Sol Boxset

by Samuel Small

  This shit was gonna take forever if he kept up this pace. Hell, by the time he reached William he’d probably just pass out from exhaustion. But then Dante got an idea. He remembered when he jumped out of a building he blew up that he let some Sol out at the last moment to cushion his fall. He glanced over the edge and the darkness ran as far as he could see, probably as far down as the building was up, but the trick should still work. So Dante swung one leg over the banister and sat on top of it, glancing over the edge and into the inky void below. He closed his eyes, unhooked his feet, and allowed his body to fall.

  The wind whipped at his hair and jacket, sending it lashing out, but that was the only sensory information he got. The whole place was pitch black, which was kinda comforting. Like he was flying, since he couldn’t see that he was falling. As Dante plunged through the darkness with a strange sense of comfort, he came to a realization. He couldn’t see. He wouldn’t be able to see the bottom when he came up to it and… well, splat.

  “Shitshitshitshitshitshitshitshit!” Dante chanted and created as many balls of light as he could muster, frantically throwing them at his feet. But they went down maybe 10 feet below him before he caught up. One hit him in the foot, bursting into a flare of heat that made him feel like he’d stepped onto fire. But this was the only option he had to see, so Dante continued to pelt orbs of light downward. One hit something and whatever it was it burst into flames. Dante brought his arms together and fired a condense blast, managing to do it before he became a pancake. The liquid in his stomach seemed to all lurch to one side from the sudden stop then Dante’s feet caught the ground, stumbled, and planted firmly.

  With that out of the way, Dante let out a sigh and created another orb of light in the palm of his hand. He swept his arm around the area to get a good look at things but it was about the same as before, only the drawings were creepier. Monsters stared out at him: some four-legged bull-like thing, a wyvern, and a serpent. They were etched into the cracked stones of the wall, staring at him through the white spaces of their eyes. He scoffed at the adornments and walked ahead.

  This whole place was a large tunnel, with a big dome ceiling that rose well over Dante’s head. It was so tall and wide that it was like the place was designed for the monsters on the wall instead of humans. On either side the drawings seemed to follow Dante, strange creatures that went bump in the night, warriors battling it out, angels with their wings clipped. It was like the outline to every fairytale was right there mixed in with human history. Dante chuckled, he just had to be the one who came down here, the one who could not give a shit about history. He bet the nerd or even that bookworm princess would have enjoyed this place a hell of a lot more than him.

  Ahead there was a large door that towered up and filled the entire wall of the tunnel. It was made out of the same stone as everything else, meaning the thing was probably too heavy for a normal person, or even a group of normal people, to open. This made Dante question just what the hell was on the other side of it. Actually, he thought he knew. There was light racing out from under the door, but it wasn’t normal. It almost looked like the light that he held in his hand, except it was a faded pink color. Dante didn’t know exactly what this strange light meant, but he did know it meant some trippy shit was on the other side. William… or worse yet that demon child.

  A particular drawing on the wall caught Dante’s attention. As far as he could tell it depicted a dude shitting out another dude. Then in the next one a bunch of evil stuff came out of the shit-dude, then a bunch of guys surrounded the shit-dude and turned him into some kind of circle. Well, that’s probably the weirdest one I’ve seen so far, Dante thought as he passed by, eyeing it like it might peel itself from the wall and attack him. Before he knew it he walked into the door and rubbed his burning nose. His light source had gone out in the impact but he could see well on account of the pink light oozing out of the cracks in the stone. It looked like the door opened inward so Dante placed both palms on it and pushed as hard as he could.

  The damn thing was too heavy. He pushed again with even more effort but it didn’t budge. Then he used his feet to try to force the thing open. All that did was leave him running on the spot like a dumbass. Dante took several steps back then rammed his shoulder into the door, filling his body with pain. Dante squatted down, grasping his injury while swearing up a storm. “Why the hell make a door that no fucker can open!?’” he shouted in frustration, shaking his fist at it. His eyes locked on that clenched fist and an idea came to him.

