Over the next few weeks, Sombra began to heal and recover. Fluttershy and Ramsey watching over and aiding the demonic unicorn in their recovery.
"Save for the scaring, you look so much better." The yellow Pegasus stated as Sombra looked themself over in the mirror. His fur regrew, covering most but a single line of matted fur barely covering a deep gash along their lower neck.
“Thank you.” Sombra nodded. “Well...the scar could be at a worse spot.”
"I think it looks dashing Sombra" Sombra's 'mother' Ramsey stated. Her voice to any but Sombra or Fluttershy was just primal growls, but to these two, her words and their meanings were understood.
“Only you would find the scar good for me mom.” Sombra chuckled, stretching a bit after all the recovering.
"I still can't believe you've been appointed the new Kennel Keeper." Fluttershy said.
“Neither can I...considering I’ve been raised by HellHounds my whole life, I shouldn’t be.” Sombra shrugged. “I learned from the best after all.”
"Flattery can get you into many places my son." Ramsey Chuckled. "At least with you as our Keeper we can finally communicate with the demons. We're not for our aggression; they'd have completely enslaved us. Even Lilith seems to forget I was born before her and the other demonic ilk were birthed."
“And people tend to forget what good doggo’s you are.” Sombra said as he gently patted his mother.
"Only to those we find worthy. Or see as family." The Hellhound replied, giving her son a nuzzle.
There was a knock at the door. "Sir, The meeting is in a few minutes. Your… Crowley, wishes to remind you." The demon from the other side of the door spoke.
“Alright, give me a moment.” Sombra called out to the demon. “Just a final check up then I’ll be out.”
With a sigh Sombra levitated the brush and began fixing his mane. The Hunters that attacked were, as far as Hunters were concerned, average. All he knew about the weapons they used was that some other Hunter or possibly even a witch or wizard of sorts was selling them. Where or who this arms merchant is was still unknown, but it seems even non hunters have been obtaining these unique weapons. Scanning their memories however proved equally as fruitless as their memories show them buying the items at stores and normal human markets.
Someone was crafting weapons lethal to demons and placing them not just in the hands of Hunters, but in the hands of random humans as well.
“Something’s not right here…” Sombra frowned. “And this after that...weird shift in the world to…” Sombra frowned, remembering a strange feeling that the whole world was changed somehow but not sure how or why.
With a sigh he left his room and went to the meeting room. It was just a small room renovated to look like an office, and seated in the main desk was Crowley. He was pouring over texts, both new and ancient. Sombra used a small stool to climb into the guest chair and take a seat. "Glad to see you are doing well." Crowley spoke, eyes not looking up from the paper.
“Glad to be doing well after that...incident.” Sombra answered. “So, what do you want to talk about Crowley?”
"... Almost a month… and there's no trail. Whoever or whatever is making these weapons, They aren't crafting them like one would the normal demonic or even holy artifacts. They are taking average ordinary weapons and object of everyday human life… and somehow making them capable of killing not just us. Some of the guns and knives we still have were tested. The knives can hurt and kill demons, ghosts, werewolves, vampires, shapeshifters, undeads, Harpy's, Griffons. A fucking phoenix even! It's like someone is Copy Pasting the Colt and applying it's magic to anything that can cut."
“Do you think it has something to do with that weird shift in the planes?” Sombra asked Crowley carefully. “Every demon strong enough must have sensed it right?”
"These things appeared before that happened so I don't know. They might be a cause of it but the world's still turning and the sun's still burning so it can't have been completely bad. At least it hasn't affected us so there's that."
“For now.” Sombra sighed out.
"Right now my only concerns are finding where the hell these weapons are coming from and these artifacts Lilith wants me to track down. Little count is planning something and I do not care for it."
“Well, I have a simple enough idea.” Sombra started. “If I can disguise myself and stay hidden from these newly weaponized lunatics, I can ask around to see who’s selling the weapons, and find the rotten bastard and torture all the information out of him.”
