05: We Will Not Follow.

[Present]

"Why didn't you just tell Stefan when he asked?" Nova questioned. Her gaze still remained out her window. "Why didn't you tell him when I bailed in 1994?"

"It wasn't his business," Damon answered simply and matter of factly. "It wasn't the first time we separated and met back up and it wouldn't be the last. He needed to be focused on my shenanigans and I quite enjoyed him constantly looking over his shoulder wondering if you were going to pop out of the shadows."

"Okay, sure," came Zina from the back, "but he had to have realized at some point that something had happened between you two and she wasn't coming anytime soon to terrorize him."

"Stefan's a half wit, so I doubt that," Nova commented.

Damon chuckled a little. "It took him a while, but he realized. And when he did realize, and we found out Katherine wasn't in the tomb, he knew exactly what was about to happen and Nova's name was never mentioned again until she arrived."

"What… what happened when you found out Katherine wasn't in the tomb?" the youngest ravenette asked quietly.

[Flashback; December 12, 2009]

"She's not here…" Damon muttered as he finished checking the tomb.

"Damon," Stefan called for him across the way. Bonnie and Sheila were about to close the door, preventing every vampire from escaping.

"She's not here," the older brother spoke louder as the dark realization set in.

"What?"

You were right. Honestly, I'd prefer to end it with that. If you were here it would, but you're not and with good reason. She wasn't there. She wasn't in that fucking tomb. All this time, all that's happened to us, it was for NOTHING. You were right, dolcezza. She played us. She played me. Again.

"She's not here!" He screamed before tossing the blood bag he had against one of the rock walls. It exploded and the casing dropped to the floor as Damon began to spiral. He looked to his little brother with some of the utmost pain in his face Stefan had ever seen. "How could she not be in here?"

"Damon, we need to get out of here. Now."

"It doesn't make sense. They locked her inside!"

"If we don't leave now, we're not getting out! Let's go, Damon!"

What the hell am I supposed to do now? Find you? Even if I did I'd have to hunt you down ten more times just to get you to listen to me admitting that I fucked up yet again. Once again I allowed Katherine Pierce to cause me to push you away.

"You don't understand!" Damon yelled, backing up a step. Stefan could see his brother derailing at an alarming rate. "You have no idea what this cost me! And for nothing! Fucking nothing!"

Stefan's eyes widened suddenly. Nova. Leave it to Katherine Pierce to wedge herself once again between Damon and Nova. That had to have been what happened to Nova and why she still hadn't shown up in Mystic Falls. She really wasn't going to. "It's not worth spending all of eternity down here. Katherine is not worth it! Whatever happened between you and Nova because of her we can fix, Damon. Nova will understand you better than any of us I'm sure. But we need to get out of here now. Please, Damon. However you want to see it just do it for Nova, please."

I'm so sorry, Nova. If you do return to Mystic Falls and I'm still here, I hope you turn around without saying hello. You won't like what you're going to see and I don't deserve your sympathy, empathy, or any general affection. I hope if you do come back to Mystic Falls you give Elena hell just for having that bitch's face. I don't foresee you liking Elena anyways.

Just before Elena could go rushing into the tomb to save both brothers, they emerged slowly. Her doe-like eyes widened massively when she saw Damon and the utter pain visible across his countenance. Stefan held a hand up as if to ask her not to say anything to him. She didn't, and he vanished without a word. She asked Stefan if they should check on him and what happened. At first, he wasn't certain how to respond.

"Damon suffered a great loss tonight," he finally admitted to Elena. "So great that I'm not certain about the extent. Just know that right now he's hurting and there are things he can't take back. We should give him space."

You know what? Don't come back to Mystic Falls. Ever. I really hope you don't because it's only going to destroy you. Why am I still going to be sulking and causing trouble in this hell hole? Well, it's all I've got left. So until Stefan or someone actually kills me or successfully dessicates me, I'll keep on keeping on. Just don't ever come back here, especially not for me. I don't know if you've realized it by now, Nova, but I'm not worth it. Move on. Keep doing great things.

