Chapter 13 - Cappuccino

[Jack]

(Zeroth)
The desolate wasteland of snow was darkening. Evening approaching. A flash of fire was spat from the sky and a man dropped quietly to the ground, the snow cushioning his drop. The steady plains of snow covered the area thickly. Zeroth walked in a small circle, then noticed tracks. The tracks went to the portal and stopped where flame had bit the snow.

Zeroth looked around and saw no one else and frowned, bored, and drew his sword. He sat against the tree with but a forest garb on and a chain around his neck, bearing a silver cross. He took out a small square material and began sharpening his sword. Once he finished he polished it and slid it back into it's scabbard.

He got up and began to run around in a small area to keep himself warm because of his lack of warm clothing. He only had a black short-sleeved shirt covered by a red forest garb. Black baggy-ish pants covered his legs and his shoes were black as well. He looked around again and frowned, seeing no life.

[Jack]

(Zeroth)
Zeroth, after beginning to realize, no life was within his sight, he began to walk further out into the plains of snow. He kept his hand close to his hilt, and kept his eyes open. Zeroth walked silently toward the north.

Zeroth stopped, hearing snow crunch behind him, other than his. The sound was behind him, about 15 feet, and was walking in the eastern direction. He turned slowly and faced the creature. He was startled, jumping slightly back, at the size of the creature. Nearly seven feet tall, and had small wings at the stomache of the horse. A pegasus. The pegasus looked rather hungry. It was wearing thin.

Zeroth, remembering the fact that he always carries a food source, reached into his pocket, snatching the Elven bread that he took from a wandering traveler, and gave it to the Pegasus's eyes. The pegasus stared and snapped at his fingers, the bread being chewed. It neighed at the happiness, and put itself low to the ground. Zeroth took this oppurtunity and jumped onto the back of the creature.

Pegasus brought Zeroth high into the air, about two hundred feet and gave him the abillity of farsight. But the slight setback of altitude plus low sunlight, gave a chilling scream to the skin. Zeroth scanned the area and frowned. No one. . . Dammit, where are they. Zeroth thought. Needing some type of enjoyment of slaughter, he began to shake a bit, and his urge to see blood grew. He didn't want to harm the pegasus, but it looked so fun. He pointed to the ground and the pegasus lowered to twenty feet from the ground.

Just then, the pegasus reared into the air, throwing Zeroth off the pegasus, and flew far away, being chases by a small Red Dragon.

Zeroth stood up and frowned. Alone. . .

[Jack]

(Mithos)
Mithos, who had been wandering for days looking for someone he recognized, had been heading away from the Portal. He was resting against a tree. He would have been visible had it not been for the tree being so immensely thick at the trunk. He got up when he heard the beating of wings, and looked up to see a pegasus. "Strange...I would not think you would find such beasts in a hellish wasteland like this." He hid behind the tree, and he heard the beating of another set of wings. He peeked from behind the tree, and when he saw the man on the pegasus was looking the other way, he steped out and looked for another creature.

In the distance, he saw a small red creature nearing. He turned to see the pegasus decending. He turned again to see that the red creature was actually a red dragon. Although it was only a drake, it still gave the pegasus a shock. He heard a cry and turned to see the pegasus lift off the ground and fly away, being pursued by the red drake. Mithos slowly walked to where the man was, sensing a great power right near him. As he got nearer, he saw the Portal to the Dead Realm. He closed in more, and when he was sure that the man would see him if he turned, he hid behind a tree. From there, he planned what to do next. "Who could that man be? Is he a friend, or a foe? Well, I guess there is only one way to find out."

Mithos then drew his sword and holding it in one hand, he approached the man by the Portal. Mithos tried not to look too hostile towards the man, but he could not help but try to look intimidating, hoping that the man would know that he feared nothing...

[Jack]

(Mithos)
"And just who the hell are you?" Mithos's strange blue eyes pierce his soul. He quickly scans the area behind him. He sees the crumbs of the Elven bread, takes in the wasteland, then his eyes fall upon the portal. "And exactly what is that hellish portal. Would that be the Portal to the Dead Realm that I was told of?" He looks back at Zeroth, looking calm in front of the Portal that reaked of death. The hilt of the sword cut into his hands, making his knuckles turn white. He slowly lessened the grip on the hilt of his sword, then walked closer to the Portal, but careful not to stray too close, knowing that may be the consiquences.

