Jackie stared at me for a moment, his hands on his knees, "Ya' know kid. I used to hate myself. I though I done the worst type of sin…" with head bowed he stared at me through the curtain of his raven hair.
I swallowed and stepped out the darkness and into the moon beam, the being that surrounded the two beams of light the living were in screeched as my illusion faded away. I whispered "And what was that?"
He didn't answer. He looked up at me with those blue-gray orbs, lined with red from too little sleep in this place "…Have you ever loved someone who was so beautiful and pure, you couldn't bear to show them your own darkness?"
I lowered my head as the hissing around us intensified. I couldn't say anything. The Darkness laughed at him "What? The Angelus? Pure? Jackie boy, that bitch has killed more people than even me!"
The voice behind me finally spoke "Jackie Estacado, listen well, we all have our own darkness, our own hells which follow us every step we take. Through our creation we are our own sins." I looked back at the host who lowered his head again.
The two snake heads of the Darkness slithered around the small beam of light I stood in "Fine, I'll help you. I'll help you hunt the Angelus…"
Lich hid in the shadows of another realm with the Creator as they watched Mandy and her son sleep, her arms wrapped around him as they both lay on the couch. The last of his kind turned to the First Being "Why did you call?"
With a sigh he was answered "After this settles I have another task for you. You will receive it after this." he gave his charge and disappeared.
An angel floated down "Still paying off your debts to the Lord, oh Shrine of Evil, Keeper of the Unholy…Hound of the Tower?"
The tail spoke again "What do you want Raziel, Keeper of Secrets, Angel of Mysteries?"
The angel floated down, a thin woman with long silver hair wearing silver garments wrapped the white and gold sash around her neck "Do I have to have a reason to speak to you? After what you pulled I'm surprised Michael doesn't have your head!"
"If Michael could take my head I would not have survived this long. Now speak, I do not have much time"
Raziel's hands trembled as she held out a key "I-I was told that it was time. A-and to tell you that she has found him. Her happiness is assured" the Secret of God could only hold on to her sobs as she felt relief and sorrow roll off him.
The chains and wrappings were undone, he turned to face her, the first time any save the Creator had seen those eyes. He whispered "Thank you" and walked off.
Two other shadows stepped forward as she fell to her knees "You were always fond of him Raziel, though I don't see why"
She covered her crying with her hands "Foolish Michael" she sobbed "I cannot feel anything but sorry for him, he has truly lost everything, yet he still pushes on. What drives him is a faith greater than all the angels in heaven"
The second angel asked "If faith the size of a mustard seed could uproot a tree and the faith of an angel rally an army to victory what faith does he hold?"
Raziel quivered "The limits and powers of his faith are beyond understanding, though not in the Creator…"
Michael scoffed "Then what does he believe in?"
The silence weighed heavily on them.
Grim sat at the table, eyeless sockets staring at the center of the table. The three girls sat beside him, an eerie silence filled the castle. They could only stare. And wait.
Above the table a silver portal opens and slowly two people are gently carried to the surface, both still asleep, the portal closed as the two awoke. Mandy sat up and looked at the room, cracked paintings and torn tiles. Junior stood and addressed his father in a foreign tongue "Marsh-thalishk…"
Grim stood at his full height, rage pulsing off him "Don't chu ever speak to me in dat language!"
Mandy rolled her neck "You don't have a chance to stop him. Not after what we did"
Minnie asked quietly "What language? Never have I heard such a course utterance from mine brother's lips"
Mandy sighed "The language is called Arneth. It was designed as a trade language for hated enemies. There are no words of joy, hate, sorrow. No emotions. It was made so that the Demonodus and the angels could trade without insults. The language is only used between hated enemies"
The girls slowly backed off, Chi gasped "Junior, why do you have to be so hateful to your father?" she received no answer, no acknowledgement that she even existed. He continued speaking to his father.
Mandy spoke "Junior, why do you have to speak to your father like that?"
"Because a father loves and respects his children. Yet here I stand hours after he casts me aside. I have been tossed out from this home. I am exiled."
Grim tried to say something but his heir opened a portal with a single finger and stepped through the foggy blackness.
Ikra stood stunned at her door, Junior and Lich bowed and the latter asked "Lady Ikra, would you allow us some time to recover, these past days have been tumulus…"
She nodded and allowed them in. She pulled Lich aside "What happened? Why are you not at his home?" when he told her she simply lowered her eyes and sighed "What will you do now?"
"I will do what I have promised"
After bathing and eating Junior and Lich sat in a sitting room with the Overlord "Junior, do you remember someone…locking something of you away?"
"What do you mean?" the boneling asked, the orange eye gazing at him.
"I felt it when we were at the Creators, someone has part of you locked away. You aren't even a shadow of your true self. If you're not at full power while using those tools that you came to me for you will not survive, your soul will be destroyed" Junior shook his head. With a small snarl Lich opened a portal to the Queen of Castle Grimskull "Mandy, Junior has been sealed" those words, quick and to the point startled her "Do you have any idea who cast it?"
She gripped her chin "No, I've never sensed a drop in his powers so I don't know. He's been at that level for as far back as I can remember"
Lich allowed one word to escape his mouth "Fuck" he turned to Junior "We are going to see your father. He sealed part of your soul away before you were born."
Mandy calmed her expression "Where are you going to start? The Seven Seals haven't been broken in so long"
Lich scowled at his feet "We'll start with his creations. The Rider, The Darkness and The Angelus." he lifted his head "But first…"
As they walked a silence fell over them. Junior fidgeted with a button on his jacket as Lich sighed "What is it, you're usually dying to talk"
The Reaper slowed to a stop and Lich turned to face him, the prince bowed "I-I wanted to say I'm sorry. When I said that you never loved…sorry. And…"
"And you want to know what happened?" the heir to the underworld nodded "Then summon up a portal. Your mother needs to understand why she can trust me"
"You mean she doesn't?" the skeleton gasped.
"No, she's never been bound to, the only reason she allowed you to go with me was your own wishes and the fact that you seemed to have enough power to protect yourself. Or so she assumed when you warped away from right under her nose"
A black opaque portal opened in the air and Mandy's face appeared "Junior, what's going on?" her glare was cutting deep into Lich who's cloth covered face seemed to take the brunt of the attack without flinching.
