Okay, I hope you guys have a lot of free time, cause this is a hellava loaded chapter. Like yikes! Yes, reader, scroll down and gape at the sheer length of this chapter. You know you are doing it right now. This probably will be the longest chapter of the whole story and when compared to the shortest chapter (Chapter 2: An Enemy's Return), it's literally five times longer. It was so long that I was struggling of whether or not I should split it into two chapters, but in the end I decided against it. Well, here it is. Have fun reading this one (it was very, very fun to write). :)
Chapter XXII - Inferno
A great light bathed Raphael and Etzel as they stepped into the Chamber of Leon, the sound of their footsteps quietly echoing throughout the room, for they walked as softly as possible as if afraid of breaking the silent tranquility that permeated the room. Either the light faded or their eyes adjusted to the brightness—they were not sure which—and they were able to see the inside of the chamber. The room was circular and its walls were cave-like in their appearance, and were various shades and hues of gray. The floor, by contrast, was composed of flat, silver and white tiles that were similar to both stone and glass. The ceiling was high and indistinct, foggy like clouds and yet at the same time maintained a very solid appearance. It, too, was white, but underneath the fogginess, one could see with close examination a stained-glass-like image depicting a raging battle between mortals and demons—the First Sorcerer-Demon War. On one side was the depiction of the mortal worlds protected by Azar behind several sorcerers and sorceresses led by Leon, who was surrounded by his seven Weapons. On the other side, the sky was depicted as dark and there was an army of several vile and abhorrent demonic creatures of various shapes and sizes. Behind them was a very large demon several times bigger and more gruesome than all of the smaller ones. In the very center was grand light, with the head of Dante depicted inside with closed eyes, arms outstretched.
Raphael and Etzel found themselves in the center of the room, and their attention was drawn not to the ceiling nor the walls nor the floors but on the seven altars that surrounded them, each bearing a Weapon that levitated just above its respective altar, seemingly casting its own small light. Etzel walked in a circle to each Weapon, read the inscriptions that their altar bore one by one with a trembling voice.
He came to a golden ring with scarlet red inscriptions on it. "The Ring of Azar – a ring to protect its wearer from all harm."
He came to a sword with a long, straight blade made of crystals, its hilt golden and inset with an engraving of Leon's face. "The Crystal Sword – the greatest blade to vanquish one's enemies."
He came to a straight black wand with silvery lines. "The Solar Wand – a powerful wand to channel and enhance one's magic and power to the greatest of heights."
He came to a pendant bearing a large deep blue gemstone bordered by diamonds. "The Lunar Pandora – a pendant with the ability to create a limitless army of soldiers made of crystal and shadows."
He came to a diadem-like crown with an intricate golden design and three rubies inset in the center. "The Stellar Crown – a crown to imprint one's will onto others and create the loyalist of servants out of the greatest of foes."
He came to a long cloak as dark as a raven adorned with patterns of silver lines. "The Master Cloak – a cloak to grant its user protection from death."
He came to a large book with crimson-brown covers and golden-white pages and strange inscriptions on the front in a language he had never seen before. "The Book of Peace – a codex with the power to grant its user immense knowledge and bears the ability to create either endless peace or eternal chaos."
He was finished.
Raphael took a deep breath. "Well, what are we waiting for? Let's get them and go. The others are waiting."
Etzel eyes turned to the Solar Wand and he observed it intently. Slowly, he stretched his arms and reached towards it, his mind eagerly pondering the immense power that flowed through that wand. He felt it calling to him, crying out to him, begging him to take it and be used at last. His eyes widened in greed.
And then he saw for a split second the image of Azar's face with a stern look. And he drew back his hands.
"I—I can't," he sighed. "Do you realize, Raphael, that anyone who wields even one of these Weapons can take over all worlds as we know it?"
"Yes, I do. They can also be used to protect all worlds as we know it."
Etzel sighed once more. "You are a good man. Your heart is pure. Perhaps that was why she chose you… Azar watched you grow up from humble origins. She watched you love one woman all your life. She watched you be willing to sacrifice everything you had in order to protect the ones you hold dear. You are a pure man… Perhaps you really are the one most capable of wielding these powerful Weapons. I cannot be the one. I cannot help you, ol' boy. I am too weak. I know it."
"Etzel," Raphael said to him. "I can't do this alone. I don't think I have the strength to wield all seven Weapons. I need you to help me."
"Please, don't tempt me with their power," Etzel waved him away. "I might—I might become too weak. I might be consumed by greed and lust for power. I cannot do it. Please, Raphael, it must be you and you alone."
Etzel backed away shamefully, leaving Raphael alone. He nodded understandingly and turned back to the Weapons. Though he knew that having all seven would be there greatest chance at victory, Raphael also understood that only Leon had the power and discipline to wield them. Anyone else could be tempted and misled to use the power of the Weapons for the wrong purposes. He knew he would become a danger if he wielded all seven, and therefore decided it was best that he only chose three. "But which three?" he pondered.
He walked by each of the Weapons and wondered which would help him the most. As he circled the room, walking slowly past each of the magical artifacts deep in thought, he began to feel as if the Weapons were calling to him. He heard what sounded like indistinct whispers, some menacing, some friendly. He followed the sources of the whispers, as if he was being guiding by unknown voices inside his mind. They led him to the Crystal Sword. "Leon's sword," he said aloud as he reached out to it. "A sword would suit me much more than a wand, because I've never been good at magic." As his palms grasped the golden handle of the blade, he felt a rush of power surge throughout his body.
The whispers died down slightly, but others still continued. He then followed these new whispers until they led him to another of the Weapons, in which the whispers rose excitedly—the Ring of Azar. "I will need protection," he realized. "And perhaps better than the Master Cloak, because that would only slow me down while a ring is much easier to carry." He took the ring from its place and carefully put it into his pocket.
The whispers nearly disappeared, until a few remaining ones that were barely audible still rang in his mind like hushed voices. The source of these last whispers were much more difficult to identify than the first two. He circled the remaining Weapons more than once, unable to find which of the Weapons was calling to him. Eventually, however, he came to it—the Book of Peace. Here he stopped himself. "Knowledge… Will I truly need this?" He examined the book. It was indeed large, and so appeared to him very heavy and cumbersome. Holding the book in one hand would force him to use the sword with only one, which did not appear to him a very wise decision. But still, the voices pointed him towards the book. He decided to have faith in his instinct and so reached out to the book. As he removed it from its altar, a gust of wind blew against his face. The cryptic writing in the front cover suddenly made themselves legible to him, and he was instantly able to read and understand the words—BOOK OF PEACE. In a flash, he became suddenly aware of how to cause the book to disappear. Before he knew it, the book dissipated in a burst of light. Surprised at himself, he concentrated his mind and willed the book back into his hand. In an instant, it returned. "Amazing…" he gasped. He now realized the true potential of the book—it could tell him almost everything he needed to know.