"As much as that idea strikes a cord with me, you just recovered and already plan on jumping into a blender. Besides, with your mother here I'd rather not send you off and get harmed. I'd rather not end up her chew toy or a pile of unholy crap."
“Someone needs to find whoever’s selling these weapons.” Sombra frowned. “Cause if their not made by standard angel or demon craft, and Colt was created by a hunter in the eighteen hundreds possibly funneling souls into that weapon during Hailey’s comet…” Sombra shook his head. “Either we have an even better weaponsmith on our hands that’s beyond even the famous Winchesters, or we have some outside forces not seen in Heaven or Hell.”
"If that's true then I doubt something outside of heaven or hell's radar will just let itself be found so easily Sombra. What we can do though, is copy our human enemies and stockpile. It won't be long til other monsters learn of these weapons, assuming they don't already and also begin sticking up. The last thing we need is a war between monsters and man where every race of monster and mankind are out to slaughter one another."
“We really don’t need a war right now.” Sombra agreed.
"For now, we'll play along with Lilith's… orders. The crown of thorns from Christ. Gabriel's horn, and Adam's heart."
“Alright...they’ll just be a pain in the ass to find still.” Sombra sighed out.
"More manageable than our mystery merchant. I've already got a lead on Adam's heart believe it or not."
“Oh? What’s the lead on Adam’s heart?” Sombra inquired, ready to do something after his close encounter.
"Adam's heart isn't like a normal mortal heart. Since he was made in God's image he actually obtained some divine features. His heart, after death kept beating, and long after his body rotted and bones turned to ashes it remained beating. One of our operatives within the Russian military reported that they are working on some special soldier program and from what he can tell, the bodies are all missing the same organ."
“So they’re trying to create soldier’s without hearts?” Sombra asked in surprise. “How well is it working? And how many corpses have they piled up?”
"No, they're trying to find a compatible host for Adam's heart. Which won't be easy, thankfully for us. Only a special kind of human could even have a chance of bonding to it. Should they, they'd most likely become a demi god on par with Christ himself."
“And that’s something we really don’t need, especially with the weapons that are coming up.” Sombra said simply.
"Exactly. I've already sent many of our men inside to infiltrate and examine the surroundings. Thankfully nothing is anti demon."
“That’s good.” Sombra nodded. “So, I’m going to head off towards Russia and get Adam’s heart?”
"To help get his heart, yes. Also, you'll need this." Crowley said, handing a leather bag to Sombra. "Since it's a Divine artifact, you'll get burned by it's touch. This bag is made from the hide of a virgins sacrifice. It will let you grab the heart and store it without getting harmed."
“Works for me.” Sombra nodded as he took the bag. “Hopefully they don’t truly get something we haven’t figured out yet…”
"Our goals here are the Heart of Adam, and all of their tools and research. I want to know just how far they are getting and what exactly they are doing. It's Lilith's list so I'd like to gather as much Intel as I can to figure out what the Fuck that slippery bitch is planning."
“Oh yeah, knowing more than what Lilith is telling us would be for the best.” Sombra nodded in agreement. “Well then, I best be off to steal myself Adam’s Heart and whatever information is surrounding it.”
"Just stay safe. While these Russians I admirably respect, they can't harm you. Though, should Hunters be among them or the Scholars be present, do not engage."
Sombra Nodded. The Scholars. They were something between Hunters and Witches and Wizards. They didn't actively hunt, rather they studied magic and would only send active agents into the field on rare occasions. He and Crowley had one former encounter with one of their agents almost a hundred years ago. It was an interesting encounter. They simply asked for a sample of blood and hair from Sombra, then promptly left, giving them Griffon feathers in exchange.
“Alright, don’t engage if Hunter’s are there, or those weird Scholars.” The umbran unicorn nodded. “Now to get to Russia without alerting them if they do suddenly have anti-demonic sensors.”
