Author's note: I don't own anything from Bayonetta.
Chapter 3: City of Genesis
Rodin closed his eyes, inhaling the smoke from his cigar. He relished in its taste and scent, then reopened his eyes to the sight in front of him with a sigh.
Damien had not moved from Jeanne's side in almost twelve straight hours. Ever since he had explained the situation, the winged man had set up a vigil beside the coffin, staring at the body with regret and hopelessness. Hell, he had gone to the Enzo household, had some the best casserole he had tasted in centuries, and came back and the damn guy had not visibly moved.
"You do know that staring at her is not going to bring her back." He finally broke the silence that had befallen the gates.
"It's my fault." Damien's voice was scratchy. "She is dead because I was stupid and wasn't there for her."
"Now, absolutely no one could have predicted Gommorah breaking free-" Rodin began.
"Three pairs of eyes would have seen it earlier!" He burst out, shaking. "And then… and then…"
"Look, dwelling over what-ifs and has-beens will not save Jeanne." He folded his arms, flicking the cigar to the side.
"She is dead!" He fell to his knees heavily, not caring about the sounds of breaking bones as he did. "She is dead, and we can't save her!"
"Jesus Christ…" Rodin grabbed him by his collar and shoved him against the wall. "Did you not listen to a damn fucking word I just said?"
"You said she was dead!" He answered, not bothering to struggle from the man's grip. "So what is the fucking point!?"
"I said her soul is in Inferno, just waiting to be saved by Prince Charming here." He jabbed a finger at his chest. "But you are obviously more concerned with how you 'feel' instead of saving who means the most to you!"
Damien had the grace to look embarrassed, at least. He turned and looked down.
"I'm scared." He whispered. "I'm scared that I'll try to save her and fail, or I'll succeed and she'll prefer that she died."
Rodin visibly rolled his eyes and dropped the winged man back to his knees. "You have got to be the most… what's the word for it? Sad? Stupid? Confused? Either way, its pissing me off how blind you are to the situation."
"Blind?" Damien looked up in confusion.
"She still thinks of you highly, even if you have treated her like crap." Rodin walked over to the counter and grabbed a suitcase. Tossing it to the kneeling man, he walked behind it and began to put away the various glasses to their homes. "You are one lucky son of a bitch."
"I-" He started.
"No! You will put these damn clothes, grab your soul-stealing sword and go and save your fucking princess in peril!" Rodin roared. "Now go!"
The winged man flinched at his tone and looked at the wall.
"I want to talk to someone." He finally said in a small voice. "I want another opinion."
"What?" Rodin looked perplexed. "Is the counsel of an aeons old man not good enough for you?"
"You are not close to me." He answered, his eyes glowing slightly. "I need help from friends closer to me, if they still are."
"You said you didn't have any friends." The bartender raised an eyebrow but was starting to get the gist of what he was getting at.
"My supernatural friends still are here." He tapped his chest, then looked hesitant. "If they are still willing to listen."
"Look, kid." Rodin leaned forward on the counter. "This may be your only chance to redeem yourself. Especially in their eyes."
"I won't let you down. I won't let myself down." He came to a conclusion and stood up. "I can't let them down again."
"Good." Rodin smiled, then grew serious. "Wait, before I forget. If you run into Bayonetta, give her this."
He reached down and tossed a gigantic hammer at him. Catching it telekinetically, he let it wander in front of his vision. Catching it with his free hand, he hefted it onto his shoulder and looked at it in surprise.
"What's this?" He asked, examining the head of the hammer.
"That is Yagyu, a hammer that has once fell entire civilisations to save ours." The weaponsmith grinned. "It might come in handy later."
"It did what?!" His head whipped around. "Other civilisations?!"
"What, you think the three trinities are just demons, angels and humans?" Rodin laughed. "There's a lot more out there, but don't worry your pretty little head about it. Just focus on saving Jeanne."
Damien nodded, tossing the hammer into Inferno as he did.
"Now I pray that that damn portal is still open." He turned around, facing the exit. "And that Fimbulventr still fucking works."
Rodin smiled wider. "That's more like it."
Damien disappeared as he stepped outside and teleported to Vigrid Airport.
…
Bayonetta was swimming along in snake-within, relatively peacefully, until she realised she was being followed.
