Alice…Alice…

Someone was driving a knife into my head every heartbeat. I moaned and turned my head aside. Metal as cold and hard as ice pressed against my cheek, but at the same time my hair was covered by another's head. Some strands fell onto my frozen cheek as the other person nuzzled closer. Xiaofang?

Please…wake up…Alice…

My head hurts, I told Koudelka. Leave me alone.

Xiaofang nuzzled even closer and I frowned. Why couldn't I hear his purr?

"Alice…" a voice croaked, inches from my ear. A woman's.

I drew away before turning around. I was sitting on a hard mattress full of lumps. Instead of Xiaofang there lay Koudelka, straitjacketed so she could not have shaken me awake.

"Is there a problem?"

The woman frowned. "Bacon said…uai's tri…captured you…"

"I haven't been captured." I shook my head. "Why did he say that? I'm at the Wuhan temple, actually, I just finished a trial with Xiao—oh," I murmured, suddenly remembering the way his body had dropped, like a puppet whose strings had been cut. "Oh." Xiaofang was dead. Dehuai had possessed him—killed him—and then…

…nothing. I must have been struck on the head; it would help explain this awful migraine. Dehuai had already broken the seal with Roger Bacon's help. If Roger Bacon was saying I was captured. I probably was. And what had happened to Margarete and Zhuzhen?

"Alice…the world…in danger," Koudelka breathed. Bound in the straitjacket and curled up, she seemed so small, though I knew her power was one of the greatest I'd seen. She was using so much of her energy to contact me, she must want me to do something.

"What should I do?"

"Call…sha…tell…"

"Call who?" I asked, forcing a smile. What did she expect him to do? Rescue me, after he had said Bacon's murder of my father had been justified in my capture?

"Sasha…he'll…"

"Who knows where he is," I said. "And who knows why he'd help. He's insane, Koudelka."

"If you'll…he will…"

"He won't do anything!" I winced as the migraine grew worse. Now the knife was hacking my brain to bits. "The only reason he helped me was because he wanted revenge," I said slowly. "You can call him more easily. You know how to get him worked up. I don't want anything more to do with him. And…I'll get out of this one myself."

Koudelka was lying on her back, the only comfortable position in which she could watch my face. At this her eyelids lowered in disappointment. Her face's color matched the dingy white sheets covering the bed. She was very exhausted, and here I was rejecting the advice she'd gone through all the trouble of giving. "I'm sorry, Koudelka."

Her lips pulled up for a second, but the brief resemblance resembled a grimace more than a smile. "Tried…both…are stubborn…" A breathy sigh came out before she turned her head away, and the room turned black.

This time I could tell I was awake because I was hanging upright—a painful position I was sure Koudelka would not have put me in. I opened my eyes and saw a blur. Everything was moving, and one blur was coming towards me. There was the thud of a wooden leg on the floor every other second. Dehuai.

I tested my magic, to see if I could call forth the energy to attack him…but I felt nothing.

He chuckled. "You'll find I control your magic now. The machine will siphon off your magic. It provides some reserve energy…keeps you in your place for the ceremony."

A machine? I tried to look at what I was strapped to. It seemed a long, narrow X with two thick black tubes extending from the front. I craned my neck to see what was behind, but failed. My arm was turning prickly from the cold machine and lack of circulation and I realized something was missing. Two things, from the absent weight around my neck.

"Where is my cross?" I demanded.

Dehuai snorted. "I've heard from Roger Bacon. I won't let some heathen magic interfere."

I had felt my father's spirit in it, but I had never seen it produce magic. What was he talking about? A mass of brown caught my eye. My trench coat was rumpled where it lay, in a corner of the room. "My coat has no magic," I muttered.

The warlock leered as he answered, "Ah, that I removed to make sure you were the woman I was looking for." As he spoke one of his steel claws lighted on my collarbone, trailing down and across to rest on top my breast. The blade was sharp enough that the slight pressure made blood well up where he had touched.

"G-get your hand off me!"

He removed the claw, but the smirk never left his face as he walked away. Clunk. Clunk.

I shivered out of cold and fear. Dehuai was not only a madman, but a lecher! All because of the bustier. I was never wearing one of these horrible contraptions again.

That brought me to the other contraption I was trapped in. My hands were bound at the wrist and my feet were held together by another band of metal.

Attempts to pull my hand out of the restraint made my wrist resemble raw meat; but after I had stopped struggling, white sparks rose from the exposed blood and healed the wound.

I looked down at my chest and saw the claw mark was nothing more than a white line. Hopefully it wouldn't be a scar.

What was I supposed to do? I couldn't use my magic, I couldn't move—even if Koudelka had called Sasha, I doubted he would help. Or be able to.

That left Zhuzhen and Margarete, who were probably buried under the ruins of Wuhan. Dehuai wouldn't have let them escape.

And Xiaofang, and Master Xifa…they were all dead. My eyes prickled as hot tears poured out. It was an awful way to go. Even then…I hadn't been able to help anyone.

"So this is his choice? A helpless little girl?"

"You're only human…it's not your fault."

Remembering Sasha's words, I knew which was true. It was all my fault. I was a helpless little girl. Why? Why hadn't I sensed Dehuai in time? If I had, Xiaofang might've been saved, and the temple wouldn't have been destroyed…now there was nothing I could do but hang here and wait for a ceremony that could destroy the world.

The tears slowed to a trickle, then stopped. My headache had died down to an occasional throb. I felt strangely exhausted, too tired to lift my head. The machine behind me thrummed with power, mine. Leech. I was attached to a leech of metal and spells. And it was making me…so very tired…

"Move it!"

"No pushing!"

"OW!"

"…that woman says she saw it. It looked like a bird—"

"—it was a man—"

"C'mon Petey, let me in, will ya?"

"Margarete?" I stood on my tiptoes, trying to see over the man in front of me. A shriek erupted from me when two hands suddenly hoisted me into the air. From this new vantage point I could see Margarete in a heated argument with a distinguished brown-haired gentleman. His long, droopy face seemed familiar.

"Paradise is not a place for harlots—"

"Alright, buddy, you call me harlot one more time and I'm gonna—"

I was lowered and turned around to see Sasha. He was grinning. "Loves to argue, doesn't she? I heard she's been holding up the line for hours now. Zhuzhen's getting exasperated."

