Chapter 25 Awake to Justice: Fate
The Lair of Judgment was silent. Only the faint echoes of the commotion occurring outside the walls of the Tower could be heard. Sparda and Anna stood motionless in the center of the hall with the body of her dead father close by.
"So, how are we going do this?"
Anna's mind was adrift about her father's destiny and her own, the fate of the human world, and her peculiar relationship with this strange demon, and so she did not seem to hear Sparda's question.
"Anna!"
"Y-yes…" She snapped back into reality. She knew that she still had a mission to complete and all that had been done this night would have been in vain if she did not finish it.
"This…" Anna held out the brown book[1] in her hands, "The answers we seek lie in here."
If Sparda had had eyebrows he would have raised one in puzzlement. "And what is that supposed to do?"
"This book is the counter-balance to everything that has happened. I have waited so long for this moment, so long to find someone like you; a being from their world that would help us…" Anna opened the book and began to flip through its pages with an uncanny familiarity. She had gone through these steps so many times in her head but she never believed she would ever get a chance to use them. And yet, here they were.
"This book tells of a way to shut the Darkness away for good, a way to destroy this tower." Anna continued to thumb through pages until she stopped at the page she wanted. "Here."
Sparda turned his body to face her, unconsciously squeezing the handle of his sword as he did so. Anna took deep breaths to calm herself, preparing to tell Sparda how he could single-handedly end the war between humans and demons. She cleared her throat and spoke, "Well, the first key that we will need is the blood of a devil. But it cannot be any devil; it must be the blood of a demon that has chosen the path of righteousness…" Anna looked at Sparda intently, searching for any signs of hesitation.
"So, you need my blood then…" Sparda's words trailed off as his head turned down and to the left.
"Yes..." Anna said as if making a plea to Sparda.
"Then…so be it." Without hesitation, Sparda took his sword and sliced himself through his left forearm, allowing his lifeblood to splash on the ground and into the glowing crevice in the center of hall. Both Anna and Sparda looked on as the fluid continued to flow. Sparda seemed ready to give all the lifeblood in his body for this cause as he squeezed his wrist, causing the obsidian ichor to flow faster. [2]
"That should be enough, Sparda," Anna said as a cold sweat began to break out on her forehead. "Now….it says that a devil's power must be harnessed outside the realm of Hell and kept in the human world. Again, this power must be that of a demon with a proud spirit and a righteous soul."
"Hmm, harnessed in the human world? How do you propose I do that?"
"Well, you need to channel your power and….and secure it inside something. Something…solid…."[3] Anna's mind raced and she wondered if what she had just said sounded as absurd as she thought.
Something solid…Sparda thought. Then a thought illuminated his mind as he looked up at Anna. He did not look into her eyes but instead focused on the charm around her neck.
"Will this not work? It is of demonic origin, after all."[4] Sparda pointed to it with his sword.
Anna looked down at the charm and grabbed it with her free hand, "This?" Memories of Abel hit her instantly. He was the one who had given the charm to her so long ago. It was his last gift to her before he went away, for a long time. "This…this amulet was given to me by Abel…I…think it is only right that good will come of its use."
Anna took the charm from around her neck and handed it to Sparda. He placed it on the ground and unsheathed his sword from between his wings. Red and black wisps of energy exuded from his body and were drawn up into his sword, causing its gem to pulsate and crackle in the ether. Then, in a flash, he raised his sword into the air with the tip pointed down and pierced the amulet, causing an intense red flash to shoot out from all sides. A surging wind arose, knocking Anna to the ground, causing the entire Tower to tremor. But within seconds, the quake stopped and a faint wind trailed off and dissipated.
As the dust settled, Anna looked down at the amulet which was now glowing a bright red, illuminating its silver exterior. Sparda picked up the amulet and held it out toward Anna, "Here, I think it will be safe with you. I have only infused it with my residual energy, but it should be more than enough in my present state." She took the amulet and clutched it tightly.
"What is the next step?" Sparda said, growing anxious and cold from the thought of closing the portal to his erstwhile home, Hell.
"Nothing. That….that's it. It doesn't say anything else. I suppose now we just have to wait for the seal to take effect."
"Hm..." Sparda said as he clamped his sword on his back and folded him arms. "And so we wait."
Outside the lair and around the Temen-Ni-Gru, an intense battle raged on as the human Resistance was slowly making its way up the tower. Demons seemed to fall faster than ever before as the sheer will of the humans overwhelmed them. Their battle cries and screams echoed on into the night sky, blending with the sounds of the swirling winds from above.
