Chapter 13: The Broken Sky
"Excuse me, sir, may I have my glasses back?" Cereza asked nicely.
Mister Luka was still holding onto her glasses in wonder.
She guessed he was surprised by everything he saw. Like Mummy said, "It's always scary the first time you see them."
Now she wasn't scared because Cereza knew Mummy would protect her. Plus, she always had her brother too.
"Huh? Oh…yea…here you go. Cereza, how did you get such…magical glasses?" Luka gave her the glasses back and she put them on.
Since her vision was spotty without the lens, she ended up missing her nose and dropping them.
"Ugh, Cereza you're so silly." Cerezo complained, picking her glasses up and putting them on her nose correctly.
She could see Cerezo's tired blue eyes. He was probably getting tired of her being so clumsy.
Luka ended up repeating his question.
"The glasses aren't magic, silly. I can see the monsters without them!" The little girl couldn't help laughing when he called the glasses magical. There was nothing magical about them.
"Hey. I told you they aren't monsters, Sissy. How many times do I have repeat it? They're defenders of justice." Cerezo bumped his shoulder into mine and frowned.
They really were arguing all the time now.
Angels and demons.
Cereza and her brother couldn't agree on which were the real monsters.
Luka caressed both of their heads to stop the argument.
"So, uh, has Bayonetta, I mean your mom, been fighting these big, bad, monsters for a long time?" The man questioned to Cerezo's irritation.
"Not you, too! They are not big, bad, monsters! They must be confused, all right...angels don't just attack people!" Cerezo had let go of her hand to march in front of Luka and yank on the man's scarf.
Brother had such a temper.
"Mummy is a witch, and witches protect people and are very strong. When I grow up, I'll be strong too and I'll protect my Mummy!" Cereza struck a pose, pointing her arm out and holding the glasses like she'd seen Mummy do.
"Yeah, witches are supposed to protect people just like sages do, but the witches are always doing naughty things." Cerezo added, hanging from Luka's scarf and laughing at her pose while Luka stood there shaking his head.
"Wait…you two think witches do what!? Aw, forget it." Luka pulled Brother off his scarf and put him on his shoulders instead.
"Whoa! I'm so high up! Look Sissy, look!"
No fair. Cereza wanted to ride on Luka's shoulders too.
"No point in arguing with a little kid. I'll manage on my own." The man mumbled.
"I'm sure you will."
Luka jumped back and Cerezo would have fallen off his shoulders if the man hadn't grabbed him.
"Mummy!" Cereza said.
She was back and so was the man that looked like Daddy.
"You never cease to amuse me, Cheshire. I suppose that's your next target." Mummy walked towards a big flying object.
Were they going to ride on that next?
Cereza imagined it would be so much fun. But she didn't think Brother would like it, he gets really sick from moving objects for some reason.
Daddy did tell her that Cerezo got motion sickness, but that didn't make sense to her. How did one get sick from moving around?
"This is yours, little one. You didn't cry while I was gone did you?" Mummy gave her Cheshire.
Cereza was so happy to have him back. She'll have to take better care of him now since he got a booboo on his eye.
"Nope." She answered, beaming at her. Mummy smiled back and patted her head.
"Cerezo, I also brought this for you. I figured you must miss your rabbit." The man who looked like Daddy removed Brother from Luka's shoulder and placed him on the ground. He pulled a rabbit from behind his back and gave it to the boy.
Cereza ran over to get a look at the rabbit. This one looked exactly like Cerezo's except it was more worn. It had the same white skin with stitches and a red and gold coat. It even had that weird glass piece like Daddy's.
How did this look-alike have a toy just like Cerezo's? Or did he go get it from their room?
"Ah, amazing! He's just like Mr. Rabbit, isn't he Sissy? Hello Rabbi!" Cerezo made the bunny hop in the air.
Well, she was happy Cerezo had his friend back. Now Cheshire and Rabbit could play together.
The man smiled. His smile was so sunny, just like Daddy's. Maybe he was a secret uncle or some other family member.
"Bayonetta…no matter how I ask, no matter how many times, you always say the same thing." Luka complained to Mummy.
"Come now, kitty. You know it was all ju-"
He must have been able to read minds because he finished her sentence. "—a misunderstanding. You're so stubborn. You know that."
Cereza stopped playing with her brother and looked at Luka. He seemed so sad at the moment, leaning against the wall like a kicked puppy.
