One World: Many Souls
Chapter 57: Pushing Our Ideals
Third Person Point of View:
The project to take out that of the Terians family had been going on for years by Silke's point of view. Granted, greatness and victory were never accomplished cheaply or quickly.
Since she had gathered those of the three most prominent figures against that of the Terians household, it had been almost ten years. Being that the work they were doing was much from the shadows, it was a well known fact that Silke wished to keep up to date on the facts and pros she kept in her hand. She didn't do meetings too often, as she often had Luke and Mettaton scouting for those that could be worked with or... suggest they join their cause, and the good doctor was always busy with his experiments with the half breed children below. They were almost of teen age, she hoped soon they would grow more and show their true strength as elder teens and adults. She knew that was the earliest peak for most of the magical arts to gain quite a growth spurt.
But that also meant the Terians family had come a long way too. Silke had no heirs herself, she would worry about procreating once this entire mess was over with the households. It was nothing she needed to focus on then while trying to remove the main branch entirely. Besides, a whiny child who would only get in her way held no value. It would only be when she was the last one standing that she would begin her own line, as annoying as that would be.
This led Silke to bring together her so-called 'generals' of her army where she spoke to them of the current events. The nine children they worried for years ago were getting older, and were currently in the prime age for their first magical hurdles to being stronger. More difficult to deal with. She just needed more of those that could fight on her side.
"Good morning there, dear leader!" Mettaton was the first to give a cheery greeting the second the woman settled herself in the room. "It's wonderful to see you out of that office, darling. I'm assuming we're doing our bi-annual update meeting to cover all that's in place and anything new?"
"You would be correct Mettaton." Silke took her place at the head of the table before the white board of all the families' faces. "Update me, regardless if it's old or new."
"Well, to start with, that damn old bat of the family is getting up there in her years, would be reduced to a wheelchair if not for her magic." Luke was the first to jump from his chair to point at the picture of Victoria Terians. It was updated to show the wear on her face. Deeper wrinkles, sagging skin on her cheeks, and sunken eyes. She truly did look rather tired, but for a ripe age of ninety-five, still was still quite the spit fire. "Old broad has gotta be getting ready to kick the bucket soon. She's almost a century old."
"Still be mindful about her, she is the eldest and has lived this long for a reason. Her magic is no joke. Like I have noted before, leave her be. She would kill us all in an instance. And she's not the one we need to worry for. It's the rest of them." Turning to the more studious of the group, Dr. Baldeth was called on next. "Doctor, what do you know of the current statistics for the family?"
"Most of Angel and Sans Terians' children have reached adulthood. The first set of twins have gone into two different professions, one far more deadly to us than the other. Arial has gone into the army, learning tactics and fighting styles to use with her magic, even more so than she did as a child. Eras Terians has instead opted to go into culinary arts. He has since graduated and is working at his uncle and aunt's restaurant with his cousin, Impact Terains. The two are hardly ever apart."
"I can concur that darling." Mettaton noted quickly. "I've spent many days following those two, and I'm sure Eras has sensed me a time or two following them. But don't worry! I kept my distance and never approached. He doesn't know it's me. I figured going after my son first would be smartest, but Eras Terians is just as tactical as his sister... he may not have gone through as much training as his twin, but I can see it. I can see his muscles tense when I get into the range of his magic, and he's watching every angle to see where I may come from."
"The next two twins would be easier targets, but are surrounded by too many people." Luke sighed, pointing at the images of Calibri and Constantina Terians. "Those two are going on tour soon, gonna head out over the different territories, but got security like crazy, and lots of people watching. Won't be easy to catch those two, and if anything happens... mommy dearest will swoop in and our chances are lost."
"The two of them sound as if they would be easier to deal with once we have our half breed project fully under control." Silke suggested softly while standing to look at their pictures. They still looked identical, even as they were in their early twenties. "What of the youngest two?"
"Jokerman and Pristina Terians are still in school, but apparently have magic like their father." Dr. Baldeth commented while looking through his records. "While I don't have the full extent of what they can do, it is noted that they have magic of the skeletons instead of the Terians household. That could make them easier in some ways, but harder in others to kill."
"Especially that youngest." Mettaton cursed from her seat while Silke looked back at her to clarify. "Oh darling, I decided to spy on her from school once and it turns out she has even more of her father's abilities then I assumed... she can teleport. 'Poof' as she calls it. It will make her difficult to catch since we don't know how the structure of the teleporting magic works. Sans never talked about it when we were still on good terms. The brother doesn't seem to have it, but she does. Vanished in a veil of purple smoke. Just like her father..."
