Written By: Lady Lunar Phoenix
RIP
Rest in Peace.
A simple three worded statement. As though you have entered a room with a quiet slumbering person, and not a graveyard.
Rest in Peace.
But what is peace if not fought for? The joke of ages when wars were fought for the concept of peace, but who fights for the peace of the dead?
Rest in Peace.
Rest implies weariness, and what of that old saying 'No rest for the weary'?
Or the wicked…
How many times in one’s life does a person go to sleep in his or her own bed only to be woken up in a nightmare of another’s creation? How many times does a person wake up thinking absently that they pushed off the covers to their bed? Only to find out the bone chilling cold that is wrapped around them isn’t because of an air condition or a sudden atmospheric shift in temperature? The ever-familiar walls of a bedroom have suddenly become the unfamiliar walls of a cell that they don’t recall entering. The bed that they recall lying down in is now the cold hardness of stone with only what they went to bed in as their source of warmth. Or when a person wakes up the sound of screaming from someone who is not a part of his or her family. Children were hidden among their parents as everyone began to wake up at once and take in their surroundings. They were lumped together in small groups in cages that lined the walls all around the massive room with only the burning fire of torches that hung from a chandelier up over head giving any light. Getting up from the ground people began talking among themselves as they looked around trying to get their bearings. Some pinching themselves to see if they were dreaming and hoping to wake up, yet nothing worked. They were stuck, they were awake in some strange place.
Sheila noticed for a moment someone who looked like her son standing near the edge of the cage. But then on closer inspection found it was someone else, a similar build but this person wore big round glasses like that book character children were raving about now. Turning to look at her husband she noticed that Philip was also looking at the young man. Brown haired and with a bit more slight build but for all cases he could have looked like Doug’s younger brother. Yet oddly enough that person seemed to know someone was staring at him. Since he turned around and began looking about till he saw the Ramsey’s staring back at him. Then oddly enough he looked embarrassed and terribly sad before looking away again out from the cages.
"Didn't… Didn't he come to Doug's funeral?" Shelia asked looking up at her husband.
"I think so… Certainly seems to be acting as though he's embarrassed to see us after all," Philip answered quietly.
Shelia walked over to the young man, she hadn’t realized he was back in town and though it was painful. He was still rather young looking and though it was hard she didn’t want a child to be alone in such a scary place. The feeling being felt by all the parents in the cages around the room as they held on to their children. Walking over she touched his shoulder gently causing him to start and turn to look at her.
"Why don't you come over with me and Philip?" She offered and saw him look even more miserable.
"Would that be acceptable?" He asked with a hesitant look in his eyes.
"Well it's not like you have anyone here right?"
The answer she got was the young man walking a bit to her side waiting to see where she would lead him. She smiled and brought him to where her husband stood waiting for the pair.
"You know I never did catch your name," she said trying to start up a conversation.
"Warlock," he answered without thought.
"Oh wait, yes you were from another country right?" She said trying to understand how he got that for a name.
He shrugged in answer, "but I have gotten more fluent with your language."
"Yes, I can hear that," she said with a nod and a brief smile on her lips.
"I'm sorry… I didn't try hard enough… I…" he began to stumble over his words but she knew. She knew what he was trying to say to her.
"Don't please… I understand… just don't say anything," she said softly trying to keep control over her emotions.
"Hello young man, it's been some time since we last saw each other," Philip said calmly sticking out his hand.
Warlock shook it nodding in response, though he had seen the couple at the last year on the anniversary of Doug's death. He had hidden behind some tombstones in a smaller form, but he had watched as Shelia shed tears over her son's grave, his own techno-organic 'heart' aching for their loss.
"I wonder what's going on?" Some person off to the side asked to the group in general.
"We've been kidnapped," Warlock answered with a shrug causing some people to turn and look at him. "Before I lost my sense of awareness I saw someone…" He answered shaking his head. Could he really explain what had happened to all of them? Would they believe him? He could always change back to his true form, but then would that help anything or anyone?
"Where are we?" Another man asked walking up to Warlock.
"In a place called Limbo. A pocket dimension of hell itself some would say. I won't let the demons here hurt you," he turned his head to look up at the Ramsey's. "I failed to protect Doug… I'll try harder to protect the two of you."
The pair nodded thinking of how could he alone
protect them from what he had said resided here. But no one entered the
room for a time and soon everyone began looking for places to sit down
and rest. Warlock began recalling some of the stuff he and Doug had done
with their friends while trying to keep the secret of them being mutants
from the people in the room. Yet in the back of his mind he kept trying
to piece together how he and everyone had been kidnapped.
He had gone back to the graveyard once more to pay his respects to his friend. Gone back to the grave that he himself had been laid to rest on before when everyone believed him dead. Laying the flowers down on the gravestone his audio sensors picked up the sound of a person talking and on instinct turned into a human form. Something close to his templeted 'Doug Ramsey' form yet not so close as to have people believe it was him, not like how Kitty had believed him to be Doug. It was odd that anyone would be out at this hour with even the moon beginning to descend from the sky. But he had learned that humans often had strange habits. He focused his hearing when he heard them talking about the graveyard being suitable or something. Not to mention the sound of someone trying to explain something that his translating ability could only describe as magic. The sad side effect of absorbing those techno infected parts of Doug's decomposing DNA had been his translating ability and the stored up knowledge that Doug had learned before his death. But that couldn't save him when a wave of magic hit the whole graveyard knocking him senseless.
Only to wake up hours later in his Doug Ramsey
form New Mutant uniform included…
"What the hell?!" Warlock's head jerked a bit at the cry, as did others when the doors of the room opened with people stumbling through it.
