Dancing In The Void

"Do you remember the moment you first touched consciousness?" Insect carefully signed to the person laying in bed across from her, reading a book.

Caitlyn put her book down against her knees, having carefully observed her cousin after she called for her attention.

"Touched… consciousness?" Caitlyn asked. "I think you mean, 'become conscious?' right Insect?" She said, signing the last part.

Insect nodded as she began fiddling with the radio on the nightstand until she found a channel she enjoyed. The music that started blaring was an intense heavy metal track. The two girls started bobbing their heads in excitement before Caitlyn continued with her answer.

"I… don't know. I guess, sometimes when I was around… three years old I just woke up one day and that was me. I'm sure its just that as far as I can remember and I wasn't a zombie when I was a baby." Caitlyn sighed as she put her book down. "What's got you bringing up such a weird topic?"

"I still don't feel it." Insect signed plainly. "I feel like I'm still dreaming, always dreaming. As if I am still asleep and one day I will wake up and everything will change."

Insect was immediately thwapped over the head by a soft pillow that Caitlyn tossed her way. She picked it up with a scowl once she recovered and angrily jumped on the bed, beating her cousin over the legs and face a few times.

"MY GLASSES! OW, YOU BITCH!" Caitlyn yelped.

"What was that for?" Insect signed. "You earned that."

"Hahaha, you're being melodramatic. I'm sure you're just tired and stressed. C'mon, get some sleep. Nathan's gonna be taking us to the church for training tomorrow.

Insect sighed. "Will I be able to train with you this time?" She asked just after she jumped out of the bed.

Caitlyn's joyous mood slipped for a moment. "No, Insect. You know how I feel about that. You can't train with me."

"I'm not good enough…" Insect signed, disappointed.

"No, it's not that. I'm just… different, better." Caitlyn smirked. "I-in some ways." She quickly corrected herself.

Insect turned around and walked towards her bed. Her movements were slow, sluggish, and thus, she was a perfect target for Caitlyn to toss another pillow at her. Insect lingered still and motionless, before she grabbed a pillow and rushed back, with a vicious grin and a desire for combat. Their room was filled with sounds of joyful laughter and giggles with the occasional pained groan as a pillow hit was stronger than anticipated.

I remember that evening. Time seemed so… endless back then. The days were long and the sun shone brightly, while the night was filled with a pleasant summer chill. We did not meet often, but the time we spent together was precious to me beyond words. She didn't mock my name, nor my disability. I felt normal around her in a way I couldn't around others, even my own father. I loved Caitlyn like an older sister that I never had… Insect's thoughts drifted like a twilit whisper in the wind just as she herself drifted through the darkness.

While I can't know for sure, I know deep in her heart she loved me back as well… And then Nikolai was born and we were three… But I was no longer part of them. Caitlyn had eyes only for her sister… and while I understand the reasons… that loneliness and abandonment haunts me to this day… I wish I did not hate Nikolai for taking my sister from me but… I doubt she remembers me fondly considering how young she was at that time.

Insect lifted the back of her palm, inspecting the symbol still etched into her gloves. What happened to us? When did hate sever our bond so? The memories are flooding back so slowly… what was it… ah… Yes… It was the day she became Katherine…

Insect listened from the doorway, her face wracked with worry and despair. She was frozen, unable to move or intervene in any way. Helplessly she watched as her distant cousin shouted in furious rage like that she'd never seen before. Nathaniel stood steadfast to the side, being the main focus of this vicious anger.

"You are MAD if you think I'm letting Nikolai in your fucking hands after what happened, Nathaniel!" Katherine screamed.

"C-Cait… Katherine please. You were gone for so long we had to-"

"I don't care you lying crippled fuck. It was your fault. It was all your fucking fault! We were attacked because of you. My parents were killed because of you! Their blood is on your hands." Katherine stepped forward, pointing a finger direction in Nathan's face, her eyes glaring with malice and tears. "You're lucky. If my mother and father hadn't cared for you as they did, I would ki-…" Her voice trailed off. Katherine desperately tried holding her tears back as she clenched her fist and turned away. "You're lucky you're in my mother's house."

"Katherine… w-what happened to you?" Nathaniel managed to mumble, having difficulty holding back his own sorrow and disappointment.

"Nothing I ever intend on telling you." She said, her voice stinging like poison. "Hello Insect, I didn't notice you standing there. Enjoying the conversation?"

Insect just sheepishly waved back.

"Hmph… Your father is a liar, did you know that?" Katherine continued with spite.

"Katherine… I beg of you, don't do this."

"What is she talking about dad?" Insect signed.

"We'll talk about this later." Nathan ordered, but Katherine insisted.

"No, we talk about this now." She said with cold stillness in her voice. "He's not your real father."

"KATHERINE! Damn it… how on earth did you… why would you…" Nathaniel said, hanging his head low in shame and all but confirming her words.

Insect tried signing something but she was so shaken, so devastated that her trembling hands could do nothing but clutch each other and press against her chest. Tears started welling in her eyes before she broke into a heart wrenching, wailing sob.

"We'll leave Katherine… okay?" Nathaniel finally yielded, grabbing her hand without looking up at her, but it was too late. The words had been said. The knife had been plunged into his daughter's heart, and nothing he could do now could ever fully heal that scar. "We'll leave Nikolai in your care and we'll relocate elsewhere. We'll find another place, I have some acquaintances in Gausville, its far, you'll never see us again. If that's what you desire."

"Don't worry Nathan, I'll keep Nikolai far from both you and… I. I've already found a caretaker for her. She'll be able to have a normal life here, with her friends. She deserves better than what we've given her." Katherine said.

"In that case, you'd be needing a caretaker as well right?" He said softly.

"Hmm?"

"You're still half a decade off from being an adult. I'll… I'll find someone to act as your mother until you come of age. Forge some papers, help you keep the mansion."

"Fine. That sounds good to me." She yielded as well, wiping away her tears. "Now both of you, get out of my house." Katherine said as she turned away.

