191. Of attacks, siblings and a little bit of future pasts

Lilith

Yikes, how long had I been gone? It couldn't have been more than a couple of years, I hadn't been running for that long, but it sure looked like it. Where was everyone? A quite insistent but impossibly unwelcome voice in the back of my head was whispering the answer, but I wasn't yet ready to listen. After all, my people couldn't have fallen in a few measly years, could they? Screw that, no way I'd believe it, not even for a second. Michael had promised! 77 years he had promised us. But then again, he truly was one two faced bastard. Could he… no! I wasn't going to go down that road. Not yet, anyways.

Absentmindedly I touched the blackened pillars that should have held a gate to hell in place. A gate that was nothing but rubble and ash beneath my feet. Ragged spikes and mangled crystals, singing with the echoes of broken magic, scraped against my fingers but the enchantments were dead, spent and broken. Who'd even have the strength to rip it from its hinges? It would have taken a full squadron of immortals to break the seals. Unless… seven sins! My instincts screamed at me to run and without a second thought, I turned into a fleeting shadow the very moment my surroundings turned into dust.

Pure, undiluted transcendent forces tore through reality and pulverised existence, space and time. The shockwave travelled backwards and I felt its menacing touch in the past, my core trembling in the present while it pulled more and more of my essence through my veins to keep my form intact. At least I had found someone to talk to.

An exhilarating rush of pain and anticipation made me shiver in delight while I channeled my presence into a single command. Where the glaring forces of creation had wreaked havoc not a moment ago, a sphere of obsidian light spread and swallowed everything in its path. Gleefully I waited for the fireworks but they never came. Wherever my energy touched the slithering magic that twisted the rules of reality, tendrils of agony sank their hooks into my existence and I could practically hear my core groan under the strain. Fuck!

I shifted away and into the void, severing my ties to space and time. The mounting pressure immediately subsided but instead, I heard an all too familiar voice in the space between.

"Sister, how good of you to drop in. I was tiring of chasing after you." My energies came together to rebuild my body and I swallowed dryly. The eerie, flickering light of the void illuminated the last being I had wanted to meet. If it even was her. Sure, the hulking behemoth, hovering in grey nothingness in front of me, spoke with Delilah's voice and its face even resembled that of my sister in a way, but the gruesome, disfigured monster couldn't be her! Even a new cycle couldn't explain how she looked. She seemed more like an abstract painting than a real creature, her form flickering between different shapes while a foreboding, bluish light seeped from the cracks in her skin like blood. The only fixed part were her eyes, glowing crystals filled with madness and power.

"Geez, I always thought you were ugly, but this… it seems like spreading your legs for Michael hasn't done much for you, has it? Tell me, are you in as much pain as it appears? I really hope so." I smiled nonchalantly but I couldn't deny that for the first time since we had battled against Lucifer, a cold shiver was running down my spine that felt awfully close to actual dread. No wonder, every time my life had been in danger, I had been stuck in the void and here I was, back again. Only this time, I didn't have an army at my back. I'd be lucky if that army even still existed.

"Always so derisive. But sister dear, you don't meant that. Spreading your legs is your specialty, not mine. I simply take what I want and now, I'm strong enough that nothing and no one can stop me. Don't tell me you can't feel it? I'm going to shatter your mind today anyways, but I at least want you to know how stupid and shortsighted you've been, ever since we made the pact."

She was still a talker…good. Unfortunately I wasn't exactly sure what I could possibly buy time for. By the looks of it, I was further down the crapper than I had been in a while because she had at least gotten one thing right. I had been able to feel her strength and I couldn't hold a candle to her. That wasn't the demoness I had known, the energy she was causally pouring into the void was far stronger than anything I had seen from her before. Hardly surprising… corrupted bitch!

"Shortsighted? I'm not the one looking like Picasso's nightmares. Even if you get to spend an eternity in this skin, I'm not envious. You can take your screwed up existence and shove it up your…" a wave of bluish energy surged forth and sent me tumbling, head over heels. Her voice came from everywhere at once, a thrumming menace that dug into my mind just as her power nibbled away at my memories, turning my thoughts into a jumbled mess.

"You really should learn to treat your superiors with more respect. Instead of barking, you should be grovelling. It's not going to change much, but maybe I won't torment you for ever."

