An audience with the Queen [Chapter V]

[Chloe/Kat]

Seriously? They were doing this? The end of the world. Come on, this had to be the biggest supernatural cliche ever. Even in the natural world it was. How many times did people predict the end of the world only to be wrong and witness the world continue? Now that she knew there were more than just one world, one dimension, it more than likely doubled or tripled, or whatever the amount. Someone who was actually good with math could figure that out. Chloe just scratched her head during Amoura's explanation. "Can I go back to bed then? If the world's going to end I see very little point in waking up in the morning." Fact she neither required nor desired sleep aside.... she had a point. There was little reason to press on if the whole world was just going to end.

Chloe looked back to Genius getting the goosebumps every time she looked at her. At least she was an adult by the time she was sired. The vampiress couldn't imagine being in that state upon siring, it must have been a nightmare. When the child finally did something the entire group, bar one, found themselves in a new place entirely. The vampiress decided to remain quiet and just listen to what the others said, until it dawned on her that someone was missing. Clash. While she didn't care much about the shark personally she found it important enough to inform the rest of the crew what happened. "Um guys, we seem to be down a man. Clash didn't transport with us."

[Sparda]

Chloe's remark about the pointlessness of the group's presence here was answered in short order - by the gloved hand of Sparda subtly reaching over and slapping her upside the head. There was no place among their number for that kind of pessimism, not when there was so much at stake in light of the prophecy and its implications.

"That's why we're here, young lady," came the demon's verbal retort. "To find a way to put a stop to this supposed doomsday scenario, or at least discover what part Maricul may have in it."

He had, of course, been paying rapt attention to Amoura's response. Somehow the vampiress willed an illusion into being, a third-person representation of a memory of hers; and the Dark Knight's face immediately contorted into a dark mask of contempt at the sight of Tajna Rasha having confronted her. First Validus had survived Dominion, and now the Ghost of the Council... At least Sparda had never come face-to-face with the former.

Though he spoke more plainly than usual for the most part, the phantom's words were still rather cryptic at first. The Dark Knight listened intently, watching the tense dialogue between his dear friend and yesteryear's deadly foe. Tajna spoke of countless sojourns through time, attempting to look upon the Third Aspect with his own eyes and see what would befall the world upon its awakening - he never returned to tell the tale.

That alone unsettled the demon. He himself had haplessly fallen victim first-hand to the Ghost's ability to move freely across time and space, manifesting corporeal bodies on countless separate timelines as he pleased. He could exist in any place and time he wished. The fact that he did not return at all from his multiple journeys into the future to bear witness to the End spoke volumes about the nature of the Third Aspect's power... The very thought almost frightened the Dark Knight.

More worrying still, however, was that Tajna claimed Amoura to be at the heart of it all. Again and again, Sparda found the most staggering of the Ghost's words echoing in his mind and seeming to chill his very body.

"Every single time, your eyes gaze upon the mask of the First. It always begins with you... You are linked to the fate of all things, Amoura."

The Dark Knight looked over at Amoura, his closest friend among the group. Tajna's declaration could only mean that Amoura's very existence somehow ensured the fulfillment of the prophecy, and was always preserved as if by fate to prevent its aversion.

Either that, or...

"No," the demon whispered, barely audible to his companions. He had come to a second conclusion; infinitely more horrifying than the first, so utterly absurd it sounded too far-fetched to be true; yet it explained the phantom's words perfectly...

He stared at Amoura, the colour draining from his face.

"I don't believe that... I won't believe it..."

[Ayen]

Upon a second glance Luca could sense that one member of the visiting party remained. Clash. Wherever the rest were taken to by Genius it seems they neglected the shark from their ranks, an error that Luca Valentine was all too willing to take advantage of as she began speaking directly into the shark’s mind.

Clash! Oh, Clash! They don’t appreciate you, Clash. You’ve proven yourself against The Council, Abyss, Maya and still it’s not enough. Not to them. Look around you, Clash. You’re alone. They’ve left you behind, just like in Dominion City. Would real friends really do that? Join us, we could use someone like you in our ranks. Both your rich heritage and you will be appreciated in Utopia. We won’t take you for granted. I won’t.

---

“I see…. Admittedly it was a weak theory to begin with.”

