Chapter 12: Constantine

I DO NOT OWN ANYTHING, other than my created character, DC belongs to Warner Bros, and Marvel belongs to Disney, which almost owns the world.

"talking"

'thinking'

"spells"

"Ghost rider voice"

...…..

John Constantine POV

Magic is a type of arcane energy that concentrates all the established energies of the universe, from which all other types of energy are derived. They are governed by the laws of reality and existence. A magician is able to bend these laws and manipulate this energy at will.

There are many branches of magic, from incantations, transformations, conjurations, healing, alchemy, among others. But we can group these multiple branches into three main types of magic, magic of order, neutral magic and magic of chaos.

Neutral magic is the most extensive and is derived mainly from nature and its resources, has no affinity and is the most flexible of the three types of magic. The magic of order is all magic that seeks the balance of the world and existence, it is a light but powerful magic, it is the best for illusions, healing and defense. Chaos magic is the counterpart of order magic, this magic is derived from destruction, darkness and change, it is the main attack magic and the most powerful magic that exists, but very few are able to handle it as it corrupts the mind of the casters.

-Myrddin Emrys, Magic at the World

This was the first thing I read when my grandfather dictated that I was good enough to carry on the family legacy. The Constantine name was too heavy in this world. Of course, if you look for everything from politics to sports you won't find anyone with this last name, as we didn't thrive in these areas. Exorcism, our family made its name through the destruction of all kinds of monsters and demons.

Demons, Interdimensional beings capable of altering or generating chaos in the world influencing through possession or through the same feelings to the people of this land.

My great-grandfather, Dorian Constantine was the first recorded exorcist in my family. After suffering the loss of his wife and daughter to a demon, he vowed revenge at any cost.

Derived from a wealthy aristocratic family, he used all his resources to find a way to destroy the evil beings that caused him to lose what he cherished most in life. His search led him to the path of exorcism, however, the methods were so secret that it was almost impossible to know or learn how to do it, not without a competent teacher.

He finally felt hopeful when, after several years, he found a monastery full of exorcist priests. They trained him for a short time, but try as he might, he had no affinity for light magic, the type of magic they used to destroy these demons, and he would never become an official member of the order of Saint Lucas because of this.

However, he saw hope when he dabbled in the same magic that had caused him to nearly commit suicide years before, demonic magic, a type of magic associated with chaos magic.

He would fight fire with fire, he would fulfill his vengeance. So he sought a master to teach him, and he found him in one of the most infamous magicians that history has ever had, the Russian demon, Grigori Rasputin.

My great-grandfather went through hell being trained by this infamous, but powerful sorcerer, but in the end, he became powerful enough to fulfill his vengeance, and boy did he fulfill it.

From that day on, one of the most infamous surnames in the ears of demons was engraved, the Constantine name.

My great-grandfather remarried and had children, but he, not wanting to go through the same thing, trained his sons to carry on the family legacy, and those sons taught their sons... and now it is my turn.

From a young age my grandfather claimed that I would be one of, if not the most, powerful exorcist in the family.

I had the highest affinity for chaos magic, even more than my great grandfather, but honestly, I didn't care, at that time I was young and my only desire was to be a rock star and impress Lisa Terry with my skillful guitar playing. Hopefully, she could tell how good I was at using my hands, if you know what I mean.

My family almost disowned me for my rebellious attitude, my poor grades in school and my lack of interest in the study of magic. But my dear older sister prevented that from happening, besides, she advocated for me. They didn't need me, my sister was talented enough to carry on the family legacy.

My older sister, Cheryl Constantine. She was very smart, charismatic and powerful, she was good at everything she set her mind to, and, to be honest, I couldn't be more proud of her. She was the only one who supported me in my dreams, and I knew she sacrificed hers to pursue mine.

That's why it hurt me so much when on a hunting raid, a demon killed her. From that day on I swore to myself that I would carry on the family legacy, that I would make her proud. I embraced my destiny and entered the world of magic. 

I learned everything I needed to know, both theoretically and practically, all kinds of magic, rituals, incantations and invocations. I also learned a lot of history derived from many folklores, the world was very varied, and my grandfather, being the experienced man that he was, taught me that every myth has a bit of truth in its history.

When I fisnish my studies, my grandfather took me on my first hunt, I was nervous I can't deny it, I was only 18 when it happened, but, in my grandfather's words, I performed very well for my first time.

After a couple of years, I became quite proficient, and, traveling around England, I started a big purge of my country. When I finished this great hunt, I put back into the heads of the demons why the name Constantine was so feared.