She didn't pay it much heed, since she had been followed once by a curious whale when she visited Antarctica on a whim. But when she sensed more things behind her, she began to grow suspicious that it wasn't another whale and its pod that had begun to follow her.
Glancing behind her, she saw a pack of things, that looked vaguely like jellyfish, pursuing her.
What the fuck are those things? She returned her attention to the approaching shoreline. Angels can't fucking swim... Can't they?
"Cease your movement, witch!" One had swum up beside her. Taking the opportunity to examine it, she found that she was quite correct in her original assumption; they did look like jellyfish. A giant, angel jellyfish.
"You want me to stop?" She replied, ignoring its demand and quickening her pace. "Can't you see that I am in a hurry?"
"You will not reach the mountain, by order of the Prophetic One!" It answered, the tips of its tentacles beginning to glow red. Rolling her eyes, as well as she could as a snake, she retransformed into a human and sent a wicked weave into its face.
"I do need to reach that mountain; why don't you crash the party there instead?" She turned to the pack behind her. "Having some angels for her to kill when she wakes up would be quite the boon."
"Kill her!" The angels charged, and Bayonetta retransformed into the snake and swum upwards, outpacing the angels almost instantly. Breaking out of the water, she transformed back and let Malphas's wings keep her aloft. One eager Laguna jumped out after her, but she grabbed it with Madama Butterfly's hand, and held it close to her.
"I think I'm going to name you… baka-idiot." She noticed that it was struggling to breathe. "Because you are twice as stupid as a normal angel to jump out of the water that you can't breathe without."
"We are…" It gasped out. "Fidelity…"
"Fidelity? Well, I can assure you that I am already taken." She grinned as the fist began to close. "So don't bother!"
The angel screamed as it was crushed into a small fleshy ball. Tossing it as far away from the mountain as she could, she turned and began to fly towards Noatun.
Fidelity…. Huh. At least she knew that even the waters weren't safe anymore. I wonder if there are lava dwelling ones now.
Even if there were, she surmised she didn't want to meet it. Letting her wings fade away, she dropped down to the docks below. Her plan was simple enough; explore Noatun for the way to Fimbulventr, go to said mountain, find the Gates of Hell and rescu-
Squirrel?
Spreading her legs out, she landed by splitting herself over the petrified animal. Bending her neck down, she noticed it was quite the peculiar squirrel; this one had a small chain with a golden pyramid attached to it wrapped around its neck.
Tilting her head curiously, Bayonetta surmised it must have been a local pet. But since when did Noatun have squirrels? It finally realised it wasn't going to die, and promptly turned and ran. Twisting her body upright, she stared at it with a mixture of curiosity and jealousy.
If only she could be as carefree.
Standing up, she glanced around. Inside Purgatorio, all was quiet. Outside, it was a bustling day for the life of a resident of Noatun. What appeared to be a market was open and bustling with hundreds of people, each browsing each shop individually. Placing a hand on her hip, she contemplated whether or not to join them.
"Fuck it." She said to herself as she opened the portal, feeling a sense of déjà vu for Vigrid. "There's no help like a bunch of strangers."
It only occurred to her that the squirrel was inside Purgatorio when she stepped through.
Most peculiar indeed…
…
The portal did still work, in fact. That was a bit of good luck in his pocket.
Damien looked at it with hesitation. He didn't know what would be on the other side. It had been months since he had seen an angel, let alone fought one.
Hell, he didn't even know if Hope was still around, or even reachable.
Steeling his resolve, he marched in, letting the cool embrace of Paradiso envelope him.
He immediately noticed something was wrong.
"Now, you all know the drill, right?" A blue spirit was talking with some really odd looking Lagunan. "You have to make sure they both get to the mountain, unscathed. Well, at least still alive. The unscathed part is optional, but I prefer it if what is rightfully mine wasn't destroyed."
"Prophetic One?" The biggest one stepped forward, its hooves clopping gently against the cobblestones. "Is the Sage not going to do that?"
"Oh, my little Lumen?" The spirit chuckled. "As unfortunate as it is for my plans, and his too, he betrays us. It's inevitable."
"Then why use him?" Another centaur angel stepped forward. "If he is to become a liability?"
