Got this chapter done much sooner than I had anticipated. I had to make a couple of changes later on, but I may have missed a couple of things. Things are going to heat up in the next couple of chapters, so stay tuned. Also, enjoy and review.
*Mirror World, Floor B9*
Spiral, Shroud, Momo, Naoto, Aura, Asuka, Hikari, Chan, Chun, Lilith and Pulse stood before the Lord of Hell, Dante.
"Wait! Hold on!" Shroud realized something. "If he's the Lord of Hell, then why is he here? This place is another dimension, not a mirror."
"The answer to that is simple." Dante began to speak. "This place IS Hell."
"What do you mean?" Spiral asked.
"In order to recreate Hell, two things were required." Dante explained. "The first and most vital is to have a medium. The medium must have some sort of connection to mankind's thoughts and secrets."
"And the mirror provided that medium?" Shroud tried to clarify.
"Mirrors reflect not only our physical well beings, but our inner thoughts, sins and insecurities as well." Dante continued to explain. "The second requirement was to rebuild the 9 Circles of Hell. To complete that, people who have suffered from even the slightest of a particular sin must enter this world. Then the Demon and the Circle will manifest themselves. The first Circle was the trickiest to find a subject for. Since I was stuck in this world, I needed someone to place them in here."
"That was Daisuke, wasn't it?" Pulse tried to clarify.
Dante then noticed Pulse amongst the group.
"You... I see you still hate me." Dante said.
"I never hated you..." Pulse stated. "I was just disappointed in you."
"I had a feeling that you were behind all of this." Dante said. "Not that it mattered much at all. So you found out that people were being put in here and had your son rescue them. That's not so different than my original plan."
"You were the one who informed Daisuke of the scroll that was used to enter this world."
"Hold on! Back up!" Spiral interrupted. "What are you two talking about?"
"You haven't told him about us?" Dante asked.
"Spiral, you don't realize how lucky you are compared to me." Pulse began. "Nearly 30 years ago, I witnessed the death of my parents. I was lucky that the assailants never found me."
"That's not to say she was never found." Dante said. "You see, after the attack, I was passing by her home and noticed that the door to her house was opened. I entered and saw the corpses of her parents and in a nearby closet, she was there. I'm certain Lilith told you already that my family was killed in a similar manner, so I decided to take care of her. It was during that time I was researching ways to enter Heaven and Hell. Years later, well, she already told you what happened when I tried to open the gate and the Demons got loose."
"Didn't we get a little off track here?" Shroud asked. "You were saying something about the Circles and using Daisuke to put people in here."
"Ah, yes." Dante remembered. "Since I was trapped here, I used Lilith as a messenger to inform Daisuke of the scrolls and this world."
"Wait, why didn't you have Lilith put people in here?" Naoto asked.
"Daisuke needed to be punished for his betrayal." Dante explained. "Once he finished his job, I would force him to spend eternity here in endless, repetitive suffering."
"You still put people's lives at risk!" Aura pointed out.
"Daisuke wanted you all to die, but I had no intentions of letting any of you die." Dante rebuttled. "That was Lilith's primary objective during this reconstruction. She was to ensure that no one would perish at the hands of their Demons and safely return them to your world. However, when Spiral entered here, it presented a couple of complications. Spiral saving the captured was negligible, since our goals at those points were similar. The only problem lied in Spiral's Demon attempting to free itself. I might not be able to leave this world, I still had domain over unawakened Demons. Hell's atmosphere can stir a living person's Demons from their slumber, so I had to suppress your Demon until the right moment. Daisuke may have wished for your deaths, but he still followed my orders to a tee. It was difficult to find someone who wasn't an infant that wasn't baptized, but we lucked out with your appearance. That's why Shroud was the first to be placed in here, after Daisuke placed the other two in here as guinea pigs."
"What does not being baptized have to do with sins?" Asuka questioned.
"The 9 Circles of Hell are layered with the least-unforgivable sins on the top to the most-unforgivable sins on the bottom." Dante further explained. "Each one of you was placed in here because your sins and suffering corresponded to the necessary Circle."
"What are those 9 Circles then?" Naoto asked.
"Limbo."
Dante looked at Shroud.
"Lust."
Then to Momo.
"Gluttony."
Then to Naoto.
"Avarice."
Then to Aura.
"Anger."
Then to Asuka.
"Heresy."
Then to Hikari.
"Raza was kind enough to build the Circle of Violence. Followed by Fraud."
Then to Spiral.
"And lastly, Betrayal."
Dante then averted his gaze toward Lilith.
"All of you played your parts well." Dante continued to speak. "But now that I can finally leave this hellhole, I think I'll do just that."
Dante started to walk away when Pulse quickly pulled one of the ice stalagmites from the ground and pointed the sharp tip at Dante.
"Dante, don't you dare force my hand." Pulse said.
Dante simply sighed. "You do realize you can't kill me here." Dante reminded. "This is Hell; my domain. While mortals such as yourselves can die here."
"That may be true, but..." Pulse stopped talking for a moment and stabbed Dante in the chest with it.
