Hello all! I hope everyone's Christmas and New Years or whatever holiday you celebrate was wonderful! I am back now, took a bit of a break from everything since last I posted was mid November, I originally had wanted to do one more post before Christmas but then boom it was December and I just became busy with life! Holidays are great but sometimes they get you running around everywhere lol. Anyways here is chapter 99 (WOOOW!) Only a few more chapters to go. Sorry this chapter is a bit smaller, next few will be longer.

Anyways ON WITH THE STORY!

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There was a reason why Sariel was always so comfortable with taking lives, playing double and triple agents, and generally doing whatever she wanted... Did it come so easily to her because she had been doing it all her life? Was it because it was what she needed to do, what she was trained to do? He watched her dance now and saw the similarities in their fighting stances. He speculated if she had never truly shown such skill before now or if he perhaps was so blind to those around him that he clearly wasn't paying enough attention to the littlest of details. He wondered, if his theory held true, if she had waited this entire time before she could show off her true abilities. He noted the way she moved quickly in and out of harm's way and the more he watched, the more he saw Slade and himself in her. A combination of what he had learned from the man with his own abilities, and then there was her own style mixed in. Sariel had done everything she had to up until this point because that is how he raised her, how he trained her. She would be the next in line to take the mantle, the same one he would one day hold and the very same Slade held at this time as Jillian did before him.

Of course, he would teach her how to use her abilities since he could use them to their advantage. He would give her every option, every opportunity to get her to this point because she was the only one who could do it. He wondered then, was this his plan? Did he send her back so he could establish total control in the future? Would he carry the memories of her? Or would they disappear into the void of time and space once her job here was done? He didn't know, and perhaps he didn't want to. The idea of the person who he would one day become weighed heavily in his mind. But the thought of losing his memories of Sariel lingered a bit longer and tore at his heart. If she spoke the truth, then how much longer did he have with her? Would she slip back to where she came from after this was over? How was this even possible? Any of it, but he remembered then that she was meant to be one of the elites of the ben Elohim and he wondered, was it him that saved her from them? Even if they found victory here, would her time, her world be without the ben Elohim? Or would it just be a massive blow that could give them the advantage in the future? Then he remembered when she spoke of the shift of power. A shift that needed to happen, perhaps if the shift didn't happen, would her world be deleted?

So many questions, too little in answers and unfortunately not enough time.

But it made a lot more sense now if what she said was true, it would be the reason why she chanced upon him in the desert. Did he tell her where he was at a certain point? Did he tell her to play along with Slade at the cabin? Did he tell her Sergei was in fact Slade, which made her act indifferent to the whole situation? Did he tell her to die, leaving their group, separating herself from her friends to place herself in the lion's den, and allowing her to gain access and somehow place a secondary portion of the Legacy in his hands? Did he tell her to act as a friend, an ally? He didn't know, again and again, he didn't know the answer, and the more he tried to understand, the more he realized that things were out of his control. But he did know one thing. Sariel had risked a lot for him and her own future. That had to be worth something, didn't it?

He supposed at this moment, it didn't matter. And as the realization of the here and now was making a comeback and as shock dwindled into the background, he knew that all that did truly matter at this time was movement. Geist was not backing down. His attacks were more brutal than ever, almost as if he was giving it his all. And with a burst of energy, he pushed Sariel back and he watched as she slid across the field, Robin caught up with her, evidently worried about her health, and asked her if she was alright and she simply muttered "I'm fine" before she collected herself. "We can't keep doing this, we will all become exhausted before he's done."

"How do we kill him, any suggestions?" she shrugged in return, crushing any thoughts that perhaps she may have some inkling of an idea. "I dunno, how does one kill what's already dead?" Robin shook his head. "Already dead, he looks kind of alive to me."

"I don't think he's normal, he's been alive since 1444 and honestly, I don't think it's because he's immortal in the traditional sense. I think He's got too many deals going on, something or someone keeps him alive if you catch my drift." Robin nodded, "What about the Demon that's with them?"

"You mean Athrilius?"