  The boy rose to his feet, looking at each palm. Of course he couldn’t open the thing with raw human strength, but with his Sol…

  Dante placed both palms onto the rock-hewn door. He gathered as much energy as he could, since he knew this bastard was big and would take a lot to open up. Once he held a large ball of swirling light in each hand he grinned fiercely. “Knock knock, motherfucker!” he shouted as he let the energy free.

  The door burst open, crashing into the wall on the other side of the room. Cobwebs and dirt rained down from the ceiling and Dante found the place well lit, despite not being able to locate the source. It was the dull pink glow again, making everything seem otherworldly, and as he took a few cautious steps inside Dante realized he wasn’t alone. William sat in a throne carved into the wall at the far end of the room. It didn’t look like he reacted to the door that nearly sent the entire place crashing down, nor did he acknowledge Dante’s presence upon entering.

  There wasn’t much else to the room. Thick columns lined the entire space, which must’ve kept the whole place up. Aside from that it was pretty empty. Same stone floor caked with dust. A ceiling that looked impossibly high and, oddly enough, no writing on the walls. Dante took all of this in as he made his way to that throne and thought of what to say when he got there. He hadn’t thought of anything by the time he stepped in front of the rock-hewn seat, where William’s impassive figure sat, staring into Dante through glassy eyes. He clenched his teeth upon taking in the guy’s passive form.

  “I’m gonna give you one last opportunity to stop all of this madness.”

  “No,” William said, not changing his expression in the slightest.

  “Well, why the fuck not?”

  “I don’t really know.”

  “What the fuck do you mean you don’t know?”

  William rose out of the chair, his feet sending up dust and creating a smack that echoed throughout the room. The suddenness of it led Dante to widen his stance and prepare for an attack. “I don’t know why I do, I just do,” William said. “Since my revival I feel empty. I meander my way through this existence and do as instinct tells me.”

  “Instinct my ass!” Dante shouted. “You’re being controlled, don’t you know that? By some demon fuck wearing a suit!”

  But William didn’t respond to Dante’s outburst. Those wide, milky eyes stared into him, and despite there being no expression on William’s face, Dante felt like he was being judged. He couldn’t fucking stand that and clenched his teeth so hard he thought they might crack. William stood still like that, his feet firmly planted, until Dante felt some kind of rumbling beneath him. He looked down in time to see the floor ripple with a crack. “What the fu—”

  That was all Dante was able to get out before the floor exploded with a loud grinding pop. Where he’d just been standing several white spears pierced the air, then lost solidity and swayed like tentacles. Dante stared in shock at the undulating appendages. William stood there, apathetic, before one of the tentacles blocked Dante’s view of him. Then he was back again, his arm slightly raised, until a flailing tentacle obstructed him once again. Dante was ready to ask him what the hell he was up to when his figure was revealed, the arm he’d raised contorted into a spear that tore through the air toward Dante. The orange-haired boy was barely able to move his head out of the way in time, the attack grazing his cheek and sending fresh blood spurting out of it. The limb retreated with some of Dante’s blood still splattered along its len
gth and locked back into William’s arm. The whole thing was a bloated mess of tumor-like welts and legions that swirled and shrunk into the shape of his arm. His bloated fingers opened and closed experimentally.

  “And I guess you don’t know why you did that either, huh!?” Dante sneered.

  ***

  “What do you mean you can’t let us in? Our friend’s trapped in there!” Sara shouted at the hooded man who blocked the only entrance into the tower.

  “I’m sorry, but those are my orders. Straight from the top.” He folded his powerful arms and shook his head. “But man, did your friend ever throw a wrench into our plans. Ma says we need to observe him for now, see how well he does. And in the event he dies… well, I shouldn’t tell you about that.”

