39 Red Twilight Demon of the Flowers chapter 39

Chapter 39 Siege part 3

The hidden door has opened, a room that was meant for Cilverant and Cilverant alone is now made itself know to Jloose, Xia, Jessica, and Krane. The place is set up to look like an office from and 19th-century hardnose book. The floors are made of brown wood; the wallpaper is a simple flower pattern. But that is only the beginning of the strangeness of the room.

One of Cilverant's armors stands at the back of the room, this one is not like the others, it has a Fabergé esthetic, lined with polished stone, wrapped in acid etched silver. This armor was not made for battle like all the others; this one was made to be a sarcophagus to house the last remaining human parts of Cilverant's body.

The walls have dozens of framed new paper articles adorning them. There is a T.V. in the room with a V.H.S. player runs a tap on a loop. A C.D. player fills the air with rat pack music the T.V. contrasting it with a documentary.

***

The first person on the T.V. is an aging man in a striped suit and, the shot is in close up, a thick film grain partly brakes up the image "Why am I doing all this? Let me tell you. The Law is the Law and the Law, and if you forget it, Mono am going to remind you."

The narrator takes over "Kram Mono; he was called the Unshakable cop, the men working under him were Unbreakable. Let's set the stage. The state of Jorden has been trapped in a sandstorm for 36 months; the governor has lost control of the state. With the rule of law suspended. Powerful gangs have moved in from around the country to take advantage of anarchy."

The screen jumps over to a historian with the name Mike Sherman "it was a turbulent decade. Between the Dovers, the Gorman, the Owls, and the Jesuit. There was no place you could go where the mob wasn't there looking for their cut. There was no confidence in the state. So, what does Mono do? He starts reminding people that there are honest people left in the world."

A second historian joins the conversation named Ester Fenni "This was a man that published his checkbook, and he told his coworkers to do the same. Under Mono's management, there was no money being slipped under the table."

The narrator comes back in as a cluster of newspapers start showing up on the screen 'the Owls' and 'the Dovers' go to war with each other, drugs become cheap, women are exploited."

A clip of a much more aged Kram Mono plays "me, and my boys had a plan, the mob got their power by giving people what they think they wanted. Cheap drugs, cheap thrills. So, I went to the mayor, and I asked him 'can we do this cheaper and better than the mob?' and he looks to me, he takes me by the arms, and he told me 'In will see what I can do.' Five months later, I am at the groundbreaking part for a state-sponsored strip club."

The narrator shows a number of photos of police raids on drug dens "Fast, Clean. That is what Mono offered.

Cut back to Sherman "Mono became larger than life. He made friends in some high places. Stage performers, illusionist. It wouldn't be published for a lifetime after his death, that he had men like Jim Randi and 'Bedstone' hiding in the wings giving his so-called superpowers. Thankfully the Owls are easily intimidated."

Ester is the next presenter on "Mono was called 'the best lawman ever to live.' But I feel like he was also the best showman ever. He was shockingly persuasive. But he was not without vice. It was not an unknown fact that Mono had a relationship with Mocha Fenni, she was a high-ranking member of the Dover family. Mono also let it be known that he kept a call girl on his staff."

Older Mono comes back on "people tell me they think I can do anything. That isn't true." He brings a hand up and takes off the gloves he is wearing showing off a dark blue scar on one of his hand "I can't hold a rifle, can't even close my hands all the way, when I was 12 I was at school, we where in the shop room building knives as part of some public work's thing, I was drilling a hole for a tang, I drop the drill and cut a hole in my hands. That never healed."

Young Mono appears in the grainy footage. he is standing atop a wooden barrel surrounded by cops cutting apart similar looking barrels. "you all think you are tuff, I am tougher, you think you are smart, I am smarter. I am smarter than the smarties and tougher than the tuffies. You seen Mono coming for you, give up, 'ant no one ever outran Mono, Mono is coming, and Mono is going to catch you."

Sherman comes on "in the book 'The Magician with a Badge' the astonishing thing Mono ever did in my opinion; the day Mono was offered the position chief constable. Mono went to a press party. Three Owls grabbed him, stuffed into a bag then dragged down to a construction yard. Mono is thrown down into the foundation then a cement mixer is pushed over and buries him alive. Seconds later there is an explosion, wet cement covers everything in 60 yards. Then here comes Mono crawling from the hole, his hair smoothly slicked back and in a cleanly pressed suit. The Owls went running." Sherman pulls out a photo "but who were those Owls?" he starts pointing at the gangsters in the photo from the scene "three friends of his, Robert Fred England, Wes Craven and the Amazing Randy. Three talented actors, I will tell you if I wanted to fake my death, these guys would be on my short list of people to ask to help out."

