Stronger Together chapter 250- Finale.

It was time. Time to leave, to head to parts unknown. We had  contacted everyone on our list and invited them along, and more than I  expected had decided to come with us. We'd gotten in touch with Brynn  and had her get a message to Lucifer. He'd sent back instructions to  gather at Sibiu so he could open the portal. He was going to use the  weak spot at the bottom of the lake there to make the transfer easier,  and his appearance there wouldn't violate the rules as long as he kept  himself confined to the lake boundaries.

Getting  everyone there had been a bit of a hassle, but after a few trips with  the jet we managed to get everyone to Castle Drakul so we could prepare  to leave. Harry, Susan, and Maggie had come. Thomas and Justine had  accepted the invite. Andi was here with Morgan, Inari, and Sam, and Tera  brought along Connor. Harry had spoken to Listens-to-Wind and asked him  to take over as Warden of Demonreach, since he was the only person he  could really trust to do it. He and Ebenezer hadn't...exactly made up,  but they had reached an understanding even if Harry hadn't told the old  wizard why until the last minute.

Ebenezer hadn't  liked it, but he owed Harry too much to compromise his shot at happiness  with his family. Granted, we hadn't mentioned the whole Lucifer thing,  just that a higher being had agreed to get us back to the DCU. Now here  we were with almost twenty people counting me and the girls, and oddly  my master who decided that this universe didn't need him anymore and  that he wanted to see some new things. We were all clustered around the  edge of the lake waiting for three AM to hit, the dark hour of the soul  being the best time for Lucifer to open the portal.

I  turned to my boss. "So, you ready for this Harry? There's no going back  after it's done, at least not anytime soon. There's still time to back  out?" My mentor had his daughter on one hip and Susan was standing with  us, staring out at the full moon across the surface of the lake. I had  to admit, without the light pollution from a huge city out here it was  pretty damn beautiful. He was staring out right alongside me. I turned  to Susan. "Thank you, by the way, for not just immediately rejecting the  idea of jumping to an entirely new dimension."

She  just laughed and pulled Harry's arm against her, the one he wasn't  holding Maggie with. "Hey I'm actually excited. Granted we needed to  talk to Michael and have him double check with the big shots upstairs  that the Devil wasn't planning to meat grinder you all, but once we got  the ok on that I couldn't see a reason not to. Especially since you told  me there might be someone there who can treat my vampirism.  You said  it's possible for sure, so hopefully someone can use the magic over  there to manage it without killing me."

I nodded.  "Yeah the only real method I'm aware of is offing the Lords of Outer  Night with a powerful bloodline curse, which seems like it would be  tough to replicate on our own. But DC has all kinds of crazy magic users  and metahumans, I bet we can find a way to at least mitigate your  problems if not outright treat them. Hell I know vampires exist in DC  too, and there are a bunch of different kinds, maybe there's a type of  vampirism similar to yours that's already been treated." I gave her an  encouraging smile, and she pulled away from Harry to pull me into a hug.

She  pulled back with a smile. "Thanks kid, glad if we're making this trip  we get to do it with family." She looked down, checking her watch in the  shimmer of the moonlight. "We're leaving soon right? Because you said  three AM, and it's two fifty nine by my watch, I'd have expected the  Devil to be more punctual." I looked around, trying to consult my  intellectus, but it was pretty limited in range, plus who knew if it  even worked on Lucifer. She was right though, so I stepped a bit closer  the lake to peer into the water.

I saw a slight  flicker in the surface, and upon leaning closer there was a shift in the  reflection and a horrifying monster appeared in the image on the water.  I shrieked and jumped, and had to force myself not to growl as I heard  the cackling laughter split the night. From out of the chill wind a form  appeared, standing on the water. Contrary to my expectations however,  it wasn't Lucifer. Or rather, it was Lucifer, but not in his normal  golden haired emerald eyed angel lord shape. As I followed the sound of  the laughter to the new arrival I found myself I looking up into the  smiling face of Dalton Carroway.

He gave me a friendly  wave. "Hey Cam, good to see you again." I considered yelling at him  about it, but we were leaving and he was our ride, besides a weird part  of me was happy to see my friend before I left. He seemed to pick up on  that. Giving me a sad smile, he chuckled at my reaction. "I know, coming  here like this is in poor taste, but I did want to see you off. Dalton  was always me, but he was his own person in a way too. When you're as  good a liar as I am Cameron, sometimes you even lie to yourself." He  seemed to be genuinely melancholic for a minute before shaking it off  and clapping his hands together. "Now then, you ready to go? Remember  this is one way."

