Chapter 32: Ignition – The Punisher

  The screech hit Dante like a physical blow, sharp enough to split his skull. Wings thrashed frantically around him, a chaos of beating feathers and rushing air. He instinctively reached to brush them away, only to discover his arms were bound tight against his ribs. The world tilted sickeningly as realisation crashed over him – he was suspended upside down and plummeting through empty sky.

  Two squabbling voices talked over Dante’s careening train of thoughts. One was gruff and rolled the ‘R’s especially hard. The other was not only much quieter but also much deeper.

  “Arrr… A little help! Stop hitting his face!”

  Dante felt something sharp dig into his ankles. He glanced at his feet. There were two birds – a bright red cardinal and a condor – trying to slow his fall by pulling him up by his feet. The condor was the owner of the gruff voice, while the cardinal struggled quietly. “What’s the runt doing?!” the condor exclaimed.

  “I would appreciate it if you did not… call me a runt,” the cardinal strained.

  “I wasn’t talking about yer’!” the condor snapped.

  “Wait! His descent is slowing! He's awake!” The cardinal flapped even harder. “He's not going to crash into the Sea!”

  “Thank fuck he’s still alive!”

  Dante's downward fall softened, curving slightly as if cradled by an invisible bowl. He lay in it, watching the two avian creatures land next to him. They took a moment to compose themselves by shaking out their wings and feathers. The cardinal used its beak to straighten out a tiny haversack made from burlap. It flipped open the flap and hopped about on the spot for a bit. Dante noticed a vermilion diamond embedded slightly above the middle of the birds’ eyes that glimmered whenever they tilted their heads.

  “Who are you?” Dante wanted to ask, but bubbles came out of his mouth instead.

  “Arh, I wouldn’t try that if I were yer’, ” the condor said. “Yer’ here in limbo, the Between, but yer’ body is stuck in the seas. The limbo isn’t a place completely separate from the real world… I mean, that’s pretty obvious. I guess Indifference came in clutch after you got that nasty whiplash, eh?”

  The cardinal hopped forward and held out a wing, but withdrew it when it realised that Dante was in no position to shake its wing. “I am Roscoe, and this is Cluracan. We are messengers of the Scarlet Sands,” it said.

  “Scarlet Sands is what we call our home, but yer’ would know it as Obscure Scarlet. That ring ye’ have!” Cluracan poked at Dante’s ring-bearing hand with a foot.

  “Bloub!” Dante gasped as he finally realised that the birds were the imps behind the ring’s strange behaviour.

  “We don’t like to interfere in yer' life,” Cluracan said. “Mind reading? Pfft, who does that?”

  “Bblub?” Dante narrowed his eyes in suspicion. Really?

  “Maybe except for the time yer' ate a whole bottle of those little white marbles! We had to fetch 'em from yer' stankin' stomach!”

  “Shush!” Roscoe interrupted. “We are not here to reminisce. We have a message for you. We have come on behalf of both the Scarlet Sands and the Gilded Glamour.”

  “Long story short, we would prefer it if our current master does not die,” summarised Cluracan.

  With much haste, Roscoe produced a singular white glove. It had lovely golden peonies embossed on the leather surface. Numerous bubbles escaped between Dante’s lips as he remembered. He shook his head wildly, refusing to accept that the owner had been watching over him. “Your student needs you,” stated Roscoe. “We have come to tell you to stop yearning for the grave. Your death repays no blood debt. But let yourself die today, and you will truly have blood on your hands.”

  “He came to tell yer’ that he knows the Truth,” Cluracan said. “Always wanted to, but never got the chance. Poor Roscoe's been carrying that thing around for ages, goddamn.”

  "Blubub-bluba-blubb!" Dante cried out and squirmed in his spot.

  “You cannot stay,” stated Roscoe. "Although you would be doing the leaving thing by yourself."

  Cluracan spread its massive wings and dug its talons into Dante’s shoulders. This time, it lifted him out with ease. “Yer’ better enjoy this because yer’ won’t remember this for a long, long time. Or maybe yer’ do if that desire is reignited again.”

