It's undetermined WHEN the premature End War occurred. The best estimation would be…between 2012 and 202X. And how would the resurrection even work? There's, like, about six billion humans. Even if the demons have run of the Earth, not all of them are entirely wiped out. Like…how many demons ARE there in hell? There's a shit ton of humans. Not to mention that the Earth is massive (like as stated in this story many, MANY times). No wonder it took the demons about a hundred years to take over the planet. Darksiders is kind of among the media to unintentionally be retconned. I guess I'll have to take some liberties here as well…
(And I made a long ass chapter JUST to put in some lore and world building. I hope it was worth it.)
"Ah, there is something that I would like to ask you," Uriel began after a while.
Sora blinked up at her. "Uh…sure, what's that?" asked the boy. Then she asked him the question he had been dreading.
"How was it that you know the Red Rider?" Sora winced. He knew it's gonna be brought up but…not this soon. Ugh, stupid boy. Stupid! Why did he act like that in front of her?
"Uh…" Sora began, thinking a little. "I guess…we encountered each other a couple of times. I kind of spooked him when we first met." He reviewed their first encounter again in his head. "…Well, more like I was trying to sneak away but didn't watch where I was going," he corrected himself. "I was lucky that I didn't lose my head or limbs back there."
She merely gave a grunt. "So he left you alone?"
"Well…yeah, he did," Sora nodded. "We ran into each other again but after rescuing me from a demon. Scolded me for a bit too."
"Well, at least the Red Rider hadn't changed," Uriel muttered to herself.
Sora blinked up at her, intrigued. "Did you meet him before?"
"Remember that incident I mentioned? About the Abominations?" At Sora's nod, she continued, "It was around the first time I met him actually. He defeated me with hardly any effort on his end." She rubbed her chin. "I was rather young at the time, so I was not a match for him."
Sora tilted his head. "Huh."
"The Red Rider is often known for his brutality back in the day. He still has it, but I had heard from others older than I am that he is also goal oriented." Sora blinked at the information he had just received.
If that's so, then… Oh. So that explains why War often heads off without saying a few words. The Horseman reminded Sora often of Leon or Cloud those times, but now it made sense. War wanted to finish up things to get closer to his goal and he can't afford to be distracted. Especially with a teenage human. Cloud has his own issues (Sephiroth), but Leon had enough problems on his plate in the time he knew him. He didn't really get it back then, but now? Poor Leon and the others…
"So…in other words, he focuses on getting to the goal that he would leave things not related to his goal alone?" Sora asked her, summing up the character of the red clad Horseman. Uriel nodded. "Okay. Noted."
Meaning, War will stop at nothing until he defeats the Destroyer. And the Chosen are probably related to that goal. Though how can you tell the difference between the average demon and what the Chosen are? How many of them are there?
"So, uh," Sora began after a while, "what do you think of that demon from a while ago? It looked more like a bug than anything."
"It may have been a creature from the Abyss," Uriel mused, getting Sora's attention.
"The Abyss?" Sora parroted. He remembered War mention that but never really got the details.
"The Abyss is…well, a chaotic realm of primordial darkness. They aren't like demons at all, as demons at least have a humanoid appearance. The Abyssal Creatures vary in appearance, they could be a massive bat, to a spider, for example. They don't have an allegiance towards anyone but to someone who summoned them. That being the Destroyer it seems, if that creature that attacked us is an indication."
Sora blinked. "Huh." Okay that makes a lot of sense. War mentioned that Tiamat was a creature from the Abyss. So that means the other Chosen are also from the Abyss. And demons mostly have a humanoid shape. Mostly.
Feeling his throat parched, he swung his pack around and dug around a bit. He soon pulled out his canteen bottle. After a couple of gulps, he shook it a little to determine how much water he had left. Which…isn't a lot. He'll need to find some running water to refill the bottle soon. And since he thought about fish, he had a serious craving for some…
Maybe he could find Ulthane and stay for a night to eat something nice and warm. When was the last time that he had a warm meal?
As he thought about it, he realized that the last time he had a hot meal was before he left Ulthane's place. And before that, some instant noodles for a quick snack after they defeated the MCP – mostly because Radiant Garden hadn't recovered when the MCP hijacked the systems to let the world nearly get overwhelmed by Heartless and Nobodies. And some people need the food more than they do. They had a surplus of noodles and other foods that were easy to make on the ship. They were not the best cooks, so easy to make and ready-made meals are the best option they had.
(…Thinking about it now, no wonder Sora didn't gain muscle mass…)
Sora put the bottle away back in his pack. He then recalled a question he had meant to ask. "Oh yeah. I meant to ask earlier…who is this… 'Deceiver' guy?"
Uriel froze a little when he asked that. The silence that crept in had Sora become unnerved. He was about to change the subject to something else before she turned to him. Her expression was dead serious. "We never speak of his name."
"Who?"
"He goes by many names. The Dark Prince. The Lord of All Hells. The Prince of Lies. The Deceiver. But we never call him by his name. He is the sovereign ruler of the Second Kingdom, the supreme master of demonkind. Rival to Samael who is said to be second in line to assume the throne of Hell. He is dangerous as he is cunning. No one has ever seen his face nor know what he looks like. Yet he has made a lot of plots over the years since creation. One of the most grievous is corrupting mankind with the vices of Hell's masters."
"Corrupting mankind?" Sora parroted slowly.
"I only heard this from the older members of the Hellguard," Uriel began. "But when Man was created, it was deemed that they were to inherit Eden and later your world Earth. It's this decision that had the Nephilim enraged to try to take both Eden and Earth by force. An action that had them slaughtered by the Four Horsemen. Abaddon had a second in command named Astarte that had agreed to stay in Eden to watch over the now ruined paradise…however, the isolation had drove her mad and the Deceiver had bargained with her to give her freedom and a chance to 'avenge' the fallen Nephilim in exchange for access into Eden. She had become a fallen angel and had to be killed. It was only later that it was revealed that the Deceiver had plotted to use the souls of his own rivals and enemies to have Man feel fear, hatred and lust. The damage that still remained is the reason why the pact was forged."
"So…what this guy did was the reason why that pact was forged?" Sora tilted his head, trying to process what he had just learned.
"I would assume so." Shifting slightly, Uriel said, "It's also the reason why it's forbidden to anyone to come to the Earth itself. The Tree of Life that was planted there was burned to ashes, and any path leading there is cut off. Unfortunately, it isn't entirely foolproof. As those of the Second Kingdom had managed to find 'holes' to slip through."
Sora crossed his arms as he asked, "So…technically, they can just slip through and cause trouble?" Uriel nodded.
"I did hear of a couple of angels who…did slip on through as well," Uriel's eyes shifted away, as if ashamed.
"Why?"
"I…am not sure. Perhaps to influence humans like the demons?" Uriel sounded uncertain of her answer.
Sora hummed. "Okay…I think I understand a bit more. But" he quirked an eyebrow, "why would you not call him by name?"
"By saying his name, you are invoking his attention onto you," Uriel warned him. She had a serious expression on her face as she adds, "Beings like him and Samael are nearly omniscient. Either of them could be watching what goes on right now, as we speak."
The boy felt a chill up his spine…and he could have sworn he heard someone laughing… slowly, he nodded. "Right," meeped Sora in a nearly small voice. He cleared his throat. "Thanks for that," his voice cracked a little before he coughed a little, thumping his chest.
He raised his head as Uriel raised her head to look up. "If we keep going up this path, we may end up getting back to the 'subway'," she informed him.
