Author's Note: I do not own anything from Bayonetta. All that I do own is how this plot moves out from here.
Chapter 3: City of Genesis
…
The streets of Noatun held many twists and turns with enough hiding places for anyone looking to slip away in the dead of night. And that's why this boy turned left, then right, left, left again and finally walked straight into a small nook. Taking a seat and crossing his legs, he looked up the small alcove covering him and hoped it would be enough to stave off any rain.
Sovereign One.
The boy held his head with pain as the voice continued to ripple through him.
The mountain. Come to the mountain. Fimbulventr. Come to Fimbulventr. Rejoin. Come to rejoin.
"Stop!" He cried out in pain. "I just want to go home…"
The mountain is our home.
"Shut up!" Curling into a ball, he wished someone could see him. Someone who could relate to his problems, instead of being Acceptance's or Affinities. "Just shut up and leave me alone!"
We will not. Come to our home, Sovereign One.
"Please…" He was begging now. To anything or anyone that would listen. "Just stop…"
Collapsing with exhaustion, the boy fell into a fitful, restless sleep, as he always did.
…
"Jeanne!"
Cereza's voice carried through the air to her falling sister. She recovered with a twist and gave her a nod.
"I am okay!"
Spreading out Malphas's wings, she slowed her descent and activated Witch Time when she landed onto the tumbling clock face beneath her. Gesturing to her sister to do the same, she gave her a reassuring smile.
"Just stay close to me! We'll be safe here!"
"Cereza, nowhere is safe!"
She almost was offended by that. Cereza put her hands on her hips and tilted her head slightly. "What, are you afraid of a few Angels?"
"It is not the Angels I am afraid of!" She yelled back, pointing down. The Witch's brow creased and she let her gaze follow down between her legs to see a golden sword cleaving through the broken clocktower like a spade through soil.
Cereza merely rolled her eyes and pointed her guns down whilst the makeshift platform split apart. Her lips curled into a smirk and she waited with glee for the assailant to introduce themselves. "Well, no one said you could touch."
A person dressed entirely in white leaped up from beneath her, a twinblade twirling in their fingers. Cereza stepped to the side and let them fly up and above her. The trainee guns she had been issued with a short week ago blazed with each shot she sent at him and she was certain the man was dead before he had a chance to actually engage with her.
A pity. Just why was Jeanne so afraid-
The man landed on the other side of the platform; one arm outstretched and the other holding the twinblade at the ready. His gloved fingers opened to reveal her bullets falling to the ground, completely and utterly harmless.
"A Lumen Sage?" The identity of the man finally clicked and she stepped forward with obvious surprise etched on her face. "Just how are you still alive? No one bloody bothered to tell me that you were still alive. I'm fairly certain our clan killed the lot of you when you decided to wage war on use three years ago."
The Sage offered no answer. His mask, shaped into a golden sun with a single indent in the centre acting as the visible visor, merely turned to face her with an expressionless gaze. The glaive whirled into a low stance and Cereza matched it with one of her own.
"Well, it seems that it would be quite the shame for the last of your kind to go without a spectacular send off," she twirled the guns in her fingers and took aim once more. "Don't you agree?"
Yet again, the Sage did not speak. Holding his hand up high, the free hand clicked with a faint snap. A sigil grew in the clouds above them, basking them both in a golden light. Two draconic heads peered out and Fortitudo's main body followed.
"Umbra Witch; the defiler of Jubileus. The butcher of our kindred. We have come to take vengeance," it calmly spoke, its voice sending a tremor through the clocktower face. "You will suffer for your deeds!"
"Well, you oversized turkey, how about you come down here and try!" Cereza laughed, moving her left gun up to point at the Angel. "The Left Eye of Darkness bows to no challenge. Especially not from a thing like you."
To her surprise, the man across from her flinched at her words. He twirled backwards and put even more space between them, ending his brief retreat in a crouch at the end of the platform.
"What? Never seen a woman wielder of the Eye? You are a Lumen Sage; surely you know of how our Clans were divided." She frowned and adjusted her glasses with a tap of her right gun. "Have you even seen a woman before?"
The Sage growled, a low, inhumane sound that was muffled and warped from the mask, and sprang forward. The glaive spun with him, aiming to slice her in two at the waist. Jumping over the slash, Cereza kicked him in the back of the head and flipped over to the other half of the clockface. He recovered gracefully, separating the glaive into two halves. One was tossed at her and she made small movements to deflect it when it got too close.
It never reached her. Well, not in the expected path. The Lumen Sage disappeared with a greyed-out flash, reappearing next to her and grabbing the spear-like end of the twinblade. It changed course into a slash, one she barely managed to avoid with a desperate sidestep. The second half followed and Cereza blocked that one with a raised heel. Driving her foot and the blade down, she gave him a punch in the mask, followed by an uppercut weave to the stomach.
Fireballs rained around her and Cereza cursed when she remembered that there was a giant Angel still there above her. Thrusting a wicked palm strike out to shove the Sage further back, she twirled and felt her hair weave alongside her spell.
"ARGEDCO!"
Labolas jumped out of the portal above Fortitudo, sinking their fangs straight into the main head. The Angel bellowed in pain and immediately ceased tossing fireballs at her, focussing its attention on the Demon instead.
Good boy.
