Distractions

Well, I go off on other business for a few days and what do I find upon my return? Fiona has managed to get herself into a bit of trouble with this 'Rise' character (Rise? honestly?), and now Konaa is staying at her house. How very inappropriate. It seems I cannot take my eye of that child for a minute. This could possibly be an inconvenience and I simply could not allow this to stand.

Konaa was looking for the Ark. Instead, it seems he got a another little run-in with Ridley. Well, almost. The Master appears to have been rather less than amused by Ridley's antics and promptly sent him into a time-out. Ridley, Ridley, Ridley, when will you learn? At any rate, following this little encounter, they headed back to Fiona's house, where I was waiting. While we awaited their return, Dolly requested that I tell her some stories. So I dove into tales about some of the Master's classic victories. The descent into madness of Logan Renault and Damien O'Connor, the blasphemies of Ezekiel Strahm, the eternal chase we allow the man who you know as M. For a more recent wonderful ending, I told her of the fall and death of Zero. Such wonderful stories, each one brings a tear to my eye when I think back to how awesomely the Master is able to use His powers against the blasphemers. Yet somehow she seemed rather less than enthused at such stories, complained that there was not enough blood and death.

I was just about to launch into another story, about one of those idiotic cults that seem to spring up here and there, and about how a whole town of them was wiped out back in the twenties, it is a good one, perhaps I shall tell you all sometime, when finally they returned and arguing rather a bit too loudly as well. From what I could make out Konaa wished to return home and Fiona did not think he was well enough to leave just yet. I am not one to disagree when a wise decision has been made, especially by an enemy and so I interjected that I thought the boy was perfectly alright and should be on his way as soon as possible. They seemed a bit surprised by my presence. I would expect such things out of that blasphemer, but really Fiona, have I not taught you better than that?

Again, clearly I need to be spending less time on my other duties. The Princess still has so much to learn it seems. Konaa was rather visibly irritated with my presence. I had never even met the boy before, yet I felt such an aura of hate towards me; my, and I thought Ridley was the one he disliked. There is something interesting about this one, I would have loved to check out some of his memories, but alas I had not the chance. My powers are rather limited in their nature and I felt to advance upon this one would not be helpful towards the outcome I wished for. I repeated to Fiona that clearly the boy was doing very well and we should respect his wish to leave. Eventually, she agreed and Mr. Konaa was, rather unhappily I think, on his way.

So, with that distraction as well as most others out of the way, I am now free to focus on my business here. I think I will punish Ridley some more, he needs to learn to follow directions and to not stir up trouble around the Princess. It creates needless complications. However, I shall attempt to have you sent someplace else as soon as possible.

Not to Boston. Nowhere near Boston.

~Regards

Nothing exists?

How trite. Fortunately, I place little enough weight on Lucifer's ramblings. But I find myself doubting just how much he was either a traitor or a madman. Depending on how much of what I saw really happened...?

That's not like you, Archangel. Denial. I don't believe for an instant that Eternity actually has that strong a hold over you.

This game has ended. The ceremony took place without a hitch. We gathered at that building, which seemed to be the nexus of some sort of dimensional bleeding. Ridley and his men arrived with Mr. Ross, his sister and the masked man in tow just as Lucifer stepped out of the Other Side with the second Miss Ross. Needless to say that there was a touch of confusion among Mr. Ross and his sister(s) when they all met one another. It didn't last too long though; it seems they've all become quite accustomed to the temporal shenanigans that have been occurring.

Without a hitch? I suppose you consider the priest trying to kill Eternity and, ahem, another party almost taking yours and Ridley's heads to be just business as usual? What am I saying, of course you do.


Lucifer attempted to bargain for returning Miss Ross to us, but Eternity was having none of that. Lucifer became violent and made an attempt at assaulting Eternity, which proved unwise, as Eternity quickly disposed of him. Miss Ross, the time-displaced one, then leapt towards her future self and threw her over the balcony. She was killed instantly.

Certainly doesn't seem that you thought it went as well as you made it sound.

