The Examination
Castlevania:
Lords of Shadow is purported to take place
at "The End of Days" (1047 A.D., specifically), which, I would guess,
is an undefined and ambiguous distinction purposely chosen to give the creators
wholesale ownership of the game's universe (in contrast to the original series'
storyline architects, who pigeonholed themselves by overlapping game events
with popular fiction and real historical occurrences). Kojima Studios, popular
for the creation of the Metal Gear Solid series, has taken this tact
due to Lords' status as a "reboot," which is a layman's term
for "Gaiden." That is, this is a new starting point for what may or
may not be a second series, with its own lineage and canon, under the Castlevania
umbrella.
While it may not have been
the developers' intention, Lords of Shadow has at the surface little
to do with the series of yore and presents mostly its own interpretation of
Castlevania, mostly eschewing the traditional themes and the famous cast
of characters we're used to seeing. Still, the crew pays homage to the originals
by enlisting existing characters (like Rinaldo Gandolfi and Vincent Dorin) and
creating certain parallels that will certainly excite fans who thought that
the new owners had designs on evicting them.
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In
an age of hopeless darkness, mankind was faced with its ultimate ruin. Evil
forces, which had enshrouded the world, used dark magic to separate mankind
from Heaven. Not knowing that such forces were guiding their destiny, people
went about their lives oblivious to the reality that unsaved souls were left
wandering in their midst, trapped in an inescapable void; more desperate was
the appearance of monsters and other living nightmares, who began committing
unimaginable atrocities, driving the populace into a state of perpetual fear.
In 1047, the year of their Lord, the Church of Light, based on holy will, sent
out the only warrior they felt capable of addressing and investigating these
calamities. His name was Gabriel Belmont, a man without fear.
Two days before, Gabriel's
wife, Marie, had been killed by an unknown assailant, and he had yet to overcome
the anguish. The pain fresh in his heart, member Gabriel accepted the Brotherhood
of Light's plea: Search for the ancient spirit Pan, an old god who hides deep
in the forest, for he would guide Gabriel to the truth. Gabriel hid that his
true motivation was to find answers--to hunt down the murderers and perhaps
find a way to bring back his wife. Taking hold of his Combat Cross and a special
amulet, Gabriel mounted his steed and headed to the besieged village, a place
from which life had fled and the gateway that when breached would start him
on his journey into oblivion; what once gleamed with beauty had become soaked
with evil, the remaining habitants using only their torches to defend what was
left of their land by repelling the packs of werewolves that continued to pour
in from the gateway. The unflappable Gabriel arrived on the scene and cleared
the land of evil, earning the trust of the shaken villagers who then opened
the gate and allowed him exit. The "Lake Guardian" of which they spoke
was of great interest to him.
Though his trusty horse
had been killed by the werewolves, the focused knight spared not a moment; he
marched through the gate and into the forest, his hunting path. As he slay the
relentless beasts, an odd talking horse emerged from a portal and urged him
hop aboard; there was no time to question the reality of this event, so he acquiesced
to the horse's urgent request and was escorted to the forest's limits, battling
wargs and their hairy riders for the trip's duration. For reasons unexplained,
the talking horse could carry him no further and vanished just as quickly as
it appeared, leaving Gabriel to negotiate the mud-filled bog on his own. It's
here that Gabriel began finding the corpses of his fallen brethren, who had
taken on similar offensives; one such knight left behind a scroll that confirmed
the existence of a man named Rinaldo Gandalfi, a member of the Brotherhood of
Light who had created Gabriel's Combat Cross and other weapons and left behind
these instructions on how to use them.
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Having
waded through the bog, he entered into a strange temple and encountered the
oddball Lake Guardian, an elder-looking figure who was indeed one in the same
with the old god Pan. Gabriel questioned the old man: Were the visions in his
dreams correct, that God had abandoned the world, leaving evil unchecked? Or
had some great evil force cast a spell, allowing for evil to flourish while
separating Earth from Heaven, trapping souls between? His dreams of the past
were a message from Heaven, the old man theorized, suggesting that Gabriel had
information that no one else could possibly know. By Gabriel's logic, it could
only mean that he was sent here to receive a message from the spirit of his
dead wife, who would perhaps have the answers. But only those who were most
worthy could talk to the dead, a privilege Gabriel would have to earn by passing
Pan's Clock Test, during which he was tranced into a dream state and presented
the challenge of reaching the sleeping visage of Marie before it met a bloody
end. Having chosen the correct path, Gabriel was poised to embrace the welcoming
visage but instead stabbed it dead as a terrifying metallic mask began forming
over and engulfing his face before he was snapped out of the dream state. These
actions, surprisingly, were deemed by Pan to be the puzzle's correct solution.
What in the world was Gabriel being told? While the cryptic Pan continued to
be anything but forthcoming, Gabriel would certainly be needing the old god's
help in the future.
Gabriel continued on and
arrived at Oblivion Lake, its land besieged by endless snowstorm. As he pass
over the frozen lake, a humongous Titan broke through the icy layers and attempted
to crush Gabriel with its stone limbs. Gabriel fought valiantly to trek upon
the beast's large frame and attack its weak points, but it seemed to be all
for naught as the Titan's hand moved in to crush him. Coming to his aid was
a stranger who forced back the Titan's mighty hand, grabbing hold of it and
riding it to the location of its final weak point. At the man's request, Gabriel
threw his dagger to this knightly figure, who finished the job and slew the
Titan.
Before they could be introduced,
Gabriel turned away to again find the visage of Marie, this time inside a pillared
gazebo. Now in full command of his senses, he apologized for not being able
to save her days earlier, not consoled by her insistence that there was nothing
to forgive; she was above all simply happy to see him. He recounted to her his
theories of God abandoning humanity and the realms being split, hoping that
she had accrued such knowledge in her spirit form. Though she did not, she could
feel the spirits trying to talk to her--but she couldn't fully understand their
message, nor could she find them in the blackness. There was something else:
On her mind was "Shadow," a force the spirits had learned to fear.
Perhaps Gabriel could understand the spirits' message if he could just hear
their words. "They," she confided, were the spirits of those who founded
the Brotherhood of Light, who told her that the power of the "Lords of
Shadow" was key. They talked of "prophecy," but the meaning was
lost on her.
