AUTHOR'S NOTE: Some quick things to note about this story:
- This is somewhat a crossover fic, and it will become rather obvious what it is when the OC is introduced.
- Bayonetta is a little OOC for this story, and some previous story elements and plot points are changed to reflect this.
- This also takes into account the events of Bayonetta 2 and Bayonetta: Bloody Fate. Elements of the OG story are changed to reflect this. There are also several original lore and explanations featured within, so be prepared for some significant changes to the overall plot.
- Rated M for language, violence and themes.
- I don't own anything from Bayonetta, only Platinum Games do. A big cheer for them for their awesomeness!
- This is a rewrite/add-on to the original story, found on my page. Upon a reread, and having a friend read the story as well, a few changes have been made (and that's an understatement) to both bring the story more inline with the original game and to keep more characters consistent/expand upon them.
Without further ado; Here is Eclipse!
When the Eyes meet, a titan awakens;
Held by children, blessed of mortals
Not of light
Not of dark
But the meeting of both, the union of life
To remake or destroy the universe asunder
Through the Creator or the Destroyer's whim.
The Prophecy of Loptr, Agent of Aesir
…
The woman held her child close to her, meeting her Elder's glares with defiant reverence. She stood in the centre of the room, still standing proud and with poise, despite the beatings she had endured. Her thoughts whirled from one possibility to the next, each one worse than the one preceding it.
This was not right, nor was it proper justice.
The Elders of her clan were seated at a crescent-shaped table, essentially surrounding her. Beside them stood beings of light, the Elders of his clan, looking at her with disgust. Beyond them were shadows of both Lumen and Umbra alike, their faces and body language hidden.
"In your wickedness…" The central being stood up, pointing at her. The round spectacles on her face did not hide her hateful stare, nor did her mask disguise her rage. "You have broken the ancient commandments, and forged a bond with one of the light. And from this bond, a child was conceived; a child of mixed, impure blood."
The Lumen Elder next to her crooked his finger, and a couple of masked and robed figures entered behind her, approaching the opening of the table. She gasped, recognising the limp figure held between them. The Sage's stopped, looking at their Elder for approval. He nodded slightly, and her husband was callously tossed to the ground, hitting it with a dull thud.
He didn't move, and stayed sprawled on the stone. His name formed on her lips as she reached out to him.
"Our laws are clear." The man spoke. His voice was not as sharp as the woman's, but the weight behind his words stopped her from calling out to her husband. "For you, our former 'brother', they demand you to be exiled from our brotherhood, stripped of your title, powers and rights."
"As for you, Rosa, they demand you to be eternally imprisoned, stripped of your powers and free will, burdened by the weight of your sin." The woman spoke again, her voice cracking in the air like a whip. "As for the impure child, she must be destroyed."
"No!" She cried out, finally finding her voice. "You can't! She is innocent in all this-"
"Silence! Its… continued existence brings the prophecy one more step to completion!" The man's right eye shined with a brilliant blue, betraying his calm visage. "It simply cannot be allowed to live!"
"She's my child!" She could feel Khepri at her skin, itching to be free. The restraints on her wrists pulsed, and the demon subsided. "You can't!"
"We can, and we must." The Witch clicked her fingers, and two acolytes stepped forward. The man behind her was finally coming too. He groaned, slowly curling into a ball. She glanced back at him, panic starting to set in.
They couldn't. It was just a child.
"Mummy?" A small voice called for her. "Mummy, what's going on?"
"Get behind me." She pulled her daughter back, and behind her legs. "Mummy will always protect you."
She watched as the acolytes walked towards them, a growl escaping her throat. "Mummy will always be with you. Always."
…
Twenty years before the present.
…
"Here it is, Luka." The man spread his hands out at the lake before them. The tiny boy ran onto the small beach, his brown and blue scarf trailing behind him, trying to peer into the depths. "Our newest adventure."
"Here is what? All I can see is water, father." He turned to the older man, giving him a questioning look. "How can this be-"
The boy stopped, eyes widening. Antonio Redgrave gave a wry grin in response, nodding. "No, Luka. It's not the water I'm interested in. It's what is within it."
"Is it a mermaid, father?"
"At least I don't think so. Mr Onythyll spoke of this place as being holy to the extinct Umbra." Antonio grimaced. "Although I am far more interested in what he is keeping in that basement of his."
Luka stared at the waves. "This place is holy? Why? How? It's just a lake."
He scrunched his nose up. "And the Umbra mountains are miles away from here."
