Filimena awakens into the darkness, she was surround by nothing but only the cold, pitch black void. There was no sound but the echoes of distress and devastation that could be heard from far away. She flew around, trying to find a way to leave this place.
"Hello? May? Asmodeus! Anyone!"
She calls out, but no one came, she tries so hard to find something or someone that could help her escape. Still, she's the only thing that stands.
"Somebody! Help! Where am I! Answer me please!"
She still calls, and still the same result. She falls down after exhaustion, the freezing air of this world was weakening her, she breathes heavily, and whimpers as she desperately tries to get back up. Her legs were weak as the darkness was touching them, Filimena couldn't see anything, until something grows out of the darkness, she heard whispering and crying as the figure fully forms itself, came close to Filimena. She quickly backs away from it. The shadowy figure changes into a form Filimena could recognized, The same face, the same appearance, it was..Her.
The shadowy figure, Negara, smiled maliciously at the helpless Hell Spirit.
"Well, it finally happened. All that misery is washing upon you, I knew this day will finally come! Now it's my chance to finally be free from my eternal prison!"
Filimena looks at her, not understanding from her words as she still couldn't get up because the darkness was weakening her.
"W-What do you mean? Where am I?"
"We're in my world, and now, you're here, just as mother said you come to me!"
Mother? Negara started to walk closer, Filimena quickly tries to back away from her, the darkness soon take hold on her by force, positioning her to stand still.
"Oh, you have no idea how long it has been since I can finally feel your senses once again.."
Filimena frowns, did she say what she thought she said, suddenly, Negara's figures slowly change again, this time, making herself almost seen identical to Filimena's appearance. Her colors were still muted and gloomy, Filimena wasn't understanding what was happening, and only wanted to leave back to her world.
"S-Stop this, please! Release me at once! I have to get back to them!"
"oh, you won't need them anymore, you didn't need anyone anyway, oh I've waited years for you to come. The curse will finally be done once I'm out of this prison for good!"
Filimena was confused by Negara's words.
"What are you talking about?"
"Oh? You don't get it, I understand, I didn't expect you to, you were always...So naive and confused."
She floats over to her, and rubs her chin
"Oh, isn't it obvious, don't you recognize me at all, oh no? well that's because you never knew or chose to ignore it! I was always in your shadow, and not once you saw me! Mother had to make me watch as you have to be such a screw-up anywhere! I was so sick of this! But finally, I won't have to worry no more!"
"I don't understand! Please let me out of there! I have to get to May, I must get back to Asmodeus!"
She shouted, and Negara stops, only to give her a cold stare.
"...Ah..your friends? Heh, even your "husband".
She quoted.
"Well, he'll certainly be dead once you come back from here!"
"W-Why are you doing this! Please...Stop this at once, I can't take any of your twisted dreams anymore, what do you want from me!"
She yells in distress. Negara looks at her, and then smiles.
"..Remember out first greeting? Yes, all was true, but not quite, you want to know the real reason, and where I'm getting to? Okay, you deserve to know."
She then uses her hands to form some magic and made a painting with her darkness. The painting shows two silhouettes in different distance against each other. One was pink, and another was completely pitch darkness with textures that were messed up on the edges.
"Once upon a time, mother had create hell spirits, sharing different magic, but also the same souls. One, who was filled with love, and spread so much of it like not others had done, and..Also a sad lonesome shadow who creates darkness and negativity for any living thing, haunts them until they go mad. Mother loved the pink spirit so dearly that she'll ignore the shadow as she braces it as her new killing machine. Mother's task was simple for the pink spirit, to kill the next heir of the Lust Ring, She tasked her to go and make magic for the ring, but that was a complete lie, she just didn't say. But instead of doing it, she instead befriended the prince, and the two played and grew together, the shadow was left behind as her heart grew and grew. Mother didn't like it, not one bit, she would punish her in the most hashish ways. One day, she escaped, wanted to spread love and kindness for demons in order to escape her miserable life, but due to her purity, her negative side was kept shut, never to see the life of day. The negative feelings don't just come and go, soon, they will come back and one day break the cycle of her true form."
Filimena sees the moving pictures, as she describes each scenery, after she was done, the pictures faded away like dust. Filimena looks at Negara, and she could see the deep sorrow in her eyes.
"You still don't get it...You've ruined our life! I was trapped inside you! Mother forced yourself to be hidden but you can't also see me, I had to wait, and wait for so long, all the dreams, all the visions, they were a way to break you faster, and I can take control of you!"
Negara comes closer, and then places her hand onto her face.
"Well...Finally the time has come.."
Filimena's eyes dart in shock.
".W-What?.."
"Ah, I can see mother never told you, or maybe she made you forget about me, that's right, for so long, I've been your true blood for the longest time, I was there with you when we were made, Mother made you, made us, she put so much onto us, we were her key to eliminate something greater than any spirits could do. Her plan was to send her favorite children to kill and make themselves powerful enough to be not just power sources, but demons much greater, twisting reality and making everything into total chaos."
