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Leviathan

:)

0 · 1,017 views · located in The Earth, 2017

a character in “A Tale of Seven Children//Rebirth”, as played by VitaminHeart

Description

Image



~ Physical Profile ~

Name: Envy, The Serpent, Apep, Jormungand, Quetzacoatl, Ascelpius,Then Green-Eyed Monster, many names. The one it's settled on however is 'Leviathan'.
Physical Age: Leviathan's age is hard to determine. Twenties? Thirties? Certainly he doesn't appear to show much sign of age, unless you considered the hair to be some indication.
True Age: Ancient
Gender: Presents itself as male, at least.
Race: Demon Lord

Description: Leviathan, when presenting itself as human, as it almost always does, appears as tall, slender, somewhat androgynous figure with feathery silver hair and pale skin. He's nearly always wearing gloves, to hide the short, slightly hooked claws his hands have instead of nails.

He tends to dress neatly and a little formally, depending on what persona he's wanting to adopt at the time.

Any differences from your provided image/s: Very bright, nearly luminous green eyes with slitted pupils.

~ Psychological Profile ~

Likes: Snakes, Water, Fish, the Colour Green, Winning.
Dislikes: Light,fire, his siblings,.
Strengths:
- His silver tongue and charm.
- His substantial intelligence.

Fears: Few things seem to outright frighten Leviathan, as his capacity for emotion is quite limited, but the demon is quite cautious of things that could be a threat to him. He has given Jonathan Black a wide berth for some while.


Hobbies: Complex plotting, competing in games with his siblings using people as game pieces.
Secrets?: Leviathan is a very powerful, but his abilities are sealed, and he is unable to exact harm upon living things without their consent to a deal.

Outlook on life: The world has no meaning, kindness and altruism are nothing but evolved survival strategies developed to increase the lifespan of mammals. When you get down to it, mortal creatures are nothing but shortlived, panicky, fragile livestock to be used as needed and discarded when they cease to become useful. There's no point to life beyond achieving what you want.

Affiliation: Leviathan is, on the surface, a very conscientious and dedicated member of the legions of hell. He does what's required of him and treats all of his peers (even the lowly wretches at the bottom of the pile) with a flawless degree of courtesy. That said, Leviathan is a snake, and will always be. His loyalty is to himself first and to any greater cause second. There's no guarantee that his apparent sense of duty isn't all for some kind of self-interest.


Moral Alignment: Neutral Evil
Image
~ Combat Profile ~

Major Abilities:
+ Blood Pact - Once a person has made a deal with Leviathan, and sealed it via a blood pact, sharing some of the demon's blood, they are eternally bound to him, and must come good on their agreement. In this way anyone who pledges their service to him cannot go back on their promise.
+ Soul Collector - Leviathan is able to collect soul promised to him. It can be seen as him seeming to plunge his hand inside a person's chest and withdraw it.
Of course,t here aren't many desperate or foolish enough to pledge their own soul to a demon... but it's always a deal he's open to.
+Uncorruptable - Leviathan's physical body on earth appears amazingly hard to kill. Whilst he himself cannot strike out to damage others, it is also extremely hard to damage him. His wounds close almost as soon as they are cleaved, and things such as poisons and disease appear to wash over him.
Still...it's not like he can harm anyone....right?

Minor Abilities:
- Snake Eyes - Leviathan's eyes are...unsettling. Luminous green and slitted, they appear to look right through people, into their very soul. He also seems to have an alarming knack for knowing what people want, how to play them, and how to best manipulate them into getting what they want.
Could these two be connected?
- Reunion - Leviathan can catch the scent of his blood wherever he happens to be in the mortal plane, and transport himself to its location, allowing him to find those who've taken his deals on a whim, and also allowing him to use them as gateways to move around undetected. A Demon Lord strolling about the land is likely to attract unwanted attention, after all.


Special Ability: Fleshcraft

Leviathan is the lord of Envy, and ENvy is a constantly shifting force. Always changing itself in hopes of reaching some unachievable goal. As such, the lord of Envy has perfected the art of changing people. Leviathan is the lord of fleshcraft. Living things are a lump of clay that he can alter at will.

Of course, the seal upon his abilities applies to this as well. He can only act as part of a mutual deal, or in order to help or heal.
Though what sort of ability is that for a Lord of Hell?

Well, as it turns out, quite a useful one.

The snake isn't a symbol of doctors and medicine for no reason.