"Very good memory, son." Antonio clapped a hand on his back. "There's much we don't know about these witches; this may be an ancient burial site. Or a former place of worship, where a contract could be formed."
"But either way, I bought my Scuba gear." The bag he was carrying was dropped to the sand, sinking in slightly and erupting a small cloud of dust. "And I will be taking a look. There's no coincidence that the Ragna would mention this particular place, right as I was trying to piece together the last part of the Umbran history; why it all ended, and how it did. There has to be something here. I don't know what. But it has to be something."
Luka merely nodded, opting to adjust his beanie and scarf. Walking back towards the car, he took a seat behind a log and pulled out his favourite book; The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.
As much as he enjoyed going on these expeditions and traveling with father, watching the water for hours while he scoured the bottom of a wreck, a lake or an ocean was very boring. Books, however, offered more entertainment than he could ever dream of. It didn't matter if it was boring, if it was bad or even if it was a book meant for girls; they were all absorbed and memorised, making him wish that there was more to this world than what it seemed.
Oh, how he wished that a portal to Narnia could open up and take him away to a life of adventure.
After a few minutes, he smelled something sweet in the air. Something like sweetened rosemary, or something like his mother used to spray on herself. He frowned, replacing his bookmark and putting the book back into his backpack. A small rustle appeared in a bush across from him, and he glared at it.
Stupid bushes.
Something splashed in the water, and then something landed on the bank behind him with a thud. Luka turned and peeked over the log, and nearly screamed with shock at the sight.
It was a naked woman. Her limbs were long and spindly, unnaturally so. Her black hair was much longer than her body, splaying out and over her and the beach. She seemed to be looking around, trying to find something. He stayed deathly silent, frozen in fear. The woman might not be friendly. The woman could be a mermaid, and mermaid's eat men. Well, some did.
He didn't want to find out.
A scream rang out, and he jumped. The woman slammed her fist onto the ground, and then Luka saw his father floating in the background.
The woman turned around and stared at the floating man. Father began to scream, and his arms and legs were pulled in all directions.
He couldn't take his eyes off it.
"Father?" He whispered, trying to figure out when he would pop up behind him and say how it was all a joke, and they would laugh at how scared he was.
Be careful for what you wish for. A voice whispered mockingly.
Then he exploded, blood, organs and limbs flying everywhere, covering everything.
"FATHER!"
…
One year before present.
...
"Father Balder!" An Applaud was running at him, its hurried gait showing signs of injury and panic. Looking up from the contracts and other various documents that the mortals required him to read, lest his business cover would be blown, the Lumen Sage Balder fixed an annoyed look back at the approaching Angel.
"What is it? Why dare disturb me?" He turned back to continue reading, listening to it screech to a halt on the polished floors. His mouth curled distastefully at the sound. That would cost time to repair, and he was finished with wasting time. He had wasted nearly five hundred years; the final piece of the puzzle had to be finished now.
"Experiment 10978 has escaped captivity and is rampaging through the laboratories!" The Applaud sounded terrified, and that momentarily intrigued Balder. Not much could terrify a being of Paradiso, outside of a now extinct Umbra Witch or an Infernal Demon.
Then he realised what the Angel had said. The contract fell to his desk, forgotten. His chair swivelled until he was face-on, his attention held fully.
"It did what?!" Balder paused as he felt a tremor ripple through the Ithavoll Building. "Recapture it at all costs!"
"Sir, our defences were obliterated!" The Angel shook its head quickly, its wings shaking in adrenaline. "The only things that might be powerful enough to stop it are yourself or one of the Cardinal Virtues. We only figured out it was trying to escape when the deed was already done."
Another tremor rang through the building as Balder felt an unfamiliar feeling grow within him. His work of twenty years was expendable, as had the previous experiments, but it did not sit well with him to let it go to waste. Especially given this one's potential to be far more successful than anything else he had tried.
Expendable, but not replaceable. He cursed the blasted thing. Why it couldn't just lie down, make it easy-
There was also her problem. If she wasn't compromised, she would've taken his children and this whole mess could've been avoided. Simple and efficient.
He was getting distracted by what ifs. She was barren, and it was escaping.
The outer perimeter has been compromised. The intercom rang out, a terrified female voice speaking through it. Lock down all personal. Repeat, lock down all personal!
"Take me to it." He snarled angrily, raising up from his desk. "Take me to the laboratories now!"
…
It was a surprise the building was left intact. Maybe his creation had enough of a conscience to realise toppling Ithavoll into a densely populated city was not the best idea. Or it was not advanced enough to realise it could have destroyed the building if it had wished. No one was sure what the experiments had done to its intelligence. But then again, how was it supposed to know it was in a city, let alone a building?