Fuck, that hurt. Having a good chunk of your memories burned, especially when they reached back further than most civilisations, wasn't fun. Even I couldn't get myself to enjoy the sensation when huge pieces of my past went up in smoke and agony. Marshalling my power, I dispersed my consciousness through the void, creating tremendous gaps between one memory and the next for the consuming flames to devour themselves when they couldn't find anymore fuel.

While it worked, it also meant that my essence was stretched, like butter scraped over too much bread. It didn't take much out of Delilah to scoop me up, to force me into a confined space where my power frothed and bubbled like heated tar. "Honestly, your tricks didn't work on me before and they sure as the seven sins won't work on me now. You're pathetic, Lilith. You could as well have tried to seduce me. At least you're somewhat good at that."

"Fuck you," I meant to spat but when the next tendril of liquid agony dug deep into me, I couldn't do more than groan in pain. Scenes from my past flashed before my eyes while she methodically stripped away everything I had enjoyed. A sunset over a teeming, lilac ocean, the embrace of a mortal I had come to cherish, the birth of a new star in the endless darkness beyond the fringes of the universe… the images fluttered through my mind, only to be lit on fire and turned into ash. And when they were gone, all that remained was the dull ache of knowing how much I had lost but I couldn't recall the memories, they had vanished, been taken from me without remorse.

At first, I thought she was simply punishing me, lording her strength over me, but with each tormenting moment, I got to experience a bit more of what she was actually up to. Not only did she rape my thoughts, she also violated my core, gradually twisting who and what I was into the cowering image of what she wanted me to be. I couldn't even begin to imagine how that was possible but I didn't give a fuck, either. I had much more pressing problems.

A detached part of me was asking a simple but vital question. Did I believe I'd be able to get out of here alive? Cuz if I didn't, there were a couple of memories, let's say from a few hours ago, I'd have to make sure were consumed before Delilah tired of her game. Exposing Lucifer's… Cassandra's whereabouts… I couldn't risk it.

By the abyss, as soon as I thought of it, I was tempted to summon him… her, but she was still so young. Even with who she was, she couldn't possibly face Delilah. Once she was fully grown…well, the last time it had taken all of us to bring him down and we had nearly failed. But she wasn't there, yet. Considering how far she had come in a few years, it wouldn't take her long, but that was worth jack squat to me. Or was it?

A desperate idea came to mind. Beyond the void, Delilah had shattered the rules of space and time… if I were to send my summoning through the cracks she had created, there'd be a chance. Maybe I'd call upon his future, his past or his present. The latter would fuck us both royally but I didn't expect it to happen. The few years Casandra had under her belt were, but a drop in an ocean. Chances were, I'd get someone else entirely. Was it worth the risk? Probably not, from what little I had learned, she had to survive or the monstrosity in front of me would soon be the least of all our worries, but I wasn't one to throw away my life. The multiverse could ultimately burn for all I cared, as long as I was there to watch it. Sort of…

Rallying what little strength I had left, I hardened a piece of my mind into a black spear of pure will and hurled it through the void. Delilah hadn't missed what I was doing, but she didn't care much, either way. After all, whom could I summon that would pose a threat to her? Arrogance was a lovely thing, especially in enemies. Any second now, I'd know if my gamble was going to pay off, but until then, my dear sister still made me squirm.

It wasn't easy to break an immortal and considering my rather ambivalent attitude towards pain, I wasn't the weakest of the bunch in that regard, but the abomination made every effort to have me wrapped and delivered between two heartbeats. When it came down to it, she was surprisingly creative. Truth be told, I wouldn't have lasted for another minute, my own personality, memories, decisions… my own life turned against me in the blink of an eye, but I didn't have to. Something tickled my senses and even though I couldn't concentrate anymore, I would have smiled, if I had been able to. Ozone, I felt ozone and the tingling of power in the middle of the void. Hell yeah!

"You," I heard a high pitched, maniacal scream and the walls of my prison crumbled just as the hooks she had sunk into my mind vanished.

"Me." The voice was full, melodious and decidedly feminine. Scrambling, I formed a body and looked around, panting, while blood, black and gooey, dripped from my eyes. This time, a smile spread across my face for real.

Light, silvery blue light was everywhere. There were no shadows left, no magic, only light. A glaring hurricane of power surrounded us, the feeble remains of Delilah's spells shattering like brittle glass before a world ending storm. Motes of pristine, blinding energy danced through the splendour of might and collapsed to form a figure I never would have imagined I'd be happy to see. 33 torrents of light cut through the void, her face and body were hidden behind a wall of enchanted mithril, a spear like living lightning in her hand, she fanned out her tails, a corona of molten silver, even brighter than her aura. "Oh, you're done for now," I coughed. "I think she's mad. Good luck, sister. You'll need it." The last part was more of a strangled whisper, but it was the thought that counted, right?

