Order of the Scroll [PLOT!]

[Order of the Scroll]

---

Soon as the clock stuck three o'clock A.M. numerous, robed people filed out of homes and walked through the streets with the only sound of cloth whisping around ankles to be heard. The material they wore was a deep red and covering their features was a white mask in the likeness of a fleshless face. Like ants, they swarmed into a hole but managed to keep orderly as they wandered into the darkness.

A light emitted from an altar where someone lay still with only a blanket to cover their naked body. On her bare shoulders, runes had been crudely carved into her skin and blood had caked over some of the pattern.

The lines broke off into rows where they all knelt before the slumbering woman and silently chanted to themselves. The female stirred but appeared to be either in a trance or heavily drugged.

"My loyal followers..." A smooth, powerful, feminine voice echoed through the dimly lit room. "Tonight begins the first of the summonings. Before the sun rises, we shall have the first of the scrolls!"

No one cheered but stared around to find the source. The Three never made an appearance, always choosing to keep their physical identity a secret to all should a betrayer be among the ranks. Tonight, that was going to change.

Down the aisle, a woman walked to the altar, garbed in black with a hood concealing her face. Ebony, curly locks had been swept around her shoulder and wrapped in a ribbon.

"The sacrifice of blood shall bring to us what we desire. The gates shall open and release what shall rightfully be ours."

From among the first shall come the last to remove what has been made in the image of God. The cultists chanted in unison.

The woman removed a ceremonial dagger from within her sleeve and rose it above the sacrifice, waiting for the rest of the chant to finish to complete the ritual.

From the blood the privileged will come to open what has been closed and rain down the wrath of an angry god. The slaughtered lamb shall be the way and her blood will pave the path to the cause.

The dagger plunged into the sacrifice. A terrible scream ripped from her throat, her body convulsed, blood dribbled from her mouth and her lifeless eyes drifted out to the rows of cultists. Blood raced down the carvings in the altar and poured into a silver bowl, which lit up once it had been filled to the brim.

"Now, my faithful servants, watch as we rip heaven's gates!"

The runes that covered the woman's body lit up and her corpse floated above her final resting place. From her bloodied mouth, a light shot up and disappeared into the clouds. A blinding flash rippled over the sky and all could see massive gates made of gold straining to keep themselves closed. Finally, they were pried open, the light vanished and something began to fall from the sky: a scroll.

Hand outstretched, the one leading the sacrifice caught the object and held up the blood-stained dagger.

"And now, we shall start what should have been done thousands of years ago!" She began to bring the weapon towards the parchment...

[mabs]

There was a flutter, as if a gust had just blown through the makeshift 'holy' place, but it came from a side room. A shape, clad in the same red robe as the woman and cultists suddenly appeared beside the Altar himself.

It would have looked as if he had literally formed from wind; he'd simply moved faster than the eye could track - except for perhaps the woman. He flicked the hood from his head casually, exposing a young face with long, curly black hair that fell to his shoulders. The face was just feminine to ask the question of male or female; he was indeed male however.

He cast a glance across the cultists before a smile split his face as he listened to the woman, watching as she raised her weapon. His next move - to many - would have been respectful but Castiel was known better than that.

He turned towards the lifeless woman upon the altar, moving close, eyes locked on the cooling blood that ran from the corner of her mouth. He lowered his head and a long, almost pointed tongue slithered across the blood before withdrawing. He purred silently before he moved beside the woman once more, and nuzzled her side with his head for a moment, smiling up at her before he stepped away, hands linked under the heavy robe.

[Sparda]

It was almost cliched how frequently the Dark Knight had come to feel the sensation that hung in the air tonight; that ever-familiar sense of foreboding, as if something sinister was afoot - as it invariably was in his line of work.

Perhaps the throng of robed figures had something to do with it.

Just a hunch.

Unbeknown to the silent congregation, they were being observed. The demon suppressed his aura, concealing it as thoroughly as he could, and followed them as if he was part of their shadows, unseen in the darkness but always there. When the last of them had descended into a large, featureless stone building, the demon upon their heels followed after.

