Descent of Nightmare (Chapter Fifteen)
Dec. 9th, 2016 06:42 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
tanadin posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
saladloveChapter list: https://tanadin.dreamwidth.org/650.html
Map of Kaldriel: https://i.gyazo.com/332b0c0172dcc60acb46
Rough map of Hatu: https://i.gyazo.com/ea4f9f51b9dc7b9d8b86
Chapter Fifteen
Descent
Mainframe, Kaldriel. November 9, 2277. Time instance 842N.
“That’s bad,” Kyir decided as Seven frowned slightly and came entirely out of the ship, crossing his arms. Tanadin’s news didn’t seem to be particularly surprising to either of them, something she silently questioned but didn’t remark on.
“Why didn’t Nine tell me before?” Seven asked.
“He said you were busy. He and Hazon are managing it and are in contact with the Archdemons.”
“Bad,” Kyir repeated. “Angels are not good.”
“What about Cataclysm?” Tanadin asked, raising an eyebrow.
“Have you seen him lately? That’s no angel.”
Tanadin started to respond but Seven held up a hand for silence, tilting his head slightly to listen. He narrowed his eyes.
“We have another alien ship in orbit and no way to destroy it from here if need be. The transmission says its from someone called Q-”
“Q!” Tanadin couldn’t recall hearing so much excitement in M’s voice before. He perked up immediately and stood up straighter. “What is she doing here?”
“Looking for you, apparently.” Seven crossed his arms. “We can either let her land or she’ll land anyway and possibly kill anyone who shoots at her. Kyir, we really need to get those defenses up.”
“What do you think we’ve been doing the past few days?!”
“Let her land,” M told them, clicking his claws in sync. “If she’s not trustworthy, no one is.”
“You’re not trustworthy,” Seven informed him. “Your word is irrelevant.”
“You did just say she was going to land no matter what, and knowing Q, she’ll have her weapons ready if she’s going to make an unauthorized landing.”
Seven thought that over before slowly nodding and mumbling something under his breath. He motioned for them all to move back and stood with them, behind M’s ship, as the second spacecraft flew into view. Tanadin almost missed it as it blended in against the pre-dawn sky, but it was far easier to see as it approached and came in for a landing. Just like M’s ship, it bore no distinctive marks whatsoever and the two were almost identical.
The door to the second spacecraft slid open and a raptor stepped out, taking a deep breath of Kaldriel air and making a face. Her scales were dark gray, nearly black in the dim light, and her feathers were silver, just barely brighter than M’s. Her eyes glowed with a deep purple in the night, just as M’s glowed dark yellow.
She stepped down from her ship onto the platform and slowly approached, watching them all carefully before speaking.
“Looks like they haven’t put your head on a pike, M.”
“Not yet,” he agreed. “What are you doing here, Q?”
“I had to make sure you didn’t do anything stupid.” She stopped walking and clicked her claws on the ground.
“Stupid? I’m not the impulsive one here.”
“You do stupid things when left to your own devices.”
“Like what?”
Q linked her clawed fingers and narrowed her eyes slightly, what appeared to be the raptor equivalent of crossing her arms and raising an eyebrow.
M sighed. “Yeah. That’s fair. But how did you find me?”
“Oh, you know, it was hard, I had to track you, it involved a lot of logical- of course you came to Kaldriel you idiot!” Q unlinked her fingers and growled at him, standing up straighter. “You alienate yourself from your entire race so of course you’re going to go to the one other place you might find safety! I’d be surprised if all of Hatu doesn’t know you’re here!” She paused. “Also, N told me.”
“Of course he did,” M muttered. “And the rest of the Mystrex, too.”
“No, actually, he didn’t. But the Mystrex are sure you’re here, anyway. The kavakras are corrupt, not stupid. I’m sure that there’s another Mystrex not far behind me.”
“Kyir, we need to get working on the planet’s defenses,” Seven interrupted, turning to face Kyir. “We can’t have any more aliens showing up.”
Kyir crossed his arms. “Stop making me do things while my wife is gone. I want to mope.”
Tanadin looked surprised. “I thought she came here with you?”
“She did. She just left to go visit my mom.”
