Written By: Jumper Prime
Disclaimer: Passions doesn't belong to me nor do the characters who appear therein. The characters of my own creation who appear in this story, Mordecai Devilslayer, Diana the witch, and others I will come up with in later chapters, are MINE MINE MINE, SO HANDS OFF! ::diabolical laughter::
Historian's note: This fanfic begins when Miguel jumps through the portal in Charity's closet to rescue her from Hell in the February 28, 2001 episode, and from there branches off from the Passions canon storyline into an alternate universe.
Chapter 1: A Hellish Meeting
Miguel shouted as he broke free from his friends' hold and jumped through the portal in Charity's closet
Miguel wait! You're not ready! Father Lonnigan called after him but the blind priest could not see that the determined young man was already across the portal's threshold and inside Hell.
The landscape was, well, hellish, with jagged rocks and plumes of fire spouting from cracks in the rocky ground. Standing around the area in front of the portal back to Earth were many charred figures, those damned to hell for eternity. They moaned, but did not come near, unlike the demons that had come through the portal and attacked earlier. Miguel turned to look through the portal and his friends in Charity's room on the other side. Kay shouted for Miguel to come back through and Father Lonnigan did as well, cautioning Miguel that he wasn't ready to face the evils of Hell.
Help me, Miguel! Help! Charity's shouted voice echoed across the landscape
You hear that? Miguel called through the portal She needs me! I have to find her now!
Without hesitating, Miguel ran in the direction Charity's voice had come from and was lost to the view of those still on Earth gazing through the portal. Several times he heard Charity's voice either calling for him or screaming, sometimes it came from dead ahead, sometimes from a different direction, sometimes it was heard to tell what direction he was going, but even when he could not hear the voice of his beloved, Miguel instinctively knew which direction she was in and followed that instinct, even when it seemed Charity's voice was coming from a different direction than his instinct told him.
Elsewhere on the scorched landscape a figure incongruous to the environment lay looking over the edge of a cliff at an opulent yet twisted palace in the valley below. Instead of the scorched visage of a damned soul or the monstrous features of a demon, he was a human, though dressed in medieval plate armor that completely covered his entire body, except for his eyes and mouth, which could be seen through the eyeholes and mouth hole in his faceplate, which was made in the image of a human face. The armor was a bright silver with a white cloak and belt, a pure white backpack lay on the ground next to him. Various ancient weapons were in sheaths on the belt.
He was looking at the palace though a set of plastic binoculars such as could be found in a modern store and writing notes of what he saw on a letter pad with a ballpoint pen. The screams of the damned would be quite disconcerting to a normal man, but this knight seemed able to completely ignore them.
Hmm. For a seventh level Demon Lord, he muttered to himself This guy's palace has got pretty lax security. Maybe it's his vacation home? he allowed himself a small chuckle Shouldn't be too tough to sneak in, retrieve the Chalice of Versailles, and get it out and back to Earth without getting caught. In theory, anyway.
Suddenly, he looked up as a scream echoed through the air. He was puzzled as to why a scream down here would draw his attention as in Hell, screams were equivalent to birdsong on Earth. Then he heard the scream again and jumped upright as he realized what was different about it.
That was the scream of an innocent! he exclaimed in shock What's an innocent doing in Hell? Time to figure that out later.
He snatched up his backpack and hurriedly pulled it on, starting to move towards where he heard the scream from, but halted suddenly as he remembered that he had forgotten something. The knight looked back to see his writing pad beginning to smolder, exposed to the fires of Hell, no longer within his aura. He grabbed it and the pen off the ground and stuffed them into his backpack then took off running towards the scream. Momentarily blinded by some mist he collided with Miguel and instinctively drew his sword, he sized up the young man as the mist blew away.
I won't let you stop me. Miguel said
Won't let me stop you from doing what? the knight responded
From saving Charity. I love her and I won't let any of you demons stop me from rescuing her from here.
*Another innocent? Did the Earth to Heaven rapid transit system get rerouted or something?* the knight thought I'm not a demon. he spoke I heard a screaming innocent a short time ago. Sounded like a girl. the knight sheathed his sword Your Charity?
Gotta be. Some great evil threw her into Hell to destroy her and I've got to find her!
I think I can help you. Saving innocents unjustly cast into Hell is part of my job description.
How do I know this isn't a trick. Father Lonnigan warned me the demons here would try to trick me. This could be a trick.
I suppose you don't know. But I know this place like the back of my hand and am well versed in the methods of combating the dangerous fauna. Can you say that?
Well... no.
Help me! Please! both heard Charity's scream and started running towards it.
By the way, I'm Mordecai Devilslayer. the knight introduced himself as they ran
Miguel Lopez-Fitzgerald. Miguel introduced himself
Nice to meet you... Watch out! Mordecai grabbed Miguel's arm and yanked him to a stop just before he would have tumbled down a steep ridge
Thanks. I guess this means you're not a trick.
Yup. A demon would have let you fall. Look down there.
Mordecai pointed down the slope. There, in the valley at the bottom of the ridge, a group of demons were dragging a struggling blonde girl along the path.
