The Beginning Part 1

Pounding along the streets, Lucifer glanced back at the burning mass which was his former home. Timber and bricks were ablaze, the maniacal laughter of the attackers, the screams of the women, and the deathly silence of the men.

Not too hard to imagine what was happening.

Neighbors fought against neighbors, both the possessed and the desperate. Children were swallowed whole, down their fathers' stomachs, or into the roaring maws of fire.

He was the only survivor.

His world started to crack.

Then his salvation; or an untimely doom.

Zombies, for that's what they're called, encroached upon him, ready to feast on warm flesh. He scrambled away, tripping over vines and roots, like even Mother Nature herself hated his guts.

If he had known how true that was, Lucifer would have never hidden away in a cave. Sitting in the jaws of the earth, he might as well be courting death. Move, a strange voice spoke to him from within the darkness.

Come and embrace me my sweet. The tantalizingly soft and gentle voice called out again. Lucifer felt the strangest urge to obey the hidden speaker's every word. If it had told him to jump into a fire, so be it.

Oh the irony.

His mother had drilled a hard lesson into him once: Don't talk to strangers.

So Lucifer did the smart thing and backed away, out into the sunlight. It burned the skin, like an iron brand. Yelping, Lucifer ducked into the shadows without thinking, and fell.

Into the realm of the Dark.

It took him 5 years to claw his way back out again.

When he did see the light of day again, it was a glaring, blinding, burning pain he felt and endured.

My sweet, that soothing voice called out again. How was the trip?

Lucifer spat back out an answer so harsh it could have chilled the earth's core.

Oooh, feisty eh? Guess Tartarus hasn't managed to break that tiny insignificant soul of yours hmm? But you do enjoy meddling with others? The annoyingly feminine – it had to be feminine, nothing else could pull off creepy, comforting and pure evil into one voice – voice put an increasingly angered fury on Lucifer's face.

"Not broken? Maybe, but I'll wear it with honor, as the only one not affected by your evil taint Gaea. I may be born from ash, and someday return to ash, but until then, I am your nemesis, your adversary, and you would do well to stay out of my way. Clear?!"

The earth shook. Mistaking it as Gaea throwing a tantrum, he didn't move until it was too late. The cave entrance collapsed in a landslide, and all light was shut off. Although most would find it unnerving, Lucifer found it to his liking. An embodiment of the Dark, he draws strength from any source of nothingness or lack of light.

Feeling renewed energy flow into his worn muscles, Lucifer stood, knees slightly bent, staff at the ready. A slight displacement of air.

His muscles twitched reflexively, sending his head to the side in the fraction of a second. The heavy crossbow bolt crashed into the far wall with a screeching sound of black metal carving furrows into the stone.

Spinning around, Lucifer swung out at the figure he sensed hiding in the shadows. A very satisfying smack of hard wood against flesh.

The man screamed in agony as his soul was ripped out of his body. It flowed towards Lucifer, condensing on the barely glowing blue ore embedded in the top of the staff.

It glowed slightly brighter.

Spinning again, Lucifer spun the staff, hitting aside the bolts as they hissed through the air. More came from behind. Jumping up, he held himself above the crossfire on his staff. The crossbow men screamed as their companions shot each other full of bolts.

Maintaining his position despite his aching hand, Lucifer cast around for any more signs of danger.

Breathing is the hardest to disguise.

Casting out his strength, he sent pulses of energy towards the survivor, getting a bead on his position. The poor man never knew what hit him.

As Lucifer descended from his staff, he pulled out the throwing knife with a squelch.

A sharp heavy sword made of rock rested on his shoulder, edge dangerously close to his jugular.

Now, my sweet, how does that feel? Good? Satisfying? I have a lot more where that came from, and some.

"Get away from me you wretch, I bet they shut you within yourself because of your face, your ugliness."

Hissing in rage, Gaea swung, and might have succeeded in taking off Lucifer's head, if not for his hand grasping the blade tightly. Ignoring the warm blood beginning to pool in his hand, Lucifer smirked.

"Somebody has lost their touch. Who knew the famed destroyer of humanity would fail to kill a mere mortal?"