“Kyir. Focus. Now.” Seven grabbed his arm and pulled him away, back towards the Mainframe. “M, send me those blueprints once you get Q figured out. Tanadin, there’s a cyborg coming up to deal with her.”
“Deal with me?” Q repeated. “I hope that isn’t code for executing me. Because I like my head where it is.”
“They just don’t trust random aliens that show up after enslaving us for twenty years.” Tanadin shrugged. “Go figure.”
“Hey, that wasn’t me! That was just M and a bunch of other people!”
“I didn’t actually set anything up!” M protested. “I just observed!”
“Did you observe why I can barely breathe?”
“The oxygen content is a lot lower, Q! Why did you come out of your ship without checking the oxygen content?”
“Well you survived here just fine!”
“That’s a terrible reason!”
“I’m a lizard babysitter,” Tanadin muttered.
“Welcome to my life,” M grumbled. “I’m the responsible adult of the Mystrex.”
Q looked offended. “I’m the group mom!”
“A is the group mom.”
“We’re lesbian moms.”
“No you are not.”
“Don’t tell me how to live my life.”
M groaned. “Can we execute her?”
“No!” Q protested.
“I’ll think about it.” Tanadin winked. “I kind of like her, though.”
Q beamed.
~~~
“Okay.” Twelve leaned forward in her seat, looking over the faces gathered before her. “Is everyone here?”
They were gathered on the bottom floor of the apartment building. They had collected enough chairs for all of them to fill the room for a meeting, one that they had intended to have yesterday but it had taken them so long to find Tavren that they decided to put it off until morning.
“Now that we found Tavren, yes,” Nightgale muttered, crossing her arms. She was particularly moody as she’d been having trouble controlling her werewolf transformations- she was having a hard time staying transformed, specifically, and none of them had any idea why. Because of this, she had been forced to spend more time than normal in her default form. She was similar to Krassor in that she was nearly identical in structure to the aven that Twelve had seen, but her wings were placed on her back instead of being fused with her arms. Nightgale’s feathers were brown and white with tinges of purple here and there, accenting her blazing purple eyes that burned with suppressed fury.
She hadn’t spent much time in this form since Meria died. Twelve pushed the thought away and focused on the present.
“Okay.” Twelve got to her feet. “We’ve been here in this…” she searched for the word, finally saying it in English “...city for a day now. We’ve known these people- our parents- for about that long. What do you guys think of them?”
“I like them,” Solace said immediately. “I haven’t really been able to talk to Scott, but Clash is cool and they both seem to be worthwhile.”
“I’ve only met my mom, but I like her a lot,” Tavren agreed. “She’s just as smart as I am! We measured M’s teeth and claws together, it was great! He’s built for hunting down and killing animals far larger than he is, although he hasn’t needed to do that, like, ever, because he’s a sentient race with advanced weaponry-”
Twelve cleared her throat and Tavren trailed off, grinning sheepishly.
“My… parents are cool,” Lucy mumbled. “Just… weird. This whole situation is weird. What are we doing here? What do we do now?”
“I don’t know,” Twelve confessed, sitting back down. “But we’ll figure it out. We seem to be safe enough here, so we have time to sit down and think this over. Does anyone want to try to find a way back to the desert?”
A few people exchanged looks but no one spoke up. Twelve nodded. “I thought not. So we’re staying on Kaldriel. Everex, how likely is it that these people are just being nice to us to get something from us?”
“Hilariously low. We have almost nothing to offer.”
“Tavren?”
“I agree.”
“Okay. So I suppose they’re trustworthy, but it’s good to be cautious. Don’t go anywhere alone if you can avoid it. We don’t know what lives here and what’s dangerous.” Twelve drummed her fingers on her arm chair. “Try to learn the language as quickly as possible. We need to be able to talk to these people.”
“Should we get to know these people that M says are related to us?” Jack asked, raising an eyebrow.
“Yes. They’re vital for learning how this world works. Just try not to stray too far without letting someone know, okay? I want us to always be able to find each other. It’s safer that way and, if I’m honest, I’d worry about you guys on your own.”
“Some of us wouldn’t survive a day without a leader,” Deathclaw muttered, shooting Jack a look. Jack stuck out his tongue.
“Point proven,” Everex said, raising an eyebrow. Twelve rolled her eyes before continuing.
