Chapter Twelve - A Wall of Courage
It had become a lot colder in the dungeon. I tried to take stock of my surroundings and I was surprised to see that Arson was still awake. My eyes focused on his face and suddenly I was filled with intense anger. How could he have said that so easily? Without even giving it a second thought? It didn't make any sense. I didn't realise how long I had glared out my sudden anger at him. I was startled when he suddenly spoke.
"What's wrong?" His voice was barely over a whisper. Trying not to be detected, I thought to myself.
"How could you have said that?"
"Said what?" I looked at him shocked. He didn't even remember? "Said what?" he repeated. He looked so innocent, as if he truly didn't know what I was talking about.
"That we could never be together." I said. The words tumbled out of my mouth before I had time to even gauge what it was I was saying.
"What?" Arson asked, starting to blush again. "Are you telling me you were considering it?!"
"Err.....well.....yeah..."
He responded with a feeble "Oh," and silence filled the room again.
I tried to reposition myself, but the chains held tight and didn't give me much freedom of movement. "Don't you think you could burn these damn things off?" I said, the anger from the previous conversation still giving an edge to my voice.
"Yeah, sure, if you don't want to have hands anymore."
I sighed. "Good point... man....we are so screwed. We need to get out of here and find Maria again before something bad happens to her....again."
"I know, but how do you propose we escape out of these chains?"
"Got a hairpin?"
His face turned serious. "I don't find that funny...."
"Well....sorry. Still, there has to be some way out of here. Maybe we can wait for Dante and Alca....maybe eventually they'll find us..maybe?"
As if in a command, the floor started shaking abruptly. Bits of dust, old rock, and mold trifted lazily around us, and I could hear the stones rubbing against each other angrily. The floor started to split, and steam rose through the opening. I could only imagine what was going to happen. There was probably lava, or fire, or something deadly under the floor, and we were about to get dropped into it.
Arson saw it first. "Oh....God...no...!"
I saw it too. It was a pool of....water? 'What the hell?' I thought. 'Like water's gonna kill me!' I could see Arson's face was showing terror though. He was ultimatly afraid of it. "What's wrong Arson?" I yelled over the rumbling of the cavern.
He didn't take his eyes off of the slowly moving floor. "I....it's water!"
"Yeah, so what?"
"If I get dropped in there, I'll die!"
"What?!"
"I'm a frickin' fire demon for crying out loud! If you didn't notice, water extinguishes fire!"
"No need to ger pissy now," I snapped.
"I'm not pissy! I'M JUST HOVERING SEVERAL FEET ABOVE A DEADLY SUBSTANCE!"
"You mean deadly to you."
"So your just going to sit and watch me die?" he said, his head drooping slightly.
"No....don't worry, we'll find a way out of here...somehow..." I said, looking around for anything to help us escape. But of course I didn't find anything, since we were both chained to the wall and hanging above a pool of water.
A small click echoed throughout the cell.
And Arson screamed as he was dropped into the pool of water below, leaving me dismayed as I hung to ther wall, watching the water boil and bubble, with Arson's dark form struggling under its clear blue surface.
****************************************
"Ugh........this sucks....." Maria said as her body was lurched up and down.
"Don't you think you could cut down on the jumping?" she asked hopeful.
Nelo Angelo just looked down at her face quickly, and looked back out ahead of him.
"Stupid bastard doesn't even talk.....let alone be nice enough to not drop me....twice."
The armor clad demon jumped from ledge to ledge, eyeing growling Nobodies as he passed.
"And I'm hungry.... and this place looking like the intestines of something isn't helping....this is repulsive....I can actually see the walls moving.."
They came and stopped at a large red door on a ledge above a beating heart. Or something that looked like a heart.
"What.....tired already? Mr. Strong-and-Silent?"
Nelo Angelo kicked the doors open, and literally threw Maria inside, shutting the doors behind her ragged body.
Maria pulled herself up, taking note of her bruises and cuts. "Stupid no good son-of-a......whoa."
She had come to find herself in a cathedral. It was a beautiful place, with white marble tile covering all the walls and floor. She could see her reflection in the floor, but she looked away seeing her face ragged and mangled. Angelic white light spilled into the room from slits seated high on the walls. It gave the room a heavy church-like feeling. Ancient carvings coated the walls, with strange designs and shapes. Pillars were scattered along the walls, as pearly white as the rest of the room. At the opposite side of the room where Maria sat, was a colossal statue of a man. He was in a seated position, his gigantic hands resting on a shortened pillar, one on each of his sides. His top half was shirtless and well-defined. The bottom half was covered by a robe. Maria found it strange that the only place that was dark in the room was where the statue sat. The face was completely covered by shadows, but Maria guessed it looked very handsome. She looked up and saw the the ceiling was even more intricate than the walls. A blue pattern was etched into each white tile, with gold shapes inside it. Maria snapped her head back to the statue as 3 blood red gem-like lights began to glow where the statue's face was hidden by shadows.