It's sad Leviathan's ability could cure all kinds of things, perhaps even raise the dead... but of course all healing from him comes at a price. Often one the buyer will ultimately deeply regret. But wherever there's illness, death and injury, there are always desperate people willing to give anything to save the life of a loved one.

Equipment: N/A
Minor Skills: Leviathan is extremely well versed on mortal, and demon biology, enough that many researchers would be envious.

~ Faction Profile ~


Faction: Hell
Rank: SS (Unsealed, however Leviathan's status of sealed powers does cast this into question.)
Class: Demon Lord
Title: Lord of Envy,
Loyalty Level: 7
Leviathan sees absolutely no reason to abandon the forces of hell.
On the other hand, he's more loyal to himself, and has 'neglected' to inform the greater population of the forces of hell of his acquisition of one of the children.
(Who wants some other demon getting all the credit for your hard work?)

~ Miscellaneous ~

Biography/History:

" The great fish in the sea, and in the words of the Aggadah (B.B. 74b), this refers to the Leviathan and its mate, for He created them male and female, and He slew the female and salted her away for the righteous in the future, for if they would propagate, the world could not exist because of them."



Leviathan, Lord of Envy, The Hellmouth, one of the greater demons of hell and more prominent threats to humanity's continued existence.

Stories tell that once upon a time, Leviathan made his own bid to bring about the end, to use his abilities to sculpt humanity to suit his own whim. Back then, the Leviathan was one of two. A male and a female serpent, destruction and creation, between them they were able to make all living matter into their canvas.

For the sake of the greater glory of hell? Or to make their own bid for power? Leviathan would certainly claim the former.

Fortunately for humanity, his bid for eternal damnation was foiled. The exorcists squaring off against this rising threat while unable to kill him, were able to destroy his counterpart, sealing his power, theoretically, permanently. Leviathan, now only half of a whole, could no longer utilize his powers for destructive purposes. As far as most were concerned, the great demon was no longer a threat to the world.

Unfortunately for all concerned, Leviathan was not deterred. He was resourceful, he was tenacious...and above all things, he was patient. The demon remained under the radar, making deals, gathering minions, and laying the groundwork for his new efforts. He was immortal after all, he could wait.

It was some years later that fate happened to smile upon him and he managed to run across something that would prove pivotal in his plan. A child of Satan. Still young, untainted by any WDL nonsense, and equally as important, unknown to any demons. He capitalised on that and took her on as his adopted child, deliberately keeping the young Helena out of the radar of the WDL, and the forces of hell.

This way he hoped to exploit her tulpa ability to his own gain and use the living nightmares as proxies for his own work. It's coming to the point where Leviathan is ready to show his hand once again, and to do so he needs to find the best way to activate his charge's abilities without implicating himself.


((baka baka))

So begins...

Leviathan's Story

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Helena Kingsley Character Portrait: Leviathan
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It was an average night.

Helena sat in a rowing boat in the middle of a lake, the surface lit by a multicoloured sheen, helping a giant rabbit haul in a fishing net full of bone china teasets.

Quite normal as it went for Helena.

"So." The rabbit announced as it removed a pastel pink teacup from the netting precariously with its pas.
"You seem a little quiet today, is something the matter?"

The young woman shook her head, avoiding much eye contact with her companion as she searched for the lid to go with the teapot she was holding.
"Oh, no...just not had a lot to talk about. Not much going on right now."

She sighed.
"I dunno Rabbit. I sometimes feel like I'm not really doing anything with my life. Like...you've got your fishing.. and The Archer has hunting and I think...I really need a purpose or something. "

The Rabbit shrugged his shoulders and set a saucer on one of the seats of the boat.
"I'm sure you'll find your calling in time Helena. It's all a matter of patience. You know, when I was your age-"
He stopped, long white ears twitching.
"Get the oars. Something's coming."

Helena pushed herself up into a standing position, struggling not the rock the laden rowing boat, and stumbled across to reach for the oars. As she did the girl couldn't help but look out across the wide expanse of the lake.

That was where she saw it. The water was turning black. It was sweeping in towards the two of them, a featureless, formless could of black that had taken over the coloured patina of the lake.

She grabbed hold of one oar, but as she tried to seize the second, he arm bumped the edge, ricking it free of the rings and onto the water. Helena cursed and scrambled over to the side, dropping onto her knees as the boat bucked and lurched from the sudden movement. She flung her arms out over the edge, reaching out toward the disappearing oar, only to find herself staring into the dark water...and seeing the huge luminous white-green staring back up at her from the abyss-



Knock Knock.

