War of Existence : - The Beginning of Saga

Here be The Angels

The energy surge sent by the Artefact was like a beacon to the Demons, which helped them to retrieve the fragment before anyone else could. With the Artefact secure they now had to take it to their nearest outpost and transfer it to their parallel of existence, the Inferno.

But they knew they had to be fast. The time was short. The maya surges had alerted them of the Artefact and were sure that it would be attracting attention throughout the system. It was a beacon for a reason and they knew what was coming. If only they knew where their rivals would be arriving, in what force and most importantly, when? They thought they were prepared for it, yet failed to realize just how close the enemies were.

Their airship soared through the night sky under the moons of Siraya. The hilly landscape covered with forest and snow rolled below the flying behemoth. A horn blew from within the ship, signalling the workers inside to do whatever that was meant to be done. The sounds of the engines, the hissing of pistons and the flapping of the ship’s wings did a very good job at masking the sounds made by the forces making their way towards the ship occupied by the demons.

In the cover of night, multiple figures could be seen flying at full speed, tailing the Vorkish made ship. They were hard to notice but when looked very carefully, one could have seen the group of figures with glowing blue eyes and gleaming white wings.

                                                                                          ---X---

Rose didn’t know what to make of this. Captain William had asked her to make sure that their ‘guests’ were comfortable and were treated properly. She was also to get them the finest clothes they had to offer because the captain was quite insistent that the Late General was not to be walking around in rags. So her task was simple but since the beginning of the day, her day was anything but simple so why should this task be any different, here is why?

“Kid, you’re not a little girl. Your clothes are dirty and we are lucky I don’t have to steal more!” The Late General spoke to the girl in an elderly manner.

“NO! I don’t need new clothes from these red eyed jerks!”  the said girl yells backing up to a corner.

Lucifer sighed and threw a pair of clean clothes beside her and said again-“I ain’t in the mood kid. Sure these aren’t the most exciting bunch…” he glanced at Rose a bit, still suspiciously, “But right now they are the closest thing we have to an acquaintance.”

 Rose gave Lucifer a ‘are you serious’ look but Luna pouted, “These dress looks funny.”

Of course it did. Luna preferred more oriental dress; frilled Victorian dress that broomed the ground was a new and weird concept for her. Lucifer scoffed at this, “Kid, You don’t look in the mouth of a gifted horse.” he said sagely, retelling and old saying he heard when he was in a distant world.

“The hell is a Horse and why would I want to look in its mouth?” asked Luna tilting her head, clearly not understanding the motive behind the saying.

Lucifer’s eyes twitched at this and Rose could have sworn that steam was oozing out of his ears. It was very weird, comical even. Something Rose had never expected from the Great General of Celestia. It had her wondering, was it the influence of the mortals he had lived amongst? If yes, just how long was he stuck in Cosmos to be like what he was right now?

After several moments of shouting, insulting, trash talking and convincing, Luna agreed to change into clothes which were much more to her taste. Lucifer sighed in relief, until he realized that Luna wasn’t changing as she said she would. Rather her face was as red as her hair and she was fidgeting on her feet. Raising a brow, He asked-“What now?”

Luna poked her fingers together and mumbled shyly, “Well, I can’t change like this…You know…With you staring at me like that…”

Lucifer was confused at first then it hit him and he nodded-“Fine, I’ll turn around.”

“But, you’ll PEEK!” she accused.

Finally having his patience tested too much, Lucifer snapped, “JUST CHANGE ALREADY!” it caused Rose to immediately be on her guard and nearly draw her weapon. She was very intimidated by his outburst but to her shock and amazement, Luna actually met his gaze, glared back and even dared to blow him a raspberry. Lucifer’s eyes twitched as Luna huffed, grabbed her new wardrobe and went to the bathroom, slamming the door extra hard to show her anger.

Rose sweat dropped because Lucifer was now a grumbling mess. Taking a deep breath he calmed himself, it was then he seemed to notice the other presence in the room beside Luna, making him feel even more of an i***t. So with whatever dignity he had left, “Uh, sorry you had to see all that.” Lucifer said awkwardly to which the female demon merely nodded.

The silence between them was long and unnerving so Lucifer tried to make a conversation gingerly, “I never got your name.”

