Chapter 4: Awkward Reunion

Slayer and Intern Guy knew there was only one way in or out of Hell at the moment, and for that they needed to contact the Maykrs. They used their portal from the Arc Carrier to the Maykr home world, Urdak. This dreamlike world seemed Heavenly to someone born on Earth: gleaming white palatial buildings floating in the sky, with outdoor courtyards adorned with copper-colored trees and their scarlet leaves.

However, this place also hung with a feeling of fatigue, death or draining. More argent would be needed to sustain this world. Here they sought out someone the Slayer had been an ally with before, though this "relationship" had its ups and downs.

Samur Maykr, also called "Samuel Hayden". One of the Seraphim. High-ranking members of the Maykrs, who acted independently from any Khan's directive. After the Khan Maykr's destruction, Samur and the other Seraphim were in charge. But politics also complicated things here.

With the Khan Maykr dead, control over Hell couldn't be guaranteed. They were also aware of the civil war, and this made them reluctant to open a portal. The chaos would surely spill over into their world. So their only options were to wait this civil war out and try negotiations, or take a more direct route. Another idea would soon materialize.

Slayer and Intern Guy found Samur here; it took some asking around. Typically the Maykrs would be more suspicious; he had been their enemy not long before. However, they doubted he was here to attack them, and for all they knew he was still incredibly dangerous. The Seraphim would also welcome ideas to resolve the Hell conundrum.

Slayer and Intern Guy eventually found Samur in his office, after he gave permission for the meeting. They walked down a hallway, and through his door, flanked by Maykr drones guarding him. Samur had frost-white skin, a flowing red robe, and tentacles where a human's legs would be. He hovered above the ground. "Mr. Samur? Hi there, Slayer and I wanted to reach you. We need to, eh, go to Hell. I'm sure you're aware of what's happening."

Samur looked up after a short while at his visitors. " 'Aware of what's happening?' ", he asked in his characteristic deep and thoughtful tone. He looked toward Slayer. "It's quite hard not to be aware... but it's quite a surprise to see you here of all people. Last time we met, we had a fairly unpleasant exchange."

Slayer remembered this. "..."

Intern Guy also recalled this. "I heard of that. You tried stopping the Slayer from bringing Davoth into physical form. So you tried fighting the Slayer yourself, in your Seraphim body. But he almost-"

"Yes, I managed to escape before he killed me. I thought I was taking the safer route by stopping the Slayer, but apparently Slayer got what he wanted and killed Davoth. It was a far from guaranteed outcome; I would have not bothered with that", he finished with a dour and judgmental tone.

"Yes, but you and the Slayer have been allies as well. Before things had a falling-out."

Samur recalled his first involvement. "Well yes, I suppose we were. Back when I first met him. I was in my cybernetic body, after a human one I was using became cancerous. We were on Mars. Someone I used to mentor and helped advance in the UAC's argent facility there, Olivia Pierce, had went rogue. Consumed by argent energy, she blasted open the argent intake, getting drunk on the power for herself. But it put everything else in danger."

"You had to put a stop to it."

"I asked the Slayer to stop the argent flow, and kill Olivia. He did so in his own fashion: destroying the argent control panels instead of carefully shutting them down. He then went on to kill Olivia. She was insane. I did not celebrate her death, but I didn't cry over her either. I don't think anyone did."

"She took a very reckless path."

"Yes, and she paid for it. I ran into Slayer again later, this time in his fight against the Khan Maykr. I was able to assist him, and he succeeded in destroying the Icon of Sin. After that though, our mutual goals came to an end."

Intern Guy picked up his previous thought. "I guess your goals are aligned again. There is the civil war in Hell, and I'm assuming you haven't re-opened because you can't predict what happens next."

Samur confirmed this. "We need to bring in more argent, but we have no idea what will happen if we just opened. But you're here, Slayer, even in your weakened state. Right now the demons are fighting amongst themselves. If we had to wait for their war to end, there is no telling how long that would take. Since you're here however, we can pick a favorite and you can help them solidify power so we can deal with them."

"Pick a favorite?"

"That's our best option. Is that what you're here for?"

"Well yes, but we wanted to meet a particular one of them. A Revenant."

