"We're organizing a coup d'etat. Against all of demon government. And we need the angels to help," Sasori said, eyes dead serious. Beside him, Arren reacted with no surprise.
"Wait wait wait. Hold your horses. You want to organize a coup against the most corrupt, strong, and feared government in all of history, not to mention one of the oldest. And you propose to do with with how many inside agents?" she asked, incredulous.
"We have a little over 250 inside agents," Arren reported, "But before all of this really goes down we should have more than three hundred."
"More than three hundred?! Are you two insane? That's a mere fraction of all greater demons!" she objected, angry. Were these two toying with her?
"We know. But we also know, and you do not, that if anyone were to open up a large scale
portal
to this
city, only ten greater demons could exit at one time, and only two hundred lesser demons, give or take. This is your chance, don't you see?" Sasori said emphatically.
"What do you mean?" Mem asked warily.
"We mean that with only that many entering at a time, with ten minute cool downs between jumps, you could exterminate each wave as it comes, and thus destroy most of the army. And, an open portal is a vulnerable portal. You could easily enter through the portal already there, and probably get access to the deepest, most well protected areas of the demon realm," Arren said.
"It is a great opportunity," Mem said, thinking fast, "If it works as you say. But what evidence do I have that you speak truthfully?"
"None but our word. However, we have something you want. You saw the kinds of demon at that party. They're so powerful that they look completely human! Now, imagine that
we slip demon's
bane into the
drinks and food, then tell your army the most opportune time and point of attack. You would be hailed as a hero, and we'd be down at least 1,000 possible enemies," Sasori said.
This was the most ridiculous thing they'd said all night! "You two are imbeciles if you believe that I have any credence among the angels. They think I am little better than a demon myself, no offense to current company intended. Why on earth would they listen to me?"
Arren leaned forward and said, "Do you think that they would pass up this chance even if it is you who offers it? They aren't aware of these parties, or they would have put a stop to them already. Just claim to have been spying or something, and say that's how you discovered us."
He was right, Mem thought. They wouldn't be able to pass this chance up. "It will suffice, but how on earth will you two slip anything into
the food?"
"Easily
done," Sasori replied, "I live
there. I'll just sprinkle it on all of the serving dishes, anything used in preparing it, and utensils. It'll be in everything, and even if they eat nothing, if most everyone is weakened, they're still screwed. Just give the two of us enough time to get out, since we'll have to make an appearance, obviously."
"Geez. You two are asking for an awful lot. No matter what you do to the food, angels will die as well as demons. And what if you two can't get out? I'll have to reveal that we accepted the assistance of demons, which no one will be able to accept, especially considering who your dad is, Sasori. And, since I'm assuming after this coup you plan to put Sasori on the throne, how will I explain that I allowed another demon of his descent to take charge after helping said demon and his royal bodyguard? How much thought have you two put into
this?"
"These are your problems
and details to handle, Mem," Sasori said, "We've laid
our cards on the table."
"Speaking of that, now that I know everything, I assume that I won't be able to leave if I don't agree?" Mem said pointedly.
"Not until after the coup, no," Arren said.
"Great," Mem muttered, "Okay, let ms make sure that I have this straight. You want to take over the demon government, and put Sasori in charge. To do this, you are asking me to gather the angels and assist in a battle that will, out of necessity, take place in this very city. However, as an incentive, you're giving us the chance to dispose of nearly 1,000 of the highest ranking demons of your society. In addition, we will probably gain by having fought for the winning side of this war and assisting in placing their ruler on his throne. We will also be going against all of the instincts of either side in
fighting alongside each other. Did I get that all
right?"
"Pretty much," Sasori said, "So, how about it?"
"Firstly, you two are crazy. But the angels stand to gain quite a bit. So, I accept your invitation, but I've just got to mention that we stand almost no chance of victory. I, for my part, will speak with the AA HQ."
"Great! We knew you'd do it!" Sasori said, smiling brightly.
"No you didn't," Mem said, rolling her eyes, but smiling back at him. For a kidnapping, this had ended pretty well.
They'd talked a bit more, but in the end Mem had been forced to return home, so she wouldn't worry Maya and Yaya. Unfortunately, an uninvited guest came with her...
"So, how did you like the party?" Arren asked, walking next to her with his hands in his pockets.
