Disclaimer: Tekken is, unfortunately, not my property. But Reaper/Jaez is mine!
The Gateway
Click. Click. Click. The sound of Jaez's knee-length, high-heeled boots, echoed icily through the empty hallway. Her billowing cloak fanned out behind her and brushed her black wings. She had been so engrossed in her thoughts that she had only then noticed the unbecoming austerity that had gradually encroached on the place.
How odd. There are no lights in this corridor.
She paused and glanced around, confused.
There were no guards at the entrance either…. she frowned. Something's not right…
In that moment she heard the hushed voices of several demons occupying one of the rooms at the end of the hall.
The advisors?
Walking toward the room on the balls of her feet so that her heels would not make any noise, Jaez decided to listen in on the clandestine conversation. Why hadn't she been called? She was supposed to know of all meetings in this place…
"We cannot tell Reaper!" said one of the demons from the other side of the door. They were clearly unaware of her presence. Apparently their hearing wasn't as good as they claimed it to be.
"Why not? She is Veldor's chief advisor. She should know!"
"She CANNOT!" answered a third demon angrily with his grisly voice.
His voice sounds familiar. Jaez pressed her ear to the door as best she could.
"Why Not?" the second demon questioned again. He was unmistakably annoyed.
"We can not trust her! I'm sure she is the reason that the damned half-breed kept evading our capture!" claimed the third demon.
Suddenly the demon's identity became clear. Haze? What the hell is he doing out of the dungeon?!
"Why would you say something so preposterous?"
"Because it is the TRUTH," Haze said sharply. It seemed so odd to hear him show so much…emotion.
"Enough. All of you. It does not matter whether Reaper is a traitor or not. What we need to do now is let Veldor know of the location of the Gateway," Came the calm response of yet another demon.
Jaez nearly gasped. The Gateway? They know where it is? But how?
In the next moment her mental question was answered as the demon continued to talk.
"We were fortunate. That blasted half-breed was careless. I really don't care why he left South America in such a frenzy, but we know where the Gateway is now. All we have to do is tell Veldor, and convince him that it is no longer necessary to keep the human alive. We just need the blood of her unborn," he finished plainly.
"Well then what are we waiting for?"
Jaez straightened up with a horrified look on her face. Oh God. I have to get Julia out of here now! She heard the demons moving to leave the room and before they could make it to the door, Jaez took off down the hallway.
_________________________
"I have absolutely no idea as to what that says," Julia said defeated. She was looking down at a bunch of Japanese symbols written in black ink.
"Look at them closely," Obsidian had a clearly amused look on her face, "and try again."
Julia squinted her eyes and brought the paper closer to her face, "I have no idea," she tossed the paper down and threw her arms up, "Who knew learning Japanese would be so difficult!"
Before Obsidian could so much as formulate an answer to her expression, Jaez burst through the door. Both Julia and Obsidian looked up at her in surprise.
"Jaez?" Julia inquired, "What wrong? You look like you're being chased by lions or something."
"We have to get you out of here Julia," Jaez said frantically as she approached them.
"Huh? I thought you said it was too dangerous…not that I'm complaining about getting out of here," Julia said quickly and then stood up.
"They know where the Gateway is. They saw Jin leaving the Amazon and now they know where it is. They don't care about keeping you alive anymore," Jaez paused, "The demons are going to kill you and your babies."
Julia was speechless. She put her arms around her stomach instinctively and was shaking her head hysterically. Her lips mouthed the word "no," over and over again.
Before anyone had moved a muscle, the doors flung wide open again. This time Veldor and numerous guards walked through the doorway. Jaez straightened up and masked her horror with the face of confusion.
"My lord. What are you doing here?" she asked respectfully while cocking her head to the side.
"The time has come Reaper. The Gateway has been found and it's guardian has left. There is no need to continue waiting. We can finally return to our home realm," he explained as a pair of demons stepped forward to grab Julia roughly by the arms.
"It has been found?!" Jaez faked surprise. There are too many demons here, she thought I can't get Julia out now…
"Yes," he turned around walked out.
"Let go of me!" Julia screamed as she struggled to pull away, "You bastards… Let. Go. Of. ME!!"
_____________________________________________
"No. No. No," Julia whispered in desperation as tears streamed down her face, "Not the temple…"
They were standing in front of the massive stone structure. It loomed above them like a giant waiting to be taken down. It's step-pyramid shape had once been fascinating but now, the monolith meant Julia's death and the world's destruction.
Jaez stood helplessly by as the two largest guards held onto Julia's arms more effectively than handcuffs. You couldn't pick them…
Think Jaez…Think!! Jaez' emotionless face masked the turmoil that was wreaking havoc with her mind.
Several demons stepped forward at Veldor's signal.
The demolition crew.
In one swift but deadly synchronized movement, the dozen demons rammed the wall of the temple with their own bodies. A shudder ran through the entire structure and a tremor was felt through the ground as they rammed it once, twice…
Half of the temple gave way and came crashing down, landing in demolished pieces around the standing half. Several chambers of the temple could be seen as the dust cleared.
"There," Veldor said as he pointed to the largest of the cavities. "That is the main chamber. The Gateway chamber," he turned to the 125 demons who stood behind him, "Let's go home," he smirked.
In silent…well, almost silent (Julia was still yelling)…procession the demons entered the 3000 year old edifice. As they all gathered in the enormous room, Julia suddenly stopped yelling. She saw the large 10-foot wide Gateway on an enormous platform that curled high above the demons. A large wall had been build directly behind it. It looked like a pair of slick black curled horns pointing up. (__) At it's base were several strange symbols arranged in a circle five feet in diameter. In the very center was the most prominent one. To Julia, they seemed to have a tribal-style.
Julia stared wide-eyed at the enormous structure as the demons shoved her onto the platform and threw her down into the center of the circle of symbols.
God please help me…..
______________________________________________________________________
A/n: Oh no!! What's going to happen to Julia…??? Wait for the next chapter and find out…
Next Chapter: "Sacrifice"
