07-26-2016, 01:07 PM
“Farewell.” Argento shook the woman’s hand once more. “I’m certain we’ll meet again someday, Ms. Zulenka.” With that, the paladin and the others were ushered back into the compound. Trixie was led by a small, impish demon the rest of the way to the domain of the Underverse’s overlord. Once they arrived before this lair, the small little creature excused itself, and when the woman glanced over her shoulder, she saw that the imp demon was running as fast as it could from the scene.
With no one behind or beside her, Trixie stepped through the large doors into the Chaos Sanctuary. Once she cleared the threshold, the heavy metal entrance swung shut behind her, effectively sealing her into the large room. Prior to leaving the others, Trixie had been told they were being taken to one of Diablo’s various private areas. A place where the ruler of the Underverse only brought his most trusted lieutenants. The former sergeant wasn’t certain what she had done to merit such applause, but she hadn’t asked any questions.
Forged from gray brick, at first glance the place had the feeling of a decaying church that had long ago forsaken its faith. Visible stains of corruption seethed in the stone cracks, and while there were plenty of windows, she couldn’t see through any of them. Some had partially collapsed, obscuring a view of the outside world. Others had been impaled by chunks of jagged red stone that radiated heat and something else that made the woman nauseous when she tried to touch one of them.
Pulling her hand away from the rock, Trixie made her way into the ‘sanctuary.’ Her eyes glanced around with the hope of finding something less unnerving about the fake church, but she would find no solace in the miserable place. A few broken statues greeted her as she walked down the wide hallway.
After a walk of about ten minutes, she came to an area where the sanctuary opened up into a large, circular room. The center of this open area was brighter than the rest of the building, because there was a large pool of magma or lava that filled the area with an orange-red light. Above the pool of lava was a brick pentagram, and it was through the arms of the upturned star that the light from below was allowed the shine. The end effect was that the ceiling of the sanctuary was dominated by the shadow of the pentagram.
“Abandon all hope.” The dark voice echoed all around Trixie, and for the first time in a while, she found herself on edge. On the walls around the circular chamber, blood-red torches burst to life, casting fresh crimson light around the Chaos Sanctuary. Despite the display from the torches, Trixie’s eyes were centered on the monster that stood at the center of the pentagram-shaped platform. “Ye who enter.”
The behemoth that stood before her was easily twenty feet tall. Its red-brown flesh was rough like that of a lizard, with a massively broad chest that looked more like plates of armor than any sort of flesh. Rugged spikes taller than any man and textured almost like stalactites jutted from its upper back. Smaller spikes protruded from the backs of its elbows and upper arms, and its fingers were more like blades than anything else. A tail like something from a hell-spawned dinosaur swung lazily behind the demon.
Instead of eyes, the sockets in the creature’s visage burned red-orange will hellfire.
“You are the prime that my underlings speak of?” Diablo asked as he walked toward the woman. Each lumbering step that the monster took caused the floor beneath Trixie’s boots to shudder. “You are the tiny little thing that they tell me about? The tiny creature soaked in blood from the arenas? Belial’s little toy soldier?”
Trixie scowled but swallowed a spiteful remark as the monster’s shadow fell over her. “I am Beatrix Zulenka,” she replied as she stared up into Diablo’s burning eyes.
Her remark, which carefully avoided any of the behemoth’s insults, brought a toothy grin to the visage of the demon. “Do you know why you’re here, Little Prime?”
“Because I was better than the others. Because I slew Jorgan. Because I outlived my lessers.”
Diablo smirked once again. “You are insignificant.”
“Is that why I’m here, then?” Trixie asked as a scowl spread across her face. “To receive a dressing down from some demon king?” As the words left her mouth, the woman saw the red blur just moments before Diablo’s hubcap-sized hand closed around her entire chest, pinning her arms to her sides as the demon’s bladed fingers sank effortlessly down to the bones of her spine and ribcage. Trixie’s feet left the ground a moment later as she was lifted a fifteen feet off the ground and brought eye-to-eye with Diablo. From this close, the woman could feel the heat of the creature’s breath, and she felt the same nausea that she had when she approached the stone of the sanctuary.
“I could end you.” The demon spoke as he dug his fingers into her body, scraping his claws against her rib cage and nearly catching her lungs in the process. “You live only because you will be useful to me.”
The pressure laid off her chest just long enough for Trixie to speak, and even when she did, her words were muddled by the fresh blood pooling up into her mouth. “Need…. Need someone to do your dirty work? A knife in some demon’s back?”
“You still know nothing of schemes larger than you,” Diablo replied as he dumped Trixie to the floor. Although her back had been torn open by the monster’s grip, she ignored the pain and rose shakily to her feet. “You are from Coruscant?”
“Yes.” Trixie answered as she wiped the blood from her lips and chin.
“You work for the Empire.”
“Yes.”
“You will now work for both of us.”
The remark caused the woman to furrow her brow. “What do you mean?”
