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hunger-and-desire · 5 years ago

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The Battle for the Mirrorverse, Pt 1

Based off an old idea Crow/ @ghostsandmirrors and I were throwing around. Was seized with the need to write it. So here’s the first of what will be I don’t know how many parts.

Basic jist: The horsemen have teamed up with Misfortune to overthrow the Lady of the Mirror and take over. After a surprise attack, Famine, Bringer, and the Mirrorverse folk are scrambling to defend themselves and the Mirror World from the attackers. It doesn’t go their way.

They were all stood in a circle, weapons out at the army surrounding them. There wasn’t much they could do at this point, but none of them were ready to back down. “Oh stop, all of you,” War’s voice split the tension in the air and Famine whirled from where she stood beside Bringer to find her sister stepping out into the plaza. “The battle’s won, no need to keep posturing.”

“We’re not finished yet,” Renrait snarled.

War stopped in front of the other woman, smirkish-smile so sickeningly sweet. “Oh, but darling, you are.” She turned on her heels before Renrait could say anything else and walked over to one of the apparent leaders of the group they’d been facing off against. “Bring those ones—” she pointed to Famine, Bringer, Liaxee, The General, Renrait, and a handful of others, “to the castle. We’ve got something to show them.” The glint in War’s eyes as she looked back at them made Famine’s blood run cold and she looked to Bringer.

“She’s not dead,” they said before she could say anything, “I would know if they’d killed the Lady. She’s not dead.” Famine wasn’t sure if they were repeating those words to reassure her or themself.

The guards rounded up the chosen few and marched them to the castle. They were brought to an empty throne room, clean and peaceful compared to the havoc the invaders had wrecked outside.

The guards forced everyone to their knees as they came to a stop in the center of the room. Before Famine could be pushed down, though, she hooked her leg around the guard holding her and knocked his knees out from under him, spinning out of his way and grabbing her blades from him as she went. She was about to drive one of them into his back when a familiar voice stopped her in her tracks, “Baby sister, so quick to murder? My, my, you have changed since I last saw you.” Famine looked up to find Death standing at the front of the throne room. Her eyes widened when she saw Misfortune standing beside him, the Lady held tightly in her grasp.

“Let her go,” Renrait growled.

Misfortune flashed a smile at the trainer, one that was razor sharp. “And why ever would I do that?”

A commotion from the other side of the room drew their attention. Famine watched as the Bringer reappeared close to the Lady, the guard that had been holding them stumbling away from them. They turned, mirror handled dagger in hand, ready to strike at Misfortune when Pestilence appeared between them. Steel screamed against steel as the blades collided. Exhaustion got the better of Bringer and Pestilence managed to get their dagger away from them and shove them backwards into the hands of waiting guards.

“What the hell are you even doing here?” Famine snapped at her siblings, “This world is not yours.”

“Says who?” Death chuckled, “You? It isn’t yours either, baby sister?”

A low growl rumbled off Famine’s lips and she surged forward, intent on causing some sort of damage, when the guard that she’d knocked to the floor finally regained his hold of her. She was shoved roughly to the ground, her bones rattling as her knees collided with the marble. She looked up at the assembled group at the front of the room. Misfortune had passed the Lady off the War and was stepping down from dais, walking with the air of someone who though they’d won. “So, this is how this is going to go,” she began. Famine looked down and tuned her out. She wasn’t done fighting. Not at all.

Moving slowly as to not arise alarm, Famine begin to pull off the black satin gloves she was wearing. Once those were off, she moved to her boots, pulling loose the knots and pulling her feet out as much as she could in her current position while rolling her shoulders to loosen her jacket; she’d have to be quick when she up to remove her shoes and jacket, but the more skin she had exposed, the better. Let the bastards try and grab her. They would only fuel her fight.

Misfortune continued to ramble as Famine snaked a now bare hand back to wrap around her captor’s ankle. Immediately, she began to feel his life leak into her fingers and up her arm, the sensation warm and thick. He went to speak but found he hadn’t the strength. It would only be moments before he dropped and then she would have to act fast.

