Raelle was about to strike Scylla in anger but when she heard the brunette call out her name, she hesitated. "Scyl?" She saw dark blood flowing down the brunette's nose.
"Raelle, get out of there!" Abigail ordered urgently as she came back into view of the screen. "Hearst has escaped and is going to blow up this place!"
Raelle felt the floor shake and hoped that her friends got out in time. She felt successive shakes and it was getting nearer. She looked down at Scylla's eyes which she recognized and pulled off the neck brace so she could fix her. "Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life." She began to chant repeatedly as she tried to heal Scylla. She could feel the witch plague fight her but she redoubled her effort to pull it out of Scylla before losing consciousness.
.
Scylla regained consciousness just as Raelle lost hers then she felt the floor shake. She quickly guessed they were in danger and quickly pulled Raelle beneath the metal slab as the ceiling collapsed around them. She also worked to create a barrier to protect them in case the slab collapsed as well. She prayed to the goddess for strength to keep working until Raelle woke up. She reached over and tried to shake the blonde awake. Both actions were making her energy ebb fast but she kept at it.
Raelle slowly opened her eyes and saw familiar blue eyes lovingly staring back at her. "Scyl?" She tentatively reached for her hoping that she had fixed her.
Scylla smiled weakly and radiated as much love as she could muster to let Raelle know she was cured. She tilted her head into Raelle's hand but continued to keep the protective barrier up to give the blonde time to recover.
Raelle sat up and hit the side of her head on the bottom of the slab. "Ouch!" She rubbed the impact point and turned to crouch over Scylla. "Is it really you?" She was overjoyed when she saw the brunette nod.
"Raelle, I need help," Scylla managed to say in between her work. She watched as Raelle looked around and understood what needed to be done.
Raelle began what first sounded like windshear to Scylla before it added more layers that created a bright bubble that grew bigger to envelop the existing but slowly fading barrier. "I've got this now."
Scylla smiled having stopped her work as soon as Raelle began hers. She knew she had to make things right quickly. "I'm so sorry, Raelle. I couldn't fight it. I didn't mean any of that …" She felt tears well up in her eyes.
"Nothing that happened while that thing was in you mattered," Raelle insisted, looking at the now hardened tapeworm with witch plague trapped inside. She had the urge to smash it to tiny pieces but refocused her attention on Scylla who was feeling bad about being under its control. "I still love you." She gave Scylla her most charming smile to reassure her that they were alright.
"Kiss me," Scylla requested weakly. She was glad when Raelle obliged her. She knew she would remember that moment forever.
Raelle shifted and looked around them again. "Any ideas on how we'd get out of here?" She waited for an answer but when none came, she looked at Scylla's unmoving form. "Scyl? Scylla? No, no, no …" She held Scylla's hand in hers trying to link with her but was unable to. She cried over Scylla's lifeless body but with each sob she got angrier and angrier until she screamed loudly making her bubble grow bigger and electrified. She got up and picked up Scylla's limp body and started to leave the rubble behind.
.
Raelle didn't know how but she just managed to walk out of the cavern regardless of the debris blocking her way. She finally saw the natural light when she was outside and her bubble faded.
"Oh, my goddess," Tally rushed to her side and hugged her. "You're alive!"
Raelle turned to her and then saw the rest of them safely outside including Eve. She was glad that they were alright but suddenly felt weak and fell to her knees but never letting Scylla go in the process.
"How is she?" Abigail asked, joining them and wondering why Scylla was still unconscious if Raelle managed to fix her.
"She's gone," Raelle said, trying to hold it together. "I tried to save her."
"We know you did," Anacostia consoled her. "And she knows that, too."
"Where is he?" Raelle asked, recomposing herself.
"He escaped," Anacostia continued. "We're waiting for our helicopter to go after him. It won't be long now; we won't let him get away."
"Don't leave her here," Raelle said quietly. "Promise me."
Abigail and Tally both nodded not knowing what Raelle was about to do next.
Raelle gently lowered Scylla to the ground and gave her one last kiss on her forehead before lifting off the ground in pursuit of Hearst.
"Whoa, how is she doing that without salva?" Tally exclaimed while Raelle was still within earshot.
"Where are you going?" Abigail asked telepathically.
"I'm going to end this once and for all," Raelle replied back without looking back. "He will pay for what he did to Scylla with his life."
.