"Fuck..." Luke cursed at that. "That means she can move around everyone. Fuck, that messes with us..."
"Hm... we'll keep that in mind. She will be a crafty one to catch. We might need bait for her." Silke moved to look at the board again and pointed to their cousins, the descendants of the royal family. "What of Frisk and her side?"
"Frisk and Asriel Dreemur have become quite the pair, and are still rather loved by the people. After my 'escape' she's kept her kids pretty damn close or guarded, herself too." Luke hissed at the words he spoke while rolling his eyes. "Apparently, the baby brother is a pushover, the white goat kid named Ashland. Orchid, the orange one and middle kid, gets involved in everything. And eldest Rosalie? The red one? A firecracker, like her mother. Probably our best way in to get close to them and shoot them off one at a time by getting a kid. Their magic right now is like their Dad's it seems. But Frisk's blood is still in their veins."
"I see..." Silke nodded at the information, blinking slowly while focusing on those kids. "Hopefully we won't be spending too many more years being in the dark. Speaking of our project, how would you say we're coming along?"
"Quite well. After the birth of the children this year, we've managed to make it to a total of thirty-one in total." Dr. Baldeth quickly pulled up the statistics to show off to the group. "Among the children we have, we have at least twenty-five different varieties of half breeds with more on the way. There are two of the six mothers already pregnant and another one was just added to our collection, bringing us to seven total now. I'll be sending out a couple of the mothers soon to find new partners that we've researched that would fit the bill well, and our oldest children are around just over the age of ten now. If they just get a few more years under them... the eldest five will be combat ready soon. Numbers One through Four have finally come around to using their strength well and destroying boulders, they no longer can practice with the meathead I have. Same with Number Five, though she has always been a caster of water magic. We're now attempting to see if she can shape the water into a force to attack enemies or drown them. For the time being, the dummies have been sufficient, but we will need live bait soon. She's still a child and her heart is tender. Forcing her to kill perhaps will strengthen the process."
"I see..." Silke took that time to look over Luke and Mettaton while waiting eagerly for orders, wide grins on their faces. "I'm assuming you two already know what I wish done?"
"To find some sorry souls that we can use for those experiments." Mettaton eagerly giggled at that, not even trying to hide it behind her hand. "Preferably you want them to be male or women who have medical histories in which they can't be used as mothers. The sooner the better, but these things do take time, so Luke and I need to be right on it."
"Yeah, and they can't be anything like the army I've been collecting where they go back to their normal lives when not needed so it's not so taxing on me." Luke shook his head before pulling out a computer, typing away at it rapidly. "I can think of a few sorry assholes we could probably grab in the next few months... just gotta make sure no one is gonna be concerned when their gone. Or that their fellow homeless buddies won't squeal."
"I'm glad to see that a lot of you are thinking logically about this. Wonderful." Silke nodded slowly before she moved closer to the whiteboard. She focused in on the picture of Angel, almost a near look alike to Silke herself as she looked back at her except for her white hair and red eyes. When Silke wasn't using her magic, her amber eyes finally showed, and her brown hair was present, also in a loose braid. Something she'd done since she was young when her mother braided her hair.
She would complete this mission for her parents, she would.
"This meeting is over then." Pulling back from the picture and showing a quick glance to those she was partnered with, she began to head back to her office. "Keep me posted, and Dr. Baldeth? Prepare the children. I want to see what they're capable of."
The doctor nodded quickly, bowing his head to her. "We shall prepare a show for you later today, my lady. The children are having their earned lunch now, I just need an hour or so and I'll have them ready in the courtyard to show you."
"Very well." Nodding to them, she returned to the same path of her office. "I'll be eager to see the results."
Later That Morning:
Number Five had just finished her meal when she and the other four older than her were called out to the courtyard outside. She had to shield her eyes from the bright ball of light in the sky she didn't see very often. The 'sun' she'd come to learn about. Her bare feet felt the 'grass' between her webbed toes. It felt soft beneath her. A texture she wasn't used to inside the hard gray walls of the building.
She and her fellow children had been asked to show off to the woman who owned them. The creepy lady with the red eyes. Number Five shuddered as she looked up along the building to see a wall of glass where her room was. She was already watching. Her eyes looming over the five of them as they were ordered to stand there until directions were given.