  Dante quickly realised that it was not because Cluracan had gained strength.

  He was surging upwards into the midnight blue skies, back to where he belonged.

  ***

  The nerves in Dante’s body were suddenly set alight. His eyes flew open, and red sparks crackled around his hand. Scarlet got to work, lashing out and severing whatever was tightly coiled around his neck and body. He thrashed and surged towards the surface.

  Scarlet! Find Ace!

  Scarlet shot out in search of Ace. The moment he felt a tug on one end, he yanked on the whip, pulling Ace towards him. His head broke the surface, and he vomited a mouthful of seawater. His student trembled and let out a frightened moan.

  “Indifference!” Dante produced a barrier that wrapped around their bodies, but he could still feel the water against his skin. It’s no use! The mitigation will drop by at least thirty per cent every three seconds!

  “D-Dante, you’re, squeezing me too tightly,” Ace tapped on his arm. Dante released his grip slightly. Ace took a gulping breath before coughing loudly.

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  “Water ghouls cannot be this strong. Not when I cleared the site a few days ago.” Dante had no clue about what was causing the sudden increase in the ghouls’ strength. He had surveyed the area a few hours before picking Ace up. The phantoms could not gain such strength in a matter of days in an isolated area. “Don’t mind that for now! Swim!” Dante instructed Ace.

  Dante wrapped Scarlet around Ace’s armoured arm. He kicked clumsily at first but picked up a steady pace, driving himself forward with Essence while maintaining a steady grip on Ace’s collar. They held the rhythm for a moment before Dante felt a sharp pressure around his calves and a strong pulling force that jerked him backwards. He quickly drew his sword and severed the culprits.

  “Scarlet!” Dante commanded and pulled back Ace’s head. “Bring Ace to shore!”

  Scarlet leapt from his hand and latched onto Ace’s face. Its Ocular form manifested and sat snugly on Ace’s eye. “Never take your eyes off the shore,” Dante instructed sternly. “Go!”

  With a hard shove, Dante propelled Ace forward. Scarlet warped Ace’s body towards the shore. Sharp shrieks pierced the air – raw, panicked sounds as Ace’s body sped through space at a speed it was never meant to move.

  Drats! He’s not making this easier! Dante’s head whipped between keeping an eye on Ace and the swelling chaos beneath him. The phantoms had resorted to biting him, and their jaws drew blood.

  Dante slashed at the phantoms. To add salt to injury, underwater combat was ill-suited to both his ability and his weapons. As his eyes focused, he could make out the shape of an enormous and bulbous phantom below him. Dark strings resembling hair wrapped tightly around his legs. More phantoms came out of the grotesque mouth of the bigger one, making a beeline towards him.

  Unwelcome Flux. Threefold.

  Dante twisted his body and slashed in a criss-cross motion. The seawater foamed all around him, and the phantoms, lost in the blinding foam, halted their advances. This is my chance, Dante thought and started to make haste to Ace. He squinted hard, trying to make out Ace’s shape. However, his focus was broken as a strange object whizzed past him, barking loudly.

  A flying dog?!

  Dante felt the presence of yet another phantom and swore loudly. This time, he let himself be dragged under. He held out his left fist and directed it downwards.

  It was now a matter of trust, which was absolute.

  Scarlet made its entrance known by snapping around Dante’s arm. He cracked the whip once to repel the new wave of phantoms.

  Ignite, Dante commanded.

  Ignition was the highest state of power every Regalia could achieve, but it was extremely taxing on the wielder. It was a far cry from the trickle of Essence it siphons for daily use. If the owner were not careful, they would either age rapidly or die.

  Dante tensed his hand into a claw grip as thick black ropes coiled around his arm. The usually circular form of the lens warped into an irregular and jagged shape, serving as the scope of the massive but crude gun. A magic circle blossomed from the muzzle, burning a brilliant red. Dante gritted his teeth and steadied his arm as a tendril stabbed into his sternum.

  Before everything could be taken from him, Dante clenched his fist. The marked targets glimmered before bright red beams annihilated them.

