I’m really sorry about the delay, my computer broke down so I’ve spent the last week in the stone age. Anyway, here’s the final chapter. Enjoy!

Chapter 12

The suffocating shadow receded but Helena was still submersed in darkness. The floor of the apartment had been replaced with the feel of grass against her knees. In seconds she was drenched from the pouring rain, making her shiver.

“So this is where you came from.”

She looked around, feeling Xavier’s hand gripping her shoulder as he stood over her. At last, her head stopped spinning and she was able to look around. Her heart dropped into her stomach at the sight of the shabby house, two miles from Dublin. She was back in Ireland, staring at the crap-shack that had once been her home. Kneeling in the fields outside, she stared at the lights in the windows, and even over the rain, she could hear her mother’s voice. She had company over. When Helena had been a child, she remembered her mother always having company.

“Please, no, not here.”

“This is where it all started, isn’t it? This is your home. What happened here to make you so angry at the world?”

Helena got to her feet and turned to him, and even in the rain, he could see her tears. “Why are you doing this to me? Why must you be so cruel?”

“For once in my life, I’m not being cruel. I’m trying to help you. With or without me, you’ve been stagnant at that school, and your movement into the future will be long and agonizing unless you come to terms with your past. Tell me what happened here. Let it out. It’s time for you to tell me the truth, and tell yourself the truth.”

She grabbed him by the collar as if trying to lift him off his feet, but instead, simply leaned against him. “Please, just take me back to the school! I’m begging you! Just let the past stay in the past!”

“Not until you move forward! You claim you left your old life behind, but all you did was lock it up in a giant safe that you’ve carried on your back all these years. You shut out your past but you haven’t let it go. Face your fears and stop lying to yourself! The truth will set you free.”

She let go of him and turned around, taking a few steps to the house. It looked like it hadn’t seen any maintenance since she left. She had kept this a secret for so long, but why, of all people, would Xavier be the one to finally hear it? Perhaps he was right, though. This vile place has been holding her back even after she left. She was about to speak, but stopped, startled by Xavier putting his coat over her shoulders. Even when soaked, the fabric held his warmth. She hated that warmth, hated how good it felt.

“My mother… was an alcoholic whore. Just listening to her, I can tell that nothing has changed. She gave birth to me out of wedlock and resented me ever since. She was never there for me, never supported me, and never gave more than the smallest amount of effort to take care of me. There were more liquor bottles in that house than food. I remember pushing them aside in the kitchen, desperately looking for something to eat. I remember them smashing by my head when she threw them at me and I got showered in glass. I used to dream that someday I would meet my father and he would take me away to someplace wonderful, away from this dreary country.”

Xavier looked at her quizzically. “Did she never tell you about your father?”

“She didn’t even know who he was. Considering how busy she was, half the men in Dublin could have been my father.” She looked back at him and gave a bitter laugh, her face wet with both rain and tears. “How fitting would it be if you ended up as my father? What a cliché twist of fate. Seventeen years ago, a scumbag like you screwed my mother and I was born, the granddaughter of Satan.”

“Helena…”

She looked back at the house, hearing a woman moaning inside. “When she wasn’t on her back for money, she was bringing home a new boyfriend every week. Each of them was worse than the last. They would yell at me, they would hit me, and they would throw things at me. Sometimes… they would climb into my bed at night and touch me, just like you. That was how I learned to fight, to keep back the pedophiles looking for a cute little girl to deflower. Why do you think I hated men so much? Every man I had ever met was either a loser or a monster.

Then, one day, I saw missionaries at the local church handing out pamphlets for Rosewood University. It was my chance to escape from Hell and I took it. Tuition is free if you tell them that you’re an orphan. Considering the clothes I was wearing, they didn’t even question me. They took me with them and I got to leave this wretched country behind and bask in the warmth of Rome. I never wanted to come back here. I burned every bridge and severed every link connecting me to this godforsaken house.

Then you came along and I got to experience Hell all over again.”

Xavier swallowed the lump in his throat. Right now, Helena was more vulnerable than ever in her life, but being with her, speaking to her with the air around them so thick with emotion, he felt his own strength fade. The layers of darkness around his black soul were being pealed away, as if he had ripped open his chest and exposed his beating heart to the frigid rain, daring fate to spear him through.

“That’s why you’re so afraid of the future. This place was the whole world to you when you were a child, so you associate the whole world with this place. Rome was your ticket to happiness, now you’re afraid to leave because you think some new horror will assail you if you try to leave. That was the real reason why you wanted to join the Swiss Guard. The church had saved you when you were a child, so you thought you would always be safe if you stayed at the Pope’s side. You didn’t want to protect the church; you wanted the church to protect you.”

Helena balled her hands into fists and her slender shoulders trembled as she cried. “All I ever wanted was to be strong. All I ever wanted was the assurance that I would never again be a victim. Maybe I should thank you for showing me how weak I really am, for showing me what a pathetic life I’ve lived! I thought I had grown up from being that scared little girl crying under her bed, but all these years, I’ve just been lying to myself.”

“No, you’re wrong. Helena, you are stronger than you could ever imagine. Do you think a weakling could have survived what you went through? Could have fended off all the horrors closing in around her and made her escape? Seizing her own life and living it? Do you think a weakling could fight criminals and even wound the Antichrist? Every time you cursed me or swore that you would never side with me, your strength was weakened by your contradicting emotions, but do you remember that night, the night we sparred? There was no fear in you; there was no hatred or even love. For that brief hour, you unleashed all the power pent up inside you and became a goddess, not because of what you felt for me, but because that was who you are.

You learned to fight because you were afraid of ever going back to that nightmare, because you feared change and the unknown future. But the future I showed you, that was not some wish I had. That was your true self. That was the confident and elegant queen who conquered the world instead of fearing it. It’s not weakness holding you back, but fear. If you never want to be a victim again, seize the world instead of hiding from it. I saw that strength the moment I met you, the strength to change the world. That’s why I wanted you to be my queen, because you are the first person I ever met who I knew could fit that role. You are beautiful, you are strong, and you are magnificent. I know it, even if you don’t.”

She stared up into the cloudy night sky, feeling the rain pelt her face. ‘Is that true? Am I really as strong as he says? All this time, have I been holding back simply because I’ve been afraid? Can I really change the world? Can I really… stop being afraid?’

“I’m sorry.”

She spun around, a wild look to her eye. Had he… just apologized? He had never apologized before, even after Daphne attacked her. The look on his face was of true regret, an expression she never thought she would see on him.

“If I had known what you’ve been through, I never would have tormented you like I have. My methods… would have been different. I wasn’t trying to truly hurt you or remind you of your past. It was just my way of getting you to open up. I’m sorry… for everything.”

She tackled him, unable to knock him off his feet but beating his chest wildly with her fists. “Shut up! Don’t you dare apologize! You think that saying you’re sorry will make it all ok?! You think a few pretty words can make up for everything you’ve done to me?! Don’t you do this to me! Don’t you dare do this to me!”

She leaned against him, sobbing uncontrollably.

“Helena…”

“Don’t you dare apologize. Don’t try to be nice to me, I hate when you’re nice to me. Please, anything but that. Humiliate me, rape someone, kill people, anything! Be cruel! Be evil! Just please don’t be nice to me!” She looked up at him, pressed to his chest with her heart overflowing with emotions. “Please don’t make it so hard for me to hate you! I want to hate you so much, just like I used to, but every time you make me smile, every time you make me laugh, all the bad moments disappear. I don’t know what to do!”

Xavier embraced her, holding her tightly with their faces inches apart. “Helena, stop thinking about what you’re supposed to do, stop thinking about what you’re told to do, and stop thinking about what the world has taught you is right and moral. Join me or reject me, I don’t care anymore. I just want you to finally be free. Do what makes you happy and follow your heart and I will help you however I can, even if it means staying out of your life forever. I’ve spent my whole life lying, but these are the truest words I’ll ever say: Helena, I love you.”

They stared deep into each other’s eyes before Helena finally stood up on her tiptoes and kissed Xavier. With their bodies shivering in the rain, they stood like statues, holding each other while their joined lips moved like waves. After all the time Helena had spent seething with anger and drowning in desperation, she never felt like she was on a path so right as she was now. For so long, her hatred and love for Xavier had been entwined so tightly in her heart that she couldn’t tell them apart, but by casting everything else aside, she could at last feel her honest feelings overflowing from within her. For the first time, she was opening her heart and indulging her true desires, no longer caring about what she had been taught to believe. At last, she was free.