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Their
meeting could not last--her vision faded as they exchanged a vow of love. As
he gathered himself, the perturbed Gabriel talked over his shoulder, wondering
who this man was and why he saved him. The knight introduced himself as Zobek,
a warrior of the Brotherhood and an old acquaintance of Pan. They felt Zobek
could help his cause. Too, he was listening over the previous conversation,
and to him it sounded as though the spirits who founded the Brotherhood were
using Marie as a vessel to relay a message. Only few knew of the prophecy, which
stated that a pure-hearted warrior would claim the power of the Lords of Shadow
and use it to overcome evil; such a warrior would become God's vassal, supremely
powerful and capable of any feat. There was hope of it coming to fruition thanks
to Marie's testimony; with this knowledge, they could enter into the land of
the Dark Lord, retrieve the necessary power, reunite the Earth and Heaven, and
... bring back Marie? They'd have to work quickly and quietly, lest they'd
risk the evil forces focusing attention on their efforts. They would split up:
Gabriel would head to the Land of the Lycans, Zobek to the Land of Vampires
to clear the way forward. All paths would lead to the twisted Land of Necromancers.
In parting, Zobek handed him the Light Magic Medallion, which afforded him the
magical ability to absorb spiritual energy and cure wounds. More importantly,
this very encounter renewed Gabriel's hope, which had begun to erode.
Gabriel crossed the Enchanted
Forest and found the remains of a tree whose life had been taken by the Dark
Lord's magic, its new purpose in death to act as the entrance into the caverns
below. Within the spider-infested caves, Gabriel located a holy symbol whose
engraving matched the shape of his Combat Cross; upon placing the weapon in
the symbol's carving, it became imbued with a new power--a Spiked Chain upgrade
that would allow him to use the Cross as a grappling hook. Both the symbol and
chain-linked enhancement were hidden here, in the Brotherhood's hidden mausoleum,
by Rinaldo Gandalfi, since the Brotherhood wouldn't approve of its creation
for obvious reasons (spikes were too cruel an "enhancement"). Rather
than destroy it, the artisan hid it in this location, believing that it might
one day be needed.
After escaping the caverns,
Gabriel headed to the Lost City of Agharta. After defeating the ringmaster of
a pack of werewolves, Gabriel attempted to open a centuries-old blockade; the
contraption gave, and its destruction collapsed all of the surrounding groundwork,
sending him hurtling down into the waterfalls below. It was a plunge worth taking,
as the path led him to the location of other fallen comrades, one of which left
behind the Shadow Magic Medallion, which granted him new magic powers and specifically
the ability to inflict ever-more damage upon foes. This would be the last meaningful
find on Agharta, a once-great city that was destroyed by the Dark Lord's onslaught.
The Necromantic Wars, as they were known, destroyed all of their technologies;
Titans fell, people were turned into beasts by the conqueror, and now there
was no one left to talk.
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As
Gabriel climbed atop one of the city's temple, he found himself the target of
a rather large troll, who had already began moving in for the kill on the prone
traveler. Suddenly, an unknown woman hopped into its path and repelled the beast
by holding up a purple Shadow Gem, which began affecting the creature's mind,
sending it to a dark place; the troll was overcome by the horrifying sensation
and destroyed. The stunned Gabriel tried to get a hold on the situation and
question the lass, but she quickly flipped away onto the side of the mountainous
ruins, silently urging him to follow. Unable to follow her direct path, he worked
his way around Agharta with the help of a commandeered warg and found her loitering
about, the girl again giving him the slip. Though they hadn't spoken, he knew
that he was communicating with her in some way. He tracked her to a cave, where
he encountered a large Black Knight Golem, who on sight lunged to attack. "Stop!"
the girl yelled, bringing the Golem to a state of calm. How was she controlling
this creature? Though her lips were not moving, she began to explain that a
number of crystal shards were scattered about the depths--this to Gabriel, who
could somehow hear her words. She was communicating through some form of telepathy,
a power that enabled her to read minds and respond in kind. She introduced herself
as Claudia and the Black Golem Knight as her protector. In return for its protection,
she explained, Claudia helped the Golem catch evil souls to absorb as life energy.
After further reading of Gabriel's mind, she backed away in shock: He was attempting
to kill the Lords of Shadow and bring back a loved one? Understanding his passion,
she made known her intention to follow along with her Golem friend, since she
felt he couldn't make it on his own. He reluctantly agreed.
As they leave the cave,
she explained to Gabriel the city's plight: It was once a city of magic, wisdom
and harmony. They created and utilized crystals, like the one she possessed,
and didn't need armies thanks to the crystals' mind-bending power. They didn't,
that is, until the Lycans showed up. It was then that the balance changed, as
monsters besieged the city; most of the population fled while others held firm
and created Titans to fight off the usurpers. The battle raged for centuries--no
one lasted. Her father, like some others, was captured and devoured; before
he met this fate, he hid his beloved daughter somewhere within the city and
created the Black Knight Golem to protect her. They had been running ever since.
The Titans outlived their creators and endured until they were outnumbered and
defeated--all except for one, whose remains were placed beyond a sealed door.
The problem: The only way to reach the Dark Lord's sanctuary was through that
door, making necessary the breaching of the barrier and the Titan's defeat.
Only a completed Shadow Gem could break the seal, Claudia revealed, so Gabriel
headed out to find the four shards that would comprise a whole crystal. The
search complete, he placed the crystal in angelic stone statue which lay facing
the target; the stone relic shot from its eyes a beam that broke the magical
field's hold on the door, allowing them entry into the Chamber of Titans, its
grounds holding the last of the Aghartian's technology. The remains of the Stone
Idol Titan sensed their arrival and slowly pulled itself back together, ready
for battle. Gabriel was able to fell the Titan by stabbing it in the head with
his Shadow Gem. These activities exhausting them, the trio decided to rest before
traveling further.
Awakening after a short
nap, Gabriel approached the sleeping Claudia and touched her head, waking her
up. As she look upon him with a smile, Gabriel without warning repeatedly began
stabbing her, the horror only ceasing when he awoke to discover it was a dream
just as those previous. Or was it? Pan appeared before Gabriel and warned him
not to let the darkness possess him, urging him to take command of the Black
Knight Golem's gauntlet, a powerful artifact, for future use. Gabriel protested,
refusing to bring harm unto his new friends. Sadly, it was too late to make
that promise; pointed in her direction, Gabriel could only turn his head to
find that Claudia had been truly murdered. He broke down, not understanding
the complexity of these events. As he weep, the Golem entered the room to find
that his friend had been killed; it immediately turned its attention to Gabriel,
a blameful stare its only expression. Forced to fight, Gabriel defeated the
Golem by ripping off its helmet, its exposed skull unable to survive. As its
last act, the Golem willfully surrendered its power to Gabriel, its spirit possessing
his gauntlet, enhancing his magical abilities with the power to absorb spiritual
energy. Alone once again, the emotionally drained Gabriel set out to find the
first of the Lords of Shadow with questions haunting him. Did he kill Claudia?
If so, how? What he couldn't have known is that her father included such magic
in the Golem's repertoire as means to protect his daughter over the centuries
yet in truth had a much darker purpose.