Yelling in fury, Gaea tried again, and this time Lucifer's hand slipped. His head was no longer there.

Grinning up at her from the floor, that unnaturally black eyes, dancing with the malice of hellfire and the torment of the damned; Lucifer always had the last laugh.

Her sword was stuck to the guard in Gaea's face, those eyes which originally held a burning passion, were consumed in shock. Mangled beyond repair, she tried to pull out the sword, gasping as a blinding pain flashed through her skull, like someone had rammed it with a red hot iron poker.

That description wasn't too far off.

With her tongue pinned to the back of her mouth by the sword, Gaea barely managed to choke out the words. The Final Prophecy:

Truths and lies, burn together,

Eternity falls, masks unfold.

Final words, Light of Day,

Bane of Dark, shows the way.

Soul Wielder, power untold,

Mistress of Shadows, end of road.

Last stand, crashing from heights,

Master's death, foes unite.

Evil rises, nothing as it seems,

Orchestrator, yet to be seen.

With a strangled cry, Gaea slumped to the floor, the sickly yellow glow in her eyes fading away… for eternity.


Alexander Rasea charged forwards, swinging his massive broadsword upwards. His opponent countered, and sent three rapid strikes back at Alex. Dodging them, Alex swung again.

And it continued, one attacking while the other blocked, before switching around.

Eventually, Alexander was forced to stumble away, under the onslaught of lightning fast strikes of a spear. After 10 minutes of sparring, Alexander's shield was forced out of his grip. A spear tip appeared into existence under his neck, dangerously close to the jugular.

"You win," Alexander called out.

Smirking slightly, the opponent pulled back. Alexander immediately lunged forwards with a knife concealed in his sleeve. A single eyebrow went up, while he bent over backwards, dodging the blade as it whooshed through the space where his head had been.

Cart wheeling backwards, he executed a bicycle kick, sending the knife point first into the soft loam 10 meters away from them. Instantaneously, he had Alexander in a headlock.

"Do you surrender?"

"Y… Yes."

Releasing Alex, he vaulted backwards, plucking the knife out of the ground.

"Well done. Your persuasion skills are definitely improving. You almost had me believing you. Almost."

Alex bowed, "that maybe, but I am still unworthy of facing Master in combat."

Chuckling, he handed over the dagger, noting the well concealed sheath woven into the cloth. "You have been my finest student of late, and you may be my last. For that, I would deem you ready to receive the title of the Lord of Life. Are you willing?"

Alexander was taken aback. "What? What do you mean by I am your last? You are not going to die, I won't let you!"

Smiling a sad smile, "It is not up to you or me whether I live to see another sunrise. That is the will of the Fates alone, and no one has ever changed fate."

But… this was his master, and he would never let him go. What no one knew would always come to bite them hard. And he wasn't known as the Nameless Slinger for nothing. Still…

The only one who truly cared for him, was dying? Alexander couldn't wrap his mind around that.

"Master, you are invincible, unbeatable, how can you be felled?"

"Old age m'boy. I'm older than I look."

A glow started to pulse in the air. It traced the outline of a large oval shape floating in the middle of the sky. About the height of a man, and twice the width, it is completely 2 dimensional. And it was just floating there, watching the master and the pupil.

"Do not cry for me, my pupil. A man must be allowed to die in peace, have you not learned?"

"Yes Master… Master?"

The old man didn't respond. And he never will.

His skin started to glow with the same orange pulse as the rip in the sky. It intensified, and Alexander was forced to shut his eyes tight and look away. He screamed in fear, rage and horror, as the Pulse descended upon the body.

Gale force winds blew, circling around him as everything else was flattened or sent flying. Multiple pulses of orange energy came out from the rip, imbuing everything around in an expanding 10 mile radius with the strange energy.

The ground cracked, water hissed and the air turned as dry as the desert. A fiery burst of heat raced across the land, turning all that it touched into sand. Creatures and plants shriveled up and died, as moisture vaporized into nothingness.

The most famous desert was formed – The Sahara.

And the cause of it all? The release of all that energy contained within the Master's soul.

The force was so powerful it had turned all the mass within ground zero into sand, breaking them up and changing their molecular structure to that of sand particles.

