AUTHORS NOTE: I don't own any part of Bayonetta or the Sephiroth name.
Bayonetta landed onto the ground of Paradiso with a soft thud. Staying on her back, she watched as the angel closed the portal, and begin to laugh. It turned to the left and crawled away, back to whatever part of the realm it had come from. She was half tempted to get its attention and teach it a lesson about getting in the way of a witch but decided that fighting a giant angel, that may or may not be an Auditio, on its home turf was basically suicide.
And she had no intentions of dying yet.
Sitting up, she looked around. She was on a platform that vaguely reminded her of a wall she had seen in Vigrid. A path formed by solid light lay ahead of her, and it seemed to twist into a courtyard straight out of Vigrid.
"Jesus…" She whispered to herself. "This is Vigrid, isn't it?"
Standing up, she stepped onto the path and continued to the courtyard. Standing at the edge, she saw the exact same image she had seen when she first arrived; people milling about, living their lives without the knowledge of the mystical powers at their doorstep. She subconsciously attempted to pull herself into Purgatorio, but remembered she wasn't in the mortal realm anymore.
"Hello there." An old man smiled at her, beckoning over to her. "Welcome to Vigrid."
She narrowed her eyes at him. "You know aren't in Vigrid anymore; this is Paradiso, the realm of Light."
His eyes softened, and he continued to smile. "We know that, love. This still is Vigrid, even if it's not on Earth."
She hesitated, but stepped forward. "You must know why you are here then?"
"We have died, and the angels found us worthy." He nodded his head.
She glanced at the children playing near the fountain. "Do you know what I am, and why I am here?"
He gave her a look that even she began to feel uncomfortable with as his eyes lingered on her figure for far too long. "One of the people of the infamous red-light district of Isla Del Sol? You certainly are dressed the part."
"What? No!" She looked at him with disgust. "I am the last Umbra Witch, and I fell into here."
Well, the last that still acts like an Umbran Witch… Her thought briefly fell to Jeanne.
"An Umbra witch? Of the legends?" He laughed. "You certainly have quite the imagination."
The people in the town square stopped their actions and stared at her. An uncomfortable tingle went up her spine, and she discreetly looked around more. Her eyes narrowed at the emptiness in their eyes.
Something was wrong.
"The angels told us that we had died due to an Umbra Witch." The smiled was gone. "That our home town was destroyed because of one."
Shit…
"You wouldn't happen to know who this witch is, right?" His tone was clearly accusatory. "Bayonetta."
The square transformed. Gone were the happy children and the peaceful families. Fire burned everywhere, and the charred corpses of the mortals lay there. Screams of pan filled the air, and the roar of the flame caused her sleeves to fly wildly.
The man looked at her in disgust. "You witches never learn. Whenever you interfere with our plans, people suffer. The experiment interfered; his family perished. You interfere; a whole town is gone."
Guilt was clawing at her. Swallowing, she tried to quell it. "I have never killed a mortal, unless they had it coming. I've never tried to interfere with the affairs of mortals, or the affairs of Paradiso if I can help it!"
"Your interference will always come at a price." He smiled again. This time, it did not reach his eyes. "You will learn it."
Reaching into Inferno, she grabbed one of the Scarborough Fair. Several hands latched onto her gloves, and she looked down and gasped. The burnt corpses of the children were holding onto her with inhuman strength. They dragged her to her knees, each one looking at her with accusing, eyeless sockets.
"Look at them, Bayonetta." He leaned down to her. "They had such a bright future, and you took it away from them. Aren't you proud of yourself?"
"Fortitudo, in its stupidity, laid waste to them." She looked back, trying to quash the guilt. "I did nothing!"
"You interfered with the child, and the experiment." The man shook his head. "And who was the one to undo the seal that kept it locked away?"
Her head fell. The children began to whisper.
Witch. The witch. Killer. You killed us. Traitor.
Tears were pooling in her eyes. She really, really hated guilt.
"Stop it!" She screamed.
"Why should we? You don't care about the lives of mortals. You killed one just to refill your powers, and are using another as a slave because you are far too self absorbed." The man began to walk away. "Have fun, Bayonetta."
She pulled her arms with all her strength. The children refused to let go and held on tighter. Screaming in fury and desperation, she began to resign herself to her fate.
Something hit her in the back of her head and she lost consciousness.
