The Qliphoth - Dead On Arrival

Lvl 14 Ms Fortune (139/140) Lvl 9 Goldlewis (88/90) Lvl 4 Grimm (11/40)
Midna, Junior, Rika & Edward’s @DracoLunaris Blazermate, Sectonia & Roland’s @Archmage MC Geralt, Zenkichi & Edelgard’s @MULTI_MEDIA_MAN Ace Cadet, Pit, Primrose & Therion’s @Yankee Juri’s @Zoey Boey Roxas, Ganondorf, & Falcon’s @Double
Word Count: 2394


Though Nadia helped set a casual and chipper tone at first, the Seekers’ upward journey through the Qliphoth on foot quickly became a challenge unto itself, demanding a not-insignificant amount of tension. Still, with such a large group and so many helping hands around, the team could deal with any setbacks that arose and ran into no true roadblocks. When valves contracted between the demon tree’s organic caves to block the interlopers’ way, it took only a few moments -or a few volunteers going off on their own- to locate and strike the nerve clusters that would make the fleshy doors relax again. When a passageway opened up into a hollow with tricky terrain suspended above explosive acid, toothy spikes, or explosive systems, the more agile and aerial Seekers could be trusted to find or make a way. And when parasitic monsters wriggled out of the floodfested woodwork, or gangs of demons arose to defend their territory, the threat was soon dealt with.

After a little over twenty minutes, a narrow tunnel with a treacherously steep grade opened up into what looked like a crossroads. About a half-dozen tunnels opened up into various directions, with no indicator of which route the Seekers ought to take. The impromptu race between Pit, Roxas, and Nadia -who was always up for a little fun and games- came to an end in that intersection, the three participants so neck-and-neck as they burst from the mouth of their tunnel that the winner wasn’t immediately apparent. Before any bickering over who took first place could break out, however, their sudden arrival flushed a rabbit from its hole. A carrier form lurched from the cozy ventricle where it had been resting, taking Nadia by surprise for a moment. Once she saw what it was, though, the feral relaxed. These bloated bags had been common sights around the Qliphoth so far, and not particularly threatening ones either. To Nadia, it was almost cute the way they toddled toward the heroes, their only goal in life to get as close as possible before they got killed and spilled the beans. Or popcorn, in this case. This carrier, however, seemed to be toddling away from the intruders rather than toward them. It made a beeline for one of the more unassuming tunnels as fast as its stubby little legs could carry it–which, of course, wasn’t very fast. Nadia whipped out the alien pistols she’d received from Midna like a cowboy at high noon, taking aim at the carrier as it retreated. “I got it!”



Two pulls of the trigger was enough to burst the carrier like a zit and send a handful of chihuahua-sized infection forms flying all over. As the pests rained down a couple dozen feet away Nadia took potshots at them, popping them one or two at a time. To the trigger-happy catgirl it was like shooting fish in a barrel, and with help from both Pit and Roxas, the floodfested spawn would be dealt with in no time. Still, those that found their footing tried to scurry away into the tunnel, forcing Nadia to charge her last shot. With a grin, Nadia closed one eye and stuck out her tongue to line up the shot, only for a black claw to settle on her shoulder.

“Huh?” She peeked down to see the featureless white face of Grimm, rather unsettlingly close, and averted her aim. “Grimm? What’s up?”

The Troupe Master watched the infection form scurry up into the tunnel, passing by several possible hidey-holes as it went. ”It flees for the safety of its brood. We should follow it.”

Goldlewis, who’d arrived just a moment ago, narrowed his eyes at the very particular path that the parasitical nugget had taken. He could see the wisdom in Grimm’s suggestion, but the veteran didn’t trust in luck. “Could be a trap.”

With a snort, Nadia returned her new guns to her belt. “Aw, c’mon. These things are just mindless monsters. No need to be pair-annoyed!”

