saint9
07-26-2009, 06:46 PM
-Prologue-
!0th year of the Divine Era, June 2nd –
Midnight, Tower of Eternus Poena
“Aqualina hurry!”
“Shut up Leon I’m moving as fast as I can here!” Aqualina Levitas hesitantly said, her hand holding on to her fathers’ sword, Atrafas as she ran up the stairway.
Carefully, Aqualina eased her footsteps as both herself and Leon Caedus ascended the main stairs of dark marble stone on the eleventh floor of the demonic tower, Eternus Poena, which led to the top of the tower. She held Atrafas at the ready as they reached the twelfth floor. They were within an enemy stronghold after all.
Leon cautiously opened the door and slowly poked his head out to look in the hall beyond. The caution wasn’t necessary; this floor was as empty as the last two below had been. Only tapestries of the Demon Emporer and his hordes. “All clear,” he said, stepping out into the hall.
“Strange, considering the sheer number of Elite-classes that were on the ninth floor,” Aqualina said, looking around for herself as she joined him. “I expected that we at least would have encountered three or four here by now.”
“Well they did just lose one of their Lords by my hand,” Leon told her proudly, swinging his gigantic sword Devil Slayer wildly. “Not to mention that they would never expect a knight to make it this far up, let alone two.”
True, she thought. Now that they had defeated Venious, the Seventh Demonic Lord of Adnihilo Regnum and had made it this far up, the amount of demons should have lessened considerably. With the main battle happening outside the tower, the number demons protecting the top floors would be very little to any at all.
They had to complete there mission if the City of Aeosia was to see peace once more. Nearly three days ago this tower had risen above ground from Adnihilo Regnum into Aeosia, the Capital of Aeos. Almost immediately after it had risen, hordes of demons had poured out of the tower and began to slaughter the townspeople. Aqualina had thought Aeos' future was bleak indeed. It was reported that three Demonic Lords were leading this invasion. Soo afterwards, Aeosia, the once great City of the Ancient Kings, had become a battlefield littered with blood and bodies.
Thats when the Order of Ecclesia had gotten word of the invasion. The Grand Master of the Order, Brian de Tello, had ordered over one hundred Knights into the battle, turning the tide of the invasion. Leon and herself, however, had been ordered by the Grand Master to infiltrate the tower and find a way to send it back to Adnihilo Regnum. And as they continued up the tower, they had discovered the only way to send it back was to use the Key of the Fallen and activate its return mechanism to send it back. They had the key, thanks to Leon for killing Venious, the keeper. Now all that remained was to get to the return mechanism, which was on the roof top.
However, Venious had warned us that a Demonic Lord was waiting for them, more powerful than all the Demonic Lords. She wasn’t too thrilled about that.
Aqualina looked both ways of the hall. “Any idea which way we should go?”
Leon closed his eyes and crossed his arms. “Not a clue.”
‘Why did I get partnered with such an idiot?!’ She asked herself.
Leon looked to his right. “Instinct is telling me to go this way so... we’ll go this way.”
They ran down the right side of the hall, trying to remain as quiet as possible. They didn’t want to risk getting caught up in another fight with a cadre of demons. Leon reached the end of the hall and turned left.
There, ten meters away in the stone polished hall, two Elite-class Devil Knights stood guarding the door, their demonic looking swords at the ready. They were human sized demons, with a semi-reptilian hide, a pair of sweeping horns, and a pair of chiropteran/bat wings. Their entire body appeared to be made of grey armor with accents and overtones of crimson, and features ornamental decorations, such as gold trim along their "helmet," a vertical red gem in the forehead of the helm, as well as silver knee and elbow guards.
‘Why the hell does it have to be Devil Knights?!!’ He asked himself.
Before Leon could even move, the two demons stood straight and charged him.
As was their fighting style; Devil Knights always fought in pairs, using agility and speed in their attacks, radically making it near impossible to attack them. But Leon merely stood there, drawing his sword, Devil Slayer, and let it angle toward the ground until the Devil Knights lifted their swords over head to strike-
Leon swung his blade and struck both demons in the guts, sending them reeling back by the weight of the attack into a wall. One got up and teleported. Leon turned around and guarded against the incoming strike from the demon. He quickly knocked the blade out of the demons claws and cut it in half with a horizontal strike from the left. It dissipated into darkness.
