The rain was driving down hard and the wind was bitterly cold, and yet Stefan flapped his wings and drove himself onwards over the English Channel. His shirt was soaked through, and the rain was plastering his hair to his head. Gritting his teeth, he spiralled through the sheets of rains, swearing beneath his breath every time the sky rumbled all around him.

"Shit, shit, shit...!" he breathed, pulling his phone out and checking the time.

Fifteen minutes since he left Plymouth. A Fallen's powers of flight was fast, but in this case it wasn't fast enough. If Jelli's life was really hanging in the balance, then he couldn't afford to hang back at all.

"Mendutitrof ihim ad! Sutnev!"

As wisps of black wind began to circulate around his body, he clenched his teeth and spread his wings out wide.

"Oreporp!"

At once, he felt the ice-cold wind fill his entire body, launching Stefan forwards with enough force that he could almost feel the sound barrier pushing against his face.

"Come on... Oreporp!"

Again, a surge of air caught beneath his wings and forced him on. He was almost there, he just needed a little more power...!

"ANELP ERACOFFUS!"

The sound barrier shattered like it was little more than brittle glass. The screaming of wind and rain died in the Fallen's ears as he shot forward like a bullet, splitting the clouds in two as he ripped through the sky. The ocean far below became little more than a dull blue blur; the lights of the boats zipping by like shooting stars. The pressure in Stefan's head grew and grew until he could scarcely take it anymore, until his ears began to bleed and his eyes felt ready to pop.

He eventually allowed the magic to bleed out of his wings, slowing the Fallen's flight down to a subsonic speed. He was soaked to the skin and shivering all over, but far below, Stefan could see the coastlands of France.

"Almost there... Almost there..." he gasped.

Going so fast had definitely damaged something in his ears, he could barely hear the rattling of cartilage as the wind ruffled through his feathers.

Why was he doing this? Why was he going so far for Jelli? He hadn't even spoken to her in years.

But if she was dying because of an outburst caused by him...

Switching his phone on once more, Stefan jabbed his numb fingers against the screen, swiping desperately to find the number that was calling him. Locating it, he gasped for breath and held the phone to his ear.

"Oh? I wasn't expecting you to call me directly," spoke the voice, sounding genuinely surprised.

"Let me speak with her!" the Fallen yelled into the phone, swiping over to his phone's global map.

He wasn't far from Paris. Just a little longer...!

"That... is not in my power to grant, Stefan."

"Why not?! Where is she?!"

"Just press on. You'll be able to see her in person soon."

The call ended before the Fallen could respond. Swearing into the wind, he shoved the phone into his pocket and angled himself downwards, pulling his wings in tight as he dropped into a terminal dive. Without a Cloaking Charm to hand, he would have quick and cautious.

"Tatum siroproc! Eralec!" he cried, conjuring wisps of black wind to whip across his body as he plummeted towards the bustling city of Paris.

His body shimmered and faded from sight as he spread his wings and touched down upon a Parisian rooftop, his heart beating hard in his mouth.

"Catacombs... Catacombs... Where are the fucking catacombs...?!"

Swooping down to street level, Stefan darted through the crowds and across the busy streets, taking care not to bump into anyone as he navigated towards an entrance to the Paris Metro. Though ambitioditanic modification could allow him to alter his physical properties, he could only change one thing at a time. Though invisible, he could still be touched and heard.

But Stefan didn't have time to be cautious.

Silently leaping over the turnstile, he rushed downstairs and made a beeline straight for a red door labelled "Personnel seulement" and booted it open, causing a number of Parisian commuters to turn their heads in confusion as an invisible force rushed by them.

He was breaking so many rules by barging into the Jump Terminal so brazenly, but at that moment in time, Stefan wasn't thinking clearly. At the end of the tunnel beyond the subway station, he found a single elevator. In place of a call button, there was simply a metal panel bearing a conspicuous depression bolted to the wall.

"I don't have time for this!" he barked, unveiling himself as he hammered his fists against the elevator doors.

Next to the panel, a small intercom buzzed.

"Monsieur, cette zone est restreinte," droned an official-sounding voice.

Looking around, he noticed a small camera mounted on the ceiling of the tunnel.

