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Post by IDEK on Jan 26, 2019 20:42:40 GMT
In Transience, I Rise-
Part 1 - The Closed Door
2042, August 4th, Monday, 3:46pm - Newrum State City Outskirts, 'The Closure'
The battle against Varo was a inevitable victory. The Venus's[deceased-again] both fell to the ground, and Aro stumbled backwards, his stomach bleeding[because of the tentacles that had burst from his abdomen earlier] and mouth salivating as he placed his hands on his chest wound[fatal].
As Aro yelled to Omalley[Guardian, male, born 11th February] moving to punch before falling to the ground. Lynch found she wasn't paying attention, The guardian in question walked between the Venus's and Aro, who said something that she didn't hear.
Was Fawn watching right now? Lynch surveyed the area to see if she could find her, watching, anywhere. Pre-emptively backing away as she prepared herself for when she'd break out into a sprint.
Her eyes met Omalley's- who had turned to look at her, and she stopped. Her attention brought back to the battle.
Omalley then turned back to Aro. Walking towards him, "Why would I be proud?" He asked[answering the question that Lynch hadn't heard] "For defeating a guy who insisted on coming back from the dead just to try and take my power as a guardian? There is nothing to be proud of, i did what I had to do, we did what we had to do."
Lynch wanted to leave; the more she stood here, the more she felt eyes[Fawn's] somewhere, digging into her. Aro attempted to get back up, but fell to his back instead. Eyes cast straight towards the sun. His hand outstretched.
"Me too."
Aro's hand had a sigil[red glowing sun in a circle. Surrounded by diamonds] on it's palm, she hadn't noticed it before.
Lynch's eyes widened as the mad scientist clenched his hand, looking off to the distance and smiling wickedly.
A Knife flew[Telekinesis] from outside of her field of vision, slicing right through Omalley's waist. As Omalley screamed in pain, Aro crawled away and held his hand out. The Knife flying out of the wound and into the scientist's hand. Drenched in Blood.
Seeing this, Lynch almost hissed. Without thinking she pushed forwards. A Gust of wind taking Aro and hurling him into the nearest wall. He collapsed[in no condition to get up]. "Shit!" She found herself yelling, "You Bitch!"
She had already refused to go along with this, had Fawn tried to get her to change her mind by using Aro to injure Omalley? Letting him get one last stab?
She shook her head, refusing to let this work. If it worked then it'd be another mark checked off in the grand scheme of unending repetition. Just the princess for the hero and villain to fight over.
"...I-I do not believe we will see each other ever again..." Aro looked to the two as he spoke. " ...this will be the last time...you can keep those two and do whatever you want, they're failed experiments that were forged through the work of a family member from another universe working for a third party, how else do you think Zen managed to get his hand on all that DNA's? But *hurk!* that doesn't matter anymore. But remember this...my work will not end after my death, my name will live on in this miserable excuse of a Multiverse, it will only be the beginning. I will leave a impact on this world."
Aro began glowing black, a aura engulfing his body, still holding onto the bloody knife.
"Farewell, Omalley[Just Omalley, no words for Lynch]. Remember me...in your darkest nightmares." Aro said, as he vanished.
To Aro, Lynch was just a way to get to Omalley. That failed kidnapping attempt that lead to her encountering Fawn again, everything after that. It was just to get to Omalley.
She felt sick, deprived of her agency by everything around her. She looked to the right and the left before jumping into the air. Taking to the rooftops and leaving the scene without casting Omalley anything at all.
....
From there, the plan was simple. Lynch returned to her house, gathered up all of her files. Concentrating on them as their physical form dispersed the second she placed them in her coat.
There were photographs and other valuables left lying around in the building on the outskirts of Newrum, she made sure to take those with her too.
Someone was watching her. She could feel it. Looking upwards at the words flying around, she looked to [Omalley wants to talk] and frowned. Of course he did.
Heading to the window in the second floor hallway , she peered around for any witnesses. She looked to the street, seeing a random old man [Christopher Newton, 75 years old, Born 6th March 1967] who was walking across the street. Her eyes focused on him as he made his way out of sight.
Not following it up any further, she opened the window, and left the house.
Darting into the woods, using everything she could to quicken her escape. She held her hands in front of her and focused.
Energy and words formed in her hands, she could feel the information about that man she couldn't see with a glance begin to take residence in the physical world.
A Sheet of paper in a manilla envelope appeared. The words 'Christopher Newton' written at the top corner of it. She may have been able to manipulate gusts of wind [thanks to a accident in her childhood], but her true power[Giving Physical Form to Accessible Information] had been with her since birth.
She slid that file into her coat, and continued.
..
She ran through the forest, skirting past Kodama.
...
By the time she reached the edge of the forest, she had stopped running, using her gusts of wind to travel past the nearby mountains.
...
When she reached the plains, she had slowed to a comfortable walk. Hadn't seen Fawn, hadn't seen Omalley. It all seemed good, she might get out of town without having to confront anything.
On one side was a Train[next destination;Ol Skaebe] zooming past in the blink of the eye, on the other was a motorway. Lynch's eyes flickered over the number plates of the cards, and those inside them, the pigeons and crows perching on street lights, the directions and words on the road signs, and the utility poles dotting the land.
The grass was swaying in the wind, and she kept moving at this pace.
A small note appeared in front of her, pulling her out of her daydream.
Lynch suppressed her gasp, turning to face all directions before she squatted down and picked it up.
I know your probably busy but, would it be okay if we talked? if you don't want to that's fine, I will gladly go away for awhile and all that, but I figured there was no harm in asking.
-Omalley
Lynch's grip on her own arm tightened as she stood up. On one side, she was relieved it was just Omalley, but on the other.. she really didn't want to have this conversation.
"..What do you want to talk about, Omalley?" She asked.
A portal opened. Omalley walked through. The same portal closed.
"I wanted to ask if you were okay, you ran away without saying anything, I would have asked sooner but I didn't want to bother you or anything, you seemed pretty busy.
And if there was something you were doing or trying to do I figured maybe I could help out" Omalley said, unaware that this was the opposite of what she wanted.
Lynch looked around her once more, eyeing the cars that drove past before looking back at Omalley.
Shifting uncomfortably, she tried to figure out how to get him to leave her alone. "Look.. just, don't worry about it. Okay?" She asked. "I'm just... leaving, been here too long. That's all."
Omalley also looked at the passing cars before he looked back at her, he nodded. "Alright.
So where are ya heading?" Omalley asked
Lynch turned away. She felt like something was stuck in her throat, she had no destination in mind. She just wanted to get out.
"..Why do you want to know?" She asked.
"Oh, I was just curious, it was the only thing that I could think of asking, seemed appropriate" Omalley answered.
"...I see..."
She wasn't going to accept him. If she did, then she'd be lying to herself. The world he represented, one where she had a guardian always looking over her, where she couldn't just live how she wanted to, where she was always going to be associated with this one person who for some reason got attached to her... it wasn't the one for her.
"Perhaps...we should just,.. go our separate ways, again." Lynch muttered, almost a whisper. She still wasn't facing Omalley.
She could see that Omalley was thinking about it, Lynch snuck a small glance at his face, trying to determine his response. A Part of her hoped he'd accept it and take control of his life.
"In..what way? like maybe for a short time, maybe for awhile?" Omalley asked, instead.
A Dagger of metaphorical ice wedged itself into her heart. Politely hinting at it wasn't working at all.
"...Omalley. Why do you keep showing up?" Lynch asked. "I... it's just.. I went to a friend's place to meet up with him earlier today, and you just.. appeared, right at his room.
..It's been a year, Omalley. Where you just sitting at that lake, thinking about me for that entire year?"
'How'd you even find out where I was?' her brain asked, but her mouth did not.
"Well, no not the entire year...I am human I do have to eat and stuff, but I mean..yeah I was thinking about you, I'm a guardian, its what I do.
And to be fair you should already know why I keep showing up, i care about you, its not like that's a secret, maybe I've cared a little too much recently, maybe I've tried pushing too hard to be with you that way, and if I have been I'm sorry, I cant help but make mistakes, I may be a guardian but I'm also human." Omalley stumbled over his words. Lynch felt her grip on her own sleeves tighten.
"...What does that mean, being a guardian?" Lynch asked, "Does that mean you can't have a live outside of me? You became 'my' guardian? Why? Because I almost died that one time? And you saw me crying? Is that all it takes?"
She couldn't stop the voice cracks, that ice in her heart was slowly spreading through her veins. She could feel the emotions trying to escape her body.
"No no of course not! it was more then that, I saw you crying at Xutha lake and I didn't care, and so I felt bad and tried to make things right, and as I did I realised I began to like you more and more. And I guess it was sometime after that I became your guardian...or was that time I first evolved..I..i i don't know! I don't know when it happened all I know is that it did.
I l..look. i..i..." Omalley was panicking. He wasn't accepting it. He didn't want to let her just leave by herself. She almost felt resentful, some guy who became a guardian without her wanting him to, trying to take responsibility for things that had nothing to do with him? her eyes grew cold as he continued.
"Me..being your guardian doesn't mean I cant have a life without you..you are absolutely right, but even if we cant be together together...that doesn't mean we cant at least be friends...right? Omalley asked, she could sense the desperation.
The cold melted. Maybe... Being friends might work.
She was beside herself, of course it wouldn't. More people like Aro, trying to hurt her to get to him could appear at a moment's notice. Whether by Fawn's scheming or their own, More plotlines or opponents created to get the two to fall in love. If Lynch let this end with the two anywhere near each other, Fawn would've won.
"...Why were you trying to make it right?" Lynch still didn't understand. "Me getting hit by that tree had nothing to do with you, and me crying that one time, it had nothing to do with you either. There was no mistake for you to correct, or any reason for you to feel responsible for any of that. You got yourself attached to someone you saw in a vulnerable state... and... there's nothing more to it, is there?"
So many emotions, swirling around in her head at the same time. A Part of her did like his company, but it wasn't romantic. A Part of her felt angry that he was taking this on himself, acting as though this was all because of some self-involved sense of responsibility, another part appreciated the help, another part was uncomfortable. Would he get angry if she continued to refuse? Would he cry? she didn't think she could handle either of those options.
"No of course there is more to it, that's just what started it, I don't care if I wasn't directly responsible for why you were crying at that lake, but I was responsible for not doing anything about it, I was a jerk to you, I didn't care or comfort you, so yeah I felt bad and made things right by being nicer to you, helping you, eventually bringing Xutha back, and as I did I grown to like you for who you were and are."
Lynch stared at him, before casting her eyes downwards. Unable to look at his face.
"Then I'm sorry. But.. at the end of the day...I don't want a guardian. Never have."
Her grip on her own body tightened.
"Don't.. get me wrong, I appreciate you reviving Xutha, and everything, and.. I appreciate, you... caring about me, but. I just don't want that kind of relationship, with you.. or with anyone."
"Lynch...please...I...
Look, I shouldnt have tried to force that on you...I screwed up...all this time I've been making mistake after mistake...but please...please after everything that's happened...can we still be friends? if I could ever ask anything of you even though I don't deserve it...I would ask that..please." Omalley pleaded with her, tears were coming out of his eyes, his legs starting to tremble ever so slightly, his fear was all over his face.
Lynch was shaking.
"...I just don't get it. You keep.. saying that you're making mistakes.." She muttered. "It's just.. you should.. find someone else. Someone who doesn't make you feel like this.
I'm.. going to be going, now." She said, as she turned around.
"I won't be back to Newrum... Just know that it's not because of you... I was going to do this anyway. Once I was done checking in with Abran, I was going to leave anyway.
I'm sorry."
With that, she took one step, and then another. Slowly moving into a walk as she moved away from Omalley.
"Lynch..please....dont do this..im begging you please!" Omalley cried out as he tried to talk forward to her but he fell down to his knees and his hands on the ground. "Please don't leave, dont do this to me..I spent.. a decade of my life doing whatever I could to make you happy, I just want to be friends! I dont care about anything else! that's all I'm asking...that's all..please!" His voice was cracking as well now. A Pathetic sight, she couldn't help but feel sorry for him.
Looking at him like this, she felt like she'd change her mind. Like she'd lose the strength of will needed to abandon all of this, and break out of the path that had been written out for her.
Omalley kept begging for her to stop, but she couldn't. If she did, then she'd have given up and become a willing player of Fawn's game, so she walked faster. The more he called out, the faster she ran, and the deeper she bit down into her own lip. Hopefully after this, he'd get over her for good. He'd move on, find someone else, live a happy life with someone who wanted the kind of life he represented.
She knew that Fawn wouldn't give up this easily, but if she made this decision in his timeline, she could easily do it in others. If she never saw Omalley again, if she never saw Fawn again, she'd have won, Right?
That was a naïve thought. She knew it was. Someone like Fawn, a Author in her own sense, wouldn't give up if she wanted Lynchmalley to happen.
She'd just have to jump to a different timeline and try her luck there. Maybe in that world, Lynch Vixerello did return Omalley's feelings, like she would in a 'perfect timeline'.
But this wasn't a 'perfect timeline', and nothing would force it to become one. She was keeping her agency, and everything that was being pushed onto Omalley, every 'mistake' he made in regards to her, didn't exist. Those weren't mistakes. They just happened.
Maybe with this, she'd Rise above it all. Above Fawn, Above Aro, Above Omalley, Above Vladimir, Above Adriania, Above Amy, Above Everything. It wouldn't be Eternal, but it'd be good enough. If she just kept thinking positive, maybe it could all work out- and she could just put all of this behind her and move on with her life, maybe she could just ignore this horrible feeling brewing in her chest.
================================
With everything that had happened, it was only natural that she was doubting her previous decision.
Lynch knew that she didn't want to be stuck rooted to that love story, and that this might all have been orchestrated simply out of Revenge.. but she couldn't help feeling like she could've done something at some point.
'Look what you did, by refusing him, Lynch'. The Fawn she imagined would jeer to her, 'All this could've been avoided if you accepted the timeline I offered you.' she would grin.
Of course, she hadn't seen Fawn since that day. But she could always imagine how that girl would be feeling, watching upon all of this from her seat in front of the Paradox Computer.
3 Days ago, Newrum had been decimated when a 'Demon' had came in through a rip between worlds and launched a attack at the middle of a battlefield. But way, way before that, things started going off the rails these things called 'Others' had emerged and began roaming around.
Originating from a set of crystals on a strange, shifting island, they had somehow found their way to the rest of the planet. Some taking the crystals with them to spread themselves out and boost their population, the crystals would humanize the negative emotions felt by anybody in their nearby vicinity, and in some cases, these negative emotions would become their own humans, acting out in ways both against and in line with the whims and thoughts of their 'host'.
The most prominent example of this was some kid named Daron who appeared in 2079. Seemingly the Leader of the Others. He had been decimated during the Battle in Newrum- having taken the third option from the two sides, but he was seemingly the only Other to have even been there.
Suffice to say, the world had changed. Towns and Cities had amped up security over the years to smoke out any 'Others' who may be hunting down their original, or anyone who may be the origin of their hosts negative emotions in the first place.
That was the earliest change, people were more paranoid, but society hadn't collapsed or anything, There was a small fringe cult, known as the Red Moon that was getting more and more popular as a result, but there wasn't anything too bad for a while. Once people figured out how to recognize a Other, it became easy enough to deal with it. All things considered it's surprising that Daron was around for so long.
Then, Sicrum happened. Two Kids with Demon Essence inside them began to share it amongst every town and city they came across before they both died. Killed by their own allies before any enemies could even get to them. While their Joyride of Terror was short-lasting, they had managed to infect thousands, and the Red Moon - which was now becoming less of a Cult and more of a full fledged Organization in the eyes of the public, quickly set to work hunting down those who were infected.
A Group from a Different Universe arrived some time later, seeing the fear in the people's eyes, their leader announced that they would erase all negative emotions so they could all live in peace. Lynch had seen images of the lady, and even though the file would be lacking since they never met in person, she made it nonetheless. Verita, a Guardian. Had come in uninvited and made a strange seeming offer.
The Lady behind her looked familiar, with black curled hair and dark green eyes that would glint yellow at the most crucial of times. Another Omnipotent. One of Mentality, who was controlling the crowd's mood, forcing them to approve.
It was odd, but the current president at the time- also the founder of the Red Moon Cult. A Man with long blond hair and eyes Lynch couldn't trust known as Jebediah... was completely unaffected.
The two sides went to war as a result, some time in a third side sprouted up. One funded by the L'aurlethé and Edelwood Families... who wouldn't accept Verita or Jebediah as victors.
Then, a New Erebus? A Different Shadow Demon? Someone Lynch hadn't ever heard showed up and destroyed everything in the middle of the Fight. The City, the Fighers, nothing escaped uninjured.
As suddenly as she appeared, she vanished. Found Footage of the Incident showed a pair of long brown plaits, a light blue face with a expression covered by round glasses, and Armour almost identical to Erebus's. But Lynch couldn't think of anyone who matched that description. It clearly wasn't Erebus, not only was he dead.. but so was one of his remnants, and the other had managed to make a life for himself in Kodama.
All Three sides that entered the battle were left heavily wounded. But it also dealt a heavy blow to the whole planet. The Capitol of this Earth was destroyed, two notorious families almost wiped off the map in a second and the President was presumed to be one of the many unidentified corpses that had been found by the team sent in to recover the deceased.
There was no power left governing the land at all, and the world had already been struggling to hold itself and each situation and circumstance that got thrown onto it aloft... It collapsing under that heavy weight was guaranteed at Day 0.
And now...
2081, 24th December. Wednesday 11:02am. Wallshore, Mariam House Apartment 303-B.
Delia Laurel [Lynch's New Pseudonym] stood in front of the bathroom Mirror[covered in dirt spots, in need of cleaning], looking herself[also in need of cleaning] over.
She hadn't actually changed her face, she still had a small nose and white eyes. Her hair however, was now cut down at her shoulders. Long hair became a problem to deal with after some time[getting pulled by people and animals alike, stuck in fast-closing doors/windows], so she cut it.
She was just wearing a dusty looking yellow hoodie with some pink foreign writing on it, and a pair of light jeans. She grimaced at her own outfit for the day, too colourful for her taste but the rest of the clothes were starting to stink and no one in the apartment wanted to go to the Laundromat so this was what she was stuck with.
Legally, she didn't even live here. But she was able to convince a old acquaintance to let her move in for the time being.
After putting the cap on the toothpaste her 'housemate' left uncapped, she left the bathroom.
The Apartment was small, only one floor. About five rooms. Two Bedrooms conjoined by a walk-in toilet[locks on both doors] to the right, a Living Room to the left, which then lead to the Kitchen, which in turn led to the small balcony.
The Small hallway only had three doors to it, the two bedrooms, and the Living Room. It was a relatively cheap Apartment in need of dusting, but that kind of vibe suited the purposes it needed to serve for the time being.
Wiping her eyes, she entered the living room to see her 'friend' asleep on the Sofa. The TV[No TV Channels, but DVD's and Video Game's still worked.] was on mute, but the colours from whatever cheesy sitcom she had been watching were lighting up the otherwise dark grey room. All outside light blocked by the curtains that the two never opened.
Raluag. [Laura MacDonald, Born 12th July 1986, 25 years old when she became the Omnipotent of Free will. Was trapped in there for 22 years but only aged 2 before she escaped with the rest in 2033. Broke off from the Omnipotents and evaded capture from the Red Moon Cult or any other forces by living a quiet life in Wallshore. Away from all major events. Likes Putgerr and icy weather, but Dislikes injuries and memories of her past self. Watching Television had become a hobby of hers in recent years.]
Thinking on it, by now... She should be almost 100. Considering the effects of the Prison Dimension. Her current physical age should've been 75. While looking at her face and pondering this, Lynch felt that the reality was a lot... younger looking. Raluag's face had some wrinkles, mainly on the forehead. But this looked more like it came from stress than age. She looked more like she was in her late 30s. It was also weird how Delia hadn't seemed to age either.
The Sleeping Omnipotent wore naught but a pair of yoga pants[in need of washing] and a saggy old white hockey shirt[old Christmas present]. The Living room was a mess. The Dinner plate, still stained with ketchup was lying next to a knocked over glass and the keys to the apartment.
"..Get up." Delia spoke, walking over and grabbing onto Raluag's shoulder, shaking it back and forth. "It's a Wednesday."
"Ugh.. uh.. what?" Raluag[still asleep] murmured, waving a hand in the air. Unknowingly shoving it in Delia's face. The Ginger moved out of the way, before repeating herself.
"You need to wake up, it's Wednesday, and you're still behind on Rent." Delia explained. Raluag's eyes immediately shot open.
She lept off the chair, almost knocking Delia and the leftovers on the table aside. "What!? Why didn't you wake me up earlier!?"
"Didn't wake up until now." Delia answered, moving away to give Raluag some room.
"What time is it!?" Raluag asked.
"A Little past 11. You've still got a hour." Delia answered, "...Should be fine."
Raluag tensed her fingers and let out a loose, grunting noise. "Ugh, it's fine. Just, make sure she[Martha Sitz, the current Landlord of Mariam House] doesn't see you. It's dangerous enough for me to live here by myself."
Delia, understanding. Nodded, She couldn't be in the house when Martha came for the rent. "..I'll, leave through the balcony." She said.
"You got anything you're doing to do today?" Raluag yawned, setting the empty glass upright as Delia walked towards the kitchen.
"... I want to hear what the Police think about the events 3 days ago. The Newrum Attack is still recent, there's still uncertainty and confusion, but word must reach us eventually." Delia explained, before she walked out of sight.
Raluag simply sighed, reaching for the remote and turning the TV's sound back on. "Get some milk while you're at it!" She called out.
==============================================
Delia jumped from the balcony into the alleyway it overlooked. Wallshore was a bright and colourful town, so this was a colourful alleyway. But she couldn't let that fool her. In comparison to other towns and cities this one may seem normal, but eyes were everywhere.
Watching a pair of patrolmen walk past the alleyway, she waited till they had their back to her before she walked out.
The sky was deceptively blue, frost blanketing every blade of grass in sight. As Delia scanned the houses[No Christmas Decorations] and the people[names, ages, occupations] who she passed, she kept her ears peeled.
People had often seen her walking down the street, but none had seen her when it really mattered. The person known as Delia Laurel was officially, unemployed and homeless. Presumed to be living in the alleyway she would walk out of whenever she went to do her business. Nobody here knew her, knew where she shopped, or where she lived, and no one who'd try to find out had ever had the chance to ask.
On this day, she was heading for the Wall that the town was named after, bordering the Town from the rest of the Country since it was first constructed. The Sea stopped anyone from invading from the west, and the Wall stopped invaders from the east. It was the perfect defence at the time, as boat's hadn't been invented yet. As time moved on the wall was retired as a defensive measure and left to only be maintained as a historic landmark, but after the outbreak of Others it had found value in it's original purpose yet again.
She held herself, conserving any warmth she had in her body. The Temperature itself was cold enough, but after the events in Newrum, it seemed like every day, the town's collective mind-set grew drearier and drearier. It felt so much colder than it actually was.
One voice, among many, managed to get her attention.
"Katsurou hasn't come back from Courtham yet, has he?" A Man [Takahiko Suzuki, age 49. Talking about his son.] that was sitting outside of the church asked.
"I'm afraid not, sir. Haven't heard tale of his wife or child either." A Officer [Reginald Williams, age 30.] responded.
"... They did go to Courtham, right? The Train didn't stop anywhere near Newrum, did it? It's been a week now! I thought they said the trains were safe again!"
"I'm sorry, sir! But i really haven't heard anything, I promise that I'll send word about his disappearance and give the information to you as soon as I hear of it! Just please, try to calm down, sir!"
Delia refused to look at the two she was eavesdropping on. People went missing all the time... it was sad, but it was something people had to deal with now.
Was it crueller, or more merciful, for someone to hear that their loved one went missing? At least if they know that they're dead, they don't need to deal with the tragedy of wandering when they'll ever see that person again.
She had places to be, and just had to hope that when she came back, the matter of this month's rent had already been sorted out.
==============================================
KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK!
Raluag looked up from the Table, taking her wallet in her hands and quickly rummaging through it.
..There was a couple of 20 notes, some 10s, and a handful of change. A Sigh of Relief, She had barely scraped together 80. She wouldn't have much left over after paying the rent.
KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK!
"Laura!" A High pitched voice crooned from the door to Apartment 303-B. "It's me, Martha!"
Raluag's eyelids pressed themselves to her skull, leaving her eyes wide open. She breathed in, and then out.
'It's all right,' she told herself. 'You're just a deadbeat woman who lost your lover, who spends all your free time dying in front of the TV. It shouldn't be too hard to fool her. Just pay the money you have, explain that you still don't have enough, and then you won't have to see her until the next deadline.'
Raluag still felt tense, but it helped. With her wallet in one hand, she walked down the hallway and put her hand on the latch.
Unlatching the door, she opened it to face the Landlord.
Martha Sitz was a middle aged woman with sly brown eyes and deep smile lines on her cheeks. She had shining blonde hair curling around her shoulder pads that had looked almost plastic in it's stillness. Her pinkish skin had several sunspots, and as she forced a smile at Raluag, the Omnipotent could feel a strong force of will from her, one that was waiting for a excuse.
Standing in the 3rd floor hallway, wearing a tartan skirt and a yellow button up shirt under a Tartan Jacket with sleeves that poked out of the winter coat she had on, her lengthy fingernails and the elaborate nail art of a red crescent moon painted on them found their way to the open doorway as she leaned in.
"Hey, Laura. Did you get my Memo?" Martha asked. Her foot resting against the open door. "Today's the day, It's 150 to stay for the month."
"O-one fifty?" Raluag gasped, that was definitely not the rent they had agreed upon.. "Just for a month!?"
"Yes, 150. Did you not get the memo?" Martha chastised, holding her other hand out. Showcasing the symbol on the inside of her palm. "With our President missing, We need all the money we can get to keep this place afloat, And you haven't been donating to the Red Moon at all. Combining that with the amount of money you still have yet to pay us for the past few months , I figured You might as well pay us some of the money you owe, for letting you live here and all."
As Martha gave reason after reason, Raluag's chest boiled. As Raluag opened her mouth to speak, Martha took another step forward, now halfway through the doorway.
"Of course, like always. A Quarter of the money will go to those who patrol this town, keeping it safe from the Demons that have hidden themselves amongst us and those who are outside. Another Quarter go straight to the Red Moon, One Quarter goes into making sure me and my family can stay well fed, and the rest goes into keeping this building suitable for human living." Martha explained, non-subtly slapping Raluag's hand off of the door. "It looks like you need to clean this hallway up as well, Laura. Has this dust been sitting here for the whole year?"
Raluag stood aside, gritting her teeth as Martha walked past her. "You know, I've been thinking. You're really a waste on our resources, Laura. You barely put in any work. You only leave the house FOR the sake of your work. Just sitting there de-boning fish for a couple of hours before you return home to slob yourself out on a couch. You've rented yourself a two bedroom apartment but you're living alone. This 150 payment is really your last chance, if you don't pay it, then you're out of here."
"Last chance!?" Raluag asked. "The agreed upon rent was 80 a month!"
Raluag pulled out her wallet, and showed the money inside it. "This is enough! Count it, there's 80 in there! You can't just change the rent to 150 and never tell me!"
"If you don't have the money, then maybe you should try contributing more. Maybe you should try actually getting a different job that pays more." Martha suggested. "Or try making some friends around the town. The Red Moon is always accepting members if you want to join us."
Raluag took another step back, pointing a finger at the Landlord's face. "You- You..! You! You're just trying to get me to join that crazy cult, aren't you?"
Martha blanked. "...Crazy cult?" She asked. "Are you sure you want to be insulting us like this? The very organization that's keeping you all safe from the demons?"
Raluag's breath caught in her throat. She let that one slip.
"Well, Laura?" Martha asked. "Speak when you're spoken to."
Raluag felt something in her brain focusing, a part of her that had long since been unused. Every since that day she was first thrown into that prison. A Part that, if used, could very well lead to her dying a useless death. The Red Moon Cult hated Omnipotents almost as much as they hated Demons, and their general opinion on others with powers seemed the same, even if they did let some into the organization.
"..Laura?" Martha asked, again. "Don't just freeze on me girl. A Conversation needs both participants to be talking, you know."
Raluag relaxed herself, stared straight at Martha, and nodded. "..I.. I won't. But, I just don't have the money. It's not right to just kick me out when you raised the price without telling me."
Martha's eyes dulled over, and she nodded along. Her arms flopped limply to the sides as all facial expression vanished.
"So give me another week to scrounge all the money together." The Omnipotent of Free Will demanded. "On January I'll pay you the 150, accept this offer."
Again, Martha nodded along. Her head bopping up and down like someone had grabbed it by the ponytail and then dropped it. Raluag could visualize the strings attached to her limbs.
"I.. accept.. this offer." Martha's voice lacked emotion or clarity. She mumbled as though she was in a dream. "Give me... the 80.. for now.."
A Shadow appeared on the wall behind the landlord, and Raluag's eyes widened. A Second figure walked into view, blinking as though she wasn't sure what she was looking at.
A Young looking teenager with brown skin and short frizzy black hair wearing a Grey fleece with a small red heart icon in the anatomically correct place and a pair of black shorts looked straight at Raluag. A pair of startled green eyes bordered at the top by her fringe. Small Crimson goggles rest atop her head, serving no apparent purpose beyond aesthetics.
Raluag mirrored her expression perfectly. The Controlled Martha turned around to face the unexpected newcomer.
And then, Martha's limbs stopped dangling, the puppeteer's threads were cut.
"Uh..mm.....huh?" Martha mumbled, snapping out of her daze. "..Delilah? You...LAURA!"
Martha's voice raised, she snapped on her heels and turned her entire body 180 degrees. Grimacing.
"..How did you..?" Raluag gasped, slack-jawed and wide-eyed.
"I-I Knew something was up with you!" Martha roared, her mouth refusing to close. "You took control of my body!! What are you? A Demon!? One of those sinful Omnipotents!? I-I had my suspicions about you, hence why I brought her with me, but- to think I was right! I-I-!" Her voice was something between a gasp and a chortle. "I can hardly believe I didn't notice sooner!"
Noticing the younger girl's flinching expression, Raluag turned to Martha. Stone-faced. This had gone badly, but, it didn't matter.
"I'm a Omnipotent." Raluag admitted. "One that resides over free will itself. It's in your best interest to not tell anyone about this."
She waved a hand, but... nothing happened.
"..You thought you'd get me with your tricks again, huh!?" Martha asked. "Well not with Delilah around, you won't! She saw I was in trouble and gave me immunity!"
"..Immunity?" Raluag asked, turning to look at the newcomer. Who still didn't look like she knew what she was looking at.
Raluag's eyes fell back upon Martha, who stretched her fingers out and pointed at Raluag with all of them.
Her long, sharp fingernail's suddenly extended, flying straight for-
Raluag leapt backwards into the hallway, darting down the side towards the living room. Martha's extending fingernails bent and swirled at peculiar angles as they gave chase.
One of the fingernails curved to the floor, and then stretched upwards- slashing across Raluag's back as she stumbled. Tearing through the back of her shirt as she fell face first onto the couch.
Her mind ran, 'that girl! Martha said her name was Delilah, had she always been there? what kind of power does she have if she can 'give someone immunity' like that? Damn it! As long as she's nearby, my power is useless!'
She rolled off the couch, feeling the cold wood of her table as she rolled over that too.
As she thudded against the floor, all the fingernails turned and stretched out towards her- stabbing through the air where she had once been as Raluag threw the door to the kitchen open.
The Kitchen was cluttered with unwashed dishes and clothes piled up ready to be taken to the Laundromat. Lynch had closed the door to the balcony on her way out, the keys lying on the counter nearby. The balcony door could only be locked from the inside, so there was no reason to put the keys anywhere else.
Martha's stiletto heels could be heard as she clik-clak'd through the hallway, following her own fingernails as they gave chase, knocking some plates to the ground and slicing through Raluag's yoga pants.
"A-Augh!" Raluag cried out, stumbling as she felt along the bleeding wound on her leg. Grasping the kitchen counter for support. She brought her now bloodied hand up and reached into the knife drawer.
"Looks like I don't need to worry about you paying me, huh?" Martha asked, genuinely smiling as she rounded the corner. Framed by the kitchen door as she held her hand up, all of the fingernails shrinking down and reverting to their usual size as, once again, she held onto the door as she walked in.
Raluag pulled a sharp, large knife of the drawer, pointing it at Martha.
Martha suppressed her laughter, a tiny grin on her face. Pure elation radiating off of her in waves. "And now you're threatening me at knifepoint? That's not going to do anything, you know! Just surrender and come with us! I've had a change of plans just now, actually: With the Omnipotent of Free Will, I'll Rise up like a new-born phoenix climbing the ranks of the Red Moon! Higher and Higher and Higher! Jebediah may be missing but we all know that Jashin's still around! It's only a matter of time- and once word reaches him that I've captured you I'm sure he'll-"
Snapping out of her fear-induced stupor, Raluag charged straight for the balcony door, shoving into it with her shoulder and knocking it open, not staying around to listen to Martha's monologue any longer. Within a second she had ran to the edge of the balcony, using the momentum to roll over the railing and fall out of sight.
"I-You- What!?" Martha screeched, marching into the kitchen as the symbol on her hand began glowing. Rage and Embarrassment written across her face as it only turned pinker. "You get back here, Omniiiipotent!!"
As she roared, her fingernails extended erratically- zigzagging in the air as they shot past the balcony and barrelled downwards.
==============================================
Five white nails with crimson red ends shot down like javelin's and stabbed into the ground where Raluag had once been as she rolled to the side. Blood seeping out of the wounds on her back and leg. She held a knife in one hand and her mouth in the other, stopping the pain from the rough landing as it tried to make it's way out of her mouth.
Raluag steadied herself with one hand and forced herself upright, peering out at the edge of the alleyway. It was a cold, frosty day. Usually they were fine but the icy air was stabbing into the open wounds. She kept the noises from leaving her mouth, leaving the pain to spark and stab at her.
She looked to the knife in her other hand, she could have charged for Martha instead, but then Martha would have a perfect shot to drive those fingernails right into her neck, Raluag would be finished.
The Five nails retracted themselves out of the ground, reversing back towards the balcony- where Martha now stood-.
Raluag ran out of the alleyway, entering the frost-bitten streets.
Just a quick glance around told her that Delilah must still be inside the apartment building. Knowing that the counter to her ability was currently absent, The Free Will Omnipotent exerted her aura. The Passer-by's in the general area- a single police officer on patrol, a portly man carrying his groceries with his hand moving away from the door, and a small group of people in matching hoodies all stopped in place. Faces dull and slack. Arms dangling.
Internally disapproving, Raluag took control of the police officer, who reached for his gun as he mindlessly walked straight past her, into the alley.
He pulled out his gun and fired at Martha from a distance, the bullet missed but the landlord still darted to the side to avoid it. Her fingernails extended outwards, all converging as they impaled themselves straight through the man's throat. She'd figured out that Raluag had taken control of this man as soon as she saw his lack of body language.
Raluag brought up her knife as the nails continued to extend past the officer's neck. Turning 90 degrees to try to reach the Omnipotent.
The Nails bounced off the knife, and then caught themselves, surrounding her on all sides. She ducked and slashed wildly, running straight onto the road in a panic.
"All of you! Get to cover!" She ordered, darting behind a car for safety. Mindlessly, those she had taken control of obeyed, as the nails backed themselves up- letting the deceased officer fall to the floor, his gun falling next to him as they froze in mid-air for a moment.
Sensing footsteps, they resumed movement and extended towards a hooded man who was mindlessly climbing over a wooden fence to hide behind it. The nails got above him and stabbed downwards. When they went back into the air, the blood dripping into him, he flopped. The rest were already behind cover and staying still, not reacting at all.
Raluag too, stayed still. Martha had no way to see them from where she currently stood, so if she wanted to get a clean shot, she'd have to get closer.
Raluag's deduction was correct, as the nails reversed themselves- vanishing back into the alleyway, presumably so Martha could move to a more manageable position unhindered. No one left cover however, not even to get the gun that was lying on the ground in front of the alley.
Then, mind-breakingly loud when surrounded by the stillness of everything else, the sound of heels moved across the 3rd story balconies above the front door, Martha leaned against a railing with a grin on her face and a set of fingers curling around the railing.
As Raluag craned her head, looking through the window of the car she hid behind, she could see Delilah off to the side, standing right in the doorway.
'Okay, don't worry. You know what to do here, Raluag' she told herself. 'Take out Delilah, if she's gone, then you won't need to worry about any immunity, and without anyone being immune, Martha and her fingernails won't stand a chance.
The wounds Martha had left are small, but damn if they don't sting. I can't even breathe without my back flaring up. If this bitch wants me dead she's not going good, but if she's trying to incapacitate me so she can take me to her hideout, she might have a chance.
I need a way to take Delilah out. But from this angle, even if I had that gun, nothing would hit her.'
Martha spread her fingers out again, and her fingernails shot down-wards, spreading themselves out along the scene, two nails peeped out behind the red car next to Raluag's hiding spot. Raluag shuffled back, falling onto her ass and dropping the knife. The Nails extended towards her, but she let herself fall flat onto her back, hissing in pain when her back-wound touched the ground.
The Nails went right over her, continuing past the rest of the cars in the line. Stabbing another one of the hooded men as Raluag rolled onto the street.
Had Martha seen her there? Raluag asked- quickly concluding that she hadn't, her fingernails were all spread out, attacking every feasible hiding place.
Raluag's mind flashed back to the gun, and she got onto her bare feet. Stumbling as ground touched skin.
"There she is!" Martha could be heard, a twisted joy in her warble as all the nails began to retract again. Going back through whatever holes they burrowed through while hunting as Raluag dashed past the front steps.
She rolled to the ground, picked up the police officer's gun, turned herself on her side, shooting upwards at her opponents.
The bullet ricocheted off the balcony railing, the two turned their heads in Raluag's direction. Delilah stayed put, but Martha took another step closer. Her hand raised and fingernails extended above her in a writhing, sharp set of claws ready to release at any moment.
BANG!
Raluag fired again; and a red burst of blood shot right out of the Red Moon Symbol on the palm of Martha's hand, she stumbled backwards and grabbed onto the railing to support herself, as another bullet struck Martha further down her arm.
Delilah's mouth opened in shock, the younger girl ran to catch the Landlord as she fell backwards. Raluag's aim was off, the next shot sailing above Delilah's head and striking the ceiling above them(the floor of the fourth balcony). The next shot missed as well.
Raluag pulled the trigger again, a empty clicking noise. Out of bullets.
As Delilah held a hand over her wound, rushing over the edge of the railing and leaving Martha to fall to the floor, Raluag's heart deafened her with it's beating as Delilah put a foot up on the railing.
Raluag ran into the alleyway, with Delilah swiftly jumping down and giving chase.
It took Raluag a moment to realize this was a good thing, It was just her and Delilah in the alleyway. One on one. Raluag quickly turned on her heels as Delilah advanced on her, the Omnipotent raised her arm and slammed it into Delilah's neck.
Delilah let out a high pitched grunt and grabbed onto both of Raluag's ears, pulling at them and pulling her to the right while Delilah shunted to the left, the two both swapped places.
Letting go of Raluag's ears, the younger girl brought a fist up for a uppercut. Raluag moved her head out of the way, grabbed onto Delilah's hand and pulled her forwards, and then smacked her with the empty gun. Reversing her forward motion and sending her stumbling backwards.
Not wanting Delilah to find her footing, Raluag charged-
"A-AAAAAAH!!" Raluag screamed out, a sudden pain shooting through her arm as... a red, sharp fingernail poked through it.
Martha.
The Fingernail dug back out through the bone of Raluag's arm, she stumbled forwards and clutched onto the wound. Wide blue eyes staring straight into Delilah's wide green eyes.
The rest of the fingernails, halted in mid-air behind Raluag, struck; cutting straight through her limbs, and then back out. The Free Will Omnipotent fell face-first onto the ground. Conscious, but effectively immobile. She gritted her teeth and looked up at Delilah. Trying to lift herself up with one arm, but as she tensed it, she couldn't handle the weight of her body. The wound burned and spread it's pain across her muscles, her hand slipped, she fell again.
The sound of Stiletto Heels struggling to walk on the frost behind her. Some muffled exclamation of anger and pain she couldn't make out. Raluag lost consciousness.
==============================================
She knew something was wrong immediately. There were bloodstains[A-Negative, Laura Macdonald's.] on the balcony, and identical bloodstains in the alleyway below it.
Clutching the newly created file stuffed under her hoodie, she leapt off the roof of the neighbouring building. Going from Balcony to Balcony as she made her way to the lowest, and most recent set of bloodstains. They were all small little drops, tiny puddles smaller than her shoes.
There were small droplets going from the alleyway towards the streets. Most of them were Laura's, but some of them showed a different name, [B-Positive, Martha Sitz.].
Would she find more of their blood if she went into the apartment? As her eyes fell to a gun [Police-Issue, six-barrel, no ammo] she felt like she didn't need to. Raluag should've had enough money for the rent, but worst must have come to worst, someone must have learned that she was a Omnipotent. Martha must have confronted her with police as backup. Presumably the man[Paul Brett, 43 years old, Taurus, Deceased] who was lying dead at the entrance to the alley with a... ghastly hole in the middle of his neck... was among their number.
Her gaze followed the occasional droplet of Martha's blood, following it to the sight of a Teleportation Circle that had been inscribed upon the alley wall[Recent, but due to the frost in the air, exactly how recent cannot be determined.].
She's seen these circles around a lot over the years, a Circle that can be used by anyone within the Red Moon to Teleport themselves to any place they desire, as long as they can visualize it.
Would investigating further lead her back into Fawn's narrative? If she was even able to salvage one from this world.
Was that even something worth questioning? Trying to look at the events from a Meta-Perspective? The facts were that the Landlord fought Raluag and Raluag lost. Raluag was a Omnipotent and everyone knew about Martha's place within the Red Moon. Especially those who lived under her tenancy. She wasn't sure why they would need a Omnipotent particularly, but they'd never approved of them. If she didn't find her, or Raluag didn't somehow escape, then...
She had to get out of this alleyway. Lynch looked to the left, the right, then up and down before she walked down the opposite end of the alley. Had to find out where Martha might take Raluag, Had to get out of here, both equally desirable. Raluag didn't use it often, but her power was fierce, Martha must've been tougher than they expected if the power of Free Will couldn't beat her. Either that or she had the number advantage.
Theorizing aimlessly, Delia walked away. No point going to the Apartment Building at this point, Officials had already swarmed the place to clean everything up, so she couldn't be caught there. The Capture of a Omnipotent would likely be on the news the next day, and by then Raluag would be dead, so whatever she did next.. she had to do it fast.
END OF PART 1
=======FALL TIMELINE, BASIC REPORT=====
ZAND STATUS:Deceased.
FIRST PHASE PASSED SUCCESSFULLY, NOTHING OUT OF PLACE
SECOND PHASE PASSED SUCCESSFULLY, NOTHING OUT OF PLACE
FAILED CHECKMARK, THE CLOSURE: 4th August 2042. Lynch Vixerello refuses Omalley.
THE GUARDIAN'S CURSE WILL NOW TAKE EFFECT
MARRICK VIXERELLO WILL NOT BE BORN.
Entirety of 'GRADUATES' Era impossible due to missing components.
Entirety of 'NEW' Era Impossible due to missing components.
TIMELINE STATUS: Unsalvageable, Abandoned. Will check in every now and then simply out of spite. Can be used as example to convince anyone who may need direct to join the cause. Other than that, no purpose.
FAWN STATUS: Alive
SHAWN STATUS: Alive
BRANCH STATUS: 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 11 all Formed as of 'Book Ends', but they were rendered irrelevant back in 2042.
OMNIPOTENT STATUS [of Universe 3-: ?/12 Alive. 5 Confirmed Deaths (Etianpug, Segye, Gzeialet, Doged= Same as canon) (Putgerr=Killed by the Emynx's Nuclear Detonation)
(Gelno jumped timelines, and is marked absent- a feat previously unseen from him, make sure to keep eye out for any extra Gelno's in other timelines)
GRADUATE STATUS: Tsumiki Enbizaka Deceased as of 2068. Killed for the Sacrifice of the 5th Gun
Max Lima declared legally missing as of 2079. Fate is unconfirmable, surviving/dying equally likely.
Arashi Kuro in Critical Condition as of 2081, placed in a medically induced Coma.
Amila L'aurlethé-Stoneson in Critical Condition as of 2081, heartbeat and breathing are stable.
Caroline Thompson confirmed to be Injured, but Alive as of 2081.
Eliza Summers' Survival was Confirmed as of 2081.
Hifumi Kuota's Survival was Confirmed as of 2081.
Tara Blasco succeeded Erebus Through use of the Book of Darkness, Survival Guaranteed.
Zoey Takahashi on track to succeed Nyx as Maiden of Inferno.
George Wellington's Fate unconfirmed. Scott Anderson's Fate Unconfirmed.
VILLAIN STATUS FOR GRADUATE ERA: Red Moon Cult has Largely Risen to Dominance of Universe 3. Jebediah/Jashin has taken the mantle of President of 3 in James Stoneson's Place. Elizabeth Balanque never appeared because the timeline branched too early.
Sicrum (Inka & Maya), Nexeem, defeated by Veronica & Sin (IMPORTANT- Keep eye on these two, they jumped timeline's recently and may steer things off track.)
Meredith's Mafia(including Daron), Verita's Crusade, and several key members of the Red Moon Cult all killed/injured by Tarabus.
Confirmed Deaths during 'Tarabus' Include:Rebecca(of Red Moon Cult), Leonard(Omnipotent of Order), Lea-Maria(Omnipotent of Mentality), Meredith Edelwood, Mary(of Red Moon Cult), Lacey, Shannon, Daron(Max's Other), Emynx(Nuclear Omnipotent), Ezekiel(of Red Moon Cult), Jehovah(of Red Moon Cult), Putgerr(Omnipotent of Sound), Veradis & Rita, Locrian.
Some bodies were grievously deformed, and as a result very few of those who died after Emynx were identifiable. Ezekiel to Locrian are the only identified corpses after Emynx that were relevant.
This ends the report of the Fall Timeline. Whatever happens afterwards will not be written down, and instead will be recorded for the Archive.
=====END OF BASIC REPORT=======
==============================================
2081, 24th December, Wednesday 1:11pm. Curtside Train Station. Platform 2.
Not many people used Trains these days.
The train that was coming was on it's way to Wallshore, not for the sake of transporting people, but for the sake of transporting goods, and in return, it would receive goods in return. People could still buy passage on the train, to one of the destinations it may go to, but it was done less often.
As such, with the exception of the crew guarding all the supplies that were to be traded, boxes labelled with Instructions as which City to send them to, or which organization in specific. or the crew that were stationed at the edge, keeping a eye on any Others who might try to waltz on in, there were only two people at this station looking to board as passengers.
A Duo sitting at the far end of the station, away from anyone here on their jobs. A Tall, 6 foot something man with snow white skin wearing a fishnet vest with several badges hanging from it, with large black bracers on his wrists. Wearing incredibly heavy and thick looking black trousers with numerous pockets and straps hanging from it. His hair was long, thin and silky. So Blond it was almost see through, his ice-grey eyes were closed. Arms folded as he leaned against a wall, watching the clouds and the sky blend together.
Next to him, sitting on a seat was a girl with slightly warmer skin and purple eyes behind a pair of thin glasses. With Long, waist-length brown hair. Her fringe shoved to the side, and a small section of her left side clipped to her scalp only to brush against the side of her face anyway. She wore a shoulderless, long sleeved purple shirt that went halfway down to her knees , a black shoulder-strap over the left shoulder, and a single metal necklace with a Mars Symbol dangling from it, with Christian crosses and pentagrams dangling from small bracelets that had been shoved into her long, billowy sleeves. Wearing thick black socks but no shoes. A Grey bag neatly placed on the empty seat beside her.
In her arms, she held a strange looking creature. Looking to be made out of a mix of writhing gases and some fungus-like texture. A Dark, musty blue baby with stubby limbs and a large body, 3 swirling black crevices were a face was supposed to be, was held. She looked at it with no visible emotion, but lifted it up in the air and back down onto her lap as though playing with it.
"..But what is that thing?" The man heard a couple of workers ask, his eyes whipped around to look at them, and the cold feeling that took root in their hearts instantly silenced them.
The Lady, seemingly unaware, continued to play with the strange baby.
The Man turned to look at the workers, and walked over to them. "Excuse me." He said. "Do you know when the Train's going to arrive?"
The Closest worker, a guy who was still pretty tall, but only reaching this Man's Collarbone, continued to look at him. His breath turning to fog as he exhaled. "It should be about 12:30 when it arrives, just wait a bit, why don't you? Why do you even want to go on it?"
"..Me and my girlfriend have business. You'd do well to stay out of it." The Man answered, The Worker felt a strange pain in his chest, right where his badge was.
He put his badge and furrowed his brows at the Tall Blond. "Jeez, whatever, just go back to her and that weird.. thing she's playing with. It's just a toy, right?"
The man said nothing, and walked back to her side. Only after he left did the worker remove his hand from his chest and.. his badge and a small rip of fabric had ripped clean from his shirt without anyone touching it or him noticing. The worker glanced at it with confusion. "..What the?" He asked, before another turned to him.
"Hey, what happened to your shirt, mate?"
The Tall Blond went back to his exact same spot and resumed his previous position, looking to his side. Where his gaze made that of the Brunette.
"What was all that about?" She asked.
"Nothing you need to worry about." The Man answered.
And so, the two waited. The Train would arrive eventually, and they'd get to their business in Wallshore.
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Post by IDEK on Jan 28, 2019 21:32:37 GMT
In Transience, I Rise-
Part 2: What's been Taken, and What's been Lost.
2081, 24th December, Wednesday 1:20pm. Quarantined Emergency Care Section, Wellham Hospital.
"This is very important! Finding out how to remove that spirit should be top priority! Keeping him and his followers down is second! Prioritize those two things above everything else!"
The exclamations resounded through the hospital walls. A Old Man with bright red eyes and dark grey hair with peculiarly wrinkle-less white skin wearing a untidy, silver suit yelled his orders at the staff that followed behind him, his diamond-patterned tie hanging limply from his pocket. Despite his age he moved with plenty of strength and vigour, waving his arms emphatically as he punctuated his sentences.
"We've only got enough of the stuff to keep him out for another week at best!" A shrimpy looking Guy in hospital scrubs squeaked.
"No, we've only got enough to keep all his followers out for a week! Just dispose of the others and put the rest into the reserves for the one that matters!" The Old Man yelled.
"I- i mean, i don't mean to barge where i'm not wanted, but.. if you want to deal with these guys why don't you just kill them?" The same nurse asked.
The Old Man bunched his hand up into a fist and brought it into his mouth, almost dry-heaving into it as he stopped in the middle of the hall.
The staff clustered around him burst into a mini-panic, a nurse with curly ginger pigtails reached into his pocket and pulled out a small bottle of pills. He snatched it out of her grip and tossed it to the ground before glaring at the one who spoke. His coughing fit subsiding.
"Because I don't want to kill him, idiot." He snarled, "Not before we find a way to get it out of him. I want him powerless before he gets the opportunity to die. I want to take everything he has, and have him watch as I burn it to the ground."
As he stared at the shrimpy looking nurse, who backed away when faced with this glare, the mood was interrupted when a black, curly haired doctor with a stethoscope around his neck came charging in down the stairs.
"Mr.Stoneson! R-Randolf!" He called out, already out of breath. "She's- Your Granddaughter-.. she'.. she's awake, sir!"
The Old man; by the name of 'Randolf Stoneson' stilled, his expression softened. "..Really?" He asked.
"She is, she's.. she's not saying anything yet, but she opened her eyes! She's breathing by herself too!" The Doctor smiled.
"Take me to her."
==============================================
Randolf Stoneson had one child, who went on to have one child of his own. His Granddaughter, Amila L'aurlethé-Stoneson was already 26 years old, and had grown into a fine, upstanding young woman with remarkable control over the Stoneson Family's power.
Randolf made sure to find one of the best rooms in this hospital for her, when his crew recovered those injured and comatose from Newrum and he had found his last remaining family member to be among them.
As he opened the door to her hospital room, looked at her bedridden form in the far corner of the room. Damaged black hair that had been cleaned up by the nurses to the best of their ability pooled at the side of the pillow, a hand grasping the life support Ventilator that had been keeping her alive since they first found her. Another hand bandaged up and lying limply at her side. A single red eye squinting at him and struggling to stay open. The other obscured by a bandage wrapped around a pale wound on the left side of her face.
"..Grandpa?" She asked, as Randolf barrelled into the room. Tears of joy staining his cheeks.
...
"...So, Locrian, Clarence, everyone else, they're all dead?" Amila asked, fidgeting with a tube that had been in her nose before she awoke, after she had woken up she had removed everything she could with the hand she could grip with. Hospital tubes and wires, and the ventilator mask all dangled uselessly at the side of the bed. Her voice had gone unused for a while, and now as she spoke, she wheezed the words out.
Randolf, sitting on a small stool at her bedside, let out a sad sigh. "Yes. Locrian was dead when we found him, and Clarence died of radiation poisoning while quarantined in the stadium at Newrum."
"At.. the Stadium..?" Amila asked, her head rolling.
"Hospital was too close to the initial strike, they moved anyone they could, alive,dead, or injured to the stadium first. Before my Men arrived, we moved you all here to Wellham, away from all of that. Somewhere more secure."
Amila lowered her one visible brow. "..You, looked for a secure place, and.. went with Wellham?"
"Well, this Hospital is secure. The rest of Wellham, not so much." Randolf admitted. "We didn't have many places to work with, Erinfort's been closed off since forever, and this was the closest available place for us to take you."
"..And.. Mom? Is she here too?"
Randolf's voice struggled to escape his mouth. "...We never found her body.. Not your father-" His voice cracked. "Not my son's.. either."
As he leaned back and put his hand to his head, Amila's gaze grew distant. She turned her head and looked up towards the ceiling. Trying to stare through it. Her chest heaved and her own hair was lifted upwards, before falling as she exhaled.
Neither of them said anything else for the remainder of their time together. Not once did she ask about the bandage.
...
Jebediah's battered, badly damaged body was lying in a hospital bed of it's own on the floor below them, men and woman in hospital scrubs all gathered around it. A Mask was pressed against his face, keeping him breathing despite the massive amount of claw marks, burn marks and swollen welts that covered his form. Numerous needles and wires in his arms fed something into his body that stopped him from waking. Keeping him in this state of near-death. There was no doubt that if he hadn't been taken here, he would've died very quickly.
In the same room, 9 other bodies were all lying in identical looking beds, with identical masks and wires in their arms, feeding a liquid into them through IV Tube. A Liquid that was clearly the reason none of them were even stirring.
One of the nurses walked over to the bed closest to the door, looking at the body of a pale man with long black hair which had been in a ponytail when they found him- but had been let free when he had been transferred. "..Who's this one?" She asked.
"Some guy from Kodama. I think his name was Arashi." Another answered.
"Did anyone know what his power was? The one he got from Jashin?"
"Oh no." A Third piped up. "He already had one, black flames. Pretty nasty stuff. Don't take him off the juice yet, take that guy over there. He's not going to wake up anytime soon."
The first one nodded, and then walked over to a guy with white buzzcut hair. The Red Moon Symbol placed directly over his left eye, his entire skin looked to have welted up, and he lost a couple of limbs in the battle. Clearly wasn't going to be a threat if he woke up.
In a robotic fashion, the Nurse pulled the IV tubes out of his arm, and moved the necessary bags over to the reserves placed near Jebediah.
"How long is it going to take for her to figure out how to remove Jashin?" One of the doctors asked.
"What I want to know is why Mr.Stoneson even wants Jashin, if we just kill him now, then this entire thing is over." A Nurse added.
"..That's exactly why I don't want to kill him." Randolf's voice rang out, from the now open entrance to the large Hospital Room.
The Hospital workers all went still as he walked in, pushing a wheelchair with his slightly dazed, but visibly alive Granddaughter resting on it.
"Amila.. you're awake." One of the nurses said.
Amila looked at him oddly. "..I see. You're all responsible for keeping me alive after the battle in Newrum? I thank you, from the bottom of my heart." Her sentence came off as a little stilted, some of the hospital workers were a bit confused by it, but she had only just woken up after a 2 and a half day coma, so it was only to be expected, they supposed.
"..You're welcome, ma'am?"
Amila nodded, and then cast her gaze downwards.
"That's Jebediah." Amila stated.
"You're right, Amila." Randolf smiled. "That he is. We've got the leader of the Red Moon Cult right where we went him, Amila."
"And the girl?" Amila asked.
Randolf blinked. "A..Amil-"
"And the Demon Girl?" Amila asked, again. "The one that sent that darkness down into our battlefield, and destroyed everything? Killed everyone?"
Randolf scratched at the back of his neck. Looking annoyed. "..Ah, yes. That one. We believe she went back to the Demon's Dimension."
Amila, looking as though in a daze, stared at Jebediah's comatose form. "I... am not going to turn into that man, and try to wipe all demons off the map because of this. But.. that girl, she needs to answer for what she did to us. She can't just.. destroy a entire city and get away with it."
"You're.. you're absolutely right, dear." Randolf coughed, placing a hand on his granddaughter's shoulder. "She can't. But before we can deal with her, we need to deal with this."
The eye underneath Amila's bandage began to itch. She brought a hand up, but resisted the urge to scratch at it.
"Are you okay?" One of the nurses asked.
Amila shook her head, almost rapidly. "I.. I want to go back to my room. I need to rest a bit more, I feel."
"Of course." Randolf nodded, gesturing at the nurses and doctors. "One of you, take her back to her room. I want to oversee you all and get a more in-depth report about your progress."
One of the Nurses broke off from the group and grabbed onto Amila's wheelchair, slowly wheeling her out of the room. While Randolf walked up to the Comatose Jebediah.
Sneering at it, Randolf's eyes glinted.
2081, 24th December, Wednesday 1:20pm. Underground Chambers, ??
Raluag's body had been bound with chains and placed in a small cell for the time being. She was not stirring.
The Symbol of Jashin had been drawn in front of the wall, Which was a dry brown in colour, the chambers themselves were not very well lit. This looked to be a place that was made more for function than appearance, with no real thought put into making it look appealing.
Delilah sat outside of the cell, reading a informative pamphlet about The Threat of The Ganymede Clan And How To Defeat It. There was a dull humming noise through the halls, and the sound of footsteps approaching.
"Delilah!" A Voice called out, as a man with neatly combed white hair and blue-ish grey eyes, wearing a low-cut white shirt under a brown jacket half-jogged into the room. "Is it-..." He slowed to a stop and turned to look at the unconscious Omnipotent. "It is true.. you've captured Raluag."
The younger girl looked up from her pamphlet, before looking over to Raluag and then at The Man.
"Can you please just talk, once?" He asked. No answer. "Is this really Raluag?"
This time, Delilah answered. She nodded.
He let out a slow gasp, walking over and grabbing onto the iron bars separating them. "I.. haven't seen a Omnipotent in so long. It's almost tragic.. she's nothing like the last ones." He turned to face her again. "..Delilah, can you.. let me see her power?"
Delilah pressed her lips together, then shook her head.
"What, why not?" He asked, aggravated.
"Last time red moon let one use powers in cell, they got out, killed Christopher and Elijah and Kumori. Right? Do not be idiot." Another voice spoke out, as a smaller, but stockier guy with grizzled features, chalky skin and long brown hair tucked into his scarf walked in from the same entrance. Between his Ushanka hat and his double-breasted white coat, he certainly looked prepared for cold weather. "Unless you want to be puppet, then feel free to be one."
"..I.. no, you're right, Gideon." The white haired man gave up surprisingly fast. Running his hand down the bars.
"I am right." The man, Gideon, nodded. His accent thick. "You wait if you want to see power."
The white haired man put his hands onto his head, combing through his scalp as he paced a bit. "..Why do I have to wait?" He asked.
"Why do you even want to see power?" Gideon asked, leaning forward. Now eye-level with the white haired man's elbows, but staring up at him anyway. "You know power, you don't need this power. You have other power. Gift with machines, focus on that instead. Not woman like this."
"Look, I just- I know that the Omnipotents here have been less than model citizens, but, back where I'm from. They were great rulers and- forgive me for feeling a bit nostalgic at the prospect of-"
He was cut off when a familiar, tartan wearing lady with plastic blonde hair slammed the doors open, one leg in front of the other as her stiletto heels awkwardly found their place on the ground. Due to the injuries she received in the fight against Raluag, she had abandoned her now hole-y winter coat and tartan jacket, and wrapped gauze around the arm that had been shot at twice. Now she wore a flowing garish coat with Jashin's symbol patterned all over it.
"..Oh, Tauro!" Martha grinned coyly, "I wasn't expecting to see you here."
"Foolish man so excited to see Omnipotent. Neglected personal safety and current job." Gideon reported, stifling a chuckle.
"Hmmm, that, that's bad." Martha hummed, walking past Gideon and moving to place her hand on Tauro's sleeve, he reasonably backed away. Martha held her chin up at that, but continued. "Quite stupid actually, I'm disappointed in you. Omesata. You of all people should know better. Delilah's the only thing stopping this woman from controlling us all into just letting her go. Don't let Nostalgia get the better of you, she's not Terra."
Tauro looked very uncomfortable.
Martha then sauntered backwards and turned to face the unconscious Raluag, before turning to look at Gideon and Tauro. "Well? What do you two think?" She asked. "Me and Delilah caught a Omnipotent, we succeeded where everyone else failed."
Gideon scoffed. "Fighting girl who controls others with girl who renders such powers useless, different from fighting electric lady, earth lady and grim reaper at sea."
"And there in lies the secret to beating them: with the perfect counter, forcing them out of their comfort zone, it diminishes the challenge quite a bit. Does it not?" Martha asked.
Gideon furrowed his thick brows. "..Hmm, she speaks truth. Not fair fight, but efficient."
"So, now that you've shown us what you've done. Why did you call us here?" Tauro asked, backing off from the bars and folding his arms.
Martha's shoulders heaved as she shrugged. "Isn't it obvious? Gideon, Tauro, Delilah. I would like the three of you to support me as I move forwards from this point on."
Tauro leaned back. "And what does that include?" He asked.
Martha held up a single finger, with a single, sharp, blood red fingernail attached to it. Her grin pressing against her face. "With this Omnipotent's element, we're one step closer to finding Jashin again. Jebediah's absent, but our marks still glow, and we still have our powers. We just need a little bit more, and then Jashin will show himself to us once more!"
"...a little bit more?" Gideon asked. "You should explain before we agree to whatever you suggest."
Martha placed her hands on her hips, closed a single eye. "Oh, I will. Dear..."
2081, 24th December, Wednesday 1:35pm. The Church of the Red Moon, Wallshore
The Church of the Red Moon stood in the midst of various other buildings[primarily Administrative in nature] at the centre of town. In both style and Architecture it stood out, it looked to be the oldest building in town. Like a miniature, medieval Church in style.
Delia Laurel had passed by it earlier today, and heard two men [Takahiko Suzuki and Reginald Williams] talking in front of it. Usually she would keep her distance, only checking in every now and again for updates as to any plans they had, or anything that might have happened. Usually she would go to the Police offices, for the gate at the Wall for such updates. But sometimes it was better to head straight to the Red Moon[As Valuable Secrets would be sent straight there by people traveling via Transportation Circle]
There were windows[easy to open, closed because of chilly weather], but she couldn't go in through them.[Too many people, would be noticed.] So for now, Delia walked on in through the Public Entrance[Front Doors are always open, even at night]. Where the same patrolman from earlier stood.
"Good day, Ma'am." He said to her, as she walked in.
==============================================
The interior of the Church fit with how she had described it earlier, the first floor of it resembled a lower-roofed, miniature medieval church. [No Security Cameras, Strong Lightning, 9 people on first floor- including yourself. Stairway unguarded. First to Second Floors are Public Access.]
Something like a plan for what to do with a Omnipotent wouldn't be discussed amongst the pews, so Delia chose to ignore those, give a passing wave to a Jashinist who was relaxing near the staircase, and head straight up those stairs to the second floor.
The second floor kept the old aesthetic, but already departed from anything like a church. Three doors to the right, [Library, Bathrooms, Guest Rooms], and then a stairway that led to the third floor [Members Only, guarded by 2 patrolmen.].
Delia opened up the door to the Library[unoccupied], and went into it. Closing the door behind her. A Set of 3 bookcases and a small table with some chairs off to the side. It wasn't a big library, but Delia wasn't here for the books anyway. She was here for the small window[easy access to a open third floor window] at the far end of the room. Anyone looking in through the front door couldn't see it, but she knew it was there.
Standing on a small chair at the end of the room for support, she pried the window open and gazed outside. [Noone was paying attention]. so Delia crawled out of the window, using the pane itself as a support so she could reach upwards, and gently push open the window directly above her. It was a particularly old building, so the window gave, pushing inwards.
A Gust of wind helped push her up through the window, and she slipped through seamlessly. Landing in a small room, containing only a table, a flatscreen tv[receives broadcasting signals], some gaming consoles[All Nintendo.] a deck of cards [Explosive.] and 3 empty seats.
The Third Floor [3 people inside- including yourself] was for members of the Red Moon only, and frankly Delia was a bit surprised to find such a regular looking room in a Church of all places. But Jashinists had to have hobbies as well, she supposed.
Keeping her steps quiet, she made her way to the door[mahogany, soundproof, can only be locked via the sliding lock on the inside.]
Before she would leave, She held her hands together and focused, but her efforts to concentrate the information in this room was all in vein. Nothing of note could be formed. Delia had to open the door. She placed her hand on the doorknob and pushed it open a tad. She could see two people standing further down the hall, one with their back to a door, the other in front of them. Visibly in the middle of conversation.
The first was male, freckled skin, ginger curls and light blue eyes, brown uniform. [Emil Eaton, Born April 8 2057 New to the Red Moon. Developed Power over Metal upon being inducted.] Upon reading that, Delia took notice of the 12 knives- each with different symbols engraved on them- that were hanging from his belt.
The one leaning against the door was a woman, bronzed skin, brown fauxhawk, camouflage clothing and cap. [Clarinda Eaton, Born August 12 2056, Emil's wife, new to the cult as well. Long Practised User of the Mystic Arts who served in the military against the Others. Specializes in enchantments] Seeing that, Delia took notice of the strange gleam that all of Emil's knives had to them.. and the energy swirling around the semi-automatic rifle strapped to Clarinda's side.
Delia almost felt relieved that these two were new, but Clarinda would clearly be a threat to fight against. For now, she closed the door slightly, held her hands together again. It took barely a second for 2 files, both labelled with the Eaton's names to appear in her hands. She shoved the files into her hoodie and eavesdropped on their conversation.
"I'm just saying, if it came down to it. I'd take Tarabus down with just one strike." Clarinda was boasting, a slight twang to her voice as she looked up[bedroom eyes] at Emil.
"Oh really?" Emil asked, folding his arms and looking down[bedroom eyes] at his wife. "You saw what she did to Newrum, you really think you could survive that?"
