Chapter 39

Late last year, Chloé found a small note-taking app in her search to organize her volunteer efforts. Her poor memory had always been a frustrating weakness, and her phone was cluttered with dozens of calendar alerts designed to keep her focused. A weekly alarm for hormone shots, a monthly alarm for the phone bill, and myriad other one-off events for anything and everything else.

Hanging out with friends? Event. Meeting with a teacher? Event. Day off with absolutely no plans? Three events, without which she would forget to eat.

One of the most important events was the weekly call she scheduled with her parents. While she hated talking to them, they had a habit of aggressively looking into her life when they thought she was ignoring them. She’d learned this the hard way when college had started; they had visited without warning on the assumption that her silence was proof of a new drug habit, or something similarly sinister. Their accusations changed from month to month, normally in accordance with whatever conspiracy theory was being floated on the news they watched.

The note-taking app had been the perfect partner for her myriad alerts. Calendar events were great for setting alarms, but they weren’t great repositories of information. Her app, however, essentially let her build a wiki about her life. She could type as much as she wanted, link pages within other pages, even create tables and charts when needed.

There were countless pages dedicated to her volunteer efforts, with an entire subsection for her charity app. Her schoolwork had its own section, with pages for in-class notes and writing assignments. That section also had a secret page that held her poorly written fanfics. She had pages for all her friends, filled with small reminders about birthdays, favorite foods, relationship webs, and countless other facts she had trouble remembering. Today’s events had forced her to add new headings to her friends’ pages: superpowers.

The word left a strange taste in her mouth now that she knew how real magic was.

Amara was a succubus. She could shapeshift, control fire, and had super-strength. Massive wings allowed her to fly, but personal trauma prevented her from doing so.

Vee was an angel. She could bless items of religious significance, create light, and summon small angelic constructs. Her powers were the hardest for Chloé to understand; on paper, it seemed like Vee was theoretically capable of anything. For some reason, however, she had repeatedly stressed that she was weaker than Amara.

Tessa was a witch with mild telekinetic abilities. Her biggest asset to the party, as far as Chloé could tell, was her vast knowledge of the runic language of magic.

These new sections had been slowly filled out over the last few hours, in between her assigned work. With the campus under siege, her friends needed to focus on battle strategies, which left no time to wrangle the crowd of panicked students that had been inadvertently wrapped up in the chaos. According to Amara, Chloé’s volunteer experience made her the perfect person to touch base with all the other students.

After creating a new section in her notes app, she’d held brief interviews with each and every student presently hiding out in the cafeteria. They all got their own pages, and she did her best to record how they felt about the day’s events. Most of the students were shocked and confused, unsurprisingly, and several of them had gotten injured in the earlier chaos; despite Amara and Vee’s best efforts, one reaper had gotten loose on campus. Thankfully, Nick and Tessa had been able to guide students to safety while mostly avoiding the beast.

After interviewing everyone, Chloé shared her results with the rest of the group, who briefly helped her calm down some of the more excited students. Afterwards, they retreated to a corner to plan their final assault on Brandon.

Chloé didn’t fully understand why she was present for that particular conversation and tried to convince herself they weren’t including her out of pity. She stayed quiet for most of it, watching them debate the merits of their different plans. Despite the fact that they were debating the best way to take down a mad cultist and save the campus, they seemed incredibly composed.

God, they’re all so cool. Do they know how cool they are? I mean, they’ve been secretly protecting the campus for months. Why do they even bother being friends with me? I mean, what am I good for? Organizing groups of people? Wow, what a power. All my friends get to fight monsters and save the world, and I’ll be known for my ability to take notes.

Ugh.

Who am I kidding? I won’t be known for anything. What’s worth remembering about me?

Despite Amara’s insistence to the contrary, Chloé was having trouble seeing her earlier task as anything other than busy work. She reminded herself time after time that talking to everyone was helpful, it kept them from panicking, but it felt so quaint in the shadow of the literal tear in reality just outside the window.

