Since their departure on July 22nd to locate the remaining three candidates for the Evolution Frontier, a plethora of events had exchanged between the trust of the Government with its subjects. Riots have once again appeared all over the country at the obvious display of carelessness for the lives of those sacrificed to ascertain the truth of the Island. Luckily for the people, a counterattack orchestrated by the Elite to silence them hasn't been planned yet, as a final plan has been set out secretly.
With the fate of the American people weighing down on their shoulders, their Founder stood at the helm of the ship with arms behind his back and comrades by his side. Nevertheless, their lives seemed to matter not in the grand scheme of his plans, as there was only one thing on his mind. That sole motivation that he unwillingly would, without hesitation, risk the fate of the world for. And that was 'justice.'
And so, as the ship docked at the beach leading to the Island, their feet led them off. Kelly sliding her shoes off with an irritated moan, Cal heard the group's inaudible bickering as he drew his finger through the grains.
Hot to the touch, more than anything on Earth's beaches, then again, that's just an assumption, considering his feet's skin would likely peel off if he touched it. Even now, hair shielding some of his faces, he could feel the sting of the Sun's rays as they bled onto his body. But as we know, that pain was nothing to him, and as he stared ahead, Azazel and Heidi preparing to fight with Ryosuke and Rizia holding their respective foils had all turned their heads to spot their Founder walking uphill. Reluctantly, without having anything to do with the other yanking them back, Snow and Karlo walked side by side with one another, passing glares sent the other's way as they casually followed him.
In total, if you asked either of them, they'd come up with an estimate regarding an 18-22 minute range. That was long it took for them to walk up the grass mountain that led to the final center, and as they looked off to stare down, it was a beautiful sight before their eyes. And not only that but one they'd never witnessed before.
A forest deep in the distance near the left, a desert somewhere deeper, and even more mountains… it was truly a once-in-a-lifetime painting-like scenery. The ocean sparkled with reflections of distant stars, seagulls squawking over their heads, turtles barely spotted crawling along the desert while crabs scattered about rapidly near the beach behind them. If there were any particular way to describe this place, it'd have to be something like a Hybrid.
A hybrid island consisting of multiple biomes located throughout the World. All in all, though the rest of them gawked at this with sparkles shining in their eyes, Rizia turned their head so they could examine the look on their leader's face. Stepping up so they could stand beside him and crouch, they turned their head, parting their lips,
"Is this going 'according to plan'?"
Without bothering to turn his head, he handed an earpiece to them, letting it fall to their open palm, with a nod and permanent smile, he leaped his feet off the hill,
"Yup!" He replied with an excited pep in his step.
Harbinger watching as he just slid on down the steepness of the descending mountain to reach the leveled field, they turned to the rest of their comrades and nodded. Azazel lifting Kelly in his arms while the rest jumped forward to follow their Founder, he slid right on down with the caretaker in his arms, and just as they reached the bottom, they were met with a new sight. Placing her down so she could jog on over to Cal, she kneeled beside his crouched body, spotting his exposed-scarred fingers scratch at his chin.
What they were kneeling to the front of was none other than a gaping hole stabbed right into the Island. Calling this unnatural would be the understatement of the century, then again, being on an Island that seemingly engulfs its victims is odd enough,
"What the hell is this..?" Kel asked worriedly,
"This… is the Pathway to R'lyeh. Now of all times is proper to explain to you the truth of our end goal. The gathering of this Evolution Frontier was to challenge a Sea God from another world, that being the Great Old One; he being a product of the Old World's remnants.
If we are successful, then we shall be able to alter the fabric of reality and bring about my ascension as Founder of Riverton Island… but if not, then the last of humanity will likely perish and it'll forcefully evolve to the point of no return with no orchestrator. That being said, if all of you are ready for this, then I'll be waiting for you," Callum nodded to Rizia, to which they nodded back and swiftly swept Kelly right off her feet so she could stay in their muscular arms, although sleeved.
"AAHHHHHHHH!!!" The blonde caretaker yelled as she descended downward down that hole, into a never-ending void of eternal darkness seemingly enveloping everything around her.
Back on the service, the remaining trio looked to one another, Azazel attaching his mask to his face so it could click into place. Meanwhile, Ryosuke slowly withdrew his katana from the sheath strapped over his back, watching as the metal gleamed in the Sun's rays. Heidi, as rebellious as ever, had her arms crossed tight over her chest while her male comrades readied for the trial below,
"Are you two going to do this..? Isn't Cthulhu some sort of sanity-altering Eldritch god? How the hell are we gonna beat something like that?!" She yelled frustratedly at them both, to which neither of them turned themselves; instead, their backs permanently faced her front.
Their silence was as ear-damaging to her as a sonic jet would be like to commoners, so endless and so void around her, in retrospect, everything began to turn dark as she realized she was alone. There was nobody or nothing else besides this darkness that she was unfortunately reserved to, none of these 'people' which she was forced to call her 'allies' seemed to care about her. Then again, was that their problem? Why did they 'have' to? No one has to do anything, to be fair. Wouldn't it just be easier to rid this world of that feeble existence instead of loitering around without purpose…
Purpose… what was her purpose?
The next thing she knew, they'd vanished, and the only thing she was left with was the surface. The call of the native seagulls distant near the beach over the hill to her skull's back radiated out to ring into her ears, and yet she was still here, she didn't move or jerk. Almost as though those reverberations hadn't touched her in the slightest, like a byproduct of another just telling her to keep moving. Snow exhaled forcefully with a shiver audible as she inhaled following that, sniffling, she tied her back into a high ponytail just like Kelly did.