  This guy was speaking gibberish and Jake could barely make any of it out. Some kind of organization that had a ‘Mother’ figure? Based on the creepy black coats they all wore they looked like they belonged to a cult. The guy had saved Jake’s life but that didn’t mean anything if he sat casually by while Dante died. That’s right, this guy’s actions were tantamount to murder. If he didn’t want to help that was fine, but actively preventing Jake and Sara from assisting…?

  The trainee reached behind his back and pulled out his sword, which made a steady shwiiiiiiiiiing sound as he removed it from its scabbard. That sound drew Sara’s wide eyes to him and she seemed to ask ‘Are you serious?’ Jake understood what she meant: this guy had saved them after all, but that didn’t justify his current actions. Besides, his posture, folded arms with his weapon tucked away along his thigh, indicated that he didn’t seem to care too much.

  “Oh really?” the cloaked man asked playfully.

  “I don’t want to hurt you,” Jake said, “you saved us, after all. But we have a warrior trapped in there, so stand aside!”

  “Right,” Sara shouted and widened her stance. Her hesitation was over and she was willing to assist him, which was good because Jake wasn’t sure he could take this guy down alone. He destroyed all of those Voids – the ones that Jake, Sara, and Elizabeth combined couldn’t defeat – in nearly an instant. And despite Jake having pulled out his sword and taken a formal fighting stance, the guy just stood there with his hands on his hips, his hood focused on them as if only slightly interested. Jake could take no more of it and shouted, pushing off his foot and charging for him.

  The trainee lunged forward, stabbing directly for the man’s chest. He just stood still in that same cocky stance. It didn’t matter anyway, as Jake was going to plunge his sword through him, ending his smug demeanor forever. He didn’t want to but if he hesitated Dante’s chances of survival would plummet.

  Just before Jake’s blade pierced the man’s heart something plowed into it, sending his weapon flying into the air. He had to tighten his grip until his hands stung to keep the thing in his grasp and would have fallen down the stairs leading up to the entrance had his back not struck something cold and solid: a wall Sara had made to save him. He gritted his teeth and faced the man, able to see that he’d drawn a single weapon: a sawed-off shotgun, which he held well into the air.

  Jake repositioned his feet so that he was balanced and ready to fight, cautiously staring at the cloaked man as if he might explode. Somehow he’d managed to block the strike so fast that it left Jake nearly incapacitated. And he still held his arm well over his head, as if Jake needed him to pause just so that he’d be able to understand what happened.

  That was enough to make him furious and Jake leapt forward once again, swinging at the cloaked man’s head. But again his hand seemed to appear before Jake’s blade, tearing it to the side. Jake winced at the pain it sent through his hands, then gave it another go. Again each attack was blocked without effort. Jake attacked from the left and the right, but it didn’t matter. His arm seemed to appear before Jake’s attack each time like it had a mind of its own.

  Then Jake felt pain explode in his gut, his body flying backward. Something blitzed past him, then there was a crash. As Jake flew through the air he felt bits of Sara’s ice wall knock against his skin, and glanced up to see that the cloaked man had somehow appeared behind him. He was dead set to fall down those steps but ice raced across them, evening them into a ramp that Jake slid down. His body hit the flat stone at the bottom of those steps, which grazed his skin and caused a bit of pain. He quickly rose to a knee, glaring up at the shadowy cloak of the man that stood midway up those icy steps. Sara was above him, looking like she couldn’t believe what she had just seen.

  Jake slowly rose to his feet, his anger growing with each movement he made. He glared up at that figure, then let out a roar and charged up the steps as the ice turned into water.

  ***

  William’s attacks cut through the air so fast that they left gusts of wind that ruffled Dante’s hair. The spears he contorted his limbs into were faster than any Void Dante had seen before. Once the boy had moved his head out of the way of one, another came his way. Luckily the spears were coming in nothing but straight angles, so he found them easy enough to dodge now that he’d gotten the pattern. Still, he couldn’t deny that their speed tripped him up at first.