"Now, listen closely, you five." It was the creepy smiley man who was talking, Luke, she thought was what the others called him? He paced back and forth before them while they stood, waiting on orders. Fearful of getting shocked by their collars. "You're gonna be fighting each other to show our dear lady how you've been doing. You stay in this back yard, and use any ability you have. Got it?"
Number Five paled at that. They never had been asked to fight each other before, and she was frightful. While she had a very different magic to her fellow children, she knew they hit hard. Their magic was strength. She wasn't very strong in her body, she was rather weak in that regard. She wanted so quickly to jump away from them, knowing that.
"Yes sir." The five children responded, some strong in voice, some hesitant like Number Five.
"Good. You have ten seconds to get ready. Ten!"
The kids scrambled to get away from one another. Number Five quickly darted back toward the ocean. She stopped at the edge of the lawn, nervous of being shocked, but it was close enough for her magic to work. Seeing her fellow kids taking their own corner of the lawn to themselves, they were gaining distance for speed, for force of impact. Number Five had to act fast so she wouldn't be hurt.
"Seven!"
After a few seconds had passed, Number Five used her magic to summon water to her side. There was so much of it available, she shrouded herself in a veil of water, it moved around her and the sounds of the outside world vanished. All she could do was watch until the others began to move.
She felt her heart beating faster as she stood there, the nerves getting to her as she waited. She wanted to throw up. She felt sick that she would have to attack the others. Why? What was the point? Why did they have to do that?
And it was just as she was thinking this that the other kids darted forward. Number Five watched as the four of them darted toward each other, using their punches and kicks against each other. She watched them fight hard. She couldn't hear anything, but she saw their limbs bent in strange ways while she watched. She was scared... "Why?"
Number Five was startled when one of the other four were thrown over toward her. The body flew into her water veil and was thrown to the side. She watched their body collapse beside her. She barely felt them hit her field before only three were left.
She watched and recognized Number One who noticed the damage her water sphere did to his other sibling. He quickly used that to his advantage to hurl his other two siblings into her field as well to knock them out, leaving just the two of them left. There was no one else to prevent anyone from coming near her. Her hands folded before her chest in her fear.
She didn't want to do this... why?
Number One charged at her. He shoved his arm into her sphere and she screamed in her surprise when he was able to push through with his fist. From the sphere came spikes made of water. Number One darted back when he saw the protruding water spikes coming at him. Number Five watched Number One and noticed that his arm was bruised and bleeding from where he was able to push through her water wall.
"Please... Number One... don't..."
But he darted at her again. And this time she didn't have a choice. The spikes of her sphere turned into whips that she snapped at Number One, trying to keep him away. But Number One was determined, and he darted in between her whips. She actively had to try and attack him to push him away. But he was so quick... He used his strength to increase his speed out of her general attack range.
Just before he could try to attack her sphere again, he stopped. He paused, listening behind him before relaxing his posture. Number Five cautiously watched between the movement of the water before she saw that of the doctor approach. With wave of his hand, she knew he wanted her to drop her protection. Cautiously she did so, returning the water to where it came from.
"Well now, that was rather surprising... I didn't think your control had gotten so well, Number Five. And Number One's determination and strength to push through your rather intense defense and offense was well done." The doctor took down detailed notes and the children knew better than to move or talk while he did so, or he would get angry. "Now... is there anything else that you can think of that you can do? Our lady was quite pleased with your match. Do you have anything else to impress her with?"
"Um..." The little girl carefully reached over for Number One's arm. Before he could pull it away, both he and the doctor watched as she used a different type of magic than normal. It was a bright yellow-white color that glittered, and the blood slowly stopped on her fellow children's arm. His eyes widened at the fact that she took his pain away.
"Healing magic... That I wasn't expecting..." The doctor hummed while writing down more notes. He then began to pace while watching every now and then while Number Five kept healing Number One. "I knew that the everyday monsters had some aptitude for healing magic, some greater than others... but to have you so capable and able to heal... you could be our best soldier here."
All parties paused when a great pressure was felt from the house. Looking in the direction of the red eyed lady, she nodded before closing the curtains to her room. The doctor stood there stunned before beaming back to the children.
"Well then. Even our dear lady was pleased with you. You have earned everyone their meal tonight Number Five, and you and Number One shall have something special. It sounds like there might be a cake, and you two can choose one thing of your choice to have. A toy, extra food for yourself for the week, or a book. Tell me what you would like I can see about obtaining it."