Clarinda placed her hand on Emil's chest. "Come on, think with your other head, honey. That wasn't Tarabus's nuclear strike, it was Emynx's detonation. Unless she happens to stab another Nuclear Missile I think I'd be fine."
"So, how would you do it?" Emil asked. placing a hand on the wall, making Delia wish they would take this conversation somewhere more private.
Then, right when Emil was about to lean in and Clarinda was about to explain her master plan for taking down the dread of Newrum, a light blue teleportation circle appeared in the wall next to them.
Instantly they snapped to attention [cockblocked], as Delia pulled herself back a little bit. A short, stocky looking Man in heavy winter clothing [Gideon Isaev, Born March 28 2039, Head of Wallshore Patrol, Jashin's mark gave him power over Ice.]. Just seeing this status, Delia felt a part of her brain ring out with glee, if she wanted information she had really hit the jackpot.
"You two." Gideon had said, upon stepping out. "Come with me."
"Uh, sure, sir." Emil stuttered out, while Clarinda made no effort to hide her disappointment.
"Do not look so pouty, woman. Follow me, I need men, and you two are first ones I see, very fortunate for you new recruits, yes?" He chuckled.
Delia pressed her hands against the door, 'No. They can't be going already! He only just got here!'. But to her relief, she wasn't the only one with a objection. While Clarinda continued to stick her lip out at Gideon, Emil took a step forwards with a hesitant expression.
"That.. depends on what it is, sir." He said. Gideon's expression[mild] wasn't visible to Delia with his back facing her, but she didn't need to worry about that, as Emil's own nervous expression helped her pick out the minor details she might be missing.
Gideon's hands left his pockets, and he placed them on his hips "We've made strides. Captured Omnipotent[Raluag]. Looking to harness her power[Free Will]."
"So what do you need us for?" Clarinda asked, gruffly.
"Ha!" Gideon must have smiled. "I like you, you, you have spirit. No need to worry, just simple guard mission. Protect Delilah and captured Omnipotent[Raluag] while we gather necessary components for ritual."
"Is.. is that all?" Emil asked.
Gideon placed a thick gloved[custom-made] hand on Emil's elbow. "What? You were hoping for big fight? Sorry Brother. You get this."
"What kind of ritual?" Clarinda asked, eager. "I've been a Sorcerer since I was born. If you need to prepare for a ritual then I'm more than capa-"
"We've got this sorted, girl." Gideon cut her off. "You do job I tell you to, sort ego out while at it."
The Eaton's stopped arguing, and both nodded at him before walking through the still-glowing teleportation circle.
As Gideon turned.. about to walk through the teleportation circle as well, Delia's thoughts swelled up in her mind.
'That Teleportation Circle, which would most likely close once Gideon entered it, also has a high likelihood of leading to where Raluag is being held. So, if I want to get through that portal... I can't let Gideon close it.
Since everybody knows that Raluag's a Omnipotent now, once I break her out, we'll need to escape from Wallshore (or wherever she's being held), I need to do this before they can gather up those components for the ritual.
Gideon made mention of a Delilah, I have no idea who this person is or what she's capable of, but if she's with Raluag and requires bodyguards she must be a important figure.
I'll get past Gideon here, go through his portal, then defeat the Eatons, finally whoever this Delilah is and then I'll rescue Raluag. I will have to fight Martha somewhere along the line as well, so that's 5 Cultists at the bare minimum.
Shit, he's about to go! I need to do this now!'
With a resounding thud, a Gust of wind slammed the door open. Gideon[startled], turned around reflexively and thrust his hands out.
Delia burst out of the entrance to the game room and thrust her hand outwards as well, a gust of wind shot forwards- catching the particles of ice as they formed in the air and throwing them back at Gideon, the head of Patrol's gloves went up to his face to wipe the ice from his eyes. Distracted, he was pushed backwards by the wind.
Delia darted forwards, and then hopped straight through the teleportation circle before Gideon had a chance to react.
"Ah-Ggh!" Gideon grunted, blinking. Looking for the attacker, and not seeing her. It took him 2 seconds to look at the still-glowing Teleportation circle. He gritted his teeth and slammed his foot on the ground in frustration. "Blast it!"
He dashed in after her.
2081, 24th December, Wednesday 1:38pm. Underground Chambers, ??
[A Teleportation Circle matching the one in Wallshore's Church of the Red Moon was in currently glowing on a door leading into a more function-than-beauty chamber, which was mostly brown with uneven flooring. This was clearly the one that Gideon had initially walked in through.
It was a pretty big hallway, with a door adjacent to the initial one, and over closed doors equidistant to each other as the hallway went down- both on the left and the right, at the far ends of both sides, the hallways took 90 degree angles, both southward. Where they continued.
Now that the Map has been laid out;]
==============================================
Delia didn't get a chance to see anything beyond the door a couple paces distance from her before Gideon jumped through and wrapped his arms around her torso.
Ice began to form directly under his mitted hands, Delia felt it digging into her skin. Not given a chance to stabilize herself, she fell to the ground immediately. With a heavy little man on top of her.
The Eaton's, who were a couple of steps away, both turned to look at the scene.
"W-what!?" Emil[Surprised] stuttered out, as Delia held a hand out towards him- sending a gust of wind at the two that slammed them into the left wall. Clarinda instantly lost grip on her gun[fully loaded], as Delia then redirected that same gust of wind, it blew against Gideon. Who withstood it just by scrunching his face up, concentrating himself into the Ice climbing her chest.
Biting onto the hair that entered her mouth, She struggled to breathe. Her own skin taking on a blue-ish hue.[Body Temperature already in the negatives]
"Hhh...gnnnnghh..." She grunted.
"Who are you!?" Gideon exclaimed. "You're not Red Moon! Never seen you in life!"
"Ghhiii,,Ghaaa..Ghyaaaaa..." She gasped for air, using the gusts of wind to force oxygen into her system so she could keep breathing as she kept that hand lifted, her own body was close to shutting down due to the sheer temperature drop but she willed her hand closer and closer to Gideon, and then
VSHOOOOM!! The Wind intensified, and she smacked her hand directly into his eye, the man lost his balance and was then sent barrelling down the hallway. He spun in mid-air and caught himself a couple of [10] feet down the right side of the hallway. Ice crystallizing the floor under his feet, and quickly spreading towards Delia- who was barely able to pull herself to her feet.
On her left, Emil and Clarinda Eaton [who had both recovered from the surprise attack], reaching for their respective weapons.
On her right, Gideon Isaev, and the Ice which was traversing the floor and quickly approaching.
Delia's first move; she grabbed onto the ice at her chest. Pulling past the sting of the cold as she ripped it off of her hoodie, using a gust of wind to send herself into the air. Gideon's Ice floor spread past her,
He brought his hands up, and spikes made of Ice began to sprout out of the iced floor,another gust of wind sent Delia flying towards Gideon. She readied her hand and as she landed right in front of him, the air buffeted against his face and knocked him back a little.
He regained his ground easily and smacked her across the face. Ice crystals began to form on her left cheek.
"You won't tell!?" Gideon yelled, as the ice underneath then began to climb upwards, encasing Delia's right leg. "Fine then!"
As Gideon struck again, a knife flew into the back of Delia's shoulderblade. She turned to face it, seeing the thunderbolt design on it's blade[Lightning Enchantment] she instantly knew what was going to happen next.
Feeling the Electricity pierce her wound, she whipped her head around to see Emil had moved back to the middle, between the doors. Keeping off the section of the ground that got ice'd. Clarinda had retrieved her gun without moving from the wall she got slammed into earlier
"You two!" Gideon called out, peering to the side to glare at the Eaton's. "Go to Omnipotent! Don't waste time with foolish girl!"
"B-But!" Emil stammered out.
"Don't waste time!" Clarinda turned to her husband and chided him, "She's clearly here for the Omnipotent!"
With that, she nodded at Gideon and began to run further from the fight[Towards Raluag].
The Ice on Delia's cheek began to spread up her face. Thinking quickly, she slapped Gideon to the side with a gust of wind, knocking his head into the wall between two doors. She then reached for the Lightning Enchanted knife and pulled it out of her shoulder. Letting out a guttural sound as the electricity continued to dance in the wound.
Gideon shoved himself back off the wall and sent another stream of Ice at Delia, which gathered around her torso yet again. [Remove at all costs or you will die]
Another Knife flew right into the back of her thigh.[Emil hasn't left the battle] She looked down to see what looked like plants[the Enchantment] shoot out from the wound and wrap themselves around her other leg.
She shoved the Electricity Knife into the ice on her face, it stung but the ice melted off. Gideon approached again but she swung the knife down-wards and he slid back to avoid it. Bringing his fist to Delia's face yet again.
This time, Delia shoved the Electricity Knife into his arm, "Byaa!" He almost coughed, instantly pulling back to grip the [Electrified] Wound.
"No!" She could hear Emil calling out, expecting another knife to come sailing through, she ducked as it[Illusion Enchanted Knife] sailed overheard. Emil let out a grunt of exertion as the Knife turned in the air and flew back towards Delia, she moved her arm out of the way and it wedged itself into the ice sticking her leg in place.
The Knife simply wedged itself in there, the enchantment not taking effect[As the Illusion Enchantment is triggered when it touches skin.]. Emil focused himself as the Knife tried to pull itself out, but Delia grabbed it.
"Moron!!" Gideon exclaimed[to Emil], as Delia shoved the Illusion Knife straight into his other arm. Gideon's eyes instantly dilated[Experiencing Severe Hallucinations.], she sent a strong gust[point blank] at him and he was sent flying. Completely out of touch with reality at the moment, he had no way of resisting or steadying himself and landed roughly on his back a great distance away.[Unable to fight.]
"Ah..I.. Fuck!" Emil stammered out, Delia turned her head and looked as he held his hands up, The 9 remaining knives attached to his belt floated out of their loops and hovered menacingly in mid-air. Behind Delia, the Lightning and Illusion knives flew out of Gideon's arms and hovered in mid-air as well.
All at once, they were sent flying. Four of them already had their enchantments seeping out of them, leaving a trail in the air. [Water, Fire, Earth, Air] Clearly this set had been made with the Omnipotents in mind. Delia eyed the Fire one.
As all knives changed angles, flying towards her, she waved her arms and a strong gust of wind burst forth- sending most of them flying back. The Fire and Justice ones made it through, while the Lightning and Illusion pair went unchallenged.
Waving a arm at the Lightning and Illusion knives, they were thrown off course- both impaling into the ceiling above her, She moved out of the way of the Justice Knife and then grabbed onto the Fire Knife in mid-air.
As the knives all corrected themselves in mid-air, those that had impaled the ground[Death,Air] or ceiling[Lightning,Illusion,Sound] struggling to remove themselves,
Delia sliced at the Ice on her torso with the Fire Knife, melting it within a second, and then sent another gust of wind at all the knives, holding them back as she moved to melt the ice sticking her leg to the floor.
"Gideon! Wake up!" Emil called out, gesturing grandiosely as he tried to manoeuvre the knifes past the gusts his previously immobile opponent had spawned. But it was too late, the Ice on her leg had all melted off, now with soaking wet clothing, she jumped up into the air- impossible high, sailing over the gusts of wind as she parted her arms; knocking 3 of the knives into the left wall, 3 into the right, 5 up to the ceiling.
Sailing over the ground, she threw the Fire knife directly at Emil and it pierced his chest. His shirt ignited set as he fell to the floor screaming. Delia rolled in mid-air and the gusts of wind carried her over Emil[Rolling on the ground trying to extinguish himself], she landed on her knees a distance away.
She held her hands out in front of her, concentrating the information flying around, and two Files appeared in her hands. 'The Underground Chambers' and 'Gideon Isaeov'.
Shoving the Envelopes into her slightly wet hoodie, she ran in the same direction Clarinda did-
RATATATATATATATATAT!
She stumbled backwards just before she could turn the corner, as rapid gunfire resounded through the cavernous hallway, tiny explosions shaking the wall the bullets sprayed into.
Delia stayed still, leaning back. The bullets had stopped. She couldn't hear movement.
... A Gun[Clarinda's Automatic Rifle] peered out from behind the wall. It's Enchantment's [Motion-Sensing, Heat-Sensing, Target-Sensing, Psychic Control, Auto-Reloading, Auto-Firing] swirling around it. The Mystic Energy curling around the trigger forming into a translucent finger that pressed inwards.
Delia darted to the side as bullets shot out, the Gun moving on it's own and keeping trained on her as she ran to the edge of the hallway, throwing a gust of wind at the gun and spinning it into a corner. It's scope was knocked upwards, the bullets flying into the ceiling as she ran past it. Clarinda had clearly left the gun here as a trap and continued on ahead to Raluag.
As Delia turned away from the gun and looked ahead, she saw Clarinda. Her hand on a open doorway[about to walk in]. Delia whipped her hands out in front of herself as she ran- and a gust of wind knocked her off her feet. The Lady in Camouflage caught herself quickly, as the gun behind Delia corrected itself and fired it's next round, bullets trailing through her hoodie, barely missing her skin.
Delia directed a gust of wind behind her- taking the gun in it's breeze and slamming it into the corner again as Clarinda darted into the room, moving to close the door on her way in.
Delia jumped up- using the wind to throw herself further down the hallway, she caught herself on the-still closing door, catching a glimpse of the Inside.
Clarinda rushing into the room. Raluag [Unconscious, Restrained.] lying behind iron bars at the back of the room. A Small bench on the right side where someone can keep watch. The Door to the Cell was wide open, also inside; and pulling the restrained Raluag towards a Teleportation Circle on the wall behind her was A Unfamiliar Girl- [Delilah Z- Born 21st -
The Girl- Delilah met eyes with Delia, and-the words all vanished.
Lynch's own eyes widened, her white eyes looking at the world around her in confusion. The gusts of wind remained, though. She snapped herself out of it, flung herself into the room. Her feet landing at the back of Clarinda's neck. Flapping her arms and throwing herself and Clarinda into the open cell with the same burst of wind.
'My.. power, it's gone... How!?
No. Calm down, Calm down Lynch. Think of why this could've happened, what caused your power to-'
Clarinda had gotten up and punched Lynch right in the face. Flooring her instantly. Her vision was a daze, lacking something vital. She looked towards Delilah again, seeing her weakly drag the Unconscious Raluag towards the circle. She pulled herself onto her stomach and sent a gust of wind at them. Knocking Delilah to the wall and leaving Raluag to fall into a pile.
Clarinda swung her leg and hit Lynch in the side of the head again, knocking her to the side. Lynch got a good eyeful of the wound on Raluag's leg, that hadn't been cared for at all and was left to speck the floor with the occasional blood droplet.
The same leg hit Lynch in the corner of her eye and she rolled onto her back. Stars dancing in her eyes.
"You're some clever kind of bitch, ain't ya?" Clarinda taunted, bringing her leg to slam it down once more.
Lynch raised up a hand and blocked it; holding her leg in place before splaying out her fingers. A Gust of wind hit Clarinda full force, knocking her onto her ass.
RATATATATATATAT!!
The sound of Clarinda's automatic gun peering through the open doorway, opening fire broke Delia out of her daze. The bullets that did make it past the bars sailed overhead. The gun was aiming too high to hit anyone, as all of them had been floored earlier. It corrected itself and began to fire lower.
Thinking quickly, Delia moved her arm along the floor, a gust of wind shunted Clarinda into the bars and then pushed her into the trajectory of the bullets- holding her in place. Using her other arm, she sent a gust of wind out that caught Raluag in it's breeze, pushing her through the Teleportation Circle.
Delia then got to her feet, running for the cir-
Delilah grabbed onto her leg, knocking Delia to the ground. Half of her arm had gone through the circle, but the rest of her was still in the cell. Bullets clattered just overhead- the gun at the entrance still tracking Delia, she moved the gust of wind holding Clarinda and moved her into the bullet's trajectory yet again. Giving the gun no choice but to find a better angle before it could resume fire.
"Who are you!?" Delia yelled, turning to shove her hand into Delilah's face. "How did you do that!?"
A Gust of wind ran through Delilah's hair and sent it all back, hitting Delilah point-blank in the face, she slammed straight into the bars with such force that her head shook in place as she ricocheted to the ground. She twitched slightly and then went limp. The two consecutive hits to the head leaving her unconscious.
'The words still haven't appeared.. what did this girl do?'
That same gust of wind then blew into Delia, flinging her through the Teleportation Circle. The wind holding Clarinda faded and she ragdolled to the floor, not bleeding.
2081, 24th December, Wednesday 1:42pm. Underground Church, Underneath the Skaebe-Erinfort Forest.
This was the second time in the hour that Delia tumbled through a Jashinist's Teleportation Circle before they could go through it. This time, she felt a bit more confident that they wouldn't attack her from behind. [As Delilah and Clarinda were both unconscious.]
'Huh, the words are back.' She thought to herself. [Out of Delilah's Range.] As she, tumbled behind the pews of a large stone church[Of the Red Moon, 3 people inside-including yourself]. The lighting was dim, with nothing shining through the stained glass windows- or the celestial moon designs on them.
3 People? Delia looked to Raluag, who was slumped behind the same pew she was. There was a third person in here. Delia craned her head up- peering over the pews, and instantly saw him. [Tauro Omesata, 47 Years old, Originates from Universe 0.-]
She didn't get a chance to read any more before Tauro- across the pews, standing near the altar- turned to look at her. His eyes scrunched together as she ducked back down behind the pews. Tauro turned to look at the still-glowing circle behind her and yelled ; "Delilah!"
Delia sent a gust of wind at Tauro; knocking the book[Bible] clean off the altar and slamming his head into one of the nearby pillars. She then ducked back down and began unwrapping the chains binding Raluag. "Come on- Wake up- Wake up!" Delia exclaimed, hoping her voice would be enough.
Throwing the chains binding Raluag's arms to the side, she concentrated a gust of wind that sent Raluag further back down the pews- away from the Altar and ran after her. She landed on one of the farthest rightmost pew with a clang[Chains around legs loosened], and Delia swiftly leapt over to her, taking the chain and unfurling it-
RATATATATATATAT!
The Familiar sound of Clarinda's Automatic Gun shot through, and a spurt of blood flew from Delia's shoulder, knocking her off the pew and to the floor.
As Delia smacked into the ground, behind her- a light green flat psychic wall[Tauro's Ability] shot up, boxing her in. The large set of Doors[entrance/Exit] at the far end of the church, and the two hallways that veered out of sight both off-limits as long as this glowing wall was in the way. The Automatic Gun[Continues even when Clarinda is unable to.] was half-phased through the teleportation circle[Leads to Underground Cells], and Tauro was glowing at the altar.
Raluag stirred slightly[Still Out] and Delia saw exactly how she was going to get out of this.
She slapped Raluag, who's eyes shot open from the impact. "Wake up!" Delia exclaimed.
"L-...Laurel?" Raluag asked, hazily[Was about to call you Lynch]. The sound of rapid-fire bullets rang out and 'Delia Laurel' dropped herself to the ground, Tauro's wall[Functions as Invincible Shield as well as a Barrier] absorbed most of the hits.
"Laurel.." Tauro repeated, "Is that your name?" he raised his hands up, another psychic wall sprouting up right in front of the furthest Pews. Trapping Delia and Raluag between his two walls. The Gun continued to fire even though the walls absorbed all of the bullets.
As Tauro brought his hands together, the two walls began closing in on each other[Intent to injure but not kill.].
"Yes, Laura, it's me." Delia repeated. "Listen, I need you to use your power, right now!"
"..On.. you?" Raluag asked, [Still out of it.]
"No! On him!" Delia exclaimed, pointing towards Tauro. Raluag leered upwards, still not completely lucid, and turned to look at him. Tauro's expression tensed up and he looked to the Teleportation Circle again. "Delilah! Get in here!" He yelled-
Raluag's eyes sparked, and Tauro's arms ragdolled. Both of the Psychic Walls froze.
"We need to get out of here!" Delia exclaimed. Raluag pulled herself up as best she could, but her injuries hadn't been cared for at all, so Delia gripped her under her arms and pulled her up.
"What.. did you... save me?" Raluag asked, gasping for breath. "..Thanks, I guess."
Delia looked down at Raluag's clothes. 'Why did I save you?..' she asked herself. 'No, that's a stupid question. If the cultists had her for any longer, then...
She had entered the story, once again. The one she'd spent all these years trying to keep herself out of.'
Raluag looked at the two walls around them, and then towards Tauro's expressionless form. "..You, open this wall up. Come in here." She commanded.
Tauro[Controlled by Raluag], dully, turned to face her, and a small part of the Psychic Wall vanished, creating a small space just large enough for him to walk through. He lumbered through it, and then walked up to the two.
Raluag nodded, "Okay. now, open up another portal. Take us somewhere safe, where the red moon won't get to us."
Tauro nodded mindlessly, and a teleportation circle appeared behind them.
"And you're sure there's no members there?" Raluag asked. "None at all?"
Tauro's mouth lolled open and he blinked slowly. "..There.. shouldn't be. Noone's.. been there in.. years."[True]
Raluag looked him other, before leaning further into Delia's shoulders.
"It's good enough." Raluag grunted. "Just follow us, and close it behind you."
Prompted, Delia carried Raluag[In need of Medical Attention.] towards the circle, and went through it. The Controlled Tauro following mindlessly behind them.
The Circle and the two psychic walls vanished once all 3 had gone through. The Automatic Gun, no longer detecting anybody to shoot... simply floated there.
2081, 24th December, Wednesday 1:50pm. Quarantined Emergency Care Section, Wellham Hospital
Amila sat in her wheelchair, looking through the window. Running her functioning hand over the unscarred half of her face. She couldn't see, or feel whatever blemish had to be bandaged in her reflection. She had no memory of it either.
The world outside of the window was a city that had been ignored for years. Ever since Nexeem destroyed it. She could see some figures.. scavengers? others? she couldn't tell.. darting out of a alleyway to find some kind of shelter for the time being. There were only 3, not many at all. The first people she'd seen outside the hospital since she woke up.
Her bandaged arm was lying limply at her side. Casting a single eye down to look at it. She watched as her best attempts to lift it up only caused her thumb to wiggle slightly. That hand was out of commission completely. She'd been awake for half an hour at most, and she already wanted nothing more than to-
She held up the hand she could use, testing each finger individually as she tried to control her breathing.
The Curtain had caught fire.
==============================================
2081, 24th December, Wednesday 1:50pm. The Train to Wallshore. 4th Carriage.
The Lady, the Fungal Baby, and the Blond Man were the only passengers aboard the train. The first 3 carriages were full to the brim with supplies the train would be taking to other cities.
"...Eleanor." The Blond man said, sitting down across from her.
The lady, Eleanor, had placed the silver bag on the table between the seats, placing a array of petri dishes along it. The Fungal Baby was currently sleeping in the empty space next to her, looking quite different. In the small amount of time it had been, it had developed fingers and grown a couple of inches.
"..Eleanor." He repeated, again. This time it got her attention. She looked up from her Petri dishes.
"..Hippolytos." She said. "..Do you want to say something?"
Hippolytos leaned back in his chair, and looked out of the window, seeing a cluster of Other Crystals lying in the middle of a field, yellow eyed, loosely formed silhouettes gathering around it as the train went too far for him to see any more.
He put his hand to his neck, struggling to speak before he managed to get his sentence out. "..How do you know that she'll be in Wallshore?"
"..I don't." Eleanor admitted. "But, it's the only lead we have. So.. I believe, that it's still worth taking. Even if she isn't there, there'll definetely be a clue to her whereabouts."
Hippolytos placed his leg on the table, taking great care not to push any of the petri dishes off. "You really want to see this 'Lynch Rise' person, don't you?"
"..You want to see her as well." Eleanor nodded. "I'm not the only one with questions."
"True." Hippolytos conceded. "But.. what will we do? If we go there, and there aren't any clues or anything?"
Eleanor looked down at the dishes, holding a empty one up. "... I guess we could go to the red moon headquarters there, burn it down. Take some saliva while we're at it.. that should be good enough, then it wasn't a total waste."
Hippolytos smiled and leaned across the table- before catching her expression and leaning back. "Glad it won't be a total waste of time."
Eleanor opened up the empty petri dish. Grasping it from both sides to steady it. She lifted a single hand and held a finger over it, intently focusing as a strange fog began to emanate from her fingertip. The fog drifted down-wards, and seemed to liquefy as it fell. A Single droplet hit the petri dish, and she instantly slammed the cap onto it. She checked to make sure the seal as air-tight, and then moved it over to the rest.
Her many dangling bracelets chimed together as she tilted her head, looking to the collection of Petri Dishes. "..Do you think this is enough?" She asked.
"I'd say that's more than enough." Hippolytos answered.
Eleanor nodded, and then looked over her shoulder, at the entrance to the 3rd carriage. Where a trio of workers were playing cards. "..Can you fetch them for me?" She asked.
Hippolytos nodded, and walked towards the 3rd carriage. Eleanor set aside 3 petri dishes, each with similar little globs in them.
2081, 24th December, Wednesday 1:50pm Underground Chambers, ??
The familiar sound of stiletto's click-clacking as they made their way down the hall greeted the drifting ears of Clarinda Eaton.
She pulled herself to her knees, remembering the fight she had against that girl. Looking to her left and seeing a still unconscious Delilah face-down on the ground, and then looking ahead of her to see the still-active Teleportation Circle.
She felt along her chest and back, feeling the bulletproof vest pressed against her skin. The symbol on her stomach glowing. 'If I hadn't been wearing this, I would've died...'
"So." Martha's voice rang out, as her heels clanged their way into the room. Three other steps of footsteps accompanying her.
Clarinda stood up, and turned around. Facing Martha, who tapped a finger on her own sleeve irritably, A even more pissed off looking Gideon who had frozen the wounds on his arms shut, a Man in a brown suit with a fedora: Abraham! A Member of Jebediah's Inner Circle was here..
The extra was somebody she hadn't seen before, a man with messy black hair and a matching beard with yellowish skin wearing a unclean button up shirt and alcohol stained set of trousers. Clarinda's eyes were drawn to the Red Moon symbol on his forearm, the pink and grey guns carelessly shoved into his pockets, and the important looking case he was lugging around with him.
...Where's Emil?
"What. Happened. Here?" Martha asked, each sentence higher and higher pitched. It reminded Clarinda of the prudish headmistress from her days in private school.
"I.. I'm sorry." Clarinda pulled herself back to her knees. "It won't happen again, the girl immobilized me. In front of my own gun, halting it's fire. There was nothing I could do, and my husband had-"
"Your husband is biggest idiot of all." Gideon cut her off. "I tell him to leave but he stays, his stupid knives gave her edge. She would've been pretty sculpture if he stayed out of it."
Clarinda's eyes became as wide as dinner plates. "Did-.. I'm sorry for his foolishness! I'll keep a better eye on him in the future!"
"Well." Martha seethed, a quiet fury in her eyes as she folded her arms into themselves. "You better. You understand that this ruins everything, don't you? We need that Omnipotent back!"
Her voice reverberated throughout the room.
The alcohol stained man leaned his head back and let out a slurred groan. "Uuugh, jusht.. stop fucking up. You.. you all had 'er fah like.. a hawr?" He asked. Near unintelligible, Martha's face crinkled up from the drunkard breath that was getting to her face. She instinctively covered her face and moved away from him.
"Do not get pissy with me." Gideon scowled.
The drunk man dropped the suitcase on the ground and waved a hand flippantly. "Who cares? Who caaares? Ghet the bish baaaack. Curtshide faalls and now thiis. Ghet yah shiit together.."
"Just ignore him. The whole 'sacrificing your daughter' shtick really didn't work out for the man in the long run, never got over it." Abraham said, shuffling his deck of cards out of habit. "Besides, this seems a easy fix."
"They took control of Tauro and left, Abe!" Martha scowled. "You tell me how this is a easy fix!"
"Just go where Tauro took them." Gideon answered.
"Oh, yeah." The drunk man agreed sarcastically. Clarinda attempted to make herself look as small as possible, so they wouldn't all remember they were originally angry at her. "Just.. find him, how are-.." He burped. "How-are we shupposhed to do thaat?"
Martha's scowl vanished, as she held a finger to her chin and thought about it.
"..Just.. ask ourselves where he'd go, if he was hoping to avoid us." Martha concluded. "And head them off there.
Once we get Delilah to them, it'll be as easy as it was last time.. and we can do the ritual immediately afterwards."
END OF PART 2
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Post by IDEK on Feb 3, 2019 0:46:19 GMT
In Transience, I Rise-
Part 3: Chance.
2081, 24th December, Wednesday 2:10pm. Ruins of Wellham
It had been so long since Raluag had last used her power.
What's more, this was only the third time she had ever completely erased somebodies Free Will like this. Back when she was young and stupid, using her power on whoever she came across... she had done it much more subtly.
Then again, the circumstances were different. Back then she was just testing her power, and being stupid.. this time around, the puppet limply standing in the corner of the room had been a member of a group that wanted her dead.
The woman who saved her may have gone by Delia Laurel now, but whenever she saw her.. she still thought of her as Lynch. That quiet, snarky girl who was there, fighting Erebus head on, while she and the rest of the Omnipotents took out his minions... Well, the others fought, she still was refusing to use her power back then.
That had been the last time all of them had been together, Hadn't it?
No.. it was earlier than that, when Etianpug died. That was so long ago. Now she, Lynch, and this Red Moon Bastard were camping out in one of the various empty houses in the remains of Wellham.
She put her hands to her face and sank into her chair. Most of the houses in this town had been utterly destroyed. Those that hadn't had either been scavenged, or squatted in by Others. This was the first unoccupied house they found.
There weren't any curtains, and the back windows had all been completely wrecked, but Wellham wasn't anywhere near as cold as Wallshore had been, so they could live with that. This house had a first aid kit in it, as well as some new clothes that hadn't been stained with blood. So the first chance she got, Raluag had cleaned and dressed her wounds, then gotten changed. Just a simple long sleeved white shirt, a pair of trousers and actual shoes. Nothing too fancy.
She was pulled out of her thoughts when Lynch walked into the room, holding another one of those files.
"..Are we.. just going to keep him?" She asked, looking over to the mindless cultist still standing in the corner of the room with a obviously uncomfortable tone of voice, even if her expression didn't give it away. "Seems kind of.. weird."
Raluag, still wincing in pain, frowned. "...We probably won't need to. But, if those guys get to us again- especially with that Delilah girl and whatever the fuck she did to me."
"..She got me too." Lynch commented. "Just looked at me, and, I was cut off from.. something i've had all my life."
Raluag leaned against the edge of the chair. "I'm just glad it's back, but if we see that girl again, we'll need to take her out. Without her I would've taken Martha out easily."
Lynch turned her head to the side. "..Can you tell him to find another room?" She asked.
"Uh, sure." Raluag nodded, turning to The White haired Cultist. "..You, go upstairs." She said. He complied and walked out of sight. "So, what did you want to talk about, Ly..Delia?.. ugh, Delia, Delilah. They're too similar. Why'd you choose that name?"
Lynch leaned against a doorway and blinked. "...I just liked the sound of it. But.. we should probably just leave him here, then find another place to go.... Best case scenario, we never see them again."
"Yeah, I can only hope so." Raluag groaned, shoving her face back into her hands. "So.. what's the plan?" She mumbled. "We just go, now?"
"..Not now. Wait." Lynch answered, before looking towards where all of Raluag's wounds were.
"..Yeah, these'll take-" She placed her foot on the ground, and instantly winced as the sensation spread past the wounds. "..Gha!.. They'll take some time to heal."
Lynch nodded, before turning to the side. "I'll... see if I can get more information from that guy, He'll talk to me, right?"
"He.. he should." Raluag sighed, now lying on her back.
Lynch nodded, and walked out of the room.
==============================================
Delia found Tauro standing next to the staircase in the second floor hallway. She glanced behind him, at the open bedrooms[Wrecked, last slept in 2 years ago.], and then back to him.
She opened her mouth, and then spoke.
"What can you tell me about Delilah?" She asked.
Tauro stared at her blankly, running his tongue along the rim of his mouth. "..Delilah.. is a strange girl. I've never seen her speak.. not even once."
"Powers?" Delia cut him off. "Anything you can tell me about her powers?"
"..They[Martha and Gideon]... said she can.. 'separate mental connections' or.. 'nullify mental powers'." Tauro droned. "...Like a .. Frequency Jammer... cutting a phone off... from it's network."
Delia's eyes widened, while her eyebrows furrowed as she pondered this.
"That's a... interesting way to describe a power." She commented.
'Cutting a phone off from it's network? How far is he stretching the definition of 'mental power', is it just things like my.. sight and raluag's free will power, or can she disable things like telekinesis.. or someone's capacity to understand language as well?'
"Can you.. explain what you mean by that?" Lynch asked.
Tauro[Recalling what others said] nodded. "..It's like.. If Raluag uses her power on someone.. if Delilah looks at that person, then.. that person is disconnected from Raluag."[Direct Reference to Raluag's capture.]
"..So it's eye contact?" Lynch asked, having found something she could grab onto. If the power is activated by Eye contact, then that means that if she avoids eye contact then Delilah can't touch her.
".....I.. think she should be able to activate it with touch as well." Tauro explained.[capable of thinking and theorizing, even if his free will was stolen.]
Lynch nodded. "Right... Do you know anything else? Like, where she came from, or when she joined?"
"I.. don't know." Tauro answered. "I.. only met her.. about a hour ago."
Lynch took a step back. '...Is there anything else to ask about?.. yes, there is.'
"So, what did Martha want Raluag for?" Lynch asked.
"...Martha wants to harness the Omnipotent's power because it's the power of Free Will, and not only would it push them further through their ritual, but if they could still harness it afterwards, then all their opponents would surrender whenever they will them to." Tauro explained.
Lynch leaned forwards. "The Ritual to revive Jashin, right?" She asked.
Tauro nodded.[It's not like he can lie or anything right now.]
"...I see, thanks." Lynch said as she turned and looked at the stairs.. she was still cold[freezing]. She looked at the bathroom, eyeing the taps [Hot and Cold Water Both Functional].
Once she read that, she went into the bathroom and closed the door behind her. Tauro didn't react.
==============================================
The middle of Wellham was just as much of a wreck as the rest of it, pieces of fallen structures had fallen onto the brick-pattern walkways. Completely cutting off the ransacked set of small stores from the rest of the town.
A Set of Formless Others, foggy bodies with bright yellow eyes- created more from the general atmosphere and feelings associated with the ruins of wellham rather than any one specific human- had gathered around the Small stores, all looking to the pile of crystals placed at the entrance to a dusty, spider-web littered shop.
"..... .... .... .." One of the others said, as it bent down and picked up one of the crystals in it's misty hands. Clutching it as though the crystal was it's own child, it walked in through the broken apart-doorway and placed the crystal down on the counter.
It looked towards the rest, who all picked up crystals of their own and walked into the shop as well.
Suddenly, one of the crystals began to glow. All of the Others turned- as if alerted to some previously unfelt presence.
...
"Ugh... I swear, if Tauro didn't bring them here, I'm going to lose it." Clarinda groaned, walking through a teleportation circle glowing on one of the fractured walls of a half-destroyed house.
In front of her, stood Abraham; surveying the scenery with a distasteful expression. Clarinda lumbered up to him, making no effort to hide her unhappiness as she antsily looked around. Lugging her guns along with her.
Martha waltzed through the portal, spreading her arms in the air before placing her hands to her hips. A Plastic smile cracking across her face. "Well, before you guys get going, I forgot to tell you something. If you do happen to find Laura, or Tauro, or that third bitch anywhere-" She stressed. "Open up a portal straight back to where you came from, I'll be waiting there with Delilah, and we'll come on through. If you don't find them here, then we'll try elsewhere. Understand?"
Her fingernails seemed to wiggle on her fingers. Clarinda cringed at the sight.
"Calm down, I hear you loud and clear." Abraham sighed, with half closed eyes.
Martha pulled her coat up to her chin, her facial features all pressing together. "Well, you better." She huffed, before turning her back to them and walking back out through the portal- which vanished.
"..Jeez, what a cow." Clarinda gritted her teeth.
Abraham let out a exaggerated sigh and dusted himself off, pulling a single card out. "Well, I don't quite like her either, but it can't be helped. She's got a good head on her shoulders even if she's in one of her moods right now. It is in our best interest to find that Omnipotent, and Wellham is a good place to hide if you are one."
"A Good place to get killed is more like it." Clarinda spat. "This entire place is crawling with others."
Abraham looked to her, as though remembering something. "Oh yeah, that's right. You fought against the Others during your time in the army, correct? Were you stationed here?"
"I.. went wherever I was needed." Clarinda avoided his eyes. "Had some victories, some losses. But it doesn't matter, I can take these things easy."
"Maybe you can." Abraham shrugged, pulling out a second card and flicking it to her. The Ex-military caught it in her hand. "But can you take Raluag, or her accomplice easily? She beat you the last time, and that was after that child.. did whatever it is she does."
Clarinda blinked, flipping the card over. The Eight of Spades.
"Feel free to keep that, if you want." Abraham commented, already walking away.
Clarinda looked the card over, before placing it in her pocket and running after him with a determined expression. All of her guns following behind her. She kept her eyes peeled, eyeing each broken window and shadow that moved just out of the scope of her vision. Not even lifting a finger as the guns around her got to work. One of her Automatic Rifles instantly locked on to a passing Other, which had made direct eye contact with her.
"..Hm, that's not good." Abraham commented, as the other, currently formless, took a step forwards, and then a-
RATATATATATATATATAT!
It stumbled backwards, the bullets shooting through it and taking pieces of it's foggy form, Trails of distorting mist pushing out of it's back as it found it's footing again.
Still distorting, fog dispersing all around it, Clarinda watched as for a single second before it fell apart, it took a form identical to her own.
Clarinda watched as this form of a yellow-eyed, confused Other Clarinda- that existed for less than a second-, vanished into clouds and colours before fading in the breeze. She caught her breath in her throat, and allowed it to leave before turning to Abraham. "See, like I said, I can take them out easy."
"..So it seems." Abraham mused, as they continued.
'..He seems so calm.' Clarinda noticed, as she followed after him, constantly looking over her shoulder as her guns circled around her, providing her protection from attacks from any angles. Wellham was a anarchic ruin that was crawling with the personification of every negative emotion ever experienced, she'd fought Others before, she'd.. seen them kill people before. She couldn't let her guard down for a moment, had to strike them before they had the chance to take on someone's emotions.
What mattered most in combat was not giving your opponent a chance to strike. Clarinda figured that was part of why 'Delilah' was such a important component of Martha's plan. If the opponent can't use their power, they may as well not be able to strike at all.
2081, 24th December, Wednesday 2:19pm. Quarantined Emergency Care Section. Wellham Hospital.
Randolf was hunched over a pair of binoculars propped up in a empty hospital room at the very top floor. One that had clearly been repurposed for the time being, as all of the hospital equipment that should've been in there, most notably was not.
He placed the binoculars back down, donning a cold expression. "..Yes, you. I remember you as well, Abraham..."
Without another word, he turned on his feet- pulled his diamond patterned tie out of his pocket and clasped it onto his lapel in the same movement he used to slam the door open and slide into the hallway.
With the same arm, he reached out and grabbed onto the nearest 'doctor'. "You. I've caught sight of members of Jebediah's little organization." Randolf's voice cut through the silence. "..Ready our men. Double down on all defences."
The 'Doctor' nodded silently in response, as he went back the way he had come.
Randolf headed towards the opposite direction, marching single-mindedly down the stairs and to his destination.
The smell of burnt fabric permeated through his granddaughter's room, but he was clouded by his own emotions, and continued past her, down another set of stairs, and towards the room where most of the Red Moon were being kept for the time being.
"Sir!?" One of the Doctor's asked, as the others immediately started trying to look busy. Some were still looking over Jebediah's form but it was clear that none of them really knew what else they were supposed to be doing, and had started just relaxing.
Randolf looked to a pair that had sat down on a empty bed and started reading with smouldering eyes, before turning to the Doctor who had spoken. "You do understand what you're trying to do here, correct?"
"Uh, Yes, sir." The Doctor nodded, uncertainly.
"Then what are you doing?" Randolf asked. "Just faffing about while there's Red Moon on our doorstep!? Get back to work! All of you!"
"B-But, sir!" The Same Doctor rebutted. "We don't really have anything to do other than keep watch over them for the time being!"
"Then at least try to look like that's what you're doing!" Randolf yelled, his temper flaring. The Old man grasped at his chest even though he wasn't feeling any pain.
"There's no need to lose your temper like that, please just calm down sir!" Another doctor exclaimed, before their brain could stop them.
"Besides, if you're so worried about the Red Moon, then why don't you just do as we're suggesting, and let us kill the man! Why do you even want that Spirit inside of him anyway?" A Third asked.
The room went silent. A Breeze ran through the previously still air, Randolf's tie flowing in the wind seamlessly.
"...Don't you dare question me again." Randolf muttered, his voice a whisper. Composed, and oddly calm. "We need that spirit, because he needs to answer for his sins, just as she needs to answer for hers. My son, my own daughter-in-law, so many other families, including all of yours, died in that attack. Did they not? We can't deny that the entity within this man is the key to us defeating them.
But at the same time, I can't let him run free. Once we figure out how to get his spirit into me instead, then you're free to do whatever you want to that man. As long as he's still alive to see me be the one to wipe out that scourge."
The Doctor's looked at Randolf, some intimidated, some with expressions of disbelief.
"..If you're just keeping him alive for your own ego, sir-" One of the Nurses walked forwards.
Randolf glared her down. "This is not about my ego. This is about revenge, on both sides. Against this man, and against that demon. Just make sure nothing happens to him, I've got other people to check up on."
Not paying any mind to the expressions of those he left behind, he walked out of the room and violently smacked the door shut.
"..He's going to yell himself into cardiac arrest if this keeps up." The Nurse commented, under her breath as she looked at Jebediah's body. "He's being stupid. We have the leader of our enemy right here, it'd be so easy to just kill him and the Red Moon wouldn't be a threat anymore."
She looked to the rest of the doctor's and staff for validation, and found it in the faces they wore.
...
Amila, from her room, watched as Randolf briefly appeared in the window in the door. Walking past her again without glancing.
She looked at the fire that had started on the curtain, curling her functioning hand into a fist as she looked at her other one. How had she injured it?.. How had she injured her head? Try as she might, she couldn't remember anything about that battle.
She closed her eyelids, and tensed her entire body up, trying to remember.... But she couldn't. She couldn't even pinpoint where the cut-off was, it was just a giant blur of fire and yells and gunshots.
"..G.hh.." She hissed, the fire on the curtain instantly extinguishing. Leaving the smell of burnt fabric in the air. She wheeled herself back to the window, leaned against it, and looked outside.
"Ma'am!" A man in heavy riot gear suddenly called out, entering the room. "For the time being, I must ask that you stay away from the window."
Amila looked at him. "..Why?" She asked.
"2 Agents of The Red Moon have been sighted. Your Grandfather knows that you can handle yourself, but he still wants me to at least stay in the room with you as backup. Just in case." The Man explained.
Amila let out a annoyed grunt, before complying. Moving out of the windows view.
A Couple of seconds passed, she couldn't decide what to look at, before getting annoyed with the silence and looking back to the man again. "Excuse me." She said. "Do you mind If I ask you something?"
"Not at all." The Man said.
"..Were you there, during the battle?" Amila asked.
"Uh, No Ma'am. I was not. I'm one of your grandfather's men, I wasn't there." He explained.
Amila looked at him with a disappointed eye, frowning slightly. "Well, do you know..."
'How I acquired my injuries?.. what a dumb thing to ask.' Amila Chided herself. 'I should already know this...'
"..Ma'am?" The Man asked.
Amila looked to him and nodded, smiling insincerely. "I'm sorry, I was just wondering if you could get me some tea? I haven't had something to drink in a while."
"Ah, of course. I'll get a nurse to bring some." The Man said, opening the door and calling out. "Hey, Nurse! Ms.L'aurlethé-Stoneson wants some Tea!"
"..What kind?" The nurse asked.
The man turned his head, and asked the same question.
Amila's shoulder ached, jolting her out of her annoyance. "..I do not particularly care." She answered, flippantly. "Just get me whatever you've got."
"..She said she's fine with whatever!" The Man answered the nurse, as though Amila didn't speak.
"Alright, I'll get that then." The nurse said, her voice fading. She was already leaving.
Amila leaned back in her wheelchair, "..And can you get a book too, or something?" She asked. "I'm awfully bored, and could use the distraction."
"..I'll get another nurse to do that." The man said, poking his head out of the doorway again to bother another poor nurse.
Amila groaned internally. 'Why can't you take the hint and get out?'
...
Randolf had returned to the room on the top floor, two 'doctors' on either side of him. Both of them in the process of removing their coats and putting their riot gear back on.
'It's too soon. It's way too soon. Can't they have waited at least a day longer?'
"Remember." Randolf said, turning to face them, as they both walked up to the window on either side of him. "When you get sight of them, shoot immediately."
"Yes Sir." They nodded, simultaneously. ===============
2081, 24th December, Wednesday 2:23pm. Ruins of Wellham Abraham and Clarinda had only been hunting for about 12 minutes, according to Clarinda's watch. The sun hadn't changed it's position in the sky, so it definitely hadn't been that long. But for some reason, the short amount of time spent peering into empty houses and down streets had felt like an eternity.
Perhaps it was because of how quickly she took down the first other that approached them, but the rest were smart enough to keep their distance.
Clarinda didn't even need to look out for them, the second a Other poked it's head out of a window to look at them one of her guns would while around and unload it's entire round into it.
"You really should stop doing that." Abraham had commented. "All it's going to do is draw more attention to us. Your guns are many things but none of them are loud."
She didn't have a good enough response, so she just clicked her tongue and pulled her cap down.
2:24pm...
2:25pm...
As Abraham pulled himself up over some rubble, Clarinda used her own guns as a makeshift staircase. The silence was unbearable.
"Hey, what does the eight of spades mean?" She asked.
Abraham turned his head towards her, looking over the rubble and surveying the town. "What do you mean?"
"Well, these cards all have, like, prophetic meanings to them, right?" Clarinda guessed, pulling the eight of spades out. "I was thinking that this card might mean something."
"It doesn't." Abraham confirmed. "It's just one card out of many, that's all."
Clarinda looked at him, disappointed.
Abraham just sighed, smiling. "Ah, let's just focus on the mission, child. They've got to be around here somewhere."
Clarinda's eyelids dropped. One of her guns floated directly in front of her, and she closed her right eye. Looking through the scope.
There was a Hospital in the distance, the only building nearby that didn't seem to have suffered any damage, oddly enough.
Clarinda's body stayed perfectly still, the gun's scope adjusted itself and allowed her to take a closer look. Her eyes widened slightly when she saw that each window had someone in riot armor with a rifle stationed on the other side of it.
"..That hospital looks.. a bit too.. populated." Clarinda commented.
"Really?" Abraham asked, walking over to her. "Let me see."
Clarinda obliged, the gun flying over so Abraham could peer through it's scope. He pressed his eye against it and hummed.
"That is odd." He muttered. "What, you think those two are hiding in there?"
"..Not really." Clarinda answered, "But something's going on in there. Any place with armed guards in it has something happening inside it."
Abraham shrugged. "Glad to see I'm with the brains of the operation. We should check that place out later."
Clarinda nodded, walking ahead. "That's true, the mission comes first."
As Clarinda slid down the pile of rubble, she caught the ping of a bullet veering slightly off course and hitting the pavement at her feet. Instantly she looked straight to the motel. "..They just shot at me." She reported.
Abraham's eyes steeled, he pulled out of a deck of cards, flipping a card into the air. A Bullet tore through it, and then was caught in the card's explosion. Abraham slid backwards, as more bullets sailed past him, one ripping through his suit.
"Tch.." Abraham clicked his tongue, one of his feet halfway over the edge. "Looks like they don't want visito-huh!?"
A Spurt of blood shot out of his collarbone, Abraham's eyes widened as he lost his balance. His hand went to the bullet hole... and he fell backwards. Landing roughly on the ground.
"Abe!" Clarinda yelled out, one of her guns automatically returning fire to the hospital, while the other one took a position where it could block any bullets from hitting her.
A Teleportation circle appeared behind her, and sucked her through it before the men in the hospital could open fire. With the 'Ratatatatat' of her gun still sounding off, she re-appeared on the other side of the rubble pile. Where Abraham had pulled himself up, letting out the occasional grunt of annoyance and pain as he clutched his neck.
"Shit!.." He exclaimed. "Those Bastards really don't want us here!"
"Whoever they are, they're not Raluag." Clarinda commented, trying to keep her cool and stay under cover.
"No Shit!" Abraham yelled.
Clarinda peered over to the rubble again, only allowing the top of her head to poke up. "...We can't keep looking around if they're taking potshots at us from that far away, we can take them out now."
"Then do it." Abraham muttered, blood leaking out of the side of his mouth. They were completely going against what they had decided less than a minute ago, to keep focusing on Raluag and look into that hospital later, but that was said before he got shot. Now, they were being threatened and had to react.
Clarinda glowered at him, and then spawned another teleportation circle. "Come on, old man." She said, as she jumped through it. 3 of her guns went through with her, but the fourth one stayed behind to keep shooting at the hospital.
Abraham pulled himself up to his feet, "..Damn. Now I'm just annoyed." He muttered, feeling at the bullet wound with one hand and pulling out a hand of cards with the other.
He ran through the portal.
2081, 24th December, Wednesday 2:28pm. Quarantined Emergency Care Section. Wellham Hospital. Fire.
When Abraham walked through the portal, he was instantly engulfed by flames.
Rolling onto his side and smacking into the door behind him, he looked past all of the flames to see a old man in a white suit- one he recognized from somewhere- accompanied by a single man in riot armor, another was lying on the ground nearby, clutching a spot in his arm where it seemed the riot gear wasn't enough to protect him.
Clarinda was off to the side, having luckily avoided the fire. Her 3 guns circled around in front of her as she squatted in the rightmost corner, their scopes trained on the man, but for some reason she didn't fire.
"..Abraham." The old man's voice was cold, unlike the flames separating the two halves of the room. He looked about as old as Abraham was,
Abraham grabbed onto the door for support, pulling himself upright. "I'm sorry but, have we met before? You look really familiar."
The Old man looked him square in the eyes. "...I'm disappointed, honestly."
"So, ignoring that. Why are you shooting at us?" Abraham asked. "We're just passing through the ruins of this place, we didn't mean to bother you."
The old man cocked his head, it was easy to spot the fury welling up inside of him, He raised a hand and flames appeared in his palm, the flames in the centre of the room almost doubled in size.. and the air felt like it was missing something important.
Perhaps it was because of the bullet wedged in his collarbone, but Abraham was beginning to have difficulty breathing. He looked over to Clarinda, and saw that she was clearly having trouble breathing as well.
"..It's Randolf." The Old man said. "My name, if you were wondering."
'Randolf', that name did sound familiar... but Abraham couldn't really place where he-
The air abruptly rushed back into his lungs, too suddenly. A Ball of air was forming in his throat and within a second he felt his body burning up.
The air in front of him exploded, the blast pressing him against the door. Similar explosions then ran up his right arm, sending him flying to the left side of the room. He fell in a heap, completely dazed.
"Abe!!" Clarinda exclaimed, as her guns all started firing immediately.
More Mid-air explosions intercepted most of the bullets, but some snaked their way past and pierced through Randolf's side. He stumbled and gripped the windowsill behind him for support, as the guy in riot gear on his right readied his gun-
Abraham swept a card into the air, but it halted just above the flames- before being knocked into the fire by a unseen force. The explosion only serving to strengthen the inferno.
Clarinda made a series of strange arm movements, and Randolf suddenly jolted forwards, accompanied by the sound of the window breaking and a bullet catching his ear from behind and leaving speckles of blood as it struck the ceiling.
It took Abraham a few seconds to remember that gun Clarinda had left behind near that pile of rubble, he turned to ask her a question, but she was already moving. A Teleportation Circle had appeared behind her and sucked her and 2 of her guns into it, leaving the 3rd one behind as the circle faded.
"No!" Randolf exclaimed, as the air around Abraham exploded into more, expanding flames just as a circle appeared behind him- pulling Abraham out just as flames consumed the corner.
...
The flames followed Abraham through the portal, it was like he had gone through the wall itself, as he found himself outside the room he had entered.
Clarinda was squatting over him, a nurse with a bullet in her brain lying on the ground nearby. Both of her guns stationed next to the door, ready to shoot anything that goes through it.
"Hey, you alright?" She asked.
Abraham stood up again, looking over his charred arm. That sleeve of his suit was ruined. "...I've felt better."
A Burst of flame pushed the door clean off it's hinges, Randolf rushing through aft-
RATATATATATATAT!
Bullets pierced his torso from both sides, Randolf's expression contorted as he raised both arms, fire exploding all around him. Knocking both of the guns into the air and sending them flying, Abraham recoiled while Clarinda rolled into a ball for cover.
Abraham sent a card flying at Randolf with a fling of his hands- and it exploded right in his face.
...
The Explosions shook the ceilings of the lower floors. Every gunshot was plainly audible, and some of the exclamations of the fighters could be heard as well.
In Amila's room, she looked up at the ceiling and to the guard stationed with her. It was hard flipping the pages with one hand, so she had been improvising and using the air to do so instead.
"...What is happening up there?" Amila asked.
"I'm.. not sure." The Guard admitted.
Amila's face hardened. "Well? Check it out then."
"But, I'm supposed to be here protecting you while you recover-" The Guard insisted.
"uuuugggh, Listen. My Grandfather went up there. He Might be in danger, and he's the only family I apparently have left! So you better go up there and make sure he's safe." Amila ordered.
The Guard let out several conflicted noises, before eventually deciding to leave and investigate the source of the shaking. Amila looked at the door, swinging on it's hinges, still open, she really wanted to go through it and help as well. But why couldn't she?
Why couldn't she even use her own hands to turn the pages of the book in her lap? As long as she couldn't do that, she wouldn't be any help against whatever's going on up there.
...
The tremors reached the doctors in the Red Moon Holding Room as well.
"W-What's going on up there?" One of them asked.
"Isn't it obvious? Mr.Stoneson said the Red Moon were outside the hospital. They've obviously gotten in!"
One of the nurses looked at the scalpel. "Th-then...we've got to kill him before they get to him.." She concluded.
"But..."
None of them disagreed with her, but...
"...Then Mr.Stoneson would get even angrier than he usually is." One of the doctors muttered. "If one of us kills this guy, then, who knows what he'd do."
"Yeah, i've seen what he's capable of... If we kill this guy, he might set this entire hospital on fire with us in it."
"So.. what, we're just.. not going to do anything?" The same nurse asked.
..That was exactly what they did.
...
The hallway was almost completely consumed by fire. Clarinda had taken her chance, her one salvageable gun and thrown herself into another teleportation circle to get out of harm's way, while Abraham seemed content to slide to the stairwell. Grimacing in pain, he held his deck of cards out and watched as Randolf's silhouette appeared in the billowing fire.
3 cards appeared in Abraham's hand as he leaned against the wall, with perfect precision he tossed them into the flames and watched as explosions appeared over Randolf's silhouette, knocking the man back and out of sight.
A Pillar of Flames shot out from where he once stood, and would have hit Abraham had he not pressed himself against the wall.
"You Red Moon Assholes came in at the worst! Possible! Moment!" Randolf exclaimed, as with a wave of his hand, every single molecule of oxygen flew out of Abraham's body.
The flames in the hallway faded to nothing within a manner of seconds as well, but Abraham didn't even register that. He stumbled forwards, reaching at his throat and his starved lungs.
Randolf walked forwards, his previously clean suit now stained with bullet wounds and marks from Abraham's explosive cards. A Large bloody mess where his ear used to be, his entire body was shaking.
" 'I'm Sorry, but have we met before'!?" Randolf repeated, fury echoing down the hall as he took a step forwards. Abraham's vision began to blur, his own skin turning slightly blue from the oxygen deprivation. "You cheeky little blight! Your entire crew took everything I had even before that battle in Newrum, and you dare forget!?"
Abraham felt air brush against his face, it was harsh- and within only a second of having oxygen again he found it all igniting at point blank.
A Burst of combusting oxygen knocked Abraham off his feet, smashing him into a window and knocking him halfway down the stairs.
Randolf watched as Abraham vanished from sight, his eyebrows flinching. He couldn't stop himself from shaking, rage boiling under his skin and leaking out.
He began to walk towards the stairway, placing his hand on the door-
A Bullet sailed through the back of his left elbow, then another set of bullets that consecutively hit further up his arm, eventually piercing his shoulderblade. Letting out a guttural screech, he whipped around and saw, a gun, upside-down, half submerged in a teleportation circle planted on the ceiling.
"Rrrgggh!" Randolf grunted as he veered down the stairs, the bullets sailing over his head as the muscles the earlier bullets had shot right through began to freeze over. Ice sealing the bullet holes up, and stabbing into his skin.
Distracted, he let out another pained grimace and grasped onto the freezing wound. 'S-Shit! That bitch had elemental bullets!'
Knocked off balance, he barely missed a bullet that flew past his neck, tumbled onto his back a couple of steps farther down than Abraham. Hitting his head on the stairs each time as he fell.
"Argh!" Randolf cursed, moving his head away from the floor- Abraham jumped forwards, face still blue from asphyxiation, he wrapped both of his hands around Randolf's neck and pressed his thumbs into the white suited man's Adam's apple.
Randolf flailed his arm around, the other rendered numb by the ice plugging his bullet wounds, air brushed against Abraham's face again but; even with all of his senses blurring he recognized this tell and jumped off of Randolf just as the oxygen exploded where he had once been.
Abraham took a step back up the steps and flipped his cards out again, tossing them all at Randolf and watching as the explosions battered his body, cracks appeared in the staircase as he tumbled further down. Landing on his back right in front of the doorway to the next floor down. Small lines of blood running out from the base of his head. Randolf's eyes fluttered, not quite closing, but not looking at anything.
To anyone who wasn't losing their faculties thanks to oxygen deprivation, the general noises of panic from all the doctors and hired guns in the hospital would be clear as day. Abraham's ears were ringing, but he could vaguely make the noises of panic out.
The door then squeaked open, and a group of men in riot-armour walked in. Instantly seeing Randolf lying there, then glancing up and seeing a dazed Abraham- leaning against a wall for support.
As they pulled out their guns, a teleportation circle appeared behind Abraham and- once again- he was pulled through it.
...
Pulling Abraham through the wall of the elevator on the roof, Clarinda let him slump to his knees as the oxygen rushed back into his system, while she reached into another teleportation circle and pulled out the gun she had enchanted with Ice and let in the hallway. The gun she had left in Randolf's room and the one she had left outside had re-joined her on the rooftop. The one that got caught in the explosion in the hallway? It had been melted by the impact, and was unusable.
The clouds above them were looking weird, swirling like a tornado, with a open donut-hole cut into the sky where the clear blue could shine on through. To Clarinda, it looked ominous.. like something was going to come through at any moment.
To Abraham, who's vision was starting to return, even though it was still spotty.. the eye of the storm looked quite beautiful. Possibly a sign of things to come.
"...This is why.. I don't throw myself headfirst into the battles." Clarinda sighed, plopping down on her ass and opening up her camouflage jacket, rummaging through the various materials kept within it's interior pockets. "Didn't have any air enchantments prepared today. What a pain."
Abraham let out a wheeze, finally feeling oxygen in his lungs again. "I.. wasn't quite expecting that. I'm so pissed off right now. If I was a normal person.. I would've died from asphyxiation then and there."
"But you're not a normal person." Clarinda finished the cliché for him, pulling out some small, yellow crystal and placing it on the ground, She then motioned for one of the nearby guns to remove it's own bullets, arranging them all in a neat little circle around the crystal.
She closed her eyes and raised her hands to the air, the crystal on the ground glowing as she spoke.
"Iungere Elementum."
The yellow from the crystal split itself apart, as the clouds swirling around began to swirl, small tornadoes dropping down from them and flying into the crystal, then getting shotputted into the bullets, one by one.
When all the bullets were glowing with wind energy inside of them, Clarinda put her hands down and the glowing ceased.
"Next time that bastard times to suffocate you, I'll just fire one of these." Clarinda explained with a cocky grin. "It'll unleash a burst of air that should be enough to get you your breath back."
"That sounds just lovely." Abraham sighed. "That man's definitely up to something, and seems like he has quite the grudge against us."
"Yeah." Clarinda nodded, as all the air-enchanted bullets flew back into the gun. "We should report back to Martha."
"True, but we should definitely take this man out. We came in 'at the worst possible moment', so he must be planning something." Abraham said.
"It's possible that he does have Raluag, and is planning to use her against us." Clarinda suggested.
"Then it's decided." Abraham stood up, still short of breath. He placed his hand on the elevator door and a teleportation circle appeared. "You alright staying out here, girl?" He asked.
Clarinda gave him a glare. "Don't call me 'girl'."
"..Right." Abraham nodded, before heading in through.
2081, 24th December, 2:31am , Underground Chambers, Martha's Office.
When Abraham walked back into the underground chambers through the teleportation circle, he was surprised to hear a cheesy love song of all things playing in the background.
Martha was sitting on a very classy looking, sleek white chair. The coat she had been wearing had been placed on a coat-rack she seemed to have moved in personally, and Delilah was seated across from her- the pamphlet she had been reading lying on a sparkly, glistening table that she probably brought in as well.
Most of these chambers mainly existed for storing prisoners or having small meetings when the church wouldn't fit, but in the short amount of time that she'd spent in a position of leadership she seemed to have commandeered one of the rooms and completely redecorated.
A Sleek, white TV placed in one corner. All sorts of inspirational posters with slogans such as 'Make Today Amazing!', 'Do More of what makes you happy', and 'Think it. Want it. Work for it' with pastel pink backgrounds lined the velvet wallpaper.
Martha leaned back in her chair and crossed her legs, holding a elaborately designed wine glass with cola in it to her lips and looking to him expectantly.
"...Are you going to say anything?" She asked.
Abraham gave her a curious glance, but nodded. "Well, we've got a bit of a situation. While looking for Raluag we were shot at by a group who had taken up residence in the hospital. Commandeered by a man named 'Randolf' who didn't give us his surname. He seems to have quite the grudge against the Red Moon."
Martha placed the wine glass back on the table. "...Oh, is he the reason your suit is so fucked?" She asked.
Abraham gave his burnt up arm another look and shrugged. "It's nothing I can't deal with."
"Well, I can always buy you a replacement." Martha suggested.
Abraham put a hand up. "There's no need, It's just a suit, not even an expensive one."
"Right, right." Martha nodded. "So, does he have something to do with Raluag?"
"We're.. not sure." Abraham admitted.
"Then find out." Martha waved a hand dismissively. "If you think he's going to be a problem then just take him out, you shouldn't even need to come to me about it."
"Well, I was thinking we could take some backup-"
"No." Martha cut him off. "If this guy gets to be too much for you then just back off and focus on what you're supposed to be doing, which is finding Raluag."
Abraham gave her another glance that lasted about 4 seconds. "..Very well then." He said, stepping back through the portal without turning.
As the circle vanished, Martha sighed overdramatically and put her hand to her head.
2081, 24th December, 2:32pm ,Quarantined Emergency Care Section. Wellham Hospital.
"Wait!? What happened!" Amila yelled out from her wheelchair, watching as a team of panicked guards in riot armor and doctor's wheeled her grandfather down the hall. "What happened to my granddad!?"
"He was fighting a man from the red moon, when we got to the stairs we saw him lying there and the man in a daze. A..Another one of those cultists reached in through one of their cheap teleportation circles and pulled him out before we could finish him off though." The Woman in riot armor that stopped to explain the situation to her faltered slightly.
"..Are they still here!?" Amila demanded, her tone reminding the woman of Randolf.
The woman looked around. "..They, will most likely come back. So we're definitely going to increase our defenses, there's no need to worry."
"Oh, there is definetely need to worry!" Amila gasped, "Where are you even taking him?"
"To one of the empty rooms, lower floors-"
"I'm going with him!" Amila insisted.
The Woman looked Amila in the eye... "..Yeah, that's fine. I'm sure he'll be glad to see you when he wakes up." She said, pleasantly. Grabbing onto the handles of the wheelchair and wheeling her in to the elevator, heading to where Randolf was going to be placed while he recovered.
"...It's so.. awful." Amila muttered, as the elevator made it's descent.
"What do you mean?" Asked the woman.
"..Just, sitting here. I should be able to just.. walk, down the stairs. I did it on a daily basis, I did it yesterday." Amila frowned.
The Woman didn't feel it right to correct her on that, Amila had been comatose for the entirety of the last day. Instead, she went through her mind for what the right thing to say would be, and decided on. "..Recovering takes time. There's no need to feel like you're less because you can't do something, you were strong enough to survive the blast, none of the damage you've suffered should be permanent. I'm sure you're a strong lady, and you're body is strong enough to recover as well, you should just let it."
Amila.. didn't respond.
The Elevator stopped, and opened up to reveal the ground floor. Armed men and women in identical armor lined up along the walls, all of them keeping watch as Amila took her hands to the wheels and rolled herself into the one open door.
Seeing Randolf lying there, and doctors holding onto his blood-stained head, she let out a gasp.
"Grandpa!" She called out, as the woman wheeled her up to his bedside, keeping her hands on the handles as though it was her duty.
One of the doctors looked at her, "Oh.. Amila, don't worry. He'll be fine."
"But he's bleeding!"
"Yes, he did crack his head open, and he did take a few shots.. but nothing fatal, he should be back within the hour. Although he might have a concussion at the least." The Doctor explained, while the others set to work bandaging his wounds.
Amila stopped herself from yelling anymore than she already had, and just watched, painfully aware of every time she inhaled and every time she exhaled.
It had only been a hour ago when she had lost her parents.. this man lying in front of her, eyes half-open, but not seeing anything, with ice clogging the wounds on his arm that the doctors were trying to melt, with a ear that had been all but blown off by a gun, as far as she was concerned, this was her last remaining family member.
If he died, while she was just stuck in a chair like this... she'd...
2081, 24th December, 2:32pm, The Church of the Red Moon. Wallshore.
"...What a shame." Eleanor sighed to herself, as she and Hippolytos walked side-by-side through the currently entry streets of Wallshore.
She held the hand of a fungal child, with goat-like legs and hands that had developed claws. With numerous growths sticking out of the back of it's head. The silver bag wasn't fully zipped up, dangling from Hippolytos' shoulder. Something was moving inside of it. Multiple somethings.
The Fungal child now stood up to Eleanor's waist. It seemed that the more it grew, the faster it grew, with a couple of steps, it subtly grew a couple more inches when she wasn't looking.
"We may not have found anything, but at least this won't be a total loss." Hippolytos shrugged, placing a hand on Eleanor's shoulder as they stopped.
They turned, and the three of them faced the entrance to the Church of the Red Moon.
Eleanor grabbed onto her necklace and brought it up to her mouth with her free hand. "..It won't. You ready to play?" She asked, turning to face the fungal child. Which nodded enthusiastically, but didn't make any noise at all. "..Well, when you see the man in the Russian hat, you'll get to play. sound good?" It nodded again.
"You sure you don't want me to do it?" Hippolytos asked.
"..I guess, if it gets too tough, you can join in as well." Eleanor muttered.
Hippolytos sighed. "It's good enough for now." He said, "Come on, let's just go in."