“Um guys, we seem to be down a man. Clash didn’t transport with us.”

“The spell used to transport you all here targeted all of you, even Clash. If he’s not here he’s not coming. Anyway I kept you from your mission objective long enough. The choice is yours now, I can either transport you back to rejoin with Clash or send you directly to Luca’s location. What’s it going to be?”

[Silver Eyes]

That was all they needed to know for the time being. Assurance of her fate won't be divulged since they have other matters to attend to: one of them being Maricul. Amoura held out the book to Argus, nodded at him and he nodded in turn. The priceless object was taken into his talons and a portal next to him opened.

"Remember, you are taking it—"

"—to the place where only we know about. Yep." The hybrid held up a finger, letting everyone know that he'll be just a moment. The last anyone saw of him was his red cloak before disappearing within the void. Wherever it was, it didn't take him long and he promptly returned to seal off the portal.

"Alright, Maricul can read our thoughts apparently so we've got a method—"

"—to blot out what took place here until we return to Hallowton. Argus, Chloe and I should be alright since we have the Nightmare. I don't think Maricul will take a risk diving on in with what we've got buzzing around in our heads."

"But Chloe's Nightmare is weaker than ours."

"It's still strong enough." Amoura insisted and placed her hand on the fellow vampire's shoulder to assure her she'll be just fine in that department, "Once she sees the images that Chloe sees I'm certain she'll back off. If not I've got ideas. Does anyone have methods to ensure Maricul doesn't go snooping? Emotions are easy for Argus and I to sort of shut off as well. To an extent, that is."

This was a good break from sharing the meanings of the prophecy. Maricul was the more important subject right now.

[Darius Rulios]

Darius was keeping a close eye on events. Including the one where Clash had been left out. The real game began now. It was only a matter of time before someone picked up and took advantage of it. As much as Darius wished to continue watching this little conversation, he would be needed elsewhere if only to provide the truth. He let the bubble around him collapse and then picked up on where he was. Where everyone else had disappeared.

He quickly appeared before Clash. ”Clash, there are things we must discuss, but not here, not with her watching.” he said. That was the only warning he got before another bubble appeared around both Clash and Darius. Another of his miniature worlds. One they were sure to notice this time, because Clash would suddenly disappear. ”We haven’t much time, but now that we are away from Maricul we can talk. Everything you have done or thought since entering this world has been monitored rather closely by her.”

”We are in our own little space right. One where your thoughts are safe. After we re-enter her world you must find a way to empty your mind. She can use your very thoughts against you.” he said sitting down. Creating these spaces was draining him of energy. ”There is one event you missed out when your, allies were teleported. “ he said pulling up the memory and projecting it for Clash to see. The one with the unsaid conclusion that Amoura was linked to the prophecies.

Although Darius wasn’t convinced that wasn’t the truth. Far from it. His own world was one which would be immune to such total destruction. True it would be destroyed, but the only for a time. To truly destroy his world you would have to do so from the inside of the world, something no one could access, but him. While it would be destroyed eventually it would will itself back into existence and him with it. He knew of a few other worlds like this. Still it would be an end as most of them knew things. However it wouldn’t matter if it would all repeat again. However this group would need to draw their own conclusions and he would let them. It wasn’t his place to force their path, it was his place to make sure none of this ever happened again however.

____________________________________________________


Tag: Person to post next
Song: ”Unfolding Time” by Broken Iris
Key: Thoughts “Dialouge”

[Clash]

Clash looked around, then heard a voice in his head, it sounded strange... It made a pretty wild claim, but at the same time one that seemed strangely accurate. They all poofed away and left him out here, in the middle of nowhere, in the double-middle of nowhere since this was a pocket reality he was completely unfamiliar with. All of them were there one second, then some girl came along and made some religious mumbo jumbo and everyone vanished with a poof and abandoned him here. Who was the one who saved all their sorry hides from Maya? Him! He did in one hit what none of them could do with all their power, he had taken the fight to the demons of their homeworld and personally ended the lot of them, and he did it all and got nothing in return!

