Raid the Old, Raise the New

Where are we going? Mark projected into his own mind, as his legs moved of their own accord. No, not of their own accord, of the accord of the demon with whom he shared a body.

Calm down and be quiet, my child. We must reach this volcano immediately. The tales I have heard are beyond disturbing. It infuriates me when my brethren terrorize the humans for no reason at all. Mark could feel the anger pulsing through his veins, but it was not his own anger. Two fragmented souls sharing one body that was just barely whole on its own was a feeling one never grew accustomed to.

What do we do when we find it though? Whatever it is... He asked. He was always willing to allow to Devil to take over, he felt an overwhelming sense of trust for the being with whom he shared a body. Still, his memories from when Tasuruha took over were... Foggy, at best, so he felt uneasy whenever he awoke from a deep slumber somewhere he did not recall.

It is probably best you did not know. If my siblings discover what you know,
their assault will be relentless. With that, the Devil's mind-voice-echo fell silent, and Mark just waited to arrive at the "Raging Volcano". Wherever that was.

It was strange to Mark, the very essence of his own existence. He was only alive at that very moment because one singular Devil felt as though the terms of his own existence were not the correct ones. It was... Odd. There was no better word, at least no better word that Mark could think of at that moment. As the pair, if you could call them that, approached the Raging Volcano, Mark could feel the heat permeating from the ground, wiping the sweat off of his forehead as the Devil guided him towards the volcano. Their surroundings grew warmer and warmer, perhaps even too warm for a volcano. I would not know, since I have never been to a volcano, but is it just me, or is it too warm here? Could this be the influence of one of your siblings, Tasuruha?

It is more than likely, I would say. I am not one who hangs around volcanoes often, but I would agree with you. Mark nodded, which felt odd. Nodding to show his understanding of a being who was talking to him in his own head. Odd was the only way to describe this feeling. What struck him as even more strange was that, even though the ground was disturbingly warm, he could not even see the volcano. Mark could only imagine how excruciatingly hot it would be once they grew nearer to the volcano.

Perhaps the supposed sacrilegious acts are causing this? Can sacrifices give more powers to your siblings, Tasuruha? The demon simply grunted in response, this was apparently a topic he did not wish to speak about. This was not uncommon with Tasuruha. Sometimes, Mark said something that seemed totally innocent, and the Devil replied with a cold grunt that revealed no information.

It took a while before the pair did reached anything worthwhile. It took a full four hours before they could even see the volcano and another hour or so before they were on the cusp of entering. "It's... So... Hot." Mark said, too hot to actually even think anything worthwhile. He let out a groan. "Do we... Have to... Go inside?" He demon mind-grunted in affirmation and Mark let out a defeated sputter. "Just... Take control..." Mark said, his consciousness fading due to the heat. Tasuruha simply grunted again.

---

Mark's consciousness had receded, all the better. He had best not see what was to come. He had been standing on the edge of the volcano, and so he hopped down, sliding down the bumpy edge of the volcano with no real regard for his own body. He was not particularly used to having a mortal body, despite so many generations of death and rebirth. What he saw when he reached the core of the volcano, it was truely horrifying. That was the only way to describe what he was seeing. A woman... Chained to an altar. A sacrilegious sacrifice. "No..." He whispered, running towards the woman. He would not let his bretheren kill another innocent.

Word Count: 725

Total Word Count: 1444