Chapter 10: Memories of Time
AUTHORS NOTE: I don't own any part of Bayonetta or the Sephiroth name.
I decided to go with this chapter first as it was the one I fully complete first. There is no ulterior motive; I had it done, why not get it out?
Sephiroth and Luka's chapter should be finished and released by the end of the week.
Bayonetta landed onto the ground of Paradiso with a thud. Out of the corner of her eyes, she could see broken stone littering the ground and she was grateful that she somehow managed to land on the only patch of grass.
Not that it was much better. Her back was still hurting.
She stayed there for a while, lying on her back. The ground was very uncomfortable underneath her, something was poking into her rear and the whole place stunk of Angels. The latter made a perfect amount of sense, considering her location.
She could change the first two, but she would need to escape for the solution to the latter. Or die. Death would be a solution.
She knew she could do that. Unfortunately, she also had a responsibility back in the real world. Not to mention she definitely had no intention to die yet.
'I wouldn't be against that. But there's far more important things you need to worry about.'
Sitting up, she looked around. She was on a platform that vaguely reminded her of a wall she had seen in Vigrid. A path formed by solid light lay ahead of her, and it seemed to twist into a courtyard straight out of Vigrid.
What's gotten you so gung-ho about keeping me alive? She began to stand up, pulling on a nearby shrub. Remembering, Bayonetta glanced at the ground to see a pointed stone where her backside was. Giving it a look of hatred, she kicked it to flatten it. I remember reading that contracted Demon's want their 'partners' dead as soon as possible.
'There's events in a future that require you and Sephiroth to be alive to come to pass in a desired manner. It is in our most vested interest to keep both you and him the way you are.'
That caused her to hesitate. She frowned and began to turn around, taking in the golden and bright blue expanse surrounding her. That's way more information than you are normally willing to part with. Why now?
Butterfly took a moment to consider her words. Taking the opportunity, Bayonetta toed the path of light with one foot. Satisfied that the path would hold her weight, she began to walk across it.
'Without some knowledge, you are stumbling blind in the dark. Khepri believes you need a dangling carrot, so to speak.'
Taking care not to look down at the cloudy expanse beneath her, Bayonetta answered; So, I'm not on the right track? Do I need to be guided towards destiny?
She made a face. I'm not a lamb to be just led to slaughter.
'It's vital that you do specific actions-'
It's vital now? Bayonetta stopped and put her hands on her hips. Then why wasn't it vital before?
'Because then you didn't need the aid. Khepri manipulated Sephiroth slightly and the rest fell into piece. Your new attitude and this current predicament never were a part-'
So, I'm part of a grand plan now? That annoyed her. Come on, I thought you knew me better than that.
'I don't know you at all.' Butterfly was brutal with her honesty. 'The difference between your original self and your current identity is almost night and day.'
And will you finally tell me who I was? This wasn't the first time her patron had brought up this fact, and yet the answer had always remained the same; a refusal, citing 'it wasn't time yet.'
Butterfly didn't answer, probably because she was tired of answering the question. Bayonetta took that as a sign that their conversation was over and continued to walk along the path of light. Angels were beginning to fly in at the edge of her vision, but none were making aggressive moves. They were just sitting there, watching her.
That was more than enough to set her on edge.
The path began to flatten out, and she stepped through a stone archway into a courtyard. Her eyes widened as she took in the familiar scape.
"Jesus…" She whispered to herself. "This is Vigrid, isn't it?"
This was the same courtyard she had met Luka in. The same one where Sephiroth had begun to harness his powers in earnest. And now…
People were walking around her, spectral apparitions becoming more solid by the second. They were talking, laughing and children were playing. A scene straight from her memories of this place. Eyes narrowing, she immediately took a guarded stance.
No one cared. Or even gave her a second glance.
Her eyes darted to the left, and then the right. The Angels were still sitting there, observing.
This was-
"Hello there." An old man smiled at her, beckoning over to her.
Bayonetta stared at him.
"Come on over love, I won't bite." The man continued to smile, slowly disarming her. It was just a kind, old man, after al-
A shake of her head dispelled that notion. This was wrong. She had to keep her guard up.
But she acquiesced to his wishes anyway. Slowly, she walked towards him.
"There's nothing to fear here, love. Just us."
Bayonetta stopped a respectable distance from him. Not far enough to be rude, but not close enough to cause the growing discomfort to blossom. "Who are you?"
The man tilted his head. "My name is of no importance. You understand that, don't you?"
The people around her had stopped moving. And it wasn't a normal, human stop where they stood motionless; they had locked up in the last movement of their activity. Liquids splashed and spilled, a ball bounced around and cutlery smashed against the floor.
"What is this place?"
The man laughed. "Oh, dear, this is Vigrid! The birthplace of both you and the Umbra Witches!"
"How do you know that?" An unsettling feeling was beginning to crawl over her skin.
His eyes softened, and he continued to smile. "We know everything, love. Your dreams, your hopes, your ambitions; even you."
She had to press the issue; "What on Earth do you mean?"
He chuckled, and then started to roar in laughter. "Love, we aren't on Earth! Anything is possible!"
An uneasy frown began to slide onto her face. She glanced around again. Everyone else was still frozen, and the Angels seemed to be intently watching.
Why couldn't they swoop in and just… let her do something she knew she could do!? This psychological mental crap was not her forte-
Or what if it was real? Then she had no explanation and definitely no real way to fight it.
And that was a scary thought.
"But I digress," He calmed down and looked at her from head to toe. "And just who might you truly be, Bayonetta?"
'A good question.' Butterfly stated. Bayonetta felt herself reluctantly agreeing.
He didn't give her a chance to explain herself. "A Witch with extraordinary powers? A lost girl who just wants someone to tell her everything is fine? A woman who hides herself in a mask to make sure she can never feel the pain of separation again?"
The smile disappeared. "Or perhaps you are just all three. Or none of them and you've fooled everyone."
Something was wrong.
"All I know for certain…"
Her senses were screaming at her with a sudden danger, and she felt something crawling in her mind. She tried raising her mental defences, but it had already taken root inside of her. Terror spiked through her and she wished for the first time that a telepath had fallen in with her.
"...is that you are a liar."
The square transformed in a flash of light. Fire blazed throughout the area, hissing and crackling. The sky had darkened, letting the light of the flames illuminate the area.
The people were still frozen as they burned. The smell invaded her senses and she gagged.
"You believe yourself to be a saviour, a heroine. Someone who little girls can look up to and aspire to be."
Her eyes were burning, filled with unshed tears. She blinked rapidly to try to clear them.
"And here you are, not even able to shed tears for those you are trying to save."
"I did cry!" She retorted, her features hardening. "Just because I accept my emotions does not mean I am ruled by them!"
The man looked at her in disgust. "Free from them? Tell me, Bayonetta, who is the one who is ruled by them? The one who is terrified of their existence, or the one who seeks the selfish comforts of their own pleasure whenever they possibly can?"
"Obviously, the first." Bayonetta snarled. "Something happened to Sephiroth that day. And it's been eating him ever since."
"I wasn't talking about Sephiroth; I was talking about you. And you are both"
The man clicked his fingers, and the dying people transformed into people that she recognised:
Umbra Witches.
"Surely you must remember now; the reason why the Umbra were destroyed."
"I have no bloody idea-"
"You. They were annihilated because of you. Every single one of their deaths is because of the simple fact that you exist."
It felt like an ice-cold needle had been shoved into her. "You're lying…"
He clicked his fingers and the scene returned o to 'relative' normalcy. "You Witches will never learn. Whenever you interfere with our plans, people suffer. The experiment interfered; his family perished. You interfere; a whole town is gone."
"You claim to want to save humanity, be its glorious protector! What are you protecting it from?"
Murderer.
Bayonetta stared in horror as a child began to turn to her, its skin melting off in chunks. More of the frozen people began to unfreeze, all turning to stare at her with anger.
"I want to help others because it's the right thing to do!" She found her voice, returning her gaze to the man. "If I don't stop the Angels, who will?"
"You know there are others out there who could 'pick up the slack'," The man smiled, but this time it did not reach his eyes. "And you know their involvement won't be as disastrous."
