The New Age Empire v2: Book 2

~Chapter 18: Revenge is Sweet~

"Are you sure Lucifer won't mind me tagging along?" By just saying that Taura was afraid was an understatement. He was downright terrified that Lucifer would not be pleased he came along and use him as a personal torture toy. The last thing he wanted was to die that day, let alone end up in Hell. The lead Rider nodded, his vertebrae grinding together faintly, and rode on. There was no more talking.

The dry and empty soil blurred together at the speed they were travelling until the featureless plain resembled nothing more than a redish brown streak. Taura clutched at the skeletal warrior he was seated behind even though he had to force his hands to touch him. The bones felt dry and warm underneath his fingers as if they absorbed the very heat of Hell itself. Shuddering, he turned his mind toward happier things like his business and his family.

He also thought of Jas and the way he had been before the "incident". They had been best-friends since childhood, from the very young age of three, and had remained so even after the spirits harmed him. No evil spirit would be able to break up a friendship like this. Not even death would ruin it.

A castle as black as midnight, as black as deep, starless space, slowly began to appear in front of them. There were literally hundreds of skeletal warriors both around and inside the high walls and all were hard at work. Taura had a feeling that the very evil of Hell resided there and that alone made him not want to go in. But if Jas was entering, he was entering.

It wasn't a very good idea to stay outside alone either.

"I will take you to him," the leader spoke slowly as he dismounted his red-eyed horse and handed the black leather reins to a nearby skeleton to take away. The two other Riders bowed briefly and marched off to the stable. Jas followed the other one through the black iron gates and into the courtyard, Taura close behind him.

By standing in the exact middle of the courtyard Taura could see the entire area around him. Behind was the heavy iron gates already being closed as if preventing his escape. To both the left and the right were various buildings where he could hear faint screams coming from them. Maybe they were the torture chambers. The thought made him shudder. To the front was the dark castle. Its tall towers rising above them to darken the horizon.

Of course that was where they were going.

From the black iron portcullis that Taura was afraid to walk under there was a long, dark hallway made of black marble and black stone. There were sconces lining the walls off the passage but they were empty of light. This left the frightened demi-saiyan wondering where the light came from that allowed him to see his way.

For long minutes he followed Jas and the skeleton, straight to the origin of darkness so to speak. A cold wind seemed to seep from the stone around him until his bones ached and his fingers were numb. Jas didn't seem to be having any problems and Taura wondered how he did it.

"Are we almost there?" he asked and his voice echoed in the emptiness and quiet. When it bounced back from the high ceiling he jumped. The echo didn't sound like his voice at all.

"You don't have much farther to go," the skeleton said. His voice didn't resound one bit.

They were told to wait in a room darker than even the hall they had been travelling down. There were only four things occupying the space. A black leather couch that the two currently sat on, a darkened marble fireplace that was empty of both wood and ashes, a desk made of dark wood, and a large, completely full, book case against the wall behind the desk. It looked more like a study than a place you would wait for the Keeper of Hell. It seemed Lucifer had class.

"Is your body as cold as mine?" Taura asked curiously as soon as the skeleton had closed the heavy wooden door behind him. He was tempted to go over and see if there was a way to light the fireplace without any wood or matches

"No." A pause, then, "Are you alright?"

"Oh sure. I'm perfectly fine." He laughed but it was tinged with an edge of hysteria. "Here am I, in Hell, waiting for Lucifer to arrive. Everything's completely normal!" He took a deep breath and calmed himself. "Do you ever wonder if you'll ever find your soul?"

"I try not to let doubt bother me," he replied as he stared straight ahead. "If you only think of the bad then the good never has a chance to happen." He shrugged. "You probably think that's stupid."

He shook his head with a smile. "Not at all. In fact, I think that's a very good thing to say."

The wide-open door surprised them both though Jas was better at hiding it. It had opened slowly on well-oiled hinges, not making a sound. It was the soft thud of the doorknob against the wall that made them both look up. At first no one was there but soon a something began to materialize as if taking shape from the very air. Eventually a man stood there staring at them, clad in black armor and equally black clothes underneath. He walked to his desk making the very air swirl with supernatural energy. A black leather swivel chair also materialized much in the same way he did and the man took a seat, folding his hands carefully across the desk's smooth, dark varnished surface.

"You're not Lucifer, are you?" Taura asked him. He was more than a little surprised but considering how he entered anything was possible.

"Does my appearance surprise you?" He smiled slowly and his dark, fathomless eyes lit up when he saw Taura squirm after he voiced his thoughts. "I'm sure you don't want to see my true form. Nightmares can't be good for you."

Jas changed the subject back to matter at hand. "Why have you called this meeting, Lord Lucifer?"

"Simply stated I can help you. I know you wish to find and obliterate one of my dark spirits. I know where he is."

"Does he have what I want?"

Lucifer leaned forward, his dark hair falling into his eyes. "Perhaps."

A low growling began deep in the large man. "No jokes, Lucifer. Give me the dark spirit."

