Alaric, still kneeling at Dameon’s side as he lay limply in Jake’s arms, his thoughts flew wildly through his head, as all his focus turned onto that voice that began to ring through his head. That voice haunted him throughout his entire existence in the mortal realm. Alaric felt his power surge with his emotion, a power he had never felt before or had he? This was all new to him, letting his instincts guide him once again; those instincts he once thought got people around him killed. Perhaps it was never his fault, and now he could at least make up for his past mistakes, let his body release itself, let his power find its ceiling on its own if there was a ceiling to be reached.
“Did you hear me, Firstborn? Or are you too weak after that loss to handle the situation?” Bahlreq taunted.
Alaric stood slowly, slipping off his bunched-together jackets, and just let them hit the floor. Looking at Jake as he leaned his head to each shoulder, popping several vertebrae in his neck. “I’ve got this bitch this time Jake.”
Jake only looked on in awe as Alaric turned to face the giant Demlo; every single scar on his body, everyone from over the many millennia he had been on the Earth, healed and vanished before everyones’ eyes—even the two over his shoulder blades. His muscle seemed to grow slightly, bulging as he looked now like he had been lifting weights for years.
Bahlreq’s head tilted, “What game are you playing at Firstborn? What trick is this, a feign of confidence, of new power you think you have?”
“No tricks, you piece of shit! You’ve killed your last being, I am your ending, I know who I am once more, and I’m more than you could ever imagine being.” Alaric stood confident in front of the towering Demlo for the first time in all their encounters, which did startle Bahlreq. However, he did hide this hesitation well.
Pointing to Alaric, Bahlreq sicked his horde upon him, “Destroy the Firstborn, but make it slow; I want to watch and hear his screams one last time.”
In a flash, there were twenty Demlo of various sizes between Alaric and Bahlreq. In the near distance, a few colossal-sized Demlo turned and started making their way to this new battle. Alaric gave a sly smirk, vanished for a count of five, and reappeared where he had been standing before. All twenty Demlo fell apart in front of everyone. Some fell in several pieces, others in two, some exploding in a burst of black blood and gore. Jake’s mouth remained agape as Bahlreq also looked on in shock.
“You don’t seem to understand Bahlreq. I am your end; your existence ends today. That and your pitiful rebellion you thought started today.” Alaric once again vanished. This time, the closing colossi Demlo halted, cried out and fell to pieces in gore and gushing spurts of black blood across the landscape each was standing over. They toppled to the ground as he reappeared in front of them.
“Nothing you could have discovered would have made you this powerful Firstbo….” Bahlreq attempted to finish his arrogant speech but was cut off.
“I am Alaric! Not a Firstborn of the Anglo, I am the creator of the Anglo, and your creator Bahlreq, and I will correct that mistake today,” Alaric said with booming confidence.
For the first time in all of their meetings, Bahlreq was caught off guard. He signaled for more of his horde to assault Alaric, motioning with each hand toward him, “Everyone fucking attack now! Don’t let this delusional fuck kill any more of us!”
Now a hundred plus Demlo appeared, some flying overhead, others crawling through the ground. Alaric smirked the same smile once again as he vanished, his speed so fast that no one, not even Bahlreq, could track his movements. Once he reappeared, every single Demlo that attempted the assault either exploded in gore or just fell to pieces. “This is a nice workout to get all the kinks out of my newfound power. How nice of you, Bahlreq, to let me play and see if I have a ceiling to my power anymore.”
“You can’t destroy me. I am endless. I am destined to rise and rule The Pit; you have no power over me.” Bahlreq was reaching as he attempted to summon colossal Demlo to his aid, hoping they could at least stall him.
Everyone except for Alaric became blinded by the flash of light emanating from Dameon’s body as his back was turned. Jake yelled at the sudden blindness, not knowing if it was some new attack from Bahlreq or some other Demlo they hadn’t seen yet. Once the light had finally faded away, everyone was rubbing their eyes.
Alaric turned and smiled, “Welcome back, old friend. I had a feeling you wouldn’t be gone for too long.”
Who stood before them all was Dameon, standing there with giant white wings that had regrown out of his shoulder blades. “What the fuck was all that? And what the hell?! I have white wings now?” He said, confused.
Smiling, Alaric responded, “You made the ultimate sacrifice. I think you showed a bit of your true nature there, Dameon. You sacrificed yourself to save me. You earned your redemption. Welcome back to the fold of the Anglo.”
“Wha… Wait, ok, I can get that, but what about you?! What happened to all your scars? And how beefy do you look now? What happened while I was dead?” Dameon exclaimed in shock.