Damon had returned to the boarding house and sipped on a glass of bourbon before getting angry and throwing it into the burning fireplace. He stormed upstairs to his room and threw a few books, glasses, and his chair around. As he ran his hands through his hair, one book in particular still half on the shelf caught his eye. It was the only book still on that one shelf while the rest were missing in gaps. The cover stared back hauntingly in his hands; the original Dracula from 1897. He opened the cover slowly and Bram Stoker's signature made his chest ache.

To Nova and Damon,
Two of the most enigmatic and amusing people I have met in some time.
Thank you for appreciating my work so deeply.
Bram Stoker

He thumbed over the old ink as memories resurfaced. His fingers slid across the side of the pages until he found a spot in the middle and opened it. A spot had been cut in the pages where he or Nova would frequently hide things. That time a little, black, velvet box sat in the gap. Suddenly he slammed the book shut and put it back on the shelf. Damon slid the bed over a few inches before kneeling down and taking up a specific floorboard. Beneath laid his small, black box getting more full with letters that would never be sent to Nova. Sitting on the floor beside the open floorboard he wrote her again, something he hadn't done in longer than usual.

I just hope you never step foot in this town again. And if you do it's not long enough to affect you in any way.

I'm so sorry, Nova.

With whatever love I might have left,
Damon

[Present]

"So there is an apology in the world somewhere for me for you getting duped by Katherine again?" Nova quipped. While Zina thought her sister was cold, Damon could tell by the tone of her voice that there was something genuine trying to claw through.

"Yep," he humored her. "I suppose I should mention that if you were to find my hiding spot and read through all of the letters that you'd find Remiel's Stone too."

Surprisingly enough, Nova's eyes widened enough to notice. Her head jerked towards Damon and she fit a hand on her hip. "You did swipe it from me, you sly bastard!" She smirked. "Abaddon tried to get it and pizdă's bracelet," her thumb jerked towards Zina. "She was pissed when we found out I didn't have the stone anymore."

"Oh you better bet I took that thing the hell away from you," he glanced down at her with a smirk of his own briefly. "You can have it back when you can get to it."

She snorted and scoffed before putting her feet on the dash. "Yeah, yeah, turn my humanity back on and I'll get rewarded like a good girl with feelings." She rolled her eyes and crossed her arms over her chest.

"No," he chuckled. "I'm serious. You want to find that stone? Find where I hid those letters and after you read them all you'll find the stone."

"Why the hell do I have to read them all? How would you even know I did?" She paused, then added, "How many even are there?"

"Well, it's not the first letter, it's not the last, and not just one in specific that will tell you how to find the stone. So, yes, you have to read through them all in order to find where to find the stone. And there's enough to fill a box side to side."

"What sized box?" Zina muttered in the backseat.

The three traveled with Damon telling Zina fond tales of himself and Nova practically dominating the underworld. Surprisingly, the young Vasile listened and questioned with deep interest. From time to time Damon would notice Nova smirk or grin with pride at certain memories. For a moment even Zina had faith that Damon just might be able to turn Nova's humanity back on. The real question was how long it would take and how much it would cost them.

"Lebanon at last," Nova muttered as they drove past the welcoming sign.

"I wonder if those Winchesters felt so out of place in Mystic Falls," Damon commented with a hint of humor. "Why Kansas though, out of 49 other states?" His face scrunched a little looking about the town.

"The boys are Kansas natives," Zina answered which surprised the two vampires in the front. "What? I was stuck on the Other Side for over a century. I met Siya when she joined us in 1993. She was Mary Winchester's partner for some time in the hunting field. Mary settled down with her family in Lawrence."

