Presented in partnership with my collaborator TheCosmicBeholder 

In this exciting new series, the sole survivors of the Worst World Invasion try to stay one step ahead of Dark Centennia and her shadow army

Previous episode - fav.me/dcn8asg

- - - 

Episode 9 - We'll Always Be Together

South Amboy, New Jersey was just up ahead, and the state of New York not far beyond that. Bit by bit, the New Jersey Pine Barrens receded and the area they traveled through became more urban. They had found a handful of shadow creatures, but had managed to slip by undetected so far. 

"Uh oh.." whispered Cassandra.

"Creepers?" whispered Lacrecia in reply. 

"Yeah. Just had a flash of what's to come, and there's a huge gathering of them on the main road up ahead. There's nothing but water out to the east, and if we want to go around them it means doubling back and trying to head west."

"The opposite way than where we're trying to go.."

Lacrecia pondered for a moment before looking at Excalibur in her hands. Her crimson eyes steeled with determination as she got down onto her knees, Excalibur's point resting on the floor.

"What are you doing?!" Cassandra whisper-shouted.

"God..?" Lacrecia began in a quiet but clear voice. "I've never spoken to you before. But I've got one of yours here with me, and if you're there, I'm sure you don't want anything bad happening to her.." Cassandra stared on, her mouth hanging open. "I know my mom's probably the Antichrist, so you may have conflicted feelings about me.. but my dad is a good man. And he always believed in you too. So I'm here. Praying for the first time in my life. If we're really the only two girls left in the world, your prayer-phone must be pretty quiet right now.."

"Creesha.." Cassandra whispered, covering her mouth. Her eyes glistened with love and admiration. Lacrecia blew her a kiss and continued.

"I'm praying to you, to help us get through this and make the world right again. These people who've been tainted by the darkness didn't deserve this. They don't deserve what's about to happen. O Lord, please welcome them.."

"Wh-what..?" Cassandra asked in panic as Lacrecia got to her feet. "What do you mean, what's about to happen?"

"We're not going around, honey. We're going through."

"But there's too many!" she pleaded. 

"Not with this" she said, holding up Excalibur. "Stay behind me, baby. I got this.."

- - - 

A few minutes later and the horde was in sight. A gathering of at least five hundred shadows filled the main road. With nothing human left to pray on, they appeared to shuffle mindlessly, bumping in to one another. On finding the scent of the girls, a thousand black eyes turned in their direction. The noise rose into a deafening cacophony. Their flesh pulled back in a rictus grin, their yellow teeth catching the moon's light, they began to frenzy. Guttural muttering, and shrill hisses. They approached. 

"Hey! Fuck-faces!" shouted Cassandra, finding her backbone. "My girlfriend wants a word with you!"

One shadow began to run. Then another. Then a dozen. In seconds, the baying herd was running in unison. Lacrecia held up her sword and kissed the flat of the blade before screaming into the night. She charged, and then time stopped. Cassandra would see only the aftermath. 

For Lacrecia, she slowed time to the tiniest crawl and wade into the horde, swinging Excalibur left and right. It truly was a blade of legend. Each strike cut through not only her target, but rows of enemies behind and even collapsing buildings around them. She cleaved through without pause or mercy until the creatures were no more. 

Time was unfrozen. Cassandra watched as one second the horde was there, and the next there was a huge explosion of dust, debris and body parts! She covered her ears as buildings on both sides crumbled to ruin all around for a mile. When the dust eventually settled, she saw Lacrecia. Standing triumphantly in the centre of the maelstrom, covered from head to toe in blood and dirt and sweat. Liath had been correct about the creatures. With them dead, the shadow was no more, and all was left were very human body parts. 

"Oh my God.." whispered Cassandra to herself. 

- - - 

TO BE CONTINUED

Presented in partnership with my collaborator TheCosmicBeholder 

In this exciting new series, the sole survivors of the Worst World Invasion try to stay one step ahead of Dark Centennia and her shadow army

Previous episode - fav.me/dcn6cqu

- - - 

Episode 8 - We're On A Road To Nowhere

Cassandra and Lacrecia spent one more day at the cabin in the safety of Wharton State Park. Lacrecia was brimming with positive energy that Cassandra found unavoidably infectious. By the evening they sat naked around a small fire. Excalibur lay on the ground beside them. 

"Aren't you cold?" asked Cassandra. 

Lacrecia grinned. "I grew up in Hell, remember? Plus my mom's a demon, and possibly the Antichrist. So no, I don't get cold. What about you? I haven't seen you shivering at all."

"Eros, remember?" she grinned in return. "Having my blob living inside me seems to protect me from any of that cold bullshit. It's why I used to walk around naked so much."