Negara then shows another painting with her magic, this time that seems to look like Filimena and Asmodeus.
"I've shown the dreams because they were our main goal this whole time, we were suppose to kill the new heir, but instead, you shown strong feelings towards him, making yourself a burden to not only your kind, but your own mother, our mother."
Filimena could believe this, she couldn't believe what she's telling her, Negara then shows her another painting, but this time, it was something that made her shutdown.
"Your magic wasn't a mistake, it was a purpose, the Lust Ring is afraid of love, and have been for centuries, they know if they have it, it'll perish, you were made to not only spread the source, but to also kill the lust demons. Your innocence however took you to do something idiotic, creating magic to have demons fall in love instead. I never thought mother picked you when she should've known you'd be such a traitor. You were not a love spirit, you were the future of heartbroken, the embodiment of broken love and failed relationships. Do you wonder why you kept going with this stupid cupid stuff? Well, it's because you're growing the failed connections to all the demons. They felt love, but sorrow comes next."
Then something spawns out of the shadows, she saw herself spreading her magic to local demons, but into their point of view while she wasn't there.
"Everytime you "thought" you've given them love for each other, but what you didn't know was the aftermath, they'll begin to fight, argue, and crush their love and go. Bring in sorrow and negative thoughts to finish off this broken romance."
Filimena couldn't believe it, as she saw herself doing her job, and then seeing the demons losing their compassion towards on another, turning this into a depression yet horrifying truth. Filimena didn't speak, her eyes watered and she quivers. She had trouble breathing, and felt herself frozen like ice.
"...N-No...It..It can't be, I don't..Believe you!"
Negara sees her painful reaction, her hair flows into the darkness, then comes closer.
"Let me show you who you really are Filimena."
Negara touches her head, this sends her in a painful shock, as Filimena shuts her down automatically. Everything has gone quiet, until she could see a light coming back to her. Filimena suddenly was in a place where it all felt familiar to her, and then, she heard voices.
"H-Hello?"
She said, followed the echoes of their voices, she drove too far into the light, until finally seeing the culprits. Two silhouettes were talking to each other, and floated in midair, their bodies weren't exactly full demons. They had spiritual ones, ghostly. Filimena soon realized what they were, the muttering slowly became clearer as she was close, she heard them speak.
"Your majesty, are you sure it's really the time for her to go, she's still far too young, she still needs more experience."
The one that has a voice of a woman said, much smaller than the other, who was taller, and slimmer.
"My word is final, she needs to do her part, I've spend years for her to get into this position, and finally the day has come for her to end the life of the king's son. With her magic, she'll bring rampage and crush those who dare to doubt my presence. She'll likely be the next queen of Lust eventually, I haven't told her, but I wanted to keep it as a personal matter so she doesn't know the real thing, I only told her she needs to do power sources matter, but once she touches the prince, it'll be too easy. Now, go get her, she's right now getting ready. The perfect opportunity for her to be useful as a true Hell Spirit"
"Well, your majesty, I never disagree with any of your ideas, but what if she finds out the truth? She'll eventually figure it out, or maybe she won't do what you thought she'll do."
"Hush now, I've already had to deal with her for so many years, it's finally the time for her to get out of my hair so she can be useful for once. I never thought why I even had her in the first place, but I sense great possible hope in her, heartbroken, such a powerful concept to break those lustful creatures or anyone. So that's why I have this one important job for her, and that was to kill the prince, that's it, nothing else."
"But, what about the others? What if someone's concerned about the prince's death and most likely will come after the one who killed him."
"That we can discuss later!"
The tall one's voice sighs in exhaustion.
"I never want to see her face again if she fails this one, I'm going to keep my hopes up, for now, it better work, it must work. Now go tell her to come forward, I'll be awaiting for her arrival."
"Y-Yes your majesty."
The small silhouette leaves and disappears. Then the taller silhouette leaves as well, but say onto her seat. The colors formed into a clear image, Filimena watches as they go and change it. Filimena's eyes sees the colors and the appearance much more clear, the person, her own mother, with the eyes of hatred, glowed from her irises, matching her muted gold hues. Filimena felt her heart drop once she now knew what Negara was telling her. But it didn't stop as the work kept spiraling into different pictures, ones that weren't nice as she saw that looks like herself as a child, bullied by others due to her powers, they call her names but their voices were muffled, they laughed as the small Filimena cries. Another shows her with her mother, who she slaps her, showcasing her mother not being a best role-model and orders her around, telling her awful things to feel her mind with. She was looked down by all her people, who they thought of her as a nobody, a side effect, and weird. These were all her memories, her terrible ones when she had to experience most as a child, Filimena could see her young self's tears fall, the tears of heartbroken, lonesomeness, and sadness fell to feed the darkness.
