The ocean of blood lapped at Lucien's knees, its viscous warmth seeping through his once-pristine suit pants.
The coppery smell filled his nostrils, so thick he could taste it with every breath. Beside him, Elena trembled, her elegant dress now a sodden crimson mess clinging to her legs.
Above them, perched atop the colossal obsidian hand that reached toward the bloated red sun, five figures loomed like ancient deities judging the damned.
Their human forms had merged with their divine shadows, creating monstrous hybrids that radiated power.
Richard Lockwood, his body now half-consumed by Tezcatlipoca's jaguar-headed shadow, raised his arms.
The obsidian mirrors embedded in his skin caught the red sunlight, reflecting it in dizzying patterns across the blood ocean.
"Behold the culmination of generations!" Tezcatlipoca's voice boomed, simultaneously coming from everywhere. "Tonight, the covenant renews. Tonight, we ascend beyond the veil of mortality!"
Elena's fingers dug into Lucien's arm, her nails drawing blood that mixed indistinguishably with the ocean surrounding them.
Her eyes were fixed not on Tezcatlipoca, but on the hunched figure in the center of the giant hand's palm - her father, fighting against the skeletal shadow of Ah Puch that threatened to consume him.
"Dad!" she screamed, her voice small and swallowed by the vastness of this twisted realm.
Lucien's eyes darted between the five figures, assessing, calculating.
The mark on his palm burned like fire, pulsing in perfect rhythm with the identical symbol on Elena's wrist.
He could feel the connection between them, a tether that bound them to this place, to this ritual.
Tezcatlipoca continued his speech, his voice growing more fervent with each proclamation. "The sacrifices have been marked! The worthy shall transcend, and the fuel shall burn!"
Lucien didn't wait to hear more.
Without warning, he scooped Elena into his arms, lifting her in a princess carry. Her surprised gasp was lost as he immediately channeled the Force into his legs and took off running, blood spraying in his wake.
"What-" Elena began, clinging to his neck.
"No time," Lucien cut her off, his eyes focused on the warped landscape ahead - a twisted mirror version of Mystic Falls where familiar buildings sagged and decayed like rotting corpses.
Behind them, Tezcatlipoca's speech faltered, then transformed into mocking laughter that echoed across the blood-soaked realm.
"Ruahahahahahaha! Run, little sacrifice! It only makes the offering sweeter!"
Lucien pushed harder, the Force flowing through him, enhancing each stride. Blood splashed around him as he navigated the nightmare version of streets he'd come to know during his time in Mystic Falls.
Elena's weight was nothing to him in this state, but the drag of moving through the knee-deep blood slowed him more than he liked.
"Oh G- God," Elena whimpered, looking over his shoulder. "W- What is t- that?"
Lucien didn't need to look back. He could feel them - dozens, perhaps hundreds of entities rising from the blood behind them.
The ripples against his legs confirmed their approach, growing stronger with each passing second.
"Don't look," he instructed, adjusting his grip on Elena to keep her secure. "Focus on me."
A shape bubbled up from the blood directly in their path - a vaguely humanoid form with too many limbs and no discernible face, just a gaping maw lined with needle-like teeth.
Without breaking stride, Lucien gathered the Force and leaped, sailing over the creature with Elena clutched tightly to his chest.
They landed with a splash twenty feet beyond, immediately resuming their desperate flight.
More shapes emerged around them - some crawling on all fours with elongated, spider-like limbs; others slithering like serpents through the crimson depths; still others lumbering like bears with multiple heads.
All seemed formed from the blood itself, their bodies semi-liquid and constantly shifting.
"What are those things?" Elena sobbed, burying her face against Lucien's shoulder.
"Doesn't matter," Lucien replied, his voice steady despite their situation. "Just manifestations. Not real." he lied.
But they were real, and Lucien knew that, especially as one lunged at his back, claws extended.
Lucien sensed the attack through the Force, ducking and pivoting without looking. The demon's claws missed by inches, slicing through empty air where his head had been a split-second earlier.
Lucien recognized what should have been the town square ahead, though in this twisted realm it had become a vast, open expanse of deeper blood.
He changed direction, heading instead toward what would be the clock tower in the real Mystic Falls. Perhaps height would give them an advantage.
A wall of demons suddenly materialized before them, blocking their path. Lucien skidded to a halt, blood spraying in a crimson arc around them.
He turned to find another route, but they were surrounded. Dozens of blood creatures circled them, closing in with deliberate slowness, as if savoring their fear.
"Hold tight," Lucien warned Elena, channeling more Force into his legs.
He leaped, soaring twenty feet into the air. For a brief moment, they had a clear view of this hellish dimension - the giant hand in the distance, the ocean of blood stretching to the horizon, and thousands more demons rising from the depths.