Xavier was in a similar state, experiencing something that never interested him, but now realizing it was the strongest need in his soul. All the women he had been with, all of the cruel and sinful things he had done to them, but it was this simple kiss that was shaking him down to his very core. This was not some conquest or achievement. This was fulfillment, something that almost made him forget his dark origins and made him feel like a simple human. Like her, he was finally ready to change. Like her, he was finally able to accept the future, as long as they were together.

The kiss at last ended and he wiped away her tears. “Come on, let’s get you home and out of the rain.”

Helena and Xavier materialized in her dorm room. Nearby, Sophie was sound asleep, completely untouched and with a pure mind. Clutching his arm, Helena appeared almost drugged, her mind fried from the maelstrom of emotions she had just experienced. As gentle as could be, Xavier undressed her and tossed aside her wet clothes. She didn’t move at all or react to his touch. Once she was down to just her bra and panties, he laid her out on the bed with her back to him and put the blanket over her. Leaning down, he kissed her shoulder and got up to leave.

“Wait.” He turned back as Helena sat up. She reached out to him and he gave her his hand, letting her hold it against the side of her face and kiss it. “I’ll do it. I’m done lying to myself and denying what I truly want. I’ll be your queen and your wife. I’m ready to move forward into the future with you. Xavier, I love you.”

He smiled and sat down on the bed, cupping her cheek with his other hand. The smile on his face was one he had never worn. It was like when she was on the diving board, but so much more powerful. It wasn’t just simple enjoyment or happiness he was feeling. It was as if she could see everything within him, the darkest confines of his unholy soul exposed to the light of her love. She could at last see everything, including how much he had changed since meeting her.

Slowly she came back to life and he could see happiness in her glowing eyes, the relief of finally being able to shed the weights she had carried. She had learned to fight to protect her body, became a zealot to protect her mind, and wrapped herself in lies to protect her heart, but at last, she was allowing herself to stand naked and exposed, feeling the air kiss her skin for the first time. She had forced herself to be strong her entire life, but it was allowing herself to be vulnerable here and now that would help her to grow, more than anything else.

“But we need to set some ground rules. First of all, this is a monogamous relationship. None of that “servant girl threesome” crap. Until I die, you have to be completely loyal.”

Xavier gave a soft chuckle. “Very well, but I’ll keep waiting for you to get a perverted hunger and want to try something new.”

“Second: no more tormenting people, especially me. You can’t do what you did to those girls back there in that apartment. So let everyone go. No more collars.”

“Of course.”

“Third: when we take over the world, you have to promise that you will improve it instead of rule it with an iron fist or destroy it.”

“I’m just going to leave all that stuff to you. Anything else?”

She held his hands with a sad smile on her face, but when she looked up at him, it was pure beauty. “You promise this is all real? That this isn’t some practical joke?”

“I promise.”

Blushing, she slowly pushed the straps of her bra off her shoulders. “Then take me, my king.”

They leaned forward and began to kiss, gently at first, Xavier letting Helena get accustomed to the act. After a minute, he reached behind her and released the clasp of her bra, letting it slip free. Having no need to feel embarrassed, she tossed it aside with a coy smile and resumed kissing him. He leaned forward, laying her out on her back while using his powers to make his clothes disappear. Lying next to her, he slid his hands under the sheets and into her panties. After all the times he had done it before, she at last looked forward to it. His fingers rolled over her labia like waves lapping at the shore, gently stimulating the entrance before finally slipping into her. Helena didn’t have to hide her aroused panting and her whimpers of pleasure. She could finally acknowledge everything without embarrassment.

As his fingers moved inside her, he had his thumb on her clitoris, playing it like a joystick and making her voice steadily rise in volume. Above, he was switching back and forth between kissing her on the lips and kissing her breasts. Helena reached under the covers and grasped his manhood, mentally preparing herself for penetration. It felt so hot, like metal from a forge, and she could feel Xavier’s pulse in the veins and muscles. So focused was she that she didn’t notice her building orgasm until it was past the point of no return. She began to moan, her voice matching the quickening movements of his fingers. She pulled her lips away from his, burying her face in the side of his neck and clutching him while she erupted. In the greatest climax of her life, a splash of arousal soaked Xavier’s hand while she cried out in ecstasy.

He pulled his hand away and began licking it clean. “I’d say you’re ready.”

She looked away from him, blushing in embarrassment.

“What?” he laughed.

“Could you… uh… could you just… just please…”

“Don’t worry, I’ll be gentle.”

He then moved on top of her, holding himself up with the shaft of his manhood resting against her pussy. The way she was blushing, that cute panting, the fever-like dizziness in her eyes; they were driving him wild in lust. He cupped her cheek and brushed his thumb across her soft lips. She opened her mouth and began to suck on it, then started kissing his palm.

“You’re just too cute. I’ve been waiting for this since the moment I first saw you. Ready?”

She gave a nervous nod, hiding her mouth behind her hands. He kissed her on the forehead and worked himself in. From the moment the head spread the lips of her pussy, Helena’s panting increased and her blushed brightened. Xavier pushed all the way in, rupturing her hymen and deflowering her. He stopped for a moment, letting her get used to the feeling. In her voice was a mix of pain and euphoria, but the longer he waited, the weaker the former became and the stronger the latter grew.

“How does it feel to lose your virginity to the Antichrist?”

She giggled. “It’s wonderful. But if you give me any STDs, I’ll kill you.”

Taking that as a sign that she was ready, he pulled out of her, letting her virgin blood drip off his phallus and stain the sheets. He pushed it back in, making her yelp and arch her back. From there, movement eased, and Xavier began gently thrusting into her while they resumed kissing. At first, Helena had her legs wrapped around his waist, but as his thrusts increased in speed and strength and her pleasure grew in depth, they spread apart and were in the air. Helena was whining in bliss, every impact of Xavier’s cock making her feel like a shell of concrete was breaking off her soul.

Neither one of them had ever felt anything like this, being so deeply connected to another person. Helena had always kept people at a distance and Xavier had always disregarded and looked down on mankind, but at last, they were on the same level and exposing their depths to each other. For the first time, they were allowing themselves to be vulnerable and relishing the feeling of everything between them melting away.

“Xavier, I’m…”

“I know, hold on.”

He further sped up his thrusts, now using his body weight to slam down into her. Helena’s whine was turning into a shrill moan and a euphoric smile was on her face. “Oh God! Oh God! OH GOD! I’M CUMMING!”

She again arched her back as her moan reached new volume. In the middle of her climax, Xavier suddenly grabbed her and held the two of them vertical. She grasped his shoulders, riding his cock and moaning like an opera singer. They continued in this position for several minutes, with Helena using her weight to drive Xavier’s cock deeper and deeper inside her and Xavier picking her up and dropping her onto his lap. While she rose and fell, their lips joined and parted like the clouds joining the horizon. This was the most amazing experience of her life, and easily the most pleasurable. Why hadn’t anyone told her sex was so much fun?!

They soon switched positions, still remaining vertical but now with her back to him. He supported her with his arms, letting her suck on his fingers and using his other hand to play with her clit. With his powers, he was channeling a tiny electric shock from his fingertips to the nub, just enough to stimulate the nerves but without inflicting pain. After less than a minute, she had a thunderous chain or orgasms, cumming again and again, not even feeling Xavier ejaculating inside her and filling her womb with his semen. Her body limp, he lowered her down and pulled out of her, his seed slowly starting to drip from her pussy. Xavier leaned down and kissed her, making her purr.

“I love you,” he murmured.

“I love you too.”

She rolled over, giving him a tired smile and holding his hands. “So this is real, isn’t it? Us? Our future?”

“Yeah, it’s real.”

Helena woke up and turned off her alarm, taking a moment to think before rising. Last night, she had accepted her feelings for Xavier and the two of them made love. Or had that all been a dream? The fact that she wasn’t wearing a bra or panties told her it had really happened. She smiled and touched her slit, a little sore from being deflowered and sticky with Xavier’s cum. To think, she had fallen in love with the Antichrist. But for the first time, she could see the future clearly, as well as the world. Sophie was slow to stir, even to the beeping of the alarm clock, giving Helena time to put back on her underwear. She rubbed her neck, feeling her collar and being glad to wear it.