Insect's eyes were free of tears for a moment. A moment that seemed to linger unnaturally long. A moment where her eyes met those belonging to the sister she formerly knew as Caitlyn. Eyes that once were filled with joy and hope for a brighter future, eyes whose white lights were now faded a dark gray, eyes that once loved her dearly and now only seemed to stare at her with unending hatred. Unjust, igneous hate and disgust. Insect felt her heart break, shatter like glass, seeing how someone so dear to her could come to despise her so much.

What did I do? Insect asked herself. I always wondered that. What did I do to make someone I loved hate me so? What sin did I commit? Why did she, in those last moments I ever saw her, look at me like I was the most despicable creature on earth?

Insect's mind lingered on those questions, now, years later, as she floated in this black abyss. The answers still not found in truth, but now, at least they appeared within reach. Where am I? What is this… darkness… this is… that's right I remember… the demon took me. That's why I came here today… to find out what happened to my mother… to meet… Him.

Insect opened her eyes, and it was not darkness that she found, but a dim, unwavering light. She was kneeling on the floor, pressed against a shadowy corner of the hallway. Her eyes tracked the light, following it until it reached what appeared to be candles, lining the top of each wall. Insect rubbed her eyes and pushed herself off the ground, trying to shake off the cloudy haze that still clung to her mind and body. She gave the air around her a couple quick punches and kicks, just to reinstill a sense or urgency in her muscles and thoughts. Her eyes gleamed back up towards the lights, and she noticed now that the candles were being held by hands protruding from the wall. Thin, elongated arms with rotting, putrid flesh that dangled off their bones.

Her eyes followed downwards towards the rest of the hallway. The walls and floor were covered by a peculiar, glistening material shaded a deep red, with a couple spots revealing the stone underneath. Insect watched without breathing as the very walls around her pulsed in steady, rhythmic beats. With the beating, came the background sounds of wailing and screaming. Hundreds upon hundreds of hellish noises, so very distant, and yet, so close. A knot tied itself in her chest, her breathing turned shallower and shallower by the second, until it became nearly impossible for her to inhale. A terrifying, dreadful feeling gripped her, a feeling so ominous that her feet were rooted to the spot, unable to move or act. Despite there being no outward immediate threat, Insect knew, she could feel the impending terrifying steps that were approaching her, slowly, slowly.

B-be damned… I've… I've trained all my life for THIS! She thought, clenching her teeth down painfully hard. Her fist slammed into her right thigh, above the silver armor she wore over the rest of her legs. I cannot be so… terrified when He's not even here yet! Gods be damned Insect, get a hold of yourself… breathe!

Insect stood tall, her back straight, legs close together and arms at her side. Her dark purple scarf began billowing in the wind that should not have been there, and Insect then unclasped her long overcoat, letting it fall off of her and onto the floor. Finally, Insect carefully took off her gloves, revealing the dozens of white scars that ran down her fingers and back of her palms. Her hands began to glow with a subtle reddish glow. Once she felt liberated, her body able to move freely she let go of the air in her lungs. Then, she took another breath, slow and steady. Her eyes opened, with razor focus. Every instinct that had been drilled into her, every harsh and painful lesson of combat echoed in her mind, her entire body was activated, ready and prepared for what was to come.

Dust to dust, ashes to ashes.

A tendril of corrupted flesh sliced through the darkness in an instant, its very tip shaped into a razor sharp fang like that of a serpent. The fang tore through the air, ripping it apart like a black howl, until it was mere inches from stabbing Insect's face. At the last possible instant however, her right hand shot up in the space between the fang's trajectory and her face. The tip stabbed into the back of her hand, but it did not advance. It barely pierced her skin, drawing a single droplet of blood, before embedding itself into the bones in her hand as if they were made of stone.

The tentacle urged to retreat, but Insect reacted faster. Her hand whipped around the tentacle, grabbing with an iron grip, preventing its escape. Her other hand reached over grabbing the tentacle further along before she grit her teeth and tore it in half. Black blood as dark as pitch gushed from the open wound as she tossed the leftover chunk aside. The walls seemed to shake, tremble for a moment as the tentacle slithered back into the darkness.

"Is this the greeting I deserve?" Insect signed for the person that lingered at the edge of shadows. Mild annoyance lingered in the way her fingers moved.

"Were you under the impression I should treat you… differently?" Asmodeus said with his deep, calming voice as he floated into the light. Once he appeared fully, more hands began to protrude through the walls behind him, candles of faded wax alight in their palms. His own hand was also raised near his chest, and Insect could see a small bit of his wrist under his gloves cut off and bleeding. The demon smiled as he showed her the missing chunk of flesh closing and healing before her eyes.

"Is that not-" Insect's hands began to say but Asmodeus quickly interrupted her.

"Ahp, ahp, ahp, don't bother please. I can read your thoughts directly. It will make our communication much less bothersome."

"And it makes it that much more intrusive for me, doesn't it?" Insect thought as a test.

"Yes but, frankly I never learned sign language so." Asmodeus shrugged.

"Perhaps you should have considered learning it before you stole my voice and my name!" She lashed out in her mind, while her body took a more defiant and ready combat stance, like a winding corkscrew ready to be unleashed.

"Ah… so that's what this is about." Asmodeus began, crossing his arms while moving his right to hold up his chin. "That's why you've so eagerly jumped at the opportunity to barge into my sanctified domain alongside the fool and his angel. Eager to invade when I've done nothing to wrong any of you. I've respected the pact made for countless eons, and yet I'm still the one being punished. So eager, despite your father arguing so much against it… Ah, I should say, adoptive father, no?"

Insect lashed out, rushing towards the archdemon ready to attack. Her intentions were not ones born out of blind rage and recklessness, no this attack was calculated, precise, and Insect struck with unwavering great strength. She leapt through the air, spinning as she delivered a powerful kick straight to Asmodeus' head. The demon reacted at the last moment, catching her leg and stopping her in mid air. While the direct hit was stopped, the sheer force of her kick radiated outwards directly across Asmodeus' head, causing his head to tilt from the shockwave alone.

"Interesting." Asmodeus remarked.

