The royal dungeon wasn’t too bad, as far as dungeons went. The floor was clean, aside from the pile of straw in the corner used as a makeshift bed. The walls had no blood or filth on them, though they were still nothing special to look at. They were, after all, still made of stone; thick stone, at that. One wall was separate from the rest, composed of thick, vertical iron bars that showed a hallway of the dungeon. There were no windows for lighting. The only sources of light were the torches on the walls. Dante assumed them to be magical, given that he didn’t care to check them out when he passed them. His only company was two unicorns in shiny, golden armor. For the past hour, they have said nothing to him; they only looked over at him every now and again.

“Hey, guards!” Dante calls to his keepers. “When’s dinner? I’m getting hungry over here!”

“Quiet, Prisoner!” One of the unicorns calls back.

‘Tsk, typical. I’d almost forgotten what it was like to be a prisoner.’

Dante didn’t have too much to complain about; nothing that wouldn’t have obviously happened. Every item on his person that possessed any amount of magic was confiscated by Captain Armor when he arrived here. There were no chains on him restricting where he could move to in the cell. His magical restraints remained on his wrists, of course, but he did find it necessary to complain about that. It wasn’t so much that it nulled his magic, they just really itched. In fact, they didn’t null his magic, not completely. A while ago, he tested the strength of the restraints with his magic. He found that he could still use his warlock powers, but he would need to concentrate more on it. Traditional spells were out of the question, simply because of the magical dampening of the restraints. There wasn’t even magic in the restraints; they were just made of a material that was good at stopping magic: cold iron.

The only natural material in his world that was able to absorb magic was the iron mined deep underground. These restraints were obviously made of the same material. Normally, Dante would enjoy the irony of a group of good creatures being weakened by the same thing he was weakened by, but he was too preoccupied with the chaffing from his restraints. Of course, this did make Dante think more about the two worlds’ similarities.

‘If cold iron exists here, then perhaps other rare metals do too, like adamantine or mithral. They may even have developed alchemically treated silver. I wonder, though: is subduing unicorns the only use for cold iron they have, or is there another? I haven’t thought about it since coming here, but maybe there are no demons here. With the little evil I’ve seen, perhaps they’ve been kept at bay using this cold iron, somehow. More likely, if demons do exist here, they fear the rulers of this kingdom.’

Dante shudders at the thought. When he gazed upon the princesses, he opened his eyes to their magic. He saw so much magical energy within them. Indeed, they must be quite powerful to radiate an aura as they did. However, there is still the possibility that they aren’t mortal. If they were a form of immortal creatures, like angels or devils, they would only appear strong. That was the question floating around in Dante’s mind: were they outsiders? Could he potentially use their life forces to keep his own demon at bay? And if so, would he use them like that?

‘Of course you will.’ The voice of said demon called out in his mind.

‘Piss off. I’m still in command here.’

‘For now. I give you two weeks at the most, mortal. Then, when you can no longer hold me, I will finish what you started. Maybe I’ll kill those two princesses first and take their life force for myself; we demons are much better at using it than you, human.’ The demon’s voice rang in Dante’s mind.

‘Bah! You demons know only destruction!’

‘And you don’t? Face it, Dante; you are just as bad as us. I’ll be watching you.’ And with that, the demon’s presence left Dante’s mind.

Dante sat down on his makeshift bed, thinking over what the demon said. He knew he couldn’t hold out much longer, and the demon’s taunts weren’t helping him. Pretty soon, he might have to kill the princesses. If it’s between those two and the whole population of this city, Iatril would probably understand.

‘Iatril. I need to let her know.’

Checking to make sure the guards weren’t looking over, he turned to face the corner and concentrated on his magic. It took a few seconds, but he was able to focus on the invocation.

“Hey Iatril, reporting in for the evening. I think I’ve got a problem.”

“What’s the problem?”

Dante again focused his magic past his restraints, feeling them burn his wrists.

“The demon is close to release. I need to find something to sedate him longer. Any ideas?”

“…I don’t know. How long do you have?”

“Maybe two weeks. It’s already speaking with me in my head.”

“Hmmm. The Everfree Forest has some strange power. Perhaps I can convince it to help you. Problem is the forest hates you.”

“Typical. I’ll try coming around tomorrow. A separate issue came up that I’m taking care of now. No need to worry. Dante out.”

