Color: The Return (IC)

Treachery's eyes narrowed in barely-concealed hatred.
"That's alright," she said sweetly, "I can watch from here."

Out of the view of the monitor, her fist began sinking into the metal of the arm of the chair she was seated in. Her anger brought on heat, which was dispelled by melting the chair.

This was a surefire sign to her minions to not irritate her, or they might find their flesh a little more seared than they would like.

"Phaedra's busy. Now in the time that we have I want you to tell me what you meant" Ariana said. "How could you be Mallis's daughter?"

"Adopted daughter" said a voice from the clouds.
"More like stolen" Dalia told her father's voice. "Dad stole me from my real parents. I ran away when I found out he was evil. I've been running around the realms ever since, most recently watching all of you."

"Why would Mallis adopt a child?" Tharan asked.
"I think he just wants someone to love, someone other than himself."
"He has millions of minions. Why wouldn't he just create his own daughter?"
"His minions don't have souls of their own. They are technically part of him. If he made a wife he'd be marrying himself," Dalia said. "I've observed him. He's very lonely"

Xiepher felt a long eerie presence in the background, the usual presence one would feel when near a destroyer. The only difference that it was rather fiery. It could have been Treachery's rage, that he normally senses when she's angry, although he considered the fact that it was farther back in the ship. Xiepher frowned and thought to himself, More madness? He shrugged it off and continued staring at the computer screen. On the screen, there was a red light on the map of the ship in what appeared to be the teleportation room. There wasn't any noise to indacate the message. Next to the grid, in all red capital letters, was the phrase, "UNAUTHORIZED TELEPORTATION SEQUENCE ENABLED." Xiepher gaped at the signal, and turned to Treachery. A bit scared that he would find his face seared into ash, he asked hesitantly, "Is now a good time?" He pointed at the red screen.

***

Wrath smiled and waltzed around with the guards, near the back of Treachery's ship. The guards seemed to be half lovestruck with Wrath, partially dazed, and partially hypnotized. Wrath giggled and caressed the guards faces. "Yes! That's it! Love me!" She twirled and danced around, steadily making her way to the front of Treachery's ship.

***

Lust burst into Fear's living quarters, panicked. Noticing Fear, she ran over to the puny Destroyer, "Fear! Insanity is missing!" Fear perked his little head up towards Lust. Lust seemed devastated, and stammered, near tears, "I-I was looking for him in his lab, but he wasn't there!"

Fear, worried beyond belief, screeched, "WHA'!? WHERE IS HE? DID YOU SEE EVERYWHERE?"

Lust said, "If I knew how to manage his technology, I would look for him elsewhere!" Lust breathed heavily, and paced around the room. "Oh, what should we do!?"

The Advisor was preparing some food for Fear in his cafe when she overheard the conversation. She sauntered outside the kitchen, and asked, "What's going on out here?" She looked at Fear, sobbing like the child that he was, and at Lust, trying to calm him. The Advisor narrowed her eyes and snapped at lust, "What did you do to him?"

Lust backed up from Fear as the Advisor approached, "It wasn't me, it's Insanity! He's missing!"

Appalled at what she had heard, the Advisor gasped and said, "Master Insanity is missing?"

***

Anger grew tired of Lelouch's whining, and apparently failed to ignore her, resulting in a shout, "SHUT UP ALREADY! I'M TIRED OF YOUR COMPLAINING, AND SICK OF YOUR CRAP! JUST FOR THAT, I'M MAKING BOTH OF YOUR HARVESTS LONG AND CRUEL, WHICH I WAS GOING TO DO ANYWAY, BUT NOW I'M GONNA MAKE IT MUCH MORE PAINFUL." Anger fastened a chain to both Lelouch and Zal-Tek's bodies, almost like a harness, and let them go. They hung there from his belt. Anger reached in a sack attached to a chain around his neck and searched for something.

Lelouch was silenced by this speech that Anger gave. She looked at Zal-Tek, and then looked away with a frown. Lelouch searched her thoughts for a plan to release herself. What she thought was a brilliant plan struck her. She whispered to Zal-Tek, "Hey, buddy, I have all your powers stored in this little satchel here, I'll give you them if you help me!"

***

Insanity was a bit suspicious, "Is everything alright Phaedra? You seemed troubled."