They emerged into a large courtyard, focused around a raised altar at its centre. Lying upon it was a bloodied, unconscious woman covered with a blanket, and around her the robed figures assembled, kneeling before her and chanting inaudibly. Sparda found a darkened side room and observed silently from there as a woman clad in a black robe strode confidently down the centre aisle, producing an ornate dagger from within its heavy folds...

As he was wholly expecting, she made quite a dramatic display of killing the poor woman on the altar in true ritual style. But what happened next was what interested the demon intently. From the corpse of the sacrifice erupted a pure white light that shot skyward and vanished into the bleak clouds. Moments later, the same light burst across the sky in a blinding luminescent flash that coalesced into an image of a pair of huge golden gates being forced open.

Into the woman's outstretched hand fell a gilded scroll... and Sparda's heart dropped into his stomach.

That can only be one thing...

Sparda knew enough of Christian lore to know the dreaded artifacts of the Book of Revelation simply from memory of its grim subject. If that scroll was indeed one of the seven seals... He didn't even want to think of what would happen if it were compromised. The woman who had slain the sacrifice raised her bloodied dagger, angling the blade downwards upon the smooth parchment in her other hand. With this gesture, this act of war upon the world, she would unleash destruction upon imagining...

The silence was broken by the hellish bark of a gunshot, and the dagger shattered in the woman's hand. The shot had come from the far end of the courtyard, from which the assembled cultists had entered; but no eyes which turned upon it would find a perpetrator. Only a cloud of faint gunsmoke alerted them to the presence of an interloper who took issue with their machinations.

[Order of the Scroll]

The bullet shattered the dagger's hilt upon impact and the shards sank into the female's skin, drawing out black blood. Many of the cultists gasped, got to their feet and looked like they were aching to run to her--she simply held up her other hand and stated a request:

"Find the demon and bring him here."

The shards disintegrated; the blood that had dripped froze and the injury itself rewound to before it was inflicted. The fanatic cultists wasted no time in searching around for the source of the gunshot. While waiting for the search to, hopefully, bring results she placed her hand atop Castiel's head and patted him gently.

I knew they would die this night, my dear. You and I may be the ones against our intruder--more will be coming. It's time the world knew of the Order and The Three.

[mabs]

Emile snarled as the blade shattered and pieces pierced Lilith's hand - but upon her touch, he couldn't help but settle down for the moment, a soft purr slipping from his lips.

His eyes lit up at her words as he smiled up at her childishly, replying mentally.

This thing shall be the first to know of us in that case, Lilith. But he doesn't seem to like to stand still...

He tutted childishly before he seemingly vanished once more from beneath her hand - but Lilith could see him. He'd just be a little blurred with the speed he was moving.

His eyes snapped around as he took in air, trying to scent the intruder. His eyes scanned the shadows, looking for a sign-

THERE!

He vanished once more as the man stepped from the shadows, gun raised. With a snarl he leapt onto Sparda's back, wrapping his legs around the demons waist, his right arm snaking under Sparda's right and clamping to his chest, the left around his throat. Whether Sparda liked it or not, he now had a very angry supernaturally strong child attempting to shatter his chest or neck, whichever came first.

And then he began to squeeze with every limb, already at enough force to crack a human in half - but Sparda was tougher than any human. Emile snarled in anger, hissing as his eyes narrowed.

"You shouldn't have come here - and worse, you shot my mother!"

[Sparda]

The demon thought he had suppressed his aura nigh completely, but it appeared that was not what had betrayed his position. He had just holstered Luce, hiding in the darkness, when out of seemingly nowhere he was jumped by a child in a cloak. The cultist coiled his legs around Sparda's waist, pressed his right arm to his chest and attempted to strangle him with his left hand.

