CH.14 (The Employer Arc) Main Thread: Act 3, The Lords of Darkness

[DARKSPADE]

Meanwhile, back in approximately 513 A.D. at some dreary room with Charon #2....



DS: What do you mean I cannot have Mortis' scepter?!

Charon #2 shook her head....

Charon: Look mate. What's more important- living or dying, because I am prepared to bloody report you!!!

Darkspade adjusted the mink coat





DS: This is a nice mink coat....

Charon: That's not a mink coat, those haven't even been invented yet, they don't come for a thousand years, what your sporting is a fleece made of sheep fur. Any-who... you're still naked. Just.. just follow me!


Charon, her heart pounding, turns to a bookshelf and, with a swift push, reveals a gaping hole in the wall. She gestures for her dad to follow, and after a moment's hesitation, Darkspace steps forward. As they step through the hole, they find themselves in a dimly lit, seemingly endless passageway. Charon, her nerves still on edge, kicks a loose brick, causing the bookshelf to slide back into place with a dull thud.

Charon lights a torch resting on a handle with her creature powers, and they progress down the passageway... to somewhere. The two did not say a thing for a while, even as Darkspade ensured that the 'fleece', a material that provides warmth and protection was on him as it progressively got colder. Until Charon finally broke the ice with dialogue, ".... uh. It's nice to meet you finally, Dad. I heard a lot of, err, okay, things about you when I was a kid...."


Darkspade, his brow furrowed in confusion, asks, "What do you mean, 'heard great things'? Didn't I exist in your timeline?" Charon, her voice tinged with sadness, replies with a sigh. "I didn't know you well. You were always busy with CreatureWrestling, and when Hra'gad invaded, your focus was on him. You were taken hostage and killed by Hra'gad. I'm sorry... also, I'm not the real Charon. I'm a clone, with her memories implanted in me. So, technically, I don't know you."

That caused a tremendous awkward moment... another lengthy time passed with silence until Darkspade, again, brought up the scepter he desperately needed. "In my timeline, we weakened Hra'gad somehow, which caused him to be overcome- but my err former friend, I guess you can say- took over Hra'gad and his powers... we called him Hra'Spyder." That caused Charon to laugh, "Oh. That's soooo original!" Darkspade frowned. ".... AND he eventually became a transvestite from Transylvania- HEY LOOK- that's not what's important- we NEED THAT SCEPTER to find the Mortal Wre..." *Charon #2 stops, covers her dad's mouth and promoted them to be silent....

[KIZMAT]

Uncheck the mute button to hear the music (if there are more than one video in this thread, for full experience, you would have to uncheck/check off them as you read, sorry).
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Chains of Faith - Positively Paranoid
Brandon, perplexed, scratched his head, causing his hair to splay out in all directions. Obed Marsh's gaze shifted to Mamud, mirroring the curiosity in Charon's eyes.

Mamud: You speak of the enigmatic tomb of darkness, a place where the Lords of Darkness were mysteriously imprisoned on the fateful night of December 5th, 1999. The only way to unlock its seal is to obliterate the artifact that held them captive—TheUndertaker.net heavyweight title belt, currently in the possession of Darkhag. Am I close to the truth?

Charon, with a deep understanding of the past, recalled the once-revered TheUndertaker.net—a sanctuary for Creatures of the Night, a platform where Darkspade enticed them into CWF, a venture initially orchestrated by Kizmat and Alexander Arcane to form blood pacts.





KIZMÄT: You have a good grasp of history- except- the title you mention was dismantled by Alexander Arcane; its fragments were used to create the CWE Undisputed Title belt and later melted to forge the Absolute Title. In a shocking turn of events, I replaced the seal by ascending to the cult as a Lord of Darkness, amply named the Lord of Blood. The only way to release the other Lords is to separate my soul from my body momentarily-- a perilous task that requires a skilled individual like you. It's a process that involves traversing the ethereal plane and battling the forces that guard it. This task cannot be accomplished by someone with emotional attachment like with Charon!

Mamud understood what Kizmat was asking of her. Yes, the ethereal plane cannot be entered simply through any means, even through technology, but only through the knowledge of intense black magic granted by a significant force, The Employer, possessed by her alone.

---

Charon #2 covered her "dad's" mouth so he could remain quite... around the corner were guards searching the place for clearly them.



