Greed God chapter 234

April 15th 2016 New Jersey, Rosewood, 7:00 PM EDT

Once  dinner was over, Hobbes escorted us into the drawing room, passing out  crystal goblets of amber liquid, letting us all sit down in the various  chairs that had been brought in to surround the table of items. I took  mine and sat down, Barbie and Amy on either side, and Jenny just two  seats away. "Welcome, dear friends." Said Hobbes emotionally. "To the  reading of Master Maxwell's will. I do hope you enjoy your brandy. The  bottle was an 1865 Manoir de Beraut Comte de Goyan Armagnac that Master  Maxwell prepared for just such an occasion."

I  took a deep sniff of the brandy, smelling a strong influx of sweetness  and the tang of alcohol. But despite my excellent senses as a dragon, I  didn't know shit about brandy other than that I liked the taste.  Everyone sipped their drinks, and I took a long, slow pull of mine,  enjoying the sweetness and the bite of the brandy. Hobbes nodded  approvingly at how much people seemed to enjoy the drink.

"Now."  Said the butler. "As you all know, Master Maxwell possessed a great  deal of wealth. Most of it was sold off for liquid assets to be divided  amongst his children, but some select few items deemed important or  dangerous, or some assets he wished to pass on to certain parties for  whom he had great respect or affection, were listed in his will. He left  video readings for some of you, and some were just listed among asset  distribution. We'll read those off at the end."

Turning,  he gestured several servants in, pushing a large cart with a television  on it. When it made it to the center of the room he sent them away, and  then pressed a button on the TV. There was a click as the footage  started, showing my dad, in all his judgemental glory, behind his desk,  staring out at all of us with those piercing brown eyes.

"Well."  He drawled in annoyance. "I suppose if you're watching this, I'm dead. I  imagine some of you are celebrating, and some are mourning. I suppose I  deserve both of those reactions. You're here for a reason, each one of  you. Some because I respected you, some because I liked you, some  because you performed oral sex on me to get me to agree to subsidize  your company and I thought it would be funny to announce that to  everyone present." He smiled coldly. "Don't be too upset Carol, if it  helps you can always take comfort in knowing your mouth is good for  something."

I  heard a shattering sound, and looked over to see the seductive looking  Carol Ferris holding a broken glass, glaring at the TV like she wanted  to bring my old man back from the dead and kill him again. It was hard  to contain my snickers at his joke. My dad was always one to prioritize.  He was always business first, but he had a hell of a memory. If he  thought you'd screwed him over he'd hold onto that for ages, and then  when business was over it was time for the personal. His reaction to me  knocking up Dinah illustrated that perfectly. I wondered what Carol had  done to annoy him.

After  waiting for her tantrum (guess he knew her pretty well) he continued.  "To Carol Ferris I leave ten million dollars, the exact amount of the  start up loan you...earned, from me. As well as all my shares in Ferris  Aircrafts, valued at five million." His grin became predatory. "If  you're ever planning to expand, feel free to try to leverage that  relationship, I only hope my son is a tougher negotiator than I was.  Hopefully he gets you in a more advantageous position."

I  doubted that would be happening, since Carol turned to glare at me  after he said it, like it was my fault or something. I noted that dad  was being...candid. He tended to be diplomatic until he could afford not  to be. I supposed after his death there was no reason to play politics.

"Now  that the pink whore has been paid up, we can move onto those of you who  I actually gave a damn about. First up would be my children. Emma." He  sighed. "I sometimes had doubts about not being in your life. I made  sure to have you raised as I saw fit, but part of my wondered if keeping  you at a distance would be to your benefit. When you came looking for  me anyway, I can admit to being...glad. Take care of your little  brother, Emma. He's going to need you."

I  felt my heart lurch as his eyes scanned the room, seemingly looking for  me, before settling on...exactly where I was sitting. Wily old bastard  must have had the chairs set up in a way he knew would push me to pick  one option. "Nicholas." He paused, looking almost sad. "I was always  proud of you. I know some people don't think I can feel pride in others,  and before you I might have agreed. But the fact remains that I  consider you one of my greatest accomplishments."

My  eyes were locked on his as he spoke, and I felt...something. Something  raw and ugly and painful, as he continued. "I recorded this message  fairly close to the end, I believe. Close enough that you'd already  married, at any rate. I admit that was a relief. In some ways, I  consider you my superior, as odd as that may be to hear, but in others,  you were lacking. Sentiment is a weakness, yes, but emotion is necessary  to have drive. I hope that your wife can bring that out in you. Because  despite not being as aimless as you were when you were younger, you  could be so much more. Could do so much more."

He  shook his head, as if to clear it, a habit I'd picked up from him as a  kid. "To the two of you I leave the majority of my fortune. Four billion  dollars, after the selloffs, split between the two of you. Because when  it comes down to it, money is freedom, and with this, I'll know that  you both have the options that you need to pursue your own goals. Take  care of each other. My mother was a hard woman, but she taught me the  value of the Lord blood. You two are the only ones left who carry it."

