It's here, ladies and gentlemen, that I present to you the final chapter of this monster. Thank you for sticking with me this far, you're all the best.

Now are you guys ready for something amazing? Because I am.

ShoutOuts ~

JollyLoser: First of all, I feel your username on so many levels lol. Second of all, I totally murdered myself when that 'home' part happened, and believe me, I didn't plan it at all. Thank you for commenting and reading this far, I hope you like this chapter!

~ THEMESONGS ~

Young and Menace ~ Fall Out Boy

Thunder ~ Imagine Dragons

.M.I.W.

53. Multiple-Choice

My knees started buckling underneath me as soon as my foot hit asphalt. The twenty-something-pound bag slipped off of my shoulder and hit the ground with a metallic crunch. I didn't give it too much thought, deciding I would look into it later like Lord Elrond said. When I was in a safer place. Right now, feeling the heat of asphalt on a late summer evening through my jeans, I wasn't sure if I was in a safe place.

Especially when I'd been aiming for a wooden back porch.

My head spun as I tried to pick myself up. Once I thought I'd straightened up, I tipped right over to the side, landing against the back of a truck –

WHOOP! WHOOP! WHOOP!

I groaned as the car alarm made my eardrums buzz. I slouched away from it so I could take in my surroundings. Ahead of me, I recognized the go-to mall my family and I frequented. It wasn't my house, but at least I knew where I was.

I staggered across the parking lot toward the huge amphitheater in the center of the mall's main courtyard. I slipped into the shadow of the venue and slumped against one of the brick columns. It was cooler and less humid under the massive roof stretching over the stage. The too-bright lights of the parking lot couldn't hurt my eyes from the distance. I was practically gasping for air, clutching the hilts of my seraph blades to ground myself. When I finally built up enough energy, I spent it on removing my knapsack, the saddlebag, and my seraph blades. I took the gun out from my jeans and set it on top of one of the bags. I heaved a sigh and reached up to wipe at my nose. Sure enough, I was rewarded with the sight of blood on my hand when I pulled it away. I leaned my head back against the column and closed my eyes.

Maybe fifteen minutes passed before I felt any semblance of control over my body. I wasn't quite ready to pull up another portal, but at least I didn't feel like I had to throw up or my nose was a bloody faucet.

That was when I heard it. The world around me was so still and my senses were so above the norm, I wouldn't have been able to miss it in my sleep.

It was the brush of fabric against a wall, the footstep that fell a little too hard as someone ascended the stairs to the amphitheater's stage. To me.

I opened my eyes, but I didn't see anyone. I still heard the steps and they were definitely approaching. Whoever it was didn't round the corner that would put us face to face. I reached for my seraph blades, quietly pulling them out of their scabbards before I slunk around the column.

I regulated my breathing and organized my thoughts. I took a mental sweep over my health. I wasn't in top form, but when had that ever stopped me from engaging in combat? The fogginess currently wrapped around my brain would disappear with a fresh wave of adrenaline, as with the soreness of my muscles.

I heard the person finally set foot on the stage. Right now, I hypothesized that they could see my belongings, but not me.

"Hello?" A male voice called out. "Hello?"

I waited.

"Look, I know you're around here somewhere," the guy said. "I saw you. I just wanted to make sure you were all right."

Okay, so whoever it was, at least they sounded normal. The footsteps were slow, like the person was hesitant to approach. Good. They finally stopped just a few feet away from my column. I dredged up the process of casting a glamour over all of my weapons – a neat little hat trick I picked up in New York that hid any magical artifact from mortal eyes – including the pistol in front of the column. It took a minute to achieve because I was rusty with the process, but the spell is so easy "even a mundane can do it," according to a certain Jace Lightwood.

"You don't have to be scared," the guy said. "I just –"

"I'm not scared," I said. I slowly stepped out from behind the column and leaned against its side, leaning my seraphs against the surface as well. When I finally looked at my would-be stalker, I got the biggest surprise of (what I was sure would be) my entire life.

First off, the guy was tall. Like, really tall. Easily six-foot-something. He also had a decidedly lean build with muscle that flexed under his T-shirt and long legs. He wore brand-new sneakers too, but I had a feeling I would recognize this guy no matter what he wore. He had an angular face and bright blue eyes underneath a somewhat-longer-than-the-last-time-I-saw-him crop of sandy blond hair.

It was him. The guy that stopped those thugs back in Bree. The hooded man I tried so hard to forget during my entire Middle Earth conquest and almost succeeded. The one who knew Led Zeppelin.

My glamour crumbled right along with my train of thought. The guy saw the swords in my hands and took two steps back. They glowed dimly with the eagerness expected from any hunter when prey was found. I narrowed my eyes.

