Central Spire Pinacle: Main Throneroom

The immense throne room is a massive circular domed construct made of highly well crafted, shaped, and polished black marbles and metals. Within their reflective surfaces were the writhing faces of countless damned souls, their spiritual forms eternally lost to them and reshaped to the wills of the Fallen in ages past. Their death cried a mere whisper, an echo in time and space. The floors were a glassy crimson, like the surface of a pool of blood frozen in time. Decorations were made as well, braziers burned eternally in different hues and colors in the dim gloom, many were the tortured physical remnants of the damned writhing in eternal agony, but unable to scream physically. their wails subsumed into the background noise like all the others, their flesh and bone used to house the flames. Pictures of stark horrors of ages past by a dozen times a dozen Fallen and their legions, ever playing out the colossal battles within the pictures, constantly rending, maiming, and killing the souls trapped there, as a reminder of the day they had failed to stop their worlds from falling into the merciless clawed hands of the burning Hells. In the central room beyond the massive hallways of columns of unimaginable height, stood the courts of Hell. Demons of every race, from every plane, captured world, and dimension of Hell always milled about, indulging themselves in every whim they enjoyed guesting in the palace, debating each other over various topics, some rivalries and competitions between rival species and even clans. Sometimes erupting into rage fuelled fighting, which was swiftly put down due to the presence of the Palace Guardians. The Silent Sentinels, like the Wraiths, were wreathed in black cloaks over black robes and armored forms beneath. Unlike the Wraiths, these beings were demons, not former mortals. Their forms were not bedraggled, torn and aged like the Wraiths either. they were clean, well maintained, and more importantly, swift and efficient, brokering no compromise with word, either the offenders acquiesce, or they will be destroyed then and there.

Beyond the babbling droning of the court, and the background moaning of the damned, the throne of the Last of the Fallen could be seen, standing atop the colossal mountain of skulls of angels felled in warfare between the Burning hells and the High Heavens. the throne was a massive edifice, made of the combined aspects of all sin. Gold, silver, platinum and precious gems adorned the seat, the fountains of burning, boiling blood and fire either side of the seat. The seat itself was wide and plush, more like a wide couch than a chair. The adornments such as sigils, runes and other fetishes adorned the massive construct, horns and other ornaments crowned the massive edifice. Within the curves and hooks of the horns, hung great violet crystals, the very essence of the various aspects of sin. it is from this great seat of power that the Empress commands her vast countless titan legions across the omniverse, waging eternal war against the high heavens and their creations, the mortal universes.

The Empress had been seated almost lazily in the Throne , her eyes closed as her extradimensional senses scanned existence for the Void Dragon, wherever the monster may be. Her thoughts were bent on this more and more, wanting to avoid the fate the monster represented at all costs. Her brow furrowed suddenly, as she sensed something much closer...

Her eyes opened, and within them, burned all the fires of hell, and she smiled. "He has come out... My son is no longer on Earth #1839B. He is on Galivan #11382D"

The Empress' desolate gaze turned to her vizier, the Cycloid. "Bring him to me... If he resists, start slaughtering the population, if they resist, rescind the order to spare them... We are running out of time now. Several dimensions have gone dark. The Monster is awakening..."

After meditating on her throne for many hours. her psionic links converged their message. and her eyes cracked open, revealing their lime green light. "Edward" she whispered. "You are all of our last hope..."

The Palace of the Empress itself now lay before Ed's eyes. He had nightmares about this infernal place ever since he had learned the real truth of his heritage back in Raccoon City. The memory of that event haunted him even more now. 'If James only knew the real magnitude of what he unleashed that day... I wonder what he would think of all of this now.' Ed thought absently. But in the end, it didn't really matter. James Ferral was dead. Ozwald Spencer was dead. Albert Wesker was dead. and Jack had promised he would deal with his brother, Raymond Taylor alone.

Now it was Ed's turn to deal with his own family issues, here, of all places.

The convoy entered the palace gates and walked into the courtyard towards the central keep.

