The blood ocean parted with each of Lucien's steps as he advanced toward Apophis, crimson droplets hovering around him like suspended rubies.
"You know," Lucien began conversationally, as Force lightning continued to crackle between his fingertips, "I've always wondered what it would be like to kill one of you so called 'gods.'"
Apophis reared back, its massive serpentine form coiling defensively. Howard Gilbert's human features contorted beneath the snake deity's shadow, eyes wide with disbelief.
"Impossible," the snake god hissed. "You are merely fuel. Sacrifice. Nothing more."
Lucien's laugh was cold, echoing unnaturally across the blood sea. "And yet here I am, walking on your precious ocean like it's afraid to touch me."
He tilted his head, studying the massive serpent with clinical detachment. "I wonder if you bleed differently than humans. Shall we find out?"
Without warning, Lucien launched himself forward, propelled by the Force so fast that he became a blur. His right hand extended, fingers splayed as he channeled a concentrated burst of telekinetic energy directly at Apophis's throat.
The snake god attempted to dodge, its massive body surprisingly agile despite its size. But Lucien had anticipated this, adjusting his trajectory mid-flight with a subtle shift of his weight.
His attack connected, the invisible force slamming into Apophis with enough power to send ripples through its scaled form.
Apophis shrieked, the sound piercing and inhuman. It retaliated immediately, its massive jaws snapping at Lucien with frightening speed.
Lucien twisted in the air, narrowly avoiding the venomous fangs. He used the momentum of his evasion to position himself above the serpent, both hands now crackling with intensifying Force lightning.
"Too slow," Lucien taunted, unleashing a torrent of blue-white energy directly onto Apophis's head.
The lightning connected and it was devestating.
Apophis convulsed as electricity coursed through its divine form, scales smoking where the energy made contact. Howard Gilbert's voice emerged from the creature, a human scream of agony layered beneath the god's inhuman wail.
Behind them, Vader engaged Sekhmet. The dark figure moved with grace, lightsaber humming as it carved crimson arcs through the air. Sekhmet, still adjusting to the loss of his arm, struggled to counter Vader's relentless assault.
"What manner of demon are you?" Sekhmet growled, solar flames erupting from his remaining hand in a desperate attempt to create distance.
Vader remained silent, his only response the continued advance of his glowing blade. The flames like before parted around him, Sekhmet's attacks useless.
Lucien, still airborne, redirected his attention as Apophis recovered from the lightning attack. The snake god's movements were slower now, its scales charred in places. But its eyes burned with hatred as it prepared another strike.
"You think yourself powerful, boy?" Apophis hissed, its voice distorted with pain and rage. "You are nothing. A flicker of light in endless darkness. We have devoured stars and consumed civilizations before your kind even crawled from the mud."
Lucien responded with a smirk, hovering just out of striking range. "Big talk from someone who's hiding inside a doctor from Virginia. Tell me, does it hurt knowing you need human vessels? That for all your supposed divinity, you're just parasites?"
Apophis's rage was palpable, the air around it shimmering with malevolent power. It struck with renewed fury, its massive body launching upward fast.
This time, Lucien didn't dodge. Instead, he extended both hands, channeling the Force into a barrier directly in front of him. The collision was spectacular - divine serpent against Force shield.
For a moment, they remained suspended in perfect stalemate, Apophis's jaws inches from Lucien's face, separated only by the invisible barrier that shimmered with strain.
"You know what your problem is?" Lucien asked through gritted teeth, the effort of maintaining the shield evident in his trembling arms. "You've been worshipped so long you've forgotten what it's like to fear."
With a sharp twist of his wrists, Lucien inverted the energy of his shield, transforming it from defensive to offensive in a heartbeat.
The force rippled outward, catching Apophis directly in its throat. The impact sent the serpent god crashing back into the blood ocean, creating a tsunami of crimson that washed over the twisted landscape.
