Warship Ragnarok, 8,000 light-years from Earth
Noriko Null is washing her face, wiping away the blood. When she looks at the mirror, she can still see the war goddess Inanna decapitate the demon Oblivion right in front of her; even with all the mental discipline in the world, it’s not an image that will vanish soon.
The sound of someone knocking at the door brings her back to reality, although the appearance of the hologram of two intertwined snakes is reassuring only to her.
<Vesta and Torn are here, Mistress. Should I send them away?> L.O.K.I. asks her.
<Just a sec> she replies to the spaceship’s artificial intelligence, taking off her T-shirt and throwing it into the sink. The ship is the size of an aircraft carrier, but her quarters are fairly small: her closet is at a short distance. She takes one of the two dozen identical black T-shirts with the white Ø symbol on it; after she’s put it on, she gets one of the seven identical green leather jackets and says:
<Come in.>
Vesta steps inside, looking around to inspect the room, while Torn focuses on L.O.K.I.
<Is everything okay?> the goddess asks.
<Yeah. Sadly, I have some experience in removing blood stains. What’s up? Ready to go home?>
<Actually, I’m not coming. Tyche wants me to go with her on a diplomatic mission to meet our allies, and I think it’s a good idea.>
<I agree. I don’t fully trust Tyche or Ulysses, another set of eyes will help. What about you, Torn?>
<This snake has two bodies. How does it defecate?> he asks looking at L.O.K.I.
<This is only a holographic avatar. My software has no need for biological functions>
<But you have two mouths. Shouldn’t you also have…>
<Please don’t tell me you came here just to ask that> Noriko sighs.
<I didn’t. With Oblivion dead there will soon be an election for the new Lord Of All Demons; I should return to Hell to express my vote and gather intelligence for you.>
<Just as long as your intelligence has anything to do with reality, for once. Who are you gonna vote?>
<I haven’t decided. I’ve never voted before, Oblivion was already in charge when I was born.>
<How does that work? Is there gonna be a campaign for the leadership of Hell?>
<No, the process is peaceful. We don’t go to war to govern Hell, not anymore.>
<I didn’t mean a military… nevermind. Any idea on who will be the candidates?>
<Last time I was in Hell there was a lot of talk about a possible change in foreign policy. The current Hierarch of Demons, Carnage, argued for increased isolation from the rest of the universe. The current Matriarch of the Fifth Circle, Vice, pushes instead for a much more active role.>
<Considering Oblivion was killed by a goddess, will the latter try an attack on Inanna?>
<Doubtful. Demons aren’t stupid.>
<Just don’t give them the coordinates to the Dragon Tomb, no matter what; you and I are the only people still alive who know where it is.>
<As I said, Demons aren’t stupid.>
<You should both take a Tachyon Relay, ask L.O.K.I. for one; I’ll text you when I’m ready to get the Dragon Tomb> Noriko instructs them.
<So you’re not going to get it immediately?> Vesta asks.
<Not when I have the eyes of half the Galaxy on this ship. I need to invent something that makes the Ragnarok completely undetectable to Olympian technology; a couple of weeks, give or take.>
<Just be careful> Vesta says hugging her. Torn just leaves the room without saying another word; when Vesta follows him, she glances at the bloodied shirt in the sink. It catches fire immediately.
The doors close, leaving Noriko alone. She looks at the fire that’s consuming the fabric without creating any visible smoke, as a testament to Vesta’s absolute control over flames.
<L.O.K.I. Did we get enough DNA?>
<Yes, mistress. I will provide you a comparative analysis of all the Demon genetic samples in my database, as you requested>
<Good. You can never be too careful> Noriko says, her silver eyes shining.
Gordium, 48,000 light-years from Earth
The Sanctuary of Kalika is a rather bleak building. The only remarkable feature of this tower of steel and cement is the bronze statue of Enyo on front of it: her face is obscured by her helmet and her figure obscured by her cloak, but she’s raising her hands crossing her swords.
The Sanctuary is mostly known for its collection of gruesome religious artifacts, including the only known copy of “Enyo painted with the blood of a thousand armies”, a self-portrait.
What’s hidden beneath is even stranger. An entire underground prison complex, where all cells have been replaced with security posts. There is only one prisoner kept here, and her cell is mostly empty space.
The woman is immobilized by a suit of rigid and heavy metal. She’s forced to kneel, with her hands behind her back; she has to keep her head low because there are chains anchoring her collar to the floor. Similar chains hold her ankles, tie around her arms and waist, and are probably more suited to hold a boat than a person. As if all this wasn’t enough, her hands are completely inside metal balls that have been fused with a large pillar that connects to the building’s foundation, and a helmet completely covers her eyes. She can’t move, not even by an inch: the only parts of her body left exposed are the bottom part of her nose and her mouth, and even that is gagged with a metal rod.
There’s nothing else in the room. No source of light, no access to water, not even a toilet.
There is only one thing, about ten feet away from her: a sign with the warning “NO BLADES BESIDE THIS POINT”. Until the only door to this forsaken place explodes, that is.
