A/N: Welcome back to the Main Story, ladies, gentlemen and other!

We’ve had a few easy chapters, fillers while I tend to my mother in her recovery. She’s doing much better, so I’ve been able to write more!

We are, sadly, nearing the end of Book 2, and what kind of end would it be if we didn’t go out with a bang?

Have your assortment of comfort items and tissues ready. It’s time to enjoy this rollercoaster of a ride as we coast through these next few, final chapters.

:::TW:::
Mentions of death
Brief description of dead bodies of varying ages
Fighting
Blood and possible gore


Enjoy!
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One day of rest. One day full of final preparations was all they had before the last Ritual and Coven and then, the following day would be Midsummer. There were no parties. No bonfires, or dinners with friends. The tension and nervous apprehension hung so thickly in the air it was hard for even the siblings to focus on class and enjoy their days. Even the normally delicious meals cooked by the kitchen ghouls lacked their usual flavor. Everyone was on edge, the ghouls on high alert, eyes open and looking for any sign of trouble to come.

Out of them all, Annie and Copia held the most anxiety. Their day was unusually quiet, each lost to their own thoughts without the usual flirting and cuddling or playful banter they usually held throughout their days off. A light touch to the shoulder, a gentle kiss to a cheek or a small smile and reassuring glance was all that was shared between them.

Annie tried to get her mothers book of shadows to speak to her again, but it remained quiet. Even the energy within felt lifeless, hinted with its own anxiety and no new information was brought forth. Copia occupied his small desk that was tucked away in the corner most of the day, reading glasses perched on the edge of his nose as he went over evacuation plans over and over, checking and double checking to ensure things would move smoothly no matter what location, if any, were targeted. As future Papa, he felt the weight most of all. He couldn’t fail his congregation. Couldn’t afford to crumble under the pressure, not when so many were counting on him.

That night they ate a small dinner together and after they showered and changed for bed they held each other close, finding comfort in each other's embrace until sleep eventually claimed them, and when the morning came, they were reluctant to part. To part meant that they had to face the real world. The final day before Midsummer when once again Annie might have to face the very real monsters lurking in the shadows.

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“And you have everything you need? Your herbs? Knife? Did you need anything else, amore?”

Annie smiled fondly at the way Copia fussed over her, ensuring she had all her pouches on her wide belt, along with her knife before adjusting how her shirt rested on her shoulders and helping her with the laces of her leather bracer and boots.

“I’ve got everything, hun. I double and triple checked my pouches this morning, and again after brunch. I’m good to go.”

“I just worry, amore. You know this.”

“I know.” Annie leans over and kisses him gently, sighing against his lips as she pulls away. “We’ll be careful. We’ve got the same plan as last time. Me, Kali and Sage will go in first with Ace and Mysti staying behind in case something happens, then they can get help if needed.”

Copia nods and steps closer, resting his forehead against hers as he holds her hips. He closes his eyes and takes a couple calming breaths, letting her presence and scent relax him and ease his mind.

“We should head down if you are ready.”

Annie nods and tilts her head to kiss him again, her arms draping over his shoulders where she lets her fingers play with his hair. It was getting a bit long since he hadn’t taken the time lately to go for a trim, but she liked it. The silky smooth way it ran through her fingers as she lightly scratched his scalp or the way it tickled her skin along with his mustache when it was free of its daily slicked back state. Part of her hoped he would let it grow a little, but she knew he liked things just so, so sooner or later it would get cut back down to his preferred length.

“I love you, Vincenzo,” she whispers with a sigh, pulling away from his hold on her.

“I love you too, Levanna. Shall we go?”

“May as well.”



Copia takes her hand as they exit the room, Annie stopping a moment to put up an extra ward to bar entry aside from a select few before they head down the hall to the designated meeting point where they, like they had every trip previously, met up with their designated ghouls. Aether gave Annie a smile before taking her hand to kiss the back of it and Kali bumped his arm into hers.

“Tell me again why we’re leaving so late?”

“Smaller search area. We should find them fairly easy.”

Kali nods and gives her a small smile. “Are you ready?

“Are we ever?”

Annie turns to Copia and pulls him close, giving him a tight hug while nuzzling into the side of his neck. “You be careful today. I’ll see you later.”

“The same to you, mia dea. Te amo, Levanna.”

“Te amo, Vincenzo.”


Annie pulls herself away from Copia and takes Kali’s outstretched hand, giving one last smile to her Cardinal and his ghoul before they disappear in a muddy red haze. Copia sighs and Aether rests his hand on his shoulder before phazing them to the venue of the Ritual, and when they materialized in the trailer he had to fight an overwhelming sense of unease.