“Goodnight then.”

With that, their psychic conversation ends; with good timing, incidentally. Forcing the magic through the restraints left pretty harsh burns around Dante’s wrists. His body began healing the wounds slowly; even more slowly as the healing got closer to the restraints.

‘Goodnight indeed. Perhaps I should just rest. I was told I would be questioned tomorrow morning anyway.’

He lies down on the straw bedding, hoping sleep takes him quickly. Thankfully, he passes out soon after laying down.

~ _ ~ _ ~ _ ~ _ ~

Dante stood just outside a small house in a small village. Snow covered the ground and the streets were barren. The stone house in front of him had a small column of smoke rising from its chimney. The windows, made of actual glass, were covered on the inside by thick looking cloth. The plating on the roof was a faded red and partially broken. The walls of the house were various colors and shades, spanning the whole rainbow and then some. If one were to look at this house, they would think a very strange person lived there. Dante knew better, or rather knew ‘strange’ wasn’t the right word.

“Well, come on in already. I won’t bite.” A sickly voice calls from inside the building.

Dante reached for the handle and pulled open the door. Inside the small home, a fire was roaring in a pit on the right and few bookshelves lined the wall on the left, just behind a cushioned chair. Directly in front of him sat an old man in another cushioned seat, his hair reaching far down his sides and touching the ground. Across his forehead was a long, horizontal scar and his left eye was a faded blue, showing he was blind in that eye. He wore a black robe, something a temple priest might wear, and had a single necklace on. This necklace looked to be the same one Dante wore. It looked as if someone took a long piece of metal and bent it around on itself, flattened it, and strung it into a necklace. Few knew what it meant: it was a symbol to a very powerful deity.

Dante stepped into the humble home and closed the door behind him. The old man in the chair just looked him over, smiling.

“It’s good to see you, Dante.” He says in an old, but sweet, voice.

“I suppose the right thing to say would be ‘it’s good to see you too,’ but I think we’re past that now.” Dante replies, moving forward and sitting in a seat across from the old man.

“Of course, of course.” He nods knowingly. “But it doesn’t hurt to say it anyway.”

Dante just stares at him. “It’s good to see you too.” He concedes.

“You don’t sound happy to see me. What’s the matter?”

“Isn’t it obvious? The fact that I’m seeing you right now with everything that’s happening!” He stands, yelling at the sitting old man.

“What is going on?” He asks, not batting an eye.

“Don’t play with me! You already know.”

“I suppose I do.” The old man looks over at the fire, still raging in its pit.

“I was really hoping I wouldn’t see you. I was hoping being in this other world would mean I couldn’t see you. Now I know what you really are.”

“And what am I?”

“You are just a dream. If a Gate spell couldn’t bring me back to my world, then I highly doubt you could contact me from beyond the grave.”

“You doubt my power so much?” He asks with a chuckle. “You even doubt the power of…” He trails off, gesturing to his holy symbol.

“Don’t act so smart. Either way, you should know I can’t regain my divine magic, not since coming here. What does that tell you?”

“That you associate your inability to regain a few spells with being disconnected from our deity.” He says in a stern voice. Soon after, he goes into a fit of coughs. Dante moves over to the far wall, retrieving a blanket from a table. He brings it back over to the old man and covers him with it, leaving his head showing.

“You should keep warm. It’s winter now and you’ve never been in that great of health.” Dante scolds the old man, walking back over to his chair and sitting down again.

The old man sighs in his seat. “You didn’t need to do that. Whether I’m a dream or from beyond the grave, I’m not truly here. It’s not truly winter, either.”

“I know, but it felt right.”

The two sat in silence for a while, just enjoying each other’s company, before the old man broke the silence.

“So, how much do you remember right now?” He asks.

“Everything.” Dante replies solemnly. “I almost wish I didn’t. To see how much I’ve forgotten, to see how much more I’ve lost since the last time we talked, it makes me want to weep. I’ve even forgotten about…”

“I know.” The old man soothes.

“Of course you know, old man. You know everything.” He says with a scoff.

“Who are you to call me old?” The old man laughs.

Looking down at his hands, Dante sees them to be quite wrinkled. Looking at a mirror on a wall a few feet away, he sees his face, albeit much older and worn. His shoulder length brown hair was now stretched halfway down his back and was a brilliant shade of white.