"It looks like one of them is leading the fight against Erebus, but why him?" Samur was somewhat incredulous. He thought Erebus may be the safer and more natural choice.

"We have our reasons. We need to get to Hell and find him. You'll see when we find him."

"That's somewhat odd. We are aware that he seems to have more intelligence than others of his kind. It's a strange question of how that happened... but I'm up for it. I'll have to use my cybernetic body. The three of us will go." Samur had to use this body since his Seraphim body wouldn't survive.

He transferred into this body, opened a special portal, and instructed the other Seraphim to await his signal to re-open. "One more thing my fellow Seraphim, we may bring a special guest back with us. Do not worry, it will be under control." This was in case he would rather discuss things with one of Hell's representatives on his own turf, which would give him the advantage.

These three soon found themselves in Hell. A familiar landscape for Slayer and Samur, though Intern Guy was taking in the sights. It was also fairly warm here for him. Slayer was also more susceptible to the heat.

"So now where do we go?", Intern Guy asked. "I guess we can ask one of them for information... just walk up to them? It might work if the Revenant leading them has intelligence, and they respond to speech."

Samur replied. "It's worth a try. Even though Slayer is weaker, they don't know that. And surely the two of us can take down a hostile demon we encounter." They began their search, trying to find an isolated demon and ask some questions. Slayer and Samur were both armed. They first came across some imps, though they reacted in their typical mindless fashion. Trying to talk to them was fruitless.

Samur was growing impatient. "I don't like feeling like I'm wasting time. I wish we had a more exact location."

"We're sure to run into someone soon!" Intern Guy was his ever-optimistic self. And they did run into someone: a Pain Elemental was curious about these visitors, and drifted over. He didn't attack right away, so Samur addressed him: "We're an emissary from outside Hell. We know about the civil war, and we want to talk to your leader. Can you show us to him?"

The Pain Elemental observed them for a bit, and seemed to consider their request. He nodded (or rather, rolled his entire body in this motion as he was basically a giant head) and beckoned with his arm. They followed him.

The mood was pensive, and hopeful. Intern Guy commented, "I can't believe we'll be working together. It's a funny feeling, but exciting."

They were on the move for half an hour. The Pain Elemental led them to a clearing, where other demons were, and went to find Daizen. Some demons appeared to be recovering from injury, and others were engaged in conversation. Slayer saw several Mancubi, Arachnotrons, Cacodemons and others. He tried to spot this Revenant.

Shortly, one of the Mancubi came up to them. "You're not from around here. What brings you here?"

They were taken by surprise. "You're talking! I never heard one of you speak before", Intern Guy said. "We understand that a Revenant is intelligent, after an incident on Earth. Is he your leader?"

"You're here for him? What do you want with him?"

Samur reiterated what he said before. "We're emissaries from Earth. We were wanting to talk to him regarding this war in Hell." Samur didn't elaborate; his priority was the argent.

The Mancubus didn't feel threatened, but was still wary. "Just wait a moment. We'll see... say, you look familiar." He spoke toward Slayer. "Are you who I think you are? I've heard of you. But I'd be happy if you're on our side, at least for now." Other demons had noticed him by now, and were gesturing toward him while talking amongst themselves.

Slayer shared this cautious optimism. "..."

Meanwhile, the Pain Elemental went off and contacted Daizen. He emoted that he was needed. Daizen was curious and went over to the three visitors. He assumed it was one of the Marauders, but he stopped when he noticed they were not demons at all. And then he recognized Slayer; he stopped for a moment to take this in. He slowly and cautiously walked the rest of the way to them. Slayer saw him.

Daizen came up and spoke directly to him. "You, I remember... We met, and after you entered my body, something remained. I was human again. It's quite something, I never thought I'd see you again.

Seeing this Revenant speak was exciting for Intern Guy, and satisfying for Samur. This was the one he was looking for.

Slayer was also feeling emotion well up. "..."

The other demons, seeing their leader react this way, watched and listened. They regained their humanity, and Daizen had described how he had, though this was the very one who made it all possible.

Daizen continued. "We've... been fighting a war for control. For six years. And we've been doing well. Erebus has been weakened, though he's not done yet. Are you here to help us?"