Alaric gave him a sly smile, “Oh, nothing much, just embracing my true nature now, Dameon. As my memories come back, so has my true power.”
“Stop this stupid charade you have going on. How did you bring Dameon back? No Demlo can be ‘redeemed’ as you say; that’s absurd! And if you don’t stop any of this, I will kill the one you came down here to save. Kimmy, is it? The little girl?” Bahlreq retorted in anger.
“Do you think I can’t see her, Bahlreq? Do you think I can’t see through the illusion you have set up behind you? The sacrificial pillar with her bound and gagged behind you?” Alaric’s right brow arched upwards.
Shocked by the response, Bahlreq stuttered, “Y…you don’t k…know what you’re talking about, Firstborn. I have her hidden away. Somewhere you’ll never find….” Alaric’s following actions cut him off.
Once again, Alaric vanished from sight as he reappeared seconds later, this time with Kimmy by his side. He leaned down, snapped off the binds on her ankles and wrists, and then removed her gag. “You see, your lying does nothing to me. Your belief doesn’t deny my power. I’m not an Anglo as you think; I’m not an empowered Anglo like Jake behind me here. I am a god, the god of hope, and I am hope, hope embodied. My sister is, was the goddess of compassion. She saved me in The Gate, freed my memories, and now I’m only becoming more powerful as all my memories return.” He looked down at the girl, “Go back to Jake, Kimmy. He will protect you while I finish up my business here.”
“You will not ‘finish’ me, Firstborn. I will not be that easy to end.” Bahlreq retorted in fear.
Chuckling, Alaric’s right hand reached out to his side, vanishing into the air, and then pulled out of nothing his giant sword. “You just don’t seem to get it. Nothing about you matters. You not believing what I’m telling you changes nothing. Ultimately, you will no longer exist, and your essence will not return to The Pit as a soul to be used, tormented, or employed. Your essence will no longer exist because I deem it so. You’ve lost your right to have any existence in this world, in this universe. All you’ve done is destroy and cause pain, all in your name and your vanity. I will not allow that to exist. You have shown no true worth, contribution, or use, not even in The Pit. I will free the universe, The Pit, and Anubis of your blight.” He wielded his giant bluish claymore-like weapon with ease as he looked up to the height of Bahlreq.
The Demlo began to backpedal as he realized that this was no joke. What Alaric was saying must be true. His confidence, even his power, was unlike anything he’d felt over the millennia he’d hunted and tortured him over. This was unnerving to him, to be facing his true end. “You can’t do this, Alaric. If you’re truly the god of hope, how could you just end me and kill the hope of rebellion in this realm from Anubis?”
“Your rebellion is of no concern to me. Anubis is ruling The Pit by its laws. I never created The Pit. Lucian founded it. Perhaps one day I will look for him and make him come back. My concern now is finishing this business.” Alaric turned to Jake, “Cover her eyes, Jake. She doesn’t need to see this.”
“Wai…,” Bahlreq attempted to protest his destruction. However, before he could even finish his first word, Alaric darted towards him at a much slower speed than he’d used against his horde. Almost as if he wanted to draw this out and make Bahlreq suffer in his last moments as he made Alaric suffer for all those millennia.
Alaric lept up towards Bahlreq, the sword swung high over his head as he looked at Bahlreq in his eyes, into his being, “This is for Itzel, you fucking bastard,” with a downward slash, he cut the Demlo quickly in two. Slicing from his left shoulder down through to his torso. His body slid down each half with a grotesque slimy sound until each half fell to the ground. After about a minute, the two bloodied halves burst into flames until both sides were only piles of ash. “Now, to clean up, I don’t want any of you fuckers thinking about any soft or revenge or trying to come after Kimmy again.” He vanished again, reappearing in the same place a few seconds later. His sword dripped with fresh black blood as all the Demlo who had surrounded them, the horde of followers of Bahlreq, fell to bloodied pieces as gore and guts spewed forth from each. Alaric picked up a piece of cloth from one of the pieces of a Demlo and used it to wipe the viscous black blood from his blade, letting the cloth fall to the ground.
“Well, that was anti-climatic,” Jake stood up and chuckled. “I’m not complaining, but I was hoping to get some blood on my axe, I won’t lie.”
Dameon turned to the two, “Well, I, for one, and fine with Alaric kicking ass like that. I don’t think I would’ve been much help even on the other side now. I may be stronger for my choices and character, although I know I was no match for Bahlreq still.”
A glow appeared next to Alaric as he slid his sword through what seemed like the fabric of reality in front of everyone. “I think that’s all the fighting The Pit is going to provide for us at this point. If not, I’ll let you go at it, Jake. I know you took your true form and all.” He knelt next to Kimmy, “How are you, Kimmy? You’ve been through a lot, are you ok? We’re all here for you now, and I wouldn’t let any of them hurt you.”
