Heya everyone. Sorry this is getting out later in the day. I haven't been feeling all too great since last night and it carried out for pretty much all day so far. Regardless, I worked on the chapter, however long it took me. So, here you all are. Chapter 14. Enjoy.

Chapter 14: The Entry

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Bitter cold. It was to be expected.

Sort of.

Dante turned around to face the direction they came from, still seeing the storm in full blast. Oddly enough, it couldn't be heard at this distance.

Things were far too calm at the moment.

"Well, this place isn't creepy in the slightest bit. No sir, it isn't..." Ciel said as she walked about, constantly turning her head to take in her surroundings.

"Far less troublesome than what I expected…" said Leonard.

"And what were you expecting?" asked Ciel.

"A force of some sorts to prevent us from entry." replied Leo as he nodded his head up towards the sky.

High above the sky at the center of the island floated the towering, eye-shaped breach of Xera's reality. Its size was much more immense now that everyone stood under it.

"To form such a large landmass of ice...it's something I've seen only ms. Stratos perform once." remarked Inuba as she too examined her surroundings.

Freya Stratos, one of Dante's old allies during his time in Primordial. As far as the young immortal was considered, she was the strongest user of ice magic ever to live. Mainly it was because her power was fueled by the conquered soul of a powerful ice Dark Entity, making her ice into Black Ice, the strongest and most powerful form of ice to ever exist. Nothing could melt it, much less scratch it unless there was someone with more powerful Dark Entity powers than Freya. The things she could do with her ice was outrageous...

Dante took a moment to look over an edge to one of the ice pits below. There was no climbing back up if you fell. Not without cutting your hands and feet at least.

A quiet tap of a cane slipped into the veil of dull echoes, catching the attention of the students.

"I believe time is a factor here?"

Ozpin's stoic voice was graced by a momentary flash of red light and a following crack of thunder. His silver hair fluttered in stray strands against the swirling air, but his eyes took in everything before him in a calmness that rivaled the eye of a storm.

"You kids better get up there. Are you sure six is all you're capable of?" Caza asked, stepping up to Ozpin's side as she placed a delicate hand over her holstered revolver, "No more than that?"

"With each additional party, it gets more difficult to maintain a tether to the real world. The more numbers we include, the higher the risk one may not reemerge." the girl cloaked in white responded as the team entering inside gathered around her.

"Then we leave it as six." Ozpin replied, taking a glance to Glynda as she stepped up to his other side, "We'll remain here and ensure nothing will enter inside or possibly even attempt to close The Rift."

"If anything goes wrong, I expect you to withdraw all of the students from the dimension with or without their consent." Glynda stated.

"The withdrawal must be mutual for there to be any direct effects. I cannot simply pull anyone back without them willing it." the girl responded.

"Trust me, we'll be willing it!" Skyla called back, giving the three authority figures a wave from the raid party.

"Then be on your way, and do be cautious. From the information I've gathered, this is the weakest he will ever be."

Ozpin ushered the girl forward, and she took a step back with a slight bow and a nod before turning toward her group of six.

"I take it we're not jumping..." Destiny commented, nodding up to the rift in the sky.

"We're not jumping." Xera replied, "The distance between the rift and the highest part of this island is well over 150 feet."

"Shouldn't be an issue." Destiny returned, letting her white book withdraw itself from her holster as she summoned Soarix, her eagle, "I can take one other with me, any more than that will weigh Soarix down too much."

"I'll go." Ruby volunteered, stepping toward Destiny as the wolf-faunus helped her onto her summon's back.

Weiss was noticeably standing as far away from the bird as possible. Now that Dante thought about it, it very likely had something to do with the Nevermore Weiss and Ruby hitched a ride on during initiation.

"Still afraid of clinging to the back of an avian creature there, ice queen?" someone's fiery voice cut in as Weiss jumped, a hand tapping her shoulder.

"I believe that's none of your concern, Yang. I'm perfectly fine with sitting on the back of a bird!" the heiress quickly replied, taking a step back as she faced her teammate, "Besides, this one's not a nevermore."

"Close enough, don't you think?" Yang replied with a small smirk.

That smile quickly lost itself as she took a deep breath and spoke to the heiress once more.

"Make it back, will ya? And make sure my sister stays safe in there."

"Yaaaang, we'll be fine!" Ruby called out from her mounted position, small hands gripping the feathers in front of her.

"You better be!" Yang replied, giving her sister a wave.

"I'll do my…" Weiss tilted her head, pausing for a moment before rewording her response, "I promise I'll do what I can."

"Good." Yang returned, giving the heiress's white hair a quick toss, "I'll see you when you get back. And you too sis! We'll make cookies!"

"Woo! Cookies!" Ruby threw her hands in the air, nearly falling off the back of Soarix. A swift grip of her cloak from Destiny kept her from tumbling.

"Hands on the feathers, little red. We'll be taking off soon."

The wolf faunus let go as soon as the girl regained her balance, giving Soarix's feathers a small pet.

Weiss gave Yang her own wave goodbye before her icy blue eyes cast their gaze to the rest of the party, searching for her own viable entry into the rift.

