The Rise Of Evil Chapter 10
By Citadel
In the center of a huge dome was a princess who laid unconscious on the ground. She had magical symbols written on her body and all over her forehead. She had only a few loin cloths to cover her. She sat on a black stone floor. On it was a crystal star with a ruby circle around it. Marle was sprawled on the ground with each limb pointing at a leg of the star and her head at the top of the star. Torches were scientifically placed inside the dome perfectly to light it completely. The whole pentagram took up about two football fields. The dome was absolutely black, not even one flaw in the whole thing. Marle's arms and legs were all tied down to the floor with chains that seemed to grow from the ground. She was just beginning to wake up.
Marle opened her eyes and looked around. She was feeling a little better, but had a tremendous headache. Upon examining her surroundings she saw she was pretty much alone in the place. It was so big it made her feel small. She looked down her body was shocked to see what was painted on her. At least she hoped it was paint. It was red and thick.
"Finally you have awoken," an alien voice said. She pulled up her head and looked at a handsome man in black. "You remember who I am?" he asked.
She tried to respond but her voice was horse and her mouth was dry. She couldn't respond. She instead just shook her head.
"Good. Are you comfortable? Are you cold? Hot? Do you need some water?" Marle pondered the questions and wondered what he wanted. "I can sense you need some water. A glass of water appeared in front of her mouth and tipped over. She had her mouth forcefully, but gently pushed open and the water refreshed her. She was then slightly warmed up.
"Why are you helping me?" she asked now that her mouth was okay.
"Why should I torture you? What would I gain from that?"
"I am your enemy. You should torture me, right?"
"You aren't my enemy, you are quite the opposite. I need you more than you could imagine. In fact, you are my ally right now."
"I wouldn't help you."
"You don't have to willingly do it, but you will anyway. You can't help it."
"I won't help."
"Don't argue something you can't control. Trust me. Just sit back and relax. If you're good maybe I'll make it more pleasant while you're here. I could always give you opium to make the time pass faster."
"I don't want anything you have."
"Fine, but if you want anything just ask."
"Untie me."
"No, I'm sorry you have to be tied down."
"Then you can just leave."
"I'll do that." Cameron turned to goo and seeped into the floor. Marle suddenly realized something.
"Hey! Come back!" Cameron seeped up from the floor and became a man again.
"Yes,?"
"Where am I?"
"The World of the Damned."
Her eyes went wide with shock. "Oh no. Why am I here?"
"So you can open the door to the Palace of Eternity."
"I won't do that."
"You will."
"How will I do it if I refuse?" she challenged.
"I'll tell you later when the time is right."
"What is the Palace of Eternity?"
"The place where the original demon resides."
"What?"
"You'll see. I'll be less vague later, but right now I am busy. So if you'll excuse me I have to leave." He seeped back into the ground and disappeared.
"Hello? Anybody?" Marle called. Nobody answered. She looked around and still saw nobody. Cameron was really creepy. He scared the living crap out of her just by being near her. Plus that whole thing of her helping him scared her too. How could he get her to help him if she didn't want to? All those things were frightening. She was also clueless to where she really was. She looked around and felt like everything was looking at her. The whole place was empty, but seemed almost alive with action. Like there was something that she couldn't see.
***
Dalton arrived back in the World of the Damned. He looked around at the familiar surroundings. The sky was purple with golden clouds moving at a fairly slow rate. Each of the clouds was flowing with lightning. Up high into the sky was a red sun that almost seemed like it was weak, almost drained of its energy. He was surrounded by huge mountains in the distance. They reached high into the sky, higher than his eyes could even see. He looked in front of him and saw the Cameron's castle. It was black as night, it looked as if there was no possible entrance to it. It had four towers, one at each corner, that were as big as a separate castle to itself. The walls of it seemed impossibly long. They ran on for miles. On the inside were various corridors and halls with millions of demons in them. It was a thriving city. The only outpost in the entire world that wasn't a torture place.
