Post by Tiago James Squalor on Feb 5, 2012 10:50:28 GMT -5
::Edit::
Chapter One is in the previous page.
The awful truth is that the truth is awful, and the awful truth about Cindry Fulfillment was that she was the daughter of a volunteer and a villain, and what a villain, at that. The woman with hair but no beard. Dominique. The Baudelaires had barely been allowed to get away from her and yet the image of Dominique haunted them, and her exchange with Desmond concerning Cindry and her welfare had been disturbing to witness. The Baudelaires deeply cared for Cindry, and up until that moment they had admired her father; Desmond Fulfillment, an eccentric, but wholesome volunteer who took life into his own hands. But now Desmond’s hands were fettered, and so were the Baudelaires’ and everyone else’s, and they were being escorted by elevator into some place called Dread Down, and they were none too thrilled about it.
As the elevator descended with the eleven volunteers inside and the five soldiers who were escorting them – it was a very large elevator – the Baudelaires, along with everyone inside felt that curious sensation of light gravity that one feels when going down an elevator, yet there was nothing light about that whole situation.
When the elevator arrived at the destination and the doors opened, the Baudelaires were treated to the vision of a very strange structure. It was almost as if a city had been built inside the Great Unknown. Square structures of metal and pipes dominated the view, all of which had been made to fit inside the curious curve shape of the Great Unknown itself. When they stepped outside the elevator, shoved by the guards, they could see a sign that read “Dread Down – Levels 4-10” with many other inscriptions of place names the Baudelaires couldn’t read. The whole appearance of Dread Down was remarkable to say the least. The people inside all wore the same body suits that Fiona and Fernald had sported before; sleek rubbery form-fitting suits of a dark blue color with the strange question mark-and-eye sigil marked on the chest and shoulders.
‘What is this place?’ Klaus asked, and one of the guards shoved a club in his ribs, painfully reminding Klaus to remain silent. The Baudelaires, along with the rest of the volunteers were escorted through a series of elevated walkways, elevators, and conveyor belts which functioned as a means of people transportation. All over Dread Down was the haunting blue light hanging above them like an eerie fog. Arriving at a particular large structure atop a series of walkways and staircases, which was marked with the eerie sigil of question mark-and-eye, they were shoved in by the guards. The lights were turned on, and they saw themselves in an antique library of sorts, completely contrasting with the outside. The furniture was composed of antiques, and a haunting, beautiful melody was playing. A large dining table had been set up in the middle of the room, with mismatched armchairs all around it totalling a number of twenty six seats. In the farthest end, a young teenager read a book.
His hair was platinum blonde, and he wore one of those body suits. He was eerily pale, with dark circles around his eyes. It took him a while to realize the eleven volunteers who had disturbed the peace of the library, and when he looked at them he was very surprised. He said nothing, and rose from his seat, eyeing the volunteers from afar, unable to decide what to do. He was intimidated by the number of strange people, and it took him a while to gather the courage to speak. ‘W-Wh-Who are you?’ He asked nervously. His voice, while nervous, was soft, crystalline in tone. None of the eleven volunteers said a word. They were all too stunned from the recent turn of events, specially the appearance of two of V.F.D.’s most dreaded foes.
‘Who sent you here? Was it my father? Or my mother?’ The boy asked, advancing a few steps. He was tall, taller than Violet, and of a slender constitution. A metallic glint just under his lower lip revealed a pointy piercing. ‘We were told to wait here.’ Desmond Fulfillment finally said. ‘Are you the people who were in train?’ The boy asked, fascinated. He advanced a few more steps. ‘Yes. Who might be your father and mother, young man?’ Desmond asked the boy.
‘Oh, but we are, who else?’ A deep voice was heard. Across the room, a set of double doors had slid open, revealing the woman with hair but no beard and the man with beard but no hair. Behind them, four armed guards. ‘Nemo is our son.’ The man said, approaching the dining table, with the woman beside him. ‘So it is true, Dominique. You did have another son.’ Desmond observed. ‘Yes. Beautiful, isn’t he? Nemo is my son, which makes him Cindry’s half-brother.’ Dominique, the woman, said. She approached Nemo from behind, reaching her arm across his back like a mother would do to a son. ‘He has my eyes, doesn’t he?’ Dominique asked, looking at Nemo. He did have the same green eyes as his mother.
