Original Stories Fan Fiction ❯ Capricious Infection ❯ Act 13: Chaos ( Chapter 13 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

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Capricious Infection
Act 13: Chaos
By: Melissa Norvell/Revamp
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Confusion etched itself on Dante’s features. “What are you talking about?” This was one of many times that the Messiah had blabbed on about nostalgic drivel.  Whatever point he was trying to make, Dante would have no part of it.  Things were bad enough, and now they were put against each other on the battle field.  Not to mention, after all of this time his theories on the winged Dius were correct.  Tarvos was mindfucking them this entire time, and the sad thing was- it worked, even on him it worked.

“You don’t see it? After all this time you still don’t acknowledge that you aren’t human.” What a pathetic child, delusional to his own fate.  Didn’t he know that this was not the time for hiding things?  He had shed his mask to reveal himself as Death itself, now it was Dante’s turn to rip off the mask of deception and give them what they sought.

The boy arched an eyebrow, his grip still firm on the handle of the scythe. “What?”

Lannad blinked from her position at the bottom of the rubble piled. “What is he talking about? Dante’s not human?”

Mae held her sword, blade tip dug into the ground.  The blonde panted and heaved, catching her breath from being slammed uncomfortably into the ground by that burst of wind.  “That Grand High Messiah was Tarvos all along.  He tricked us so he could come here and kill the mourners. He’s not even sorry.  I always wondered why his eyes were so cold. No matter what emotion he felt, his eyes were emotionless and hollow, like a puppet.  He’s been staying with my best friend, doing god knows what.  Before she met him, she was talkative and outgoing.  Now, she’s just some shriveled up shadow.  He tried to kill Dante, and he did kill Ayumi.” Her hands shook and gripped the blade tighter, flesh turning white from her vice grip hold. “She didn’t deserve that.” Mae lunged towards the two again, shouting at the top of her lungs with tear stricken eyes of malice. “She didn’t deserve to die!”

Through his long, clumped bangs, matted with blood, a wild, dark eye saw the maiden’s approach.  Tarvos’ bony hand shot forth and grabbed the blade of his scythe, dark blue streams flooded down the unforgiving piece of metal as he pushed himself up.  Shock ran across Dante’s features to see the Messiah do something so brazen.  Bending backwards as Tarvos rose, the grim reaper stared him in the eyes through long clumps of pointed bangs, his wide, toothy smile that could only be described as that of a mad man flashed.  “You wonder why all of these time rips occur? You should dig deep within yourself for that. Your very existence screws up time and space.”

‘Don’t worry, Dante! I’m coming!’ The blonde’s thoughts cheered her on as she leapt into the air.

Quickly, Tarvos grabbed the handle of his weapon, flipping it around and slamming the broad side of his scythe into the stunned boy, knocking him away from the soon to be battle scene.  A metallic clank could be heard as Mae came down, attempting to stab him in the head but only meeting with the cold steel of his weapon.

“It’s futile.” The Messiah said simply.

“I hate you.” Mae’s voice quivered with emotion.

“You don’t listen very well, do you? You can’t kill me and you can’t stop me.”  Did she truly think that she could contend with death itself? That was such an out match that it was inconceivable.  Was she truly that stupid?  If she was, then she was definitely an unfit one.

“I’ll sure as hell try. I won’t stand by idly as you kill my friends.” The girl was defiant as she was shoved back with a burst of unseen energy. Landing on the side of the rubble pile, she gained her footing and assumed a defensive position. Her blade was pointed at the murderer.

“Mae, stop it!” Her boyfriend shouted from several feet away.  Even he knew that Tarvos could kill her instantly. No one could live through a battle with the grim reaper, a very entity whose job was to steal away the souls of the passing.

A man who was considered the pied piper of souls.

“I can’t take it anymore! I can’t do this!” Mae screamed in an emotional state. “I’m tired of feeling powerless while I watch people die! You don’t even know the guilt that I feel. First, everyone in school and now this? You guys think that I’m just going to sit back and watch this sick horror show unfold?”  If they did, then her friends were as inhuman as the terror before her.  Why was she the only one doing anything? Didn’t they care that so many people died at Tarvos’ hands? Was death a concept or normality for them?

No.

This was not how humanity worked.

Dante rose from the ground, watching as the blonde vented her frustration.

“You don’t have a choice.” Tarvos spoke up.  It was amusing to see her emotions stretched to the max.  Was this what it was like to have a heart? If so, then it was something that was high romanticized among living organisms.

“Like hell I don’t!” Mae shouted angrily as she charged at him again.  The Messiah blocked her attack with his scythe blade once again. “I’ll put a permanent end to you. You’re a two-faced bastard!” The irate girl continued to swing viciously at her enemy, who continued to effortlessly evade and block her every thrust and swing.

