The Rising

Fagin breathes a sigh of relief. He has brought the body on an motorcycle that has seen better days, to the temple in the Crescent Desert. The temple of the Rising Sun. It is where it is said that a goddess will be awoken at this temple when brought before the altar. It's been many years and no sign of the goddess. It's noon, time to set her on the altar. Fagin mumbles a prayer on his breath. And then the whole world turns white with light.

Brazilla wakes up from her long rest. Standing before the altar is an old woman. A old man adjacent to the woman is frozen stiff. In a flash of light the woman turns into a bright glowing orb. Like that of the sun itself. The sun speaks in a warm throaty voice.

"I have need of a champion, a great evil will awaken in the near future and must be stopped. For only light can fight this darkness that is polluting and corrupting everything in its path. You will fill that role. Know not why you do it, know that you will do it. Do not question it you are always within my arms of embrace. You will always be safe within my light. Know that the heavens will always be triumphant."

The orb flashes once,twice and then three times then winks out. And in that flash Brazilla's clothes change from street rags, to heavenly robes. A scarf dangling off her shoulders and neck. Their appearance like that of a feather winged appendage. And she has a sword by her side. Her hair once a dirty mess is now radiant like that of the sun. She radiantly floats off the ground. The scarf seemingly moving like those of a bird when it's in flight.

She rights herself up,looks up to the sky and soars off.

Zephaniah runs through the seemingly endless mess hall. Demons are puking filth on him or jabbing him with unusual sharp eating utensils. More for torture than for eating. And just when he is about to enter the hallway the dirty rug is pulled from under him tripping him and sending him back to the kitchen area. He looks around for where he dropped his book. He finds it in a sink wet with blood. He pulls it out of the basin before being covered in blood covered plates. He then opens the book to the first page. It says simply in the middle of the first page:

"Fooled you!"

He screams in torment and anguish as the the demons start laughing at him. Whispering dark prophecies and secrets. For once in his life, he wasn't sad at all for himself he was angry at himself for just realizing he will never find peace. Not in this lifetime. With that he drops the book onto the floor, sits,crosses his legs and meditates.

The Lich cackles maniacally, his work a symphony in progress. He was deep underground in the bowels of a abandoned castle fortress on top of a near dead volcano. The air was foul with smoke and toxin. Filled with the screams of those damned to work in this scalding hot environment. Slaves mostly, but also samurai from the Akuma clan and Kyoryu clan as well. The Akuma have a jointed interest with the Marrionette clan whereas the Kyoryu samurai stationed here are mercenaries. Doing this for little else than for money. The Akuma clan in this case use the Dinosaurs's natural strength to operate the heavy machinery down below this. It is the Akuma clan themselves that are surveying and planning from the bamboo rafters of this subterranean cave. The Imp clan are fastening hot steel pipes with chain and having them lifted up by the Stegosaurus clan. The Succubus clan are inscribing and enchanting their magic on the machines. The Pit Fiend clans are whipping slaves. The Triceratops clan are pushing a crank that moves a conveyor belt loaded with scrap iron which slaves are processing at the behest of the Hell Hound clan who's vigilance has been the downfall of any slave foolish enough to lag. The scrap metal is then melted by the Kiln Fiends which is then cooled into metal strips which the Tiefling clan is fashioning into armor shielding. The Devil Clan is up on top of the rim of the volcano surveying the scene below all the while planning for logistics on attacking the Ryu clan. The evil spirits from the spirit realm are to join their army outside the border of the Dragon lands. The Lich meanwhile is having a pair of ankloysaurus, a dozen slaves, a score of imps build what appears to be some sort of massive metal beast. It's claws metallic and shining, its form seemingly moving like as if it's alive. It has seven heads, each shaped like an animal's separate from all the others. The heads were an eagle, a bear, a panther,a praying mantis, a viper, a tiger,and a warthog. Each had canine jaws big enough to eat even the Oni of the spirit realm in one gulp. It's tail serrated and like that of a lions. It had steel wings like that of a bat, with blades on the edge of its wings. And it had hands like that of an ape. A Man in Black robes is chanting over it. Occasionally sprinkling powder and other ground crumpled reagents. Screams of agony emanate from the mouth of the Beast. With the last of the chant the Man in Black touches the forehead of the Beast and it comes alive, it's red eyes come to life, it moves not animatronically but very fluid. It looks at the man in Black and bellows in a voice of crackling chains and the screams of the condemned. It knocks over and destroys some of the rafters that the imps have been using to work on it, sending them flying.

The man could only hope but smile

"Soon my son soon."

As the screams and throws of the beast reverberate throughout the tropical jungle. Several parties heard it and are now making preparations. The Bookmakers which are the Writer, Binder and Stitcher have been writing all the events that have happened of recently in their log book which tells of all Past and Present but not Future until the end of days has come. The Seven Deadly Sins have mobilized to join the Beast. The Hands of Death have come to collect the Book Makers and kill anyone within their path. The Natural Ones and the Champions of Light have joined together and have come to fight against the Beast .The Zodiac of Darkness have come to mostly watch the spectacle and witness history. The Gangs of Kain, the Samurai clans ,the Mannikins, the Puppets ,the Bards and the Elemental Savants have split up into factions joining either the Seven Deadly Sins, the Natural Ones,the Champions of Light or even the Hands of Death.