…
"Why does everyone hate me?" Bayonetta asked the girl in red beside her. She shrugged.
"I don't know. You aren't different from them." She answered, taking a bite of the apple.
"Mummy says it's because I'm special." She looked at the apple in her hands. "What does being special mean?"
"I dunno." The girl leaned back. "Mummy tells me I'm special 'cause I'm the daughter of the Umbran Elder or something."
"The Umbran Elder?" Bayonetta looked at her in surprise. "She made Mummy sad and made her go away!"
"Mummy did that?" She looked back in surprise. "So that's why she was so unhappy."
"Why does everyone do things that make them unhappy?" Bayonetta asked. "Why can't we all be happy?"
"She said rules are rules when I asked her the same thing." The girl tossed her apple core away. "Come, lets practise arith…arith…"
"Arithmetic?" Bayonetta supplied. "Sure thing, Jeanne!"
…
Bayonetta awoke, her mind whirling at the memory. Jeanne? Jeanne was her best friend as a child?
Her eyes widened. That's why she was so deflated when she didn't recognise her. What a shitty day it had been for her.
She glanced around. The fountain and courtyard had returned to normal, well, to whatever constituted as normal in the realm of Paradiso. Standing up quickly, she summoned a gun and shot it into the ground, emptying as many bullets as she wanted to.
"Remind me to update the list of horrible things to cockroaches, crying babies and zombie children." She said aloud, shivering in disgust. Turning her attention to the double doors at the end of the corridor, she walked over to them. Giving them a good solid kick, she continued through.
The hallway was far too familiar to her for her liking. Walking up to a wall, she crossed her arms and studied the architecture, trying to place it.
A wave of nausea went through her, and she collapsed against the wall, holding her head as another memory assaulted her…
…
Jeanne was bubbling with excitement as she hopped from one foot to another outside of Bayonetta's cell. The cell door opened, and a tired teenager stood at it.
"What is it, Jeanne?" She asked, obviously still feeling the effects of sleep. "Aren't you supposed to be doing something today?"
"Guess what!" Her excitement was palpable.
"What?" She rubbed her eyes.
"I was talking with Mummy last night, and she told me that you're allowed to train as a witch!"
Her head snapped up, and all traces of her sleepiness was gone. "I thought I wasn't allowed to?"
"They decided you could." Jeanne grabbed her hand and pulled her out of the cell. "You're going to be training with me, as my partner."
"This is a very welcome turn of events." Bayonetta smiled in excitement. "Did they tell you why I wasn't allowed?"
"Nope, but it doesn't matter now." Jeanne began to walk away, Bayonetta tagging behind. "When I grow up and take the mantle of Elder, I want you as a part of my council of right hand women."
"You've clearly planned this out, haven't you?" She teased the platinum blonde. "What are we supposed to be doing today? I never looked at the schedule."
"Today we bind ourselves to an Infernal, so we can start learning at an accelerated rate." She looked behind her, clearly giddy. "I honestly can't wait! Have you read up on any of the Infernals?"
"No, because I never expected this to happen." She answered, realising she was going to be way out of her element.
"I want to try to broker one with Madama Khepri, because she is apparently the nicest Infernal out there." She arrived at a set of open doors leading to an auditorium. Inside was a group of twenty teens, and about twenty two Umbran Witches.
"It's good to see we have all shown up." The Umbran Elder glared at the pair.
"Sorry, Mummy." Jeanne answered, shifting uncomfortably.
"I wasn't talking to you." The Elder said, and Bayonetta felt her cheeks burn in shame. If only she could punch that stupid look off her face…
"Anyway, it's time for you all to broker a contract with an Infernal." The Elder returned her attention to the class as the pair stood by them. "We have the necessary protection from anything that might decide to join us in this room, or reality. Each of you will be assigned a witch who will guide you through the process, if you haven't read it yet." Another glare at her. "Good luck to you all."
Bayonetta turned left to Jeanne and whispered urgently. "What do we do?"
She smiled encouragingly at her. "They'll tell you everything. Don't worry, _."
Nodding at her, she turned to her right to see a familiar face.
"_. You've grown so much." Her mother looked at her with pride in her eyes. The rest of her was covered in grime and dirt, and iron shackles were affixed to her ankles and wrists.
"Mummy!" She moved to embrace the witch, but she held a hand out.
