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Horton:
"Looks like he won't miss it after all." he whispered into
Julia's ear, looking at Derek and the blade he now held to him before giving him
the same humorless smile "I was just telling your woman here how
disappointed I would have been for you to miss me killing her. She should
feel honored to have advanced in the ranks for people that annoy me the most -
she's almost up there with you."
With his words he tightened his hold around Julia's
neck.
The smile left his features and he shot his hand out suddenly,
the same fire that had slammed Julia against the wall he now held her to now
exploding into Derek and sending him flying back. And
considering the lack of space between them, the blow was oh so much
harder.
Horton's eyes flashed as he realized just how hard before he
turned to Julia and sighed "I think I've gotten ahead of myself. And I had
such plans to torture him with. His student who thought it was him that
invited her to the Legacy, watching me -" he paused with a drawl and evil smile
as he looked Julia over "having some sport -- it's a shame really. I
should have really worked on my patience before I killed him."
Patrick:
He took Kat and looked at the bracelets on her wrist before
taking it off and throwing it at Miranda, taking Kat back to the House and
coming out of his trance with an audible and sharp inhale, startling Ingrid who,
surprisingly and yet not considering her Calling, was able to see
him.
He held Kat close even as she struggled, looking at the woman
there for some help.
Miranda:
Miranda looked at him amused. "You think by throwing this at me it ends? I control the bracelets my friend, Kat need not wear it anymore to feel me. I am inside her and one with her no matter where she is, it does not matter what you do now." Ingrid:
Derek had stopped moving violently in pain for the moment so
she moved to take Kat from the man and moved away from the bed, her hold firm
but not hurtful as she sat in a chair and held the girl close, watching the
others as Patrick knelt and tried to reach his little girl through Miranda's
influence.
Julia/Michael:
Julia had turned her face away from his breath when he started
baiting her, choking but still able to breath. Then she heard Derek and
turned to warn him away, gaze filled with a fear for him as, almost as if in
slow motion but unable to move or speak before it happened, she saw Horton's
hand shoot out.
Tears of horror, shock and fear sprang to her eyes as she
screamed, Derek being hit with a force too strong for a mortal body to take and
landing limply to the floor several feet away.
She had no idea what it was Horton said next as a cold rage
filled her and she struck out with everything she had.
"You bastard!" she roared through
her tears as she raked her fingers along his face, making him fall back and
letting go of her. But she wasn't finished, not by a long shot, and
continued to attack, seeing only Derek falling and knowing the result of a hit
Horton had delivered would be. She advanced with each hit, delivering both
physical and spiritual blows that was slowly but surely driving Horton further
back and eventually over the sword Derek had dropped.
Michael heard and felt what was going on but there was no way
he was going to leave Miranda alone to go back after Kat. So he did what
he could and started to fill the place with his holy aura, something dark arts
or power literally curled up and died from. He was going to destroy this
plain and buy them the time they would need to get away from her and make sure
this plain in particular wouldn't be used again for her work.
In other words, Michael was going to drive Miranda out so that
she would have to take time to find a new 'home' before she can try and attack
again. It was the best he could do considering she hadn't raised an
attacking hand toward him and therefore couldn't be killed by his
hand.
Even Archangels had their rules.
Miranda was the furthest thing from Julia's mind at the
moment. All she saw was Derek limp on the ground and Horton having done
it. She reached her sword and was scooping it up to run it through the
demon when, realizing he had underestimated his quarry but swearing he wouldn't
next time, Horton vanished.
Julia stopped and the weapon dropped numbly from her hands,
breathing heavily from what she had just done and the effort it
took.
"Get Derek and get out of here!" Michael's voice carried over
to her as his aura grew.
Julia fell to her knees, her eyes filled with soul-wrenching
pain and tears as she gently lifted his head and caressed his cheek. She
couldn't take him out of here -- he was dead. And she wasn't, she couldn't
leave him.