"Look at them… Their first trip to what's likely Hell, and they're all acting like it's a family trip to a family amusement park… Did we bring the soda? I can't remember." said Dante as he stood next to Inuba.

She giggled at his joke as she walked closer to him

"It certainly seems like that is the case."

She looked lower to his right arm, seeing it twitch slightly. She then looked up to him and saw him wincing slightly.

"Is something troubling you, Master?"

"Not entirely. I mean, I'm not sure of what it is I'll find inside, so I'm a little concerned." said Dante as he turned his head towards Inuba, "Our friend in the cloak mentioned something that's been on my mind for sometime now. And I've been thinking about it ever since we saved Zerath. I never actually told you what set off my EndStage months ago. But to put it simply...I found a Gem under the school."

Inuba's eyes widened in shock momentarily before she spoke again.

"Y-You mean...one was there under the school..?"

"Yup. Fancy that… Seeing it was there, I tried to destroy it, but it backfired on me and started EndStage. As you know, we managed to eliminate it from me after Beacon fell, which also resulted in me injuring my arm. I don't think I destroyed it that time. Considering what our cloaked friend said, I'm thinking it must've fell here through some sort of spacial distortion after I tried destroying it. And somehow...Zeridûl must have found it."

"But that means-!"

"I thought the same thing. But the Gems weren't meant for Dark Entity or Angel hands, only to be used by the Ancients. But...there's a loophole for Angels in order to use more of its power than what they already can. Humans. I don't know exactly how or why, but humans are able to access the powers of one of the Gems more than Dark Entities and Angels, whereas an ancient using it can use it to full potential. By taking a human vessel powerful enough to withstand his powerful before utilizing the Gem, Aultus was able to bypass the restrictions of his Angelic nature and was able to use the Gem to its near full potential. Unfortunately...we both know what happened after that…"

Inuba's fox ears folded against her head as she clutched the center of her chest, where once a wound used to be. A wound made by Aultus that had killed her so long ago. It was through her connection to Dante's soul, and her everlasting devotion to him that that her spirit had endured, and shortly after, allowed her to reform her entire self. She had been saved. And when she could, she had chased after him once again, reuniting with him and continuing their journey together where they last left off. There were stil thing left undone and unsaid.

"Do you understand now why I was hesitant to bring you with me inside The Rift?"

"Y-Yes…" responded the kitsune softly.

He was thinking that memory of my death would greatly hurt me if I had gone in and saw the Gem… Oh Master…

It would be a lie if she tried to deny her heart ached at the moment. Not just for herself, but her beloved Master as well. He too was still hurt by what had happened to her so long ago. But he was the one going inside the rift. And he would be the one to see it. That was if 'it' was in Zeridûl's hands. She knew that if he saw 'it', he would be reminded him of that time.

Inuba knew that Dante would always say that she was the strongest out of the two of them. But she always thought it was the reverse. He was bold. He was courageous. He was enduring. He never gave up. He was as thoughtful as possible. He was generous. He was caring.

He was far stronger than she could ever be.

It almost always confused her whenever he would say she was the better of the two.

Her current thoughts were cut off when she heard him sigh, seeing that he had looked up at the rift.

"Well...let's get this over with then…"

Inuba was just about ready to let him go, but she wanted to do something, anything to put him at east before he went inside the rift. She thought of at least a few ways to do so, not all of them appropriate at the moment, but given the situation at hand, she had to settle with a simple solution.

"Wait…"

He halted in his tracks immediately after hearing her voice and turned around.

"What? You're not worried are you?" he asked with a half smile.

"I am…" she responded almost immediately, forcing him to drop his smile, "You do so much… And you act as though nothing affects you but...you hide it so much that it's almost impossible to tell until it shows how it's affecting you."

"Inuba…"

"I'm always worried… Especially if I feel as though I haven't done enough for you, or couldn't do my best to help you. That's why…"

She began to approach him once more, gently grasping his completely bandaged right arm and taking care to remove it slowly from the sling around his neck. Inuba then raised up his hand under her own, and placed her other hand over the top of it as faint white flames emerged, blanketing her hands and his whilst slowly creeping up his arm.

Inuba finally brought the young immortals arm closer to her, resting his hand it the center of her chest, while her two hands now covered his right hand. She saw that he had averted his eyes, trying to maintain his composure and smiled as she closed her own eyes.

"Let strength be granted upon this Soveirgnless Soul, so that he may smite the evil that plagues us all. Grant him guidance and clarity so he may see through the long Dark. Let him surpass all those who have come before him. Let him prevail...so that he too may know peace of mind once the Dark has passed."

The flames sank into the bandaged arm slowly until no traces of white flame could be seen.

Inuba let go of his hand, and the young immortals arm felt...better. Far more than just better. He could move it entirely now. Granted it still ached slightly, he could fully move his arm, hand, and fingers freely.

"Unbelievable… My arm actually works now..!"

"Incredible… It worked…" said Inuba staring at his arm.

"You mean this was something new?"

"Entirely… I only thought of it just now… I wasn't sure it would work, but I hoped that it would."

"It feels a lot better…" said Dante clenching his right fist a few times, "Thank you."

"It's always a pleasure, Master." she said bowing to him.

"Inuba…"

"Y-Yes..?"