"You're blaming me for something that oversized turkey did? Twice!?" She balled up one hand and squeezed it tight. "Surely you must know that I did nothing!"
"Did you? If you weren't there…" He insinuated. Three children, skin and flesh melting off to reveal their skeletons, walked up to him. "Look at them. They had a future, Bayonetta. All you had to do was not be there, not interfere with our plans and they would be alive. Now all they will ever be is some ash in a crumbled ruin, never to be identified again."
"They're nameless martyrs who died for… what cause? To prove a point? To be able to shove the blame onto an unstable individual? Or is it because someone didn't care enough to save them?" The man lectured, standing up and looming over her. "Or maybe, you wanted them to die. You've always hated others, haven't you?"
Whore-born. The unwanted. The mistake.
She had no words, so instead she glared.
"Ha! Such is the pride of the Overseer. Do you think you can just disprove these truthful accusations by simply believing they are wrong?" The man shook his head. "I know your deepest and darkest thoughts. You loved the fact they all died."
"Get out of my head!" She screamed, trying to launch herself at him.
Instead, something latched onto her leg. Bayonetta looked down and held back a scream. Corpses were grabbing her, their fingers gripping with a supernatural strength.
"You didn't even say no. Because you know I'm right, you hypocrite." The man began to walk towards her. His flesh began to melt off in clumps as the heat around him seemed to intensify. The stench was getting to her, and she gagged twice before vomiting.
"You would see the world die before you admit you wanted it. You would rather-"
"Shut up! You don't know me!"
The man tilted his head, and half of it fell off. "Do you know yourself? You're so full of anger, so full of rage. Just like Sephiroth."
"And just like him, you will learn that interference will always come at a price."
Reaching into Inferno, she grabbed one of the Scarborough Fair. Several hands latched onto her gloves, stopping her from using them. They pulled down and managed to drag her to her knees, each one looking at her with accusing, eyeless sockets.
Witch. The witch. Killer. You killed us. Traitor.
Tears were pooling in her eyes. She really, really hated guilt.
"Stop it!" She screamed.
"Why should we? You don't care about the lives of mortals. You killed one just to refill your powers, and are using another as a slave because you are far too self-absorbed." The man began to walk away, before falling apart completely. "Have fun, Bayonetta."
She pulled her arms with all her strength. The children refused to let go and held on tighter. Screaming in fury and desperation, she began to resign herself to her fate.
Something hit her in the back of her head and she lost consciousness.
…
"Why does everyone hate me?" Bayonetta asked the girl in red beside her. She shrugged in answer.
"I do not know. You are not different from them." She answered, taking a bite of a red apple in her hands.
"Mummy says it's because I'm special." She looked at the apple in her hands. "What does being 'special' mean?"
"I also do not know." The girl leaned back. "Mother tells me I am special because I am the daughter of the Umbran Elder or something."
"The Umbran Elder?" Bayonetta looked at her in surprise. "She made Mummy sad and made her go away!"
"Mother did that?" She looked back in surprise. A look of understanding replaced that as she returned her gaze to the training witches. "So that is why she was so unhappy."
"Why does everyone do things that make them unhappy?" Bayonetta asked. "Why can't we all be happy?"
"She said rules are rules when I asked her the same thing." The girl tossed her apple core away. "Come, let us practise arith…arith…"
"Arithmetic?" Bayonetta supplied. "Sure thing, Jeanne!"
…
Bayonetta awoke, her mind whirling at the memory. Jeanne? Jeanne was her best friend as a child?
Her eyes widened. That's why she was so deflated when she didn't recognise her. What a shitty day it had to have been for her.
There had to be more to it. Jeanne was almost expectant of something, much more than just recognition, which made her frown. Were they still friends past their childhood? But that- maybe? She had no idea about Umbran customs really. Nothing really explained the specifics, and she didn't think Jeanne would be up to having a sit-down interview explaining the intricacies of their culture.
She glanced around. The fountain and courtyard had returned to normal, well, to whatever constituted as normal in the realm of Paradiso. Standing up quickly, she summoned a gun and shot at the ground, emptying into it as many bullets as she felt was necessary.
"Remind me to update the list of horrible things to cockroaches, crying babies and zombie children." She said aloud, shivering in disgust. Turning her attention to the double doors at the end of the corridor, she walked over to them. Giving them a good solid kick, she continued through.
The hallway was far too familiar to her for her liking. Walking up to a wall, she crossed her arms and studied the plain, yet intricate architecture, trying to place it.
A wave of nausea went through her, and she collapsed against the wall, holding her head as another memory assaulted her…
…
A constant rattling at her cell door woke her up. Dragging herself towards it, she opened to see a far-too-excited-for-early-mornings girl standing there, almost hopping from one foot to the other.
"What is it, Jeanne?" She asked, obviously still feeling the effects of sleep. "Aren't you supposed to be doing something today?"
"Guess what!?" Her excitement was palpable.
She rubbed her eyes, letting irritation seep into her tone."I'm not in the mood for games."
"I was talking with Mother last night, and she told me that you are allowed to train as a Witch!"
Her head snapped up, and all traces of her sleepiness were gone. "I thought I wasn't allowed to?"
"They decided you could." Jeanne grabbed her hand and pulled her out of the cell. "You are going to be training with me, as my partner. Probably because they do not trust you to be on your own, but this is progress! They're finally beginning to trust you."
"This is a very welcome turn of events." Bayonetta smiled in excitement. "Did they tell you why I wasn't allowed in the first place?"
"No, but it honestly does not matter now." Jeanne began to walk away, Bayonetta tagging behind. "When I grow up and take the mantle of Elder, I want you as a part of my council of right-hand women, and you need to be a Witch for that to be legal."
"You've clearly planned this out, haven't you?" She teased the platinum blonde. "What are we supposed to be doing today? I never looked at the schedule."
"Today we bind ourselves to an Infernal, so we can start learning at an accelerated rate." She looked behind her, clearly giddy. "I honestly cannot wait! Have you read up on any of the Infernals?"
"No, because I never expected this to happen." Bayonetta answered, realising she was going to be way out of her element. She faltered and stopped before they turned into another corridor.
"$^ &$!?" Jeanne turned to her once she realised Bayonetta had stopped. "What is wrong?"
"Everyone tells me I shouldn't exist, and that I'm a walking disaster waiting to happen." She whispered. "What if they are right? What if I'm not supposed to be trained?"
"No offense to any of the other Umbra, but they are coronzon." Jeanne spat out, and Bayonetta's eyes widened at the vulgarity coming from the Umbran Heiress. "I do not see the problem with teaching anyone with the talent. What if you decided to experiment and accidentally summoned Argosax or Mundus?"
"You think I'm dangerous?" Bayonetta smirked. Jeanne's eyes widened and she backpedalled.
"Not nearly to the extent the other Umbra think!"
"I know, I'm just teasing you."
Jeanne shook her head and beckoned for Bayonetta to follow her.
"I want to try to broker one with Madama Khepri, because she is apparently the more friendly leaning Infernal out there." She arrived at a set of open doors leading to an auditorium. "So that is who I am going to try first. And she has powers over time, which is something I think I am going to need."
Inside was a group of twenty teenage girls and slightly more fully-fledged Umbran Witches. They stared at the late arrivals with obvious disdain, with most of it directed at her. Bayonetta shifted uncomfortably, the doubt still lingering.
"It is good to see we have all finally decided to attend." The Umbran Elder glared at the pair.
"Sorry, Mother." Jeanne answered, shifting uncomfortably.
"I was not talking to you." The Elder said, and Bayonetta felt her cheeks burn in shame. "It is such a shame we have to teach the impure one, but this is at your discretion. She is your responsibility. Think of it as your first trial for the Umbran Elder."
"I understand."
The Elder's eyes flickered to her own. "And you. You will do everything Jeanne and your instructors say. If you step out of line, this privilege and all the others you have earned will disappear. Do you understand?"
"Yes." Bayonetta answered.
"Do you understand?" The Elder repeated herself, exaggerating the final word.
She gritted her teeth. "I understand."
"Excellent. Anyway, it is time for you all to broker a contract with an Infernal." The Elder returned her attention to the class as the pair stood by them. "We have the necessary protection from anything that might decide to join us in this room, or reality." A glare was sent her way. "Each of you will be assigned a Witch who will guide you through the process, if you have not read it yet." Another glare at her. "Good luck to you all."