Insect ignored him and continued with increasing agility and ferocity. She landed back on the ground and unleashed another powerful kick without a moment of recovery, now with her other leg. When the demon dodged it, she only moved further. Roundhouse kick followed by another roundhouse kick, Insect seemed to spend more time in the air than on the ground. She was relentless, and her perseverance paid off with a blow directly to the demon's chest.

"Ghuhh." The demon grunted as he was shoved backwards. His composure did not falter however. He seemed much more intrigued instead. His gloved hand rested on his chest as if he was trying to inspect the blow. "I was curious to see what sort of damage you were capable of, I sincerely hope that's not all you've got?"

"Be damned you bastard! Stop toying with me and fight!" Insect screamed in her mind as she continued her assault. She changed her strategy, moving instead to attack with her hands. Palms and fists flew into a flurry towards the demon. This was all a farce, an act, and Insect was well aware of it. The demon was purely on the defensive, only dodging, blocking, deflecting her attacks and only retreating further and further into the tunnel. This would not do, she was being dragged directly in his trap while tiring herself out.

"I will give you credit where its due. I enjoy the clever way you increase the power output of your attacks by massively enhancing the density of your bones…" Asmodeus said, lifting his arm and creating a rolling wave of flesh from the floor. It rushed towards Insect, who back-flipped backwards until she was safe. "...But I am annoyed. You think that is the limit of the power you were gifted with? Where is the true Osteomancer I heard so much about? Is strength alone the only power you recognize and respect, Insect? You are a fool, and that makes you weak."

"Ghhkk." Insect groaned as she grit her teeth.

"But perhaps it is my fault…" Asmodeus said calmly, letting his head hang low in disappointment. He flicked his hands and the walls of the corridor began to move backwards. The hallway soon became a massive open circular chamber. Pillars burst from the ground towards the edge of the chamber, forming a small arena around them. Curiously however, a strange boxlike stand rose from the floor as well besides Asmodeus. A bead of sweat dripped down Insect's temple. Seeing her perturbed expression as he began searching for something within those drawers, the demon addressed her.

"Do you enjoy music, Insect?"

"W-what's it to you?" Insect thought to herself, standing perfectly still but prepared for anything the demon might throw her way.

"Just answer, not every question is meant to probe your deepest self, sometimes I am merely curious. I enjoy music, of all sorts, though. I consider music one of the greatest achievements that humanity has accomplished. Melodies and voices that create such lovely feelings, such beautiful ripples on the chords of truth. Did you know, some time in the modern age, long after the creation of music, a certain species of monster bird evolved a distinct attraction to melodious noises, music, speech. Bell-Tolling Owls, as they are called, feast on these noises, sustain themselves on the vibrations and feelings that humans give off when hearing them."

"Let me guess, you have some of those in your house of bullshit?" Insect asked.

"Of course, they're higher up in the upper layers, far from here. I find them a kindred species in many ways. I too find myself, drawn like moths to flame to you, to humans, to demons as well. I find myself mimicking the world around me, yearning…" The demon stopped and spun around, showing off. "Music calms me. Keeps me placid, numb as I await for the fruition of my plans with great patience. I'm mainly a sucker for pieces that you might consider… old-fashioned? My lifespan is so much greater than yours, I imagine most of these orchestral pieces were written before even your oldest relative was born."

"You are one fucked up demon… I guess no point in not answering, considering you're already scrambling through my brain, I prefer… heavier… stuff, metal."

"Oho, how intriguing! I occasionally listen to such melodies. Aha! Such vigor, such intense and complex noises." Asmodeus said, lifting a case with a vinyl disc inside. "In that case, you might enjoy this next piece: The Legend of the Pallid Eye." The demon gleefully placed the disc on a player that rested on top of the desk, before he flicked his wrist and the entire drawer began to submerge itself back below the floor. Music began to play, starting off with a long, drawn out violin chord reverberating and trembling. Soon other instruments began to play, followed by the echoing voice of a soft-spoken yet powerful man.

"This should make a fitting track for our battle, wouldn't you say? Like I mentioned earlier, it is my fault. I have given you no incentive yet, no burning desire for you to attack, for you to show me your true talents. You are still holding back."

"Well, bitch. I was just getting warmed up. I hope you got a better incentive than just some stupid song!"

"Worry not, my incentive is, in this case, is for me to indulge you. I did not know what the angel or her fool were capable of, so I restrained myself from testing either of them in direct combat. But you my dear… you should be more than capable to handle me, isn't that right?" Asmodeus smiled wickedly. He lifted his right hand, palm faced towards him, his black gloves shining with darklight. "These gloves, they bind me, help contain my more ethereal forms. They were a gift from a dear friend of mine. A fellow master that I respect and admire greatly. I see you've taken your gloves off entirely, but for you I will only lose the one." He said as his fingers twitched and the black glove vanished, revealing his bare hand underneath. His hand was colored a dark black and gray with viciously sharp claws at the tip of each finger. The flesh and skin seemed broken, tattered in certain and pulsing bloody muscles could be seen therein. "After all, my goal is not to kill you, but to open your eyes to true power and perfection!"

Insect braced herself, crossing both arms in front of her and using her unholy power to turn her bones to a steel-like hardness. This allowed her to withstand as the demon unleashed a surge of demonic flesh and muscle from his palm. The blow washed over her like a tidal wave, but it was nothing more than a cover, as in that time Asmodeus dashed towards her, reaching her in an instant. He yanked her by the arm, savagely throwing her into the wall behind him. She quickly stumbled back onto her feet however, her defensive ability keeping her from being incapacitated for long. The demon smirked as she rushed towards him again, this time as if a veil lifted from both of their eyes.

Insect's fists glowed with red unholy energies piercing through the air like bullets as she attacked Asmodeus. He meanwhile, only fought back with his right arm, his left clasped tightly behind his back. But that one right arm was like dozens of weapons all at once. The hand was split into countless flesh tentacles, sinewy spikes and muscles, and all sorts of different hands, fangs and claws belonging to the most unnamable and perhaps long extinct creatures. Each different tendril seemed to have a mind of its own as it slashed, stabbed, sliced and bit into Insect from hundreds of different angles.

