#king damien

[forthedancingandthethriving]

(Context/Inspo)

Vitality didn't know what the hell was going on anymore. The past several hours had been a complete and utter whirlwind. She couldn't bring herself to go back to the Adminspace, purely because of what that prophet had said.

That damned coyote..

Vitality barley hears the doors as they open and the ensuing conversation.

Idly, she rubs her neck as she looks out the window. Her eyebrows furrow, seeing the sky darken a bit. Thunder distantly rumbled.

Her peacock feathers shuddered as she felt a jolt in the air. What-?

"You have to be kidding." Valiant's horrified voice brings Vitality out of her thoughts. She looks over, and her eyes widen, seeing the Pokémon, Ash, and his friends, but no Tama.

Oh no.

"Tama can't be- That can't be what happened-" Nimbus sounded panicked as she shook her head.

A pit grows in Vitality's stomach as she makes her way over. She half listens to the conversation at hand before nothing Hoopa - and how ill he looks.

"Oh goodness," she murmurs as she takes the Pokémon from Ash. "What's happened to him?"

"Absol said that it looked like all the teleporting that was going on was messing with him," Ash explains with a worried frown.

Vitality nods and, like a clock, she begins to work-

Only to freeze.

"No." She whispers as she feels that familiar code.

"Vitality?"

Ash's questioning tone barely registers as her own code gently pricks and prods at what's afflicting Hoopa. Clearing it all away, with more haste than is necessary.

It can't be his, it can't be!

He was meant to be gone, dead and gone!

The ground beings to rumble, and everyone stumbles, trying to keep their balance.

Vitality's gaze snapped to the window.

And her heart sinks, seeing the sky turn a sickly green.

○●○

Above the seal of Unus, kneels Tiresias and the frozen Tama.

"Monster," the prophet hisses to Damien. "Monster."

Damien can only smile as he draws a dagger.

..

Blood splatters, and the seal shatters.

And then another.

Another.

Another.

Another.

Another.

Anotheranotheranother.

And across the world,

SHRIEKING

and

SCREAMING

comes as the sky turns a sickly green.

Damien's model glitches.

And Disc grins.

[anony-phangirl]

The art reveal for @sanders-sides-fics ‘s fic for @ts-storytime ‘s fanders big bang!! It’s amazing and I really recommend the fic! :))

[forthedancingandthethriving]

"It's getting worse.." Aud whimpers next to Dirigo, who grunts in response.

The two stand under the seal of darkness, seeing splintering cracks inside of it. Like spider webs, they branch out, and Aud has been here long enough to know that the seals breaking shouldn't be even possible.

"The Muses have grown silent." Dirigo narrows his eyes. "There hasn't been a single word from them for ages now."

Aud crosses his arms and rubs them with shaking paws. "This can't be good..! Can't we do anything..?!"

"No." Dirigo shakes his head. "We are bound to the Underworld. We can not leave unless-"

Shrieks and screams come from ghosts that fly past, and they begin to crowd around. The Ferrycat and the lost spirit stare in shock before looking at each other and nodding. Slowly, with darkness creating steps for them, they get closer to the seal, doing their best not to agitate the ghosts.

Aud cranes his neck to see, and he swallows thickly, seeing the paw of someone using magic to form more cracks in the seal.

He pales when the body leans down, and his own face stares back at him. Whoever that is above doesn't see him, but around the dopplegangers paws sparks something that looks not like lightning. It's close, but not exact.

"What do you see?" Dirigo finally asks after several tense moments. His eyesight wasn't the best when so close to the light.

"M.. Me.." Aud stutters out. "That's.. That's me up there..!"

The magic below them fizzles out, and they fall back to the island below. Aud continues to stare up at the seal of darkness, even as it cracks more and more.

Dirigo is silent, except for his tail pulling the lost spirit a bit closer to him. Aud could only tremble, wondering why that stranger had his face.

○●○

King Damien flicks his tail as he rises from his knees. He looks down at the seal with a proud look. Only a little be longer now..

