Chapter 3: Sanguinem Magicae

Bold text is as translated from the Elder Tongue

Akuma ran as fast as he could, the hum of the scarab like Exo-tank steadily growing behind him. The gnarled trees granted the more agile human an advantage over Pit. The angel plowed through trees, marginally slowed by the impact, always enough to keep Akuma just out of reach. The infernal teen glanced behind himself. Which proved to be a mistake.

Pit's Exo-tank careened into Akuma's back, the impact enough to liquify a normal person. The amethyst eyed human arced through the air instead. He landed roughly on his side. CRACK! At least two ribs fractured from the impact, the loose ends throbbing as Akuma shakily regained his feet. A red and purple blot slowly spread out from the center of the impact.

The angel slowed to a stop behind the human, cannons trained on the bruised figure. "Alright, what now?"

Akuma looked at the angel, dumbfounded. "Did he really just try to run me over without even knowing why he was chasing me?"

A graceful voice cut through Akuma's skull. "You there, what's your name?"

"What's it to you," he spat.

"You're the first human in seven years to have fought the Underworld army and lived. You also hid yourself from me, which makes me curious. Last but not least, according to Pit, you survived a firestorm that obliterated an entire forest."

Akuma sighed as he gauged the vehicle at his back. "My name is Akuma, now who's asking?"

The angel in the tank piped, "She's Lady Palutena, goddess of light! You know, the goddess everyone under the sun celebrates?"

"If everyone loves her so much, why am I on her hit list then?"

"I don't have a hit list," Palutena commented. "Viridi does though. Ask her."

A high pitched, childlike voice joined the intrusion of Akuma's thoughts. "I've never seen this guy before. And besides, he's human. No measly lone human has ever made it onto the to-kill list before, just groups of them."

"Then explain the jackasses with the white robes and green eye," Akuma demanded.

"I don't even acknowledge any human worshippers," Viridi argued. "And if I did, they would NOT be wearing pure white."

"I've seen the men he's talking about," the goddess of light added. "But they seem peaceful, just preaching to the masses."

Akuma slowly spun to face the Exo-tank at his back. "I can assure you, they did not preach about any deities to me while they tried to kill me."

"Not that I've looked for it, but I've never seen them with weapons of any sorts."

"I'm not the only one capable of psychokinetic interference," the violet eyed human declared. He then lunged forward, grabbing the bottom prong of the insectoid vehicle and proceeded to flip it on its side.

Pit tumbled out of the Exo-tank. By the time he returned to his feet and drew the Raptor Claws, Akuma cloaked himself in shadows and vanished. Pit whipped around, claws at the ready, every hair on end. The obsidian haired boy slunk away under the cover of darkness.

Akuma's instincts screamed at him. The fight or flight mentality struggled with a burning curiosity, a primal need to know more about this angel and his goddess. The latter won out. Eyes never leaving the winged warrior, Akuma followed Pit, staying well off the beaten path.

"Lady Palutena? I lost him."

Moments later, a beam of light enveloped Pit. When the beam faded, the angel was gone.

"What do you make of that Akuryo?"

"I hear wings are quite delicious."

Akuma scowled at the violent spectre's predictable response. "Besides the obvious, please."

"You're boring. He's dense but extremely proficient with all manner of divine weaponry. Wings are too small to be capable of flight on his own. And his alliance with two deities makes him dangerous."

"Alright, now what to do about this angel…"

The lavender eyed human pushed his way through the underbrush. A nagging, pulsating headache built behind his eyes, though he could not tell what from. The pressure grew to be unbearable, causing Akuma to pass out soon after.

When he came to, the human found himself in a clearing. From the orange tint to the sky and the trees, he determined that he had not been moved far, but had been out for some time. A pang in his gut confirmed the second.

Sitting up, the headache returned, though only enough to be irritating. Attempting to stand caused Akuma to swoon. With no choice but to sit and wait, he began observing his surroundings. Then a second realization appeared. Sodom and Gomorrah were missing.

An unfamiliar feminine voice intruded on Akuma's thoughts. "Finally awake, huh?"

"Great, something else I just NEEDED. Another voice in my head," the black haired boy seethed.

"... Are you trying to tell me something," Akuryo growled.

"Wait… how are you even managing a telepathic link with us," Akuma demanded.

"When you passed out, the other mind moved you to a safe place. This dropped the blockade, allowing me to speak with you," the girl explained.

"Well, congratulations. Would you like my head on a pike as well?"

"No actually, quite the opposite. Having watched you for years, I came to the realization that we share something, in that we have bost lost much. No, Akuma, I want you to join me, to help me end the reign of Palutena, of Viridi, and the rest of that forsaken pantheon!"

"You know my name," Akuma noted, "But I don't know yours. Do tell."

"Of course. It would be rude to not, wouldn't it? My name is Aima."

"As to your offer, what if I refuse?"

"You won't." One could practically hear her smug smile.

The violet eyed boy finally managed to stand up without nearly blacking out. "Hate to ruin your expectations -not really- but I will refuse."

"To reject an offer of kinship and security," Amai growled, "In favour of loneliness and death? Then die, Akuma. Die alone and serve my purposes in the afterlife."

Around the human warrior burst a menagerie of Underworld monsters. Most worrying was the lone Orne with it's vanguard of Fire Wyrms. Next in line to that was the Clubberskull, but those can be killed.

The violet eyed boy concentrated on the air in front of him, tapping into his innate powers. The space rippled, warped, and darkened. Akuma grasped at the shadowy bar eagerly. His hand fell through the dark mass, which dissipated immediately. Shock replaced the cocky grin that had dominated his face prior.

Steeling his will, Akuma did the most logical thing a single unarmed human should do when faced with Underworld troops. He ran.

