There was a boy with the world on the palm of his hands

Bright like a star but he burnt everything that he had

Trading his life, punching hole in his veins

Fear of the height was a long fall from grace

40 - Scarlet Woman

I woke up to the sound dried leaves crunching under several pairs of boots. When I opened my eyes, the world was somehow upside down and was bobbing rhythmically. I told myself that that didn't make any sense.

I know. And I had just been shoved out of my sister's imaginary world through a door that had magically appeared in the middle of the forest.

Groaning, I swallowed the bile that crept up my throat. I realized then that the world hadn't turned upside down all along. It was me who was slung upside down on someone's back.

My limbs felt numb and lifeless. My eyes were so tired I could barely keep them open. I lifted my head as much as the dizziness would allow me without throwing up.

Was it just my mind playing tricks on me or was I actually inside Sinclair Mansion? And the dilapidated, abandoned one at that? Not the Adrianna-version of the Sinclair Mansion.

The people carrying me seemed to be in a rush on their way out of the hall of Doors.

"Vlad?" It was Alex's voice. "I think the Woman is waking up."

When I glanced to my right, I saw Adrianna slung over Alex's shoulder.

I heard Vladimir grunt exhaustedly. "I just gave it the last of our SirenSoul. I guess we have no choice but to destroy it before it wakes up."

"And how are we going to do that exactly, eh Vlad?" Hector asked.

"I don't know!"

"Maybe we can use that Helcium pendant on it."

"The pendant isn't a cure-all, Hector. It protects the user. It doesn't kill anything." Vladimir sighed. "If Aramis doesn't wake up soon--"

"I'm awake," I moaned, trying to lift my head but failed.

As soon as we reached the living room, the person carrying me sat me on the nearest intact chair. Dust and webs stirred, making us cough.

Amyr's face was the first thing that registered to me. He propped me carefully on the armrest so I wouldn't slide down.

"How're you feelin', Noob?"

"Like I donated four bags of blood," I mumbled. "What happened?"

"You passed out in the middle of the ritual," Vladimir answered, his face grim. "Vincent--the Beast got through the others and went after the Woman. We had no choice but to take both of you out of Halo."

Alex craned his head towards the hallway as if waiting for something. He kept fidgeting with the button at the end of his sleeves. "How did it go, Aramis? Did the ritual work?"

"I'm... not sure," I answered.

My reply seemed to have extinguished what little hope remained in the room.

"It won't be long now," Hector muttered, staring blankly at the floor. "Vincent's going to get here. You saw what he's capable of! We don't even know if the Haljans and the other cabals are still alive. Vincent will find us and--"

"Shut your friggin' face hole, Hector!" Belial hissed, taking a nice long glug from her flask. "It ain't helpin'."

Across from me, Alex set Adrianna on the floor. Her face looked as serene as when I had left her in the forest inside her mind. The other familiars gathered around her as she began to stir. They trained their weapons on her.

"S-stop," I rasped. "We have to wait for Adrianna to wake up. She said, she would see me on the other side. When I left the Link, I think she started fighting to take back control over her soul. Once she's in control of Legion, she will become the Woman. All we have to do is make her command Vincent to transform back to normal."

"We all know the plan," Hector retorted. "But the million dollar question is: will she do it?"

As much as I was too tired to argue, this guy just kept pushing me. "What do you mean by that?"

"Well, we all know she's a Swarth. Meaning she's evil."

"Well that's racist. You're not a Swarth, but you're evil."

"Ouch!" Hector looked around, garnering hard gazes from everyone. "Come on, mates! I'm just saying what everyone's thinking! What if once she takes control of Vincent, she tries to take control of the world for herself? What do we do then?"

Before I could gather enough energy to move my hand, grab something and then hurl it to Hector's face, the floor began shaking. First, there was a series of thumps, followed by a crash so loud the whole house shook. And then, there was that familiar roar that made the walls vibrate, that turned my blood cold.

"He's here!" Hector screamed.

Everything that happened next was a nearly a blur to me.

Amyr scooped me up from my seat and ran for the door. Everyone else did the same. I think I was screaming at Alex to carry my sister. I doubted he heard me through the noise of impending destruction, but then, he backtracked to pick up the still groggy Adrianna.

The banging of monster feet against the marble floors of the hallways shook the mansion's very core. As Amyr jumped to the yard, the whole front porch collapsed after us.

Luckily, no one got hurt. But a fraction of a second later, a claw punched through the rubble from the other side.

"Go," muttered Vladimir, eyes wide. "Go!"