Nevertheless, its hidden power was now evident. It was a lot stronger that the data showed. Or what the data even suggested. He reflected on what he knew; it was stronger than the average mortal, but the evidence did not point towards simply punching a hole through the wall. The only known magic it possessed, healing and restoration, was pointless.
And that was that. Twenty years of experiments and tests, and there was nothing offensive in its arsenal. He smiled cruelly. It had definitely been hiding something. Perhaps it wasn't as stupid as it made itself out to be.
Balder let his rage simmer as he gazed upon the ruin that was the laboratories. Angelic carcasses littered the ground amongst shattered electronics, tubing and chemicals, alongside a few smears of mortal body fluids. It hadn't discriminated at all; seemingly everything in the room was subject to its ire and will to escape.
It's only human to want to leave, he reasoned. He made a mental note to try and have Jeanne prepare them better for next time.
The main holding cell in the centre was completely gone, as if it were disintegrated into dust. Balder reflected that the Applaud was right; the bodies seemed to be torn in pieces or their limbs shattered into unnatural angles. The work of a savage, primal fear to flee. An observation not exactly helpful in determining any new data, but it did tell him that it at least had the sense to run from the place that was causing it pain, at any means necessary.
It wasn't ideal, but he preferred his experiments to not be blindly loyal idiots. It took loyalty, yes, to help his cause. It also took sense to stay alive until the end.
He watched as several Applauds began to search the ruins for anything that was salvageable. Satisfied with their methodology, he turned and walked outside to determine if the exterior was compromised, and the building would need to be repaired properly. From what he could see, very little. It had simply blown a mortal-sized hole through the side of the building and made a break for it. The authorities of the mortal realm were setting up a protective barrier for the populace, and he sighed to himself as he realised that he didn't particularly want to address them. Mentally noting again to get Jeanne to play around with any witness's memories, he turned back to walk into the building. A small hole was nothing.
"It seems your little experiment did not pay off, even when it had potential, Lumen Sage." A booming voice called from behind. Balder felt his rage return anew as he stopped and turned back.
"Temperentia, the lord of the winds. What brings you here?" He greeted, both playing dumb and being careful not to let his rage show to the Cardinal Virtue.
"Sapientia felt a sudden loss of life, as one does during a massacre." Temperentia was glaring at the Sage, the strange green hologram that was its image flickering in the wind. Its tube-like fingers rotated around, jittering unnaturally, as it continued to speak. "I was sent to investigate the matter, and possibly supply assistance, due to me knowing the full extent of your experiment. Now, explain yourself; how did several humans and more Lagunan die at the hands of it this time?"
"It seems that the only explanation I can give you, as to how it managed to escape at all, was that it was harbouring abilities none of us knew about." Balder replied neutrally, and truthfully. There was no reason to lie to the Auditio now. "It could have brought down the building if it so desired, but it seems it chose not to or simply did not think it could."
"Sapientia would have loved that." The Angel boomed, a dry humour lacing its tone. "Do you have any inkling as to its current whereabouts?"
Balder's immediate reaction was to lash out at the Angel, but then stopped to think. Where would it have gone? Jeanne had wiped its memory, several times over as well; it was extremely unlikely that it would head to its relatives. That being said, however, the subconscious could never truly be wiped anew. If it was…
Well, he could say that Jeanne could handle teaching the specimen how to breathe.
"I would start by checking out its next of kin, or its relatives." Balder answered, confident and suave. He had a feeling he was merely throwing out an answer, and not being the character he tried to be. "That is if the experiment is as stupid as most mortals tend to be."
"Do you have any requests on my investigation?" Temperentia asked. "I am quite curious to find out about your experiments capabilities in a non-testing environment."
Balder finally let his unemotional shell crack. A small smile crept over his face as he began to formulate a plan to retrieve his experiment.
"If you find it there, take it back and bring it to me. Alive, preferably." Balder explained, nodding in self-approval. "Then kill everyone related to it. Make it realise that such actions cannot go unpunished."
Temperentia squinted at Balder. "And if it isn't there?"
He contemplated doing nothing. It wasn't that important, yet… He was bored. He knew Jeanne was itching to do something. Why not make his accomplices happy? A happy servant is a good servant.
Balder smiled fully. "Kill them all regardless. It will learn that actions will not go unpunished."
"It will be done." The Angel smiled back, a smile filled with lust and insanity. "May Jubelius, the Creator, grace you."
"And you as well."
