A Falling World: Chapter 4 Part 2: Paths Crossing

Virtus snapped her fingers and Adam looked back as the fire receded from Sarah enough so the shield was no longer activating.

There was a pressure pushing back against the dragon now so it couldn’t claw or maim Sarah and Celeste shouted for her to hurry back. A command that was made easier now that the paths were weaving together into solid ground.

Sarah looked as haggard as she felt but with a disheveled gait she still had enough energy to pick up the spear on her way back in.

Sarah nearly collapsed in front of everyone but managed to hold her weight by leaning on Celeste’s spear “So we passed, when do we get this power up?”

“What power up?” Virtus laughed, “You passed, what you get is permission to take the second trial. Your power up comes from living and fighting in continuously denser fields of magic until your body adjusts appropriately and your soul morphs to use it. These trials only confirm that you are ready to move on to the next stage.”

Sarah was emotionally drained but she still felt frustrated “You said I would be able to deal with that third rate magician and the grimm waiting for me on the other side of the door if I beat this trial.”

“If I recall, I said ‘surely if you can best a dragon you can best one third rate magician and a grimm’ and I still think that’s true.” Virtus paused before continuing “Oh my, but I guess you didn’t best a dragon by yourself now did you? I wonder what will you do – Adam? Sarah needs your help to beat those two but if you two leave my domain before I take you to the second trial I’ll have no choice but to close the door – and since I only proctor the first trial that means you won’t be able to summon me again. Hmm, it’s also true that you’re both still exhausted and hurt so even if you do work together you will likely fail to beat them. Sarah, it sounds to me like your best bet is to forget about going home and continue onto the second trial with Adam.”

Celeste’s eyes widened and a starry-eyed smile engulfed her “I heard you two talking about a grimm earlier. Is there actually one on the other side of that door?”

“Yes” Adam said dejectedly.

“I’ve only read about them.” Celeste said dreamily, “I’ve never actually had a chance to fight one and from what I’ve read I’m missing out. That means you two are here from Earth doesn’t it?” Celeste already knew the answer and with a wolfish grin she confirmed with Virtus that if she left with Sarah to Earth the door would have to stay open until she returned.

Virtus hesitantly confirmed that she would have no choice in the matter and Celeste asked both Sarah and Adam what they wanted.

Adam said that he planned to go through these trials with Diana, but he couldn’t put her through this. He had to move on to the second trial and either find a way to make her immortal through means other than godhood or find a way to deal with the magicians and grimm on his own so he could be with her. Sarah wanted to return. She was already learning magic and wasn’t desperate enough to go through this again.

The three of them worked together and made a plan that worked for all of them. Sarah and Celeste would head to Earth while Adam would wait in this realm. Considering how weak Sarah was Celeste would put some of her power in both the shield and the spear and when Sarah ran through the door she would hurl the spear at one of the two waiting for her. Then she would just run away while the shield absorbed any attacks that came her way. After Sarah was through the door Celeste would make her entrance letting the grimm grab the spear so he would have at least a fighting chance. Once she dealt with the grimm and witch she would track down Sarah and return the shield to Adam.

With the terms agreed to Celeste transferred her power into the two items and Sarah could feel the energy radiate off them. The spear in particular reacted to her power and had a red aura visible around it.

The two of them fell into their place and Sarah ran through the door. The shield activated and pushed back against spiked concrete coming from the wall across from her before she could pinpoint either of them. But off to her right they were both standing over Torrance. Sarah hurled the spear their way and it took on a life of it’s own almost propelling itself as it pushed into a wall just missing one of them. It did it’s job and the two of them were focused more on it than her. Turning tail she ran for it not looking back. There were several dings come from the shield before she made it out of the alley but she was unharmed. Then she ran without looking back and without stopping.

It was Celeste’s turn now and she dove face first into a translucent barrier just at the threshold between the two realms. Behind her Celeste heard Virtus “Now that I think about it what would the king say if he discovered I let a fae princess into Earth specifically so she could fight a grimm? It would be nothing good, and I can’t have that.”

Celeste grimaced as she shouted at Virtus “What the hell? Lower that barrier, now!”

“I thought we just went over why I can’t. But you shouldn’t need my permission with a barrier like that? You should be able to break down something so weak and at least give me some plausible deniability – you are a goddess after all. Don’t tell me that you’re still learning how to use your power? That’s adorable, if you are.”

“Virtus! I need that spear, and I gave my word to return his shield” Celeste shouted pointing at Adam, “lower the damn barrier.”

Virtus sighed, “That is a problem for you isn’t it, but it’s not my concern you’re so irresponsible with your tools. I wonder how you’ll explain it.”  

Richard was shocked by what just occurred. What the hell happened in there he thought. The spear was a major problem for him, he could see the power behind it. He sent Alphonse to deal with the girl while he pulled out the spear.

His knee was hurting, but he made his way to the door and saw a young woman banging against a barrier. He couldn’t hear any sound coming from it but she looked desperate and enraged at him. She was mouthing something and pointing at the spear he held in his hand.

On the side, the portal had hinges now and attached to it was something solid he could grab onto and swing. Richard took advantage of it and shut the door and watched as the portal dissipated.

…………………….

Sarah made her way back to the mansion exhausted and disheveled. Her appearance gave that much away as did her expression. She walked through the mansion and in quick order it delivered her unto the room where Henry was. “You’re getting better at that,” he said “soon you’ll be able to control the contours of this estate as well as myself.”

“So I tailed him. His name is Adam.” Sarah said her voice taking on a dangerous undertone “Do you want to explain why you had me follow him?”

In his hands Henry had a book which he put down and moved closer to Sarah “Because I need you to protect the others from the things they don’t know they need protecting from. There are millions of people in this world just waiting to die. They are filled with regret and longing with no understanding of how to move forward and it cripples them.

“But we’re different, we have magic and we can make a difference, but there are systems set in place to stop that because as a society we know full well what those longings can bring about when coupled with power.

“You’re an outsider Sarah, as are the rest of your peers and because of that it’s hard for you to look at the world through a lens different from what you grew up with. You come from a culture where everyone in is about as strong as everyone else. You’re society is ruled under a principle of collectivism because no individual can match the strength of a hundred. That isn’t the case with my world. Gods and demons exist, fae are real, and they can all be terrifying because it’s impossible to tell which ones are titans in disguise.

“You’re at a point in your development where you are indistinguishable from a normal human. That means you don’t have to worry about the ramifications of these laws. The boy I had you follow is fae though, and I was able to detect his actions – meaning that so could the authorities. I know your culture teaches you to trust police which is why this difference between our worlds has to be shown rather than warned against.

“If an authority ever speaks to you all you say is yes sir, no sir, yes mam, no mam and pray they go on their way because our police don’t exist to help you or anyone. They exist to keep the status quo and they will hurt and kill anyone to make sure that happens. The only way to deal with them is to become powerful enough that they think twice about escalating the situation and also by keeping far enough under the radar that they don’t request for someone stronger to come along and go after you.”

Sarah was sure there was more she wanted to say but all she could muster was “If you ever do something like that to me again I’m out. I don’t care if I lose access to this magic. I’m gone, I’ll find a different way to learn.”