Orion sighed in contentment as he waved the scene to fog over, shielding the sight of Emerald and Twilight having sex from view of the room. At the audible protest of more than a few people, Orion rolled his eyes and simply switched the scene back to Earth to watch Tabitha.
“Aww, not Earth again!” Astrid protested, banging her fists in frustration on her armrest.
“Earth was an important arc to Emerald's character,” Orion said with an annoyed glance to Astrid, having had to put with the girl's constant complaints the whole show. “Emerald has been changing and improving her personality with every step forward. It was even more the case for her trip back to Earth.”
“She only had to go to Earth because you went and interfered!” Astrid protested with a pout and crossed arms. “Which you promised you wouldn't do again!”
“I said I dislike interfering, not that I wouldn't,” Orion replied with a sigh. “Besides, I only did what I did before. I gave Emerald a little push in an interesting direction then sat back to watch. Like I showed you earlier, the adventure Emerald would have had would have been rather short... possibly even detrimental to Emerald's own development.”
“Still sounds like you cheated and manipulated things to her benefit when you say that,” Astrid pointed out.
“If I was willing to do that, I would have stopped those two's inter-universal trips and time traveling,” Orion pointed out before leaning back against his couch's backrest and crossing his legs. “In any case, since you don't like Earth stuff, I will warn you more is coming now.”
“AWWWWW!” Astrid groaned before turning to Orion and saying in a demanding voice, “Tell me what happens next so I don't have to find out myself.”
“No.”
“Why not!?” Astrid screeched.
“Because I don't want to,” Orion said and put up a barrier to block the sound of Astrid's anger. “Watch, do your own research, find your own answers. I'm not here to do that for you.”
With that, Orion gave his full attention to the crystal ball which now had the image of a passenger jet on it.
<><>
Maxwell Trager, formally a Major of Blackwatch, shifted in great discomfort despite his beyond first class seat.
Trager and seven other members of the Old Guard faction of Blackwatch were inside a private jet whose exterior was disguised to look like the common passenger jet. The interior of this jet, however, wouldn't look out of place as a billionaire's personal transport. Practically every passenger had their own little area and there were some flight attendants who brought them decent food and drinks, though they never said anything more than they were required to. The Major didn't know where exactly they were going, and there were no windows to look out to see, but considering it had been close to seven hours since they all were practically kidnapped, it was likely an international flight.
The Old Guard didn't hold any sort of grudge or ill feelings for being dragged off suddenly, however. They all knew their number was up. James Heller had apparently tossed all caution to the wind or was so unspeakably pissed off he needed someone to suffer for it, because practically the day after the destruction of Liberty Base he started cleaning house.
Most of their loyal men and battle ready resources had been with Shepard at the time of his death, leaving the rest to be near instantly overwhelmed and destroyed by Heller's untouched forces. Thus, when the eight of them each found themselves being dragged off somewhere and having black bags wrapped around their heads, they fully expected to die. Imagine their surprise when the bags were finally lifted and they found themselves on a jet with a very expensive looking interior, with their apparent savior along for the ride as their escort.
Trager looked down to the woman sitting nearest to the front of the plane. One Sophie Neveu, the so called Interpol Agent on loan to Blackwatch. The Major was fairly sure that someone who could arrange for the kidnapping of several military personnel, take them out of a quarantine zone and then get them successfully on a flight out of the country was more then they appeared. Said woman had ignored any attempts to question her, and her only response was to tell them to wait for them to arrive.
Suddenly Trager heard the seat belt alert ping, followed shortly by the plane starting to descend. The Old Guard buckled in and it wasn't long before they felt the plane touch down and slow. Eventually the plane came to a full stop and Sophie Neveu got up from her own seat.
“If you'll follow me, your benefactor would like to meet with you,” Sophie said, motioning to the door.
“Benefactor... you mean Chevalier?” one of the Guard asked and they all shared a look. None of them had ever met any of the leading members of Chevalier. It had always been by message or proxy. It had always been some point of contention among the commanders of Blackwatch that none of them even knew what the founders of the organization even sounded like. The only real things they knew was that Chevalier had a ton of influence and spies everywhere. The instant Blackwatch ever got up to something they weren't supposed to, they would almost instantly receive a politely worded but still somehow frightening message to cease and desist.
“Yes,” Sophie answered simply and walked through the door. The Old Guard looked among themselves one last time before following.