‘I assume he’s the third element.’ Desmond said. ‘Yes, he is.’ The man with beard but no hair replied, the light shimmering in his platinum blonde beard. ‘Only he and Cindry can finish what my parents started, and what those two volunteers fought so hard to prevent. They thought they had prevented our triumph that night at the opera, but no, that was no more than a hindrance. Though you all did try to stop us, we have triumphed already. We have the three elements, and with them, we will change this world.’
‘And how does Nemo here feel about being an element?’ Desmond asked daringly. ‘He feels nothing. His feelings do not matter.’ The man said. Nemo did not react, but all the volunteers were horrified. ‘He will do as we bid him, just as will Cindry. We are seeing to that.’ Desmond clenched his teeth. ‘What are you doing to her?’ Klaus was the one to ask. ‘What are you doing to Cindry? Where is she?’
‘She is safe with us. We’re doing no harm to her at all.’ The woman, Dominique, explained. ‘As if we’d believe you! Where is my niece? And where are Esmé Squalor and her cohorts?’ Ferdinand Fulfillment bursted out. ‘Ferdinand, Ferdinand, Ferdinand. I did not know you had grown an actual backbone! I should have married you, then!’ Dominique joked. The man with beard but no hair stirred at that joke, eyeing Dominique angrily. ‘When you left our home, you said there was nothing there that interested you. We started fighting over those broken dishes…You started the whole thing because I broke one of your heirloom plates.’ Desmond said. ‘You decided to leave me and Cindry, then and there. You said those words in front of your daughter’s eyes. And years later, you show interest in her, but only as a pawn in your plan for world domination.’ Desmond laughed. ‘My God, Dominique. I always knew there was something wrong with you but I did not know just how twisted and evil you were.’
Dominique did not react to that. ‘But the girl is my daughter just as much as she is yours, Desmond. I have every right to reclaim a child of my womb. She did turn into a lovely girl, I have to say. Not because of your family’s genes, of course. She is more Nebra than Fulfillment.’ Dominique said. ‘Although she does have the strangest notions. All your family’s crazy genes, that made her like that.’
‘You despicable woman.’ Victoria Fulfillment uttered in sheer disgust. ‘I was right to oppose my brother’s marriage to you.’ Dominique was amused at Victoria’s berating. ‘Victoria, don’t tempt me. I haven’t demolished your self-esteem in ages, I’d very much like to do it again, for old time’s sake.’
‘Let’s get down to business, shall we?’ The man with beard but no hair made a gesture towards the dining table. The volunteers hesitated, but then the armed guards lifted their guns. There was no arguing with those people, and the eleven volunteers had no choice but to comply. ‘You sit with us as well, Nemo. You need to learn these things.’ The man said to Nemo. ‘Yes, father.’ Nemo said, his speech devoid of emotion.
‘You now sit at Nemo’s library in the Dread Down, the city of the Great Unknown. Below us is the Great Gaol. Above us, the Bleak Bridge from where we steer course for this vessel. You are now in the greatest submarine built by man, and also the greatest Weapon.’ Dominique told them. ‘We sent out Esmé Squalor to retrieve the missing two elements needed for the activation of the Weapon. In that, she suceeded, and we thank her for that. Now, all the three elements are with us.’ The man with beard but no hair produced the sugarbowl, and laid it on the table. He then did something none of the Baudelaires and the other seven volunteers expected; he opened the sugarbowl.
A green light emerged from it. The man put his hand inside and removed a strange object. It was of a shape very familiar to all of them; anyone privy to the contents of a clockwork mechanism would recognize it as a gear. It was a curious gear, however, as it’s center was inlaid with a glowing green rock of crystalline appearance. ‘The sugarbowl was merely a container. This is what we aimed for. The Grimstone Gear.’ The man said, as he held the object in his hand. ‘The Gear contains a rare substance, the Grimstone, which contains an incredible energetic potential. The energy of the grimstone can be extracted and channeled, magnified and used for several scientific purposes, including of course, the Weapon.’