Luka stood up, shrugging his shoulders and staring at Mummy. "My father…he was a journalist, in fact he was twice the man I could ever hope to be. He was obsessed with one case his entire career. A case so bizarre it took over his life. They could have made a movie of the details: The followers of darkness, the Umbra Witches, and their light world counterparts, the Lumen Sages, controlling everything with a power known as The Eyes of the World. Then, the light and dark clans suddenly disappeared from their medieval home in Europe. You may be familiar with the town. You're standing in it. Welcome to Vigrid, 500 years later."
Cerezo stopped playing and listened to Luka too. All of them were listening to his story.
"Each clan, working at the behest of the powers that be, sought to lead their fractured world towards peace. They both possessed an Eye, said to have the power to create history, that they used to oversee the world. However, their spirit of cooperation did not last, for amongst them, a pair of young star-crossed lovers conceived a pair of twins that sent the clans on a path to ruin. The woman was thrown in jail, and the man exiled from his clan. However, the girl remained with the Umbra, raised as a black sheep, even amongst the darkness and the boy was raised in exile alongside his father." Luka paused, taking a deep breath. "Since the balance between light and dark had been lost, both clans spiraled into decay. Legend had it that the two Eyes could be united to control reality itself, and this legend fueled ambition and desire, leading to a myriad of battles between the clans. In fact, it led to their mutual destruction. My father was mocked for buying such a fairy tale; however, I believed his story. And I believe it more than ever now that I've found you."
The story sounded sad.
Both Mummy and the man were standing with gloomy frowns. Cereza slipped her hand into her brothers. He squeezed back.
"The memory of the clan lingers on, despite passing on five-hundred years ago. What on earth was my father searching for? And why did he have to die for it? I have to discover the truth with my own eyes. That's why I haven't given up my chase for it. Or you. The head of the Ithavoll Group, the multi-national that dominates Vigrid, recently tried to sell an enormous gem stone on the black market. If he isn't selling out in the open, it means we're going to have to acquire it by other means. And that starts by sneaking onto that jet." Luka finished telling his story.
Cereza wanted to cheer everyone up. She let go of Brother's hand and ran to stand next to Mummy on the wall. The little girl did her best to stand and pose like the older woman. Cerezo came over and stood in front of them, scrunching his face up.
"Mummy, are you looking for something?" He asked, patting Mummy's leg to get her attention.
Cereza couldn't stand in her pose much longer, so she joined her brother in patting their Mum's leg.
"I am, little ones."
"How did you lose it?" Cereza asked this time. Instead of answering, Mummy raised a different question.
"Little ones, do you two have anything you really like? Something really important to you?"
For Cereza, it was Chesire, but then she remembered that there was something else she loved even more. The little girl pulled out her favorite pocket-watch.
"Yes, this! I love it." She showed the golden watch to her.
"Oh, me too! I have the same one." Cerezo pulled out his matching watch.
"Where did you two get these?" Mummy picked up the watches and looked very closely at them, until she got a startled look on her face and nearly dropped them.
"You gave it to me, Mummy. For my birthday!" Cereza reminded her.
Why was Mummy forgetting so many things?
"And Daddy gave me one for my birthday. We have a matching set, just like you and Daddy. Don't you remember, Mummy?" Cerezo pointed towards the man who looked like daddy. She looked over at him.
"Yes don't you remember, Bayonetta?" The man smiled at her. She ignored him.
"When you love something, never lose it. Understand, little ones? You must keep it safe, close to your heart." Mummy pulled off one of her red ribbons and made a necklace to hold the watch. She put the necklace on Cereza and the girl ran around, joyfully playing with the necklace.
"Here, Bayonetta. Use this for, Cerezo." The man gave Mummy another ribbon that was blue and she made another necklace for brother, putting it on his neck.
Now they had matching necklace-watches. They truly were twins.
Cereza stopped playing when Mummy shouted for her. When she looked up, the little girl saw a bunch of objects coming right towards her. she was saved by Luka swinging on a wire and catching her. They both landed on some flying object. The impact caused Luka to drop her and she rolled right off.
Cereza was very scared but she mustn't cry.
She wouldn't cry!
"Back to your old self, are we? Why so glum? Something troubling you?" Up above standing on a cross in all her gloating glory, was dear Jeanne.
Bayonetta was not in the mood to deal with the copycat. Her first priority was to find Cereza on the flying plane.
"Silver, why don't you take Cerezo on ahead and see if you can find his sister." She advised.
The man had managed to keep the little boy with him while chasing after her.
"Very well, I'll go on ahead. I don't want to deal with this woman either. Hold on to me tightly, Cerezo." Silver put the boy on his shoulders and trudged forward through whipping wind.
