(This takes place shortly after The Bloody Truth)

If there was one thing Will had learned is that he couldn't keep his problems bottled up. The last time he did, he ended up almost killing a demon in front of Cassie and she ended up breaking up with him. He didn't want something like that to happen again, so he needed to get at least some of his problems off of his chest. But there were only a few people he would really trust with the information. And of those, only two he felt would genuinely understand. With a knock on the door, Will waited for the answer. "Renee's not in right now." Erin's voice asked through the door. "I'm here to see you actually." Will said with a sigh. "...Oh fine, give me a second to get dres-...wait...is that you, Will?" Erin's voice had been pretty monotone until she recognized Will's voice, then she seemed to perk back to her usual self. "Yeah, it's me."

A bunch of locks were heard being unlatched from the other side of the door before it opened and Will saw Erin wearing an oversized tshirt...and though you couldn't be sure, it was quite possibly the only thing she was wearing. But much to her disappointment, Will didn't seem to notice and just walked past her into the apartment. "Just...let yourself in, why don't you?" Erin said, slightly surprised as Will sat down. "Thanks." Will muttered once again, his body language was giving away that he was a bit nervous which made Erin get a devious smile as she locked the door behind them and suddenly sat on his lap. "So...coming all the way over to see me, huh?" "Erin...I'm...really not in the mood." Erin smiled even more as she got closer to Will. "So if I cheer you up you'll be in the mood?" For the first time since Will came into the apartment he smiled...at least a little bit. "To turn you down? Yeah." "Oh yeah. You not being in the mood to turn me down's totally going to make me stop." Erin stated, rolling her eyes. "Erin. Please...I really need to talk to you... You can come on to me later."

"You promise?" Erin asked with a naughty smirk. "Erin..." Will let out another sigh. "Okay okay, fine. What's wrong?" Erin finally gave up as she got off of Will's lap with a slightly concerned expression. "Erin...how many people have you killed?" Will asked, looking up. "Will...this isn't some kind of morality thing is it?" "Yes...but not the way you're thinking. Answer the question." Will's bluntness made Erin cock her head to the side. "Um, I don't know. I just kill them, I don't keep count. Maybe close to a 100 or so. Why?" Will seemed to pause slightly. "Do you...regret any of them?" "They all deserved it. What's wrong, Will?"

"Did I deserve it?" Will asked looking Erin in the eye, which blatantly caught her offguard as her eyes shot open. "Well...you're different. I actually would have regretted it if you'd...ya know...stayed dead." A slight smile crossed Will's face again before it quickly faded. "So...you rate the kills by how much you regret it later?" Once again there was a pause. "I'm...going to go out on a limb here and say...that you've recently killed someone...who wasn't a demon." Will looked up again. "Erin...I killed 9 people this past week." "Will, I'm sure that-" "And before that I ordered the deaths of over 300 and watched them all die." Once again there was a noteable pause as Erin was struck momentarily speachless. "...oh..."

"I know you, Will. There must have been a damn good reason. Spill." Erin narrowed her eyes as she looked at Will. "You... know those kids that were missing a few weeks ago?" "Yeah...I heard you were doing a lot of work searching for them...I...heard they were found dead. I'm...sorry." Will didn't seem to acknowledge the apology. "It was the Church of Blood that kidnapped them. They also killed them as a sacrifice to Brother Blood...who was apparently supposed to be me, if I'd have followed my former trainer's lessons. I shadowported them to Death Valley, had them all killed, then hunted down and killed the ones who tried to run away." "Hm...the only thing I have to say to that is...why the Hell didn't you call me? I'd have killed half those bastards for you...for free even."

"Erin...I don't think you understand. Over 300 people are dead by my hand." Will quietly stated, almost in a creepy tone. "I thought you said you only killed 9." "That's irrelevant. I would have killed them myself but..." Will's words began to trail off as Erin began to smirk again. "But what?" To Erin's surprise Will started laughing. But there was no happiness in it. "Believe it or not. I thought they were beneath being killed by me." Will began to laugh even harder as he looked at the ground, finally seeming to actually weird Erin out. "Like being killed by me is such an honor, right? But that's how I felt. Like touching any of them myself would infect me or something. I got my minions to do it. Because I have minions. I'm a superhero with freakin minions...."