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Weary
yet able, Gabriel scaled the latest of hurdles--three large towers, home to
the most vicious of the Lycans yet nest to a small family of fairies. The diminutive,
kindhearted souls tasked him with exploring the tattered edifices to retrieve
their special containers; in reward for his successful effort, they used the
collected substances to augment their magic and open the large twin doors that
safeguarded the land's ruler. Gabriel had entered the marked territory of the
Dark Lord of the Lycans, who was anticipating the warrior's arrival thanks to
the warnings from his acolytes. "Do you know who I am?" he asked the
taxed Gabriel, who would not discriminate; whatever its form, this creature,
in his estimation, didn't deserve to wander the desecrated land. What he knew
was that this Lord of Shadow, like the others, was protecting a sacred power
that fester within this sanctuary, and it had to be reclaimed. The Lycan
Lord was well aware of the prophecy but saw Gabriel as still ignorant of the
truth. He explained: Many centuries ago, three great warriors founded the Brotherhood
of Light, to which Gabriel belongs; their purpose was to serve God and defeat
evil. After decades had passed, they were able to tip the equilibrium in God's
favor. Their studies in holy enlightenment led them to three sacred places where
the power of God converged with such intensity that it forged a bridge between
the spiritual and the real. The founders purified themselves, abandoning human
form and transforming into spiritual beings whose power was second only to God's.
They unknowingly left behind their "dark sides," the conduit through
which the Lords of Shadow came to be. Initially skeptical, Gabriel became more
convinced when the Lycan Lord revealed that the land on which they stood was
one such location--the site where an Order member ascended into heaven, leaving
behind the Lord of Shadow now standing before him. According to the to prophecy,
when the Warrior of Light reclaims the power of a heaven-dwelling brother, the
Lord of Shadow's power, too, diminishes. They are, after all, one in the same
being, still connected; for Gabriel to kill the Lords of Shadow is to kill both
them and the founders of his own Order. "My brother up there would
smile at the irony," the Lycan Lord smirked. The exposition concluded,
the Lycan Lord introduced himself as "Cornell," the Lord of the Lycans,
and lunged toward his prey. Though conflicted, Gabriel has no choice but to
fight.
When it seemed the Lycan
Lord was ready to succumb, he channeled the power of the blue moon, which menaced
the battlefield, and unlocked his true werewolf form; not impressed, Gabriel
bludgeoned the hairy beast and struck the final blow using his very own hammer,
killing him. Suddenly, a beam of light shot upward from the location of the
Lycan Lord's corpse and toward the heavens; basking in this force, Gabriel absorbed
the Lycan Lord's spirit, the essence of which gathered into his shin guard.
Marie's spirit then appeared before him, urging him to make haste and reclaim
the two other sacred powers before they were lost. As her vision fade, a new
artifact fell from the heaven-bound beam--a piece of the "God mask,"
whose purpose for now escaped him. Tangible, though, were his new Cyclone Boots,
which were a "gift" from the fallen Cornell. If it was haste that
was required, his shin guards could now provide the means.
Now enlightened, he followed
the path that lay before him to a mountain fortress, his pace more hurried as
he negotiated its ridges and recesses; he arrived at the fortress' top only
to encounter Pan, who had now taken an eagle form. Pan made it clear that Gabriel
had not yet accrued enough power and that the other Lords of Shadow must be
confronted before time ran out. He quickly hopped aboard his feathery friend,
who flew him down to Crow's Pass, which rest just behind the hills of the Land
of Vampires. A powerful witch protected this domain, which Pan was unable to
breach due to a magical spell that shroud the area. Still, Gabriel was curious
as to why Pan helped him at all. What was in it for him? Pan, strangely,
insisted that he wasn't helping--that he serves no one. "You
would do best to remember that," he avowed as he flew off. Slightly confused,
Gabriel exited the mountain fortress and arrived at the witch's tower; as he
climb the structure, a flock of crows began shadowing his movements, almost
taunting him. When their paths converged atop the tower, the crows gathered
together and merged into a single entity--the Crow Witch Malphas. The battle,
and indeed his violent evisceration of this winged beast, caused the tower to
start collapsing around him. The spell lifted by the witch's defeat, Pan was
able emerge from a portal, this time in his more familiar horse form, and rescue
him. He carried Gabriel to the outskirts of vampire territory, where a cold
winter had gripped the land for centuries; this was perfect for vampires, who
despised warmth. Pan disappeared without fanfare, leaving Gabriel to wander
Veros Woods.
He hiked on, enduring
the miserable weather, and arrived at the cursed Wygol Village, one of the last
vestiges of humankind left in this place of death and cold. He was surprised
to find that this included members of the Brotherhood, who lay dead all around
him. Among the living was Zobek, who had been following him. Zobek congratulated
his friend for his rate progress but explained how poorly things had been going
here at Wygol. The vampires, having heard of the warriors' quest, preemptively
slaughtered the Brotherhood members. He then pointed Gabriel toward the Abbey
Catacombs, where an Abbot was said to possess an ancient relic that harnessed
the power of the sun--the power to burn vampires and reduce them to ashes. The
Abbot barricaded himself within the abbey, setting traps all throughout so that
none may track him; he was driven mad by years of loneliness and failed to perform
his sworn duty of protecting the people, who suffered as a result of his absence.
"Damn him!" Gabriel growled, the understandable reaction of a man
whose only purpose, too, was to protect those close to him. If they could get
a hold of his relic, Zobek schemed, it could give them the advantage. After
fighting off and entombing a pack of ghouls, the duo headed to the nearby castle
ruins, where Gabriel located another mausoleum with an engraved symbol; fitting
his Combat Cross into this engraving, he earned a new upgrade--a stake
attachment created by Gandolfi, whose weapon was perfect for engaging in hand-to-hand
combat and countering creatures of the night. In time, this property alone would
earn the Combat Cross a new nickname: The Vampire Killer!
The duo infiltrated the
abbey and bested its many deadly traps and pitfalls. After reaching its library,
they agreed to split up for a bit and rendezvoused atop a one of the abbey's
towers. They'd hopefully find the Abbot, whose name was Vincent Dorin. He was
once a good man, they heard, but he degenerated into a useless coward
who could only hole himself in, leaving his people to pay a heavy price. He
need not worry about their outrage, as his hiding place was secure--no one would
dare trespass upon ground infested with vampires, whom he was protected from
thanks to his special relic. As they suspected, the reuniting pair found Dorin
high within the tower; he began praying in fear as they backed him down, as
though they were the devil's demons. After fiercely scolding the negligent,
craven Abbot, Gabriel took possession of the relic with only meek resistance
from the cowering recreant. Having acquired their treasure, the duo relieved
Vincent of their presence, leaving him behind to be overcome by the now-unbound
vampire horde. Outside the tower, they came upon an injured boy, a citizen of
Wygol Village; the boy had been ordered to trace them to the abbey and deliver
a message: "They" wanted Gabriel to return to the village, lest all
of its habitants would be killed. "It's a trap," Zobek concluded.