The longer the demon allowed himself to be assailed here, the more time the others had to mobilise against him - and it wasn't like this kid was strong enough to overpower him, not by a longshot. He stumbled into a wider stance to stabilise himself, braced for a moment, and then whipped his head backwards to butt the child in the face. Wrenching the boy's legs from around his waist, he pushed the arm away, the gripped it by the wrist and twisted the limb as he ducked under it and away from the unnaturally strong cultist.

Scowling at the boy, he placed the twisted arm upon his shoulder and used it as leverage to catapult him out into the courtyard, straight towards the woman bearing the scroll. She would see only his cloaked form come sailing out of the darkness, for into the shadows Sparda had once again disappeared. He would keep on the move this time, spreading his tainted scent across the whole courtyard, everywhere and nowhere all at once as if part of the very darkness.

[Order of the Scroll]

The hood did little to hide the scowl that marked Lilith's lips but all things shall be in good time against the intruder. The initiates continued to scramble around in their search but there had been no luck thus far. Trusting in such cannon fodder to get a simple job done was a waste and her "son" had taken it upon himself to find the assailant. Emile was always so eager to please her and it often worried the cult leader.

Especially when the poor dear came flying at her.

Lilith extended her hand and halted the boy to an abrupt stop, turned him around and placed him by her side. It was time to bring the attacker out for daring to harm Castiel and interrupting the ritual. The scroll was still in her hand but it won't be remaining there for long.

"So, you dwell in the shadows and refuse to face us."

Her pale digits peeked out of the long sleeves of her robe and pointed to the night sky dotted with stars. Light descended in something akin to a meteor shower and filed into the room, chasing away the darkness and diminishing the number of shadows.

Lilith didn't stop there.

Her fingers moved again with the same grace of a pianist playing a song and shadow moved from all directions, combined into a whisp-like ball and dissipated--she had defied any and all laws that entailed light and dark.

It was a paltry task and she again rested her hand atop Castiel's.

"Show yourself, coward. Or are you too afraid to walk into the light?"

[mabs]

Emile didn't have time to register the man's return attacks before he suddenly found himself flying through the air. He twisted to right himself before he suddenly found his momentum halted and his feet firmly on the ground beside Lilith.

Thankyou... He replied mentally in an almost sheepish tone before he purred as her hand was once again on his head. He leaned into it, watching as she made the shadows vanish - it made him grin, as simple of a trick as it was. The sudden increase of light made him flinch for a second before he grinned as the man once again became visible.

Almost by reflex he once again vanished away from her hand, this time appearing high above on the beams supporting the roof, crouched like a cat.

"Hey there, Father
I don’t wanna bother you
But I’ve got a sin to confess
I’m just sixteen if you know what I mean
Do you mind if I take off my dress?"

He sung, giggling as he felt his nails extend into claws roughly four inches long. A clear liquid dripped from under them; neurotoxin. One scratch would kill a man within minutes if not treated.

"Don’t know where to start
Let me get to the good parts
Might wanna cross up your legs
I’ve got envy, I’ve got greed, anything that you need
And I’m not above having to beg..."

His lips split into a grin as he tensed to spring for the man, the cultists surrounding him too, blades and weapons raised.

[Sparda]

Sparda could feel the shadows fleeing from around him before the woman's otherworldly power and had little choice but to abandon his hiding place. The cultists backed away a short distance as he stepped casually into view at the far end of the courtyard, adjusting his monocle and smiling cordially.

"Mildly impressive trick, stripping me of my ambush tool," he mused, directing his remark at the woman who led this little cabal. "I suppose I'll just have to take that scroll a little more promptly now that I don't have the luxury of being able to take my time clearing the room..."

With this last comment, a dark glare fell across his face that challenged the cultists, blades drawn, to attack him. A small cloud of purple and black smoke whirled into life upon the floor and the demon seemed to call forth a long, black-bladed sword from within the darkness. Clutching Revelation's hilt, he took a mocking bow at the cloaked woman and turned to cast his azure gaze across the congregation.

"Well, come at me then. But don't expect to get back up when this blade cuts you all down."