"Not now, we need to do this." Her mother swallowed. "We have thirty minutes after we do the contract. Are you ready to accept your fate, as an Umbran Witch, an overseer of darkness?"
"I'm not afraid Mummy." She looked at her with intense eyes, focusing on the ritual ahead. "I accept."
…
She opened her eyes as her head stopped spinning. Looking at the corridor, she recognised it truly. And right where they should've been, was a pair of doors. Walking to them, she pushed them open to find the ruins of an auditorium.
The Umbran Elder stared back at her, a disapproving frown glaring at her from under her veil.
"As always, the impure child returns to mock us at the site of our greatest defeat." The voice was condescending.
"I remember you always saying that." Bayonetta adjusted her glasses. "Why am I impure?"
"Your mother disobeyed our first tenet, and you were conceived as a result." The Elder folded her arms. "You were never supposed to be trained, let alone become the carrier of the Eye."
"The Eye?" She questioned, walking down the stair and into the room.
"The greatest, the most precious of the Umbran treasures, defiled by an impure Witch." The Elder spat out. "The Left Eye of the world. Something my daughter was destined to possess, yet you bested her with your tricks."
She remembered that memory. "What does the Eye do?" She questioned, holding her hand near her Umbran watch.
"Your Umbran training never took you as far as teaching you the intricacies of the Eye." The Elder replied. "And it never was going to. We were going to challenge you to take away the mantle, as the Eye can only be given willingly or through defeat by combat. The Lumen Sages attacked shortly afterwards, and we were now at war. Infighting would serve only to weaken us, so any plans to take back the Eye were put on hold."
Her vision swam as another memory came to her:
She sat on the floor, studying the red jewel; the Left Eye of the World. Something she knew Jeanne had wanted desperately. It was the symbol of their leadership and was the most sacred of the Umbran relics, containing an ancient power said to be of the old God.
She had no idea what to do with it though. Placing it into her Umbran watch, she cast a small spell onto it to seal it in place. Looking around the small room, she noted that it was full of other relics and treasures on display. She had never gone into this room; she was never allowed to go into this room.
"_." A trio of guards had entered the chamber. "The Elder's requires your presence immediately."
Nodding to them, and paying no heed to their looks of disgust, she followed them to the throne room. Bowing to the Elders, she focussed on the highest ranked.
"You asked for my presence?" She took the opportunity to begin this conversation. The Elders, to no surprise, were glaring at her.
"_. The current holder of the Umbran Eye and the heir to this throne." The Elder's all visibly twitched at that statement. "You did not cheat nor conspire with Jeanne to trivialise this ceremony?"
Her eyes were constantly looking into hers, and then switching to over her shoulder. Glancing behind her, she saw nothing out of the ordinary. "No, the trial by combat was fair and just. I had no idea she wished to challenge me."
The Elder was shaking slightly, and her hands were curled into tight balls. Bayonetta noted that it wasn't from anger.
It was from fear.
Her eyes still kept darting over her shoulder. "Well, _, as an Umbran Witch of this clan, I-"
She never got to finish. The room rocked from a massive explosion outside. The guards ran in, wide eyes.
"Mistress!" The middle one sounded terrified. "The Lumen Sages have attacked, just as you predicted!"
The Lumen Sages had attacked them? This was unheard of. Sure, the clans weren't exactly the tightest of allies recently, but this was unprecedented.
"Gather the coven." The Elder stood up, taking charge. "We need to defend ourselves, and the Eye if need be." Turning to her, her eyes hardened. "Go find Jeanne, and stay with her."
Nodding, she ran out of the room.
"That fateful day led us into three months of conflict." The Elder was staring at her. "We defeated the Lumen Sages, but their propaganda had turned the mortals against us. They sacrificed themselves to allow the Lagunan to manifest inside Purgatorio and the mortal realm for the first time in thousands of years, and we were all slaughtered. All but you and Jeanne."
Bayonetta stayed silent, reflecting on the knowledge.
"Why did my child choose you?" She lamented. "If she had chosen anyone else, the Umbra clan would be still alive!"
"You're blaming me?" Bayonetta raised an eyebrow. "Now what did I do?"
"You becoming the bearer of the Left Eye was one half of the prophecy completed." The Elder was glaring again. "Something the Lumen could not stand, and we all perished from it!"
