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Old 02-17-2006, 07:04 PM   #25
 
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Dark FFnut
Cactuar Thorn
 
Join Date: Dec 2005
Posts: 57
Re: Chapter 4: Domination

((Gah, this thing is going nowhere, come ON people!))

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The Netherrealms, The Year Infinity Minus One, Darkness

Despite Magus's joy, there was still one other who felt pure anger at Magus's death. This anger wasn't over the fact that Magus had left this world, but rather, that he had left this world with Magus.

A terrible curse issued from Variel's mouth. The floating, formless mist that was Variel trembled slightly with its intense anger.

"SEVEN!" he shouted. He drew another breath. "HUNDRED!" Another breath. "YEARS!"

His words echoed endlessly in nothingness. His anger was beyond words. At the final battle with Kani, he watched Noah prepare for the battle. Unfortunately, Variel already knew the outcome. The entire Council did.

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Palis, The Last Year Of The Great War, The Council Chambers

Lord Nihel sat in his grand throne, Lord Arel's chair next to it. Around the table sat Safriel, Dakael, Kadael, Variel, and both Lords. Only Gadriel was missing.

"Where is... where is Gadriel?" Nihel's voice sounded tired, old, like he had just undergone a great ordeal.

"Gadriel is the youngest member of us all, my lord. You need to remember that he is the only one of us with any family left outside of this Council. With his father's recent death..." whispered Variel.

"Ah... yes... where he has gone?"

At this, Safriel smiled a little. "He's probably going to look, himself, for his father's murderer, seeing as how that girl Llideah refused to tell him."

"If we could just tell him that Kani-"

"Silence, Variel!" thundered Lord Arel. "You've said it yourself. Gadriel is too attached to this world to be able to keep secrets among the Seven. You will not tell him about Kani. Besides, myself and Nihel have a matter to discuss with you all."

Dakael spoke up this time. "What's it about? This war, maybe? What's going on?"

Nihel nodded grimly. "This world is nearly finished. That girl Llideah gave power over Fate to Kani. It's impossible to save this world now, so we shall leave it to rot in its own state. Now we go on to another world and-"

"What the hell?" Variel stood in outrage. "You're just going to... to let Palis be annihilated? No way!"

Nihel glared at Variel. "Enough, Variel! I refuse to alter this world any more! What's done is done! This world wouldn't be able to be saved anyway, not for seven hundred years! What could you do? Nothing!"

Variel hadn't even heard anything past "seven hundred years." He stormed out of the room and drew a runic circle on the ground. Speaking ancient binding words, he bound his soul Palis for seven centuries. Drawing more circles, he soon bound the souls of Gadriel, Noah, Llideah, and even Kani for the same amount of time.

"In seven hundred years... we all come back and do this all over again."

"HEY!" screamed Safriel. Arel stood by her, as did Nihel.

Nihel raised a hand. "Variel! You've expressly altered the will of the Seven! You hereby-"

"Blow. It. Out. Your. Ass."

Nihel's eyes widened. "Fine! Variel, you are excommunicated! Now, I command you to leave at once!"

Nihel, Safriel, and Arel all re-entered the chamber. Variel stared at the door for a few minutes, before his brain began to fully comprehend the screams of agony within. Demons soon exited, covered in the blood of the five Council members in the chamber.

"He he he... so, now they can't ruin master Kani's plan! We win!"

"Yeah! Let's get out of here now, so we can get rewarded!"

Cackling, the demons vanished. Variel stared at the space where they once stood, suddenly remembering that his charge, Noah, wanted him to speak to Llideah. He dashed off into the darkness.

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Palis, The Last Year Of The Great War, Behind the Temple of Ishtar

Variel heard Llideah walk up behind him. "Hello," she whispered.

"Come to see me, Llideah?"

Llideah shrugged. "Depends on who you are. Noah told me to meet his friend here."

Variel laughed. "That all depends on what Noah meant by friend. I am more of a guardian than anything else. The seven of us are to make sure everything runs smoothly."

"Seven?"

"Yes, seven. There are seven of us, and we're supposed to make sure that everything happens as it's supposed to. But it's not - not yet, anyway."

"What are you talking about?"

Variel peered through the rain, noticing that the girl seemed "Two of us have been sent to guard certain people. We're supposed to make sure that, at least, those two people fulfill their fates. But I changed the rules."

"What?" asked Llideah.

"I've cast a spell, and a dangerous one at that. I was excommunicated from the Seven because of it. It's a good thing I was. I was going to be reporting when they attacked."

"They?"

"The demons. The other five were slaughtered - Lord Nihel, ruler of the Seven; Safriel, Lady of Pain; Dakael and Kadael, the twins; and even Lord Arel, the Unfated. Only I and Gadriel survived."

"So what happened?"

"I cast a spell. I chose several souls to be sealed until the correct time. Specifically, the events that are unfolding shouldn't be unfolding for seven hundred years. So I sealed the souls of you, Noah, Gadriel, Kani, and myself. Seven hundred years from now, our souls will be bound to others. These other people will be our vessels to reenact these events. In seven hundred years, we will have this conversation again, Llideah, and we won't even realize that it's been so long. When that happens, I will protect Noah, just as Gadriel will protect you. After our seven hundred year intermission, we'll act out this exquisite play once more, but this time the ending will change to the way it's meant to be. I feel sorry for our new hosts, but it's necessary to keep them. When it's all done, we can depart for the afterlife and leave them to their normal lives, but-"

"Wait. You're denying us all the afterlife?"

"Twisted little game, isn't it? But necessary. Sorry, Llideah, but there's still a few more acts to go before we can take our final bows."

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The Netherrealms, The Year Infinity Minus One, Darkness

Those last words rang in Variel's ears. He remembered himself and Llideah... no, Magus and Titania, having that same conversation on the airship. He knew that even with Magus's death, he was the least important of these bound souls. And, should his friends discover a way to restore Magus, perhaps Variel could also return...
__________________
What was the start of all this?
When did the cogs of fate begin to turn?

Perhaps it is impossible to grasp that answer now,
From deep within the flow of time...

But, for a certainty, back then,
We loved so many, yet hated so much,
We hurt others and were hurt ourselves...

Yet even then, we ran like the wind,
Whilst our laughter echoed,
Under cerulean skies...
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