The Halls Of The Carmine King

Two pairs of burning Carmine eyes seemed to simmer with hate in the midst of the destruction their owner had caused. Beneath what had once been a thick layer of stone and earth stood Pyr. He was ankle deep in water, his current form resembling the titan form he would usually assume in battle. The only difference was that he had maintained his nine foot height.

The flames and magma like veins that normally smouldered from within now blazed a pinkish red. Bricks still occasionally fell from the ceiling, almost melting from the heat of the inferno that still raged above ground.

However the catacombs shielded the two combatants from the roar of the fires above. 

"Let us not desecrate this place for too long, lest cerberus expel us."

At Pyrs words, his opponent blasted towards him. Smoke, dust and steam swirled around a stream of light that flash forward. An almost silent scream echoed amongst the dead as the blade of her spear scraped the water's surface. 

In that moment, Pyrs eyes met those of his student. No, the eyes of the child he had found all those years ago in her mothers mouth.

They were devoid of darkness, and full of light. Her mind was clouded. Shrouded in the blinding brilliance of her emotions.

"How unwise."

*BLAM!!!*

Kaina twisted to the side just in time to be barely grazed by Pyr's right set of arms, sending her skipping into the darkness like a stone.

Pyr's four eyes watched shadows closely, monitoring Kainas every strained movement as she tried to return to her feet.

The weapon Kaina was in possession of was troublesome, and if it were to pierce his hide the world would be in a lot of trouble. It was also the reason for Kaina's current outburst.

It had tainted her mind and twisted her desires beyond her control.

If he could peacefully incapacitate her and take it, he would. However…

"Zeus's influence remains on that weapon. What a pestilent lineage you have."

The flames on his back cackled with indignation as he sucked in a deep breath.

"Well it's fine, I'll simply have to teach you a bit of the ancient language all titans know."

A flicker of white light betrayed Kaina's recovery as the catacombs were lit up with streaks of lightning.

Pyr exhaled a rumbling sigh as his gills began to ripple. Spurts of flame slid between his blackened teeth till their edges began to glow a burning red.

Suddenly from the darkness, an approaching glint grasped his attention.

His eyes rolled back as they turned a smoky grey and his mouth snapped open, breathing a tidal inferno that caused even his gills to flare open like exhausts. The wave crashed over the water's surface and slammed into the pillars before him.

Mildewed parchment that bore  the name of each pillar burned in carmine hellfire as sorcerous ink dyed black sparked and dyed portions of the flames black.

He laid waste to everything before him.

Finally the fires on Pyrs back began to die down. As his shoulders sank, his breath turned from flame to smoke to wavering hot air.

"I speak death."

…

As was above, is what will be below. The catacombs were soaked in the black and pink light of smouldering ink and stones set aflame.

In the courtyard above, the raging inferno continued to linger despite the best efforts of several heros.

"I always 'ated divine fire. This shit 'ere is hard to put out!"

A man in what appeared to be a bronze hazmat suit raised both his arms, while the clear tubes that spread from his back and connected to his hands filled with a blue fluid. Blue foam flew out of his fingertips as he tried to smother the raging fires.

However no matter what he did, the flames just wouldn't go out.

"You're just wasting retardant at this point, Quenchman! Only Pyr can put this out."

"Slipstream!?"

A man in a blue supersuit suddenly appeared in front of him, . Pieces of the suit were covered by black armour that were inlaid with several little holes. Small boosters fired off from the holes in the armour on his chest and shins as he slowed to a stop in front of Pyr. 

Quenchman's surprise was quickly replaced with a grim worry as he looked at what looked to be a pit to hell which radiated an ominous red glow.

"Well Pyr asn't come back since dragging off whatever bas'urd he took down d'ere!"

Slipstream followed Quenchman's gaze and took in the sight of the pit.

"What the hell…"

"No! That 'ere is hell!"

"Quenchman, keep leading your squad to contain the flames. I don't know why The Overseer hasn't reacted yet but I'm going down there to get a read. If I don't contact you in ten minutes then call the coalition for reinforcements."

"Aye aye Slipstream! Good luck and god be with you!"

The plating on the back of Slipstream's calves and on top of his shoulder blades slowly lifted up as tiny little jets began to activate. The tiny cones of fire turned from a dark yellow to a bright blue. 

Despite not having any wheels, tracks, or skates of any kind, he began to slowly slide forward. This is because of Slipstreams abilities to both solidify and breakdown surfaces and reduce friction.

For this reason, Slipstream was S-class's number one hero.

He seemed to lackadaisically skate around the hole, slowly speeding up as a holographic blue visor covered his face.

Soon he began to turn into a blur that dragged the raging inferno in a circle around the edge of the pit. Seconds later, a loud boom would echo above the roar of the flames as the blur flew down below the surface.

…

"Well I'll be damned."