"Never say that you don't do enough for me. You always manage to go above and beyond and do more than what's needed or necessary. Thank you."

"Y-You're welcome…"

"Whoa, is the storm clearing?!" Sun suddenly asked, feeling a buzz rush through his golden monkey tail.

"No dude, i-it's totally not c-clearing up..." Neptune responded shakily, arms wrapped tightly around an icy pillar far away from the island's edge.

"Really? I swear it just got warmer or something..." Sun replied, letting his open shirt drift slightly in the warm wind.

"You two are imagining things. And Sun, aren't you already weather resilient?" Yang pointed out, poking his bare abs for a moment.

"Me? Oh yeah, I'm weather resistant alright." Sun threw his arms out at his sides, tilting his head up as he took in a deep breath, "This? This is nothing."

"Alright, we should be on our way now." the cloaked girl said, gathering the attention of the six before her, "Xera, you can fly so you'll need to carry Weiss and Skyla into the rift. Inuba can as well so she'll follow closely with Dante, but she won't be entering with you."

The girl kicked up into the air, the bottoms of her shoes glowing white as she rose up further, cloak waving in the wind as she extended her hands to the teens below her.

"Go."

The smallest of tugs suddenly pulled at their aura, but the foreign feeling quickly disappeared as soon as it arrived. With that done, Soarix leaned back and unfurled its wings, taking off into the air a moment later with Ruby and Destiny on his back.

Xera held out his arms, reinforcing them with his Aura as he gripped the forearms of Weiss and Skyla at his sides, their hands doing the same with his.

With his grip locked, his wings shot out to full wingspan before catching a fabricated updraft and throwing him into the air. The temperature in the atmosphere suddenly rose drastically, the air directly around Xera even moreso as he adjusted its levels to force an even greater updraft beneath him.

Lastly, Inuba took Dante's left hand and kicked up into the air, the bottoms of her soles blazing with white flame as she streaked into the air behind the rising party.

The air around them became colder as the rift came into view, approaching them as quickly as they approached its gate. Nothing but blackness and scattered, blinding lights stared back at them in a seemingly clear, empty void. Or so it looked.

As soon as they leveled themselves with its center, they gazed in to find a rocky outcrop on the inside. It was weathered, gray, brittle stone, and it reached the bottom of the gate as if it were acting as a bridge for anyone to enter.

"That's our landing zone!" Destiny called out, flying close to the rift's large opening as she looked inside, "I can't see anything past it!"

"It's all we need! Get inside for now!" Dante called out from behind, Inuba pulling him above the rest of the party as the two flyers up front moved forward.

After a moment of hesitation, Soarix entered a dive and swooped into the darkness, followed by Xera as he slipped inside the veil of blackness as well.

All of them were still visible on the other side, as if they did nothing else but step through a window, as Dante watched them all touch base on the rocky ledge on the other side.

"Hold on tight, Master. And don't break anything when you land!" Inuba said, kicking back in the air before beginning to spin.

"I'll try not to..." Dante replied, giving the kitsune a thankful smile, "I'll see you when I get back."

"Promise?" Inuba asked.

"Promise."

Inuba spun one last time, her fox tail trailing behind her before slinging Dante forward with a sudden burst of white flame at his heels, some of the people from below hearing a very hearty "yeehaw" in the worst southern accent possible as he flew inside.

Everything inside looked like an endless void of space, filled with stars as Dante soared through the vast space. He was further behind the rest and needed to catch up. But where were they..?

He could see an end to the vastness of the space around him, spotting them all on the edge of a cliff.

Perfect.

The young immortal began noticing he was losing speed and momentum to carry him through. It was moments like these he wished he could fly again.

He thought hard about what to do to push him forward, and soon found his answer. Dante drew his sword and moved it behind him before placing both feet on the opposite sides of his sword's guard and grasping tight of the handle with both hands.

This is possibly the stupidest idea I've ever come up with. Of all time. I really hope this works…

"Devouring Light!"

As he screamed his techniques name, a massive blast of white and black Aura bursted forth from the young immortals blade in a focused, beam-like blast that rocketed him forward at high speeds.

"This...is...awesome!"

He was flying at speeds faster than what he imagined as his Aura continued to propel him forward, like a moron on a rocket powered pogostick that was flying through space. Spotting the stone bridge he was approaching, where everyone else landed, Dante now had two new problems that needed a solution. How was he going to stop and how was he going to land?

"Hey… Anyone see Dante?" asked Skyla as she looked around them.

"He was behind us. I'm sure of it." stated Xera.

"Did that idiot seriously get lost?!" shouted Destiny.

A few seconds of silence between concerned friends was interrupted when a white and black Longsword suddenly planted itself blade point first in the ground between them all. Soon, Dante appeared before them in a streak of white and black Aura, kneeling on the ground as he grasped his sword.

"Nope. He's present and accounted for." Xera said, "What happened to you?"

"Um… I lost momentum and was starting to fall...so…"

"So..?" continued Destiny.

"I used my Longsword as a pogostick, and used Devouring Light to make it into a rocket pogostick."

"Woah!" shouted Ruby and Skyla in unison, awestruck by such and ingenious plan.

