Fate and the Defiant Angel (COMPLETED)

Chapter 49- Destiny comes'a'calling

Zara took a deep breath as she found herself standing in the field once again. The world seemed so much sharper and colourful than it had ever been before. She felt strange and unlike herself. This body was taller, stronger, and better. Everything felt odd and different.

She could also feel something clawing at the back of her mind. She knew it was Ariel. It was clear they were two very different people, sharing the same soul. Zara could feel the strength that radiated, and her head ached terribly. Yet, Zara had something Ariel didn't.

Love.

Zara turned her attention to Violet and felt anger boil beneath the surface. "You were supposed to keep her safe!"

Violet didn't blink. She stared evenly at Zara, her eyes sad and her face unfazed. "You know what needs to happen."

"It's not going to happen!" Zara hissed out with gritted teeth. Zara turned back to the portal, shoulders shuddering as she took deep breaths trying to figure out what to do. She didn't know how to stop this. She didn't know what to do.

"What are you talking about?"

Zara turned to find Cassie had stepped closer. She looked so young as she stood there, yet so old. Zara could only see a sixteen-year-old girl, with smudged eye liner and messy hair. She could only see that lost and scared child. However, Cassie wasn't that little girl. She was a full-grown woman. She stood in front of Zara, having watched people killed, having held her dying soul mate in her arms and only wanting to help. Too good for this world, and certainly too good to die for it.

Zara locked her eyes with Cassie, "I'm not going to let anyone hurt you."

Cassie furrowed her brows, "The reaper lady went back in the portal. She can't hurt me."

Violet spoke softly, "She will be back Cassie. She will always come back with more and more because the portal is open. If we kill her, we still have all those demons who wish to claw their way out. We wouldn't be able to stop them from consuming all. They would kill and burn until there was nothing but ashes."

Cassie stared at them, her eyes wide and confused. "How- how can we stop it. Jace- Jace isn't here anymore. What do we do?"

Violet opened her mouth, but Zara interrupted her. "The wolves can elect a new alpha, and then they'll be able to close it."

"There is no time for an official ceremony. You know what must be done. There is only one way," Violet said to Cassie, not even glancing at Zara. "The portal has a fault. It is designed so that it may be closed by someone deemed as having a good soul."

Cassie didn't react right away, staring between the two with confusion. Zara could almost see the gears in her head turning as she tried to understand. "We need to sacrifice someone?"

Violet shook her head. "Someone needs to volunteer. Someone who is good." Violet's tone softened at the end, with her eyes dropping down.

And then Cassie understood. Her eyes dropped to the ground and she took a shuddering breath. "I- how am I good? I've done so many bad things."

Zara smiled at her softly, wishing she could take her hand. "You have done far more good than you ever did bad."

Cassie looked up at Zara and smiled, tears shining in her eyes. "You kept telling me that I was a good soul. All the time you mentioned it."

Zara felt her own eyes burn. "Because you are. You are good and brave, but you are not going to die today."

"I don't think we have a choice in that," Cassie told her softly. "One person to stop demons from invading the earth isn't that much of a sacrifice.

"No," Zara hissed out, stepping forward but then Violet was standing in front of her. "Move," Zara growled out.

"You know I can't," Violet told her softly.

Zara glanced up at Cassie. She offered Zara a smile, tears trailing down her cheeks. "Its- it's going to be alright Zara. I'll fix everything, I promise."

Then Cassie turned and began her walk to the portal. Zara felt her panic rise. She couldn't let this happen. She tried to move Violet, tried to walk around her, or even push her away but Zara couldn't move past her. Violet had become an unbreakable brick wall that Zara couldn't cross.

Even angels have no power over children of fate.

Ariel whispered the words softly but that only made Zara more frantic. She shoved at Violet, but her hands hit an invisible barrier. Zara frantically looked up in time to see Mary step out of the portal.

The reaper looked frantic. Her hair was a mess of loose strands, her scythe was dripping, and she had healing wounds on her face. Mary's eyes darted as her chest heaved. There was no composure or even sanity left. She was in that moment only a demented, and furious woman.

Mary turned her attention to Cassie, whose steps to the portal had faltered at the sight of Mary. "What have you done!" Mary yelled, gripping her scythe so tightly that her knuckles became white. "You- you made them not . . . they won't follow me."

Cassie had stopped and glanced back at Zara and gave her a tearful smile. Cassie turned back to Mary and shrugged.

"I guess you're just not that scary, more pathetic than anything."

Mary roared and then struck out. Zara let out a scream, closing her eyes as she heard the thunk of the blade sink into Cassie's chest. She fell to her knees, the ground shaking as she touched it. She kept her eyes closed at the squelch as the blade was pulled from flesh.

Slowly she opened her eyes, and saw Cassie standing there. She had her hands clutching at her chest, silently standing there as blood trickled down her shirt. She stumbled forward; her face rapidly paling. Mary let out a shriek of triumph in Cassie's face.

Cassie didn't glance at her, simply stumbling to the portal. Her hand touched the stone as she collapsed on her knees. Her mouth was agape. Her face was shocked and her eyes so very wide. There was a small, heart wrenching gasp.

It seemed to happen in slow motion. Zara watched as Cassie's eyes ever-so-gently closed. Her body collapsed forward, landing in the grass quietly. Her hand didn't reach out to stop her fall. The long grass almost covered her figure, concealing her from view. She was dead.

There was a loud squeal, akin to metal screeching, and the portal began to crumble. Zara watched as the swirling mass of smoke slowly dispersed, until you could clearly see the human world on the other side. Then the portal let out a crunch, slivers of stone beginning to fall. They slid of in chunks and rocks into the ground.

Every piece missed Cassie's body though, leaving her untouched in the green grass and surrounded by black obsidian.

Zara stared at Cassie's body, blood slowly trickling along the grass. The silence echoed around. The low whine of the portal was extinguished. The demonic creatures were gone, forced back to their unnatural home. The only one's left were werewolves, some injured and some dead.

Zara slowly pulled her eyes off Cassie's body to Mary. The reaper stood, scythe still gripped in two hands and an odd look upon on her face. It was pure confusion, but also rage and horror. It was obvious she hadn't expected the portal to close.

A sneer pulled at Zara's face and her hands began to shake as rage overtook her. She took a step forward, Violet stepping out of her way, but something tapped at her shoulder.

She turned her shoulder and found Anya standing there, her face blank of any emotion and a silver scythe in her hands. She'd used it to tap Zara on her shoulder. Zara wondered for a second where on earth she'd gotten such a thing, before a flashback to her standing on the lawn before Anya and Norma had joined the fight. Zara could remember the reinforcements Anya had called arriving, and one of them had handed over something. It was a tiny thing, and it shone silver in the light.

"What are you doing," Zara snarled out.

Anya looked up at her, eye cold and calculating.

"Finishing what I should have ended."

And without another word Anya strode forward toMary.