View source for 2006-02-15 (PreU) The return of Zeals Palace

[[Category:Logs/ChronoMUCK]]
{{Logsummary|
Title=The return of Zeal's Palace 
|Summary=Huh? You thought with that scene ended we where done, huh? Nah... it just means a change in scenery! The scene continues with some more massive plot twists. The events of this scene forced the changes to the ChronoMUCK map, so if your confused you might wanna read this.
|Who=[[Johnny_C]], [[magus]], [[QueenZeal]], [[schala]], [[vashtearnia]]
|Date=February 15th, 2006
|Where=Chronos
|Log=
''Guardia Castle - Gates(#1590R)''

''Stepping out of the woods, you find yourself before the massive Castle Guardia. Built atop a plateau, the castle is surrounded by a huge wall that restricts entry. Infact the only way in is by climbing the large stone stairs that lead to the gates of the castle. Normaly these gates are left open, but in times of conflict they're kept shut and guards are posted to watch for any threats... Although the gates appear shut at first glance, no one seems to be around. Strange...''
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Finaly the group arrives on the steps of Guardia Castle... at least, what should be Guardia Castle. With a nod towards Johnny, Queen Zeal smirks as he pushes open the gates revealing... nothingness... It would seem that this was why the Castle had remained inacessible. Crossing her arms the Queen laughs, "Excelent. All goes according to plan. Now, my dagger please?" Johnny draws his weapons and looks down at them with a look of hesitation. "My dagger, now!" With a twitch of his head Johnny glares at Zeal, but marches towards her anyways offering both his daggers for the taking. The Queen is clearly taken back, "I see you've aquired more of them for me. Excelent." Claiming the daggers she holds them out to the side and begins to chant. The air around begins to take on a charge...

Tearnia has been floating along, sitting upon nothingness, looking between Zeal and Johnny. Ignoring Magus now, he's of no concern to her. As Johnny comes over and offers the daggers to Zeal, she rolls her eyes, then closes them, "Oh, thanks a -lot-." She says, to herself. Her eyes open back up after a moment, and she sets her feet down on the ground, walking over next to Johnny and Zeal. Stepping back as the Queen pulls the daggers to the side and chants. o O ( Oh lovely. Here we have the Queen taking over the world again. ) She looks over to Johnny, eyeing him up and down as vines around her body shrink themselves back down to normal size, just flowing around her bosom and waist again rather than encompassing a large percentage of her body. She wants to interrupt Zeal and talk to her, but she's a far more cautious person than that. o O ( Look at me, I have the person you love, nyah nyah, come with me or else. Crono will probably show up soon... )

Magus, on the other hand, simply stands there. He holds the body of Schala close, keeping it stable and supported in his arms as he watches the others. Being around these three... does not make him happy, in the least, but he knows that, at least for now, this is the only way to ensure that his sister will recover. Somtimes, making deals with the devil is the only way to ensure a victory. His eyes glare at the others present. His stance should make it quite clear that he is /not/ to be screwed with right now. At all.

Zeal's chanting continues to become louder and louder as her bracelets begin to chime together from the energies flowing around her. The Queen's magic is indeed powerful, and if she plans to bestow even a fraction of it to Magus the world could be in for some serious trouble. Reguardless, over the abyss before them opens a large shimmering... time gate? Lightning crashes from the energies in the air around them and soon a horrific sight begins to unfold. An ancient but beautiful palace begins to emerge from the portal. Not the Queen's Palace from 12,000 BC but something much older... and much more menacing. Resting atop a huge piece of floating rock the structure settle to the ground and crashes against the stone walls that should have housed the Castle Guardia. As the ground stops shaking and the portal closes above them Queen Zeal drops to her knees. Beads of sweat roll down her face despite the grin obviously apparent there. "...you have no idea how long that took me to prepare for. Cursed Gurus, I'll have them dead for making me go through this..."