They nearly reached the outskirts of Lebanon when Nova assured them they were on the right path. The other two couldn't disagree when the sight of the Impala came into view. Damon pulled up right beside the car, mildly impressed that Dean kept a classic car so nicely. As their doors all shut, Katia appeared from a thick, metal door. She looked hesitant at each of them individually. "We're all in hunter territory, mind each of you," she told them as calmly as she could.

"They haven't tried to kill us yet in town," Damon told her. "We're just here to do a favor before I have to put the beasts back in their cages." He gestured to the twins behind him.

Katia's eyes landed on her mother with uncertainty. She was thankful that she shared more features with Zina rather than her father, but only because she knew exactly the kind of monster her father was. Somehow nobody knew much of anything about Zina Vasile. She knew it was Klaus to kill her mother, to rip Remiel's Stone right off of her chest with her beating heart. She knew it was Katherine Pierce to raise and eventually turn her mother before trying to murder Zarya and Siya. Whether she built a relationship with Zina or not there were things she needed to know.

"I have permission from Dean to let you three in though he still doesn't know who I called. I wasn't certain if I would need it since this is technically a bunker, but it was a bunker for a group of very anti-supernatural humans. Come on, I'm not sure how much longer Zarya's got."

Behind Katia came her mother, the supposed to be long time deceased Zina Vasile. After her Dean locked eyes with Damon Salvatore, both of them icy and guarded. Last, but not least, Nova walked slowly with her eyes grazing over every detail of the bunker. Dean's lips parted slightly when he noticed her hair had been cut up to her shoulders. The three vampires stood opposite of the hunter with Katia between them all. You could cut the tension in the air with a long enough finger nail.

"What the actual hell is this?" Dean started off slowly.

"The cavalry is here," Nova taunted with a cynical smirk about her darkly painted lips.

"Ignore her mouth," Damon told Dean as he stepped in front of Nova. "She's off the drugs and angel blood but she's not quite all there yet."

"And he's under the delusion that she will be ever again." Zina shrugged.

"You're all horrendous," Katia barked at them. "I've kept tabs on every single Vasile since the moment I heard the name. I have put my life in danger constantly, even this very second, but you three are so focused on yourselves that you have failed to see the larger picture here! Lucifer and Remiel are playing us each individually but they tried to work together to get Zarya. It didn't work and now they might be at odds."

"So what are we doing here then?" Nova hissed from Damon's side.

Dean hesitated in answering but he knew they were just about out of options. "Remiel is trying to fry her brain and body until she dies and awakens the dhampir gene in her. If she succeeds, Zarya will be weak and desperate enough to want Remiel's help. Remiel gets her vessel and we're all screwed."

Nova's lips and nose twitched. "That coincides with your removal of our free will crap, soră mai mică."

"Because what I told you is true," Zina quipped back. "Where is Zarya? How bad is she?"

As Dean and Katia led them to the basement, Dean filled them in on the recent events. Damon noticed the way Nova's face changed when Dean mentioned Zarya being tortured by Lucifer. They learned about the horrible mutilation to the girl's side and the after effects including the hallucinations. They realized that it hadn't been hallucinations; the archangels were forcing the visions upon Zarya's mind. When Dean unlocked the door they gathered round by the doorway to see the extent of the damage. Zarya was on her knees, still chained to the wall, with her head down and hair covering her face. The moment she realized there were people there again she lunged forward to attack. The chains kept her held back, but for how long?

Zina's breath caught in her throat when she saw Zarya's amethyst glowing eyes. "Yeah, that is some pretty rooted damage…"

"I thought some combination of us could break through," Katia offered. "I have a fair grip on my psychic abilities, but not enough to push past Remiel herself trying to control her vessel's mind."

Nova pat Katia on the back lightly as she watched Zarya and listened to the language she spat out. "I like your style, kid." She strut up closer to Zarya, ignoring everyone's protests, and remained just out of her reach while bending to speak in her face. "Ne'evak 'ana pro, Remiel." (Fight me instead, Remiel.)

