Etherion (IC)

[atmawpn]

Outskirts of Tikrit, banks of the Tigris


He ran, legs screaming, lungs burning, sweat pouring. Even as his feeble muscles protested the exertion he continued, shrieks from the digsite fading into the desert air.

This... this can't be happening.

The last of the shrieks died down: hardly comforting, for it would only mean that... it, would now go after him.

This... this has to be a dream. They... they don't exist!

He continued to run, even as he felt its malevolent presence creep up, even as he felt the shadowy pressure build upon his heels.

What... what have we done!

He screamed as something touched him, sending waves of agony through flesh and bone that toppled him into the sands. He struggled to get back up, only for an invisible force to spin him around and witness the thing in all its glory.

A strangely feminine figure with long hair flowing in the night air.

A smile. Then a flash of movement as she snapped forth, head suddenly that of a lioness.'

One last cry of agony, then silence.


-----


Etherion HQ, Esposizione Universale Roma, Rome


Beneath the bustling streets of the city above, an extensive subterranean complex of area comparable to a skyscraper. Where the Mages of Etherion went about their work: training, engaging in research, gathering intelligence. At the heart of the complex an enormous empty hall nearly the size of a stadium. At its entrance the three Archmages of the Circle, themselves flanked by the Four Captains. Before them the latest additions to Etherion's ranks of Mages.

Jake Carver regarded the group with a critical eye. "Having mastered the Eidolon you have earned the right to be called Mages... at least in the realm of theory and civilian affairs. But to become true Mages in direct service against the Hellions themselves, one final test is required."

With a gesture the hall darkened as a combination of technological and etheric systems kicked in, the empty space quickly becoming filled with a new reality - a desolate jungle environment clearly too large to fit within the hall despite its size. Yet the paradox of space remained as real as could be.

"For those of you who have never stepped within these walls - there is little need for confusion," Jake continued. "Being Etherion's premier training facility, the Room of Dimensions is quite capable of... twisting space to its needs. You will find that while the combat environment ultimately has boundaries, it is still sufficiently large to pose a challenge to your talents."

"The environment we have presented for your test is that of Operation Purify, 2008," Susan Brown explained. "A remote village in Vietnam was afflicted with a particularly virulent strain of avian flu that all but wiped out the local population - so went the official media reports. What actually happened was a Hellion-sourced contagion that rapidly spread among the villagers and reduced them to the state of ghouls. An undead outbreak, in a sense."

"Your test will thus be to locate and neutralise the Hellion responsible in an efficient manner," Jake stated plainly. "You are free to use your talents to their greatest extent, since the space-warp of the Room will prevent any permanent damage from being done to its interior."

"A word of caution," Susan mentioned suddenly. "While the Room is capable of... replicating targets such as ghouls for you to use your talents upon, it is not able to do so for targets of significant power. As a result, the Hellion you will be facing is an actual Hellion of similar class and type, sourced from Etherion's repository of sealed beings. So while safeties ensure that the replicated ghouls will never be able to harm you to the point of fatality, the same cannot be said for the Hellion. Though, you should set your minds at ease on that matter - for your Mentors can intervene in an instant if something should go wrong."

"Now that all that is said and done, go forth and show us your power," Jake concluded before gesturing for the rest to exit. With a dull thud the doors shut, leaving the emergent Mage team within the chilly night air of the jungle. In the direction of the village, the steadily growing moan of approaching ghouls.

[Mokino]

From a thick bunch of foliage emerged the first dozen targets: shambling remnants of some of the villagers. Jaws hanging forth the moans turned into choking rasps as they sighted their prey, moving to intercept. No sooner had they done so did similar echoes sound from around the team in the distances - like an alarm setting off a chain reaction.

Helen opened the long black case binding her sword and took out the long black blade, raising it to guard. Fire briefly flared around her body like a mantle before being choked back and controlled, the sheer heat of the magic running over her skin surrounding her in a flickering heat-haze. Helen breathed out as the wave of heat ran up her blade, beginning to wake the torrid blade from its slumber. Reinforcement magic made the mage one with their weapon. So she was one with a Hellion's blade. So be it. "I'm going," she said briefly. She charged forwards with sudden, explosive speed, her sword rupturing the ground as she closed on the ghouls.

Liathan looked at the approaching zombies trying to hide the look of disgust upon her face even as long water whips extended from her hands. Briefly cracking them and sending several of the shambling remains of villagers stumbling backwards with new wounds. Soaking the Mage’s hair at the same time, Liathan continuing to look forward, eyes glancing around to see what the rest of the team was doing even as she spun the watery weapons about.

A corrupted one? thought Cassandra Mortier as she adjusted her glasses. A Mortier shouldn’t be teamed up with such...abominations. She’d dealt with Hellion artifact users before; it never ended well. Eventually, they had to be put down like the rabid dogs they’d become. No different from the monsters they’d fought, really…

But that would have to wait. She still had this silly and pointless test to complete. The mage’s body let off a soft glow as an orb of biting wind surrounded her.

Heine patted his jacket and smiled at the others still close by. "My name is Heine for those of you who don't know me, i hope we can work well together". Thin blades unsheathed themselves as he followed in after Helen without further hesitation.

"Cassandra Mortier," Cass said dryly as she began etching a glyph in the air, a glowing trail following her fingertips, "though I suspect you already know that."
"Helen Brooks," Helen managed as she planted her feet and swung her sword, cutting a ghoul in half in one vicious swing. It was hard to get fired up against virtual enemies, though. Catastrophe was silent.

"I knew that," Lia mentioned with a shrug in regards to Cassandra's name, moving forward and staying behind the Hellion user and Heine
Cassandra snapped her fingers and the glyph exploded, cutting a clear path in front of the advancing mages.

But the opening would not remain so for long. Foliage began rustling all around as the other ghoul groups closed in, homing in on the alerts set off by their brethren. Moans from behind as one of the subsequent waves emerged in sight of the Mages - another dozen.

Helen stepped backwards, bringing her sword up to guard as she measured the distance between her and the ghouls. "Is our objective to eliminate all threats, or to eliminate the Hellion alone? This could take a while, unless I set the forest on fire."

Liathan cracked a whip to the right sending one watery tendril screaming through the air and decapitating several of the zombies and leaving Liathan giving a shiver of disgust despite it being only a simulation. The ghouls still obviously getting to her in appearance though the mage continued support the others.

"Just the Hellion," Cassandra said dismissively as she stifled a yawn. With another snap of her fingers, a blade of wind shot out from her position, this time horizontal, seperating head from shoulder of the majority of the nearest pack. With another gesture, the blade reversed direction to finish off the rest. She stared at Helen momentarily. Hopefully I don't have to do the same to you in the future.

"Then let's move on," Helen said dismissively. She charged into the jungle, heading up the track towards the village. The Hellion would be at the centre of everything.
"Thats...smart," Lia remarked sighing lightly before running after Helen, swinging both whips and slicing through even more of the simulated zombies.
Heine slowed his pace as he watched Helen move towards the village. "So be it" He said, still retaining his smile, "Everyone, get moving! I'll cover our rear"

Cassandra sighed. Leave it to the blade users to be the reckless ones; they never could see the big picture. She placed both hands on the ground and, summoning a blast of wind, shot herself into the air. It was a risky move, but the easiest way to gauge the entire situation available.

Fortunately for the team, the path ahead was still clear enough, with sufficient time for an advance before the additional hordes arrived. But in the village ahead some strangeness afoot - a stirring of etheric energy, and a surprising lack of ghoulish presence.

Barring the occasional ghoul quick enough to have arrived ahead of its pack, the team eventually found themselves at the village. Belongings and carts strewn everywhere, with only destruction and death looming in the air. Then a moan as more ghouls emerged from behind a hut...

... only for them to pause mid-step, and suddenly crumble to dust and nothingness. A distinct flow of etheric energy in the air, and for a moment it seemed the village environment itself was flickering.

Helen sighed, raising her sword and searching for their target with her eyes. "Show yourself, Hellion! I'll end you!"

Ignoring Helen's boldness, Heine's gaze swept across the town carefully before he looked up at Cassandra. "Anything you can see Miss Mortier?" Heine yelled from beneath her.
"It looks like a crater," Mortier replied, "A...shockwave of ether spreading from a central point that's breaking up the illusions...I can't see the centre of it clearly. Use caution."

Lia followed Helen mostly trying to alleviate her lone charge shaking her head, "Screaming for them is....kind of dumb." She remarked eyeing the eerie emptiness of the village.
"Yes, well, so are the Hellions," Helen said. "Sometimes." She glanced up at Mortier. "Lead us to that central point! We need to end this now."
"Stupid." Lia muttered offhandly
"You have lots of friends, I'm sure," Helen said sourly.
A distortion that was less than a flicker and more like the World itself breaking down, the village and jungle suddenly twisted away into a mishmash of confused reality, the bubble expanding rapidly outwards and stopping short of where Cassandra was hovering. An opaque swirling swell of... something.

Within, the other Mages found themselves within a family home of sorts. But one that Helen recognised instantly.
"Welcome back," a familiar motherly voice stated from behind.
Helen's eyes widened in shock. "No way. Don't you dare. Don't you fucking dare!" She turned and swung her sword, her eyes wild with anger. "I'll destroy you!"
"You two are acquainted?" The water mage asked dryly eyes darting around as the simulation got altered by the Hellion.

Cassandra sighed as she floated to the ground. This is what happens when fools rush in. Whatever happened to them now was their own fault.

"Not the greatest taste in design" Heine commented in an attempt to diffuse the conversation, "I don't suppose this was a part of the training plan?". Heine was stood at the back of the group with his arms crossed and seemed content with simply staying behind the rest and observing.

"What are you talking about?" the woman looked on puzzledly as she approached Helen directly. "You must be tired, to be saying all that. Put your things away now..."

Loving hands stretched out, to receive Catastrophe from Helen's fingers.
Heine's hand suddenly clasped down on the woman's hand, preventing her from approaching Helen further. "I don't think that's a good idea now, do you?" He said with a slow smile.


Outside, Cassandra paced back and forth steadily, a trick she always used to calm her mind. Unfortunately, it didn't seem to be working this time. She stopped, looking at the opaque sphere intently.

"It's fine, Heine." Helen stepped forwards, facing her mother. "Yeah, I'm pretty tired of your shit," Helen said, a vicious smile playing about her lips. She stepped in and swung her sword with her full strength, aiming to cut her mother in half in a single swing. Heat seared around the blade. "My parents are dead! That's a truth no one can take from me!"

Lia didn't like the feeling she was getting from this situation, the mage channeling er eidolon Wispra onto Helen in order to distort where it looked like she was to the Hellion. While the water mage looked for an oppurtune time to strike.
"I swear you people would be completely lost without me," Cassandra muttered as she slipped through the barrier, appearing next to Lia and quickly appraised the situation. Faster than the eyes could see, she crossed her hands in front of her chest, sending twin strikes towards the Hellion from opposite corners of the room.

A flash of blinding white in Helen's eyes as all the attacks connected. When it faded there was her mother's corpse on the ground, her terrified younger self looking helplessly back at her with utter grief. Her own hands and forearms those of the demonic entity that had committed the deed. To the others they saw similar: as if Helen had become a Hellion - perhaps taken over by the demonic sword even.
"Why? WHY?!"

Helen stared down at the child in shock. She instinctively reached out with her left hand, and then stopped as the child shied away from her demonic talons. Oh, right. But whether this was illusion or reality, she had chosen to walk this path of her own free will. She had no reason to waver. The air around her blade flickered with increased intensity as she released far more magic into her sword. "Awaken, Catastrophe!" The metal eye in her sword's hilt opened, staring out at the illusionary world. Helen grimaced in pain as she saw into the future.

Lia blinked in surprise shifting her Wispra effect onto herself the water user sending tendrils of the element whipping around the room trying to connect with the real Hellion if it wasn't Helen now. Her wispra distorying the lashing to making them appear offset.

Cassandra ignored the crying child as just part of the illusion and faced the creature in front of her; it always happened with Hellion artifacts, though this time seemed unnaturally quick. "It seems I was right," she said grimly as she pushed her glasses up her nose, "Unfortunate." A glyph appeared on the floor under the mage as a tornado grew from her position and spread outward, twisting around her allies.

Furniture splintered and glass shattered as Lia's and Cassandra's attacks completely shredded the interior of the house, turning it into a ruin. But if the Hellion was hiding in plain sight somewhere it was not in their radius of attack. Meanwhile, the demonic eye of Catastrophe revealed the figure of Maya Rosalia approaching her.
> Then a flash, as Catastrophe showed Helen's death at her Mentor's hands. Another shimmer as the house began to flicker again.

Helen sighed. She'd never been good at lateral thinking. She preferred to fight enemies in plain sight. If it came to this, all she could do was act decisively. She drove Catastrophe through her younger self's chest.
Or at least, she thought she had. For no sooner had she done so did she find her younger self cowering behind her Mentor.

"Not this time, Hellion."
With movements so swift Helen could barely perceive them, Maya was up before her and driving a flaming earthen palm into her solar plexus, sending the Mage flying backwards into a wall.

Lia pondered this for several long moments before she swung both whips from opposite directions at Maya in a fast hard strike against what she was gambling was merely a fake of the Mentor.

Cassandra's eyes snapped open at the sound. Got you She raised her hand at the mentor, the Lotus Mark glowing on her palm.

Helen sighed as she slammed into the wall, shuddering from the impact. Well, it wasn't as if the Hellion had survived even with Catastrophe to hand. That was how strong Maya was. So if that wasn't enough to rupture this illusion- she turned her sword around and pressed it against her heart. Would this work? She had no idea. But Catastrophe might tell her if it would.

The sword remained silent.

Meanwhile the Lotus Mark shone like a scar upon Maya, the Mentor scowling as Lia's whips hit with unerring accuracy. A shriek as she was thrown back, the younger Helen flickering and shimmering away into nothingness. "How dare you," she shrieked as she gestured forth a series of flaming earthen pillars that erupted in the directions of Lia and Cassandra. Yet for some reason they lacked the coherence and force present when Helen was attacked.

Helen sighed and drove her sword into the ground, keeping her right firmly around the grip. "I see. You guys have fun, then."

Lia used one stroke to cast aside the attacks on her while sending another snapping slash at Maya in a vertical motion. Her brown eyes staring at Maya through drenched hair.

Cassandra's wind sphere brushed the attacks aside easily. "Lotus, blossom!" Cassandra cried as the petals on the demons' chest exploded outward over its body. In an instant, cuts appeared all over the creature.

Heine dashed in towards Maya, using the opening created from her focusing her attacks on Lia and Cassandra. "You're focus isn't as good as it was before" He said as his blades danced around him, striking at the distracted mentor.

A howl as the illusion shattered entirely, the Hellion doomed to oblivion by the etheric forces brought to bear against it. Then white all around.

Then the empty hall again. Healers and technicians were rushing in, along with the Mentors and the Three.

"Well done," Jake Carver stated, shooting narrowed eyes at Susan Brown as he addressed the group. "Considering the... circumstances you have performed admirably."
Cassandra merely kneeled before her mentor silently.

Helen released her magic, forcibly sealing Catastrophe with an act of will. She clapped her left hand over her left eye, grimacing in pain from the migraine that had gripped her when she used her magic. "Honestly, I get the worst roles." She returned the sealed sword to its box.

The water mage Lia cast her eyes downward slightly as the Mentors rushed in with the technicians, "So...I take it. That was not how it was suppposed to go?"
"Our target was stronger than they intended," Cassandra stated, "And we almost lost a member of our party due to it."

"So it would seem," Susan Brown stated without bothering to answer Jake's gaze. "But it will serve a valuable lesson in fortifying our systems against Hellion influence. If anything, it served only to challenge you further, which you achieved triumph over nonetheless."

"I'm leaving," Helen said flatly. She slung the box over her back and walked away.
Liathan nodded in response to Susan while glancing at Helen, "You aren't the only one that's delt with horrors."
"I never said I was," Helen said. "But that doesn't mean I've had a pleasant fucking afternoon. Good day."
"We all have, I believe," Cassandra said, looking at Helen with concern. We just all deal with them in our own ways...

Heine smiled kindly at the others despite the situation once more. "Fine work everyone!" He announced, "The mages will likely want to conclude this with the rest of us later, let’s all get some good rest till then"
Liathan took a step back the mage looking oddly hurt idly glancing off.

[Master Chief]

Ashe put a hand to her knee, pushing herself back up to her feet, her sweatband slick and her breath coming out in frustrated puffs. She shook her head, flicking off a drop with a gloved hand. He didn't say anything, but she could feel their disappointment; she'd not pushed herself as far as she could have. If she had, things wouldn't have turned out so poorly. She needed to be better than this to do the things she needed to do.

She turned her gaze back up as Carver spoke, inwardly chewing herself out before shaking her head slightly, tossing out the useless thoughts of self-pity; she'd just have to work harder.

As Helen walked past, Ashe decided against saying anything; right now, Helen needed some time alone.

"Yeah, sounds like a plan," Ashe said, keeping her voice low and slightly rough, pulling her gaze back from Helen as she agreed with Heine. She had other plans, but rest was certainly not a bad idea. As she turned to head out herself, she noticed Liathan a bit off from the rest, seemingly hurt. Ashe walked up, putting a hand on her shoulder.

"Hey, you all right?" She asked.

[Yoshi]

Liathan blinked at the hand idly shrugging away from it, “I’m fine,” She stated in indifference, the mage started to move off her mind going its own way as she took several steps.

“I, think I have some things to take care of,” She offhandly commented before taking off in a dash, water pattering off her coat and running along the ground for the first couple dozen feet before most of the excess had been worked off.

[Master Chief]

Ashe watched the younger woman go, hand hovering before moving to scratch the back of her head, a frown on her face. Maybe she should have refrained?

With a sigh, she waved goodbye to the few still standing around, heading back to her own room, her own little haven in the complex. It was sparse, the majority of the room bare save for the essentials, a small bookshelf half-stocked, a bible on the dresser, and a small Afremov painting she'd received as a gift years ago. Ashe sat on the bed, taking a moment to work out a kink in her neck as she took off her padded gloves, meant to protect her hands when she struck, and started pulling off the wrappings beneath, quickly replacing them with a fresh roll. She changed her shirt, sliding on a new Under Armor top for working out in; when she first came, she'd been hesitant to work out in the open, wondering if she'd be found out, but she played the part of a man well enough; so far, no one had noticed, at least to her knowledge, and she was confident it would stay that way. She certainly made sure she looked the part. She grabbed a hand towel from a dresser, slinging it around her neck as she left the room, locking it behind her.

She made for the small fitness center nearest her; training her body and mind always helped her to recenter herself, to relieve some stress and get back on the right track. It also helped her keep a bit of parity with Steel in hand-to-hand training; without the benefits of reinforcement, it was up to her to strengthen her own body. She didn't have the luxury of relying on magic to do it for her. That was fine with her, though; she had been blessed in other ways. She turned on the small radio sitting on the bench and fiddling with it until she heard the riffing of a guitar solo; music made most anything better, she'd found.

She started her typical routine, opening up with the heavy bag, puffing with effort as she pounded on the hanging sandbag.

[Sheep]

Etherion HQ, Esposizione Universale Roma, Rome

The initiation ceremony was slightly more luxurious than what Etherion mages were typically used to. An almost-formal evening setting involving sumptous foods and delectable drinks amid impassioned speech by Jake Carver on the responsibilities of Etherics. After most of the main courses were eaten it was time for some light music while the newest Mages mingled about - among both student and senior alike.

In the meantime, Cassandra Mortier and Heine Chesterfield found themselves being almost mobbed by curious and inquiring apprentices of the organisation.

"... they've been talking all about it, the Hellion that messed up the Room of Dimensions," a particularly excited young lad exclaimed. "What was it like going up against the real thing? Was it anything like they taught in class?"

"Hooo" Heine breathed, a smile of mischievousness forming slowly on his lips. Pretending to be serious, he took on a thoughtful pose as he addressed the young apprentices before him. "Actually, it was truly terrifying. I could hardly contain the fear within me when the beast revealed itself! Fortunately i had the assistance of my earnest teammates, without them all... i don't think we would have made it..." He replied, feigning anguish.

Cassandra fixed the student with a hard, serious look. "No matter they teach you in class," she said sternly, "you won't truly be ready to face the real thing. When that happens all you'll have to rely on is your wits. They will exploit every weakness they can find, both mentally and physically. You shouldn't be looking forward to fighting such a creature."

Heine gave Cassandra a sour look as she finished before sighing, "Well, that's our lovely Miss Mortier for you, you'd do well listen to her advice" He smiled with a helpless shrug.

"I see you are as blunt as always," the voice of Alicia Li came in from behind. A hush fell over the apprentices as the Mentor approached, with Victor close behind.

"No space for tact in matters related to Hellions," Victor countered. "Her honesty should be heeded by all."

"I'm sure there are places for such warnings in the classroom Victor," came Alicia's reply before she smiled at the duo. "Well now - given the likelihood of the few of you working together in subsequent assignments, I hope there are no... significant issues to speak of. You are all getting along I trust?"

"As well as can be expected given the members," Cassandra stated plainly, "Any potential problems are due to a lack of time working together."

Heine bowed respectfully towards Alicia and Victor as the two mentors addressed them. "Miss Li, Master Sinclair" He nodded in greeting, "It’s a pleasure to be able to see you two in such good health, and rest assured, i will do my utmost to maintain team work amongst the squad!"

Victor nodded curtly at Heine. "An important task. For only a cooperative team may obtain success with optimum efficiency."

Alicia did not seem convinced by Cassandra's answer however. "Cursory reports suggest that there may be... difficulties due to your teammate's use of a Hellion artifact as her Eidolon? Concerns have been raised as to your... acceptance of such a thing. For the team's sake, I need to know if that is the case, Cassandra."

"That..." Cassandra went silent for a moment, "That is not an easy question to answer. You know why."

Alicia looked at the mage for a few seconds, then sighed. "Sometimes the past has a way of holding you back, keeping you from moving forward. At some point... you'll need to acknowledge the risks we face in keeping humanity safe. And that despite those risks, we all have to move on. Perhaps someday..."

The Mentor trailed off, ending with a smile. "Meanwhile, I can only wish you all the best in your future endeavours. We will remain to give you your answers should you require advice, and perhaps we might even work together in particular missions. So enjoy the rest of the evening, and please try not to discourage the apprentices too much."

Victor gave them both a curt nod, before turning to leave with Alicia.

[Master Chief]

Ashe was slightly uncomfortable in such a formal setting, picking a bit at her dress clothes and readjusting her tie for the twentieth time. She wasn't really one for these excessive public occasions, and she found herself wishing she were simply back in her room with her prayers and meditations. Not to say that the evening wasn't enjoyable, however, far from it, but she found herself overwhelmed by the overly-luxurious foods and passing on the many drinks being offered; hard to maintain a modest life with such innocent temptations around. She passed, however, and enjoyed getting to know the other mages better, particularly the other mages she'd be working with; while she knew of them, for the majority it was by casual meetings and happenstance. It was nice to formally meet them, learn about them some.

She looked over at Cass and Heine, grinning as she saw the two nearly mobbed by other mages inquiring about the room. They were certainly both quite personable, and they handled the crowds with ease. Heine appeared much more capable at entertaining them, while Cass was more stern; not to say that she was wrong, of course. She showed her wisdom despite her relative youth. They were good kids.

A friend of hers approached, Allen Canard, a fellow trainee of Steel's, and she turned to talk with him as Li and Sinclair began speaking to Cass and Heine.

"Ashe. Looking good as ever, I see," Allen joked, nudging her with his elbow. The man honestly had no tact; but he was good and kind, and a hard worker.

"Canard," Ashe smiled, shaking hands with the young man. "You enjoying yourself?"

"Of course! Hoping to catch Helen free, if she's got the time. I'd love some tips from a pure swordsman like her. Congratulations, by the way. I trust you hoisted the team on your back and carried, as usual."

"The rest of the team did most of the heavy lifting," Ashe raised her hands in mock surrender. "It was thanks to them and God we succeeded. They're a good group. I trust them; we'll go far together." Truly, God's light was shining down on them, to have brought such a group together at so critical a time.

"I'm sure they will, with Daddy watching over," Allen joked, slapping Ashe on the shoulder. "Again, congratulations, Ashe. In all seriousness, I'm glad to see you actually accepting something. You could do with loosening up a bit and enjoying yourself more."

"Thanks, Canard," Ashe nodded goodbye as he turned and walked away, looking over at Cass and Heine as they finished their conversation with the mentors. The throng around them had yet to move back in, which gave Ashe a perfect opening.

"So, you two seem the life of the party," she said playfully as she approached the two with a grin. "I didn't have much a chance to speak with either of you earlier. You two enjoying yourselves?"

[Sheep]

Heine exhaled the bleak sigh he'd been suppressing the entire meeting as he watched Li and Sinclair move on, finally leaving the duo to their own devices. "Sinclair is his usual self, but you and Miss Li seem to share an unusually good relationship though" Heine complimented Cassandra, allowing a brief expression of surprise to show on his face. Noticing that the mobs had yet to descend back on them, Heine took the opportunity to add a few tasty morsels of food onto his already busy plate.

He started as he noticed Ashe approaching and smiled in greeting towards her. "Ah, heres another peculiar one" Heine said by way on introduction, "Although, dressing as a man would probably be considered almost mundane once you consider the rest of the team" He continued, purposefully teasing Ashe's stern figure. Having Sinclair as a mentor did have its merits, one of those being he had access to brief biographies of his teammates. Even if it was only what Sinclair deemed as necessary. Although as odd as the others, Ashe had an earnest and diligent attitude which Heine could learn to admire.