"Aside from the whole kidnapping thing, it was fantastic," Mem said
sarcastically, "I especially loved the part where I was
surrounded by potential enemies, and in the home and attending the party of the main threat to
the very existence of myself and my kind."
"Ahh, you must've loved it then. I really am sorry about the fake kidnapping, but we had to make sure Sasori's dad didn't track us down, and we figured confusing whoever was after us was the best option."
"If you insist," Mem said, "I'm just glad I didn't ruin this dress."
Arren snorted scornfully, then said, "Isn't that just like a girl. Kidnapped and told about the single most daring and insane plan on the face of this planet, agrees to take part in it, then gets all flustered over the state of her dress."
"That's because it's not my dress, you jerk," Mem said, "And that whole attitude of yours is obnoxious."
"Whatever," Arren said, angry.
They walked the rest of the way in silence, which almost made her regret snapping at him. She wouldn't have, normally, but she was still trying to deal with the adrenaline rush and her
other unexpected, and even more unwelcome guest.
"Mmm, he's cute. Come on, just let me take over, he'll love meeting me!" she purred into Mem's ear.
Agh! I'm just glad he can't see you! Mem responded to her, mentally.
"What? He'd love to know that the essence of demon kind lives on! Come on, we don't even need these two block heads. Just let me take over and we'll wipe out every single demon and take the throne ourselves!" the dark figure next to her urged.
As far as Mem knew, this woman only arrived when she was in real trouble. She looked exactly like Mem, but with red eyes and a black and red dress on, which revealed everything while covering the most important parts, and two jet
black wings. She knew this thing actually existed because a few rare others could see an immense pool of energy in the shape of a woman. When asked, she'd told Mem that her name was Anti-Mem. Obviously, this was utter bullshit, but
with Anti-Mem you couldn't expect much else. She was blood thirsty, ruthless, cruel, sadistic, and insanely powerful. When she said she'd kill all demons in existence, she wasn't joking. She was fully capable of doing that, but would also kill or destroy anything else in her way. And the only thing preventing her from doing so was Mem's will power. Which was why she was here. The adrenaline rush had caused her to accidentally lose control, just enough for Anti-Mem to get through.
Will you shut up? Mem thought. I'd really rather not look absolutely insane by talking to my imaginary friend who wants to destroy the world.
"Hah! You still believe that bitch's imaginary
friend shit? Puh-lease! I'm as real as any of you! I've been behind more deaths than anyone can ever add up!" Anti-Mem cackled, eyes glowing dangerously. She went over to Arren, who was entirely unaware of her, and then walked backwards while staring into his eyes.
"Oooh! He's got a nasty past, this one! So much repressed anger and hate! Ahh, he practically screams to be shoved. Over. The. Edge," she crooned.
Don't touch him, Mem growled mentally. Get back over here.
This sparked an argument, which went on until Mem heard a noise. Glancing over at Arren, she saw him looking at her expectantly. Oh no, she thought, I wasn't paying attention to him, so I have no idea what he said!
He sighed, then said, "Like I thought, you weren't paying any attention. Geez. I asked you what the strange presence next to you was."
"W-what are you talking about?" Mem stammered, "I don't sense
any presence."
"Wow, for a member of the Angel's Army, you lie like crap," he said, looking straight at Anti-Mem.
"Hah! He's got you now!" Anti-Mem cheered, "You're going to have to tell him you're ab-so-fucking-lutely insane!"
Arren frowned and looked around. "Do you
hear something, Mem?"
She started, shocked, and felt Anti-Mem freeze beside her. As she'd thought, this had never happened before. She looked calculatingly at Arren. What made this demon different from all the other people she'd met?
Anti-Mem strode over to Arren, who looked at her as if waiting for her to attack him. She stopped only a few inches from him, and stared into his eyes. "Can you hear me?" she asked, cautiously.
He jumped backwards, reaching for his pocket, and my mouth dropped open. "Wait, you can see her and hear her?" she asked, staring at Arren.
"Of course I can! Wait, who is
she? What is she?" Arren said, staring at Anti-Mem.
"Interesting development," a cold and uncaring voice came from beside Mem. She turned to see herself again, only with gold eyes and two white wings. Her outfit was a long white and gold dress, which covered everything Anti-Mem's strove to reveal. This one had no name. She appeared less often than
Anti-Mem, and was usually there to rein in Anti-Mem when she did show up. Arren turned to see her as well, and Mem didn't have to ask if he saw her, from his open mouthed expression.
