Heroes of the Past and Present

Disclaimer: Do not own Victorious, do not own the video game

A/N:

Chapter 34 (Fallen)

"What in the hell am I in?" Sarah was clutching the handle of the door and staring at Trina with wide eyes. All in all she was handling this much better than even Aveline when she first started riding. Trina glanced over with a chuckle and returned her gaze to the road. Those in the car now were the same people as before, except Merrill had switched over to ride in the second car. Trina wanted her ancestor with her. Sarah swept her hair back and sighed heavily, "Okay forget that. Just tell me what I've been missing…and how long I've been out…"

"Fortunately not that long, I think. It's probably been a couple weeks now. We spoke with Meredith, Orsino, the Grand Cleric, and even your Uncle. You're going to want to visit him, he's been beside himself with grief." Sarah raised an eyebrow and chuckled softly.

"I'm surprised, Gamlen's worried about me? Then again, no matter how hard he tries to hide it, he really does love his family. Gamlen, Bethany and I…we're all any of us have left."

"Actually you have a cousin, Charade. Gamlen had a daughter he didn't know about." Sarah's eyebrows shot up and a smile stretched out onto her face. "He also was pretty happy to know the line continued on down the way. Five hundred and sixty years…and it's not going to end with me or my sister." Though she thought she'd end up an old cat woman at the rate she was going. Sarah looked to the seat behind Trina, where Sinjin was sitting.

"This is the man you say you're with now? He treats you right?"

"Yes. We're going slow though, It's…kind of frightening for me."

"Thinking about the last people you were with?" Trina slowly nodded and Sarah reached over, setting a gentle hand on her shoulder. Sarah smiled reassuringly, a somewhat comforting gesture. "If it is possible, try to put them out of your mind, for they do not mean anything any longer. They did things that were wrong, treated you badly, and now you have a man that treats you well. I'd say that already means he is more important than any of those men you mentioned could ever hope to be."

Her cheeks flared up and she started to smile, "He is. One of the few guys I feel like I can trust. Took your advice…let my heart lead for a bit."

"Good. I'm glad. How are you doing with your sister's friends?" Trina glanced to the rearview, studying Tori and Jade in the back seat. She gazed at the car behind them, glancing over Beck in the driver's seat.

"Slowly getting better. I know they're trying, at least…"

"Give it time, if what they say is what they truly feel, then your relationship with them will get better. Just remember, you have to try and build something as well." She understood that loud and clear, friendships and relationships were two way streets, and she was done using the 'victim' role as an excuse for avoiding people. "So, tell me…you've found some information about Meredith and Orsino?"

"Yes. Elthina told us the story behind them, and Orsino actually uses blood magic…by the way." Sarah rolled her eyes and let her head fall back on the headrest of the seat. "Turns out that Meredith and Orsino were in a brief romance when they were younger, then Meredith got pregnant…"

"Okay."

"She was a fresh templar recruit and he was the Fight Enchanter's right hand man, so to speak. So their romance was a bit of a secret thing, she even kept the baby to herself. Basically what happened was, when the child was born he denied it. She was going to bring it up with the First Enchanter and Knight Commander at the time, but he started going crazy trying to kill her and the child." Sarah's eyes went wide and the pitch in her voice rose.

"What!"

"She ran into the Chantry where Grand Elthina was a mother at the time, this was a couple years before she became Grand Cleric. She was bloody from a prior assault and clutching her child in her arms. Orsino came in trying to find her, and Elthina put him in his place. Unfortunately the last grand cleric overheard everything and thought best, for political reasons regarding Orsino, the child be taken away. It was that woman who got rid of Zander…neither Meredith or Orsino know of his current existence. She gave him to the Launcet family and he pretty much terrorized them into leaving Orlais altogether."

"I see. So he's pretty dead set on killing his parents, and those two are at each other's throats, which doesn't help matters any…'

"Erin Lamont thought she'd be getting something else to happen by providing him the location of his parents. So ironically enough, we have to save the lives of two people who are going to cause Kirkwall the greatest distress."