Lucien didn't waste the opportunity. He dove after Apophis, hands extended as he manipulated the blood itself, forcing it to swirl around the serpent in a constricting vortex. The blood hardened at his command, forming chains that bound Apophis's massive form.
"Let me remind you," Lucien whispered, hovering over the trapped deity.
He reached out with the Force, probing for weaknesses in the divine form. Finding what he sought, Lucien clenched his fist sharply. The effect was immediate and horrifying - scales began to crack along Apophis's length, golden ichor seeping from the wounds.
The serpent's scream was deafening, a sound of such primal agony that it seemed to shake the very foundations of the mirror realm.
"LUCIEN!" Elena's terrified voice cut through his concentration. She clung to his back, her arms wrapped desperately around his waist. "Behind you!"
Lucien spun just in time to see Margaret Fell - or rather, the four-armed, blue-skinned form of Kali that had consumed her - materializing from the blood mist. The goddess's multiple arms moved in hypnotic patterns, space itself distorting around her as she prepared to attack.
"The boy plays with powers beyond his understanding," Kali said, her voice a disturbing blend of an elderly woman's tone and something ancient and terrible. "How amusing."
"Oh, I understand perfectly," Lucien replied, shifting his stance to keep both Apophis and Kali in view. "You're parasites feeding on fear and sacrifice. Nothing more."
Kali laughed, the sound like breaking glass. "We are the old gods, child. We were ancient when this world was young."
"Yet still - and I will always remind you morons of this - here you are," Lucien countered, "hiding in the bodies of small-town council members, performing rituals in secret. Doesn't sound very godlike to me."
Kali's expression darkened. "Insolent child. You will learn respect."
She moved with immense speed, all four arms striking simultaneously from different angles. Lucien dropped beneath the attack, using the Force to propel himself in a low arc that carried him behind the goddess.
As he passed, he lashed out with a concentrated burst of Force lightning, targeting the junction where Margaret Fell's human form merged with Kali's divine shadow.
The goddess screamed, her form flickering momentarily as the lightning disrupted the connection between vessel and deity.
Lucien pressed his advantage, rising quickly and extending both hands. With a sharp gesture, he telekinetically seized two blood demons that had been circling the battle, their semi-liquid forms solidifying under his control.
"Let me introduce you to some friends," Lucien said, hurling the demons directly at Kali.
The creatures shrieked as they were weaponized, their bodies compressing into projectiles under Lucien's power. They struck Kali with enough force to send her tumbling backward, her multiple arms flailing as she struggled to regain balance.
Nearby, Vader was now engaged with both Sekhmet and the partially recovered Apophis. The dark figure moved without wasting a single movement, lightsaber a blur as he alternated between opponents. But even Vader's considerable power was being tested by fighting against two "gods" at the same time.
Lucien sensed the shift in momentum. He needed to end this quickly before they were overwhelmed by numbers.
"Time to change the game," he muttered, rising higher into the air.
With Elena still clinging to his back, Lucien extended his awareness through the Force, sensing the ebb and flow of energy throughout the mirror realm.
He reached out with both hands, fingers splayed as he connected with the very fabric of this twisted reality.
The blood ocean below began to churn and rise, massive tendrils of crimson liquid forming at Lucien's command. With precise gestures, he directed these tendrils toward the battling gods, transforming the very environment into a weapon.
"You want blood?" Lucien called down, "Then drown in it!"
The tendrils struck with great force, wrapping around divine limbs and constricting with crushing pressure. Kali's four arms were pinned to her sides, while Sekhmet found himself entangled in a cocoon of hardening blood.
Apophis, more experienced and wary, managed to evade the initial attack, its serpentine form weaving between the tendrils.
"Your parlor tricks cannot contain divinity, boy!" the serpent god hissed, lunging upward toward Lucien.
Lucien didn't bother dodging. Instead, he waited until Apophis was fully committed to its attack, then simply... vanished.
The serpent god's massive jaws snapped shut on empty air as Lucien reappeared behind it - simply too fast.