He turned back to Zeroth. "Well, who are you, what is this place, and why are you here?" He stared at Zeroth until he replied. "I am Zeroth. I am here at the Portal to the Dead Realm, guarding it." Mithos looked at Zeroth, searching for what weapons he may have. Mithos knew that any wrong word or step may just land him in hell, without having a choice. He walked toward a tree at the end of the Portals hellish surrounding terrain, and leaned against it. Still in plain sight and be able to be heard quite easily, he watched Zeroth. "Who are you guarding it from? And who told you to guard it? Or are you guarding it out of you own free will?"

He leaned against the tree, shealthed his sword, but still kept his hand on the hilt. The mythril he wore under his red platemail was clearly visible. It was under a black shirt he had on under the armor. The red platemail shined dully, even in the presence of the spinning vortex. There was no sun anymore, it was covered by thick layers of dark clouds. It could only be described as a total and eternal eclipse of the sun. He looked up at the dark sky. It was still snowing, as it had been back a few miles. Even though the snow fell everywhere around that portal, it never actually fell within a few feet radius of the portal. Any that came too close to the portal melted into nothing.

Mithos wanted nothing to do with any of this, but he had to, less he wanted the beings of hell to find the portal to his own realm and add that to their territory. He was still debating whether or not to join the battle that was supposed to be going on within hell, or to stay and wait a while. His job was to find the one who was defending the portal and either help him or learn more about the battle.
"Also...What can you tell me about this war that seems to be going on?" He pointed to a small pile of dead bodies, nearly completely blanketed in snow. He waited for the reply.

[Jack]

(Zeroth)
Zeroth calmy looked at Mithos with an emotionalless expression. " I am guarding this by free will and by war terms. The war is against the Da-M-Nation, a group rebelling against us. " He slowly turned to the portal. " That is the Portal to the Dead Realm. It is self explanitory. You go in it, you come out in hell. "
Zeroth sighed and sat against a tree close to the portal. " I am with you, if you are against Da-M-Nation, I am not, if you are with them."

[Jack]

(Mithos)
"Ah...Then this is the war I have heard of. I heard large quantities of people were heading into this area. They never came back. So, you would be part of the resistance against Da M-Nation then?" He rested there against a nearby tree, his eyes locked onto the portal, the gateway to hell. He heard Zeroth reply a "Yes", then he slowly rose to his feet. He walked a little closer to the swirling demononic vortex. He stared into it, that portal, the void that eternally contained sin. He heard voices, voices of his fallen friends, voices of enemies he had slain. He knew that they awaited somewhere inside that swirling vortex.

He felt his anger being released at the thought of him hearing the voice of his despised nemesis. The one known as the Lost Prophet. He wasn't what you would picture as a prophet, however. He was happy to deal out death. He told of how one day someone would rise up and bring war to these lands. Being paid a good amount to kill this man, he did. It was not a easy battle, because he had been lost in the darkness a long time. He had lost his heart to the darkness. This was what he prophesied. This was the war. He looked at the ground around him. There was much bloodshed. Even though many of the bodies were covered in snow, you could see by the mounds where they were, and by the red tint the snow was around there. Much of it was fresh blood. It was all as the Lost Prophet had said.

"I guess that paranoid inferier being was correct..." He turned to see Zeroth looking at him in a strange manner. He did not think he acted so conspicuously. He pushed it out of his head, and spoke again. "One of my enemies had prophesied this. He was known as the Lost Prophet. Everything he said is happening. This Da M-Nation must be the warbringers to whatever your group is, then?" He waited for Zeroth to confirm his assumption. He saw Zeroth nod. He turned his gaze to the ground. He searched the snow, trying to count how many spots of blood and body mounds there were....Too many, he thought, that was all that mattered. Although he wasn't one to usually care about conflicts in other worlds, this was out of hand.

He slowly walked over to Zeroth, still searching the ground. So much bloodshed...Has this world always been this way? Why...Why must races wage such wars upon each other, are they oblivious to the fact that they are only eliminating their races? They kill each other until there is nothing left of either of them....Why must they all desire this insane amount of violence..? He stopped close to Zeroth, he took his hand off from his hilt. "Well, perhaps you would allow me to help you in this battle? I would swear upon my honor and pride that I would not fail you." He thrust out his hand. He no longer looked as intimidating as before. His blue eyes glowed brightly even in the darkness of the coming dusk. He waited to see if Zeroth would accept him into their resistance, force, or whatever they would call it. Who ever this man is, he's my only chance of stopping what could be the total destruction of this world and the ones entertwined with it...Including mine...He is my only chance. Even though this only seems like a normal war, with a little extra bloodshed, it still could turn into what I fear it might. And that was that one of the sides would create the ultimate weapon. One that is of another race, born out of the sin, bloodshed, and hate. A creature in ancient scripts as Kavka. It would bring a total eclipse of everything good. The creatures of hell would be released.... This happening may only be one in a million, but still, that one could be this very war. Although if this is it, I know I cannot stop the beast Kavka, but at least I would die with my pride and honor knowing that I stood in the way of Kavka's rain, and my pride and honor would go down in legend. He is my only chance to destroy that beast...That best that came from the void where only sin, hate, and darkness existed, that void in Galbadia...The void that many years ago took the one friend I had...The only person that ever loved me.... Mithos stood there, his hand out, waiting to see whether or not the man would accept him. For the first time since the man had seen him, there was a sparkle in Mithos's eyes. A sparkle of hope, a sparkle that he may still be able to find her again...

