Disclaimer: I hereby disclaim all rights to all characters (save for those of my own creation) in throughout these dark scenes… especially for the one with the big plans.

~保護者~

"Nightmares Rising"

~保護者~

How dare she.

How dare she.

Kidnapping his fucking son and harming him… was she fucking insane? Did she wish to be murdered? Surely not, her past behavior indicated a careful and intelligent adversary, so what the fuck was her ploy here? Kaden suspected he knew, and it only added to the already vast depths of his fury. In fact, to say that he was simply furious was an understatement. He was beyond furious, enough so that he didn't give a shit about playing into her little game. Nareish, leader of the Trokkelar Army, had been trying to incite genuine conflict with him for many years. Kaden had tolerated many, many things for far too long. If she wanted a war this badly… then he would damn well provide it.

The ground beneath his feet rumbled. Kaden opened his eyes and turned his head to gaze toward a deep scar within his planet's surface. Scowling to himself as he had been almost constantly for the past several days, he funneled more energy into the crack down into the planet's very core. You would do well to rouse soon, World Eater… or this will be your final conquest. Irritated though he was, however, he refused to kill the massive slumbering beast just yet. It had been one of his favored pets for many eons, after all, and not without reason. And besides… it was remarkably well-suited to the task at hand. Once it was fully awake, he intended to send it straight to his oldest source of ire - Mobius. The World Eater could easily destroy such a pitiful planet… thus ridding him of it - and the damned memories it held - forever.

But that could wait. It would have to. A hibernation as deep as this was not interrupted easily. It would take a bit more time… and patience. Patience was difficult to conjure up in times like these, but so be it. There was no other choice. Other things required his attention, anyway. Such as, for one thing, her. He could feel a new presence behind him, rebellious and unhappy as ever, but familiar and not threatening. Not to him, at any rate. And she brings new allies… interesting. With that in mind and a twinge of curiosity making itself known in him, he stood off of the rock he had been seated upon and turned to face Astra. Then, arms crossed, he drawled, "Fancied yourself an army, did you…?" His eyes roved over the apathetic, will-less beings standing around the cat. Each moved only when she allowed them to, thought only what she told them to think, felt nothing but what she let them, said only what they were commanded… A necromancer, then… and a powerful one, to have wrested control of so many corpses, much less have restored their bodies.

"Eh, I'd be more willing to say it's yours. I'm not terribly inclined to fight alongside others, even when their 'ideals' align with my own."

"Hn." Kaden silently eyed the crowd of shinobi. Due to his role as God of Demons, he could control any demons he saw fit, and anything those demons themselves controlled. As such, her comment made sense. Still, though… he wasn't terribly interested in these puppets of hers.

Astra watched him for a moment. Once she was sure he wasn't going to speak, she decided to voice her reasoning. "I resurrected them for one primary purpose. I need someone dead before they can get in my way again. If I could take two birds with one stone, that would also be nice."

Reading into her mind, Kaden frowned. "Do what you will with them. I will not aid you. Your petty conflicts are of no interest to me."

"It would highly benefit you if I got rid of either of my targets, at the very least. And I doubted you would help me, not that I'd even want it," she huffed before raising an eyebrow. "What happened to piss you off?"

Kaden growled lowly at her. "None of your concern," he muttered, leaving it at that. Then, glancing into the crowd again, he nodded toward a couple specific shinobi he had spotted. "Those two. Their names."

"Shei and Aniko. Why?" she dared to ask, crossing her arms.

He was quiet for a long moment before speaking again. There was a faint light of recognition in his eyes now as he looked the two chameleons over. "They will not aid you in your little struggle. I have a separate task for them."

Astra would have growled if it wasn't for Kaden's current mood. Instead, she settled for a faint and agitated huff. "Fine."

"Read into their memories when you leave," he instructed, turning away. "Send them after their son. It will largely keep him in the state that I left him in."

The cat frowned. "Are you… sure that's a good idea?"

Understanding what her concern was, he let out his own huff and stated, "Control will not last when one is trying to control such powerful individuals. That is why making adequate use of them now is prudent. Waiting will only ensure you lose control before accomplishing what you set out to do."

"You're not acting like yourself, God of Demons," Astra muttered faintly, beginning to walk away. "I'll do it."

Kaden shot her a withering look, and in the next instant a knife was protruding from her arm. "Mind your tongue or I will cut it out," he snarled.

"'Bout fucking time you started acting like yourself again," Astra said simply, agitated. "Something in that fight changed you a little bit, for just a short time. They will use it against you," she added, teleporting away with the two shinobi.

Kaden would have chased her down, would have actually followed through with his threat, had his slumbering pet not shifted again, sending shockwaves throughout the planet. Grinding his teeth together in frustration and anger, he glared at the deep crack once again… more determined than ever to send the beast after Mobius and grind it into dust. That world would fall… taking everything it held - memories, people, places, everything - down with it.