"Parlor tricks?" Lucien asked, his voice dangerously soft. "Let me show you what real power looks like."
He raised his right hand, fingers curved as if grasping something invisible. Through the Force, he seized Apophis's very essence.
Then he began to pull.
The effect was instant and horrifying.
Apophis's form began to separate, the serpent shadow peeling away from Howard Gilbert's human body like skin being flayed. The god's scream transcended sound, becoming a psychic wave of agony that rippled through the mirror realm.
"Stop!" Howard Gilbert's human voice broke through the divine shriek, his eyes clearing momentarily from divine possession. "Please! Spare my granddaughter-"
The plea caught Lucien off-guard, his concentration faltering for a single moment.
A crucial one.
It was all Apophis needed. The serpent god reasserted control, its shadow snapping back into place around Howard's form with such violence that it created a shockwave of displaced air.
Before Lucien could recover, something massive struck him from behind - Sekhmet, having broken free of the blood restraints, his remaining fist connecting with Lucien's head.
The impact sent Lucien tumbling through the air, Elena's scream of terror - Lucien protecting her still with a Force shield - ringing in his ears as they plummeted toward the blood ocean below.
At the last moment, Lucien managed to regain control, using the Force to arrest their fall mere feet above the crimson surface.
"Are you okay?" he asked Elena, feeling her trembling against his back.
"No," she whispered, her voice breaking. "But don't stop."
Lucien nodded grimly, turning to face the three gods now converging on their position. Vader was nowhere to be seen, having been driven back by the combined divine assault.
"Three against one," Lucien observed, a cold smile spreading across his face. "Still not fair... for you."
He launched himself forward, drawing deeply on the Dark Side of the Force. The red aura surrounding him intensified.
As he flew toward the gods, Lucien extended both hands, unleashing a barrage of Force lightning more intense than anything he had generated before.
The lightning forked and multiplied, striking all three gods simultaneously. They howled in unified agony, their divine forms convulsing as the energy coursed through them.
Lucien didn't relent, pouring more power into the attack until the very air crackled with electricity.
"You call yourselves gods?" he shouted over the thunder of his assault. "You're nothing! Parasites feeding on fear and ignorance!"
The gods retreated under the onslaught, their divine forms smoking and charred where the lightning had struck. Lucien pressed his advantage, rising higher into the air as he prepared to deliver a final, devastating attack.
Then he heard it - a human scream, distinct from the inhuman wails of the gods and demons. Lucien's head snapped toward the sound.
Below, scattered across the nightmarish landscape, were humans - dozens of them, trapped in this mirror realm and being hunted by the blood demons.
A young woman ran desperately through the blood ocean, crimson waves slowing her progress as three demons pursued her. Nearby, a young man fought futilely as a demon sank fangs into his shoulder, tearing away flesh in bloody chunks.
Most horrifying of all, a child - no more than seven or eight - huddled atop a half-submerged car, surrounded by circling demons that approached with methodical patience, knowing their prey had nowhere to run.
"No," Lucien whispered, horror replacing battle rage. "NO!"
He abandoned his attack on the gods, diving toward the child with desperation. Elena clung tighter to his back, her own cry of dismay joining his as they witnessed the carnage below.
Before Lucien could reach the child, a new figure materialized in his path - Victoria Salvatore, her elegant form overlaid by the triple-faced shadow of Hecate. She hovered in the air, black flames dancing around her hands as she blocked Lucien's path.
"Going somewhere, dear boy?" Hecate asked, her three faces speaking in perfect unison - maiden, mother, and crone blending into a discordant chorus.
"Get out of my way," Lucien growled, Force lightning crackling around his clenched fists.
Hecate smiled, the expression identical across all three faces. "Such concern for these... extras. Did you think we'd create a ritual space without appropriate ambiance? The closer one was to the Founder's party the sooner they arrived."
With a scream of rage, Lucien attacked, Force lightning erupting from both hands in a concentrated blast aimed directly at Hecate's central face.
