"Lil."

"Wake up."

"Lil."

"You're the last one left."

The first thing I noticed when I moved my arm across the ground to push myself up was that the grass was dry, prickly. The ache of my muscles was nothing compared to the shock that barrelled through me. I had never seen nor felt grass like this. It was yellow, coming in dry seas across a stretch of unfamiliar land.

I ran my hand across the grass. A foreign little bug jumped onto my hand, it's tough back legs twitching. I gave it a little scared smile, showing it that I was harmless and just as lost as it.

The little bug hopped away.

I sat up on my knees, glancing around the field I was in. To the left, far off, there was a range of mountains with a little haze drifting about it. To the right, the plane sloped up into a field. It was, in one word, peaceful. I set my hands in my lap and glanced around. There had to be an explanation about why I was here, and where I was.

I was alone.

I stood up, biting my lip. The muscles in my legs twitched, and my stance wobbled. I nearly fell before catching myself with the air. I suddenly felt queasy. "Ah... Is anybody... there..?"

I was alone.

There was a scuffling noise from where the land dipped, and I swung my head in the direction of the sound. My hand instinctively went for my belt, but my sword was missing. Cold sweat dribbled down my forehead as I stepped back.

What came into my sight were two... I wasn't sure what. They looked like me, but they seemed to be an entirely different species. They didn't have the musk of a demon nor the scent of an angel, not even the mix of a faerie. Instead, they had their own unique stench that probably appeared so bad because I wasn't used to it.

One was male, and one was female. I could tell that the female had a child in her stomach. Her body was welled up in that fashion, and her breasts looked nearly ready to produce milk. The male was well-muscled with a mess of dark hair over his head. The fact that they were naked and without armor led me to believe that they were peaceful.

I sat upright, my black eyes meeting their brown and green ones. I truly was nervous, but I had to meet these new creatures in good will. "Hello. I mean no harm."

The male gave me a gentle smile. He gestured towards himself. "Adam," he said. He put his hand on his mate's shoulder. "This is Eve."

I took a cautious step forward, and they showed no tension. So I merely dipped my head and said, "Nice to meet you. My name is Lilith."

***

I woke to the smell of permanent marker shifting below my nostrils. An invader jumped back, and I swung my head around. The person in the seat behind me, ultimately Dillan, was holding a sharpie to his chest.

I swiped my wrist across my lip frantically, shooting him a hard glare. "What the hell were you drawing on me?" My gaze flew over to Oliver, sleeping in the seat beside me. He had a taco on his face, and a message that read Fango is bae. My glare flew back to him as I grit my teeth. "Can you fucking be mature for once in your god damn lives?"

Dillan pointed at Fango in the seat beside him. "He was in on it, too!"

"What did you draw on my face?" I hoped that they hadn't gotten very far on their little 'artistic' attempt. "You drew a taco, didn't you."

"Maybe. Half of one."

I sighed and brought my air against the marker and hit him across the jaw with it. He exclaimed as if he didn't deserve it, making my eyes narrow.  I left Fango alone, considering that Dillan was probably the mastermind behind the action.

"Where is Delta sitting?" I asked Fango.

He pushed his glasses against his nose, shrugging. "No idea. He isn't behind us. All I know is that he is sitting with his Apotropaic, Caleb."

I sighed. "You wouldn't happen to have anything for me to clean off my Apotropaic's face, do you?"

Dillan and Fango both shook their heads, the Blaehdoes, Fango, less than the Vurandos, Dillan.

I leaned over and shook Oliver's jacket-padded shoulder. I could still see a faded orange stain from where he had failed to rid his clothes completely of blood. The demon's sapphire eyes blinked open, and he leaned up to see me. "Are we there, Extant?"

"No. Dillan has completely destroyed your face."

"Oh." He didn't seem surprised. I got the gist that he did that often. Oliver merely glanced around, yawning. "Look, Delta."

