"So... you told Laura that you will support her decision to be sacrificed, when actually... You have no intention of doing so," Mattie says slowly.
Carmilla nods sheepishly. "Mattie, she told me she loved me back. I can't lose her now."
"For the love of God, Carmilla," Mattie says exasperatedly. "If the little bean doesn't go through with this, Hell will be unleashed on Earth."
"I know!" Carmilla runs a hand through her hair. "I know. And I know why you and Laura are all on board to go through with this, but I can't. Especially not if– If––" She lets out a long sigh. "Can we sacrifice someone else?"
Mattie raises an eyebrow. "You really think Laura would go through with that?" She shakes her head. "Even if we could find someone else powerful enough to sacrifice to Lophiiformes, she would never agree to it. We're just wasting time, sis. The longer you sit around hemming and hawing, the stronger Vordenberg's army grows, and the sooner he can sacrifice them all and keep the gates of Hell open for eternity until an army just as vast and powerful is sacrificed. You'd just be delaying the inevitable, and making it that much worse."
Carmilla buries her face in her hands and lets out a long sigh. Her phone rings and she jumps. She answers it immediately. "Laura?"
Mattie watches as she listens to Laura's rambling and her eyes grow wider and wider.
"Shit. Shit. Okay, I'm coming. See you at the violence." Carmilla hangs up and swallows hard. "Vordenberg is attacking the school and rounding up as many people as he can get his hands on. A full-scale assault. His Corvae army is killing people who actively fight back."
Mattie clicks her tongue. "Looks like we've waited too long, already." She seems to mull something over and speaks slowly. "I'll send some demonic reinforcements. The time for good versus evil is over. Right now, we need to keep the gates of Hell from opening, no matter what."
Carmilla swallows hard and nods.
She orbs into Magic School and her mouth drops open. She had heard the commotion in the background of the call, but there was nothing to prepare her for a battle of this magnitude.
Young witches are being herded away by the older ones, but demons were making quick work of them.
Vordenberg had obviously managed to use his knowledge of Magic School to his advantage. The security measures had been updated over the centuries, to be sure, but the basics such as the protection spell or the entries had remained the same.
The Corvae forces–– both good and evil beings–– are wearing a sort of body armor, capable of blocking weapons. LaFontaine is throwing fireballs at them, but they simply get absorbed. Some Elders who had been teaching courses when the battle erupted are trying to shoot lightning at the demons, but those are also being absorbed.
This is it. This is the final fight, Carmilla realizes in horror.
Whitelighters and other teleporters are entering and leaving with whatever beings they can get their hands on, taking them anywhere else for safety. Carmilla squints and sees Laura tripping a lower level demon, stabbing him with a small dagger in a very small area not covered by the vest.
Laura reaches out and takes Kirsch by the arm, whispering something in his ear and waiting for him to nod his understanding and orb out. She grabs a young girl nearby and points to where whitelighters are orbing in for transport. There's a male witch standing nearby, coordinating the entire mess.
"Run to Theo!"
Carmilla runs past Danny, who's waving her hands to send demons flying away from the students and other powerless beings.
"Laura!" Carmilla calls out as Laura is tackled by a large thuggish demon.
"Let go of me," Laura commands. He does as told and she quickly vanquishes him with her dagger.
Laura spins and is tackled into a tight hug by Carmilla. "Ya killin' me, Hollis," Carmilla chuckles into Laura's hair, pressing a kiss against the side of her head. She feels Laura let out a sigh of relief.
LaFontaine is nearby, throwing a fireball at a warlock reaching for a whitelighter. It bounces off the demon's outfit. "I really hate that they're wearing those graphene-lined suits!"
A demon rushes past LaF and towards Laura.
They look at Carmilla. "Get her out of here!" they yell.
Laura pulls away from Carmilla and shakes her head. "No!"
Perry grabs a potion from a sack and flings it, wincing as the demon explodes and leaves a scorch mark on the floor. "Laura, we can't risk them getting you!"
There's a loud tapping noise nearby and the group looks over to see Vordenberg on a countertop, using a cane to get his army's attention.
"Yes, yes my Corvae soldiers! Continue to obtain anyone that you can! We are so close to completing our task! Just a bit more and––" He spots Laura and a cruel smile creeps onto his face. "You."
"Go! Go!" Danny barks, shoving Carmilla at Laura. "Get Hollis to safety!"
Carmilla nods and, ignoring Laura's struggling, orbs her into the coven house before Laura shoves her off.
"What the heck are you doing, orbing me here?" Laura shouts.
Carmilla clenches her fists and shakes her head. "Laura..."
"No! We can't just leave my friends there to––" Laura's voice cracks. "Carm, you promised. You promised to support me."
Carmilla feels tears stinging her eyes but she doesn't let them fall. "I'm sorry."
Laura starts to open her mouth to use her power and demand Carmilla take her back. "Forget it, I'm not gonna have you bring me back there," Laura growls.
Carmilla lets out a sigh of relief.
Laura steps closer to Carmilla with a look on her face that Carmilla's never seen before.
"Coz I'm the one who's sorry."
Carmilla furrows her eyebrows together in confusion. "Sorry for what?"
Laura presses a kiss to Carmilla's lips, lingering a bit before stepping away.
Carmilla swallows, the kiss leaving her feeling hollow. "Sorry for what?" she repeats.
Laura sniffles, reaching for a box. "Don't move. Don't orb." she says.
