Vermin Tide Quest
Chapter 14
Illias stared at Morr, this 'God of the Dead' that was one of two Gods the Human from the so-called 'Empire of Man' worshiped. She was already growing to hate him, both for the fact that he has shown the ability to both enter dreams like she does, and because of his obsession with having the dead buried, Monsters and Humans alike despite his people having a clear hate for the Monsters. What his and the other deity that has appeared named Sigmar have planned, the Seekers could only guess at, since the only evidence into their ideas and thought process would be in any scriptures the Humans from the other side brought with them. This was problematic, since Illias herself is proof that such things mean nothing. So far, while they have been a pain in the ass for the Goddess of Light and Holiness, she was feeling as though they were... familiar? Illias however put that aside in favor of the seemingly innocent card game Morr had started. After looking at her hand, she then paused and realized that he did not say what game that the two were playing with Luka.
Damn son of a... whatever would count as a mother to this freak... she thought, as the Goddess was supposed to omnipotent and all-knowing, and now not only was there a stranger that she knew nothing about, he has put her in a position that could ruin that image in front of Luka, who was critical to her plan to become the ultimate being and her Angels who no doubt are watching this unfold in Lukas' mind. Thankfully she was good at hiding what she was thinking, and Luka spoke up and got Morrs attention.
"Um, what game are we playing, and are you planing to make bet my soul or anything?" Morr simply looked at him blankly, his face similarly as unreadable as Illias' face, and then his ticked upwards.
"We are going to play a game called '21,' and while it would be tempting, you don't have to bet anything." Luka visibly tensed up at the idea that Morr wanted his soul. Illias held back the feeling of anger that rose up as the possibility that these strange gods might be here to help Alice the First sabotage her plans set in. She had bad memories of the Great Monster Wars, and the way her Darkness counterpart had the gall to let her Monsters go around and do whatever they wanted with Illias' creations known as Humans, even kill them, and then play the victim when Illias confronted her about it. Illias, angry and jealous towards how Alice was seemingly favored upon the Humans somehow, and for the Monsters being superior creations to them in every way, with the only weakness they had was that said Monsters had to rely on the Humans to live and breed, finally had enough. She created the Angels as a result, and personally threatened Alice the First that if she didn't reign in the Monsters and had them learn to control their impulses, Illias would declare war on the Dark Goddess and her Monsters, but would erase every pertaining to her until nothing remained but whispers and faint memories.
Alice of course then refused to do so, convinced that Illias did not have the guts to do so, since the Light Goddess the always the weaker of the two and thus would never be as admired as the Dark Goddess. Well, now Illias has the chance to get the last laugh on the Goddess of Darkness, and fulfill her promise to exterminate the Monsters, and the Light Goddess promised herself that she would do anything it takes. Oh yes, she will completely erase Alices' work and creations from this world while her counterpart watched in horror with her direct daughters knowing she could have prevented the fate she damned her creations to, even if Illias has to wipe the world clean with her Angels entirely and start again with a blank slate to do so.
And now these two Gods just happened to show up, with an army of their own, and have thrown everything she was working for in jeopardy, and began attacking the Monsters and killing them, something which would release Alice the First and the Six Ancestors. Illias initially was elated to have what at first seemed to be reinforcements, but now the potential consequences of their actions had made her realize they were more a derailment then anything else. She had to keep both the Empire and these 'Daemons of Chaos' as they have been referred to by that Priest of Morr in check.
"Illias, is there something wrong?" Luka asked, making Illias realize her anger caused her to stare off into the distance. Morr stared at her, with a look of confusion. After taking a deep sigh, she turned back to Luka, her blonde hair swishing lightly as she lightened up her glare.
"Sorry Luka, I just had some bad memories I would rather not share." she said, and then looked at her hand, and saw she had an ace and a king. After Morr gave a summary of the rules and how the cards were counted, she smiled brightly, the game lighting up her mood already. Morr looked at her, and with a knowing grin hidden from Lukas' eyes, Illias showed that she won the first round...
