Hello, ProxyEdgy here,
It took quite a while to get this to my standards, but I'm finally satisfied with this version. I believe it's much closer to what I first had in mind. I'm very grateful for the helpful reviews, and I hope this version does a little more justice to Terumi's character. (Also, hooray for Izanami tag :D)
The second half has a little graphic violence. Nothing heavier than what's already in the games, I'm sure, but it bears a warning.
*God is Not Dead*
[Forbidden Gate -Altar-]
The streets of Heaven are paved in gold. The eerie silence heightens the drumming inside the ears. Pearly white mist dances whimsically in the air. In this forsaken place, the true holy grounds, a wicked being makes his entrance.
His steps are proud. The serpent is back to his origin, the womb that developed such a blackened stain in the very fabric of reality. The course of action is clear, and his ambitions are as high as the hazy, endless stretch of niveous sky that watched over him.
In his hands was a body.
Chained, limp, he dragged it along like a sack of meat. A most precious little doll of delicate porcelain skin, soon to be broken and shattered into a million of pieces after her role was fulfilled. Such was the fate of those who became of no use.
Her eyelids slowly raised, taking in the otherworldly atmosphere of that divine place beyond the physical realm. Unmoving, she could do no more than behold the beginning of the end, brought by the wicked hands of that disturbing being that held her in his chains.
Izanami's lips curled into a displeased scowl. "How unsightly of me, to be dragged by you like this. I have truly fallen."
"Huh?" He stopped, mostly out of surprise, and turned to face the speaker. "What is it, doll… Oh." The sharp voice gained some edge as a smile twisted the visible parts of his expression. "Why, if it isn't the precious little Princess of the Underworld."
"My, you're as lacking in manners as always."
The chains that bind her tightened in spite of Izanami's regal standing, yet she showed no visible reaction. It was but mere playful mockery from the jester that ensnared her. "Thought you'd be a goner by now, honestly. Congrats on hanging there for so long." Even if time was a must, the perilous snake would never give up a chance to show off his uncouth upbringing. "Still, I thought you'd hide your ugly mug for a while longer, Hades. What with that shameful display and all."
His sneer did not reach her. "Indeed, what an unsightly defeat." The empty green gaze met gleaming gold. "My shame is truly of the likes that only one such as you may understand."
It was always a pleasure to see the serpent squirming from the reaction. Though such emotions were fleeting in his sharp features, he would never hide the discontentment of having his jests returned to him. "Oi, oi, isn't it about time you get off your high horse, your majesty?" He emphasized his tone with heavy steps. "You're a loser. A parasite, piggybacking in this stupid empty doll."
"Funny, I always thought similarly of yourself." Izanami retorted with quiet laugher. "I care not for my loss, Terumi. Though vexing, it was a necessary development. I see it so clearly now."
"Glad to see you're as much of a sore loser as ever. 'Necessary development' my ass." He scoffed gleefully as they traversed the empty holy land. "In that sorry state you're in, you're not even worth of Death."
After that small exchange, there was silence, with only his footsteps as noise in this realm no mortal wandered before. Izanami tried to take control of the flesh that imprisoned her, but it was of no use. Though Noel Vermillion's consciousness was yet to awaken, she only allowed Hades a peek into the outside world.
Unable to physically move, Izanami allowed her mind to drift away. Once, she questioned the possibility of a soul residing within her. Now, aware of her final role, an even more bizarre inquisition came to her thoughts.
It centred on the snake, the ghostly presence surrounded by doubt and uncertainty. "Terumi."
"Yeah?"
"Are you really a God?"
His footsteps, the only sound in that inhuman realm, came to a still. "The hell did that come from?"
She quite enjoyed his dull surprise. "You simply don't seem to fit your role."
"You keep the big talk and I'll cut your tongue off, damn doll." The threat was far from effective, as she had nothing to lose in this body that was not her own. "Seriously, you're extra bitchy today. Did losing screw you up that bad?"
Ignoring his words, Izanami proceeded as if she was taking part in a civilized conversation. "As a God I was born, the Origin's Drive to end the nightmare of despair." The strands of blonde hair fell over her vision, another part of this existence that didn't truly belong to herself. "Terumi, are you a God to whom? And for what purpose?"
"Really? You're not gonna shut up?" He sighed, dropping her weight on the floor of the Heavens. As she was now, Izanami could barely feel the cool golden bricks of the misty road against her face. "I really have to do it all myself, huh."
Her body twisted and bended, ensnared by the snake's chains in a tight and cold embrace. The empty eyes turned to him, gazing from the darkness inside the unconscious mind. "You'd hurt a defenceless woman? You truly are tasteless beyond hope, Terumi."
"Heh." His smile was of nothing but pleasure. "It really is no fun when you won't even scream."