"All this over a man's hatred…"

"Ugh, men…" Her eyes flicked to the mirror where Sinjin was watching her, chuckling to himself. "No offense, Sinji."

"None taken." Trina almost felt bad for having to save Orsino's life, and Meredith, though she didn't feel too bad about that. She wanted to know if there was any way to actually talk Zander out of what he was going to do, but the level of crazy he was at, she wasn't sure it was possible. "By the way, is that him up ahead?" Sinjin pointed past the two and Trina narrowed her eyes on a figure walking in the distance. Sarah growled and quickly nodded.

"That's him. Zander. Who would have thought this thing we're in could catch up to him."

"It's a car," Trina replied, "It'll be invented in a few hundred years. It's a greater means of travel and can move up to dangerous high speeds."

"So you're saying it's more a danger than a safety thing?"

"Well…if you put it like that…" The others laughed while Sarah smirked. "Cars can be dangerous if not handled properly."

"You're going up against a blood mage with frighteningly strong powers while in a moving death machine. What happens when he blows the vehicle away?"

"We go flying…" She started to pale and Sarah let out a deep, exasperated sigh.

"Then without further ado, I'd like to say as the first person in history to say it: stop the car!" Just as Zander stopped walking and looked towards them with narrow eyes, Trina slammed her foot on the break. She heard the car behind them screech to a halt with hers. She shut off the car, and everyone began piling out. Zander raised an eyebrow and started to hiss upon seeing Sarah. "Hello Zander, it's a lot different seeing me awake, isn't it?"

"You aren't going to stop me one way or another," Zander commented. "They are going to pay for what they did to me."

"What they did to you wasn't what you think." Zander raised an eyebrow and Sarah began to move forward. "Your mother wanted to keep you, your father tried to kill both you and your mother. It was the former Grand Cleric that took you from your mother."

Zander's nose scrunched up and his eyebrows lowered as his mouth turned into a snarl. "Either way, I have planned far too long. There is nothing you can do to persuade me otherwise."

"Your mom wants to see you," Trina stepped beside Sarah and looked Zander in the eyes. She could see how crazy he was, and how much anger he held in his soul. This wasn't a man that could be reasoned with, no, he was long gone. "Zander. I know you're feeling betrayed and you probably don't believe a word anyone's going to tell you at this point, but let's not jump the gun…all right? No one needs to be harmed here."

"No! They all deserve to die!" Trina's eyes widened as his hands began to glow bright red. An explosion erupted from his body and was sent directly towards her. Tori and Sinjin ran for her, both taking the blast and throwing them into a nearby patch of grass. Her heart stopped and her eyes flew towards them. In that instant, she ran for them, kneeling at them and shaking them, trying to wake them.

"Sinjin! Tori! Come on!" Her heart began racing in her chest and tears burst from her eyes. Her body grew heavier as she studied the two, both clearly unconscious. She feared they were dead already. With that fear, she let out a loud scream, then dropped her head to Sinjin's chest, weeping over him.

Shadows fell over her and she quickly looked up, startled to see all of Tori's friends standing in a line before her. Their backs were turned and weapons drawn, as if they were standing guard over her. She let out a slight whimper, bowing her head. She looked from Sinjin to Tori, trembling as she studied the blood on their bodies. How could one blast cause so much damage?

"Don't die…please…" The sound of battle filled the air, it was clear Sarah and her companions decided there was no other choice but to fight. However long the battle lasted, Trina didn't know. She was frozen over her sister's and Sinjin's bodies, unable to react.

At some point of time, the assault turned onto Tori's friends, who were refusing to turn away from her. Her hands clasped Sinjin's shirt and her face buried into him as fear began to overtake her. She could not tell if they were breathing, she couldn't see them stirring into consciousness, and for a split second she thought their bodies were starting to lose color.