“I guess...” Goldlewis watched the more intrepid members of the team go after the runaway creep. Since the Dead Zone Guardian was probably the biggest and baddest monster around, the worst-case scenario here was also technically the best case. If the infection form led the Seekers to anything else, they could just squash it and be on their way. Goldlewis shrugged, then followed along with the others.

Before long, the veteran’s intuition began to be proven correct. After only a minute or so, the new tunnel opened up into a large hallway. It was very dark, illuminated only by a crimson light that shone eerily between what looked like two giant doors at the far end.



That abhorrent radiance illuminated almost rocky walls, pitted and scarred, as well as countless still, indecipherable shapes along them. It was unnervingly quiet, and the atmosphere was thick. Goldlewis almost had a heart attack when one of the nearest figures suddenly turned toward him, scarlet eyes aglow, only for him to realize it was Grimm. “Gah! For Pete’s sake, don’t ffff-!” Catching sight of Rika and Junior, he managed to control himself in the nick of time and keep both his voice and profanity down. “-fffffudgin’ do that, ya…gosh darn bug!”

”Ssh,” Grimm whispered, a claw held up to his face. ”They’re listening.”

The hairs on the back of Nadia’s neck stood up, her ears rigid, and she slowly lowered herself to the ground. As she crept through the hallway, toward what looked rather like carved stone steps at the foot of the great doorway, she became more and more sure about what her instincts told her. The shapes along the corridor’s sides weren’t outcrops, nor statues, nor even Qliphoth flora, but monsters. There were flood forms and infested freaks of all shapes and sizes pressed against the walls. Though all but motionless, they couldn’t help but move their eyes, heads, and feelers to slowly track the Seekers’ progress. A chill ran down her spine as Nadia remembered the otherworldly garden beneath Carcass Isle, a procession of abyssal supplicants and bioluminescent plants in the gloom that preceded the beach.

”They’re expecting us,” the Troupe Master rasped.

Nadia slowly rose to her feet, but the floodfested monsters didn’t react. Not even attacking them would prompt a response, she suspected, but she wasn’t too keen to put that to the test. She looked back at the others, then toward the doors at the end of the hall, and sighed. So much for 'mindless monsters', though if anything, this was even creepier. “Guess we’re doin’ this,” she muttered. “Well, I ain’t a-fur-aid. Let’s do this.”

Goldlewis shook his head and stepped forward. “God help us…”

Her cohorts had no choice but to proceed through the corridor. None of the horrors in the darkness reacted until the Seekers reached the stairs at the far end, at which point two juggernauts stepped from the shadows to lay their tentacles against the massive doors. Deep, heavy creaks echoed through the hall, the juggernauts threw open the door, and the wary Seekers stepped through.



The door opened onto a semicircular promontory, about a dozen feet high, that overlooked a wide-open semicircular hollow, its walls a purplish lattice reminiscent of the Great Bole’s and its floor mostly flat. Almost every inch of space, however, was occupied by a floodfested monster, a motionless horde that blanketed the floor. At the center, across a moat of fetid blood, at the base of a huge column that gleamed with spirals of hellish light, lay an enormous mound of undead flesh several stories high. A small portion of its front had been carved to resemble a nightmarish throne, and there sat a broad-shouldered Consul in armor of burnished red.

“They’re here,” a wizened male voice announced. When Goldlewis looked upward, he found a pair of large, disembodied eyes glaring back at him from the air. Narrowed coldly, they sported burgundy irises, and lemniscate-shaped pupils that glowed vivid red. As he watched, the eyes turned and floated back down toward the throne. They positioned themselves next to it, and as they turned another Consul popped out of the ground nearby, this one with a tall helmet. When the voice returned, though, it emanated from the eyes, which suggested to Goldlewis that three Consuls were in play. And not one of them is the Guardian.

“Welcome, esteemed guests,” the aged voice wheezed. “I must apologize for the horde’s lack of hospitality. Once we knew who it was, though, we called them off straight away. After all…” The eyes narrowed slightly, as if the rest of the entity’s face was smiling. “What kind of hero gets killed by mere fodder? Thus, we arranged to bring you here, and even allowed you to rest in our parlor, such as it is. To ensure that each and everyone one of you would reach this burial ground, and be blessed with a true and proper death, hehehehehe!”