At first it was like disembarking any plane, but the terminal they found themselves in was like nothing they had ever seen. It clearly was a private airport, as the floor and ceiling were made out of black granite and the walls white marble, both polished to a reflective shine. The many chairs were all comfortable looking, white leather seats. Desks made out of white marble lined the back wall with suited personnel manning every one and each wearing tinted visors. There was no windows in the terminal, leaving the only sources of light being artificial and there seemed to be a few people awaiting planes as well.
Sophie led them through the middle of the terminal and they found themselves walking past a large display case sitting in the center of the terminal. Within the case was an aged looking white banner with a red cross, tattered and covered in old stains. There was a pedestal before it with a plaque no doubt explaining the history behind the banner. None of the Old Guard bothered to read it as they walked past.
Trager then noticed that there appeared to be no way out of the terminal other than passages likely leading to boarding halls for awaiting planes. Sophie brought them to a blank wall between two desks and before anyone could question her, a section of wall before them started rising up. An unfurnished hall of black granite floors and white marble walls met their sight.
They were led down this hall and the wall panel seamlessly closed behind them with a barely heard thump. The hall was completely blank and seemingly lead to a dead end, and Trager noticed Sophie now had a visor on like the others back in the terminal. She approached a certain section of wall on the hallway’s side, and it opened up to reveal yet another hall.
They went down hidden halls for what felt like half an hour, all the while Trager was certain they were walking past many rooms and facilities hidden behind walls. Eventually they came to a large room with a set piece in the middle and a sky light. The set piece was a large oak tree in the middle of a fountain with angel statues shooting water into the fountain. There was an actual door in this room. A massive, black, steel monolithic thing with a sun cross emblazoned upon the front in glowing white lights. And formed into the very door itself were the words “Chevaliers du dévoreur”.
Sophie led the group to this door and it opened up at their approach. Within was a far different room than the others. The floors and walls seemed to be made of blacked out glass with the ceiling covered in glowing light panels. In the center was a long, half moon desk with several empty throne-like chairs around it. Each one was definitely an expensive looking antique, but one in particular situated in a central position at the desk looked like something fit for an emperor. In the middle of this half moon desk was a strange projector-looking device with multiple lenses all angled at each other and upwards.
There were only two people in this room that seemed to be awaiting them. One was a woman and the other a young boy. The woman was standing in front of the desk and facing them. She was wearing a floor length, extremely graceful looking high collar gray dress with wrist length sleeves and a mantle over her shoulders. She had extremely long, jet black hair that easily reached past the middle of her back with pale skin and bright gray eyes. The boy in comparison looked completely normal, save he was dressed in a white jumpsuit. He was sitting atop the desk with crossed legs and drawing something with crayons.
“My dear child, Sophie!” the woman proclaimed happily as Sophie came to a stop before her, face averted downwards and hands folded before her. “Even I doubted if you could have retrieved these fine fellows! You always do such good work for the order. ”
“You do me too much honour, Lady Lydia,” Sophie said respectfully.
“Go and rest before you return to your duties, my child.” Lady Lydia waved off Sophie and the woman gave a shallow bow before leaving.
Trager frowned, and he wasn't the only one. He found himself profoundly unimpressed at the religious overtones their apparent leader and benefactor had. That wasn't it, though. There was something about her that felt off. Something about her face seemed so... otherworldly.
“Hello my dear compatriots.” Lydia smiled warmly. “I imagine after all that has happened, you have quite a few questions. After all, I shall admit it is quite rare for one in the Order's employ to meet directly with the Order itself.”
“Just what is the point of all this?” Trager asked, putting aside the dismay he felt at her behaviour for now. “It's a bit too late if the intent was to stop the leak of information. Heller likely has dozens of us being interrogated for everything we know this very moment.”
“None of you know anything that is damaging to the Order itself.” Lydia shook her head with a beatific smile. “So I suppose the point would be... closure. For you as well as myself, if I can be so frank. If you would direct your attentions downwards?”
When the Old Guard did so, Lady Lydia took a remote off the desk and pressed a button. Instantly the glass changed from being completely blacked out to being transparent, revealing quite the sight.
Below the room was a chamber that was likely just as massive as a major sports stadium, but also twice as tall. The room was heavily armour plated in black metals, but fully lit up with the bottom covered in enough cushioning purple fabrics to likely fully clothe an entire city. All this served to house a creature of some sort. It was a twisted, massive beast that easily took up most of the surface area of the chamber. It had six major limbs ending in appendages that looked vaguely like venus fly traps. It seemed to have no head or neck or even a face of some kind, but a studying stare revealed what might have been over a dozen eyes of varying sizes closed in apparent slumber. Its body had a kind of oblong shape and it was covered in a thick “coat” of tendrils mimicking hair. Its skin and “hair” was completely black but had a shiny sheen that was red in the light. And it was hard to make out, but it seemed like there appeared to be people down below on the floor near it.
