(Many thanks to a friend for helping! You know who you are!)

?What should we do now, Bain??

?Yeah, this has gone on long enough!?

Roars of agreement were heard throughout the group. The man known as Bain sat in a rather rickety chair atop a gallows platform. His elbow resting on the arm of it, he surveyed his group with a smirk, his chiseled face resting in one large hand.

The surrounding crowd roared, pitchforks, sickles and whatnot gripped in their hands and waving around wildly. It only took Bain?s rising out of his seat for the whole group of about 4,700 to quiet down. Bain placed his hands on his hips, his head turning to look at them all. He then punched his fist into the air.

?Yaah!?

?YAAAH!?

?Yaah!?

?YAAAH!?

?Brothers from our hometown. Neighbors from abroad! I?ve asked that you gather here today to participate in a higher cause!?

Yells and murmurs rippled through the crowd quickly, the weapons flying and whirling in circles. Bain held up his hands to silence them.

?We have lived under Renna the Betrayer and have survived!?

?YAAAH!?

?And now this!? Yelling, he thrusts his arm outwards towards a clearing a good ways off in the forest. ?This? Lucy! She is the Hellspawn of Renna! She must be destroyed!?

?YAAAH!? Bain began pacing the length of the platform. The torches held by some of the group members cast eerie shadows over the whole procession, giving Bain a rather evil air. Some of them even visibly backed away, giving the platform some space.

?We?ve sat as spectators for the longest time, watching how she has destroyed our friends, our families! You?ve all heard what transpired at Redton??

?YAAAH!?

?Who had friends there? Who had family members there?!?

Hundreds of the group held up their hands, weapons, anything to show that they were part of those who?d lost someone in that massacre. They?d seen it from their homes, knowing just what city had been ransacked to all hell. First it was the trees ? they moved as if alive, conscious and storming through everything in their path as if the ground was butter. Then came the explosion, which rattled the very sinews of their bodies. Every head turned around towards Redton, wide eyed and staring. The screams? those horrible, anguish filled screams. All that they were left with were ideas of just how much pain those people were going through.

?We shall not let her stomp on us a moment longer! We shall NOT stand as spectators on the slopes of Mount Olympus! We shall confront the Hellspawn! We shall fight!?

?YAAAH!? Once again, anger packed screams filled the crowd. The ground shook with the stomps of thousands of feet. They were antsy. Ready to move. Ready to rip, tear, slash any part of that abomination that they could reach. Ready to kill.

Bain hopped down from the platform with a thud as a rather scrawny man held out a sickle. Bain grabbed it, clapping the man on the shoulder and lifting it high over his head, emitting one last loud battle cry.

The circle of bodies parted for his passage, and he walked on, sickle held high. Once he was through, he turned.

?Let?s go.?

Silently, as they were trying to keep a stealthy approach, they began moving towards the direction of the clearing. The procession was slow, almost lazy, as if they didn?t want to get there at all. Some of the men felt certainly that they were marching to their doom. But what else did they have to lose? Their families had been slaughtered, their friends taken. If they had to be next, then damn it they were going down taking a part of Lucy?s body, however small, down with them.

Bain had broken through the thin line of trees and stopped. His muscled arm raised, he pointed his weapon towards the door.

?That?s where she is, men! The Hellspawn. The abomination. Our target!?

The group shouted in unison, and moved forwards towards the mote, weapons in hand, scowls on their faces.




Under normal circumstances one would hear the 'rawring' and 'yahing' of an approaching army - even if a single or several miles off, but being underground Lucy did not hear a damned thing. If they had marched, the vibrations would have been an early warning for her, and perhaps then she would have mobilized her own troops in for a counter attack.

Alas, their stealthy approaching was a good idea except with one major flaw...

Mina's head jerked upwards, the dead white hair never seemed to part from her face anymore - heck, her hair was so long only the features of her naked body was perhaps the only way to be sure that she was female Catgirl.
"... They are here." Mina's raspy voice echoed out in the dull silence of the Throne Room, her hanging form swaying side to side - as if she hung from a gallows just above the Throne where Lucy sat in her sleeping gown.

"Who?" Lucy questioned, her fingers curling at the arms of the chair, her knuckles turning pure white as she clenched at the stone.

"The peasants... they have amassed..."

Lucy tilted up her head to Mina's feet that was literally hanging meters above her head. "Why are they here? How many?"

The Clairvoyant's toes curled and her feet bent upwards a tad, as if she was trying to stand on nothing but air. "Four thousand... Five thousand... I cannot tell... Bain! A man... Bain... He leads. Caution advised, they are here to end us."