Her son laughed lightly "Nothing bad Mom, I just got Lich to explain why he got so pissed when I…" his voice got softer and softer "…when I told him he had never loved before…"
Her eyes softened a touch, just enough that Billy, Grim or either of her children would notice. With a nod she granted him to go on. When the boy turned his head she looked down at her feet, her harshest glare cutting below the crystal ball she was viewing.
Lich set up a small fire in the dying light "Might as well start now, this will take awhile…"
When the Creator made the first world, it was only an island on the Seas of Michael, he (I use the term to describe the physical appearance, the being itself is a form-changer) made one hundred and nine of my people, I was created thirty-third. We were…peaceful, we each embodied all emotions, but we all took the name of our most prominent one. Fear usually hid in her house, Friendship was close to everyone, Sophistication was a bit more than most of us could bear with refined manners, he and Pride got along well. But as his first creation were…off balance, a bit like humans in that regard. We branched out, some of us left and settled on a small world. That was the Colony, where you and I were taken after meeting the Creator "he waved a hand at Junior, who nodded. A home that was not home" we could not die, by the time our race was ten thousand years old we were not alone. Demons, those creatures that have their own lives, also were brought into being, never to be mistaken for devils, those who torture the souls of the damned "He looked towards his friend who tapped his chin, a small difference that meant worlds to those creatures"
Relations between us and the demons were uncommon, though not unheard of, I found young Adrana, the woman I was sure I was going to be with…but the time came for the Creator to notice the wars that the demons embroiled themselves in, and compared it to us. He called all of us together-those from the Colony came as quick as they could, we all heard what he said. "I have seen the demons fight, I give this gift to you- a golden pomegranate. The one that you choose to hold it will fashion the next race, one I mean to hold sway over an entire world." I listened but ignored it, I didn't care, it didn't involve me or Adrana. I was naive. We were digesting the news, one of us, for a short while, was to play Creator for a race that would overshadow all others. We were very calm about it…until Paranoia pointed out that we all want different things in the race. Those from the Colony went back and a few days passed, riddled with malcontent mutterings. Then Determination set the Colony ablaze while the others slept. He came back to our homeworld to win against us and it progressed to an all out Civil War. But as I said my people can't die, our souls fled into the body of those that destroyed our physical existence, some were driven mad and attacked others. I stayed out of it. It didn't involve my beloved so I didn't care. She was killed in the crossfire, in a chance to save her I split my soul and forced half into her body-the power held in it could have healed her body from the blood loss. But it didn't "The sound of skin and joint tightening surrounded them as Lich clenched his hands as hard as he could, a quiet drip alerted them to the puncture in his lip from his own biting."
I fell into despair, I whimpered and sniveled like a newborn angel! I stood there and did nothing! I LET HER DIE! "He collapsed under his own pain and just like that became the withered voice they would hear, his first true outburst of his emotion now subsided"
Paranoia held the fruit, yet as his name suggests he believed any living others would take it. He snuck into my home and tried to kill me, I didn't die by an act of fate, as I scrabbled off of my bed I pushed myself across the floor, kicking and clawing and grasping for whatever would pull me away from him, I kicked a small orb of sapphire, Paranoia slipped and fell on the knife he intended for my execution. The voices of all the dead of my race rushed in, a voice so loud and deafening that even being my own namesake I nearly was driven into madness. The Creator descended and asked what I wished for, I hoped that next race would be what I now try to protect with every thing I have. Balanced. Their fear would equal their hope, their rage equal to their joy, their hate equal to their love. Thus angels and humans were made.
"Junior tilted his head, a question forming on his bone" Then what is your real name? Who are you that could survive those voices for so long?
"Lich stood up, his eyes focused on something far away as he tried and nearly failed to remember what he was called by those hate filled voices that had plagued him for eternity" I was…am Will. But I did not end there. I was taken by the Creator to do that which I am now called to do. When a soul steps out of line to the point that Hell cannot take it, when the Creator never wishes to destroy a soul, he calls me to use my body as a cell until the end of days. I have become a prison for those souls so depraved that those torturers from below cannot break them.
"Mandy watched him for a long moment before she sighed and cut into the silence that started to fill the air around the fire" What happened after? You know who Junior's father is as well as too many things that the angels would never allow someone to learn.
Actually I didn't stay with the angels long, they were locked into the belief that the Creator was the only thing that mattered, they didn't see him as another being, albeit at a higher level than the rest of us, but as a infallible, indestructible, eternal thing-never born, never to die. While at this point I have to agree on the latter part, I've spoken to him about his creation and he was made…but by what neither he nor I know. For a long time I just wandered. Until I found her. An Archangel named Mystn, she had been born with the other half of my soul. When a person dies they are reincarnated until they reach a pure state, then they are sent to the afterlife, my soul can never reach a pure state so it just cycles. I don't know if it was because of my soul but she and I became lover…it was the same feelings…but she died and moved on, again, I don't know if it's because of my soul but it seems that every vessel for my soul is pure at death. Three more times I found it, a human, a demon, and then Raven Roth. During my search for my soul I found her, a half-breed between a mid-level demon and a human sorceress. She had just lost her soul bond, the man who held the other half of her true soul, Garfield Logan. She was in a depression but she and I became close…I think you know how she died…
"Junior nodded and felt the oily tears slide down his ivory surface. Mimi's favored aunt, a woman that took care of her. Dead because of her father. The boneling looked at his mother who had a troubled expression on her face, the implications of which wouldn't be known until much later. Lich began again, his voice rife with warring emotions" I was at the Tower at the time, trying to find a way for her not to be sent to hell, her father managed to sneak enough of his aura into her in his last moments that she was declared 'pure'. that's when I struck the deal, seven years in prayer and she would be taken in to heaven rather than hell. That's where I was when you found me…How's that for condensing billions of years into one night?
Indeed the sun was now rising and as the light touched them so did a silence, not even the wind spoke as they stood still as stone. Lich told them what happened, yet they only got a taste of the emotions behind it. Junior looked at the cloaked figure "What is the job this time?"
"HIM" Junior nodded as he stood and dusted off his back, with a nod to his mother he cut the connection to the crystal ball and they were alone. The two started walking and the snow fell in increasingly large drifts as they continued on. The younger of the two stared ahead as he walked until "-ior….Junior!" answering with a 'huh-what?' Lich started again "You stuck in a day dream?"
He shook his head "No…something you said, 'bout reincarnation…I feel like I've heard it before, a spike of horrendous burning pain…a pure whiteness…" he shook his head to clear it "So what's your reward for doing this job?"
