A Dishonored Demigod

A Merry Trip to Hell

It's a clear night at Haven, and all are sleeping except,"You're absolutely sure? Yeah....got it. Thanks."
He lowers his phone and ends the call before leaning back in his chair,"What does a guy have to do to get a vacation around here? Less than a week, and another problem shows up."
He sighs before looking down at his phone and selects one of the contacts. He hears it ring several times before he's connected,"Hey Mikey? Yeah, it's me. Listen man, you remember those favors you guys owe me?"
He waits a second for a response,"Great. I'm cashing those in. Do you still have access to the restricted sections?"
A firm voice confirms that he does,"I need some things from that. Nothing super illegal, but some things that would be frowned on. I'm sending you a list now."
He lowers the phone and emails the list,"You should see it pop up any second now."
He waits as Mikey examines the list and slowly replies,"You do know that some of this stuff could get you thrown in jail, right?"
Perseus snorts,"I'm not too worried about that. This won't be used against mortals, but demigods and monsters. Besides, even if this somehow got out I've got immunity and all that crap since I work with you guys. Can you get me the items, and the amount I listed?"
"Yeah. This isn't too hard to do. Anything else?"
The sarcasm is clear but Perseus ignores it,"As a matter of fact, how much celestial bronze can you guys spare?"
****
The next morning finds Perseus in a basement that he carved out and covered floor to ceiling in runes. In the middle of his basement sits the recovered grail in the middle of a ritual circle constructed by The Darkness,"You're absolutely sure this is gonna work?"
"seVenty-thIrtY. HelL conStaNtly cHanGeS to kEEp iTs ocCuPanTS frOm escApiNG. I cAN fEeL the gEneRAl aReA whERE jaCkiE iS, buT You'Ll HavE TO loOK arOuND."
He doesn't reply but glances over to his companion in this endeavor,"You're sure about this? He won't be as you remember him. It's not even your fault that he's there."
Jenny Romano nods,"You say that, and I know it, but there's a part of me that doesn't believe that. He went through so much thinking he was saving me, and now it's my turn to save him."
Perseus sighs before chuckling,"I wonder if I got my love of strong headed women from him, or if it's just me? Here."
A familiar purple and bronze staff appears out of his shadow,"It took some doing, but thanks to a few lessons with Thanatos I've managed to strip the soul inside of any sense of self, and rewired it to simply pass it knowledge along to you while your own soul slowly absorbs it."
The panels on the top open to reveal a crystal container filled with liquid light,"It's yours if you want it. And if you're worried about outliving gramps, then don't be. I'm giving him back The Darkness after I use All the World's Evil to take its madness onto myself. Hopefully it'll just add to the occasional screaming outburst."
Jenny hesitates for s second before grabbing the staff and tips it towards her mouth,"Yeah, that's too slow."
Quick as a thought Perseus grabs it from her and stabs the end into her chest, directly into her heart,"This way is much faster."
Jenny doesn't even have a chance to scream before the liquid is drained out and watches the hole close up as soon as the staff is pulled away,"Alrighty then, let's get a move on."
He can feel her glare trying to fry his head as he goes around the circle, activating the runes set at the four cardinal points,"Cup of miracles hear my wish. My desire is to enter the land of evil. Let my wish be granted in accordance with the seven offerings presented."
The cup angrily vibrates as it breaks down into golden dust that hangs in the air before slowly, and with great effort, pulls the space apart to reveal what looks to be the Fields of Punishment,"Well, that's done. Let's get going."
He takes a few steps towards the portal before Jenny questions,"Aren't you going to transform? I heard that Thrafsma is fireproof."
Perseus pauses before face-palming,"I knew I forgot something. Arise from the ashes of humanity! Descend from the corrupted paradise! Wreak havoc: Ángelos tis katastrofís!"
The silver wings come out and flow around my arms before hardening against the flesh while the black substance covers my upper body,"Now we can go."
He jumps through and a second later Jenny joins him as the portal closes,"Damn, it's hot."
Jenny floats a few inches off the ground next to him in the Angelus' armor,"Really? It feels normal to me."
Perseus scowls while wiping the sweat off his forehead,"Now I wish I hadn't sent Thrafsma off on another job. It feels like I'm in the middle of the Sahara!"
