The Legacy of Lothevis: Awakening

"The hell?"

Vincent looked to Noelle's form, seeing her hesitate for just a moment suddenly made him question the situation. Was it over already?

The mage's anger hadn't quite yet been satisified, in fact, an eternity of pounding his fists again Lothevis' face wouldn't quench his thirst for blood. All he wanted to do was close his eyes and unleash hell upon the monster that had held a vice grip on his dreams for quite some time. He had managed to hide the fear and agony quite well, standing in front of Muffin like a Valiant Guardian, willing to die for her sake. Truthfully, he was as fearful as any other, and seeing this brought to a head unleashed Vincent Vorpal's fear in the form of violent outbursts that collided against the very body of Lothevis.

Seeing Noelle hesitate had suddenly halted his onslaught, and the anger that lay within' him wanted to show itself, yet Vincent held back.

Held back, to see what the Demons next move would be.

Darkthorne closed his eyes and took a deep breath, his massive muscles rippling with might once again. His shoulders then slumped, and a look of melancholy came unnaturally across his face.

"So different . . . everything . . . everything is different now."

Still ignoring the fuming, ranting Lothevis-thing as it struggled vainly to wrest control from him again, he opened his eyes and focused on Muffin as she knealt on the floor. He made as if to approach her, but hesitated when every hero in the room tensed, brandishing their individual weapons and powers at him. It was understandable enough. They could not afford to trust him. Even the ones that knew him were finding out that they barely even knew him.

He simply sighed again, looking down on Muffin with a poignant resignation in his eyes.

"Beautiful Blueberry . . . I'm so sorry. I know how much you wanted to save me . . ."

A new sound began to fill the room, and all eyes were drawn to the massive portal. Off in the distance of the interplanar tunnel, a vast sea of fire, wings, and menace raged toward them, the various demonic entities howling and screaming in frenzied bloodlust.

". . . but I'm afraid I have to save you, instead."

Darkthorne moved to the wall where one of the strange crystals still glowed, ripping it off its foundation with one huge hand and holding it aloft before his eyes.

"It only takes one."

Carrying the crystal with him, he tromped to the edge of the portal with rumbling footsteps, looked down on the strange machine, then back at Muffin again.

"400 years . . . so much in my future that any demon would die for . . . and I never knew what love felt like . . . never experienced it. But that other me did . . . and now all of me does. There are more important things than blood and power."

Reaching down with his free hand, Darkthorne pierced the shadow-shield that encapsulated the portal machine with ease, picking it up off the dias and hefting it at his side. Holding both objects, he turned back toward the portal.

"I love you, Muffin. I would rend the sky to steal a star for you to hold, if I could. I will not let him hurt you anymore."

Darkthorne's massive wings unfolded, stretching across the width of the chamber, and he crouched in preparation to leap.

"Take your friends and go. This started because of me, and it will end because of me."

Thrusting off with a forceful push of his powerful legs, the demon known as Darkthorne plunged into the portal, soaring headlong toward the onrushing demon horde, taking the screaming shadow-Lothevis with him.

The situation had just radically changed, but they were still no less in danger.

Feelings later, safety now.

"I don't normally take an authoritarian tone with any of you, but if he's doing what it looks like he's doing, we need to leave . . . now. Those who can fly and are strong enough, carry someone else. I'll get anyone who's left behind."

Leaping to the center of the room, Hunter let his rifle drop, and his cybercytes deconstructed it before it could hit the ground. Vaulting upward toward the open entrance above, he began to travel toward the surface through the quantum flux.

Unable to see, to get a clear view of where she could port to safely, Noelle took to the air. She followed Hunter, heading back into the tunnel of water above them, icing the liquid around them as they passed, hoping to make the passage slicker and faster for everyone else.

Behind them, in the big room below, the noise increased exponentially. The very air seemed to cry out in torment.

Every yard, every foot, every inch she moved upward, she looked for the sky above. Noelle just needed a single sight of blue, and she could get out -- get them all out, and safely away.

"Come on, come on, come on..." she muttered.

Scorpia watched the ejection of the mage's spirit and subsequent departure of Darkthorne with an overwhelming sense of confusion. Then again, that wasn't so new. She'd found lately that she really didn't understand as much as she thought she had. PH's assertion that they get to the surface prompted her to push upward, however, and she flew toward the surface as quickly as she possibly could, ready to aid him in pulling others to safety.

Vincent Vorpal had to be one of the only mages in the entire Multiverse that couldn't fly.

However.. He was adept at jumping. Hunter need only say the word, and within' the blink of an eye the mage had Muffin scooped up. He wouldn't hear a word from her in protest. He understood the bond she shared with Darkthorne, but her safety mattered more to him at the moment.

He wished he could've said sorry to her, but he still didn't quite understand what was happening, he wasn't taking the time to get a better grasp on the situation, all he wanted was to get to safety. So Vincent crouched down, brought his gaze upwards to where his teammates were going, and leaped into the air as hard as he could, powered by a Divine Aura that accelerated his every muscular function.

Muffin only watched Darkthorne go with tear-blurred vision, and let Vincent pick her up without protest. She was limp in his arms, burying her face in the cloth on his shoulder, shaking her head.

