Chapter 4 - Lucifer's Fall
Her blue eyes snapped open, but it seemed as though a purple veil was cast over her. In confusion, she turned herself, finding the vast emptiness that surrounded her to be true. Panicked, she sought out life in the vast featureless landscape. Her grey eyes discerned nothing.
Turning again, she cast herself into an endless spin and fell into a bout of despair. Red began to press against the blond roots of her hair. All but a few of the red strands fell away, those few surged forward encompassing one side. She let loose a violent scream, which cascaded throughout the endless dark landscape.
The threads of hair stretched out ahead of her looping into a circle and forming a sphere in front of her. Slowly a face appeared on it, blue eyes surfaced, and a pallid color faded over the growing hair. The hair stretched out and continued building on to the rest of the body.
White hair pulled away from her body in emulation as her hair began to shift to a golden color. Slowly the two strands took their respective shapes and colors. She watched in fascination, as the white steamed ahead of the red, applying features, clothes, and minute details as it built itself. The red slowly pushed on, not so far behind the white.
To the left, the white strands twisted after a moment then fell into a suddle lull, their creation complete. A girl floated ahead of her, her head wreathed in silvery blond hair that fell over her shoulders before continuing down to the small of her back, her skin gleaned a bright tallow, seemingly luminescent, and otherworldly.
To the right, the red strands tangled themselves in a knot before her, presenting their own work. Another girl floated there, suspended over the dark abyss. Her skin seemingly flushed from a chill, and her face standing out against her light auburn hair. Her hair cascaded over her shoulders, maintaining a gleam as it curled ahead of her.
As one, their eyes opened. She smiled as they floated and stared at one another in a state of shock. Completely oblivious to her, the red one opened her mouth as if to speak to the white one. As she did, her eyes widened in shock and she started choking, she heaved backwards. After a moment, a few strands of hair flew from her mouth, errantly flying towards the bemused white one.
When the white one saw what it was she started laughing, her eyes wide in incredulity. Her eyes suddenly went glassy, she wrenched her body upwards and opened her mouth in a silent scream as her eyes grew red and light came from under her skin, all at once it was incinerated as brilliant white flames fought their way from inside of her.
The red one winced, shielding her face from the onslaught of the light and scorching heat. Her eyes opened in disbelief as she looked back at her arms and found them plastered in ice. She watched in horror as the ice silently crept up her arms to her torso, leaving a thick, blue, melting sheath of ice that was semi-transparent, yet showed no skin.
Droplets of water fell from her arm as the white one's flames flared higher. The flames fell to just above her skin as the white one crumpled in space, seemingly exhausted. The red one glanced up from her arm as the heat faded. The room began to cool, temperature dropping fast; the red one's face froze over leaving a facade between her and the world.
The droplets of water from her arms, floated up and surrounded the three, the area shook as the water turned into shards of ice and exploded into nothing. The red one held her hands up in wonder as snow flakes fell down around them, sparkling in the dim glow of the white one's light.
The white one snarled as the snow hit her sending puffs of steam away and dampening her fire. She snarled and let flames fly out from her fingertips, vaporizing the snow and startling the red one from a blissful reverie.
Eyes sparkling, the red one floated closer to the white one, extending her hands in apology. With an audible snarl, jets of flame shot out melting the sides of her arms into cool water. The water fell down into the void, but the red ones face twisted in pure hatred. The water flew up from the void and formed a liquid shell around her.
The shell froze solid, before fracturing outwards into a million pieces. Thousands of specks of ice floated in orbit around her, before sling shotting around her and arcing towards the white one. Sneering, the white one blasted a jet of fire at the ice, melting it into an immense cloud of steam.
Another blast of flame issued from her fingertips aimed directly at the red one, but a smile crept across the red ones face as the flame shot through the cloud of steam. The steam enveloped it, instantly freezing the flame in a solid block of ice. The block broke away from the flame as it redirected itself towards the white one. It flew with increasing speed, but the white one wasn't there anymore.
The red one too had disappeared. With a laugh she watched as the frozen fire arced into the wall and blasted a hole in the void. A shocked scream echoed inside, followed by a fresh breeze and light. She strode forwards along a translucent path; finally she reached the edge of the void, and stared out through the cracks.
A girl stood facing it, with a rifle partially gripped over her shoulder. Beside her stood a large enderman, whose shifting armor was vaguely reminiscent of the void chamber she was inside. She saw their mouths moving but was unable to hear them; she pressed on the crack and winced as it pressed back with a shock. "It isn't fully broken yet." She muttered as she waved her hand in pain.
She closed her eyes and swayed backwards, away from the crack and the view of the outside. She set her face with a sigh and pressed her hand against the crack, slowly her hand moved forward through the dark wall. The room shifted from dark and black to a stunning silvery grey, before shifting again to a deep auburn.
