Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

One of the greatest mysteries of the world is the existence of God.

Also known as the great being that paves the paths for others to follow the road, he who makes his word law and others have no choice but to follow... have no fear for that question will be answered.

Although, the one's that get said answer may not like it so much.

3rd Person P.O.V

He woke up a young man with gray hair and eyes that would make most consider he was blind, wearing a button-up shirt and tropical themed shorts both pieces of clothing had no reason to go together, but Tobias was a man that mastered the art of just not caring about the small stuff.

He got up from his strangely comfortable bed, of course due to his... nature he ignored said feelings and enjoyed the welcomed soft wool, he was a nest born and didn't have much to worry about aside from living the easy life, that meant getting money the easiest way possible in a nest that to his surprise came from beating up people on the streets.

Usually because he specifically left the nest did this happen, and people outside of a nest will usually hate your guts by default, so he got himself two things with dear papa's money... and the stolen one from a rich family that lived in the same neighborhood, poor guys left the oven on.

Good muscle enhancements ready to kick ass and two rings in his fingers specifically made to create shockwaves, the most efficient way to kill something is by punching it, so he went that way about things.

Sadly his family didn't believe in his way of doing things, and he didn't really care about what they thought or said... something about being part of the Head or something, he left the next day taking half of the family savings to stay on a nest and get around by doing the usual.

Now you'd think this would earn him animosity, but he dealt with the lower ends of goons so nothing he couldn't handle and people usually saw it as him just dealing with the trash so never complained, it also helped that he always ate outside the nest because he looked at the prizes and felt like a bit of his soul was being turned into mush just by looking at it.

So that's the life he lived for about 5 years... then the White Nights and Dark Days happened, if he was completely honest it didn't do much to him even if he heard that some people felt more emotional oh and also the Distortion phenomenon.

It felt like it was trying to tell him how to be better, but Tobias felt like he reached the end of his wits and told whatever that was to 'fuck off' he just lived his life how it was handed to him, not everyone gets the same cards and that's bad but at the end of the day there will always be those with and those without.

Was he lucky to be Nest Born? Of course, but that was it, he could have been born poor as shit, and he would have lived his life the same way probably would have lived a short life but better short and fulfilling than long and suffocating.

There was also that funny filling in his chest at times, but that wasn't something he dwelled on a lot, what a guy am I right?

Then there was a Library and a war for L nest, okay, so a lot of things happened, but he wasn't even close to that place he was from the P corp nest after all so he didn't bother with the specifics.

Tobias put some sandals one and walked towards the plain white door of what wasn't his room, opening it and coming face to face with a long fancy hallway filled with various room and a fluffy red carpet covering the floor, which was dwarfed by what he saw through the various big window decorated with white curtains, he just saw a vast space filled with stars and nothing else.

He wasn't sure how to react so to avoid the problem he didn't react 'that's quite the view' his thoughts were, painting the clear picture that he just didn't have it in him to try and figure out what he didn't understand.

Tobias was simply walking through the hallway until he heard it, his head perking up at the sound of what was a war zone, 'what's up? A life-like recreation of the Smoke War?' while that line of thinking wasn't very sensible, Tobias wasn't a sensible person.

Against all sense of self-preservation, he walked towards the sounds of conflict, if only because it was the only thing he could hear inside the damn place, so he simply accepted the circumstances and went with it.

It was a walk that took about five minutes where he reached a big entrance hall along with one of those double-sided stairs that moved in a half-circle motion below, the uncaring man glanced down and rose one eyebrow seeing some famous faces down below.

Tobias didn't recognize ALL of them, so let's move away from him for a moment, shall we?

Below it could be called a war zone, there are... colorful individuals (this terminology is a lot more literal than it should be) it was monsters in suits against what appeared to be people with the most interesting costumes one could think of... and two fixers along with what once was an Arbiter, behind the costumed team there was a short haired woman with sky-blue hair and amber eyes filled with both confusion and concentration a book opened and seemingly glowing with golden light.

This is Angela, the Head Librarian of the... well Library and AI which is in itself a crime which took her in quite the journey, she'd like to think that in the end everything went as well as it could have considering the circumstances, after everything that happened she was sorting out where to start with her next objective about figuring out why the people of the City had to suffer, which was ruined when she suddenly found herself in this building along with her... she didn't know if friends applied yet, and of course the people that at some point wanted to take everything from her, the Reverberation Ensemble.