"Margarete and Zhuzhen—they're alive?" I said in disbelief. I had seen Margarete with my own eyes, but I was doubting them; how could this be?

The fighter laughed. "Oh come on. You can't be here if you're in denial."

"About what?"

"Your death. That's why there's only about a million or so right now." He jabbed his thumb backwards, and I looked to see a line that stretched out forever across a white expanse. "You'd be surprised how long it takes for most people to come to terms."

"What happened?" I gasped.

His brown eyes widened as he regarded me. "Shit. You're serious? You were only, y'know, in the ceremony and all…"

"Dehuai's ceremony?"

"That'd be the one," he answered with a heavy tone of sarcasm. "Must've drugged you or something. He's already in hell. Omnicide seems to get you top priority around here."

"O-omnicide?"

"Blew the world to bits, I'd say that constitutes omnicide. I was in the sea when it happened, so I got steamed alive. Or maybe boiled. Never gonna eat lobsters again. I feel kinda sorry for them now."

"…Sasha, you can't eat anything anymore," I reminded him.

"Right, right! I keep forgetting that. Damn, that means I can't drink anymore, either!"

So at the gates of Paradise Sasha was mourning the earthly pleasures he'd lost. I thought he had a lot more to worry about, like his chances of actually getting inside heaven. But I couldn't possibly say that to him.

"So—everything's dead?" I asked. "Animals too?"

"Yeah. I don't know how anything would live through that. Maybe cockroaches—they live through everything." Sasha burst into a toothy grin as he thought of something. He turned back and cupped his hands over his mouth. "FOXIE!" he yelled, nearly drowning out Margarete's threat to stuff a grenade down Saint Peter's pants.

A man in a green army coat walked alongside the line. It was the man from the Fengtian sewers; though dead he still wore the white fox mask. "What?" he asked Sasha.

"Let's start another betting pool on whether cockroaches lived or not."

"Idiot," the man replied derisively. "Of course they didn't."

"Then I say they did," Sasha answered. Annoyed, the man flipped him off and started back down the line, but not before Sasha had returned the gesture. He faced me and raised an eyebrow to mimic my expression. "What?"

"Another?"

"Yeah, the first is on whether you'll be blamed for this mess too." My mouth fell open in astonishment, wanting to protest, but Sasha cut me off. "The argument is that it's your fault for not developing your powers enough to stop him. You know, parable of the talents and the ten virgins."

I knew. The parable of the talents was about a master who had given three servants talents, a type of money; the first two had doubled the amount given to them, but the third had done nothing with the money. That servant had lost the talent given to him. My power was of God; I should have been strengthening it for the Lord's purpose. The ten virgins had been guests to a wedding. Five didn't make it, because they had no oil for their lamps. They hadn't been prepared. Neither had I.

"Hey, hey. Don't be so glum. We all betted on heaven," Sasha told me, indicating the people in front of me: Xifa, Margarete, and Zhuzhen.

"Thank you."

"Don't thank me. I'm just making sure I win either way."

"How do you win if I go to Hell?"

"Well, I figure I'm going down there too, so we could share a pit…" he trailed off suggestively, with a small smile.

"So you can be my personal tormentor?"

"Ouch." Sasha made a most adorable pout, as if it had really hurt. "That sounded like something Quihua would say. You better not be picking up her shi—OW!"

This time the pain was genuine, as Quihua, who was standing right behind him, had kicked him hard in the back of his knee. Catching my eye the Chinese woman shook her head at the fallen man's idiocy before turning back to her father.

"Dummy," Margarete commented as she walked past. The blonde spy was scowling fiercely as she stomped down the line; apparently she had found Saint Peter impossible to persuade. The line shifted up one, then stopped again: this time both Zhuzhen and Xifa were quarreling with the gatekeeper now. I examined the man again and realized he reminded me of Father O'Flaherty, the man my father had worked with when I was a young child.

"Looks like he doesn't like heathens," said Sasha. "I'm definitely not getting in." He shrugged. "Oh well."

"Don't you want to go to heaven?" I asked, astonished by his nonchalance. "Your mother is there, isn't she?"

"Yeah…at least, she should be. If she isn't I'm going to have a serious talk with old Petey here." A smile lasted half a minute on his face before flickering. "I don't want to see her."

"You don't?"

"If I did, do you think I'd be a criminal?"

He had a point. "But she gave her life for you."

The Harmonixer was silent. Quiet enough that we could hear Margarete's and Foxie's war whoops could be heard while they were still half a mile down the winding line. At a quarter of a mile the cries stopped, but not even a glutton could have swallowed Margarete's broad grin.

"Bet you they're up to no good," Sasha offered.

"Sasha, I know they're up to no good."

The duo stopped by us, hiding behind Quihua and Zhen. Even Foxie's mask seemed to smirk. "Good, he's distracted." Margarete chuckled and then they tore off, veering away from Saint Peter's view.

"What are they going to do?" I wondered.

"I think Margarete's got something in her jacket."

She and Fox Face knelt by the gates, bent over something. Just what were they planning?

"Next," Father O'Flaherty- Saint Peter- bellowed. Zhuzhen and Xifa both looked distressed as they walked away. There was no one else in front of me. "Next!" His stern gaze settled on me, forcing me to walk those few last steps to stand in front of him.

Don't think of the betting pool don't think of the talents don't think

"Elliot, Alice."

I meant to say 'yes'. Instead I squeaked, my mind full of fire and brimstone. Behind me I could hear Sasha's laughing fit. The gatekeeper glared at me. I flashed back to when I had met Father O'Flaherty as a small five-year-old and was under the impression that he was some sort of divine bogeyman sent to punish disobedient little girls. I was getting the same feeling all over again with Saint Peter.

"Well then," he said in a disapproving tone, "Tell me how you died."

"I-I don't remember," I stammered. "I slept through it, you see, I think" What could I say? He already knew how I'd died, what did he ask for? As my stomach made its own noose I glanced at Margarete and Fox Face, desperate for a reprieve.

Saint Peter's gaze followed mine and his sallow cheeks flushed red. "What do you two think you are DOING!"