The guard fell with a meaty thud and Famine lunged to her feet, shedding both her coat and boots in one, smooth motion. Before anyone could react, Famine summoned War’s blade from the Lady’s throat with one hand and sent her siblings and Misfortune flying with the other. All eyes were on the young horseman, but she paid them no mind as she dashed to the front of the room, skidding to a stop in front of the Lady, sword out and ready.

“Ah, baby sister,” Death sighed as he pushed himself to sitting, “Couldn’t resist playing hero, hm?” Famine bared her teeth, but that was her only response. “What will you do now? Act as a shield? War’s sword is certainly too large for you to wield,” Death came to his feet and dusted his hands off in a leisurely sort of way, seemingly unconcerned. “It’s four against one, Fammy, and the odds were never good at three to one so I wouldn’t bet on coming out on top here.” Her brother took a step forward but no sooner had his heel stretched out towards the ground did Famine freeze him, along with her other siblings, in place.

“I wouldn’t be so sure,” she hissed. No sooner had the words left her mouth, though, did she catch a flash of movement out of the corner of her eye. Her focus shifted and she released her siblings and caught Misfortune mid-step. “Not so fast.”

Famine went to say something else when she saw the bright flash of War’s hair far closer than it had been before. Scrambling, she dropped the sword and lashed out her hand, sending her sister hurtling through the air before colliding with the floor. As much as she’d like to be cocky, Famine knew she couldn’t handle this on her own. She needed help, desperately, seeing as she was now unarmed and focused on keep both her siblings and Misfortune frozen. She looked out to the floor, but everyone had a guard or two with weapons aimed at them. To move would be foolish. Briefly, Famine considered that she could split her focus three way, telekinetically controlling all their enemies in the room for a brief moment, but she knew that wasn’t very likely to go in her favor. Something would slip somewhere and someone would get free.

Her gaze scanned the crowd until she found Bringer. The pair locked eyes and for the first time her life, Famine wished one of them was telepathic. Then they could coordinate something, make any move, but all she could do was stare and frantically flip through useless ideas in her head.

Before she could come up with anything else, there was an anguished cry behind her. Famine whirled to find the Lady pulling Bringer’s dagger from Misfortune’s stomach. “Girnber!” she called, throwing the dagger to them. It landed solidly in their hand and then was driven into chest of their guard.

Almost instantly, the entire room seemed to erupt into chaos. Famine hauled her sister’s sword off the ground as a guard lunged at her. Throwing as much weight behind the weapon as she could, she sliced it into the woman’s shoulder. That distracted her enough for Famine to step closer and close her hand on the guard’s arm. Her life force fled through Famine’s hands and she dropped. Famine stepped back from her kill and turned to go find her blades when something hit her from behind.

The force of the blow sent Famine stumbling and the crashing down to the floor. Pain exploded through her nose and she felt blood beginning to drip down her face. She pushed those feeling aside and looked up to find her blades just in front of her. Famine scrambled towards them and her fingertips just barley grazed the handle before she was yanked back by the ankle.

“Chilik [Famine],” Death hummed. Famine flipped onto her back to stare up at her brother. “Cos vydic fers vy ya? [Why are you doing this?]”

“GrAykyt fedrAzs Ahra y ekOk, [I will protect my chosen family]” she snarled. Famine tossed her weight back onto her hands and knees, attempting to come to her feet, but Death’s foot swung forward and made contact with her shoulder, knocking her back onto her back and pinning her there.

“FedrAzs lovy kyIt yan-ar, [They are not your family]” he said, crouching so he was inches from her face, “Vy ohar. [We are.]”

“Lovy ya, [You are not]” Famine snapped, “FedrAzs lovy ya. [You are not my family.]” The look on Death’s face was a mixture of mocking pity and anger. He drew back to his full height and pulled back his scythe, ready to strike.

As he reached the peak of his swing, Death was suddenly shoved forward, falling over Famine. Bringer stood in his place, dagger at their side. “Looked like you could use some help,” they said, offering a hand down to Famine.