The Empress sat upon the Ebon throne of Sin, as Ed appeared in the grand hall that led to her seat of power. With a wave of her hand,and a psionic command, she dismissed all others from the room. Only her son was to be in her presence for this. Shadowy monsters, enigmatic demons, and dark creatures faded into the outer cloister as they were commanded, and all entrances were sealed and bound by her vast power to ensure not only were they sufficiently alone, but they would not be overheard.

Ed stood before her. his head unbowed, his knee unbent, and his expression firm, yet not expressly defiant. He had come to a realization, she surmised.

"Edward." she said.

"Why?" Ed retorted immediately, cutting her off. The cutting question caused her to frown. "Why do you insist on hunting me? All this death, and destruction... You kept following me. My home, Earth, now Galiavan.... I can't..."

"Don't think too highly of yourself, my son" Alexastria retorted. "The Denizens of Hell have been doing so since the very beginning. Do you really believe we would be satisfied with only the scraps that the High Heavens judge unworthy, and throw to us from their Diamond Gates? No. That would not prove our side correct. We prove our decision to fall to be correct through our actions, not by simply following their script!"

"So you drag innocent beings into your conflict with the high heavens because you lack the power to confront them directly? Is that it? It's a cosmic temper tantrum? You can't beat them in war, so you take it out on a target that can't possibly protect themselves, and they don't even know WHY?! You hypocrite... There is no justice or wisdom in that!" Ed shouted back. his anger quite clear.

"Oh Edward, you have no idea... Your precious mortals were made in mockery of our choice to leave in the first place. They were given not only free will, and the power of choice, but collectively, every mortal race has a gift even we Arch Seraphim were denied, a gift The One Above All reserved only for mortals, the power of unlimited potential." With that, Alexastria stood from her throne and descended the steps of the dais towards her son. "After all, there is a reason why I chose your father, a mortal man, and bore his child. You embody something even I can never have. You have my power, my Arch Seraphim blood, my power as a Fallen, my immortality. But you also hold mortality, free will, humanity, the power to choose your destiny, and unlimited potential."

"Is that why you've been seeking me out? You want me to be your weapon? You want me to help you to wipe out other mortals to help prove your point? After all this time, After being raised on Earth, raised by human values to be a good person, what makes you think I would ever choose to do something so horrible as to slaughter everyone I hold most dear?" Edward asked, his voice strained.

"Originally, I had intended you to take the throne of Hell after I faded away... in order to breach the barrier, I had to pay a price. I sacrificed my Eternity, thus my time became limited. and my time is now almost up. I wanted you to rule Hell in my place, and help complete my promise to my people in my stead."

Ed was taken aback by the revelation that his mother was soon to be gone. It was an unusual feeling for Edward, never expecting an Eternal, never mind his mother, to make such a choice. "What promise is that?" he asked, his voice low, and his expression softened slightly.

The Empress closed her glowing lime eyes. "Freedom" she breathed the word out. "The freedom to choose their own fate... That's what we wanted."

But when Alexastria's eyes reopened, her expression became sadness, and fear mixed into a form of melancholy. "But, that is no longer an option for us... For a foe of old has returned. An enemy that threatens all that was, is, and ever will be..."

Ed's face turned to puzzlement, and skepticism. "What do you mean? What foe?"

"You do not know him, but he is an ancient threat from before the Fall, before the separation of the High Heavens and the Burning Hells. Back when the Realms of Existence were newborn and still growing." The Empress began to recount the tale of the monster to Edward. "Before the beginning of all things, there was the Void, the Absolute Nothingness. And in that blackness, there came to be the being we know as The One Above All Others. With it's absolute omnipotent power, The One created Existence, beginning with the High Heavens, and with it, we Arch Seraphim, were the first living beings, the first angels to be awakened. The Firstborn was our eldest, named Verial."

"We Arch Seraphim, along many other Angel species were tasked with filling the realms with life, and structure, shaping worlds and stars, forming new life forms... And we were warned to never stray too far from The One's guiding light, for if we stray too far, the blackness will blind us, and we become lost. Unfortunately, Verial's pride in his power compelled him to challenge himself, and push his boundaries as far as he could. This conceit would cost him, and the rest of us more than any of us could have ever imagined... The Void consumed him. Hollowed him out, and used him as a host for it's power and will. And Verial came back, a monster of destruction so powerful and violent, he sought to bring about the end of all things, and return all to the Absolute Nothingness. The Void Dragon, we came to know him as... And he almost succeeded. The beast destroyed more than half of all that existed and destroyed scores of angels of all kinds before we were finally able to secure and seal the monster back in the Void. The realms were ravaged by the beast, void distortions, temporal and quantum in nature, were rampant, but the One and we angels repaired the damage. It took many universal ages, but we were finally prepared to begin seeding the mortal realms with life.