"Really?" Sora's lips spread into a smile. "Then let's get going!"
They soon resumed their trek upwards. Sora is still not used to the silence, but he'll have to get used to it. Especially since they need to keep their ears open. Needed to keep up the vigilance. As much as he missed Donald and Goofy, he reminded himself that he has to keep himself alive. If only to get back to them.
Of course, going through the area isn't exactly easy. There are a few larger demons that even Uriel wouldn't take on – mostly because she knew she couldn't beat them as she is and that she has to protect Sora as well. So they had to carefully avoid those demons if they could help it. They were drenched in water, so the demons couldn't catch onto their scent. It helps when Sora picks up something to make some noise to distract them. Sora even went and took a couple of their…items (mainly weapons and odd-looking trinkets) to stuff into his pack. Much to Uriel's disapproval. (Even if they are demons, angels still have morals. At least, Uriel does.)
They entered what seems to be a part of the wall – like that of a path carved out by the demons. There's still lights filtering in from the holes over the wall. Yet the limited light did not offer them much to see the path. Just when Sora's feet were beginning to hurt and he was about to ask Uriel for a break, some odd sounds were heard. Apparently, Uriel heard it too, as she held up a hand to stop him. Up ahead is a bright purple light that flickered a bit ahead. The two turned their heads to look at each other, before the two cautiously approached the odd light source.
As they slowly got closer, he could hear someone mutter. Listening carefully, it sounded female. It sounded…lively? He isn't entirely sure. But they (she?) seem enraptured by something. They got close to the edge of the wall…Sora's ears picked up that unknown language he had heard Uriel and War speak before they peered around. The bright purple flame barely illuminated anything, but there's some rather big horns that curved downwards in the back. A pair of arms also has that purple fire as small flames up to the shoulders…yet another arm seems to be holding something. In the limited light, there's something that flicked a little on the ground.
Sora tilted his head before he slowly walked out. "Uh…hello?" He called out to the figure.
The figure perked before the area suddenly burst into a light with the purple flames blazing. The figure exclaimed something in that language as it swiftly turned around with four purple fireballs forming over four hands. A blink and Uriel was suddenly before him, brandishing her sword in a defensive position.
Yet…the figure just stopped. Sora tilted his head over Uriel to take in the figure fully now that there's light. And he should have known that, from the light reflecting off of the (massive and deep red) horns and a flicker – that's now shown to be a scaley tail – on the ground, Sora should have known that it was a demon. A…female, demon? The eyes glowed a soft amber color, like what you would see in an amber gemstone with a brighter, yellow 'circle' that acts as iris/pupils. Her skin is mostly red and scaley, yet the inner parts, from the chest, inner parts of her four arms and within her arms and within her thighs a soft orange color. On her arms are long purple gloves that end at least below the elbow, having small spikes on them and bits of armor. Around her neck is a high-collared piece of collar that comes with bits of armor and metal that is attached to it to cover her, well, breasts. She wore a spandex of a similar color with bits of metal and trinkets, with the sides attached to a pair of leggings that exposed her three toes and her heel. The body shape of the demon is…well, stout, with her body becoming thick from her chest to the rest of her.
The demon blinked a couple of times at them. "Well!" She said, speaking in English. Sounding as surprised to see them as he was of her. The flames in her upper hands dimmed down as she continued, "I wasn't expecting this." She flicked her lower arms to dismiss the fire.
She didn't flinch as Uriel pointed her sword at her. "Why are you here, demon?" She growled lowly.
"Whoa! Okay, you need to CHILL!" The female demon responded, two of her hands held up in a placating manner. "If I was gonna attack you, I would have done so by now."
"That is a likely story."
The female demon huffed, her lower arms crossing. "Girl, I'm a merchant. I do defend myself with magic, but why would I attack those who's looking into my wares?"
Sora blinked at it. So then…this demon is like Vulgrim then? Though…can she be…trusted?
On the other hand…while he felt an…unpleasant aura around Vulgrim even after meeting him once, for some reason he didn't feel threatened at all by this one. Maybe it had something to do with how…lively she sounds.
Wanting to de-escalate the matter, Sora held up a hand. "Um…sorry," he apologized to the demon, who blinked at him. "We're kind of on edge here. Been avoiding demons for a while."
The demon made an inquisitive hum. "Never thought I'd see the day where someone apologized to a demon. Honestly though, I don't blame you for being on edge. We demons got a rough reputation of being power hungry and backstabbing each other and all. Makes most of us look terrible." One of her finger curled under her chin. "Also, aren't you a human? I hadn't seen one myself, but something feels…strange about you."
Sora tried to keep a straight face. He didn't want to explain or say anything about him being an outsider. "Uh…"
"Well, never mind that for now," the demon began as she looked around a little. As if looking for something. She hummed a little, muttering something under her breath before she shook her head. "So what's a human and an angel doing down here? This doesn't seem to be a place folks like you should be frolicking in."
At least she isn't asking more about his situation (much). Sora eased himself to rub the back of his neck. "Well…it wasn't by choice, really," Sora began, while thinking up what to say (though hissed a little when he felt some of his hair catch onto the metal bits of the gauntlet). "Uh…I was trying to look for something but ended up running into Uriel and another while they were fighting. Then we got washed away suddenly." Embellishing the truth here and there, but it isn't a lie for the most part.
Uriel looked to Sora. "You willingly went into this place?" Sora couldn't fully stop a flinch at it. Suddenly saying that he was looking for something was a mistake.
"Uh…you know. Finding stuff," muttered Sora. May as well tell this truth at least. "I was also around the area when I heard noises and had to get in for safety."
"Kid, you're batshit insane for doing that," the demon bluntly told him. "Most people would find other places to hide."
Sora could only give a nervous chuckle at being called out like that. And by a demon no less. Wanting to change the subject, Sora then asked her, "So…how about you? What's your name?"
The demon perked. "Ah! Right. Makes sense. My name's Dis. I was mostly down here to take a bit of a break. I found a few things belonging to humans a while back and they look interesting."
Uriel noted it. "Human artifacts?"
"Not really," Dis responded before she held something up. "It's a part of their literature, made up or otherwise. Some of these had pictures drawn in them."
Sora blinked before he got a closer look. In her hand is a book of some kind. It had two kids over what seems to be a massive hole within an island. But…hold on, Sora recognizes it. What the book is at least.
"Is that a…comic?" Sora blinked. The two females turned their inquisitive gazes at him, with Dis openly showing her curiosity. "Oh. Uh…people draw in stuff with dialogue to tell a story. Some people like to read those more than ordinary books mostly because you can visually 'see' some of the action in them. There's two versions of them. Hardback and paper back, depending on the size."
He had a couple of comics when he was a kid (as any kid would). He honestly prefers them over actual books any day but…his folks stopped getting them for him when he had brought a couple to school a couple of times and got them confiscated. He had to save up on his allowance to buy himself a new issue whenever he could. But he never tried to sneak them to school ever again.
After his little explanation, Dis had an intrigued look. "Oh really? Huh, humans really do make a lot of ways to entertain themselves. It's a waste to discard these."
Uriel regarded the small book. "Where…did you even get that?"
"Well, I got it from my small trip to the world. They were ported from 'Japan' and translated to English," Dis answered. Though it was as if Dis had said the wrong thing as Uriel rounded on her.
"You trespassed onto a planet that's closed off to everyone in creation?!" Uriel demanded, brandishing her sword. "you know that is in violation!"