There was no other way, right? Just keep moving, keep destroying and that way, you'd find the answer to whatever you needed. Those memories flashed before her icy eyes, the same ones that were formerly devoid of emotion, for all she knew, this would lead to her demise. But that was alright, in the end, anything that led to that outcome would be alright… in the end, wouldn't that be 'justice'?
Though they all fell at different times, at the same time, their knees bent and they landed onto the Castle's ground. These engraved corridors were spacious, but at the same time, so annoyingly cramped to the point where it felt like they were being squished together by the walls. Was this real? How was her head spiraling already and they'd just entered the vicinity of this abnormal area? The next thing she knew, everything went black, and the second image she witnessed with color was the puke that'd flown out her lips to dirty these marbled floors.
To her peers in front, they turned worriedly to her, Cal at the forefront strolling casually with a gradual pace, Kelly ran on over as the others tended to Heidi's well-being. And right before their eyes; a horrible sight and appeared over the oceanic horizon as a giant claw dug its nails into the frame. Appearing right from the corner with glowing yellow eyes that'd penetrate the soul and reduce weaklings to insanity, tendrils that replaced lips for a mouth swirled around while thunderous roars could be heard reverberating out his very being.
It was indescribable, from the way it so humanly gazed at their feeble ant-like bodies staring with horror in their eyes upon his giant-sized frame, wings spread out his back as if he were an Angel… they were lucky to have been able to register it as a 'thing' for so long. Am ant could never truly register the insane markings of a lunatic against a hospital's walls. For it is but a tiny fraction of the world's population, unimportant, insignificant, and yet, it could never know this was what they were.
Peering through the eyes of a human, Azazel stepped back in awe at this creature. Not only the size but the shape, the way it seemed to stab its eyes into his soul. Echoes of information bounce around his mind's walls, but it's never complete, you search more mad meow for an answer as you are mortal. In nature, you beg and plead for your life to have some sort of reason to it, are you truly so unimportant in the grand scheme of the world that beings such as these exist. In the end, madness was all he knew, and the tiny world they resided within where nothing matters was all that was left behind.
Ryosuke couldn't even muster a balanced stance, the best he could do was fall to his knees, facing the ultimate evil itself, someone as powerful as him, trained to the height of his limits, on the brink of shattering those such as boundaries; in the end, he was powerless. The unexplainable dread oozing out every pore of this creature's aura had entrenched itself deep into his being as if to dig its claw into his mind, extending further down to push inward, seeking penultimate corruption of the spirit. Through it all, as those stronger than him collapsed without a say in their wobbling knees sending them to the ground, Callum casually strolled. Staring this Eldritch being right in its yellow eyes, ones that inspired madness in even those who perceived themselves as 'Elite'... and he was here.
The Foretold Founder, Callum Rivers, before those pupils of a Great Old One daring to bow his head in the presence of 'One of Inheritance'. Reaching out his left hand, three fingers are hidden by that blackened glove, the only way to describe such a world-altering event, so simple... but as his burnt hand touched against that disgusting hide of flesh Cthulhu named its skin- something happened. It was invisible to their naked eyes, and yet that abrupt piercing feeling stung at their foreheads, something unavoidable, the type of passion you'd sense after someone's prying eyes were unwillingly staring into your very eyes.
A fissure in the string that kept together the reason of this world had manifested ever so slightly. Like a crack in the air that would otherwise seem improbable. The slightest turning of a head had set in motion events years in the making that would take years to complete, for this was the true start of the orchestration at the hands of him. The Foretold Founder, just a regular man with the tenacity and will of a thousand righteous 'people', spun on the back of his shoes, now facing his crew. Each of them recovered gradually from the shockwave of terror that'd abruptly paralyzed them. Ryosuke wiping away blood from his nostrils with his coat sleeve, Azazel staying on the floor, hands against the platform catching his breath with heavy pants. Rizia with their fingers over Kelly's arm aiding in their shaky ascent, while Heidi couldn't help but choke out more chunks of vomit out her throat.
Neither had the strength to throw themselves ahead, all they could do was stare into his red-eye... the way he stood, as nonchalant as ever with that smug smirk stained over his deformed face. Despite those agonizing injuries he was forced to live with, he stood proud and faced his fate with both fists ready to push anything back anyone threw at him. Was that it? Just him implanted there with two feet, that crimson pupil shining in the darkness of this underwater fortress, the one who would guide them all to their salvation. That one who could never truly escape his past as it was always engraved on his heart, a curse embedded into your very soul; those candidates chosen for this new Frontier would all bear witness to his ascension. To the one who weighed it all down on his shoulders, their Founder, that which was his aura of darkness that enveloped his form shall spread throughout this world...
To the one who rejected those above him, and his overwhelming superiority!
"Rizia, Azazel, you're with me. He's accepted you, as your paths lay with me after having found your resolve, however... Satoru, Heidi, Kelly, I give you the task of challenging Cthulhu. You have until August 8th," Cal tasked the other three with a specific goal, one that seemed impossible, but the only one who seemed the least bit surprised was Kel,
"Then what're we doin'?" Azazel asked sliding the Crow mask off his lips, to which Cal smirked at that line of inquiry after audibly giggling sinisterly... and all he had to say in return was the following,
"We'll be destroying the Elite from the inside-out. Karlo, Kosuke, do me a favor... and lay waste to those who tortured you. Heh. It'll be a massacre!"
To Be Continued!
Next Chapter - Those rejected by Cthulhu willingly challenge his decision and will with all they have to be accepted into his group so the 'foretold scenario' can come to fruition on that day: August 8th.