Clash kicked the ground, making a cloud of dirt rise up. Fuck candy bars, Clash turned and started to walk towards the city off in the distance, their original destination. If everyone was seeking an audience with this Maricul and failed to follow through then she'd probably appreciate his ability to get things done more than they would! After a few steps there came that familiar sound of moving metal plates as he unfolded and once more was a great steel shark, his body writhing and turning in the air for a split second before vanishing under the surface and quickly covering the distance towards the city. His mind was made up, When your friends give you lemons you get better friends.

Suddenly the newcomer appeared before him. He'd never been introduced to Darius, only knew of him. He listened to Darius's words then backed away when the man sought to encapsulate him in a shared bubble. "Hold up, Why should I go back?" Clash's voice had a rather surprising edge to it, almost an aggressive tone. "I've been pulling the weight for those do-nothings for ages now I saved those louts on multiple occasions, once taking down a foe stronger than all of them with a single blow. And what thanks do I get? they throw a party, don't invite me, drag me to this place I've never been to before and abandon me." Clash watched the bubble start to close, darting back again to evade it. "The way I see it, It's time I shed some excess pounds of raw meat, lose some dead weight, start searching for folks who'd actually appreciate me!" His metal teeth bared as he looked at Darius.

"You're a good kid, find a better crowd, Tell that to Chloe too. Those creeps will chew you up and spit you out, man." And with that Clash dove deep under the ground, making a high speed b-line towards the city.

[Miracle]

Miracle remained silent not sure of what to say. All her friends kept being attacked by circumstances and she wanted to do something about it but couldn't think of anything. When she looked up Chloe noted that one of their own was missing and the High Priestess' eyes widened once she realized it too. The others didn't seem to be worried yet Miracle was. If Clash wasn't here that meant he was still back in Utopia, and being separated in a land ran by Maricul was the worst thing that could happen to this group. Time didn't exist here so it shouldn't be a concern, surely they could just go back right when they left and he would be there.

"We have to go back for Clash! Nobody gets separated remember?"

"My sister may very well be a tool for the end and you're worried about a shark?"

"What!? No! I didn't mean it like that at all. Everyone in the group is just as important to me as the other but if we're going to take on Maricul then we need to be together."

Miracle looked back to the Genius.

"Time doesn't exist here right? So you can send us back exactly when we left?"

[Luca Valentine]

“I can try but no promises. This transporting in and out of the space time continuum does take a little effort on my part.”

The Genius held up the blue crystal that brought them here originally and after what felt like a lifetime of focus the light from the crystal orb shined so brightly it blinded the others field of vision as their surroundings completely changed, pulling them towards Clash’s position back in Utopia.

---

Luca smiled upon Clash’s entry into the throne room and walked over to him.

“Clash! I am honored you could join us here today.”

The Living Deity then crouched down to one knee and held both her warm hands on each side of his face, looking into his big headlight style eyes as she spoke.

“We haven’t been properly introduced. I am Luca Valentine.”

The sound of a dimension rift opening up behind them caught Luca’s attention as she turned around and stood up just in time to see Miracle, Amoura, Sparda, Sazan, Zira Firestone, Argus, Chloe and Michael appear. But no signs of The Genius anywhere. Pity.

“I see you finally decided to show up.”

[Clash]

Clash's head poked out of the ground, looking up at Luca. "You're the one... In my mind!" She gave her name and Clash simply gave a rueful smile. "You already know mine, and I'm pretty sure more than I'd normally want to share." That token gullibility of his shone through, "Including my feelings towards my 'friends' back there..." He was unaware of how much of this was coming from Luca's suggestions, yet he was also unaware of how much of this he'd been suppressing.

“I see you finally decided to show up.”

Clash turned himself around, facing the crowd. He hadn't realized how many of them there were until he was on the other side. In a way it felt wrong. This Luca, who wasn't the Maricul they sought, was standing alone with all of them against her. Clash sneered, was this what he was like as well? "Huh, surprised you could find your way here." Clash raised himself out of the water, metal body glinting as he stared, he could feel his still mostly-flesh heart beating faster as he stared at the lot of them.

He hadn't seen so many ingrates in his life.

"Maricul ain't here, try another city, maybe go play super heroes back in Genesis, or a good chunk of you can go back to where you came from, I cleaned up your mess when you couldn't and now I'm enjoying a vacation here." Clash waved a dismissive fin to his former comrades.

