14.9.0

Azriok awaited her in the dreamworld. He looked heart-broken. His great black eyes radiated an anguish she had never seen in them before. He sighed sadly, "I always feared your mortal blood would destroy you."

"Tell me how to dispel the Hellcoil!"

"You cannot."

"Why?"

"The hierarchy! There are three entities in the entire cosmos capable of undoing Baal's magic - your father, Baal and I. We are all trapped in Hell. You have managed to ensure that no one capable of helping you can."

"There has to be a way."

"There is none! You have not only destroyed yourself, but me as well."

"If you can pull me through the other side of my dreamworld to Tenaebra, why can't I pull you through to me?"

"Because you banished me, precious! I cannot project myself beyond the dreamworld."

"But you projected yourself through Baal!"

"No, he deceived you. Always. He wanted to arouse your hatred of me. He serves your father, not me."

"But--"

"I would never permit any of our kind to harm you thus!" Azriok snarled, his emotional tone echoing through the space of the dreamworld. "If I live, my first act will be to rip Baal's wings from his body and devour him. No Sephiroth has a right to harm you!"

"You sent him to me the first time, with the wings!"

"I did not. It was an elaborate ruse to pull you to your father. I only permitted it to proceed because I believed in your ability to see through their trickery. I failed to anticipate they would let you risk so much. Their monumental stupidity in dealing with you has cost them the Twilight. Your death will condemn us all."

"Azriok, damn it, help me! You can't let me die!"

"Even my power has its limits, precious," the angel sadly.

"Maybe I could use my dreamspirit to channel your energy to my body to dispel the coil. Azriok, please try!" Please say yes, please say yes, please say yes, Zyrdicia thought nervously.

The angel's exquisite mouth frowned for the first time in the many years she had known him. "Do you know what that would mean for you?"

"I don't care. Please!"

Azriok drew her near. He could not refuse her. His own existence was linked to hers through his wager with Zyr. If she died outside Tenaebra now, his own essence would be forfeited. He placed his lips upon hers. He filled her with a vast quantity of his magical essence, breathing unadulterated dark magic into her dreamspirit. He weakened himself in the process. He watched her eyes widen in shock. Until she felt the chill of the magic, she had no idea what she had asked of him.

She inhaled the energy and felt its magic permeate every part of her being. She shivered in ecstasy at the feel of so much of his power inside her. She clung to him and sucked still more from him until finally, he pulled away.

"More!" she begged, breathlessly.

"It could kill you. No," he said fondly, placing frigid fingers on each of her cheeks. Dangerous ebony eyes fixed upon her as he bent down to kiss her forehead delicately. "Go now. Free yourself, Deesh, then use my power to come to Tenaebra. There I will give you as much of it as you desire. Together we can destroy your father and take his energy too. We shall exact a fitting vengeance upon Baal. The power you crave is yours for the asking, precious. Come to me!"

"I will," Zyrdicia smiled, nuzzling against him contently. The sensation of the dark energy coursing through her soul was nothing short of euphoric. "Hold me for a while here first. I don't want to go back yet."

"There is no time." Azriok's arms tightened gently around her. He moved his wings and flew with her to the point were her dreamworld connected with the physical world. "Go quickly! Your mortal flesh is perishing," the dark angel prodded.

Zyrdicia took his hand and squeezed it. She stumbled to the opening in a daze, still holding his icy fingers. She stopped and turned to look at him one last time before tumbling through the opening that would lead back to her dying body. She brought his fingers to her lips and kissed them, wishing for once that the dream did not have to end.

For the space of one disoriented heartbeat, they were a single entity.

14.9.1

Zyrdicia's dreamspirit crashed violently back into her body. She regained consciousness with a start. The coil tightened viciously, squeezing the last breath out of her. This time, ribs did not merely crack. She felt several snap cleanly and tasted blood in her mouth.

She concentrated Azriok's energy and instinctively exploded the coil from within. The Howlers turned on her then. As they reached for her, she used the new power to send them back to Hell with a single thought. She collapsed, falling to her knees then lurching forward onto her arms. Her sense of balance was decimated by the surfeit of magic raging in her veins. She tried to breathe and coughed. Fresh agony welled up in her chest cavity as her lungs heaved up another mouthful of blood. She lingered there, scarcely able to move, letting the magic slowly make its way into the cells of her battered, mortal frame.

Using the stolen energy for strength, she pulled herself up from where she lay. The violet bind-runes bobbed and swirled in the air before her bewildered, delirious eyes. She deconsecrated the magic circle in a series of painful, stumbling movements, knowing she had to hurry. The same energy that held her life by a weak thread was creating problems of its own. Her blood burned as though filled with Sephiroth venom.

When the magical wall fell, a dozen invisible telepathic messages slammed into her psyche at once. The wall had held the psychic energy at bay for days. Where are you? Are you alright? Come back! Help us find you! Through the fog of pain, she knew there were people who cared, who missed her and who were terribly worried, somewhere. She remembered distantly she had a promise to keep, though her befuddled mind could not recall why the promise mattered.

She turned around painfully, sensing danger. She was not alone here. A Bintha Beast had caught the scent of her blood on the astral winds and tracked her. She sensed the stealthy creature a second before it lunged at her, expecting to find an easy meal. It was enough warning, even in her battered state. With a glance, she incinerated the enormous monster as it hurtled like a nightmare through the swirling, incoherent space around her. She wondered suddenly whether she hallucinated it.

"Portia, I'll be there in a minute." She sent the telepathic message a few moments before opening the gate that would take her out of this world, hoping desperately the gate would bring her to the right place.

"Are you OK?" Portia prodded.

"Not even remotely."