Chapter Text
PRELUDE CHAPTER
DIVINITY BE DAMNED
Brimstone. Darkness. Infernal flames. The smell of sulfur, of carbon, of ash. The vile screams of the wretched who crawl upon its surface. The shrieks of the tainted, the cries of the damned, the groans of the punished. Pain, suffering, torture. Unending undying death. Sin. Hell.
This wasn't that... though she knew that's where she ought to be. The ground is still stiffly warm, the air suffocating and dry, the land dark... at least, from what she could tell. She dared not open her eyes, lest she confirm that she truly was in Hell for her transgressions, and the pain begun.
But no. Something was here with her. No- someONE.
She daren't stand... what if what's there was sent to bring her the punishment that awaited? She only ever heard rumors and stories about such an infernal place of pure pain, and never once thought she would end up being at its beck and call... not now, not ever. She just wanted to stay there, curled up in a ball, hoping that maybe by a miracle she'd be spa-
"Mio. Get up."
Just like that, there wouldn't be any peace left for her. Crap... crap crap crap- this might be the end of me... Mio let out a shudder while screaming at herself internally, finally pulling first her fluff-ridden hands out from underneath her, pushing up against the ground as her legs also unfurled from their fetal position. She didn't leave the ground of the warm, black abyss, before silently slamming her head against its solid surface in penance. Her form was frail, shaky, weak; she dared not look up at the person staring her down, fearing it might make the punishment begin all the more quicker.
"Ah, there you are darling." The figure slowly made its way towards her, its steps firm yet light on the black floor. Mio could feel the air leave both her body and the surrounding area as it stopped right in front of her downtrodden figure, and before she knew it, a hand had reached for her chin and pulled her gaze into its own.
"Aah-" She stifled a yelp, now gazing teary-eyed and perpetually fearful of her captor- a figure with brown hair, dark eyes, slight wire-framed glasses perched upon the bridge of his nose. A blue button-up and grey tie, though as she can't look down no longer, can't see what left there is. His hand, though seemingly small, had a grip that she couldn't even fathom... she knew she couldn't escape it even if she tried- and if she did, the suffering would likely begin that much quicker. Crap cr- no, that word doesn't fit this... FUCK!
"Now now, dearest Mio, you're sweating like a pig," His other hand lightly grazed against the side of her neck, flicking away a drop of the liquid fear that plastered her body and clothes. "I assume you probably know why you're here?"
Yep. I'm absolutely fucked. He's here to exact my judgement... no no no! "A-ah-h- n-no... sir?..." Her voice came out in a stifled fearful mess, as her bluish neon hair seemed to lose all form and attempted to hide her own face away.
The air seemed to shift even warmer, and the man's gaze lay unreflective of any thoughts of its own, simply staring deeply into Mio's own. He suddenly let go of her chin and, seemingly at his own will, she collapsed in a trembling heap; though that could have just been her fear. "Oh, I'm sure you do... Mio, you've committed many a sin. Need I remind you of any of them," He seemed to speak this as a statement rather than as a question, yet she still whimpered only a most pitiful attempt at a 'no, please' in her heap of a human.
He didn't hear... or maybe, he chose not to listen. "Well, I'm no judge, though I have heard and seen that you've been abusing an entire world at your whims as a False God, have you not? I mean, destroying homes and lives, creating beasts and amalgamations with no real concern, creating hapless life and twisting it into your own devices, and even going so far as to try to overturn an ACTUAL god's own attempts at peace." With each word spoken, it seemed to sting deeper into Mio's heart, drilling home just how much pain she could be in for once she was brought away from this purgatory and sent to the river Styx to drown.
"Ellie, Lulu, Marie, Kai, even Tomomo, just to name a few, yes?"
FUCKING HELL! WHY DID I HAVE-
"- to die? Oh, you're not dead. I forgot to tell you that much." The figure just laughed sheepishly, still sounding monotone even so. Is the air unbearably chilly, or impossibly burning?
... did he just... read my mind?
"No, I can't give you all my tricks right away- but your face makes it quite apparent what you're thinking... though no, I can't judge for Heaven, no. Though after all this is said and done, you might consider me your guardian angel."
"M... my- w-what?" Her own timid form seemed to still shrink away, yet an eye seemed to peek from between the greasy fronds of frazzled hair covering her face, her own voice barely holding up through sobs of trepidation and pain.
"I'm giving you a little more than thirty days to figure out some stuff. I can't exactly do much other beyond that, and a few other minor things... oh, I forgot to mention. Don't think about using any magic. It's gone."
M... my magic-... wh- Her own body seemed to finally freeze up as the dread crept across each vertebra; as her concentration tried to pool into her head, her heart, her hands, any-fucking-where, it seemed like she couldn't get a grip on any semblance of that magical spark she once had... H... he's... HOW?
"So, you'll be sent back with your friends for a while. Enjoy this time with them, truly. Don't try to pull any stupid 'oh muh bad endings and tragedies', alright? Now that you can do little in the way of defending yourself, I'm sure a great many people would want to get back at you, yes?"
This is worse than hell... O h . . . n o . . .
The figure finally walked up to Mio once more and patted her shoulder, sighing. "This is your chance to be something better than you were before... you've seen death now, and I'm sure you didn't like it, no?" The man's grip strength seemed to lift the sack of weakness off the ground singlehandedly and right her in front of him, steadying her weak and shaky form.
"Wh-wh... what do- do y-you mean," Her gaze could barely meet his, and even though she tried, the tears wouldn't stop flowing from her eyes to get a clear view of what was in front of her; she was damn well sure it was just this man in a black void, however.
"Thirty days, as a person. Thirty days, to live. Thirty days, to make amends. THAT'S what I mean, dear."
"Th... thank you?"
"No need to fret, though the pleasure's all mine. Someone gave me the idea to do this, anyway. Otherwise, who knows how the Heavens may have judged you at a later time... just take a deep breath."
Seconds, minutes, maybe hours passed, just Mio and this figure standing in a black abyss, as the teary-eyed fearful creature slowly but somewhat shakily gained her composure. Breathing in, breathing out. A firm grip on her shoulder, a nod, a sniffle. "I- I can... I can do this... damn, y-you scared me... there..."
Seeing that she had finally gained her own two feet again, the man let go and started to walk away towards nothing in particular in the black void. "Oh, I wouldn't be sure the fear would be all over just yet, dear... oh, and say hello to Hoshino Reika for me, will you?" . . . and with that, he seemed to disappear into nothingness, an air of immense power washing over the now shrinking yet still endless blackness.
That name...
Hoshino Reika...
Star Breaker . . .
OOHHH FUCK! THIS IS WORSE THAN HELL!!!!!!