"Busted!" shouted Margarete. She and her partner redoubled their efforts as she chanted, "Set it set it set it!" Peter was storming towards them, spewing self-righteous invective that called the pair many unkind things. The two broke away just as Peter grabbed at Fox Face; the masked man slipped easily out of the long coat and ran as there was a deafening BOOM.

Saint Peter flew several feet, I fell back into Sasha's arms, and Foxie pitched forward, somersaulted, and continued running in his graceful, fluid movement. The spy was already out of sight, probably hidden in the crowd that surged towards the hole in the gates.

"...they just bombed the Pearly Gates," I murmured in dazed surprise.

The Harmonixer chuckled. "And she says she's not a terrorist."

For a crowd of over a million people, they filed through the gates in a matter of minutes. I spend the time waiting for the ringing noise to stop.

"Yuri!"

I felt Sasha lift his head and did the same. There was a woman standing in the gate's new hole, one hand resting on a crooked bar as she leaned out.

Sasha's arms tightened around me. "Mom…"

The woman smiled with bliss. "Yuri, I'm so glad you're back." With her reddish-brown hair, I could see how she was Sasha's mother. She tucked a strand back behind her ear and walked forward, her arms extended towards Sasha.

Despite his earlier reluctance, Sasha let go of me and stepped towards her. I wasn't surprised. After all, he hadn't seen his mother in fifteen years.

"Do you know where my father is?" I asked. If Sasha's mother was here for him at the gates, why wasn't my father here for me?

Her warm eyes examined me. "Morris Elliot?" I nodded. "I'm sorry dear, he's out on God's business."

"Oh. Then—" I bowed my head. "Then this isn't Paradise."

I was bound by ice again as I woke up. I shivered, my bare arms and legs freezing. I would've much liked to go back to sleep, given the alternative, but I wasn't drowsy anymore.

"Sweet dreams, I trust?"

My heart clenched as Dehuai approached the machine, stopping at a control panel.

"No wonder the machine stopped, the reserves are full. Excellent!" he exclaimed, his eyes gleaming. "But there is still time before the preparations are complete. Why don't I test your power?"

So speaking, he pressed a few buttons and then threw down a switch and the machine crackled with lightning. When the energy had gone out of me it had healed me; but now it returned with a vengeance. I screamed at the pain. It was not as excruciating as Li Li's magic, blessing and curse: it hurt less, but I was still conscious and aware that more was to come. And as long as I was in here, there was no way to fight back.

Dehuai's finger hovered over the panel when I struck on an idea. It was a mad idea that only a lunatic would try. It was also my only hope.

"You know," I said, trying to imitate Margarete's sultry purr, "this machine is pretty sexy." The words tasted foul in my mouth, but it stopped Dehuai. He turned a laconic eye on me.

"You must be a masochist. Here, enjoy this." He activated the machine again. This time the agony lasted longer and I gasped for breath when it was over. I should've known it wouldn't work, he had seen right through it. "Do you take me for a fool?" he asked. "Though I must admit, the idea is tempting…but I enjoy seeing you squirm in pain more," he said, stepping closer.

Childishly I spat at him, watching the spittle trail down his cheek. There was a curious tic under his left eye as he stared up at me. Razor claws slashed down my cheek and I cried out as the cold air stung my face.

"You damned heathens," he growled as he stumped back to the control panel. "So smug you think you can take over China. This is exactly why we need the Reverse Demon's Gate Invocation!"

I had little idea what he was ranting about. Politics only interested me if there was an exorcism involved, which was rarely the case. I couldn't even guess who exactly he meant by 'heathens'. Something else had caught my attention though.

"Why is it a reverse invocation?"

I was afraid for a second he might hurt me for the question, but instead he smirked, revealing sharp, yellowed teeth. "Because we are not bringing a god to life; we are bringing back a fallen god."

"'We' are not doing anything," I ground out.

"Your attitude disappoints me. You should be honored…but I suppose a heathen could not begin to comprehend the significance of this ritual."

"Other than you'll probably blow up the world, not really," I tossed back, my ire rising. To treat me as a heathen when he was doing something that might destroy all of creation!

His smirk turned even uglier as it twisted into a scowl. "I'll break that attitude of yours, woman." The switch was turned on and when I screamed, the pain began a crescendo, filling my entire body—how could my own magic hurt me so much?—and then my mind crumbled.

"Alice…Alice…"

My bones ached. I had the feeling I could not possibly move without falling apart, but slowly I did, choking on tears.

Koudelka's face was wan and tired. Was she sick? "Koudelka?"

Her face flickered and I realized her eyes were opened, ever so slightly.

"I'm here," she breathed.

"What's wrong, Koudelka? Are you ill?" I placed a hand on her forehead, forgetting it was a dream, and was surprised to find that I could feel her clammy forehead.

"I've used…a lot…my pow…fine…"

"Don't worry, she's a tough old witch."

Sasha's hand covered mine as he also touched Koudelka's forehead. "Besides, she could just stop giving me a migraine," he added ruefully.

My hand shot back and I stared at him. "You're—Koudelka called you—you're bleeding!"

"No, no, it's dried," he said, his hand moving to cover the tear in his shirt, "or at least, drying. Koudelka healed it."

"Who did that to you?" I asked. The blood stained too much fabric for his hand to possibly cover it all.

Sasha shook his head. "That's not important. Koudelka said you needed my help."

My eyebrows drew together. It wasn't important that it looked like someone had taken a knife to his chest? I wondered why my dream had made him so amiable when he was such an aggravation in real life. "Not like you would want to help me. You just want revenge."

"How the fuck does it matter why I want to help you?"

"Because you say it like you're actually worried about me."

"Well then, maybe I should just kick his sorry ass and leave you locked up wherever you are," Sasha said idly.

I never believed for a moment that he was serious, but I was in no mood for jests either. "Don't be such a fool," I snapped. "As if you could defeat Dehuai."

"A—Alice," the witch murmured, her eyes opening in her alarm. She had expected me to ask for help.

"No!" Why did she want Sasha to go so much? He wasn't strong enough to defeat Dehuai. "You'd be sending him to his death!"

"And what makes you so sure I'd lose?" Sasha retorted. "Wugui was easy enough."

"Your father beat Wugui too, didn't he? Look what happened to him! Zhuzhen, Margarete, Xifa—they're all dead—and Xiaofang! What can you do on your own!"

An angry flush touched Sasha's cheeks. "I'll show you," he answered. "I'm going."