He could hear the spirits down below, shrieking and wailing past the veil. It'd taken some time, but he'd managed to communicate with a large quantity of them. He promised them all one thing; a new chance at life, so long as they helped him once they were freed.

Many were happy to oblige.

As he steps out of the water, wringing his tail out, the king flicks an ear. He couldn't help but admit that he was nervous. Tama and Tiresias.. they seemed to be the biggest threats to him at the current moment. One with the blessings of the wind, and one that could see the future.

Damien shudders as he thinks. Those two truly really could ruin absolutely everything for him. But it's not like he could kidnap the kit of a Songbird or somehow locate Tiresias like a god. There were limits to how much he could mess with this games code before everything began unraveling.

Of course..

The king takes a small medallion out of his pocket. He turns it over before chuckling.

That doesn't mean someone else can't do it for me.

[forthedancingandthethriving]

Thought this might be interesting:

Since Dapple started out the closest of everyone, she's the one who reaches Damien/Disc first, and sees him nursing his wounds from Lumiere's "resignation." He, of course, still has no idea that she hasn't been affected by his memory edits, or how uncomfortable she's always been around him, and he's still as interested in her as when they first met, even more-so now since now that he no longer has to keep his Program abilities under wraps and can now consciously sense that she's managed to Cheat Death (even if only at the Character level still) and that she's an outsider like him. So he tries to convince her to join him... and this, of course, goes horribly.

See, Dapple absolutely doesn't fear death, even though of the two of them she's the one who's suffered the worst at its hands. After all, can he say that he was forced to watch, helpless, as a hateful, uncaring Creator kill everyone he loved, everyone he swore to protect, everyone in the whole fucking world? Did he find himself alone at the end, without even the ashes to sift through? She has witnessed so much more death than he could ever even comprehend, experienced trauma beyond his wildest nightmares as a result, and yet she has no fear of it. On the contrary, at her worst moments (particularly most of the perceived millennium she spent as nothing but half a soul in an endless void), she longed for it, would've begged for it if there had been anyone to hear. Thankfully she's now in a healthy enough place where she actually wants to live again, but she'll accept her death with grace when the time comes.

As you might expect, Disc doesn't take this rather dramatic dismissal well, especially since she more-or-less called him a coward to his face during part of it, and so chooses to double down on his plans and accept her monologue as a declaration of war. This close to him Dapple can feel his True Code-Level Form shining through, even with his (healing much faster than a Dark-Specialized Harmonian cat should be) injuries locking most of it down, so she knows that even with her considerable power she won't stand a chance in a straight fight.

So, instead, she invokes a magical ritual from her old world known as Owanimo. It locks them into a Puyo Puyo match, one where if either of them "cheats" by attacking each other via any means but popping Puyos, their magic will be sealed.

Permanently.

She's well aware that he has no good way of learning this, in fact she's counting on it. Even now he indulges her "little game," seeing as he's already winning for real what with the ghost hurricanes and all, but no doubt he'll eventually get frustrated at having to play a game he's probably never even heard of against a Final Boss and attack her directly. It probably won't affect his natural Program abilities, but losing access to his Harmonian magic (and The Rule does affect other games' magic systems, she learned that during her time with the Union) will still be a heavy blow, especially in his current state.

And even if he doesn't take the bait, well, at least she'll be able to stall him until anyone else who feels like getting involved shows up.

She grins wildly as she triggers her latest chain. She'd thought she'd forgotten how good it felt being on the good side of a fate-of-the-world-level-stakes Puyo Battle.

Ooooh yes!! Love this. Get his ass, Dapple!!

[forthedancingandthethriving]

*after the Raging Riptides confrontation*

Lily: Will Root be okay?

Lil Coding, shining his spear: She won't be when I find her.

----

Tulip: It’s like riding a bike or severe childhood trauma.

Tulip: You never really lose it.

----

Vitality: Can we talk about something else and stop talking about dresses and nine inch heels?