The last scene shows what looks to be her younger self, with someone else with her, it was Asmodeus. they showcase them together as they dance. but, something was different, after they've finished, Asmodeus was distracted, but then, Filimena looks at him, and her form changes for a brief moment. She was going to attack him with her magic. Filimena was dismayed by the sight, she couldn't believe, she never remembered this part at all. So, it's been with her this whole time, and she didn't remember any of it.
The memories flowing back was enough to make Filimena break, she had to see this with no escape, she couldn't find a way to leave this place, until..One more came to her, and it was different, but it wasn't a dream, or a memory, not even something she remembered, but rather...Something more. There was a woman there, but she looks like Filimena, but she faced away to only show her back. Filimena stares at the woman, she slowly comes to her, but slow and steady. She was afraid what would happen if she noticed her sneaking up to her. Filimena comes a little more close where she's now two feet away towards her. But then, the woman turns around slowly, revealing who she really was.
The woman was Filimena, but something about her was different, she was smiling, and her eyes were pitch black, small pink dots are where her pupils were. She was also leaking from her eyes, black ooze stared at her with a hideous grin, but she was also holding something, she had a blue and pink flame on both her long sharp fingers. She could hear screaming, it was Asmodeus with his shrieks of agony. The woman then laughs and then puts the flame inside her mouth, swallowing it whole, Filimena sees her mouth bleeding, her eyes now glow blue and pink as the flame flashes from her eyes. She laughs while her skin bleeds black, Filimena screams and runs. She couldn't use her ability to fly, only her legs could carry her away. The screaming was trapped inside her mind, she couldn't escape all of the noises, they were hurting her brain, and it was painful to listen. Her legs were getting colder, making it harder when her heart started to cause a stinging shock that hurts her. She tries fighting everything happened her, but it gets stronger the more she struggles. The laughter was loud and sadistic, ringing deep inside her eardrums, Filimena covers her ears and shakes her head constantly, until she was finally broken.
"LEAVE ME ALONE!"
Her scream made everything go quiet, the voices, the ambience, and the pain, all gone in a second once her inner cores shock the whole world around her. Filimena looks around, and then collapsed onto the ground. She sobs hysterically, couldn't take one more of the sounds anymore, and the memories she faced, they all poisoned her too badly, she just didn't do anything to stop it but just run. She just wants to leave, she wants to wake up, until, something inside her roses up to her, and suddenly, she fainted. Everything goes black once more.
Filimena remembered the dreams, and now it all made sense, and why she was here to begin with. She cried as she looks at her hands, sees how they now reflect with her.
Then, the whole world became dark once more, and she felt a cold touch from her chest. She opens her eyes and see Negara behind her, holding her in for a small hug.
"I understand. It's hard to know the truth, our mother only loved us for her bindings, and we were lost when she left us to rot here. Now, that'll never happen again once we both can be together again."
She floats in front of her.
"Think about it, you're alone, for years we've tried but never succeeded, but, I can make you matter, I can make you strong, we can put our difficulties aside like trash. Once we kill Asmodeus and the others, as mother wished we could've done before, we both can become the most powerful spirit ever to be seen, making ourselves the queen of the Lust Ring. No more having to face insecurities, no more being alone, and no more wrongdoings! You don't have to feel so much pain anymore, I can give you everything you need, and we can vanquish those whom wronged guys. Together, me and you, you just have to let me free."
She said with a smile, she held both of Filimena's arms, awaiting her answer. Filimena was distraught, she stares at her hands, and felt anger and sadness flowing through her mind. She looks into her eyes in disgust.
"You...Think..I'm ever going to let you destroy my existence by making me into a monster? Letting you take over my life? No...I will not let you take everything away from me. I'm not what you want me or anyone else wants me to be, I..Was young, and alone, but I loved who I am, and everything I've done was the happiest I've been. I was never alone after visiting the grounds of Hell, even at the beginning, I've grown to all I've known, and you are not going to take that, not even if you try and take my soul to use for your sick games."
Negara's face was displeased by her answer, the eerie ambiance grew louder, and the world got even more colder, more than the arctic snow.
"Oh Filimena....You just couldn't see, could you? Well, I didn't want to do this, but I must take in by force."
She then uses her hands, the darkness comes out of her palms, and the tendrils wrapped around her, fusing them into her, Filimena felt the intense freezing pain, and she screams loud. She tries to fight back with her magic but couldn't, nothing's effecting her, herself. Negara screams to make her ears throb, it hurts them, made them bleed black, Filimena had to stop this, she uses her magic again, but soon she was out on one of them, giving her a chance to free herself from another one. She soon broken free from the deadly tendrils to go after Negara. Negara laughs and flees away from her presence, and Filimena tries to find her.
The laughs were getting to her, she wants to end this suffering, even if it means trying to kill part of herself. She searches until Negara blasts her with darkness, it hits her, but Filimena took it as she blasts some of her magic at her. the darkness was too strong to handle, but Filimena had to not give in to her, Negara forces everything to make her weaker. Negara and Filimena fought, their battle was a ring of fire, both competing in their determination. It was brutal, Filimena was getting tired from the magic are catching her.