Zal-Tek's eyes went wide and he gasped, before holding his breath for a second to ensure he wouldn't alert Anger. After he calmed himself he looked up at Lelouch. "Do you realize," he whispered back somewhat harshly, "how much raw power that is?" He narrowed his eyes at her. What would happen to Arcan if he didn't get his powers back?

He didn't need to think it over. "Sure sure, just hurry!"

Lelouch grabbed her white bag, and unbuttoned it. Anger turned around. He noticed them communicating and yelled, "Oh no you don't!" He scooped both of them up into one fist, causing Lelouch to drop the bag. It landed and spilled open the contents of a gold and red aura. Anger didn't even notice the bag. The power in the bag slowly returned back to Zal-Tek. Anger began to talk, "This serum will give you four extra lives. I will use all of them to torture you with, and then Harvest you. That sounds about fair for annoying me so much." Most definitely not fair.

Zal-Tek felt his power return. He smiled, narrowing his eyes slightly. Something felt off, but there wasn't time to question it. He looked up at Anger, a smug expression on his face. "I don't think you really want to do that," he said, and his red eye glowed slightly. "As it happens, if I'm dead I can't help you..." he fed his magic into the words themselves, helping him to convince Anger.

"C'mon," he finished with a smile, "let us go."

"Phaedra, I don't mean to interrupt, I'm sure you're in the middle of something more important but Dalia is revealing a lot! Mallis is cutting into this message. Now he-he-e-h-he-he-e" the telepathic transmission was cutting up. "He's summon-n-Ning m-more minions! W-we're geetttting o-overrun! SEND HELP!!" Ariana screamed through the message. The roar of Tharan could be heard. A dark voice came into the message and spoke to both Phaedra and Lethor.

"If you're wise, you won't come back for them. Ariana and Tharan are mine now. Wish them a good goodbye. They won't live to see you again"

Shrieks were heard throughout the forest and footsteps were heard. Vibrations were felt beneath Insanity's feet. Insanity got thrown off balance by the sudden rumbling. The dirt around them broke up into holes, as siither scurried out of them. Millions of terrified telepathic cries were heard by Ellie from the siither fleeing Mallis's minions. A giant negative sense was felt around the three. A giant voice roared from the castle they encountered earlier on the planet. Insanity became confused. He sensed Mallis and another giant force. That giant force was nearly as great as Death's presence. What was the other force?

***

That other force was Loneliness; one of the tallest of all the Destroyers. He stands 202 feet tall, and is very quick to anger. "WHO HAS DISTURBED MY PLANET!?" He screamed from the castle as he stood up. Covered with thick and mossy enchanted steel armor, he grasped his humongous harpoon and sickle. The millions of siither crawled up onto Loneliness, and were ready to help when they were needed. "THE PLANET OF ACKCADIA SHALL REMAIN PEACEFUL! AS THE GUARDIAN OF THIS WORLD, I SHALL NOT ALLOW YOU TO DEVOUR MY HOME WITH RAGE AND DARKNESS!" Loneliness does not tolerate ANY darkness on his world.

He lifted his legs and began to walk towards Mallis.

***

Insanity yelled, "What's going on!?"

***

For some reason, Xiepher and Treachery were not affected by the spell Wrath put over the ship. Death looked through the screen, "Is everything alright?"

Xiepher didn't turn around to face Death but spoke, "Excuse me Death, but there's a problem we must fix." He ended the transmission and grabbed some pulse rifles. No guards were in the room. "Where is everyone?" He took out a tablet and looked at it as he opened the door to exit the control room.

Xiepher reported to Treachery, "Master, it seems that another destroyer has intruded the ship."

***

Wrath smiled, "Everyone dance with me!"

Tharan and Ariana were floating in glowing bubbles within a world made of lack clouds and billions of shrieking souls. Tharan was powerful so Mallis had put him under a deep hyper sleep while Ariana was awake and frightened.

Dalia was in a black bubble down beneath the clouds and too far for the eye to see. Mallis was floating and there was a portal to the Destroyed Realm behind him.

"If you're going to kill us, could you please just do it?" Ariana begged.
"Fool! I'm not going to kill you straight away! I have uses for you..."
"We're the bait..." Ariana realized. "Why?"
"I desire one thing and one thing alone right now... The soul of Phaedra and the joy of little Lethor--two things then" Mallis hacked.