"Ahahahahahahah!" Asmodeus laughed maniacally. "What thrill, what joy! It has been so very long! Show me more, Insect! Show me your true self! Lay your soul bare before the Faceless One!"

Insect desperately fought her way through the onslaught, dodging and blocking what she could. The madness was her only way forward, the only way for her to reach her target. Every ounce of will she could muster pumped through her veins, compelling her to move faster than she ever moved before, to endure harder than she'd ever endured before, and to strike with the fury she buried deep within her soul, hiding it from the world. The more she drained her powers, the more it consumed her. Her bones began to jut out through her skin, spiky fragments protruding wherever her skin was sliced open. A row of horns began to poke through the top of her head, forming a makeshift crown.

Asmodeus seemed pleased with this new development. His real self floated further back, relenting his attacks for only a moment as the tendrils of flesh detached from his fingers and continued attacking. Insect continued to fight against them, until they all were broken and ripped to shreds by her hands. Before she could celebrate in any way however, Asmodeus opened his palms towards her, reaching out as if he was readying for a warm embrace.

"This is what I've been dying to see in you, my dear Insect." Asmodeus began. "This rage, this unholy fury boiling within your blood. You cannot keep containing it. See how its already bursting at the seams? Let yourself indulge, let yourself be so much more! Be so much greater."

"Why…? Why would I accept your power? I am enough! I do not need you to lecture me!"

"Enough…?" Asmodeus repeated with disappointment. "You are nothing Insect. I've barely begun fighting and you think just because you've outlasted my first attacks you think you're winning this fight? You are foolish… unaware of what's now flowing through your veins from all those cuts and punctures." Asmodeus said with sad eyes as he looked down at his demonic right hand.

"W-what?" Insect panted as she took stock of herself. She was not grievously wounded, but blood flowed from the many small wounds she'd acquired, as well as from those she inflicted on herself as her bones pierced her skin.

"Did you really think my glove held back such a pathetic power? No… The tentacles and vicious brutality were just a decoy for the true horror lurking underneath."

Insect's eyes were glued to her hand, specifically, to the blood that was pouring from a nasty gash at the center of her palm. Her iris trembled, fear gripped her, the voice in her mind compelled her to keep composure. With a deep breath and steady heartbeat, Insect began channeling her unholy energy. Her teeth were grit, and her wrath was tranquil.

"Do you know why I always wear gloves? They make any fight… too boring. My body contains a virus, my dear Insect. Well…" Asmodeus smirked as he wiggled the fingers on his right hand. "Just the flesh on my hands, specifically. They hide a plague. A plague for which there is no human cure. A plague that will slowly, agonizingly so infect every single cell in your body, turning it into… me. Flesh. Eternal, to be used and manipulated as I see fit. One touch, all it takes."

"S-so that's it then? N-no matter what, my death is sealed?" Insect thought, falling to the ground on her knees.

"Oh… don't give up that easily." Asmodeus said with a grin, floating forwards slightly. "After all, you are so like me more than anyone else. I have utter faith in you overcoming this… obstacle"

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As he finished his sentence, Insect jumped forward with surprising vigor, her eyes flaring with savage, animalistic fury. Asmodeus noticed her sudden advance, and lashed out with a powerful blast of billowing gust. Insect deftly avoided it, the wind merely blowing through her purple locks, locks that now revealed a change in her eyes as two small black teardrops had now appeared, seared beneath them on her cheeks. The sides of her lips had morphed into a horrific sight, as her cheeks had split open, creating a much larger mouth that revealed many fangs and sharp teeth below it. Her body had undergone a similar metamorphosis throughout. Row after row of spikes of bone protruded from her spine and ribs, arms and shoulders. Her fingers were now replaced by long, sharp claws.

Insect attacked first, catching the demon slightly off-guard. Her initial blow landed once again, slicing the skin demon's with her claws. There was a profane and yet familiar power that now emanated from every point on her body, especially her very bones. This and the single droplet of blood that dripped from the demon's neck was all the proof she needed to know she could harm him. His eyes straightened, and he then retaliated with a furious swipe of his hands. Unnatural, long arms shot from the flesh that covered the floor, clawing and reaching their way towards Insect. The arms chased her across the arena, but Insect was sustained by her power and fervor.

She was quicker, more agile, and as she drew them away from the demon, she created openings for herself. She dashed to him, striking with all her might, but the blow did not land, not fully. Asmodeus deflected her with ease. He smiled at her. The demon was powerful, and experienced in the arts of combat but even so:

His defenses MUST have a limit! Insect thought to herself. I can break through, I can find the opening, just one opening!

Insect rushed away from him as the floor-arms kept chasing, and once another opening was made, she rushed the demon again. Then again, and again. Each time her approach was a little different, her blows attacking from different angles.With her final dash attack, she managed to get closer than ever. The demon could not back away in time, so the two became locked in a close-quarters battle. The duo traded countless strikes and kicks, with Insect on the offensive while the demon retreated. She attacked with relentless fists drenched in crimson energy while the demon avoided her with his hands and the unholy flesh tentacles that spawned from his body. The way they fought was beyond the realm of normality, as earthshaking shockwaves radiated from the two of them every time they clashed. It was now nothing more than a deadly dance of flesh and bone.

"HYAAAH!" Insect screamed as she stepped back for one moment, before one final, desperate salvo. Her hands became a flurry of hands and spikes, each trying desperately to reach the demon, to harm or incapacitate him in any measure. The final opening she needed came at last, in the form of her fist being blocked by the demon's arm instead of being deflected. Seizing the opportunity Insect unleashed a thin, red spike-like needle from her knuckle, stabbing into the demon's forearm. The bone-marrow spike pierced through the arm entirely, and shot further, impaling Asmodeus' face on the left side of his mouth. As soon as the needle touched his face, it expanded into a fractal branch of piercing, spike-bones.

"GRAAH!" She yelled as the pain from her marrow shooting out of her hand echoed throughout her arm and body.