He walked out of the chamber with his three chosen Weapons. On the outside room, he met again with Etzel and showed him the three he had retrieved.
"The sword, the ring, the book…" Etzel gasped, furrowing his eyebrows. "Raphael… how did you choose these three?"
The master lieutenant shrugged. "I just followed my instinct," he explained.
"How… amazing. That you chose these exact three, I mean."
"What do you mean?" he chuckled.
Etzel explained to him, "Though all seven Weapons are fragments of Leon's power, he crafted two of them through his memories of his loved ones—Azar and Dante. In memory of Azar, he created the Ring of Azar, which uses the same magic she used to protect humanity in the First Sorcerer-Demon War. In memory of Dante, he created the Book of Peace, which contains all the knowledge that his close friend had sought after as he travelled through Hell, Purgatory, and Heaven to grant for humans the gift of magic. And of course, as his own lasting memory before he died, he created the Crystal Sword which uses the same power he used to destroy the demons. That you had managed to choose all three of these out of your own instinct… it's amazing."
Raphael shrugged once more. "Don't make such a big deal out of it, Captain. I just picked the three that I thought we needed most. Now we should go, the others are waiting." He lifted the Book of Peace and immediately created a portal to transport them out of the chamber. The two men entered the portal together.
As they left, a demon emerged from its hiding place and gazed intently at the Chamber of Leon, its doors still left open with four Weapons lying inside.
…
The two men's sudden appearance into the Hall of Assemblage took everyone by surprise.
"High Captain Etzel. Master Lieutenant Raphael," exclaimed Commander Azula—a hulking man with a mass of shaggy brown hair and a beard, wearing green clothing and a layered brown cape. He was very large and at least a head taller than everyone else, giving him the appearance of a giant. The man eyed the sword in Raphael's hands. "Could that be?" he gasped.
Raphael nodded, "Yes," lifting up the sword for the others to see. Excited whispers echoed throughout the room. "But enough with this. What is the status of the army?"
"Ah, yes," Azula cleared his throat and looked sternly at the other fifty men and women, motioning them to keep their focus on the task at hand rather than the Crystal Sword. "We have accounted for 12,713 men and women at the ready. Only about a third of them have proper military training. Most are either hunters, duelers, or officers."
"Over twelve thousand? That is a lot," Raphael remarked.
"Not enough for an army. Not enough for a war," Azula replied with a grim voice. He turned towards a man with long blonde hair, fair skin, and bright green eyes wearing a brown and green cloak. "Lancelang," he addressed.
The blonde man nodded and turned towards Raphael and Etzel. "I've just received word from the silversmiths. There should be enough swords to accommodate most of our soldiers. Bows and crossbows are plentiful, but they predict a relative quick shortage of arrows. Because of the difficulty in making them, the wandmakers won't be able to produce many wands in time, so we must make use of the amount we have. I also hear that we have enough staves for a hundred people."
"Thanks, Lancelang," Etzel nodded.
Horatio was the next to speak. "Our scouts have reported about three hundred fire demons sighted in the outer cities and outskirts of New Azarath. But… there is something else. Just moments ago, there have been reports of at least a thousand fire demons suddenly appearing in the outskirts. Lancelang observed it through astral projection and he—he saw something… disturbing."
All eyes turned to Lancelang, who said with furrowed eyebrows, "I saw… I saw Raven."
"Raven?" the officials gasped.
"No, it wasn't her," he explained. "But it looked like her, very much. The only difference was that her skin was blood red. She looked… demonic."
"This must be Trigon's doing," Raphael realized. "It's too early for that to be Trigon, himself. It must be a magical projection of his power… or maybe Raven's."
He looked around and noticed that the other officials, almost all of whom were older than he, immediately drew back in fear upon the mention of Trigon's name. He took a deep breath and said with as confident a voice as he could, "Yes, that is Trigon. Yes, he is attacking just as he did ten years ago. And yes, this is the start of the Second Sorcerer-Demon War." He looked around. Most began whispering. Others drew back even further in fear. "This is war," Raphael said. "But we cannot be afraid. We must stand up and fight just as our ancestors have done thousands of years ago. In the first war, we were but weak humans with no powers, and yet we still emerged victorious. Now, it is the second war, but this time we have magic and weapons and equipment. We are much more prepared now than we were in the first war. What is there to fear? What did we have thousands of years ago that we do not have now?"
A voice from a captain replied to him, "In the first war we had the Three Magi! Now, we have no one to lead us! Her Highness Azar is doing all she can to protect us. Lady Raven is gone. We have no one to turn to."
"Yes," Raphael said. "Yes, we have no one to turn to. But that doesn't mean we have no one to lead us. If we have no one to turn to for help then we must lead ourselves. We must gather up the strength on our own to fight our enemy. We do not have a Sorcerer Leon to lead us into war today, but we do have ourselves. We do have people to protect. We do have a world to protect. We nearly lost our precious world ten years ago. I am not prepared to lose it today." He raised up his sword, its crystal blade shimmering in the light. "Let this be your leader. Not the sword itself, not the Weapons, not me, but the hope that these Weapons bring for us. Hold on to the hope that we can protect our world and nothing can stop up. Hold fast to that hope that we can emerge victorious in a second war just as we had thousands of years ago. Let this hope be the shield that protects everything we love and the sword that destroys everything that threatens to harm them!"
At this, the officials who had been whispering shut their lips and nodded in agreement, a new sense of courage rising up in their chests. The ones who backed away in fear promptly stepped up, bowing their heads in shame. Commander Azula gave a pleased smirk. "Well said, Master Lieutenant—or should I say, Master General Raphael. Come, all. We have an hour left before war."
…
The Badlands was the rocky, desert-like terrain just outside the great walls of New Azarath, and the newly eclipsed sun cast a grim glow until the land below. Standing outside the entrance to the golden city was the New Azarathean Army—over twelve thousand men and women wearing armor and carrying weapons that were forged not two hours ago. The ones with decent military training held their weapons high and mightily. Those with little to no experience in any combat were trying their best to hide their immense fear. They were split into twelve divisions of about a thousand men, each led by the most experienced military leaders of the world. The army as a whole was led by Master General Raphael—donned in silver and golden armor constructed of mythril and orichalcum, the strongest substances made for armor, which the armorers learned from information that Raphael had received from the Book of Peace.
A fair distance away was an army of fire demons all under the command of the Dark Raven. Their blood-thirsty snarls and growls filled the air. Dark Raven's long ink-black hair and deep blue cloak billowed in the wind. She lifted her head and magically projected her voice across the battlefield. "Azaratheans!" she called out. "The time has come for you to die. The time has come for all worlds to fall under my reign. The time has come for the Second Sorcerer-Demon War."
The white stallion that Raphael was sitting on seemed to tense up in fear. Raphael patted it reassuringly and gripped the Crystal Sword as if to grant him courage. "No, Trigon," he called back. "We will not fall. Not today. We have hope. It is our hope that we will protect our world that gives us the power and the strength to fight. We shall never fall under your power. Today, you will know the true might of New Azarath!"
