A Lullaby For Gods Chapter 93

22: INTERMISSION II

DECEMBER 8, 2013

Perhaps it's for the best that the three of them hadn't immediately gone to NYC.

Four of Jane's friends had been staying in the city for upwards of a year. All four disappeared at once, said disappearance followed by a grim transmission that the bunker they ran had fallen because no one was running it anymore. Those unexplained valuables were reason enough that Bruce and Jane had spent most of the past few days waffling around, trying to find anything they can about the children's disappearances, perhaps sniff out any sign of danger that could clue them in to what's happened.

They're stalling, they know but, they don't talk about it anyway. It's better to be wary about these things than to be locked away in a cell somewhere.

And then the eighth of December hits.

They've all taken to just letting the news play in the background now, just in case there are new developments to the Safehouse's state. Jane's sitting on the couch typing away at Bruce's laptop like she usually is, while Gamzee stares out at some birds who've lined up on a wire outside, when the current news segment gets interrupted by a live broadcast.

Bruce wanders into the living room just in time to see the footage switch to a shot of buildings on fire.

An attack. There's an attack on New York City.

The sad reality of NYC is that this isn't out of the ordinary; unfortunately, this is what S.H.I.E.L.D. agents are trained for, what the Avengers are called in for if the situation gets too dire. But today, for this attack, Bruce's stomach drops in horror as he stares at the footage of the burning street, watching people spill out of the buildings to run aimlessly for their lives.

They have nowhere to go.

There is no Safehouse anymore.

Surviving an attack on New York isn't a guarantee, but back then, it'd helped that there was a goal to get to. One place that, if you just managed to get to it, you knew you were safe, that the building wouldn't come down on you, that you'd get to live another day because you managed to make it there. People adapted to life in the city with that in mind - they planned escape routes, they memorized the streets and made contingency plans - some people even just moved into the Safehouse when vacancies were announced.

Now, though, their fallout shelter has been taken from them.

The attack lasts for hours. Jane stays on the couch for most of the broadcast, listening to the news while tracking activity online as the posts come by. Bruce has to get up and leave every few minutes or so, hands shaking from anxiety as he watches the coverage. The streets have been bombed. There are drones in the sky. There are people invading the sewer system and cutting off escape routes for civilians. It's a scorched earth approach, one that looks like it doesn't want anyone to escape.

Gamzee moves to the couch to watch what's going on, at some point. Bruce forgets exactly when, too caught up in the sickly feeling bubbling up in his gut.

It's like whoever's done this has been waiting for their chance to strike, like they don't want to keep anyone in the city alive.

There's no news of any Avenger showing up - they might all have their own assignments or are out of town, like him, so that's another unfortunate coincidence in favor of New York's attackers. The only thing Bruce can do, and perhaps every other Avenger who's far away right now, is watch in horror as the city's inhabitants fall in the absence of its safe haven.

The whole thing ends, eventually. Bruce stares at the clock, wondering how so many hours have passed and how at the same time it hasn't been longer. It's seven in the evening. This day has felt like years. This day has felt like it's just started.

"Maybe," Jane says, quietly, as the news continues to play in front of them. One of the news anchors is talking about the attack now, but thankfully none of the actual on-site footage is playing. "Maybe we shouldn't go to New York just yet."

"They'll likely have checkpoints for a while, anyway," Bruce says. "Especially after something like this."

He wonders how many people died today. Does he even really want to know?

Bruce runs a hand over his face, sighing. He keeps it there, deciding he's far too tired to deal with any of this right now. There are two children in this motel room that have come from possibly two different universes, there's four other kids out there who also came from another universe and who've been running a bunker in New York for a while now, and now all four are missing, New York is in ruins, and they can't even get there for fear for their own safety.

What is going on?

"S'like a sign of the times," Gamzee says, happily cracking open his cup of instant noodles, letting the steam hit his face. "Like the glory of our saviours raining down from the mother - fuckin' - heavens."

"It does feel like the world is ending all over again, isn't it?" Jane says, far too tired to even bat an eye at his weird sentences again.

"D'pends on how you look at the world," Gamzee says. "And depends on how you look at the end."