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“It’s eerily quiet here,” Sage says, casting his eyes around their surroundings. “I haven’t heard a single animal since we got here.”

“We’re on the right path, though,” Annie sighs, taking a drink from a bottle of water. They had been wandering around for a few hours now, trying to pinpoint and track where the coven may be and it was only recently that Annie caught a flicker of life that pointed them in what they hoped was the right direction. “I saw a large and very active group when I checked. We should be getting close soon.”

Kali, like Sage, is focused on their surroundings, face tilted up as he smells the air and when the wind shifts his head snaps towards the direction they had been heading.

“What is it, Kali?” Mysti asks, noticing the change in his posture as his eyes scan the surroundings faster, also lifting her face to smell the breeze.

“Smoke. A lot of it. And… Blood. Burning flesh. Something is happening.”


Ace looks around, spotting the tallest tree in the area and takes off towards it, grabbing onto the limbs as they begin to climb, but they soon find themselves struggling, grabbing and stepping on thin limbs that crack under their weight.  “Shit… I forgot how much of a pain it is to climb trees… Why couldn’t I be a winged ghoul?”

Annie watches them struggle but when they don’t make progress fast enough for her liking she tosses the backpack she had re-stored her water in at Mysti, going to the same tree Ace was climbing where she does a quick look over before grabbing at limbs on the other side before Kali can stop her, climbing with ease as she moves at a pace much faster than the cautious ghoul. In no time she’s straddling the highest limb that can safely bear her weight before she channels her energy into it, making it grow and lift her higher until she can look out over the surrounding canopy.

“What do you see?” Kali calls up to her, Ace pausing their climb just below her.

“Smoke. A lot of it. I can’t see anything through it, though, and it’s coming from where I sensed all those people. It’s definitely more than just a bonfire would produce.”


Kali and Sage share a worried look with each other, coming to a silent conclusion. With a nod, Sage starts running in that direction as Kali turns back to the pair in the tree.

“Come down, Solros, then we’ll go check it out and let you know what’s going on.”

“Like hell!” Annie huffs as she stands on the limb. “Ace!”

“What?”

“Jump down, then air blast before you hit.”

“What do you..? Annie!? Fuck!”

Annie steps off of the limb with confidence, plummeting to the ground below as the ghouls cry out in fright but before she can impact she waves her arms in a graceful motion ending with her palms facing the ground and a large gust of air slows her fall until she lands gently on her feet.

“You need to stop doing shit like that!” Kali yells at her, panic still present in his eyes as he steps over. “You’re gonna give me a heart attack pulling stunts like-”


He's cut off by a series of shrill, panicked whistles and he spins to face where they came from. Annie cups her mouth and replies in a series of her own and seconds later a reply is heard and her heart sinks.

"Kali, run!" She shouts, jumping onto his back. He's already moving before her legs hook securely around his sides and she holds on tightly.

"Ace, you airhead! Get your monkey ass down here already! We have trouble!" Mysti shouts up at the ghoul still in the tree trying to carefully climb down and they let out a loud curse before jumping off the limb they were standing on. As they neared the ground they let out a blast of air that cushioned their fall but mistimed it and landed with a stumble before falling face first into the ground with a groan.

"How'd she make it look so easy?"

“Cuz she’s amazing like that. Now come on, lazy bones! We’re getting left behind!” Mysti grabs Ace by the collar of their shirt and hauls them up before taking off through the trees after the others.


____________________________________



Annie stood transfixed in a state of overwhelming shock and horror as she stared at the scene in front of her, hands clasped over the lower half of her face with tears welling in her eyes. What was once a large settlement now lay in fiery or smoldering ruins, bodies scattered about along well worn paths. Kali stood next to her, his stance rigid as he scanned the area on high alert for any threat. It was quiet save for the sound of the licking flames and his ragged breathing.


“W-what happened here?”

Kali glanced at her for a brief second before turning back to the scene before them, shaking his head. “I don’t know. Whatever happened, it happened not long before we got here.”

Annie clutched at the grucifix pendant that hung between her breasts as she stepped around bodies of men, women, and even children, checking for any signs of life but she found none. They lay prone, some with large pools of blood collecting around their pale forms, others lay burned and charred. Cut, bruised, bloodied. Some even have missing limbs. It seemed endless. Mixed in their earthen clothed dead were several wearing darker cloaks that seemed so very out of place.


“I… I don’t understand..” Annie paused near the center of the clearing, turning around once more. “There’s no reason for… Goddess.. Not even the children…”

“I don’t like this, Annie,” he starts before the sound of quick running drew his attention and he dropped into a crouch, fangs bared and fingers curled into claws only to see Ace and Mysti run through the outer trees towards the clearing.