“I haven’t seen my face like this in a long time.” Dante says with a smile. “It’s funny. As an old man, I remember almost everything from my life. As a young adult, I can scarcely remember a thing.” Dante looks himself over in the mirror from his seat. Of course, he doesn’t care that much about his appearance. He just doesn’t want to ask the old man across from him what’s really on his mind. He knows he needs to. “Should I still go after Aselith?”

“You know as soon as you wake up, you won’t have any choice in the matter.” The old man replies. “Regardless, you know what you need to do. It’s not just about you. Other people are counting on you to finish this.”

“Yeah, I know.”

In front of him, Dante could see the back of the house begin disappearing into shadows. He knew what this meant.

“Okay, we better finish this up.” He says, standing from his chair. “Last question: why do you keep showing up here? You’re just a dream. What’s the point?”

“Why Dante, you surprise me.” The old man says, beginning to disappear into the void. “I’m here to tell you what you need to hear, just as I always have.”

~ _ ~ _ ~ _ ~ _ ~

With a stretch and a yawn, Dante awoke from his slumber, more refreshed than ever. He couldn’t remember what his dream was, but he didn’t care; he would never dream again if he could sleep so peacefully every night. He wasn’t sure what time it was, but he knew it was past dawn. His spells and invocations that last a single day have already disappeared from him. Not wanting to be completely helpless, he recast a few invocations, forcibly pushing his magic through the stubborn restraints once again; two for vision, one for flight (which he kept the wings for hidden beneath his tunic), and a ward. Nothing too fancy, but making do with what one has is always an important ability.

Not a minute after he cast his last invocation, a guard came up to his cell, speaking to the other two guards stationed there.

“The princesses are ready for the creature.” He says to them both.

“Oh boy!” Dante calls out. “I get to meet the princesses!”

“Quiet in there!” One of the other guards yells. “All right, let’s move the creature out.”

The trip to the throne room went without incident. Dante followed the orders of the guards exactly as they were given. Of course, he had to give out some smart-ass response after every other order, which they chided him for. Otherwise, he would be cracking jokes at the princesses. Actually, he’d probably end up doing that anyways.

Dante stood in front of the open doors of the throne room. Down the long room, two alicorns sat on their thrones on top of a raised part of the floor. On the left was Celestia and on the right was Luna. Captain Armor stood at attention at Celestia’s right, next to a wooden table which didn’t seem to belong there. It seemed to have all of Dante’s magical possessions on it. Aside from the two guards that escorted him here, there were two more unicorn guards at the end of the long room, one on either side of the princesses on the lower part of the room. Dante was led into the room and stood in front of the princesses.

“Do you know why you’re here?” Celestia asks him.

“Not really, but I’m sure one of you could explain the situation to me.” He responds jovially.

Luna gives him a look of contempt. “You broke into the castle, attacked the guards, and then fled from arrest! Just yesterday, you attacked two more guards and Twilight Sparkle, the personal student of my sister!”

“Ugh, so many lies!” Dante says in mock anger. “I didn’t attack any guards; they attacked me! Then, when I decided to leave, your guards kept attacking me. Then, two more guards came looking for me with—Twilight, I believe—the next day. I was trying to ask them a question and the guards attacked me again. Twilight tried to run away, but I prevented that from happening. Though, to be fair, I may or may not have threatened her. Also, I did break into the castle; you are right on that account.”

Shining Armor stepped forward. “You were dripping acid as you chased the guards around the castle!”

“I was?” Dante pondered this for a moment. “Huh, you’re right. Those things do drip acid from their mouths. How could I have possibly forgotten that? Still, I made no physical or magical contact with any of the guards…that day.”

“I see.” Celestia spoke up. “Then the first charge of attacking the palace guards should be dropped? Is that what you’re saying?”

“Oh, no,” Dante says with a smile. “I was just trying to correct your assumptions. By all means, charge me with whatever you desire. I’m quite used to it.”

“Very well then.” Celestia continued. “Breaking into the castle unlawfully, attacking thirty-three guards, wounding two guards, fleeing the law, and sexually assaulting Twilight Sparkle. These crimes—”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa. When did I sexually assault her? I only grabbed her horn and…” Realization struck Dante. “Really? Your horns are sensitive too? What’s with you ponies?”