Gabriel agreed, but he had to go anyway--he had to know who "they"
were. Zobek understood; he'd do his part by staying behind and looking after
the boy.
Gabriel arrived back at
Wygol to find the village burning, the vampires rummaging about. Though the
trap had been sprung, the vampires could not stop his march. He left a trail
of carcasses as he race to accost their commander Brauner, a superior vampire
specimen and the issuer of the message. In the ensuing battle, Gabriel pummeled
the formidable vampire, whose death freed the village of its curse. The villagers
gathered as one to thank him for his heroics, but there was no time--he had
to pick up the pace and hurry off before word of these events reached the next
Dark Lord. The villagers saw him off and waved good-bye, one such informed subject
pointing out a secret path to the Dark Lord's castle through the sewers.
Despite the attempt, the
vampires knew he was coming. He entered the castle courtyard and was greeted
by dark forces. Undeterred, his exploring of its outer limits led him to the
once-beautiful Maze Garden; now beyond rotten, it was a place where those unfortunate
enough to wander would never find exit, lost forever. His sense of direction
strong, Gabriel negotiated its corridors and found a special Vampire Key, which
allowed him entrance into the castle itself and most immediately its cold halls.
Once inside, he was greeted by a woman who seemed quite at home in a place like
this; she pointed him in the direction of a Chess puzzle. "If you play
my game," she said, "I'll tell where she--my mother--is!" He
thought better of it, opting to find his own way, but she began pouting at the
inference that he wasn't interested; realizing that this behavior wouldn't cease,
he gave in and took her up on the challenge, successfully meeting it, much to
her whiny dismay. Nevertheless, as she promised, she provided clarification:
She introduced herself as "Laura" and explained that she had been
long ago turned into a vampire, doomed to a cruel life. Still, she felt, she
had a role to play in the grand scheme. Though she had no further information
to share, she admitted that her mother certainly knew, somehow, that
Gabriel had arrived.
He headed to the refectory--the
castle's hellish kitchen where the Evil Butcher was cooking up a deadly fish.
He sliced and diced the mad chef and retrieved the key to the kitchen's exit.
The Vampire Queen's home, he thought to himself as he inspected his surroundings,
was efficiently run. He worked his way to the balcony then shimmied down into
the castle's Electric Laboratory, where Freidrich Von Frankenstein once conducted
his experiments; the Queen fed on him daily over the centuries, keeping him
alive and aware. The Queen once loved life--in those long-gone days before she
became a Lord of Shadow, whence she vowed to punish the doctor for his vile
acts. This was of no concern to Gabriel, who was ambushed by a still-functional
robotic spider, a "Mechanical Monstrosity" that was one of the lab's
many puzzling contraptions. All the same, the spider was another electrical
device shut down by force, its programmed tendencies bested by wit. As Gabriel
escaped from the scene, the sleeping robot spider was reenergized by a kinetic
charge, perhaps a sign of further hindrance.
Gabriel clawed his way
up to the Chromatic Observatory, his progress halted by the appearance of a
flustered Laura, who was annoyed that he was able to continue successfully solving
the castle's many puzzles. In her whiny way, she accused him of cheating and
then demanded he pay the price for doing so; she sicced on him her deadly
toys, another trial he'd endure to no fanfare. No--he instead suffered further
wrath when the considerably powerful Laura began shocking him with deadly lightning
magic, pushing him to the brink; at the very instant he was to succumb, Marie's
spirit appeared and came to his embrace. As the pained Laura lay witness to
this event, she relented in her attack, envious of the pair's shared affection;
somehow touched by this display, she no longer wanted to play. Perhaps she could
remember the feeling of her true mother's arms around her--the comfort
she felt in those days before she became a creature? It was of no concern to
Gabriel, who quickly gathered himself and headed toward the castle's Outer Wall
and then into the Clockwork Tower, another of Dr. Frankenstein's works.
As he climb the clock
tower, negotiating its dangerous confines via its twisted gear-work, the Mechanical
Monstrosity struck again, its strategic assault only a stopgap to its reservation
at the scrap heap. Gabriel did glean from its reappearance that he was getting
close to something sensitive; his suspicion was reaffirmed by an encounter
with Olrox, another elite vampire--brother to fallen Brauner and the Queen's
personal guardian. Another violent clash climaxed with Gabriel cutting down
a ferocious beast with its own weapon; more pleasantly, the guardian's defeat
opened a direct pathway to the Queen, who could sense that Gabriel was coming.
He wasted no time in heading to the castle keep and up into its throne room.
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He
was greeted by the master of the house, Queen Carmilla, who was of the understanding
that Gabriel was searching for the power of her other half. Through her hypnotic
rhetoric and the flaunting of her revealing attire, it was clear she was trying
to seduce him; he resisted the temptation, blaming Carmilla and her brothers
for the world's state of darkness. "Mankind was ruined," she countered,
matter-of-factly, "and you must choose sides." What followed
was a heated, back-and-forth philosophical discussion about the meaning of death;
Carmilla, like Cornell, wondered how he could voluntarily kill members of his
own order, furthermore accusing him of being even more cold-blooded than she.
As the final salvo in their psych-warfare, she taunted Gabriel with the death
of Marie and allowed for no retort before she moved to attack. After surviving
a skirmish with her legion of lesser succubi, Gabriel watched as she revealed
her true vampire form; when he finally manipulated conditions enough to work
her into a prone position, he harnessed one of her electric blasts and struck
her down with his electrified gauntlet. As she try to flee the scene, he grabbed
onto her leg, becoming an unwilling passenger on a flight above the castle's
heights; he was eventually able to secure solid ground, after which he used
his great strength to anchor Carmilla down, impaling her on a roof spire. The
structure collapsed, dropping the two back into the keep, where he finished
off Carmilla by stabbing her through the heart. As he did with Cornell's, he
absorbed her spirit, which granted him both a new power--the Seriph Wings, which
would enhance his agility--and access to another piece of the God mask. As he
turned to leave the scene, Pan appeared before him. His message: The destiny
of every living being would soon be in the palm of Gabriel's hands. But Gabriel's
mind was still wrought with lingering questions; after explaining to Pan the
true nature of the Lords of Darkness, he wondered, "Why do we suffer for
their arrogance and stupidity?" What was he fighting for, really? "We
must look inside ourselves," he consoled, as he lead Gabriel to breachable
mirror--a portal to another land. "How far are you willing to go to uncover
the truth?" Driven only by his anger and his want for Marie, Gabriel confidently
strode into the mirror, with none in the way of consideration.
