Prisons
The huge crowd hadn't moved at all when Lilith had appeared with the being who looked like and claimed to be Eliza's mother had appeared.
Now they did.
Catherine's charge bowled right into the suddenly not human woman. One moment, it was Eliza's mother, the next, some kind of demon and it was not smiling! The Tenno Bladeborn's charge carried both of them off a sort of lip into a depression that had to be fairly deep. From the sounds that then came from it? No one wanted to look too closely. The screams and sounds of sharp metal striking flesh were bad enough.
"What? No!" Lilith started to do something, but the Empress' rifle belched silent black fire and the demoness' right hand vanished. The human hadn't moved, hadn't seemed to aim!
"In this reality..." The Empress' voice was soft as Lilith stared at her in shock mixed with awe and more than hint of fear. "...the hosts of Heaven and the legions of Hell are immortal. Any who fall will be reborn with the coming new day. When Catherine is done with that fake, the impostor will be reborn. Hopefully never to trust a word you say again, Lilith." Lilith opened her mouth, but froze as the Empress aimed at one of the huge stone heads. "I am honestly curious." The human said mildly enough that more than one being winced. Perfectly calm, perfectly in control and scary as hell. "Will you reform if I obliterate you?"
"You threaten the Balance!" One of the heads said. Not the one she was aiming at!
"What Balance?" The Empress demanded, still mostly calm. One of the statues rumbled, but she wasn't done. "Yes, yes, I know a bunch of angels were naughty so you sent War to spank them. You didn't tell him why and you let him do what he does. When he found out why you did what you did.,.. Well..." She made a face. "Even for such as you and me, there are limits. You used one of your most powerful servants in a dishonorable fashion to clean up a mess and didn't tell him why." She heaved an utterly fake sigh. "Bad idea."
"They came into being to preserve the Balance." The Creator said sadly. "They don't know why or how."
"Do not empathize with them." The Empress said sternly and the Creator stiffened. "Many of us here have hard jobs." She turned to the Horsemen. "They wanted you stopped or at least countered. They lost control of you."
"Never a good feeling." Death had been silent for quite a while, but he had a huge, two handed scythe in hand as he stood with his kin.
"I am not excusing why War started what he did, but in the end? He did what was needed." The Creator smiled at bit sadly at the red armored Horseman who met her gaze, impassive. "The Destroyer needed to be stopped or the whole Plan would have gone off the rails. It hurt him to realize he had been so abused. By Heaven or Hell, that is expected, but by the Council?" She shook her head and turned to face all of the Horsemen. "I did not know what to say when you four came to me, offered me your aid. I know you had reasons of your own. Everyone does. There is so much that I cannot do. Cannot say. I know you wanted vengeance, War. I hope I have not disappointed you too badly."
"You have not." War's rumble was quiet. "I have seen more than I should have. Vengeance is hollow. You offer more than I ever could have dreamed, Creator." He nodded to her. "I am honored to serve the Plan."
"They do not know the Plan. No one can but you." The Empress warned her other self. "Not even the Council can fathom it all. I can't." She admitted when Nikis, Will and the demon looked at her, curious. "I have abilities but also limits." She turned to here Lis stood in energy from beside Sara and shook her head. "Sara. Still breaking the rules?"
"She is my mother." Sara said with a growl. The Empress smiled but then shook her head.
"I am just glad your other mother didn't show up." She winced and so did Nikis. "Poaching agents from other realities is not a good idea." The Empress turned back to the Council. "My ancestors learned very quickly not to do such things. Even pocket monster things that fit into tiny red and white balls can be insanely hard to stop if you do not have a clue how. It cost my people a lot and my family far more over the millennia that Orokin ruled. This Creator is saving you from a universe's worth of hurt. You might want to listen to her."
"You will serve!" Still not the one she was aiming at! Lilith's hand flashed and it was flesh and bone again. She stood up tall.
"Will she?" Catherine's mocking voice heralded a head flying out of the pit to land at Lilith's feet. The horned demon head held a frozen expression of horror as the Valkyr warframe leaped right out to land beside the Empress. She looked at the crowd and then at the Creator and the Empress. Her gaze lit on Gemina Horati for a moment but neither of them moved. "What now?"