"The jet is in the usual place."
“Alright.” Sombra nodded. “I’ll be back, and hopefully with a heart.”
Sombra sat in the jet, their human form perceived by all to be authentic. In this form they were a slightly tan man with jet black hair combed back and their red eyes terrified anyone who saw them. He usually wore sunglasses to offset their effect and blend in better. He sat with a glass of whiskey while looking over some copies of texts on the Heart of Adam. There wasn't much.
“Jeez, for being an ancient holy relic, there isn’t much known about it.” Sombra muttered as he took a sip from his glass of whiskey.
The only reliable text was an old Entry of an unknown diary author. Roughly translated, it wrote "He who sought the power of God, a foolish man, robbed the grave of the father of all men. He stole it away to lands beyond ours. A fool, and a damned man. Cursed are those who should use the power of the Father of Man without having been born from Seth, third son of Adam."
“These Russians would have a better time learning to ice skate in hell than finding the descendant of Seth.” Sombra snorted in amusement that these fuckers would even try this massively improbable endeavour.
Seth, Sombra did wonder why the third son specifically. As is the bible rarely mentions them. In fact… he rather vanishes off the radar of history all together. Basically nothing was about this third son… why?
“In some cases, nobody even knows Adam even had a third son, it was always Cain and Able…” Sombra frowned. “I mean, Egypt had an idea but they missed the h…” Sombra wondered, thinking about how hyper specific Egyptian Religion was about Names and why they would miss a letter on Seth’s name if they knew about him. “Hmm, something’s fishy here…”
With this little information and a shotty theory, Sombra arrived in Russia, quickly meeting up with his Demons and we're soon in a car to the laboratory. "The heart is being kept in a modified prison. So many prisoners never come out of Russian jail, nobody questions. Practically unlimited test subjects." One of his demons informed, their host a prison guard. "So far, ninety seven prisoners have all met their end trying to get hooked up with it."
“Well first of all, they’d never be able to join with it in the first place if they all want to obtain it…” Sombra frowned. “Is there any prisoners that seem off to you than the other prisoners?”
"They're all the same. Well, mostly. Mafia keeps a block of the prison for their… insurance policies. Men, wemon, even children. Typical human stuff. Guards don't bother, they fear the mob more than their government."
“Good lord.” Sombra sighed out.
"Once we get in, we'll help the prisoners start a riot. The distraction will let us get in, kill the lab coats and whoever else is in our way, then get out with the heart and the data. Simple as it can be."
“Any hunter’s or scholars?” Sombra inquired the demon.
"None, thankfully. There is a band of local hunters in the nearby city but we got a group distracting them. They don't seem to have any of these unique weapons though." The demon replied.
“That is good.” Sombra nodded. “Then let’s get this prison riot started.
Upon arriving at the prison, the demons and demonic unicorn were surprised to arrive at… a slaughter. Much of the building was on fire, and the blood of humans and demons alike was frozen in the surrounding snow. "Wha- this was fine less than two hours ago?!" The demon shouted.
“Try to find any survivor, demon or human I don’t care.” Sombra said quickly, turning into a shadowy mist and moving around swiftly through the fire and corpses, his ethereal form ignoring the heat and smoke that would irritate his physical form.
Moving through the building, he quickly stopped upon seeing an odd sight. The creature before him looked human In physical shape, but the similarities ended there. It's head consisted of a single maw layered with needle-like teeth. It's arms were too thin, long and ended in jagged claw like appendages. It's legs also seemed to bend backwards like his own hind legs did. It had no eyes, and seemed to be producing an oil like substance along it's body that, upon contact with the floor or anything other than itself, set on fire and burned or melted away whatever it was on.
“What in the Satan’s left asscheek are you!?” Sombra asked in shock, not knowing what this creature was as he started to channel his magic to fight this creature.