"Uh huh, what's that bit of clown wisdom supposed to mean?"

"The land ain't scorched for no motherfuckin' reason," he says. "All that fire rainin' down's a herald for somethin' - divine or wicked, we ain't gonna know til' it gets here."

Jane frowns, slowly. Bruce raises an eyebrow.

"Makara," Jane says. "Do you know something?"

"I ain't know nothin' as much as you, sister," he says, clacking his chopsticks together. They break under his grasp.

Bruce stares, eyes wide. Those are made of metal.

"That's still the end of the world, though, isn't it?" Jane says, scooting away a bit. Gamzee just tosses the snapped pieces of metal aside to guzzle the noodles straight from the cup.

"'Pends," Gamzee says. "S'all that wrath here to destroy or is it here to make room for somethin' new?"

Jane blinks. So does Bruce.

They both turn to the television screen again.

-

DECEMBER 9 2013

The casualty count keeps rising as the days go by. Bruce extends their stay at the motel for another week while all three of them keep track of the news; the television is just perpetually turned on now, with him and Jane watching in shifts. All the people who've been caught in the attack aren't saying much, and it doesn't even look like they're all very lucid. They're lab experiments, the reports say. Humanoid, with human DNA, but their cognitive functions are impaired.

That's one lead with the attack, at least. Whoever's doing it, they're funded. And they want New York dead. For what, nobody knows yet, but there's theories being thrown around. Maybe it's because it's known as where the Avengers usually are, maybe it's for a statement - New York has survived the Chitauri attack, it's where STARK Tower - the Avengers Tower - stands; if that falls, it's a huge moral blow. Maybe it's just pent up anger let out in one indiscriminate attack.

Whatever it is, though, it's still harrowing to watch on the news. Bruce almost asks Gamzee to substitute for him, but he's not really sure if he can even ask the boy that. Gamzee watches the news when it interests him, but the rest of the time, he's wandering around the motel doing whatever the hell he wants. He's fully aware of what's going on, but he's just not very bothered by it.

That, or he's good at hiding it. Bruce isn't quite sure.

Another development in the situation arrives on the ninth. It sends the online space in a frenzy, shooting up to the trending pages in a matter of minutes.

It's a singular video clip sourced from Reddit, of all places, and the only sighting of the Safehouse children that everyone's had for days now. The one who'd originally posted it on Reddit was a throwaway account, sadly, and hasn't responded to any of the comments that have been put underneath the original post. The video itself has been mirrored all over social media sites.

It's a short clip of the Safehouse children, and a couple of other people, getting violently manhandled by S.H.I.E.L.D. personnel. The citizens of NYC probably don't know that, but Bruce does, he knows that uniform. He knows that it's Coulson by the doorway.

The strangest thing is, though, is that Steve and Tony are also in the footage. They're also being arrested.

That makes so much sense, one comment that he scrolls by says. Why there weren't any Avengers during the Dec 8 attack.

And it does; Tony and Steve live in New York. The rest of the Avengers are often out of town: Natasha and Clint are often on their own missions, Thor hasn't been back from Asgard for a while, and Bruce is often on the road, stopping by only when it's really necessary. If anyone would have responded to the NYC attack, it would have been those two.

So they took the Safehouse and then the Avengers, another comment reads. Jesus fucking christ.

It would be reasonable for anyone who isn't in the know to assume that all the Avengers have been detained, if even Iron Man and Captain America have been taken. Their absence during yesterday's attack would have solidified the theory in people's minds. The Safehouse has fallen, and then the Avengers were taken with them, and then the attack came and everyone was defenseless.

He sees a few theories being thrown around here and there. Maybe it's the same people behind the attack. They targeted the sword and shield of New York, and then bombed it to high heaven when it was unknowing and defenseless.

I am so fucking angry, another comment reads. When the fuck are we doxxing these assholes.

Someone posted this, though, says another, That means someone got away. Someone's out there.

Unless there is someone from S.H.I.E.L.D. who's dead set on detaining members of the Avengers, then Bruce would count as someone who's still out there. He doubts it, though, considering he hasn't done anything and - well, it's S.H.I.E.L.D., the bastards that recruited them all in the first place. If there was a problem, they'd just call them in for a meeting or something.

