A horrible foreboding weighed upon Leon and Katie's shoulders as they walked through the fog. It was impossible to see the way forward. Their hands were clenched tightly together. In this cold they both trembled. If they even so much as let go once, they could easily lose each other. Whispers followed everywhere they went. They didn't dare speak. They didn't even think. It felt like eyes were following them everywhere. Irony that a supposed ruin of angels could cause them to feel so much dread.
Katie continued to watch Leon closely, but he never looked back. It was almost like he was concentrating. Praying. After what felt like an eternity, they reach the end of the fog.
A giant bronze door awaited them. The symbols on each were supposed to be angels, but malevolent rubies filled where the eyes were supposed to be. He placed a hand against the door. Leon froze. Hairs on the back of his neck bristled. His blood ran cold the moment he touched it. Something was waiting for him within the next room
It wasn't an instinct. Not even intuition. He just knew. Katie stood by his side, placing her own hand on the door. They shared a look and both nodded. They pushed forward. Neither of them spoke. The air was freezing. Wind blew against them, making it harder to press forward. Several large rock formations surrounded them.
Leon took one step forward. A piercing pain came to his head and he screamed.
"Leon?" Katie turned to him, her eyes wide.
Static ran rampant in his vision. The world was flipping around him. It was impossible to tell apart fiction from reality. Images of corpses flashed through his mind. Bodies littered in a kingdom of snow. The rays of a crimson red moon that followed every inch of it. A day he would never escape no matter how long he slept.
Katie's cries became no more than a distant echo as he felt himself sink through the world. He wasn't falling. Everything stopped. On the lake of the dark dream he always returned to, he stood in front of a cloaked figure. The voice he heard made his mind dance. Like his vision was constantly shifting. Contorting.
"Leon... You are my greatest achievement. Welcome to the world of the living," a cold voice whispered. He couldn't see. He knew it was the figure in front of him speaking.
"Who are... who are you? Who am I? You called me Leon... is that my name?" he asked, rooted to the spot.
The voice laughed. Amused. Intrigued. "You already know how to speak. That is good. Yes. That is your name. The only being in this world born of Gaia and myself. There is so much potential! You are simply astounding!"
"Gaia? Is that my mother? ...Does that make you my father?"
The voice grew silent. The world stopped moving. The same cloak wrapped around his body, like a chilling embrace. "You could say that, yes. I am Death, my dear boy. Are you ready to fulfill your purpose?"
Leon's eyes lowered. The reflection of arms wrapped around his neck, the cloak covering his head could be seen from the lake. It felt warm. It felt cold. His fists clenched. "What is my purpose?"
"We are going to create a new world, Leon. A world where all can coexist in harmony. Doesn't that sound grand?"
At that, Leon smiled. "It does."
"That's my boy. I ask again. Are you ready?"
"...I am. I'll do my best," he replied.
—--------------------------------
In the real world, Leon was on his knees. Katie was shaking him, trying to snap him out of it. His eyes were flipping to violet. Changing to crimson. Shifting to their cool brown. His nails dug into the cold stone floor. His body writhed as shocks struck him everywhere. She felt several chills against her chest. Katie looked up.
They were surrounded. Her eyes widened as she pulled Leon to his feet. Everyone of these figures were hard to make out, their faces shrouded by the dark. She noticed they all had weapons. Wings. Just like her own. Angels? They can't be...
Leon stopped writhing. He stopped moving. She opened her mouth to say his name, but he pushed her back. Not roughly, but enough to make her let go. It was probably the only sense of self control he had left. He looked at the silhouettes ahead of them unflinchingly. At first, he dragged his feet as he walked forward. The color of his eyes solidified to that violet purple, shining in the dark.
Death's voice still whispered in his ears. "There are those who wish to stop the creation of my new world. They will bring all of us to ruin! You must stop them! There can be no other way."
"Very well," Leon muttered, taking his sword out of its sheath. "I'm sorry things have to be this way. I have no other choice."
"Wait. What are you-" Katie had hardly placed her fingertips against his shoulder when he slammed his sword into the floor.
The temple floor broke apart, swallowing them all inside of it. Her wings flew her up before she fell with them. Her eyes widened, watching him go into the desolate trench. She realized the angels were all statues, diving at him. She prepared to move in. What he did next froze her.
His first swing smashed apart the head of the nearest statue. He rolled forward, his heels sliding against the temple walls. One after another the angels followed him. Leon wasn't even looking at them. He rolled. Any blade or arrow that neared him was struck aside instantly.
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(Concept of the kingdom Leon is seeing)
What she saw was completely different from his own field of vision. In his mind, he wasn't sprinting and leaping across an endless trench. He was storming through a desolate kingdom. Men and women alike all charged him from all sides. The sword in his hand bathed in the blood of every single one who crossed his path. Every swing took a limb. Every blow ended a life.
In those chaotic moments, he almost wished he would fail. That one of them would get lucky and kill him. He was too fast. Whatever he couldn't see was being torn asunder by the shadows following him. It was like they had a mind of their own. Most likely Death shielding him. None of it mattered.
Their screams filled his ears. Cursing him. Begging for mercy. Tears fell down his cheeks. He wished things could be different. It didn't stop the massacre. "Their existence will destroy everything. Leave none alive. You can not fail, boy. Go! Tear them apart!" Death's voice commanded.