"Very well, foolish mortals," Dark Raven replied, levitating herself into the air. "I've waited eternity for this emancipation. Now nothing can thwart what has begun!" With this, a great raven dark as night burst from her with a great shriek, signaling the demons below to charge towards the humans.
Raphael gritted his teeth and reached into his pocket, pulling out the Ring of Azar. "Please, protect us," he prayed to it as he slowly placed it onto his right forefinger. A golden glow briefly radiated from the ring. Filled with bravery, the man unsheathed his Crystal Sword and raised it into the air, where it shone in the little light that was present. "For Azar!" he cried as loudly as he could. "For Raven!" He heard the voices of thousands of men behind him cheering and raising their own weapons. "And for Azarath!" The New Azarath Army, led by Master General Raphael on his white stallion and his Crystal Sword, charged into battle.
The sound of his stallion's hooves against the hard ground underneath rang in Raphael's ears louder than that of the army's cries. The wind rushing against his face burned his eyes slightly. A drop of sweat dripped onto his forehead as he clutched the reins of his horse. He was close enough to the fire demons to smell their flames. Seconds away from battle, he gripped his sword tightly and offered up one final prayer: "Raven, give me strength."
With one swipe of his sword, he destroyed five fire demons before him. Quickly, he beckoned his horse forward and kept on slashing away with his sword, driving mercilessly into the army of demons. A fireball was hurled towards him, but he expertly slashed it with his sword, causing it to disintegrate in the air. A short distance behind him was Commander Azula who led the army on foot. The commander, wielding a broadsword in one hand and a spear in another, jumped into the air and shoved each weapon into the heads of two demons, who immediately dropped to the ground lifelessly. The full force of the army came just behind him, and the sounds of swords being swung, arrows being fired, and spells being cast permeated the air.
"Die, you bloody demons!" Etzel roared as he rapidly fired his crossbow with the sharpest of accuracy. Behind him was Horatio on his own black stallion, casting spells through his wand.
"Captain!" Horatio called. "Raining arrow attack!" Etzel nodded and aimed his crossbow into the air, firing arrows at a vicious speed. As the arrows soared into the sky, Horatio waved his wand, causing the arrows to fire down towards the ground, magically homed towards the fire demons. All around them, demons fell to the ground by the arrows in the sky.
A distance away, Lancelang was firing his own arrows through his bow with just as accurate a shot as Captain Etzel. A fireball to his side struck him down, and immediately a combat healer appeared before him. The healer closed her eyes and gently rubbed her hands over his wound until it began to heal itself. Within seconds, his burn was healed and he thanked the healer, who promptly teleported away to nurse someone else.
Meanwhile, Raphael's sword met demon after demon as he ruthlessly slaughtered his enemies. When he had the chance, he reached out his left hand and immediately the Book of Peace materialized in it in a flash of light. The book, sensing its wielders' thoughts, flipped itself open to a page and instantly taught Raphael a new attack. Smiling, the man raised his sword into the air and magically charged it, a white and golden light slowly radiating from the crystal blade. As more fire demons approached him, he swung the sword in a straight horizontal line, unleashing a shockwave of light that destroyed all the demons around him. As the surviving demons rushed towards him in retaliation, he merely placed his hand on the Book of Peace and was teleported away in the blink of an eye.
Reappearing behind a woman he identified as Dark Raven, he opened the Book of Peace and waved his hand over it. An orb of fire, an orb of ice, and an orb of lightning burst from the book and—with a flick of his wrist—he fired the magical orbs directly towards Dark Raven. The demoness was caught by surprise and fell to the ground. She immediately recuperated and jumped to her feet, hissing at him. With a movement of her hands, she created a raven of fire that flew swiftly towards Raphael. The man covered his face with his arm, but as the raven exploded before him, he was unharmed, as the Ring of Azar fully protected him from the attack. Dark Raven, realizing that the ring would fully protect Raphael but only granted partial protection to his allies, diverted her attention away from him and instead continued to attack the other Azaratheans with powerful black magic. The man gritted his teeth and cried out, "Trigon!" He rushed towards the demoness and raised his sword, but only succeeded in striking thin air as Dark Raven disappeared with a smirk. Raphael blew out a sigh of frustration and continued to fight the other demons.
All sense of time is lost within a battle. Over the course of the battle, Raphael had seen more of his men fall than the demons. However, those who fell were promptly healed to nearly full health and had the bravery to run straight into battle once more. Still, though the Azaratheans were not outnumbered, they were outstrengthed. The fire demons were strong, and though they were killed with little to some difficulty to him and the other military officers, a large majority of the Azarathean army was not used to combat, and it often took at least three of them to take down just one demon. As Raphael looked around, the fire demons still prevailed while his own army was steadily slipping into exhaustion. They were nearly finished.
"Retreat into the walls!" he called to them. "Retreat into New Azarath!"
"But General! We can still fight!" one of the soldiers near him said.
"No, trust me. It is time for us to retreat," Raphael said. He saw Commander Azula nearby, who nodded at him understandingly. "Retreat!" he yelled again. As the New Azarath Army fell back into the walls, Raphael made sure he was the last of them to reenter. Looking behind him, he saw that the remaining fire demons were chasing after them ferociously.
As he neared the walls, he shouted up to them, "Ready your arrows!" Just as he slipped past the grand golden walls outside the city, the gates shut in behind him, locking out the fire demons outside. He came to a very large courtyard that was previously an entire town before it had been cleared out. "Fire!" he yelled at the top of his lungs. "Fire! Fire! Fire!"
A moment of silence rang in the air. The sound of a thousand bowstrings being drawn followed. Before the fire demons below had any time to react, a barrage of magic arrows were shot into the air and rained down upon them. The fire demons shrieked and hissed as they all fell to the ground, their flames lifelessly extinguishing down to the very last one.
The silence following the screeching of the dying demons was broken by the roar of victory from the Azarathean army. All of them, men and women, soldiers and archers, mages and healers, raised their weapons in the air and cried out in joyous triumph. They had won. High Captain Etzel pushed his way through the crowd and ran towards Raphael, pulling his student in a hug. "Raphael, we did it!" the man shouted. "We did it, we did it!"
Raphael couldn't help but let out a laugh as he looked around him. Nearly the entire army remained healthy and alive—only a handful were injured and there were very few casualties—and were standing there cheering like no tomorrow. He smiled. They did it. They won.
Their cheers were interrupted by a gust of black smoke that rose in the air. The army quieted down and some of the soldiers pointed curiously at the cloud of smoke. The black cloud descended and came crashing down towards the center of the courtyard. The smoke seemed to solidify and formed a pile of black crystal that rearranged itself to form the figure of a plate of obsidian armor and a pitch black longsword. The armor stood still and a soldier took a step forward towards it. Gulping, the soldier crept towards the armor warily. As quickly as a bolt of lightning, the obsidian soldier raised its longsword with both hands in a battle position and thrust it into the Azarathean, impaling him straight through the chest. His corpse immediately hit the ground.