She and Sophie got dressed, both complaining about how much they missed sleeping in during vacation. About to leave the room with Sophie for breakfast, Helena stopped and looked to her bedside table. There, beside her clock, her trinity necklace lay. She picked it up and stared at it. While her future was crystal-clear, her faith had now blurred. Xavier was proof that God existed, but everything he had told her at that cafe also rang true. Was God indifferent? Incompetent? Sadistic? Either way, she was done waiting for him to show her the way. With Xavier at her side, she was going to carve out her own path, her own destiny.

Approaching the classroom, Helena was suddenly overcome with nervousness. Xavier would be there, and while it would finally be nice to feel happiness when seeing him… they just had sex. No matter what, it would be awkward. She at last entered the classroom and saw him. Their eyes met and they both smiled, hers bright and happy, and his… despondent, of all things. It was a sad smile, one that showed joy like hers, but telling her that there was something wrong. Oh well, he just probably wasn’t used to being in a consenting, monogamous relationship.

The day passed by in a haze, with Helena intoxicated on a cocktail of endorphins. All her stress had vanished in one night, both the tension between her and Xavier and the pain of her past that she had kept bottled up. Then there was also the beginning of this new relationship. For the first time in her life, she had a boyfriend, and she couldn’t be happier. Every minute was spent thinking of him, waiting for night to come so that they could be together. Not even Sister Olivia could dampen her mood, the nun having been stripped of her memories of Xavier’s torture. Unfortunately, that loss of fear had turned her back into a ball-busting cunt.

In the following days, Xavier and Helena worked out a routine. During class, they would go about their business without giving anyone a reason to suspect anything. If they happened to have free periods at the same time, they would sneak off to some quiet corner of the school and make love. During the night, after Sophie fell asleep, Helena would lie awake and eagerly wait to feel him slide under the sheets, his lips to the back of her neck and his hand between her legs. For her, life was perfect.

Helena was panting with her face flushed and a wide smile. She and Xavier were naked in her bedroom, having snuck off in the middle of lunch. She was sitting on his face and he was drinking her in, swirling his tongue around in her sweet honeypot and savoring the taste of her essence. Every flick of his tongue was ecstasy, making her toes stretch and curl. She looked down at his erection, sprawled out like a beached whale. Should she do something? She had given him a couple hand jobs since she first made love, but… should she do more? He was using his mouth on her, so it was only fair.

She slowly leaned down and brought her face close to his manhood. After all the porn she had watched, she certainly knew how it worked. She was nervous about doing such a thing, even though she had already had sex. Sure, she had sided with the Antichrist, but she still had some innocence. But on the other hand, she and Xavier were going to spend their lives together, so she was going to do it eventually. She might as well start now…

Pointing it straight up, she opened her mouth and slowly put her tongue out. If anything could be said about Xavier, he maintained very good hygiene and kept everything manicured down there, but there was still a very manly musk. The smell was overwhelming, striking deep down into the heart of her femininity. In a way, it was more stimulating than the movements of his tongue. Tentatively, she brought her tongue up the shaft and could feel his whole body react. It wasn’t a bad feeling, and she could taste the salt from his sweat. She licked him again and a third time, slowly figuring it out. Having worked up some confidence, she kissed the head, surprised by the incredibly heat her lips felt. She swirled her tongue around it, letting her saliva run down the length. At last, she was ready.

Opening her mouth, she took it in as far as she could. Because of the height difference, she could only get the first few inches, but she rolled his cock around in her mouth lovingly. Already, her nervousness was gone and she felt this become like second nature to her. She instinctively knew to keep her teeth away and to use the sides of her cheeks as much as possible. Shocking her, Xavier sat up, still holding onto her with his tongue never leaving her slit.

Curling his posture removed the height difference between them, sending his cock barreling into her throat. At first she struggled, feeling her gag reflex activating and her breathing being blocked. Xavier put his hand on her head, not to keep her down, but to calm her, and after a few seconds, she managed to relax her throat. Breathing between movements, she started bobbing her head, drowning his cock in saliva and then slurping it up.

She raised her head, gasping for air with her mind overwhelmed with lust. Hell, was she enjoying this more than he was? She began stroking him, using her spit as lubricant, then bent down and started licking it like a popsicle, before again letting it probe the depths of her throat. Xavier could feel it, her sexual pleasure increasing in intensity, signaled by the increasing wetness of her young pussy. She was close to cumming, and he as well. He started bucking his hips, skull-fucking her with Helena feeling nothing but kinky joy. She simply held her head stationary and allowed him to use her mouth as he pleased. They both came a minute later, Helena moaning in euphoria as Xavier filled her mouth with semen. It tasted awful and oozed down her throat, but she was too horny to care. She sucked on his cock like a vacuum, devouring every last glob like it was chocolate syrup. More, she needed more stimulation. She couldn’t let it end here.

She continued sucking him off, refusing to let him go flaccid. Once he had regained his erection, she sat up and moved onto his lap, letting him enter her. She gasped in happiness as his cock slid into her pussy and began rocking back and forth on it. Xavier lied back with a satisfied smirk, watching as her tight, teen ass bob across his lap like a rolling pin. The way she was moving left him breathing heavy, the sensation of his cock being stirred in her velvet sleeve making his body search for any unused ammunition to fire.

Helena leaned back and Xavier lifted her up by the backs of her knees and again started bucking his hips, driving straight up into her with almost inhuman force. Helena was moaning at the top of her lungs, struggling to keep her balance on his cock as he harpooned her womanhood with it. The look on her face was one of hedonistic madness, a complete surrender to sexual pleasure.

“You’re so loose! You must really be enjoying this!”

“Oh God! It feels so good!”

She turned around to face him and changed her position, crouching on the bed so that he could continue thrusting up into her. She looked so happy. It actually warmed Xavier’s black heart in ways he couldn’t describe. A coy grin on his face, he reached down and stuck his finger in her ass, making her holler in shock and joy. He moved his finger inside her anus, pumping her with it while his cock punished her cunt.

In only a minute, she gave that signature moan. “Oh God! I’m cumming!”

Droplets of her euphoria splashed across his lap and she collapsed on top of him, gasping for air. Once she had calmed, she kissed his chest a few times and then moved up to let her lips join his.

She looked into his eyes, a smile of warmth and love on her rose petal lips. “I should have given in to you the day I met you. This has all been wonderful beyond words. But I’m surprised; I spend a week with you and I’m already a depraved jezebel.”

Xavier put his arm around her and kissed her on the forehead. “Same. You’re the first person I’ve actually truly cared about.”

She bolted up. “Oh shit! We’re going to be late for our next class!”

Her face then became red with embarrassment and she covered her mouth. Swearing was still something new to her.

Xavier and Helena rushed into the classroom just as the bell rang. They weren’t out of breath, as Xavier had used his powers to teleport them to an empty part of the building and make their way from there. Sister “the Sphinx” Olivia turned back to them with an angry glare. “You’re late, both of you.”

Helena glared right back, having yet to go back on her word to stop fearing the nun. “We’re in the classroom before the bell, so technically we aren’t.”

“Well the class has started and you’re not in your seats. That’s detention.”

“According to the school handbook, the bell is to tell students to get to their seats, which we were in the process of doing. You can’t punish us for following the rules. You’re the one getting in our way.”

Sister Olivia began to tremble with rage at Helena’s lack of fear. ‘Impudent brat!’ “Well let’s see what the Disciplinary Committee has to say about this!”

“Go ahead! Waste their time like you’re wasting ours. Right now, you’re being an even bigger interruption than we are.”

Everyone in the class looked back and forth between Helena and Sister Olivia, feeling like they were about to witness a bloody coup.

“Take your seats.”

They did as they were told, glad the situation had defused itself. Sister Olivia cleared her throat and began to speak. “Now that you’re all here, I have good news. I’m sure you’re already well aware of it by now, but at the end of this week, the entire 11th and 12th grade classes will go on a fieldtrip. We’ll be going to Jerusalem for three days and leave on the fourth. You need to…”

Xavier was no longer listening to her. He was sitting his desk, his face downcast and his body trembling. Normal people wouldn’t be able to see it, but Helena’s eyes recognized it immediately. It was too soft for her to hear, but she knew he was chuckling.

“What’s going on? Why’d you bring me here?”

Lily and Xavier were standing at the entrance to the school, with Lily back in her uniform. Sighing, Xavier rubbed the top of her head. “You’re a good kid, better than someone like me deserves.”