The portal exited into
the Bones Forest, its terrain littered with the remains of the unfortunate,
which gave way into Woes Moor. It had now been days since Gabriel slept, desire
his only remaining fuel. Catching the eye of this weary traveler was an odd
lift constructed using some rope and an old cauldron; he rode the contraption
up into a straw hut, where he met an eccentric witch named Baba Yaga, who perceived
him to be lost. She spoke of her master, the "The King of Angels,"
and offered to help him find his way. "Only in the music box can a blue
rose grow," she explained, confounding him. She promised to show him the
way to the Land of the Dead if he could bring back a blue rose, to make her
young again; as she explained: She would shrink him down and transport his tiny
frame into the music box, where a test awaited. Unfortunately, to open the music
box required three special keys, which were stolen by some local scarecrows.
Reluctantly, the too-tired-for-nonsense Gabriel agreed to her request to find
them. He quickly located the suspects, retrieved the keys, and lifted his way
back into the hut. Pleased, and reacting in her usual off-kilter manner, Baba
Yaga used her magic to shrink him down so he could access the music box's innards.
The box's challenge: Collect a number of gems to complete a musical piece, whose
completed composition would open the way to a blue rose. He passed the test
with flying colors, earning possession of a blue rose and thus exit from the
music box. The erratically joyous Baba Yaga indeed kept her promise, using her
magic to this time transport him to the Titan's Graveyard, their last battleground.
The road continued through
the desolate Fire Pinnacle, a once-sacred ground that Necromancers had since
used to build an army of the undead. Waiting for him here, again, was Pan. Tiring
of Pan's riddles, Gabriel demanded some straight talk. "Nothing is ever
completely clear," Pan responded, suggesting that Gabriel, shrouded in
darkness, only pretended to not know the full truth. "Let me enlighten
you," Pan offered, suddenly using magic to engulf himself in a beam of
light and emerge from it as the Silver Warrior--a fierce winged knight. The
Warrior stole away Gabriel's ability to use magic, its intentions unclear; as
the two battled, the Warrior began returning to Gabriel his powers on at a time.
A strike away from knocking Gabriel off the battlefield and into an abyss, the
Silver Warrior hovered in place and tossed out its dual-bladed sickle; not expecting
a counterattack, the Warrior watched helplessly as the cagey Gabriel grabbed
hold of the sickle and quickly spun, returning the sharpened instrument to its
sender, impaling it. Gabriel approached the gravely injured Pan, confusion his
only emotion. Why was any of this necessary? They had to be made to fight, Pan
explained, because sacrifices must be made to find redemption; blood must be
spilled in order for the path to be opened. Pan accepted his fate, but could
Gabriel? "I am not of pure heart," he regrettably expressed to the
dying Pan, an old god whose blood, nonetheless, would open the way forward;
the mountainous backdrop split open, allowing Gabriel entry.
The path becoming more
linear, Gabriel trekked through the Fire Cemetery and then into its Crematory
Oven, fueled by the very flames of Hell, itself, and home to the Gravedigger.
Gabriel sliced his way through the cretin's minions, hunted down and battered
the hideous Gravedigger, and dumped it into the Oven's oversized grinder. As
the corpse melted away in the lava below, numerous tentacles, their host disturbed,
shot out from the molten mixture and grabbed hold of the unsuspecting Gabriel
in an attempt to pull him down to his death; Gabriel in reaction grabbed onto
a jutting rocky structure, picked up a sharp piece of metal, and thwarted the
aggression by stabbing the single tentacle that was snugly wrapped around his
leg; the sensitive sprout's pained retreat bought him enough time to work his
way back up. His ascent brought carried him to the Oven's pinnacle, from which
he could see his next destination--the Necromancer's Abyss. With hatred in his
heart for those who stole away his beloved, he carried on, the cries of the
dead following him wherever he moved. This passion was the motivation needed
to face and overcome the Abyss' puzzling, grueling trials and its most aggressive
lesser beings, including a subservient Necromancer whose defeat pointed him
to the area's summit, standing directly in the oppression of the ominous eclipse.
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Impressed
by his efforts in reaching this point, a cloaked sorcerer hovered at a distance,
its staff in hand. "I have come to put an end to this," Gabriel responded
bluntly, prompting the sorcerer to wonder, "By whose authority?" Who
was Gabriel to judge anyone, the sorcerer thought, when he had spilled so much
blood? "We're one in the same," the sorcerer suggested, to Gabriel's
dismay. Scoffing at the notion that any of evil's schemes could be halted, the
sorcerer used its dark magic to summon the Dracolith Titan, a gargantuan flying
nightmare. Reacting swiftly, Gabriel jumped aboard the creature, desperately
climbing about its boney frame and struggling to counter the merciless wind
resistance, and began attacking its clear weak points; when the beast began
to weaken, it swooped down, affording Gabriel the opportunity to jump down onto
solid ground. The Dracolith Titan looped back around, making a last-ditch attempt
to corner the seemingly prone Gabriel, who cunningly jumped between the creature's
jaws, located the source of its fiery energy, and ferociously shattered it.
As the creature bellow in agony, Gabriel absorbed its soul, leaving the empty
titan's frame to drop to its grave below.
Gabriel was now ready
for the final fight as he arrived on Hell's doorstep. He received the final
piece of the God mask and watched as it joined together with the two others
to once again become whole. He stood nonplused as Zobek suddenly appeared, congratulatory.
"We can now end this once and for all," Gabriel implored. Zobek agreed--agreed,
that is, to end "the charade." He removed his mask, metaphorically,
to reveal himself as the final Lord of Shadow--the Lord of the Necromancers,
the one who cast the spell that separated the Earth from the Heavens! Zobek
knew that it would lead to the other Lords contacting the Brotherhood, to create
the "prophecy" as a ray of hope in the darkness. The Lords were impotent,
Zobek expounded, and always bickering, never realizing their combined potential.
Though, Zobek was sure, now, that he could prove his power by gaining
mastery over the others. The method was sinister: He probed the very depths
of Hell to find the knowledge on how to acquire ultimate power while strengthening
himself on Earth. Only then did a "dark force" enter into him, expanding
his knowledge of the dark arts to unimagined heights. All he needed was a dupe
to restore the luminous power of the spirits, according to the prophecy. To
avoid being suspected of wanting this power, he used the prophecy as cover and
Gabriel as his shining knight.
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Unimpressed,
Gabriel made clear to Zobek that not even he would stand in his way.
