Meat Puppet

The wheels were set in motion, there was no turning back from this point on as all armies were now gathering upon the island. Kulos hated the ocean, the feel of the waves making the boat rock uncontrollably. Orcs were made for land, however his soldiers and himself could hold themselves back from puking.

Other than that it was a very peaceful voyage considering they were heading for their probable deaths. Seagulls flew over their heads, the salty smell of the ocean and the constant feel of the trickling water against their skin.

It was a perfect day for sea travel, not that they had any need for sails but the wind was supernaturally high, the sun shining brightly upon them with its mighty gaze, the peace was broken as an orc archer yelled, " We’ve got company, an entire fleet of unmarked ships are on our tail! There are over a thousand of them!"

Running back hurriedly he scowled, whoever they were they were approaching fast, as fast as the numerous dwarves could row the wind was stronger by far, soon the found themselves surrounded by five of the ships, cannons drawn a voice came, " Lower your weapons and prepare to be boarded!"

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It was the strangest looking ship Tyronis had ever witnessed in his entire life, constructed entirely out of pure rock and large enough to fit over a dozen of these transport ships, he highly doubted cannon fire would have any effect on the ship.

As Tyronis looked at the ship with a certain distantness a familiar voice bellowed out in reply to the ship captain, "Never will we surrender to the likes of you! You cannot harm us, let us go or you will suffer the wrath of Kulos the butcher!"

Tyronis did not give the captain to reply as he jumped from the upper deck and yelled in response, " It is I Kulos, it appears we rejoin at last after our long time apart" Turning to the captain he said, " Order the ship to stand down, and raise the flag to show the entire fleet that these are our friends."

The captain turned and began bellowing orders, as the orders were repeated and the yellow flag rose in the air, dancing in unison with the powerful winds he watched with awe as all the ships of the fleet repeated the action, raising their yellow flags making it seem like yellow had come and taken over the sky.

Tyronis smiled, it seemed that so many things made him stand in awe as of late, if things kept on going at this pace nothing would amaze him anymore. All the ships surrounded the mega ship in a sort of concealment, mega ship being the core of the army.

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The Royal ships had shifted to the side, forming two equal lines as the mega ship slid hard on the beach, sending a wave of sand covering the trees of the forest line. As the ocean was filled with row boats bringing soldiers to the island.

The mega ship’s bow fell down like a giant lowering bridge, sending reverberations throughout the entire ground, sending a giant wave of sand upon the forest line, trees bending under the pressure.

The camp was soon established, it was a ramshackle affair at best. Tents made of thin materials, a poorly built fire, however they would not be there for long. They would move out for battle at sun rise, having only a night’s rest.

Walking over to the edge of the beach Kulos and Tyronis looked as the sun began to come down in its hiding spot, leaving another beautiful fading orange sky. But to Tyronis it seemed more like blood red, "Its going to be a big one, how will all seven of you hybrids meet if we are on different sides."

Kulos did not turn, looking into the dimming sun knowing it might be his last, " Fate has a way of fixing those problems up real good, I just worry about my part and fate will deal with the rest. The army is under your control, the war itself although large it will be is but a diversion."

" The largest diversion ever to be recorded, but the outcome of that battle will not matter, Adonis will be responsible for that, speaking of which, Celestria was supposed to meet me here."

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It had not been a difficult arrangement to settle, a merchant vessel had agreed to transport the large force of bodyguards along with Celestria and Adonis. Mal and Jacob had been left back in the town, they would be nothing but a burden if they had come.

They’d been on the island for a few days before the bridge had materialised, and in a matter of hours they had moved swiftly into hiding as a large army of Coronian troops and allies had arrived at the northern shore.

She may not have been a warrior but Celestria excelled in all peace related magic, and the moment of their arrival she’d erected a concealing shield around the entire task force, they watched as the Coronian alliance quickly set up base.

The battle would most likely take place in the centre of the island, where a large clearing was found surrounded by thick tropical forests. The noise of monkeys howling into the air, communicating in their strange language.

As they began to move quietly through the forest Adonis, who hadn’t had much time to think asked, " What happens now? I think I know where the temple is even if I have never been on this island before but what of the battle? Why is it necessary?"