Sparks: No. We’re gonna talk about them because while wearing those very things, you leaped over this bar counter, sprinted down an alley, and jumped off a car to subdue someone like you were Wonder Woman.

----

*everyone arguing*

Meggy: If you need me, I'll be right here doing the "Glad I'm an only child dance."

----

Ash: Oh my god, you’re rich.

Tulip: No. My parents were rich.

Ash: So? They'll be considered legally dead in a year.

----

Luigi: Are you through with your shenanigans?

Mario: Nope. I think I am going to shenan-again.

----

Bob: Boopkins, make some ocean noises so I can get to sleep.

Boopkins: Whoosh.

Bob: More like a French beach.

Boopkins: Le whoosh.

----

SMG3: If you're going to be happy in life, SMG4, you have to not care what people say about you. Like truly not care.

SMG3: That's what I keep trying to explain to the president on Twitter, but he blocked me.

----

Lumi: What exactly is our plan?

Leto: Use Root to injure her friends, free Ozymandias, kill Root, and then kill Ozymandias.

Lumi: I.. think that's not a plan. That's a wishlist.

----

Meggy: Wait, who are fighting?

Mario: Anyone who's not a primary color.

----

Domain: Wow, you talk a lot.

Forum: We’ve known each other for two decades, dating for thirteen of those years, and you're only just realizing this?

----

King Damien: Lumiere, how many people of you killed?

Lumiere: Like.. one?

Damien: Wimp… How about you, Fluerette? How many people?

Queen Fluerette: Thousands, many my own people...

Damien: YES! I knew I’d find a powerful ally eventually!

Lumiere: The hell..?

[forthedancingandthethriving]

(Inspo)

"WHAT?!" King Damien shouts, his eyes wide.

"My reaction exactly." Queen Fluerette grumbles as she sits back in her seat. The members of the Teeth in the Dark were gathered as well, all looking worried.

Lumiere snickers from his position lounging on the window ledge. Eyes narrowed at him, but he merely continues to snicker with amusement.

Which soon turns to full-blown laughter. "A non-Cat? Are you serious?"

Fluerette narrows her eyes. "I trust what my soldiers saw, Lumiere."

The villain grins as he continues to laugh. "Oh no, I trust you! It's just who is gonna believe this, haha!?"

Damien deadpans as Lumiere continues to laugh. He then turns his attention back to Fluerette. "So.. what happened to the Seal exactly?"

"It cracked," the queen of Desiderio explains, rubbing her forehead. "And badly, too. My soldiers said it continued to splinter throughout the night."

"The same things happened at other Seals," one of the Teeth members explains. "They started splintering, and it sounds like there's something under there."

"The magic," Damien explains away with a wave of his paw. He narrows his eyes then. "But by the Muses, this isn't good.. we'll have to move forward with our plans sooner."

Fluerette perks in surprise. "How soon?"

The king is quiet before he sighs. "Some time next week. I'll decide tomorrow."

○●○

Underneath her hood, Tiresias's ear twitches. A somber look appears on her face, and she lifts a paw. A golden sting of the future appears and she sighs lowly. "Oh, little king, you could have been so much better. Regain your ears and tail and stand with the vixen once more."

She closes her eyes and shakes her head. "But now, you stand a herald of chaos and hatred. The darkness shall swallow you whole.. you an ignorant puppet."

Tiresias closes her eyes. She has the propechy, she just needs to deliver it when the vixen is here. She sifts through the past, and spots it.

She sighs softly. "I'm sorry, little Abnormality. I did not want to involve you with this, but our paths are now intertwined. I will try to keep you safe but.."

She turns her paw over before clenching it. "I hope you can forgive me."

[forthedancingandthethriving]

"Kehehe.."

King Damien jolts, a paw gripping the wound on his stomach. Blood drips from it, and he silently curses the fact that he still has to stay confined to this form. It would have been worth it, but..

"Ehehehahaha.."

Lumiere.

Fucking Lumiere-!

"AHAHAHAHAHAHAAHA!"