Dean and Zarya's eyes widened at the language. While he couldn't understand a bit of what she spoke, Dean recognized it as the same 'Verbis Diablo' that came out of Zarya's mouth. Something about the room temperature seemed to be dropping slowly but noticeably as the two women began going back and forth shouting at each other in the frightening language.

Across the way, Remiel laughed in the midst of her fighting with Lucifer. "You may have hold over one sibling, Lux, but the other still walks in my domain."

Only for as long as it takes to change that ordeal, he thought as Remiel rose to her feet. "All I have to do is tip the scale in my favor, Remmy. I do that and you lose all control of the line you started. Let Zarya go now or Nova Vasile is mine."

"Nova Vasile is an iceberg that you will never be able to even chip." She replied arrogantly. "Nothing you offer could ever sway her. I have given her everything. Nova is mine."

"And Zarya is mine, Remiel," he bellowed back. "When you started this you unknowingly divvied these creatures up between the two of us. It was supposed to be an even balance of power but you've taken it too far. If I can get one of them to step foot into my domain, my protection, my grace, and under my wings then you lose every damn thing you've worked so hard to accomplish."

"You are quite right, dear brother. But do you recall when I said I was ten steps ahead of everyone and had back up vessels planned already?"

Surprisingly enough, Lucifer's eyes widened with the realization and how dangerous is truly was. "Nova…"

Damon and Dean held Zarya firmly against the wall. Zina put one hand to the girl's left temple, Nova's hand on her right, and Katia between the twins linking their hands together. Once the connection was made, it linked the four of them. Zina's eyes glowed red, Nova's violet, and Katia's dark blue. The amethyst in Zarya's eyes tried to waver into magenta but it seemed almost impossible. The three Romanian blooded vampires forced their psychic will upon Zarya's mind and Remiel's tirade inside of it. They each clawed and kicked and punched their way through until they were just that: through.

Each of the three found themselves in a different portion of Zarya's mind. Zina was surrounded by the overlapping memories of Zarya's real life versus her compelled one. Katia stood in a dark, barely lit hallway with a handful of odd doors, each one different than the last, lining both sides of the hall. At one point she came to a door with what she easily recognized as Lucifer's sigil burned onto it. Across from it was a different door with initials hand engraved in from a knife: D.W. Nova, however, found herself right in the snake pit.

"Nova Lerae Vasile," purred a dangerous voice in the darkness. "What a powerful woman you have become."

"Let me guess," Nova drawled boredly, "Remiel, right? I'm actually quite unamused by this entire ordeal. Just drop Zarya so I can go home."

"To Mystic Falls? You call that swamp your home? You could have had the entire country of Romania if not all of Europe if you tried hard enough."

"Not interested, actually. Surely you know how much I loathed my parents, since you seem to be an insufferable know-it-all." Remiel stormed out from the shadows and lunged to grab Nova by the throat but the vampire grabbed her wrist before she could make contact. "I don't understand your infatuation with Zarya. You can forcibly turn her into a dhampir or whatever if it's what you would like to do, but it's only going to make her despise you more because she doesn't want it."

"You think you've got yourself in such good graces because you allow the girl to have a choice? Choices were not something my Father actually gave any creature He created. I gave the lot of you existence! Together we will overthrow each of those who have forced us into submission and shadows."

"Sounds relatively enticing but," she snapped the archangel's hand back, cracking her wrist bones loudly, "that's something I intend on doing myself. I lived a long time without angel business in my life and I'd quite like to keep it that way."

"Says the one obsessed with power so deeply she would drink straight from the Lazarus well herself."

Nova scoffed and her maroon lips curved into a smirk. "I made a mistake when I drank all of that angel blood; didn't sit quite right with me. I have no qualms in merely spilling angel blood. I'll kill them all before you even get a chance because I so fucking sick and tired of the lot of you."

"You have no idea of the domino effect that would cause."

"You confuse me for someone with remorse."

