Yes, I'm updating more. See, I had this idea all worked out, but I just couldn't motivate myself to do it. But now that I've actually started, I wanna do as much as possible, both to make up for my long absence and to get it all done before I get un-motivated again.
May 11, 2014
Without death, life is meaningless. It is a story that can never be told. A song that can never be sung. For how would one finish it?
-Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter
DK's POV:
Once my feet left terra firma in the Greed chapter, I stepped into an endless white abyss, falling through the air without any control or any sign of slowing down. On the plus side, it was like freefalling in a dream, and I calmly crossed my arms midair and leaned back to wait. Suddenly my downward decent abruptly halted, and I looked around in confusion. It almost looked like the beginning of the book, with the swirls of magical writing I didn't understand and the empty white space all around. Suddenly a silent, white explosion bloomed about sixty feet in front of me, rapidly turning into dark fire that flickered and grew into the same grainy, gritty black substance Arro could disappear into. It grew, and grew, and grew, and my neck slowly tilted back as it rose above me, forming into a loose, humanoid, fluid shape. Yatte, kutabare, and jigoku. This is not going to end well. I thought as I swallowed slightly, then licked my lips. "Black Mass?" I croaked, then cleared my throat into my fist. "Sorry about that. I'm new to this whole business."
It swayed slightly, and then the dripping mass that was its mouth opened. "Rage." I winced as the word whispered harshly through the reality we were trapped in. "One was consumed by Asura, and now six remain. Myself, the Grim Reaper, Eibon, Excalibur, you, and Fear. And then there are fragments." I scowled slightly. "Yeah, we kinda know about those. Fear is involved with the Grim Reaper's fragment, and your fragment kidnapped her and is experimenting on her. How do we stop him? You owe it to-" A huge wave of Madness slammed against my temples as it leaned forward, towering over me, and I winced as the blobs of its grainy black mass flickered and dripped onto my shoulders. "Hear me well, Rage. Who do you presume you are talking to? You take naïve comfort in the knowledge that I am a Great Old One like you. But I am not your ally. I am nothing of the sort. Order, Madness, Knowledge, Fear, Anger, Power, the very presence of the Great Old Ones plunges men into madness. You do not have this power."
I straightened in rage. "Why you little…kutabare, yaro! How dare you, bastard!" I spat, anger flooding my entire being as my fists clenched. "Do you know how much blood, sweat, and tears I've gone through in the last few years alone?! I am not taking this from some squid-octopus-jello-thing that claims to be a Great Old One! You either take responsibility for your fragment or I'm done trying to reason with you!" More and more dribbles and thick gouts of the sticky black fluid that made up the mass deluged me, and I wiped the muck away from my eyes angrily. "My sister is in trouble and you won't do anything when you're the only one who knows how to beat that damn fragment of yours!" Suddenly the entire mass enveloped me, and crushing blackness filled my entire vision. So dark… The blackness was so dark it seemed to swallow up everything, and I felt madness battering at my body and senses.
How does it feel, Rage? I blinked and turned a little, trying to see something in the complete darkness and crushing madness around me. This is what power is. Uncontrolled desire, completely unfettered by reason or restraint. I grant power impartially to whomever I choose. You have read through this book and experienced the Seven Deadly Sins firsthand, have you not? Let me ask you: if another Sin was added to the Seven Deadly Sins, what do you think it would be? That answer is this hidden chapter. Absolute power corrupts absolutely. I am the personification of that. But YOU, Rage… The pressure increased sharply around me as my ears popped, and I felt a trickle of blood ooze down my nose. You do not have this ability. You have been diluted and whittled down from your original station. Fear is no different. You are no longer at the rank of a Great Old One. I gritted my teeth and raised a hand, moving it through the thick substance sluggishly to wipe my nose.
"So what if I'm not? I learned to adapt. I can't associate with humans, even my old host, without driving them insane with Rage unless I tune down my wavelength. Humans are interesting to me, and I don't really deal with being a pedestal god all that well. Seems too pretentious. I adapted into a more human form and power level to associate with the people who depended on me. Does that make me any less of a Great Old One?" I said quietly, and the pressure decreased just a little. I judge in terms of Power, because I AM power. You lack the normal Power of the Great Old One, so I judge accordingly. When I cut a fragment out of myself to create the one known as Arro, it was not so he could repeat the mistakes of the other fragments. He craves Power in all forms and in all ways, and he will resist any effort to return him to me. You have your work cut out for you, Rage.