He turned his attention back to the other one. It was up and aiming one powerful Culpa at him. He wouldn’t be able to dodge it in time-
“Unda Alica: Volaticus Glacies Torqueo Alacer!”
The demon fell onto the ground, an ice rapier sticking out of its torso. The demon dissipated and the rapier turned into water. Leon turned to Aqualina, who was standing behind him with a grin on her face.
“You know you could’ve jumped in at anytime to help me out!” Leon said, clearly angry.
“Seems like they don’t want us going up there,” Aqualina pointed out, ignoring Leon’s tantrum.
“Too bad, we got a mission to finish,” Leon said, walking ahead of Aqualina. “Let’s get moving, Aqualina. We don’t have all day. Every second wasted is another building destroyed and we know how Sir Jorge gets when that happens.”
She didn’t respond. Leon glanced at her and noticed a confused look on her face. “What’s wrong, Aqualina?”
“I sense…another mana signature coming from the roof top.” She murmured. “It belongs to a knight from the Order but…”
“But what?”
“The mana signature… it’s the same as my brother....”
Leon remained silent for a few moments; his thoughts were being flooded with memories of the past. Aqualina’s older brother and his rival. He was better at everything than he was and was a skilled Knight. But he…
“Aqualina that can’t be right, your brother…”
“I know, but… this signature is just like his though.” She cried out. Her brother was always a bad subject so the fact that she mentioned him was enough for him to believe what she was sensing.
“…Let’s go. We can’t waste anymore time. We’ll find out who it is once we reach the top.” He told her, putting a hand on her shoulder for comfort.
Aqualina nodded hesitantly. Leon started walking toward the stairs, Aqualina following seconds after him. The trip up was short and a few seconds later they came across a large blue door. Leon quickly opened the door and walked outside for the first time since they had infiltrated the tower. The sky was dark; the only source of light was from the full moon above. Leon looked down at the city and saw the fires growing.
They were running out of time.
They strode down through the walk way and looked at the final staircase that led to the stone covered roof top. Leon sensed the mana signature that awaited them. It was demonic yet slightly…human. Nonetheless, it was by far one of the most powerful signatures he has ever felt. It was larger than Grand Master de Tello’s was, and that alone was sapping the courage from his soul. Whatever was up there, it was evil.
He looked at Aqualina and saw a determined look on her face, but her eyes said different. She was frightened, nervous, and afraid of what was up there. He did his best to calm himself and took a deep breath.
This was it.
He drew Devil Slayer. “Lets end this, Aqualina.”
She looked at him and slowly nodded, a calm coming to her now.
They walked up the staircase of stone marble and saw a lone figure standing in the middle of the roof top, his back toward them as he appeared to be gazing at the full moon. Leon scanned the figure in front of them; it wore Yamato-style clothes: a black hakama with a white obi around its waist, a pair of black and silver arm bracers and black gloves. A katana still in its sheath was in his left hand, giving off a dark pulse. He also had a white cloak on that flew with the wind.
The figure had the body tone and shoulders of a man no older than nineteen.
“I see you two showed up.” He said calmly, turning his head to glance at them. “To think that Venious was defeated by the likes of you two. He truly was a weakling.”
“So you’re the guy?” Leon asked rhetorically, readying his sword. “To say that about your own comrade… that ticks me off.”
‘Even though he was a lunatic.’ He thought silently.
Aqualina drew Atrafas and pointed it at him, her eyes glaring at him menacingly. “Why do you have the same mana signature as my brother?!! Who are you?!!”
The man remained silent.
“Answer me! NOW!!!”
The man turned around and faced them, causing Aqualina to drop Atrafas. Leon lowered Devil Slayer to the ground, equally surprised. They both mentioned one word out of their mouths.
“…Gabriel?”
“Gabriel? How long has it been since I abandoned that human name?” He said quietly, but loud enough for them to hear him.