Cereza returned her gaze to the Lumen Sage, who was currently picking himself back up. One hand gripped his glaive on the floor, whereas the other was held tightly over the right side of his mask.
"Come on, now it's our turn to dance." She took another stance and waited for her opponent.
The Lumen Sage raised his head to her, uncovering his eye to reveal a brilliant blue li-
…
The jingle and vibration of her mobile phone interrupted Bayonetta's dream; this time, however, she did not scream and run for the safety of Luka. Instead, she opened her eyes slowly and pulled the phone from its very convenient storage down her… assets.
L.R : Hey, just wanted to say merry Christmas, Cerezita. May all of our wishes come true today.
A small tree emoji accompanied the message and she managed a small smile.
Yeah, Merry fucking Christmas. That's what Enzo would say. Speaking of…
"How far are we from our destination?" She asked the empty passenger hold, half expecting silence to be the answer.
"As fucking far away as we need to be!" Enzo screamed back. "How dare you make me miss Christmas with my family so you can get some chauffeuring to God knows where for God knows what! Un-fucking-believeable!"
"Enzo, I promised you that you would just be flying back home, no strings attached, once this was over." Bayonetta began to tap her right index finger at the virtual keyboard, typing out a message in response. "At worst it's a half hour trip back home, and you get to take your little ones for a joyride! The ultimate Christmas gift."
"Yeah, right." He scoffed. "We both know your promises mean nothing."
"I mean it. Honestly, I'd rather Cheshire be there than you, but I don't want him to get himself killed. Don't read into it in a negative way, but the Angels don't give a shit about you. You can fly in until we reach Noatun's borders and I can do the rest. I promise you, Enzo. You will be spending Christmas with your family."
The mortal was silent for a while. "You better keep this one, or else you can pay Alex the kid for the plane."
That was good enough for her. "You have yourself a deal, Enzo."
Bayonetta then stared at the message on her phone, mentally trying to decide whether or not it was appropriate given the situation at hand. Shaking her head, she deleted it and restarted, her mind wandering back to the dream she had awoken from.
That was a weird dream, to say the least. It wasn't a nightmare, like she was very much accustomed to, but it was seemingly a vision given to her by the Eye. Judging by the way it was pulsing with joy, she had gotten that right.
If that was then the case, then what on Earth was the significance of showing her that a Lumen Sage still lived? Rodin was adamant that the Clan had been completely wiped out with the death of Balder, and Bayonetta was very certain that Rodin didn't lie; the Primordius only withheld the truth if it was absolutely necessary.
She blanched at the title. Going from not knowing, to being reassured that they were just fairy tales, to being told that these mythical beings apparently existed was one hell of a trip. Rodin had revealed that the Trinity of Realities also had three corresponding Primordius shortly after coming to a decision at Luka's apartment, each with their own roles and responsibilities to the greater multiverse and universe within. Even though she had travelled to two of these, Bayonetta was still coming to grips with the concept of a multiverse; her expectations of alternate realities featuring different variants of herself had been shattered when she had seen a dead world with nothing but clockwork machines and another full of creatures that even she was sure were lost to fantasy.
Damien had visited the other two, which brought the total number of existing universes to five. Rodin had gone strangely quiet when she had asked once how many there were, but eventually revealed and kept his answer as five. Bayonetta figured it was something to do with the closing of the realms between that Temperentia had mentioned so long ago, but Luka's light research into the topic had found nothing that could shed anything on his vagueness.
But Primordius or not, Rodin was still her friend. Or at least something close to one. But she was getting off topic.
Time travel was something she then considered. Balder had been strong enough to bring a younger version of herself into the present, and Rodin was certain that whoever they were up against was of the same power, if not stronger. But then, what would be the point of bringing one Sage back? Surely bringing the entire Clan to crush her would be far more efficient.
Well, the Sage in question had wielded an Eye. At least that was her theory, given that it was his right eye that was glowing blue. The only point of reference that she had to that phenomenon was Balder during the events of Ithavoll and that was essentially her only evidence that it was the Eye and not some other magical force. Could a Lumen Sage-
She sighed and shook her head. Cryptic visions were Khepri's, and by extension Damien's, forte. If Bayonetta wanted to give herself an aneurism she could continue on this train of thought. Or she could not and let the future come at her in the unexpected norm.
'I agree,' Butterfly murmured. 'If only because Khepri's little games are going a little too far."
Honestly, same. She held the phone up and reread her second attempt at a message to Luka. What do you think?
'You could be a little less blunt.'
Bayonetta sighed and deleted the message again.
Butterfly let an awkward silence fill the air before she spoke again. 'Look… I… This is stupid.'
I agree. You're the one acting like a petulant teenager.
'I am not!'
Look, we are in a weird spot, yes, but we need to work together like we always did. Can we just worry about whether or not we can get Jeanne out from Inferno?
'I can stand with that line of thought.' Butterfly grew a little sly with her words. 'Do you not mean that we will get her out?"
Bayonetta chuckled and began typing another message. That I most certainly did.
B : Thank you, Cheshire. I'll bring our most treasured present back with me for dinner tonight.
'You forgot to say Merry Christmas.'
Shit, she had. Her finger began to run across the keyboard once more, but a cry from Enzo stole her attention away.
"Holy shit… That's the mountain!?"