Zobek swore that he could easily kill Gabriel for his insolence, but there was
no need--all he desired was Gabriel's gauntlet, of which he magically took command
as he continued illustrating his complex plot. What remained as an obstacle
to him was just a small matter of a child and her protector (Claudia and the
Black Golem Knight), whom Gabriel dispatched earlier. Zobek needed for their
murder as to make sure Gabriel didn't become too powerful; his very desire to
murder at will, for the sake of resurrecting Marie, was a force of darkness
needed to anchor him. You see: While Gabriel slept that night, Zobek used the
God mask to influence him--to see to it that he was marked as an easily manipulated
murderer. Overwhelmed by suppressed memories, Gabriel was shaken, barely able
to stand. Still, Zobek wouldn't cease in his crushing revelations: Gabriel's
penchant for death made it easy for Zobek to "nudge" him to react
with murderous intent; it saved Zobek the trouble of having to kill Claudia,
himself, since she knew too much. Could Gabriel not see, then, that it was he
that killed his own wife? A clear flashback was the evidence of this truth,
its crushing confirmation, no matter how hard he tried to fight it; yet he still
refused to believe it. It was of no concern to Zobek, who confidently stated
that God saw Gabriel for what he was: A cold-blooded murderer, beyond redemption!
The flustered Gabriel charged toward this demonic man, whose control over the
gauntlet restrained him; Zobek used the restraining beams to lift Gabriel high
into the air and then drop him unceremoniously to the ground, apparently killed
by the thunderous impact. He then took possession of the God mask, laughing
uproariously in victory!
His celebration was soon
overshadowed by a damning voice, which slithered, "Hail, mighty Zobek."
Concerned, Zobek looked all around, wondering who was there. It was the granter
of his power--the one who planted in his tiny mind the idea for the whole elaborate
ruse, which was all conceived to serve a higher purpose. With no further need
for Zobek, the ultimate power now firmly his, the "planner" used its
already-unmatched power to burn him to death, to end the oblivious man's campaign.
The planner appeared in a human form, large parts of his figure engulfed in
a dark fog; he picked up the God mask, looked to the heavens, and addressed
his father: "Before the end, you will bow down to me!" As he
taunt the target of his derision, a stream of spirits gathered nearby and whispered
to the fallen Gabriel; it was his time to join them, they said soothingly. Before
he could resign to their motion, Marie appeared and ushered them off. Darkness
would triumph if he were to be taken, she protested; there would never again
be peace or hope, and the spirits would be trapped on Earth forever. Hearing
her plea, the spirits agreed to deny their inclination and allow Gabriel to
live.
.png)
The
resuscitated Gabriel stood before the enshrouded mastermind, who was no doubt
Satan, himself. Thinking Gabriel to have been abandoned by God, Satan invited
him to join his cause, for he would love Gabriel more than He. Satan confessed
that he once knew love and didn't deserve to be cast out. However, hate
could bring them back, Satan believed--it could give them strength. Gabriel
disagreed; God only cared about what was in people's hearts, he declared, and
one needed to dig deep within and ask forgiveness to be welcomed back. Mocking
such sentiment, Satan insisted that it was his divine right to rule side by
side with God or perhaps more. "That you would rather rule in power
and might than to offer forgiveness and love is why you are cast out, unholy
one!" Gabriel retorted. Taken as a challenge, an act of blasphemy, Satan
threatened to take his soul. And with that, the ultimate battle was waged.
With the power of God
in his grasp, Gabriel fought with supernatural flare, be it on the ground with
his trusted weapon or in an epic airborne clash of fisticuffs. After a tumultuous
contest, the mighty Satan was pushed to the brink. They continued slashing at
each other with their respective weapons, but Gabriel continued getting the
better of the unholy brute, beating him down relentlessly. He moved in for the
kill, grabbing Satan, whom he callee "Angel," from behind and attempting
to strangle him. "Take your hands off of me, murderer," Satan uttered.
"Your soul is damned." Accepting his fate, Gabriel looked toward
the Heavens and asked for forgiveness and mercy from those whom he had wronged;
he knew he'd have made better decisions if he could do it all over again. Satan
spewed that God wasn't listening, but Gabriel nonetheless had faith in his belief.
In defeat, Satan taunted that he'd have much fun with Marie, introducing her
to such pleasures, to which Gabriel responded with assurance that Marie's
soul would go only to Him once Satan has been dealt with. With the expulsion
of his powers, as taken from the Lords of Shadow, Gabriel banished Satan from
this world; he then fell to his knees exhausted. The spirits would now be able
to enter Heaven.
.png)
Gabriel
realized that he was still alive, which he didn't want. Marie appeared, the
signal that he was given back what was wrongfully taken from him, she consoled,
if only to repent for his sins and make amends. Gabriel saved them all, but
he couldn't save Marie. She wouldn't tell him the true nature of her death,
lest despair would have eroded his resolve, and all would have been lost. She
simply had faith that he'd do the right thing. Turning his back, he felt unworthy
of her faith and love, yet she affirmed that he was as God intended--fallible
but capable of great things. Too, she loved him now just as she did back then,
thereby certain that he'd be forgiven by God and the lost souls, for he had
saved them and himself. Gabriel broke from her embrace and picked up
the God mask, holding it diffidently; gazing upon it, Marie preached that it
was a powerful device that allowed for people to see through God's eyes. But
could it bring back the dead? "Yes," she said as she fit it over his
sullen face, an act that served to give Marie a physical form, if not for a
fleeting moment then long enough for them to share a kiss. It was too late for
her, in reality--she had to go, as it was simply her time, the light beckoning
her. Gabriel could only despair, wanting desperately for her to stay. As she
fade away into the light, they could only share expressions of love, his final
plea another request for forgiveness.
Worn and empty, he could
only weep. The tears would not cloak the appearance of yet another visitor:
The spirit of Claudia, who in her childlike strut approached him and bowed her
head, the two sharing a final peaceful moment before she, too, surrenders to
the light. He again began to sob, his mood deeply somber as he began to trudge
forward, the God mask left in his wake. He was now alone in this world, his
future in flux.
Reverie and Resurrection
Defeating
the Lords of Shadow was for Gabriel a hollow victory, for taken from him was
everything that he had ever loved. Staring down at the abyss that had become
his life, he was now on a journey he could never imagine in his darkest nightmares.
As he stood there contemplating his fate, a voice entered his thoughts, its
cries for help too much for him to ignore. A debt was owed, he thought, and
though what was left of his humanity had been broken, he felt obliged to do
the honorable thing. It was at that moment he realized that no one had any real
control over his or her fate; they were like leaves hanging on the wind, blowing
to wherever may be. Accepting of his fate, he heeded the womanly call: "Hear
me, Gabriel," its voice echoed through the canyons. "I need your help!
