He awoke to the sound of arguing. Wrists itching at something binding him around something metal, ankles dangling from somewhere high, and stomach in utter agony as he felt four metal cylinders inside of him.
His blurred eyes soon got accustomed to the bright red lights that illuminated the vast chamber, whereupon he saw four marble pillars in front of him. With the way they were spaced out, he might have guessed that there were exactly eight of them and they were surrounding him with him at the center.
'God, I hate my life sometimes.'
He tilted his sore neck down and saw three concentric circles glowing with a purple light, blood smeared in between the circles and drawn in a ritualistic manner. Candles circled him, all of which were flickering with unholy green light.
He blinked away the heaviness in his eyes as he saw his naked torso impaled by four wooden stakes. One to each of his pecs, one at the center of his chest, and the last in his belly button.
It almost made him chuckle, the absurdity of it all, if not for the scratchiness in his throat that made it hard to let out a noise. Nevertheless, he had made one with his slight movements.
Mamu and Ninsar stood not far away from him, having stopped their arguments.
"He's wrested control of my dreamscape. Peculiar." Mamu remarked, caressing the crystal ball like a teacup pig.
"The man is a danger, sister. His allies have already killed our guests and escaped with Joseff and the mother to who knows where." Ninsar cautioned, narrowed eyes locking unto Irwin's befuddled gaze. "We cannot let him live until the Kesh ritual. His death is our priority."
"I do not agree." Mamu smiled, "Although his energy will bring mother's plan to fruition much sooner, his knowledge of his compatriots whereabouts will be crucial to retrieving the mother. Rise, servants of the Sassuratu."
The pillar shook to her command, raining down dust and dirt from atop the ceiling. The marble cracked along its length as bony hands squeezed through the cracks and crawled out of the pillars.
Before long, four nine-foot-tall humanoid creatures with pallid skin and a bony structure crawled around the nearly-destroyed pillars. Their inky eyes were but a large dot above a toothy maw, limbs ending on a rake-like fingers that scratched the concrete floor.
If not for lack of a demonic presence, Irwin would have guessed them to be another of the Gallu he had fought earlier.
Mamu raised their crystal orb as it crackled with lightning, "Prepare the materials for the consumption. The Great Matron will feast upon the Thorn of Grey."
"Wait, wait, wait. Don't just fucking eat me?" He was taken aback by their suddenness. "Do you have no decorum, no, no hospitality to your prisoner? By god, women, I am aghast by your lack of grace. Why do I have a British accent? God damn this body. Listen–"
"To your rambling?" Mamu grinned as the servants drew near him and began chanting incomprehensible invocations. The concentric circles began to glow with a dark light as it forcefully expanded, an oil-like substance began to gush out of the cracks that undulated like it was alive.
Irwin couldn't help but exclaim in surprise and delight. "Jesus Christ! Hey, hey, hey. You know how in movies, uh, where, like, the protagonist lets the villains monologue to learn their plan? I can–I can do the opposite of that and tell you my plan."
"I don't watch… "movies"." Ninsar's answer caused sweat to trail down Irwin's neck.
Mamu, however, tilted their head and gave off a radiant smile. "I do."
"Yes!" Irwin nodded at Mamu furiously before setting down when his movements caused the metal stakes to impale further into his body. "Oh, fuck. C'mon, Mamu. I have five plans. A to E!"
"Are you serious, sister?" Ninsar groaned.
"What? He's dying. Might as well… tell us of his evil plans to stop us." Irwin felt like Mamu was mocking him, but when they chuckled mockingly at him, he knew they were mocking him. "Come, then, witch. Tell us of… Plan A, was it?"
Irwin grinned, "Gladly. Plan A is just, well, it's a simple three-prong operation. Team A enters the backdoor and plants explosives which they will set off to gather your attention.
After the explosion, they will head to the rooftop to nab Anthony Brown away. Team B handles the civilian volunteers before going in to save Joseff with explicit orders to take out any monster in the way. Team C, which I was part of, will kill the rest of the Sassuratu and save Linda Brown from her fate as the Final Girl. Bit of an oversimplification that left out the details, but that's about it."
"Did anybody tell you that you talk a lot?" Ninsar asked rhetorically, irritated by the total fiasco.
He chuckled, "Not often enough. Now, Plan B is a variation of the first plan, with Team B heading towards Anthony Brown after rescuing the civilian. You'd know by now that our–Sorry, my actual target–is the sitting congressman and he needs to be alive for my plans. His wife and child dying may snag my plans in the future, but that can easily be fixed."
"Memory magik," Mamu supplemented, chuckling at his words. "I see. An eclectic scion of the Greythornes must have acquired an artifact. A cursed one, might I guess?"
Irwin chuckled, "Maybe. But I guess since I'm trapped here and you're about to sacrifice yourself to feed Nintur, we'll never know."
Mamu giggled, ending the conversation at that before speaking up. "And Plan C?"
"I got your attention, didn't I?" Irwin chuckled, which set off the metal stakes inside of him. "Oh, god. Sorry. Plan C is simple, really. It's a contingency for when Anthony is beyond our reach. When something becomes too fucked and we have to retreat. For instance…"
"If you get captured." Mamu finished his sentence for him, realizing the desperateness of their situation. "Linda and her son going missing; It's all part of the plan."
"Bingo." Irwin couldn't help but chuckle, knowing full well that Linda was now in the hands of his allies; He couldn't even see them anymore in his mini-map.
He had given Ellen a mystical item that could teleport two or more people within a mile radius and, frankly; it was cheap as hell compared to the payoff of achieving their contingency. Plus, in his mind, he'll probably get the credit right back after he killed the Sassuratu.
"But, Plan C isn't for me, it's for the other people. If I get captured, I'm activating Plan D."
"Plan D?" Mamu raised a critical eyebrow.
Irwin readied himself, knowing that his next words will give him enough time to escape. That was, of course, on the off-chance that the sisters forgot to continue the ritual.
"I know everything there is to know about you, the Sassuratu. I know that you were once part of the goddess Nintur and that you were given portions of her life essence, so that she could regain her powers all at once. You're basically horcruxes. I don't know if Harry Potter's a thing here yet, but you'll get the reference in a few years… maybe. I also know that the death of all seven of you will give her enough juice to escape whatever Heaven is for you pagan gods. I'm guessing the Empty?"
"How did you know that?" It was Ninsar that asked the question. "We have paid off a Reaper just to get that information. Even then we had to path ourselves blindly along the ruins of–"
"Who else?" Irwin wanted them to work for it, to let the pagan fucks realize that they've been had. "Who else knows about your plan? Who else wanted Anthony alive, huh? That someone has to be high-up, someone who has power to do the impossible, and to plan all that… Boy, you'd need to be smart–"
"Shut up!" The metal inside of Irwin twisted his organs, causing him to clamp his mouth in pain. Ninsar clenched her fist hard enough to break an adult human's bone as she regarded her sister in anger. "Suzianna has betrayed us."
"And we trust this witch's words?" Mamu asked diplomatically.
Ninsar flicked her finger and manipulated the metal stakes to lift Irwin upwards a few inches, dragging the rest of his body with him in agonizing pain. "Why would he lie, sister? He needs Anthony, not Linda. We need to go. Now!"
Ninsar practically flew towards the exit, with Mamu calmly walking after her.
"Wait." Mamu turned around, slightly surprising her sister who was at the door." You said you had five plans. I count four."
Irwin grinned, glad that she had asked. "Five's just a variation of Plan D in that it involves a bomb, except… it's literal and no one survives."