“What the hell is that?” Trager muttered with wide eyes, the others mirroring his statement.
“It is the Ancient One, the Great One, The All that will be as One,” Lydia intoned with hands clasped before her.
“What?” Trager said incredulously.
“A history lesson, perhaps?” Lydia smiled. “Long ago, we were a simple military group like yours. An order of knights set forth to retake the Holy Land in the name of one whom we once thought our god. We were once simply the Knights Templar.”
“That explains the banner in the terminal...” Trager stated.
“Indeed. One must know their history or be doomed to repeat it.” Lydia nodded with yet another smile. “Then one day our Order came across something so grand, so marvellous we all could not help but to be captivated by our discovery.”
'Great. Powerless and being spoon fed propaganda by true believer cultists,' Trager thought in growing agitation at the situation he was now in. 'I don't know what's worse. What's happening now or the fact we were being controlled by a bunch of religious nutjobs.'
“For years we stood indecisive of what was to be done next after the discovery,” Lydia continued, blissfully ignorant of her audience's thoughts, or possibly uncaring. “Eventually we came to a turning point. Many of us wished to turn to our church with our discovery and let them decide for us, while the rest wished to treat this as the true moment of revelation. Accusations of heresy abounds! Our lost brothers prepared for civil war, however we had different ideas of how to handle the schism...”
“Using the promises of vast wealth, we manipulated the nobles of the times to have the order declared heretics,” the lady explained as she averted her gaze downwards towards the great beast below with an expression of bliss. “They were all burned at the stake and killed while those of the true faith retreated to the shadows, free to reinvent ourselves. So we became Chevalier, Knights of the Devourer.”
“What in the hell does THAT,” Trager demanded, pointing sharply downwards. “Have to do with anything.”
“My friends, you all know just how Blackwatch's experiments began, correct?” Lydia asked with an amused look, gazing at each in them. “The controlled lab tests followed by Carnival I and II, of course, and you know that Redlight was not made but found. I assure you, my dear compatriots, that whatever had been written down or told to you by scientists of the time had been completely false. Redlight was not found in some forgotten corner of the world, but derived from the Great One slumbering below our very feet.”
“Redlight, my dear compatriots, was gleaned from flesh samples of the slumbering Great One,” Lydia explained grandly. “Indeed, when the oldest among you saw its first tests, they were largely untouched, unaltered by the hands of man. But while the creations of Redlight were all the same impressive... they were still lacking when viewed in hindsight. It was only through the experimentation of one Alex Mercer that the true potential of those so blessed was unlocked. While Redlight may have finally been purged by the military, it was Blacklight that tore out the heart.”
“I think we can all agree that Alex Mercer showed us without a shadow of a doubt the power of what we were meddling with,” Lydia said with a shake of her head before turning around to face the desk.
Lady Lydia grabbed the remote off the desk and aimed it at the large projecting machine and pressed a button. The machine instantly turned out and a holographic image appeared. In the air was a slightly transparent 3D image of Emerald Gleaner in her new outfit, slowing rotating in midair.
“What it must have been like to bare witness to such power... such divine endowed might,” Lydia said quietly in almost rapturous awe. “To stand there and behold the glorious incandescence of a Saint! If only I could be so blessed!”
The Old Guard looked amongst themselves in open confusion and disgust. They had many ideas of what their benefactors had been like, but none of them were the idea they were true believer-crazed, ancient cultists.
“Hehehe... my, the thoughts that must be going through your heads,” Lydia said aloud with an amused tone. “I do know how I must look to you. We Chevalier know just what kind of mindset our tools possess. Shortsighted materialists, all of you... the siren song of power and control is a collar and leash you all so very willingly and blindly wear. You all believe the work you partook in was in the name of the advancement of your own nations rather than that of mankind itself. Directing the likes of you is an art Chevalier has had centuries of practice in.”
Lydia glanced back at them and the Old Guard froze in place. Her narrowed eyes glowed orange softly and her smile became something a cat would have after tiring of toying with a cornered mouse. Her hair started flowing in an unseen breeze as she took a few steps to stand beside the child on the desk.
“My dear sweet child of the martyr. Auntie wishes you to do something for her,” Lydia said as she gently placed a hand on his shoulders and gained his attention. “Dearest Pariah... prepare them for ascension.”