The fiends gave chase. Akuma dared not look over his shoulder, for fear of being trapped without weapon or power. In his directionless escape, the human teen ran past where he blacked out, his twin daggers laying abandoned on the ground. He snatched them up without slowing. Too invested by this point, the shirtless boy ran until he could no longer hear the baying of the Underworld monsters.

"Akuryo," he huffed between breaths, "What.. the hell… was that?"

"I warned you, didn't I," the malevolent spirit glowered. "The limitations you possess right now prevent you from Nihil shaping more that twice in a day!"

"...Fuck."

The ebon haired teen wandered aimlessly, lost beyond reasoning. Smoke on the wind alerted him to a nearby flame, confirmed by numerous tree stumps. Logic dictated that a farm or settlement was nearby. Akuma feverishly hoped it was the former. Pushing through the trees, he felt his hopes shatter as it proved to be the latter.

Akuma made to turn around. Instead, he felt a firm hand on his shoulder. A guard in full leather armour, carrying a wooden buckler and iron sword looked the boy over.

"You lost, kid?"

Steadying his breathing, Akuma looked the guard squarely in the eye. "No."

The guard eyed Akuma with a calculating gaze. "Well, you don't look like you have a home. Come with me, I'll show you to the foster home. And don't worry, you'll be allowed to keep those daggers of yours. Living so close to the borderlands means everyone has to be able to defend themselves."

Wanting anything else than to make a scene and be put on the run for the third time in a day, Akuma agreed. The guard led him into the town, drawing stares from the citizens. The guard told Akuma to not mind them, as it's rare to see such a wild looking child around here. Akuma did not grace this with a reply.

At the foster home, named "Freya's home for unfortunate individuals," the ebon haired teen was seated next to a table covered in scissors, razors, and other hygiene based items. A cloth covered something just off to his left. Within minutes, a busy looking older woman rushed into the room. She pulled the cloth away, revealing a full body mirror.

"Come, come, let's have a look at you," She urged. "My name is Freya. You are..?"

Akuma reluctantly stood in front of the mirror. "Akuma," he stated.

Freya began examining Akuma, only stopping to use the mirror as a reference. At which point she screamed.

Akuma glanced at the mirror. Where he should have stood, a grotesque fusion of human and something… else stood. Half formed horns poked out of his temples. Tattered, small, and useless wings fluttered weakly against his back. A limp, pale tail drug on the floor behind him. Solid grey replaced the black sheen of his hair, and his cheeks appeared rotten, gaps revealing sharpened yet pathetic teeth.

Akuma checked his back without the mirror. "No wings," he muttered. "Akuryo, what do you make of this?"

"It appears to be the both of us as one being. More importantly, you are going to have to fight your way out. Freya alerted the guards."

"You have got to be kidding me. I didn't even ask for this!"

"Now then, how about a festive little bloodbath?"

"I would rather not."

Akuma ran out of the orphanage, only to be greeted by at least twenty guards. Threats and accusations towards the "Demon" flowed more smoothly than ale on the first night off after a hard week. After a moment's scrutinization, the violet eyed boy discerned the true source of the guard's ire. The sight made his blood boil with unchecked rage.

In the midst of the guards stood a man in a hooded white robe with green trimming, and a green eye on the hood over his eyes. In one hand, the priest carried a holy symbol, the Eye of Tsukuru, and in the other, an enormous book.

Upon Akuma's appearance, the priest launched into an elaborate speech. "Behold the enemy of all, the Demon of nothingness! This fiend would see your homes reduced to naught, your families never to have existed, and your livelihoods gone forever! Seize this beast, lest he destroy everything you have ever known!"

"Piss off," Akuma called back.

Both sides sprang into action. The guards charged at the shirtless boy, followed by the holy man's prayer and exorcismic words. Said boy leaped over their heads of the guard. As he dropped to the ground Akuma stepped on the priest's face, using the man as a springboard to leap onto the rooftops.

"The Thieve's Highway will have to do," he muttered as he sprinted towards the edge of town, the furious howling of the guards not far behind.

"I find it curious," Akuryo mused, "That you are more than happy to cut down Underworld Monsters or the Forces of Nature without a second thought, yet you balk at the idea of killing humans, even ones that attack you."

"I couldn't tell you why myself," Akuma admitted.

"That's another settlement that wants you dead. When exactly do you plan on listening to my advice?"

"When I give up on living."

"Your logic baffles me."

"Good."

Akuma leaped off the final roof, landing a safe distance away from town shortly before disappearing into the surrounding forest. The guards made to chase him through the green belt.

"Do not bother," the Priest warned. "He has lived his entire life since becoming aware of what he is in the wilds, living as a monster. You will not find him, let alone kill him."

Palutena surveyed a map, tacks planted in the occasional location. Pit stood on the other side, his expression making it crystal clear that he had no clue what any of it meant.

"Lady Palutena?" Pit inquired.

"Yes Pit?"

"What do the tacks mean?"

"The tacks are marking locations where a superdisaster struck," Palutena explained. "Viridi is trying to uncover the pattern, but she's having about as much luck as us."

"So there isn't a pattern?"

"Perhaps not, but there seems to be a limit," the goddess of light conceded. "They only happen on this continent." She pointed to an ovoid continent, symmetrical both length and width wise. Not a single tack marked the map anywhere else. "Whatever's going on, it has to do with the landmass known to the humans as Mati. We will need to keep a close eye on what's going on."

Sorry for the long wait!

I got my copy of Monster Hunter Four Ultimate in February, and it has dominated my time. All things considered, that's just an excuse for my being lazy, but hey. Again, sorry for the wait.

What did you guys think of the part with the mirror?

Anyways, as always, you know the drill. Review, follow, favorite, and keep enjoying! Until next time.