"So is this Belial's game now?" I demanded. "Sending other demons to do his dirty work? To be honest, I'm kind of insulted."

He continued to stare at me, eyes sweeping over me like he was sizing me up. "I don't know who that is," he finally said. His voice was steady, but quiet. To be honest, I was expecting him to sound more… asshole-ish. Demons were usually pompous pricks. But the words he said were more surprising than the way he said them.

"What –" I spluttered. "The fuck do you mean, 'I don't know who that is?' How is that possible? Belial? Greater Demon of Lawlessness? He's the guy with the big bat wings, horns, poisonous burning spit? Or maybe you met him in his human manifestation – he's the one that looks like a Gothic GQ model? None of that rings a bell for you? Seriously?"

Dude had a killer poker face.

"I guess it doesn't matter," I continued. "I still don't have time for this. You see, seeing you once was a coincidence, but twice? Obviously you're tracking me, and you're terrible at it. Normally I don't give bottom-feeders like you a second glance, but if you're powerful enough to travel worlds –"

"You think I'm a demon," the guy said.

"Well I don't exactly think this is a multiple-choice kind of question."

Then he smirked. He smirked. Maybe 'asshole-ish' wasn't off the table. I watched him reach behind his back. I flipped my blades and they burned brighter.

"Maybe this is why the trail brought me here," he said.

"What trail –?"

He reached back behind his back with speed akin to the sharpshooters I saw in old Westerns. Then I saw a dark object appear in his hands just before it began to light up blue, outlining the shape of a weird gun. It burned brighter while making a low whirring noise. My eyes widened. Was that a –

FWUH-POW!

I ducked out of the way as a bright blue beam of light shot toward me. The light hit the brick column over my head and put a massive smoking dent in the structure.

A ray gun. The motherfucker had a ray gun. How the fuck did a demon get a ray gun?!

"What in the actual hell –"

FWUH-POW!

I didn't have time to get out of the way, so I threw my swords up in a block. The light-beam hit my blades and I shuddered under the force of the shot. Then I cut through it, which startled the hell out of the random guy. He barely juked back in time when he realized a single shot wasn't going to stop me.

FWUH-POW!

He shot again and I sliced again. He ducked out of the way just before I could hit him. And thus our weird dance continued. Every time I got too close, he would shoot and dart a few feet out of my way. It was getting old, but it didn't dull my enthusiasm fighting against a modern weapon.

"Nice gun," I started off as I advanced again. "Where did you get it from?"

FWUH-POW!

I dropped and rolled out of the way. When I straightened up, I twirled my swords to shake off the leftover sparks from the shot. They bounced off the ground like embers from a fire.

"You wouldn't believe me," the guy said.

FWUH-POW!

I scoffed. "Wha – Seriously?" I blocked with Metatron and sliced out with Sandalphon. New guy couldn't get away quite as fast and I was able to tear his shirt. "I think I'm the only person that could."

The guy ducked behind a column. "Are you always this talkative in a fight?"

"Usually."

FWUH-POW!

Blue and white sparks flew off my blades. "But I don't know," I continued, "I guess you've caught my interest."

Though I couldn't see him, I heard the guy sigh and grumble, "You've got to be kidding me."

"Don't flatter yourself," I rejoined. "I meant you caught my interest in a more… scientific way."

FWUH-POW!

I looked up from another block to see the guy walking out from the column with his gun pointed at me, eyes narrowing. I smirked and tapped my temple.

"Superhuman abilities," I explained. "Thought you were the only one with the physical upper hand? Shame."

FWUH-POW!

I streaked forward to meet the shot head-on, then deflect it with ease. In a lucky move, I finally caught up to the guy and batted his gun to the side with Metatron. It clattered to the ground and its light disappeared. I swiped out with Sandalphon, lightly like a painter would brush a detail on a canvas. It was a papercut compared to the fatal blow that I could have dealt him. I didn't even know why I held back, but quickly realized I was glad I did.

I watched in amazement as crimson blood welled up from the small wound. Not the black tar-like ichor I'd been expecting. Crimson. Human. Blood.

"You're… you're human," I breathed.

"I guess it was multiple-choice after all," he said.

Human. He was human. My heart slammed double – no, triple – no, quadruple-time in my chest. It threatened to burst out of my ribcage. It filled me with the warmest fuzziest freaking feeling I'd ever known. It was pure, unadulterated joy. It coursed through my veins and radiated from my pores.

I wasn't alone.

The guy didn't share my excitement. He was busy scrambling for his gun. It glowed under his hands when he finally grabbed it, swinging his arms out to point it at me –

"No, no, stop!" I cried. I dropped Sandalphon (cringe) and pulled the sleeve of my jacket up. Then I used Metatron to cut my own arm. I didn't even feel the pain. "Look! We have the same blood! We're both human! We're the same!"