With tears streaming down her cheeks she held him close and
looked up at the ceiling, Calling out to Those that would Hear her plea "Help
me! Don't let this happen... not Derek!"
Michael visibly flinched as he realized what had just happened
but he couldn't stop. He had to drive Miranda away.
Julia bent her head into Derek's shoulder, crying in a much
softer tone "Not Derek, please God, not Derek."
........Those on the physical realm, those that made it their
life to walk the path of the righteous that were in Kat's room, heard the words
and Ingrid's gaze fell to her brother's, silent tears falling from her
eyes.....
The scene started to alter and change before Julia and it was
only the sense of the place, familiar to her, that made her look up. She
regarded the One before her, blue gaze with more sadness and pain than They had
ever seen before.
The One before her reached out and gently touched one of her
cheeks.
"Don't let him die..... please." Julia whispered, Derek laying
still in her arms as she made her supplication "I'll do anything."
"Anything?" the One asked, tone quiet and yet floating all
around her. He paused as she looked down at Derek's still features,
touching his right cheek ever so gently.
"I'll even cross over if you want," she promised, even though
it would hurt to leave now... but if Derek could live- "I'll go over like all of
You wanted me to in the first place."
He looked at her face, the tears trailing down her face,
waiting another moment.
Then He asked the question "Would you give up your
salvation?"
Julia turned her gaze upward, to His, her gaze solemn as she
whispered honestly "Yes."
It was Derek.
The One straightened and took a step back, nodding once,
gently "Then you know what you must do."
Julia looked down at Derek, memorizing his features, even as
the Being spoke the last three words he would utter to her in this
place.
"You must die."
And they were left alone, not quite in Miranda's realm, nor
the physical, but all around them was darkness. She Felt the Beings nearby
but could no longer see them as she gently laid Derek's head down and moved to
lay down beside him.
She laid her cheek against Derek's still heart and closed her
eyes, breathing in one more time before whispering three words and surrendering
to what had to be done.
Suddenly, in the spiritual and physical realm, she made a
sound in sharp pain, literally feeling the life and link she had with the
Beings and heaven suddenly torn from her.
Ingrid looked up sharply from having been trying to comfort
Kat.
Michael literally flinched and gasped in pain as he felt the
death - just as all creatures that served Him there also felt it - and he looked
at Miranda with the reaction of what he felt and intensified the
Cleansing.
Miranda:
"I'll leave you to your cleansing, but the realm you see before you is just an imitation of one that really is...and soon very soon Kat and I will live there..." She had restored herself now as her and the urn disappeared with out a trace...without a crumb to follow.....she was safe and secure in the knowledge that soon, Kat would have to be with her, and would do anything to accomplish that... Michael:
{{Derek.... }} he Sent to the soul that was in a kind of
stasis/limbo, making him aware of what was happening and again reminding him of
what was said in the library {{What are you going to do...?}}
And then it was over. Julia lay still in Derek's arms
and his spirit was returned to his body.
Derek:
"No," he gasped the moment there was breath in his lungs again. He felt the weight of Julia's head on his chest. For a long moment he couldn't move, couldn't open his eyes. He didn't want to see this. It was all wrong! Slowly he opened his eyes focusing them on her face. His hands moved to her face and hair, stroking it gently. "Damn it Julia, why?" he demanded in a hoarse voice as raw
fury entered him. He was angry with her and with Michael, why the Hell had
he let this happen? He was also angry with himself. He would have
traded his life for hers in a heart beat, had in fact, so why was he here?
And why was she gone again?
He swallowed hard against the lump in his throat. He
felt despair descending on him. That was a good question, what was he
going to do? He did not know.
"For once in your life why didn't you listen to me?" He
closed his eyes again, bring her back only to have this happen? What was
the point?
He lay like that for what seemed like eternity, his fingers
curled into her hair.