"Ghrrk!" Asmodeus grunted, sending a wave of flesh from his other arm to put some distance between himself and Insect. She dodged it with ease as she slid away, but that was not the end.

Asmodeus repeatedly raised his palm upwards, and each time the massive piles of flesh seemed to take shape, to grow and walk. Several massive flesh-golems had now been summoned. Insect was almost caught by them as they rushed towards her, their agility not something she expected.

"You ripped a hole in my favorite coat!" Asmodeus said, looking through the pin-hole in his arm. He did seem to mind the fact that his cheek was drooping down over his chin, his teeth impaled by dozens of bone spikes. All the while, Insect desperately fought against the flesh golems, a couple of their massive swipes landing against her body, sending her flying into nearby walls.

"Why do you fight against your power so much? Is it your insecurities holding you back? Your doubts about always being second-best to the demon-slaying huntress, Katherine?" Asmodeus asked while he watched her fight.

"B-be damned you bastard! Stop reading my mind! Such matters are for me alone to handle!"

"I knew that long before I crossed fists with you…" The demon said, with mild disappointment. All the while, the wounds on his face began to morph and shift, his flesh changing, closing, becoming an infernal sight of eyes and shapeless meat. Asmodeus touched his face somewhat confused and curious about what was occurring. "Fascinating. Look at yourself. Look at what your powers are capable of when you embrace them. You actually managed to wound this vessel. My healing powers are diminished, delayed, my shapeshifting gone haywire." Asmodeus said gleefully, with the greatest half-grin he could muster. "You are so wonderful, so close to reaching true perfection. I cannot let you falter, not when you are so close!"

Insect managed to put some distance between herself and the golems, and they seemed to stand back, not chasing her as intensely anymore. While the opportunity for a slight moment to catch her breath was there, she addressed the demon.

"What do you care? Why are you so obsessed with me? You are nothing but a vile demon! You stole my name, you stole my voice, and you stole my mother's life. You and your damned cultists! I want nothing from you Asmodeus!" Her thoughts shouted at him.

"Why would I care? What sort of question is that?" Asmodeus said, perplexed. "Does a man need to be a painter to have their heart ache upon seeing a half-finished canvas? You and the angel both have such potential. But you are so much closer along the path. You can open the red door. You can grasp the perfection that exists beyond it, but you need not only listen to me. I can show you the truth, and you will achieve the power you're capable of."

"Red door? Perfection? What madness are you spouting?"

"Such feeble understanding of the world. You are like that fool in white. I can see why you were his mentor. The red door is one of the great doors that exists deep within the Black Garden, a place at the edges of the realm of death. Perfection lies beyond it, pure, barren. The singular sweetest fruit that I wish to partake from. The place of my birth, and the place I yearn to return to. The only place I can be free, free from this accursed prison of stone and flesh. But I am not whole, not complete. The only path towards perfection, is perfection. Which is why I need someone like you. Only you can set me free. That is my desire and that is my despair." Asmodeus confessed, his red eyes shining with damned lights of truth.

"If you need me, or anyone else to achieve such insanity, know this: I do not know yet if you can die or not, but even so, I will not rest until you are stripped from this earth, this material world, banished, never to return! I will not let myself, nor Uriel, nor anyone else be tempted by the truth or power that you offer!" Insect thought, defiantly standing her ground. "You will die, before you ever see that damned door! I will make sure of it"

Asmodeus sighed. "You are stubborn. Just like your mother was. Just like Uriel and her mother in turn. If I had to wager a guess, Katherine and Nikolai are both plagued by that similar stubbornness, correct? It seems such a trait is common among demonspawn. How bothersome."

The moment he said that Insect's entire body froze, with a small groan escaping her lips. Asmodeus waved his hand, causing the flesh golems to disappear.

"How… dare you mention my mother?"

"It has become apparent to me just to what extent your father has lied to you." Asmodeus said. "Cultists? Stealing your name and voice? How droll…" The demon shrugged. "...Nothing more than the sad lies of a pathetic old man."

"W-what are you babbling about? You expect me to believe a single word you say? Adopted or not, I think I trust my father more than you!"

"Did you ever ask dear Nathaniel what truly happened to your mother? To you when you were born? Did you ever wonder what sort of binding the pious hunters made to keep me locked in this prison? You never bothered to question him about that, correct?"

"W-why would I care about some demon locked in a desert far from humanity?"

"But I am far from just some demon, dear Insect. The hunters of centuries ago bound me to this place through great sacrifice, and sacrifice was the eternal cost they had to pay. I would be their jailer, in return for an effigy, an offering every twenty-five years."

"W-what is this… N-Nathan never mentioned anything like that." Insect thoughts became a haze, her body trembling and shivering. She did not want to keep listening to the demon, but she had no choice. Her muscles, her bones disobeyed her, and the demon's poisonous words kept dripping into her ears.

"Of course, there were no shortages of offerings to be made. After all, I was never picky, and the hunters had plenty of prisoners they wanted to lock away forever. But even I was surprised when a hunter willingly offered themselves to me."

"N-no.. th-this can't be…" Insect thought, clutching her head in pain as she fell on her knees. "T-that can't be true… y-you're lying! Shut up, SHUT UP!"

"Your mother came before me, Insect. She desired a child, and the scars of battle and disease made it so she could not have any. But I could offer her one. You believe you don't remember your real name, you were never even given the chance to know it. You believe I stole your voice in exchange for power, but in truth, your voice was taken before you were even born. There is a reason you bear fragments of my power, there is a reason you can harm me, and there is a reason I have not fought you to the fullest extent of my abilities despite that: you are my dearest and only daughter."

Despair. The pale color of despair burned in Insect's eyes. Her entire face was wracked with it. The reality she knew and loved, what she had been taught, everything shattered before her very eyes like fragile glass. Her chest ached, and her heart beat in irregular rhythm. Breathing was impossible for her, as air would refuse to enter her lungs. Panic, fear, and doubt plagued her thoughts like a billowing storm alongside a thousand other emotions she could not even name. All the while her demonic powers faded, her bones retracting back to their rightful place within her body, her split cheeks returning to normal, and the searing tears beneath her eyes being replaced by real tears.

