Birth of an Empire
Koromos stared at the sky with a tinge of skepticism. Many of the stars had moved. Some were blinking. Others had gone out completely, while some had grown brighter. In the center of the Milky Way, a large black hole had appeared. He did not know if it had swallowed the stars or was only blocking their light.
"He'd better hurry. His time is running out." He stood and began walking back towards the castle. He could here the demons within screeching and screaming as if they were throwing a party. He had gone outside because he couldn't stand the noise. The portal to the Underworld had disappeared, and the castle was literally merging with the Underworld. Soon the merge would take the whole Earth and the realms beyond with it. However, the thought of Hell on Earth neither excited nor depressed him in any way. A reptilian Blade trotted to his side. Its scales were beginning to slough as the first signs of an unpredictable metamorphosis. It followed him into the castle to the room where Ariel was waiting.
Ariel was in the room above where Koromos had fought Lilith a few weeks before. She was lying alone on the bed. Her arms were tied to the bedposts. She hissed and turned from the light when Koromos opened the door. He closed it quietly and lit a candle. Even the candlelight was enough to send her into a bucking spitting rage. She struggled but could not break her restraints.
Koromos sat on the edge of the bed and leaned over her. Dried blood clung to her nose and lips. Her eyes had turned grey with cataracts. She was in constant pain as her own body began to go through an abnormal morph. Koromos touched her temple. She shrieked and turned away from him.
"I'm sorry," Koromos said in a patronizing tone. "I don't want to hurt you. I want to make this as easy on you as possible."
"What do you want?" Ariel pleaded in a raspy voice. "I didn't want this."
"I know," Koromos said. "You've said that several times already. Quite frankly, I'm sick of hearing it. Dante wants you dead, but he can't have you until he gives me what I want."
Ariel sighed in disgust. "I'm not a bargaining chip."
"You are today. I don't give a damn about you nor your cause. Your own stupidity, and unwillingness to accept the wisdom of the Universe, will lead to the destruction of everything unless you die. Bargaining chip is more than your worth."
Ariel cried out as pain passed through her body. Koromos rubbed her belly as if to comfort her before leaving her alone in the room. The Blade stayed with her on the bed as she writhed in pain. "Help me," she called in a weak voice. "Somebody help me."
(X)
Isaiah stared at his cup as a soft voice flowed through his mind. He could hear someone softly calling for help. "It's her," he said out loud.
"What?" Lucia asked.
Isaiah didn't look up. "Ariel. She's calling out for help. I can hear her as if she were whispering in my ear."
"How do you know?"
"She and I are the same. She wants to be heard. She called me."
"Where is she?" Dante half demanded.
"It appears you were right old woman," he said to Matier. "She's calling from Mallet Island."
"What if it's a trap?" Lucia asked.
"Either way," Dante said, "we have to meet her. Whether she needs our help or means to ambush us, we have to take the Idda Corrof from her."
"And if we can't?"
"Then we kill her, even if she does need our help."
(X)
"Where are we?" Lilith asked.
"Shhh," Sparda answered. "Just watch. You need to see this."
An image played before Lilith's eyes as if she were watching a movie. She recognized the terrain as the wastelands of the Underworld. A mighty battle raged all around her. It seemed that an army of demons was fighting a combined legion of demons and angels. It was often difficult to tell which was which. Blood spilled and body parts flew on both sides.
Lilith's mind wandered across the battlefield until a specific warrior caught her eye. A young man dressed in black leather fought off several demons at once with a sword that seemed too big for him. He couldn't be older than sixteen. His platinum white hair was splattered with the blood of demons. A single swing cleaved two demons in half. A third waited to make a move. He didn't wait for it to attack before slicing it open.
The adolescent warrior raised a leather-strapped hand. "Vergil!" he called. "We have to hurry!"
A few meters away, an identical warrior pulled his sword from a demon's throat. The twin warriors ran through the bloody melee towards the edge of the battlefield. They sliced through flesh and bone during the escape. Angels and other demons covered them as they ran beyond the battle. Lilith watched as they ran up a barren smoldering hill far from the confusion and blood.
"This is it, Dante," Vergil said. "We have to leave now."
"I know," Dante said. "I just want one last look, in the hopes I never have to see it again." The brothers watched the battle continue without them.
Vergil placed a hand against Dante's shoulder. "Come on. We have to get to Earth. Our father is waiting for us."
Lilith's mind followed them as they left through the portal on Mallet Island. They didn't stop running until they were outdoors. They stopped and looked around at the Earth for the first time.
"Listen," Dante said. "It's so quiet. There are no voices up here."
Vergil fell to his knees as if he were tired. "Even the air is different. It's more energizing."
The brothers remained where they were to enjoy their new world. After a few minutes, they were distracted by a whistle. They looked farther down the walkway where a man was waiting. "It's him," Dante whispered. Vergil stood and followed Dante towards the man. They stared at each other for a few seconds before anyone spoke.
"Come on, my sons," Sparda said. "Hell is no longer your problem. You have to reach the mainland."
"Wait a minute," Vergil said. "You're not coming with us?"
"I will, for a while, but someone must finish below what you have begun. It will still be in vain if you do not free the Earth from Mundus's rule."
"In other words," Dante said, "we have to take it from him."
"If you have to, then yes."
"You mean free the lands from their ruler, just to give them another one."
"Come on," Sparda repeated. "I can go only so far with you. We have no time to waste."
(X)
Lucia bounced a Cranky Bomb between her hands as she and Isaiah sneaked up the stairs. They were exploring a new section of the castle that had merged into a cliffside. The floor was tilted twenty degrees. They watched each step to avoid accidentally splattering themselves against the spikes jutting from the crooked walls.
"If we had our powers, we'd just fly through here," Lucia mumbled.
Isaiah chuckled. "Where's the fun in that?"
The slanting stairwell led to a door that nearly blended into the wall. Isaiah pushed against it with his foot. The door rippled and dissolved into the air. There was a familiar high pitched whine on the other side. Without looking, Lucia jumped past him and tossed the Cranky Bomb into the air. It bounced off the mask of what used to be a Sin Scythe.