"Because he has something of mine, and until I get it back, he still has his uses." It shrugged. "Also, because he is so easy to manipulate. You guys should really be envious of Joys; being able to get a minion is so much fun!"
"You know that they are all destroyed." The leader smiled. "You ordered their destruction."
What?! Damien realised he was in the open, and quickly teleported behind a nearby rock. They are all gone?!
"Oh yes, bothersome." The spirit turned around. "It's most unfortunate that none of them were willing to change their stance."
"That traitor…" One of the smaller ones growled. "It has corrupted far too much for its own good."
"Don't be such a downer! You guys are far more superior than most of them, including the Auditio! Be happy!" The spirit threw its hands into the air. "Look, I know we are missing a few angels in our little purge, but there is far more of you than there are of them. They are meaningless now."
"As you wish, my liege." They bowed to the spirit, who gave them a mock bow in return. The spirit faded away, leaving the centaur angels to chitter amongst themselves.
Hope? He mentally reached out, searching for the angel. Hope?!
Damien?! A voice answered him in shock. What the fu-… What in the name of Jubelius are you doing here?!
A smile crept onto his features as relief flooded his mind. Hope, unfortunately, picked up on it.
Where are you? It demanded angrily.
Just outside of the Vigrid portal. He answered, feeding his memory of the exchange to her. What the fuck is this?
Hope remained silent. A small golden portal opened next to him, and a familiar Joy poked its head through.
"Get in here, before they figure out that you are here!" Hope hissed, and he jumped in.
…
Bayonetta became immediately aware of the eyes that locked onto her when she stepped into the mortal realm. She also became immediately aware of her state of being.
"Oh bother." She rolled her eyes. Transforming into a panther, she shook herself off, letting the water fly off and into the crowd of staring, and quite disgusted people. Retransforming herself, she gave a devious smile to the soaked crowd.
"You all have better things to be doing than staring at me." She waved their stares away and focussed on a small girl who was staring at her with wide eyes.
"Now, little one, you look like you are the smartest one here." She bent over and regarded the girl with a soft smile. "You know who I am?"
"Miss Bayonetta…" The girl answered with awe. "The strongest, most beautiful and powerfullest woman on the planet!"
"That's right!" Internally she cringed at the speech. "So, you should know why I am here?"
The girl did not answer, and instead opted to look over at the looming mountain. Bayonetta followed her gaze, then turned back to her.
"That accursed mountain is not right!" A woman, presumably the girl's mother, pulled her back and hid her behind herself. Bayonetta straightened up and regarded her with narrowed eyes. "Bad things happen to those who climb it!"
"Especially recently!" Another called out. "My wife climbed that mountain three weeks ago, and she disappeared while she was in the carpark, in broad daylight!"
"My son is gone!"
"My grandparents!"
"Our dog!"
There is more to that mountain… She thought to herself as she looked over the crowd. Many were staring back at her with eyes filled with hope.
"You want me to check out the mountain?" She addressed the elephant in the room. She grimaced and looked away in guilt. "I-"
"We know why you are here." A man stepped forward. "You are here to seek the mythical Gates of Hell."
"I am." She answered, frowning slightly. They were willing to let her not investigate the mountain?
"We understand." The man nodded, and then turned away. "Go rescue your friend, then kick your brother's ass for not being here to save her."
She cracked a smile. "I promise I will get to the bottom of Fimbulventr eventually."
The area began to brighten unnaturally. The girl looked to the sky and gasped.
"They are coming…"
Her eyes widened at the human. Tapping her glasses, she glanced at the skies to see the host that had been originally following her now descending upon the city.
"Run…" Her guns appeared in her hands in a flash. "Run!"
She launched herself through a portal as the crowd scattered in panic. Her eyes narrowed at the angels, but again her mind was on something else.
That girl was gifted.
…
Damien landed in a strange cavern. It was shrouded in green shadows, cast by the emerald flames flickering above him. His attention, however, was on the pissed off Joy in front of him.
"Explain yourself." Hope hissed. "Why are you here, and why did you do what you did?!"
He had no answer, merely lowering his gaze as tears filled his eyes. The Joy held its glare for a couple more seconds, then dropped it as it approached him.
"We understand your pain." It whispered, placing a comforting hand onto his shoulder. "But that is not why you are here; not anymore."