Rose stared at the former General for a while before answering the question, “My name is White Rose, Lord Lucifer.” A respectful bow followed but Lucifer beat her to it, “At ease, Girl, I’m not a Lord. Just Lucifer is fine by me.” The masked demon nodded as a reply.

Grateful that the introduction was out of the way, Lucifer himself picked his own set of clothes. Stripping off his ruined shirt, he voiced, “I suggest turning away, Miss. Rose, staring at a man while changing is considered very rude.” So respecting his privacy, Rose gave a slight bow and left him on his own.

Soon Lucifer was done changing and to say he was satisfied was an understatement. He now wore a white shirt and a grey waist-coat over it, a royal red cravat around his collar and dark green trousers, thick leather boots which seemed newly polished and a navy blue long overcoat, typical Vorkish fashion but of superb quality. In fact, Lucifer might just even grow a taste for good quality clothing from now on. The wardrobe was comfortable and warm, going just along with his brash yet gentleman like persona, he really liked it.

Sound of the Bathroom door being opened got Lucifer’s attention. It was Luna, “How do I look?” she asked. Her outfit was bit difficult. Vorken outfits were either too big or too regal for her. The only thing which matched her taste was some clothes common in the Eastern highlands and that was what she wore. It was an orange battle Kimono with large sleeve, decorated with red and yellow sky like patterns. While not as classy as Lucifer’s it was made from soft cotton, giving it a soft and comfortable touch. Only problem was whether it was fire proof, but she seemed satisfied and honestly it looked good on her.

Lucifer replied, “Like a little fire head.” Causing Luna’s face to get red and she showed her defiance by what she as usual, a raspberry.

See that their guests were done changing; Rose came in along with two other ‘escorts’.

“Please follow us Lord Lucifer. The captain wishes to speak to you.”

Lucifer nodded and the demons led him and Luna to where ever they were they were talking them.

                                                                                        ---X---

Gabriel* had grown up hearing stories of beings known as the mortals since he was but a young lad. Beings residing in the parallel of Cosmos made of the same elements surrounding it. Imperfect creatures confined by its restrictions and mortal needs, with their existence ending in a blink of an eye. It made him constantly wonder why where they even existing.

He even once fancied the thought of whether these so called Mortals were even worthy to be amongst the existence of the Immortals. The mortal races came in many shapes, sizes and colours, yet all were basically the same. They eat, sleep and breed, without a goal to serve a higher purpose. It made him confused, annoyed and disgusted.

And now he was here, in a distant world in Cosmos, crawling with mortals, searching for some eons old relics of the Immortals. Even though the mortals didn’t set right with him, Gabriel was more than honoured to serve under the celestial army. He always wanted to be a part of something big since he could remember. Where he could earn a name for his own within the ranks of the Angels aside from being son of the Archangel Michael* of the Celestial Council*.

He was honoured to be able to serve the all creator and was willing to lay down his life for him and thus, here he was along his brethren to make that happen. He knew not of what they seek, yet he didn’t question. He was meant to serve and serve he shall.

“Scouts attention!”- Called Azazel* the leader of their squad, ending the trail of his thoughts. A huge vessel flying in the air came in view at the dead of night, flying over a huge forest. What spiked their interest was the faint trace of Maya signature still present on the ship, very similar to one they felt hours ago.

The Angels approached, Gabriel narrowed his eyes as his armour extended and formed a helmet around his head. He gripped the handle of his mace tighter readying himself of what was to come.

                                                                                    ---X---

Rose was feeling very self conscious right now. Why? Because Luna had been burning holes at her with her gaze since the past five minutes. She gulped at this, nervous beyond end. Lucifer seemed to finally notice her distress and apologised for his friend,  “Forgive her Miss. Rose but your weapon kinda, seems like only a hilt and has peeked her curiosity.” Letting out the part that he was in fact curious as well.

She was taken aback for a while and finally dawned to her, “Oh…” she took out her ‘hilt’ and poured a tiny bit of Maya in it. The hilt went through a series of complex mechanical shifting before turning into a full curved blade in all its glory. Luna had stars in her eyes, gawking at the blade. Lucifer was amused too.

“Foldable gear* Huh? Tactical and convenient…You kids always get the newest toys.” He muttered, earning a giggle from Luna and some snickers from the other two demons with Rose.

Their walk towards the captain’s chamber was ridiculously long. This was reasonable, considering the sheer size of the floating vessel but the silence between the two parties was also frustrating. Luna seemed to be getting paranoid about something, the demons were on guard should Lucifer make and sudden moves. As for the man himself, he was more or less indifferent, at least he looked so.