"Nonetheless, it's relieving to see you doing well Miss Brighton, you're looking very fine this evening" He smiled, "It's also pleasing to see that you haven't been overwhelmed by the young mages here. Even i myself am beginning to reassess who is the greater threat between eager young mages and the hellions" Heine sighed again with a helpless shrug before picking at some food on his plate and eating away his frustations. Returning to a more neutral stance, he placed his plate down on a nearby table and wiped his hands clean before turning to Ashe once more "So, how have you been fairing so far?"

[Master Chief]

"Tough being popular, eh?" Ashe chuckled, teasing Heine right back. "If only you weren't so magnetic."

She walked forward, leaning up against the nearby wall as she spoke.

"I've not been bad, but this is certainly more than I was expecting. Big parties like these were practically nonexistent back where I come from. Glad you've been getting the attention, not me. Though perhaps I should leave before that changes?" She prodded. "It's nice though. Everyone else seems to be doing okay. I was worried, after that debacle earlier, especially about Lia and Helen, but everyone seems to be having fun. Just hope no one goes overboard."

[Sheep]

"Magnetic is usually along the lines of the opposite of what i'd use to describe myself..." Heine burst into laughter before quickly regaining his normal composure and claiming a drink from a passing waitress. "I wasn't aware you where that concerned about the others though" He paused, taking the moment to verify the location of the two aforementioned women as he sipped from his glass. "Just about everyone here has been through the worst fate could throw at them, trusting others, working together, a normal life, i'm sure you realised some of these concepts are almost alien to many of them"

Smiling somewhat placidly, Heine then looked down towards Ashe and winked. "So it'll take someone who understands that situation to bring them all together"

"Truth be told though, it was such a mess that even i was a little tired afterwards" He sighed suddenly with an exaggerated shrug, referencing back to the initiation test. "So next time how about you swap positions with me and i'll fill the back line role" He laughed again, plastering a grin onto his face.

[Mokino]

Cassandra seemed to ignore Heine's earlier comment, instead she continued answering the questions of the impatient young mages. With luck some of them might actually take her words to heart. After a while, she politely excused herself to join the conversation.

"For some of us, this is a normal life," she pointed out, "As for Helen, I believe leaving her be for the evening is best. Wielding weapons such as hers is extremely taxing; she needs rest most of all. Now, if you'll excuse me..." The young Mortier's eyes fell on the desert table "...I must be going."

[Sheep]

"Ah...I may have said to much" Heine frowned, showing mild embarrassment. Suddenly he clasped his hands together as if he where praying, drink still in one hand, "Sorry! I meant no offence!" He bowed slightly as he watched Cassandra march past to the desert table. Straightening up, Heine tugged at the collar of his shirt with a frown still, "Aaaah, she seems to like the serious personality, this team is going to be a real headache" he breathed reassignedly, sounding both happy and regretful.

[Master Chief]

"It can be hard, trying to fit in with such darkness," Ashe agreed, watching Cassandra walk away. "And it can be hard, trying to peer into the dark from the light. One has to skirt both sides." Ashe propped her head back up against the wall, letting out a soft sigh as she glanced over at Heine. The young man was quite wise, and kinder then he'd like others to believe, it seemed. Quick with words, but still considerate of intent. Not a common quality. She wondered just how much he knew of her past, and wondered if she'd ever learn in kind. With time, perhaps. "That paper-thin edge ... it can make all the difference." She motioned with her thumb and forefinger, squeezing them together.

"I fear some of the others have spent too long in the dark. I worry I have not worked hard enough, that I cannot help despite my efforts. But, I trust in the Lord." If she focused, she could hear that warm but imposing voice, guiding her forward. "And I trust in you and the rest. You're maybe a bit too scrawny for the front lines, though, so I'll take point next time, as requested," Ashe laughed, patting her arm. "Just don't get complacent in the backseat, yeah?"

[Lestaki]

Helen had lingered in the party for as long as was necessary before slipping away. Formal occasions had never been her style. She blinked as Cassandra also left the ballroom just behind her. Helen raised her eyebrows. "So you're also leaving? Or just taking a break?"

"Such celebrations seem premature," Cassandra said with a shrug, "It's not like the war can ever be won." She dug a spoon into the desert she was holding. As the soft ice cream and chocolat touched her lips, Cassandra's usually hard features seemed to soften for just a moment.

Helen smiled. "Perhaps, but no one can fight indefinitely without rest. It's one thing for a wardog like me to duck out of formal occasions, but I'm a little surprised the Mortier heir is doing the same thing."

"You don't know much about my family, do you?" Cassandra replied darkly, "What we're truly known for? I suppose it's best that I show you." Cassandra opened a nearby doorway, beckoning Helen to follow. The place seemed to be a storage room or workshop. The Mortier hier drew a sword from a scabbard hidden under her dress and laid it out on a table in the centre of the room. The Mortier seal gleamed on both the hilt and the blade. "Do you know the purpose of this blade Helen?" she asked grimly.

Helen smiled amicably. "If I knew, we wouldn't be here. But you're even more up-tight than I am if you carry that to a ball."

"This blade has never shed Hellion blood," Cassandra stated, "It has been passed down for centuries with a single purpose; to execute mages who have turned against society. Most recently it tasted the blood of my own brother....by my hand..." She looked away from Helen, staring at the blade.

Helen blinked. "I see. That's unfortunate. But if that is your family's role, I can see why you'd be just as unpopular as me on social occasions." She shrugged. "I'm conscious of it, of course. It's not just me who has suffered. There probably isn't a single mage who has lived an easy life. But, well. I can never find anything to say at times like this."

After a while, Cassandra turned to face Helen again; she was red around the eyes. "You wield a very dangerous blade," she said, "But you are far stronger than he was. Edward tried to take shortcuts and suffered the consequences, that's all. Just never forget that Catastrophe is the enemy just as much as the Hellion you are fighting. I would hate to be ordered to hunt you or any of the others down. The life of a mage is not an easy one, despite how Heinne and Ashe manage to carry themselves. I doubt they know what they are truly getting into."

"I know. I won't say I'll never fall. I can't guarentee that. All I can say is that if Catastrophe consumes me, I won't resent you for killing me. I feel bad for forcing you into an unreasonable role like that, but I want to fight the Hellion. This is just my path to that end." Helen shrugged. "And I'll fight for as long as I am able, denying this sword to the last. I won't give up. In that sense, I admire Heinne and Ashe, since I don't think they're simply naive. From my perspective, those two are much stronger than you and I."

"It is my role," Cassandra replied neutrally, "If you, or any of the others, fall it is my duty to remove the threat. To that end I cannot let my personal feelings interfere so forgive me if I avoid any social gatherings in the future. I must be a Mortier; cold, calculating and cruel to the bitter end." She wore a look of regret as she started polishing the sword.

"I've never quite understood that, the duty of a mage family. Even if my mother was a mage, she died without ever having said a word about this side to me. I've always been here by my own selfish whim alone." Helen studied Cassandra's face carefully. "There's nothing wrong with duty, but I'd be careful not to let it distort you. From my perspective, self-destructive ideals are just as dangerous to a person as my sword."

"You may have a point," Cassandra admitted with a sigh, "Such ideals are also why my family has to deal with its own members from time to time. Such as my brother. He took after my uncle too much, I believe. This blade has probably ended just as many Mortiers as it has others, but I have to continue. If I fail to live up to my mother's expectations..." She turned the blade over gently, "...you must promise me this; never breathe a word of our conversation to anyone. Mortiers do not tolerate such weakness as I have shown with you."

Helen smiled. "Of course. I can keep a secret. But either way, I'd better get going. I'll see you around, I'm sure. There are always Hellion."

[Sheep]

Heine observed Ashe's gestures with curiosity before bending down to be face to face with her. "Scrawny eh? It seems i am being underestimated!" He said with a mock stern expression before pulling away, "I'll have you know that while being scrawny, i can evade attacks more easily. In a survival situation i'd also survive on less, plus, i can hide behind poles and trees really well" he stated proudly as if he where highlighting skills at a job interview. Inwardly he wondered when had the conversation gotten so serious but he guessed it couldn't be helped. Ashe was a little to self conscious, perhaps that was part of her past creeping back up to haunt her. It was surprising he only noticed this after he talked with her. Heine took a final sip of his drink and washed the thought down with it, passing the glass onto another nearby waitress.

"Trust in the lord though hmm?" Heine mused, rubbing the side of his head. "Well, thats a tough topic open to interpretation, but your efforts and training are real so don't be so quick to discount them, trust in yourself more. If ever a time comes where we need to face that darkness, i'm positive you'll be able to help" He nodded in a reassuring manner before pausing in thought, "You're correct though, in that we're meant to be a 'team' now, i'd like to think everyone would help each other in such an event" He smiled, "The others are strong in their own ways too....In anycase, words of doubt are the last things i want to hear from you, aren't you the one always training at gyms? I haven't even seen you have one drink tonight" Heine frowned upon noticing the revelation, "If thats the case..."

He walked away quickly before reappearing again with two drinks. "In exchange for me not getting complacent then, you should be less diligent for tonight at least" Heine grinned, offering the drink, "So share a toast with me in celebration of the team"

[Yoshi]

The small water mage had hid behind the dessert table avoiding the gaze of Cass and Helen when the two had briefly spoken beside it before they had moved off. After observing their departure the mage had come back out of hiding, despite the fact that it was rather hard to hide at a party like this since there is always someone that has seen you, the only way to hide is not show up at all. She was glad however as no one came over to the petite mage while Liathan perused the dessert table.

“Cheesecake….Fruitcake…..Icecream….Chocolate Fondou…Jello….Ginger Crumble Cake…” She bit her lower lip briefly looking over the entire table with a pout, “…no plain marshmallows or graham crackers.”

She let out a sigh one that told the world that all hope and dreams had just been crushed and there was no longer a point to living anymore. Her rain coat fluttering lightly as the mage wandered away from the table, avoiding several people and giving an awkward brief smile when eye contact was accidentally made with others.

Glancing around she saw Heine and Ashe conversing, but the black clothed woman didn’t come over instead continuing to wander around the room, mostly keeping an eye out to avoid the gaze of most of the Mentors that were mingling in here somewhere.

[Master Chief]

"A drink, huh ... " Ashe eyed the glass for a second, a debate playing out in her head. Her asceticism railed against the act, prompting thoughts of self-discipline and iron will. She'd refused all night, after all; such luxuries weren't for her. The others could enjoy themselves freely, and she held nothing against them for doing so, but she had this belief that she had to hold herself up to a higher standard. She didn't want to spoil herself and lose focus on her task.

But, maybe she ought to step down for a moment and live this minute. Before it was gone.

"... sure. Just one, though." She took the outstretched glass, glanced down at it for a moment as she thought of something to say. The words popped into her mind, in a flash of sudden insight.

"I misspoke, earlier. You're right. We must blaze forward with no doubts. The road is open, for God has made it so. To victory!" She raised her glass.

[atmawpn]

Early dawn. En route to Tikrit, Iraq


The squad was seated in a transport helicopter, flying through the warm air of the Middle East. Just a day before and immediately after the niceties of the ceremony, reports had streamed in regarding a "developing situation" in Iraq. Information had been scant, apart from the urgent need for a rapid response team.

"... I hope the journey hasn't worn you out - we are expecting to see combat in the worst case, and reports suggest we're not too far off from that," Ares remarked to the team in the back. "That Maya and I are here doesn't mean you're incapable of handling the situation..."

"... we can spare them the niceties Steel," Maya cut in dryly. "This is part of policy agreed on by the Three. In effect all new inductees are to be babysitted from a distance so that... unpleasant incidents can be kept to a minimum."

Helen sighed quietly. The mentors plainly had a lot of free time on their hands.

Cassandra touched the bridge of her glasses, pushing them up her nose. "That won't be necessary." she stated.

Liathan stared at the side of the helicopter as if caught in a trance by the metal. The mage rather unmoving from her position.

Ashe sat with her head bowed down on clasped hands in silent prayer, butterflies in her stomach. She'd seen this, last night in her sleep. She let her prayers and meditation ease her mind, wipe the fear; she was born to do this.

"For what it's worth I agree with you Mortier - I have better things to do than play nanny to your lot," Maya muttered as she rolled her eyes. "Though the incident in the Room of Dimensions has not helped matters, to be certain."

Helen snorted. "What do we know about the actual situation at hand?"

"Probably the three Ds," Liathan mumbled, "Doom, Death, and Desetruction."

"An especially violent insurgency incident, even by Iraqi standards," Ares replied as he pulled out a crumpled sheet or two, briefly glimpsing the words. "Tikrit was apparently taken within the hour, with the local armies forced to withdraw from 'incredible pressure.'"

"Which raises questions by itself," Maya added. "Such a show of force requires firearms and equipment the insurgents never had - unless we'd like to believe that for some reason Uncle Sam arbitrarily decided it'd like to own this watering hole in the middle of nowhere. But of course: eyewitness accounts of... 'impossible phenomena' suggest a high likelihood of Hellion involvement."

"I hate the desert," Liathan sighed lightly while listening to the mentors about the situation though she was still looking elsewhere.

"So no solid information still" Heine frowned, "Well, i guess we'll see for ourselves what the situation is like soon enough"

"It must be said that if we're coming this far, our pretensions to a jurisdiction that covers the entire globe exceeds even Uncle Sam," Helen said. "But you can't just explain away Hellions with multi-culturalism, I suppose. We can check out the situation, at least."

"Not sure how killing demons is pretension....not like we're policing the entire country and telling them what to do." Lia added in response to Helen.

"I find it hard to believe we're the only mages in the world," Helen said. "But I don't suppose any local mages are enthusiastic about the idea of fighting Hellion."

"We do what we must," Cassandra said dryly, "Because we can."

Then an urgent and ominous beeping sound from the pilots up front. "... shit they've got a lock on us, I think they're going to..."

In the distance a flare of light as something blazed from the dim below, rocketing towards the helicopter. Before anyone else could say a word Ares had already slapped both hands to the heli floors, a curtain of powerful gusts suddenly wrapping the vehicle as he strained to Reinforce the structure. Only for his eyes to widen as the RPG closed in.

The warhead detonated with force enough to shred the Reinforcement, which should have held against any conventional RPG. The next second saw the helicopter careening out of control, before crashing violently into the sands below. The squad was vaguely aware of various etheric forces being hurriedly thrown about to cushion the fall before they felt the brunt of the impact themselves.

"Ugh," Ashe groaned, tentatively testing her arms and legs and feeling for broken bones. She unbuckled herself from her seat, falling with an ungraceful thump and another grunt. "Can't resist shooting at an American, huh," she mumbled before calling out, "Anyone hurt?"

Cassandra was already on her feet, having tried to cushion the impact herself. "Hellion confirmed," she stated, "We head to the densest point of ether, agreed?"

Helen had reacted just in time, swathing her body in her full power flame Reinforcement. The fire tore through her seatbelt and the shards of flying metal before they could hurt her as she was thrown down into the desert sands. A circle of sand was turned to glass before she forced herself up, beginning to repair the cuts and bruises she'd sustained in the fall. "We need to be careful. My sword is designed to fight Hellion, not humans with guns that pierce Reinforcement."

Liathan fell out of her seat after unbuckling it with a brief yelp before standing, "Ugh..." The mage dusted herself off before looking about, "...tragic training accident."

"I can clear us a path," Cassandra stated before beginning her incantations.

"In any case, we should move," Helen said. "They'll come after the helicopter to see if there are survivors.'

Heine coughed out a puff of dust as he stood up smiling, seemingly unharmed. "Indeed, i'm not a fan of seeing more RPGs" He nodded towards Helen before stepping towards the exit.

"... I don't know," the sound of Ares' voice drifted in as the Mentor pulled himself from a tangled mess of metal up front, having shielded the still-breathing pilots from the worst of the damage. He seemed badly injured himself, but the wounds were already knitting themselves together with astounding speed. "That hit... didn't feel right."

"Maybe you're just getting soft Steel," Maya commented snidely as she brushed off some dirt. Then a frown as she noticed something in the distance. "Get down!"

A hail of gunfire erupted, raining down upon the downed Mages. Thankfully, it was immediately apparent that the rounds were conventional rather than etheric-augmented.

Helen gritted her teeth, throwing herself down and drawing Catastrophe. "Lia, Heine, can you provide covering fire? Make them break off and I'll engage."

Cassandra didn't want this, but there was no choice. "I've got it," she stated as a massive sandstorm enveloped their attackers. She hated killing humans, but she was a Mortier; she was a monster.

Ashe summoned a wall of water in between the team and the insurgents, shielding the team, especially the pilots, from the barrage of gunfire.

Liathan jumped to the side in a reflexive dodge, "My abilities aren't quite...that long ranged." She remarked lightly before focussing and drawing a torrent of water to her forming twin whips and spinning them about rapidly, slapping rounds from the air before Cassandra's sandstorm and Ashe's wall of water blocked most of the rounds.

"They certainly know how to put up a welcoming party" Heine commented, his amused expression occasionally flinching at the resounding chatter of bullet ricochets. "I'll help in anyway possible" He shrugged, though he didn't seem entirely sure how a reinforcement mage would provide covering fire.

Seeing the interferance being run, Helen began to run forwards, fire blazing tightly around her as she charged head-long towards the enemy. She dragged Catastrophe through the sand, scorching it as she screamed a vicious battle-cry.

As sand enveloped the attackers the gunfire immediately began to slow, becoming erratic and missing wildly. By the time the insurgents saw Helen she was upon them, and there was little they could to to respond. But the first thing Helen noticed was their movement, their actions. Dreamlike, disoriented, like thralls to some higher force as they attempted to aim their weapons at the Mage.

Suddenly, from the right flank, a surge of energy and the flare of the augmented RPG once more - only for it to crash and explode against a sudden blast of flame.

"Steel, get the pilots to safety. Everyone else, do what you have to do. I'll take care of this rude little person myself," Maya yelled as she sprang up and darted agilely in the direction of the shooter.

Helen narrowed her eyes. Even if they had augmented weapons, her Mentor wouldn't lose to whoever the true enemy was. She threw aside a creeping worry and concentrated on the dolls before her. She moved with devestating speed, striking one soldier after the next with her left hand or the flat of her sword and scattering them like rag dolls. There was no need to use lethal force against them. Catastrophe was still sleeping. This mercy would be overlooked.

Lia lowered her whips seeing little reason to continue swinging them around for the moment.

As if on cue another hail of gunfire erupted from the direction of the town. It seemed another fire team had moved in, trying to contain the Mages and keep them from getting any closer. Then another flare of light as an RPG was fired from the new arrivals, the warhead rocketing towards the squad.

Mortier turned to face where the rocket had come from; taking it out was now her top priority. Breathing in deep, she channeled her magic into a small sphere before her for a brief moment, released its full fury towards the RPG wielder with a thunderclap.

Heine scratched the side of his cheek awkwardly as an raised eyebrow followed Maya out of the helicopter. "So much for monitoring from afar" he seemed to sigh. "Shall i deal with the missile then?" Heine pondered calmly even as the missile drew closer. Abruptly his eyes narrowed and the missile seemed to disappear, passing through the helicopter like a ghost.

Liathan rolled her eyes at Heine's constant ponderings before she dashed forward to get in range of the new fire team, whipping her water whips around in an attempt to slice their weapons apart with multiple strikes, while trying not to get repeatedly shot.

Helen kicked the last member of the old fire team in the head, felling him like a tree. "Let's stop wasting time. We need to find the puppet-master." She charged after Lia, aiming to reinforce her.

Most of the thralls in the second team were easily disarmed, but the last one rolled out of the way with surprising reflexes. The man scowled as he raised his assault rifle, letting loose another salvo of rounds at the Water Mage in a fighting retreat. More gunfire erupted from behind him as insurgents provided cover fire from the safety of the town buildings.

Lia spun one whip around to block the gunfire while swinging the other trying to grab the man and fling him into a nearby dune.

As the whip was about to connect with the man's limb he suddenly moved out of reach with sudden and inhuman speed. His scowl became a smirk as etheric energy surged within him, his assault rifle rounds suddenly becoming charged with microgusts as they swerved around Lia's whips and into her right shoulder, splintering flesh and bone with explosions of air.

"We're wasting time on these thralls," Cassandra yelled over the hail of gunfire as she struck out with gusts of wind, "We need to deal with the Hellion before this gets any worse."

The water mage let out a cry of pain getting knocked back by the rounds as her nerves shot lightning through her arm. Dropping one whip entirely. The woman trying to recover from the rather unexpectness of the mans ehteric energy.

Helen's eyes widened as she saw Lia's injury before focusing on the man in front of her. "No further!" She erupted towards him, moving bodily in front of Lia and charging him down with her sword raised to strike. His air magic wouldn't be able to stop her fire magic. She could afford to take a few enhanced shots. She put her weight on her right foot as she came into range and swung the flat of her sword towards his chest. She'd put him down.

Surprisingly, the man simply reached out and intercepted the blow with his free palm. Then a sudden outburst of nothingness as Helen felt her power at that point... disperse. Without wasting time the man sprung back with a leap of wind. "Impressive," he stated.

Well, there's our answer Cassandra thought as she let loose another strike of piercing wind, this time from between the Hellion and the injured water mage.

"That isn't a thrall," Lia verbalized having already figured that out from when she was injured, gritting her teeth she channeled Volare and dashed forward with surprising speed. Snapping her remaining whip and striking at the man from several angles in a flash.

Helen narrowed her eyes. "I'm just getting started." She was at a disadvantage against a Summoning user, but he was at a disadvantage against her fire. She ran sideways, trying to keep up with his high speed movements using her superior physical abilities.

Heine's pursed lips tisked as his wind accelerated lunge finally caught up with Lia. "Careful!" He said tersely towards her as he grabbed her arm, his eyes strained. Even as he kept up with her speed, etheric energies wrapped around the water mage's wound, slowly stopping the worst of the blood flow. Satisfied with having done all he could for the moment, Heine's pace slowed as he let go of her arm and let out a heavy breath.

"How unfair," the man stated as he suddenly surged with yet more energy, a burst reminiscent of an Unsealed Eidolon's activation. And then he vanished, reappearing a good distance from the party. "But how right they are to fear Etherion's might indeed."

And then a laugh as he vanished from view in a flash of gusting winds.

Around them, an eerie silence as the gunfire suddenly ceased.

Helen blinked and sighed. "Well, that was a certain peculiar hello." She turned back towards the men she'd knocked out, approaching them slowly. "We should check their RPGs, and see if their magic is inherent or if it was cast by that man. And we need someone who can deal with the politics." She knelt by one of the soldiers, checking his pulse.

"We have failed to capture the target," Cassandra stated bluntly as she fixed her glasses, "Not a good way for our first mission to go. Politics should be left to the mentors, I think."

"He's a high-level air user with a teleporting Eidolon," Helen said. "Even Maya and Steele would struggle to catch him, I'd think."

The water mage sighed dispering her whip and shifting her hand to her shoulder trying not to aggravate it.

"As embarrassing as it is to be in a position of having to agree with my apprentice's assessment..." Maya's voice sounded from behind as she approached, with the launcher in her hands. "That we are dealing with a Mage changes matters. It was... frustrating to even lay hands on this evidence."

"I should have been able to handle him" Cassandra stated as she drew her blade, "Dealing with his type is my job."

Heine whistled after the wind mage, his smug expression returning as he joined the others. "Nevermind, he can run for now. Next time though, i'll take him before he can react" He winked at the rest before his gaze regarded Lia's wound. "We should heal you up properly, so lets deal with what we can at the moment"

"A five star start," Lia muttered lightly giving a shrug looking indifferent.

"Likewise, I also have a plan," Helen said. "The second time won't be so easy for him."

"I can do this on my own," Cassandra argued, "I am a Mortier."

"We can deal with him at a later time. For now, we will need to move into Tikrit and see what damage has been done," Maya stated, casting a momentary glance at Lia's injury. "When you're ready for it, that is. But be prepared to expect the worst. As Miss Mortier can attest to, matters involving Mages tend to be fairly more... complicated, than matters involving Hellions. Ares will join us as soon as he is able to."

"Don't be so down" Heine grinned, patting Lia over the shoulder to continue with the healing, "It was our win technically anyway if he was forced to use his unsealed Eidolon. He still has little to none on ours"

"Your surname doesn't increase your battle ability," Helen said to Cassandra. "We're a team, and team-work is more important right now exactly because our enemy is a mage."

Lia only gave a shrug, her eyes looking about the horizon.

[Master Chief]

Tikrit, Iraq.

There was an eerie quiet over the whole town. Were this a normal morning there would've been the bustle of activity as wives went about their marketing and the husbands their jobs. But today there were only the trickles of the nearby Tigris. Most of the residents were slumped on the ground or against walls in various states of unconsciousness.

"A typical result," Maya muttered on examining one of the victims. "They should wake eventually with nothing more than acute amnesia of whatever has transpired. Our culprit definitely did not have their well-being in mind. Still..." A pause as Maya closed her eyes in focus. "The clean up was good, but not nearly perfect in the time frame. Traces remain in the air."

"Any thoughts, Cassandra?" Helen said. "This seems like your area."

"The traces lead off in two directions," Cassandra noted, gesturing with the hilt of her sword, "One towards the center of town and one towards the outskirts. My guess would be that the condition of the civilians is due to whatever is at the centre, but the Hellions' true goal was on the outskirts."