Dis passed the book to her upper arms to use her lower arms to place them onto her hips as she stared at Uriel with a frown. "Right, but they never said anything on exploring around and seeing it. Not like other angels and demons who used Reflecting Pools to sneak their way and directly interfering with humans. The only reason THEY didn't get caught was because demons used glamour magic while Angels just hide their wings and change their appearance. What I did was harmless! Merely a little bit of malicious compliance."
Sora tilted his head. "So…wait, was that how everyone didn't know angels and demons existed until the apocalypse?"
"Well of course," Dis answered with a small wave of her hand. "Humans' brains may be big, but even those would explode when faced with something that had them question what they think they knew."
So that…made sense? Then again, she wasn't wrong. Yet everything he encountered so far hardly surprised him much. Sora mildly wondered if he's becoming desensitized to all of this. (And he honestly hope he isn't.)
And so he answered, "Right. I think I can get that." He nodded. "I mean…if I was around when it first happened, I would be in disbelief too."
"There you go, you're getting it," Dis nodded, gesturing to Sora. "But back to what I was saying, I was just taking a break. Afterwards, it's back to work for me to pay off my debt to Vulgrim."
Sora tilted his head. "Debt?"
Dis gave a disgusted groan, slouching. "Let's just say that I was in a situation where I'm indebted to Vulgrim. So I work with him for life. It would be nice if he just keels over, but he's a clever demon. Knows when to make deals with certain demons or individuals and knows his way through the Serpent Holes. About ninety years ago, the Serpent Holes were connected to certain places on this planet. He got someone to clear the way for him."
"Huh," the boy and angel let out, intrigued.
"Thanks for the information at least, Dis," Sora says, raising his right arm to scratch his head but stopped himself a bit. He gave a glance at the 'claws' on the gauntlet, his lips curling into a bit of a grimace before he looked to Dis. "In any case…"
"Hey, hold up," Dis cut him off. She was staring at the gauntlet on his right hand. "Mind if I see that?"
Sora blinked. His eyes looked to the gauntlet and back to her. "What, this?" He held up his right arm.
"Yeah. That gauntlet. Where'd you get that?" Dis asked him. Her eyes were narrowed as she stared down at the gauntlet. The stare made the boy a bit uncomfortable.
"Uh…some demons had a hold of it. But it's stuck on me now," Sora explained.
The demon hummed in thought. "Hope you don't mind if I get closer," she floated a little closer to look over at it. She lightly touched his arm to get a look at it in different angles. Even messing with it a little, pulling at the metal bits. Once she's done with her appraisal, she backed up. She hummed, furrowing her brows in thought.
Sora felt apprehensive at the way the demoness had acted, hesitating before he soon asked, "Is…something wrong?"
"Oh, something's wrong all right," Dis answered with her expression serious. "How in the nine circles of hell did they even find something like that? I thought they were gone for good."
"Huh?" Sora tilted his head.
"Explain yourself," Uriel ordered.
"All right, all right, don't get your feathers ruffled," Dis muttered. She cleared her throat. "All right. The weapons forged for the Four Horsemen were made by the Makers that is connected to their souls. If they were to somehow die, their soul is bound to their weapon, and it can be used to revive them. At BEST." She stressed, before continuing, "They're durable and VERY had to break. That gauntlet, though?" she gestured to it. "It's created similarly to their weapons, but it's made for something…different in mind."
What's a 'Maker'? Sora asked himself. And the weapons the Four Horsemen had is linked to their souls? That's…concerning.
"Something different?" Uriel parroted.
"You're young, so you probably heard of them," Dis looked to her. "I'm talking about the first humans created. The first batch before the second one is made to inherit the Earth."
Uriel's face shifted into surprise. "The first…you mean the humans that are capable of utilizing various powers?"
"Yeah, that's them," Dis confirmed. "They call themselves 'Mystic', but they're just a small batch of humans that have what the second batch refer to as 'supernatural' powers. Like some of the people etched in the comics or their works of fiction."
"Wait, really?" Sora asked in surprise. Like…superheroes? Capable of actually using REAL magic like the demons and angels?
"Yeah. But between the Nephilim invasion and annihilation, the Mystics were also wiped out. Well, they say they were. They just couldn't find traces of them anymore. Like they just disappeared. Vanished. Like they never existed in the first place. No one could ever confirm if they're dead or just in hiding."
"I only heard a brief mention of them from Abaddon," Uriel admitted. "But…are you implying…?"
"Well, to be honest, I'm not a hundred percent sure," Dis shook her head. "It feels Maker made but it has strange magic and energy about it. I don't know why it latched onto the kid here, but I think it's a bonafide relic of the Mystic subspecies." Sora stared down at the gauntlet on his arm in a new light. A super old item of the first humans…? He had never heard of anything like it before. But…does…that make him a 'Mystic'? He didn't feel any special. And compared to the people of this world, he's already supernatural. (Not to mention he also fought supernatural beasts.)
"…But how did the demons find it?" Sora then asked after he stared down at it.
"Fuck I don't know," Dis responded (with Uriel hissing a little at the language). "I do feel traces of time magic to it. Maybe they sent it to the future."
"To…us finding it?" Sora inquiries.
"Kid, nothing makes sense here. And here I thought what I went through back then and helping the Horsemen was strange."
"So you had met the Horsemen?" Uriel asked her.
"Only two of 'em: War and Strife. They were a lot different back then than they are now," Dis remarked.
Sora raised his head, tearing his eyes away from the gauntlet. "Wait, really?"
Dis rubbed her chin. "Yeah. They were pretty reckless back then. And a little sassy when dealing with Samael."
"The Red Rider? Sassy?" Uriel looked to nearly laugh at it. And honestly, Sora doesn't think he could even picture War like that himself.
"You right. It's usually Strife that's the sassy one," says Dis. "War was sometimes loud, and abrasive. Sometimes. I heard that he learned to cool down since…" she trailed off, face shifting down a little before she rose her head. "In any case, back to the point at hand." She turned to Sora. "The glove seems to have a special enhancement to it. So, tell you what, since you gave me a bit of information about what comics are, I'll see if I can bring out its power."
"Really?" Sora asked before he stopped himself. Cautious now, he adds, "But…is it safe?"
"Maybe not, but it doesn't hurt to have precautions." Sora did not feel confident in that. She wiggled a little. "Oooh, I never got to work on a Mystic relic. I know of the ones made from Makers, but this will be an experience!"
The next thing Sora knew, Dis had set up something akin to a shop around them, and a circle. The demoness had him stand in the circle as she got the other things ready. Uriel stood on standby in case something goes wrong or Dis decides to betray them after all. Sora felt apprehensive about it for a while, shifting his eyes at the unusual items set around.
"…Uh…" Sora shifts his eyes to Dis. "While you're working on that…can I ask a question?"
"Sure, what is it?" Dis asked as she was looking over a few things with her back to him.
"…This isn't gonna hurt, is it?"
"I dunno, maybe." The blunt answer had him swallow a little. He moved his head to look to Uriel, silently pleading for help. She glanced at him but could only give an uncertain look. She took a small step closer to him however, but still out of the circle on Dis's orders.
Soon enough (though it felt longer to Sora, and he wished it was longer to delay it) Dis returned to him. "Okay, all set! Let's get started. Just raise your arm, hun."
Sora made a whimper before he slowly raised his right arm. 'Please, for the love of all that's holy, I hope it's quick,' he mentally prayed.
"All right, good! Keep it that way. I'll get started." She floated to the edge of the circle. She turned back to him before closing her eyes. She held up her upper arms to the side, palms upward while her lower arms hovered over her chest, cupping the open air as she muttered something incomprehensible under her breath. Purple flames appeared in her upper hands, as Dis's eyes shot open with them glowing purple. Unknown lettering and glyphs manifested, in the same color as the flames Dis emits. Sora couldn't help but look at the strange letters in awe as they flit about him.