Sherman continues "I had the opportunity to talk to the Amazing Randy, I asked him how this was set up and here is what he told me 'After we dragged Mono away strangely no one checked to make sure it was him in the bag and not a dummy with one hundred and eighty pounds of dynamite tied to it."

The camera flips back to Mono "That may have been one of the stupidest things I have done. The stupidest thing of all times was going into the Fisk club…"

The frame freezes as the Narrator plugs in some missing data "Tony A. Fisk, a gambler with a hunger for money and sex. He is a smoker, a drinker, and a tyrannical businessman.

The camera cuts back to Ester "one thing my contemporaries seem to neglect, is the relationship between the Dovers and the courts. In public Mono would attack the Dovers no less so than any other gang. But behind closed doors, Mono and Mocha had a physical relationship. But not only that, they were political partners, in my book 'Tainted Brass' I collected a long list of declassified files where Mono uses his mob connections to extort people to advance his agenda."

Older Mono continues his story "I walk into the VIP area, I slap the table and I tell Fisk 'As the Chief Constable I can make people disappear, but do you know what else I can make disappear? The bounty on your head.' Fisk almost spits up the beer he is drinking laughing at the idea of a cop showing up in his club making demands. He snaps his fingers and the guy standing to his left hands him a gun. Now, I don't have my gun with me, I am in my service whites as I just came from a charity ball. as Fisk holds his gun up ready to take a shot at me. Then from the kitchen a woman walks out dressed in a mini-skirt and a dog costume. She steps in-between me and Fisk and she declares 'you are going to hear out Kram.' Fisk ask 'or what?' Mocha takes off the mask and drops that off to one side, she pulls a lighter from the strap of her skirt a lighter saying 'I attacked a Freon gas pipe to the AC, you are going to do what Mono says or we are going to ask our creator what he thinks we should do.' We are all flabbergasted. Everyone is convinced that Mocha plans to kill all of us. Somehow it doesn't dawn on any of us that Fisk had a burning cigar sitting in the ashtray at his right hand. Mocha lied, be all bought it."

***

Xia looks around the room "what is this?"

Jloose looks at one of the newspapers on the wall "a shrine."

Krane points out a gold star on the wall "hero worship of some kind I would assume."

Jessica stands under the armor examining it. Lights light up behind the eyes of the jeweled armor. Jessica fails to notice as she turns to face Jloose. "Jloose, have you ever been down here?"

Jloose shakes his head "no one has ever been in here except Cilverant and Sigh." Jloose notices the armor having come to life, Jloose yells "Xia!"

Xia notices what Jloose had she jumps over grabbing Jessica and pulling her out of the way of the armor as it steps forward to stomp on the mouse.

Jloose calls over to Krane. "Find the heart now!"

The armor pulls one hand across its body and slaps Xia, Xia falls onto her side the punch from the armor having cracked the bone around her right eye, she pulls her knees into her body and holds the side of her face, struggling to stand back up.

Krane brakes apart into her parts to start digging around looking for the heart to finish the reboot. Jessica points her staff reading a spell to hold the armor at bay. Cilverant pushes past the hold spell; the armor grabs Jessica's staff away from her and with a mighty thrust of his other hand throws the Weaver at a wall.

Cilverant is mighty, as far as anyone knows Cilverant is the oldest and most powerful of the worldwalkers. He has no flesh to burn, no mind to crush, Cilverant is all metal and malic in the rudimentary shape he is currently in.

Jessica kneels before Xia pulling out a set of surgical tools from the pockets of her cloak; she shouts over to Jloose. "Why is Cilverant attacking us?"

Jloose throws both hands out conjuring a pair of flails forged out of magical water. "Cilverant isn't online; this is a security drone on a self-containing server."

Cilverant steps into Jloose taking an arcing swing with one of his metal fists. Jloose ties his magical flails around one of Cilverant's arms; the Merfolk jumps onto the back of the metal giant. Jloose tries to drag Cilverant to the ground. Cilverant grabs one of Jloose legs and throws the fish man to the ground.

Krane, as she is digging around the room, finds the editors copy of the book 'Tainted Brass' she pushes a few cabinet doors open revealing a brain in a jar; it is partly drowned in living steel.

Krane yells over to Jloose "Is this it?"

Jloose is pinned under one of Cilverant's feet. Cilverant turns one of his hands into an energy weapon. Xia pushes Jessica away as she dives at Cilverant's arm offline to protect her merfolk friend.

Jloose calls over "Yes! Sting it."

Krane calls back "I will kill him If I do that."

Jloose replies "no you won't."

Krane shouts "yes I will."