"Obviously I'm a demon, you fucking idiots! I don't have my Cloaking Charm with me, so just open this door and let me down already!" he barked, glaring daggers at the camera.

The voice on the intercom sighed.

"Sir, please understand that the elevator cannot be called without an officially registered Cloaking Charm. Also, please understand that using the Jump Terminal without a Charm is strictly forbidden. If you have lost or forgotten your Charm, please either return home and retrieve it, or send an application to your local demonic embassy for a new one. Thank you for your patience, and please travel safe," it said in bored English.

"I can't go home now! We're wasting time!"

Marching back over to the elevator, Stefan jammed his fingers into the door and began to force it open.

"S- Sir! Please, stop! I will call security!"

"Call them! See if they can stop me!" he roared, shoving the doors open with one final grunt of effort.

They screeched apart to reveal a yawning elevator shaft that descended down through the underground and deep into the Paris catacombs, where a bridging point between Earth and Hell lay. Clenching his teeth, the Fallen disregarded the shouting on the intercom and leaped down, spreading his wings in order to slow his descent. He fell for what felt like an age, the cold air of the underground tasting stale and bitter in his mouth. Spying the roof of an elevator down below, he braced himself for the impact.

"Ungh!"

With an almighty crash, Stefan plummeted straight through the access panel on the top of the elevator, slamming his entire body down into the lift below, where a group of startled Gluttons cried out and stumbled back.

"Move it!" the Fallen hissed, shoving them out of his way as he staggered into the Jump Terminal.

Despite the skulls set into the stone walls and the ominous candles hanging from iron chandeliers overhead, it was just like any other airport or train station; a large central waiting area filled with seats occupied by demons, some cloaked, others uncloaked. Most were either talking, napping or patiently clinging to their tickets, but as the rain-soaked and bedraggled form of Stefan stumbled by, they all looked on with equal parts interest and concern.

Stefan glanced up at the timetable mounted on one of the walls. He was just in time for the next Jump to Brimstone.

"Sir? Are you alright?" called a nearby security guard, approaching the Fallen.

Stefan looked him up and down. The man was an Oni.

"I need to get to Brimstone, and I don't have time to waste with idle chitchat!" he snapped, pushing past the guard on his way to customs.

"Sir, the Jump chamber is already booked out for this transmission. You'll have to buy a ticket for the next one in fifteen minutes."

"Are you deaf?! I said I don't have time! She could be dying!"

Again, part of him wondered why he was going so far for Jelli's sake, but that very part of him was getting drowned out by all the memories he had of her. From when they first met, to the few birthdays they shared, to the times he tried to take her swimming, to the nights they spent teaching each other their respective languages...

Pulling out his wallet, Stefan thrust it into the guard's hands.

"I don't care what it costs; I'm going to Brimstone!" he said in a resolute tone, before he barged through customs without another word.

Though the Terminal workers cried out for his attention and called for security, Stefan continued on towards the doors of the Jump chamber. It was a large, circular room, bearing a large pentagram carved into the floor. Wires and machinery spidered out from it towards a control room behind a glass panel, where a number of technicians prepared for the Jump. Marching towards the crowd of people standing atop the pentagram with their suitcases, Stefan bit his tongue and looked up at the ceiling. There, a large red stone pulsed with soft crimson light as it slowly spun on its axis within a glass containment chamber, spinning faster and faster as the machinery all around him began to whine. Right as the security officer barged into the chamber, one of the technicians hit a button and leaned towards a microphone.

"Initiating Jump sequence. Destination; Brimstone. Please close your eyes for the duration of the transmission, and thank you for travelling with us today."

Right as Stefan shut his eyes, the stone up above suddenly exploded with brilliant red light, causing the pentagram underfoot to light up and start spinning. The air crackled with electric energy as the wall between worlds was gradually torn open, but all Stefan cared about at that moment was getting to his sister, no matter the cost.

His mother, her wife... He could deal with his feelings about them later.

All that mattered now was getting to Jelli before it was too late.

"Just hold on, Jelli... Your big brother's coming..."

A bright flash of light burned through his eyelids, before he was sucked into a vacuum and everything went completely silent.