Final Apocalypse: Rise of Tamara

A need for answers

Isabelle changed into a pair of pajamas, then sat at her desk. She and Rone had been searching for a lead for hours. So far, they had nothing. They'd done a fire message with Billz, and he had nothing as well. It seemed that everybody was stumped. She had a feeling that they were looking in the wrong places though. They were currently looking for an artifact that may have contained a piece of the chaos demon. Her mind flashed back to what Rapture said before he died.

"You call me a monster for what I did. I'll show you what a real monster looks like. One that'll rip you apart from the inside out."

He died seconds later. The only physical evidence that he even existed was his skull. But that was in Recon's vault. Far from anyone's reach.

a knock on the door snapped her out of her trance. "Come on in."

Sako and Odia came in holding two ancient books. Odia shrugged as she saw the look in Isabelle's eyes. "Rone's suggestion. Thought we should look for clues in ancient legends and prophecies."

Isabelle waved them over. They set the books on her desk and crowded around her as she opened the first one. She flipped through the pages, and finding nothing there, opened the second one. A book of demons and other horrid creatures. Sako flipped through the pages slowly. A few seconds later, Isabelle stopped her and turned back two pages. There was an illustration of Rapture surrounded by topless women with tentacles or tendrils coming out of their backs. One of them had six. The others had four. She read the page aloud to the others.

"He was rumored to be the most powerful demon in existence. However, he didn't gain this power on his own. He commanded powerful armies that would rip through his foes with menacing fury. But the most powerful force was his personal warriors. These were women that Rapture would grant his power to. They would be commanded by their queen. The "queen" would command six tendrils filled with venom that could do many things. She could heal wounds and sicknesses. She could make more of her kind. Or she could kill her foes with it. Rapture would entrust her with carrying out jobs that he didn't have the time for. These jobs were often assassinations of those that would threaten his rule. Those that he deemed threats were shown no mercy. With his personal warriors at his side, Rapture was nearly unstoppable. His true downfall came when his queen turned against him. She led an army into his kingdom in secret. Together with another demon, they managed to banish him to hell. He is prophesied to rise from his prison when his brother's souls are put to death. Nobody knows if this is true, but if it is, then it could mean the doom of all mankind."

Odia stared at the illustration. "So Rone was right. We're not looking for something, we're looking for someone."

"Yes, but who is it?" Sako asked.

Isabelle ripped the page out of the book. "We need to call another meeting with Recon. We should search for this woman, whoever she is."