She closed her eyes and the clashes became more violent, sending flashes of color in-between, this went on for several minutes. Finally the two colors smashed into each other, holding in the middle of the great dome, a sliver of pink. The pink grew, slowly pushing at its boundaries forcing the other colors apart.
Her hand pressed through the crack as the last of the colors were overcome by the pink. She grabbed the side of the crack and pulled herself up into the crevice. She stood there, it seemed that time had stopped outside; the girls face was frozen almost mid-word, while the enderman's armor had ceased its subtle vibrations.
Time slowly started its revolutions as she stood up, and strode confidently through the last stretch of the crevice. "Impossible!" The enderman said as she walked into the small cave. His eyes remained fixated behind her; she glanced back and found herself staring at a pink egg hovering about waist-height off the ground.
"Powerful," She said, returning her gaze to the enderman. His eyes narrowed,
"I called it up. As far as I knew, it was unbreakable." The girl twisted her gun further off her back and held it up as if in self defense.
"She is real?" She asked the enderman, in an off tone.
Glancing down at herself, she grinned. "I am real?" An uncertain expression flitted across her face. The room shook violently sending the two girls to the floor. "Diomedes!" The girl cried out as his body shimmered trying to teleport.
"Not happening," He groaned, his shimmering slowing.
"Interesting, I seem to remember you having the ability to teleport." She stated offhandidly as she brought herself up from the floor.
"I use pearls." He said, a harsh edge creeping into his voice. She ignored him, instead inspecting her clothes. She was wearing a pinkish orange dress that fell below her knees, and twin sandals coated with silver glitter.
She glanced back up as she heard a chuckle, Diomedes was looking down at her. "I've figured it out!" He said, "I must be in a dream!" She looked balefully at him and walked over to the girl, who was still sitting on the floor fumbling with the gun. "We don't need that," She said as she pulled it from the girl's hands. "Now do we?" She asked, setting a reproachful gaze on her.
When she didn't respond, she twisted around and mimed shooting a pair of bats that had just flown into the room. She twisted it, before tossing it up a couple of blocks and catching it by the barrel. Glancing at the hilt, a stricken expression fell over her face. She spun around and faced the girl. "Please, tell me you aren't Arnold!" She asked seemingly mortified.
"No," She sputtered, slightly surprised. "That's. That was my dad's name. My name," She broke off, glancing at Diomedes.
"You started, can't stop now." He muttered, and fumbled with something in his hand.
"Jenny." She said, subdued and staring at the ground.
She glanced up at the bats again and tossed the gun towards Jenny. She turned away and flipped over backwards, catching it in midflight before softly landing behind her. "Jenny? Much better name then Arnold, though I wouldn't doubt your father wore it well." She purred into her ear staring over her shoulder at Diomedes. "He wasn't kidding about the ender pearl, was he?" She paused for a moment, "Kind of Gruesome... If you ask me." Diomedes glanced up, with a stoic expression on his face.
"No one did." He said before focusing again on the pearl in his hands.
Shrugging she returned her attention to the ceiling, "Jenny, could you take a quick look at the ceiling for me?" Jenny tilted her head up and quickly surveyed the ceiling, only a couple of blocks from their heads. "Do you see the bats?"
"What about them?" Jenny asked.
"They aren't bats," She looked over at Diomedes and flashed a grin. "They're dragons." He glanced up in surprise, "Dragons?" The two objects transferred from vague shadows becoming clearer and the sharp ridges on their backs becoming more pronounced. Diomedes Cursed and threw his ender pearl out of the room, but it was too late.
The pearl reappeared in his hand as a dark luminescent circle appeared around the now circling miniature dragons. The room shook, and the circle gained depth, glowing an intense black. A voice boomed from the portal, filling all the corners of the room with a jagged old voice. "And Lucifer, hath fallen from the heavens, yet made his home among the mortals instead of his fiery kingdom."
A tight silence flooded the room, "Diomedes, Lucifer never consents to return... Therefore, you give me little choice." A rash chuckle resounded through the cave. "You will return. With or without your consent." The portal flashed a deep purple, and endermen poured through the opening.
They landed and prepped for battle, located their enemy and charged. She held Jenny by the shoulder as the group charged en masse towards Diomedes. Suddenly, Diomedes was in his bestial form. A deadly wolf, ripping apart the creatures attacking him. They too followed cue, shifting into various creatures that defied the laws of nature.
A large cat flew backwards with its guts splayed out on the ground. Another wolf charged into the fray to apprehend Diomedes. It soon laid; face mangled and purple blood oozing out, against the wall it had been slammed into. A raptor swooped down and caught Diomedes' arm, doing no damage but allowing several hits to go unguarded.