"You have no idea how utterly… happy? That is the sentiment right? Yes, I was happy to see you would be arriving. Though I was well aware this would not be some light-hearted familial reunion. The thought of my dearest Insect returning to me again… gah…" Asmodeus turned angry at the mention of the name. "The distaste for that name still lingers on my tongue. Oh yes, it was not I that gave you that name. It was your mother. I had another name planned, but she bound me to that one… and later in turn I bound you and your adoptive father to it."

"Why?" Insect asked after her catatonic state seemed to diminish in intensity. She looked up at Asmodeus with puffy red eyes, filled with tears. Her shoulders and body slumped, filled with complete dejection. "W-why would my own mother do something like that?

Asmodeus floated closer to her. His eyes seemed to express something that Insect found hard to believe. His eyes were sorrowful, filled with nothing but pity and sadness as he looked down upon her.

"She never wanted you to forget… how much she hated you." Asmodeus' words fell over Insect like a dozen flaming swords. What last strength she had that still held her up failed her, and she let her head fall down against the ground, crying out in unending despair as the demon continued, uncaring of her plight. "Your mother she… hated herself. A hate that burrowed deep into the recesses of her mind and soul. Like a scar across young, tender flesh. She thought that having you would save her in some capacity, but you only became another outlet for her hate. She was on the verge of killing you, when I… killed her instead."

Insect opened her eyes and stared down at the fleshy ground, distraught. She wanted to scream, to let her sorrow and rage out into the depths of the prison, but as she opened her mouth she coughed instead, spitting blood and bile everywhere due to her wounds. The pain that coursed through her body seemed to shake her, pulling her from that unacceptable revelation. "Why… Why did you let me go? Why did I end up growing up under Nathaniel alongside Katherine..?" Insect asked in her mind without looking back up at Asmodeus.

Asmodeus floated back, as if hesitating slightly. "There is a demon, another like me, in exile deep within the recesses of this prison. This demon has a gift of foresight even stronger than mine. When your mother came to us, and after you were born, I consulted him on your fate. He advised me to give you back to Nathaniel. You were humanborn still, and despite the demonic blood that coursed through you. You could not grow up in such a place, your growth would be stunted, my attachments to you… dangerous. So I gave you back to the pious hunter, knowing all too well the day would come when you'd return to me."

"SO THAT'S IT THEN??" Insect screamed within her thoughts. She slammed her rageful fist into the floor, creating a massive dent into the flesh and stone underneath. "THAT'S ALL I EVER WAS? JUST… A KEY? A WEAPON FOR YOU TO OPEN SOME DAMNED DOOR WITH? MY OWN… my own m-mother… tried to kill me… Katherine… that's why she hated me so much… she knew what I was… she learned the truth… My own father hid my nature from me… made me think I was worthless scum in comparison… T-to think… all my life I thought my blood was less demonic… less… powerful than Katherine's… but finding out like this… how wrong I was…"

"Do not misunderstand me, Insect. I gave you a life outside of this prison in a gesture born out of love. You were born in the prison, not of it. A flower like you, a crimson rose such as yourself could not blossom fully in these depths. I allowed you to be free. You may not be able to understand it but know that the love I bear for you is unlike any love you might have known or experienced before."

Insect's furious rage exploded from her body, like pressure that built again and again until it could not be contained anymore. She rushed towards the demon while shooting dozens upon dozens of marrow needles from her arms. Holding back, restraint, careful tactics, these were things that she no longer cared for. She threw herself recklessly towards her father, all with the goals of hurting him, making him suffer. Unable to think, unable to act anymore, she just willed herself onward on pure instinct. Asmodeus himself on the contrary was pure cold, calculated and unwavering. He did not even bother with the facade of blocking or evading anymore. Insect's attacks just passed through his body, his flesh opening and avoiding everything as if it was sentient water.

"You are distraught, emotional. I can understand that, but this is not the path. I have given you truth dear Insect, why do you still reject power?" Asmodeus said his deep voice brimming with misunderstanding.

"FUCK! YOU! AND YOUR GARBAGE!" Insect screamed in her mind in between each of her punches. "Fuck everything about you, unholy spawn that you are!"

Asmodeus did not hesitate. In the next instant, his hand shot in the form of a tendril, latching onto Insect's neck. Feeling her bones strengthening to protect herself, he slammed her entire body across the arena. First against the wall, then into the floor, once, twice, thrice, until the stone beneath was completely shattered, and Insect was wheezing, gasping for breath as she held onto the final whispers of her consciousness.

"This world we exist in… contains objects that are, and objects that are not. Truth and power are one and the same. Truth is everything that is, the veins and arteries of existence, while power is its heart, pumping the blood of creation throughout reality. Even the smallest insect in this case is both in some equally small amount. I have shown you truth, why do you still refuse power?"

Insect did not answer at first, only laying frozen against the ground, motionlessly staring up at the ceiling. The demon approached her, listening closer to her thoughts: "I… I told y-you… I want… nothing from you…" With one desperate attempt, Insect flicked her index finger towards Asmodeus' face, firing a blood-red needle. The demon did not avoid it however, he merely caught it in his other hand. He inspected it carefully for a moment, as if an idea began to form in his head.

"Of course… just because truth has been presented to you does not mean you truly see it." Asmodeus said, lifting Insect from the ground and bringing her limp body closer in front of him. "Your power is still locked away, locked away in the mortality of your soul. Yes…" He said gleefully, looking at the marrow needle in his hand, and then directly into Insect's right eye. Without a moment of warning, he pierced the dead center of her iris with the needle.

The moment passed in an instant, but for Insect, it felt like days. Every moment of the needle stabbing through the watery membrane of her eye felt like hours dripping away on an hourglass. The needle rippled through her eye with a strange energy, waves that colored her eye white as the capillaries and strands were choked. It was as if moths were birthed, lived, and died as they flew from the puncture of her eye. Then came the pain. Unimaginable, piercing pain that radiated throughout her entire skull. Searing pain that caused her to scream an absolutely lung-wrenching scream. An endless cry as if her very soul was being stripped, bit by bit. Once the ordeal came to an end, she collapsed on the ground, mewling and writhing in pain as she clawed and clutched at her eye. Blood dripped from her socket, staining her face and hands as it fell to the floor.