Hippolytos took the first step, Eleanor watched as he placed his hand on the door and held it open. "..After you."
Eleanor smiled subtly at him, but it faded as fast as it appeared. She held the hand of the strange fungal child and guided him into the church.
When she went in, Hippolytos followed in after her. Closing the door behind him.
...
The church was mostly empty, only three people were inside.
Emil Eaton had been placed in one of the third floor relaxation rooms for the time being, while Gideon was currently standing in front of the stained glass windows, the drunk man from earlier was reclined on one of the pews and drinking from a can of beer. Both of them giving Eleanor and Hippolytos suspicious glances.
"Hello." Hippolytos said.
The Fungal child was about to run forwards, but Eleanor tightened her grip on it's hand and shook her head. "..Not now, sweetie."
Gideon took a couple of steps forwards, ice particles flying around near his hand. "..You two are demons, yes. I can tell with a glance. Heard reports from Curtside."
"Oh, did you?" Hippolytos asked sarcastically. "I'm so impressed."
"Sarcasm is lowest form of wit, Mr.Fishvest. Try wearing more clothes, or you might freeze to death." Gideon suggested. "Try leaving now as well, you and your demon child may not die."
"Don't call him that.." Eleanor tightened her grip on the fungal child, taking a step forwards as well.
The Drunk man leaned back in his seat, tossing the beer can on the ground.
A Icicle sprouted out of the ground, lifting it up in the air. Gideon gave the drunkard a side-eye and took another step forwards.
"And you, bins exist for reasons. Use those instead of floor like filthy caveman." Gideon growled.
"Man, why are you speaking like that?" Hippolytos asked. "Did you get hit in the head or something?"
Gideon's eyebrows pressed up against his nose. "Not native speaker of language. You know what I say, so don't give me shit for skipping words from time to time. Besides, I like to think it makes me memorable."
"..If you need a accent to make you memorable, then you're not that good of a character." Eleanor frowned. "..You might just be a another goon. A Elite Mook who'll be taken out by the antagonist to show how cruel they are."
Gideon leaned forwards. "You speak with silly words. Calling self antagonist like cartoon villain. But I appreciate your honesty."
He raised his hand, and ice covered the floor under his feet. "At least you know your place in world. But you do not know mine. I'll be one who takes you both down- not other way around, so let's take this outside."
END OF PART 3
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Post by IDEK on Feb 9, 2019 0:16:30 GMT
In Transience, I Rise-
Part 4:Fly me from the (Red) Moon
2081, 24th December, 2:32pm, The Church of the Red Moon. Wallshore.
Hippolytos, Eleanor, and Gideon all stared directly at each other. With a shrug, Hippolytos let the silver bag he was holding fall from his shoulder and land in the doorway behind him.
"Before we kill each other, should we introduce ourselves?" Eleanor asked. "My name is Eleanor Troy, this is Hippolytos. It'd be very nice if we could learn your name as well."
Gideon snorted. "..It's Gideon. Head of Patrol Units in Wallshore."
"Gid-e-on..." Eleanor mused as Hippolytos advanced.
The ice underneath Gideon spread out towards the couple, Hippolytos flew forwards and wedged his fist in Gideon's face.
Hippolytos dug his fist further in, somehow remaining in mid-air as Gideon's knees bent- Struggling to hold Hippolytos's weight.
Gideon thrust his own fist forwards, punching Hippolytos to the side. As the man smacked into the stone-brick wall the ice-particles on his arm began to spread, encasing his shoulder and sticking it to the wall. His silky hair flew in front of his face as he looked to Eleanor.
Eleanor was just standing there, slowly releasing her grip on the fungal child's hand. Gideon watched her, expecting her to make some move, and growing more confused by her stillness.
The Fungal child looked between Eleanor and Gideon, before catching her nodding her head. The Fungal child charged forwards, ramming towards Gideon.
At the same time, Hippolytos began glowing, the ice sticking him to the wall shattered to pieces as he hurled himself towards the same target.
A Shield of Ice appeared in front of Gideon, Hippolytos's fists smashed through it but Gideon blocked them with his own arms.
Hippolytos, still in mid-air, punched away at Gideon, who parried every blow. Hippolytos then flipped, swinging his entire body and bringing his legs up, knocking into Gideon's chin and spinning in mid-air. Gideon stumbled back and the Fungal Child rammed into his side.
The Fungal Child's head then smooshed against Gideon, like a watermelon that had been thrown against a wall. "U-Ghah!" Gideon recoiled, trying to wipe the fungal child off. But the kid stuck to him like taffy, Gideon tried to pull his arm up but found that was stuck as well. "D-Demon!" He yelled again.
The Fungal Child lifted it's head up, with enough force to pull Gideon up into the air as well, he span his neck around as it extended in tangled, fungal chords that slightly resembled muscle. As the neck grew longer and longer Gideon continued to spin. Hippolytos jumped backwards and landed acrobat-style on one of the pews.
As the Fungal Child spun Gideon around faster and faster, until he became a blur, Hippolytos unveiled a large grin, slapping his hair out of his face with a exaggerated gesture.
The Fungal Child's extended neck snapped in two from the strain, it recoiled and stumbled backwards but didn't seem harmed at all. Gideon, no longer tethered, was sent flying, and Hippolytos adjusted his stance immediately.
To corners of the room, the top right and top left corner suddenly froze over, and in-between them. right where Gideon was flying towards...
A small ball of fire was brought into being. Gideon passed right through it, and then got pulled back in.
"Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahh!!!" He cried out from within the ball, spinning around inside it. The wind current in the room changed, all of it swirling around with that one flaming ball as the centre. The Drunk man watched with wide, flabbergasted eyes as all of his beer cans were whisked away- igniting as they flew towards the centre like little meteorites.
All the screws holding the bookcases together came loose, Eleanor's own bracelet's and necklace were pulled forwards as well, but they couldn't escape. Everything with the slightest hint of metal in it was being pulled straight towards Gideon.
As Gideon's scream elevated in pitch, the ball of fire faded to nothing. The pressure bursting and sending everyone away from the centre of the room by a couple of inches, melting all of the ice as heat replaced the cold. A Scorched Gideon fell face-first on the ground in the middle of the room. Numerous screws, Beer cans and other metal implements either embedded in his middle, or having shot all the way through and landed in the corners of the room. All of them red and smoking from heat, looking to be melting to a liquid state.
The Fungal child looked between everyone else in the room. Or at least turned its neck and shoulders to face them, but with extended little coils of sinew dangling from its neck like limp noodles.. it didn't really look like it could see anything. The Drunk man jumped up from his seat, looking at the fungal child with fear in his eyes.
"Y..Y...You..." The Drunkard spluttered out, his eyes going back to Gideon's body. He couldn't even will himself to move.
Hippolytos took a step down from the pew and looked Gideon over. The light from the glass windows shining down on him. "..Well, that was easy." He walked over to Gideon and pressed his foot against the body- before immediately moving his foot away. "..Ow, still hot."
Gideon opened his eyes, and reached for Hippolytos's foot. The silky blond man jumped backwards in surprise. "..You're still alive." Hippolytos spoke, watching Gideon as he let out ragged breath after ragged breath. "With all of that hot metal in you, I'm impressed."
"Y..yhou...sho..uld be.." Gideon wheezed out, placing both of his hands on the ground and pushing himself up. "..Man, is it hot in here, or just me? Gyah hah.." He let out a small, strained grin as he removed his ruined scarf- followed by him taking his coat off. The two burnt up, holey articles of clothing landing in a pile behind him. His hair had been burnt, with most of it burnt up and reduced to mere chin-length. His eyebrow's weren't quite so fortunate, they'd been completely seared off.
The Mark of the Red Moon could be seen on his Adam's apple. Hippolytos stared at it down.
Gideon's muscular body was on full display, whatever shirt he had been wearing was filled with holes where the various metal implements had gone through him. With his head cocked at a un-natural angle, a cold, ice blue eye met with Eleanor. Who hadn't moved from her spot since the battle begun.
"You call me 'elite mook' earlier, yes? Well how wrong you are." He grinned.
Eleanor didn't change her body language at all. "..Well, it looks like I was wrong. You're more like the boss fight at the end of the stage, really."
The Mark of the Red Moon on his throat began to glow. "Gyahaha.." He chuckled. "I can live with title of Boss Fight, yes. Maximum Difficulty, of course. Will not be easy defeating me, may have to throw game console at wall in rage."
"But we're not in a game." Hippolytos added, his glowing hands balled into fists. "And if we were, you'd be the tutorial stage."
Eleanor stayed standing, and turned to face the fungal child. "Go ahead, let him transform. Might as well fight him at his very best."
The Fungal child whipped its neck up and down to imitate nodding, as Gideon laughed again. Ice spreading from the mark on his neck and going to crystallize around his entire body. Spikes of Ice formed on the ground around him as his Ice-shell grew, Jagged claws taking the place of hands, and Icicles taking the place of the teeth. Spikes running along its back.
Gideon's Ice form let out another, literally chilling laugh. "Gyahahaahahaha! What you think? Tougher than you expect, Yes? No?"
Hippolytos adjusted his wrist bracers. "..Looks like a try-hard to me." He snorted, as his the glowing of his fists intensified. He lunged forwards.
Gideon, in his form, brought a claw into the air and swiped downwards, crystals of ice forming in the air around him.
Ice.. is just water in a solid state. It can appear transparent or in a bluish-white sort of colour. Exhibiting eighteen or more different phases depending on the temperature or pressure, and used in a variety of ways across the world. It naturally exists across the entire universe, with entire moons or planets coated in the stuff.
But to describe ice simply: it is very cold. If heated it will melt. In fact, Ice has a very low melting point of either 32 degrees Fahrenheit, or 0 degrees Celsius.
This is why Hippolytos was not worried at all when Gideon transformed.
As Hippolytos's fists met with Gideon's claw, it melted on contact- and as Hippolytos curled into a ball and dove straight through Gideon's chest, it did the very same. Spinning in mid-air and landing perfectly on his feet in a perfect poise, Hippolytos was a little bit soaked, but otherwise had finished Gideon off completely unscathed.
Gideon didn't even make a noise, Hippolytos jumping straight through his chest had caused most of his torso to completely evaporate, he didn't even stumble, just fell straight to his knees.
"..A...ahh..." The Drunk Man continued to back away, screams barrelling out of his mouth. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!"
"Man, you're dumb." Hippolytos taunted, not even facing him. "Did you think you could freeze me? This was a horrible matchup for you, man. If we're still speaking in video game terms then you should've taken the type matchups into account before deciding to use ice against me."
Gideon's Ice Form turned into water and then mist, leaving his true, scorched body to collapse in the middle of the Church of the Red Moon. His eyes had been scorched completely black, and his mouth lolled open. The Symbol on his neck continued to glow for a couple of seconds... before it faded.
Most notably, there was a large hole in his torso, from his collarbone down to his stomach. Everything was gone.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!" The Man continued to scream out, Eleanor ignored him and walked over to the Fungal child, grabbing onto the sinewy tendrils that were once its neck.
"..Hmm.. don't worry." She said, as she started to pile it all up where the neck was. "It might look weird at first, you'll get your face back in no time. You did good, I'm so proud of you."
As she showered the fungal entity with praise, the pieces she was placing on its head began to all fuse together and create a vague, head-like-lump. "There, in a couple of hours, it'll be back how it used to be." She smiled, speaking warmly.
Hippolytos turned to look at the screaming Man. "..What's wrong with you?" He asked. "You never seen a murder before? That can't be right, you're a member of this cult."
"Not just a member." Eleanor commented, taking hold of the Fungal Child's hand again. It affectionately rubbed its sort-of-head on her sleeve. "..This guy's pretty familiar."
"..Yeah, yeah." Hippolytos nodded, tapping his chin. He looked down to take in the man's features. "..Oh my, you're a real piece of work. I've heard about what you did."
He grabbed the man by his neck and held him aloft. "That was your daughter you sick fuck!!" He roared, as he lifted the man up in the air and threw him into the wall. He lost consciousness instantly and slumped to the wall.
Hippolytos' shoulders shook as he stared down at the unconscious man. Eleanor walked over and placed a hand on his shaking arm, running down it until she grabbed his fist. The shaking ceased.
Hippolytos closed his eyes and inhaled. Then opened them and looked down to Eleanor with a soft expression.
"..Thank you." He said.
"I didn't do anything." Eleanor responded.
As she said that, she reached into Hippolytos' bag and knelt down in front of the unconscious man, pulling a petri dish out and holding it above the drunkard's mouth.
A Small bit of saliva fell into the petri dish, and Eleanor slammed it shut. She stood up, and turned to face Hippolytos.
"..Come on, let's burn this place down and try elsewhere."
2081, 24th December, 2:40pm. The Streets of Wallshore.
The Church of the Red Moon had been set on fire. The Lower floors were completely destroyed, and without the support the higher floors fell as well. 2 Dead bodies were found inside when a crew went in to investigate or find survivors.
A Man from Mishinaka by the name of 'Harold Enbizaka' was found with light blunt force trauma, but had most likely died when the ceiling crashed down on him, the other corpse was the Head of the Wallshore Patrol: Gideon Isaev was found in the centre of the church, not only was he burnt from head to toe, but he had a giant crater sized hole in his upper torso. His lungs and heart, as well as his ribcage were all completely missing as if they had been atomized.
A Man was sighted walking away from the scene no less than a minute before the flames started peeking through the windows.
...
He hasn't been sighted since.
2081, 24th December, 2:34pm. Quarantined Emergency Care Section. Wellham Hospital.
Randolf sat on the edge of the bed, rubbing his hand along the bandages on his head. "..How long was I out?" He asked. Both of his eyes still fluttered, as though he was actively trying to keep them open while they both wanted to close.
"Not too long. It couldn't have been more than a couple of minutes." The Doctor in front of him said.
"A-And the Cultists? They haven't appeared again?" Randolf asked, struggling to talk through his headache.
The Doctor looked towards the open door, and then shook his head. "No,we haven't heard anything."
"Well, you all-- ..b-better be prep-p-pared when they appear again. If there's a single hallway without at least... 5 armed men patrolling it, then you all better fix that as soon as possible!" Randolf attempted to stand up, but lost balance the second his feet touched the ground. The Doctor leaned in and helped him stand up before gently letting him fall back onto the bed.
The Doctor, visibly uncomfortable, took a step back before nodding "We'll do that, I promise, sir. But, for now, you need to sit still for a while. You took a really bad blow to the head, just trust everyone you hired to take care of this."
"P-Pah!" Randolf spat. "I can't ev-even trust.. trust you guys to listen to any one of my o-orders without questioning them!"
The Doctor shrugged this off and held up 2 fingers. "..How many fingers am I holding up, sir?"
"What a stupid question! It's.. it's Four, of cour-.. of course!" Randolf answered, incorrectly.
"..Double vision." The Doctor sighed. "Yeah, you'll need to rest for the time being."
"When the Red Moon is staging an attack on us this very moment!?" Randolf asked. "I can't just sit in a bed when everything I've worked for is on the line!"
It was as though both of them had forgotten that Amila was in the same room. She cracked a small smile, "..I guess this is genetic, huh?" She whispered to herself. "Not wanting to sit there while the world moves on.."
Neither of the two noticed she had spoke, the Doctor held his hands up and kept his gaze fixed on Randolf. "We've got so many guards stationed in every room, there's no need to worry. For now, just take your medicine and get some sleep. Your brain recovers faster when it's shut of and overstimulation will only make it worse."
Randolf went to speak, but coughed instead. The Doctor waited til the fit was over to speak, but then got interrupted. "Well, those two easily could have brought in backup, or told whoever's in charge of their organization now about our location! We're going to need to move out of here if we want any hope at success in the future!"
As he said that, the sound of gunfire reached their ears. Muffled noises from several floors above.
"..Looks like we'll need to do that as soon as possible!" Randolf cursed. "Get someone to tell everyone in the holding room to relocate the Key, now!"
"..The key?" The Doctor asked.
"I'm.. ugh.." Randolf gripped his forehead. "You should know what I mean, the President! Get him out of here! before they find him!"
The Doctor, convinced by the noises above them, nodded and ran out of the room with naught but a "Yes Sir!"
Randolf and Amila both felt alone, Even though the other one was right there. Even though there was a armed guard standing at the wall in the same room as them, and another two stationed outside the door.
...
"Did we have to do this so soon?" Abraham asked, leaning against the railing off the rooftop. Next to him was Clarinda, who was staring intently at the teleportation circle that one of her guns was half-submerged in.
"Get the enemy while they recover." Clarinda stated. "If they can't recover, they can't fight. So winning is the only option. That's how we smoked the Others out of Courtham. Didn't give them a moments rest, harder to keep their form when they're exhausted."
Abraham nodded along, before glancing back up to the sky. The swirling clouds had only gotten darker in the few minutes that had passed, and the light shining through the eye of the clouds seemed to grow duller as a result.
At this moment it carried a unsettling energy that made him want to get somewhere safe. "..Well, doing that just means you can't rest either. Doesn't it?"
"Exactly." Clarinda nodded, as three other teleportation circles appeared. Each of her floating guns angled above them, ready to wreak havoc on the various locations they load to at a moment's notice. "If you give your opponent a moment to rest, that's a moment they can use against you. True victory lies in striking first, striking fast, and striking so often that they don't get a chance to strike back..." 'Because if they strike back, they won't give you any chances either.' went unsaid, but the words repeated in her heart.
"...You going in ?" She asked, looking up at her senior.
Abraham nodded. "Of course. See you."
With that, he hopped down the closest one, a single gun followed in after him, as the other two guns opened fire into their respective portals as well.
Clarinda remained on the rooftop. She looked up at the clouds again, it was a sign that she needed to get this over with.
...
In the first and Fourth floors, the exact same set of events happened: A Teleportation circle appeared on the symbol, and as the armed guards looked up at it in confusion, bullets came flying out. With the third floor, this was already happening. The Fifth one had been sufficiently decimated by the previous fight with Randolf- most of the damage by Randolf's own hand, so that one was being ignored for the time being.
Abraham had come through on the second floor, a gun following behind him as backup. He readied his deck of cards and threw his first hand out at the guards, each of the cards swerved in mid-air in a arc towards a different armed guard's chest. Exploding on contact and knocking them back.
One of the guards was knocked to the ground but the rest stayed standing and opened fire. Abraham shielded himself with his deck- the cards all forming a sort-of-phalanx in front of him. that blocked all the bullets for a second time.
As Abraham went on the offensive- parting the deck so half of the cards went to the two guards on the right, and the other half went to the three on the left, they got some shots in. Bullets pierced through his shoulder, knocking Abraham back but they weren't enough to fell him. All of his cards exploded against the armed guard's chests and they all fell.
Their bullets bounced against the walls, and the door behind Abraham opened, another armed guard poking their gun out and firing just as Abraham turned his head- the bullet ripped through his back and he stumbled from the force.
"Urgh!.. This ain't gonna be easy, huh." Abraham frowned. as the cards flew back to his hand.
Some of the guards that fell stood back up, while one readied their gun to fire again.
Abraham sent the cards flying and-
2081, 24th December, 2:34pm. The Ruins of Wellham.
At the risk of stating the obvious, having holes bored into your limbs by fingernails hurts. It hurt back when it happened, and for Raluag, it naturally still hurt at this point in time. It was pretty hard to focus on anything else, or even get comfortable. Every time she leaned against anything, that limb would flare up in more pain than necessary.
Thanks to that, she couldn't even get any sleep. Lynch hadn't come downstairs since she first went up to interrogate Tauro, and while the noises of distant gunfire had been concerning earlier they hadn't happened in a while. She'd been lucky enough not to see any Others nearby, either.
Although, just because she didn't see them.. didn't mean they weren't there. Raluag didn't even want to call out to make sure Lynch was still there, just in case a Other or whoever was firing their gun earlier would hear her.
"..I suppose, I am in hiding now. After all." Raluag muttered to herself. "Can't make too mu-hhhhhhhhggghh"
She suppressed the scream of pain that almost came out, she'd put too much pressure on one leg. The nerves were on fire.
She lifted the leg up in the air to relieve pressure, resting her foot against a nearby table 'at least I can still move it..'
For now, there was nothing for her to do.
...
Delia Laurel[now less likely to freeze to death], turned the hot water tap off. It had burned her a couple of times, but she'd got her body temperature back from freezing so she could live with that.
Walking back out of the bathroom, she saw Tauro still standing where he had been earlier[Hadn't moved at all], and everything else was exactly the same as well. Looking at Tauro [blank eyes, drool in mouth] just made her feel.. weird, like she was committing some ancient, astral sin just by letting him stay like that, and the Gods themselves were looking down on her ready to give her some overwhelming karmic retribution.
Just... taking somebody's free will like that. In Self Defence, Delia could probably deal with it, but just leaving him like that.. it still didn't sit right with her. She walked past Tauro and went into one of the bedrooms[single bed, unused toys, implications of a child.], closing the door[no lock] behind her so she wouldn't have to look at him.
Looking at this bedroom wasn't doing her any favours either. Every inch of it implied that a small young girl used to live here. ..Well, it could've been a boy.. but typically parents wouldn't paint their son's bedroom pastel pink.
She walked over to the window [dusty, open but not broken. Letting in a cold air], and leaned against the windowsill, brushing against the various assortments left on it [Matroshka Dolls, small plastic bus, fencing trophy.]
Peering out of the window, Delia looked over the street. It was filled with other, similar houses. Some completely demolished, some slightly damaged, some that had been looted, nothing out of the ordinary for Wellham at this stage.
..Wait. Delia focused on a some movement in one of the doorways, a Other[Formless] walked out of the house next to their own and began to walk down the street. It didn't pay her any mind, going past the house and heading down the corner[destination; the hospital.].
'..why's it going there?' Delia asked herself, no words appeared to explain it to her. She just watched as it vanished from sight.
Another Other caught her eye, one peering out from a second floor[bedroom] window, looking in the same direction she was. Delia leaned out of the window and focused on it. [Simply curious where the other one was heading. No intentions of following, wants to stay alive.]
'..It's always interesting seeing these guys. They're formed from general negative energy, but unless they're provoked they don't tend to act like it.' She thought to herself. 'Excluding those like Daron, who came from one specific person. But Negative emotions include more than just self hatred and anger, so it's not like this is surprising in any way.'
As Delia mused, a idea reached her. '..I wonder what my Other would be like..'
..'You know exactly what she would be like.' a part of her brain whispered. So she cancelled that train of thought.
The Clouds shook above her, and sounds of thunder rang out. Delia looked up to see the clouds all moving as one, blotting out the sky above her... as though a storm was going to happen soon.
It was a good thing she was inside.
2081, 24th December, 2:38pm. Quarantined Emergency Care Section. Wellham Hospital.
The sound of Thunder was drowned out by the sound of gunfire.
With his back against the wall, and shielded from all angles by his cards- Abraham had found that trying to fight his way through the hallway just wasn't working. More armed men and woman would join the fray and showed no signs of stopping.
If he tried to lift his shield, he'd only get overwhelmed and shot to pieces within instances. Keeping it up and letting Clarinda's Automatic Gun do what it can, he pressed his hand against the back of the wall and then jumped through the teleportation circle that appeared.
...
He successfully escaped the battle, warping to a currently empty hospital room- One that he had seen one of the armed men walk out of not too long ago. Whipping out his deck of cards, he sent them flying out of the door, explosions shook the hallway.. and, the gunfire ceased.
Abraham peered out of the room- THWACK!- and got smacked right across the cheek with a gun. His fall blocked by the door next to him. As he brought out a card and threw it at the man who assailed him- he felt something.
Before the card could explode, a pillar of darkness burst through the ceiling, narrowly missing the two remaining combatants and blowing a clean hole through the floor next to them as well.
Abraham faltered, almost tripping as he stared at the darkness pillar "W-What the-"- His opponent however, was thinking quickly, and smacked him with the gun again. Knocking him into the pillar, which almost crushed him with it's unrelenting force.
He didn't even get a chance to breathe, he smacked against the shattered floor and lost consciousness near immediately.
...
The sound and tremors shook the entire hospital.
From their room, Randolf and Amila both jolted. Amila's breath caught in her chest and Randolf hopped out of the bed, his vision immediately blurred and he grasped his palm. "U-Ugh.. W-What..? What was that!?" Randolf asked, exasperated.
"..It did not sound good." Amila responded, her one functioning fist clutching her gown.
Randolf, still dazed, took a sluggish step forwards.
"W-Wait, no, don't. Just sit back down!" Amila whisper-yelled, as a light breeze knocked Randolf back onto the bed.
Amila turned her head towards the half-open doorway. Watching as a shadow-like liquid began to spread across the floor slowly, like a gelatonous ooze. She froze as she watched it trickle past. "W...What?" She couldn't help but ask.
A Armoured foot walked into view. The silver going up to the knees looked to ancient to belong to any of her Grandfather's men.
The rest of the figure walked into view, and Amila felt every emotion rush back to her. A Black cape that covered her shoulders, red customized armour and a red fabric around her waist that functioned akin to a skirt, and skin that was a light shade of blue.
The clothing didn't ring any bells, but it was the face and hair that Amila remembered. The hair that had been tinted black was held in a pair of long braids at the back of her head.. there was no doubt, this was the demon that destroyed Newrum. It seemed she'd decided to go without her glasses this time, a pair of harsh brown eyes surveying the scenery and locking with Amila's own.
Amila's mouth was open, she couldn't breathe. The air itself was still. Randolf looked at the demon, gripping onto his head.
"Y-..You..!" He hissed out, as he went to stand up again, stumbling as his vision went cross-eyed, clumsily jolting forwards and leaning against a wall for support.
The Demon took a step inside. "Hey." She said, surprisingly casually. "..You're that guy who took that Jebediah asshole, aren't you?"
"G-Get back!" Randolf yelled. "You-.. You killed my son!"
The Demon looked confused for a brief second, before narrowing her brows, the darkness pooling around underneath her, puddles of it spreading into the room. "So? You conveniently forgot about the shit he caused? That bastard deserved it just a little bit less than Jebediah does. Which is why I'm really annoyed that you decided to keep him alive. He's in this hospital, right?"
"As if.. As if I'd tell you anything...Demon" Randolf grunted, as flames sprouted out of his palm.
The Demon folded her arms, "..Of course you wouldn't. You've got the exact same plan he does. Shithead."
Randolf's vision was still blurry from the concussion, but despite that. He still went for the attack, throwing the flame forwards as the shadows that the Demon's feet lurched up like a tidal wave in front of her.
The air ignited, and the Demon jumped back to avoid it. Shadows were sent flying in all directions as the Demon held her hands out.
"Don't try to blame me for anything that happened!" The Demon exclaimed. "All of you started this! And everything that happens is exactly what you deserve!"
With that, a beam of solid darkness shot out from in front of her- Randolf attempted to dodge, but stumbled and was smacked in the side by it. Completely engulfed and thrust into the wall.
"Grandpa!" Amila cried out as the end of the darkness beam morphed into a large hand and gripped the old man tightly.
"'I killed your son!?' Why should I give a shit about that!? If I left everything the way it was there'd be nothing of my home left standing!"
Randolf let out a muffled yell of pain as blood spurted out from between the darkness hand's fingers. It balled itself into a fist, not caring that there was someone inside it.
"...You're just angry. That's all there is too you. So angry about what other people do to you, and so apathetic about what they do to everyone else. You don't even care about all the lives the Red Moon had been taking, and would continue to take." The Demon monologued, her voice sounded softer, sadder, almost.
Was it mocking him?
"STOP!" Amila exclaimed, as a strong gust of wind knocked into the Demon from the side, she stumbled slightly but raised up a wall of darkness that rammed into her, knocking her out of her wheelchair.
The Demon's face twitched, as the darkness hand opened up. Letting a beaten, almost crushed Randolf flop onto the ground. "So." She muttered, coldheartedly. "Jebediah's in one of these rooms. Tell me which one so I can kill him."
Randolf coughed violently, as air brushed at the Demon's face again. It turned into fire too fast for her to react this time and she was knocked back, the darkness behind her forming into a chair to soften her landing as the darkness hand smacked down on him as though swatting a fly.
"Fine then!" The Demon yelled, bringing the darkness hand up again. "I'll just find him myself!"
She brought it down a second time, with enough force to crack the floor. Randolf made no noise.
Amila's pupil and iris shrank, violently shaking within her eye socket as she stared open-mouthed at the hand of darkness, which slid away and faded to nothing. Leaving a bloody stain in a white suit with a diamond-patterned tie.
"Aaa..aah..aaa..aah..." Amila attempted to speak, but failed. Her entire body paralyzed with shock. The Demon looked over towards her, and then left the room.
"...Grand...pa?"
...
The Demon had to find Jebediah, that was certain. With him dead, the main threat against her and those she held close to her would be as good as dealt with.
She blasted open the next door she saw and looked inside. Nothing, she blasted open the next one- which had clearly been repurposed as a bedroom for the hired men. No Jebediah here either.
"..Come on, I know you're in here." She muttered to herself as she continued on her way. The Darkness covering the floor in front of her like a red carpet . Reaching a fourth door.
She could hear voices from inside this one, and her heart welled with anticipation. She reached out for the doorknob, placed her hand on it, and same as before- blew the door open. It took her less than a second to process what was inside, and she had hit jackpot.
Asides from the many nurses and doctors inside, were several bedridden, comatose members of the Red Moon Cu-
RATATATATATATATATAT!
Bullets sprinkled themselves across her side, unable to penetrate her armour and ricocheting off, but causing her to loose her footing nonetheless.
A Circle with the Red Moon Logo in the wall next to the off-balance Demon and-
BANG!
A Bullet, glowing with heavenly light, shot right through her hand and knocked her back. "A-Argh!" The Demon grunted as her back smacked against the wall.
..
Every floor of the Hospital had been badly damaged by Tarabus' entrance. The pillar of Darkness had shot through the clouds and bored a hole in every floor/ceiling it went through. Clarinda scarcely avoided getting caught in it's blast and it was clear that Abraham was not so lucky.
2081, 21st December, []:[][], Newrum State City, The Warzone.
It's only in life or death situations like this one that Clarinda feels like herself.
Clarinda Eaton was inside one of the taller buildings just outside of the battlegrounds. Watching as Locrian and Jebediah clashed in the very centre, with Amila approaching on a dragon made of fire. A Woman of the Warzone, she stayed out of their way and waved a hand to let her nearby automatic rifle reload itself- focusing it's aim on the pineapple-haired man from the other dimension a distance away- while he was busy sending shots of plasma at battlers who couldn't reach him.
As she fired, she could hear someone yelling out from above her.
"..-now it's time you disappear from the face of the Earth!" Someone yelled out, their words only becoming clear midway through as.. beams of pure darkness rained down from the sky, Clarinda watched through the window as the beams moved themselves across the town, striking and vaporizing everyone they came in contact with.
She watched as one of the key figures of the organization she'd joined- Mary, struggling to hold onto her bazooka- faded into nothing on the floor of the battlefield. Clarinda hadn't known her for too long, in fact, she'd only joined the group very recently- so she didn't even have the opportunity to bond with her, it made it easier to watch, but not by much.
Clarinda steeled herself, she was used to casualties, especially those from her own side. She'd have time to grieve later, for now.. she had to find where those beams came from, and who yelled. As the beams continued to rain down, she slid through a teleportation circle set up on one of the walls.
2081, 24th December, 2:38pm. The Rooftop of Wellham Hospital.
Clarinda had avoided the beam of darkness shooting from the sky- one much bigger and more concentrated than those she saw back in Newrum- but the shockwave of it had still knocked her onto her butt. She slid to the chainlink fencing, instinctively recalling all of her guns back to her. The four floated to her and assumed a firing position.
'I knew something was up with those clouds!' Clarinda was steelfaced, but her soul was grinning. She prepared a teleportation circle directly underneath her- ready to warp to a safer location once Tarabus appeared.
The Darkness beam eventually evaporated, leaving the hole it had left in it's wake. No Tarabus.
No, that's not it.. Tarabus just wasn't on the rooftop. Clarinda knew what to do, she waved her hand to let one of her automatic rifles remove all of it's bullets. They floated into her undone camouflage jacket- going into their allocated interior pocket, as a different set of bullets. Ones that had been enchanted specifically against demons.. that she had cooked up shortly after the battle in newrum.. took their place. Slotting themselves into the gun with ease.
The Portal underneath her activated, and she dropped through it.
2081, 21st December, []:[][], Newrum State City Skyline, the Warzone.
Clarinda physically pulled herself through the portal, vertigo kicking in as she realized just how high up she was.
Currently standing atop the tallest building in Newrum, she could scarcely make anything of the city streets out. That was good, she didn't want to focus on that.
A Gun followed her and settled itself in her hands as she took position, using it's scope to look towards the perpetrator.
There she was: red armour, long plats, round glasses, blue-ish skin. Clarinda watched her hair flow in the breeze, aiming upwards and getting ready for the perfect shot-
something snapped.
The world below her exploded, sending a large mushroom cloud up into the sky. Her vision was obfuscated by the clouds, knocked off balance and grabbing onto the railing for support- but still feeling off balance. Like the building itself was what was tilting.
It was, she heard something break and the floors below her must have collapsed on themselves, her survival instincts kicked in and she went through the teleportation circle- changing the location it would take her to- and taking her to safety.
If she had stayed on that building, no shot she could take would hit, and even if she did somehow survive the fall she'd die due to the radiation. Getting out of there when she did was clearly the right decision.
2081, 24th December, 2:38pm. The Rooftop of Wellham Hospital.
And now, she was ready. She'd been waiting for a chance to fight against her ever since she'd first seen her in Newrum.
"..If I can just remain hidden, and take her out..." She whispered to herself, poking the gun with the holy bullets through the nearest teleportation circle and firing again.
..
Tara ran to the side, clutching her bleeding hand and avoiding the distinctive glowing bullets coming from the circle.
The Darkness pooling around her began to form a protective shell as the gun poked further out of the portal, the shadows spiked upwards- impaling the gun and dragging it down, a bronze-toned hand and a camouflage sleeve poked out- but quickly released it's grasp as the owner of the arm pulled it back in.
"..So that's your game, is it?" She asked.
...
'Yes, it is.' Clarinda responded mentally. But she was smart enough not to speak, constantly reminding herself of what she saw those darkness pillars do merely a couple of days ago.
...
Tara looked at the Red Moon Circle, watching it's contents spin around as it vanished. Within seconds, another one appeared on the ceiling above her,
it didn't matter to her though. Her target wasn't whoever was firing at her, she jumped forwards and barrelled into the Red Moon Holding Room, watching as the doctors and nurses all backed away out of fear- some hiding under beds and some pressing themselves to the walls. The Darkness under Tara's feet spiked up and three shadow lances jumped into the air.
She grabbed two of them and hurled them directly at Jebediah.
"W-Wha-No!" One of the Doctors attempted to yell out, but one lance landed crudely in Jebediah's side. Another followed after it and pierced his chest. Staining the area's red. Due to the medicine still being pumped into him, he didn't stir.
Jashin's aura however, did. The more red that stained Jebediah's clothes, the bigger the aura became.
Tara's eyes went pitch black as she held her hands out in front of her. Another large pillar of darkness sprouted into existence and fired straight at the comatose Cult Leader. It fully engulfed his entire body, the bed he was lying on, and the 2 doctors behind him who were unfortunate enough to get caught in the crossfire.
At the same time, a wave of darkness shot up behind her- taking the brunt of Clarinda's holy bullets in Tara's stead as it then washed over her. The Wave pressed Tara into the darkness beneath her, and she vanished. The Pillar of Darkness began to fade as well, everything it had engulfed was pressed together in the corner of the room. Jebediah's own corpse piled under the wreckage. A Single, broken arm sticking out, almost as though it was reaching for help.
As the darkness on the floor began to sizzle out of existence, signalling The Demon's exit, blue flames began to appear on his hand. Engulfing it as well, and then extinguishing. Leaving only a skeleton behind.
As that Skeleton turned into dust, it became clear that Jebediah, and Jashin, had both been killed.
The Doctors and Nurses stared at the scene, speechless.
...
"S-Shit!" Clarinda exclaimed, as she felt a horrid sense of unease work it's way towards her stomach.
Something was missing. She lifted her bulletproof vest and the shirt underneath it up slightly, and confirmed her own suspicions. Unable to keep her breath from shaking or body from sweating any longer, she watched as the Red Moon Emblem on the left side of her stomach seemed to burn up and vanish.
She wasn't thinking clearly- this was a failure-, she didn't know how, but if Jashin vanished at this point then he must have been in this hospital! She'd failed.
Bursting out of the room she had holed herself up in, she pointed the three guns she had with her wildly in all directions, as the shadowy blobs remaining on the floor began to approach her.
Clarinda waved her hands; "Fire!" She called out, the holy bullets tearing holes through the shadows and ripping them apart.
What Clarinda didn't notice, was the blue skinned demon peering out from the other end of the hallway- with one hand thrust forward.
She didn't notice it, until one of her guns detected the threat, turned around and fired.
Clarinda turned to face her just as darkness swamped the ground in front of her, many spikes bursting out-
BANG!
STAB!
....
Drip...
Drip...
Clarinda's shot had hit her. Tarabus had stumbled backwards, gripping a bleeding shoulder and let out a single, pained screech, stumbling this way and that.
"You.. You BITCH!" Tarabus spat.
"..Heh. Stings like a bitch, don't it?" Clarinda asked, smiling. "..Ah.. Gha..! *Cough* *Cough* *Splutter!"
She vomited the blood that had been welling in her mouth. It fell to the floor in front of where she hung, each and every one of the spikes of darkness had pierced her body. One above the collarbone, one in the shoulder. Three in the torso. Her three automatic rifles were all impaled not too far from her, all pointed to the ceiling. Clarinda looked to them with shaking eyes, they wouldn't be any use anymore.
She gripped the one that had pierced right through where her mark used to be for support. Elevated above Tarabus by the spikes impaling her, she grinned down to her.
Tarabus scowled. "...Haven't seen you before." She commented, putting aside the pain. "Why did you join that cult?"
"Heh.." Clarinda spat out some excess blood, again. "... What's it to you?"
"I'm asking you a question. What was it that convinced you to join these guys?" Tarabus asked.
"...Why are you asking me?" Clarinda asked. "You.. sure didn't ask everyone in Newrum."
"...I think I know, anyway." Tarabus decided. "..Besides, it doesn't matter. Jebediah's Dead, your group isn't a threat anymore with him gone."
"..Really?" Clarinda asked, her voice low as the blood welled up in her throat again. "..You really think that?
You don't know anything about humans, Leaders die all the time, but the fight continues on. Human Civilization.. is built on warfare, someone like.. *cough*.. him dying, won't stop anything. We're just going to keep fighting, and so is everyone else."
Clarinda tried to stop herself, but her voice cracked and she began to weep. "I-in fact.. Can we ever.. stop fighting?.. Whenever I stop. I always feel, like.. I'm a monster, like.. I lost my purpose for being... Heh,, heh,, heheh.. maybe.. Is that why I joined?.. to ignore those feelings and find a opponent.. I could hate and fight against with all my strength? So I wouldn't feel bad.. when I kept fighting.. and fighting.. and fighting?... Or.. was it all just me distracting myself.. from those feelings?.. I don't...
I don't actually know.."
Clarinda was talking to herself, trying to sort her own emotions out in the face of death. Tarabus stilled her own.
"....Maybe..." Tarabus murmured to herself, as another darkness spike began to form.
"H..hey.." Clarinda started-
It extended and pierced right through Clarinda's forehead. Poking out of the back. That nervous smile still on her face.
Tarabus stared at the body, she could smell fire.
"...Somebody you could hate and fight against with all your strength.." Tarabus mused, turning around. "..I should head back. Zoey's going to be pissed."
She vanished in a pillar of darkness again, and all of the darkness in the hallway faded away as well. Clarinda and her guns all fell in a heap on the ground.
2081, 24th December, 2:40pm. Underground Chamber, Martha's Office.
Martha looked over the palm of her hand. Her expression was calm, but she was unable to keep her limbs from shaking.
Delilah sat across the table from her, still.. now looking over a video game.
"..You're.. not reacting at all." Martha commented, her voice shaking as she looked to Delilah. "..Of course you're not. You don't even have this mark..."
She gripped onto the wrist, trying to stop it from shaking, and concentrated. Nothing happened, she pressed her brows together and clenched her teeth. "Hhnnnnnngggh..." She tensed every muscle in her body, but her nails wouldn't grow.
"..Hnn.. .. no..." She whispered to herself. "..so soon, too..."
'What am I going to tell the others?'
The shaking travelled down her arms and to her shoulders as she stood up, slamming her hands onto the table. "..It's.. it's alright, Martha." She re-assured herself. "Everything's fine, there's nothing to worry about. He's gone and you've only been in charge of the organization for a couple of hours, but that's no reason to stress out- no, it's no reason AT ALL!"
She picked up her wine glass and threw it at the music player, the sound of 90s pop still echoed throughout the room but it was now accompanied by the sound of falling glass.
"...Hhhnngh..." She gritted her teeth again, marching over to the radio. Stepping over the fractured glass and spilled liquids before slamming her finger down on the off switch as hard as possible.
Her nail cracked.
Delilah had looked up from her video game, her mouth open.. but her expression dishearteningly blank. Martha could catch an accusatory vibe from the subtle annoyance in her eyes.
"...Well!?" Martha strained. "Anything to say about this!?"
..Delilah said nothing.
"..Of course, of course you don't! You-" Martha's angry rant cut itself short as she pressed her hands to her own shoulders, crossing them across her chest. "No, no, it's fine, It's all fine. Everything's fine, Martha."
She smiled sweetly at Delilah, "..I'm sorry, I just, got a bit scared and lost my temper. But it's alright, the plans still in effect so there's no need to worry~" Her half-hearted attempt at singing that last line had no effect on Delilah at all.
"..Can you leave?" Martha asked. "I'd like some alone time. Just for a bit. Just a bit of time.. by myself.. to think."
Delilah stood up wordlessly, and left. Martha watched as the door closed behind the silent child.
2081, 24th December, 2:40pm. Quarantined Emergency Care Section. Wellham Hospital.
The darkness and shadows pooling throughout the hospital had all vanished. The surviving armed men, and the doctors had all started to look around, trying to find some trace of the demon that had just attacked.
A Couple of the hired men had gone back to check on the Stoneson's, and found Amila- propping herself up with her one good arm, staring stock-still at a bloody stain on the floor in Randolf's suit.
Amila's body was shaking, and her expression hadn't changed when she noticed the others coming in.
"A-Amila, don't look!" One of the guards exclaimed, running up to her.
The air near Amila ignited, flames sprouted up and separated them from her, turning from red to blue instantly. Like a wilted flower, she weakly turned to look at them.
"...That...she did this." Amila croaked out. "..She.. right in front of me.. I'm..I'll..."
Breathing erratically, she didn't notice the flames that began to spread throughout the entire room.
"Ma'am! Please, try to calm down!" One of the armed men tried to move forwards to grab her- but the fire spiked and burnt at the riot gear protecting his arms. He retracted them, and backed away from the flames.
Amila closed her eyes, her shoulders heaving as carbon dioxide began to fill up the room. The two armed guards had no choice but to retreat.
"..I'm... going to get her.. for this.." Amila cried to herself. "..How.. dare you..."
She had to let her anguish out somehow, so she screamed. She moved both of her hands and gripped onto her head, letting out scream after scream. With each despair-filled cry, the inferno grew hotter and larger.
END OF PART 4
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Post by IDEK on Feb 20, 2019 19:09:05 GMT
In Transience, I Rise-
Part 5: Someone to [blank]
[][][], [][] [][][], []:[][][ ], [][][][] [][] [][]
TRANSLATING... CONVERTING TO EARTH-3 TIME...
[2081, 24th December, 2:40pm. Earth-3-Time] Home of the Tartarus Clan. Erebus's Castle
Tara crawled herself out of the darkness pool in front of the castle that used to belong to Erebus, unlatching the cape and letting it fall limply onto the dirt beneath her. Holding her hand to her shoulder and letting a patch of darkness cover up the wound she had received. It'd heal up pretty quickly, now that she was back here.
'a opponent i could hate and fight against with all my strength?.. so i wouldn't feel bad' The words of that cultist repeated themselves in the back of her head. Now that she considered it, that was how she had been handling the Red Moon and.. everyone else from Earth, this entire time.
Ugh, now she had to think about this... She folded her arms and tucked her legs under herself, letting her plaits fall into the pool of darkness behind her. "..I did just finish off Jashin, I can afford to rest for a little while.
That girl's been avenged, and everyone here is safe for the time being." She mused to herself, letting a small smile wash across her face as she closed her eyes.
For a moment, she sat there, leaning against a rock. The moments passed, and another figure walked into view. A taller demon around the same age as Tara, with blue skin and matching, flaming hair that was pulled into two thin, firey ponytails behind her head, there were small flames sparking in her eyes as well.
"..So, how'd it go?" The demon asked.
"Pretty good." Tara answered, without opening her eyes. "I killed Jebediah."
"Well, thank goodness." The Demon folded her arms and sat down nearby. "That bastard should've died ages ago.
..I hope you made him suffer."
"The bastard was already comatose, I just finished him off." Tara replied.
"Peh." The other demon cocked her head away for a second. "..Well, thank you. Someone had to take him out, especially after what he did to my mother. But it always seemed like everyone was just fine sitting here like ducks, letting him run buck wild all over for the past century, putting his stupid beast on the moon, trying to just- ugh! It's about time someone did something about him!
...
So, where will you strike next?" She asked.
Tara ran her finger along the ground. "...Not sure."
2081, 24th December, 2:45pm. Underground Chambers, Martha's Office
Shattered Wine Glasses, Bashed up chunks of a game console and the shattered disc that was inside it, the broken hunk of junk that used to be a radio, and various other household devices lay broken and scattered on the floor of her office.
Martha sat with her legs crossed at the table, her elbows on the table and her hands pressed against her face as her shoulders bobbed up and down.
The motivational posters she had plastered all over the walls weren't doing her any good now that she wasn't motivated. The phone lying on the table in front of her vibrating silently, she'd received a message.. but she didn't want to pick it up. It was the only thing she hadn't broken yet.
Hesitantly, she cradled it in her hand, and poked the screen. Turning it on.
'3 New Messages!'
Martha unconsciously licked at her lips with a nervous demeanour, not sure if she wanted to see what they had to say..
'From: Kainan Sitz.
Hey Baby,
You remembered to collect the cash right? Charity really wants to eat at that expensive restaurant after today's recital. We promised her she could go.'
"..Ah." She smiled to herself, relieved that it was just her family. Typing up a quick 'yeah no worries lol' and sending it, before moving down to look at the next one.
'From:Emil Eaton-
The second she read that, she frowned. She hadn't even given Emil her phone number, how did he learn it?
'From:Emil Eaton.
What's going on!? My symbol vanished and I can't use my power anymore! On top of that, Gideon's dead and the church in Wallshore has been burnt to the ground!'
Something sunk in Martha's chest, she slammed her phone back down onto the table. Silently seething. 'Oh that's just wonderful, that is! Everything's coming up just daisies isn't it!? Gideon's dead!?'
'..Gideon's dead. They're all going to blame me for this.' Her eyes went wide as she pondered this, only brought out of her thoughts when she remembered that there was a third message she hadn't yet looked at.
'From:Carbon Trioxide
Raluag and Lynch are in Wellham.
Abraham and Clarinda are both dead, killed by Tarabus who interrupted their attack on Randolf Stoneson in the Wellham General Hospital. Randolf, Jebediah and Jack Colorado were all killed by this demon as well.
So far only Tarabus has left Wellham. Raluag is still in Wellham. The fire in Wallshore had nothing to do with any of them, it was a different group entirely who set that fire.'
.. "..Huh?" Martha reread the message, then reread it again. 'Carbon Trioxide'? She'd never talked to this person at all before! How'd they get her number?
And, equally importantly, why were they telling her this? How did they even have this information? Could she trust it?
She turned her phone off, and placed it back down on the table. Leaning forwards with a choked noise. "..Oh, what am I supposed to do now?" She asked herself. Not only was Gideon dead, but so were the two she sent to Newrum in the first place, if that person was correct then that Demon was running around as well!
'...Is this even worth following up on?' Martha asked herself. '..With Jashin and Jebediah both gone, this cult's useless... I just need a way to manage this situation and stop it from getting worse than it already has, but how would I do that?'
She knew it, this wasn't a time for useless worrying. She now knew the name of the person that had broken Raluag out. 'Lynch', it was a name that.. sounded familiar, like she'd seen it before, but she wasn't sure where.
Now wasn't the time for useless worrying, the chips were down, and she had to come up with a strategy before everything managed to get even worse.
She picked her phone up again, stood up, and turned it back on. Sending a response to 'Carbon Trioxide'.
'Tell me more.'
Keeping the phone in her hands, she pulled her tartan jacket back on and walked out of the room.
...
Martha turned her head in both directions, no sign of Delilah yet. She tried to think of places she would find that girl, and as she took her first step, she was interrupted by another vibration from her phone. More messages.
'From;Carbon Trioxide.
What do you want to know?'
It didn't take her long to type up her message.
'To:Carbon Trioxide
i have several questions
1)who are you
2) how did you get my number?
3) who is lynch?'
2081, 24th December, 2:45pm. Ruins of Wellham.
Delia could smell fire. "...What's going on now?" She asked herself, following the scent out of the bedroom, past Tauro again[trying not to look at him- he doesn't have the Mark of the Red Moon anymore.], and into the bedroom directly across from her.
Not paying the actual layout of this room[presumably the parent's] any mind, she went straight to the window and peered out of it. Looking over the backyard at the smoke rising in the distance.[Coming from the hospital.]
'..The Hospital. It seems a lot of things are happening over there, might be worth checking out.
Would be worth learning what's been going on in this city since it fell, haven't heard anything about it during my time in Wallshore.
...But still, you should be careful.' she told herself. 'That place is on fire for a reason, you don't know what'll happen if the person who lit that fire finds you. Not yet.'
The possibility that it was the Red Moon Cult seemed pretty likely, in fact it seemed the most probable. But as Delia exited the bedroom and searched for some sunglasses, she did humour the idea that the Other she saw might've set the fire.
But it seemed far more likely that Other was attracted towards the fire.
....
"Hey, Where are you going?" Raluag had asked when she saw Lynch walk towards the door, having gone downstairs without the omnipotent noticing, must've been too distracted by the pain.
"..There's a fire at the hospital." Lynch explained. "I'm going to check it out."
"And the sunglasses?"
The orange-haired woman turned to face her from the doorway. "Well, When I talked to Tauro earlier, he said he figured Delilah's power worked on eye contact, so I figured if I wore sunglasses, she wouldn't be able to make eye contact with me."
Raluag grunted, with annoyed eyes. "Well, wouldn't it make sense to give me those sunglasses then!?" She asked. "You were still able to fight her last time. I couldn't."
Lynch looked to the sunglasses for a brief second, as though thinking, before she tossed them in the air and a gust of wind directed them into Raluag's hands.
Raluag gritted her teeth. "..Thanks." She said. "Get some painkillers while you're gone as well."
Lynch turned her head and walked out.
Raluag looked at the door and grimaced. Lynch could really be annoying sometimes, 'she was seriously going to just take those sunglasses and leave me here? She better come back. I had to ask for her to tell me where she was going.'
She turned on her back and groaned. 'At least I've got Tauro here... in case something happens.'
...
Delia Laurel stood on the roof of the building, looking down at the streets below her. The fire seemed to have attracted the attention of even more Others, as they came wandering out of their homes, but very few of them saw fit to head towards it.
Delia however, did. Jumping from roof to roof and heading towards the smoke gathering the sky. It wasn't long before she could see flames in the distance.[estimated hour walking distance.].. not the most useful observation. She couldn't really tell how long she'd take to get there with how fast she was currently running and jumping.
She jumped so high she almost flew, diving over multiple houses and using the gusts of wind to send her back into the air before she could fall face-first into the roof of a supermarket. The hospital was in sight now, she could see people running out of it but couldn't make any of them out. Flames billowing out of the lower floor windows, and smoke pooling out of some of the higher ones as well.
Before she could be spotted, she whooshed herself through a empty hole where a window used to be in one of the nearby buildings.[20 floors, top 5 wrecked.]
Holding onto the windowpane, she peered her head out. Looking down at what seemed like a healthy mix of armed men [Hired by one Randolf Stoneson(deceased)] and doctors[some medical doctors, some of theoretical science, also hired by the same man.] had all gathered outside of the burning hospital.
Was she close enough? This would be a good time to at least try, she held her hands out in front of her as though holding a sheet of paper.. and concentrated on the burning hospital not too far from her.
A Small glimmer of light, and the files appeared in her hands. She shifted through them, 'The Battle at Wellham Hospital' 'Abraham Cardio' 'Amila L'aurlethé Stoneson' 'Randolf Stoneson' 'Tarabus'... These seemed good, she shoved them into her hoodie and returned her focus to the group outside the hospital. All looking amongst each other, some yelling out while others whispering.
The half-open door to the hospital was slammed open[by a gust of wind], and a pale, injured looking woman in a hospital gown, floating above the ground(occasionally bobbing up and down) floated out, her expression(emotionally distant) hard to make out from Delia's current spot.
Delia looked at the woman intently.[Amila L'aurlethé Stoneson, born 23rd November 2055, eye bashed in during battle of newrum, and legs still paralyzed from the shock of Emynx's explosion. Has the ability to manipulate oxygen, and can use this ability to control fire.]
'Looks like she's the one who lit the fire' Delia concluded... before it hit her.
L'aurlethé.
...
Amila held herself in the air, looking at the people gathered outside of the hospital with a hazy expression. She almost let herself fall to the ground, but focused her breath and rose a couple of centimetres into the air.
Everyone around her, the other doctors and hired men were looking at her. As though conflicted about whether to try to catch her ifshe fell, or back away in case the air around her combusted.
"...Ah.." Amila opened her mouth, her hazy expression clearing up as she released her breath. The fire behind her was choked out immediately, and she began to fall forwards.
A Doctor and the hired woman from earlier both ran up to her with their hands held out, catching her with ease.
"Amila! Are you okay!?" The doctor asked.
Amila inhaled with a sharp gasp. "..Ugh.." She wheezed in and out, "..I.."
She paused, and the entire planet waited to hear what she was going to say.
"..I don't want to be here anymore." Amila lowered her head, all sorts of feelings swirling around and trying to decipher themselves. All forms of Hatred directed at everyone who couldn't save Randolf and at the one who killed him, at herself for not being able to do anything were wrestling with a empty feeling in the pit of her chest that just wanted to go back to sleep and never wake up ever again. A Part of her that wanted something to come to her, send her back in time, and reveal that none of this ever happened. A Part of her that wanted to burn down everything between her and that demon before she could burn her to the ground too.
All of these feelings wedged themselves inside Amila's heart and struggled to win out against the other, thus stopping any of them from making their way to her face. She had let all of her excess emotions out when she had set everything on fire, and now that they were gone she was able to pretend to be calm. "...Where were you guys before Grandpa brought you here?" She asked. "I think it'd be best if we returned there while I recover."
The crowd all looked amongst themselves, before one of the hired men took a step forwards. "I mean, are you sure it's safe?"
"Well, I mean no offense. But this hospital clearly isn't, considering red moon cultists and a demon both attacked at the same time seemingly without knowing the other party would be here. So we're going to go back, and I'm going to get better, and then she's going to pay."
Turning off the part of her that wanted to grieve, Amila looked at the crowd with a expression that looked concerningly neutral.
"...Well, staying here won't do any of us any good at all. Let's go. We'll take the ambulance's we took to get here." One of the hired men decided.
"What about the cultists?" One of the doctors asked.
Noone else said anything, they all headed towards the still-salvageable parking lot with the same set of targets in mind. Amila let herself be carried for the time being, craning her head to look at the hospital. Most of the damage was inside, but there was still leftover smoke being carried in the air.
Her grandpa was in there. Dead. She couldn't forget that.
She didn't want to see his body either, so she looked up at the sky. Watching the sky clear up. It felt wrong. That the weather was only getting better now that Randolf had died.
...
They all walked out of Delia's line of sight[heading for the car park.]. From the pieces of the conversation she had overheard, if she went to Raluag, took her, and then ran back, not only would the ambulances be gone, but this group would probably have completely vanished from the town in that time as well.
Which would mean, that all things considered, the hospital[full of all kinds of medical tools] would be empty. It wouldn't be hard to find painkillers for Raluag in there.
'Okay, so, here's what you're going to do.
Go in that hospital, get some painkillers, take them to Raluag. Maybe follow these guys with Raluag. No harm if you can't though...'
She flipped through the 'Battle of Wellham Hospital' file, taking note of the list of casualties.
Jebediah and Jashin had both died in the events that just occurred in that fire. Because of this, anyone with the Mark of the Red Moon wouldn't have their mark anymore, for proof all she had to do was remember seeing Tauro not too long ago, His mark vanished because Jashin had perished. The Red Moon Cult would be less of a threat now, especially since they couldn't just use their portals to go everywhere.
'However' she looked through the casualties, noticing the familiar names of cultists that she recognized. 'The Red Moon had attacked the hospital- and lost a lot of members at the time, even if they didn't have their powers anymore, they'd still come to investigate.
So I should get this done quickly, then get out of here.'
Placing one foot on the windowsill and leaning out of it, she watched as the group of people all vanished into the car park underneath the hospital. [Nobody is looking], so she hopped out from the window, parkouring from windowpane to windowpane before hurling herself- with the gust of wind for momentum- right through the open window of one of the third floor hospital rooms.
Air pooled itself where she would land [on a empty bed] and buffeted what would've surely been a harsh, face-first landing. She still landed with her face pressed against the mattress, but it didn't hurt.
Pulling herself up, she scanned the room. [No medical supplies, 1 deceased man[killed by Clarinda Eaton's automatic Rifle] lying on his back in front of the open doorway.]
Nothing she could do in this room, she had to find a medicine cabinet. So she jumped over the corpse and into the wrecked hallway. Finding other deceased guards [killed in the same way] and.. not much else at first glance, really.
If this was a hospital, they wouldn't just keep the painkillers in random rooms. If there were any they'd be in a supply room or a warehouse. There might be some in a operating room or intensive care place- in a cupboard nearby or something, there were a lot of places they could be.
'..I've... never actually been in a hospital before.' She thought to herself, 'this place looks pretty big, but.. it's also been unused for quite some time. I'll just need to actually look for it.'
And so, Delia walked down the hallway, peering through each room and scanning them only to find more of the same. It wasn't until she turned the corner and found a giant hole in the floor[caused by Tarabus's darkness beam] and a matching one above it, a series of symmetrical and identical holes allowing Delia to view the clear blue sky above her.
Peering down the hole in the floor, she could see a bloody stain in the shape of a pair of humans lying square in the middle of a crater on the ground floor. [Abraham Cardio, Member of the Red Moon Cult, Killed by the pressure of the darkness beam] and under him was [Wallace Finch, hired scientist and gun for Randolf Stoneson who just happened to be standing there when the beam struck. Killed by the impact when Abraham landed on him.]
"..Unlucky." Delia commented to herself, even though nobody was there to hear her. Without anywhere else to go, she jumped down the hole and landed on the second floor. For the most part things were the same as before, only instead of being killed by Clarinda's guns, there were a few bodies that had clearly been killed by.. uh.. [Abraham's Exploding Card's]..
"..Exploding cards?" Delia couldn't help but ask herself, What a weird way to kill someone. He couldn't use a normal exploding weapon, like a grenade?
Ignoring this, she hopped down the hole again and landed in the crater on the first floor. Right next to the deceased Abraham and Wallace. 'He really didn't fall that far down, that darkness beam must've had a lot of force behind it to kill him if he fell for less than a second.'
She continued down the hallway, past corpse after corpse, until she came across a room with its door completely blown open, from what she read in the file; this must've been the room where Jebediah was being held. She peered inside, seeing rows of unconscious, drugged up red moon cultists lying in the beds, and a smashed up pile with a couple of corpses mixed in[Jebediah's Skeleton being one of them] at the very back of the room.
'Looks like they didn't even bother to unplug these guys.' Delia pondered, this room seemed to have been untouched by all of the flames, there was a little bit of carbon flying around, but no damage to speak of. She looked to all the members still lying there in their medically induced slumber. Most of them would've had the Red Moon Mark on them, but that had vanished with Jebediah and Jashin... perhaps these guys all thought the cultists would perish in the fire?
She briefly scanned all of the medication in the room, but quickly found she couldn't use it for Raluag. All of it served mainly to keep them unconscious, and she didn't want Raluag to spend the rest of her days asleep.
..Not wanting to wake up the cultists, she left them and went back into the hallway. Not noticing a shadow moving in the corner.
It wasn't that far away, another door that had been completely broken open, and a room left almost pitch black from the flames that once exploded inside of it. Peering inside and seeing the splattered body of one [Randolf Stoneson], she swallowed the saliva in her mouth and turned away from the body. 'There could easily be painkillers left behind in here..' She thought to herself, 'especially if Randolf and Amila were already in this room.'
It didn't take long, a small scan and she found a medicine cabinet on the wall only a couple of centimetres away from her. Standing on her toes to reach it, she flung it open with more force than necessary and scanned the contents. [Painkillers, Gauze Bandage, Skin Cream, Plasters, Cough Medicine, Muscle Relaxant]
Not knowing what she would need, she took everything inside the cabinet and shoved it all into her hoodie. Turning to leave and then freezing herself in place.
There was a envelope on the floor. One that definitely hadn't been there before. [Placed via the Paradox Computer, sent from [10 seconds ago. ]. ]
Lynch stared down at the envelope with wide, white eyes. It didn't say who wrote it, but.. it'd been sent.. less than a minute ago. They'd sent the letter there when she had been shoving all of the medical supplies into her inventory. Whoever had sent that letter to her....
"...How long have you been watching me?" She asked, as the realization hit her.
2081, 24th December, 2:55pm. Underground Chambers, Cell Room. "Alright, so everything's fine." Martha re-assured the person she was talking to over the phone. "I've got to go now, call you later!"
With a useless wave of her hand, she hung up and placed the phone in her pocket as she walked into the room. Letting the door close behind her as she had finally located Delilah.
Delilah was sitting in the exact same seat in the exact same room they had been holding Raluag, it hadn't been cleaned up at all since the initial scuffle. But the girl seemed content to just leave the mess there, sit down, and pull out another book to read. Martha didn't get a chance to see what the book was, Delilah had sat herself on top of it as soon as she saw the door creak open even slightly.
It wasn't that important to her, so Martha just smiled. "Ah, there you are Delilah." She crooned as she took a step forwards. "We're going to be returning to Wallshore, isn't that fun?" She asked, clasping her hands together.
Delilah showed no response. Martha returned her hands to her side and looked at the girl with a disappointed expression. "Please, would it kill you to react?" She asked. Delilah lowered a brow. "..Good enough. Anyway, I just want you to know that.. there's no need to worry about anything. We're still going strong, and this is just a minor setback. That's all." Martha smiled.
Delilah folded her leg, before tilting her head.
Martha, still with a grin on her face, showed her palm- now blank, to the girl. "Don't tell anyone this, it's a secret, okay?" She smiled, as though a high school girl about to spread a nasty rumour. "But Tarabus has killed Jashin, Abraham and Clarinda in a battle at the Wellham Hospital. And you know what else? Lynch and Raluag were there too. You know what this means, right?"
Delilah's lips opened up, and.. she took a breath. didn't say anything. Martha didn't know what she expected.
"..You do know what this means, right?" Martha asked again...
Silence.
"Come on, I'm trying to talk with you one on one here."
Delilah rested her chin on her hand and nodded half-heartedly.
Martha rolled her eyes and crossed her hands, leaning against the doorframe. "We're going to need to get you talking sooner or later, Delilah. I can't carry a conversation by myself, and you won't be able to do anything for yourself if you don't speak to other people, you know? Everyone will just get annoyed and leave you. Is that what happened to you before?
Well, it doesn't matter." She cut herself off and walked forwards before Delilah could respond, not that she would've. "What matters is that you're here with us now, and with you, we're going to get Raluag, and wage our war on the demons, the way we've always planned, right?" She asked herself, grinning nervously. Hoping to gauge some kind of positive reaction from the mute teen. "We just need to gather ourselves some intel on where they are now, and then we'll be good to go!
All these guys need is a opponent to fight against, and they'll do whatever it takes to continue the fight against them, this is perfect incentive for them to listen to me!" The Landlord turned De-facto Cult Leader smiled awkwardly.
Delilah ran her hands down the bench she was seated on, kicking a foot into the air as she bit onto her lip.
2081, 24th December, 2:56pm, Wellham Hospital, First Floor,
'Dear Lynch Rise,
We need your help, I can't say much in case somebody else reads this, but trust me when i say that this will be beneficial for both of us, i need some assistance that only you can give me, and you need somewhere safe to stay while all of this is going on.
Meet us at the base of the Elcarim Plateau, north of Wellham. We're not too far from your current location.
Zuri Eckstein'
'..Lynch Rise?..' She asked herself as she read the letter. Having never actually called herself that at any point in her life, the name she used to use was 'Lynch Vixerello', not 'Lynch Rise'... who added a 'Rise' to her name?
And more than that..
"..Are you still watching me?" She asked. it felt like the world was spinning, distorting, hidden within every panel of this burnt up room was a different eyeball peering directly into her brain and reading every thought out loud, she had no secrets. Not if she was being spied on by that computer, even now. Even if it was a different person using it.
And where had the name 'Lynch Rise' come from!?
'..No, this doesn't matter! None of this matters! Just take what you've got and get out of here!' A Part of her brain yelled, she shoved the letter into her hoodie and darted back down the hall, jumping up through the hole in the ceiling to reach the second floor.
...
Jumping from roof to roof like usual, seeing nothing but empty streets.[Amila and the others are likely long gone], she kept her eyes peeled. Now that she knew that someone was using that computer, she didn't know what to think. 'Is that letter trustworthy? or not?
..Really, the only way to find out is to check it out' she decided, as she hopped over rooftops- landing on the building next to the one Raluag was staying in, a other poked its head out of the window to look at her but she didn't give it the time of day. Slipping down the roof and shooting herself through the open window of their current hideout.
...
"..Thanks." Raluag sighed, exchanging her old, dirty bandages for the much cleaner ones that had been taken from the hospital.
Lynch nodded, leaning against the curtain and letting Raluag sort herself out. "..Don't forget to put the cap on." She offered.
"Huh?..Oh, right." Raluag nodded, before screwing the cap back onto the bottle of painkillers. Her hands and arms shaking, but she was able to complete this task and place the bottle back on the empty space on the chair.
The opened up letter was placed on the chair as well. Raluag looked over it a second and then a third time. "...Who's Zuri Eckstein?" She asked.
"I don't know." Lynch shook her head. "I'm not sure if I can trust her or not. But considering everything that happened in that hospital, it'd be best for us to leave soon anyway."
"Wasn't that already the plan?" Raluag asked. "Leave as soon as I recover?"
Lynch began to pace around. "Well, not really. We're heading out sooner than that. There's car keys in that cabinet over there, so we can just take their car."
Raluag looked at Lynch, but Lynch didn't attempt to make eye contact, or even keep Raluag in her field of vision. Holding onto her elbows and fidgeting as she walked, Raluag could tell that her 'friend' was deep in thought.