Lich stopped suddenly "I-I am to get my soul back for this job. The one thing I wish more than anything else, to not have anyone else have that corrupted wrathful thing."
"What do you mean wrathful, isn't it part of you?"
"Somewhat, in the rush to save Adrana my active emotions were taken, not to say I can't feel them but it takes a huge amount of stimuli to do so"
"What about being reincarnated? You stiffened up when I said that"
Lich cursed under his breath, he had hoped Junior wouldn't pick up on it. Slowly he turned "I believe you have been through that cycle. If you are the soul that I have been led to believe you are then you hold the greatest power over me that any have ever dreamed of: you can destroy my soul and cast me into the nothingness of oblivion, or you can find my soul mate-true soul mate." the shock pushed Junior into silence as the snow continued to gather taller and taller.
In front of them a door loomed, polished white bone with skull handles, behind it led to HIM and the future of Lich's soul. Junior stopped for a moment "L-lich?"
"Hmm?"
The machine filled reaper sounded hesitant "I-I can't believe that my family would say those things…" No matter how well the fifteen year old tried to hide and not speak of it, the incident rocked him to his core, the feelings of pain and betrayal from all but his mother broke his way of living.
Lich watched his friend "…You think they were not themselves?" at the younger's nod he thought "Let me finish this job and get the other part of my soul and I will look into it while we try to get the keys" he cut off Junior as he opened his mouth "You can ask all the questions about that after I finish up what we need to do at the Tower. One thing at a time. Wait here" the boneling took a step into the room and sat on the couch before closing his eyes for a moment.
The halls were lined with souls in cages that wailed and screamed for release, Lich ignored them with practiced ease before opening the door to his prey. The red demon turned to face him with a smile "How kind of you to join me! I found out about your coming and managed to make a small welcoming gift!"
Explosions slammed into his chest repeatedly without effect and Lich continued like the inexorable march of time, his cloak fell away and HIM let out a screech that pierced the ears of every creature for miles before being abruptly silenced by the crack snap of jaws slamming through flesh and bone. As he walked through the door meeting back with Junior, a portal of white opened beneath them, Lich merely sighed at the inconvenience while Junior felt a brief moment of shock before the other side could be seen and he relaxed.
His mom.
But beside her stood an angel, his long black hair held back by a silver crown of twisted wires and small gems, his white and silver robes played delicately against the broadsword pommel that jutted above his shoulder and his bright golden eyes. He glared at Lich for a moment before turning his brutal gaze of Junior, the reaper freezing in his tracks at the unbridled violence in the eyes. "Michael, if you keep on staring at him like that he may decided not to listen to you"
The Archangel snarled at the speaker "I come with a message for you Lich" suddenly he doesn't look all too confident, in fact the Heaven's mightiest warrior looks more than a little scared "…Gol h-has your soul, he broke in and took it. Says you need to turn over the boy if you want it back…"
For a long tense moment Lich tightened his fist before sighing "Well, it looks like I will be broken for awhile longer. Junior, I need you to stay here while I try to find the creatures that have the keys we need to see your father"
Junior leapt into the momentary silence "Wait! What do you mean broken?! You should go get your soul!"
"I wouldn't trade you in for it"
"Then why not just take it!"
Lich looked at the angel who tugged uncomfortably at his collar "Um…that would be my…mistake" he choked on the word "I told him that no one would attack this demon as long as he committed no treason against heaven…"
Lich patted the boy's head "It will be fine, I've waited this long, a few years are not going to hurt anything".
He stepped through a portal to somewhere else and Junior turned on the angel and unleashed "You idiot! How can stopping heaven from upholding it's part of a deal not be considered treason!?"
Michael slowly rubbed his shoulder, his large silvery wings fluttering gently on the small breeze "Because I have no force to challenge that demon. No army of heaven could win. Gol is an ancient, there are few capable of entering his domain, let alone winning. If Lich says that he will be broken for some time more, he will be… but I will speak to the Creator about this" and the wings opened before he launched himself upward as quickly as he could.
After a moment Junior walks over to his mother, her hand on his shoulder means worlds to him "I hate that he has to turn down his soul to help me…" rubbing his forehead he went on "He's been trying to get it back since before humans existed and it takes just me messing up to keep him from it" frustration running rampant in his voice. Mandy does the only thing she can and squeezed his shoulder a bit tighter.
Lich buttoned his cuffs before his human form pressed the key in the elevator, the door slid open and Vinnie pulled out a gun and pointed it at him "WHO the hell are you?!" he screamed before Jimmy the Grape slapped him upside the head. Vinnie would have protested by the pallor of the old man's face convinced him to stay quite.
Bowing slightly Jimmy greets "D-Don Morte, we didn't know you was coming"
Vinnie looks over the newcomer for a moment, he wore a suite that probably cost more than the house, a dark blue that matched the night sky, his skin was a natural ashen tone and his face aristocratic, medium length black hair was gelled back to the shape of his skull while his mouth looked like it had never smiled. But his eyes-something about those silver orbs freaked him out, he could say that he was less scared when he stared right into the eyes of the Darkness.
Morte nodded and took off the gloves and coat he wore to cover the New York chill "It is my fault, at the moment I must speak to Johnathan Powell, he and I have much to discuss. But it is a nice time to see you Jimmy."
At that moment Johnny walked into the room and stopped dead "Y-y-you! W-what are you?"
Morte nodded towards the paranormal expert "Get everyone but you three out of the room and I'll explain what's going on" they did as he asked with no hesitation, and when they did gather Morte looked to Jimmy who was staring at the elevator as it dinged again. Out stepped an exotic woman, a light tan with short black hair, dressed in a strapless black dress with a long slit down the side and a fur coat that wrapped around her arms and bust to outline the curves she possessed.
Jimmy took off his hat in greeting "Donna Ikra…a-and you are?" behind the woman, hidden from view was a slim teen, he looked around with one storm gray eye and the other glowing a haunting orange, jeans and a hoody were all he wore as he walked in.
Ikra smiled and even the most hardened Mafioso felt himself blush "This is my friend and Don Morte's apprentice, call him Don Truce. He is very important to us and he will be to Jackie."
Jimmy motioned the two Dons and the Donna into a room, allowing them to go first. Vinnie leaned over to his elder "Who are these people anyways?"