Will's dry laughter continued until Erin put her arm on his shoulder with a genuinely concerned look on her face. "Will...it's okay. Having...that many people on your conscience, well...the guilt is understandable." Will looked up slowly and turned to Erin. "That's just it Erin. If I actually felt guilty I'd be beating myself up for what I did. I'd turn myself in or...something. I'm trying so hard to find anything wrong with killing every single one of them...and I can't. They're the scum of the Earth. Weak willed people who don't even deserve to...breath the same air as genuinely innocent people. It's just...." Erin gave a slight nod as she finally understood why he came to her. "Will...I'm sorry but you came to the wrong person. If you're looking for someone to tell you killing those people was wrong, you're not going to hear it from me. I wasn't joking when I said I'd have killed half of them for you. Hell, I'd have killed all of them for you. I agreed with everything you said. But...you had to know that. From what you told me, Duo has had way more experience than me killing the guilty. Why didn't you go to her?"

Will returned the nod and let out a sigh. "Duo...she may be my best friend, but...I know that she looks up to me. When I became a demon, she never said it, but I know she felt that I took the easy way out, and that's true but I stand by my decision and all the physical and spiritual pain that comes with it. She killed the guilty for decades, Erin. 55 years of service in Hell and yet she was able to do a 180 and become one of us...one of them... You can see it in her eyes when she fights, part of her still wants to succumb to that hunger. Part of her still doesn't get the logic of 'Why beat them and wait for them to come back after you when you can just end it now?', but she does it anyway and uses me as an example that it works when things get rough. The whole ordeal with Vicious killed her inside, but in the end she did the 'right' thing." Once again a small smile crossed Erin's face as she understood. "You don't want to disappoint her."

Will slumped again with a sigh. "You're not weak, Will. The fact that you're beating yourself up over something you honestly don't think you did wrong proves that. You just have to learn that...wrong and right aren't black and white. The fact is despite what your friends may say, we are in fact above the law. And it's not logical to let homicidal maniacs into a system that's just going to spit them back out to prey on the innocent again. As bad as you feel now, how much worse would you have felt if you let them go and they kidnapped another couple of sacrifices?" Will lifted his head. "You're right. I know most things are shades of gray, but we're not above the law-OW!" Will suddenly grabbed his forhead which had just been flicked really hard by Erin. "You should have just left it at I'm right. Would have made things a lot easier for you." She said, with her smile returning. "Between me, you and Duo, over our lifetime's have killed the number of a small town and yet we're still the 'good guys'." This time Will let out a laugh but this one was genuine. "Erin...you're so not a good guy." "Shades of gray! If you thought I was evil you'd have had me arrested...or I'd have found to way to kill you if you tried. One or the other. Personally I think it'd have been the latter..."

"Heh! You wish." Will and Erin both swapped devious grins as both were pretty sure they could take the other out if they needed to. Will leaned back on the couch, looking at the ceiling. Maybe Erin was right, maybe he was indeed looking at things too black and white, but that didn't take away from one very big point. "The Titans chose me to be their leader..." Erin's face once again went serious. "Will...don't take this the wrong way or anything...but...considering how 'goody goody' the Titans are...how much they and Young Justice are in the Justice League's shadow...maybe they chose wrong." "...but...I tried. I tried so hard..." Erin let out a sympathetic smile as she sprawled out on couch. "Trust me, I know from experience. You can only be something you're not for so long before you just have to accept it or go insane denying it. Only you can tell whether you're a Titan or...something else." "Like you?" Will asked which got a smirk from Erin. "Bingo."

Will stood up, which considering the way Erin was sprawled, partially on him, almost threw her off the couch which got a genuine chuckle from him. "You were wrong about one thing though, Erin. I do think I came to the right person." Erin let out a smile as well. "Awww, so...you gonna stay the night?" Erin asked with a naughty smirk to which Will rolled his eyes. "Psh! In your dreams." Erin replied by licking her lips. "In yours. So handsome, that a demonic pentagram in your pocket or ya just happy to see me?" Much to Erin's surprise Will reached in his pocket and pulled out a demonic pentagram which he threw for her to catch as he shadowported out. "Thanks for the help." "It was a joke! Who the hell carries a pentagram in their pocket! Seriously!"