The prisoner can’t see the twenty year old Asian girl with long dark hair and a red leather jacket calmly walk inside; she has a laser sword in her right hand and book on her left, which she reads:
<“Prisoner 90752, name erased by divine order. Condemned to life imprisonment for 79 assaults on divine officers and 7,051,457 accounts of first degree murder”. Well, talk about overkill. “The prisoner shall be kept in total isolation. Food should be provided only once every 35 days and must not include any sort of animal meat”, that’s rough. Oh, wow, “Bathroom privileges will no longer be granted for more than once every 70 days after the last incident”, did you really kill two dozen guards because you had to pee?>
The prisoner can’t respond, but she’s definitely trying to move under all that metal.
<I bet you’d do anything to get out of your situation. This is how it’s going to be: I’ll free you from this prison. In return, you’ll work for me. Do we have a deal?>
The prisoner tries to move again, and yet another time she can’t break free. The Asian girl throws away the book and reaches for the pocket inside her jacket, retrieving a Swiss army knife.
<Make your choice, Pain> she says, extending the knife. She takes a step forward, passing the “NO BLADES BESIDE THIS POINT” sign, and throws the knife in the air.
She doesn’t retract the hand, leaving it open to catch the knife when gravity brings it down.
Except it doesn’t: the knife stops in mid-air, grasped by a faint red glow.
<Excellent choice. Now I suppose you should be able to…->
The knife flies towards the prisoner, cutting the metal gag. When the prisoner catches the knife in her teeth, the blade becomes much larger and thicker, to the point that she’s able to use it to cut through the chains securing her ankles.
<…escape. Good, we can finally have a civilized discussion now. You can call me Viper.>
The knife flies towards her, cutting through the forcefield; she escapes losing an eye only moving at the very last second. The knife flies back, this time deflected by the laser sword; she has to defend herself another couple of times, which keep her occupied while the prisoner tries to disconnect the handcuffs from the pillar. When brute force isn’t enough, the prisoner creates a red energy axe twice her height and swings it without touching it.
The Sanctuary trembles: she just cut through the foundation. It doesn’t take much for it to collapse.
Outside the Sanctuary
It’s still raining. The plaza surrounding the Sanctuary of Kalika was already filling up with reinforcements once the news of an invasion hit the rest of the 73rd Division; there are hundreds of soldiers witnessing the building collapsing. Inside the huge dust cloud of debris, they can see two women caught in an energetic duel: one of them wields two laser swords, while the other has her hands tied behind her back and is blinded by her helmet. Despite this, the latter seems perfectly capable to stand up to her: she keeps up the pressure with all sorts of energy blades that she controls with her mind. The prisoner is finally able to disarm Viper and make her fall.
The prisoner keeps her foot on her chest and an energy cleaver on her throat, ready to cut her head off in a moment’s notice. She hesitates when Viper yells:
<SOUL DISRUPTION!!!>
The cleaver evaporates, as do all the weapons created by the prisoner. But it’s only the beginning: the soldiers closer to their position instantly drop dead. Then the effect propagates like a wave, until the two women are the only people still alive under the heavy rain.
The prisoner steps away. The handcuffs are covered by a bush of red energy thorns, which press the metal until it’s completely shattered. Once her hands are free, the prisoner finally removes the helmet. She would be considered a beautiful woman on Earth, even if people there are not used to the red skin of a Demon.
<I know that soul. You are Abyss> she says.
<Not anymore; I am much more now. But I have all the information she absorbed when she took control of Hell itself, and that tells me that you are the most powerful Blood user in the galaxy.>
<Then you must know that you have nothing to offer me, now that I’m free.>
<What if I told you that I can help you destroy Hell and get revenge on your brother Torn?>
The prisoner hesitates. Her red eyes stare into Viper’s darkness.
<What is your name, human?>
<I am Viper. Will you follow my lead and accept me as the real Null?>
The prisoner kneels, proclaiming solemnly:
<I am Pain, the Scourge of Hell. And I swear allegiance to you, Viper Null.>
<Has a nice ring to it, doesn’t it?>
<I haven’t seen any rings> Pain answers. Viper rolls her eyes.
<You really are Torn’s sister. Come on, let’s find you something to wear, something to drink… and something to kill.>
A red pentagram appears beneath them, glowing with energy. It spews a column of fire, and when it dissipates the two women have completely disappeared from the face of the planet.
Somewhere
The light from the fireplace illuminates the stone walls of the room, casting shadows over the lavishly decorated bed. The woman sleeping bundles under the sheets to warm herself, when suddenly she realizes two things: that she doesn’t remember how she got here and that she’s naked.
She opens her eyes and sits on the bed, covering her breasts with the sheets.
<Now I know what my daughter feels when this happens to her> she says, examining the metallic device that’s been attached to her chest, over the heart. Her hands and feet have been bandaged: she can hardly feel them. What she can feel, however, is the coldness: she’s freezing.
She looks around, finding confirmation that she doesn’t know this place: the fire, the stone walls, it could be mistaken for an European castle if it wasn’t for the advanced medical equipment next to the bed. She gets off the bed, covering herself with the sheets. Her feet hurt like crazy, there’s no way she got here under her own power. She gets closer to the fire, warming herself.
The door opens, letting two people enter the room. She recognizes the blue skinned female as a Lampyrian, but the male with pale grey skin is a complete mystery to her.
<▲╪►◄♦▼ Leiko?> he asks. His first words are incomprehensible, but she recognizes the type: he’s just a lackey. He may be an alien, but she knows how to deal with lesser men.
<Yes, I am Leiko Tanaka. Take me to your leader.>
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