grey force. Athena noticed the power in her body that made her look for but a second before she resumed dispatching the foes around her; the masked man had taken to the sky and floated whilst looking down at them, sending his army to deal with them.
"Yes that's it kid! Feel the universe in you and speak to its power!" Scott exclaimed calmly as the ground underneath them etched a circle out of the greyness.
"Hoc autem praecipio non claudere ad caeli latet..." Hailey continued as the circle around her shook the earth, "sæculum nostrum signantes..." the pillar's light waned as her aura darkened its colour with hers, "Praesta progenitoribus in nomine," the light began to crumble, "Lunaris Shepard Hailey ego sum!"
The pillar of light slowly imploded as the renegade spirits coming out of its light screeched and tried to escape its growing close; Hailey's body was covered in a bright grey light that seeped into the blinding white, infecting it with its colour like a disease as it slowly slithered back into the hole from whence it stood. The battle around her was slowly subsiding as the renegade spirits around them slowly faded away into nothing.
"Ego sum clavis et regna!"
With one last cry, the gate's light vanished as much as the rest of the renegades around them. There was silence as the dragon landed by Hailey just as the barrier that Athena chanted around Hailey, disappeared; Hailey collapsed on the ground as the dragon engulfed itself in a blinding light, then returned to its human form. She immediately caught Hailey before she could even fall on the ground.
"You did it, Hailey!" Oriana exclaimed as Hailey smiled at her wearily and tried to stand on her feet. There was a cry of victory in the distance as Oriana hugged Hailey tight whilst Athena merely looked at her with a smile; Scott placed a hand on her shoulder with a content smile on his lips and an assured nod, glad that it was all finally over.
"Good job, kid," Scott praised her as Hailey merely smiled back, "The world is safe now thanks to you."
"You've done a marvellous job, Shepard," Athena joined in as Hailey nodded at her with a smile, "You have performed much better than I thought you would," she continued as she sheathed her sword, "Thesa would be proud of you."
"Yeah," Hailey exhaled as she turned around and approached the hole where the light vanished into; it was the indeed the hole she knew that could be where the other end of the gate would have been. The gym's eighty foot drop was the only logical place she knew it would come out of; she never expected for Jesslyn's deep excavation to end up as the only place where the end of the gate would be.
"Now all we have to do is get Katherine back," Oriana quipped as Scott scoffed at her, "What?"
"That kid can get out on her own," he replied with irritancy in his voice as he crossed his arms, "She's a real pain in the ass that kid."
"Like you're any different," Oriana rolled her eyes whilst Athena slowly approached Hailey, who was staring deep into the hole, "I can't believe I let you borrow my body."
"Don't worry darling, I ain't going to do it again," Scott scoffed once more as both of them began walking away from the hole whilst Athena merely looked at them over her shoulder; she was intrigued by what he had said and at what they had done, but did not wish to ask. Now, was not truly the time to bother with such trivial things; they had to return everyone back to their respective slumber.
Eyes latched at the hole, Hailey could not believe that she was finally able to close the gate before something worse had happened; she did not believe she could do it, nor could she have known how to especially now that Zander was no longer guiding her. It was pure luck that Scott knew how to close it; although she did not know if it would really close the gate, she did not have a choice but to trust him. Now, she can go to the other realm with ease to get Katherine and the others, hoping that the task would be much easier done than said.
"Shepard, let's g-"
All of a sudden, the earth slowly shook and further intensified as the ground suddenly cracked. Without hesitation, Athena grabbed Hailey and leapt a few feet back just as a gush of light escaped the hole which left all of them wide eyed and confused; out of all of them, Hailey was in total disbelief.
"What the hell!" Oriana exclaimed as they watched the renegade spirits fly out of the light like flies. "You closed the gate, but why?!"
"You did the ritual correctly," Scott spoke with confusion in his tone as he turned to Hailey, "I swear you did it right!"
"You said that she could close the gate!" Oriana exclaimed in near frustration as Athena created a barrier around them to protect them from the incoming horde of renegade spirits, "You said that it would all be over!"
"I'm telling you, kid, she did it right!" Scott defended himself as Hailey was left speechless and nearly worn out from the amount of spiritual energy she lost just to do what she just did, "She followed everything I said to the last intonation and she focused perfectly! There was no way it could have failed!"
Trying to figure out what went wrong, Athena clicked her tongue at their attempt and tried to think of another solution; she was certain that Hailey had closed the gate, but for it burst out even stronger than before made her wonder where had they gone wrong. The pillar of light was thicker than before and almost ate the whole of the gym unlike before when it was confined to the hole that Jesslyn and her had dug up; she did not anticipate for the situation to turn dire.
"Did you really think it was that easy?" a familiar voice spoke as all heads turned to him just as he reappeared from nothing, "Did you honestly think that you could close the gate at the snap of your fingers, Hailey Shepard?"
Athena gripped her sword tightly as she held back her anger; she did not wish to exhaust her powers on this simple task that turned sour. She had faith in Hailey even though she did not finish the job at one try. The masked man laughed out loud at them as his army surrounded them once more, which made Oriana shift into a humongous white lion that roared at them; however, it did not faze them in the slightest.
"How is this possible?" Hailey whispered as the masked man merely chuckled; she tried to think where had she gone wrong, but could not muster enough energy as she felt her knees buckle and her body fall backward, only for Athena to catch her. "I'm the only one who can close and open this gate. How could it open like that without me telling it to?"
His laugh continued maniacally, nearly laughing like a mad man on high. His laugh vexed both Oriana and Athena, which made their veins pop with an itch to shut him up; he did not care for their anger or irritancy, but merely pointed his spear at them as his army began running in circles around them whilst hitting the barrier that Athena created.
"Hailey Shepard, you performed a ritual incomplete – a ritual that needs an offering."
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A/N: What offering is being demanded?
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