"Thanks," she said softly to him, closing her eyes. She was still weak, having given all that she could in exerting her anger on Lothevis.

Gideon gritted his teeth inside his helmet, he didn't like leaving any of his own behind, and regardless of what had happened or the changes that had taken place, it was hard not to consider Darkthorne as one of the people he was supposed to be helping guide and look out for.

But there wasn't anything he could do to help. Two steps and then a slight hop and his powersuits flight system engaged. Taking him upwards and away from the portal, following the icy path Noelle was leaving for them all on the route back to the surface.

Barometra summoned her electromagnetic field around her slowly lifting off the ground. She looked around, not wanting to leave anyone behind, but the other heroes seemed to have their escapes already in hand. With the slightest force she pushed herself into the air, following after Noelle in the others.

Erin had seen enough normal sized nasty Behemoth summoning Thornie portals to know that this was going to get seriously unfun very quickly. Taking off quickly, heading up and out of the room and trying to catch up with those in the lead, wanting to be there to help them out in case anything is waiting for them up top.

Demons don’t sweat. If they did, he would’ve been sweating like a fat man in a sauna.

To make matters worse, Lothevis would not shut up.

How can you be this stupid? The sheer power we could have, we could’ve ruled that world and made it our toy!

Ahead, the swarm of demons rushed toward him, and he toward them. The vast tunnel of fire around them raged and churned.

The sheer strength in you, the magical might in me, don’t you see that was my impetus from the very beginning?

Darkthorne silently weeped tears of black ichor. He wasn’t afraid of death, he’d tasted it so many times in his existence, he had lost count. What he was afraid of was that this would not work, and that he would cease to be . . . and that he would not be able to stop Lothevis from hurting those mortals he left behind. He didn’t know what to think about most of them, didn’t know if he liked them or hated them . . . but he knew that he did not want Lothevis to have the joy of destroying their world and their lives.

I wanted to join with you, to make us both stronger, to give us the chance to rule and explore and dominate as we saw fit! Darkthorne, don’t be a fool!

And Muffin . . . damned mortal female . . . why? Why did he care for her, why did he love her? She was . . . nothing. A Prince could have thousands of females . . . thousands of males . . . thousands of anything. That small part of him, the battle-imp that Lothevis had created and unwitting unleashed as a hero on the city . . . he would’ve died for her. And try as he might, that small part of him was powerful enough to sway him in total. A vast, centuries-old demon heart of prime evil, and it was now forever polluted by loving a mortal. And the part that was both the best and the worst . . . was that he really didn’t care.

You don’t have to give this up! Turn around and lead this rabble! The Prince doesn’t lord over Earth, you could use this army for your own!

The demon horde loomed in front of him, the screams and howls of war all too familiar to his ears. As he rushed to penetrate their ranks, he roared a mighty roar, driving them back with the sheer weight of the fear in their blood for one of his stature. He crashed into their ranks like a professional linebacker through the local Shakespearean actors guild . . . and boggled that he would think such a silly thought.

Listen to me, you SON OF A DEMON BITCH!

Lothevis, shut up. Here’s how this is going to work. I’m sick of you, so I want you out. Out of my head, out of my body, and out of my soul. So I’m hoping this will work. If it doesn’t, at the very least, you will be trapped here in limbo. Now kiss my huge, scaly ass!

Roves of demons roiled around him, unaware of his intentions. He hefted the machine with the Wheel of Destruction at its center. The Wheel . . . a Thing of Fate. Wars had been fought over its secrets, worlds had lived and died for it, millions of lives and souls were bound in its stone. It had been destroyed many times, and always found its way back into someone’s hands, somehow. This time would likely be no different.

Brandishing the crystal shard, Darkthorne uttered one last phrase. He knew it would never be heard, but something inside made him say it . . . made him need to say it. Once more, everything around him grew silent, and he heard his own words echo above the screeching of the demons and the silent screaming of Lothevis. He then brought the crystal down and plunged it into the machine’s circuitry as his own voice rang out in his ears.

“For you.”

==================

To the citizens and heroes—and even the villains—of Paragon, most accounts would be the same. That for a single, brilliant instant, a series of hundreds of lights appeared throughout the city, from strange crystals affixed to buildings, statues, and even tram cars. And as fast as they flashed with light, each and every one of them exploded into dust and vanished in a single instant as some pulse of energy blasted through them.

Lesser reported, but still highly visible, was the column of white fire that erupted and pierced the sky. Trapped within this pillar of supernatural flame were demons, shrieking in agony as they were burned, melted, and torn apart by massive destructive force. Very few would be able to say for certain, but those in Perez Park saw it clear, that this column of bright fire erupted from the center of Everett Lake, itself, accompanied by a tremor in the ground beneath. In no more than a few seconds, it burned itself out, and was gone, leaving no trace of the demons it had eradicated.

With these massive spectacles drawing the attention of everyone who could see it, there passed an event that went unnoticed, even by those who surrounded the lake. A group of heroes appeared out of nowhere on the lake-shore as the crystals shattered and the pillar of fire shot up. They were beaten, exhausted, and looked as though they had been to Hell and back.