I am afraid!" It spoke of loneliness and having no one to turn to,
the very reverberations marking out for him a path down through the hellish
wasteland and to a tattered castle.
Gabriel arrived at the
towering haunt and gave it a steely appraisal. As he moved near its entrance,
he was ambushed by a hordes of monsters. He began to rip through the packs of
zombies and skeleton warriors, putting to use his newfound ferocity, but couldn't
have expected that Laura would appear and join in the fun. "So you think
you can beat me?" she taunted the undead miscreants as she excitedly electrocuted
them. "You are nothing but entertainment for me!" When the
fighting was over, Laura thanked Gabriel for responding to her call and requested
that he follow her into the castle. As she open the door, Laura turned toward
him and expressed that knew how he felt--alone and betrayed, emotions she had
grown used to. Gabriel was skeptical of her claim, reminiscing about how she
previously spared his life. "Do you now regret it?" she wondered,
her hand caressing his face. His focus elsewhere, he cared only about her reasoning
for calling him there. She explained that his vanquishing the Lords of Shadow
resulted in the unleashing of a greater evil--a powerful demon that knew no
pity or mercy and was bent on destroying the world. Before the Lords of Shadow
came to be, she continued, there was a fierce battle where they currently stood;
the three founding members of the Brotherhood fought a creature called the Forgotten
One, which had been summoned by the evil Bernhard family, who at the time owned
the castle. But things went badly for them, as the Forgotten One escaped its
bonds. The founders knew that they couldn't destroy it, so they waited for their
opportunity during the fight and locked the demon up in a dimensional rift created
using their combined powers. The fortress standing directly in their site was
used as the prison, and the Brotherhood built new areas around it to
house the creature deep within. It wasn't by chance, Laura revealed, that her
mother, Carmilla, chose this particular castle over which to rule; though she
hated the other Lords, Carmilla feared what could happen if the Forgotten One
should ever escape.
Gabriel had destroyed
the Lords, weakening the prison, and it was only a matter of time before the
Forgotten one broke free and returned to this world. The shattered Gabriel said
bluntly that he cared not for the world and its problems. "Then you are
fool!" Laura reprimanded, reiterating the gravity of the situation,
the creature's desire to reduce the world to ashes as revenge for its incarceration.
Everyone would die, and there would be nowhere to hide. Since Gabriel and Laura
were the only ones with power enough to stop him, she played upon his moral
compass: Would Gabriel have the souls of the innocent on his conscience for
eternity? Not able to imagine living with such regret, he gave in and asked
her what must be done. Laura first led him into a Games Room that her mother
once spoke of as the entrance to the ancient fortress of the Brotherhood; the
room featured a life-sized chess board--a puzzle whose solution would open the
way. When the large molded pieces were shifted into the correct positions, the
chess board collapsed, revealing the entrance.
Evil was drawn to the
remains of the original fortress like moth to flames. The Abandoned Wing, as
it was called, was filled with infested waters too deadly to traverse using
normal means. Gabriel used his magic boots to carefully sprint over the water's
surface, whereas Laura could more conveniently teleport. They climbed and clawed
their way over the stony and icy ruins, the jaws of the monstrous aquatic foes
a constant reminder of the price of failure. When on more stable ground, they
split up when necessary and continued to battle the undead forces. Beyond the
icy veil, their path converged at the Founder's original tower, in which the
Forgotten One was imprisoned. They combined their unique powers to solve the
tower's mysteries and complicated mechanisms and arrived at the Founder's Quarters,
whose top level was too destroyed to walk upon. Below lay a giant clock, which
Laura recognized as the one her mother told her could turn back time; they found
the crystal that powered the clock and successfully rewound time, back to when
the tower's top level existed. Hurrying to the tower's heights, they found the
shrines of the Brotherhood's three founders, whose plights Laura evaluated:
Carmilla might have had a shred of humanity remaining, of which she was envious;
Zobek was a pawn; and Cornell was blinded with overconfidence, not realizing
the threat Gabriel represented.
To
power the elevated portal device atop the tower required three blood orbs, each
of which contained a Brother's life fluid. The orbs were sealed away beyond
the stare of clever contraptions that would test Gabriel and Laura's fighting
skills and ingenuity. They with much effort procured the orbs and poured their
liquid into the portal's bottom receptacles. The solving of one final puzzle
allowed the blood to flow through the devices crookedly etched veins and activate
it. Gabriel headed toward the portal, demanding that Laura stay behind; she
attempted to stop him from entering, warning that only dark beings could survive
on the other side. Gabriel already considered himself a dark shadow, but Laura
countered that he also espoused love, compassion and tenderness. To enter the
portal would require that he leave it all behind--become a "creature"
like her. She sliced open her wrist and asked him to drink from of the dripping
entrails; the blood, she claimed, had the power to protect him once he reached
the other side. He had no choice--he never did. He ingested her blood
and keeled over in pain, informed that the powerful poison would soon kill him;
to remain alive, he would have to continue drinking, she said, until all of
his blood was replaced with hers. She had lived many lifetimes and killed many
victims, and all of her power would now be his. His hesitation pained, he'd
have to follow through or die. She begged him to free her from a miserable
existence, which he obliged, biting into her neck and draining every ounce;
she was thus obliterated, her blood living on through the newly cursed Gabriel,
who could now enter the portal.
Gabriel entered the dimensional
rift, seeking the Forgotten One. The air was thick with death and decay, suggesting
that Laura's warning was correct. Though, Gabriel was no longer human, any vestiges
of his humanity now gone. Consumed by darkness, he had only a hunger for revenge,
driven by rage. All of those he had killed were now a distant memory. He wanted
blood, and the demon that lay within the rift would feel his wrath. His terrible
destiny was now clear.
Still
suffering, Gabriel emerged from rift and kneeled upon the eroded prison. He
rushed through its carved caverns and unleashed his anger on its ghostly habitants.
He entered into a cave filled with lava, where he was suddenly overcome with
such pain that he could only drop to all fours and struggle to bear it; as a
horrible demon emerged from the lava pit before him, he quickly ducked out of
sight. It was surely the Forgotten One, an evil monster of immense power, formerly
sovereign of the Elemental Plane of Darkness before being summoned by the hideous
Bernhard family. He followed it into an adjacent abyss, where he watched as
it scaled the wall and continued its escape attempt, pummeling the already shaky
ceiling structures. As Gabriel began climbing the same wall, the demon sensed
his presence but quickly lost interest, continuing its ascent. Suddenly, lava
began pouring into the abyss' base, slowly filling it; Gabriel hurriedly climbed
and grappled, outpacing the lava while managing to stay out of the also-climbing
demon's sight. It eventually climbed to solid ground, Gabriel following right
behind. After surveying its new surroundings, it raised its hand into the air
and channeled energy, the resultant blast working to destroy a nearby seal;
it then fell, exhausted. Gabriel saw this as an opportunity to charge the demon,
ready to impale it with his Combat Cross. It recovered in time to grab him and
throw him to the ground.