Minutes passed in silence as Raluag felt the pain fade away, replaced with a vaguely numb feeling. She picked up the painkiller bottle and looked at the little warning label for any dangerous side effects.. '..its only the normal shit. Constipation, drowsiness, dry mouth.. nothing to worry about'.
But.. the minutes continued to pass. "..Hey, are we going or what?" Raluag eventually asked, fueled by impatience.
As though prompted, Lynch nodded. "..Yeah, sure, let's get going... Are we leaving Tauro here?"
"That was the plan." Raluag grimaced, trying to get onto her feet unsuccessfully. She may have taken a couple of painkillers and changed the bandages but a hole in someone's leg was a hole in someone's leg, she still needed Lynch to support her as they made their way through the hallway, picked up the car keys, and went out through the front door.
The streets had more Others in them than usual, but neither of the two made eye contact. Some of the Others may have been looking at them, but as long as there wasn't anything too negative, they should leave them alone.
Lynch awkwardly bent herself over and fiddled with the key to the car before just pressing a button on the side and watching as the doors whammed open. Giving the Car a side-eye, the two threw themselves in. Raluag scooching along to get to the passenger seat while Lynch got in last and closed the door behind her. Placing her feet on the ignition.. she looked at all of the buttons in front of her.
"..Have you never driven a car before?" Raluag asked.
Lynch shook her head. "..I'll figure it out." She decided, her eyes running back and forth as though reading something. She placed her foot on the pedal and the key in the ignition.
And off they went.
2081, 24th December, 3:04pm, The Road, North of Wellham.
Raluag watched the scenery pass them by, already feeling the side effects of the painkillers she'd shoved into her pockets. Struggling to keep her eyes open. Lynch had figured out the car quickly enough, but that 'power' of hers, whatever it was, was likely the only reason she was able to do this without a license.
The windows had been opened up (because 'i need the fresh air' or some shit like that) and as a result the wind was buffeting her in the face, she was pretty sure this was the only reason she hadn't fallen asleep yet. How could Lynch even see with her fringe being blown into her eyes?
Squinting and brushing her hair out of her eyes, Raluag looked to the ocean in the distance. Oddly still and calm, somehow untouched by all of the chaos infecting the rest of the world. For the most part, it was all grass and patches of sand separating the road from the ocean. On Lynch's side of the car Raluag could spot the occasional radio tower, and dark green lumps that she could easily identify as Forests in the distance.
Most of the Others in the area had already crowded themselves around Wellham, which had the added side effect of the area outside of Wellham usually being clear of them. There weren't any crystals lying around outside either. It had all been brought into the town. Raluag found it oddly bare.
She looked down at the series of buttons on the car door, pressing one of them in a attempt to close the window slightly. It was the wrong button. Letting out a drowsy groan, she pressed the other one and watched as the window pane slammed up with the force of the gods- closing before Raluag could blink with a noise that was way too loud for a single sheet of glass to be making.
At least the wind wasn't slapping her a mile a minute anymore.
"..Hey, Lyn-..Delia?" Raluag corrected herself again, propping her face up against the window. "..Lynch isn't your real name, right?"
Lynch's expression tensed up, before she shook her head.
"So, what made you go with that one?" Raluag asked.
Lynch pondered this for a second, before answering. "..I was a kid. Thought it sounded cool."
"Is that.. the only reason?" Raluag asked, pressing her face down into her fist.
"It's the only reason I did a lot of things, when I was younger. What made you choose Raluag?" Lynch reflected the question back to her passenger.
"...All the other Omnipotents had done it, it seemed like some kind of.. ritual, and-" She cut herself off to yawn. "..I just went along with it.
So, why... did you, decide to take a pseudonym in the first place?" She asked.
Lynch remained silent for a good 15 seconds. "..I don't, want to talk about it."
"Why?" Raluag asked.
"Do I need a reason to not want to talk about my past?" She asked, lowering a brow in what was clearly annoyance. Finally, a actual emotion. "I'm not here badgering you about your history."
"No, because.. *yawn* because you've already got it all in one of those files of yours. It's awfully crappy to just read through everyone elses past and secrets without divulging any of yours" Raluag almost spat. "Nosy bitch."
She was so drowsy, she hadn't even noticed she said that. Lynch's brain stopped as it processed the insult but the car kept moving.
Eventually, Lynch began processing again, but didn't respond. A Raised up platform, looking almost comparable to a giant tree stump had appeared in the distance, near the edge of the land. There looked to be some kind of metal building built into the side of it. Looked to be quite far away though. But at least there wasn't anywhere else for someone to hide.
"..Huh." Raluag murmured. "That's the Elcarim Plateau?"
"I think so." Lynch responded, with no facial expression. "That building isn't exactly inconspicuous."
"Well, can you tell what it is?" Raluag asked, flopping a hand in the air.
Lynch squinted. "..No, too far away."
"Brilliant.."
2081, 24th December, 3:18pm, Elcarim Plateau.
The rest of the car-ride was boring and silent. But as she drove off the road and parked it on a patch of grass a small bit away from the building and the plateau, Delia could see just how large this plateau was. Fiddling with the car door and opening it with more strength than intended, she stumbled out of the car while Raluag[half-asleep] chose to remain inside.
The sun would set in about 2 hours, as despite the lack of snow in the area, it was still winter. The cold sneaking past her hoodie and brushing against her skin. It was better than Wallshore though, at least there wasn't any frost. If she had worn more layers she might've been able to pretend it was spring.
From here, she could truly appreciate how big the building[Eckstein Research Labs] in front of her was, but it was dwarfed by the Plateau it was next to. The twelve floor building didn't even reach halfway.
Looking down, she looked at the security camera placed next to the front door as it turned with a whirring noise to face her, and then looked to the door as it opened.
A Woman with dark brown skin and baggy,hazel eyes tucked behind wire-framed glasses in a labcoat opened up the door. Her hair, which was styled into braided locs, then pulled up and wrapped around itself into a makeshift ponytail that still managed to reached down to her calves. She wore a overly colourful sweatshirt and a pair of disheveled khaki trousers with some out of place looking tennis shoes.
"Ah, you actually came." The Woman said, [Zuri Eckstein, Born 30th August 2029, Earned her Degree's in Astrophysics and Quantum Physics at the University of Curtside, Head of Unofficial Research Group 'Eckstein Research Labs', Hasn't slept in 9 days].. both looking and sounding too tired to actually emote.
"Hey!" Raluag called out from the car, while Delia held onto her sleeve.
"..Yeah, I got your letter." Delia confirmed.
"Well, what are you waiting for?" Zuri asked, walking out of sight. "Get your friend out of the car and come in. Meet me on the 3rd floor."
...
"What.. is this place?" Delia asked, supporting Raluag on her shoulder as they walked down a clean, white hallway. There were windows on both walls allowing her to peek in to the rooms- which looked to take up that entire half of the floor. People in labcoats all crowded around tables or writing on whiteboards, all of it equations she couldn't really figure out.
Looking over the contents of the rooms, she looked to a blue haired lady just in time for her to look at Delia as well. For some reason she'd[Sitala Legume, Born 15th May 2054, Wanted to be a Photographer before everything went to shit.] placed half of her hair in a series of braids but let the other half loose. But more importantly than her hairstyle, she continued to make direct eye contact with her until she had walked out of the window's view.
The Elevator at the back of the hallway was open, and upon walking in. Delia saw that [There are three doors to the elevator, one to the room on the right, one to the room on the left, and the other to the hallway. A Unusual design created by a member of these labs specifically for this building.]
Her finger hovered over the numberpad before she clicked '3'. The Doors slammed shut and the elevator shifted. Almost knocking her off balance before it opened again a split second later.
The doors re-opened, revealing that the third floor was... basically just one big room. Filled with chairs, tables[devoid of content] and computers[running calculations]. Zuri was sitting on top of a table at the very back of the room, with her hand on a white book[The COPY Book of Light, created by you during the battle against Erebus].
...What?
'...How do you have that book?' Lynch wanted to ask, stumbling forwards upon spotting it. Almost dropping Raluag, who thankfully was able to get herself to the nearest chair as her former roommate stumbled into the middle of the room.
"..Right. So." Zuri grabbed onto the familiar book and held it up. "You've seen this before."
"Yes.." Lynch mumbled. "Why do you have it?"
"Ah, you would ask that." Zuri commented, flipping through its pages. "You made these books during the battle against Erebus, and split them all apart. We wanted to know if these books contained anything of use, so we tried tracking them down. This was the only one we could find. In that prison dimension.."[speaking the truth]
"The one they shoved me and.. the others into." Raluag muttered. [Unsure if she could call them her friends. Considering how little she's ever talked to most of them.]
Most of the words circling around Zuri were just her various academic achievements, so Lynch couldn't just stare at her until she figured out why she was so interested in these books. She had no real choice but to ask. Taking a seat as she did so.
"And.. why?"
Zuri folded her legs and leaned to the side. "You're just a ball of unanswered questions, Lynch Rise-"
"And where'd that name come from?" Lynch asked. "Who added a 'Rise' to the end of my name?"
========================================
The Name [Delia] was rendered obsolete at that moment, everyone would just refer to her as [Lynch] , so it couldn't serve its purpose anymore.
The Pseudonym [Delia Laurel] has been discarded.
========================================
Zuri's glasses fogged up, "..You've been out of the loop for a while. But it's fine, we figured that with the energy stored within those books, we'd be able to power up a portal we've been working on." [One that will give us access to a different timeline] the words floating around elaborated where Zuri herself would not.
She leaned forwards and placed her elbows on her knees. "Do you remember Omalley?"
Lynch's white eyes dilated. "..Him?"
"Ah, so you do." Zuri nodded to herself. "Well, what do you know about the many-worlds interpretation?"
"You're using your portal to hop to a different timeline. Like how Locrian was going to use his to escape to a different universe." Lynch got straight to the point, her entire body tense.
"Can-.. can you even do that?" Raluag asked, not out of the conversation yet.[Pretty close to just collapsing and falling asleep.]
"Well, Gelno, the Omnipotent of Time, did it quite a while ago." Zuri said. "And he's not the only one to jump ship.
To put it in base terms, uh.. you guys like video games, right? this is a game over timeline. Like some crazy game developer decided to make a sequel that takes place after the main character fails in their quest to rescue the princess or whatever." She went on to explain. "That's basically why everything's so shit, and why the Red Moon's running rampant and there's others as far as you can see. This isn't the way this world is supposed to be, after all."
Lynch was brought back to that day, her hands balling into fists as Omalley tried to force himself into her mind.
For some reason, she was angry. But it didn't show, it would be impossible for anyone to notice.
"So basically, I was hoping you'd be able to help us with finding these books, and using them as a tether to a alternate timeline that we can all travel too." Zuri explained. "One were things.. are a bit better off, to put it lightly."
"...Before that, why do you have the Paradox Computer?" Lynch asked.
Raluag[Lacking all the context required to understand] twisted her brows as Zuri closed her eyes, then stood up.
"..You could tell just by looking at the letter, interesting." Zuri commented. "I'd like to ask you a couple of questions about that ability of yours, further down the line. Only if you're comfortable with it, of course."
Lynch blinked, finding herself back in a cold grey chair across the desk from a balding, white haired man in a suit. When she blinked again, she was back in the present.
"I'd rather not." Lynch answered.
Zuri nodded. "Alright. I won't pressure you or anything. For the time being, there's some spare bedrooms on the 10th floor. You can spend the nights in those ones if you chose to, but I'll understand if you don't."
Raluag plopped over on the table. "Hey. I.. don't entirely understand this, but, can't you just use this lab and the research I presume you're doing to.. actually make this a better place?"
"..No." Zuri answered. "My entire career was made from studying parallel and intersecting worlds. Besides, there are plenty of people who don't have any other hope in this plane of existence, the only option is a different one."
After thinking things over, Raluag came to a conclusion. "..Well, this seems as good a place to stay as any." The Omnipotent of Free Will muttered.
Lynch, uncertainty in her heart, nodded.
2081, 24th December, 3:25pm, The Train from Wallshore, 5th Carriage.
This was the last train of the day. Taking it's shares of the food provided by Wallshore to send to the other towns. Eleanor Troy and Hippolytos had paid for some seats again. Providing them safe passage back to Curtside for the time being.
It was only at 3:00pm that the train actually left Wallshore, so they spent a fair amount of time just waiting.
"This Train will arrive at 'Strathmore' in 5 minutes!" The voice over the intercom announced, for the only two passengers in the carriage to hear.
The Fungal Child had grown again, now half the size of Eleanor. It's head had fully reformed while it continued to sleep, completely and utterly bored by the train side so far.
As it slept on it's side, taking up a entire seat. Hippolytos sat next to Eleanor, gazing out of the window seat while she reached into the back.
She pulled another Fungal child out of the bag- this one only about the size of a toddler, about 2 others of the same size were visible sleeping in the bag atop a collection of sealed petri dishes. "Hello." She said, warmly. Waking them all up. "Welcome to earth."
"What are you going to call the next one?" Hippolytos asked.
"..Not Harold." Eleanor commented. "definitely not Harold."
"..I can pull up a website for you, if you want." Hippolytos offered, pulling out a phone.
Eleanor placed the fungal baby back into the bag, not looking at him. "Oh, there's no need. I'll come up with something- oh!"
Cutting herself off, she looked to a petri dish lying on the table and the fungus quickly spreading on the inside of it. "It's about to hatch!" She exclaimed.
Hippolytos looked over to it and watched as the fungus grew too big for the petri dish, and successfully dislodged the lid. A set of four.. small lumps, barely the size of someone's knuckle forming on the top of it. She leaned over and placed her hands on either side of it, gently pulling it out as the fungus took on a sphere shape.
"Do you think you've got enough of them now?" Hippolytos asked.
Eleanor shrugged with a humming sound. Hippolytos knew that this meant she didn't really give it any thought.
The train continued on.
... [][][], [][] [][][], []:[][][ ], [][][][] [][] [][]
TRANSLATING... CONVERTING TO EARTH-3 TIME...
[2081, 24th December, 3:26pm. Earth-3-Time] Home of the Tartarus Clan. Erebus's Castle
The large red doors to Tara's bedroom- going from the floor to the ceiling- both opened up with a loud 'CLANG' as she made her way inside. Sufficiently healed up.
The room had the general aesthetic of a ancient medieval castle, but the upkeep was far superior. A King-sized bed surrounded by curtains with illustrations of hands rising out of shadows on one side of the room, and a series of bookcases on the other. Some paintings of the previous owner of the castle lay in a heap near the fireplace, which continued to flicker with heat even though she never lit it.
A Single Black Book was placed on a desk facing the open window. It was one she'd read so many times she had no reason to read it anymore, but it still held sentimental value to her, so she kept it separate from the rest of the books. All placed in bookcases along the walls, all sorts of tales from fictional to historical, to tales of humans in other worlds to tales of demons in her own.
Tara took off her armour, leaving it lying on the ground as- now in what could be described as casual clothing- she went straight for the balcony. Some shadows emerged from the corner of the rooms to tidy her armour up- their plats greatly resembling her own-.
As she leaned against the brick of the balcony, she briefly thought back to that girl. The one with black hair and red eyes who was there when she killed Randolf. Clarinda's words ringing in the back of her head, she wondered how that girl was feeling right now.
There was no wondering to it, of course, she knew immediately what that girl must've been thinking. Tara couldn't blame her for thinking that, but... imagining a situation where she met that girl again, she didn't think she could just let her carry her revenge out. Especially if she'd spread that revenge to the rest of Tara's kind... she could never allow that.
"..Hmm.." She cast her eyes downwards.
END OF PART 5
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Post by IDEK on Mar 6, 2019 21:02:13 GMT
In Transience, I Rise-
Part 6:Is there something you forgot?
2081, 24th December, 3:50pm.Eckstein Research Labs, 10th Floor, Spare Bedroom,
There wasn't much to say about the Bedrooms[Monochromatic, lacking in personality, contains 4 bed's, some drawers, 2 walk-in wardrobe's and a single bathroom.] within the Research Lab's.
Raluag had already fallen asleep in the bed closest to the bathroom, the painkillers and everything else all spread out on the drawer closest to her.
Lynch sat herself down on the bed closest to the door, looking over the newest of her many files. The one she just created on Zuri Eckstein, she wasn't reading it. She was thinking back on the past.
It'd been so long, she'd completely forgotten why she'd even made those books in the first place. She knew exactly how she did it. It was the same way she created the files, by focusing on the specific element in Erebus. She had managed to make the darkness book and a shadow book of light was created to balance it out. From... Omalley, she had created a book of Light and another book of darkness was created as that book's shadow.
There'd definitely been something she had planned to do with that balance, but what was it? She knew it wasn't what Zuri wanted to use it for. Something like a alternate timeline had never occurred to her before.. Fawn... entered her life. Even then, she didn't really want to make use of it.
So why had she even made those books?.. What was she going to do?..
Why didn't she go through with it, whatever it was?
KNOCK-KNOCK. KNOCK-KNOCK.
A Practised, Methodical knocking brought her out of her thoughts. Whoever was at the door[Zuri Eckstein] opened up the door without waiting for a response, a clipboard shoved underneath her pit.
"Hey." Zuri[who ran out of Insomnia medication months ago] said. "Have you made up your mind yet?"
Lynch turned to face her, "..I have. I've decided that..
I don't think this'll work."
Zuri's brow raised up, but her expression remained stoic. "Okay. Please, come with me, and explain your reasoning to the others." She said, turning on her heel and walking out of sight [Into the Elevator].
'..She really doesn't take long to make her decisions.' Lynch thought to herself. 'I get the feeling she was going to say that regardless of how I responded.'
...
Zuri had, politely enough, waited at the back of the elevator for Lynch to arrive. No words were spoken as Lynch entered the elevator. Zuri just hovered her finger over the button that would take them to the 3rd floor.
"Wait." Lynch said, blocking it with her own hand. "Before that, can you answer a question for me?"
"..Sure." Zuri answered.
Lynch paused, deciding which of the two questions she had to go with. It didn't take her long to make her decision.
"You sent that letter to me with the Paradox Computer, does this mean Fawn's here?" Lynch asked.
"..Fawn?" Zuri asked. "Yeah, she's here. Her friend Shawn is as well."
The elevator 'dinged', indicating that it would go up to the 3rd floor. Lynch moved her hand out of the way and saw that Zuri hadn't even pressed it. Lynch's eyes gave away no emotion, it was all stirring up her stomach.
"..'Which' Fawn?" She asked, the emotion escaping through her voice.
Zuri looked at Lynch [with genuine confusion] as the elevator doors closed for a single second. "..The one from this timeline, obviously." She answered.
The Elevator already arrived, but the doors didn't open. "Does she talk to the other Fawn's? Or is it just her?"
Zuri [still confused] took a single step closer to the doors. "...Up until now, I wasn't aware that she ever had 'talked with the other Fawns'."
"..I see."
That wasn't the answer Lynch wanted to hear.
The door's finally opened up, as though the building itself sensed that their conversation had ended. Revealing a whole group of other researchers waiting for the two of them. The COPY Book of Light still resting where Lynch last saw it, and the computer at the very back of the room still hard at work. Each Monitor displaying a different map, none of them matching up to each other at all.
The Closest to the elevator was Sitala Legume, who had her hands wrapped around the researcher reclining on the sofa to the right. A Woman a couple of inches taller than Sitala with dusty blonde hair and maroon eyes, with red lipstick and faint mascara, wearing a grey dress underneath her labcoat with a pink tie wrapped loosely around her neck.[Augustina Shelley, Born 8th July, 2055. Likes Women and the first three Paper Mario Games. Doesn't like much else.] Her expression was cold as she turned to look at Lynch and Zuri, Sitala's hold on her became a bit tighter and she rested her head on the crevice in between Augustina's shoulderblades.
Across from them, on the sofa to the left, closest to Zuri, was a single guy leaning to the side. [Kendrick Godwin, Born 26th February, 2045. Likes Computers and dislikes the Red Moon] He was a tan guy with a prickly looking beard and sea-urchin like hair with a 'Nirvana' Shirt sticking out from under his labcoat.
Next to him was a pale looking man[Albert Frank, Born 5th July, 2049. Isn't actually a scientist, but comes from a rich family, funds the project.] with a small cream goatee and hair swept to the side. Wearing a ugly-patterned button up shirt under a plaid waistcoat and high waisted plaid trousers, leaning forwards with his elbows against the table. There was a little bit of hair sprouting up between his brows, like the beginning of a monobrow that wasn't quite there yet. He was one of the few people here not wearing a labcoat.
Continuing down that line, sitting on a rather simple looking chair closer to the middle of the room was [Shawn Harrison, Born 2nd December 2055, Enjoys Flirting with people around his age and sleeping. Isn't a scientist but is awake in the White Expanse]. His blonde hair was mostly short, but the hair at the back of his head was pulled into a ponytail that reached his shoulderblades before it started curling. He wore a Green T-Shirt and a pair of Jeans.
And next to him, with one leg brought up to her chest and the other uncomfortably wedged under her butt..
[Fawn Darsha, Born 29th February in Universe 10. Favourite Food is Pumpkin, Stopped aging at 25 because of the Guardian's Blessing.]
She looked a lot taller, but was still recognizably Fawn. Her black messy hair and wide green eyes were more or less the same, but as she aged her smile had vanished even though her youth hadn't. Wearing a black shirt with a design resembling a sword set on fire on it and a pair of khaki shorts underneath her labcoat, which was covered in all kinds of pins and badges. She looked to Lynch and [She doesn't recognize you].
Forgetting to look over the rest of those present[not counting Lynch and Zuri, there were 17 people seated in the room. Counting them there were 19 people.], Lynch turned to Zuri. "Is this everyone?" She asked.
"..No." Zuri said. "This is about half of the researchers here."
"I asked Aiden, but he didn't want to come." A woman with dark brown skin and cobalt blue hair in a bobcut with purple eyes, who was wearing her labcoat on her shoulders, sitting right in front of the computer at the back of the room said. [Natália Pinheiro, Born 25th December, 2045. Dislikes that she was born on Christmas. Likes Psychology.]
"Not surprised." Was Zuri's flippant response as she rested herself down on the nearest table, in such a way that her back was to Lynch while facing the rest of the researchers present. "Anyway, I asked Lynch for her thoughts on our plan, and she told me that she didn't think it would work."
Lynch glanced at the back of Zuri's head, as all of those eyes turned to look at her.
"I figured it'd be beneficial for us all to hear her reasoning." Zuri said, [no malice behind her words.]. She turned her head to Lynch and continued. "They already know everything that I do. There's no need to give any context."
'Well, that's a relief'. Lynch took a single step forwards, clutching onto her own sleeve out of habit. This many eyes just looking at her.. she didn't like it. "Well. I just don't think it makes sense. I.. don't understand, how these books will help with time travel. They're light and darkness, not time and space. Two completely different forces."
"Okay, There's a fundamental misunderstanding here." Kendrick leaned forwards. "We're not using the 'light and darkness' quality of these books for the time aspect of it. We're using them as the power source to power the portal. A Lot of energy is needed to create a passageway between timelines. Even more than we'd need to open up the portal to any physical space."
"Then why don't you use the Paradox Computer?" Lynch asked.
"That.. hasn't been working properly in years." ...Fawn...[who has never talked to you before] stated, Lynch saw shame in those eyes. "Anytime it looks in the past it shows the other timeline, and the future's all static. All it's good for now is viewing the present."
"Or sending that letter to you." Zuri added on.
Lynch put her free hand on her chin. "..I guess... I'm just.. not sure how this'll work. Or how this portal works."
"This is an easy enough fix." Zuri nodded to herself. "If I'm correct, if we just show you the device you should understand, right?"
"To say it clearly, it's-...-basically the same thing Locrian was going to use for his portal, before he changed his mind and decided to die in Newrum instead of leave." Albert Frank said,[feeling that Locrian could have lived.] standing up. "The original machine got busted, but we had the blueprints, and enough funding to get it back together again."
"The plan is to use it in its current state to find what we'll need to re-program it. We did consider using the Paradox Machine, but attempts to use that were unsuccessful. Most of its wiring and coding was in demonic, and completely unintelligible. We couldn't work it out, and none of us wanted to risk making a deal with anything to figure it out either." Zuri explained.
"A Deal with a Demon, that never works out." Some guy added. [Guy Jones, Born 1st January 2033. A Mechanic and not a Scientist. Birth name 'Nathaniel O'Callahan.' Had to change his name because of a deal with a mischevious demon.]
'Huh, that's amusing.' Lynch thought to herself, distracted from the actual conversation they were having. She immediately corrected herself and zoned back into it.
"Gelno wasn't even a option, so we had to try something beyond just using something based in temporality to power it." Zuri had continued. "Right now we're operating under the assumption that timelines are resting on each other in nonphysical space, and we've already blown through a couple of other options. It's not that hard for us to create a portal between physical dimensions in space at this point. Simply from the practise, we're hoping that by using all four of those books in conjunction with the paradox machine, it will have a ripple effect that'll tear a hole in time itself." Zuri said.
"It's not like we need to worry about pinpointing the correct timeline, the one the machine's locked in on fits with our needs perfectly." Sitala pointed out, poking her head out and smiling with a quirked brow.
"A World that hasn't ended." Albert spoke.
"So, with this explanation. Can you at least tell us where the other books are?" Zuri asked.
Everyone was looking at Lynch, she gripped her sleeve tighter and avoided their gaze.
"..I left one of them in the demon realm with Xutha, the true darkness book. But... from what i had read, it somehow found its way back into the human world. A Cult that worshipped Erebus had managed to take it from Xutha and return back to the human world, where they gave it to a young girl named Tara, time passed and she became a demon herself,-"
"...Tarabus, right?" A Dark skinned man with wavy black hair in a labcoat leaned forwards. [Victor Alana, Born one second into 2061.]
"..Yeah, basically." Lynch nodded. "So, oddly enough.. that book's probably found its way back in the demon's realm and.. you've already got the book I gave to Putgerr...
I don't know where the other two ended up though. I gave the light book to Nikko, the former leader of Kodama Village, so I'd assume the true Light Book is still there.. and I gave the darkness copy to
..Omalley.
I don't know where he is, or where he put it. But I presume we can't get to it."
"..I see. That helps a lot, actually." Zuri said[Thinking things through.]. "...Kendrick, tell those down with the paradox computer to investigate Kodama. Everyone else is free to do whatever they were doing initially. Lynch, you're free to stay here as well."
And just like that, Zuri turned and went into the elevator. Most of the other scientists looked to each other and followed. [Natália going to fill Aiden in on what he missed, Albert going to get something to eat with Guy, Shawn heading to the Paradox Machine, Victor heading to the Paradox Machine, Kendrick going to see Raluag.]The moment passed as Lynch zoned out for a brief moment, all of the words and colours blurred together until someone grabbed onto her hand.
The only people left in the room were Sitala and Augustina[waiting for you to leave.], Lynch and.. Fawn.
"..Can we talk...?" Fawn asked. [She's never met you, but she knows who you are.]
......
Fawn's Bedroom. Exactly the same as Lynch's, except there was a dog[Nogra] in it. Staring at her.
Lynch stood stock still in front of the closed door, watching Fawn's legs sway as she sat with her palms on her lap on the bed, fiddling with one of the badges on her labcoat.
"..So. ..I know about you, and, you know about me." Fawn smiled awkwardly. "But, I'm going to introduce myself anyway. I'm Fawn. I'm older than I look."
"..Same." was all Lynch said. The Dog was still, looking at her from a distance.
Fawn looked at her hands, and then to Nogra.. and then to Lynch, and then to the ceiling. ".I just, want to tell you that... I'm sorry for, what that other me did. Don't blame yourself for.. everything that's happening here."
Lynch wasn't sure how she was supposed to look. Apologetic? Accepting? She opted for neither. "I wasn't." She answered, with honesty.
Fawn[not knowing how to react, regretting this conversation.] looked between Lynch and the door behind her. "..Okay. That's cool." She decided, blankly smiling. "..It's just, I know that you really could have been happy with Omalley, and..."
Lynch tensed up, 'oh, you're misunderstanding this.' she realized.
"...That other me only scared you away from it, if she had just left it alone.. you two would be happy right now, right? I just, messed it all up for you." Fawn continued on.
Lynch had to interrupt her before she drowned herself in assumptions. Taking a step forwards and looking down at her. "No. You're wrong." She said. "..I wasn't interested in Omalley romantically to begin with, I had already wanted to leave before that alternate you arrived."
Fawn's mouth hung open for a brief second, [confused.] "Huh? But, I thought-"
"..That alternate you did bother me, but if I had wanted to be with Omalley from the start, she never would have appeared. Don't think you scared me away from him, if left alone.. things would probably have turned out the same.
Is that all you wanted to talk about?" Lynch asked, gritting her teeth as she turned away. That Dog looked ready to pounce.
"Uh, no. Not really.." Fawn stumbled over her words. [Lying through her teeth. Just wanted to apologize for a perceived slight.]
Lynch folded her arms, looking away. "..Okay. Just know that.. assuming I wanted to be with him, isn't doing you any favours."
"...But.. I thought-" Fawn asked.
"You thought wrong." Lynch said. "You were the reason I left Newrum, but you weren't the reason I rejected Omalley."
"..Still, Omalley would've been a lot better off if you did accept, or at least remain friends with him." Fawn mumbled, her voice turning less and less audible with each syllable
"I'm sure he's fine." Lynch dismissed the feeling that suddenly took control of her gut, turning to the door "He can handle himself, and find someone who loves him back. If you'd prefer I'd lie to him and claim I loved him when I don't, then I'm sorry but I'm not going to do that."
Before Fawn could say anything else, Lynch walked out of the room.
...
"Hey! Lynch, right?"
'Ugh'. She'd only gotten two steps out of Fawn's room before Sitala appeared from around the corner, Augustina not too far behind her.[Augustina doesn't trust you.]
There wasn't much she could do, not wanting to appear rude. Lynch turned to face Sitala- who was holding a camera in her hands and waved flatly. "Yeah?"
"Alright, so." Sitala grinned. "Name's Sitala! Sitala Legume, like the bean." She laughed to herself, before gesturing at the woman behind her. "This is my girlfriend, Augustina."
Lynch raised a brow. "It's.. nice to meet you?"
Sitala didn't respond verbally, she held her camera up and covered her blue eyes, taking a picture. The flash of white almost blinded Lynch, who had to blink the sunspots away while the bluenette checked the image and showed it to her stone-faced girlfriend.
"It [The Photograph] looks good." Augustina commented. "..The eyes look weird though."
"Yeah, it's the camera flash that did that." Sitala justified the oddity. [That thing where when someone in a photograph has red pupils.]
"No, not just that. She's got no Iris's." Augustina explained, pointing a finger down on the camera's screen. Sitala leaned up into Augustina again, like they'd both completely forgot that Lynch was even there until Sitala turned to inspect Lynch again [looking at her eyes.]
"..Hey, you've got white eyes." Sitala commented. "That's cool, you don't see that too often."
Lynch folded her arms again, everyone in this building was incredibly talented at making her feel awkward. "..Thanks?"
"Did you know that when you combine all frequencies of light together, it creates white?" Sitala asked, "The reason these labcoats appear white is because they're made of a fabric that reflects all of the light that touches it, that light bounces back into our eyes and we see it as a white labcoat."
"That's.. nice."
"That's why they say that eyes are a window to your soul, the colour of your eyes says a lot about you. For example, my eyes are blue, they absorb every frequency but the blue one, and that blue frequency is reflected back." Sitala continued on, apparently very excited to talk about [her incorrect explanation of] eye colours.
"It's because you're so happy." Augustina stated[humouring her], placing a hand on Sitala's shoulder. "Blue represents sadness, but calm as well. You're the exact opposite of sad, and the opposite of calm as well." She added that last part and smirked slightly as she tousled Sitala's hair. "Any Sadness or Calm in the area doesn't get through to you at all."
Sitala laughed,[knowing this wasn't meant as a insult.] and playfully pushed Augustina away. "Hey, you could stand to get excited sometimes as well."
"...What does that say about me, then?" Lynch asked, trying to get back into the conversation.
Augustina took a second to think about it, before coming out with "Maybe it just means you're not bothered by anything. Not affected by anything else either. Everything just gets reflected and you remain undamaged."
'That's not true at all.' Lynch thought to herself, 'It'd be more accurate to say I've just closed myself off to even frequencies of light, if someone wanted to get all spiritual about it.'
Instead, she said "..Maybe."
The conversation began to slow, so Sitala hopped in the air. "Oh, yeah, we and a couple of others are going to have a gaming night at around 8pm, just to cool off after all the recent events. You're free to come if you want, we'll be on the 4th floor." She smiled, before grabbing Augustina by the arm and walking past Lynch.
"Bye." Augustina said,[not having anything else to say.] as the couple vanished from sight. Lynch let out a breath she didn't know she was holding, finally finding a moment to breathe.
Before anybody else could arrive to talk to her, she ducked back into the room she had been given. Despite what she had read earlier, Kendrick was nowhere to be seen. So she must have missed him. [Raluag is unharmed and unchanged.], so he must not have done much beyond just look at her. Lynch didn't really care, it was still creepy.
She sat herself down on the bed next to the still sleeping Raluag and pulled out the 'Zuri Eckstein' file again.
'Now would be a good time to actually read these things'. She thought to herself, opening up the manilla folder.
======================================
Name:Zuri Eckstein Age:52 Birth Date: 30th August, 2029. Status:Alive Likes:Idealism in moderation, Midnight, Transitional Periods, Indie Music, Dislikes:People mispronouncing her first name, Wasting Time, Red Moon, Idealism in Excess, Favourite Food:Spring Onion Hobbies: Stargazing History: Zuri Eckstein was born in Fairweather Hospital in Strathmore at 3:26am on Thursday, 30th August 2029 to Victor and Kamaria Eckstein. She didn't do well in school at first, getting out of education with B Average's and leaping into a romance that didn't end well for her. After a devastating break-up that left her moving back in with her parents, she retook her exams with renewed vigour and got herself into the best college at the time. A Member of the 2056 Class in Curtside University's General Science Course, she found herself a field and continued with her education until she got all of the degrees and bachelor's she has to this day. Graduating for good at the age of 33 (with most taking 2-3 years to acquire). Forming her own organization to research multiple timelines with some funding from people she encountered while working on her various educational achievements (Read: Albert Frank, Goman Industries.). With every step the world took towards falling apart, her goals veered from just research for the sake of knowledge towards research for the sake of inventing a established method of time travel, so everyone could enter a new timeline and have a second chance.
=====================================
Lynch closed the file, and put it back into her hoodie, satisfied with what she had read.
...
'Maybe I could go to that gaming night.'
2081, 24th December, 4:30pm. Wallshore, Luxury Street, Sitz Residence.
Martha Sitz, her husband and daughter, and her ward Delilah lived in the Richest Street of Wallshore. Filled with grand looking houses and luxurious gardens hidden beneath layers of frost. Most of the people who lived here were Red Moon Members, and naturally Martha's family was no exception. Her own husband, Kainan, used to have the mark on his shoulderblade as well, they had been planning to let Charity, their daughter, get her own mark when she turned 18. But that was impossible now.
Kainan and Charity had both been filled in on the recent events, but in spite of this, they had decided to continue on with their plan for dinner this night. They only had half a hour before the limousine came so Martha had stolen the bathroom for herself so she could have some freshening up time before the meal. Staring at her own reflection in the cabinet mirror, she knew that there'd be people bothering her so she had to look her best.
Wearing more eyeliner and lipstick than usual, she patted her face with a makeup brush to try and hide those annoying liverspots. Wearing a shiny black blouse with crosses for buttons under a white blazer that only reached her ribcage. Despite that, the sleeves reached her wrists just fine. She also wore a red, glittering skirt and a pair of black tights. Wasn't wearing her shoes yet, didn't want to ruin them before she even got outside.
After adjusting her crescent moon ruby-studded earrings, she held her hand to inspect her nails. Her broken nail had been replaced with a fake, with the same red moon design on it, but it was impossible to tell the difference, with how much nail polish had been lathered onto every fingernail.
Through the mirror, she could see it was getting darker outside, and snow was beginning to fall again. This didn't surprise her, with how cold it had been.
"It'd be nice if it was still snowing on Christmas Day." Martha commented to herself, brushing her hair over a spot she couldn't clean up.
At that moment, the phone resting on the kitchen sink began to buzz. "She's the queen of beasts, she can smell your fear, in this biosphere, she's the apex predator!" Her ringtone declared for everyone to hear. Martha's good mood was decimated, someone else was bothering her.
"..I just want to have a fancy dinner with my family." She moaned to herself as she turned around and delicately picked her phone up.
'FaceTime from ; Jezebel'
"..Ugh." Martha grimaced to herself, pressing a dainty fingernail down onto the green button in the corner of the screen. The second her finger made contact her facial expression switched. "Jezebel!" She smiled, "Hey there, how's Debby doing?"
"You shut your whore mouth!"A 30-something woman with ashen skin and prominent dimples wearing a dirty white button up shirt under a jean jacket with her dark brown hair pulled into a ponytail with neon blue streaks running down it, Jezebel sneered from the other side, her grey eyes scrunched together in anger as she adjusted the plaid bandana on her head. "You tell me what's happening right-.. What are you wearing!?"
"Jeeezebel!" Martha continued to smile, "I've got a reservation at a fancy restaurant to celebrate my daughter's violin recital in about half a hour, so I really can't talk for long."
"Is that seriously what you're worried about!? You rancid bitch! Jashin's fucking dead and that Tarabus Cunt is making her move! Debby hasn't left her house in days, and Emil just told me that his wife is dead and the god damn church in Wallshore burnt down with Gideon in it! And that's ignoring how we've completely lost Curtside! Cancel that fucking reservation of yours and help us out here!"
"Okay, call me later when you cool off." Martha's smile stretched as far as it could as she slammed her finger down on the phones screen, hanging up before Jezebel could get more than a "Don't you dare-" out.
Martha dropped her phone onto the floor as the ringtone resounded again. "She's the queen of beasts, she can smell your fear, in this biosphere, she's the apex predator!" It repeated itself. Martha didn't pick it up this time, placing her hand to her forehead as she leaned against the wall. "..Uuugh."
"Are you alright, honey?" Her husband asked from behind the bathroom door. "The limousine's arrived early, come on, let's go!"
Martha packed her bad moon away and put a smile back on. "Coming!" She grinned from ear to ear, leaving her phone on the floor as she left the bathroom, ignoring the blaring ringtone. "Like a lioness, only with less fur, do not mess with her, she's the apex predator!"
...
"You can watch the house for us while we're gone, right Delilah?" Martha asked. She and her family standing in front of the limousine parked right in front of the gate to their front garden. The streets had turned dim quickly, and the Sitz family were the only ones in the empty streets.
Delilah stood barefoot in the doorway, not setting foot outside and keeping her hand on the doorknob as the Sitz family got into the limousine and drove off. Leaving Delilah to stare at a frost-covered garden and a empty street. She could still hear Martha's ringtone from the bathroom upstairs.
Closing the door, Delilah was all to aware of how little noise it made. She latched the doorchain and pulled at the door for a few times, testing it and making sure it would stay closed.
She let her arms sway from side to side as she poked the door a few times with her foot before heading up to the bathroom.
As soon as she walked in, she saw the phone on the floor. Which had stopped replaying that same ringtone the second she looked at it. She squatted down to pick it up, inspecting it's now black screen before placing it on the lid of the toilet seat, standing up so she could close the windows.
Humming to herself, she went through all the rooms in the extravagant house, closing each and every window to stop the cold from getting in.
She saw the Christmas tree in the corner of the lounge, presents piled up underneath it. 'For Mom' 'For Martha' 'For Charity' 'from your Aunt' 'From Ms.Blake' 'From the Church of the Red Moon' 'Dear Martha' 'Dear Kainan' 'As Thanks for all you've done' 'My Husband' 'My Wife'. 'From Next Door' 'From Gideon'
'For Delilah' 'For Delilah' 'For Delilah.' Three presents for her. The Family had asked her if she wanted anything a couple of days ago, but she had just shrugged. She wasn't sure what would be in these gifts, and she could wait until christmas to actually open them.
Walking into the kitchen, she saw the half-washed up dishes and the coffee stained cups. Leaving them, she opened up the fridge and looked at the contents, before closing it. Opening all of the cabinets to look at what was inside before deciding on what to eat. She decided that she wasn't actually hungry, and went back upstairs.
Heading into the room that had previously been a spare room before she had 'joined the family', she closed the door behind her and locked it.
Her room was a lot more muted and minimalistic than the rest of the house. Which was filled with purchased paintings or expensive china. This one's walls were bare apart from the game consoles, DVD's or HD TV pressed against it. All welcoming gifts from the neighbourhood when she had first been 'adopted'. All given to her by people who hadn't been a part of her life ever since.
She looked through her DVD's and video games, taking one pile of Playstation9 titles and rummaging through it, before abandoning it midway and instead going to her computer.
Opening up YouTube, she went into her favourites list and put her headphones on.
No, Wait, She was on her own, so she took the headphones back off and unplugged them, letting the song play through her computer's speakers.
Leaning back and tapping on the desk to the beat of the song, she looked out of the window at the snow melting as it landed on the windowpane.
"My god, I'm so lonely. So I ooopen the window to hear sooounds of people, to hear soouunds of people.
Venus, planet of love. Was destroyed by global warming Did its people want too much too? did its people want too much?" The video played, displaying the lyrics
"And I don't want your pity, I just want somebody near me. Guess I'm a coward, I just want to feel alright." Delilah stood up from her chair, moving her mouth in sync with the song as she grabbed onto the curtains and closed them, blocking herself from view by anyone who might be watching from outside. "And I know, noone will save me. I just need someone to kiss, give me one good honest kiss and I'll be alright."
"Nobody, No bo dy, Nobody, Nobo dy Nobody." Delilah's quiet voice sang along as she plopped down on her bed. "Oo, Nobody Nobo dy No bodyy.." She was somewhat out of tune and every syllable was shaky, but nobody was listening so it didn't matter. Not to her, and not to you.
2081, 24th December, 4:50pm. Streets of Curtside.
Eleanor held her finger in the air, and watched as a snowflake landed on it. Melting on contact.
She stood in the middle of a snow-covered street, what looked to be full grown versions of her fungal children (boxy and large, having finished their development quite some time ago.) walking around and patrolling the area. None of them really looking like they knew what they were doing. Through the corner of her glasses, she glanced into one of the buildings to see a trio of siblings looking through one of the windows. When they noticed she was looking at them, they closed their blinds.
Her most recent batch was following behind her like ducklings behind their mother. The youngest of which, the one that was born on the train ride back to curtside was a hour and a half into it's development, clutching onto the hem of her shirt/dress.
A Snowflake drifted down to the youngest one's head, it twitched and moved to brush it off.
"...It looks like there's no red moon left here after all." She commented, looking up to the sky. "Nobody's dead."
A Snowflake got stuck on her glasses, but she didn't show any sign of registering it. Instead lowering her head back down. "Come on, let's get back home." She said, leading the fungal children further down the street.
...
Two Fully grown fungal creatures, big muscular(?) creatures with a upper body too large to be held up by their goat legs and equally impossibly large horns stood in front of what used to be Curtside's City Hall. For time being, Eleanor had been using it as a temporary base for about a day now.
"Thank you." Eleanor said to them as she walked past them through the open door, the fungal children all following her. "Don't forget to close the door behind you if you're the last one in." She reminded them, the one at the back of the line almost jumped up in alertness before closing the door in a hurry.
"We're going to be leaving first thing tomorrow, so if there's anything you want to take with you be sure to pack your stuff." Eleanor said, using her two index finger's to pull her mouth into a smile shape.
The Fungal Children all nodded their heads and went about their ways, with the exception of a couple who still tailed after Eleanor as she went down the hall, towards what used to be the Mayor's office.
...
The Mayor's office had floor-to-ceiling windows separated from each other by slabs of wall filled with bookcases. As a section built to the outside of the building, there wasn't any room for secret entrances.
The Blood on the floor still hadn't been cleaned up. The Scorched, mashed up corpse leaning against one of the windows had begun to rot, and was attracting flies. Some of the books placed in the bookcases still had blood on them from when they were knocked over during the fight. But other than that, everything had been placed where she guessed it all should have been, although none of them could really be bothered to remove the scorch marks.
A Fungal Being somewhere between childhood and adulthood sat on the ground near a bookcase, pretending to read an Atlas.
Hippolytos was staring at the computer placed precariously on the shattered mayor's desk, leaning forwards on the swirly chair. Behind him rested a somehow unstained painting of the previous Mayor. A Full grown man with a olive tone to his skin and a bushy black beard (no hair, though.) wearing a red shirt with rolled up sleeves under a green waistcoat. The Red Moon symbol displayed on the back of his wrist.
Prompted by the symbol on the painting, Eleanor turned to look at the corpse in the corner of the room.
"Yeah, his symbol was gone when I came in." Hippolytos said. "Something must've happened to that god of theirs while we were out."
Eleanor looked at the corpse passively. "..Good riddance." She said, before walking up and sitting down on the broken up desk. "You ..find anything on there?" She asked.
"Not much, they cut Andrew McBitchington off from everything after realizing that he died." Hippolytos frowned. "So most we can do is just look through the old messages he still has some more."
"..We could try looking at Gideon and Harold's stuff." Eleanor offered.
"Actually, yeah, that's true." Hippolytos nodded. "Gideon and Martha were like, co-leaders of Wallshore. Right? She's probably shared more with him than anyone else."
"...Harold didn't have anything of value on him apart from those two guns." Eleanor mentioned, inspecting one of her finger's. "But at least we now have two guns, I guess."
Hippolytos tapped away at the keyboard. "Well, I don't really care about those guns. They're as useless as that guy over there is now."
Eleanor nodded along with that as she leaned over to look at what was on the screen. "... There's really nothing new on there anyway. Let's look at what Gideon has to offer."
With that, she pulled the first ever Nokia phone out of seemingly nowhere. Hippolytos looked at the small, boxy phone from the early 1990s with amusement. "..Hey, is that really his phone?"
"Well, I guess so." Eleanor shrugged, pressing her finger on the button. "..I found it in his coat, but I'm not sure if anyone would use this kind of phone these days."
"I'm surprised that still works." Was all Hippolytos had to offer, as Eleanor fumbled with the buttons. Eventually figuring out how to turn the phone on. Hippolytos peered over her shoulder to look at the 'screen'. "..Man, that thing's older than this planet." He commented.
Eleanor gave him a odd glance, before pressing the keypads. "It doesn't even have touchscreen."
Traversing the phone's overly basic functions, she eventually managed to find the 'Messages' Function.. only to see..
"..He's got a empty inbox." Eleanor sighed, disappointed.
"Did strike me as the type to remove a email as soon as he reads it." Hippolytos laughed to himself.
Eleanor placed the phone on the table and stood up, making her way out of the office. "Where are you going?" Hippolytos asked.
"Just, somewhere." Eleanor answered, no emotion in her voice, like usual.
"Oh. Well, I can come with you-"
"No thanks." Eleanor spoke, walking out of the room and moving to close the door. Hippolytos stood up anyway, looking at her. "..I just, need some time to think things through, decide where we're going next. All of that stuff."
She closed the door behind her. Leaving Hippolytos to just sit back down. He tapped his finger on the desk, waiting a couple of minutes, before turning the computer off. Pocketing the phone
2081, 24th December, 5:00pm, Wallshore, The Nourriture Chére,
The Nourriture Chére was the most expensive, most high class restaurant in all of Wallshore. For most people, a single night at this sparkling, wonderful restaurant used to require a reservation months in advance. But after everything that happened, and with the effect it had on the world in general, in order to not lose customer's they'd made it a bit more accessible, the reservation could be made at any time.
Martha didn't like this. Now the sentence 'I only had to reserve a week in advance' has lost all of it's power, but she had no doubt that if they still had to reserve it a month in advance, she would be able to do so in just a week.
But this meal wasn't just to feed Martha's ego, no. It was a celebration for her daughter's violin recital, the drizzled steak they made here was Charity's favourite and she'd been begging for a chance to come here ever since her birthday.
From the Velvet Carpet at the entrance, to the crystal chandelier's hanging from the ceiling. The Entire restaurant reeked of extravagance. The Sitz Family found themselves as the only people in the cue today, with only 2 tables in sight being filled, one just had some lonely looking man eating a full course by himself, and the rest were empty.
In front of the family, in between two stained glass doors was a receptionist who resembled every woman in a hair commercial. The Sitz family all walked up to her as one unit, and she batted her lashes upon seeing the man of the house.
"Ah, Kainan. It's so good to see you again." The Receptionist smiled. "You've reserved Table 14 at the Balcony, and already paid the 200 for seating and the meal up front. Have a good night, and thanks for coming here."
"You're welcome." Kainan smiled at her in a way that Martha didn't approve of.
"Everyone loved my violin!" Martha's 10 year old daughter, Charity called out, her chin poking over the desk as she lifted herself up to show the receptionist the new ribbon she was wearing. "They even gave me a prize!"
"Aw, that looks lovely, Charity." The Receptionist smiled. "Have a good night now."
"We will." Martha declared, as they went through the door to the left.
...
The snow continued to fall as the family found their seats. Table 14 had a wonderful view of the beach, and at this time, it also had a astounding view of the sunset. The red reflecting in the calm waves of the ocean in the distance. Martha loved this view.
The Seconds passed as they got comfortable in their seats, drinks in shiny, elaborate glasses with the restaurant's name on them. 2 Glasses of Wine for the adults and some sparkling lemonade for the child.
Martha adjusted herself on her seat as she took a precursory sip of her wine. Kainan looked out to the sea and Charity was excitedly ranting about something that Martha didn't care about. It was a good thing no other seats at the balcony were taken that night or else they might be getting sideways glances from the other tables.
"We've already paid in advance, so, what do you all want to have tonight?" Kainan asked, taking one of the menu's on the table and opening it up.
"I want the drizzled steak! I want the drizzled steak!" Charity grinned, hopping up and down in her seat like a excited infant.
Martha glowered at her. "Sit still, Charity. People could be watching." Her daughter looked down at the table and grabbed onto it to still herself. "..Why do I have to tell you to do this every time?" She asked her daughter, who continued to stare at the table.
"Martha, please." Kainan smiled, resting a hand on her own. "We're here to celebrate how well she did in her show today, go easy on her."
Martha rolled her eyes, before smiling. "Alright, I will. So, you wanted Drizzled Steak right, Charity? What about drinks?"
"Hmm, I don't like this angry lemonade. Can I have Cola instead?" Charity asked.
"Of course, of course. Sweet Potato Fries as well?" Martha smiled.
Charity almost jumped up again, but her grip on her table halted her movement. "Oh, yes please!"
"Well, I believe I already know what you'll be having, Martha." Kainan said, turning to Martha as he went to stand up, she put her hand on his shoulder.
"Actually, Do you mind watching over our table for me?" Martha asked. "I need to go to the bathroom anyway, so I'll take our orders."
Kainan looked at her, before looking to their daughter and sitting back down. "Well then, if you insist."
"Lovely, thanks sweetie." Martha waved as she walked back inside.
..
In the restroom, after doing her business....
"...Drat, Where's my phone?" Martha asked herself, patting her pockets down in front of the restroom sinks. As she felt through them, the memory returned to her. Turning to face her own reflection, she dragged her -now markless- hand over her face. "Oooh, daaaamnit. I left it at home."
creeeeaaak.
"..Hm?" Martha pressed her lips together, as one of the stalls behind her opened up. A gloved hand poked out of it, followed by a freckled arm, followed by a very familiar face
Emil Eaton climbed out of the stall, with a patterned cloth wrapped around his wound. Dried blood visibly staining it and still seeping out. His eerie, blue eyes squinted at Martha's reflection as he climbed down from his perch on the toilet seat and walked out with a peculiar gait. "...Hey, Martha."
The Twelve Enchanted Knives glinted from their place, dangling from his belt loops.
"..Emil?" Martha asked, whipping around to face him- almost not believing what she saw in the mirror, and even looking at the real thing, she didn't quite believe it. "What are you doing in here? This is the Woman's room!" She exclaimed, raising a confused brow as her mouth tilted.
"Oh. I know." Emil said, his voice oddly dark. "I know which gender's room this is, couldn't expect you to walk into the man's one. Could I?"
Martha understood that tone in his voice, and her quizzical expression turned serious as she stuck her bottom lip out. "What do you want, Emil?"
"What do you think I want, Bitch?" Emil spat, his tone and choice of words both catching Martha off guard. "Clarinda's.. Clarinda is fucking- fucking dead, Martha." He stumbled forwards, grabbing onto the stalls to support himself. "You're out here eating at a fancy fucking restaurant when my wife is dead? When Jebediah's dead? Everyone's dying, Martha!"
"I-..Emil?" Martha asked, backing up until she was pressed against the sink. Emil may not have had powers anymore but his wives' enchantments were still very present.
"Everyone's dying and you're out here doing your makeup in a restaurant's toilet!?" Emil asked, grabbing the closest knife to his right hand, with abstract, strange designs all over it, and flinging it full-strength at her. "I thought you had this whole thing under control!"
Martha brought up her arms to shield her face and ducked to the side as the knife crashed into the mirror behind her. Turning to face her reflection she saw kaleidoscopes spread from the knife and cover the rest of the mirror, distorting her reflection.
She saw a strange writhing mess directly behind her in the mirror. Startled, she whipped her head around just in time for a knife to strike her shoulder, made unique by the pair of scales on it's blade. There was no obvious effect to this one, but the pain was far worse than she expected it to be.
"Aaaah!" She screamed out, stumbling backwards as she clutched at the wound. Losing her footing and grabbing onto the sink for support. "Wait-Wait-Wait! This is assault! You'll be arrested for this!"
Emil, unphased, reached for his next knife, and readied himself to throw it again- as Martha found her footing.
"I'm not the one who killed your wife, you idiot!" She yelled out. "That was Tarabus, Why are you attacking me!?"
"..I know you didn't kill her." Emil said, paused in motion.
Martha's mouth flapped open and closed as she pulled herself back up to her feet. "Th-Th-Th-Then why are you attacking me!?" She shrieked.
"Isn't it obvious?" Emil asked, disturbingly casual. "You're a bad leader. You take the helm and not a day after our marks disappear? There's no way that's a coincidence. We need someone who can actually take charge, but no. You hung up on Jezebel when she was asking for advice, have done nothing about the threat of demons, and what's even worse, is that you didn't even tell me my wife died."
Something in Martha's soul froze. '...Then who did?'
"If we're going to stay afloat, we can't have someone like you with us." Emil continued, but at this point Martha wasn't listening.
Now that she thought about it, she wondered something similar when he first sent her that message telling her of Gideon's death. Somehow, he had her phone number, even though she never gave it to him!
This man knows things that by all logic he shouldn't... and... wasn't there someone else who shouldn't have known her number but did? What's going on here?
"..Who are you?" Martha asked, all the colour in the world vanishing as panic began to override all of her other functions.
"..I'm Emil Eaton. Who do you think I am?" Emil asked, tossing his next knife. Without even thinking Martha let herself fall, the knife with patterns of swirling waves sailed gracefully over her head and crashed into the door behind her.
Not even registering the pain in her shoulder, she ripped the knife out and grasped it by its handle. While the world in the mirror was quickly transforming into a fleshy abomination she darted to the side only for Emil to lunge at her.
He grasped her shoulder with one hand, and raised a hand with a lightning-patterned knife up into the air. Martha let out a guttural noise as she stabbed him in the exposed pit with the knife she was holding. He recoiled, releasing his grip on her and she took the opportunity to slash the blade across his arm.
He grabbed onto her throat, and lifted her up with strength she didn't know he had. "Ur-GAH!" She cried out as he hurled her straight into the bathroom mirror. It shattered to pieces as she fell onto the fancy sinks, the justice and illusion knives both clattering to the floor.
"She was scared! Begging for mercy! and the demon slaughtered her!" Emil called out, picking up and hurling the water knife at Martha, who had no choice but to roll out of the way and collide with the floor.
Martha rolled to the side and pulled herself up, "Who on- earth told you that?"
"Noone!" Emil yelled out, reaching behind him and switching his lightning knife out for one with a skull on it. "I just know!"
Martha looked to the bleeding wound on his arm, and the wound on his chest. Emil threw the death knife and she barely dodged it and sprang forwards, picking up the justice knife from the ground as Emil pulled out another-
Martha swung with her arm and tossed the knife at Emil, it pierced the open wound on his chest. He staggered up to the corner of the wall and looked at her with wide eyes she could no longer recognise.
"...You.." Emil muttered, blood seeping from his mouth as Martha steadied herself and leaned against the sink.
For a single second, neither of them moved. There was only the sound of breathing.
And then, they both moved. Emil raised his knife arm as Martha dashed towards him, pulling the Justice Knife out of his chest in one movement, stopping him from bringing the knife down on her as he threw himself to the side. Grabbing the chest wound in pain as Martha slashed sideways, scraping his neck.
"I'm! Trying! To have dinner with my family!" Martha yelled out, swinging the knife back and forth manically, not giving Emil a chance to react.
"Gha-Ghurk!" Emil spat out some blood as Martha brought the knife back towards her with a final swipe that cut Emil's throat clean open. The Blood sprayed out, getting onto the ceiling above them and the wall behind Emil. Miraculously none of it actually touched Martha. Emil's head was turned to the side at a 90 degree angle, his wide blue eyes shaking as they fluctuated between dilated and shrunken with every breath he forced himself to take, his entire body still as the blood stream fizzled out.
Martha, too, was still. She was still as he dropped the knife in his hands, one with a clockface pattern on it, so he could lean onto the wall for support. Her shoulders heaving up and down as he shrunk down... before falling onto his knees, holding a hand out to break his fall... and then slumping against the wall and slowly dragging his face along it until it made contact with the ground.
Martha remained still for as long as she could, her eyes looking down to the knife in her hand.
Martha screamed.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!"
2081, 24th December, 5:55pm. Wallshore, Luxury Street, Sitz Residence.
The Sitz family returned back home in record time, Martha adjusting a loose earring as Kainan held the door open for her and Charity to walk back through. The dinner had been a resounding success,
"Well, did you have like the food?" Martha asked, smiling as though nothing was wrong.
"I did, I did!" Charity jumped up and down, as she kept doing.
"Right, right." Kainan laughed, picking Charity up under her arms. "Come on, let's go change into something more comfortable. Game Night?"
"..Game night! Game night!" Charity laughed, while Martha reached into her tiny jacket and pulled out a phone. She poked Kainan on the back of his shoulder.
"Actually, I've got somewhere I need to go tomorrow. Me and Delilah will need to pack for the trip, so you two can go have fun without me." Martha smiled, turning to go up the stairs.
"Aw, Okay mommy! You'll come home soon, right?" Charity had called out as Martha made her way up the staircase.
The Mother turned her head and smiled at Charity. "Oh, Don't worry. I'm not leaving right now, I'll just prepare my things and then I'll come down to play with you, sound good?"
"Hmm, Okee!" Charity nodded, as Kainan walked away from the stairwell, taking the daughter with him.
Standing at the top of the stairway, with a framed painting of a pale lady in a red dress clutching onto a eight-spoked wheel with a blue sun and red moon in the background dangling on the wall behind her. Martha took a deep breath to regain her nerves. Her gaze went to the screen of the phone she was holding.
It was a image of Clarinda and Emil at their wedding, Clarinda was sticking her tongue out while pointing a massive gun at the sky while Emil was holding up a piece sign. She pressed her finger to the side, discovering that the phone had been muted, her eyes following the various icons until spotting the notifications at the bottom of the screen.
New messages from Carbon Trioxide?
'..It's the same person.' Martha had drawn the conclusion earlier, but this only confirmed it. The same person that had decided to tell her about everything must have sent the same messages to Emil... but why?
Boxing that thought up for later, she turned the phone off and shoving it back into her skirt pocket as she made her way to the very end of the hallway. To the guest room being occupied by Delilah, even when she had the house to herself.. that girl always holed herself up in this room.
Tap-tap-tapping her hand against the door, she called out. "Delilah?"
The second her voice rang out, all noise from that room ceased. Seconds passed before the door opened partway, half of Delilah's face showing through it.
"Just popping in to let you know that we're going to be heading out again tomorrow. There'll be no portals this time so it'll be a longer ride than usual. Okay?" Martha asked.
As if processing information, or deliberating it internally, Delilah waited a few seconds before nodding.
"Wonderful, thank you.
Well... I won't bother you for now, so, just, uh, get back to what you were doing, okay?" Martha's smile remained on her face until Delilah closed the door, then it vanished completely.
It seemed..she had a couple of things to figure out.
2081, 24th December, 8:05pm. Eckstein Research Labs, 4th Floor, Game Night.
Lynch had only been at this little event, for about five minutes, but she wasn't sure what to make of it. It seemed like a regular game night. But half of the people there were still wearing labcoats. Even though this entire floor just looked like a regular house. Only without the bedrooms.
Raluag hadn't even woken up, so she wasn't here, naturally. But the Free Will Omnipotent never struck her as someone who was particularly social, so Lynch didn't think she'd get too bummed out about being left out. Luckily there weren't that many people here [only 11 as of right now- including herself] or else she might've got overwhelmed [too much information at once].
Unfortunately for her, Fawn had decided to come along. She recognized most of the others as people who had spoken during the meeting earlier. [Sitala Legume, Augustina Shelley, Kendrick Godwin, Albert Frank, Natália Pinheiro, Shawn Harrison] It wasn't that surprising, if people were so busy or distracted that they didn't want to go to the meeting, then they probably wouldn't go to a games tournament either. There were 3 people here she didn't recognize, and at this point in time she didn't care to memorize more than their names [Tsukiko Yuzawa, Aiden Blaine and Taro Smith].
For the time being, she was sitting in a chair near the back. On the opposite side of a table filled with snacks from Natália and Aiden, the latter of whom was holding one of the controllers. Currently playing the game against Sitala, Kendrick and Taro. [Whoever gets last place in each minigame switches out with someone else- currently Kendrick was losing].
While sneaking a crisp into her mouth, Lynch looked out of the window, seeing that it was almost pitch black outside. Some snow was sticking to the window. Huh.
Looking over everyone else, she saw Shawn sidling on up to Kendrick [wanting to play at the game again, despite being the last one out.] and then, on the opposite side of the room, Fawn was standing near the door with a empty cup.[Mood: Gloomy]... Looking at Lynch out of the corner of her eye, before realizing Lynch was looking at her, and going back to watching the game just as the scores appeared.
[1.Sitala 2.Taro 3.Aiden 4.Kendrick]
Kendrick handed the controller to Shawn and stood up, brushing past Fawn as he went to the small kitchen, saying "I'm going to get a drink." [Peeved that he lost.]
Shawn switched out Kendrick's Mii for his own before the next game could begin, while Sitala spontaneously decided she was going to give Augustina her turn.
"Hey, Lynch." Aiden pulled Lynch out of her observations, holding the controller out across the table. "You haven't played at all since you came here. You want a go?" He offered.
Lynch looked at the controller, and then at Aiden. She accepted the controller and crossed her legs as she adjusted herself in her seat. "Yeah, sure... Thanks."
"Oh, it's cool." Aiden said, reaching for the Pringles[Original Flavour. His favourite.]
Not bothering to change the Mii, Lynch leaned back as Augustina selected the next game they would play.
Fawn was still looking at Lynch with that downcast expression. Bringing the drink up to her mouth and pretending to drink it, she walked out of the room.
END OF PART 6
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Post by IDEK on Apr 6, 2019 21:41:00 GMT
In Transience, I Rise-
Part 7: All that will remain of you are my speculations on who you were
2065-ish, Christmas Day, 12-ish, Ol Skaebe, Randolf Stoneson's Manor, 3rd floor Study. The Manor that Randolf Stoneson and his wife lived in was about as old as all the other buildings in Ol Skaebe. Amila didn't find it that impressive, especially considering how lavish the house she lived in was. But she supposed it still fit the criteria necessary for one to describe it as a 'manor'.
Unforunately, this Christmas had quickly turned boring. For a change of pace they had decided to pay her grandfather a visit, but she couldn't get invested in the conversation at all, when the only thing her grandfather was saying to her was how adorable she looked in that reindeer sweater it was clear that the conversation couldn't progress. So she went off to go explore the house for once, with their permission, of course.
It was the first time she ever entered this room, and.. Amila wasn't sure what she expected. It looked like a regular study, the kind that had been cleaned and sat in, but never actually used. It was very obvious that she was standing in a really old building, even with the new lights and windows installed. She could see some of the gaps in the floorboards.
Running her hands along her short little ponytail, Amila stepped forwards. Taking it all in as she walked towards the bookcase nearest to the desk. Pulling out a green-covered book, looking at the cover art. A grey wolf guarding a pair of wolf cubs, with how the picture was drawn, it seemed as though she was looking at the wolf and his family through the eyes of whatever was attacking them.
There wasn't any author, blurb, or title. Just that one picture. 2081, Thursday 25th December. 6:00am, Ol Skaebe, Randolf Stoneson's Manor, 3rd floor Study.It was in the exact same shelf, that book. Just holding it brought memories back to her. Now wearing a long sleeved white, gothic-style dress with black ribbons and lace, she sat in the same old chair and flipped through the book, looking at all the illustrations but not reading any of the words. For some reason, she felt both happy and sad at the same time.. 'It's just a book.' she told herself. 'No need to get emotional.'...No, it wasn't the book that was making her wish she would just cry already. Or at the very least it wasn't the contents of the story. She wasn't even reading it after all. 2065-ish, Christmas Day, 12-ish, Ol Skaebe, Randolf Stoneson's Manor, 3rd floor Study.Swinging her legs back and forth on the chair, Amila leaned against the desk as she perused the book's contents.
"Amila? Are you in here?" A Voice she recognized, one belonging to her grandmother, asked.
Amila didn't look up from her book as she responded, trying to keep her voice down. "Yeah, I'm in here Gran."
The door opened up, and Amila's Grandmother, Bianca Stoneson walked into the room. Wearing one of those knit sweater's all grandma's seemed to wear and a mint green knee-length skirt underneath it. A gift-wrapped rectangular box under one of her arms. A Tag with Amila's name on it attached to the big glittery ribbon. Bianca's grey hair curled against her cheeks as she smiled, walking forwards and placing the gift down on the desk. "What've you got there, dear?" She asked, with warmth radiating off of her pale skin.
"Some kind of book, I think." Amila said, closing it and showing her grandmother the cover."It was lying on the desk here, so I decided to read it. You did all tell me I could explore."
"Oh, that's not why I'm here, silly." Bianca smiled, tapping the box a couple of times. "I just really wanted to see you open this gift we picked out for you, that's all."
"Ah." Amila nodded, "What is it?"
Bianca put her hand to her mouth and let out a little laugh. "Well, you'll need to open it to find out, won't you?