Scylla looked around her and remembered how Raelle described her surrounding when she was being tortured by Hearst. But it confused her since she knew she was nowhere near Hearst and the last thing she remembered was Raelle giving her a kiss.
"Whoa, how is she doing that without salva?" a familiar voice said.
Scylla looked around; she recognized that voice as Tally's but couldn't find her. "Tally?" She called out hoping the redhead would reveal herself.
"She's not here," Willa replied, coming up behind her.
"Where am I?" Scylla asked her, bewildered by Willa's presence.
"We are trying to heal you," Willa revealed. "You need to go back and help Raelle."
"Is she hurt?" Scylla asked with alarm in her voice. "She was fine when I last saw her." She worried that Hearst may have caused more damage that Raelle's bubble couldn't withstand.
"Yes, she's fine," Willa assured her. "But Alder has managed to channel herself into Raelle through her grief of losing you and is going after Hearst."
"Alder?" Scylla wondered in confusion. "She's controlling Raelle? What can I do?"
"Raelle will listen to you; you can draw her out," Willa explained. "Alder thinks that the solution is to destroy all of the Camarilla and that's what she is going to do again through Raelle."
"Isn't that the only solution?" Scylla asked, seeing no other alternative other than the complete annihilation of their enemy.
"To Alder it is; but you must see that it isn't working," Willa tried to bring Scylla to the realization herself.
Scylla pondered on it for a bit and came to the conclusion that Willa hoped she would make. "What can I do?"
"Help Raelle regain control and let her lead the way," Willa advised. "When the time comes, she'll know what to do."
Scylla understood and gave Willa a hug. "I won't fail you on this mission." She whispered the promise as Willa started to fade away. She began to hear more voices around her.
"Ash get Scylla to the helicopter," Abigail ordered, letting him carry the brunette as the rest climbed aboard.
"Careful," Tally said, helping him lay her on a stretcher and strapping her in. "Even in death she looks beautiful."
"She's not dead," Khalida noted, sitting across from Tally.
"Are you sure?" Anacostia asked, leaning over her friend. She couldn't find a pulse or feel anything to indicate Scylla was alive.
"She's in-between but she can hear us," Khalida revealed.
"Try drawing her back," Petra suggested to Anacostia. She came as soon as she could when she learned the unit was after Hearst. She found Quinn and Khalida at the last reported location she was given only to find out that the rest have gone ahead without their support. Finding them huddled over Scylla's unmoving body made her rethink chastising them for not waiting. Now she was praying to the goddess that Scylla was indeed not yet dead for Anacostia to draw back into the living.
Scylla gasped for breath as she came to. She looked up at shocked faces before Tally pulled her into an awkward hug due to the stretcher straps.
"My goddess, you're alive!" Tally said squeezing so hard that it was making it hard for the brunette to breathe.
"You gave us a fright there," Abigail said, fighting back tears and removing the upper strap so Scylla could sit up. She also joined in the hug.
"I can't breathe," Scylla managed to say before the pair released her. "Where's Raelle?"
"She went after Hearst on her own," Petra said. "We're on our way to help her." She didn't know how but was glad that Scylla was ok.
"Take a sip of this," Anacostia offered her flask. "It might help take the edge off."
Scylla took a swig to steady herself.
.
Raelle found Hearst's helicopter with ease and created a wind barrier to force it down. She descended as guards tried to attack her. She released a mild form of witch bomb that killed them all while leaving Hearst unharmed because she wanted him to feel the full effect of her fury. She saw his pathetic attempt to wind strike her with his device and countered it with ease. She also saw him load a dart gun and fire at her which she easily dodged. She was in no hurry to strike him down because she knew he had nowhere to go.
"You can't kill me!" Hearst yelled as he struggled to escape. "I'm a civilian."
"So, now you're a civilian," Raelle mocked, playing with her prey like a cat. "You can no longer hide behind that disguise. Neither can your followers." Her eyes flashed with fury that made her intent absolutely clear.
"You won't find us all," he jeered. "We're as many as the stars of heaven and the sand on the seashore." He was paraphrasing to suit his needs.
"I may have missed some of you before, but I won't make that same mistake now," she countered. "You may be many, but thanks to you by marking them all with witch plague, I can easily find them all."
Hearst realized his biggest mistake and wondered how he could salvage his own life. He tried to charge at Raelle with a Camarilla scythe aimed at her throat only to have her grab his arm and turned it back at him.