[Order of the Scroll]

Lilith threw her head back and a cold laugh reverberated through the room which caused the initiates to cower towards the walls. It was always the fresh blood that didn't know what awaited them.

"You want the scroll, Legendary Dark Knight? Oh, now don't act surprised," Lilith's pale lips parted into a smile to reveal sharp teeth, "You do have a reputation but I fear it does little to help you in this situation."

Lilith's hands joined together, as if though she were about to recite a prayer, and black smoke poured from her palms. A scythe, simple in design, phased in and she grasped it firmly in her left hand.

"The skies shall rain fire, and the seas will become as blood. The righteous shall fall before the wicked, and all of creation shall tremble before the burning standards of hell…’’

The lance of her scythe emitted a pulse, it washed out in the form of a minor sonic boom, and all of the cultists doubled over in agony. Their skin lost youth, turned a sickly green and they coughed out black blood whilst they were trapped in their death throes. The air reeked of the deceased and that didn't bother the two standing before Sparda.

One by one, they gave up their spirit and from their blood-stained mouths came faint lights: their souls. All of them raced to her scythe and the metal absorbed it all.

"So, you desire this?" Lilith extended her hand that held it. The item vanished in a puff of smoke and from the ceiling, numerous scrolls came raining down and scattered all over the floor.

"Then find it."

[mabs]

Emile's grin only widened as he realized what Lilith was about to do. A hungry growl slipped from his lips as the Cultists began to die; tens of them coughing up black diseased blood and becoming corpses, lying within the stench of their own coughed up organs and other offal - and to Emile, it was like lavender. His stomach growled but the threat of the man - Sparda? - meant he couldn't enjoy it.

Why did he have to be here? Emile whined playfully into Lilith's mind, giggling shortly after You basically made me dinner and I can't even enjoy it...

He dropped down from the rafter, landing a meter or two behind Sparda, eyes on the blade. His lips curled back over his teeth as he snarled a warning to the Dark Knight, claws curling into his palms as he waited for the moment to strike. He wouldn't make the same mistake twice; this time he'd drive his fingers into the throat or eyes. Hopefully kill him before he had time to react.

His eyes flickered between the dead all around him and saliva ran from his mouth in hunger. If only...

His muscled tensed beneath his skin as he crouched; the pose akin more to a wild cat than anything human, eyes narrowing into slits as they locked upon the figure.

"I'm going to enjoy eating your corpse, Sparda..." He purred darkly.

[Ira]

Something in the air. Something dark, heavy. A feeling she knew rather well and enjoyed. Sweet intoxication. Ira smiled as the feeling seemed to stick to her skin. She shuddered somewhat, though not from a chill of being cold, but from being tempted. Her eyes fixed themselves onto the beam of light which shot into the sky though not for too long. It was a bit too bright for her. Go figure, the light being too bright for a dark side user. What a bad joke. She looked away from the sky but started to move towards the source.

Such a strong sensation of death floated through the Force, so many had apparently just died at once. How amusing. The togruta supposed it was time to move; she was not about to miss whatever was happening. Normally, there would be Jedi declaring she was under arrest, chasing her down just to be killed, stand in her way to partake in any such event. But, that was not the case lately.

It was easy to track the beam of light to it's source as well as the feeling of death. She wormed her way inside in similar fashion to Sparda.

Dead bodies. Scrolls, lots of scrolls. More dead bodies. Green? Made her think of someone...Oh. There were living people still left? Interesting. And just which one of them had caused the whole lot of people to die so suddenly? Obviously not through combined power considering they were standing ready to face off.

"Interesting," she commented quietly, looking from Sparda towards the androgynous faced person facing off with Sparda , towards the woman with a scythe? What an interesting group.

Ira paused before deciding to try to move forward and picked up one of the scrolls from the floor and looked it over. Interesting use of flimsiplast, she supposed. Ira looked it over and shrugged her shoulders.

