A Mutually Beneficial Arrangement (Tag: Ciraph)

[Edmund Egon]

Edmund Egon
Egon Heir

Edmund’s unconscious form rested on cold brick near Station Heights. When his eyes fluttered open, he was greeted by surroundings that were unfamiliar to him. His eyes dragged from the shattered moon above, to the starless sky, and finally to the broken and crumbling architecture around him. He slowly sat up from his position on the ground, feeling no pain from the previous encounter that ended with him awaking in this strange town. Edmund’s mind felt clouded, and he couldn’t quite remember how he got here.

He glanced over to his left to see a small black case beside him, and upon opening it, found a small syringe and a vial of black liquid. Seeing this, Edmund recalled that it was a syringe comprised of his own blood, and according to his father had been a means of temporarily disabling specific individuals across Tamnia. Which specific individuals, he wasn’t sure, at least not until he looked on his right and saw his father’s cane. The sight of it jogged his memory, and the image of his father dying in front of him came to mind.

Of course, the syringe had been created for individuals with gifts, as they were considered dangerous to the rest of Tamnia. Edmund was one such Gifted, though his father had believed his powers were the key to curing the Gifted. Though Mr. Egon had hated Gifted enough not to let Edmund find out who he really was, and instead let him believe he was terminally ill. When Edmund discovered the truth, he had confronted him, and well, now Edmund could remember the end result.

However, any anger he had felt towards his father was gone, not to be replaced by a sense of loss like one would expect from a human being; there was just nothing. Instead, Edmund was more concerned with the matters at hand, like where he was and how he got here. After slipping the black case into his inner coat pocket for safekeeping, Edmund picked himself up off the ground and dusted off the dirt from his clothes. Cane in hand, Edmund looked around for some sign of life in this desolate place.

He must have still had some strength left from sapping it from his father, because he was able to get up with ease, and didn’t need the cane to help him walk. And Edmund felt no rush or panic to find answers about his situation, so he didn’t call out for help, but rather just started walking through the streets. He pulled his scarf up over his face to keep from breathing in any debris from a town that was clearly falling apart and kept moving.

[Ciraph]

The Midnight Dragon, cloaked against prying eyes, winged silently and gracefully above Twilight Town. He gazed down at the town with menacing, eerie yellow eyes. He had just arrived in Twilight Town after having taken the heart of another world, one much more primitive and savage than this one. He had encountered resistance from its occupants, but a group of wild cats, no matter their size, was no match for The Midnight Dragon. Half of them he had torched, and the other half he had brought to the darkness.

Now that world was no more. Its heart, and its power, belonged to the dragon now.

Twilight Town was the next world he had set his sights upon. He had been to this world only once, back when he had still been rather naive, before he had been turned to the darkness. He was still crippled back then, one of his forelegs still missing from a battle on his homeworld. His transformation into a heartless, however, had made his body whole again. Darkness and shadow had returned his arm to him and made him stronger than ever.

Just as he had been changed by the darkness, so too had the advancing tide of darkness changed this world. The moon lay shattered in jagged pieces across the sky, leaving the world immersed in an eternal, dark night. The town was a shambles, ruined and collapsed buildings showing it for the ruined shell of a town that it currently was. Despite this, he could still sense hearts that had continued to cling to the last vestiges of light that remained in this world. The time would soon come that they would find their efforts were futile...

As he turned slowly over Station Heights, preparing to make for Sunset Hill, he caught sight of a young man seemingly just returning to consciousness. The Midnight Dragon eyed him curiously, unable to sense the light of a heart inside him.

Nobody... his deep voice grumbled silently in his mind as he realized why.

Ciraph saw this as an opportunity. A human form nobody could easily mingle undetected among the hearts of light that inhabited this town. If the dragon could persuade this nobody it was in his best interest to help him, he could prove to be quite valuable. The question was how to do it? A nobody could be difficult to persuade due to their lack of emotion. This one, while tall, actually appeared to be rather physically frail. Even with a lack of emotion, such a nobody might well prove easily susceptible to intimidation.