They landed atop what remained of a building, the structure groaning beneath their weight. Lucien set Elena down carefully, positioning himself between her and the edge where the blood creatures had already begun to climb.
"The marks," Elena whispered, holding up her wrist where the jaguar symbol pulsed with fiery light. "They're getting brighter."
Lucien glanced at his own palm, seeing the identical mark burning like a miniature sun. "They're tracking us through these," he realized. "We can't outrun them."
The first demon reached the rooftop, pulling itself over the edge with elongated limbs. Lucien extended his hand and pushed with the Force, sending the creature flying backward into several of its companions.
But for each one he repelled, three more took its place.
"Stay behind me," he instructed Elena, settling into a defensive stance as the demons closed in from all sides.
The first wave attacked, they moved like a single organism with multiple bodies. They approached from different angles, clearly trying to divide Lucien's attention.
Lucien though, wasn't going to be outmaneuvered by these fucking creatures.
As the first demon lunged, he pivoted on his right foot, torso rotating away from the attack. His left arm swept up in a fluid arc, deflecting the creature's clawed hand while his right palm drove forward in a powerful strike.
He channeled the Force through the blow, and the demon's semi-liquid form compressed from the impact before exploding outward in a spray of blood.
Two more attacked simultaneously from opposite sides. Lucien dropped into a low stance, weight centered, then pushed off with explosive force.
He somersaulted over one demon while using telekinesis to slam the other into the roof's surface with enough force to splatter it temporarily.
Landing in a crouch, he immediately transitioned into a spinning kick that caught a fourth demon across what passed for its face. The creature's head distorted from the impact, then began reforming almost immediately.
"They reform," Lucien muttered to himself, grimly. He already guessed, but he hoped he was wrong. His gaze turned towards Elena who had backed herself against a chimney stack, before focusing back on the monsters.
Changing tactics, he extended both hands and concentrated.
Five approaching demons suddenly froze in place, caught in his telekinetic grip. With a sharp gesture, he sent them flying over the edge of the roof. The brief respite allowed him to reassess their situation.
The building trembled beneath them as more demons climbed its sides.
The structure wouldn't hold much longer under the assault.
Lucien glanced around, spotting another rooftop about fifteen feet away.
"Elena, we need to jump!" he shouted, backing toward her while keeping the demons at bay with short Force pushes.
"I can't make that!" she cried, eyes wide with terror as she saw the gap.
"You don't have to," Lucien replied, grabbing her hand and pulling her close again. "Hold tight!"
As the demons converged and the roof began to collapse, Lucien channeled the Force into his legs once more.
With Elena secured in his arms, he launched them toward the adjacent building. They sailed through the air as the structure behind them crumbled, demons falling with it into the blood ocean below.
They landed hard, Lucien absorbing most of the impact by rolling with Elena protected in his embrace.
The movement drove the air from his lungs and sent pain shooting through his shoulder, but he pushed through it, regaining his feet quickly.
This rooftop seemed momentarily clear of demons, giving them a brief respite. Lucien's breathing was labored, sweat mixing with blood spatter on his face.
Elena looked up at him with a mixture of awe and terror.
"How are you doing this?" she asked.
Before Lucien could answer, a sound like thunder drew their attention to the distance. The giant hand had shifted position, fingers curling slightly as if preparing to grasp something.
"We need to keep moving," Lucien said, helping Elena to her feet. "They're most likely controlling the ritual somehow through that structure."
They made their way across several more rooftops, Lucien using the Force to help them jump the gaps. Each landing took its toll, his muscles burning with exertion. He was pushing his limits, and they both knew it - this realm itself was pressuring him, like it was sapping his energy.
As they paused on a particularly stable roof, Lucien suddenly froze, his eyes widening.
"What is it?" Elena asked, seeing his expression change.
"One of them is gone," he whispered, pointing to the giant hand in the distance. Where five figures had stood on the fingers, now only four remained.
------------------------
The night air crackled with tension as Katherine Pierce faced off against Skögul on the outskirts of Mystic Falls.
Katherine's first strike was a feint - a right hook that pulled back at the last second as her left leg swept up in a devastating roundhouse kick aimed at Skögul's head.
The Valkyrie blocked with her forearm, the impact creating a shockwave that disturbed nearby trees.
Skögul countered immediately. She drove a punch toward Katherine's sternum with enough force to shatter concrete. Katherine twisted away, the blow grazing her ribs instead of landing squarely.
Even that glancing contact though was enough to send pain shooting through her side.
"You're faster than I remember," Katherine taunted, circling again. She wiped a drop of blood from the corner of her mouth with her thumb, then licked it clean. "But still predictable."
Skögul's expression remained stoic as she drew a short sword that gleamed with ancient runes. "Five centuries I've waited for this moment," she replied, her voice cold as winter. "Your head will make a fine trophy for my queen."