"Now, you are free." The Empress and the Creator said in unison. Catherine stared from one to the other and back.
"What?" Catherine asked, confused. "Um, don't we have a fight or something?"
"No." The Creator said quietly. "The Council have lost here and they know it. Even if, by some miracle..." She grinned and it was easy to see the very young Eliza in her for a moment. "...they managed to beat me, they wouldn't manage to beat the Empress. And even if they did? Guess who was just unmasked as an agent of the Council?"
The Prince of Hell was scowling at Lilith who sneered at him.
"I remember it all." Catherine said slowly. "All of it. The Prison. My kids. Helen..." She slumped and then stiffened. Two of the Tenno who had been there when she had gone in the pit were gone! Two Novas were conspicuous in their absence. "Where is Sera? Lilly?"
"I decided we had enough firepower, I sent them to talk to someone. Sera, Falcon, Rebekah and Lilly are chatting with a certain Lady." The Empress said with a small smile. "Oaths of silence are no good around telepaths. She wants to be Royal Guard to honor her mother. She asked me to send you her love. Falcon did too but she is still too weak to come home. Rebekah is staying with her until she is fit to travel."
"I cannot go back, can I?" Catherine asked, her voice husky.
"You can do anything you want." The Empress replied. "You are free of all prisons, oaths and duties. You have done all of what you set out to do. Now? You owe me, us, nothing! That was the plan all along."
"I don't understand." Catherine said softly when everyone turned to stare at her but the Creator and the Empress.
"What you went through at my mother's hands was horror on par with anything that any of the denizens of Hell in this reality could devise." The Empress said heavily. "The young me was driven insane by what she saw in your memories. Even after so long trying to get home, she had no idea what you endured in the month that my mother took to break you and then in her slavery. The young me made a promise to herself in that very moment you were rescued from the Prison. Before she made me and the Creator. Before she did anything else, she swore to save you from what her mother did to you." The Empress sighed. "Then, you tried to help her, console her as she cried. You had done that so many times during the awful journey and she hurt you. She lashed out with forces she did not fully understand at the time. She didn't mean to. She hated herself for what she did and she scared every last one of us at times as she drove us all to find you. Then she found you and things got even messier. She knew you would eventually have to stop her and that scared her more than anything else. She knew what it would do to you to stop her and she would not allow it. So, she/we planned."
"Me?" Catherine stammered weakly. "But… I am just a Guard. I am not worth that."
"Bullshit." That came from all of the Royal Guard who stood around the Empress, wary. Gemina just shook her head, silent.
"Catherine…." Empress Eliza was smiling again, but kinder now. "You are 'just a guard', the way I am 'just an Empress'." Nikis, Will and the demon lord all nodded at that. "True, in as far as it goes, but so inadequate a descriptor. Now, you have a true choice. Do not rush into anything, dear Catherine. You are who you were before my mother's evil. Before she locked you in a prison of lusts and pain. Make your own way now, but know that there are many who love you. My love is tempered by my other experinces, but it is still there."
"I… I need time to think." Catherine seemed at a loss for further words. The Tenno shrugged helplessly and Eliza smiled at her before turning to the Council. Her expression hardened into one that might charitably have been called 'cold'.
"Are you going to be stupid about this?" The Empress inquired of the stone heads. "Please say 'yes'." The Creator winced and more than a few of the varied beings around the area did the same. She paused as a cough came from the side.
"Much as I am loathe to stop this, since I am enjoying watching you work." The Demon Lord spoke up slowly and everyone turned to where he was still leaning. "You are very good at this, and I am enjoying watching you clean the floor with these stone fools. That said? Most of us do have pressing concerns." His smile as he eyed Lilith promised pain. "I would be the first to say, shoot and be done with it, Human Empress Elizabeth, but even my kind do understand that some order is needed if just to know who to simper to when things go wrong. Killing the Council, while it may be fun, may prove detrimental in the long term." He looked as if he couldn't believe he had just said that and Lilith's mouth had fallen open as well.