The Azarathean army flew into a panic just as more clouds of smoke appeared before them, each one materializing into an obsidian soldier that began slaughtering the humans. "Open the gates, open the gates!" some of the soldiers cried out. As the gates to the walls of New Azarath opened, the soldiers ran out to escape only to find themselves face to face with hordes of fire demons along with many more demons that they had never seen before of all shapes and appearances. "Oh my Azar," one of the soldiers gasped. Just outside New Azarath was an army of demons. Just inside New Azarath was an army of these new obsidian soldiers. There was no escape.
"What are you waiting for, you piles of worthless scum?" the voice of Commander Azula roared at them. "The War is not over yet! Fight for New Azarath!" These revived the courage in the soldiers' souls and they raised their weapons once more, charging at their enemies to fight another battle.
Raphael stared at the obsidian soldiers in shock until Etzel turned towards him. "What are those, Raphael? What's happening?"
The younger man shook his head. "Soldiers of smoke and crystal… Wasn't that the power of one of the Weapons?"
Etzel's eyes widened as he recalled the description on the altar of one of the Weapons. "The Lunar Pandora… a pendant with the ability to create a limitless army of soldiers made of crystal and shadows."
"If these are those soldiers," Raphael realized. "Then that means someone has the Lunar Pandora!"
"Trigon…" Etzel said fearfully. "But how?"
Raphael materialized the Book of Peace and placed his hand on its golden pages. Closing his eyes, he saw a vision from the book, which showed him a fire demon that appeared in the Chamber of Leon just as he and Etzel had left. The demon transformed itself into a portal from which the Dark Raven emerged. He saw her enter the Chamber of Leon and take the remaining four Weapons—the Lunar Pandora, the Master Cloak, the Solar Wand, and the Stellar Crown.
"Trigon, he's up there in the Chamber of Leon right now," Raphael said as the book disappeared. "I have to get there now."
"Raphael, watch out!" a voice yelled. Raphael turned around to find an obsidian soldier just behind him, its sword crashing down onto him. As the sword came into contact with his own armor, the Ring of Azar on his finger flashed and his body was briefly encased in a golden glow. The obsidian sword rebounded back and did not damage Raphael, but the force of the blow did cause him to fall onto the ground. As the obsidian soldier raised his sword again, he was struck by a spell from the side. Magical violet vines wrapped themselves around the soldier, tightening rapidly until it imploded into dust. Raphael turned to see his savior—Horatio, who was gripping his wand panting heavily.
"Horatio," he said. "You saved me."
"We're in a battle," his friend merely replied. "It's my job to watch after your careless ass." He suddenly grunted as a sword pierced his chest and fell to the ground.
"Horatio!" Raphael cried aloud as he ran towards the obsidian soldier that had snuck up behind them. With one valiant slash of the Crystal Sword, the obsidian soldier collapsed lifelessly into shards of crystal.
Raphael ran towards his friend, whose blood slowly formed a pool around him. "Healer!" The former called out. "Where's a healer? We need help!"
"Raphael, forget about me. You need to find the—the Weapons. Stop Trigon," Horatio grunted.
"No, Horatio, I can't leave you like this," he replied, materializing the Book of Peace. "I'll find something to help you."
"Save your time," his friend said. "I died for my world. That's a good enough death for me. You have to go now before even more people die."
"Horatio…" Raphael whimpered, his knees slowly getting soaked in the man's blood.
"Go, Raph," Horatio said to him. "Go. Go!" With a sigh, Raphael left him, placing his hands on the Book of Peace and teleporting away. Panting on the ground—and holding back screams of pain with every breath he took—he grabbed his wand and pointed it into the air. Shouting incantations, a burst of blue light shot out and hovered in midair. From the ball of light shot out shards of ice that bombarded the obsidian soldiers below. He managed to kill four obsidian soldiers before two blades were shoved into his chest and throat, ending his life.
Raphael materialized in front of the Chamber of Leon, which was still left open. Gripping his Crystal Sword tightly with both hands, he slowly crept into the chamber. He found the room to be empty, and was just about to turn around when he was struck by a binding spell. Yelping in pain, he found that he was paralyzed, completely unable to move. His attacker appeared before him, donning a long black cloak, a golden diadem with rubies, a deep blue pendant, and a long black and silver wand.
"And here we are, the two Masters of the Weapons," Dark Raven said with a greedy voice. "You and I, the bearers of two halves of the great Sorcerer Leon's power. What say you and I join to complete one another?"
"Never!" Raphael spat.
"That is all the same to me. I will end your worthless life and take the sword, the ring, and the book for myself."
"And what makes you think I will be killed so easily?"
Dark Raven snickered. "Because, Raphael, you are a mere human." You have existed in this world for all of twenty-seven years. Twenty-seven! I? I have existed since the beginning of time. Even before my physical form was created, I existed through the demons that had come before me. Though the spirits of the demons of the First Sorcerer-Demon War had not yet coalesced to form me yet, I still remember the first war as if it were a bad dream. And it was a dream to me, for now I shall make this second war my reality—a reality where I rule at long last."
"And what? You want to rule us? Is that it? You want to become our god or something? Mankind will never submit to you. We will always fight back, always!"
"You ignorant fool!" Dark Raven shouted, making Raphael's heart jump for a moment. "Why would I wish to rule you? Man is a vile, disgusting creature. Scum! Worthless excuse an existence. I wish to destroy all of you and begin my new reign."
"Then why?" Raphael challenged. "Why are you doing all this? If you destroy mankind, there will be no life left. There will be nothing to rule."
Her voice grew steadily louder and angrier. "Precisely. I will destroy all life and reign over all of death. I will end all that is precious, destroy all that is beautiful."
"But why?"
"Because He loves you so much!" Trigon's voice roared.
"Who is 'He'?"
"The one who created—!" Dark Raven stopped herself, her fiery eyes flaring down. She calmed herself down. "I don't see why a lowly human like you should have the right to know. You shouldn't even have the right to be let alone the right to know anything."
She turned around and flicked the Solar Wand, creating a rift in the air that showed a vision of the Azaratheans outside, fighting their battle against the vicious fire demons and obsidian soldiers. "Look at them, their pathetic efforts of fighting. I have the Solar Wand. With one flick of my wrist I can end their lives. Even better yet, I have the Stellar Crown. With a single thought, I can erase all of their minds and replace them with my will. I can order them to throw themselves onto their swords and they'll do it without a moment of hesitation. Care for a demonstration?"
Raphael's eyes widened as Dark Raven placed her hands on her temples. The rubies on the Stellar Crown began to glow. Just as he thought he was about to see his entire world become mind-controlled, he saw her release her hands and stop. "But no," Dark Raven said as Raphael sighed in relief. "The Second Sorcerer-Demon War must go on. Only through war can I rewrite destiny and rewrite the rules of this existence. Stop the war prematurely and I will have cheated nature. Besides…" she turned back to Raphael. "It's not as if your kind has any hope of victory."