Carmilla feels her body freeze in place, no matter how much she tries to move.
Laura starts taking crystals out of a small wooden box and placing them around Carmilla in a circle. Carmilla's eyes widen.
"Laura, wait. Wait."
Laura hesitates before putting down the last crystal. The cage forms and Carmilla shakes her head, tears flowing down her cheeks. "What are you doing?"
Laura puts the box down and hovers at the bottom of the stairs. "What I should've done weeks ago. I'm letting your mother go and we're gonna do the ritual."
Carmilla mouth tastes like ashes. "No."
"You can move now."
Carmilla presses herself against the edge of the cage immediately. She searches Laura's face for any weakening resolve, and her shoulders slump forward when she finds no signs of it. "Could we just pretend, just for now, that if I asked, we'd run away? We'd find some way to leave and we'd just go." Her voice cracks and she closes her eyes, taking a deep breath. "We'd sleep in hotel rooms and never live in the same city twice. There would be no one to fail or disappoint or save. It would just be you and me in love."
"Do anything, go wherever we want." Laura hesitates and laughs sadly. "Like Paris. We could go to Paris and- and... and get a crappy apartment and read Simone de Beauvoir and eat chocolate croissants. That would be nice, wouldn't it? We could be happy that way?" She lingers in the daydream for a moment before shaking her head. "But we wouldn't be 'you and me' anymore. Our friends need me. The world needs me to do this."
Carmilla opens her eyes, staring at Laura and choking back a sob. "You were supposed to stay safe. You were supposed to have a nice little life, Laura."
Laura puts the box down and settles on the couch across from the circle, taking a deep breath. "Carm, you didn't see what it was like in the other place, with Vordenberg taking over. Everyone had just given up. They were all just waiting for the end. Here, there's still a chance."
"Laura, don't do this," Carmilla pleads.
The image of Alternate Carmilla as a sad, broken shell is burned into Laura's mind. The hollowed out girl who was forced to watch as another girl she loved died right before her. She makes it halfway up the stairs before she turns back and heads back downstairs, staring at Carmilla.
"You know, before all this, I spent so much time trying to figure out how to keep myself safe. And I don't just mean magically or physically." Laura wrings her hands together. "I didn't want to risk hoping too hard and ending up disappointed, or loving too much and having too much to lose. Because it seemed like that's the lesson the world was trying to teach me, y'know?"
Carmilla remains silent, her eyes slowly falling to the floor.
Laura lets out a small sob. "Except now I think that... Love is worth the risk."
Carmilla closes her eyes, her fists tightening.
"It doesn't matter how safe I try and make myself, there's always going to be disappointment and loss. There's no stopping that. Not unless you give up before you even try," Laura continues with a sniffle. "It's why I have to do this, even though I'm terrified. Even though I'd do anything to not have to do this in the first place."
Carmilla opens her eyes again, this time forcing herself to look at Laura and really take her in. "Please don't leave me. Not after all this. Please," she begs through a sob. "Please."
"I love you so much," Laura says.
She waits for a few seconds but when Carmilla doesn't reply, she heads for the stairs.
"I love you, too," Carmilla replies softly.
It's enough to make Laura pause again, but she pushes herself onward and ascends the steps.
She heads to the attic, where a smirking Dean and Will are waiting for her.
"Finally get past the pouting Kitty Cat?" Will asks.
Laura ignores his comment and turns her attention to him first. "Go to the Magic School. Find Theo and orb him here to protect Carm. Stay with Theo, where he can keep an eye on you, too." She removes a crystal and Will nods with a sigh.
"Yes, ma'am," he says sarcastically, orbing out.
"Who's Theo?" the Dean asks as Laura walks towards her.
"A witch with the power to duplicate himself. I picked him so he can keep coordinating the trips out of Magic School, while also providing more muscle here for Carm," Laura says. She stares down at the crystals on the ground. "Are you ready to perform the ritual?"
The Dean snickers. "Sweetheart, I've been ready."
Laura gives a small nod and kneels, removing a crystal. "Let's go."
~*~
"Well, if I didn't think you lacked fashion before..." Mattie lets out a cackle as Laura dons a special garment.
Laura groans. "Why am I wearing this again?"
"Your clothes are much too unpredictable," Mattie says, spinning Laura to make sure the outfit is on properly. "The ritual ends in a bit of a explosive finale, and it's annoying for us to have to clean up the bits of material afterwards. This one burns much more efficiently."
Laura crosses her arms. "Great."
The Dean teleports into the room, a pile of ingredients in a sack. She and Mattie begin setting them out as Laura paces nervously.
"Will you please talk to her or knock her out?" the Dean says to Mattie, who sighs and walks over to Laura. She grabs her by the shoulders to make her stop.
"Will it hurt?" Laura asks, her voice small.
Mattie lets go of Laura and shrugs. "It's not really like we've had an abundance of testimonials after the fact."
"Yeah," Laura frowns. "Yeah."
The Dean walks over, hands on her hips. "Are you ready? Once you step into the circle, there's no turning back."
Laura swallows hard, closes her eyes and nods. The Dean gestures for Laura to stand in the center of a circle of sticks and candles. As Laura heads over, footsteps catch their attention.
Laura furrows her eyebrows together. "Theo?"
He doesn't speak, but steps aside to reveal Vordenberg, trailed by someone else.
Laura's eyes widen. "Carm?"