The creature roared a primal, mindless high pitch screech as if like radio static on high volume. Sombra blasted the beast with magic and slammed it against the walls but this seemed to do little to the beast. It twisted and turned with unnatural, even by monster standards, movement's and would even seem to dislocate and relocate it's joints as it tried to charge towards Sombra with mindless anger and determination.
“What in Gods name…” Sombra muttered as he brought one of his hands up, starting to command the fire around them as he forced the flames at the weird monster.
That… did nothing. Now it was on fire and after him.
“Damn it…” Sombra muttered as he stomped his foot into the ground, using his natural affinity for shadow magic and causing a shadow spike to shoot out towards the monster quickly from the shadow’s created by the fires.
It pieces it's sides sending a chunk of it flying off and blood to spill out rapidly soaking the ground, yet it still moved and pursued as if the wound was absent.
Sombra quickly shifted into mist, the creature passing through them and as Sombra resolidified behind it, summoned two more shadow spikes. They pierced the upper torso and neck. Still, despite the crippling wounds the beast did not die yet. It clawed at the spiked, cracking. And breaking the crystal like surface greatly before finally bleeding out and going limp.
Sombra breathed a sigh, and looked up to watch as the creature seemed to… something a mix between rapid decay and fade away. Soon all that was left of it was the blood, a strange glowing red crystal, and a dagger, seemingly made from it's unnatural claws.
“What in the nine circles is going on…” Sombra muttered as he grabbed the strange crystal, and the dagger. “Wait...shit the heart!” Sombra panicked as he turned to mist and bolted to where the Heart might be, fearing that one of these strange and terrifying creatures would either destroy it...or eat it.
He arrived at the Laboratory within minutes. His demons all there. Each also holding several strange red gems or claw dagger. The Heart, Thankfully, remained within a glass jar of sorts. Sombra had to admit, it looked like a human heart, only a golden yellow and despite having no body, kept beating on. He felt a strong sense of willpower radiate from it. "You run Into those things too?" One of the demons asked Sombra.
“Yes, and I have never seen a demon like that in my life.” Sombra said carefully. “Do any of you know what that thing was?”
"No. I don't even know if that was a demon." They replied. "Didn't go after the Heart. Was three of them in here and they ignored it. Just went after us."
“That’s really strange.” Sombra frowned. “And also...they seemed completely feral, nothing but bloodlust fueling their swings and nothing else.”
"They also seemed to ignore pain. Even the strongest of monsters would get staggered or acknowledge the injury. They just… acted like their wounds weren't there. And it's not regeneration, their wounds were not healing."
“What is going on?” Sombra frowned, moving over and taking Adam’s Heart into the Virgin’s sack.
As they walked out of the prison, the flames still roaring high into the sky, Sombra looked back, seeing the smoke and flame barely conceal a figure. At first, he thought it to be another reminder, but noticed it looked more normal than those creatures. Before he could say anything, however, the figure walked back into the fires and smoke of the building and was out of sight.
“Who was that?” Sombra muttered to himself, not sure if he should follow after them after this extremely weird and dangerous encounter, or pull back cause it could be a Hunter.
Back in the US, Sombra and Crowley sat in the meeting room. The heart rested in the leather pouch on the desk, but Sombra looked over the items the creatures seemed to have dropped.
The gems were interesting. They seemed to pulsate with a primal, elemental energy, and so far no known texts bore similarities to identify them. The blades, however, intrigued him greatly. The material, was organic but completely Alien. He never saw anything like it. Density wise it was harder than diamonds, sharper than a Zero millimeter blade, and like all these other mystery weapons… harmed Demons and other Monsters to a lethal degree if you stab in the right place. "This is most unsettling…" He muttered.
