Devastation. In so many senses of the word, Avery Volk stares out at the world before him. His view twisted by his rage, he is consumed with a powerful feeling.
That feeling is called hate.
"Look at this mess."
The buildings are all on fire, the orange glows are accompanied only by the intense heat. In the distance there was a faint cry from someone, gasping, begging to be saved.
That voice has long since vanished.
Avery is walking the path of vengeance, his new found power has done little to help. He has lost Everyone and everything. Every person he has ever loved has been ripped away from him. He feels cursed, so he lashes out at the world.
He's been back on Earth for two whole years causing nothing but destruction in his wake.
One day he closed his eyes, he retreated into his mind. He re-lived his own memories, reflecting on his past. Remembering what he felt like when Blair died in his arms.
The moment he opened his eyes, they were bloodshot, the were as red as a demon's eyes. A single tear rolled down his cheek as he trembled with rage.
Not long after that particular moment, he saw a familiar face approaching him. Walking steadily from the street Evan Shadows was prepared, blades in each hand. Avery immediately doused Evan with fire, such was his newest learned ability.
He had only meant to send a warning shot, but this new power is too unpredictable. It startled Avery as to how high those flames scorched the sky.
There's no surviving that. Avery thought.
He expressed a complicated array of emotions and thoughts. He was conflicted to truly commit to battle with his only friend still alive. To the death? Surely Evan doesn't believe he can actually stand a chance. Avery knows how strong he is now, he's a juggernaut, an absolute monster.
His first move was more powerful than he had intended. He wondered if it was already over, if Evan was a goner in that fire.
Much to his surprise however, movement began within the flames. After a few moments a silhouette grew nearer. Out from the scorching flames Evan dashed daringly in his own counter attack.
Avery was so caught off guard that he barely managed to evade. He was shocked at the strength of Evan's resolve. Evan held two foot swords in each of his hands upside down. Guards wrapped around the knuckles with long spikes pointing out.
Those blades looked deadly and his posture, his demeanor, everything about him seems to have changed in the two years since Avery last saw him. Evan clearly has honed his skills in battle, and right now he is attacking with serious intent to kill.
More than that, he is driven. He has a reason to fight Avery right now, and that reason isn't just to stop his out of control friend.
No. He is protecting something. A friend? A lover? Surely, he couldn't have had a child within a two year span. Right?
The tip of his blade caught Avery's eye, meanwhile he fell back. It seems Evan deliberately put his leg behind Avery's in order to trip him up. Avery fell to the ground with a thud. A wake up call for him. Evan then held his knife against Avery's throat.
"Did you really think that fire would bother me? I've spent the last two years in hell you know." Evan's eyes were cold, his voice unwavering.
Frustrated, Avery then sent several glass shards flying out from his arms. This was his secret power in which Evan had never seen, therefore, he hadn't prepared for it.
The glass cut him deeply, he began to bleed out. He was going to die right then and there. Avery stood above him, his face twisted with hatred.
"What do you know about hell huh?! True hell is never being able to hold on to a single thing you cherish. To have every single thing you hold dear ripped away from you!"
Avery screamed, his spit blasting from his mouth. His eyes bulging, almost glowing as the blood collected around the iris. They were almost as red as Sadako's eyes.
"You're right, That is hell! It's also what's about to happen to me if I don't bring you back, so I will drag you kicking and screaming if I have to!"
Evan pulled a large bloody piece of glass from his chest.
"Back where, back there? To that shit you call hell? Why would I ever even consider going back there? Hah."
Avery laughed, this sentiment was unreal. Truly unbelievable. That's why Evan is here? To bring him back to hell? What a laugh.
"Well, it's funny you should ask. As it just so happens, someone I love seems to have found a way to revive a soul that was lost on Neodeka."
Evan stepped closer as he spoke. Blood pouring onto the ground, making a trail as he stumbled a bit. He was already losing function to his body.
"A soul lost…who's soul?"
Avery regained a gleam in his eye, a longing, sorrowful gleam as he heard Evan's next words.
"If you come with me right now, you could revive Blair."
Three years before all of these events took place Avery's mother was killed by his father. Avery was chained up, tortured, he suffered immensely until his starvation grew to depths unimaginable. He died.