Will was still chuckling as he appeared in front of one of the few places he was unable to shadowport directly into. He'd gotten a morally questionable opinion which did make him feel better but it'd only be fair to get more than one. As usual, the cold air was biting at him as he opened the door. Will could tell by the White Mage's fighting style that she had most likely used lethal force against her oponents. Hell, her training methods would have killed most people on their own. She'd also given him an open invitation to visit her if he had problems which he rarely took. Better late than never...or so he thought.

"Elvira? Are you here?" Will asked as he entered the training room he'd become quite familiar with over his time with her. He also learned of her love of the theatric. "If you are...please...I'm sure you know why I'm here. *sigh* You always know. I'm just...really not in the mood for games now." Will said as he looked around. He couldn't remember a time he came there and she hadn't already been there waiting for him. "Honestly, Harm. I couldn't have said it any better myself..." The White Mage's voice echoed throughout the room, though Will still didn't see her. "Elv-" Will started before his face exploded with pain from Elvira's kick. He should have been surprised by the sudden attack but honestly, her calling him 'Harm' instead of Will is just a slight step up from calling him 'demon'.

The rest was too fast for him to really coordinate even if he chose to fight back. He'd sparred with Elvira repeatedly and he couldn't ever remember her attacking him this viciously, including when she seemed to be angry at him. But he just didn't have it in him to fight back. It wasn't the first time he could feel his flesh tearing and bones breaking with each blow, but it did feel different this time as he realized she wasn't holding back. She was genuinely trying to kill him. A sickening thud was heard as Will's limp body slammed into the wall. He barely had enough wits about him to look up, and even then the blood was blurring his vision. But he could see what was coming through the red cover, after all, it's not too hard to see light even if it's formed into countless energy spikes.

Will's body recoiled like a rag doll as the spikes went through him, each twisting his body unaturally. After awhile he could barely feel the burns, as the attacking seemed to momenarily stop before he felt a sudden force on his face which he could only assume was to disorient him even more than he already was as he felt a blade on his neck. "*cough* So...that...beheading thing...really does...the trick....huh?" At this point all Will could really do was talk. Though he could feel his bones beginning to find each other and fuse back together he no longer had the will to speed up the process. "Yes, it's the highest probability of killing you..." Elvira's tone was unusually cold, even for her as Will couldn't really do anything other than force a smile as he could feel the blade slowly cutting his neck.

"Well...what are you waiting for?...do it. I'm going to....regenerate eventually...if you don't." Will wheezed out, which got another cold reply from his teacher. "I know what I'm doing." As painful as he was, Will began to let out the throaty laughter that had weirded out Erin previously. "Of course you do...you attacked me when...you knew I wouldn't fight back...I'm...I'm going to do something...really bad aren't I?" The melancholy in Will's voice was evident as he asked the question, just as Elvira's continued pushing of her blade gave her answer. "Heh...figures...was just...starting to feel good...about myself...again. I always wondered...why you were always so...hesitant to...train me. Guess you didn't want...me to...use your teaching's...against you huh?" "You're wrong. If I were worried about that I wouldn't have taught you at all."

While Elvira's voice was beginning to soften the blade was still continuing on it's path, if it went too much further Will doubted he'd still be able to speak which he was beginning to think was the reason she was moving so slowly with it. "You're...not as bad of a person as you make yourself out to be. I didn't want to get too attached. But on the other side, I needed to know what you could do. For what it's worth...I am genuinely sorry." The sword began to come out of Will's neck as she held up the blade readying it for the final swing. But it didn't take a genius to realize she was having trouble with her follow through. Apparently her worries for getting too attached were well founded. "Come on then...do it! You've been waiting all this time to kill me haven't you? Suck it up and swing the damn sword!" As Will found himself getting angrier, he found his healing ability getting more potent as he began to move slightly. "Hell, I'll even fight back if it'll make it easier for you." Will started to try to stand when he realized that he was able to quite easily. His own healing powers didn't work quite that quickly...unless he had some help.