Oh, hold on!" Bianca exclaimed as she jumped up to her feet. "Randolf the Red Nosed Reindeer's going to want to see that smile on your face when you open it up! Hold on dearie, I'll go get him!" 2081, Thursday 25th December. 6:00am, Ol Skaebe, Randolf Stoneson's Manor, 3rd floor Study.Amila... couldn't really remember what the gift was. It was probably a book or something, maybe a doll. As soon as she'd gotten home she had completely forgotten about it... what did she even do when she was 10 years old? She didn't really leave home that much, so she must not have had many friends beyond those she'd talk to online. She rarely ever saw her grandparents either, in fact, she stopped even visiting them after the negative selves started appearing. How long had that been? She'd have been around... 18 or 17 then, right? Amila couldn't help but look at the door, expecting someone to walk through. But nobody did, the sun hadn't even risen yet. It only made sense that everyone else would still be sleeping. '...What am I supposed to do now?' She asked herself. '...I'm not stupid enough to try to wage a whole war on demon kind, that'd just be exactly what Red Moon were doing. I can't just change my mind and side with them after all of this.
Not after all of this. Not after I lost my eye fighting against them. I can't just change my mind like that.'
She looked to the page she was on, at the illustration of the wolf chasing a moving chariot pulled by a white horse and a black horse in the middle of a busy, roman street. All the passer-by's in the background looking at the scene with confusion or fear. 'I can't become like that demon who killed everyone in such a devastating way. Lost to her own rage and hatred. But I can't do nothing either, my own heart won't allow it.'2081, Thursday 25th December, 7:30am. Wallshore, Luxury Street, Sitz Residence.
"Wakey-Wakey~!" The very second it turned 7:30, while the sky was still a dark blue, Martha grabbed onto the quilt Delilah had buried herself under and threw it off. Delilah's eyes opened for a single nanosecond, and snapped shut as soon as she witnessed the sentient christmas present standing in front of her. That really was the best way to describe the ugly christmas sweater Martha had chosen to wear, with that big silly ribbon on it. The Santa Hat was okay, but the sweater sent Delilah's spirit into the aether. "We've got a long long long day ahead of us, so we're going to get all the joy we can before we have to worry about anything serious!" Delilah rolled onto her side, but Martha refused to let this remove that smile from her face. "Hey, come on. I'm giving up a christmas with my family for the Red Moon here. You know? The group that gave you a bed to sleep under, you might as well have a bit of fun before work begins. Right?" In response, Delilah slammed her own pillow on top of her head. ... "I don't want a lot for christmas, there is just one thing I need, I don't care about the presents, underneath the christmas tree~ I just want you for my own, More than you can ever know, Make my wish come truuue~ All I want for Christmas... is you~" Martha and Charity Sitz were both singing along to the music, while Delilah sat on the floor with her 3 presents in front of her. The Mother and daughter both using the Christmas Crackers as improptu microphone's. Charity was still in her pajama's, with a paper crown on top of her head. The only one among the 'family' who hadn't gotten changed. Despite only just waking up, the 10 year old was full of energy and had already opened all her presents. A New Violin, A Plush Lion, The Live Action Adaptation of Frozen(Charity was mildly disappointed, having asked for Tangled, but Martha had just said they'd get it for her birthday and it was as though she forgot all about her disappointment.). In this one house, it was as though the world was normal. Was anyone celebrating christmas anywhere else? Or was it just this one family? "Hey, Delilah." Kainan spoke, from his spot on the living room couch. "Aren't you going to open your presents?" Delilah looked him over, his smile seemed genuine, but his eyes looked tired. She opened her mouth to breathe and picked up the closest one. 'For Delilah'. Kainan watched her like a hawk as she struggled with the wrapping, before tearing it open and damaging the nametag. Reaching into the packaging and pulling out a set of games for a handheld cartridge. Kainan watched her face for a response, as she focused on the games she was holding. They were all from the same series, featuring what looked to be a punk rock teenage skeleton. Each game had cover art featuring him in a different setting, from a graffiti filled cityscape to a spooky looking castle to a ruin in the desert. "I heard these games were getting popular, so I went and got them since you're always playing those games of yours." Kainan smiled. "It's even got co-op mode if you want to play online with anyone. Do you like it?" Delilah, simply out of courtesy, gave a small nod as she moved on to the next present. Kainan couldn't hide his disappointment. The next gift, she could tell it was one that Charity had wrapped just from the paper. Inside was.. a plush dog with a large head and big, glittery eyes. It looked like it was begging her for a scratch behind the ears, she obliged the toy. "Isn't it cute?" Kainan asked. "Charity wasn't quite sure what to get for you, but if you could tell her you like it, I know that'd make her very happy." Kainan saw a emotion he couldn't quite understand in Delilah's eyes as she nodded once more and went to the final gift. This one would be the one from Martha. Hesitantly, she opened it. Only to find a photograph in a picture frame. A Picture of the Sitz Family, Gideon, and Delilah. ... "Bye mommy! Bye De-lee-la!" Charity called out, waving from the front door at Martha and Delilah, as the two headed towards the car waiting for them near the gate. The snow that had fallen last night hadn't actually melted, but it still didn't look properly christmas-y, there were patches of snow scattered around, with plenty of grass and concrete showing underneath it all. Nowhere near the winter wonderland Martha had wanted, but she wasn't going to let that bother her. "Bye sweetie!" Martha waved, as she slid feet-first into the backseat of the car. "We'll be back soon!" "Have a good day at work, you two!" Kainan smiled. Delilah looked down at the plastic bag in her hands, her Christmas presents, as well as some books and her handheld game cartridge all placed inside it. In front of her was a red sports car with blacked out windows, and behind her were a perfectly ordinary father and daughter. Delilah gave them a brief wave before getting into the back seat, placing the bag near her feet and closing the car door. "Alright, It's about time for us to get going!" Martha grinned, noticeably still wearing the obnoxious shristmas sweater and the santa hat. She inspected the various christmas designs on her alternating green and red fingernails. Gingerbread men, a fat Santa, christmas canes, etc as she leaned back and strapped herself in. "Don't forget your seatbelt~" She sang, "Today's a biiiig oooold daaaaay~ Emil, start the car already." She smiled, her voice going from sing-song to low and deep within a instant. The person at the driver's seat, with curly ginger hair and a red-stained scarf wrapped around his neck turned to face them- "What!? What the Fuck!! What's he doing there!?" ================================================= Forgoing the Formula entirely, we'll cut to the Eckstein Research Labs, in the Basement. Jamming his finger directly onto the screen of the Paradox Computer, Kendrick leaned over the person seated in the chair with a flabbergasted expression, his red eyes comically wide and his finger pressed directly underneath Emil's serious expression. "Isn't this guy supposed to be dead!?" Kendrick asked. "She slit his neck last night, right?" "..Yeah, That's what this guy said last night, I think." Shawn, who was standing behind the three other people looking at the screen, guessed. Plodding towards them and leaning directly over to the smaller, white haired individual with hollow blue eyes in a private school uniform. Who was only shrinking further into his seat as the scene played out. "..She slit his neck." The Private School Teen affirmed, his mouth forming a wavy line on his overwhelmingly pale skin. The fourth person in the room, with features almost identical to the private school teen (except a little smaller, with hair that covered their ears that reached their shoulders, and glowing yellow eyes), wearing a cute yellow unbuttoned hoodie with rabbit ears and button-eyes on it's hood didn't give the screen the time of day, instead pushing Shawn to the side. "Hey! You're invading his personal space, moron!" They exclaimed. "Geez, geez, fine." Shawn relented. "..It's still odd, did she revive him or something? Those Red Moon guys have that resurrection spell, I think." "...With Jashin dead?" Kendrick asked, in turn. "I thought they needed Jashin to be alive for them to actually use any of those abilities." "That's only if they didn't already have them." Shawn commented. "...Ugh, this woman's always annoying. I take my eyes off her to go to the game night, and not only does she not die, but she kills and then revives the person we sent to kill her? She's incomprehensible." "..Really? Maybe you're just daft. She's obvious." The Yellow eyed kid said. "She's just a selfish bitch who joined because it would benefit her and it was getting popular." "Well yeah, but that doesn't explain this, does it?" Shawn asked, letting one eyelid droop. "Wait. who cares about a mystery that'll get solved in the next part anyway?" Kendrick asked, putting a finger against Shawn's lips. "This scene hasn't ended yet, quiet down so I can hear them." ================================================= Driving down the streets of Wallshore while blasting cheesy christmas singles from the car radio, Martha leaned back in her seat as she pulled out her phone. Delilah had pulled the handheld game system out and was continuing with the same game she had been playing yesterday while Emil continued to drive with a focused expression. Pressing her heels against the seat in front of her, Martha selected a handful of contacts on her phone and... changed her mind, de-selecting them. "Hmm. No." She muttered to herself, before selecting 'Jezebel' and 'Theresa' alone, and then making the group call. Seconds passed... And seconds passed... None of them responded. "Hngh, maybe it's too early." Martha muttered, opting to just send them texts instead. Sending a group text to the two other women. 'Hey Everyone !D Merry Christmas!!! there's no need to worry! Me, Emil and Delilah have found the Omnipotent and are on our way to retrieve her right now! (Go us!) We've got everything under control Will be meeting at this location to retrieve her, if anyone wants to come and help' Below that message was a map of the continent, with a red dot marked in the middle of the triangle created by Mishinaka, Curtside and Wellham, a red circle drawn over the Elcarim Plateau with 'Omnipotent here' scrawled above it. ================================================ "..Well, she knows that the Omnipotent's here." Kendrick muttered. "That's not too bad." Shawn shrugged. "Eh, I guess. Hey, Can we look at someone else now? I want to know what Tara's up to." "We really couldn't give a shit what you want." The Yellow eyed kid in the rabbit hoodie rolled his eyes, but the kid in the private school uniform typed something up on the computer anyway, and the scene ended. [][][], [][] [][][], []:[][][ ][ , [][][][] [][] [][]TRANSLATING... CONVERTING TO EARTH-3 TIME...[2081, 25th December, 8:08am. Earth 3-Time] Home of the Tartarus Clan. Tarabus's Castle.Tara blinked slowly, lying amidst a tangle of pitch black blankets on her bed. A Chalice lying at her bedside table had been knocked on it's side, but miraculously all the liquid inside it was pouring into a identical Chalice placed at the base of the bed. Eventually, she mustered up the will to actually get out of bed. Looking at the skyline through her giant window. Her eyes were inevitably drawn to Nyx's castle, where Zoey lived... and as she looked to the gate, she saw a familiar demon knocking on the doors. "..Ugh, Mephisto again." She muttered to herself, pulling her armour on and securing it in place. Watching as Nyx opened up the door to let him in. Looking closer, as Mephisto and Nyx conversed at the door... Tara could see someone else already in the building that she couldn't quite make out or identify. Which didn't surprise her, considering the distance between the two castles. Must be a demon she hasn't met yet. She turned away from the window and left her room, a pair of shadows closing the door behind her as she went to go about her day. And by go about her day, of course, we mean 'Wait a couple minutes and have some breakfast so when she goes to Nyx's castle to check on things there it doesn't look like she was snooping on anyone.' ... Tara wasn't a fool, she didn't trust or like Mephisto. Knowing that Zoey and him were only marrying because of inter-family politics.. it just made her feel sick, this was the kind of thing she became a demon to escape. But, things could easily be worse, if she was still back at Mishinaka, with all of 'them', then she wouldn't ever be happy. Apart from Mephisto, she was pretty fine with most things in this dimension. Demons were far superior to humans, that was one opinion of hers that hadn't changed since arriving. Even now, those groups on earth were still fighting and killing each other over pointless bullshit. She just knew it. Still.. since coming here, she'd only been disappointed. It wasn't awful, but it wasn't as amazing as she had expected it to be... but that was just how growing up was, in a way. Dwelling on her thoughts, she let the time pass by as she walked between the castles. Knocking on Nyx's door as soon as she reached it. The seconds passed as the sound of footsteps grew closer and closer, hardly a minute passed before Zoey's mother opened it. "Ah, Tara. Welcome back." Nyx said. "Hey, Nyx." Tara responded, "Is Zoey in?" "She is in the living room. A family member of the Arcana Clan is here on a visit, Spadille, and also Mephisto." Nyx said. Tara raised a brow. "..The Arcana Clan? I thought they didn't talk to the other families." "I've...been in contact with a few of them, at least the ones who were in the mood to chat, asking them advice about the cards since the Arcana's are my speciality." Nyx said. "..I.. see." Tara blinked, before shrugging it off. "So, Can I come in?" "Be my guest." Nyx said, as she walked back into the corridor. The hallway they were walking in was as red as the castle itself with walls made out of hard stone, with a few doors leading to different rooms, lit candles, knight stands and a portrait of a very old wrinkled demon with red skin, pitch black eyes with red pupils, long white curly hair that reached the floor, wearing the big black crown that Nyx currently has, a beady necklace around her neck, a cane in her hands , long red finger nails and a white sleeveless gown that covered her feet. "Fuzen is currently busy with other matters so he is not here. Zoey has been asking about you after you suddenly vanished the other day. Where were you?" Nyx asked, as she walked to the right and was heading towards the stairs. "I.. just had to go deal with some things." Tara explained. "That Jebediah freak was still kicking, so I had to get rid of him before he could do anything... then I just, got tired, and fell asleep for a bit." Nyx let out a sigh. "His soul probably ended up in the Inferno if I were to guess, I'll attend to that to make sure he won't pull himself out of there or absorb any souls into himself. Hopefully, Red Moon will go down for good soon." Nyx said, her boots hitting each step as they were climbing the stairs. "Yeah. Thanks for that." Tara said, folding her arms as she walked a little bit behind Nyx. Looking at the staircase. When they reached the floor Zoey was on, Tara got off the stairs and went ahead. "Spadille's the Death Arcana, isn't she?" Tara asked. "Yes. She is in the living room, this will be the first time you two will meet in person, is it not?" Nyx asked, as she walked towards the door that leads to the living room. "Will be the first time I meet any of the Arcana's in person." Tara confirmed. Nyx opened the door and went inside. The Living Room itself was quite big, it had two throne's for Nyx and Fuzen, a red carpet covering the floor, a futon, a chandelier attached to the ceiling, a bookshelf with books written in the demon language, a table with a bowl of fruit placed on it and a book, a fireplace, one of Zoey's paintings was placed on the wall and to the right was a balcony that showed a great view of the land. Zoey and Mephisto were sitting on the futon, the latter was holding his glass of pink wine in between his fingers, toying with the glass while making sure not to let a single drop stain the carpet while tapping his earring with his other hand. Zoey, turned her attention from the floor to her friend and stood up. "Tara, you're back. I thought something bad happened." Zoey said, looking relieved. "Oh, no. It's fine." Tara waved it away, unconsciously walking faster than usual as she headed straight for Zoey. She opened her mouth and was about to speak, before she looked to the other figure in the living room. The Member of the Arcana Clan that was seated a distance away from the other two. No two ways about it, it was a skeleton. A lizard-like skeletal head with rows of sharp teeth poking out of a black hooded robe, with boney hands poking out of the sleeves, a strange black gas swirling around the bones holding them together. With two glowing white rings with a white dot flickering in the centre behind the head's eye-sockets. This must've been Spadille. The lizard-esque skull looked more like a mask being worn than a actual face. Tara couldn't help but stare at her, she looked far from humanoid. Like a traditional grim reaper, only with small plastic bags filled with dust hanging from her belt instead of a scythe. The teeth on the skull moved un-naturally as it opened, the bone of the jaw moving and contracting how Tara expected muscle to. "Hello. You must be Tarabus." "I.. I am. yeah." Tara said, unsure how to react. "I am Spadille, a member of the Arcana Family. You caused quite a stir in that red moon dimension not too long ago. Added quite a lot of residents to Nyx's little inferno. Good going, kid. Taking them all out by yourself." "Uh, thank you?" "There's no need to be nervous around her, Dark Heart. After all, you met Hades." Mephisto said. Nyx turned to Spadille. "Tara has been a part of our family for years now and is my daughter's confidant, even if she din't partake in the trials. I'm sure she would like to learn more about your family and their unique abilities." Nyx said. "Hm, well. It'd be wrong to assume that they're at all identical to Nyx's abilities, kid." Spadille spoke, the glowing in her eyes turning off- Tara figured this was how she closed her eyes, what with her lacking eyelids and all. "They do correlate to the arcana in similar ways, but they're not at all focused on combat. Hey, you hungry?" "..Sure." Tara shrugged, sitting herself down. "Want a chocolate bar?" Spadille asked, clearly leading Tara on for something. Tara nodded anyway. "I mean, if you're offering." Spadille reached into one of her plastic bags and wrapped her skeleton hands around the dust inside. Some of it falling through the gaps between her joints. The dust all vanished within the black gas, and when Spadille opened up her palm, there was a piece of chocolate laying on her bones. She held the chocolate bar out for Tara to take, and Erebus's successor hesitantly accepted it. "..Is this your ability?" Tara asked. "..I expected something a bit more..." "There's more to death than just dying, young one. As the ages pass anything that dies eventually rots to near nothing, but it's a mistake to say it disappears. The multiverse has simply taken up recycling. I, also, recycle whenever I can." Spadille explained, holding the plastic bag in the palm of her hand. "That's true. The Death Ability that I use is oriented around combat, I can only summon Death balls that will vanquish a powerful opponent. I believe my...Other used that ability against one of those 0mnipotents when my father and Xuko were still around." Nyx said. Mephisto rolled his eyes in response to that. "Yes, that thing." Spadille shrugged her shoulders and changed her posture to a more relaxed one. 'Opening' her eyes again, one at a time. Tara placed the chocolate in her mouth and bit into it. "..Tastes like chocolate." "Of course. What else would it taste like?" Spadille asked, Somehow grinning, coyly. The conversation fell, and silence threatened to take over the room. "..So, yeah." Tara broke the silence, "The Red Moon's been dealt with for good this time, the spirit of Jack Colorado has been decimated, and all of their marks and powers have vanished." "Oh, that's....good." Zoey guessed, she probably cared more that Tara was okay than she did anything else that Tara said. "Kind of a shame I wasn't able to take his essence before he got eradicated and merge it with Samael. Would of been a ironic end to that fool's tale." Mephisto said, taking a sip from his wine. Tara let her eyelids droop as she gazed at Mephisto. Thoroughly unimpressed. Just as it seemed the conversation would lull, Spadille leaned a bit closer to the others. "The Red Moon falling was inevitable. Something always rises, but nothing truly lasts forever. Every Empire and Age throughout history always follows the same pattern of rising to power and then spreading so far that sustaining itself becomes impossible." "It will still be awhile till the human realm gains some sense and moves on. The devastation of Newrum State City left a impact on the world, the Unigard are currently doing their best to help fix the damage." Nyx said. "I've been keeping tabs on that world ever since Jashin croaked, to see how the humans are 'coping'. Some woman is trying to keep Red Moon from inevitably falling to pieces and two mysterious individuals have destroyed some of their churches, they killed one of their elite mooks and a pathetic drunktard who soiled his hands in his spawn's blood only yesterday. If I recall, you and that girl were acquaintances before you arrived here, were you not?" Mephisto asked Tara. Spadille leaned a bit closer in. "...Yes." Tara confirmed, her lids remaining drooped. "So?" "Just wanted to make sure. But I can see that this topic is sentimental to you so I won't divulge further. Although, you might need to hear this cause it's important. A group of individuals wearing lab coats are planning to collect those four books that were forged after your predecessor, Erebus, was vanquished, and one of those books is in your possession. They want to use these books as power sources to jump out of the sinking ship and land on a different branch of reality, or to make it more simple, a 'alternate timeline' better than this one. A Omnipotent and the woman who created those books are among that crowd." Mephisto said, gesturing his fingers at the alternate timeline part. "...Lynch Vixerello. My father mentioned her once." Zoey said. "And what did he have to say about her?" Spadille asked, tilting her head as she leaned even closer in. Looking at her with genuine curiosity. Somehow the eye sockets looked wider. Tara blinked, she would never get used to seeing Spadille's skeletal, toothy face change expressions in such a human way. "...I don't know much about her past, but she was majorly involved with the Guardian of Light who's love for her helped him win against my uncle. One day, after they defeated a man who escaped from the Inferno, she tore her ties with Omalley and he vanished ever since. From how my father described it, her leaving him...broke him both mentally and physically." Zoey said, sounding rather upset by hearing her tone. "..I see." Spadille hummed, her eyes blinking out again as she leaned back. Tara, however, furrowed her brows in irritation. "Seriously? One girl breaks his heart and he just vanishes? Letting.. all of this shit happen to the earth?" "..I think it was more than that...but...I don't know. It's kind of cruel what she did to be honest." Zoey sighed. "Guardians have quite sensitive souls when it comes to the people they protect. It's almost pitiful to look at. It was pretty clear from day one that Omalley's story was never gonna end on a happy note the moment he decided to attach himself to that woman. He could of picked anyone else over her and his fate likely would of been a lot more different now and Red Moon would of never gotten so far. It's almost stupid when you think about it." Mephisto said. "We really shouldn't talk about this." Nyx muttered. "Nothing new there then." Tara sighed, folding her arms. "People just keep outdoing themselves with their stupidity. Mephisto then reached his hand into jacket and pulled out a tarot card before placing it on the table. It showed a woman with black hair and red eyes, wearing a queenly dress, riding a horse into battle and held a torch in her hand as she and her army are going to battle. The Chariot card. "You still have one loose end to tie up. She is definitely not gonna forget about her grandfather, it be best to avoid another Neonytian situation that cut some of demon's lives short. She is gonna try to find a way to get in here and want revenge." Mephisto said. Tara looked at the card, gazing intently at the woman's face. Remembering her expression when she saw her grandfather get squashed right in front of her. "Obviously, I know that." She said. "That girl almost burned the entire hospital down, there's no way she's going to leave things as they are." "And how do you intend on dealing with her?" Mephisto asked, his serpentine eyes were gleaming with curiosity. "..How do you think?" Tara asked. Her voice cold. Spadille turned to face Tara specifically, before looking at Mephisto, and then at Zoey and Nyx. Zoey looked pretty worried while Nyx’s look was troubled. Mephisto on the other hand had a mischievous grin on his visage. “Then we’ll be counting on you to solve this problem before it get’s out of hand. Wouldn’t want anything bad happen to your new family after all.” Mephisto said. The Prince of Deals then sat up. “Speaking of families, I have to meet up with my father and mother to discuss the wedding arrangements. It’s gonna be a grand day when the Tartarus and Ganymede families will unite and Red Moon will become a thing of the past. And once Zoey inherits her mother’s position, I won’t have that much work on my hands anymore.” Mephisto smiled, as Zoey avoided his gaze. “The Inferno is not a soul black market, Mephisto. And you will not treat it as such.” Nyx said, giving him a cold stare. “Of course, of course, but some of the souls of that afterlife rebelled before and a few times they did escape to desperately claim their lives back, with our help, you won’t have to worry about any bad individuals like Red Moon trying to come back to life. I will treat the Inferno your grandmother created with care and respect, I promise. Now then, Nyx, Zoey, Tara.” Mephisto said. He turned to Spadille. “Your Grace.” Mephisto bowed. He vanished in a puff of red smoke. The Chariot card was left on the table. Tara stood up, and picked up the Chariot card, holding it firmly in her grip. She clenched her fist, and bent the card. "..I can't trust that guy." She grunted, looking to Zoey and Nyx. "Why are you letting him marry into this family!?" “...It wasn’t my choice to make. This was decided by both of the family officials when the Ganymede’s approached us, giving us the chance to settle our debt towards them for what happened to Xuko by marrying Zoey to their top family member, if the two families unite the idea is that the Tartarus family would recover from the decline that started when Erebus died, at least that’s what Lucius thought. Do you think I want her to marry him? If there was someone else, I would of gladly let them be with my daughter over Mephisto any day. Even to this day, Fuzen is still pissed about that.” Nyx explained, sounding annoyed by Tara's statement. Tara looked to Nyx, and then over to Zoey... she was unable to identify what Zoey was thinking. "...I.. I see." Tara blinked. "I'm sorry, I guess. I just, ugh." she muttered, as she began to pace around. "That guy pisses me off. If he's trying to lead me to my death or manipulate me into fighting that woman! I swear.." He always came across like he was trying to manipulate her into doing something.. he probably was, as well, but it wasn't like she hadn't already thought of tying that loose end up herself.. but that was just how annoying Mephisto was, even though she already knew she'd have to deal with it... the very second that he suggested it, she felt the urge to just not agree. "I'm beginning to feel like a third wheel here." Spadille commented, reminding Tara that she was still in the room. Leaning back in that same relaxed manner as the eyes behind her skull traced the darkness successor's movements. Nyx looked at Spadille. "I'm sorry about this. I...din't expect things to get that intense." Nyx said. "...Are you actually gonna fight her?" Zoey asked Tara. "I.. I don't know." Tara admitted. "I'd guess that.. it just depends on what she does. If her problem is just with me, then I can't blame her for that. I did kill her grandfather right in front of her. That man just wanted Jack's power so he could continue that stupid crusade of theirs. They both had to die for us to be safe, so I don't regret it either. Yeah, I can just say that. If she starts acting up or tries to take us out, I'll deal with her. But if she doesn't, then I'll just leave it." Spadille walked up to Tara, "Would you like to know what I think?" She asked. "...Sure?" Tara guessed. "I'd appreciate anyone apart from him giving me advice, at this point." "I see. Do you mind if I take that?" Spadille asked, pointing at the Chariot card. Tara shrugged, so Spadille pulled it out of her grasp with ease, turning her back to the other three, but holding the bent up card up for them all to see. The card in her hand turned to dust and floated in place for a moment before re-assembling itself. Spadille covered it up with her hand as she spoke. "After someone dies, if people don't move on, then they fail. Once something ends, if people could simply move on with their lives, then it'd all be so much simpler, wouldn't it?" "...Some people are quite stubborn when it comes to their grudges. Most souls ended up in the Inferno because they refused to let their wounds heal and inflict their own pain on others." Nyx said. "...If Jebediah and Jack moved on, then maybe none of this would of happened. Maybe there is a chance for Amila's heart to mend?" Zoey asked Spadille. Spadille held up two fingers, revealing a tarot card made from her dust. She flipped it over to reveal a image of a girl in a black turtleneck sweater with round glasses, angel wings and brown plats sitting next to a lake. Shadows rising up all around her as she focused on the book in her lap and the two cups full of water held in her hands. It was the Temperance card. "I'm not the one who'll make that decision. Whether her heart mends or not, the death of her grandfather has already marked the end of one period of her life and the beginning of her next. I'd recommend you let this mark the end of one period of your life as well, young one." Spadille hummed, her head turning at a 90 degree angle. "Thinking in extremes doesn't get you anywhere, whatever you send out to the world comes at you just as strong, that's something my sister would say.. and if this card is supposed to represent you, that should hold true to you as well to some extent." Zoey nodded and looked at Tara. "..Yeah, that sounds about right." Tara sighed. "Besides." Spadille started, her entire body turning to face them again, as she repeated the process with the card once more. Changing into a card with a image of a brown skinned girl in a grey cloak with a static-patterned heart sitting by herself in the middle of a snowy field. The only light was the lantern behind her, and her attention was on something to her side. It was the card of the Hermit. Spadille looked the card over and gave the others time to memorize it, before letting it fade back into dust. "It seems all you need is time to sort things out." "..You sure?" "I'm sure." Spadille nodded, before turning to Nyx. "Well, thank you for inviting me round your place. It was pleasant getting to.. witness, the four of you." Nyx nodded. "You are always welcome to my home. Tell the rest of the Arcana's that I wish them good health." Nyx said. "Of course." Spadille smiled, before getting closer to Nyx. Her smile extended, the bone itself stretching to accommodate it. "And if there's any souls you don't want Mephisto getting his hands on, remember: I'm a avid recycler. You want something gone, I'm your pal, I can even make you something else out of my dust if you so want, because we're friends now. So feel free to come to me if you need anything beyond just advice with your arcana." Nyx smiled back and nodded her head. Spadille nodded her head empathetically, as all the dust returned to one of the plastic pouches. "I'll see myself out." She held up two fingers in a V-sign, and then exploded into a cloud of dust that swirled amongst itself before flying through the still open door. Tara stood there, silent. "...I suppose." Tara sighed, sitting down. "She's got the aura I expected one of the Arcana's to have. Politics really is a hassle." Zoey sat next to Tara. "Most of the Arcana's are reluctant when it comes to making alliances with other families. There is a reason they are not getting themselves involved with the Ganymede's or us." Zoey said. Tara closed her eyes, "Is it a bad sign that Death is the one that decided to show herself? Or a good one?" "...It could be either one of those...or both...But I hope it's a good sign." Zoey said, clenching her hands. She turned her head to Tara. "...Will you be okay?" "..Don't worry. I'll be fine." Tara said, standing up. "I.. I think she was right. I just need to think things through." Zoey nodded, before remaining silent for a bit, she wasn't sure if she wanted to say this or not considering how much Tara had on her plate right now. "...Tara. If I was given options on who I would want to spend the rest of my life with...it would be with you. And no one else." Zoey said. Tara opened her eyes, looking at Zoey with wide eyes and a slack jaw. "..Do you.. Do you really mean that?" She asked. Zoey nodded as she got up and held Tara's hand. "...Even if the marriage will go on...you will always have a special place in my heart. The two of us will always be together, no matter where we are. Back when we first met when we were still young, I wasn't sure what to make of you back then...but now I'm happy that you became my friend and you were always at my side when I needed comfort. If something were to happen to you...I don't know what I would do. Just...whatever happens with that woman, don't die." Zoey pleaded. Tara tightened her own grip on Zoey's hand and clasped it with the other. "..Thank you." She said. "That means so much to me. The truth is.. I've always felt the same way about you as well. So don't worry, I'll be just fine." Tara smiled. Zoey smiled back. "I wish we did celebrate Christmas, we could of cherished this moment by giving each other gifts. But at least we'll have fun at the feast and forget about Red Moon for one day." Zoey said. "..Yeah." Tara said, slipping her hands away from Zoey's. "It's fine though, I never cared for Christmas anyway." Quieter this time, she repeated herself. "...Yeah." Zoey looked at her one last time before turning to the door. "Let's go." Zoey said, walking out of the living room. ================================================ The Four people in the room continued to look at the now empty living room through the monitor. "Hold on, no. Keep watching them, I want to know what that was." Shawn leaned forwards, grabbing hold of the mouse and scrolling it for himself. Turning to the rest of the group with a baffled look to his eyes. "Zoey and Tara get together in this timeline?" "Get together?" Kendrick asked. "Why are you assuming that this was romantic? Friends hold each other's hands all the time, don't they?" "Uh- N-No?" Shawn asked. "Besides, Zoey literally just said 'friends'." Kendrick frowned. "A Confession of love is 'I love you'. Not 'I'm happy that you became my friend.'" "No, no, I know these two." Shawn shot him down. "Tara was definitely crushing on Zoey back during the Academy, George isn't in the picture here- so Zoey didn't get pregnant so early. They could totally be together this time around." "It sounds more to me like you just want them to get together." Kendrick shook his head. "Even if hand holding can easily be read as a romantic gesture, it's just a sign that they're close. Siblings do it, BFF's do it, family hold hands sometimes. It's a sign of re-assurance used by people close to each other, don't just limit it like that." Shawn gritted his teeth before looking to the two white haired private school kids. "What do you two think?" "I... don't really know.." The Kid in the school uniform muttered. "He thinks it's weird that you're talking about these two like it's any of your business." The Kid in the Rabbit Hoodie folded his arms. "Especially when you don't actually know them." "Now can we actually focus?" Kendrick asked with a annoyed wave of his hand, as the elevator doors opened up behind them. His eyes snapped wide open as the kid at the computer opened up one of the other tabs, replacing the footage of Nyx's Hallway with that of a abandoned Kodama Village. Green fog floating idly past the empty buildings. Zuri walked out of the elevator, pulling her many braided locs back into the mock-knot she had tied them into the other day. It was clear just by looking at her that she didn't get any sleep at all since they had last seen her. "You made any progress?" She asked her question the very second her feet touched the floor. Making her way towards the paradox computer. "We still haven't found anything in Kodama." Kendrick explained. "It's really annoying, honestly." "..I see." Zuri spoke, not even sighing. "In that case, some of us have been thinking that one of Kodama's leaders, Akarusa, for example. Might have taken the book while they were evacuating. Open up another tab and see if you can track anyone noteworthy from Kodama down, they might have the copy book with them." "Yeah, sure. We can do that." Shawn nodded. "Is there.. anything else?" Zuri shook her head. "Anything else?" Was all she asked. "We listened in on a meeting of Demons." The Yellow-Eyed kid spoke, leaning against the wall. Kendrick and Shawn both looked at him with indignant expressions. He flashed them a smirk before continuing. "They know about you guyses plan to take their book, a really high ranking one called Spadille that even Mephisto called 'Your Grace' was sitting in on it, Mephisto is really unpopular with the ladies and Zoey-" "I don't want to hear about their romance subplot." Zuri interrupted. "Was anything else mentioned that seemed relevant besides all that?" "Nothing that would affect us specifically." Kendrick leaned forwards. "Most of it was just political drama that would only really change up the scene in the demon world." Zuri looked at Kendrick, slowly nodding as she adjusted her glasses. "I see. ...By the way, are you four going to stay down here all day?" Kendrick shrugged, while Shawn looked to the computer. "Yeah, I think I will." Shawn decided. Zuri nodded once more, already heading back for the elevator before she opened her mouth. "Okay, I'll get someone to send down some breakfast for you all. Contact me if anything relevant pops up. I'll be all over the place as per usual so you know how to find me should you wish to." The second she finished speaking, she pressed a button and the elevator doors slammed closed. Taking her to whatever her destination was within a instant. Shawn and Kendrick both waited a couple of seconds before turning their heads towards the Yellow-Eyed Kid, with annoyed stares. Confident that they were alone for the time being. "Did you have to tell her all that?" Shawn asked. The Yellow Eyed Kid smirked as he shrugged his shoulders. "Not really, but I'm just being honest, we did eavesdrop on that entire meeting, and those things were discussed. He doesn't really see any point in hiding all of that." "Isn't it obvious?" Shawn brought his voice down to a whisper as he leaned forwards so he would be roughly at eye-level with the kid. "My girlfriend asked me to come here and stop Zuri from making that portal of hers while she finishes things up in the newest timeline, and that's what I'm here to do-" "You know all that 'timeline' junk doesn't mean shit to him, right?" The Yellow-Eyed Kid asked. Kendrick nodded. "Yeah, I don't care about whatever your girlfriend's up to either." Shawn stuck his upper lip out, "Well I care and we're all trying to do the same thing here. So let's co-operate, okay?" "We are co-operating." The Yellow Eyed Kid rolled his eyes. "It's more believable if we actually looked at something, isn't it? So why are you complaining?" "I-" "Yada yada, this is getting annoying. Let's just put something else on, okay?" Kendrick asked, furrowing his brows in obvious frustration. Scratching at the back of his neck, Shawn attempted to look casual as he conceded. "Fine, we should probably check up on that Eleanor Lady and her weird Spawn. Even though it's good that they're chipping away at the Remnants of the Red Moon, I don't want them overcomplicating the situation here either." "That group took out Gideon, I couldn't care what she does with her Homunculi. They're A-OK in my book." Kendrick rolled his eyes as he sat down, "But I wouldn't mind seeing what they're up to." "He wouldn't mind either, honestly." The Yellow-eyed kid admitted, while the one in the school uniform tapped away at the keyboard. Opening up a third tab to display the Streets of Curtside. 2081, Thursday 25th December, 8:20am, Curtside.The sky was a blanket of grey, With not a single speck of sunlight. All of the snow that had been trickling down the previous night had melted, leaving Curtside with no sunlight or snow, looking very glum indeed. The streets themselves were empty. From every angle they looked at it from, everyone was either asleep or staying inside. ... "Hey, try looking at that Mayor's Place." The Yellow-Eyed Kid suggested, ... Alongside the boxy and large fungal creatures and the ones with the massive antlers, a couple of more variants of Eleanor's Homunculi were standing at the entrance to Eleanor's temporary home. Some that had stopped growing prematurely and instead developed large claws and teeth, some that were long and lanky with un-naturally long limbs, and a couple that had developed the ability to fly at the very back, which fungal sinew for wings. The Goat legs, blue fungi and strange holes that substituted themselves for facial features were more or less the only constants between these different variants. They all stood (or flapped their wings in mid-air) in a giant crowd at the entrance. It went beyond stating that they were waiting for Eleanor. .. "They're like ants, and she's like their queen." Shawn commented, "Y'know, I haven't seen anyone else pull this kind of stunt with their essence, Fawn usually puts her on the hitlist as soon as she pops up in every other timeline so I haven't actually seen what she can do before." "Man, just shut up." Kendrick rolled his red eyes. "I'll shit on your breakfast if you keep talking about that shit." ... Minutes passed as the creatures continued to wait, but eventually the doors did both part. Eleanor Troy and Hippolytos standing symmetrically at the entrance with the newest batch behind them, now matured into their different forms. These ones wearing silver backpacks, similar to the one that Hippolytos had on. It was safe to assume that these bags had similar contents. As the kid at the computer zoomed in, allowing them to get a closer look at Eleanor Troy. Everyone watching through the monitor saw several maps tucked under one of her arms. She looked at Hippolytos and nodded wordlessly before walking down the stairs to greet her creations. Hippolytos sat down on the bottom of the staircase instead. "Good morning." Eleanor said with only a trace of emotion. The Crowd in front of her all gestured like a class greeting their teacher, but there was a solemn air about it, as though they all knew that today was a day to be serious. "..This, is kind of sad for me honestly. As you all know, I'm going to be leaving today, and you're all going to be going on your way." Eleanor continued. ... "Then why are you telling them?" Kendrick asked. "Like you just said, they already know!" "I'm guessing these things aren't that intelligent." Shawn muttered under his breath. ... "What you don't know.. is where you're going, or what'll happen after this." Eleanor closed her eyes, adjusting her necklace. "In truth, I can't claim to know either. The world is crazy like that. But I have come up with a set of guidelines for you all to follow for the time being." Eleanor pulled the maps out from her armpit and held them in front of her, everything she had created snapped to attention. "You're going to spread across the globe. Head to each town or wherever people are available, and reproduce. Killing in Self-Defence is allowed, but unless the person is on the pre-approved list of known cultists or cult-affiliates in this map you may not kill them unless they intend to kill you. I have everything all of you will need to create the next generation inside the bags I have given the youngest batch." As she spoke, the 'youths' behind her all walked forward. She gestured at the bags they were wearing. "Inside, you will find a series of pre-made Petri dishes. You all remember how to obtain dna samples from my demonstrations over the months, I assume?" They nodded. "I knew you would." A Small smile, a trace of emotion appeared on Eleanor's face as her eyes warmed up. "I'm so proud of all of you. Remember to take care of the youngest ones, take your time training them and make sure they all know how to continue creating life and fight back against attackers in the event they need to. But don't let them get caught up in a battle until they're at least 3 hours old. You guys remember how long 3 hours is?" They nodded yet again, some nodding faster and more vigorously than others. At the very back, one of the flying fungal creatures tapped the massive hulk next to it on the shoulder with a confused motion, it held up a single finger in the flying one's face as it kept it's attention solely on Eleanor. Eleanor rolled her eyes before staring straight at the confused one at the back. It ceased all motion in a jerk and looked to her with what could easily be identified as a apologetic expression. "..It's fine, it's fine. These things are hard to remember, I understand. Besides, that's not too important. Everyone...." Eleanor smiled as she turned to face the 'youths'. "Everyone, I know this might be hard. But this is a part of growing up, everyone has to say goodbye to their mother eventually." They all looked at her, some heads drooping while others faced her with pride. A Single Fungal Child ran forwards, almost tripping on the stairway as it wrapped it's arms around her in a farewell hug. Eleanor put her hand on it's head and gently removed it. "I'll be fine, and you'll be fine too, don't worry so much...Tsumiki Jr." Her purple eyes flickered, meeting Shawn and Kendrick's eyes through the monitor screen. The blue she was reflecting was absorbed for a brief second, allowing her eyes to seem a deeply saturated red before the illusion of light faded and they returned to normal. "We're all moving on with our lives. I've got places I've got to go as well, and if you want. You can come with me, would you like that?" The Smallest of the lot, apparently called 'Tsumiki Jr', nodded enthusiastically. "Alright." Eleanor nodded, her smile fading as she looked to Hippolytos, before returning as she faced her creations. Watching as the kids headed towards the rest and they split themselves up into different squads. Each of which a different combination of variants. Shawn, Kendrick and the two Kids both watched through the screen as Eleanor walked over to the groups and made the occasional adjustment. Making sure that there was one bag (which they were pretty confident was filled with more of Eleanor's Petri Dishes) per group, combining them when necessary and handing a map to whichever one was closest to her once she had finished applying the finishing touches. Hippolytos stood up from his seat and walked over to Eleanor as she smiled at them, they all walked together through the Streets of Curtside and opened up the door separating the town from the world outside. A Single squad remained on the inside as everyone else -Eleanor Troy included- went through the doors, holding their maps open so they had the lay of the land. "Well, this might be the last time we meet. I hope you all remember me fondly." Eleanor smiled warmly. Cupping her hands to her chest. "Go on and live your lives, all of you. I've got some other things I want to do, Don't forget to wish me some luck as well." ...////../////// =================================== Footage of [Curtside] currently unavailable.
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Footage of [Curtside] currently unavailable.
-.-- --- ..- / .-- --- -. - / .- -.. -- .. - / - --- / .. -==================================== The others had all split off, heading in every direction imaginable. A Group on their way to Mishinaka, a Group for Skaebe,a Group for Strathmore, one for Wallshore, a large group heading straight west that would eventually split up to tackle Erinfort, Rachdale, Newfort, Highton View Terrance and Courtham respectively. There was also the ones that had stayed behind in Curtside, so every town or city still inhabited would find themselves invaded before too long. The Final group: a couple of big guys, a fungal flyer and some more were still tailing Eleanor Troy and Hippolytos as they headed for their destination. Eleanor held her map so Hippolytos and the Fungal Child they had named 'Tsumiki Jr' could easily read it, pointing at 'Wellham', at the southeast corner of the continent. "This.. is that place that got attacked by that Morpher, I think." She commented. "A little bit before everyone in Rachdale got taken out..." "There were some survivors of that. Some girl named Maggie found her way to the quarantine zone." Hippolytos mentioned, pointing a thumb behind him. "We could go there if you want to look into that." "No, I don't care about that anymore." Eleanor stated her opinion clearly, pressing her finger against the map. "Besides, it'd just be weird to visit a child I've never met in a city I don't even want to visit." "I still think it was stupid of them to just all hide out in the same town." Hippolytos nodded as he kicked up a small blade of grass. Eleanor closed her eyes as she walked ahead of him. "I can see why they did, I suppose. It's nice to know that there are others in the world like you, I imagine when they first discovered other people with Sicrum Essence, in a world where they were getting demonized, it was nice to know they weren't alone." "Didn't last long though, they all died together." Hippolytos muttered. Eleanor turned her head to face him as she continued walking ahead. "Well, nothing is eternal. It might have been short-lived, but they must've been happy when they were together. I imagine it felt like they could rise against the world and do anything when they learned they weren't alone." "..And that's why you want to see Lynch?" Hippolytos asked. Eleanor brought her free hand to her mouth and turned away, not responding. Tsumiki Jr grabbed onto her sleeve in a attempt to comfort her, but Eleanor's expression remained the same. "You know that I've always been by your side, right?" Hippolytos asked again, walking up to her side. "As long as I'm here, you're never going to be alone in your endeavours." "..You say that, but you're going to see Lynch for your own reasons as well." Eleanor's eyes met with his. Hippolytos saw a emotion he couldn't quite place. Could it have been distrust? He didn't want to see that. "I wouldn't mind if you wanted to stay with me after we do whatever it is we do, but I don't think it's too likely, really." "Hey." Hippolytos placed his hand on her shoulder. "Don't think like that. I'll always be by your side." "..That's what Omalley said to Lynch." Eleanor responded. "Look how that turned out." Hippolytos' next sentence was immediate. "Well, I know that you're not like Lynch, you don't run away from your problems or throw everyone close to you away." "..I don't?" Eleanor asked. "That's interesting." Hippolytos blinked, taken aback by her response. After taking a few seconds to process it he continued following after her, reaching into his bag. "Oh, yeah. It's christmas today, right? So.. I figured I'd get you something." He shoved his hand between all of the petri dishes and wrapped up foods inside, before finding and gripping the present. "It's not much, since I know you don't care for these kinds of things much, but I figured you'd like this anyway." Eleanor stopped, turned, and looked at him before speaking. "Okay. What is it?" He pulled his hand out of the bag, revealing a small peacock toy with a fuzzy feathertrain. "Do you like it?" He asked. "..It's really cute." Eleanor offered. "I'll put it at my bedside when we're done." Hippolytos smiled at that, putting the toy back in the bag. "You can't tell how much that means to me." Without anything else to say to each other, they continued to walk through the fields. Eleanor peered behind her to the fungal beings following them, and smiled one last time before the scene would end. ==================================== "Okay, so, basically. Everyone's on their way here." Kendrick summarized, his hand moving up and down with each syllable. The Yellow eyed Kid placed his own shoulders on the table, smiling coyly. "On the bridge side, the resulting clusterfuck should halt any progress with the whole time travel thing." "Huh, yeah. I guess you're right about that." Shawn shrugged. "Shouldn't be too bad then. It's just the matter of surviving whatever happens next." "..Am I the only one still worried about Martha up and reviving Emil?" Kendrick asked. "If she can perform any kind of resurrection magic then that's not something we can just leave on the backburner." Shawn rolled his eyes and reclined in his chair. "Well, yeah. Even though I'm personally fine with this, it's still odd. Like, how'd she learn that the Omnipotent was here?" "You mean you didn't tell her?" Kendrick asked. "Well, I didn't." Shawn affirmed. "But.. I guess that doesn't matter anymore. Kind of annoying, all this means I could've just not even shown up and things would've been alright. But whatever, I'm here now, I guess. Might as well see this through" "I'd just be irritated if you fucked off now." Kendrick exhaled, running his fingers along the keyboard. "Come on, let's pretend to work some more." 2081, Thursday 25th December, 8:50am. Eckstein Research Labs, 10th Floor, Spare Bedroom. *KNOCKNOCKNOCKNOCK*Lynch had never been that much of a morning person, and neither had Raluag. This was a known fact, whereas Raluag would just spend a lot of time sleeping usually, even if she didn't need to spend this time recovering from her various wounds. With Lynch it was more that she usually stayed up late, it wasn't abnormal for her to still be asleep at this point. In place of a alarm, it was a pair of hands smacking themselves against the doors that woke Lynch up this morning. *KNOCKKNOCKNOCKNOCK*"Maybe they're asleep?" Lynch could hear Sitala's voice again, she forced her eyes open. Fighting against her own brain's desire to just stay asleep as she propped her body up on her bed and stared at the door. [The door isn't locked. They're knocking out of politeness.] Raluag was [fast asleep] in one of the beds across from her, [she wasn't going to wake up anytime soon.] and nobody else even slept in this room. They wouldn't stop knocking unless Lynch answered the door. Throwing her sheets to the floor, the white sheets landed next to her hoodie[which had been tossed to the ground without any thought as soon as she went to bed the night before. In need of washing.]. Lynch got out of bed and got as dressed as she could before finally opening the door. She had been expecting Sitala (she had heard her voice after all), but seeing Albert Frank, in his ugly plaid vest[Same one from Yesterday], had caught her off guard. "Ah, G'morning." Albert smiled, resting his hand in the doorway. His brows burrowing into his eyelids as he smiled[attempting to look friendly.]. Lynch look at his eyes, they were a similar cream shade to his hair which was now swept in the opposite direction to the previous time she saw him, some strands curling at his hairline[Deliberately styled in a attempt to look cool.] Lynch didn't want to keep staring at him, so she responded. "Morning... Can you get your hand out of the doorway?" "Oh, right." Albert blinked, [only now realizing the implications.] as he pulled his arm back, running his hands through his hair. "So, uh, Hey. We never actually got to introduce ourselves to each other earlier, did we? The Name's Albert Frank. Want to have breakfast with me?" "No." Sitala decided she didn't want to watch this conversation anymore and walked off[She only had 3 hours of sleep last night.] while Albert's face flushed, his mouth flapped before he managed to speak. "I'm not trying to flirt or anything, I just want to get to know a bit more about you. Considering.. everything, and, I'm also hungry. Might as well cross both ticks off my checklist." [He meant 'Check both boxes'] Lynch turned her head behind her, looking at the still sleeping Raluag[Misses Putgerr] before she turned to answer Albert's question bluntly. "I'm not hungry." "Well, that's fine. I can settle for just asking you a couple of questions." Albert said, [hiding his annoyance.] "Do you mind?" Lynch's eyes flittered over him, from one ear to the next as words continued to fly in front of her. [No interest in marriage, dislikes people who do nothing, likes science fiction.]... Nothing that gave her any real hints one way or the other about how to approach this, so she said what she was feeling. "..I'd rather not.." "Look, I'm not going to blame you for not falling for him or anything like that." Albert cut through what she was about to say, taking a step into her room regardless of her approval. "Who someone loves is their choice and noone else should mess with that, I just want to know what you did after you left him." "..I didn't do anything that interesting." "Bah, that's all subjective." Albert waved her statement away. "You lived that life, of course you wouldn't be interested. But we don't know, and it'd really help us if you could tell us what you were up to. Why you even made those books in the first place, for starters?" Lynch backed away, 'Stop talking to me,stop talking to me, stop talking to me.'. She could only hope he'd notice, or at least care about how uncomfortable he was making her. Wait, no, she had so many other options, like saying. "No, get out of my room." "Look... just,.. fine." Albert grimaced, and then relented. He stepped back into the hallway and cast his gaze anywhere but Lynch's face. [Not wanting to feel bad.] "Sorry, if I made you uncomfortable. We can talk about it later on, if you'd prefer. This could all really help." Turning his head up to look at Lynch, and seeing her half-closed eyes and obvious frown, he mumbled something she couldn't hear [an empty apology] before shuffling away[Heading for the 4th Floor via Elevator.]. Lynch closed the door, there wasn't any real other way to travel around than through the elevators in this building. It was a pretty big design flaw, if someone disabled the elevator Lynch wasn't sure how anyone would be able to get around. 'Tauro's information on Delilah wasn't concrete, as it hadn't been outright denied the possibility that Delilah could disconnect the Elevator still existed. In the hypothetical event that happened, it'd be pretty hard to manoeuvre herself from floor to floor in this building. 'Just going through the window would be the quickest way to escape.' She concluded. 'And it's not just Delilah who can do that. Anyone with access to the right area should be able to disconnect it as well.. did noone even consider this as a possibility when designing this place?'
'What about Raluag?' Lynch asked herself, jumping from one train of thought to the next as she looked at the still sleeping omnipotent. [Martha's attacks pierced all the way through her body. Not going to completely heal any time soon.] 'you can't just drag her around in a state like this.
The best option would be not having to deal with it at all, second best.. would be making sure you don't even need to leave for the time being.
Albert's probably gone now, this would be a safe time to learn a bit more about what's going on here.' She told herself, nodding as though someone else had been speaking to her. 'Maybe find and take a look at the paradox computer, see what's going on there.' Lynch walked out of the room, closing the door behind her. Immediately spotting a couple of scientists she had seen before [Victor Alana and Tsukiko Yuzawa, on their way to check on Raluag's physical health] walking towards her. "Oh, Lynch." Victor said, leaving his mouth half-open as the two advanced on her before she could move from the door. "You alright?" [has no real opinion on you, but doesn't agree with most of your decisions.]. Tsukiko stood behind him, one of her hands hidden underneath her labcoat. [feels sorry for you.] "..Yeah." Lynch gave them a one-word answer before getting out of their way. Their opinions made her feel uncomfortable, but she didn't see anything that said they were up to anything, so she could hope that they were only going there to check on Raluag's health. Turning back to look at them, as Victor opened the door and Tsukiko walked through, his eyes and Lynch's met for a brief second. "..Why are you staring at me?" He asked, [Took a first aid course in secondary school. Worked past time at a hospital while attending college and uni.] Tsukiko had already entered the room, so Lynch couldn't read her.. but at least she knew about Victor's previous experience in this field. "...No reason." Lynch lied, already in the elevator. The doors closed and Victor was gone from her sight, and she from his. Albert had gone to the 4th floor, so really any other floor could've worked. She went for the floor she already knew, the 3rd floor. It was as good a place to start as any. ... 'Ding!' The Elevator announced it's arrival at the 3rd floor within seconds, and Lynch took note of the people inside the familiar 'meeting room', as she had defined it to herself previously. The people inside all turned to look at her as soon as she walked in. Natália Pinheiro and Zuri Eckstein were both seated at the desk at the back of the 'room', clearly having been looking over the computer screens before they turned to face her. [Neither of them happy that today is Christmas, still busy at work.] "Oh, Lynch. Come in." Zuri[who still hasn't slept] said, Lynch obliged and walked closer to the two at the computer. Lynch looked them over, noticing the empty plate next to Natália [Chocolate Cake crumbs still speckled over it [Made by Sitala and Augustina for her birthday, given to her during the game night.] and a rather messy looking sketch of a rock pikmin on a square sheet of paper.[Drawn by Natalia.] She then directed herself to look at the monitors, lines of code filling up some of them. Those maps that didn't match each other filling up others, and automatic calculations on most of the rest, one with a fullscreen display showing security footage of the outside of the building.[From the security camera near the front door.] Somehow the car she and Raluag had drove there in hadn't been moved. "..You're not the kind of person to talk much, are you?" Natália leaned forwards and tilted her head. [Waiting for Lynch's response.] Lynch let a single eye squint at Natália in confusion. It wasn't the most common way to start a conversation. "..Not really." "Thought so." Natália blinked, leaning against her own hand as though this wasn't the most obvious conclusion to be drawn. "From what I've heard about you, you don't seem the type to let others know what you're thinking. Have you ever taken the Myer Briggs Test? [Personality test placing you in one of 16 combinations of traits] Or the Enneagram one? [More complicated personality test with 9 basic types] " "Nat." Zuri sighed, "Don't make her uncomfortable." "I'm not. I'm just asking questions, aren't I?" Natália insisted, turning to Lynch for confirmation. Lynch shook her head. "I..took one of those once, a couple of years ago. But I don't think the result was that accurate." "Which one did you get?" Natália asked. "I've always figured you'd be a INTJ, like me." [INTJ- The Architect: Imaginative yet decisive, ambitious yet private, curious but doesn't squander energy.] "..I can.. see how you'd think that description fits me." Lynch commented, her eyes running over the new sentence that had appeared next to the scientist. "..Isn't it weird to just assign someone you've never met a personality type, though?" She asked. "We've had a lot of conversations about you, and about understanding you, Lynch." Zuri added, [worried she was coming off as dehumanizing.] "..You are a important figure in this world, as it was your decision that caused the timeline to branch off like this. It's only natural that we'd try to understand you." That didn't help at all. "I... see." Lynch blinked, deciding it would be best to change the subject. "..What's all this?" She asked, gesturing at the maps on the monitors specifically. Anything to get them to not talk about her. "Oh, those are the different 'earths' in the different universes." Zuri explained, matter of factly. "Before we opted for a different timeline, we had considered going to a different universe's earth first. But after looking at them... They vary from 'everyone living there is a animal person' to 'literal dystopia'. Not ideal circumstances, and taking a page out of the neonyte's book to swarm other planets felt counterproductive as well, as then we'd be becoming the issue. So ...time travel." [Her exact line of thinking.] "..Okay." Lynch nodded along, pointing at a map that only seemed to have one continent.[The Pangea of Earth in Universe 1] "What's this one?" "That's one of the Dystopia Planet's." Zuri answered [Truthfully.]. Natália adjusted herself in her seat, leaning back and crossing her legs. "You really don't like talking about yourself." She noted. "You changed the subject just now, when we were talking about how your decisions impacted the timeline, as though you don't even want to think about it."[Voicing conclusions outloud.] Lynch adjusted her posture to stare at the armchair Psychologist across from her. "...So? Why would I want to think about all of that?" She asked, leaning down on the table. Zuri leaned back to get some space while Natália stared straight at Lynch. Natália [still believing she knows how you think] leaned further back into her seat... "Some things have to be talked about." She said. "Regardless of whether someone wants to confront it, just pretending nothing happened doesn't help anyone." Lynch stared back at her. "You're not a mind reader. That's not what I'm doing-" "Then what are you doing?" Natália had prepared her sentence before Lynch could even finish her own [she wants to know the answer to this question.] "What have you been doing for the past 40 years?" [Curiosity, desire to get answers, frustration that these past years could've been easily avoided and everyone could have lived far more fortunate lives.] 'What are you doing, Lynch?'
'What are you doing, Lynch?'
'What are you doing, Lynch?'[Someone's coming.] "..I'm not going to tell you." Lynch declared, for all to hear. Before anyone could respond, She closed her eyes and walked back towards the elevator- The elevator doors slammed shut. [Someone had called the elevator from floor 12.], Lynch refused to turn around to see whatever words were flying about Natália and Zuri. "..Nat, you need to get better at understanding people." Zuri sighed, "You pissed her off." "..Oh, Did I?" Natália asked. "..Shit." There were definitely words floating around them, but Lynch wasn't looking at them, she was looking at the door as it opened up. Kendrick Godwin[who had gone straight to the paradox computer after ragequitting last night] immediately burst past Lynch and leant against the nearest table. "Oh, Kendrick." Zuri said, swivelling in her seat and folding her legs when he came in. "Anything to Report?" "The Darkness Book was, as Lynch suspected, in Tarabus's possession." Kendrick got straight to the point. "In the castle that used to belong to Erebus." "That's good, do you think we'll be able to grab it?" Zuri asked. "It should be easy, if we can open up a portal into the castle. Tarabus is currently spending the day feasting with the rest of the Tartarus Clan, if I can get in and out fast enough, we should be able to acquire our second book un-noticed." Kendrick explained. "Okay." Zuri said, standing up. "Natália, stay here and keep a eye on all of these things. Kendrick, Lynch, come with me. We're going to open up a portal to Tara's house." ... The Elevator closed and made it's way back to Floor 12 with Kendrick, Lynch and Zuri inside it. Natália rested her chin on her hand as she thought on the conversation she had just had with Lynch. "..Maybe I was a little too harsh." She admitted, when nobody was around to hear her. She looked down at the small pikmin she had doodled on a piece of paper and pulled out a pen, ready to draw a little friend for it before something in the security feed caught her eye. In the distance, from the east, a group was approaching. Natália tapped at the keyboard and the camera zoomed in to get a closer look. A Group of light blue, vaguely humanoid creatures with lumpy flesh and various oddities were advancing on the research centre. A Man and a Woman seeming to be leading the creatures straight for them. 2081, Thursday 25th December, 9:17am."..So, that's the place?" Hippolytos asked, looking at the back of the research building built into the side of the Elcarim Plateau. "That's the one... Lynch is in there." Eleanor nodded, "..Come on, let's go meet her." 2081, Thursday 25th December, 9:17am. The Road, (Near Strathmore)Eleanor's fungal creations had all split up, going their own separate ways as they spread across the continent. 10 of them were lumbering along the mostly abandoned road. Most of them in a straight line, following a winged one which was cautiously holding a map in it's oddly sharp hands, not wanting to tear the paper apart. 'vrrrrrrrrrrrrr'"?" The One with the Map tilted it's head and turned to the rest of them, gesturing for them all to get on the other side of the road. They complied and all looked ahead to watch as a limousine appeared in the distance, driving past them in a loud blur. Echoes of Cheesy Christmas Music resounding as it soon vanished from sight. They all shrugged at each other before the one with the map emphatically pointed at it, and they continued on their way. Meanwhile, inside the Limousine. "...Huh, you don't see those everyday." Martha tutted to herself, turning to face Delilah. Who was completely absorbed in the book she was reading. "Hey, Delilah?" Martha asked. "Did you see those things?" No response. Martha pressed her brows together and grabbed onto Delilah's shoulder. "Delilah. Did you see those things?" She repeated herself with a lower tone. Delilah's eyes peered at Martha, her head remaining perfectly still. She gave the slightest nod. Martha released her grip and leaned back in her seat. "..It's just you and me, Delilah." Martha sighed, folding her legs. "Eventually you're going to have to speak to me and stop being such a brick wall." She pulled out her phone one more time and opened up 'Google Maps', looking at the blue line on the roadways, highlighting which ones would take her to the Elcarim Plateau. "..Especially if it's going to take us this long to get there." She continued, pressing herself against her car seat as she pressed her feet against the seat in front of her. As she looked at the road in front of them, heard the christmas classics reverberating through the car, she let her unease show. This wasn't the right mood at all. Delilah's attention had left her book, she held it as though reading it but stared at her own green eyes in the car window's reflection. She knew exactly what emotion she saw in her own eyes. And Martha knew exactly what they were heading towards. END OF PART 7
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Post by IDEK on May 19, 2019 17:02:54 GMT
In Transience, I Alone will-
Part 8: Regardless of Reason or Consequence
2081, Thursday 25th December, 9:17am Eckstein Research Lab, 12th floor.
As soon as the elevator doors opened up and the three people inside it walked out, Lynch had to adjust her eyes to the lighting. It was incredibly dark compared to the rest of the floors she had been on, [light bulbs are comparatively less important than the other machines stored on this floor. So to save on budget they're usually turned off.
Also it's 9 in the morning.]
At the very least, this floor had windows. But the weather outside was so grey[Cloudy, partial snow further north] that next to no light was making it through anyway.
There was a single door in the side of the hallway[the door Zuri and Kendrick are heading to.] and one at the very end, [leads to a staircase.].
"...So, is the paradox computer up here as well?" Lynch asked,
"No,That's down in the basement." Zuri answered, walking ahead of Kendrick and opening the door in one movement, walking in ahead of the other two.
Kendrick turned to look at Lynch, [concerned.] "Why'd you ask?"
Lynch raised a eyebrow, "I.. thought the paradox computer and your portal would be on the same floor. If you're using that computer to power it for the time being. It just makes sense."
"...It would make sense, if that's what we were doing." Kendrick admitted, scratching at his chin. "We already told you our attempts with that were unsuccessful. This is something else... come on."
He waved her in as he walked through the open doorway. There wasn't really much else for Lynch to do besides follow him into the room. It looked more or less how she expected it to, there was a large machine with a built in-desk near the middle of the room with a single swivel chair in front of it, wires running along the walls connecting the various batteries and built in chargers to the large ring-shaped portal-gate in the middle of the room. There was another door in the side of the room, [containing other devices, currently unoccupied.]
Zuri was looking over the desk, pressing buttons intermittedly and checking the various dials and screens [testing the device to make sure it's operational.] while Kendrick was leaning against the wall near the doorway with his hands in his pockets, swaying back and forth impatiently [expecting something to go down.]
'..What does that mean?' Lynch couldn't help but ask herself, seeing that sentence floating around Kendrick's head as he peered back out through the hallway. 'Expecting something to go down?' she squinted as she looked at him, looking for a clarification.
[Favourite song is 'Californication' by Red Hot Chilli Peppers.].. and he's wearing a Nirvana shirt? Whatever, not important, keep skimming, [Was born at home to a single mother of two.] [No Social Media accounts.] [Dislikes Shawn, but is working with him out of a desire to see Red Moon Fall.]
'Now that's something.' Lynch unconsciously leaned forwards. 'Working with Shawn.. not anyone else, Shawn specifically-'
krrrZZZZTTT!!!
Zuri looked up from the buttons to the portal in the centre of the room. A Small electric current was shooting out into the centre of the ring. [Power is on, but portal activation without a proper destination charted could just create a black hole.]
"Alright, it's on, finally!" Kendrick exclaimed, leaving the wall and immediately making his way to the portal as soon as he saw it start up.
"Shouldn't you.. have more people on hand for this?" Lynch asked.
"We've done this enough times by now." Zuri explained, "Besides, we've got Sorin [Sorin Otieno Kariuki] and the others monitoring things from the other floors." She turned to Kendrick, "You said it's Tarabus's bedroom, right?"
"Yeah, that's the place." Kendrick nodded.
Zuri nodded in turn and typed something into the device. [Message to those working from the lower floors, reads as follows 'can someone send the co-ordinates for Tarabus's bedroom? We're retrieving the true dark book now']
"..Honestly, usually there's people up here." Zuri rolled her eyes, [while waiting for a message back.] "Mechanics and such, but everything looks to be online and functional."
Lynch folded her arms as she watched, something about Kendrick's impatience and how.. oddly empty this room was, was putting her on edge... She looked to Zuri -leaning forwards, tapping her finger against the machine-, and then to the open doorway behind her.
In that second, it appeared that something changed. Zuri's finger tapping stopped, and for the first time Lynch could hear the electricity buzzing throughout the room.
"Lynch." Zuri inhaled sharply, grimacing. [her eyes on the message she just received.] "Close that door."
She didn't need to be told twice, the atmosphere itself made it clear to Lynch that something had transpired without any warning. Without even turning around, she walked backwards to the door, grabbed onto the handle and held it shut. Looking to the machine and reading the words that appeared around it, [new message: 'some weird things i've never seen are here. I don't think they're others, everyone be on alert.' (1 Attached Image)]
'CRASH!' [The sound of a shattered Window.]
Kendrick's head whipped around on his shoulders as he faced a [apprehensive] Zuri. "What's taking so long?" He asked.
"..Did you not hear that?" Zuri asked. [trying to keep a level head.]
"Oh, I heard it, that's why I want you to hurry up before whatever that was gets in here." Kendrick explained, frantically. [he knows exactly what that was.]
"No, in a situation like this we should keep calm and not make any rash decisions." Zuri stated with her best impression of a calm person. "..That sound came from just outside this room, and Nat just sent a message to every floor of the building, these things are swarming, trying to break down the front door."
"..Kendrick. Why do you know what that was?" Lynch asked.
"W-What? What are you saying?" Kendrick blinked, looking at Lynch with the world's most baffled expression. He looked straight to the door behind her, just before the doorknob began to shake, as though something was struggling to open it.
All conversation ceased, all 3 pairs of eyes in the room looked at the shaking doorknob. "..Whatever it is, it doesn't know how to open doors?" Lynch concluded, unsure how to handle this information. She looked at the doorknob, as it stopped shaking. Almost instinctively, she lunged and clutched the doorknob with both hands, holding it in place as the door shook briefly, [slamming into the door with all it's weight.]. It stopped, and then it shook again, leaving a very obvious dent near the top of the door.
Kendrick ran over to the back of the room, reaching into his labcoat [for a gun- to shoot the creature when it burst's through.] "Lynch! Get back!"
"No!" Zuri attempted to keep her voice hushed, but found herself yelling instead, [abandoning the original task of opening the portal to focus on keeping the area safe] her fingers running across the keyboard, [typing up a message to the other floors that reads 'One got into Floor 12 through a window. Keep those barred. I will keep you posted.'] "Keep that door closed!"
Thunk! Thunk! It tried two more times, [nervous] sweat pooled in Lynch's hands, her grip slipped for the briefest moment. She could hear Kendrick moving behind her but she saved it before the mystery creature could do anything. Tightening her grip on the doorknob and twisting it back in place...
For a few moments, silence, and...
*Knock Kno-Kno-Kno-Knock!*... *Knock Knock-Knock Knock!*
"..Don't answer." Zuri whispered, as though Lynch actually would.