Emma  was crying, but my reaction was...the opposite. I felt empty. Hollow.  Worse than I ever had before my humanity, because back then, I didn't  know what I was missing. The hole inside me right now HURT. Like someone  had torn out a piece of me. I started to doubt the reason for this  little get together. I'd assumed it was a plan to make the world tremble  one last time, but it seemed like he might actually have wanted to say  goodbye. I wasn't sure I was ready to hear it.

His  eyes turned away from me, not focusing on anything but just staring off  into the distance past the chairs. "Ted Kord. You irritating old  bastard. You never got over me turning you down for your own start up  loan. I guess Carol was the better negotiator between you two. But the  things you accomplished were...admirable. I leave you my shares in STAR  Labs. Because I think you'll do something amusing with them."

Kord  looked torn between amusement and annoyance, and Carol Ferris was  squeezing her bloody fist in a way that almost definitely hurt like a  bitch because of the broken glass that was probably still in her  perfectly manicured hand. "Sasha." My dad's video self continued. "I  won't do you the horrible disservice of asking you to work for my son.  I'm well aware of your mutual distaste. I leave you the villa in  Santorini, because I know it was your favorite, even if you pretended  not to care."

My  dad's old bodyguard smiled slightly, an expression far too soft for her  hard face. I wondered where she'd been when he was taken, but I knew if  she could have stopped it she would. She was nothing if not loyal. The  tape went on, and several people were left shares, or small items, or  personal mementos. Some people were humiliated, though the one guy  stupid enough to try to smash the TV was subdued by the servants nearly  instantly.

Siegfried  was left a magic sword, of course, and a few other checkmate agents I  didn't know got odds and ends, but finally we came to the final  bequeathal. The old man scanned the room, unable to see anything in a  recording, but just...seeming to take things in one last time.

"Alan  Scott." He said heavily. "I never liked you much. You were a  pretentious and arrogant old man far past his prime. Your refusal to age  and die was nothing short of infuriating, and your attitude made me  want to kill you more than once. But we fought both side by side, and  across from each other more times than I can count. Which is why I leave  you the last of my possessions, as perhaps the only man who might be  able to safeguard it."

At  his words, Hobbes yanked a cloth off the top of the last item on the  table, revealing...a big ass fucking diamond. Like, huge. Pitch black  and faceted, the stone was the size of a fucking human head, and sitting  in a warped golden cradle that looked as if it had naturally formed  rather than been made.

To  my shock, Amy's hand shot out and clamped down on mine, squeezing WAY  too hard as the blood drained from her face. "The Heart of Darkness."  Said my father's grim voice. "I don't much fancy the thought of it loose  in the world with my kids, so I leave it to you Alan. Because you might  be unpleasant, but you're a fearless stubborn bastard, and if anyone in  the world can keep it safe it'll be you. Maybe you can even wield it  where I failed."

Amy  shot to her feet. "No!" Everyone turned to look at her. "You can't! No  one can be allowed to use that. It's evil. Destroy it, or throw it into  the sun, or something! Just don't take it up. Please." Her eyes were  wild and fearful, and I decided to finally appraise the damn stone, just  so I could stop being so confused.

[Appraisal  function activated. Treasure Detected. Heart of Darkness- A rank  gemstone. Chaos unending. Power unrestrained. Root of evil.]

I  felt the blood drain from my face. I wasn't sure why my old man would  do this. Why present this thing in front of all these people. Why put a  target on this item when he was so sure that it would be a threat. Then I  heard his voice continue speaking, adding one last bit of information.

"Oh."  He said casually. "And Hobbes, since you undoubtedly watched this  first, make sure to cut the video off in the lull before that last one.  Invite Alan back to the study or something." My eyes widened in alarm as  I realized that this whole last bit had been completely ad libbed.  Which meant the mess that was about to happen wasn't my dad's plan, it  was Hobbes'.

I  spun to find the triumphantly grinning butler holding the Heart of  Darkness, lifted from its cradle as dark energy began to twine around  his hand. He winked at me, and then shoved the whole stone through his  chest and into his heart. He gave a primal scream and his skin started  pale. Amy began screaming too, though in terror more than anything else.

Hobbes  looked up at us, eyes blazing with a deep purple light, and grinned,  his mouth full of too sharp teeth. "Now. As I mentioned earlier.  Tomorrow will be a funeral. So please, enjoy your final night on this  earth, as much as you can. I promise I'll lay you all to rest in style."  In a flash of purple light, he vanished, and a massive wall of power  that I could feel in my bones slammed down over the outside of the  manor, sealing us all inside. Goddamn it. Never trust a butler.