"Pardon my lack of reaction." She replied jokingly. "I am merely another presence in this body. The host won't allow me the pleasure to revel in your little jest."
"Oh, how you have fallen, little Princess of the Dead." The teasing was sharp and acidic, just like his natural voice. "Shouldn't you be asking yourself whether you're a real God, Hades? Because you look like a complete loser to me."
"I am real." Izanami replied, her conviction unwavering. "I am the will born from her wish. The one that returns everything to nothing. That is the being of Hades Izanami."
"Heheheheh." His low laugher was a sound as devoid of composure as the serpent himself. "Her 'will', huh? How cute." From the noise and the slight movement of the body, Izanami could feel that the chains loosened around her. "Hey, Hades, let me show you something good."
With a wave of his hand, the empty Unit made its entrance. Head hanging low, the pristine white was dull and lifeless, a mere hollow vessel for the serpent to inhabit.
"A true God…"
Blackness, a stain in the very fabric of space. Bending and infiltrating the holy metal, it twisted the cold steel into a deep abyss. The power aglow, green spread throughout the dark to reshape the silhouette. It was grotesque, unsightly, befitting of the wicked snake.
"…Exists for Himself!"
Susanoo. The face of Destruction, or perhaps merely a rough imitation of Godhood? Izanami had no answer, but she dimly wondered: Between the two, who was the one actually trapped, and who was free?
[BLUE]
Sword against knife. A sharp edge against the dull metal slab. Claws and fangs for two monstrous beasts, clashing and striking against each other in a desperate final act.
To the winner, the world. So was the promise of Nemesis Horizon, the endless Blue that surrounded the two combatants. They were both at their last breaths. One final move away from claiming victory. Words were no longer necessary, though taunts came as naturally as the deadly blows they inflicted on each other.
All under the watchful gaze of a little girl who yearned for her happy ending.
The greedy snake hungered, his fangs ready to rip apart the last obstacle standing between him and the ultimate goal. The enemy's sword transformed into the battle scythe, a blade of blood red pulsating with the wielder's heartbeat. The knives sharpened, surrounded by the dark-green power of the vile spectral serpent. They clashed.
The blade punctured the weakened skin, slashing away with abandon. Dirty blood tainted the sacred realm of the Azure. A body tumbles to the ground as the victor emerges.
"Heh." His lips twisted into a sinister grin. "Heheheh." As he stomped on the now lifeless body of his opponent. Once, twice, three times… the wicked gleam of his eyes became even hungrier. "Gyahahahahah! I did it! The Azure is Mine!"
The one known as Yuuki Terumi turned to the sky, stretching his hands into the air. It was finally time for his age to start. The world of his dreams, the beginning of an era of destruction and fear. Paradise, for him and by him, through the power of the Blue that could remake reality itself. Truly, he was free.
"Now, come! Show me! Give me the new world!" Terumi demanded in his imperative voice, by the authority of his very being. "I am Susanoo, the most powerful and the most feared of them all!"
Oh, how did he long for this moment. For the reward to be bestowed upon him by the mysterious force. And yet… nothing changed. There he stood, one foot over the corpse of his last opponent, but the Nemesis Horizon did not open before him. The Azure remained just out of his reach, unmoving, merely a force. Reality refused to comply, despite his victory.
Terumi was all alone in a world of deep blue. Suspicion coldly running down his spine, he lowered his arms and glared at the depths. When doubt finally dug its way inside his mind, she arrived. "It's a bit early to celebrate, Terumi." Uneasiness mingling with the slowly fading joy of his win, he turned around. "There remains still one final hurdle for you to overcome."
He pointed the blade at the nuisance in a threat. "You…" Terumi scowled in disgust. "You! What are you doing here, you shitty doll! What's the meaning of this!?"
Small laugher escaped her porcelain lips. The petite woman smiled, deep red eyes in the same hue as the blade of the fallen combatant. "Isn't it quite obvious, my dear Terumi?" With a wave of her hands, the princess regalia vanished. Her crown regained its rightful place, floating behind the slender figure. "I am here to fight for the Azure."
"Don't fuck with me! You're not supposed to be here! You're not even supposed to exist!" The serpent's glare was tense, his fangs ready to strike. "You have no right to fight for the Azure! It's mine! I already won!"
She merely stood still, uncaring about the crass words he hurled at her. Terumi jumped, attacking with little warning. With blade in hand, his first move easily pierced through the frail skin. Gathering the spectral energy, a barrage of furious serpentine attacks rained over the small body.
Breaking, tearing, slashing, his blades. Binding, ensnaring, strangling, his chains. Laughing, jeering, taunting, his wicked smile. The victim suffered in his hands, the few grunts and moans of pain fuelling the passionate onslaught.