Bayonetta turned left to Jeanne and whispered urgently. "What do we do?"
She smiled encouragingly at her. "They will tell you everything. Do not worry, $^& &!."
She nodded. An angry Witch approached the pair and swept Jeanne away, casting dark looks in her direction. The other girl shrugged helplessly and let the Witch walk her to the other side of the auditorium, as far away from Bayonetta as possible.
Well, everyone else was. The half she was standing in was empty, except for two other people.
"Now, Lumen-whore, we are granting you an enormous privilege here. Do not waste it."
"Mummy?" Bayonetta cried out as she finally recognised one. She began to run forward, but a sharp glance from the other Witch froze her in place.
"You are here to guide her through the process, nothing more, nothing less. Preferably less, since that way you'll die along with her and our problems will both go away."
Her mother was covered in dirt and grime and her shackles were rusting onto her skin. She looked frail, far more pale than even what Bayonetta considered unhealthy. Her demeanour was one of defeat, and her mouth was set into a neutral line.
But her eyes betrayed everything. Her mother was smiling with pride.
"I understand, Tricia." Her voice was still strong. Pride blossomed in her chest as she revelled in the knowledge that her Mummy still wasn't broken yet.
A strike echoed through the auditorium as the Witch clubbed her mother. She fell to the ground, tripping on her shackles.
"Do not Tricia me! You lost all rights to do so when you bred yourself like a dog." Several of the trainees laughed, and some of the Witches stifled giggles. "Now go and teach your spawn how to summon an Infernal! That is your only purpose before we send you back to the pit you deserve to be in."
Rage was filling her. Not for the first time, Bayonetta wished she had the power to do something. To fight back.
To hurt those who continued to hurt her and her mother.
And for the first time in her life, something answered back.
…
She opened her eyes as her head stopped spinning. Looking at the corridor, she recognised it truly. And right where they should've been, was a pair of doors. Walking to them, she pushed them open to find the ruins of an auditorium. The spot where she had inadvertently summoned Madama Butterfly was still scorched. She smirked, revelling in the memory of the screams of terror from the Umbra and the prideful laughs of her Mummy. They had both been severely punished following that stunt, but it had been worth it.
Wait.
She had just remembered.
A hand reached up and caressed her temple, and she wondered what was happening. If she concentrated hard enough, it felt as if something was unravelling in her mind.
Maybe more exploration would lead to more memories returning.
…
They had finally let her out of the hole they had stuffed her in, citing that they needed to teach her to control her contracted Demon. On one hand, Bayonetta understood that she really did need to control her Infernal; she had at the very least heard horror stories of summoning's going wrong.
On the other she wanted to teach herself, just to stick it to the system.
She found Jeanne sitting on a bench, a smile creeping onto her face as she watched her arrive.
"So they finally decided to let you out. I swear I had to argue with a wall for two weeks straight to show them that you needed to be trained, especially now."
Bayonetta huffed as she took a seat next to her. "What were they planning to do this time?"
The smile faded. "Almost half of the Elders were in favour of murdering you."
Oh.
"Do not say anything else, but I said you had far more control over your Contracted and that any attempts on your life would be disastrous." Jeanne looked away.
"They wanted to kill me over a light show? I just wanted to scare them, just a little."
Jeanne shook her head. "$^ &!#, you do not understand. No one in our history has ever summoned an Infernal without aid on their first attempt, and during the binding process as well."
Oh.
"None of the Elders have ever seen any power that approaches what you were able to do. That worries them."
Bayonetta stared at a few Witches' practicing a few katas. "What do you think?"
"Personally, I thought it was amazing." She let out a snort of laughter at her best friend's admission. "Professionally, I think you are just a prodigy. Nothing more."
They sat in a comfortable silence for a minute. Bayonetta decided to break the ice.
"Did you end up contracted?"
Jeanne hesitated. "Khepri rejected me."
"Oh." She struggled to think. "Did anyone else?"
"Everyone else did." Her tone was bitter. "I was in the trance, just like everyone else, and she said I was not what she wanted. That my fate lay elsewhere. And then so did everyone else."
There were unshed tears beginning to pool in her eyes. Bayonetta observed Jeanne's body language for a second. She wasn't jealous, or even envious; she was frustrated.
Probably at herself.
"Jeanne," She directed her gaze to her. "Are you alright?"
Jeanne straightened up, her face clearing in an instant. "O-of course. Why would I not be?"
…
Memories were definitely returning. There were still a few gaps in her childhood, and quite a few beyond that, but it was all coming back to her.
And with each one, her fist tightened.
It wasn't right to speak ill of the dead, relatively, but she hated them. The Umbra. Her own clan. Her supposed family.
When her only bright memories were with someone who was currently trying to kill her…
'That's problematic.'
Took the words right out of my mouth.
The auditorium was becoming more frustrating to stand in, so she decided to leave. Turning on her heel, Bayonetta walked out and continued through the corridor, letting memories of her running from classroom to sparring chamber fill her.
Her ire grew at each one. Looking back on them now, it was honestly amazing that her younger self didn't die or be consumed by the Infernals she practised with. Hell, even what she was taught was essentially half-assed and could have backfired incredibly poorly for her.
Why?
She recalled being called impure, a half-breed and a Lumen whore-spawn, among more vulgar and insulting things, but she never really understood why. Her father was never talked about-
The realisation struck her; her father had to be a Lumen Sage!
"Finally."
The sharp voice made her turn to her right and into a room. She entered, taking note of the crescent moon shaped table in its centre and a figure that sat at the centre.
She noticed something in her forehead was throbbing.
"You finally figured it out." The Umbran Elder stared back at her, a disapproving frown glaring at her from under her veil. "Congratulations."
"That my father was a Lumen Sage." Bayonetta stated, fists tightening and the throbbing forgotten.
"As always, the impure child returns to mock us at the site of our greatest defeat." The voice was condescending. "She cannot help but insult our tenets at every opportunity."
"What's so bad about being impure? A Lumen Sage at his core is just a man!" She adjusted her glasses, staring at the Elder with undisguised hate.
"You were born a child of light and dark. A hypocrisy, an insult, an abomination to all that exists." The Elder answered. "The one thing that should never exist. A half breed."
"And what is the problem of being a half breed?" Bayonetta asked yet another question. She figured that now would be the best time to get some answers, even if they came from a biased source.
"You should have noticed just how quickly you were able to accumulate power. You have two very powerful bloodlines running through you, both with the affinity for the Lumen and Umbran Arts. Of course, magic would come easy to you." The Elder grimaced as she continued. "It is no surprise you took to my arts with no effort, or that you defeated my daughter so soundly for the Eye."
"The Eye?" She squinted. "What is this bloody Eye that everyone wants?"
"The greatest, the most precious of the Umbran treasures; now defiled by you." The Elder spat out. "The Left Eye of the world. Something my daughter was destined to possess, yet you bested her with your tricks."
She remembered that memory fully now. Jeanne had tried, but she was very much soundly defeated.
"What does the Eye do?" Bayonetta threw the question, clutching one hand at her Umbran Watch.
"Your Umbran training never took you as far as teaching you the intricacies of the Eye, or of its existence." The Elder replied. "And it never was going to. We were going to challenge you to take away the mantle, as the Eye can only be given willingly or through defeat by combat. The forces of Paradiso attacked shortly afterwards, and we were now at war again."
The Elder stood up, sweeping her arms over the table. "They came because of you. A child of light and dark, holding the ultimate power of the Umbra Witches. Half of Loptr's prophecy was now fulfilled, and all that was needed was a duplicate."
Sephiroth. That's what Sephiroth was. He was like her. Or she was like him.
"You should have just surrendered and died! The world would be in a far greater place if you had not survived!"
"You know? I always hated you." Bayonetta snarled. "You really aren't helping your case in making the Umbra look better."
"You still don't believe you are the problem." The Elder shook her head. "You killed the Umbra. You killed Vigrid. You killed your mother."
"You lie!" She snapped, firing the Scarborough Fair. The bullets struck nothing but air as the Elder teleported.