“I never actually thanked you for your help.” The blond angel said all of a sudden. He turned to Rose briefly, ”You healed me when I was injured. Helping a potential enemy is a naïve mistake, yet you did. And for that, you have my sincere gratitude although I do advise not doing so in future.”

Everyone was shocked at the revelation, Rose more so. She was used to being someone who hid and worked in shadow, unknown and un-concerned by most. Yet being appreciated once in a while was a very refreshing change , even if the comment about her intellect which came attached with the gratitude was unwelcome, but she had worst and didn’t voiced it. She gave a slight bow to acknowledge him. Lucifer chuckled, “Your one odd bird… A Shadow blade. Dark warriors of shadow known to kill without mercy, yet you still have the touch of healer who has been raised to sooth the pain of the living.”

She flinched at his words and Lucifer noticed it. Maybe he had even hit a nerve but his suspicions were right, this lass had a history and must have been forced to be an assassin. Making him wonder ‘how desperate was inferno’s legion* to actually make an assassin out of a healer’

And his other assumption was right, Lucifer did hit her nerve. Rose defended her stand by countering, “Well, Your Brutum companion is rather more unique, after what happened in the Angelic realm of Celestia, She must be the last Celestial Brutum.”

Lucifer frowned at this, Luna was more confused and Rose seemed to have come to her senses.

“Uhh…f-forgive me, I was…”

“I have heard this word Brutum so many times now…” mutters Luna “It sounds familiar but I still don’t know what it is...” Her words surprising the demons and making Lucifer’s frown deeper. Luna turned towards him, her silver eyes met his blue, she asked , “ Luci, What does it mean?”

Lucifer knew exactly what those words meant and how was Luna herself a Brutum but was still not very sure to tell her of her heritage. It seems fortune smiled at him once again as Rose cleared her throat and said, “We should keep moving.”

Lucifer nodded, pretending to ignore Luna who muttered, “This isn’t over.” The angel sighed at this. As they all went further, Rose asked Lucifer quietly, “She doesn’t know?”

“Never had to let her know.”, Was his reply. Rose nodded at this. All of a sudden Luna halted and looked around frantically, “You hear that?”

“Hear what?” answered a confused Lucifer. She didn’t answer, just darted her eyes here and there, making every one present there on edge. Lucifer approached Luna and was about to ask but all of a sudden, Luna’s distress grew sever. She seemed paranoid and not even Lucifer was able to calm her down .He tried to take a hold of her but she lashed out and bolted at the opposite direction of where they were going.

Lucifer gritted his teeth and cursed. He too bolted after her, yelling at her to stop. Rose caught up with him and asked , “What happened?”

“I don’t know!”

                                                                                       ---X---

She felt it, Luna knew not why but she was not imagining things. She had felt a very distinct presence. It was tainted, incomplete, yet it was in pain. Luna had no idea what it was but she had a very strong feeling that she was suppose to know that presence. It was foreign yet familiar and was calling out. To whom? She didn’t know but the pain was there, Luna had to find it. The presence she felt was coming from the depths of the Galleon and Luna bolted away to find it without even telling Lucifer.

Two Vorken guards tried to stop her way but she ran past them. Luna seemed to have lost all thoughts and only an instinct was left to seek out what was behind a closed door leading to bottom deck of the Airship guarded by more guards. They were ignored as she shifted into her Phoenix form and flew past them into the deck below. What she found stunned her.

In what seemed like a huge storage area at bottom deck which housed several cages. Big cages stacked up on each other and arranged in rows till the other end of the ship. Yet it wasn’t the cages that bothered her, but what was inside it.

Many creatures were in those cages. They looked like three meter tall hounds with slender black body, with blue or red tribal markings on their black hide and it seemed to glow. All had manes either braided or left loose with bones or feathers as ornaments. Some howled, some growled, some roared while rest whimpered. Luna was shocked and confused.

What were they?

Why were they here?

These questions played in her mind. A group of men dragged another cage, in it was another hound, but this one was chained and had scares all over its body, it was roaring and cursing in some sort of guttural language. Luna, who had been hovering in her Phoenix form till now, reverted back to her bipedal form, which seemed to have gotten the chained hound’s attention. It turned towards her, stunning the red head girl. Its eyes were pools of pure silver, like hers.

