Sal barely noticed as days turned to weeks and weeks turned to months, everything just seemed to go by in a blur, as if time in itself was nothing but the wind that passes you by without you realizing it.
Sal was a very successful drug lord, being of the Other World was part of the reason why, and he had money. Lots of it stashed in different bank accounts all over the world.
It was a life of blood and blades and bullets and Sal loved it, but it didn't satisfy him. It was only a taste of what Sal really wanted, but the thrill that came with it reminded him of that life he wanted, the life behind the Shade. But without the people that made that life what it was he didn't think he'd enjoy it as much as he would if they weren't there.
Bloom, for example, hadn't come back, but had sent a Hermes message saying she'd been elected the new Queen of Fey Land after her parents exile. She'd told him that she hated politics and didn't want to stay but that she had to. Her people needed a queen and Sal understood but in spite of everything she was trying desperately to find a replacement, and Melchior, being her soul brother, stayed with her.
Marcus had come back, but it was for a visit and it had only happened once.
Then he'd looked fifteen, and Sal marveled at the fact that he had aged three years in a matter of months. It would still take some time before he could leave the Sambisa on his own but he assured Sal that they would meet again very soon.
Antony had gone back to settle things with his father and was now allowed to stay with Sal in the Mortal World (though Sal suspected that wasn't entirely true). He'd gotten a job at Starbucks and was doing a bunch of night classes in order to get a GED. He seemed to like it a lot and was fascinated by the excitement shrouded in the mundanity of mortal life.
Whenever they could Sal and Antony would visit Lester in the hospital. He was still paralyzed and still awaiting a cure.
Sal had been tempted to use magic, and he almost had, but he didn't. Using magic on mortals was lethal for them. They weren't made for it and using it on them always resulted in a price to be paid. And the price was as unpredictable as riptides.
Julika still lay in the infirmary bed back at the Shemer's Headquarters. Nelly, who Peter had assured Sal could be trusted and had been told everything, was a healer mage and had been looking after Julika.
She'd said that though Julika was alive in spirit her body was still in the processing of coming back to life and that the process would take a while before she woke up.
Sal didn't know if he should be happy or worried.
He pushed thoughts of his friends to the back of his mind and concentrated on the road ahead of him. He'd purchased a motorcycle not long after he killed Boulder. To him it was a sort of trophy, a reward for finally being free from the man who used him for his abilities for years.
Now he was riding home, the sun setting in the distance, the wind making his jacket flap about like a flag.
He pulled up in front of his house and dismounted, pulling off his helmet so that his hair cascaded over his face in a shower of silver curls. He hadn't bothered with cutting it, it seemed a trivial matter now.
He walked up the front porch and pushed open the door.
The house was quiet as it usually was these days. With Antony mostly at work in the mornings and then going to classes at night, and with Lester still unmoving at the hospital the house felt empty, like living in a shell.
Sal sighed and moved to the stairs.
As he got to his room he realized what a mess it had become. Clothes strewn across his bed, plastic containers upended on the floor, leather bound spell books and lore on various myths and legends littered on his table.
He'd been studying a lot of the things mortals knew of the Other World but relegated as untrue. He'd also been practicing glyph magic and had gotten better at it. He even started dabbling in spell casting in preparation for Casmir's resurrection.
He'd talked to Peter about his plan on raising Casmir back and Peter had assured him that considering Casmir was a vampire and, in essence, was already dead, that bringing him back would not go against the Lex.
Sal had been glad, but he still had not done the ritual. He couldn't do it without Katarina's blood, and Katarina had not returned. She hadn't even made a call or sent a message.
Not that Sal had ever thought she would. He had given her the impression that he didn't care for her, so why would he expect her to care for him.
He sighed once again and cursed himself. His mind always found a way to bring Katarina to the surface, so much so that sometimes he thought he could smell her in the air, or feel her around him. It drove him nuts almost everyday.
He sighed and pulled off his jacket, throwing it on his bed to join the others. He'd sort them out later, he told himself, but deep down he knew he wouldn't.
His gaze travelled to the space on the wall where Percival's name had been burnt. It had long since faded, probably the night Percival died, but Sal missed it. He knew he was probably going insane but he didn't care, he missed fighting and magic and hunting.