If what was above could be called a raging inferno, then the pure heat that hit Slipstream as he raced downward was incredible. If it weren't for his suits resistance to high temperatures…

'I could die down here.'

The whole of the catacombs were now lit by a ghastly pinkish red hue, accented by shadows of black light.

And yet as he hit what he thought to be concrete and prepared to push off, ripples rolled across the surface of what looked to be a good foot or two of water.

'Alright this is really weird.'

Looking around, he saw flashes of bright white light and plumes of pinkish red flame coming from deeper into the catacombs.

Slipstream's eyes narrowed as his hud seemed to warp everytime he tried to scan the battlefield, prompting him to turn it off and simply dash in.

"INTERLOPER!"

A massive hand appeared in front of him the moment he caught up with the rampaging Titan, snatching him right off the water's surface as he felt a subtle breeze pass him between the whirlwind of scorching gales.

"You are not qualified to fight in this battle, nuisance."

Suddenly he felt his side heat up as a display warned him that his suit had been cut open on his left side.

Clamping his hand down on the damaged spot, he looked up at just in time to see Pyrs jaws clamp down on a blade coming straight for his forehead.

Three hands then clawed at nothing as Slipstream was unceremoniously dropped into the now normal water as a rumbling voice veiled in fury spoke pierced the cacophony of thunder and roaring flames.

"You would do well to follow the lead of the others who are present and remain above ground. I will deal with this."

Slipstreams eyes widened as he looked up to Pyr in what appeared to be in some form of half-step towards his Titan form.

His arms swung in predetermined paths, anticipating the movements of a being he could barely perceive. 

All he could see was web like surges of lightning crawling across the surface of the contrastingly still water. He watched as Pyr's tails stab down right where his opponent once was, just missing their quarry.

'I gotta get out of here!'

Slipstreams feet left the concrete and returned to the surface of the water as the liquid tensed beneath him. He then began to skate away, cursing his slow startup speed.

He could hear the clash of claws on metal behind him, but he ignored it. If he couldn't fight then he was a burden.

Nothing more.

Finally reaching a reasonable escape velocity, he began to glide as he poised to go up on of the pillars to reach the cieling.

*FZZZZZZT!!!*

Just before he could get out, he heard the fizzle of burning air coming towards him.

He instantly dashed forward, dodging the pillar he planned race up and accelerating to a speed that would hopefully deter whatever was behind him.

Yet even so, he could still hear hateful crackle of whatever weapon was chasing behind him.

'Shit'

He lit up a rocket on the back of his right hand as he spun in a quick 180, throwing a punch behind him at supersonic speeds. His eyes having adapted to the speed he gained could now barely see a girl in a white and silver super suit dodge the blow with a swift duck.

*KRAKOOM!*

He was now swiftly gaining speed, and even moving backwards he managed to keep his footing. 

He raced backwards around several sets of debris, barely managing keep out of reach of the girl in tow.

Igniting a thruster on his elbow, he began to clench his fist. A piece of his vambrace then slipped over his knuckles as he once again threw a punch at her head. And though his fist was never destined to land, the fist brace launched from off his knuckles barely missed, nicking the cloth of the girls right pauldron. 

And in that split second where she dodged, Endora felt a shiver run down her spine. In her moment of rage at the audacity of this particular trespasser, she had failed to notice the flames go silent.

The roaring inferno had gone dead. Both above and below.

They were now two streaks of white and blue dashing across an endless expanse.

"What in the world?"

Her chase slowed to a stop as she noticed the pillars were now gone, Only the endless dark remained.

Yet…

'I'm still standing on water?'

Looking up, she could now see that her opponent lay floating on the water's surface. 

Taking cautious steps, she walked over to what appeared to be a hero's floating corpse.

Wherever she strode, whenever her foot met the water's surface, lightning would splay out like a crack in thick ice. Her every step crackled and roared in the emptiness and yet…

She still felt fear.

Reaching the body, she flipped it over. 

It was slipstream.

Or at least it was his waterlogged corpse. Lifting up his body, seawater poured from his nose, mouth and even his ears.

His eyes were empty, while his normally dark skin had paled and turned a ugly beige. Algae was stuck in the many edges of his armour while colonies of barnacles dotted his suit.

He was dead, and had been dead for a very, very long time.

Grabbing the corpse by the scruff of its neck she then held it at her side, dragging it along as she explored the empty darkness.

In this place, time seemed strange as though it were as uncertain as the… waves?

Looking around her, waves now rolled beneath her feet and swept crash into each other in a tumultuous fashion. The once dark sky now brightened to reveal the grey clouds that boomed with the threatening throes of the burdened heavens.

The waves now frothed and stood at colossal scale, only crumbling before the folly of another of their own kind.

Rain began to pour down with the sharpness of thousands of nails, piercing the water's surface with reckless abandon.

And in the midst of this all stood Kaina, standing in the single point of calm amongst this sudden hurricane.