Anything outside the mountains would surround him in pure torture. This was an outpost in Hell. The only way into this fortified zone was by being thrown into a portal that lead to this place. Over the Eastern Mountains was just endless and vast landscapes of pure fire and brimstone. To the West was a huge abyss that stretched on to the lengths of forever. The two sections of Hell connected at a buffering zone in the middle. It was an unstable place that lead to almost any dimension that had been created. The place was called the World of the Damned. It was created by wizards of old who wanted to seal away evils that couldn't be killed. So they made a place within Hell that would seal them forever. Until Cameron came around nobody had ever escaped. The world stretched north and south infinitely separating the two sections of Hell with complete darkness. The only light in the whole world existed where Cameron made it.
Dalton walked forward and came to the bridge of bones bridge that connected the castle to the main land. There was a moat of lava between the land and the castle. The lava was flowing with damned souls. They screamed in endless agony as they flowed. They were all paying for their sins that they committed during life. Dalton shuddered and realized he needed immortality or he'd have to live that as well.
He walked across the bridge and slowed to inspect it. It was made of human and animal bones, but also ones of things he had never before seen. they were bleached white and were perfectly set together without a space between any of them.
Dalton continued past the bridge and came to the wall of the black castle. He placed his hand on the wall and it opened up as if it was alive. He walked through it and entered the palace. He looked around at the huge courtyard that was before him. About two miles to the right and left were huge living quarters. Nice places in total blackness. Demons lurked within them. Golems walked freely about this place. This was the place golems came from. The center of the courtyard held a tremendous dome that held the prize of all his hard work. Marle. He and Cameron had been working so long to open a portal back to the real world and capture her. Now they could easily pass through the portal to any time they wished.
Dalton looked over himself and cast a few cure spells and the blood seeped back into his skin. He flew into the air and took off for the dome. About halfway there a wind knocked him to the ground. He lost his breath and found her couldn't regain it.
"You fool," a mellow voice scolded. "I shouldn't have sent you on such an important mission like that."
"Master, I didn't mean to! It wasn't a total failure!"
"Pretel, tell me one thing that went right."
"I damaged and weakened the Prophet!"
"So? I could've done that. I could've killed him. If I hadn't been in such haste the first time he'd be dead right now. You didn't even get the true target: Crono! You were supposed to draw him into battle and kill him. You got sidetracked in stupid personal matters." Dalton was pulled into the air by an unseen force. He looked down on the large man who was looking up at him.
"Please don't hurt me," Dalton sniveled.
"You worthless--" Dalton was thrown to the ground. He picked himself up and looked at Cameron.
"Just tell me, I'll do anything. Don't be disappointed," he begged. Tears were streaming down his cheeks in fear now.
"I should throw you to the abyss, but I'll only give you one more chance. If you screw up again I'll send you straight to the abyss. Do you understand me?"
"Oh y-yes, I am so grateful."
"But there is the matter of punishment for foul ups."
"Oh please--" Dalton cried. Cameron's index finger became long, metallic and pointed. It suddenly shot forward and into Dalton's good eye. "Ahhh!" Dalton cried. Cameron pulled out the eye with a sickening pop. It still had the cord linking it to the brain remaining on it. It dripped out blood from it. Dalton's eye socket pumped out blood. Cameron stopped the blood and picked Dalton up by the chin. He placed his hand over the socket and Dalton had a new eye. It was black with a green pupil. The iris was vertical and slim, like a cat's.
"Now, let that be a lesson to you." Dalton was thrown threw the air onto the ground and skid for a good three feet on the brown grass courtyard. Dalton looked up at Cameron's finger and his eyeball was still hanging on there.
"Oh yes, master, I will never fail you again. I promise I won't ever fail you again! Just tell me what is it you want me to do!"
"I want you to go to Janus and finish him off. Just kill him. A very simple task, no?"
"Oh yes master. I can do that. When?"
"Now. Do it now. I will give you some more power and you should be able to kill him. Find him in the past and kill him while his friends are away. Do not attempt to take someone that strong on by yourself. It would be foolish, and you know how I frown on foolishness." Dalton shook his head in agreement.