"I hope I didn't come at a bad time" said a voice.
Sal spun, calling Gemini out as he did. He hadn't heard that voice in a long time, and he wasn't too thrilled that he was hearing it now.
Hermes stood behind him, unShaded and flaunting his beauty and light. He had a smile on his face, and his jade crystal eyes looked down at Sal's swords at his neck with amusement.
"I suppose this means you didn't miss me, did you?" Hermes said.
"Hell no" Sal said, he was in no mood to talk to a god.
"Why the hostility?" Hermes asked. Sal thought he sounded hurt but there was a sarcastic gleam in his eyes that made Sal push Gemini a little bit further.
"What are you doing here?" Sal asked.
Hermes looked down at the blades at his neck imploringly and Sal drew Gemini back, the blades flashing back to rings.
"That's much better" Hermes said, he brought out a scroll from the bag across his shoulders and handed it to Sal. "I came to give you this"
Sal took the scroll from his hand, he remembered the last time he'd taken one of these scrolls. That was the moment the beginning truly began.
"What is it?" asked Sal.
"A written irrevocable promise from the Court, when the scroll is torn you are entitled to one favor from a member of the Court, it's a reward for completing your hunt"
Sal wanted to return it, to say he didn't want whatever handouts they were willing to give but before he could talk Hermes was already talking.
"And also" Hermes continued, "there is a matter in the Court that needs your attention"
Sal took a step back, already getting ready to call Gemini.
"I'm not going" he said.
Hermes smiled, that superior smile that made his eyes shine with a devil's light.
"I'm not asking" he said and he dashed forward.
Sal dropped the scroll as Hermes pummelled into him. Suddenly the world turned into a blur, and he felt as his body crashed into the barrier of worlds. He saw planes of only light and planes of only darkness, worlds of nothing and worlds of many things. He could feel his senses vibrating with intensity as Hermes carried him passed realms with lightning speed.
Finally they came to a stop and Sal crashed to floor, and then he vomited.
"Salome Nightshade" said a voice that was annoyingly familiar. "How nice of you to join us"
Sal raised his head and saw that he was in the Elder's Court, the gods, mala'chim and shedim looking down at him.
He got up from the floor, glaring at Hermes who was already seated in one of the seats smiling down at him, and then faced Odin who sat on his throne. His gaze on Sal was imposing, or at least it was supposed to be, Sal met his gaze without flinching.
"It would have been nicer if I actually agreed to come" Sal said.
"Dreadfully sorry about that" Odin said, he sounded sincere and even shot Hermes a warning look before he continued speaking. "But you must understand that our next task for you...."
"Next task?!", shouted Sal, he heard a series of gasps ripple through the room, "I'm not doing shit for you guys, not after what you did to me"
"And what is that?" asked Odin, as if Sal was a child that was making a big deal out of nothing.
Sal didn't care.
"You made me this, you cursed me, you made my parents abandon me, if not for Lucifer I would be a wreck on the Mortal World" he said.
"If not for Lucifer a lot of things wouldn't have happened" a woman said from the station of gods, she had a cloak of owl feathers and wore heavy Greek armor.
That must be Athena, Sal thought, and then he scanned all of the beings and realized he knew them all by name.
"But if it makes you feel any better" Athena continued. "We saw it fit not to obliterate your ethereal form on the spot the day you were Blessed because we knew you would be able to do some good in the future, and you have, you completed your hunt and killed Percival the necromancer"
"It doesn't make me feel better actually" Sal said. "And you never told me why I was to kill him, you never told me he was only trying to being his daughter back"
Zeus, who was the one with electric blue hair and eyes like clouds, scoffed resentfully.
"We would have gotten to it eventually" he said.
"Typical" said Sal, his voice heavy with sarcasm.
Zeus's eyes crackled like thunder clouds but Odin gave him a stern look and he calmed down.
"Now Salome, you have to know that as members of the Elder's Court we have a mandate to protect the balance of our universe, we thought you were a threat and we realized that you aren't, can we move on now?" Odin said.
Sal didn't say a word for a while, but then he noticed the softness in Odin's eye and he realized there was no need for a fight.
He nodded.
