She was in her bedroom. The royal palace grounds. A ballroom. The Blazkowicz guest estate.
She felt everywhere and yet nowhere when Daisy stirred; her eyes finding a grey, ornamental ceiling before the top of her skull split in two and she hissed in excruciating pain. She ground her teeth and grasped it with both hands; the muscles in her arms twisting and aching, the skin under torn sleeves decorated with ugly maroon and purple blotches.
She was convinced it was a nightmare. Maybe even death.
The instant she placed the necklace of incisions on her arms, though, the memories came flooding in for the briefest moment. The royal palace. The Crucible. The wolves, the emperor...
Petunia.
No, her throat clenched, her body seized by a trauma she couldn't shake herself out of. It isn't true. It can't be. God, no!
Of course it wasn't. Petunia still had too much to live for, too much she wished to see, hear, and experience. There was no way she could have succumbed to anything of the sort! It was all a treacherous nightmare. One that pain and exhaustion swept over shortly after, and in which Daisy hoped that when she woke again, it would be to to a warmer and more familiar world...
Little did the princess know, it was but a naïve wish.
When she opened her eyes again, it wasn't to anyplace different. The ceiling was still grey. The air, cold and biting.
She rose slowly, groaning and gasping at the lancinating remnants of pain in her body and arms, all a fitting replacement for the migraine she suffered earlier. She stared at her hands like one would a derelict animal and tested a fist each; bite marks of a beast the only thing to remind her that she was still breathing. That she was alive, somehow...
That what she recalled may not have been delusions after all.
She turned her head and noticed the familiar shape of the Slayer; her throat dry and scratchy, her voice foreign even to her. 'Where...?'
'Please refrain from all forms of physical exertion to expedite an ideal rate of recovery,' Vega was quick to respond, projecting from the Slayer's helmet, it seemed. 'Due to unforeseen circumstances and presumably Argent dissonance following exceptional levels of Hell Energy, it would appear Your Highness and the Slayer were transported through time and dimensions. The current location has been identified as Taras Nabad on the planet Argent D'Nur.'
At Vega's explanation, The Slayer turned to inspect the princess. Though she looked far more lively than when he found her, her body was still stiff; her face a stony canvas he couldn't read. Her dark eyes, dull.
He expected questions. Lots of them. And yet Daisy said nothing as she stumbled to her feet against Vega's warnings, limping at first as she approached him, but quickly finding her composure when she reached the edge of the tower they presided in.
She stared out silently and the Slayer watched her, incapable of deciphering her thoughts.
Vega's voice was the first to cut through the thick silence. 'My scanners detect several technologies of use, though I am unable to determine the functionality of them. A physical inspection of the systems are required.'
The Slayer pulled out the Combat Shotgun and Daisy reached for it almost naturally when he jerked it out of her grasp; the two staring intently at each other.
'Can you fight?'
It was the first time she'd heard him speak through the helmet. On any other occasion it may have even sounded terrifying; his already deep, gruff voice now lower and gritty through the filter of his headpiece.
But Daisy only stared back; her dark eyes welling something different, her jaw clenched, her voice uncharacteristically low. 'Do I have a choice in the matter?'
The Slayer said nothing for a short time, watching her, before he placed the weapon in her arms and she held it with a familiar grace. Back on her feet, it was evident that in any other situation she probably would have refused to move without an appropriate change of attire; her shirt most notably ripped at the sleeves and the front where a few buttons had popped loose.
But something about Daisy this time was... different. Instead of her usual qualms and concerns for appearances, the princess didn't hesitate to tie the loose halves of the apparel together, leaving her midriff exposed. It was either that or leaving both her midriff and bra on public display. Go figure.
Vega prompted a map on the Slayer's dossier as the two set out; the princess clearly lagging behind, but showing no intentions of admitting it. She was quick to get short of breath. Quick to clutch her side at times. Quick to tremble as she took aim at a scurrying Gargoyle or Imp in the Slayer's blindside, and a dangerous number of times almost earning more injuries than it was worth.
But he realised the extent of her sluggish form when they entered the largest space in the area yet. The Slayer recalled it a training grounds at some point. Now, it was nothing but a demonic playground; several Fodder and Heavies spawning to greet them as the two split ways to handle the unholy welcome.
The Slayer was quick to fall into the rhythm of the doom dance, alternating fast between the Heavy Cannon, Rocket Launcher, and Ballista, dispatching them as quickly as they spawned. The shrill cry of a Revenant-no, three of them-prompted a grenade from his equipment launcher that exploded as it hit the ground near their feet, bathing the lanky demons in fire; their missiles targeting the Slayer as he swiftly finished them off with a barrage of bullets from the Chaingun, practically melting their thin bodies to nothing.
And that was when he heard a scream. A human scream.
He turned in its direction only to find a horde of Imps frantically heckling something on the ground. That something being Daisy, whose legs kicked at them hard and desperately, powerful enough to knock at least a few back. But certainly not good enough to keep them at bay for long. The few her shells turned into red mist were replaced just as quickly.
Her movements appeared increasingly slow and sloppy. It was only a matter of time before the princess would succumb to Fodder. And that wasn't a good way to go for anyone, really.
Seeing as just about everything in his inventory was volatile against humans and demons alike, the Slayer thought quick. He could always have just went down there and pommeled them to death himself, but there was a far more efficient option.
