"What?!" Sabian roared, enraged. Cassandra continued to stride in. She was graceful and regal, causing everyone in the room to stop.

But regardless of how regal Cassandra was, Fiera blew past her, straight after Sabian, obviously ignoring the profound silence. Derek and Angel too rejoined the fight, distracting Sabian while Odette and Cassandra caught up – or, at least as much as the situation would allow.

"How? I thought you were…" Odette stammered.

"Dead?" Cassandra finished. "No. When I came here to fight Sabian, he put a spell on me and turned me into a statue. I've been stuck here ever since. Then Fiera found me, and changed me back. Now it's time to finish this battle."

Meanwhile, Fiera was pound for pound giving Sabian a run for his money. She was at a level of strength she'd never reached, which meant he'd never seen it before. Several times, her punches came in full contact with his face, forcing him back. Each step of his was a leap for Fiera, but still she pressed on.

Unexpectedly and suddenly, Sabian caught one of her fists in his huge hands. He viciously dragged her on the floor. Then, he jerked her up into the air and hit her so hard in the stomach that, like the demons the day she met Odette and Derek, she was flung through a solid wall and into the air. This time, she flew much further than the demons, so much so that she feared she would fall to her death.

Seeing her in danger, Angel immediately took off after her. He plucked her out of the sky easily.

"Good catch," she complimented him gratefully.

"Don't mention it," he smiled.

"Drop me over Sabian, please."

Angel complied. He flew directly over the great demon and let Fiera go. With perfect accuracy, she would have landed on Sabian. However, at the last second, he moved. This did not stop her. Taking one step forward, she smashed him in the face with one of her white knuckled fists. She didn't stop until he was backed against the wall, and even then she was relentless.

Just when she was about to go for a roundhouse kick that would give him a headache that would make him wish he was never born, he caught her by the ankle. He swung her around into a wall, and then turned 180 degrees and hit her into the other side.

Angel immediately came to her defense, but was thwarted as Sabian came back around and hit him with Fiera. They crashed into a pile along a wall.

"That's our cue to rejoin the fight," Odette said as she witnessed the whole event.

"Agreed," Cassandra replied.

Together, they attacked Sabian like a pair of angry hornets around an intruder. But like before, even with one more person in the battle, their attacks had little or no effect. Even Fiera and Angel had jumped back in, but their efforts were useless.

Cassandra was obviously strong – much stronger than Odette knew she was. Fearlessly, she attacked Sabian, not even flinching as he taunted her.

"You're not even impressive when you fight together, how pathetic. I should have just killed you all those years ago!"

"Except you couldn't!" she contested proudly. "Which is why you resorted to spells and trickery. You filthy demon piece of dirt!"

Here, Odette joined her, and they, with a series of lightning fast blows, made Sabian retreat with his arms blocking his face with an X shape until he suddenly flung them outward, sending both Odette and Cassandra reeling backward. Fiera used this opening for another melee attack, but she too was denied with the same defensive move. However, she dodged it at the last second.

Odette watched as Fiera jumped back and landed beside her. Her chest was heaving as she gasped for air. It wasn't like when she and Odette were training. Fiera's breathing was much more labored, coming in deep inhalations that never seemed to totally fill her exhausted lungs. Sweat was pouring down her face, making her cheeks shine with moisture. Odette had never seen her work so hard.

Angel was in a similar predicament. He seemed to be quite winded himself, gifted swordsman as he was. It seemed Sabian was unbeatable.

"He's too strong," Odette admitted, on the verge of giving up, her voice on the edge of resignation. No one could beat Sabian, it seemed. He was pushing them back as soon as they came forward to confront him. It was as if he expected every move they made.

"Don't say that yet," Cassandra cut in. "He hasn't won."

Odette couldn't help but stare in awe at her mother. It was like seeing a better version of herself, someone stronger and braver than she could ever hope to be. She'd never imagined someone so grand was her mother.

Her thoughts were broken back by Derek skidding backwards, stopping just between her and Fiera. "Yeah, but with the way things are going, it seems like he just might!" he exclaimed, hearing their conversation – if it could be called that.

"No chance!" Fiera yelled, leaping with all her demonic strength and speed, willing herself to persevere with all her human passion, and fighting with her Guardian valiance. She pounced on Sabian like a wild cat, her feat leaving the ground gracefully with her arms extended, deadly strength pulsating through them.

She tackled him to the ground like a feral beast. But, she did not completely subdue him, an oversight which caused her a world of pain when he swiped her clear off of him by hitting her in the stomach so hard that her previous internal wounds were reopened. He left her alone as she once again spit up blood.

"Time to end this!" he declared. Holding up his hand, a familiar ball of light formed, aimed directly at Odette. "Hellstrike!"

