"Aurum, Queen of Mir." The old man spoke boldly, standing alongside twelve of his brethren; the thirteen of Mir, the council, the judges- they went by many names, and they now stood before Aurum, scowling unanimously. "You are brought before us today under accusations of having begun the magical infection near the border, to provoke war on Starria, and frame them for launching an attack on our homeland, giving you an excuse to push forth and take their land for our own."
"I understa-"
"In all of Mir, you rule, Aurum. All except for this hall. Silence yourself until you are given the authority to speak." The man standing at the front of his crowd lifted his cane and slammed it down; and as the noise was still echoing, Aurum found icy chains coiling around her arms and legs- one wrapping around her head and forcing into her mouth as a sort of gag as she snarled, looking around, tail thrashing angrily.
She stood on a dais, in a tower of the castle where vaulted windows let afternoon sunlight shine down on her, and a council of civilians sat around her in risers circling the courtroom. This, was the one place where nobody but the council had power, and Aurum knew that if she'd refused to show, it would translate as an admission of guilt.
"There is little concrete evidence," The speaker continued, glowering. "However, this event follows a mysteriously convenient excursion into Starria with spoken plans to destabilize their monarch and the people's belief. Furthermore, your troops march toward a headquarters we have no information on- and it does not show any signs of truly being a Starrian outpost. What's more, a neutral agent; a masked individual we assume to be arch demon, has been spotted in the area, using magic."
"What's more," He continued as Aurum watched on, nose wrinkling in anger. "The masked stranger uses magic; powerful magic. We received a report that several of our men were forced to… quote, 'magically self-destruct in a shower of blood'."
"Now, Starria hates magic- and their only attempt at utilizing it failed spectacularly. Yet it is a powerful mage that kills their people on THEIR behalf? No, it seems far more likely that you, Queen, orchestrated this to give us a reason to lash out- to go all in and wipe Starria off the face of the Earth."
"Now, you may speak." The chain was ripped from her mouth, and Aurum glared down at the council from where she stood, brow furrowed.
"Heresay. You think that I would risk the lives of how many people, for the sake of this endeavor? You think that I would need to, when I can ask Aerendyl to wipe three of their cities off the map in an afternoon, before they can strike back?" Narrowing her eyes, Aurum continued. "I need no reason to wage war with Starria- I hate them, with everything I've got. They do nothing but hurt and maim, hunt, kill, control anything that is unlike them- I hate not humanity, but I hate Starria as a mother hates the killer of her children, do you understand? I have every reason to wage war on them; we are stronger, better, faster, we'd lose one to every hundred of them."
"There is another force at play here, I agree," The Queen exhaled sharply, shaking her head. "Something other than Starria and myself- but to think that I would resort to senseless violence?"
"Do you," The head speaker stared, voice flat. "-Truly expect that this third party is not associated directly with either side?"
"Why not? Answer that honestly," Aurum continued. "Gods. How do we define them? Angels and demons who've become so powerful that they can alter reality itself. The bleeding ice; unkillable arch-demon or God, depending on who you ask. The god of pain; unable to be killed even when ripped into a thousand pieces, completely outside the cycle of life and death. The playwright, who freely interrupts the cycle of life and death out of boredom- who is to say that this isn't an arch-demon approaching godhood who's simply very, very bored? Even a greater demon could, theoretically, hold such a power- and you don't look at all the options!!"
The council seemed angry, but Aurum pushed.
"What if they posed as a human and approached Starria, calling their infection a virus, something they created naturally, and sold it that way?! Do I want war; YES. Do I want every last one of those mother fuckers dead, for what they did to my sister; YES. I DO. I WANT TO WIPE STARRIA OFF THE MAP AND HEAR EVERY LAST ONE OF THEM SCREAM FOR MERCY THAT DIED A LONG TIME AGO AS THEY BLEED OUT!!!" She snapped, trembling, and, with great difficulty, she sucked in a breath, leaning back, restraining herself.