The hound too stopped its struggle and distinctly spoke, “Brutama?”

But the men pulled the chains to move the cage, which made the hound angry again and it started thrashing more violently. Seeing the huge beast losing its cool, the men brought out some staffs which radiated some sort of energy. A few men wielding such staffs gathered around the hound and poked it. Result was the hound getting electroded by those staffs causing it to wail in pain. Seeing this Luna’s chest cringed, “Hey stop it! You are hurting him!”

Her voice fell into deaf ears as the men electroded the beast again, earning an even louder roar.

“STOP IT!” Her thoughts went white, her rational part was slipping. Luna was about to attack and try to help the beast but someone held her back by her waist.

“Let me go!” she yelled trying to break free.

“Stay put or I just might.” Came reply from an unknown gruff voice making Luna freeze for a bit. Slowly she turned and saw the owner of the voice and paled. It was the brawler from back at the ruins, in his black-purple demonic armour minus the helmet. Panicking like a cornered deer, she thrashed even more screaming,“LUCI!”

Tor the brawler frowned –“Calm down I will not hurt you…” was all he could say before he met a fist on his jaw, so hard that he was instantly grounded. When he looked up, it was the angel he fought before, Lucifer and he looked pissed. The guards who had followed took out their weapons and had them trained at the blond angel. But as much as Tor wanted some pay back from the angel, he had no intention of hurting the captain’s honoured guests, for now anyways. So he signalled his men to stand down.

Lucifer was angry right now and was tempted to punch the downed brawler but feeling a tuck on his arm; he left that thought aside and turned to Luna, “Kid, the hell happened?”

“Luci! We have to save him! They are hurting him!” pleaded a very desperate Luna. Lucifer was confused what she was talking about but something made its presence known with a loud roar, halting Lucifer. He looked at its chained source and his eyes widened, “Hellhound*?” he muttered.

Luna cared not what the creature was called; all she knew was that it needed help. She was about to make her way towards it and with Lucifer at her side she had no doubt that they would be able to save the Hound but to her utter shock, Lucifer held her back and said with a very serious voice, “Luna, stay away from it..” This shocked her. Luci, would refuse to help the helpless creature who was being abused. She was speechless.

Tor, who was downed, slowly stood up rubbing his jaws and saying, “Tried telling her the same thing but she wouldn’t listen…until the hero jumped in and had to punch me….”

Lucifer scoffed at this. Luna abruptly turned towards him and yelled, “How could you!”

“Huh?”

 Luna was practically shaking with rage as she spat “A defenceless being is being abused and all you do is watch?”

Lucifer frowned, “That’s not the point Kid, you don’t know what you are dealing with…” Luna was about to argue back but Tor casually stated, “oh…. that’s gonna hurt.”

They turned back to towards the hound, only to see that it had somehow broken free from one of its chain and lashed out. It released a shockwave of impure maya, knocking all the men around it down on their feet. All the time it need to swoop the nearest mortal by its tail and bring the mortal inside the cage. The Vorken tried to claw his way out but it was too late. The Hellhound opened its black hole like maws filled with jagged teeth and inhaled, it was horrifying. The Vorken’s body disintegrated into dust like essence before it was devoured by the beast. Now demon guards came in to contain the beast, but the casualty was done. One man was devoured and the Hellhound let out a sick howl of pleasure while other hounds in the cages around it howled back in approval.

Luna was shell shocked. Lucifer had a grim face while Tor seemed amused. It was then Rose and her team made their entrance into the storage area, finding a shaken Luna and a worried Lucifer. Looking around and seeing all those Hellhounds in their cages, she had an idea of what happened.

“What……what was that?” Luna asked weakly.

Lucifer walked over her and placed a hand on her shoulder,  “He felt so familiar, Luci. He was in pain. But then….he devoured the…” Lucifer gave a gentle squeeze to try and ease her distress but it was ineffective, “I must know Luci, please tell me.”

Lucifer had no idea what to do. He felt it was too soon, even after such a long time. Rose may not have been here to know what happened here, nor did she have the right to interfere in their affairs, but still she went up to Lucifer and said softly, “She needs to know, Lord Lucifer.”

Her counsel was not asked. Yet he knows that she was right. Lucifer sighed. The demoness was right. Luna had the right to know. Lucifer took a deep and said, “Luna, you know what the demons called you when you turned into a Phoenix?”