"Every problem that the world has faced has been because of you and your continued existence." The Elder droned from the left. "Just search your memories. They will tell you everything."
Her vision swam as another memory came to her…
…
She sat on the floor, studying the red jewel; the Left Eye of the World. Something she knew Jeanne had wanted desperately. It was the symbol of their leadership and was the most sacred of the Umbran relics, containing an ancient power said to be of the old God of Chaos.
And that was the extent of the knowledge she had of it. All from a book she had stumbled upon in the room that was supposed to be reserved for the heiress of the Umbra.
Even she knew it should have been Jeanne. But Jeanne would have actually killed her if she went easy on her to give her the victory. It's what everyone else would have wanted anyway.
But no, she had tried. And she had won a small rock. And the already eternal scorn of the Umbra.
She had no idea what to do with it though. Placing it into her Umbran watch, she cast a small spell onto it to seal it in place. Looking around the small room, she noted that it was full of other relics and treasures on display. She had never gone into this room; she was never allowed to go into this room.
Bayonetta was worrying about Jeanne. The poor woman already had problems she was constantly hiding from everyone, and here she currently was, losing to the one person she couldn't afford to.
Her hands unconsciously fiddled with her watch. She should just go and give the darn thing to Jeanne. Even the Elder had been shocked into spluttering silence after she had won, which meant something monumental had happened.
But she knew Jeanne wouldn't accept a consolation prize. She would want to defeat her, to prove her worthiness. But to Bayonetta, Jeanne had already proved herself a thousand times over. If she walked in right now and asked, she would give it away. If Jeanne wanted anything in this moment, she would-
"(#£€% ;" A trio of guards had entered the chamber, interrupting her thoughts and springing her to her feet. "The Elders requireyour presence immediately."
Nodding to them, and paying no heed to their looks of disgust, she followed them to the throne room. Bowing to the Elders, she focussed on the highest ranked.
"You asked for my presence?" She took the opportunity to begin this conversation. The Elders, to no surprise, were glaring at her.
"(€£€% . The current holder of the Umbran Eye and the heir to this throne." The Eldervisibly twitched at that statement. The others moved with uncomfortable squirms or with sharp intakes of breath. "You did not cheat nor conspire with Jeanne to trivialise this ceremony?"
Her eyes were constantly looking into hers, and then switching over her shoulder. Glancing behind her, she saw nothing out of the ordinary. "No, the trial by combat was fair and just. I had no idea she wanted to challenge me."
"Her story matches up." One Witch was shaking her head. "The abomination won."
"We can't allow this!" Another stood up, pointing her finger down. "Seize her, and the Eye!"
"Silence, Lukrova!" The Elder's voice boomed. "We cannot take the Eye."
"We need to try!" Lukrova stayed on her feet, defiantly staring down her superior. "The outcast cannot wield our ultimate power and inherit our clan! It would be an insult to everything we have achieved until now."
All she had to do was say that she didn't want this stupid Eye and then everything would be fine. She could go back to just being hated instead of despised and everything would be back to normal. But something kept telling her not to speak up, and to revel in the chaos she had wrought.
She didn't agree, but it was certainly satisfying to see the 'all-mighty' Elder's panic over something they certainly didn't think of.
"We have a plan. We will stay the course until it is finished." The Elder was shaking slightly, and her hands were curled into tight balls. Bayonetta noted that it wasn't from anger.
It was from fear.
Her eyes still kept darting over her shoulder. "Well, as an Umbran Witch of this clan, I-"
She never got to finish. The room rocked from a massive explosion outside, throwing several of the Elders to the ground. Bayonetta stumbled forward, then turned to see the guards ran inwith wide eyes.
"Mistress!" The middle one sounded terrified. "The Angels have attacked!"
"Angels?" One asked.
"Impossible! How could they have known so quickly?"
"It's all her fault!" A Witch pointed at her. "Kill her and reclaim the Eye!"
Her head snapped up at that. She could feel Butterfly beginning to coil inside of her, just waiting to be unleashed.
"No! Infighting will only fracture us. Gather the coven." The Elder stood up, taking charge. "We need to defend ourselves, and the Eye if need be." Turning to her, her eyes hardened. "Go find Jeanne, and stay with her."
Nodding, she ran out of the room.
…
The memory cut off abruptly as a white flash pulled her back to reality.
"That fateful day led us into our destruction." The Elder was staring at her. "We defeated the Lumen Sages when they waged war against us, but the might of Paradiso and the cults of mortals were too much for us to bear. Many of us refused to fight the mortals, and the others weren't experienced enough to take on Paradiso's elite. All because of you. All because Jeanne chose you."
Bayonetta stayed silent, reflecting on her words.
"Why did my child choose you?" She lamented. "If she had chosen anyone else, the Umbra clan would be still alive!"
"You're blaming me?" Bayonetta raised an eyebrow. "Now what did I do?"
"You becoming the bearer of the Left Eye was one half of the prophecy completed." The Elder was glaring again. "Something the Lumen could not stand, and we all perished from it!"
"It's not my fault Jeanne chose me. How was I supposed to know she wanted to test her abilities against me?"
"Because you tricked her." The Elder snarled. "You promised her an easy victory and stole what was rightfully hers!"
"Then why didn't you just give her the fucking thing then?" Bayonetta sighed in exasperation.
"Because tradition must be upheld. Even if a Whore-daughter must be part of it."
"You know, I've always wanted to punch that glare off your face." She growled. "You always looked at me with nothing but hate and contempt!"
"Because you were the impure child who should have never existed!" The Elder's voice was raising every syllable. "You were the centre of the calamity, and the cause of the strife that has plagued this world for five hundred years! You should consider yourself lucky that another impure child was never conceived, or this world and universe would be doomed!"
Summoning a wicked stomp, she tried to crush the antagonist of her childhood. The Elder merely teleported away, sighing.
"Why couldn't you die!? Why can't you just give into the despair we wrought upon you and kill yourself!? Why do you continue to live when you don't deserve to!?"
The words were punches to her stomach. She ran towards the Elder, opting to try and use her own fists instead of Butterfly's.
And yet again she teleported away.
"You are a worthless whore-daughter-" The Elder vanished abruptly, the words hanging in the air.
They had their intended effect. Bayonetta stood there, emotions boiling over. Crying out with frustration, she summoned two fists and began to punch at the crescent table. Destroying it, she collapsed to her knees, breathing heavily.
"I hate you." She growled, a small trail of tears leaking from her eyes. "I HATE YOU ALL!"
She slammed her fist into the floor and felt a sick satisfaction as a bone fractured. A sob escaped her throat as everything was crashing down on her.
Bayonetta glanced around. No one was watching. Her emotions were far too volatile now, and she was glad no one got to see her break.
For the first time in over five hundred years, Bayonetta let herself cry. She cried for her childhood, she cried for her mother, she cried for herself.
She vaguely heard the sounds of a battle in the background, but she was too frustrated and angry to care.
…
Eventually, Bayonetta calmed down enough to form coherent thoughts. Reaching up, she wiped her tears off her cheeks, smearing her make-up across her face. She didn't really care.
'Are you done?' Butterfly asked bluntly.
Shut up.
'You are sitting down, crying your eyes out in Paradiso. You are extremely lucky nothing took you by surprise while you were.'
Why do you care?
A snarl of frustration erupted from her contracted. 'Bayonetta, I don't form contracts with just any person. Unlike Khepri, who simply finds people who she knows will be useful, I have to know everything about the one I am dealing with, including their fate, desires, thoughts and ambitions. You were chosen because Khepri and I could see immense potential, and because you are me, back in my old human form. I understand you, Bayonetta. And right now, you need to be alive.'
Why!? Just why!?
'Because in this moment you need someone to care. I loathe myself to do it, but it has to be me. You have no one else.'
It was kind of a slap in the face, and a very brusque way to say it, but regardless; Thank you.
'Don't thank me yet. You need to get moving.'
Strengthening her resolve, she stood up and walked out of the ruined council chamber. Angels were beginning to buzz at the edge of her senses, and she warily continued out of the building complex and onto a street.
A crunching sound echoed through the area, and she froze. Turning slowly, Bayonetta stared with wide eyes as a giant ball began to roll towards her, crushing everything that stood in its way.