"However," she swallowed, continued. "-One cannot be a queen and let such biases sway their judgment. I will comply with any and all investigations against myself. I will accept monitoring and scrutiny. But if you truly believe that I would willingly kill my own for what they did; that I would stoop to their level, and become the thing that I've always hated- then, no. Give me a button to make every Starrian civilian die, and I will ask that you change it to kill only those who believe in their ways. Give me a loaded gun and Starrian royalty, and I may unload the weapon into his legs, that he suffers for what he did- but I am not a murderer, and you will not slander my name, or speak to me as if I am a Starrian."
-
Haru took a sharp breath as the first body sagged and swung around a tree, ramming the butt of her gun into its face and shooting twice in the aftermath; her eyes widened, but there was nothing especially shocking or traumatizing; it wasn't a person, after all.
Still, there were more, and she winced as the sound of gunfire filled the air, thanking the gods for those little foam ear plugs that Aurelia had shoved into her animal ears a few moments prior as they proceeded; oddly, Haru felt calm. Too calm, so much so that her mind began to wander, analyze. The infected threw themselves forth with reckless abandon; there was no speech, no sense of logic or reasoning there… she thought that as many as there were, they might have been overwhelmed, but Aurelia was deft, reloading as needed with her tail, gritting her teeth; at one point, an infected grabbed her coat, and she quite literally ripped its head from its neck, throwing it into the next enemy and slamming her gun's barrel forward, pulling back the trigger and watching the blood and spinal fluid mist the air with a wrinkled nose.
"Why don't we have any sort of protective gear?!" Haru asked suddenly, realizing, as she caught a hand trying to grab her and pulled- the arm came cleanly off, and her eyes widened; am I that strong because I'm a demon? Even as she used the arm to reel back and swing, sending the infected staggering and shooting it in the head; easy, at this range, no skill required.
Snorting at the absurdity of it, Haru ripped off another arm as they moved slowly through the trees and brutally whipped it into its owner's head, snorting, shooting, and continuing onward.
"Focus, Haru!!" Fox shouted nervously, and Haru nodded, giggling.
"Yeah yeah, sorry, I am, don't worry!"
"Come on, we're almost there," Aurelia snapped as they broke through the tree line into a sort of plaza; a body threw itself at Haru, and she twisted, grabbing its throat and twirling, sending the body flying into a tree with such force that it was impaled on a branch. Confused, eyes widening, Haru glanced down at her gloved hands, swallowing. Even Fox and Aurelia seemed surprised, but shook their heads; not the time, nor the place- but what the hell? I feel so strong, it's not even… jeez, where was this when I was fighting with Lif?
She could see the church, now- and there were no more infected hounding their steps, as they walked toward it, Aurelia beating on the door.
"Aurelia of Wolfpack!!! You can come to the door, now, there's no infected in the immediate vicinity and we're here to evacuate you!!"
Silence, for a moment.
"Hello?! You're safe, now, come on, we're here to get you out!!" Aurelia shouted, hammering on the door again. "Aurelia, part of Wolfpack, sent here by Aurum to help with evacuation! We're going to regroup with the other soldiers and form a new plan, but our mission is your survival!"
There were a number of slow scraping sounds from behind the door. A voice.
"Hold on, it's barricaded up!!"
"More scraping, and then the click of a massive lock before a young man with dark hair opened the door, grinning. "What's going on? I was watching the game!" He laughed, elation in his eyes- at being saved, Haru hazarded a guess.
"Get out here," Fox laughed, leaning lightly into Haru's side as three men walked out, then a blonde-haired, blue eyed woman… and then a man that Haru recognized immediately.
"Alexander-"
"Haru, Fox-" He laughed, raising his eyebrows. "What a strange way to meet you, again. Guess I chose the wrong side."
"You won't choose the wrong side again, will you?" Haru flashed a grin, chuckling.
"Never," Alexander agreed, stepping forward with a small laugh. "Let's get out of here."