Right now, the Head Librarian was doing her best to keep the E.G.O's of the Patron Librarians she knew couldn't really defend themselves that well, while trying to figure out what had happened.

To the left, a gigantic inferno was in the process of becoming a miniature sun, a girl wearing what seemed like a librarians suit made from ashes and flames wielding a zigzagging/matchstick sword that produced even more flames, her long brown hair was for whatever reason completely intact from the resulting flames it was most likely the fireproof capabilities of the E.G.O she was currently wearing, her light brown eyes were focused on her opponent, who was by all means a wax angel.

Said wax angel was burning like a forest fire, yet his wax-like skin wasn't melting, his head was an amalgamation of hands covering his face and simulating a smiling mouth with the ones covering his jaw, a long flaming staff was moving like a comet trying it's best to burn his enemy... who couldn't be burned, and his right side had a massive wing that acted as a shield for the incoming physical blows, he learned that while fire may not hurt him it does make his skin less thick and more prone to physical trauma, he was wearing a black suit with blue motifs on the right shoulder and a blue tie a suit that everyone but their leader wears, this was Philip after distorting... or well regaining his sanity (kinda?) after distorting.

Close to the stairs one could see the bullets fly and the gears... rotate through the air like death disks, along with smoke that could somehow hit as hard as an elephant if it landed, a man with purple hair that somehow emanated darkness and his eyes glowing with blue energy, wearing a military black suit along with a blue cape over his shoulder, a rifle with golden trimming in hand, said rifle created blue magical circles that shoot out blue magical bullets that act more like beams if anything else, he was busy shooting down any and all gears coming towards him and bombarding the surprisingly nimble enemy he was facing.

Said enemy has completely white skin and her face could only be described as a biblically accurate angel barring the eyes, wings covering the sides of her face and while everything else had nothing, no eyes or lips, she also through some kind of metal contraption has stuck gears to her head which make her processing power of her brain in-human, they also produce powerful smoke for some reason, she wears a veil over her head that was transparent, so its usability was put into question, she may just have it as a fashion sense, wearing the same suit her co-workers do with pride (she thinks a bit too highly of her leader).

Next one was a bit of a... bizarre picture.

Short brown hair and innocent blue eyes mixed with a determined stare that made her look just adorable, boosted by the ahoge in her hair... now she is wearing a red-dress drenched in blood and using bones as trimming the collar of said dress was big and white and also sported bone, to paint and even more bizarre image she was swinging around a giant bloodied two-sided axe that was decorated with bone too (so much bone...) at this point no one could tell if the blood was hers, the one of her enemies or the one of her E.G.O, and that was probably for the best, this was Hod and for some reason was an expert of making her opponents bleed to death, it's always the shy one's...

Her opponent... was just as bloody as she was, sporting various mouths through her whole body some that seemed to be bleeding which was of no apparent issue, she was a humanoid shark with a bulky frame and towering over her opponent for about a good half-meter, wielding a mace that was specifically made to tenderize meat and not using it at all to block the axe swings of Hod, not that the cuts seemed to last long enough to be of any issue, whoever designed her suit must have had a bit of a rough time getting the size right along with making areas for her fin and tail to move through without breaking it, her eyes being deep red and obviously like those of a shark, this (woman?) is known as Greta.

Calling that fight a 'bloodbath' would be completely correct.

So it was no surprise that what came after it would be just as interesting... if you were deaf, if you aren't then 'pain' would be a better word.

Wearing a white... costume that a composer would wear and a white almost rectangular mask covering usual lazy if a bit serious expression, moving a composer's stick around and moving music notes that brought up a silent sound, which doesn't sound that logical, but the end point is that something could be heard even if what you processed was silence, his hair was done in a bum since it was usually too long, and he was most likely to lazy to actually cut it, his eyes are of the color green but they are hidden behind the mask he is wearing, this is Netzach, and he really doesn't want to do this again.

And if one were to see his opponents, yes with an s, you would probably agree.

Most of his body was like that of a normal human, and he was sporting the suit of the ensemble that he was part of, until you got to the head...s yes also with an s, the head of a hairy black dog covered by purple paint and sporting an expression that most dogs would have when they are exited... which is a lot of barking and sticking their tongue out, the head of a rooster covered with magenta paint and like all roosters it was proving to be loud, last and thankfully least donkey covered with green painting and making donkey noises, these are... is? The Bremen or Musicians of Bremen, but that's a mouthful.