A soft purple glow caught his attention, and he looked back to the gauntlet as lettering and glyphs hovered around. The eyes glowed softly…before they flashed brightly. The lettering and glyphs faded away into small particles of light. His eyes watched them go for a few moments before they shifted back at the gauntlet, with the eyes and mouth glowing a little before the light faded away. The boy pulled his arm back to look over at it curiously.
"Oooh!" Dis let out, "that's got a lot of kick to it. But I think I got it."
Sora looked back to her, as she looked to be recovering. "What is it?"
"Gimme a moment, sweetie." Sora waited on bated breath as Dis soon recollected herself. In his peripheral, he noticed Uriel edging closer to him. Soon enough, Dis straightened herself out, exhaling. "Okay! I'm good. I gotta say, it's a bit unusual."
"The gauntlet?" Uriel inquired.
"Yeah. It looks like it's created to 'copy' weapons touched by it, and the person can utilize it to make a 'copy' of the weapon in question. From swords, spears, you name it. It's limited to those however."
Sora looked to the gauntlet. "So…it makes a copy of weapons I touched with it, and I can use the copy of it?"
"Yeah, that's it in a 'nutshell'." Dis paused. "I used that right, right?"
"Yeah," Sora nodded.
"You humans come with VERY weird but also interesting words," Dis remarked. "But I like it."
In all honestly, Sora was starting to like Dis. She's very helpful for a demon. Though while he felt the urge to give her a big hug as thanks…he figured a demon wouldn't appreciate that. At all. And probably take the hug the wrong way. Probably.
Sora beamed at Dis. "Still, thank you so much for the help!"
Dis blinked. "Oh! Well. I didn't expect that."
Sora blinked in confusion before he realized that demons are often not shown kindness or gratitude. "Oh, uh…" he used his left hand to rub the back of his head. "I guess you guys never really get 'thanked', huh?"
"Well, not really. You're the first to at least thank folks like me," Dis answered.
"Even so, thank you, Dis," Sora repeated, grateful. His smile fell a little. "I wish there's something I could do to repay you."
Dis regarded him. "Huh. You certainly aren't want I heard about," she muttered. Sora blinked with an inquisitive hum. "There were stuff that said some very unsavory things about humans. That they're selfish creatures, somewhat on par with demons."
Sora was a little stunned by what he heard. He had no idea that humans were looked down upon by the rest of the people on this world. Come to think of it, the Watcher's attitude towards him make a lot of sense now. A type of superiority that, for some reason, reminded him again of that blue haired man and the Queen of Hearts. And Jafar. And a couple of others from the top of his head. On the other hand, Sora couldn't really argue with what Dis had likely heard about humans. He was rather selfish himself – sure, he wanted to find his friends and did not care about the King at first, but it isn't an excuse to ignore everything else, including those around him. (Which, for some reason, he had felt since waking up in Twilight Town.) And he had seen a lot of selfish and horrible people in action as well. But even with there being people like that, he had also met good people as well.
Sora grunted a little, flattening his lips a little. "Well…right here, I'm meeting a demon who's nice," Sora points out, "There's a lot of people who don't fit the stereotype, right?"
Dis blinked at him in surprise. Then she cooed, hands on her cheekss. "Oh, you are just a little GEM!" Sora yelped out as she pinched his cheek and wiggled it. "You are just SO cute! I could just eat you up!"
"Please don't," Sora requested, feeling his cheek hurt a little.
"I wasn't being serious on the latter," Dis assured him, releasing his cheek. "What was that word you humans use? Hyperbole? Something like that."
Sora rubbed his left cheek a little. At least she didn't use her nails. He didn't want to know if they could cut into his skin.
"But if you REALLY want to repay me, you probably got something in that bag, don't you?" Dis pointed to the black leather bag he had on his back. "I'm surprised you got that from a Maker. They're pretty valuable."
Sora blinked and turned his head to peer over at the backpack in question. He turned his head. "What's a 'Maker'?" He asked. "Are they important?"
Dis and Uriel blinked at him, as if incredulous. They shared that same look with each other. "You really don't know?" Uriel asked. "I had assumed…"
"Well, if there are humans still surviving, they probably hadn't seen a Maker," Dis deduced. "Not that there's a lot of them left nowadays. I heard a rumor that the Corruption had infested their homeworld, and nearly all of them were wiped out. There's still a handful left, but not a lot of warriors or guardians to protect them fully. I even heard of a crazier rumor that Death roamed around there for a good while. I didn't hear much else, though."
Sora blinked at what Dis was saying. She didn't really answer his question, but just landed him with more questions. Corruption? With…a capital C? And something like that had attacked a homeworld for some reason? And who is Death?
"Death…?" Uriel parroted before she rubbed her chin. "I had met him, fifty some years ago. He was trying to find the pieces of the Rod of Arafel that was lost after Archon Hestus had fallen. And he had taken care of Belial as well."
"Belial? So he regained his power after what happened?" Dis asked in surprise.
"Um, guys?" Sora tried to speak up but was accidentally ignored.
Uriel glanced at her curiously. "Well, he's no longer around now."
"Oh really? About time. That slob doesn't deserve ANY position of power," Dis had her lower hands on her hips. "But you're telling me that Belial was on Earth?"
"Yes. I suppose devouring as many humans as he could helped him regain his power," Uriel mused, thinking. "Of course, siding with the Destroyer put him into good graces."
"Might be that too," Dis nodded in agreement.
Sora had a flat expression at being ignored. There were a LOT of names that he didn't know, and he has…SO many questions. Sora inhaled through his nose…but it isn't to calm himself down from his frustration.
"Excuse me!" He nearly hollered to get their attention. It got the job done as the two swirled their heads to him with surprised looks. Once their attention was on them, the boy exhaled. "Sorry, but…I got a lot of questions, and you didn't answer my first one."
Dis blinked before she smacked her forehead. "Aw hell! Almost forgot about that." She cleared her throat. "Makers are…well, a race that's capable of 'making' stuff. From worlds, realms, to even weapons and such. They made the White City and some areas of Hell. Men are often pretty tall and wide…to compare them is that they're a few heads taller than War and he's the tallest out of the Horsemen. Females, meanwhile, are not as wide nor tall, but both of them are very muscular. As they should be. They have traces of magic in them too, them being the ones to create packs that allows one to store a LOT of things in them. It helps them carry their tools and material around for what they want to make, depending on what 'role' they want: they can be blacksmiths, they can be architects, they can be warriors or even be shamans. They're usually some rather friendly folks, for the most part."
Sora blinked, letting what he learned sink in. So that's what Makers are and what they do? They can craft worlds? That's…actually amazing. Though…wait.
The boy's mind immediately thought back to someone who basically matches that description. A massive giant that towers over him, works on weapons and has a weapon storage… So that means Ulthane is a Maker. And he had met one without realizing it. Though, as he mentally compared the height between Ulthane and War…
His eyes went wide in surprise when he finished the thought. That means Ulthane is still taller than War. And War is the tallest among the Horsemen, according to Dis. That is…wow. Just wow.
He shook his head to clear his thoughts. "So that's what the Makers are?"
"Yeah," Dis confirmed. "Though they can also make other stuff too. That bag you got?" she points at it again. "It can store a lot of things in it. Even keeping certain things nice and fresh and ensures that the elements won't damage them. They don't always eat, but they prefer freshly made food. And would rather want to have materials that are undisturbed by the elements, along with their tools."