“You’re making a mistake by going against me.”  It was a warning worth heeding.  If anyone had a case of severe misunderstanding, it was the Maiden of Sword.

Dante pulled out his kusarigama type weapon and looked at the scythe-like blade, concentrating on it for a moment, as if to make a vital decision.  He then glanced up at the two, fighting back and forth and determination shone in his black eyes.  Dante swung his weapon, hurling it towards the two.  The weapon spiraled out, the chain created a whirling, circular pattern as it closed in on its prey.

Tarvos turned with a wild look in his eyes and a crazed expression. “Now you all will see the truest extent of my power.” Flapping his mismatched wings, he created another gust that threw Mae backwards, plunging her into the ground at the bottom of the pile.  He pointed the N on his scythe out as energy gathered at the point of it, creating an expanding sphere. The Dius spun around; keeping the ball at the end of his weapon, then swung it back, releasing the violently rotating object, which deflected the kusarigama.  The blade bounced off and dug into the ground beside of its wielder.

“This turned back way too fast. I’ve got to try and break it up.” David said, jumping into the battle head first.  He swung his Time Sword, releasing a gold whip of energy.

“I’ll help you out.” Lannad assisted as she pointed the scepter as she released two symbols in ancient Dius symbols that swirled around and headed towards the Messiah.

Tarvos stood his ground and tapped his scythe on the ground simply.  The two attacks merely vanished before him.  It was like they never existed. Both wielders were shocked and could only stare wide-eyed at the reaper.

“No matter what you do, it won’t affect me.  Being death itself, I can cease life of the slightest air particles themselves or simply convert them into other, less threatening forms.” The Messiah explained.

“So, you can negate our spells?” Lannad gathered.

“Naturally.”

At that moment, Tony has an idea.  He raised the Nordic Axe above his head as high as he could and slammed it into the ground, splitting the earth.  If they couldn’t hit the Messiah head on, why not cave in his foundation and cripple him?  Tarvos merely evaded it by flying into the air. “Damn it! I thought that would work for sure!” He cursed to himself.

“You may have gotten me, if I didn’t possess the ability to fly. However, it’s amusing to watch your frustration as you feebly attempt to wound me.” Honestly, he was having too much fun with this tiny little battle.  When would this group of humans give up and simply accept their fate?

Rezzi glanced to her weapon with a stern frown, but stayed back out of the fight.

Tony swung his axe again two times, leaving crescents of energy in their wake.  Tarvos flew from side to side and dodged them easily as they crashed into another pile of debris, destroying it with a thundering boom behind him as particles of what was left rained from the sky.  “You’re too weak to defeat me.”

Lannad turned to look at Rezzi, who merely stood idly and did nothing.  “Rezzi, why aren’t you fighting?”

“Good question. This guy just laid waste to the mourning session, our classmates, the priestesses…” Ringo began to list off his casualties.

“…and our sector of town.” David added.

“I actually didn’t kill all of those people, but I find it flattering that you’d give me all of the credit.” The reaper placed a hand to his chest, as if it were truly a compliment to be accused of such mass scale genocide, and to him it was.

Mae narrowed her eyes. “I don’t believe you.”

“The priestesses died because of the time rip.” Tarvos pointed out their true cause of death.

“Time rip?” Lannad inquired.  What did he mean by that?

“The largest time rip resides within the Eclaire Shrine.” No doubt the humans knew this form their mention of the priestesses. At least, this was the Messiah’s logic.

“What? How do you know that?” Lannad was chocked at his knowledge.  That was a heavily guarded secret that never made it past the shrine walls.  The fact that someone like Tarvos knew meant that he was connected to it somehow or that he was merely psychic and could read their minds.

“Within the shrine is where Chaos was sealed.  Long ago, a priestess named Londa had sealed Chaos within one of the rooms of the shrine.  He was put into suspended animation and locked inside of a time rip.  That’s what I had presumed anyway.” That meant that Tarvos was at the shrine before they were.  It must have also meant that he freed Chaos and that Chaos was not where everyone thought he was.

“What the fuck do you mean by that?” Dante asked.  Was this more mind fucking?  It felt like it.

“When I checked on the time rip sixteen years ago, Chaos was no longer concealed within it.” Tarvos explained. So, maybe he didn’t find Chaos after all? This was confusing.

“What does that mean?” Tony asked.

“It means one of the priestesses had awoken him and released him from the Time rip.”

Lannad looked as if realization struck her. “So, that’s what happened.  I wonder who did, and why.”

“From what I was told, there were always three priestesses at the shrine at any given time.” Rezzi spoke up.

“Then who were the three priestesses that were present around the time of Lannad’s birth?” Ringo asked, looking to the blue-haired girl for a possible answer.

“They were triplets.  They all had light blue hair, and their names were Pandora, Pricilla and Portia.”