"It won't matter, Will. None of it will matter. The events have been set in motion. And I can't...I can't kill you for something you haven't done yet..." Elvira said with a sigh as she sheathed her sword. Needless to say, Will was considerably confused but fired a blast towards her when she looked like she was going to turn around. It missed, but they both knew full well it never intended to hit her. "You can't do that, Elvira! You can't come that close to killing me and then have a crisis of conscience! Don't you dare turn your back on me!" Elvira stopped and turned her head back just enough to make eye contact with will as a smirk crossed her face. "...or what? Goodbye Will." With that she turned again and began to walk away as a lightbulb went off in his head. "I'm...going to kill you aren't I? You were trying to stop me before I... Elvira...you can see the future...how can I stop it from happening? Please..." Will pleaded, which caused Elvira to stop once again.

"The only thing that would stop what's in motion...is the one thing you'd never do. Goodbye Will." With that, the White Mage was gone. "Wait! *sigh* Could you just for this one time not be so damn cryptic?" But there was no answer despite the fact that he was almost positive she was still there. "...fine...I'll leave...just...let me know one thing. Your brother's training Daria, like you were training me..." "Ha! Trust me, Waribashi is much less...manipulative than I am. He genuinely sees something in her..." Elvira's voice echoed through the room as Will figured that was probably the last reply he was going to get from her. "I'm...sorry. Goodbye Elvira...." Will finally stated as he left. But he had a feeling what he had to do. There were very few things he'd actually tag 'never' to, and one of them was blatantly obvious. But the fact is...The White Mage was wrong on this account. He'd be more than willing to leave everything behind, including Cassie...if it meant he wouldn't live up to his demonic heritage.

For the third time this day, Will found himself knocking on a door. But to the best of his knowledge he couldn't remember ever dreading it more. He found himself thinking about the first time he knocked on her door. The original idea was for him to simply pay her back ironically because of what he did when he went evil. It sucked that it always came down to that. "Coming!" Will's eyes narrowed as he heard Duo's voice from inside. As he listened he heard Cissie and Traya's as well. Just great, he would choose a time to do this when everyone was there. Soon Duo opened the door with a smile. "Will!" She said excitedly as she threw her arms around Will. Will didn't return the embrace, but due to the skin to skin contact he knew he didn't have to.

And sure enough Duo's soul reading powers did pick up a gist of the situation. It always was more potent with contact. Will's face remained unreadable but Duo could now read it all too well. "I need to talk to Cass.." Will muttered to which Duo gave a quick nod. "Cissie! Traya! Come on guys, the two love birds need some alone time." Before the two could protest, Duo began shoving them out. "Will, is that you?" Cassie's voice sang from another room. "Yeah...it's me..."

"Oooo someone sounds like a grumpy puss today!" Cassie taunted as she bounded from the hallway and into Will's lap with a kiss. "Better?" Though he did kiss back, his lack of enthusiasm cast a worried expression on the amazon. "Will...what's wrong?" Cassie asked to which Will simply dropped his head. He wanted to say what he needed to say but his throat suddenly went dry. But he knew it needed to be said. "Cass...I have to leave..." Will was surprised by Cassie's sudden exagerrated sigh. "Holy Hera, Will. You're so dramatic. I thought something was really wrong. Some secret mission for the DEO you can't tell me about?"

Will was the one who let out a sigh this time. "No...its...not that simple..." Once again Will knew what he wanted to say but he was having difficulty saying it. It wasn't really like he could just say it bluntly...well he could say that but it wouldn't turn out much better than what he was already doing. "Whatever it is, Will, I'm sure you won't be gone that long, just keep in touch, okay Baby?" Once again Will let out a sigh. He couldn't hint around the issue, it wasn't fair to string her long like that. "I'm not coming back, Cass."

Cassie gave a sharp look to Will after that comment. "What do you mean you're not coming back." Will let out a long sigh. "What I mean is what I said. For my good and for everyone else's I'm leaving. Period. Not a mission or anything like that. I'm just going to be gone. Understand?" Will tried to phrase it every possible way he could to get the message across which it did...a little too well. "DO I UNDERSTAND!? HOW CAN YOU JUST COME HERE AND TELL ME YOU'RE LEAVING!? WHAT IN HERA'S NAME ARE YOU THINKING ABOUT!?" Cassie's yelling was so forceful even Will was thrown back surprised by it, though to be honest he should have expected it. "You don't want to know what I'm thinking about Cass...that's the problem. I tried...I really did but...it's best if I get away from everyone." Will's voice was calm in contrast to Cassie's shriek.