Sora listened to her in rapt attention. Using them to carry materials and tools around made sense. And he did remember seeing Ulthane being pleasantly surprised when he tried fish when cooked right.
(The trick is to cook them fresh, like just caught fresh. Freezing them quicky preserves that freshness. Keeps them from making the enzyme that breaks down in the fish that causes the smell and odor. Something they all learned quickly when cooking fish.)
Though…keeping things nice and fresh for all time? That is…the rest of what Dis had said sank in, leaving him to stand there. His expression shifted into a dumbfounded one.
Wordlessly, he pulled off his backpack and opened the clasps. Flipping it open, for the first time, he peered in…seeing nothing but darkness in there. Carefully, he sets it down…before he started to put his arms inside it. And slowly, he moved his upper body to see if-
-he felt half of his body within the bag but managed to have the rest to stay on the ground. His upper body dangled in the 'abyss', his arms slack as he looked around. "…You mean all this time…" he muttered under his breath. "All this time…I had a literal item that's like a pocket-dimension on my back?!" His voice had reached to a pitch that he's almost yelling out his shock.
How could he have known? Though, granted, Sora never knew that Ulthane was a Maker – and he never asked; stupid, stupid! – yet STILL!
He felt something grab him from the waist of his pants before he was plucked out from the bag. "Careful there," Dis sets him down. "Don't want to lose you in that bag."
Sora felt his cheeks heat up. "Uh…right," he mumbled. That would be embarrassing if he couldn't pull himself out of the bag somehow.
He plucks the bag from the ground. "But that explains a few things…" he muttered as he looked over at it. Like why the apples didn't rot nor break or get bruised during the past few days. Most of the time, it didn't even feel like he had anything in there. He never really thought much about it until now.
"So where exactly did you get the bag?" Dis asked him with a curious tilt.
Sora had to stop himself from freezing entirely. That is…oh boy. He is NOT a good liar. Never had been. But he didn't want Ulthane to get in trouble. "Uh…" his eyes shifted a little. He had to think of something…oh! "I ran into someone, and they helped me. They let me have this bag. They were really tall. Like…a giant. I didn't know they were a Maker." The last part was true. He never knew Ulthane was a Maker until now.
"Oh? You met a Maker?" Uriel asked him. "Where?"
Oh boy. He has no idea how long he could keep this up. Sooner or later, his lies will be exposed…
"Um…" Sora used his left hand to scratch his head. "I don't remember."
(He hates lying to her about this…but he didn't want to get Ulthane in trouble.)
(Just…just a little longer…)
What was he doing again…? Sora hummed, trying to recall something…before he remembered that they needed to 'pay' Dis. And perhaps…they DO have something for that. He recalled stealing their weapons and trinkets. "But we did have demon trinkets and stuff," he says as he dug around in the bag. All he did was think about wanting an apple, and he managed to find one. So by that logic…
He simply thought about the trinkets he had pilfered from the demons…and soon enough, he beamed as she felt his fingers brush against something before pulling it out. He placed it down before he pulled out the other stuff he had taken. He considered the weapons, but he simply stuffed them back into the bag. He regarded the trinkets before he looked to Dis. "Would any of these do?"
Dis looked over at them. "Let me take a look," she responded before she took one of them to appraise it. She looked over at the others with a critical eye, humming here and there. As she did so, Sora decided to pass the time to see what else was in the bag. Knowing how it works now, he reached his hand in to grasp around for anything that did not belong. He nearly pulled out the demon weapon before he shoved it back down. Being mentally specific, he blindly grasped around once more…before he grabs something. Something…hexagonal? Octagonal? Holding it firmly, he pulled it out.
A peculiar stone is in his hand, shifting between blue and white in a sort of a mesmerizing way. Sora was captivated by the effects of the shifting colors…
A ghastly face manifested within it, making Sora yelp, nearly dropping it in shock. But just as quickly as it appeared, it went away. The boy stared down at it, uncertain on what he saw and slightly shaken.
"Are you all right?" Sora nearly jumped out of his skin after he heard Uriel's voice. He nearly jerked his head to her but calmed himself upon seeing her concerned expression.
Sora exhaled. "Sorry," he apologized. He shook the hand that held the strange object to her. "I just found this and…well, it kind of spooked me."
Uriel glances down at it. "Hm…I feel as if I had seen this before," she murmurs, raising a finger to circle it around her chin, "but where…?"
"Okay, I'm done with the appraising!" Dis announced, the two jerking their heads to her. "Some of them are…decent but would not fetch a pretty price. I could have some of them sold for some Gilt, but I need some soul energy to pay off my debt."
Sora quirked an eyebrow. "Soul energy?" he parroted.
"Well, it's something we demons like the most. Sure, there's the…" Dis paused a little to find the words before settling with, "'manual' way to get to the soul, soul energy is where it's at. A good way for a demon to get nice and plump. So they try to make special stones that can get the soul energy. Although, it burns out the bodies the soul and the energy leaves behind, leaving nothing."
Sora blinks once. Twice. "Wait, really?" He asked, the stone in his hand momentarily forgotten. "What do these stones look like?"
"Well, it can fit in the hands of humans, have eight sides and shift between blue and white," Dis answered.
Eight sides…and shifts between blue and white…?
Sora raised his hand that had the stone, staring at it in disbelief. He raised his head to Dis before holding it up. "Like this?"
Dis did a double take at it. "Wait, what the hell?!" she 'zips' up to it. "How'd you get that?"
"I dunno!" Sora yelped out. "I was looking around in my bag, and I just found it!" he made an 'x' with his arms and swipes them. "I swear on my life, I had no idea I had this!"
"Well, then, what are you standing around for?" Dis asked him eagerly. "Give it here!" She outstretched her lower arms at him, making a 'gimmie' motion with her fingers.
Startled by how energetic she was suddenly, Sora quickly passed the stone to Dis, allowing the red and purple demon to look over at it. She hummed, checking over it. After tapping her nail on it, a pleased look crossed her face. "Oooh! This has a lot of soul energy into this! This'll do nicely!"
"So…how does it work exactly?" Sora asked Dis, scratching his head with his left hand. "Like…how do they make it? Does it break?"
"Hun, sometimes its best that we don't EVER find out how," Dis answered the first question. "For the second question, no, they're made to be VERY durable. Not even an angel's weapon can break them." Dis has the stone to hold it against Uriel's sword after Dis' prompting. The stone passed right through it, but it came out from the other side of the blade intact. Even when it landed on the ground, it didn't crack. "See?"
Sora gave an intrigued hum. "That's cool. But how does it gather soul energy? Like…I never seen any of them before now."
"Well, the souls and soul energy just home in on the stone and fly to it to be absorbed and stored. But you have to be WEARING the stone on you to be able to see them. I heard that a couple of the Horsemen have it on them, with War having it 'attached' into that fake arm of his." Sora tilted his head at the last part. Fake arm?
He was about to ask that before Dis waved it off. "But that's about it," she said. "There's a good amount of soul energy in this thing, and with some of the usable trinkets that's worth something, that's as good as any."
"I see. Thank you very much, Dis," Uriel nodded, dismissing her sword. "Though, once we are done, we have to move on."
"All right, all right," Dis merely accepted, nodding her head. "You got places to be and all of that."
"yes. Places to be," Uriel muttered to herself.
Soon enough, Dis gathered the necessary energy from the small stone before handing it off to Sora. As she did that, Sora regarded the other stuff that he had, well, pilfered from the demons a while back before he figured he should just put them into his bag until further notice.