“Sorry! We’re here! We..-” Mysti skids to a stop, her eyes going impossibly wide at the scene in front of her. “Oh, sweet Satan…W..w…what..?”

Ace steps slowly through the bodies, their eyes unblinking as they take in their surroundings. “What the fuck…”

“Spread out,” Annie says softly, looking around her once more. “Look for any survivors.”

“And keep your eyes open. If you find anything out of place you call for me,” Kali adds before walking with Annie, stooping to check some of the bodies as they make their way through the chaos.


“Do you think..?” Kali starts, stooping again to check the bodies of a mother curled around an infant, a pained snarl leaving his lips when he finds no signs of life from either.

“It would have to be, but… it doesn’t make sense.”

“Today isn’t Midsummer, right? We should have had time.”

“No. Tomorrow is Midsummer. I remember because it usually falls on Lilit’s… oh..crud.”

“What is it?” Kali looks over at her with concerned confusion.

“Tomorrow is Lilit’s birthday and I was so busy with all of this I forgot about it.”

A hint of a smile twitches the corner of his lips and he lets out a soft laugh. “I’m sure she understands.”

“I’ve never forgotten her birthday before.” Annie raises her hands, palms out towards the burning structure closest to her and the fire dies down before it’s extinguished. She sighs sadly as she turns back to the path in front of them when a glint of something catches her eye. “Kali, what’s that?”

The ghoul glances over before rising from his crouch to step up next to her, looking at where she was pointing. Next to one of the bloody bodies is a long broken obsidian dagger and his heart sinks.

“The second coven had those. There’s no doubt now.”

“I suddenly don’t like us all spread out like this.” Annie looks around, spotting Ace and Mysti across the clearing checking bodies, but she doesn’t see the tall earth ghoul anywhere within the smoke thick surroundings. “Where’s Sage?”

“He was…was…” Kali straightens up and looks around. “He was right over there a little bit ago. Sage!”

The other two ghouls look around at his yell to their friend, scanning the clearing, but they don’t see him anywhere either. Annie cups her mouth and lets out a short series of whistles that go unanswered. Frowning, she tries again and this time they’re met with a sudden tremor from the ground below them followed by a loud roar-like sound that has them all moving in an instant.

“Sage!” Annie calls out as she runs towards the strengthening ground tremors. Kali races past her, Ace and Mysti falling in on either side of her. The sound of snarling and grunts grows louder and as they round the large, mostly destroyed building located in the center of the north end of the settlement they see Sage fighting against a group of masked people clad in black with one arm, a small form clutching to his back with his other arm supporting it, quickly getting overwhelmed.

Kali reaches the area first and leaps on of the closest masked person from behind as they raise an obsidian dagger, holding it by its tip as though they were going to throw it. His impact drags them down to the ground before he grabs hold of the back of their head and chin giving a sharp motion and the body below him goes limp, their mask fading away like mist as Kali lets him go. Annie doesn’t have time to react to her brother killing someone with such ease as a multitude masked people clad in black come running out of the smoke with loud yells, a good dozen or more heading towards her and the two ghouls who ready themselves.


“They won’t hesitate to kill us, Annie, so don’t you hesitate to take them out,” Mysti says, sparing the witch a quick glance before lowering herself to a crouch, arms raised in front of her with her hands lightly fisted. “You can do this. We’ve got your back.”

Ace cracks their neck and rolls their shoulders, a wild smirk spreading across their face as their eyes light up. “Lets fuck some shit up!”


Annie, inwardly, is beyond panic, but the adrenaline rushing through her helps to clear her mind. She watches as everything seems to slow, her heart racing loudly in her ears. They never trained for this. Kali and the others never had a chance to teach her how to fight. This is not how today was supposed to go! Midsummer Eve is when….

Her eyes widen and her heart sinks in realization.

Midsummer Eve. Not the night of Midsummer… the day before. How could I have been so stupid!


She didn’t have time to chastise herself as the masked attackers were on them. Ace and Mysti moved fluidly, easily knocking back the assailants while Annie watched, frozen in fear. Last she saw those horrid masks they were powerless and at their mercy, tied to a stake and set to burn. How could humans be so cruel… 


No. 


Not just humans. Witches who turned their backs on their own kind to follow a religious zealot following a twisted path, and they were in their way.


A flash of shiny black registered in the corner of her eye and her body moved without thinking, ducking and twisting out of the way before an obsidian dagger could slice down and reach her, one hand thrusting out and sending them back with an invisible wall of power. She continued to move, then, barely registering what was happening as she dodged and knocked the masked attackers back and away from her with her powers. The difference between her and the ghouls was where her companions weren’t hesitating to, she was not trying to kill these people. No matter the atrocities they committed or the fact that they would kill her and her friends without hesitation, she just couldn’t find it in herself to even as they started to overwhelm her.