The goddess deflected the attack with casual ease, black flames consuming the lightning as if it were nothing more than static electricity.
"Temper, temper," she chided, wagging a finger at him. "You have potential, I'll grant you that. But you're still a child playing with powers you barely understand."
Below them, the child's scream intensified as the demons closed in, their clawed hands reaching for small limbs. Lucien tried to dive past Hecate, but the goddess anticipated his move, materializing directly in his path no matter which direction he turned.
"Please," Elena begged from Lucien's back, her voice breaking. "That's a kid!"
"Indeed, like you my dear," Hecate agreed, her three faces showing identical expressions of mild interest. "Children make the most exquisite sacrifices. Their fear is so... pure."
To demonstrate her point, Hecate gestured toward another part of the blood ocean, where the young man was still struggling against his demonic attacker.
With a casual flick of her wrist, she pulled the victim toward them, his body flying through the air until he hovered beside her, suspended by her magic.
The young man - perhaps nineteen or twenty - was already grievously wounded, his shoulder a mass of torn flesh and exposed bone where the demon had been feeding. His eyes were wide with terror as he looked at Lucien, silently pleading for help.
"You see," Hecate continued conversationally, "fear has flavors. Textures. The fear of a child is sweet, innocent. But the fear of a young man in his prime?" She turned to the suspended victim, stroking his cheek almost tenderly. "That has... depth."
Before Lucien could move, Hecate's three faces lunged forward in perfect synchronization, three sets of teeth sinking into the young man's neck from different angles. Blood sprayed in an arterial fountain as she tore away flesh, the victim's scream cutting off in a wet gurgle.
Lucien watched in horror as Hecate consumed the young man's throat, blood running down her triple chins as she fed.
The victim's eyes remained locked on Lucien's, silently begging for help that wouldn't come, until the light in them dimmed and faded entirely.
"Delicious," Hecate commented, casually wiping blood from her lips. "Would you like a taste?"
Something broke inside Lucien at that moment. The rage he had been channeling grew even more, giving way to pure, unbridled fury.
The red aura surrounding him deepened to crimson black, pulsing with such intensity that it distorted the very air around him.
"I'm going to destroy you," he promised, his voice eerily calm despite the storm of power building around him. "Not just defeat you. Not just kill you. I'm going to erase every trace of your existence from this reality."
------------------------
Katherine's eyes widened in horror as Skögul's words registered: "When Dracula is finished with him, there will be nothing left to use."
The meaning was clear- Skögul was here on behalf of Dracula.
Hela was working with Dracula to get Lucien for him.
Before Katherine could respond, Skögul pressed her advantage, using their locked position to drive her sword forward. The blade slipped past Katherine's claws, slicing a shallow but painful gash across her collarbone.
Katherine hissed in pain, disengaging with a powerful downstroke of her wings that carried her beyond Skögul's reach. Blood seeped from the wound, staining her already tattered clothing.
"Touched a nerve, did I?" Skögul taunted, urging Hrímfaxi to pursue. "Does it hurt to know your new toy will serve my master instead?"
Katherine's eyes darkened, veins appearing beneath them as her vampire nature surged to the surface. "He's not serving anyone," she snarled. "Especially not your corpse-lord."
Skögul laughed, the sound carrying across the night sky. "Such devotion! The elusive Katherine Pierce, finally found after centuries of whispers and rumors, now playing the protective guardian."
"You know nothing about me," Katherine replied, her voice dangerously soft.
"I know what I need to," Skögul countered, circling on Hrímfaxi's back. "I know you've been running from Klaus for centuries. I know you've somehow attached yourself to this boy. And I know when my master offers you a deal to save yourself in exchange for the boy, you'll take it without hesitation."
Katherine's expression hardened. "You're wrong."
"Am I?" Skögul's emerald eyes gleamed with cruel amusement. "Five hundred years of survival at any cost, and suddenly you've developed principles? Please."