"Trigon…" Raphael said wearily. "Please. Stop this."
Dark Raven's blood shot eyes loomed at Raphael. She opened her lips and whispered softly to him, "I can't." She raised the Solar Wand and created a portal in the middle of the room. "The time has come for the Second Coming of Trigon. The time has come for my rebirth." She released Raphael from her binding spell. "So it is wanted there where the power lies," she said mysteriously as she entered the portal. "Come, Man. We shall fight just as you intend, only I shall be in the flesh and blood of my daughter. You, the son of Mankind, and I, the son of Demonkind. Come to your final destiny."
As she disappeared before him, Raphael gripped his sword and followed her into the portal.
…
Garfield Logan did not know exactly when he woke up. It was a similar sensation to falling asleep—for one never really knows when one falls asleep—except the opposite. But when he did wake up, he found himself alone lying on a wasteland, barren and empty. The ground was hard and gray while the skies were as red as blood. He stood up and turned around to find himself standing before a large stone archway bearing the words: "ABANDON ALL HOPE, YE WHO ENTER HERE." Looking around with no place to go, he passed through the gate underneath the arch and began walking down the path of solitude.
How long had he been asleep? When did he wake? More importantly, why? Was this… Earth? Had Trigon successfully destroyed the world and he was now standing in the ruins of Earth? No, he reassured himself that he was still in Raven's mind. There would be no way for him to somehow be back in his body. He continued walking.
One foot after the other, he did not know how long or how far he had been walking. All he could think about was carrying his foot further and further. There was no sense of temperature where he was, nor any sense of time. It was a dream-like atmosphere that did not feel like a dream. Perhaps that truly was the closest way to describe it. Garfield noted that it felt very similar to the realm of Raven's mind when he entered through her mirror. But in those times, there was always a sense of life through Raven's emoticlones and their respective separate realms. This place, on the other hand, carried a sense of death and emptiness and nothingness that permeated the air.
Garfield's feet stopped as he came to a figure in a brown cloak. The man turned around and revealed himself before him.
"Raphael," Garfield said. "What—what are you doing here?"
"What? Not happy to see me?" The Azarathean replied. "I'm just here to fix the mess you created."
"My mess? What are you talking about?"
Raphael gave a pitying smirk. "And you don't even know… After you switched bodies with Raven, she went in chasing after you. She transferred her mind into her body again in an attempt to find you and save you before the others destroy her body."
"Raven's—Raven's here?" The realization hit Garfield like a blow to the face. He had done all this to save her. Why did she come back and risk herself to save him?
"Yes. She is here, and now that her soul is back in her own body, she's lost all her memories once more. She's helpless, and completely at the whim of Trigon now. I tried to warn her but she wouldn't listen. She had to go save you." Raphael shook his head as if he was admonishing her decision. "So that's why I'm here. I went into your body to save Raven. I'm pulling her out before anything bad happens."
"Wait… I want to help her, too. I did all this to save her. If she's put herself in danger trying to find me, then I have to go help her and protect her again. Before it's too late."
Raphael's voice raised. "Don't you see yet? You're the reason she's always in danger. Why did she risk dying by entering her body again? To save you! Why did she run away to that Sanctuary place? To keep herself from hurting your feelings! Why did she get Trigon's spirit inside her? Because of what you did five years ago! All of this is your fault. Don't you see, Garfield? The more you meddle and the more you interfere, the more Raven gets hurt. So now I think it's best that you stay away this time and let me help her for a change. She's always been happy with me. Always have been, always will be."
"Raphael…" Garfield said.
"How do you think I've felt, always forced to stand by and watch as you hurt her time after time? How do you think I've felt always standing by Raven's side, always seeing her hurt because of you, but never once able to express my true feelings, how much I truly love her and would never hurt her like you did? I've always been there for her in ways you never have." Raphael's brown eyes glared angrily into Garfield's. "Raven is my girl. She was always meant to be with me. And now once she and I escape and you die in her body along with Trigon, then she and I will be free to live our future together, the way it was meant to be."
Garfield lowered his head, staring at his feet. Slowly, he raised it and showed Raphael the grin he wore on his face. With determination, Gar said to him, "Where is she, Trigon?"
The confident look on Raphael's face abruptly shifted into a shocked one. "Wh—what? What are you talking about?"
Gar repeated unflinchingly, "I said… where is Raven, Trigon?"
"You're insane," the Azarathean declared. "I am Raphael."
"No, you're not," Logan shook his head. "I know Raphael. I know him, and even though I don't like him the least bit, I still can respect him. And I respect him because deep down, despite my inhibitions and despite my insecurities, I know that he would never do anything to force Raven to love him. I know that no matter how much he loved her, he would still respect her decision to love me. Raphael… I don't like him. But I know that if Raven told him that she loved me, he would never do anything to convince her otherwise."
He stepped forward and swiftly clutched Raphael's throat in his hand. The Azarathean struggled to break free but found that he could not. "Now I'm going to ask you one last time," Garfield said. "Where. Is. Raven?"
Raphael's eyes glowed a scarlet red and he let out a demonic shriek as beams of red light illuminated from his skin. The illusion of Raphael exploded in a blast of light that blinded Garfield. When the light faded, he found himself inside the ruins of what appeared to be the throne room of a castle. The walls were dark and ancient, and much of the roof was broken off. Debris lie in many places. At one wall was an archway, which he realized was the same archway he had passed under when he had first woken up. Strangely, he remembered walking for several miles since then, but now the stone archway was just across the room.
"I see you've seen through my world of illusions," a voice echoed. "Well done." Garfield immediately spun around to find a figure sitting on the great throne. He was a man of average height wearing a black bodysuit that covered his entire body along with a silvery belt on his midsection. Two boots with silver outlines covered his feet and two black gloves covered his hands. It was Rift, only his mask was gone and his hood was down, revealing the face of Malcolm Crowe.
"Rift…" Garfield said between gritted teeth. "Trigon, are you really going to try to fool me again?"
"No, you have passed my test," Trigon in the form of Rift said calculatingly. "I see you've changed. You know longer fear your insecurities. I merely take on this form now because my body has been destroyed—sacrificed, per se—in order that I may take over my daughter's body. The form I take on now is the manifestation of your deepest and darkest fear." Trigon crossed his arms. "You have come this far. What is it that you request?"
Garfield clenched his fists. "Tell me where Raven is," he said. "Is she really in here or is she safe outside?"
The demon lord raised his head. "She is not here."
"You lie."
"Why would I lie?"
"Why would you tell the truth?"
Trigon gave a shadow of a smirk as he relented and looked over to his side. Following his gaze, Garfield looked over to find a woman hiding behind a pillar. "Raven?" the man said.
"Mr—Mr. Logan?" her voice called fearfully. "Wh—where am I? What's happening?"