"Sure." he nodded, taking in the name of the demonic figure. He knew from a talk with Raven long ago, that not all demons had names. She shrugged in response, "I dunno, they've only been friends since the War of the Three Kingdoms shenanigans in the 1600's"

"Friends?" she nodded in response. "Yeah, who's friends with a demon? Apparently Geist." Robin narrowed his eyes. If Geist had been alive since 1444, then it wasn't Athrilius who was keeping Sven alive and healthy, humans couldn't live two hundred years by themselves. Therefore, there must be another at play here, but they didn't have time to figure that out. "So if we kill him, he'll just come back. If we can't kill him, can we banish him?"

"Or distract him? What if we turned the dead against him?" Robin smiled, "If we turn his own army against him, then what?" Sariel looked at him, "Maybe the dead can kill what is already dead... if that makes sense?"

"It does," Slade had joined the conversation, "If the dead can injure his soul, they could then drag him back down into the depths from whatever hell he came from, even if it is a temporary solution, it's better then nothing. The better question is how to get them on our side?"

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"Shatter it. All of it." She trilled. He looked to her, although his gaze never met her own, his eyes never left her form. He supposed she herself stood out from amongst the rubble, a good reason for why her very presence seemed so surreal. A being like Aurora didn't belong anywhere, not that he was one to talk. However, the fact that she was dressed well, wore heels in a warzone and her red hair flowed behind her made her seem surreal in any setting. Aurora Warchild was never one not to make any of her appearances seem anything less than exceptional.

"The entire city?" he asked, unsure of what she was contemplating.

"Yes."

He took a deep breath. "The people as well?"

"Yes."

Athrilius took one final look at the woman he called his leader and closed his eyes, "If you so will it, then it will be done." He knew that when she gave an order, grim or not, it needed to be followed through. She would not accept anything else. "When?"

"When Geist is done with our little guests, don't want him to get caught up in chaos." The demon snorted, mindful of her care for his friend. "When he returns, then I shall begin." She smiled and their eyes met. "Only the city, nothing beyond it. It is a shame though. Such vibrant history forever lost to the sands. But it cannot be helped." he nodded and wondered how she could adore the human settlements when humans had been cruel to her in the past, but he supposed that since she was human once then perhaps she clung to her emotions and ideologies. Humourous since she was a woman who had survived through such horrors. A woman that had committed genocide, murder, and numerous atrocities for the betterment of an uncaring world. And here she would still her hand to only one city. She was fascinating indeed.

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Asif and the team were holding their own, for now. But they were slowly getting outnumbered and out-maneuvered. If Renegade and company took much longer he didn't know if they could hold out until they were done. Kate seemed to be the only one in top form and even she was getting tired. There seemed to be no end in sight of the phantoms, in fact, there seemed to be more of them with each one they had dispersed into whatever level of hell they came from.

'I thought that this was absurd in the beginning, but now this is getting even more ridiculous."

Asif shot at a few of the ghosts that lingered after she had taken debris and mentally flung it in their direction. "I understand, but we have to give them time." She sighed, "If we keep going like this... we may end up just like them. There is no end to their onslaught. There must be a way to kill them other than scattering them?"

"They're already dead." Asif shrugged and Kate shook her head, "How does one kill the dead?"

Asif looked at her then with a glint in his eye. "If the dead are already gone, then they simply cannot exist, at least here with the living."

She shot another ghoul before she turned to face Asif. "We didn't exactly come equipped with a book of spells if that is what your thinking?"

"Maybe not, but what if Geist planted markers around the area? Some sort of anchor for a spell, binding them all here?" He shrugged, Asif would be the first to admit he knew nothing about the occult. But he knew enough to know that members of the ben Elohim were extraordinarily outlandish and Geist definitely dabbled in something very archaic. She hummed for a moment, "That sounds too easy." Asif shrugged in return, "Sometimes it's the most easiest things that make the most sense. We need to at least try." Kate took a deep breath and agreed, "Fine, but then we need to speak with the others if we can find them."

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Take care out there!

-Fangy