Jimmy glanced at the woman "She's the head of the yakuza- think Japanese mob, but not just that, she united everyone in the country. Everyone." steering Vinnie with his eyes he looked at the Don "Ya' know how we used to have to keep the Chicago boys happy?" the other advisor nodded "He was the guy who stepped in for us, pretty much what he says goes-he's the head of the family that controls the most land, you name it they own property in it. They say that he's been the head since it was founded-even before my time. I used to not believe it…but after seeing Jackie's thing" he shrugged "I don't know anymore"
They sat surrounded by the relics that the Darkness host had collected from the Brotherhood during his struggle. Between the three of them they retold what had happened since the attack at the restaurant and the death of Victor two weeks earlier, even to the release of the Angelus and Jackie's entrapment in Hell. Jimmy looked at the three "You don't seem surprised"
Morte nodded "Indeed, it is a thing that had indeed been on my mind. But I said I would answer Jonathan's question. But first let me say that in our world there are things far worse than the Darkness. Ikra is a demon, one called an Overlord, if she chose to fight the Darkness in Hell she would assuredly win, Truce is the heir to the Throne of Bones, the next Grim Reaper, he is here because we need seven keys, each found in a creature on earth. As for what I am… just know that I want Jackie alive and well as much as you do"
Junior walked around the small room until he came to a box sitting behind the glass "What's in here?" the box called to him in a way that scared the boneling-it was part of him yet not, his soul depended on it yet cast it off.
Powell looked over "T-that's the Ashes of Cain, people think that h-he died when a house fell on him nu-uh, he died when he went to get help from the Angelus. She fried him and that's all that's left of…him…?" Junior was gripping his head as the world seemed to tumble around him.
You have killed that which should have been most precious to you, for your crime….
The world spun as he fell to his knees, Lich held back Ikra who tried to move towards him.
Help me stand against He Who Comes With The Night, a creature that can twist a man into a beast and make a mother strangle her own babe in her arms.
Blood spilt from his grey eye as oil poured from the orange and his skin fell away.
A woman floating across a lake with wings approached, as the wind picked up her face turned to one of revulsion before she threw an arm out towards him- a pain unlike any other engulfed him and a darkness overtook him..
"I-I'm…?"
Lich knelt beside him "Yes, you are Cain. The First Murderer of Man, Kinslayer, Bringer of Death…He Who Holds My Future and the one that can be called Father of Repentance" Jimmy, Vinnie and Johnny all stared in complete shock while Ikra slowly put a hand on the boy's shoulder.
The three mobsters knew that things were more than just point and shoot-there were things that guns couldn't kill. But now they stood looking at a genuine reaper. And they realized the steaks in this game. Vinnie stepped forward when the boy stopped crying "Dons and Donna, you said you wanted Jackie?" the woman nodded "Then what can we do?" the full measure of faith in those words could not be measured.
Ikra helped Junior stand as Lich turned to Johnny "I need to know if you have any idea where the Ghost Rider is"
Powell shook his head with a twitch "N-no- but why do you n-need him if you're going after Jackie?" he seemed to twitch for effect now.
Lich sat in one of the chairs and crossed one leg over the other, his fingertips pressing together "My true objective is not Jackie-he's a happy consequence. I need him because the Darkness holds one of seven keys to a prison in one of the deepest pits in the underworld. Each key is in tune with it's progressive sibling, one leads to two leads to three. If I start with the Darkness I might never get all the keys. Jackie himself is hidden from my view-I need the first key to lead me to him so I can free him and get the second key"
The slightly psychotic man narrowed his eyes "B-But we have no idea where he is!-the Ghost Rider I mean. how do you plan on finding him?"
A slight buzzing started in the air the Thirty-Third sighed "Then I must to ask a favor of the angels…"
A portal opened from the ceiling and a woman floated down, her long straight silver hair hung down to her mid thigh and contrasted beautifully against the dress she wore- a modest light blue dress that was snug to her form without being suggestive, her sapphire eyes scanned the room as her wings folded closed behind her- feathers of a midnight blue tipped with moon kissed silver "Humans, Lich, Junior…Ikra" she said the last name much cooler than the slight warmness that she addressed the others with.
The sitting man caught her attention "Raziel, can you find the Ghost Rider for me?"
With a small smile the tall woman made her way over before holding out a scroll "I'll do it if you do your job"
"Fair enough" was all Lich said before he broke the seal on the scroll and read the words of the Creator, with a heavy sigh he nodded and the female angel floated up into the portal, standing up he muttered "And so the Hound hunts again" he looked at the anxious humans before reassuring them "Do not worry, Jackie will be home soon." his own ash-gray mist rose to cover himself, Junior, who was still dealing with the knowledge of his two past lives-Cain and the murderer known as Jack the Ripper that life had flown into him the moment he realized who he was, a black column rose out of the ground before Ikra stepped into it and both groups disappeared.
Junior watched in slight awe as the human façade turned into smoke before Lich was back in his true skin "I've been meaning to ask, what's up with that cloak?"
Lich lifted the collar "This? It's the Cloak of Infinite Vale…it's the gift of Remembrance…"
Junior felt the slight taste of sorrow that his friend filtered into the air "Did all of you make gifts?"
For a long moment he stared at his feet "…yes we did, it was the first thing we made when we were created, an item that would forever be our namesake. Everything crafted was a thing of beauty…mine was a monstrosity."
"Why what does it do?" the words were out of his mouth before he could stop them, he realized the magnitude of his folly when Lich pressed a fist into his eye.
"…" his small voice seemed not to be part of the creature-no, man he had known. It was terrified. Ashamed. "Mine was a small gem, the size of a small rock, named the Pillar of Afkrates, the smallest of all the gifts. But through it one could exert the will needed to destroy most of creation in a moment…" the fist pressed into his eye became two "I used it to force the expansion of the world. The Creator never made the land that the Colony sat on. I did. As well as the Salt and the Spine." and suddenly he was silent as they continued to walk for hours.
Junior saw it on the horizon and couldn't hide the disgust on his face "Why are we back here?"
"Because we need to see your mother" the skulling brightened "and I need to speak with your sister about returning your nergalian powers, if you don't have them it will be almost impossibly for you to take the keys we need to confront your father."
The orange eye rolled around in confusion "But why, I gave the powers back. Can't I make do with the machine, you trained me for almost four year now!"