Their endless rows of outer corridors went on forever. The bodies piling up were only rivaled by the snowflakes falling around him. He leaped across walls. Slid under endless attempts to cut him down. He clashed with them time and time again. Before long, the snowy world was an endless sea of red in his eyes. It was all he could see.
—-----------------------------------------
In the real world, Katie watched in stunned silence as he ripped through countless statues. Every part of his body was a lethal weapon. He smashed them against the walls. Ripped them apart. Violet flames and shadows trailed behind his arms and legs, incinerating or slicing anything they touched.
Those statues breaking was all that filled the heavy air. Katie was white in the face, rooted to the spot. She couldn't hear his thoughts. It was like a completely different person had possessed him. She was almost afraid to follow. It seemed like the sounds of violence would never end. But she couldn't leave him alone. She flew down into the abyss.
As she went lower, the air was silent. That silence almost scared her more than the mindless carnage. It's so dark... How could he even fight like this? She extended a palm, a bright light shining from it. It wasn't until she finally reached the bottom that she found Leon standing over a lone, broken statue. It had one arm left, aimed at him. He was glaring at it. She gasped as he swiped its hand off. The torn hand slid across the stone floor, clattering to her feet. She opened her mouth.
How delightful, Jalaiya's voice whispered, and Katie froze.
Her hands were becoming a horrible shade of rotted gray. Scars ran along her skin. Veins were pulsing. She choked and fell to her knees. Tiny volts of electricity sparked in the air like an aura around her body. Her eyes lowered to the puddle in front of her. A horrible hateful yellow stared back. "N-no. Stop it," Katie grasped her face, her cheeks cracking apart like glass.
Take a nap dear. I have an appointment with the boy. I promise to be gentle. Be a good girl and go to sleep. She couldn't even protest when the world went completely dark.
—-------------------------------------
Leon blinked. He was panting. It felt like he'd been sleeping. His entire body was drenched in cold sweat. "K-Katie-" his words cut short. His right hand was clutching something.
His sword was lodged into the head of the statue kneeling before him. He let go out of shock, taking a step back. "What... Where..." Leon bumped into something behind him. The air was freezing. He felt a sudden fear in turning around. There was a sound. Almost like a cat purring.
Leon spun around. Her eyes were hidden by a sort of darkness. No matter how much he squinted they were hidden. It was a girl with snowy white hair. Everything about how she looked was a twin of Katie. Her face looked like it was fractured, resembling the statues around them. When she raised her head, violent yellow eyes stared into his own. His eyes widened. She smiled coldly.
image [https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw/AP1GczO7OnKScCifqA0xl7sME4o3YUg7c9keFZ8jSVsHO2H1Rxhn6u6_503-FAzVe1aT2KmN76GsoeuNXtR5mXiIwqPXD3Sn_a3GyNSQGupxRGSOSoI0p2FlXiH8ZmFCkUtOdSKTcSblCyAkYq0UsoQGtJtIJA=w654-h654-s-no-gm?authuser=1]
"Katie?" he raised an arm to stroke her face.
She didn't respond. Her hands raised to touch his face. She leaned in for a kiss and he didn't resist. It was warm. Cold. His arms wrapped around her waist before he could stop himself. It didn't give any of the pleasure that should've come when he normally kissed her. It felt sick. He felt wrong.
That's not me! He heard a voice scream.
Jalaiya stopped for a moment, taking a step back. A sadistic smirk formed as she licked her lips. "Not bad, boy. A shame you couldn't be my host instead."
Her palm ripped through his chest. Ever so slightly his body had shifted at the last second, narrowly missing his heart. Katie's scream pierced his mind. He choked as he coughed blood into her face. "W-what are you doing?" He asked, his eyes widening.
She leaned toward him enough to feel their noses touch. "Drop dead," she said, her voice demonic and distorted. Electricity burst from her body, shooting through him.
His screams ripped through the air. She erupted into a cold laughter. The pain was never ending, his very flesh feeling as though it were being ripped apart. Everything turned crimson in his eyes, his hands snatching at her wrist. "What?" she snarled,
"You first!" Another deeper voice erupted from his own lips.
His palms ignited into flame, ripping through her shoulder. Katie's voice squealed out of Jalaiya's. Leon's hands tore the impaled arm out of his shoulder, burning it to ashes. He understood immediately. This was Diablos.
"NO!" His eyes returned to their normal brown as he backed away.
Trembling, his teeth chattered. "K-K-Katie.... I-I'm..." Leon reached down to try to touch her.
What do you think you're doing? Get out of my way! Diablos shouted in his head. Every second he stood there, the force trying to kill Katie attempted to steal his body again. He didn't know how he was resisting it. It was like his body was being pulled by invisible chains.
"Diablos!" Leon choked, clutching his bleeding wound. When his eyes closed, he saw the demon within. He looked directly at those crimson eyes unblinkingly. "I'll crush you! I'll destroy you! I'LL KILL YOU!" He sprinted into the darkness ahead, disappearing.
Katie's eyes widened as his footsteps echoed away. She whimpered as she reached out for him with her remaining hand. "D-don't go!" She cried, her stump bleeding heavily.