"That spirit, those angels; what are they?" He asked, regaining control of his emotions enough to look up at her.
"Its better for them to explain. Come; we have much to discuss." Hope turned around and gestured to him.
"Much to discuss?" He frowned as he ran up to beside her. "Hope, what is going on?"
"We have been replaced…" It grabbed his hand and guided it to its forehead. Understanding, Damien's eyes glowed slightly as he entered her mind...
…
Hope smiled as the four Auditio nodded to each other.
"We understand your reasoning, young one." Iustitia gurgled. "And we can sense his lie, now we are aware of it."
"You have our authority to be known as the herald of truth." Temperantia gestured to her. "Go forth, and bring the enlightenment to the rest of Paradiso."
It nodded, taking in the seriousness of the request.
"Oh, hello. Thank you, little traitor, for rounding them all up for me." A blue spirit walked into the auditorium, clapping sarcastically. "Saves me the time and problems of having to hunt you all down individually."
"Who are you to dare defile the council's meeting?" Sapientia roared at the newcomer.
"Just call me the Prophetic One." The male spirit quipped, waving away the Cardinal Virtue of Prudence. "I am here to ask a question."
"Speak quickly." Fortitudo spoke up before anyone else could. "What is the harm in one question?"
"You are quite the jolly fellow, Mr Courageous." The Prophetic One laughed, then grew serious as he looked at the four colossal angels in front of him. "I ask this; do you still serve the higher power?"
"Our allegiance is to Jubileus." Temperentia frowned, glancing at his four fellow angels in confusion. "And to Jubileus only."
"Not to the highest power?" The spirit put a hand onto its chin as it began to think aloud.
"There is no higher power. Now begone!" Sapentia was beginning to grow restless. "Or we will destroy you!"
"It looks like what once was legend is now quite forgotten. Oh well. What is the worst thing that can happen?" The Prophet turned to the entrance and gestured. "Well, you all have obviously forgotten your place. It's time for you to be replaced with those who do."
The roof exploded as a serpentine angel descended upon the gathered Auditio. Raising their heads to view the new threat, they neglected to see the angelic swordsmen pouring through the entrance.
"My lieges!" Hope pulled out her angelic guns, sending ineffectual shots at the approaching army. These angels were four times her size, and the largest ones were the same height as Fortitudo.
"Do you like them? I call them Valor, Valiance and Glamor; fitting right?" The Prophet stood there passively as the swordsmen slammed into the Audito. "I, for one, enjoyed waking them up. It seems that your little leader once left a… what shall I call it? A backup? Replacements? I don't know. And to be frank, I don't care enough."
"The Father would have told us of his plans!" Temperentia delivered a massive punch to the Glamor, flinging it out of the auditorium. "We were his trusted assistants!"
"Were you? Were you now?" The Prophet laughed. "Oh my, you all really do know nothing!"
"But then again." He put his hand onto his chin as he pondered. "Technically it wasn't Balder who planted them there. But that depends on how you approach the laws of time. Geez, you can get away-"
He was silenced as he leaned left as Hope shot a bullet in his direction. "Come now, that was out of line."
"Temperentia!" Iustitia gurgled. "Take the Joy and get out of here!"
"We will hold them." Fortitudo dove onto a Valiance, knocking it from Sapentia's back. "They are not allowed to spread further into the holy lands!"
"Get her!" The Prophet pointed at the Joy, and it responded by jumping up to Temperentia's torso, and onto its shoulders. "Fuck it, get them!"
"They won't survive." Hope whispered as the pair began to rise up and out of the building. The view that greeted them broke their spirit, and supported her claim.
Legions of unfamiliar Laguna were marching upon the citadel, and thousands of Glamor's ruled the skies above them.
"They will die a glorious end." Temperentia's normally calm voice was tinged with anger and sadness. "And we will need to find another route."
Reality closed onto them as he flickered into Purgatorio, glided forward in a random direction.
…
"They're all dead?" Damien retracted his hand as they walked into a large cavern. "All the angels?"
"The ones that are not gathered here." Hope gestured to the encampment of angels spread out in front of them. Damien estimated that there was maybe one hundred Lagunan in the space, most of them being Joys. "We can only assume they are dead, or in hiding."