"Tsk tsk, this just won't do," A voice, from behind them. Haru, Aurelia and Fox raised their weapons, but to her shock, Alexander grabbed the barrel of her gun and shoved it down, the blonde elf doing the same to Aurelia, a soldier to Fox.
Before them stood a man in red tailcoats and a fancy top hat, wearing the smiling mask of a jester and leaning on a cane.
"Who are you?" Aurelia snapped, lip curling. "Jackass who killed our men."
"Shut up, and be nice!!" Alexander snapped, slapping Aurelia in the back of her head, and the succubus fairy, eyes wide, glanced back at him, aghast.
"Yes yes, it is I, the one who killed some of your own for being rude; but I'll forgive you for that one, pretty lady," The jester laughed lightly with a masculine voice like music as he walked forward; he was strong, Haru noticed, with muscles stretching his suit taut.
"Hey!" Haru blurted out suddenly. "My name is Haru- may I please ask who you are, and what you want? I'd appreciate some understanding."
For a moment, everybody was silent, and a light rain began to fall as the jester threw his head back and laughed- sounding genuinely surprised, amused, at once.
"Well how can I refuse such a rude offer?" The jester stopped laughing suddenly, offering a deep bow. "My name is… well I don't remember my name, can you believe that?"
"If you say so!" Haru blurted out again, anxiety flaring in her chest, praying she wouldn't be the next to explode in a shower of bloody confetti. "What are you willing to tell us- if you'd be so kind?"
"Now that's an interesting question," The man laughed, harder, doubling over, hands on his knees. "I like you, Haru. Really, I do- just for this, I'm going to make you all a deal; only one of you has to come with me."
"Wait-!" Haru cut in, blurting out before she could stop herself. "You didn't answer my question! I thought you were all about being rude or polite- does that apply to everybody but you? Are you a hypocrite?!"
Alexander, the soldiers, the elf, Fox, Aurelia… they all stared at her in horror, but Haru just stared the jester down, her tail flicking anxiously.
"Wow…" The jester chuckled, straightening up. "You're maybe the smartest mortal I've seen in for quite some time. Matching me mentally; band for band, is that what the children say? I'm not very familiar with human phrases- or demon, angel, whatever you people call yourselves."
"So what are you?"
"A god," The jester smiled. "An old and tired one. One who can't die, either."
"So why are you doing this? Killing people for the laughs?"
"You know what… I'll be honest," The jester began, a smile in his voice. "Somebody offered me something for my services; and here I am. They asked that I cause trouble and sow confusion; that is all. Give Mir a reason to doubt its queen and Starria a reason to attack; look, these monsters sic a magical sickness onto their own people! They're monsters, we must wipe them out, for the good of us all!"
"Why?" Haru laughed, and even the jester recoiled, surprised. "A god who can't die? Who could possibly have convinced you they have something you don't already have access to?"
"My benefactor," The god smiled. "I believe them. They claim that they can kill me- I grow weary with my age, and I am tired. Call me a foolish god, but they seem so confident they've found a way for me to die… I want that. I need it."
"So you're trusting humans who are averse to magic?" Haru angled her head, pushing her hair out of her face as a few locks spilled out of the tight knot she'd tied back, rain beginning to take its toll. "That can't be right. Would you please tell us who your benefactor is?"
"Haru-" Aurelia tried to cut in, and choked, falling to her knees, starting to pant.
"That was a polite warning. One of you has some sense," The jester, the god, chuckled. "Haru, my benefactor is neither Starria nor Mir. It is a weapons manufacturer; I trust that is all you need to know, to understand why my role here would aid their cause, yes? Mortal greed is simple, it is easy to understand."
"Thank you, but why- well, why not ask Mir for help? So many mages, so many demons," Haru cut in, thinking logically. "Surely, they could find a way to let you rest."