"Can I have my power?" Cameron sighed and placed his hand on Dalton's forehead. The hand seemed to glow green from under his palm. Green rays of light spilled out from the sides. Dalton stood up with an insidious grin on his face. His brown hair seemed even lusher than it previously had been. His muscles bulged and his jaw was squared off. "Yes, I can feel it master, I can feel it!" He threw his hands up into the air and laughed hysterically. Suddenly he was knocked on his butt by the palm of Cameron's hand.
"Don't be an ass you fool," Cameron sneered. "I can't have stupid morons working for me. Remember it was I who saved you from the demons when you foolishly drew yourself in here." Dalton shook his head emphatically.
"How will I get him alone?"
"Figure it out. I don't have the time to worry with that. In only a few short days I will finally open the gate and completely rip open the seal to the Palace of Eternity. You know what that means." Dalton again shook his head.
"Please let me take some demons. Strong ones. That'll keep the others busy. If you grant me two menataurs I should be able to kill Janus single-handedly."
"No, I'll grant you three. I can't let you do anything yourself. You're too inept to do anything single-handedly. I'll give you three menataurs and one scorpion to top it off. If you still lose--" Cameron trailed off. "Well, let's just say if you value your life at all you won't lose. Understand? I might not kill you next time, just remember that I hate failure and it infuriates me. I won't stand for two losses." He walked right into Cameron's face and bent over and spoke the next words in Dalton's mug. "Always remember your eye I took today. Next time I might take something you really value." He smirked and delivered a swift knee into the groin. Dalton's eyes crossed and his legs buckled as he fell to the ground. "Consider that the extra punishment for losing a demon as strong as you lost to those fools today. Now leave." Dalton picked himself up and hobbled out of the place as swiftly as he could. He knew Cameron would deliver the demons via teleportation later.
***
Near the beginning of time Janus slept peacefully. He had fully exhausted his body earlier and was now resting it. The others were also sleeping near him. They all snoozed in the Chief's hut of Ioka village.
Janus opened his eyes and looked around at the hovel. His upper lip curled and he immediately remembered where he was. He was in the distant past and had recently been in a battle with Dalton. He didn't recall much of the battle other than Dalton got away. That was all he needed to know, though, he would deliver a swift kill and finish the job when he saw Dalton next.
Janus stood to his feet and stretched out his good leg and his good arm. His metallic parts were cold from the chilly air that seemed to be getting colder every second.
Outside Janus saw the beginnings of some snow. It was thin, but it was there on the ground. This was the last thing he'd ever expect to find in the stone age, but ever since Lavos fell things were destined to get weird. He looked down the pathway down at the village. The first stirrings of morning were taking place. Some tribesmen were getting ready for the day's hunt. He wrapped his cloak around himself tightly and went south for a quick morning walk.
He had gotten no further than twenty feet when something caught his eye in the sky. It looked like a small red comet was heading right for the village. It would hit Ioka right in the center and he couldn't stop it. the thing kept getting closer and after a while Janus realized it resembled the Epoch in a twisted way. It had wings and a body like a bird's. But it was scorching hot and racing towards the ground.
Janus began to fly toward the hut but the ship slowed down as it neared the ground. It was very loud and the whole village came out to see it. Out of Ayla's hut emerged Lucca who was followed by everyone else to investigate what was happening.
"Janus, what is it?" Lucca asked.
"How would I know?" Janus snapped. The thing slowed to a mid air halt and hovered above them. It slowly began to do a vertical descent and landed in front of the whole village.
"Go home!" Ayla ordered to her people. "Go home now!" The village scattered. Kino lagged for a bit but then started to shoo the villagers away. He was quite scared of the thing that had just touched down.
"What could that thing be?" Crono asked no one in particular.
"A ship of some sort," Lucca commented.
"Well, thankyou," Crono sarcastically thanked.
"Hello?" Lucca called to the thing.
"It have no smell, that weird," Ayla observed.
"It appears to be extremely advanced beyond even my years," Robo said. "Look at the markings on the side, they aren't of my nation's of any other nation of which I know. Plus, if you look over here," Robo walked to the rear, "it doesn't have a standard fuel thrust engine. And--" Robo's analysis was cut short by a hissing sound as air was released from the hull of the ship as the front door opened.