"I see. I'd personally recommend prioritising the centre of town. I don't want to see more people dragged into this," Helen said. "Besides which, it's bad form to let a puppet master gather more puppets, don't you think?"

Heine nodded calmly as he hummed in consideration. "I concur, but if their goal is at the outskirts it maybe worth checking out also. They may have already gone to it"

"Agreed. Split up, meet back up if trouble starts?" Ashe offered before sneezing once, twice in a row. "Ugh, never got used to deserts," she sniffed, thinking to herself.

"I'm against splitting up," Helen said. "The situation is too uncertain. Unless the Captains want to do so, in any case."

"I am here only to oversee: though I believe I will be required to do more for Miss Liathan over here in the meantime," Maya stated despite the Water Mage's look of protest. "The Three instructed for me to be here, and it would be an unsightly blemish on my record if one of you were to fall to some subtle concept that might have gone unnoticed in injury."

"The more reason for us to stay together," Helen said. "The enemy mage is extremely powerful. Two to one might be dangerous if it came to a fight, putting aside his puppets."

"I don't recommend dividing our party either," Cassandra stated, "Helen, you bring up a good point, but if we don't learn why they attacked in the first place this is all for naught. In order to stop your enemies plan you must know their plans in the first place."

"Suggesting their true objective is on the outskirts is your conjecture, no more," Helen said. "Either way, we can only pick a thread and follow it. There's no point in overthinking this."

"Controlling a population is much easier from the centre, that's all," Cassandra stated, "Therefore, that is more likely a distraction, but I will go with whatever the group decides. We're wasting time."

"Even if it's a distraction, I can't leave them. Let's make for the center and deal with it, then push on to the edge of town," Ashe said.

"I guess that settles it" Heine sighed, scratching the back of his head. "Lets head to the centre then"

The team moved on, only encountering yet more silence and inactivity everywhere. If they were expecting some kind of trap or sudden outburst they could only be disappointed. Eventually they reached the open square that marked Tikrit's centre. The first thing that struck them was the strength of the etheric forces here, even if they were merely fading traces now. At the heart a faint inscription in the dusty sand: an inverted pentagram, typically used for the focusing of etheric energies or for a summoning in the vicinity. From the symbol the team felt lines of etheric force leading away, to five other equidistant points outside of town.

"A swing and a miss," Helen muttered.

"A control array," Cassandra noted somewhat smugly, "Just as I predicted."

A cough in the distance as someone began to stir - a male victim, slumped against a wall. There was a groan as he raised a hand to his head, trying to get up but failing miserably.

Helen looked left and right before moving towards him. "I'll heal him. Cover me."

"Can we break it? Or something? I'm more in line with beating bad guys up, I don't really know this," Ashe raised an eyebrow, staring at the pentagram. The man's cought caught her attention and she saw him, holding his head and trying to get up. "Ah! Hang on, don't move," she said, heading over to watch Helen's back.

Cassandra nodded and, with a snap of her fingers, the desert wind removed all traces of the pentagram in the centre. The magic would fade much faster now.

"... are you... are you here to help?" the man muttered weakly, his eyes struggling to focus on the figures before him.

"Yes. Don't move or speak. I'll tend to you." Helen released her magic, focusing it into her hands and beginning to heal his injuries. "We can talk after that."

"Don't worry, you're going to be fine. Just relax for the moment," Ashe said, her back to Helen, watching out for any motion.

Heine drew his own rapier as he stood besides Helen, his own eyes cautiously switching between his surroundings and the man. "Can you tell is what happened?" He breathed

Cassandra merely shook her head before approaching. Helen was foolish to use her magic when more practical methods were readily available. They couldn't have witnesses.

"... those damned Americans..." he managed to utter, "... they come, trouble always follows. Large group of them, went... went digging at a ruin... down... down by the river. Flood washed the sand away." A cough before he continued. "... told them place was sacred. Leave the old ones in... in peace. Never listened. Then... then this strange man from... somewhere. He came here and..." He closed his eyes, lips shivering in exhaustion as he drifted on the brink of sleep.

"So, the ruins?" Helen said dryly.

Ashe coughed at the man's words, glad she hadn't worn anything with the stars and stripes on it. "Sounds like it. How is he?"

"He'll live," Helen said. "Let's go. And assume the mage has a Hellion or three."

"Very probably" Heine spoke, his lips forming into a grin.

"... wait..." with shivering hands the man revealed a small figurine of sorts, pushing it into Heine's hands. "... call for... for Pazuzu... will need his... protection..." Then, sleep.

Heine's brows furrowed in contemplating as he inspected the statue in his hands. "The ramblings of insanity" he sighed almost dismissively with a glance at the sleeping man. "But thank you for the advice. Now, lets move on quickly"

Once they were out of earshot of the man, Ashe turned to face the others, pointing towards the figurine with obvious distrust. "So, gotta be honest here, not really feeling calling on the Prince of Darkness for help."

Eventually the team found themselves at the dig site. Even on the approach the smell told them that far worse things had happened there. The first victim chanced upon was a withered corpse, apparently drained of all blood and left a husk, eyes and mouth still fixed in a scream of terror upon whatever stood before. Fragments of pottery were scattered everywhere, and the etheric energies scarred over. Twisted. A Hellion had almost certainly been here. And in a fully manifested form, as well.

"A day late and a dollar short," Helen said. "Story of our lives."

"It is how it is," Cassandra remkarked as she searched for clues, "Whatever is, or was, here was important enough to the Hellions to risk a full manifestation. Be on your guard."

"Ugh," Ashe covered her mouth before forming the sign of the cross, whispering a prayer for the poor soul before them.

Heine bent over the withered corpse and began to search through it. "He may have clues on him also. Anything we can find might help"

Despite his efforts there was nothing to show for except some dusty grime, and further confirmation that it was a Hellion that did this. However it did point Heine towards the excavated area, as the scarred etherics suggested.There, the same inverted pentagram inscribed upon a few broken artifacts in the excavated area. Drawn by hand, clearly by someone with the magical knowhow, and intent of calling forth something in a full manifestation. And from there, traces of chaotic energy that led to the southeast. In the direction of Baghdad, over a hundred kilometres away.

Helen sighed. "This one is going to suck."

[Sheep]

Baghdad, Iraq
Even as the squad approached Baghdad's outskirts the ongoing chaos was plain to see - fires were raging and smouldering columns suggested the city had finally lost its mind. Screams could be heard as civilians attempted to flee, while what remained of the Iraqi armed forces attempted to buy them time.

Ares and Maya looked on, the latter letting out a sigh. "The Three will not... like this."

"Too late for speculation - we need to take action now," Ares uttered, the Mentor trying to reach someone by radio. "No good - not much of a chain of command left."

"Ah well..." Maya rolled her eyes before turning her attention to the squad. "At this point it seems there is little time for a proper plan and its associated formalities. Go forth and do what you must." Whereupon the two Mentors raced off into the chaos, leaving the squad be.

Helen rolled her eyes. "Is it that hard for them to be around us? Whatever. Let's go." She drew Catastrophe. "We don't have time to hold back."

Cassandra sighed. This isn't what a Mortier would do. A Mortier would've left the city to die, using its sacrifice to learn the enemy's modus operandi. Still, she wasn't going to leave innocents to die. Damn what her mother may think. "I suppose we just follow the screams," she said bluntly.

Lia tossed a look to Helen, "They have things they must do rather than babysit us." The girl followed behind the demon sword user as she looked around to try and spot any potential ambush before it happened.

"The things they must do is what we must do," Helen said. "Save the city. That's all."

Heine grinned with amusement at the bickering. "Lets move on shall we? Unless talking is the secret weakness of the enemy i don't think we'll get anywhere standing here"

It wasn't long before the team stumbled into one of the battles raging across the urban landscape. A horde of halfling-sized devils grinning malevolently as they hopped from point to point, leaping upon any unfortunate souls within reach. Then cries as the victims went down to the scrabbling of fangs and claws. One of them perked up at the Mages' approach, letting out a shriek that summoned two dozen of its brethren upon the squad.

Lia didn't wait, summoning a whip and slicing horizontally at the approaching horde of little devils.

Helen gritted her teeth as she clothed herself in flame, augmenting her physical strength. She needed to husband her power for the fight with the Hellion and the Mage at the heart of everything. She smashed through the first devil with a great swing of her sword, then leapt out of the way of a vicious counter-attack. Catastrophe was stirring, touched by the bloodshed surrounding them. She forced it down with will alone and kept fighting, her great black sword reaping devils whenever they strayed within range.

Following suit, Heine unsheathed his rapier and leapt forwards with a tornado of wind, his muscles poised and thirsty for combat. As he reached the devils his focus diverted his power into his sword. Deftly he danced around them, dodging their strikes with unnerving fluidity before his wind enhanced sword tore into his opponents.

Cassandra steadied her breathing as she approached the horde, as if she was merely out for a Sunday stroll. With a flick of her wrist blades of wind shot out to her right into a section of the horde. With another flick, blades also cut down the creatures to her left. She sensed something behind her and struck out with the Mortier blade, cleaving the small demon in two.

Not expecting a magical retaliation of this nature, the devils shrieked as they reared back temporarily - their numbers more than halved, looking on as if taking stock of these... unusual opponents. Then with a baring of teeth they raised their little arms jointly, causing the ground to shake and tremble. Then flames of demonic hell licking up from beneath the cracking concrete, the burning fissures racing towards the squad to consume them all.

Liathan watched the fissures advancing before dashing to the side with great agility in attempts to completely avoid the magical strike, even while continuing to lash out at the horde with her water whips in a furious assault.

Helen stood her ground, Catastrophe raised to guard. The flames licked impotently around her, brushed aside by her own brighter flames. "I'm Catastrophe's bearer, you trash! Flee from my wrath and call your lord or else die now!"

Cassandra adjusted her glasses, a bemused smirk upon her face. Dropping her blade, she summoned a gale beneath the squad, lifting them to the rooftop of a nearby building.

As if to answer Helen's challenge, there was a mighty pulse of etheric energy that the Mages felt: a powerful wave, that of a fully manifested Hellion: in the direction of the National Museum of Iraq. Scowling, what remained of the devils quickly retreated and scattered. Only for the squad to hear screams coming from the opposite direction of the Hellion's location.

Helen gritted her teeth. "The battle doesn't end until we defeat the Lord. We have to cut off the head now." She fell into an awkward silence, not daring to say any more.

"We can't just let them die," Lia stated in a protest, easily imagining the terror the civillians were probably feeling right now.

Heine nodded in support of Helen, a disturbing smile still plastered across his face. "Dealing with the main issue is the logical decision. Diverting from our objective prolongs the war for everyone" He said, staring at Lia.

"It seems we have quite the problem," Cassandra stated, her lenses reflecting the burning city, "Defeating the Lord means sacrificing many more lives, but at this point I'm not sure if there will be a city left to save in either case. As a Mortier, I should suggest we go after the Lord but I will not stand idly by while innocents die. I will save as many as I can, with or without the rest of you”

"Whats the point of winning the war if there is no one left alive afterwards?" Lia asks bluntly

"Some people have escaped, we saw that coming in," Helen said. "We can give them a city to live in. And do you really think the Lord won't kill people if left alone?"

"You won't win," Cassandra stated coldly, staring at Helen, "Not on your own. We go after the Lord, and try to save as many as we can on the way."

Helen nodded.

Lia frowns clearly not happy with this decision.

"There will be time for mourning them later, Lia," Cassandra said with sympathy, "But Helen's right. If we don't stop it now who knows how many more will die."

The team moved on, the screaming growing more desperate but almost certainly fading out as more and more of the participant voices were silenced. The National Museum of Iraq seemed to be the epicentre of it all: men, women, children, both civilian and military, being dragged kicking and yelling by hordes of the little devils. Into the main building they went, from which a deeply malevolent aura emanated. Seeming to grow stronger by the minute. Taking notice of the team the devils began shrieking, hastening their efforts to drag their prey into the building. At the same time a... strange feminine voice drifted across to the team.

"... mere mortals. You would raise your swords against I? Turn back now, or pay for your insolence with death."

Liathan looked alittle distracted as she looked back towards the fading screams, shaking her head even as the Hellion spoke.

"Come and stop us," Helen said. She gripped Catastrophe tightly, forcing the sword's will down as it sensed the evil and bloodshed filling the air around them. She didn't know how much longer she could restrain it.

Cassandra didn't answer. That's what the bastard wanted after all. Instead she put her hand on the hilt of her blade, her fingers touching the Mortier crest for reassurance. The Lord would fall today.

"... so be it."

The doors of the Museum were suddenly flung open, flinging the devils and people in the vicinity away. Then some invisible force dragging devil and human alike into the building interior.

Then horrible sounds of crunching bone and liquefying flesh.

Then a torrent of corrupt blood spurting forth, jets of crimson streaking out to reach the Mages.

Helen leapt away, throwing herself just out of the reach of the torrent. She drove her sword into the ground as she waited for the Lord to emerge.

"Well.." Heine began, a nonchalant ring in his tone as he tried to form an eloquent way to describe their situation, "Lets not panic here...!" Heine gave up the notion as the torrent of blood roared forwards and focused all of his power into dodging.

Cassandra formed a barrier of wind in front of her diverting most of the torret around herself though a few droplets made it through. They burned where they touched her flesh.

The water mage let out a gasp while twirling her whips in an effort to deflect the torrent of crimson, her mouth clamped shut not trusting herself to speak at this point.

From the interior emerged a voluptous woman, the only indication of her extraordinary nature the waves of twisted energy she was emanating. Behind her seemed to be a dozen of her victims - still conscious, faces contorted in terror as they followed their mistress, bound by invisible lines of force. Mouths agape in silent screams.

"Bow before Lamashtu - your One and True Goddess," she declared as two of the victims shambled forth to take positions between her and the Mages. Literal human shields of a kind - a terrified man and woman.

[atmawpn]

Helen raised her sword above her head, her fire intensifying as she released her full power. She couldn't hold it back any longer. "Awaken, Catastrophe!" The black sword burned as it opened its red eye wide, regarding the Hellion and the humans alike with overwhelming bloodlust. Helen gritted her teeth as her future sight awakened and charged forwards, attempting to dodge past the human shields without touching them.

"Typical demon," Cassandra mocked, acting unimpressed, "Talking loud from the back row." She actived her Lotus Mark, marking the Hellion Lord with the purple glyph. Immediately, she unsealed it and struck out with a tornado-strength gale.

Liathan twirls her hands before lancing out with them in a non deadly motion, both watery tendrils snapping around the two enthralled humans before yanking to the side, hopefully pulling both out of the way.

Heine's face remained perfectly dead, his lips forming his thoughts. "Unseal!" He said staunchly. A tornado exploded around him before the tall man disappeared like a magician. Heine's invisible form charged towards the demon, his blade reaching out to cut her.

His eyes were wild as he moved, tracking the movement of his teammates before his etheric energy rushed out towards them. Helen, Cassandra and Lia all became invisible also as he engaged his power in full.

Helen's eyes widened as her sword's vision of a sure enemy strike was over-turned by the power of her allies. She charged into range of the Hellion, swinging her flaming sword with her full power. Her fire magic favoured destructive power over accuracy, but if Cassandra was supporting her alongside her visions, the Hellion would have nowhere to hide. She's strike as many times as it took.

Lamashtu's eyes widened as the tornado smashed into her without possibility to dodge. Yet she somehow managed the strength to manifest claws from her right hand, flesh tearing and morphing into a monstrosity strong enough to parry Catastrophe head-on. With a shriek of anger she pushed Helen back - only for her gesture to pass through the now intangible Mage. She seemed to notice Heine's approach, but made no attempt to defend - as though she realised the futility of such a thing.

Instead she stepped back, letting the rest of her victims surround her to present a barrier of living hostages.

"Cassandra, scatter them to the four winds!" Helen shouted. She circled their foe, waiting for an opening.

"What good is hiding against me?" Heine mocked, a sadistic smile appearing as he stepped through the hostages. His invisible sword impaled Lamashtu before he allowed the blade to rematerialise inside of her.

"On it!" Cassandra yelled over the noise of the fight. Already strained by the unleashed eidolon, it took her unusual efford to summon the swirling whirlwind around Lamashtu, forcing the humans back.

The water maged channeled both her eidolons giving herself a significant boost in speed as well as shifting the apparent position of herself and her whips before lancing out with them in a multitude of fast repeated strikes at the hellion, trying to avoid hitting the humans as the whips cracked.

The Hellion glared at Heine as she reeled back, clutching the wound in her torso. Gritting her teeth she leapt towards one of the displaced humans, grabbing the man by the face. With a startling suddenness the man's eyes rolled back, his body becoming a withered husk as she recovered from her injuries. Only for Lia's attacks to reopen them anew.

It was then that Catastrophe saw, mere seconds from now, bullets spraying from behind Lamashtu in the direction of the squad.

"Cassandra, Lia, behind her!" Helen screamed. Trusting to her allies, she charged towards the Hellion with her sword poised to strike, thrusting forwards and aiming to impale Lamashtu on her burning blade. "Die!"

Cassandra grit her teeth; her eidelon was taking its toll and the demon seemed no closer to defeat. She barely managed to conjure a wall of wind behind the demon.

Liathan shifted her strikes to try and hit behind the demon despite not being able to see anything there right at the moment.

A loud gasp as Catastrophe buried itself within Lamashtu's chest, causing torrents of etheric energy to flood forth from the Hellion as she struggled to maintain her form in spite of the damage. Meanwhile the bullets smashed through the weakened air wall, their courses suddenly swerving and attempting to hit Cassandra and Lia.

Helen narrowed her eyes at the Hellion. "Die in silence, demon." She planted her feet and drove her sword deeper into the woman's chest before raising her sword high and swinging the demon through the air. "Heine, go!"

Cassandra wiped sweat from her brow, her breathing was heavy. With her remaining strength, she drew her sword. Manifesting wind around it, she threw it with her remaining magical and physical strength towards the Hellion before collapsing.

Heine materialised behind Lamashtu once more with his blade inside of her head. Carefully, he curled his index finger under her chin to turn her head towards him, smiling at her face. "I want to enjoy your final expression."

A shriek as the Mortier blade found its mark, causing a massive outpouring of etheric energy from the now-disintegrating Hellion. "... you! The audacity of... mortals to... ugh!"

The sudden realisation that the waves of etheric energy were bending back around towards the Museum entrance, from which bullets were still spewing.

Helen gritted her teeth. "Catastrophe, feast on her guts!" Her eyes widened as she saw a vision of the Mage wielding the power of the Hellion. Her sword blazed as it consumed some of the dying Hellion's essence, denying a fragment of power to the fallen mage.

"It's the mage from before, he's consuming her power. Get ready for another fight!"

"... so bloodthirsty aren't you," the man declared as he finally made himself known. Walking out from the entrance, a flurry of bullets blasting from his assault rifle, the rounds homing in on the hapless Cassandra.

Cassandra raised her head weakly and smiled. If this is how it would end; so be it. A death worthy of a Mortier.

The water mage tries to block as many rounds as she can with one whip before striking at the mage with a rather vicious strike seeking to cleave his enhanced weapon completely in half with several repeated fast blows.

Helen gritted her teeth. "We need to retreat. Heine, Cassandra, pull back! We'll cover you both!" Her head was aching, the blood pounding in her brain as the future visions began to eat away at her sanity. She was approaching her limit as well.

A surge of energy as magic - not of his own, knitted together and pulled forth the spilled blood into a wall that blocked Lia's blows. Lamashtu's power.

The corrupt blood lashed out towards the exhausted team, only for a wall of Earth to suddenly emerge and block the attack. A new presence on the battlefield - but not a fellow Mage. Almost like a Hellion, yet not one.

A scowl, and a curse as the man vanished in a flash of gusts.

Almost immediately the presence weakened, as though it had taken a great deal of strength to commit the deed. "... it was of some help... I hope..."

Helen gritted her teeth, lowering the intensity of her flames as she forced an unwilling Catastrophe back to sleep. "I'll take a miracle right now. Lia, come with me and we can try and pick up the pieces. Heine, Cassandra, retreat for now. You did well."

"Not well enough," Cassandra stated flatly as she slowly stood, brushing dust off of her robes. Her right cheek was burning now; she was pretty sure she'd gained a few scars from this fight.

Lia lets out a heavy breath giving a head shake, "That was just weird...even considering hellions."

[Mokino]

Etherion HQ, Esposizione Universale Roma, Rome

The team found themselves halted at the main gateway when a few alarms went off, prompting automatic barrier seals to activate and encase them in a magical prison.

"... system glitching up again?" Maya sighed as she turned around to look at the imprisoned Mages. "For the last time - she has been authorised to carry Catastrophe with her."
"No ma'am: it's not Catastrophe - it's something else," replied one of the guards manning the controls. "Trans-dimensional etheric presence - we have an... entity on our hands."
"... not what you mortals term 'Hellion,' rest assured," the disembodied feminine voice sounded again - this time accompanied by a ghostly spectral image of a woman in traditional garment.

"A Spirit?" Ares raised an eyebrow. "A nice surprise for a change - I can't remember all the times we've had lesser Hellions try to break in."
"I can assure you I haven't been eaten by my sword," Helen said.
"If you don't mind me asking, why are you here miss spirit?" Heine said raising a cursory eyebrow
"And that Hellion sure wasn't coming back anytime soon," Cassandra Mortier stated, seemingly a lot more tired than usual.

Helen narrowed her eyes, relieved to see the attention of the others move away from her. "Were you the one who drove the rogue mage away?"
"It seemed... appropriate given the circumstances," the Spirit stated before turning her attention to Helen. "And you are correct in saying that, Mage."

Maya glanced at the guard, who responded with a nod as he gestured to the readings. The system alarms had already deactivated a few moments after the Spirit began speaking, indicating that it had certainly cleared Etherion's "checks" for deceit. Then a hum as the barrier shimmered away.

"I don't know your reasons, but thank you. If he had fought us there, we would have been in serious trouble," Helen said.
"Indeed" Heine nodded after Helen, "You have our sincere thanks"


Cassandra merely gave the creature a suspicious stare. Her family treated all otherwordly creatures as potential threats.
"Thanks are unnecessary, for it seems you will have ample opportunity to return the favour," the Spirit replied. "Maintaining form in your world has always been difficult for us: Spirits and Hellions alike. But in recent times that has begun to change. What you saw in Iraq today were not the first steps taken: only the first visible ones."

"So what would you have us do? Frankly, it's a serious problem for us if Hellions can do as they please," Helen said.

Ashe betrayed herself for a moment, staring wide-eyed at the spirit before snapping out of it with a shake of the head and a sign of the cross, silently thanking God. "Do you know what started this change? And what can we call you?"

"I suppose I owe you thanks," Cassandra said reluctantly, "But this is where we part ways. We cannot listen to 'spirits' or Hellions. This is a fight that must be lost or won by mortals."
"We'll see you later, then, Cassandra," Helen said. "I'll be chatting to the nice translucent lady."
"I wouldn't dismiss the divine so lightly," Ashe scolded. "We are never alone."

"Be wary, " Cassandra stated, "Corruption often takes forms you wouldn't expect."
"Perhaps. But Maya doesn't seem too worried, so there's no need to be stiff," Helen said.
"...perhaps you are right," Mortier replied, her hand relaxing slightly on the hilt of her blade, "But I still advise caution."
> Helen smiled. "I may sound like this, but I'm always cautious, you know. Thanks for worrying, though."
"Play nice everyone" Heine grinned sheepishly, "In anycase, we should move indoors before we proceed with the discussion, that was the point of coming here no?"

"Your cautions are understandable Mage. But by your premise you would all have been 'corrupted' since the ages past," the Spirit reminded. "Corrupted, the very moment your ancestors chose to accept the secrets of the magical ways from us."

The Spirit turned to the rest. "You might address me as 'Gaia,' if it would make the conversation more comfortable. But to the point at hand: there has always been a veil that separates our realm from yours, and it is said veil that causes us difficulty to manifest in your realm, requiring the expenditure of energy and effort. Unfortunately, one of your own appears to have had some ideas of his own."

"Indeed. The fallen mage who eats Hellions," Helen said. "It's a troubling development, to put it lightly."

"Through a warping of the methods taught him, he has begun to actively summon malevolence into your world. Hellions. By conducting certain rituals of... disturbing repute in your general culture, he is able to provide them the anchor and energy required for a full manifestation."

"Then we will kill him," Helen said. "But he is hard to catch. His element and Eidolon ensure that."

"If that alone were the case it would not have warranted intervention on our part, given the existence of your organisation and hence the ability to defeat such entities. However, he is also using said rituals to... change the veil. My speaking to you now, for instance, is requiring the full resources of my own as well as several of my... shall we say, associates."
"Left unchecked, it is possible he might warp the veil to be impermeable to us, but... not so to those he seeks."

"Doesn't matter how hard. We have to do it," Ashe said. "And from the sounds of it, do it fast."
"So we check him," Helen said. "What would you have us do?"
"Sacrifices, you mean," Cassandra stated darkly, "That monster took many lives in Iraq to bring a single Hellion across. I do not know wish to know how many it would take to accomplish his final goal."


"Defeating him on your own will be difficult, given the resources he has access to, and the unfair battlefield he is weaving for you all. Given that we abhor such drastic change to the balance, we only seek to... level the grounds."
Ares' jaw dropped slightly. "Surely you aren't suggesting..."
"... such a thing has not come to pass for many years now - perhaps even centuries," Maya noted. "But given the circumstances, as you said..."