But Tony'd gotten arrested. And sure, Tony's relationship with S.H.I.E.L.D. isn't the best, but...no, Tony would absolutely oppose the organization if he found grounds to do so. He wouldn't turn on them for no reason; they have to had turned on him first.

In which case, Bruce has to get to the bottom of things and be wary of everything S.H.I.E.L.D. does from now until the situation gets cleared.

That puts him and whoever's still out there from the Safehouse in the same boat. That same person who'd posted this video. Whoever they are, S.H.I.E.L.D's going to be quick to go after them, maybe even sic Natasha or Clint on them.

Would Fury go after, them, though? He'd taken the Avengers' side during the Chitauri attack, when the Council had decided to nuke New York. He wouldn't give out orders like these easily. If he agreed to this, it's either because he had no choice or because this was the lesser evil and now he's stalling, trying to buy time to get to the bottom of things.

Bruce sighs and massages his forehead, leaning back in his seat by the kitchen table. This is a mess. This is a lot. It's almost tempting to just Hulk out here, break a few things, let off some steam.

"Jane," he says. "You wouldn't happen to know anything about computers, right?"

Jane, by the couch, stiffens, and then sighs, shoulders dropping. "I'm...sorry, no," she says, "That's Roxy's forte, she - "

She pauses. Bruce recalls the name, as she'd pointed out everyone she could on the new footage when they'd found it. Roxy was there, a young girl with blonde hair similar to Rose's. She was Rose's mother, apparently, from the same universe as Jane.

"Dirk would have been able to do it too, but..." She types a few things into the laptop, clicking a few links, and then she turns, taking the laptop with her so that Bruce can see it. He can't make out the headline properly, but below, there's an image of a young boy being arrested, face shoved into the asphalt while he's being cuffed.

Another one of her friends, also detained by S.H.I.E.L.D agents.

"They found him way before the others went missing," Jane says. "I just found out."

"So how many people is that?"

"Like seven or eight that I personally know?" she says, setting the laptop down on couch. "The only person missing now is Jake."

"That's...Jade and John's other-universe father?"

She nods.

"I'd understand if he kept a low profile," she says. "With the news of everyone getting arrested or going missing..."

It's not that far of a reach to make. If whoever else she knows sees the news of their friends getting arrested, of course they'd keep quiet, even if in turn, it made finding each other that much harder.

"I'm sorry," Bruce says. "I wish I knew where they took them."

Jane nods, tersely, returning back to the laptop.

Bruce turns to the window outside, looking to where Gamzee is sitting on the car, looking to the horizon. The sky is dark, rendered purple by the lightning storm.

-

DECEMBER 10 2013

The original post of the Safehouse children being arrested has been taken down.

Not that it's stopped the spread of the clip anyway as people keep archiving it and mirroring it everywhere, sharing as fast and as wide as they can before their own posts are inevitably taken down as well. People are angry, and this is the only thing they can do. And with the rage that's collectively boiling under the citizens of New York's skin, they'll do it as best as they can. There's a few jokes about being put on a watch list, about the FBI showing up at people's houses, but nothing substantial yet. Hopefully if something happens, other people will be able to sound the alarm as well. They've lost the Safehouse and two of the Avengers have been taken; at this stage, the city might as well operate as if all they have to protect themselves is each other.

Bruce is seeing a few more theories pop up here and there too, and some of them are too close that he actually worries about the users' safeties. The popular theory at the moment is that the Safehouse 'kidnapping', as everyone's called it, and the taking of Steve Rogers and Tony Stark was a coordinated move alongside the latest attack. Take out the shelter and the defense, and then destroy the city for whatever nefarious reasons the mastermind behind it all had. It makes sense.

The secondmost popular theory that's currently climbing the ranks, however, is that the government did it.

There are images of S.H.I.E.L.D. personnel in uniform online, from all the repeated attacks on the city. There's a lot of clearer shots from the days after the Chitauri attack, where agents were helping with the cleanup and assisting civilians who got caught up in the crossfire.