I turned my head down the aisle to see the curly-haired Minios walk our way, passing blue glances to his left and right suspiciously. He was heading our way.

When he arrived at my seat, I hissed, "Delta Mills, you aren't supposed to get up. What are you doing?"

"Emma, that stalker followed us onto the plane. Nahara tailed him."

I clasped my hand to my forehead, sighing. Could I get some sleep without some awful thing happening? "Alright. What did you guys find out about him?"

"He's a general."

"Of course he is." I had a feeling that this was an enemy I hadn't met yet from how the water-bending boy spoke about him.

"We are about to go up in a fight against Death. On a freaking plane."

"Death?" I asked, blood beginning to run cold. "As in the guy who uses a scythe and stuff?" I was vague about my guess, mostly because all the other biblical and legendary figures part kg Croma had exceeded my expectations.

Delta nodded. "You have to be a team player this time. And yes, we will need you to help us this time, considering he will probably want to bring the fight outside."

O-outside? Before I could express any further emotion, a woman called out from behind the blue-eyed boy, "Sir, you'll have to go back to your seat."

Delta nodded in her direction, standing up. Then he turned to me. "Be on the lookout, Emma." He rushed back to his seat, hands in his pockets.

Dillan propped himself over my seat. "Hear that, girl? Team effort. Which means you aren't going to run off and nearly die and get into a fight all on your own."

I swatted him, annoyed. "Yeah, I know. No fighting on my own from now on."

"Be like Jennifer Lawrence."

"What does that have to do with anything?" I asked.

"Well, more like Katniss, but Jennifer has a hot face. What I mean is, don't try to be strong on your own cause that is how you fail. You can accept help from other people, you know." Dillan poked my nose. "You think we can look for this guy?"

I rolled my eyes, already growing hot with irritation. "Yeah. So, am I supposed to just keep your air stable when we bring the battle outside."

"Yep. We've fought him before, remember?"

I leaned into the aisle, black eyes skipping along the plane for anyone looking suspicious. "This sucks." I didn't even know what the vessel looked like, but I didn't try to disguise the fact I was looking for him. After all, being suspicious would just bring him to me.

Oliver gripped my shoulder and gestured to a seat that wasn't too far away. "There," he muttered, "You can't tell yet, but you can read their energy and tell their alliances. The guy in the fedora is the one we are looking for." I followed his sapphire gaze to a man with fiery red hair and a hat a size too big for his head.

"Alright." Fango cracked his knuckles and grinned. "Keep to the shadows, Emma. We will take care of this."

I knit my eyebrows in my frustration and sank into the chair. Dillan and Fango shuffled their way across their seats, gestured in a direction that Nahara was probably in, and made their way towards who was presumably Death.

Oliver tugged me towards him, one hand on my shoulder. As badly as I wanted to turn and bite his hand, I had to keep my eyes trained on the enemy and my allies.

Dillan bent over and whispered something in the guy's ear, and all escalated from there. Death brought out what looked more like a harvesting sickle than a knife, and slashed it across Dillan's face. I watched, holding my breath as the boy bent away from the blow, and Fango drew a stone blade across Death's legs to keep him from knocking Dillan's legs out from under him.

I gripped the arm of Oliver's chair since I was too far from my own. Delta and Nahara sprung up, and each Apotropaic stood to the side. Someone not far off panicked, and I tensed as they began fighting in a blur that my eyes couldn't keep up with. The four slowly began slowly backing Death against the plane's door.

Oh. The point is to get everyone outside. We have an advantage if I can control the air around them. Of course, I readied my air, but something unexpected happened.

At least twenty other demons sprung out of their human-looking hiding places. Each was bat-like, tearing its way out of a random human. Oliver's breath hitched, and he pressed me back against my ear before he pushed me back and shifted in front of me.

"Emma, you have to help who ever stays to fight Death," Oliver instructed. "The Apotropaics and possibly most of the Extants will be going to fight the Dark ones."