Before Remiel could say anything else or attempt to strike Nova, the vampire brought her long leg up and kicked the archangel in her vessel's ribs. Whether it actually affected Remiel wherever she was or not Nova didn't particularly care. One way or another she was blowing off some steam on one of the angels trying to puppet her life. Remiel let Nova get in a few hits, making the vampire believe she was weak even if it was just in the psychic plane. Once Remiel saw the opening she knew Nova would leave her she leaped up, her eyes gleaming bright amethyst, and grabbed Nova with both hands by the head. Nova tried to shove her off but the archangel kept a firm grip while shouting in what sounded like Enochian.

Pain surged through Nova's skull. She let out a cry and started to claw at Remiel's arms to no avail. It felt as if the archangel's nails were digging into her head slowly. The Enochian turned into Verbis Diablo and Nova's eyes ignited violet. Nova tried shouting back in the Verbis Diablo but Remiel was louder and much stronger than she was.

Zina had ran about every which way to escape Zarya's memories. After so many they almost started to confuse and hurt her head. She could only imagine what Zarya must have felt. She ran until she came to a dark hallway with various looking doors on each side. A few of them Zina tried but they wouldn't budge. The further down she went she found the silhouette of someone. They were reaching for one of the doors' knobs.

"Katia!" she called when her eyes made out the figure. The young dhampir jumped and retracted her hand as Zina approached. Her eyes widened slightly when she recognized the sigil burned into the wood. "What are you thinking, Katia? I would not imagine you don't know what that symbol means."

"I know very well who's name that sigil spells out," Katia quipped back sharply. "What if opening that door would give us some kind of advantage over Remiel?"

"If you open that door here it's almost a guarantee you will open it to yourself. You have to tread carefully in the psychic plane, Katia."

"Are you afraid for Zarya, myself, or you?"

Remiel stomped her foot down on Lucifer's throat. "Good to see that I can still toss you around a room and be channeling at the same time," she smirked. "It will not be long now before I wedge myself nicely into Nova's mind. I just need a little door that I can leave cracked open to walk in and out of anytime I please."

Zina had put her hand on top of Katia's and they turned the knob together. They were blinded by a bright light that nearly deterred them at first, but once they stepped in further they could see clearly. For a split second Zina's eyes glowed her deep red hue and Katia's their dark blue. It was a blank room filled with nothingness except the archangel on the floor. Neither ravenette hesitated in running forward.

"Are you seriously getting your ass kicked by your little sister right now?" Zina chastised as they grabbed each of Lucifer's arms and started pulling him up to his feet.

"Do not underestimate Remiel like the rest of us have," he told them grimly. "Get out of here before she ruins what's left of Rya's mind."

"She'll die if that happens and you know it," Katia barked. "I get that you don't do the whole teamwork ordeal but it is kind of all hands on deck right now."

He scoffed. "You're wasting your time, all of you. They thought I had everything thought out and gone mad from eons in Hell? That was nothing compared to what Remiel has become."

"Do something she wouldn't anticipate then!" Any other day Zina would have seriously decided against scolding the devil but she was willing to take her chances then. "Her fighting you is a distraction until it's too late."

His eyes widened with realization just then. Generally he would handle such abrasive attitudes by killing the mouths it came from, but they proved useful. At last they were able to stand and he put a hand on each of their shoulders. "Go find Nova before Remiel can overpower her too."

"What are you up to?" Katia questioned.

Lucifer smirked. "A little surprise for my baby sister."

When his hand shot out and gripped Remiel's ankle so tightly the bones nearly shattered, the younger archangel felt a bolt of panic strike her. Lucifer's eyes opened a bright scarlet and he flung Remiel off of him. Once he was back on his feet he brushed off some of the dirt. Remiel snarled as she got to her feet, glaring at him mercilessly. What deeply infuriated her, though, was when Lucifer looked her in the eye and smirked with more arrogance than she had rage.

"Not today, Remmy," he told her as he held his arms out at his sides. "And not ever."

