MUSEUM
"So Valkyrie and Alice are down for an Alliance..." Yuri traced his chin with his thumb.
"By the sound of things, Hidan is abstaining. With Jeff out in the courtyard and Wally off doing the Goddess only knows what, we'ere in a bind. We can't count of the Chosen being impartial, so they'll have to abstain too. Even if Rei and Henry both scream and beg for us to kill the Skrull, we'd still only have a tie. The scale cannot be tipped in the favor of executing Veranke..."
"So what do we do?" Ferdinand exclaimed.
"Heir on the side of caution and sentence her anyway?"
"No. No." Yuri mumbled to himself.
"If at least half the Returned was to negotiate with Veranke, we have to give her a chance."
"W-what?" Odin stammered.
"You can't be serious?"
"I am as grave as the grave, Odin." Yuri replied sternly.
"The Queen lives... as our prisoner."
"Wonderful..." A smile crept across Veranke's lips.
"Well then... take me to your l---"
[BOOM]
Another explosion shook the Temple. Marble pillars were sent tumbling to the ground left, right and center.
"What was that?"
"Another explosive charge has gone off, courtesy of Veranke's friends, no doubt..."
"I told you that I would come quietly. My allies are a different matter."
"What are you waiting for?!" Ferdinand howled, picking Vernake's legs up off of the floor and slinging them over his shoulder.
"Start moving! Everyone! Clear out of here!"
***
The explosion rattled the Temple to its core. The Slayer was sent tumbling to his knees. The 'Demons' fell down a moment later. The voice's illusion was starting to fade.
The pale demon cradled its arm.
"Is that all you've got, Slayer?" He panted, removing his knife from his belt.
"Come on... Come on!"
The emerald demon cracked its jaw back into place.
"His eyes..." Toren wheezed.
"They've changed... whatever was bewitching him... it's gone."
The cowering demon did his best to stand, but his strength was spent. The bite on his shoulder was burning. It was too much to endure.
"We need to move..." Wally spat.
"This whole place is going down... Forget the undead... we need to run!"
***
The Godless collapsed at the edge of the Temple. With a final groan, the Fellow's once beautiful headquarters came crashing down. Centuries worth of art... lifetimes upon lifetimes of records... they were all lost in one final flash of crimson. Yuri set the unconscious body of
Father Crimson down upon the Temple's steps. Eli limped towards him.
"What happened to you?" Yuri smirked.
"The Slayer." Liquid replied bluntly.
"The Slayer happened. He was under the influence of some kind of demonic magic. Not the kind I'm familiar with..."
"We'll have to trade notes when we get home." The Rogue quipped.
"We shall. Who are the new faces?"
"This is Mercedes. She was the librarian's assistant. She's been following Valkyrie like a lost puppy since she killed the librarian. And this-" He raised his hand towards the trembling, dark-haired girl at Katara's side.
"This is--"
"--Flayn." Eli interjected.
"It's been too long."
"H-Hello, Captain White..." 'No-Name' stammered.
"You're correct. It has been--"
"Not another word. We don't have time." He dismissed her with a wave. "And the
Skrull? What is she doing here? Forget it. Better question. Why is her head still attached to her shoulders?"
"I have friends in low places,
Captain." She spat out his name as if it had been burning her tongue.
"Your pawns had the foresight to spare me so that we might win the war together. The fate of both our heads can wait until the Goddess' head rolls. Do you think you can keep a dagger out of my back until then?"
A primal growled rattled in the back of Eli's mouth.
"No. I don't think I can. The moment we get home, I'm throwing you in the deepest, darkest hole I can find. And if Hidan is running low on sacrifices? I might just tell him where I've buried you... and tell him to take his time..."
"Your threats are as hollow as that skull of yours. Your 'Returned' have made their decision, Eli. You weren't a part of it."
Eli glared at his old friends. It was a cold, hateful stare.
"You better have a fucking incredible excuse for this." He hissed.
"It better be fucking incredible."
He removed a device from his pocket and raised it to his lips.
"Soranik?"
[Captain? What's the situa--]
"Don't ask. Prepare and extraction. We're heading back to Valla."
[Fine.] Soranik grumbled.
[How many people are we going to be extracting?]
Eli's eyes danced from one member of the Godless to the next. His eyes stopped when they landed upon Alice. He turned away from her before their eyes could meet again. A wave of shame crept over him. Fleeing the Temple... it didn't feel right. Even if their mission was done, leaving this territory in the Goddess' hands... it felt
wrong. He clenched his jaw. He turned back to the Refugee camp.
Hearts and Minds. They were fighting for hearts and minds.
[Captain?] Soranik's voice interrupted Eli's trail of thought.
[Captain, how many people are we--]
"As many as we can take." He replied, his voice booming with conviction.
[What?]
"We're taking as many people as we can. I don't care if it overloads the teleporter. There are thousands of scared, hopeless souls rotting behind that barbed wire fence. I won't allow it. We're taking them all, Soranik. Every. Last. Refugee. They're all coming back to Valla. Do you think CORI can handle it?"
[Sure I can, Sugar!] QORI cooed.
[It'll be tough, but I can have your calculations ready in two shakes of a rabbit's foot--]
"Soranik? What did you do to my AI?" Captain White growled.
"What did you do to my---"
A spark of gold washed over the Temple. In a flash, the Godless were gone...
MUSEUM----> THE FIELDS OF VALLA
THE SECRET HEADQUARTERS OF THE GODLESS
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The Godless were 'home'... or at least, they're back at the
closest thing they could call home. The Champions. The Returned. Hidan. A thousand refugees. They were all standing in the ruins of a forgotten kingdom.
"Valla sweet Valla..." Yuri smirked.
"It's good to be--"
A spearhead was pressed against his throat. He sighed and raised his hands. A handful of Vallite soldiers surrounded the Returned.
"Here we go again..."
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"You've got some nerve showing your faces here!" Seteth growled, poking Yuri a little harder.
"Running off in the middle of the night! Refusing to alert her Majesty of your plans! You've been missing for far too long! We believed you all to be dead!"
He turned his weapon towards Eli, Niles and Nina. His bodyguards slowly circled the Returned.
"And now you scurry back here with an army of beggars and a band of criminals! Do you have any idea who you're working with? Hidan? Captain White? These men are murders! Murderers!"
"Good to see you too, Grand-Advisor Seteth." Eli squinted.
"How is the life of a deserter treating you?"
"You insolent--" Seteth lowered his spear and slapped Eli's cheeks. The force of the slap could be heard across the clearing.
"How dare you? You know exactly what the Goddess has taken from me! You dare to speak to me like--"
"Seteth, we can explain!" Ferdinand raised his hands as if he were calming a horse. He opened his mouth to explain. No sound came out.
"Somebody explain, please? Can somebody introduce him to No-Name?"
"Your words are cheap, Godless. You have betrayed our trust once already. If we had the numbers to cease you and your refugee band we would have done so already! Kana will be hear shortly with the Reserve Army. You will be brought back to the castle in chains lest you explain yourselves immediately!"
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