The conditions were simple. Let Lavimo go alone, and he could get all the information he wanted. And it wasn’t like he was going to go in blindly. He knew these people were villains, he knew this woman might be behind the human experimentation, and he knew he shouldn’t trust her. He was aware she might lie to him. But Lavimo believed that if he could gather all the information he could before getting out, no matter how false or true it may be, he could filter through it with Haven later.
He was so certain that he was capable, but Kal’s voice still cut through his mind like a knife. “No. I will not abide by that,” the hardened general stated, words sharp and final as Orvana gave him a thin smile.
“Really? Shouldn’t it be his choice?” the woman tested, Lavimo looking in between them feeling very conflicted. Her words felt like she was trying to support him, but he knew deep down that wasn't true. Another manipulation tactic was what it was. He wasn't that blind, not like everyone thought he was. Maybe that's why Kal's decision still made him angry.
“I don’t trust him alone with you. If you start a fight, he’ll stand better chances with all four of us there,” the black-haired man continued to retort, Lavimo quickly feeling the need to turn to his leader and protest that fact.
“That’s not true! I can teleport out if things get to be too much, I'm not useless,” he insisted, not liking how he was being treated as if he were really so helpless. Why did Kal always treat him this way? “You never let me do anything important! I can handle this much!”
“I very much doubt that you can. You are not going with her alone, and that is my final answer,” Kal snapped, glare on his features as Lavimo's face twisted. Why was he always looked down on like this by those around him? When would he finally be enough?
But Haven figured they’d nip this in the bud before things went too far, stepping in front of the two before they could start fighting as they made eye contact with Kallan. “Then I’ll go with him,” they offered firmly, setting their hand on Lavimo’s chest as they had him step away from the brooding general, not wanting him to snap immaturely and ruin his chances further.
“You think that’ll make it better?” Kal questioned seriously, Lavimo flinching at his tone while Haven took it at face value.
They understood that the man wasn’t necessarily telling them they were incapable. The statement wasn’t meant to be rhetorical or demeaning. It was a genuine question, because he needed to know. So Haven straightened themselves, holding their head high as they took a step closer towards Kallan, keeping their hand on Lavimo’s chest just to center him, to let him know they were there and on his side. “I know what you’re worried about. You think he’ll get pulled in by their tricks like the naive fool he is, and I agree that it's a valid concern. But if I’m there, I’ll be able to level him out. I don't trust easy, and I'm very aware the true nature of humanity is selfish and evil. I’m always looking for double meanings in whatever people say, so you know I won’t let him fall into any silly traps. I’ll call them out the moment I see them,” they assured, before whipping around towards Orvana to give her a dead-looking stare. “You want to give us the information, don’t you? Well this is the only way, as none of us agree to your demand. Surely you’ll be able to take just one more into your trap, or would that be too much trouble?”
It was a purposely mocking statement. Even Lavimo could tell Haven was provoking her, despite how dense he often was, although he wasn’t entirely sure how that was supposed to help. But Orvana didn’t seem too bothered, moving her hand to her cheek as she gave a deceivingly warm smile, as if they'd walked into the exact situation she was hoping for. “Sure, I’ll allow it. You don’t appear too often in my visions, so I suppose you’re unimportant. Now come along, follow me, children.”
Haven clicked their tongue at that offhanded statement, Lavimo slowly looking back over to Kal as the man watched them leave with jaded eyes. He could understand why the calloused man didn't like this, and he definitely agreed that he was walking into a trap, but he needed these answers. He felt like he couldn’t turn back at this point... he was too close, he could feel it. So he continued following Orvana down the corridor, listening closely as the woman proceeded to endlessly talk with her deep and pristine regality.