"Lethor is NOT little!" Ariana yelled.
"I admit I have a habit of underestimating the lot of you, but your boyfriend really isn't as great as you make him sound. He is no warrior!"

"How are they even supposed to get here?" Asked the girl.
"There is a portal appearing close to them. I have no doubt that Phaedra will be able to sense it."

Ellie was dumbstruck.
She hadn't even taken the time to focus on what she could now see-
Tharan... Ariana...

She shielded herself from the emotions of both them and Phaedra, it was overpowering and she couldn't focus. What now?
What could she even do to help? Assuming Tharan and Ariana were even... Even alive...

She didn't know. All she could do was watch, and barely that.

Ariana shrieked in her mind "PHAEDRA!! DO NOT COME TO KEROS!! IT'S A TRAP!!" Suddenly her head felt a loud crack and began to ache.

"Telepathy cannot be sent to anyone or anything outside of this area. I have surrounded this field of Darkness with an Anti-Telepathy spell. Nobody can hear your mental shrieks" Mallis said.

"Phaedra and Lethor might be busy right now, but they will come here. You and I both know. When they do, I will torture them both. I'll tell them things that aren't true. I'll say that the only way to release you two from the orbs is if Phaedra gives up her soul. But I know she won't so when both of you are released, I'll kill Tharan first and make them watch their friend and guardian dragon die. Then I'll torture you, making Lethor's spirits die. I'll fast-forward your curse and make you turn into a Darkling, like my minions. Then you'll rip into him and try to kill him. He'll have no choice but to kill you or let himself die. Then I'll kill Lethor if you haven't already, making Phaedra watch it. In the end, Phaedra will have seen her brother, dragon, and perhaps one-day-to-be sister-in-law all perish. After that, she will die" Mallis said seriously and darkly.

Tears slipped from Ariana. Ever since she had come into the Destroyed Realm, Mallis had seemed more of an annoyance than a true threat. She always feared the Destroyers over him. But now... he had grown into something more... sinister. She never thought he'd turn into this, such torturing desire. So much bloodlust...

"Why?" she said with a sob.
"You should have asked my parents that a few centuries ago when they banished me from Shrombolia for something I wasn't even aware I was doing. You can thank them and an assortment of Elders for this. It's not my fault. It's never been my fault. If you know the Darkness, you'll know that when it corrodes a lifeform, that creature turns evil and can't do a single thing against that. I'm nothing but evil anymore. I don't have a heart..." Mallis said. He turned and floating off into the black clouds. Ariana just kept starring at the lake-like portal a distance beyond the bubble. She wanted to be saved, but she'd rather have Phaedra and Lethor safe.

***



Near the center of the Destroyed realm was the beginning of the crowning of the Major, Duchess Betrayal, the new stuck up little princess of the Royal Destroyed Clan. She smiled mischievously as she walked down the hall onto her new throne. She just imagined how jealous Treachery would be of her.

Music played around the area through speakers. On the sides of the massive corridor, stood Destroyers attending the event. A few of them mumbled in the crowd, disappointed that they couldn't be the one to be the new Major.

Most of the Destroyers were dressed up very nicely, except for the one sitting on the bench near the back. He was dressed in a red plaid shirt, and torn up jeans, rather casual apparel. This one was Bitterness, Hatred's younger brother.

He looked over at Sorrow and whispered to him, "This little brat isn't gonna last three days as the new Major. She's gonna end up dead like that Fury chick."

Sorrow's black cloak made him blend in and be nearly unnoticed by others. He had himself cleaned up, but even still black grease was stained to his gray skin. All in all, it didn't matter how much he tried to look clean, he'd still be dirty. His body seemed to somehow form it.

Sorrow would have giggled, but he was incapable of laughter or happiness, joy, any sort of pleasure or amusement. So he made a strange wheezing-quick breath pattern that simulated laughter.

"Exactly. If only a better system of elections was put into play. But her death at least will entertain those of us who saw it coming. I'd laugh at it, but I can't" Sorrow said through his mask (that you'd often see someone under maximum security in an insane asylum wear).

