Note: Finally. The next chapter. You'll get to find out Banith's past in this one. It's not as well writen as I hoped, but I'll work on that later on. You'll also get to find out who the voice is. So, Trojanmaru and NightHawk666, you'll finally find out if you were right.
Yasmine: Yes, they are. As for who gets her, that's later to be seen.
Banith silently sat on his throne, staring into the darkness. His thoughts were on Rona, wondering if she could be brought back. Was the voice right? But then it seemed unsure the last time he had heard from it. Had something changed?
"This is surprising." The voice commented, nearly making Banith think there was an intruder. "Are you actually worried about her? Or do you miss the nights of beating her without having to worry about her fighting back?"
"She carries my heir, spirit." Was it right? Was he worried? "And I've treated her no differently from how I was treated. Maybe even a little better."
"Oh, so I guess the difference is that her rape isn't as bad as you being told to kill. Yeah, I can see how that's a lot better." The voice had come close to rising to an angry yell. Its sarcasm was becoming tiresome but was at least a change from the growls and dying screams of the demons that fought in front of him.
"I don't know why I did that to her. I never would have if I had been myself." Did he regret it? "I never told you about my past, did I?"
An annoyed chuckle sounded through the room. "I never wanted to hear about it." The voice spoke.
"I was human before I became…this." Banith motioned to himself. "I was raised by a man who worshipped Mundus, so, of course, did I. I gave sacrifices, knowing the man I called father would be proud and maybe give me to our great 'master.' I didn't know what it was we worshipped until it actually happened."
417 years before
Banith walked through the house he had grown up in, but never called home. His father had given him the news of what was going to become of him. How long had he waited for this day? But did it seem so important now?
The other followers of Mundus would come to take him to the gate, the gate to hell. Few were able to open it, but those who could were always exalted. It was considered a sign of their closeness to Mundus. But no one had ever proved it.
His thoughts in array, Banith wondered if this was actually what he wanted. He wanted to make his father proud, but something wasn't right about this. It was rare for him to get such a feeling, but it was strong now. Something was going to happen and the only choices he was going to have were to refuse and shame his father or face it as well as he could.
The sound of his father's voice, gruff and choked by inhaling too much smoke from fires, alerted him to the presence of visitors. They had come for him. It was too late for him to escape, now. He would have to go through.
He tied his hair back at the scruff of his neck. It was custom to show respect this way. He never understood it, but he followed at least that rule.
As silently as possible, he walked in to see everyone waiting for him. No one spoke a word as he was led out. The silence was usually a haven for him, but not this time. Now, it was closer to being pure torment. Why didn't anyone ask him if this was what he wanted? Why didn't his father stop them and ask? Why?
He already knew the answers. Because no one cared about what he wanted. No one cared that he might be afraid of what was lying in wait just beyond the darkness. No one cared that he wanted freedom above all else.
It seemed to him like an eternity had passed as he walked past each house, each tree, he had glanced at as a child. None of it had seemed to matter to him then, but it all did now. He was leaving it and he knew there would be no coming back. Everything would be gone. He would be a demon and they would all be dead. There would be descendants, but what use would they be to him? They wouldn't be able to tell him what everyone had thought as they watched him walk by. They wouldn't be able to answer his questions about his father. He would be forgotten by that time.
Everything that was familiar passed. He was drawing near the gate; he could feel it. It was a sense of remorse and yet excitement. What was he going to see on the other side? What would he know afterwards? Most importantly, what would he be?
His guides stopped, motioning for him to go on alone. It was something he hadn't expected. Why would they be afraid to go on? And they were afraid. He could see them tremble. Would they be so afraid of him if they were going to see his return?
He walked on, now searching the area around him. It was all dessert. But the entrance was near. The feeling grew stronger with each step.
A cave slowly appeared in the distance. He knew the entrance was inside. It almost seemed to glow the closer he approached. This was it. He was soon to meet his destiny. Would he be as great as Sparda? Did Sparda still exist?
He walked through the mouth of the cave, suddenly engulfed in darkness. But there was a light ahead of him. Rather, three red lights. Mundus was waiting.