Helen tried not to smirk at the overwrought solemnity. "Magic weapons, magic spells, angelic battle tanks... whatever you're offering, I'll take it. I'm easy that way."
Cassandra shook her head. Helen was an even bigger fool than she'd thought.
"Let’s hear your offer then" Heine encouraged whilst suppressing a light chuckle
"Hah!" Ashe laughed, glancing over at Helen. "No risk, no reward, eh? I'm all ears."

"The details of the arrangement, your seniors will know. Of the Contract, and the necessities to make the pact," Gaia nodded at the Mentors behind. "For now however, I can only offer my own strength, as well as a partner's. There will be others, but for now the crossing over remains impossible for them. Only where the veil is made weak does the opportunity present itself. We hope to work for mutual benefit, mortal." With that, Gaia faded into emptiness.

"... well, that was certainly historical," Maya commented as she began walking off, shaking her head at the paperwork that might need to be done. "For what it's worth I doubt the Three will particularly object to such a thing, given the disaster that just went through Baghdad today. PR has their work cut out for them this time."

"Take the time to rest and recuperate," Ares added as he moved to follow. "Do not be too harsh on yourselves however: for your first proper operation it could not have gone any better. Given the events, it was already impressive that no casualties were sustained. We will let you know when Intel gets a lead on the rogue mage."



Helen sighed. "I can't be happy with it, myself. But with a new age hippy goddess on our side now, how can we lose?"

"That being likely has its own goals," Cassandra stated bluntly, "And we have no idea if it has our best interests in mind. I'm not dealing with the devil and I strongly suggest you don't either."
"Hey, have you forgotten who you're talking to? Dealing with the devil is how I roll," Helen said. She closed her eyes. "For better or for worse."
"Perhaps a bit too cavalier, but from the sounds of it this isn't unprecedented. Better to learn a bit more about this before going in," Ashe shrugged.

"You are digging a very deep hole, Helen," Cassandra said emotionlessly, "I hope for your sake you can climb back out of it. My family would forbid any such contract, in any case."
"You are not the boss of me," Helen said. "I am not someone like you, someone who has inherited generations of power and knowledge. I am doing what is necessary for me to fight the Hellion. Don't get in my way."
"I am trying to warn you," Cassandra stated, "And I have inherited nothing but generations of murderers who always sought ways to increase their own power, many who made the foolish mistake of such contracts with etheric creatures. I...am the weakest of my generation, but I am also the only one still standing. Yet, I will not damn myself as my forefathers did."
"Do as you please. I'll do as I please," Helen said.
"Next time you two have another fight warn me, i want to have popcorn ready" Heine smiled with mock humour.
"So be it," Cassandra said coldly, "But I hope you're not making a mistake."
"If I am, you'll be there to kill me," Helen said. "It's unfair of me to force that on you, but that's h
"It is always forced on me," Cassandra said, "It is my duty, awful as it is."

"Well, this got macabre fast," Ashe frowned as she turned to Heine. "I think things over better in the gym. Wanna come with?"
Heine's placid expression turned to Ashe, his lips briefly forming a competitive grin. "Sure, i need to work of some stress anyway"

[atmawpn]

Cassandra Mortier sat on the floor in one of the study halls off of the headquarters’ library, a pile of books open in front of her. She just didn’t understand it; none of them held the answers she sought. Books had never let her down; they were reliable unlike people.

She sighed. Her duty called her to do something she was too weak to actually follow through upon. She simply couldn’t… How dare Helen presume; she had no idea what it was like to be a Mortier! A Mortier’s life was nothing but suffering….

Footsteps from the entrance indicated Alicia's arrival. "Am I interrupting?"

"Not really," Cassandra said without looking up. She wiped her face with her long lace gloves, not wanting Alicia to see the tears.

"Knowing you I would suppose the first operation might have... affected you in some way," Alicia smiled as she took a seat across the table. "Do you wish to start, or will I have to try my roundabout ways again?"

"We only survived due to luck," Cassandra replied coldly, "If that so-called spirit hadn't come along we'd all have been killed. I was foolish and forgot about the mage who was in waiting for after we defeated the Hellion. I can't afford such mistakes, especially with someone as reckless as Helen on the team."

"But you survived in the end, and have become wiser for it," the Mentor answered calmly. "Your mention of Helen however... is there something you would like to tell me about, regarding her?"

"What she is doing would be considered blasphemous by my mother were she still with us," Cassandra replied with a hint of sadness, "My duty as a Mortier means...I should kill her. We have always had zero tolerance for the use of demonic artifacts given our history. Helen...should be destroyed before it's too late..."

"What she is doing would be considered blasphemous by my mother were she still with us," Cassandra replied with a hint of sadness, "My duty as a Mortier means...I should kill her. We have always had zero tolerance for the use of demonic artifacts given our history. Helen...should be destroyed before it's too late..."

"The Mortiers have not been known for taking the middle path, even when it comes to Hellions," Alicia sighed as she reached out to touch Cassandra's hand. "Helen's case is certainly... one of risk, by my opinion. But a calculated one I might say. Don't we all take on such things when we move against the Hellions? And our predecessors: the leap of faith with the Spirits, that gave us the means to fight back?"

"She's strong and with the right support I don't think she's in danger of falling," Cassandra replied, "But I'm a Mortier and heir to a dynasty that has lasted centuries; I have no choice in the matter. A Mortier is condemned to a life of suffering and sacrifice by birth. It's simply our way. I don't expect you to understand."

"She's strong and with the right support I don't think she's in danger of falling," Cassandra replied, "But I'm a Mortier and heir to a dynasty that has lasted centuries; I have no choice in the matter. A Mortier is condemned to a life of suffering and sacrifice by birth. It's simply our way. I don't expect you to understand."

"You are correct: I probably cannot understand, since I lack the extended heritage a line such as yours brings," the Mentor acknowledged. "Yet to simply carry on the traditions blindly is foolhardy. Your life is your own, after all."

"My life belongs to Etherion," Cassandra stated, "It belongs to you and the others of the Three. I am an instrument of your will and a protector of this world, nothing more."

"Yet Etherion does not expect that of you," Alicia shook her head in turn. "We all make sacrifices in the war against the Hellions - yet to sacrifice too much is to reduce ourselves to the state of their ilk, their minions, their enthralled. Single-minded and purposeful killers. The only difference then would be the side we are fighting on."

"...I went against my duty in Baghdad," Cassandra said quietly after a moment of silence, "I should have reported the situation to headquarters as soon as possible, even if the city burned and yet I chose to save lives instead. My mother would've punished me fiercely for such a foolish action, but for some reason I don't regret it. My sword, passed down from my great great grandfather tasted Hellion blood for the first time instead of a mage's and...I'm fine with that. It felt right to be protecting those people, even if it wasn't what a Mortier would do..."

"Those in our line of work are faced with difficult choices, of indulging in that ethical calculus," the Mentor answered. "We are expected to make decisions resulting in the most good - yet that does not excuse us from the difficult challenge of minimising casualties."

A slight chuckle from Alicia before she went on. "Yet it seems we find you here, trying to explain yourself and your actions when there is little need to. Where I am concerned, and most importantly, where your feelings are concerned, you made the correct decision."

"'A Mortier's will must be an unbreakable foundation. They must never falter, no matter the adversity they face for, if they fall, others will surely follow.' My mother always emphasized that part of the traditions," Cassandra said, seemingly calmed, "She was as dedicated to the cause as any, especially after father's fall but perhaps there is wisdom in those words if I apply them in my own fashion. I am Cassandra Mortier and I will walk my own path."

A smile as Alicia stood up. "The doors to my office are always open, if you should find yourself in need again. In the meantime, perhaps you would do well to speak with your other teammates. You are all in this for the long haul after all, so it might be best if you got to know each other proper."

"May I ask one more thing?" Cassandra asked, "What, exactly, is a Contract? I found no references to spirits in the family library and the books here are also maddeningly vague."

"It is as the term implies - a pact between Mage and Spirit so that the Mage may access the Spirit's powers, while the Spirit gains an anchor that allows them to affect the world more meaningfully," Alicia explained. "But given the requirement of mutual consent, and the generally... distant nature of Spirits, the arts of Contract and Evocation have fallen out of favour in the present century. There are some readings I could recommend, in the archives section."

"In other words," Cassandra noted, "Similar to what our foe did in Baghdad with the Hellion. I would like to read up on it. Helen's right, we need whatever advantages we can get."

[Master Chief]

Ashe flicked a drop of sweat off of her nose with her thumb, shaking her head slightly as she stared down Heine, feet shuffling below. She breathed in, out, her gaze watching every part of the man in front of her, taking in everything yet focusing on nothing. A shift in his weight, his head ducking slightly, bringing his gloved fist up an inch higher. Her headgear, restrictive at first as usual, was now nothing. She was utterly immersed, her every breath now flowing through her being, from nose to toe. Her thoughts were clear in her head, now devoid of useless chatter and distractions. This was what she strove for, the many hours she spent training her body: this absolute spark of simply existing. It was familiar, nostalgic; she remembered the first time she heard His voice, saw Her hand, felt His touch. A cool sprinkle amidst a soft breeze.

She didn't need any such thing as a spirit; she already the most powerful allies sitting on her shoulders, guiding her forward. She'd come this far under Their wing; she still had much more to go. She listened, not with her ears, but with her very essence, with all her soul.

She breathed in, out.

Since God commanded it, no matter how many my fathers and mothers may have numbered, I would have left to see it done.

She wouldn't be bested again. Her entire life was meant for this, both everything pleasant and everything painful, with all her virtues and all her failings. She had strength, and faith, and light. She would see it done.

She stepped forward with a jab, meeting Heine's guard with the soft sparring glove. She struck out again, sending out numerous light jabs before following up with a heavy straight, a deep thud echoing out. She took a step back, propped her own gloves together now to meet Heine's blows. Her arms tingled slightly with his heavy hits, rocking back as she absorbed the punches. After a few more, he too stepped back, dropping his gloves as she dropped hers.

"Thanks for coming," she said with a grin and heavy breaths, walking over to the bench and grabbing two towels from her bag. She tossed one over to Heine before taking her own to her neck and face, mopping up the dripping sweat. "Cleared my head. It was nicer with company."

[atmawpn]

Etherion HQ, Esposizione Universale Roma, Rome


The team found themselves in Archmage Brown's office - a quaint minimalist space with the occasional shelf and worktable thrown in. The senior archmage emerged from a side door, carrying in her hands a musty book and some papers.

"... of course they would direct you to me, given my... interest in Hellion-related research," Susan muttered to no one in particular, setting the materials down on her desk and gesturing for the team to sit. "I went over the report of what transpired in Iraq, but I would like some... specifics on what you observed. In turn, I would be glad to answer whatever queries you might have."

"Of course," Helen said. She made a face. This sort of thing didn't suit her, but Cassandra was indisposed, so there was nowhere to hide.

"Shoot," Ashe shrugged. She couldn't really think of anything she needed to ask, but maybe something would come up. At the least, she could answer any questions to the best of her ability.

"Now the etheric circles and inscriptions - those appear to be standard fare applications of Mage methods towards one's goals," the archmage began. "A full fledged Hellion summoning with Mage involvement - not quite standard, but none too alarming given how they manifest with sufficient frequency even without help from such betrayers. However... it was mentioned in the report that the enemy Mage... absorbed the Hellion's power?"

"So it seemed," Helen said. "My sword was through the Hellion's chest at the time, so I felt it quite directly. The Fallen mage drew away much of the Hellion's essence."

Heine smirked mirthlessly. "Indeed, and i'm still uncertain how it was achieved. On that topic, might he possess a demonic weapon similar to yours Helen?"

"Helen's got the word on this," Ashe shook her head. "I saw waves head back to the museum, but what exactly happened I couldn't say."

"If he does, he's been keeping it hidden. So far as I can tell the pistols he uses are normal guns augmented by his magic," Helen said. "I feel like this is something different."

"To clarify: when he absorbed the Hellion's power, it was not simply a matter of him... replenishing his reserves to attack anew. Rather - it granted him similar abilities to the Hellion he absorbed?" Susan looked back at the team, her eyebrows starting to furrow in worry.

Heine nodded with a slow sense of grimness. "Yes," He answered simply.

"He defended himself with blood manipulation rather than his own magic," Helen said. "That was certainly Lamashtu's power."

"Mmm. The blood magic was the demon's, under the command of the mage," Ashe answered, not quite sure where this was going.

"Troubling then... very troubling," the Archmage muttered as she scribbled a few notes down. "This suggests a... variation on Evocation methods - one that allows access to Spiritual ability without a conventional contract... or at the least, not one in the main literature..."

Susan looked back up from her papers, gaze falling on Helen. "Yet Catastrophe was unaffected. Which suggests some limitation to the ability. Thankfully. Still, you would do well to exercise caution against this individual Miss Brooks."

"He only absorbed the Hellion's power when it was killed," Helen said. "So perhaps the death of the Hellion or its severe weakening is necessary to use the ability. For as long as Catastrophe is intact, there shouldn't be a problem. Of course, I'm merely speculating, but it's plausiable he wanted us to kill the Hellion from the start."

"I suppose, but then why ambush us if he wanted us to kill it? My guess is he's a vulture and just saw the opportunity," Ashe offered.

"Maybe. But at that point in time the summoning wasn't complete and we threatened his whole plan," Helen said. "Isn't it noticable he only moved to attack us after we had defeated Lamashtu? If he'd fought alongside her, we'd have been hard pressed."

"True enough. Maybe he was scared of it, or us? He tends to run when the going gets rough. Hard to say for sure at this point, though," Ashe shrugged again.

Heine's lips curled in a slight frown, "It's possible then the hellions are just being used. Whether or not the rogue mage is the mastermind behind this, who knows" he pouted, the memory of the rogue mage clearly causing the young man some agitation. "Do we have any records on our mystery mage? Based on our report do we know anything of his identity?" He directed the question towards the Archmage.

"I cannot answer that Mister Chesterfield - at least not yet," came the Archmage's reply. "Based on preliminary findings we can only determine that he was, at least, not registered in Etherion's records. At least, based on the apparent nature of his Eidolon."

"Either way, a Hellion-absorbing ability in the hands of one such as he... little needs to be said of what must be his final fate where Etherion is concerned. I'm afraid this is where I have to admit that... our own literature and knowledge, if any, are next to non-existent on the matter," the Archmage shook her head. "Evocation has fallen so far out of practice that it was fortunate we retained the materials and know-how to... enable your contracts with your, shall we say, new 'allies.' If we are to find answers, we can only expect them at your next destination."

Susan removed a crinkled sheet from among her papers, laying it out before the team. An old map of some kind, geographical boundaries resembling that of Northern Africa. "You might have heard of the Great Library of Alexandria, I trust?"

"Vaguely," Helen said. "History isn't really my field."

"Uuuh, yeah, I got nothing," Ashe shook her head shamelessly.

"One of the greatest bibliographic library collections in the world. It was assumed to be completely lost" Hiene spoke, reciting some vague literature from memory before a sarcastic grin formed, "And you're going to tell us something like it still exists i bet?"

"Well, it was a very significant library of the ancient world, and supposedly known for its collection of ancient works we can only dream of accessing today," Susan stated briefly. "To that end, Etherion diverted a division of Mages to the task of unearthing its secrets, not unlike the non-magically inclined archaeologists of the common folk. A breakthrough was achieved about a year ago, whereby they discovered a purported entrance to a... pocket dimension created by the ancient Mages of the time."

"Access had since been achieved and, under the highest secrecy, a proper cataloguing of its contents begun. Needless to say there might be answers and resources to be found there - resources that might be brought to bear on our Fallen Mage."

"I see. That is commendable, but I am no librarian," Helen said. "I doubt I'd be suited for such a search."

"Has something happened to the researchers?" Heine asked, his eyes falling onto the crinkled map.

"Yeah, I'd assume if they were fine, there'd be little reason for us to go there," Ashe agreed. "I'm not really much of a scholar." Truth be told, she actually couldn't read or write that well. But that was something she could keep to herself for now.

"You would do well to cut down on your movies Mister Chesterfield - the research team continues to make good progress there," came Susan's reply. "Of course, given their tasks it is highly probable they might lack the additional resource to assist you in your search. A very valid concern raised there, Miss Brooks. Which is why I have contacted the Egyptian branch - they will provide additional personnel and resources to assist your search. In any case... the Library does not contain mere literature alone, which is why your presence is also required."

"Very well," Helen said. "Though it's hard to say how long it will be before our enemy makes another move. I'd rather be on standby."

"If I may ask, what else would the Library contain?" Ashe asked, curious.

"Heh," Heine scoffed before a smile showed he was amused by the archmage's sense of humour. "I can keep going if it pleases you, but you mages really only have you're own vagueness to blame"

"Artifacts, weapons, and at least according to etheric survey reports, spiritual entities not unlike your new contracted allies," the Archmage answered. "Unfortunately, at least one of those entities, thankfully dormant, registered otherwise. You will receive further details on arrival."

"Aggressive negotiations? I can do that," Helen said, perking up a bit.

"Yeah, and then I'll beat them up," Ashe punched her open hand.

"I would of course request that you keep collateral damage to a minimum in such instances - the Library's contents are quite valuable," Susan chuckled slightly as she picked up her papers to pack them away. "If there are no further questions I will leave you to your time."

Heine gave a Ashe and Helen worried glances before his attention shifted to Susan once more. "Sounds good ma'am" He nodded then shifted his feet slightly in preparation to leave, "There'll be much preparation"

[Lestaki]

Pompey's Pillar, Alexandria, Egypt
"... I apologise for the unearthly hour," the representative mentioned regretfully as he led the team through the still air of the deserted tourist attraction, moving towards the base of the ancient obelisk. "It take considerable etheric logistics to open the way discreetly at other times."

"We'll live," Helen said shortly. "Let's just get this over with."

Heine bristled visibly as he stared at the growing obelisk. "So, can you give us any information on what we're here for?" he asked

Cassandra followed silently, lost in her own thoughts.

"Not much - though if I had to guess I'd say you're here to help clear us a... path," came the representative's reply.

"Just point us at the monsters and take cover," Helen said dryly.

"Aye." As they reached the obelisk's side their presence seemed to activate a magical formation, a Mage-drawn circle lighting up beneath their feet and enveloping the team in motes of light. Then a slight sense of vertigo as they felt themselves yanked to somewhere inbetween spaces. The next thing they knew, they were at the centre of a grand cavernous hall lined with shelves upon shelves of musty books and ancient scrolls. The representative stepped aside, revealing the approaching figure of a bespectacled female scholar. "Welcome to the Great Library. I am Doctor April Vox," the woman said as she moved to shake Helen's hand. "We received word from Rome, and conducted preliminary investigations prior to your arrival. The information you require does not seem to be in the catalogued sections, I'm afraid."

"You find it and we'll kill whatever is in front of it," Helen said, shaking the woman's hand with a tight grip.

"That isn't a surprise," Cassandra stated bluntly as she stared at the hand like it was some sort of unpleasant insect, "My family's robust library lacks the information we seek as well."

Heine's eyes wandered over the endless rows of books, his gaze absorbing the appearance of the hallway. "An impressive collection nonetheless" He breathed, "I'd quite like to find the time to browse through the books here"

"You are prepared then," the scholar responded with a slight smile. "There is... an entire section of the library we have been unable to access. Or rather, placed on low priority due to low hanging fruit elsewhere. Given your requirements perhaps it is best I lead you to it and let your combat ability do the rest." Gesturing for them to follow, Doctor Vox moved into a side door, walking through a series of shelf-lined corridors. A minute later they emerged into another large hall, but noticeably less populated by scholars and other researchers from the Etherion. In the distance they began to feel a certain presence. "I'm sure you will find the time to once you surpass this... hurdle."

"I wonder if we have to beat it before it will join us," Helen said. "I used to play games where that happened a lot."

"You're too cruel Miss Brooks" Heine smirked, a hint of sarcasm ringing in his tone.

"I played tag. So not so much with me," Ashe shrugged in response to Helen, running a finger through the air as she examined whatever was out there. "Doesn't feel like we'll have to, though. But who knows, best to be ready."

"Defeat means friendship?" Cassandra said with a snort, "What a preposterous notion."

"Well, if diplomacy works that's for the best," Helen said, walking towards the presence.

"I'm afraid I can only offer you the best of luck," Doctor Vox stated as she paused outside a door. "I'm afraid I lack the aptitude to proceed farther - everything from this door onwards is off-limits except to those sufficiently qualified."

"Don't worry, we got this," Ashe nodded as she headed forward as well.

"We'll handle it," Cassandra stated, brushing past the doctor.

"With my diplomacy and Cassandra's bad cop act, how can we fail?" Helen said.

The door closing behind them, the team moved on through a winding hallway, the place poorly lit and the presence getting stronger. "... who enters my domain?"

"Mages of Etherion," Cassandra answered politely, "We seek your assistance as well as knowledge kept within these halls."

"My name is Helen Brooks. I am a contractor of the Spirits who is currently channelling Neptune's power," Helen said. "We are here on a mission from the Vatican."

"... so that old man's finally gone and done it - the first time in so many of your years," came the entity's reply. "But Neptune has always had too trusting a side of his. If you seek my assistance and the knowledge I guard, then you must prove yourselves worthy of such a thing."

"Ashe Brighton," Ashe answered, unfazed by talking to a formless voice. "Nice to meet you."

"I called it," Helen said. She put her hand on her sword. "We cannot afford to fail, so bring it on."

Heine placed a hand infront of Helen, "A fair enough statement" he said, "what would you have us do?"

"Failure is never an option," Cassandra stated as she pocketted her glasses and yanked out the ribbon holding her hair in place, letting it fall loosely across her shoulders, "No matter the stakes."

"Remind me never to play Monopoly with you," Helen said.

A ghostly chuckle from nowhere that seemed to gain direction as motes of light gathered before the team, a dazzling spectral figure of a man attired in an ancient commander's armor and equipment, a stifling heat emanating from him. "You find yourselves before Mars, the Lord of War," the Spirit spoke. "Your task is simple, if you choose to accept it..." Stepping to the side, Mars gestured towards a pedestal ten metres behind him - a crystal nestled upon it. "If I do not mistake it, you enter the war on our behalf, seeking to protect the balance that has existed between us Spirits and those you term Hellions. But are you truly capable of all that is necessary for such a mission? My rules are simple: I will attempt to wrest the crystal from the pedestal, once you have taken the time to move into position. If you can do so until the end of the allotted time..." another gesture as a candle burst alight, its flame melting it down slowly but steadily. "... you will have your access, and my assistance."

Helen drew Catastrophe and stepped forwards. "Let's go, Neptune." Fire erupted around her right hand and water around her left as she channelled both her elements into the magic reinforcing her body. "I have one question. If we beat you up, does that also count as our win?"

"My goal is much greater," Ashe said solemnly as she approached the crystal, looking it over.

"Challenge accepted," Cassandra merely stated, an odd twinkle in her eyes.

"A fair question, to which I say: Aye," came Mars' reply, the Spirit appearing amused by Helen's query. "In such a case however - I do not believe I would be able to guarantee your... safety."

"Do try not to self-destruct all over my face," Helen said. She raised her sword to guard. "Whenever you're ready!"

Heine shrugged dismally, his rapier in hand. "Lets put on a grand show then"

A shimmering of light and flame as a two-handed war axe materialised before Mars, the Spirit grasping it firmly with both hands and causing the weapon to pulse with a ferocious fire. And then Mars charged head-on towards Helen. As he approached it became apparent to the team that the Spirit meant business: the flaming weapon held so much power it seemed to stifle all in its presence.

Ashe let loose with a barrage of frozen spears, slamming them into the charging spirit one after the other as more of the weapons blinked into existence around her.

Helen grimaced, planting her feet and swinging her sword with both hands to try and block the blazing axe. Fire and water spiralled up her sword, Catastrophe rumbling in discontent as the Spirit's power touched it.

The Spirit seemed unfazed by Ashe's opening move, the frozen spears seeming to vaporise or deflect harmlessly off the mighty swings of his axe. Then he was upon Helen, war axe moving to strike and the weapons touched for only a moment. Then a sudden fleet movement as Mars sidestepped - so quickly that Helen scarcely registered any impact from the parry. A jet of flame erupted from around the Spirit, blazing towards the crystal behind.

Cassandra had been waiting for this moment. She unleashed the channelled spell, forming a ball of rock around the crystal itself.

"Guess I was naive to think I could hold back," Helen said. "Awaken, Catastrophe!" The heat of Mars's flames was more than enough. The Hellionsword's leering red eye opened as Helen saw into the future and charged forwards, throwing vicious sword swings towards Mars. Her sword screamed in her mind, eager to rend the flesh of the hated Spirit.

Heine appeared at the spirit's flank simultaneously, his rapier thrusting in a straight line as he channeled his energy into the tip of his sword.

Ashe's eyes narrowed as she watched the spirit target the crystal past all of their attacks. She brought her spears down in a ring around Cass's globe, reinforcing the defenses as she fired off a rapid-fire stream of high-pressure water bolts, switching her style.

A smirk on Mars' face as the flame bolt impacted the rock, melting it away and leaving the crystal unharmed. "And here I was hoping to end this engagement quickly."

To Helen's alarm a sharp pain wracked through her as she peered into the future. Like trying to gaze directly into the white hot core of a blazing haze - a haze emanating from Mars' axe. She could discern the Spirit's next move, but only barely and with near-crippling agony.

"A Hellion's weapon?" Mars chuckled as he blocked Heine's rapier, stepping back from the impact. "You have strength boy, but not nearly enough!" With a roar he swung back, a blazing heat overtaking Heine and scorching skin and fabric, sending the Mage flying into a wall.