Risking a glance behind her, she saw Ace and Mysti moving fluidly like a well oiled machine, their attacks coordinating with each others as one ducked under the arm of the other to go after an attack from behind them, bending and twisting their bodies around to give each other momentum. They were also farther away from her than Annie realized, having moved with the enemy they were fighting off. She didn’t have time to think about it as she heard a roar of pain from where the other two ghouls were fighting. Waving her hand to lift and throw a masked woman who was coming at her, Annie spun to face them, seeing Sage held on either side by two masked people on each arm with the small form from before clutching at his leg, a fifth lunging at him with a dagger raised and Kali focusing on several others that circled him.

“Sage!” She cried out in alarm even as she moved, her right foot coming forward with a forceful stomp that shook the ground around her. Her hands came together in front of her, wrists crossed and palms down before she thrust them down before lifting them out and up with one outstretched towards him, the other pulling back as the earth cracked and split in a quick line from her to the pinned ghoul before, as she thrust her drawn back arm forward, thick slabs of rock burst from the ground striking all five of the masked people, knocking them off of him. He took the moment to plant his feet and swing his freed arm, striking the closest with a closed fist to the face that sent them flying, the mask dissolving before they landed in a heap.

Annie didn’t have time to watch him as she was tackled from the side and dragged to the ground, the woman she had thrown earlier quickly straddling her and raising her dagger in both hands with a shriek. Annie reached up, grabbing her wrists as she brought it down, letting out her own startled cry as she fought to keep the dagger away even as it inched towards her throat as the woman pressed down with all her might. The tip pressed to the soft skin at the base of her throat and she let out a choked sob before, from behind the masked woman, she saw the smoke swirl. Eyes, the brightest blue she has ever seen, appear and lock with her own as the hazy shape of an unfocused face shows. It… no, he smiles down at her with a nod of his head and instantly, she is no longer scared. Feeling a rush of energy coursing through her she focused on the woman once more and from behind the mask, her hazel eyes widened in fright before she was blown off of Annie, landing head first with a sickening thud, her mask slowly fizzing away.

Annie’s arms fell to her side, palms pressing to the earth and she took several deep breaths, the blue eyes nearing and unblinking as they hovered above her, blazing and intense yet she felt no fear. She could vaguely make out his strong and handsome features, his form swirling and muddied with the billowing smoke, as though he was made from it. He seemed….familiar. Like she knew him, yet she knew she didn’t.

‘Fight, my child,’ she hears in her head. ‘Trust yourself and let go! Fight!’

He neared again and when his forehead touched hers, everything else faded away to nothing.

____________________________________


Kali stumbled as a sharp jab connected to his raised arm as he blocked the blow just before it hit before lashing out with his claws, their razor sharp tips slicing through the masked man's throat with ease sending blood flying before he crumpled to the ground, gasping and gagging as he clutched at his throat. Kali didn’t stay to watch, moving again to get to Sage’s side. Now that he was closer, he could see that the ghoul was handling his own, but just barely. If he moved around more he would have no problem dodging and taking them out, so why wasn’t he? He was older, one of the oldest at the Ministry and had years and years of fighting experience so for him to stay in one spot like that making him an easy target made no… ‘Wait…What’s..?’


Kali’s eyes widened as Sage ducked down and scooped up a small form that let out a panicked scream before dodging the next swing of an obsidian dagger, holding it close to his chest while lashing out with his free hand striking the assailant down. When he turned, Kali saw that he was holding a child in a deep green dress, the small girl clutching to his torn shirt with her eyes squeezed shut. She couldn’t have been older than four or five years old.

“Fuck..!”

The ghoul launched himself forward, cutting off the advance of another pair of masked men before they reached Sage making quick work of dispatching them before pressing his back against Sage’s, arms ready to defend.

“Who’s the kid?” Kali panted out, trying to keep his breath steady even as he felt fatigued beyond measure.

“Found her,” Sage grunted out, one foot stomping into the ground as his free arm flung forward sending a large rock hurtling from the earth in front of him to knock a black clad man down. “Only survivor I found before-”

He ducks, grabbing Kali and dragging him with as they move, dodging a thrown flame covered dagger, the action making the child scream out again. Kali’s heart panged hearing it.

“We need to get to Annie and get out of here!” Kali thrusts his own hand out once steady on his feet, sending a ball of bright fire forward that hits another masked man, his black cloak instantly catching and spreading until his body is engulfed as he runs away yelling trying to put it out. “We won’t last much longer. They’re never ending!”