"Raven, don't worry. I'm going to get us out of here," he said reassuringly. Turning to Trigon, he said, "Get us out of here. Me and Raven, get us out."
At this, Trigon let out an amused laugh. "What is this? A mere human is giving me an order?" The sound of giggles echoed throughout the room. Garfield looked around him in surprise, finding to his chagrin that he was surrounded by demons. They had terrifying appearances, not quite because of how gruesome they looked but in how human they looked. They were at the same time hideously vile and similarly human-like. Trigon continued, "What use of it to you that you escape the prison of my daughter's body? Within moments, the time will come and I will be reborn. I have already gained possession of four of the Weapons of Azarath and will soon recover the other three. Even if you escape now, there is no way for you to stop it. Now nothing can thwart what has begun."
Garfield's eyes widened in horror. Trigon has the Weapons now too? He closed his eyes, frantically thinking of a solution. What was he to do? What could he do now? Slowly, he opened his eyes and turned towards Raven. The sight of her, powerless and afraid, suddenly gave him courage. He turned towards Trigon. "Fight me," he challenged.
The demon roared in laughter, greatly amused by the tiny human's threat. "Fight you? You dare challenge me, Trigon the Terrible, to fight you? Why should a great god such as I stoop so low as to accept a challenge by scum such as yourself?"
"Because you want your revenge," Garfield said. "Don't you remember what you told me eight years ago? The day at the carnival when Raven entered Anna's mind. The day that the Brotherhood of Evil captured her. Rift said to me that day, 'Do not rest easily, for I, too, will take my revenge on you for your sin today.' You want your revenge, don't you? Well now's your chance."
He shook his head. "That was by the will of Malcolm Crowe, not of mine."
"Not only that," Garfield continued. "Not only that, but you want revenge on me too, Trigon. Revenge for having helped Raven defeat you ten years ago." At this, Trigon seemed slightly intrigued. "Raven told me what you told Malcolm when you first spoke to him," Gar said, his heart pounding in fear. "You told Malcolm to do three things, right? You told him to take revenge on Raven's mother and her friends, to find the Weapons of Azarath, and to put your spirit into her body. The third deed, you've done already. The second deed, you're about to do since you already have four of the Weapons like you said. But the first deed, you still haven't done yet. I heard that Raven's mother disappeared, and I'm sure that was your doing. But you haven't taken revenge on me yet. You haven't hurt Raven's friends yet. Don't you want to punish me for having defied you when you first attacked Earth ten years ago? Don't you want to kill me for having helped your daughter defeat you? Well, here I am, giving you the chance to kill me and take your revenge." Garfield said these words afraid, but unflinchingly. Rift—and Trigon as a result—had backed down eight years ago that day at the carnival, that day when Anna Crowe was captured by the Brotherhood, but promised that in the end he'd get both Raven and him. He'd kept that promise with Raven. Now, it was Garfield's turn.
"I do not believe you. You must have some other motive to set yourself up like this."
"Then read my mind, Trigon. Read it, I dare you. I am telling the truth. All I want is for Raven and I to leave safely. I'm telling the truth."
A vicious smile emerged on Trigon's lips. "So you are… Your reasoning is intriguing. Your offer… difficult to resist."
"I just have one condition. If I win, you let Raven and me leave. If you win, I die and the entire world is destroyed."
"Why would you condemn yourself by putting yourself into such a situation? Even a human such as yourself isn't stupid enough to put yourself in situation you can't win in."
"If I lose, you destroy the world. If I win, Raven and I escape, but like you said, you'd still destroy the world. You get what you want either way, Trigon. I just want the chance for Raven and I to say goodbye to our friends one last time. If I win, and I surely will not, at least Raven and I can say goodbye to our loved ones before you destroy everything."
Trigon chuckled. "You foolish, foolish mortal. 'Love'? This unreasonable and incomprehensible idea that you mortals feel… I have never understood such a thing." He stood up. "Very well. You wish to challenge me, Scath? Me, Trigon the Terrible? I accept your challenge. I shall exact my revenge on you. I will fight you, all for your silly 'love'"—he glanced towards Raven—"for my precious daughter. But I will warn you: I will not hold back."
"That's good," Garfield said as he readied himself. "Neither will I." Raven looked at the two and whimpered in fear, drawing back behind the pillar she was hiding behind.
Trigon snapped his fingers. In a flash, Gar found himself bound by an invisible force, paralyzed from the neck down. "Trigon!" he yelled, unable to free himself.
"I told you I would not go easy," the demon taunted. "Don't you see? This just is no fun. All this was was a consequence of your foolishness."
"I may be foolish…" the changeling growled. "But that doesn't mean I'm weak. I remember… A long time ago, I went into my mind and met my own emoticlones. I learned from them that the Beast within me… the Beast within me is not bad as long as I know when to use it. And I think I know how to use it now." He raised his head and yelled at Trigon, "I may be foolish, but my Foolish gives me strength—strength to do what I know is right despite what logic or reason says." His hands gripped themselves and he felt the muscles in his body tightening and growing. "My Rage gives me strength—strength to fight back against the ones who make me angry." His eyes glowed an intense green before becoming bright white. "My Serious gives me strength—strength to become a man and make it through the most terrible situations." Green hair and fur began sprouting all over his body. "My Brave gives me strength—strength to stand and fight no matter how afraid I am." His mouth and nose grew in size and became more feral while his ears became less and less human-like in appearance. "My Wisdom gives me strength—strength to know what is right and wrong, what is good and bad, and to stand for the good." His feet and hands shifted form, changing into vicious claws. "My Sadness gives me strength—strength to stand up against that which makes me sad, to fight my sorrow… and to let go of my past." His legs, chest, and arms grew rapidly, tearing off all of his clothes. "My Love gives me strength!" he roared. "Strength to protect the ones I loves and to always, no matter what, keep them happy, keep them safe, keep them alive!" He roared as he finally became the Beast and broke free of the binding spell that Trigon had placed him in.
Trigon stepped back in momentary surprise, then quickly composed himself. "I see this may turn out to be enjoyable after all," he said, snickering. "Come then, mortal! Come and show me all that makes you human! Show me your foolishness, your rage, your seriousness, your bravery, your wisdom, and your sadness. But most of all, show me that one that drives you the most. Show me the one that strengthens you the most no matter how much I beat you down. Show me your love, that intense love that impassions you to protect others!"
The Beast roared and turned towards Raven, who was still hiding behind the pillar. The demon, still in Rift's form, used his power to increase his size to match that of the Beast.
Trigon's mighty voice echoed throughout his throne room like a god: "I will reclaim my rightful place in Paradise. My path will be paved with the sins of Man, and yours, Garfield Logan, shall be the bedrock of my return. And all that is good shall be gone from the universe forever!"
…
Afterwards, when asked, Garfield admitted that he didn't know if he put up a good fight. Being a superhero, of course, he had been in thousands if not millions of fights before. Of course, those were all when he had his fellow teammates to back him up. Rarely before had he ever fought someone by himself. Never before had it been against someone as powerful as Trigon. Even though he wasn't yet at his full strength—hardly as strong as he had been ten years ago—he nevertheless was still a demon lord.