Soon after his death, he faded into the darkness drifting on and on. It wasn't until he felt the hot breaths against his back that he heard a voice call out to him.
"My son, will you aid my power? Will you join my army in the world of Neodeka, or will you continue adrift in this abyss?"
The voice was deep and assuring.
When he awoke, Avery found himself in a dark room. His wrist still handcuffed to the wall, he gathered his senses.
Okay…I guess I'm still alive? But this room is different, it's clearly not the same one I was in before. Was I transported while I was unconscious? That has to be what happened.
He looked around, observing his surroundings as his eyes adjusted to the darkness. Just then, he caught a glimpse of something sparkling in the light. Just barely out of reach, it was a key.
That's gotta be to these damn cuffs!
He sprawled out as far as he could trying to get the key with the tip of his shoe. He struggled but it was useless, he would have to grow his leg another two feet to even come close to grasping that key.
Guess I'll have to get more creative huh?
He began to take his shoes off, if he could throw them far enough then maybe he could pull the laces to drag the key over. Except just in that moment a clawed hand rose from within the floor, it took the key and then disappeared. His eyes completely blank, Avery lost his sliver of hope.
"Find your own way out."
The voice that he spoke to in the black abyss came from the same place that the hand came from.
"Bro, what? Come on maaaan"
Avery honestly thought he was tripping for a second.
After a while, he just sat back, slumped into the wall and fell into a deep thought. He wondered what he had done so wrong. Why could all of this happen to him? He was defeated, both mentally and physically.
He let his head fall downward until he hunched over, he laid down on the ground until he curled himself into a tight ball.
Is it okay now?...
The blur around his eyes, the trembling in his heart. He began to cry. The next moment, he sobbed uncontrollably. It is safe to say that he was completely and utterly consumed with pure despair.
Once he finally opened his eyes he was on level with the floor. It was then that he saw something else glistening in the light. It was a piece of glass. He twitched as his mind processed what it was.
He then reached right out and picked it up, bringing it closer to him. He looked at it longingly, as if it were the one thing he desired more than anything else in the world that moment.
Tears still streaming sideways down his face he looked distantly, as if his mind was so far away that his body couldn't reach it.
Then, he proceeded to gouge the glass deeply into his arm, cutting to the bone. Then again and again he slashed himself all the way down his forearm to his wrist. He switched over and used his barely functional right arm to slash all the way down to that wrist.
"Why!? Why am I not dying!? I want to die!" He screamed until his lungs felt like they were bleeding.
That was when he noticed he wasn't bleeding. Not a single drop of blood appeared even though he had just filleted himself.
What?
It didn't seem real, it was insane. He should be a bleeding mess but instead those wounds we're completely healed scars already.
He was beginning to suspect that he was actually and truly already dead. That he is in the Afterlife and this is hell.
It wasn't until some time later that he gathered the motivation to move again. He attempted to pick the lock with the piece of glass, but it was a hopeless endeavor.
Eventually, he moved to the idea of seeing how this chain is connected. There is a metal bolt in the wall from what he can see. He followed the chain from his wrist all the way to the wall. It was then that he noticed it.
"Eh?"
The chain and the bolt on the wall was connected by something that wasn't metal, it was so dark that he had failed to notice it until now.
"Is that…a leather strap?" he looked totally dumbfounded.
He had dismissed the possibility of finding any such weak flaw in the shackles that bind him, but yet and still it was there. He could be free in a matter of moments, but he had instead sought to end it all with that piece of glass.
His first priority should have been to find a way to set himself free with it. Thus, he cut the leather strap and gained mobility.
There was no conventional doorway at all, but luckily there was an enormous hole in the brick laid wall in the east corner of the building. He rose to his feet and left that room forever.
He was shocked entirely at what the outside world looked like. There were buildings and windows, neon signs. The street was narrow and made out of some kind of grey stone with a brick laid pattern. It looked kind of medieval, especially with the old time-y lamp posts.
In comparison, it looked nothing like any city that he has ever seen. His eyes widened when he looked to the sky and saw three moons.
The chain still cuffed around his wrist made him feel like he was now free in one sense, but still shackled in another.
