[OLD] Book 1: Densetsu.EXEcution

Chapter 25 - Repentance

“Is it really gone?” Kiri asked, checking herself for wounds, “Did Dante’s power really destroy the Cyber World?” She looked around, seeing that her previous surroundings, the mushroom-like tower of Alvira City, had disappeared. Now she lay beside Arashi, who was unconscious, in the Human world. The surface was made of melted obsidian, and fragments of Cyber energy was scattered around the air leading toward a dark hallway. I’ve heard about this place before, Kiri told herself, it’s where the Human world connects directly with Lacanzus. But how did we end up here? How did we end up in the Cyber World to begin with?

She looked over at Arashi, who was rising up to his feet. “Oh good, you’re alive,” Kiri said with a nervous look.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” Arashi replied. “Where are we?”

“This is Lacanzus,” Kiri replied, “We’re in a lunar crater that connects to the Cyber World.” She looked down, realizing that she had never been closer to her enemy than she was now. “I think this is where Dominic is hiding, too…”

Arashi looked down and noticed Dante’s body laying unconscious several feet from him and Kiri. Dante’s skin, now back in its former pigment, was greatly contrasted by the obsidian surface. “Dante…” He said, looking at the assassin’s body. “Then this means we’re close to where Dominic is…I had a feeling when I went to look for you, I would be walking right on to my enemy’s front lawn… I had no idea it would be this easy.” He laughed a bit cynically and looked at Kiri. “Whatever happens from here on out will determine the fate of the Human World and the Cyber World.”

“No need to worry about that,” laughed a girl’s voice. The sound of venom echoed in her lungs. She stepped out of the shadows, holding a knife in one hand.

“Desiree,” Arashi said, looking in her direction. He readied his scythe.

“No, save your breath,” she said intimidatingly, “I already know. You’ve turned Dante against me…” The assassin managed to rise to his feet as he regained consciousness. “Dante, how could you listen to them?”

“Desiree,” Dante said. His voice wasn’t cracking as it was before. “We were wrong. Dominic is not our friend, he is our foe." Desiree shot Dante a displeasing glance. "He means to turn us against humanity to erase anyone that has fallacies, to his standards. We're hurting innocent people!"

"What do you know?" Desiree asked, "Your mind's full of lies from these two morons." She pointed at Arashi and Kiri. "That's why my father has declared they be the first to die." She raised her knife to reveal that it was poisoned.

"This is exactly what I'm talking about!" Dante shouted, "Can't you see what we've become? Arashi and Kiri, they've been fighting for our cause all along...It may not be in Dominic's support, but they're still on our side!"

"If we set our differences aside, we can achieve your father's goal without anyone getting hurt," Arashi told Desiree, "Wouldn't that be more ideal?" Desiree shook her head, smirking a bit.

"This world needs no heroes," she said. Carelessly, she licked the poisoned tip of her knife. Her tongue was considerably longer than an ordinary person's. "Even I am a sinner to my father's ideals. A global reboot is the only option. The world needs to be reset..."

"It's been done before," Dante objected, "In 2012! Long before we were even born, the world was wiped clean. Doing so again will only repeat the past..."

"You're wrong Dante," Desiree said, "It can change. We can make it right again. All we need is a clean slate."

"In time, it will only repeat itself," Arashi replied, "The world, once pure, became corrupt and unjust, not once but twice. It can and will happen again."