I dipped my head, stiffly swallowing my fear. There was a ripple in the air as my wind drifted across the plane all at once, and Oliver was gone.

I sprung out of my seat and closed in on Death, completely ignored by both bystanders innocently screeching for help and the bats. I crouched close to the ground to stay hidden, and made my way near the door.

I straightened my back when I got there, hand against the handle. From the look of it, Death and Dillan were the only ones outside fighting, and my wind wasn't strong enough to completely control the air of the battle.

I could feel my heart thudding in my throat. If I headed outside, there was a chance I couldn't come back up. There was a chance that I wasn't strong enough to maintain myself out there. And yet, people were depending on me.

Mary was depending on me.

I pulled the door open and immediately felt the wind going against me. I panicked, pushing my own air against the pressure of the one against the plane. Shutting the door, I attempted to squint in the fight's direction. The world below me felt as if it were going to pull me down at any moment. Suddenly, the idea of being surrounded by my own power wasn't such a good one. With the air beating against my nostrils and the fear clamping my throat shut, I struggled to breath, and felt as if I were going to vomit.

I pushed my air even harder onto me to where I could breathe just a bit easier and not completely destroy myself when I flung my body against the wing. I let go, and for a few seconds, I felt as if I was spinning in an environment that would never end. I feared for a moment that I would be lost, spinning through the air to my death. Then, I hit the wing with a sliver of airy cushion. It hurt, but it didn't kill me.

I eased myself over to Dillan, who was then in hiding. It seemed both of us didn't know where Death was.

I shouted over the wind, which was slowly easing with my own, "What happened to the other Extants?!"

Dillan struggled to glance down at the ground, yelling back, "Inside! Someone is going to crash the plane!" With a wavering hand, he dropped a key into my palm. "Unlock the little skull thingy under his hat! I am going back in to stop the crash!"

"Is that how I beat him? That doesn't even make sense!"

Dillan Raking struggled to salute to me, then struggled under the wing. In the shadows and with night falling, the boy who controlled darkness could easily move over to the door. I clutched the get to my chest, gritting my teeth. Damn you, boy.

I eased down against the wing, attempting to avoid looking down. The sun was blinding against the sky, and the curvature of the world was taunting me.

My hand wavered as I began sliding my sword out. I needed the key to defeat the guy, but it wasn't like I could block any of his blows with a key. I would have used my air to search for him, but I was afraid I wouldn't be focusing enough on keeping myself up. Delta probably didn't even stick around long enough to corrode his sword and make this easier for me... I gradually began slipping across the wing, struggling my head in all directions to look for Death.

Then, he was there.

He came above my head, the sickle missing by only a centimeter, and the sound of the old metal digging into the wing rang in my ears. I cried out in shock, slipping down even lower. The air drifted into my shirt, and in that moment, I realized that I had no idea what I was doing.

Like I was straining a limb, if felt the air burn as I pushed myself back with all my might. I slipped off the wing onto an invisible carpet of air. Of course, I couldn't be really picky where it was, since I had to focus on using many things at once. Sensing my creation, Death slipped onto the carpet and ran his finger across the sickle's old blade.

"Emma Whitestone... Truly the youngest and most inexperienced prophet of the group. Not to mention, a complete idiot. What were you proving, fighting Satan on that train?"

I stuffed the key into my pocket and lifted my sword. The air under me twitched before I panicked and held it even more firm. I hadn't even began fighting and I was already tired out.

Death waltzed across the carpet with a dimpled grin. "I was expecting more, considering you're related to a great warrior."

I assumed that he meant Ebony. After all, she came from the Dark, and since she began Kalos, she must have been related to me somehow. My sword twitched as I held it in front of me.

"Poor girl can't even take control of herself..." Death chuckled, mildly amused. "I suppose you haven't told the Cromans about your... secret... have you?"

I grit my teeth and pushed forward. I brought my sword through the air, but he sidestepped it. "Power? What are you talking about?"