[Miracle]

Miracle looked around their new surroundings, this wasn't where they left off so Genius was unable to send them back to where they started. She heard a familiar voice and turned around in time to see both Luca Valentine and Clash. Confusion entered the mind of the young High Priestess as to her knowledge, Luca Valentine was dead.

"Luca Valentine? It can't be."

Miracle then looked over to Clash, the things he was saying, it wasn't like him at all. The child knew that she only had minor exposure to him but from what she knew, this wasn't like him. Something or someone must have been controlling him. Worry filled her heart and her violet eyes as she looked towards him.

"Clash, what are you saying? We were worried about you. We came back to get you."

"He's gone mental. Whatever this woman has been telling you it's not true, Clash!"

The High Priestess looked back to Luca.

"What have you done to him!?"

[Silver Eyes]

"Surprised? We took a different route." Michael quirked a brow at Clash. The realization that the fish had decided to betray them settled in quickly and none were pleased with his shift in alliance. Amoura held up a hand to silence everyone or to stop them from trying to talk sense into Clash. Argus nodded at Amoura and Michael just stared at the shark, looking incredibly confused at his sudden betrayal.

"How disappointing," Amoura finally stated after a prolonged silence, "you defeat the child of Ranka and Maricul, take down other troublesome adversaries and yet you give into honey coated venom." The hybrid frowned, "I thought you were stronger than that. I guess I was terribly wrong." The Night Angel's features and tone were altogether void of emotion towards the shark—she was stating things as she saw them. "But with your mental caliber, I suppose gullibility is to be expected." Betrayal was never taken lightly by Amoura or Argus.

They knew the meaning of it far too well.

[Clash]

Clash noted the responses of Amoura, Zira, and Miracle. Amoura first. He'd have words for all of them. He has TRUTH for all of them... And the truth will set them free.

"Amoura, your kit-kat bar meant NOTHING to me. Heck I bet Spar-DUH didn't even notice that I was gone until someone else brought it up. I bet you were too busy with your little toy boy there, and with Zira there. Newsflash, she's not your sister! She doesn't even come from the same reality as you!"

Clash rose up a little more and came further forward, moving towards Amoura.

"Face facts, you're just pissed you don't have me to do the work for you. Hell, I've been doing your work for nothing, no respect, no gratitude, and now that you have to do stuff for yourselves again you suddenly get all snarky. I'll just wait ten minutes, that's all it'll take. Ten minutes and you'll run out of here crying like you did after I ended Maya for you. By the way, All your little familiars and demon voodoo and little playing around... All your little magic and special attacks? I JUST STABBED HER. THAT DAMN EASY!"

Clash turned to Miracle next, seeing the pain on her face, it grieved him, gauled him deeply, but he spoke to her.

"Miracle, don't associate with these... people." He spat the word out. "They'll use you up and throw you away, they don't appreciate me, and they're just interlopers playing heroes, they don't belong here, they barely belonged in their own world. I didn't even belong in that world and I wound up learning, the hard way mind you, that you can't trust these skinflints, these bunglers, these quantum vagabonds."

Clash wheeled angrily back to the rest of them, to Sazan and Michael, to Amoura and Sparda, to Argus and Zira. "Make like a banana and piss off, the lot of you. Go back to your own world and try lifting your feet for a change, don't let the veil between worlds hit you on the way out. I'm the best in this and any world in what I do, and what I'm doing right now is losing some dead weight, some dead weight I picked up in a little corner fruitcake bakery called Devil May Cry, more like Devil May KISS MY SHARKY ASS!"

Clash then looked to Chloe. "Not you, though. You're kinda hot, wanna grab a coffee later?" He gave a pleasant smile.

[Chloe/Kat]

Chloe rubbed the back of her head, looked like someone couldn't take a joke very well. The vampiress decided to remain silent for the rest of the conversation until finally they were brought back to Utopia but in a different place. She spun around and held up her weapon towards Luca, not knowing whether or not to fire. Judging by the on-going conversation taking place all around Chloe decided not to shoot and instead lowered her weapon. Clash had turned on them and no thanks to the blunder made by Genius from earlier. Chloe never did trust that shark though, ever since the one back in the Crystal Expanse she just had a bad feeling about them and now they've all been confirmed. "N-no thanks."