"Krane, what is the oath of Soles-Chaos?" Jloose ask

Krane remembers well, she reads it aloud "I cannot stop you from being killed, but I will not let you die." Krane sends out a hand full of her body sections to attack Cilverant to hold him back.

Jloose clarifies, "to Chaos and the Tamriel intentions matter. If you say that you wish to help Cilverant, and Cilverant wishes to be saved then Chaos will intervein on your behalf."

Krane uncaps her stinger; she looks down into the jar, her stinger sways as she hesitates. Jessica joins the struggle to try to restrain the metal monster.

Krane whispers as she zeros in on the brain ready to do as she is told. She swings her tail down whispering "Cilverant; I will save you." She stabs her tail into the brain. Every light cuts off. The Steel Rose dies, but only for a moment. As the venom is sucked from Krane's tail, the brain in the jar turns black.

But then the brain vibrates, the lights turn back on, the living metal in the jar seems to burn away. Cilverant lowers his hands to his sides. He turns his body to the Wolrdwalkers in the room with him. All eyes turn to face Cilverant. "Thank you. I am better now." There is a sigh of relief.

***

Cilverant is back in control of the Steel Rose. But Seeker has yet to be defeated; the wolves throw themselves at the corrupted life form time and time again. And time and time again they are tossed aside by her unnatural power. The wolves grow weary, but they must fight, they must by time form the others to awaken the true master of the Steel Rose so that they may not only defeat but conquer this evil.

Seeker could not have fathomed the power that Cilverant could have given her. Cilverant was once human, Seeker never was. Cilverant has technomantic power many times stronger than that of Hetatsubachi's. Cilverant is aware of every part of his ship; he can control every peace thereof with his thought.

Seeker had attacked Cilverant initially from the shadow knowing that she could not overpower him in single combat. Cilverant is well aware of what he must do to overwhelm Seeker. As Cilverant makes his way to the courthouse, he has a hundred of his bodies construct a web of magnets to hold Seeker in place, another pumps the room full of an ionizing powder to make Seeker venerable to the magnets, and a hand full more develop a hardening agent to remove Seeker's shapeshifting power.

In the time it has taken Cilverant to walk from the bowls of the ship, up to the court, he has developed all the tools he will need to capture Seeker.

Seeker backs away from the wolves, she lowers her head and holds herself up mounting her hands on her knees looking winded. Her hands shrink from there claw shape into her three-fingered talons, she holds her hand off to one side trying to reshape weapons. Her claw fails to extend.

Cilverant climbs out of the depth; Seeker is in retreat, a hundred more armors walk into the room to offer backup. Seeker rests her back to the wall. Seeker is ready for one last push. Cilverant helps Jessica up to their level.

Cilverant kneels down to whisper with Jessica as Seeker is bracing herself for her final charge. "that chain around your neck. Is that the Avalon stone called 'Guardian of the Moon'?"

Jessica holds the stone out in front of her to look at it. The bronze chain, the ruby heart stone, eight ruby slivers. "Yes," she explains "It was given to me by Walker, son of Selina goddess of the white moon."

Cilverant explains "this symbol of the moon has the power to banish the beast that imprisons Seeker's soul. Touch the Guardian to Seeker's heart."

Jessica looks back and forth frantically "this could have dangerous ramifications."

Cilverant's armors start firing electrical webs at Seeker to hold her to the ground. Seeker even without her shapeshifting power maintains superhuman strength; Seeker can still rip apart the webs. The armors change tactics. Imagination is the greatest limiter of Seekers abilities; she cannot fathom Cilverant is having his multitudes working to separate goals all at once.

Seeker is grabbed from behind by one armor, by the arms by two more, Seeker thrust her arms into the air lunching the armors into the air and away from her. There is not enough time to take a breath before five more Armors have reached up to try and pin Seeker to the wall.

Seeker explains weakly as she is running out of energy "I will fight."

One of the armors replies "no, you will not."

Jessica does as she is asked, she grips her necklace in both hands, she walks to Seeker stretching her hand out to Seeker's exposed heart. The energies are like polarizing magnets, Jessica's pendant and Seeker's heart try to repeal each other. Cilverant places a hand on Jessica's back to hold her; his other hand reaches around to grip Jessica by the hand. Cilverant forces the two to touch each other.

The gyro in Seeker's chest stops spinning, all at once Seeker crumbles to the floor. Everyone takes a moment to breathe. After so much time and such a harsh struggle on the behalf of some many, it seems almost strange to think such a cleaver and deadly enemy could be defeated.

Many eyes turn at once to face Cilverant, the force of their will convenes silently what many are thinking 'Is Seeker dead?' Cilverant responds to the unspoken inquiry "The Seeker of Eternity never lived in that body, she was only housed within it. Like all the minds of Esper, Seeker's truest shape is that of a code within the HIVE mainframe. I will need to return her remains thereto."