Helen gritted her teeth in pain, sparks of agony flying through her mind. "Yeah, this sucks," she said, taking a wild swing at Mars which he easily parried. She was used to pain but this was on another level. "Cover me!" She leapt backwards, beginning to forcibly seal Catastrophe. The sword screamed, infuriated at the interruption.

"Blast!" Ashe grit her teeth, watching in dismay as Heine was blasted into a wall, and Helen not much better. "Lord, give me strength," she prayed to herself as she upped the flow and tightened the spray, her attack now a steel-piercing water cutter that slammed into the spirit.

Cassandra laughed out loud. This was just getting so interesting. She called upon her Eidelon, creating the Lotus Mark not upon Mars himself, but the blade of his axe. She started conjuring wind within her left hand, merely waiting for the right moment...

Mars raised his axe to block Ashe's attack - only to be surprised as the force of the water pushed him back several steps, steam and mist billowing everywhere as the opposing elements struggled for supremacy. In the midst of the chaos a muffled roar as the axe slowly but steadily began to overpower the water. In the distance the dripping wax of the candle, now half its original height.

Cassandra used her right hand to summon several spears of earth, launching them in Mars' direction.

Sweat ran down Helen's face as Catastrophe finally closed its eye and slept uneasily again. "We're not done yet. Let's go, Neptune!" She charged back towards Mars, moving to support Ashe's barrage with a vicious swing of her sword. The fire and water circling her blade became a vicious, scalding cloud of steam as she slammed her sword into his axe.

The combined attacks of the Mages sent the Spirit flying. Loud laughter as Mars spun and crashed into a wall behind, the Spirit quickly recovering and getting back on his feet. "It has been a while since I faced a fight such as this!" With a renewed roar he charged once more - but this time shifting the axe entirely and solely to his right hand, raising it as if to bring it down in a one-handed strike.

A single solid spike of earth erupted from the ground in front of Mars. "Not so fast," Cassandra mocked from where she floated next to the crystal.

Helen slid between Mars and the crystal, raising her sword to guard and gathering her full power. She felt like this would settle the match, one way or the other. "Awaken, Catastrophe!" The red eye opened again, sending her mind into agony. Through the white hot heat she saw the true form of Mars' weapon: a flaming spear with the ability to pierce nearly any etheric defence.

Heine's silence worried her, and she risked a glance over at him as she kept the pressure on the spirit, her sweatband slick. "Heine, you okay?!"

"It's a piercing spear!" Helen screamed, somewhat incoherently. She leapt backwards, barely reaching the pedestal. A few more seconds... the timing would have to be precise, but the pain was scrambling her mind.


Heine's steaming form rose up slowly, "Good show mate" He stammered. There was a burst of wind as he blew the rubble of his back. "But Miss Brighton already punches much harder than that." His hand rose as he targetted the spear. "Disappear!"

Mars smirked at the stone pillar as the flaming axe shifted its shape, morphing into a blazing spear that overflowed with etheric energy. Then he threw it forth, a blazing lance that crashed straight through the rock pillar and blazed straight on towards the crystal.

Cassandra smirked, unleashing the conjured windstorm towards the oncoming spear.

"Sever, Catastrophe!" Helen screamed. The sword burst into flames and eyes flourished up the metal in a dozen places, staring balefully at the humans around it. In an instant, a line of fire cut through the world and Helen stepped beyond time. She snatched the crystal from the pedestal and threw herself sideways out of the reach of the spear.

"Che," Ashe cut off her attack, focusing instead on the incoming spear. She gathered negative energy in her right fist to pierce through the spear and cancel it out utterly, drawing her hand back before letting loose with a roar and all her strength.

A hurricane buffeted the place as Heine's Eidolon struggled to dominate the spear's concept, the intense flame flickering until something flashed. The spear went on still, a blazing lance, but appearing somewhat lessened as though part of it, some concept, had "disappeared." To Ashe's surprise the spear suddenly diverted course, its path zigzagging away and aiming straight at the crystal displaced by Helen and then Cassandra's windstorm impacted, aided by the lingering effect of the Lotus Mark. Air clashed with the weakened flame of the spear as it wobbled on, then shot past the crystal - missing it by mere millimetres. Before it could impact the wall behind it suddenly dissipated to nothingness - Mars rematerialising before the team as he gestured towards the expended candle. "I am bested. You are worthy."

"Wha-" Ashe barely had time to register the spear veering off course before her full-body whiff sent her sprawling face first to the ground.

Helen's eyes widened in shock. She had not expected that. "Here," she managed, throwing the crystal to Cassandra. Then she fell to her knees, slamming her blazing sword into the cold stone beneath her feet. The overwhelming flame of Catastrophe tore into the rock, cracking and melting it. Helen panted for breath as she wrapped both her hands around the hilt, forcibly sucking the heat of the blade. It hurt. The pain was driving her close to madness. Seal it. Seal it. She wouldn't die today.

Cassandra sat the crystal on the ground and placed a hand on Helen's shoulder. "Seal it," she commanded, "The blade is your tool. You're stronger than it."

"Oh, we won," Ashe groaned, pushing herself back to her feet. She noticed Helen first as she rose, moving to her side as well to support her.

"Yeah, I know." Helen gritted her teeth, taking some comfort from the light touch. "Sleep, you bastard!" The eyes blinked closed one by one as the heat faded away, the sword's large eye closing last and falling into slumber. Catastrophe became black iron again. "God. But it's our win, Mars. Your knowledge and power, we'll take it all."

Ashe breathed a sigh of relief, seeing Helen all right. "You all right over there, Heine?" she called out, looking across the room for him.

"Indeed," Mars stated as he faded away. "I leave you to your duties."

"Good job," Cassandra said, flashing a smile and gently patting Helen on the shoulder, "I suggest we all rest for a moment before continuing."

[Master Chief]

Library of Alexandria

As the team exited the sealed section they were greeted by a hectic chaos. Researchers were running this way and that, packing their notes and materials. Worried chatter filled the air: "How could that have happened?" "Was it an attack?" "Will they come here next?"

Amidst the activity Doctor Vox approached the team - a grim expression on her face. "... I assume you have resolved the situation inside?"

"Of course," Cassandra replied, "Though it seems the situation has changed out here."

"More or less," Helen said. She yawned. This has been a long day.

"What's happened?" Ashe asked, glancing over Vox's shoulder at the commotion behind before turning her attention back to the researcher.

"Etherion's branch in Egypt was attacked some fifteen minutes ago," the researcher replied, making occasional glances to her mobile phone as she spoke. "By whom we aren't quite sure - they've gone silent since then. Electricity and communications have also gone out across the entire city, so we are... cut off from Rome. I've since ordered a lockdown of all classified materials as well as preparations for combat, seeing as this library is a... significant etheric asset."

"In a shocking development, our middle eastern enemy is still active in the middle east," Helen said. "Shall we go to the branch, or stay to defend this location?"

"Tough choice," Cassandra noted, "The information here is also invaluable."

"Defending the library is likely the safest course of action" Heine lowered his eyes at the others, "More over, we don't know what the situation is like over there"

"When has that ever stopped us before?" Helen said. "He's the enemy we have to defeat. What do you think, Doctor?"

So, this is why He told me to come, Ashe grit her teeth, a sudden surge of excitement and apprehension flooding through her. She couldn't screw this up. But which to defend, the branch or here at the library? She'd received no clarification and could ask for none. The team would have to make the call.

"We can defend ourselves if need be... in theory," Dr Vox admitted as she looked over to the other researchers busying with their paperwork. "I suppose this could be an opportunity to put some of our theoretical work to the test, even if we don't have the formal combat training you were put through. Still... if you decide to assist the local branch, we will do what we can to hold the line here."

"If we make the wrong choice, we may win the battle but lose the war Helen," Cassandra noted, "I'm wondering what the higher ups are thinking by not sending us reinforcements? In fact, they've taken a team mate away. That almost seems suspicious."

"Our enemy's objective is unknown, but at the least he's absorbing the power of Hellions," Helen said. "Which location would be more useful to that end? Does this library have copies of the Key of Solomon or whatever?"

"As a Mortier, I would like to see his head on a pike," Cassandra said coldly, "So, yes, which location would be more beneficial for him to attack?"

"It's always possible he's just hitting the branch to distract us, or blind us," Ashe spoke up. "But the branch should be able to fight on its own, yes? Here would be more vulnerable."

"Given time, we might find answers in the section you have just opened the way into," the researcher answered. "But this library contains not only knowledge: but also artifacts and powerful concepts. Some on the level of an Eidolon, like your own."

Helen shrugged. "Then it would be better if we assisted the defence here."

"I must agree," Cassandra said, "The artifacts here are more valuable than anything stored at a local branch. After all, that's usually just general materials he'd already have had access to if he was one of our own."

"No arguements from me" Heine offered an unreadable smile, "Besides, i think the researchers would appreciate the added security, as few as we are"

Suddenly there were shouts and screams in the distance, coming from the entrance to the library. Through the corridors researchers could be seen fleeing - some running in the direction of the shouts, calling for others to come and assist.

Helen drew her sword. "I'll yield Neptune to you, Cassandra. Mars's fire suits me. Let's do our best, as two people who have taken the easy path to power."

"Decision's made! Let's go!" Ashe called out as she started dashing towards the clamor. No time to waste.

"I'm not sure if it could be called easy," Casandra noted, her voice with a tinge of guilt, "But it was necessary."

"You owe me an apology," Helen said. She ran towards the entrance, eyes narrowed as she gathered her fire.

The team rushed towards the entrance, Dr Vox following closely behind. Eventually they found themselves back in the entrance hall, seeing a few researchers try to help a bloodied man to his feet. It was the representative who had led them in earlier. An agonised and weak moan as he collapsed despite the scholars' best efforts - blood pooling in a circle around him. "We need a Reinforcer here!" "Someone! Anyone!" "Stay with us sir!"

Helen sighed. She had a bad feeling but no choice. "Right here. Leave him to me." She stepped forwards, releasing her flames and shaping them to heal another.

As Helen approached she became aware of a soft but steady beeping coming from the wounded man. Nearly imperceptible in the chaos, but there. And it seemed to be getting faster...

"Is anyone else injured? Where's the enemy?" Ashe asked as she started to slow down, moving past Helen as she looked around the area.

"Get away from him now!" Helen screamed, her tone curdled by echoes of Mars's voice.

Cassandra jumped backwards, throwing a wall of ice between the man and the others.

"Huh?" Ashe jumped back and away, startled by the sudden outburst.

An ear-ringing explosion - its force clearly augmented by etheric means, creating a shockwave that smashed the ice wall to smithereens and sent even those behind it flying. Electricity and fire lashed everywhere as the detonation died down, darkness falling as the lights in the place blew. In the odd silence of ringing ears the disoriented mages discerned figures emerging from the entrance portal. Then they raised what seemed to be the silhouettes of assault rifles.

Helen drew her sword and charged, her flames raging around her. Mars added his power to her own, intensifying the flames and strengthening her Reinforcement further as she charged down the gunmen.

Here I am. Forced to kill innocents again. Cassandra sighed as a torrent of wind blasted towards the attackers.

Through the smoke and stars filling her vision, Ashe saw the men coming from the portal. They certainly fought like terrorists. She summoned a rifle into her hands, firing etheric-charged bursts at the farthest ones.

The first wave were thrown off-balance by Cassandra's winds, making them easy prey for Helen as they toppled and struggled to regain their footing. Then cries of pain as Ashe's attacks connected, disabling those whom Helen had yet to reach. Then a crackle from the entrance portal as a sword blasted through - the weapon flying straight at Helen, its blade charged and writhing with the power of what seemed a mini sandstorm.

Helen raised her sword to cover her body just in cause the sword possessed conceptual magic, narrowing her eyes at the gate.

Cassandra reacted quickly, throwing out a storm of icicles in an attempt to knock the blade off course.

Ashe grimaced at the cries of pain but remained focused, finishing the last as the blade suddenly shot out of the portal. She quickly pivoted, blasting the weapon as the rest of the team's attacks struck.

An unnerving feeling as the sword charged harmlessly straight through Helen, regaining corporeal form and embedding itself in the library floor. A patch of carpet around it seemed to harden and turn the texture of frozen rock. Another crackle from the entrance portal as a man and a woman leapt through, attired in desert camouflage uniforms. A smirk from the man as he raised an arm and gestured at Helen, summoning a waterspout that rushed to devour her whole. Meanwhile the woman took a combat stance and with a twirl of her hands, caused the sword to dissipate and reappear in her hands.

"Heine, do take care of this pleasant man," Helen said. She leapt backwards, putting as much distance as possible between her and the waterspout before it devoured her.

With a sweep of her arm, Ashe dispersed the waterspout heading towards Helen as she rolled to a knee, glancing at the two newcomers. The blade the woman had would be problematic.

"It would be my utmost pleasure" Heine smirked as he appeared besides the man with a burst of wind. His legs took a combat stance as his rapier lunged forwards in a series of quick strikes.

"So our mage doesn't work alone," Cassandra stated dryly, "Good to know." She focused on the sword wielder, marking her with the Lotus. With a snap of her fingers, arrows of ice surged towards her target from opposite ends of the room.

"Thanks, guys." Helen raised her sword and charged towards the sword user, moving to pin her in Cassandra's storm of blades.

The man leapt back as Heine lunged forward, fingers twirling as the waters shaped into a makeshift shield. Clangs and crashes as Heine found his attacks parried by the icy shield. Then another twirl of his fingers materialised shards of ice behind Heine, razor-sharp shards that now darted towards the exposed neck of the mage. Meanwhile the woman threw her sword up in the air as she crouched down, slamming both palms into the floor and causing walls of earth to erupt all around her. Cassandra's arrows impacted - shattering the defence and exposing the mage to Helen.

"Awaken, Catastrophe!" Helen shouted. Flame blazed up her black sword as the red eye opened. She hadn't forgotten the flying sword, but she wasn't going to leave this opening unpunished either. She raised her sword and pulled it back as she prepared to pierce the woman through.

As Helen looked into Time itself she saw the sword descend from above as she moved to pierce her target - the sword slicing into her right arm just as she impaled the enemy.

With a flick of her fingers, Ashe countered the shards plunging towards Heine's neck with a spray of her own, her icicles plunging in and shattering the hostile projectiles. Ashe followed up with a pair if icy daggers behind the man, copying his trick as the weapons shot towards him.

"Cover my right arm!" Helen screamed. She'd believe in the others and settle this quickly, before her exhaustion overcame her. She slammed her right foot down and pierced the woman through.

Cassandra nodded, lauching several more spikes of ice to covered Helen's attack as well as more from behind the woman.

Heine's chin rose as he aimed the tip of his rapier, his eyes fixating on the iceshield directly infront of the mage's body. "Vanish!" the wind mage said again before plunging his sword towards the gap he created within the shield.

With a gasp of pain the woman looked up as her sword deflected off the ice spikes, the weapon fading as strength and lifedrained from her. As she collapsed the man snarled in anger, sidestepping to avoid Heine's attack but failing to dodge Ashe's. A defiant yell as the daggers went through his right leg, sending him sprawling to the floor. At that moment the portal crackled once more - a torrent of corrupt blood blasting through and attempting to envelope the entire squad in a crimson rain.

Cassandra panicked, throwing up another ice wall as thick as she could make to try and shield her teammates.

"Here comes the big boss," Helen said. She picked the woman up bodily with her sword and leapt backwards, using her corpse as a shield to protect her from the rain she couldn't avoid with her future sight.

Now, Ashe heard Joan's voice ring out in her head as the corrupted blood came hurtling towards them. She tossed aside her rifle, the summoned weapon dissipating as Ashe grabbed at the air, a crimson shaft appearing in her hands. The Lance of Life suddenly burst into being, illuminating the room with a burst of radiance. Potted plants nearby suddenly blossomed and flourished and renewed feelings of valor and resolve filled the mages, their wounds and aches fading and dissipating. Ashe stood her ground, the Holy Lance held high as the standard blazed, the room growing damp with rolling mists of holy water that gathered around the tip of the spear before lashing out at the roiling tides of blood to neutralize the corruption.

As the waters met the blood they roiled and bubbled, vaporising into mists of otherwise harmless but blood-smelling steam.

In Cassandra's mind the shocked voice of Neptune. "... how? Impossible! She couldn't have..."

In Helen's mind a similar response from Mars. "... what has the monster done?!"

The fallen mage stepped in through the portal - smiling as currents of air and blood swirled around him. The power of Lamashtu, his own power, as well as that of...

"... Atalanta?!"

"I see you have learned the old ways, in a bid to even the odds," the man began as he gestured and caused a vortex of wind to materialise before him. The tornado grew, intertwining with the blood as a female figure took shape within. The entity clearly that of a Spirit, but Bound by forces foul. A pained expression on her face as she took corporeal form against her will.

"But you grasp at the very basics - like children with their toys," the man continued as he strode arrogantly towards the team. "While you cooperate with the mewling Spirits I have already mastered dominion over them, and more."

Helen raised her sword. She was running out of time. "You talk too much." She charged forwards. Catastrophe glowered at the Spirit with his baleful eye but Helen aimed to move past her and reach the Fallen mage. She still had Catastrophe's sight. Sparks of lightning were searing her mind but she could still fight.

Cassandra laughed bitterly. This was all getting to be too much; she was a Mortier dammit! The enemy should fear her and yet this man managed to cause doubts in her mind. She unsealed her eidolon, placing the mark on the enemy mage. A maniac look in her eyes, she unleashed the full fury of her magic at the mage; unleashing a biting icestorm propelled by her wind magic.

Whilst his teammates dealt with the newest intruder, Heine wasted no time on rounding on the water mage. The words echoed alongside him as his eidolon targetted the ground beneath the mage, "Vanish!". A flash as his blade lunged forwards.

A cry as the water mage fell through what was once solid ground. Meanwhile Cassandra's attacks materialised directly at the fallen mage - ice and airy blades tearing into skin flesh and bone. A howl of agony as the mage felt pain - but the howl was echoed by the fallen gunmen around him. A disturbing scene as blood extended out from his feet and into the men around him, their flesh shriveling as he seemed to absorb their life force, his wounds knitting together as quickly as Cassandra could inflict them.

"... I suppose it is time I put you children in your place," he smirked as he made his move.

[Sheep]

"I'll throw those words right back at you," Ashe glared at the mage, blood boiling at his words and actions. Few things set her off; he'd managed to trigger most all of them. "You creatures of the dark will come to fear me, and through me, the King of Heaven." The Lance resonated, fluttering in the still air as Ashe watched the villain control the spirit, binding and perverting the angelic figure. She could save her. The power given to her could break through this scum's control. None could stand before the power of God Almighty.

"I am your reckoning," She hefted the Lance, raising the banner high as she swept it in a massive arc, the holy mists gathering and expanding around the azure field of lilies. With a roar, she brought the Lance to bear, a massive roiling flash flood of holy water erupting from the fluttering standard, the hydrostorm a pure conceptualization of salvation and judgment. It raced past Helen, Heine, and Cassandra, empowering and rejuvenating them to their prime as it hurtled towards the mage and the captured spirit, crashing down on both. The waters of baptism would judge those it washed over, the hope of good and the bane of evil.

Catastrophe keened a fierce protest, trying to dissolve any water that touched it with its fierce flames. But Helen and Mars felt renewed strength and purpose, allowing them to suppress and control the screaming sword. "Thanks, Ashe. Let's go." She charged the Fallen Mage head-on, attempting to bypass the Spirit. For as long as Catastrophe's red eye was open, she was the vanguard.

Cassandra called upon Neptune's power, letting loose with a barrage of ice within the enemy mage's defence, further augmented by a biting wind created from her own ability. This mage was going to die today; she had failed in her duty as a Mortier ever since joining the squad. That would end now.

Heine's fist clenched with renewed energy as he offered a gratuitous smile towards Ashe. In a flash, he disappeared like the wind, moving to support Helen's assault from the flank.

A crackling and sizzling sound as Ashe's Unsealed Eidolon clashed against Lamashtu's power - the blood roiling against the holy might and failing. Through the torrents the team could see the fallen mage recoil in pain as the waters seared his skin, neutralised the corruption. Yet he snarled and poured more of Lamashtu's power forth in a bid to counter the purification. Atalanta struggled - her binds weakened, but not enough.

"... oh no you don't. I invoke your power!" the mage declared as Atalanta shifted into Helen's path with astounding speed, torrential winds gushing about her as she added her elemental powers to the blood. A shriek of pain as the Spirit intercepted many of the attacks on his behalf.

"I invoke your Eidolon: Avalanche Arrow!"

A pained look in Atalanta's eyes as she regarded the squad. And then a multitude of small whirlwinds manifesting around her, their vortices facing the team and each revealing what seemed a focused drill of high-velocity air. And then, like a literal rain from a tropical storm, the arrows lashed forth with the force of a few dozen machine guns.

Helen gritted her teeth as her future sight traced the path of the arrow in her sight. The blood in her brain seared her with pain as she dodged backwards, weaving through the barrage as she moved to flank the Fallen Mage. Even relying on her predictions, the arrows met her head-on. She blocked one with her sword and smashed another away with a flame-wrapped fist, but the impact of a third ripped through her flames and tore vicious wounds in her body. Blood ran down her torn jacket but she kept moving, relying on her redoubled regeneration to reknit her torn flesh. She hoped Heine would understand. If he attacked from one direction and her from another, the Spirit couldn't block them both at once, however fast she was.

"Release!" Heine's voice roared as powerful energies engulfed him. His speeding form turned invisible as he passed through the rain of arrows heedlessly, his rapier aimed at the mage's heart.

Yells from behind the Spirit indicated that Cassandra's attacks all hit home - and the man wasn't pleased. As Atalanta continued to apply pressure from the frontlines, a pillar of blood emerged from his flank and shot out, bending towards the Neptune-user. A sizzling of dust in Helen's future sight indicated that he was running rapidly out of targets to drain life from. Yet he didn't seem aware of Heine's approach.

"Cassandra, the blood's coming from you!" Helen shouted. She kept charging, hoping to draw the enemy Spirit's attention again.

Cassandra nodded, summoning a barrier of ice to protect herself from the oncoming attack. At the same time, she lashed out again at the enemy mage with cutting wind.

Ashe supported her weight on the Lance, taking in ragged breaths with a grimace as arrows came hurtling in. She formed a shield of dispersion around the Lance and swung, her moves sluggish and not good enough. An arrow streaked past and slammed into her thigh, tearing through flesh. Ashe bore the pain wordlessly, the wound starting to heal.

Heine leapt in then, jumping to close the final few metres. Drawing a knife in his other hand, his body twisted so that both weapons would pierce the mage at the same time. His weapons materialized, floating in mid-air; his rapier underneath the arm whilst the knife came through the mage's ear.

A gob of blood from the mage's lips as he reeled backwards, falling to the ground from the apparently fatal wounds. Around him the last of the corpses vanished, the blood pooling around him as the twisted corruption of Lamashtu's power attempted to save his life.

Cassandra charged inwards, propelled by her magic. The Mortier blade was in her hands, ready to be buried in the traitor's heart.

"Remind me never to piss that guy off," Helen said. She glanced at Heine before turning to face the Spirit. Heine would deliver the final blow. The only problem was if the Wind Spirit would interrupt.

"Stop the blood!" Ashe coughed, struggling to conjure a dispersion field that far away. Removing it was too draining, and with her leg she couldn't reach herself; thinking fast, she wrapped Heine's rapier in the field.

If they could see it, the rest would've surely been disturbed by the smile creeping across Heine's invisible form. "Looks like my time isn't up yet, so i'm going to enjoy this fully" he whispered. His rapier disappeared again, only to reappear within another section of the body once more. Heine repeated the monotonous pattern rapidly, riddling the body with stab wounds. His extended his other hand and sent out a gust of wind, dispersing the blood as best he could.

Cassandra buried her blade in the traitor's chest, twisting it in deep. As she did so, she summoned a whirlwind around her to push the blood away from the near-dead heretic.

"The Spirit isn't done!" Helen shouted. "Sever all, Catastrophe!" Fire erupted around her as she severed the fabric of the world with her sword and stepped outside time. Pain screamed through her body as she charged down the unmoving mage and stepped back into the world. Catastrophe screamed with destructive fires as she struck off his right arm at the shoulder, the flames beginning to devour the limb. With her off-hand she shoved Cassandra backwards, trying to move her out of range of the coming counter-attack.

Suddenly the burning arm exploded into bits of flesh, bone, and blood. From what remained of it flowed blood and energies into the mage's body, knitting together the grievous wounds inflicted by Heine's and Cassandra's blades. But their efforts were rapidly undone by Catastrophe's flames, the fires and regeneration cancelling each other out.

And there he was: motionless in a growing pool of his own blood. The etheric corruption plainly throughout.

Cassandra picked up her fallen blade and, in one swift strike, detached the man's head from his body.

Helen staggered away from the fallen mage. "The blood's wrong," she managed. She fell to her knees and began to seal Catastrophe. It wanted to eat the mage. His corrupted, Hellion-riddled soul. It would eat it. It had earned it. The flames were already trying to consume the man. She had to deny the sword that.

Atalanta visibly struggled against her binds - weakening greatly from the mage's death. Doing so bought Helen a few precious moments, before she unleashed another hailstorm from Arrow Avalanche.

Ashe's stomach churned as the others went down on the fallen man like a pack of wild dogs and she forced herself to face forward and watch for any changes. But saints forgive her, this was wrong. Her nausea only grew as the man's arm exploded, corruption covering his body.