OOC)): Italics are Mithos's thoughts. ))

[Jack]

(Zeroth)
" Go ahead. Help us. We'll need it, severly. " says Zeroth and rolls his stiffening shoulders. He takes out a thermostat like cup and slowly sips some cappuchino.

[Jack]

(Mithos)
Mithos nods, then slowly steps away. So it begins...Will this be the final battle? I doubt it, but I must observe for a while. Hopefully, I have joined the right side... He sees Zeroth sipping from his thermostat. He looks him up and down. Hopefully, I can trust him....Even so, I am quite sure that he will die soon enough, if that evil from the portal comes to the surface...He will die quickly...As will I...Unless we can learn to work together...Either way, I must fight until my death to stop more bloodshed like this.....This pointless violence. Being granted to destroy life should not turn into this. He shakes his head.
"Well, Zeroth. We had better prepare..."

[Jack]

(Zeroth)
Zeroth shrugs, " Prepare by doing what? "
He steps in the snow and hears a soft crunch. He frowns at it and realizes that it will way his footwork down. " Snow delays footworks. "

[Jack]

(Mithos)
"If the army that is coming this way is coming through hell, they will be strong. No normal mortal can make it through, I am sure." He pointed to the swirling vortex. He shook his head slowly and looked at Zeroth. "We need to prepare something, a ambush of some sort...We can't take on whoever is coming up here all alone just head on in the open, you relize..."

[Jack]

(Fett)
Zeroth and Mithos were taken aback as the portal of twisting flame spewed forth an enormous fireball, which careened out of the vortex and blasted into a snowbank, causing a brief eruption of steam and distubed snow. With professional swiftness Zeroth rolled a pair of simple throwing daggers into his hands, discarding his coffee in a dark stain across the white ground, and a slick wet sound could be heard as Mithos drew Aenior from its sheath and spread his puplish-blue wings. The snowy crater was pocked with black char, some of it still flaming. Zeroth shot Mithos a confirming glance before sidestepping lightly, circling the dark shape that was even now rising from the snow.

A dark cloak shrouded a figure of giant stature, slightly tattered as it smoldered with a few last departing flames. A paragon of evil if ever I saw it, Mithos thought grimly as he burst into motion, rushing the huge man with his sword held ready. At the same moment Zeroth sent his pair of throwing daggers at the man from the side, with a deft flick of his wrists.

BioDiesel twisted in the air, throwing himself out of the dagger's path and into Mithos, catching the Cruxis' blade in his giant metal hand and bearing the evolved elf to the ground, more then substantially outweighing Mithos. Zeroth already had the next pair of knives in hand when BioDiesel hefted Mithos with both hands and threw him at his comrade with a grunt. The young man was forced to toss aside his knives in order to catch Mithos, who was reeling from the force of smashing into his far larger opponent dead on. Zeroth left the dazed Mithos in a crouch, drawing his own sword and steadily advancing on BioDiesel. The boy's eyes were already beginning to glow with the telltale power of his telekinisis, preparing to strike the huge man across the brow with a blow of psychic force. To his suprise, BioDiesel raised a hand, motioning him to stop.

"Stay your sword, boy. The cross around your neck tells me we are not enemies." Zeroth's left hand shot to his necklace, and the forgotten cross there. The scar on his brow furrowed as he narrowed his eyes in suspicion at the giant man. BioDiesel slowly reached into his cloak and pulled out his worn rosary, the cross dangling brightly but no longer burning. "Search him," Mithos said, regaining his feet and brushing the snow off his armor.

"I am unarmed," BioDiesel said with some regret. "Strike me down if you feel God calling you to do so." Finding nothing, Zeroth and Mithos cautiously sheathed their weapons.