His eyes grew dark, and the strands of his hair, even his skin. The last thing I saw as everything turned black was the bold stain on his shirt.

I was awakened by a surge of electricity that drew a scream from my lips. There was faint laughter and I opened my eyes to see Dehuai's wizened features. "Time to awake. The time is almost upon us!"

I remained silent. The wake-up call had been bad enough without being repeated.

"Why so quiet? You were very bold before. Or are you ignoring me?" he asked in a dangerous tone. All my muscles tensed as the Adept approached me, his good eye scanning my entire body. "You have caused me a lot of trouble, but you could be useful in more than one way."

I could already tell what he was thinking as he eyed the white ruffles on the bustier's bottom. "Don't touch me," I said. My voice shook from both fear and rage.

He smiled and tapped my chin with his claw so I was forced to keep my head up. The claw prodded me to turn each way. I felt his eye size me up as if I were some animal.

A light chuckle. "You are scared."

I closed my eyes as I felt his real hand touch my inside thigh. Get away from me. I tried to say it, but my tongue felt as though it were stuck to the roof of my mouth. Stop it stop it get AWAY—

There was a low rumble, and then a guttural shriek- I started and opened my eyes. What was that? A monster?

Dehuai swung around, his peg leg landing heavily on the metal floor. "That damned traitor!" he snarled. "Doesn't he know when to cut his losses?" The warlock stopped and listened; we could both hear a second shriek, one which sounded very human. "Hmph. The Yamaraja will make short work of him." But in spite of his own words, he hurried to the machine's controls and examined them, apparently wanting to get through the ceremony without any interruptions.

I sighed and shifted my arms as much as possible. They were sore from how long I had been hanging. I was grateful that Dehuai had been distracted, but if Sasha was really trying to fight a Yamaraja on his own, he would be slaughtered. Was he just looking to throw away his life?

Dehuai fiddled with the controls for a few minutes before walking to a set of stairs on my right side. The staircase must have circled behind me, because I could hear the peg leg pounding on each step behind me.

It was getting closer…the time of the ceremony. It might not work- my magic might not be strong enough- but either way I would be dead once everything was over. And Sasha would be too; his aura was steadily weakening. If he couldn't defeat the Yamaraja, how could he possibly stop Dehuai? Why had Koudelka been so determined to bring him here?

Unexpectedly, I felt the demon's aura flicker, like a candle flame. Someone had leveled a powerful flame spell against it. Did Sasha have a fire fusion? Or…was someone else helping him?

I had a new hope. If someone was helping him, maybe they would have a chance. But that Yamaraja could not be the only guard Dehuai had, and if Dehuai's preparations were finished soon, they would not be in time.

I was so tense from the heady mix of fear and hope my right calf cramped up. I hung on the machine for what seemed an eternity, expecting Dehuai's return any moment.

Eventually he did return. The wizard gave the instruments a last, cursory glance, then turned to me. "Time to begin."

"Alice!"

My heart rose so quickly I almost choked. I looked down the stairs. Sasha had called my name, but I first saw who had helped him defeat the Yamaraja.

"Margarete! Zhuzhen!"

Besides the spy and Adept, Sasha frowned. "The hell am I, chopped liver?" he asked.

Dehuai snorted and approached the top step of the staircase, leering down at them. "Congratulations," he said sarcastically. "You've made it to the top, despite rather heavy security! But no matter. You are too late!"

Zhuzhen walked forward, leaning heavily on his staff. "You never change, Dehuai. I'm ashamed to have a brother who's twice strayed from the right path. So, I figured I'd deliver those last rites I failed to deliver fifteen years ago."

The wizard laughed. "Still alive, eh, Zhuzhen? You look a bit unsteady though." He snorted as Zhuzhen wavered for a moment, wincing in pain. "No, you will lose, just as you did fifteen years ago. I'll make you beg for mercy- if you survive," he added cruelly. "This Invocation is quite different from last time, you see."

"There's not going to be an Invocation," Sasha declared.

"Detestable harmonixer…son of that monster, Hyuga! You could have lived, but like your father, you defy me. Kuihai tower will be your grave!" he snarled.

From our platform above my companions, Dehuai began an incantation, summoning a demon. Before Sasha could make it up the stairs, a green-furred monster appeared at the top. It growled and charged the fighter. Half the creature's size, if that, Sasha was forced down by the monster's sheer bulk.

A gunshot rang out and the beast howled before erupting into flames. Zhuzhen's magic didn't seem to harm the Fire-classed beast much, but it gave Sasha enough time to fuse. I winced at the horrible scream from him. He sounded like he was in a lot of pain.

As the hulking green monster continued to push them back down the stairs, I lost sight of the battle. Dehuai stood at the top of the staircase; an ugly sneer contorted his features as he watched the fight. Margarete's gunfire kept up a steady rate and from the chorus of growls and shrieks I could tell Sasha's fusion was going toe-to-toe with the monster.

I kept an eye on Dehuai's expression to track who was winning. The cocky sneer had faded. His forehead was creased as he thought out his next move- his monster would not be victorious. His clawed hand trembled with rage. Dehuai would not let anyone destroy his plans, and yet it seemed he had run out of minions. He would fight them next.

I closed my eyes, trying to shut out the sounds of battle. Please God, I pleaded, keep them safe. Help them win. They had to win, if He had saved them from being crushed in Wuhan temple; it seemed the first miracle He'd wrought in this nightmare.

The creature screamed and its body fell to the floor with a sickening thud. The tall monster I could just see, his head and shoulders licked by flames, disappeared to show Sasha's face. He was panting from exertion but taunted Dehuai: "What's with these small fry? They won't even buy you time!"

"Ah, but it wouldn't be fun if I didn't try!" the warlock answered. Satisfied that Sasha was indeed exhausted from his fusion, Dehuai turned and approached me. "And now," he enthused, "It is time for the Valorization to begin-!"

Oh, no. My throat was completely dry. This couldn't be true; they hadn't come so far just to be moments too late.

"H-hey old timer, Valorization went out of style a long time ago!" protested Margarete. She was ignored as Dehuai stood in front of the control panel.