"You can't be serious?!" asked Weiss.

"No, I'm serious alright. See, I'm masterful when it comes to plans. Especially when making stupid plans that surprisingly work sometimes. Rocket pogostick was one of them."

"You used your most deadliest technique in the history of deadly techniques as a propulsion system…and your sword as a base?" asked Xera.

"Correction. A pogostick."

"Okay. Well, we should get a move on then."

"What, that's it?! We're not even going to talk about such a reckless plan of action?!" said Weiss.

"I'm here, aren't I?" said Dante as he began walking ahead of the group after sheathing his sword.

"That man is a lunatic…" replied the heiress.

"Hey, don't fix what ain't broke." said Skyla as she began walking.

Dante continued walking ahead of them, but soon touched his head with his hand. It ached slightly. He soon looked behind him to see Soarix suddenly evaporate, dispersing into fragments of Destiny's Aura as the girl lowered to her knees, hand pressed against her chest.

"I-Is anyone else…" Skyla's voice choked out from behind me, and I quickly turned to watch her fall to the ground as well, "h-having…a-a hard time…breathing?"

What's going on? Why are they..?

Everyone besides Xera and Dante were affected and fell to their knees as well, trying to catch a breath.

The air!

"Xera, got anything to fix their circulation of air?"

"It's the air? Alright, one second then."

Xera raised up both arms as they flowed with fire, which soon reached out in a bright crashing wave of fire into the forms of everyone on the ground at the moment. The Phoenix Faunus' flames lingered, flickering off their skin as they melting into everyone's Aura. Whatever it was circulating through their lungs had been expelled by Xera's Affinity.

"Those flames are attuned to your Aura Signatures now, so they won't go out unless your Aura runs dry. If that happens, I'll have to supply the energy needed myself to keep them kindled," He informed them, carefully watching as everyone began to breath normally again.

"H-How does that," Destiny pushed herself to her feet, brushing down her knees as she stared at us, "make sense?"

"My Affinity has a healing property to it. But the fire also has a high aptitude to burn away toxins and viruses, and whatever else that can harm the body. It keeps me from getting sick, but I found that it can help others, too."

Destiny took a second, but she eventually gave him a sure nod. There was too big of a party to take things as quickly and urgently as Dante and Xera did in Zerath's mind. They realized rushing in wouldn't be something smart to do, and that they would rather make sure everyone is safe.

"We should go. Just be careful, we'll need to watch each other's backs in here."

"Who's taking the back?" Dante asked, walking up to Xera's side.

"I figured you and I would take the front, making sure we had a strong frontline. Anyone who's more of a supportive role would take up the center, leaving the back for someone capable of sensing anything off." Xera replied, turning to regard Weiss and Destiny.

They were the main supportive roles, and thankfully, they understood from just a simple glance.

"Ruby and I can be the caboose." Skyla offered, pointing to the back of the pack.

"Yeah, we can keep everyone covered. Besides, I need a little range if you guys encounter something up front." Ruby added, agreeing to Sky's terms.

"Are you sure? I mean, with my Semblance I could cover us from all sides." Dante asked.

"Sky's more than capable, if that's what you're worried about." Xera said, giving Skyla a confirming nod and letting her pull Ruby along with her, "Thanks, both of you."

Skyla flashed them a thumbs up and skipped the rest of the way to the back of the group. Somehow, I knew we'd be fine. With a sniper's trained eye and Xera's partner keeping watch over them all, everything would be fine.

"Don't take this the wrong way, but isn't she a little… What's the word I'm looking for…" Dante wondered, keeping his voice low, "Easily distracted?"

"She may seem that way, but I trust her capabilities with my life."

"Well, if you put it like that," Dante took a minor glance over his shoulder, then turned to face ahead of us, "then I trust her too."

"Do we have snacks?!" Skyla's voice called out, immediately getting a momentary dip of the head from Dante, the poor immortal seemed tempted to take back his words all of a sudden.

"Sky, this is a dimension in another realm. We're here to hunt down and bring an end to an evil being that's been tainting our world for far too long. We're on a mission to destroy him," Xera called back, giving her a wave over my shoulder before turning around, extending my arms, "Of course we have snacks."

Are you freaking serious?! We have gone in to some twisted Dark Realm to go kill a potential god in the making...and they brought snacks. Wonderful. Absolutely wonderful.

"Yayy!" Sky cheered, throwing her fists in the air.

"Me too!" Ruby called, holding her hands out as well.

"Really?" Weiss sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose as Destiny hid a small smile.

The heiress glanced back and saw Ruby giving her, and Xera, an excited nod.

"Fine, I… will admit, it'd be nice to be supplied."

The Phoenix Faunus threw a couple granola bars at them before moving on, beginning their first few steps up the hill. They fell into a decent formation as quickly as they started moving, and continued in that way.

The ground felt brittle, dusty almost. It was pale and weathered, appearing almost dry and white in contrast to the Darkness surrounding them. The light from the stars was enough to illuminate the dimension, or whatever this place was. It gave off a deathly surreal atmosphere, as if we were drifting, but stationary in a vast abyss of lifeless space.

There was no way they were alone, but it felt like that.