Seeker's body stirs. It twists and thrashes in strange ways, the heart in Seeker's chest cracks and from within it is born a tiny pink abomination, it is shaped like a lobster, it has starfish arms growing out the top of its body and six squid-like tendrils pultruding from the top of its head. The monster rolls on the ground trying to find its feet. A toothless mouth runs from the things head down to the tip of its tail. The mouth opens revealing a spiraling red channel in its body that glows with fetal lights. The endlessly stretching fallopian void showing of dead black space at the end of the cosmos if anyone dared to look into the nexus. No one would dare look so deeply.

The flopping, sicky looking embryo is hardly a foot long but seems to glow with an aura that even the oldest and most battle-hardened warriors cower from. The infantile monstrosity takes a single struggling breath. The world around it starts to break apart. The beast body links two dimensions physically. A high-pressure and low-pressure system meet, gravity is warped, a vacuum is formed around the monster's mouth. Anything with three yards when it breaths its first breath is stretched and contorted into a strand of matter lined up in a single file line, then dragged into the world on the other side of the beast mouth.

Jessica's hand come up to her mouth, her jaw drops in abject horror. This display of outworldly power driving her to the brink of madness. Xia falls over crawling away, nerves shaken by this thing that should not be. Each of Krane's body parts brake away hiding in the corners of the room. Jloose drops to his knees overwhelmed his mind incapable of understanding what he is looking at.

After the first breath, the monster grows in size eight times. Cilverant quickly turns side to side noticing how many of his friends are in shock of this oddity. The many armors that are Cilverant quickly come to understand what will happen when this beast takes its next breath, the armors pick up and pull away people from the calculated zone of destruction.

Hetatsubachi walks slowly backward. He thinks deeply, he has seen a variation of this monster once. But Tatsu's eyes are grown elsewhere. Cilverant did not see Seeker's heart rolling away. Hetatsubachi holds his breath as he runs forward to pick up Seeker's heart in his mouth. The monster takes a second breath, a number of Cilverant's armors brake apart getting sucked into the mouth of the monster.

The group retreats from the court as the void beast levitates smashing through the ruff, air is thicker than water. Hetatsubachi monologs to himself as he is fleeing "void mages, Cilverant once described Charlie Belmond as using Chaos energy, Mili Malaguard saw Charlie use his magic to teleport. The gate summoned…" Tatsu looks back at the monster. His eyes are drawn to its mouth. "Cravixs, is it a name? is he a person? Or…" Tatsu looks into the depths of the monster's body. He watches the spiraling space trapped witching the void "or, a descriptive term!" Tatsu looks back to Cilverant "Xzoner, Cravixs and Missionary are all the same race! They are the Nothing! The deities Vistel and the other void worshipers pray to."

Civlerant looks confused "Deities?"

"the Void Mages think so!" Tatsu clarifies.

"How do we stop it?" Cilverant asks, his voice becoming frantic.

"who is the enemy of the void… in their mythology?" Tatsu asks in return.

"Yggdrasil," Cilverant whispers "birthed in the water of life, she drinks from the sea of memories… the source of the river of mania." Cilverant hypothesizes "overfeed it? How?"

Hetatsubachi's eyes burn with green and yellow fire "feed it all the energy we have."

Jloose has started to regain his wits, Cilverant's army is frantically working to assemble a new weapon to try to fight this monster from outside space. Cilverant looks to Tatsu as they are working on a plan of attack "I can not and will not order one of my people to their deaths, this is a clear violation of the primary directive." Cilverant tries to do some mental math "besides wouldn't this plan require enough energy to implode a universe?"

Hetatsubachi nods "just a small one."

Jloose gets up to his feet and dashes at the monster to protect the Steel Rose from further damage "Allow me to try." It is not a request it is an order. The merfolk howls a battle cry worthy of any Olympian hero. His fist burns, his eyes light up with arcana, he draws energy from the never drinking in as much power as his body can hold then drinks some more. He moves in close.

Jloose know what is going to happen, he knows he will not survive, but Jloose has something to protect. A home, A idea. Jloose will never see Yt again; he will never sit by Cilverant's side again. But maybe, if all his life energy aligns in this single strike Jloose can strike a fatal blow and save the Architect of Peace and prove to everyone, not even the Void is unbeatable.

Jloose thrust his hands together throwing an ocean of energy. Jloose unleashes the furry of a lifetime, all the strength any merfolk could ever hope to have thrown out in one mighty attack. His own spell disintegrates Jloose, he strikes the monster in the mouth. It works, Jloose conjuration and the Voids negative energy neutralize. Jloose and the Void are both unmade.