Aqualina looked into his dark red eyes and saw no emotion in them. His face hadn’t changed and his dark hair was still in a tail that flew with the wind. His eyes that were once beautiful and full of life was now cold and demonic. She was overwhelmed with different emotions: happiness by the knowledge of her brothers’ return, shock by his appearance and anger by his betrayal. “Why Gabriel?! Why are you with the Demons?”
Gabriel looked upon his sister and stared at her with his cold eyes. “Hn… you continue to use that name like it has meaning to me…,” He said, drawing out his katana pointing it at her with the intent to kill.
Leon readied Devil Slayer and got in front of Aqualina, getting into his dueling stance. “There is no way you’re Gabriel! Gabriel would never lift so much as a finger against his sister! I’ll kill you in his name!”
“You are right… I’m not Gabriel. I gave that name up long ago...” The man told them, his face still remained emotionless. He just looked upon Aqualina and then to Leon. “I am Acerbus Erus, Demonic Lord of the Ten Demonic Lords of Adnihilo Regnum and wielder of Tenro.”
Leon eyes widened slightly when Acerbus appeared right in front of him. The Demon Lord grabbed the young knight by the throat and lifted him up with ease, as if the 160 pound teen weighted that of a feather. Acerbus just assessed him. “You cannot defeat me. It’s hopeless to even wield that blade against me.”
The knight swung Devil Slayer at Acerbus, who vanished yet again, letting Leon fall to his knees, gasping for air. He looked up and saw Acerbus standing back where he was last standing, a disappointed look on his face.
“You lack reaction time, yet you make up for it with brute strength." Gabriel said. "I believe the Order has become desperate if they are letting weaklings such as you become Knights.”
Leon snarled, rushing at the Demon Lord with Devil Slayer held above his head. Before his sword struck Acerbus, the former knight disappeared. Leon looked around and before he could comprehend what had happened he felt the hilt of Tenro solidly connect with his chest and sent him flying back.
Leon skidded on the marble ground a few feet away before he managed to get back on his feet. He spat out blood and looked up to see Acerbus standing where he once was, Tenro still in its sheath
Acerbus looked upon him with cold eyes. “Worthless human…is ‘your’ power what defeated that fool Venious?”
The Knight charged once more and swung Devil Slayer with enormous force. Acerbus brought up his sheath and blocked the powerful swing with ease. Leon prepared to swing again. Before his blade collided with the Demon Lord he vanished once more. Leon braced himself-
Six deep cuts appeared on his body; two on his chest, one in his left leg, another on his back, and two more on his arms. Blood spurted out of his chest wounds, falling on the hard marble floor. He yelped in pain and collapsed on the floor, covered in a pool of his own blood.
He couldn’t continue like this. The demon had already overpowered him, more so than Venious had during their fight, but the difference was that he had killed Venious, yet Acerbus hadn’t been inflicted a single scratch. The difference in power and skill were to great between them.
Using his sword for support, Leon got on his knees and painfully rose back to his feet. He then heard something that made his eyes go wide with horror.
“Everto Alica: Vox ex Poena Animus.”
All that was heard was a sudden explosion coming from the top of the demonic tower, the scream of a girl could be heard echoing throughout the sky.
_____________________________________________
Translations:
1: Eternus Poena - Eternal Pain
2: Unda Alica:Volaticus Glacies Torqueo Alacer - Water Spell: Flying Ice Rapier
3: Acerbus Erus - Dark Master
4: Culpa - Sin
5: Everto Alica: Vox ex Poena Animus - Demon Spell: Cry from Pained Souls
6: Tandembattuo - Final Strike
7: Atrafas - Dark Divine Law
8: Adnihilo Regnum - The Demonic Realm
9: Hiberna Luna – Winter Moon
10: Aestiva Luna – Summer Moon
11: Atrum Lupus ex Abyssus – The Dark Wolf of Hell
___________________________________
It took awhil but this is my first story ever so I hope its good in for all of you to enjoy. Its just a prologue so I hope it interest you. And the translations are in Latin in case your wondering. Please review!