"This place looks oddly familiar to me…" said Dante.

"Familiar?" Xera asked.

"It...almost looks like the Dark World…"

"The Dark World..? How similar are we talking?" asked Xera.

"Very. If I didn't know any better, it's almost as if he's recreating fragments of it. The entrance, for instance, it was exactly the same as when I entered through the last time."

"You think he's recreating the Dark World in his own image? With his own rule?"

"From what I learned a while back, the Dark World sustains itself through negativity, Dark Essence, and in most cases, evil, or sin. Considering a multitude of Dark beings live in the Dark World, they basically feed it enough of their own Aura to the point where it became self-sustaining. A dimension requires a lot of energy to…well...exist."

"To start a dimension like this, how much energy are we talking?"

"A lot more than you probably think is possible, but that's only needed for the creation. There is a point in time where a dimension can gather enough energy to keep itself infinitely powered, since it'll eventually start producing the necessary energies it needs on its own. If he's doing what I think he's doing, then Zeridûl may very well be attempting to create his own Dark World. But…there's something else that's been bugging me for a while now…"

"Is it sorta bad? Or really bad?" Xera asked with concern.

"Honestly, I shouldn't say unless I know for a fact that what I'm thinking is the case. A dimension of this caliber coming into existence so soon? It's just too quick and convenient. But I've had wrong theories before… Unless I know more, I'm keeping quiet about this theory of mine. Dangerous secret and all that."

"If it's detrimental to any of this, just…don't keep it to yourself for too long. I might not know the full extent of whatever it is you're concerned about, but if it's as bad as you make it sound, I don't think that matters." Xera responded.

The Phoenix Faunus knew he was hiding something, but not just something. A secret too dangerous to even bring up and be wrong about. Something that could possibly insinuate something far outside our capable levels of understanding.

"Xera…" his voice grew serious, moreso than his usual, "If you knew for a fact that something existed that could make your deepest wishes or desires come true…how far would you be willing to go to have it in your possession?"

"I would assume all the lives in the worlds, if someone wanted something like that." He replied, his walk slowing slightly.

"And if this thing could actually return the dead without the price of sacrificing others? What then?"

"Something that can cheat death like that, with no cost at all, sounds like a dream in and of itself. There are certain unsaid rules in Existence, or so I like to think. One of them is keeping the dead, well…dead. Anything past that is breaking that person, returning them as something more faded than when they were alive."

"And if this thing bypassed every law or rule imaginable, making the person whole again without any issue? You'd be tempted even the slightest amount, yes?"

The young immortal knew it was wrong to be suspicious of Xera if he ever found out what was possibly further within this realm. But he had to be sure. From experience, Dante knew The Gem has a way of calling to people, drawing them in closer in order to make their wishes come true. The Gem was neither good nor evil. It was a thing. A tool. A tool that could manifest people's desires. A tool that could be used for evil, like the last one was.

"I know what you're insinuating..." Xera sighed, "but no, I'd never be tempted for something like that."

"I don't know whether to believe that or not. But listen carefully and listen well. All it takes," he raised up his still bandaged but now functional right hand, pinching his index finger and thumb together, "is that single shred of temptation to get you to act without thinking about anything else. And with what I have in mind…it acts upon it in such a way that it empowers you to follow that desire all the way to the end. Do you understand now why I want to keep quiet about this?"

Dante turned his head back slightly, looking at the others following closely behind.

"There are some things in life that just…happen. For me, if I were ever offered a chance to bring my mom back, I wouldn't need to think about it, even for a moment. I'd be killing her again if I brought her back to life, but in the worst way possible. I can't do that to her… She'd never be okay with that. But...I know what you're getting at, and I know how temptation can lead to something beyond corruption. Whatever this is, whatever it's capable of, it feeds on will that's easily persuaded or turned. It draws on all the negative emotions we look at as sin. It's of Dark descent, isn't it..?"

"The opposite actually… It's something in between."

"Whatever made it is one thing, but how it's used now is another. If this thing can take the smallest of temptations and turn that into burning desire, then it can be used to drive anyone to the point of no return."

"That's unless the person holding it knows exactly what it is and how to use it. Then...it becomes a tool. A tool that can be wielded with such ease it's honestly a little terrifying."

"You think Zeridûl somehow found one of these…" Xera realized, his words lingering in the still air.

"I don't know… Which is why I'm keeping quiet about it for the most part. Ever since stepping foot in here, our friend in the hood allowed Inuba and myself to sense these…disruptions, or fluctuations. There have been many fakes over the years, and each give off the same sort of presence. The only way to know for sure is if it's in my hands."

"You make it sound like someone can build something like this, and actually have it work to some extent…"

"It can be built. The materials are…rather easy to obtain. The only difficult part is the amount required to make one."

"And here I thought it'd be nearly impossible to make, considering what it can do..." Xera muttered.

"Nothing is impossible… So long as you have the right thing and amount to pay."

"Impossibility is only relative, but it sounds like your logic revolves around cheating the system. Something like that, that alters reality, really shouldn't be obtained through any remotely normal means. And yet, you say someone can do anything if they have something to trade for it."