She spun around and pressed her face up against the glass, finally catching her first glimpse of Fimbulventr. The mountain stood indomitably in the background of the flat landscape, dominating and encompassing above all. The town beneath it was dwarfed, almost completely invisible to her eye. Bayonetta could feel something prickling at her senses, almost in a sense of warning and welcome. Rodin's words echoed through her mind;
"They say the mountain itself seems to expel those it doesn't deem worthy."
A part of her must not be deemed worthy, it seemed. Bayonetta felt a little offended at that fact; was she not the strongest Umbra? Who also had possession of one of the two most powerful artefacts in existence?
'That is probably why. It recognises the Eye, but not its proper wielder.'
"Alright Enzo, you can let me out now." She called out, unbuckling herself from the seat and stepping towards the door. "You've come far enough; go home and be with your family."
"Thank fucking God for that." Enzo went uncharacteristically quiet for a few seconds. "Bayonetta?"
"Yes?"
"Good luck. I think you're gonna need it."
Bayonetta smirked and opened the hatch. Wind howled into the plane, nearly deafening her in the process. Taking a quick glance down at the undoubtably freezing water, she waited until Enzo turned and pulled the image of Fimbulventr in front of her.
Did you get that new winged Infernal for me to fly with? I'd rather not swim…
Butterfly snorted. 'Not in the way you would expect.'
No time like the present to test it out. Saluting Enzo with a wave of her hand, Bayonetta dove out with a swan dive, pointing her head towards the rapidly approaching water.
'This Infernal is not like Malphas; in order to wield its power, you must masquerade as it.'
She frowned at that. What on Earth do you mean?
'An ancient Umbran Art that is mostly considered forbidden by any of its former practitioners. In terms you can understand, it is similar in form to a Devil Trigger; instead of unleashing the Demon within, you are borrowing aspects of the Contract and fulfilling yourself with them. Mictlantecuhtli understands why they are being brought into service, so do not fret if you feel that they are not being very responsive to your commands.'
Well, they better respond to this command or there would be a Bayonetta-sized splat on the water in a minute or two. Power began to flow into her, and she felt a new presence in her mind.
'To use my power/You must accept us.'
Closing her eyes, she mentally grabbed onto the offered branch. Her body began to crack and transform, painless and simple. Two wings sprouted from her back and she flapped them instantly, bringing her descent to a halt. Hovering in the air like a dandelion in the breeze, she decided to take a quick gander at just what she had turned into.
Her skin had turned red, and blackened ridges of hard stone crept up her limbs. They joined at her chest, forming a breastplate that extended down her torso like a corset. Two blades sprouted from her forearms and her fingernails had elongated into sharpened claws.
Bayonetta was very impressed at all of this.
'Thank you mistress/We will aid you for now.'
Moving around in the air with a few small tests, she found that flying was just as easy as it was when she used Malphas's wings so long ago. Grinning to herself, she began to fly towards Fimbulventr. Just why did she feel so-
Turning around, she found her legs, now completely blue with a set of wings protruding from her hips, floating lazily in the sky. A tether of purple energy connected them, but it seemed that she did not have control over them.
'Sorry Mistress/We should have warned you of this peculiarity.'
Sighing, she placed her hands on her waist and gave her legs a stern look. "And just where do you think you are going?"
They shook back and forth, as if to say no.
"I need my legs when I get back on the ground. I might be able to walk on my hands, but it would make fighting really difficult." A sly smirk slowly took over her features. "If you stayed there, it would be very boring. No fighting, no excitement, nothing! I know you don't want that."
The legs comically straightened up and flew towards her with great speed. They arrived and bowed to her, sliding back underneath her waist. Patting herself on the bottom, Bayonetta turned and continued onwards. With her legs, this time.
…
Remembering to fly into Purgatorio before arriving, Bayonetta now found herself floating above Noatun with apprehension.
Once she was down there, she was alone in every sense of the word. Unlike Vigrid, where she had inklings on where to go due to her past memories, Noatun was completely foreign to her. A text to Luka had confirmed that there was nothing on the city that could possibly help her. It seemed that every bit of information had been scrubbed.
From what she could currently see, there once was a bridge that connected the town to until about halfway up the mountain. It was broken in several sections, but it was the best hope she had for anything that officially led to the Gates of Hell.
A small part of her wished that Luka had come with her, just so he could research the location on site. But at the same time, she knew leaving him behind was the correct choice. She could save Jeanne if everything went right; if Luka died, it would be a lot more permanent. Bayonetta couldn't fathom forgiving herself if that ever happened.
And it never would and she was moving on. If Luka wasn't here to help her out, then she would need to be a big girl and find her own solutions to her problems. That unfortunately started and ended with talking to people.
Decision made, she reformed her body back together and fell to the ground. If she was to talk to people, then she would do a small amount of reconnaissance to determine who she spoke to. Those who were social butterflies were easy to spot, and those who she would not-
Squirrel?
Spreading her legs out, she landed by splitting herself over the petrified animal. Bending her neck down, she noticed it was quite the peculiar squirrel; this one had a small chain with a golden pyramid attached to it wrapped around its neck and a small yellow cape resting on its back. Curiously, she reached out tentatively and grabbed it. It did not run from her hand and to her astonishment sat down and regarded her with the same level of fascination.
Twisting herself around into a seated position, Bayonetta placed both hands under the squirrel and stared at it. It began sniffing the air, seemingly trying to get her scent.