From there the situation only got more out of hand. The formerly-masked man attacked Miss Ross and her brother attempted to restrain him, and through some means or other it seems both of them ended up dead. I was already at the time attempting to seal the bleeding. Lucifer managed to return and made a second attempt at Eternity. The Master stepped in and in his mercy left him alive after removing most of his powers. The building began to shift and something else came of the bleeding and killed Eternity.

If only it were so. At this point, I wouldn't trust anything this bastard says. It was that priest that got involved, but he didn't manage to kill Eternity, whatever that thin white devil may want you to believe. Oh, I got in on the act as well, both of me, though the other one was of course far less sophisticated in his methods. Almost managed to get Ridley's head. I was this damn close. Poor Dave, though. Even I shudder remembering what Slenders did to him. Would have gotten us too, if that priest hadn't managed to pull us out of there. Shit. And Archangel, no matter what bullshit you've had pumped into your head, you didn't do whatever you think you did. I'm not really up on all this dimensional bleeding tomfoolery, but I might be persuaded to be pretty damn sure they actually made you do the opposite of whatever you intended. 

I can't complain because I wouldn't have been here in the first place if you hadn't jacked everything up, but... Actually, no, I think I will complain. It would have been better if this hadn't happened. You actually caused the bleeding. Is it some kind of frigging paradox? I don't know how that crap works, but somehow, whatever you did actually caused the incident two years ago as well. This is just too much shit for me. If I could figure out who it is that's screwing with your memories...

The ceremony was completed, at least, though not without trouble. The Bleeding became more violent the more I tried to seal the breaches. There was            keep keep tellling
go on
There was one moment where it appeared all would be lost, when a breach I had already sealedd9 I ripped open one of the seals to allow the bbledig n to flow m0rr frrelly as i        looekd back algon the time dtream II coudl se myse
wron g story
tha tiwas the one that tried to kill me taht time

It was you. I guess I shouldn't be surprised.

Get out.

Oh? Or what?

You know well enough.

And you know well enough you won't be able to kill me. After what's become of my body, I don't think I fear any man.

The Dark Lord will-

Yes, but he is no man and he will not listen to your orders. Your own powers far surpass those of your pawns but you couldn't fight off that old man. He almost managed to kill you, perhaps I'll try my hand at finishing the job.

Burn.

Rather frightening. You oughtn't to be wasting your energy with such idle displays, though. But before I kill you, I think I'm curious enough to try to figure out what you're hiding, exactly. Be seeing you.









Didn't even try to catch me? Shame. Have I cracked your hold on the Archangel? I think I'll try another, thanks.

Dear, dear...

Ridley, my friend, time paradoxes are not good things, you know. Should you arrive when I am not around, please do not attempt to go through with the procedure yourself. We would like to avoid a repeat of what happened in... well, nearly every other time something like this has been attempted.

Oh, and watch out when you get to that rest stop, the man in the black mask will be waiting for you. And you want to know why you think he is familiar? You do remember this incident, no? I was attacked by a rather odd gentleman, he returned to the house and wrote on my blog? When you first showed up and when we found Madison. Yes, I do know more, but I do not have to tell you all now do I?

You want a taste? Fine, Lucifer was not real. He was never real. You all recall how the Master skillfully and brilliantly distracted you all with that nonsense about the revenants? That is all Lucifer ever was, a distraction. Albeit for a target a bit more powerful and resourceful than you mortal blasphemers, and one that required a bit of convincing that he was actually fighting what he thought he was. Hence, my capture at the hands of that fool. And perhaps we threw a bit of retconning through the timestream in there as well. It did work rather marvelously, I must admit. Of course he caught on eventually and we did end up having to terminate Lucifer a bit earlier than planned, but alas he was from the beginning but a pawn to be sacrificed, so it was no real loss. The time paradox? No, sorry, no time to explain right now, there is business that we must attend to.

Come along my dear, we are going to go see our good friend Cross. One of our compatriots has fallen by his hand and for that there must be retribution. Oh, I do hope that he is reading this. I know what he is planning and I know where to find him.Yes, yes, come along child, we really should be setting off if we want to reach him in time.

Time. Everything just keeps coming back to time, doesn't it?

~Regards

Once More...