!0th year of the Divine Era, June 2nd –
Midnight, Tower of Eternus Poena
“Aqualina hurry!”
“Shut up Leon I’m moving as fast as I can here!” Aqualina Levitas hesitantly said, her hand holding on to her fathers’ sword, Atrafas as she ran up the stairway.
Carefully, Aqualina eased her footsteps as both herself and Leon Caedus ascended the main stairs of dark marble stone on the eleventh floor of the demonic tower, Eternus Poena, which led to the top of the tower. She held Atrafas at the ready as they reached the twelfth floor. They were within an enemy stronghold after all.
Leon cautiously opened the door and slowly poked his head out to look in the hall beyond. The caution wasn’t necessary; this floor was as empty as the last two below had been. Only tapestries of the Demon Emporer and his hordes. “All clear,” he said, stepping out into the hall.
“Strange, considering the sheer number of Elite-classes that were on the ninth floor,” Aqualina said, looking around for herself as she joined him. “I expected that we at least would have encountered three or four here by now.”
“Well they did just lose one of their Lords by my hand,” Leon told her proudly, swinging his gigantic sword Devil Slayer wildly. “Not to mention that they would never expect a knight to make it this far up, let alone two.”
True, she thought. Now that they had defeated Venious, the Seventh Demonic Lord of Adnihilo Regnum and had made it this far up, the amount of demons should have lessened considerably. With the main battle happening outside the tower, the number demons protecting the top floors would be very little to any at all.
They had to complete there mission if the City of Aeosia was to see peace once more. Nearly three days ago this tower had risen above ground from Adnihilo Regnum into Aeosia, the Capital of Aeos. Almost immediately after it had risen, hordes of demons had poured out of the tower and began to slaughter the townspeople. Aqualina had thought Aeos' future was bleak indeed. It was reported that three Demonic Lords were leading this invasion. Soo afterwards, Aeosia, the once great City of the Ancient Kings, had become a battlefield littered with blood and bodies.
Thats when the Order of Ecclesia had gotten word of the invasion. The Grand Master of the Order, Brian de Tello, had ordered over one hundred Knights into the battle, turning the tide of the invasion. Leon and herself, however, had been ordered by the Grand Master to infiltrate the tower and find a way to send it back to Adnihilo Regnum. And as they continued up the tower, they had discovered the only way to send it back was to use the Key of the Fallen and activate its return mechanism to send it back. They had the key, thanks to Leon for killing Venious, the keeper. Now all that remained was to get to the return mechanism, which was on the roof top.
However, Venious had warned us that a Demonic Lord was waiting for them, more powerful than all the Demonic Lords. She wasn’t too thrilled about that.
Aqualina looked both ways of the hall. “Any idea which way we should go?”
Leon closed his eyes and crossed his arms. “Not a clue.”
‘Why did I get partnered with such an idiot?!’ She asked herself.
Leon looked to his right. “Instinct is telling me to go this way so... we’ll go this way.”
They ran down the right side of the hall, trying to remain as quiet as possible. They didn’t want to risk getting caught up in another fight with a cadre of demons. Leon reached the end of the hall and turned left.
There, ten meters away in the stone polished hall, two Elite-class Devil Knights stood guarding the door, their demonic looking swords at the ready. They were human sized demons, with a semi-reptilian hide, a pair of sweeping horns, and a pair of chiropteran/bat wings. Their entire body appeared to be made of grey armor with accents and overtones of crimson, and features ornamental decorations, such as gold trim along their "helmet," a vertical red gem in the forehead of the helm, as well as silver knee and elbow guards.
‘Why the hell does it have to be Devil Knights?!!’ He asked himself.
Before Leon could even move, the two demons stood straight and charged him.
As was their fighting style; Devil Knights always fought in pairs, using agility and speed in their attacks, radically making it near impossible to attack them. But Leon merely stood there, drawing his sword, Devil Slayer, and let it angle toward the ground until the Devil Knights lifted their swords over head to strike-
Leon swung his blade and struck both demons in the guts, sending them reeling back by the weight of the attack into a wall. One got up and teleported. Leon turned around and guarded against the incoming strike from the demon. He quickly knocked the blade out of the demons claws and cut it in half with a horizontal strike from the left. It dissipated into darkness.