"What will you do in return for my assistance?" The smile became a smirk as the Lord of Darkness and Master of Hell revealed his little catch. Taura shivered slightly at the look and begged his friend silently not to give him anything. They could find another way to retrieve his soul. It just might take considerably longer than they thought.

As if Jas sensed what the demi-saiya-jin was thinking, he spoke and it was only to him. "We don't have any more time. I could be this way permanently if something isn't done soon. A favor for Lucifer isn't so bad. It's better than being indebted to him at a later date."

"You're right," Taura sighed. "Go ahead. I won't interfere."

"I am not an evil man. What I can offer in return will not interest the Master of Hell." He spoke smoothly. "Ask anything but I won't kill or torture anyone. Not even if they were a hated enemy."

"The Dai Kaio would love you up there in Heaven," Lucifer commented. "You would make a very pure spirit. Still, it limits what I can ask of you." His lips pursed in thought and every single silent second that passed by increased Taura's nervousness. Beads of sweat were slowly making their way down his back and he just couldn't stop his hands from shaking. The faint creaking of leather as Lucifer stood up broke the oppressive silence that had settled over the room.

"Be my eyes, ears, and hands in the mortal realm and I will help you recover what you have lost."

"I knew it!" Taura muttered to himself. "What he was going to request was going to be so out there that there would be no way Jas would..."

"I accept your request," He stuck out his hand and Lucifer shook it.

"...do it," he finished lamely as he watched the deal being made. Things must be more dire than he thought.

"Excellent," Lucifer said quietly as he put some sort of spell on Jas. "Your eyes are now my eyes, you ears are now my ears, your hands are now my hands. In return you will be able to call upon me for assistance."

"I will never need your help."

"Suit yourself," he shrugged and he summoned the spirit into his chamber. "I release thee from my protection on the grounds that you have done a grave injustice against one of my servants. He will now issue a suitable punishment for your crime." After saying these words a misty substance was lifted from the dark spirit and, by pointing a perfectly shaped index finger, replaced back within Jas where it belonged. The dark spirit's eyes bulged in fear at what was to come. "Your soul is whole once more and the deal has been made." He began to fade until his form was as transparent as the soul. His deep voice continued to echo, though, and it reached deep into both Jas and Taura's hearts. "We will meet again and next time it might not be on such friendly terms."

"I will be prepared," the large man said calmly as Lucifer vanished completely. "Farewell."

And Taura released a breath that he didn't know he had been holding.

***

"Back me up, guys!" Kallen shouted as she reached into her pocket. She then pulled something small from it and enlarged it to the proper size just as Goten, Goku, and V.J. shot ki blasts as the spirits.

Kallen's spellbook was far from complete; even less than it was supposed to be since she had tried to suppress her magical talents. There were mostly common, mundane spells that created light or ignited fireplaces but there were a couple in there that did much more. The minimization spell was one of those. Kallen had learned it several years ago but it took a long time to memorize and master. Another spell in her book -- and it ranged from easy to extremely hard -- was the Spell of Closing.

The Spell of Closing could be used for lots of different things -- doors, windows, interdimensional gateways -- but she was going to use it to seal the rift. A lot of power and concentration was needed for the job so she directed the three saiya-jin to watch her back. That said a lot coming from a woman who grew up in a neighborhood where friends killed friends and said friends killed family. She had come to trust them with her life in a very short amount of time.

Opening her spellbook she thumbed to the right page. There was a diagram listed and underneath it were runes that told what each part was for. She quickly read this, because this was her first time ever doing this level of the spell.

It began with drawing a magical diagram on the stone floor in chalk with the rift in the center. Then she carefully wrote the runes into their places, consulting the book every now and then. The most common causes of spell failure were incorrect or incomplete runes. Then she muttered the words over the symbol and had to shield her eyes when it began to glow.

From the moment she had been searching for the Spell of Closing, spirits had been coming through the rift at an incredible rate. Goku was just pushing them back to Hell while Vegeta took great pleasure in blowing each dead person apart, scattering phantom body parts everywhere. Goten alternated between the two, depending on what he felt like at the moment and Bob just ate them.

Having to continuously walk outside her pentagram to protect her, Kallen constantly got in the way as they fought. She didn't even notice that she constantly came close to death because she simply wasn't paying attention to what was going on around her. When she stepped outside the pentagram and began to chant the words, the saiya-jin fell back and merely watched. When it began to glow with a fierce yellow light, everyone turned away but the spirits screamed in pain as they were sucked back into their world.

Slowly the rift began to close as the light began to die off. In a moment's time nothing remained of the spirits, or the rift, or of Hell. That was when the pentagram vanished, as if it sank into the stone, and Kallen collapsed to her knees.

"That went better than I thought," she said with droopy eyes. "Mother will be so proud of me."

"Are you okay?" Goten asked in a concerned tone of voice.

"I'm fine. It's just that magic drains your strength every time you use it but huge spells like that basically knock you out. I just need someone to carry me and I'll be just fine...." Then she lay down on the floor and fell instantly asleep.