The dragon quickly formulated his plan and began to bring it into action. As the nobody came to its feet and grabbed the small black case nearby, the Midnight Dragon summoned a single, solitary shadow right in front of it as a distraction. Meanwhile, he summoned a Soldier behind it and, when it was preoccupied with the shadow, had it snatch the black case away and run down a nearby alleyway. All that was left was for the nobody to give chase...

[Edmund Egon]

Edmund Egon
Egon Heir

The town seemed quiet for a time; not a soul to be seen as Edmund walked through its streets. At least, until a small black form swelled up from the ground in front of him, taking shape into a familiar creature with beady yellow eyes. Edmund stopped before it, remembering many more of the little monsters had attacked him back at the manor. He couldn't fight back against their numbers, and the power he had used against his father seemed to have no effect on these beings. He could still recall the pain he had felt as the creatures clawed at his flesh, and the massive orb of dark energy that he had caught a glimpse of from the window of his father's study. As Edmund looked up he couldn't see whatever that energy had been, and the monster in front of him didn't move to attack him.

The ones that had attacked him, however... considering what happened, Edmund could hardly believe he was standing here. He should have been dead, after all that had happened. Were the crumbling remains of this city all that was left after that onslaught? He'd never traveled beyond the confines of his home, so it was difficult to say what town he might have ended up in. Edmund felt around his arms and neck, but any wounds that he had sustained back at the manor were now gone. It was as though it had never happened, apart from the grim landscape he found himself in now.

As he looked back down at the shadowy creature, another one came up from behind and snatched the black case out of his coat pocket. He took a swing at it with his cane, but his reflexes were still a bit sluggish. Edmund watched the thief, a different creature that looked to be wearing a bit of armor, turn around a corner into another alley. Knowing that vial was the only one of its kind, the boy was left with no choice but to chase after it with only an ornate cane as his weapon. He considered throwing it at the creature in hopes of stopping it long enough to reach it, but he hardly had the strength to throw the cane accurately or with enough force.

[Ciraph]

The Black Dragon’s maw split in a grin as he saw the Nobody give chase to the Soldier that had stolen its case. He waited a moment after it entered the alleyway, and then turned into a steep dive, straight toward the mouth of the alley. As he neared the ground he flared his wings, slowing his descent as he touched down on the ground. At the same moment, light seemed to crawl across his hide, bringing him back to visibility as he came to his full height on his hind legs. With a wordless command, the Soldier tossed the case over the Nobody’s head toward Ciraph, who caught it by the handle with one clawed finger, where he let it hang and swing.

“There are not many Nobodies around Twilight Town of late,” he said to it in his deep, growly voice, “What business does a nothing have here, I wonder?”

[Edmund Egon]

Edmund Egon
Egon Heir

As Edmund pursued the creature into the alley, there was a sudden and strong gust of wind, and he was forced to halt the chase as something much larger than the knightly shadow creature shimmered into view. Large, reptilian, and winged, the beast could only be described as something Edmund would have read about in fairy tales; dragon. Why a dragon could even exist in the first place was beyond Edmund, but it was no more befuddling as the shadowy creatures that had attacked him before. It was clear that this dragon was their leader though, as the small one tossed the case up for its master to catch with one of his massive claws.

Perhaps under different circumstances, Edmund would have shown more fear, but his expression was calculative at best, as he fixed his gaze on the case. From this display alone, Edmund knew the dragon was no mere beast, and was intelligent enough to have known the case was important enough to act as a lure. Though if this dragon was as fierce as he looked, surely he wouldn't have needed such a ploy to kill Edmund, if that’s what the dragon was after. Especially after seeing the state of what Edmund presumed to be the battlefield between people and these... Monsters. Why would such a powerful foe, obviously victorious in whatever fight occurred here, need to conceal himself with whatever invisibility he seemed to possess?

