The Rise Of Evil Chapter 14
By Citadel
Only fourteen hours left:
***
Everyone had gone through the gate to the year twenty-three hundred without a word spoken. They all knew what lied in store for them on this side. They looked south, toward Death Peak, where the gate to the World of the Damned resided. To the East was the Hell Mouth that had been put in place. Crono had no idea how they were going to destroy those two things, but he was going to give it his best shot.
Fuerte cringed when he saw the landscape. It was identical to where his whole squadron had been destroyed. He half-expected shadow beasts to start attacking him. He looked up and to the East; the sky was flickering with the Hell Mouth's power.
"How do we get to the top of the mountain this time?" Lucca asked. She then gave a very noticeable glance to Janus.
He got the point and started gathering his energies. With his metallic hand and leg he looked more like a comical android than a magician trying to gather some of his power.
"Time to go," he announced. A blue sphere suddenly sprung up around them. They were all carried high into the air.
"You know," Robo said while flying, "this may not work."
"We know," Frog said.
"No, I don't mean just because the odds are against us, I mean because maybe we cannot change the future." Everyone gave him a questioning glance. "Think about it. We've tried time and time again to save this planet. We succeeded once, but somehow this planet got itself into even more trouble. Maybe we really cannot save this little planet of ours; maybe we cannot save the universe. We saved it once, only to be immediately put in peril once more."
"But maybe it was just a coincidence," Fuerte offered.
"Quite possibly," Robo agreed. "Or maybe we're all for naught, as Frog would say." Frog only gave him an unreadable look.
"But let us remembereth that we are the only ones who standeth a chance against the forces of evil. Each of us have stood against evil once before, now is the time to battle it yet again." Frog stood up in the bubble and wished he had his sword. He rarely went anywhere without it; the one time he does he gets caught up in saving the world all over again.
Death Peak closed in on them. The swirling powers of black created an ominous sight on the summit. None of them tried to show their extreme fear as they began to land on the summit. The simple presense of the black portal sent chills down all of their spines. Even Robo suddenly found he didn't want to be there.
"We're here," Janus coldly announced. His voice was like an ice pick; the scariness of it only amplified by their situation. The barrier went down and they all took a collective step toward the portal.
"Who wants to go first?" Lucca asked. Crono bravely stepped forward. He proudly started walking toward the black gate.
"I'm next," Janus stated. He walked behind Crono. Lucca followed Janus with Robo at her side. Frog and Fuerte brought up the rear. They entered one at a time, seeming to be swallowed by the black portal as they entered.
***
The ride to the place was disturbing. Visions of demons floated past them and wails of the tortured plagued their ears like a nasty disease. The entire area was black and they couldn't tell where the end of the gate would be.
Finally they all were spat out of the portal into the most grotesque scenery any of them had ever seen. A bridge in front of them that was made entirely of bone was the only thing that allowed them to cross a red moat of fire.
"This place is freakin' creepy," Fuerte said. "I've seen a lot of alien places before, but this is by far the oddest of freakiest of them all." The sky was churning with several colors in anticipation of something big. Black mixed with purple and scarlet swirled in a tremendous maelstrom above all of them.
In front of the bridge was a tremendous palace that stretched on for miles in both directions. The gate in front of them was closed. It was two large doors with an odd crest on it. It looked like a gargoyle's head, but with a crown of thorns. Its tongue was rolling out of its mouth like the big bad wolf's.
"Shall we go?" Janus asked annoyed. None of them had even moved when they entered the place.
"This place makes your castle look like a summer resort," Lucca commented.
"Stop your joking and let's go. We need to be going." Janus floated across the bridge ahead of the rest of them and came to rest in front of the big gates. "Let me in!" Janus screamed. Surprisingly the two doors swung right open.
The rest of the group caught up to him and stood beside him. They were all marveling at the hugest courtyard and gardens they'd ever seen. Dead flowers and brown grass stretched on for almost three hundred yards. There was a single pathway that lead straight to a gigantic, black dome that sat right in the middle of the courtyard. On the walls of this place were windows and pathways. They all realized they were in a city of demons.
They hurried to the dome. They knew and could feel millions of demons watching their every move as they crossed this courtyard.
"Why don't they attack?" Fuerte asked no one in particular.