Balder continued to fake his smile until the Angel returned to Paradiso. "There will be one being in this universe that Jubelius will grace, and that honour will be mine."
He turned back to find the Applauds waiting for him. He looked upon them expectantly.
"Well? Did your search provide me with anything?"
Hesitantly, the Applauds each shook their heads in turn, as if to confirm each other.
Closing his eyes, Balder felt his rage regrow as he realised the severity of what had truly transpired.
It was gone.
All of his work was gone. A momentary lapse in concentration, and now it was that. A momentary lapse in his plans.
"Go and get Jeanne. She will deal with this." He walked back into the Ithavoll building, his fist clenching tighter and tighter. "She will make them suffer!"
…
Six months before present.
...
Balder closed his eyes with fury as the latest experiment gurgled and moaned with pain. He heard the muttering of the Affinities to the side of him, and it didn't sound promising. Opening his eyes, he watched with frustration as the mortal expanded, then tore itself apart as the cells refused to bind. It fell to the ground, dissolving into green goo.
"Another failure…" The Applaud said from behind. "What now?"
Balder felt himself calm down as his mind began to accept that this method was not going to work. "I suppose it is due time to try plan C."
He turned back to face the elite denizen of Paradiso. "Get my secretary onto the black market, in any way you can. We need to reveal the location of this." He tapped his half mask, letting his eye glow blue slightly.
The Applaud tilted its head. "You want to draw out the Witch?"
Balder nodded, then smiled. "Indeed. Find me the books and scrolls of time." He ordered the Affinities standing around. "For I shall be requiring them soon."
"What if she doesn't take the bait?" It asked, trying to reason the alternative. "What then?"
"Then we will be forced to continue." He smiled a cruel smile. "Until two are made, or we find our missing experiment."
"Your command is our will." The group of Angels bowed to him, and then disappeared back into a portal to Paradiso. Stepping out of Purgatorio, he stared in disgust at the quivering goop on the floor.
"You can still hear me, can't you?" He smirked as the quivering increased. "Let it be known that you were the final mortal to be blessed by me."
The quivering stopped as the mortal finally died. Gesturing and muttering softly under his breath, he watched as the puddle of flesh dried up and turned to dust and blew away. Turning away, he felt something pull at him to turn back. Glancing behind, he saw a flicker of something in the shadows. Frowning, the Sage turned back and walked into the cell. Reaching into the corner, he pulled out a worn piece of paper. He read the words scrawled onto it, his eyebrows raising at every sentence.
I will be free. I will be free. I will be free. I will be... The sentence repeated itself, as if a madman had written it.
Smirking, he crushed it into a small ball and set it alight. Tossing the ashes to the ground, he stood up and walked out of the cell, telekinetically closing the door behind him. It slammed with a thud, the metallic sound echoing throughout the room.
He continued out of the laboratory, hearing the pleas of the mortals as they reached out of their respective cells, begging for release. Balder ignored them. The return of Jubelius was at stake, and mere mortals would not stop it from happening.
The time would come for Jubelius to return.
The time will come. He was certain of it. His will would make it come.
The shadow that always remained cast would be no more, and only light would remain. It was his desire, and it would be so.
"Well, it seems your plans have changed." A feminine voice called to him, interrupting his thoughts. Looking ahead, he saw a tall, elegantly dressed woman in red ahead of him, half of her face obscured by an extravagant hat of the same shade. The half that was visible was pale, almost porcelain in coloration. Her grey eye was crinkled with a small smile, and her lips followed suit.
"Our plans have changed." He chided, putting emphasis on the 'our', and she stiffened in response, the humour falling from her features. "We have been working together for one hundred years; allow yourself the same level of respect, Mademoiselle."
"As you wish, Father." She nodded. She glanced back at the cells behind them, then to his right eye. "The experiment is gone, and now you turn to her."
"She will know her fate soon enough." Balder nodded back, gesturing for her to join him. "And when she does, the power that has been hidden away for five hundred years, the power that should've been yours to wield, will be reawakened."
"And you will hold up your end of the bargain?" The woman walked alongside him, her graceful steps allowing her to easily stay on his pace alongside him.
"You know that I will, Jeanne." He answered, a smirk on his features.
A mirroring smirk appeared on Jeanne's as well. "I know all too well. Is it time to get the girl?"
"My daughter was once my greatest burden." His right eye turned blue for the smallest of seconds. "It is now time she was made useful."
Plans within plans were beginning to unfold. Hopefully he wouldn't need to go deeper into his schemes.
He wanted to end this charade.