Vashtearnia watches the ancient place come through...some portal and drop itself into the world. She looks around at the others, at times like this she'd normally just flow away into the shadows, but NNY is here afterall. She looks over to the queen on her knees, "Queen Zeal, why are you controlling NNY?" She asks. o O ( Oh, it's because I can. You see, I have power over him he can't break, and there's nothing you can do about it. So, if you ever want him back to the way he was, you have to do what I say. Oh yeah? Bull. ) She looks over to Magus, using telepathy to invade his mind, unless of course, Magus can prevent such a thing { Magus. You're mad about Schala, I'm mad about NNY. We might as well just kill her and take what we want now that she's weak from the summoning. }

"She needs a minion. Someone to do her bidding. Without that idiot of a Captain of the Guard bumbling about," he says, in reference to Dalton, "She has no one to boss around." Magus leaves the statement hanging in the air for a moment, before he turns to look at Vash. The voice is heard inside of his head, and though he doesn't realize how the girl was able to do that, as she didn't seem a telepath, his mind's eye focuses upon her and replies. "You go right ahead and try that. I will stand here and watch you get killed for underestimating what she is capable of. Dictator she may be, but stupid and powerless, she is not," is his simple reply to the living female garden gnome.

Queen Zeal listens over her shoulder as the two converse letting Magus's interuption answer her question from Tearnia. Pushing herself to her feet she turns to Magus and asks, "What 'bumbling' Captain do you speak of? The leader of my guard and general to armies is Gunzota. I take it he did not contact you as I had expected?" Shaking her head slightly she tightens her lips and glares off into the distance a moment, "Although my mind is becoming cluttered again, I assure you things changed dramaticly after the death of Sir Dalton. We became much more... effecient." Turning towards the doorway she glances at Nny and smiles as he obediently begins to follow her once more. Taking a step inside she pauses and turns to Vashtearnia. "I'll have you know that your 'NNY' will remain here as long as my Son should please. I'll soon be in no position to control him. He is but bound to our lord to which I shall become host to. That's why I needed your 'Magus' to take his father's place..." With that said she begins to march inside letting her words echo in the ears of her companions.

Vashtearnia rolls her eyes at Magus' response. Coward. She looks towards the structure they're headed for, tapping her bare foot upon the ground. Maybe she should go along and deal with it, or she could just leave and forget about NNY. That might be the better idea. Of course, it -is- the better idea, but that stupid emotion of love is making her not think straight. o O ( So pathetic aren't you? ) She follows after the others, moving over close to Johnny as she does so. Fine. She'll make Magus let him go then when he's in charge.

Before Zeal can get too far, the mage's hand raises towards her, crackling with energy, but does not release it just yet. "You are forgetting something. My sister," he exclaims, fully intending to release the energy if the queen does not comply. The look in his eyes is as cold as it has ever been. "I came here for her. You know that."

Johnny leaps to the side as Zeal turns towards Magus with an intense look of anger in her silver eyes, "You came here because I told you too. You came here to serve our Lord and take your place on your father's throne! I'm giving to you your BIRTHRIGHT, Janus! THIS is your destiny! This is your true path!" As she yells energy begins to cackle around her again as the daggers in her hands magnify her anger. "YOUR SISTER can only be restored from an impossible cure from a Hydra or by someone bestowed with the gift of imortality by LaVos, which I'm TRYING TO BESTOW UPON YOU BY PLACING YOU AT THE HEAD OF MY KINGDOM!" Wobbling slightly she raises a daggers tip towards Magus's throat, "Our lord is dying and the only way I can save him and ensure your future is to become his host, something that will cost me the rest of my thoughts and soul... Yes, normaly I would give some speach about becoming one with Lavos but the time for that has passed! Your sister wanted everything to come to an end removing everyone from a position of power and restoring things so that you died in the midst of time! I know this because Lavos knows this! YOU WILL TAKE THE THRONE!"

