Meteors struck the earth almost every hour, bringing immediate destruction in their wake. Fortunately, humans have developed force fields to deflect the meteors. But these didn't always work, especially on the outskirts of the city.
Rose Cristian should've remembered that fact on her way to Zone 206, but she was too busy reining in her anger. Stomping on her rain-soaked boots, Rose could just see her destination in the dark of the night, her supernatural vision never failing her. The streets haven’t changed much either. Once she arrived, she punched her way into the pub, rattling the whole establishment with sheer force. She heard cursing as she stepped inside.
Red-faced, a portly man studied his beer-stained shirt with disgust. He whirled towards Rose, incensed, "Drat it! You son of a ---“The words fell from the man’s mouth, and he became even more beet red as he recognized Rose.
"Hello, Hunter. I see you're still shit-faced as ever. But you were ten a century ago. What excuse do you have now?" Rose greeted the man without much expression on her face. No one could deny the fury in her eyes, though.
"You—how!?" Hunter stuttered, his fangs out in surprise. "Rose?! But you aren't supposed to be resurrected until next month!" he exclaimed.
Rose ignored the vampire, just like she always did. She surveyed the empty pub instead, with eyes narrowed and arms crossed against her chest. From the looks of it, Hunter had cleared the humans out of the place using his encanto, probably to have his fill of the booze it provided. Why the vampire felt the need to gorge himself in a substance that neither affects nor sustains him, Rose didn't know.
"Father Benedict didn't say---I mean, why...why so early? What made him change his mind?" Hunter continued to ramble, scratching at his bald head. He gasped, "Oh, God. Don't tell me...the world is ending, isn't it?"
Taking a deep breath, Rose scoffed at the vampire, "What gave that away? The meteors that will hit this place in an hour?"
"No, I mean. This time, it's really ending, right? Like...whoosh...one big end."
Rose took a moment to think about that.
"Yes," Rose answered matter-of-factly, "The world is ending so Father Benedict found it urgent to wake me. He thinks it's Joanna."
Hunter's eye widened, "And to keep her from doing that, the old priest woke you up."
"Yes, didn't I just say? And that old priest also has this ridiculous idea that I should..." Rose scoffed, her eyes still scanning the pub in a tense glare, "Now, tell me. Where is he?"
"Who?" Hunter pursed his mouth, feigning ignorance.
"Looking for me?" a tall stranger emerged from the shadows, tapping his cane on the floor in front of him.
Turning towards him, Rose's gaze was first drawn to the man's right leg, which exhibited the slightest limp with each step. Probably some childhood injury to the knee that never quite healed. Rose's eyes then traveled up to his hands and arms, strong and muscular. But Rose noticed that he looked a little sallow. For a beat, Rose wondered why, but then their eyes met. A shock that she never felt before went through her whole body. The blood in her veins, newly pumped just an hour ago, turning cold as ice. Rose swallowed, hoping the stranger didn't notice her surprise.
"Call it off," Rose said without context, knowing that the man knew what she meant. But he only cocked an eyebrow in response. "Call. It. Off." Rose enunciated, flinging the words at him.
Unflinching, the man made a show of going towards the empty bar. He sat on a stool, stretching his long legs in front of him leisurely, all the while ignoring Rose's toxic glare.
"Uh..." Hunter designed to pipe up, "I think I'm gonna go--"
"Stay." Rose spat.
"Okay." Hunter squeaked, freezing in his spot beside Rose.
Rose didn't take her eyes off the stranger, "I don't know who you are and what you're getting from this. But there is no way in hell that I am marrying you."
"Wait...marriage?!" Hunter choked.
"Why, it's very nice to meet you, too, Ms. Cristian." the man answered calmly, smirking in the face of her fury, "I'm Jericho."
"Didn't you hear me?" Rose clipped, "Go to that damned church right now and tell the old man that you're calling the marriage off. "
"Damned church," Jericho repeated, chuckling as if it were the funniest joke in the world.
Beside Rose, Hunter snorted a laugh too, which made her finally snap. Rose launched a fist at Jericho, fully expecting him to be slow due to his disability. But he easily dodged the attack, making Rose blink in surprise. Recovering, she swung another one at him, but this time he caught her arm. This made Rose lose her balance and she went toppling on top of him as they went careening onto the floor. Jericho grunted as he accommodated her weight, but he caught her waist easily, pinning her to him.