With a scream of rage, Katherine launched herself at Skögul, claws extended for a killing strike. The Valkyrie anticipated the frontal assault, raising her sword to parry.
But at the last moment, Katherine vanished - transforming into a swarm of bats that scattered in all directions, surrounding Skögul and Hrímfaxi in a living cloud of beating wings and shrieking cries.
Skögul slashed wildly at the bats, her sword passing harmlessly through the swarm as they darted and weaved around her.
Hrímfaxi whinnied in distress, the horse's movements becoming erratic as bats flew into its face and tangled in its mane.
From every direction, Katherine's voice seemed to echo: "You think you know me? You know NOTHING!"
The bats converged suddenly behind Skögul, reforming into Katherine in an instant. Before the Valkyrie could turn, Katherine's claws sank deep into her back, tearing through emerald armor and the flesh beneath.
Skögul screamed, arching in agony as Katherine dragged her claws downward, leaving bloody furrows from shoulder to hip.
The Valkyrie twisted violently, dislodging Katherine's grip and nearly unseating herself from Hrímfaxi in the process.
"I'll kill you for that," Skögul growled, blood seeping through her damaged armor.
"Many have tried," Katherine replied, circling at a safe distance. "Yet here I stand."
With a roar of fury, Skögul charged, directing Hrímfaxi into a full-speed attack. The winged horse's hooves left trails of emerald fire as it galloped through the air, bearing down on Katherine with terrifying speed.
Katherine waited until the last possible moment before diving sharply, tucking her wings against her body to increase her speed. Skögul and Hrímfaxi shot past overhead, unable to adjust their trajectory quickly enough to follow.
As she plummeted toward the earth, Katherine spotted a small lake below - one of many that dotted the countryside around Mystic Falls. She angled her descent toward it, an idea forming.
Skögul wheeled Hrímfaxi around, diving after Katherine with sword extended. "Running again?" she called. "How predictable!"
Katherine didn't bother responding, focusing instead on her timing. She continued her dive until she was mere feet above the lake's surface, then snapped her wings open, using the sudden drag to arrest her descent while simultaneously altering her course.
Skögul, committed to her diving attack, couldn't adjust in time. As Katherine veered sharply to the side, the Valkyrie and her mount plunged directly into the lake with a massive splash.
Katherine circled above the disturbed water, watching as bubbles rose to the surface. She knew the lake wouldn't kill Skögul - the Valkyrie was far too powerful to be defeated by simple immersion - but it would disorient her and neutralize her aerial advantage temporarily.
Sure enough, Skögul burst from the water moments later, her emerald armor dripping and her blonde braids plastered to her head. Hrímfaxi was nowhere to be seen, presumably dismissed to whatever realm it had been summoned from.
The Valkyrie rose into the air under her own power, emerald energy crackling around her waterlogged form. Her eyes blazed with murder as she located Katherine circling above.
"I will wear your entrails as a belt," Skögul promised, ascending rapidly.
Katherine waited until Skögul had nearly reached her altitude before making her move. Drawing on her deepest reserves, she focused her will on the reality around them.
"STOP!" she commanded.
The air around Skögul visibly thickened, becoming solid as stone. The Valkyrie's ascent halted abruptly as she found herself encased in a prison of solidified atmosphere, unable to move or even fully expand her chest to breathe.
Blood vessels burst in Katherine's body from the strain, crimson blood spurting from her.
This level of power should have been beyond her, even with her considerable age and strength.
But desperation and something deeper - something she wasn't ready to acknowledge even to herself - drove her beyond her normal limitations.
Skögul struggled against the invisible prison, her emerald energy flaring as she attempted to break free. For several seconds, they remained locked in stalemate - Katherine's will against Skögul's strength.
Then, with a sound like shattering glass, Skögul broke through the compulsion. The backlash hit Katherine like a physical blow, sending her tumbling backward through the air as her concentration shattered.
"Impossible," Skögul gasped, breathing heavily from her exertion. "No mere vampire should be able to use and maintain use that much compulsion. Only an Original could do that."