**POV SHIFT**
As Balthasar Gelt was continuing his research into what little he can discern of the vast and very clear history of the castle here, he stopped in the middle of the hallway, and looked a painting. In it, a half-snake women with a red tail and light purple skin was posing with a scepter and a gold sphere that resembled a cruciger, but with a design he did not recognize. Her silver hair covered her exposed breasts, leaving just enough covered to entice a lesser man, and her piercing golden eyes stared out with impassive judgment. The Kind of eyes that one who knew they were meant to rule had when they attained power and found it to not be quite what they thought, the kind of look the Empires' own Emperor Karl Franz sometimes had when he was in private and needed to confide in his family or advisers on personal affairs.
"Hmm, so this must be the current Lord of Monsters." Gelt whispered to himself.
"Huh?" Gelt turned to the escort Great Sword that spoke, who stopped and looked at the painting as well, along with around six or seven others. "What was that?" the man asked.
"I was just talking to myself." Gelt said, as he looked down the hallways, seeing the busts and paintings lining each side. At the end of the hallway, Gelt couldn't help but simile as he saw a pair of doors. "I may just found what I was looking for."
"What is that, milord?"
"An actual fucking library I hope, or at least a records chamber. One that will actually enlighten us and give us a clue as to where we are in this accursed world. By Sigmar, what I wouldn't give to have my old research chambers again. Within such rooms, we can see what visual sorts of information we can find, that are not tainted by Chaos of course, and try to elaborate on they represent. For example this portrait here, which we stopped to examine." Gelt explained, waving a hand at it, and then comparing it to the one next to it, which depicted a similar woman, but with a series of wings along her tail, and wearing a veil. "What do you think these portraits are of? Remember, we are in a castle, which has been around for a very, very long time, who do you think they are?" Gelt asked. After a few seconds passed, the one of the Great Swords spoke up.
"Are you saying these creatures are from some kind noble class amongst the Monsters?" he asked.
"Close, but they aren't mere nobles. I believe this to be their capital, given the throne room we found." at that, the Great Swords understood what he was saying.
"This is their royalty!" a man cried out.
"Correct." Balthasar said. "So we can at least gleam some information about the history of this place, which will give us an edge in uncovering any secrets we can use against the Monsters when their counterattack begins." Gelt then proceed to look at the name, and frowned. "Unfortunately, we are still not capable of translating the native language, but I was able to get a number, which interestingly is in our numerical designation." after mumbling to himself as he looked at the names of the women in the portraits, much to the chagrin to his escorts, the Supreme Patriarch looked at them. "From what I can tell, they actually have the same name, the only difference being this one is the Sixteenth of her line, and the other is the Fifteenth." Gelt then went down the hall, and began counting as he went. "14...13...12...11...10...9..." he stopped at the Eighth, which was covered. Gelt, after gesturing his men to ready their weapons in case it was a trap, and pulled it off to reveal that it was, to his genuine shock, the girl in the blue dress. If he remembered correctly, Eden called her Alice, and unlike the other portraits that were made to look sensual, more so then Portraits 15 and 16 which at least did not depict the symbols of power as being sex toys and made an effort to look normal, this one was different.
In it, she was standing amidst an army of Monsters, and her white apron was splattered with blood. Instead of a scepter, she held a sword, which was raised to point at a burning city. And instead of holding the orb that the others had, she carried the head of some foreign king, dribbling blood from the wound where his neck was cleaved in twain. The Imperials were shocked at this, since it broke the pattern of being enticing. Not only that, but the Eighth was not a half-snake, and had tan skin and golden hair instead of silver with purple skin.
"What would it mean for her portrait to be covered?"
"She is either viewed as a stain on their honor after she was succeeded by the Ninth, or sometime after the fact has become viewed as cruel or bloodthirsty. Interesting for creatures likely corrupted by Chaos." Gelt replied. "Normally, such a being would be hailed as a great champion worthy of praise, as we all unfortunately know with our experience with the Norcan and the Kurgan." At the mention of the worshipers of Chaos, several Great Swords visibly shuddered.