“Well, now that we're alone and moving along, allow me to get started with answering all your questions. I know what must be most pressing on your mind is what or who started the apocalypse, yes?” she began with the voice of a practiced noble, turning a corner to meet a chiseled stone staircase with the walls winding in a spiral as she took the first step down on her clicking heels. “I assume what you’re wondering is if Princess Arcadia was most definitely the cause, or if that book my ally left behind in his old lab was merely a hoax. After all, I do admit that having a book filled to the brim with confirmed truths and only one lie would be a good way to trick people into assuming the lie was a truth as well. I can understand your suspicions, and I don’t condemn them. But to clarify, the book didn’t lie to you, it just didn’t give you everything you needed to know to make an educated decision,” Orvana explained helpfully, Lavimo looking around hesitantly at their surroundings as they passed purple flags hung up on spires along the winding staircase, black beaded streamers hanging down from the ceiling that they passed through every few stretches of stone. “Princess Arcadia did indeed start the apocalypse, but she didn’t do it on purpose. In fact, she had utterly no idea that her actions would do what they did. I’m not even sure she’s aware of it now. Or should I say, he. He used the concept of anything to change his gender, and now runs around with a different alias.”
“How do you know so much about him, then?” Haven immediately snapped, adapting to the new pronouns quickly as Lavimo did a double take. So princess Arcadia was… a prince?
But Orvana just laughed at them, like she found the question all too silly. “My young child, who do you think you’re talking to? I am the mightiest oracle in all of the many worlds and universes, the oldest to ever exist. You think my visions wouldn’t latch onto the mightiest and most transcendent being our multiworlds have seen in ages?”
“She, uh… er, he... he’s really that great?” Lavimo stumbled out, Orvana turning around to smile at him as she ducked under another beaded curtain.
“Of course he is. I’ve never seen anyone master the concept of anything before him... it really is amazing. I would do anything to have a nice chat with such a mythic figure,” she replied before turning around to descend the staircase further, walking out onto flat ground enveloped in a large hallway, reminiscent of being within a castle. There were more violet flags with intricate black roses embroidered into the middle, small black crystals being sewn into the hems. Lavimo had never seen such a flag before, but it looked to represent something, as it was hung up everywhere they looked like a meaningful emblem. But Orvana just kept on her merry way, continuing to talk and feed him the information his heart so desired.
“But anyway, as to what I was saying, Prince Arcadia hadn’t the slightest clue his actions would start the apocalypse. He was just desperate for power, and was willing to do anything to get it, even overcome death. I’ve never seen anyone in all my many centuries of living master the concept of endless revival, as in order to even begin cultivating such an ability, you must first entirely erase the fear of death from your heart and be able to consistently envision yourself coming back over and over again. It’s a breathtaking ability. I don’t think anyone except Arcadia will ever be able to accomplish it. But that is also what makes him so dangerous,” she lowered her head, stopping in her tracks in the middle of the hallway to turn and face them both with her elegant robes.
“Arcadia has lived all of his life in blissful unawareness, absolutely and utterly oblivious of what he has done to reality. He was the final trigger to the apocalypse, and that trigger can never be undone. He has done something that can never be redeemed, even if he was unaware of it. That is what I believe, at the very least,” she nodded her head, smiling politely at the both of them as she lifted a hand. “It is my personal belief that, even if someone does something by accident, they must still pay the price. Arcadia, whether he is aware of it or not, caused the apocalypse, and I believe he must repent for his misgivings. After all, there is one surefire way to stop the apocalypse… there is one guaranteed way to stop more planets from degenerating into corruption,” Orvana’s smile widened, her arms lifting forward as her silks dangled from underneath, her arms delicately moving in an almost hypnotizing motion. “Prince Arcadia must die. If we get rid of the trigger who caused the apocalypse, reality will be satisfied, and the apocalypse will fade away. The only price is one man’s life, and he’s not even an innocent one. Don’t you think it’s rather fair to ask the person who caused the apocalypse to sacrifice their life to stop it? It’s only karma coming to take its rightful price!” she announced regally, the gears turning in Lavimo’s mind as his thoughts began to feel a bit sluggish. It was as if strings were right in front of his face, dangling over his eyes, tempting him to grab them. They were golden and alluring, shining in his vision as he moved his mouth to blindly agree…
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It took Haven reaching over and pinching his wrist for him to snap back to attention, the golden strings he must’ve been hallucinating fading from view as he straightened his back to respond to the information. His significant other was giving him a fierce glare, as if demanding an answer to why he’d spaced out, but Lavimo honestly didn’t think he could offer one even if he knew what he'd just seen. He had to pause, mind stuttering back into clarity as he answered Orvana’s ramblings. “I can see where you’re coming from. If Prince Arcadia really did cause the apocalypse, him trading his life to stop it does seem like it would be fair. But why must you experiment on innocent people and turn them into monsters if that’s really your goal?” he questioned seriously, Haven’s glare calming down as they shifted their chin upwards, proud of Lavimo for not falling for such an obvious trap without them needing to step in and guide him.