Vashtearnia watches Zeal flip out and steps her away over and next to Johnny. She looks over to the maniac, and then back towards Zeal. Her eyes narrow down. o O ( Are you just going to stand there, and let her have her way with the person you love? Of course, I'm weaker than all three of them, and I know how powerful those daggers are. ) She rests her hand upon her hip as her left should sags down some, her right foot slowly inches out in front of her. She looks back over towards Johnny, the vines around her body rustling in anticipation of something, anything. o O ( You can't be this stupid. No, I really can't, can I? ) Her body slides its way without moving a muscle, across the ground to settle herself behind Johnny, her right hand coming up to hover just above the maniacs shoulder. She wonders if he's truly aware, or is acting completly on impulses from Zeal over there. o O ( Either way, I can't just stand there. That's right. I haven't even got to sing to him yet. ) She pulls her left hand from her hip, letting it hang limply at her side as she straightens herself up, the hair upon her head slowly flowing away from her body in small little tendrils. o O ( You'll just end up singing a death song. My, my, isn't love foolish? I feel like a human, how sickening. ) She leans her head in towards Johnny, placing it just above her shoulder as her right hand moves to smooth some hair away from her face, she whispers into his ear, "I'm going to do the second most foolish thing in my life, my love. I wonder if you can guess what the first is?" Annd...we wait for another set of poses.

The energy continues to crackle in the air, and even grows as he watches the queen bark like the dog she is about her orders, and what Magus is /going/ to do, as opposed to what he /can/ do. "... So tell me, /mother/," he says, using the term loosely. The energy is ready to be released at any time. "If I should refuse this... throne. Of a now defunct kingdom. So really, this throne means nothing... but let us say it does. If I refuse... what then?" Magus asks, letting the question hang in the air.

The Queen's eyes twitch as she holds the dagger towards Magus as plays his bluff. Saddly however, hers was not a gambit and she's at a loss of what to do or say. After a moment that seems to play for an eternity she lowers the dagger and turns her back on the mage, lowering her head in a sign of defeat. "Then everything your father faught for, everything we faught for, comes to an end..." As she stands in a guesture of defeat, Johnny suddenly tenses up and looks up at Vashtearnia with an expression of confusion. The moment doesn't last long as the insignia on his brow brightens once more and the ground begins to tremor slightly. Johnny's eyes turn a blood red and with a quick turn of his head he places a hand behind his back. Only Vashtearnia might be able to see that he's summoned one of his daggers from the Queen's grasp and is tucking it away obscurely. Zeal never has a moment to notice it missing as she drops to her knees from the vibration and looks over her shoulder towards Magus with a renewed anger, "Judgement Day, Janus. Our Lord is awakening from his slumber and he knows of the other LaVos on this world. I have to go to him now or he will not only be destroyed but he will awaken the one slumbering here already! If you insist on fighting me, kill me now and be done with it..."

Vashtearnia was truly, really, completly and wholly about to do something so horribly and utterly foolish. But, as the dagger comes back to Johnny's grasp, and at even the oh so subtle motion of Johnny tensing up, the vampiric mystic pulls her head away from her shoulder. o O ( It should be done in another place, anyway. ) She thinks to herself, floating herself off of the ground as it begins to tremor and shake, her toes dangling down towards the earth. She looks over at Magus, then over at Zeal, watching the events unfold that are beyond her control. Somewhat. o O ( Shhhhhh... )

The mage weighs these options out in his mind for a long while, even as Zeal drops to her knees. It would be quite easy for him to strike her down, right now, and as such, the hand of energy aims right at the back of her head. "... If you want me to be your leader so badly, you will meet my demands. I want Schala to be revived. Now. Then, I will ascend your hollow throne," he says, closing his fist. The energy dissipates into nothingness as he backs up from Zeal, giving her space to get back up. Johnny and Vash... are simply ignored.

Pushing herself to her feet the Queen shakes her head and a faint glimmer of a smile plays on her lips. She stumbles towards Magus slightly and turns the dagger towards him hilt first. "Then take this and let it fill your heart with the spirit of Lavos." Of course, the dagger has nothing to do with Lavos and will infact change it's shape depending on how Magus should percieve it. It's almost painfully cold to the touch and will fill his heart with an onslaught of negative emotions which will only intsensify depending on the events around him. That is, if he takes the blade... "We must hurry inside to the Mamon Machine and preform the ritual. All you'll need to do is plunge this into the heart of the machine while I awaken it and that glorious power will be yours. You'll be able to summon his power at your descretion... Then I'll go down to the heart of the beast and you will be free to do as you please, Janus..."

