My calling

Author: Cornell Valentine Gainsborough

"Speech"

'Thoughts'

MAKAI! Seperates Paragraphs

Disclaimer: Refer to Chapter 1.

Chapter 2: Three Days

Nelius Journal Log : August 18, 33XX

The scent of freedom is invigorating... or was that the pine trees?

Anyway, now that I'm no longer under the employ of Sirea, I find myself at a loss of what to do... before, there was a heavy structure with barely any time to rest; now that I'm out in this world, the possibilities have started to become limitless.

Once I make it to the Dimension Port, I can board a ship there and begin to explore other Netherworlds. Perhaps, outside of this world, I can find my own niche.

MAKAI!

Nelius closed his Journal Log, placing it inside of his sack of personal belongings.

Since yesterday, he had been traveling on foot, stopping only to make use of the food in his bag, the occasional bathroom break, and when nightfall descended. Though this was his first official day outside of the castle, it actually was the second day he'd been traveling.

Reaching for his pillow and blanket, he heard a rustling noise that stopped him cold. Whipping his head toward the sound, he reached his right hand into his sack and pulled out an old, black and gold gauntlet. Its appearance was sharp, suggesting it had been used primarily for delivering blows that would tear a normal person's flesh apart. On the armpiece there were intricate drawings that had no normal way of being described.

'My father's prized weapon, the old family heirloom, Shatter Gauntlet.' Placing it onto his left arm, it covered his left hand down to his elbow. Flexing his fingers to test for any rustiness, he stood up and walked over to the source of the sound. Parting the bushes aside, what he saw made his blood turn ice cold.

A creature looked back at him. It seemed to take no shape at all, having an inky coloring that blended with the shade of the plants. Its eyes stared at him with a color indescribable to man, demon and angel alike. Yet, in the back of his mind, Nelius could easily swear that he'd seen this creature somewhere once before.

"Nelius..." It called to him in a calm voice that belied its appearance.

"Huh?" A wave of panic racked his body. How did this... thing know his name? "You know me?"

"Of course. You made the right decision in escaping Sirea."

"You've been stalking me?!" If he'd been a bit rattled then, he was definitely alarmed now.

"Watching over you, to be precise; a task someone gave to me many years ago."

"Who?"

"Forgive me, but I cannot tell you as of now... what I can do, is this.." From its body, a ball of darkened energy floated upward and hovered in the air, then moved to Nelius. "Consider it a gift."

"What the.. what is this?"

"As I said, a gift. With this, you can begin to harness the true power of darkness.."

"Hold on a second. Haven't I always heard that darkness was.."

"Evil? True, it is used by evil, but is never necessarily evil itself. Inheriently, many fear what they cannot control. Merely, light and darkness are little more than pawns in this constant struggle of good versus evil. You would do well to remember this."

"Okay, but, why me?"

"Consider me... a friend, from a former life." Its body dispersed. "I must go."

"Wait!" It was a bit late for Nelius to ask any questions. It was gone. 'A former life? What in the world...' Forgetting completely about the dark orb, he went to head back to his stuff, not even noticing that the orb had entered his body through his right hand, which was covered in a knuckle glove that had the captial A on the middle finger knuckle.

MAKAI!

Nelius Journal Log, August 19, 33XX

Such a strange occurance yesterday...

I was preparing to go to bed, when this strange creature approaches me. It knew my name, and even claimed to know me from a past life... whatever that means. It gave me some kind of orb and a talk on good versus evil, then disappeared.

I can only wonder what is going on.

At any rate, guessing from the distance that I've traveled, I've only got about another day or two of travel before I make it to the Port. The only thing I can do now is hope that Sirea's goons don't notice I escaped; otherwise, it's back to that prison again for me.

MAKAI!

Having climbed a tree, Nelius got the general lay of the land. As he had thought, he could see the Interdimensional Port, where traveling demons who made use of Dimension Ships could travel into other Netherworlds. His own chance to break away from the mundane was only a day away.

'There it is. From there, only a ship ride away will allow me to finally do as I have wanted.'