“I did. Thank you,” She took the hand offered and let Bringer haul her back to her feet. She was quick to let go as soon as she had her balance though. With a flick of her hand, she summoned her blades back to her just in time to hack at a guard coming her way.

Finding themselves surrounded, Famine and Bringer stood back to back, weapons up. The moment a guard was within reach, they attacked but never managed to land blows fatal enough. Famine could feel herself beginning to tire as the endless onslaught continued but forced herself to push on. If one would just get close enough that she could lay a hand on them…

Behind her, Bringer yelled. Famine turned and found Bringer on their knees. A dagger was sticking out of their knee. “Bringer!” As they drew the weapon from their knee, Famine realized it looked all too familiar.

"You can’t win, Famine.” Pestilence’s voice drew Famine’s attention away from Bringer. The twin blade of the one that had injured Bringer was in his hand. “We have more people, more strength.” Famine drew to her feet in front of Bringer, shielding them from her brother.

“You know I am never been one to—"

“Stop!” Bringer’s yell made Famine start and she looked back to find them attempting to come to their feet but struggling. Their gaze was focused on something at the front of the room and Famine felt her heart drop as she followed their line of sight to where Death stood, one arm holding the Lady while the other pointed a stolen sword at her throat.

“Stop fighting or I kill her!” the horseman shouted. The entire room seemed to freeze, all attention turning back to the throne.

“Let her go!” Bringer was still trying to stand beside Famine but their knee was too damaged to take any of their weight. They attempted to grab onto Famine’s arm to haul themself to their feet but the horseman stumbled at the sudden weight. “Let her go!” The General, who had been fighting nearby, stepped over to grab Bringer, to keep them from injuring themself any further. Famine could see tears in their eyes and she knew it wasn’t because of the pain. Emotions had always been her weak spot, but to see Bringer, usually so stoic, so calm, so collected, breaking shattered whatever heart Famine had.

Without thinking much about it, she threw one of her blades to the ground and gathering the back of Pestilence’s shirt in her hand before yanking him towards her. She leveled her other blade at his throat. “You kill her and I’ll kill him, Death!”

“Famine, what the fuck?!” Pestilence shrieked, “Let me go!” Famine did her best to block her brother’s words out and focused on the Lady and her brother at the front of the room; if she thought too much about her victim she wouldn’t be able to go through with it. She’d killed Pestilence before, but never intentionally. In fact, she didn’t think she’d ever intentionally hurt him or him her. But desperate times called for desperate measures.

From the sidelines, War laughed. “You wouldn’t.”

“Wouldn’t I?” Famine replied, shooting her a glance.

War narrowed her eyes, momentarily unsure. “You wouldn’t,” she concluded.

“Famine, stop this!” Pestilence continued to shout.

“Shut up!” she screamed, shoving her blade closer to Pestilence’s throat. It was enough to draw blood and silence her brother.

“You can’t win,” Death said, looking at the people and corpse spilled out across the throne room, “This world will fall to Misfortune and there’s nothing any of you can do about it.” There was a hint of movement, the roll of shoulder as he finished speaking, that sent Famine’s heart racing. She shoved her blade up into her brother’s throat, feeling his blood splash across her face, before dropping him and summoning the sword from the Lady’s throat once again. As it landed in her hand, she was horrified to find the steel stained with blood.

“No!” Bringer’s scream of anguish just barley cut through the fog of Famine’s horror as she stared at the blade and her brother’s body that lay just beyond on the floor. She’d been too late. Screams and cries echoed around her but all she could see was the bloodied blade and her dead brother.

Slowly, the blade slipped from her hand and clattered to the ground. She turned and looked at her brother, feeling all at once painfully aware of her surroundings and numb. “Catd vyduc melOlym ye, ElOhElum? [What have you done, Death?]” she muttered, barely loud enough for the words to carry to where her brother stood. “I’m going to fucking kill you.”