"As unfair as you imagine it to be, it exists. Whether to provide some twisted amusement for a being of greater power…or simply a being benevolent enough to provide you with options no one else can. But these options are never free. Truthfully though, it's more of a question of equivalent exchange. Give something of equal value to get something of equal value."

"Sooner or later, something's going to break if that system remains in place. A trade of equal value can be anything, and for anything, but it's always at the will of the being on the other side of the exchange. How many beings exist that have this power?" Xera asked.

"Currently? As in on their own with their own power?"

"Yeah."

"Two. The Creator…and Dakini."

"Your goddess…" Xera realized, recalling a certain memory that was hard to forget.

"They called her Demon Fox Goddess Dakini, known for her wrath and fury on the battlefield that surpassed any and all that stood before her. Her power is great. What most people don't know is that Dakini isn't simply a powerful goddess, but also a wish granter. She accepts almost any type of payment you can think of, anything tradeable or able to be exchanged that is equal to the value of what you want or desire. It's how she's able to grant the wish at all. Say you want three hundred dollars cash. You give her something of that value, and your wish is granted. Say that you want to save someone's life from certain death. You either give a life or your life in return, or-"

Dant suddenly raised his hand to his head and winced slightly. It looked as though he was having a headache, trying to remember the last detail, but falling just short of it.

"You okay?" asked Xera.

"Y-Yeah… I'm just drawing a blank right now..."

"You're not one to feel pain, I don't think that was just drawing a blank there."

"Okay then smarty pants, it's more like I'm trying to remember a detail, but there's a block there. And it feels like I'm constantly running into a wall…"

"Then stop thinking about it for now. I'd rather you keep your mind here and intact while we do this. You can keep trying to figure out if Zeridûl is using what you think he's using, but for now, we're in a place known only to him, and him alone. He has power here. We need to not forget that."

"I know that. What are you, my mother now?"

He seemed…unusually irritated than his usual self.

"You look nothing like me, so I think that's proof enough." Xera replied easily.

Taking everything into account though, Dante felt off to the Phoenix Faunus. He had known him for, what, only a week or two total in terms of total accumulated time? That's more than enough to get a grasp on how he'd ordinarily respond, let alone act. Dante wasn't acting like his usual self… There was something weighing down on the him. One glance around, and I was starting to wonder if this dimension was that factor.

*munch munch munch*

The two heard someone bite into their granola bar and turned around, seeing Skyla at the back of the pack snacking on her sweets already. The audible "hmph" she made with her next bite only brought a giggle to the girls around her. Somehow, she was lessening whatever tension there was around us, and reducing it to bearable levels. Xera was thankful for that.

As was Dante being here for only a few minutes and he already felt a bit more irritated and on edge than usual. But Skyla managed to ease that tension with her sillines.

The silence around them no longer felt so heavy, and when they reached the peak of the sloping bridge, what they saw made them stop in plac. Everyone else made it up as well in the next few seconds, falling in line with Xera and Dante as they all gazed out from the top of the pale hill.

A black citadel in the sky sat nestled in the sky, hovering over the landmass below.

The bridge the group was on led down to what looked like a floating mountain, if only they formed upside down. Dark, icy crystals made up the structure beneath the floating landmass of pale stone, jaggedly reaching far into the abyss below and sharpening into a point at the mountain's tip.

What they now saw was a city. If one were to take everything they knew of Mount Olympus and corrupted it, molded it into spires of tall towers and sharply pointed corners, then take the elegant, Athenian architecture of the Greeks and twist it, burn it, and freeze it, and the result would the new world before us. Torches were ablaze on rooftops and in windows of different levels, glowing in crimson lights across the massive, elevating expanse of the city before us.

The lowest levels, where the bridge connected into, seemed to be the residential district, given the smaller buildings making up the majority of the front part of the mountain's base. Elevated by central stairs, running from somewhere in the center of this district, was another layer of the city.

Larger buildings were built there, all in the same black marble stone that made up the rest of the city. Buildings of greater size resided there, only suggesting a commercial or industrial district for the working-class.

Beyond that was a third level at the furthest part of the mountain's reversed base, making the city feel like a sloping hill of buildings that lead up to its highest peak of importance.

The palace, or whatever he happened to call the structure up there.

It was the largest building, by far, and it was built at the top of an immense staircase in the distance. Its flames were the brightest, its pillars the tallest, all reaching the furthest into the dark sky above.

This was a city of demons…and they were going to the top of it.

"Welcome..." A voice cut in before any could take another step.

It was an unforgettable…condescending voice. Its dark, icy undertone came from everywhere, causing the loose stones across the bridge beneath us to drift as it drew through a slow, immense pull of reverberation.

"Welcome to my kingdom...my new world." Zeridûl's voice continued, as the burning lights of his kingdom suddenly blazed in tall columns of red flame.

So...he knows that we're here now… thought Dante.

"One of you is false, the other a betrayer. Two of you are weak in resolve and in power, while the other is a being built by ignorance, but the last of you… you intrigue me."

The stones beneath them began to chip away as the bridge began to erode away.

"You bring with you an immortal and four friends, all willing to risk themselves for the betterment of your world, a world hardly worth saving." Zeridûl continued, his voice getting louder as it bared down on us, "Why would all challenge a being you can't possibly defeat?"