‘This is the most significant ammount of Grimstone we’ve been able to find. We do have a small sample with us. It powers our weaponry and it’s other properties have been researched upon by our scientists.’ Dominique said. ‘The Grimstone Gear is the reason our organization divided. When my parents discovered the Grimstone and how to extract and use it’s power, your side was against it’s use, while our side saw the potential it withheld. With this, we can shape the world as we want it to be. And we will do it.’
‘That’s all very impressive.’ Said Lars Gabriel. ‘But what does that kid over there or Cindry have to do with it all?’
‘We’ve already told you all that you needed to know. Soon, we will make a demonstration of the Grimstone’s power. And we will give you a choice afterwards. Surrender yourselves to our side. Work for us. Work with us. And you might just survive to see the new world become reality.’ Dominique said. ‘When the moment presents itself, we shall finally complete the Weapon by gathering the three elements together.’
‘For now, you are our guests. The lot of you will remain here in Dread Down. You might even find a few familiar faces here as well if my memory serves me correctly.’ The man with beard but no hair told them. ‘Guards, escort our honorable guests to their quarters here in the Dread Down. Make sure they all get body suits. We won’t have them circling around in those damp overworld rags.’
‘Yes sir!’ The guards uttered, and the Baudelaires and the other seven volunteers were escorted out of the library, leaving Nemo, Dominique and the man with beard but no hair behind them, unsure of what was about to unfold. They sure talked a big deal about the Grimstone, but they all had doubts. The truth of it all was all too terrifying to fully contemplate, as they descended the staircase and walkways towards the steamy outside of the Dread Down, they were unaware of a few more truths they were about to discover. Some to their pleasure, and others, to their great dismay. Truths like the whereabouts and misfortunes of several long lost friends, for an instance.
Chapter One is in the previous page.
Chapter Two
The awful truth is that the truth is awful, and the awful truth about Cindry Fulfillment was that she was the daughter of a volunteer and a villain, and what a villain, at that. The woman with hair but no beard. Dominique. The Baudelaires had barely been allowed to get away from her and yet the image of Dominique haunted them, and her exchange with Desmond concerning Cindry and her welfare had been disturbing to witness. The Baudelaires deeply cared for Cindry, and up until that moment they had admired her father; Desmond Fulfillment, an eccentric, but wholesome volunteer who took life into his own hands. But now Desmond’s hands were fettered, and so were the Baudelaires’ and everyone else’s, and they were being escorted by elevator into some place called Dread Down, and they were none too thrilled about it.
As the elevator descended with the eleven volunteers inside and the five soldiers who were escorting them – it was a very large elevator – the Baudelaires, along with everyone inside felt that curious sensation of light gravity that one feels when going down an elevator, yet there was nothing light about that whole situation.
When the elevator arrived at the destination and the doors opened, the Baudelaires were treated to the vision of a very strange structure. It was almost as if a city had been built inside the Great Unknown. Square structures of metal and pipes dominated the view, all of which had been made to fit inside the curious curve shape of the Great Unknown itself. When they stepped outside the elevator, shoved by the guards, they could see a sign that read “Dread Down – Levels 4-10” with many other inscriptions of place names the Baudelaires couldn’t read. The whole appearance of Dread Down was remarkable to say the least. The people inside all wore the same body suits that Fiona and Fernald had sported before; sleek rubbery form-fitting suits of a dark blue color with the strange question mark-and-eye sigil marked on the chest and shoulders.