And then the dragon spoke, taunting Edmund perhaps, by reducing him to the basis of a nobody, a nothing. Edmund should have felt anger at such a remark, or perhaps if he was in his right mind he would have been too busy cowering before this mighty foe. It named this place as Twilight Town, however, a place Edmund had never heard of before. He still wasn't sure what the dragon wanted of him, but whatever the case he would at least correct the dragon in who exactly he was- much more than this nothing that the beast seemed to think of him.

“I am Edmund Egon, head of the Egon Corporation, and certainly not some nothing. And I can't say I have any business here in this... Twilight Town, you called it?” Edmund straightened his posture and tapped his cane on the ground in front of him. “But if you plan on killing me, I suggest you get it over with, I can’t stop you.” Perhaps this dragon realized his minions hadn't finished the job when they attacked Edmund, so he came personally to make sure the job was done correctly. There was no point in running, however, this thing could fly after all. There was really only one thing Edmund knew he could do, and it had no effect on the creatures before, but it was the only thing he could try now. So, with his hands folded behind him, he slipped off his gloves and straightened up his posture.

[Ciraph]

The Black Dragon’s mouth spread wide open, revealing rows of ivory teeth as he laughed at the Nobody’s response. It obviously knew nothing about the Heartless or Nobodies, something he had never expected to encounter in a Nothing. This Nobody could prove to be rather amusing...

...and useful, it suddenly occurred to the dragon as his laughter died down and an even wider grin replaced the one from earlier.

“I see this Nobody in particular is...ignorant,” he said, dropping the case and returning to standing on all fours. He moved over to this Edmund and curled around him as he spoke, cutting off any chance of retreat. As he spoke again he motioned to the soldier heartless standing nearby,”Tell me, ‘Edmund’, did you encounter anything like this creature before us before you woke up here?”

With another small gesture the Heartless Dragon summoned a trio of Shadows.

“Or maybe these?” The dragon practically purred at the Nobody, “Tell me, Edmund, were you attacked by anything similar to these?”

The dragon craned his neck until one bright yellow eye was even with Edmund’s, “Because if you were, Nobody, that is why you are no longer human, but something that shouldn’t exist....”

[Edmund Egon]

Edmund Egon
Egon Heir

Judging the expression of a dragon was not something Edmund ever expected he would have to do, but if it seemed like the beast was grinning in response to Edmund’s introduction. The dragon even laughed at him and referred to him as ignorant, but then the dragon let the case fall from his grasp. It wasn’t quite shock that showed on Edmund’s face, but almost by instinct he lunged forward to catch the case before it hit the ground. He froze for a moment, realizing he had tipped off to the dragon just how important the case was to him.

It slithered around him, enclosing him in a semi circle and leaving nowhere for Edmund to run. Edmund’s eyes followed Ciraph’s, not intending to show anymore weakness before the dragon as he slipped the case into his coat pocket. The dragon directed his attention as three shadowy creatures materialized within the circle, and asked Edmund if he had encountered them before waking up here. Either the dragon had witnessed what had happened back at the manor, or this was something that had happened to more than just Edmund himself. He hoped for the latter, and assumed Ciraph knew nothing about the fate of his father.

“From what I can recall, I should be dead on all accounts. Those things tore me apart, and yet here I am.” Edmund didn’t feel the need to give the dragon specific detail; it seemed to have a good sense of the situation already. The dragon informed him that because of this, Edmund was no longer human, that he shouldn’t exist.

The fact that Edmund wasn’t human was something he’d already come to terms with, or well, acknowledged within his short time of realizing he was gifted, or perhaps cursed, with powers like the other Gifted of Tamnia, and there were plenty of people in the world who didn’t think the Gifted should exist. But Edmund was beginning to realize that this dragon might not be talking about any of that, and it left Edmund confused.

“If I’m not meant to exist, then how am I here? And what exactly are these... creatures?” He nodded towards the shadows who seemed rather docile in the presence of the dragon.