Her heart pounding, Rose struggled to get off him. But his arms were too strong.
"So, tell me, Ms. Cristian, while we're in this comfortable position on the floor, why don't you want to marry me?" Jericho asked, a mischievous glint in his eye.
A blush crept up Rose’s face and she must be out of her mind because needlessly, Rose realized that she liked his face. It was conventionally handsome, the one that would turn heads if he walked down the street. Normally, Rose could care less about that, such perfection unnerved her. But there was something in his features that drew her. She didn't know what. And that was why she decided then and there that whatever gut feeling she had towards Jericho, it would be hate.
"Because---because you're a total stranger! And you don't even know me. Why are you agreeing to this? What do you get from it?" she exclaimed.
For a second, sadness welled into Jericho's deep blue eyes, but it vanished as quickly as it appeared. "I get to save the world from Joanna, of course."
Rose scoffed, "Please, let's not kid ourselves. She couldn't beat me before and she's not going to, now. And if she becomes stronger than I can handle, I'm sure I can find other ways to overcome her."
The corners of Jericho's mouth pulled up, "That might be. But are you sure marrying me is not the best way to do it? Because I'm pretty sure you'll never find another like me."
Rose scoffed again. She knew about pick-up lines and there wasn’t one that could ever work on her. Once again, she struggled against his hold, hitting him in the stomach as she pulled herself up. Jericho grunted at the assault and sank further down the floor.
"I don't appreciate being made fun of," Rose said, smoothly standing up.
"Was serious." Jericho gasped through the pain, but Rose could still hear a smile in his words.
Rose studied him, careful to keep the distance in her eyes. She opened her mouth to speak but something out the window caught her eye. Her eyes widened in apprehension.
Panicked, Hunter shook Rose’s shoulders, "Um...guys...
But he didn’t get to finish his sentence as the darkness of an incoming meteor enveloped the skies above them.
In that full second, before the meteor hit the pub, Rose had already assessed the situation. Being a vampire, Hunter’s ass would be fine. Rose, despite not knowing what sort of being she is, would've survived it, too. She was fast and strong, and could easily avoid it. Jericho, on the other hand... Rose knew nothing about Jericho. Judging by his injury, he could easily be human. The man also just stood there like a suicidal maniac as the giant stone came hurtling toward them. So, with extreme force, she pushed him toward Hunter before the collision. Jericho grunted, his body still unmoving, but he went where she needed him to go. Dust and debris fell heavily on them as the pub’s ceiling caved in. "This way! Rose! Come with us!" Rose heard Hunter scream amidst the chaos. But it was hard to locate them with all the smoke. Coughing out the dust that invaded her lungs, she navigated around the debris until she could see just enough of the two men to follow them. Her head was spinning,
"Jericho! Jericho! Where the hell are you?!" Pulling her fingers back, Rose blasted power into Jericho's locked doorknob, swinging the door open. "Were you listening? I said to meet..." Her voice trailed off, caught in her throat. Jericho was in front of her stark naked, and he wasn't doing much to cover himself. Before she knew it, she was staring at his muscular torso and Rose felt her brain scramble on the most appropriate thing to do in the situation. She came up with nothing."I mean, I get it. You finally agreed to marry me. But don't you think it is too soon for us to get acquainted with each other's bodies?" Jericho grinned at her unabashedly. Rose felt warm fire go up her cheeks, but held his gaze, "To Father Benedict's office in ten seconds. Now." she snapped before slamming the door shut on her way out. She stomped her way back to the old man's office, grumbling all the way. She was feeling all kinds of emotions for this guy and she didn’t know how to deal with them. This
Rose shouldn't worry. She was only marrying Jericho for convenience. But his accidentally calling her a different name has been bothering her more than the tight lace of the dress she was wearing. Even more disturbing is the fact that the name somehow sounded familiar to her. She felt like vomiting, but Rose knew she couldn't. There's only five minutes more into their engagement party and she has to keep appearances if they want things to work. Damn that Joanna, the unceasing thorn in her side. Even she had to take away Rose's freedom. "Knock, knock." Father Benedict softly called out from outside her door. "Come in," Rose urged. The old priest was clearly in high spirits as he peeked through the door before fully entering. Rose wanted to roll her eyes. She hadn't quite forgiven him for putting her in that situation, but she couldn't help but feel happy for him. In all her years serving the New Catholics, this was probably the first time that the weight off of Father Benedict was
