Dinner with Maloker ((group thread))

[slayers_desire]

Some may consider that all the 'Big Guns' that April has called together is overkill … but not really, not when it comes to the fact that many great minds are needed to find a way to prevent The Three (Discord, Disharmony and Cacophony) from their evil plans.

And the Big Guns are needed... when they have no idea where to start looking for The Three.

When other Keys (such as Dawn Summers) are being drained of their existence.

When the clock is still ticking on Lorne... and his battle with his disease.

Invitations were extended to Clark Kent/Superman; Harry Dresden; Sheriff Bigby Wolf; Edward Elric; Cipher Nine; and of course Spike, Angel, Buffy, Willow and Wes.

April is waiting in the planning room, for each person to arrive, going through some books as she does. For many... this will be a familiar encounter, as they had to come to fight together before. But there will be some new faces. And new ideas.

((forgot a posting order. Since multiple characters, Kat/Ael/ me))

Comments

[fmalchemist160]

Ed nods. "Okay. I understand. We'll be back." He heads into the cave.

Cipher Nine follows on Ed's heels, eyes narrowing to glowing red slivers as they step into the darkness. "It was too dark to see last time, too," he observes quietly, while Ed reaches for his flashlight and clicks it on, sweeping it around them to hopefully get a look at their surroundings.

[thepizzalord]

Harry nods to Spike in passing, acknowledging his choice. "I'm not gonna jinx us by saying anything stupid, but boy I wanna."

Bigby has no trouble whatsoever seeing in the dark, under normal circumstances. Clark doesn't have night vision, but he does have other senses to make up the difference.

[slayers_desire]

The flashlight doesn't work as intended. The darkness is part of the mindscape, and thus it just can't cut through it. Atropos hums softly, coming up behind them, and passing each one to take lead. Her fingers dancing across their backs and shoulders as she does.

A torch is lit. And she smiles at them. "To pass deep into the caves, where the secret of the Bat is hidden, you must all give a secret first."

There is a wooden door behind her. "Who is first?"

[nonvillainouscipher]

"Figures," Ed breathes to himself, clicking the flashlight off and replacing it on his belt.

Upon arriving at the door and hearing what they have to do to get through, Cipher Nine has only one question, asked only for the sake of clarity and making sure the Rules are completely understood. "Tell it only to you, or to everyone?"

[thepizzalord]

"And how secret does it have to be?" Harry adds. "Is it one of those deep dark nobody knows this thing sorta secret, or can it be somethin' a few people know about, so long as it ain't public knowledge?"

[slayers_desire]

Atropos tilts her head, curious to the questions she is receiving. "If you speak just to me, that is your choice. If you speak only a secret a few people know about, that too is also your choice."

"However, the more honest you are, the less doors we will have to open."

[nonvillainouscipher]

"So we'll have the easiest time if we speak a deep secret to everyone," Cipher Nine says.

[kalel_ofkrypton]

Clark looks slightly worried by that. Not because his secrets are anything terrible, but because he doesn't have any secrets from April. "I need to think about that."

Harry nods in agreement, but for the opposite reason. He does not want to admit to Lasciel's presence, not in this situation with all these people.

Bigby rolls his eyes. "Fine, whatever. I'll go first. The reason I live in Fabletown isn't really because I care about the other Fables, not at first anyway. I'm there because of Snow White. Ever since I first smelled her, I've never been able to lose track of her."

[slayers_desire]

With Bigby's secret spoken, the door disappears, and they are able to enter a tunnel that goes deeper into the cave. This tunnel is made out of metal and glass. There are pictures of April along the wall, from a baby to childhood to her youth, and into her adulthood.

Some of these pictures are those that April herself doesn't have.

They are living pictures too. The baby giggles and coos. The child is whimpering, trying to find a safe hiding spot from demons. The youth is a young teen April, who is trying to find her way in the Buffyverse, after spending her childhood in Quo'Toth. The adulthood includes her relationship with Clark, and of course becoming a mother (without showing the actual births).

There are voices coming from each picture too. Voices that belong to April, but are also hushed whispers of other people.

Atropos comes upon another door, after they have walked for 15-minutes.