"Alice!" He had a triumphant smirk. And why not? He had won. "The time to awaken the power that sleeps within you has come! The four gods are sealed!" From past the stairs I could hear Sasha's cry of pain, signaling a new fusion. I didn't see what it was, my eyes riveted on Dehuai's ugly face. "I call upon thee with storm, fire, and quake! Let the Valorization commence!"

He pressed a button and the machine whirred to life. Suddenly I could feel the drain, not just on my magic- but on my life. I screamed at the pain of both being torn from me and heard my scream mingle with Sasha's shriek of rage. My eyes were screwed up in the pain. For a short while I struggled in the machine in a last, desperate attempt to escape, but after a few moments I lacked the energy to even cry out. The initial pain had passed; my magic was completely gone and I could dimly sense a new aura that dwarfed all others: Dehuai's god. It rose as the yells and screams and gunshots continued, feeding off of my life. I only dangled from my restraints. Everything was cold, the metal floor was turning to black; even the sounds of battle, which had to be loud, sounded as if it came from miles away…this was the end…Dehuai's god was coming…with death.

A distant roar made me realize just how quiet the last moment had been. There was a crash and the machine's drain ceased. I opened my eyes and saw blue, glittering scales. The lizard-like fusion soul in front of me shifted on his feet constantly- and everything else shifted too. The cuffs around my wrists and ankles opened with a click and I fell forward into the fusion's arms. I was already shivering, and the fusion made me feel even colder. But it was impossible to stand or move away. I wanted warmth, needed it, so that when the fusion disappeared I clung to Sasha and basked in his bare skin's warmth.

"Woah, I kind of like that- Oh." A note of surprise and panic had entered Sasha's voice. "Oh fuck, Alice, you're really freezing. Alice?"

"You're warm," I murmured, finding the words hard to push past my chattering teeth.. He shifted to look at Zhuzhen and Margarete and I staggered. Sasha tightened his grip.

"She's had all the life sucked out of her," Zhuzhen noted, alarmed.

"You're telling me, she's colder than a corpse!"

He sounded panicky. That wasn't very much like him. But before I could even think of mentioning this, Sasha was kneeling and laying me out along the floor. Sasha threw a chain over my head—it must have been my father's cross, because it felt warm and gave me a sense of peace. Zhuzhen's hands, slightly clammy, rested on my forehead as he chanted. Margarete laid the trench coat over me. "Come on Alice, keep your eyes open," she gently prodded.

I shook my head. Every time I tried my eyelids would just sink down again. "You should…go…stop Dehuai…"

"There's nothing I can do," Zhuzhen said gravely. Sasha spat out a bitter expletive and then groaned. In the back of my mind there was a quiet thrum filled with static.

Please… A fire lit in my heart, warming me. Just a little of my strength… her voice spoke, spreading the heat through me to the tips of my fingers. The flames intensified, eating away the awful cold. But just as I felt my strength return, the flames faltered. For a little longer they continued- and then, with another flicker, they died completely.

"Koudelka!" I shouted and sat up. Margarete stared at me.

"Feeling better?" she asked, completely nonplussed for the first time I'd known her. She turned her deep blue eyes on Sasha, still on the floor in pain. "What was that?"

"Koudelka. She was trying to heal me. But she-"

"-fainted," said Sasha, "like she almost made me." At this he winced. "Ah, that hurts. That really hurt. You all right Alice?"

I nodded. "I'm just a bit tired really."

Zhuzhen knelt by me and cast a healing spell. Liquid flames trickled down my throat, bitter but refreshing.

"That stuff is nasty. It burns your throat," Sasha commented.

"I won't heal you next time, then." With a hand on my elbow the Adept helped me up. I was still a bit woozy, not from fatigue but from the dizzying sense of coming so close to death. Sasha also pushed himself off the ground and stood. His face was pale.

"You don't look well."

"Coming from the girl who nearly died."

"You almost died too," Margarete reminded him. "Guess how we found him," she continued, glancing at me with amusement.

"Fighting a Yamaraja on his own, just to prove me wrong."

His face turning pink, Sasha started to speak before grinding his teeth. "If everyone's healed, we have a mad warlock over our heads," he said pointedly.

I nodded, slipping my trench coat on and buttoning it up. That had upset him…though, the only other motive I could attribute to him was revenge. That still wasn't a good reason for him to get himself killed, which he could have if not for Margarete and Zhuzhen. "The machine's transferring energy above, but it's not enough, so we have a little time," I explained, gesticulating as I rapidly searched with my 'demon eyes', "but we need to act soon, or else he might figure out a way…are there other people here?"

"What?" Zhuzhen exclaimed. "No, it's just us."

It felt like there were people very near us. Dehuai's people? I walked to the edge of the platform and looked over the metal railing. Below me two soldiers stood at attention, their rifles held stiffly over their chest.

I gasped and backed away, praying to God they hadn't seen me. Surely they must have heard us though. Margarete raised an eyebrow at my behavior and also looked over.

"Oh." She turned to Zhuzhen and said simply, "Kawashima followed us here."

"What should we do?" I asked.

Sasha cracked his knuckles, seeming cheered by the new predicament. "Beat 'em up, o' course."

"Now hold on a minute," Zhuzhen told him. The elder shook his head. "That's right, neither of you two know. The smugglers were spies from the Japanese army."

"We knew they were fishy, right, Alice?" Margarete said to me.

I nodded, feeling a little shaky. "S-so what are they here for?"

"To help us, I guess. They're the ones that dug us out of the Wuhan ruins. We both have Dehuai as our enemy. They won't harm us. In fact…" The spy leaned over the railing, her thick blonde hair weaving in and out of the bars. She called the soldiers' attention and spoke in Japanese.

"We don't have time to be shopping," Sasha muttered.

"Hey, dummy, you're the one who used our last mana leaf. We're about fresh out of healing herbs." Margarete turned to Zhuzhen. "They've got supplies, but they're gonna make us pay."

Zhuzhen sighed. "So much for 'help'." They both started down the stairs and I followed.

Sasha's light steps were not far behind. I wondered what I should say to him, if anything. I knew Zhuzhen and Margarete were happy to see me well…was he? When I had practically kicked him out at Shanghai?

That had been his own fault though. He was the one who said my father's death was…but if he thought death was fine, why had he sounded so worried just moments before?

