Hell's One: That Corner Piece (Past Arc)

Note: This chapter is set in the past and doesn't center on the current timeline of the story. Reading this chapter isn't mandatory for understanding the story, but it would enhance the overall experience. The choice is yours. (Canon)

"Fighting no longer holds me, for I have failed to hold onto thy blade"

As Lisa struggles to regain her bearings, Persephone's ominous words hang in the air. "You're Jinxed," she declares, the implication sending a chill down Lisa's spine.

"You're-Jinxed" is an ability that allows the user to manipulate causality in a manner that reverses the outcome of specific events initiated by others. When someone attempts to harm or disadvantage the user, whether it's firing a bullet or launching an attack, the user activates their ability. Instead of being harmed, the event resets, and the same scenario unfolds once again. However, this time, the tables are turned, and the user gains control of the situation. 

In a chilling revelation, it becomes apparent that Persephone's abilities mark her as more than just a mere adversary; she is a Devil, capable of reversing not only attacks but even the most mundane of daily occurrences.

She's a Devil...she's a Devil...she's a Devil...she's a Devil...she's a Devil...she's a Devil...she's a Devil...she's a Devil...she's a Devil...she's a Devil...she's a Devil...she's a Devil...she's a Devil...she's a Devil...she's a Devil...she's a Devil...she's a Devil...she's a Devil...she's a Devil...she's a Devil.

Persephone tries to crawl away from the building, the acrid scent of smoke filling her nostrils as she moves. Drops of blood fall profusely from her wounds, splattering against the ground and leaving a metallic taste lingering in her mouth. Each movement sends sharp stabs of pain coursing through her body, the sensation akin to fire raging beneath her skin.

"Fall once, fall twice, until you shall never rise again," Persephone's voice echoes in the air, the sound reverberating with a chilling intensity.

As she attempts to strike Lisa, a tank shell roars through the air with a deafening explosion, the shockwave rippling through Persephone's body like a physical force. The ground trembles beneath her, sending vibrations reverberating up through her armor.

A tank materializes from the ground, seemingly out of thin air. The smell of burnt rubber fills the air as it rumbles into existence, the engine's roar drowning out all other sounds.

The force of the shell pushes Persephone through multiple walls, the sensation of brick and concrete crumbling against her skin like sandpaper. The dust and debris cloud her vision, making it difficult to see through the haze.

This armor is known as the "Keine/Kraft," or "No/Force" in English. It remains invisible and repels most forces thrown at it, converting them into waves of heat energy dispersed into the air. That's how Belya'al had survived a lot of the strikes from Chugi.

The Keine/Kraft helps her avoid major damage to her body, though it does drive her back.

Once she finally stops, Persephone pushes off the shell and walks through the path carved by her body through the buildings.

"How the hell did that happen?" Persephone asks herself.

She finally makes it back to the battlefield to find the tank right in front of her, with Lisa on top of it handling the turret.

"Fall once, fall twice," Lisa says.

She then begins to fire the turret at Persephone.

Each bullet feels like an anchor falling on one's head.

The armor is able to withstand mere bullets, so she remains relatively stationary.

"You'll need more than tha-" Persephone begins, but Lisa interrupts her mid-sentence by striking a wave of Dark Matter from her Katana.

Tick...tock...tick...tock.

Lisa suddenly finds Persephone above her in the air, seemingly leaping from a nearby rooftop.

They then engage in a blade bind, or rather a spear-blade bind...

"You knew about my ability, yet you still gambled that I wouldn't be able to use it fast enough," Persephone remarks. "How ferocious!"

Lisa then pushes Persephone off the tank.

Persephone's hair suddenly rises, signaling an impending lightning strike.

And so it happens.

Lightning strikes Persephone, not once, but ten times!

The series of successive lightning strikes finally die down, and surprisingly, Persephone's body is still intact.

The Keine/Kraft is able to repel attacks with kinetic energy; however, to a certain extent.

Turning kinetic energy with heat to just more heat will cause the armor to overheat, and so, some of the armor did burn off.

Persephone's eyes have gone white, and she doesn't remember much.

"The hell?", Persephone says, "where am I? who are you?"

She tries to walk away, but immediately collapses onto the floor.

"My right leg...I can't move it. It's paralyzed", Persephone says, "my body's burnt, but I don't care to feel these burns..."

Lisa gets off the tank, and then walks up to Persephone.

"Sorry to have come to this, but you hurt people. You and your group, plus you're a devil, so I always wanted to eradicate your population anyways", Lisa says as she charges Dark Matter into her Katana, preparing to strike.

Persephone's memories are like a messed up puzzle right now.

To be specific, a thousand piece puzzle.

Just one trying to put one back together, but your dog had just stepped on it, and then that very dog ran back and forth on that puzzle a number of times.

That puzzle is incomprehensible.

However, like how one identifies a puzzle by starting with the corners of the piece, she too feels that corner piece.

Within Persephone's Figment of Imagination...

"So, what do you think of Persephone?", the TV reporter asks.

"Uhm, she's quite hot, if you ask me, but her personality always helped with the dull mood of the Neo-Geisters", Hendrix says.

Scene transition.

"So, what do you think of Persephone?", the TV reporter asks.

"Her movie taste helped me expand mine, and not to mention, she's weirdly on the same brain wavelength as myself, which isn't much, but it helps me know that I'm not on my own", Alastor says.

Scene transition.

"So, what do you think of Persephone?", the TV reporter asks.

"She knows when to brighten a dark room. She's our light switch, I guess", Carla says.

Scene transition.

"So, what do you think of Persephone?", the TV reporter asks.

"I'm kind of concerned with how she's always happy. Even through pain, she just puts on a smile to cover everything up. I'm worried that it's her way of coping with something that saddens her. Hiding pain with a mask won't hide it whatsoever. Pain is pain, and I know it quite well. However, she makes us all occasionally smile, and I think that's what matters.", Belya'al says.

Scene transition.

"So, what do you think of Persephone?", the TV reporter asks.

"Well, she's another Devil just like me, but she's got something that I don't. Something that I wish to never obtain, actually. That thing is her humanity", Lilitu says.

Scene transition.

"So, what do you think of Persephone?", the TV reporter asks.

"That's...a broad question", Sanders says, "I think she contains hatred, or rather she's progressively going through the process of hatred. 'H' for hurt. The process always begins with some wounds, be it if their grand or miniscule. 'A' for anger. Like throwing gasoline onto a fire. 'T' for trauma. It just lingers within you. Haunting you. 'E' for exclusion. You're just left there to weep. You shall be left to be isolated and alienated. All in all though, she's quite pleasant and light on the heart of others".

Back To Reality...

Persephone smiles and sheds tears from both of her eyes.

She then says, "you all really think of me that way?"