She lunged for him when she realized what he was doing but it had been too late. A bright light and violent, piercing, ringing brought her to her knees and incapacitated her momentarily. As it all ended there was a light thud. Remiel let out an enraged scream when the body of Auriel Cressida laid unconscious on the ground. Lucifer had given her up and returned entirely to the Cage. She had to work harder on Nova then.

"Not my sister, feather brains; that's my job!" Zina shouted when they found Remiel and Nova.

Katia and Zina ran forward for Remiel and tackled her off of Nova. The oldest Romanian vampire stumbled back and to the ground. Everything was spinning and her head was pounding. For a moment her eyes flashed magenta before she fell onto the ground, her head doing a light bounce. While the mother and daughter got tossed around by a slowly weakening Remiel, blood started to drip from Nova's nose and ears. Outside in the real world the same had begun to Zarya's body. Remiel had Zina and Katia held off their feet by their throats. Nova's eyes kept flashing between violet and magenta as the blood flowing grew heavier. Zarya's amethyst eyes outside were fading into a light pink shade. Dean was growing concerned about the blood. Damon knew they had to continue, but the fear struck him when he noticed the same thing was happening to Nova's body as well.

As Nova's eyes fluttered closed everything went dark. Remiel let out another cry upon realizing how her plan had gone so wrong. Everything around began to crumble and quake. Zarya was dying. Zina, Katia, and Nova were thrust away from Zarya in the bunker basement suddenly, all three of them smashing against walls and crashing to the floor. Dean and Damon exchanged frantic looks before slowly releasing Zarya. She fell to her knees, held up partially and limply by the chains that kept her shackled. Dean moved quickly to unlock them but Damon decided the snap the chains instead because it was much quicker.

"Zare!" Dean shouted frantically as he held her limp form in his lap. "Zare can you hear me? She's not breathing!"

Damon had gone to check on the three women but turned his head to look over at the hunter. "Nova isn't either but Zina and Katia are just unconscious. If I give Zarya my blood to heal whatever happened it might be too late and it could turn her."

Dean looked down at Zarya with fear and uncertainty in his eyes. What the hell was he supposed to do? What had Remiel and Lucifer done to them?

Nova's eyes shot open and were staring up at a bright blue sky. She jumped immediately to her feet to find herself in some empty park. Her eyes scanned the area for some sort of explanation when she was thrown halfway across the park. Remiel stood above where Nova had stood with a smirk and her arms crossed over her chest. "My brother was too weak when it came to breaking down Zarya because he seems to have grown a consideration for the tiny human. Let us see if you can handle a real round with me."

The vampire laughed as she got back to her feet and brushed off the grass and dirt. "Give me a break. My twin sister I barely ever knew existed has come back from the dead and already tried a tirade on my mind. I went from being the very last Vasile to one of many who were placed her by a sick plot. I have seen much worse than you think you can put on me."

"You have seen some very dark aspects of the world, Nova. Seen the disturbance of humanity. I admire you for everything and everyone you have shredded through in making a name for yourself. Work with me and you can be a goddess of death."

She scoffed at first but it quickly turned into a loud, boisterous, and mocking laugh that made Remiel scowl deeply. "Sorry to break it to you, hot wings, but gods are nothing in my wake. I went up against Niklaus Mikaelson. I dare you to come after me. I am the thing that men fear."

The pair went back and forth landing blows and tossing one another across the park. When Remiel grew bored she grabbed Nova by the throat and slammed her head down on the wood base of the sandbox. Her legs kept curling up towards her as she tried to pry herself free. "Have you any clue what this place is, Nova? No, of course you wouldn't. You've all been forced into darkness and submission by the hands of my Father and brother. You are all clueless little imps. This right here," she gestured to the park and especially the sandbox, "is the door to Heaven. When they are least expecting it, I am going to march through wearing your face and tear through every angel who does not bow to me. Then I will clip Michael's wings just as he swore to do to mine."