  Once again the ground under Dante’s feet rumbled, but the same trick wasn’t going to work twice. He leapt backward as the spears shot out, spraying stone and rubble all around them along with a plume of dust. This time he wasn’t caught off guard by it and Dante punched forward as hard as he could. Light blue energy shot out of his fist and made a beeline for William before bursting prematurely. The tentacles stretched out and knocked away Dante’s attack. It swayed back and forth a few times then hardened, its point aimed directly at Dante.

  Shit, he thought and leapt out of the way. There was a giant crash to his side but he continued running. Those crashes pumped steadily behind him, and it seemed they’d catch up. Still running, Dante pointed at William. He had sent all of his little buddies after Dante so he had no defense. “Get a grip, fuckhead!” Dante shouted as he let the energy out.

  It seemed like the line of energy would reach William, especially with how the guy stood motionless like he didn’t even care. But at the last second William’s body tore into the air, not on account of him jumping but because those spears that had receded into the hole in the ground now found their way to him and hoisted him up. He looked like a puppet on a stick, hanging limply as the mess of tendrils kept him suspended in midair. Dante’s energy tore into that mass, causing them to retreat back into his body. William fell nearly 20 feet to the ground and landed with a thud. He rose as if it hadn’t hurt at all. That would have left the other Voids he had fought against little more than a puddle on the ground, but it seemed William had quite a degree of durability, what with him being their leader and all. Hell, if Dante had suffered that fall he’d at least need a minute or two to get himself in order.

  “That’s fitting, you look just like a puppet!” Dante shouted while darting off at an angle and heading straight for William. That body stood limp for a moment, then once again shot an arm that barreled out toward Dante. He slipped underneath the attack without losing momentum and continued forward. Two more spears came and Dante dealt with them easily. Then William’s arm looked less solid, less compact. He swept it along the ground and Dante had to leap over the whip that would’ve easily taken a hunk of his flesh with it. The way it cut through the air when it sailed underneath Dante, it was practically indescribable. The sound that accompanied a fast kick but multiplied 10 times over. When he was over it the arm cracked and came back for another go. This time Dante had to duck under it, making eye contact with William’s milky pupils as his other hand began to morph. Dante wasn’t far now and William knew it.

  That arm transfigured into a scythe that first attempted to bash into Dante, which he successfully managed to slip to the side of, before trying to decapitate him on the way back. But it didn’t work, Dante knew what he was trying to do, and now he was within striking distance.

  “You say you don’t feel a
nything!?” Dante shouted as he cocked back his fist. “Well, I hope you don’t feel this!” Now that he knew William wasn’t as fragile as every other Void Dante felt like he didn’t need to hold back. So he gathered as much energy as he could into his clenched fist and unleashed it upon his opponent. But William’s arm contorted once again, and Dante plowed into it. The force of the impact was so powerful that it sent the dust at his feet as well as his jacket lashing out, but William didn’t seem to care. His arm, contorted into a bear-like claw, had blocked the blow. That claw removed itself from William’s face, revealing the same flat expression as before. He raised it into the air and came down at Dante with tremendous force.

  ***

  “Sara, now!”

  She obeyed, sending innumerable fragments of ice into the direction that Jake had forced the cloaked man to dodge, but it had no effect. He raised a gun then moved it incredibly fast, blocking each individual particle before they hit him. Jake tried to take advantage of his preoccupation with Sara’s attack but the guy’s other arm came up with a large gust of wind and blocked Jake’s blade once again. The boy took a few fumbling steps back, clenching the sword tightly in his hand.

  That was how every single exchange Jake had with the guy went. No matter how many directions Sara fired her ice in, no matter how many openings she created, he wasn’t able to capitalize on a single one. The guy was just so fast. He toyed with them, slowly backing the two of them down the steps until they were on the flat earth at the bottom. They were getting further and further away from that door and Jake got the sense that this was the intention. He could back them all the way to the Republic if he wanted.

  “Like I said, backup’ll be here in a few minutes. Just stand by and wait for them. I won’t have a problem with you guys coming after that,” the man said, barely out of breath.