"Like you don't anymore"

"Ha! Well.. I've always been an exhibitionist-"

"You don't say!"

"Heeey. Fuck you!  So yeah, I got off on people's staring. Hence the green hair, the undercut, the piercings.. The jeans that barely covered my ass-"

"Mmmm. Ass.."

Cassandra stuck out her tongue. "And ripped tops with lots of underboob. But once I met The Odds, and those crazy Section P girls, I realised they didn't care if I was wearing clothes or not."

Lacrecia nodded. "Nudity's not a big deal in Hell either. It's not seen as shameful, or dirty, and even exploitative. It's just a vehicle, right?"

"Sure. But I was raised Catholic. I lived with my Nana as long as I can remember. She did not approve of my wardrobe, hehehe."

"Heh. Catholic girls are the worst.."

"Well everyone has to rebel in their own way. Doesn't make me love God any less."

Lacrecia pursed her lips. "I've been meaning to ask you about that.. God stuff.." Cassandra raised a quizzical eyebrow, but invited the topic. "Like, it's been just you and me for two years now. And you know I'm from Hell. We've met the Devil, if that's what he is. How does that figure in with your faith and upbringing?"

"Ugh.. that's a tricky one.." she began. "As much as I used to do all the stuff the church tells you not do - promiscuity, drugs, stealing and all that- I never stopped believing. I keep my crucifix and my rosary in my draw at the Fortress. Well, used to. God made me the way I am, whatever some stuffy old dudes think."

"Did you think Hell was going to be like it was?"

"Honestly? No fucking way.. We're taught at an early age in Sunday School-" she put on a overly dramatic, condescending tone, "God is watching everything you do. And if you're bad, he has a special place reserved for you where you'll BURN FOR ETERNITY... But he loves you.." Lacrecia giggled. "That bit never sat right with me. Why if he made us and loves us would he condemn anyone for all time?"

"Hell is what you want it to be. Sure, humans who have been real bad go there to be punished. But it's more like rehab. You basically get as much punishment as you think you deserve. But for everyone else in Hell, it's just a place where you live. Mom had a job in TV. I went to school. We got demons who are painters, carpenters, mechanics, office workers.. You get the idea. When a soul has had enough, they move on."

"That's.... weird."

"How come? It's better than burning forever, right?"

"I guess.. Sorta takes the sting out of the Bible a bit though don't you think?"

"Weeeeeell.... in school, we were taught that the Bible was written by men. Sure it's got some good stories and metaphors and stuff, but the Old Testament is basically a survival guide for a nomadic desert-dwelling people two thousand years ago, and the New Testament is some stuff written hundreds of years after Jesus had been and gone."

"Be that as it may, it doesn't change the fact I have faith. In God. In Jesus. In all of that. The message is still the same."

"I'm not going to go on about it, because I know this stuff is important to you. And you're important to me. But look around.. do you see God anywhere here?"

Cassandra remained silent for a moment. "You've seen Hell. You know the devil lives there. If anything that makes me even more certain that Heaven is real, and that God is there. I have to believe that. I can live with being wrong. But if I don't have faith, I don't have anything.."

"You've got me.." Lacrecia smiled. 

Cassandra crawled over to her and kissed her gently on the lips. "Always, babe.." 

- - - 

The following morning they set off on their journey back to New York City. They surmised that the ferry from Sandy Hook Bay would no longer be running, and so they would travel north to South Amboy, New Jersey. In sight of Staten Island. It was some 65 miles to walk, deeper into occupied territory. Armed with Excalibur, Lacrecia had a little extra skip in her step than before. Aside from a pair of boots, and Eros forming a pair of high-top sneakers on Cassandra's feet, they were not wearing a stitch. 

"So we're really doing this naked saving the world thing, huh?" grinned Lacrecia. 

"Nothing says we can't look good while doing it"

Presented in partnership with my collaborator TheCosmicBeholder 

In this exciting new series, the sole survivors of the Worst World Invasion try to stay one step ahead of Dark Centennia and her shadow army

Previous episode - fav.me/dcn2qly

- - -

Episode 7 - Under A Blue Moon I Saw You..

"Burn my body in the lake, and she will.." Cassandra recited to herself. "What do you think that's supposed to mean?"

Lacrecia shrugged her shoulders, one arm still around Cassandra as they sat on the shore of the lake. The funeral boat they had made for Aideen drifted on, now consumed with flame. The moon cast eerie light across the surface of the black water. They waited and waited till the boat began to break apart and sink. The girls rose to their feet, looking out silently across the lake. 

"IT IS DONE.." came a soft, ethereal voice

The girls looked at each other in confusion. Lacrecia spoke up, her voice tinged with trepidation. "Uhh.. it's done?"