"Well, is it possible that she was a traitor of some kind?" someone asked. Gelt put a hand under his chin, then nodded.
"That could be the case, but there has not been anything that can be part of the symbols of the Powers." the Gold Wizard pointed out. "Either way, I have my work cut out for myself." he said, continuing on as he went down the line of paintings, and then stopping with a painting identified the creature on it as the second of the castle bloodline. Gelt noticed that there was no portrait of the First in the bloodline.
Why is that? He thought, once again confused with this finding more questions concerning the castle then answers... what he wouldn't give to have something to translate the language of this place.
**POV SHIFT**
As the game ended, Illias herself surprisingly found herself the winner of the game with 5 rounds won. Luka had 4, with Morr losing with only 2 rounds. Luka shuffled in place, and then turned to Morr.
"What now?" he asked. The God looked at him, and sighed. It was not out of any stress from losing, but was more one of contemplation.
"I suppose you would like to know more about me and the Imperial State Troopers in the Monster Lords' castle." he said, which got Illias interested. They mostly played in silence, the calming lack of noise with exception of requesting of a card and so on bringing an atmosphere of... Illias didn't know, but she could not shake the feeling that Morr was familiar in some way. So the fact Morr brought up how she and Luka knew nothing about this god made her snap back to reality.
"Well, I suppose so." Luka said. "Um Morr, what exactly do you mean by being a God of the Dead?" he asked. "Are there other Gods that represent other aspects of life?" Morr nodded sagely, and spoke. Illias had to admit, she had similar questions concerning him and Sigmar.
"You are very perspective to catch on to that, Luka. In answer to your second question, yes there are other Gods that the Imperials worship. My realm of influence in their lives is that of the afterlife, where I watch over the soul, and guard it from those that would defile it, such as Necromancers." the God explained, gesturing to the various gravestones in the grass field. "I also will watch over the dreams of those who sleep, as it in a way is considered a form of death in the Empire, one where the living come close to it with passing on to the afterlife."
"What does the afterlife you watch over look like?" Luka asked. Morr simply looked at the boy, and smiled gently.
"Well, it is similar to Heaven, but is nowhere near a paradise, but it is neither Hell either." Morr said cryptically. "Think of my realm, known as The Garden as a kind of limbo, which the soul is free to wander safely as it wills." it was then, he frowned and what he described next made Luka shudder visibly. Illias listened in closely, looking for key details Morr might slip up and give away. "You see, in the world I came from, there are no Monsters, at least not the kind you would recognize. However in their place, there are the Daemons of Chaos, creatures that reside in yet another realm, a kind of in between state that is connected to the physical one of our existence. They thrive on destruction and death, ever hungering for the souls of those who lived in the world where the Imperials live in." Illias found this interesting, but kept her face emotionless. "As a result, The Garden is one of the only places the souls of the dead can go and not be attacked by them. Luka, you were also being attacked by them until now." Morr suddenly interjected, getting the Human and Illias' attentions.
"Eh?!" Luka went. "That thing that took control of me was a Daemon?!" Morr nodded, and a serious aura radiated from his body language as he leaned back.
"Yes, and that is also why you experienced that nightmare of being killed repeatedly, for while there was some truth to what the Daemon said concerning the Monsters, in the end it was planning to use you as a tool." Luka looked down in shame. Illias saw this, and thought Morr was going to be another pro-Monster influence on Luka. Which made Morrs' next words surprising. "However, as you were unaware of what was going to happen, I don't fault you for letting it in your mind."
"What? But I had allowed it to kill a Monster, and it did so in cold blood."
"A Monster no doubt, that would've done the same to you Luka." Morr replied. "That's one of the truths the Daemon showed you Luka, and in fact, given the circumstances of how their realm works, was likely another time line where you died."
"What?" Luka asked. "What do you mean?" Morr paused for a moment, as Illias smiled inwardly, feeling victory was near as she spoke up.