It appeared that he and Jeanne were already aquatinted. The witch would have to get the details of their meeting at a later time. Once they were safely gone, Bayonetta turned her attention back Jeanne.
"Only your constant fretting over my state of affairs is troubling. I've no time to play games with you." Her tone was as serious as the glare on her pretty face.
"No need to take out your stress on me, Bayonetta. It's clear you're worried for the girl." She jeered cruelly.
The witch lunged for Jeanne, wanting to strangle the woman and smack the smirk off her face. When Bayonetta reached her the rage took over. Kick after kick was aimed at the red witch, but she dodged all of them and jumped off the cross.
"Tell me where she is. Now!" Bayonetta demanded.
"My, aren't we attached to our precious, little one? Do you like it when she calls you 'Mummy'?" Jeanne stood on the plane, pointing her gun at the opposing witch.
"You're absolutely delusional. If I leave her, he'll never shut up about it. And his winning is twice as irritating as anything the child could muster." Jeanne laughed at her denial.
"You've quite the tongue when it comes to curling round the truth."
"And what about you? What are you hiding? Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think these might mean something to you." Bayonetta threw the wooden block of Jeanne and Cereza that she found.
The red witch was startled at first, but quickly masked that emotion.
"I've no need for worthless junk." She sneered and threw the block off the side of the plane.
How rude! Doesn't she know it's rude to throw a present away?
"Why must you needlessly stumble and stall? Have you forgotten the task with which you have been charged? Make haste, for the era of the Creator approaches!" A flying boat had appeared and was chewing Jeanne out.
Looks like she's quite the troublemaker.
This was the second time Bayonetta had seen her having a row with her supposed "allies".
"I am well aware of my task! But you have forgotten that I do not need your help!" Jeanne in a rage, jumped on top of the helm of the ship and started stomping on it while while firing bullets with all four of her guns. With a final slam on the angel's head, it went crashing down. In retaliation, the angel shot the wings of the plane.
What a dumbass woman.
"It seems your little friend is gone forever."
Bayonetta felt time slow down and a rain of bullets came for her. She activated Witch Time and side-stepped them all. Continuing forward, she drew all the water in the air together and made a blade of ice. The blade was thrown at Jeanne. Dodging the blade left her open for an attack.
"Fill them! Fill your eyes with hatred. Accept your violent fate! Accept it and earn the Left Eye! Prove you deserve it!" Jeanne eyes reflected an intense fury and the black witch could feel that same emotion rising up in her chest as they traveled through the air.
This feeling was eating away at her. It wanted to come out. It wanted to destroy everything.
"Fear not my child, for no harm will come to you. I'm always watching over you… My dear, sweet child."
The fury cooled as that voice's melody subdued the darkness.
Bayonetta's hesitation allowed Jeanne to kick her into the hull. The force of the kick sent the witch plummeting inside the plane, but she came right back up and rolled her neck.
It was time to kick ass.
"Cereza!" Bayonetta ended the fight to go running after the little girl.
"Not yet. She isn't ready." Cerezo was growing tired of this game. Bayonetta needed to hurry and awaken.
He flew away from the battle scene and back to his charges. He'd had enough disappointments for today. His sister was going to awaken, of that the sage was sure.
The rumbling from above stopped. Bayonetta and Jeanne must have ended their fight.
"It's so cold." Little Cerezo shivered. Cereza tried to huddle together with her brother for warmth, but her efforts were only making them colder.
The plane had filled with water from the outside and clumsy Cereza fell into a pool of water, dragging her brother with her. The sage managed to pull the two out before they got electrocuted. Now they were all waiting for Bayonetta in wet clothes.
Older Cerezo's wet hair was proving to be the biggest irritation. It kept sticking to his face and wouldn't be pushed back. He was having a harder time then usual with his eyesight since the hair was stuck to his face. He eventually gave up and just decided to put on his gold glasses.
He looked even more like his younger self now.
"Cereza, Cerezo, come here. I'll try to warm you up." The sage held open his arms and waited for them to come to him.
Older Cerezo had an idea of using light magic to project heat from his body, but he was unsure if it was going to work since he wasn't adept at fire magic. Lighting was more of his forte.
"Okay." they both said, crawling into his lap.
It was very odd to be around their younger selves. five-hundred years seemed like such a long time. Thinking back on the memories helped him concentrate pushing heat throughout his body.
"Little one! Where are you!? Little one! Can you hear me!?" They all heard his sister calling out.
