*Warning!*
Drama ahead...
The nightmare happened when Wise was abducted.
On a rare stop to the memorial at the edge of The Chasm, to leave flowers at the grave of their mentor, Carole Arna, it happened. Someone, or something, had been waiting for them.
It had happened so fast. A mysterious person had approached the two of them while they were trying to have a quiet, reflective moment. And from the way that this individual was being so mysterious and cryptic, while wearing a covering that didn't allow anyone to guess who they were, Wise and Belle knew immediately that this person was dangerous. From what they could tell, this individual may have had a connection to the Ethereals.
The back and forth between both sides devolved quickly, and before she knew it, Belle was running for help, only being able to look back for a moment as she saw Wise being taken away by this mysterious monster. He was sacrificing himself to keep Belle safe.
In tears, Belle finally managed to locate the Sons of Calydon, falling to her knees in front of the group's leader Caesar King. It took some time, but Belle then was able to tell them what had happened, begging for their help.
Lighter nodded, "We're heading out, right Caesar?" The other members nodded, and had their weapons ready. When she didn't respond, he asked her again, "Caesar?"
Staring off into the distance, the Overlord was deep in thought. After what seemed like an eternity, she replied, "Not this time." This shocked everyone. Caesar then explained, "I can't have everyone risk their lives like this; we'd be going straight into Ethereal territory." When her fellow faction members protested, she reassured everyone, especially Belle, "I'll be going alone."
"Cae-" Lucy started, but was cut off.
With her back still too them, Caesar barked, "Lucy!" Having their attention, Caesar continued, "If I don't make it back... then I hereby appoint you as the leader of the Sons of Calydon."
The wind blew as silence came over everyone. Lucy eventually managed to stutter out, "W-what?" Nodding, Caesar got on her chopper, ready to leave. But Lucy was not having it, "You can't do this!" Tears began falling from her face, "I don't want to be the leader like this!" Piper tried to console her, but Lucy could only choke out, "I wanted to earn that position..."
Caesar chuckled softly, before revving up the motor on her bike. On her way out, Caesar softly replied, "You already have." Lucy's eyes went wide, and she could only watch, helplessly, as Caesar then disappeared into the distance.
Everyone was left grappling with the gravity of what just happened.
- Soon -
It was a long, treacherous drive through the heart of Ethereal-infested territory. Battling all sorts of abominations, Caesar would have quickly acknowledged that she would have wanted her fellow Sons at her side. But she couldn't get them involved, not like this.
Before having left, Belle had given Caesar the clip that was in her hair. Belle explained that there was a tracking chip in it that Wise had planted. He was worried that something might happen to Belle one day, so he snuck that in there. She of course was aware of that, so she had reverse engineered the signal it uses, to keep an eye on him too. Caesar could now track Wise's location from the device he carried on him.
Caesar soon approached a towering structure, confident that Wise was being kept prisoner here. Battling through more monstrosities, Caesar soon spotted Wise, who was chained up, suspended over a vat of eerie-looking liquid.
Catching sight of Caesar, Wise weakly croaked out, "C-caesar, run!"
This got the attention of his captor, who's back had been to Caesar, as he was fiddling with a computer. Turning around, the being addressed her, "So, you found us. I wonder how that happened..." To solidify the idea that he had perpetrated this whole thing, the man pulled out the tracker that he had taken off of Wise, flashing it in front of Caesar. She realized that she had fallen into his trap.
"Why are you doing this?"
"Why?" The individual then pulled back the covering that he was wearing, and Caesar could finally get a good look at him, and see why this man had gotten so deranged: he looked like an average man, except for the very obvious signs of Ethereal infection. He went on to rant about how he had been a survivor of what Carole had done, although now permanently altered. Being a hybrid, half-human, half-Ethereal. And now he wanted to get his revenge on Carole's students. Caesar tried to talk him out of doing this, but it quickly became clear that there was only one thing he would accept: Wise being punished. With the click of a button, Wise was dropped into the vat of Ether.
Caesar screamed out, "WISE!" She had tried to stop the corrupted man by launching her shield at his head and managed to knock him out, but she wasn't quick enough to stop him from pressing the button. She could only watch in horror as Wise became mutated himself, as he crawled out the vat.
Body mutating, Wise struggled to get himself under control. His voice, heavily altered, called out a warning to Caesar, "Caesar, you have to run! Forget about me, save yourself!"
Caesar watching this take place before her eyes, slowly shook her head, "No! I can't!" Biting her lower lip, she had to speak what was on her heart, "Because... I love you!" That seemed to freeze Wise in place. Before this, Caesar probably would have had a heart attack, or at least fainted, at even the suggestion of confessing her feelings for Wise. But now, it was exactly what she needed. Readying her weapons, she knows she'll figure out how to change Wise back. "I'll never say goodbye!"
Letting out a war cry, Caesar attacked Wise...