Cassie let out a skeptical look as she got off of Will's lap and stood over him, almost as if daring him to stand up so that he'd be over her. "Is this some 'I'm going evil' thing? We've been over this before, Will. If you're worried about being evil then you're not! Stop being such a twat!" Will cocked his head to the side. "What does that even mean?" There was almost a red aura around Cassie at this point. "Will...don't start with me..." "I think that ship's sailed Cass. Look...you've got every right to be angry with me. And to be honest I'd prefer it that way, I'd rather you think of me as a coward than what I actually am." With that, Will got up and started out the door, to which Cassie blazed in front of him and gave him a hard push back on the couch...which at that point was 7 feet away...he wasn't sure but he thought that she bruised some of his ribs. "DON'T YOU DARE!" Will was slightly winded by the push and fairly surprised that she did it at all which kept him in place for her next part of the rant. "YOU DON'T JUST WALK OUT ON ME LIKE THAT! NOT AFTER ALL WE'VE BEEN THROUGH! I DON'T CARE WHAT YOU THINK YOU DID, WILL! I LOVE YOU DAMMIT! BUT EVEN THEN I WON'T JUST WAIT FOREVER FOR YOU TO SEE HOW STUPID YOU'RE BEING!"

Will was able to regain his composure enough to stand up again. "I don't expect you to wait for me, Cass. I expect you to get over me and find someone else. Superboy was always better for you anyway, we both know that. It's why I never like the guy. I knew you'd see that eventually. Here's your chance." Will started to go for the door again but Cassie was still in his way, but what actually stopped him was the look of shock on her face. "I-..I can't believe you just said that. Will...I want to hit you so hard right now...and the only reason I'm not is because it would just give you more of a reason to leave. Fine, Will. You want to leave, then leave." Cassie stepped to the side to let Will go past. "But know this. If you leave now, I'll never forgive you. You'll have to live with the knowledge that you broke my heart and I'll hate you forever because of it." Cassie's words weren't what cut Will the most, it was her tone, which was genuinely hurt. Will gave a long look at Cassie, then a long look at the door before he made his first few steps towards it. "Oh my God! Are you actually going to leave!?" She yelled as she quickly grabbed Will's arm.

"You...said..." Will started slightly confused. "I LIED! I DIDN'T THINK YOU WOULD ACTUALLY LEAVE! For crying out loud, Will you can freakin' shadowport and you keep going for the door! You obviously don't want to leave, so don't!" This time Will came back with a thundering voice which he hadn't done since the first time they broke up. "OF COURSE I DON'T WANT TO LEAVE! I LOVE YOU TOO! BUT I HAVE TO!" This time, contrasting with the way it went down when Will and Cassie first broke up, he wasn't yelling right in her face. Will actually did keep his distance but that didn't make the sight any less frightening as Cassie fell back on the couch. Will was going to take this time to take her advice and shadowport out when he once again felt Cassie grabbing his arm, this time her voice was disturbingly calm. "please. don't go. at least give me a reason. a real reason. does this have to do with those children? it wasn't your fault they were killed before you got to them..." For a rarity the calm demeonor of Cassie actually seemed to scare Will. "It's...not that simple...that was just one of the last steps to-" "then tell me. don't I deserve that much?" Will let out another sigh as he gave a look to the shadow portal he made and another look to Cassie, whose hands slowly slid off his arms.

To be continued...
(Note: This won't actually be finished until about...2/3 of the way into "Farewell")

"-and then she said not to worry because Waribashi wasn't as manipulative as she was. He genuinely saw potential in Daria. And then I came here. So there you go. I've been killing demons all year, I almost single handedly killed the entire Church of Blood with the help of my anti-human minions, I did it knowing full well that Raven would feel the pain of all of them as they died and apparently I'm going to go psycho and kill Elvira. Happy now?" Will finished with a sigh. While it did feel better to get all of that off of his chest, he now had the fear of what Cassie's reaction was going to be...as soon as her jaw went back to it's upright position. "I...I..." Cassie started as Will grumbled back. "Your face'll get stuck like that, you know." Cassie's eyes dropped slightly. "I'm...not completely sure what to say..."