‘What is this place?’ Klaus asked, and one of the guards shoved a club in his ribs, painfully reminding Klaus to remain silent. The Baudelaires, along with the rest of the volunteers were escorted through a series of elevated walkways, elevators, and conveyor belts which functioned as a means of people transportation. All over Dread Down was the haunting blue light hanging above them like an eerie fog. Arriving at a particular large structure atop a series of walkways and staircases, which was marked with the eerie sigil of question mark-and-eye, they were shoved in by the guards. The lights were turned on, and they saw themselves in an antique library of sorts, completely contrasting with the outside. The furniture was composed of antiques, and a haunting, beautiful melody was playing. A large dining table had been set up in the middle of the room, with mismatched armchairs all around it totalling a number of twenty six seats. In the farthest end, a young teenager read a book.
His hair was platinum blonde, and he wore one of those body suits. He was eerily pale, with dark circles around his eyes. It took him a while to realize the eleven volunteers who had disturbed the peace of the library, and when he looked at them he was very surprised. He said nothing, and rose from his seat, eyeing the volunteers from afar, unable to decide what to do. He was intimidated by the number of strange people, and it took him a while to gather the courage to speak. ‘W-Wh-Who are you?’ He asked nervously. His voice, while nervous, was soft, crystalline in tone. None of the eleven volunteers said a word. They were all too stunned from the recent turn of events, specially the appearance of two of V.F.D.’s most dreaded foes.
‘Who sent you here? Was it my father? Or my mother?’ The boy asked, advancing a few steps. He was tall, taller than Violet, and of a slender constitution. A metallic glint just under his lower lip revealed a pointy piercing. ‘We were told to wait here.’ Desmond Fulfillment finally said. ‘Are you the people who were in train?’ The boy asked, fascinated. He advanced a few more steps. ‘Yes. Who might be your father and mother, young man?’ Desmond asked the boy.
‘Oh, but we are, who else?’ A deep voice was heard. Across the room, a set of double doors had slid open, revealing the woman with hair but no beard and the man with beard but no hair. Behind them, four armed guards. ‘Nemo is our son.’ The man said, approaching the dining table, with the woman beside him. ‘So it is true, Dominique. You did have another son.’ Desmond observed. ‘Yes. Beautiful, isn’t he? Nemo is my son, which makes him Cindry’s half-brother.’ Dominique, the woman, said. She approached Nemo from behind, reaching her arm across his back like a mother would do to a son. ‘He has my eyes, doesn’t he?’ Dominique asked, looking at Nemo. He did have the same green eyes as his mother.
‘I assume he’s the third element.’ Desmond said. ‘Yes, he is.’ The man with beard but no hair replied, the light shimmering in his platinum blonde beard. ‘Only he and Cindry can finish what my parents started, and what those two volunteers fought so hard to prevent. They thought they had prevented our triumph that night at the opera, but no, that was no more than a hindrance. Though you all did try to stop us, we have triumphed already. We have the three elements, and with them, we will change this world.’
‘And how does Nemo here feel about being an element?’ Desmond asked daringly. ‘He feels nothing. His feelings do not matter.’ The man said. Nemo did not react, but all the volunteers were horrified. ‘He will do as we bid him, just as will Cindry. We are seeing to that.’ Desmond clenched his teeth. ‘What are you doing to her?’ Klaus was the one to ask. ‘What are you doing to Cindry? Where is she?’
‘She is safe with us. We’re doing no harm to her at all.’ The woman, Dominique, explained. ‘As if we’d believe you! Where is my niece? And where are Esmé Squalor and her cohorts?’ Ferdinand Fulfillment bursted out. ‘Ferdinand, Ferdinand, Ferdinand. I did not know you had grown an actual backbone! I should have married you, then!’ Dominique joked. The man with beard but no hair stirred at that joke, eyeing Dominique angrily. ‘When you left our home, you said there was nothing there that interested you. We started fighting over those broken dishes…You started the whole thing because I broke one of your heirloom plates.’ Desmond said. ‘You decided to leave me and Cindry, then and there. You said those words in front of your daughter’s eyes. And years later, you show interest in her, but only as a pawn in your plan for world domination.’ Desmond laughed. ‘My God, Dominique. I always knew there was something wrong with you but I did not know just how twisted and evil you were.’