[Silver Eyes]

Rejection. Argus snorted rather than laughed at Chloe's reply to Clash's offer and covered his mouth with his hand. Amoura, on the other hand wasn't too happy with what had been said.

It was easy to let the whole her running away crying slide but saying Zira wasn't her sister? At this, Amoura full on snapped. Her talons curled in and the shark will find himself out of his element, floating in the air with his fins locked in place.

"Now while you are up there I suggest you pay attention because I'm only going to say this once." The vampire didn't care about what was stated earlier; this shark had to learn a few things, "First of all, I ran off upset because of this memory."

Images of Maricul and Ranka engaging in sexual activity tore through his mind repeatedly just like it did for her.

"You were too submerged in yourself to realize a few of the things that kept occurring within the group that you claimed to care about. I was in love with Ranka, still am, and when I saw this it nearly broke me. You've never experienced love that I'm aware of nor a broken heart. So instead of thinking I'll be upset losing an ally like you, think again. I'd rather have Ranka back than your sorry ass because he at least knew how to use the head that was on his shoulders and never gloated over his accomplishments."

Clash was now upside down but Amoura didn't seem to care.

"Second of all, Zira is my sister and always will be. We are related by blood regardless of our realm and I love her dearly."

"Third of all, you doing all the work? No, my dear shark, we all did our part in everything, we all endured our inner demons while you were off in your little shark-land. Come to think of it, no one in this group ever thanks each other at the end of a battle or shows extreme appreciation. You know why? Because there's no need for pats on a back when there's always another threat looming on the horizon. No time for celebrations." Then the next part was stated with very, very thick sarcasm, "I'm sorry, maybe next time we'll roll out the red carpet and shower you in confetti for your efforts."

"You know what we have that you clearly don't?"

Clash was forced to face Amoura and she approached him, hands clasped behind her back.

"Humility."

The shark was dropped to the floor and released from the telekinetic grip. Amoura's lecture was done and she rejoined the group. Argus gave Amoura a subtle thumbs up and Michael just shook his head.

[Sparda]

As soon as he had realised Clash hadn’t come with them, Sparda had begun fearing the worst; that Maricul would spot him on his own and set to work weaving some twisted story to manipulate him. Evidently he’d been exactly right, because Clash was waiting for them when they appeared before a woman he recognised as former Moon Valley mayor, Luca Valentine - who he also knew as one of Maricul’s aliases - and the affronted shark wasted no time in unleashing a tirade of anger upon them… which was promptly and quite effectively answered by the subtly furious Amoura, who hoisted the shark into the air with her telekinesis. Though it wasn’t clear in her body language, Sparda knew how much Clash’s remark about Zira must’ve riled her up.

Yet when the Night Angel was done, falling silent and releasing her telekinetic hold upon Clash, the Dark Knight felt he simply had to throw in his own two, very heavy cents.

”Humility… A lesson I myself have learned the hard way.” He stepped forward, fixing Clash with a cold stare devoid of all emotion but two; disappointment and contempt. "I don't even care to count the number of times I have already met death at a single pair of hands, belonging to Tajna Rasha. The Ghost toyed with me like a cat with a ball of wool; in fact, the sole reason I walked away from the Temen-ni-gru that night at all was because he allowed me to."

The vampires among the group would almost be able to smell the smoldering anger that rolled off the demon's body. Recalling this particular memory still hurt his once unshakeable confidence in his power, though less and less so after the night he spent learning his way around his vampiric abilities with Amoura.

"Tajna is simply beyond my power to overcome... but I've come to accept that. What was different about you and Maya, my old friend, was that your abilities were perfectly suited to the opponent before you." He stepped forward, scowling down his nose at the shark. "But make no mistake, miracles like that are few and far between, and the only reason you outlived that day was because we lifted our feet and did all the fighting!"

The demon stepped back, as if disgusted with himself for coming so close to the hunk of scrap before them. "I suppose I should thank you for this opportunity to see how pathetic you really are. If you think you have the right to brag so loudly about a single cheap shot" - at this moment, he jabbed a thumb over his shoulder at Amoura and Zira - "go take a trek through hell, send their father packing into exile with no help of any kind, then come back and tell me you deserve some congratulations."