"Responsibility truly sucks sometimes. Ranks has its perks but also its burdens." The Empress agreed. "That said, we all owe your former subordinate quite a bit of pain for me and for Catherine. We drew lots for who would get the chance to hurt her." She scoffed. "It took a while."
An armored woman stepped out of the crowd. Like all of the others who seemed close to human, she had Eliza's face. Her lightweight armor was blue and looked functional and … Wait. Were her eyes glowing? Or smoldering? The long staff she hefted pulsed with eerie silver blue light. She held the staff oddly, more to shoot with it than to hit with it.
"I am not stopping you." The Demon Prince actually held up empty hands! "Whatever you do, she earned. She will be reborn come the new day and then we will talk." His cold grin seemed to freeze the room.
"I still think she cheated somehow." The Creator said mildly as the newly come Eliza aimed her staff at Lilith who gaped at her. "Trusting Grey Wardens to play by any kind of rules is a bad idea." The Empress shrugged and the Creator made a face. "Then again, who taught us all to cheat?"
"I am pure as the driven snow." The Empress quipped and everyone laughed but Lilith and the Council.
"Yellow snow. That one is not darkspawn but it might as well be." The blue armored woman's voice was harsh but not from emotion. More from the memory of pain and screaming orders over the din of battle. Her staff flashed and a circle of energy that matched her silvery eyes appeared around Lilith who lashed out and hit something that zapped her. The suddenly wary demoness hit it harder and it zapped her harder. "The Static Cage will hold this one for the moment. We have time to finish this."
"Yes, time." The Empress turned to Catherine who was shaking her head. "Catherine, be calm. You are safe. As safe as you can be in a reality that is not ours."
"My boys." Catherine said weakly. "What did she do to my boys?"
"I don't know." The Empress was sad now. "I know they are not in our reality or this one. Beyond that? I have no idea."
"We are looking." Will said very quietly from where he stood. The Empress ignored him. Catherine looked from him to the Empress and back.
"I was not the only one imprisoned, am I?" Catherine said very softly and suddenly, no one seemed to be breathing as the Empress spun to face her. The Tenno started walking, but not towards the Empress. The crowd made way for her as she strode to where the dragon in human form stood. "You hurt the Empress, very badly. She cared for you and while you never lied outright to her, lies of omission are still lies."
"They are and often hurt worse." The warden of reality agreed. He held out a hand to her and she looked at him. "You do not owe me anything. If anything, I owe you. I knew what they wanted. I didn't say. I didn't care. I wanted my friend to live!" The Tenno slowly held out her hand and a small object fell from his to land in hers. "I do not know if we can find your boys, but I am going to try."
"Do or do not. There is no try." Catherine replied coldly. The warden nodded. No, he bowed to her!
"As you wish, Yoda." The warden rose from his bow, smiled and vanished. But his voice spoke again from nowhere. "Don't get any ideas." That was to the Demon Prince and the Council! "We are watching."
"As are we." The Empress said with a growl as Lilith hit the prison she was in with something that made her yowl in pain. Many of the others were vanishing as Catherine turned to the Empress. "What did he give you?"
"I don't know." Catherine stared at the small metal thing. The metal was red and crinkly. It wasn't heavy. It was about half the size of her smallest finger and felt almost squishy in her palm. "I do not know what this is."
"It is a foil wrapped chocolate." The Creator sounded a bit husky as Catherine and the Empress both turned to look at her. "Empress." She begged as the Empress turned away.
"I am still angry." The woman finally lowered her rifle and most of the remaining beings relaxed a little. "That will not likely change."
"Not unless you want it to." That came from Fury! She nodded to Catherine and smiled as Catherine nodded back. "Good luck, Tenno."
"And to you, Fury." Catherine slumped a bit more. "What now?"
"Now, Sara and Lis go home. Lis probably spanks Sara fairly thoroughly." The Empress did not react as Sara stiffened. "Then I get to talk to various people." She looked at the Loki Prime who still hadn't left her side. "And so do you."
"I know." Wait a sec! That was Sun! Former Grandmaster Tenno and now, what? There was no way that Catherine could ever forget his voice! It held more emotion now that she had ever heard from it before. "Frankly? I am not looking forward to it, but I do owe her an explanation at the very least." He nodded to Catherine who stood stunned. "And you."