Celestria kept walking silently, yet still making it difficult for Adonis to keep up. " It is not, blood shed always manages to find its way into everything, these are paranoid times, everyone brings soldiers they know are going to die. They make excuses up, for the cause."

Anticipating what was coming next Adonis finished, answering his own question, " No death is a good death, no cause is a good cause, as beings of emotion we create causes and missions in our heads to ease our transgressions, so that when we look at ourselves in the mirror we see a hero instead of the monsters we truly are."

He had learnt much since his first days as a simple farmer, all he had seen in his future was inheriting the farm one day and starting a family with Julie and having children and passing the farm down and so on and so forth. But the world was a cruel place full of surprises, to survive one had to become a monster.

Now he was the last hinge in the survival of the world as they knew it, now he understood Ares’ perspective, why did the world deserve to be saved? What if they simply let the world die, maybe what the world really needed was a good purging. It was infected, and to stop the infection of spreading they would have to cut off the infected limb.

They both went silent, inhaling as much of the silence and peaceful chaos. There would not be much of that very soon, in the past Adonis would not appreciate such a moment but the past was far gone, all that was left was a bloody future when all the monsters would come out and play.

Finally breaching the forest front, passing by broken down trees where the Royal Kingdom camp was set. The army was almost three times as large as that of the Coronians’, but far less powerful nonetheless.

Meeting in the large centre tent, the only tent made of genuine leather. Inside the tent, floor of natural sand, with a long table where all the hybrid demons sat to decide what would be the next course of action. Adonis sat at the end of the table, being the key to the survival of all they knew and cherished. Around the table on each side sat Kulos, Celestria, Gomlin and Cyranos.

Kulos being the one with the most authoritarian role in the tent began the plans, " We all know the location of the temple, or at least a part of the journey to the temple. We are the map, we are the clues but we will need Jolene, Dominic and Loki."

Tyronis frowned, " What of Ares? Ares has been a key player for more than five hundred years, doesn’t he have a part to play in the events to come?" The atmosphere in the tent was a tense one, they all knew what had to be done but something in the plan had changed, before dying Krale had royally mixed up the plan.

To answer his question Kulos replied, " Ares is a menace to all we have planned, he could have been our hero but then he lost his way, now he could destroy it all. We leave now for the cove of Montrikus, deep in the jungle. If all hybrids agree."

Waiting for a show of hands Gomlin lifted his arm first, followed by the others and the Cyranos raising his little paw, adding a bit of humour into the atmosphere. Adonis looked over them all, they were so determined to save the world as it was. They had seen much more of the world than he had and they still wished to save it, he could not understand it.

He kept all these doubts to himself however, if they only knew what he truly thought of the little he understood of the prophecy and of saving the world, maybe Ares had found himself in the same situation. Maybe Ares had fought hard to save the world, had suffered and lost many for the cause of survival.

And like him, only at the end realising that they had died for a world of monsters, and that if he truly cared to better the world it would have to change drastically. Of course, Ares had gone far beyond such reasoning, he no longer cared to better the world, only to manipulate it to his own purpose.

Adonis hoped never to reach such a state of mind, Ares was a powerful enemy. He’d been a mighty demon, but with the demon cleansed he’d become so much more powerful. How he knew all these things he could not know, as they began their journey to the cove he knew the others were on their way as well, and Jolene, he would meet Jolene yet again.

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Far on the Northern Beach the bridge they had used to get there was already taken down, it could have withstood the wildest storm but Ares had much more power than all the wildest storms combined. Ensuring the entire army was crossed he smiled, never having had the opportunity to use so much power at once he focussed, transferring all his power into his arm he punched the bridge.

The impact of his fist against the stone bridge was great, cracks filled the entire bridge, crumbling down into the ocean. No backing out of this battle, Loki and Dominic had already left for the destination of the temple know to them alone, leaving Ares and Constatino in charge of the entire army.

The Royal Kingdom would be resting at this moment, which was a generous thing to do, but Ares was not generous, and Constatino was far from being benevolent himself. They were already at the battlefield, the centre of the island.

As they stood in the cold night Ares and Constatino sat in a warm tent, Constatino said, " It’s finally here, you sure you want to go with your plan. We monsters might not fit in, will you change with the times."

Ares looked up, yellow eyes glowing bright, " You think I am going to jump when they tell me to jump, that I won’t have the guts to say something that I know they will attack me for? Do you think I am stupid standing what I stand for? For control and power?"