Oh dear.
She whirled around and began sprinting down the street, listening with slight panic as the crunching sounds began to creep closer and closer.
Throwing off all restraint, she transformed into a panther and continued to run, utilising the increased mobility and speed to try and put some distance between her and the ball.
The key word was tried; it was still getting closer.
Bayonetta internally rolled her eyes as she realised she had to outsmart a giant ball.
Turning sharply, she ran down a side street and popped out onto another main street running parallel to her. Reverting back to a human, she watched as the ball continued down the first street.
Then it stopped and began to roll uphill and towards her.
"Fuck off." Bayonetta commented to herself, frustrated. Charging up a weave, she launched a wicked punch straight into it.
The ball shattered, pieces flying around her. They clattered to the ground and left behind a floating, glowing orb.
A magic ball. Great.
The ball glowed a little brighter and pieces of it began to reassemble around it, forming a tight shell. More pieces liquified and began to float around it, morphing into the occasional basic shape.
She finally recognised it; a Golem. A human made construct that was meant to be the mortal's contribution to the forces of Paradiso.
Well, until the Lagunan simply stole the technology and made it their own. Now one was trying to kill her.
It began to attack, morphing its 'limbs' into fists and barraging them down at her. Transforming into a panther, she outran the strikes and clawed at one fist as appeared in front of her. She cleaved through the liquid like butter and transformed into a dropkick launched at another fist.
The Golem changed tactics as several snake-like limbs began to rise up from behind it, arching over to crash down and try to crush her. She danced through them, jumping up and off the attacks, focussing her attention on the magical orb in the centre.
Take out the brain, the body follows. A wicked stomp followed by two punches caused the liquid constructs to fall apart, revealing the orb in its glory. Purple energy gathered around her right hand as she brought her gun up to bear.
"Boom." She whispered, then fired. The charged bullet pierced the orb, causing it to glow brightly.
Then explode.
The force sent her flying back, and several small buildings in the area shattered and fell apart. Once she got her bearings, Bayonetta found that the explosion had ripped a hole in the floor. Slowly walking over, she glanced down and into it.
She found another courtyard from Vigrid. This one was fractured and appeared to be floating like a cloud with no real easy path to it. Jumping from piece of rubble to another piece of rubble, she transformed into a crow and flew to the square.
Landing on it, she retransformed and looked around. The feeling of Angel's had subsided, only to be replaced with-
"Sephiroth?" She asked with uncertainty. The man was standing there, arms crossed. His golden eyes seemed to bore holes into hers, and his wing flapped lazily in the wind.
Except there was no wind. That was her first clue something was wrong, yet again.
"Just how did you get here?" Bayonetta walked towards him with her hands on her hips.
"The same way you did." He looked into her and not at her. "We fell into a portal brought by the Audito."
"But you were in the van, still in the mortal realm." Something wasn't adding up. "You were still on the bridge even!"
He opened his mouth to reply. A gunshot rang out and he crumpled to the ground, the illusion fading into a Joy. Bayonetta turned around, surprised, and grew even more surprised when she saw another Joy standing there, wisps of energy rising from its gun.
"Wait!" This Joy held its hands up. "We can explain!"
"You have until I run out of patience." Bayonetta reached out and pointed a gun at the Angel. "And with how many… incidents that seem to happen here, it won't take that long."
"You were being followed by several other Joy's, and we have been helping you throughout this realm. We broke the illusion at the fountain, the one in the Umbra Council room and the one that was about to unfold here. We've killed each Joy as we find it, and have been holding at bay any curious Angels that might try to take your soul for themselves!" It brought its' guns down, dematerialising them in a flash of light. "We've been paying attention to you as long as we can here, hoping we can meet you."
"Funny. That's exactly what someone who will stab me in the back would say." She cocked the gun. "How can I tell you aren't lying?"
"We can't prove that we are telling the truth, but you can't prove usas liars either." The Joy smirked. Bayonetta smirked back and let her own guns fall back into Inferno. "And we can help you out of this place."
Her instincts were telling her not to trust the Angel. After all, death was a way out of this place and Angels were fantastic at misrepresenting the truth.
But at the same time, there was nothing wrong. Her senses weren't telling her anything and she was fairly certain that Butterfly would tell her if something was wrong.
'There's nothing influencing you.' Butterfly confirmed. She sighed and let her shoulder's sag.
"That is the best thing I have heard all day." She muttered as her head tilted. "How long have I been here?"
"You have been in Paradiso for a little under twenty hours." It answered. "Most of that was spent sleeping after the first illusion."
That was an awfully long time. Who knows what Sephiroth and Luka had gotten themselves into in her absence.
Probably something she had to rescue them from.
"Well, what are we waiting for then? Let's get out of here."
"The portal you used to escape this realm last time is still functional. We will take you to it." The Angel gestured to the left and another light bridge formed, twisting and spiraling deep into Paradiso.
"These pathways are your doing?" She asked, surprised. "Interesting…"
"Yes, but no. The first pathway was a trap laid out by my sisters." It explained. "All denizens of Paradiso have the power to manipulate pathways through the realm, otherwise it would be difficult to traverse."
Bayonetta nodded. "You aren't wrong."
Again, she tested the path with a toe before allowing herself to walk on it. The Joy lingered behind her, then rushed forward until it was right next to her. She sent a curious glance towards it.
"I did not think you would appreciate it if I stayed behind you." It explained.
"Ah. Good call." She looked at it more closely now. The Joy's ceramic skin was riddled with pulsing greet lines, forming rings at the edge of its extremities. Its feet and hands were liquified constructs, similar to the Golem, attached to its limbs by a glowing green ball. Its head was half covered by a golden headdress, the exposed half resembling a pretty human woman.
"Is this your natural form? Or are you imitating something right now?" She had to ask.
The Joy hesitated. "I do not know the answer to that existential question."
"Hmm."
"I also do not wish to discuss it."
"That's understandable." Bayonetta gave it another glance. "You said that you wanted to meet me. Am I that big of a celebrity?"
"In Paradiso, you are." The Joy grew serious. "Every Lagunan knows your name. Some of them want to kill you. Some of them want to imprison and study you. All of them want you to take the power of the Left Eye so you can help reawaken Jubelius."
"I've been hearing an awful lot about this Jubelius." She relaxed as they reached another archipelago of floating islands. "Who, or what is a Jubelius and why should I care?"
"Jubelius is the God of Creation, the main deity of the mortal realm, and is the only deity of Paradiso. There is a prophecy to awaken her, but some of us in Paradiso do not want this to happen."
"You don't want your God to rise again?" Bayonetta frowned. "That seems… out of place, if I say so myself."
"Jubelius promised that whenever it was to be awakened, it would be a time of great crisis, where the universe needs to be remade." The Joy explained. "As you can tell, the universe is not in great danger, and it is our actual purpose as denizens of the light to make sure this never needs to happen until the time is right. If she was resummoned now, then she would simply go about her purpose, regardless of the consequence. Every Lagunan, Infernal, human, everything would die."
"Remaking the universe?" Her voice was barely a whisper. "That's…"
"It's the plan of a madman. Those who wish for her to rise again believe that they will be spared in the apocalypse, when in reality Jubileus will not discriminate. Only the old God of Chaos and Queen Sheba of Inferno could survive such an event, and even then, it's not certain." The Joy continued in frustration. "No one has seen Aesir ever since he split to grant the Eyes of the World, and Sheba wasn't ever the intended ruler of Inferno."
"How can anyone believe differently?"
"Those are misguided. The last of the Lumen Sages has corrupted our teachings, and those who strive for the truth only can obtain it."
It clicked for her. "The Father is at the centre of this?"
"Yes." It nodded. "That man has meddled with too many things; the corruption of the Lagunan is but one of them."
"That makes sense, but why are you helping me?" She asked. "Shouldn't you try to kill me, since I am apparently key to this resurrection?"
"We believe all life is not inherently evil." It answered. "Everyone should be given a chance. If you can prove that you do not need our intervention, then we find no reason to intervene."
Bayonetta shrugged her shoulders, understanding the logic. "Then what can I call you? The friendly Joy?"
