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 Posted: Tue May 06, 2014 3:05 pm
Tick, tock. The clocks have stopped. Time doesn't seem to move anymore. Her claw was tapping against the glass, keeping time in the absence of a clock. They were forbidden in the Mayor's Office. Removed, and banned. There, time stood still. And everyone she'd lost, was still alive.
"Sir, the last reports are coming in. There's been no sign of humanity for months." A small, but bold little demon in a suit walked in, confident he was bringing news good enough to warrant his unannounced entry. He was wrong, of course, and no one was really surprised that he was never seen exiting the office.
We won. She picked up the glass container, and the liquid inside swished slowly around the mask within. She carried it to the window behind her desk, and held it there as she surveyed the view. Halloweentown was barely standing, but her efforts to rebuild had already begun. Everything would be returned, better than new. The new world, reborn by her hand.
And they would be grateful.
You can see it too, can't you, mia cara? Riley asked the severed head that floated lifelessly in the glass she held lovingly in one arm. The world we always dreamed of. It will be perfect. Because it will be mine.
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Posted: Tue May 06, 2014 3:14 pm
Exhaustion. It's been awhile since he had fought in the war itself, but fighting was far from over for him. The streets were filled with panicking citizens, as a plague was taking hold of a good chunk of the population. He pushed aside the blinds of the building he had decided to take as his base of operations. It was run down and shitty like the rest of these slums, but it made do for him. In the distance, he could see a fire raging as a riot was breaking out.
There was such thing as too much chaos.
"Che..." he scoffed lightly, feeling a seething sort of rage under his weariness. Shun wanted to search for her. There had been no sign of Mitsu anywhere in these lands. But no, he had to deal with these shitheads first. There were no reports of her body being found anywhere, so there was that. He brought out his phone to contact some of his allies.
"Another riot is breaking in the third district. Move out."
Putting that away, he opened up his window and shadowstepped out. His blades were summoned and ready. He was hardly in the mood to tolerate something like this.
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Posted: Tue May 06, 2014 3:25 pm
The colors were plush, overdone, vivid, searing - Riley sucked in a quick breath, and nodded.
Build it.
She threw the plans back into the mans face, and dismissed him with a wave of her hand. The roar of the crowd caught her attention, and she realized there was a gathering at the square on the ground floor. They were celebrating. She could see some lavish little store was opening its doors for the first time, another sign of progress.
A return to normalness.
For some.
She heard the roars, and closed her eyes. She imagined them to be cries for help, instead, and sighed with pleasure. No one was celebrating in the slums.
A file laid open on her desk, half-read. She returned to it, pushing the contents until she could see them all at once. The picture of a man from her past, taken from several angles, at several different times. The massive amounts of reports of his whereabouts, his actions, his progress. She'd designed the slums to die in their own chaos, but he fought hard to keep them from falling into ruin.
That terrible little thorn in her side.
Do we have eyes on Kuroda? Riley asked a woman two rooms away, who knew better than to try and think a response. From the intercom, a voice crackled out confidently.
"Always."
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Posted: Tue May 06, 2014 3:49 pm
Things were calming down. Not by much, but progress was progress. People were beginning to realize that he wasn't going to stand for riots in the street. The slums were slowly becoming a refuge for the plaguers, or those who were just outcasted from Riley's regime. Shun would watch out for them, but only if they didn't ******** things up.
He despised the people still. But it gave him something to do. Mitsu was still missing, leaving a sort of void in his heart. Shun wanted nothing more to just find her, but he still had s**t to do here. She would have wanted him to give these people a sanctuary, even if it still pretty much was a shithole.
The Reaper moved on down to the nightclub, checking on how things were going. The place was being reworked nicely. It'd do to help give himself a little more revenue.. as well as a means to distribute the coveted blood. Few dared to cause trouble in his building. Not after what he had done to the ones stupid enough to do so.
In the very least, this land was outside of Riley's influence. One small reprieve in this hell. Her idea of what made a perfect land was far from that.
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Posted: Tue May 06, 2014 8:02 pm
"I just don't understand why you don't cut him off." She heard the same argument day in, and day out. She'd killed almost half of her staff, but they diligently came back each time, loyal despite her temper tantrums. Her rug was blood red, for ease of clean up.
"If you want the slums to die, why are you striking a deal with him? Why give them any blood at all? That blood rightly belongs to the loyal denizens of Halloween, who followed you into battle and continue to follow you now - "
One very lazy tentacle snaked around his neck, and snapped it 180 degrees. He dissipated before he hit the ground, but she knew he'd be back tomorrow morning, trying to convince her that this was a bad idea. She could have tried explaining it all to him, but he was beneath her.
Everyone was.
He just doesn't understand politics, mia cara. Riley whispered lovingly to the jar, and the mask inside of it. But I do. I know what's best. I always know what's best.
She heard a buzz of her intercom, as she was called out of her office for a photo op with a local shopowner. An old friend.
It was time to put on a happy face.
She paused midway, cackling into her own mind over her unbelievably witty joke.