The final assault had begun. The end of the war was nigh….
Inside the Lair of Judgment, Anna and Sparda waited for the spell to take effect, but to their chagrin nothing seemed to be stirring. Not so much as a sound.
"What are we waiting for? We do not have time! Why does this not work!" Sparda growled impatiently. He grew more apprehensive, knowing that an overwhelming surge of demons could stream from the portal at any moment if it was not closed soon.
"I don't know what's wrong. It's suppose to be working! The book doesn't say anything else!" Anna cried, flipping through the pages of the book once more. But then a realization hit her like freezing rain. Her face fell pale and her jaw dropped as she looked at the pages of the book. How did I not see this? She thought to herself. On closer inspection of the book she noticed something; small bits of torn paper lay within the spine of the book in between the pages. A missing page!
"Oh no!" Anna yelled, her voice cracking mid-sentence.
"What is it!" Sparda roared, noticing the fear in her voice.
"A page…it's missing! Someone tore it out! We…we can't finish the spell….there is one more key….but I don't know what it is! This was our last hope...now there's no way to seal the portal!" Dread and dismay overcame her and her face trembled in horror as she looked at Sparda.
Sparda did not know what to do. He did not know what to say. Once again he was staring failure in the face, and this time, he had no answer for it. His heart beat faster and faster as he began to rebel against his fate, and his frustration threatened to overcome him...
Then, suddenly, a thunderous boom exploded from above the tower and an indescribable bright light poured into the Lair of Judgment, forcing Sparda and Anna to shield their eyes. Sparda had already assumed an offensive stance regardless of his sight; he assumed that Beowulf had come back for another round, as stubborn as always. But, as the light receded Sparda looked up to see a horrifying scene.
White feathers fell upon him and the cold floor of the hall ever so silently. What had once been the echo of a deafening crash now faded into the faint resonance of a heavenly choir. A holy trinity of false luminaries was ascendant in the soft, warm light that bathed the Lair. And before him, as if Sparda was seeing him the very first time in his life, was Mundus resplendent. [5]
Standing between Sparda and Anna, Mundus stood only inches taller than Sparda. It seemed that he had reverted back to his original, natural state of being. Sparda was at a loss for words. Anna looked up at Mundus' angelic form in rapt astonishment, even adoration.[6]
"Hmm, you do not seem pleased to see me, young Sparda."
Sparda's shock slowly began to give way to his growing anger as he took up his sword. "Mundus…."
"I see you have kept yourself busy in my short absence," Mundus chuckled, crossing his arms in front of his chest. "You see, Sparda, as I told you before, you can never defeat me, no matter how strong you think you are. I will proceed with my plans to rule this world. But first, I will burn it to the ground, unleashing my entire army upon it, choking it, razing it, until all that is left are the memories of a forgotten race. And upon the ruins of mankind, I will build my new Kingdom, as upon Argosax' remains before. All will look on my works and despair, for none mightier than Mundus has there been, and none mightier shall there ever be.….."
Sparda had had enough. The very sight of Mundus at this point made him sick. At this moment, he was tired of fighting. He was disgusted with the seemingly endless storm of evil and strife and failure. He was tired of having to prove himself to be just over and over. The rage built within him and he could feel himself doing it again, losing control, no—this time, giving it away. His body left the ground and lunged toward Mundus before he could even think.
With a violent battle cry, he extended his sword outward as he blazed across the ground. The last thing he remembered was the haughty, smirking face of Mundus. As he made contact, an incredible light filled the lair, and the entire tower glowed. All Sparda could hear was a faint scream that was suddenly cut short. There was one more thunderous bang and the light was sucked out of the lair faster than the eye could see. Sparda struggled to refocus his eyes on the scene.
As his eyes made the adjustment, he looked forward hoping vainly to see the dead body of Mundus on his blade once and for all. But beyond all odds he had done almost the exact opposite. He had done the unthinkable. His eyes widened as he looked into the eyes of Anna. Her face trembled as a thin line of blood ran from the corner of her mouth; it was as if she and the blade merged into one horrific mass of visceral agony.
Sparda looked down at his sword in total horror, as half of it was extended through Anna's stomach and peering out through her back. He panicked and quickly pulled his blade out, causing her wound to bleed even more violently. Anna slowly dropped to the ground but Sparda cradled her before she fell. She was still alive, barely, and in shock from the blood loss and pain. Sparda he did not know what to say or what to do; he knew she had only minutes to live at most. He gasped for air frantically as he dropped his blade and looked into her eyes. "I…..I…."