The Empress' eyes flashed. "Then the events leading to the Fall happened, and you know the story. Unfortunately, something has happened that changes everything, Edward."

Ed's eyes narrowed. He somehow knew he would not like what he was about to hear, and given everything his mother just told him, he assumed he already knew where this was going.

"Verial has somehow broken through the barrier. The monster is free again. And this time, neither Heaven nor Hell can stop him individually. Neither side has enough numbers or power to fight the monster independently. Our only hope is to fight him together, along with whatever mortals are strong enough to help. It's the only chance we all have of beating the beast and surviving. But... I cannot go before The One Above All... The other Arch Seraph would kill me long before I could even get beyond the Diamond Gates, and no Demon dare make the attempt. You on the other hand, are half mortal, and also a champion of the innocent and good... You may have my blood, but that may also give you a chance to speak with him. Edward, You are our only hope now, I am asking you to do this for all that exists, not just me or my Demons, but for all beings. Verial will not stop until he has destroyed everything.... Everything..." The Empress fell silent, as the memories of the horrors of the Void Dragon came flooding to the surface.

And Ed could see, and feel her fear now, striking him like a hammer, and his hard look started to dissolve as he questioned everything he had just heard in his own mind.

Ed for his own part was torn between skepticism - for he had no real way of knowing if his mother was lying to him and setting him up - and on the other, he didn't know how to get to where she wanted him to go. His brow furrowed between these two points, even as he looked into her eyes.

"What must I do?" he finally asked.

Alexastria blinked, an had a look of melancholy and sadness overcome her face. "I will send you before the Diamond Gates. From there, you will find your way to The One. They will guide you to it.

The Empress looked down and away from her son. "This may be the last time we meet, Edward... For what it's worth, I'm sorry I wasn't the mother you needed me to be. I'm sorry I couldn't be there..."

Ed found his throat clench a little, and his hands tighten, but not in anger this time. "I'm sorry too..."

And with those parting words, Ed disappeared in a flash of silver white light. and Alexastria sank back into her throne, a crystal tear escaped the lime green light of her eyes. Part of the Demon Empress knew that she still was the Arch Seraphim she once was, and that part mourned what she had lost, and what could have been. But it was too late for that now.

Once Edward had disappeared, the Empress sat upon her throne for some time, thinking, brooding, and watching events unfold. Her all seeing eye watched the schemes and plots of her own agents, and those of the ones termed 'rogues' by her own lords. A term she had not necessarily agreed with. She knew why Enigma and those who agreed with him thought the way they did. They are worried about the fundamental shift of their paradigm away from total evil and sin. Enigma embodies chaos, a chaotic freedom of choice. She smiled a little at the thought.

Freedom.

It was the very thing they all fought for. Fell from the High Heavens for. They wanted the freedom to choose their own fate.

But now, Enigma, the creature once called Edward Nigma, was now trying to force a change to only accept his own way of thinking within Hell. While in the short term he would be satisfied with that result, over time, his chaotic nature would demand change again, and again. There was no long term plan, nor any spontaneous chaos that free will presents if it's restrained by his own current narrowed perspective. But Nigma's game was being played at the worst possible time. With the threat of Verial overshadowing everything, wild chaos right now could lead to the loss of everything within the jaws of her long since lost elder brother.

Her lime green eyes opened finally.

"Enigma. Come to me. Your Empress commands."

The Empress' eyes flashed and her expression darkened considerably.

"It's too late now... Verial is on the planet!"

Quickly, the Empress stood. "To all the forces of the Hell Horde, This is your Empress's command. Deploy all forces to Galiavan immediately. Contact with the Beast if the Void has been confirmed. It's time..."