So whenever you visit the Sahara, remember: its creation was with the deaths of millions.

At the center of the great release of energy was a huge gaping crater, stretching forever downwards into the darkness. Alexander, blinking his eyes to get used to the sudden brightness of the sun, found himself lying on a bed of grass. A pond filled the center, with several palm trees swaying in the breeze.

Stretching forever into the horizon is a sea of sand.

Alexander stumbled to his feet, trying to remember how he had come to this place. All he could recall was a huge blinding light, and a starburst of energy.

As he stumbled towards the water for a drink, he noticed something on the ground: a single pack, with the initials N.S. on it. Opening the pack, he found a small book of interest.

Flipping to a random page, he saw a single message written in neat handwriting:

Go to the North, and all your answers will be solved.

Alexander flipped through the book, but nothing else appeared.

Groaning, he stuffed it back in his pack.

And started to scream; a wordless yell of pain, anger, frustration and sadness. And a sensation of great loss, like he had lost someone important. Maddeningly, all that came to mind was warm smile and a staff glowing blue.

He tried to convey all his feelings into that single roar of vexation. Why was he stranded here in the middle of a desert with no one else around? What was the freaking purpose of this? If there are divine beings, are they having a good laugh, watching him stumble around on baking hot sand?

He wanted to cry, instead though that smile filled his consciousness, imbuing him with hope. Should he survive, he will meet his destiny and achieve the greatest victory in his lifetime.

The time was 4 in the afternoon. And he could guess the general direction of where to go. So he started walking, hopefully North and salvation, and not another death trap to swallow him whole.


"Hup!"

Jasmine cartwheeled backwards, dodging the staff swung at her. Landing on her hands, she twisted to crouch low, avoiding the next blow, before lunging at the attacker's legs. Her face hit hard metal. As she tried to backtrack, a powerful arm had her in a deadlock.

She executed a back kick, hooking her leg around her attacker's, while pulling with all her might. The attacker fell, but their hold did not loosen; until Jasmine hit the nerve bundles on the elbow.

She had managed to twist enough for leverage to hit the critical spot, and she promptly flew up a nearby tree like a wraith. As her attacker got up, they spun the staff, before unhooking the blasters, firing the Negashade and Sonikin fusion move.

As the spinning slugs reached her, Jasmine shot off the tree as it exploded in a shower of splinters.

Cut them down. Crash through their defense.

Ignoring the red and blue horned slug as it shot past her left ear, she jumped, riding the Hoprock's explosion, sending herself flying at her opponent.

The enemy's staff went up, intercepting the blow. Jasmine immediately slipped around the metal stick, weaving past it to come up with her elbow pushing it aside, while swinging her foot out to flip her opponent.

As they jumped, she pounced on them, barely noticing the disarmed staff. A whirlwind of blows, her opponent was forced back. No amount of skill in un-armed combat could stop her now.

Slapping her enemy's fist aside, she had them in a headlock, knife blade under their throat.

"You win."

Releasing them, she stepped back, tying her hair back into its usual ponytail.

"It appears the Unbeatable Master has finally fallen," Jasmine called out smirking.

"You have been improving. It was only a matter of time before you surpass your own master. You just have to improve on that knife work; I could have disarmed you several times."

"Thank you master. Tomorrow shall we have another sparring match?"

"No my student. Tomorrow you will be taking the Drop to the Deep Caverns. An old friend of mine will be waiting to pick you up. Down there, be wary of everything. Nothing is as it seems."

"Yes mother, you have been repeating yourself since last week!"

The young lady glared at the teenager, "You need to be careful! The last time my student had gone down there, he was torn apart on arrival! I do not wish for the same fate to befall you."

Jasmine rolled her eyes. "Of course; I do still get to see you right?"

She smiled, "Every year, of course you will."

Jasmine grinned, "Don't forget to give Jonathan my love when I go ok?"

The Unbeatable Master smiled, "Yes my dear, of course I will."


Lucifer could feel himself plummeting to his doom, and sad to say it happened way too often. His mystic falcon companion was no help in slowing his descent. He could have sworn he saw it preening its feathers while Lucifer fell.