Luna thought for a while, then it hit her -“Brutum…” she muttered “What does it mean?”

Lucifer sighed, “The original immortals were the Angels and the demons. But then was a third race of immortals, the Brutums. They were……………… different.”

That was all he could muster up to say. He looked at Rose for help. She nodded and carried on from where he stopped, “Angels and demons are beings made from the manifestation of pure energy known as Maya. Both have a distinct but pure form of their own Maya which shapes and powers them. But Brutums… they are immortals no doubt, but what makes them different is their Maya. Unlike the Angels or Demons, they are not pure. It is tainted and wild causing them to be…feral.”

From here, even Rose hesitated. Lucifer had a guess why, the history of Brutums were always a sour incident for both angels and demons, explaining it to a Brutum is even more. Tor seemed to have lost his patience and abruptly stepped in, “Enough with this Bullshit,..” he turned to Luna and spat, “You are a Brutum, Race of beasts who want nothing more than to feed off almost anything made of matter…” he put it bluntly , making Lucifer annoyed.

“W-what do you mean?” asked a hesitant Luna. Tor gave a cruel smile and walked over to a cage, “You see, your kind are somewhat of…a big mistake.” As soon as he said it, Tor felt Lucifer’s hand on his throat. Even in Tor was taller; Lucifer didn’t look any less intimidating, “You talk too much” he growled.

The other Demons were now surrounding Lucifer with their arms ready to fire. Tor replied with a smudge grin, “Your move Angel.” Earning an angrier look from Lucifer making every demon in there tense. No matter how much they outnumbered Lucifer, they were still afraid to tick the Ex-angel off and Tor seemed hell bent on doing just that.

“Luci please...” pleaded Luna. Lucifer looked at her questioningly; she said desperately ,“I need to know.” He didn’t like it. Nor did he like the even cocky smirk on Tor’s face but the blond begrudgingly let the brawler go. “Tell me.” Luna now demanded.

“You really wanna know?” spoke Tor rubbing his throat. He stood up and spoke , “Brutums, Immortals with tainted Maya, Beasts of many shapes and sizes but no mind, consumed by the ravenous Hunger to devour.”

Luna was stunned. To learn that her kind was some sort of monster was hard to take in. Was she really a monster as these demons told her to be?  She looked at Lucifer, she wanted him to tell her that these demons were lying, that she was not a monster like the hound that devoured the mortal but when she saw his downcast eyes, she was devastated.

Seeing Luna on the verge of break down was the last straw, Lucifer spoke, “Choose your next words very carefully, Demon.” His voice was cold. It sent chills down everyone, but Tor didn’t back off. He glared back, “Unlike you, I told her the truth.” Lucifer was seriously gonna lose it and attack but Captain William’s voice tore the tension when he entered the Storage and yelled, “WHAT IS GOING ON HERE!”

Seeing the situation going out of hands, Rose had no choice but to call for the Captain who hurried down as soon as he could. Tor gave a bow and went away saying that he had to carry on his duty. Lucifer glared daggers at the Demon as he went away. He turned to Luna and his eyes softened. She was silently looking at a smaller hound in its cage. He approached her and called, “Kid?”

She flinched. He knew she was affected very deeply by the revelation. He placed his hand on her shoulder. When he earned no response, he slowly took hold of her hand. This made Luna turn to see Lucifer. He said softly, “We have to go.” And they did so without any reluctance. The Captain now was personally taking them to his quarters. But all the way, Lucifer didn’t let go of her hand.

                                                                                         ---X---

 Azazel and his team were given the task to retrieve the Artefact whose energy surges were felt throughout the world. He had tailed the ship for a long time, searching for an ideal place to infiltrate the ship. This mission was not exactly dangerous but what made the mission really bothersome was the fact that the son of an archangel was in his team too. Gabriel was his name if he recalled. A youngling, meaning he would be arrogant and amateur. He hated those types. His men were all veterans but having to baby sit a boy with only training and no experience was a big insult. He didn’t care if the archangel himself had requested him to watch over the boy, he didn’t like it.

But still he pushed those thoughts away; they had a task at hand. He grinned under his helm. Grasping a big sword in his hand he muttered, “I am Azazel, wielder of the Great sword, Sorrow breaker of the first general and I will not be defeated.”……………………………