The first half of the fight was a bit of a haze. It was a battle of Trigon—in Rift's body and appearance—with his roars, punches, kicks, and scratches versus Garfield—in the form of the Beast—with his own roars, punches, kicks, and scratches. The bad side of fighting as the Beast, Gar would later realize, was that his thought processes were inhibited to an extent, and much of the fighting was his own animalistic instincts. He, himself, would remember very little of what actually happened. He did remember that he, unfortunately, was constantly in a defensive position rather than an offensive—Trigon was simply too strong for Gar to land a solid attack. That wasn't to say that he was completely annihilated by Trigon, just overpowered. But he did manage to get a couple hits in. He wondered if it was possible for Trigon to bleed; he could never hurt him hard enough to see much damage. A tackle, a shove. Claw scratches here and there. He felt a sharp pain in the head and realized he had fallen on his head. He felt himself jumping up and wrapping his arm around Trigon's head. He raised a fist and punched the demon squarely in the face. To his surprise, the demon was unfazed and merely flipped him over his back. He landed hard on the ground.
"Where's your strength now?" Trigon taunted him. They continued fighting, struggling. "I will destroy everything you value, everyone you love."
"Trigon!" the Beast half-yelled, half-roared as he lunged towards him. He was caught by strong arms in mid-air and flung towards the wall nearby. He jumped back up and locked arms with the demon lord, engaging each other in a wrestle.
"Mankind… what a feeble creation you mortals are," Trigon said as he wrapped the Beast's arm around his shoulder and flipped him over. To his surprise, the Beast landed expertly on his feet and counterattacked with a scratch to his abdomen. "Coward!" he hissed as he fought. "Wretch! Animal!"
The Beast leapt and attempted to bite the demon, who quickly dodged his attack and caught his open mouth with his hand. Struggling to break free of the demon's grasp, the Beast jumped into the air and delivered a powerful kick to Trigon's side. Growling, he then attempted to tackle Trigon but was met instead with a powerful punch to the jaw. The Beast staggered and fell, where it was met with several more punches to its face.
And so they continued fighting for what seemed like hours, for all sense of time is lost in battle. Eventually, even the Beast grew weary and, despite his efforts to remain strong, slowly reverted back to human form. Garfield lay on the ground clutching his wounds and looked up to see Trigon, who had diminished his size back to that of a normal human.
"You've lost, human," he declared with a grin.
"Not quite…" Garfield grunted as he jumped forward and tackled Trigon down.
As the demon lord kicked him off, he yelled in annoyance, "Give it up! You are defeated. Why do you continue to fight?"
"I continue to fight so that my friends can live!" Gar replied weakly, panting. "All of their lives, their dreams, their hopes… I'm not going to just stand by and let you destroy all of that. Until the very last of my breath, I will keep on fighting." He ran with his fist flying through the air, but was effortlessly knocked away by Trigon, who still did not show the least signs of exhaustion.
"Life… dreams… hope… Where do they come from? And where do they go…? Such meaningless things… I will destroy them all!"
"No. You can't. You never will," Gar retaliated. "Those things, even you are not powerful enough to destroy. You can try to end life but it will just be reborn once more. You can try to shatter dreams but they'll only be made again. You can try to snuff out hope but that ray of light will continue to exist."
Trigon lowered his head until Gar could no longer see his eyes. "Why do people create, knowing destruction is inevitable? Why do people yearn to live, knowing all things must die? Why… knowing that none of it will have meant anything once they do? Once you die… everything you've ever done will end and suddenly become meaningless. Once you die… there will be nothing to remember you with anymore. Not only will your body fade into ashes but all memory of you will one day fade into oblivion. What, then, is the meaning of life? What, then, is the reason to continue living? Why, then, do you mortals continue to live and love?"
Gar panted, gasping to regain his breath. He stared at the demon straight in his eyes. "Love," he answered. "Love is what makes life worth living. The day to day struggles that we face are worth it because of the day to day love that we experience. The love within each other that we cherish in our hearts… It's not the result of your life or the effects of your actions that determine your worth. It's not the lasting memories of you that live on forever after your death that matter. It's the day to day challenges that you face and the personal victories of each passing day that make life worth living." Gar turned to face Raven, whom he could see eye to eye. He nodded to her, as if to make sure that she was listening to him, that her tear-filled eyes were staring at him as he spoke these words. "It's knowing that you are blessed—blessed that you have a home, a place where you belong. It's knowing that you are surrounded by people who love you, people who wish for your presence, people whose lives would be completely changed… if you were not there. The reason we live is because we know what it means to wake up in the morning and to fall asleep at night, to feel the warmth of the sun touch our skin once again or the coolness of the wind as it brushes past, to be able to hold someone and touch someone and see them eye to eye, to have someone to talk to and to listen to, to realize that in this incredible, huge world that you are not alone. Love is the celebrations with friends, the laughter we share, the happy memories we cherish. All that is love and life. And even in the end, they might disappear, in the end they are not meaningless because they have made a difference in the lives of those they affect. Knowing that in the end, you are thankful and grateful for having had that love in your life. We live to become the hope in others. We love to become the light in others. And so do they for us."
"You are weak," Trigon screamed. "Weak! Weak!"
"No…" Gar choked. "You're the weak one." He slowly picked himself up, feeling the pain ring throughout his body. "You… Trigon… are weak. You will never know… or understand what it means… to love… to live. You will never know compassion or friendship…" He thought of his friends back on Earth, the ones he had spent his life with, the ones for whom he lives. "You, Trigon, will never know what it means to have others there by your side." He thought of Richard Grayson, Nightwing, whom he had always respected and admired for being their leader. "You, Trigon, will never know what it means to have people who are kind to you and care for you." He thought of Koriand'r Grayson, Starfire, who had always laughed at his jokes, forgiven his childishness, and comforted him in hard times. "You, Trigon, will never know what it means to have people you can die for, people who you never want to live without." He thought of Victor Stone, Cyborg, whom he always kept dear in his heart as a best friend and as an older brother. "You, Trigon, will never know what it means to love. To live. To cry. To laugh. To be angry. To forgive. To be happy." He thought of Raven Roth, the woman who was standing there, gazing at him with tearful eyes. "You, Trigon, will never understand any of that, and I pity you," Gar said. "I pity you. I pity you that you will never understand what love means!"
"You—pity—me?" Trigon repeated slowly, carefully enunciating each word, each syllable, tasting each one as if it were some mysterious taste he could not comprehend. "You—pity—me?" His voice grew with wrath at each word. "You—pity—ME? You pity ME? You PITY ME? YOU PITY ME?" The demon—though he was still in the form of a human—grabbed a nearby pillar and in one swift movement, tore it from the ground and the ceiling and flung the entire pillar across the room in a rage. "YOU PITY ME? You—a filthy excuse for an existence! You—who don't even deserve to BE! You—whose life is so easily crushed, whose hopes and dreams and—LOVE—are so easily snuffed out! You—dirty talking animal dare PITY a god like ME?!" Trigon's voice roared so loudly that Gar's ears were momentarily deafened. "Why did He choose you? WHY DID HE CHOOSE YOU?"