Gabriel regained his senses
and lunged toward the demon, shattering part of its kneecap. It managed to stand
up slowly and address Gabriel with an easily understood voice. It wondered what
a foolish human was doing in such a place. Gabriel introduced himself as the
creature's destroyer, which earned mockery from the condescending Forgotten
One. It recognized Gabriel's outfit and his connection to the Brotherhood but
sensed something different about his soul. They exchanged more threats, the
demon promising to rip strip him of flesh and devour his soul. The two then
battled, Gabriel mostly focusing on the demon's damaged knee; he worked to slowly
crack its outer shell, weakening it bit by bit. Their fierce battle the rocked
lava-filled abyss, the surrounding structures beginning to crumble and filling
the battlefield with debris. The Forgotten One stopped for a moment; as it gazed
upon the fading seal, it accepted Gabriel as a worthy rival but made it known
the he would never prevail. Gabriel grew tired of its idle boasts but could
only watch as it finally undid the seal. Worn from the battle, Gabriel listened
to its closing taunts--that he would never find peace, neither in Light or Darkness--as
it continued its march toward freedom.
Despite
the demon's confidence, the confrontation proved that it could be hurt. Gabriel
would need to bide his time and strike at the right moment, and he didn't care
how long it took. Time was his friend and an eternity of blood his destiny.
The Forgotten One would know that Gabriel was the dragon and it were
his prey. He regrouped and continued on the demon's trail, riding fractured
stone structures down the stream of lava that the Forgotten One was wading through.
Again trying to avoid being sensed, he jumped onto a pillar behind the demon
and did his best to stay out of its sight; suddenly, it lifted the pillar into
the air and began smashing it into a steel barrier, Gabriel holding on for dear
life. When it finally broke through, it tossed the pillar on its side and continued
on, leaving Gabriel a new form of transport. He rode the floating fragment to
safety and arrived at the far-reaches of the prison, where the Forgotten One
was already at work crippling another seal. None too happy to see him, the Forgotten
One threw a mighty punch, which Gabriel sidestepped, countering by using his
dark gauntlet to impart a deep scratch on its arm. Their battle continued; Gabriel
evaded the powerful demon's variety of attacks and as previously strategized
struck when he could. He wore down the Forgotten One, tossing spiked stone shards
and repeatedly knocking it back; he mounted the prone demon and repeatedly punched
it in the head until half of its cranium broke off. The pounding continued until
the Forgotten One relented, whence it continued boasting that Gabriel could
not triumph and had no comprehension of what he was up against.
It had stalled enough
to give its destructive essence the time to destroy the final seal. It was prepared
to enter the real world, which it promised to reduce to ashes using ten-times
the pain and suffering inflicted upon it by the Brotherhood. It promised to
let Gabriel live, to allow him to witness his complete and utter failure. Ready
to embrace its freedom, it reached its hand toward the open seal, which in addition
would return to it its full power; overcome by rage, Gabriel used his Seraph
Shoulders to leapfrog the demon and fly into the illuminated seal's, basking
in the demon's destructive essense, absorbing it while cutting off the Forgotten
One's escape. Devastated by the act, the Forgotten One slammed its fist into
the ground but quickly accepted the reality of the situation. It turned to the
enchanted, now-hovering Gabriel and said to its new master, "I yield to
you. Mercy, my liege. Mercy..." No longer capable of such emotion,
the all-powerful Gabriel tore the demon in half, ending its existence.
As Gabriel stood there,
staring into the open seal, he gripped the Combat Cross so tight that it shattered
to pieces, for it was no longer of any use to him. After a moment of eerie silence,
he finally exited the prison, escaping through the seal. What awaited him was
a new future: Destiny's child no more, he was cursed to walk the earth and suffer
for eternity.
The Dark Future
We look into Gabriel's
future and flash to a new setting--a church lit only by an array of candles--to
see a final scene: A hooded man walks down the church's aisle and toward a crucifix;
after sparing it only a glance, he turns and enters into a small chamber where
he smashes his way through a barricaded stone wall, gaining access to a destroyed
tower. Gauging the tower's infrastructure, he levitates up to its highest entrance,
which gives way to a room dominated by a large, circular stained-glass window.
He walks into the room's center and removes his hood to reveal his visage as
an older-looking gent. He surveys his surroundings and asks, "An unusual
hiding place for the Prince of Darkness. Don't you think?" A shrouded figure
appears on the nearby throne, recognizing the visage and uttering the name "Zobek,"
who confirms his identity.
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"Where
have you been all this time?" the shrouded figure asks.
"Out there, amongst the living," Zobek reveals, his gaze locked on
the large window.
And what of the shrouded figure, whom he names "Gabriel"?
"Don't you dare call me that!" he warns. "Eu sunt Dracul!"
It's no doubt he was once
the man called "Gabriel," but certainly not now--he's a mere shadow
of his former self. Disappearing into nothingness, he questions Zobek's claim
and the reason for his being here. Zobek cautions him that Satan's acolytes
are readying for his return, and he won't be welcoming this pair with open arms.
The resurrection must be stopped, or they will be his favorite pets for all
eternity. Zobek demands that Dracul show himself and stop hiding in the shadows.
"Don't you care?" he inquires solemnly. Dracul suddenly appears
behind him and puts him in a chokehold, preparing to sink his teeth into his
old friend; Zobek slips free and catches him off guard with a force power, which
knocks him back through the stained-glass window and outside into the rainy
night, where he falls a long distance and crashes into ... the streets
below? As Dracul lay there on all fours in the fractured paving, struggling
to recover, a car brakes hard to avoid running into him, causing an accident.
These events capture the
attention of the nearby city-dwellers, who gather around the scene with their
umbrellas and cell phones. Dracul slowly works himself up to a vertical base
and finds himself face to face with a suited Zobek, who confides that he knows
what it is for which Dracul yearns. He can't die, but he can't live--an almost
extreme act of suffering. Zobek offers to free him of his immortality if he
can help him in some undisclosed way. His cursed fate seemingly inescapable,
however, Dracul spreads his arms, looks toward the Heavens, and emits and deeply
pained, prolonged scream before disappearing into a cloud of mist. He leaves
behind Zobek, who shares aloud his feelings even though the intended party is
absent: "Soon, old friend. Soon it will all be over," he says before
walking off, blending into the crowd as the sirens blare and the downpour continues.
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