He walked the city pathway towards nothing in particular, he began to whistle a song. Such was his mindset, he was an eccentric personality. A few moments ago he was trying to kill himself, now he's whistling. He was pretty bad at it though. Definitely different from the song in his head.
But still, the reverberation in the pathway was amazing. The sound just bounced off the walls of the buildings. His whistling was echoing down the road with an awesome effect.
He then met another person who was also walking around. He had purple hair and he looked to be a year or two older than Avery.
Is that guy really real?...like actually really real?
"Yo, dude…are you real or am I insane in the membrane?" Avery asked abruptly.
"Uhhh…yeah, I'm real." The purple hair boy responded.
Avery moved closer.
I won't know for sure unless I can actually touch him.
He placed a hand on purple hair's shoulder.
He's real!
Avery introduced himself and then purple hair said that his name was Evan Shadows. It wasn't long after that Avery noticed some peculiar creature lurking in the shadows, following them like a lion in the grass seeking its prey.
At first he was startled, Evan didn't even seem to notice it. Avery figured that if it were to pounce, he could just use Evan as a decoy and run away. But what then? He needed something to protect himself if he was going to last in a world like this. Avery continued blabbering on like nothing was wrong. He was talking louder than usual, Evan would probably think he was annoying. Avery was hoping that being extra loud would somehow cause that creature to go about it's business.
No? Maybe let's do something even louder, like something super duper loud!
That was when Avery announced an idea to break a window. He looked at how the street ways were set up, he found the perfect place to set a decoy trap. Just in case.
Evan was suspicious of Avery at first, but him being the smooth talker he was convinced Evan of the plan. He told Evan to look inside the window.
"How did they get stuff inside the buildings when there are no doors on any of them?"
It was a fair question, he was wondering it himself. But he was more focused on how he was going to get away at the moment.
Has this Evan guy really seriously not noticed that there's a freaking monster on top of the building!?
He was hesitant, almost lost as he considered all if his options. He'd have to do something before that thing gets bored and decides it's dinner time.
They smashed the window on the count of three, each second Avery's mind went white as he was preparing himself. That creature was no joke, now that it's a little closer he can see that it is huge. It's terrifying, and easily capable of eating a full grown human.
Once they smashed the window, Avery grabbed two shards of glass from the window sill and stuffed them into his pockets.
His plan was to go inside the building, run to the very back. The interior was like a convenience store, with shelves lined to the other wall. He would hide behind a shelf in the back while Evan was still up front.
When the beast came inside, it would go for the prey closest to the window. Avery would then use the distraction to sneak behind the shelf and make a run for it. He had laid out his escape plan as far as which way he would run, he collected some glass as his only weapon.
He imagined that the most he could probably do with the glass is cut the bastards eyes out if he were to get caught at any point.
The only problem was that the beast never came inside. He waited ten, fifteen minutes or so until Evan began to lose interest in the plan.
Everything was unwinding as Evan began to leave the building. Avery knew that without Evan inside, that room was nothing more than a caged trap for him. Thus, he went outside after him. Cautiously.
At first, he thought they were in the clear when he didn't see the monster. But then, it appeared. He had to get away, he wasn't sure what was driving him at that point.
Perhaps it was just his pure survival instincts.
He pointed out the creature to Evan, who was so stupid that he was only just now seeing it.
This guy really is a freaking moron.
He made his mental farewells to Evan in that moment as he ran for his life. He was absolutely sure that Evan was a goner. This was the very first time of many to come that he would think that same thought.
He could hear Evan's screams, they were loud. Like really, really loud. Not only that but the stomping of his feet was impressively furious.
Avery was really starting to feel a wave of guilt wash over him now that he heard Evan screaming for his life. He empathized. Without knowing it he had slowed down to Evan's pace. If he had to, he would cut that monsters eyes out to save them both.
Ah hell!
Evan suddenly tripped, he fell to the ground. The monster was directly behind, it was safe to assume that his time was up.
Oh yeah no, he's definitely a goner now.
But then something amazing happened.
Some chick came out of nowhere, she just up and cut that things head right off with a giant green and black scythe. She said her name was Lyran Ichihara.
She explained that Evan was scratched and that he would turn into one of those monsters if they didn't find a life crystal. Basically, she said he was a goner.