"'Cuz they either know we're too strong, or they have orders not too. I'm leaning towards the latter," Crono answered.
"Oh, but it doesn't make any sense, why would Anoctium just let us waltz in here?"
Lucca took this question, she'd been thinking the same thing. "Because maybe he doesn't see us a big enough of a threat to bother with the manpower. He probably thinks we're just little pests." Everyone agreed on that one.
They reached the black dome and found it to be absolutely solid. There wasn't one entrance on it.
"How do we get in?" asked Frog.
"Allow me," Fuerte offered. He pulled the metal poles off his back and they morphed into scimitars. They began to glow brightly and he shoved them both into the black dome. The blackness seemed to retract and spring away from the swords as if in pain.
"How did you--" Lucca started.
"I don't know. I was gonna cut a small hole when the wall just opened up. Weird."
"Well, let's go," Frog announced. "We haven't the time for niceties such as thinking things through." He hopped into the dome first.
Inside the dome was three doors. Each one was just a simple wooden door with a different insignia on it. The first was a crystal, the second was a star, and the far right one was another crystal.
"Which one?" Fuerte asked. They all stood looking at the doors for a moment before Crono spoke.
"We split up. Some of us will go after something, and some after another. This way if we go after all three at once we can have a better chance of winning."
"Who goes where?" Frog asked.
Crono thought this over for a moment. He had no idea where each one went, and they all looked like a bad idea.
"I'm goin' right," Janus sneered. "And Dalton better hope that I don't find him here."
"I'll follow," Robo said. They both walked to the far left door and pulled it open. There was a long hall in front of them. Neither of them gave a second glance as they walked through the door. It snapped shut as soon as they were through.
"I'll go right, who wanteth to accompany me?" Frog asked.
"I will," Lucca volunteered. They walked to the right one and pulled it open. There was another long hallway in front of them as well. "Wish me luck!" Lucca called back.
"Break a leg!" Crono joked. Lucca snickered at the bad joke and walked through with Frog. "Guess that just leaves us, eh?" Crono said to Fuerte.
"Yep, let's go. I wanna see what's behind door number three." Crono pulled the door with the star on it open. Instead of a long hall was another door.
"What the hell?" Crono exclaimed. He pulled open the second door and there was a third one.
"Allow me," Fuerte offered. He ran forward and shoved his scimitar through the door. The scimitar glew brightly and the doors exploded.
"How do you do that?" Crono asked.
"Just science and technology. Nothing special. All it is is controlled electricity."
"I see." Crono had a puzzled look on his face. He shook his head and looked down the nearly black hallway. This one was different from the others. It had almost no light, and sloped downward very sharply. "After you?" Crono offered.
"You're so kind," Fuerte answered. Fuerte walked into the hallway first, and Crono followed. The door shut as soon as they were both in and they both jumped. "Like I said before, this place is freakin' creepy!"
***
Dalton stood in front of the Seraph Crystal in utter boredom. He was glad that Cameron hadn't killed him, but Cameron had been somehow occupied with other matters. Lately, Cameron seemed to be getting more and more distant the more and more he got engrossed with this ultimate spell. It didn't bother Dalton though, it kept his mind off of Dalton's bunglings.
Dalton turned around and looked at the crystal. It was sky blue and translucent. Supposedly, it held the power of a hundred angels. Dalton had never believed in angels until he met Cameron. This crystal would somehow open up the Hell Mouth in Dalton's world even further than it is now. He didn't know how it would do it, but he didn't even bother asking questions anymore. His boss didn't have the time to answer them like he used to. Dalton sighed and looked at the other guard. It was a nasty reptilian being with a bad temper. Dalton was glad it was on his side and not against him. He knew that he'd never be able to beat something as strong as that thing.
***
In the Palace of Eternity things were becoming restless. Rumors were flying about that a new portal would be opened soon. No one knew if it would be on their side or the Trainer's side. It really didn't matter, the news was still big. There hadn't been an opening in the Palace of Eternity since some demon broke out about ten thousand years ago. Nobody remembers who he is, or how he did it.
The whole demon city was in a state of jubilee over the prospect of an opening into the living world. Even the center palace was having a major party over the possibility. The other thing that everyone was so excited about was that it would most likely happen tonight.
.