"You took the kids." Catherine said weakly. "When my memories were destroyed, you took the kids. Said they were your family."
"They were. They are. So are you." Sun shrugged. "I said they were long lost siblings and no one pressed too close. I had a reputation by then."
"That you did." The Empress smiled but then she turned back to the Council. "Do I need to say it?" Pure menace sang in her words.
"Say it! Please! Pretty please with sugar on top!" Nikis was laughing softly. "Please make 'er madder!" The Demon Lord beside the pitch black Nekros was chuckling softly.
"Grandmaster! Hush!" Came from both the Creator and the Empress.
The Royal Guard hadn't moved. Hadn't shifted from their barrier around Empress Eliza and Sun. All of the other Tenno but one had vanished now. A familiar white Nidus warframe stepped up to Catherine who was staring at the foil wrapped thing in her hand.
"What do you want to do?" Karl asked quietly. Catherine stared at him, non-comprehending. "Whatever you choose, you do not have to do it alone."
"You do not remember me." Catherine said sadly.
"I don't care." Karl replied. "You are not alone."
"That is not a conversation to have here." The Creator said firmly and the Empress nodded. Only one other Eliza was still present and the Grey Warden smiled a bit as Lilith hit the barrier again and screeched in agony again. The Creator eyed the demon and then frowned at the blue armored woman. "Did you…?" Everyone jumped as Lilith exploded! Gore smeared pieces of demon flew every which way. The Creator gave a halfhearted groan. "Never mind. Effective, but messy."
"Walking Bomb is a bit messy." The Grey Warden allowed but she was smiling wide. "But if anyone deserved that? She did."
"'Walking'-?" The ancient Eliza froze. "Tell me that wasn't Virulent!" The Creator pleaded but the Grey Warden just smiled wider and vanished.
"'Virulent'?" Catherine asked as everyone tensed.
"It spreads! We are far enough away to be safe." The Creator said weakly. "Um..." She sighed as a silver glow started around each of the statue heads. "I think we are about to find out if they can revive from being blown up. Empress… We will talk." The Horsemen vanished in a haze of golden light. Fallen angels and demons did the same, the few hale ones gone just as swiftly.
"We will." The Empress promised and held out her hand to Catherine who took it. Then they were elsewhere. The Royal Quarters on Avalon were still. It was 'night'. Not that such mattered on a space station right next to the Sun, but the Royal Family had always tried to keep the place on as Earth normal a schedule as possible. Traditional. The Royal Guard, Karl and Sun followed them into being and Catherine relaxed a little as no one (and nothing!) else followed. The Empress nodded. "Sara and Lis are back on Mars. Better stay away when Lis wakes up. It will likely be loud. Ancestors only know where Nikis went. He may have stayed to watch. That 'Walking Bomb' spell is so messy."
"'Walking… Bomb…'?" Catherine asked, incredulous.
"What can I say? No matter the reality, we get a bit extreme when we get angry." The Empress asked with a shrug as the door flew open and Jesse all but flew in, her hair a mess and her gown askew. She didn't care, making a beeline for Eliza who smiled. She let Jesse slam into her and cling. She hugged her daughter tight. Michelle came in with a bit more decorum, but with a wide smile as she saw the group whole.
"Don't do that to me again!" Jesse begged through tears as Draco entered the room and took up station by the door.
"I cannot make such a promise, Jesse. I will do my best." Eliza sighed as she hugged Jesse. "We all need to talk now. We all need to figure out where to go next from here."
"Yes. But first..." Catherine held out the chocolate to the Empress who stared at it. "Don't make me break your prison down." She glared at Eliza. "You know I will."
"Yes. I know you will. I am angry, but… He did mean well." Eliza reached around Jesse to take the chocolate. She expertly unwrapped it with one hand and popped it into her mouth, smiling a bit sadly as she swallowed.
"What was that, Mother?" Michelle asked as the Royal Guard took up station around the room. Catherine wanted to join them, but she wasn't Guard now, was she?
"An old promise kept from an old friend."