"You know, I've always wanted to punch that glare off your face." She growled. "You always looked at me with nothing but hate and contempt!"
"Because you were the impure child who should have never existed!" The Elder's voice was raising every syllable. "You were the centre of the calamity, and the cause of the strife that has plagued this world for five hundred years! You should consider yourself lucky that another impure child was never conceived, or this world and universe would be doomed!"
Summoning a wicked stomp, she tried to crush the prime antagonist of her childhood. The Elder merely teleported away, sighing.
"You will never be the Umbra Witch Jeanne was. You will never be able to wield the Eye. You will never escape this place!" And with that, she vanished.
Crying out with frustration, she summoned two fists and began to punch at the auditorium. Destroying half of it, she collapsed, breathing heavily.
"I hate you." She growled, a small trail of tears leaking from her eyes. "I HATE YOU!"
She vaguely heard the sounds of a battle in the background, but she was too frustrated and angry to care.
…
She found another courtyard from Vigrid nearby. This one was fractured and appeared to be floating like a cloud. Jumping from piece of rubble to another piece of rubble, she transformed into a crow and flew to the square.
Landing on it, she retransformed and looked around. In the centre of the courtyard stood a familiar winged man.
"Sephiroth?" She asked uncertainly. "How did you get here?"
"The same way you did." He turned to her. "We fell into a portal brought by the Auditio."
"But you were on the van, in the mortal realm." Something didn't add up. "You were still on the bridge even!"
He opened his mouth to reply. A gunshot rang out and he crumpled to ground, the illusion fading into a Joy. Bayonetta turned around, surprised, and grew even more surprised when she saw another Joy standing there, wisps of energy rising from its gun.
"Wait!" The Joy held its hands up. "We can explain!"
"You have a minute." She pulled out a gun and aimed it at its forehead. "Even though you killed this Joy here, you are still an angel. And I have better uses for angels then keeping them as pets."
"You were being followed by this Joy, and we have been helping you throughout this realm. We broke the illusion at the fountain, killed the Joy and have been holding at bay any curious angels that might try to take your soul for themselves!" It dropped its guns, them disappearing in a flash of light. "We've been paying attention for you as long as we can here, hoping we can meet you."
"Funny. That's exactly what someone who will stab me in the back would say." She cocked the gun. "How can I tell you aren't lying?"
"I can't prove it, but you can't prove me wrong either." The Joy smirked. Bayonetta smirked and let the gun fall back into Inferno. "And we can help you out of this place."
"I like your attitude." She put a hand on her hip and studied the angel. "You've been wanting to meet me? I really must be a celebrity of sorts."
"In Paradiso, you are." The Joy grew serious. "Most of them want you to take the power of the Left Eye so you can help reawaken Jubileus."
"I've been hearing an awful lot about this Jubileus." She gestured to the Joy to follow her. "What is a Jubileus, and why should I care?"
"Jubileus is the God of Creation, the main deity of the mortal realm, and is the only deity of Paradiso. There is a prophecy to awaken her, but some of us in Paradiso do not want this to happen."
"You don't want your God to rise again?" She glanced at it.
"Jubileus promised that whenever it was to be awakened, it would be a time of great crisis, where the universe needs to be remade." The Joy explained. "As you can tell, the universe is not in great danger, and it is our actual purpose as denizens of the light to make sure this never needs to happen until the time is right."
"Obviously not, according to the angels I've met."
"Those are misguided. The last of the Lumen Sages has corrupted our teachings, and those who strive for the truth only can obtain it."
It clicked for her. "The Father is at the centre of this?"
"Yes." It nodded. "That man has meddled with too many things; the corruption of the Lagunan is but one of them."
"Why are you helping me?" She asked. "Shouldn't you try to kill me, since I am apparently key to this resurrection?"
"We believe all life is not inherently evil." It answered. "Everyone should be given a chance."
"What is your name?"
"We don't have one. Angels are not named, only classified into the spheres." The Joy answered. "We only live to serve the Dea, not ourselves. A name gives us too much purpose."
"You haven't named yourself?" Bayonetta studied it. "You aren't like other angels."
"We do not think ourselves worthy of a name yet." It shook its head. "Until our purpose has been met, whatever that may be."
"Charming. Now, you know the way out of this place? I have friends that probably have no idea what they are doing back in the mortal realm." She looked around the square, pausing in her walk.