"Damnitt," Zeroth said, looking at his discarded thermos, "That was the last of my coffee."

With a sigh Mithos settled his wings across his back. "How came you to be in Hell?" The Cruxis' hand was ready on Aenior's hilt should BioDiesel turn agressive, and he noted any strike he made would have to be well away from the man's metal arms. The enormous man's deeply lined face twisted into a grin. With little embellishment, he recounted his trip through Hell, telling them of his battle with Xandii, the small town of repenting sinners, and the strange girl that had assisted him. Zeroth and Mithos exchanged glances as he finished, and then told BioDiesel of army which was even now sweeping through Hell towards the portal.

"I knew something was coming," BioDiesel said wistfully, "I figured this place would be the easiest to defend, as it's rather a choke point of sorts. No matter how large the opposing force is, they'll be forced to pass through this some-15 meter wide portal. There's no other way out of Hell."

Mithos turned back to gaze at the twisting vortex. "As a matter of fact, we were just discussing how to make this area a little more defensible..."

[Jack]

(Zeroth)
Zeroth was glad some reinforcements have came, and that they weren't stuck alone. They had a heightened chance of winning. He frowned at the fact that when he through the daggers, his wrist shot. He moved it a bit and asked if Mithos had anything of physical damage done to him.
He heard him reply after sighing, " No. I'm fine. "
"Good," Zeroth Replied. He stared at where his coffee lay. " Damn you, Bio, that's my last stuff. You owe me some. And it's not the cheap stuff either. "

[Jack]

(Fett)
"I'll be sure to buy you another the first coffee shop I run across," BioDiesel replied dryly, his voice echoing in the abandoned wasteland.

Mithos frowned and crossed his arms. "We need to get to work on preparing something, as we don't really know what sort of time-table we can expect an attack on. First off," he kicked one of the frozen demon corpses with his boot, "We need to clear these out of the way."

Zeroth's boot scuffed the snow lightly. "We should clear all this crap out of the way so it doesn't mess up our footworks." Mithos frowned, thinking it was a waste of time.

"Not that the guy with wings would care a whole lot about footwork," BioDiesel said sarcastically, staring pointedly at Mithos' wings.

"It's a valid point," Mithos agreed. "But since I'm not the one who'll need it you two can do the snow shovelling. Since I can fly, I'll scout out the area and see if I can't get you equipped with a weapon."

"Agreed."

"Let's get to it."

With a light jump into the air the Cruxis left them, riding the wind on his blue wings, dissappearing over the treetops. Zeroth took off his sword sheath and set it down in the snow so it wouldn't be a hindrance, beginning to scoop up snow with his hands to clear it out of the way. The giant BioDiesel wrenched a frozen demon claw from the white bank and broke it off with a kick of his boot. The convenient way the claw had frozen and the long, thin length of the demon's arm made it useful as a shovel, albeit a grotesque one.

Wrinkling his nose at BioDiesel, Zeroth dropped his handfulls of snow and stepped closer. "That's disgusting. But break me off one too."

The two worked together, and by the time Mithos had returned Bio and Zeroth had cleared the snow from around the frozen demon horde in preparation to drag them away. The numbed and air-chilled Cruxis gripped the snow-shovel he'd found tightly in his white knuckles, arcing his chilled wings through the freezing winds one last time before landing on the snow with a heavy crunch. "Didn't see any weapons, but I thought you guys might be able to use thi--" Mithos trailed off, staring at the frozen limbs his comrades were wielding. "What the Hell are those?"

Zeroth swung the claw at Mithos, almost catching him with the frozen outstretched fingers. "Rawr. Now gimme that shovel."

The Cruxis left again under BioDiesel's insistence, to search for a weapon the giant man could use, leaving the two at the portal once again about their tasks. The larger man dragged the frozen corpses he'd originally slaughtered so long ago off into a nearby ditch, while Zeroth used the excess snow from clearing the grounds to bury them. All in all it was exhausting work, and they found themselves stopping to scan the skies for Mithos more and more often as they grew tired. After several hours the last of the demons had been buried, and BioDiesel took turns with Zeroth scooping the last of the snow from the small field the portal was in. Zeroth looked up in suprise at the sudden appearance of Mithos, who was coming not down from the sky but trudging along the snow from the forest. The Cruxis dragged something alongside him, and looked every bit as tired as they did.

The young Zeroth squinted his eyes through the darkness. "That another shovel?"

