Devil Equinox

It took me a while to arrive back at Hank's apartment complex. I even managed to get a car from that safe house from someone who was hiding out in the security room. They were terrified, they witnessed what happened to the people he worked with only to find out they were demons.

General Mynde told me that he never sent anyone to come to the city over the phone. He wasn't aware it seemed and he confirmed that Dante was that side and everyone else was fine.

They were crafty with their mouths, they deceived me well but then it did fall apart.

How could I not sense they were demons? They concealed that power they had or they were too weak for me to notice.

I was done with them. So, I thought they weren't going to be a problem any longer.

The door to my apartment wasn't locked when I checked it. I checked the handle and there seemed to be some damage on it. Then Hank called out in surprise, "Captain!" He was coming down the hall toward my room. "Hank, what happened to do?" I asked him.

"Ugh, the girl Laura brought over did that! I was going to get to it later." he said then looked at me. "She told me what she did, I don't want you trying to kill her. Unless you want me to put a few rounds in your skull."

"I am not here to settle a score, I just want answers." I told him after realizing how tense he was.

That was all enough to let his guard down.

Inside the apartment Laura was sitting on the sofa leaning over her knees, face in her hands and talking about how she messed things up. I slowly closed the door behind me, Hank walking over to Laura. I went into the kitchen and grabbed a mug and made some coffee to drink. I had a thing for having my coffee black, it was just a tantalizing taste I couldn't get over and the aroma was exceptional.

While I was waiting for my water to come to a boil, Laura came up from behind me. "Captain, I am sorry for what happened back there," she apologized.

I sighed deeply and didn't turn around. "If I didn't survive from getting shot in the head, what would you have done. Could you have completed another assignment for the government or would have decided to just end my life on a whim? Laura what you did I ain't taking lightly and be happy I didn't kill you the moment I set foot through that door." I told her.

She took a bit longer to respond, maybe scared to not say the wrong things. "I wasn't supposed to be there with you. I was instructed to go with you there and not to enter the building, but I chose to follow your plan and not my orders because I owe for what you did two years ago." she paused for a moment. "I didn't shoot you because I had to, I did it because I didn't want them to know that we are working together. I am not being selfish, I was trying to stop the others from coming here and messing with everything you had going on!"

"At the expanse of my life?" I asked her calmly.

Those words cut her deeply. How I know? I heard her fall to her knees and tried to hold back her tears. I stayed silent while she sobbed.

"I didn't know that I hurt you." she struggled to get the words out.

"You destroyed my trust and betrayed me. Be happy I didn't let my anger get the best of me," I told her.

Moments past, water boiled, poured it into the mug and took a sip of it. I set down my mug, turned around, took a step toward her and stretched my hand out for her. Her head bowed forward, body slumped down and she set on her calves sobbing and sniffling. Then she slowly looked up and saw my hand.

Tears streamed down her face and ruined the bit of makeup she had. "Why?" she asked me. She was overwhelmed by emotion. That feeling was foreign to me. Did I lose myself to what I was becoming? It seemed that way. "For you to know that I don't want Eliza to mourn over you," I answered kindheartedly.

She grabbed my hand and I helped her up.

Hank stood by the door leaning and said, "I didn't know you could forgive so easily," jokingly. "I gotta go grab the tools and fix the door handle. I'll catch you all later."

He left and Laura went to the living room.

"You have gone softer than I thought," my Mind told my Body.

"Old habits must die Mind. The era of war is over and yet I still hold my old aggression. Such a frivolous action I have taken." my Body retorted.

"You think your combat skills, intellect and nature can't survive?"

"I think they are overdue in this period. Over six hundred years of doing the same thing and all because we needed to survive. Useful? Yes! But this is not how we should live. We should change to the times we live in."

"Blasphemy! The younger Ravedos would have never spared a soul that betrayed him."

"That's why he lost… We lost those we had shown care for and pushed others far from us. Besides, those two, Dante, Donny and Marie have made me the best of who I am. The younger Ravedos would never have understood this weight that he cast away from his person. You do know this Mind, yet you want to live in the past?"

"I digress on all accusations."

"And when have you ever been the accuser?" Aro asked my Mind.

"Aro, why does it worry you at all?"

"It worries us, for we care you as a whole," Fragius answered for her.

"I thank you for your counsel and observance of our conduct. I… We wouldn't have made it thus far without it."

Fragius chuckled, then Aro and he remained silent.

I used my laptop to call General Mynde and info him of my current predicament, he on the other hand wasn't surprised.