“You serve me no purpose down here. I don’t need a soft little thing like you down here,” Diablo remarked. “You will return to the surface.”
Trixie shook her head. “Return? That’s impossible.”
At that, the demon started to chuckle. “Fool. Do you really think I’d allow a bunch of pathetic little primes to imprison me against my will? Do you really think I’m here because I’m trapped?” Diablo leaned down closer to the tiny little thing that stood before him. “The Omniverse still exists because I let it exist.”
There was too much horror in that statement, so the woman posed the question that was dearest to her heart. “What’s the catch?”
“Straight to the point, you are a good little soldier.” Diablo sneered. “You return as my agent. You will do as I instruct, whenever I tell you. If you break this agreement, you will suffer a fate worse than death… worse than being banished here.”
“How will we communicate?”
Diablo grinned once more. “My agents are everywhere in the Omniverse—in every pitiful verse and every government. They’ll be watching you, Beatrix Zulenka. Nothing escapes my watch. If you undermine me in any way, they will know. And if they know, I know. Do you understand?”
“Yes.” Trixie responded indignantly as she glared into the beast’s burning eyes.
“Good.” Diablo replied. “Keep the anger with you. It’ll warm your broken soul on cold nights.” Trixie didn’t answer, but the look in her eyes and the rhythmic clenching and unclenching of her fists conveyed more emotion than words ever could. “Go ahead and try. Lash out. I would destroy you a thousand times over before you could lift that fist against me. I could render you as nothing with the barest effort.”
“Just let me the fuck out of this hellhole,” Trixie finally spoke, eliciting a snicker from the demon.
Reaching forward, Diablo closed a crushing hand around the woman’s head. Her first instinct was to lash out, but before she could, she’d been yanked off the ground. Although hear hearing was muffled, she could hear Diablo’s words as clear as if he were whispering them into her ears. “You exist because I let you. Don’t forget that.”
A moment later, she was thrown free from the demon. She only caught flashes of drab color before her skull crashed into something solid, knocking her out cold.
When she regained consciousness, Trixie immediately knew she was someplace else. Ignoring the throbbing in her skull, she rose to her feet and looked to see that she’d fallen through a Gate, much like the ones she remembered from the Nexus. All around her was a realm of almost near-blackness, although there was a clear white line that looked almost painted onto the dark ground.
She knew this place… she’d read about it on the Dataverse when she was studying up on the Omniverse. A world of almost pure black marked only by various white leylines.
The Void.
Did this mean…?
Trixie reached into her bag and retrieved her datapad. The piece of tech hadn’t worked since her arrival in the Underverse, but as she looked down at the screen, she saw the presence of three bars in the upper corner of the display.
She was truly free from the Underverse.
With no one behind or beside her, Trixie stepped through the large doors into the Chaos Sanctuary. Once she cleared the threshold, the heavy metal entrance swung shut behind her, effectively sealing her into the large room. Prior to leaving the others, Trixie had been told they were being taken to one of Diablo’s various private areas. A place where the ruler of the Underverse only brought his most trusted lieutenants. The former sergeant wasn’t certain what she had done to merit such applause, but she hadn’t asked any questions.
Forged from gray brick, at first glance the place had the feeling of a decaying church that had long ago forsaken its faith. Visible stains of corruption seethed in the stone cracks, and while there were plenty of windows, she couldn’t see through any of them. Some had partially collapsed, obscuring a view of the outside world. Others had been impaled by chunks of jagged red stone that radiated heat and something else that made the woman nauseous when she tried to touch one of them.
Pulling her hand away from the rock, Trixie made her way into the ‘sanctuary.’ Her eyes glanced around with the hope of finding something less unnerving about the fake church, but she would find no solace in the miserable place. A few broken statues greeted her as she walked down the wide hallway.
After a walk of about ten minutes, she came to an area where the sanctuary opened up into a large, circular room. The center of this open area was brighter than the rest of the building, because there was a large pool of magma or lava that filled the area with an orange-red light. Above the pool of lava was a brick pentagram, and it was through the arms of the upturned star that the light from below was allowed the shine. The end effect was that the ceiling of the sanctuary was dominated by the shadow of the pentagram.
“Abandon all hope.” The dark voice echoed all around Trixie, and for the first time in a while, she found herself on edge. On the walls around the circular chamber, blood-red torches burst to life, casting fresh crimson light around the Chaos Sanctuary. Despite the display from the torches, Trixie’s eyes were centered on the monster that stood at the center of the pentagram-shaped platform. “Ye who enter.”
The behemoth that stood before her was easily twenty feet tall. Its red-brown flesh was rough like that of a lizard, with a massively broad chest that looked more like plates of armor than any sort of flesh. Rugged spikes taller than any man and textured almost like stalactites jutted from its upper back. Smaller spikes protruded from the backs of its elbows and upper arms, and its fingers were more like blades than anything else. A tail like something from a hell-spawned dinosaur swung lazily behind the demon.