If Netzach was somehow making silence a sound, Bremen makes sound a weapon for everyone to experience silence, the distortion had manifested trumpets from his (their?) chest and releasing what seemed like a colorful sonic blast trying to get past the notes of silence Netzach was using.

Circus are meant to be fun, right? Well, you may want to rethink your life decisions considering what comes next.

A... young girl (probably 18?) wearing a sleeveless suit jacket with golden trimming and underneath it a gray vest shirt,a black skirt that was barely above her knees and black leggings, now for the three more prominent objects in her person, the big cape with fur underneath of golden color and with a pattern reminiscing of tree sap, a golden crown of all things with a spear tip at the top of it making it look like a knight from chess, and then the big gauntlet in her right arm covering all of her arm up to the shoulder and seemingly capable of pulverizing everything it hit, and the blond with short hair and green eyes was using it zealously trying to make a clown return to the circus, this most likely short-tempered girl is Tiphereth.

The clown that was mentioned was hopping and skipping along dodging the blows of the girl... except when he didn't, and even if the pain was very much real he just kept laughing and moving around like he just didn't care, he used his frankly weird abilities to pull circus items to annoy and probably hurt Tiphereth, amongst these items a giant ball that weighted more than it should and flaming knifes had been used with surprising acquaracy, he could also sometimes make his opponent lose her temper with an ability to make her just swing wildly, this clown quite literally had skin that seemed to be like Velcro two the top part of his body had a complete red side on his left and white with diamond imprints on the left, the lower part which couldn't be seen because of his suit followed this pattern but reversed the diamonds and the complete red side, his face was a clown/joker mask that was always smiling and also had long 'tails' at the side further making him look like a jester.

After those... weird fights, something more to the ground was unfolding, although they may have been going a bit harder at it than they had any right to.

Long red scarlet hair done in a ponytail that simply looked wild, a face filled with scars that showed a life of a fighter that just didn't know the meaning of the word 'quit' and eyes of two different colors, her scarred right gray eye and her dimmed yellow eye, wielding a great one edged sword made from flesh which was sporting eyes of its own, wearing what seemed like a suit made from obsidian metal and red flames, an overcoat made from said red flames complementing the look of a warrior that goes to hell on her Tuesdays, swinging both her sword, her fists and even a couple of kicks here and there to the wolf-woman, this is Gebura and would never admit she was having the time of her life.

Now the wolf in a suit (not sheep's clothing) her yellow eyes and black sclera made for a strong gaze filled with animalistic excitement, her muscles were lean an powerful making every blow she threw match that of her opponents, through the whole fight she somehow managed to keep her smoking pipe in her mouth which is both impressive and worrisome (to her lungs), a scar was decorating her left eye which was hard to see because of her black fur, gold rings decorating her left ear and a golden chain on her neck, a long black mane of hair going towards her back, and she was sporting a vicious grin that didn't disappear when she received a haymaker to the face from Gebura, and would return in kind a stomp that would pulverize the normal person, but the Legendary Red Mist could take that and then some, this is Tanya, and she would ALWAYS admit she was having the time of her life.

Neither gave an inch and wouldn't stop beating one another to death any time soon, which takes us to the... next fight.

It was not exactly a fight but more of a passive-aggressive attempt at helping their comrades only to be stoped by someone else.

First we have a blue-haired man with a small ponytail with a small strained smile and wearing what could be best described as a 'circus master suit' black top-hat included, it was of black color with a white under-shirt and it gave him the legendary ability to cure the fatigue of his allies, throw tiles at people and a drop a fucking house on someone's head... yes that is a thing, he has been trying to put good use of those abilities only to be meet with red strings trying to choke the life out of him to which he usually replied with tiles and if he was miffed a house, this man is named Chesed and he would never admit he stares at G- oh right not relevant yet.

His opponent was wearing a modified costume of the ensemble, replacing the usual jacket of the suit with a coat that almost reached his knees, the most prominent feature aside from what seemed like metal skin, it was his head that tried and failed to look like a box puzzle and failed miserably along with various round red glowing eyes all over his head, Jea-heon mainly used his puppets to fight but his threads are good weapons by themselves not for a direct fight, but they had its uses, like cutting the tiles from the annoyance that was his opponent... he also constantly denies to look at Ele- right not relevant either.

Next... not fair to call it a fight, it was more of someone trying their best to survive against an Arbiter, yes an Arbiter from ten years from the past but that was still more than enough to kill just about everything that stood in your way, at some point this combat had been more fair but... well the Arbiter finally got her old power back.