Helena's eyes flickered open. Someone was knocking on the door.

She took a moment to try and get some idea of her situation, before shouting out a rather groggy.
"..just a sec!"

What time was it?

Half-awake, Helena slid off of the bed and stepped into the chaos of her room. It wasn't especially big in size. The heavy clawfoot bed gave way to a colourful rug scattered with bits of half-finished drawings and novels. All across one wall was a bookshelf quietly overflowing with any number of volumes, and scattered across the remaining furniture were stuffed animals, art supplies, and whatever other curio the young woman had taken to collecting.

The room was sufficiently crowded with stuff that it took her a while to dig out some clothes. A mauve skirt. Aubergine leggings. A bright green T-shirt. And a large, baggy wool sweater with a mutlicoloured dinosaur on the front.

Armed with her standard sort of outfit, and hair hanging in limp fronds like a dead sea creature, Helena went to open the door.

"Good morning Helena, how are you today?" the figure stood in the doorway was quite familiar to her.

Tall, slender-looking, neatly dressed. His hair was silvery in colour and his eyes a bright, near unsettling green colour. They reminded her of something, but she really could not put a finger on it.

"Hey dad.. good...not so bad..." the young woman mumbled, trying not to let on that she'd only just woken up, and most likely failing miserably at it.

"Good." the man replied.
"I just thought I'd let you know that I'm back for a few days and will be in my office if you need me. Brought you a few things back from my trip that you'll find downstairs." he smiled.
"Glad that all is well here. Hopefully I should not have to leave for the rest of the week so perhaps we can arrange the time to go somewhere?"

Helena nodded and lightened her expression. It sounded pretty appealing. Even as introverted as she tended to be, the place was starting to get a little claustrophobic.
"That'd be great."

Another, rather knowing smile from the man.
"We'll talk about this properly when you've woken up...I'll see you later.
"

With that, he set off down the hall and out of sight of his adopted daughter.

Once he was well enough out of the way, Leviathan pulled a phone from his pocket and set off a call.
"I see there's been no progress. I'm rather disappointed. Little but minor abilities in near eighteen years of trying. I think we can consider our arrangement at an end.

No, I'm afraid I have given all the chances I can possibly afford. I have been very patient with you, but the time has come to look for an alternative technique. I'm terribly sorry to have to resort to this.

Yes. You will soon find out. Do take care.
"

The voice on the other end carried on speaking, but Leviathan pressed to end the call, with little interest in what they had to say.

If he was going to realize his plan he was going to have to resort to something a little...more complicated.

Still. He prided himself as one never to shy away from a task. If something was worth doing, it was worth doing well.

And if this paid off, there was little limit to where it could lead.

Leviathan smiled, and, were someone watching through the windows of the big, isolated hour, they might have seen as his shadow on the hallway wall flickered momentarily, from that of a man to something vast and twisting, all teeth and coils.

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Helena Kingsley Character Portrait: Leviathan
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Leviathan had made it as far as his office when he received the call.

The office was somewhere where Helena rarely strayed to, which suited him just fine. A large, low-light room, one end taken up by a wooden desk, and a perpendicular wall mostly occupied by a large fishtank. Large, dark shapes rifted about in the shadowy water.

The demon had taken a seat when he noticed it.

An old but familiar number buzzed the phone in Leviathan's hand, and upon answering, a message would be heard, obviously prerecorded.

"Good day, Leviathan. I couldn't help but overhear that you were ending your partnership with your oh so mysterious friends. I know how much that must pain you, so I called with an invitation that may work well in your favour- now, there's no guarantees, but how would you feel about sending your most lovely daughter over the the Warriors of Divine Light in Rome? Her purposes there could be.. quite useful. On top of that, we could purposefully put your lovely Helena into certain.. situations.. to assist in your plans. It would be a mutually beneficial arrangement, of course, so I do hope that you'll consider. If so, please arrive with her at the coordinates that will be sent to you via mail shortly.

Regards,

Tor"


The phonecall ended quite abruptly, though he had expected as much.

Well.

Seemed like a change of tack had been a very auspicious decision on his part.

Leviathan smiled.

He was not averse to a bit of teamwork. If it benefited him. There were reasons that humans, one of the most successful of this world's creatures, were social animals.


---

Some Time Later...


Helena sat on the bench, thumbs sweeping about on the screen of her phone as she waited.

Her father has departed for a moment to take a call, but she wasn't exactly worried to give up ten minutes.