They all chuckled slightly as Goten bent down and picked her up. Shouts were then heard outside of the temple and all three hurried to see what was going on.

"He didn't trick us!" Taura cheered as he hugged his friend. "You're back to normal and the springs aren't killing living things any more. I threw a leaf in the water and nothing happened."

The three saiya-jin halted at the foot of the stairs and just stared at the other two. Goku, who recovered the use of his speech first, began to speak rapidly about what he had seen in Hell.

"I thought you guys wouldn't make it! That meeting with Lucifer went well, then." He clasped hands briefly with Taura and then with Jas.

"I want to thank you for helping us," Jas said with a smile. All traces of his former gruffness were gone. "It meant a lot to me."

"No problem," Vegeta said. "I would have wanted someone to do the same for me."

"What happened to Kallen there? Is she hurt?"

"Not at all," Goten unconsciously held her closer, "she closed the rift and fell asleep. I think she'll be out for a while."

"So these are the springs!" Vegeta dug in each pocket for the vials he had put there. Luckily the heat from Hell didn't melt the glass. Not so luckily he couldn't read a word on them.

"Goten, can you wake up Kallen so she can tell us what each one means? I'm sure no one here can read this."

"Kally? Can you wake up for a minute? This is *really* important..." The woman yawned hugely and blinked rapidly at Goten.

"Wow. Never seen you at this angle. What's up?"

"Kally, we need you to do something for us. Tell us what vial to use for each spring. Please."

"Kally... No one has called me that for a long time. I kinda like it." She hopped down from Goten's arms, took the set of vials from Vegeta, and began to place them before the springs that they belonged to. "Knowledge, Power, Immortality, Wisdom, Creativity, Luck, and Love. There you have it. Now, can I get some sleep here? Old people like me can't do much magic without feeling exhausted."

Goten shook his head with a smile. "It's true that majority of us are younger than you are, but tousan isn't. How old do you think he is?"

She scrutinized Goku's face and took a wild guess. "Well you're still pretty young, Goten, so I'll say he's around his mid-forties."

"You have to factor in how old Gohan is, remember? He's thirty-two. If Tousan is forty-five he would have had to be thirteen when Gohan was born."

"Oh right. Um, then he's fifty? He looks twenty-five though. I guess it's a weird saiya-jin genetic thing. He sure doesn't look old enough to be *my* father."

"Thanks!" Goku grinned. "I get that a lot. Actually I'm not the oldest." His voice dropped down to a conspiratorial whisper. "Both Bulma and Vegeta are older than I am but don't tell them that I said anything okay?"

She winked. "Sure."

In ten minutes' time they had gathered the water and were flying through the air towards the ship. Goten was once again holding Kallen and Vegeta rolled his eyes at the closeness they obviously shared. Goten noticed this and broke out into a huge grin.

"You're just mad because your girl dumped you."

"I told you Goten! *I* broke up with *her*!"

"Sure you did. Marron'll say something completely different though."

"I don't care! I'm telling the truth!" Vegeta shouted this as loud as he could and Goten shushed him immediately.

"Kally's sleeping bakayaro. Don't wake her up."

"She said she was too old for you, remember?"

"Ten years is not old. When she drinks from the Spring of Immortality that won't matter anymore."

"I'm going to get another Daughter-in-law!" Goku cheered. "A really great one too!"

"Yeah she's okay," Vegeta admitted reluctantly. "At least Kallen can fight." He landed on the hot sand next to the ship and dropped the still afraid Taura gently onto his feet. "You see there? I didn't drop you. If you have saiya-jin blood you need to learn how to fly."

"Uh sure," he breathed deeply. "I'll think about it."

"Guess what guys!" Vegeta grinned suddenly. "If we leave now and use the hyperdrive constantly then we can make it home before Christmas Day is over. Do you want to whitness the greatest Chikyuu-jin holiday?"

"Sure!" Taura said with excitement. "The way you guys told it sounded great. What about you, Jas? Would you care if we started for home a few days late?"

"I need a little joy. Besides, I would like to see the planet they have worked so hard to save over the years. I think it would be beautiful."

"It's settled then! We're gonna be home in three days and I get to open lots and lots of presents!" He grinned at the mere thought of new expensive items. "Isn't life great?"

"Isn't Christmas a holiday for giving and sharing the joy of life?" Jas asked in confusion.

Vegeta cocked his head to the side, not hearing a word of it. "That's what I said. Lots and lots of presents."

Jas shook his head with a smile. "Nevermind."

"I'll be home for Christmas," Vegeta began to sing at the top of his voice and with all of the wrong notes. "You can plan on me."

Goten joined in and his voice was much, much better. "Please have snow and mistletoe. And presents on the tree."

All three saiya-jins began to sing, Goten and Goku's good voices attempting to drown out Vegeta's bad one. The annoyed demi-saiya-jin covered Goku's mouth and tried to do the same to Goten, but he almost got bitten. Finally Vegeta gave up and fell silent, leaving the other two to complete the song.

"I'll be home for Christmas. If only in my dreams."