Coan Park, Edgewood, Atlanta, DeKalb County, Georgia. Thursday, October 31st, 20:20
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Sara stopped at a public park to catch her breath. Through her mad escape, she had gained a few new scratches and small bruises but her clothes weren't so lucky to have Skills increasing their resilience. Her shirt was left behind, one shredded piece at a time. Her pants would look very stylish if she was fifteen feet tall and her skin was green. Maybe gray or purple depending on the artist drawing the comic. Her sneakers had holes in the sole from landing on sharp things.
For the first time in a long while, she was winded. Her hands shook. The Fourth seal was open and... an entity, that entity was after her. Was it punishment for murdering those gang members? Sara became queasy at the thought. Surely someone elsewhere was more deserving of death than her.
"Why me," she whimpered.
"It's all your fault!"
Reaching a grassy picnic area, she fell on her knees. "No."
"It's over. I deserve it, I'm a murderer, THAT has come for me. Even I could sense the amount of Mana in the... entity."
"Fuck you, Abby. You knew the schedule of the Seals and said nothing."
No rebuttal came from the allegedly Celestial parasitizing inside her.
The wave of preposterously oppressive Mana approached like a dark cloud to cover the stars. Sara screamed and stumbled back on her feet. The bony hand grasped her shoulder but she slipped away and ran.
"Eeeek!" The girl let out her girlishier shriek ever.
"Wait, Sara. It's not what you think!" The entity claimed.
She had a witty quip at the tip of her tongue but she wouldn't waste breath. Sara ran for her life.
*
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*
Charlie Yates Golf Course, Parkview, Atlanta, DeKalb County, Georgia. Thursday, October 31st, 20:30
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Only ten minutes later, she felt the entity's presence again, but this time ahead of her. She thought them to be inexorable, just as she pictured... that thing from the Fourth Seal. She kicked the golf course grass to kill her momentum, then lost her footing as the soft ground refused to comply and stumbled forward in a pirouette. The girl landed on her face a few feet from two feet made out of polished bone, poking from the hem of the threadbare robes.
"Ahhh!" She screamed like the damsel in distress she was, then scuttled backward, spitting grass. She raised her head to meet the bare skull inside the hood. "How? How did you reach me?"
"Come again?" Sara's distressed mind refused to understand.
"It's fate. We are fated to be, Sara. That's unavoidable. Also, you are running in a straight line, makes it easy to tell where you'll be," The entity raised its long-shafted implement and pointed it at her. She couldn't see the end of it, just a shadow. Her imagination was playing tricks on her mind but she was too disturbed to tell.
"No, I refuse, go away," She shook her head frantically while her eyes swiveled madly, trying to find a way out.
"Halt, Nephilim child," the entity said with their rumbling deep-as-the-grave voice. "You cannot delay this any longer."
Sara cried, prayed, begged for aid from Divine Providence. She garnered none.
She tried to stand up, tripped and fell on all fours. She felt tired, wrung out, and ready to give up. Death, after all, shall come for everyone. It was a matter of when. Sara feared it was her turn to check in to the afterlife. The girl considered fighting it for a while, then gave up. She doubted an imbued strike would do anything to it. And she had lost her spear. No way she would draw a knife and dive in.
"Don't listen to that traitor," the entity advised.
Sara didn't want to listen to either one of them. She considered fighting back but discarded it. She doubted she could resist a blow from the entity's implement. She stood up and ran, not because Abby told her to but because she wanted desperately to get away from... whatever that creature was.
She could feel her heartbeat throbbing in her throat.
Sara ran and didn't even notice when she crossed the ring of churned earth that denoted Verachiel's exclusion zone. She moved toward the projections Abby kept in her sight.
*
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Gold Ticket Boat Club, Lake Stonecrest, Panthersville, DeKalb County, Georgia. Thursday, October 31st, 21:00
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As she reached Panthersville, Sara was faced with a dilemma. She felt like she was being hunted. She needed to move, to run, to get away from that, wherever it was. Now that she was right next to the lake, the blue disk became a dot far in the distance. She wanted to go home, bicker, laugh, and tease with Mary, play with her dogs, sleep on her bed. She wanted to be safe. But with that entity after her, how could she? Sky Pencil was just a dozen blocks down the road.
But could she endanger her special people? Sara took her phone and called Mary.
