Dark Cotillion

Prologue

The Overlords sat at a large wooden table. It was built in the shape of a "u" with square corners. The open end faced east as it had since it had been built. The table had been in existence for about two million years and it showed the wear and tear.

Inside the open part a man stood. He was wearing a drab uniform with nothing particularly notable or striking, except the pins on the collar. The pins were a stylized double-s. The double-s looked like two lightning bolts. He spoke English fairly well, occasionally throwing in a German word, and then looking concerned, as if the Council members wouldn't understand them.

"The Wunderwaffen, um." He shook his head. He was very nervous. He wasn't sure why he had been picked to stand before this conglomerate, except that he didn't want the war to continue. He had been picked by "them," and plucked from his home in the middle of the night by something with wings. The something sat at the Council table, looking at him intensely.

"The wonder-weapon, Die Glocke, uh, the bell, as Fuhrer says, is almost complete. If it does do everything they claim, more will die." He shifted nervously.

"I have done what I could to..." the German SS scientist searched for the right word.

"Sabotage it," the figure that spoke was impressively tall, toweringly so, even from a seated position. He had fair skin, blond hair, and green eyes. The scientist was sure that his wings were a very light green.

"Yes, break it," the scientist agreed.

"That is why you are here," the large one who sat in the middle of the back table finally said. "That is why you are all here. We have been shown a future that is very bleak."

Lucifer stood. His horns were full size, jutting from his head with a slight s-curve to a full seven feet tall. This made his entire frame almost fifteen feet tall. His skin was a dark red with tints of burgundy and copper. His eyes were slit like a cat's, only the irises were red with a very fine line of lilac at the edges. It made them both beautiful and frightening to stare at.

There were three other Humans in the room. All were heads of state, one spoke Russian, the other two, English. Lucifer was addressing all four Humans as he spoke.

"As we have seen it, the United States of America will resort to using nuclear weapons. Germany will complete and use Die Glocke, and it will be horrifying. England will be the first of the Allies to fall, or rather, be obliterated. Die Glocke will destroy the land, make it barren. The US will retaliate with their own wonder weapons. Germany will be obliterated. The fall-out, the fall-out is unimaginable. In ten years, the entire world's population will drop to a measly 10 million people. Within forty, there will be no Human population left."

"Lucifer, we do not meddle in Human affairs," another Overlord spoke. He was tall as well, but not like Lucifer. His skin was orange and he smelled of fire. His hair was pitch black. His name was Kagutsuchi.

"We do when they concern our own," Morgana, the only female Overlord, spat at him. "This will concern us. We have no idea what that type of radiation would do to us, or to the other creatures on this island. It could wipe us all out, not just the Humans."

"Is there no alternative?" The American President finally spoke, standing up.

"Yes, but it is just as grim. If the US doesn't use its nuclear arsenal, Germany wins the war, and the instruments of death continue to work their way across Europe. Then it moves to Asia, Africa, finally to the other side of the globe, North and South America. The population drops again, almost as much as if you did use your nuclear bombs," the Angel with the green wings answered.