"Give up already, your magic isn't good enough with me."
"Be quiet!"
Filimena recoiled in horror, refusing to surrender herself to Negara's twisted vision, enraged by her defiance, Negara attacked, enveloping Filimena in darkness and forcing her into a brutal struggle for her very soul. Their battle raged on, a clash of wills and magic that threatened to consume them both. Though weakened and battered, Filimena refused to yield, determined to resist Negara's malevolent influence. In a final confrontation, Filimena confronted Negara with all her strength, refusing to be consumed by darkness. Though wounded and exhausted, she emerges, But as she stepped out, a sharp pain pierced her chest, and darkness overtook her once more. Transformed into a twisted, demonic figure, she laughed in defiance, watched consumed by darkness.
She screams, still pushing through to save herself. Until Negara hits her face with her sharp nails, making her fall down to the ground. Her face was bleeding, and the darkness comes back to rise up and chain her down. Negara lands on top of her, she looks at her eyes, Filimena sees her vexatiously.
"Oh, if you hadn't been disobedient, we wouldn't have come to this. Here, a hug always solves everything."
"No no NO! Stay away from me!"
Negara slowly wraps her around in her arms, gently hugs her. Filimena felt herself freezing by her clinging onto her, and she felt herself fusing with her, it hurts, she couldn't escape.
Everything went dark, and Filimena wakes up again. She found herself in the Hospital Bed, she was alone, rain pours down hard, indicating a storm was coming in. She breathes heavily and looks at herself. She panicked and had to find the others. She quickly got out and runs to leave the room to go find May and Asmodeus. Until something sharp hit her chest, making her stop her track. Her heart pounded and her skin went cold, she was having a hard time breathing, and she tries pushing herself to keep going. Filimena suddenly started to shake, and she then started to choke, coughing in fact as she gets on her fours as she snaps her neck into an unnatural position, her limps got longer as they suddenly grew. Her smiles cracks open, revealing sharp teeth and black substances dripping from her gums and her slit mouth. laughing in such a demonic tone,, her bones were twisting, mangling into a distorted figure, her once beautiful sparkling pink hair and tail was drown in disgusting darkness that cover every of her bright hue. Her value became muted, and her voice how coughs with the black void. Her eyes bulges out, growing more big and darker than ever. The markings of her eyes covered her cheeks to where her cracked mouth was. She started to laugh, a loud sinister laugh escaped her vocals, and then she then calmly walks out of the room, finding her main target. She walks out to the door. The doctor was about to walk in and saw Filimena at the front door.
"Oh! Goodness! Fei, you're not suppose to be up, is there something I can help you with right now?"
He asked, but with no hesitation, she grabs his throat, and hits his head against the wall. Blood was stained on the wallpaper. The doctor was choked out of his life when she kept hitting his head on the same spot. She laughs after dropping him down to the floor and leaves. She found herself in the halls, Fizzarolli was coming back, but then sees the doctor, bleeding out and was choked out. He even caught glimpse of Filimena, as she was leaving on her own. He drops everything and quickly follows her, tries to stop her. Filimena walks slowly over to where her traget might be, only to be stopped when Fizzarolli ran towards her, stopping her. Filimena suddenly screams and attacks him. Fizz tries to avoid and douche all of her attacks, but she was much quicker, and she even used her magic to blast him down to the floor.
Meanwhile, May feverishly pored over her spellbook, searching for a solution to their plight, Asmodeus paced nervously, urging her to hasten her efforts.
"How much longer will it take? We can't afford to waste any more time!"
Asmodeus exclaimed, his voice betraying his growing anxiety.
"I'm doing the best I can! Stop yelling at me!" May shouts back, frustration evident in her tone as she scanned the ancient text for any glimmer of hope. Asmodeus watches, and then May got to where she needs to get.
"Okay! Found it, now, we have to go to Filimena."
Suddenly, The two hear something, a small growl coming from outside from where they were. a chilling sensation washed over May, causing her to shiver involuntarily. She looked away from the book to see Filimena standing before her from afar, her demeanor now twisted and corrupted by darkness.
The sense of dread washed over May as she beheld her own cousin's monstrous transformation. The sight of Filimena's demonic appearance sent a shiver down her spine, filling her with a deep sense of unease. Asmodeus sees her as well, his face was pale, Filimena twists her neck, smiled, and laughs at them, the black ooze spilling from her mouth as she opens her fangs.
"Filimena..?" May whispered, her voice trembling with total horror.
But there was no response from the corrupted spirit, Instead, Filimena's distorted laughter filled the air, echoing with a sinister tone that sent a chill down both of their spines.
"Finally, the time I get to finish when she couldn't, perish!"