If anything, she was just pretty happy to be outside, enough that she didn't really mind where they were going. Her dad was...kind of particular about where he let her go, and had never given permission for her to step outside the house without someone accompanying her.

Honestly she wasn't sure what he was so worried about, wasn't like she had a lot worth getting mugged for. A rather scuffed-looking cell phone that had narrowly survived being dropped in her cereal twice to date, and a bag containing her notebook, two chocolate bars, and her stuffed rabbit.

Good luck trying to fence any of that.

She guessed, if anything, it was a throwback to...something else.
There had never been any illusions about Helena being adopted, and at one point, at around age twelve, she'd gone as far to ask her guardian why it was that he'd never had his own.

He'd not gone into much detail, but had mentioned that once he had had a wife, but that she had been killed. He didn't explain the circumstance,s and even then she'd not wanted to labour the point of what must have been a sensitive subject.

Still, it was pretty refreshing to be out by herself. It was looking to be a pretty good day.


--

A little way away, Leviathan stood leant on the corner of a building. The phone sat on one gloved hand.

He wasn't certain how things would play out from there on, which was not normally his style, but fortune favoured those who could adapt to new situations.

Something that, he hoped, would not be lost on his adopted daughter.

With any luck, the next time they met the dynamic was going to be very different.

The start of a whole new era.

Leviathan pressed the 'send' button on a text, over to the old, familiar number.

'I've provided what you asked at the location specified.
I very much look forward to seeing what you have to show me.

- :)'

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Jonathan Black Character Portrait: Ashley 'Ash/Soot' Clade Character Portrait: Vesper Himemiya Character Portrait: Caius Grady Character Portrait: Rick Brackwall Character Portrait: Helena Kingsley
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#, as written by zody
| Jonathan Black |


JoJo picked up the phone, grinning at Rick in appreciation as he began to dial the number he knew by heart. He pulled the phone to his ear, moving to the back corner of the room away from the others for at least a tiny bit of privacy. He waited anxiously as the phone rang, half concentrating on it and half concentrating on Rick and the others. It rang and rang, and he swore under his breath. As the call ended, he hung up before trying again. Hopefully Dawn would realise who it was and would pick up this time.

No deal. JoJo sighed hard as he tried for the third time, this time deciding to leave a voice message. "Hey Dawn, it's JoJo. I was just calling to tell you that I'm fine and that I, uh, probably won't see you for.. a while? Some crazy stuff happened that you wouldn't believe, heh. Anyway, hope you and Iggy are doing well. Don't break my console or I'll kill you. Uh, bye. Don't call this number back. That'd be.. That'd be really awkward." JoJo ended the call, the voicemail being sent to his friend as he walked over to Vistra, hanging her the phone, before moving back over to his seat at the table.

He tuned back into the conversation in time for Caius' question- but also for JoJo to realise his most important question had been answered. The paper in the room seemed almost unnatural, although somehow Rick was also quite unnatural himself. JoJo still had that bitter taste in his mouth, and he'd also wondered how Rick had known exactly what type of crazy monster to conveniently pull up. Maybe they had files documenting their lives here? JoJo grumbled to himself, wondering just what was being hidden from them. Honestly, if these guys were the types to constantly be hiding things, JoJo was going to book a flight back to the US as soon as possible- and he'd totally drag Vesper along too. Sure, he wanted to spend time with his new family and all, but they weren't exactly JoJo's focus at the moment. Although, if it came to it, JoJo would gladly bring them along for the ride outta here as well.

"This place has a weird feeling to it. Although.. I'm sure it's just Rick trying to make us feel more at home or something. Maybe he's actually a super antisocial person and is just forcing it? I'm not letting him weasel out of my paper question, though, not a chance in hell. If there's magical spider girls, there's magical humans, too. Or paper demons.

But are we really safer here?
"





'I've provided what you asked at the location specified.
I very much look forward to seeing what you have to show me.

- :)
'


Within a few moments of the button being pressed, Leviathan's phone would vibrate in his hand as a reply was delivered.

Leviathan's phone lit up as a message was received;

"In five minutes the package will be acquired.
Please be at the location to witness retrieval.
The men that will restrain you will mean no harm and will leave when the package is out of sight.

Thank you for your cooperation.
Tor."