Zhuzhen began his purchase, with Margarete serving as translator. Sasha was standing next to me, and when I opened my mouth to speak-

"So how are you holding up?" he asked. "You just got the life sucked out of you."

"I'm really fine, since Koudelka healed me."

"Did Dehuai do anything?"

"Why are you so worried?"

I cupped a hand over my mouth. I hadn't meant to say that out loud.

Sasha folded his arms. The clothes he had gotten in Shanghai were now quite ragged, especially his red shirt, soiled, torn, with the large rip blossoming in blood.

"You look like you've had enough to worry about," I added, hoping to soften my words.

"This isn't much. Didn't even go in right."

"Didn't go in right-?" The meaning of his words hit me. I could feel the blood draining from my face. "Oh, Sasha, you didn't-"

"Yeah, I did. And Koudelka forced a healing on me. Now did Dehuai do anything? And don't tell me 'nothing', I've known the bastard for fifteen years."

"There's nothing on my face, then?" Dehuai had slashed me on the cheek- I thought Sasha, or someone, would have noticed it by now.

Sasha surveyed my face closely. "This?" He touched the side of my face gingerly and I winced, expecting pain but not feeling any. "It's just a little lighter than the rest of your skin. If you were any paler I'd say you were a vampire."

I relaxed, glad that the scar wasn't obvious. Sasha's fingers, rough as sandpaper, lingered on my cheek. Glancing at him, I reassured myself that his eyes were still brown, not amber nor crimson red. He caught my gaze and flushed red.

"Sorry," he said, stuffing his hands in his pockets. "I'm sorry."

"Sasha? Are you all right?" His mood seemed to be changing precariously.

"…and why are you worried about me? I thought you were mad at me."

I bit my lip. "And just because I'm mad, I can't be worried?"

Sasha chuckled and turned away. "All right. Well, I've been either haunted or hallucinating…got shredded by a Yamaraja…got whacked by a monsters- never mind- …I've had better days. I'm glad though," he added suddenly.

"For what?"

"Hey kiddos!" Margarete called. Sasha started and looked at her like she had appeared from nowhere. "We've got everything, let's go!"

"You up to fighting?" Sasha asked me. I nodded and he chewed his lips, thinking as we climbed the stairs. "All right, but stay behind me or Margarete. You get hurt and we're down a healer."

He really was concerned for me. I laughed and shook my head. "I'll never understand you."

"Good, 'cause I don't understand myself either."

With that, he took the last few steps up to the roof and disappeared. I followed.

Dehuai stood in the center of a massive seal. Its insidious design in dark blood red and black covered nearly all of the roof, except for the corners. In each corner a metal spire stood, directed skywards into the tower's center.

"It's over, Dehuai," Sasha stated confidently. "You don't have enough energy for your god, and you're not going to get more."

Dehuai cackled, even now unafraid. "Fool! The time is at hand!"

I quickly looked around, but nothing seemed to be changing. Zhuzhen had a look of astonishment as he murmured, "The Mandela of Hell is drawn! The Vessels of Gods of the Four directions face the heavens! So this is why you soiled the Nine Heavens' most sacred ground…" With each statement he directed more of his attention and voice to Dehuai. "The most secret magic of all…I understand now, Dehuai. Even I understand now…"

"Correct!" the other Adept said. "The ultimate skill of Nine Heavens' Taoist magic! The Reverse Demon's Gate Invocation!" As he spoke light gathered from the spires above him, but Dehuai himself glowed a bright red. He cackled as I heard Margarete reloading another cartridge. "Prepare yourself, traitor! The power of heaven- the power of GOD fills my body! Let us settle the score, before I create a new world!"

I clutched the Tome of the Moon as the red energy swallowed up Dehuai's body and grew, into a monstrous shape. Margarete shot the head, her pullet piercing the layer and revealing the demon inside.

A fearsome set of claws reached towards Margarete as a huge monster charged her. She fired off another shot before the Yamaraja struck.

I cried out when I saw the spray of blood, but something more horrifying was happening. Instead of blood, a shower of pebbles sprayed across the rooftop with a clatter. Margarete herself stood rigid, a gray statue.

Oh my dear god, a voice in my head gibbered. The Yamaraja raised his hand high above her head, about to smash the statue- then a large bird swooped into my view, its claws out for the demon's eyes. The Yamaraja shrieked and grabbed one of the bird's talons and pulled the bird down with a huge tug. Zhuzhen in the meantime had run to Margarete and struck her statue with a fang. The stone on her skin chipped and fell away, showing Margarete beneath the layer. She grasped her wound and Zhuzhen began to heal it. I remembered the bird- Sasha. He had changed fusions again, back to the monster swathed in flames. Three of his four arms pummeled the Yamaraja; the fourth hung limp and useless.

"Cure," I said, focusing on the limb. Sasha lifted it and his attack became stronger, more focused.

Margarete and Zhuzhen were both fine. Time, then, for an offense. Focusing on the five-horned demon, I cast Blessed Light. The demon recoiled from the blow, white sparks piercing its coarse black fire. Gunfire rang out as Margarete took advantage of the monster's pain.

The tall demon growled when another bullet pinged against his hard horn. Sweat dripped down my face as flames rose around us in a wall and blocked the demon from view. Instead of the Yamaraja I found myself staring at a dragon's head, composed completely of flame.

It hovered over us menacingly, but there was some portion of my mind wondering why Dehuai's dragon did not resemble a Chinese dragon. It looked more like a European one. Then its mouth opened and all thought fled. I tried to dodge, but its fiery breath burned my legs. I fell and grit my teeth against the raw pain. I cast my healing spell, hearing Zhuzhen casting his own for Margarete. She and Sasha continued to attack Dehuai together,Sasha having suffered little harm from the fire. But the demon's overwhelming size made it difficult for Sasha to fight him and his thick dark skin took much of the damage from Margarete's bullets. The demon struck back at Sasha with a vengeance. On one swipe, the magic within his claws took effect; the flames of Sasha's fusion were extinguished as his skin turned gray. I saw Zhuzhen run forward to heal the ailment, but the Yamaraja turned and struck him hard. Zhuzhen fell on his back, already petrified.

Margarete swore and called to me. "Alice! I'll draw him back, you see if you can get the imp fangs!"