“Pandora?” David asked as his sights were turned to the girl as well. “Like in Pandora’s Box?”

Lannad nodded. “I remember faintly hearing about Pandora in particular.  She was a really strange priestess. I heard that she always practiced in secret and had a room in the shrine that she called her divine chamber.  She always locked the door and never let anyone into the room, not even her sisters.  They called her the possessed priestess and she was unusually dedicated to her studies.  When I was born, she was the one who gave me the title of Marked One. It turned out that she was right…but now I wonder how her prediction came to be true.”

‘Pandora…supposedly, that was my adopted mother’s name.’ Dante thought to himself as the bits and pieces of the combined stories started to unfold.  However, there were parts of the stories that made little to no sense, even when combined none of them seemed totally correct, unless he had been missing something entirely.

“So, you’re saying that Pandora let Chaos out of the time rip?” Tony questioned.  That’s what he got from what they were trying to say, anyway.

Tarvos landed. “It’s a theory.”

“Is that why you can kill people out here without him being with you?” David wanted clarification on the question.

“Chaos is here, among you all.”

“Pandora never had any children.” Lannad pointed out.

“Dante was adopted by Pandora.” Tarvos cast his half-lidded gaze to the boy.

Brown eyes narrowed. “I never told you who my mother was.” How in the hell did he know this stuff?

“You don’t remember your childhood.  You remember nothing past being the age you are.” That much was apparent from their last conversation.

“Don’t read my fucking mind!” Dante shouted in denial.  Even if that was true, it had nothing to do with whatever he was insinuating.

“I didn’t. I’ve acquired the knowledge on my own. You, Dante, are Chaos.”  The words hit him like a ton of bricks and for a moment, he felt panicky.  Surely that wasn’t true.  No, it couldn’t have been true.  At least, that’s what he kept telling himself.

“What?! No! That’s a lie!” Dante was quick to defend his identity.

“But you are. When Pandora found you, she implanted a piece of Chaos into your body and sealed him there to keep him subdued.  By encasing a part of him in a human body, she helped nullify his powers since Chaos is trapped inside of you his powers can’t grow and manifest properly.  Maybe she was hoping that you would grow to control your powers, but as you grew older, you became more destructive and your scorn only grew, causing you to hate everything and everyone around you.  Your exceptions were those who treated you with respect and accepted you for who you were.  Lately, you’ve been worse than usual, more ill witted and spiteful than ever. That meant more time rips appeared.  The more vexed you grew, the more they would continue to multiply.” To Tarvos, the story pretty much explained itself.  He thought that he had recognized him as Chaos before.  The fact that he could see through his disguise and the appearance of more time rips only made it more and more apparent.  There was no getting around it.  Dante needed to accept his fate, to accept the true fact that he was an extension of Chaos himself.

What Lannad was about to say only put truth to Tarvos’ theory. “I remember that. Pandora did adopt a boy that she called Dante.  She kept him in that divine chamber.  Once a day, she let him outside but he was never out of her sights.  He stayed there until he was seven years old, then everyone but he mysteriously died.”

Visions tore through Dante’s mind, savagely attacking him with their vivid display.  

The sky was an eerie shade of red, and a shadow of a child was standing in the door of the shrine.  Around him were the forms of the three priestess triplets.  Their bodies were soaked with blood and contorted in inhuman positions. Blood splattered the walls and the red light from the setting sun only made the scene more grotesque as it bathed the room in a deathly crimson.

‘Why are they making me remember this? I didn’t kill them. I just woke up covered in blood. It wasn’t fucking me.’ His eyes went wide with a mixture of guilt, anxiety and anger.  Dante’s heart raced and he clenched the sides of his head in mental agony.  That tough composure that he had was slowly breaking down.

“He was adopted a day after I was born. I never got to meet him because I was sent to another shrine to study.” Lannad wouldn’t know if the boy in question was this Dante or not, but the story behind it was intriguing.  If it wasn’t the Dante they knew, then what Dante was it?

“Stop it.”

“That’s why you could see me.” Tarvos explained.

“No fucking way…You mean Dante is really Chaos.” David said, his eye brows were raised above his shades in shock.  All of the time, he was best friends with Chaos.  Not even the most realistic nightmare could prepare him for that kind of realization.

“So…he wasn’t just being crazy.” Ringo’s words were slow, as if he was trying to take it all in.

“Stop it.” Dante repeated, clutching at his face in a maddening fashion.

“We’ve been with Chaos all along.” Rezzi hadn’t expected that, herself.

“STOP IT!” The emotionally wrecked boy nearly busted a lung as he screamed the phrase out.  A rip of maroon color shot through the skies, appearing like a scratch in time. The boy had brought attention to himself as his outburst of energy created a rip in time right above their heads.  The group all stared at it in disbelief.  It was only a validation of the combined stories, and that Dante was a piece of Chaos.