He walks to the edge of the cliff that they came out on and looks down,"Well, we're definitely in the right place."
Jenny peers over to see hundreds of thousands of screaming souls being continuously burned to ash before reforming to repeat the process. Without a word the two fly across the space to another pillar of rock before Jenny points out the problem with their search and rescue mission,"How is it possible to feel one soul with this many around us?"
Perseus taps his head,"Darkvision. I'm using it right now to see if any souls are abnormally powerful. That and right now our friend is sweeping the area to see if he can detect my grandpa."
His head jerks to the left,"And wouldn't you know it, we just got a hit. Let's go!"
The two take off and soar over the flames, souls, and twisted creatures that roam around the rocky masses above the fire,"Demons," Perseus explains,"had a run in with a group of Satanists trying to sacrifice a missing kid I was tasked to find. Without its meal it ate the summoners before I ate it."
"Really?"
"You think I'm joking?"
"No, just...no."
They fly in silence for a few seconds before she asks,"What do they taste like?"
Perseus grimaces,"Spicy. You ever had a jalapeño?"
Jenny nods,"Take that and multiply it by a thousand. I was out the next few days with stomach pains and a swollen tongue."
Eventually the two cross an unseen barrier and enter a part of hell composed of obsidian,"We're close. Really close," and his head to her as his voice becomes a harsh whisper,"Lose the light!"
Jenny does so, just in time as a screech sounds out below and above them,"Crawlers. Just like mine, but deadlier because of the surplus of demonic power and human suffering energizing them. Take a quick look above and below."
A quick peek shows thousands of black skinned crawlers clinging to an obsidian roof and slithering across the ground,"If they get angry we'll have to deal with them falling and snapping at us. Keep light to a minimum until we're ready to make our great escape, because I can't create a portal here."
"What? What do you mean you can't create a portal?!"
"Exactly that. If I use The Darkness right now then I'll irritate the crawlers, and I can't use my normal method because this area we're in now is saturated with foreign power that would interfere. Our best bet would be getting gramps and leaving from there. His prison should be weaker since it was also used as an entrance to place him there."
Soon after their talk the tunnel narrows until they're forced to go on foot. However, as soon as Jenny's foot hits the ground,"Hissssss," all eyes turn towards her.
Thinking quickly Perseus draws both his guns,"Book it down there! I'll cover you!"
Jenny sprints off without protest and Perseus is left facing off against a horde of crawlers,"Damn you guys are ugly."
The horde surges forth and Perseus' own crawlers emerge over his shoulders,"One last time boys! Have at them!"
A spark of darkness crawls up the barrel of the left gun while the right one glows purple,"Bang."
A sonic boom rips through the cavern as twenty crawlers evaporate while the thunder sounding from the right heralds the death of thirty more and makes the rest pause momentarily. That moment is all his crawlers need to slip into the horde and start devouring their brothers as Perseus continues firing with his right while letting the left recharge. A sudden buildup of twisted energy makes him reconsider his options and stomps the ground to produce an obsidian wall that thankfully tanks the pseudo-darkness bullets,"Okay then, you wanna play rough? I can do rough."
From the inside of his jacket he produces a piece of paper with a rune scribbled in the center. He quickly smacks it against the wall he erected and instantaneously produces another tag with a different rune,"Shatter. Force."
The wall shatters into hundreds upon hundreds of razor sharp shards that are propelled away from him and rip through two or three crawlers per shard. Death screams ring out in the cavern as he repeats the tactic a few times until the crawlers wise up and slink back towards the entrance. He waits a minute to see if any come back before slowly placing the tags and his guns inside his jacket,"Jenny!" his voice echoes through the now empty cavern,"Did you find him?!"
No response. Perseus shuffles back while keeping his front towards where the hoard went until he enters the small opening at the back of the cave,"Jenny?"
Again, no response. He erects another wall of obsidian to seal off the opening before turning and slowly advancing down the tunnel using Dark Vision to guide himself while keeping his sword at the ready, just in case something pops out around a corner. In which case the "something" will die a very swift and violent death. As he turns what he counts to be the 20th corner he sees a faint light at the end of the straightaway,"Jenny? I swear to Hades if you try to scare me, then I won't apologize for what happens after."
He shuffles forward and eventually reaches the woman to see she's sunk down to her knees,"What's wrong?"