"Sara?" Mary's voice came as the call connected.
"Mary, are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm home with the hounds. Where are you? Did the rescue go well? How are you calling me?"
"You didn't go to the military base with the others?"
"No, I felt sorry for the puppies. But you said that here would be safe, right?"
"Yes. It's safe, stay there and don't come out. About the rescue. We reached the Bank of America and got everyone out. But the survivors, they had luggage, Mary! Luggage! There was this lady decked in Gucci apparel. They pulled their carry-ons like they were going to take a plane on vacation!"
"How awful? Did you take them back? Are they there with you?"
"No. Not at all. They decided to drive a bus. We had tanks and we'd decided the tanks wouldn't go through, how could a bus... We were attacked by undead, then we got separated. I'm nearby but I'm doing a task for the... the... the creature who gave me the feather. It's going to help everyone. I hope."
"Sara, if you are nearby, then come home for a while. You sound distressed."
"No, I can't. No time for that. I'm not... don't worry. Sorry, Mary. I have to go. I can't stand still. It's... it's coming. I can't take my phone with me. I'll come back when everything is safe. Stay home."
"Sara, wait."
"I can't. Mary, you're my best friend. There's someone after me and the undead are getting stronger. Stay safe. Stay home. I can't take my phone where I'm going. I'll see you soon."
Sara hung up and flipped the airplane mode on. The phone, regrettably, didn't fly.
She walked down the pier, trying to find a suitable boat.
The entity didn't appear another time, thankfully. Sara was shaking, every muscle in her body twitched and she found it hard to think or even stand still. She tried to hotwire a boat but her hands shook too much. She punched the boat and tried another. It was of no avail.
"I can't. I can't Abby. I don't think I can sit and drive a boat."
She thought she could be safer if she activated the Main System Core, unlocked an upgrade to her Personal Core, a main Class, a sub-class, maybe she would gain the power to fight back. To keep alive. She refused to let that entity claim her life.
She thought she could at least row. Sara stashed her backpack on a locker by the marina main building. She had no way to keep her things from getting damp. She left her handgun and knives behind as well. They would not avail her either in the water or in fighting that entity. Giving it some thought, she stripped down to her underwear. Should the kayak fail, she would need to swim...
A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
Of course!
Sara ran to the boat club shop and secured a swimsuit. She quickly changed into a one-piece "The Little Mermaid" child swimsuit, the only one who would fit. It had a frilly pink skirt and she was thankful nobody would see her in that.
Without a life vest, Sara set the kayak on the water, climbed inside, adjusted the straps, then took the paddle in her hands. The shade of the pad against the stars seemed oddly familiar. It was the same shape as the implement in the entity's hand. Why would they have a paddle, she wondered, then discarded the idea entirely as absurd. Her mind was playing tricks on her. She knew very well what implement that entity carried.
Abby narrowed the blue circle to a bright blue dot, marking where she should go.
Sara rowed toward the center of the lake. She would turn on the System and everything would be fine.
She hoped.
*
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Lake Stonecrest, DeKalb County, Georgia. Thursday, October 31st, 21:20
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Sara stopped the kayak as she approached the blue dot.
"What do I need to do to turn the System Core on?" She asked.
She got suspicious at how easily events were unfolding. Why did Abby decide out of the blue to turn it on now? Wasn't it supposed to be in thirty days from the seventh of October?
But Sara was tired, exhausted both mental and emotionally, and afraid of what would happen if that thing caught up to her. She could only hope Abby wasn't pulling the wool over her eyes and that Verachiel's promise would come true. The girl put her whole self to rowing, ignoring the pain from her poisoned arm, the kayak sending sharp triangular waves behind her and causing some surf so fast she was going.
She rowed for three miles. Glancing behind her, she could see the lights on at the Sky Pencil's penthouse against the dark of the moonless night. Her home. The thought warmed the girl's heart. Mary, Bella, Brutus, and even Kelly were her new family. One she conquered, built herself.
Sara rowed in reverse, then slowed down until she couldn't tell if the kayak was moving or not.
The water ahead of her churned, like when an underwater jet poured water into a swimming pool. A minute later, she could see the golden glow approaching the surface from down below. The lights intensified and dispelled the reflection of the starry sky upon the lake surface. Fish fled from the rising crystal and it seemed like the sun was rising from within the water.