Amyr was able to cover a lot of distance in a few seconds. Hector and Mei were behind us. Byron Flynn and Antoinette flanked the group, growling at Alex to get a move on. The guy seemed to be having a problem carrying my sister now that she was thrashing in her disorientation.

Rolling his eyes, Vladimir went back for them. He summoned his Binds to restrain Adrianna.

To make things worse, Vincent had already emerged from the rubble that was once the mansion's facade.

Amyr paused, wincing. "Hope the Boss remembered to buy house insurance."

As if it knew exactly where Adrianna was, the Beast's crimson eyes immediately focused on her.

Carefully, Vlad and Alex backed away from Adrianna. The Elementals crumpled their noses and bared their fangs, their furs bristling with pent up energy. I could tell though, that they were more scared than aggressive.

Byron Flynn attacked first, hurling fireballs, which the Beast just deflected with a simple backhanded strike. Yowling, Antoinette blasted bolts of electricity. It stunned the Beast for a good two seconds. As the two Elementals charged towards it, it twisted just in time and a hit from its spiky tail sent them both rolling.

Whining, Byron Flynn was able to move his head for a second before it dropped back to the ground. His eyes were still open, but it didn't look like he would be up and running anytime soon.

On all fours, the Beast slowly stepped towards Adrianna.

Over the time span I had used to complete the ritual, Vincent had completely undergone a drastic trasformation. Its body was quite sinewy under his now tattered clothes. Its scales were like a metal armor, glinting in the darkness.

With a low growl, the Beast lowered its massive reptilian head towards Adrianna, its spiky tail undulating behind it.

There was no trace of Vincent on it now.

"Go back," I told Amyr. "Take me back to Adrianna."

"Are you nuts?"

I began squirming to get to my feet. I felt like an idiot needing to be carried like a child. "Maybe."

Amyr tightened his hold on me. "I ain't just gunna watch you kill yourself, y'know?"

"Look. If you don't want to help me, just let me go."

"No."

"Then, I'm sorry."

His forehead crumpled. "For what?"

"For this."

I tilted my head back and then forward as fast as I could. As his head collided with mine, I went blind with pain. Not a second later, I was on the ground with a sore hip and an even more sore forehead.

Amyr just stared wide-eyed at me as I scrambled to my knees. I could hear him cursing repeatedly under his breath, but he didn't make any more attempts to stop me.

Sucking in deep breaths through my teeth, I pushed myself up. My knees felt like they were made of jelly and it wasn't helping that the world was swaying as I took the first few wobbly steps toward the porch.

I didn't know soul-linking would take this much out of me. But then, I knew I wouldn't have it any other way.

Struggling to shake off the daze, I kept my eyes on my sister.

"W-wake up!" I shouted. "Adrianna, wake up!"

Vladimir, Alex and the Elementals had already put a good distance between them and the Beast. And as I staggered past them, Vladimir tried to grab and stop me.

"I have to do this, Vlad," I told him.

Shaking his head, the boy let me go. As I continued on my path, painstakingly but surely, I felt a hand over my shoulder. It was Belial's.

She had already summoned her Manticore armor, which probably meant she had already thought this move out. With a nod, she slung one of my arms over her shoulder.

For some reason, my eyes started to water as we took the first few steps forward.

"You don't have to do this, you know," I told her, my voice low so she wouldn't hear it break.

She shrugged. "Meh. I've lived long enough. Ready?"

I breathed in before replying, "Yeah."

Next thing I knew, we were draughting towards Adrianna. Belial was too fast that my feet could barely keep up with her.

Just as Adrianna was within my reach, we were knocked back. Hard. Whatever hit us was even quicker than Belial that it was impossible for my eyes to comprehend. All I knew was that Belial was already in front of me, shielding the both of us from the Beast's massive talons using gauntlets that looked like scorpion claws.

She coughed and blood trickled from the side of her mouth. Something told me she wasn't hit just once.

"Move!" she choked out.

But the Beast had already lifted its claw for another strike before I could take a step. Belial's braid looped around my waist. It lifted me off the ground and threw me to where Adrianna lay.

I saw Belial fly across the yard before hitting a tree. She hit the ground with her limbs in an awkward tangle. When she tried to get up, the sound of bones snapping back into place made me cringe.

"D-don't... worry... Hun," she croaked out. "Wake... her up."

"To heck with it!" Hector grunted angrily, eyes wild with both fear and fury. He drew his Spanish ticklers from under his sleeves and charged towards the Beast shouting, "I've always wanted to kill you anyway!"

Before I knew it, everyone else was attacking the Beast.