“Is there anything else that anyone wants to discuss? Questions? Concerns?”
“Where do we get food?” Korrah asked, tilting her head.
“I have no idea,” Twelve admitted. “We should probably ask someone. Anything else?”
No one spoke up. Twelve nodded and got to her feet. “Alright. Meeting over.”
Exadae picked up the nearest breakable object- a vase perched precariously on a table- and threw it against the ground, breaking it into hundreds of tiny shards. “SCATTER!”
Twelve groaned. “Do you have to do that every time?”
He grinned. “Absolutely.” He grabbed Jack’s arm and raced out of the building, the doors slamming shut behind him.
Everex sidestepped over to Twelve and tapped her shoulder. “I’m going to explore the city. Join me?”
Twelve hesitated, almost declining- she had to look after the group, after all- but she stopped herself and decided that she could do with some time off. “You know what? Sure. Is Solace coming along?”
“No, Tavren offered to help teach her English because she won’t listen to me much.”
Twelve raised an eyebrow. “Meaning?”
“Meaning she keeps ignoring what I’m saying and trying to snuggle me instead.” Everex crossed his arms moodily.
“I don’t think you complained much.”
“Well, no…”
Twelve rolled her eyes. “Come on, Everex.”
Everex elbowed her before leading the way outside. Twelve took a breath of cold air and felt a shiver run down her spine. They’d need to find some way to keep warm, she knew, other than shifting into their kirinax forms. She wasn’t sure how the locals felt about kirinax blatantly walking down the street, but she had a feeling that they weren’t going to be huge fans.
Everex didn’t seem to mind as much as she did, so she shrugged it off, walking side-by-side with her brother down the street and mentally mapping out the city as they went. Certain districts looked more or less uniform than others, although she had no idea why. Some places were built with inhuman precision while others had just been adapted for other uses. Not many people frequented the street this early in the morning- the sun was hardly up- and Twelve found herself preferring the near solitude. Since coming to Kaldriel, she had felt an unpleasant buzz against her consciousness, one that rang with the feelings of those around her. She’d always felt them, but it had always been her group, her friends. Not these random strangers that she couldn’t afford to care about.
She knew that Everex was the same was and nudged him gently. “What do you think of this place?”
“The street, the city, or Kaldriel?”
“All of the above.”
“Well, the street is okay if a bit dull. The city has way more people than I’m used to and I don’t like that, but it’s an interesting place and I know there’s a lot we can learn about it. Kaldriel...I’m not sure yet. It’s weird, and cold, but apparently not everywhere is cold like this, it’s just that we’re in the mountains and it’s winter. There are these things called seasons, Twelve, where the weather changes based on the time of the year! That’s so weird!”
Twelve raised an eyebrow. “Who were you talking to when you learned this?”
“Tanadin.”
“I wasn’t present?”
“You were questioning Deathclaw about the stool he found and wanted to put on a desk.”
Twelve slowly nodded, remembering the incident. “Why would he want a stool on a desk? He can’t even use a stool.”
“I guess that’s why he wants it on a desk.”
“That makes no sense, Everex.”
“Well, it’s the only conclusion I can draw because logic is just shrugging, so-”
“And what are you supposed to be?”
Everex stopped mid-word and the twins turned to face the voice. It was owned by a skinny, freckled man with narrowed green eyes and obnoxious orange hair. He radiated unpleasantness and Twelve was struck by the urge to slap him.
“You’re not real cyborgs, are you? You’re all...blue. And you don’t even have an eye replaced!”
Twelve sighed and switched to English. “What are you supposed to be? I thought we’d left all the spotted lizards behind us in the desert.”
The man growled and stood straighter. “Why, you-”
Everex raised his hand, making his palm glow with faint crackling energy. “You should go.”
The man’s eyes widened and he scampered into the darkness of an alley. Twelve and Everex exchanged looks as he lowered his hand.
“What was that about?”
“Welcome to Kaldriel,” someone said dryly, making them spin around to address her. “That was Chester. Don’t mind him. He’s like that to everyone.” The girl was also red-haired, green-eyed, and freckled, and Twelve silently wondered if the two were related.
“So he’s like Gyrad,” Everex reasoned. “A dick for no reason. Who are you?”
