Diablo 3: Hell's Eclipse

by Blackdrag-rose

Interlude: Visitors

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After dealing with Adria, and ensuring that Ashava was unable to do anything to Westmarch, Luna and Leah headed into the city without delay, because it was time to regroup with the rest of their group and figure out what they were going to do now that the annoyance was dealt with.

"Tyrael, we bring news." Luna said, speaking after she and Leah found out where their caravan was resting, in an upper area that was near a chapel, which could be a rarely used market area by the looks of it, yet the others were set up for a short stay in the area, and it wasn't long before they landed near the former angel, "We found Adria, she found out where the Gate of Pain is located and used the blood of the creatures of the marsh to summon a powerful demon, Ashava, into this world with the sole purpose of rending Westmarch into oblivion."

"I take it you two stopped her?" Tyrael inquired, because knowing the pair he knew they would have done something about this discovery before coming to see him, otherwise they would be more worried about what was coming, and since neither of them were panicking he was sure that Ashava had been wiped out.

"Yes. I wiped out Ashava, while Luna froze Adria with her smaller blade before smashing her to bits." Leah stated, showing the others that she had stopped referring to the witch as her 'mother', she had lost that right, though at the same time she sat down on one of the stools that had been brought out of their caravan, "Now that we've dealt with her, however, I'm not too sure what else there is to do... you know, besides drawing out the shards containing just the souls of the seven Lords of Hell and crushing them on the Hellforge, while keeping their power inside my core."

"We'll probably have to clean up Hell as well, inform them that their Lords are dead and that you've taken over." Luna said, as she was sure there would be those who would refuse Leah's claim to rule over Hell, so they would need to do something about it at some point, before she felt a new chill in the air, which wasn't hers as she quickly realized, and turned towards the path that was behind her and Leah, "Though it looks like we've got some company to worry about."

Tyrael found that a dark figure emerged from the mists that suddenly showed up out of nowhere, before he recognized the armored form, it was hard not to after everything he had been through, yet it was darkened in some manner, plus the wings the hooded figure had were like skeletal wisps, and the sickle-like weapons in his hands were all he needed to see to figure out who was in front of them.

"It can't be... Malthael?!" Tyrael inquired, as this was the missing Archangel of Wisdom, the actual leader of the Heavens who had just disappeared one day, thus allowing Imperius to seize control of the High Heavens and lead to their current state, all while he held a hand out to stop the people from panicking or the Nephalem from engaging.

"You speak of me, but I don't know you." the Archangel said, where Luna got the feeling that Malthael was speaking as if he was coming from beyond the grave, like he had imbued himself with the power of death itself, and if that was the case she had no idea if she would be able to harm him, or if her attacks would do nothing, before he focused on the figure that was standing beside the one that radiated altered demonic power, "You. Winged one. Why are you helping these people?"

"He may not look like his old self, but this IS Tyrael, the Archangel of Justice, who willingly let himself fall to Sanctuary as a mortal to help bring down the Lords of Hell." Luna stated, as that would address the figure's first question, meaning he must have been busy and didn't see the events that caused what was going on right now, where she found that Malthael tilted his hooded head as he looked at Tyrael, contemplating this information, "As for me, I am Princess Luna of Equestria, and I hail from a world that is entirely different from this one... now, I know people can been foolish and stupid at times, even make a bunch of bad decisions and side with the demons, but the opposite is true. They can be righteous, working towards helping people and forging a better world for all those who are innocent, righting the wrongs that they can while doing everything in their power to resist the temptations of Hell. Take Leah, for example, even when she was unaware of her true strength she threw herself at corrupt humans, undead, demons, and even two Lords of Hell to bring an end to the Evils that plagued the world... it also helps that we've taken out the Lords of Hell and their newly created Prime Evil."

"And then created one of our own... still getting around to removing the souls of the Lords of Hell so I can have the power all to myself. Or at least that's the plan." Leah added, though while she knew that Imperius hated demons, and the other three Archangels seemed to have differing opinions on them, she could see that Malthael wasn't jumping at the mention of what she was and didn't seem aggressive right now, but she knew that could change in an instant, "Mind you that I didn't ask for this power, nor did I seek it out... I was actually betrayed by the woman who birthed me, giving way for Diablo's return as the second Prime Evil, but Luna figured out how to combat his power and found a way to save me at the same time."