Lucy pushed herself slowly from the Throne, smoothing the creases in her night gown, "Damn it, I wanted to go and have a nice nap and you give me this news? Argh! Aru! Mu!" She shouted sternly, fists at her sides, eyes narrowing down towards the entrance of the Throne Room, almost willing for the peasants to come running in and to infiltrate her domain.

The Twins had appeared, like they had always been there, either side of the Throne. Heads bowed and eyes closed.

"What is it you want, Mistress?" Aru spoke first, as usual, followed by Mu closely after.

"What is it? Mistress?"

"The Clairvoyant has sensed intruders in our grounds; they are to be taught a lesson..." The words rolled of Lucy's tongue like music; she slowed each word down, giving it all the more a much darker and sadistic tone.

"Of course, Mistress.." Both Twins chimed, sinking into their very shadows... Lucy sat back down onto her Throne and sighed loudly, almost in frustration.

"What are the chances, Mina?"

There was a raspy and almost ghoulish chuckle to echo up from above her head. Mina's body shook, the chains that dug into her flesh tightening further pain as she then erupted into a maniacal laughter.

"What chances, my Queen? They are to be crushed?"

Back above ground, the Keep itself was as silent as ever. The approaching troops were not met by any opposition as of yet. The more they approached the colder is seemed to become - and then without much of a warning the heavy church-like doors swung open with an almighty crack, the hinges crying out against such a force that had opened it so roughly.
The Twins stood in the door, their palms extended out towards the front lines of the peasants. Heck, that?s IF they even held any formation; generally their kind just clumped together tightly, supporting each other in numbers rather than tactics. So imagine if you will a hail of - lets say - arrows coming down upon their heads... They'd take heavy casualties within a blink of an eye.

"You have come here, against our Mistress will, under our protection-"

"She will never be harmed!"

Their blood red eyes glowing brightly.

"Burn - your punishment is of Fire!"

"Your punishment starts now!"

They didn't give them the chance to respond for as they clenched their outstretched hands into tight fists, numerous of the rebels suddenly writhed in pain, smoke rising up from their nostrils and opened mouths until... Some of them erupted into a mass of moving flames - crying and flailing about like a fish out of water. Some merely exploded out went their entrails and blood out across their friends and families, female and male alike being drenched in boiling guts of gore and fire.
It was a massacre before they had even made contact. The Twins had lifted down their hands to their sides, glancing to each other with satisfied smirks.

"That is a warning, and an act of mercy! Come no further-"

"Or suffer a worse fate than that of your friends."

They turned and walked into the dimly lit darkness of the Upper Ground Hall... Disappearing into the shadows

The front door was open for them if they wished to challenge that theory further...

The group fanned out to the directions of Bain?s arms. ?One third east, another west. The rest of you, follow me.?

Keeping low to the ground, crouching on bent knees, they dispersed, surrounding the front of the castle in seconds.

Bain and his group, the only ones able to see the front of the fortress properly stiffened at the sight of the twins. Lucy was powerful, as was Renna. If these were her creations, then something bad was about to go down.

?Look to the fortress! Watch out!?

Words said in vain as men and women around Bain began to spontaneously combust. Flecks of burning innards and body parts began flying throughout the crowd. Grunts, yells and screams wafted through them all as tendrils of fire shot out from two distinct locations. The words of the twins weren?t even heard anymore as the groups dispersed, fleeing about like ants. If Bain wasn?t mistaken, he could hear them cackle.

?Ladders! Those of you who have them, come to the front!?

Amidst their better judgment, wooden ladders were passed towards the front of the crowd, and Bain helped settled them onto the narrow spit of land around the den.

?Go go go go go!? He yelled, waving them along. Men and women scurried across, the ladders wobbling to and fro, and they inched towards the doorway, clinging to the wall.

Bain turned, watching as every few seconds a small group of his comrades explode in domes of blood and ash.

?Too many of our numbers have gone under, Bain. This was one screwed up idea!?

?We?re not going to turn around now!? Bain yelled, and then snapped his mouth closed almost instantly. The eruption of the man almost blew his eardrums out of working order. He tasted a metallic liquid in his mouth, and it was a good few seconds before he had the courage to open his eyes.

There his friend stood, though lacking in a head. The decapitated body crumpled forward in a loud and sickening squelch, catching fire and burning away in seconds.

?Bain! Come on!? Someone yelled off to his right. He wadded up the bloody grey matter in his mouth, spitting it out with force and warded off the feeling of retching. Turning, he grabbed the sickle and trotted across the ladder, scooting over to the door and in. He was soon joined by those who?d survived. Considering how many they started out with, there wasn?t that many.

