Chapter 15 Good and Evil

"Sparda..." Mundus' words came out slowly, with subtle undertones of restrained malice. Sparda stood tall before the monument to Mundus, not so much as twitching a muscle to attempt a bow.

"Heed my words, loyal servant. Tomorrow is a day that will be remembered forever; the day I shall begin my rule of both worlds. You will lead my dark forces in a final assault on their realm. Make preparations for your generals to gain complete control of the Human World. Report back to me when your task is done."

And with that, Sparda took his leave. Still blindly believing he was the Commander of Hell's Army, unaware that he was playing right into Mundus' hands, Sparda rushed inexorably toward his fate…..

Making his way through Temen-Ni-Gru, Sparda was out to perform Mundus' bidding, at least to the extent that it still suited him to do so. The continued growth of emotions within Sparda frequently left him dazed and confused, if for no other reason than his futile attempts to make sense of them. Sometimes he had to visit Anna in order understand these emerging facets of his being.

Some of them, however, he already knew. His defiance of Mundus both frightened and exhilarated him; standing up to a being like Mundus meant death...or worse. The disgust he felt at being treated as a mere servant angered him but he did not understand why he felt it. This is what sent him to Anna that night.

On his way, though, he stopped to visit the generals within the Tower. His first destination was the Arachnid Nest, to talk to Phantom. But, there he found only Arachnes, languishing over the prey caught in their gossamer webs. Phantom has abandoned his post, he thought to himself.

Through the Fire-Storm Chamber, Agni and Rudra gave him the cold shoulder, not uttering so much as a word. Sparda began to feel that he was an outcast among his own people.

He delved deeper into the Temen-Ni-Gru, to the subterranean Opera House. Just outside the cathedral door to the Electric Witch's lair, Sparda heard the scream of a human. He swung the door open casually to find Nevan hunched over a man, sucking him dry... She turned to see Sparda, and a huge, fang-filled smile spread across her face.

"Hey sugar...I knew you'd come back one day..." she slinked over to Sparda, wiping the thick, warm fluids from her face. Except for the burgundy hair covering her chest, she was totally nude, her pallid skin radiant in the warm glow of the Opera House.

"Cover yourself, wench..." Sparda turned his head away. Nevan huffed angrily, and summoned bats to create a gown, hiding her lower body.

"So hon, I guess you're not here to see me?" She said as she strutted away from Sparda, planting a seat on the stairs of the stage. She looked at him with a pouting lip.

"I am…but not for the reasons you want..."

"Oh, what a shame, sugar..." She leaned back and crossed her legs, opening them a little more than necessary while doing so. Sparda maintained his composure, until he felt a tugging sensation below his abdomen. He looked down to see a man with two open wounds on his neck, clutching his leg frantically.

"Please...help me..." A wave of emotion hit Sparda with full force. But there is nothing I can do for this one... he thought. With a flash, Sparda had pierced his sword through the man's heart, killing him instantly.

"Ooh, how merciless..." Nevan purred, obviously turned on by Sparda's brutal display of power. She glided over to his side immediately. "You sure you're not here to... 'see' me?" She ran her hand over Sparda's face, and began to move it down his abdomen. His clawed hand shot up to hers instantly, breaking her wrist. He threw her to the ground, next to the limp body of her last victim.

"Mmm, a little kinky for you, hon," she said, not even fazed.

"Mundus has issued an order to prepare for the final assault. Tomorrow is the day he will take over this world."

Sparda turned and walked out the door. The words of Mundus echoed in his head, reminding him that he was to report back after the generals had been alerted. I must see her first...he thought to himself as he exited the Temen-Ni-Gru….

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Nighttime in the human world always seemed the same to humans, but to Sparda even the blackness of the night sky blazed brightly with invisible radiance. The cold wind rushed over his armor plated carapace and would have given him goosebumps if his anatomy allowed it.

The glow from the portal high in sky made the night seem like dawn, emanating light around the apex of the Tower. The Human World always seemed so torrid to Sparda. How can creatures such as....her...exist in such conditions?