Before long, it was time for the fight to begin. Tessa was spinning her switchblade around in her hand, examining the magic runes she’d just finished applying. After some additional feeding, Amara was practically glowing with power and presence. Vee was leafing through pages in, if Chloé remembered correctly, an incredibly powerful angelic artifact that held thousands of years’ worth of Enochian magic. She had briefly left the cafeteria to grab it from her home, which had worried Amara considerably.

Chloé planted her hands on the table, jumped to her feet, and walked over to them.

“—and there were no problems getting your book, Vee?” Amara asked as Chloé walked within earshot.

Vee shook her head. “No, he’s got the reapers glued to the quad, presumably to keep him safe. Thankfully, all the school buildings are blocking the view from the streets nearby, so I don’t think anyone has noticed the portal yet. Tess, how’s the dagger?”

“I mean, as good as it’s gonna get. There’s only one way to test it out, sadly. You might only get one shot at this, Vee, so make that fucker bleed.”

As Tessa and Vee started talking about the knife, Amara looked over at Chloé. “Hey, Chloé, how are you holding up?”

“I’m ... good. I guess,” Chloé muttered, looking around at everyone. “Is there anything I can do to help? I don’t really have anything else to do here, I’ve already talked to everyone, and I hate the thought of you fighting that cultist all on your own.”

Amara stepped forward and wrapped her arms around Chloé. “We’ll be okay. I promise.”

Chloé returned the favor, hugging Amara tighter than she’d ever hugged anyone before. She took a deep breath, fighting to hold back tears as she spoke. “I-it just looks really scary out there, and I don’t want to see you get hurt again!”

“Hey, look at me,” Amara whispered. Chloé pulled away to look deep into Amara’s glowing amber eyes. “We’re stronger than we look, and the last time I fought Brandon, I was running on fumes. Besides, even if there were something you could do, I would still ask you to sit this out. Brandon’s certifiably insane, and he won’t hesitate to hurt you if given the chance.”

No response sprang to mind, and instead Chloé buried her face in Amara’s shoulder again. She squeezed Amara tightly, scared to let her go. After a minute, Nick walked closer and placed a hand on her shoulder.

“C’mon, Chloé, it’s time for them to go,” he said. “I’m here too, don’t forget. There’s no shame in leaving the fighting to the people with the strength to hold their own.”

With a sniff, Chloé wiped away her tears with her sleeve. She ran over to Vee and Tessa, hugging them both tight while she still had a chance. “Good luck, everyone,” she managed to say. Nick said his goodbyes as well, and with nothing left to prepare, Amara, Vee, and Tessa walked out of the cafeteria.

Watching them leave, Amara’s words rattled around in Chloé’s head.

“Even if there were something you could do, I would still ask you to sit this out.”

She knew what Amara meant, and tried to convince herself the words were well-intentioned, but she couldn’t help but fixate on them. In her own way, Amara had admitted that Chloé was useless.

Is she right? Am I still nothing, after all this?

She clenched her fists and shook her head.

No.

There’s got to be something I can do.

Chill winter winds raced between the buildings of Aurelius University as Vee stepped outside. She pulled her scarf tight as the crisp air bit at her face, and she allowed herself a quick glance at Amara. She wore nothing but her chitinous exoskeleton, her demonic blood rendering her completely immune to the frigid weather. Memories of cuddling for warmth in Purgatory resurfaced, and Vee regretted that they couldn’t share that warmth again now.

She redoubled her grip on her Enochian Texts. Its magic would hopefully help her stand against the reapers, and she was optimistic about their battleground. Their last big fight, the ritual, had been in a cramped, hidden basement underneath campus, whereas now they had the entire quad at their disposal. Ideally, the extra space would enable her to keep her distance while Amara drew the reapers’ attention.

Of course, she would need to dive in eventually.

