They trudged back towards the bank, Cole walking beside her. The sun was setting, time had passed faster than it had seemed in the train. That was weird, but not really notable. Cassie eyed Cole, looking at the pink fungus skin. “So who is your friend Lexa, his name was Cole?”

  “He's a racist,” Lexa said.

  Derrick cocked his head. “Are you sure? His aura is weird, but I think the purple terror is just covering it. The inside in a pleasant burnt orange.”

  Cole stopped in the street. “I just want to explain,” he declared. “I said Shub-Niggurath, that is an eldritch being. It's Niggur with a U, you see, I'm not racist.” He emphasized the Ur sound to try and make it clear. “I've been infected by a fungus that replaced all my skin. I battled hordes of aliens while traversing the aether. I couldn't care less what race someone is.”

  “Isn't that a double negative?” Cassie asked.

  “No. It means it is impossible for me to care less.”

  “So you care a little?” Lexa accused.

  “I care zero. Zero is the absolute minimum for any non-imaginary quantity.” Cole threw his hands in the air, exasperated. “If someone is shot once, you don't say they couldn't be shot less. They could be shot zero times. It is a perfectly valid statement, as we can consider past and future states. So to reiterate, I couldn't care less what race someone is.”

  “The statement could be construed to mean you cannot change the amount you care. Taking it that way you could care immensely about race,” Derrick argued.

  Cole drooped. “That's correct, but I mean as I explained. To state it clearly,” Cole babbled in an unknown tongue that caused everyone to flinch away. “In that language my statement was unequivocal.”

  “I'm sorry then.” Lexa apologized. It seemed Cole wasn't that bad after all.

  “I mean as long as they aren't a Nug-Soth,” Cole muttered.

  Lexa considered making a fuss, but Cassie was eager to talk. “So after getting one of the those guys hanging out at the subway to talk-”

  “He didn't exactly talk.” Derrick interrupted.

  “Okay, he painted an answer.”

  Derrick rolled his eyes. “It wasn't paint.”

  “I don't want to say what he painted with. Anyways we found out we needed to find a bell. We tried a few that we found, but they didn't work. So we kept trying fancier and fancier ones. We took the one that worked from a church. Derrick took it really, I stayed outside.”

  Derrick nodded. “There was something living in the church, but I was able to avoid it.”

  “Thanks, I knew I could rely on you two,” Lexa told them.

  “So Cole can you take the bracelets off?” Cassie asked.

  “I think so, but I want to take a look at Pleiades first.”

  “Why?”

  “Well I'm sure I could remove your bracelet right now. The risk is triggering the rest of them.” Cassie nodded in understanding, but Lexa wasn't sure what he meant. “It may be best to take out the core of Pleiades.”

  They hurried to the bank, where most of the gang was waiting. It looked like they had lost about half their numbers, down to only a dozen people, morosely sitting around the bank lobby. It was unclear whether the missing had died on their mission, already been devoured by their bracelets, or simply deserted.

  People sat up as they saw Cole, his pink fungus skin glowing in the dim light of evening. He was clearly magical, and that gave them hope. Lexa cleared her throat, and announced. “Hi everybody. This is Cole, don't worry he's a fun guy. He's also some sort of wizard, and agreed to help save us. Do you want anything for that?” She asked, realizing she hadn't considered his side of the deal.

  “You got me off the train. I would appreciate some help getting set up, but I hardly think I need a whole gang. After I deal with Pleiades everyone can be free to go their own way.”

  “Great, you heard him gang, no strings. Let's all help him deal with the slime, then we're good.” The gang was on its feet now, and crowded around Cole. They trailed behind as Lexa led him to the vault. They all looked at the huge cloudy slime filling the vault. It quivered, small tentacles bursting out to claw at the air.

  “It seems hungry, and it would be useful to see it in action. Do we have anything to feed it?” Cole asked.

  Lexa looked at the gathered gang, but no one had taken any prisoners today. It wasn't likely anyone would volunteer either. An idea came to her. “Could we feed it Sariel? We still have his body somewhere, I think.”

  “Anything made of flesh would probably do. Bring the body.” Cole ordered, and several ran off to obey.

  They dragged Sariel's corpse along the ground. Dead he looked even more withered than he had alive. Cole checked over the body briefly, and shrugged. “Seems like an ordinary body. Likely he was one the few who survive exposure to otherworldly knowledge.” With a grunt he tossed Sariel's body towards the slime. It landed a foot away, and appendages slowly dragged it in.

  With a flash of golden light the slime became completely transparent. Half of a skeleton hung in the slime, various bones missing. Sariel's body floated next to it, and began to dissolve. A golden network of light was revealed inside Sariel's body. “This isn't good,” Cole yelled. He blasted the slime with coldness, but to no effect. The golden network climbed out of Sariel's body, and moved towards the skeleton. “Pleiades is blocking the magic. I have to go in.” Cole charged at the slime, and plunged into it.