“I also found someone walking into the flames, either a Watcher or someone that summoned those abominations.” Sombra started. “I wasn’t sure if I should have followed them or pulled back if they were a Hunter…”
"That was a good call. I doubt a normal human could have survived that, maybe not even a skilled Hunter. Especially if these things slaughtered Demons so easily. Normally, when a demon possesses someone and the body gets harmed or killed the host dies but we still pilot the meat suit, bit these weapons and creatures directly harm us. Almost as if hitting the flesh and ethereal at the same time. Most likely this figure you saw was the one who summoned those things, and is likely also the one placing these weapons all over the damned place. It might also Explain how the Hunters got these things. They kill a few odd monsters and get some special toys after the job is done."
“So the most important question is...who, or what, is doing this?” Sombra asked. “They’d have to be insanely powerful to summon those demon’s, four in all, and...have them weirdly drop items like some weird RPG.” Sombra frowned, cause in all his years he has never seen any monster’s slain and drop items that weren’t hyper specific to the monster, like a Pendant to a Vengeful Wraith.
"No, those weren't demons. Even in the purely mythological texts nothing matches those things in appearance, and there are few things that don't know how to hide in plain sight amongst humans, those things didn't even try." Crowley sighed, reaching under his desk and pulling up a bottle of brandy and promptly chugging half the bottle. "What I want to know is, does Lilith want these items because she knows about this or not? Cause if so, I might have a theory as to why she wants these items specifically."
"We might as well ask her." Sombra stated. "Cause this is beyond whatever slippery sloped bullshit she had in mind to begin with."
Crowley shook his head. "She likely won't care or listen. You were too young to remember life in hell but it's basically a mix between faction warfare and traditionalist cults. There's Lilith and her ilk who want to free Lucifer from his cage. There's demons like me who gain power through deals and back stabbing, and then there's the old folks who just want to mame and murder. The way I see it, we're not getting anywhere with Lilith and we aren't even close to powerful enough to challenge her."
“Right…” Sombra frowned, looking at the sack he still held, still sensing the heart inside of it. “Do you know who Seth is? The third son of Adam?”
Crowley chuckled. "I'm old but not that old." He sighed, taking a deep breath. "Some say he was born after the whole Cain and Abel thing. Some say he was present for it. Honestly I don't know. All I do know is that he was supposedly a gift from god onto Adam and Eve, to replace the life of Abel, or fate. Some say he was the first reincarnated soul, supposedly Abel reborn. I don't know, it's all rumors and conjecture."
“Only thing I could come up with was that he found his way to Egypt and became Set somehow, which seems weird cause Egyptians were very specific when it came to names.” Sombra brought up.
"I highly doubt it, considering I've traded and exchanged souls with that former god before. I can assure you he is or was in no way a human." Crowley informed. The demon slouched in his chair, picking up one of the red crystals. He could feel magic within them, but like the weapons and their strange magics, it was alien and unknown. "We need something. An ace or someone who can help us understand this crap. You and these other ponies arriving here, now these monsters and weapons and whatever this is. Feels like the world's going mad."
“Would be great if we could talk to someone that knows about this…” Sombra grumbled. “I wish things would at least be some form of simple again…”
"One thing I learned while in hell Sombra, nothing is ever simple. Which is why demons like us, get crafty." Crowley stated with a smile.
"Got an idea?" Sombra asked curiously.
"Lilith is an old, powerful bitch, every demon with common sense knows this… but, there's an even older and just as, maybe more, powerful one here at our base."
“You talking about mom?” Sombra inquired.
Crowley nodded. "Ramsey is one of the few creatures left in existence The Almighty himself created. Her and her kin were deemed too dangerous and so God killed them all, save for Ramsey and her pups she was carrying. They were spared by Lucifer. When Lucifer was banished, he took Ramsey with him and helped her, trained and fought with her. If any being from hell can stand against Lilith in raw power, she can. And with you as the new Kennel Keeper and Ramsey behind you, we can get all the crossroads demons and the HellHounds to our own faction."
“That would be amazing.” Sombra nodded. “Mom is going to be so proud to know I’m going to help strengthen our faction.” Sombra said, a wide smile plastered on his muzzle as he felt joy in thought’s of making his mother proud.