Imp fangs? I nodded and Margarete fired at the creature's crown, taunting it to catch her as she backed away. As soon as Dehuai turned away, I approached Zhuzhen. When I touched the bag at his side, I discovered that everything he had held had turned to stone with him. There was no way I could get the imp fang.

"Alice, hurry up!" the spy shouted. She had been boxed into a corner and was quickly unloading her gun on the demon.

I placed my hands on the hard folds of Zhuzhen's robes and concentrated. Since this was done by magic, couldn't I heal it with my own? "Cure," I whispered, fervently hoping it'd work.

Nothing happened. "Hold on!" What could I do? My father could heal natural poisons, but magical ailments?

I closed my eyes to focus. Focus on the magic that had cursed Zhuzhen and how I could purge it. Behind me there was a short scream and I shivered but remained still. Margarete was not dead but her aura was different. She must have been petrified as well. Claws scraped against the tower as the demon came back; I had to heal Zhuzhen or it would be all over soon.

My magic finally succeeded. Zhuzhen's robes turned soft and I hastily rooted in his bag to find an imp's fang for Sasha- but just as I grabbed hold, I was lifted into the air by my ankle. When I struggled the large fist tightened around the joint and I stopped, afraid he would break it.

Dehuai's glare at me was interrupted when Zhuzhen's staff hit the demon squarely in the crotch. Howling, he dropped me and the landing scratched up my arms and legs.

"Thank you!" I gasped. The Adept didn't respond, too involved in casting his fire spells at the gargantuan. I clutched the imp fang, nearly dropped before, and looked around. Margarete stood by one of the metal vessels, past Dehuai's hulking form; Sasha was only a few strides away.

Once struck with the magic fang, the stone immediately fell away. Flames sprang up around the Fire-based monster, making me back away. Before I could say or do anything, Sasha fell down and disembodied. His arms were trembling.

I turned around and saw Zhuzhen using all his strength to stave off the monster, only narrowly avoiding its deadly grasp.

"Zhuzhen! He needs a pure leaf," I called as I lifted my tome. Just as he cast his spell, I also cast my Blessed Light spell. The combination knocked the demon to one knee. "I'll hold him off!"

Zhuzhen backed off slowly, apparently leery of leaving me alone, but soon enough my spells were the only things holding Dehuai off. Unable to stop him, they merely slowed his advance. He was soon towering over me- I backed away as he raised his cursed claws, though I was trying to summon a spell I feared it would be too late-

Something hit me hard in the side, knocking all the air out of me. I gasped as Sasha stifled a cry and we both fell to the ground. Zhuzhen's flame spell passed directly over us to his target Dehuai, forcing him back.

"Sasha!"

His back was bleeding, a superficial wound. Before I could heal it, the fighter moved back from me with a smile, disquieting in the fact that I could find no reason for him to be smiling. Amber eyes stared back at me. "Are you fine?"

"Sasha, you-"

"Save it, I gotta take this." Holding up an Imp's fang for me to see, he put the small fang between his teeth and fused into the birdlike fusion from before and flew off.

You shouldn't be fighting. The last time I had seen those eyes he had almost killed me and himself. This fight had to end soon. "Blessed Light!" I yelled, my voice joining Zhuzhen's. On the other side of the Yamaraja the bird circled the metal vessel and Margarete, trying to land on the narrow strip before the edge.

I summoned all my energy for the next spell, my own and the strength Koudelka and Zhuzhen had given me. At the same moment we cast our spells. The demon Dehuai fell onto one massive knee. A shot rang out, and then he fell flat on the ground, a tremor running through the tower.

Margarete blew the top of her gun's barrel. "Hee hee. I got the last shot." Next to her Sasha disembodied, a scowl on his face. Already weak before the battle, I now felt drained and fell to my knees.

"Are you all right?" Zhuzhen asked, his hand lighting on my shoulder. I nodded.

"Just tired."

Reaching us, Margarete said, "Alice…you shouldn't push yourself so hard."

I smiled at her, to show her I was truly fine. Then I saw Sasha. He had not rejoined us, but was standing over the warlock- and the warlock was trying to rise.

He moaned and spat out blood. "Fifteen years- fifteen years-! My, my dream…how dare you get in my way," he growled, slowly pushing himself up. Sasha put a boot on his back and casually, savagely, pushed him back down.

"Stay down," said the fighter. "I like seeing you writhe in the dirt, Dehuai. You look just like the worm you are."

The warlock laughed. It was a weak, bubbly sound and ended in more blood spat up. "I the worm…and you, b-boy…" Despite his naked fear, his voice still held a note of derision. "What are you, to have served this worm…?"

It was the last thing he said. Sasha drove his claws through the warlock's throat. Then, as if he didn't believe the wounds mortal, kicked the old man over. By the time he pierced the corrupt heart, Dehuai was already dead.

"What were you going to say?" he hissed at the corpse. "What am I, huh?"

"A traitor, of course."

I shook at the voice. Educated, cultured, the epitome of evil, that voice spoke one name.

"At least, that is what Dehuai would have said." Roger Bacon appeared with a haze around him. His icy blue eyes were focused on Sasha. "I've yet to hear you account for yourself."

Sasha stared at Dehuai's corpse, seeming afraid to answer the brusque question. "I…well. I attacked you and killed the guy-" he kicked the corpse "-you were trying to help. I suppose that'd make me a traitor."

No, no, I wanted to say, that makes you right.

"I'm not so sure," Bacon mused. "You fell to the witch's enticings, yes. I've seen it before. And I was interested in the experiment, not that pitiful ant."

Experiment? Ant? As I heard these words a fury clutched my gut. If he thought Dehuai was an ant he must think the same of us, and if I was so worthless he had killed my father merely for the sake of an experiment. But I could do nothing in my state but watch and listen as Roger Bacon trivialized all the hardships we had gone through.

"The spires still crackle with power…they just need a little more."

"No!" Sasha shouted. Bacon halted the spell he had begun. The outburst had startled him.

"No?" A vague frown appeared on his face. "You mean to sabotage the experiment itself?"

"It's not-" The bedraggled, bloodstained fighter broke off and turned in a circle, his amber eyes searching for something. When they found nothing he turned back to Bacon. "It's not necessary. You don't need it. Your own god- this is nothing to him, right?" His arms swept around to indicate the entire roof, the metal vessels and the Mandela of Hell.