After reaching the lights, he could feel them staring at him. He tried to hide his fear, but knew it would be useless. He could see anything. He was far stronger than a human ever could be. He was Banith's dark god.
"Kneel before me." A voice spoke, deep and demanding.
Banith knelt, not knowing what else he could do to show his respect for this entity.
A deep, cruel chuckle filled the air. "You'll be a fine servant."
Searing pain suddenly flooded Banith's body. His blood seemed to be burning and yet turning to ice. He couldn't understand why Mundus would do this to him. He had complimented him just a second before and now he seemed to be trying to kill him. What did it all mean? Was he punishing him for his fear?
The torture continued through the day. There wasn't a release. Not until sunset. It was then that Mundus told him to go out into the night and capture a human. He didn't know what the reason for this was, but he wasn't going to ask. His father had taught him better than that.
It wasn't common to find any humans outside at night. They were all afraid of what could hunt them. They were all afraid of what he was going to become. But he still found one, a young girl who must have been no older than twelve. He led her away with promises of adventure. He led her deep into the darkness with pretty words that would have worked on any child.
Mundus, after seeing him return with the girl, ordered him to cut her throat and drink her blood. Banith couldn't believe this was happening. Could he kill her? Could he take an innocent life? His father had never told him of anything like this. He had never said he would be ordered to kill.
The same pain from the day filled his body and he surrendered, taking his knife and cutting into the girl's soft skin. She screamed, the sound being a result of her fear and pain. He wanted it to stop. He quickly covered the wound with his mouth, sucking out the blood to drain her faster.
His first taste of blood, bad enough to make his stomach lurch in disagreement. He wanted to stop, but knew what would happen if he did. It wasn't until the girl had gone limp that he let her go. He watched her fall to the ground, her head hitting a rock, splitting her skull. The sound of bone breaking and the now rotten taste of blood forcing him to wretch, but he held it all in. Mundus had him do this for a reason. He didn't know why, yet. But he would as time went on.
The next day, the cycle was started over again. Such excruciating pain until he hated the day because of it. The night was his only escape. But then, the night was also the time he had to kill. He slowly became accustomed to the taste of blood, until he began to crave it. The pain in the day was soon stopped when going into the sun would bring him such punishment. He felt himself change, his eyes adjusting to darkness, his teeth growing until they became fangs. He learned to hide them from people to make them trust him. He learned to speak to humans in a way that they couldn't refuse him.
After several years had passed, Mundus began sending him after different humans and traitor demons. He had become his revenge. He'd drink the blood of his human victims; the demons having blood that tasted too much like poison.
He slowly came to the realization that he still appeared to be the same age as the day he had been brought to Mundus. He had become immortal. He had become the nightmare everyone feared. Calling him Dracula, Nosferatu, vampire. He came to enjoy making these myths truth. After all, he had become these nightmares. A monster that was irresistible. Women who saw him had always succumbed to his thirst for blood, whether they knew it or not.
Banith looked into the darkness of the room and whispered to the voice, "It all changed after I followed Vergil. I was sent to kill Rona but began to develop my own idea of what to do with her. I didn't decide then to do what I had done to her. I wanted another of my own kind, but I was going to make her like me. I was going to make her suffer as I had and hopefully have someone who would understand what I had experienced."
"You wanted a companion?" The voice said softly.
"Maybe. I knew she was different. I knew she was understanding."
"Do you want to know who I am?" The voice suddenly asked.
Banith didn't know how to answer. He had never even thought that she might have been living. Or was she?
A figure took shape in the darkness in front of him. A shape that was familiar to him. "Rona?" He whispered.
She calmly chuckled. "No. I'm only half of her. I'm the half of her that was abandoned as we came into this world. The Rona you know is the one who treasured the thought of finally depending on someone else for her safety. Though, she still kept her stubbornness. I'm the side that refused. I never wanted them to love us. I just wanted to learn from them. I wanted to gain something from knowing them. I wanted to be more than human. And so I am. She lost her part of the demon soul while I gained all of it." She chuckled darkly. "I am what she should have become."