Finally, he opened his eyes again and sat up slowly lifting
Julia so that he was holding her in his arms. The same guilt that had
plagued him the first time she died was descending on him now with a
vengeance. Last time he'd unknowingly sent her to her death.
This time however, he was also responsible for it, only it was
much deeper now. She'd died keeping him alive, that was not the way it was
supposed to be! He gazed down at her face before kissing her forehead
gently.
In an almost inaudible whisper he said, "I'm sorry....I love
you Julia. I didn't want this."
Horton: He had seen the death and Julia trading herself for his nemesis. It had worked out after all. Then he disappeared completely to wait for the next chance. Michael: He suddenly appeared before them, the rest of the plain cleansed and Miranda gone. His expression held the pain he had felt from Julia's Death as he went to one knee and swallowed, looking at the two. "She gave up her Salvation for you." he told Derek in an almost accusatory tone "But it was her choice to make." He looked up and met the man's gaze squarely "She thought she was sending herself to hell for you. She only turned salvation down for the time being. A person such as she could not be sent to hell even if she wished it." He reached his hand out, palm toward the two, and ran it without touching along her upper body before starting to disappear, the scene around them shifting as they were returned to Kat's bedroom as they were now "Now let things be right, as they were meant to be before evil touched her. Take nothing for granted, Rayne.... nothing....." Suddenly, Julia inhaled sharply and coughed as she was brought back, turning instinctfully into Derek's shoulder as she moved against her body's protests to make sure he was all right. "Derek." she whispered as her breathing settled some, tentively reaching out to touch his face in awe "You're alive... I thought I'd lost you...." Derek:
Derek stared at Michael, feeling as though he was not fully comprehending what the angel was telling him. "I didn't want her to do that," Derek told him emphatically. The rest of what he said relieved Derek. At least she wasn't there, he couldn't have lived with himself if she had been sent to Hell because of him. He wasn't sure he could live with himself as it was. The Precept jerked when he heard Julia's sudden inhalation of breath. He stared down into her blue eyes truly shocked for the first time in a very long time. He cleared his throat fighting the large knot there again. "I thought the same of you," he said softly. He kissed her forehead as he had earlier, mindful of the audience they seemed to have. Kat: Kat was still in Ingrid's lap by now staring wided eyed around the room. She did remember a lot of what happened, but not everything and she felt guilty. Worse than that though was the frear she felt, not of Miranda, but of what might happen next. No one seemed angry, but......she clearely remembered both her father's and Derek's voices calling her and they were angry then. Michael:
He whispered into Derek's mind before fading from their
pressence "It was the only way she could trully be returned to you from
Ireland. Nothing was lost..... but things were found. Be proud that
she had the strength to do what so little few could. It renewed faith that
there is hope in mankind, to lay one's own immortal soul down for another simply
so they may live...... and it renewed something within you, if you'll just
accept it. Have faith, Rayne..... have faith........."
Julia:
She held Derek close, feeling and hearing his heartbeat under
her ear before she too became aware of their surroundings and turned to gaze at
the others. Patrick, Ingrid who was looking at them with relieved
tearfilled eyes and Kat, looking lost and frightened, as if she wasn't entirely
sure what had happened.
Julia didn't want to leave Derek's side but she didn't want to
be center stage either and so settled for a middle ground as she slipped her
hand into his, squeezed it and gave him a look that clearly promised she would
be talking to him at the soonest possible private moment and then relunctantly
moved so that they could check on Kat and the others.
It wasn't until she was at the bed's edge and holding out her
arms to Kat that she realized she was still able to see Patrick. She was
mortal and without the abilities given her and yet she was still seeing
him.
Patrick:
"I think they left you with a Gift." he answered with a
relieved smile. Relieved because both she and Derek were safe and alive
and his daughter was back home.
Julia:
The gift she was thinking had nothing to do with extra sensory
perception and she agreed thankfully. Then she turned her gaze to Kat,
whispering low "How do you feel?" |