Helen turned to face the Spirit, giving up on sealing the sword for a few more seconds. God save her. "Ashe, the lance!" she screamed, raising her off-hand high.

"Right!" Ashe replied, switched her grip on the Lance before hurling it to Helen, her leg exploding with pain from the sudden weight she forced on it. Without the Lance for support, Ashe took a knee and prepared what meagre defences she had in preparation for the next storm of arrows.

Helen caught the lance with her off-hand, fingers closing tightly around the haft. Pain erupted through her body as the holy power warred with the will of the demon sword. She crossed her sword and the lance to form a barrier in front of her, falling to her knees and bracing herself. All her magic was fading. At heart, she was making her body a shield for her allies.

Cassandra turned her attention to the spirit, her sword left with the body. "Don't be an idiot!" Mortier called out, running in front of Helen and summoning a wall of ice.

Helen gritted her teeth and forced herself up. She slammed into Cassandra from behind, crossing the weapons in front of the other woman. "Then, together." She smiled despite herself.

"At least we'll have company," Cassandra joked, seemingly undisturbed at the prospect of dying.

Ashe tossed her magic and mixed it with Cass's, strengthening the wall as best as she could.

Heine reappeared finally, his eyes narrowing on the pool of blood. Sections of the floor vanished around it as he rapidly dug holes in the ground, sinking the blood as far deep as his remaining power would allow.

Atalanta's bullets came crashing down, the air currents drilling through the ice and

"... theory into practice!" Dr Vox's voice came in from behind as a strange circular barrier emerged before the duo. As the bullets passed through they deflected away, crashing into the ceiling, floor, and walls. A few shots found their marks, but leaving merely flesh wounds rather than critical injury.

Helen stepped back, weakness flooding through her body. She pressed the lance against Catastrophe, forcibly sealing the sword with Ashe's holy power. "I guess we haven't run out of luck."

"... I am in your debt," Atalanta spoke at last, the last of the binds fading away. "I... I truly am sorry for what has transpired..."

"Thank the Lord," Ashe breathed out a sigh of relief, not even realizing she'd been holding her breath. She let herself fall onto her back, gazing up at the ceiling with a shaky smile, wiping her face with her hand.

Cassandra wiped the sweat from her brow, ignoring the bleeding from her cheek. "For a second there I really thought we were goners." she managed. She unclasped her brooch, an old Mortier relic stamped with the family seal, and dropped it on the floor.

Heine's lips twisted into a smile as he stared at the rest. "That was a wonderful moment you two" he mocked, glancing at Cassandra and Helen as he walked over to pick up his sword. The cold sweat fell over his cheeks and dripped off the tip of his chin as he bent over and flicked the blood off the blade.

"I'm not the one who went apeshit penetrating a corpse," Helen said. She fell to her knees, head swaying.

"We need medical help here!" Dr Vox called out to the researchers within as she hurried over. "Thank goodness you're alright. I had no idea if... the vectors were suggested as a passive defence against weathering conditions, not an active barrier against a spirit! Still... thank..."

A sudden shudder through the whole library for a few seconds, then nothing.

"... Dr Vox! Whatever they did here destabilised the tesseract!" another researcher yelled as he came running with the others. "Signs of spatial collapse at the extremities! I recommend evacuating now!"

"We'd better get moving then," Cassandra said, leaving the brooch and sword behind. She didn't need them anymore.

"You call it apeshit, i call it necessary force" Heine chuckled slightly as he walked over to Helen, offering his hand.

"Sometimes they're the same thing," Helen said. She stood with his help and dragged Catastrophe towards the gate.

Cassandra wrapped an arm around Helen to support her, taking a final glance at her sword left in the ground.

A flurry of activity as the researchers salvaged what they could while helping the team out, watching as the rooms in the furthest ends began to wobble and refract. As the last person stepped through the closing portal some fifteen minutes later, a disembodied chuckle through the library as the collapse... halted.

And then, detached from the prying eyes of Etherion, the Library of Alexandria began to reconfigure: tendrils of crimson stretching from where Heine had sunk the blood and etching into the fabric of the tesseract itself...

[Master Chief]

Ashe kept strong on the ride back to base; slightly shaky, but she stayed firm, prayed often, helped as much as she could, and supported the others.

Once she'd made sure everyone else was okay and everything was square, she crept off as indiscreet as possible, made for the nearest restroom, locked the door, then threw herself to the nearest toilet and vomited her guts out. She sank to the floor, her leg flaring with pain even through the healing, propping herself up with an arm draped across the seat, forehead pressed against the sleeveless skin. She took a deep breath, another, then promptly started retching once more. Scenes from the battle burst into her mind; the screams from the people she'd hurt, the rivers of blood, the sheer, naked brutality and violence of it all. Heine, Helen, and Cassandra, chopping at the mage's body like a hunk of beef, like a cow she'd watched her father butcher. The arm exploding into bits of bone and flesh.

She threw up again.

That wasn't right. That display was as vulgar as any darkness she spoke out against. Any man deserved better than that. Worse, it was necessary, and Ashe knew it. War was ugly. She just didn't have the strength to face it.

The scenes playing in her mind of gore brought back memories of Cherry Mesa. Those, she forced herself to face. She would never allow herself to forget; the consequences of her weakness and her stupidity. So many died, crying for her. They'd known her as a boy, back then, but pretending hadn't made her any stronger. If only. They cried out, calling her name as they were cut down. Ashe went through it all, naming every last one as they flickered in her mind, young and old. She'd gone over this countless times; if only she'd listened to God sooner. If only.

She threw up again, but this time, there was little left to come up, and with a shudder, Ashe tore off her sweatband, pressed her slick forehead to her arm; it was cold and clammy on her arm. She took deep, ragged breaths, still burnt out from the full force of the Lance. If she were as strong as Joan, she could have done better. She'd just have to work even harder; she hadn't pushed herself as far as she could have. Farther and farther, into that brightest light where evil dared not tread.

But first, she'd have to push herself off of the dirty toilet. With a groan, she hefted herself up, wiping the seat off with toilet paper before flushing the mess down and slowly making her way to the sinks. She turned the cold water up, added a bit of hot so the chill wasn't quite so biting, and splashed the water on her face, cleaning herself up.

"How'd you do it?" she asked, leaning against the sink as the water poured down. "You saved a country and didn't kill a single soul." Ashe hadn't killed either; not yet, at least. How long though?

I commanded, and bear the weight even if my sword remained clean. But, don't judge yourself too harshly; you were chosen to hold the Banner. You're doing well. Joan's warm voice responded in her head, as it often did during such hard times. Ashe thanked God that so kind and strong a soul would deign to aid her.

"I can do more," Ashe replied, cupping her hands and splashing the cool water on her face once more. She cupped her hands again, this time taking a slow, careful drink from her hands. It didn't help much. "I still haven't pushed myself hard enough; my body can take more." Her body ... if only.

You've a long road ahead, Joan chided. Don't rush to ill health. Life is God's greatest gift.

"Thank you, friend," Ashe answered, her voice steady. She turned off the water, grabbed some paper towels to wipe her face off. "I don't fear death, but neither do I welcome it. I'll live as long as I can."

I know, Joan answered with a smile. Ashe could see her faint glimmer, strong and beautiful. And then she was gone, and Ashe was heading for the door, firm and resolute. As long as I can.

She unlocked the door, pushed it open, and started to head back to keep helping.

[atmawpn]

Etherion HQ, Esposizione Universale Roma, Rome


"... a pity about the Library, especially since the evacuation of artifacts was nowhere near complete," Susan Brown mentioned. "But considering the circumstances it was an impressive feat nonetheless."

She looked towards Jake Carver for a response - only for the senior man to regard the group with furrowed brows and silence, his glance shifting occasionally to the written report of their accounts.

"... well I believe you require a well-deserved rest in the interim," Maya Kamagawa broke the silence with a slight smile. "You are dismissed."

Helen forced a smile, but couldn't quite meet her mentor's eyes. "We'll take our leave." She turned and walked away. She doubted any of the team were happy with what had happened. Certainly, she was not. She'd have preferred anger.

Cassandra sighed. "I suppose I should head back home then," she said quietly. She had tried to do things differently this time but the outcome had been the same. Perhaps the old ways were better after all...

"Thank you, sirs," Ashe said as she tipped her head slightly and turned to leave as well, glad Steel had nothing to say for the moment. She was still shaky on her feet and her stomach and didn't need to hear how well Steel would've done in her place. She tried not to meet any of the other's eyes; even after talking with Joan, she still didn't want to face them about what had happened. Peace and quiet would do her better, right now.

"We need to talk," Helen said to Cassandra. "At some point, anyway."

"I'm not sure how much there is to talk about," Cassandra said, pausing her step but not turning around, "This was no victory. We all know that."

"I'm not talking about the battle, for god's sake," Helen said.

"Then what?" Cassandra replied, "I'm not permitted to be socialable with my team mates so unless it's about our mission I'm afraid it'll have to wait."

"Oh, Christ, would you give it a rest," Helen said. "You threw yourself in front of me. I need to know the fuck that was, because right now I don't know."

"A Mortier must be willing to make sacrifices," Cassandra quoted, "even their own life if they feel it necessary. My own life is meaningless when it comes to the team Helen."

"So that's it," Helen said. "It's always duty with you. But you know what, that's fucked up, and I'm sick of it." She looked around at the others. This was not the time. She stepped forwards and grabbed Cassandra's arm from behind. "Come with me. Now."

"Sorry to butt in," Ashe said to Helen and Cass. "Couldn't help but overhear." Her hand hovered for a moment before she placed it on Cass's shoulder, a light touch. "Never say that again, Cassandra. No matter what's going on, your life isn't meaningless. I'd like not to hear anyone talk like that."

Cassandra just shrugged Ashe's hand off and let herself be guided by Helen.

"Thanks, Ashe," Helen said. She forced a smile. "But you can leave her to me. We've needed to have a chat for a while now, I think."

"Those two are intimate" Heine cooed beside Ashe, arms at his hips as he watched Helen and Cassandra stride off.

"Ohhh?" Ashe replied with a soft smile in kind. She was relieved that they all seemed the same; she didn't know what to expect, but this is vastly preferable to most of the scenarios she'd come up with. "You're welcome." She called out after them.

Helen dragged Cassandra back to her room, an uneasy silence hanging between them. Her heart was thumping with tension and anger. It would be easy to run away, but she had to force herself. They lived the kind of lives where death could come at any moment. She didn't want to have regrets. Helen pushed open the door to her room and sat Cassandra down on the sofa in the living room. She closed the door. "Right. Finally some privacy."

"Go ahead and say whatever it is you want to say then," Cassandra stated, visibly annoyed, "But it won't change things. I am a Mortier."

Helen ground her teeth. Yeah, this was gonna suck. "Listen, I used to think it was pretty cool of me to talk as if I was ok with dying. I'm a demonsword user. I always felt that kind of resolve was the only way to excuse my selfishness. But listening to you talk about yourself makes me want to punch myself in the face. We're the same, and we're both complete idiots."

"Lovebirds, huh? How cute," Ashe giggled slightly in spite of herself. She glanced at the hand Cass had shrugged off. Maybe Helen would get through. "Good for them."

Heine waited until the door shut before speaking to Ashe again, flicking his chin towards the doorway as he did so. "Want to go watch?" He asked, a slow grin creeping over his face. By way of example he waved his hand and made a section of the wall infront of them disappear.

"'Life is penance...death is peace'" Cassandra stated quietly, "The family motto. The life of a Mortier is constant suffering and solitude as you must be prepared to take the lives of those closest to you if it becomes necessary. It's not the life I want, but it's the one I was born into and the one expected of me. I tried to do things differently back in Egypt but it only lead to failure. I must walk in darkness. It's the only path for me."

"For shame," Ashe wagged a finger at Heine. "Being a Peeping Tom isn't an enviable trait, you know."

"Do you think Egypt was just about you?" Helen said. "We all fought and bled in Egypt. All of us gave our everything to try and win. We all failed. It's egotistical of you to say you're the only one responsible. You're insulting us."

Heine frowned, feigning ignorance. "Why, whatever do you mean Miss Brighton? I'm just a concerned teammate ensuring the emotional stability of my fellow mages. Besides, her conduct could affect us all. It's our duty to watch over them" He rationalised.

"I didn't mean it that way," Cassandra replied quietly, "But I should have been stronger. A penance must be paid for both my failure and for losing my family's sword...." she looked up at Helen, "I'm a failure as a Mortier, I know that. I'm not worthy of that name anymore, but if I'm not a Mortier, who am I?"

"You're not a failure. Why do you think I could throw myself against that woman even knowing her weapon was above me? I trust you," Helen said. "Not because you're a Mortier. I just do, because we've fought together for long enough, and because I somehow think you always come through for me."

"Pffft," Ashe crossed her arms. "Helen can watch over Cass. You just want to watch." At that, Ashe paused, considering. They weren't ... doing it, in there, were they? Or like, making out or anything? Nah, they weren't like that. Right?

"You trust me even though you know what my duty calls for me to do," Cassandra said with a smirk, "I'm not sure which one of us is the bigger idiot: you for trusting a Mortier or me for actually believing in a different path than the one of my ancestors. The others trust me as well, even if I don't understand why. I'm a Mortier. I'm supposed to be hated and feared. I'm not supposed to have...friends."

Helen breathed out, trying to calm herself down. She sat down next to Cassandra. "Maybe I'm an idiot, but I just go with my feelings. Life's too short for us to do anything else. We need to fight but that can't be everything. We can't live from that alone."

"Perhaps," Mortier replied, "I wouldn't know. I was raised to fight...to kill. I don't really know anything else besides Etherion's history and my magic skills."

Heine grinned, noticing her look of contemplation. Maybe he could appeal to her devout sense of righteousness. "That's true, but its also true they might also be doing something indecent. What would you do then?" He shrugged.

Helen smiled. "Well, I was raised as a normal kid until that day. I'd be happy to teach you how normal people live. But first, tell me one thing. Why did you try to change in Egypt?

"...Because the old ways just didn't feel right anymore," Cassandra admitted with hesitation, "I wasn't suspicious of you all when my instincts still told me I should be. I'm sick of living that way; it just makes me miserable. To borrow an old saying, I want to believe there's a light at the tunnel; that there's hope for even a monster like me."

"Well, I mean, I don't know," Ashe stammered. "Stop them? But we can't just peep on them, that's bad," She quickly added, wary of Heine's schemes.

Helen nodded. "I kind of feel the same way. I'm not just Catastrophe's wielder." She put her hand on Cassandra's, trying to find words. "God, I'm not good at this. And you're bad at this too."

"Maybe we'll find what we're looking for together then," Cassandra said with a smile, "Until then, make sure that sword of yours doesn't win. Remember that bastard is just as bad as the monsters we're fighting."

"Bugger the sword," Helen said with feeling. She leaned forwards and kissed Cassandra on the lips.

Cassandra pulled away, choosing to wrap her arms around Helen instead. "Come on," she said with a laugh, "You're a good friend but that's going a bit fast."

Helen smiled to hide her embarassment. "Sorry. I told you, I go with my feelings." She stood up and walked towards the windows on the far side of the room. "That's just how it is."

"I think I need to be more like that," Cassandra replied, placing a hand on Helen's shoulder and giving her a quick peck on the cheek. "Come on, I bet the others are getting 'worried."

Helen blinked. God, she had no idea what this woman was thinking. "Yeah, I guess we'd better to check in on them. Heine shouldn't be left with pure girls."

His green eyes rolled over as Heine gave Ashe a look of slight disbelief. "Okay fine Miss Brighton, we'll sit here never knowing what happened" the man pouted, "Though from now on i may take to calling you Miss granny instead" he mocked.

Cassandra walked in with a wide smile on her face. Her usual hair decoration marked with the family crest was absent, letting her long black hair spill over her shoulders. Helen was following, though the swordswoman seemed somewhat ill at ease.

"Well, don't do tha-" Ashe stopped as she saw Cass's hair down, pointing wide-eyed.

"You people are way too dull," Helen said to the other two. "Go see a movie, read a book, something."

"I'll never doubt you again, Heine." Ashe said.

"Have either of you had dinner yet?" Cassandra asked pleasantly, "I know a great place down the road from here so let's all go. It's a bit pricey, but the food's on me tonight." Cassandra said with a laugh; the girl was almost manic.

"Shoot" Heine clicked his fingers, "See what i mean?" He said towards Ashe, frowning in disappointment. Turning his gaze to study Cassandra, he seemed to relax as he noticed the expression over her face. "Well, seems the matter is resolved for the moment any how. My congratulations"

Helen rolled her eyes. She had as many questions as answers right now, but she was damned if she was giving Heine the satisfaction. At the least, Cassandra was changing. That was for the best. The rest... Helen closed her eyes briefly, collecting herself. "Sounds good to me, Cassandra. I guess I need to teach these two how to relax."

"Cassandra sounds too formal between friends," Mortier said with a chuckle, "Cass or Cassie will do. That goes for all of you."

"I don't think I should 'relax' with you," Ashe laughed, replying to Helen. "But I'm glad to see you two are better. Going out sounds fun, let's do it."

Helen rolled her eyes. This was going to be a long day.

[atmawpn]

Rome


Helen sat on the bench in the centre of the park, leaning back with her hands behind her head. Honestly, life never went the way you wanted it to go. That much was for certain.

Cassandra sat under a nearby tree, poring over a romance novel instead of her normal studying.

Helen glanced across at Cassandra and smiled to herself. Well, if that idiot had learned how to relax, that was something in itself.

Cassandra looked and met Helen's eyes with a slight smile before returning to her book.

And then a chill in the air. Not physical, but etheric. Like energy and life had begun draining from the world. To the two of them it seemed as though the sun were dimming as the air became entirely still. Some of the park visitors seemed to notice, looking around puzzledly when they realised there was not a cloud in the sky.

Helen stood, putting her hands on the sword wrapped in cloth around her back. Oh, this was not good. "What the hell is this, Atalanta?"

Cassandra quietly stood, leaving her book on the ground.

"... the Veil quivers. It's... it's wrong. It shouldn't be this way, yet it is," the wind spirit responded. And then a sliver of fear in her voice. "... it is Lamashtu. It is him."

"Of course it is," Helen said. "So, how do we stop him?"

"Can we stop him?" Cassandra asked, "We're only human."

"So is he," Helen said shortly.

"I'm not so sure about that," Cassandra replied quietly.

Helen snorted. "It doesn't matter either way. We just do everything we can."

"Of course," Cassandra replied, "We stop him or die trying."

Before the spirit could reply there was a crack of thunder as a crimson web of lightning suddenly lit up the skies above. Where the currents crisscrossed they spread their ugly bloody colours across the cerulean blue, the sun's rays losing their golden shine.

And then another crack as a bolt streaked down in the distance, halting in mid-air as it contacted an etheric barrier several hundred metres in diameter. Glowing runes and patterns became visible in mid-air - the formation that formed the Rome headquarters' primary line of defence, that shielded the bulk of the underground facility.

Unperturbed by the obstacle, the lightning flashed forth again - this time accompanied by a torrent of boiling blood that snaked all across the quivering runes. Lines of light emerged among the barrier as it began to fail. And then a crash as it shattered into shards of light descending upon the city of Rome. Unobstructed, the lightning slammed straight into the ground, causing a massive plume of fire to erupt into the skies.

Helen unwrapped the cloth binding her sword. There was no point in hiding any longer. There was probably no point in anything at all.

Cassandra dropped her pack now; it would just slow her down. "Once more into the breach, right?" she tried to joke, but it just didn't work.

Light quivered in front of the duo as space itself seemed to tear asunder. Then a howl as a gaping portal emerged from the tortured fabric of reality, releasing a swarm of black shadows that surged towards them with eyes and fangs of red.

Helen sighed. This, she could deal with. Flame erupted across her body, the air around her flickering as she controlled the wind and used that to further strengthen her body. If nothing else, she would die with pride. She charged forwards, her blade sundering the ground before slicing upwards and cutting the first demon in half. She moved faster than before, relying on the strength of her blazing two-handed sword to kill or maim her targets in a single swing.

Cassandra formed a large spear of ice in her hands, launching it towards the center of the attackers.

The ice spear splintered on impact, spreading sharp frosty death to all the black entities that met it. Otherworldly screams as they flashed into dust - vanquished either by magical flame or frost. In the distance they began to sense clashing etheric energies. Some were familiar - the energies of their fellow Mages. Others were foul - those of the hordes. And over it all the foreboding presence of what seemed like multiple Hellions.

Screaming began to sound as panic dawned fully on the civilian populace, traffic crashing and chaos erupting as Rome became Hell itself.

"We need to get back to headquarters," Cassandra stated, "We don't really have another option."

"Let's link up with the other mages," Helen said. "If we coordinate our efforts, we might be able to do something." Her voice was heavy, since she didn't believe her own words. Before now, even in Bagdad, she'd believed victory was possible. But this was absurd. "We can head for headquaters after that. You can sense them, right? Lead the way."

"All right," Cassandra stated, "Follow me and remember: bugger the sword."

Helen smiled wanly.

Wasting little time, the duo exited the greener pastures and plunged straight into the emerging Hell. Directly ahead of them in the distance were the towering fires of Etherion headquarters, and the majority of the etheric clashing. But down a few streets to their right, the ominous presence of at least two Hellions.

Helen gritted her teeth. "The centre. We need to concentrate our efforts there."

"Agreed," Cassandra said bitterly, "We need to stop this or even more will die."


-----


Elsewhere in Rome...


The sound of clanging iron and techno filled the air as the weekend warriors went about their business. Ashe and Heine were in a corner of the place, helping themselves to some of the heavier items in the free weights section.

Heine span a translucent dumbell over his index finger like a basketball as he sat there, clearly abusing his powers. His eyes levelled over Ashe as he huffed with a growing sense of boredom, "I think this has to be said but, this peace and quiet after the last mission is quite unsettling."

"Oh? I don't mind it," Ashe set down her weights, looking over at Heine. "If things could stay this way, I'd not mind. But I've more to do, so for now I'll enjoy this short rest."

As if on cue there was a pulse of something through the air - something that perked both mages up as the lights in the gym suddenly flickered and died. Groans and muttering among the gym goers at the inconvenient blackout as the owner went to fiddle with the switches.

"Shouldn't have said anything," Ashe sighed, getting to her feet. "Seems like more than just a power outage. You have any idea?"

"Wow, right on cue" Heine whistled likewise, impressed. He let the dumbell float to the ground and stood up straight. "I regret to say our enemy is the mortal foe of free time. Shall we contact HQ?"

"Sounds like a plan," Ashe nodded as she grabbed her towel, tossed it over her neck.

Suddenly there were screams from outside as a bloodied corpse was thrown in - the skin and flesh torn to shreds by some kind of sharp claws. Screeches and glowing eyes in the darkness as a swarm of little devils hopped into the gym, scattering the panicking patrons.

Ashe caught the body is it was thrown in, checked his pulse; dead. She set him down, turned to the horde of devils trying to get at the others in the gym. Not on her watch. She swept her arm, sending out homing streaks of cutting ice that tore into the swarm.

"Or... they could start the party now, try get the civilians into a room we can barricade Miss Brighton!" Heine said tersely. A flick as his mobile appeared in his hands and he lifted it up to his ear. "I love military speech, it makes everything sound classy" he commented lightly before speaking into his phone, "HQ, do you copy? We are under attack! We request immediate assistance!"

Taken aback by the presence of mages, the little devils seemed to panic and flee, quickly dispersing from the gym. But it was clear from the screams that more was going on outside. Meanwhile, Heine received no response from the line - only a harsh silence. Not even static or a tone.

"Right," Ashe nodded, glancing around and looking for a good location. The bathroom? It had one entrance they could lock and cover up. It'd have to work. "Let's go, people!" She started rallying those around her, striking down the little monsters around them with a storm of dancing hailknives.

"Everyone in here," she stood by the door, sweeping the gym patrons in. "It'll be safer in here than on the streets. Keep your heads down and wait for help." She grabbed a marker from the main office nearby, wrote "survivors here" on the door to let backup know. She and Heine'd be needed on the streets.

"Any luck with HQ?" she asked.

Heine's lips opened as he tisked in disapproval. "What a stereotypical situation" He cursed as he folded his phone over and pocketed it, "Excellent news Miss Brighton, HQ is reliable as ever. They're sending in everything, why, even the circle of three will be gracing us with their presence." He replied to Ashe sarcastically before sighing, "I'll go check on the situation outside". A ghostly rapier materialized in his other hand as he headed towards the doorway and peered out the door.

A scene of Hell greeted Heine's eyes. Devils and shadows swarmed the streets, bringing tortured death and pain to all those within reach. Shrieks and screams as powerless civilians fell to their claws and curses. To the right he could see a towering inferno where the Rome headquarters was supposed to be. In that direction he sensed surviving mages clashing against demonic forces.

To the left, towards the outskirts where the greenery and parks were, the unmistakable presence of at least two Hellions.

Heine gulped and span back inside, taking something of a deep breath. His eyes locked onto Ashe's with a grim expression, "Sunshine and rainbows out there, we can either head to HQ or...head towards the hellion's in the opposite direction." he explained.

"How bad ... oh, no," Ashe caught up with Heine after barricading the door. "No, no. Not again," she muttered. It was happening again. But this time, she had strength. She had Joan's standard. "We save as many as we can. Push to the hellions and take them out; HQ can defend itself. They can't," she said, referring to the people on the streets.