The Imps growled and snarled as they clawed at fresh skin; their desires savage and vile, their minds intent on nothing but blood and discord. One in particular had finally found purchase over the writhing and annoying human, swiping down across its throat to still it once and for all, when the butt of a shotgun cracked open its jaw, shattering it. The demon roared in outrage before its head followed suit, promptly exploding in a spray of gore.
Daisy screamed as she shoved the carcass's weight off of her, slamming her boot into another as it stumbled away but was almost instantly replaced by another greedy and persistent assailant.
'Begone!' she screeched; her throat grating and hoarse as she aimed down another and fired. Blood showered over her, the stench of it awful and dizzying.
She could do this. She could handle it. This was nothing compared to what she faced in the past!
Wiping furiously at the blood in her eyes, Daisy turned and scuttled to her feet when the terrible shriek of it pierced her ears. She would have thought her hearing gone for good if not for the cry that left her own throat; the massive claw of a Prowler swiping at her, the razor sharp nails shredding through her side like knives through butter. She took quivering aim as her knees smacked to the floor, but could scarcely see a thing through the dark dribble in her vision.
Her heart pounded madly, frantically, an amalgam of fear and rage for the vile creatures holding her from firing. Their cries formed a dark and malefic choir; their screams and slavering growls an ode to evil. To destruction. To blood sacrifice.
The princess's body went deathly cold at the thought of it. Yet the second her hesitation could cost her, the arena glowed a striking shade of green; the ground trembling as if it charged with a tremendous, awesome power. Daisy gasped, almost losing her balance in the aftermath as everything turned terribly quiet; the silence unnatural considering the chaos around her only moments ago.
A few more trembling swipes at her eyes, and she realised exactly why. All that was left of the Imps and company was a hail of bloody carnage.
Breathing shakily as the chunks of flesh vanished in red sparks, she found the Slayer. Or rather, the Slayer found her; the man towering over the princess with an arm outstretched.
She grunted in pain as she made to take it and he pulled her up in one fluid motion; the eyes behind his visor burning into her, she could tell by his lingering stare.
'... I'm fine,' she mumbled through clenched teeth, slipping out of his grasp to clutch her side despite her own words. 'I had it under control. This is nothing.'
'... You can't keep up.'
Daisy bristled at the words. 'I said I...!'
'Stay.'
She hated it. Someone talking over her. Looking at her like she was a burden, a bug, incapable and weak. It felt even worse when it was from William, the one person she hardly imagined it possible from.
'I will not accept this,' she growled, kneeling for the shotgun with considerable difficulty.
Her body ached. The slashes the Imps dealt her arms and torso burned terribly. Her head felt heavy and throbbed like a raw wound.
Daisy, however, would have rather died than show it.
'I am coming with you, and I sure as hell don't need your approval of that!'
He stared at her for a long moment again. The kind of stare most people would at this point have fled from, but Daisy held her ground firmly. Implacably.
'I can fight,' she pleaded almost, clenching the shotgun as if to convince herself of it more than anyone else. 'I refuse to sit still and do nothing... I won't.'
A palpable silence fell over them for a moment; the Slayer watching the princess intently, reading her, when Vega was the first to interrupt.
'We are close to the objective. I suggest we make haste, as my sensors detect an increase in Hell presence in the area.'
Contrary to the solemnity of the moment, the Slayer was quick to respond to the prompt. He turned and Daisy followed after him as he made for another gate on the outskirts of the courtyard, followed by a cacophony of gunfire.
All the way there, the princess fought desperately to keep up. The Slayer, however, mentioned it none thereafter. Be it out of respect for her wishes or little care for them, she couldn't tell.
The path he paved for them was out of blood and guts, all trailing towards a much smaller, intimate area; something that fit the part of a medieval garden. It was decorated with several towering statues of knights and wolves; the latter of which Daisy averted her eyes from as she watched the Slayer push open a massive set of double doors at the top of a crumbling, aged staircase.
Shotgun poised, the princess followed after him hesitantly, warily.
The instant they entered, however, her alarm was quickly replaced by awe; Daisy gawking at the foreign and... almost beautiful technology around her, really.
Despite having seen an earthquake or something of the sort, the toppled, foreign machines still seemed in pristine condition. She could only assume that that was the product of their sleek design and colour choices, all gleaming ivory and bronze. The room itself looked similar to the Fortress of Doom, forming a rotunda and sporting several rings that spanned a couple of floors worth.
If Daisy wasn't in so much pain, she may have been entranced by her new surroundings. That enchantment was broken quickly though by a loud smack. It was the Slayer. Looking terribly disgruntled at that with a fist resting against one of the massive machines.
Daisy frowned deeply. 'What's the matter?'
'It would seem we've encountered a problem,' Vega responded; his voice echoing in the huge and empty chamber from where the Slayer stood. 'Several scans suggest that all technology on Taras Nabad has been destroyed since the previous demonic invasion.'
Nothing here was functional? What did that mean going forward? Was there still hope of them returning home? Daisy breathed deep to keep a cool head. But that proved especially difficult with such tremendous odds against them.
'What next?' Daisy asked, scanning their surroundings warily. 'There is surely some other way, no? Can we not make use of the method that brought us here in the first place?'
'Negative,' Vega responded, dashing her hopes just as quickly. 'The effects of high levels of Hell Energy are unrecorded by the UAC for its inconsistent, unpredictable, and dangerous nature. Hell Energy of which only the Crucible and other unidentified sources are capable of producing at this time.'
'In other words, without the Crucible...'
'Yes. Without the Crucible or something of equal power... I'm afraid there is no way back.'