Food court, Stonecrest Mall, Panthersville, DeKalb County, Georgia. Tuesday, October 29th, 2019. 09:30c.

Before going into the mall, Sara cleaned up a wide hallway, and laid a circus canvas on the floor.

Sara walked among the bodies. Death gently harvested the souls of those whose Mana Channels were so weak they expired even with three weeks of slowed time to adapt. Despite slowing down the infusion of Mana for three weeks, allowing them to gently acclimate to Mana, many people still didn't survive. Eric and Timmy hadn't, in the first run, though she didn’t know how they fared. She hadn’t visited the hotel yet. She carefully carried the survivors onto the circus canvas, lining them side-by-side.

Those who would have survived even outside the time bubble awakened soon enough. They sat up confused. Though Abby said affinity to Mana wasn't genetic, it was probably a half-lie or an observation without scientific basis. Except for Granny Amelia who was too weak due to her old age, the remainder of the Hernandez family was alive though Mary was the only one who woke up. She was amazed Fabricio had survived. He stole the title of youngest survivor from Sara.

The brunette Latina sat up with a startle. Before Sara could reach her, she saw her family lying on the canvas.

"Mary!" The girl shouted at the other girl. “Everything is fine!”

"Sara? What's happening?" Confused, Mary started to cry.

Sar knelt and grasped her shoulder. "Your family is okay. They're just sleeping. We saved them." She didn’t mention the grandmother.

"Saved?"

"Mary. I'm sorry for fooling all of you into coming to the mall but this place was the safest one where I could make a lot of people visit without explaining. Save you, save your family."

Sara could tell Mary didn't believe a word of what she said. Without the shock of seeing her whole family dead and witnessing the Apocalypse firsthand, this version of Mary had no reason to bridge the social gap they had. Worse, to her perception, it was still the seventh.

Sara boosted Presence. She needed to leap over the chasm between the broody outsider girl and the popular groupie.

"Mary, I need your help. I need you to be strong. There are hundreds of people to rescue here. Not only your family but also Pamela, Christine, Andrew, Simon, and a lot of kids from school. They survived but aren't awake. Come with me, Mary. I will explain everything after we are done here."

She reached out with a hand. Mary took it. Sara pulled her on her feet and hugged her. Mary didn’t resist.

"What is this stench?" Mary winced.

It was the smell of burnt people.

*

*

Student Activities Center, Clayton State University, Clayton County, Georgia. Thursday, October 31st, 2019. 21:00c.

The bells tolled.

Eight hundred people, out of four million. That's what happened to the population of Atlanta. Even without the debris exclusion zone they enjoyed in the first run, it was still a better survival rate for the first month than anywhere in the world.

Today, they celebrated not only Halloween but also a wedding. Sara was gang-pressed into officiating the ceremony, because of her Celestial half. It was only right.

Outside, the ghouls had finished incubating and grew in power. The people in the rest of the world were doomed, without the System. At least the survivors in Atlanta had a fighting chance. These eight hundred would need to repopulate their world. The prognostic for everyone else was grim. The world wouldn't need the four Heralds, the riders of the Apocalypse to go out and kill them. The infernal ghouls would finish the job without any problem.

Not that they had any Herald of the Apocalypse but Sara. No bells tolled, no pale horses and prophecies happened. As Prometheus/Verachiel said, this reality was too weak to sustain beings from higher dimensions.

Sara read from the book, droned as she said the words and asked for the vows.

"Andrew Wilson, do you take Christine Appleby to be your lawfully wedded wife, to live together in matrimony, to love her, comfort her, honor and keep her, in sickness and in health, in sorrow and in joy, to have and to hold, from this day forward, as long as you both shall live?"

Andrew Wilson, star of Terrel Starr High's football team and future father, replied with a grin. "Yes."

"Christine Appleby, do you take Andrew Wilson to be your lawfully wedded husband, to live together in matrimony, to love her, comfort her, honor and keep her, in sickness and in health, in sorrow and in joy, to have and to hold, from this day forward, as long as you both shall live?"