A sickening dread had taken hold of her, peeling off the layers of insanity that plagued her mind.

The courage and resolution of the damned and the fallen had left her alone in the heart of this storm.

The tempestuous seas cried out in symphony, deafening her as she realised she was alone here.

Suddenly, she felt something touch her foot. 

She looked down, seeing a head of hair bobbing against her foot. Reaching down, she pulled it out of the water. Another corpse. A soggy mess of feathers that clung to the body's back made it easy to identify.

'Ludovica?'

Feeling something brush against her finger, she dropped the body. Watching it sink into the depths, she felt her throat begin to close up. Her eyes began to water as the panic set in. The bodies of those she knew now littered the seas, almost as numerous as the falling rain.

*KRAKOOM!*

A massive thunderclap resounded amongst the almost solid overcast sky, startling her into dropping slipstream as well.

  She was now alone, standing amongst the waves. 

The cold and clammy skin of a corpse had been her final source of solace upon the empty ocean.

Her eyes darted across the waves, her mind now fully awake as she searched for something, anything that could tell her that she wasn't alone. That this was but the harsh judgement of a hateful titan.

Yet amid the tides and swells, there were only the floating bodies of the dead.

Forever doomed to an eternity within this endless tempest.

It was at that moment when she lost hope that her strength faded. In that instant, the ocean overtook her and she sank below the surface.

As she fell into the empty depths, death revealed itself to her in the final darkness. 

The glow of five amber eyes revealed itself from the black, their radiance unveiling to her that resistance would be for naught.

It was then, and only then, that the words of her mentor came back to her.

'What were they? Ah… yes…'

Beg the sea for mercy.

…

Daylight now pushed its way through the clouds above Valor base, gazing into the once hellish abyss that led to the catacombs.

Silvery grey wings fluttered down into the depths as the Overseer surveyed the damage.

Her descent below the surface was slow, with the scorched stone regaling her with tales of a rampant inferno.

The closer to the bottom she got, the stronger the smell of smoked mildew became. In the remnants of battle, there was glory to be found in its aftermath.

Processions of priests now marched amongst the pillars, blessing the tombs of fallen deities and their kin.

They were orderly and deliberate. Their every movement was made under the watchful "gaze" of Cerberus, guardian of the catacombs and the burial site of the Gods.

Though a beast he may be, he was every bit as ancient and divine as the living gods who roamed the earth today.

There were few who could contest his might.

Sadly for him however, he could not dispute the powerful desecrators who fought within his domain either.

Landing on wet concrete, the Overseer noted that the catacombs had been drained for ease of access.

"Is that you, Ludovica?"

One of the hounds' heads turned to face hers, sniffing the air as it recognized her.

Its eye sockets were empty, devoid of the flaming eyes that once proudly looked down upon all who faced it. 

"It's me Cerberus, what's the damage looking like?"

The three headed rottweiler whined and rested its heads on its paws. The black fur that covered him rose and fell as he took slow, heavy breaths.

"Thankfully it's mostly superficial, but a lot of the seals and blessings were burnt and damaged. Nothing was lost and nothing was taken as I arrived right after Pyr finished running amok."

"Well that's good…"

Ludovica went silent for a moment, thinking about how she wished Pyr was easier to deal with.

"Ludovica"

"hmm?"

A head nudged her shoulder, gaining her attention.

"Is the school alright?"

An eyebrow went up in surprise as Ludovica looked at the catacombs guardian in surprise.

"You rarely care for things outside your work, is there something bothering you?"

The hound snorted at the slight against him, however did not argue either.

"The loss of my eyes granted me a new perspective on things, and the idea that someone may have put this "event" into motion has not escaped my attention. That hole will take time to fix, and though it can be temporarily blocked off, this procession will eventually end and the amount of eyes on this place will wane."

The hound sighed, looking at the rubble around him.

"When that happens, I am going to need help to guard this place. Even though I have pride in my skills when it comes to the safekeeping of these catacombs, I am unwilling to let hubris cloud my judgement again."

The final words in that statement were spoken through grinding teeth. 

"I understand, I will dispatch some heroes I know I can trust. They may be weak, but they are loyal and perceptive."

"You have my thanks, Elder Praetorian."

Ludovica grimaced as she heard that name, a few memories resurfacing at its mention.

"I no longer go by that title Cerberus, even if you say it in a respectful manner."

The three heads nodded, showing their understanding. 

"I'll return later with the helpers. I have to go check on Pyr. Last I saw him he was threatening coalition staff with the possibility of sinking the east coast."

"What a chaotic existence…"

"Tell me about it. Oh! I forgot to mention this, but Thanatos will be coming to make sure that the dead remain undisturbed.  I asked him to bring a hecatonchire bone."

"A ray of light in these dark times, truly you are a symbol of imperial glory."

"Flattery won't get you another one."

…