"AGGH!" Dante groaned as he coughed up blood.
"It will hurt... a lot." Pulse pointed out.
Pulse then pulled the stalagmite out of Dante's chest and his wound healed itself.
"What is that old saying about Hell?" Pulse wondered. "'Hell is repetition'? Which means I can make a Hell for you right here by repeatedly stabbing you and your wounds regenerating. Would you like that?"
"I understand what went wrong last time, but now that I have full control over the Demons, it won't happen again." Dante stated.
"What is that supposed to mean?" Pulse questioned.
The entire place started to rumble and shake like there was an earthquake happening.
"It is time..." Dante said.
Suddenly, a huge wave of red shadows started to pour out of the place.
"WHAT THE HELL IS THAT? !" Naoto shrieked.
"They're Demons!" Pulse answered.
The wave then engulfed everyone that was in the area like a tidal wave and the mass of shadows continued to flood the entire cave.
Meanwhile, two girls were in the women's restroom at Tokyo U.
"Damn it! I broke a nail!" One girl said.
"Look on the bright side..." The other girl responded.
Then the mass of shadows came out of the mirror and flew out of the restroom.
The girls' eyes had widened from the weird phenomenon they had just witnessed.
"What was that?"
"I don't know and I don't think I want to."
The mass of shadows eventually reached outside and somehow dropped off Shroud, Naoto, the twins, Momo, Aura, Hikari, Asuka, Lilith and Pulse in the school courtyard as Dante held onto Spiral. The mass of shadows dropped Dante off in the middle of the courtyard and he held onto Spiral's wrist.
"What's going to happen?" Aura asked.
"I thought he was trying to prevent the Demons from ravaging the real world!" Pulse said.
"He is." Lilith said.
"Spiral, are you aware of who the Legendary Guardians are?" Dante asked. "They are those chosen by God to protect the world. They are his sword and keepersof peace. As such, they grant whoever they choose many of their powers and abilities. One of those abilities is to open the Gates of Heaven."
A circular symbol appeared underneath Dante's feet as Spiral's Deck radiated a golden glow and Dante began to chant something. Pulse attempted to stop this ritual, but the wave of shadows surrounded the outside of the circle like a twister to prevent anyone from getting in so she had no choice but to do nothing. Eventually, a giant hole to appear in the clouds in which a light pierced out of it, almost as if the sun was shining through the hole.
"He's done it." Pulse gasped. "He's finally opened the Gate to Heaven."
"I have no use for those Demons anymore." Dante said as he waved his hand and the mass of shadows completely disintegrated. "I sent them back to where they belong! Are you happy now, Pulse?"
"No!" Pulse answered somewhat harshly.
Dante then threw Spiral back towards the group and then vanished in a golden light. The light was starting to fade and the circle was starting to shrink. Spiral then quickly got up and made a run for the circle. Spiral jumped and managed to make it at the last minute and vanish in a golden light. The circle vanished and the hole in the sky closed up and the night sky returned to its normal, starry self. Everyone else looked up at the sky and felt disappointed in themselves.
"Listen, everyone." Pulse snapped everyone out of their trance. "There is still quite a bit of time, so I suggest you all rest up and get some sleep because tomorrow is going to be your toughest assignment yet. Dante's objective is to become God and who knows what will happen should he succeed. Spiral's strong, but he may need out help. Tomorrow, Dante will shall atone for his crimes."
"Here's the thing..." Lilith spoke up. "What exacty is he doing wrong? He's not the type of person to risk the lives of innocent people or sacrifice them. Actually, if he does succeed, nothing is really going to change except for who ends up in Hell."
"To defy God in any way is a terrible act!" Pulse said to Lilith.
"All he wants is to see his daughter again and spend the rest of eternity with her." Lilith rebuttled.
"Only God is permitted to judge the fate of the passed!" Pulse continued to shout at her. "Who knows what would happen if that balance shifted?"
Lilith just remained silent, as did everyone else.
"Just make sure you all rest up." Pulse said as she walked away.
Unfortunately, Lilith's words rang quite a bit of truth which left everyone wondering if what they were trying to do was truly right.
(To be continued...)
Preview
spiralgamer: The finale is almost at hand. Will Spiral allow Dante to do as he pleases? Or will he let him off the hook? The answers will be provided next time on Awakening of the Soul. Heaven.
Chan and Chun's Comedy Corner
Chan and Chun appear on a stage next to a microphone.
Chan: Welcome to Chan and Chun's Comedy Corner!
Chun: spiralgamer said that we wouldn't be around, but we went and did it without his say anyway.
Chan: You know, if there's one person I really love, it's my Uncle Hong.
Chun: Oh really? Why's that?
Chan: Because he was always such a good guy to me, even though he was a member of the Chinese mafia. So one night I have this nightmare where I fall off a waterfall. I wake up thinking I'm dead. Then I see Uncle Hong next to me and do you know what I say?
Chun: What did you say?
Chan: "Am I in heaven? Uncle Hong? ! This must be the other place!"
BA! DUM! KSH!
Chun: See you all next time!