Chapter 2

Before I knew it, the opera house was before me. You'd have to be there to truly appreciate such a work of art. Looking similar to a coliseum in a way, but oh so grand inside, like a chapel. Man, I can never make up my mind! Do I hate this place? Do I like it? I don't know.

"AEON!" I heard a voice yell. I looked and saw a kid about my age with blonde hair come to me, a glare on his face. I felt a wave of fear crash into me. I never liked it when I'm yelled at. I guess I felt like a failure when this happened.

I felt the kid punch me in the gut. I yelped as I fell to my knees, anger and sadness building up inside of me. "WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN YOU PIECE OF SHIT" He yelled.

"I'm sorry Videl. I'm sorry" I whimpered, holding my stomach.

"You better be sorry! We missed the fucking performance because of you! Because you wouldn't swear your allegiance to Dante the hero! That's why you ran away! You couldn't take it! I assume you fell asleep right?"

I felt tears build in my eyes, as if I had committed a sin, but at the same time, I wanted to slice his jaw off to shut him off. "Videl that's enough! He said he was sorry" I heard a woman's voice from my left. I heard the footsteps and the satisfying sound of a hand slapping a person's face. "OW, WHAT THE HELL!!!" Videl yelled.

"Pitiful. Punching a kid whose younger then you for missing a dumb ass play that will be playing this whole month" I heard her scold.

"Shut your mouth whore!" Videl yelled. "Oh, is that a way to talk to your big sister Videl" I heard her ask.

I heard her walk to me and pat my back. "Come on, its okay, get up" I heard her say, trying to comfort me. I looked up.

"Thanks . . . Saya" I said, trying to force a smile on my face. I struggled at first, but finally got up. Saya is one of my friends. She's about 22 so I guess she sees me as a little brother. Well, more of a brother then Videl is to her.

I heard another set of feet come from behind me. Well more like running. Footsteps moving fast. Really fast! Suddenly, I felt the force of a person jumping on my back. "AGH!" I yelled, falling again. "Oh god I'm so sorry" I heard another girl's voice yell.

I blushed, realizing who that was. I felt the weight come off of me, allowing me to spin around, seeing the pale, dark haired beauty, Grace, standing, looking down at me.

"I . . . uh . . . n-n-no it's alright" I choked, trying to talk. Grace helped me up.

"Hey Aeon, sorry about the punch, I guess I just get steamed when it comes to missing stuff" Videl said. "It's alright, I deserved it" I said happily.

"NO! No you didn't!" Saya yelled at me. "I'm sorry" I whimpered. "No, no, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have snapped. Just . . . have more respect for yourself okay?" Saya said. I nodded.

"Well, I'm getting out of here. It's freezing out here!" Videl yelled, walking down the street. "Same. Aeon, are you coming? It's getting late" Saya asked. "No, I'm fine. I'm gonna hang out for a little longer" I replied.

Grace followed without a word. "Grace!" I choked out. "Yeah" Grace asked me. "I . . . uh . . . sorry for not, managing to keep you up" I apologized.

"Stop apologizing so much Aeon, not everything is your fault" Grace said, smiling. My face brightened to a much brighter shade of red. My breath evacuated from my lungs. "Uh, th-thanks . . . Grace" I managed to say. "Well see ya" Grace said following the others.

I wanted to tell her to stop so I could tell her something, but the words froze in my throat before I could say them. Before I knew it, she was gone.

"Damn it" I said under my breath. "Sorry? What am I apologizing for?" I asked myself, almost expecting my head to start talking to me. The rain stopped, but it was still dark.

I looked at a statue in the middle of the square in front of the opera house. There, stood a statue dedicated to one of the supposed heroes of this city, Dante.

Once hated, now loved by the city. How gullible can these people be? He shot the cities previous lord, Sanctus in the head during a ceremony. But kill the guy further, he's a hero, oh joy!

Then again, I guess the guy had it coming figuring he was trying to take over the world or some crap like that.

I looked at his facial expression, happy and smug. I hate that shit eating grin of his!

On his back was a large sword with a skull design on the guard, dubbed "Rebellion" and in his hands he had the dual pistols "Ebony and Ivory".

I walked away, not knowing why I didn't go with my friends. I guess I needed to quietly vent my anger or something. All of the windows in Fortuna were dark. The streetlights were my only guide.

I suddenly felt the hairs behind my neck stand up, hearing a strange laugh behind me. I spun around, looking at what was mockingly cackling at me.

Walking sporadically was a robust looking demon, pudgy, almost as if it were made out of sacks of water. A curved blade replaced its right arm. It was stained with . . . what could only be . . . blood.

I couldn't see a mouth on the creature, but I could still hear its cackle ringing in my ears. I stepped back. What was I supposed to do?!?! I heard it's robustly made, almost pirate like wooden legs clacking on the pavement.

I felt an evil aura surround it. It felt hard to breathe around this creature. It made me choke back sobs or sheer terror. How potent this damning creature's air was.

I wanted to scream, but I couldn't get a single noise out of my throat. I was going to die if I didn't do something.

I tripped on an uneven block on concrete on the sidewalk, falling flat on my back. My legs were twisted up in the length of my trench coat. I was struggling to move, to get out of there.

I was going to die!

I saw the creature jump at me, blade outstretched. This was the end! I'm done for!