Heine observed the worried expression over her face then nodded. "That is the noble thing to do..." He pondered, "Let's go be heroes of the people then"

[Sheep]

Rome
As the two mages raced towards the Hellion presence in the distance, a third Hellion presence seemed to flicker in and out farther away. It was moving towards the battle at Etherion HQ and away from their destinations. After a while they realised its familiarity: Catastrophe.

Heine's feet skidded to a halt as he looked towards the direction Catastrophe was heading in. "That would be our erstwhile companions. It may be best to meet up and coordinate", the wind mage suggested.

Ashe crushed a little imp underfoot, turning to face the newest signature before realizing it was Helen's blade. She was heading to HQ, which meant Cass was as well. She shook her head in response to Heine. "I know it might be better tactically, but I can't. I can't abandon these people. But if you want to join them, I won’t blame you or stop you”

His lips curled into a frown as he raised an eyebrow towards Ashe's stubborness. He sighed softly as he locked his eyes onto hers, "Miss Brighton, look around you. Theres violence everywhere, we can't stop this alone and how are you going to save anyone if you're dead?" Heine shrugged helplessly, "But if you honestly believe this is the right decision, i certainly can't allow you to go alone"

"I don't know the right path," Ashe admitted, gritting her teeth. "God didn't warn me of this. I don't know what to do. All I know is I need to stop this reckless hate. And we don't have time to think it over." Why wasn't she receiving any guidance, at so critical a time? Was this a test? See whether or not she ran?

Heine continued to frown at Ashe, scratching the side of his cheek as he did so. "It's not just your decision to make Miss Brighton. There is no black or white answer and it's unnecessary to shoulder everything like you are. Let's meet the others first and figure out what to do from there. They might even need our help"

" . . . all right," Ashe nodded, relenting. They'd made safe all these blocks . . . that was good, right? HQ needed them, it was okay to leave? Ashe knew the answer before the thought had even finished. "But fast," she said, already starting to run down the war-torn street.

[atmawpn]

Elsewhere in Rome...

Helen and Cass advanced towards the centre, encountering surprisingly little resistance along the way. It seemed that most of the demonic minions had scattered throughout the streets, choosing to home in on weaker targets and shunning those who exhibited a sufficient magical aura.

As if to confirm this, the sound of gunshots and screaming came from a nearby alleyway. From it emerged panicking civilians who fell as bullets ripped through their backs. Behind them the shimmering glow of a portal - much like the one leading to the Library of Alexandria, its maw releasing groups of armed personnel.

People who appeared armed with etheric weapons.

Helen charged forwards, focusing her flames ever more tightly around her body as she covered the distance between them. Not yet. This wasn't enough. She needed to go faster, strike harder. She raised her sword as she rushed the enemy down, ready to strike a killing blow.

So it's come to this Cassandra thought. At least she wouldn't die alone. That was a comforting thought. The mage unleashed a vicious rainstorm above her opponents, hoping to distract them from inflicting further casaulties on innocents.

Bullets streamed back as Helen began striking targets down. But the groups were many: the number of soldiers easily in the dozens. Were these ordinary people the mage might've stood a chance. But not when they were armed with equalising tools. For every ten air bullets Helen's flaming aura deflected, one or two got through. And there were very many bullets, her regeneration only just keeping up with the damage. It was only by virtue of Cass' rainstorm that she wasn't gunned down on the spot.

Helen gritted her teeth. Using Catastrophe here wasn't the right move. "Cassandra, cover my retreat!" she shouted, stepping forwards and slicing the next soldier in half. She grunted in pain as a bullet ripped through her left shoulder. "God, where does he get these people?" She planted her feet and leapt backwards, the air swirling around her.

"Right," Cassandra replied as she shifted the rainstorm into an enveloping fog. We're likely done for. I know that. But that doesn't mean I can stop fighting.

As the two vanished from view, the soldiers' shots went wild as they tried to sight their targets in vain. Then the shouting of orders as the men began to split up - presumably to confirm the mages' location.

"Sorry," Helen said. She panted as they ran towards headquaters. "I didn't think there'd be so many of them." Her wounds slowly healed as her regeneration reknitted her flesh.

"I'm not sure how the bastards got so many," Cassandra said as she used her air magic to keep pace with the stronger mage, "Honestly, I'm not sure if we can win this. Even if we do, the damage is going to be great."

"All we can do is fight," Helen said. "That's what we've done until now."

"They say Death comes when he wishes," Cassandra replied, "Whoever came up with that obviously never met a Mortier."

More gunshots in the distance accompanied by yelling and multiple etheric auras. It seemed they had arrived at the site of a major battle. Pinned down behind a rapidly-dwindling number of cars and barriers for cover was a trio of mages - one of whom appeared to be unconscious and bleeding profusely. Around them were a dozen gunners - their etheric shots easily making them a match for the magic users.

elen's eyes narrowed as she took in the situation. This time, she didn't have time to play around. She slid to a halt and raised her left hand. "Atalanta, Avalanche Arrow!" The aura of wind surrounding her twisted and erupted outwards, forming a sea of whirlwinds that framed Helen's back. The gunmen turned too slowly. In a heart-beat a storm erupted from the whirlwinds, a vicious hail of cutting air that tore them apart in an instant. Helen called in the wind again and ran forwards. "I'm a Reinforcement user! Let me treat them!"

"Anybody who can, help me keep the enemy back!" Cassandra called, taking a defensive position'.

"... thank you, but our mission takes priority. With them out of the way we can focus on stabilising him now," said the leader of the group, a tired-looking and slightly bloodied woman. "Name's Jesse, leader of the Fifth Squad. We were tasked to establish communications at a backup site in the suburbs when we were ambushed."

"Helen," Helen said. She shouldered Catastrophe. "Where are the higher ups? Do we have contact with them?"

"We need to figure out where the centre of this thing is," Cassandra stated, "The Three can take care of themselves."

"Archmage Kamagawa of the Three was away on business when the attack came. She's the only one of the Three we've had contact with so far. Meanwhile we've heard nothing from Archmages Carver and Brown," Jesse replied worriedly as she noted her other squadmate quickly Extending his aura to heal the injured. "In the meantime, Archmage Kamagawa instructed us to re-establish communications with Project Vajra ASAP, seeing as the main array at HQ was knocked out. But in our current condition I'm not sure we could..."

"Then come with us," Helen said. "We'll provide the firepower if you can handle the technical side. The archmage's will be done."

Jesse was silent for a few moments before nodding in agreement. "Clarke - get him back to HQ. I'll go with them to complete the mission."

A grim nod from the other mage before he hoisted the unconscious up and began trekking back.

"Right this way," Jesse stated as she led them down another street. "The backup site is in a disused building near one of the residential districts. It should be about ten or fifteen minutes away if we move at best speed. Once there we will re-establish the uplink and..." her voice seemed to quiver slightly, but she swallowed it back down. "... and execute."

Helen raised her eyebrows slightly but said nothing. She followed Jesse, looking closely for any sign of the enemy.

"Something we should know about this 'Project Vajra'?" Cassandra asked.

"I'm not sure I should - only a few in Etherion outside the Three know of it. It's not common knowledge even among the Captains - only one of them know. I'm sorry," came Jesse's reply.

"Is this really the time to worry about such things?" Helen said. "We're facing an existential threat here."

Before Jesse could reply there was a crackle in the air as space-time distorted in front of the team, blocking their path. From the distorted space emerged a portal, as well as an amalgamation of Hellion energies. It seemed that whatever had happened was summoning the beings throughout Rome, with one of them taking place right here.

A grey being seemingly encased in some kind of insect-like exoskeleton, with wings of deepest night flaring out behind it. "... foolish beings. You stand before Beelzebub. Cower before me!"

Raising a limb a swarm of black emerged - a writhing mass of what seemed to be some kind of devouring force that swept towards the team.

"Awaken, Catastrophe!" Helen shouted. Flame blazed up her sword and the red eye opened. The Hellionsword cackled maniacally, revelling in the destruction around it and the chance to smite one of its own kind. Helen raised her sword and dodged backwards, trying to avoid the black cloud.

As Helen leapt back a wall of earth erupted before her, the swarm smashing straight into it and scattering around its boundaries. Where they impacted it was clear that the solid earth had been eaten away.

"I'll cover you!" Jesse shouted as she twirled a hand and raised spikes of earth into the air, the drifting shards streaking forth towards the Hellion.

"You've killed one Hellion, you've killed them all," Cassandra said dryly. The creatures' main weakness tended to be overconfidence. Gathering magic in the air above her, Cassandra formed five massive lances of ice, sending them hurtling towards the foe.

A glint in Beelzebub's eye as the entity suddenly scattered into a massive swarm itself - dispersing and letting the ice and earth pass harmlessly through. With alarming speed they gathered together behind Jesse, the entity grinning as it prepared to impale her.

"Thanks." Helen ran sideways, gritting her teeth as she controlled her power. The air in front of her trembled as she parted it with her power, while her burning flames gathered behind her like a cloak. She leapt up onto the roof of a terraced house, running across the houses as she closed on the Hellion from the flank. She wouldn't let it fire on all of them at once.

"There's one!" Ashe pointed as she raced down the street, Heine right behind her. She shoved the stranger out of the way with a block of ice before noticing Helen and Cass were here as well. That made things easier.

Helen smiled as the Hellion emerged behind Jesse. She'd seen that one coming. She leapt from the rooftops, raising her sword high above her head. Fast. Fast enough he couldn't scatter in time. With her flames behind her, parting the air in front of her, she could be faster than ever before. She screamed as she crashed towards the demon, Catastrophe staring hungrily at its kin.

"Tricky bastard," Cassandra stated, unsealing her Eidolon and Marking the creature.

Beelzebub met her attack head on, the devouring swarm clashing against Catastrophe's fires as both forces struggled for dominance. But Helen soon found herself getting pushed back by its sheer power, her death imminent in her future sight.

"Atalanta, Avalanche Arrow!" Helen shouted, choking out the words through the storm of flies. The air around her erupted into a maelstrom as air bullets were fired off in every direction at once.

Cassandra was immediately at Helen's side, pushing back at the demon with shards of ice.

Sweat was forming on Mortier's brow. It was all too much. She knew she was going to die as she felt the sting of the creatures tearing at her flesh, but she would fight until her last breath.

Ashe rained down a barrage of holy water bullets, striking at as many of the insects as possible as she kept the downpour going. She wouldn't fail Helen or Cass.

Helen's eyes widened as she saw Beelzebub being consumed by another portal. The image filled her mind was screaming pain but she forced herself to speak. "He's done! But that guy will eat him!" She drove Catastrophe into the mass of flies, letting the sword gorge on the demon's essence as much as it could.

"Jesse, help me encase the Hellion!" Cassandra called out, summoning freezing typhoon that quickly encased the remains of the Hellion beneath ice.

Helen gritted her teeth as she saw Cassandra form ice. She threw herself through the wall of ice, water soaking into her as she leapt out of the cloud of flies and slid to a halt in the middle of the street.

Ashe gathered a lance of dispersion in her hand, filling it with power as she kept the downpour evergoing, striking down the swarm with it as the lance grew. When the portal emerged, Ashe hurled the concentrated negative energy at the portal, seeking to rip it apart.

"On it!" Jesse yelled back as walls of earth began erupting about the dissolving Hellion. Sure enough a portal erupted where the demon had first emerged, etheric forces beginning to reach out to its essence.

A crackle of thunder and a flash as the portal destabilised and shredded apart, a familiar howl ringing through the air at the foiled absorption.

Helen raised Catastrophe and forcibly sealed the sword with an act of will. She shouldered her sword and looked at Cassandra through her sodden hair. "Is this your way of saying I need a bath?"

A light whirlwind met Helen as she sealed Catastrophe, wrapping itself around fire mage. "You looked like you could use a dryer" Heine congratulated them.

"Sorry," Cassandra said, "But I knew you'd react quickly enough. So, Jesse, Vajra. Now." Her tone made it clear she wasn't going to accept a refusal.

"One down," Ashe said, cutting off her rainstorm with a snap. "Let's keep going. We can't afford any delays."

A few seconds' hesitation before a sigh. "... if you insist. Project Vajra was... the result of many decades and centuries of research into piercing the Veil. I don't understand the mechanics myself - but it was supposed to be capable of piercing the Veil to allow us to reach the realm of the Spirits themselves. Given the dangers of building such a facility on Earth its projected costs were very high and initially objected against. Its construction and funding was authorised, however, on the grounds that it could be... repurposed, in times of 'catastrophic Hellion emergence.'"

"In other words," Cassandra noted, "It could possibly make things far worse if the theories are wrong."

"Well, it's about time we praise the foresight of our bosses," Helen said. "And get the damn thing online."

Heine whistled at the description. "That is impressive, but what good does firing lasers into the veil do for the situation in Rome?"

"Agreed," Helen said. She glanced at Heine, her hair a mess as a result of the improvised hairdrying. "Let's go."

"I don't know about that," Jesse answered Cassandra as they took the hint and continued their journey. "Archmage Kamagawa assured me that, without the dimensional harmonics loaded, it is essentially an oversized cannon of etheric energy. With a single high power strike it should be able to wipe out all Hellion presence in Rome in a single hit. And given its etheric nature, it would do so with a minimum of actual physical collateral damage."

"Would it have any effect on us," Cassandra asked.

"Honestly, no one knows," Jesse shook her head. "But Archmage Kamagawa believes it a 'necessary step' given the circumstances."

"Our enemy exists in another plane," Cassandra added, "I'm not sure if the cannon would even affect him."

"We have to try at this point," Helen said. "But he consumes the essence and power of Hellion that are killed in this city. We have to be very sure about what we're doing."

"... I don't know then. What other choice do we have?" Jesse stated weakly. "As we speak more Hellions are manifesting throughout Rome. I'm not sure how the other squads are doing, but they won't hold forever. What else can we do?"

"I don't know," Helen said. "But if that man obtains the power of all these Hellion, it'll be a crisis beyond this city alone."

"If it can pierce the Veil," Cassandra asked, "Why not release the spirits? We could possibly use it to even the odds. Though our enemy did also try to absorb the energy of a spirit as well. I wish we had any idea what his goals are."

"One suspects he just wants to obtain unlimited power," Helen said.

"The old delusions of godhood," Cassandra remarked, "It just sounds too simple."

Helen made a show of looking around the city. "Is this delusion?"

"... that actually sounds like a plan," Jesse remarked on considering Cassandra's words. "Pierce the Veil, release the Spirits. But that function has yet to be tested, so there is no way to know if it would even work."

"Heh, let's not add any further theories to an already unstable situation" Heine commented uneasily, "In anycase, let's worry about getting there first."

"One step at a time," Ashe agreed.

[Lestaki]

Rome
"... there it is: we're here!" Jesse called out, gesturing to an abandoned shophouse ahead. The journey had been surprisingly uneventful, with no further interference after their run-in with Beelzebub. "The backup site is in the basement, underground."

Helen nodded, shouldering Catastrophe. "Let's go carefully. I doubt that man will be happy about this."

"Into the breach yet again," Cassandra said dryly as she walked next to Helen.

"With any luck, he won't be aware of this yet" Heine shrugged casually. "But i guess that'd be hoping for to much"

"If he notices, then we beat him back down again," Ashe said. "But let's hurry before that becomes necessary."

As if to answer Helen's concerns, there was a flash of etheric energy as a building to their right seemed to detonate from within - the windows blowing out and sending shards of glass flying everywhere. Then an explosion of wind that burst its doors wide open, a trio of Mages flying through and crashlanding into the asphalt. As they got to their feet they noticed the approaching team.

"... help us," the man nearest to them said, blood streaming from a deep cut on his temple as he forced himself into a combat stance facing where they'd exited. "We... we have to stop him. He's... he's trying to destroy the backup!"

"Let's go," Helen said. The fire behind her intensified and the air before her parted to make way from her as she charged past the man and into the building. There was no time. If this facility was lost, everything was lost. Faster. Faster.

Cassandra sighed as she ran after Helen. Every time Helen opened her big mouth...

The team turned the corner, running into Ares Steel. The giant of a Captain was already ready to send a fist flying in their direction - but on seeing them he seemed surprised, holding off for the moment. "... you're here?"

"This is the best chance we've got," Cassandra replied, "There's no time to argue, let's get things moving."

"Yes," Helen said. She slid to a halt, her eyes narrowed as she faced Steel. This situation was strange. "What's happening to the backup?"

"I'm trying to get there myself, but... they were slowing me down," his expression turned grim as he noticed the three mages running back in from outside. "Things are not what they seem - if we bring Vajra online..."

He found himself cut off as a jet of focused flame blasted past the team, the mages resuming their attack with a spirited roar. "Stop the Captain! He can't be allowed to reach the backup!"

Scowling the Captain reared back, raising both forearms in a defensive position as the flames impacted and forced him back a step.

"Vajra is our only chance," Cassandra said, "It's risky but if we don't do something we're going to lose."

Helen gritted her teeth. "Vajra must not be fired at the Hellion. But if we fire Vajra at the fabric separating us from the Spirits, we can still win this battle. We'll go on ahead, Captain!" She raised her sword and circled Steele, relying on her high speed to move towards her objective.

"What's wrong with you?!" Ashe turned on the three, taking Ares' side. "We can't afford to fight each other at this point. Get it together!"

Cassandra sighed. Reckless and never thinking things through, that was Helen. It's what Mortier liked about the girl. "We don't know who to trust here, so I'm saying trust neither." With a burst of speed granted by her magic she rushed by Steele as well.

"Tell me captain what happens when the Vajra comes online" Heine whistled, his eyes glinting in amusement as he watched Steel fighting of the flames. His head then turned to Ashe. "You best go on ahead, it'll be easiest to me to catch up to the rest."

A yell as Ares pushed through the fires, backhanding one of the mages into a wall. "That's the problem - we have no idea! But since Archmage Kamagawa was the one who gave the order then we... ugh!" One of the mages, clearly a Reinforcement user, had closed the distance and delivered a wind-accelerated upper cut to the Captain, sending him reeling momentarily. With a scowl Steel slammed a palm on the floor, the ground around Helen's and Cassandra's feet suddenly giving way as they sunk into an entrapping quicksand.

"... he's gone out of his mind," Jesse uttered as she responded, reversing the quicksand effects and freeing the duo. "Quickly - follow me before he..."

A scream as Steel broke free of the two remaining mages trying to restrain him, the men flying into ceiling and floor as the Captain moved up towards the exit where Helen, Cassandra, and Jesse were.

"Sir, stand down! We're on your side!" Ashe ran with Steel, a hand on his shoulder trying to hold him back. The other three she could understand, but why was he striking at Helen and Cass? Would she have to fight him? "We can go together, work with us on this!"

"Damn it, Steele," Helen shouted. "Talk to us!" She ran towards the building that housed the back-up, releasing her magic fully as she barely kept ahead of him. Her Fire and Air was faster than his Earth and Air. Even if it was a borrowed power, she could at least stay out of reach.

A wall of ice shot up in front of Steel. "Jesse," Cassandra said coldly, "Kumagawa is probably the most conservative of the Three, but something has terrified Steeel to this extent," Another wall of ice shot up in front of the exit, "Helen, I get the feeling we've been played."

"Damn it!" the Captain shouted as he sent a fist flying into the ice wall, shattering it as he smashed his way through and struggled to catch up. "This is Archmage Kamagawa's play! She placed circles all throughout HQ, incapacitated Archmage Carver when the attack came. He died helpless when the Hellions attacked! Archmage Brown nearly did too, but only because she..."

"That's enough Captain! Orders are orders!" Jesse yelled back, twirling a hand as an earth spike erupted in an attempt to impale Steel. The Captain sidestepped deftly, only for another earth spike to catch him square in the chest, sending him flying. Taking advantage of the delay she swung the doors open and raced to the stairwell leading down. "Someone - stop him from entering the building!"

"We take down Jesse," Cassandra stated, "Helen, you're with me. The rest of you support the captain!"

Helen gritted her teeth and nodded. She leapt down the stairs, the air twisting around her as she fell with her blade raised. "Awaken, Catastrophe!" The blade's crimson eye sprang open again, blinking balefully at Jesse.

Ashe grunted in pain as she tried to catch Steel, failing as they both fell to the ground. "That's enough out of you!" she cried out, throwing out twin spikes of ice, missing by just enough.. She helped Steel to his feet as she rose with him, watching Helen dive in. "Wait, don't kill her-"

"What the... what are you doing!" Jesse exclaimed as she summoned a wall of earth to separate her from the duo. "We need to activate Vajra, as we planned!"

Cassandra followed Helen into the stairwell, blasting through the barrier with a biting wind. Summoning ice, she entrapped the mage in ice up to her neck.

Helen's eyes widened as she saw Jesse activate a device that would attack their powers directly with her future sight. "As if I'd let you!" she screamed, crashing down the stairs and slamming her sword down through the cage of ice in a single explosive swing aimed at cutting the woman in half.

Wide-eyed shock was all that Jesse could offer before she fell to Catastrophe in a storm of ice and fire. Out of a pocket fell a small crystal with engravings on it - engravings Cassandra remembered from her Evocation readings. Patterns that worked with the rules of Contracting as well as the Veil's properties.

Helen tore Catastrophe away from the sundered body and stepped down the stairs, sweat beading her brow. "Shit. This is so fucked up."

"She was trying to steal our spirits," Cassandra said, pocketting the crystal as she followed Helen, "I think that gives us a good idea who we can trust."

"Damn it all!" Ashe cursed, one of the few times in her life, watching as Helen cut the woman in half. If she'd acted faster, smarter, she could have stopped this without killing her. No time for regrets, though; she had to save the city. "Let's keep moving, Sir," she started dashing up, moving with Steel.

"Captain, that weapon sounded like our last chance," Helen said. "If we can't use Vajra, what do we do?" She forcibly sealed Catastrophe. The sword keened softly as it returned to sleep, apparently satisfied by the blood sacrifice.

Heine joined Cassandra and Helen at the starcase. "Indeed. There's still the hellion invasion to contend with."

"Honestly, all we can guess at the moment is that firing Project Vajra would play right into Kamagawa's hands," the Captain uttered with a frown, looking up as he struggled to consider what options remained. "But you said something about... firing Vajra at the Veil, rather than as an... anti-Hellion nuke, for lack of a better term. What even gave you that idea?"

"It pierces the Veil," Cassandra said with a shrug, "So I hypothesized when used correctly it'd allow more Spirits into our world to counter the Hellions. I realize it's a bit insane, but we haven't got many options. Firing it directly at the enemy would likely allow him to absorb its power."

"Killing Hellions is just playing into his hands unless we block his long-range magic," Helen added. "So it may be our best shot. It was Cassandra's idea, of course."

"Honestly, at this point I have no alternatives myself," Ares sighed. "We know from your reports and encounters that he... absorbs defeated Hellions, so it's a case of damned if we do or not either way..."

At that moment a walkie-talkie on Jesse's remains crackled to life - the garbled but recognisable voice of Archmage Maya Kamagawa coming through. "... Second Mage Jesse, report. What is the status of Project Vajra?"

Cassandra scooped up the radio. "Jesse's down," Cassandra replied, "A Hellion got her. This is Mage Cassandra Mortier. My squad has taken over her duties."

Helen smiled. She'd expect no less of Cassandra.

"Don't-" Ashe winced as Cass started talking into the radio. Nothing to do about it now but work with it.

"... thank heavens. I'm very sorry to hear about Jesse..." Kamagawa replied. "But there is little time: the situation in Rome grows worse by the minute. You need to re-establish the uplink with Project Vajra as quickly as you can, and target it on HQ itself, where the core of the summoning is taking place."

"You'll have to walk me through it," Cassandra replied as she approached the terminal. Of course she had no intention of following the Archmage's directions exactly.

Helen gave a few quick signals to the others, suggesting they fan out and establish a perimeter. All they could do now was hope and pray they were doing the right thing.

Ashe nodded, moving out and keeping a watchful eye on their surroundings. She kept glancing back at Cass, her heartbeat painfully loud. There was nothing for her to do now but have faith. She swallowed hard, made the sign of the cross and said a silent prayer.

As she approached the screen lit up, the system appearing to react to the presence of Mages. Words emerged quickly on a blend of LCD screens and archaic crystal projectors. Enter Uplink Code. "... the system will request a code. It is... 0385985," the Archmage answered. "It will then prompt to load certain presets. You are instead to discard those settings and place Project Vajra in RAW mode. It will finally prompt you to target the system: which you will do manually with a map display, and... execute."

Cassandra keyed in the code, the system accepting it without complaint and quickly spitting out a prompt as the Archmage had stated.

Project Vajra online. Select Preset:
1) RAW
2) Hermes
3) Pandora
4) Icarus

Any of those familiar, Neptune? Cassandra said silently.

... names of fellow beings, came the Spirit's reply.

"Icarus, the one who flew too close to the sun," Cassandra noted, "Hermes, the messenger of the gods. Pandora, the one who opened the box that contained all of the worlds evils, but also hope. I'm thinking Pandora myself."

"I think we're due some hope," Helen said playfully.

"What 'gods,' there's only one God," Ashe said. "I don't like Hermes."

"Opening pandoras box could be considered analogous to opening the veil" He offered before nodding at Cassandra, "That sounds like a fine choice given circumstances"

Preset: Pandora. Target confirmed. Project Vajra firing sequence initiated.

Beyond their sight in the cold inky void, the orbital station turned and shifted, its size almost on par with that of the ISS. Like a flower of death it bloomed: arrays and panels blossoming outwards as it opened to present a sharp crystalline tip at the Earth, as if to stab Rome itself.