Because of the traveling and consumption of food, Nelius' bags have become significantly lighter, allowing him to carry them with ease; mostly to prevent would-be bandits from stealing his goods. He jumped down from the tree, landing on his feet, and proceeded to continue his travel toward the port. He had been moving through a rather hilly region, which allowed him to easily get a view of the area, but was all the while treacherous. He would continue walking for another two hours before nightfall, where he would enter into a remote town that's usually known as Midnight for the thick expanses of trees that cover the whole town, making it appear as if the town was constantly in nightfall.

'Let's see...' Nelius looked around, but saw that the trees above him blocked out any light from the sun or moon, making it noticibly cooler. 'Huh, can't see a thing around here. Need some kind of light.'

Almost instantly, the orb he'd received from the other day glowed from within his body, and adjusted his eyesight, making the inhabitants of the town and the buildings that were carved into the trees noticible.

'No idea how I did that, but it works.' He could see the demonic inhabitants of the town going about, doing their own things. Some of the humanoid demons were holding conversations with a few of the monster type demons that originally lived around the area; from Mothmen and Zombies to Nekomatas and Succubi, they all seemed to be getting along fine.

A low growl escaped his stomach. Aside from the two packs of dried meat he'd had back in the tree, he hadn't eaten much within the past few hours.

'Whoops. Better find somewhere to stock up for the rest of the trip.' Finding the RosenQueen Company shop, Midnight Branch near the center of the city, he had to keep a straight face as he walked by the citizens, noticing that most of them were giving him odd looks, or commenting that they'd never seen someone like him before. 'Just ignore them, the shop's right there in front of you.' He increased his pace and entered into the store. Working the counter today was a Kunoichi, a Female Ninja. Though Kunoichi weren't as physically strong as their male counterparts, they had excellent magical proficiency and could gain powerful speed bursts that allowed them to attack twice in one strike.

Her violet eyes watched him suspiciously as he entered the store, headed for the food section of the store, and began picking out goods that wouldn't perish very easily; after all, he was going to be stowing away on a ship for God knows how long. The trip could be any time from a day to several weeks long, and he needed enough to last out at least two weeks.

Taking his selection to the front counter, the Kunoichi took count of his items, and rang up the total of 4,942 Hell. Reaching for the pouch in his left pocket, he counted out the exact amount, and handed it to the cashier. As she counted out the money and placed it into the register, Nelius placed the items he'd bought into his travel bag. Slinging it over his shoulder, he left the store. Though he had to face the stares of the populace again, he had gotten what he came for, so he hadn't any need to worry.

Right as he was about to leave town, someone called out to him.

"Hey, stranger." This voice was feminine, having just a hint of teasing to it.

'Damn. Thought I could get out of here easily.' Not even turning around to face his onlookers, he kept walking toward the entrance of the city. From the sound of the footsteps, there were three people following him on foot. One of them was wearing some type of footwear, the other walked barefoot, and the last one had the strange sound of foilage moving as it followed him. He continued walking, leading them outside of the city before he would confront them. He lead them about a good mile east before stopping.

"Never knew some people could be so persistant." He called to them as he turned around.

His followers consisted of a Nekomata, a cat demon with the body of a mature woman known for their powerful kicks, counterattacks, and unique martial arts; an Alraune, a female spirit that resided inside of a flower, and used techniques of nature to attack her opponents; and a Succubus, a female demon known for its alluring attire and ability to deal more damage toward male characters.

"Well, isn't this my day?" He said, an odd grin adorning his face. "So, to what do I owe this visit?" Though he had taken the open approach to this, his mind was currently going over several scenarios as to how he could get out of this situation alive. He knew that taking care of the Nekomata would be fairly easy, since all but one of their attacks required close quarter combat, but the Alraune could easily nail him with several attacks, since they were still inside the woods, though the foilage had thinned out considerably, and the Succubus would just need to get close in order to begin dealing her damage.

"Oh, nothing... much." The Nekomata grinned at him, her teeth glistening in the minute amounts of moonlight.

"Yes, we're awfully lonely; we just want a bit of company." The Alraune saw this as her turn to attempt to tease him.