As promised, Leviathan only had to wait for five minutes until, right in front of Helena, two black vans pulled to the curb. A man, a blade at his waist, exited the car. He walked up to Helena, crouching down before her. He looked her right in the eyes, and spoke. "Helena Kingsley. We're here to take you someplace safe." He lifted a small container from his pocket as she focused on his face, spraying her with it. The concoction in the container was potent, and the girl would've dropped her phone as she fell. The man grabbed her, hoisting her up onto his shoulder as he began carrying her to the back of the van.

If Leviathan had agreed to the instructions, he'd be accosted by two men who grabbed his arms and pushed him to his knees, a third pointing a gun at his head. Helena would be 'accidentally' turned on the man's shoulder, allowing her to see Leviathan through half-closed eyelids as he did what any good father would do. However, for poor Hel, the back doors of the van would quickly shut behind her.

A man sat beside her, keeping a close eye on her as she lay on the floor and the van drove away. The men restraining Leviathan would let him go, nodding briefly and muttering apologies under their breaths before getting into the second van and taking off.




A little while away from the group in the auditorium and just down the road from where Kane, Rianne and Yohan were, an Exorcist clutched his head. The flashbacks kept haunting him, day and night, but still that was no reason for him to have antagonised them like that. Lately, he felt as if something was pulling at him; plucking at his insides and making his blood boil for absolutely no reason at all. He slammed his fist into the wall, grunting angrily as he stormed away. The meeting wouldn't wait- his flashbacks could. "I swear to God." He began to walk again, idly noticing a cat wandering down the opposite side of the road as him. He glared, and the cat seemed to glare back before running around into a nearby alleyway. He sighed hard, shaking his head. "Animals." He straightened up, shaking his head to clear it as he resumed his march to the building in the center of the WDL complex at full speed.

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Jonathan Black Character Portrait: 'Illusion' Character Portrait: Helena Kingsley Character Portrait: Leviathan
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Leviathan put on a pretty good performance of looking shocked as he was seized upon, striking eye contact briefly with the form of his adoptive daughter just as the doors of the van swung closed and she was driven off elsewhere.

The look of worry evaporated from the man's features once the young woman was out of sight.

When the men relinquished their hold upon him the demon took a moment to adjust his jacket and gave a magnanimous smile in response to their apologies.

" No need to apologise. I quite understand. Pleasure working with you gentlemen."

Once they had departed he paused in order to scoop up Helena's phone and bag from the ground by the bench. The head of the rabbit toy protruded from the bag.

Hm. He'd best make sure that Helena received this back. And he had just the person to make sure she got it.

----

Helena was feeling about as good as someone could after being drugged and flung into the back of a van by a bunch of strangers. Her head was pounding, her mouth was dry, and she had lost all feeling in the arm she'd been lying on top of since... when exactly had she ended up in there? Helena could more or less remember sitting in a park messing round with her phone and waiting for something and then...

They were in a garage, several armed men beside her. The man, noticing she was waking up, spoke. "Move your legs. We need you to cooperate with us, okay?" There was concern in his voice, however he hurried Helena forwards.

She felt herself being hauled onto her feet and caught a glimpse of men and guns, a thing that regardless of what she remembered was a cause for alarm.
A guy was telling her to co-operate. Helena wasn't sure she had a choice. The young woman was pushing her limits even trying to keep up as she was half-dragged along and not throw up, so fighting anyone off seemed pretty much out of the question.


It was at least in part due to this that it took her a few moments to look up when another spoke up.

A voice broke out into the room and into Helena's thoughts. " I'll take her from here, gentlemen.."

The girl lifted her head, peeing groggily between wavy frond of ginger hair in an effort to try and work out what on earth was happening.

Illusion smiled down at the girl, gently taking her hand. Despite only holding Hel's hand, the girl felt herself being kept upright by the lolita she was now being escorted by. " I must apologise.. Our time is short, and we needed to get you here as soon as possible. Rest assured, your father will be informed of your safety- I'll make sure of that personally.." She smiled warmly at Helena, a comforting smile, much like that of a mother.

With the introduction of the newest individual, who, at the very least was not pointing weapons at her, Helena followed along, not sure what else to do, as she began to recall more of the situation.
"Wait.." she mumbled, pushing some of her hair from her face.
"Did...did I just get kidnapped?."

Illusion smiled at the petite girl beside her, smirking. " Yes. Technically. But don't worry, you're actually safer here than you were with your.. Father.." She lead Helena to a stairway, and took her up it.. " I'll be frank with you, little Helena, you're not human. In fact, you're far from it."
The small girl shrugged, looking back over to Helena to make sure she wasn't staggering too much.
"It'll wear off eventually, don't worry.."