But though they could not see it they could feel it - a distant yet perceptible presence growing stronger and stronger, eventually outshining even the mighty raw power of the Sun and its flame. Deafening all other sources of mana and magic there were around them, throughout them. A glint of etheric light. An invisible star to those not attuned, but a blinding blaze to those who were. And then a kaleidoscopic lance visible to all: streaking through the clouds and skies, through the crimson lightning and the black summonings. Crashing silently into the battles of Etherion HQ. Then a blinding white.

[atmawpn]

A sea of white drifting in before their eyes as they regained consciousness. It felt like they'd been out for days.

A strangely serene scene, the buildings of Rome faded like obscured by mist. Like a parallel dimension as they straddled both reality and someplace... else, watching as the city flickered between daily life and the Hell it'd been engulfed by.

Above them a sight of myth and legend. Heroes and deities of old clashing with devils and demons. At the centre of it all the crimson lightning - its flanks gradually being nipped away by forces elemental, magical, and divine. Even where they were they could sense its pain, its weakening prowess.

"... you ruined it all."

Archmage Maya Kamagawa drifted into view in the distance, looking at the team briefly before walking away slowly, observing the skies above. "You keep us on the leash of the Spirits, the Hellions. Away from that which we should rightfully grasp."

"There are some things we shouldn't grasp," Ashe responded, starting to guess at her intentions.

"We are not gods," Cassandra agreed, "Nor should we ever hope to be. Along that path lies only destruction. Such is the lesson of the Mortiers."

Helen shouldered her sword. "Look, I don't know what we should or shouldn't rightfully grasp. I don't have anything against trying to go further than before. But you can't do that alone. A small person like you who relies on pretense and trickery can't lead us into a new world."

"Naive," the Archmage said simply. "Look around you, what the Hellions have wrought. Today, yesterday, and tomorrow. Humanity only exists today because of Etherion's efforts, and even so we exist only by... mercy. Mercy of a Spirit who took it upon itself to bestow the gift. Done out of pity even, perhaps?"

"Humanity deserves better."

"So what would we gain by turning that man into a god?" Helen said. "The apotheosis of one man isn't mankind's salvation, it's mankind's damnation."

"It's tyranny, plain and simple," Cassandra said, "That man would be far worse monster than any Hellion."

"Perhaps. But tyranny at His own hands, at the hands of one of His own," Maya replied. "At the least we will no longer be at the whim and fancy of beings who treat mortals as that: mere mortals."

"All you're doing is elevating him to their level," Cassandra argued, "It changes nothing."

"Evil is evil, whether it's done by a man or a Hellion," Helen said. "It's the end that matters. What's best for mankind."

"You'd take us from the hands of God to put us in the hands of murderers and butchers?" Ashe spat, disgusted at the words she was hearing from one of the Three.

Heine exhaled at the others, boredom playing across his features. "This conversation won't go anywhere. I don't know about you guys, but I'd like to escape from here."

"You have lost, Maya," Cassandra stated, "There is no victory for you here. You're only wasting time."

"So you would maintain the status quo then?" the Archmage suddenly stopped in her tracks, turning to face the team with narrowed eyes. "Well, seeing as you insist on such a thing... I don't see why I can't help you leave this place..."

A surge of etheric energy - magic beyond what the team had encountered thus far, creeping down from the crimson lightning above. The deceptive simulacrum: Doppelganger.

Crimson lightning blended with Maya's power, manifesting as... the Fallen Mage.

And then she vanished, the man smirking as he dashed towards the team at high speed.

"... her Eidolon!" Atalanta exclaimed. "He was never there to begin with. Only by command of her Eidolon!"

"Let's go, Atalanta," Helen said. She swung her sword from her shoulder and took a combat stance, her mantle of fire blazing about her shoulders and around her sword. "Awaken, Catastrophe." The black sword opened its red eye, leering at the doppelganger.

"Ever after all this death, you still insist on fighting!" Ashe cried, swinging her arm as she assembled a massive array of crystalline blades around her, shooting them out at the man.

Cassandra smiled slightly. Leave it to Helen to go all out immediately. It was time for her to try something new as well. Cassandra raised her right hand, calling upon the power of Neptune entwined with her own magic. Countless spears of ice came into existence around the man, all crashing towards the center.

Helen narrowed her eyes and charged straight towards the archmage's other self. Her vision was filled with the sight of him firing his shotgun at point blank range into her chest. She charged, her whole body straining as she gained speed. He smirked and raised his weapon, the shot powerful enough to blow through her etheric armour. But she spoke an instant before he fired. "First Discharge."

In an instant Catastrophe slashed into the clone, drawing a spray of blood. Helen moved with impossible speed as she slid to the side, evading the shotgun as it was fired in the same instant. Blood ran down her blade.

Heine's body was a flesh tension wire as he drew his rapier so fast you could hardly see the motion. Aiming the tip at the approaching mage, a powerful force congregated over him. "Release!" He yelled, taking precious aim on vital organs and critical muscle before lunging forwards. His form disappeared shortly as his invisible rapier thrust towards the mage's head.

"Careful of his shotgun!" Helen shouted. She charged forwards, blade raised as she moved to support Heine.

With a smirk the mage drew his shotgun and fired once, the flak smashing through Ashe's shards. He attempted to evade Cassandra's attacks, succeeding partially as the fatal shots ended up slashing deep into his left thigh. Taking aim at Heine he fired - only for the flak to pass harmlessly through.

"She's going to turn our attacks against each other!" Helen shouted, her vision swimming with different possibilities, all scenes of blood as comrades struck each other. She closed her left eye, grimacing in pain as the complexity of the vision cut her deeply. "Take defensive actions!" She broke away from the fight, eyes moving left and right as she searched for the true form of the vision.

She wouldn't. No matter what, she wouldn't strike down Cassandra.

Cassanda nodded. Suspending herself in the air with magic, she encased her own body in a perfectly formed sphere of ice.

Heine back flipped away from the mage, his body materialising as he landed neatly besides Helen. "I hope you find an alternative course of action for us then," he spoke, his tone silky as his eyes locked onto the fallen mage, keeping direct contact.

An impossible flash as Helen crashed through before the sphere sealed completely, Catastrophe glinting as it tore into Cassandra's shoulder. As though she'd stepped right out of time to commit the deed.

A blinding burst of light surrounding where Heine landed. Before the light faded he dashed out to Ashe, rapier slicing into the surprised comrade before she could even react.

Whereupon Helen felt Ashe's icy shards stab down from behind. Turning she found... two Ashes, as well as a copy of everyone else.

Helen smirked, raising Catastrophe as she leapt away from the clone. Blood ran down her back but she could recover from that level of injury. She charged forwards, relying on her superior speed to put distance between her and the fake Ashe. "Don't screw with me. We know each other better than anyone! Cassandra, take on their Ashe! I'll go for their Cassandra. Ashe, take on the bint with the fake sword! Heine, um, keep yourself entertained!" She bore down on the fake Cassandra, picking up speed as she charged.

The fake Ashe conjured an icy sword as she dashed towards Helen. Behind Helen bolts of ice manifested as the fake Remoted them, the shots streaking towards the sword mage.

Cassandra removed her robes, dropping them on the ground, leaving her fighting in a tank top and khakis, "I'm on it,' she said, using the Lotus Mark on her target before firing off a few bolts of lightning.

"Cassandra, cover me from her!" Helen shouted. Her blade sliced through the formless ground as she kept charging without looking back.

Before she had time to even blink, Heine was charging her, his blade plunging straight for her heart. She twisted to the side purely out of reflex, stunned as pain erupted in her shoulder. A fake? Ashe grit her teeth through the pain, a spike of ice shooting up and forcing Heine to disengage. Ashe dashed back a step, collapsing in a halo of ice around the fake Helen. She had to stop the fake swordswoman and trust Heine to arrive in time.

Heine's corrupted smile could only widen as he dashed towards his clone, air exploding behind him like a jet stream. "Always wanted to fight myself," he chuckled, a deep twisted rumble of humour filtering out his sadism. He leapt forwards to close the final meters, his rapier flashing as it rained down a furious flurry of strikes.

The lightning lanced into the fake Ashe, diverting her attention to Cassandra. With a scowl she Remoted another series of ice bolts at Cassandra's feet, the shards leaping to impale her from below.

With a burst of wind, Cassandra pushed backwards to dodge the incoming blow, countering with another flurry of electricity.

A pulse of etheric energy as the fake Cassandra invoked her Sealed Eidolon, air currents twisting into streams of unavoidable death as they trailed into Helen, following her every move. Unsatisfied by the attack, she added another series of Remoted whirlwinds, the gusts sweeping in from behind and attempting to topple Helen.

"They can use Eidolons!" Helen shouted.

The fake Heine seemed to share Heine's thoughts, grinning wildly as he matched the other's strikes perfectly. Like a mirror match the rapiers clashed and clashed and clashed, none of the strikes making it through.

From the chaos emerged the fake Helen, the Hellion swordswoman slashing towards Ashe, intending clearly for Catastrophe to chop off her head.

Helen narrowed her eyes as she felt the Lotus Mark sear into her soul. She raised her sword and charged towards the incoming wave of death. She knew that Cassandra's magic did not miss. But she also knew that destruction outside time did not exist for humans. "Sever, Catastrophe!" Flame erupted from her blade and slashed open the fog surrounding them. In a moment of frozen time she vanished and materialised in front of the fake Cassandra, her sword raised high above her head. The fake's attacks may still wrap round and strike her but this blow would strike home. The fires of creation bled from her sword as she slashed down with overwhelming power.

A scream as Catastrophe devoured the fake Cassandra, the doppelganger exploding in a puff of smoke and energy. A shiver as the other doppelgangers quivered for a moment, the team detecting traces of Maya moving on the outskirts before her presence cloaked again.

"It's so refreshing to meet a like minded gentleman," Heine laughed as a glowing whip formed in his other hand. The barbed razors came crashing down in a single instance, shattering the earth with their impact and forcing the copy back. Heine's sword flew out of his hands then as he threw the rapier at the copy's face, all the while snapping the whip around again for a combined strike.

Cassandra smirked. This bout reminded her of old times; of the days when she hunted rogue and fallen mages who had chosen to walk the paths of darkness. She charged towards the fake Ashe, the Lotus Mark blossoming as Cassandra collected her magic. The doppelganger Ashe was struck by crackling white on all sides, with a final massive blow striking immediately before Cassandra's fist met the clone's face.

As Helen's blade swept in, the sudden clang of steel rang out as the brilliant point of the Holy Lance burst into being, the banner of Joan fluttering behind it. All around Ashe, life suddenly exploded into being, a shower of leaves and petals falling around her as birdsong rang in the air. A holy mist wrapped itself around Catastrophe, weakening the demon blade with the power of saints. Valor and resolve filled Ashe and the rest as the azure lilies blew in the breeze, a shining miracle guaranteeing absolute victory. Ashe wasn't a match for Helen's swordsmanship, but with the King of Heaven on her side, she wouldn't lose to anyone.

The ghostly figure of Joan seemed to shimmer next to Ashe, majestic in figure, leading her to victory as at Orleans. Ashe sent up a prayer to God as she surged power into the mists, encasing Catastrophe in sacred ice.

"Let's do it together, Joan," Ashe said, tightening her grip on the Lance as the pain in her shoulder lessened. With a roar, she ducked under a blow from the weakened blade, using all her force to plunge the Lance into the fake Helen. As it pierced, Ashe used a jet-spray of water to help her push the Lance, lifting Helen into the air still stuck on the Lance before slamming her back down onto the ground.

"You can tell it's a fake because it's a total wimp compared to me," Helen managed, sweat beading her brow. She began to forcibly seal Catastrophe, the red eyes closing one after the other. She was running out of time here.

With a startling suddenness the fake Heine and Ashe vanished, their energies appearing to focus around the remaining fake.

Catastrophe's eye opened as the fake Helen sent a surge of flame into the blade, shattering the ice encasing it.

She smiled as time tore asunder.

She smiled as Catastrophe met its mark, Ashe's head falling to the ground, the mage collapsing lifeless without realising what had hit her.

Eternal Catastrophe - Two as One.

[Master Chief]

She didn't even have time to blink. A cold enveloped her, an utter void that engulfed her, filled with only one truth: she had failed. Her hopes and dreams, those she'd befriended and loved, all her training and struggles and battles, it was all gone, thrown aside.

The world faded to black. Ashe could barely make out an armored hand offered to her, reaching out. She thought she could feel rain on her face, warm and familiar. With a hand she no longer had, she grasped for the outstretched gauntlet.

Forgive me.

[Sheep]

The fake Helen smirked over the dead mage before her, the doppelganger fading away temporarily as its master took the chance to catch a breather. Sparkles and motes of light as Ashe's Holy Lance began to dissipate as well, the world forcing Reality to set itself right. Such was the ephemeral nature of the Eidolon, once deprived of its source of energy.

But before it could vanish entirely the crimson from Ashe's lifeless self flowed onto its surface, the blood running over the summoned metal. It seemed to seep in somehow, as though the Lance was above being stained by such physical means. A faint hum as it became opaque once more, its Sealed form releasing a soft burst of energy as the weapon became a permanent relic.

"Helen, take care of your double," Cassandra ordered, "Heine, grab Ashe's lance and take care of yours. I've got a plan." A whirlpool formed around Mortier as she unleashed the full power of Neptune, the water spilling out over the remaining members of her team, healing wounds and refreshing their energy.

Helen's body shook as she Neptune's power spilling over her, cleansing her pain. The return of her physical and mental strength was fortunate. She couldn't seal Catastrophe right now. The sword stared out over the world around it, releasing a malevolent flame as it complated the destruction of all it surveyed. Helen, who felt the same way, couldn't stop it. She could only direct it. She raised her sword and stepped forwards, walking towards her double. "This was my fault. I'll take care of it now."

Heine's fist wrapped around the shaft of Ashe's spear in anticipation, already a step ahead of Cassandra. Briefly, his eyes narrowed upon her lifeless corpse before shifting a predatory gaze towards their adversary. "I hope it's a good plan, death by demonic sword isn't on my wish list," a slow smirk parted his lips as he stepped beside Cassandra.

In the distance the team could faintly see the image of Archmage Kamagawa fading into view. "... the death of Miss Brighton was... regrettable, but inevitable. Stay your hand, and perhaps you might avoid a similar fate."

"Right now you are already dead in my eyes," Helen said. "The only question to me is whether I can kill you while remaining a human." She raised her sword, pointing it directly at her double. She needed to speak to make Catastrophe scream. It was supposed to be that way. But if the Archmage was powerful enough that the incantation itself could ripple backwards in time...

"As a Mortier it is my duty to dispose of those who would tarnish the name of Etherion," Cassandra stated firmly as she stepped forward. "Stay close to me, Heine," she whispered, "We don't know if that's the real her or just another doppelganger." Balls of lightning formed around Cassandra, firing off in all directions as they licked at the air, attempting to find any hidden attackers. Cassandra, meanwhile, removed some small objects from her pocket; a "gift" from Kamagawa's apprentice.

Heine nodded dubiously, adjusting expertly to the unaccustomed weight of the spear with a shake of his wrists. His sharp eyes regarded Kamagawa as he easily kept pace alongside Cassandra, his weapons hungry for blood.

"If that is your wish, then I shall show you a... glimpse. A glimpse of what power might have been obtained were it not for your... short-sighted interference."

The arch mage faded from view as the fake Helen charged forward once more, the false Heine materialising beside her as they both took corporeal form once more.

Helen narrowed her eyes. Crimson fire spilled from her sword and ran across the room, bisecting everything as she stepped outside of time.

"As I suspected," Cassandra stated, a protective sphere of lightning forming around her. Her lightning orbs spread further, seeking to find the real Arch Mage.

"Welcome. It is not often that one finds a mage capable of peering into time. Much less stepping outside it."

Helen found herself in a realm of white, not unlike the surroundings she was used to. Some distance before her was her fake self: apparently frozen as though it hadn't made the jump itself.

Chronos: The one who spins Time.

Then a flash as the false Helen shifted outside time as well, leaping towards her with blade ready to strike.

Taking his spear in one hand, a multi-tailed whip materialised in his other before Heine drew it back. A deafening crack followed as the reinforced summon lashed forwards furiously, all nine tails curling towards his doppelganger.

Helen raised her sword and charged to meet her other self, her fire mantle blazing behind her. The still air of a frozen world was torn into her orbit and propelled her onwards as she met her double, their leering swords clashing in mid-air with an explosive impact. They traded violent blows, dodging left and right as they avoided each other's crushing swords. That was her combat style. She knew it better than anyone else. An expression of pure speed and power that destroyed the enemy without remorse. Normally, destruction without time was impossible for a human. But the doppleganger was an aberration that should not be. She would correct that mistake.

Within her protective barrier, Cassandra worked on the stones, carefully altering the etched runes with her dagger. If her theories were correct, this would take away most of Kamagawa's threat.

The false Heine attempted to sidestep. However the doppelganger's movements appeared more sluggish than before, three of the tails easily finding their mark and leaving gaping gashes in his limbs. With narrowed eyes the fake glared at Heine before letting go of his rapier. The sword hovered for a moment before streaking forth, attempting to impale Heine through the chest.

And then Cassandra felt a presence: a presence of blood. Around her rivulets of blood spilled from the earth, taking the shape of humanoids. With gargling howls the crimson figures lashed forward, pushing their way through the lightning orbs in a bid to find an opening.

"... you cannot stand against me Helen."

For a while the real and fake traded blows, each seeming to match the other. Yet it seemed that gradually the doppelganger was being forced back, pushed into an increasingly defensive posture. With a loud clang the fake found her sword flung aside by a particularly powerful blow, with a quicky enough recovery seemingly impossible.

This wasn't enough. Helen pulled her sword back and slammed it forwards within a heart-beat of frozen time, driving her blade through the fake's chest. This still wasn't fast enough.

"You just don't get it, do you?" Cassandra said as the lightning orbs were replaced by spears of ice. The spears shot towards the figures of blood, exploding on impact into water that threatened to break Mortiers' attackers.

Yet, against all odds, there was a smirk and burst of energy as the doppelganger pulled her Catastrophe forth, the movement shifting impossibly quickly as she parried Helen's strike aside. With a lunge and deft retreat, the real Helen found a deep gash through her left shoulder. One deep enough to sever even the tendons. It would take precious time to regenerate from that.

"Did you not realise from your fallen comrade? Stepping outside of time is child's play. When one has the laws of causality at one's whims, even your proud talents are but playthings."

"Proud talents?" Helen smirked, leaping backwards to put distance between her and the doppelganger. She raised Catastrophe with her right arm, grinning through the pain. Blood ran down her black jacket. "You really don't understand anything at all. My strength is the strength of a Hellionsword. It fills me with shame and hatred. Someone like you, who looks on pure evil incarnate and sees only formless power, could never have become a saviour god."

His whip arched back to him as his body twisted away from the trajectory of the sword instinctively and side stepped the rapier. With another flick he brought the whip to life again, a disappointed frown plying across his features, "I thought I had more imagination than that." Abruptly his hand shot forwards again, this time the whip morphing into several chakrams and sending the disks of doom hurtling forwards.

"Such are the words of those who cannot comprehend, who cannot compare. You have nothing but my pity, Helen."

With a bloodcurdling battle cry the fake Helen charged forward, her movements accompanied by a swift burst of energy not unlike that of an Unsealed Eidolon. Even as the doppelganger approached Helen could see distortions rippling away from her, the force of the archmage's Eidolon reaching out through the tendrils of Time itself.

Gobs of blood splattering the ground as the false Heine's strength seemed to disappear, the doppelganger becoming fatally impaled by the real Heine's attacks. With a slight grin the fake dissipated from view, a shivering of etheric energy rushing across the battlefield as the Archmage appeared behind Cassandra.

"... to think that Helen could force me to expend this much..." she uttered as she twirled a hand. "But no matter: this is still enough to finish you!"

A gesture as a windstorm manifested around Cassandra and Heine, shards of ice blazing into them from every conceivable direction and with incredible force. To block or dodge them all seemed impossible, with each blow seeming to carry a fatal force.

Helen smiled and lowered Catastrophe as the doppleganger crossed the open space between them within moments. "First Discharge." Those words, too, cut through the barriers of frozen time. Catastrophe's bright flame died and the air became still. But in that instant, Helen slashed her sword diagonally upwards, drawing a spray of blood as a counter-attack fated never to land exceeded the world and struck before the doppleganger's blow. The doppleganger's sword moved like lightning but somehow it was too slow. Helen twisted past the descending blade and circled the doppleganger, her eyes bright. This was it. This was the ideal of speed she had reached for.

Cassandra screamed as the windstorm enveloped her, desperating calling for Neptune's aid. A pillar of water surrounded Heine and Cassandra, slowing the storm slightly as Mortier unseal her eidelon, marking Kamagawa. Even as she felt her body being torn asunder, Cassandra used her remaining strength to strike at the Archmage with a calvacade of frozen lances.

Heine's eyes widened as he reacted instantly, shooting an open palm forwards. "Release!" He yelled as he felt the effects of Cassandra's eidolon. Cassandra vanished a moment later as his own invisible shape burst through the hail storm and brought the spear head crashing down into Maya's face.

A moment as though all time had frozen. And then a defeated smile as Helen emerged from frozen time behind the Archmage, realising that she had struck not the doppelganger in frozen time, but Maya Kamagawa herself.

And then a burst of energy as the Archmage shattered into shards of etheric energy: crimson lightning blazing from where she once stood back to the lessening storm up above.

Then a pulse of light as the last of the crimson lightning vanished, the might of the Spirits taking full hold as they circled Rome above. Almost immediately both Helen and Cassandra could feel the bonds of their contracts dissolving, the spirits Atalanta and Neptune taking their leave.

"Your work here is done, as is ours. We thank you for averting this... catastrophe of the realms..."

All around them civilians stared in wonder as deities and gods descended upon them, their minds barely able to comprehend and believe what they were seeing.

And then a growing white and drowsiness among all in Rome: both civilian and Mage alike, as the Spirits worked their magic.

For a few more moments, Helen felt Atalanta's power around her. The flame and air she wielded had become pure magic without light, an impossibly efficient and powerful concentration of power into a single point. Then it faded away, leaving only her flaming aura billowing around her. "That's cruel. The moment I reach it, you take it away from me." Helen looked up at the sky and closed her eyes. "Rupture, Catastrophe." The sword's red eye glowed as it sent her words back through time. And in that moment, she saw Catastrophe's cruellest illusion, or perhaps the cruellest vision of the truth. She was not an usurper. She would become the greatest Hellion who wielded Catastrophe and die to create herself. That had to be a demonic illusion. She had to believe that.

[Mokino]

For a few more moments, Helen felt Atalanta's power around her. The flame and air she wielded had become pure magic without light, an impossibly efficient and powerful concentration of power into a single point. Then it faded away, leaving only her flaming aura billowing around her. "That's cruel. The moment I reach it, you take it away from me." Helen looked up at the sky and closed hereyes. "Rupture, Catastrophe." The sword's red eye glowed as it sent her words back through time. And in that moment, she saw Catastrophe's cruellest illusion, or perhaps the cruellest vision of the truth. She was not an usurper. She would become the greatest Hellion who wielded Catastrophe and die to create herself. That had to be a demonic illusion. She had to believe that.

Cassandra knew something was wrong with Helen and did the only thing she could think of; her lips met Helen's for just a moment. "Come back to me," she pleaded, "Bugger the sword, remember?"

Helen's eyes snapped open as she was dragged back to her own body, her present. Her world. She staggered away from Cassandra and blinked rapidly as she remembered herself. "As you command, princess," she said, forcing a smile through the bad joke. She raised Catastrophe and forcibly sealed it, the demonic eyes closing one by one. The great red eye in the centre of the hilt leered at Cassandra before closing.

Cassandra sighed in relief as she wrapped her arms around Helen. "Don't scare me like that," she said, trying to make it sound casual, "So...we did it, didn't we? A Mortier helped save the world. My parents wouldn't believe it."

Helen sheathed Catastrophe and returned the hug, closing her eyes. "We ended it. But the cost was too high. Not just Ashe. Maybe the Mortier still have a role in this world." But right now, she couldn't bring herself to care.

Their lips met once more, neither caring about what the future held, just wanting that moment to last forever.

[Sheep]

Heine blinked in confusion as the scenery around them suddenly reverted back to Rome, a mind bending picture greeting his vision as gods and deities descended from the skies. He gave a weary rub of his eyes with his sleeve before his sharpness returned, his gaze turning to regard Helen and Cassandra. He joined them momentarily with his brow raised in a comically questioning fashion.

“I’d say get a room you two, but as we all know, a room won’t stop me either way,” his snide remark slipped between the two of them as he shrugged, arms raised in a helpless gesture. Shouldering Ashe’s spear, he continued his nonchalant stride past them, offering the two a final back hand wave.

“It was a pleasure serving with you Miss Brooks, Miss Mortier. I think I may take a vacation for the moment. Do endeavour to look after yourselves in my absence,” Although they couldn’t see it, he was likely grinning as he said this. After several quick paces, he disappeared completely from their view.

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A veritable monolith of a cube expanded into his view as Heine paced down the grassy avenue, one hand in his pocket whilst the other continued to carry Ashe's spear. The featureless exterior glinted magnificently under the sunlight, each side the image of a picture perfect face. Nothing, no extrusion, no window or door could been seen across its entire surface. Heine paused at the end of the pathway, a small smile parting his lips, "Time to work on what we've learnt," he said before vanishing through the wall.