"I didn't think squirrels were native to this part of the world. You seem very lost, little one." She observed. "Just where did you come from?"
The squirrel, expectedly, did not answer. A nearby cat hissed and Bayonetta turned to it with an arched eyebrow.
"They fell from the sky? Well, squirrels don't normally fall from the sky. Now, little one, just why would my feline friend say that?"
The squirrel did not answer again. They remained on her palms, seemingly returning her gaze with befuddlement.
"Well, if you aren't going to say anything then run along." She gently placed them onto the ground and pushed the animal in the direction of the city. "I've got people to meet and a date to keep."
The squirrel stood there for a few seconds, then turned back to look at her. They motioned with their paws at her hands, then at her body. Bayonetta frowned, just trying to figure out what they meant-
"Oh! You want to come with me?"
The squirrel nodded.
Placing a hand onto her chin, Bayonetta pondered this peculiarity with a smile. "Where I'm going will be very dangerous for squirrels. I don't think it will be very safe for you, little one. I've already got one friend to find; I do not want to worry about another."
They shrugged in response. Or at least that what she thought he did. A thought came to her and she decided to voice it.
"Are you some sort of trapped Prince in an animal form? Like in those fairy tales?" A devious smile found its way onto her lips. "Do I need to kiss you to return you to your normal form?"
The speed at which the squirrel shook their head was almost comical. A laugh erupted from her throat and she gestured at the squirrel with a small shake of her hand. "Don't worry little one. Now, get on going and find a good place to watch the performance of a lifetime."
Finally, the squirrel ran off, darting over the causeway and into a courtyard. Bayonetta lost sight of them when they dashed behind a water fountain on the left side.
"What an interesting little creature."
'That creature was in Purgatorio.'
Indeed they were.
'I find that very curious. Only a few animals can be in there naturally, and most of them are your feline friends.'
Bayonetta climbed to her feet and tapped her temple with a finger, sliding it down and across her jaw. They are also sentient. That was no basic communication as well.
'If times weren't so dire, I would've liked you to keep hold of them.' Butterfly muttered. 'They remind me of someone, yet I do not know who.'
If I run into them again, I'll let you do the interrogating. They're such a cute little thing!
'Weakling.'
Bayonetta laughed with a shake of her head. Placing her hands onto her hips, she decided to finally take in the city for the first time.
From her position on the harbor, she could see buildings rising up in a mirror image of the mountain behind it. They were clean, with gold and aqua trim framing marble white stonework. Green palm trees gave the place an almost idyllic ambience, reminding her slightly of Paradiso.
The courtyard- well, plaza would've been a better term, come to think of it, was surrounded by pools of clear water. Combined with the well-polished stone floor the plaza seemed to glow with a holy, ethereal light.
'This definitely reeks of Lagunan influence. Be careful.'
I'm always careful.
A blue portal seemed to shimmer from across- No, there was a blue portal open across the plaza. A quick glance at the oblivious mortals wandering around quickly dismissed the notion that it was a reality phenomenon; this poral was here for her, it seemed.
'Are you really going to walk into another trap?'
This isn't a portal to Paradiso.
'Does that make it any better?'
Swiftly crossing the gap with long strides, she found herself standing in front of it with a slight frown on her face. It definitely wasn't a portal to Paradiso; none of the normal scents or feelings she normally associated with the realm of the Divine were present.
This felt ancient.
One gloved hand brushed against the surface, unexpectedly finding a small amount of resistance. Rolling her eyes, Bayonetta pushed in and walked through.
…
The boy watched the strange woman enter the Remembrance without as much as a second thought. When he first awoke these powers, he was terrified and scared as to what it could possibly signify. The Remembrance of Time was once the power of the former Primordius Aesir, Harbinger and God of Chaos; for him to be able to wield it was a bad omen indeed.
He supposed that some magic simply doesn't simply ever die when beings disappear. As one of the Trinity, Aesir's power could have simply been reabsorbed into his inheritor or split amongst those who remained. But did the boy think his abilities being those of the forgotten God was merely a coincidence?
He had no proof to say otherwise.
After establishing that yes, he could somewhat control portals through time to traverse the city a little easier, he found that he couldn't actually tell anyone about his discovery. Nor could he ask someone for a bloody identity. It seemed that he was stuck inside another realm, separate from Chaos, Paradiso and Inferno, and no one could contact him. Or even see him.
Bloody brilliant that was.
So here he was, just running around and trying to figure out his way from this current predicament when some woman falls from the sky and nearly squashes him. And not only that, she could see him! He was ecstatic at this discovery, only for the woman to simply abandon him and tell him he was not needed.
Fuck that. She could see him. He wanted to know why.
It didn't take that much longer to form a plan; run out of sight, open a portal and try to corner her in his tiny squirrel form. Worst comes to worse he could simply latch on with his teeth until she finally got the message and let him travel with her.
Jumping and gliding down from his perch atop a nearby roof, the boy landed inside of the Remembrance and closed the portal behind him.
Crap.
He had just closed the one exiting out as well. If only the power of the Remembrance of Time was, you know, controllable.
"Well, aren't you a very curious squirrel indeed."
A very clipped tone, followed by the sharp, quick clack of heels on stone caused him to turn and sprint-
The boy slammed into a pillar nearby and collapsed into a heap, the world spinning around and around and around. Two fingers pinched the back of his neck and in an agonisingly swift movement brought him face to face with a very pissed off woman.
