A/N: This ain't no ordinary human. Sarah is a LOK fanatic, one of those weird ones who can't stop thinking about it. (Actually, that seems to be the majority of LOK fans, so it can't exactly be weird.) As she said herself, she's not supposed to be here, and that makes all the difference in the world.
As for self-insert, shudder, I'm not sure I would want to be in Sarah's shoes. Not just because of what's she's been through, but because of her underlying flaws. (I know, she's in shock right now, but she'll calm down eventually.) She's a female because I couldn't figure out how to put her personality on a guy, not that I can think of how to put any original personality on a guy...
Anyway, thank you to RockyShoreline,Varyssa, Istari, Kyrial, Lunatic Pandora1, anonymous the second, and Northstar1982; for the criticisms, the encouragements, and everything in between. This story smells like cheese and needs a good shredding.
"I screwed up again." Sarah said as she buried her face in the sleeves of her chemise.
"Your actions may yet prove useful," Kain said. "If not, then there is still time to correct your mistakes. Indeed, my memories have not changed."
"But they were so angry, and Raz…" Sarah began to choke with new tears.
Kain listened to the girl's heaving sobs for a moment. Finally, it made complete sense. The Sarafan Raziel had been the one who violated her body. Kain realized that his task would be more difficult than he thought. If this girl truly knew how this drama played out, then she would be more likely to steer the vampire Raziel towards his dreadful fate.
"I suggest you get some sleep," Kain said to the girl as he walked out the door.
Kain walked down the paneled hallway, his hoofs making no sound in the thick carpeting. He stopped outside the dining room and overheard Raziel's voice.
"No, I don't trust him, not completely," Raziel said. "However, I know that he wants to see Nosgoth restored."
Kain strode into the dining room. "Indeed, but first I must speak with you in private, Raziel."
Raziel hesitantly followed Kain into the hallway. "What's this about?"
"We're not out of danger yet, Raziel," Kain said. "Indeed, that girl may yet spell your doom."
"Then why not destroy her?" Raziel asked. "It's not like you to be sympathetic towards anyone, much less a human."
"She is too powerful a tool to simply throw her away," Kain said. "I imagine that she would be willing to help us if it weren't for the actions of your mortal form."
Raziel turned towards Kain. "What exactly are you trying to say?"
"You raped her," Kain said bluntly. "She seems very upset about that."
Raziel stiffened in disgust. "So much for my noble heritage."
Kain snorted non-committaly. "As it is, I do not think that we can trust her knowledge without more information."
"You can go," Raziel said. "I for one am tired of searching."
Suddenly, one of Vorador's brides came running through the hallway. "Let me pass, there is an army at the gate."
A moment later, Vorador burst out of his dining room, having overheard the outburst. Janos followed a moment later. Everyone rushed to the windows to see if the claim was true.
Indeed, there were no less than forty Sarafan warriors standing outside of Vorador's courtyard.
Kain smiled in expectation. "This is going to be good."
"I do not share your enthusiasm, Kain." Raziel said in contempt.
"There was a time when you would have loved this," Kain told Raziel.
Raziel indicated the assembled mass of troops. "If you are so eager, then go ahead."
"Even I could not take on that many humans alone," Kain said as he roughly shoved Raziel off the courtyard wall.
Raziel felled a few of the soldiers with his wraith blade before its excitement forced him to appropriate a Sarafan sword. He had to admit, it did feel a bit like old times: He and Kain watching each other's back while slicing through the forces of humanity. There was just something missing.
Raziel suddenly felt a cold sense of foreboding well up in his chest. There was a reason why the blade was rumored to be possessed. Raziel could not hear the Reaver's scream. He turned slightly and saw a few souls hovering around Kain's head. Raziel wondered why the Reaver had not taken them.
Raziel threw his borrowed weapon into the ground and summoned the wraith blade again. It greedily consumed the souls of Raziel's foes. Raziel pulled some of the fruits of Kain's labor and returned to using the Sarafan blade. Raziel felt that he now knew the meaning of Kain's warning.