Even inside her pocket, the cold metal of Tessa’s switchblade was hard to ignore. It was heavier than its weight, and Vee’s nerves fluttered as she thought about the responsibility she held. This knife might very well be the only thing that could stop Brandon, and it was up to her to pick the time to strike.

Shaking her head, she pulled herself away from her thoughts and looked at her friends.

“How are you feeling, Amara?” she asked.

Amara clenched her fists, her chitinous gauntlets smoldering as they clicked together. “Ready to tear that fucker limb from limb.”

As they walked down the steps beside the cafeteria, Vee watched more of Amara’s exoskeleton appear. Blackened plates grew from her body with flurries of hellfire, and her feet arched as thick talons appeared.

“Just try to stay focused, alright?” Tessa said. “We all know how emotional you get when you’re like this, but you need to keep a level head and stick to the plan.”

“Please, I was way more juiced up the night of the ritual, and that plan went off without a hitch.”

“This is more personal, though. Brandon’s been a thorn in your side for months.” Vee stepped closer, grabbing Amara’s arm to get her attention. “I know you blame yourself for all this, but it’s not your fault.”

Amara stopped walking and looked back at Vee, her eyes burning with rage. “If I’d killed him that night, none of this would be happening.”

Vee stared back for a moment before releasing her grip. It was difficult seeing Amara like this, but she knew there was nothing more to say. Instead, she found herself wondering just how much of Amara’s personality was tied to her hellfire, or lack thereof.

We spent all that time together in Purgatory, but she was slowly starving. Would those conversations have been possible had she been fully sated?

Ugh, this isn’t the time.

You can figure out your friendship once Brandon is out of the picture. Besides, she hasn’t had a chance to figure herself out yet; she’s been too busy fighting for her life ever since her transformation started.

The three of them stepped off the staircase and were now level with the quad. Tessa looked at the group, nodded, then walked off to find a place to hide and watch. Amara’s wings reappeared, and she began stretching as they stared at the field just a few dozen feet away. The heat felt amazing as it washed over Vee, and she took a moment to walk in front of Amara.

“Hey, whatever happens out there ... I’m really happy we’re friends again. There’s no one in the world I’d rather be doing this with.” Vee reached up and gently grabbed the back of Amara’s neck, smiling as she did.

Amara returned the favor, pulling their foreheads together. “Us against the future, right?”

Vee nodded, closing her eyes as she let herself savor this last moment of peace. “Us against the future.”

With a resolute nod, they stepped away from each other. Vee opened her Enochian Texts, magically bound them to her offhand, then summoned her angelic mace. It glimmered with radiant power as she spun it around, and she took a deep breath to prepare herself. She released the breath, and with it, one last prayer. Magic rushed through her, heightening her senses and strengthening her body. She jumped side to side, adjusting to the shift in perspective, then nodded with approval. With one last look at Amara, they started towards the quad.

The cold grass crunched under Vee’s feet as she stepped onto the field. Thick blankets of fog obscured the ground, roiling and billowing away from its source; the rip between dimensions that grew larger with each passing minute. Air shimmered around it, pulsing with unnatural energy as it struggled to pass between the campus and Purgatory. Its complete lack of refinement was obvious, even to Vee. It shuddered and pulsed unnaturally as it grew, and she had a feeling Brandon was forcing it to exist through the most brutish means imaginable. There was no elegance, no complex web of runic symbols, just a lone madman desperately tearing holes in reality with power he didn’t deserve or understand.

Three reapers slowly circled the portal, occasionally twitching and shaking with discomfort. Vee hoped that, away from Purgatory, their strength would be diminished.

In the center of it all, silhouette scattered and stuttering, was Brandon.

A wave of infernal heat pulsed from Amara, and she crouched down to start sprinting across the field. She moved faster with each step, her tail darting back and forth to keep her steady, and fire began to swirl around her feet. The flames shrank, condensing on a single point before exploding with incredible force, catapulting Amara towards Brandon.