Bacon's own god? Was Bacon planning to bring forth a god, just as Dehuai had tried? I looked at Zhuzhen, but he seemed every bit as surprised as me.

"True. But an analysis of Dehuai's Invocation would greatly assist my own summoning. And if this god can accomplish my purpose, well," he said with a smile that on anyone else would have been charming, "I'll have no complaints."

Opposite of him, Sasha had been silent, considering. He scuffed his boot against the stones. Then his fists tightened and he looked up. "And if he doesn't accomplish what you want, no complaints either, right?"

"I…suppose," Roger answered, his eyes narrowed. It was the first time I had seen him hesitant.

"Then summon him."

"Kiddo, you looking to get us killed?" yelled Margarete, striding forward.

Sasha turned to us and smiled at the angry blonde. "Hopefully not. But fifteen years is a long time to waste, so close to revenge."

"You've got your revenge. Dehuai's dead."

"Half of him was already dead," he answered, nudging the metal claws that had once struck fear into me. Now they lay sprawled, harmless. "And a god was summoned then. My father couldn't control it. But I will."

I stared at him, wondering if he was serious. He intended to fuse with what he considered a god, for…what reason…?

"Your father is dead," Zhuzhen said heavily. "It won't do you any good to one-up him."

"It'd prove I'm stronger than he ever was. Maybe he'd get the hint and not fucking haunt me for his failures." He turned to Roger Bacon. "Now are you gonna finish this experiment anytime soon?"

The seeming gentleman did not make a move but to shake his head. "There's no dissuading you, is there?"

"Not likely. But, don't worry. I'll be back in London in time for tea."

London? Did he mean that Roger Bacon lived close…to my old home?

Bacon regarded Sasha for a moment and then nodded his assent. The warlocks' hands made fists glowing with power, and the spires' crackling grew louder, each spark intensifying. Zhuzhen shouted a curse as the light between the spires culminated, unleashing strong winds, and a god appeared.

The god hung in the air above the tower, held up by its own power and not its wings, which draped down lazily. Its feet dangled down, one nearly touching Dehuai's corpse.

I swallowed, my throat turning dry as I felt the giant's power washing over me. Heedless of the danger, Sasha took off running. He was running to the god.

"Sasha, stop!" I shouted. Zhuzhen, holding me up, was also holding me back. "It's not going to work!" He couldn't fuse with the monster, so much stronger than the other creatures he had used. But who could stop him? My eyes fell on Roger Bacon. "Stop- Stop him!"

The warlock only looked at me. "It's his decision."

I felt ill asking help from my father's murderer, and he had the audacity to look so sad when he was refusing to do anything! I wrenched my eyes away from him, back to the god. Sasha had disappeared, presumably into it, and it seemed calm. Its aura at first seemed to be Sasha's, but then I realized the attempt had been the same as adding a drop of ink to a cup of water. At first the water turned black, but now the ink- Sasha- was fading…

The god's eyes opened and its clawed hands extended. As it languidly stood, I saw for the first time through misty eyes that it had a feminine form.

"Zhuzhen- Zhuzhen, he lost- ah!" I screamed and clapped my hands over my ears as the shriek began- a long, high screech, unleashing waves of power, stronger than ever. The building shuddered and Margarete grabbed my arm, pulling me into a run as Zhuzhen stood. We ran for the stairs. At the top I looked back. For a brief instant I saw the side of Bacon's face; as he gazed up at the god he was- crying?

And then they were gone. Margarete's viselike grip on my hand forced me to run, even if my body felt ready to collapse. With flames all around and the ground shaking beneath them, my legs would have buckled if given enough time to, but the spy never let up. My lungs were burning, especially as smoke entered them and I coughed.

Finally we reached the bottom of the tower and ran out. I fell to the ground, gasping for air, and then got on my knees. The soldiers were already assembled and the female 'smuggler', now dressed in uniform, looked at us. "We need to evacuate. Now."

It was then I realized it was not just Kuihai tower that was on fire. It was the entire city. There were huge clouds of smoke rising up, obscuring the sun. Dehuai's god was gone. People were starting to flood the streets, running from their houses, and I felt my stomach clench. Everyone was panicking, and I could feel that fear flooding into me.

Zhuzhen's eyes took in the destruction. "Not again," he said softly. "I have to find Quihua and Zhen," he said before taking off. Margarete followed, and I also followed, much slower in my fatigue.

"Get her," I heard the woman say. An arm wrapped around my waist while the other lifted me up into the air. My bible hit the man's face, but he easily wrenched it away. It was the man who had accompanied her on the boat, his now bruised chin easily recognizable.

"Let me go! Margarete, Zhuzhen! Put me down!"

The man held me tight and fell into a march behind the other soldiers. When I craned my head to look over his arms, I could not even see Margarete or Zhuzhen in the crowd. There was so much confusion and screaming my shouting would never have reached them.

"We're going to get you out of the city," the man said.

I glared at him. He actually seemed sincere, they were helping me get out because I was too weak, but then again he was just taking orders from his superior, and how should he know what she was thinking?

But then, she also would have been the one to save Zhuzhen and Margarete from the rubble of Wuhan temple. She could not be all that bad. As the heat increased and the sky above filled with more darkness, I grasped my cross, trying to calm down, rubbing its curved ridges- curved?

The cross around my neck was silver, not gold. It was Sasha's mother's cross. I gasped. When I had thought he was putting my father's cross on me, he had put this one…and then…where was my father's cross? I panicked until I realized it had been right on top of my coat, and he could not possibly have missed it. My father's cross was nestled safely in one of the pockets, and I clutched it in my right hand with an immense feeling of relief.

My left hand rested on Sasha's mother's cross. He had tried to give it to me in Shanghai, and it occurred to me it had not been a bribe then, simply a gift. I clutched the cross tight. The warmth of both crosses was soothing. I tried to stay awake, knowing I was not yet out of danger, but it was too late. Exhaustion and fatigue made me fall asleep in the soldier's arms.

Author's Note: I am really sorry about how long it took to update this. Most of it (up until when they run from the tower) has been written since January, but it just never got typed up. Until now.

And right now I want to thank MikoNoNyte for being patient enough to listen to me babble and then help me understand things like why Shanghai was on fire at the end when SR didn't use fire attacks and how I could make certain plot points work.