"We don't have one. Angels are not named, only classified into the spheres." The Joy answered. "We only live to serve the Dea, not ourselves. A name gives us too much purpose and would subtract from the role we need to achieve."
"You haven't named yourself?" Bayonetta studied it intensely, scrutinizing the Lagunan. "You aren't like other Angels."
"We do not think ourselves worthy of a name yet." It shook its head. "Until our purpose has been met, whatever that may be."
"Charming. Now, you know the way out of this place? I have friends that probably have no idea what they are doing back in the mortal realm." She looked around the square, pausing in her walk. "Where exactly are you taking me?"
"The only active portal into and out of Paradiso is near what the humans call Vigrid Airport." It pointed off into the distance. "It's that way."
If she was being honest, she wasn't surprised that the portal was still functioning. It seems that whatever had activated it had simply forgotten about it. Counting her lucky stars, she smiled. "Lead the way."
They continued on the path until a familiar coliseum appeared. Cautiously, the pair entered.
"The last time I was here…" She murmured to herself.
"The loss of Fortitudo was not something many of us envisioned." The Joy spoke up. Its features curled into a frown as a hand was raised. "Something isn't right."
A roar filled the air. Summoning their weapons, Bayonetta paused as Fortitudo landed in front of them.
"You again!?" She exclaimed. "I killed you, didn't I?"
"The Cardinal Virtues always exist. This is but a shell, but if left to grow, it will cease being a Courage and become the Bringer of Flame." The Joy took a stance, mirroring hers. "It will stop at nothing to prove itself."
"Ahh, Bayonetta. You have found our little traitor. That is two stones for the price of one, and the perfect way to prove to Sapientia that I am the worthy holder of the name Fortitudo!" The Angel boomed, looking at the pair with contempt.
"I'm sorry, did you assume I would lose?" She tilted her head, scoffing. "You are missing out on the fact I beat that ugly Audito by myself, and this time I have a competent friend."
"Still as arrogant as ever." A familiar, calm voice said. A Temperentia-like Angel floated up from behind the pair, breaking through the floor with a rumble. It stared down at them with a passive face, its fingers making erratic movements against the breeze. "I, a lowly Temperance, will hold the mantle of Temperentia by the dawn of the morrow."
The Joy circled around and stood back-to-back with her. "We'll take Temperance, do you have Courage?"
"Sweetie, don't ask; assume I do." She grinned. This was becoming a little too familiar and she assumed it was due to past experiences with Jeanne. "Then you won't be disappointed."
"FABOAN!" Temperance had enough, locking its fingers together and firing shells at the pair. Courage had followed suit and was launching flame from its mouth. Leaping to the left, she activated witchwalk and jumped onto the wall. Running, she fired her guns at its eyes, as she did with its predecessor. It roared in annoyance as several bullets found their mark. Channelling her power into the guns, she used a bullet climax to send a stream of magically charged bullets into its eyes.
The Angel screamed as it was temporarily blinded. The main head on the body glared at her, opening its mouth to fire a beam of fire. Bayonetta jumped over it as it dragged the laser up, cutting up the wall and melting it through. Chunks of molten stone crashed into the ground, spraying up and onto her. A shriek of pain erupted as something landed on her thighs, causing her to stumble and trip.
Courage roared, using her recovery to restore its sight and training its two heads back on her. It leaped forward to smash its heads at her. Letting the witchwalk fade, she fell under its strikes and sent a weave to grab onto the softer flesh under the neck. The hand gripped, squeezing until the head simply popped off.
Courage roared in pain, flapping its wings to jump back. Its remaining head opened, fire streaming from it. Cursing, Bayonetta transformed into a panther and ran away from the flames. Leaping into the sky, she reverted and reached out. The Joy grabbed on and flung her towards the face of Temperance.
'Interesting teamwork.'
She acknowledged her patron with a thrust of her leg, sending a wicked stomp ahead of her. It crashed into the face of the Angel, staggering it long enough for her actual kick to slam into its forehead, cracking and sending it flying backwards and through a wall of the coliseum.
Bayonetta flipped out of the impact, landing back on the ground on a knee. The Joy gave her a nod of satisfaction, returning its gaze back to the returning Courage. The Angel was charging up another laser from its centre head, this time aiming at the pair.
"I don't suppose you have a plan?" Bayonetta muttered, her muscles coiling in preparation for a jump to her right.
"We need to take out one at a time." The Joy returned, seemingly ready to jump to its left.
"Temperance. It's stronger."
"Agreed."
Courage fired, and the pair jumped. Temperance rose up from behind it, charging up its own laser beam from its forehead. Bayonetta cursed, charging up her guns yet again.
The second laser bore down upon them, this time sweeping from left to right. The Joy blurred, warping out of range. Cursing again, Bayonetta transformed into a panther and tried to outrun it.
She was going too slow. Heat was beginning to burn the pads of her paws, and she knew it wouldn't be all that long-
Time!
Reverting back, she activated the Bracelet and time slowed down. So did the laser, and she sighed in relief. Slowly jogging over to the Joy, she deactivated it and started to sprint alongside it.
She gestured to the now confused Temperance. "Boost?"
It nodded. Slowly down to a halt, she traced an arc with one toe, summoning out an open palm on the ground. The Joy climbed in, bracing itself slightly. Clicking her fingers, the hand thrust forward and tossed the Joy high into the sky, colliding with the arm of the Angel.
The Joy transformed its guns into a pair of daggers, reaching down and stabbing them into the stone flesh. Temperance grunted in surprise, raising its arm to find what had happened. To its merit, the Joy hung on and began to scale the arm.
"Pointless."
The colossal Angel tried to brush it off, but the Joy was far too fast and nimble for it to even touch it. It leaped onto the top of its head and had retransformed the daggers into the guns. Opening fire, it launched round after round into the torso, each bullet inching closer and closer to its core.
Temperence calmly swatted at its face, trying to knock the Angel off. One successful strike sent the Joy flying, but the guns transformed into a whip. It flicked it out, wrapping around a finger and reversing her momentum towards the Angel.
Her attention was taken away as the Courage finally figured out where she was. It swooped back in, slamming its remaining head at her. Sidestepping it, she stomped and sent a weave straight onto its neck.
To her own surprise, it cut straight through.
It fell back, staggered. Bayonetta readied herself to follow through, but then a more recent memory resurfaced.
Hey, Butterfly, She mentally asked her patron. Remember that giant chainsaw? Can I have it?
Her patron's laughter was infectious. Reaching out, she grabbed onto and activated the weapon. The massive, four-metre-long chainsaw roared to life. Coiling up, she leaped forward. Flipping over, she brought the saw onto the main head of the Audito-to-be and sliced through cleanly.
The Joy was faring much worse. It was still hanging on with its whip, being flung around by the increasingly more annoyed Temperance. Bayonetta observed, revving the chainsaw and figuring out how the hell she was going to engage safely.
It turned out that it wasn't necessary. The Joy blurred again, warping behind and above the Angel. Its whip hardened into a scythe, and it was brought down and onto the already damaged head. The porcelain mask shattered, revealing the fleshy interior. The scythe transformed again, returning to a pair of pistols. Four shots later, the Angel gurgled and fell to the ground.
Jumping off, the Joy landed and froze at the sight of her.
"Shall we continue on?" Bayonetta asked, letting the chainsaw idle.
"Put that thing away." The Joy looked at the massive weapon with revulsion. "Then, and only then, we can go."
Pouting, she let the chainsaw melt back into Inferno. "But I was having so much fun…"
"Fun is subjective. That is an affront to Paradiso." The Joy admonished. "But-"
Screeches began to fill the air. The pair started, glancing around as Angels began to fill the air.
"I think I've overstayed my welcome." Bayonetta turned around, her mouth forming a thin line.
"We need to get moving."
They broke into a run, the Joy taking point. Applauds and Affinities began to swoop down, trying to take out the pair. Bayonetta returned with gunfire, killing Angels before they had a chance to arrive. The Joy did the same, until they ran into a tunnel. Its pistols transformed into the scythe again, and the Joy tossed it into the ceiling. Rocks and stone collapsed in, effectively sealing them into the tunnel.
Screams of frustration were muffled from behind the makeshift wall. The pair both let out simultaneous sighs of relief and stared at each other.