[nonvillainouscipher]

Cipher Nine takes a deep breath when they reach the next door, steeling himself to tell a secret he's kept from everyone except his girlfriend. "I killed a man in cold blood several weeks ago," he says quietly, but still clearly enough that everyone present can hear him. "He and his... cohorts tried to kidnap my girlfriend at the behest of my nemesis. He was disarmed and already subdued. But the last time someone tried to take her, I told the men who tried that if it happened again, I would not show mercy a second time. I did it to discourage Hunter from making a third attempt, among... other reasons..." He trails off and swallows. "...But even so... I doubt it worked."

[kalel_ofkrypton]

It always bothers Clark to hear that a friend of his had to kill anyone. He doesn't force his standards on anyone and he doesn't think less of them for it or anything, but he hates that other people find themselves in situations where it's necessary. "You did warn them," he says.

[slayers_desire]

The door opened to them. They entered another hallway, this one created from wood and vines. There are pictures of April again...

But they are all of her inner darkness. The infant crying in blood hunger, not understanding why. The child taking her first kill, crying out of fear. The young April staking her mother in the heart. The blood thirst that Clark had to deal with a few times.

And in every picture, there is almost invisible bat wings shrouding April. The whispers get darker and darker. With sudden cries of pain and anguish.

Atropos gets to another door. And waits.

[fmalchemist160]

Some of the tension in Cipher Nine's stance eases out at Clark's response. It was his reaction he was most concerned about.

By contrast, Ed's getting increasingly more tense as they proceed down this corridor. It's not the images that are bothering him, but the sounds of pain and anguish coming from the voices. As they reach the door, his tension definitely increases. He has only one real secret that he's still keeping, and he's still concerned that revealing it will mess up the Kent family's timeline. So when they get to the door, he remains silent for the time being.

[kalel_ofkrypton]

Clark has been considering his secret carefully, trying to decide what to say. There aren't a lot of things he's kept from his friends, and especially April. What secret of sufficient weight would help open the way?

There is, perhaps, one thing that he hasn't discussed with her. He's seen the future, and he knows that they're going to eventually have at least one more child. "If we end up having another son, I want to name him William." Not all secrets have to be bad, after all.

[slayers_desire]

When this door enters, they are now in the center of the cave. It looks like Ed and Harry won't have to worry about their secrets -- for now at least.

There is a swirling vortex of voices here. Each one is a rush of emotion in a tiny little bubbles. If they get touched by one of the bubbles, it will burst, and they will feel that emotion for a rush of several seconds. Anger. Sadness. Love. Despair.

In the middle of the vortex, sitting on a throne made out of vines, is Ember. Yes -- that Ember.

[fmalchemist160]

Ed tenses up even more when he spots Ember, narrowing his eyes at her. "What are you doing in April's mind?" he asks, voice tight.

[big_bad_sheriff]

Bigby frowns a bit. "Who's that supposed to be?"

[slayers_desire]

"She is only a representation of who you are looking for..." Atropos stated simply.

[fmalchemist160]

Ed eyes Atropos askance. "It's one of those 'you cannot comprehend my true form' things, isn't it."

[kalel_ofkrypton]

"I hate those," Harry complains. "It's always 'puny mortal' this and 'ultimate power' that."

Clark ignores him. "What do you want?" he asks Ember directly.

[slayers_desire]

"I want nothing." When Ember speaks, it is like every voice in April's mind is speaking at the same time. "I am what you seek. What is it you want?"

[nonvillainouscipher]

"You wanted to speak with April," Cipher Nine counters. "Why?"

"And what do you know about what's happening to the other keys?" Ed adds.

[big_bad_sheriff]

"Maybe we should hold off on the questions," Bigby says to the others. "Even if this is only a representation of her, we did jump down her throat the first time, and it got us nowhere." He turns back to Ember. "We're looking for a way to find Maloker."

[slayers_desire]

The sound of bat wings echo around them, once Maloker's name is spoke. Ember speaks softly, the voices whispering in echoes as she does. "The deepest cave. The darkest hole. The Old One still resides in the Deeper Well."

Atropos on the other hand, seems amused by both Cipher Nine and Ed. "You realize, that you are just asking an extension of April herself those questions. We do not know why Ember wanted to see her. Nor what is happening to the other keys."

[fmalchemist160]

Ed just glowers at Atropos for a moment. "Ember isn't exactly the kind of person I'd picture as an extension of April," he tells her under his breath. "I assumed Ember was a manifestation of Maloker, not April. She was introduced to us as his emissary."