The New Order comes (part 1)
Disclaimer: Almost none of the characters are mine, but belong to Showcase™.
The berserker was running. The berserker was running not knowing truly where he ran, nor caring. The berserker had neither wants to needs just a great big void inside that demanded to be filled with... something. But so far, there was only nothing, and that was nowhere near enough.
A branch cracked off to his right; an ululating night bird flew off into the night. Following same remaining basic instinct, the berserker whirled and that direction and stared into a pair of very green, definitely Fay eyes.
Suddenly, the great void inside the berserker was filled with something indeed.
"So, Bo, what are our plans for tonight?"
"Same as we have every night, Kenzie – go to Trick's, and – oh."
"Yeah, oh," Kenzie agreed, readily. "I don't know if we should hang out there for a while. Trickster's a strange guy – sometimes he sounded like a really decent guy, and sometimes – like a real jerk. But then again – what's left out there?"
"Sorry?" Bo asked, even as she put on her street footwear and jacket. "What're you saying?"
"I'm saying that we've got no social life, really. Unless we got clients, we're at Trick's bar, with Dyson and Hale. Guess we've got no choice and have to go there all the same, our feelings for the barkeep notwithstanding."
"Well, that's not true," Bo protested, instinctively. "I mean, we can go anywhere, hang out with anyone, and-"
"And odds are that Dyson or Hale will catch us hanging out with a new guy or girl and go all jealous. Well, Dyson will – Hale will probably want to be in on the action, which is worse, probably."
"You know, it's funny that you mentioned a girl – I promised Lauren that I'll go and have that talk after we've dealt with Eva," Bo said, thoughtfully. "Now that we have done it, to some extent or another, it's time to have that talk with her. Of course, you can always go elsewhere and prove Trick wrong-"
"Hey, when I pointed out that we have no social life, I didn't mean it as a bad thing... well, maybe I did, but not completely," Bo said lamely, unwilling to go somewhere on her own. "I mean, when we met, I was stealing purses from complete strangers, and got fed a date-rape drug from one of them. If you haven't come to save the day-"
"Yeah," Bo said with a fond smile, "these were the days. It seems so long ago, now."
"Yeah, time sure flies when you're having fun, and by 'fun' I mean fighting for your life with the Fay and what-not," Kenzie agreed, easily. "We really should invest in a calendar, seeing how we're not exactly Misses Punctuality, either one of us."
"I thought we had one on our bathroom door."
"Bo, we replaced it sometime around when the spider thing that wouldn't die tried to kill us, and the Ash's merry men tried to fry us alongside it."
"Oh. I guess the calendar went along with the old door?"
"You bet – now it's off to see the fair Lauren, for time and tide wait for no one!"
As the Morrigan, flanked by her bodyguards, rapidly walked – almost trotted – through the corridors, she could already hear the opening lines of the meeting, damn that gremlin:
"Lords and ladies! Gentlefolk of both courts! We have gathered today to commiserate those, who had fallen in battle and to elect the new faces for our courts-"
Crash! The Morrigan preferred not to physically exert herself, leaving that to her bodyguards, but in case of an emergency, she was quite willing to take things into her own hands.
"Lords and ladies! Gentlefolk of both courts!" she proclaimed grandly, with a smile that had just a tad too many teeth, "what a pleasure it is to see you! I'm sure that my invitation as the head of the Dark Fay got lost in the mail in all the commotion, no?"
There was nothing but incredulous silence, as the Morrigan just stood there, looking at the Meeting of Elders with those bright eyes of hers. Finally, it was broken by the same elder who had begun to speak, when the Morrigan had barged in:
"We thought that you were dead-"
"Just like that idiot, who was, apparently, as lobotomized in mind, as he was neutered in body?" the Morrigan interrupted, still smiling brightly. "That's the Ash, of course, for if there's another idiot in our city, who's just as stupid, I don't want to know about them."
"You would've never dared to say such things in public, were he present!" another Elder spoke up, a small, whitish being with eyes as red as those of an albino rat. "The Ash-"
"The Ash not only grossly underestimated the threat posed by Eva, he also neglected his own protection," the Morrigan cut in once again. "Just what sort of a leader is that, I ask you? And while you're pondering this question, venerable Elders, I would like to put in my request to be recognized as the dominant of our city...at least until the Ash has recovered sufficiently enough to challenge me proper."