"No!" Derek yelled in protest. He knew that the attack would disable Odette from the fight. Worse than that, she could be killed, and he certainly would not allow that. Ever.

Like Fiera, he launched himself at Sabian. However, he lacked her strength, and could only make Sabian stumble back so that the fireball was redirected into the air. Surprised and without thought, Sabian fired into the sky, just as Derek had hoped he would. He smirked from the spot on the ground where he landed.

Sabian, in a fit of rage, cupped his fist together, threatening to smash Derek into the floor. He raised his arms over his head, letting the strength pulsate through his huge muscles.

But Odette saw her opening there, and she took it.

She flew over to him and wrapped her arms around his huge waist.

In the next instant, she sprang from the ground, and with all her speed, she flew after the fireball. Higher and higher she went, catching up to the attack that had been meant for her. As they went up, Sabian reached behind his back and wildly swung his hands around her, trying desperately to get her to let go. With his long, nasty nails, he managed to scratch her face, leaving three long slashes across her eyes and the bridge of her nose. She cried out in pain, but her hold was strong, and she did not let go.

To her relief, she saw the fireball growing closer.

She took a deep breath, bracing herself just before the impact.

It burned before she realized her attack was successful. Once again, it felt like she was being sent to hell. She felt like flames were licking at her skin, consuming her body with pain, hellish torture before she knew what was happening.

She had hit her mark perfectly. Both she and, more importantly, Sabian, hit the fireball. Sabian was killed instantly. His body could not withstand his own attack, which was obviously far more powerful than the one from the night at the ball. His body disintegrated. The attack was apparently more effective on demons, and it had definitely been most effective on Sabian, the ultimate demon.

From below, Derek and the others could see the smoky explosion where the impact took place. The grey smoke blotted against the blue sky, filling Derek with a sick sense of dread that he'd never experienced before. "Odette!"

As much as he searched, he could not see her among the smoke, sending another shock of distress up his spine. "Odette!"

Even though Sabian was killed instantly, Odette was not. However, like the night of the ball, she was in great, immeasurable pain. So much so, that she could not concentrate on flying back down to the others. She fell through the air, plummeting unconsciously to the ground. Smoke swirled around her as she made her way too fast descent.

But Derek caught her before she was ever in any danger of hitting the ground. He could tell she was in a lot of pain. He hoped never to see her face contorted that way again, but this time, it was much worse.

She breathed heavily, rigid in his arms even as he gently set her down on the stone floor.

"Derek?" she asked weakly.

"Yes, Odette. I'm here." He was reminded of the night he faced Rothbart, yet another situation he had hoped to never repeat. And yet here he was, on the verge of losing her – again.

"Is Sabian… is he"

"Yes, Odette. He's gone. You did it." Tears filled his eyes, of both pride and sorrow. She'd sacrificed herself to save them all.

"That's all that matters."

Cassandra kneeled down beside her, smiling. "I've known you less than an hour's time, Odette, and already, I'm so proud of you."

"Isn't there something you can do?" Derek asked, distress and fear welling up in his eyes.

"Alas, Derek, I would have if there was. There's nothing more I can do," her answer was regretful, painful to listen to and for her to speak.

"Maybe… maybe I can," another voice said. It was Fiera. She'd been weakened from the battle, and it was obvious she herself was quite injured as she stumbled over to Odette. "This was a demon's attack, and I'm still part demon." She took a moment of silence, and continued. "This worked once, so I think I can make it work again…

"I am the best and worse of three beings, demon, human, and Guardian. I have power over and of the three, meaning this spell that attacks my friend is meaningless. By the power of the three beings, I command this spell to lift and disperse. Set my friend free from pain and make her able to live her life as the hero she rightfully is. My will be done!"

The words rang about the room. Angel caught Fiera as she fell. The spell she had just performed made her lose some of her energy. But to her delight and pride, Odette was coming around. The pain being lifted from her was almost visible.

She sat up in Derek's arms and smiled. "Thank you, Fiera."

"No problem," she replied, standing unsteadily up. Everyone else followed suit.

It was really over.

"Hard to believe, isn't it, daughter?" Cassandra asked.

"Yes, but I'm glad it's real."

They held each other in a tight embrace, reunited at long last. Odette wiped away tears as she pulled away.

"Don't cry, dear," Cassandra said.

"They're happy tears," Odette promised, laughing.

Derek wrapped his arms around her shoulders, chuckling. He too was glad it was over. "I love you," he whispered in her ear. "I'm glad you found what you were looking for."

Odette twisted around and they fell into a deep kiss, forgetting about their audience, that is, until Fiera loudly cleared her throat in mock annoyance.

"You have all the time in the world for that. Later. Let's get out of here."