Bitterness looked away, "I know, I know." He lounged back and stretched out his legs, frowning. "It's so dang  boring around here." He picked up his knife and flipped it around his hand. He threw it up in the air, and it landed on the tip of his finger, though it didn't cut him (he's impervious to cuts). Bitterness balanced it on the tip, then grabbed it by the blade. He looked over at Sorrow. The poor fellow had never experienced happiness. Bitterness felt bad for him and wondered if there was some way to make Sorrow happy, besides, they were best friends. Perhaps seeing other people humiliated would amuse him.

Bitterness leaned over to him, ignoring the stench, "Hey buddy, look at this." He aimed the knife right at the part of Betrayal's dress that was dragging on the ground. He had a plan. Bitterness flicked the knife right at that part, and got it caught on the dress, stabbing the silk into the rug.

The music stopped.

Betrayal noticed right after it was too late. Before she knew it, almost every part of the dress under her waistline was torn off. She looked down feeling a draft, and all she saw was her bare gray legs and black panties. She screamed, feeling so revealed, she picked up the part of her dress and concealed what part was showing. She ran back down the long hall crying.

A few Destroyers laughed, some stared, and only a few looked away.

Death was shocked. Who would have done that to such an innocent little girl? She thought. Death stood up and screamed in a menacing voice, "Who did this!?"

Bitterness tried to conceal his laughter, but failed horribly. "Oh, my god! Haha! That stuff's too good!" He laughed some more and fell off the bench. "How was that Sorrow? Whatcha think?"

Sorrow would have died laughing, and he almost felt a sensation close to it. His fake-laugh wheezed up and down, it was close as he was biologically possible.

"That was brilliant" Sorrow said. He began staring at Death to see what she'd do. Sorrow made a fake-grin under his mask and awaited the next action.

Controlled fury was held in Death as she faded towards Bitterness. When the Grand Master is angry, she begins to fade with a dark shadow, instead of walking. She looked down menacingly at Bitterness rolling on the floor. "You did this, Grayling."

Bitterness looked up still laughing, "So? What are ya gonna do?" He began to stand up. Bitterness's height was decimated by Death's; a 40 foot difference.

Death didn't smile nor frown, a straight evil face. Her left eye began to glow a bright red crimson. She said in a deathly voice, "Punishment..."

Bitterness looked over at Sorrow. "Come on Sorrow, we can take her."

Death looked over at Sorrow, "Please do not get involved."

Sorrow stood up. He fashioned a fake-giggle and made a smile, even though it was fake and he really didn't feel like making an evil smile. He just thought it would be good for the moment. He ripped off his mask and revealed his evil face. His jaw was skinny, yet had a fleshy blackish tongue and huge white fangs. He screamed in Death's face, it was so loud that even a deaf person would hear it clearly. Spit and snot shot from his throat onto her face and the powerful breath of the shriek was so blowing that it would knock her head back like a punch.

When it was over her gave another fake smile, baring his fangs. He licked his lip-less mouth. His voice somehow deepened and darkened. "What kind of punishment you talkin' about girl? Are you gonna give us a whipping? Huh? Where's your paddle at?" he said stroking her face with the edge of his claws, not enough to draw blood but enough to make it scary. Somehow he managed to get a wheeze-of-a-laugh. It was so convincing that it actually sounded like he was capable of the amusement.

Sorrow's mucus that ended up on Death's face vaporized. "I wonder how long I'm going to have to support my traitorous Clan. The ones that had your titles previously were very loyal. Paeisis was a much better being of Sorrow than you. And I never did like you Bitterness."

Her eye sent out millions of holographic lines that scanned Bitterness and Sorrow. It pulsed and then the two of them disappeared.

Death turned around, "From now on, anyone else that sins shall be sent to where the two of them are now."

Violation raised his hand, "And where would that be...?"

Death responded with one word, "Hell."

***

So much madness was occurring with the transfer. Bitterness was being trampled by a million feet, and Sorrow was being slapped by millions of hands. Clawed by a million claws, the both of them. Screaming souls that would pierce their ears, and ten times the amount of what could deafen them.

Then they woke up.

They were both under a giant tree, in the middle of a meadow. Fear, Madness and Insanity would have recognized this place. Flowers and leaves were spread out everywhere. To the west was a forest.

Anger looked at Zal-Tek, a bit hypnotized, "Oh uh, okay then." He put both of them down. The spell seemed to affect Anger differently, not exactly the way the original Spell was meant to do, but a little extra.