~保護者~

"And what of the child?"

Nyokae kneeled with her head bowed low in the dark space her master often lingered in. That master, Nareish, currently lounged on her throne with her legs kicked up while patiently awaiting an answer to her question. Nyokae wasted no time in providing that answer. "I did not want it, my lady," she shrugged, "as we had discussed."

"Oh?" Nareish murmured, almost thoughtfully. "I had thought you would use it as further leverage against your lover."

At this, Nyokae's lips quirked upward in a smile. "I considered it, but it seems it is no longer necessary. The God of Demons himself provided the means to push Espio over the edge. Nothing else was required of me."

"Well, now… that is interesting." Shifting in her seat, Nareish leaned forward toward her dutiful servant and asked, "You believe you can further your plans without the need for any more outside aid?"

"I can," Nyokae nodded. "He was stubborn enough to resist before, but with the needle's magic and Kaden's attack…"

"Good. Now I ask again, what of the child?" Nareish's head canted slowly, expression unreadable. "I do not wish to see you become hindered, my dear warrior."

Nyokae's indifference toward her son was apparent in her face when she dared glance up to meet her master's gaze. "I left it near his home, my lady. Whether it lives or dies is up to him. I do not care for it."

"Good," Nareish repeated softly. Then she murmured, almost as an afterthought, "Very good."

A moment of silence passed. Then Nyokae took another small risk, one of many she took day-to-day, and inquired, "What would you have me do now, my lady?"

Nareish openly smiled, and the appearance of such an expression on her face set Nyokae's heart racing with excitement. "Oh, there is so much we have to discuss, my dear. Our small diversion with the needles is no longer a factor in the game, but no matter. We accomplished what we wanted. For one thing, it would seem that your lover went on quite the rampage anyhow following Kaden's attack on that little world… Mobius, I believe it is." Nyokae's heart did a little leap of excitement, among other things, upon hearing this news. "His friends were spared, for now, but the state the lot of them are in now that the demons have finally let them be…" She laughed, voice full of dark delight. "I cannot wait to see what manner of torment and suffering you will bring upon them."

Now Nyokae shared in her master's smile. She bowed her head low again, respectful as ever but still excited. Joyous, even. It would seem I am able to visit with you once again, love. "I will keep you informed on everything that goes on, my lady."

Her master inclined her head. "As you should. Now then… I'm sure you caught wind of our dear friend Kaden's bit of fury, have you not?" When Nyokae nodded, Nareish laughed again. "As I said before, our needles accomplished what I had hoped - aiding you in awakening Espio's Darkness and crippling at least one of that demon's children. Well, one most certainly was crippled, and it just so happened to be the one with the most... exploitable weaknesses."

Nyokae could barely contain her own grin. "It was the gunslinger, was it not? From what I have gathered, he is not the most… invincible of soldiers."

"Indeed he is not. And I must say, Kaden is most displeased with us for making use of that… In fact, I believe he may be outraged enough to send his own armies straight here to deal with us." Nareish's grin simmered down into a satisfied smirk. "Perhaps we should have targeted his half-metal spawn years ago, hm?"

Though amused and fully aware that Nareish was, too, Nyokae did not dare agree to her master having made such a drastic oversight in her plans. She didn't directly disagree either, however, for doing so would suggest that she herself was too foolish to know a good plan when it slapped her full in the face. And that would not do. "Perhaps, my lady." Then, quickly, she shifted the subject to less dangerous territory. "Does any of this affect your plans for the Immortal?"

Nareish's smirk never faltered, though her gaze became distant as her mind wandered away. "No… No, it does not. I cannot risk directly confronting him, irrespective of what the other pawns in our game are up to. All that I can do is continue to monitor him, nothing more." She clasped her hands together, elbows on her knees, and rested her chin atop her fingers. "I have known about the Void's touch since the beginning… how it entwined itself with him until it became an integral part of his being. Long it was dormant - sleeping, growing, maturing… Now that it has truly come into its own and established a proper bond with him… I cannot help but wonder how the two of them are evolving together."

"The Void's power is certainly nothing to trifle with," Nyokae agreed quietly, frowning to herself. "Malevolence itself hides in fear of it, sealed away within the Twilight Cage of its own accord in an effort to escape being wiped from existence."

"Its power," Nareish murmured with soft-spoken delight, "and Jet's will only continue to grow. I, for one, will take immense joy in seeing the day come when it unleashes its vast might through him, presenting me with the opportunity to steal it for myself. And when that happens…"

Nyokae's eyes closed. She knew what would be said next, couldn't even begin to describe her own emotions on the matter. Everything we've worked for since the together since the day you found me.

"...I will reshape existence how I see fit."

~保護者~

2,059 words this time. Hope you all enjoyed! Many thanks as always to Blazing Winds for all of his help and support! Posted (at about 5:36 p.m.) 02-24-20.