Katherine stabilized herself, blood still streaming from her eyes and nose. Despite the obvious toll, she smiled - a grin that promised violence.
"Want to see what else I can do?" she asked, her voice ragged but determined.
Before Skögul could respond, Katherine struck again. She closed the distance between them faster than even Skögul's perception could track, claws raking across the Valkyrie's face before she could raise a defense.
Skögul howled in pain, blood spraying from four parallel gashes that ran from forehead to chin. She lashed out blindly, her fist connecting with Katherine's ribs with bone-crushing force.
The impact sent Katherine hurtling toward the ground, her wings momentarily failing as pain exploded across her torso. She managed to recover just before impact, pulling up sharply and skimming the surface of the lake before rising again.
Skögul pursued, one hand pressed to her ruined face as she flew. "How?" she demanded, genuine confusion mixing with her rage. "How are you using so much power without burning out?"
Katherine climbed higher, drawing Skögul away from the lake and back toward the forest. When she had reached sufficient altitude, she turned to face her pursuer.
"Because I'm not just any vampire," Katherine replied, her voice carrying despite the distance between them. "I'm a doppelgänger."
Understanding dawned in Skögul's eyes -the one not covered in blood, at least. "Petrova," she whispered. "The shadow self of-"
"Amara," Katherine confirmed, her smile widening. "The immortal woman. The temptress who brought Nature's First Son, Silas, to fall deep into the earth."
With immense speed, Katherine closed the distance between them again. This time, Skögul was prepared, raising her arms in a defensive cross-block.
But Katherine had anticipated this, dropping at the last moment and coming up underneath the Valkyrie's guard.
She seized Skögul by the hair, yanking her head back with brutal force. "My blood is more potent than you can imagine," Katherine hissed into her ear.
Using her grip on Skögul's hair as leverage, Katherine drove the Valkyrie's face downward while simultaneously bringing her knee up. The impact was devastating, blood spraying as Skögul's nose shattered.
Before the Valkyrie could recover, Katherine spun her around and drove her downward, using her full strength combined with gravity. They plummeted toward the earth, Skögul struggling futilely as Katherine maintained her iron grip.
Seconds before impact, Katherine released Skögul, arresting her own descent with a powerful wing stroke. The Valkyrie had no such opportunity, crashing into the forest floor with enough force to create a small crater.
Katherine landed beside the impact site, retracting her wings as she approached the edge of the crater. Skögul lay at its center, her emerald armor cracked and her body broken. Yet even as Katherine watched, the Valkyrie began to heal, bones audibly snapping back into place.
"Still alive," Katherine observed, sliding down the crater's slope. "Impressive."
Skögul tried to rise, only to collapse again as her legs gave way beneath her. "What... what are you going to do?" she asked, blood bubbling from her lips.
Katherine crouched beside her, running a claw gently along Skögul's ruined cheek. "I'm going to use every bit of power I have," she whispered, "to murder the fuck out of you."
With that promise, Katherine seized Skögul by the throat, lifting the Valkyrie's broken body with one hand. "This is for threatening him," she said, her voice cold with finality.
Her other hand plunged forward, claws aimed directly at Skögul's heart-
----------------------
Hecate's expression flickered - the first sign of uncertainty she had shown. "Bold words from a child."
Lucien didn't bother responding. Instead, he shot upward with explosive force, carrying Elena higher into the mirror realm's sickly yellow sky.
When they had reached sufficient altitude, he paused, hovering as he surveyed the nightmarish landscape below.
The gods had regrouped - Sekhmet, Apophis, Kali, and Hecate now forming a defensive circle as they tracked his movements.
Vader had reappeared, engaging a swarm of blood demons that threatened to overwhelm him through sheer numbers.
And everywhere, humans ran and died and suffered, their screams forming a cacophony of agony that echoed across the twisted realm.
Lucien made his decision.
"Hold tight," he instructed Elena, feeling her arms tighten around his waist in response.