"We got a week at most to get this shit rolling before Lilith comes to collect the Heart. I've already got some people scouting for the crown and the horn so all you need to do is travel back to hell with Ramsey and spread the word amongst the hellhounds. I can work with the other crossroads demons here and once we have the three artifacts, we can start this party properly."
“And what a party it’ll be.” Sombra said, grinning like a madman who already thought of amazing things in the upcoming future, past the confusing and nerve wracking weapons people were getting.
Sombra had only been to hell a few times since Crowley brought him to the surface. It was dark, hot and muggy, the stench of decay and shit dominating the air, if you could call it that.
“They could at least put in an air freshener…” Sombra scrunched his muzzle up at the terrible smell.
"You haven't lived here long enough to get accustomed to the smell. You were lucky." Ramsey stated.
“I can tell.” Sombra said. “But right now I should ignore that and start talking to the Hellhounds.” Sombra shook his head at the bad smells and wandered around to find the Hellhounds.
The doors to the Hellhounds kennel were made of tall stone locked in place with more demonic runes and spellcraft than Sombra could care to study. Still, there was a simple way to open it, the Kennel Keeper. Him.
He placed a hoof to the doors, the runes and ancient magics recognizing him as their new warden and began unbinding the doors. Soon the massive stone doors opened without resistance and Sombra was hit by a wave, a foul reeking stench that made the natural foulness of hell smell pleasant by comparison. He looked to his mother.
"The old keeper kept us fed, but that was it. He never actually took care of us. Not gonna lie, I enjoyed eating his corpse when Crowley got me out of here and brought me to you." Ramsey stated.
"I can...tell…" Sombra said, trying not to gag at the horrible smell.
As he walked inside he spotted the most grotesque site. The Hellhound's Kennel. Despite being seen largely as savage animals by demons, Hellhounds had an intelligence equal to or even surpassing the average human/demon. Despite the appearance of bones, rotten flesh and shit, many makeshift homes seemed to be made from them. Bones for structure and the shit once dried and packed onto them formed walls and made something akin to a what can be loosely considered a tent, though resembling more of an igloo made from shit.
The bones weren't all human either. Some various animal and monster corpses were a part of the… structure, and even other long dead Hellhound's were used to 'house' the living ones.
It was the type of place only Hell could provide.
With a mighty howl, Ramsey announced her presence as well as Sombra's, and soon the two stood center if a massive crowd of hounds ranging from elderly to pups not even old enough to open their eyes. "Here me my children! One of our own now oversees us! My son, Sombra, is our new Keeper!" Murmurs and whispers were the response. "I remember many in the past saw him as unfit, or a snack. And we all know those that did are no longer amongst the living. And now, with Sombra we have something that can be alien to most but know I speak the truth! We. Have. Hope." Ramsey took a step back, giving Sombra room to speak.
"It's been...a long time." Sombra said, looking at all the hellhounds carefully. "But as Ramsey said, I am the new Keeper, and I'm here to bring Hope back to all, to have a better life then in this rotten cage." He said honestly. "I'm planning on creating our own faction, outside the constant bullshit of the current rulers, outside of Lilith and Lucifer's rule, outside the Sins, the Knights, Princes, away with all those damned fools that have fucked up time and time again, I'm going to do things better, I'm going to stop this constant division and backstabbing, no more of any of that!" He stomped his hoof down at that. "I'm going to rule Hell how it should be, and you all can run wild and free, not cramped in this damned cage for another eternity."
Many of the Hellhound's began to bark in approval. Soon they all did. Sombra smiled.