A slight smile crossed Will's face. "Sure you do. It's either going to be 'Will, I love you but you have to turn yourself in.' or 'I'm going to be a big hypocrite and look the other way when it's someone I care about whose a mass murderer.' Those are pretty much your two choices." Cassie continued to look down, her voice just as calm now as it was when she begged Will to stay and tell her everything. "Will...could you please drop the sarcasm?" Will let out another sigh. "Sorry...it's a defense mechanism..." "I know..." Will leaned back on the couch, sure now that Cassie knew the monster he really was, she was trying to figure out a way to leave him like before. "Well? Sarcasm aside, my point was still valid."

"Will...what's going on in your head? You're too logical a person to leave us because some future seer who you've proved wrong before predicted you'd go crazy and she wouldn't be able to stop you. There has to be something more to it. Some...idea in your head that you think could lead to this.." Cassie asked, looking Will dead in the eye. "You never answered the question." Will pointed out, dodging his own. "Answer mine first." Cassie shot back so quickly it was like she was expecting Will to point that out. "But I asked mine f-" "And I'm a girl, so I win. Now answer the mother$#&%ing question!" Will's eyes shot wide with the beginnings of a smile forming. "*gasp* Language!" "Will...I swear...if you don't start taking my question seriously, you will awaken the goddess in me and believe me when I say I don't mean that in a 'fun' way."

Will gave a defeated sigh. "Okay...okay...though if I can say so, you're insanely sexy when you're this mad." "WILL!" "We're losing, Cassie. I know there's a time when every superhero or freedom fighter, whatever feels this way, but as I was killing the Church of Blood, I couldn't help but think that they represented most of humanity. It's like Mortem said, innocent enough, but manipulated by evil in all it's forms, especially when they're desperate. It's like...yeah we're putting temporary life savers on everyone we help. We put up a few dams. But they consistently break while the planet continues to flood. I...know we can't stop the rain...I just...want to take some of the water away...as much as I can...give humanity some hope." Cassie was listening intently with her eyes closed almost seeing the planet covered in water. "But...how could you do that? Take away enough water to make a difference? One bucket at a time?" Will shook his head, knowing she was referring to killing all the villains they face. "No. I'm talking about being in control of where the water goes."

Cassie raised an eyebrow. "And just how would we do that?" Cassie asked skeptically. There was a pause and for a moment it seemed that Will hadn't heard her, but Cassie continued to wait patiently for the answer. "I do what I told my father I'd do to get this body." Once again Cassie gave a curious look. "You..never did say exactly how you convinced him to give you another body..." Will looked away slightly. "I said he was afraid that I'd be the one to successfully overthrow him." Cassie froze for a second as she realized what her love was suggesting. "You want to kill your father? I...okay lets say theoretically you succeed in that. Won't another demon just take his place?"

Will looked up, his red and black eyes meeting her blue ones. "As I said before, I want to control the water...or to be more specific...the fire." Cassie cocked her head to the side as she shifted her weight. "So...you'd be making Hell, and in a sense all of evil into something good?" Will slowly shook his head. "It's not that...simple. To get in control of Hell and to stay in control of it I'd need power. More power than I have now. Way more." Despite her reservations on the plan Cassie couldn't helped but be at least be partially intrigued. "How much more?...theoretically..." "Enough that I could walk into Apokalips, $%^&*slap Darkseid, turn my back on him, walk away, and he'd pretend it didn't happen." Cassie found herself blinking a little to let that process. "Ah...Will...you know I love you, Sweety. But I've known you a long time now and...you couldn't handle that much power." Will smiled slightly at the reply. "I believe what you mean...is I couldn't handle that much power...and stay good."