"An eye for an eye," she reminded him. "You've taken so many lives from my kind; now, it's time for you and your kind to lose yours."
Hearst swallowed hard and waited for his end hoping against all hope he would survive somehow.
.
Scylla gingerly stepped off the helicopter when it landed safely away from the swirling wind ahead. She followed the group as they made their way closer.
"She's in there," Tally confirmed having seen glimpses of Raelle through the barrier when lightning flashed from within.
"Can you open it?" Petra asked Anacostia who was already trying but failing. She then turned to Abigail and Tally to have them try to reach out to their sister-in-arms.
"She's not letting us in," Abigail told her mom. "We can't reach her."
"I can," Scylla offered, starting to do her work to reach Raelle and hoping Alder won't block her from doing so. She waited to see if it got through to catch Raelle's attention.
.
Raelle was in the midst of enacting her punishment on all of the Camarilla around the world as lightning burst around her when she felt a searing sensation on her left palm. She looked at her palm and saw the mark disappear then whispered Scylla's name. She turned to look behind her and sensed a familiar presence that distracted her from her work thus making things calm down a bit.
.
Scylla and the group saw the lightning subsided and the swirling wind turned into a gentler one.
"There," Tally pointed as Raelle walked towards them.
Scylla ran towards Raelle to give her a hug. "It's really me." She assured her when she felt Raelle hesitate and saw the look of disbelief on her face. She saw Hearst attempt to escape from the corner of her eye and struck him.
Raelle turned and trapped him where he stood before restarting the wind barrier around him. She knew it was time for her to finish her work.
"Collar, stand down," Petra ordered. "We can take him into custody now."
"It's time to end all of this and I will not fail," Raelle replied firmly, refusing to take orders.
"Raelle, Scylla is alive," Abigail reminded her, hoping that it would change her mind. "There's no reason to kill him." She worried for Raelle especially with this blatant disobedience.
"What about the witches that he and his kind killed?" Raelle asked furiously. "They need to be avenged! They must all die!" The look on her face was recognized by those who've seen it before to be Alder's likeness.
"Leave her alone," Scylla whispered into Raelle's ear after she pulled the blonde into an embrace.
"Are you trying to push me?" Raelle asked, pushing her away.
"No, I'm pulling my girlfriend back to me," Scylla countered defiantly, drawing Raelle back into a passionate kiss. She felt the blonde resist but eventually relaxed. She pulled slightly away and saw Raelle affected by the kiss and hoped that was enough to snap her out of Alder's grip.
"Scyl," Raelle mumbled, opening her eyes slowly. She saw a form appear beside her and quickly shielded Scylla from it.
"You must end this," Alder spoke in méníshè directly to Raelle. "Use your witch bomb and feed it into my weather manipulation to spread it around the world to kill all of the Camarilla."
"I will," Raelle replied directly. "But I'll end this my way." She turned to Scylla who only saw Alder's iridescent form in front of them and didn't hear their exchange. She quickly formed a solution in her mind but knew she needed Scylla's help. "Will you help me end this?"
Scylla didn't really need to be asked but gave Raelle an appreciative nod. She still didn't know what the plan was but took Willa's advice to help her. They walked away from their companions who waited for them as they walked through the barrier.
.
Raelle took off the voice box from around Hearst's neck and handed it reverently to Scylla. "You won't be needing that when I'm done."
Hearst was wrapped in vines that prevented him from moving or speaking so he used his eyes and grunts to express his displeasure. He looked at Scylla wondering why she was no longer under his control expecting very much his release as soon as he saw her when the barrier came down.
"Sorry doc but she's still mine," Raelle warned, getting in his face. "And there's nothing you can do about it."
Scylla returned to Raelle's side after giving Khalida the box hoping she could safeguard it until they can determine whose it is. She picked up the scythe Raelle had discarded earlier during her confrontation with Hearst and saw him look expectant that she would use it against the blonde. She smiled and offered it to Raelle instead dashing his hopes of an escape.
Raelle shook her head and refused it. "I have a different idea." She was whispering her plan to Scylla when Abigail interrupted.
"Raelle, what are you doing?" Abigail demanded telepathically. "Please tell me you're not disobeying my mother."
"I'm not," Raelle assured her, bringing down the barrier to prove Hearst was still alive albeit immobile. She took Scylla's hand and gave her a questioning look.
Scylla nodded and began to call her avian friends who flew over them as their companions approached.
Raelle began her work and generated weather patterns that baffled everyone but Scylla.