"I don't FEEL a lot safer.." the girl responded as she tried to work out where to put her feet on the steps.
That was pretty true. Life with her father had been, if a little weird at times, never quite as bad as this.

" Well, now that you're here, we're going to teach you how to defend yourself well enough that you'll be safe anywhere. There's six other people in very similar positions to you, so try to get along with them." Illusion smiled.
""I'm Illusion, by the way. Sorry for the kidnapping, but there were some other people after you, so we had to get there first."

"Other people?" Helena asked.
"Um..I can't help but wonder if you um... got the wrong person or something? I mean... I'm not..very.. important. "

" Helena Kingsley, raised by one Mister Green. 18 years old." Illusion grinned. "We have exactly the right person.
"
Eventually, the pair reached the top of the stairwell, stepping out into the sunlight. Illusion smirked.
" However, I don't have enough time to spend with you, so if you'll forgive my rudeness, I'll be doing this." Illusion clicked her fingers, a portal opening wide like reality was cracking like a broken mirror, She gently pushed Hel through the portal, stepping through after the girl herself. A small smirk on her face as the two arrived just as JoJo began to walk out of his room.


Helena had just been pushed through a portal. Even without considering the fact that she had literally just crossed through space into another location, if she'd not been feeling sick enough before defying the laws of physics, she definitely was now.

The girl stumbled forwards and clasped a hand over her mouth, strong feeling of nausea at least temporarily overriding some of the very important questions she was contending with. Like what she was doing there, why these people even knew she existed, let alone wanted to kidnap her and teach her something, and what on earth was meant by 'not human'.

As it stood her primary concern was not throwing up onto the shoes of the young man who had just strolled out of his room in front of where she'd materialized.

Achievable goals.

Illusion held a bucket under Hel's head as she gagged, looking up at the obviously startled JoJo.
"Don't mind us, she's your sister. Walking through space isn't something she's very used to."

JoJo, taking a step back to avoid any excess vomit, chuckled softly.
"Just.. how many of us are there?" He looked at Illusion, obviously confused. "Seven. Rick, JoJo, Caius, Ash, Vistra, Vesper and Helena."

JoJo nodded.
"So.. we're all here now?"

The vampire girl, still holding the bucket, nodded.
" About time.. I'll be late for my meeting."

JoJo bit his lip, his thoughts taking him elsewhere as Illusion bent down a little and asked Helena.
"Are you feeling better?"

"Not really..." Helena mumbled, clutching hold of the bucket in both hands, stomach acid burning the back of her throat. She had been kidnapped, drugged, catapulted through the fabric of reality... admittedly social humiliation seemed like a pretty minor addition to her problems at the time, but publicly throwing up was still far from a wonderful way to introduce herself.

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Jonathan Black Character Portrait: Ashley 'Ash/Soot' Clade Character Portrait: Vesper Himemiya Character Portrait: Rick Brackwall Character Portrait: Helena Kingsley Character Portrait: Brenhin
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Image

An industrial estate, somewhere in the North of England.


Robert Parker sat at his desk, scrolling through emails and yet consequentially reading absolutely nothing. Most of a cold cup of coffee and a half-finished pack of aspirin sat on the desk next to him.

Off in the gloom of his desk unlit by the glare from the monitor, the phone squealed.

Robert massaged his temples for a moment before picking up the receiver, to hear the voice of his receptionist, Sophie, on the other end.

“A er… Mr Green to see you Doctor Parker.”

Robert’s mouth dried up the moment he heard the word. His hands closed reflexively around the cheap plastic enough that he felt it near give way in his grip.

Of course there were many Mr Greens out in the country, in the world. It was not the most unusual name. It could be any number of people. Any number of men who were perfectly sincere in their wish to visit and discuss business from a small medical supply company.

But in that moment he was certain that it was none of those people.

It was him.

“...Doctor Parker? Shall I send him in?”

Sophie sounded a little confused. Robert realized he’d been silent for far longer than he’d intended. Trying to clear the awful dryness in his throat, he spoke up hoarsely.

“No, no, I’ll come to meet him.”



It was a few minutes later that Robert Parker was able to navigate the dark and narrow corridors of Parker Laboratory Solutions and make it out into the reception area. It was a small, shabby looking place with some scratchy covered-chairs and a picture of a meadow on the wall that was faded to the point of appearing like some ghostly hellscape.