--ean, what the hell is he talking about? He didn't even leave the Ark the other day. I saw him, he was just sitting up in his room muttering to himself. I don't think he even had a computer with him the whole day.

I think he's losing. We've verified Knuckles' disappearance, it matches what he described, but there hasn't been any overt activity by the Children since then. And they can't behave the way he's talking about.

That is what I have been trying to tell you all for some time. I say we kill him and be done with it.

Of course you want him dead, Eternity, he's the only one who's actually tried to do anything about your activities.

Whatever are you talking about?

Please. Everyone knows about your little side dealings. We just reckon that if the Master leaves you to it, there's no reason for us to give a damn.

Are you questioning my loyalty to the Master?

What I want to know is what are you even doing here? You aren't here for the "Princess" and it's not as though anything else happens here.

You think so? But my business is none of your concern.

I think it is. Archangel's still only here temporarily, I'm the one in charge around here.

So you are. I am just passing through, what of it?

You never just pass through, what are you here for?

I am afraid that I cannot divulge that information. Now if you will excuse me...

No you don't. I'm getting some damn answers for once. Othello, grab him.

Phantasm, this is most unwise.

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Bastard. They'll eat you alive for this.

Everything Is Fine

Ridley, I know I am rather late, but honestly, letting yourself get beaten by that Konaa brat. You are making us all look bad here. What are you doing anyway? I know you have finally captured those two runners, but you have not updated your blog. What are you doing?

Meanwhile, things have been rather uneventful. The Princess is busy getting caught up on schoolwork, and I suppose a good education is important, so I really have not had much to do. Phantasm is very unhappy that Salem is in Boston with Ridley, nobody knows how the kid managed to get there and nobody even realized that the kid was missing until somebody looked at Ridley's blog and saw Ridley mention it. Phantasm called Ridley to yell at him, but it is not as though he can do anything about it now. That kid is a strange one alright.

Oh, that last post, the nursery rhyme? There is not anything to worry about. That was just the girl. I do not know how she got into my account, but then I do not know how she got here to begin with. She could have been following me for quite some time now even; no one else can see her here, it is possible that she has been hidden from me as well up until now. The little Black-Eyed girl. The same one that came to me all those years ago, before I joined the Master. Has she been following me this whole time? If I am not mistaken then the Children do not age, but I did not think they were immortal. I do not know what is going on now, I thought it was all tied to Lucifer but he is dead now.

I have heard rumors that Cross will be passing through here on his way back from business in Europe. I never did like him much, there is something that he is hiding from all of us, even from the Master. He is an untrustworthy sort.

Oh, right, none of you know about Cross, do you? Of course not, he is not the type to leave records of his presence. Heh, I am sure he will not be amused that I have written this. It matters not though, I am his superior, it is not as though he can do anything about it.

That will be all now. Fiona is finished with her tutor for the day and will be in to see what I am doing on her computer again. Must not have her finding my little blog just yet now can we?

~Regards

there was a crooked man

...who walked a crooke d mile
he found a crooked sixpence
upon a crooed stile
he bougfht a crooked cat
who caught a crooked mouse
and they all lived togther
ina littel crooked house

The Devil's Children

You shut the door. But it doesn't matter, they're still out there. You can still hear them, you can still hear her, screaming at you to let them come in. She tells you you're going to die... it's already too late, you've seen them, you've talked with them, you're going to die. Isn't that what happens to those who have seen the Children? The Children with the black eyes. The Devil's Children.

It's been an hour now. Why are they still there? Why hasn't the landlady shooed them? Surely someone must have complained, they're so damn loud. You can't take it anymore, this has to stop. You get up from your chair and walk swiftly back to the door, you open it. There's nothing out there, only darkness. Empty. But they're still there, you know they are, you can still hear them in your head, they want you to let them in, LET THEM IN! COME IN GODDAMMIT, THE DOOR'S OPEN, COME IN, COME IN, COME IN DAMN YOU AND GET IT OVER WITH!

Your neighbor opens their door to see what all that screaming is. He looks down the hall at you with an expression that tells you he thinks you're mad. You're the mad one? How could he not hear the Children and their screaming? But it's gone now. The yelling. You don't hear them anymore and so you start to think maybe you are going mad. Black-eyed children? Something that can't really exist, surely. But you remember, you remember that there were stories; you remember the old Cajun down the street who used to tell stories to the children. It was so long ago, but you still remember the stories. You hadn't thought about those old stories for more than a decade, but you remember now.