Kimmy nodded in response, “I’m ok. Where’s Jake, though?”
Jake smiled and walked to her as his form shrunk back to the human form she knew, “It’s my Kimmy. I’m right here; it’s ok. Let’s just say on the way to coming to find and save you. I had to show my true form. Like Alaric here, I’m more than just a normal human. I’m actually Ares, the Greek god of war. When we came here, I took that form to be ready to fight.”
She looked astonished at him, “You’re a god?”
“Yes, not like Alaric, though. I think he’s something beyond what I am.” He nodded and smiled up at Alaric.
“In all honesty, as long as Kimmy is ok, we can go on about this later. I think we can head back to the cabin at this point. Do you want us to drop you off at your bar Dameon?” Alaric walked up to the group.
Dameon looked around where they were standing and shook his head, “Honestly, if it’s ok with all of you, I think I might want to tag along. I don’t want to go to the Anglo realm. I don’t think I will fit in there much yet. And honestly, I don’t want to deal with all the crap at the bar, especially not that I’m an Anglo.”
“I’m fine with that. I always had a feeling about you, Dameon, that there was more to you than just that bar. It’ll be nice to have another member in our group.” Alaric responded.
“Thank you, I appreciate it. Perhaps I’ll do something about my name, too; kind of odd going by Dameon now that I’m an Anglo. Sounds kind of off. Maybe we’ll think of something that fits better later.” Dameon responded.
Jake reached down towards Kimmy as he stood up, “Well, Alaric, I’m guessing you’re going to get us out of here?”
“He can do that?” Kimmy asked as she reached up to Jake’s hand, taking it in hers.
Nodding down at Kimmy, Alaric walked closer to the group as he picked up the mound of jackets he had removed. “Yes, Kimmy, a lot has changed since you vanished on us. I’ve regained my memory and learn new things about myself with every passing moment. I can pretty much travel anywhere I want. I am the god of hope, something I’m still coming to terms with. And we’ll have to see what is going on with my sister. Whom I didn’t even know existed until this trip.” He looked to Jake and Dameon, “I’m not sure if she’s alive or in some kind of sleep now since we ran into her in The Gate. We’ll have to figure that out later. We can settle down for a minute, but not too long this time.”
Everyone nodded; Kimmy let go of Jake’s hand for a moment to lurch forward and hug Alaric tightly, making him smile. She returned to Jake, retook his hand, and looked up at Alaric.
Alaric let out a sigh as he slipped on his sewn-together plethora of jackets. “Alright, let’s get out of this forsaken place. Everyone put your hand on me and grip enough to hold on.”
Everyone did so, Kimmy wrapping an arm around one of his legs, Dameon, and Jake placing a hand on one of his shoulders. Alaric nodded as they all grabbed onto him, checking each hold to ensure it was secure. He then smiled, and a bright flash of light exploded out of him as they all vanished from The Pit.
——————————————————————————————————————————————————
There was a bright flash of white light at the cabin the three had stayed at for a year. As the flash died down, all four stood outside the front. “Welcome to our humble abode Dameon. This is where we stayed for the past year. I don’t think our break will be nearly that long this time. I need to find out what I can about my sister as soon as possible.” He approached the cabin door and held it open for everyone to file in.
Jake walked in as Kimmy ran into the cabin and picked up her favorite stuffed animal lying in bed. Within seconds she was knocked out fast asleep. Jake smiled, looking at her passed out already, “I can imagine she’s completely exhausted.” He closed the door to the room she stayed in and met the other three in the small living area.
“Yeah, I’m surprised she’s not more traumatized,” Dameon said as he found a seat after seeing Jake sit down.
“Well, she’s been through quite a bit. Her home life, I think, readied her for the trauma, I’m sad to say. Bahlreq had possessed her dad and ended up killing him and her mother. I think his being destroyed finally is probably giving her the first truly peaceful rest she’s had, perhaps.”
Jake nodded in agreement, “Yeah, this is the first time I’ve seen her fall asleep so fast. I think you’re right, Alaric.”
“Well, let’s all enjoy this peace for the moment. Not going to chill for a year again. I want to figure out what I can about my sister if there’s anything to figure out. But let’s at least enjoy having real peace for a moment, knowing that Bahlreq is finally dead.” Alaric finally took a seat in the recliner. Put up his feet and closed his eyes.
The End: Innocence Missing
Alaric, Jake (Ares), Dameon, and Kimmy will return in the next chapter of Immortal.
Marty's Madness 
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