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Posted: Tue May 06, 2014 9:04 pm
"You know what boss? We should try to kill Riley. She's not really doing any good out there. We know the truth, right?"
Shun just slowly turned towards the one who spoke up. He didn't say anything. He just stared at the monster hard. The guy soon shrank back and gave a nervous grin.
"Nevermind."
Shaking his head, the reaper turned his attention back to the task at hand. He stood vigil at the door, keeping an eye on the blood distribution. Taking out Riley would be nice. She had done well in the war, but she had fallen far from the mindflayer she once was. Now she was just a madwoman. The only way they could kill her was if they did it in Kuroda. The likelihood of her coming here was pretty damn slim. He didn't have too much of a reason to wish death upon her.
Not yet anyway.
One by one, citizens filed through to receive their portion. His good eye scanned each face. There was a bit of hope and dread that one of these would be Mitsu one day. He nearly zoned out when a fast bit of movement occurred. Someone had pushed their way forward and was trying to rush into the door way. Narrowing his eye, he reached out and grabbed the demon before slamming her into the wall.
"No...please.. I need the blood," she begged.
"Get out." he warned, holding her in place for a few moments before releasing her. It would be her only warning.
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Posted: Wed May 07, 2014 11:24 am
There were good days, and there were bad days. It was nearly impossible to tell one from the other until the bodies began to drop, but by then it was too late. Good days meant playful banter, productivity, and progress. Bad days meant fear, fear, fear. And that, too, was productive - in its own way.
Today was a bad day, and it was unusually obvious. All meetings had been cancelled, and anyone who tried to enter the office found themselves suddenly needed elsewhere. Only Bul had come in and out, that day, and his presence was merely there to pick up the pieces of a shattered room.
The head wasn't talking to her, that day.
It wasn't a secret she shared with anyone, because no one deserved to know that Malodore still spoke to her sometimes. It whispered in her mind, keeping her mellow and at ease. When it didn't, however, those were her bad days. Those were the days when her psyche tried to heal itself back into sanity, and she fought with every ounce of her power to return to the cracked visage that allowed her to hear its voice.
It hadn't said a word to her today, and she'd nearly thrown the water filled container against the wall. That was why Bul was there. That was why she hadn't burnt down all of Halloweentown in a fit of melancholy rage. He caught Malodore's container, ignored the swish of liquid that hit his body, and set the container down safely out of the way, saving the world from a second apocalypse once more.
That was his job. He was there. But he wasn't enough. And the bad days were starting to come more often than the good.
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Posted: Wed May 07, 2014 11:34 am
Shun couldn't sleep. It wasn't the only night where it's been like this. He turned and stared at the empty space in his bed, then let out a heavy sigh. Empty. Just as the way he felt nowadays. His right hand reached over to his left, feeling the wedding band there. It gave him little comfort, but it was something in the least.
A heavy sigh left him as he looked over to the nightstand where the pistol rested. It was the only other reminder. A different sort of promise from the one around his ring finger. Yet important all the same.
He worried about her. He missed her. But he didn't dare show any signs of weakness when he was out and about. Kuroda hadn't fully settled down yet and he knew that if he appeared to falter, it would consume him. He didn't even dare to let it be known around those he trusted. He had to stay strong. Ruthless.
Alone.
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Posted: Wed May 07, 2014 11:52 am
I felt him die.
It was the first time she'd ever told anyone something personal, let alone something so deep it cut through all of her lies. Bul hadn't asked her to speak, but even Riley knew she was slipping, and soon it would affect her ability to rule. She was curled up in the monsters arms, having fallen with exhaustion only moments earlier. In the silence, Bul held her, because there was no one else left to.
His eyes flickered to the container after she spoke, but Riley shook her head. Jericho. She explained. I was riding him, the day it happened. The dragon bond - I didn't realize - he died, and it was as if I died, too. It was as much of an explanation as any, concerning why she was breaking so fast, and so hard. She'd experienced every moment of her dragons death, in that moment.
But no, not Malodore's. It's death was too far away. There was a cold bitterness in her voice. I was not aware it had died until it was far too late. I don't know which of the filthy vermin managed it, but it doesn't matter now, does it? The light flickered back in her eyes for a moment. They're all dead. Whoever it was, is gone.
There was a hesitant knock at the door, and Riley's head snapped forward, infuriated by the interruption. But just as quickly, the anger bled away from her face; Bul watched as she reined in the insanity that had been threatening to break, and wondered at the sudden change.
"Sir?" A voice outside called out. "Sir, I do apologize, but I figured this would be worth-"
Riley hushed the woman, silencing her quickly. Her head tilted at Bul, then at the door, and he rose up quickly to open it. In the meantime, she stood and adjusted her suit, standing tall and proud despite her breakdown moments before. He stopped just before opening it, and turned to give her a quizzical look, silently asking if she was sure.
Her eyes were filled with curiosity. Whatever was behind that door looked like it was going to turn this into a good day. He opened it, just enough to see who was on the other side, and then stared.
Welcome, Riley's seductive voice purred into her mind. Having you here is an absolute pleasure.
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