Lich stopped and turned to his friend, pulling back the cloak enough that Junior could see his eyes, a pure white iris traced with bands of the darkest black with reptilian pupils that shone a shade of silver so pure it rivaled the stars "Yes, for four years I have trained you, but know that those years too much longer than I wanted them to, if we do get your nergal powers we could almost skip a year. And you did not give back your power, merely changed the vector and power. As you know a Nergal passes it's powers by giving the eye at the end of it's life, the eye does not contain the powers, it is a primer for the sudden influx of power that is transferred when the demon dies. Since you didn't die you didn't pass the abilities, you kept all but the massive amount of power that serves as the primer, your nergal is a shade of it's former self asleep deep inside you. If your sister gives it the command I can force enough power into it to awaken the demon and give you complete control of yours as well as awaken hers without you having to die."
They continued the walk for a long while until the drawbridge fell open with a crash and the sound of footsteps on the hard wood set the drumbeat for the moment of changing.
The room was sparse, two chairs sat facing each other on one end while the other held a long sofa. On the twin chairs Lich and Minnie spoke quietly while the other piece of furniture was witness to Mandy running her fingers through her sleeping son's hair, his feet lay propped up on the arm of the couch while his arms were crossed on his stomach and his closed eyes staring straight up at his mother's face.
Minnie stared for a moment, jealousy pouring into her veins "Minnie- pay attention" she snapped back "I need you to allow me to separate you and your brother's nergal"
She shook her head appalled "Nay, tis the only binding I still have of him! I will not allow you to take that fiend!"
Lich placed and elbow in the arm of the chair before laying his chin in his palm "This isn't about you. It's about your brother surviving. And if he doesn't get all the power he can muster he will never survive The Deep"
Minnie tilted her head "What is this 'Deep' that wrings thine soul with such dread?"
Leaning back into the chair Lich answered "The Deep is a place where all who are sane fear to tread. It is the place in the Underword that is separated from this level. The Overlords govern what is called 'The Height" below that is somewhere that your parents would never go, a Realm of Twilight that serves as a barrier between the two and the Deep. There the ancients of the worlds reside, demons so old and powerful that in my current half state I would be hard pressed to survive. In that place is where we must go and where these things must be brought to an end. Again I ask, will you help save your brother?" she seemed to be waging an inner war "If you do this you have the possibility of sharing something even closer than a partial demon. You could share a soul" she nodded instantly.
Junior snapped up as he felt the powers rushing around Lich like a storm, suddenly everyone that had even a shred of power in The Height, on Earth or above the Earth found themselves on a plateau surrounded by dry red canyon, Lich allowed the Cloak to fall from his shoulders as energies of The Creator were being stolen by the Eldest of the Born. Wearing only tattered pants he still managed to look like a god descending to his people, his skin was a dark shade of blue while long strands of black hair floated around him as he himself floated several inches above the ground. Here those from both Dark and Light found their common ancestor, from his spine branched the Tail, now freed from the illusions of the cloak it now took in the world for it's own, a hydra lifted up behind him as the snakelike faces saw with their bone armor-a golden rust covered skull that covered the top of the head save the eyes and continued onto two points below the jaw as fangs. The angels saw their link when he spread his wings, three pairs, the upper most like that of an angel shaded in the purest silver, the next shaped like a bats of the same inky darkness that night was cut from while the last was cast in dark and rusted iron, bladed and made for cruelty, they sat as a promise of pain. As his wings spread Junior gasped, each wing was longer than he could have imagined. Lich's eyes started to glow along with the double piercing in his bottom lip, two long curves decorated in runes and the single red orb that sat in the dip of his collar, as the runes, his eyes and the gem brightened until they had to avert their eyes both Junior and Minnie felt a sudden ripping pain before a spark of lightning seemed to light their nerves ablaze. Even though dead Junior never felt more alive as when the black skin of the demon that slept inside him slid over his bones and twisted around him. Lich's voice cut through the wind "In the name of the Puppeteer I rend and mend asunder" and suddenly they were back in the room exactly where they were before.
Lich swayed as he stood and Minnie looked at her mother with twin storm gray eyes before the silent message was passed and the daughter took him to a small room where he fell onto the bed and into a deep sleep.
The three angels stood around a small pedestal, the three of black wings, Abaddon, Azrael and Samael, the most powerful of all of heaven watched each other. The Poison of God spoke first "Were we right in taking this so long ago?" as he gestured towards the item floating on the pedestal.
The Angel of Death watched it move in circles "…No, but we cannot return it to him, the moment we do he can activate the Pillar of Sorrow, that creation of his that could destroy us all"
Abaddon watched the others "We cannot allow this to fall back into his hands. We will protect it at all costs!"
"Hmmm, really? Seems a bit over the top if you ask me" they turned and knelt in one fluid movement. The Creator named Yhwh walked in.
"My lord! We did not know you were coming"
"That's why I didn't tell you Azrael" he smiled before motioning them to stand .
Abaddon watched his lord walk over to the floating orb "My lord? What did you mean 'a bit over the top?"
Yhwh smiled serenely as he moved a hand above the orb and it seemed to hum slightly "Abaddon, my dear boy, there are things that must be taken away before they can be given back. This will be returned. But in time" he turned at the three angels stricken with fear "And the pillar must be returned at that time. Perhaps then that trinket in his throat will be cast away" he walked out leaving the three angels with their despair.
Samael closed his eyes as the two others fled the room, quietly he spoke "Perhaps now we can get what we deserve…" the door slid closed. The marble sized orb of pure silver light phased through the glass cover and slowly floated across the room to a small ash gray river stone with swirls of ruby, sapphire, jade, onyx, amethyst and quartz. A tendril extended to touch the stone before floating back.
The stone pulsed an ominous gray light…
Lich stepped out of the room and was greeted by his friend "Junior, we have much to discuss. I need you to go to Ikra and retrieve Jeff's soul, I will investigate and get the other party that is needed for this job, I will fetch you from Aku City." with a nod Junior summoned his scythe and sliced the air before jumping through the portal that opened.
The servants ran and hid as the cloaked man walked through the halls, the destruction from his last visit still visible against the stone.
As he rounded a corner he stilled "Come out child, we have much to speak of"
Chi stepped out from the shadows and scowled "Why are you still here?"