Someone has matched these photos with stills from the hospital footage and found that the uniforms are incredibly similar. There's still room for error, of course, considering the video angle is shot from a ceiling corner and the agents are constantly moving, but it's unmistakably the same uniform.

Bruce only hopes this person doesn't get a visit from S.H.I.E.L.D. soon. Hopefully, they know how to get around security issues.

It's comforting, somewhat, to see the whole city band together in the face of their grief and anger. There's news of people setting up medical tents since hospitals are at capacity right now, people are organizing drives for food, water and financial help for those who've lost their homes, and there's people trying to sleuth out whatever piece of information they can on what's happened to the Safehouse.

Which leads to an alarming development, unfortunately. No one has heard anything from the very tenants of the Safehouse. Not just the people that ran the bunker itself, but the whole apartment building. A few people have gone in to check but none of them have been heard from either. One twitter thread that's going around right now is someone whose friends had gone to check the Safehouse yesterday and haven't heard from them since.

I think whoever's got them is waiting; probably not safe to check the building out, one reply says. Everyone steer clear of the building until we know what's going on.

Someone jokes about sending in a drone, but the amount of tweets and DMs they've gotten to make this a reality indicates they might actually do that soon. Bruce makes a mental note to keep an eye on that development.

"It's depressing news all around," Jane tells him, going for her fifth cup of 'morning coffee' that day. It's already mid noon. He doesn't think she's even keeping track of the hours from how much time she's been spending online. "There's been a couple earthquakes, a volcano might erupt - it's really like everything just wants to die right now."

"Maybe it's just coincidence," Bruce says, even though he doesn't believe it. It really does feel like everything's been going from bad to worse, lately, all at the same time. Like something is on its last legs and is having a hard time keeping itself upright.

"Makara," Jane says, passing by Gamzee from where he's decided to channel surf on the couch. She offers her mug. "Want any?"

"Nah," he says, pausing his button mashing in favor of watching a news segment that's playing right now.

"In other news, scientists have observed something interesting in addition to the possible solar storm..."

Bruce stares at the headline at the bottom of the screen, dread curling in his stomach.

Something is headed towards Earth.

-

DECEMBER 10, 2013

CEFALÙ, SICILY

...has been hypothesized that if one were to travel all the way to the other side of a black hole, they would be able to see the entirety of the universe, not only in the dimension of space but the dimension of time. Meaning, one would be able to observe the very beginning of the universe and the very end. We can conclude then, that if one were able to completely view a universe from outside of it, one would be able to alter it however they wish. The concept sounds unimaginable at first glance, but we have been observing universes from the outside looking in for ages. Picture a movie, or a book, or any form of story. That is a whole universe, a whole set of events, from beginning to end, and one is able to look outside of it, discover it at one's own pace, even when its inhabitants can only perceive things linearly.

This is also how we can imagine the breaking of a universe. Picture a universe as a book and tear it to shreds. Distance would not matter. This is not simple vacuum decay - it is the whole universe being torn apart, the impact of the destruction felt all over it.

What then, could we do if this were to happen before we can rectify whatever threatens a universe's integrity? The answer is simple. Offer something else to be destroyed in place of it, something that has value, something the universe will acknowledge is of value.

The easiest answer to this conundrum would be something that has Life. It's a riddle that has been told time and time again; if someone has to die, simply take another's life in place of theirs. Simple. The Mage also understands this to be so, but I have a hypothesis, one I haven't had the chance to test and perhaps one I should not test, as a friend tells me. Every Aspect that makes up the universe has value to the universe. Of course it does. It's what composes it, after all.

What if we sacrifice any of that, in place of simple Life?

This would then open countless possibilities: if one's Hope is sacrificed, would the universe be satisfied? If bonds are ruined in the most painful way possible, would it be enough of a sacrifice? Of course, testing this would bring up questions of morality and the importance of relationships, but it is still an important thing to understand if one were to bring Anathema to its full potential. Would betraying the Anathema Point be enough of a sacrifice? That opens a possibility, doesn't it? An option that does not include death but instead simply leaves one with unwanted trauma and lifelong scars.

