I slowly stood to my feet, holding my arms out towards Secta as his dark eyes beat into mine. Swallowing, I shook my head, "Secta, you don't have to do this. You don't have to fight me."

"No, Kate. I think I really do." He snapped, taking a step forward. The Phoenix ruffled its feathers as it let out a cry, cocking its head to get a better look at me. "You've met the Phoenix. It's Fate's companion and contains an eternal fire that even you can't smother. I see you've already tried."

He looked at my torn hands, blisters running across my palms as my fingers shook. "I don't want to fight you, please."

"Kill the demon and you are forgiven."

"No!" Cybele cried, sinking to her knees.

"I can't." I said.

"Then you leave me no other choice." His meraki shot out faster than I could comprehend, pain shooting through my legs as light flipped me off my feet. I landed on my back, rolling over quickly onto my feet as Secta walked towards me. "You're powerful but inexperienced. When you've learned as much as I have you won't need to use your hands to guide your meraki."

He shot another ball of light at my shoulder, but I caught it between my hands. It burned, making me wince but I was able to throw it back towards him. He only stepped to the side, letting it explode against the earth.

"Secta!" Finn snarled from where he was trapped, held in place by meraki beyond his power. "Don't you dare hurt her!"

"You'll get over it!" Secta said in reply. "I'm done playing nice, Kate."

A sun seemed to leave his body, light blinding my eyes as meraki took over the air all around me. I was blown backwards, thrown through the air as I was struck straight in the chest. Managing to struggle onto my knees, I let my meraki shoot out from my body, striking into Secta with the sound of thunder.

The two beams of light pushed back and forth against one another before I was struck on the side. Talons bit into my skin, making me scream. I touched the feathers of the Phoenix, throwing it off me as meraki exploded from my palm.

I shot my hand out, a field of meraki coating over Nocen's body before Secta could lay a hand on him. The god's eyes met mine, "I can break this."

"I'd like to see you try." I snarled, feeling the energy inside me rise. On my feet, I ran at him, ducking underneath his light before hitting him in the chest with my own. He stumbled back, turning away from me for just a second.

I threw myself onto Secta's back, my hands clamping down on his temples. With my grip, I searched for his fire and I clenched it in my fists to feel his flames struggle. Secta choked, falling onto his knees as I kept a tight grip on him. He was yelling, and I was screaming too, my hands in utter agony as I willed them to hold on.

My grip on Secta slipped, and I was catapulted onto the ground. Light struck my body, shock running through my muscles as my back arched off the earth. My limbs were shaking in a spasm as I cried out, clenching my eyes shut as I dug my fingers into the earth.

Secta's hands now rested on either side of my head just as light invaded my brain, filling up the space inside my skull until the pressure was nearly unbearable. My wails didn't even sound like my own, hardly human as I shrieked for relief from the meraki that tore my insides apart. He's just like Noxia, my thoughts said before they were compressed by the ripping inside my chest.

With my last bit of consciousness, I grabbed hold of Secta's forearms, shooting my power through it. He released me, cursing at the electricity that burned him. Energy tingled in the air as I rolled onto my knees, pushing both my hands out above me.

Secta's light and the fire of the Phoenix struck me at the same time on either side, my left hand shaking under Secta's power just as my right struggled to keep back the Phoenix's continual fire.

On my knees I trembled, my head tilting back as I looked up into the sky. Clouds moved past, the stunning blue seeming so smug with its joy as hell was breaking loose around me. My limbs were aching, my body breaking apart on either side. In my head I called out to Fate. I didn't know what she'd do for me; I was fighting both her champions, two that she'd selected to fight for her here.

'Help me.' I pleaded, 'I'm fighting for you, for what I think is right. Aid me please, Goddess.'

I pulled my hands in before pushing out, reflecting all the meraki that beat down on me out into the air. The Phoenix flew back just as Secta shielded himself from my power. Light was still coming at me in all directions, but I stayed on my toes. I ducked and weaved, avoiding all hits just as I manipulated Secta's balls of light and threw them back at him.

We were locked in a duel, his light and my meraki shooting back and forth as we reflected them at one another. It was never-ending, and I could tell from the way his arms shook that he was just as exhausted as I was.

"Stop fighting me!" I yelled.

"You are a danger to the world!"

"You are insane!"

"You are Penelope, and I have to stop you before its too late!"

Power coursed through my veins, the distant rumble of thunder echoing in my ears. I seethed, pushing Secta to the ground with my meraki. It conquered over his light as I stood in front of him, eyes on fire. "I am not Penelope!"

"I always knew you two were similar, and I should have been more awake to see it. I could have ended you if I had just done it the first time I met you."