"The only active portal into and out of Paradiso is near what the humans call Vigrid Airport." It pointed off into the distance. "It's that way."
"Lead the way." She smiled. At least she wasn't going to wander Paradiso forever.
A roar filled the air. Summoning their weapons, Bayonetta paused as Fortitudo landed in front of them.
"You again!?" She exclaimed. "I killed you, didn't I?"
"The Cardinal Virtues always exist. This is but a shell, but if left to grow, it will cease being a Courage and become the Bringer of Flame." The Joy took a stance, mirroring hers. "It will stop at nothing to prove itself."
"Ahh, Bayonetta. You have found our little traitor. That is two stones for the price of one, and the perfect way to prove to Sapientia that I am the worthy holder of the name Fortitudo!" The angel boomed, looking at the pair with contempt.
"I'm sorry, did you assume I would lose?" She tilted her head, scoffing. "You are missing out on the fact I beat that ugly Auditio by myself, and this time I have a friend."
"Still as arrogant as ever." A familiar, calm voice said. A Temperentia-like angel floated up from behind the pair, its fingers making erratic movements. "I, a lowly Temperance, will hold the mantle of Temperentia by the dawn of the morrow."
The Joy circled around and stood back to back with her. "We'll take Temperance, do you have Courage?"
"Sweetie, don't ask; assume I do." She grinned. This was becoming a little too familiar and she assumed it was due to Jeanne. "Then you won't be disappointed."
"FABOAN!" Temperance had enough, locking its fingers together and firing shells at the pair. Courage had followed suit and was launching flame from its mouth. Leaping to the left, she activated witchwalk and jumped onto the wall. Running, she fired her guns at its eyes, as she did with its predecessor. It roared in annoyance as several bullets found their mark. Channelling her power the guns, she used a bullet climax to send a stream of magically charged bullets into its eyes.
The Joy had transformed its guns into a pair of daggers and was using them to scale the arm of the Temperance. The colossal angel was trying to brush it off, but the Joy was far too fast and nimble for it to even touch it. It leaped onto the top and had retransformed the daggers into the guns. Opening fire, it launched round after round into the torso, each bullet metres closer to its brain.
Not to be outdone, Bayonetta jumped into the main head of Courage, and stayed low as its two other heads slammed around, trying to find her.
Hey, Butterfly. She mentally asked her patron. Remember that giant chainsaw? Can I have it?
Her patron's laughter was infectious. Pulling out the massive six metres long chainsaw, she switched it on, brandished it and slammed it into the main head, chewing through it and slicing the Auditio wannabe in two.
She jumped down and landed as the halves fell apart and watched as the joy landed opposite her as Temperance fell from the sky behind her.
"Shall we continue on?" Bayonetta asked, still giggling from the chainsaw.
"Put that thing away." The Joy looked at the massive weapon with repulsion. "Then we can go."
Pouting, she let the chainsaw melt back into Inferno. "But I was having so much fun…"
They began to walk off in the direction they had originally set off in. It took about twenty steps before she got bored.
"Let's run." She said. "I want to stretch my legs, and it will get me out of here faster."
The Joy nodded. They began to jog, a slow and gentle gait. A strange clock tower took Bayonetta's eye, and she felt something strangely comforting about it.
"What's that?" She gestured with her head at it.
"The Umbran Clocktower. The former sanctuary of the Umbran Witches." It answered, looking at her with concern.
Bayonetta felt nauseous again. A memory swarmed into her mind, and she was barely aware of the Joy scooping her up before she fell to the ground.
…
Bayonetta and Jeanne heard the Elders convening as they ran to them.
"…Fortitudo and Iustitia have been confirmed sealed away."
"That makes two unable to be reborn. What of the others?"
"Temperentia has destroyed the Umbran Clocktower." Jeanne announced their presence and the five witches turned to the pair. "Sapientia is currently assaulting the training grounds as we speak."
"The clocktower?!" One cried out. "All hope is lost!"
"Silence!" The Umbran Elder stood up. "As long as the Eye, our precious Eye, has not fallen into the hands of another, then we have not yet lost."
She turned to Bayonetta and stiffened. "You are still the wielder. You must get to safety."
"Mummy!" Jeanne froze. "You don't mean that…"
"My daughter, the time has come. Our time has come." The room shook as Sapientia launched another volley of missiles into the citadel. "We will hold them off for as long as possible. You need to take _ and get her out of here."