“Cap. I’m assuming you guys are Everex and Twelve?”
They exchanged glances. “Yes,” Twelve said slowly. “How did you know?”
“Lucy told me you two were the cyborg twins and who your parents are. Considering the fact that you look almost identical to Tanadin and Seven, I could guess.”
“I...see.” Twelve raised an eyebrow. “You’re related to Lucy?”
“Yes.”
“Can she really see the ghost of someone called Sheva, then? Because she’s been insisting she can for years.”
“Oh, she can. That’s an ability she got from me.” Cap crossed her arms. “I can see the ghosts of the dead. It’s a rare ability but it does exist. I’m just wondering why Sheva’s following Lucy, of all people. She’s Seven’s dead sister- your aunt- and I don’t know why she hasn’t passed on yet. I’d assumed she would have wrapped up her unfinished business when the Mainframe fell, but she’s still here, and not following anyone that she knew in life. She won’t answer questions and Lucy doesn’t know either.”
“Maybe she knew we existed and wanted to get us here safely?” Everex suggested. “She’s the one that gave us the coordinates for the teleporter.”
“Maybe.” Cap crossed her arms, thinking. “Can I ask you a few questions about Lucy?”
Everex shrugged. “Go for it.”
“Has she ever abruptly changed in power level? Gotten much stronger with no apparent reason?”
“Yes,” Twelve said, narrowing her eyes. “Why?”
“I have suspicions about her. Do her eyes ever glow red?”
The twins exchanged looks. “When she’s really pissed and in combat, yeah.”
“Does the darkness ever reach out and assist her?”
“Not often, but it does happen.” Twelve’s fingers flexed in an unconscious motion, as if itching to unsheathe her metal claws from her fingertips. “Where are you going with this?”
Cap slowly exhaled. “I think I’ve figured out something about Lucy. I won’t tell you- if she chose not to tell you, that’s not my business- but you just need to know that she’s different.” Cap’s gaze darkened. “And I don’t know why she chose it for herself.” Troubled, Cap turned and walked away, mumbling under her breath and leaving the twins confused.
“What was that all about?” Everex wondered, watching her go.
“I don’t know.” Twelve shivered. “But I think we should head back. The cold is starting to get to me.”
~~~
Myrzen spread his wings and took off, feeling the light of Heaven reflect off of his silver feathers and the gentle winds lift him high into the air. He smiled slightly, despite the grim news he’d received mere minutes before. He couldn’t feel awful while flying, but the weight of the oncoming war was like a stone in his gut, pulling him back down to the ground. He sighed quietly, folding his wings and landing lightly on a ridge overlooking the eastern aerie. The prospect of fighting demons down on Kaldriel- where his powers wouldn’t be at their height- was intimidating at best.
He looked down at his hands and how the light played across his dark skin as he flexed his fingers. Angels were obsessed with color, even the color of their skin. Archangel Hau’rah, the Guardian Archangel, was especially picky about new angels he allowed into his ranks. It had been a struggle to prove himself worthy, but Myrzen had done it, and was now a first rank guardian angel.
He sighed quietly. His parents were proud of him, but being a guardian angel was tough. They were expected to the strongest and the best of the best, the ones on the front lines holding the shields and striking at anything that got too close. They were supposed to be impenetrable, indestructible, and a sight that awed even the most battle-hardened angels.
He had barely been initiated and they were already going to war. He quietly hoped that he would be left out of the first few battles in order to let him get better, maybe even climb to the second rank, but he knew that was unlikely. When Heaven went to war, every angel was needed where they could best help, and a guardian belonged on the battlefield, protecting his allies.
Myrzen wasn’t even entirely sure why they were going to war. When he asked Kahzan- a rank three guardian angel and essentially his boss- why, he had only snarled something about the demons disrespecting Heaven and being long overdue for a war anyways. It had been about a thousand years since Heaven and Hell had last clashed, so Myrzen supposed that Kahzan was right, but something in his heart whispered that he was wrong, that it wasn’t a reason.
Myrzen shrugged it off. He was young, inexperienced, and two ranks lower than Kahzan. What did he know about anything? It wasn’t like they could lose- Hell had been disorganized since its Queen had been killed five hundred years ago and the Crown was lost. Myrzen thought that it was rather foolish of the demons to crown a monarch if they couldn’t even keep one on the throne, but each to their own, he supposed.