"Well, pleasure doing business with you," Dis said cheerfully as she hands the stone back to him.
"Sure," Sora responded, grasping his bag. He regarded it before he placed the stone into the side pocket and zipped it closed.
Once he did that, Uriel gently grabbed him by his arm. "Let's go," she said to him.
"Uh, right," Sora noted it, nodding a bit. The two soon began to walk off. "See ya, Dis!" He turned and waved back at Dis.
Dis watched him for a moment before copying the motion. "Be safe out there!" She called out to them.
Sora turned back and walked alongside Uriel. After a while of silence, once they're out of earshot, Sora says, "She seems nice." Regarding Dis.
Uriel grunted. "Perhaps. But it's best not to trust her so easily, Sora. She is still a demon at the end of the day. Merchants like her knows better than to strike the ire of potential 'clients'."
At that, Sora looked over his shoulder, at where they left Dis. He knows that: demons are dangerous and would go after humans to feast on their souls. But he also learned from Ulthane that not all angels are good. Yet…with the two he had met so far…what's the truth? What is the actual difference between the two races? How were they made? What side did the two races stand for, in terms of good and evil? Light and dark?
What about being a Keyblade user? Where does HE stand at the end of the day? Does he really fight for the light? Unintentionally harming the balance? He just…doesn't know.
All he knows is that he has to stop certain people from abusing certain powers. To keep them from hurting others. Like Maleficent and Organization XIII.
…But the Organization…
(His mind flashed to the instrument using member that was crushed by the ice after they froze his water magic. Of the pain, despair…and the sound of utter betrayal in his voice as he faded away…)
Sora shook his head. No. He shouldn't think that. Nobodies are not supposed to have hearts at all. They may act like they have emotions, but it's all fake. It's all pretend. No matter how good they emulate emotions.
The Keyblade user shoved the thoughts aside, focusing on the path ahead. He can't afford to be distracted. He has to be on guard for any unexpected attacks. Or ready for a fight that would happen. At that thought, he raised his right arm to stare down at the gauntlet. An apparent relic of the first 'set' of humans created. He hummed lowly in his throat, flexing his fingers a little. If what Dis said is true, then he can use this to copy any weapon he grabs while wearing it.
So…he would be able to defend himself as he wears it. That's good.
He wouldn't be a burden to Uriel at least.
Until they get out of this place, that is.
For now, he'll have to be content with sticking around the angel. Getting out of his thoughts, he looked ahead as he walked beside Uriel.
~o~
"Huh…looks like someone's gone through here already," Ulthane remarked as the two stared down at the bloodied corpses of some lesser demons. It wasn't too long ago that the two had stumbled upon what seems to be a mini massacre of sorts. A small group, filled with two Minions and three Phantom Guards.
The Red Rider glanced over at the severed limb of a Phantom Guard by his feet. The fingers were bent back unnaturally. Yet the cut on the limb…he got down onto his knee, lifting it up. He inspected the cut carefully. A rather clean cut…that must mean Uriel had been by here. At least it confirms that the angel is still alive.
He tossed the limb aside, grunting as he pushed himself to stand. He gazed around a little, faintly sensing the souls and soul energy lingering around. Lifting his left arm, the skull glowed before blue lights were drawn into it. Once that was done, War looked to the rest of the area as the demons' bodies burned up into ash. "It appears the angel had come by here."
"Huh. So she's still kicking, eh?" Ulthane asked as he scratched his head. "She's a stubborn one."
War merely grunted in response. He agrees with the Maker about the angel's tenacity, but at the moment she isn't their main concern. The Horseman's concern is on the Griever that is around, so that he can take its heart. Besides that…once he's done, he has questions for the Maker…
For someone who lives as a hermit, it's decidedly…odd…that he's on Earth now. And not just to stave off the encroachment from the Second Kingdom it seems.
If there's one thing that most people had not known about the Red Rider is that he is rather observant. He had always been that way since he was young, silently observing others to learn about them and of the situation. Though, it's one thing to get a 'vibe' or the 'flow' from an upcoming fight, he will admit that he is not good at picking up on other cues. Strife often remarked that he lacks humor. Why would he want to joke around in certain moments? They simply weren't…appropriate at the best of times.
That and Strife's jokes are terrible.
When most people see a being of his size, they often think that he is a brainless muscle head that doesn't ask questions until the fight's over. And being a Nephilim did not help matters. He has his own strengths and weaknesses. When he has to socialize, he is curt. To the point. He never beats around the bush. No time to make friends (though who would want to be friends with a Horsemen, as despised as they were?)
Yet give him some pieces, he will try to fill in the puzzle. He could not afford to make assumptions, and he had a feeling that the Maker would not crack. But with the facts being present, this is starting to fill in a picture of this sordid ordeal. The only question is… why? What's his role in all of this?
For now though, he kept the questions to himself. For now, the Maker is not his enemy.
"Well, at least we know we're going the right way," Ulthane mused as he looked up to the path. "Hopefully we'll be finding what we're looking for."
The Red Rider glanced a little over his shoulder to where the Keyblade is on his back. It surprisingly stayed stationary during the trek upwards. And during the small skirmishes the two get into. Light weight (to him) and it did not get in the way. It just magically attaches itself to his back and stays there. They've yet to seen hide nor hair of weapon's owner, however. If he had known how troublesome this would be, he shouldn't have let the boy out of his sight.
War held up his left hand to form the compass…and yet, it moved erratically once more. It had been doing that for a while since they found themselves in the caverns. He tried to locate the Griever with it, but the compass refused to work right, pointing to a different direction. His lips curled up a little in a grimace before dismissing it. He had little choice but to resume going up.
"Get moving," War ordered gruffly before moving on.
As they progressed upwards, the Nephilim was able to work off a bit of his annoyance by cutting down the demons that dotted the areas. For some reason, a couple of them were missing their weapons. From how they had acted, it appears that someone was bold enough to snatch their weapons without them realizing it. The Maker had remarked just how 'ballsy' the person was to do so.
The two continued onwards in silence, going through a passage through the walls. He noted a purple glow up ahead, stopping to squint his eyes at it.
Ulthane let out grunt at it. "…That's no ordinary light," he muttered lowly. "Think we could sneak by?"
War merely grunted but made sure his feet didn't make a sound as he approached. He wasn't sure why, but the flickering light seemed familiar for some reason.
When the two got close, they just happened to peer around the corner to see the lower half of a demon as they sift through something. A red hide, with some armor and purple clothing. A demon that had dropped its guard. Though before the Red Rider could act, Ulthane says:
"Well! Never thought I'd see some nice cheeks!"
The Nephilim turned his head to stare up at the Maker in shock. Did he just say what he thought-?
"What was that about my cheeks?!" an indignant voice exclaimed, and War was immediately on guard when the area brightened up. The demon had turned and had her lower arms covering her backside with a glower on her face.
"Hey, easy there! It was a compliment!" Ulthane defended himself.
"Well you're lucky that I was busy packing away, or otherwise-!" Her rant was cut short when she then caught sight of the Horseman. She blinked in surprise. "War? Is that you?"
The Nephilim raised an eyebrow. "Have we met?"
"Of course we have! We met back then! I was in service to Vulgrim," responded the demon.
War stared at her for a while. She did seem familiar. The thick horns, stout body, four arms…and the purple flames…she also knew Vulgrim…
Suddenly it hit him. "Dis?" He asked, incredulously.
The demon beamed. "So you DID remember me! It's been a WHILE!"