"To see and believe"
A single finger extended from his cloaked form and traced the walls as he walked, his will exerted the walls remembered for him the sorrow and toxic words. Never having spoken before the words that had been said had no meaning on the simple stones, they told him now of the build. At first a small trickle of venom that built over those years gone from his home. He paused at the portcullis to the garden, apprehension blooming on his face. His hand detached from the wall and he slowly stepped towards the flowers.
He saw a tan human girl walking out, hands bandaged "Mimi, I need to take you to the Tower. Fear not, all is well" the former demon nodded with cautiousness bleeding into her system. She walked off as he continued towards the flowers. He stopped in his tracks when he came across the single bloom.
"No" he whispered.
Kneeling next to the now purple and red Earthencloud Lich took a deep breath. He moved faster than even he believed he could.
As he stepped through the portal Ikra smiled "Hello Junior, can I help you?"
The reaper smiled before hugging the woman who was now like part of his family, she had helped him and given him a haven after his family had lashed out at him. "I need to take Jeff's soul, Lich said it was for his next job…and I was wondering something…" he worried the floor with the toe of his boot and looked up at the overlord who smiled calmly at him "Uh, w-what is a lich?"
Ikra leaned back "Well that wasn't the question I expected" with an apology on his lips she cut off the boneling "It's not a bad question. In fact, it's probably one of the more pertinent questions seeing as who's teaching you." she walked into a small sitting room and sat against the cushions. "There are different types of beings called liches, the first are more a product of necromancy than a true lich- a soul is forced back into it's original body by a necromancer, it lives only to take orders and falls apart when the spell is ended or the caster dies. These false liches are far more preferable than the true things." she poured a cup of tea for herself and her guest and stared into the liquid for a moment "A true lich is a being of immense power. When a being dies and refuses to leave it's body one of two things happens, one the being may be destroyed by the elements, time, nature other beings-but, there are those that are strong enough to survive those elements. They learn to master their death and use it for their own, usually in the form of ice, these true liches are a reflection of the true measure of who Lich is. Will. Their very soul is theirs to command"
Junior stared into his own cup "Thanks…I guess that wasn't what I was expecting…"
"You weren't thinking of the dead brought back to life?" Jeff asked, now free of his cage.
"No…Lich is just so…I don't know, different? Anyways, he doesn't do anything for himself really so it's hard to see a lich as such a selfish creature"
Ikra shook her head "Liches don't look like our friend, they are bones and rotting flesh"
Junior couldn't help the teasing smirk that came over his face "A friend wouldn't get so jealous when Lich had to as an angel for help"
Jeff smothered a laugh and instead gave a neutral "Indeed"
The slight reddening of the light green skin was all the duo needed. Junior held Jeff's soul in one hand before squeezing Ikra's shoulder comfortingly. Suddenly the trio felt like the had been hit by a freight train and the chill of jumping from one strand of creation to another pierced them to their marrow.
Minnie and Chi watched Mandy as she sighed "The reason you can't walk to where they are is it is a different strand of creation" both girls stared at her blankly, with a sigh she continued "Think of each strand of creation as…a cloud. Each cloud is bound by virtue of having to stay in the sky but other then that they are not connected. No matter how long or far you walk you can never move out of our strand. That's why teleporting is so important. It allows you to move freely between the strands as well as within." she stared at her two pupils as they nodded.
She walked around the room a bit to look out the window to see the garden "There are three things that are needed to teleport, first is the amount of energy needed to tear through the time-space continuum and form a miniature black hole, next is a focal point and finally a catalyst. For example when Grim want's to teleport he uses his scythe as a focal point and his own skeleton as a catalyst. Theoretically, one could achieve two more states of teleportation. First-if the individual could concentrate hard enough a focal point wouldn't be needed, but almost anything can be used as the focal, I've used the tip of my finger multiple times."
Chi scratched her chin "Then what's the point?"
Mandy thought for a moment "…I don't know, I can't do it"
Grim walked in "Heddo! Wat chu' girls be talkin' aboot?"
"Dearest father, prithee why wouldst thou eschew a focal point when teleporting?"
The reaper scratched his chin "When chu' port, ya' havta pull in de energy from aboot a duzen diffent places…if chu can do dat witout a focal ti saves on ta energy needed and chu don't have to limit youself to a neighboring strand"
He grabbed a book from the shelf and walked out, quickly sneaking out to let them get on with it. Chi again asked a question "What's the next step then, what else could you do besides leave out a focal point?"
Mandy was silent for a long moment "This is just conjecture and my own conclusions. I've seen Lich teleport without a focal point, a catalyst or having to gather energy…it's like he's Schrodinger's cat…" Mandy mused on this while the girls blinked blankly at her, after a moment the mother looked over and explained "The experiment is an exercise in quantum mechanics, in which we don't know what happens after a certain point due to a unknown prior event, but when taken in this context…he may or may not be here, he could be everywhere and nowhere at the same time" she still received the blank looks "Okay, think of it as he exist in every strand all the time but he's not there…" she sighed and stared out the window and the girls followed suite.
Mandy was trying to find a way of explaining the theory while the girls were trying to wrap their heads around it. But it happened right before their eyes. Lich stood up straight and suddenly disappeared. Chi unfroze first "Okay…he didn't use a focal point…I didn't feel a build up of power and he didn't seem to need anything…in fact, I didn't see him DO anything!"
The mother looked at her "Neither did I"
The train that had slammed into them was actually Lich moving at high speeds. After seeing the flower he grabbed Mimi and warped to Aku city where he opened a portal a mere foot from Junior, whom he grabbed and opened another portal before ripping though, unknowingly taking Ikra with them-Junior's hold on her shoulder had tightened when he got picked up and she was subsequently pulled through the rift. He dropped the trio-turned-quartet off in the sitting room of the Creator while he continued his rush out the door.
"Hi guys…actually I believe it's your first time…isn't it Mimi?" they turned to see the Creator smiling gently at them. Ikra stiffened as Raziel stepped into view. He caught the two staring at each other and sighed "Both of you know he is neither Robert nor Hi Gue. He doesn't see why you guys fight so much when he's clearly told you so." they glared but walked off towards a door that led to another room.
Yhwh's smile fell and he waved the two younger ones forward "Junior, before you see your father you must come back, understand?" the boneling nodded vehemently "A long time ago the three arch-generals took his light and the Pillar of Afkrates, before he moves to confront your father he needs them. As of the moment he is but a shade of himself-much as you are." the Creator smiled again as the door opened to reveal a scowling Abbadon.