Miguel breathed
There's a half-dozen or so of them. Mordecai appraised the forces below Looks like a Fomori leading a squad of mid-level Kulack demons. He pulled a dagger out of its belt sheath and offered the hilt to Miguel Here, you don't seem like the kind of guy to stand by while someone else saves his beloved and this'll be more effective than bare hands, unless you're a fighting monk or something.
Miguel took the dagger and gazed at the workmanship. The hilt was gold with an eagle engraved on it and the blade was a gleaming silver. Mordecai drew his sword and held it in his right hand. The hilt was gold with a roaring lion engraved on it and the long, straight silver blade gleamed just like the dagger. It was easy to see that both sword and dagger had been forged by the same hand.
Strike hard and fast. These things show no mercy so don't give them any or they'll cut you in two without a second thought. Mordecai cautioned
Sounds good to me. Let's get em! so saying, Miguel charged down the slope, Mordecai right beside him with his sword raised
Mordecai shouted when they were almost on top of the demons holding Charity and leaped the rest of the way, slicing a demon in half with a downward stroke of his sword.
Miguel was only a few steps behind, plunging his borrowed dagger into the torso of another demon which screamed in agony before going limp. Miguel pulled the dagger out of the dead demon and moved on to fight another as Mordecai cut down two more demons and came face to face with the leader, a horned Fomori demon, armed with a curved sword that was as dark as night.
The girl is ours, human. You cannot win. it growled, baring its razor sharp teeth
Funny, seems to me like you've got that backwards. Mordecai grinned and swung his sword.
The demon parried with its own sword, but the silver blade shattered the black one like glass. Mordecai grinned at the demon's shock.
You should know better than to try to fight noon-forged steel with black bronze, especially when you don't know how to parry a proper sword slash. the knight taunted Oh well, no reason to lose your head over it. Mordecai swung his sword in a swift arc that neatly severed the surprised Fomori demon's neck, causing its lifeless head to fall to the ground. Then again, maybe it was.
Mordecai turned to see that Miguel had already dispatched the last demon and was embracing Charity whose cheeks were stained with tears.
I knew you'd save me Miguel. she said
I couldn't let anything stop me Charity. I'd fight all the legions of Hell to save you. Miguel replied as a horn sounded in the distance
Sorry to interrupt kids, Mordecai interrupted But if we don't get moving you may have to live up to that promise. Their boss must've been monitoring these demons cuz that was an alert horn we just heard. In 5 minutes this place'll be crawling with demon soldiers.
We've gotta get back to the portal!
You know where it is, I don't. I've got my own exit but I'll get you to yours first.
OK, this way Charity!
The trio started running back up the ridge, Miguel and Charity holding hands as they ran.
What was that word you shouted when we attacked? Miguel asked as they ran
You mean ShoToKAR? Mordecai responded In the language of the Ancients, it means Death from above.' Seemed appropriate.
Miguel grinned and they continued to run
It soon started to get darker, Miguel and Charity thought it was simply Hell's version of nightfall but Mordecai knew better. The coming darkness was a sign that the local demon lord, the very one whose palace Mordecai was casing earlier, was aware of their presence and was not happy. As they ran, Charity was visibly tiring.
she breathed I'm so tired... Need to sleep.
Mordecai practically shouted, drawing a strange look from Miguel You have to stay awake!
She's tired, I can carry her, it won't slow us down that much. Miguel protested
If she falls asleep, she's dead. You two don't have any protection like my armor. She loses consciousness, her aura dims out, the fires literally roast her. Same goes for you, Miguel. Neither of you can afford to fall asleep until you're back on Earth.
You're sure?
I know as much about Hell as any living mortal can. Without protective gear, a mortal's only protection against the fires of hell is their psychic aura and they have to be awake for their aura to have any chance of shielding them. As it is, Charity's aura is getting close to the minimum needed to keep her from being burned. We have to get her out of here fast. How far is it to your portal?
I think we're getting close I recognize that cliff. Miguel pointed to a spiraling rockface. C'mon Charity, just a little farther, you can sleep when we're safe back in your room but if you go to sleep now you'll be burned alive. Just stay awake a little longer. Draw strength from me, from our love.
I'll try, Miguel. Charity whispered I won't let the evil win.
That's the spirit Charity, c'mon!
They continued on but what they saw at the foot of the cliff caused them to stop cold, and in the fires of Hell, that takes a lot. The entire cliff face, from the lowest ledge to the very peak was filled with wall to wall demons of all varieties.
Uh, which way to your portal? Mordecai asked calmly
It's at the peak. Miguel answered glumly
It'd take a whole platoon of warrior angels to cut us a clear path to the top, and they'd take casualties that'd make Gettysburg look like a training exercise. I hope Charity can last long enough to get to my portal cuz yours is no good to us.
She's ready to drop. She's been down here for hours being dragged around by demons and she was already tired when she was dragged through the portal. Unless yours is real close, she won't make it.
It's at least 10 hectares away. If she's as tired as you say, she won't last long enough to travel 1.
Forget about me Miguel.. Charity said tiredly Save yourself.
Miguel practically shouted Either both of us get out of here or neither of us do. I won't be separated from you!
End of Chapter 1