Charon: Bloody hell. I thought I could take you all the way to the ferry, look, this is as far as I am going to help---



DS: ... fine then. But this is not helping. Why is the scepter so hard for you to understand what WE need? I get it that you're not my real daughter [Charon lowers her head and then looks back up] - are you this contemptuous to sit idly by and allow the world's fate to shift in the direction of pure evil? Do you want to stay here and deal with Mortis day end and day out when you have an alternative way out of this situation and make a fucking difference for once!?

Charon: Ever since I got dumped here, I've had to put on a show to survive... It doesn't matter because.... GUARDS!! OH HEY, GUARDS!!! WE'RE OVER HERE!!!


This shocked Darkspade as the guards, with their weapons drawn, marched over to Charon and Darkspade. But suddenly, in a surprise turn of events, Charon pulled out concealed nailguns and headshot each of them.

Charon: ... Do you honestly think I would turn you over to them? Quick... disrobe one of their armors, put it on, and let's find that bloody scepter.

[Mamud]

"...What you're asking isn't a quick and easy action," Mamud says. "Nor is it something for me to be done alone; I will only do this on 5 conditions. The first is that Obed Marsh agrees to help when he's needed."

Obed shrugs. "I've already made a deal to make sure the Gates have Guardians; the Employer has made this a very tedious task because any action of mine might be undone in an altered past. Before this, I hadn't needed to act; I had all the benefits of my pact with no burdens. I have a vested interest in neutralizing the Employer. But note: I'm not agreeing to defeat them, or even to help you defeat them; if I can lock all of you into eternal fighting, I will do so. My goal is to maintain a status quo, with Guardians and replacements in play. Once it's clear my pact with Aeon will not require more than minimal attention to maintain, I will not help anymore. And, I want binding oaths that none of you will move against me or my line unless in retribution against that specific person--and you cannot entrap one of my line into moving against you."

"Lazy bastard devoted to your family, aren't you?" drawled Brandon. "But your talk of leaving us before this is finished is an empty warning, because it doesn't look like the Employer will stop in their grab for power while they're still in the game."

Kizmat and Charon silently communicate via a look. "We agree to your condition, Obed," Charon says. "But Mamud, you mentioned 5 conditions; Obed's help is one, and he's given that. What are the other four?"

"Second: I want dominion over a portion of your dreams. I cannot claim complete dominion--as that would attract attention from those I cannot defend myself against. But I want dominion over a tenth of your dreams, Brandon, Charon and Kizmat. Don't worry too much--I want others to make this bargain with me as well, so I have a reason to make this something you'd speak of favorably to others. A baker can't get any customers if they poison their bread.

Third: after we put your houses in order, and elevate you to your places of power, I want you to help me obtain dominion over the dreams of others--to a level equal to my effort aiding you. You're right, Kizmat, I'm a minor power--but I'll still be putting myself at a large amount of risk and expending much of my effort to help you achieve your ends. I'll demand the same in return, when and if you're successfully saved.

"Fourth, I want all three of you to bind yourselves: I can strip you of your powers and abilities with a thought, until I return them. This is non-negotiable," Mamud quickly said, when she saw the other three were getting ready to reject this condition. "This will only work once--but you will be reduced at that time... well, Charon and Kizmat will be reduced. Brandon, what... what are your powers? You know what, never mind I don't really care, it doesn't matter."

"Absurd!" roared Kizmat. "You demand too much!"

Charon puts a hand on Kizmat's arm, to attract his attention. "You need someone who will protect you and guide your soul back to your body, when you're in a vulnerable state--and you cannot trust Mamud and you have no reason to. This promise she's asking means you can predict her, and that's better than trusting. We need to know that the person to protect and guide you will do what they can to make sure your soul returns to your body, and you're right; she's asking us to become her promoters for a time and to be at her mercy until she invokes her clause. But getting her followers is something in our power to grant after we remove the Employer, and ultimately easy enough to do, especially if her having dominion over some of our dreams is something we can tell others about as enjoyable or ...something. Mamud, don't make our dreams weird. I don't want to end up in a hot tub with you or Brandon."

"I'm not trash," Mamud said.

"... ...Your last condition?" asked Kizmat.

"Fifth: I want a medium boon from all three of you, to be named at a later date. Those are my terms. Give me your reply."