Said Arbiter that goes by the name of Binah would not say that she was enjoying her current situation, simply using her fairy to do most of the work and watching as the distorted vampire tried her best to survive, well maybe she is enjoying it that smile on her face can't be anything but sadistic, wearing both a black robe with a hexagonal golden pattern, a cape with a fur collar and having the same hexagonal pattern as the robe, and black shoes with golden trimming, this was the visage of the devil, her black hair was slightly long and styled so that it fell down her right side and had blond accents this reached to her chest, and was still trying... moderately to kill the vampire.

Said Vampire had been a bit confident, their last fight was close enough and this time no Librarians would help her enemy... she didn't account for said enemy to not be fighting at her best at the time, wearing the Ensemble suit Elena was a bloodfiend a fancy way to say vampire, she was covered in a sheet of what seemed to be black skin and blood only the left side of her face being seen, with shoulder-length brown hair and one normal red eye and the other one glowing, the right side of her face made her look more like a demon, which wasn't far off considering the way she used to live.

And the last stretch was a bit of a fun sight.

One was bearing a giant cross in his back and was funnily enough battering away the devastating attacks of his enemy with said cross always bearing his serious expression which made the situation even funnier, wearing the clothes of what seemed like a saint crown of thorns included, even though Hokma by no means considered himself one he accepted the power nonetheless, the old and wizened Librarian/Scientist would simply block the attacks until his opponent gave in... or he had to show why 'The best offense was a good Defense' applied with him.

On the other side of the spectrum and throwing as many magical arms he could while getting progressively more annoyed and getting flashbacks of how his barrier was unjustly (Oh the Irony) ignored, Pluto the black skeleton and right hand man of the Ensemble's leader was wondering what exactly could he do against an immovable object, his bony tail wiping the floor underneath in clear frustration which he couldn't normally express... since he had no face, he adjusted the tie of his suit and simply decided to redouble his efforts.

The next one could be called a 'Dance of Wolfs' two animals out to kill each other but doing so without anger... well one of them was annoyed, the other was actually very angry.

Roland the black haired Grade 1- I mean, washed up Grade 9 fixer was wearing the black gloves that at some point belonged to his wife the Black Silence, changing weapons constantly and showing how he could team up with a Color Fixer without being deadweight, from great sword to guns, into dual blade to spear, he put the pace of the fight and also wondered just how many more times would he have to kill his brother-in-law, his features always made him look like he was either tired or older than he looked, and his annoyance only showed these features more, which just means he'd have to clean his suit from Argalia's blood... again.

Speaking of Argalia the man that broke the trend of the Ensemble wearing suits having a blue cape with golden waving patterns of all things and a suit befitting of an actor in an opera that matched the flamboyancy of his cape and also the bo- I'm sorry, I meant orchestrator of the Ensemble, wields the unorthodox weapon known as a Scythe that he could vibrate at the tune of his opponents to do more damage (that's... a thing yeah) and while his expression in his female-ish face would seem calm, in the inside he was raging because his goal was gone, but he still had those who took everything from him right here, so he defaulted into vengeance, original, his long white hair that once was mirrored by his sister somehow didn't hinder his vision.

Tobias was handed a front row seat to the carnage below and in the meantime, he decided to just watch until either one side died or the other, he wasn't about to jump in that particular mess down there knowing he was a better fighter than half of the one's fighting, he also knew that skill only did so much when he was vastly out-classed in power, so waiting was his only option.

"Enjoying the show?" Tobias only glanced to the left once, seeing a black haired girl, probably a few years younger than he himself if and donning the clothes only an Arbiter would wear, the fur cape and the fur coat are there the golden patterns are there, there were various differences between this one's and Binah's but not many of them mattered, this is Zena an Arbiter that may just be a bit too cocky, which she was shamelessly shown when she failed two of her objectives in the Library.

In her defense, she didn't think that both the Red Mist or Binah could have keep up after so much time had passed in the City, but assuming makes an ass out of you and me as they say, so it's still on her.

Next to her was Baral the Executioner, a Claw with a lot of experience and basically Zena's bodyguard and babysitter, the second one unwilling from his part but he warmed up to the idea after certain... circumstances that aren't relevant right now, sporting the overcoat of the Executioners completely buttoned and both his arm and his claw behind his back, he made for quite the imposing figure.

Tobias couldn't care less "No, but I guess the members of the Head need a hobby" his tone had no insulting undertones, he honestly believed that in their free time members of the Head just watched others suffer.