The Watcher emerged, staring at Dis in suspicion. "You know this demon?" It questioned him.
"Well, I was about to ask on where he met this lass," Ulthane spoke up. He chuckled before he nudged his elbow onto War. "I had no idea you were into dames like that." War gave him a glare that would have made some demons head for the hills in fear.
"…She was of help during…a mission to look into Lucifer's sabotage," War answered somewhat evasively, not wanting to get into the details of THAT particular mission. And he didn't care much about the superstition of saying the Deceiver's name.
Dis winced. "…Well, you didn't change much. Except for your outer appearance. You got rid of the cloak?"
"What are you doing here?" War asked her, not in the mood for small talk.
The demon sighed, as if she wasn't surprised by the Nephilim's attitude. "Well, just taking a break before I go back to helping Vulgrim. I take what I can get during this time. Just going through a few things before I get back."
At that, the Red Rider regarded her. "So you've yet to pay off your debt."
"Hey, I had been working on it," Dis huffed, hands on her hips. "But I did have some strange visitors coming by. Not that long ago, I met up with an unusual pair."
"Oh? Unusual how?" asked Ulthane, curiously.
"Well, it's with a Hellguard member and a human," Dis answered, the last one catching War's attention. "The latter's a good kid though. I'm surprised he managed to keep himself alive for this long."
"…I can't believe it, the human's still alive?" The Watcher muttered in an incredulous tone.
War heard Ulthane let out a soft sigh. He is…relieved? Relieved with what? (Or rather…relieved with who…)
War returned his attention to Dis. "So you saw a human and a Hellguard member came by here."
"Actually they stopped by," Dis corrected. "They actually found something really…unusual. The kid apparently also met a Maker without realizing it and got a bag from them. Having the Soul Gem in it and everything."
War was careful not to cast a suspicious gaze at the Maker next to him, even though he felt the Watcher was openly doing that. "I suppose with your…code, you cannot discuss what you do with your clients, no?"
"Sorry," Dis apologized. "I can't really do that." She gave a helpless shrug. "It's in the rules."
As annoying as it was, there was not much he could get from her. As much as he despise demons, Dis is among the rare few he could tolerate. And admittedly, much more pleasant to converse with than Vulgrim, despite how annoyingly useful the latter is at times…
The demon then perked. "Oh! But I think I got something that'll tickle your fancy!" She soon turned to her pack and rifles through it. She muttered under her breath as he looked away respectfully to not stare at her backside. Soon enough, she let out a triumphant, "Ah-HA!" He turned his head back to see her have a familiar gauntlet in her hands before she floats to him. "Here. I found this lying around. You used this before, didn't you?"
As she held it out to him, War inspects it. It has a face of a demon on it with glimmering red eyes. Though it looked different, he knows this gauntlet. He plucks it from her hands to inspect it.
It slightly resembled the first Tremor Gauntlet that he had in that fateful mission. He held onto it and a couple of others as a memento…but since he fell to Straga, he lost most of them in the fight.
Having this though, it may come in handy to destroy armor. Or…at the very least, deal with the crystals that he had seen during his journey thus far. The gauntlet is a very useful item for him to create shockwaves with a single punch, or help him push against something or lift something…
The Nephilim rose his head to the female demon. "I assume you require Soul Energy to purchase this?" He asked rhetorically.
"Nah," Dis shook her head. "Since we were old friends, and that you'd be a returning customer, that's for free."
War grunted. "How…generous," he muttered. He stored it away into his pack to use for later.
"Well! Seems you got a favorite!" Ulthane teased.
Before War could subject the Maker to another glare, Dis responded, "Oh hun, he is NOT my type! So shut your trap!"
"All right, all right," Ulthane sighed. "I'll stop."
(A part of him is considering killing the Maker for his teasing. On principle.)
"Speaking of…you're a Maker, right?" Dis then asked Ulthane. "What brings a Maker on Earth?"
War shifted a little to watch the Maker, to see the exchange. The Maker wiggled his hand. "Ah, just felt like I needed a change of scenery. Where I lived previously just got too borin'."
Dis grunted. "Well, I suppose it may be a good thing you aren't in the Forge Lands. It isn't doing so hot until some years ago."
Ulthane grimaced. "Yeah. Lucky," he muttered, almost bitter.
Under his hood, his eyebrow raised at that. He shouldn't ask. Really, he shouldn't. It isn't his place nor his business to pry into another's. But from how it sounds…
Had something happened to the Maker Homeworld?
The Maker's eyebrows then knotted together. "Wait. Some years ago? Did something change?" He inquired.
"Oh!" With a start, Dis jumped. "Well…" Her eyes shifted to something before to Ulthane. "Let's just say…someone finally cleaned up the 'mess' that was there. I really can't say more on that. Sorry hun."
A 'mess'? Hm… He had managed to hear from places of how the Forge Lands had started to decline some time ago. Many Makers had perished, and the usual pathway to the Maker Homeworld became blocked as a result. Since it was strictly forbidden to use the Tree of Life in select places to travel around since Lucifer's sabotage, many had to use other forms of travel, such as a Reflecting Pool or a Serpent Hole in some cases. The only time the Horsemen would EVER visit the Earth was when there were certain…events they had to directly interfere with. Like the cult made by the angel that had the strange sickness. Or when the demons had managed to infiltrate the Earth and had lured unsuspecting humans into Hell. Makers can make their own paths, but as mentioned, many of them have perished over the years. From sickness or were killed.
The Makers were tasked in crafting cities or structures in certain places, like the White City, the structures of Hell, and even in Eden itself. Earth was left untouched for the above reasons, and as there were no other new worlds being created, the Makers were left to spend the time being blacksmiths or craftsmen. Some are better at forging weapons than most. Like Belisatra, who had worked with Lilith before she joined forces with the rouge angel Hadrimon long ago.
He didn't know what became of the female Maker, but from what Death had said to her before she was carted away to be judged…it's a fate much worse than dying by blade or execution.
Nor did he ever saw the Abominations again.
(For which, he had felt zero to absolutely nothing towards his race. It convinced him that they were right to put them down after all. Especially with what they had done…)
His already curled hand began to slightly curl a little tight.
(He forcibly shoved the memories of that day into the back of his mind to keep them from surfacing against his will. Do NOT dwell on them. Do NOT.)
He mentally shook off those thoughts.
Other than what Dis had just said…the way she had evasively and vaguely explained what happened at the Forge Lands means something. The way her eyes had shifted…
It may be related to keeping the Council in the dark about something. Why though? Who is she – and Vulgrim – covering for?
So many questions, so little time to ponder about. Yet as much as he wished to think about it, he has his mission to fulfill.
Find the Griever, retrieve the heart, and be one step closer to the Black Tower. Whether or not Samael would keep his word or not secretly frustrates him, as far as he knew, Samael always kept his word in the end.
Even though a part of him knew that he's probably used by the Second in Line for his own uses once more.
However, both have something to gain at this point.
The more he learns about the Destroyer's weaknesses, the sooner he could kill them, and punish the ones who caused the premature End War.
Focus on the goal. Do not be distracted.
He returned to reality to see Ulthane had a hand on his hip. "Well, thanks for tellin' me," he said to Dis.
"Sure," Dis nodded. "They don't have soul energy, but we can make do with Gilt."
War rolled his eyes a little. "If you are done talking," he began, not hiding the irritation in his voice as he got the two's attention, "we'd like to get moving."
"Yes. The Griever is not going to stand still forever," the Watcher grumbled.