Lynch turned her head around, straining to look at Zuri. "Why isn't there a lock on this door!?" She asked.
"Didn't want anyone locking themselves in here," Zuri's eye twitched as she answered, still keeping her voice hushed."The lock's on the outside for when nobody's using it."
Lynch turned back to face the door, grimacing. "Ugh, This whole building is full of design oversights.."
"Well I didn't expect something to come crashing through the top story window while anyone was actually using this room, okay?" Zuri winced, [frustrated with this turn of events.]
*Knock-Knock?* Whatever was on the other side of the door knocked 2 more times, nobody inside the room made a noise, nothing in the hallway made any noises. It was silent. Awkwardly so.
Lynch's brow quivered, 'what's going on behind there?' She asked, there was still [1 entity on the other side.], so was it just standing there? She debated herself on whether she should let go or try to keep the door closed. Neither situation seemed like it could end well.
[It isn't leaving.]
She gritted her teeth, "..Kendrick, Zuri, get ready. I'm about to open this door."
"You better not-" Zuri started, but it was too late. Lynch had released the doorknob, a gust of wind sending her to the side of the room. She slid past some wires and slowed to a stop once she reached the wall. Kendrick whipped the gun out from his labcoat and pointed it straight at the door, ready for whatever was going to come through.
Slowly, the doorknob turned. It turned right, and then left, the door slammed shut[they had pulled it when it was a push door.], and then it slowly creaked open. [It's learning.].
As a strange, blue, mouldy looking hand reached forwards. Kendrick adjusted his handgun, lowering it slightly as he fired 3 shots into the creature's chest before it could even enter the room. Lynch couldn't see the creature's reaction as the door was in the way, but [The bullets were ineffective.].. Kendrick and Zuri both looked at the creature with wide eyes, as it walked forwards, revealing itself to Lynch.
A Strange, musty blue fungal body with strange sinewy wings sprouting out of it's back, goat-like legs, sharp hands and a beak-like mouth, with two writhing, circular holes where it's eyes would be entered the room, ignoring Lynch entirely and tilting it's head in Kendrick's direction. ['Thomas.' A Creature created from the DNA of Eleanor Troy, and Haru Fujino[Resident of Curtside(Alive).], Contains Essence of Sicrum, Born 23rd December, 2081. 'Adult' Homunculi.] It's entire body looked like it had something writhing underneath the surface, Lynch felt her face turn green just looking at it. The 'skin' on it's torso writhed and wriggled independently, flattening itself out and popping the three bullets onto the floor.
'Essence of Sicrum..? That didn't get wiped out completely in Rachdale?' Her brain asked, while her eyes followed the bullets on their way to the floor.
"Shit!" Kendrick exclaimed, keeping the gun trained on the creature [even though he knew it wouldn't have much of a effect.] "Listen! Back off!" He yelled. The creature tilted it's head like a confused puppy. [It hasn't seen a gun in real life before.] It took a single step forwards, and Kendrick fired again, the bullet oozing into it, and then staying still. Completely stuck in it's fungus-y skin.
"..Oh no." Zuri muttered, taking a small step away as the creature felt around for the bullet, grasping it within it's clawed hands and ripping it out. Zuri took half of a step back before freezing, the creature turned to look straight at her, before it's head twisted un-naturally, like a security camera monitoring it's surroundings, it went from Zuri to Kendrick to Lynch. [formulating a step by step plan.]
'It's.. formulating a plan?.. FUCK!' Lynch cursed internally as it turned to Kendrick again. Taking off and flying straight for him [to disarm the only armed person in the room.] Flapping it's wings in the air and going in claws first like a flying panther.
Without even thinking, Lynch pushed forwards with both of her hands, a strong gust of wind catching the creature and sending it flying away from her. It flew over Zuri's head and crashed into the small side-door, knocking it open and laying it's contents bare for all to see. [Spare mechanical parts, confiscated weapons, blueprints and notes haphazardly shoved into boxes]
There was a strange 'splurgh' noise as it's head thunked against the door and it slid to the floor, leaving a blue trail [leaking from it's head.] It rubbed the back of it's head in pain as it got up again, Zuri sliding to the other side of the machine, keeping it between her and the creature at all times.
The dull electrical humming of the portal machine buzzed in Lynch's ear as she met 'eyes' with the creature again. Now identifying her as the main threat, it repeated it's previous tactic and flew off again, its back scraping against the ceiling as it flew towards Lynch, who slammed her hands to the side, a gust of wind smacking it into the closest wall.
"Lynch-!" Zuri whisper-shouted, pointing at the electricity cracking in the centre of the circular gate. "Throw it into that!"
Lynch concentrated on the wind, before the creature even had a chance to react to the previous attack, the wind blew in the opposite direction. Zuri's hair, and all of their labcoats getting caught up in the breeze as the creature was sent flying, waving it's arms wildly in a attempt to grab something, anything. But alas, there was nothing to grab, it spun in midair as it got thrown onto the electrical current. Remaining in the air as it's limbs and wings twitched, the current itself keeping it fixed in place despite it's attempts to escape the [electric shock that would be fatal to anything stuck in it.]
Kendrick visibly held back the urge to vomit as small sections of it's skin began to explode, releasing a dark puffy essence into the air in spurts from each newly created orifice. Zuri reached over to the controls and pressed the button again, shutting it off.
Like a ragdoll, the creature hit the base of the ring with a thud. Not even sliding off of it, limbs still twitching, skin still splitting open and letting out that gaseous stink cloud. It's limps deflated slightly, like balloons. [no internal organs. Just essence, spores, and muscle.]
"..Gross." Kendrick muttered, as the faint traces of fog began to dance around the creature's twitching limbs. "..Did that kill it?"
"I don't think there's any way to tell, so just get away from it." Zuri muttered. "I'll turn this back on again if it starts moving."
Kendrick nodded silently, following Zuri's instructions and backing away from it. Lynch figured that she was a safe distance away already. Without turning her head, she slowly stepped back towards the door, trying to get a good view at the hallway[unoccupied.], Zuri remained at the desk, [keeping a eye out for any updates from the other floors.]
For a few moments, nothing moved.
....
Outside, Eleanor was standing near the car Lynch and Raluag had drove in on. Staring at the driver's seat as all of her creations swarmed around the tower, the ones that could fly crashing into the higher floors through what windows they could, and the rest huddled around the base of the building, some peeking through the open doorway to see what was happening inside. The weather was so dull, that when she looked at the sky she had a hard time believing this was how the universe chose to frame this days events.
She rubbed at her eyes, looking over to the entrance to the research labs as she opened the car door effortlessly. "Hey, Hippolytos." She called out. "Have you found her?"
"No!" Hippolytos called out from inside the building. "Still looking!"
"..Alright. I'll just be here." Eleanor sighed, under her breath. Running her finger along the dust in the backseat."Can everyone bring me anyone else holed up in there as well?"
"Sure, we can do that... but there's not many people on this floor. Can't get the elevator to open up either."
"..Ugh." Eleanor rolled her eyes, scraping a small fingerprint of the driver's seat as she made her way back to the research lab, the creatures that were still outside moving out of the way and looking at her curiously as she walked in, through the hole where the door had once been, droplets of red hot liquid metal splattering against the ground. One of the bigger, brute force ones jumped away with a startled noise, the others looked at it, turning and chittering at each other as it sagged it's shoulders, looking at the ground.
"Hey! Stop teasing him!" Eleanor called out, walking through the hallway. Looking at the shattered windows on both sides of her, and the two wrecked rooms on either side of her. They were filled with notes that had been trampled on or picked up by something with clawed hands, that then accidentally ripped it in twain, but it was clear that nobody was actually on this floor when they arrived.
Eleanor couldn't pretend she was surprised, the sun had only risen less than a hour ago. All things considered she expected most of the people here to be asleep, eating breakfast or just relaxing.
She looked at one of her creations, one with big horns on it's head and smooth, usable hands. Flipping through the pages of one of the notebooks in a attempt to parse the contents. She walked past it, heading to the elevator.
Hippolytos, and 3 of the creations were standing in front of it. Hippolytos leaning on the number pad and staring impartiently at the door, and the creations looking around out of presumed boredom. His silver backpack slumped against the wall nearby. The Toy peacock he got for her poking out of it.
"Hey, El." Hippolytos said, as she looked down at the toy.
"Hi." Eleanor said, squatting down and picking it up. "Having trouble with the elevator?"
Hippolytos nodded. "Yeah, I think they shut it down when we broke in."
"Huh, that sucks. Everyone, step back please." She requested, facing the 3 that were a little bit too close. They all backed away, "A Little bit more." She said, they continued to walk back, until they were at the entrance to the building. She gave them a small thumbs up to show that they could stop.
"So, do you have a plan?" Hippolytos asked, leaning against the elevator doors.
"It seems like you'll have to go on without me." Eleanor said. "I can wait down here, but if you could go up there and find Lynch for me, that'd be nice."
Hippolytos nodded. "Sure, I can do that... You should prob'ly step back too, though."
She poked one of her dangling bracelet's, a crucifix hanging from her sleeve. "..Yeah." She pulled the silver bag by it's strap, taking it with her as she headed back to the entrance. She could feel the dangling bracelet's and charms being pulled towards him, even from this distance.
Hippolytos stood a even distance from both walls, facing the elevator with his hands stretched in front of him. He focused on them, fingers twitching and glowing as he lifted them up. Focusing the magnetic pull on the ceiling above him. The walls on either side of him, the ceiling, and the elevator doors all morphed out of shape as they got pulled towards him. Bending as they attempted to stay in place.
He splayed his fingers apart, and the centre of the magnetism shifted, the bending metal was all thrust upwards, the ceiling above him ripping itself apart as though a cannon had been shot through at point blank. A Way to the 2nd floor had been opened.
Heat waved off of his body, distorting the world around him as he squatted down and then jumped up. Grabbing onto the edge of the hole he had created, turning bright red and almost melting underneath his fingers as he clenched the metal, pulling himself up with a grunt of exertion.
As he vanished from sight, Eleanor turned around and went back outside. Sitting with her back against the wall.
...
As Hippolytos stood up, he looked around the hallway he found himself in. There was a single, see through window on one side of him, he could see lines of desks, computers stacked up on one another in the back while people went from monitor to monitor inside. Lynch wouldn't be in there.
He walked past it, reaching into his pocket and pulling out Gideon's clunky 1990s phone, it was still on the message screen.
There was one message there, one that had already been read, sent by one 'Carbon Trioxide'.
'If you want to find Lynch, she's staying here.'
and attached was a map with a marker on the Eckstein research labs.
"...Thank you." He said in real life, as though whoever sent that message was watching him at that moment.
...
The boy in the private school uniform sat in front of the paradox computer looked at the screen. His yellow eyed duplicate was there, but Shawn had left the scene.
"..Your welcome." He answered, hesitantly.
...
As he held the phone in his hand, it began to glow a bright red. Letting out buzzing static noises as smoke came out of it.
"..Do you have any plans, after this?" He asked. "After everything here ends? Will you move elsewhere, or keep hanging around and see what happens?
..We already know what I'm going to do, and if you decided to bring me here in spite of everything, then you must truly want everything here gone, right?"
...
The kid in the school uniform blinked, his leg shaking as he sat in place. He opened his mouth...
"..He's not wrong." The kid in the rabbit hoodie sighed.
"..No, he is." The kid in the school uniform muttered.
"Really? You're just lying to yourself. That Lynch Bitch ruined everything, didn't she? It's fine that you're pissed off at her, she was the one who screwed everything up."
"..It's.. not just.. her." The Kid in the school uniform bit his lip, refusing to look at anything.
...
"...It's fine if you do." Hippolytos sighed. "Don't worry about it, I feel exactly the same way.
It's her fault the world is like this, you know. Empty. Unfertile. Dying. She needs to come face to face with the reality of the situation she put this world in."
One of the doors he walked past creaked open, but he didn't notice, continuing to talk at the sizzling phone. "The reality of the situation everyone put this world in, by not doing anything. It's the reason for my existence, you could say."
...
"..What does.. that mean?" The kid in the school uniform asked, now leaning right against the monitor.
...
"...There is no meaning." Hippolytos responded. "There's only action and consequence, or lack thereof.
I mean, I just wanted to tell someone else about this. That's all, so I don't really care if you understand or not."
The door behind him slammed shut, and his casual expression vanished. He whirled around to look behind him just as a bolt of light shot right over his shoulder, scarcely missing him.
When he turned around, he saw a man with dark brown skin, light blue eyes and matching dreadlocks pulled behind his head in a ponytail, wearing a brown hooded shirt underneath his labcoat, holding a type of gun Hippolytos hadn't ever seen before in his hands.
"Alright." The Man said. "Drop that phone, and put your hands in the air."
Hippolytos looked at him, snorting. He turned around and tightened his grip on the phone. "Or what?" He asked.
"Don't be a smartass." The Man with the gun took a step forward, his thumb still on the trigger. "You try anything. You get shot. Hippolytos."
Hippolytos blinked. "..You know my name?" He asked, leaning back, but stopping himself from taking that backwards step. He wasn't going to let this man intimidate him. He adjusted himself, moving his hands towards his pocket. "Hey, what's your name?"
"..It's Sorin." The man said, reaching into his labcoat and pulling out some kind of hi-tech phone. He held it up to his ear as he leaned against the wall, keeping his gun trained on Hippolytos. "Hey, Tsukiko, you there? We've got one... Yeah, the guy. Hippolytos... He's just up here, melted a hole through the ceiling and climbed up. Keep everyone up there safe, alright. We'll handle him down here."
'We'll handle him down here?' His breath got caught in his lungs, Hippolytos looked over his shoulder.. he couldn't see anyone, but he could tell, there were other people here. They had him surrounded. He turned around and balled his hands into fists, shooting off from the floor as he barrelled away from the man with the gun.
He couldn't see anybody in front of him, but his suspicions were quickly confirmed as his fist made contact with a hexagonal barrier. Whatever was cloaking them vanished, and 2 people appeared in front of him. A pale, freckled young man with grey, catlike eyes in a torn brown cloak with white designs, and a older woman in a similar cloak that looked to have a giant tear running all the way up the back of the hood. Her face was still visible though, with a prominent tan, long blonde hair poking out of the giant tear in the hood and tired looking, bright pink eyes.
After taking in their features, Hippolytos returned to reality and the shield was dispelled by his strike. The Woman almost floated away while the younger of the two crossed his arms up in front of his face, Hippolytos' fists both struck the armour the man was wearing on his arms, which looked to have seen quite a few battles. It heated up instantly, turning red hot and almost melting in his grip. Hippolytos grabbed onto his arm and swept him off his feet, knocking the boy into the wall while his armour sizzled. The red hot armour remained fixed against the wall as Hippolytos turned to charge at the woman.
"Rigel!" The old lady called out, before turning to Sorin as Hippolytos swung himself towards her. "His powers are heat and magnetism based! Don't let him touch you!"
Hippolytos swung while in mid-air, but the lady leaned back as his fist continued in it's path. Her hood fell off her head as she reached into her cloak and pulled out a chain-sickle that slashed across his fishnet vest in one movement. He floated above her and then thrust his fist down into her face. She smacked into the floor just as a laser struck Hippolytos in the shoulder, knocking him out of the air.
He rolled, before slowing to a stop. There was no visible wound on Hippolytos' shoulder, but it still stung. He looked forward, at where Sorin was as his opponent continued to fire laser blasts at him. Hippolytos rolled further down the hall, getting as much distance between him and these other three as possible, while Rigel tried to pry himself off the wall, the woman trying her best to help.
She grunted, before backing off. "Shit!" She exclaimed. "There's gotta be some way to-"
"Danica, stop! You can worry about this later!" Rigel exclaimed, looking towards their enemy, who was getting back onto his feet. "Deal with him!"
Danica nodded, let go of Rigel and pulled her weapon back out again, she swung the chain of the chain-sickle above her head in a rhythmic motion, taking a few extra steps towards Hippolytos while Sorin provided her cover, continuing to shoot at him.
Hippolytos took every gunshot, like the first one it left no mark, but even though it stang, he'd live. The gun must've been designed to be non-fatal or something. He grimaced, he hadn't even anticipated that some lunatics in out of date armour would show up!
'Should've expected this', He chastised himself, 'We're after Lynch after all. Looks like I'll need to deal with these idiots first...'
"Hey." He called out, raising his hands in the air again. "What's this all about anyway?" He asked. "You guys acting under somebody's orders?"
The Woman- Danica- continued to swing the chain above her head, squinting at him while Sorin furrowed his brows. Rigel pulled at his armour-turned restraint, unable to pry it off the wall with himself still in it.
"As it happens, we are. We're members of the Uniguard." Sorin explained. "We were sent here to guarantee these people's safety."
"Ah, I'm sorry then." Hippolytos smiled, his eyes glimmering coyly. "I should probably explain myself, I'm here for Lynch."
"Obviously, we're here to ensure her safety as well." Sorin frowned. "I don't know who you were talking to earlier, but it was clear that you don't have good intentions for her."
"..Duh, why would I?" Hippolytos asked, placing his hands back in his pockets. "In fact, why would you? She's one of the people at fault for this world!" He exclaimed, spreading his hands out grandiosely. "It's because she broke Omalley's heart that the world is in this state!"
"Is that why you've been sending that horde to every city on the map?" Danica asked, swinging her weapon around at a constant pace.
Hippolytos sneered, shrugging emphatically. "I don't know why she decided to do that, her decision had nothing to do with me, that's for sure."
"Hmph." Sorin exhaled loudly, his nostrils flaring. Hippolytos looked over the three, Rigel had basically already been dealt with, if he came down to a fight it'd be a 2 on 1. He looked over the two's weapons, the swinging chain-sickle that Danica was ready to send his way at a moment's notice, and Sorin's non-fatal laser gun. It was obvious which of the two he would deem the bigger threat at this point.
"So, what do you think about Lynch?" He asked. "I want your personal opinions here."
"I think no matter what mistakes a person makes in their life, they always deserve to live." Sorin answered.
"Aha!" Hippolytos grinned, pointing straight at the man. "You admit that she fucked up!"
"Maybe so, but I will not condone whatever action you deem fit to take." Sorin confirmed, leaning forwards. Danica looked at him and nodded, as if to signal her agreement.
"..Fine, I can't be bothered to try to convince you guys." Hippolytos frowned, the temperature dropping with his grin. Ice began to appear in the corners of the hallway, as Sorin, Danica and Rigel began to get washed over by a wave of heat.
Sorin stumbled slightly, putting his hand to his head as he pressed himself against the wall. "W-..What are you-?"
"LOOK OUT!" Danica exclaimed, lunging to the side and wrapping one arm around him, striking the ceiling above her with the chain sickle and using it to swing away just as a ball of fire appeared directly where she had been standing. All of the heat in the hallway was pulled into that ball of fire, Rigel found himself disconnecting from the wall, his slightly melted armour fully liquefying as it entered the fire orb. He was pulled in as well.
Danica heard Hippolytos let out a 'Shit!', but she had other things to worry about, the magnetism was affecting her and Sorin as well. The ceiling where her sickle had implanted itself began to crack, small pieces breaking off and flying into the small semi-sun in the centre of the hall.
Hippolytos swiftly stuffed his hair down the back of his fishnet vest, keeping it out of his face as he then stomped on the floor in front of him. The magnetic ball of fire floated towards Danica. She and Sorin both held tightly to each other, as she pressed a button on the chain-sickle's handle, the chain retracted, pulling the two up to the ceiling as the ball of fire sailed beneath them.
The Magnetism only grew stronger the closer to them it got, pulling straight down on them, the magnetic force prying the sickle out of the ceiling. Sorin gritted his teeth, angling his free hand downwards as a octagonal shield appeared right underneath him. The magnetism pulled Danica and Sorin into the shield, and the two bounced off of it as the magnetic fire ball continued down the hall.
Danica and Sorin let go of each other, landing side by side on their feet. The Magnetism effect faded the further the fire ball got. Sorin turned around and looked at it, he could see a human arm poke out of it, utterly charred, the ball began to glow brighter and brighter
"Sorin! Get down!" Danica yelled.
It exploded. the makeshift star the size of a washing machine went supernova with Rigel inside of it. The pressure burst and small embers were sent flying, the walls and floor were charred, then a searing red. Rigel's smoking hot body flopped and bounced on the floor a few times, his eyes closed and teeth gritted in pain. His expression frozen in death.
"..Ri..Rigel.." Sorin gasped, his heart swimming down to his stomach. With renewed anger, he turned around to look directly where Danica'd been staring this entire time.
Hippolytos had vanished, a smouldering hole in the ceiling above where he had been standing.
"..That coward fled.." Danica muttered, before her eyes widened. She ran forwards and sent her sickle up through the hole. "Natália's on that floor!"
Pressing the same button again, she let the retracting chain pull her up to the third floor. Sorin gave Rigel's dead body one last, solemn look before following after her.
...
'3rd Floor.' Hippolytos thought to himself, bursting through the hole he created, sending a small table and two chairs flying into the ceiling. The entire floor was a single room, if he had to guess it was used for meetings. Despite that, only one person was present, a woman wearing her labcoat on her shoulders standing in front of some computer monitors stumbled backwards in suprise- colliding with the table the monitors rested on, her labcoat thrown off her back.
Only wearing a grey T-Shirt and some sweatpants, Natália Pinheiro's eyes trailed after Hippolytos as he landed like a acrobat in the middle of the room, on one of the long tables. The Woman took a single step to the side, blocking one of the monitors from view.
Hippolytos adjusted his stance, making direct eye contact with the lady, pretending not to notice her arm sliding along the table, reaching for something out of sight.
"Hey." He smiled, radiating confidence "I'm looking for-"
He was interrupted mid-speech by the sound of something smacking into the ceiling above him, he steeled his brow and turned around just in time for Danica to come flying into the scene, her shoulder collided with his neck, the momentum sending both of them flying towards Natália, who grabbed onto the chair in front of her and swung it like a bat with a "Hiyah!" at the perfect time to hit Hippolytos, knocking him into a wall.
"Nat!" Danica exclaimed, as she landed on the table behind her, "Get somewhere safe, now!"
"D-Danica?" Natália asked, continuing to look confused, "..What are you wearing?"
"No time to answer that, this man's out for blood!" Danica explained, as she jumped at Hippolytos just as the man stood up. She moved in to punch him as she landed, but he moved his head out of the way, bringing his foot up and slamming it into her neck, spinning her into the wall.
At that moment, Sorin jumped up from behind him, getting the blond in a chokehold and slamming him into the table.
"Y-You?" Natália asked, her tone not changing despite the situation. "I don't even know your name, but i've definitely seen you around-"
"Not the time!" Sorin exclaimed, as Hippolytos grabbed onto his face. It heated up on contact, Sorin had no choice but to release the man and back away, but Hippolytos used that opportunity to elbow him in the gut. The Illusion shattered and his clothes faded, revealing a cloak and set of armour similar to Danica's, Hippolytos didn't give even himself a chance to react as he turned around and sucker-punched Sorin, knocking him to the floor.
Sorin raised up his gun and shot at Hippolytos, who tanked it. Only for Danica to grab onto his silky hair and pull him back, wrapping her arms around his waist and tightening her grip on it. His actual torso almost caved inwards, he vomited almost immediately. Strange, white glowing gloop flew from his mouth and splattered against the floor as Danica lifted him over her head and slammed his face into the table- which broke- and then continued to slam him into the floor.
CRSSSH!
"Ga-OW-FUCK!" Hippolytos cursed, falling on the floor completely. Danica released her grip on him, watching as he wormed around on the floor, his hands covering his eyes as he propped himself up with his elbows "My- FUCK! You bitch! What the fuck!?"
Danica and Sorin could only give him confused expressions, while Natália slowly inched towards the corner of the room. "..Aaauoooguooaaaahhh! Shit! Shit-shit-shit! hnnnnnnggggngggnnnngggghhh-COCK!" Natália attempted to stifle her laughter, while Hippolytos continued swearing. "My fucking eyes!! You just dislodged my contacts you fucking bitch! OoooOOO My GOD!!"
As Hippolytos writhed around with his back to her, Danica pulled out her chain-sickle and lunged forwards-
Hippolytos moved un-naturally, a arm grabbed onto the chain and it froze in place, literally. Poised strangely, with one leg stretched out completely and the other tucked under him, he lifted up his head, his expression hidden by his silky straight hair.
"I'm going to FUCKING END YOU!"
He then pulled the chain towards him, Danica couldn't let go in time and was pulled towards him as well. In that one second, the entire room turned cold, covered in frost as all of the heat balled up right in front of Danica, bursting into-
2081, Thursday 25th December, 9:34am. Eckstein Research Labs
10th Floor. Raluag and Lynch's Room.
The world under their feet shook.
Tsukiko, Victor and Raluag were alone in the room the omnipotent had been sleeping in ever since they first saw Lynch leave. Raluag still had not woken up, but from Vincent's examinations her condition was stable and she was simply a heavy sleeper.
Victor held onto the desk near the bed to keep himself stable, while Tsukiko stumbled backwards. Barely able to keep hold of the phone in her hand as she fell onto one of the nearby beds.
"W-What was that!?" Raluag asked, her eyes snapping open as she looked at Victor and Tsukiko, "A-and who are you two!?"
"Uh- Hi." Victor stammered, as the shaking ceased. "I'm Victor Alana, she's Tsukiko Yuzawa. I used to be a Doctor, so we came here to check your health."
Raluag looked down at the holes in her arms. "..Oh, Thanks, I guess." She sighed.
"As for what that was.." Tsukiko frowned, placing her phone to her ear. "We've got intruders... It sounded like a explosion on one of the lower floors."
"..Gah, that's not good." Victor responded.
Raluag almost jumped out of her bed, "No shit that's not good! Who is it? That Martha bitch again?"
"No, No, Not Martha. It's a different party altogether..." Tsukiko sighed, "I'll- Hold on."
She placed the phone on the cushion, and turned to look at Raluag and Victor. Tsukiko Yuzawa was pale, with almond-shaped red eyes and elbow length straight black hair. She wore a button up checkered red and white shirt and a red pleated skirt underneath her labcoat, which had a yellow notepad stuffed into it's pocket.
She crossed her legs as she picked the phone back up again, "Hey, Sorin ... Sorin? Are you there? Sorin?"
"What's wrong?" Victor asked, "Isn't he responding?"
Tsukiko gave him a look, "Of course he isn't.. ugh, hey, come on, Sorin! Pick up already!" Her voice only grew more and more distressed, before she snapped her phone shut. "..Shit.."
...
12th Floor. Kendrick Godwin, Zuri Eckstein and Lynch Rise.
As the shaking ceased, Lynch kept her back pressed against the wall. Her eyes on The body of the Homunculi[uninhabited] and the thin smoky cloud[Sicrum Essence] floating around above it, that hadn't made any moves since first appearing.
Kendrick was slowly pacing away from it, keeping his eyes trained on the cloud itself while Zuri's attention had been stolen by the [error messages] on the screen.
"..Shit." Zuri muttered, [devastated] "Something just took out the 3rd floor."
"Don't tell me: more of those things?" Kendrick asked, referring to the homunculi lying in front of them
"I.. Don't think so." Zuri shook her head. "Something exploded, a fire took out the computers on the third floor.. Oh god, I hope Nat got out of there in time."
Even though no words confirming it appeared, Lynch could tell just by Zuri's voice crack that she didn't feel confident about Natália's survival.
Kendrick turned around and scratched at his head frantically, "Oh, fuck. That's it, we need to get out of here. Start that portal up again, fuck the alternate timeline plan, just open it up and take us anywhere else!" [what he wanted all along.]
"Wh- Where-? And leave everyone else behind!?" Zuri asked. [appalled] "I didn't put my entire career into this plan so we could do something as cowardly as that!"
"Hn- You're calling this cowardly?" Kendrick asked. "What about leaving the timeline altogether? How's that any different?"
"It's-" Zuri started, [needing to think about it.] She visibly faltered before finding the words and exclaiming them with renewed vigor. "Cowardice is the act of leaving other people behind, the plan was always to bring everyone we could with us."
"N-No it bloody wasn't!" Kendrick objected, "Think for a second, how would we have even done that? Most people are stubborn as fuck, they'd prefer to go out with what they know than try literally anything else! They'd all been brainwashed by that stupid cult, and they'd keep listening to them even after everything fell to shit! And it doesn't even matter because that was the plan before we started getting invaded by these things!"
Before Zuri could even respond, there was another loud noise from the floors below them. Lynch grabbed onto the wall to steady herself and looked at the floor, hoping to see a description of what had just transpired.
There wasn't one, but luckily, Zuri immediately came out with "I'm getting warnings from the fourth and fifth floors, they're blasting through the windows and floors and climbing faster and faster. Lynch, you need to hide."
".W..What, why me?" Lynch asked.
"Isn't it obvious?" Zuri stressed, emphasizing every syllable. "They're coming for you!"
'...How do you know that?' Lynch wanted to ask, but instead of saying anything, she looked to the machine Zuri was still typing away at.
[warnings and break-ins on the sixth flo[warnings and break-ins from the seven[warnings and break-ins from[he's getting closer]
...
Tsukiko kept her phone planted to her ear as she powerwalked out of Raluag's room, even as Victor called out to her with a "Hey, wait!" She turned the corner and went further down the hall.
In a situation like this, the first course of action was obvious, she had to find everyone else. Raluag and Lynch's room wasn't the furthest room down the hall, but it was the furthest one from the elevator that was actually claimed. Not that it meant people couldn't be spending time in one of the spare bedrooms though.
Tsukiko knocked on the door next to Lynch's, the noises from the floors below her were only getting closer. No immediate response, she didn't have time to waste, she grabbed onto the handle and pushed the door open. The room was empty. Going down the line, she repeated this exact course of action with the next few doors, going from step a to c faster and faster each time.. before finally, one door opened.
"..Tsukiko?" The only person who slept in that room, Fawn, asked as she stood in the doorway. Still rubbing one of her tired green eyes. Tsukiko knew exactly what this Fawn's alternate selves had been doing in most of the timelines-.. no, it'd be more accurate to call this Fawn the alternate one, considering...
but regardless of that, Tsukiko knew that this Fawn never received the offer. If she said, she would be long gone by this point, wouldn't she? Tsukiko also couldn't help but doubt the idea that Fawn had been faking how bad she felt about everything, even though it wasn't the same Fawn, she had blamed herself for what happened to Lynch and Omalley, and as a result what happened to the rest of the world.
Tsukiko knew that for a fact. It was why Fawn joined up with Zuri in the first place.
"..Tsukiko?" Fawn asked again, pulling Tsukiko out of the exposition. She blinked, still holding her phone to her ear.
It took her a bit to figure out what she was going to say, but once she figured it out, it left her mouth with ease. "We need to evacuate."
"What? Why?" Fawn asked, leaning forwards. She looked totally clueless.
The Floors beneath them shook again, "That's why." Tsukiko explained. "Is Nogra in there?"
"Oh, yeah, He's still asleep." Fawn answered, stepping out of the doorway. Tsukiko leaned in and saw the dog sleeping on top of the bed, curled into himself.
Tsukiko looked at the sleeping dog, nodding as she fought to keep that smile off her face. "He's really cute, but we need to focus. Can you wake him up? I'm going to see if anyone else is on this floor."
Fawn's eyes followed Tsukiko as she walked out of sight, drumming her hand against the next door in the line as that sound got closer, yet again-
This time, the floor underneath her feet was shaking way more, it was clearer than anything. They were directly below her. She whirled her head around, looking to Fawn with wide eyes and a gaping mouth. "Fawn, get back! Now!"
As Tsukiko said that, the floor in front of Lynch's room rose up and burst open like a volcano rising out of the ocean, a glowing man with silky blonde hair wearing a tattered fishnet vest burst out of it like a cloud of lava pluming into the sky, he pressed his back against the ceiling before spinning in the air and landing on his toes, his arms spread into the air as he faced the only person in the hallway. Like a acrobat waiting for applause.
Despite his poise, she could see several injuries on his body. He stumbled slightly and put his hand to his head, she couldn't see his eyes behind his hair but she had a good idea that he was looking straight at her. She could see his teeth clenching, as if trying to will her away. This had to have been Hippolytos.
There were more noises from downstairs, glass shattering, footsteps- someone screaming. Hippolytos was up here though, was Eleanor on the lower floor? Or whatever those other thing Sorin had mentioned were?
Without answering any of the questions Tsukiko hadn't asked, Hippolytos raised his hands up in the air, his skin glowing like a star, as he jumped upwards and kept going up, shooting through the ceiling much like he must have done on the floors below them.
...
11th Floor.
Sitala stood with her back pressed against one of the walls, and her hand pressed tightly against a long metal pipe. She peered into the half open doorway next to her, Augustina was still typing away at the computer, too hyperfocused on the task to even register the world around her.
A Strange, fungal creature with limbs that were 3 feet long each and long wings like a insects was flying around the halls like a idiot, it zoomed straight past her without giving her any regard at all. Not even caring about the door, just flying straight down the hall. Sitala swung with her bat but the creature was already long gone.
Sitala peered into the door again, Augustina had moved out of her chair, the mouse on the screen moving as she alternated between tabs so fast Sitala never had a chance to register anything that was on the screen.
Silently, she slid into the room and closed the door behind her. There were no windows and the lights weren't on either, so even though it was only the morning it still looked like night-time.
"..August?" Sitala asked, causing her girlfriend to jump almost 3 feet into the air and send the rolling chair spinning across the room.
"S-..Sitala? .. Christ, you scared me." Augustina muttered, placing her hand on her chest. "..You look tense."
"It's cause I am." Sitala explained, unable to blink. "Did you learn what's going on?"
"..Yeah, it's a big deal." Augustina answered blankly, "Was there one outside just now?"
Sitala nodded.
"Well, there's two people. They're here for Lynch." Augustina said, glancing back to the computer's screen. "..We should go up to the 12th floor. All the important things are up there."
Sitala followed Augustina's eyes to the computer's monitor, and swallowed, nodding.
At that moment, the floor shook with enough force to knock a bottle onto the floor. Augustina and Sitala both steadied themselves with ease, looking towards the door that separated them from whatever had just made that noise.
"W-What was that!?" Sitala had tightened her grip about the metal pipe she was holding, Augustina darted over and grabbed onto her shoulders before she could go through the door and smack whoever had just come flying up from floor 10.
There weren't any footsteps, just similar sounds slightly higher up, as the ceiling itself shook. Whatever it was had gone. For the time being.
Augustina went back over to the computer and pulled out a USB that Sitala hadn't even seen before. Scrolling over the screen and logging out of every tab individually before turning the computer of. Once she had finished turning it off step-by-step, she went back and grabbed onto Sitala's hand. Placing the USB inside it.
"Come on, we've got to go." Augustina said. Her Maroon eyes only warming up when looking at Sitala's face.
But Sitala, Sitala's expression was tense.
...
12th Floor. Same as last time. Hippolytos shot out of the ground and landed like a acrobat in the hallway. There was noone to be seen, just like last time, but this time there were windows. So everything just looked grey, as opposed to just dark.
Ugh, his hair was in his face. He grumbled to himself as he brushed it all behind his ears. Was he bleeding? He couldn't tell. God, what did he even throw up earlier?
'Nevermind, not worth worrying about. Not worth even thinking about, Hippolytos, Lynch should be somewhere in this building, and with the lower floors swarming with Eleanor's freaky demonspawn, this should be a good enough space to start off.'
Hippolytos shook his head, holding onto it as he walked past a closed door, towards the doorway at the very end of the hallway. The Glass from the shattered window cracking underneath his boots.
He opened up the door, shedding some light on a unlit, dusty looking staircase. a small electronic box attached to the wall next to him- a series of small lights on the box's screen occasionally lightning up. Not even looking at it, he looked at the staircase directly in front of the door going down, snaking around the walls, and then to the staircase on his left that seemed to go up to the top of the rooftop.
He closed the door, holding his hand over the small gap between door and doorframe. He considered melting the door and the doorframe together. His finger held over it, ready to lean forwards at any moment. If someone ran, they wouldn't be able to use this door at all.
But as he thought things through, he pulled his finger away. There wasn't any benefit in doing that, after all. If anything it would just screw him over down the line.
He kept the door shut though, and turned towards the only other door available to him. Covered in dent's and scratches, like one of Eleanor's kids had gotten at it and struggled to open it. He gripped the doorknob, and pushed.
..
When Hippolytos opened up the door, Lynch had already hidden herself in the small side-room. It wasn't as cramped as she had been expecting, there was even another door in the back[leading to the staircase], currently blocked off by some machine parts[from defunct portal prototypes] blocking it, but all it took was a single gust of wind to move them away.
Unplugged wires ran across the floors, and there was a rather loud [regularly maintained] ventilation system taking up the upper right corner of the room.
Lynch peered through the door into the room. Zuri was the closest to the door, still leaning over the controls for the portal, while Kendrick was maintaining his distance from everything [keeping his grip on his loaded gun].
They were both looking towards the door[to the hallway], and the man in front of it [a!!!a-34b9 born=I-4324, likes you, hates you]
'..That.. that's not right.' Lynch blinked. Those were not words.
The Man who had just walked into the room looked like he'd been through some shit on the journey up here. His clothing had numerous cuts running through it and his hair was a mess, completely obscuring his eyes [broken eye contacts] It had clearly got Kendrick and Zuri's attention as well [both of them concerned/surprised. Zuri was confused, but Kendrick had been expecting him this entire time.]
He took another step forwards, wiping [something] off of his face before looking Kendrick and Zuri in the eyes. "..Hey." He said. "I'm going to keep it brief. Is Lynch in this room?"
Zuri [who had no plan on telling him], kept her posture straight. [faking confusion.] "Lynch?" She asked, her voice low.
"Don't try to pretend you don't know who she is." The Man frowned, gritting his teeth. "I know she's in this building, is she in this room or not?"
"No." Zuri answered [before Kendrick even had the chance to], slamming her hands down on the large device. "You'll have to look elsewhere."
The Blond took a extra step into the room, [eyes scanning the two people he could see. He noticed that Kendrick was armed.] like the creature from earlier, he looked from Kendrick, to the portal in the middle of the room [and at the Sicrum Cloud], before looking to Zuri and the door behind her- the same one that Lynch was looking through. [he doesn't see you.]
"..Hey, I see you've dealt with one of my pals there." The man said, still looking at the door while pointing to the deflated creature. "Those things will leave once we find Lynch, yanno?" [Lie]
"..You mean that?" Kendrick asked, looking up to meet the Man's eyes.
"Yeah, definitely." He said. "I'm only here for her, after all."
Zuri looked to Kendrick, [disbelief] coming off of her in waves. "Kendrick..."
"...Hey, I've seen what you've been doing with the Red Moon." Kendrick said, taking a step forwards with closed eyes, [no intention to use his gun.]
At that moment, Lynch already figured out exactly what he was going to do. She backed up away from the door, carefully manoeuvring through the wires and machine parts on the floor as she kept backing up. Looking over her shoulder at the door that connects to the stairway. [3 entities in the stairwell-ground level.]
She could deal with that later, she had no idea who this guy was and she didn't intend on letting him do whatever he was going to do once he found her.
"Really?" The Man had asked, in response to Kendrick.
Who in turn had responded with "Yeah. You two took out Gideon in Wallshore, right? Thanks for doing that. I mean that, from the bottom of my heart." [sincere.]
"Oh, uh, no problem" The Man's surprise was clear to anyone who could hear him.
'Shit, Shit, Shit.. He's totally going to sell me out.' She thought to herself, grabbing onto the door behind her and slowly opening-
crrreeeaaakk...
'Oh for fuck sake.'
[Everyone turned to look at the room the noise came from.] But that didn't matter! The door was open, Lynch gusted herself off of her feet and went right through it, slamming it shut behind her and letting herself fall down the stairwell, going past the banister and whirling in mid-air as she spotted another door directly below the one she jumped through. [Hidden door on 11th Floor-leads to storage room.]
The wind surrounding her catapulted her towards the door, and struck it with enough force to forcibly open it.
"AH!" A Voice [Augustina Shelley's] rang out, as Lynch, unable to stop her momentum, collided with her.
-------
crrreeeaaakk...
That opening door, from the small storage room connected to the main room, reverberated through the ears of the 3 people inside it.
Zuri swallowed her breath, as Hippolytos gritted his teeth and Kendrick tensed up his gun arm.
Hippolytos rolled his shoulders as he took a step towards the door, looking at Zuri and Kendrick. "Nevermind. I don't even need to ask you guys."
Zuri's eyes flashed, as she whirled back around. Everything happened in one second, the Blond jumped off the ground and ran for the door as Zuri turned and went straight for him, Kendrick snapped to attention and aimed his gun, pulling the trigger-
BANG!
As Hippolytos charged straight through the door, he heard the gunshot and looked back. Seeing a spurt of red fly out of Zuri's shoulder. Her locs flying as she fell backwards. The world was in slow motion as his eyes met with Kendrick's, as the man shot again. This time striking the woman in her thigh.
Without saying anything, he went through the door. Zuri collapsed on the ground, still conscious.
"..K..Kendrick..?" Zuri asked, grabbing onto her bleeding shoulder as she pushed herself along the floor. Kendrick's red eye's were shaking, but his arm was still. "..Why did you do that?" She asked, gritting her teeth as she glared up at him.
Kendrick exhaled, "..We had the same enemies, but we aren't on the same side, Zuri."
"..What, does that.. mean, exactly?" Zuri asked, still crawling towards the door Hippolytos left open. Away from Kendrick.
He lowered his gun, and placed it in his labcoat pocket with a distant expression. "Don't misunderstand, I don't want you dead. But me and him, I think we have the same goals. He may not know who I am, but he's taking out the Red Moon, and if he wants to enact his justice on her, who am I to stop him?
This whole thing is her fault, after all."
Zuri continued to stare down Kendrick, as he averted his gaze and headed towards the machine, turning his back to her. He typed something into the machine and the portal snapped back to life, opening up a gap in space, sucking the Sicrum Cloud into it. He then typed into the computer again, and it fizzled out before flaring up again. A gateway to a completely different location.
"..I'm going to be leaving now. Before things get any worse... Don't worry though. I'm not going to just hide myself in a cabin in the woods for the rest of my days. I'm going back. Even the timeline we all had planned to head towards was imperfect." Kendrick explained, speaking way too casually.
"..What does.. that mean?" Zuri asked, again. her vision blurring as she struggled to maintain consciousness.
"..I still never get to meet my niece, the one that got used in that stupid ritual, for one." Kendrick said "There's a lot more I'd change than just that... I couldn't tell anyone about this before though, if I did Shawn would've definitely put me on the hitlist as well... I suppose I'll just get going now." he added cryptically.
Finishing his monologue, he headed towards the portal. Not even looking at Zuri as-
Shawn ran in out of nowhere, a wild look in his eyes as he held a phone to his ear with one hand and a gun to Kendrick in the other. Kendrick turned around, gritting his teeth and furrowing his brow as he reached for his own gun, but Shawn had already fired it. The Bullet sailed straight through Kendrick's neck and through the open portal behind him.
"S-Shawn?.. Is that you?" Zuri asked, with widened eyes as the man pointed his gun at her. Everything was too blurry, she couldn't see his face, or anything. She had already lost too much blood. Everything was hazy. Everything hurt.
He didn't even have to pull the trigger, she passed out on her own.
---
Lynch and Augustina both got up to their feet, looking at each other.
"..Lynch? What are you doing?" Sitala asked, from behind her girlfriend. Clenching a Metal Pipe in one of her hands [and a USB in the hand hidden inside her pocket.]
[Augustina and Sitala wanted to go upstairs, towards the portal.]
Lynch looked up at the ceiling, while Sitala continued talking "Hey? Didya hear me?",
[He's in the storage room.] The words told her, as the sound of a door slamming rang out. She looked back to Augustina and Sitala, walking past them in a hurry. "You shouldn't go up there."
"What?" Sitala asked, as she and Augustina turned their heads to look at Lynch. "What do you mean?"
"..Is that man up there?" Augustina asked. [having seen the messages from all the different floors.], Lynch turned to her for a split second to nod, before continuing her walk. The Couple looked to each other and moved to follo-
*SLAM!*
Hippolytos landed on the other side of the open door. The Stairwell denting underneath him. He snapped to attention, completely ignoring Augustina and Sitala- who were looking straight at him, and focusing on Lynch's back. The Ginger broke into a sprint as soon as she heard the noise.
"Hey, Lynch!" Hippolytos called out, as loudly as possible . "I've been looking for you!"
Sitala blinked, and Hippolytos took off- flying between the couple and sending both of them flying into opposite walls. Half of Sitala's metal pipe turned red hot and melted off, sizzling on the floor in front of her. Sliding along towards Hippolytos as though attracted to him.
'Keep Running, just keep running. There's got to be a way down somewhere' Lynch told herself, skidding as she turned at the corner.
Right in front of her was another one of those things, this one with abnormally stretched out limbs and insect wings, ['George.' A Creature created from the DNA of Eleanor Troy, and Kevin Cross[Resident of Curtside(Alive).], Contains Essence of Sicrum, Born 23rd December, 2081. 'Adult' Homunculi.]
It held it's 3 feet long arms out to grab her as she ran towards it, unable to see anywhere to go but past it. She pushed forwards with her hands and knocked it back with a gust of wind, just as Hippolytos came flying behind her. Grabbing straight onto her hoodie and spinning, slamming her into the wall.
"I've got you!" He grinned. Every single tooth in clear sight. He tightened his grip on her hood, grabbing onto her neck with the other hand. Pressing right into her skin. She instantly began coughing. [He wants you dead.]
Lynch grabbed onto his wrists on instinct, her back pressed against a wall [that was beginning to melt], it was way too hot in here [he was pushing all of the heat in the area to one spot.]. "..W..Who are you..?" She had no choice but to ask.
"..Who Am I?" The Blond asked, leaning forwards. Lynch finally got a good look at his eyes.
White Iris, bloody sclera. [Bad Eyesight, even before his cornea's were damaged. He's not wearing his contacts right now.]
"..I'm Hippolytos, and I was brought into this world solely to take revenge on you." The Man answered.
"Revenge?" Lynch asked, "For what?"
"..For the sake of this entire world." Hippolytos answered, as he pushed forwards with all of his strength. The Wall behind Lynch melted off and she fell backwards... Right through the outer wall of the building. The world spun around her and Hippolytos alike as they both fell down from the 11th Floor. Lynch struggled to keep her air in her lungs,
The Man released his grip on her momentarily [focusing on steadying his own landing] and she saw her chance. As the world spun around her, the grass above her and the clouds below, she pushed upwards; creating a gust of wind that sent the Man upwards, his shoulder slammed against the sharp corner of the rooftop as the wind propelled him into the air and out of sight.
And that was when she hit the ground. A Shock ran up from her shoulderblades and traveled through her body, exiting through her feet as she rolled over on the dirt.
As she pulled her face out of the dirt, she saw the road in front of her. Everything looked grey and dull, the noises [of the various Homunculi inside the building] sounded distant, like she was listening to it from underwater. Everything still hurt, but not as much as she had expected it to. Regaining her attachment to reality, she pulled herself back to her feet. Her eyes scanning from the road, to the car in the distance, to the group of Homunculi stationed outside, the entrance of the research labs themselves...
and the woman who was sitting next to the broken doorway. Her Purple eyes staring right into Lynch's soul, as she looked at her over her shoulder. A Expression that had been muted, and almost bored looking slowly developed into something much more as the edges of her mouth appeared to grow, allowing a smile to spread across her face.
[Eleanor Troy, Contains Essence of Sicrum, born 23rd October. Has finally found you.]
Eleanor then glanced upwards. "..You found her for me, Thanks. Hippolytos." She said, as she stood up, turning to face Lynch with her whole body. She ran her hands over her necklace, and the male-symbol shaped ring dangling from it.
Lynch looked her over, her eyes getting drawn to a toy peacock lying against the wall near where Eleanor had been sitting. [An unwanted christmas present]
There was a nasty CRASH sound, as Hippolytos landed on the ground a distance away, behind Lynch. She turned around just in time to see him stand up, holding onto his stomach. Facing away from them all as he vomited some strange, glowing goop onto the ground. [Unknown]. "It's.. don't worry." He said, trying to face Eleanor and Lynch. "And, your welcome.. For finding her."
"..Don't worry about it." Eleanor said, impassively, as she walked towards the two of them. Lynch backed away, onto the road. Wanting to keep both of them in her view for the time being. She couldn't run now, not when Raluag, and so many other people were up there.. and there was no doubt that these two were dangerous. Everything Hippolytos did in the span of 2 minutes just now was more than enough proof for him, and all of those weird 'Homunculi' had to have been made by Eleanor.
Lynch looked up, at the hole in the building that Hippolytos had just made, most of the windows had been completely shattered [by Homunculi flying in or climbing in through them.], but they paled in comparison to the melting section that the Blond man had pushed out of it.
Sitala ran into sight, stumbling slightly as she met eyes with Lynch. Lynch may have survived that fall mostly unscathed, but it was clear from Sitala's expression that she doubted she could do the same.
Eleanor met eyes with Lynch,[wondering what she was looking at.]
"..What do you two want?" Lynch asked, hoping to pull Eleanor out of that train of thought.
"You-" Hippolytos started, grabbing onto the left side of his face as he stumbled backwards. [Eye Pain.] "..You should already know that."
"I don't." Lynch explained, looking up to Sitala again just in time to see her head back the way she came [Destination; The Portal.], she allowed herself to feel a little bit relieved as she continued. "I have no idea who you people are."
"Hmph." Hippolytos snorted, advancing on her. "I've already explained everything there is to me. I'm here because you are the one responsible for the world being this way."
Eleanor looked to Hippolytos [not liking how he phrased it]. "..I'm, basically here for the same reason. I've always wanted to meet you, Lynch."
"..Well, you've met me." Lynch stressed, taking another step back. Mentally preparing herself for whatever this duo would try to do next. "..Now what?"
Hippolytos and Eleanor looked to each other.
"..You guys going to leave?" She asked.
"No, not yet." Eleanor answered [Honestly.], scratching her chin absent-mindedly. "..But first, we should go inside and sit down. It feels weird having this conversation out here."
"If you want." Hippolytos nodded, [wanting to get everything done as fast as possible.]
Eleanor nodded, and headed back towards the entrance. Turning back to look at Lynch and Hippolytos, gesturing with her chin for both of them to follow her. "Come on, I know you're curious about why we wanted to talk to you."
Lynch looked at Hippolytos [who wasn't going to move until she did], and then to the crowd of Homunculi in the distance [who would react if Eleanor got hurt.]
It was true, she was curious.. and she still had to go back inside to get Raluag anyway.
"..." Lynch swallowed her breath as she took a step forwards, and then another. Heading back into the building after Eleanor, with Hippolytos coming up behind them. She could only speculate on what these two wanted from her, or if they even wanted the same thing.
There was only one way to find out, after all.
... ... ...
Through a broken window on the 12th floor, Shawn was watching. Holding a phone up to his ear as he looked at the scene through the broken glass.
"Yeah, they went inside just now." He said.
A Voice, sounding similar to Fawn's came out of his phone. "Alright, that's good. You dealt with the portal, right?"
"Kendrick tried to go through it earlier, but I arrived just in time." Shawn explained, turning his head to look through the busted open doorway, . "...Looks like he was heading for some kind of temple in one of the other universes."
"One of the other universes?" Fawn asked, "Which one?"
Shawn blinked, "Uh, just wait up. I'll send you a pic." He said, as he walked into the room.
His eyes were naturally drawn to the portal, still open. Both Kendrick- and Zuri were still lying in their respective pools of blood in the room. Kendrick spread out in front of the portal, and Zuri asleep near the open storage room. "Looks like he and Zuri had a fight shortly before I walked in as well, if she's still alive she won't be able to use that leg ever again."
"That's good." The Fawn on the phoneline said, "Anything else?"
Shawn said nothing, he just walked in front of the portal. Holding his phone out as he snapped a quick picture of the side-view of a temple in the middle of a field from the other side.
"..That's Sheldon's Temple." Fawn answered, not long after. "..Good thing you stopped him. It wouldn't have been good if he had went there."
"Who's Sheldon?" Shawn asked,
"Eamon. Eamon's temple, y'know? That place with all the dimension and timeline rings?" Fawn explained. "He must've wanted to grab one of them to go time hopping. You should finish this all up quickly, and then we can get back to dealing with the timeline that actually matters."
Fawn hung up, rather suddenly. Shawn looked at the portal in front of him with bored eyes, and instantly knew what to do. He walked straight over to the machine itself, kneeling down in front of the many wires plugged into it and grabbed onto the one connecting it to the portal.
..and at the worst possible moment, just as he was about to unplug the machine, Augustina ran in.
"..Shawn?"
End of Part 8.
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Post by IDEK on Jul 14, 2019 21:30:21 GMT
In Transience, I Alone will-
Part 9: Different Perspectives
2081, Thursday 25th December, 9:45am. Eckstein Research Labs. 1st Floor.
Drip, Drip, Drip, Drip...
Liquid Metal dripped down from the giant hole in the ceiling in a rhythmic fashion. Only adding to an already tense atmosphere.
There was nobody else in the room that Lynch, Eleanor and Hippolytos were sitting in. A Long, grey table in a room that seemed to have lost all of its colour since she had last peered into it. There were noises above them, noises of those homunculi that these two had created. It was absolute chaos up there. But down here, everything was terribly still.
Eleanor sat at the far right of the table, with Hippolytos at the far left, Lynch directly in between them. All other chairs had been removed, it seemed. Hippolytos was leaning backwards, the front legs of the chair in the air as it rested against the cabinet behind him, holding onto his eyes, which were clearly still hurting. Eleanor was leaning forwards, her face cupped in both of her hands as she smiled at Lynch. The open petri dish and toy peacock directly in front of her only adding to this atmosphere.
[These two have completely contradictory ideas about you as a person. None of them plan to leave this room.]
"..So. What's this all about?" Lynch asked, looking at Eleanor with frustrated eyes.
Eleanor leaned further into the table. "Oh, I just wanted to get to know you a bit better."
"And you had to-" Lynch gestured at the ceiling above them, and all of the noises coming from upstairs. "Do all of this to do that!?"
"No." Eleanor admitted. "That's something totally different."
'..Well, that didn't explain anything.' Lynch frowned. "Alright, what's with that then?"
"Do you want to know?" Eleanor asked, [happy to tell you.]. Lynch nodded, so Eleanor sat up straight in her chair and cleared out her throat.
"..Well, you know who Maya is, right? I'm one of the many people she spread Sicrum's essence too. As you can imagine, when people found out.. they didn't react that well at all. You heard about what they did to Rachdale, I'd assume. I honestly knew they'd react like that, so for a long time, I'd just spend my days in my home. Only leaving to get food... I was pretty depressed, honestly. It didn't seem like there was anything I could do or anywhere I could go. "
"That doesn't really explain anything." Lynch cut her off. "Everyone feels like that."
"Don't you think that's sad?" Eleanor asked. "Don't you think it's sad, how everyone feels like that? It's part of why the Red Moon became so popular. That group gave them something to do and believe in, while living in a world that offered them none of that.
This group here, and those Uniguard guys, they're doing the same kind of thing. Verita did the same thing too. It's how you get people to follow you." [She's going completely off topic, about to force herself back onto what she actually wanted to say in a way that doesn't break the flow of conversation.] "So, I just think it's interesting..."
[Eleanor is obviously prompting you to ask what's interesting.] So, Lynch did. "..What is?"
"That you didn't take what Omalley offered." Eleanor answered, still smiling at her.
Lynch scrunched her eyes up, her hands curling into fists as she stood up. "Is that what this is about?"
"Oh, it is." Hippolytos finally spoke up, letting all four of his chair's legs slam into the floor as he stood up as well.
"..Great." Lynch rolled her eyes. "Just great..! Let me guess, you're going to say some shit like 'if you had just fell in love with him, the world wouldn't be in this state'? Some shit like that?"
Hippolytos paused, [that was exactly what he was going to say.]
"I think you're misunderstanding me." Eleanor tilted her head. "I'm not saying that you refusing him is a bad thing, not at all.
You didn't let yourself get pressured into that relationship, and I think that's very admirable."
Lynch raised a brow.
"Well, you basically said it yourself right. You were not in love with Omalley." Eleanor explained. "A World that would've forced you to reciprocate with him is wrong, don't you agree?"
It was the most obvious leading question Lynch had ever heard, but it wasn't that hard a conclusion to make. Lynch nodded.
"And Omalley, the fact that he fell the way he did, says a lot about his character. Does it not?" Eleanor asked, crossing her fingers as she looked straight into Lynch's white, colourless eyes. Her heavy-lidded eyes staring at Lynch in a manner that made her think of a therapist who wasn't very good at her job.
"..And, it says quite a lot about you as well." Hippolytos turned the conversation back against Lynch. "You didn't have to run off and vanish from his life, he would've been happy if you had just been friends."
He leaned towards Lynch, "But you just couldn't accept that either, could you?"
"Okay, no, what the fuck is your problem!?" Lynch asked, running out of patience. "You come out of the woodworks this late into everything just to yell at me for not liking some guy!?"
Hippolytos didn't even react, he simply blinked. "Are you even listening to me? It would've been fine if you had been friends. And Don't think I didn't notice you calling him 'some guy-"
"Would it?" Lynch asked, unable to stop her emotions from coming out one by one. "Would it 'really' have been fine?"
"It probably wouldn't have." Eleanor commented. "He just wanted to be with you, and he'd have pretended that he wasn't hurt if it meant he could be near you."
"Better than just going off to die a pointless death in the desert." Hippolytos rolled his eyes.
"Is it really? Every day he'd see Lynch and have the face the fact that she didn't love him. I can't imagine a worse fate for him." Eleanor contradicted him quite brazenly. "Besides, he went and called himself her guardian, changing his last name to her own regardless of what she even thought about it. If he hadn't done that then things might have ended differently."
While Eleanor talked, Lynch chose this opportunity to back off. She couldn't just leave though, everything in this room was between her and the doors. The Table, Eleanor, Hippolytos, everything. It was pretty clear which stance the two of them had chosen to take. Eleanor was in favour of how Lynch had handled this, Hippolytos against...
But why did they have to force Lynch into this argument? Was this how they had wanted to settle it.. hear the word from the horse's mouth to determine which of them was right? Or was there something more to it? None of the words Lynch could see were useful, of those she could actually make out.
"Besides, the girl he loves doesn't reciprocate? So he goes off to die alone in the desert? Talk about selfish." Eleanor had continued, "And that nobody stood up against the Red Moon? Nobody here did their job anywhere near to the level they would be required to. This was a failure on everyone's part."
"A Failure that could've been circumvented entirely!" Hippolytos exclaimed. "In that other timeline, Lynch and Omalley get together and everything goes hunky-dory, doesn't it?"
'..Other Timeline?'
...
Sorin woke up to an inferno. The entire room had turned into a sweltering flame, the ash and smoke escaping through the giant hole in the ceiling. It was so hot that Sorin had difficulty thinking, the heat waves distorting the world in front of him.
He held onto his forehead and he pulled himself up to his feet, identifying the shattered pieces of burning table, and the melted mess at the far end of the room that used to be a computer. The area directly in front of him was filled to the brim with flames, Sorin had no choice but to back away. Already finding himself low on oxygen.
The reality that Danica had been exactly in the centre of that fire before Sorin had blacked out, was clear as day... he couldn't see her at all, but if she had been in that blast.. he didn't really want to either. She'd have been completely carbonized, charred and smouldering.. he struggled to breathe, just imagining which of the many stenches in the room was her dead body..
'Shit, Danica might be done for, but I need to protect the civilians!' He reminded himself, one of the scientists, Natália had been in the room as well, after all. He looked to the other side of the room, and found her not too far from where she had last been standing.
It looked like the blast of the initial explosion hadn't hit her, but some of the debris had. She was slumped against a wall with some shards in her arm and a bleeding forehead, unconscious. Nothing fatal, luckily, but she could easily suffocate if she spent too long in this room. He took a cautious step towards her, keeping his eyes on the fire as everything swerved around him. His head was full of smoke, almost impossible to find balance as he stumbled his way towards the unconscious woman.
He leaned down and scooped her up in one movement. His brain screaming for oxygen as he looked around. Trying to find that hole he jumped in from in the first place,
he couldn't guarantee anything on the 1st floor, but the 2nd floor should still be safe, right? He found the hole, and ran for it. Stumbling over the debris as black spots began to clog up his sight. He kept his grip on the woman in his arms, struggling to even keep hold of her as he took the last few steps towards the circular gap between floors.
He let his strength leave him, the two careening down to the second floor, where Rigel lay. He could only hope that he would break this woman's fall.
He landed flat on his back, letting out a stunted gasp as Natália rolled out of his grip, landing not too far away. They weren't in the fire anymore, that was an improvement.
..But still, as long as anyone was in this building, they weren't safe... and, everything hurt. He pulled himself to his side, dragging himself over to Natália, pulling himself to his feet.
"..Sorin!" A Voice called out, as a portal burst into existence not that far from them. Tsukiko Yuzawa hopped through it, accompanied by a white Dog - Fawn's dog, her guardian, if he recalled. "Thank goodness you're okay!" Tsukiko exclaimed, running over and placing one hand on his shoulder, and the other on Natália's.
"..Tsuki..ko.." Sorin managed to say, between his heavy breaths.
"Don't talk." Tsukiko recommended, turning to face the Dog. "Nogra, get us out of here."
The Dog didn't verbally respond, but Sorin blinked, and next thing he knew.. all four of them had vanished from the hallway.
...
"Shawn?" Augustina asked, as Sitala ran up behind her.
Sitala instantly paled, seeing Zuri's bleeding form right in front of her. A Little bit further in the room, was Shawn, one hand on the plug connecting the portal to the manual control device, the other on the phone in his hands.. and just barely peeking out from behind them, near the active portal. Sitala could see Kendrick's body as well.
Shawn's eyes widened as they met with Augustina's. He was the only person in this room who wasn't injured.. since he hadn't called for help and they had walked in on him, the conclusion they must've been drawing was that...
Augustina backed up, grabbing onto Sitala's hand and dragging her along as she barrelled back down the stairs.
"..Shit." Shawn sighed, putting his hand to his face. He ripped the plug out, the static buzz of the portal behind him abruptly cutting off. He spent less than a second contemplating everything, before declaring "Fuck it! This is more important!"
Opting to ignore the two who had seen him, Shawn pulled a wrench out of his trouser pocket and thwacked it against the side of the manual control device. Smacking it again and again, until the screens were all shattered and the casing had begun to dent. 'Whether those two spread the word or not, it's no big deal! This entire, irrelevant timeline wasn't shit anyway! I can just leave as soon as I finish!' Shawn thought to himself, punctuating each statement with another smack of the wrench against the machine. Grabbing hold of every wire he could get his hands on and yanking them out. If a single part of this machine was operable after he finished it would be another headache to deal with.
Bang! Clank! Clank! Clank!... Clank!... Clank!... Clank! With each repetition, it drilled itself into Shawn's head. Each spark from a torn up wire, each piece of hardware smashed into sharp chunks, he couldn't let any piece of this machine stay intact...
...
Outside of the Eckstein research labs, on the other side of the road, there was a large, grassy plane with the occasional lone tree. It was too far away for any of the Homunculi Eleanor had brought with her to care about, but it was still within view.
Sitting on a small lump in the ground, Fawn could see the damage the building had taken. Some people on the 11th floor could be made out, via the large hole in the wall (she could easily recognise Sitala and Augustina from a distance after all, the two always did stand out from a crowd) , and some of the homunculi could be seen playing rock paper scissors to pass the time, but she was too far away to make out much else. And sitting behind the lone tree, she hoped she was far away enough for none of them to be able to identify her either.
Seated a little behind her, were Victor Alana, and the Free Will Omnipotent; Raluag. They had taken a couple of chairs with them, for the wounded (that being Raluag) to sit on for the time being.
A Portal opened up in mid-air, the perfect size for Tsukiko to jump through, holding Natália in one arm, and a man in well-worn armour that Fawn didn't recognize in the other.
She stumbled slightly, struggling to hold two separate people as Nogra appeared where the portal had one been, landing on the ground. It was silent as Victor shot up from his seat, running over to Tsukiko and helping her move the two over to the seats. Fawn could only watch as Nogra plodded over to her and curled up near her feet. The man, wearing armour that made Fawn think he must be part of the uniguard, kept letting out hushed breaths as he regained his bearings.
Once he managed to finish his breath, he let out a single wheeze. "Tsukiko..?"
Tsukiko nodded in response. Her mouth had clammed shut as soon as they had left the building, anything she had said, Fawn hadn't been able to hear it because it was so quiet.
Victor focused his efforts on Natália, taking out a piece of cloth and wiping it over the bloody wound on her forehead. "..Okay.. okay." He repeated to himself, before turning to face everyone who was conscious. "She'll be fine, but I can't do anything about this arm til you take me to a proper hospital."
Tsukiko nodded again, before turning to Nogra. "..There's still other people." She whispered. "I think Albert's at the fourth floor, let's start there."
Nogra nodded, silent as usual, as he jumped at Tsukiko and the two vanished in a blip of light.
"..Do you think they'll be okay?" Victor asked, not taking his gaze off of Natália and Sorin.
Fawn watched him, before turning her head on her shoulders, looking over to the building in the distance- built into the Elcarim Plateau. "..Yeah, I'm sure they can handle themselves.." She said, it was a pretty big building. But, she knew that Nogra wouldn't be taken out by any of those things. Tsukiko seemed like she could handle herself as well- is that a car?
Fawn blinked as she registered it, but no- she was right- there was a full blown limousine driving down the road from up north... swerving to a abrupt stop as soon as it entered her line of sight. As though whoever was inside was looking at the situation from a distance. She could see someone with blonde hair peering out of the backseat window, it wasn't hard to imagine the confusion on her face.
"..What's happening now?" She couldn't help but ask herself.
...
"What on earth is going on here..?" Martha whispered to herself, scrunching her eyelids together as she poked her head out of the window. There were even more of those weird things she had passed by on the road earlier.. right in front of the building Raluag should've been in, as if everything couldn't get any more annoying.. It looked like the entire place was under siege. There was a gigantic hole in one of the walls, and all of these.. things.. were buzzing around the higher floors. She wasn't close enough to get a real idea of what was going on inside- but she already knew that she didn't particularly want to be.
Emil wasn't in any state to answer her question, and Delilah never talked anyway, so Martha found herself wondering why she had even asked.
None of them had noticed her yet, despite the christmas single blasting through the radio. She leaned a little further out of the window and held her phone out above her, trying to get a good angle before snapping a quick picture. Scrolling through her contacts once more- heading straight into the group chat she had made earlier.
"..Seriously, nobody's responded to me!?" She grumbled to herself. Jezebel had left her on read, and Theresa hadn't even bothered to look at her messages, "..Well, maybe when you see this shit you'll take this a bit more seriously." She couldn't help but mutter to herself as she sent the image.
'Wtf is this??' - Martha
Nobody responded, not immediately anyway... "..I've got way better things to do than just wait for a response!" Martha declared in a attempt to fill the silence surrounding her as she placed her phone back in her pocket.
Without much else to do, She leaned forwards, "Emil. Get your knives ready. And get out of the car."