"Work doesn't mean yatte if we get Kage back alive and unharmed. What's his weaknesses?" I felt myself catapulted out of the mass, and my body seemed to expand from the compression it had been in as I turned, seeing the Black Mass looking as inscrutable as ever. "The Book of Eibon will be able to easily hold him in place. All you have to do is catch him in the pages as Noah does to catch the various creatures and spirits he puts in his collection." I blinked. "Yeah, but we don't know how to use the Book like that-" I tried, but it interrupted me. "I will release you and the others so you may start your preparations." I blinked. "Wait, so if you have the power to go in and out what are you doing in here-" The Black Mass seemed incapable of letting me finish a sentence. "A Great Old One such as myself belongs in such a place. Rage, good luck in regaining my fragment."
Hazel's POV:
"WHOOOOOAAAA!" I shrieked as the ground underneath me buckled and sent us flying, Kid and Akuma crying out beside and beneath me as the sky went white and the magical letters like in the beginning of the book started swirling around us in long chains. "Yo, freaks!" I looked to the right and saw DK drifting above us with a sheepish look on his face. "Guess I pissed him off. We do know how to get the Arro bastard though." he said cheerfully, and I grinned. I lost the grin as the sky above us turned into a swirling portal, and hurriedly reaching out; I clamped a hand around his ankle. I felt Akuma grab my own ankle, and looked down to see him and Kid hanging on in some kind of chain as DK chuckled above me. "Alright ladies and gents, we're pulling out!" he called cheerfully, and I saw him grab onto some kind of…tail?!
"And by the way I have no idea what's dragging us out!"
I sweatdropped. That's him alright… I thought, and then my eyes widened. "Wait…we're coming out?!" I yelped, and he grinned down at me. "Yup, so hold onto your hats ladies and gentlemen!" he crowed, and I closed my eyes in terror as there was an intense sucking sensation all around us and wind blew in my ears. I opened my eyes as I hit the ground, and gaped. Arro stared at us, the most expressive look I had ever seen him make –pure shock– on his face. A younger boy with black hair and blue eyes a bit like Kid's stood beside a tall man with dark skin and strange tattoos on one arm, a hat pulled down over his face. In his hand he held the Book of Eibon. He was frowning slightly. "That's unexpected. The anomalies in the Book came out."
DK sweatdropped. That's all this guy has to say… he thought to me, and I stifled a giggle. Suddenly Akuma shot past me with Kid, headed for Kage. DK lunged for the book we had come out of and wrenched it away from the man as he looked livid. The boy beside him tackled my partner with an angry shriek. "HOW DARE YOU STEAL FROM NOAH-SAMA! BASTARD!" I quickly shifted my arm and blew him away, and DK gave me a thankful grin, which then slid to a look of fear. He scooped me over his arm and streaked for the entrance, and I looked up to see some kind of monster, which looked like a cross between a scorpion and a crab, glaring at us from beside the kid and his boss, whom I took to be Noah, as Arro furiously got to his feet. "MANTICORE! GET THEM!" he bellowed, and the creature leaped for us with an ear-shattering roar.
I squealed and bucked my way off DK's shoulder, running ahead of him as he grinned and picked up the pace, darting through the hallways as I saw a glimpse of black clothes ahead of us. As we broke out into a large hall, I saw Kid and Akuma with Kage –still in the shackles– on her brother's shoulder. We caught up to them just as we left the hall, and Kid spared a moment to gasp "So do we know where we're going?!" Akuma blinked at him as DK raised an eyebrow. "Out?" Kage supplied helpfully, and DK nodded with a sheepish chuckle. "Yeah…out." he said with a nervous grin, and I rolled my eyes as we all ran faster.
"So Hazel, I see you're training's going well. You can partially shift without any help at all." Kage said conversationally, bouncing on Akuma's shoulder. I gaped at her as we darted into another hallway, the manticore's roars echoing off the stone until they hurt all of our ears. "Uh…being chased?!" I squeaked, and she shrugged matter-of-factly. "Meh, whatever. It's happened to me before." Suddenly there was a beam of light ahead and we all sped up as DK grabbed my hand, a little pressure on my mind requesting me to shift as I instantly obliged. "Alright guys, lock and load! The instant we get out of here, head for the skies and fly for your life!" DK barked, and Kid muttered something as his hand began to glow. As we skidded out into the open air, in an empty field with not a speck of grass growing on it, DK cast a Shade Wings spell as Akuma did the same, shifting Kage differently on his shoulder as Kid leaped onto Beelzebub and zoomed into the sky, both of the others flying after him as their wings beat the air, and I swallowed as the ground dropped away at a dizzying pace.
8.56 PM, USA Central Time