"Explain yourself."
Did the lady not know he was a squirrel? He couldn't exactly talk in this form.
"Speak!"
The cold fury in her tone spiked fear and he began to squeak. He mimed actions with his paws, tried to formulate words in any language and even pointed at himself and the woman, but nothing seemed to convince her of his somewhat noble intentions.
"Trapping me in this strange room? What does a squirrel want with an Umbra Witch?" Her eyes narrowed, spearing through him with lances of suspicion. "And what are these powers you are using, little squirrel? I've never seen anything like this."
Did she not know of the Remembrance? That was the backbone and soul of Noatun, let alone Fimbulventr! Why would someone who travelled here with obvious intent-
Another thought came to him; just how the fuck did he know that?
"Well, it's obvious that you can't or won't answer me. So, little squirrel, I'm going to take you with me. That way you can't make any more mischief without me noticing." The woman lifted him and none too gently placed him on her shoulder. His paws instantly gripped on the raised shoulder pad and he reoriented himself until he was facing the same direction. "And I do suppose you want to come with me, correct?"
He nodded his head. That's all he wanted in the first place!
She smirked and gestured to the blank wall in front of them. "Are you going to open the way back up? I do need to get going from this… hallway and back to Noatun."
The boy nodded again and began to wave his paws in circular motions, calling upon the power of the Remembrance. Blue magic glowed in his fingers and flowed from them, collecting into a portal that spiralled into an opening. The woman let out a small sigh and the pair walked out as one.
…
The portal opened out into a twisting alleyway and not the plaza.
This was slightly annoying to Bayonetta as the port and plaza were the only two locations she recognised; if the magic squirrel had dumped her in a random location, then she was very tempted to toss the little mammal into the nearest wall as hard as she could.
But she would not need to bother. A quick glance up informed her that she was still near the lower end of the broken bridge; it seemed that the squirrel had transported her just behind the plaza.
What a curious little thing.
"Say, little one…" She turned her head slight to spot their own perk up. "You don't happen to know your way around this place?"
They nodded enthusiastically.
Walking along the alley and out onto a street, Bayonetta pointed up and towards the looming mountain. "You see that? I need to go there, because that is where the Gates of Hell are."
The squirrel began to shake his head rapidly, waving their paws in around with panicked motions. Stopping, they made sure to point at Fimbulventr, then to her, then to Fimbulventr and finally back to her. Each gesture was emphasised with a twist of their neck.
"You don't want me to go?"
A nod.
Bayonetta couldn't help but snort at this. "Aw, I'm a big girl. I think I can handle a few demons or two."
The squirrel shook their head at this and craned their paws towards the mountain. Her eyes followed and stayed on the feature; a chill passed through her spine and the world seemed to get darker-
A cloud had passed over the sun. Bayonetta rolled her eyes and folded her arms. "Come on now, little one. It's just a mountain."
'A mountain that used to house a God.' Butterfly reminded her. 'And the most likely place for a trap from our elusive Enemy.'
As if on schedule the ground began to shake. The Witch stumbled, but found herself against the wall of the alley and used it to keep herself upright. She could feel the squirrel gripping onto her shoulder tightly and she used her left hand to lightly pet them. It instantly calmed down.
Judging from the fact the tremors were still going, Bayonetta figured they weren't going to stop anytime soon. Testing her footing with a few tentative steps, she quickly ran to the end of the alley and onto the street that stretched out towards another plaza. A small canal of water ran parallel to this street, opening up into a fountain that surrounded the plaza.
Turning around to take a look at the other end of the street, the Witch was met with an explosion of water and rubble. A shield was thrown up instantly and the worst of the debris was deflected away. Some large droplets of water broke through, but Bayonetta would rather being wet than stoned in the head by a clump of rock.
A serpentine body rose up from the ground and began encircling the street above the chaos. Golden wings from the upper body flapped lazily in an almost mockery of flight, attached to a gold and crimson cobra-hood that covered a draconic head. Unlike Fortitudo's head, this Angels seemed far more rigid in its shape; each section of the head was connected piece by piece with gigantic fastenings. Thirteen rings of shimmering gold encased the cyan body, interspaced between six pairs of clawed limbs. The visible skin was porcelain in nature, similar to the Angels she was familiar with, but it was segmented and block-like in structure.
"You again?"
Bayonetta recognised this Laguna from the attack a week ago; this was the specific one that burst through a building and swiped at the jet she was riding. It had disappeared without much fanfare after, but then again, she was very much occupied with other problems at that point.
The Angel let loose a guttural, mechanical sound and then flew towards the mountain with great speed. She turned and watched it go, raising an eyebrow at this behaviour.
"Interesting… I don't suppose you know anything about this, little one?"
The squirrel shook their head. They stood up on their hind legs and placed one paw under their chin, appearing to be pondering over something.
Bayonetta found the pose to be rather cute.
They shrugged and shook their head after a few more seconds. The squirrel pointed towards the next plaza and to her with its other paw.
"To the plaza? Well, it is a little closer to the mountain than back there," she gestured to the destroyed street behind them with a thumb. "But if the Angels have already found themselves here, then that makes everything complicated."
The squirrel tilted their head.
