Disclaimer: I don't own any part of Blizzard Entertainment, Diablo, or any of the characters from the original game series I may use in this. I'm most definitely NOT going to profit from this, unless sentimental value at a project (hopefully) well done is now part of the definition of profit.
Author's Note: Anyone who has read my first submission will notice that the first chapter of this is the prologue that I currently have posted. That's because I realized I accidentally put a prologue in that should be the first chapter. Also, some of the descriptions and places may be different from the game; I took a great deal of liberty with the descriptions because I never paid any attention to the minor details of the game's background more than to go "Ooh!" when I first played it.
The Nightmare Eye
Prologue
Daelus Minneth sighed heavily. He stood within the halls of the Worldstone Keep, the legendary halls that housed the Worldstone.
Daelus had had a horrific struggle down the last two floors; a seemingly never-ending stream of demons; it had taken all of his cunning to survive against the massive hordes of monsters, all bent on preventing Minneth's reaching their master.
As he stood there, he reflected on the hordes now dead, sent back to the Hells that spawned them. The worst of the fight had been the suicidal minions, giant beasts created from demonic flesh and knobby bone, running with demonic fervor into the midst of battle, only to explode on contact.
It had taken three different encounters with these strange kamikaze fighters before Minneth could figure out a desperate strategy; allowing the mage that followed him along to interced with these explosive charges as it seemed that the damage would not affect him. Perhaps it had something to do with the hireling's magical energies that protected him.
Now he stood on the edge of a grand staircase, flanked with gigantic doors; each guided with ornate designs. What took away from the captivating scenery of these doors were the insignias and incantations scribbled onto the door in some form of blood, possibly a warding from intruders.
With a deep sigh, Daelus Minneth readied himself and descended down the stairs, taking them two at a time. As he did, he prayed to the Light to aid him in battle against whatever awaited him…
Three hours and a lifetime later, Minneth stood victorious over the dying corpse of the Lord of Destruction, his armor dented, his skin bloodied, but still mostly alive and not possessed.
With his last breath, Baal called out a curse in his demonic language, as he had fallen facing the base of the Worldstone, now pink with his corruption.
"You may have defeated me in combat, mortal … but I will still wi-in in the end…."
Upon hearing this, Daelus rushed over and grabbed the remains of the demon.
"What do you mean, demon? How can you still win? Answer me, dammit!"
But the demon was dead, its tortured and blackened excuse for a soul returning to the depths of the Abyss. As this orcurred, the Worldstone began to throb and pulsate, as if it had been transformed into a gigantic heart by Baal, and was now convulsing like the dead within its sacred chamber.
"Her, you must escape! The World stone is too corrupted to remain as it is. I will open a portal for you to leave through, but leave you must!"
"Lord Tyreal! I am honored…."
"No time, Hero. You must leave, and now!"
As the Archangel spoke, a small spike of energy leapt from the runeblade the gigantic angel carried. The energy from this spike coalesced into a bluish portal, which would lead back to the citadel of Hraggath, from which Daelus had entered into this stage of the Prime Evils' war.
"Very well. But what's this? I see something strange on his corpse…."
Daelus reached over and knocked the corpse away, revealing a large pile of weaponry and other items, amongst which was a small orb, carved of obsidian and fashioned into an eye. The detail was so perfect that Minneth feared what it might contain within. He clutched it to himself and hurled himself into the portal. When he emerged in Hraggath, he could just barely see the peak of Mt. Areat in the distance, a strange glow encircling the topmost parts of the peak. Then a giant flash and an enermous explosion rocked the mountain, sending parts of the mountain falling down. Daelus prayed that Tyreal was all right, but deep within his heart, he had the feeling he would never see the great angel again in this or any other plane of existence. He looked at the eye he had pulled from the chamber, and looked at it more closely. He could feel a dark presence emanating from the small item, a dark and demonic presence. He wished he could give it to one of the angels, but he didn't know how to find any of them, or if they would even heed his prayers now that Tyreal had gone against their will to aid the mortal plane.
And with that, Daelus had resolved one thing; he would give it to Deckard Cain, the Horadrim sage who had traveled with him from his home in the Far West, somewhere in the region of Entsteig. Minneth walked over to the little hut Cain lived in near the outer ramparts, so that he could inform the sage of his plans.
After a long and heated discussion, Cain finally relented and took the artifact from Minneth, saying that he knew someone who was more worthy and more able to watch over the relic while Minneth was gone. They grabbed the few possesions they owned; most of Cain's things consisted mainly of books, scrools, and tomes. Once their chests of possessions were loaded up, they carried them to the waypoint in town and warped to the encampment in the Far West.
"Akara, come quickly! There are visitors here!" The Rogue lieutenant shouted breathlessly into the high Pristess' chambes within the newly cleaned Monastery.
"What, child? Take a moment and rest. Now, what visitors are you taking about?"
"Two visitors, Priestess. One is that old man from Tristram, Cain, isn't it? The other is some kind of warrior with a big shield. He keeps saying he must see you as soon as possible."
"Daelus and Cain! They must have succeeded in defeating the Three!"
With that, the Rogue was driven beyond human endurance; she began to whoop with excitement, running through the monastery, shouting something incomprehensible but obviously celebratory..
The two travelers came into the middle of the outer cloysters, tired and bone-weary. Although the waypoints took them instantaneously anywhere, the travel was still quite felt by the travelers. When sighting the familiar purple robes of Akara, Cain and Minneth headed straight for her, disregarding the eager crowds of Rouges awaiting details of the trials and tribulations of the Hero who defeated the Three in combat.
"Akara, please, we need to talk in privacy…."
"I understand, let's hurry before these young ones begin to get on my nerves."
"All the joys of having an order beginning to return, eh?"
"Don't joke like that, Minneth; just because you stopped the Prime Evils doesn't mean I can't discipline a youth who's in need of it…."
"Merely joking."
When they arrived in Akara's personal chambers, they revealed the "prize" that Minneth had uncovered in the Worldstone Chamber two days ago. After hearing the tale, Akara agreed that someone must watch over the eye-like relic.
"Perhaps my sister, Agrela, can watch over the relic. When the Hero came back, I had received word from her that she was leaving due to a magical disturbance she had felt in the area. I thought she was being overly paranoid; she always was more easily frightened by the possibility of demonic magics than I was… if only I'd listened… ah well, at least she can help us now."
"Yes, she'd be the perfect choice. Would you mind sending us with letters?"
"No, I'll write them straight away."
That night, Minneth and Cain said their goodbyes; Minneth was feeling keenly homesick, and he wanted to try to round up any few brothers of the True Zacherum left after Mephisto's demise.
"Good luck, my friend. I'm sure that after the destruction of both Mephisto and their corrupt council, the rest of your order should be freed."
"I hoe so; I would like to see my homeland return to its former glory, or at least a part of it. Ah well, guard the relic well, and by the way, here is a special something I've been meaning to give to you. It's a scroll with a memorization of the waypoint system. If anything ever happens, you can use it to get me."
"Thank you. Hopefully we'll meet again under better circumstances."
And with that, the two headed their separate ways, looking forward to a hopeful future. If they only knew what tragedies the eye would bring….
So, how's the fic so far? It's my redo of a first try at this, so please keep reviewing! Also, I noticed something Mad-Man mentioned; I've never been able to make out the buildings that well in Tristram; I always focued on both the enemies and the loot after freeing Cain: the Church and Catacombs may very well have sunk into Hell.