Sophie, a short, slightly chubby young lady with a colourful cardigan and a grating laugh, was currently engaged in lively chatter and occasional hyena-like bursts of mirth opposite a tall, silver-haired figure dressed in a shirt and suit-jacket.

Upon hearing the sound of the door both turned, and Robert regarded the man, trying to hold back the distinct feeling of sickness rising in his gut.

“Good morning Doctor. It’s very nice to see you again. Sophie here has just been telling me all about her dogs. West highland terriers apparently. There’s been a nightmare with groomers this month. Complete travesty apparently.

His contact lenses looked pretty impressive. You could almost think, looking on his face, that we were something remotely human.

Robert narrowed his eyes.
“Follow me.” he stated tersely.

Can I get you anything?” Sophie asked, in an well-intentioned attempt to make up for her boss’s brusque response.
“Tea? Coffee? I think there’s some h-”
“No, we’ll be fine.”

Robert had cut her off.

Sophie shot the man a look but returned to the desk and continued playing minesweeper on the desktop.

The man in the suit just gavw a good-natured smile.
“Lead on Doctor Parker, I’m sure you know the way better than I do.

Robert would have been perfectly happy for the walk downstairs to have gone by in awkward silence, but his associate was in a rather talkative mood, voice resonating through the gloom and the footsteps on the half-rusted metal. Even if the conversation was rather-one sided.

Sophie seems to be a nice young lady. I’m very glad you were able to find a new receptionist so quickly. Lives with her grandmother apparently, rent prices in the area are quite crippling, terrible shame.

“Leave her alone.”

Oh Robert you know I have nothing but noble intentions. Anyway, how are the family?

The doctor's gut wrenched as he knew the question was coming.

How is your daughter?


“Much better.” he muttered out through gritted teeth.
“From what I’ve heard.”

They stepped out onto the bare concrete of the basement level. The ‘Cold Storage’ sign had begun to peel away, letters loose at their top and bottom. Down here Robert’s breath misted up in the chilled air.

No such mist surrounded the man who accompanied him.

Terribly sorry to hear about the ruling Robert. I’m sure the appeal will work more favourably for you. I’m sure you are a very capable father.

Robert swallowed back bile and remained silent.

The two stepped into a narrow, utilitarian corridor alongside a row of old industrial freezer units. Stains were evident on the doors around the seals. If one were looking a little harder at the old, ugly appliances had been very meticulously altered from their original function. In addition someone might see the symbols carefully painted on the surface in an almost-matching shade of off-white.

Dr Parker approached one at the end. He could just about feel his heart in his mouth as he reached up to the controls and turned the dial down to the ‘Off’ position. There was a hiss of escaping gas into the ventilation.

Then silence.

This was broken when ‘Mr Green’ gave voice once more.
I’m very sorry to pull you away from your work at such short notice Robert. I’m sure you have an awful lot to contend with at the moment. Unfortunately I didn’t have the luxury of prior knowledge about the situation. My daughter, you see, is apparently about to begin her education at a rather prestigious place. he explained, as if the Doctor were paying any attention to his rather than to the aging freezer.

Now, I think I’m rather old-fashioned. I’m quite protective of her. Perhaps a little too much, I’m sure she can take care of herself, but I always like to have a back-up in place. YOu of all people would understand the importance of doing whatever you can to protect your children..


Doctor Parker sucked in a sharp intake of breath and turned back toward the smiling figure, rage quietly burning in his eyes.

“You know nothing abou-”


BANG.

A sharp metallic impact against the door.

The man took a couple of steps back, forgetting everything he was about to say.

BANG.

The whole unit shook from the second impact. The thick metal of the door bent outwards than the airtight seal broke with a momentary sound of sucking air.

Robert reached round in a panic, searching for anything that he might be able to use to arm himself.

BANG!

The whole door tore off its hinges. Gas pipes ripped loose from their moorings, and the man’s vision filled with swirling mists of freon and water vapour. He struggled back for the far wall and as he did some hideous shape burst from the fog, barrelling into him at top speed. Robert Parker felt the air forced from his lungs as he was smashed against the wall, held several feet above the ground by his throat. Some grotesque, misshapen set of claws held him aloft, and in his swimming, misty vision he could make out some horrific parody of a face. Elongated, chitinous, too many eyes and far too many teeth. It snarled and hissed, the nightmarish visage closing until it took up all of his vision. It stretched its jaws wide, too wide, so that all Robert could see were the moss green depths of the maw about to crunch down on his face.