Through that contact, he gave her a total mind-wipe, erasing himself from her memories, while at the same time, restoring her to her original virgin form, untouched by any man. Her eyes rolled back into her head from the hard reboot and she collapsed. Xavier caught her before she could hit the ground and sat her down on the steps of the school entrance.

Retaining contact, he used her decimated mental state to make some changes, when she would be susceptible to suggestion. “Stop doubting yourself and letting manipulative people walk all over you. Go out and find some friends, your teachers and classmates care about you. Once you graduate, find a nice guy who treats you like a princess, marry him, and have some kids. You deserve to be happy.”

He let go of her and walked away. He had already taken care of anyone who might ask questions as to where she had been, so there wouldn’t be any complications with her reintegration with school life. She’d be fine. She had just needed someone to give her a little push. In his mind, Xavier was thinking back to all the people he had messed with, both with and without collars. He had been teleporting back and forth across the globe, finding the people he had hurt and erasing himself from their memories. It was a long and tiring process, but Lily had been the last one and Daphne before her, the only one whose memories he hadn’t erased. Or was there one more? He had a feeling he was forgetting someone…

Thane sat in the school church, deep in thought and prayer. Ever since his fight with Xavier, he had been racking his mind nonstop in the search of a way to defeat him. He had read every book he could get his hands on, but had found nothing that would suggest a way to beat the Antichrist. If only he could get help from the church, but the brand Xavier left stopped him from any sort of contact. For all he knew, the secret could be buried somewhere in the Vatican Archives, but even if he wasn’t branded, he didn’t have the authority to look. Xavier had said that even he didn’t know if he was completely unstoppable, meaning that there had to be something in this world that could kill him. If Thane couldn’t find it, he would have to trust others to do it. He as one man couldn’t defeat the Antichrist, but he could do the next best thing.

Helena was sitting in Father Hauser’s hospital room. His condition hadn’t changed since the last time she visited him, but according to Xavier, his mind was fine and he would wake up once his body finished healing. He had left her alone, giving her privacy. This was the first time she had seen him since she and Xavier were first intimate. All the times before, she had used the priest as a wall to bounce her problems and fears off of, someone to listen to her vent about her horrible situation even if he couldn’t actually hear her. With all the time she had spent complaining about Xavier, it felt strange to speak about him now in happiness.

“Father Hauser, can you hear me? It’s me, Helena. To be honest, I hope you can’t, because you would probably be disappointed beyond words of me. The truth is… I’ve fallen in love with Xavier. I know he’s the Antichrist, and my worst nightmare is that this will all be some horrible trick he’s playing on me, but I’m done lying to myself about my true desires and I’m done letting other people tell me right from wrong. He’s the first person to ever really challenge me, to make me think, to make me feel, to make me strive… other than you of course. I’m ready to spend my life with him. I’m ready to change the world and use his powers to make it better.” She clutched his hand and dotted it with tears, tears of indescribable happiness. “I hope that when you wake up and Xavier and I get married, you’ll see it in your heart to give me away at our wedding.”

As expected, no reply came, and Helena gave a small laugh. “Just think about it.”

Helena and Xavier walked down the street back towards the school.

“So what exactly is the plan? How are we going to take control of the world?”

“You’ll see on the field trip.”

“You mean to Jerusalem? What are you going to do there?”

“The Church of the Holy Sepulchre: It was there that Christ was killed and then disappeared to return to Heaven. It was there that the power of God left this world. Christ died on the very precipice of a metamorphosis, when the powers of his miracles would evolve into true divinity and he would be able to rule the world. That metamorphosis was stopped when he died, but all I have to do is reach that spot and ultimate power will be mine. I’ll be able to start summoning my minions from Hell and raise an army to take over the world. No country will be able to withstand our forces, and once everyone surrenders, you and I will be the king and queen of the new world.”

“If that’s all it takes, why didn’t you do it earlier? Why not just go to the place where Christ died as soon as his body was removed?”

“I’ll admit, I could have done that, but that would be boring. I wanted to explore the world, see everything mankind had to offer. I wanted to watch history take place. I’ve lived for more than two thousand years. I’ve seen empires rise and fall, I’ve traveled the globe again and again, and I’ve done everything I wanted to. The world has stagnated and I’ve just about run out of places to go and things to witness. It’s time for me to settle down and realize my destiny. I came to this school simply because it would give me an excuse to go there.”

“Did you ever meet him? Jesus, I mean.”

“Yes, I met him. I was the one who met him in the desert, not my father.”

“What was he like?”

Xavier chuckled and looked up at the clear sky. “Let’s just say that even I admired him. He was a very wise and good man, an excellent nemesis for me. It actually saddened me when he was crucified, because I was denied my rivalry. “We are going to do a terrible thing to you–we are going to deprive you of an enemy.” Georgi Arbatov said that when he visited the United States in 1987. He really put it into words how I felt when Jesus died so pathetically. The Apocalypse would have been amazing, the war we could have fought. You could almost say it was his death that made me lose my interest in taking over the world. I didn’t see a point if I wouldn’t get to fight him for it.”

Helena walked over and kissed him on the cheek. “Come on, we’ll talk while we eat.”

They arrived back in the school just in time for lunch. They made their way to the cafeteria, packed with hungry students. As they got their food, Thane entered the building. He tried to put on a poker face, even though his heart felt like it would burst from his chest. He spotted Xavier across the room, feeling a cold sweat at the sight of him. With him was Helena. Wait, was she… smiling? Why would a hostage smile? Was this Stockholm Syndrome? Either way, it was time for him to act.

‘May God have mercy on my soul.’

Thane reached into his pocket and pulled out a gun, bought on the street. It was a cheap Chinese knockoff of an American model, but it would get the job done. He raised it above his head and emptied the magazine into the ceiling, filling the cafeteria with the echoing of gunshots. Screams came after as everyone ducked for cover. Students not seated merely fell to the floor like fainting goats.

Thane loaded a new mag and pulled back the slide. “XAVIER!”

Gun in hand, he moved towards Xavier and Helena, crouched down near the middle of the room.

‘Aw shit, I knew there was someone I had forgotten.’ “Helena, move back. I don’t know what’s going to happen.”

“Wait, maybe we can talk him out of this!”

“That won’t work and you know it. Just stay back.”

Xavier stood up and faced Thane, showing no fear to the gun pointed at him. He had to admit, he was disappointed. Did Thane really think he could kill him with that?

“Who are you and what do you want with me?”

He had to put up a front that he and Thane had never met. It would be best if he didn’t blow his cover.

“Don’t give me that! You challenged me and here I am. I’m finally making my move. Everyone, listen to me! This man is the Antichrist! I can prove it!”

Hushed muttering flooded through the cafeteria. Thane was a legend in this school, but with his abnormal behavior and getup, he didn’t exactly promote an image of unfaltering mental health. Had he snapped? Had he gone crazy? But on the other hand, he was a junior exorcist, a prodigy at that. If anyone in this school had what it took to find the Antichrist, it has him. For him to go to such measures, there had to be desperation driving him. What was it that would cause him to make such a bold accusation? Was it possible… that he was right?

“I’m not the Antichrist!”

“You may have everyone in this school deceived, but not me! Everyone! It was here, the first time I encountered him that I saw the inhuman evil in his black soul! I saw his thirst for blood and the destruction of the world as clearly as you see me now! And it was here that I faced him one on one! This burn on my hand came from him destroying my rosary! He cursed me to keep me from spreading his secret, but I won’t be silenced!”

“Listen, just put the gun down. You’re not well. You need help. Don’t do something that can be fixed. There is still a chance for you to do the right thing and save yourself.”

“I am doing the right thing. This gun isn’t for killing you. It’s for proving who you are. At this range, no human being can possibly dodge, and as you just saw, this gun functions just fine. If I pull this trigger, nothing but an act of God will keep the bullet from piercing your black heart. You’ll either survive the shot or use your powers to deflect the bullet. Either way, you’ll be revealed as the unholy monster that you are. If I can’t kill you, I can at least let the rest of the world know that you exist. I’m willing to risk life in prison or death if it means giving mankind a chance.”