The warped gravity began to deteriorate, reducing its hold but only slightly. The bridge continued to fall apart.

"You should be trying to preserve your lives. And yet, why march to your own demise?" Zeridûl asked, the world seeming to shake around us as the bridge crumbled beneath our knees.

"Haven't you heard?" Dante growled back, his one good arm digging into the stone below as he forced it down, crushing it beneath his fingers as his legs sunk into the cracks, "I'm a godslayer."

He forced himself to stand, legs enduring the increase in gravity as he forced a step forward. The ground gave way beneath his foot, crumbling to dust and forcing him to remain in his place.

"A godslayer in your reality, perhaps..." Zeridûl responded, voice ripping through the ground and causing the entirety of the bridge behind us to shatter, "But here...you are in my domain. You live beneath my rules now and my laws. I am the overseer of this Dark Reality, and you willingly entered of your own volition."

An echoing, wailing howl suddenly broke through the air at their backs, and with an incredible effort just to turn his head enough to see what it was, Dante could see the rift attempting to close itself. Its borders were nothing more than a sliver of the stormy sky outside before it started to struggle, refusing to seal completely.

"Hmph… She'll grow tired soon enough." Zeridûl spoke in disregard of the matter at hand, letting the rift's entrance remain like that, "After all, I never intended to build my army entirely from scratch. I have…company that I'm expecting. The gate was open for their arrival…not your entry."

He was expecting something. The size of the gate, when the group first got on the island, was massive. It spanned the entire reach to the clouds above…

What was he drawing into his realm?

No, what was he pulling in to force everyone outside to face on their own?

"No matter."

Zeridûl's voice reduced the underside of the rest of the bridge to nothing, all of it eroding away to a thin, brittle, narrow pathway to his city's front gate. That was when the gravity receded.

"It seems as though I'll get to have my fun before the end. Out of everyone," his voice slowly receded as well, no longer descending from the space around them, but directed down from the city's highest structure, "you two are the ones who can actually put up a fight."

The gravity dispersed completely, the silence soon filling the air once again as the pressure on our bodies returned to normal.

"I await you at the peak of Eryndûs..." he called down one last time, "I wonder who will last longer. You…or your friends."

And then his voice faded, leaving then in silence once again.

"Forget what I said earlier..." Xera growled, rising to his feet, "We need to hurry."

It wasn't a mission to end a life anymore. It was a mission to save as many as possible.

(Omake: Counseling With an Immortal, part 5 - by OS Worldmakers)

Inuba safely landed in the hotspring waters, lingering underwater for a moment before rising back up and exhaling.

"He... He really threw me..."

She tugged a bit on her shirt considering she was drenched to the bone from the hotspring water, her clothes tightly hugging her alluring form.

"What will I do now..?"

(Inside the Office of the Hotspring...)

"Hi. Thanks for reserving this private spring."

Bone payed up a handful of lien and then bowed. Out of the side of his eye, he noticed Dante walking in. Stealthily, he kicked the teen into the spring...right on top of Inuba. Because he could.

"Who the heck just kicked me?! And...what is soft and plentiful feeling in my hand..?"

Bone tossed a towel and some rose petals to scent the water before hiding. He then went back to the front desk to ask if he could provide "service"

"I-Inuba?!"

Dante only realized now he was atop her, one of his hands firmly holding on to one her large, ample breasts. Her face was a crimson, as she muttered softly to herself, soon looking away in a submissive manner that spoke the silent words "Do what you will with me..."

Dante's own face was red, his mind a complete blank as he tried to tell his mind to let go and stand. But this did not work. Not at first until a few seconds later he slowly let go and tried standing back, up shaking. Restraining himself in such an instance like this...was very hard for him to do.

At this moment, Bone White had broken in, clothed in a chef's apron and a red hat, a uniform for teppanyaki. He brought with him a hibachi grill, along with various ingredients, carefully avoiding the spring water.

"'Ello, you two. I will be your personal chefs for this meal. You may call me Bone White."

"Y-You again?! I knew a situation like this had to be your doing! Wasn't last time enough for you?!" he asked as he held Inuba in a princess carry, the latter muttering to herself.

Dante looked down momentarily, but immediately looked back up when he noticed his partners white, sleeveless kimono had become completely transparent, revealing much that wasn't necessary.

"What? Wait, it's you again? I needed the job. I seriously didn't expect to see you here. What'cha like to have to eat?"

Without missing a beat, he powered up the hibachi grill with fire Dust.

"Don't act all innocent! Who else could have concocted such a plan in under a minute?! Telling me there's a Dark Entity here only to find my partner in such...conditions... Now you're here with a grill?! Where did you even find that?!"

"They have services like massages, food, and...other things. Like triple-X rated stuff."

Upon hearing that, both partners blushed even more furiously then they already did. But only Dante had the courage to ask what he did next.

"Is the grill part of that last part somehow?"

Bone raised an eyebrow.

"Depends on how romantic you want it. Otherwise, I just make a meal and put on a show."

He stared at them.

"What, you thought I'd say yes?"

"Yes! Because its you!"

"Then I'd be fired. I need the Lien."