"Well, little one, the deal with Angels is that they want to resurrect their Goddess." Bayonetta began to walk as she talked, keeping her attention on the remnants of the street ahead of them. "And the person I'm trying to meet up with has that Goddess in their back pocket. If I were a betting woman, I would wager that they are trying to find her first."
They waved their hands in a 'so-so' gesture.
"The ultimate goal of this Goddess is to remake the universe whenever she is awakened. As far as I know, no one truly knows what this actually entails aside from killing every single person in the universe. That is something that is very, very bad."
The squirrel swallowed and seemed to hunker closer to her neck. The cloth of the yellow cape was velvety in its smoothness and the sensation against her skin was very pleasant. Perhaps she should invest in more of that kind of clothing once this mess was all cleaned up.
'Stop getting distracted.'
You're just jealous you don't have a magic squirrel with a velvet cape.
Butterfly indignantly spluttered, her words completely failing to convey the Demons thoughts. Bayonetta chuckled and stepped into the plaza, shielding her eyes from the glare of the surrounding fountain. Once they had gotten used to the brightness, she lowed her arm and instantly was drawn to the strange structure in front of the church.
A metal wall curved into a ring-shaped… thing stood there. Cyan and azure magic sprawled through the brown-grey iron, lighting it in scriptures from a language she couldn't decipher. The surface seemed to ripple, giving her the impression that a forcefield was surrounding the object.
"Just what is this?" She took another step forward, but a flash of brown and orange halted her. The squirrel had jumped off her shoulder and landed in front of her, gliding on wing-like membranes that stretched from paw to foot. It turned around and began waving their paws, pointing at her and the object. "Now what?"
They let out a huff and then ran at the structure. Bayonetta attempted to follow, but her earlier assumption was correct; there was a forcefield surrounding the object and it was designed at the very least to keep her out. The squirrel turned back and tilted their head in confusion.
"I can't get in, little one. Why can't you just use your magic and take down the barrier? Considering you are in there and I'm out here, it's obviously part of your power."
A paw smacked across their head and the squirrel ran back to the barrier. They placed the other paw under its chin and rose up onto their hind legs. Before they could solve this issue, trouble seemed to follow her with golden light shining down from behind.
Bayonetta merely rolled her eyes and turned around to see more of those Angel centaurs emerging from portals… on… the ground? Didn't Angels descend from portals?
'More peculiarities. Be on your guard.'
The reminder was enough to put her into a defensive position. Love is Blue dropped into her hands and she took aim. "Clearly you lot still don't know when or where to quit."
"We will never quit in our pursuit of you, coronzon." The leader centaur, which was covered in red markings as opposed to blue and was slightly bigger than its blue counterparts, snarled back at her. "If you are to oppose us, we will destroy you just as we destroyed your sister!"
If the words were meant to have an infuriating effect, then the Angels had done an exemplary job. Bayonetta saw red, both metaphorically and literally, and charged the Laguna with murderous intent.
'Calm!'
The fury dissipated to leave a cold rage from Butterfly's magic. Bayonetta found herself focussing better and launched herself at the leader with a jump. Pushing herself off a close Angel, she fired her guns and watched with satisfaction as the bullets ripped the torso from the body and legs. Twisting around a few golden arrows launched from harp-bows, she replied back with a barrage of wicked stomps that rained down from the sky. Each one crunched an Angel each into the ground, flattening them in a spray of machinery and shards of pottery.
Grabbing onto a striking polearm from a close Angel, Bayonetta gripped onto it with her legs and twisted herself. The Angel flew into the sky with a twirl and then was launched into the rest of the flock with a wicked punch. Landing back on the ground with the polearm tucked under her arm, the Witch let go of her guns and brandished the weapon at the recovering Laguna. "Come on, surely you are the upgrades and not the downgrades?"
Three more portals opened and three of the most disgusting creatures she had seen since Iustitia crawled out of them. They were spherical in shape for the body, with the head represented by a trinity of faces conjoined where the jaw should have been. Several fins flowed behind each head, giving her the impression that it was simply three separate Angels stuck together. Six gold and porcelain tentacles extended out from its rear, wrapping around and flailing in their movement. Golden claws adorned the end of these tentacles, shattering and gripping onto the marble and stone of the plaza with worrying ease.
Did she mention they had tentacles? Bayonetta felt she should mention that again.
'How about you kill them first?'
Butterfly was one hundred percent right this time. Adjusting her grip on the polearm, the Witch hurled it at the centre Angel. It fell from the sky and it's started to flail its tentacles around in an effort to free the weapon from its head. There was no time to celebrate or shudder in disgust; the next two were upon her.
Red swords made from pure energy burst from the centre of the clawed hands, swiping down at her with intricate and flowing attacks. Flipping out of the way from the initial onslaught, Bayonetta transformed into a panther and sprinted away. Formulating a plan, she watched as the Angels retracted the swords and began to study her own movements.
'Maybe you shouldn't have been so taunting in the first place.'
Shut up.
The centre Angel ripped the polearm from its head and tossed it to the side, pulling itself back up with its tentacles. It shrieked a war cry, somehow vitalising its allies with a golden aura.
'Maybe you shouldn't have even bothered opening your mouth.'
Are you going to help out or be sassy?
Butterfly snorted. 'Both. Remember your other and new contracts.'