After Raziel finished off those that were close to him, he noticed that Janos and Vorador had also joined the battle. Those two were in no immediate danger, as most of the Sarafan had already fallen. Raziel again pitched his borrowed blade into the mud and summoned the wraith blade.
"You know why the Reaver was destroyed when you tried to strike me down, don't you?" Raziel asked Kain.
Kain sighed as he sheathed the Reaver. "Yes, Raziel, I knew all along."
"And yet you didn't warn me?" Raziel demanded.
Kain did not answer. He instead teleported back into Vorador's mansion. Raziel would not be put off so easily. He ran through the dark hallways, not quite able to catch up with Kain's pale form… until the master vampire stopped outside of one of the doors.
"There was going to be a moment of convergence. I was counting on that moment because that's the only way that I would be able to dislodge you from your false destiny," Kain said. "That's why I'm willing to keep Sarah alive. She was able to change your destiny without the paradox."
"You knew about the Reaver, yet you told me nothing," Raziel yelled. "You expect me to trust you?"
"That goes beyond my wildest hopes," Kain said wearily. He beckoned to Raziel and entered the room where Sarah was resting.
The girl in question was huddled on the bed, buried in a mass of blankets. The only thing that was visible were her eyes; two bright sparks of sapphire that stared at Raziel hatefully.
"You said that you know how our drama ends," Kain said to the girl. "Tell me what you know."
"You and I are now in great danger. We are irritants here," Sarah said distantly. "History will not allow the introduction of a paradox. If events cannot be reshuffled to accommodate the change, it is the irritant that is expelled."
Kain recognized his own words from his conversation with Raziel nearly seven centuries into the future. "I'll be the judge of what is too dangerous. Right now, doing nothing may cause great harm." Kain forced his voice to soften again. "All you need to do is provide me with answers."
Sarah had grown cold and unemotional. "I have them all if you have the questions."
Kain sneered at the quote. Moebius had said the same thing while posing as an oracle. Kain knew better than to trust everything he was told, though he was beginning to worry that the frail girl would only tell him things that he already knew.
"Tell me something new," Kain insisted.
"So, you prevented Raziel's soul from entering the Reaver. Do you believe for a moment that by this you have averted your fate? Or his? Or that of Nosgoth itself? Your manipulations are pathetic." Sarah said.
"It was your actions that derailed Raziel's destiny," Kain said.
"You know what fate awaits you when you leave the underworld. That phantom weapon you bear is a constant reminder, isn't it? The Sword is waiting for you out there somewhere, and you tarry so as not to meet it," Sarah quoted.
Kain did not recognize what Sarah was saying, but he could sense that it was someone else's words. Kain thought a moment about the meaning behind them.
"Raziel, I think that you should leave," Kain said. "She was willing to talk to me before. Now it seems that she is only repeating what she's heard."
Raziel stared at those eyes that glared from the shelter of blankets. Part of him had mistrusted Kain's news of his previous deeds. Now he saw that this girl indeed hated him, though her anger could not match Raziel's loathing of Kain.
Instead of leaving, Raziel summoned his wraith blade. "This weapon, my own soul, is deranged from its long imprisonment. Tell me how to avoid my fate."
"As you are undying, your soul cannot be returned to the Wheel- but it may console you to abide here in eternity with me." Sarah said. She blinked as fat tears fell from her eyes. "Death would be a release next to this travesty."
"I am no longer interested in death," Raziel said.
"I saved you from the Reaver once. I have no intention of imprisoning you within the blade." Sarah said distantly.
"Does this mean that you will help us?" Kain asked Sarah.
"You may ponder the futility of your actions as you spend a deathless eternity under a mountain of rubble." Sarah said, huddling in the blankets until she could barely peer over the edge of them.
"I still haven't given up," Kain whispered to Raziel as they both left the room.