"Mummy…" She stepped forward. The Elder glared at her, her eyes beginning to fill with tears.
"No Jeanne!" Another rumble caused cracks to form at the entrance. "You must go!"
Swallowing, she nodded. "I love you Mummy."
"We will meet again in the next life. You must do everything in your power to protect the Eye." The Elder's palm glowed as a section of the wall retracted. "Now go! And don't look back."
Running into the tunnel, they only heard the grinding of stone as the passageway closed behind them.
"Stop!" Jeanne ran into a side room and pulled her in. "I need to know…"
She understood what she was talking about. They stayed quiet, listening. There was a massive crash as Sapientia destroyed his way into the citadel, and they heard the battle cries of various witches, all the untrained and newly appointed ones who had been held back from the assault from the Lagunan.
They lasted seconds.
"Where is it!?" The Auditio boomed. "Where is the Eye!?"
"The Eye is gone to somewhere safe, where you won't find it!" The Elder's voice carried well. "Cease this slaughter!"
The Auditio roared, and the Umbran Elder's cried out in fury, summoning their Infernals.
Bayonetta grabbed Jeanne's hand and began to stroke it with her thumbs, trying to calm the distressed blonde down.
The Audito spoke clearly in Enochian, and then several massive explosions were heard. The screams of the witches carried themselves over the sounds; then they were silent.
"No!" Jeanne screamed. "Mummy!"
Pulling her into a hug, she comforted her friend.
"Find it! It can't have gone far!" Sapientia ordered, and the sounds of stone grinding and cracking were heard once again.
"We can't stay here, Jeanne." Bayonetta separated with her and pointed back to the passageway. "We have to go."
Wiping the tears from her face, she nodded. Running, they flew down the tunnel in a matter of minutes. Exiting, they found themselves in the Umbran training grounds.
Dead witches lay on the floor, strewn about like forgotten dolls.
"We are all that's left…" Jeanne choked on the words. Bayonetta scanned the bodies and fell into despair as she spotted one.
"Mummy?!" She ran to the fallen witch and knelt by her, grabbing her hand. "Mummy, wake up!"
The eyes flickered open weakly. "_..."
"I'm still here Mummy." She put on a brave front. "We can still get you out, we just need a-"
"_, don't." Her mother placed her hand weakly on her lips. "You need to keep the Eye safe, no matter what."
"Mummy, don't say that!" She felt tears prickling in her eyes. "You can still live!"
"My time has come." She smiled. "Khepri will treat me right…"
Her hand dropped to her chest. Fiddling with a pocket, she pulled out her tube of lipstick. "Take this, _. When you meet him again, this is the proof he will need to know who…who you are…"
"Who, Mummy?" She grabbed the tube. "Stay with me Mummy, I don't have anyone else!"
"Jeanne will take care of you… She is a good girl…" Her mother's eyes closed, and her pulse died.
Her emotions went numb. She felt like she couldn't breathe. Jeanne was cursing behind her, but she didn't care.
Mummy was dead.
"You traitorous Sage!" She heard her say, but she stared blankly at her mother's corpse.
What was the point?
"ALALARE A COREDAZODIZODA!" A male voice cried from behind them. Golden chains surrounded her mother's corpse, and it was snatched into the air behind her. Turning, she saw the last Lumen Sage in battle uniform, his long silver hair billowing out in the wind, and his golden half-mask staring at her. She stared back at him, not caring if he got the Eye or not.
Mummy was dead.
"My, my… The Eye, within my grasp." The Lumen said, a smile permeating his words. "Jeanne; isn't this enough bloodshed for you?"
"OXEX RACLIR!" Jeanne shouted, and then broke the summon spell as it began. Gomorrah roared as it was unleashed into the world, untethered by the witch.
"You fool!" The Sage screamed as the Infernal began to lumber towards them. "What have you done?"
"Bought time." She snarled. Grabbing out a small knife, she twisted and stabbed Bayonetta in the chest.
It was relatively painless. She gasped as the blade entered her, her eyes looking to Jeanne's in betrayal. The red witch was whispering something, but she didn't know what. Her memories were fading, her sight was fading; everything was fading.
She crumpled into unconsciousness, and into a coma.
…
Bayonetta awoke in the arms of the Joy, bobbing up and down on its movements.