Moments before impact, a ghastly form inside Brandon turned to look at her, and he raised an arm. His translucent, skeletal hand shimmered, and a reaper darted forward to intercept Amara’s attack. A loud crack appeared on the creature’s arm as it roared in pain, and another reaper leapt at Amara with a similar cry of its own. Its tail lashed out, but with another burst of hellfire, Amara spun and caught it. She kicked the second reaper down to the ground, returned its aggressive scream with one of her own, and continued her assault.

Vee was terrified for Amara, but she had a feeling her demonic friend didn’t share the sentiment; having now seen Amara in multiple fights of this scale, it was obvious she reveled in the thrill of combat. Hellfire surrounded her as she began darting and weaving around the three reapers, sticking to the plan and keeping them distracted. Vee lost track of what happened next; Amara moved with such ferocity that it was hard to follow her movements exactly.

On the far side of the quad, a soft choir of otherworldly music floated from Vee’s lips as she prepared more magic. As the first prayer finished, a burst of light appeared on the grass in front of her, its shape resembling her own. She repeated this several more times, creating multiple copies of herself in different spots across the field before turning to a different page.

She read aloud a familiar passage, summoning a barrage of Enochian arrows, and launched them at Brandon. They soared through the air with an angelic hum, but at the last second, Brandon forced a reaper to intercept the attack. Her arrows collided with the tattered wings of the beast before vanishing entirely.

Hardly surprised, she readied another volley as she repositioned herself. This time, instead of drawing energy completely from the book, she weaved in traces of her own magic to alter the spell. As the arrows formed, their sharp points doubled in size, hopefully now thick enough to damage the reapers. The second barrage launched, aiming at Brandon again, and he repeated his previous command. This time, however, the reaper screeched in displeasure as the arrows impacted one of its front legs, sinking several inches in before disappearing.

Now injured, this reaper broke off from the group to charge Vee. Its massive body shook the ground as it approached, and she hoped her radiant doubles were bright enough to distract it. She kept low to the ground and ran to the side of the quad, muttering a prayer to summon another volley of arrows.

When the reaper arrived, it closed its massive jaw around one of Vee’s stationary copies, which immediately vanished in a burst of light. The distraction was all she needed, and she launched her next attack, focusing on its already damaged front leg. The reaper turned as they whistled through the air, but it wasn’t quick enough to dodge the attack completely. Instead, its wings swept across its body, knocking some of the arrows off course while absorbing the momentum of others. With a screech, the monster immediately changed direction to charge at Vee.

It barreled through more of her radiant copies, dispelling them as well, and Vee knew she needed to keep her distance. She darted behind a nearby tree, then sprinted to another as she tried to lose the reaper in the tree line. It moved quicker than she expected, however, and pivoted quickly before lunging at her. Its shoulder clipped the base of a tree, but its outstretched arm still managed to swipe at Vee.

She gasped in pain as a claw slashed into her hip, sending her tumbling to the ground. She swore to herself as she noticed the reaper’s tail moving in for another attack, which she dodged at the last second by rolling out of the way.

She continued jumping and weaving through trees as she listened to her pursuer free itself from the tree it had collided with. With enough distance between them, she prepared another spell from her book. This one took more concentration, but she knew it would be worth the risk. Her heart pounded in her chest as she ran, and just as the reaper closed the distance and reached out for her, she jumped as high as she could.

Instead of landing back on the grass, she landed several feet above it on a thin, radiant circle of Enochian runes. The reaper’s claw tore a gash in the ground underneath her, where she would have landed otherwise, but she kept her focus on the spell. She planted her other foot and shoved hard, leaping into the air before summoning another runic circle. As she landed safely, the first circle disappeared, and the reaper turned to look up at her.

She continued running higher, strafing over the tops of the trees as Enochian circles continuously appeared and disappeared underneath her feet. Another volley of arrows appeared, firing down at the reaper, but it dodged them by ducking behind a tree. Vee prepared her next attack as she waited for the beast to reappear, but she had trouble reading its movements.