Death licked his lips and began hurtling towards me once more. My blade hit his, and a white-hot spark split against our weapons. "The visions, of course."

The general had attacked the wrong spot in me. That was the least of my worries, after all. Satan himself was more spot-on with my worries. Unwilling to talk anymore, I began to make the fight escalate. Sparks drifted into foreign places, staying there even after our blades had left. We were a blur against the setting sun.

"Oh, and I thought girls were good listeners," Death said while we fought. "And anyone is a good listener when it comes to themselves. What makes you so different, Whitestone?"

I brought my sword to his neck, but his weapons curve lifted to keep me from killing his vessel.

"You're getting weaker and weaker. Even if you beat me here, no one will save you from falling. When you die, the prophecy will be over. The only reason Mary isn't dead is because Gary and Salt will not let us kill her. You, surprisingly, are an exception."

I gave him a blow to the side, which soon gushed blood. I could hardly see it, but I could smell the sour scent in the air. He only laughed as I scrunched my nose in disgust.

"I am able to suicide bomb with this plan. Truly, we would have killed many bystanders if we were inside. You Cromans. So sensitive to those damn humans."

I fished the key out of my pocket, looping the circle around my middle finger on my free hand while fighting him. "I am not sensitive to humans! I just want Mary Clarkson! Damn it, I wouldn't care what happened to the others as long as I had her!"

Then, that was it.

Death knocked my sword away, and pinned me to the air carpet. His hands were on either side of my face, and his fiery hair came in strings as they drooped down his face. His scythe was still in his hand, and my only option was to give in.

"It is your life or hers, Emma Whitestone," Death said, glancing towards the plane. "You can give yourself to us, and we will let you have Mary. You are much, much more powerful. What do you say, Whitestone? Who dies, you or your best friend?"

I gulped, hands fumbling for something. "I-I have something to say... before I answer you..."

"What?"

My hand flew up, and the key dug I to his neck. Red trickled down the wide-eyed general's throat, and he opened his mouth as if to say something. Instead, he only croaked and struggled to stay up.

"An actor knows to maintain eye contact when lying," I explained, thankful I couldn't see the blood in the inky spill of the starless night. I tugged the key out, and the guy went limp on me. I pushed him off, then discarded the fedora. I pushed the key, after a bit of fumbling, into the skull's left eye, and the vessel faded.

Suddenly, the world felt unstable.

Throwing the body off, I glanced up. The plane was so far above me now. There was no way I could make it up there with how weak my air was. My pulse picked up again, and the blood drummed in my ears. I can't die yet!

I felt something tighten around my arms and drag me up with bored ease.  My sword was flung upwards and into the plane. Soon, I was at the door, gradually being pulled in.

Dillan Raking was standing there, blood-moist hand clasped in his hair in exasperation. "Well, I wasn't expecting you to be good with your element, but that sucked!"

I glanced down at my hands as the door was shut behind me. I finally released my air, and I could feel everything outside speed up again. By body ached, and so did my breeze. "Shut... up..." My words came out as a pant. "Thank... You..."

Oliver, standing beside Dillan, offered his own sticky, blood-consumed hand to pull me up. I accepted, light headed and more than dizzy.

"I will go take her to sleep," Oliver said. "She needs it. Give her credit."

Dillan shrugged. "Yeah. Whatever. I'm going to go help Nahara fly this thing. When Emma is asleep, you should probably help the others take care of the humans that had nothing to do with this."

Oliver nodded, taking me by the shoulders and leading me all the way up to first class to sleep. Of course, with all the staff dead, no one coated where I slept.

"We land in Texas soon, Em," muttered Oliver. "And when we get there, I will try my hardest to get you one of those pizzas you like so much."

I genuinely loved writing this chapter. Emma finally learned some manners. XD And the plane fight was really fun and exciting to write about! Please, comment and vote. Your feedback really makes me smile, guys! :3 What you think?

The picture is Salt.