For the first time in the conversation since Will opened up, Cassie started getting a little worried. "But...if you allow yourself to turn evil again...truly evil. And take your father's place in Hell. Won't that defeat the whole purpose?" Will seemed to be deeply contemplating as he threw back his head. "No...because as evil as I can be. As manipulative as I can be. As vicious as I can be. I'm not as bad as my father." The light bulb finally went off in Cassie's head as she saw Will's train of thought. "And if you're evil incarnate, that makes evil as a whole better...and...you've taken away a good bit of the 'water'......" Will let out a slight chuckle. "Deep, huh?" Cassie found herself laughing a bit as well. "A little, yeah...."

There was a few minutes of silence between the two before Cassie turned to Will again. "Okay...let's say...hypothetically...you become an evil god and take over Hell and evil as a whole. Wouldn't it be better to have...a moral anchor?" Will's face went immediately serious as Cassie asked the question. He was beginning to think maybe he shouldn't have suggested it. "Cass...while part of me is doing backflips that you'd suggest that...as moral as you may be....you'd get corrupted too...that much power would corrupt anyone." Cassie's look continued to bare into Will. "Yes...I know...but...even a slightly moral center is better than going it alone isn't it?" Will found himself staring back. "Well...yeah...but...this whole idea...it's what The White Mage was going to kill me to stop..." Will felt his cheeks burning slightly as Cassie put her hand on them. "Maybe that's because you were going to do it alone. Haven't you always said you're a better person with me?"

Will slowly removed Cassie's hand. "Cass...are you agreeing with me because you think it'll work...or because you think that's the only way we'll be able to stay together?" Cassie looked down a bit before turning back to Will. "Honestly?...I'm not sure. If I had to guess I'd say a little of both. But...I do honestly think that...it would work....Is that wrong?" There was a slightly awkward pause before Will broke into a loud laugh. "Cass. We're talking about me becoming the Devil. This takes 'The road to Hell is paved with good intentions' in the most literal sense possible." Cassie began to laugh herself. "Okay, so it's wrong. But...if you're right...and it works..." "I know...everyone would be better off for our sacrifice."

Once again there was a silence, and once again it was Cassie who broke it. "Will...if we do this...what about the others?" Will's face was again unusually serious. "Do you honestly think they'd let me become an evil god? We'd obviously have to kill them all."

"Holy Hera, Will! I thought you were serious!" Cassie shrieked as Will could barely hide back his laughter. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry. But the look on your face...Priceless" Will choked out through his laughter, while Cassie seemed like she was catching her breath after drowning. "I hate you...so much...though you might have won me over if we got to kill Erin first." Will grabbed Cassie into a playful embrace. "No Erin killing. Or Titan killing for that matter. Besides the fact that they're our friends, it's not like their way of fighting evil is wrong. We'd just be...going at it a different way." He could feel Cassie relaxing a bit now as she returned the embrace but not without a playful punch to the ribs for the scare.

"But seriously. We would have to cut our ties with them. Completely." Once again Cassie looked him in the eye. He could tell she was wondering if this was another joke, but there was no smirk on his face this time. "With what we'd have to do...and how we'd have to do it...would you really want us associated with the Titans?" Cassie let out a sigh. She couldn't argue that that didn't make sense. "Cass. You know I'd never force you to do anything you didn't want to do. If you don't agree with this, I'll completely understand. I'll even turn myself i-" Cassie shushed Will by putting her finger to his mouth. "I do agree with you, Will. If it's a sacrifice for the greater good...I'm willing to make it. But...pointing out the obvious...we were the voted leaders. They chose us..." A solemn smile crossed Will's face. "As someone told me earlier today. If we're going through with this....then they chose wrong. Hopefully they won't do it again."

"So...we're just going to leave them?" Will shook his head slowly as he seemed to be picking his words carefully. "No..leaving wouldn't work. We have to do something that completely cuts us off from them. And..." Will seemed to leave the sentence hanging a little too long as Cassie edged him on. "And?" "And...at the risk of my ego showing. It'd be nice to know they can get on fine without us." Cassie gave a curious expression. "How do we do that?" She asked, to which Will seemed to already have the answer. "We test them." Once again Cassie felt the need to ask the obvious question. "What...if they fail?" Will let out a sigh. "Then we'll be forced to injure enough of them that they get a stronger roster." Cassie gave Will her 'Are you joking?' look and once again it seemed he was completely serious this time. "Cass...if they can't at least hold their own against us when we're holding back...how can we expect them to take down the next big bad they come across, who doesn't see them as friends? We're talking about lives here, and not just theirs. I'd rather have them injured and angry than dead."