Though Orvana’s smile merely shifted, her eyes closing slightly as she turned on her heel and began walking forward once more. “Who said we were experimenting on innocent people? The only ones we experiment on are murderous villains. I can even prove it to you if you follow me,” she chuckled smoothly, walking down a hallway as it opened up into large prison cells. There were at least twenty dark cells all lined up in a row, but only five of them were filled. And they all held people who were chained from their ankles to their wrists with gags binding their mouths, some of them barely awake in their battered states as the few that looked conscious turned to glare at them when they passed.
And Lavimo was mortified. These were actual, real living people who hadn’t yet been turned into monsters. He could save them. If he just managed to distract Orvana enough, he had the ability to get them out of here, he knew he did. Even if what the woman said was true and they were all monstrous people, he refused to believe that meant they deserved the fate of turning into actual monsters ready to be experimented on and slaughtered.
Though, much to his horror, Orvana stopped at each prison cell individually, beckoning him to the first bloody cell that held a smaller woman with dark skin and shaggy magenta hair, wine red eyes peeking out from above the chain on her throat as she glared at them. “This woman is named Dio. She’s a murderer who has killed countless innocent people, with her main targets being young children. She lures them in with alcoholic sweets before getting them drunk and smuggling them to her torture chambers. If she doesn’t deserve to become what she truly is in the final form of a monster, I don’t know who does."
"And this man here,” the scarily elegant woman traced the bars of a cage holding a male oni with inky black skin and four arms all shackled together in a metal bind, his white hair and glaring white eyes not even looking at them as his head lolled to the side, as if he had already given up on seeing anything more than the dull grey floor speckled with his own blood. “Well, his name is Hectal. He’s known to be a serial rapist who can’t control his primal urges. He is an oni, so perhaps some aggression is to be expected, but he’s still far worse than the rest of his kind, and was already rejected by them long ago..."
"Next we have this abomination, Lyri, who uses their flute and hypnotic abilities to lure sleeping innocents to their deaths,” she gestured to the third cage that held a large, muscular figure with bronze skin and curly locks of amber hair that were all messy and tangled, their golden eyes lifting when they heard their name. They were glaring at Orvana, but when they shifted and made eye contact with Lavimo and saw the horror on his face, something in their features seemed to soften, and they lifted their head against the shackles and gag, as if they were trying to tell him something.
“You best ignore them. Lyri especially is known to manipulate and mutilate their victims in torturous ways. Unless you want to be sliced to bits, torn joint from join and limb from limb, before being buried half alive as a mangled human being, I advise against it,” Orvana spoke, before she turned to the cell of a tall and slender young man with long, curly brown hair that draped over his shoulders like fine silk. He was immensely beautiful, despite the fact his loose robes were ragged and filled with tears and blood stains, his fair bare chest bruised and shackled. And instead of a gag, this man’s whole lower face was covered in something similar to a muzzle, impossible for him to talk or move his head as he appeared to be fully unconscious, long lashes fluttering as he seemed to be barely breathing. “Don’t let his beauty fool you, though I will admit it is otherworldly,” Orvana told him, moving her cane to jab at the man’s chest through the bars as Lavimo heard a weak groan come from him, and he immediately rushed forward to try and stop her.
“Hey, don’t do that!! You’ll kill him!” he yelled in a panic, restrained by Haven’s quick vines just in time, the green plants sprouting from the tops of their arms before wrapping around his waist and shoulders, pulling him back.