"What..the...hell?" she said breathlessly. "Don't tell me that that's....Mundus?!"
An unsaintly laugh bounced off the walls and reverberated through the chamber. "Hah.....too true you are child."
"I'm not a child Mr. Statue-person! I'm almost 16!"
"Oh, well, forget my rudeness." Mundus replied, and unleashed another loathful laugh.
"You sure arn't acting very devil-king...ish."
Mundus' red eyes shrank in concentration, and then shot out three red spear-like shards around Maria, missing her by inches.
"Ok....I take that back."
"You seem capatible enough from what I have seen you do. I have a.......job I would like you to do."
"Oh sure. Yeah, I'd love to take orders from the guy who's evil and mean and whatnot."
"Be silent....child. You will do it rather you want to or not. But since this is easier, I decided for you to see if you'll do it of your own free will.
"Let's get this over with." Maria replied with a hateful glare towards the floor.
"I want you to kill the son of Sparda. And the ones who travel with him."
"What?! Oh sure, this'll be easy. Just let me go get my pocket knife. I'm sure he'll let me kill him." she said in a obvious saarcastic tone.
"It should prove simple. You are a hybrid, you should have an easy enough time."
"A hybrid...?"
"A mixture of a human and a demon. Now be silent and listen. I know that you do not originate from this world. I know not of where you come, and I do not care. You shall kill him and the others, or I shall force you to. If you think you are too weak to kill them, I'll grant you more power."
Maria thought hard about this. 'How can he expect me to so easily want to kill my friends? Just because he threatens me? HAH! What a joke. But maybe....maybe I have a plan.' she thought to herself.
"I've thought long about this Mundus," she yelled up at the hidden face of the statue. "I'll do it.... as long as you and your minions stay out of my way."
"Fine. But hurry. I don't have a record of being patient."
Maria turned around and began to walk away, lost in her thoughts.
Nelo Angelo brushed past her as she walked out of the cathedral. He turned to the statue and kneeled down on one knee, lowering his gaze.
"Ah, Virgil. Make sure she does it......or dies."
The devil knight stood up and nodded, and walked after Maria.
It had become a lot colder in the dungeon. I tried to take stock of my surroundings and I was surprised to see that Arson was still awake. My eyes focused on his face and suddenly I was filled with intense anger. How could he have said that so easily? Without even giving it a second thought? It didn't make any sense. I didn't realise how long I had glared out my sudden anger at him. I was startled when he suddenly spoke.
"What's wrong?" His voice was barely over a whisper. Trying not to be detected, I thought to myself.
"How could you have said that?"
"Said what?" I looked at him shocked. He didn't even remember? "Said what?" he repeated. He looked so innocent, as if he truly didn't know what I was talking about.
"That we could never be together." I said. The words tumbled out of my mouth before I had time to even gauge what it was I was saying.
"What?" Arson asked, starting to blush again. "Are you telling me you were considering it?!"
"Err.....well.....yeah..."
He responded with a feeble "Oh," and silence filled the room again.
I tried to reposition myself, but the chains held tight and didn't give me much freedom of movement. "Don't you think you could burn these damn things off?" I said, the anger from the previous conversation still giving an edge to my voice.
"Yeah, sure, if you don't want to have hands anymore."
I sighed. "Good point... man....we are so screwed. We need to get out of here and find Maria again before something bad happens to her....again."
"I know, but how do you propose we escape out of these chains?"
"Got a hairpin?"
His face turned serious. "I don't find that funny...."
"Well....sorry. Still, there has to be some way out of here. Maybe we can wait for Dante and Alca....maybe eventually they'll find us..maybe?"
As if in a command, the floor started shaking abruptly. Bits of dust, old rock, and mold trifted lazily around us, and I could hear the stones rubbing against each other angrily. The floor started to split, and steam rose through the opening. I could only imagine what was going to happen. There was probably lava, or fire, or something deadly under the floor, and we were about to get dropped into it.
Arson saw it first. "Oh....God...no...!"
I saw it too. It was a pool of....water? 'What the hell?' I thought. 'Like water's gonna kill me!' I could see Arson's face was showing terror though. He was ultimatly afraid of it. "What's wrong Arson?" I yelled over the rumbling of the cavern.
He didn't take his eyes off of the slowly moving floor. "I....it's water!"
"Yeah, so what?"
"If I get dropped in there, I'll die!"
"What?!"
