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CHAPTER 3
 nce upon a time I had a family. I had a place to be, a title to be known by. When I married Iron Angel...he became all of that to me. So content I was to remain in his protecting embrace, sheltered from the harshness of my past. Then my father shattered the calm by coming back to me and telling me that I could finally return to heaven. I had been "absolved". How bitterly I laughed at that word! I turned to Iron Angel, who assured me that he would follow me whatever path I should choose. I looked back at my father slowly. How could I tell him I'd grown past heavens games of power? How could I turn my back on my past, that I'd so longed for? Celestia and Gabriel...it had been so unendurably long since I'd seen them...
I refused the offer. Iron Angel was all I needed to keep me going, I reckoned. I felt the voices within my soul murmer in approval and knew I'd done the right thing. Father looked at me sadly and bid me farewell. He embraced me and told me that he would never be far from me this time however. I wonder what had happened in heaven to allow such a thing? Or was he acting on his own? That didn't sound like something Father would do... 
 Something seemed different aout him, but I just chalked it up to the exeedingly long time we had been incommunicado. He WAS older and more experienced~but there was something more~something~darker, maybe? As if he had seen more than he wanted to see and done...worse...According to him things had changed in heaven somewhat. Perhaps my tragedy had sparked a change...and my old friend Gabriel was no exeption. When he looked at me now there was a question in his eyes that I could find no answer for. Questions, questions...how they gnawed at my mind. The return of my father had served only to remind me that I still had no place to call home. No matter what was said or done, heaven would never again be a place I could exist fruitfully. I had seen and done to much outside the gates, those gates that had kept me a prisoner of twisted faith and unending lies. Disillusioned? Don't make me laugh. My eyes have been pried wide open by the past few years, thank you. But the question burning at my very core tormented me to no end, STILL. Who was I? WHAT was I? The hold on my temper was blown wide open in short order and I raged silently inside a vestige of calm. I would find out the answers to these questions. In one way or another. Whether I needed to journey back to heaven or hell to do so. What of my husband, you ask? He was BUSY with his own troubles and disappearing for sometimes days at a time. He never even noticed.  It was in this state of mind that the demon Inju found me. He claimed to have all the answers to my questions. Said that the discovery of who I was lay deep within me and with proper training, I could realize myself. He began to teach me how to embrace the rage, and through it grow even stronger. I heard a troubled whisper echo throughout the inner recesses of my memories...somehow these teachings seemed familiar to me. Regardless, I felt my mind encompass new powers as I trained harder. I soon forgot my worries as a new awareness slowly awakened within my soul. Inju and I became well known in fighter's circles as a team to be reckoned with. So I continued my progress, with him often practicing right alongside me. The bond between teacher and student grew ever closer, and when Iron Angel vanished, I hardly noticed. There was never a day that did not pass without Inju & I meeting. We had even found the perfect place to train, on the grounds of the abandoned Shadow Manse.
 I hefted it with both hands and raised it to the sky, shouting its name to
the heavens in a sudden moment of enlightenment. Enlightenment....was that
the right word to use, exactly? I wonder. For at that moment the axe began to pulse with a deep red light from within, and I felt a strange heat emanate from the handle. I screamed with pain as it began to burn my palms, but I could not let go. I didn't know what to do. Then just as suddenly as it had started,
the burning ceased and I let the axe fall to the ground as I fell to my knees gasping for air. I raised my shaking hands to my face and lost all the air in my lungs again as a scream began to form on my lips. Two dragons...had been burned into my palms, small mouths open in silent roars. A long scream; no, a laugh echoed through the barren courtyard as I realized the true nature of my new weapon. Kurenai, the axe with a name. And a voice.