" Do you think my war is just another brand of war? Not worthy of attention, a monster has the most power in a world of saints." There was a bit of silence at this, not an awkward silence but a reflective one.

" You always were strong on words, I know you won’t conform to the world, you never did even when you were high ranking. The world conforms to you. You should follow Loki, how do you know he will stick to your plan?"

Ares had considered this, he could easily track him down and follow them to the temple, and he had intended to do so from the start, the final stage of his plan. And to think that he had begun as a simple young man city dweller forced to live with his adoptive parents, dreaming of nothing but raising mountain goats for the remainder of his life.

Symbolsian who had been silent up to this point coughed to catch their attention, now in the same form as Ares he asked, " Do you just want me to dilly dawdle here until all hell breaks loose and the trumpets sound? Or are you actually going to make a wish?"

Ares smiled, looking Symbolsian directly in the eyes he matched him with an equally horrific grin, " Not yet, but may I ask two questions without being considered a wish?" Symbolsian frowned at this, his grin faltering he nodded his head.

" Good, if you were to find a host and enter it would you be free of these daunting rules that limit your omnipotent self like a dog on a short chain?" Symbolsian had not regained his composure, looking as confused as a mortal a light lit in his eyes, seeing where Ares was going with the question.

Now wearing a grin of excited understanding, " Aye, hypothetically speaking if I were to find a willing host that would not mind sharing their host with a nearly omnipotent doppelganger, and your second question?"

Turning Ares replied, " Now you disappoint me, I already asked the first question when I asked if I could ask you two questions. Now listen to my proposal, I can be your meat puppet and still hold some power, with your immense power combined with my own great power we will make sure things go as planned."

No one had ever made an offer such as this, however, there had never been anyone like Ares. He made a living of taking risks, of thinking the unthinkable and saying things people did not want to hear. Most wanted to save the world, and at first he had wanted the same.

He’d been chosen to save the world, however he’d strayed from that path, thinking that he could better the world by letting it flow its own way. But as time progressed he realised if the world could not better itself on its own it did not deserve the control, and that if one could change the people in the world and lead them, that one controller could control the fate of the world.

Symbolsian knew this plan could benefit them both, Ares had the power and the arrogance that would make him the perfect meat puppet for a god like arrogant doppelganger such as himself. He said, wanting to warn Ares before anything was done, " Once this happens, there will be no turning back. You will be a half cursed necromonger, half doppelganger."

Ares did not respond verbally, Constatino simply watched, completely forgotten as the process began. Symbolsian pronounced one simple word, " fumnision" His body turned into a man sized cloud, entering Ares though the eyes.

Ares fell to his knees, he’d been infused by a curse, then by a demon and now he would be infused yet again. As he jarred his teeth to stop himself from screaming he began to change drastically, his ears became as Symbolsian’s ears were, his eyes becoming a swirling hurricane of all shades and tones of yellow.

His teeth changed into sharp teeth, another row of teeth growing behind his current set both on his upper and lower lips, his tongue turning into a serpent like tongue. The fusion was complete, the voice resounded within his head, " We are one, we will not have as much power as I would have in my true form, but we will be powerful enough for what needs to be done, I highly doubt anyone can match your power."

Ares grinned, facing Constatino, " Wow Ares, just when I thought you couldn’t possibly get any more psychotic, if you keep this up you’ll be as powerful as your father even." At the mention of his father he lifted Constatino by the throat, moving so swiftly it had taken less than a fraction of a second.

Constatino had not even had time to close his mouth and he was dangling in his grasp, "The Emperor, his title is Emperor and I do not even come close to matching him. Now you will lead the army into battle, you can’t die so there’s nothing to fret."

Not waiting for a response he was suddenly gone, Symbolsian who was now getting more comfortable in this fleshy body said, " Now I truly am power wrapped in a fleshy burrito, I suppose I will never know what your three wishes would have been?"

Appearing at the cove entrance he replied in a joking manner, " Nothing of great importance, simply unlimited ogre blood, a new horse and a keg of ale, time to clean the world up."

Symbolsian replied in his head, " A mess it will be, but it is always easier to clean up when there is a large mess to clean rather than a small one, like you said, in a paradise it is the monsters who prevail."