Lelouch looked at Zal-Tek as she feed in some of her own hypnotic spells as well. She smiled and said to Anger, "Why don't you do us a favor and help us get out of the corruption point, I'm not so fond of Corruption anymore."

Mallis stood impatiently. He looked at Ariana. "I guess your boyfriend doesn't love you as much as I thought. He and his sister sure are taking their time. Here, I'll trick them up a bit."

Mallis sent a telepathic message, though it sounded like Ariana's voice "Phaedra! Help! There's a portal opening by you! Come save us! He's killing us!!!"

He sent a second to Lethor which would be much more disturbing. First it was a choppy, distorted buzz. Ariana's scream came into it. "LETHOR!! It's Ariana... Mallis has... He's captured me and Tharan... HE'S TORTURING US!!! AUUUUGGH!!!" She gave out many bloody yells, moans and cries.

"Lethor, there's a portal behind you. But I don't want you to go into it. I... I don't think you could handle it. I'm sorry.., but this might be the end, I love you..."

The message ended with more shrieks, a dragon's roar and an evil laugh from the callous master himself.

Ellie jumped.  She could still hear Ariana through Phaedra, and it scared her.
Wait.
Something was off.  With the little magic she had left she grabbed a small strand of the message, refusing to let it fade out, and examined it.  There was definitely something strange about it...
She tried to trace it to it's source, but she couldn't extend herself that far anymore.  She settled for examining the piece she still had.  It wasn't Ariana, that was for sure, but it still seemed familiar.
She looked closer, literally picking the message apart, letting it play back as she ripped away the edges of it.
Phaedra!  Help!
That sounded different.  She tore the edges off the message, making it harder to hear, but ripping through any basic illusion on it.
Phaedra!  Help!

She froze, dropping the message and letting it dissipate.
That's not Ariana, she told Phaedra gravely, It's Mallis.

Anger said dully, "Uh, okay." He was in a daze, and didn't look at anything directly. "If you, uh, follow me... You can get out of here." He began walking.

***

Bitterness sat up. There was a chilling sense of death crawling up their backs. He looked around. He found Sorrow, sleeping, "Hey, hey buddy, wake up."

***

Insanity jumped from the noise of the portal opening.

Loneliness stomped into their view, and boomed from above. "I have heard from my brothers and sisters that a being of Keros, 'Mallis,' has disrupted the planetary code." A tiny siither crawled up to Loneliness's neck and clicked into his ear. "And also two of your friends are in the portal, Tharan and Ariana."

Insanity looked at Loneliness, "How do you know all of this?"

Loneliness huffed, "Sisters and brothers of mine have been telling me, these siither."

Insanity yelled in shock, "Siither!? Those beasts? They're just tiny savages!"

Siither began to crawl from out of the bushes and surrounded the group. He yelled, "Stay away!" He took out his scalpel very quickly, but fumbled it and dropped the small surgical blade.

Loneliness boomed, "You must trust me brother! The code of loyalty has not yet been broken between me and Death! I have been awoken from my spell of slumber."

Insanity said in disbelief, "Then why did Death send you to this planet? It's only for prisoners!"

Loneliness frowned, "That is one thing that me and my siither are not able to understand."

***

Wrath smiled as she had the guards open the door to the control room. She noticed Treachery, "Oh hello my treacherous friend. Are you here to join me in the fun?"

***

Hatred yelled at Corruption, "What have you done to my children!?"

Corruption wheezed and spoke very slowly. It sounded almost as if he had a chunk of mucus in his throat. "I have not done anything. They have chosen the path that all Destroyers will eventually choose, the path towards corruption. It is sad but inevitable." He leaned forward a tiny bit, "It's not my fault that I was created this way. My path was also inevitable."

Hatred screamed, "As long as I'm alive, no one's paths will lead in your direction!"

Corruption coughed, ignoring Hatred, "Madness, could you go evaluate those odd presences in the air? They're interfering with the furnace."

Zal-Tek was shocked at Anger's reaction to his spell, even knowing that his new friend had helped. Usually he had to put a lot more effort into so thoroughly altering someone's thoughts. He decided that it mush have been her magic that was so much... blunter than his, usually he could make it near impossible to tell he had changed anything. Anyway, they seemed to be leaving, which was good.
He smiled slightly, and spoke quietly, "thank you."
And then he followed Anger in silence.