Sending waves and pushing Sara's kayak away, the System Core rose up in the air, a dozen meters above the lake then stopped. The lake water seemed like liquid gold as it reflected the bright light. Sara's eyes adapted and she was marveled at the amount of power the Core held. A normal mortal, even one with mana channels that survived the initial infusion of Mana upon the Earth, would burn to a crisp in seconds before such energies.
The Core pulsed a massive wave of energy outward and deep into the world's Ley Lines, Dragon Veins, or whatever name one calls the planet's Mana channels. A profound change happened to the channel, a bit too late by one girl's reckoning, but nonetheless it happened. Sara was momentarily blinded.
*
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System Administrative Dimension, Lake Stonecrest, Georgia. Thursday, October 31st, 21:40
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When she came to her senses, the Kayak was not in the water but on a hard transparent surface. The lake, no longer illuminated, was a dozen meters below.
Sara extricated herself from the kayak. She stood on the transparent floor and looked around. It seemed she was hovering above the lake but also that she was on top of a giant horizontal TV showing a pixel-perfect image of a lake at night. The light from the Shining System Core didn't reach the water below but it also didn't reflect off the glass-like surface.
Her bare feet felt no heat transfer to or from the floor. It wasn't either hot or cold. "What is this?"
"So, are we above the lake but not above the lake?"
"Like a pocket dimension?"
"What should I do now?"
"How do I do that? Wait, who?"
Sara reached with a hand toward the Core. It was too far to touch. "Main Celestial System Core, I claim you as your administrator. You shall obey only to me, Sara, to my commands. Whatever Abby, the entity living inside me in my Personal System Core which sent you some information, tells you to do, shall not be done without my express consent."
> "Acknowledged," The System Core said in a very pleasant soprano that had a quality resembling tiny brass bells. It was musical, calm, relaxing, and friendly. "Sara, you are now an Administrator."
Sara sputtered a scornful scoff, "You have the gall to ask that? Not only you didn't earn my trust, Abby, but you downright deserve my enmity. Dream on, parasite."
Abby did not respond or react. It was as if she was alone. Perhaps it was so all the time. But Sara had a bigger fish to fry.
"System, initiate all humans on earth. Show them the EULA and allow those who agree to proceed to Class and Skill selection."
> "Acknowledged, Administrator Sara," System replied in her pleasant soprano voice.
"Send a message to user Hainsworth, the Major. Quote, 'I convinced the higher ups to push the schedule and end the beta test, the NDA is lifted. I'm okay, now keep Princess Cupcake alive. Tell her I don't hold a grudge to either of them for either her accusations or dumping me with the undead. Wield the power wisely and we'll see each other soon, I hope'. End quote."
> "Message queued. It shall be delivered when the user finishes accepting the EULA."
Initialization was forced. The System would live in every living human, to better regulate the flow of Mana in the world. But would only affect those who accepted the EULA.
Relieved, Sara relaxed. The System was activated, people would read the EULA and hopefully accept, then gain the power to fight back for their lives. It was all she could do. Just as she couldn't force the refugees to give up their luggage, she couldn't force them to take the system. Which was a lie. In both cases, she was perfectly capable of doing that but her ethics refrained from that course. She wouldn't force them. They were free to screw up. Or forge their destiny.
She flinched as a massive and familiar power breached into the secluded place. It wasn't over yet.
*
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System Administrative Dimension, Lake Stonecrest, DeKalb County, Georgia. Thursday, October 31st, 22:32
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All was quiet for a moment. Then it was not.
She felt their presences. Overwhelming, ominous, overpowering. A pressure of significance and history, ancient and as old as time itself. Sara spun around and saw them. The two intruders, perhaps unwarranted visitors but definitely trespassers in the girl's book walked out of a rift in reality, which closed after they were through.
Her skeletal stalker was back. And he wasn't alone.
His companion was a creature with a round body, one eye in the middle, four feathered wings and an eagle head hovered next to a skeletal creature covered in a rough woolen hooded robe, carrying an old, corroded wooden boat paddle. Now she could identify the implement.
"Sara, greetings," the hooded skeleton said. "It is a pleasure to finally catch up with you, here at the end of times." The skeleton's voice was grave but calm, foreboding but enticing, tired but dutiful. "You didn't make it easy but it was enjoyable watching you run." The skeleton cackled, its every move making the sound of clacking bones.