Zena was used to many reactions when someone saw her, complete lack of reaction was a new one that if she was honest wasn't against "Hardly, I prefer to leave A nest to find actual good sweets" Baral from his part had to suppress a grumble at that, C corp military rations had everything you needed to survive... except good taste.

Tobias hummed "P corps right? I guess they do have some killing ice cream, how do you go there without rising a million flags?" the honestly curiois nest dweller asked, making the Arbiter decide right there and there that she liked him.

"I do not need to sport my uniform everywhere I go, contrary to popular belief we wear more than that" she will never know where that rumor came from, mainly because the few times anyone saw an Arbiter they were dead or in the process of dying.

The battle down below was still going strong and the three people out of it, simply chatted along as if it was tuesday.

All in all, a pretty normal day... until IT happened.

A stray attack from Pluto hit the entry door, it did not break or crack, actually the double doors were in perfect condition, but they opened and in the other side what was once a space filled with stars was simply the bright color yellow, confusion was evident because before that wasn't out there.

The first to notice that wasn't just a glowing color were both Arbiters that didn't show fear but they tensed and their laid back expressions disappeared, Tobias seeing Zena's expression shift took a closer look at the light and froze, Baral the Claw was ready for anything... except that.

Next the Colors and Tanya, they knew danger their work demanded for them to do so and noticing the... scale of what they were seeing left them sweating bullets but they were no less ready for whatever it did, even if they would have not done much anyway, Tanya knew by pure instinct what she was seeing wasn't something you could punch away.

Hokma and Angela came next, and while in normal circumstances they may have been the first to notice how grave the danger was, they more logical view made them question for a moment if what they saw was actually real, sadly it was very real.

Right after those two came the rest of the Ensemble, who for a lack of better words wondered how they would even begin to deal with something like that, Oswald thought of ways to crack a joke, but nothing really seemed to hit home, Greta for a moment thought about how to cook it before she realized it was just too big to even try, Eileen wasn't sure if she was even lucid, Philip seemed to be calm... except he looked like a bonfire, Pluto wondered if even 'seeing is believing' worked as a way to live anymore, Elena thought she may have seen something at the edges of the giant yellow ball twitch, Bremen were too busy trying to understand what they were seeing to actual made their usual cacophony of noise, Jae-heon really wanted materials to make puppets and release all the stress seeing that gave him.

And then the rest of the Librarians, shortly after the Ensemble, Malkuth tried and I do mean TRIED to appear tough, but her shaking legs told a different history, Hod tried to think of anything but what she saw, and it wasn't working, Yesod just could rationalize what he saw, so he settled with disbelief, Netzach wished he had a six-pack in hand because he was indeed too sober to deal with this, Tiphereth grimaced but surprissingly enough kept her composure... well she did rub her eyes once or twice to make sure what she was seeing was real, Chesed wondered where his brewing coffee machine was it sounded therapeutic right now his strained smile supporting said notion.

What was so impressive of a single glowing yellow light that covered the space? well it wasn't the sun...

That which they saw, is an eye, an eye so TITANIC it covered every single star, simply put it wasn't something that they haven't seen before, but the sheer scale of the imagery told it all, whatever that was could crush the mansion they were in, and they would be able to do nothing.

Suddenly the door snapped close and everything moved, in a blurr they had been moved into a big room, decorated from top to bottom with the same curtains the rest of the building was but no windows in sight, in the middle a circular big table was filled with exactly 24 very well padded office executive black chairs, those that spin and all that.

"I'm not even going to question it" Tobias deciding that trying to comprehend what had transpired would hurt him more than help him took a seat, he guessed that they were taken into a room with seats to well... sit down, now this action was looked at weirdly by everyone else, he took something like that happening relatively well.

Which didn't do anything but make both the Ensemble and the Librarians look at each other almost ready to fight again, until a simple piece of paper fell in Tobias hands and he looked at it and chuckled weakly "Guy's... I don't want to find out what 'exploding flesh from the inside and still function' means" that brought pause to everyone.

The Members of the Head and Binah had already taken seats, to the left of Tobias were Zena and Baral respectively and Binah towards his right which seemed to be a conscious decision from the part of the Patron Librarian of Philosophy and putting poor Tobias in a very oppressive air that had formed thanks to the Arbiters.

"It is simply better to follow along... for now" Binah gave her advice that while under normal circumstances wouldn't have, she knew when things couldn't simply be pushed aside with brute force, this may be one of them.