“These crimes are punishable by banishment from Equestria.” Celestia continues, ignoring his outburst. “Do you have any objections to this?”

“Banishment? Uh, not like I’m asking for it, but shouldn’t the punishment be more severe? Like ‘death’ for example.”

“The death penalty was removed as a form of punishment over 400 years ago.”

“Ah. How noble. Every life is precious, eh? What foolishness.”

“How dare you!” Luna yells at Dante. “Every life is precious!”

“Said the mare who tried to plunge your world into eternal darkness. How many would have died had that continued?” Luna was seething with anger, but said nothing. “I know a thing or two about you princesses. Don’t act superior to me when you know next to nothing about me, Nightmare Moon.”

“That was uncalled for.” Celestia said sternly.

“Tsk, tsk. Neither one of you has even bothered to ask my name. Why should I show any respect to you then?”

“I suppose you are correct.” Celestia responds coolly. “What is your name?”

“My name is Dante. I have many titles, but my foremost one is Chaos Weaver. Magic flows out of my soul, and I use that magic to disrupt the order of the world.”

“Chaos…” Celestia lets the word linger in the air. “Is your magic chaos magic?”

“Strictly speaking, no. Part of my power comes from creatures of chaos and entropy, but that doesn’t mean the effects are chaotic in nature. Why?”

“That means we can’t just banish you.” Celestia had a serious look in her eyes; a look Dante was all too familiar with, and one he didn’t like seeing.

“I see.” He responds in kind. “I suggest you order your guards from this room then. You know what’s going to happen now.”

The two guards standing in front of the princesses step forward, lighting their horns. The two behind Dante do the same.

“Well, Princess? Don’t you have an order to give?” Dante asks coldly.

“You are of no threat right now. We’ve seen how you use your magic. It moves through your hands.”

The unicorn guards move closer to him, surrounding him on all sides.

“Well,” Dante straightens his stance, “this is going to be quite surprising then.”

With an incredible surge of eldritch magic, Dante forces the restraints from his hands, shattering and burning them. With a quick sweep of his hand, the four unicorns around him are blasted back with the excess magic, slamming them into the ground.

Celestia and Luna rise from their seats, but Shining Armor moves forward quickly, casting a spell. Soon, Dante is in the same pink sphere he was two days prior.

“Really? This again?” He asks the captain.

“I’ve altered the spell. This time, you won’t be able to teleport out of it.” Shining Armor stands proudly between Dante and the princesses. Dante attempts to do just that, but feels his powers blocked by the sphere.

“That’s pretty clever, and really praise worthy. Spells are hard to alter, at least mine are. However, this sphere isn’t all that great. See, spells that make a barrier of force make it incredibly difficult to remove said barrier, even harder to destroy it. Sure, you can hold me here, but you need to keep concentrating on your magic to do so. So what this tells me is…” Dante holds a hand up to the sphere; a small, mouth-looking opening appears in his palm. As he touches the sphere, it quickly collapses in on itself and the energy goes into his palm. “…your pretty little spell is worthless to me.”

Shining Armor quickly tries to cast another spell, but Dante beats him to it. With a shout and a flick of his wrist, he swiftly lifts Shining Armor in into the air, flips him, and slams him into the ground, hard. A sickening crack is heard as his back crashes down onto the floor, leaving a small impression. Celestia and Luna both take to the air, moving away from each other but still in the same general direction from Dante.

“You will pay for that!” Celestia shouts at him.

Dante flares his shadowy wings out of his back. “You wouldn’t believe the number of times I’ve been told that, and here I am. Let’s go!”

END CHAPTER

Author's Note

Hello everyone! Here is the next chapter for y'all. No one has won (or tried) the spell guessing thing yet, so I won't do that for this chapter too, mostly because I find this chapter's spell much more obvious. So, if anyone can guess the name of the spell Dante used in the PREVIOUS chapter, you can post your answer in the comments below, or on the previous chapter's comments.

I was going to say how I might not get the next chapter up until maybe two weeks from now (if that long) because of some stuff I have to do, but I basically know how the next chapter is going to go. I was going to just put it in this chapter, but I got distracted by internet videos again. (I don't have a problem. You can't prove anything). So, bottom line, expect the next chapter in about a week, probably.

Peace out!