Mithos replied with a heavy grunt. "Not quite. This beast was a bit too heavy for me to fly with, but I think it'll come in handy for Bio here." With that he hefted the thick handle into BioDiesel's large metal hand, who took it with considerably more ease then the evolved elf had. It was an enormous war hammer, set of some solid alloy and designed for a man of about his stature. The greasy looking metal was etched with something dark, making the swirling patterns along it's sides more visible, while the smooth portion for actual hammering was unmarred and reflective, almost like a funhouse mirror.

"Now this," BioDiesel said with a widening grin,"Is nice."

The prototype man spread his hands along the hammer's length for better leverage and took some practice swings, his advanced musculature sending the solid metal end into blur of steel that would spell destruction for anything it collided with. Mithos stood back, working his shoulder from the aches of dragging the hammer several miles through the snow. Zeroth leaned against his snow-shovel, wishing he had some coffee.

"Well, I suppose all we can really do now is wait," Mithos said with a sigh.

They didn't wait long. Moments later an orange beast leapt through the portal, marked dangerously with a series of black stripes. The tiger was gigantic, nearly matching BioDiesel in height and dwarfing him in mass and volume. It's mouth was open, and, with the backlighting of the portal, appeared empty. Having left his sword some several feet away, Zeroth tugged the snow-shovel out of the ground and held it ready, marveling at his bad fortune. Mithos took to the air with Aenior even as BioDiesel thundered forward, the added weight of the hammer in his hands making the ground shake with his movements. The tiger seemed off guard, blinking it's green eyes as it's vision adjusted to the dim light of the planet.

Just as BioDiesel was coming into range for a swinging blow with the warhammer, a young girl stumbled out of the portal, wearing a familiar jacket. The large man stopped, the momentum of his charge making small furrows in the frozen dirt as he stalled the hammer's motion into the ground with a bassy thump. "Mithos, Zeroth, hold off," He called, even as he realized his face was inches away from the tiger's, who was regarding him with unreadable green eyes. With some conscious effort he tore his gaze away from the beast's, seeing Finch's suprise at seeing him here.

OOC: We meet again Oni-zuka, when I left you I was but a learner, but now I am the master...

[Jack]

(Kyi//Finch)
Finch's lips curled into a small smile at seeing someone she knew was on her side for the war that seemed to be coming. The other two, she assumed, were on the side as well, considering they had listened to Bio. Then again, it crossed her mind, who wouldn't listen to him? Probably someone much faster than him; someone who could out run him. She shrugged it off, stepping forward so she was only a foot away from Bio.

Only then did Finch actually notice the feathery box in Onizuka's mouth. For a moment her eyes were glued to the bloody figure, but were then torn away as her nose beckoned her to glance at a rather large pile of what looked like dead demons. The stench wasn't all that bad, but strong enough to be.

Mithos had put his sword away, and Zeroth was back to leaning against the shovel. BioDiesel leaned up against a nearby tree, followed by Oni, who curled up by the tree, regardless of the cold snow. Finch felt a tad out of place, and decided to take her place by the only two organisms she knew. Not minding the snow much herself, she sat between Bio and Oni, tightening her jacket around her sides.

BioDiesel wrung his hand around the handle of his new weapon, "Were you two at all being chased?" Finch shook her head, not looking up from the white ground.

"Guess we'll continue waiting, then." Mithos repeated. Zeroth grunted, still yearning for his coffee.

Finch's hair flicked in the light wind, forcing her to curl it back behind her ear, the blue tint twinkling across the silver strands. She slowly fell asleep, once again, to the silence.

[Jack]

(Mithos)
Mithos slowly hovered back down to the ground, then retracted his wings. He searched around, looking at the two new arrivals. He then turned his gaze upon the area, now cleared of demons and snow. He leaned against a nearby tree, then slumped to the ground, trying to relax his muscles, sore from carrying the great war hammer. He stared at the portal for a minute, then studied the surrouding area again.

"So this...will be our battle field. If this army is as powerful as I am sensing, it also may just be our grave..." He leaned his head backwards and stared up skyward, to the dark clouded wall that blocked the sun, the moon, and the stars. He closed his eyes, and visioned what his goal truely was...

I must save her....I cannot die yet, not before my promise is fulfilled...No matter what, I must live to see her alive and free...

He opened his eyes again and looked around. He studied each one of their faces, then looked back at the portal.

Should I risk it..? It is on the lower most level of hell. Should I leave these people who seem to be my friends to search for it?

He fought with himself in his mind, knowing that he would be forsaking these people to fight against the army by themselves.

I also promised to help them...I pledged on my life to help fight the approaching army...