Stopping and transforming back, Bayonetta began to call upon the power of Mictlantecuhtli. The Demon answered and her body split into two once more. Flapping her new wings to keep her torse afloat, a savage grin form upon her face and she motioned to the trio of Angels. "Come a little closer, will you?"
The Angels shrieked in response; a cry that was interrupted by her legs not following instructions and dropkicking the closest Laguna. Rolling her eyes at her appendages, the Witch glided forward towards the closest Angel to her and darted underneath its red swords as they swung wildly; the space lost by her legs left more than enough for her to fit into the narrowest of spaces. Balling her clawed fists, she burst upwards with a double uppercut that launched the Angel upwards. Grabbing the body with piercing claws, Bayonetta hurled the stunned Angel at the ground. It bounced back up and she caught it, tossing it back down. Keeping it bouncing like a basketball, she turned her attention back to her legs and watched with bemusement as they stepped over both dead Angels with arrogant cockiness.
"Really? You're finished? Where's the fun in that?"
They traced a circle on the ground, then gestured to her and traced a wide arc in the circle. Another arc was then traced, much smaller and slimmer than the first, and they gestured to themselves.
"You were faster? Please, I'm having fun! That's a victory to me." Bayonetta then glanced at the broken machinery that bounced into her hands and shrugged. "Well, I thought it would last a little longer. I guess we both need someone who will go the distance."
They nodded (how the fuck did a pair of legs nod? Bayonetta supposed that they weren't exactly normal legs) and she tossed the remains of the Angel at them. The legs jumped up, twirled and kicked the poor body at the wall. It exploded upon impact and sent pieces of metal flying in a small explosion of parts. Folding her arms, Bayonetta shrugged and gestured to her legs. "Alright, let's get back together and go talk to our magic squirrel."
Her legs nodded(?) again and they sprinted back over. Lowering her body back onto them, Bayonetta released the magic and her normal form returned. Shaking out a few kinks and stretching her legs slightly, she turned to see the squirrel staring at her with wide, impressed eyes. Spreading her arms out, she lowered herself in a slight bow.
"Wasn't that an impressive show?" Bayonetta looked back up to see them nodding their head fast. They pointed to her, then clapped their paws together and spread them out wide. A blue laser burst from the pyramid around their neck and impacted upon the forcefield. It shuddered, held firm, but then collapsed with shards of it falling to the ground. The remaining sections melted into itself and disappeared. Waving her hand and finding no resistance, the Witch smirked and stepped beside the squirrel. "Thank you, little one."
The squirrel puffed their chest out with obvious pride, patting it with one paw. She chuckled and offered a hand to the animal. They gladly climbed onto her, scurried up her arm and returned to their position on her shoulder. Placing her hands on her hips, she walked over to the curious object and began to peer at it with a closer perspective.
It wasn't that much different to her previous observations. Bayonetta pressed a hand against the metal and noted that, unlike the surrounding areas, it was cold to the touch. Freezing, even.
"Any ideas, little one? Is this the portal to Inferno?" She put on a mock expression of disappointment. "It's very underwhelming."
The squirrel shook their head. They pointed at the church ahead of them instead, seemingly ignoring the strange structure. Bayonetta shrugged internally; if her guide wasn't interested in the object, then neither was she.
Walking around to the entrance, she pushed opened the double doors and stepped into the atrium of the building. Curling her lip at the holy presence inside, she warily continued forward.
Her cautiousness paid off almost instantly. The roof exploded and she watched a giant Angel fall through. It landed onto the floor with a loud slam and again she recognised the appearance. This time, however…
"Wait, you're Dante's Angel!" Bayonetta exclaimed, pointing at it. "You were conspiring with the blue gu-"
"You will not deface the Prophet with your sullied words, Umbra Witch." The face on the sword levelled an intense stare upon her when the massive Angel stood up. It barely fit inside the building, both in height and width. Either it was an idiot, or it did not care about the restrictive space encasing it. "Where is the Sovereign One!?"
"Sovereign One? I've never heard of this Sovereign One." She turned to see the squirrel both very tense and very alert. Lowering her voice to a whisper, she asked the creature one question; "Don't tell me you know about this business."
They turned to her and shook their head, but in a manner that gave her the feeling they were both convincing her and themselves.
"I can sense the power of the Remembrance of Time." It peered at her with undisguised hatred. "Where are you hiding the boy?"
"If you are looking for the boy, he went that a way." She pointed in a random direction behind her, keeping an eye on the squirrel on her shoulder. "But why the interest in little boys? I thought your kind had outgrown chasing children."
"The Sovereign One, the Arch Eve and the Left Eye of Darkness are all required for the Prophetic Ones plan. You are required at Fimbulventr, along with your wayward companion." Both hands gripped onto the sword and brought it up in front of the Angel, holding it where the head should have been. "A lowly Valor such as myself will be the one to deliver his prize to him!"
"I'm not a prize to be won, my dear Valor." Her mind was working at one hundred miles an hour with that proclamation. The implications of what was happening was enough, but it definitely proved one major theory; this was definitely a trap. "You have to earn me."
Reaching up, she grabbed the squirrel and shoved it down her cleavage, unweaving and reforming the battle suit around it. If the Angels were looking for the animal, then the best action to take would be to keep him close to her but not in the open. Unfortunately, she had forgotten to design her suit with pockets and sending a live being into her pocket realm of Inferno would be one of the stupidest ideas to ever be conjectured. So down the blouse he went, regardless of the objective squeaking that erupted from the magic animal.