"He was talking about things that frankly you aren't ready for yet Luka. Morr, don't you think that kind of stuff is a bit much for one Hero to take in?" she said, playing off the fact she did not know what Morr was talking about either. Morr seemed to have bought it, or at least was being cooperating for the moment as he gave his reply.
"Yes, I suppose so. In fact, I have things to discuss with Illias now Luka. If you want, I'm more then willing to discuss aspects about myself if you want to later. Also know that when you wake up, there is a gift for you to help protect you when any Daemons trying to enter your dreams." Morr said. Luka opened his mouth, then closed it before he realized he was starting to awake up. From the perspective of Illias, he faded away, but the world remained, which made her look around. Then her eyes widened in shock as Morr turned to her. "So, Illias, Goddess of Light and Holiness, what do you think of this particular part of the Warp?"
"This is The Garden isn't it? That realm you were talking about." She retorted angrily. Morr grinned.
"Indeed it is Illias. This a remote part of The Garden of Morr, named after yours truly. Like your continent." the God of the Dead said. Illias stared at the strange God with narrowed eyes.
"Cut the crap and get to the point. What are you doing on my world?" she demanded. Morr sighed, and then returned to his impassive state.
"Alright then, to get to the point as you said, we are interested in reducing the influence of Chaos to a minimum. And unfortunately, as you may have guessed, it has gotten a foothold already with the Rat-Men known as the Skaven." Illias made hmph noise. She didn't overly care about their presence, given how they have managed to weaken the Monsters and made many Humans that were allied with them turn back to Illias, effectively helping her in the long run. "The other Imperial Gods and I however are now in a bind, as it has been found that Luka is central to everything concerning this world."
"Oh, and what do you know about it?"
"Just a general look at how the skeins of fate and time work in this world. Essentially, we were able to glimpse through time, and had acquired a general and basic grasp of this worlds' history, with Luka being a key part of the worlds' fate. This is also why the Ruinous Powers of Chaos are interested in him. We were also able to identify certain events that been proven crucial to Luka and his development, despite having no influence on your world until now."
"Oh? Like what?" Illias asked, finding Morr to be unconvincing.
"Like who developed a certain plague that claimed the life of his mother, who was secretly the Angel Lucifina." Illias turned in shock at this. Morr stared straight faced at the Goddess of Light, who shuffled in nervousness, recalling when Leopold the Priest of Morr and the prophesy concerning Luka Morr gave him involving Illias herself being tortured by the Human boy for eternity.
"So... you know then about the Six Ancestors and their mother Alice, as well as Remina?"
"Yes."
"And let me guess, this is the part where you talk about how I am fully in the wrong, and how the Monsters should be free to run around, and do as they please."
"No." This made Illias pause. "As far as I care, they should be reigned in. Initially the other Imperial Gods and I thought them mutants, as your Angels found out, and planned to exterminate them." Morr then brushed aside some imaginary dust. "However, when it was confirmed they were not products of the Warp, there is quite a state of confusion as to whether or not to be involved with this world outside of keeping out the Daemons of Chaos, or to transport Balthasar Gelt out of the castle, being the subdued influence of the Daemons means our powers are greatly amplified."
"Well now." Illias said, leaning back into her chair. "It's definitely nice to have someone who doesn't try to play games of sophistry with me for once about not killing other forms of life. Now then, I have one more question: Who are the Ruinous Powers exactly?" Upon hearing Illias' question, Morr stared blankly at her.
"...How do you not know about the Ruinous Powers?"
Authors note: That's another chapter done. Now, after I have looked through other crossovers in MGQ, I have started to suffer a bit of... a writing version of buyers remorse I guess. Mainly because they all have characters that are taken from another setting, and then putting them in the MGQ world, the only difference between this one and others is that I actually have the Humans from WHFB not march in lockstep with the Monsters like most crossovers do. I'm not sure if I want to discontinue this, maybe even delete it, and then switch it to Alice XVI and co. ending up in the WHFB setting instead, and it being them trying to survive in a world where they find themselves in a world where Humans can and will actually fight back like this one, or just continue writing this out instead. What do you think?