"The Hellforge." Malthael said, showing them why he was the Archangel of Wisdom, he understood the information that had been given to him and knew the course of action that they would be taking now that Leah was more in tune with her new powers, crushing the shards containing the souls of the Lords of Hell, "What will you do after that?"

"To be decided. Maybe we'll figure out how to make an order of people and angels, and maybe even passive demons, that will keep the darker demons in check." Luna replied, they really hadn't gotten that far in what they were planning, and while she knew that some people might not be happy with the idea of working with demons she was sure that if Leah gave them such a command they would follow her orders, given her new existence a primal demon, "Like the Horadrim, I guess, but on an entirely different level... it's just an idea, mind you, so we can always change it for something else if that doesn't work at all."

Leah was sure that this was just wishful thinking on Luna's part, even though she could tell that the new Archangel seemed to be both conflicted and interested in what was going on right now, he floated over to Luna and Tyrael as the others just stood there, confused by this turn of events. In the next moment everyone felt the power in the air shift as a purple crack appeared in the air where Malthael had been floating previously, a crack that branched out like a window was breaking, that was what it looked like, until it formed what appeared to be one of Luna's portals. After that it burst open like something had broken it from the other side, where they found that it was a portal to an unknown area, she wasn't sure what was on the other side, though everyone stood at the ready in case something dangerous came through it. What emerged from it was a feline creature, female by the looks of it, with white-blue fur with blue stripes in certain places, like her large ears, though she did have a golden metallic right arm, a scarf around her neck, and attire that didn't match the world around them, plus a metallic backpack of some kind.

The figure was also armed, she carried what appeared to be a metal hammer of some kind that was beyond what she and all of the others had seen, before the creature stopped as she stared at them and the surrounding area for a moment, totally surprised by what she was seeing right now.

"Okay, not sure what I should have been expecting, but this is definitely something new." the feline commented, taking a few seconds to look around, where Luna and Leah found that her backpack had eyes, in fact it might be alive, before she locked eyes on the pair for a moment, staring at the latter's horns before looking over the former's body, "Princess Luna? My name is Rivet, this is Kit, and we've been helping Twilight locate the 'Displaced', as she calls them. We've come to escort you home, so you can learn about the demonic threat that everyone has been preparing for... not the one that's going on on this world, we've confirmed that fact multiple times."

"Did someone say demons?" a voice asked, where Luna and Leah sighed as Imperius appeared out of thin air, like he had been watching them and caught wind of the fact that demons were apparently threatening Luna's home world, which was news to her if she was being completely honest.

"Hold on, you said you've been helping Twilight? She's been found?!" Luna asked, because that was part of the reason she and Celestia had visited the Tree of Harmony a lifetime ago, there were missing ponies and one of them had been her sister's own star student, which was why she had been so eager to help since her own friends had gone missing.

"Right, she told us that some of the Displaced went missing after she and the others did. Yes, several of the Displaced have been found." Rivet replied, something that caused Luna to smile, because she knew about those that had gone missing so far and could only hope that all of them had been found, including her sister since she was sure the same happened to Celestia, "And yes, there are more demons... an entire galactic empire of them, to be exact. We've been carefully finding and bringing the Displaced back to Equus, to avoid drawing their attention until Twilight says we're ready to face them."

Imperius jumped at the chance to have more demons to fight, he might be tired of the forces of the Burning Hells, while at the same time Tyrael and Malthael seemed interested in what they might learn from this encounter, leaving the Nephalem to watch over the city while they followed Rivet and her apparently living backpack. Luna knew they were going to learn a lot more than anyone thought possible before, though she did use a bit of her magic to contact Kulle, as the mage teleported to Westmarch after sensing both her power and the opening of this portal. She and Leah, on the other hand, were interested in seeing the Displaced, as Luna wanted to make sure everyone was all right while her lover was interested in seeing the world Luna had come from and the various species she had learned about in the past. Of course there was more for them to do in Sanctuary, to truly make it a better place, but right now both of them were interested in taking a bit of a break and seeing what was waiting for them on the other side of the portal.

Luna suspected that Rivet's information was only just the tip of the iceberg, that there was far more for them to learn from Twilight and the rest of the Displaced, and that fact made her eager to see whatever might be waiting for her, Leah, and the rest of her allies on the other side of the portal.

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