When he hit bottom however, there was a strange sensation. Unlike the sensation of being scattered across the floor and smashed like a pancake, he felt like he was stuck in jelly.

His limbs wouldn't move, and he couldn't breathe. In fact, he couldn't even see his arms. Starting to panic, he moved his eyes, getting as good a view of his surroundings as he could. Facing the ground he saw to his right a pair of combat boots.

To his left, a staff, covered in a single rune.

Omega. The End.

Gods… Was he dead? But Hades definitely does not imprison souls in time…

Except for one; Kronus.

Titan of Time, he ruled over all of time, and was standing right next to Lucifer.

"Hello child. What brings you here?"

"My apologies Lord, I have fallen from the realm above."

Lucifer noticed how his words had sounded slightly strange.

"Ha! Finally, a mortal who understands the language of the Gods," Kronus mused. "Or are you actually one of us?"

Lucifer noticed how Kronus seemed to have a slight accent, heavy and guttural, like knives scraping along rough stone.

"No, my liege. I fell through one of Hecate's portals; she must have sent me here." Lucifer prayed Kronus didn't know of Hecate's passing; she had faded several years ago.

The Greek pantheon is slowly falling. One by one, gods major and minor have faded. The Olympian counsel now consists only of Zeus, Poseidon, Athena and Hermes.

All others have fallen into the Endless Range. And Zeus still believes they can pull through the crisis. In truth, Olympus has collapsed, the pantheon rapidly torn apart by the Romans and their Gods.

He really hoped Kronus didn't find out his parentage.

His hopes crashed and burned.

Kronus laughed, "Foolish perhaps, or just arrogant enough to try and challenge the Titan of Time, hmm?"

Lucifer paled. "No! I did not come here of my own free will! They sent me here to die! Killing me will only count as a sacrifice for them, so they may grow more powerful!"

Kronus drew up short. "What you say might hold true, the Olympians are not known for their love for their children. Sacrificing Hecate's brood isn't too far off…"

Lucifer sent a silent prayer of thanks to his now faded mother.

Blazing golden eyes snapped open. "Enough! I have rotted in here for far too long. You demigod, are to bring me more for your brethren to, ah, keep me company, so to speak. Especially the girls. Bring me all the female demigods of your pantheon, and you will live. Is that a deal?"

A hungry light danced within Kronus's eyes.

"Yes Lord, I shall bring all the female demigods alive, with a deadline of 3 days. Should there be none, this contract is void. I swear it on the Styx."

Thunder rumbled, muffled by the distance.

"And I too swear on the Styx."

More thunder.

Kronus snapped his fingers. "You have 3 days demigod. Do not fail."

Even as the image of Kronus slowly shimmered away, Lucifer smirked.

I have already won.


"Shit!"

Alexander dashed across the sand, stumbling as he lost his footing every two steps. His friend the vulture kept circling overhead, a beacon for all to see in this sea of sand.

The roar from behind had him moving faster, and he reached the top of the sand dune. The strong wind blew, and the sand slid from under him, sending Alexander sliding down a sand avalanche.

As he sat there buried up to the armpits in sand, he groaned. The Sphinx towered over him, its hypnotic gaze threatening to take control of his mind. Alexander immediately went still.

The monster's gaze is based on movement – hopefully – and Alex really didn't want to be turned into minced meat.

I know you're there…

His breath caught. Heart hammering against his chest, he was sure it could hear his heart trying to punch a way out of his rib cage.

Almost on cue, the sand around the Sphinx exploded in a single blast straight upwards, engulfing the monster and burying it deep. Its panicked yell was quickly silenced.

A single rune shone throughout the sand filled air. A strange symbol: a triangle. From his studies, Alexander somehow managed to recognise it as the fourth letter in the Greek alphabet, the Delta.

It glowed green, sending waves of pure power across the desert.

Alexander stumbled backwards, both from the shockwave and shock itself.

A figure slowly became visible, grasping a staff which covered in runes and a falcon – also covered in green pulsating runes – perched on his shoulder.

Both of their eyes glowed green.

Then abruptly the sand fell to the ground, like some super magnet had them sucked to the ground. The figure stumbled slightly, and squinted against the sun. Alexander somehow found the courage to pick himself up and hold an improvised knife to his neck, coupled with a fierce-sounding threat.