“Whoa, if I didn’t believe Tarvos before, I believe him now.” David said as the rip reflected in his shades.

Dante sunk to his knees, tears that looked like watered down blue food coloring trailed down his face.

Mae was shocked beyond words as she stared voidly at the time rip.  ‘So…All of this time, we were looking for Dante? Dante killed the priestesses…all of them…Dante and Tarvos killed everyone…Does this mean that Dante is also a Dius? He appears human.  Maybe he is a Dius soul in a human’s body.  I can’t trust him. I can’t trust anyone.  Who’s going to become a killer next?’ Her paranoia drove her as she looked violently around, blue eyes darting to all of her friends one by one. “I can’t let this apocalypse go on any more.” Her shaky words dripped with the busted ends of sanity.

Dante glanced to Rezzi, who simply stood there with her black lips set in a frown.  She seemed oddly unaffected by anything, not that she was much of one to show any emotion.

Tarvos slowly walked up to the kneeling boy.  His stride was casual, yet there was unpredictability about his seemingly calm bravado.  Mae steadied herself, ready to attack at the slightest of threatening moves from him.

‘This is what I must do.  I can’t let anyone else die. This race isn’t forsaken.  If I take out one of them, then I can free this world from destruction.’ Her unstable thoughts bounced around in the confines of her mind as she watched Tarvos loom over Dante and lean down to him. The weeping boy looked up to find himself nose-to-nose with the Dius.  

Tarvos’ breath smelled of metallic blood and fresh earth.  His black, haphazard mess of spikes blended with Tarvos’ long bangs, which shaded his eyes, leaving only that twisted smile of his, wide with a display of his barbaric looking teeth.  The chest section of his shirt was grabbed as the Dius lifted him up, bringing his butt off of his heels.  The tears continued as his brown eyes stared into the unstable pin pricked pupils hidden behind that mass of black waves.  For once in his life, Dante was scared out of his mind.

“Oh my god, no.” His voice trembled.

Tarvos chuckled in an unstable tone.  “You’ve always wondered why your teeth are unusually pointed, and your tears are an off color of tinted indigo.  I’ve been waiting for this moment to finally find you, and now my dreams have become a reality.  This world has been waiting for us.”

“That’s why you were familiar.” Death and destruction went hand in hand.

“There are no coincidences in this world, only inevitability.  Now, come and lay destruction upon this world with me.” That was how it had always worked.  That was how it was fated to be.

“Tell me something.” Dante spoke in a subdued tone.  No way was he going to think about getting catty with him being this close.  For all he knew the Messiah could unhinge his jaw and bite his face clean off.

“Yes?” Tarvos asked in all too amused tone.

“Is my real name even Dante?” Since he knew so much, maybe he could answer him that.

“Dante is such a fitting name, derived from a divine human comedy that outlines the nine circles of hell.  However, it is a mere human name.”  The Messiah told him.  Dante was merely an alias for a part of the true being he was a part of.

“I’m afraid to ask what my real name is…”

“It’s…Diablo.  That’s what I know you as.”

“That game was trying to tell me something all along.  My character was…a demon…Chaos.” It finally made sense as to why he had easy access to such a strange custom character and his friends, even with the most advanced hacks, could never even find access to such a character.

“So…What will your choice be…Diablo?”

Dante averted his eyes. “What does it matter anymore?”

“You don’t get it.  You see, we need each other.”

“I don’t want this.” The boy’s voice filled with dread.  There was nothing more dreadful than staring death in the eyes, literally.

“It’ll happen whether or not you want it to the rips will keep appearing. You can’t stop them, nor can you control it.  Soon, your seal will break and your true form will show once more.” The more Tarvos spoke, the fast Mae ran as she neared the two.  This time she was behind Dante, aiming straight between the boy’s shoulders.  If she was lucky, she could ram her sword through both he and the reaper, ending them both.

A look of brief guilt crossed her face.  If this was how she could save her world and end the time rips, then she would have to sacrifice him.  ‘I’m sorry…Dante…’

“Mae! No!” Lannad shouted, but to no avail.

‘I have to kill you. If I get rid of your vessel, then you can’t hurt anymore people as Chaos.  It will also weaken the Grand High Messiah.’  Her form pivoted and she stuck the blade out.  However, something unexpected happened.  Mae’s body jolted harshly, facing her friends who looked on with horror and shock.  Her weapon lay on the ground and Tarvos’ scythe was sticking through her chest, between her breasts.  Dante turned eyes wide with horror, and the Messiah’s smile widened.

“Mae!” Ringo called out as he watched the life drain from his girlfriend’s form, which hung limply from Tarvos’ blood covered blade.

“Let this be your warning.  My masks are all gone and I am only left with two faces: tragedy and death.  After all, we desire things that will destroy us in the end.”



…To Be Continued