This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

  He was too late to stop the golden light from wrapping itself around the skeleton. Flesh formed around the bones, and Sariel was reborn. Cole grimaced, and let his magic blast away. Fire and ice clashed inside the slime, occasional blasts breaking out of it. A lance of fire struck Mitch, the gangs second in command. Or maybe he was the first in command now. Rather he had been that, as the fire blew a hole in his torso. Cole was putting up a fight, but Lexa guessed he was losing.

  Cassie seemed stunned by the events, and muttered to herself. Others of the gang were in various stages of shock, or running away. Derrick looked to her for guidance. His eyes were bleeding, and she could hear him mumble. “I'm blinded by the light, golden light, so bright. Gone my sight, await the final fight,”

  “Derrick the vault! Close the vault, maybe we can trap it.” Derrick looked around, unseeing. She raced to him and dragged him to the vault door. “Right here, grab on.” With Derrick helping, she managed to swing the vault door shut. Derrick spun the big wheel, engaging the lock.

  “I think that should hold,” she called. No one seemed to hear her. Derrick stood in a daze, still holding vault's wheel. Cassie was still muttering, but had now begun drawing on the floor in Mitch's blood. As the most sane one, Lexa was still freaking out. Sariel had come back to life, and he was probably pissed. She had killed him, it had sort of been an accident, but he was probably still pissed.

  It was possible that Cole would beat him. Even if he lost, could Sariel get through the door? It was a bank vault after all, it had to be super secure. Ominous banging sounds came from inside the vault. Lexa wanted to run away, but she couldn't leave Cassie and Derrick behind.

  The bracelet around her wrist quivered, and Lexa feared it was over. The bracelet expanded, and blew apart into gooey chunks. Cassie's did similarly, and Cassie stopped to look at the goo. She swept it up and began using it with her floor drawing. “Cassie what are you doing!?” Lexa yelled. “We need to get away.”

  “He's an angel, golden light means from the second sphere, Mercury.” She devolved into unintelligible rambling as she drew more symbols. Lexa was only a little surprised by it. They had agreed to keep it a secret, but Cassie knew how to do magic. It was the only thing she knew how to do. Maybe it was like Cole had said about people exposed to otherworldly knowledge. Only Cassie didn't know what magic she knew, the info came to her in fits.

  The first one had been in their first night after waking up. Still half-naked, they were lost in a cornfield as the sun set, it looked bad. Cassie had a fit, scratching lines in the dirt, she spoke some words, and a fire erupted from the ground. They made a nice fire out of cornstalks, and cooked some of the cobs.

  Cassie had been terrified of what had happened. A few more times she had done other magic, but always resisted it. She was scared she wouldn't come out of the trance the same person she had been. When they met Charles, they agreed to keep the magic secret. After getting caught by the gang Cassie hadn't had any knowledge on how to escape, so they just went along.

  The magical battle had triggered another episode. Lexa hoped that Cassie was making a spell to save the day. All she needed was enough time to do it. The bank vault seemed the perfect way to slow down even an angel. Some magical salvation was there only outside chance at living.

  Derrick had relaxed, leaning against the vault door. He didn't react as Lexa walked up, and she knew for certain he was blind. Maybe that was for the best, if he couldn't see the auras he wouldn't go insane again. His crazy singing made her slow down and reconsider. It was possible that the aura that had blinded him, had also driven him mad. It was likely even, whatever had driven him crazy before hadn't been enough to blind. He might be dangerous now, and Lexa stopped out of reach. “Hey Derrick, how you doing?”

  His singing broke off abruptly. “Not great, as you can see, I can't see. I mean I'm just assuming you aren't blind too.”

  “We're okay. How does that make you feel?” She asked, not sure how else to help.

  “It's a bit of a relief. All the auras was too much, it was too hot, I could barely think. Now I can finally cool off.”

  “I think Cassie is working on something, she's secretly a wizard.”

  “Yeah it came up when we were figuring out the train. We couldn't actually get anything sensible from the subway people. What that dude drew made Cassie know we needed the bell.”

  Lexa hadn't considered it before, but that made a lot more sense. “We just need the vault to buy us enough time,” she said.

  At that moment the locking wheel of the vault began to turn. Derrick grabbed onto it, to keep it from turning. Derrick grunted in effort as he kept it from turning. “How is he doing that?” Lexa screamed.

  “It must be able to open from the inside. For safety if anyone got locked inside,” Derrick muttered.

  “Can you keep it shut?”

  “He's not that strong, I can hold.” The huge steel door began to shimmer. Derrick moaned as the wheel became to hot to hold.

  “Let go!” Lexa screamed, watching his hands burn.

  “No, she needs time to finish the spell,” Derrick replied.

  Lexa ran up to pull Derrick away, but the heat slowed her step. Derrick was right, they needed time. He was blind, and in this crazy world what charity could he hope for. She turned away and sprinted over to Cassie, who was still drawing on the floor. She wasn't paying any attention to what was happening, her eyes still vacant. There was no way for Lexa to help with the occult craft. “Hurry, hurry, hurry, hurry, hurry!” Lexa shouted, hoping that would at least encourage Derrick.