Once they went to Lyran's home camp, Avery saw someone.
A girl.
She had flame colored hair, she wore a camouflage vest. She had a strong, beautiful presence. Avery was instantly infatuated. Like he had just found a missing piece of his shattered soul or something cheesy like that.
Her name was Blair. Over time, he got closer, and closer to her.
When Avery and Evan began working on summoning their soul blades, Avery had a vivid sense of his own soul. His soul was shattered, like glass. Thus, his true soul blade was unlimited shards of glass.
He kept his power a secret while he made a tiny toothpick sized soul blade. He complained under a guise to make himself look much weaker than he really was.
He'd rather let Evan take the spotlight, Avery had no interest in anyone's attention except for Blair.
Once they had gotten close enough, Avery began to fall in love with Blair. She began to speak with him more as well, one day Avery decided to display his true power to Blair. It was after their home was attacked by the dragon and they met the demon of Neodeka.
She was startled by his abilities, it was nothing like anything she had ever seen anyone else ever do. He could make endless amounts of glass, big sharp pieces would shoot out from him in a barrage. It was deadly. At this point, Avery was probably stronger than Lyran who Blair considered to be undefeatable by her own standards. But she agreed under Avery's request to keep his power a secret.
Eventually, with the help of a clever ruse, Sadako set up a situation where Avery faced his greatest fear. The man who killed him. Sadako was the demon of Neodeka, she was leading the charge as the group went on a suicide mission to attack the dragon.
Avery was not fond of this plan to attack Atsuko, it was reckless and stupid in his opinion. His objective was to protect Blair at all costs, though she was fully set in following Lyran's plan to the bitter end.
Thanks to Sadako's haunted house event however, Avery now had a seed planted in him. The idea that now with his strength he could get revenge, he wouldn't take the idea seriously though. At least not by that point in time.
He experienced his first kiss, and one night before the end of their journey the two of them snuck off together. A secret romantic night.
One thing led to another and then there they declared love for each other, they did the do. You know what I mean.
But, the fight with the dragon named Atsuko commenced the next day. It was intense, a power struggle back and forth. Avery tried to keep Blair safe behind him, he was waiting for the opportune moment to unleash his full power on Atsuko.
He knew that in terms of close combat he would be at a loss but if he was able to catch her with a surprise attack, well, that was a different story. He waited for the perfect opening, but then in the blink of an eye an instant flashed.
Atsuko had sent something sharp flying out in all directions, similar to the power he was about to use on her himself.
It can't be…
He looked behind him, his heart broke as he saw the love of his life die. Blair was hit with one of Atsuko's spikes, she faded away in his very arms. Everything went red as he took his revenge right then and there.
He killed Atsuko like she was nothing, she wasn't even a challenge to his rage. He absorbed some sort of dark festering power before the world they were in fell down. They went from the frying pan into the…well, into hell.
Jigoku is what Sadako called it.
For all their efforts they managed to escape purgatory only to find themselves somewhere much worse…or so it seemed at first.
Though Avery wasn't stuck there, he discovered a new ability. One that allows him to travel outside his current realm of existence into a new one, or perhaps an old one. He went back to Earth, dead set to annihilate everyone.
Especially the one who he wanted to kill more than anyone else in this world. The one who killed his mother, and then let him starve to death while chained up in a dark room.
He spent two whole years destroying the land of the living after that, which is where he now stands in front of a pale faced, blood drained Evan Shadows.
"…What did you just say?"
He couldn't believe the words he had just heard.
"Sadako has found a way to revive a soul, only one soul from Neodeka can be revived. Though, I already know who you want to come back. Are you interested in that idea?"
Evan held his wounds, he had a serious face. He wondered if Sadako would be able to heal this much damage. He had absolute faith that she would do everything in her power to save him. Evan is the father of her child, after all.
Avery then found himself clinging to hope once more, he led the charge back into the realm known as Jigoku. He was on a mission to get back the one he loves.
At all costs.
As it turns out, all he had to do was get some sort of key. Though, the key was in the possession of the demon Lord Goliath. Avery foolishly believed that he had the unstoppable power to just storm into Goliath's chambers and take that key. But, he was wrong, and it wasn't going to be that easy.