"Mummy! Mummy! Mummy!" Cereza hoped out of his arms and went running for Bayonetta.
It was amusing how attached his sister was to herself. If only she knew the irony of the situation.
The sage stood with Little Cerezo snuggled in his arms. The boy was starting to doze off.
Their younger selves were really reminding Older Cerezo of his own kids.
"Cereza!"
"Mummy! I was so scared."
Bayonetta leaned down to stop Cereza from running into her knees. "No crying now, little one. You know the rules- no cockroaches or crying babies."
The plane started loudly rumbling.
"Bayonetta, I think you should grab her!" The sage held onto Little Cerezo and urged his sister to move.
The witch nodded and picked Cereza up, her expression betrayed the relief she felt at having the girl in her arms.
To this day, he was amazed at how children could thaw any heart, no matter how closed-up or frozen they were.
By the creator, he missed his boys and Sola.
"Time to go, little one. Hold on tight, OK?"
Bayonetta and Older Cerezo escaped from the collapsing plane together with their little charges.
Elsewhere, a boy and girl moved the Bayonetta and Cerezo toys from the Vigrid Holy Air Force Base to Gomorrah Deep.
"Hmm. It is so wonderful to watch my children with their younger selves. It's refreshing in a way. And it has been some time since there was a child here in our home. Though I suppose Thor would count, but he's a rather solitary child, isn't he?" Balder mused.
Sigyn had come into his office some time ago with a chess board. He decided to indulge her as a means of apology for yesterday. Also, he was getting rather fatigued from handling the company and watching his children. A little chess would relax the mind.
Balder did so much in a day for a man of his age.
"Thor? Yes, he's quite different from his brother. I like to think that Thor just has an inquisitive mind and that's why he keeps to himself. I mean, what else could he always be doing on that little laptop? Odin on the other hand, is much more lively and wild." Sigyn was back to her cheery self after yesterday's incident in the garden.
Balder could always count on her to move forward with a smile. Currently, they were tied one-to-one. Whoever won this next game would be the winner of the three-set game.
"Thankfully, the darling child puts his intelligence to good use. Why, the last time he was here, Cerezo and I helped Thor build a little hammer. The sweet boy even named it. Mjolnir." Balder moved a knight and cornered her king. "The mighty Thor and his hammer, Mjolnir. Quite a magnificent birthday present for the boy, If I do say so myself."
Thor truly was an intelligent, little boy. Balder adored his grandson and wished that he and his older brother could be there with them.
"Cerezo and Thor have a talent for making heavenly weapons. They might even be on par with Father Rodin himself. You on the other hand, have no such talents. Music however, is more in line with your talents. When was the last time you played anything on the organ?" Sigyn sighed fondly. "I find myself missing my old harp on occasion."
Balder thought he had cornered her, but she ended up corning him by baiting him. She won again. He should just give up trying to beat her, she learned all forms of games from the god of mischief, making her a formidable opponent.
"I haven't had a chance lately, my dear. Though I would love to go and play. The last thing I played was a duet with Odin. That wild boy turned the song into his own jazz mix." Balder mildly complained. "Odin's a grown man now...it saddens me that after all this time he still hasn't settled down. I would have liked to have some more grandchildren... They are such a joy to have around."
He started putting the chess pieces back on the board while Sigyn got up and poured them some tea.
"Well, I don't know about him settling down with a wife, brother, but I wouldn't be surprised if Odin had a bunch of great-grandchildren for you. That boy isn't like his father. The concept of restraints and vows don't mean much to him. He lives a life of freedom." Sigyn handed him a cup of steaming tea.
The thought of his grandchild's overt promiscuity made Balder want to switch the tea for wine. Odin and Cereza were both promiscuous scoundrels. At least his son had some decent sense, though some his wives he should have never married.
The siblings sipped at their tea, reminiscing simpler times.
"Sigyn, you were supposed to marry as well. I don't know why you didn't move on from him... You could have found someone else and started your own family. I know how much you love, Cerezo and I know sometimes you wish he was yours." Balder took her hand and traced his finger over her ring that she'd never taken off. "More than anything else in the world, you desire a family."
His heart went out to Sigyn. He knew what it was like to be burned by love and that's why he didn't want her to suffer like him.
Sigyn just smiled and placed her other hand on top of his.
"The way you loved Rosa, is the way I loved Loki. I'll never love anyone like I loved him, so it's not fair for me to try and be with someone else. The person I choose to be with deserves my full attention and love. Besides, I have my hands full keeping you and your son in line."
The siblings stayed in the office talking and playing chess.
It was like old times.