For the people around him, the dirty looking human stumbling into the room looked like drunks, yet for Warlock he could tell the horrible truth.
They didn't possess a life glow, the glow that told that something was alive; those people were all dead. He stood up as several people began sobbing and rushing to the edge of their cages.
"MITCHELL!" A woman called out reaching for someone stumbling along. All the people, men and women alike, were dressed nicely though they were mainly elderly people there was a few young people as well. More people began calling out to the people when more 'people' came through the door. Shelia got up along with Philip and tried to go to the cage edge to look when Warlock stopped them.
"They're not alive… Those people are all dead I can tell… Just look at their eyes if you don't believe me," he told them as he stood up on his own.
The people around him turned to look at him before doing as he said and studying the group more closely, indeed the people coming through the doors didn't look to have a soul in them. More over the people who were coming in from behind that group looked like they were in the beginning stages of decay.
The people went to one of the cages and opened it before taking out a small child from her parents despite their protests. Dragging their feet along they pulled the small girl to a circle that suddenly blazed up from the ground. Warlock watched as a large pedestal was wheeled into the room as well pulled by zombies till it was resting at the other end of the room. A single living person began to walk into the room with robes on of a magic user, a demonic one at that. But more then that was the sight of Belasco walking behind the young man. The logic side of Warlock's mind pointing out that Belasco seemed to have two arms now instead of one. There was a moment of paralysis for the people watching as the young girl was dragged into the circle with her parents calling out to her and for their captors to let her go.
"Now you recall what I told you about the spell, get it right and I’ll take you as my pupil in the occult." Belasco said as he held out a knife for the young necromancer to use.
"I won't fail you!" the young man said in an eager tone before approaching the circle. Two zombies held the girl in place as he began chanting something in another language.
"Perhaps you shouldn't watch this," Warlock said as he began to lightly pull on the sleeves on Philip and Shelia's clothes. They turned to look at him just as the blade came down with a decisive slice. A scream of pure anguish tore through the room as a mother fell to her knees her five-year-old daughter dead on the floor. Blood dripping from the blade, blood spilling out to cover the light of the magic circle turning its light to a blood red color.
As a mother who had lost her son to violence Sheila could totally understand the grief and it took no effort to bring the woman to tears herself.
"Ahh I see the Elders have answered your spell." Belasco looked somewhat pleased as what was once an empty pedestal of twisted metal suddenly contained a blood red gem big enough for a person.
Warlock watched the other zombies in the room dreading this whole situation, every circuit screaming for him to escape. But he couldn't just leave Doug's parents alone in this horrible place for who knew what cause. The new pupil of Belasco left, trailing the demon while the zombies went about their work in the room setting up a newly brought alter near the newly appeared gem. Yet one single Zombie was walking among the cages looking in them as he passed, walking more like a marionette with someone pulling its strings. In his arms were some blankets and pillows that none of the other zombies seemed to be carrying. The skeleton had one other thing that made it different then the rest of the dead roaming the room. While all the other skeletons had red pinpoints of light for eyes this one had blue and with a memory only a living machine could have Warlock noticed that this one was dressed just like what Doug had been buried in.
Scared though he was, Warlock still walked to the front of the cage as the zombie walked by. His own appearance enough to stop the zombie, as it had been enough to confuse the Ramsey's for a moment about him being their son.
"Friend? Doug?" Warlock called out softly knowing that Doug would remember his speech patterns better that way.
The zombie stopped and regarded Warlock before he began to look about again.
"Selffriend looking for parents?" he asked softly.
The zombie replied by nodding his head slowly almost like it was being rocked back and forth.
"Selffrienddoug parents are here…" Warlock said unsure of what he should add at the moment.
Doug answered by pushing the blankets and pillows to the cage as though he wanted to push them into the cage. Warlock nodded and began pulling them into the cage as well. Everyone stayed back from the cage and the pair so there was no one that could hear them talking or rather, Warlock talking. When the blankets and pillows were in the cage Doug began tapping on the cage slowly. Warlock watching his eyes focused as his mind tried to piece the code, then it clicked.
"Morse Code… 'Save them'?" Warlock watched as Doug nodded slowly. "You want me to save them? But… If I do they'll know about…"
:Doesn't matter… Belasco is going to kill them all otherwise:
Warlock nodded as Doug turned as though he was being called away.
Gathering up the stuff he turned and went back to Shelia and Philip noticing everyone's look.
"Was that…?" Shelia asked softly her eyes a mix of emotions.
"Doug? Yes… He brought this for you," Warlock answered holding out the pillows and blankets. Shelia fell to her knees in tears as she grabbed the blankets and a pillow.
"Even dead… He's still thinking about us…" She buried her face in the blankets as Philip knelt down next to her and began to hug her.
"I'm going to go and get help… I know a few people who could be of great help in getting all of you out of here. But I have to go alone because it will get very dangerous. But don't worry I'll be back as soon as possible." With that Warlock turned and went back to the edge of the cages leaving the confused group behind him. Then they watched in shock as he turned into a more longer and towering being of what looked to be black metal with a golden light shinning here and there on him. From that form he turned even more slender and slipped through the bars quickly before looking back one more time at them. Those big round glasses still on his face, not as glasses but as part of his face. Looking down he began to fidget with his hands again, like in the old days.
"I'm not a mutant, I'm an alien… Your son
was one of the two friends I first made when I came to this world…" He
shook his head. Hopefully he would find Amanda, the new Magik, before any
of the stronger demons found him.