As Emil mindlessly followed her command, she turned her attention to Delilah. The Girl had placed her book back in the bag at some point when Martha wasn't looking. Apart from that, had she even moved? Martha couldn't even tell.
"Would it at least kill you to react, Delilah?" Martha couldn't help but ask. "You know that I love you, but I could use some sympathy here for once."
Delilah turned to face her, but as usual, and to Martha's frustration, she didn't say anything at all.
'..What is your problem!?' She screamed internally. 'Why won't you just talk to me!?'
Instead, she sighed. "..Fine. But we're on a important mission here. You did great last time we saw her, but we're clearly going to be up against more than just that omnipotent once we leave this car."
This time, Delilah nodded. 'At least you reacted to that', Martha found her thoughts getting more and more spiteful. Contributing it to stress, Martha faked a smile and made her way out of the car. "Come on, Delilah." She sung, her voice a strained warble.
Martha turned her head to the side, looking over the field in the distance as Delilah shimmied her way through the car and left through the same open door the landlord did, leaving the bag- and all of the christmas gifts inside it- somewhere safe.
It made sense, Martha supposed, keeping the gifts in the car. That way there wasn't any risk of them getting destroyed in any fights, or any of those... things... getting to them.
.. they still had to deal with those things, didn't they?
"...Emil. Knives." Martha spoke, keeping her posture as straight as possible as she stared ahead. Making eye contact with nobody. Looking at the strange demons in the distance as some of them turned to look at her, getting each other's attention with oddly human means, poking each other on the shoulder and pointing in her direction..
"I want a wide-scale attack. I don't know what those demons are, but I want you to take out as many as you can with one strike." Martha explained, her confidence catching itself in her throat as some of the more human looking ones began to walk towards them.
She backed away as Emil stared dumbly at some of the knives at his belt, pulling out the knife she recognised as the fire-enchanted one. Acting on memory, Emil changed up his stance. Bending one knee robotically as he leaned forwards and tossed the knife in much the same way he did at her only last night, it didn't hit anyone; sailing past the arms of one of the creatures and stabbing into the grass nearby.
Martha blinked, and everything went up in flames. The Fire shot up from the ground and ignited the creature's nearby- whatever the stuff they were made of went up in smoke instantly. Any not lit on fire instantly figured out how dangerous fire was, scattering like a swarm of rats. Some taking off into the air as the fire spread throughout the grass, while others fled onto the road. Emil continued to stare dumbly, his expression totally disconnected as his body moved, pulling out the knife with the death enchantment as he mindlessly leapt towards one of the bulkier ones. That had made a beeline towards him, he slashed upwards- cutting along its chest, which split open like a burst balloon as the gaseous contents fled into the sky.
Martha almost struggled to comprehend it, a cloud moving as though it was sentient as it flew away. A Part of her almost found it comical, like a soul fleeing to heaven as Emil thrust his knife into the body of a smaller one. its form must have been more compact, as the knife got stuck in there. As Emil tried to pull it back out the creature grabbed at his face before the death enchantment kicked in.
Delilah held onto her elbow, looking at the field of grass on the other side of the road. Instead of at the scene in front of her, biting onto her lip as she leaned from one side to the other antsily.
As Emil struggled to pull the knife out of one of the dying Homunculi, another one swooped down from above; its feet almost exploding into a gooey mess as the fungal flesh stuck itself to his head- pulling him into the sky and swinging, releasing its grip and sending him flying towards the other two.
"Look out!" Martha called out, grabbing Delilah's sleeve and running into the road as Emil crashed into the car. With her free hand she reached into her obnoxious christmas sweater and pulled out a small handgun, even smaller than the palm of her hand.
"Emil! You call that fighting!?" She called out, tilting her head as the zombie got back up to his feet. "Get back up and finish them off!"
Emil limply reached for another knife and tossed it into the crowd- a strong gust of wind propelled itself in all directions with the knife as a centre point. Spreading the flames even further and sending all of the strange creatures every which way. Even Martha and Delilah were blown further down the road.
....
There was a large, rumbling sound. The smell of ash and fire. Something slamming into the wall directly behind Lynch's head.
The conversation stopped in its tracks.
"...What was that?" Eleanor was the first one to break the silence, turning her head towards the door. [Worried about the safety of her creations.]
Hippolytos [seeing his opportunity] leaned over the table, "I'll keep a eye on her. You go and check it out."
Eleanor [too worried to care about his motives] nodded immediately, running through the door before giving her response. "Alright! I'll be right back!"
As she dashed out of the building, her footsteps clattering against the steel floors, Lynch slowly turned her head and met with Hippolytos's eyes. [Pleased, now that he's alone with you.] "...I bet you're wondering why I'm traveling with her." He said.
"Honestly, I couldn't really care." Was Lynch's honest response, grating her teeth together.
"..In truth, if I didn't have her with me, I wouldn't be able to make it to you." Hippolytos continued on as if she had said what he clearly wanted her to say. "...I'm like Omalley, in that way."
Lynch's face scrunched up, "..No you're not."
"Yes, I am." Hippolytos said, [loathing her response.]. His cold, damaged eyes looking straight into her own. He raised a brow as he looked at them. "..Huh, we have the same eye colour."
Lynch blinked, surprised by that completely random observation. It wasn't even true. "..No. We don't."
[Ignoring her words], Hippolytos walked over towards her. Running his fingers along the table, leaving a trail as his finger wiped away the dust. She could feel the air quite literally heating up around her as he approached, leering over her. He was already tall enough- being six foot- but the aura he was exuding made him seem so much bigger.
Lynch reflexively backed up. "I thought you two wanted to have a discussion with me." She said, trying to keep her voice steady as she looked up, to meet his eyes.
"..That's what Eleanor wants." Hippolytos said, "I don't want that at all. I just want to take the vengeance he refuses to take for himself."
The tension reached its boiling point again, and Lynch's emotions exploded. "Why do you even think he wants it!? Why can't you just do what he did and get over it!"
"He didn't get over it!" Hippolytos yelled. "You killed him, so stop denying it."
She hadn't forgotten that 'Other Timeline' that Hippolytos had mentioned, was it the same one that Zuri and the other scientists here had wanted to jump to?
"I! Didn't!" Lynch yelled, louder this time.
Hippolytos continued on advance on her [ready to strike.] "...Fine. Keep saying that, you're not going to change my mind. Lynch."
Without even taking time to breathe, Hippolytos shot himself forwards- heat glowing in his hands as he threw himself towards his target. Thrusting his hands- and the heat he was storing- at her.
As the heat washed over her face, Lynch grabbed onto the table and threw herself backwards- sending him flying away from her with a wall of air, carrying the heat in its breeze. As he thunked against his own chair, she rolled on her back and jumped up to her feet- heading straight for the door.
"Oh no you don't!" Hippolytos had got back to his feet faster than she had anticipated, already catching up to her and wrapping his arms around her. He lifted her over his body and slammed her face-first into the ground behind him, bending his back un-naturally. He lifted his own weight into the air before slamming his legs back down in a more natural position, holding her onto the ground.
"I really.. Really.. don't understand what he sees in you." Hippolytos grunted, gripping her even tighter. Smoke coming out from where the heat collected in his hands, she could already tell it would be leaving a couple of scorch marks.
"Hnngh.. Get off me!" Lynch grunted, raising up one of her legs and slamming it directly into his groin. He tensed up but kept his grip on her. Grabbing onto her neck and pressing it against the floor. She swung her released arm and grabbed onto his hair, pulling at it to no avail.
It felt like her neck was on fire, she couldn't breathe. She pulled his hair down again, ripping at it. But it wasn't enough to make him let go. She closed her eyes, released his hair and swung wildly, knocking Hippolytos off with a gust of air so strong he couldn't keep hold of her if he wanted to. 'Just running from this guy isn't going to work' she thought to herself, as she inhaled as much oxygen as she could. Her throat was still burning.
She held one hand over her neck as she crawled up to her feet, throwing another gust of wind at Hippolytos before he had a chance to get up- the wind slammed him against the window. Giving her enough time to run through the open door and into the first floor hallway.
It was way too empty, all of the Homunculi that had been loitering around in the hallway had left [following after Eleanor, who exited the building.] The only item left was a pool of liquid.. something [used to be a phone, belonging to the deceased Gideon Isaev]
'..Gideon? He's dead?' She asked herself, as she ran into the other room. Slamming the door shut behind her, if only to buy her at least a extra second. The room was a perfect mirror of the previous one, but it hadn't been emptied out. There were way more chairs, and all of the computers and other machines inside it were still very present. It wasn't hard to notice the various signs of a scuffle in here, where some unlucky scientists must have been attacked by Eleanor's homunculi. Someone didn't even have a chance to turn off the TV Show they were watching, [Just a puppet show for kids, don't worry about it] was still playing on one of the knocked over monitors. Crackling, unintelligible audio playing through a speaker.
Her eyes went straight for a broken window, but her hopes were dashed quickly when she saw the flames lapping against it.
"Come on!" Hippolytos exclaimed [from the hallway], "Don't be afraid to let me in! I'm doing this for him, you know!"
She was getting sick of this, 'Can't you just leave me alone!?' She couldn't help but ask herself. 'I don't want any of this!' she continued yelling at herself, getting out of the doorway just as a hot ball of fire shot straight through it. Melting the door into a red hot, smoking fluid on contact. It splattered against the floor and threatened to melt a hole straight through it, The firey ball had blazed a straight, smouldering line from the door to the wall adjacent to it. Leaving a melting hole in the wall- making a even bigger window to the outside, where it got lost amongst the spreading flames and the violent winds.[Unwise to go through it, would burn yourself severely, and even if you did manage to get through that hole the winds would throw you straight into the flames.]
Lynch ran further down the room from the melted door to the other, still functional one[closest to the entrance.], so all of the contents of the room would give her cover when Hippolytos inevitably ran into the room. Which he did just then.
"..You know that he still loves you, right?" Hippolytos asked as he sauntered into the room, way too casually. "For some reason, even though you killed him, even though you killed this world, he still loves you. He still wants to be with you, despite everything. It's not too late to see him again. He'll forgive you, even though he shouldn't. This is your last chance, Lynch Rise."
Lynch took a deep breath. "Shut up. I don't want to listen to any more of your horse shit."
Hippolytos stuck his hands in his pockets, closing his eyes and sighing loudly. "...I just want to help."
"How is any of this helping!?" Lynch exploded, gesturing wildly at the hole in the wall, and the general mess the building was in.
"..I'm taking out everything responsible for the world being the way it is. From the Red Moon, to the Others, to You. I'm being the hero this world needs." Hippolytos explained [He sincerely believes what he's saying.]
"By.. killing everyone!?" Lynch asked, taking a subtle step backwards. Just small enough for Hippolytos not to pick up on it.
"...No. Only those who deserve it." Hippolytos elaborated, [about to strike again].
..For a single second, there was no movement. Only the sound from the broken speaker playing that strange show, and before anyone could blink. Both Actors started moving, Hippolytos jumped in the air, over the tables as Lynch ducked down- steadying her stance as she swerved her hands around, wind swirling around her as Hippolytos balled his glowing, burning hands into fists.
He punched the air in front of him, remaining in place as the heat carried itself forwards- making a beeline for Lynch, who sent the wind swirling around her upwards. It dispersed the heat flying towards her and struck Hippolytos instead; sending him spinning backwards. He caught himself in mid-air and thrust his hands forwards. [Sending all of the heat in the room towards the spot in the room you're occupying. Get out of the way.]
The air around Lynch began to heat up, she jumped to the side and struck it with a gust of wind, the air caught all of the heat before it could form, dispersing it through the air current as Lynch rolled forwards, sending another burst of wind at him- upsetting the trash lying on the table and knocking everything away. Hippolytos swerved just in time to dodge it, spinning in mid-air as the temperature started to drop. [He's preparing to send all of the heat to a single point again.]
He pressed his leg against the corner of the ceiling and the wall blocking the room of from the hallway, pointing forwards as all of the heat collected yet again. It exploded behind Lynch as she ran forwards, 'He's not going to quit!' She reasoned to herself 'You have to deal with him, now!'.
Hippolytos was silent, radiating intent from his cold, almost white eyes. She looked at the ground, [ruined monitors, ruined notebooks, broken table] and then sent another gust at him, one that picked up a good chuck of debris and tossed it into him. The fractured table split even further; shattering to pieces on contact as Hippolytos was knocked back[shielding his face]
"Leave me alone!!" She exclaimed, as the monitor- still playing that strange tv show- smacked him square in the face- sending him spinning further away [adjacent to that hole in the wall]. "I'm not going to sit here and let you blame me for everything!"
She gestured- from her back to her front, swinging her arms to the left, as the wind followed suit, carrying Hippolytos through the hole in the wall into the fire burning outside.
In the brief silence that followed, Lynch could easily pick out the distorted audio from the show that was playing. "but, Love is a tricky thing! Sometimes you gotta give the other person space, time... Absence makes the heart grow fond-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-der" [Computer's busted, frozen.]
'..What awful timing' Lynch couldn't help but think to herself. Her entire gut felt rotten inside, like she had to rip it out if she wanted to feel content ever again.
'I'll never feel content, or safe, in this world. At least not if other rando's like Hippolytos could walk in at a moment's notice to hold everything I've ever done against me. It's not like he has the full story, it's not like he knows why everything happened the way it did. It's just inaccurate, completely wrong, to blame me for this mess.' She told herself, staring into the hole in the wall. He'd definitely come flying back through sooner or later-
The spot next to the hole in the wall suddenly broke apart, as a [literally] flaming Hippolytos came crashing through it. Clambering over the pile of scattered objects and desk parts, glowing, blindingly bright white blood running down his face and left arm, where numerous burn marks had scorched themselves into his flesh, charring off a good chunk of his fishnet vest. His eyes were glowing just as bright as the blood was.
"HNNGH! I've had it!" He grunted, brushing his [literally] burning hair out of his face, not caring that his own hand was covered in flames. "You selfish bitch!"
"Love is a wonderful thing!" The Stuttering monitor managed to exclaim, a whimsical, distorted violin kicking in as Hippolytos lunged at her. "It's that feeling when your heart, it beats in your chest~ It's that feeling when you smile after getting some rest~." She sent a gust of wind at Hippolytos again, he went back a single centimetre before catching himself on literally nothing and propelling himself back towards her, grabbing onto her neck and taking her with him as the momentum sent him crashing to the ground.
"It's what Romeo felt staring at that balcony~ When he died, side by side, with his sweet honey~" That same, annoying, puppet voice continued on as Lynch pried herself out of Hippolytos's grip, he punched her square in the face and then brought his elbow down on her gut. "But pleeeeaassee understand that love isn't as simple as a hand in a hand~"
"Sometimes they may fight, and sometimes they may yell, my parents did the same and now they're both in hell~"A Cartoonishly mopey voice on the broken monitor sang, as Lynch punched him in the glowing eyeball. Hippolytos recoiled, stepping back and clutching it, giving Lynch a chance to knock him back with another gust of wind and get back to her feet.
"A Fight isn't a way to handle your love!" The First voice interrupted the mopey one, breaking the song briefly "Calmly discuss whatever's bothering you with your special one. In fact I will, if I may be bold, say that a love where one is harming the other isn't what you're told. In fact, it's Abuse, and it's very very wrong, and this is the message I'm telling you all as I sing this song-"
The Show didn't have a chance to continue, Hippolytos raised up a hand and all of the heat in the room went straight for the speakers- completely melting them. Everything felt cold, Lynch's hands turned blue almost immediately.
"Stupid show..!" Hippolytos muttered, raising his leg up and kicking at Lynch- who stumbled out of the way in time. "Stupid.. song..!".
He stood there, wheezing as much air into his lungs as he could with every breath, before going in for another punch, which she barely dodged again. All while still on fire.
"..Do you really, want to kill me, this badly?" Lynch asked, unable to hide her surprise. Hippolytos stared at her, still glowing and burning. Bits of ________ melting onto the floor at his feet. She couldn't make his eyes out, with how brightly they were glowing, but she could still sense that same intent. [He does want to kill you that badly.]
She couldn't hide the fact that she was in pain either, her neck was still burning, her hoodie scorched, and all of the heat was still concentrated where the monitor had once been, she was freezing.
"..What's wrong with you?" She had to ask.
"..You." Was Hippolytos's answer, as he held his hands together in front of him, before pulling them towards him. All of the heat in the room flew from the monitor, striking Lynch directly in the back before she had a chance to react. She let out a single strained groan, wrapping her arms around herself and pulling herself to the ground with all of her strength, the heat continued to burn against her as she fell, climbing over her back and jumping off of her shoulder. Continuing on its journey from one corner to the other.
Unable to voice, or make any thoughts, She sent a single hand out; a tailwind caught the ball of heat before it could fade out and forced it to accelerate; before anyone could blink it was burning straight into Hippolytos' chest. Splurts of blood for the millisecond before the wounds cauterized as it dug into him. He fell to the ground and the heatball crashed into the scattered junk behind him; setting it all alight.
The two of them lay there, in a room that had caught fire. Hippolytos's entire chest had been burnt away, revealing ________. Muscle and tendons. Surrounded by that Glowing Liquid. [Blood.] Lynch couldn't see his face, whatever expression he had on it. If he was still glowing, would she even be able to make it out?
His silky, burning hair tapered to a crisp. He didn't move as his entire body continued to glow and glimmer, amidst all of the heatwaves, Hippolytos faded into a pool of glowing liquid. His clothes remained. [Dead.]
[Eleanor Troy is here.]
Lynch struggled to keep her eyes open, and failed. Desperately hanging onto consciousness, anything could happen if she faded now. She forced her eyes open again, and turned to look behind her. Eleanor was standing right in the doorway, close to the 'front door'. Looking at Lynch with a [Sad.] glint in her eyes. A Little bit of her shirt-dress had gotten burnt at some point [When she went outside briefly], and it wasn't hard to notice the dark wisps circling around her fingernails [Re-captured Sicrum Essence that had been released from a dying homunculi].
"...Oh." The purple-eyed Woman sighed to herself, walking out of sight [to collect her belongings.] . Leaving Lynch lying there alone with the flames and the melted glowy pool that used to be Hippolytos.
She grabbed onto the ground in front of her, pulling herself along, further from the entrance, towards the Hippolytos pool. Her back still felt like it was on fire, her shoulder felt like it was about to come loose. She wasn't sure why he melted, but that didn't matter. He was obviously the most hostile, and he was dealt with now, she had to just get to Raluag and get out of here somehow!
She grabbed onto a piece of rubble with her good arm, pulling herself up to her feet. Unable to keep herself from stumbling as she looked at the two holes in the wall, [Eleanor was still in the building], and once she looked through the door closest to her, she saw the [non-functioning] Elevator. There was only one way she could get out of the building at this point. She pulled herself up the pile of rubble, painstakingly stopping herself from making any noise she could, and rolled through one of the holes in the wall; landing roughly on her back outside of the building.
The Flames were still licking across the grass, She could easily see the Homunculi running through the forest, or flying in the air to stay out of harms way. Those still inside the building were safe from this particular fire for the time being, but it would mean hell if they tried to leave, provided it was still burning. 'What even started this blaze anyway?' She had to ask herself, not seeing any clear answers immediately. It didn't matter.
Using the wall as support to pull herself back to her feet again, she leant against it as she limped her way around the building. Scarcely breathing as turned the corner, reaching the far side of the building.
The first thing she saw was a dented limousine[rented from a private company by Martha Sitz], parked a couple of miles to the right on the road. Some Homunculi, a small, but strong looking one, still moving although it was on fire; [David 2 [created from the DNA of Eleanor Troy and David Smerf[Train Driver, lives on Train#4(Alive}] Contains Essence of Sicrum, Born 24th December, 2:00pm 'Teenage' Homunculi] and smaller, reptilian one with blade-like arms that had completely avoided any harm [Erica [created from the DNA of Melody Swanson[Supply Trader, lives on Train#2(Deceased)], Contains Essence of Sicrum, Born 22nd December, 8:00am 'Adult' Homunculi] fighting against someone she recognized to be Emil Eaton [Corpse revived and controlled by Martha Sitz]
Erica was moving quickly, going in and slashing straight down on the Zombified Emil's limbs and darting away before he could strike her in retaliation. Not that he'd be able to, as David 2 was also bearing down on him with all his strength. Pushing into him like a wrestler trying to push his opponent out of the arena. Lynch's burnt shoulder nagged at her. Threatening to consume her entire arm as her gaze travelled further to the right, finding two very familiar figures standing a very safe distance away. One of them wearing the most obnoxious christmas sweater she'd ever seen in her life, firing a gun at the Homunculi for no effect, and the other just standing there.
[Martha Sitz and Delilah Zima, both on the hunt for Raluag. Distracted]
'Good, My power's still active, Delilah hasn't disconnected it yet,' Lynch let herself exhale a sigh of relief, Those two didn't know she was here.. But.. how had they even tailed Raluag to this location? It couldn't be a coincidence, could it?
"Damnit!" Martha exclaimed, her voice echoing as she fired[wasted] another bullet at David 2, "Damnit!! I'm not letting these Devils get in my way!" She shook the gun, as Erica charged and slashed across Emil's back again, running from one side of the road to the other. Rusty blood dripped from the wound, but since his heart wasn't beating, it didn't flow. It just dropped out like spilled water from a cup. He didn't stagger, continuing to fight against David 2.
"Your knives! You idiot, use your knives! Fight back!!" Martha yelled, adjusting her aim as she fired a bullet at Erica- only to miss when the lithe Homunculi dashed back to the other side. She flailed her arm wildly, turning to face Delilah instead." Grrh! This is all useless! Delilah, we're going to find another way in, Understand?" [She wants a verbal response.]
Delilah, holding onto her elbows, peered over to the research labs.
"Understand?" Martha repeated, Delilah nodded as she was prompted to, turning away. [She noticed you.] Martha took a step closer, grabbing onto Delilah's shoulder. "Hey, focus. Look at me when I'm talking to you." She said, [she wants a verbal response.]
Behind her, Erica ran into Emil's side one more time; stabbing right through his kidney with it's blade arms; poking all the up through his shoulder. While Emil staggered in place, David 2 pushed him (and Erica) to the side and advanced on the two Cult Members. Martha turned around [way too fast], and instantly stumbled backwards. "Shit!" She exclaimed as Delilah tensed up wordlessly behind her.
As her expression welled up with rage, Martha held a hand out in front of Delilah as she pointed her gun at it- only for David 2 to bring it's muscular arm up and swat her right in the face; sending her flying into the overgrown grass on the other side of the road. [Dropping her gun on the roadside.] Delilah backed away, staring straight at David 2 with wide eyes and an open mouth, [Ready to run]
[Someone's behind you.]
Lynch didn't even have a chance to react before she felt [Eleanor's Hand] grab onto her hoodie, pulling her back at first before wrapping her arm around her. There was something in her grip as well, Lynch looked down and saw she was holding onto that toy peacock again.
"..Hello." Eleanor's voice, her mouth, right against Lynch's ear. With no care for Lynch's current wounds, Eleanor held onto her with all of her strength "Do you mind waiting a bit? We'll get out of here in just a moment. We can talk then."
Eleanor then walked out from behind the building, forcibly pushing Lynch along with her. "David!" She called out, grabbing the Homunculi's attention before it could attack Delilah as well. Walking on up to them with the most intent Lynch had seen in her thus far. "You okay!?"
David 2 nodded, as Delilah stood there- almost like a statue. Eleanor ignored her [for the time being] and turned to look at the other Homunculi, Erica. "..Oh, Erica, Take your hand out of that thing." She sighed as though disciplining a small child.The Blade-Armed, small Homunculi looked to the ground as it stepped back, letting it's arm slip out of Emil, who ragdolled to the ground immediately. Still twitching, [still undead.] Next, she turned to Delilah. "And you. You're with the Red Moon, right? Stay there." She said, with a new, cold tone of voice. Walking onto the road.
She let go of Lynch, holding the toy peacock underneath her arm as she walked in front of her. Lynch could see she had the silver backpack [full of Petri Dishes, and a map of the continent.] hanging loosely from her shoulder as well. Everyone else was almost completely still as the brunette walked over to the small gun [3 bullets remaining] lying on the roadside. Eleanor bent over and picked it up.
And pointed it straight at Delilah.
"..Ah..!" Delilah's wide mouth vocalized, as she moved to run for it.
"Stay. Right. There." Eleanor's voice was cold, uninvolved as she held her finger to the trigger, her half-closed eyes were strange, cold, a hollow black. Like they weren't looking at anything. "You didn't come alone. Did you. You're that kid Martha adopted. Where is she?"
'..You can run now' Lynch told herself, 'There's only 3 bullets in that gun, just run. Straight into the woods. With your power, there's no way she can hit you.'
Delilah wasn't talking, only shivering as she stared straight down the barrel of Martha's gun. Her open mouth clamped itself shut and she furrowed her brows. Eleanor coldly quirked a brow.
"Suit yourself." She said, pulling the trigger.. to no effect. "..Hm." She pulled it again, and again, but there was no effect. It was as though the gun had jammed. She tried a third time, but nothing happened.
'It doesn't matter if these two take each other out, they're both your enemies.' That same part of her brain whispered. 'Don't just stand there like a idiot, get out of there!'
Eleanor rubbed one of her eyes, lowering the gun. "..Fine. Erica, stab her." The Blade-armed Homunculi snapped to attention and nodded eagerly, as Eleanor took a step to the side to allow it a clear line straight to it's would-be victim. Like a blur, it dashed forwards. Blades out in front like a Lancer running into battle, Delilah stumbled backwards, tripping over her own feet as Erica ran up to her-
Delilah began to fall- Erica leaned in closer and swung it's arm forwards, it barely missed it's target- but still made contact, slicing a clean line along her wrist. The Teen let out a pained gasp just before she fell to the ground.
"Ua... Ah....Ahhhh...!!" Delilah groaned, as she slowly moved her arm down. Seeing the blood stain her sleeve, and fall onto the roadside. She reached for it with her other hand before cringing, pulling it away again. "Ahh... Ahhh..." Wide eyes, gaping jaw, she looked up from her wound at Erica as the homunculi brought it's arm downwards- "UaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!" Delilah's scream ruptured Lynch's senses, bombarded by colour; she and everyone -everything- else got blown back- sent flying away from the young girl as the soundwaves shone with the colours of the rainbow before giving way to static. Lynch couldn't see where anyone else landed, she fell into the grass, but found she didn't feel anything as she kept rolling- her entire world dyed white.
"AAAAAAAAAAAH!!AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!" The screams bellowed out of Delilah's mouth, as the world faded into a unperceivable mess. A I m p e r c e i v a b l .. . ..
-----
---
"..Uh!?"
"'Uh' is right! How'd she do that!?"
The two white haired kids stared at their own reflections in the now pitch-black screen of the paradox computer.
The one in the private school uniform put his hand to the computer itself, lowering his brow. "..It's still on." He said, "I can feel it's warmth."
"Then why's it blacked out!?" The Kid in the rabbit hoodie asked, yellow eyes glowing as he brought his foot down on the machine. Grabbing onto the monitor with both hands and forcibly turning it this way and that. It didn't so much as flicker as it was manhandled.
"I don't think that's going to help-" The Private school kid frowned; and the kid in the rabbit hoodie stopped immediately.
The Rabbit hoodie kid met eyes with Private School, and then nodded. "..Right, sorry. What should I do then?"
"Uh, we might just want to get out of here?" The Private School Kid suggested. "I doubt it's anything like a problem with the wires and... I don't want any of those things up there to kill us."
"Then we'll wait them out." The Kid in the Rabbit Hoodie said. " Wait til those Creatures are gone, 'til the Uniguard are gone, then we'll get out of here, and keep doing what we've been doing since we started."
"..Just.. not get noticed?" The Private School kid asked. "..How's that going to work out? If they find us; then they'll take you out once they see your eyes- and if they know anything about what happened at the Cailloux's then they'll definitely take me as well and then- th-then.-.. then-" With each word, he grew more distressed; holding his hands over his head as he squeezed his eyes shut. The Kid in the Rabbit Hoodie went over to him as soon as he noticed, wrapping his around around him in a hug.
"Hey, hey. It's okay." The Rabbit Hoodie Kid smiled, "It's all going to be fine, Chuo. If you don't want to just hide here, then we'll find another way out. So it's all fine, see? Look, Look, I'm you, and you're me, so we can definitely do this -whatever this is- together."
"..Yeah.." The Private School Boy, named Chuo, limply nodded. "..Yeah, you're right."
"Of course you are." The Rabbit Hoodie Kid smiled. His eyes flickering. "Just go with what your gut tells you."
For the time being, Chuo decided to stay in front of the disconnected monitor screen, and return the hug that his yellow-eyed counterpart had given him.
For those brief moments, it was completely silent.
End of Part 9.
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Post by IDEK on Aug 10, 2019 20:09:35 GMT
=====Connection Error=========
... Lynch's eyes were still open, but all they saw was white. It didn't feel like she was lying on anything either. Thoughts didn't come to her in words- in the form of a voice, only feelings. The Feeling that she should've just ran away, then she wouldn't have been so close that whatever Delilah did that left her like this.
Experimenting with the world she found herself in, Lynch successfully moved her arm... Finding that she could move just fine, she pulled herself up to her feet, wobbling slightly as she found her way. It was odd, felt like she was floating- like she wasn't even inhabiting the body she was controlling.
Had that blast knocked her unconscious? Or was she just disconnected from the world around her, standing on the road like a idiot? At least every mystery about Delilah's power had been answered, right in front of her. Her power is to disconnect, and it looked as though she had just disconnected everything.
...
...
And ?;!;?;!'s later, Lynch felt someone else's presence. Turning to her right, her eyes widened in shock when she saw the child standing there, staring straight at her with a smile that was centuries older than the rest of the body. Black messy hair, wide green eyes, wearing a orange T-Shirt and green shorts, Fawn as she had been back when Lynch first saw her was smiling right at her.
"Hey." Fawn's voice reverberated in Lynch's memory. "You're going off script. You're supposed to say yes at the end if we're supposed to reach the true ending."
The words of someone who meant well didn’t match up with the malice Lynch could see plain as day on the curves of that smile. As that thought faded away, so too did Fawn, and the white blankness Lynch had been surrounded by-
...
"Okay everyone, let's take it from the top!"
There were two people standing on a stage. One was wearing a black jacket and grey trousers, with long orange hair and green eyes. The other was just dressed up in a set of armour and a cape.
Another Fawn, a older one wearing a brown button up suit and holding a script in her hands peeked out from behind the curtain; hidden in the shadows cast by the spotlight. The Front Row Seats were completely occupied by other Fawns in different outfits, but there were a extra 3 figures in the very back that couldn't be made out.
The Two actors looked to the front of the stage, where a Teleprompter had been unsubtly positioned. They began to read the words displayed on the screen.
The Man in the suit of armour looked to the woman with orange hair, speaking monotonously. "I know now isn't the right place or time, but I would rather go ahead and ask it, knowing you will probably say no, then wonder if you would have said yes. As you said, I've been at this for 12 years now, maybe not quite that long, maybe longer, but still.
That said I don’t know when I will end up asking after this, probably later on when things settle down as I said. I know I can be a pain at times, and annoying, and probably a burden, and I have trouble making up my mind, in fact sometimes I feel like your life would be so much better if I never existed, and I'm not gonna be heart broken or anything if you say no, in fact I'm expecting it, but at least I asked.
I hope you understand, I know recently I've put you in situations where you feel awkward, among other things, but I try not to, I really do, and I'm sorry for all those times I've done that, but no matter what your answer will be, I may be all of those things I mentioned, but despite that I will always try to be the best I can be for you, nothing will ever change that."
'Liar. Of course you'd be heartbroken if I said no.'
"..Omalley.." The Woman said, matching his wooden performance in quality.
"Lynch.. Will you marry me?" The Man in the Armour asked, completely monotonously.
The Woman cast another quick glance at the teleprompter, before looking away, hand over her mouth.. "..Oh, it's well.. y'see..."
She turned to face him again, and gave him a massive hug. "..Yes, of course."
The Curtains on the Closure closed, to the sound of a audience that couldn't care less. All of the Fawns got up and went about to do their own business. The 3 Shadowed Figures in the back remained, one of them browsing their phone, one looking to the other two to gauge their responses and the last one applauding.
Behind the Curtain, the Man in the Armour walked away, leaving the Woman with Orange Hair and Green eyes alone with the Fawn in brown.
"..Hey, ###, good work today." The Fawn in brown smiled, waving her script in the air as she placed her hand on the woman's shoulder.
### didn't make any movements beyond the ones necessary to say "So, what's my next part supposed to be?"
"Oh, it's simple. Your character, and Omalley are going to have a Son. He'll take care of the rest of it, You'll need to show up for only one more scene, but you'll need a haircut and a new, white jacket before you do that. Maybe get a cute sidebraid?" Fawn suggested.
"..Okay, sure. Sounds doable, how long do I have?" ### asked.
"Well, if he could be born by 2044 at the latest, that'd be swell, thanks." Fawn smiled. "I'll see you later, there's rumours of a bunny uprising on one of the northern continents."
With that, the Fawn in Brown vanished, taking the scenery with her.
...
Lynch, the actual Lynch with white eyes, was back in the nowhere, staring down at the actor who had been pretending to be her in that vision just now. Who was lying flat on her back with no facial expression whatsoever.
Her mouth curled into a grimace as she looked down at her doppelganger.
"Don't look at me like that." The Green-Eyed Lynch frowned, remaining on the floor. "I'm just playing my part, which you never did."
Lynch's eyes widened, something had changed, she whirled around again to see more and more Lynch's lying on the ground sprawled out in different positions all over. Each of them looking straight at her with differently coloured eyes.
She could feel the air again, it was weighing down on her shoulders as all of the other Lynch's began to pull themselves up to their feet. The Green eyed one simply rolled over and read through her script.
"Yeah." One of the Lynch's made her way towards her. Sneering at her with familiar, cold grey eyes. "And what? Come on, girl. Omalley? Who'd ever want to be with someone like that? Hearts like his just deserve to be trampled on, you know? It's the only way to get them to leave you alone."
She walked on up to the White-Eyed Lynch and placed her hand on her shoulder, smiling. "It's great seeing someone who sees him just how I do."
The White-Eyed Lynch furrowed her brows and slapped her hand away, "Don't talk like that. You're nothing like me at all."
"Exactly!" Another Lynch, with Brown Eyes agreed. "She doesn't hate him, She just don't want to be with him right now, that's all. She's always been a loner, there's nothing wrong with that."
"Oh please, why are you trying to defend us?" The Grey-Eyed Lynch smirked. "There's nothing wrong with accepting what we did. We killed him, and couldn't care less."
"We didn't ask for him to attach himself to us." A Purple-eyed Lynch folded her arms, sighing. "It's not like he had anything to do with me, he just felt bad that he couldn't help me one time and kept feeling like that. Lynch wasn't under any obligation to accept his feelings, he said so himself. This is his fault, not ours."
"No, that's not true either!" The Brown-eyed Lynch exclaimed, clutching her chest emphatically. "It's nobody's fault! It was just unfortunate, that's all!"
"Personally, I'd blame Fawn." The Green-eyed Lynch on the floor added.
"Hey, what do you think?" The Purple eyed one asked, turning to face the White-Eyed Lynch. "Whose fault was it?"
"Wh.. How am I supposed to answer that?" The White-Eyed Lynch asked, "How am I supposed to know? You're all.."
..
"..I suppose you're all kind of right, in a way."
"..Really?" The Purple-Eyed one asked, speaking in a low tone of voice. "You're just going to say 'oh, everyone’s right' as though that solves anything!? Don't accept any of the blame for this! Omalley had other friends, he had other people! But you said no and he went and took himself out of the picture, it's because of that that all these other morons are running round causing all of this bullshit! It's obvious that he's too blame!!"
"You're just going to blame someone for being in love, huh!?" The Grey-Eyed Lynch growled, grabbing the Purple-Eye'd one by the throat and lifting her up by the neck. "You know how guardians work, the person the guardian protects turning against them, or refusing them is the worst thing that could happen to them-!"
"Well, did we ever ask him to protect us!?" The Purple-eyed Lynch asked, speaking perfectly clearly despite being strangled. "Huh, did we!?"
"No!" The Grey-Eyed Lynch yelled, not noticing the White Eyed Lynch slowly backing away from the conversation entirely.
The Brown-eyed Lynch then went into the fray, "It didn't have to be that way, there were many other ways it could've gone! He was fine just being at our side, right? Don't try to throw it into a unwanted white knight situation-"
"But that's exactly what it was!"
"I'm telling you that it wasn't!"
'..I don't really.. care anymore.'
As she turned to walk away, Lynch only found herself face to face with someone else. A Young girl with her orange hair tied into a ponytail with a platted segment to the left, wearing a light blue jacket and a shirt with a dinosaur on it.
"..You know that none of this is real, right?" The young girl asked. "Like, it's all in your head?" Lynch nodded. "And, you know who I am, right?"
"..Yeah. You're me when I was like, 10 or something, right?" Lynch asked.
The young girl nodded, "That'd be right. Kind of. It's been a while, you haven't been 10 years old in like forever."
"..I haven't really been any years, in forever." Lynch commented.
"..I suppose you're right, hey, want to take a walk with me?" The younger girl asked. "Get away from these lame-o's."
Lynch looked behind her again, only to see all of those other.. strange walking misconceptions and understandings of her had all vanished without a trace. It was just her and her younger self in a endless void..
..Or, what looked like her younger self, she never remembered saying anything like 'lame-o's, even when she was 10..
"Hey, you know that you're just dreaming." The Young girl raised her voice, as Lynch blinked again- feeling her eyes open and close in real life. "That's the wrong part to get hung up on."
'Everything looks... grainy..'
"I.. suppose so." Lynch muttered, putting her hand to her forehead. "...So, what do you think about all of this?"
"That doesn't matter at all. I'm just a figment of your imagination, whatever I think will undoubtedly be influenced by what you think, and I'd say that's what truly matters here." The Young Girl answered matter-of-factly.
"...Well.." Lynch sighed, folding her arms. "..I suppose.. It's just bothersome, that things even turned out this way."
"How do you mean?"
She closed her eyes, pressing a hand against her forehead. "Like, I didn't want to be with him, and nothing's going to change that.. that's not the bit that bothers me.
It's been.. years. This shouldn't even matter anymore, he should have found someone else already, I should be going by Delia Laurel right now, instead of Lynch Rise or whatever the crap. "
"So, you're annoyed that your past is still haunting you, and that nobody's moved on?.. I can understand that, honestly."
'..That voice...'
"But, if you didn't want to be called Lynch, then you could've said something. Everyone else knew you as Lynch, so it only made sense to keep calling you that after you vanished. As a counterpart to Omalley's name change, you know. Fall and Rise? It ties together, doesn't it?"
Trying to ignore the growing headache, Lynch responded. “Thematically, I guess. But I still didn't give myself that name, all of these other people acting like they know me did."
"..The way I see it, how can anyone know you? You put every ounce of effort into hiding yourself from everyone who looks at you. But I think I know what the truth is...you're a deliberate mystery. You want nothing more than to sink into the void and not be known by anyone at all. That includes this new Eleanor girl, and it included Omalley way back when as well, the very fact that someone knew you was a cause of discomfort."
At that moment, her sense of touch returned. She could feel the ground move underneath her legs, arms wrapped around her torso lugging her along behind them-
"These people are here looking for answers, but they’re not going to ever get any answers, are they? At this point you don't have a real name, even the one your parents gave you is in its own way a pseudo-"
Her eyes snapped open.
------------------------------
"SHUT UP!" She exclaimed, swinging her arm back instinctively; before she even registered that she was in the middle of the forest; her elbow made contact with glasses and the person holding her released her immediately; stumbling backwards and letting her fall onto her back.
"..Geez, Sorry.. you didn't need to hit me like that." Eleanor groaned, leaning against a tree as she rubbed her face. All of the pain from the previous battle seized Lynch again when she tried to stand back up. Forcing her to remain on the ground for the time.
Eleanor made no advances towards her however. Lynch kept her hands tensed up, ready for a fight.. but nobody made any moves. Her breath slowed as the tension reached a stilling point.
Eventually, Eleanor moved her mouth. Choosing to speak instead of initiate a fight. "..I... Don't know how much of that conversation you were actually conscious for.." The Brunette muttered, shaking her head.
Lynch peered over at her, her back still felt like it was on fire. "..I don't know how much of the conversation I just had was with you, or with that weird dream."
"..I, I didn't say much.. but I heard enough to understand you a bit better." Eleanor lowered her head. "...That weird girl, she managed to both blind and deafen me, and when my senses returned she was gone... If her power is related to her personality.. I can only wonder why she is the way she is..."
"..Just like me, she doesn't seem the type to tell you anything willingly." Lynch muttered, adjusting her arms- trying to find some position she could use to prop herself up without just causing more pain to flare up.
Eleanor let out a loud sigh, Lynch could feel the sadness radiating off of her. "..It's fine, I suppose. Something else will probably kill Martha down the line anyway. This stage of this world's life cycle is already ending. Hopefully the next rulers of this planet make something out of it."
"..The next.. rulers?" Lynch asked. "..You mean.." 'How to phrase this without sounding rude..' "...Your kids?"
Eleanor cast a glance to the distance, "More or less." She sighed. "..Erica's out.. but David 2, Robert, George, Tsumiki Jr, and many others that I brought with me all still alive. I doubt anyone's figured out their weakness yet, so it should be fine for them. They should be able to live on this earth and do a better job with it than we humans ever did."
"..Somehow, I doubt that." Lynch frowned, successfully propping herself into a seated position.
"From what I heard, you really have a hard time trusting other people, don't you?" Eleanor asked. "I can't blame you. You're minding your own business, then we come along and rub your past in your face. It's not like you have any idea who we are, so I can understand you feeling distrustful of us. But I am on your side. Please don't think otherwise."
"You just think you are." Was Lynch's blunt, cutting remark. ".. Just earlier, about that girl, You said you could only wonder why she is that way. All you're doing is trying to satisfy the curiosity you have about me, right? To see if we're both of the same cut, or something like that."
At that moment, she realized something. "I killed your boyfriend earlier, aren't you even mad about that?"
"Oh, he's not my boyfriend!" Eleanor's cheeks flushed, she put her hand to her mouth and looked down at the ground. "..Well, he wasn't my boyfriend. He's... dead now." She said those words as though she hadn't entirely processed them yet. ".. That idiot." She scowled. "It's his fault, literally. He made that ball of fire and didn't get out of the way in time. Stupid men keep attaching themselves to us and causing their own deaths."
Lynch grabbed onto a nearby tree; using it to pull herself up to her feet. She kept her eyes on Eleanor, on all of the pentagrams and crosses dangling from her sleeves, to the empty space that used to be home to her necklace.
Come to think of it, that backpack and the toy peacock weren't anywhere in sight either. Nor were any of Eleanor's Homunculi.. The possibility that something strange was still going on only became more and more probable as Lynch pondered these oddities.
"..No response? That's fine I guess.." Eleanor kept her eyes on the ground as she pulled that same tiny gun out of her sleeve again, looking at it cautiously, as though it could explode at any moment. "No point forcing you to talk to me at this point."
".." Lynch closed her eyes, exhaled, and then opened them again. Eleanor wasn't pointing the gun at anything yet. "...Another thing you said earlier; This world's life cycle is already ending, what does that mean?"
"Oh, that, that's simple." Eleanor blinked, pulled out of her stupor. "It's like with the dinosaurs. With the days when all that lived was bacteria in the water, with whatever could've possibly existed before that, .. I saw somewhere that, eventually the Sun's going to get bigger and bigger, as the star goes through its lifespan, and eventually it'll consume the earth. After that, the Sun will explode into a supernova, then either a nebula or a black hole. It's just how things are, nothing lasts forever.
I'm not going to last forever, nor are you. Nor is any of the societies or towns on this planet... At least this way, I get to be remembered by those who take over once we all leave."
"..I can't understand that." Lynch frowned. "..Well, I can understand the 'nothing lasts forever' spiel but.. this is how you want everyone to remember you? The person that unleashed a horde of strange mutants on the world?"
"..It's 'those mutants' who'll be living on this planet once humanities gone. Lynch." Eleanor frowned, disappointment dripping off her tongue. "All of Humanity's going to die off eventually, nobody's going to be remembering anything when there's nobody left. If all goes well my kids will be hanging around for a long time."
Lynch looked straight through her eyes. "You're saying all of that, yet you're on my side?"
"..Well, I can sympathize with you. This world hasn't been kind to you at all." Eleanor explained.
"Or to anyone! How do you even know about me?" Lynch asked.
Eleanor paused. "..It wasn't hard. Lots of people already knew about you. The Red Moon, the Uniguard, plenty of them. Anyone who knew about Omalley knew about you.
But, I wanted to know a bit more about you than just that. Even among those who personally knew them, there were so many unanswered questions about you. So, before I.. finish what I started, I wanted to know you. The person everyone who realized that this was avoidable wanted to blame for this."
"..Even though you never knew me." Lynch sighed.
"Even though I never.. knew you." Eleanor nodded, as the conversation faded into nothing.
Lynch had other questions she wanted to ask, and she could tell Eleanor had plenty she wanted to know as well. The events of that weird dream were still ringing in her head.
"..Is that all?" Lynch asked. ".. Because I've got a friend I need to get back to."
"..The Omnipotent?" Eleanor asked. "..Why did you choose to go with her, anyway?"
"I needed a place to hide out while the Red Moon was in power, so did she." Lynch answered, already turning around. "Now, I've really got to get going."
"You're.. just going to leave me? E-Even though I'm ending the world?" Eleanor stammered.
"..You're not." Was Lynch's response, the orange haired, white-eyed woman didn't even turn to look at her. "You've had all of these chances, yet you haven't attempted to shoot me yet. And on top of that, I doubt that all of humanities just going to die because of these guys. The Red Moon might fall apart, but that's a given after all of the hits it's taken. What's happening right now isn't the end of the world or the end of humanity, it's just that this phase is ending, and a new one is starting. It happens all the time."
"..Yeah, that's true." Eleanor conceded.
Lynch kept her hold on the tree, walking away from Eleanor; limping from one tree to the next.
"Where are you going now?" Eleanor couldn't help but ask.
"..To think things over a bit." Lynch said. "...If you stormed your way across the continent to look for answers, then I'm sorry, but I don't have any. I've just been.. scared, all this time. Of people trying to know me. Because of things that happened a long time ago. People that wouldn't leave me alone. People that kept trying to protect me, or kept trying to get someone else to protect me. Trying to act as though I've always been paired up with that guy..
..That Aro guy, that Spy, Even Omalley himself, I didn't want that. So I left.. and I've decided that I don't want this either. These Scientists pulling those books back out again, people like your boyfriend vilifying me, and everything else. All of this bullshit, I'm backing out of it."
"..Lynch..." Eleanor stumbled over that one word, as the only other person for miles limped her way past another tree.
"Also, stop calling me Lynch." That person said. "That's something else I left behind that everyone else kept dragging back. I'm going to leave it again, starting now."
"...Are you going to go back to Delia, then?" Eleanor asked. "You said that's the name you were going by now, right?...Is that the name you were using to hide from the Red Moon?"
"It was, but no. Not that one either." She said, as she kept walking. "..Goodbye now."
"..Yeah. Bye." Eleanor sighed, almost meekly, as she looked from the gun in her hands, to Lynch. Her half-closed eyes snapped to attention as she regained herself. "No! Wait!!" She called out, capturing the other woman's attention again, she turned her head; staring across the distance between the two. "..Before you go." Eleanor continued, raising her gun hand up. "..I've been planning to do this for a while, after I was satisfied... And I think I'm satisfied now."
"..What does that mean..?" The White-eyed Woman asked, eyeing that gun. Eleanor gave her a warm smile and pressed the gun straight against her own left ear, her finger on the trigger.
"It was nice while it lasted. But I've done everything I wanted to do, and if I hang around, someone's going to ruin this for me. And... I know, that you may not have meant to, but you've told me everything I wanted to know. So.. thank you." She said, still smiling as her hair waved in the wind, she rested her finger on the trigger. The white-eyed woman's eyes shot wide open as she snapped to attention turning around as fast as possible and thrusting her hands forwards; sending a gust of wind at Eleanor- aiming for the gun in her ha-
There wasn't even a noise, she had been just a second too late; a spurt of red exploded from one side of Eleanor's head just before the wind struck her; knocking the smoking gun from her hand and knocking her off her feet. Several of her bracelet's slid off her wrists as her glasses cracked from the sheer wind pressure. It was like she was processing everything in twice the time it actually took to happen. Everything felt slow. Blood spurting from one side, and dark clouds flying out of the other; swirling around her like a cyclone.
All at once, everything flying in the breeze hit the ground; dark clouds leaving through the bullet hole and remaining just above her. Lynch couldn't help but stare at it, wide-eyed, panting for breath. This wasn't like earlier, with Hippolytos who was trying to kill her.. No. This was completely different.
'Such a flimsy reason...' She couldn't help but think, looking down at the corpse and the mess of accessories scattered around it. 'Such a flimsy.. reason..' What she was feeling.. it wasn't sadness. Why would it be? She didn't know this woman; in the brief time she had been in Lynch's life she'd caused nothing but inconvenience and chaos. Chances are, Eleanor had caused way more of that than Lynch would even know. Not even minutes ago she'd been pointing a gun at a scared teenager, then once she got everything she wanted, she had used that same gun on herself..
'..This couldn't be everything she wanted...'
..She couldn't entirely understanding 'why', but she imagined Eleanor couldn't really understand why she did the things she did either. She wanted to kick herself, making that comparison. Eleanor had been planning to do this all along? She couldn't just believe that...
"...I.. can't just stay here, staring at you." She frowned, about to turn around-
she was interrupted immediately. As soon as she turned around she found herself face to face with a group of Eleanor's Homunculi. Staring right past her, at the dead body of their.. mother. The Tallest, biggest one turned its face as though looking at her. The strange holes where its eyes would be almost shrinking as it appeared to contemplate something.
A Smaller, kidlike one wearing a silver backpack ran straight past Lynch, ignoring her entirely and kneeling down next to Eleanor's motionless body. After it, the rest of them- about 10 or so- walked past her. Barely brushing against Lynch's shoulders as they walked over to the kid. One of them placed its hand on the kid's shoulder, in a gesture anyone could recognize as comforting, while one of the bigger ones scooped Eleanor up in its arms, they didn't give Lynch so much as a passing thought as they carried on into the woods. The dark clouds leaking out of her head followed behind them.
Apart from a couple of blood stains, every sign that Eleanor had been there had vanished within moments. Eleanor's body, the crosses and pentagram bracelet's scattered in the wake, the gun itself. The Homunculi had taken all of it and left, without paying Lynch any mind at all.
A Heaviness in her heart, She was silent as she turned around and went back the way she came. She still had a couple of things to deal with, after all.
Once all of this was over, there was something else she had to do..
------------------------------
Tsukiko had returned with Albert Frank and a couple of other's in one piece, before leaving as immediately as she had previously. Even now, she was presumably still been fishing people out of the chaos in the labs with Nogra since the word 'go'.
Albert had been pretty badly wounded, even now he was weakly breathing for air as Victor wrapped improvised bandages around his chest. Sorin was now awake, his face in his hands as he sat limply on one of the chairs, but Natália had yet to stir. The rest were either sitting in silence like Sorin or chattering amongst themselves. Raluag herself sat next to Victor, simply watching the rest of the slowly growing crowd of people.
Fawn remained seated on the rock, squinting as she attempted to parse the scene she had witnessed from a great distance- a distance too great for her to accurately know what had even happened.
A Noise was being carried by the breeze, but nobody could make it out.
Without saying a word, Fawn hopped off the rock and ran towards the scene.
"F-Fawn?" Sorin asked, grasping the armrest and failing to push himself to his feet. One of the other scientists -Aiden Blaine- shot up from his seat immediately.
"I-I'll go after her!" He stuttered as he took off running. Nobody stopped him, but a couple of others followed after him with similar exclamations. Raluag looked at the backs of their heads as they ran away- unable to ignore the feeling that something that had been with her a couple of seconds ago had vanished...
She was still injured, so Raluag knew she couldn't go after them. It sucked, but she just had to stay here..
It seemed too presumptuous for her to dare to hope everything could just magically sort itself out..
------------------------------
Clank!... Cla-Bang!... Bang!... Thunk!.... CRACK!
12th Floor, Eckstein Research Labs. Shawn was still at it. Smashing apart the hardware inside the now completely totalled machine. He was almost out of breath, looking over it as he wiped his fringe away from his forehead. Everything was a wreck, shattered into unidentifiable tiny little pieces scattered across the room. He brought his foot down open the final piece of wiring. Shattering it under his boot.
Two shot up bodies were lying in the same room, unmoved. But that didn't matter to Shawn, not at this point, he continued to wipe away at his fringe as he backed his way towards the storage room door and looked at his work.
"..Alright, good." He sighed to himself, pulling his phone out and flipping it open. "Finally done with this shithole."
He held his finger onto his phone, staring into the default wallpaper and the complete absence of any signal for him to use to call anyone, as the noises from the floors below- that had been so constant while he was working these past minutes that he had forced himself to tune them out- fell into almost-silence. Even the footsteps on the stairs between the 12th and 11th floors had stopped, as though whatever was hanging around there had just vanished.
And it was only when they stopped that he even noticed they had been there. Why had they stopped?
"..Shit.." He sighed, practically pressing his face against his phone. "..Fawn? Aren't you watching this? I'm done, so get me out of this shitfest already!"
Silence.
"At least call me or something!" He grimaced, looking from app to app. Even the Wi-fi connection had completely cut out, 'one of those stupid things downstairs must have destroyed the router or something' he thought to himself, scrambling for a explanation. She wouldn't just leave him here- and with her powers things like time were basically meaningless.. so something had to be stopping her from getting to -or interacting with- this point in time -or this space- specifically.
At that moment, something appeared out of the corner of his eye. A White Dog landing on the floor not too far from him.
'Oh, she sent Nogra?' Shawn reasoned, turning around and looking to it with a sigh of relief that quickly proved itself to be made just a second too soon. This was the wrong Nogra, that much was obvious when Shawn saw that Tsukiko of all people had appeared in the room alongside it.
Tsukiko met eyes with Shawn, her mouth hanging limply as her red eyes slowly looked over to Zuri.
"...Nogra, get her out of here." Tsukiko muttered, her voice was nothing more than a whisper. "You." She held her hand out, pointing a gun straight at Shawn's chest. "Stay right where you are."
Shawn frowned, rolling his eyes. "..For fuck sake." He muttered, as Tsukiko cocked her gun slightly. His gun was still in his labcoat pocket, but if he reached for it; especially without being able to get ahold of Fawn in the event that something went wrong... it just wouldn't be worth it. He reluctantly held his hands in the air.
Nogra jumped over to Zuri's collapsed, unmoving body and the two of them vanished into a brief-lasting rip in space. They vanished as quickly as the Dog had appeared in the first place.
"..Sitala was right." Tsukiko muttered. "..You've completely wrecked this place. Did you see a opportunity when the Homunculi attacked? Or did their attack force you into acting more blatantly, Shawn?"
"Come on, don't pretend you knew what was going on here." Shawn groaned.
"Fine, I didn't have the full picture. But here you are, with a gun in your pocket, with two other scientists lying in pools of blood around you. With the Portal you were all working on a total wreck, and with another Shawn Harrison currently walking his beloved Husky down the streets of Ol Skaebe as we speak." Tsukiko rested her tongue between her teeth. Staring directly through his eyes.
Shawn grimaced, adjusting his stance. Tsukiko was way smaller than him, but he could tell that she was tough from how she was holding herself. But nothing like that mattered when he was being held at gunpoint. It wasn't like he had any powers, after all.
In a moment, Nogra re-appeared in a blip of light, turning its head to look down at Kendrick.
"..You don't need to bother with him." Shawn quirked a brow. "He's already dead."
The Dog didn't grace him with a response.
"Geez, tough crowd." The Blond rolled his eyes, as Tsukiko stomped her way up to him as she pulled out a pair of handcuffs. Pressing the gun right against his shirt as she walked behind him.
"Hands beyond your back. Now." Tsukiko said, a harsh glint in her eyes.
------------------------------
"...So, is she going to be okay?"
It had only been silent for a few minutes. But evidently even a single minute of silence was too much for Sitala. She and Augustina were the newest additions to the group camping out in the grass a safe distance away, and neither of them had sat down at all, even after Nogra briefly re-appeared to bring Zuri to Victor before vanishing just as quickly.
Even now, the two stood over Victor as he did his best to examine her wounds. Clearly annoyed, he turned and looked at them with frazzled, dark grey eyes. The Stress coming off of him in waves. Augustina kept her hands in her labcoat pocket while Sitala kept her fingers closed around the same metal bar she'd been holding since she arrived.
"Not at this rate, no! I don't have enough supplies here to deal with anymore wounds. It's not that she was shot anywhere fatal, but they've been left for too long already. They might as well already be infected, even if we do get her the first aid she actually needs. And.. why are you just expecting a single man who isn't even a qualified doctor to be able to do all this? Where's Sorin's guys and the rest of their actual trained doctors, huh!?"
Sorin looked over to Victor, adjusting the hi-tech phone he was pressing against his own ear. "I'm trying to call the others back at the base. Can't get through to anyone on the other side though. It's weird, usually things like Bad Reception aren't a issue." He explained.
Victor squinted at Sorin, leaning forwards as he put his head to his face. "..Great." The man sighed.
"Sorry, man." Sorin blinked, while Victor went back to staring and fidgeting over Zuri's unconscious body. Which had been laid out on some of the chairs. Even now, she wasn't moving. But at least she was alive.
Sitala paced back and forth impatiently, while Augustina sat herself down on the ground. "Is there anything I can do? To help?" She asked, leaning over Zuri's body.
"Uh- just-" Victor paused for a brief second before answering. "Keep pressure on the wound? It's the most we can do right now, really."
"Got it." Augustina nodded, "Sitala, keep a eye out for when the others get back."
Raluag, who had been pondering in the few moments between Sorin mentioning the bad reception and this moment, finally lifted her head up and spoke. "..It's that girl Martha had with her that's causing the bad reception."
"Huh.. Girl?" One of the scientists asked.
Albert, holding a cold pack over his bandaged shoulder, opened up a single eye as he reclined in his chair. "That girl... the one Martha.. adopted, I think." He wheezed out.
"You know about that kid?" Raluag asked. "The one that helped Martha kidnap me?"
"Did you forget?" Albert wheezed out. Using every opportunity for speech he could get between his gasps for breath. "We were watching with the paradox computer... footage always was a bit shaky whenever that girl went onscreen though... would always freeze up or start showing colourbars instead... We figured that was why that cult kept her around. A way to stop anyone from surveilling them, sounds pretty convenient, I'd say."
"Wait! If she can do dat to yah paradox-whatever, she'd be able ta fuck with Sorin's phone, right!?" Sitala asked, her accent slipping as she tightened her grip on the metal bar.
Sorin nodded in agreement "Sounds right to me... so, they've got to be around here somewhere right? That girl and that Martha woman... Can anyone see them?"
------------------------------
Martha kept her head low to the ground as she dragged herself across the dirt. Delilah was nowhere to be seen, and for the time being she couldn't care less where that girl went! There was no signal of any kind anywhere, so wherever she went she was doing everything Martha would've wanted her to anyway, so there was no problem at all!
If there was an issue, it'd be that Martha was getting dirt all over her fresh new christmas sweater and the rest of her clothes. There wasn't any snow to speak of, but the traces that used to be snow were squelching against her as she made her movements nonetheless. Nothing about this was pleasant, but at least nothing had noticed her yet.
Emil's knives, now hanging from the belt loops on her jeans, clinked together- not aware of the noise they were making on account of being inanimate. Emil himself had become useless, but at least his weapons would be able to do some good here. Even if Delilah had cancelled out the enchantments on the knives somehow, Martha knew that a knife was a knife regardless and nothing could cancel that out. It'd just take a little bit more effort is all. Nothing wrong with putting effort into the things that count.
"..Uh, can't see her anywhere." She could hear a voice, it didn't matter whose it was. The Camp full of people was still a ways in the distance, far enough away that they still couldn't see her through the grass. Close enough that she could hear them clearly. She craned her head upwards slightly, watching the movement of their heads as a few of the scientists stood up.
'They're all looking right over me..' Martha bit down on her tongue. 'I bet they're all too focused on that building, but if I'm not careful...
...Damnit. It'd be way too dangerous to get close to her, there's way too many of them. I'll have to wait.'
She kept her stomach pressed against the dirt, going back and forth between wanting to reveal herself and take them all out right here, and wanting to wait for the perfect opportunity. For Raluag to be right in arms distance before taking the knife out and...
...That wouldn't work either, she had to keep her wits about her and stay patient. Then it'd all just be sunshine and roses.
Sunshine, and roses.
Just have to wait, til they're not on guard. She peered behind her, trying to find a better hiding place..
------------------------------
And it was then, that a woman with shoulder length orange hair in a somewhat scorched yellow hoodie pushed her way through the burnt up foliage ;returning to the Research Labs. The air was empty, no words flying around... she hadn't fully recovered from Delilah's screech yet. As things stood, there was no way for her to tell who was still in there.
Everything was oddly silent, all of the Homunculi had vanished, even the fire itself had shrunk down in the grassy plain, almost being extinguished with no outside help to speak of. Only the barest patches of fire continued to burn- still blocking anyone from simply entering the tower. She looked up, the Elcarim Plateau- that the building had seemingly been built into was still more or less the same, still very tall. Remarkably untouched compared to everything else... She couldn't see the car she had drove in on from her current location, but she could only hope it hadn't been destroyed along with everything else.
The scorch-marks on the ground and the tower itself remained, even where the blazes had long since given up. It was so still, so quiet, were it not for the few flames and the rolling clouds she would've speculated that she had waltzed into a photograph.
Giving herself a chance to breathe, she walked onto the road. Her feet placed firmly where they had been before she was knocked out. There were gooey stains on the ground nearby; presumably from a Homunculus that got damaged. Eleanor's Toy Peacock was off to the side nearby, left in the dirt; dangerously close to a patch of fire that slowly but surely spreading to consume it.
That toy, that present she had received, if Lynch remembered what she had seen correctly, slowly being set alight in Eleanor's absence. Lynch briefly found herself speculating on that toy, had Eleanor thrown it there herself? Or was it just coincidence?
Her mind flashed back to that image of Eleanor, with the gun to her head. 'It was nice while it lasted, but I've done everything I wanted to do.' ... She waved her arm to the side, letting a small gust of wind wash over and extinguish the fire before it could fully consume the poor toy.
Looking further to her left, she saw that Emil's body had been looted quite thoroughly. His Jacket was discarded nearby and his face covered with the bloody scarf he had been wearing, all of his pockets were emptied out and turned inside out.
'Neither Martha nor Delilah are here..' She noticed, before turning to look to the right; at a group of people crowded around a very out of place looking limousine a distance away from the labs themselves. Usually she would've noticed their presence before, but everything was still too quiet.
One of the people inspecting the car -Fawn, of all people- turned around and happened to catch sight of the woman. Instantly her expression changed, she cupped her hands together and called out to her. "Hey, is that you, Lynch?"
"Not my name." She corrected her instantly, taking a couple of steps closer. "What's that over there?"
"It's a limousine." Fawn answered, unhelpfully. Still awkwardly averting her eyes to save herself from any eye contact. "We saw it pulling up earlier, that Martha lady must've been driving it."
"...You saw her?" The Woman asked.
"I saw someone, from a distance." Fawn shrugged. "..They're gone now though."
One of the other scientists poked his head out of the back of the car and added "I don't see why they'd leave their car behind, so they must still be around here somewhere."
"They're probably still looking for Raluag. Do you know where she is?" The Woman only asked what she wanted to know.
"Uh, we're all camping out over there for when the Uniguard arrive. Everyone who Nogra was able to save from those weird abominations.." The Scientist at the back said, pointing to the other side of the road. "Raluag was there too, with most of the others."
"Some people still haven't shown up yet, but as far as I'm aware most of us are alive and safe right now. So things could be a lot worse than they are now, at least.." Fawn kept talking.
"..I'm glad you're all safe, then." The Woman blinked.
"Safe, yeah, But not okay. Like I said, a lot of us got pretty badly wounded." Fawn explained.
The Woman nodded, "Okay. Thanks." She said, before turning away-
"Wait!" Fawn called out, the woman only so much as turned her head. "..Are you okay? You're acting.. different, than you were earlier."
"..No. I'm not okay." The Woman explained, "Not yet, anyway... And Fawn, don't put this on yourself. I don't blame you for this."
"..Y..You don't?" Fawn asked.
"No." The Woman confirmed. "So you shouldn't blame yourself."
"Uh.. okay?" Fawn raised a single brow, it didn't look to the woman like she had moved past everything- or truly stopped thinking she was at fault, assuming that everything turned out like this solely because of one event.. but she couldn't blame the girl for that, it takes time. She turned away and looked in the distance- spotting the camp with ease. Raluag would be over there.
She walked onto the grass, leaving Fawn and the Limousine behind her. Feeling the grass give way under her feet, digging into pre-existing marks and imprints left in the dirt. There weren't any flowers to at least make it interesting, it was just a bland old field of grass. Pretty tall, reaching halfway to her knee, but not anything to write home about.
'Hm?' She quirked a brow, digging her foot into the imprints she was stepping into. It was.. weirdly shaped. She knelt down to inspect it, running her fingers along the multiple bumps and flattened sections. Like something was dragging itself across it. It was then that she noticed little pieces of green fuzz that almost blended in with the grass, lying half-buried in the mud. Like they had come loose from whatever was being dragged through it.
'Martha's ugly christmas sweater...' She thought to herself. It wasn't like anyone else would wear such.. distinctive fabric in this day and age. 'And she did get knocked into the grass in this direction by that Homunculi earlier as well.. So it makes sense.'
She looked forwards, following the line of imprints and fuzz- like a poacher following the prints of a wild animal as it headed for it's own prey. It was heading the exact same direction that she was, towards the spot where all the other scientists were camped out.
'..Damnit, she's trying to get Raluag again, isn't she?' The woman sighed internally, 'Ugh, this'd go so much simpler if she'd have just given up.. But fine.'
"Lynch!" A Pair of Unfamiliar voices called out from behind her, despite herself, she turned around to see two completely out of place people she had never seen before jumping down from the giant hole in the labs and running up to her. The first thing she noticed was their greatly differing heights; with one not even reaching to the others elbow, the second thing she noticed was the armour and cloaks they were wearing- like they had jumped out of a larping convention. They were both wearing the same set of armour and similar looking tattered cloaks- although the cloak looked to be nothing more than a simple cape on the taller of the two- preoccupied with lugging a giant sword with blue-ish stains smeared on it behind him.
She remained in place as the two ran up to her. A rather tall- about 7 feet-, pale and unshaved man with a Silver undercut and bright green eyes next to a small woman with a eyepatch- barely reaching Lynch's shoulder, with a dark brown bobcut, a single golden eye and a light brown skin tone. The Woman's face was way more intense than the man, who's smile only grew the closer he got, but that could easily be attributed to her only having one eye.