Pariah nodded and smiled at Lydia as the Old Guard recoiled in horror at the name. Pariah hopped down from his seat on the desk and the men instantly turned tail and ran. Even if they had weapons, it was an action they still would have chosen to take. Pariah didn't attempt to chase after them, didn't move to run. He just raised his hands towards them.
Trager stumbled and a scream ripped free form his throat as he felt his flesh agonizingly melt and shift and move. He looked down to see one arm shrivel and start to retract into his body while the other bloated horrifically and ripped the sleeve to pieces. One of his legs melted and bloated into a slug-like form while the other split into dozens of spindly limbs. His torso stated expanding grotesquely and his vision become a confusing mess of images as dozens of eyes started sprouting all over his body.
Pariah tilted his head as he observed his work. Most of the Old Guard had become a nearly indescribable mess of flesh and body parts. One became little more than a giant mouth with dozens of legs each sporting fingers like they were hair. Another became a giant, unblinking eye with teeth bursting out from beneath the flesh while another became a ball of flesh covered in dozens of organs. The little boy smiled and nodded before turning back to Lydia who was now examining the drawing he had been making.
“Oh my, is this who I think it is?” Lydia asked softly with a smile as she turned the drawing to him, revealing a crude image of a woman with blond hair wearing a gray suit.
“Mom... my...” Pariah answered haltingly and then asked. “I do... good?”
“The very best, sweetie.” Lydia smiled kindly and held the drawing out to Pariah. “Take this and show Nana just how good a drawer you are!”
“Okay...” Pariah smiled eagerly and grabbed the paper before running off. The large doors to the room opened before him and he passed several hazmat wearing people pushing trolleys.
Lady Lydia hummed absently as she walked over to the biggest throne at the table, while the hazmat wearing people started gathering up the former Old Guard onto the trolleys in the background. She took her seat and then pressed a button under the desk. The hologram changed from Emerald to a white outline of a phone and a ringing sound filled the air.
“Ya'loo?” the voice of Jacob answered cheerfully.
“Uncle Jacob, it's Lydia. I have some work for you,” Lydia said as she pulled out a folder and placed on the desk.
“Again?!” Jacob said with a faux annoyed tone. “Can't you play favourites with family for once, Dia?”
“But aren't all members of the Inner Circle considered family, dearest uncle?” Lydia pointed out with a smile as she started going over the contents of the folder. “How could I play favourites if all are my favourite?”
“Got me there,” Jacob answered and Lydia could imagine her fellow Cursor shrugging. “So what do you need me to do?”
“It is time for Chevalier to make an overt move after so long,” Lydia declared authoritatively. “The upcoming emergency meeting of the UN will be deciding the fate of the Cursors after the divine display. Their short sighted fear will make an enemy of the blessed. Use as much of our blackmail material and influence as you see fit to ensure a positive ruling... in fact, go a step further and ensure the blessed are granted far more favourable conditions.”
“No problemo!” Jacob said cheerfully.
“And afterwards... if you have the time...” Lydia said, her voice gaining a coy tone and her expression shifted to a deeply admiring one as she picked up a picture of Emerald Gleaner from her folder. “Tell me about her.”
“Ohoho!” Jacob laughed. “I'll be sure to tell you everything I know about her when I'm finished with this little errand.”
“I look forward to it, uncle.”
<><>
“-Shock reigns as UN ruling goes against all expectations...”
“-Rioters fill the streets of Paris in outrage at the UN decision...”
“-NYZ quarantine zone not only expanded to include the entire state but travel restrictions lessened along with goods crossing the state line...”
“-Television Ghost Hunters hospitalized after investigating an abandoned building near the NYZ, no official statement on whether or not Cursors were involved...”
“-American cities in a state of confusion after UN decision with little rioting, officials hopeful...”
“-Chinese trading fleets set sail for American coasts in the hundreds after the repeal of sanctions previously set...”
“-Unprecedented new trend in Youtube videos, viewers of amateur magicians say the special effects are surprisingly well done...”
“-Medical list with wait time of at least six months undergoes massive appointment cancelations as patients report third party medical attention...”
“-Reports of violent infighting among Blackwatch forces go unconfirmed, UN investigations ceased after lack of evidence...”
“-New Cult formed in the NYZ, member interviewed about central beliefs of Emerald Gleaner being touched by god...”
“-UN backed effort to study the crystal formation on Liberty Island has yet to yield results, scientists report EMP field too strong for normal instruments to properly examine...”
“-Overwhelming uncertainty as latest census reports unauthorized Cursor population growth, lawmakers convene to debate means of ethical population control...”
“-With an uncertain future looming, peoples of the world are no doubt wondering what could possibly happen next?”
~<>END<>~