Playing with Fire [COMPLETED]

28 ~ All-Maker

There's no plan for this. Now that Mirage is alive once more, but she doesn't seem to want anything to do with us. Even though I told her Farrin is alive, she still just does not seem to care.

I am sitting in the dining room, and Death is at the head of the table, picking at her food, not speaking. Ruin walks in, and he smirks at me. He picks a plate, placing some food on it, and he sits beside me.

Ruin pops a piece of fruit in his mouth and smiles at me, his expression totally goofy. Fear walks in next, looking at us three and grinning. He's still unsettling, despite the fact that he's on our side.

Death does not speak as Fear and Ruin speak to each other, and I watch as she stands up and walks to the door. The brothers look up at her, but she does not seem to notice their looks. I look between them, but then back to Death, as she opens the door, revealing Rogue, their sister. She looks at Death, tears in her eyes, and hugs her sister.

"Rogue," Fear says, looking between the two women.

Ruin turns to them, his attention on Rogue as she limps into the room and sits down hard on the seat that Death was just at. Death slowly follows her, and frowns.  "Rogue, how.....?"

"I think she means how did you get here? We have wards up," says Ruin. "I mean, we'd have sensed you."

"It's a lot to explain. And if it's alright, I'd like to not discuss this outside of our family" she says, glaring at me.

"No, it's not okay," says Ruin. "Rogue, please. Elorha is a kind and strong girl."

"So? I don't know her, I don't trust her."

"Stop," says Death.  "This is unnecessary, Rogue. How did you get here?"

Sighing, Rogue faces Death.  "I got here thanks to our new, reborn sister. Mirage"

"What do you mean?" Fear asks.

"I mean, she tore a hole in your wards when she left, thus accepting her power as our new sister, and making it known to our remaining siblings that she has entered the battlefield and is ready to fight."

"But she's not," I say. "She doesn't want anything to do with this fight."

"That's not what her power said," Rogue argues.

"Well, regardless of what her power did, it does not mean she is ready for open fighting," says Ruin.

"Perhaps you should be worried, then," Rogue suggests.  "I mean, if what you say is true, and she does not want anything to do with this fight, we should ensure nothing happens to her because of Time and Destruction. They both are on the war path, trying to get a suitable host body for Pain to inhabit. Since her demise at her sister's hands..." She points at me. ".... they have been doubling their efforts to exact revenge."

"Oh no," I whisper.  "Farrin is in trouble."

Rogue looks at me.  "More so than you realize. I glimpsed a fragment of Mirage's scrambled memories when she blew open the wards. She was killed by a monster Pain herself had forged in her Lifeforge. A creature that you, Elorha, have encountered before."

"That thing that was guarding the house she hid inside."

"Yes," Rogue murmurs, nodding. "Your sister, Farrin, is not dead like you and Mirage, she was remade, but in a different way than you two."

"What do you mean?" I ask.

"Well, it's simple, but Death would likely be better at explaining this than I would," Rogue replies, facing Death.

Death sighs.  "Pain's Lifeforge, it can .... make people anew. It can do many wonderful and terrible things, but what it did to Farrin, I only just realized now. It remade her, it did not bring her back like you were brought back. Yes, Farrin died at the hands of Pain, but when she started to breathe again, it was because of Pain's Lifeforge."

"I'm confused," I say.  "How did Mirage come back? The same way? And why .... why didn't you realize it before? You met Farrin, didn't you?"

She nods.  "When Farrin died, I met her, I took her to the Afterworld. But then, when Pain used her Lifeforge, she .... twisted Farrin. Made her darker, more .... more like Pain herself. She made her in her own image. Not in Farrin's original one. And I'm worried she might have done something simular to Mirage, because the alternative to that is something I cannot see happening."

"Do I want to know what the alternative is?"

"No," says Death and Ruin in unison.

"But she deserves to know," says Fear. "Yes, it will likely fuck with her mind, but not knowing will do more damage in the long-run."

"He is right," Rogue adds.

"Just tell me, then," I say. I look at Ruin, watching him hesitate. "Please, if this can help them .... I need to know."

He nods at Death, and she continues. 

"If Pain did not use the Lifeforge for Mirage, then .... perhaps there's another party involved in this. Beyond what Erasmus is doing with his allying with Time and Destruction and Pain. This being is stronger than any of us. They are a sheer force of nature.... one of unbridled power. One we thought we'd imprisoned centuries ago, for the sake of this world and every world intrinsically connected to this one."

"Who is it?"

"They don't have a name, but we call them All-Maker."

"All-Maker is likely evil, then?" I ask.

"In a sense of the word, yes," Fear replies.

"So if All-Maker is somehow free, and making more of your kind, what does that mean?" I ask.

"It means we are fucked." Rogue scoffs. She stands up and starts to pace.  "Royally fucked."

"Well now, that's optimism at its finest right there," mutters Fear sarcastically.

"No, I'm being realistic."

"You're being a damned downer," he chides.

"This isn't helping," says Ruin.

"It's helping my mood," Fear says, smirking.

"Alright, enough." Death turns to me.  "In order to stop All-Maker, we need your help."

"Okay, but if we destroy this All-Maker, wouldn't that kill its creations?"

"No," says Ruin.  "We are not linked to them, like they are to us."

"So killing Pain .... did that affect this All-Maker?"

"Most likely, yes," Rogue replies. "But not enough. We need to reach them before they can remake more people as beings like us."

"Where is this All-Maker, then?"

"Farrin will have to help us locate them," says Death. "And even then, we have this war and Mirage to contend with."

"Ah, well, this day is seriously taking a turn into Fuckthatville." Ruin chuckles. He stands up and looks at me. "Come on, I need some fresh air, and I'd like you to come with me."

"Of course you would," Fear mocks. "Why don't you two just fuck already?"

"Knock it off, Barbas," Death warns.

Ruin pulls me against him, and night engulfs us.