I even managed to rescue the queen from demonic possession, earning me a knighthood and becoming a paranormal consultant to the royal family.

However, it wasn't all good, as, due to my inexperience, before I killed a demon on a hunt, the same demon cursed me, so that anyone who was near me would die.

I thought this was silly, until Lisa, who had been my girlfriend for several years, died in a car accident. Then my friend Mike, with whom I started the rock band, had committed suicide due to the considerable gambling debts he owed.

Finally, the last nail in the coffin was the death of my grandfather from a strange heart disease, his death was very sudden, and that made me realize that this curse was not as simple as it seemed.

I traveled the world after that, looking for a solution to this problem, but the only thing I could gather was that the curse was linked to my soul, and, that the simplest method to remove it was by dying.

I became a loner, an alcoholic and a bit of a drug addict, I isolated myself from the world. I was only alive because of the simple promise I made to my sister. My life was shit, but before I left I would take all the demons I could get.

I went wandering around Europe, trying to destroy various covens of vampires and werewolves. People who had performed forbidden rituals to gain power, but lost all their humanity because of it.

For vampires who sought for immortality, they needed to sustain their life with blood, preferably of pure origin, children or virgins. Werewolves, people who wanted power but ended up becoming in an irrational beast murderer on a full moon night.

In Asia I exorcised evil yokai spirits. Beings that fed on people's negativity. Later, I came here, to America, and I must say that this country is full of depravity and evil, greed and hatred, the strongest signs that there are many demons influencing this place, and I would kill them all, that was a promise.

My enchanted compass, a parting gift from my grandfather, that detected demonic spirits was guiding me through the streets of National City in the early hours of Christmas morning.

For me, who had no one of importance in this world, the day it was just like another crappy day, maybe a little more festive, that's all.

Out of nowhere my compass went crazy, a sign that a strong spirit was near, I went down an alley that would take me through a shortcut to ambush him, but first I had to observe him, analyze him, that was one of my grandfather's first lessons, knowing what you are facing will make you take the best and most efficient course of action.

In the alley that was adjacent to a street that, at this moment was lonely, there was only a tall guy with curly black hair, wearing dark glasses and carrying a white cane denoting his disability.

It was strange, I have faced several beings, some stronger than others, but my instincts have never told me to turn and run away, that this person was quite dangerous and that facing him would only bring me misfortune and sorrow.

My mind began to doubt, I didn't know what to do, when I was thinking about the best course of action a sudden voice came out of the subject's mouth.

"Come out, I know you are following me."

This caught me off guard, maybe he wasn't really blind, or his senses were extremely sharp, this was not good at all. I decided to do what I did best in these moments of doubt…improvise.

"You certainly have good senses there friend" I said walking out of the alley, acting as calm as possible, although a part of me was quite nervous, I needed to play my cards right at this moment

"Who are you?" he asked, his tone didn't denote hostility, more just curiosity and a slight hint of...sorrow, 'I hope I'm not wrong about this' I thought

"Constantine", I took a puff of my cigar to look as tough as possible, exhaled the smoke and said "John Constantine, and I come to kill you demon."

....

....

....

"Pfftt, I'm sure that's coming from a movie" he said, his tone had a slight hint of amusement in it, he was clearly trying not to laugh, this just pissed me off, I wanted to look as tough as possible, but apparently it hadn't worked.

"How did you find me?" he asked curiously, 'so, he don't deny that his a demon' I thought, I certainly thought he would deny it or start running away, as most of the time it had happened to me. I guess this is not a usual case, I will have to be as efficient as possible, mistakes were not allowed.

"I have an enchanted compass that makes me find demonic spirits, and I point it at you my friend, and since you don't deny it, I guess it's inevitable our fight" said Constantine with a resigned tone.

"Look, I don't know you, but I'm not what you're looking for, I'm not a demon, honestly... I don't know what I am, but I can assure you that, for the innocent I'm not a threat. It's not too late to avoid this, turn around and leave, and everyone will go their own way" he told me with a pleading tone. His offer was tempting, I don't deny it, but I made my promise, as long as I am still breathing, I would keep hunting demons, I hope I am not wrong with this one.

"Sorry buddy, but that's not going to be possible" then conjuring my magic power and channeling it as I had been taught I said.

"vis confractus", a shockwave hit hard as a blast that sent the boy flying several meters, then he hit hard against a wall that stopped his throw.

I didn't let him breathe, my instincts were telling me that I needed to do everything possible so I quickly conjured more magical power and said.