Dominique did not react to that. ‘But the girl is my daughter just as much as she is yours, Desmond. I have every right to reclaim a child of my womb. She did turn into a lovely girl, I have to say. Not because of your family’s genes, of course. She is more Nebra than Fulfillment.’ Dominique said. ‘Although she does have the strangest notions. All your family’s crazy genes, that made her like that.’
‘You despicable woman.’ Victoria Fulfillment uttered in sheer disgust. ‘I was right to oppose my brother’s marriage to you.’ Dominique was amused at Victoria’s berating. ‘Victoria, don’t tempt me. I haven’t demolished your self-esteem in ages, I’d very much like to do it again, for old time’s sake.’
‘Let’s get down to business, shall we?’ The man with beard but no hair made a gesture towards the dining table. The volunteers hesitated, but then the armed guards lifted their guns. There was no arguing with those people, and the eleven volunteers had no choice but to comply. ‘You sit with us as well, Nemo. You need to learn these things.’ The man said to Nemo. ‘Yes, father.’ Nemo said, his speech devoid of emotion.
‘You now sit at Nemo’s library in the Dread Down, the city of the Great Unknown. Below us is the Great Gaol. Above us, the Bleak Bridge from where we steer course for this vessel. You are now in the greatest submarine built by man, and also the greatest Weapon.’ Dominique told them. ‘We sent out Esmé Squalor to retrieve the missing two elements needed for the activation of the Weapon. In that, she suceeded, and we thank her for that. Now, all the three elements are with us.’ The man with beard but no hair produced the sugarbowl, and laid it on the table. He then did something none of the Baudelaires and the other seven volunteers expected; he opened the sugarbowl.
A green light emerged from it. The man put his hand inside and removed a strange object. It was of a shape very familiar to all of them; anyone privy to the contents of a clockwork mechanism would recognize it as a gear. It was a curious gear, however, as it’s center was inlaid with a glowing green rock of crystalline appearance. ‘The sugarbowl was merely a container. This is what we aimed for. The Grimstone Gear.’ The man said, as he held the object in his hand. ‘The Gear contains a rare substance, the Grimstone, which contains an incredible energetic potential. The energy of the grimstone can be extracted and channeled, magnified and used for several scientific purposes, including of course, the Weapon.’
‘This is the most significant ammount of Grimstone we’ve been able to find. We do have a small sample with us. It powers our weaponry and it’s other properties have been researched upon by our scientists.’ Dominique said. ‘The Grimstone Gear is the reason our organization divided. When my parents discovered the Grimstone and how to extract and use it’s power, your side was against it’s use, while our side saw the potential it withheld. With this, we can shape the world as we want it to be. And we will do it.’
‘That’s all very impressive.’ Said Lars Gabriel. ‘But what does that kid over there or Cindry have to do with it all?’
‘We’ve already told you all that you needed to know. Soon, we will make a demonstration of the Grimstone’s power. And we will give you a choice afterwards. Surrender yourselves to our side. Work for us. Work with us. And you might just survive to see the new world become reality.’ Dominique said. ‘When the moment presents itself, we shall finally complete the Weapon by gathering the three elements together.’
‘For now, you are our guests. The lot of you will remain here in Dread Down. You might even find a few familiar faces here as well if my memory serves me correctly.’ The man with beard but no hair told them. ‘Guards, escort our honorable guests to their quarters here in the Dread Down. Make sure they all get body suits. We won’t have them circling around in those damp overworld rags.’
‘Yes sir!’ The guards uttered, and the Baudelaires and the other seven volunteers were escorted out of the library, leaving Nemo, Dominique and the man with beard but no hair behind them, unsure of what was about to unfold. They sure talked a big deal about the Grimstone, but they all had doubts. The truth of it all was all too terrifying to fully contemplate, as they descended the staircase and walkways towards the steamy outside of the Dread Down, they were unaware of a few more truths they were about to discover. Some to their pleasure, and others, to their great dismay. Truths like the whereabouts and misfortunes of several long lost friends, for an instance.