The images flashed in Garfield's mind so quickly that they were a blur. Trigon's knuckles flashing in the air; how cold they felt with the first few blows and how quickly they warmed with Gar's blood. Getting thrown against the wall, a sharp piece of stone jabbing his back. Raven screaming. Stones being flung at him. Getting hurled against the wall. Lying on the floor, blood from his split upper lip staining the ground, pain ripping through his belly, and wondering when he'd be able to breathe again. The sound of his ribs snapping like wishbones that he and Raven had once shared at a dinner together. Raven screaming. The side of his face slamming against the corner of a nearby pillar. That snapping sound again, this time just under his left eye. The giggles and snarls of the demons nearby. Raven screaming. Fingers grasping his hair, pulling his head back, the soft ripping of the fabric of black cloth that covered Trigon's body. He lost all feeling in his left hand. He wondered if it was still there. Trigon's knuckles again. Here they come. That snapping sound yet again, now Gar's nose. Biting down in pain, noticing how his teeth didn't align like they used to. Getting kicked. He spat out a few bloody teeth. Raven's screaming.
Gar didn't know at what point he started laughing, but he did. It hurt to laugh, hurt his jaws, his ribs, his throat. But he was laughing and laughing. The more Gar laughed, the more infuriated Trigon seemed to be. The harder he laughed, the harder he was kicked, punched, and scratched.
"WHAT'S SO FUNNY?" Trigon kept roaring with each blow. His spit landed in Gar's eye. Raven screamed.
"WHAT'S SO FUNNY?" Trigon bellowed. Another rib snapped, this time left lower. What was so funny was that, for the first time in five years, for the first time since his and Raven's three year anniversary, Gar felt at peace. He laughed because he saw that, in some hidden nook in a corner of his mind, he'd even been looking forward to this. He remembered all the times Raven had cried and all the times Raven told him to forgive himself. All those times he was told to let go of the past. But he hadn't been happy and he hadn't forgiven himself and he hadn't let go of the past, not at all. But he did now. His body was broken but he felt healed. Healed at last. He laughed.
Then the end. What happened in the end, he would remember forever:
Gar was on the ground laughing, Trigon straddling his chest, his face a mask of lunacy, framed by snarls of his hair swaying inches from Gar's face. The demon's free hand was locked around the man's throat. The other was raised in a great fist, raised for another blow.
Then: "Stop." A thin voice.
Demon and man both looked.
"Please, no more."
Gar remembered the day eight years ago, the day of his and Raven's first date at the carnival when Rift first swore revenge against them. Rift was approaching him, attacking him, raising his fist, when Raven had come from nowhere and raised an orb of her magic, telling Rift to stop. She had saved him. And now, he saw that woman again.
"No more."
Twin trails of tears had rolled down her cheeks. Her lower lip trembled. "Stop," she croaked. Her right hand was encased in a dark orb that was aimed directly at Trigon. He lowered his arm. "No more. Please," she said, her voice husky and trembling. "Stop hurting him."
Trigon's mouth moved wordlessly. He began to say something, stopped. "What do you think you're doing?" he finally said.
"Please stop," Raven said, fresh tears pooling in her violet eyes.
"Put that down," Trigon instructed her. She did not relent. "Would you please put that down?" he repeated with much more force. "Put it down or what I'm doing to him will be a gentle ear twisting compared to what I'll do to you."
The tears broke free. Raven shook her head. "Please, stop."
"Put it down."
"Don't hurt him anymore."
"Put it down."
"Please."
"PUT IT DOWN!" Trigon let go of Gar's throat. Lunged at Raven.
The dark orb made a whistling sound as it flew through the air. Trigon, struck on the chest, was propelled backwards onto a wall. Deeply injured, he struggled to pick himself up, but found that Raven's hands were already encased in black magic again.
"Leave. Him. Alone."
"PUT IT DOWN!" he roared. His shoulders were struck, and he staggered back in pain.
Trigon looked at Raven, then back at Gar, then back at her. "I will never let you hurt him again," Raven said.
"RAVEN!" the demon lord roared with all his might. "THIS IS NOT THE END!"
"It already is," Raven declared as her eyes glowed white. Streams of white energy flowed from her body and she was surrounded by light. She raised her hands, covered in light, and screamed for Trigon to hear very clearly the last words he would ever hear:
"AZARATH METRION ZINTHOS!"
All of Hell was washed away in the wave of light.
~Difficult Words to Say~
It's time for the final game, my dear readers! This time, instead of me clearly telling you what will happen, I'm keeping it very ambiguous. Instead, you are given the two choices, and NOTHING ELSE. Not what will happen or what it means. So choose wisely! :)
The choices are: 1) Raphael or 2) Arella
As per usual, leave your votes in the reviews section. Just go with your gut feeling! And promise, this time I will count carefully!
JasonVUK - Haha, yup it's intense all right. And surely with this chapter the [intensity intensifies]. :) Hope you liked it!
Whoelsebutme11 - Hmm, good guess! Not saying if you're right, of course. But we will find out all about the Inheritors with the next chapter. But *hint hint* if you are right, I wonder who the Inheritor of Dante is? Hm...
Kaarlinaa - Haha, I honestly did not really like The Fault in Our Stars. But thanks for saying that this story is better! I hope I succeeded in making you cry (in a good way!)
Thebookthief18 - Yes, everything Hell related is certainly romantic! And as for Arella's apology, we'll get a clear answer about that very soon, but I don't think it'd be too much jumping the gun to assume that yes, she did meant to switch their bodies to allow her daughter to be able to live on in someone else's body. Little does she know, though, that her very actions of switching their bodies would indirectly cause the whole Trigon thing to happen. Fate's an sshole ain't it?
Bluedog197 - Haha Raphael's not a bad guy! He's just in love... Anyway, interesting theory about Raphael, though clearly I'm never confirming any unless they're officially written in the chapter ;) Though I'd say that's a good guess. And if you thought that last chapter was loaded I bet this one must be a truckload!
gothgirl900 - Thanks for your review! I hope you like this chapter as well :)
lunae57 - Ah, you compliment me on the length of my chapters and here I go posting the longest one yet! Well, I hope you really enjoyed this one :) I promise the ending will not be sad (at least not... TOO sad, that is) so keep your fingers crossed!
Zanzar - Next chapter's up! Hope you liked this one!
lExIFeA - I was actually thinking about putting that in the previous chapter. Instead of Raven saying "This is what I'm willing to do to save the one I love," I was thinking of having her say, "People do crazy things when they're in love." But in the end I settled for the first quote because it fit the general theme of the whole story more.