"What are you doing?" Abigail asked Raelle again, getting annoyed that she was being shut out.
"She's drawing the witch plague out to destroy it," Tally guessed correctly, watching the material float out from Eve and the recently dead Camarilla nearby.
The birds that flew overhead caught the wriggling blob with their beaks and dropped them on the ground where Hearst was rooted. Soon more reports of similar occurrences around the world were being reported to Petra and Anacostia who shared it with those around them.
Scylla weakened and dropped to her knees only to be lifted up by Abigail. She turned to the taller witch and smiled weakly for the assistance. Soon, Tally and others joined in by duplicating her work.
Raelle looked at Alder's form and urged her to follow her lead. She was disappointed when Alder did nothing but another form shimmered in front of her. She recognized it as her mom.
Other iridescent forms began to appear around them joining in with Raelle's work as more of the witch plague was deposited around Hearst. By the end of it, it was a sizable mound that could be considered a hill.
"Now what?" Petra asked Raelle when the drops started to subside.
At this point Raelle turned to Alder for one last offer to join and help them. She smiled when Alder finally stepped up and turned the mound into a rock formation encasing Hearst within. Her final touch was to make glowing but lethal mushrooms sprout around the formation to secure the place.
Raelle gave Alder an appreciative nod then turned to her mom and saw the proud look on her face that made her tear up. She then looked around and saw her companions with their respective shimmering loved ones doing their own silent conversations.
Scylla leaned into Raelle as she watched her own mother's form smile and sign to her.
"What is she saying?" Raelle asked, watching the interaction.
"That she's glad I found love to dislodge the hate in me," Scylla explained. She reached out before the forms began to fade.
Raelle wrapped her arm around Scylla's shoulders and gave the form a quick appreciative nod before it faded. She felt Scylla's stifled sobs and knew it was a very emotional moment. "You'll see her again." She whispered the promise before kissing the top of Scylla's head.
"Nicely done, Collar," Petra commended her. "We should all head back to base now." She saw Scylla stiffen at the suggestion. "You and your friends will be safe there."
Scylla hesitated but with an encouraging squeeze from Raelle's hand on her shoulder, she agreed. She was headed to the helicopter when she noticed Raelle lag behind. "Raelle?"
Raelle looked back at the formation and tried to determine what was nagging at her about it. She felt Scylla stand by her side. "That's a lot of hate; I don't think we got them all."
Scylla entwined her fingers with Raelle's and looked at the newly formed butte. "That much less in the world because of what you did; I'd say you did a great job."
"What if it's not enough?" Raelle asked gloomily.
"We'll keep working on it together," Scylla suggested confidently.
.
Scylla followed Raelle into the common room after their arrival at the base where they were met by members of the blonde's coven.
"Well done, Collar," M declared giving the young cadet a very proud look. "You've brought enormous honor to Sekhmet. And this must be the infamous Scylla Ramshorn."
"General Bellweather said she and her friends are welcome here," Raelle defended her. She saw Abigail and Tally join her in shielding Scylla from the coven members. Even Gregorio seemed to have taken a protective stance in front of Jin and Ash.
"Yes, I'm well aware of that," M confirmed evenly. "Rooms have been assigned for our guests." She signaled to some to escort Jin and Ash to their rooms. "Scylla can have Penelope's old room."
"Great, she needs to rest now," Raelle said, taking her hand and leading her to the room. She waited as Scylla checked the room in silence.
Scylla finished and saw Raelle waiting patiently by the door. She felt foolish and stammered an apology.
"No need; I want you to feel safe," Raelle assured her, walking up to her and putting her fingers under the brunette's chin to look deeply into her eyes. "Oh, this might also help." She pulled out the bird skull charm from her undamaged pocket.
Scylla was amazed at how durable it was given how much it had been through. But like her relationship with Raelle, it had endured much and she was grateful both had survived intact.
"I should get us something to eat and something to wear to bed," Raelle said, realizing it was getting late. "Will you be alright if I leave you alone?"
Scylla nodded confidently and was about to close the door behind her when Ash appeared at the door.
"Are you sure we're safe here?" he whispered. "Those two have been following me around everywhere I go."
Scylla looked around him and saw two cadets who look more smitten than intimidating to draw her conclusion. "Is Jin being followed?" She asked and saw the negative response she expected. "I think they're just intrigued by the hunky male witch who helped save witchdom today."