Xavier worked to suppress a maniacal grin. ‘Clever bastard! A brilliant sacrificial move! It’s a shame you’re only human, you would have made a wonderful nemesis. Damn you, God! Damn you for not making him the second coming of Christ! The war we could have waged on each other would have been a dream come true! For once, I can curse my strength. If I were weaker, he could have posed a true challenge to me.’ “Damn it, I’m not the Antichrist! If you pull the trigger, you’ll murder me, an innocent human! Do you want that on your conscience? Do you really want to spend the rest of your life in jail and then go to Hell for killing?! Don’t turn this into a witch hunt!”

“I’ve seen your evil with my own two eyes! There is no mistaking it! This burn on my hand is proof of everything! Now show us who you really are!”

He pulled the trigger and Xavier gave a flick of his finger. A dull clicking was heard and the blood drained from Thane’s face.

‘Unfortunately, I am too powerful to be forced into a corner by a mere human.’ “What did I tell you? You’re crazy. You were so excited about painting me as a monster that you forgot to chamber a round when you reloaded. Students at a Catholic boarding school never watch enough action movies to know how a gun works.”

Thane staggered back, looking at the gun. Was it possible? Had he used his powers to move the bullet out of the chamber? “You son of a bitch! I did chamber a round! I know I did!”

“This is your last chance! Just put the gun down before you hurt someone!”

“Never!”

He reached out to pull back the slide, but Xavier tackled him before he could grab it. The two men tumbled to the floor and Xavier delivered a skull-fracturing punch to the eye, knocking Thane out and letting him pry the gun out of his hand.

He stood up, pointing the weapon at him. “Nice try.”

All the students watched as the police took Thane away in handcuffs, with his gun in an evidence bag. He was locked in the back of a squad car with an ice pack over his eye. Teachers and students were talking to the police, giving their statements. From what Xavier could hear, no one had seen Thane chamber a round. It was an easy movement for them to miss in the loading process. Those situated around him would have been too focused on getting out of his way to watching him, and anyone who did see it would have been too hopped up on adrenaline to remember. Helena stood by his side, wanting to hold his hand. She was reminded of back when the two of them fought those muggers and one of them pulled a gun on him. She had no clue if a gun would even work on Xavier, but it terrified her nonetheless, and she was grateful that he was still with her.

“It’s a real shame,” Xavier said. She looked up at him. “He would have made an excellent nemesis.”

In the days that passed, rumors swirled around Xavier that he could not suppress. Forcing the bullet back into the clip had been his best choice, but Thane had thought this through. As rational an explanation as it was, for him to be so lucky that Thane “forgot” to chamber a round was nothing short of a miracle. Had it really been human error? Had God saved Xavier’s life? Or was that the work of the Antichrist?

Father Brian sat in an interrogation room with Thane. The student was handcuffed and let his head hang. It was the early morning, just before the fieldtrip. In Father Brian’s hands was a folder with Xavier’s name on it. “You should have spoken to me before doing something so reckless. Do you have any idea how much trouble you are in?”

“I couldn’t tell you! I couldn’t tell anyone! That bastard put some kind of seal on me that stopped me from talking. Every time I tried, my throat would close up and I would nearly suffocate.”

“Alex, don’t you know how you sound right now? The Antichrist isn’t in the school and he certainly is a student. None of the signs of the Apocalypse have manifested. Besides…” He tossed the file onto the steel table and let the contents slide out. They were Xavier’s grades, medical history, and family background. “He’s squeaky clean. He was a hyperactive little kid, misbehaved once in while as he grew older, and straightened his act in the years before coming to the school. He’s had all of his vaccinations and I have a transcript of his grades from earlier years, some high and some low. I’ve even spoken with his parents over the phone. He’s completely normal.”

“A little too normal, maybe? How do we know he didn’t forge all of those documents? You said you spoke to his parents over the phone, but have you ever met anyone in person who could confirm his existence before coming to the school?” Father Brian stared at him, unsure of how to respond. “I faced him. He destroyed my rosary and burned my hand in the process. I will admit, my plan had room for error, but I assure you that I did chamber a round. His powers are beyond belief and the Vatican must be warned! They’re the only ones with even a chance of beating him!”

“I’m sorry, Alex. I’m sorry that you were put under such strenuous conditions all these years and weren’t properly looked out for. Maybe if you had gotten the help you need, you wouldn’t be in this mess. I will pray for you.”

Cleaning up the contents of the file, Father Brian knocked on the door and it was opened. He stepped outside and was met with the chief of police and a woman he didn’t recognize.

“You know the perpetrator, don’t you? Do you know what would make him snap like that?” the chief asked.

“Yes, I do. I helped him get his name out to the Vatican as a talented exorcist. For the past couple months, he’s been obsessed with finding some kind of evil presence in the school. He thought that there was a demon of some sort, but we never found any evidence to back it up. Why? What is this about?”

The chief motioned to the woman at his side. “This is Malinda Tameo, head of forensics. There is something she needs to show you.”

Father Brian, the police chief, and the scientist stood in the forensics lab of the station. There was a table in between them with light fixtures under a foggy screen. The pistol was set out.

“Now according to reports, Thane fired seven shots when he entered the building, using up all the bullets in his first magazine.”

The woman activated the table and red light shone on the gun, illuminating several fingerprints. The prints caught the light like fiber optics and displayed the depths of their detail.

She laid out a scan of the collected prints, digitally copied off the gun. “These are the fingerprints he would have left when he loaded the first magazine. As you can see, his hand makes the right shape to pull back the slide and chamber a round. The reason why they’re so clearly visible is because when he fired all his bullets up, he coated the gun in powder residue, a lot of it. That residue clung to the oils his hand left behind, just like the dusting powder we use to lift prints. Now, I assume he cleaned the gun before using it, probably to make sure it worked perfectly and wouldn’t cause problems. That would explain the lack of prints older than these. However…” She flipped a button on the table and a blue light shone up, this time revealing a different set of prints. “These prints came after. See, there is significantly less residue in these prints, as it was removed from the gun.”

“I don’t understand what you’re saying.”

“The residue clung to the oils of the prints from the first time he loaded the weapon, but the second prints remove the residue, meaning that he put his hand on the gun again and pulled it away with residue on his fingers. The first prints came before the first firing, the second prints came after. He did pull back the slide after he reloaded.

Also, we tested the bullet and the gun. The firing mechanism and the magazine were working perfectly, and the bullet that should have been fired wasn’t a dud. We also examined the casing and found scratches that the others in the magazine didn’t have, scratches that come from entering the chamber.”

“You mean that…”

“There is no reason I can find that that bullet shouldn’t have been fired. The gun was working, the bullet was fine, and there is clear evidence that he chambered the round. There is no rational explanation for this event.”

Father Brian gripped his cross. “There is one.”

If was the morning of the field trip, early morning to be precise, and the 11th and 12th grade classes were boarding the 747 that would take them to Israel. The sun had just started to rise on the airport and everyone was as anxious as could be to be visiting the Holy Land. No longer caring what people thought, Helena picked her seat beside Xavier and even clutched his hand.

She was surprised, seeing a sad smile on his face. “Is something wrong?”

“No, nothing is wrong. Everything is… as it should be.”

As he spoke, the sound of sirens broke the stillness of the early morning and police cars flooded the tarmac. Among them were SWAT vans and officers in full body armor with assault rifles. They formed a ring around the plane, terrifying the students. What was going on? Had some kind of bomb threat had been made?

With a hundred guns pointed at the plane, the chief of police pulled out a megaphone. “Xavier Michaels! Come out with your hands up!”

All eyes turned to Xavier, eyes full of terror. Their fear only grew as Xavier began to laugh. It was a deep, maniacal cackle, and when he spoke, it was a voice none of them recognized but all feared. “Thane, that glorious bastard. Seems his plan worked and he spilled my secret. I’ll have to commemorate him for that.”

He stood up and stepped into the aisle on his side of the plane. Everyone around him was screaming, knowing now that he was the Antichrist. Helena’s grip on his hand tightened, fearful of what was about to happen. “Xavier, please. Don’t let the other students get caught up in this.”