The blonde bride blushed as she beamed a bright smile. "I do!"

it was a shotgun wedding but nobody cared. Christine had beaten Amanda this time. To the sides of the aisle, the Appleby family and Mrs. Wilson cried. They exchanged rings, vows, everything according to the script.

Sara raised her voice, "If there's any spoilsport that wants to ruin this wedding, speak now and get a free date with my scythe or forever hold your peace!"

Some people laughed. Nobody tried to ruin the ceremony. Sara infused her wings, making them glow as she continued with the wedding.

"Before these witnesses, you have pledged to be joined in marriage. You have now sealed this pledge with your wedding rings. By the authority vested in me by the provisional council of the great state of Georgia and God, I now pronounce you married! You may kiss."

The Halloween slash wedding reception party went deep into the night. Sara made herself scarce.

Outside the venue, she was about to take into the skies when she heard someone shouting behind her.

"Sara, wait!"

She knew that voice. She turned around and saw Kelly in a witch costume.

"Were you going somewhere?" The musician asked.

"Patrol the skies. See if any ghouls wandered out of their containment," she lied.

"You are a terrible liar. And angels shouldn't lie anyway."

"I'm not—"

Kelly hugged her. Sara flapped her wings in surprise, then hugged the musician with four limbs. "Yes, you ain’t one. You are just a girl, burdened with a task too big for you."

"What are you two doing there?" Mary asked as she approached. She was wearing a Lord of the Rings elf costume.

Sara freed one arm and wing, then beckoned the Latina with a come-hither finger. "Come here. Group hug."

Mary obeyed. "What's going on? Why are you crying, Sara?"

The girl sniffled, then met Mary's gaze. "I promised you I would tell you the truth. Here it goes. The world ended at rush hour. On the seventh, Heaven and Hell fought the final battle, Armageddon. Their realities crumbled and fell on our world. One in every thousand people died immediately from Mana poisoning. Many more died crushed by debris.

"I had to get as many people as possible into the Stonecrest Mall to save them. I knew that was a safe spot because I am from the future. Well, not the future-future because this is the day I returned in time, but I've lived this October twice now. In the first run, you two were my best friends. I didn't have my wings back then."

"So," Kelly started softly, "you came back in time to try and save more people?"

Sara grimaced as she shook her head. "No. I was sucked into a vortex one of the bad guys created and tossed here. Sorry."

"Why does this feel like a goodbye?" Mary asked.

Sara let go of them, took two steps backward. "I'm an outsider here. Will always be. I lost count of how many times I had to stop people from worshipping me. I'm not a Jesus allegory. You'll be fine. Princess Cupcake already got the gist of spellcasting and she can help train people and purify Mana Channels too. I... I'm sorry. I feel like I am running away and that's probably what I'm doing. I can’t stay here. It will damage this reality."

Kelly ran to grab Sara's hand before she could take off. She still managed to grab Sara's legs. The girl was the only one without a costume. She had made a point of using plain clothes and this was what tipped the musician's intuition.

"Please, don't go," Kelly begged.

Mary stayed away. The chasm between them had been vaulted over but never truly bridged.

"You are the real angel, Kelly. You deserve these wings more than I would ever do. Here," Sara plucked one of her feathers, a large pinion the length of the woman's arm. She landed and handed it over to Kelly. "Remember me, and I will never be really gone."

"Do you really have to?" Kelly asked, cradling the feather in her arms.

"Staying here strains this reality. All the other beings connected to higher dimensions had already gone. It just cannot endure my presence. Kelly, promise me one thing."

"Anything."

"If you learn how to infuse Mana, try to put some in this feather. At worst it will just glow and light the way. I hope it can be used to harm evil creatures."

Sara removed another bunch of feathers. "Mary, this one is for you. Give one each to the Hainsworths. The rest to whomever you deem worthy. With my compliments."

The other girl took the feathers. Sara took off and triggered the Mark of Time.

*

*

Terrell Starr High School, Forest Park, Clayton County, Georgia. Monday, October 7th, 2019. 07:22d.

"Where is the carnival, freak?" Some kid asked Sara.