"The Crown of Christ." Crowley said, the thorned crown old and fossilized, stained with blood sat atop a pillow on his desk. "Any mortal born with the blood of the disciples of Mary who wears this crown, is said to become invincible." He then moved to the next item. A goats horn elegantly charged with angelic markings and decorated with blessed gold. "Gabriel's horn. Said to open and close the gates of heaven as well as announce Armageddon. But, only in his hands can it do that. In the hands of a mortal, they will obtain Divine strength and protection." Lastly, he held the leather sack. "And the heart of Adam. Any with the blood of Seth in their veins will become a demigod when this beats in their chest."
"When all these holy artifacts are brought together…" Sombra started ominously. "They make great paper weights."
Crowley chuckled. "True, but the actual answer is that when brought together with the right human, all three make what can easily be considered, an artificial god." Crowley stated. "I'm willing to bet, Lilith found one, maybe more, people who have both the blood of Seth and blood of one or more of the apostles of Christ in them. A rare event I will admit but the world had billions of humans walking it. The odds are a good handful fit this rare genetics."
"And what'll happen to us if we let Lilith finish this project if hers?" Sombra asked carefully.
"Assuming she or some other high ranking demon can actually possess the poor sod, well, death and slavery are probably on her list if ideas. Not even I'm cruel enough to imagine what else is there." Crowley sighed. The two were silent for a while before he looked over at Sombra. "Hellhounds all ready?"
"It's taking a lot of effort to make sure they don't go overboard with how excited they are." Sombra chuckled at his Hellhounds enthusiasm.
"Good. I've talked to every Crossroads and lesser demon from here to Timbuktu and back. We have an extra three hundred hands. The other eighty I had to kill to keep from betraying us. The best part," Crowley stated, pulling a slip of paper from his coat and onto the table. "Managed to find this little spell in a book my own witch of a mum had. A simple spell with a rather special use."
Sombra levitated the paper, opening it and smiled wider.
Lilith was furious. She walked into Crowley's base of operations throwing the doors open with magic, breaking them off the hinges and stormed into the demon base's main chamber. There, sat Crowley, resting atop a rather lavish chair. Sombra sat in an identical one next to him. The two may be the King and Prince of the Crossroads, but it was in title alone. They held no power compared to her. "Lilith. What brings you here?" Crowley asked with feigned ignorance.
Lilith, for her part, didn't immediately vaporizer the demon. "Mind telling me why, in Latin, you wrote 'Pricey Princess Of Hell Sucks Whore Holes'?!"
"Simple. I always took you for a lesbian." Lilith's eyes turned to their unique sickly white. "Now now, before you splatter me and ruin both this lovely suit and chair, there is someone here who would like to have a word with you."
The presence and growl behind Lilith was sudden. Appearing seemingly from thin air. Turning, she spotted the ancient, older than even herself and giant Hellhound. "Hello, sister…" Ramsey spoke with a growl and venom in her voice.
Lilith, to her own surprise, took a step back. "R-Ramsey? Since when can you speak?"
"My doing, actually." Crowley spoke up. "Son of a Wich, and not every monster speaks the same language. Don't even get me started on people, then I remembered a spell my mother, god damn her soul, had a spell that helped with language barriers. Basically, so long as the target is intelligent and their words convey a meaning, the spell will let us understand one another as if she were speaking plain English."
"And it feels good to talk." Ramsey added with a chuckle. "All my children can speak, and so many demons didn't even know we had intelligence. I wonder who set that up?"
"Yes, I do wonder who decided to spread this common misconception that my mother and her race were as dumb as common earth dogs." Sombra said simply.
"Well, care to answer Lilith?" Crowley asked.
Lilith kept her eyes on Ramsey, finally seemingly regaining her sense of composure. She crossed her arms. "I did." She answered simply.
“Now tell me, at what point did you think that was possibly a very terrible idea?” Sombra asked Lilith carefully.
She spun around, smirking. "Never. You speak as if I have regrets."
“Even though you literally just told my mother, someone that’s most likely stronger than you, that she’s nothing but a stupid dog?” Sombra asked Lilith, using her own immediate words against her. “For...how many years exactly?”