Then he began to gather power.
Force lightning crackled around his body, starting as small arcs between his fingertips before growing in intensity.
The lightning spread up his arms, across his chest, down his legs, until his entire body was a conduit for raw energy - it turning red.
The air around him ionized, the smell of ozone becoming overwhelming as electricity built to insane levels.
Below, the gods sensed the building power. They began to move, attempting to reach Lucien before he could release whatever attack he was preparing. But they were too slow.
With a primal scream that contained all his rage and horror, Lucien thrust both arms toward the sky, then brought them down. The lightning followed his command, erupting from his body in a devastating cascade that rained down upon the mirror realm.
The attack was indiscriminate in its fury - forked lightning striking gods, demons, and the blood ocean itself.
Where it touched the gods, their divine forms convulsed and burned, golden ichor spraying from wounds that refused to heal.
Demons caught in the barrage simply disintegrated, their semi-liquid bodies vaporizing on contact.
The gods screamed in unified agony, their divine power no defense against Lucien's wrath.
Sekhmet fell to his knees, solar flames extinguished as lightning coursed through his lion-headed form.
Apophis thrashed in blind agony, its massive coils tearing furrows in the blood ocean as electricity burned it from within.
Kali's four arms flailed uselessly as her blue skin charred and peeled away from Margaret Fell's human form.
Hecate alone managed to maintain some semblance of defense, her black flames forming a barrier that partially deflected the lightning. But even she was driven backward, her triple faces contorted in pain and disbelief.
Lucien didn't stop. He poured more power into the attack, drawing deeply on the Dark Side until the lightning became a continuous storm that engulfed the entire mirror realm.
His body should have been unable to channel such energy, but in this place, empowered by rage and the Dark Side, he transcended his limitations.
The gods were being systematically destroyed, their divine forms unable to withstand the sustained assault.
Victory was within reach - Lucien could feel it, taste it in the power-charged air.
Then a single word cut through the thunder of his attack:
"ENOUGH."
The voice came from above, impossibly loud yet perfectly controlled. Before Lucien could react, something seized him by the head - a hand large enough to engulf his entire skull, fingers digging into his scalp.
With casual strength, another hand ripped Elena from his back, her scream of terror cutting off abruptly as she was torn away.
Then Lucien was falling, hurled downward with such violence that he couldn't stop it.
He struck the blood ocean with bone-shattering force, the impact driving him deep beneath the crimson surface.
Blood filled his mouth, his nose, his lungs as he sank into the viscous depths. Pain exploded across his body - ribs fractured, shoulder dislocated, consciousness threatening to flee.
Through sheer force of will, Lucien fought his way back to the surface, using the Force to propel himself upward through the clinging red depths.
He broke through with a desperate gasp, coughing blood - both his and the ocean's - as he treaded the crimson waves.
Above him, hovering in the sickly yellow sky, was Richard Lockwood - or rather, Tezcatlipoca. The jaguar-headed god held Elena by her hair, her feet dangling helplessly as she sobbed in terror.
Obsidian mirrors embedded in Tezcatlipoca's skin reflected Lucien's battered form a thousand times over, each reflection showing a different angle of his defeat.
"Enough," Tezcatlipoca repeated, his voice resonating with ancient power. "Your tantrum ends now, child. You have caused quite enough disruption to our ceremony."
Lucien tried to gather his power for another attack, but his body betrayed him, pain and exhaustion overwhelming his connection to the Force.
He could only watch helplessly as Tezcatlipoca regarded him with cold amusement.
"Did you truly believe you could challenge gods in their own realm?" the jaguar-headed deity asked. "How... adorable."
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(Author note: Okay... I'm tired. Apologies, three chapter it is for now.
Maybe in a couple hours later, I'll write more.
I'm gonna go eat.
I hope you guys enjoyed.
Do tell me how you found these three chapters, and whether you think Lucien can get out of this or not alive.
I hope to see you all later,
Bye!)