"They really don't like you, don't they?"
"We are very outspoken among the Laguna. Unfortunately." It answered. Turning, they began to walk down the tunnel. "We are a martyr among our own kind."
'That rings familiar.' Butterfly sarcastically responded. Bayonetta rolled her eyes, but she could not deny that the Demon was telling the truth.
The walls caught her attention for a second. "Wait…"
She stopped, and so did the Angel. "What?"
Bayonetta held a hand out, lightly tracing a pattern. "I know th-"
A sharp sound screamed in her mind, and-
…
Bayonetta and Jeanne heard the Elders convening as they ran to them. The rooms they had been hiding in had been destroyed sequentially by the battle raging above them. Seeing no other choice, they began to flee through the carnage, escaping a colossal, one-armed Angel as it began to destroy the Clocktower they escaped from.
They used it as a way to cushion their fall as they arrived back at the Citadel. The fighting was far less severe here, but there were far too many signs that the main battle was slowly moving towards them.
As loathe as she was to admit it, but they were losing. Even though this was their main purpose, the sheer number of Angels was just too much to bear. And Bayonetta figured that the Umbra weren't anywhere near as powerful as they made themselves to be.
"…Fortitudo and Iustitia have been confirmed as sealed away. The other two Auditio have not been spotted from the south." One reported, a seal fading away in front of her. "We've suffered losses, but they are manageable."
"That makes two unable to be reborn. Is there any news about the others?" The Elder spoke, turning to each Witch. They each shook their heads in sequence.
"Temperentia has destroyed the Umbran Clocktower." Jeanne announced their presence and the five witches turned to the pair. "Sapientia is currently assaulting the training grounds as we speak."
"The clocktower?!" One cried out. "All hope is lost!"
"Silence!" The Umbran Elder stood up. "As long as the Eye, our precious Eye, has not fallen into the hands of another, then we have not yet lost."
She turned to Bayonetta and stiffened. "You, unfortunately, are still the wielder. You must get to safety."
"Mother?" Jeanne's voice was quiet.
"My daughter, the time has come. Our time has come." The room shook as Sapientia launched another volley of missiles into the citadel.
"Mother!?"
"We will hold them off for as long as possible. You need to take (€£€% and get her out of here. The Eye cannot fall. You must not let it fall into the wrong hands."
"Mother!? Why!?" She stepped forward. The Elder glared at her, her own eyes beginning to fill with tears.
"No Jeanne!" Another rumble caused cracks to form at the entrance. "You must go! Now!"
Swallowing, she eventually nodded. "I love yo-"
"We will meet again in the next life. You must do everything in your power to protect the Eye." The Elder's palm glowed as a section of the wall retracted. "Now go! And do not look back!"
Running into the tunnel, they only heard the grinding of stone as the passageway closed behind them.
"Stop!" Jeanne ran into a side room and pulled her in. "I need to know. I have to… Please…"
She understood what she was talking about. They stayed quiet, listening. There was a massive crash as Sapientia destroyed his way into the citadel, and they heard the battle cries of various witches, all the untrained and newly appointed ones who had been held back from the assault from the Lagunan.
They lasted seconds.
"Where is it!?" The Audito boomed. "Where is the Eye!?"
"The Eye is gone somewhere safe, where you won't find it!" The Elder's voice carried well. "Cease this slaughter!"
The Audito roared, and the Umbran Elder cried out in fury, summoning their Infernals.
Bayonetta grabbed Jeanne's hand and began to stroke it with her thumbs, trying to calm the distressed blonde down.
The Audito spoke clearly in Enochulan once, and then several massive explosions were heard. The screams of the witches carried themselves over the sounds; then they were silent.
A long silence.
"No!" Jeanne screamed, her voice raw with emotion. "Mummy!"
Pulling her into a hug, Bayontta comforted her friend. On one hand, she felt relief and satisfaction from her finally meeting her end. But…
She was still Jeanne's mother and her heart bled for her best friend.
"Find it! It can't have gone far!" Sapientia ordered, and the sounds of stone grinding and cracking were heard once again. "Kill all you come across!"
"We can't stay here, Jeanne." Bayonetta separated with her and pointed back to the passageway. "We have to go."
"No… Mummy… No…" The former heiress was sobbing now. She latched back on, shaking and crying into her shoulder. Bayonetta knew she had to get going as fast as they could, but she was torn between comforting her friend.
She had to play the villain now. "Jeanne, get up. Please. We have to go. Otherwise, their sacrifice will be for nothing. Please!"
Wiping the tears from her face, Jeanne nodded. Running, they flew down the tunnel in a matter of minutes, hearing the chittering of Angel's fade as they neared the end. Exiting out, they found themselves in the Umbran training grounds.
Dead witches lay on the floor, strewn about like forgotten dolls. The odd Angel corpse was piled among them, and it finally dawned on her that this wasn't a battle.
This was a massacre. A slaughter.
"We are all that's left…" Jeanne choked on the words. Bayonetta scanned the bodies and fell into despair as she spotted one.
"Mummy?!" She ran to the fallen witch and knelt by her, grabbing her hand. "Mummy, wake up!"
The eyes flickered open weakly. "(€£€% ..."
"I'm still here Mummy." She put on a brave front. "We can still get you out, we just need a-"
"(€£€% , don't." Her mother placed her hand weakly on her lips. "You need to keep the Eye safe, no matter what."
"Mummy, don't say that!" She felt tears prickling in her eyes. "You can still live!"
"My time has come." She smiled softly. "Khepri will treat me right…"
Her hand dropped to her chest. Fiddling with a pocket, she pulled out a tube of lipstick. "Take this, (€£€% . When you meet him again, this is the proof he will need to know who…who you are…"
"Who, Mummy?" She pushed away the tube and grabbed onto one of her mother's hands. "Stay with me Mummy, I don't have anyone else!"
"Jeanne will take care of you… She is a good girl…" Her mother's eyes closed, and her pulse died.
Her emotions went numb. She felt like she couldn't breathe. Jeanne was cursing behind her, but she didn't care.
Mummy was dead. Her family was dead. The only other person to care about her was dead.
All because she won the one battle she should have never been in.
"You traitorous Sage!" She heard Jeanne scream, but she stared blankly at her mother's corpse.
What was the point?
"ALALARE A COREDAZODIZODA!" A male voice cried from behind them. Golden chains surrounded her mother's corpse, and it was snatched into the air behind her. Turning, she saw the last Lumen Sage in battle uniform, his long silver hair billowing out in the wind, and his golden half-mask staring at her. She stared back at him, not caring if he got the Eye or not.
Mummy was dead. Nothing mattered anymore.
"My, my… The Left Eye, finally within my grasp." The Lumen said, a smile permeating his words. He beckoned to her, one hand gracefully reaching out. "Gift it to me, as your tradition, and I will spare your life."
Mummy was dead.
"Fuck off, you motherfucker!" She had never heard Jeanne so vulgar, or as angry. "You don't get to fucking decide shit! She keeps the Eye until death, and the Eye will fucking die with her!"
"Oh Jeanne, do you not think I have planned for that eventuality? Please, look around you." He pointed to all the Witches, and then to Mummy. "Have you not seen enough bloodshed now? I can start massacring any life form as I wish, take whatever I want and leave. Consider a swift death to you after my dearest grants me my Eye as a reward for your… cooperation."
"OXEX RACLIR!" Jeanne shouted, and then broke the summon spell as it began with a slice of her katana. Gomorrah roared as it was unleashed into the world, untethered by the Witch.
"W- you fool!" The Sage screamed as the Infernal began to lumber towards them, attracted by the scent of its master and the Laguna in front of it. "What have you done?"
Mummy was dead.
"Bought myself time." She snarled. Grabbing out a small knife, she twisted and stabbed Bayonetta in the chest.
It was relatively painless. She gasped as the blade entered her, her eyes looking at Jeanne's with betrayal. The red witch was whispering something, but she didn't know what. Her memories were fading, her sight was fading; everything was fading.
She crumpled into unconsciousness, and into darkness.
…
Her eyes opened.
The Joy was standing there, observing her with folded arms. It didn't react visibly, nor did it not react. It turned its head slightly towards her, acknowledging her with a nod. "We know what you saw."