"Like you'd care really!"

"Money's important in modern society. I have to care about it."

Dante and Inuba glanced at one another before he stepped out of the hotspring with Inuba, putting her down on her feet soon after.

"If this is one of your weird tricks, I swear, when I see it happen, we'll be gone."

"Hey, still have to cook for you two lovebirds. Which meat you want? We've got chicken, beef, pork, and fish, along with choice cuts."

"Chicken." said the two in sync, looking at each other momentarily before looking away.

He pulls out a whole chicken, skinned and already prepared.

"In that case, take a seat and watch the show."

Tossing the chicken up into the air, he took out a sharpened knife, its keen edge glinting in the light. A sliver, fluid blur later, all of the meatfell onto the grill.

Dante took off his coat and draped it over Inuba's shoulders.

"Here... You can use this." he said.

"T-Thank you, Master..." she said as she took comfort in the new source of warmth provided to her.

Bone spurted oil onto the grill and snapped his finger so fast it caught fire.

"How did you even get here? Did he kidnap you or-?"

"No, nothing like that Master. I went to speak with him and then he brought me here. Coincidentally, you happened to be here as well."

Dante shook his head as he sighed, rolling his eyes as he did so. Inuba glanced at him and smiled, giggling to herself slightly.

"What?" asked Dante.

"Oh, nothing really..." she said smiling. "Just...being here with you and having fun is enjoyable."

"What, you call having fun under the supervision of this guy fun?"

"If you two want, I can blindfold myself. Not like I need 'em to do this." replied Bone.

With a whole chicken breast left, he tossed it up into the air. At the same time, he spun a knife and let the edge saw through the meat into precise horizontal cuts as it spiraled forwards before Bone caught it.

"Hey, at least I know a few tricks. Entertain yourself. I've got some alcohol."

With his sandaled foot he balances a whole bottle of sake, because jeez, this is a Japanese-themed restaurant.

"You can keep that sake. We're not old enough." replied the young immortal.

"Sparkling water or cider, then?"

"Water for us."

He flipped a carafe in his hand, not letting a drop spill out before he poured two glasses of water before the soaked teens.

"Then again, you are at a hot spring. Some authors have said drinking the waters would help you, but that's BS."

"Really?" asked the young immortal, "And here I go through the effort to praise humans for their intelligence at times..."

Inuba giggled at his comment.

"One can dream, Master."

"Yep. At the time, spring water had a lot of minerals, some not so good for the body. One person I met said it tasted like 'bloody water'."

"Oh, how nice."

He placed an onion and began slicing it into loops, which he let fall on the grill and roll in loops, before picking up oil.

"Mr. White? Where exactly do you hail from?" asked the kitsune.

"Outside of the 10 Prime Worlds, out of the Creator's sphere of influence in the multiverse. It's a long story, involving an alternate theory. Want to hear it?"

The onion loops became one cone that Bone poured oil into, before he lit it up with a snap of his finger. An onion volcano.

"Sure, why not?" said Dante.

(Weapons Illustrated 6)

"Far too many movies to watch over the weekend..." said Dante.

"Yeah, but at least that movie with the dude with metal claws was cool! No, wait, not cool...but totally awesome!" said Ruby.

"Yeah, it was okay."

"Okay?! He has metal claws! That are practically indestructible! Wait...do you have metal claws?"

"Nope. Just my indestructible black bones."

"Awwww..."

"Anyway, welcome back to Huntsmen and Huntresses Illustrated Weapons Guide. Considering we talked about Skyla Xerious' Semblance last time, this time we'll be talking about her weapon. Ruby?"

"Right. So Skyla hasn't exactly named her weapon yet. She's stuck between Melodious Strike and Amethyst Corse. So the official name as of now isn't clear. But as for what her weapons actually are, she wields two katanas of average length with a purple ribbon wrapped around the right handle and a pink one on the left. They also give her some nice extra grip to each katana."

"These ribbons can be unwound in combat and span several meters, allowing her to push her Aura through the material of each and manipulate the light ribbons into doing things she wants them to do. Her main combat style revolves more around the use of these highly durable ribbons than the actual swords themselves."

"Each ribbon is made of a highly tensile metal-threaded alloy of cloth, malachite, Aura, and conductive alloys. They can resist all forms of Dust and can also channel electricity and heat, acting as conduits for each energy respectively in the event she needs to reroute an incoming attack of that extent."

"Short, sweet, and simple. Even so, its a wonderful weapon to be used by agile types and has some nice damage dealing capabilities from a range. It's almost like Blake's Gambol Shroud in that respect but just bit more versatile in some of its capabilities and actions. But from personal experience, do not underestimate Skyla, especially when she's using her weapon. She'll make the fight done and over with before you even realized what just happened. Just like this one standing next to me." said Dante as he patted the top of Ruby's head, something she clearly enjoyed.

"T-Thanks for being with us today!"

"We look forward to seeing you again next time. So, what we do now since we're done with the segment?"

"Oh! We can go see that cool zombie movie Rezident Vile!"

"Ah, I did want to see that for a while now. Alright. Let's skedaddle then."

The duo soon exited off the stage, ready to see a new zombie movie they were both excited about for some time.