The growling general entered with his two brothers before turning to Lich and scowling "What is it?" he snapped.
Lich motioned to the chairs that sat around the room as the two women entered, Junior noticed the male angels were tall and tanned with stark white hair and wings blacker than night. Abbadon was the broadest and wore battle ready and scarred armor, his face was also marred and across his back was a giant claymore. The other two stepped forward and introduced themselves to the heir of the dead and sole friend of Lich, the human-turned-devil-turned-human-again, and the soul of the spider. Azrael was much thinner and far more scholarly, the pale robes he wore were traced with silver. Samael was the most shocking of them all, he was taller than the others and only slightly thinner than Abbadon though his wingspan was twice that of either of the others, his light armor seemed to be made of leather with metal plates in only a few places, around his waist a katana and rapier sat, his eyes were different than the others as well-not the light blue but a dark emerald that was much unmatched by any gem Earth had to offer.
Once they were seated he started "There is a whole through the Realm of Dusk and into the Height." he turned to Junior "The Deep is saturated with hate and deception, so much so that it has corrupted the very air. The whole was opened only a few feet from the surface, the Earthencloud pulled the contamination to the surface where your family absorbed it…they did mean it." The boneling's face fell until the Creator put his hand on the crying boy's shoulder and Lich continued "But it was magnified thousands of times, if not millions. That amount of hate could turn a minor complaint into a genocidal impulse so strong that only a saint could force it down. They still have much to atone for." the three angels stood up, shock evident on their faces.
Abbadon shouted "Rally the forces! We charge!"
Yhwh sighed "Sit down. If you storm that place you will get all our solders killed. Let Lich and Junior patch this"
Azrael and Samael sat down while their companions screamed "He is a worthless liar and has done nothing to help us! He only brings hate and despair! Even to his 'lovers'! Both you and I have seen each and every one of them curse him to Oblivion! Even his first and she escaped the contamination his soul wrought!"
Junior looked over to Lich, his mouth open to speak.
But he slowly shut it.
Before him, his mentor and brother sat. his hands clenched against each other, elbows braced on his knees, the woven fingers pressed into his forehead. Then came the sounds. A small voice came out from the hulking creature "E-even Adrana?"
The angel bore a malicious grin "Oh, yes. Especially her, her loathing of you has no bounds, normally I'd never agree with a demon-just on principal but here I can't help but agree!"
The room was filled with silence, tension so tight it suffocated those trying to maintain a neutral atmosphere. For a long time nothing changed, years it seemed, Lich slowly stood. And he spoke. His voice the same pathetically small thing that had been heard earlier "Raziel, have you found the Rider?"
"Yes, in a human city called Salem" Lich nodded before walking out of the room. Slowly the others filed out.
The Creator motioned Junior, and Mimi to stay. Yhwh pinched the bridge of his nose "Well that went horribly." he looked at the two "you two can ask your questions now…"
Junior, who understood the depths of the bonds Lich forged whispered "Is it true?"
His silence spoke for him.
With an ironic chuckle he started "Heir to the bone throne and I still can't help those that need it"
The elder knelt in front of him "It isn't your fault. This was something that was predetermined long before your time. You can't change it. Soon you will have all the ability to help those who have fallen into despair. Now, I need you to understand, you cannot stop his feelings of guilt and sorrow. Keep him from acting upon them." he sat back into his chair "Mimi, I take it you want to know why you're here?"
The girl knew she wasn't in the argument from earlier, she was here for something else.
The Beginning nodded "Ah, we better fix that first" and suddenly the bandage wrapped arms she had were perfectly formed hands, the girl stared at them in shock as tears came to her eyes. Flying she wrapped her arms around his waist. With a chuckle he stared "I think that's the most thankful somebody's been in a long time" he patted her back and she looked up at him "Well, you need them for your new job" suddenly she was a bit scared "It's okay, you'll still be with Mandy and Grim, you'll be with the girls and get Jeff back" he reassured her. The smile faded and again he knelt to be eye-to-eye with her "I need you to take over HIM's job. I want you to be Overlord for the Realm of Tainted Souls"
She looked unsure until the prince nodded "You can do it, I know you can" she nodded at the Creator who smiled and lifted a hand. Mimi felt a surge of power coursing through her body until just as suddenly as it started it was done. She must have screamed out at some point because Junior was hovering over her as she realized she was laying on her back "MIMI! Are you okay?!'
She nodded I am alright. They both looked at each other in shock. Her thoughts were in his head. Telepathy. She looked at her hand as it reached for Junior's, red and white, with a squeeze she knew it was powerful.
After a moment Junior helped her to her feet "I-I guess I owe you an apology. I've ignored you when it wasn't entirely your fault. I guess I was…scared. If that was what you really thought of me."
Her lips press against his, not the sweet type he thought would be his first. This was a succubae's kiss, red hot and filled with lust. But something deeper as well. Her tongue ran along his and she pressed her blooming body against his, when he broke away for air he realized that his hands were firmly planted on her ass, and her hands on his. She stared at him with smoldering eyes as she licked his cheek lightly before backing away. In a daze Junior walked out while Mimi smirked seductively and waved as the doors closed.
The only one waiting for him was a near despondent Lich who merely shuffled to a portal that he barely had the strength to open and flickered weakly as he stepped through.
Junior realized they were on Earth, what city he could only guess Salem, they walked until Junior could feel a rush of pseudo-demonic power and they followed it to a man sleeping next to a bike who seemed frozen in time. Lich turned to his friend with lifeless eyes and a monotone that was the only mask he could have against the pain he just suffered "This key we will extract together, the next you will do and I will do the Angelus. She will fight hard and in ways that even Satan wouldn't" Lich walked forward and pressed his hand into the man's forehead and the reaper followed suite.
The mind of the current host was a giant library, shelves lined the area and they slowly drifted by, each case was a different topic- hopes, dreams, the contract and the rider. They stopped and walked over to the dark red oak case before he started to shuffle through the hundreds of books. Junior took a moment to realize that all the energy seemed be gone from his teacher. Lich pulled off a book and opened it, suddenly they weren't in the library but a giant black tunnel that seemingly lead to and from nowhere, the only illumination was a long light that ran infinitely forward and backward and the path that the light illuminated. "Keep on the path. That is the only law of this place" and with that they started to move forward.