Bayonetta found herself propped up against the wall, sitting down. Concentrating on making sure her breathing was even and that she was calm, she answered: "I…"
Her shoulders sagged. "I don't know what else to say."
"Then do not speak." The Joy offered her a hand. "We need to keep moving."
Did you know?
'What? How the Umbra met their demise and why you lost your memories? I knew parts of it.'
Enough? She had to know. Her hands were trembling slightly and she willed them to stop.
'All I knew for certain was that Jeanne attempted to strip your memories away. The other details… weren't known. Khepri knew, but she refused to speak. Whether that was out of lost pride of being bound to a corpse or because the events were that unsettling, I also do not know.'
Butterfly's tone was strange. Bayonetta couldn't quite put a finger on what it was, but it seemed melancholic? That didn't seem right.
'Even I know the pain of losing a loved one.'
She accepted the hand and let the Angel pull her up. It jerked its head towards the unsealed portion of the tunnel and began to walk. Bayonetta followed, doing an awkward run to get alongside it.
"They are memories, right?" She asked, frowning slightly. "But didn't Jeanne seal them away? Surely they would never return."
"Yes, they are memories. The spell Jeanne cast on you was supposed to seal them away, but she did not complete the necessary incantation and only managed to suppress them." The Joy nodded. "It would not surprise us if that was deliberate, especially if she expected for you to still remember her."
"What on Earth triggered their return?"
"How are we supposed to know? Memory manipulation is a very fine art, something Jeanne is evidently very skilled at." It shrugged its shoulders. "But if there is a cascade of memories now, then they will all be back soon."
The tunnel opened up, revealing a very familiar building. Two streets connected into a covered auditorium, a place Bayonetta held no love for.
"We are nearly there." The Angel announced. "Beyond here is the auditorium that had your initial encounter with our class of Laguna, along with the portal."
The reminder was unnecessary, but whatever. She had to play the gracious visitor anyway.
"Well, I think a thank you is in good order." Bayonetta smiled. "You actually managed to keep your word, and in good time as well!"
"We do not lie to those who need our help. That is our intended purpose." The Joy cracked a small smile. "It is a wonderful feeling to be able to fulfill it."
"I don't suppose you get a lot of opportunities here…" She mused. The pair continued to walk onwards.
And now the reality of the situation was getting to her. "I don't suppose you have a mirror lying around, do you?"
The Joy looked at her, confused. "What for?"
"I look positively dreadful, don't I?" Bayonetta placed her hands on her hips and regarded the Angel with a smile. "I need to fix that before they see!"
"Just let them."
The smile turned into confusion. "What do you not understand about me looking dreadful?"
"You've been wearing a mask for them the entire time. You've been wearing a mask for us the entire time as well." The Joy stopped walking. "Let them see the real you."
The smile returned, but this time it wasn't going to touch her eyes. "I don't think you understand."
"You don't. You spent the last hour crying over your past and you instantly sprung into a new persona when you met me minutes later." It regarded her in return. "You do the same for them. You pretend to care for someone who needs someone to, you pretend to hate someone who has suffered because of it and you manipulate and control someone who needs someone to lean on."
Sephiroth, Cereza and Luka in turn. A groan erupted from her throat before she could stop it.
"Why do you care about my relationships with three useless people?" She coldly answered. "Once this job is done, I'll let them go on their merry way and I'll never have to see them again. So why bother?"
"Are you saying that because you believe it or because you want to believe it?" The Joy asked. "Are you convincing us or yourself? Because to us we think the latter."
"I-" She scoffed. "What are you trying to do, make me doubt myself?"
Its lips pouted slightly. "You're lonely."
"No, I'm not!" The immediate response was childish, but she didn't really care. "I don't need friends anyway. They'll die before I truly get to know them, so what's the point?"
"You're lying. The other Laguna did not lie when they said you are a liar. You don't push people away because of superficial reasons."
"Okay then," Bayonetta crossed her arms over her chest. "Why, oh why, do I push everyone away?"
"You know why." It pointed at her chest. "You've been hurt many times by people who were meant to be your family, your friends, your clan, so you make sure no one can be close enough to hurt you again by making sure no one can see the real you."
She wanted to dispute it.
But she couldn't. The Angel was correct, if she really wanted to admit it. Her memories had painted a very dire picture of her own childhood, and her teenage life had been worse. Bayonetta had theorised that she kept an act up to fill in the gaps of her personality, but the answerer was right there. She didn't want to feel that hollowness and pain again.
"Why are you telling me this anyway? My personal life is not up for discussion." She tried to end it then and there, deflecting the statement and beginning to walk away.
"Because you need to make amends with them," A hand reached out and pulled her back, and she found herself face-to-face with the Joy. "For your own sake."
"I'm not discussing this with you." She pulled her hand out and turned away.
"Will you talk about it with me?"
She rolled her eyes and looked at 'Sephiroth'. "I know you aren't him. Now change back."
'Sephiroth' shook its head. "You won't talk about anything with me, so we'll try him instead. Pretend."
"I…"
"You once told Sephiroth that the best way to help yourself with problems is to talk them out." It shrugged. "So why not take your own advice then?"
"Yeah… But I don't have any problems and that's final!" She turned on her heel. "Get me out of here!"
The illusion fell away and the Joy slumped. "I just want to help you."
"I don't need help! And if I'm being honest, I don't need anything!"
"Luka cares for you. So does Sephiroth, and it's probably obvious that Cereza adores your existence. You may not want to admit it, but you like that. You want to be wanted, since that's what was denied to you in your childhood." It quietly spoke, its head tilting towards the ground. "Why bother manipulating them into something you can use when you could just accept them and show them the real you? None of them would care; if anything, they would be relieved that you are more human than Witch."
Bayonetta faltered. "What makes you think that?"
It shrugged. "Reading minds isn't that difficult of a task. The more you look, the more you'll see and Sephiroth is no different. We're not asking you to submit to them, or anything of that sort. All we want is for you to be happy, because sadness continues to lie in your smile."
She closed her eyes. What was she thinking? Listening to an Angel, of all things? She shouldn't. Her brain told her that it was her natural enemy, and it was only trying to get her guard down, so it could strike.
But her heart was saying otherwise. It had a point; she was lonely and she could admit that now. All she needed to do was simply treat them like a normal human being and not like a tool to be used once and thrown out after. Easy.
If only it was that simple. Chances are they weren't missing her and they were probably relieved that she was gone, or in the case of Luka, still hating her. She had a lot of ground to make up, if she wanted to become their friend.
Huh. That sounded weird. A good weird, but weird nevertheless.
"What should I do?" She whispered.
"Huh?" It asked, leaning towards her to catch what she said.
"I can't… just admit I was wrong. I can't do that."
"You can." The Joy gently took one of her hands and held it up. "All it takes is a little bit of courage, which you have plenty of."
"Just tell them the truth. Tell them what happened to you. Don't use it as an excuse, because both of them are smart enough to believe that to be just that; an excuse. Give them the facts, give them all the knowledge of everything that made you into you and let them come to the conclusion."
"That I'm a fucked-up person?" Bayonetta wryly smiled.
"In less vulgar terms, yes."
She took in a deep breath and it felt like a small weight was lifted off of her shoulders. "Thank you. I'm s… I probably shouldn't have been so rude before."
"You also need to learn to apologise." It laughed softly, a musical tone to her ears. "But we suppose the pride of the Umbra will not let you do that so easily."
Bayonetta shook her head. "I… I really do need to work on that."
"Small steps." It smiled. "Walk before you run."
"Do you want to come with us? You would be very helpful in the trip to Isla Del Sol." She asked, already guessing the answer.
"We can't, unfortunately. To manifest in the mortal realm requires either many human sacrifices to break through the veils or for someone on the other side to open the door." It shook its head. "You wouldn't know how to and Sephiroth might end up destroying the walls between the trinities."
She laughed sadly. The pair continued through the Auditorium, finding the portal both in the same place as before and active.
Bayonetta turned to the Angel and extended a hand. "This is where we part, I guess. I do hope we meet again, and perhaps you could meet Sephiroth at the same time."
It accepted her handshake. "We hope as well."
Smiling briefly, she walked through the portal and back into Vigrid Airport.