"tartarea pluvia" out of nowhere a large dark magical seal materialized above where this man was standing, and as if all hell broke loose on earth it began to rain down bursts of lava balls so hot, they began to melt the asphalt. Many of the falling balls began to melt the guy's skin, leaving his handsome face as a hideous blob of skin, it wasn't a pretty picture but I couldn't afford any slack with this.

"Sorry buddy it's not perso..." i couldn't finish my sentence when i saw something that numbed my mind. That burnt and melted flesh that was after that attack, started to heal.

The burned skin began to heal at an inhuman and alarming rate. In less than a minute, his skin and body were with no wounds at all, as if my attack had never happened. Oh…This was bad, very bad for me.

"That was rude" he said with a bored tone, as if unperturbed by the attack I made, yet deep down there was a tone of anger, of threat. My instincts were telling me to run away that it wasn't too late, but I quickly put those thoughts to the back of my mind and began to analyze the situation

'if deadly attacks don't work, then only encirclement is possible' I thought, quickly chanting a spell.

"uincula perpetue claustri", many chains made of shadows materialized binding and restraining the man, dozens of chains tightly holding his arms, feet, neck, shoulders, practically every part of his body. 'This will give me time to recharge' I thought, I had used a lot of magical power with these spells, I needed to recharge to use the final spell, a spell that would banish this... being, to the confines of hell.

But I didn't have time to breathe when the chains began to vibrate strongly, the air also began to heat up, this only brought an alarming feeling to me. I began to panic, these chains were strong enough to stop beings as strong like Superman.

However, I began to see why they were vibrating, it wasn't because they were being forcibly pulled, it was because they were getting hotter. Increasing the temperature in the environment, the air began to be very hot, like a summer day, it almost didn't seem like it was winter season.

I saw how the chains began to melt, chains made of shadows began to melt, this was something unheard of, and, as if this was not enough, my mind was in shock, when I saw how the man's face began to heat up and turn into a living skull covered with fire, his hands had also turned into a skeleton. When this transformation happened, the chains were completely destroyed.

"Shit" was all I could say.

I had read of Christian folklore stories, and there was a story of a being with these characteristics. 'Horseman of the apocalypse' I thought, a being that would bring destruction and death to all sinners on the day of reckoning.

Out of nowhere I watched as this skull put its hands to its mouth and surprising me made a hissing sound.

"fiu fiu"

This surprised me, I didn't know why I had done this, but soon my question was answered because I heard a loud engine coming rapidly towards us. In less than a minute I saw a motorcycle arrive at a speed that was impossible for any vehicle except supersonic jets.

The skull touched the motorcycle and slowly it was transformed into a motorcycle that also had a skull on what had been its headlight, its tires were covered with fire, its handlebars had also been lengthened giving it the appearance of horns, in short, its appearance turned from an elegant and beautiful motorcycle to a totally rough motorcycle.

But the being did not get on the bike, no, rather from the bike, he took a rather long chain that was hanging and with a quick movement he tied it on his body, he also took a pistol with its holster and placed it on his hip, if he could say it, the appearance of this being would look like that of a gunman ready to kill.

'If demonic magic doesn't work then I can only use light magic' I thought, even though the Constantine was not light affinity, this didn't stop us from learning some useful spells of this affinity, and I, in view of the fact that my enemy had not been affected by demonic spells, would have to use the strongest spell I had of light affinity.

I had not yet fully recharged my magical power, and I knew that, if this did not work, only one thing would await me, death, so using all the power I had left I said.

"Hastae lucis" a large magical seal materialized and from there rained hundreds of spears of light that were directed towards this demonic being. This was my strongest attack of light, there were many spears, I knew escape was impossible, some were sure to hit, hopefully this would do the final job.

However, to my regret, the being didn't even move, he didn't even try to escape or dodge, he simply grabbed its chain, uncoiled it and with a quick movement began to make large circles with it. It quickly ignited with fire, which generated a whirlwind that began to melt the incoming spears.

I couldn´t believe it, hundreds of arrows destroyed by a single movement, all my work, all my studies, all my power, broke by this… being.

"I'm angry" said this being with a deep and rough voice that could only come out of a horror movie

'I´m so fuck'

With an inhuman speed he approached towards me, this caught me off guard, and, I could only do the only thing that came to my mind, intercept him with a punch

"AAAGGGGG" I screamed loudly, my fingers were broken, as it looked like I had hit steel and I also had my knuckles burned, it looked like a second degree burn.