Perhaps that is a worse fate. Perhaps not. It is best I am never left alone to ponder these things on my own. I am far too world weary to feel anything anymore, and I am afraid this impairs my judgment.

Back to the subject of Anathema, I have also been exploring the possibilities of creating an Anathema Point that is still effective even in a state of death -

Cronus Ampora jumps in his seat, nearly swatting the cup of hot chocolate he has on the desk right onto the book he's reading. His bloodpusher thumps wildly in his chest as he barely blocks the mug from spilling over, fins flicking down as he watches in relief that the book remains untouched.

Jegus. His ancestor would kill him. If he ever meets him, of course, but - best not to take any chances.

Whoever's knocking on his front door is still knocking away.

"Alright, alright, I'm comin'," he calls down. It's ten in the evening, who the hell is out this late anyway?

He runs downstairs, footsteps in time with the persistent knocking on the door. He frowns in irritation, grumbling to himself as he finally arrives at the landing.

The knocking stops.

Okay, weird. Eerie, almost.

Warily, he makes his way to the windows and pulls the curtains aside, looking out as discreetly as he can. He can't see anyone by the front door. Maybe they'd run off already.

There's a box right by the welcome mat, though. That might be important.

For a moment, he debates just leaving it there, but then he remembers this isn't his house. Someone else owns this place, someone who's not here right now but might return at any time. The note he'd been left with when he'd woken up here said that this place was unoccupied for the time being, after all, and that he should take care of everything here as whoever does own this house would be upset if they came back to find it a mess. He's been trying his best.

Maybe the package was for the house owners.

Quietly, and slowly, he opens the front door, peeking through the crack with one eye. The package is wrapped in nondescript kraft paper, tied off by a string, and tucked underneath the knot is note.

One that carries his bloodline's crest, with highblood Beforan written in dark green ink.

He swings the door open. This isn't for the house owners, this is for him. It's from his (distant, other universe) ancestor's matesprit.

How lucky, he thinks, not for the first time. In another universe, in another timeline, a violetblood from his bloodline had fallen in love - that's how humans did romance, right? They fell in love, that's the term - with a human and that human had loved him back. That means there's hope for someone like him, who's definitely human, to get into human romance too.

He drags the package inside the house, carefully kicking the door close. He sets the whole thing on the coffee table first before taking out the note.

Cronus, it reads, I am terribly sorry for saddling you with this responsibility, but we are currently short-staffed right now. We are also in the process of setting as many contingency plans as possible, so since you one of the more isolated assets, I thought you would be an option for this. As long as you stay hidden, you see, you will not be in danger. So try not to be discovered until the time is right. Take care of those glasses we've given you, and don't break them, otherwise the illusion they cast won't work anymore.

In this package is two journals - one the Witch's, the other Nereus'. I hope you've worked your way through the one that was mine. I apologize if all the rambling has been a chore; I promise it will help in the long run.

What I want you to do is simple, Cronus. There might be a need for some of our team to wander on their own for a while. I need you to keep a homing device safe, and I'm going to give you everything you need to know to keep yourself safe. Study, practice, rest. Stay hidden. For as long as you stay hidden, you can fulfill your role. You can be a wildcard for us, disrupt our enemies' hopes.

All you have to do is be a beacon. Light the way back home.

This is not to say you are to stay here forever. No, you'll have to move eventually, too. We have a place in mind, but it's not the right time yet. I'll tell you when you can go. You'll know when you can go. You can't miss it.

And you'll know when you're at the right place. Pay attention to people's eyes.

Until later. Mind yourself.

(P.S: I hope you've been having fun trying out human dishes. I've managed to steal some of the Bard's well-kept recipes and have duplicated them for you. If anyone asks, you didn't get them from me.)

Cronus laughs, grinning so wide he thinks he might hurt himself. This is why he likes it when the Heir sends him stuff; they always humor his more human tendencies. Maybe it's to bribe him to be more receptive to all of this, but hey, he doesn't mind. It's working.

He tucks the note into his pocket and begins unwrapping the package.

Time to get to work.