For its effort, one of its legs were ripped off by Diomedes, and an eye gouged by one of its own. It flew in an errant circle, swooning from blood loss till it caught sight of her in the corner. It flew at her but veered off from the cold gaze in her eye; instead it flew down and raked the side of Jenny's arm with its remaining talons.
As her blood dripped from its claws, it cawed in elation. Quickly flying back towards the fight as its wounds healed. She turned away from Jenny, Eyes burning in unbridled fury. She raised the gun up and held it towards the flying creature. Jenny glanced up at her in surprise. "It's not loaded." She warned as the trigger jerked back.
The barrel exploded, launching a huge fireball from it. The fire grew in intensity and size till it scorched the ceiling. The group turned in slow motion as they felt the heat. Their blood boiled and sprayed as the fireball smashed into them with a large explosion.
Waves rippled off their falling bodies, their mangled screams echoing through the air. The explosion rippled throughout the room as she turned away from the dying creatures and dropped the gun. It slowly fell to the ground and rebounded upwards with a loud, slow crack.
Jenny moved forward slowly, intent on the gun. She grabbed it and looked up at the portal, a grim smile spreading across her face. She slowly loaded her gun, and aimed it at the portal. The gun clicked, and she started reloading it.
She watched for a moment as Jenny slowly loaded her gun, before turning away and drawing a long silver blade. As she strode towards the nearest group of endermen, the blade lit with a vibrant pink flame. The flames coalesced in this color, before faltering into two colors; bright blue, and a fiery red.
With a sharp cutting laugh she sliced through a charging enderman before decapitating him and launching his head at the portal. She cut through the group she had targeted and dispatched them the same; blood flowing, appendages flying towards the portal.
Behind her, the loud shot of a gun finally rang through the air. Jenny stood, half-crouched cocking her gun to fire it at the portal again. On the other side of the room Diomedes roared, smashing an enderman's head on the ground before sticking his hand into its chest and withdrawing an ender pearl, along with a fountain of purple blood.
She laughed and dashed over behind Diomedes, slicing the slow-moving creatures into bits. She lunged forward; smashing her blade into the same spot she had seen Diomedes pull the pearl from. She ripped it out and held on it a large ender pearl, pumping purple blood down her blade.
She whirled around, catching an enderman on the side of her with it, and watched in delight as small purple explosions lit the surface of the enderman's skin before demolishing it. It let out a slow shriek before falling backwards and flashing in a white explosion that sent the enderman around her flying.
Grinning, she turned towards the last group of endermen, grabbed her sword with both hands, and pulled them apart. The flames mingled for a second before retreating to the opposite blades. With a fierce battle scream she cut through the large group.
Moments later, she lowered her blades and looked around the room. The cave was covered in dark purple blood, and the screams of the dead still echoed. She looked over at Jenny, and watched as she fired a last shot before slowly lowering her gun in exhaustion. She saw Diomedes leaning against the wall, cupping his hands around a gash in his leg.
She set her face and threw her blades at the miniature dragons circling the portal. As they left her hands everything shifted back into place. The bullets from Jenny's gun slammed through the portal, followed by a stream of body parts. A tight, anguished laugh echoed through the room as her blades pinned the dragons to the ceiling.
The portal vanished as the voice echoed through it. "Truly, you are a creature of the Void, Daughter of my parent's killer." Then the voice echoed away with a cruel laugh. She looked back at Jenny and Diomedes.
"You owe me." Jenny stared at her in a mild shock, but Diomedes nodded. "I won't remember this encounter when we next meet." She continued, "Therefore, next time we meet. You will treat me with respect, and aid me in any way you can." She surveyed their expressions. "Understood?" They nodded in assent.
She jumped into the air and caught hold of the swords spearing the dragons to the ceiling. "You will help me, or I will remember what you did and why." She pulled her body up, then ripped the swords out of the ceiling and fell towards the floor. She smashed the dragons into the corpse of a fallen enderman, and laughed as a white vortex enveloped her.
The vortex appeared in her kitchen and spat her out. She glanced around in meager surprise. She looked down at her blades and found the bodies were gone. Sighing she walked over and sat down in her chair.
She laid the blades on the armrests, and sat back. "A child of the void?" She asked the cool air. "What does that even mean?" She shook her head, and then contemplated the swords before her.
She held her hand over the blue one, "Cautious, intelligent, resourceful." She murmured. The red one flared as she held her other hand over it. "Reckless, Focused, Strong of will." She shook her head and took hold of both blades. They flared a momentary pink before pulling together and returning to their original state.
She swept her blond hair out of her face and narrowed her grey eyes on her surroundings. "Just like me to lose time in a damn chair." She muttered as she got up and walked to the sink. "Wonder who it was that saved me..." She said surveying the small room, before walking away into the bowels of the house.
I may have overcompensated... 3,034 words for this chapter, would love some feedback.