Filimena runs towards May, her movements were fast, as though she were no longer in control of her own body, something else was. leaving a trail of darkness in her wake. With mounting horror, May realized that she was facing a being beyond her comprehension, it was that thing Filimena had. May had to use her spell to reverse this. Summoning her courage, May reached deep within herself, tapping into the wellspring of power that lay dormant within her soul. With a whispered incantation, she unleashed a wave of magic, hoping to banish the darkness that had consumed Filimena. But the darkness merely laughed in response, her demonic form seemingly unaffected by May's efforts, with a flick of her wrist, she unleashed a barrage of dark energy, sending May collasped to the ground. May struggled to regain her footing, Asmodeus rushed to her side, He grabs Filimena with his arms.
"Filimena! Stop!"
But she screams and blasts him away, He loses balance on the floor, but his legs held him from falling. May got up and got her book, she flew up in the air.
"Okay! Let's get this done! Come at me!"
Filimena gets to her, and May uses her magic to defend herself, the two fight in the room, Filimena uses her darkness against her. She dodges, and spawns her scythe to attack. She tries not to hurt her, she knew it's not Filimena. May chants a spell and uses it, but Filimena wasn't effected.
"Ugh! Come on! Leave Filimena alone!"
"There's no more Filimena! Only Negara stands!"
She laughs and uses one of the tendrils to smack her to the floor. She grunts in pain, but she quickly got up, shakes her ponytail off her face. Gritting her teeth, May focused her energy, drawing upon the deepest reserves of her power. With a determined cry, she unleashed a torrent of magic unlike anything she had ever attempted before.
The force of May's spell slammed into Negara with unprecedented force, shattering the darkness that encased Filimena and sending shockwaves rippling through the room.
For a moment, there was silence, a fleeting pause in the chaos that had consumed them. May held her breath, hoping against hope that her efforts had succeeded. But as the darkness began to recede, a sense of dread washed over her. Filimena's form wavered, flickering between light and shadow, as though caught between two in one.
"Why..Is this not working!"
Trembling in panic. Negara laughs and uses her hair to grab her by the neck, she was choking her, May had to use her scythe to cut off the hair. Negara backs away, screeches. Before may could react, Negara surged forward, her eyes blazing with malice. With a swift motion, she struck out at May, sending her crashing to the wall. May struggled to regain her footing, She saw her book on the other side of the room, she reaches for it, but Negara stomps onto her arm.
"Pathetic! You can't erase this! I'm incapable of being removed!"
Asmodeus saw May struggling under Negara's relentless assault, Asmodeus erupted into action, his fury igniting into a blazing inferno, transforming into a pillar of fire, he positioned himself between Negara and May, shielding his friend from further harm. Negara recoiled at the sight of Asmodeus's fiery form, her laughter faltering for the first time since their confrontation began. With a roar of defiance, Asmodeus came forward, his flames lashing out at Negara with searing intensity. The fire was burning off the darkness, and it vanquishes parts of her tendrils. Negara staggered backward, her dark tendrils recoiling in pain. Asmodeus pressed his advantage, driving Negara back with each fiery strike.
Negara screeches at him and attacks him, Asmodeus uses his defense against her. Seizing the opportunity, May scrambled across the room, her fingers closing around the spine of her spellbook. With a determined grip, she flipped through its pages, searching for the incantation that could banish Negara once and for all.
"Come on! Where is it."
Some of the pages were messed up or torn from Negara's attacks, she made it to the right page. She scanned the ancient text, her heart sank only to see the page for the spell she had to use was missing. The spell she sought was nowhere to be found, paper ripped from the book, and seems to be burnt on the edges.
Panic threatened to overwhelm May as she realized the gravity of their situation. Without the means to defeat Negara, their chances of getting Filimena back grew increasingly slim.
Negara aggressively fights, ferocious assaults against Asmodeus, he found himself ensnared in a desperate struggle against who he knew was Filimena, with every ounce of strength he possessed, he pleaded with her, his voice strained with anguish. He desperately tries to get her away and make her come back to her senses.
"Filimena! Please, snap out of it! This isn't you!"
Caught off guard by her relentless aggression, Asmodeus felt the icy grip of Negara's hand onto his chest. He suddenly felt a searing pain tore through his chest as his fiery power dwindled, his vibrant aura dimming with each passing moment. Helplessly, he watched as his form began to wither, his once-proud stature shrinking before his eyes. Negara's malevolent laughter echoed around him, Asmodeus sank to his knees, the bitter cold of her dark magic gnawing at his skin. His strength waned, his body betraying him as weakness overtook him. With a sinister smile, Negara grabs Asmodeus by the neck, her eyes gleaming with malice as she gazed into his glowing green eyes. The tendrils of her hair coiled around him like serpents, their touch a cruel reminder of his impending defeat.
"You're never good enough, you're never worthy of being the king of Lust, a disgrace to your sin. Don't worry, we don't have to end it here, I've gotten a perfect idea to how we should end this. Why don't we commence our vows til death do us part."