He turned his attention back to the other one. It was up and aiming one powerful Culpa at him. He wouldn’t be able to dodge it in time-
“Unda Alica: Volaticus Glacies Torqueo Alacer!”
The demon fell onto the ground, an ice rapier sticking out of its torso. The demon dissipated and the rapier turned into water. Leon turned to Aqualina, who was standing behind him with a grin on her face.
“You know you could’ve jumped in at anytime to help me out!” Leon said, clearly angry.
“Seems like they don’t want us going up there,” Aqualina pointed out, ignoring Leon’s tantrum.
“Too bad, we got a mission to finish,” Leon said, walking ahead of Aqualina. “Let’s get moving, Aqualina. We don’t have all day. Every second wasted is another building destroyed and we know how Sir Jorge gets when that happens.”
She didn’t respond. Leon glanced at her and noticed a confused look on her face. “What’s wrong, Aqualina?”
“I sense…another mana signature coming from the roof top.” She murmured. “It belongs to a knight from the Order but…”
“But what?”
“The mana signature… it’s the same as my brother....”
Leon remained silent for a few moments; his thoughts were being flooded with memories of the past. Aqualina’s older brother and his rival. He was better at everything than he was and was a skilled Knight. But he…
“Aqualina that can’t be right, your brother…”
“I know, but… this signature is just like his though.” She cried out. Her brother was always a bad subject so the fact that she mentioned him was enough for him to believe what she was sensing.
“…Let’s go. We can’t waste anymore time. We’ll find out who it is once we reach the top.” He told her, putting a hand on her shoulder for comfort.
Aqualina nodded hesitantly. Leon started walking toward the stairs, Aqualina following seconds after him. The trip up was short and a few seconds later they came across a large blue door. Leon quickly opened the door and walked outside for the first time since they had infiltrated the tower. The sky was dark; the only source of light was from the full moon above. Leon looked down at the city and saw the fires growing.
They were running out of time.
They strode down through the walk way and looked at the final staircase that led to the stone covered roof top. Leon sensed the mana signature that awaited them. It was demonic yet slightly…human. Nonetheless, it was by far one of the most powerful signatures he has ever felt. It was larger than Grand Master de Tello’s was, and that alone was sapping the courage from his soul. Whatever was up there, it was evil.
He looked at Aqualina and saw a determined look on her face, but her eyes said different. She was frightened, nervous, and afraid of what was up there. He did his best to calm himself and took a deep breath.
This was it.
He drew Devil Slayer. “Lets end this, Aqualina.”
She looked at him and slowly nodded, a calm coming to her now.
They walked up the staircase of stone marble and saw a lone figure standing in the middle of the roof top, his back toward them as he appeared to be gazing at the full moon. Leon scanned the figure in front of them; it wore Yamato-style clothes: a black hakama with a white obi around its waist, a pair of black and silver arm bracers and black gloves. A katana still in its sheath was in his left hand, giving off a dark pulse. He also had a white cloak on that flew with the wind.
The figure had the body tone and shoulders of a man no older than nineteen.
“I see you two showed up.” He said calmly, turning his head to glance at them. “To think that Venious was defeated by the likes of you two. He truly was a weakling.”
“So you’re the guy?” Leon asked rhetorically, readying his sword. “To say that about your own comrade… that ticks me off.”
‘Even though he was a lunatic.’ He thought silently.
Aqualina drew Atrafas and pointed it at him, her eyes glaring at him menacingly. “Why do you have the same mana signature as my brother?!! Who are you?!!”
The man remained silent.
“Answer me! NOW!!!”
The man turned around and faced them, causing Aqualina to drop Atrafas. Leon lowered Devil Slayer to the ground, equally surprised. They both mentioned one word out of their mouths.
“…Gabriel?”
“Gabriel? How long has it been since I abandoned that human name?” He said quietly, but loud enough for them to hear him.