They clashed again, Katherine using her superior agility to avoid the blade's edge. She vaulted over Skögul, attempting to attack from behind, but the Valkyrie anticipated the move.
She pivoted, her blade singing through the air where Katherine's neck had been a split-second earlier.
Katherine landed in a crouch, then sprang forward again, driving her shoulder into Skögul's midsection. The impact sent them both crashing into a tree trunk, splintering the wood. Katherine followed up with a flurry of punches, her fists blurring with how fast they were going.
Skögul blocked most of the blows, but several connected with her face and torso. She responded by headbutting Katherine with enough force to momentarily stun the vampire, then kicked her away with a boot to the stomach.
Katherine flew backward twenty feet before catching herself mid-air and landing on her feet. Blood trickled from her nose, and she could feel bruises forming on her ribs - bruises that weren't healing as quickly as they should.
"Your weapons," Katherine observed, spitting blood. "They're not ordinary steel."
"Uru metal," Skögul replied, twirling her blade. "Forged in the heart of a dying star. Even your kind finds it... problematic."
The fight intensified, both combatants moving with superhuman speed.
Katherine landed several solid blows, but Skögul's warrior training gave her an edge in technique.
The Valkyrie drove Katherine back with a relentless series of attacks, her blade coming closer to its mark with each swing.
Katherine found herself on the defensive, blood flowing from several shallow cuts across her arms and torso.
Skögul had her backed against a tree, sword poised for a killing thrust.
The Valkyrie couldn't help but grin, full of teeth, a murderous look on her face, "Now," She began, "You will die," as she thursted.
The world itself felt like it slowed down for Katherine, as death was nearing.
But Katherine Pierce has always been a survivor. And she is anything but weak.
Her face took her vampiric visage, black veins appearing around her eyes, as she used the most potent ability vampires had, yet were too ignorant to use to its full potential.
"Away," she suddenly commanded.
Skögul's eyes widened as suddenly, the air seemed to crack like glass, and a wave of force emanated from Katherine in all directions.
Trees splintered, the ground fractured, and Skögul was forced to abandon her attack and leap backward to avoid being caught in the wave.
The Valkyrie's expression showed shock and a flicker of fear as she retreated into the darkness, temporarily driven back.
Katherine collapsed to one knee, blood dripping from her nose and ears. Using compulsion at that level had consequences, even for one as old as she was - she was no Original after all.
But she had saved herself at least, for now that is.
-----------------------
Back in the mirror realm, Lucien's instincts screamed danger.
Without warning, he tightened his grip on Elena and leaped with all his strength. They barely cleared the rooftop when a massive impact obliterated the spot where they had been standing.
Blood erupted like a geyser from the point of impact, spraying in all directions.
Lucien twisted in mid-air to shield Elena from the crimson deluge, his back and hair soaked in seconds. They landed hard on an adjacent roof, Lucien's knees buckling slightly from the awkward landing.
Before he could regain his balance, a blur of golden light materialized before them.
Bill Forbes stood transformed, his human appearance barely visible beneath Sekhmet's lioness-headed form. Solar flames danced across his skin, and his eyes burned with righteous fury.
"The sacrifice will proceed," Sekhmet declared, voice a disturbing blend of Bill Forbes' human tones and a feline roar. "Your resistance only makes the offering sweeter."
Lucien pushed Elena behind him, mind racing for something- anything he could do. Sekhmet was too fast, too powerful for a direct confrontation- the freak disappeared and reappeared in an instant from that giant fucking hand to here!
He needed time, space to think.
"You're not touching her," Lucien declared, trying to keep his voice steady despite the fear coursing through him.
Sekhmet laughed, the sound like crackling flames. "Bold words from prey." Without warning, he lunged forward, hand extended to grab Lucien.
Time seemed to slow as Lucien realized he couldn't dodge - couldn't move fast enough to escape. Elena screamed behind him.
In this fraction of a second, Lucien knew he was about to die or be captured.
The ritual will continue.
He will lose.
No, he can't lose.
Elena will die.
Then his Dad.
Then Sam.
Then Dean, followed by Trevor.
Finally Katherine would too...
No, no, no, no, no, no,nonononoNONONONONONONONONONONO
Suddenly, Sekhmet's arm began to... fall?
The god's eyes could only blow wide, as before everyone's eyes, for some reason his arm was no longer a part of his body.
"AAAAHHHHHHHH!" He howled in pain and rage, stumbling backward as golden ichor poured from the wound.
Though, as Lucien looked, he saw in his peripheral vision something dark. As the monster's voice suddenly felt like background noise, Lucien could hear... breathing?
When he turned his gaze from the roaring monster, he saw, standing between the god and him was a towering figure in black armor.
Vader, Lucien's Qareen, standing in defense, red lightsaber ignited.