"My turn" I didn't register what happened as I went flying, courtesy of a hard blow to my jaw, my mind was numb, and I was on a thread between passing out from the pain and staying conscious. My vision was blurry but I could still see this being approaching me with slow steps, I wanted to move, but I was clamped with his hand on my neck and lifted up.

"Look at me" my eyes saw his sockets and that's how I realized I was going to die, there was no more, all my life passed through my eyes, all my mistakes, my regrets. However, this being released me and said with his voice.

"Innocent"

Slowly he was transforming to the appearance of the handsome young man, as he no longer had his glasses, I could see his eyes of such a light gray color, as if reflecting the moonlight.

He let go of me and said.

"I want a magical oath from you, Constantine, that you will not reveal anything about what happened here, about me and my circumstances."

"Why..."

"why…?"

"you could have easily killed me, why you spared my life?, "

"Mmmm… that's a Good question…" He placed his hands on his chin as he began to think deeply. Maybe he was repenting for sparing my life.

'Maybe I should keep my big mouth quiet for once, I should have learned that lesson that time in that bar in Manchester'

After thinking for a long minute, he gave a sigh of resignation and addressed himself in a rather serious tone. "Constantine, You have made quite a few mistakes throughout your life, but not bad enough to succumb to my gaze. I saw your life too, you have suffered enough with all that has happened to you… It's time to forgive youself"

My eyes opened like a river, I couldn't stop crying, how could I forgive myself? My whole life was full of regrets. I knelt down while I let every feeling of guilt I felt toward my family, my friends, myself, all those failures come to mind. The pal didn't say anything, he just let me get out every bit of sadness I had saved.

After a few minutes I started to calm down, with an embarrassed smile I turn towards the mate

"Sorry for that… and thank you, May I know your name?"

"My name is Edgar Bones… But, make no mistake Constantine, we are not friends, I forgive your life but I can easily take it from you. I hope you know this, now take that oath, or I will no longer hesitate to burn you to ashes"

"You are right…I am only alive because of your forgiveness". With a sigh of resignation, I gathered courage and began that oath. "I, John Contantine, swear on my life that I will say nothing of what happened here, that I will say nothing of 'Edgar Bones' circumstances without his permission, may magic be a witness to my oath, so be it", a light was reflected after saying these words. Magical oaths were unbreakable, if broken there was only one end... my death.

The atmosphere became somewhat tense as a result of this, but Edgar in question broke it with a simple phrase.

"haha just calm down man, you don't need to be so serious", easily to say, you don't have you're life in risk. But maybe not everything was bad, Edgar seemed like a pretty relaxed guy... when he wasn't a murderous skull

"mmm actually... looking closely I can see that you have a curse on your soul" this made my eyes grow big from the surprise

"You can see it?" I said surprised with a tone of disbelief.

"I'm not completely blind, in fact, my eyes are very special, they can see everything related to souls, the curse is well hidden, that's why I didn't notice it at first, but it's there, I could destroy it but I would risk it with burning your soul and leaving you as a lifeless vessel, and I don't think you want that..." He said it so casually that it sent a shiver down my spine

"But... my research told me that I could only destroy the curse with my death" I said incredulously.

"hahaha no, clearly you didn't do enough research, yes, they are difficult, but there are several ways to undo it, one is with my hellfire, but it's too small for that. The more safely but effective way to you is with a a difficult and elaborated ritual.

Even nowadays, the research related to souls is very limited, I am not surprised that you have found almost nothing, the last great wizard who fully studied this subject was Mordred, the son of Merlin and that was many centuries ago. He claimed that souls were our anchor to the earthly world, that you could lose your body, your essence and your mind, but that you only truly died when your soul vanished. And he was not wrong.

Do you know what the difference between a human and a god is, Constantine?"

"their divinity" I answered hesitantly

"before, it was thought to be... but no, there were demigods so powerful that they inherited their divinity from their parents."

"then what is the correct answer?"

"souls"

"are you telling me that... gods don't have souls?"

"No, ALL the living things have souls, but the souls of the gods are not bound to the earthly world, they are bound to their domains, as long as that domain exists, the gods cannot die, they will only regenerate, which yes, would last a long time, but practically they are immortal.

When a human dies, his soul is detached from the earthly world and passes to a higher plane. Do you know how my powers work?"

"....How?" I didn't know where he was going with this, frankly this conversation was getting very sidetracked, and frankly little by little I couldn't keep up any more

"my gaze can succeed in trapping souls on a lower plane, hell, specifically the fourth layer, the layer of punishment..."