"What was that?"
Bayonetta wink at the Angel and blew a kiss at it. "How about you use your big sword and find out?"
Valor roared and drew the sword back. It cut through the walls of the church without too much trouble, but that was not the problem it was about to encounter. The Witch jumped up and began to run on the walls, her heels trailing magical energy from witch walk. Not bothering with Love is Blue, Bayonetta somersaulted over a swipe and gave the shoulders of the Angel a kick. It stumbled back and she kept up the pressure by sending a falling heel stomp to spike the Laguna down.
It worked and the legs of the Angel crumbled. Red energy flowed from the Eye and clung to her fist while she drew it back. Bayonetta landed on the ground and then lunged forward with a straight punch. She connected with the sword and sent the blade away from the torso. Seizing the opportunity with both hands, the Witch twirled and struck a pose.
"PDEE BARMA."
Her hair few from her body and she felt the nestled squirrel fall from her chest. The weave disappeared into a portal and another erupted from behind the Angel. Madama Butterfly's fist caught the flying sword and the full might of the Demon rose out of the entrance to Inferno. Drawing the sword back, the Infernal reversed her grip on the blade and slammed it through the shoulders and through the entire body of the Laguna. Dragging the sword through the left side of the Angel, Butterfly turned a full rotation and returned the sword to a normal grip. The momentum was enough was her to slice straight through the rest of the body and it fell into three chunks; one half and two quarters.
"How dare you!? We are the mighty Valor! We will not be defeated so easy!" The sword screamed and both Butterfly and Bayonetta peered at it curiously. "We will destroy both of you for this desecration of honour!"
"What? Mr Valor, you've lost your arms and your legs. I don't think you understand you are in a position where you can't make threats like that." Bayonetta folded her arms while more portals opened up to grab the three parts of the body and dragged them into Inferno. "Annnnnd now they are gone completely. Butterfly!"
The Infernal tilted her head in acknowledgement.
"Can you toss this into space?" She nodded at the sword.
Buterfly answered with a toothy grin and hurled the blade up. They all watched the spinning object became smaller and smaller and-
It was gone.
"Thank you. If it comes back you can try for the moon."
"You think I cannot hit the moon?" Butterfly sounded offended. "Ye who is of little faith…"
Bayonetta dismissed the Infernal with a wave and glanced down to see the squirrel staring up at her with an annoyed expression. His paws were folded and one foot was tapping with annoyance.
"So, little Sovereign One, do you know anything about this Sovereign One business?" She asked and held up a hand. "Before you start shaking that head, you recognised it. Now start talking."
He shook his head and gestured to himself, her chest and then let out an angry squeak. Bayonetta flinched backwards and frowned. "You're still hung up on that? That was for your own good!"
Again, he shook his head and gave out an angrier and louder squeak. The squirrel ran back and forth, then in a circle and stared up at her.
"What?"
The squirrel huffed and seemingly rolled his eyes. Bayonetta raised an eyebrow and crouched down to peer at him a little closer. "Look, I'm sorry. But where else do you go in a situation where," she gestured to the ruined building. "This happens?"
He considered her words and nodded with a shrug. The Witch smiled and held an arm out. "Truce?"
A paw rested on her index finger and the two shook hands. Her curiosity got the better of her and she broke the shake to lightly grab it. The squirrel tilted their head, but then he too looked down to watch as she gripped both halves of the pyramid and twisted.
A blue light erupted from the necklace and engulfed the pair of them. When it receded, there was no longer a squirrel.
A young boy sat on the ground, dressed in baggy orange pants and a yellow, sleeveless jacket. Tanned skin was juxtaposed against brilliant white hair, far purer than Dante's or Nero's, which was braided in corn rows that slicked back behind his neck. Teal and white sneakers encased his feet, whereas the necklace was joined by two golden square bangles that rested upon his wrists.
But the most curious aspect about him was the symbol of a blue hourglass situated upon the centre of his forehead.
"Next time love," the boy spoke with an English accent, raising one hand to rest upon his temple. "Give a man some warning before you decide to change his entire being from a tiny squirrel into a human."
His eyes opened to reveal ice-blue iris's piercing through her. "But thank you very much."
…
Post-notes:
Bayo fandom before B3: We hate Loki!
Bayo fandom after B3: We hate both Luka and Viola!
Me: Is that a challenge?
Just like Luka from B1, Loki is lowkey actually a cool character. And just like B1 Luka, he has a few questionable scenes that don't exactly meld correctly with the idea of the character they are going with (Like why is Loki one of three characters to share a kiss on screen? That just don't fly here.)
The Loki I'm aiming for will be a little different to his canon portrayal since I can't see a AU where he isn't a little shit. Buuut, I do want him to fit into this overall AU and hopefully the changes are made to reflect this come out well.
Also this chapter was essentially rewritten from the ground up completely. With this entry officially none of the original plot exists and we are finally into Remake territory and not casual rewrite. So for everyone who has had the misfortune to read the original Solar Flare, please don't be too upset that we are completely departing from the original. (But that's a good thing because holy smokes that story is bad)
As always, thank you for reading! Please leave your thoughts on this chapter as a comment if you so wish and hold on tight for the next chapter; In Charm and Allure.