The word registered with Death before his sister moved. Famine threw herself at her brother like a wolf descending on it prey. The horsemen hit the ground, rolling slightly until Famine came out on top. Her hands grappled for any open skin as Death frantically pushed back. Brief rushes and jolts of life force sizzled across Famine’s skin as flesh fleetingly found flesh. Hands hit clothed arms and bare face, but never long enough to do serious damage, but the fear in Death’s eyes and the sound of Bringer’s anguished screams still ringing in her ears drove her forward, searching for any purchase she could find.

In her frenzied haze, she felt her sister coming up behind her and lashed a hand out at her, sending her flying back into the wall. Famine retuned her attention to Death and pinned his hands to the marble floor, a couple fingers wedged under the hem of his gloves, slowly leeching away his life. “You bring her back,” she snarled, “you bring the Lady back or I will kill you.”

“Like you even could,” Death laughed, but the fear in his eyes revealed how much of a lie he knew his words were.

“I already am, and if you don’t bring her back,” Famine dropped her weight into her right elbow and used it to pin Death’s arm while she moved her hand to his throat. “I’ll make your worst nightmares come true.” Her brother’s eyes grew wide with a kind of fear Famine believe she had never before seen her brother wear. It made her heart soar.

Suddenly, Famine was shoved off of Death and sent tumbling down the steps of the dais. When she came to a stop, she was curled on her side, trying to get the world to stop spinning. A harsh kick to the shoulder sent to sprawling onto her back and looking up her sister’s sword at her snarling face. “Stay down, Famine,” War hissed, “unless you want to suffer the same fate as the Lady.” Famine was still a moment before reaching up to snatch the blade, ignoring the sharp burn on her palm as she shoved the weapon out of her way and lunged back to her feet, prepared to attack her sister.

No sooner was she on her feet did the flat of War’s blade slam into her face, sending her spinning back to the floor. A heavy boot on the center of her back kept Famine pressed to the cool marble. Just barley, Famine could see Bringer, crumpled in a heap on the floor, sobbing. Tears stabbed the backs of Famine’s eyes but she refused to let them fall, a battle she quickly lost.

Death’s boots blocked Famine’s sight. “Learn when to give up, baby sister,” her older brother said, crouching so she could just barley see his face. Flecks of the Lady’s blood were spattered across his face. “And learn to pick your battles wisely, because when it comes down to it, would any of these people really help you?” Famine bared her teeth at her brother, but her anger was too watered down for it to sting. Death smirked and drew back to his feet. “Let’s go.” The boot from her back lifted and she could see her siblings beginning to stride off, followed by their army.

Famine scuttled to her feet and went to charge after them when someone grabbed her arm. She shoved them off and kept going, determined to take the other horsemen down or die trying. She was almost to the door when she was suddenly wrapped in her own coat and snatched off the ground. “We have to stop, Eminfam,” came Liaxee’s voice as Famine struggled against his hold, “We must regroup and fight again, later.” Her siblings were out the door now but Famine knew if she could just get free she could get them.

“Eminfam, stop!” The boom of Liaxee’s voice shocked Famine into stillness. “We will fight again, but now we must stop.” Famine didn’t say anything but remained still. Slowly, Liaxee set her down. As soon as her feet hit the ground, her knees seemed to give out and they collided against the marble with a crack. With blank eyes full of tears, Famine stared after where her siblings had gone, the last stragglers of their army just now disappearing. Liaxee stood behind her, a hand on the horseman’s shoulder just in case she tried to bolt. The rest of the Mirrorverse folk that had been dragged into the throne room were in various states of despair. The General still stood by Bringer, who was little more than a puddle of tears, and Renrait was up on the dais, holding the Lady’s lifeless body as tears streamed down her face. For a moment, the Mirrorverse had been completely brought to its knees.

#fic #battle for the mirrorverse #part 1 #ghostsandmirrors #i hope this is any good #i enjoyed writing it so that's gotta be good right?#also the image of liaxee just snatching fam up in her jacket kills me

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