Dis held up her lower hands in a placating matter. "All right, all right. Go on then. I need to get everything put away before I return to Vulgrim."
Ulthane heaved a sigh. "Well, all right then. We best go before the lad gets grumpy." He paused to regard the Nephilim. "Well, grumpier than usual," he corrected.
War chose not to react to the jab, sound or otherwise.
He turned to leave, yet before he could even take a step-
"Whoa, hey, wait a minute!" Dis cried out. He felt his lower eyelid twitch. He soon felt her get close to peer at something. "Isn't this…? What's THAT doing here?"
Ah. Of course. There's only one thing that would have caught her attention relatively quickly. A part of him cursed himself for not putting it away properly.
He turned his head to give her a menacing glare. "What does it matter to you?"
However, instead of curling away in fear, Dis tapped her chin with her nail, humming. "If it is then…" her eyes suddenly lit up. "Oh. OH! That makes a lot of sense now!"
"Hn? What makes sense?" The Maker called out, his voice almost at a distance.
Dis looked to the Maker's direction. Her brows furrowed…before she made a beckoning motion to the Horsemen. He grunted in suspicion before he got close.
"Ah!" She held out her hand to stop something. "I want to talk with the Horseman, not you."
War turned his head slightly to the Watcher, who had a surprised look before it turned to anger. "Whatever you want to say to the Horseman, I listen too!"
"Uh huh, sure," Dis crossed her arms. "But you're not his keeper, are you? It's JUST for him. Vulgrim may be helping you, but we aren't stupid enough to anger the Horsemen."
The Watcher let out a growl…before it backed off. "Make it quick."
War's eyes slightly narrowed. What's so important that only he has to receive?
He got closer and leaned in.
"…I know what I said earlier," she whispered to him. "But the thing that they found? It may be a relic from the Mystics." He couldn't stop his eyebrows from shotting up in surprise. "I thought it was weird that it latched onto the kid…but if he's an outsider, it explains a few things. And maybe why the relic attached itself to him. He could be a Mystic."
A Mystic… The boy?
"…But…they were gone," the Horseman muttered lowly.
"I could be wrong," Dis continued, her voice still low. "But…it made sense in a way. It could be that they left the world before the barrier went up."
The Mystics…he hadn't heard that name in a long, long time. He also thought they were gone. There had been no trace…nothing they had once owned was ever found. And yet…a single relic just showed up? How did that make sense?
He narrowed his eyes at her. "Why tell me this?" He questioned lowly.
"Frankly…out of others, I think I can trust you with this information," Dis whispered her explanation. "He may be an outsider, but he's innocent. Hate to know what would happen if certain people knew of what he was."
The Horseman mulled it over. That is…true. Even before the second set were named as the 'heirs' of Earth and Eden, all Humans were looked down upon. The first set, the Mystics, were merely called 'posers' by many. Yet with the amount of power they carry in them, demons that tasted their blood grew in power quickly. Because the Nephilim have demon blood in them, the Mystics were considered to be…power sources for them. Or at worst, the best chance to keep potential offspring stable. They were never able to find the Mystics for either, at times the second set suffering the worst as a result.
These acts were the main reason why he defected from them, other than heedlessly slaughtering thousands upon thousands of lives. All to find a 'home' for them.
Strife had bitterly muttered about Lilith, saying that if she cared about them so much, she could have had a home built for them. It was only once that he had heard it, after the Animus incident.
Perhaps this was why Dis had deigned to inform him about the boy being a possible Mystic. The boy is still a human at the end of the day, and if he is a Mystic…
Then it's imperative that they find him. And quick.
As much as he hates to admit, Dis is right. The boy is innocent.
With those thoughts, War gave a curt nod to her. "Is that all?" He asked aloud.
"Yeah, pretty much," Dis responded normally, quickly shifting her expression. She's at least smart enough to not draw too much attention. For all the two could know, she may had given vital information to the Horseman. (Which is true, in a way.)
War soon backed up. "I will keep the information you had given me in mind," he said formally. "We best be going."
"All right. Kick some ass for me," Dis waved him off as he finally turned and left to leave her be.
"So, what did she say?" Ulthane asked him as the Red Rider walked by him. The Maker moved to walk with him.
He can sense the Watcher give a glare at Dis before it flew towards him. "What did she tell you?" The Watcher demanded.
War is half tempted to lie to the two. But…
"Something vital for us to keep away from the Destroyer's reach," he vaguely answered.
There. That'll be a good enough answer for the two and let them draw their own conclusions.
With that, he looked forward down the path.
If the Griever's dogged pursuit of the boy is any indication…
He now has a young human to find.
(He won't fail this one at least.)
The Mystics are the 'first' humans that were created. They live in hiding from the rest of creation, as even if they do have supernatural powers (or superhuman in some cases), their bodies are still really fragile and are like…a freshly ported meat from someplace else. Something exquisite. However, they were deemed 'too dangerous' by certain forces and were replaced by the humans that later inherited Earth. No one is truly certain if they were wiped out like the Nephilim or are in hiding to this day.
In all honestly, I kind of pondered on how exactly things work in Darksiders. That the enemies just burn up into energy compared while we just saw corpses of the Hellguard around the lobby of the subway? It's probably a game mechanic where the enemies 'despawn' after being killed, but…perhaps it's a bit more complex. So…some of the Horsemen have these special stones that allows them to take in soul energy. While Souls is the currency of Darksiders 1 and Genesis, with Darksiders 2 having Gilt (as you meet both living AND dead beings that require coins instead) and Darksiders 3 called them Soul Lurchers (for Vulgrim), there's…a shit ton of souls. And as there is like…maybe billions of humans, even demons may explode from eating so much. So I changed it to them feasting on soul energy. It doesn't matter whose souls are used; it's the soul energy demons eat upon. As energy is drawn out to the soul, the body just 'burns' up and gets absorbed, leading to them being reincarnated. At most. But if killed normally, those souls do not get drawn in and just float off somewhere. Or in the case of demons, just 'devour' the soul manually. Some are chosen to reincarnate, others…yeah.
Also, I love Dis. I love how she's shaped, her personality...and I thought, 'why not' and slapped her in there. She does her job as a merchant, and...to be frank, she trusts the Horsemen than she trusts the Council. Considering. But she still has her debt to Vulgrim. He might have pulled something for her to remain in his service. To explain why she hadn't appeared, she was doing her own thing to lower her debt.
Anyways, with the expositions that were perhaps unsaid in the last chapter touched upon (sorry about that) finally discussed in this chapter. And with the appearance of Dis, I figured I could throw in a different way of how War could get the Tremor Gauntlet. He had a similar one in Darksiders Genesis, like the Vorpal Blade/Crossblade, but the functions are the same. The only difference is that he does not have the Phantom Hand that he could use to act like the Abyssal Chain, and he doesn't have Strife for Void puzzles.
As for the gauntlet that Sora now has, it'll allow him to do what Dis described, copy a weapon and he could make a construct of it. For it to actually work, it requires a little something from him.
And I'm sorry, as much as I want to talk more about it, I don't want to spoil anything - and I REALLY want to explain more of it, but I can't! I want you to enjoy this story I had made up and I'm working out the later sequel - that took place after the 'Aftermath' (aka, the rest of Kingdom Hearts II, Dream Drop Distance and Kingdom Hearts III) - but it's a work in progress. Anyways, I need to take some time to get the next few chapters down. And I NEED to do them before hyper-fixation to other sources, like Pokemon, takes over my life.
So, ah, leave a review and I'll see you all next time. I hope this long chapter tides you over for a while.