"Aaaah…. Aaahhh… ahhhh…" Insect's soft, pained breathing echoed throughout the room.

"It aches me to see it was so painful. But it was necessary. The other eye is your final seal. I finally understood what you truly are. Believe me, there was no other way. When you no longer use your eyes to see, that is when you will see the truth. And with it, you will find your unimaginable power. But I will let you hold onto it until you deem it necessary. When that occurs, I will be there to watch you. Now arise, Insect show me what you are capable of."

Insect did not move. Her body remained perfectly still, on her knees, one hand propping herself up on the ground, the other stained red with blood as it pressed against her eye. Her other eye was dripping with tears, bloodshot, open, staring at the blood that pooled beneath her. There was something unusual about the shimmering crimson liquid, it felt different. It was as if a switch had been flipped within her soul, creating a different path to her power. Her finger twitched, and a droplet spiked from the blood, causing ripples as it fell back down in the next moment. She gulped, taking heaving, deep breaths of air as a single thought passed through her mind.

Blood of creation…

"You never did ask me where we are." Asmodeus began talking to himself, waiting for a reaction. "This is the seventh layer of Dudael, Violentia. An apt name in my opinion. I rarely come here, it is where I keep some exceedingly dangerous creatures and prisoners. Most are want to dwell in the darkness undisturbed. But you see, there is a tunnel in this place, a flaw built by the creators long before I was warden. And it just so happens, your dear cousin Katherine has infiltrated the prison through the tunnel in this layer."

As the demon talked, Insect managed to slowly, painfully, agonizingly push herself up from the ground. Her hand still clutched her head, but she was standing, wobbling on two shaky legs. Her armor clinked as she straightened her back and shot a death glare at the demon.

"K-Katherine is here…?"

"Ah, you're up. Yes, I sensed you two might have some… unresolved issues. She is close by, I believe she is currently fighting against the two prisoners you came to save. What better incentive than for you to unleash your newfound power?" Asmodeus grinned.

Katherine…? Insect thought to herself, no longer addressing the demon. What would she think, seeing me like this… what… What can I do…? Is it right to even face her now? I always wished to fight demons but… I was more demonic than any one of us. I just did not know it… The images of her students, Uriel and Constantine flashed in her mind, like the shine of a lighthouse for a ship at sea. The snapshot was followed by the sights of Sean and Jacob then Erika and Matilda and lastly Nathaniel and Damien, every one of them smiling warmly at her. They… would they all… hate me if they knew the truth? Would… they be disappointed in me…? No… no that's… why am I thinking like that? I was always… a demon hunter. I was Insect, The Osteomancer. They all knew that, they all knew and yet… they still cared for me nonetheless. What does it matter, what does it matter if this… foul creature standing before me IS my true father? I swore, I swore I would come to this place and right my wrongs. Constantine, Uriel, they asked for my help and I gave it to them, their friends, trapped in this prison, people I swore to save, they need me now… I swore I would be their protector, their guardian, their savior from the darkness. That has not changed Insect! They are waiting for you, the others are too far, but you can save them, you can stop Katherine, you must turn away from despair! You just need to hope again! This power is YOURS, not HIS. It has always been yours! This is no longer the time to fear it! Use it, embrace it, and unleash it against him, Gods be damned!

Insect exhaled, finally removing the hand from her face. Her eyes once again shone with dark red energies, but her pupils differed. Her unmaimed eye was still deep black, with a matching teardrop seared into her cheek underneath, but her left was now pure white, with an equally radiant tear on her cheek, barely visible beneath the rivers of blood that poured from above. Insect took a stance, putting her right leg forward while leaning on her left. Her left hand reached up to her face, as if she was peaking between the fingers, while her right reached up to touch her bloody cheek.

Once her fingers touched the red liquid, her hand whipped forward. The blood instantly obeyed forming into shards of blood that rained from her towards Asmodeus. The demon smirked, and attempted to merely let the blood needles pass through his body, but that was exactly what Insect was hoping for. As his skin and flesh unfolded, and the needles were halfway through his body, the needles expanded, forming razor-thin starlike shapes of blood. The shapes rapidly exploded out further into countless spears of bone that pierced the demon's body. The demon's eyes went wide, first with shock, then with excitement. Insect was not done just yet however. As her hands danced in fluid, and sharp movements, all the blood she had spilled during their long battle obeyed her, surging like serpents towards the demon, further lashing him and piercing his flesh from hundreds of different directions.

"Hahahahahaha! YES!" Asmodeus shouted as his body was sliced and stabbed countless times over. He merely endured it all, not moving a finger to fight back, and before long Insect had to stop, giving him a chance to begin reforming himself on the spot. His regeneration however, was exceedingly slow. The formerly graceful, elegant demon resembled a massive pile of misshapen flesh and bone that happened to still hold bits and pieces of him instead.

"I can feel the pain, the rage and fury welling within you. You've finally embraced it, and look at yourself. Look at this POWER, wonderful, so wonderful!" He shouted, before lifting his arm, willing a wave of flesh to materialize to his defense. But something strange occurred. He could not move, despite all his wounds slowly closing and his body taking a familiar shape again. His eyes went wide with a different sentiment this time, one that was not something he was familiar with. Even the music that was playing all this time froze, and silence echoed through the arena."W-what is this?"

"You should have been more careful pushing so hard, Asmodeus. Especially after revealing to me one of your greatest powers." Insect thought, and a grin formed on her lips. The realization hit Asmodeus like a train as his eyes glanced down at his gloveless hand, still suspended in the air impaled through the wrist by a bone javelin. "That's right…" Insect continued. "Why not use your tricks? After all, you were all too adamant to point out how similar our powers were."

"T-the b-blood…" Asmodeus muttered, finding it hard to move his mouth. That did not stop him from smiling maniacally. "C-clever."