  Everything held for another thirty seconds. Then Derrick let out one last cry, and dropped away from the vault door. Lexa couldn't bear to look at the wreck of his hands. The lock spun, and with a blast of heat, the vault door opened. Sariel stood there, a corona of flame surrounding his body.

  All was not right with his body. He was missing a leg, and parts of his torso. Wherever the skeleton had been missing bones, Sariel was missing flesh. The gaps bled light, and seemed to pain him. A grimace passed over his face when he took a step forward, and seemed to place weight on a leg that wasn't there.

  “YOU,” he said, the single word was venomous. Also still obnoxiously loud.

  “Hi Sariel, sorry?” She said plaintive.

  “HOW COULD ONE WOMAN THWART MY REINCARNATION SO THOROUGHLY. FIRST YOUR COWARDLY STRIKE KILLING THAT HOST BEFORE MY PLANS COULD BE FINISHED. THEN YOU CAST MY BODY INTO PLEIADES, LEAVING ME NO CHOICE BUT TO MOVE INTO THIS INCOMPLETE ENSEMBLE. YOUR PET WIZARD FORCED ME TO DESTROY PLEIADES, SO I AM EXPOSED NOW TO THE ELEMENTS. AT LEAST BEFORE THIS HOST COLLAPSES I CAN HAVE MY VENGEANCE.”

  She needed him to keep talking, to buy time. That was upsetting, because even dying hadn't fixed him of his stupid shouting voice. Even getting killed for it hadn't taught him to stop. “Well, jokes on you. I have no clue what I did, so you can't kill me for foiling you. I won't understand why I deserve it,” she provoked.

  Sariel looked confused. “SO THIS WAS ALL AN ACCIDENT. I WAS COLLECTING UNSINNED BONES, TO FORM A PERFECT HOST, AND WAS ONLY KILLED BY BAD LUCK. YOU DIDN'T WAIT FOR YOUR MOMENT, BUT ACTED IN RANDOM.” Sariel seemed to dissolve slightly faster now, the light emitting more fiercely. His breath was coming hard, in great heaves. “YOUR DEATH SHALL BE ALL THE MORE TERRIBLE FOR IT. BEING FOILED BY AN ADVERSARY IS HONOURABLE. BEING DEFEATED BY SOME FOOL IS SHAMEFUL. I WAS TO TORTURE YOU SLOWLY, SO YOUR FINAL BREATH WOULD COME AS I COLLAPSED, WE WOULD PART AS EQUALS.”

  Lexa swallowed, if that had been the less terrible death, she was seriously worried.

  “NOW I WILL JUST DESTROY YOU IN AN INSTANT. PURIFYING FLAME TO REDUCE YOU TO NOTHINGNESS, ALONG WITH AS MUCH OF THIS WORTHLESS ROCK AS I CAN. RUN IF YOU WISH, YOU WILL NOT ESCAPE THE BLAST.” Sariel began to glow even brighter. A holy sound, a chorus of angelic voices filled the air. The noise grew louder as Sariel grew brighter.

  Lexa stood by in terror, strange symbols could be seen in Sariel's light now. Powerful symbols that filled her vision, and spilled over into other senses. It seemed that hundreds of voices were singing, all a single tone. Each second a new voice harmonized, and the sound grew twice as great.

  A different voice cut through the chorus, a human voice. Cassie was shouting now, and stood in a vast network of symbols. Darkness rose from her circles, and poured towards Sariel. It all became entirely too much for Lexa, and she passed out.

  When she woke, Sariel's new body was a corpse again. She herself felt great, better than she had ever. Cassie crouched beside the corpse, cupping golden blood in her hands. She carried this over to Derrick, and began working a spell. She seemed conscious of what she was doing, not acting on instinct. “Cassie?” Lexa asked, sitting up. Her face felt weird, and she rubbed at it. Dried golden blood flaked away. “Cassie, did you do this?” She asked again.

  “Yes, it was a healing spell. The angel blood is incredibly powerful for it. You hit your head when you passed out. Derrick is still alive, and I want to try to save his hands and eyes.”

  “You seem different,” Lexa said. Cassie was confident, which she had never been before.

  “I remembered-”

  “You got your memories back,” Lexa interrupted excitedly.

  Cassie shook her head. “No memories, but I remembered magic, a lot of it. So much of it, I think that's what gave me amnesia, having so much knowledge. I could do thousands of spells. It's not that simple really, a lot more goes into magic than saying some words and drawing symbols.”

  It seemed that simple to Lexa, as she watched Cassie do just that. She drew a golden symbol on Derricks face, and muttered a few words. She probably just didn't have the head for magic. Cassie repeated the process several times.   Eventually Derrick was fully healed, and sat up.

  “I can see, my hands,” he muttered astonished. “What happened?”

  “Cassie took care of everything. I think it makes her the new gang leader.”

  Cassie shook her head. “The bracelets died along with Pleiades, and everyone ran away. I think the gang is officially broken up.”

  “So what are we going to do now?” Lexa asked.