"Since Lucifer has been imprisoned." Ramsey answered. "She… convinced me, to raise my pups in the 'safety' of the kennels." The dog admitted.
"See? A dumb dog." Lilith smirked. "And as for power, well, Lucey never let us play that rough…"
"Lucifer isn't here to save your spoiled little ass this time Lilith."
“And I’d love to see how strong my mother truly is.” Sombra said honestly. “And you’re the one person she really wanted to demonstrate how strong she is.”
The group all remained in silence. A lingering stalemate seemed to be sitting between Lilith and Ramsey.
After what felt like hours, but was just minutes, Lilith Spoke. "Fine. What do you two idiots and the bitch want?"
“Some answers first of all.” Sombra started. “One of which is why in the nine circles are you trying to make an artificial god?” The umbran unicorn asked. “You wouldn’t need three stupidly powerful Holy Artifacts without someway to use them all properly, and creating an artificial god seems like a good enough idea if you're lucky enough.”
Lilith chuckled. "Not gonna lie, that would be a good plan. But, I need those things for a different reason. True, All three could basically turn someone into a god-like entity, but not even I could possess that Holy Powered meat suit. No, I need them for a spell."
“And what kind of spell would take the three most sacred of artifacts to fuel?” Sombra frowned. “Especially now that the humans are getting weird monster slaying weapons on par, if not better, than The Colt, as well as new and strange creatures roaming around?” He said, wondering what sort of spell she had in mind that she’d still want to cast after everything went straight to whatever brand new hell was in store for them.
"To find the door to Lucifer's cage of course." She stated. "Without the… original keys, the door is tricky to find. God gave him his own personal hell pit between dimensions, and the door to it while many, I need to find the weakest point to free them."
“Huh…” Sombra started. “Well...I suppose that’s a good enough reason to completely ignore the world shifting as hard as it is.”
"So all this just to find the wall with a crack in it in hopes of freeing the devil himself?" Crowley huffed.
"It's the whole reason I exist. Well, part of it. As for your Monster problems, they're a secondary priority as far as I'm concerned."
“The monster’s are one thing, but the greater problem is that humans, normal average citizens of Earth, are getting weapons that can kill monsters just as easily as The Colt, if not better.” Sombra countered. “So unless Lucifer himself can survive bullets that even a Phoenix can’t survive, then maybe the growing problem on Earth shouldn’t be a ‘secondary priority’.”
Lilith just smirked as she locked eyes with Sombra.
"He can?" Crowley asked with disbelief.
"There are five beings In all creation that peashooter can't kill. Hurt? Sure. Stun? Definitely. But five beings are immune to it's special little Insta kill powers, and Lucifer is one of those five. And you're a fool, for caring about Earth. Then again, you aren't a true demon, just a donkey with a horn."
“And would you like to truly test that?” Sombra asked Lilith. "These are unknown weapons being made, how do you know they can't kill these few?"
“Because I already tried on one of the other four. And it just ticked them.” She retorted.
"And was this the Colt or something else?" Sombra inquired, the stallion wanting all the facts straight before pressing forward into the unknown.
Lilith simply smirked, tapping her nose. “Not so fast there, Little Silver. Information is worth its weight in gold, and I know at least one of the things I asked you two to find me does look like it’s gold.”
“A barter then? Adam’s heart for this information? Then what?” Crowly asked.
“Then we see just how long you two can play games with the big boys.”
"Well you were certainly pissed enough as is because we can start to play games." Sombra commented.
“Think you can?”
Sombra shrugged. "What do you think Crowly? Think we can play these games?"
Crowly seemed to eye Lilith for a while. Despite the stone faced expression he wore, Sombra knew him well enough to tell he was conflicted. After what seemed like a while, the demon nodded. “We’ll play these games then.”
Lilith simply smirked, suddenly every window and door in the base was blasted open as a swarm of demons in their mist forms flooded the base. “Alrighty then boys, welcome to War.”