“As you wish. To all my fellow students, I thank you for the wonderful time I’ve spent at Rosewood University, and out of my appreciation, I give the following advice: duck and cover. It’s time for me to show the world what true power looks like.”
Outside, the police gasped in horror as a beam of darkness erupted from inside the plane, firing straight up. The blast was over ten feet wide and looked like a black laser. The metal of the plane immediately began to deteriorate as if splashed with acid, causing the ceiling to be burned away. Inside, all the students were cowering on the floor while their seats burned with black flames. From the inferno rose a figure, not seen by mortal eyes in centuries. Xavier stood, his true form revealed.
At twenty feet in height, his body was humanoid and incredibly muscular. His skin had been replaced with a red hide of scales, draconic almost. His shins, forearms, and chest were encased in a gleaming black armor, the plates seemingly part of his body, like the shell of a scorpion. Plates also hung around his waist, almost like a knight’s armored skirt. His human legs were now more like a predatory dinosaur’s, with his ankles resembling a second set of knees that would allow him to run on all fours. He had a long tail, lined with blades made of the same obsidian bone as his armor. Stretching from his back were two great wings, each stretching forty feet with a black membrane between the bones. His face was still humanlike, but his nose had flattened and his eyes were yellow with slits for pupils. He had a pair of horns protruding from his forehead, with a helmet framing the edges of his face like a beard while leaving his face exposed. The top of his head was a black bonfire, burning furiously.

All the humans stared at him with unsurpassable horror, unable to believe what they were looking at and standing in the presence off. Even Helena felt some fear, shocked that this was the side of Xavier that he had always kept hidden, but she had to admit, she kind of liked the look. Just by standing there, he looked powerful beyond words, an intimidating berserker that couldn’t be stopped.

Xavier examined his hands and laughed. “Ah, it’s been too long since I was last able to take this form. Sometimes I just get so cramped in that tiny human body. At last, I can stretch my wings for one last ride.”

Whenever Xavier honestly spoke, either when trying to frighten someone or just remove all doubt that he was the Antichrist, his voice would get so deep and insidious that it almost seemed inhuman, with an animalistic growl in his throat. Finally, Helena could see the body that that voice truly belonged to. They certainly matched.

“Everyone open fire!”

Following the chief’s command, all of the police officers raised their weapons and shot every bullet they had, emptying all their magazines in just a few seconds. Every bullet that hit Xavier bounced off his exterior like moths hitting a light bulb and rained down into the plane. Once they stopped to reload, he snapped his fingers and all of the weapons exploded like grenades, hurling the cops back and ripping through them with shrapnel.

“You aren’t nearly enough to keep me entertained. Spread the word to Israel and everyone in between and tell them that I’m coming. Maybe they can give me a challenge.” He then turned to Helena and crouched down, holding his giant hand out to her. “Your throne, my queen.”

Smiling, Helena climbed into his palm like it was a hammock and he held her against him.

“Now, to our new world order.”

He gave a mighty flap of his wings and launched himself into the sky, flying towards the place chosen by destiny.

In the hours that passed, Xavier and Helena left Italy, flew over the ocean, and were now passing over Greece. He had her in his arms, protecting her from the wind. He had to mind both his speed and altitude. At first, Helena had been amazed and terrified from the realization that she was flying. This was certainly different from riding a Vespa around Rome, but now she had gotten used to it and was enjoying the scenery, even though it was shooting past her. It felt so strange to be held in the arms of this frightening monster. To think that this had been hidden inside of Xavier all this time. She could sense the power in him, a roaring deluge just waiting to be unleashed.

“Once we get back over the ocean, I suspect we’ll find some company. That area of the Mediterranean will be a hotbed of military ships. Hopefully they can give me a challenge.”

“You sound excited.”

“Of course, I haven’t had a real fight in ages! I have to enjoy it while I can!”

Helena looked up at him. “While you can? I know I want to avoid bloodshed when we take over, but you’ll inevitably get the combat you desire after this.” He didn’t respond. “Xavier?”

“Once the fighting starts, I’ll make sure to teleport you to a safe location. Even with my powers, it would be a bad idea to have you with me with all the firepower they’ll be throwing.”

They returned to flying over the sea, and as soon as they left Greek airspace, two jets zoomed past them.

“Ah, those must be from Turkey. Now the fun begins. Sorry, dear, but you may get a little wet.”
She teleported out of his arms, reappearing on a shipping buoy down below. Dampened with the foamy droplets of the sea around her, she looked up to see the two jets closing in on Xavier. From under the noses of the aircrafts, twin machine guns began firing off rounds so fast that the individual gunshots were barely audible. Laughing, Xavier swooped down towards the sea, dodging the streams of bullets. Reaching the water, he opened his wings and shot off across the surface with rounds splattering in the ocean around him. He soon pulled up and reversed himself in the air, closing in on the two jets. His hand raised, he sliced off the wing of one of the jets with his claws, sending it spiraling out of control. He turned around chased after the other jet, now desperately trying to escape him. He grabbed the tail end of the jet and ripped the craft apart.

About to go and retrieve Helena, he was blinded by smoke as a missile impacted against his chest. Grinning, he looked ahead at the six oncoming jets, firing their payloads at him. Xavier dodged all but one of the missiles, the last one he grabbed and held onto. Chasing after one of the jets with the rocket in hand, he slammed it against the underside of the aircraft and sent it hurtling down to the sea in a ball of fire. The other five jets were now flying around him, trying to confuse him while the pilots came up with a plan. Continuing to laugh, he slashed at the air and launched five blades of shadow fire from his claws, shooting across the sky like comets. The burning apparitions struck another jet, killing the pilot before he could eject.

The sensation of bullets bouncing off his back drew his attention to the jet shooting towards him from behind. Opening his jaws, he unleashed a linear inferno from his mouth, washing over the jet as it passed by and setting it ablaze. The fourth jet fired two more missiles at him, both of which he dodged. Holding his arm back, he materialized a black javelin in his grip. Focusing with one eye shut, he hurled it at the fleeing jet and struck it in the back of the rear thruster. The lance drilled through the aircraft like it was nothing and pierced the pilot through the heart.

Xavier turned to the last two jets, now being ordered to fall back. Refusing to let his prey escape, Xavier fired two lasers from his eyes and cut them in half. Down below, Helena watched the battle progress in utter shock. The idea of those pilots being killed was abhorrent to her, but she could not ignore her amazement at the sight of such one-sided destruction. To say it was impressive would be an understatement. His power was equaled only by his agility in the air, zooming back in forth in all directions and in tight turns with nothing but flaps of his wings. More and more jets showed up to shoot him out of the sky, but all met the same fate.

The next challenge came after they passed by Cyprus. The United States Sixth Fleet had been gathered, including two destroyers and an aircraft carrier, as well as at least twenty other ships. It was as large a force as could be gathered in so short a time. The armada had formed a blockade floating between Xavier and Helena and Israel, and neither of them could help but wonder if those soldiers had actually been told what they were up against. Once again, Xavier dropped her off at a safe location, this time on a nearby sandbar. The sky above the fleet was filled with jets, launched from the aircraft carrier and buzzing in circles like wasps.

Spreading his wings to their maximum length, Xavier gave a thunderous roar, and from the black membranes, a volley of black spheres were launched, like rounds of buckshot from a rack of automatic shotguns. Made of pure dark energy, the barrage rained down on the swarm of jets, knocking them out of the sky like they were nothing. Everyone in the fleet watched in horror as the sky was seemingly set ablaze from every jet simultaneously exploding and raining down in a hellish mess of steel and fire.

Reaching USS Carney destroyer, Xavier swooped up and then dove straight down, crashing into the middle of the vessel. The ship was ripped in half with ease, the bow and stern sent skyward from the force of the impact. From the observation port of the nearby aircraft carrier, the admiral watched with a cold sweat as Xavier crawled up the side of the now vertical destroyer.

Ignoring the lives of all the soldiers still onboard, he gave the order. “Fire everything!”

Every cannon and gun in the fleet was loaded and fired, this time in the direction of the sinking destroyer. Xavier took to the sky, maneuvering past every bomb hurled in his direction. With every flap of his wings, an invisible pulse of energy would be released and set off any rounds in the air around him. Having the time of his life, he flew up high over the clouds and then closed in for another dive. He struck a dock landing ship, crumpling it like an empty beer can and sending up a plume of water. Leaping through the air, he lunged towards another ship, this time with a charging sphere of dark energy between his hands. Cackling, he slammed it down onto the vessel and caused it to erupt into an explosion of black flames.

He did this three more times, leap-frogging from vessel to vessel with every ship he touched being obliterated either with a shadowy explosion or from pure kinetic energy. After the fifth ship, Xavier dove into the water to dodge the continuing barrage. Seconds later, a nearby cruiser was lifted into the air, skewered from below by a black laser with a diameter of over twenty feet. Another cruiser soon met the same fate, pierced by a beam of condensed darkness and sent skyward before crashing into the ocean.