Tears flowed from Anna's eyes once more. Somehow, she managed to speak, "You…you are our last hope…" Her words trailed off and her eyes closed. As her lips seemed to form a faint smile, her body fell completely limp and she exhaled her last breath.[7]
Sparda could not believe what he had just done. His scaly fingers quivered as he held Anna's still warm body in his arms. Indescribable emotions ran through his mind and the only way he knew how to express them now was through pure rage.
His eyes became an incredible flaming bright red and an aura of red and black energy began emitting from his chest.
He was totally disgusted with himself. He wanted to claw the very armor from his body and send himself into oblivion. Pure hate and self-loathing blasted through his veins. The anger continued to grow. The rage, the pain, the conflict. He could feel himself slipping once more, slipping into the black abyss within. And this time, he did not care; he no longer had a reason to care. He had failed in his mission and what was worse, he had killed the one being that not only showed him the path of righteousness, but showed him that demons can care about beings other than themselves.
Nothing else mattered to him as he continued to search for more reasons to build his rage and feed the emotions he did not want to know how to control. There was only one thought that needed to cross his mind for him to totally lose it, "Mundus!"
Uttering that name, Sparda's raw power belted through the tower causing it to crack and break around its exterior. All who stood in and around the Tower stopped in their tracks and looked to its apex. He had become another being, all the righteousness in his soul was now being choked by his blind rage, his power. He had given his body up to his dark side, the side that relished in conquest, the side that, if left unchecked, could ultimately destroy both worlds.
Red flames tinged with black surged around the whole of his body, extending across his wings making them seem three times larger. All thoughts of saving the human world left his mind. He now had one goal and one goal only: the death of Mundus.
He teleported away so fast that space literally snapped back into place behind him leaving a visible ripple and a loud crack, and barreled back towards the portal. He ventured to Hell to defeat the Dark Emperor once again, but it was no longer for the sake of humans. He was doing it to satisfy his rejuvenated bloodlust, the one he had denied for so long in his pretense of justice, and to quell the firestorm of emotions that had arisen from killing the only being truly mattered to him. There was no more hope, no more justice; now there was only vengeance...
[1, 4] This book and amulet are also key items in the aforementioned "Testament of Qayin," which accounts for their abrupt introduction and lack of exposition surrounding them in this text. ~Ed.
[2] From the still fragmentary commentary De Natura Daemonibus Scientia by pseudo-Ivanos: "Their [blood] seems not to carry the vital [essence] as in earthly animals; the power is in the blood. Indeed, it appears to have a noxious effect when co-mingled with [...] although this effect is curiously [...] when in contact with the [pineal?] dew, as in infants. Thought it be devoid of the vitality, this chthonic ichor does [...] great potencies of these beings which may be fermented and [distilled] alchemical processes for benefit to the earthly organism. The [...] makes the poison. I must have more [varieties] of the fluid from various species of infernal organism if I am to understand it fully." ~Ed.
[3] The word "solid" here is used not to refer to the density of a physical material, but rather to contrast to the ethereal nature which is conceived as characterizing the demonic nature. In alchemical terms, this is called "fixing the volatile," i.e. decreasing the ontological potentiality of an entity for the purpose of increasing its ability to affect the physical world. An analogous process seems to be at work in the passages in which the demons "Alastor" and "Ifrit" are transformed into physical weapons. Although the intentions of the author cannot be known for certain, it is obvious that he was conversant with the Hermetic current of his time. ~Ed.
[5] This passage is striking in that it incorporates a more poetic, astrological symbolism. One cannot deny the echoes of Dante's Paradiso, although it is very unlikely that this was the source of inspiration. It is most likely a coded astrological or alchemical formula, albeit one which has yet to be decoded ~Ed.
[6] This appears to be another veiled Naasene Zurvanite critique of the God of the Abrahamic traditions, depicting "God" as nothing but an arrogant, powerful devil. This, in addition to the heavy Demiurgic symbolism of the character "Mundus" throughout the text, implies that "Didymus" may have been a member of a Zurvanite sect or at least familiar with their tenets. ~Ed.
[7] The original manuscript includes abiguous language here. It seems to imply that this was Anna's last breath of this life, perhaps indicating some belief in reincarnation which was not uncommon at the time. It also mentioned the "amulet's soul" and the fact that it now "breathes for her." The development and significance of the soul concept from the phenomenological experience of the breath in primitive religions is not lost on this editor or his colleagues. ~Ed.