"And just what skeleton in your closet have you discovered this time, 'The Morrigan' to prove that your blood is worthy of such honour? Yet another irrefutable proof that links you to your renowned namesake of yore?"
That was an open challenge – right in the face. "Let's see," the Morrigan said softly, the softness belying her inner rage. "Roughly thirteen years ago, a chaos mage came into our city, pursued by a byakhee. The Ash, in yet another fit of his so-called brilliance, decided to get involved in that conflict, even though he wasn't asked for assistance, and it ended in failure, for he failed to convince the byakhee to join the light. Sometime later the situation changed, and the byakhee came here again, on a different mission. By diplomacy, I managed to succeed where the Ash had failed, and – here he is, right behind me," and the Morrigan jabbed her thumb into the shadows, which prompted the taller of her new bodyguard to come forwards, grinning (rather like a demented hyena who had seen a flock of fat and unprotected sheep).
"By this deed, and not by my blood," the Morrigan continued, in silence, "I stake my claim as the dominant of our city!"
The words 'challenge me at your own peril' remained unsaid, but the Fay Elders heard them loud and clear all the same, and began to nod quickly in agreement instead. Only the initial challenger would not back down.
"I have heard of that so-called byakhee," he spoke, albeit more shrilly than before. "The Ash claimed that he had turned it into a centipede!"
"Ah yes, the centipede," now the Morrigan's smile was now almost gentle, or even pitying. "If you will?"
The bodyguard snapped his own fingers. Immediately, a huge centipede, longer than an average Fay was tall, dropped from the ceiling, all chitinous legs, and mandibles, and eyes that twinkled as tiny, distant, white-hot stars.
"As you can see," the bodyguard spoke for the first time, in a seemingly pleasant, mellow tone that nevertheless sent chills down his audience's spines, "I overpowered the Ash's spell and gave it substance of its own. Please, feel free to dismiss it by your own spell!"
For several moments the speaker stared at the giant centipede, and then lowered his head in submission. "Very well, you're accepted. The Elders' council recognizes your claim and accepts it."
"Thank you," the Morrigan lowered her lashes in a show of humility. "I'll make sure that you won't regret your choice, honoured elders."
"You realize, of course, that when the Ash will recover, or when we will find a suitable replacement for his position, you will be challenged?"
"But of course I do," the Morrigan nodded, "and, hopefully, by that time I will prove my competency to you as well."
The jezinka was confused – something that she hadn't been in many decades, if not centuries. "Just what am I to do with you?" she slowly asked her prisoner, rhetorically. "Somebody had gutted your spirit so extensively, that even my ministrations were beneficial. From your markings I see that you're from the opposite side, but not even the Morrigan's mesmers could do something so extensive. Therefore, does this mean that I care? Not even slightly! But... you can come handy... oh yes, yes you can!"
As Bo and Kenzie approached Lauren's Fay hospital, they could see that something was wrong: there were too many new faces around that place, and there was the underlying vibe in the air – not precisely hostile, but rather uncomfortable all the same.
On the other hand, Bo and Kenzie didn't exactly call out on this vibe either, but by an unspoken agreement sort of walked closer to each other as they approached Lauren's place – ever so slowly.
"Are you sure that tonight is the night to confront Lauren – I mean talk to her?" Kenzie asked her friend, sotto voce. "I mean, is it just me, or are there a lot more hungry grins in the neighbourhood at the moment? You think they know how you were involved in Eva's plot?"
"I was not involved in Eva's plot – she did it without my knowledge! I mean, not that my knowledge would change anything, 'cause I was in no position to-" Bo stopped, as her ears suddenly caught the sound of someone speaking – and that someone was rather familiar.
"...seven years as a bird of air, seven years as fish of water, seven years as a stone of earth, and seven years working here, that I believe," the Morrigan was speaking to Lauren as if they were sitting somewhere sipping tea as opposed to here and now. "This is your final stretch of time, isn't it?"
"Yes," Lauren nodded tersely, not knowing what to expect from her interlocutrix. "What of it?"