May weakly struggled to get up, her body aching from the intense battle with Negara. With sheer determination, she summoned the last ounces of her energy, uses it onto her scythe to create a ball of energy, she aimed it at Negara, the impact sends the shadow spirit crashing to the ground with a deafening screech. May gets up and helps Asmodeus up to his feet. Her heart pounded with adrenaline.
"Come on! We need to get her to the cathedral."
Asmodeus, weakened but resolute, struggled to his feet, his gaze fixed on Negara. But before they could make their escape and get her, Negara's monstrous grasp snatched Asmodeus away, wrenching him from May's side. Helpless fury surged through May as she watched Negara's tendrils ensnare Asmodeus, reducing him to his smaller, weaker form. Desperation was drawn into every line of her face, May reached out futilely as Negara flew out of the window, the glass breaks everywhere, and disappearing into the night stormy sky with Asmodeus in tow. Despite her exhaustion, May had to follow them, however, just before she could leave, someone came in a hurry. The certain jester burst into the office room with urgency written all over his face, Fizzarolli. He was a little beaten up from earlier, and was still in such pain, but he still budge His colorful attire ruffled by the rush of wind as he scanned the devastation before him.
"Where's Ozzie? What happened?"
Fizzarolli's voice exclaimed laced with him fearing the sight of the room and also know Asmodeus is missing. visibly shaken of this destruction.
"Filimena has been acting off, or whatever that was imposing her, has captured Asmodeus, she's planning to kill him! We have to go and find them to reverse that darn curse!"
"What, Filimena? Oh gosh, this can't be good! Well where are they going?"
"I don't know, She tore off the spells from my book, leaving me with no clue to use them. All I could sense the possible location would be...The Cathedral."
Realization dawned upon May as she pieced together, that was exactly what Negara means by vows to kill him. Fizzarolli widen his eyes.
"We better hurry and stop this before it's too late! We can't let her harm Asmodeus!"
"I know that! Let's go!"
May and Fizzarolli dashed out of the office, they had to leave the tower to head over to the location of the Lust Ring's Cathedral fixed in their minds. May worries about Filimena, she couldn't think how she can fix this without the uses of her spells. They've made it to the elevator, and down they went til they could get to the bottom floor. They ran outside, and rain poured onto them. They raced through the rain-drenched streets, ran through speeding cars, May couldn't shake the gnawing worry about Filimena and the daunting task of confronting her without the aid of her spells. After they burst out onto the street, rain lashed at them relentlessly, In a moment of clarity amidst the chaos, May remembered an incantation she had once glimpsed in her pages, a spell of her own creation that resonated deep within her. With a determined expression, she raised her scythe, channeling her dwindling energy into the creation of a swirling portal of shimmering green aura.
"This way, Fizzarolli!"
She and Fizzarolli stepped through the portal together, hurtled towards their destination. In the blink of an eye, they emerged from the portal, the air crackling with energy as they landed just outside the Cathedral's imposing facade. With renewed determination, May gripped her scythe tightly, ready to face whatever lay ahead. The storm was close, it roars as lighting strikes down from the clouds and the harsh rain pouring down the streets. May and Fizz enter through the doors to be greeted inside a dark entrance of the foreboding cathedral. Pushing open the heavy doors, they were greeted by darkness so thick it seemed to swallow any inch of light from the Lust Ring's city lights. May illuminates her scythe to make the whole room glow, The air inside was heavy with fall the intense freezing, every shadow whispering of unseen dangers lurking in the depths of the Cathedral. May looks around in the whole cathedral, aims her scythe in any direction.
"She has to be here, just stay close alright."
Fizzarolli nods, until they heard laughing, May points over to the front row where that came from, they head forward down the aisle. May raised her scythe high, casting its radiant glow into the oppressive darkness. Fizzarolli, unaccustomed to such ominous atmospheres, stayed close to May's side, his breath quickening with nervous anticipation.
"We must proceed carefully, She must be here, So stay close."
May cautioned, With slow steps, they ventured deeper into the Cathedral, their senses alert for any sign of danger. Suddenly, amidst the oppressive silence, laughter echoed through the cavernous hall, chilling them to the bone.
May's grip tightened on her scythe as she pointed towards the source of the sound, her jaw set with determination.
"She's here."
They come closer to the front and sees the further horrors, they walked the steps into the alter. They witnessed the full sight of what it was. They found Asmodeus trapped onto a wall with the dark tendrils his limbs bound tightly against the wall, rendering him helpless. The once lust king was now reduced to a shadow of his former self, his powers subdued by the overwhelming darkness that caught him. But it wasn't just him, there they saw Negara, who paces around, taunting Asmodeus with all the insults and held what seems to be a blade, she grabs a small potion bottle from her dress, and paints it onto the tip.
"Oh, how I waited years for this, I'm sorry we haven't got to "properly" know each other, but I've heard loads of great things about you, quite a catch I dare say."
Asmodeus grunts in pain, the tendrils tighten their grip each time he moves.
"Let me go!"
He shouts, but Negara scoffed.