He felt Kahzan pull at his mind, mentally summoning him, and he spread his wings to take off once more.
They would be heading out soon, Myrzen feared, and he wondered if he’d ever see home again.
no subject
Date: 2016-12-10 01:22 am (UTC)Kyir crossed his arms. “Stop making me do things while my wife is gone. I want to mope.”
Tanadin looked surprised. “I thought she came here with you?”
“She did. She just left to go visit my mom.”
Jase has gone to visit Mom-Tree? Or is Kyir's mother no longer a tree?
She was particularly moody as she’d been having trouble controlling her werewolf transformations- she was having a hard time staying transformed, specifically, and none of them had any idea why. Because of this, she had been forced to spend more time than normal in her default form. She was similar to Krassor in that she was nearly identical in structure to the aven that Twelve had seen, but her wings were placed on her back instead of being fused with her arms. Nightgale’s feathers were brown and white with tinges of purple here and there, accenting her blazing purple eyes that burned with suppressed fury.
She hadn’t spent much time in this form since Meria died. Twelve pushed the thought away and focused on the present.
Were Nightgale and Meria an item or just best friends? Either way I approve and am saddened.
"...There are these things called seasons, Twelve, where the weather changes based on the time of the year! That’s so weird!”
Twelve raised an eyebrow. “Who were you talking to when you learned this?”
“Tanadin.”
“I wasn’t present?”
“You were questioning Deathclaw about the stool he found and wanted to put on a desk.”
Twelve slowly nodded, remembering the incident. “Why would he want a stool on a desk? He can’t even use a stool.”
“I guess that’s why he wants it on a desk.”
“That makes no sense, Everex.”
Deathclaw is most certaintly his mother's child XD
“And what are you supposed to be?”
Everex stopped mid-word and the twins turned to face the voice. It was owned by a skinny, freckled man with narrowed green eyes and obnoxious orange hair. He radiated unpleasantness and Twelve was struck by the urge to slap him.
“You’re not real cyborgs, are you? You’re all...blue. And you don’t even have an eye replaced!”
Twelve sighed and switched to English. “What are you supposed to be? I thought we’d left all the spotted lizards behind us in the desert.”
The man growled and stood straighter. “Why, you-”
Everex raised his hand, making his palm glow with faint crackling energy. “You should go.”
The man’s eyes widened and he scampered into the darkness of an alley. Twelve and Everex exchanged looks as he lowered his hand.
What are you supposed to be Chester? Either your label fell off or they don't label shit these days.
Cap slowly exhaled. “I think I’ve figured out something about Lucy. I won’t tell you- if she chose not to tell you, that’s not my business- but you just need to know that she’s different.” Cap’s gaze darkened. “And I don’t know why she chose it for herself.” Troubled, Cap turned and walked away, mumbling under her breath and leaving the twins confused.
Glowing red eyes? Higher power level aided by darkness? Lucy choose this for herself? What has she done? Become a Sith and joined the Dark Side?
no subject
Date: 2016-12-10 05:17 pm (UTC)They were good friends.
Deathclaw is amazing in every way. :P
OOOOO CHESTER GONNA HAVE TO FIND A DIFFERENT HEALER BECAUSE THIS ONE JUST BURNS
lucy became.....AN EDGELORD
no subject
Date: 2016-12-12 06:11 pm (UTC)Awww Meria's death broke up a BFF realtionship then : (
Indeed Deathclaw is the best demon raptor ever.
Indeed, if Chester hurts himself and turn up at my healing centre I tell him to fuck off XD
Chester: I cut my arm, I'm going to die! *has bad but not life threatening cut on arm*
Scara: You'll be fine *dismissive wave*
Chester: I'm bleeding out!
Scara: *shrugs*
Chester: Heal me you bitch!
Scara: *grabs baseball bat and knocks Chester out, drags him outside the building, hangs 'Out To Lunch' sign on door, shuts door*
no subject
Date: 2016-12-13 01:30 am (UTC)-Observing Anon
no subject
Date: 2016-12-13 01:32 am (UTC)