Damien flinches at the manical laughter coming from the tom-cat across from him. Lumiere's eyes were frenzied as his laughter. After a minute or so, Lumiere calmed down. The manic grin on his face fell to a think line as he dragged a paw down his face.

"You must think me stupid," Lumiere hisses, and Damien flinches. The words of Tiresias echo through his mind. "You must think me a fool, King Damien.. if that even is really your name."

"How do you-"

He's cut off by a blast of magic whizzing past his face. Lumiere sneers.

"You don't even know who I am, do you?" The Snowshoe tom-cat's tail lashes about. "I am Lumiere Pyrrhus, son of Apollo Pyrrhus." He lifts his head, scowling. "And I've made Harmonia fear me more than you have today with your pathetic little ghost storm."

Slowly, music begins to build. Damien flinches, eyes going wide.

"I am better in every aspect compared to you." Lumiere chuckles lowly, lifting his paw. Burning and bright Light forms. "And I know this because it's true. I've stricken more fear than you ever have. Compared to what I've achieved, this is a tantrum."

Shards that show reflections shoot towards Damien. They stick in the ground, reflecting and showing his true form. He falters momentarily before summoning his weapon.

"I don't know what you are.." Lumiere chuckles. "A Changeling, a demi-god, maybe something otherworldly, but who cares?" From the music playing, larger and bigger shards form. His grin is large. "I certainly don't. Not when you're throwing a kit's tantrum over something barely anyone even cares about."

"Death is-!" Damien tries to argue, but a shard grazing against his cheek cuts him off.

"I could care less about death, in all honesty." Lumiere shrugs. "It's the necromancy that pisses me off." He sneers. "Someone that can't accept death is someone weak."

The villain chuckles lowly. "It was my mistake for ever thinking you were competent. So, I'll rectify that."

The shards of glass move and flare out, reflecting the Blinding Light that forms around Lumiere's paws, and his eyes glow unnaturally.

"Allow me to show you why this whole contient fears me."

Lumiere - Master of Illusions

"And show me just how pathetic you truly are."

[forthedancingandthethriving]

*In the base somewhere not so far away.. (AKA Effi is busy and can't write a full fic about this, so you're gonna take what you get)*

King Damien: So.. wait. You're capable of freezing Cats into statues for prolonged periods of time?

Queen Fluerette: I am, yes. Though I'm not capable of doing it for an indefinite time, as that requires the work of runes.

King Damien: Still, Fluerette, this is invaluable! Just think of all the things we could do! No one would be able to get in our way-

Lumiere: I didn't know you were all for torture now, King Damien. If I didn't know any better, I'd say you'd relish in it.

King Damien: *siiigh* Lumiere... what do you know that we don't?

Lumiere, chuckling: Freezing is very different from being petrified. While being petrified, turned to stone, it's like blinking once you're released. You aren't able to watch time pass by as you become a statue, you aren't forced to comprehend that the world is passing by and you just have to watch.

Queen Fluerette: Lumiere.. are you implying that..?

Lumiere: When freezed, you can comprehend absolutely everything? Yes, yes I am, Your Majesty. You can hear, you can see, and you can watch. But you can't talk. Basically,'I have no mouth and I must scream'.

King Damien: .. *an oddly thoughtful look crosses his face* Are you speaking from experience, Lumiere?

Lumiere, shrugging: Why wouldn't I be? I was testing new spells and saw some test subjects.

Queen Fluerette: .. now I'm not so sure about this spell..

King Damien: Nonsense! We just have to be careful, that's all. Are there any drawbacks to it, Lumiere?

Lumiere: Aside from the usual trauma and fear of ice magic, it'll mess with their nerves for a good while. They'll have trouble feeling anything.

King Damien: I see.. Hm, Fluerette, let's discuss this more.

*Lumiere watches as the group begins to discuss before he turns and walks out. He takes out the Teeth in the Dark's keepsake, turning it over in his fingers.*

Lumiere: Hmph.. A Changeling king.. what has our world come to?