"I'm so glad you're alright." The Man, who she had never seen before, smiled. "We tried to find you earlier, but you had vanished. Did- oh my god- are you alright?" He asked, his eyes running over the various marks all over her body. "Who did this to you!?"
He reached a strangely bare hand out to her- to the burn on her shoulder- and she slapped it away on instinct. The green eyed Man looked almost offended, before correcting his facial expression. Pulling his gangly limbs back towards himself. "Right, sorry."
"Kaito." The small, one-eyed Woman spoke gruffly. Her cloak and armour made it hard to determine her body type, whether she was naturally stocky or wearing something with lots of padding. "She doesn't know who we are."
"No." The orange haired Woman confirmed, already taking a couple more steps away from the strange duo."I do not." 'This odd man's name is Kaito, huh..'
"Ah, right." The Man, Kaito, amended. Managing to be the least threatening person in full armour she'd ever seen even though he towered over the both of them. "Y'see, miss, My name is Kaito and my associate here is Zvezdana. We're with the Uniguard-"
'Eh?'
"And we've been trying to, well, protect this place and all of the people in it, that's including you, from, like, everything." Kaito continued. "Usually, we did just stay in the shadows, but once these creatures appeared we went into action trying to deal with them all, keep everyone safe, and-"
"Kaito. Keep it brief." Zvezdana interjected. "We've found Lynch and confirmed her safety, but there's still more to do."
"Right." Kaito nodded, "Basically, we were supposed to protect you, and I'm sorry that we couldn't find you in time... It looks like everything managed to happen before we could get to you."
"..Don't worry about it." She shrugged, turning to continue her walk only for Kaito to place his hand on her good shoulder.
"It's just, because of your bond with Omalley, you were very high priority, but despite that we still failed-"
"Seriously." Lynch's voice rose, 'because of your bond with Omalley?' She mentally repeated to herself, 'Of course it's because of that.' "Don't worry about it. I dealt with it, so it's fine." She couldn't hide her annoyance. A Biting tone that brazenly contradicted what she was saying. Kaito moved back as though she had actually smacked him.
Just in case he hadn't gotten the point, she turned to look him in the eyes. "Did you forget that I said 'No'?" She asked. "Why did you two even show yourselves?"
"I.. wanted to apologize." Kaito explained. "For not being able to.."
"I didn't expect you to." Lynch responded, immediately. Moving to continue walking, "Come on, you're heading this way anyway, right?"
"Yes. That is where the others are." Zvezdana responded. "Tsukiko told us as much not so long ago."
Nodding, Lynch walked ahead of the two. "Right, let's go then." The two uniguards gave each other a brief look, before steeling their expressions and following after her. Zvezdana's body language didn't change much but all of Kaito's remorsefulness had vanished.
"And by the way." She had continued, while trying to relocate all of the fuzz on the ground she had been trailing earlier, "Was I higher priority than everyone else in that lab?"
Zvezdana and Kaito looked to each other while She kept her attention on the imprints in the dirt- how they seemed to stop and then change course, heading for the side instead of straight ahead. In truth, Lynch was pretty confident as to what the answer was going to be, they'd be fools not to know either.
And yet, "No." Zvezdana answered when Kaito found he could not, "Our mission is to protect everyone to the best of our ability. That includes you, just as it includes everyone else who was working on the machine at the Eckstein Research Facility."
Lynch turned to face her, looking into her eye for any hint as to whether that was true or false. None of the words had re-appeared yet, leaving her vision so much barer than it usually was. Zvezdana's expression was still, she couldn't tell whether she was lying or not just by looking at her. She looked to Kaito, but found his expression just as vague.
Even though she still had her suspicions, she turned around without saying anything and continued on her way. Slowly, everything was getting clearer, that grain that had been bothering her since she first woke up was slowly vanishing. It might only be a couple more minutes until her ability returned to her, maybe even less than that.
No, as she focused- it was definitely less than that, she could scarcely make anything out.. but vague blue lines- trying their best to form shapes and letters had begun to cloud her vision again. She couldn't quite make out the contents yet, she could only squint and continue on her walk. It wasn't too far, she could see the people sitting around, and Sitala standing in the middle of them all.[On edge]
'Ah, I could make that one out! It's steadily improving..' She thought to herself as she held a hand up in the air, waving to the group. [distracted --- --pho----] [phone; ____ signal recei____] The words were still blotchy, but she could vaguely make them out, 'Signal recei____' was clearly meant to be 'signal received', after all.
Sure enough, as she got closer, only Sitala and a couple of others turned to look at her. The rest were focused on a man wearing similar armour to Kaito and Zvezdana- another member of the Uniguard, presumably- who looked to be on the phone with someone.
"You finally got a signal!?" The Man next to him- who Lynch recognized as Victor Alana asked, looking up from the [uncons_ious] body of Zuri that was lying in front of him. [in ne__ of medic_l atte____n. Shot by Kendr__ Godwin(Decea_ed)].
The man on the phone [Sorin Otieno Kariuki, Unig_ard. Born 23r_ Mar_h 2044] was speaking too quietly for her to hear him. Whatever he was saying had stolen everyone else’s attention though,
"They look busy, we'll wait." She could hear Zvezdana whisper to Kaito behind her. Kaito whispered his agreement, and then Sorin moved the phone away from his ear.
"Good news." Sorin had said to the rest of the group camped out in a neat arrangement of chairs. "Whatever was interfering with the signal and everything else seems to have faded. So they'll be opening up a gateway to our location before too long."
"And how long is that?" Augustina asked, only for her question to be answered by a solid blue portal opening up right behind her within 2 seconds. A man wearing a cloak that only went down to his shoulders, with short brown hair and a 5'o clock shadow [Kenward, Unigard.] sauntered through it. "..Oh." Augustina blinked, looking at the man with immediate distaste while relief washed over most of the others.
"Sorry I'm late." The Man said, looking past the group to Kaito and Zvezdana in the distance. "Kaito, Zvezdana." He nodded, alerting the majority of the people there to their existence. "...Lynch."
"..Hi, Boss." Kaito audibly smiled behind her, while Kenward looked over the group of people.
"..This portal will lead to a temporary base of operations we've set up to house the wounded for the time being. Everyone capable, can you please help those wounded or unconscious on their way through." He spoke in a manner Lynch could only assume he'd spoken in many times before. "There'll be enough supplies for all of you, so please don't worry."
"I think I'll continue to worry until we get Ms. Eckstein some proper medical attention!" Victor's emotions flew from his mouth, "We're in dire need of a actual doctor!"
"Well," Kenward blinked, "Rest assured, we've got plenty of those."
Victor didn't put much into listening to Kenward, already he and another Scientist [Guy Jones, person who exists] had lifted Zuri from the chairs and set to work carrying her through the portal.[leads to a b_ilding in H_ghton View Terrace]
Kaito brushed past her and ran over to the next most obviously wounded- Albert, but as Kaito moved over to him Albert raised up a hand. "Wait!..Wai...Wait.." He panted, "There's.. something important [sen_imenta_ v_lue] , in the.. back there.." He wheezed out, as Kaito picked him up bridal-style. "Can.. Can someone go and.. get it?... I left it in the... Hack! Agh-blegh!"
As Albert began to cough up a storm, Kaito muttered inaudibly and ducked down so he could actually fit through the portal. A single scientist walked through after them, with the copy-light book discreetly tucked underneath his arm.
'..At least that's resolved..' Lynch thought to herself, as Zvezdana walked forwards and helped a couple of the other scientists to their feet.
Sitala kept her hands on her weapon as she turned to look between Augustina and Kenward. Augustina looked up at her and nodded. "Me and Sitala, we'd like to stay here, for, for just a bit longer." [Not going to ch_nge her mind, already knows what she's going to do next]
"Of course." Kenward nodded.
Augustina remained seated, "But they , and everyone else who goes with you, you promise you're going to keep them all safe?"
Kenward nodded a second time, "Unfortunately, we weren't able to guarantee safety in this scenario. But I promise we'll make this up to you. All of the wounded, and everyone else, I promise you that the Uniguard will protect them."
"..Alright." Augustina said, pushing herself up to her feet. Lynch, the orange haired woman in the burnt up hoodie felt a bit like a outsider. Watching a scene from a distance, as some of the scientists opted to stay behind for the time being while others assisted the wounded through the portal. Kenward walked over to Sorin himself and helped him to his feet, the two had their conversation in whispers [Apolog_es that were waved away.] as Sorin made his exit as well.
Notably, Zvezdana remained on this side of the portal. Presumably to either make sure those that didn't want to go through would stay safe or see everyone through alongside Kenward.
'..Kenward. Can't say I've ever talked to him, really.' She thought to herself, looking over to him. She never payed him any mind before, any instances in which she had seen him before had -to her memory- been very brief, and usually she didn't say much of anything to him or any of his other friends. She squinted as she continued to observe him, [He understands your reasons, but-]
'I don't want to read any more of that.' She decided. Only for Kenward to look right over to her, the timing was too convenient it was [just a coincidence] but it felt like he had somehow heard her.
Kenward adjusted himself, his bare hands brushing at his shoulder slightly before he spoke. "You are welcome to come with us, if you want." [Already anticipating that you'll refuse]
She shook her head, "Thanks, but no thanks."
"Understood." Kenward nodded, as Raluag leaned back in her chair and tilted her head upwards. As though her movement had drawn his attention to her, he turned to look at her.
"..I'll.." Raluag shrugged slightly. "I guess... I'll just do whatever, I don't know." [Sees both pros and cons in both courses of action.] "You're not going. Right Lynch?"
"I'm not." The Woman responded. "..But these guys might be able to keep whatever's left of the Red Moon off your back. If they decide to keep targeting you."
Kenward looked back over to Lynch, [not expecting her to say that] before managing to catch himself. "She does have a point, but I won't try to force you."
Raluag put her hand to her forehead [seriously struggling to make the decision.] before throwing her arms up into the air. "Ugh, Fuck it!" The Omnipotent of Free Will exclaimed. "I don't really want to just fuck off and head to a new city I've never been too before."
"..That's understandable." Kenward said, reaching behind him and placing a first aid kit at her feet. "Wherever you intend to go, I'm sure this'll be quite helpful."
Raluag stared at him with that same, slightly grumpy expression. [Caused by pain, nobodies actually annoying her.] "Yeah, thanks."
"Kenward." Zvezdana called out before things could get too awkward, "I believe that was everyone who intended on coming with us."
Kenward looked up, and around at the now almost-empty campsite. Zvezdana was correct, everyone else had already cleared up and gone through the portal. It was just Sitala, Augustina, Raluag and Lynch- not counting the Uniguard that were present. Everyone else had either been unconscious and carried throug, or walked through the portal of their own volition.
"..It looks like you're right." Kenward said, casting the portal a glance."..Well then. Zvezdana, Everyone. We'll reconvene with Tsukiko and clean out those labs, any of those creatures still roaming there, rescuing anyone else that's still stuck there. Do you mind going ahead of me, Zvezdana?"
Zvezdana nodded, and looked to everyone else. Her single eye examining each of their expressions before she let a small smile slip. "I wish you all the best." She said, just before she teleported out of there. [Flashing to the Eckstein Research Labs]
Now that she was gone, Kenward looked to Sitala and Augustina [who were both just waiting for him to leave], and then to Lynch. "..Lynch, there's something I think you should know." [About Omalley]
Lynch clenched her fists together, 'Of course..' "Whatever it is, don't tell me."
"Are-.. Are you sure?" Kenward asked.
"I'm not a part of his life, he's not a part of mine. I don't want you guilting me because I don't want to see him again." The words coming out of her mouth sounded a little harsh once she had said them, but they were how she was feeling. "If I'm going to ever be satisfied with myself, we can't be together. I shouldn't even have to justify myself to you. Who I'm with is my own choice."
"It's not that, it's not anything about who you end up with or anything like that." Kenward explained. "I just wanted you to know that, even after all of the pain he went through, he's still-" [alive, in Erinfort]
"I didn't want you to tell me that." Lynch repeated her point. "Please, respect my wishes. If he's still sad over me, then he needs to rise above that, but he's not my responsibility."
"I understand that just as well as you do." Kenward explained [It's true, he does.] "Seeing Omalley in that state, undoubtedly, it hurt me a lot more than it would ever hurt you."
'..Was that meant to sound so pointed?' She couldn't help but ask herself. .. She didn't entirely disagree though, so she nodded in response. "...I appreciate that, but I don't want to be guilted into anything. Even if you're not intending to. I want to move on with my life after all."
"..Of course.
Well, in this case. Farewell, Lynch." Kenward spoke with a trace of sadness that Lynch easily picked up on, before he vanished in a glimmer of light. Taking the portal with him. The Four who had remained looked between each other.
Sitala switched up her hold on the metal pipe to a one-handed hold, tugging at her tie with her now-free right hand. "..August, do you think we should have gone with him?" She asked.
"We shouldn't kid ourselves." Augustina responded, "You wouldn't just want to hang around in Highton View or work with the Uniguard would you?"
"..Nah, that doesn't sound like me." Sitala admitted, reaching back into her labcoat pocket. "..'sides, I've still got this thing." She offered after another pause.
"That, that's good." Augustina nodded, as Sitala walked up to her and squatted down. Sitala's [nervous] expression was washed away as a smile graced her features, she grabbed onto Augustina's sleeve and pulled her up so they were both standing.
"C'mon, we've got things to be doin', right?" Sitala asked, quirking a brow and brushing some of Augustina's hair out of the way.
Raluag leaned away from the two, rolling her eyes. [Would prefer it if they flirted somewhere else.], while Lynch found herself awkwardly staring at the two of them. [They seem Happy together.]... but that kind of life wasn't hers. Not the kind of life she even wanted, that younger version of herself- in that dream- had been correct after all. All these years had passed and she still wasn't ready for intimacy. Maybe she would never be, maybe she would never even want someone like that. She knew she definitely didn't want any at this point in time, and she hadn't back then either.
'..I suppose there's nothing wrong in thinking like that', she told herself, averting her eyes and looking off into the distance. Past the [completely zoning out] Raluag and towards the labs. She could still sort-of see Fawn and the others crowded around the limousine, but it was pretty far awa-
A [Fire-Enchanted] Knife suddenly flew through Lynch's vision- from the corner of her left eye to her right, and off into the distance. It [missed its target] and instead stabbed it's blade right through a empty chair, Nobody had a chance to react before it erupted into flames fiercely enough to send Sitala and Augustina stumbling away from it.
"What da fuck!?" Sitala exclaimed, her accent jumping even higher than she did. Turning her head in the direction the knife came from as she brandished her metal pipe. "Where'd dat come from!?"
'Martha.' It had to be, that knife was clearly [Emil's], so Martha had to have taken it- waiting for the Uniguard to vanish before she would strike. ... She clearly wasn't too patient though, attacking so soon. It would be so easy for the Uniguard to just return-
She had spent so long monologuing internally that she almost forgot that Martha was attacking. Another knife whizzed through the air and this one hit, protruding from Lynch's shoulder. Pulling her out of her thoughts before they could continue, all that remained was the physical world. Sitala dragging Augustina away from the fire as it melted down the nearby chairs, Raluag calling out her name as she pulled herself out of her chair, her injured legs struggling to hold her weight.
Lynch darted to the side, heading to the large rock for cover as plants began to sprout from the knife in her shoulder, wrapping themselves around her chest and upper arms. Buds quickly turning into Flowers in spite of the weather. She looked ahead- it was impossible to miss her, a middle-aged woman in a ugly christmas sweater was running up to the campsite; a hand full of knives raised into the air and a absolutely batshit expression on her face. [Martha Sitz, you know who this is.]
She arced her hand to the side and flung a [Illusion-Enchanted]knife towards Raluag- who launched herself from her chair, stumbling onto her knees as she held a hand out. Her eyes only just beginning to glow before the knife nicked the top of her head- landing somewhere in the underbrush behind her. Her eyes lost all focus as she grabbed onto her forehead and fell onto her side.[Overcome with Illusions].
'Even a glancing blow from that knife is debilitating..' Lynch thought to herself as she grabbed onto the plants ensnaring her; only for them to continue to grow around her hand and trap that in place as well.
"Raluag!!" She could hear Sitala cry out, as she let go of Augustina- who stumbled towards the downed Omnipotent. A Furious Martha ran into view; knocking a chair out of her way as she ran forwards. Sitala headed her off and swung with the pipe, clocking her in the neck. "You bitch!" Sitala exclaimed, pulling upwards for a second strike as Martha steadied herself, clutching her throat. Sitala let out a loud yell as she struck the still-disoriented Martha a second time-
The two hit each other in unison, Martha's blade slashed across Sitala's chest as her metal pipe clanged against Martha's ribcage. She dropped her [Time-Enchanted] knife and stumbled backwards, "Oooooww!! Fuck-fuck-fuck..." She muttered to herself, moving to pick it up again as Sitala began to slow down, even the movement of the labcoat she was wearing began to slow. Ignoring her own knife wound, she moved to swing the metal pipe again and then stopped moving. It was as though Lynch was looking at a photograph.
The vines tangling Lynch's body began to pull her over to the nearby rock, She kept her feet firmly planted on the ground and curled her mobile hand into a fist- allowing the air to swirl around it, if she wanted to do anything she'd have to get this knife out of her shoulder. She cast a brief glance towards Augustina as she crawled into the grass behind Raluag's chair, and then to the fire still growing on the other side of the campsite.
"That's exactly what you get.." Martha muttered, radiating spite. "Breaking my rib like that, as though any of this is your business." Curling her lip upwards, she lifted up a leg and kicked Sitala in the gut with her high heels. Still frozen, the Bluenette was unable to react. Didn't even move as Martha gave her another kick to the side for good measure. "Stupid! Idiotic! Wench! Don't you know to keep out of other people's lives! I'm a busy woman, you can't just attack me like that!!"
Lynch kept focusing on the wind swirling around her- catching fire in its breeze. Testing how much of her power she could use with her arms trapped, too much fire in the breeze would risk spreading it, too little would be inconsequential. 'I've.. got to get these stupid plants off...'
As she thought that, she looked over to Martha, seeing Augustina running over towards her[armed with the Illusion knife]. Martha snapped back to reality just as Augustina swiped downwards; letting the fury burning in the red of her eyes speak for her as she forced Martha to back out of range. "And who on god's earth are you supposed to be!?" Martha asked. [Sick of People she doesn't know getting in her way.] The Landlord swung with her own knife, only for Augustina to dive underneath the swing; it was at that moment that a portal opened up behind Martha; [Kaito Takano, Uniguard. Born in Highton View Terrace, 7'0'' feet tall] Came flying out of it, wielding his massive sword like a club as he swung downwards; striking the ground as Martha barely ducked out of the way in time.
Augustina wormed her way underneath Kaito's arms and thrust the knife outwards; cutting strands from Martha's plastic hair as the Landlord continued to back further away from their attacks.
'Martha's surrounded! Those two in front of her, me behind her!' Lynch snapped to attention, focusing on the wind as it fanned the flames, She moved her free fingers, stretching and straining them as a gust completely changed direction; catching some embers in the breeze and flinging them over to Martha- catching on her sweater.
"Uaah!" Martha cried out, smacking the fire on her shoulder in an attempt to extinguish it. Not caring for her plight, Kaito advanced and swung his sword like a baseball bat; with Martha's face substituting for the baseball. Luckily she hadn't been hit with any of the sharp parts, or else there'd likely be a lot of blood.
"I've had it with all of you!" Martha yelled, her voice penetrating the sound barrier as her knife sliced across Kaito's cheek, he began to slow down and freeze in the same way that Sitala did while Martha brought the knife down to slash at Augustina, only cutting and freeze-framing a small chunk of her hair as she dodged the blade. "What gives you the RIGHT to get in my way-!"
Martha went to slash again- and as she pulled her hand up, Lynch saw her chance- a stray gust of wind smacked into her and knocked the knife out of her grip. Martha's head whirled towards it, "NO! Wait- Shit!" She exclaimed, barely dodging Augustina's own knife-swings as she found herself with little choice but to back up even further.
She lunged forwards, digging her fingernails into Augustina's arm as she pushed her back. "how.. HOW DARE YOOOOUUUU!" Martha screeched; slashing right across Augustina's eye as she kicked her to the side, rushing towards the [still prone and hallucinating] form of Raluag. Lynch struggled to splay out her fingers as the vines curled around it; sending a gust of wind Martha's way that failed to make contact with anything. Blowing harmlessly over her head as she rolled over Raluag, grabbed her by the collar of her shirt and pulled her up to her feet.
With that same movement, Martha took out the [Free-Will Enchanted] Knife and held it to Raluag's neck. "Stop!" She yelled, as Augustina stopped herself from running at the opponent. "If any of you even twitches, I'll cut her neck!"
"..No you won't." Lynch spoke- it was all she was really able to do at this point. "She's the one you came here for."
Raluag's eyes were unfocused, looking off into two completely different direction. [Still under the effect of the Illusion Knife.], Augustina lifted up the knife in her hands as though to throw it and Martha shoved her own right against the skin of Raluag's throat. "I'm. Not. Joking around with you." Martha hissed through gritted teeth, taking large steps away.[Her Destination: Her Limousine.] "You think I want this devil?" She asked. [She wants power over free will.]
"No, you want the element. But you won't be able to get it by killing her." Lynch responded. While Augustina looked between the two of them.[unsure how to act]
Martha's expression worsened, as she pressed the knife right against Raluag's flesh. "I don't care about anything you have to say." She spoke through gritted teeth. "I'm just here, for what I came here for. Not to listen to the likes of you." She tilted her head, gesturing to the [still-hallucinating] Raluag, being held up like a ragdoll. "You think I really 'need' her alive? I can do the ritual right now. Take her element right now. If I want to." [Bluff]
'That knife.. it's too close to Raluag's neck. There's enough risk of that woman slashing her throat by accident alone... if I strike her, it's almost guaranteed.'
In the corner of her eye, she saw Sitala slowly start to move again, stumbling backwards as though she had been kicked multiple times in the gut in slow-motion.[Effects of the Time-Enchantment are only temporary.]
At that moment, a thought came to her. '...There's no reason the other enchantments shouldn't do the same! That fire that had been spreading near the labs was completely gone when I got back as well! If We just stall Martha, Raluag should return to the real world and then-'
Sitala clutched her stomach and fell to her knees. Augustina already had one foot off the ground as Martha called out "Hey! Anyone moves, and she gets it! Do you think I'm fooling around? Do you think I'm going to let this stop me!? Anyone does a single thing I don't like, and my hand might end up slipping! You get me!?"
"..With how loud you're yelling, how can't I!?" Lynch couldn't resist the opportunity to snark, despite the situation. She knew that Martha was bluffing. 'Couldn't let it be too obvious that you're invested, after all..'
"Hey, take this seriously." Martha admonished her, taking yet another step backwards. Lynch looked over Martha's shoulder, at the research centre in the distance, it was pretty far away, but she could still make out the scientists (Fawn included)[They're looking in your direction as well.]. '..Does Martha even know they're there?' Lynch couldn't help but wonder to herself, as Martha focused her swirling, furious brown eyes on the people in front of her. She took another step back, [her shoulders tensing. She doesn't want to stab Raluag here.]
Raluag blinked a couple of times, [slowly returning to reality] letting out a small murmur as Martha took her next step away from the campsite. The Landlord steadied her knife-hand, pressing herself against the Omnipotent's back as her eyes cleared. [Snapping out of the Illusion]. "Wh.. what?" Raluag asked, as her clarity returned to her, attempting to piece together what she was seeing. Trying to understand when that knife pressed against her neck got there. She reached up and grabbed onto Martha's wrist.
"Raluag!!" Lynch called out, before anyone could react. "Stop her, now!"
Raluag's eyes met with Martha's, and in a single second- Martha had pulled her hand out of Raluag's grip, and shoved the knife into her side. "No you -FUCKING DON'T!" The Landlord screeched, as Raluag's blue eyes changed to reflect the same brown as Martha's.[The Free-Will Enchantment taking effect.], her expression turning completely slack. "I'm not giving any of you the slightest chance to fuck me over, understand!?" She exclaimed, as Lynch looked over her shoulder [seeing Fawn starting up the Limousine in the distance, and 2 kids[One Human and their Other] running into the woods] '..Who are they supposed to be?'
'No! Don't get distracted!' Lynch yelled at herself, as Martha released Raluag- only for the Free Will Omnipotent to crumble to her knees. The Brown in her eyes still swirling, struggling to fight off the blue as it slowly returned. [fighting off the enchantment] She hadn't expected Martha to actually stab her,[non-fatally],
"This is all I have to do, then I win!" Martha declared. "Do you think I'm just going to give up!? I'm sticking to this no matter how many obstacles get in my way! I'm not letting this all go to waste after I put all this effort into it!" Martha turned her head, looking down at Raluag as she grabbed onto her own head- covering her eyes-, "Omnipotent! Put them under your spell!"
Lynch's eyes were on the limousine in the background, as it turned towards her[The Engine Running.] The vines around her were still restricting her movements- and her powers as a result. But the flames behind her were still burning- she still had plenty of opportunity to use them. She looked to the others, Kaito was moving again, stumbling backwards in slow-motion. While Augustina and Sitala were looking between each other [will attack Martha if given the opportunity.]
Raluag, notably, was not doing what Martha told her. [The Enchantment on the knife is weak compared to the Omnipotent with the same element.], While Martha snapped her head towards the omnipotent, squinting down at her in disbelief, exclaiming "Did you hear me!? Do what I tell you!", [Everyone realized that Martha was at a disadvantage again], and everything happened at once.
Kaito- now free from the Time Enchantment, lunged forwards with his sword as silently as the void itself. Sitala was about to do the same but stopped herself so as not to get in anyone's way, giving Augustina a chance to run towards her and check her girlfriend's injuries. It was at this time that Lynch swung her head back with all of the force she could muster, catching the fire in the gust behind her- sending it flying straight onto her back. Burning away the vines binding her torso and arms, with her newly freed arms- she tore the [Plant-Enchanted] knife out of her shoulder, as Kaito swung with his greatsword- barely missing as Martha dodged out of the way again.
"I'm not letting you lay a finger on any of them!" Kaito exclaimed, as Lynch backed away- looking over to the Limousine as [Fawn Darsha took the wheel]. Kaito swung again, and Martha parried the blow with the [Death-Enchanted] knife.
"I don't even have the patience to put up with you." Martha's voice was low and heavy- almost as heavy as the fog seeping from the knife she was wielding, Lynch looked over to where Raluag remained- pulling herself up to her feet and removing her hand from her face, revealing her overwhelmingly blue eyes. Kaito and Martha clashed their weapons again and again, as Raluag slowly turned around...
[The Limousine is Approaching], Kaito swung with his sword again- only scarcely nicking the top of Martha's head as she ducked at the perfect time.[Honed Reflexes from self-defence classes] Sitala and Augustina looked between each other [debating whether to join the fray or not] as Kaito swung again, Martha moved to dodge but he changed his swing. Striking her in the stomach, knocking the knife from her hand and sending her tumbling a distance away.
It was at that moment, while Martha was gripping her stomach wound- and the tear along her christmas sweater, that Sitala grabbed her metal pipe and charged into the fray. Screaming out as she raised her leg up; kicking Martha in the chin before the landlord had a chance to even stand, then clocking her in the head with the pipe- grounding her again.
"Glrk!" Martha spat, lying on the ground limply, her sweater was in tatters, and her messed up hair covered her eyes as it spilled onto the grass underneath her. "Ghaa.. Ghurk.." She continued to cough, lifting her head up and looking down to the ground as she spat out some of her stomach's contents. "How... DARE... you.." She muttered, her shoulders shaking as she pushed her hair out of her eyes. "This.. was supposed to be Christmas..."
"Who cares about that!?" Sitala asked, [Furious], "You're the one who attacked us!"
Martha turned her head, meeting eyes with Sitala. Lynch could see that she was missing a tooth now as well. "Shut up." Her voice sounded garbled, oozing hatred as she reached for the remaining knives hanging from her jeans. "I was.. going to go home, still in this sweater.. and celebrate christmas with my family. But now I can't!!" She roared, grabbing all of the remaining knives, [Water, Air, Earth, Justice, Sound, Lightning] in one hand and slashing upwards with all of them at once. The Combined elements struck Sitala and sent her flying into the sky. "Because you all RUINED IT!!" She yelled, slashing to the side- Kaito barely failed to dodge out of the way- the wind and soundblasts catching him and sending him to the ground.
The Noise from Martha's strikes blocked out the noise of the quickly approaching Limousine, so as the Landlord turned to Augustina and Lynch, feeling around for the missing tooth with one hand, and wielding half of the elemental knives in the other, she was unaware of it. "You... YOU..!" Martha exclaimed, blood and vomit leaking from her mouth, tears from her eyes. "Why can't this stupid planet just let me be happy!?!?"
Lynch pushed upwards with her own arms- sending a gust of wind at Martha as the Limousine hit a lump in the grass, it veered out of control and jumped into the air just as the air itself grabbed onto Martha- sending her off her feet and up ever so slightly-
The car continued forwards, it's bonnet[Hood of the Car, Front Lid.] slamming into her back with a nasty CRACK sound, Martha's back contorted unpleasantly as the car continued to move forwards, she tumbled over it- smearing blood on the windscreen and back as the driver's vision was obscured. It crashed into some of the empty chairs as Martha's body tumbled off the back in a heap, continuing to spin out of control until Fawn managed to slam her foot down on the brakes.
Sitala landed on the grass nearby. [Still alive, but rattled after being struck by so many elements at once.]
"FUCK!" Fawn exclaimed, pushing the Limousine’s doors open and throwing herself out of the car. "What the fuck!? Did I just hit someone!?"
"You mean.. you didn't mean to?" Augustina's voice was barely a whisper. [Dumbstruck- barely registering what just happened.]
"W-What? No, I didn't!" Fawn called out, still panicking. "Who was it!? Who did I hit?"
"...Martha Sitz. From the Red Moon" Raluag spoke, "Also my old Landlord.. so, thanks for that.."
"Oh." Fawn blinked, reverting back to calmness way too quickly. "..No worries, then."
As Augustina slowly walked over to Sitala and knelt down beside her wordlessly, and the Orange-haired woman looked over to Martha's crumpled up body, while Kaito remained on the ground [rendered unconscious by the attack.] Raluag let out a deep sigh.
"....That Delilah girl, wasn't anywhere to be seen.." The Free Will Omnipotent commented.
The Woman's eyes were still on Martha's body, she had landed face-first [sparing her the sight of another dead person's face today.], but with how her back snapped in a 90 degree angle.. everything looked wrong. With her legs precariously propping themselves upright just above her head. Both of her hands were wide open, the 6 knives she had been wielding presumably scattered across the general area at this point. Her phone had fallen out of her pocket, lying on the ground right next to her.
"..Lynch?" Raluag asked. The Woman turned her head to face her. Perhaps it was because she had been given a extra dose of her own element, but she looked to be subtly glowing. Seemingly unaffected by those injuries she had sustained when Martha first grabbed her. "You okay?"
"I.." She looked back at Martha,[Deceased.] "..Not really." She admitted.
"Well, at least she's been dealt with now." Raluag shrugged, walking over to her. "..Now we won't have to worry about her trying to kidnap me again."
The Woman nodded, adjusting her burnt up hoodie... her shoulder was bleeding. "Yeah, and, we shouldn't have to worry about anyone else either. Delilah, seems to have vanished.. and those people who were in charge of those strange creatures.."
"They're out of the picture too?" Raluag asked. Lynch nodded.
"Are you okay?" "I'm-.. ughh, well, I will be fine.."
She turned her head over to those voices, seeing that Sitala was back on her feet, holding onto Augustina for support. Fawn rushing over to the two of them to try and get some additional context to what her vehicular manslaughter had just ended. [They'll be okay.] She looked to the other side, where she could see the research labs in the distance. Kaito was still unconscious, the gangly giant still clutching onto his enormous sword. [He'll wake up shortly.]
"..Come on, let's go." Raluag said, taking a couple of steps out of the campsite, heading back towards the Eckstein Research Centre. After only a couple of steps, she noticed that Lynch wasn't following and turned around to meet her gaze. "Let's get out of here." She reiterated. "I know that you wouldn't want to keep hanging around here, after all."
"...Yeah, let's go." Lynch decided, walking after her.
And as they left, Martha's phone began ringing. As the screen lit up with a image of the one phoning her at this time's face, with his name helpfully written out underneath it.
'FaceTime from ; Kainan Sitz'
--------------------
"So, they're all going to be fine, right?" Victor asked.
"Yes. Now that everyone's here, where they can get the medical attention they need, they should all make full recoveries. Nataliá, Zuri, Albert, the others, ... Sorin, even Danica, They're all going to be fine." The Member of the Uniguard he was walking alongside, Zvezdana, answered. "And as for the one you.. wanted to see, Tsukiko said she placed him in here for the time being."
"In, this place? Quite a... distinctive layout you've got here."
2081, Thursday 25th December, 1:16pm, The Aeterna Iter, Astral Tower Basement, Clear Inner Reflection Chamber.
Deep in the bowels of the Uniguard's Headquarters, Victor Alana stood at the entryway to - what could easily be described as a prison. Even though he was here as a visitor, he couldn't help but feel nervous. Fidgeting with his fingers interwoven with each other in front of his chest. In front of him was a decently large room which splintered off into various hallways- each of them housing various cells and the occasional prisoner. The entire area was very reflective. He could see himself, as well as Zvezdana next to him, and all of the other Uniguard's keeping guard throughout in every surface. From the floor to the ceiling.
Perhaps it was because of the overwhelmingly blue lighting in these chambers, but everything in the reflection was tinted blue. As Victor looked at a nearby wall, the eyes that looked back at him were as blue as the lights above him, instead of the dark, stormy grey that they'd usually be.
"Hey, you nervous?" Zvezdana smiled, raising her lone eyebrow as she smirked at him. Playfully elbowing him in the hip (due to the height difference). "No-one in here's going to hurt you. If they do, they'll have me to worry about."
"Joy.." Victor muttered to himself sarcastically,
"But seriously." Zvezdana regained her usual posture, leading Victor into the leftmost hallway. "It's quite alright. To be frank, I had some questions I wanted to ask him as well. About this alternate timeline he came from, and what work he could've been doing that would've brought him here."
"He's.. a murderer." Victor mumbled to himself, scratching at his own knuckles.
"..Yes. He killed, Kendrick, was it?" Zvezdana asked.
Victor nodded, looking into one of the empty cells as he continued to mumble, as though Zvezdana was just listening in and he was talking to himself. "Yes, yes, he.. he was always a odd one. I felt there was something off about him. It wasn't abnormal, always being angry.. but, he always did seem angry. Nothing wrong with that, can't fault him for anger, can't say he deserved to die.."
"Oh, you were talking about Kendrick." Zvezdana blinked, "I thought you were talking about.. him."
As she said that, they reached the cell at the end of the hallway, Victor was already looking at the prisoner inside it. Already looking straight at Shawn Harrison, seated on the bed. Making direct eye contact with his own reflection on the wall directly across from him, not even looking Zvezdana and Victor in the face.
"..Shawn." Zvezdana spoke. He didn't turn to her. "Shawn Harrison." She rephrased, this time he did look at them. "We've got some questions. About what you were doing in those labs."
2081, Thursday 25th December, 1:30pm, South-Eastern Shore, North of Wellham. East of the Elcarim Plateau
Delilah didn't talk much. She couldn't help that. Didn't think of it as much of a problem before Martha entered her life, always looking at her as though she was supposed to be something completely different... Someone who acted totally different... So why was she worried about her? Was she just worried about Martha's mental health, or.. something else..
She sat precariously atop a outcropping of rocks near where the land ended and the sea began. Occasionally the ocean would lap at her feet as they dangled from the rock she sat on. Someone had set up a lantern in the middle of the road a short distance away, mistakenly leaving it lit despite the fact that it wasn't a particularly dark day. She held her face with one hand and a stick with the other. One of her sleeves was pulled up, exposing the cut on her arm to the salty air.
Maybe she could just.. walk into the ocean, and vanish forever? That wouldn't be too bad... wouldn't be caught up in any of this nonsense anymore...
"Hey." A Unfamiliar voice, sounding like it belonged to a young woman. Delilah turned to look behind her, seeing a pale lady with elbow length straight black hair and almond-shaped red eyes in a labcoat, with a yellow notepad poking out of it's pocket. Underneath that she wore a checkered red and white shirt and a red pleated skirt. She was holding a familiar looking bag in one of her hands, leaning against the lantern in the distance."..Do you mind if I take a seat?" She asked.
Unsure how to react, Delilah only nodded. The woman in the labcoat accepted this answer and smiled ever so lightly, walking over the outcropping of rocks and taking a spot next to Delilah, placing the bag on the rock to her right.
"Does your arm hurt?" She asked. "It looks like it's bleeding."
"..." Delilah opened her mouth, barely making any noise as she looked at the cut on her arm, now that she was focusing on it, it suddenly stung a lot more. She bit her cheek and nodded.
"I see. Hold on." The Woman in the labcoat nodded in return. "Can you hold your arm out for me? I've got something I think will help."
Delilah looked at her oddly, before holding her arm out anyway. With the cut pointed up to the sky. The Woman in the labcoat reached into the bag she had been holding and pulled out some kind of spray and a bandage. It stung a little when she sprayed the contents on her wound, but from how she applied the bandage afterwards, Delilah could tell the woman knew what she was doing.
"There, that should be better." The Woman's expression never changed, but she sounded happy. "So.. Delilah. My name is Tsukiko Yuzawa, I've... heard a lot about you."
Delilah's entire body tensed up, she quickly pulled her arm into her chest. Tsukiko looked over to her.
"..Don't worry. I'm not here to hurt you." Tsukiko kept her voice level. "You're not in any trouble either, I just wanted to make sure you were okay. It took me a while to even find you, kid... Do you need any food? Have you eaten today?"
Delilah paused... now that she thought about it, after she had woken up, it was present-opening time and then they went straight to buisness, she hadn't eaten at all. Her eyes snapped open in realization and she bit onto her fingernail.
"..Looks like that's a no." Tsukiko frowned. "Typical." She caught Delilah's souring expression and instantly backpedalled. "Typical of Martha, that is... It's fine. If you want, I could treat you to lunch later.
Oh, yeah." Tsukiko snapped back to attention, reaching into the bag again and pulling out some kind of device with a keypad on it and a wristwatch-like strap. "This is for you." She said, holding it out for Delilah. "It's a text to speech device."
Delilah's expression remained sour, as she placed the device on her wrist and typed away at it. Her eyes flittering between the ocean waves and Tsukiko's hands as she pressed the play button; "Why are you giving me all of this." It was a simple question, Tsukiko could see plain as day that Delilah didn't trust her. She was leaning away from her ever so slightly, looking at her out of the corner of her eyes.Tsukiko couldn't blame her.
"It's.." Tsukiko paused, this was the part of the conversation she'd been dreading. "..Delilah. I'm from the Uniguard, do you know who we are?"
Delilah shook her head, her distrusting, cautious expression remaining.
"Well, we've been around for a while. And over the course of the years, we've been helping keep people out of danger, or safe from evil, while staying hidden in the shadows. Me and.. several other members were stationed at the labs, when those creatures arrived. You and your foster mother arrived shortly afterwards as well, right?"
Slowly, Delilah nodded.
Tsukiko sucked in a lungful of air through her teeth. "That scream you released, your power, it's very impressive. Shut down all communications in the general area... it was then that you ran from the scene. Do you know what happened after you left?
Tsukiko looked over to Delilah, seeing the teenager typing away at the Text-to-Speech device. "Get to the point."
"Martha, your foster mother. She's dead."
There was no immediate response. Delilah kept her eyes trained on Tsukiko, who could only hope that her facial expression was genuine enough to be belived. Slowly, Delilah opened her mouth, raising a single brow as she hunched over.
"I'm sorry. But it's true." Tsukiko spoke, sensing her doubt. Delilah wasn't looking at her anymore, she seemed to have completely forgotten about the text-to-speech device now being worn as a watch. Instead she stared at the ocean, her feelings weren't clear at all. At most she looked slightly grouchy. Tsukiko knew that someone had to tell her, but she still found even breathing a little harder to do now with this extra weight on her shoulders. "...We found your belongings in her limousine. Everything's in this bag." She said, patting the bag next to her. "Everything in this bag, I believe it's yours."
Delilah didn't look over to her, instead she started to type away at the text to speech device. Tsukiko waited patiently for her to finish typing her sentence, scratching at her neck before she pressed the play button; "Enough pretending to care about me. You want me to join your stupid shadow organisation because of my power. Just say it."
"I-" Tsukiko swallowed her words, but the paragraph Delilah had typed up was still playing.
"The Red Moon were in the shadows for a good deal as well. Keeping people safe from evil before they slowly entered the spotlight when the opportunity arose, that's what Gideon said when he rescued me. Do you seriously think I'm stupid. I can't trust any of you. You're the same as Martha. Acting all nice to me because you want my ability on your side. None of you actually care about me."
"Delilah.. that's not true." Tsukiko gasped, leaning towards her. Delilah leaned away and twisted her head towards her, scorn in those green eyes of hers, tears hiding behind her angry gaze. "Delilah..." Tsukiko repeated, lowering her hand and her eyes alike.
"..I can take you back home, if you want." Tsukiko offered, watching Delilah's expression, hoping for it to change. "The last thing I'd want to do is force you into anything. I just want to guarantee that as many people are safe as possible..."
Delilah, still looking at Tsukiko with the same expression, typed another statement into the device on her wrist. "I don't know you. I don't want to know you. Stop trying to appeal to me. Leave me alone."
'..It's no good. She's not going to trust me.' This entire situation was awful, Martha had really done a number on Delilah's willingness to trust anyone. It was no wonder, having to live with the fact that the person who adopted her only wanted her for her ability... having to wonder if everyone around her was the same as her foster mother, and nobody would actually care about her, only keeping her around for their vested interest.
All Tsukiko was doing was imagining what it must have felt like, and her heart was already sinking. If Martha wasn't dead Tsukiko would teleport right over to her and sock her in the face.
"..I can still take you home, at the very least.." Tsukiko didn't retract her offer. "I'm sure that your foster father, and younger sister would be worried about you if you didn't return."
Delilah didn't respond immediately. Didn't even nod or shake her head.
"..You're only fifteen. Delilah." Tsukiko shook her head. "That's far too young to be caught up in all of this. Just.. whenever you’re ready, I'll take you back home. If you want to be alone for now, then I understand... but please, don't do anything rash."
Slowly, Delilah looked out to the ocean again. She didn't type up that much before pressing play: "OK.
For now. I just want to be alone."
Tsukiko couldn't hide the sadness in her eyes as she stood up. "That's fine. I'll.. be back to check up on you. If you want to go back home then, then you can."
Delilah didn't have anything she felt would be worth saying, so Tsukiko left the bag and its contents at Delilah's side and went back the way she came. Delilah simply sat there and watched the waves... she looked down to the text-to-speech device on her wrist, took it off...
and threw it in the ocean.
2081, Thursday 25th December, 1:40pm, Eckstein Research Labs, Basement.
Everything seemed to be under control now, so they went back.
Fawn, Augustina and Sitala were all back in the Research Labs. They'd spent too much time there to just be willing to leave on such short notice, there were... other things they had to deal with first.
Sitala and Augustina went to the upper floors, while Fawn only had two rooms she wanted to check out. She was saving packing all the stuff in her bedroom for last.
She stood in the basement, Nogra not that far behind her, looking straight at the Paradox Machine. Displayed on its screen; she saw herself. Quite literally, this exact moment.
"..This thing's been with me all my life.." She sighed, thinking out loud.
Nogra walked up to her and lifted his head up to meet her hand. Walking past the broken remains of a phone that looked like it had been stomped on mercilessly. "That's true. Without it, you wouldn't have ever gotten out of that village alive, you were too young to remember anything, back then.. and once you were entrusted to me, I knew I couldn't lose you."
"..Thanks, pal." Fawn smiled, leaning down and scratching the dog behind his ears. "..Yeah. I really don't want this thing anymore.. Every time I see it now, all I can think of is that other me."
"You made the right choice not joining them.."
"I know, I know I did. But.. I still don't want this thing in my life." Fawn sighed, walking up to it. Nogra tailing between her legs as she placed her hand over the keyboard. She looked over it, her eyes turning dull as her face softened. "...It's not going to last forever, is it?"
"Nothing ever does." Was Nogra's response.
"..Good." Fawn smiled, pressing a single button on the keyboard, and with that button press. The Paradox Machine vanished.
"Where did you send it?" Nogra asked, his tail brushing against the floor.
"..Eh, that's.. not that important, really." Fawn cracked a nervous smile, scratching the back of her head. "What really matters is that it's out of my life now."
"I do wish you'd just tell me."
"Well, it's back where it belongs. Let's.. Let's just say that." Fawn continued to be vague, turning on her heels and looking towards the door.
"I can just teleport us to your bedroom. Would take less time." Nogra offered.
"No thanks." Fawn smiled solemnly. "I'm.. I'd.. ..Actually, yeah. You can go ahead and do that."
Nogra tilted his head, and then the two of them vanished in a blip of light.
2081, Thursday 25th December, 1:41pm,Edge of The Elcarim Forest, North of the Elcarim Plateau.
Compared to the other forests, this one was a lot smaller. A Patch of trees and foliage poking out from behind the Elcarim Plateau, usually hidden from most angles, the 'forest' didn't have much in the way of wildlife living in it,
The only living things here at this point in time, were the surviving stragglers from the Homunculi Eleanor brought with her, and the two white-haired children watching them from a distance as they marched their funeral procession through the exit, along the grass. The one in front- the biggest one, the one carrying Eleanor, was slow and lumbering, and all of the ones behind it were visibly putting in the effort to walk behind it. Carrying all of Eleanor's pendants and accessories in their arms. The smallest one, at the very back kept its hands clasped around the silver backpack it wore.
A Dark Cloud continued to swirl around them, like a trailing fog. Vapour swirling out of the body limitlessly. Like steam from a teapot.
Chuo clutched a tree as he watched them walk into the distance.
"What.. do you think they're going to do?" His yellow-eyed counterpart asked.
"I'm not sure. Let's just get out of here." Was Chuo's response, turning to the side and running back into the woods, his counterpart following him. "We'll go this way. Those other guys will be after those things and I don't want to get caught."
"Yeah, you're right." The Counterpart agreed with him, as it always did.
2081, Thursday 25th December, 1:42pm, Eckstein Research Labs, 12th Floor, Portal Room.
"Hey, hey, no, you can't just take that!" Sitala yelled, snatching a broken up piece of circuit-board out of the hands of a Man in Armour.
All around her, were people and members of the Uniguard cleaning up the mess on the top floor. Augustina stood off in the hallway, smoking a cigarette near a busted-open window.
"Ma'am, it's not doing anyone any good on the floor. Is it?" The man asked.
"But you can't just take that!" Sitala insisted, waving her arms around wildly as she gestured at every individual Uniguard in the room; freezing them in their tracks as they attacked to finish cleaning up. "We don't know where your putting all'a this! When Zuri's back up, we're still going to be working on this project ya hear!? Don't just throw it away to be forgotten about!"
The Man and Sitala stared at each other for a good while before he rolled his shoulders and let out a long, drawn out sigh. "Very well, Ma'am."
Sitala still had that USB in her pocket, so things weren't completely destroyed yet. She knew that, and Augustina knew that. So While Sitala continued to snatch up the pieces of the machine that she could-yelling at the Uniguard as she did so, Augustina wasn't too worried at all.
2081, Thursday 25th December, 2:30pm, Wallshore Luxury Street, Sitz Residence
Charity Sitz was ten years old. She loved her parents very much, not necessarily because of their actual personalities but more so because they were really, really nice to her all the time. If there was any stress in her life, or the lives of those around her.. she certainly didn't know about it.
Charity sat with her face practically pressed against the screen, clapping along to the christmas song blasting through the speakers while Kainan paced through the hallway with his phone to his ears. Her Caramel brown eyes were too soft to be from her mother, and her light brown hair, with the sideswept fringe and the ponytail the rest was pulled into reminded Kainan more of photographs of his mother when she was younger than anything else. She shared his light olive-toned skin though, and most importantly she had his smile. That couldn't be mistaken. Wearing the christmas sweater that her mother had bought over the baby blue pajama’s she woke up in, with some mismatched fluffy socks. As he looked at her, he saw the daughter he loved with all of his heart.
Paper Crowns, small prizes and the remains of torn up Christmas Crackers were littered across the dining table behind her, that most of the chairs were seated around. All of her Christmas Presents discarded on the main Settee. The flatscreen TV it was facing had its back to the window; hiding whatever was on the screen from any curious onlookers.
Kainan, with his scruffy, necklength black hair and his matching beard, had actually gotten dressed, unlike his daughter. In a light blue button up shirt that matched his eyes and a pair of beige trousers that matched the colour of the jacket he would wear if he were to go outside, he wore his golden necklace and all of his rings and watches like usual, as if it was any other day. He looked down at his golden watch, noting that it was nearly 2pm...
'Martha should be back by now.'
He walked into the living room, not paying Charity any mind as he lifted up the curtain and peered through the window. The Limousine wasn't anywhere in sight.
"Come on..." He muttered to himself, gritting his teeth as he moved the curtain back into place. Pacing back and forth in the living room doorway.
Charity's attention was stolen away from the TV, looking over at her father with confused eyes. "Daddy? What's wrong?" She asked.
"Oh, it's.. it's nothing, sweetie." Kainan nodded, faking a smile. "I'm just a little worried. Mommy hasn't responded to my calls yet."
"Oh, there's no need to worry! No need to worry!" Charity smiled, waving her arms around. "She's at work!"
"..Yeah, that she is." Kainan nodded along. Wishing he could be as unaware as Charity was.
*Knock-Knock..*
A Quiet, barely audible knock at the front-door.
"Oh, Oh, Oooh!" Charity oh'd repeatedly. "Maybe that's her! Maybe that's her!"
"Huh?" Kainan blinked to himself, looking at his phone as he walked over to the door almost on reflex. 'I didn't see the car at all.. and why isn't she responding?' he thought to himself, as he opened the door. "..What? Delilah!? Why are you so wet!?"
Right in the doorway, Delilah was standing. Dripping wet with a notably less-wet plastic bag in one hand, and the other still in knocking-position. She had some kind of miniature-keyboard-thing strapped to her wrist. A Unfamiliar woman in a labcoat was standing behind her, looking on with a sad expression.
Wordlessly, he gestured for them to come inside. Delilah dropped her bag of gifts on the floor in the doorway as she walked straight into Kainan, wrapping her arms around him in a uncomfortable hug. "..Delilah?.. What's wrong? You never hug me.."
Charity peered over, tilting her entire body so she was watching the scene sideways as the woman in the labcoat walked in.
"..Where.." Kainan started, before he made the realization. He knew why Martha wasn't here, and why she hadn't been answering his calls. "..No... Oh, Oh god. No... Please, Come in, I.. I'm going to sit down."
He pulled himself out of Delilah's hug, heading into the living room and resting his head in his hands as he sat down. With nothing else to do, The woman in the labcoat- Tsukiko, closed the door behind her as she walked in after him.
She couldn't tell him everything, she certainly couldn't tell him the truth about who she was, or who did it, but.. he had the right to know about his wife's fate, at the very least.
...
..
[][][], [][] [][][], []:[][][ ] [ , [][][][] [][] [][]
TRANSLATING... CONVERTING TO EARTH-3 TIME...
[2081, Thursday 25th December, 2:30pm. Earth-3 Time] Home of the Tartarus Clan. Outside of Tarabus's Castle
Tara had been sitting in front of the pool of darkness for hours, gazing through it without moving a muscle. Where it not for her cape and twinbraids flowing in the breeze Kali, the demon with the firey twintails, would think she was looking at a statue.
"..Tara?" She asked, walking up and sitting down next to her. "What's shaking you? You've been sitting here for a while now. I thought you'd have gone out and done it by now."
"..I don't want to die like Clarinda did." Tara answered. "Like all of those idiots I killed in Newrum did. I've been watching all of this bullshit for a while now. None of its worth it."
Kali blinked, "Really?" She asked. "C'mon, You don't want to worry about any of them killing you? You beasted all of those guys in Newrum, and in that hospital. They don't stand a chance."
"That doesn't matter, Red Moon's over." Tara muttered, running her fingers along the pool of darkness in front of them. "I checked, and those labcoats that were after the books.. they're not going to get the chance to even do that anyway..."
"That's a good thing isn't it. They can't come here and fuck everything up." Kali nodded.
"Yeah. It's a good thing." Tara said, her voice contradicting her. "...Y'know, I saw Spadille earlier. She gave me a Tarot reading. Apparently all I needed was time to think things through and sort my thoughts out.
I can tell that Zoey doesn't want me to fight against that woman if I don't have to... she probably, she most likely thinks I'm out there fighting her right now."
"Is that why you're not doing it? Because Zoey doesn't want you to?" Kali asked.
"Not just that. Look." Tara said, splashing some of the darkness in the pool about. It began to clear up and show them a image; a live feed of a birds eye view from the sky, in front of Randolf Stoneson's house. Amila was sitting in her wheelchair at the balcony, with a man in uniform standing in front of her.
"Are you serious?" The Man was asking- it appeared that the two demons were eavesdropping on a little argument.
"I am." Amila answered. "Call it all off. We need to focus on defence, 'if' someone attacks. Then we do something about it. But only if."
"That 'If' has already happened!" The Man responded. "Your own grandfather was a casualty, if you haven't forgot!"
"AS A MATTER OF FACT, I HAVEN'T!" Amila exclaimed, fire in her eye. "And I will not have you pulling that card on me! I am not an idiot, acting on anger and rushing in blindly helps no one! Nor does trying to wage a war on a whole dimension! It's one demon, acting on her own! I refuse to take a card out of the Red Moon's book and punish every single one of them for something that they had no part in!"
The Man gritted his teeth and backed off, "Kh..." He mumbled, unable to get a full sentence out.
Watching them from above, Tara only folded her arms while Kali leaned closer. "She's taking the whole 'dead grandpa thing' pretty well."
"Yep." Tara nodded glumly, "Besides, there's more." She gestured to the pool again, as the conversation they were eavesdropping on resumed.
"I understand.." The Man reluctantly nodded. "Onto the next subject then. There's been reports of.. strange creatures, looking to be made out of fungus and muscle sinew- each of them varying in the more specific features and abilities moving from Curtside, we believe their destinations are Strathmore and Mishinaka. It's not too unreasonable to assume that they'll soon be coming here as well. We're not too far from Strathmore, after all."
Amila had shifted back into a more temperate emotional state quite quickly, looking at the man with a distance in her eyes as she asked. "Is the Mayor here aware of all this?"
"Yes. His own troops have reported this to him a while ago." The Man answered. "Luckily for us, he wasn't affiliated with the Red Moon."
"Unlike those two towns you mentioned, which were veritable Red Moon Hotspots..." Amila muttered, coming to a realization. "If we assume these are demons, it might be a strike to take out the rest of that cult now that the leaders dealt with."
"So, I take it you don't want to take any action against these creatures?" The Man asked.
"..None as of now. Keep a eye on them, Report back to me if anything comes up." Was Amila's response, as Tara waved her arm again- dispelling the scene.
"I don't get it." Kali admitted, "Why did 'this' convince you to back off?"
"Because she's backing off." Tara explained. "She's not being as stupid as all of those other ones were. She's not coming after me. I've got no reason to go down there and do anything to her anymore. Everything's over with."
"..No, no. There's more to this than just that." Kali leaned forwards, placing a hand on Tara's shoulder. "Come on, I know you. What else is it?"
"..Honestly, it's because I'm pretty sure Mephisto wants me to throw my life away down there." Tara admitted.
"Oh, now we're getting into the nitty-gritty." Kali grinned, "I just knew that Mephisto guy was bugging you. He's been bothering me as well."
"Earlier we were talking, and I just know he was trying to manipulate me." Tara spoke, "'There's one more loose end you need to tie up' 'you know you need to take her out' saying shit like that to me! It's all he ever does, manipulate people! I bet he's thinking that if I die against Amila, Zoey will get all sad about it- he'll get the chance to manipulate her into playing into whatever his longterm plans are!"
"Girl, it wouldn't surprise me at all if he pulled that shit." Kali nodded along.
"And it's so obvious that he's only marrying Zoey to get to all of the souls in the Inferno." Tara continued on. "So obvious!"
Kali's flames began to burn a bright red for a brief moment as she looked into the distance for a brief moment, checking to make sure the coast was clear before turning back to Tara. "Hey, you want to do something about him?" She asked.
"I'm not sure if I can without causing a whole war." Tara sighed. "I can do a lot of damage to the human world, but I'm not as confident about how I can hold up against some of the guys in his family."
"..Yeah, on second thought. Not sure if I want to risk it." Kali muttered, turning to look back at the pool. "Still though. You sure the Red Moon are done for?"
"If they're not, then they're way more stubborn than a cockroach could ever hope to be." Tara rolled her eyes.
"But for now, I'm not giving him the satisfaction. I'm not going to play his game."
...
...
2081, Thursday 25th December, 7:05pm.The Road.
Lynch and Raluag both didn't have any money on them, so hitching a ride on a train to.. wherever the trains would take them wasn't a option. That was fine, both of them preferred to just drive.
The sky was dark blue, the sun had set early on christmas. But it still wasn't snowing, wasn't any snow in sight. There was only clouds, and a small open patch of sky that the glow of the moon shone down on everyone through.
Lynch stood just outside of the beaten up car, the Gas station [Joe's, officially closed down after the owner's Other took their place in 2075, but technically is still in business] wasn't that far away. She could see [The Owner himself] scrubbing away at a wall [clearing out cobwebs] near the gas-tanks, thanks to lights both of the streetlights dotting road ahead of her and the lights set up at the Gas Station itself.
On either side of her were streetlights, behind them, nothing but grass, if she continued walking along the road, she could walk straight past the Gas Station, perfectly placed so anyone who hadn't filled up on gas before making their journey along the motorway could swerve on in, maybe buy themselves a couple of snacks, and then get back on the road.
Of course, there weren't many people doing any of that lately. And Luckily, they already had a map inside the car and enough gas to last them a while, so she wouldn't have to either.
The backdoor of the car was wide open, Raluag was lying on her back, occupying all 3 of the back seats at once. The burnt up remains of Lynch's hoodie was lying underneath the chairs, now the Orange-haired woman was wearing a short sleeved white shirt where the hoodie had been. With her back to Raluag, the Free Will Omnipotent couldn't place her expression.
Slowly, she breathed. Reaching out for the car door. "..Fuck it, we're gonna keep driving a little more." Lynch decided, squeezing herself through the back door and pushing herself into to the drivers seat. With just one press of a button the door closed, and they were back driving down the road.
As they drove past the gas station, She turned her head and looked at the owner- who had noticed the car driving by. [The Other of Joe Jones, just wants to help people understand themselves, while also selling whatever's available in his shop.]
'..I really need to stop doing that.' she sighed to herself.
"Hey, is all that still bugging you?" Raluag asked, from her relaxed position in the backseats.[Still worried herself]
She sighed, looking at the rear-view mirror, angled in a way that she could see her own reflection... no two ways about it; she looked exhausted. Her hair was a mess, and her formerly white eyes had changed to a nearly pure midnight blue- as dark as the night sky above them, the colour that was hidden behind the clouds. '..Weird, why'd noone mention this?' She asked herself.
'..wait, no, answer Raluag's question first' she admonished herself. Looking straight ahead as they drove down the road. "..Yeah, I'm still in a bad mood about it."
"Not surprised. That Martha lady.. she was crazy." Raluag muttered, "I mean; everyone in that cult was bananas, but she seemed extra crazy."
"At least we won't have to worry about her ever again." The Woman responded. "We haven't seen Delilah yet, and with any luck we won't have to. Ever. She's just a kid, after all."
"With any luck, she'll grow out of whatever indoctrinated bullshit that cult threw her into." Raluag muttered.
"From what I saw, it wasn't so much indoctrination as it was she might not have had any other choice."
"At least this way, she gets that choice, right?"
"Yep." The Woman nodded, as a metaphorical lightbulb turned on in her head. "..Hey, do you think you being the Omnipotent of Free Will had anything to do with this?"
"I didn't even see her this time, so probably not." Was Raluag's response.
"Was worth a thought." Her conversation partner shrugged, leaning into the wheel as she turned a corner. Peering out of the side window, she could see some of Eleanor's creations sitting against a tree, they didn't notice the car as it drove past them. "..So..." She felt nervous, It had been forever since she truly opened up to anyone, much less like how she wanted to right now. A big part of her was still fighting against it, hoping to keep all of that secrecy it'd kept for so long. "...There was that thing, I wanted to talk to you about."
"Oh, yeah. You did mention that."
"Well... you know that my real name isn't 'Lynch.'" She said, "..And it's not 'Delia' either, obviously."
"Yeah, and mine isn't Raluag. What are you getting at?" Raluag nodded, Lynch looked at her in the rear-view mirror, one of her eyes was fully closed, she hadn't moved a muscle since the car started moving. [Looking at Lynch through the rear-view mirror as well.]
"Earlier, you said something like 'It's shit to read through everyone elses pasts and secrets without divulging any of yours'.. well, thinking on it. That's right, to be honest, and.. this entire time, I've just been hiding. Even when I first called myself Lynch, I was just hiding. I can't move past anything if I live in fear of it coming to light, all it's going to do is control me for even longer than it would if I faced it."
"..Yeah, I guess you're right there." Raluag nodded along. "But, that doesn't mean you need to force yourself to tell me anything."
"..I'm not." Lynch started-
"I'm not a idiot." Raluag cut her off, "I can tell you're uncomfortable."
'..Well, she's not wrong.' "That's just because I've been hiding for so long, it's a big change. Just telling anyone anything... and, I can trust you with this information anyway. It's as good a start as any."
"Uh, Thanks?" Raluag asked. "But, seriously, if you're just doing this because I made you feel bad, you really don't have to-"
"Before Lynch, I was Amy. I was holed up in a complex in a different country for a while, but one of the workers there - my supervisor- helped me escape. That's why I started going by a different name."
"..Because of your powers?" Raluag asked. It made sense, if it was that'd be some common ground between the two of them. All of the Omnipotents had been thrown into that other dimension just for existing before the Gateway pulled them out of it to aid in the fight against Erebus after all.
..That was a long time ago. Lynch blinked to herself, that was around the time she first realized how Omalley thought of her. For some reason or another, he loved her. She didn't know why, it couldn't have just been because he felt sad about being unable to help her. There had to be more to it...
but, maybe she'd never know. If she wanted to move on, she never would. She'd just find something else to do, somewhere else. In that situation, all that was being considered were his feelings. Hers were just a afterthought of the universe, and it wasn't prepared for her to disagree.
"More than that, I stumbled through a hole in space when I was younger, it took me to the Demon Dimension. People had lots of questions when I stumbled back out of it." She answered Raluag's earlier question. "The powers came later.
..But, yeah, From now on. I'm going to be Amy again." Lynch- no, Amy stated, clear as the light shining on them from the moon. That part of her begging for secrecy had stopped talking, soon it would stop existing, she would hope.
"Well, if you want to." Raluag shrugged [completely indifferent to it.]
Amy nodded. "Then I will. I'm not going to let the past keep chasing after me anymore, and besides, switching back to your initial, non-omnipotent name worked for a while, right?"
"..Yeah.." Raluag answered wistfully, reaching up and grabbing onto the seat she was resting her head on.
Amy didn't know what else to say, she still didn't want to just say everything. Wanting to move past things, and tell everyone all about it were two very different things. It'd take more than a single conversation in a car for her to get over everything- rise above everything.
Until she can get to a point where she's so far beyond everything that's gone after her that it no longer matters to her... that's such a long time away, it'll probably only come when she's dying of old age. If that'd ever happen. She closed her eyes and Eleanor flashed before her... it'd take her a while to get over that, and whatever was going on with Hippolytos as well.
"..I don't need all the answers." She decided, whatever it was, it had happened. She didn't want anything to do with it anymore... All those other people had wanted answers, answers to questions she didn't feel comfortable enough to answer.. Eleanor wanted answers. But once she got the ones that Lynch was willing to give her, she went and threw her life away.
..Would she have done the same thing, with the answers that Amy would've given her?
"So, where are we going?" Raluag asked, pulling Amy out of her thoughts and back into reality. "Hopefully not back to Wallshore."
"Oh, definitely not." Amy agreed, "Wait hold on, there should be a map around here." She continued, slowing to a stop in the middle of the road. Now that she didn't have to worry about driving, she could dig through the car and pull out the map [dated considerably due to recent events] they had found earlier. Holding it up in front of her, she looked over it's contents. A Map of all of the roads on the continent with cities highlighted in their approximate locations, with Newrum smack in the middle. Creases from when it had been neatly folded and placed in the compartment near the air conditioning still showing through, placing everything into even rectangles. She worked her way across the map, crossing cities out mentally one by one.
Newrum was a Nuclear Wasteland in the literal sense. Rachdale and Wellham were veritable ghost towns... from what she had heard and seen, Mishinaka was a whole other can of worms. From what she had seen, a lot of Eleanor's creatures were made using DNA of people from Curtside, so that place likely wasn't safe. Strathmore was pretty close to Curtside as well, and on top of that it was a breeding ground for Red Moon's, regardless of both of that cults leaders being dead, another head could easily appear so she might as well cross that one off. Ol Skaebe was literally right next to Strathmore... if Strathmore was in danger, then Ol Skaebe probably was as well, so Amy crossed that one off mentally.
...Crossing Erinfort off as well, for reasons that were all too clear.
Then there was Wallshore, of to the most northwest corner of the entire continent. Definitely not going there.
"..Basically anything on the left half of this continent is a no-go." Amy said. "Especially with all of these guys running around."
"Well, damn. That's basically most places." Raluag commented to herself. "..What about Newfort? I hear that place is pretty nice."
"On our current road.. I don't think there's a way. We'd have to go through Newrum." Amy answered. "We'd die of Radiation Poisoning before we could even get there."
"Isn't that most places on the other side?" Raluag asked. " To get anywhere you need to go through Newrum, or at least through the area surrounding it. That's why supplies have been short these past few days. With Newrum being a full on danger zone, all of the trade routes are busted. We're basically stuck on the side of the continent that you ruled out."
"...Then maybe we could try Skaebe. At least until things cool down." Amy sighed. "Not the kind of place that'd be on anyone's radars."
"Yeah, sure, better than nowhere." Raluag responded noncommittally.
"Right. Skaebe it is then." Amy nodded, 'from this road.. if I just keep going, and then turn right, It should just be a straight line.'
And sure enough, a three-way intersection made itself apparent before the hour was up. Each of the diversions in the road laid out before her had streetsigns propped up between them- illuminated by the still functioning streetlights, [Turn Left for Mishinaka, Keep going straight to continue on the road, Turn Right for Strathmore & Ol Skaebe]
She turned right, as the streetlights began to flicker out.
...
And on that bridge, as she walked away, she couldn't hear him anymore. Amy turned back, and didn't see him there either. All she saw was Lynch, holding onto that script, looking over the bridge into the water below. The Moon was shining.
"..Goodbye. We won't be seeing each other again, but I wish you the best." Amy said, and she meant it.
She walked away. Never to return.
End of Rise.
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