Instead of eyes, the sockets in the creature’s visage burned red-orange will hellfire.
“You are the prime that my underlings speak of?” Diablo asked as he walked toward the woman. Each lumbering step that the monster took caused the floor beneath Trixie’s boots to shudder. “You are the tiny little thing that they tell me about? The tiny creature soaked in blood from the arenas? Belial’s little toy soldier?”
Trixie scowled but swallowed a spiteful remark as the monster’s shadow fell over her. “I am Beatrix Zulenka,” she replied as she stared up into Diablo’s burning eyes.
Her remark, which carefully avoided any of the behemoth’s insults, brought a toothy grin to the visage of the demon. “Do you know why you’re here, Little Prime?”
“Because I was better than the others. Because I slew Jorgan. Because I outlived my lessers.”
Diablo smirked once again. “You are insignificant.”
“Is that why I’m here, then?” Trixie asked as a scowl spread across her face. “To receive a dressing down from some demon king?” As the words left her mouth, the woman saw the red blur just moments before Diablo’s hubcap-sized hand closed around her entire chest, pinning her arms to her sides as the demon’s bladed fingers sank effortlessly down to the bones of her spine and ribcage. Trixie’s feet left the ground a moment later as she was lifted a fifteen feet off the ground and brought eye-to-eye with Diablo. From this close, the woman could feel the heat of the creature’s breath, and she felt the same nausea that she had when she approached the stone of the sanctuary.
“I could end you.” The demon spoke as he dug his fingers into her body, scraping his claws against her rib cage and nearly catching her lungs in the process. “You live only because you will be useful to me.”
The pressure laid off her chest just long enough for Trixie to speak, and even when she did, her words were muddled by the fresh blood pooling up into her mouth. “Need…. Need someone to do your dirty work? A knife in some demon’s back?”
“You still know nothing of schemes larger than you,” Diablo replied as he dumped Trixie to the floor. Although her back had been torn open by the monster’s grip, she ignored the pain and rose shakily to her feet. “You are from Coruscant?”
“Yes.” Trixie answered as she wiped the blood from her lips and chin.
“You work for the Empire.”
“Yes.”
“You will now work for both of us.”
The remark caused the woman to furrow her brow. “What do you mean?”
“You serve me no purpose down here. I don’t need a soft little thing like you down here,” Diablo remarked. “You will return to the surface.”
Trixie shook her head. “Return? That’s impossible.”
At that, the demon started to chuckle. “Fool. Do you really think I’d allow a bunch of pathetic little primes to imprison me against my will? Do you really think I’m here because I’m trapped?” Diablo leaned down closer to the tiny little thing that stood before him. “The Omniverse still exists because I let it exist.”
There was too much horror in that statement, so the woman posed the question that was dearest to her heart. “What’s the catch?”
“Straight to the point, you are a good little soldier.” Diablo sneered. “You return as my agent. You will do as I instruct, whenever I tell you. If you break this agreement, you will suffer a fate worse than death… worse than being banished here.”
“How will we communicate?”
Diablo grinned once more. “My agents are everywhere in the Omniverse—in every pitiful verse and every government. They’ll be watching you, Beatrix Zulenka. Nothing escapes my watch. If you undermine me in any way, they will know. And if they know, I know. Do you understand?”
“Yes.” Trixie responded indignantly as she glared into the beast’s burning eyes.
“Good.” Diablo replied. “Keep the anger with you. It’ll warm your broken soul on cold nights.” Trixie didn’t answer, but the look in her eyes and the rhythmic clenching and unclenching of her fists conveyed more emotion than words ever could. “Go ahead and try. Lash out. I would destroy you a thousand times over before you could lift that fist against me. I could render you as nothing with the barest effort.”
“Just let me the fuck out of this hellhole,” Trixie finally spoke, eliciting a snicker from the demon.
Reaching forward, Diablo closed a crushing hand around the woman’s head. Her first instinct was to lash out, but before she could, she’d been yanked off the ground. Although hear hearing was muffled, she could hear Diablo’s words as clear as if he were whispering them into her ears. “You exist because I let you. Don’t forget that.”
A moment later, she was thrown free from the demon. She only caught flashes of drab color before her skull crashed into something solid, knocking her out cold.
***
When she regained consciousness, Trixie immediately knew she was someplace else. Ignoring the throbbing in her skull, she rose to her feet and looked to see that she’d fallen through a Gate, much like the ones she remembered from the Nexus. All around her was a realm of almost near-blackness, although there was a clear white line that looked almost painted onto the dark ground.
She knew this place… she’d read about it on the Dataverse when she was studying up on the Omniverse. A world of almost pure black marked only by various white leylines.
The Void.
Did this mean…?
Trixie reached into her bag and retrieved her datapad. The piece of tech hadn’t worked since her arrival in the Underverse, but as she looked down at the screen, she saw the presence of three bars in the upper corner of the display.
She was truly free from the Underverse.
Quote:Trixie is in the Void.
She understands the full terms of her Agreement.