"I went to a general's only meeting with President Brent and he talked about needing you caught, by the military and running experiments on you," he told me in his slightly raspy and deep voice.

"So you knew the whole time and played dumb!" I said.

"I needed to figure out what happened first before I could answer you. You're stressed out and I would be in the same fucking shoes, making the same decisions! But you have to hear me out before you lose me as your goddamn ally and friend, Captain. We settled? Good. Ugh, fuck. Brent, told us we are running an operation and it went up in flames after Laura shot you in the head. They didn't plan for that, now they see her as a rogue agent and not an operative of theirs. And that monster you saw, might as well be a diversion 'cause it fucking is one.

"Get the public to look somewhere else while they do their operation in the shadows more easily. They went you, her and that clone she took. Apparently you made ties with their best asset and Dr. Portford isn't too happy about how you managed to subdue her and the other clones that had you pinned down. She informed the president and now he wants to destroy all evidence leading back to her and him. You are at odds against the country now, Captain. Best to take care of the manufacturer before the buyer gets an advantage on you! I will update you on what else happens. Oh and Captain, if you get caught I never had ties with you."

The call was concluded. I closed the lid of my laptop. "Is that how he treats you?" Laura asked.

"That's just his way of saying don't mess up." I reassured her. "He cares. Just doesn't show it as much 'cause he learned that showing care can lead to, the one's you care the most for, their demise. Just like you."

I gave her a quick smile and got up to take a walk outside. Laura stayed to make sure that Cory was safe.

On my said walk, I couldn't help but notice how people are moving in response to the broadcast that all of us watched. Calm, settled and no form of fear or urgency. Well, that was only some of the people. Maybe I looked in to things a bit too much.

The sky was gray, covered by clouds far from bringing rain on this city, the sun only a memory for a day. A cold breeze blew through the city, softly hitting my face and cooling my head with it. What season could it have been already? Was winter beginning? It did feel a bit chilly that day but not because of the breeze.

Time to get away from all the problems I had encountered, messes to clean up and people to worry. A chance to get away from all the action, the horror, the suspense and the adventure. Don't you think we deserve this reader? The moment you had been asking for, breathing room, keep the tempo low and steady. It seems that is a luxury I have yet to fathom, to feel, to experience.

Everyone around the area wore heavy clothing today and I didn't pay much attention to the chosen attire. Then a snow flake fell gracefully before me. I stopped and looked up, another snowflake gracefully landing on my face. I looked back down and picked the snowflake off my face and looked at it. Small, fragile and mesmerizing crystallized water that only comes in one season every year.

Most people overlook the simple thing that carries a meticulous design that even I awe at the sight of.

It began to snow in the city and things seemed calm.

Then someone walked up to me and said, "Beautiful isn't? A wonder in this world that won't always be here forever."

They spoke in a slow, light and higher pitched voice that was higher than mine without this eye-patch on. I slowly turned back. "Who are you?" I asked him when I looked at him. He looked like me, every detail exact to even the minuscule parts of me, but his hair was a bit longer and he was aged by constant war.

A corner of his mouth moved to form a smile. "I am Ravedos, but not from this universe. I am from another similar to yours with the sole exception that I am not as powerful as you are." He told me. "I am one of many others just like yours but for some their worlds have perished because of one entity who traverses through each one killing the demon-angels of that universe and destroying their earth."

Those words, what he was telling me was unbelievable and he told me that my universe was the only one that was the hardest to find. "What? You fucking joking." I said.

"Then use your other eye to tell if I am or I am not lying." he responded. He noticed that I hesitated to do that. He sighed and looked up to the sky, "We are not like you," he paused and looked back at me. "You are the only one among us, who the creators our homes chose to be special. While the rest of us die from the most simple of things, your power can't let you die until you have fulfilled your purpose. That entity will take a long time to make it here but he knows about you and he now has a reason to come after and your universe but he will not come alone.

"He will have others to overwhelm you. To tire you, to make sure you watch the world you so care for get destroyed. Just like the rest of us, but some of the ones who died never got that chance . Ravedos you must get stronger."

"Can't I get help from you, since you know all about this,"

He faintly smiled, and placed his arm on my left shoulder. "I am already dead. I just stalled for time to tell what I am able to in my limited time. There's more I would like to tell you, but I can't." he told me and he sniffled. He eyes became watery. He let go of my shoulder then walked past me. I turned to find him gone.

I didn't get the chance to try and help him. I then carried on with my walk before getting back to the apartment. But in that time it seemed like time stopped flowing and when he left it resumed. No one looked my way or they just minded their own business.