Soon enough, it was done. The little doll was on the ground, broken and twisted, defeated. If this was just another test, surely he'd passed. The Azure didn't pick sides. It belonged to the winner.
"I won again!" Terumi twirled his stained knife with a proud and boastful sneer. "And I'll win every single time! Now, Azure, come to me!"
He called out again, but there was no reaction. Nothing changed, except for the small laugher that reached his ears. Terumi looked down to the mess that was the second body on the floor, bended and bloody, yet the fulgurous gleam remained inside the red irises.
"What're you laughing at, you piece of shit!" He kicked it away, but that didn't stop the laugher. "What's going on!? Why is the Azure not working!?" Terumi stomped all the way to the giggling girl, pulling her up by the purple hair. "What do you know that I don't!?"
The joyous smile was an eerie expression on her delicate features. "You don't realize it." Her chilling gaze brought a scowl to his face. "Oh, dear Terumi." The sarcastic tone angered him. "You poor little thing."
"Shut up!" He screamed, kicking her again to stress the demand. "Shut up and just tell me what you're up to, you damn doll!"
She savoured his demeanour by elongating the silence, despite his quickly escalating aggressiveness. He stabbed, puncturing the sides of the ribcage, tainting the Blue with even more dirty spilled blood. Gnawing on the broken pieces, the perilous snake crushed every single fragment as he tried to force a reaction out of the prey.
No screams, no feelings, no struggle. It was no fun. "Either say something…!" Terumi was on top of her, both hands twisting the thin neck. "Or get out of my sight, you shitty doll!"
Yet she would not stop smiling. "Terumi." Her voice, though coarse from his rough treatment, still let out honeyed words. "You cannot win."
"I ALREADY WON!" He screamed, in blinding anger, hitting her head against the floor. "I KILLED HIM! I KILLED RAGNA THE BLOODEDGE!" Once, twice, three times… The cracking noise became louder, red splattering over the purple locks. "THE AZURE IS MINE! THAT'S HOW IT WORKS!"
Small hands caressed his wrists, the sudden movement making Terumi stop. He was panting, the ethereal heartbeat inside his chest accelerated beyond the usual.
"That is how you think it works." The icy fingers gripped his body with unexpected force, trapping the wicked serpent. "You could never have the greater picture. Why, even now, I fail to understand all the details."
"Huh…?!" He angrily let go of her neck, trying to pull away. The cold grip was like that of a marble statue, bringing a chill down his spine. "What're you—!"
"'A true God lives for himself'." She echoed back to him. "Indeed, Terumi. A God is born from selfish desire." The cold of her fingers seemed to spread to his arms. Despite his struggle, Terumi could not pry those small hands open and escape her touch. "All my wishes, all my actions, they were for me. For her."
"So. Fucking. What!" He grasped the thin wrists, trying to twist her arms and force himself free. "You're a puppet! A doll! That's all you'll ever be! It doesn't matter if it's Hades or the Origin or Noel Vermillion or Kusanagi! You'll always be just a puny little doll!"
"It matters not what she is." Izanami laughed at him. "It matters only that she wields the Master Unit." A childish and sugarcoated giggle. "It is her dream, Terumi, and she rejects your ending."
The cold chilled the very innards of the ghastly serpent. "So what if it's her dream! I am Susanoo! I destroy her dreams!" Try as he might, it was impossible to twist, bend or break the stone arms that held him down. "This is the Nemesis Horizon! Amaterasu shouldn't be able to interfere here!"
His struggle was for naught. "It's all thanks to you, Terumi." She pitied his sorry, aggravated state. "Your life-link allowed her to reject Death one last time."
The blue hue reflecting in their eyes disappeared as the world became shrouded in darkness. Time, a most meaningless concept at this point, was at a standstill. The serpent was frozen. He could not move. He could not talk.
All he could do was watch as she slowly raised her hand, burying her fingers inside his chest. "She who wields the Unit has the power." Digging her nails, scraping away at the ethereal flesh. "The Susano'o Unit is hollow, Terumi." Gently caressing the blackened imitation of a heart. "You are a God to no one."
Seizing the wicked centre, the amalgamation of experiences that made up his very existence. The hands of the clock trembled in anticipation, yearning for the spark to return. Fate was set. The only thing left was to either walk down the intended path…
Or struggle in eternal repetition. "You can never win."
Red. Deep, pulsating, the warm contrast to the unfeeling blue. Everything faded in black, returning to nothing. The stage was set, its actors once again chained to their fates by a selfish desire. A final battle where the winner had been decided from the very beginning.
*God is Death*
Does this idea take away from Ragna's struggle to bring down Terumi? Yeah, a little. At the same time, CF's Story Mode has no proper Game Over screen, so my imagination had to come up with some excuse as to why we can immediately retry the fight without so much as flavour text.