"We know what you saw." It said simply as it ran.
"Are they memories?" She asked as she slipped out of its arms and started to run beside it. "I've been trying to figure that out, but I can't exactly place them."
"Yes. The spell Jeanne cast on you was supposed to seal away your memories, but she did not complete the necessary incantation and only suppressed them." The Joy nodded. "They will all be back soon."
The pair stopped running and stood still. Bayonetta took the time to look around and observe the area. It seemed familiar, and she certainly hoped it was.
"We are nearly there." It announced. She finally recognised the area they were in and smiled with relief. She almost looked down to spot Cereza, but caught herself. The Joy caught her small movement and smiled.
"You care for the child, don't you?" It looked over at her. "You miss her."
"No!" She answered far too quickly. "She is a nuisance and cries far too much for me to care. I certainly don't miss her."
"Are you saying that because you want to, or because you want to hear it?" It pressed onwards.
"Why are you asking anyway? My personal life is not up for discussion." She tried to end it then and there.
"That child has been displaced from time."
"I figured, since she mentioned witches and looks like something out of a sixteenth century cosplay event." She raised an eyebrow. "Why does that matter?"
"Don't you think you can change the future by affecting the past?" The Joy folded its arms.
"You know who she is, don't you?" Bayonetta turned. "Why is she so important?"
"We do know. You will learn the truth at the right time. Telling you now will cause too many problems that even we don't know the consequences of." It gestured at her to continue walking. "We do promise that anything that affects her will affect the present."
"Aren't you fucking cryptic…" She hissed. "I don't want to talk about anything personal with you. Sorry."
"Will you talk about it with me?"
She rolled her eyes and looked at 'Sephiroth'. "I still know you aren't him. Now change back."
'Sephiroth' shook its head. "You won't talk about anything with me, so we'll try him instead. Pretend."
"I…" She was torn.
"You once told Sephiroth that the best way to help yourself with problems is to talk them out." It pointed out.
"Yeah… But I don't have any problems and that's final!" She turned on her heel.
The illusion fell away and the Joy slumped. "You've hurt all three of them; can't you admit that?"
"I haven't hurt Luka, Sephiroth never listens or learns fast enough to be able to keep up with anybody, and Cereza is an unwanted problem!" She yelled at it. "I have not!"
"Luka was dragged into your problems, and he is only a mortal amongst you two super human beings; one being the prime suspect of the murder of his father and the other being a mind-wiped experiment who knows nothing but pain and hurt for most of his life. Sephiroth has never had much encouragement, or anything resembling an ally, and all he wants is for you to accept him. It nearly broke him, the last time you were here. Cereza has always been shunned and unwanted; do you wish to push her away as well, the only person of the three she most looks up to?" The Joy levelled its chin.
Bayonetta faltered. "How do you know that?"
"Remember, we can look inside your mind and manipulate emotions. We've been doing that in our surveillance." It smirked. "And we did it to them as well."
She closed her eyes. What was she thinking? Listening to an angel, of all things? She shouldn't. Her brain told her that it was her natural enemy, and it was only trying to get her guard down, so it could strike.
But her heart was saying otherwise. It had a point; she had treated all three horribly at any one moment in time, and she had never cared to apologise, or had the courage to do so. If they weren't missing her, they were probably relieved that she was gone, or in the case of Luka, still hating her.
"What should I do?" She whispered.
"Huh?" It asked, leaning towards her to catch what she said.
"You're the one who wanted me to admit I was a bitch." She crossed her arms. "So what do you want me to do?"
"You could start by treating them better." It smiled slightly. "That's all we can say, as the rest should come pretty easily to you."
Bayonetta spotted the portal outside of the strange circular room from before. "That looks like my way out."
"Yes." The Joy nodded, its demeanour changing.
"Do you want to come with us? You would be very helpful in the travel to Isla Del Sol." She asked, already guessing the answer.
"We can't, unfortunately. To manifest in Purgatorio, angels need a sacrifice from a mortal or to be summoned by a Lumen Sage or Auditio. Manifesting in the mortal realm is another matter entirely and requires the resurrection to start." It shook its head. "Even if we wanted to, we couldn't."
She nodded in understanding. She held her hand out. "May we meet again."
It accepted her handshake. "We look forward to it."
Smiling briefly, she walked through the portal and back into Vigrid Airport.