We now go back to Abel where the demons have been fighting with the defenders of Fresca. Bodies of people are strewn all over the ground, houses and buildings are burnt. It is dark. Clouds loom. Torch lights illuminate the town. And in the middle of the center of Fresca lies a bonfire of corpses. Standing on top of the pile, was a man in red clothing. Like that of a musketeer. He is playing a violin. The tune is insidious, disturbing and lilting. The man leaps off of the pile. And wipes himself of decay and blood. Demons are busy eating from the pile of human corpses. He is still playing his instrument. He then stops as if noticing something. The sound of war drums. And chanting. He pulls out his gun and stops playing. The demons stop eating and turn toward this new sound. They then scramble into positions. Then the man looks up for a half a second and he jumps for cover as an anthropomorphic eagle with studded leather armor and a scimitar dive bombs him. The demons pull out their bows and fire at the bird warriors that were hiding in the clouds. The birds for their part are dive bombing and doing hit and run attacks on anybody out near the open. Their leader then shows himself a man with golden eagle wings, a maul in his hands .The Gold Eagle Knight dive-bombs the leader of the demon forces here, the man in red. The man in red fires his gun, the bullets seemingly red hot of heat. The Bird lord dodges the attacks. Until the Man in Red pulls out his rapier strikes . And the eagle lord strikes with his maul. Their is a silence and the eagle lord collapses in mid air blood dripping in the sky before hitting the ground. The demons cheer in manic glee and charge to the fallen avatar. Where they partake of his body. The birdmen that remain retreat off the battlefield, swearing vengeance upon the demons for slaying their leader.

Meanwhile in Hikaru. The scene is just as gruesome in Hikaru as it is Abel. Bodies of samurai litter the battlefield. Akuma Spears impaling noble Dobutsu warriors. Kyoryu clubs are sticking out of the heads of Magic beasts. The land itself is in ruins. Blood covers the ground, a slight rain hits the grassy plains.

The realm of spirits invades the material realm. The Clockwork armies are being mobilized. Spirit creatures of every shape and size march across the land, sowing terror ,destruction ,disease and death. The Akuma clan is in cahoots and partnership of these monsters. The Kyoryu dinosaur clans are selling themselves off to the highest bidder as usual. The Animal clans and the Magical Beast clans are fighting off the spirit armies. The Clockwork Lord and his creations are attacking the Konchu forests with the help of the Akuma who are trying to get rid of the Tenshi clan. It is literally a land grab. With the Akuma playing both sides.

Knowing this we go down to one of the battlefields. Here their lies bodies upon bodies of Dinosaurs, Angels, Insects and Spirits. Weapons decorate the bodies like some makeshift gravestone. A fine red mist covers the ground and even the air. What we see now is a small group of survivors of the Tenshi clan. Their armor is in tatters, arrows stick out of some of the warriors. Except one. Clad in The royal garb of a Lord, he's just as weary of the battlefield as the warriors themselves. Hearing a tree crash in the distance, they bolt the other way. Branches and bushes seemingly block their path, as they seemingly swim through the mist as it appears to be more like water than fog. The lord finally looks around. Out of the ten samurai that came with him. Only 7 are around him. His question was answered of what happened to the others. The sound of tortured screams and crunching noises can be heard. It was not the sound of battle but some sort of primal function of nature. It was if they were being hunted for food. Whatever would eat a Angel was obviously not human. As the survivors catch their breath they see in the distance a lone hut. It's dilapidated appearance made it look literally gutted like a fish carcass. They charge inside and bolt the door with anything. Straw mats, a kettle, wooden boards and beams. And as they fortify their position, moans can be heard from outside. Getting closer. And ever closer the sound of dragging feet can be heard. Zombies. Their must be a necromancer among their forces, the Lord thought. The smell of decay is in the air. And the strange cawing of crows. It almost sounded like malicious laughter. A sound of thunder can be heard. And if he didn't know any better he thought it was a giant drum being beaten. The snapping of trees echoes throughout the walls.

"Samurai of the Tenshi, prepare yourselves! We must fight our way to safety. We must persevere and warn them that the spirit armies are too powerful in these forests. We must rush to the capital to the east! We cannot hope to stave this fight!Go!"the lord tells one of his vassals, a samurai woman."Take as many as you can before they surround us completely."

And with that the noises stop and heard from a distance a sound of feminine cackling could be heard. The sound that makes milk spoil, blood curdle and meat to rot. It was the matron of ogres, Oni Baba. She has come to lead her forces through the forest to cross the river. Into Animal land. She speaks:

"Oh mighty lord how could the Tenshi be so weak, my ogres have destroyed your forces and soon all of Hikaru. I know of your plan to send a messenger. She won't get far. Archers prepare to fire!"

And as the sound of tree branches being taut can be heard. And a sound that is obviously arrows being fired can be heard next. They sail through the air into the opening of the roof of the hut and into the occupants inside. A samurai gets impales by these spear sized arrows. And the sound of chanting, drumming and rhythmic ground thumping can be heard from outside. The girl quickly climbs up the roof with the help of two samurai. And they make a break for the east. Into Animal territory. Arrows are nocked and another samurai is impaled through the heart. One even flies toward the samurai woman but she parries it with her sword. It clatters to the ground uselessly. Another one nearly nicks her foot, but she jumps over it and keeps running. Soon the sound of drumming comes to an end. And only silence can be heard. With the realization she was the only one of the survivors to make it out alive to live to tell about it. This woman is known as Yukiko Sohei.