"Food." Number One's response was quick. His eyes downcast, but you could still see the defeated eagerness in his eyes. "I'll take the food, Mr. Doctor. To keep up my strength to keep getting stronger."
"A good answer, Number One. And Number Five? What about you?"
"Um..." Number Five was one of the few children who didn't go often without food, so while she was scared, she was eager to learn more information. Maybe if she was smarter and knew more about her magic, she could be better? "Could I... have a book... about the magic I use? Maybe... if I knew what others could do that are like... me... maybe I could do better?"
"Hm... I can't think of a book immediately that would reference that, but I will look into it for you. Until I do find it, I shall give you a toy, Number Five. I shall bring one to you later."
Of course, the doctor would have to be careful about what kind of book he gave her too. He wasn't sure if any of the children were fully under his control, so he didn't want to give her any ideas of how to figure out how to get the collars of her and her siblings and escape. It was clear the children didn't like what they were doing, and that gave Dr. Baldeth the idea that he shouldn't just give into every whim. He kept their rewards limited, and was mindful of what was given, especially books.
"Yes sir..."
Witch's Note:
(The medical bay was a sorry sight as Halloween passed by it only a short while prior. It had been a mad dash to do everything they could to help those of their friends and partners that were down hidden in their base with little time to heal. Most of their companions had been fine, rather well or were just sleeping. But that wasn't the case for all.
(Days prior, Halloween had walked in on a horrid sight. In the chaos of the medical bay and seeing Sunset had carried out the late wishes of her close friend, Halloween had seconds to act before Chaos could. Just knowing their earlier conversation of how Chaos would react to the death of Mystic Boy, she began carrying around a frying pan. Old fashion and rather crude, she knew. But it was something easy to hold and made a solid crack against the older male's skull when things went down. He laid in the bed next to Mystic Boy's body, who had been gently covered with a white sheet, machines off, and the medical bay in a state of mournful quiet. Mysitc Girl hovered a short distance away, sitting by the side of her second in command, waiting for him to wake while mourning for the loss of her third in command.)
(Halloween spent her time checking on the others while thing had turned unbearably quiet. At least with the noise there was a fighting chance, but it was as if the hope was drained out of many as the silence pierced the air, ringing in their ear drums. Halloween checked in on Dasansi often, though his state was rather incapacitated. His companions checked on him often while running about, doing… whatever it was they were doing to keep them safe. She saw them often running about, crushing things down in machines, and then allowing it to spread to the vents and the immediate areas outside the base. She didn't ask. She wasn't suppose to, btu the morbid curiosity held in her mind as she tried to go about what duties she still could during the mess of it all. )
(River had also come to, and was about the base to help as well. Halloween gave them the basic run down of what had happened since they'd been missing and of course brought them to speed on the conditions of everyone, and the timer slowly counting down. They were very wounded, and Halloween wondered if they would even have a fighting chance…)
(And then finally, her only contact on the outside… the one who had saved Mysitc Boy and risked his own life… that she had to break the news to. She dreaded it honestly, but she knew it had to be down as she returned to the command center. Oliver and Oscar ran around her, doing their own thing in the absence of Dasansi and didn't say much to her, as their project was top secret, but they couldn't miss her looking at Shadow's report, nor how she tried to hide a couple of heavy tears before making a report back to Shadow.)
Halloween Witch: Shadow, I have received your recent report. Have you been able to gather any information from those you captured? Time is running out. We have two weeks left. And… I have grave news to share… Mystic Boy has passed. He didn't survive. I'm sorry.
(Halloween couldn't bear to say any more as she stood there and let the message be sent out. Her stomach turned from all that had happened and she had no idea what would be coming next. Time was short as the timer clicking downward had turned almost entirely red, lightly flashing dimmer, but red had nearly taken over as no longer were two weeks left. It was counting down toward one…)
One light no longer gleams, does it sway you?
Does your determination bend?
Does you have the determination to keep fighting?
Darkness will try to snuff it out, its harder to see the burning soul inside…
You have little time left…
No more mistakes can be made…
PS: Hey guys, Halloween here. The website is being a brat again so alerts I'm not sure are going out or not, since I'm not getting your reviews unless I check the website. I'm going to reach out to them late this morning, but just wanted to at least give you guys a heads up. Not sure if an alert is going to you saying I've updated or not. Let me know if you can please!