Robo ran around front to see what would emerge. The steam was thick and they couldn't see much. Lights seemed to be going off inside of it. Finally they all could make out a shadow of something humanoid in the mists. It walked closer with a swift stride. Finally the mists parted and out stepped a metallic man. His skin seemed to be a nearly reflective layer of metal that was stretched thinly over his body. There was a black visor over his eyes that was totally black and blocked any sight of his face. He stood about 6'4" and was heavily muscled. There was a strange marking on his chest of a bright yellow star. On his back he sported two long poles the seemed to be about three feet long apiece. He walked out of the ship and onto the snow covered grass. He looked down and observed the snow for a minute before looking back up at Janus who stood directly on front of him.
"And you are?" Janus asked.
"I am Fuerte. I come in peace."
"Okay," Janus responded, almost trying to size him up. "What is this?" he asked pointing to his ship.
"Class E-X Cruiser. The fastest and most heavily armed single or light transport in the universe. It can even transcend time."
"No kidding?" Lucca exclaimed. "And we thought we had the patent on time travel."
The man seemed to be surprised; he didn't hide his emotions well, even through a suit. "I never would've thought such an unadvanced civilization would've ever learned time travel."
"They wouldn't," Robo answered, "we did. I am from the future, as are many of us. You, my fine metallic friend, have arrived in about the earliest point in history."
"Okay, now I understand where I am."
"But who are you?" Crono asked. "Where do you come from?"
"Well, I come from an extremely advanced civilization. We had migrated and settled out entire solar system. We were nearly free of crime, disease, and poverty. I was part of the vast policing unit called the System Federation. The SF policed everyone, and we did a great job. When someone had more than three major offenses, like murder, we sent them out to a hostile planet barely able to support life. It was volcanic and had little air. The prisoners developed an underground civilization there. It was my job to send men there. I loved my job.
"One day there was a disturbance in this section of the galaxy, a major disturbance. Apparently the planet was ending. We were sent out first to investigate, mostly because we were on the outermost brinks of the solar system. We jumped at the opportunity, only a select few in history had ever been given clearance to leave the solar system.
"The satellites that had picked up the disturbance led us to this planet in the extreme distant future. It's skies were painted red and even from space it had an evil aura that made us uneasy.
"We approached the planet with much caution. On one of it's continents was a portal that was teeming with energy that couldn't be identified. Our ship came into its orbit and did an analysis of it. It came up normal except for massive amounts of heat were being produced from the energy source. We entered the atmosphere and--"
***
"We've now cleared the atmosphere," a man in metal armor said. He was with fifty other men also in the same armor. They sat in a large cargo ship specially designed to carry large amounts of prisoners. Each was extremely nervous. Over the past few weeks they'd been receiving transmissions from the government over the importance of this operation. They'd all been briefed on this disturbance. It was ripping their planet apart and might destroy their solar system. This solar system was very close to the main SF HQ. If a nova were to occur on that star, or the planet explode, which was very possible, it might spell ruin for most civilization.
As they descended onto the planet they saw the ground was gray and barren. Some parts of it were red and flowing with lava on the surface. Volcanoes seemed to be all over the place, large and small. All of the were active. They all also noted a major portal previously unseen by detectors ontop of the greatest mountain. It was black in color and seemed to have a maelstrom leading into nothingness.
"We are now landing a mile away from the main disturbance," the man said. The ship landed on the unstable ground. Several men, all shaking in their metal suits, exited the large spaceship. They marched out of the thing with large guns in their hands. Each was nearly the exact same as the other with only minor differences in heights. "Let's move out men!" the leader called.
About six minutes later they arrived at the sight of the portal. It was an awesome sight. the ground trembled under their feet.
"My dear word," one of them exclaimed. It was a tremendous hole in the ground that stretched out for miles. Apparitions and specters floated out of a column of red energy. They screamed for their sufferings to end. They screamed to kill once more. They screamed in agony and repentance for their sins.
"Uh chief, now what?" one asked.