"Why are you telling me this..."

"Because I want you to know what you were saved from, Constantine. YOU owe me too much, not because of a simple oath tied to your life, I want you to know what was really at stake."

"What do you want from me...?"

"At this moment... nothing, you are of no use to me, you are weak, young, though with much potential you still lack. But when I need a favor, you will help me, that's what I ask, you won't question me, you won't doubt, you will just do it, is that clear?"

"Yes..." at this moment I felt like I was selling my soul to satan himself, I should have turned around and run when my instincts told me to.

"Well, let's leave the serious stuff, you know the order of St. Lucas?"

"Yes, my great-grandfather was a member, but he abdicated because he had no affinity for the light magic"

"yes, light magic it's a requirement for membership. In the order there are records of the Constantines, the exorcist family that uses demonic magic to hunt paranomarl creatures, actually you are quite notable, especially in Europe you have quite a reputation, that you owe me a favor is good enough for me. But I will give you a piece of advice.

Demonic magic is effective but it is not infallible, just remember that there are beings more powerful than me, they will not be so merciful, I propose you to keep training, there is more magic out there, more spells, the order of Saint Lucas can help you, they will also help you with the curse, they know the ritual you need. Tell them that I send you, the head Deacon is almost like a brother to me." He said the last part with a smile, he had a look of longing as if he was remembering good old times

"Thank you…" I said with a smile, finally there was a light in this dark tunnel that is my life. "if it works I will owe you my life, my friend" saying this I headed to the alley and saying a quick teleportation spell "ad domum" I left National City heading to Valencia to visit the order.

.....

Edgar Bones POV

"Well... that was interesting, I hope he manages to solve his problems, now where's my cell phone?" I could 'see' with my senses how all my stuff had been destroyed, my glasses and cell phone were melted, courtesy of Constantine's attack.

'well tomorrow I'll buy another one, it's not like anyone would have spoken to me at this hour' (if Diana heard you, she would hit you very hard).

I hopped on my bike which had stopped looking like a ghost bike and sped off towards my apartment, it had been a long night, I deserve a rest.

…..

Markovia, December 28, 19:38 UTC, 2014

In a large mansion, full of luxuries, inside the heart of the small monarchic country of Markovia, you could find a person of dark complexion, he had long black hair, tied in a ponytail, he had rough features and a serious and aristocratic expression but the most striking thing was a scar of animal claws he had on his face that gave him a mean and threatening look. He was dressed in a general's costume, full of many insignia that recognized his rank and achievements.

This was the great general of the Makovia army, Vandal Savage, a great strategic general expert in all kinds of weapons and combat, a serious guy, but who, to his people, was a fair and benevolent guy.

However, what few knew is that this person had not only been a general of this army, in fact, throughout history he had been a general, soldier, thinker, philosopher, teacher, and many other things within the greatest civilizations and conquering countries, he had also been in all the important points of history and maker of many revolutionary historical events. He was an immortal being dating back to the time of the Neanderthals.

His power was derived from a radioactive meteorite that fell, which gave him an inhuman intelligence, and a regeneration so amazing that it prevented him from dying unless all his cells were destroyed, not even a nuclear bomb was able to kill him.

"Sir your guest is here" a pretty young woman's voice was uttered as said young woman opened the door, it was the general's secretary.

"Thank you Meridith, let him in" he said in a deep and magnetic voice, which had a hint of superiority in it.

A young bald man, dressed in an elegant and expensive suit entered the room where Vandal was, this person was Lex Luthor.

"A pleasure to see you, Lex."

"The pleasure is all mine, Master" for Lex, Vandal was one of the people he had the most respect for. He was a mentor and a trigger to get his business to where it was now. Many of the things he did were on behalf of said man.

"How are your plans going Lex?" asked Vandal curiously.

"Well Master, my sources tell me that the Revenger Group is already going to start the pilot phase for the 'Improvement' project. This project is going to be the trigger for us to start the Cadmus Project. And how are you doing with the recruitment?" asked Lex curiously.

"It's going well Lex, Ras and Count Vertigo have already accepted the treaty, Queen Bee and Prince Orm are in negotiations, it's just a matter of time, for our organization to be effective. Let the heroes go on with their games, we will be the shadow that will lead the world to the next evolution, soon everyone will see The Light."

....

AN: If I see a lot of support, power stones,etc, in this chap, next Sunday I will upload a double chap

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Next next: In the Shadows