Now, under the light, he didn't seem so frightening. His aura wasn't so oppressive as compared to the massive power of the System Core. The golden crystal was an order of magnitude above the skeleton. Yet she knew she had to be careful around these figures. She felt weak and small, as if any of them could erase her at any moment. But how did they enter this place? Wasn't it secured? She needed information, needed to know who they were.
"So here is where the stolen System Core ended up," the Celestial with four wings and an eagle head said through its beak, against all odds. "The traitors must not be too far."
Stolen Core? Traitor? Sara wondered about that but she was too focused on the two newcomers and what they wanted. She fidgeted because her choice of attire was too embarrassing. But now, with the System active and under the light, the skeleton wasn't so scary. Subdued and cowed, she decided to be diplomatic.
"We are at a disadvantage, sirs. While you know my name, I do not recognize yours."
The skeleton chortled, "It is as it should be, for it is wasn't yet time for us to meet, until today, that is. I was called by your people in ancient times Charon, the boatman of Hades. It is my duty immemorial to ferry the souls of the dead to the other side of the river of memory."
Wait, not Death? But the Fourth Seal... "Charon, the boatman in Greet mythology?"
The skeleton nodded, then laughed, "My child, if truth could fit in a single tome, then only one book would exist in all of creation. The people you call the Greeks had the most tales about me, and that name stuck. Often those who inscribe books tend to ignore and disregard truths that are unpleasant to them, and only one facet of truth lives on as people start to believe that's the whole. My existence, for one, was often overlooked. I care not for fame. I wouldn't be driving a boat in the underworld if I did. Actually, I wouldn't be driving a boat in the underworld if it was not my punishment, but that's another tale. One we'll have plenty of time to talk about if you would lend an ear to an old sack of bones."
He seemed friendly and easy to talk to. But also self-centered and haughty. Maybe he was entertaining her questions out of boredom but she could sense he was curious about her.
"Why are you here?" She shied away, fearful for her life.
"I think we started on the wrong foot. I'm not meant to claim your soul, no," the skeleton, Charon if he wasn't lying, replied. "But I won't spoil my good jail... I mean, friend's surprise," he nodded in deference to the winged figure next to him, then took a step backward. She felt that the Celestial was the stronger one, definitely, and they were keeping Charon subdued. The relationship between the two felt a bit like convict and parole officer. She didn't recall anything about Charon's mythological origins.
Sara looked at the Celestial. He seemed like the one Abby showed but had only one animal head, an eagle, instead of four. The body was round like Verachiel and sported the same larger eye in the middle. The number of wings seemed to play a role in Celestial duties but she also had no clue on that.
"We came for you," the floating creature, probably a Cherub despite having only one head, spoke from its beak. "I am the Fourth Living Being, here at the Lord's bidding. You understand what this means, right?"
Sara wilted like a dry rose. She did. Princess Cupcake was right. Damn.
"Then we have no time to lose. We are already late and we need to prepare you to take your role as an Herald in the service of the Lord.", Fourth added.
Sara trembled, wept, and fell down on her knees. She knew it very well for she read the scriptures several times in the last few days. Dreading what was foreseen and prophesied in it. Princess Cupcake was right. Martha had foreseen it. She was fated to become Death, the Fourth Horsemen. Horsewoman? Fuck all that.
Despair washed over the girl like a cloak of foreboding doom. On her knees, Sara wept. What cosmic theater engendered such misfortune? Why her of all people? Her heart ached; her mind refused to accept. Fighting was not an option. Not only she had no weapon, even she could tell these two had scores more Mana than herself.
"No, please!" She begged the foregone Heavens with a whimper. "I don't want that!"
She mistook her fate, her role in the cosmic drama, for punishment.
In Sara's mind, she had sinned, she had murdered people. Bloodied her hands. Despite any rationalization borne of conflict and human customs of war, she killed despite Divine Law. She spilled the lifeblood of her fellow humans. She could've neutralized them, amputated their hands and feet, cut their tongues so they would no longer offend anyone but would still live. Also, the dicks. Then cauterize it everything in a hot iron and it would still be better than murder. It would possibly save her from this horrible fate.
No, instead, she made the choice to murder people, and felt she was being punished for it. Now, the Celestial wanted her to play Death in this cosmic drama.