"To think I have not been invited to the party," Ira sighed, shaking her head. "A pity. But what have we here? Hm? A fight concerning some ancient cosmic power? Win, save the world? Lose and no telling what happens?" She was half joking, but at the same time she had seen enough rituals concerning ancient dark artifacts to be to kind of understand what was happening.

[Sparda]

All of a sudden, the fanged woman at the head of the congregation - who somehow knew who he was, it seemed - produced a rather plain-looking scythe and used it to make the fodder inexplicably drop dead. Some kind of spiritual link through which she controlled them, Sparda presumed. He watched as her weapon absorbed their souls before she conjured dozens of copies of the scroll which rained down from above and were scattered around the courtyard.

"You know who I am?" he asked, sounding mildly disbelieving. "That means either you came from my world, in which case I should at least have a clue who you are... or there's an alternate Sparda in your universe."

He paused for a moment, completely disregarding the peril he was in.

"That's actually a scary thought."

Shrugging, he turned and cast a glance at the kid he'd thrown across the room a moment ago, then turned a scrutinising gaze at the newcomer. Humanoid, she was, but certainly not human; her aura was quite unlike anything he'd yet encountered. Interesting.

"Well then, my dear," he continued, returning his attention to the woman with the scythe. In one fluid motion he widened his stance and tensed his body, levelling Revelation at her and whipping Ombra from within his coat to take aim at the boy. All the while he sharpened his supernatural senses, looking for any sliver of holiness that would indicate the true scroll's position among the countless facsimiles.

"Shall we start this party?"

[Order of the Scroll]

More pawns on the board. Lilith's tongue snaked out and moistened her dried lips at the thought of more coming in to witness what shall come to pass. The demon or whatever race that female was won't be harmed by what comes to pass unless they have enough human in them--the potent magic in that scroll was only meant for those in the image of God.

"Oh, fret not, my dear--the party is about to get started. Consider the time you missed being the tasteless appetizer. You might enjoy this part."

Lilith pointed her scythe at Sparda but instead of summoning an attack, something was coming out of her weapon. It was a white, shimmering mist and it was starting to take the form of a woman.

"You see, Dark Knight, I've been to many places, different universes over the years but I came from a specific place. I was with an old foe of yours when a precious someone was taken from the mortal plane."

Standing there, confused and aimlessly wandering in circles was Eva. Her clothing was worn, tattered and looked like it would barely keep her warm from whatever environment she may be trapped in. Still, it was her.

"I reaped that woman's soul soon as she died. The dear never found paradise--she's been trapped in here this whole time. If only you heard her screaming..."

Lilith's voice changed to the same pattern as Eva's just to further aggravate Sparda: "Sparda! Where are you?! My love, please! Our children! They are taking our children! SPARDAAAAAAA!" The female shook her head, cleared her throat and made a swiping motion with her weapon to dissipate the image.

"If you continue with your interference, I'll have my dear Castiel devour her soul. If he won't, I'll take great pleasure in plummeting her so far into hell, not even you could find her."

Chances are he'll attack out of sheer rage and she smirked at the thought. Let him come...

[mabs]

Emile's eyes snapped up and he vanished, appearing beside Lilith with what could only be described as lust - but the type one gets when they see a overtly large chocolate cake upon the table. He whimpered quietly, eyes narrowing as his tongue ran across his teeth.

"Lilith..." He purred softly, eyes flickering across the scythe as his hands curled into fists. He wanted that soul, and he wanted it very badly. Souls where a special treat for him; cream if you will. He himself couldn't catch them - but Lilith could, and she made them just psychical enough to be digested.

He glanced to Sparda and grinned, chuckling.

"Oh I do wonder how your wife's soul would taste, Sparda..." He grinned, his voice darker now - he'd decided to go more adult. "So either you walk out, or I swallow your pretty little wife whole and she never finds peace. Which would you prefer? Hm? Maybe I could find your children, get Lilith to do the same to them. Would you like that?"

He flashed a smirk as he crossed his arms.

"Unless you want to fight for it. You'd loose. Ohhhh you'd lose." He cast a glance to the other woman "And she has a big glowy thing."