They walked for ages, yet they had no passage of time. As he thought they might never reach it the light suddenly stopped in front of a door. Lich pressed on with no thought and standing in front of them was a creature that Junior had never seen before. It wore a cloak like his father but it's skull was aflame and the human skull was unable to form any emotion besides the strained smile that all human jaws were subject to. The thing stared at them for a moment before it pulled a flaming chain out of the cloak and tried to wrap Lich in it only to find the steel links holding nothing. Slowly from the timeless being an arm was raised, the open hand slowly closed and the false reaper was caught firm, it's arms forced to it's sides as it kicked a few inches from the ground, bound from shoulders to knee by the force of will of the embodiment.
The Ghost Rider struggled and let out a hiss as Lich moved past to a single book that lay in the middle of the floor. Opening the weathered book he reverently drew out a small skeleton key and the room they were in seemed to shimmer before they were moved to the library. Junior followed the silent monster out of the library and back into the earthen city before he opened a portal back to the Colony.
Junior's mind stilled as he realized where they were. The place of misery for him, second only to that of his now ruined home. Ruined by his own hands. Fear set in as he remembered the words of Yhwh. But how do you stop that which cannot be stopped? Caution bled into his system "Lich, how am I supposed to get the key when I don't know what you did?"
Suddenly Lich was in his head, on the same level of his own thoughts [We will share a body, I will guide you as you work] suddenly he was in Lich's head [and you will see mine]. Back safe in his own head Junior shuddered, the lethargy that made every movement take all his friend's power and robbed him of vitality sat like a phantom upon him for a moment. But, if he could have felt beyond that he would have noticed several odd feelings…
Raziel and Ikra sat together at table sharing a meal with Azrael who was quietly sipping ambrosia, the silence was not tense nor was it unkind. Merely a touch odd. Raziel nodded to her elder "Azrael…what exactly are the keys and the creatures that hold them?"
Ikra's eyes were glued to the Angel of Death, she herself didn't know the answer to that. The elder angel set his cup down "When Beleth committed his five sins he was deemed to dangerous to be allowed to move freely so we bound him in the most inaccessible part of the Deep, in a place where he could do no evil and was bound by seven keys. Those keys were implanted into his creations so that they might not be lost."
Ikra questioned "And the creatures?"
"They were his attempts to create life, a kingdom where he would be God. The Ghost Rider was his attempt at a Reaper, a deeply flawed and weakened version of one at best, everything it can do is just a mockery of what a true reaper could do. The Angelus was his next attempt, an angel obsessed with order-this one was less a spur of the moment and more thought out, she has some powers that we angels do not. But her addiction to order is not sane, she may be more powerful than even an archangel but her biggest strength his her lack of compassion and twisted thinking." he refilled his cup as he stared into the dregs. He stood and looked out the window of the Tower to see over the Gate of Heaven. "But that was not his most dangerous creation, in fact the first two are not even considered sins. His attempt at a Nergal was. The Darkness, a sentient parasite that gradually takes over the host until they remain nothing more than a puppet for the creature to use. It's power is only comparable to that of it's model- and in all truth, it's transformation capabilities are rather lacking, it has the ability to direct chaos in a way that only The Creator and maybe Lich can see through and it can persuade even the best of angels to fall by the wayside."
Ikra shuddered at the implications "And his other creations?"
Lich felt the key in his hands twitch and tremble, it was crying out for it's siblings. He opened the portal to a hidden point in the Height, a small realm that had no overlord- so small that not even a human sized demon bothered with it, more a floating island than anything else. But underneath the blazing desert surface there lay the dungeon.
As Junior and Lich descended down the steps the temperature dropped to the point that Junior had to start a small furnace inside his chest so the machinery inside him wouldn't freeze with the nergal. When the flight ended they stood in a near pitch black room, only two small circles of light pierced the darkness. A deep slithering sound scraped along the ground, something large dragged itself in dozens of directions at once. Junior noticed the clear floor of the light and stepped near the circle.
The other was occupied by an emaciated man with oily black strands of hair and a ruined suit that would have been luxurious if not for the signs of fighting and struggle. "Jackie Estacado?"
The Don looked up "Who are you kid?"
"I am the Son of Death, I came to free you"
Slouching in his chair Jackie shook his head "Kid, I can't be free. Not even the Darkness could get me out. But even if it could, I don't want out."
"Why? Isn't there something out there for you?"
Jackie stared at me for a moment, his hands on his knees "Ya know kid. I used to hate myself. I thought I done the worst type of sin…" with head bowed he stared at me through a curtain of his raven hair.
The Darkness revealed a serpent head as it laughed, the slimy skin vibrating as it nodded "Oh, delicious agony! You can feed us well Jackie!" it stopped suddenly and hissed in anger "But then why are we so angry with being tricked?" it asked rhetorically.
I swallowed and stepped out of the darkness and into a moon beam, the being that surrounded the two beams of light the living were in screeched as my illusion faded away. I whispered "And what was that?"
Lich's foot steps sounded quietly as the covering of tendrils moved away from him as he approached the two. The Thirty-Third watched silently as the two beings who only held a fraction of guilt tried to understand one another.
He didn't answer. He looked up at me with those blue-gray orbs, lined with red from too little sleep in this place "…Have you ever loved someone who was so beautiful and pure, you couldn't bear to show them your own darkness?"
Slowly Junior gazed at Jackie, a kindred spirit. For a moment he saw himself wrapped in the Nergal flesh as it tried to consume his soul. Only Jackie's demon had a history of corrupting those believed to be incorruptible.
I lowered my head as the hissing around us intensified. I couldn't say anything. The Darkness laughed at him "What? The Angelus? Pure? Jackie boy, that bitch has killed more people than even me!"
Jackie couldn't find it in his heart to reconcile the Angelus with Jenny. She was always trying to do the best she could for him. For him. She died. For him. He whispered "That child killing bitch put me through the worst Hell I can think of, Jenny's still gone and I can't even see her"
The voice behind me finally spoke "Jackie Estacado, listen well, we all have our own darkness, our own hells which follow us every step we take. Through our creation we are our own sins." I looked back at the host who lowered his head again.
The child of death and this other thing that scared the Darkness. They broke through the walls he had been stuck in for an eternity. He had given up hope of escape many ages ago. Could he go and see Jenny? Would she remember him? Or was she entirely taken by the false angel?
The two snake heads of the Darkness slithered around the small beam of light I stood in "Fine, I'll help you. I'll help you hunt the Angelus…"