Aqualina looked into his dark red eyes and saw no emotion in them. His face hadn’t changed and his dark hair was still in a tail that flew with the wind. His eyes that were once beautiful and full of life was now cold and demonic. She was overwhelmed with different emotions: happiness by the knowledge of her brothers’ return, shock by his appearance and anger by his betrayal. “Why Gabriel?! Why are you with the Demons?”
Gabriel looked upon his sister and stared at her with his cold eyes. “Hn… you continue to use that name like it has meaning to me…,” He said, drawing out his katana pointing it at her with the intent to kill.
Leon readied Devil Slayer and got in front of Aqualina, getting into his dueling stance. “There is no way you’re Gabriel! Gabriel would never lift so much as a finger against his sister! I’ll kill you in his name!”
“You are right… I’m not Gabriel. I gave that name up long ago...” The man told them, his face still remained emotionless. He just looked upon Aqualina and then to Leon. “I am Acerbus Erus, Demonic Lord of the Ten Demonic Lords of Adnihilo Regnum and wielder of Tenro.”
Leon eyes widened slightly when Acerbus appeared right in front of him. The Demon Lord grabbed the young knight by the throat and lifted him up with ease, as if the 160 pound teen weighted that of a feather. Acerbus just assessed him. “You cannot defeat me. It’s hopeless to even wield that blade against me.”
The knight swung Devil Slayer at Acerbus, who vanished yet again, letting Leon fall to his knees, gasping for air. He looked up and saw Acerbus standing back where he was last standing, a disappointed look on his face.
“You lack reaction time, yet you make up for it with brute strength." Gabriel said. "I believe the Order has become desperate if they are letting weaklings such as you become Knights.”
Leon snarled, rushing at the Demon Lord with Devil Slayer held above his head. Before his sword struck Acerbus, the former knight disappeared. Leon looked around and before he could comprehend what had happened he felt the hilt of Tenro solidly connect with his chest and sent him flying back.
Leon skidded on the marble ground a few feet away before he managed to get back on his feet. He spat out blood and looked up to see Acerbus standing where he once was, Tenro still in its sheath
Acerbus looked upon him with cold eyes. “Worthless human…is ‘your’ power what defeated that fool Venious?”
The Knight charged once more and swung Devil Slayer with enormous force. Acerbus brought up his sheath and blocked the powerful swing with ease. Leon prepared to swing again. Before his blade collided with the Demon Lord he vanished once more. Leon braced himself-
Six deep cuts appeared on his body; two on his chest, one in his left leg, another on his back, and two more on his arms. Blood spurted out of his chest wounds, falling on the hard marble floor. He yelped in pain and collapsed on the floor, covered in a pool of his own blood.
He couldn’t continue like this. The demon had already overpowered him, more so than Venious had during their fight, but the difference was that he had killed Venious, yet Acerbus hadn’t been inflicted a single scratch. The difference in power and skill were to great between them.
Using his sword for support, Leon got on his knees and painfully rose back to his feet. He then heard something that made his eyes go wide with horror.
“Everto Alica: Vox ex Poena Animus.”
All that was heard was a sudden explosion coming from the top of the demonic tower, the scream of a girl could be heard echoing throughout the sky.
_____________________________________________
Translations:
1: Eternus Poena - Eternal Pain
2: Unda Alica:Volaticus Glacies Torqueo Alacer - Water Spell: Flying Ice Rapier
3: Acerbus Erus - Dark Master
4: Culpa - Sin
5: Everto Alica: Vox ex Poena Animus - Demon Spell: Cry from Pained Souls
6: Tandembattuo - Final Strike
7: Atrafas - Dark Divine Law
8: Adnihilo Regnum - The Demonic Realm
9: Hiberna Luna – Winter Moon
10: Aestiva Luna – Summer Moon
11: Atrum Lupus ex Abyssus – The Dark Wolf of Hell
___________________________________
It took awhil but this is my first story ever so I hope its good in for all of you to enjoy. Its just a prologue so I hope it interest you. And the translations are in Latin in case your wondering. Please review!