"Who are you and why are you here?"

The figure glanced at him, knees braced against his chest and a sharp rock held to his throat. And laughed.

"Come on Jason. You recognize your old pal, don't you?"

"I'm not Jason. Try again," Alexander hissed back.

Squinting, the figure laughed, "Of course you are Jason, don't you remember? We were running from the Earth itself when I fell? You just sat there preening your feathers –"

Alexander pushed against his throat, drawing blood. "I am not a bloody bird!"

"Then get off me so I can see you!"

Alexander got off, and stood back while the stranger pushed himself up. Wiping away the blood, he looked at Alexander. "Ok, sorry about that. My falcon Jason here sometimes likes to change to human form and play tricks on me like that."

...

"Anyway, my name is Lucifer."

"Alexander."

"So, where am I?"

"In the middle of nowhere. This place was formed by the release of energy within my Master's body, turning everything to sand. A few items survived, like me, and I'm pretty sure I am the only survivor. What's your story, seeing how you appeared in a column of sand?"

"I am a Greek. I had snuck aboard a merchant vessel despite my father's instructions not to do so, and ended up in a completely different town. However, not long after it was attacked by the undead. They were dead, but alive as well.

"I had run away, out into the forests, abandoning the town, since it was already a lost cause. Running, I found myself suddenly in a zombie ambush, which I managed to escape from in a cave. There I met the Primordial Gaea, where she sent me to Tartarus.

"Down there, I had to fight my way through all sorts of horrors to reach the only exit, and when I did I fought Gaea and defeated her through trickery. Afterwards, I have been travelling across the world, until I fell into a time-plane portal, where I met Kronus and used his lust for girls to trick my way out.

"And now that I'm free, it appears that he had me locked away for quite some time as well, since this world has changed so much."

He eyed Alexander, sizing him up. Then he relaxed and pulled from his pocket a card, 2.5 inches in width and 3.5 inches in length. It had a large red diamond in the centre with a smaller rendition of the diamond at each corner.

He spun it in his hand and smiled. "You seem like a good chap. Watch your back and we may meet again."

He flicked the card, flipping it around, turning the color from red to blue. It glowed, sending a blue beam of energy towards the heavens, bathing the area in an eerily soothing blue glow. As Alexander rushed forwards to try and stop him, Lucifer smiled, and spun the card, disappearing completely.

The blue energy shot up into the sky, until Alexander couldn't see it any more.

"Stupid idiot…"

Something wet hit his head. Alexander looked up, only to get splashed in the eye with a raindrop.

Raindrop equals rain with means…

"WATER!" Alexander fished out the canteen, greedily filling it with the rain, while trying to catch as much as he could in his mouth.

Too soon, the clouds dissipated, leaving a very disappointed and soaking wet Alexander. Reluctantly capping his canteen, he stowed it away in the pack.

Grumbling to himself, he continued walking, hoping his dead mentor was right.


Jasmine shouldered her pack, as the Shadow Clan guide laid a heavy hand on her shoulder. It nodded to the Unbeatable Master, before directing Jasmine away. She had enough time to turn and wave goodbye when the world disappeared around her.

Imagine the fastest rollercoaster you have ever ridden. Multiply that by 2. You still have no idea how fast they were going. It was so fast when something tried to jump on them; it was sucked away by the vacuum formed in their slipstream.

All of a sudden, they came to a stop, and Jasmine had enough time to throw herself away from her shadow clan guide before heaving up her breakfast, lunch, yesterday's breakfast, lunch and dinner, as well as her supper snack.

"N-nev-ever d-do t-that again." Jasmine gasped out, clutching her stomach to hopefully ease the nausea.

It just replied with a series of hisses Jasmine didn't understand, but she had a feeling it was laughing.

She groaned. This is most definitely not gonna be fun.


Hi guys, how has it been? It's been quite some time since my last post, and I might be able to return to my other Slugterra Fic, given time and a lot less work to complete.

Anyway, to all the chinese out there, Happy Chinese New Year!

*ahem* I will be posting sometime soon, maybe on the next special event? Valentine's Day? Until then, bye!

~Nameless Slinger