People celebrated Rose and Jericho’s display of affection, finally finding hope in their impending marriage. The world is to be saved. It was only Ty, Trick, Father Benedict, and Hunter (despite his slow wits) who noticed that something transpired between the couple. Rose moved to distance herself from Jericho, but he grabbed her wrist, pinning her into place. He kissed her back, his lips soft and warm. She wanted to run away, recover from the memories that consumed her senses, but she suddenly felt weak. She couldn’t have moved even if she wanted to. Clara and Henry. Their names echoed inside Rose's brain over and over again. Who the hell are these people and why did seeing them felt like a gun to the heart?"You..." Jericho whispered as their lips parted, eyes unfocused as he looked at her. Rose could tell that he didn't expect the kiss, and was probably wondering why he allowed it. But she didn't have time to analyze his reaction because the world had restarted again.The New Cath
The world stopped around them. Literally. The woman and Rose were at normal speed, while the rest around them froze. Rose knew it was the woman's power. She had seen pride demons do this before, play with time but not stop it. "Who the hell are you?" Rose asked the woman. "I'm Joanna, dear. Don't you recognize me? I'm hurt." the woman answered. "And here I am, presenting myself to you so you wouldn't have to go through all that trouble to find me this time." Rose scoffed, “I know Joanna likes to transform herself into different people. She’s does it to put me at a disadvantage. No one knows what she truly looks like. But you…you’re not her. You’re wearing my face, telling me you’re Joanna and toying with me. But she would never wear my face. You’re not Joanna. " "But I am Joanna. This is what I really look like." the woman smirked, "I'm your twin sister, Rose." "So, in all the centuries we've fought each other, you just remembered to tell me this, now?" Rose laughed bitterly, no
Until about five minutes ago, Rose wouldn't have thought that she'd be crossing the Great Sea to get to the South. To Gandhandi, the capital of the Hindu country, where Jericho and the others allegedly came from. And from what Rose knew, a place where demons ran rampant. Rose probably should have picked a more suitable place to lay low from Joanna’s sights. But then again, Rose didn't ever think that she'd be running away from Joanna, either. She cringed at the memory of Joanna's bare hands piercing through Father Benedict's chest, followed by the hundreds of bodies left mangled on the ground from Joanna's rampage. The New Catholics were now in absolute ruin. And as their guardian, Rose was supposed to not let something like that happen. Rose yelled through the top of her head, kicking the tail end of the ship she was on. Her injured leg gave away and she ended up on the floor, cursing. But the impact only made her angrier, and she felt white-hot flames erupt from her shoulders."Now
Rose couldn't look Jericho in the eye. She didn't know how to deal with the situation at all. She agreed to marry him, yes, but she also did manage to trip trying to get him to take his knee off the ground. Rose could still feel the sharp pain on her shin from hitting the floor. But she could also still feel the small rock on her finger. Somehow, it made her feel safe. She would be caught dead before she admitted that to anyone though. "Why are you acting weird?" Trick asked Rose innocently, his eyes falling down to the ring on her finger, "Something happened between you and Jericho or something?"Rose resisted the urge to glare at him, focusing instead on the food in front of her. They had just arrived at Gandhandhi and were now waiting for another one of their friends. Apparently, they left their homes in a mess when they ventured to Emunah, the New Catholics' capital, and they weren't ready to return yet. Ty grunted, "I didn't want to come back here." "Well, you don't get to hav
"What the hell were you thinking? Is this really our priority? Shouldn't we work on finding someplace else to stay? We can't stay here. I’m pretty sure Joanna knows where we are. We’ll be putting Crescent and the children in danger." Rose said, resting her head on the table in front of her. They were out on her room's terrace, looking out at the children playing in the yard. Kids couldn't seem to stop playing. Rose wondered what that felt like. "Rose, we need to have a place to stay if we intend on getting all three relics in the shortest possible time. We also need a place to hold a wedding, you know." Jericho replied, "And CeeCee and the children will be fine. We're not planning on staying here long. As soon as we have what we came for, we'll leave this place.""Do you even know anything about Catholic weddings? And by the way, thanks for not telling me that you'd ask Crescent to arrange this thing. I'm so looking forward to wearing a dress." Rose replied, her voice dripping with sa