As he flew onwards, his gaze finally met Anna's. She froze in mid-step, and quickly looked Sparda up and down trying to make sure it was him. Just as quick as he made eye contact, she ducked into the bushes. Does she still fear me? It reverberated in Sparda's mind the entire time he gave chase.

By the time he had reached the bushes and jumped through them, she was nowhere to be seen. He looked around quickly to see a few limbs snapping back to place. He leapt through the brush to see fresh marks on a tree a few feet away.

He walked to the tree slowly, inspecting his surroundings, looking for Anna. He looked up, hand to hilt, expecting to see her. Nothing. Just then, there was a click behind his head.

"For a trained killer, you sure do fall for the same tricks over and over..."

Sparda sighed, "Yes, I suppose I do." He turned around to face her and stared down the barrel of the pistol. "Then again...none of your 'tricks' can really harm me. That weapon isn't even loaded, nor do you have ammunition to load it with…and even it if was..."

She lowered the gun, "I guess not." Anna walked away from him a little, and leaned up against the tree. "What brings you back here, more slaughtering of my people?" she asked sardonically.

"No. Even if that were the case, I fail to understand your pessimistic views on the subject..."

"How dare you say that!" Anna screamed in a hushed tone, trying to stay hidden from her comrades. She knew that no one else would understand if she was seen talking with a demon. "Even the darkness that dwells in your soul must have some compassion! What if a member of a party you go with is killed, will you not take revenge for them?"

"Of course I will." Sparda continued talking with Anna, not picking up on the tone the conversation was carrying. To him, there was no difference between talking about compassion and revenge and "evil" than there was talking about the weather. "That is my duty as a soldier. To allow the enemy to escape would bring dishonor to my clan. Is that evil? To take revenge?"

"You don't get it do you? What your comrades have done is evil! What you have done is evil."

"How so? I follow orders, and my orders are to kill those who stand in my 'master's' way. There is no evil in our world." Sparda saw that Anna was not pleased with his words, and the entire conversation began to anger him. Frustrated, Sparda spoke again, "You should know…..I never wanted to come here in the first place…." Anna looked up from the ground and into Sparda's eyes. "If there was something that I could do to reverse all of this, as if it had never happened, I would…"

This was just the moment Anna had been waiting for, "Well….." She tried to swallow but her mouth went dry, "There may be one way….." Anna pulled out the brown book that she had been carrying since the day she met Abel. She held it close to her chest.

"What do you mean?"

Anna did not respond as she stood trembling and anxious, afraid to say what she had to, for fear of the possible consequences. "Well….what do you mean by that?" Sparda repeated. She remained silent. "I do not have time for this" Sparda prepared to go back to Hell.

Anna saw her only chance slipping away and went on the offensive again. "It is not right to kill, to murder others for your master! As long as you continue to serve him, there is no way things will go back to how they were before."

"I beg your pardon?" Sparda's voice became a silent roar. "I do those things because it is my will to do so. I do what I see fit, regardless of what I am told. If it so happens that killing a few meaningless humans will ensure my survival, then that is what I will do."

"That is just not…..it is not right." Anna is almost sickened by the words of this demon, this "Sparda." Here she thought that this demon might have been the counter-balance to her father. She looks at Sparda, and is almost able to see into his soul but it is consistently overwhelmed by his demonic appearance.

"I see good within you…..You don't have to be evil. You have a choice….." Anna's words cut deep into Sparda's mind. Tears started to pour from her eyes.

"You are doing that again..." Sparda pointed to Anna's face, obviously annoyed at the interruption. She turned her head away from him.

"Just go! Leave me alone..."

He felt like he had swallowed a rock, and a rather large one at that. Sparda lowered his head in what appeared to be shame, and turned back to the Devil's Tower. "I am sorry..."

On his way flying back up the side of the Tower, he remembered her words...

"You have a choice..."

The words echoed in his mind. Suddenly, the thought of Mundus interrupted his contemplation. If Mundus ever found out what he had said, that he had used the same irreverent words that Mundus himself had used long ago, Sparda would not have lived long enough to regret his blasphemy. But Anna's words continued to reverberate around the thought of Mundus' retribution. Like two warriors, the feelings clashed in his mind, until, just before the Gate, he silently uttered to himself:

"You're wrong. I don't have a choice..."