"Because pain feeds me; there is no way to attempt to kill me without making me stronger, you see? Yet these people; they claim they've found a way to attack the very soul, and obliterate it; the only way to truly wipe somebody from existence. There are angels among their rank who claim it is something their family studied and notated greatly… what I have seen is enough to convince me. I have done my job, and soon, I will die. That is all that I ask. I spent twelve weeks in the cold, once, wrestling with a dragon that attained godhood itself- and yet, I did not die. Once, I believed myself an unkillable warrior- and how I've paid for my arrogance with truthfulness," He finished, chuckling tiredly. "Do you understand now? These people… if I killed them all slowly with years of torture, they would not suffer a fraction the mental anguish combined that I have. For rest, I'll go to any lengths- and there was one more condition from my employers. I've already stated what it is."
"One of us has to come with you- I'll go," The dark-haired soldier who'd answered the door stepped forward. "My mom and dad are dead, I've got no kids, no wife; I'm perfect. Take me; no matter what happens to me, nobody'll give a shit. If I can die, disappear, whatever, letting my squad escape, then hell yeah."
"Hm… come here," The jester beckoned, and the dark-haired man stepped forward.
"May I give you a kindness? You may say no," The jester added, and the dark-haired man recoiled.
"What- are you going to kill me? Kindness, because killing me would erase my sorry existence?"
"No."
"Then… sure?"
The jester snapped, and the dark-haired man recoiled, eyes widening; only to slowly fall back, unconscious in the mud.
"What did you do?!" Alexander shouted, eyes widening, trying to step forward only for the elf to block his path.
"I gave him false memories of a lover who spent high school and then six more years after with him before dying tragically of cancer. Then, I added memories of his slow recovery, and willingness to re-enter the dating scene. Memories fit for a god of pain, wouldn't you agree? I removed some of that emptiness. Didn't think I'd add the second part, but pain doesn't have to be permanent; I believe this was truly a kindness." The jester sighed. "No, I was instructed to take one of the summoned heroes. I believe that makes my options… Fox, Haru, or Alexander, correct?"
"Then take me," Alexander barked, and no sooner than he had, the jester snapped, and was gone. Alexander, too; gone, as if he'd never been standing there to begin with. For a moment, they all stood still, stunned; most upset, or stunned, of all was the elf, who clutched her staff with wide, glassy eyes.
"Come on," Aurelia groaned, stumbling forward, toward the man on the ground. "We have to go, make a report of what happened. They wanted that guy alive, then we can try to find him and save him, but not alone- not like this, not here."
"Wait-!" The elf tried to cut in, and Aurelia snapped, cutting her off.
"Not now! Safety first."
"Wait, seriously-"
"NOT, NOW. NOT UNTIL WE'RE SAFE!!" Aurelia shouted, but she seemed like her sanity was fraying, and Haru, too, felt stunned, confused, staring at the spot where Alexander had vanished, angling her head.
"Why…"
"We can figure that out later. Come on." Aurelia jerked her head, shuddering. "I get it. I don't like it either- but now. Is. Not. The. Time. Let's go, before we all end up dead and nobody is left who can investigate- who saw what happened."
"It's just… so sudden," Haru whispered, confused. "Entire conversation feels unreal… a god…? A tired, pained one…?"
"Hey," Fox whispered, smiling up at Haru. "Come on. He's not dead, silly- we got time to hunt him down and make fun of him for not choosing our team. Let's go, kay?"
"Are you okay?" Haru asked, nodding to Fox but looking up at the elf.
"…Fine. Let's go. He was just a pervert anyway."
-
Charlotte moved like a blur; bodies flew in every direction, dead, bloody piles of sludge as she stopped at the only place left; base camp.
"Alright," She grimaced. "Let's see what Starria's got for me to play with, in here," She muttered, raising her leg and kicking one of the massive steel doors off its hinges, watching it hit a doorway opposite, crunching together to fit as it continued and rammed into the opposite end of the building amidst concrete bits.
"Anybody home…?" She called out, stepping aside… silence. Not a soul breathed at her presence.