Vashtearnia watches mother and son sing their little song and do their little dance. Her eyes flick back to Johnny, then to the dagger held behind his back, then over to the marionette's on the stage. She hates this sort of thing, drama. Events that unfold around her without her playing a part, it just infuriates something deep inside of her, she'd really, really love to just go, but she won't move away from Johnny. Oh, no. Not until she's sure he's safe, or well, not under someone else's control. The fact that he has one of his daggers back in his hand is point enough that he isn't being completly dominated, which means she just needs to bide her time, and just wait as events play themselves out to an orchestra she doesn't get to hear.

The dagger that is offered is carefully observed. Sadly, he does not know the signifigance of it, or the power that it holds. Well... he knows that it can grant a normal person exponential ability, such as what Johnny was able to do, but he does not know that it can mess with his brain and his very soul, the way that it does. Of course he takes it, if only to observe it more closely... which, of course, seals his doom. Presumably. The dagger does indeed grip the mind of Magus, and in mere moments, the form of Schala is dropped to the ground. He too falls, his body cringing and himself muttering curses as he tries to shake away the poisionous thoughts that now seem to be invading his consciousness...

Queen Zeal's smirk widens into a grin as she watches him drop the traitorous Schala to the side. "Now, this is important. If you wish to gain the rest of your power, if you wish to rule this land and it's people, you need to pick her back up and come with me to the Mamon Machine. NOW, Janus! We haven't much time left. We have to finish the ritual..." As she speaks and moves slightly closer to the crumbling mage Johnny begins to tense up again. It would seem the more he struggles the redder his eyes become. Probably from the glowing stone in his skull casting the mark on his forehead. Reguardless he turns his attention to the Queen and then towards Vashtearnia briefly... obviously this is letting him regain some kind of control...

Vashtearnia looks to Johnny as he looks onto her, the smile that wants to press over her features easily being stifled, she's used to hiding what she truly feels from her body language. She floats herself over alongside of NNY once again, rather than be behind him, her arms folding over her stomach loosely. Biding her time, moment to moment.

Magus, not really able to think properly at the moment, simply does as is requested. The form of Schala is picked up and slung over his shoulder, a bit more carelessly this time, as opposed to the time before, and he follows Zeeal like a mindless zombie.

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''The Mammon Machine(#1250R)''

''Accessible only from a series of floating steps rests the fabled Mammon Machine. Created in 12,001 BC, the Mammon Machine draws forth the energy of Lavos into an endless supply of energy taken directly from the life force the beast constantly consumes. The Machine can only be activated or deactivated from a pendant worn by the royal family. The massive armor-like structure rests upon the lowest platform floating over the void that exists in the center of the Kingdom of Zeal. At the base of the Mammon Machine is a small control panel with an indentation to hold one of the royal pendants in the event one needed to be recharged.''
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Seeing Magus pick up Schala is enough for her and she quickly turns towards the Palace without even a glance at Nny. She has more pressing matters to attend to currently. Reguardless he follows, just a little more hesitantly than he'd done previously. Marching accross the empty courtyard, Zeal rushes to the doors and throws them open using her panic to give her strength. The palace itself is a beautiful place detailing the artistic tallents of the entire history of her version of the world. Clearly this palace and it's Kingdom where held in high reguard, luckily no one here knows of how horrible the land below the palace really was. Without hesitating Zeal continues without loosing her stride until she reaches a massive throne room suspended over what at first glance would appear a bottomless pit. Making her way towards the center she walks behind the throne and pulls back an elaboratly detailed curtain to a set of stairs leading down to the familar Mamon Machine below. Pausing to rest with a hand against the machine she gasps for breath letting everyone catch up to her... "Just a moment... and I'll begin... I... what? No, no.. not yet. I have to finish. I have to..." Dropping to her knees she lets her head hang down limply, her hair falling to the floor around her carelessly...