I wasn't entirely convinced of that,  but I knew he was, so I nodded. He smiled and cracked his neck.  "Alright then. This portal is going to be a tad bit bigger than the  usual one, it'll take up the entire lake, so once its stable all you  have to do is step into the riptide." He looked behind me, locking eyes  with everyone else. They mostly seemed torn between stunned by his  presence and concerned he was standing on the surface of the water. When  they all nodded he closed his eyes and started to SPEAK.

I  couldn't hear the words, or at least didn't understand them if I could,  but I felt them as if they were playing in the world's loudest bass.  The rattled my bones and teeth and crumpled the surface of reality like  tin foil, stretching and warping space, somehow contracting it all into  the lake, which started to glow. The glow intensified, shifting unevenly  until it began to spark and crackle with blue electric energy. The  colors swirled in a riot of hues, changing from purple and blue to red  and orange and green and yellow and back so quickly my brain lost track  of which was which and somehow seemed to see one color that was all  colors, not a mixture but somehow all at once.

The  water began to bubble, the motion shifting into a churning froth, then  capitalizing on that momentum to create a slow spin as the power  intensified. Through it all, Lucifer stood immobile on the surface of a  rioting lake as his voice built to louder and louder registers, starting  at a murmur that shook my bones and growing to a roar that seemed to  quake my very soul. The rotation picked up, the entire lake becoming a  whirling vortex of what no longer appeared to be water but literal  liquid energy, the wind whipping the trees into a frenzy as the booming  voice finally cracked the air in one last bitten off syllable like the  crack of thunder.

Lucifer, meanwhile, looked visibly  drained by the effort, his face pale and sallow as he met my eyes. He  grinned, flashing me my friend's smile. "Your chariot awaits, bud. You  ready?" I smiled at him, raising an eyebrow. I could see that he  genuinely wanted to go out on good terms. He rolled his eyes. "Ok, yes I  don't have many friend, and I like you guys. Plus you're all leaving  forever anyway so it's not like you can ruin my rep by telling people I  was nice. Just...have a drink for ol' Dalton once in a while once you're  back home. When you're in the mood." His voice was thick with sadnesss  and I realized I could feel that too. Devil or not he had been my  friend. I'd miss him.

He cleared  his throat, clearly uncomfortable with the emotions on display. I  figured he was being honest for once too, no reason to lie to people who  are leaving forever. "I used the girls as twin focii so with the blood  connection to Barb's dad that's three points of triangulation data. You  won't need to worry about getting lost on the way or anything. Try to  take care of yourself kid. I know you're a big shot now since you  became...whatever it is you are, but there's some scary stuff out there.  I won't be around to seamlessly manipulate you to victory anymore, so  you need to listen to your girls and keep your head on straight."

I  laughed at that and turned to the others. "Ok guys, head out. Raven,  Kara, you guys go in first, you're the strongest and should be able to  keep things copacetic until the rest of us are all together. Harry, you  and Susan take Mags in after a minute so they have time to make sure  you're clear. Then Thomas and Justine. Morgan, Sam, Andi, Yang, Cinder,  Tera, and Inari, you all go with Connor and I'll bring up the rear just  to be safe." They nodded and started into the portal, Raven and Kara  kissing me for good luck before step into the water and being sucked  down into the crackling vortex or rioting colored light and power. They  were gone only seconds after touching it.

I  waved Harry and Susan forward and they stepped in, Harry keeping a  shield up around the baby to make sure she wasn't hurt by the rushing  water. One by one the others followed and I watched them vanish into the  breach in reality. Lucifer stood a foot or two off the beach, floating  in mid air now as the whirling water was pulled down from under his  shoes into a tight swirl. Finally, Tera and Connor jumped into the light  and motion, vanishing just like all the others had. I looked around me,  taking in this forest in another world where I had come into my own.

I  looked at the sky under which I had fallen in love for the first time.  Lost my first friend in battle, shed my humanity and risen to power in a  way I could have never imagined when I got here. I turned to Lucifer  and smiled. "I don't know how much of what you did was for my own good,  how much of our friendship was real, or what part you played in all of  this in exact detail. But...thank you. Thank you for the fact that I  could be here, that I could get to this place and meet these people,  whatever role you may have played in that."

Rather  than respond my friend just nodded and I stepped, smiling, into the  whirling ride. As the current carried me around, building up speed and  power, and I looked up into the star speckled sky above me, I considered  this new world I was heading to. It would be a new adventure, a new  chance to remake myself and find out who I was. But more importantly it  would be another chance to spend my life with the women I loved, with  the friends I'd made, and even make some new ones. Because as strong as I  was with all my new powers, I had to admit. We were stronger together.