Thus I began to train anew and with more intensity than I ever had in my life. A kind of hunger had begun to grow within my darkening spirit, a strange kind of thirst that I'd never known before. Even Inju was surprised at the fervor that I threw into my training. Little did he know that I could not stop the training even if I had wanted to. Kurenai spoke to me, led me on toward greater heights; always pushing me to move faster, strike harder...and to take more and more lives. The crimson blood of the souls I had taken was all I saw when I finally closed my eyes to sleep at dawn. And it was always waiting for me when I awakened. Further practice with the axe had spawned yet another change in my body~this time upon my wings. One day I was speaking to Gabriel, who was watching my progress with mounting concern. I felt that I needed to push myself to the limit; to gain as much strength and skill as possible. He argued that I should be more careful in my methods of doing such. I turned with a groan of frustration, spreading my wings to depart. He gasped in surprise and as I glanced back at him to see what he was about my gaze fell upon my wings. They were as dragon's wings, hard and leathery, with talons at each pinion. Gabriel looked at me, eyes wide. I could only stare at the wings...strangely enough feeling none of the revulsion or horror that I had felt long ago when the same thing had begun to happen. I just felt a dull sense of surprise...and...satisfaction. I looked up at Gabriel and began to laugh silently. He backed away in confusion as I turned once more and departed. I flew on and on for an indeterminable length of time until I came to a place that seemed familiar to me, somehow. I heard a whisper of an old memory in my head, and I turned to see a young man standing behind me.  The one eye I could see looked at me coldly, but that was not what disturbed me. I...knew this man...Then suddenly his colorless lips broke into a smile, and his eye flooded with warmth. In that instant I was flooded with memories. I did know him! This man was a friend. I'd met him when I'd first Fallen; a suicide. We had clung together through those first tortured years in the pit of the damned, watching each other get branded with the mark of legion, beginning the changes that would make us forever hellspawn. Then, by some miracle, I was recognized by some denizen or other that I was not just your run~of~the~mill suicide or Damned. I was a Fallen, and "privileged" to another means of damnation. In this fashion I was hauled from the pit and put into Kroza's hands. Kenji was forced to remain behind, to my sorrow.
However, we continued to see each other whenever we could. He was going through another sort of training, one that he was loath to speak of, so I never pressed it. I should have. As I was preparing for battle one day Kenji came to me and told me that he had become a daemon. I looked at him in shock. A daemon? One of those gutless...He looked back at me, then mark on his cheek glowing strangely. His voice was so...dead sounding. I gripped his wrist and told him to stay where he was until the battle was over. He nodded blankly. I ran out to the arena and fought blindly, thinking of how I was going to help my friend. I cut through my opponents like a madwoman, making the spectators howl in approval. I remembered now; the commotion...snatching up my prize, running back to Kenji and dragging him along. Just as we neared the gateway Cerberus reared up at us. I readied for the impending battle, and was stopped by a cold hand on my arm. Kenji looked back at me, with eyes full of torment. "No.", he said, "There is no time. I will hold him for as long as I can. I can join you afterwards at the gate. Go!" He took a flying leap, landing on the thing's back. I spun on my heel and ran upwards towards the gate...and froze as I heard a long scream. I slowly turned my head. Kenji... I looked back up ahead, where I could make out a hazy light. I walked up to it, blinking up at the sunlight just beyond. Then I heard a sound behind me. I whirled, Kenji's name on my lips. But it was Kroza. I can no longer recall what happened in those next moments. I had begun to forget things...and remember others...some things that I had not thought of in years. Gabriel, Celestia, even Iron Angel...had begun to fade in my memory even as other, darker memories began to seep in. My mind...I could feel it slipping and shattering as the days went on. I shook my head and gathered my thoughts, gazing back at Kenji. "Kenji.", I murmured in disbelief. He scowled. "Not Kenji. Not anymore. My name is Sukebege." I nodded. He held out his hand to me, and I took it. He began to draw me towards the mountain, revealing a black gate nearly hidden at the base. This gate...by the..."NO!" I stared at him, pulling back. I remembered this place as well. This is where I had emerged. He looked back at me calmly. "And after all I've been through and done for you, you still would not trust...me?" I looked at him wordlessly and walked towards the gate on my own. "I trust you, Ken...Sukebege." He smiled and took up my hand once more, leading me onward. We vanished within Hell's depths.
 My mind would tell me no more. I held a hidebound book in my hands that Sukebege promised would teach me even more about myself and my...duties. I remained in the dark wood around the Shadow Manse for some time, practicing and reading the book intently. I would come out every so often to kill some stray animal or other for food, or sacrifice. The book was most fascinating.