A shaky arm rises and a violently trembling finger directs his attention to a decently sized clearing. His breath catches when he sees what's affected her so badly,"No..."
A being covered in a warped version of Hell's Plating kneels on the ground, arms chained so as to mimic being in a straightjacket. Unintelligible whispers and chuckles drift through the air as two crawlers lazily snake through the air. Greasy black hair matted with grime drapes over a downward head and pools on the ground while the figure's hands and feet resemble claws due to how long the nails are. Perseus gently moves past Jenny while returning to normal to don his own version of Hell's Plating,"Jackie Estacado."
The murmurs stop for a second before resuming,"Jack be nimble. Jackie Robinson. Jack in the box. Jack the Ripper. Jack fell on the candle and burned to death. Jackie, Jackie, Jackie. My name's Jackie!"
The last sentence is roared as Jackie Estacado raises his head to glare at Perseus with madness filled eyes before he deliriously laughs,"Jackie has to kill you now!"
His chains creak before snapping the same moment that Perseus plants a foot in his grandpa's collarbone to send him flying back against the far wall,"I'm in no mood for games, gramps. You're coming with me, whether you like it or not. Jenny," his head turns so he can address her,"when I tell you to, flood us."
He doesn't wait for her response as his grandpa staggers to his feet with his body unnaturally hunched over before his head snaps up to let loose a feral scream as he charges on all fours before leaping at his grandson. Without a moment of hesitation Perseus grabs him mid-air and flips him right-side-up before supplexing him so hard his head breaks the floor. He quickly slides out from underneath as Jackie's body erupts with pseudo-darkness that lashes out, taking a chunk out of Perseus left arm,"Tch!"
His right arm goes up and his hand closes around his grandfather's face when he lunged forward to bite his own face off,"You really are as tough as I thought."
The compliment is followed by Perseus slamming his head against the back wall, cracking the obsidian all the way to the top of the pit,"Now stay there like a good psycho, and let this happen!"
Jackie growls and his claws pierce through Perseus' armor to create ten deep punctures that in a moment become proper slashes when the deranged man pulls his hands towards his face,"Damn it!"
Perseus' hand opens from the pain and Jackie takes the chance to lunge forward and clamp his jaws down on his grandson's shoulder,"Fuck you old man!"
Perseus' two crawlers slither out of his jacket as their user wraps his arms around his grandfather before turning so Jackie is the one facing Jenny,"Blast us!"
The Jenny glows for a brief moment before light explodes off her body to flood the clearing and bathe the two Darkness users. Perseus grunts in discomfort while Jackie screeches as he takes both the brunt of the attack and has two crawlers bury their teeth in his chest,"RemeMbeR, gIve ANd tAke mUSt be tHe ExACt same raTE. FarEwEll, PeRSeUs."
The presence fades as a series of bulges travel down the right crawler and another series of bulges travel up the left as he feels more malice being stored away inside him, along with the number of voices screaming at him that he forcefully shuts up. The process continues for a minute before the two crawlers release their mouths to weakly return to the shadows inside Perseus' jacket and gently bump up against his head,"Yeah, I'll mis you two too. Stay safe, and thanks for all the help."
They softly screech one last time before melting into the shadows and vanish for the final time. When they're gone Perseus shifts his hold to lower his grandfather to the ground and lay him out while beckoning Jenny over. She does so just in time for Jackie to stir and crack his eyes open,"Who?"
Jenny runs a hand through his hair from her position on his left,"Jackie. I almost can't believe it. After all this time."
His head rolls to get a good look,"Jenny? You're actually....here?"
The woman in question sobs as she cradles Jackie's head and her tears drop onto his cheeks,"Hey....hey Jackie. It's been so long, and I'm so," and a shuddering breath leaves her mouth,"so sorry for what I did."
The man lifts his left arm and caresses her face,"You're real? You're actually...real?"
"He's in shock."
Perseus lifts his grandfather up under his right arm and let's him lean on him for support,"We need to leave," and he hears the wall he created come down,"now!"
Jenny helps support her lover as Perseus mark glows and he slowly tears a hole in the space in front of him,"Let's get this guy home!"
He practically throws the two lovers through the tear as he takes one last look back to see the horde charging after him before he flips them off and jumps through the hole, laughing as it closes behind him.