"Give me a bomb," he ordered. One man who was carrying a knapsack took it off and handed it to the leader. He opened it and pulled out a grenade. "We''ll see what it does. Our orders weren't real clear as what to do, and I have no other ideas." He looked around uneasily. "If you think that this isn't a good idea, please tell me now." Nobody did anything. He pulled the pin and tossed the grenade in. It let out a deafening blast as it was incinerated by the heat before it even reached the thing.
"No mas a no protence," A deep inhuman voice growled. The entire mass of men spun on their heels to look at what spoke. Up in the air floated a dark form that resembled a lion's shadow. It floated to the ground. In the blink of an eye it was ontop of one of the men and ripped him apart.
"Oh God shoot it!" somebody screamed. They all opened fire on the thing, but all the shots passed right through the thing and blew apart the ground behind it.
It cocked its head to the side, its black head looking on menacingly. "Ir ta portai?" It asked in its low growl.
"Die!" the closest man screamed. He shot a continuous stream of blasts into the shadow. Each passed through it with the greatest of ease. It seemed to fly into the man and knock him to the ground. Its claws tore into the armor and ripped out his heart. Blood sprayed all over the place as the lion shadow ate the man alive.
"Retreat!" the captain yelled. Just as the mass of men began to move more shadows of different varieties appeared in front of them. Some were recognizable, wolves, bats, spiders, and some were just hideous and alien. Some were small and some towered over twenty feet. The small platoon was completely surrounded. Laser shots were fired off in each direction, not one hit. they passed through the demons like butter. Just as they were about to pounce another voice shook the heavens.
"Inviso busto uropa!" Out of the red disturbance rose a black, tarrish, and indistinct substance. It was humanoid in appearance. It seemed to morph in front of their eyes. It was black with muscles. They seemed to bulge everywhere. His head was just a black skull though. His body seemed to move like the sea. A black sea of death. "Ahh, more humans. More feed for my pets." The thing laughed a low and evil laugh that one of them would never forget. The black things moved in.
One man, named Fuerte, moved swiftly and avoided most of the attacks. As he dodged the demons he saw his comrades ripped apart. Nothing could save them. He spotted a hole in the madness and ran as fast as his long legs would take him. Just as he was about to reach the ship he felt a sharp pain in his lower right leg. He turned his head to see a large chunk of his calf missing. He spun and shot a blast out at whatever was chasing him. He saw the black lion jump for him. He dodged to the right and rolled on his shoulder. As he hit the ground his right calf exploded in pain. He grabbed his leg in agony.
"Oh please, spare me, please!" he screamed. The lion slowly walked to Fuerte, stalking him. Drawing out this moment to its last second. "Oh don't kill me, please show mercy!" Fuerte begged. The lion shadow moved in front of Fuerte. It stood nearly on top of him and slowly bent down for the final bite. Just as it was about bite, Fuerte spun to his left narrowly avoiding its jaws. The thing snapped its head his way and lunged for Fuerte. Fuerte leapt high into the air and sailed over the top of the shadow. He hit the ground on his left leg and limped as fast as he could for the ship. He noticed the lion fly at Fuerte at full speed. Fuerte spun to meet it. Just as it was going to his Fuerte he threw his legs out from under himself and hit the ground as hard as he could. Again, the thing sailed over him. He was on his feet in moments and limping for the ship.
Fuerte jumped in it and closed the door as the lion charged the ship. It hit the door and left an imprint of its head.
He ran to the controls and blasted off. He went into the fastest speed possible and rocketed into space. The shadow demon fell off in the atmosphere.
***
"And I tended to my leg. It still has a minor hole in it, but I'm fine. Our nations warred for years with that planet, bombing it, and hitting it with everything we had. The demons just kept on multiplying. they used this planet's future technology to launch into space.
"The SF later learned that the black thing I saw come out of the portal was none other than Anoctium. The ringleader behind the whole thing. Anoctium was the most powerful of all the demons. He had been the one who destroyed the original occupants of this planet. After about five years something big happened. The gates, both of them, opened wide and something came out. Something huge. I never saw what it was, but it destroyed almost everything it came in contact with. It caused a supernova in this solarsystem and wiped out most civilization.