"Why would I let you go? I've haven't gotten to get you, but on day one, I shouldn't have gotten a chance to pierce something down your throat when I had the chance."
"What are you! What have you done with Filimena! Where is she!"
'Ugh! it's always about Filimena! Why don't I get the credit?"
She turns to him.
"Filimena's not here, not anymore, I've taken care of her, and now I'm here, so that's the end of that story."
"You freaking parasite, do you even know what you're doing! How are you even going to kill me, the city won't run if I'm gone! You can't hurt me, never once an embodiment fell in demise."
"Oh yes, I know you couldn't kill someone who runs a Ring, however, if by any chance, a broken heart would be the one to eliminate one in a Lust Soul."
She aims the blade to his chest.
"Now that the brat is gone and won't get in the way, I can finally show the true colors of what Lust shall really be! By putting this into your filthy overpowering excuse of a heart!"
May then blasts a ray of magic, it aims for Negara's hand. She screeches and the blade fall off and lands down the floor, bouncing down the steps from the alter. Negara turns around to see May and Fizzarolli, she wasn't all to amused to see their faces.
"So, you came here already? Well you're too late! I won't waste time to get his power and kill all of you!"
May steps foot closer to her, uses her scythe at her.
"Give back Filimena! I won't give in even if it kills me to bring her back to your sense."
Negara only smirked by her response.
"Filimena can't be saved, don't you get it, it was part of the plan, she finally cracked."
May frowned in confusion.
"What are you talking about."
"What I'm talking about was that...There's no curse, I'm not what you all thought, I'm the embodiment of her other half, I've tormented her to lose her mind and fear for her own live to let myself through into her soul to take control. How it all came to be was far, long ago. Mother wasn't too kind to her, to us, she treated us like if we were nothing, just spawns of a mistake. Filimena was alone, sad, and angry, being an outcast took full effect on her vary existence. Bottling up her emotions to only use her false positive feelings was when I was created. We were one, I was there with her when she couldn't see. Her positivity was blocking how she really feels, lying to herself, only causing more pain on the inside. You want to know why she felt that way, simple, young and innocent before, mother sentence her to a small job, a job that involves one important task to spread magic in the ring, but that wasn't the case."
She walks over to Asmodeus.
"Mother wanted her own child to use her power to murder one of the Lust Ring's new heirs of the throne, taking his own power to make herself useful and harvest it to become powerful, mother sends her potential onto her own children to kill off greater demons to become powerful themselves. Filimena was one of them. She had to do the simple task, to kill Asmodeus with her magic. But instead, she fell in love with him. The moment when she didn't lay her hands on him, mother was disappointed, treated her with no love or compassion. She couldn't even tell her her true feeling due to her insecurities which she bottled herself, I was the one keeping her away from expressing to him, you think she's all just some sweet spirit from the Hell's different realm to actually make this horrid place better with her so-called "love?" Only to not do what she's born for. I'm pushing her to her true self, and she kept fighting, I never want to do this, but it has to be done. So as long as everyone's dead, the lust Ring will be a much better community, a much stronger part of Hell, a grand re-awaking for Mother's dreams of setting the Hell Spirits free to this world, becoming stronger beings than anyone could be."
May didn't believe what she's saying, but she never knew that part of Filimena's life was this much. She looks down to herself, Fizz looks at Asmodeus and sneaks away with his robotic limps without anyone noticing him.
"So...It wasn't a curse...It was part of her?"
Negara smiled.
"She thinks it was all just a nightmare, but really, it's only her negative feelings haunting her from hiding who she truly is, the Hell Spirit of Heartbroken, the one thing Lust fears most than love, pain from it."
May has gone pale, didn't know how to react to all this. Fizzarolli sneaks behind the alter, he tries to get the arms off of Asmodeus, desperate to rip them off. Negara then heard some grunting, she takes a gaze over to where she saw Fizz disrupting her work, and she uses one of her tendrils to grab him.
"Get back! You think saving him would do anything clown!"
She throws him across the room, and Fizzarolli lands with his limps.
"Fizz!"
Asmodeus shouted, May then uses her spear against her, Negara screeched when she shot her on the chest, the marking has almost covering her skin.
"I don't care what you are! I'm gonna get rid of you and save my cousin!"
She starts the attack, Negara flew towards her and uses everything she got to kill her, the storm outside was thundering, and pouring harder than before. May and Negara fought as Fizzarolli runs back to Asmodeus.
"Don't worry, I'm getting you out!"
He still pulls, but then, one of the tendrils sneaks up to Fizz, he saw it and tries to stomp on it, but it only goes through it.
The clash between May and Negara was a tumultuous scenery, each strike echoing through the cavernous hall as the storm outside raged on with renewed intensity. Lightning illuminated the Cathedral in flashes through the painted glass, casting eerie shadows on the scene unfolding within. May's scythe blasts more curses at Negara, she goes for piercing onto her chest with a noticing impact that it might be where she can get to her. The dark entity screeched in anger, the mark of May's attacks were slowly getting to her. But Negara wasn't going to give in to her, her fury grew as she launched herself at May, still trying to end the reaper's life.