"You wanted me to be your successor!" I yelled, "you wanted me to take the weight of the world off your shoulders! You can't get rid of me or else you will never rest and you know it!"

His jaw clenched, "I'd rather wilt away than let you live, night child. I won't let Noxia take the universe away."

"I am not a night child. Fate believes in me even if you don't."

The phoenix's talons sunk into both my shoulders as the bird lifted me off the ground, making me scream. Secta stood, and the bird threw me face first into the dirt. I landed, rolling into a ball. Crawling onto my feet, I met Secta's eyes. He only shrugged, "this ends now, Kate."

"Then so be it." I spat.

Something stirred inside me, so full of power that I could barely breath. I gasped, energy filling every atom and cell of my being to the point where it was so painful that it was beautiful. The air chilled and warmed around me, completeness awakening inside my core. It told me to lift my hand to the sky, and I listened.

The atmosphere burst with static as a lightning bolt from the heavens rocketed to the earth, striking me straight in the skull as my entire being was set on fire with electricity. I lost all power over my own body  as light flooded my vision, words and voices I'd never heard before speaking inside my head so fast that I couldn't comprehend them.

A dam broke in my chest as meraki beyond my comprehension exploded into existence. It sprung to life like lighting: sudden, forceful, and strong. Waves of light tingling with electricity and voltage flooded across the grass in front of me. It built up higher into the sky, its current filling all air and space. Even in my terror, I felt calm, wrapped in a blanket of love so beautiful that I was sobbing.

The golden lightning that moved inside me propelled itself out of my body with a booming roar. Out of nothing a creature from paradise burst forth, its majesty making Secta collapse to his knees. Its body glowed like the sun, scales perfect and lovely in every way.

It spread out its wings, the three headed serpent made of golden metaling letting out a second ear-splitting roar that sent shivers and goosebumps across my skin. The Phoenix evaporated into fire just as Secta bowed, a tornado of golden dust swirling around my body as I held out my hands palm up to the sky.

Extending its wings, the serpent turned its three heads, its ghostly apparition staring at me before all at once every golden molecule and spark of lightning ricocheted right into my chest. I collapsed onto my back, sucking in a breath of air as powerful winds whipped through my hair.

The storm I'd created was still brewing, coursing through Gabrian in a mighty tornado that only grew. My body quivered as more of my power leaked from my body, making the ground shudder and pulse with electricity.

In the eye of the storm, a figure appeared to me, standing over my body. He was dark-haired, tall and strong with odd purple eyes that made me stiffen. I grimaced as I tried to dig my fingers into the earth to distance myself from him.

"I've been searching. I've been waiting." His voice, deep like the sea, rolled over me. He knelt beside me, his cold fingers running across my face. "We're ready to meet you finally after such a long existence. You're ready for us too, strong enough to stand a chance. We are ready to end the war."

I couldn't speak, my throat scorched as I tried to pull away from his grasp. Groaning, I protested his touch, shuddering when he laughed and he removed his hand.

"I've touched you many times before, and every time you always fight me. What a shame. It was nice to see you again. We'll be meeting sooner than you think; you're ready."

He disappeared in the golden cyclone that raged around me, a tornado so thick that I couldn't see Gabrian at all around me as though I were trapped at the bottom of a funnel. I was weak, too weak to move as my skin danced with static electricity.

Hands touched my cheeks, warm fingers just as a pair of blue eyes managed to meet mine through the cyclone. My head was lifted and I was scooped into Finn's strong arms, held flush against his chest as he whispered words I couldn't make out into my ear. The pain in my body was beginning to dumb as I rested my head on his shoulder, his hands supporting me as he carried me through the storm.

Sunlight began to peek through, the winds around us beginning to slow. I nestled my head into his neck, sucking in a breath of air that felt fresh. The electricity in the atmosphere was dissolving just as my meraki began to recede back into my core. My limbs were beginning to feel loose again after the shock of lightning, and I felt tired, my eyelids heavy.

Finn was talking now, his words a hum in my ears as bells rang. I winced, mumbling to myself. I felt a warm hand against the back of my head, brushing my hair back. My head began to pound, its rhythm making me feel sick.

With each throb, names echoed inside my skull. Lucifer. Lucifer. Lucifer. Wilona. Lucifer. Gideon. Lucifer. Lucifer.

I was blessed when the agony began to fade away, slowly leaving me at peace. Taking a breath I felt sleep calling my name, and I gave into it. It was dark, quiet, and peaceful, and my aching body was ready for time to heal.

The world slipped away from around me, sending me into the deepest sleep I'd ever experienced just as all feeling left my body. The last thing I could recall was Finn's voice echoing inside my head.