But Orvana didn’t seem to care, Haven merely continuing to restrain him before he eventually stopped struggling, wincing against the abuse he was witnessing. But after she’d thoroughly battered the beautiful man even further, she merely turned towards Lavimo and laughed. “How can you care for this man? Can’t you recognize a swindler when you see one? His name is Aphrodite, and he uses his looks and beauty to lure in unsuspecting people to his bed, before he kills them and absorbs their own beauty to enhance his own. That is his main concept, after all. The reason his mouth is so shackled is because he has another that gives him the ability to hypnotize people with his voice, which is how he manages to kill his victims despite being such a weak man. You would really show sympathy for him? A murderer?”
“I… but he, he…” Lavimo stuttered, trembling against Haven’s vines before the pink-haired person took a firm hold of his wrist, holding it in place to stabilize him as best they could. They didn't know what else they could do. They needed to push forward, but would Lavimo make it much further?
“You really shouldn’t empathize with these villains, Lavimo. It’s not good for you,” Orvana laughed in his face, chuckling softly as if he really were so innocent and naive. “But you know, this last woman is the worst of them all. Are you ready to hear about her?” she smiled, leading him down to the very last cell in the long corridor, only to see a woman with clammy pale skin and ocean blue eyes glaring directly at them, her long black hair flowing down her shoulders in graceful waves. Out of all the prisoners here, she was the one who was most alert, glaring at Orvana, Lavimo, and Haven with so much passionate hatred it gave him chills. He didn’t want to be glared at like that, like he was the enemy. It made him feel sick. Though Orvana just moved on with her exhibition, as if these people were nothing more than her prized showcases as she hit the bars with her cane.
“This woman here is the strongest of the batch, a world hopper and a pirate. Pirates already have a very unethical profession, mind you, being thieves and killers the lot of them. But this woman here is known to go around luring in men and killing them when they least expect it. I don’t know who hurt her, but ever since she murdered her last husband, she’s been on a killing spree of the male population for centuries. She even killed her son once he started to resemble more of a man,” Orvana explained coldly, giving the woman a brutal glare in return as Lavimo stared at her in horror. “Hera is her name, and many know her across worlds as Hera of the Sea. She has the most powerful water concept to have ever surfaced in thousands of years, and it took everything I had just to restrain her. But it’s a good thing I did, don’t you think? How many other men and children do you think she would have killed had I not?”
And Lavimo stared at the woman, not sure what he could do for her. She was glaring at him like she wanted to rip him apart and feed him to the fish, but all he knew was that she still didn’t deserve the fate she would be getting. And there wasn’t even any way to see if Orvana was telling the truth. He didn’t have a truth-seeking concept like his cousin Cirrus, and he didn’t have any intuition concepts that could help him be able to lean towards a correct answer. Everything felt so conflicting, and no path in his vision seemed like the right one. But despite that, he still knew this wasn’t right, either. Even if all those stories were true and all of these people were horrible in some way or shape, they didn’t deserve to be experimented on. No one deserved that. No one deserved to lose their humanity and turn into a monster. If anything, it would be best just to kill them and stop them from committing more atrocities like that, so that no further unnecessary pain or violence would spread. But turning these people into monsters? Even if they were villains, what would that accomplish? And with the way Hera was looking at him…
She was looking at him like he was the monster. He could understand that very clearly. To her, anyone associated with Orvana was a monster, and he agreed. But he would not let himself stay like that. He would not side with these people. He’d already received the answers he was looking for, so he didn’t need to stay here any longer. Orvana had already told him everything she was willing to... that Arcadia had indeed caused the apocalypse, but that he hadn’t meant to, and that him dying could solve everything. That was what he needed to know, and now he could leave and go confirm if those statements were true or not elsewhere. So if he just managed to distract Orvana for only a little bit… he could come back and free these people. Even if Hera looked at him like he was a monster now, he would prove to her he wasn’t. He wasn’t a monster. He would stop the apocalypse and restore his planet and become a great king, Lavimo was certain of it. He would prove that by saving these people now. Because he wasn’t a monster… he was on the right side of things. By the end of his story, he would have proven to everyone how capable he could be. He had to, or else what was the point?