  The recoil propelled Dante out of the sea. He could not command his limbs to move, and they flung around uselessly. The churning waters knocked the air out of his lungs as he plunged into them once more.

  Is this how I am going to die? The last bubbled of air poured out from between Dante’s lips. His body remained unmoving, save for his fingers, which only twitched on his command.

  A red wink of light blinked in the darkness. Scarlet extended into its whip form, reaching deep into the darkness. It snapped straight as though it had found an anchor. It quickly drew Dante towards it, but the anchor loosened, and he was promptly hit in the face by a large object. Summoning the last bit of strength he had, he clung to it.

  The first breath Dante took was not of fresh air but a putrid puff of death. He gagged and vomited involuntarily. When he came to his senses, he realised that he was holding onto a barrel. “S-Scarlet…” Dante groaned as the whip set off once more.

  Dozens of barrels popped up around him. Some were riddled with holes, while others were untouched. The lid of one of the damaged barrels came off, and a hand hung out from its lip. It was bloated, mottled, the skin wrinkled and pale like wet parchment. The skin, stretched tight over swollen flesh, had turned an unnatural shade of green-grey, and thin trails of marbling snaked down the arms.

  A body?! Dante quickly wiped his face with his sleeve, putting Scarlet in its Ocular form. All the barrels around him were stuffed with bodies, some holding more than one. "Good grief," Dante muttered as he mustered the strength to peel himself away from the barrel he had latched onto.

  The bodies could wait for just a moment. The dead would still be dead even if he tended to Ace first.

  A half-sigh, half-groan of relief came out of Dante as he saw Ace sitting on the shore next to a robotic dog, which wagged its tail enthusiastically. He instinctively whipped out his sword, but it felt a thousand times heavier than ever. He hunched forward slightly, clutching the sword with both hands.

  “It’s Gauss,” Ace explained hastily. “Somehow it knows that I’m here.”

  “Objective: ‘Find Ace’ is complete! Storing location data!” Gauss raised its rear, and wings sprang out from its body. It licked Ace in the face. “Bye-bye! See you soon!”

  “Wait! There’s been an emergency!” Dante called out to Gauss.

  Upon hearing him, Gauss whipped around, the light in its eyes flickering as it sensed a change in the situation. “Emergency! Emergency!” it echoed.

  “I need to call someone,” Dante said. “Could you connect me to…”

  Dante bit his lower lip as he mulled over who to call. This Gauss sounds familiar, he thought. But it couldn’t be…

  “Leonhart…” Dante muttered out loud.

  “Would you like me to connect you to Leonhart?”

  “No! No!” Dante exclaimed. “C-Connect me to Shiro Kusakabe! His number is…”

  When Shiro answered the call, his confusion quickly gave way to bewilderment as Dante explained the situation. “Multiple deceased,” Dante summarised. “Perhaps more. I will send you the coordinates. Tip off Felix, that’s all you have to do. Stay put, Ace and I are heading back to your place.”

  When he hung up, Dante commanded Gauss to erase all call logs. “Administrative permission required,” Gauss replied.

  “That little…” Dante squeezed his eyes shut and sighed. If the dog came on the kid’s command, the cat was already out of the bag. Felix was either oblivious or doing damage control.

  “Fuck it,” Dante swore. “Just go.”

  Gauss jetted off, and Dante turned to Ace, who was covering his mouth in an exaggerated manner that ground Dante's gears.

  "What?"

  "It's the first time I heard you swear," Ace said.

  It was true that he hardly swore. Dante sighed and crouched down to Ace’s eye level. “Does it hurt anywhere?”

  “I’m just a bit cold,” Ace said, wrapping his arms around himself. “A-and I was quite dizzy after your Regalia brought me back, but I’m better now.”

  “Let’s get back to Shiro’s place to get you cleaned up.”

  “Dante, are you okay? You’re bleeding and y-you look pale too!”

  “Never mind about me. Focus on yourself.” It took every last bit of Dante’s willpower not to collapse in front of Ace.

  The car ride was silent, except for the occasional dripping of seawater and the rubbing of wet cloth against leather.

  See yall' on the 17th, 18th and 19th for 3 new chapters!