Below the sea, Xavier swam over to a submarine and got under it. He placed his hands on the craft’s hull and dug his claws into the metal. Both his wings folded up into open cones on his back, and from them, two focused storms of shadow fire were released, his wings now acting like rocket thrusters. Using that propulsion, he rose out of the water with the submarine in his grip, sending shivers of fear up the spines of everyone in the fleet. He flew over to a nearby ship and then slammed the submarine down into it like a giant baseball bat, pulverizing them both and causing them to erupt in fiery explosions. He dove down again to get another submarine, repeating this process over and over again and decimating the fleet. Soon enough, there were only two ships remaining.

Swimming underneath the second destroyer, Xavier dug his claws into the metal. Giving a roar of joy and exertion, he increased the output of the two thrusters to their maximum, pushing up on the underside of the destroyer. Everyone on the deck watched as the water around the ship began to churn and vaporize while looking like oil. A loud groan was then heard, and slowly, the craft began to rise.

He hovered above them, holding the ship over his head like it was weightless. “WITNESS THE TRUE POWER OF DARKNESS!”

Roaring, he flew over to the aircraft carrier and brought down the destroyer onto it like the sword of Damocles, ripping the carrier in half and turning the vertical destroyer in a pillar of fire. The sky now darkened by eternal smoke, Xavier hovered, breathing in the sweet aroma of chaos. It was a smell he would miss.

The final challenge came in the deserts outside of Jerusalem, where the entire Israeli army had been gathered. Every soldier, tank, and helicopter was gathered. The city itself had been evacuated.

Xavier stopped just out of their range of sight and dropped Helena off at a rocky crag to hide. “One last fight, then we shall arrive.”

She leaned against him, her heart aching. “Please, try and be quick. I don’t want to see any more bloodshed.”

“That’s up to them, not me.”

He then took flight and approached the desert army, his blood boiling with anticipation. For Helena’s sake, he decided to at least give them a chance.

“PATHETIC MORTALS! I HAVE SLAIN MORE OF YOU ON THIS DAY THAN I DARE COUNT! LAY DOWN YOUR WEAPONS AND WALK AWAY! THOSE WHO LEAVE WILL BE SPARED! THOSE WHO STAY WILL BE SLAUGHTERED! EMBRACE THE FUTURE!” From what he could see, none of them were leaving. “Very well. I shall teach all of you despair.”

He dropped down onto the dry ground and clapped his hands together. From between his hands, a massive claymore emerged. He then curled up his wings into cones like he had before and began firing jets of black fire from the folds. Propelled by these twin rocket boosters, he hurtled across the arid wasteland almost as if skating, but with the talons on his feet ripping the ground apart and a vast cloud of dust rising behind him. He could see the fear in the soldiers’ eyes before he even reached them, and that fear only grew once he began his rampage.

He pounced on the first tank, slicing it down the middle with his claymore. Nearby, soldiers opened fire with Uzis, but the small rounds merely bounced off his skin. Turning to them, he raised his hand and black light flashed from his palm, incinerating the soldiers in an instant. The ground around him became a tempest of smoke and dust, brought about by the missiles of a military helicopter. The craft’s entire payload was fired, but from the sandy cloud, black wires reached out like lunging snakes and grabbed the helicopter. Stepping out of the dust, Xavier swung his arm and sent it crashing down into a tank. With more tanks and helicopters approaching, he got down on all fours. Growing from either side of his spine, straight tusks of bone were formed and then launched, propelled by streams of fire as Xavier’s own missiles. The flying pikes shot the helicopters out of the sky and sent them crashing back to Earth in flaming heaps.

An insidious grin on his face, Xavier took off across the battlefield in a sprint. He turned into a running tornado, spinning over and over again to slaughter the sea of enemies around him. With his sword, he cut through tanks like they were made of cardboard; with his claws, he sliced open the chests of soldiers and sent their blood spraying in fountains; with his tail, he sheered down anything that got in his way like blades of grass against a lawnmower.

“More! More! GIVE ME MORE!”

He zoomed across the battlefield back and forth, carving lines of destruction through the Israeli army and leaving the ground behind him drenched in gore. Once he thinned out their numbers, he took to the sky and flew high over the battlefield. He raised his hands and a sphere of darkness began to form between his palms, growing in size and power with each second.

“WEAKLINGS! ALL OF YOU!”

He hurled the sphere down into the center of the battlefield. Upon striking the ground, it expanded to a kilometer in diameter, shoving everything back with a powerful gust of wind, then receded back into a miniscule point and pulled everything back in with the resulting vacuum, and finally erupted into an explosion of shadow energy on par with the detonation of a hydrogen bomb. Black flames surged up into the heavens, blocking out the sun and filling the sky with storm clouds and dark lighting.

The battle over, Xavier returned to Helena. The look on her face was of inner conflict. She couldn’t condone what Xavier had done, and it reminded her of what a monster he was, but she had come too far and changed too much to shut it out.

Xavier crouched down and scooped her up. “Don’t worry, there won’t be any more violence. I promise.”

From the outside, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre didn’t look like much. Aside from its size and the dome on top, it looked just like any other old building in the city. If anything, it looked a little awkward. There were signs that it had been manned by guards in preparation of Xavier’s arrival, but it seemed his battle outside the city had scared off anyone who might try to stop them. Ever since arriving at Jerusalem, Helena had been overwhelmed with a crushing power, weighing the air down on her and making it hard to breath. It was the same level of power she felt in Xavier, but it was different. It was… warm, and comforting. Was this the power of Christ still permeating the city? Was it reacting to Xavier’s presence and creating this dense atmosphere?

They stepped into the rotunda beneath the domed ceiling, facing the small Aedicule chapel. The air was so thick with power, it made it difficult for Helena just to stand. As they each stepped forward, the ground began to shake, with dust falling from the ceiling above. Xavier grabbed Helena and shielded her as the chapel exploded, unable to contain the power building within. In its place, a beam of light shone down through the ceiling, blindingly bright. It was at this very spot that Jesus died and the earth was left behind.

“So this is it? Once you step into that light, the world will be ours, right?”

Xavier turned to her, a sad smile on his face. “I’m not going to do it. You are.” She stared at him in confusion, wondering what he meant. Xavier looked up into the light and sighed with that smile still on his face. “From the moment I met you, I knew I needed you in my life. At first I simply thought of you as a challenge, someone to break, but you became so much more than that. This whole time, all my acts of cruelty were done out of desperation, because being around you made it so hard for me to be the monster that I was. I was struggling to cling to what I used to be because being around you was changing me. Helena, since the day we met, I was the one wearing the collar, not you.”

“Xavier, what are you talking about?”

“I once dreamed of ruling the world, then I dreamed of ruling the world with you as king and queen, but now, when I try to visualize the future, there is only you, without me. My desire to see you lead this world has overcome my desire to rule it myself. Don’t you understand? I’ve lost the will to fight. I’m ready to give in and admit my defeat. I see it now, the ending that the bible prophesized. I never had any chance of winning, because you won my heart from the moment I saw you.”

“What are you talking about? Why are you saying all this?”

“You changed me. You broke me. You robbed me of the desire to harm others. The fighting you saw, that was all I had left. Now I’m completely hollow. There is nothing left in me but my love and subservience to you. Helena, you’ve beaten me. There is only person capable of that, and it took the form of this beautiful girl standing before me.

It’s a saying as old as love itself. Opposites attract. You are my opposite and I am yours, which means…”

Neither of them were able to finish the sentence, but Helena covered her mouth as if she had just been given heartbreaking news. “What? No! That’s crazy!”

“I realized it the moment you told me about your past, about your father.”

“I never even knew my father!”

“That’s because you didn’t have one.” His words hit her like a punch to the gut. “I began analyzing you as soon as you told me and I’ve found only your mother’s genes in you. The rest is something else, something that’s been hidden away for this very moment. Even I couldn’t find it unless I already knew to look. I wouldn’t say this to you lightly. I know it with all my heart and soul to be true. You are the Second Coming. God impregnated your mother to keep you hidden. No one would ever consider her being the host of the immaculate conception, meaning you would be safe from the world until you were ready, safe from me.”

“That’s impossible! I’m just a regular girl! I’ve never performed a miracle or anything like that!”

