Next to him was a woman with skeletal thinness, an appearance just as emaciated as the corpse he had witnessed that day, and possibly just as alive.
Behind her was an enormous black figure, even deeper than the darkness surrounding them, bending with its head touching the ceiling due to its great size.
Its appearance was uncoordinated, as if trying to imitate several creatures at once, a lion's mane, a flat nose similar to that of a bat, gigantic webbed hands ending in claws indistinguishable from its fingers, frontal eyes shaped like those of fish, completely black with an intense luster that distinguished them from the rest of its rough body; enormous, sharp fangs that shine with an artificial whiteness, following the shape of its mouth curved to such an extent that the corners returned towards itself, framing the deep red mouth, without lips.
All of the similar entities Jake had encountered before gave off a very strong sulfurous scent, this one seemed particularly unpleasant to him, so much so that he had a hard time focusing on processing its appearance.
Its skin seemed to be sucked out of its bones, sharp spikes coming out of its joints and collarbone, with a humanoid torso, its arms were disproportionately long compared to its legs, reminding him of orangutans, but with a grotesque exaggeration, its feet reminiscent of birds of prey, its exaggerated figure was as thin as the cadaverous woman in front of that.
Now he was sure, it was a Diagvelia demon, beings capable of possessing humans and using them as a tool to enhance their own powers to devour the souls of others without the need to make direct deals with them. These beings were derived from the capital sins and therefore possessed powers reminiscent of them.
The only thing he needed to confirm now was the identity of that woman, in more than one way.
Jake quickly got up from the old train seats ready to face the entity in front of him. He launched his first stab straight at the woman, who evaporated before his blade.
«An illusion?»
The second it took for his suspicions to be confirmed, the black amalgamation rushed after him, launching itself with a strong blow that Jake barely managed to partially evade, being thrown to the seats with a scratch on his face and another on his right arm, bleeding profusely, his sword fell to the ground while the Diagvelia laughed frantically.
Determined to destroy the entity, he began to take off one of his gloves, but stopped when he realized that he was on the ground in front of the open door of a train now stopped at the terminal, confused. The Diagvelia took advantage to hit him again, throwing him at the station windows, breaking the tempered glass with the impact of his body.
While the demon launched itself at the young man, a light and a metallic flash rushed between them. A huge double-edged axe, with serrated teeth on its top and bottom, that emitted its own light similar to that of Jake's crystalline sword, cut the Diagvelia in half using the force of its own momentum, its laughter turning into a scream of agony.
With the splash of the black substance from the demon's interior all around, the station fell silent, only the sound of the train door trying to close on Jake's sword could be heard.
"YIKES" the boy holding the huge axe complained in disgust at the black liquid that dirtied him.
Recognizing the familiar, whinny voice, Jake called out the name of his oldest cousin, who was next to him in age at 16, as he regained his composure and realigned his powers so he could see clearly through the darkness.
“Cloud?”
“Jake! Finally.”
Reabsorbing his weapon into his hand, the teenager dressed in sweatpants, a matching sweatshirt, a basketball shirt, with blond hair and green eyes ran to his relative’s side with great relief. Jake stood up, still bleeding from his wounds. Watching the black stains fade into the air he knew something wasn’t right.
“Don’t put your axe away yet, it’s not over.”
“But I just-”
Looking around they found themselves in a different setting, a maze of rooms with no visible end, much like the cabin the officer had visited with his partner earlier that day. The walls were filled with pictures decorated with the Diagvelia they had just faced, parts of its disorganized body shown in some, such as eyes, mouths, arms, and the like.
“Where are we?!” Cloud screamed in fear.
“It’s some kind of illusory world.” Jake called his sword with a gesture of his hand, leaned it on his shoulder and continued analyzing his surroundings. “It’s the way sloth defends itself. What’s the last thing you remember before we met?”
“Let me think…”
Cloud’s mind went straight to that morning, he had just arrived in the city of Daevalli with his best friend hoping to, precisely, find Jake to ask him for a couple of rather big favors.
In his memories.
His friend Cloe was a pretty girl with dark skin, round, soft features, which denoted her African and Native to the Americas ancestry, a continent that appeared in one of the four original universes that formed the convergence. Her curly hair started black at the roots and turned purple as it grew, even reaching a magenta tone at the tips.
Her eyes were gray encapsulated by metal lenses directly over her irises, highlighting eight crossed lines over her pupil that gave a blue flash. She didn't have much experience traveling, not even within her own town where Cloud's family also resided, so she spent her time looking out the window of any vehicle they both boarded.
When they both arrived at the train, Cloud was examining a tourist map of the city, Cloe was watching him analyzing that paper with curiosity. The boy, who felt her gaze, decided to break the silence.
“Mh… I think we are on the right track.”
“I can use my GPS if you want.”
“No, they could find us if you do that.” He folded the map. “Besides, I'm sure if we don't get to Jake he'll get to us. He has that kind of sixth sense.”
Cloe stared at him, thinking about the meaning of his words, with an usually neutral face, except for her huge eyes that people perceived as sad, as always her expressions were extremely subtle.
“Oh, I see…”
Shortly after that he fell asleep, lulled by the movements of the train.
Back to his conversation with Jake.
They both walked through the dark hallways using their weapons as flashlights, Cloud's shrunken, tiny axe floating above the palm of his hand emitting a strong glow, Jake's sword with a more subtle glow leaning on his shoulder.
“I was looking for your house with Cloe and suddenly everyone disappeared.”
“Wait, Cloe? That Cloe? THE Cloe? And she knows where my house is?” with each word the young man got closer to his cousin, excited.
“Yeah, we even had a map and everything-”
“GREAT!”
Jake was excited at the opportunity revealed, even his sword, which he raised in the air, glowed more brightly. Cloud focused on avoiding the sharp blade, moving away a little.
“Klaus arrived today, if she can bring him to me we could easily escape.”
Cloud was irritated to hear that name, without hiding it he approached his cousin again.
“Is that asshole still with you?” Jake looked at him raising his eyebrow.
“Come on, I know you don’t like him, but-"
“And I know you love him, but please, he’s an idiot."
Love, professing such words made Jake’s face turn completely red, several emotions and thoughts running through him. It was true, the person he loved was back after a long time away, the idea of the reunion, thinking about how to receive him, what he would say to him, how Klaus would greet him, that nervousness he had tried to avoid since the previous night combined with his cousin’s shameless mockery embarrassed him quite a bit.
“Forget it” Jake’s voice trembled “Let’s go explore the place.”
Seeing his cousin’s attempt to change the subject, his saccharine thoughts became obvious to Cloud.
“Why are you acting like this? It’s not like you’re going to declare your love again.”
Jake didn’t answer and just kept walking.
“And what exactly are we looking for?”
“Its most recent victims.” Jake relaxed again. “They should be here somewhere, I mean, their souls at least.”
Using his ability to detect essences, Jake scanned his surroundings before deciding which route to take.
“I need to confirm something.”
Behind them, the paintings shifted, some following their movements with their eyes while others dripped out of the frames.
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