Chapter 5 : Quests

Rogue and Lucifer stepped outside, the light from the sun blinding their eyes as they had been inside for more than 5 hours. “ Before we leave, what will we use to get there? It's not like we can just fly over there. It's broad daylight” Lucifer asked looking at Rogue in hopes he had an idea.

Rogue smirked only and headed to the back leaving Lucifer there wondering what he was up to. Rogue once at the back, would open the garage door and there afore him was a modem convertible. An Audi A4, fishing out the keys from the pocket, Rogue opened the door and entered the car.

He ignited the engine, the gears began to shift and the vehicle revved up. Shifting the cog once more, He applied force on the accelerator pedal prompting the car to move out the garage, exited the yard and circulated to the front of the house on the Mainroad

“ So you are going to stand there?” Rogue asked, opening the casement of the car.

Lucifer looked at the direction Rogue's voice came from and she walked to the car on the other side, she opened the door and took the vacant seat near Rogue, closing the door immediately after“ And you are sure you can drive this?” She asked as she had her pyrrhonism about Rogue's driving.

Rogue laughed a bit and placed the cog on drive and placed his left foot on the acceleration pedal. The engine revved up and the wheels pirouetting as the car went down the path heading out of town. “ I wanted to ask, where are we going exactly? Cause you were being vague earlier” Rogue asked his eyes looking at the road. 

“We are going to an ancient temple north of here” Lucifer articulated, telling Rogue to take a right turn concomitantly. 

The body of the car blitzing over the tar into the rocky landscape, The car continued on for a few more minutes. “Stop here” Lucifer articulated to Rogue who hit the brakes stopping the car atop of the hill. The duo exited the car and Rogue looked around seeing nothing but plain land. 

“ You are sure we aren't lost?” Rogue voiced his sentiments to Lucifer who shook her head and began to make her way down the hill, her right hand lifted signaling Rogue to follow her which he did. 

“ It's hidden in plain sight where the eyes can't see” Lucifer articulated her oculars glowing a shade of purple, she extended her hand and grabbed on to the indiscernible handle and pushed the door open revealing a large shrine made from sapphires and emerald stones. “ Come on in” she said to Rogue entering the hall itself.

Rogue was astonished by the resplendent of the shrine itself, he took slow steps perambulating the shrine, closing the door. “ How do you know this place existed here?” Rogue queried still gaping at the shrine's pulchritude.

“ Long before Japan could exist this place was a holy ground used by many entities to travel from different realms, you can say that this place is like the convergence point. Midgard perhaps in Norse terminology” Lucifer replied placing her hand on the pulpit, her essence flowing within the structure triggering the mechanism of the shrine.

The male of the duo looked at her with a bewildered look, which turned to a one filled with shock after witnessing her vanish from his line of sight, he too followed her by dissappearing leaving the shrine empty and the pulpit thumping with Lucifer's essence.

Rogue and Lucifer appeared in a barren land, the first thing that assaulted them was the intense cold and the flakes of snow descending from above. “ It's so cold here” Rogue whined making a kicking motion with his feet, which were stuck in the snow.

“ Focus on your heart and release the Hieroglyph there, it will provide you with warmth” Lucifer said to Rogue, her body now warm due to the metaphysical essence of the heart.

Rogue looked at her and continued to shiver, even with his hands crossed he could not get warm and the lady made absolutely no sense in what she meant by telling him to release his heart Hieroglyph. ‘ Release your heart Hieroglyph...’ He thought caricaturing Lucifer in his mind.

‘ And it's not like I know what those are, or how to activate them’ Rogue continued with his train of thought, he then felt warm, the warmth prompted him to look up at Lucifer who was touching his arm with her palm. “Thanks” Rogue saluted with gratitude.

“I can't have you dying from hypothermia and what I did is simply a basic application, Heart transferal” Lucifer articulated walking on ahead in the deep snow. she knew where the dragon is and she wanted to get this done and out of the way. Lucifer raised her hand and called on Rogue with her finger, Rogue simply nodded and ran behind her.

They walked for fifty minutes looking for the cave and they finally found it, the cave was massive, the entrance alone reached forty five meters in height. “ So this is where the snow dragon lives?” Rogue asked, the fear of the unknown creeping up on him.

Lucifer nodded and made her way into the cave, Rogue following behind her. The more they walked the fiercer the wind currents got. “ Beware, we have nearly reached our destination, keep your guard up” Lucifer warned, her right hand tightening into a fist, Rogue nodded unable to make any coherent statements.

The crevice of the cave reached its end and from there it spread out, revealing a massive sanctuary that had cobalt blue stones as foothold, loots of treasure sporadically placed in bulks and in the pivot was an alter, the alter was huge and on it was a majestic serpentine.

The serpentine had a body of an eastern dragon, but it looked western with its paws and wings, the diamond snow white tinted scales on its upper body reflecting the shimmering lights of the treasure, it was in a deep slumber but the it woke up, it's reptilian eyes opening as it caught sight of Lucifer and Rogue just meters away from it

The beast stood up on all fours, it's height towering over the duo by a considerable margin, it's head nearly reaching the cave rooftop. it let out a loud roar which shook the sanctuary as a whole

Lucifer got in front of Rogue her hand extended outwards forming a barrier of sorts which protected them. “Listen you are inexperienced in combat, allow me to handle this, go hide somewhere or stay behind me” Lucifer said walking forward a bit separating the distance between her and Rogue.

‘ I can only sustain this form for 15 minutes, that ends we are done for’ Lucifer thought to herself letting her malevolent essence coalesce her neurons and nervous system. Scales formed on her forearms, chest, legs and tail, her wings got steadier and more wider and her horns emerged again, Lucifer was now accessing her true devil form, valkyrie devil.

In the other world, a group of people were lurking by. They had followed Rogue and Lucifer all the way to the outskirts of Hiraizumi, from the shadow of the car emerged Ashlee who had a smirk on his face knowing the exact location of the labyrinth.

“Let's move men” Ashlee commanded in a calm tone as he jumped from the shadows, his form distorting as he landed on all fours. Ashlee's body attained fur and he lost the resemblance of a human turning into a wolf, with his enhanced speed he charged on forward heading for the shrine behind him was a contingent of atleast a thousand soldiers.