In the old days, all the children would go down to see the old Cajun gentleman and listen to his stories. He told about the Black-Eyed Children, didn't he? About strange children with dark eyes who approached people and asked for favors. People felt fear when encountering these children. The old man loved to frighten the neighborhood children, you see. He told them about the Axe Man of New Orleans and about the Comte Saint Germaine. About the Salem Witch Trials, or what he claimed really happened in 1692. There were tales of strange creatures which were known to the Japanese, turtle demons with bowls of water in their skulls and vampire like things with floating severed heads. He once spoke of a little girl made of wood who could control people by wrapping strings around them like puppets. He told of the Mad Arab Abdul Alhazred and how he met his grisly end. And the Angel of Fallen Light, who had been cursed by God to wander the Earth for eternity and who, it was said, hated all creatures with power like himself and would attempt to purge these beings from existence.

There was one that particularly stood out though. You aren't really sure why you think of this one more clearly than all the rest. Maybe because of how eerie it was now, thinking back to how the old man died. The story of the Tall Man. It was said that the Tall Man had lived forever and that he would live still until the Earth was made desolate, or even until the last star in the night sky had blinked out. He wore a dark suit and a tie and his face never appeared the same twice, if he even had a face at all. He went after children who were bad and took them away where they were never seen again. He walked among the trees and could be found in any forest or woods to those who were foolish enough to seek him out. These were found later, their bodies ripped open and hung from the trees. And to all those who knew too much of the Tall Man, madness surely followed.

One of the children had asked the old Cajun how he could know so much then, if madness came to those who possessed knowledge. The old man replied that he could not be affected because he was already quite mad, and he began to laugh like a madman and you and all the children became frightened and ran away. You think that was the last time the children were allowed to go and listen to the Cajun's stories. Some months later some kids in the neighborhood went missing. Some people blamed it on the old Cajun, as he too had disappeared. After some days of looking, they found the old Cajun. In the woods, his body mangled and impaled on the trees, his organs removed and intestines strung up in the branches. With him were some scraps of clothing from the missing children. They were never found.

You think over the stories again. There's something missing, something not quite right. You notice the lights begin to flicker and the radio is just static. Wait a minute, you didn't turn the radio on. You know you didn't. The door's still open so you close it, then you see something move out of the corner of your eye. Something you can't make out, it's hidden in the shadows, and those damn lights are only making things worse. You cross the room and turn off the radio. Now there's that whispering in your ears. The story, about the Tall Man, why does it sound so... what? You can't quite place it, but you know there's something familiar, something you should remember and it's not just because of some old fairy tale you heard when you were little. Damn, that whispering, maybe you are going mad, where is it coming from? You see something moving in the shadows again and try to follow it, to find out what it is. Whispering in your head. It's so loud, why is it so loud? It's only a whisper, just a whisper, but it's so very loud.

It's too much. You walk into the kitchen, you have to sit down, try to think. Didn't you just close that door? Yes, yes, you know you closed the door only a minute ago, why is it open again? The girl is there again. The little girl with the empty, black eyes. She's standing outside and... she's talking to someone. Someone inside the house. You lean over, trying to get a look at who it is but all you can make out is a shadow, an odd shadow. Shaped like a man, but not the right size for a man. The whispering in your head, it's the shadow, you can hear it now. The whispering tells her to come inside. She turns and looks right at you and starts walking towards you. You want to get up, to leave before she reaches you but you can't because the whispering is still so loud and you can't think clearly. And it's telling you that you need to stay. The little girl stops in front of you; she stares at you with those solid black eyes. She speaks, her voice cold and without emotion. She says

"The Tall Man would like to play a game with you, sir. He would be ever so displeased if you were to refuse."

You can't speak, still staring into those eyes, like looking into the void. She turns around to face the door and you turn with her. The shadow is there again, slithering into the room; but now you can see what was attached to the shadow...

Then you wonder why it all seems so familiar.