FWUH-POW!

The monstrous light-beam hit me square in the chest because I'd been too stupid to try and block it. It knocked the air right out of my body, made me tip backwards and hit my head on the concrete ground. Stars and black spots sprouted in front of my eyes. The sky above me was already bleary and out of focus.

"Wait!" I gasped and hacked against the bile fighting its way up my esophagus. I rolled over and scrambled for my blades, only to realize they weren't nearby. I focused on my bags (all eight of them) and started to crawl. It was desperate and sloppy and didn't feel fast enough, but I made it before the guy could fire another shot.

I reached out to grab at one of the four guns floating on top of my knapsack before I flipped on my back and pointed it at the guy. His three blurry forms were only getting closer. "Wait! Look at my arm! Please!"

The whirring of the gun continued, but at least I didn't think it was aimed at me anymore. I could hardly focus on the guy's face to see what his reaction was. A cold sweat broke out on my forehead and I continued to heave for air. "I'm multiple-choice too," I choked out. "I'm human too."

I finally heard him mumble something, but I couldn't make out the words except for one. Stun. My vision was closing in fast, but at least I was safe. For now. I dropped my arm.

That was all I remembered.

.M.I.W.

"Oh my God! Oh my God – Madi?"

I startled awake, felt whatever I'd been laying on tip from underneath me and deposit me on the ground with an undignified squawk. When I opened my eyes, I was assaulted by bright morning sunlight. I was sprawled out on a wooden porch covered in chipped white paint. I shot up and reached for my seraph blades. My stomach dropped when I realized my waist was empty.

"What are you doing out here?"

What was I doing out here? How did I get here?

"Fuck if I know!" I exclaimed. Then I saw who I was actually talking to and stumbled back into the rocking patio bench I must have been sleeping on.

My mom in all of her ginger-haired, red-faced worry was staring at me like… like… Actually, I'd never seen that look on her face before. It was rage and fear and I didn't know what to make of it.

I scrambled, taking quick stock of how I must've looked to her. I was still dressed in my more modern gear and after glancing behind me, I saw my bags were pushed into the corner of the back patio of my grandma's house. My seraph blades were nestled right behind my large rucksack. I glared at the items until they were concealed by a glamour. "I uh…"

"Why are you outside?" My mom demanded.

"I just wanted to sit outside," I lied. "I guess I fell asleep."

She looked at me, then my outfit with a bewildered look on her face. I could see all the questions on her face as plain as the bright colored suit jacket she chose for her day at the office. I just sat there under her gaze, wondering if she'd finally reached her breaking point. I wondered how different I looked to her since the last time she saw me. Would this be the time she'd finally say something?

"Just… just get inside," she finally said.

I watched her turn around and walk inside the house, my shoulders dropping from relief or disappointment, I couldn't even tell. I waited until I heard her car start and drive away before I grabbed my bags and slunk into my room.

I threw the bags on the floor next to my disheveled bed. I yawned, allowing the familiar heaviness of not having a full sleep to settle in my bones. I sat down on my bed, stuffing my hands in my pockets, my fingers curling around a folded piece of paper. I frowned and pulled it out. It was a note and I didn't recognize the tidy but definitely boyish scrawl scribbled on it.

Found your address on your ID. I took the Colt, nothing else.

My eyes widened. I dropped the note on my bed and tore through my knapsack. The gun wasn't in sight. I ripped the flap off of the twenty-pound saddle bag to be sure –

"Holy fuck," I whispered.

The bag was filled to the brim with treasure. Gold and silver medallions, emeralds, rubies, diamonds, and pearls glittered in the sunlight filtering through the curtains. I fell back on my ass, too amazed to…

I was rich.

Despite the emptiness in my chest, the nausea caused by my missing gun, the anticipation of another portal-traveler buzzing in my ears, and the terrifying void of life that lay ahead of me, I actually started laughing. Because I was going to make it work.

For now, I was going back to sleep.

.M.I.W.

FUN FACT! I actually started this chapter back in 2013 right after I posted the second chapter to Lady of the Seraphs. Since then, I've constantly added to it and edited it, asking myself if waiting for this introduction until the very end of the story was a good idea. I've constantly debated on introducing this guy throughout the plot of the three novels, but held back. Now that I've written this chapter, I think it's been for the best.

That being said, this was still hard to write. I've spent the past four years stewing over his character so much that when I came back to this… I felt like I'd written everything about him already. Except a proper introduction.

Now let's talk about how obsessed we are with him. (please love him as much as I do?)