"Before… I could only control my bones, my own self, my own body. I used it to become strong, but now… this sensation… its so different. Every molecule of blood, I can feel it, control it. And now, I can feel it within you as well. Your blood is MINE now!" Insect thought, and while she did she moved her right arm out to her side, and Asmodeus' partially reformed left arm mirrored her movements, despite his attempts at resistance. "I can feel you now, every part of you. I've been given an access point into your very being… You're… not human… not even demonic, no you are too vast, too endless… You're so much more than I ever imagined… I could not kill all of you even if I had a thousand lifetimes… this vessel before me, its all just a facade, isn't it?"

"W-well… l-like I said my d-dear… k-killing you was never my i-intent."

"No matter… there is something I must take care of." Insect said, as she sliced a vein on her wrist open with a clawed nail. Similarly, Asmodeus sliced open his wrist, and blood began pouring from both wounds. "Despite how I despise saying it, I suppose I must… Thank you. I would not have had the strength nor the ability to do this without you." Insect closed her eyes, focusing intently as she channeled her control with her right hand. The blood that dripped from her vein began to float through the air like the trail of a will-o-wisp. It moved around the demon in a circle as his own blood mimicked hers, and moved towards her.

"B-banking on… my b-blood being immune?" Asmodeus asked.

"You said it yourself, your plague exists only on your hands, not in them and you yourself are clearly immune to it. You can have the tainted diseased blood of mine, and I'll take yours instead!" Insect grunted, as the unholy transfusion began. Her blood began flowing into a circular prison around the demon, while his demonic blood flowed into her open wound. She screamed, clutching her hand as her veins began to sear from within. Yet she endured, and readjusted her focus to continue the procedure.

"C-can you handle such p-powerful demonic blood? There are one and a half gallons of blood in a human body. Can you exchange that much with me and not die?" Asmodeus began to ask, his mouth able to speak more clearly as Insect's power waned.

"I… I… I don't care about just my fate anymore! Better dying now, giving it my all, than withering away later, becoming a mindless creature under your control! I must endure, for the sake of those I must save deeper in this prison! I have faced your despair, your agony, and despite what you've done to me, I have overpowered it, I have overpowered YOU. All that dwells in my soul now is the light of hope! You may be a god, but I've made you bleed!"

The procedure quickened in pace alongside Insect's fervor, and soon, despite Insect's pained cries echoing through the darkness, cries that indicated she might not be able to carry it all the way, the deed had been finished. The last of Insect's infected blood now floated like a spiral around Asmodeus, while every vein and artery in her body ached, burned in tormenting pain. Insect nearly collapsed, sheer will and adrenaline being the only things that kept her from collapsing.

Asmodeus looked at her, his eyes beaming with joy. "I am so proud of you." He said plainly. "They called you Osteomancer, but now you are truly befit of a different name. Insect, the Hemomancer. And in due time, when you pierce the other eye as well, you will become a true Goddess."

"I…" Insect's mind went blank, if it was fatigue, overexhaustion from using her new powers, or sheer bewilderment from her sworn enemy praising her so genuinely, she could not tell.

"My dear, you should kill this body while you are still in control. Gives me an acceptable excuse to go deal with troublesome folks elsewhere."

"W-what did you just say?" Insect thoughts sharply focused on the demon again.

"Ah… yes you see… your dear protector Damien and his newfound companion… they appear to have reconciled their differences and it seems they are on the path towards something dangerous."

"D-Damien? Thank God, he's alive!" Insect's thoughts betrayed her before the demon, her heart leaping with excitement at such wonderful news.

"Hmm." The demon chuckled slightly.

"Silence, you! If you think I will just let you go so easily, you are mistaken. Whatever Damien might be planning, if I can delay you from stopping him for even the slightest of moments, I will!"

"Insect. Dear." Asmodeus' voice echoed through the chamber with newfound force, the reverberations causing the very walls and floor to shake. His humane, melancholic tone became one of terrifying ferocity and ice-cold unnaturalness. "You do not understand what the stakes-"

Before the demon could continue, Insect flicked her hand forward. This caused the spiral cylinder of blood that spun around Asmodeus to shoot forward, impaling his skull from below the chin and pinning his mouth shut.

"I said…" Insect's thoughts began, but she finished instead by moving her left index finger over her closed lips. "Shh."

Asmodeus' eyes went wide as Insect twirled her entire body, letting her hands guide the blood that surrounded him. The crimson liquid approached him, closer and closer, and as it did, it began forming itself into countless pale white daggers that stabbed everywhere into his body. He tried yelling out in furious anger and spite, and while the very walls of the prison shook in turn, he was helplessly frozen still. The blood and bones wrapped around him like a gigantic scarlet centipede, enveloping him completely from crown to toes.

"I have no doubt that you will escape that prison eventually, perhaps even quickly, but I'm sure I just bought my friends precious time. You lost this battle Asmodeus, I hope you rot in this hell for all eternity." Insect called out to him in her thoughts. She turned to walk away, but almost fell. Her legs would not obey her, her muscles were locked in place from the endless carnage she had endured and the overtaxation of her powers. She leaned against the wall behind her with her hand, despite the gross sensation of her fingers pressing up against it. With its help, she was able to shuffle herself along it with trembling, slow steps, towards the exit of the chamber.

During that time, Insect could feel the silent, piercing red gaze of the archdemon staring at her from his coffin of blood. She could not tell what it meant aside from the fearful chill that it caused to shoot up her spine, but nor did she particularly care to study it and find out. When she finally made her way towards the connecting tunnel, the candles held by the hands from the walls lit up with flaming light. It was as if the prison itself was now lighting her way forward. She turned back at Asmodeus one more time, and from that distance, her right eye, the eye that had been stabbed and turned pale, saw something she did not expect. She saw Asmodeus' red eyes floating on a shadowy phantom in the darkness. They watched her, inspected her, but most of all, they smiled at her.

She turned away, and words floated across the rippling shadows of the prison, making their way into her mind. "Well done…" They said, followed by a word she did not understand at first. Insect couldn't help but smile peacefully however, once she realized it was the name she was meant to have.