Samur spoke up. "My name is Samur Maykr, a Seraphim. I also go by Samuel Hayden. I represent Urdak. We're here to meet with you, and discuss exactly that. This civil war must end first, before anything else." Samur didn't mention the argent yet. He would wait to touch on that detail until Daizen was a bit more... "isolated".

The other demons who overheard this excitedly spread this news. Surely, Daizen had gotten the attention and respect of Urdak! This was great news. Victory was now at hand.

Daizen resumed his thoughts. "My name is Daizen. I don't remember my human name, but that name came to me, when my mind first reappeared. I... can't cry here. I wasted my tears on less vital things when a man." He looked back at the demons observing them. He gave them his thoughts:

"I am a Monster, or was... If they were to see me, people would hate me. They would look at my face and my body and then run away in horror. And while I feel loneliness, I learned that if I could not inspire love and hope, which was my deepest hope, I would instead only cause fear! But I have a precious chance to do the former.

I live, because this typically trigger-happy, mute force of death has given me life. He alone returned to me something beautiful. And then, when it would have been easy enough to stay out of danger, he uncharacteristically spared me after we met. He restored my human brain, allowing me a somewhat more sophisticated way of expressing myself."

The group was silent for a moment. After this speech, Slayer and his fellow visitors wanted to resume their talks, but noticed a Marauder coming up to them. It was Rigaud. He looked them over, and knew who Slayer was. But Intern Guy caught his attention. He asked, "Greetings mortal. Are you ready to die?", and then smirked somewhat. He liked messing with him.

Daizen felt jarred by this comment. He spoke up: "That's kind of rude to our guests. They're visiting from Urdak, regarding our war. We've been doing well, they may help us finish."

Rigaud replied, "A tin can, a kid, and... Slayer. And what's in it for you guys? I remember we fought as allies long ago, but now is different."

"This 'tin can' is Urdak's representative. We will need to make allies and built relationships for after war's end."

"If you say so, leader." Rigaud bided his time for now. He returned to his position.

Daizen followed up, "I apologize for that. Marauders are quite strong, and it took awhile for me to earn their trust. I'm sure Rigaud will come round."

Samur then stated, "We should continue this conversation. But if you don't mind, I'd like to do it in Urdak. I'm sure your army will be in good shape until you are back." If Daizen was winning, he'd have to negotiate with him.

"Ok, I'll let the others know." He informed d'Outremont and Dave, his chief lieutenants, and the group of four went back to the portal, and into Urdak. Samur changed back into his Seraphim body.

They went into Samur's office. Daizen took in the sights, while the Maykrs likewise took in this visitor. "It's beautiful here", he commented.

"Yes, and that's why I wanted to bring you here", Samur replied. "I'll be upfront with you. Argent. That's what I need. Right now we are in danger of running out, and that will be the end of us. Hell has it, but we can't open a portal for it as long as the war is going on. I want to ask when it can resume.

Daizen felt awkward. "Well you see, what we're doing is trying to restore humanity to as many demons as we can. We were... ah..." Daizen was hesitant to say he didn't plan to resume argent exports. He would need allies. He couldn't waste this chance. "As long as Erebus is in the way, we can't really do that. So we want the war to end, I think you're on the same page."

"But the argent?", Samur said with some emphasis.

"...I'm not sure how much argent. Is that the only power source you have?"

Samur, likewise, couldn't waste his own chance. Further, if he simply assassinated Daizen, it would just piss off his entire army. There would be no argent for sure. He couldn't be reckless, as Olivia had been. As before, Samur would have to play the long game. That was his strong suit. "Very well, we'll worry about that later. But this war does have to end, and then we'll see how much argent is available", he concluded.

After some other, less pressing conversation, they escorted Daizen back to the portal. "We'll follow you and monitor your fighting. Maybe even assist with it. Give us a couple days."

"Ok, thanks for talking with me. Hope to see you soon."

Daizen left. Intern Guy spoke up. "That was pretty cool. I never spoke to one of them before today."

Samur replied, "Yes, but you'll need to stay here, or hang back. It can be dangerous for someone like you. We'll go in a few days." He nodded at Slayer. "And then we may see some argent, very soon."