Last Rites

Ch. 6 - Anointing of the Sick (Part III)

I know you must be wonderin' Walter, why wasn't I gonna snitch? I just didn't feel like it. I told Jubileus whatever to keep the bitch off my case. At some point it must've suspected I was lying. It kept Helios and I separated and we hardly spoke and saw each other. I felt like a prisoner locked away in my workshop. I wasn't feelin' it and I needed a reason to pop off. Word got out about the sages soon after. How I don't know. I knew nothing besides what Helios last told me. But apparently, Helios and I weren't the only ones who weren't too thrilled with the idea.

Rodin stands in the middle of a beautiful field facing off against five Valiances. Valiance is one of the hybrids between Rodin's weapons and Helios' creations. Its face is place at the hilt of a massive sword to serve as a distraction from its true eyes within the abdomen. Rodin takes a defensive stance.

"Come on."

The Valiances strike in unison. Rodin deflects their attacks by ascending to his angel form. They're knocked back but quickly recover. Despite their size, the Valiances are very agile. If Rodin was a lesser being he would have been killed ten times over, but Rodin dodges all their attacks with ease. He blocks each swing of their swords with a single open palm. Clearly, Rodin's holding back since he has no intentions of killing them despite them giving an honest effort to at least scratch him.

The battle takes to the sky as the Valiances continue to attack Rodin and not hit one another. A smirk appears on Rodin's face as he extends his arms out. His peacock feathers expand around him and he takes a deep inhale. The Valiances suddenly stop.

"Time to let my hair out."

A huge gust of wind forms beneath them then turns into a tornado made of light. An opening appears in the atmosphere. The tornado spreads all the way up to the opening. A shock wave of energy shoots out of his chest and the Valiances are tossed into the tornado. They spin around and around while crashing into each other. Rodin uses telekinesis and removes the gigantic swords from the tornado, so they don't accidentally get stabbed. Then Rodin shoots them into space!

The tornado dissipates and all is quiet.

Rodin lands on the ground gently and transforms back to his normal state. The swords fall around him. He seems slightly impressed by the Valiances but they're still not strong enough. Rodin examines one of the swords to figure out where he can improve. Fortitudo appears behind him in a shower of light.

"Father Rodin."

Rodin doesn't turn to acknowledge it.

"What?"

"We have a problem."

"About?"

"It's Inferno."

Rodin suddenly stops what he's doing and gives his full attention to Fortitudo. He folds his arms across his chest, not willing to believe.

"There are whispers of Inferno making a counterpart to our sages. We don't know what it is. More than likely some unimaginable beast with a taste for man flesh!"

"I don't take requests. Especially not from some lowly Auditio."

Fortitudo's angered by his comment, but he's right and Fortitudo's undeniably fearful of Rodin. What Rodin did to the Courages that day in front of Jubileus remain in the forefront of its mind.

"It is not my request to give but Jubileus."

Rodin sighs heavily then opens a portal.

"Where are you going?" Fortitudo asks.

"Solving the problem."

Rodin disappears in the portal on his way to Inferno.

In a flash of white light, Rodin stands on the edge of a jagged cliff in Inferno. The sky is blood red with thick black smoke billowing out from a nearby volcano. Horrific creatures soar through the skies while tiny demons occupy the ground below. Oddly enough, Rodin's in awe by his surroundings. He hears the sweet whispers of a demoness creep into his ear. Appearing from behind him is a sultry, eyeless, winged humanoid succubus. Her arms lovingly wrap around his neck as she climbs on top of his back. Her legs grip firmly around his waist as she swings herself around to face him.

"Lost?" she moans as she licks her lips. "Allow me to take you to paradise—!"

Rodin immediately yanks they demoness off him by the neck as she is suspended in the air.

"I'm here on business, not pleasure."

She struggles to break free from his hold, "Then you'll be forced to deal with a horde of millions just dying to quench their thirst of sage's blood!"

"Sage? Tell me what you know about them."

She laughs. Rodin tightens his grip on her to the point of almost snapping it in half.

"Alright, alright," she says in a panic. "Sages are an elite group of warriors; handpicked by your beloved Creator. But all of that is going to change!"

She cackles hysterically and Rodin's infuriated.

"The sages shall be no more, and heaven will finally fall!"

Rodin snaps her neck then chucks her body over the edge like trash. He realizes there's nothing for him to report on until he sees a strange flash of lighting in the distance. He immediately flies over to investigate. Any creature who attacks Rodin in the middle of his journey is immediately struck down. Their unconscious body would then be feasted upon by other demons down below.

Rodin lands nearby, unnoticed. He sees the black and blue demoness known as Madama Chasca, which takes on the theme of the kissing beetle. She punches a portal in the human realm and walks through. Rodin immediately chases after her through the portal.

It's nighttime in the small town of Trioradum somewhere in Europe. Rodin emerge out of the portal and looks for the demoness. He sees her shadow slither across the wall and shoot around a corner. Rodin's in hot pursuit of the foul demoness when it stops at a small cottage. There lurking in the shadows, awaits Madama Chasca for whoever to come out. Rodin watches on.

The door slowly opens, and a young twenty-something year old woman emerges dressed in her night garments. She gently closes the door behind herself not to disturb anyone else inside. She cautiously approaches the shapeless shadow. Once she's close enough Madama Chasca takes form of her true size which is twice as large than what she was in Inferno. The two of them say nothing to one another.

Madama Chasca extends her hand.

The young woman looks at her hand showing a slight sign of hesitance.

Rodin's eyes sharpen as he watches on in anticipation.

The young woman slowly reaches out to Madama Chasca while clutching her chest. She places her hand in the palm of the demoness'. She closes her eyes.

Madama Chasca closes her eyes and chants, "Emna ol adrpan izizop cnoguodi... solpetahe."

What will later be known as the Umbra Witch glyph appears underneath them. A beam of light encase them both.

"The hell is that?" Rodin questions as he makes a mental note of the symbol.

"Ar ar tio."

The young woman's lips barely open to utter, "Ethar."

Madama Chasca then shoots into the young woman's body. Overwhelmed by the power of the demoness the young woman collapses to the ground. Silence. A strange purple mist seeps out of the young woman's body. Rodin waits a moment before he investigates the scene. He hovers over the woman and checks her pulse. She's still alive. Rodin then pries open the woman's left eye with his thumb and finger and sees the Umbra's mark as her cornea.

"What is that?"

The hand of Madama Chasca appears from behind and swats him away like a fly sending him several feet from the young woman. Before Rodin is able to react, he watches the hand scoop the unconscious woman up. Her face then appears in the ground. Rodin backs away expecting the demoness to fight him.

"What have you done to that girl?!" roars Rodin.

Madama Chasca laughs softly, "Agraa ors taba ord avavago... Micma Father levithmong."

Both Madama Chasca and the young woman disappear into Inferno.

" 'Beasts of the field'? " Rodin ponders to himself. "I wonder...!"

Rodin disappears in a flash of light back to Paradiso.