*Sighhhhh...*
Caesar propped her head up with her hands, her elbows resting on the desk she was sitting at. With another deep, satisfied sigh, and a blush on her face, she looked down at the masterpiece she had just created. This had to be the best one she's written yet!
Continuing to be lost in her fantasy, Caesar didn't notice or hear that someone was trying to get her attention.
"-ar." "-esar." "-aesar."
*Sigh...*
"...Caesar!"
The Overlord's eyes lazily drifted over to the girl trying to get her attention, slowly drawling, "Ehhh?"
"Geez, what's gotten into you?" Belle shook her head, amazed to see Miss Caesar acting so strange. Naturally, she has to find out what's going on. Looking down, Belle notices that there's a notebook sitting in front of Caesar. Foolishly grabbing the book to get a closer look at, Belle seals her fate, and brings Caesar back to reality by reading off just one single line: "'I'll never say gooby!'?" Belle then looked at a stunned Caesar, before laughing, "Wow Caesar, you're so cute! Is this your diary? Oh ho ho, is this a story about you and Wise? Aww, you're such a 'gooby'!"
Caesar's mouth fell open, unable to grasp how to act. Thankfully, Belle will help her with that.
Unable to detect the storm brewing, Belle turned her back to Caesar, and kept going. "Wow, there sure is lot of spelling errors here," Belle commented, flipping through the pages in Caesar's diary, "We really need to set you up with some kind of spell-checker. Poor thing would probably burst into flames though, ha ha ha!"
There's an eerie silence as Caesar stands up, silent. Shivering, Belle can't help but feel like she might be in danger. She turns around to see Caesar approaching her menacingly, "C-Caesar?"
"So, it's treason then."
"I, wha-?" Belle gulped nervously.
Eyes glowing maliciously, Caesar began slowly advancing on a slowly retreating Belle, "You saw something you're not supposed to see."
Belle furiously shook her head, trying to deny that she saw Caesar's diary... while simultaneously holding it in her hands, and hiding behind it. "What, this silly little thing? No need to be so secretive about this kind of thing, embrace it!" Belle then tried to flash Caesar a big smile.
There was no right answer, apparently.
Cracking her mechanical knuckles, Caesar loomed over Belle, "Let me show you how we handle things here in the Outer Ring!"
Zooming out to a shot of the outside of Caesar's home, Belle's tortured screams could be coming from within it...
- Later -
*Womph!*
Caesar dropped Belle's mangled body in front of Wise, who was sitting and hanging out with some people in Blazewood. Blinking, Wise looked down at Belle, and asked Caesar, "What's with her?"
"Oh," She replied, "Nothing. We were just having a girl's chat." She then glared down at Belle, "RIGHT?"
Belle weakly gave a thumbs-up from her position on the ground, "Whatever happens in the Outer Ring, stays in the Outer Ring."
Seeing no bruises on Belle, Wise merely shrugged. Muttering confused under his breath, he said, "Must be a girl's thing..."
"A-anyway," Caesar then said, changing the subject, "Fancy seeing you here, Proxy! I was just thinking about you!" But then realizing how suspicious that sounds, and seeing the raised eyebrow on Wise's face, she tried to clarify, "It's been a while since I saw you, we should grab a drink!"
His smile made her melt. The wind blew his hair all romantic-like, as he replied, "Sure, I'd like that." Extending his hand, Wise said, "Lead the way." She's trying not to do her happy dance.
With the two of them gone, Lucy and Burnice approach Belle, who's still laid out on the ground. Burnice snickered while asking Belle, "You found her diary, didn't you?"
Groaning, Belle replied, "I'm forbidden from discussing the events that happened earlier..."
The bartender for the Sons of Calydon rubbed a sudden sore spot on her body that had suddenly flared up, "I know what you're talking about!" Caesar's gotten good at not leaving visible bruises.
Poking Belle with her bat, Lucy then asked Burnice, "Do you think she'll live?"
"If not, then we can finally have that funeral we were robbed of!" Burnice then whipped out her flamethrowers, eager to get the show started. Lucy deadpanned, while Belle could only groan again.
"Sorry to hear that, Miss Proxy. Caesar can be an interesting one at times."
Belle's eyes went wide as she heard a certain man speak. Suddenly rejuvenated, and doing a full 180, Belle was at his side, pouting cutely. "Lighter," Belle whined, "Caesar was a big 'ol meanie!"
He cooly replied, "Anything I can do for you?" He even pulled down his shades to look at Belle. What pain?
"W-well, now that you mentioned it..." Belle then wrapped her arms around his, and the two left, chatting with each other. Burnice and Lucy were left stunned, where did that come from?!
Piper, who had been sitting nearby, lowered the newspaper she had been reading from. She had seen everything. Chuckling, she went back to reading about the weather, "Ahh, to be a young again..."
Huh, I wrote a story about someone writing a story. Neat.
Hopefully that was entertaining!