He was silent at the revelation. Walking through, he noticed many of the angels giving him weird looks. Looks of admiration. Looks of surprise. Looks of hope.
"What happened to Temperentia?" He asked, staring back at a group of Joy's in confusion.
"It has come to my attention that we now have a new member here." A familiar booming voice spoke from behind him. Turning around, he saw a damaged, battle-worn and exhausted Temperentia smiling in relief at him. "A member that can turn the tide."
"My liege, you haven't-" Hope started.
"Do not worry. Any dent we can make in their numbers is less that our allies have to deal with." The Auditio waved of her concern.
"Your allies?" Damien asked, frowning slightly.
"Well, our hopeful allies." Hope answered. "We need something in the mortal realm to help us out."
"Wha- No! We are both allied with the darkness! And besides…" He trailed off, letting it hang in the air.
"You are both children of light and dark." Temperentia reminded him. "You would both be insane to let half of your power go stagnant."
"What?!"
"It's simple, really. Theoretically, you should both be able to make a pact with Lord Temperentia and gain access to greater power. Power you will both need for the coming journey." The Joy folded its arms.
The winged man sighed. "I can't make this decision form her, and that's if she decides to listen to me!"
"Your patron should be able to tell you that." Temperentia began to glow green as it began a healing trance. Damien nodded his head, then his eyes widened at what was said.
"Madama Khepri?!" He exclaimed. "I'm not even sure if I want to talk to her…"
"Just do it!" Temperentia roared, and the cavern went silent at his outburst.
Madama?
Khepri?
Madama Khepri?
Summon me, mortal. The demon's voice was dry, and full of anger. And then we will talk.
"PDEE BARMA!" He flicked his wrist as a portal to Inferno opened, and a human-sized Mistress of Time walked out.
And boy, was she pissed.
"Six months." She growled. "Six months!"
The nearby Affinities began to retreat backwards. The Joys pulled out their various weaponry, ready to attack the Infernal if need be to defend themselves.
"Six months of silence! Six months of nothing! Six months of being the shittiest witch, human, Infernal or God that I have ever seen!" Khepri stopped in front of him, poking a finger into his chest. "All because you are the most idiotic, stupidest… argh!"
"All I wanted to do was help…" He murmured, then a loud clap rang out as Khepri slapped him.
"Your idea of help has complicated the situation even more!" She screamed. "And because of your stupid actions, I could do nothing but watch as you went down the path that nearly killed us all!"
His head shot back to her, a handprint visible on his cheeks. "What?"
"Whatever is atop Fimbulventr requires you being there to defeat." She explained curtly. "Now, what do you want?!"
"For Pete's sake!" The Auditio cried out in frustration. "We are dying, slowly, and all you two have in answer is to fight like a married couple! Lord Damien, you are an idiot. A helpful, intelligent person, but an idiot nevertheless. Mistress Khepri; can't you see he has had enough happening in his life?"
The Infernal turned away in embarrassment, quickly realizing the truth behind the Lagunan's words.
"We aren't finished yet…" She warned him. "You will explain!"
…
Bayonetta lowered her guns as the last centaur angel exploded into pulps of flesh and blood. Giving herself a quick breather, she smiled to herself.
At least the populace are safe… She retroactively thought as she surveyed the wreckage of the former markets. A job well done.
But it wasn't over yet.
The sounds of battle reached her ears. Frowning slightly, she transformed into a panther and began to run into the city.
It couldn't be.
He had condemned himself to a life of crime, had he not?
There was no way he was here, it was impossible.
Flipping out of beast within, she held her guns at the ready and looked at the melee in the square.
A small boy, no older than fourteen years old, was throwing what appeared to be cards at the strange centaur angels.
She almost laughed at the absurdity of it all, but then quickly realised the boy was in a fight to the death. Shooting a few rounds into the closest angel, she slid into the fray, sweeping out the legs of one angel and sending a wicked punch at another. The boy gasped in surprise but continued to throw cards. They exploded on the angels in a rush of blue magical energy, throwing them to the side. Bayonetta sized up the leader, and then slipped underneath it to shoot a charged bullet directly into its heart.
Sliding onto her knees as the angel collapsed behind her, she smiled with relief as the scent of Paradiso faded. Climbing upright, she turned to see the kid staring at her in both shock and suspicion.
"Who the fuck are you?"