Rei. Please put Doctor Parker down.


A voice from somewhere in the fog.

The thing stopped, too many eyes wide.

Robert felt the grip on his neck suddenly release, and he dropped to the floor, gasping.

The mist was beginning to clear away. Over the sound of his own laboured coughing, the doctor caught a few noises from somewhere out in the obscurity. Snapping, organic sounds, like someone tearing up meat.

When the room was fully clear, he could make out his visitor, and another person now stood somewhere in front of the industrial freezer.

A young individual, probably female, though it was a little hard to tell. She (he?) was skinny and rather sickly-looking, skin pale and sallow-looking. Long hair hung down to her waist, and she was wearing a very old, very badly damaged medical gown.

The silver-haired man gave a short nod.
“Thank you Rei.
He turned his gaze back to Doctor Parker.

“Sincerely sorry about that Robert, misplaced enthusiasm, I’m certain it won’t happen again...will it?”

The new figure vigorously shook her head in response to the question.
“No. Nope. It won’t. Not again.”
With that she edged over to the man and helped him to his feet. Or rather, grabbed his arm and pulled him upright in a display of strength that far exceeded her build or size.


Good. Now Rei, it’s good to see you again. I’m aware that there has been a bit of unpleasantness. Regarding you, and your quite hurtful and immature behaviour. However, I’m optimistic that you have used this interim time to...reflect on your actions. I do hope that now we can start afresh and work together for something positive.

More vigourous nodding from the sickly creature.
Dr Parker stayed silent, propping himself against the wall, still overcome with shock from his near-death experience.

The visitor reached into his jacket, withdrawing a gun that had sat effortlessly disguised in an inside pocket.
Excellent. In which case I have a small job for you. First of all I’d like you to be ever so kind as to shoot yourself in the side of the head
.”

---
Image
ORIN resisted her immediate impulse, to scream down the comm line that Angel was a cretin, and instead took a deep breath and attempted to relay the information again.

"I'm not referring to the detainee placed in the cell Knight-Commander D'Brightaine. I am referring to the entity recorded breaking into the level, entering the cell and appearing to inhabit the detainee. If you are sufficiently concerned that I, as the base's security system whose construction involved many years and considerable funding, are not doing my job sufficiently that you can trust my conclusion then I would suggest that you do your job and go see for yourself."

She had, of course, already captured the footage of the whole thing in order to send it out, she didn't truly trust anyone to listen without hard proof. However she was less worried about vindicating herself at that very moment, and more concerned about not leaving that thing to its own devices whilst she argued with that pompous idiot D'Brightaine.

And if it set his head on fire when he went to check, that was just a bonus.

----

Image[/left]

Helena restd her folded arms on the table and her chin on top of them, gazing round the table as the young an who appeared to be leading this whole show spoke to her, implored somewhat by a rather soft-spoken girl across the table.

"I'm concerned about the whole thing..." she mumbled.
"I'm still not really sure why these uh...people are so interested in me...why I got...kidnapped..that kind of thing."

Her gaze flickered round to the other young man present, who had taken it on himself to strike up a bit of conversation with her...something she felt rather pathetically grateful for. Least it appeared she wasn't the only one who'd gotten flung in the back of a van recently.

"Uh...yeah that did..sort of happen. I was just sitting in a park and they grabbed my dad and kinda...well it wasn't exactly great." she explained. Helena hazarded a bit of a smile despite the fact that she was not exactly feeling her best. Maybe this did happen out in the real world more frequently than she'd imagined. Who could tell. Whatever was going on and whyever they'd all been brought here under this 'sibling' assumption, if they'd wanted her to die or be harmed or something she probably have seen it by then.

"Th-thanks...appreciate it. And yes, I'm Helena. Kingsley. Friends call me Hel."

Or rather she would if she had friends that knew her by anything but an internet username.

She returned her chin to resting on her arms. Her stomach was hurting, though she could most likely attribute that to it being completely empty, her having violently expelled its contents not all that long ago.

She didn't exactly feel in the mood to relax and eat lunch but at the same time she wasn't sure she wanted to be tasting bile and stomach acid for the rest of the day.

Having been watching what was going on round the table an spotted the rather rude individual seeking to horde the plate pf bruschetta, she suspected that dealing with that was going to be more of a problem than it was worth. Evenso, she was pretty sure someone was going to have to say something, and it might as well have been her.

She straightened up a little before addressing Ash.
"Um...I think those are supposed to be for everybody."