"Well...fine if you're going to get all intense on me like that..." Cassie said in a slight pout. There was a slight smirk in Will's demeonor but he was still all business. "Cass...this is it...if you want out. Now's the time. I promise to you I'll understand either way, and my love for you will be the same regardless." Cassie let out a sigh herself as she searched inward to find what she truly felt. The two held each other quietly for what seemed like ages before Cassie finally spoke. "We've got some planning to do."

To be Continued in Farewell

Epilogue

Shortly after Harm had left the Tibetan temple, Elvira looked on with her usual emotionless expression. She could only hope that he'd heed her advice, but knowing Will, he'd try and end up doing the exact thing that she saw him doing. But she'd lived a long life, if it came to an end, so be it. As long as there was a purpose behind her death. "I know you're there." She said bluntly in a monotone way.

"I can never get the jump on you!" a childish voice said as the child-form of Waribashi walked out of the shadows "So...Do you think that he'll go through with it?" he asked as he took of his hood.

Elvira paused for a bit almost as if she hadn't heard her brother before turning to him. "That depends on whether he actually takes the hint I gave him. Which is highly unlikely. He's surprised me before...I just...don't see that happening this time. Things are about to get very complicated..."

Waribashi smiled at his sister "Well I don't suppose that the others will be hapy when they find out I mean if he does do it, Daria will want to stop him and the Titans will want to stop them." he took a pause to go to his full teenage form "Are you actually gping tp stop teaching him and if that is true what about him teaching under me?"

A slight smirk crossed Elvira's face as she looked at Waribashi. Though it definitely wasn't one of happiness. "I take it you weren't here for the whole conversation then? The next time we see each other it's highly likely it'll be his turn to attempt to kill me. And if my visions are correct, he will succeed. I see nothing past that point. I doubt you'd want to train him after that..." Her expression once again turned serious. "But while we're on the subject of you and Harm, I do need you to promise me something."

Waribashi smiled the same smile he was given and said "I won't tell Daria about Harm, not that it will matter anyway, I mean she will find out." He then looked down and said "He will actually kill you and you don't want me to do anything? I'm your brother and even more then that I'm your twin remember that?"

Elvira put her hand on Waribashi's shoulder, showing an extremely rare sign of affection. "Of course I remember, Waribashi. That's why I want you to promise me you'll let it go. I can guarentee you I won't go down easy, but if Harm is able to kill me then he'll be able to kill you. And if he kills you, he'll be forced to kill Daria. And if he's able to kill Daria, he'll have to kill Shazam and...we don't want that snowball to escalate sooner than it has to. Not while there's still a possibility that it can change. You have to trust me on this." The small semblance of a smile had been gone from The White Mage's features, as her gaze into Waribashi's eyes drove home her sincerity.

Waribashi smiled at his siser and then said "Then kick Pink-eye's butt! Actually call him pink-eye for me! Or! Or! tell him I said it yeah!" he then regained his posture and put his cloak on his head "May I at least watch from my dojo in Kyoto?"

"Heh." The White Mage let out a small chuckle. "Sure thing, 'Bashi." Elvira said playfully sticking out her tongue before going back to her serious expression. "On both accounts. Nothing wrong with having a rooting section." Turning to look outside again, her face was once again solemn. "Even we don't live forever. I need to prepare. Farewell my brother. Do stay as sincere as you've always been. Being manipulative tends to bite you in the ass."

"Sure thing Vi" Waribashi said as he was about to go he also turned his back and said "I love you sister." and poofed in a cloud of red smoke.

A subtle smile crossed Elvira's features as her brother vanished. The future was always a very fluid thing. It was one of the reasons she looked at it so often. It's amazing how the smallest things can have the biggest impacts. But some things remain the same regardless. And as she looked into the future see saw the same. An unexpected betrayal followed by a series of events, some orchestrated by a certain 6, that in the end could only lead to one conclusion. And some events being set by others to make things even worse. The more she looked, the more she saw that what she said earlier about the future being very complicated, was quite the understatement.

The End