“Can’t with so many attacking,” Sage turns and thrusts the child into Kali’s arms before pushing him forward. “Go, I’ll distract them.”

Kali looks at him with intense worry before nodding, shifting to hold the child securely in his arms as he crouches to brace as Sage stomps his foot forcefully to the ground, his arms moving in wide movements and the earth below him gives a powerful heave that sends those in masks off balance. He takes the moment to scan the area, noticing Ace and Mysti fighting back to back, Ace with blood running down their face and Mysti with her shirt torn, her own skin marred with bloody scratches. Both are breathing heavily and even from this distance he can tell they’re about ready to collapse. But, he notices with increasing panic, Annie isn’t with them.

He sees her a moment later as he frantically scans the area and his heart stops.

She’s fighting by herself surrounded by bodies both maskless on the ground and gathering with raised daggers or flaming fists, switching between the elements with ease to knock back the large group that were trying to get to her. Her movements were fluid and graceful as she pivoted and moved her arms, her hair loose from its braid and billowing wildly around her face. It’s when she stops and turns towards him that his heart falls with both fear and awed wonder. Her face is relaxed, eyes stark white as they look at him with a bright intensity he’s never seen from her.

Frozen in place, he watches as she cocks her head to the side before adjusting her stance, arms raising with her palms down before they turn inward, fingers curling and the earth below him and Sage move, pulling them close as she draws her arms in. Behind them a wall of white hot fire erupts with another sweep of her arm, blocking off the masked group that tries to follow and Kali feels the heat sear at his back as screams erupt around him. With them by her side, Annie turns her attention towards the other two ghouls repeating the same motion to move the ground and draw them closer. They’re unprepared for it and end up falling to their knees, holding onto each other as they look over with wide eyes. She stands in the middle of them, raising her face as she brings her arms up. Air swirls around them then, light against the ground kicking up dirt and, while they watch with wide eyes, she slowly lifts off the ground as the wind picks up until they’re completely surrounded by a vortex as she chants in a language they don’t recognize. The pressure around them increases as the wind swirls faster and with a final cry in that unknown language they grow light headed and feel their stomachs flip, threatening to draw out their contents before they feel themselves leave the ground only to crash down on carved stone, Kali bracing himself on one arm as he tumbles forward, clutching the now unconscious child close to his chest with the other.

Annie lowers to the ground, the intense wind dying down and panicked screams could be heard. When her feet touch the stone it dissipates and she lowers her arms with a stagger and the ghouls see they are in the middle of the Cathedral, a couple Siblings running past them in a frenzied panic from their sudden magical appearance and masked ghouls rush in, claws out ready to attack before they stumble to a halt seeing the bloody and bruised group of familiar faces.

“Get Imperator!” One of them hisses, shoving his companion back towards the door.

“You will not,” Annie says, her voice layered as she casts her white eyes to them and they freeze before bowing their heads. “Return to your duties after you fetch me fresh herbs and the High Priestess Rhea and her healer. We will be in my rooms.”

They nod again, bowing to her before rushing out as Annie turns to the ghouls on the ground by her. “We are safe now, but all is not done. Give me the child, Kaliko.”

Kali looks at her with confusion, unsure and slightly fearful of the way her eyes continue to glow, the layered sound of her voice. Was this really his sister? It looked like her, but the way she seemed now… Yet, he found himself unable to refuse her, standing and passing the unconscious child to her waiting arms. Not seconds after she held the girl close she vanished in a shimmer of bright white and panic raced through his body but he remembered she said she would be in her rooms. He nearly shouted as much to the others before phazing to her living room, seeing her walk into the bedroom. How in Hell did she phaze herself? She couldn’t do that before.

He follows quickly as the others appear around him, watching her lay the child on her bed before stepping back. Her head tilts to the side again and her brows furrow before she speaks in that weird language, turning to the space next to her. He watches as her eyes turn sad and she frowns, nodding slowly. More words in that language and she closes her eyes while she leans her head forward with a sigh. Her body relaxes, the invisible wind that was causing her hair to fly about disappearing and when she opens her eyes they’re back to her stormy blue. He sees it, the confusion as her brow scrunches and she turns quickly, looking around to make sure she was, in fact, back in her rooms. Her eyes find his, her breath rapid and quick but when she opens her mouth to ask him something the child laying in the bed shifts with a whimper and it draws both of their attention.

“W..what? Who..? And how..?” Annie looks up at him again when the child remains still and quiet, walking around the bed until she’s in front of him, looking over his face. “How did we get back here?”