Her eyes widened as the friends began screaming, she looked up at them and screamed when she saw blood being drawn from their bodies. "No!" They were willing to risk their lives, and for what? For her? What was the point? She shook her head and looked down to Sinjin, struggling to end her weeping.

All of the ancestors were scattered across the field, but surely they couldn't be dead, since Tori's friends were still standing. She was too afraid to leave her sister's side or Sinjin's, but she couldn't let everyone die because of this.

As she debated her next move, she saw Anders running for her, ducking down to keep out of sight. "I got them Trina, don't worry." Her awareness level was down, so she wasn't truly able to listen to him. His hands began glowing and he placed each hand on each person. Trina breathed in sharply and curled her fingers at her chest, watching as a white glow swept over Sinjin and Tori. "They'll be fine. Don't worry. Just…"

Ignoring him, she looked to the friends and felt a sting of despair rising in her. Their bodies were lifting off the ground, they were sweating and groaning as blood was flying from them. What had she gotten them into? She didn't know. How could she even save them?

It was then that she remembered the gun her father had given to her, she hoped that the time would not come that she would need it. Thinking fast, she grabbed it from her boot and looked around for cover. There was a nearby tree about five feet away, it was large enough to shield her from view, and Zander was already focusing on the friends.

She made a mad dash for the tree, trusting Anders to save her sister and Sinjin. As predicted, Zander did not bat an eye. Listening to all of Tori's friends screaming, she fought to take off the safety on the gun. Their lives were now in her hands. She wasn't going to let them die.

Trina pressed her back against the tree and took a deep breath, closing her eyes and feeling the sweat move down her body. "You've got one shot at this. One shot…" She opened her eyes and looked down to the gun. There was no time to contemplate, there was no time for doubts. This was what her dad said was heavily involved in police officer work, the career field she wanted to go into. The ability to make the right, and tough decision in a split second moment.

Zander was a threat, not only to Tori's friends in the current moment, but to both Meredith and Orsino. As much as she hated Orsino, as much as he stood to represent every single man she ever dated, including Michael and Ross. She shook the memories from her head and narrowed her eyes. Being a police officer was also about saving lives, even if the lives you were saving were those of people who you may not necessarily like.

Trina stepped out of the cover of the big oak, spread her feet apart and aimed the gun, holding it with both hands. She narrowed her eyes and called out to Zander, causing him to stop what he was doing and look over. Tori's friends landed on the ground, hands and knees, and started clutching their chests, coughing.

"What…is that?" Zander muttered. He let out a crazed chuckle and his hands began to glow bright red. "No matter." Trina felt a sudden sting in her body and winced as a severe amount of blood began rushing from her. She clenched her teeth and fought the urge to fall to her knees. "You made a bad decision, foolish…"

"Trina, no!" Jade cried out, "Get out of the way…let us fight him…stay with Tori and Sinjin…"

Trina rolled her eyes and struggled to move her finger onto the trigger. "This time. I save your ass." She let out a grunt, letting herself fall to her knees as she watched her blood going into Zander's body. "Men…Fuck…you…" She tensed her index finger and pulled the trigger, wincing as a gunshot echoed through the air.

In an instant, it was all over. No more blood was leaving her body. She began panting heavily, watching as Zander's wide eyed expression glared at her. He was gasping for air and reaching up to his neck. Her bullet struck him in the middle of the collarbone, just above his breastbone. He fell to his knees, still gasping and rubbing his hands over the bullet wound.

In the corner of her eyes, she saw the ancestors getting up from the ground. Tori's friends were all gawking at the sight while Tori and Sinjin were slowly getting up from the ground, both still looking heavily wounded. She lowered the gun, smirking as Zander collapsed onto the ground. "I'm going to hate having to tell your mother that you're gone…"

Her eyes rolled to the back of her head as she began to fall from exhaustion. The last thing she saw before blacking out was Sarah running for her, reaching out to catch her before she fell to the ground. For now, this battle was over.

Well, it turns out that gun was pretty useful. So they had a close call, but Zander is no longer an issue. What do you think of everything this chapter?