"Six months later humans resurfaced from their hidings in different parts of the remaining solar system. Some had hid within meteorites, literally within bases built inside the rock. Some were in various leftover space stations. A few lived in their ships the whole time. Nobody was left on a planet. Most of the planets had been obliterated by the supernova. The powerful thing was now sending demons out to every corner of the living universe. Hellmouths were opening almost everywhere. Other planet on the other side of the galaxy weren't even safe. Even space was occupied by tremendous dragons that floated from star system to star system. Nothing could stop the war. It seemed as though it were truly the end of time. I was later given the task of coming back in time and stopping the Anoctium. Killing him before he released the thing."
"What was the thing?" Crono asked.
"Nobody knows. It was strong--unstoppable."
"Who is Anoctium?" Lucca asked.
"That I also do not know. All I know is this planet is where he came from. And I am determined to stop him from destroying the universe."
"Could Cameron and Anoctium have something in common?" Lucca asked.
***
"Great Scott I believe I've found it!" Belthsar exclaimed.
"What have you found, old man?" Roland asked.
"I think I may have found who our mysterious Cameron Delecroix is. His motivations and parts of a very elaborate plan. Very elaborate, this plan almost seems impossible to pull off, but all he has is a few more steps to go--"
"Good God, just tell us!" Spekkio screamed in frustration.
"Oh, yes, very well. A long time ago..."
***
Marle saw visions of horrible and unspeakable evils that roamed a tremendous countryside. This was an unfamiliar world to her. She stood in a green grassy plain that looked as if illuminated by day, but the sky was black as night. Behind her were huge cliffs, thousands of feet high. She realized she was on a mountain.
"Where am I?" she asked no one in particular. She walked to the edge of the cliffs and looked down on a world that went as far as the eye could see. It was a huge country, but shaped like a maze. The streets and the walls twisted and wound their way around into dead ends. The streets were crowded with evil and menacing shapes and things she couldn't describe. The huge maze had a tremendous center, the largest structure she'd ever seen in her life. It like one of the buildings in Robo's distant future, but much larger. It was shiny, she realized it was made of glass. It had a rectangular base that went up for twenty stories, or so, then bent sharply in, making a square. The square shape went up for another few hundred stories and then on the top was a large antenna that resembled the omega symbol with a large extra rod shooting straight into the air. The whole antenna was glowing a bright purple. It pulsated in a slow tempo. "What is that place?"
"It is my home." Marle spun to see Cameron in front of her.
"No, not you!" she screamed. She backed up a step. She then looked warily over her left shoulder at the cliffs below.
"I won't hurt you, I only want to show you. Please, come with me." He held out his hand. "Please, I won't hurt you."
"Stay away!" she screamed and threw out her hands. A huge block of ice came down from the sky behind her and looked about to crash into Cameron. He smiled and the ice block melted before it hit.
"Please don't do that. Just trust me, I won't hurt you," he soothed. He held out his hand. "Let me show you where you are. Let me show you the greatness of what you will usher in."
"No, stay away or I'll jump!" she threatened. He looked surprised for a moment, and then his smile came back.
"Then I will just catch you. I won't let any harm come to you, I promise. I could've taken you by force by now, but I haven't. Why not?"
"Because it's a trick!" she screamed.
"No, no," he quietly rebuked, "it's only me trying to gain your trust. I understand why you don't like me, but trust me, I won't hurt you." Marle said nothing in return. "Please listen, I mean you no harm. Now how bad could it be just to walk with me. You don't even have to talk to me. I will protect you, I swear. Just please come with me. I will tell you everything you want to know if you come with me. I won't lie, and I won't hold back a thing. Just walk with me."
"Go to hell," Marle snarled. "I know I'm going to be killed by you somehow. Somehow you will kill me."
"Marle, look at yourself, I've taken off all the symbols." She looked down her body and saw she was in her royal clothes.
"How? But this is a vision," she contested, "it isn't real."
"Is it?" Cameron asked.
.