"Luck," Delilah screeched. "There's no such thing, only…" As we both found out that very moment, Cassandra didn't indulge in banter before a fight. A surge of power thundered through the void, the very essence of the realm twisting and warping under an onslaught of force that drowned out even the lingering sparks of Delilah's presence, swept them away on a rising tide of light. I hadn't even seen her move a muscle but when the glare subsided, I gulped in surprise.

Cassandra remained upright, only the intensifying glow from beneath her helmet indicated the swelling tides of power that coursed through her veins. Her hand was empty now, the spear gone. I looked around, searching for my corrupted sibling but in the blinding light that still illuminated the void, even my immortal senses had trouble deciphering the fleeting movements around me.

With a silent curse I channeled a part of my energy through my body, even though the wounds Delilah had inflicted on me sent waves of agony through me every time I accessed my core. I wiped the blood form my face and blinked to clear my vision but what I saw made me question whether I was truly awake or caught in another hallucination composed of my memories.

My sister was on her knees, her flickering, mutating arms wrapped around her middle. Black blood, interspersed with bluish motes of power gushed form beneath her desperate grip, a silver spear protruding from her body. Cassandra moved her mithril clad fingers and the spear ripped from Delilah's body, bits of flesh and blood a gruesome trail in its wake when it returned to her.

"Only power," she finished the sentence, her voice far away and much colder than I could have imagined. "And yours is lacking." She didn't give the demoness a chance to collect her bearings. Her wings flared, another flash of light tore through the void and she appeared in front of the cowering creature. "I'm sorry sister, but you're too far gone. There's no way back, at least, I haven't found one yet," she whispered, her voice laden with doom and finality, each syllable a damning strike that made me shiver. She raised her spear.

"Sister," Delilah whimpered, the word accompanied by a spurt of blood. "You're no sibling of mine, lightbringer. You're a curse upon our race, one we should have cleansed ages ago."

"Am I not," came the soft reply. "I wouldn't be too sure." In a fluid motion, she leaned forward and pierced Delilah's heart. Pushing against the spear, she forced the wounded demoness to raise her gaze until she stared directly at the armoured face hovering above her. Another twirl of her fingers and the helmet vanished into sparks of silver.

She hadn't changed, her perfect face was still the same I had seen only a few hours ago, but the harsh line of her jaw and the cold glow in her eyes made her appear… older, determined… dangerous. And then, there was the crown. A crown of horns above her brow. In contrast to my own or every other I had seen before, it wasn't physical, but made of living fire, blue and silver dancing around her in an eternal cycle of flames and light. In a silvery stream, liquid fire poured down her face and along her arms, slithering towards Delilah. There was a split second of resistance when the light reached the demoness, the flames quivered and halted but then, the glow from Cassandra's eyes intensified and the fires engulfed her victim.

A nightmarish screamed split the void, a scream the likes of which I had never heard before. It was the end of immortality, the last, fleeting taste of eternity before it was consumed in a maelstrom of light and flames. Delilah's warping figure froze, her grotesque appearance burned away to leave behind the beautiful form I had known for most of my life. But it didn't last. Ravenous energies tore through her, charred her skin and burned out her eyes until she turned into a bonfire of silvery blue flames, a crackling reminder of why we had feared Lucifer.

Despite what she had done to me, despite her descend into madness and greed, I still had to avert my eyes, a bloody tear running down my cheek. I had never before seen an immortal die and I knew without a doubt that I was witnessing the end of an ageless existence. Fear gripped me, the paltry emotions Delilah had made me suffer through before, nothing but a measly shadow compared to the dread I felt rising in my chest. I had never believed it, not until now, but when the flames had turned my sister into sparks and cinders, Cassandra inhaled deeply, the glaring fire returning to her and taking with it the last, small embers of what Delilah had been. I froze, a memory rising to the surface. One I had never fully understood. "He's not called the devourer of immortals for nothing."

Giddiness and fear bubbled within me just as I was caught between laughter and tears. I had been looking for her, completely ignorant of the devil I had been courting. Only one question mattered now. "Who are you, really?" Her glowing gaze settled on me with the weight of a world.