I saw Gabriel once again...I suppose his concern for me had been so great he had actually cut his ties to heaven and appeared to me in the flesh. I cared not what this angelman did, however, and ignored him as the insignificant sheep that he was. So what if he had left heaven to proclaim his undying love for me? I was Succubi, I was used to such things. I laughed in his face at the foolishness of leaving the safety of HeavensGate. I was on my way to a new state of being, finally. MY powers grew with each passing day. Let HIM find his own path. On one of the few occasions that I visited the manor, Inju came across me. He was appalled at the changes that had come over me, and was at my side in an instant. Then Inju's eyes lighted upon the book. "The Ima~Imashii...?" (Book of the Damned), he whispered hoarsely.  He gaped at the glowing mark on my cheek and sucked in his breath. "YOU are not hellspawn!", he cried, snatching the book out of my hands and throwing it at the fire. With a glance I calmly rammed him against the wall, knocking him unconscious, and brought the book back into my hand. "I am legion.", I said quietly, "And you will not get in my way."
Another man walked up to me, heedless of the dangerous gleam in my eyes; I did not know him. Perhaps I had, at one time or another...in one of the lives within the dagger. So many people came up to me with the same assumption. When would they learn...I WAS NOT...Confusion reigned in my twisted soul as this man took me into his arms and tried to talk into my shattered mind. He...I...Xiao Hua...Huayna Inti...? 
Inju came to with a groan. He took one look at the situation and clenched his fists in anger. He commanded Omnimous to let me go and then, in a manner of speaking, all Hell broke loose. Inju and the man with the black wings attacked the two of us with impunity, and we reciprocated in kind. Omnimous took on Iron Angel and I went for my sensei, hissing with rage. How dare he interrupt? I attacked again and again, not stopping for air or thought as I felt the bloodlust overwhelm me. "Demonica...", he gasped as he staggered from my attacks "I love you. Always...have..." He shuddered at his own words and his body began to shift and stretch. A flash of light~and I found myself staring at Kroza. "It was...the only way I could think of...to help you...I stopped fighting becoming full demon myself so that I could help you fight your becoming one...", he said. I stopped in confusion. "You...loved...me...?", I whispered. I felt my arms tremble on the axe handle as I faltered. The book fell off the table and landed faceup on the floor in front of me. Darklight flowed out from between the pages...hitting me full in the face. I fell back, my eyes absorbing the reddish light. I looked up, muttering a passage from the book outloud, "...for love is a curse not wrought for Demonkind..." I growled in anger and lunged at Kroza snarling, "I will not be misled by this LOVE!" I drove him back and was just about to make the kill when I head a voice in my head. Calling my name...I whirled and found myself looking at the man with the black wings. Iron Angel...in my head...Huayna Inti...my love...what is this...? Omnimous had him beat and ready to die. Iron Angel looked into my eyes and in that instant I remembered something. "The rose...", I whispered...those eyes...Omnimous saw me looking at Iron Angel and asked me if I wanted his soul, grinning. I stood up slowly and walked over to them. "What do you want in return?", I asked. Omnimous' eyes slid over to the dagger. I shook my head slightly. "That is not for you. You would not like having it, and it would not be kept by the likes of you." Omnimous scowled,  then started to smile as his eyes took me in. I took a deep breath. I knew in the end, that it would come to this. Yet another choice, another weaving of the pattern to be tied. I took a deep breath. I would accept what I was, at last. I slid up behind Omnimous and offered him the only thing I had left to give. Myself. I used all the powers of succubi at my disposal and convinced him to bargain. It...didn't take much. And Iron Angel was free.
More things happen as time goes by, but I no longer care to measure the days in mortal's time. Or even to bother recalling them. What are memories but pain and regret? I no longer have those emotions. I have abolished them from my existence, along with all the rest. It sufficeth to say that none of it matters any longer. None but pleasure, that is. That IS my job, so to speak...
But I get ahead of myself. You have questions, I see. So where are we now? Who am I now? I am Legion, a succubus, Lieutenant of Hell's Army. And the Captain, Omnimous, is taking great pleasure in exacting payment out of a "bargain" for which there seems to be no end. Sukebege remains still at my side as a daemon. Kroza sits on the steps of the empty manse, lamenting the folly of his actions...and...Iron Angel is somewhere, sorrowing at the loss of his love and plotting desperately on how to get her back. The question is...is there anything left of her to get back?
I am borne from both the heights of Heaven and the bowels of Hell. Within
this soul is their consolidation. This soul I call Demonica.
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