More of Negara's tendrils slick with malevolence, snaked its way towards Fizzarolli fought against the darkness, determined to free his friend, Asmodeus sees him in trouble, even with his weakness taking over, he uses what was left of his magic, tries to break free from the tendrils surrounding him. With anger pumping into his veins, his color soon became brighter, and his fiery aura turns on. The blue and pink flames burst from his feathers, the tendrils burnt off by the light of the fire spreading. The tendril burns off from Fizzarolli, he saw him coming back into his senses.
"Ozzie!"
Fizzarolli comes to him, Asmodeus calms down from his outburst. He saw May and Negara. May still aims the magic to Negara's chest, but Negara dodges every move she pulls. Negara screeches, making her ears hurt, stopping her from attacking further. Negara then kicks her down from the air, May crashes onto the chairs. She felt enormous pain, she didn't hesitate to get back up. Negara swoops down to get her, until Asmodeus had to stop her, using his flame to shoot against her chest. Negara crashes down the floor, screeching after the fire caught her. May sees her on the floor, she noticed that she was weaken by the fire Asmodeus had.
May seized her chance, channeling the last of her energy into one final strike. As the smoke cleared and the echoes of rubble falling apart from the wall, May looked upon Negara with a mixture of relief and exhaustion. Asmodeus sees her, Negara growls, hisses at everyone. Asmodeus uses the opportunity to capture her in his fire magic, the fire circles around her, she screams in pain from the light and the burning sensation over her body. Negara had nowhere to leave, she couldn't use her powers against the fire, it was hurting her. All see her struggle, she was going crazy trying to free herself but also screaming in pain.
"Oh gosh, what do we do now?"
Fizzarolli asked May, May sees her, notice how she's taking effect when she shot her chest, and also Asmodeus's fire. She still had the book, and looks at the alter.
"I think I got an idea, take her over in the alter."
Asmodeus and Fizzarolli both get Negara, she screams out loud that both their ears started to hurt when too close to her. They place her over on the table, the fire glues itself onto the table to hold her down. Negara screeches, and May flips through the page, hoping to find something that could help, even with the missing pages, she still tries. She eventually found something, and started to chant the words. With the spin of her scythe, she creates a green aura around the alter to make a giant circle in order for most to not leave and for the spell to get trapped inside.
Negara spins around frantically, and Asmodeus watches her, he knows it's not Filimena, but he felt his heart drop to see her in this devastating state. Fizzarolli was a little worried by the state.
"I'm going inside her mind, the chest is the core to destroying her power, if I can break it, I can fight off the negativity inside her and restore her soul. Her negativity is too strong to fight, the only way to kill it, it's to destroy the heart that stores all of Filimena's negativity. Asmodeus, I need your assistance."
Asmodeus raised his brow up, Fizzarolli was shocked to hear her request.
"Your burning passion seems to burn off the darkness, your power must be the solution to getting through her faster, I need you to hold Filimena's hand and close your eyes, don't open them until they are out of her soul. This ritual will be us going in Filimena to stop this corruption."
"Wait wait hold on! You mean you have to travel inside her to find this entity?"
He seems a little grossed out at first.
"In her dreams I mean, okay look, Fizz, you need to light up the candles, use the green flames around us to light them all up.
She spawns in some candles with her magic, Fizzarolli sees them pop out, and quickly, he lits each of them up and lines them up in each row. Negara screeches, some of the glass in the cathedral break due to her vocals rising too high in volume. May finished her enchanting, and she blasts magic into her eyes, it forced her to fall asleep, her screams stops abruptly. May and Asmodeus got into position, they both held Negara, or Filimena's hands and then closed their eyes as May order Fizz to hold the book and guard it as the ritual goes on. She started the spell, the same one she used before. A surge of determination flooded May's veins as she squared her shoulders, her eyes shut, focusing on trying to get inside, and so did Asmodeus. Fizzarolli held the book, as May mesmerized the spell in her mind. The green circle spirals around faster, and the effect of the spell was working. May and Asmodeus hearing the screams and noises of the dead, May's hair flows into the air, and she rubs her fingers together as she still says the Latin words.
The storm roars along the ritual, and soon, all became quiet, there was no sound that could be heard. May opens her eyes to see she's in a world where it was all too familiar, inside Filimena's soul once again. This time, she wasn't alone, from the far end of the right, Asmodeus woke up in the same, the two were separated from each other in the distance. The spell worked on both of them.
"May! is that you? I can see you!"
Asmodeus calls out to her, May waves and floats over to her.
"Yes, I can see you too, we're both here, in Filimena, now, we have to find her core, it's the only spot where this entity could be."
"Well let's go then!"
The both travel down into the darkness, the two used their light to light up the world in order to travel through the dangers that is awaiting for them.