"Uhm, these two aren't going to hurt anyone," Mem said, sort of unsure what the say next. She'd never run into this problem before.
"Oh, sugar, you can bet that I would, if only she'd let me," Anti-Mem purred seductively, coming close to Arren and running the tips of her fingers down his arm. "Be my king, and I'll give you the world," she murmured into his ear.
"That
is quite enough," the white winged presence said, going over to Anti-Mem and pulling her up. They both vanished into thin air, and she felt then return to their respective spots inside of her.
Arren stayed where he was, staring after them. After a minute, he looked at her, calm faced, and asked, "Who exactly did I just have the pleasure of meeting?"
"Uhm, I'm not
really sure. They just sort of show up," Mem said weakly. Really, she didn't have a clue.
"Hmph. Let's get you home before they come back," he said, walking off. Mem followed him, shocked. No one else had ever reacted like that! And both of them at the same time! How wasn't he running away? People were always terrified to realize than either of them existed.
"Aren't you even a bit surprised?" she asked, sneaking a look at Arren.
"Of course I am," Arren said, "But more that you bear both Seraphina and Josephine than
that I've seen them."
"Are those their names?" Mem asked, looking up at him.
"If they are who I think they are, then yes," he replied, turning the corner.
"Wait, you know who they are?" she yelped, "If you do then please tell me! I don't know!"
He turned to her, surprise and anger on his face. "Jesus Christ, by the time the others were your age they'd already started siphoning off their powers! Can you honestly tell me you can control both of them?"
Again with the you're an imbecile attitude! This man! She thought. "I happen to be the only reason you and Sasori aren't dead right now!"
"Huh. Maybe if we'd known about those two we would've picked a different method. Considering how unbalanced you are," Arren mused to himself.
"Gah! You're impossible! Have you ever said something polite in your entire life?" Mem burst out, seriously irritated. Who the hell did he think he was?
He glared at her, eyes cold, then said, "I'm the only one who can see those two and hear them, that's who I am. And I'm the one who can tell you valuable information on the two of them."
"Hah! I'd rather take help from a rabid animal than you!" Mem said, stalking off, "Don't bother to follow me! I know where I'm going! Leave me alone!"
He didn't reply, and Mem was too furious to check on him. Once she was out of sight, she stopped and leaned against the wall, taking deep breaths. It had seemed like recently Anti-Mem, no, Jospehine, was getting better at controlling her. And since when did Seraphina protect demons? Seraphina was terrifying in her own way. She'd willingly sacrifice a hundred angels to save the lives of one hundred and one, without even a backwards glance. And a single angel life was worth far more to her than the entirety of the populations of the world. She was cold,
calculating, and brilliant.
Of course, you can't talk, Mem thought to herself with a crooked smile. You thought much the same way not so long ago. It was a struggle to beat both of them down, especially when she got angry. Once, they'd done a weakness test in the army, and she hadn't been at all surprised to find that one of the top ones was her temper. Oh well.
She continued to stroll down the street, and it was an uneventful walk home. She pushed open the door, and Yaya accosted her.
"How'd it go! OMG did you kiss him? Was it fun? Who was there?" she said, questions flowing from her mouth.
She ignored Yaya and started slowly up the stairs. "Sorry Yaya, do you mind if I just go take a bath and go to bed?"
"Oh.." Yaya said in a small voice.
Ahh, I shouldn't have said that, Mem thought. She stripped and got into her bath. Breathing in the steam, she grudgingly
accepted the other consequence of Josephine's anger. It always made her feel like she'd dumped something acidic on her insides and they were slowly corroding. Not that it hurt, but it made her feel... strange, for lack of a better word.
The bath was almost down to room temperature by the time she got out. Mem grabbed Maya's dress, then shuffled into her room. Gods, I'm tired, she thought, yawning.
A few minutes later, she was ready for bed, and slipped gratefully under her covers. The day had been far too long in her opinion. The "kidnapping" had reminded her of a previous, terrifying experience...
********FLASHBACK********
She'd been only eight years old. It was way before she'd joined the army, and she'd been by herself, walking home from school. It was a gorgeous day, and a few cars were driving by. She'd been humming to herself, not really paying attention as she entered her house. Suddenly, she smelled another person in her house, and had spun into a pair of arms, one of which clamped her body to her attacker's, and the other came up to her mouth and pressed a rag to her mouth. Breathing in, she smelled something sweet, then a curtain of black fell across her eyes.