Nova kept feigning choking under the archangel's grasp as her hands reached for her boots unnoticed. Remiel kept blathering away about her feelings. She almost couldn't resist a smirk when she felt exactly what she was hoping for in her heeled boots. Nova's hands ripped her daggers right out and she immediately got the upper hand. "You know I never did understand what made monsters quake so deeply beneath my blades, but all of those heartfelt feelings are going to get you nowhere, angel. Especially not with my face."

Remiel's eyes had widened at the sight of the little weapons. She had recognized them immediately. It almost pained her to see two of her arrows in such a state. "You want to know why monsters fear those blades? It is because they were fashioned from two of my arrows."

"So?"

"My arrows were my angel blade because I was special. They can kill anything except other archangels. If one so much as grazes your skin the wound becomes necrotic. Maybe when Zarya stops being such a coward she will learn the extent of her power, including while using my weapon."

"You just had to make it personal, didn't you?" Nova rolled her eyes. "Who knew angels had feelings? Now get the hell out of my head and leave us the hell alone. Or I'll use these on you in real life."

Remiel shook her head slowly without taking her eyes off of Nova's emerald ones. There really was no rhyme or reason to which Vasile got what physical traits from her or Lucifer. The only thing that was a given was half of them were hers, and half her brother's. And Nova Vasile had been born under Remiel's feather. She rose slowly and steadily which prompted Nova to step back with her blades. "You have no choice in the matter, Nova. While my brother might have weaseled his way into Zarya's head, I have a one way access to yours. You are not stronger than me."

"Did you miss the part where I said I challenged Niklaus Mikaelson? Turns out not even an Original can really compel me or keep me down." She smirked. "Then there was his brother Kol who sedated me with Deadly Nightshade. Thanks for that, by the way. Since you missed my standing toe to toe with the Mikaelsons I assume you also missed the theme to us Vasiles. You see, you worked so hard to make yourself this immortal stampede that will take the world and watch it burn, but what you failed to acknowledge is what aspect it is that makes us exactly who we are."

"Oh yeah? And what would that be?"

Nova smirked and spun her daggers between her fingers. "Defiance. Ambition. Rebellion. Sound familiar yet? Because I know plenty more words synonomic with those rather than 'hope'. It turns out you weren't so strong and all alone in creating our existence. While I was detoxing, I saw some shit that really messed me up. At first I thought it was drug induced hallucinations but I'm beginning to realize that they were much more than that. And that night that you used your feather and Lucifer's to save Runa and Saskia you screwed up. Your feather saved Runa's life and ensured her further immortality and slower rotting when you were gone, but his feather gave life to Saskia. His essence is what truly keeps us going. And this entire situation is fucked up."

Remiel snarled and Nova could have sworn she saw fangs in the archangel's mouth. "You speak as if you know but yet you continue to know nothing. You cannot resist me, Nova. You might very well be the strongest of all of my girls, but none of you are stronger than me."

"That's the thing though, Remmy," she smirked at the archangel's growing rage, "we don't have to be. You're trying so hard that it's going to ruin everything you tried so hard to accomplish. We're going to take the Earth and watch it burn, yes, but it will never be done solely in your name. We each have our own goals to accomplish and we certainly don't need you interfering with any of it. Why don't you just sit back and watch your beloved brother fawn for your human equivalent?"

Remiel lashed out in anger just like Nova figured she would. They went back and forth some more when Nova noticed the scenery was changing. She blinked and the park turned into a hallway filled with doors. Remiel grabbed her throat again and slammed her against a wall beside one of the doors. Nova could just barely see some lines etched into the door. It almost looked like Lucifer's sigil, but less lining. No, it was a pointed 'V' with the infinity loop beneath. She growled low in her throat as the veins appeared beneath her darkening eyes before shoving Remiel off of her and into the door across the way. Her head began to throb, the pain increasing at a dangerously fast rate. Something seemed to give her a pull but in what direction she wasn't certain.

That was when she heard them.