Bain took many breaths, getting the images of his friends being ripped apart from the inside by flames or just exploding in a mass of goo. He spat again before speaking.

?We?re all that?s left. We now know what we?re up against. Keep strong, everyone.? Bain wiped at his face, clearing tears or blood from his vision, anyone could guess, but speech over with, they began moving through the tunnels.

Their footsteps echoed against the cavernous walls. Dripping water was the only other thing heard except for thundering feet. Those who still carried torches were out in front, lighting the way. They?d decided, unspoken, NOT to split up again.

Long, grueling minutes of turning around corners and around bends, they finally ended up at a thick door, decorated with metal intricacies in vine like patterns. Bain put a finger to his lips and quickly pushed the door inwards with a hard kick.

The group charged in, torches and weapons held high. All of a sudden, the room was filled with a light so bright, most of the group shielded their eyes, only looking when they heard the clinking of chains. Their jaws dropping, chins almost hitting their chests, they stared wide eyed at what was before them.

The room was huge, too huge. From the ceiling, floor, walls? anywhere, chain ropes were intertwined in impossible binding formations. Strung throughout were the half rotting bodies of those of Redton. Their lifeless eyes rolled back in their sockets, some even hanging by tendons onto their faces, patchy skin was turning to mush and running off of the facial bones like thick syrup. Limbs randomly fell from wherever they were, clunking into the ground and continuing their disintegration.

Bain swallowed hard, feeling himself pale. All through the room, he heard the moans and groans of his group, some even fleeing towards the bodies, and attempting to pull them down.

?Darcy!?

?Aiden!?

?Don?t go near them!? Bain screamed, coming back to himself. But it was too late. His words seemed to bring the decaying vessels to life. Their heads still resting wherever they happened to be, runny arms and stick legs went flaying into the group members. Slippery hands grabbed their family member?s heads, twisting the neck past the breaking point and letting them drop. The chained beings began wobbling, squirming? they wanted out.

?Ahh. Bain. I see you?ve met my friends.? Came a female voice from the shadows. Bain?s hands tightened on the sickle?s handle, and he readied himself.

This ended here.

But it was not to end how Bain would have wanted it...

"Welcome to the Den of Shadows, Bain... We all hope you will enjoy your stay." Lucy rose from her Throne still dressed in the attire of bed-wear, her bare feet smacking against the equally cold cobbled floor as she descended down the alter, her night-gown skipping across the dirtied and dusty uneven surface of the floor.
The undead forms of their comrades and family were now fully awake, writhing open the walls like a living wallpaper of limbs and cloaks and death, the stench was foul and Lucy had grown quickly accustomed to smell; the putrid and vile noxious gases with it's green-pea oozing liquid out of wounds, how could anyone live in such a place?

That's the point. No one here was alive.

Maybe except the people now who thought they could so storm this Fortress without the wrath of the Queen of Shadows upon them...

The Twins had unknowingly and somehow managed to sneak up from behind them, blocking the doorway side by side, their palms extended out towards the backs of the peasants, readying themselves to combust further bodies if they so choose to run away.

It was a trap, perfectly laid for these fools.

"This place may not have boundary walls or a gatehouse to keep people out..." She was now walking towards Bain at the forefront of the mass crowd, "It may not have blockades to stop you from coming into my Throne room-" She paused and smirked, her head tilting downwards, her hair flopping down over her cheeks and half cutting her gaze of the crowd but never did she not leave those dark eyes from Bain; the leader, the puppet master of this rebellion. "This whole Fortress is one, big, trap..."

Mina's head tilted up, she parted her lips - so to the rotting mouths of the Black Monks, Mina and every single undead body chained to the walls spoke in perfect unison, speaking as one voice, one entity.

"You will die here."

You will die here.

"You will forever serve the Queen of Shadows."

You will forever serve the Queen of Shadows.

"And now, your journey ends here Bain... Watch as I tare your army apart..." Lucy's arms raised from her sides, opening out, wanting to embrace the crowd in her sights and... Her near-unlimited number of invisible 'vectors' or 'shadow arms' shot out into the crowd.

Hearts were torn from chests...

Eyeballs gouged out until black puss leaked from the eyeless sockets...

Necks twisted, and broken...

Bodies being hurled up into the air...

Hooked chains shooting forth from Mina's form; impaling and strangling...

The screams echoing out.

Panic.

Chaos.

People trampled underfoot by their own kind.

All who attempted to flee were set ablaze by the waiting Twins at the doorway, and all the more they fell and all the more the cries and pleadings of mercy died out...

Lucy laughed, leaving Bain to last bare witness to his mistake...

What was to become of him?