At that point, the Consul on the throne gave a bored groan. “Enough foreplay, O. We’ve all waited long enough.” After sipping from his wine glass through his helmet, the Consul raised his hand. “Let’s show them what they came for.”

Immediately, the floodfested horde began to move, but instead of the Seekers, they made a break for the throne. They threw themselves at the fleshy heap like lemmings, and were in an instant unmade, their biomass added to the pile. Noise from the hallways behind the team alerted Nadia with a twitch of her ear, and when she turned she saw the monsters from before pouring outward. She readied herself for battle and slashed at the first wretch to come her way, but even as her claws parted a leg from its body, it did not relent. It flew past her and flopped down into the arena, where it used its arms to drag itself toward the throne. None of the floodfested attacked, in fact; they just wove around or between the Seekers in order to join the stampede of self-annihilation, heedless of any damage that befell them.

As it accumulated biomass, the mound began to grow, upward and outward. Four enormous tentacles took shape, two on either side of the throne, and the eyes watched it all with glee. “Heeheehee! You poor little heroes, thought so highly of by that fool S…I hope you've made your peace. Today, you have the honor of dying at our hands…at the glorious hands of Moebius D, O, and A!”

Just then, a horrific, guttural noise resounded through the final hollow, something between a roar, a scream, and a battle cry. From the mass of diseased flesh a trunk took shape, then a maw. A million voices cried out in terror and pain, and then, all was silent.

”...THIS IS NOT YOUR TOMB, BUT YOU ARE WELCOME IN IT. I HAVE PITY WITHIN ME, AND INFINITE TIME. BUT I ALSO HAVE IMPATIENCE - FOR I AM ALL THINGS! COME! JOIN WITH ME IN TIMELESS CHORUS, AND SING VICTORY EVERLASTING!

Warning - boss discovered!

Sufferer of Infinitude

GRAVEMIND


As it raised its tentacles, the floating eyes of Moebius O flew upward and outward toward the left side of the arena, while Moebius A paced toward the right, his hands behind his back. “I was much aggrieved to learn that the Orphan was summarily executed whilst both L and I were otherwise engaged,” he intoned in a deep, refined voice. “Here and now, I will remedy my grievous oversight.” When he came to a stop, he snapped his fingers, and three perfect duplicates arose alongside him. “You still foolishly consider yourself an entity separate from the whole. I know better. And I. Will. Show you.”

“Did he say A?” Sandalphon’s voice filtered through the sigil by her allies’ heads. “When I spoke with Dawn, she told of her parents’ encounter with this selfsame Consul, who were forced to ‘choose’ and lost half their party. Please, be wary of A. If you require my aid, please do not hesitate to call me. I will not fail you.”

Goldlewis took a deep breath in through his nose. Just like in Midgar, Moebius was upping the ante by fighting alongside their Guardian, but this time instead of one Consul alongside various local legends, three Consuls -including one from a different region, apparently- were here to snuff the Seekers out. “Got it. Thanks, Halo.” He emptied his lungs, hefted his coffin, and raised his voice. “Big talk, but you bozos are goin’ down just like the rest!” He started his stopwatch with a beep.

Beside him, Grimm stared at his own burning claws, then snuffed out the flames with a clamped fist and turned his eyes on the Gravemind.

Nadia grinned. Using Rosetta’s Roll and Gun, she reloaded her empty handguns, then trained them on the seated Consul. Out of all three Consuls, only D had yet to get a move on. “Better get that ass in gear, bud, ‘cause you’re about to be over-throne!”

The Gravemind’s tentacles slammed the ground, shaking the whole hollow. ”DO NOT BE AFRAID, LITTLE LAMBS. YOU’VE WANDERED FAR AND LONG…BUT IT IS TIME TO WELCOME YOU HOME!”