Ch5: Searching for a Crown
On our way through the Weeping Hollow, we were soon met with some tougher enemies that we hadn't encountered before in the form of the Quill Backs, Scavengers, and the Carrion Nests that housed the different Carrion Bats. And they looked just as gross as I expected them to look in real life, their forms twisted and foul-smelling like a carcass nest of sorts.
"Okay, these monsters are disgusting," mom groaned as she smashed the head of a Wretched Mother and I sliced my blade through the center of a Carrion Nest, resulting in its demise. "This place isn't the only one where we'll face disgusting beasts, mom, believe you me," I frowned at her as we soon came upon a small hut and a man that looked like he was on the verge of death. "H-Help... me..." he groaned as I came to his side with a frown.
"Are you Haedrig's apprentice?" I asked him. "Y-Yes... I'm... dying... t-tell him... I'm s-sorry... for... all my f-f-failures..." he gagged as he finally laid down and his heart stopped beating. "He's dead... one of us should go back and tell Haedrig," mom sighed. "You go ahead and do that mom. And don't forget to give him his final words," I sighed at her. This was the first time I'd ever seen anyone die in front of me and it made me feel ill. But I knew that I needed to stay battle-hardened, especially in an environment as cold and unforgiving as Diablo 3. "Got it. Okay guys, you go ahead with my daughter now and don't wander away from her," mom told the pets, all three of them nodding and smiling at each other.
Mom soon left back for New Tristram as I continued to slaughter my way through the evil undead and monster hordes. Me and the pets didn't stop until we had reached the gates to the Cemetery and I opened the very creepy gates. "Scary... I like it," said a female voice from nearby. I quickly looked to my side and was surprised to see that it belonged to the female imp that was still riding on the back of the zombie dog.
"You're telling me you could talk this whole time and you never bothered to do so?" I asked her with a small glare. "Well, not really," she frowned, her voice sounding a lot like a young 7 year old. "See, imps are unable to talk until a good hour after they've been born. And an hour passed by just a few minutes ago," she explained as we got into the Cathedral and ascended the stairs just as Haedrig told us to.
"I see... so what's your name then?" I asked her as we continued into the first level of the crypt. "Well... that's the thing... I was born a bit ago, so I've never been given a name..." she frowned as we walked down the halls and we encountered some zombies and skeletons. "Really? How about we call you... Serena?" I asked her. "Hmm... sounds okay... but I've never heard of that name before... not even in my previous lives..." the imp frowned, surprising me when she said 'previous lives'.
"What does that mean? Previous lives? Are you saying that you've been reincarnated before and still remember those lives?" I asked her. "Well, yes, but it's something commonplace with demons," Serena frowned. "When a demon dies, after so many years in Pandemonium, we are resurrected as either our old selves or as a different demon. I've actually been five different demon types, and in order, I was a Fallen Maniac, an Oppressor, a Succubus, a Soul Lasher, and, believe it or not, one of the Lesser Evils in the form of Andariel," she said, surprising me when she said Oppressor and Andariel, but more so on Andariel.
"Wait... you were once Andariel? One of the Seven Evils? T-Then how come you always stay with me and mom and haven't disobeyed us once?" I asked her in a newfound respect. "Well, that's a thing that I wanted mention as well... see, when a demon is born, they are to obey the ones that gave birth to them at all times as well as any of their relatives. If I were to disobey you, I'd never be able to respawn as an Imp from your mom's bile again."
"Wait... there's a process?" I asked with even more confusion as we then entered the second level. "Well... yeah. See, demons have a set of rules that allow reincarnation. Whoever gave birth to them before, they can keep on giving birth to the same demon each time they die. But should the demon ever disobey their parent, they get reincarnated as something else. And to be honest, I have been killed and respawned as a different entity so many times because I disobeyed every evil parent I've had."
"Really? And how did you disobey them?" I asked her as I began to attack the Unburied monster that suddenly burst into our way, killing it with minimal effort, since I focused my blade on its stitching rather than its bare flesh. "Well, I refused to explode as a Fallen Maniac, I didn't kill one of Diablo's enemies as an Oppressor, I chose to seduce a woman rather than a man as a Succubus, I only licked female pussies as a Soul Lasher, and as for me being Andariel, well, that one was because of how I chose to betray the Lesser Evils and aide Diablo instead," she frowned.
"So... are you going to disobey me and mom at all?" I asked her. "Hell no! This gig is awesome! I can finally get my vengeance on every single demon and monster that wanted me to be as evil as possible and I can do it with awesome people like you and mom! I mean, zombies that can think and act like they did while alive? That hasn't been discovered at all in the past, but now it has been proven that electricity is the key! You two are way too badass to disobey," Serena smiled at me.
"Well that's good to hear. And what of the doggies? Can you understand them at all?" I asked her. We were currently in the final room and we were talking just a bit more before going off to fight the skeletons, their guardians, and the Chancellor's spirit. "Well, zombie dogs obey their master and they don't talk at all. As for zombie dogs, they only feast on evil enemies or enemies of the ones that summoned them," Serena explained. "Well, sounds good. Wanna go attack some more skeletons?" I smirked. "Why wouldn't I?!" Serena smirked as she jumped onto the zombie dog once again and we began to attack the skeletons and their guardians on our way to the crown.
It didn't take long at all of the skeletal slaughter for us to get the crown and destroy the spirit of the Chancellor. After retrieving it and finding out how to use the Town Portal, we immediately did so and reappeared back in Tristram, much to mom's surprise when we appeared from a strange portal in front of the Inn. "Whoa! You surprised me, Lisa!" mom exclaimed at me as we returned. "Well, we got the crown," I smirked as I petted Serena on the head. "Hey, cut it out," she giggled at me, shocking mom when she spoke.
"Don't worry, mom. I was surprised as well," I smirked at her happily. "S-Sorry... I'm just shocked at this..." mom admitted. "It's okay to be shocked, Miss Janet. I can understand your surprise at me talking," Serena smiled. "Um.. w-what's your name again?" mom asked her. "Well, Lisa gave me the name Serena. So call me that, please," she smirked. "O-Okay then... heh..." mom said nervously.
I then turned my attention to Haedrig and handed him the crown, making him smirk at me. "Thanks for telling me about my apprentice. Didn't think that he'd ever feel apologetic for his mistakes, so it was good to hear that you told me his final words," Haedrig smiled at me. "You're welcome, Haedrig. We're happy to help," Serena smirked, surprising him a bit. "Whoa... Heh. I'll admit, wasn't expecting that," Haedrig smirked.
It was then that he noticed the crown being in need of repair. "Oops. This crown's a bit damaged. Let me repair it real quick," Haedrig said as he went over to his work set and began to repair it. After a little wait, he was done. "There. New as the day it was placed upon the Black King's head," Haedrig said as he handed it back to me. "I need more than making spades to occupy my time. I want my life to mean something," Haedrig explained. "I can understand that. By the way, where's Mira?" I asked him. "She's back home getting a bath. I'm due to get back to her soon for some alone time."
"I see... thanks for repairing the crown," I smiled at him as I looked over at Leah, a bit of thumping going on in my heart. D-Do I really like her? It seems that every time that I look at her kind, caring eyes, I always get a skipping beat in my heart... I really do love her as a character, but as an actual person? I really don't want to change the story up by having her be lesbian or by preventing all of chapter 4... but I think I really do love her in that way... Maybe if I can convince her to go with me to defeat Leoric, maybe we can have a bonding moment...