It reemerged briefly underneath the next tree over, and she thought it was about to leap up at her, so she fired. Instead, the reaper swerved to the other side of the tree before jumping, its wings outstretched as it loosed another horrid screech. Her sensitive hearing made its ghastly wails exponentially more painful, and the discomfort made her lose concentration on her next attack. The reaper’s wings thrust down with incredible force, catapulting it into the sky as it tried to close the distance.

Its head collided with her runic platform which, while it blunted the attack somewhat, also shattered on impact. Vee hadn’t been able to jump away in time and lost her balance immediately. She fell several feet before summoning another platform, landing on her back with an agonizing gasp.

The reaper had landed atop the nearest tree, and its attempts to recover gave Vee enough time to crawl to her feet. With another thrust of its wings, the reaper sprang at her, but she planted her hands and shoved hard to dodge it. She briefly landed on another platform before turning away from the reaper and sprinting hard. With her opponent now completely airborne, she switched her focus entirely to evading it. She ran as fast as she could, the sounds of Amara’s battle filling her ears as she raced through the sky over the quad. The reaper was quicker than she expected, and she was shocked at how quickly it could change course in midair. Every few seconds she would manage to fire off a single bolt of energy, but it soon became clear that her smaller attacks weren’t fazing the beast.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Amara still holding her own against the two other reapers. Both creatures had visible cracks and scorch marks on them, but Amara was also sporting new injuries of her own. Worst of all, Brandon was still ignoring the fight entirely. The portal continued to grow, and Vee saw traces of energy connecting him to the reapers; whatever they were doing, it wasn’t enough to break his hold on them. She briefly feared what might happen if he turned his attention completely towards the fight, but her thoughts were derailed as the reaper in pursuit swiped at her.

Rather than ducking under this attack, she dispelled her current platform and dropped several feet onto a new one. From there, she started leaping towards Amara, wondering just how intelligent these beasts were. She jumped higher, running as fast as she could, as the third reaper closed on her. Looking behind her, she waited until the reaper was about to attack, then summoned another platform at a harsh angle in front of it. The beast collided with the magic, predictably shattering it, and Vee swung her mace at the creature. Her mace struck the creature’s damaged leg, cracking it further but failing to destroy it entirely. Thankfully, attacking this reaper was only part of her plan.

She let herself fall, foregoing the creation of more platforms, and shifted her attention to the battle beneath her. Amara was still engaged with the two other reapers, and blood was pooling around her chitinous plates as it flowed from her ever-growing collection of injuries. Vee read a prayer aloud from her book, summoning another volley of arrows, and released them seconds before she arrived herself.

Her magic rained from above, catching the reapers off guard while thankfully avoiding Amara. The arrows were entirely a distraction, and while the creatures flinched from the attack, Vee brandished her mace. She smashed it into a reaper’s neck, smirking as she heard a heavy crack and a deafening shriek. Spinning quickly, she landed gracefully in front of Amara, then turned and shouted, “Now’s your chance, I’ll cover you!”

Amara nodded, her eyes blazing, and leapt at the damaged reaper. Vee summoned another blast of light, giving Amara time to isolate her target, then turned her own focus to the two other reapers.

Okay, Amara seemed evenly matched against two of them, so if I buy her enough time, she can finish that one off. This is going to suck, but I only need to last a few minutes. Stay defensive, don’t take risks, just keep them busy.

The ground shook as the reaper that had been chasing her through the air landed, almost crushing her in the process. She jumped away at the last second, skidding on the soft grass before dodging a tail swipe from the other reaper. Fear gripped her, along with memories of how difficult it had been to survive against just one of these beasts, but she knew she had to keep Amara safe. She jumped over a massive claw that dug into the ground, then threw her mace at the same reaper’s body. Impacting the massive rib cage, the weapon shattered in a burst of light, and Vee immediately began the incantation to replace her weapon with a more reliable defensive option. Another runic circle appeared, this one floating by her hand, and she continued praying as she rolled away from the other reaper.