“No, Helena, you have performed a miracle. You made me fall in love with you. I always thought that Armageddon would be an epic battle between Christ and myself, and you and I did have our battle. It started the day we met, a battle of wills, each of us overcome with feelings we had never before felt. From the moment I revealed myself to you, we both thought that you were trying to beat me and retain your freedom, but the truth is that you had already beaten me. All your powers were locked away so that you would be hidden until the time was right.”

“No, wait… this doesn’t make any sense.”

“Helena, from the moment you entered Jerusalem, you felt the power in the air. That power isn’t because of me. It’s because of you. It is your own soul anticipating the regain of its former power.” Her eyes widened and she gasped. “You once told me that God had a plan for everything and I’m starting to wonder if maybe you were right. Our meeting wasn’t coincidence. It was the prophesized clash of good and evil. You and I were brought together to fight for mankind’s future, and you won. It was just a battle neither of us expected.

Now it’s time for the aftermath. You say you’ve never performed a miracle, but all you have to do is step into that light and you will reclaim the lineage left for you. You will awaken as the Second Coming of Christ and gain ultimate power to shape the future of mankind. I’ve lost the will to do it myself and am left with nothing but the desire to see you do it, because I love you and I know it is what’s best for you.”

She looked away from him, unable to process all this at once. “I can’t believe this. This is just too much.”

“Just step into that light and it will be confirmed.”

“But then… what does that mean for you and me?”

“You know how Revelations ends. The Antichrist is cast back into Hell and Christ creates peace on Earth.”

With tears in her eyes, Helena tackled him. She finally understood that sad smile she had always seen him wear since they first made love. He had known this was coming. He knew the day was fast approaching when he would have to leave her, and he had been trying to enjoy what little time they had left together.

“No! That’s not how it’s supposed to happen! You promised me we would be king and queen! We would rule this world together! If you take my place, we can make it all happen the way we want!”

“That future is impossible for me. I no longer have the will to step into that light. As much as I want to be with you, Armageddon has been won. There is only your future as the victor. Besides, the world will be better off with you at the helm rather than me. Ha! To think that the day would ever come when I would say such a thing. You really have changed me.”

Helena buried her face in his chest. “I don’t want you to go! After everything you’ve put me through, you can’t just make me love you and walk away! You can’t do that to me!”

“Then that will be my last evil deed, one last heart I leave broken. The future is calling, and it is a future that I can’t join you in. This is the way it’s supposed to be. This is what is supposed to happen. Helena, I lost, and I’m happy I lost, because now I love you so much that your future means more to me than anything, even being with you.”

“But I don’t want to lose you. I don’t want to be alone.”

“And I don’t want to lose you either, but this is the fate that was decided for us. It’s time for me to return home and it’s time for you to deliver this world to salvation. You are Christ and I am the Antichrist. This is the destiny that always awaited us. Besides, it’s been so long since I last spoke to my dad. We probably have some catching up to do.”

Helena just continued to cry into his shirt. “Xavier, I love you.”

“I love you too, and that’s why I hereby set you free.”

He then leaned down and kissed her neck. The collar and the three sixes briefly appeared before seemingly materializing. Feeling the bond breaking between them struck Helena deep into her heart, deeper than she ever thought possible. Her memories would remain, but the connection between their souls was severed. She closed her eyes and collapsed in his arms, the shock having knocked her out.

Xavier sighed and brushed her hair out of her face. “You’re always so beautiful.”

He then picked her up and stepped into the light, holding her out. A gold aura enwrapped Helena’s body and she began to float, the power of God flooding every fiber of her being and recreating her into the new messiah. She hovered vertically with her arms held out to her sides, as if she were being crucified. The light of God was returning to Earth, and already, Xavier could feel it trying to push him out. The world was now hers, her power exceeding his. He snapped his fingers and a crimson portal appeared before him, leading back to Hell.

He shot one final glance to Helena and smiled. “Thank you, Helena. Thank you for everything.”

He stepped into the doorway and vanished. Twenty minutes later, Israeli soldiers swarmed in, ready for a last-ditch attempt to kill Xavier. They found Helena, glowing like a star and hovering in the crucifixion formation. They stared at her, completely lost for words. Slowly, she was lowered back down to the floor and they rushed over to her. Her eyes opened and she took a shuddering breath, feeling like she had been paralyzed her entire life and could at last feel her body.

“Miss, are you ok?”

She took the soldier’s hand and he helped her to her feet. It took a second for her mind to straighten out and sort through all of the energy and knowledge pulsing through her existence. It then came back to her, the realization that Xavier was gone. At that moment, she wanted to cry harder than ever in her life, but she put on a brave face.

“Miss?”

“Yes, I’m fine.”

“What happened here? What happened to the monster?”

She smiled and wiped away a tear. “He is gone, he was defeated. And now, it is the start of a new age.”

Five years later:

Wearing a pair of large sunglasses and hiding her long ruby hair with a sun hat, Helena ducked out of the back door of her apartment building in Vatican City. It was hard for her to go out these days, as her followers seemed to always be camped out in front of her building. Hoping to go at least one day without being recognized, she strolled through the streets of Rome with a smile on her face, admiring the beauty of the world around her. Things had certainly changed since that fateful day in Jerusalem, when Armageddon was decided. Helena had been revealed as the Second Coming, something that surprised her to this day. She had been hard at work since then, trying to bring peace to the world as she was born to.

She at last arrived at her favorite café, the same place she and Xavier used to come for coffee back during their school days. She ordered a cappuccino and sat down at an empty table in the shade of a parasol. Waiting for her beverage to be delivered, she watched the citizens of Rome go about their day in the street before her. As they had time and time again, her thoughts drifted back to the world Xavier had shone her, his fantasy of the future in which they ruled side by side. That vision had taken place at this time period, but things were different from that reality.

She was embarrassed of how little she had accomplished in these five years, compared to “Queen Helena”. Every day was a struggle to prove herself as the messiah and secure the faith and respect of the world. Even with her powers and the ability to perform miracles, people of other religions refused to accept her or her teachings and a lot of Christians were against the idea of the Second Coming being in the form of a woman. There had also been mistakes in the beginning, brought on by her youthful naivety, but there was still progress being made. Even if she had yet to bring about world peace, the number of her followers was growing daily and she had become a political beacon on the international stage. Slowly but surely, the world was changing, and she would spend the rest of eternity making sure it was for the better.

Her coffee was brought to her and she took a gluttonous drink, savoring the taste and the memories it brought back, memories of Xavier. The two lovers hadn’t had a lot of time to be together, but his leaving wasn’t something she could simply move on from. He had returned to Hell, but would he stay there forever? Every day she thought about him and wished he would return. She was lonely without him, and his wisdom and knowledge would certainly help her on her path to establishing world peace.

Looking down the street, she smiled. Thane and Daphne were walking down the street, pushing a stroller. They were both happy, their faces as bright as the rings on their fingers. How strange, that of all the people in the world, those two would end up finding each other? And of all things, it was the intrusion of Xavier into Rosewood University that had brought them together. Daphne had straightened her act after Xavier betrayed her and decided to give faith a chance. That was when she met Thane, a saint ordained by Helena herself, and now a world-famous demonologist and exorcist. The two of them together were proof of how the impossible had become reality in this new world.

Having finished her coffee, she was about to pay and leave, but felt a hand grasp her shoulder. A lightning bolt shot up her spine. ‘No, it can’t be…’

She looked up, seeing a smile she thought he would never see again.

“Hello, Helena.”

“Xavier…”

She jumped from her chair and tackled him, sobbing into his collar and soaking his shirt with tears of joy. He looked older than she remembered, at least as old as she was, and holding him, he felt so much different than before. He felt… hollow.

“Where have you been? How did you come back?”

“I was in Hell, making myself ready for the day I could return to you, even if it meant giving up everything else.”

It then hit her, the realization of this sensation. He wasn’t hollow. He was human. There was no longer any power in him.

“You… what did you do?”

“Five years, it took five years to completely strip the darkness away from my soul. It was the only way I could return to this world now basking in your divine light. The last spark of energy I had, I used to come back. I’m ready to spend my life you, my mortal life, not as the Antichrist, but as a man, a man who loves you.”

She looked at him and smiled with tears still rolling down her beautiful face. “Welcome home. I love you, my king.”

He smiled as well and began to kiss her. “I love you too, my queen.”

The End

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