"Good" Odin said, Sal thought he saw Odin's shoulders relax a bit but he wasn't sure. "Now we wanted to talk to you about Julika, Percival's daughter"
"What about her?" Sal asked.
"We..."
"They want you to kill her Salome"
Sal looked behind him and for the first time in a long time he saw Lucifer. He looked exactly the same.
He wore a long black robe, like a kaftan, and his wings were stretched out behind him. He didn't look amused or intrigued or playful, he looked serious, the way he looked whenever he gave Sal advice.
"Lucifer how dare you interrupt me!" Odin yelled.
"Oh shut up, you can't do anything to me, remember, I'm not here" said Lucifer, he turned back to Sal.
"They want to kill her Salome, they think she's dangerous" he said.
"Why would she be dangerous, she's just a girl" said Sal.
"Yes" Lucifer said. "just a girl, just give her to me and I promise I'll protect her"
"No Salome, I assure you doing that would be a very grave mistake" said Odin.
Sal looked at Lucifer, his heart told him to trust Lucifer, but for the first time his head was louder, repeating continuously that this was Lucifer, father of lies, king of deception, the former angel of light and the present angel of darkness but Sal had never considered those things before, why now?
He felt his mark burn.
"You still haven't answered my question, why would she be dangerous?" asked Sal, he was still looking at Lucifer, expecting him to answer but instead it was one of the gods.
"We have seen it" said Apollo, greek god of the sun and of prophecy. He was beautiful with a robe of fire about him, both his eyes and hair a fiery gold. "In the past and in the future, the suffering, the wailing, the treachery"
"But that was then right?, she can change, she can be different" said Sal.
"Salome there's no reasoning with them" said Lucifer in Sal's ear, Sal didn't even see him move, but he was sure he was behind him, whispering into his ear, coaxing him to do what he wanted.
"Just give her to me, I'll bring her to my dimension, she'll be safe there"
Sal wanted to believe him, but he felt his mark burn again, Sal noticed it only flared when he was in grave danger.
"You saw what her father was willing to do to get her back", said Athena, "she is a weapon, and she must be destroyed"
"Salome don't do it" whispered Lucifer, once again his mark burned.
"Why can't it be any of you, why does it have to be me?" said Sal.
"Because Phantoms are hard to kill", said Isis Egyptian goddess of magic. Her hair was short and dark, and glyphs danced in her eyes like swirling stars. "The only reason we succeeded the first time is by using her magic against her but now you're the only one who can do it"
"Why me?, why do you always need me!" yelled Sal.
"Because you are a Phantom", said Pluto, roman god of death and the underworld. Sal could see little of him, he was transparent like a ghost, but there were dark orbs in his eyes that burned a bright black. "And the only thing that can kill a Phantom is a Phantom"
Sal remembered when Bobby tried to blow up his head, when the Atlantian had stabbed him, when Katarina's arrow plunged through his skull. He'd survived all of that, but then he remembered when Percival had stopped his heart. He'd nearly died then.
"We are sorry Salome" said one of the mala'chim. Their brightness was so blinding all Sal could make out was wings. "But this is your destiny, this is what you were made to be"
Sal shook his head, no, there had to be more to being a Phantom than to be good at killing, he remembered the look of terror in Julika's eyes the night she was resurrected, it was an innocent look, like the look of a child about to watch their father die.
"I can't do it" Sal whispered.
"Salome, you must" said Odin, he sounded worried. Scared. "You have no idea what she is capable of, the terror she could unleash—"
"No!" Lucifer shouted.
The Court broke into a round of murmurs and whispers. Sal looked at Odin, and there was something in the god's one good eye that told him to look closely, to truly see.
"Bring her to my dimension Salome" Lucifer was saying, his voice calmer than it had been before. "Don't listen to them, you trust me, don't you?"
Once again Sal's mark burned, hotter and brighter than before.
He turned and looked at Lucifer, and for a split second, as their eyes met, they shared a connection. Sal could feel all those emotions all over again, the anger, the grief, the longing, and hidden underneath a wild excitement, a silent thrill, a sick desperation. A dark desire.
Peter's voice echoed in his head.
I wouldn't trust him so easily, he is Lucifer after all.
"What do you want with her?" Sal asked.
Everywhere suddenly went quiet.