"Your ladyship," the Morrigan smiled slightly, causing Lauren's skin to crawl. "I have taken over the Ash's position for now, and hopefully I'll do a better job of it than he had. Of course, since it's the Ash we're talking about, this is practically a given. And this brings us back to you, across the sea of time, when you were working at the hospital of your race, and an idiot of the Ash brought his human girlfriend, thinking... well, he probably wasn't thinking at all. The children born from the mingling of our races are quite distinct, aren't they?"
"What is your point?" Lauren said, still terse. "Your ladyship?"
"Essentially, the Ash – smarting from a setback that wasn't even related to you – decided to make you into an example of his wrath instead. I won't go into what has happened to the idiot and his human family, but you, well, you have had almost have thirty years of experience, haven't you?"
Lauren opened her mouth, then closed it and shook her head. "You really don't get it?" the Morrigan continued. "The Ash may have been happy with you working for us under the geas, but I'm not...and the geas' time is almost up anyways. So, to continue to work here you'll have to swear loyalty to the dominant of this city – who is me. Or before long you'll have your debt finally paid and then you'll be free of us. Now, I know that you may not consider this a punishment at all, so I'm giving you some time to figure it out, say a-"
The phone rang, interrupting what the Morrigan had to say. Both Fay and human stared at it, until Lauren tentatively picked it up. "Hello?" she said into receiver.
That's when it all got worse.
"Well, well, well, look who came in, and of their own volition," the hatefully familiar voice spoke from behind Bo and Kenzie, startling them both. "I guess you girls didn't know that that is our turf, now?"
"Vex," Bo turned and faced the dark Fay with something suspiciously like disgust in her face. "I'm not sure how this became the territory of your kind, but it doesn't seem to be your scene, precisely."
"It's not," Vex easily agreed, "but because the Morrigan requires the presence of at least one Mesmer nearby, this job came to me, her favourite."
"You mean there are others, who are less favourite?" Kenzie piped up from behind Bo.
A rather ugly grimace distorted Vex's face, and this could have gone very bad, when the doors to Lauren's examination room were flung open and out came the Morrigan, her face red from anger. "Vex!" she yelled loudly.
"Here!" Vex almost squeaked. "You called?"
But the Morrigan was back to ignoring him once again, focusing her attention on Bo and Kenzie, and neither were particularly happy about it. Neither was Vex, actually, but that was beside the point.
"Ah," the Morrigan said, "if it isn't Bo-Peep who lost her ship. Will you find a boat or do you want to float?"
"...Nice rhyme," said Bo, when it became obvious that everyone was waiting for her reply. "Did you think it in advance or on the spot?"
"In advance," the Morrigan shrugged. "That's not what I wanted to talk you about right now, though. See, a certain jezinka who is upset with me has captured one of the light Fay, apparently, and is holding him hostage unless I comply with her demands. I have no intention to, and so how would you feel like going over to her and kicking Rogana's ass?"
"This sounds unlikely on so many levels that it's obvious," Bo shook her head. "Care to press your point?"
"Certainly," the Morrigan laughed, but it was noticeable that her laughter had a rather fragile edge in it. "How to begin? The Council of Elders had all but buried me in deed, and they were probably starting to pick the colour of the wreaths they were to put onto my grave, when I proved that I was quite alive, hearty and hale, unlike their favourite, the Ash. I have also showed them proof that I have the right to be the dominant of this city, whatever their sentiment might be. Consequently, they'll be looking for anyone to oppose me."
"And this brings us to me?" Bo said, sharply.
"Essentially, yes," the Morrigan shrugged."Soon enough you'll be under much more pressure than before, and honestly, if you think that you'll be able to be an independent third party in a Republican-Democrat political race – you're mistaken."
"Nice analogy," Bo said, slowly, "and something to think about. Now about that Rogana – if she's dark, can't you just order her around?"
"It's trickier than it looks," the Morrigan said, "as the dominant of the city, I'm responsible for the entire Fay that live here – including you, possibly. Since me confronting Rogana means that her hostage can get hurt, I cannot confront her directly, and am sending Vex in my stead. Of course, you can also come along if you want," the Morrigan smiled one more time and turned to leave. "Oh, and Vex?"
"Yes?" the other dark Fay said, warily.
"You mess it up – I'll have you eaten," the Morrigan said and left.
Vex blanched – this clearly was no idle threat.
"Let's just go," Bo whispered quietly to Kenzie, and the pair left.
To be continued...