There was a light under the water. Closer and closer it came until they could make out the form of a woman. Cassandra looked to Lacrecia and mouthed, what the fuck? First a head emerged. Golden hair, darkened by the water and stuck to her clammy skin, framing a pair of eyes so blue they appeared to glow. Slender shoulders rose from the water, then breasts that made both girls envious. Soon their aquatic benefactor knelt in the shallows. 

"So uhh..." Cassandra began. "You are?"

"I AM THE LADY OF THE LAKE." the creature said with no humour. "YOU HAVE RETURNED ONE OF MY CHILDREN TO ME. LIATH HAS ASKED FOR ME TO AID YOU, AS I ONCE AIDED ARTHUR SON OF UTHER. AND MERLIN BEFORE HIM. AND MANY MORE NAMES LOST TO TIME." 

"Cool!" Lacrecia beamed. Cassandra was far more skeptical 

The Lady reached into the water and pulled out a blade, almost identical to Liath's enormous claymore, but this one a perfect size to act as a longsword for a person of regular height. "BEHOLD. CALADBOLG HAS BEEN KNOWN BY MANY NAMES, AS HAVE I. THE HEROES OF WELSH LEGEND, THE MABINOGION, KNEW IT AS CALEDFWLCH. MORE FAMILIAR TO YOU WILL BE THE NAME EXCALIBUR."

"Holy fuck!" shouted Lacrecia, throwing her hands to her face and walking around in circles in sheer excitement. "Holy fuck! Holy fuck!"

"QUITE.."

"Umm.." began Cassandra, "My Nana would be disappointed in me if I didn't let you know that we're grateful... buuuut..."

"YOU HAVE QUESTIONS." she said. There was no mirth in those glowing sapphire eyes, and yet they showed wisdom and patience.

"Yeah... I, uhh... Excalibur. Arthur. The Lady of the Lake. All that. We're here in a New Jersey state park. Isn't this the totally wrong place for this?"

"THE OLD MAGICK IS OFTEN TIED TO THE LAND. YOU ARE CORRECT. YOUR FRIEND AIDEEN CALLED THIS COUNTRY HER HOME IN RECENT TIMES, AND LACRECIA, YOUR FATHER'S BLOOD IS OF THE BRITONS."

Cassandra looked to Lacrecia as if to say, it is?

"Dad's Welsh" she whispered. 

"THIS WORLD HAS BEEN DERAILED FROM ITS TRUE DESTINY. WITH THE DIN OF HUMANITY SILENCED, GAIA RECLAIMS WHAT WAS ONCE HERS, AND WITH IT THE OLD GODS WHO ONCE WALKED BESIDE MEN BEGIN TO RETURN. AS HAVE I. LIATH REQUESTED I GIVE YOU THE MEANS TO SET YOUR WORLD BACK ON ITS RIGHTFUL COURSE. WHEN YOU PUT RIGHT THE WORLD, ALL OF THIS WILL NEVER HAVE BEEN. THEREFORE IF I HAVE TRESPASSED BEYOND MY USUAL BORDERS.. SO BE IT."

With that, she offered the hilt of Excalibur to Lacrecia.

"TAKE THIS. YOUR JOURNEY WILL BE FILLED WITH DANGER."

"Tell us something we don't know.." Cassandra grumbled under her breath.

Lacrecia stared on, wide-eyed as she took hold of the sword's wrapped hilt. "I uhh.. Thank you.."

The Lady bowed her head a fraction in acknowledgement. "I OFFER YOU ONE LAST PIECE OF ADVICE. YOU MUST CUT THE HEAD FROM THE SNAKE, BUT IT IS NOT DONE IN THIS WORLD. BUT IT IS DONE IN ANY WORLD. YOU WILL UNDERSTAND WHEN THE TIME COMES."

"What?!" shouted Cassandra. "What does that mean?!"

The Lady leaned back into the water and drifted silently away before disappearing from view. The girls were left with their thoughts, and the mythic sword Excalibur. 

"So... that was pretty cool!" grinned Lacrecia. Cassandra fiddled with one of her piercings as she tried to understand everything that she had just seen. "You seen Lord of the Rings, Cassy?" she asked. 

"Sure.."

"This is totally a quest! I'm totally Frodo! Taking my awesome sword right into the belly of the beast!"

"Does that make me your sidekick?" Cassandra grumbled. 

"My totally cute, sexy sidekick.." she retorted, batting her eyelashes.

"Fine.." Cassandra said in resignation. "But I need that good desire-demon-lovin' before I'm ready to follow you into God knows where.."

Lacrecia winked.

- - - 

TO BE CONTINUED