"I said I want to protect her" Lucifer said, his voice wasn't as firm as before.
"You're lying"
Lucifer looked shocked for a moment but composed himself and shook his head.
"I have never lied to you Salome, you know that"
Sal looked deeper into Lucifer's golden eyes, they were ancient but they were still the window to his thoughts. His mark burned.
"Tell me what you really want from her then" he said.
Lucifer looked away and turned his back to him
He was clearly resisting and when he looked back at Sal, there was no expression on his face.
"That is my business Salome" said Lucifer, his voice blank, drained of emotion, "not yours"
"So you don't want to protect her" said Sal.
"I would never hurt her" said Lucifer. "She's too important for that"
His voice was so clearly constructed, and why was Julika so important?
"Important?"
Lucifer seemed to realize himself then, and his eyes widened.
"Salome listen to me" he said.
No, Sal thought, he was done listening.
"You were never helping me, you were only using me to get to her, you knew what you wanted from the very beginning"
"Salome—"
"Tell me now, tell me that I'm wrong!"
Lucifer looked shaken and hurt and Sal began to hesitate, maybe he'd been wrong, maybe….
But then Lucifer grinned and a layer of Shade began to fall away.
His glorious wings turned black and webbed like a bat's, his hair fell away and two horns sprouted from his head like a ram's, and his eyes turned a sinister green, the pupils slitting like that of a cat.
"You're not wrong" Lucifer said, his voice was the same, but it carried an undercurrent of contempt. "But I'm sure you were expecting some sort of betrayal at some point"
"No, not from you"
Lucifer chuckled. The sound was beautiful.
"C'mon Salome, I am the Father of Evil, aren't I?"
The force of those words pushed Sal a step back.
"I won't give her to you"
He could feel his mark, Lucifer's mark, burning brightly on his chest as he turned to face Odin who was looking at him with pity.
"And I won't kill her either"
"You dare disobey us!" Athena yelled.
"Salome you are making a big mistake" said Odin.
Sal went on his knees and began to draw a glyph with his fingers.
"You should've obliterated me when you had the chance"
He slashed in the air with his hand and there was a blinding flash of light, a portal opened on the floor.
"You do not control me", he said as he shot a glare at Lucifer, "none of you do"
And then he jumped into the portal.
The travel was turbulent and Sal felt what everyone else must have felt when jumping through a portal. The sheer wildness of interdimensional travel.
He tumbled out of the portal and rolled on the floor, hitting his back against a wooden bed and letting out a grunt of pain.
"Salome!" He heard someone say.
Before Sal knew it Peter was above him and helping him to his feet, his back ached terribly and his head swam. He had the urge to vomit again.
"What are you doing here?" Peter asked.
Sal looked around him and saw that he was in the infirmary at the Shemer's Headquarters. He hadn't meant to portal here, but Julika had been what was on his mind at the moment so he wasn't surprised.
"Julika" he whispered. "Where's Julika, is she okay?"
"Yes, yes, she's fine, she's alright"
"Where is she?!"
"Right there!"
Peter pointed at the bed opposite them and Julika was there, still covered by blankets and still breathing softly.
Sal sighed in relief and crashed into a nearby chair.
"Salome, what happened, what has gotten into you?" Peter asked, he looked very worried, his eyes dancing with partenal affection.
"The Court, they summoned me again" Sal said.
"What did they say?"
Sal was about to answer when he felt his arm burn.
He screamed and fell to the floor, rolling up his sleeves hastily as Peter came to him instantly.
Words started to appear on his arm, burning as if the writer was using a pen of fire, like Percival's name on his bedroom wall.
The words were in Latin and even with the blinding pain Sal understood them perfectly.
"et hoc pœnitet" Peter whispered as the words took form. "you will regret this"
Sal looked at Peter, tears running from the corner of his eyes. You will regret this?, what did that even mean?
Sal was confused and hurt and angry, but his gaze went to Julika, and he half expected to see her body disintegrate or disappear in a wisp of
golden light, but the only thing he saw was a slight movement. Her fingers twitched and her eyelids moved.
Sal stood from the floor, despite Peter's protests, and walked to the bed and touched her arm gently.
"Julika" he said, and what happened next made him take a step back.
Her eyes flew open.