"I'm a frickin' fire demon for crying out loud! If you didn't notice, water extinguishes fire!"
"No need to ger pissy now," I snapped.
"I'm not pissy! I'M JUST HOVERING SEVERAL FEET ABOVE A DEADLY SUBSTANCE!"
"You mean deadly to you."
"So your just going to sit and watch me die?" he said, his head drooping slightly.
"No....don't worry, we'll find a way out of here...somehow..." I said, looking around for anything to help us escape. But of course I didn't find anything, since we were both chained to the wall and hanging above a pool of water.
A small click echoed throughout the cell.
And Arson screamed as he was dropped into the pool of water below, leaving me dismayed as I hung to ther wall, watching the water boil and bubble, with Arson's dark form struggling under its clear blue surface.
****************************************
"Ugh........this sucks....." Maria said as her body was lurched up and down.
"Don't you think you could cut down on the jumping?" she asked hopeful.
Nelo Angelo just looked down at her face quickly, and looked back out ahead of him.
"Stupid bastard doesn't even talk.....let alone be nice enough to not drop me....twice."
The armor clad demon jumped from ledge to ledge, eyeing growling Nobodies as he passed.
"And I'm hungry.... and this place looking like the intestines of something isn't helping....this is repulsive....I can actually see the walls moving.."
They came and stopped at a large red door on a ledge above a beating heart. Or something that looked like a heart.
"What.....tired already? Mr. Strong-and-Silent?"
Nelo Angelo kicked the doors open, and literally threw Maria inside, shutting the doors behind her ragged body.
Maria pulled herself up, taking note of her bruises and cuts. "Stupid no good son-of-a......whoa."
She had come to find herself in a cathedral. It was a beautiful place, with white marble tile covering all the walls and floor. She could see her reflection in the floor, but she looked away seeing her face ragged and mangled. Angelic white light spilled into the room from slits seated high on the walls. It gave the room a heavy church-like feeling. Ancient carvings coated the walls, with strange designs and shapes. Pillars were scattered along the walls, as pearly white as the rest of the room. At the opposite side of the room where Maria sat, was a colossal statue of a man. He was in a seated position, his gigantic hands resting on a shortened pillar, one on each of his sides. His top half was shirtless and well-defined. The bottom half was covered by a robe. Maria found it strange that the only place that was dark in the room was where the statue sat. The face was completely covered by shadows, but Maria guessed it looked very handsome. She looked up and saw the the ceiling was even more intricate than the walls. A blue pattern was etched into each white tile, with gold shapes inside it. Maria snapped her head back to the statue as 3 blood red gem-like lights began to glow where the statue's face was hidden by shadows.
"What..the...hell?" she said breathlessly. "Don't tell me that that's....Mundus?!"
An unsaintly laugh bounced off the walls and reverberated through the chamber. "Hah.....too true you are child."
"I'm not a child Mr. Statue-person! I'm almost 16!"
"Oh, well, forget my rudeness." Mundus replied, and unleashed another loathful laugh.
"You sure arn't acting very devil-king...ish."
Mundus' red eyes shrank in concentration, and then shot out three red spear-like shards around Maria, missing her by inches.
"Ok....I take that back."
"You seem capatible enough from what I have seen you do. I have a.......job I would like you to do."
"Oh sure. Yeah, I'd love to take orders from the guy who's evil and mean and whatnot."
"Be silent....child. You will do it rather you want to or not. But since this is easier, I decided for you to see if you'll do it of your own free will.
"Let's get this over with." Maria replied with a hateful glare towards the floor.
"I want you to kill the son of Sparda. And the ones who travel with him."
"What?! Oh sure, this'll be easy. Just let me go get my pocket knife. I'm sure he'll let me kill him." she said in a obvious saarcastic tone.
"It should prove simple. You are a hybrid, you should have an easy enough time."
"A hybrid...?"
"A mixture of a human and a demon. Now be silent and listen. I know that you do not originate from this world. I know not of where you come, and I do not care. You shall kill him and the others, or I shall force you to. If you think you are too weak to kill them, I'll grant you more power."
Maria thought hard about this. 'How can he expect me to so easily want to kill my friends? Just because he threatens me? HAH! What a joke. But maybe....maybe I have a plan.' she thought to herself.
"I've thought long about this Mundus," she yelled up at the hidden face of the statue. "I'll do it.... as long as you and your minions stay out of my way."
"Fine. But hurry. I don't have a record of being patient."
Maria turned around and began to walk away, lost in her thoughts.
Nelo Angelo brushed past her as she walked out of the cathedral. He turned to the statue and kneeled down on one knee, lowering his gaze.
"Ah, Virgil. Make sure she does it......or dies."
The devil knight stood up and nodded, and walked after Maria.