"Just for one night, sugar." The Succubus winked at him. "How about it?"

"Normally, I would be enamored by such requests," He started, as he placed one foot behind him, "but I don't acquaint myself with someone I don't know." With the cracking sound of a gunshot, he'd turned around and was gone. The three girls giggled to themselves before giving chase.

Nelius was speeding through the forest, thinking on how he could lose his three pursuers.

'It won't be too easy. The Nekomata can easily exceed my current speed, and I find it surprising that the Alraune isn't bending the trees to block me. The Succubus can fly to a degree, so it can just... float over... the..'

The thought hit him like a felled tree, if you'd pardon the bad analogy. As he ran, he could feel something inside of his back reaching out through his shoulder blades. In about three minutes, a medium sized pair of demon wings sprouted from his back, destroying a good part of his shirt and splashing some blood everywhere. It had been years since his wings were ever let out for a stretch. The cartilage structure was green, with red coloring on the inside of his wings; the backside was a stark gray in contrast.

"Damn!" He hissed as the pain shot through his back, but subsided rather quickly. "I forgot to release them every few months to keep them from doing something like this." He had no more time to chide himself as the Succubus was flying right at him. Giving an experimental flap of his wings, he took a leap into the air as the demon passed straight underneath him. He quickly landed on an outstretched branch, taking in the view of his surroundings. The Nekomata had easily jumped up to a branch equal to his, and the Alraune was using the vines on the underside of her flower to climb the tree. The Succubus just landed on a branch behind him. 'Well, this is not the way I expected to leave town.' As the three females launched themselves toward him, he prepared to jump, when, in the blink of an eye, he was teleported a good distance away as the three crashed into each other.

'Whoa, what the heck was that?' He wondered.

"Netherburst.." A voice seemed to command from inside of himself.

'Huh? Netherburst?'

"A technique outmatched only through light. With this, distance is only a blink away."

'Why do I get the feeling this was scripted?' The voice he heard earlier wasn't saying anything. 'Never mind that, at least it got those three off of my tail.' As he looked over to where they were, he noticed that they were gone.

"Ohh, boy, where did you go?" The teasing voice of the Alraune made Nelius shiver.

"Come on out, we won't bite... hard." The Nekomata was the next to try and lure him out.

"Don't be shy, we just wanted to play." The Succubus' comment caused a literal chill to race up and down his spine.

When he looked down, the three looked upward, and the chase was on for the second time.

'Shit! I'm seriously beginning to think I've got the worst luck with women!' He told himself as he jumped from branch to branch, barely making each jump. 'I wonder if I was cursed in a past life.' He knew that he couldn't keep this up forever; his wings were still relatively new to him, and his legs were beginning to tire out. He had to find some way to end this chase, and quick.

His wings had an icy sensation flow through them, which stopped him on the branch. His three pursuers stopped on their own branches.

"Ohhh, looks like he tired out." The Nekomata was the first to notice. She looked to her comrades. "What do you say we.. re-energize him, girls?"

They giggled to themselves, and were about to jump at Nelius, when they noticed something odd about him.

His wings, now glowing with star energy (it's analogous to electricity), were aimed downward. He looked at all three of them.

"Hasta la vista!" With that, the wings fired off their energy, creating photonic bursts that illuminated the whole forest, blinding Nelius' pursuers, and launching him several feet backwards, out of the woods and toward his goal: the Dimension Port.

He continued for about thirty seconds, at which he ran out of power. As he fell, he rotated around so his wings would allow him to glide toward the city. Though his wings were rather tired ot, they had enough strength to allow him to glide for a while.

MAKAI!

Nelius Journal Log: August 20, 33XX

I finally made it. After a truly strange three days, I have made it to the Dimension Port City, without having any of Sirea's vassals finding me.

Now, the only thing standing between me and my freedom is a ride on a ship. Only real problem is, there's so many ships. How am I to choose?

I guess I have only one solution: just choose a ship and be done with it.

MAKAI!

Whew. This is easily the longest I have ever written in the course of two days.

Next chapter introduces the OC of a good friend of mine.

Until next chapter,

Cornell Valentine Gainsborough