Vashtearnia sets her feet down on the ground when they start walking again, floating is great and all, but it uses up her blood, slowly and surely. So, she walks alongside of Johnny, one of her hands lightly brushing the back of his, on purpose of course, why? Well, who knows, you'd have to ask her, and she isn't talking right now. So, she moves along, taking in the sights and then staring down at the Mamon Machine. o O ( ... )

Magus simply watches, holding the dagger in one hand and the body of Schala in the other arm. His eyes seem to have a cold steel gaze upon them... and his pupils are almost as large as his entire eye. Or is it really his pupils? 

The Queen takes a deep breath and pushes herself to her knees, her hair still falls into her face leaving her looking more a ghoul than the royalty she's typicaly seen as. "I-I... you just don't... no, I can't...." Reguardless of her again deteriorating mindset she takes her braclets off, clutching them tightly in hand and presses them against the control panel of the Mammon Machine. A soft glow radiates from the device as it activates. Zeal looks over her shoulder towards Magus, expecting him to know his role and advance towards the machine. "Now.... NOW! You have to... I just can't.... but then you don't understand. How could they? Those horrible people and their... their..." Closing her eyes she begins to whisper, readying the machine to it's full potential. Magus should already feel the energies coming off in waves. Johnny obviously can as he blinks and takes a step back, drawing his remaining dagger and clutching it tightly...

The power is great, and is calling to him... Magus can not deny it. He sets Schala down, first, then steps up to the cursed machine that is the mammon. His hands grip the sacred blade, together, and in one quick thrust, the dagger is inserted to the hilt into the machine. What this will do, he does not know... but it seems that once he lets go, the hold the dagger has on him lets go just a bit... but by that point, it is too late. He regains a bit of his sanity, but the dagger is, presumably, all ready doing its job. All he can do is stand there and watch...

The dagger begins to burn, sending a trail of blackness into the air. Magus should feel it's energies enter him, despite his release of the weapon. Infact, everyone might feel a little of the energies being cast around them. For all his wants and desires, Magus should have held the dagger long enough to double if not tripple his powers... Clutching the dagger from this moment on will help him to become stronger at the cost of his sanity. Zeal, however looks up at Magus as he steps away and smiles. Her eyes seemingly unclouded for the first time in centuries. With her voice barely a whisper she speaks, "I was a terrible mother to you... take care of her." Nodding breifly towards Schala, Queen Zeal makes her way to Lavos the fastest way she can - by plummiting over the edge of the platform and into the darkness below. The entire world seems to lurch suddenly threatening to send everyone down after her, and then... a strange calm falls over the place. Voices can be heard upstairs as the royal servants and slaves from deep within the palace make their way towards the upper and lower rings looking down onto the Mammon Machine and the chaos around it. Johnny makes a brief smirk at everything, for one brief moment Lavos's power is suspended and the maniac looks at Vashtearnia and laughs, "You wanna get the fuck out of here?" Almost the second those words leave his lips the palace lurches again and the Mammon Machine resumes it's work, granting the royal house immortality as long as it functions...

Vashtearnia watches the show, and Zeal go plummeting off and to her death. Yeah, that's right Zeal, just go kill yourself. Thank you, it makes things much easier for her. She looks over at Magus, wondering if the humans are going to have another war on their hands. Well, if they are, maybe the job will get finished one way or the other. She looks over to Johnny and gives him a smile, revealing her fangs, "Most certainly, let the people play with their powers." She says, glancing over to Magus and the machine, then back to NNY.

As the power of the mammon and the dagger flow into him, Magus becomes a shell of his former self. His soul now tainted by the powers of these two things combined, all he can fathom is... well. There really is no limit. The mage just stands there for a moment, looking around as he gets used to the power within him. Then he just snaps... The dagger is pulled back, once its job is done, and he holds it into the air. "I AM THE KING!" he exclaims, his voice decidely more... focused through evil, to say. He starts to cackle... maniacly.

Johnny shakes his head at Magus and glances back at Vashtearnia, "Good plan." Standing tall, his eyes reverting to thier normal white to highlight the darkness around him, he laughs, "King of the ants maybe." Well, that likely got his attention! Holding up his other dagger he smiles manicly, "Did we forget something? It's a matching set..." Quickly he grabs Vashtearnia by the wrist and vanishes into the darkness around them himself pulling her down in the process and leaving Magus alone to his new subjects for better, or for worse...
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