She'd woke up in a forgein place, tied to a chair, with a pounding headache. She moaned and opened her eyes to find a man in all black in front of her.
"Ahh, you're awake," he said, turning to her, "Good. Now, my dear, I want you to repeat after me. I-" His voice broke off as she whimpered and ducked her face.
"I said, repeat after me," he said, taking her chin and forcing her to look at him. Terrified, Mem had looked up and, suddenly, realized that it was not a demon standing in front of her. She'd been taught that demons were the bad guys. They would take you and hurt you and eventually kill you in some gruesome, disgusting way. But the man who stood in before her was not a demon. No, he was an angel.
"Uhm, sir? I'm an angel too! Why am I here? I haven't-" her voice was cut off as he slapped her face, almost knocking the chair over.
"Speak only if I tell you to, filth. You are not an angel. You are a disgusting abomination, with no right to exist. Who the hell has ever heard of something like you? Disgusting half breed," he snarled.
Without warning, Mem started cackling. Wings spread from her back, and a dark aura spread outward. The man backed away as her one white wing began to turn black, starting from where it merged with her back.
"Abonimation?" her lips curled into a maniacal smile, "Perhaps I am. And do you know what filthy, disgusting, abominations like me do?" The bindings holding her to her chair broke, and she stood up.
"We kill," she hissed, raising her face, red eyes blazing like fire, and threw herself forward. The man screamed as she plunged her clawed hand into his chest and pulled out his heart. The door shattered at her touch, and she flew outside into a room full of men and women dressed all in black. They were only half out of their chairs as she fell upon them.
A few hours later, a team of angels from the army burst into the house, only to find a bloodbath. Out of nearly fifty people, none was left alive. Each had been torn to pieces. Some had their throats torn out by what appeared to be teeth, others had gaping holes in their chests, and still more seemed to have been torn to shreds. A copious amount of bloody shreds indicted that a few unlucky ones had been reduced to bits. Greg ran inside, and while the others tried to find survivors, he searched the house for Mem.
"Mem!" he shouted, sprinting through the hallways, opening any door he could find. He was getting desperate by the time that he neared the end of the house, and only slowed down when he found a trail of uneven, bloody footprints leading down the hall and into a room. There, he found her, curled into a fetal position.
Gingerly, he walked in, and reached out to her. "Mem? Honey, can you hear me?"
She gave no response, frozen, staring at the wall. Her pupils were so dilated that they were almost invisible, and her breathing was ragged and unsteady. She was covered in blood from head to toe, and her dress was tattered.
He slowly put his hand on her head, and smoothed down her hair. After almost five minutes, her eyes slowly moved to his face. "Can you hear me?" he asked quietly.
Mem gave a barely perceptible shake of her head, then unfroze, throwing herself at Greg. Her small hands fastened onto his shirt, and she started to sob. He held her until her sobs stopped, and then stood up. She was shaking like a leaf. He walked out into the room where the others were, then silently went past them, outside. Mem said nothing, her hands locked onto his shirt. The soldiers outside started to question him, but he stopped them. He took Mem over to his own car, and strapped her in. He'd come over as soon as he'd heard, and was furious that this had happened at all, but couldn't do anything as of yet. Mem had to be his first priority. He took her back to her house, then told her to go take a bath and pretend that nothing had happened.
Mem was never sure what he did afterwards, but the incident was never mentioned again. She didn't get in trouble, and no one seemed to know about it. The only one affected seemed to be her. She had nightmares every night for weeks where she was drowning in blood, or where the murdered angels came back and yelled at her, calling her a filthy half blood and a murderer. This dream inevitably ended with a dark figure rising up and killing them all, as she stood there, screaming. She jumped at every noise, and the kids from school took to surprising her in the hallway, just to see her panicked terror. She'd burst into tears a few times from these events, but eventually everyone just seemed to forget. The dreams became less frequent, then were gone almost completely. She got over it, put the experience and the fear away in a box, and done her best to forget about it. That was, until tonight. That event had been the first time Josephine had taken over, but had proved to not be the last.
Vee: Gotta love creepy bloodbaths. Anyways, I hope that you enjoyed! The next chapter, we're going to school!
Josephine: Ahhh, I'm so awesome.
Mem: T_T I don't want to be a mass murderer.
Seraphina: You're all hopeless idiots...