Coming to her senses, she felt some pressure on her wings and stood up. Damn. She was on the school bus, back in the seventh. With her wings. Time traveling hadn't undone her Bloodline Awakening. She didn't have the scythe though she felt its presence. She couldn’t bring it into being. Summoning it in a place as devoid of Mana as this was pointless.

Though the situation demanded a little Mana. Sara boosted her Presence and infused her wings just enough to make them glow. her voice boomed.

"Out of my way, mortals!"

She winced inside. Five minutes in a new reality and she had already fucked up. Sara got off the bus, walking among rows of scared teenagers. She needed to save more people this time. She needed to go big or go home. She wouldn’t have a home by this evening.

Sara used some Mana to infuse her wings and took off. She went north-northwest, toward Washington, DC.

*

*

Front lawn, White House, Washington, District of Columbia, Monday, October 7th, 2019. 11:50d.

> MDW: There are mentions to real-world personalities. This is not a challenge much less an endorsement and it is done purely for entertainment purposes.

With glowing wings, Sara circled twice over the White House to give people time to notice her, then touched grass without metaphorically touching grass. With her wings still glowing she waited.

"You are trespassing on restricted ground. Do not move. You are under arrest!" The Secret Service personnel aimed guns at her.

She didn't even shift her stance. Those handguns wouldn't even bruise her with her maxed-out Skills and Celestial constitution. "I am a Nephilim, a half-Celestial. I come in peace and I need to talk to the President. This is a matter of utmost urgency. The days of wrath as prophesized in the book of Revelation are upon us. We have very little time. Shoot if you will, I'm going in."

She walked. They shot. The taser shots hurt more than the bullets. Sara kept walking, noticing her Thermostasis Skill offered a bit of protection against electricity, at least the heat it created. She reached the front doors, found them locked. The security protocols were already in action. She turned around and approached a stern-faced Secret Service agent.

"Seriously, dude. I’m bulletproof. Give me a radio or something. I need to talk to the President. We need to act now, or it will be too late. Also, stop wasting ammo. I'm not a threat. Sorry for trespassing or some shit like that but as I said, I do not have time. Also, we are not alone. Tell me, would your boss rather have me talk to him under closed doors or should I fly over the fence and talk to the reporters? How would the media like a flying girl telling them of Armageddon tonight at rush hour?"

She could hear someone talk in his earpiece. Behind her, the doors unlocked.

"Do you have any weapons with you?"

"No. Not even a box cutter."

"You are cleared to go inside, ma'am," the Secret Service agent replied.

Four of them boxed her as she entered the white house. Sara passed through the metal scanner arch without problem and even got a visitor badge. She didn't know the layout but she recognized the room when she entered. The Oval Office. President Ted Cruz sat behind the desk. On each side, rows of armed soldiers.

"Welcome, Sara Muller. Or is it Sara Atkinson?"

"Neither is my real name, sir. Just Sara will do."

"What brings you here on this lovely Monday?"

She snorted and let out a dry chuckle. "This Monday has nothing lovely about it, sir." Sara steeled herself and met the President's eyes. "Just for the record, unless your guys bring fifty Cal armor piercing rounds to the party, ricochets will hurt you more than the direct hits on me. I mean no harm, Sir. I see some of the men here are nervous and we don't want any accidents happening."

"Noted. I trust them with my life," the President replied.

"Let them stay, then. Do you want the good news or the bad ones, Mr. President?"

"The bad ones first."

"Today, at seventeen forty PM, the world will end. Armageddon, just as the Bible described. The good news, then. You got six hours to prepare with my help."

"I'm sorry, lass. Even if your wing props and bullet proofness are impressive, I find it hard to believe."

Sara lowered her head, thought about how she could screw this up more than that. She found no answers. "Arrest me. Lock me up, read my rights. I plead guilty to trespassing on the White House. But sir, remember that I offered to help. And please send as many people as possible to bomb bunkers. Armageddon will come from above."

She was arrested, booked, and locked up in the Pentagon's basement. For the next six hours, Sara was interrogated by the CIA, the NSA, the DHS, FBI, and a few other three-letter agencies. She just repeated what she had already said, and rubbed her shoulder with a defeated sigh. Let the fools suffer.