Argalia and Roland exchanged a... less than friendly look, Pluto grabbed his leader's shoulder and shook his head, things have been clearly taken out of everyone's hand.

Roland was calmed down by Angela similarly, she was simply more vocal about it "Let us wait and see, we can't act blindly here" she HATED this, but at the end of the day not much could be done.

Thankfully Angela no longer had to support the EGO of the Librarians, changing them back to their normal outfits, they had similarities in between mainly the brooch they all seemed to wear, they also all really liked sticking to their colors...

And so everyone starting taking seats, From Binah to the right the Librarians took sea first Hod, Gebura, Tiphereth, Chesed, Malkuth, Yesod, Netzach, Roland, Angela and then Hokma.

From Baral to the left the Ensemble took seat, First was Argalia, Pluto, Jae-Heon, Oswald, Elena, Greta, Eileen, Bremen, Tanya and Philip.

There was a moment of awkward silence.

And the Oswald showing he had the patience of a kid started spinning on his chair while screaming 'weeeee', making both the Puppeter and the Blood Red Night wish they didn't have functioning ears.

Which made everything go downhill from there "Would it kill you bunch of freaks to take things seriously?" Roland asked with impatiance, which was warranted considering the situation.

Jae-heon, both hating Roland and Oswald's antics getting on his nerves decided to vent out his frustrations in the next best target he had, AKA Roland "I'd like for you to remember that I still kept a photo of your wife around, for special occasions" Roland would have been quick to answer.

The problem is that there were more people this time to hear the box man talk "Engraved well into your head just like that of your kid?" Tiphereth was many things, hot headed was one of them, and she didn't take well the insult handed to Roland.

Tanya was unimpressed though, while Jae-heon was busy fuming "Pipe down pup, your yapping ain't impressive" talk about judging a book by its cover...

And so joined someone else to the fray, this time surprisingly enough Netzach "I thought 'The dog that barks loudest' was just a saying..." he trailed off at the end while glancing away for extra effect, Tanya felt the need to bite his head off.

"ARFFFF!-BARK BARK!" Bremen said... something.

Oswald pipped up and stopped spinning "Oh!?, he has the funny Grass?" many of the Ensemble decided to not question how Oswald even knew what Bremen said and just chalked it as a Oswald thing.

Hod seemed offended on Netzach's behalf "I'll have you know he stopped doing Enkephalin years ago and has greatly improved his health since then" Netzach from his part decided to not point out how little that helped.

While there were a few that decided didn't want to form part of the verbal spat, there are some that joined, but I'll spare your ears from that... particular problem.

Tobias glanced towards the silent Arbiters that seemed to be enjoying remaining in silence, he decided to ask to older one something "No idea what this is? you know being part of the Head you should know many singularities" he could have just done nothing but hearing the verbal fight wasn't going to make things any better.

"Why did you take them away and try to make it seem just?" Philip asked a very uncomfortable Malkuth that really didn't know how to actually deal with the question, much more so when Philip's question was born out of genuine curiosity.

Yeah better he didn't get involved with that.

Binah looked at the nest dweller for a second "You assume that from my position I would know or even give you the answer?" Tobias could tell that talking with the Arbiter would prove interesting from that alone.

But before he could answer... "A position she no longer holds, mayhaps you should direct your question somewhere else?" Zena interfered with a smile that was... less than welcoming, which Binah returned.

Noticing the mine he stepped on, Tobias looked at the Claw for help... said Claw was busy finding the ceiling very apealing to the eye, making the eye of the gray haired man twitch, he glanced at the note in his arm, guessing that as long as no one threw a punch they weren't going to blow up.

"The fact that she chose to be with Roland rather than babysit you speak volumes" Tobias didn't look at whoever said that and if he did, he would have seen an angry Angela glaring at Argalia who was twitching with murder in his smile.

'So this is how I die' Tobias thought with a resigned smile, it was a good run.

Then suddenly a green pot with the visage of a smiling ogre with yellow teeth, and red eyes fell from the sky landing in the middle of the table along with a note that said the next simple but dreadful words.

'Pick one paper each day, do as it says, there may be games or something else... everything is possible, you may receive gifts for your troubles'

Everyone knew how skewered the City was so to say they are all iffy i-

"Oh lookie here! free games!" with that shout Oswald jumped in the table and took one piece of paper.

Tobias flatly stared at this "Is he a retard?" Many and I do say that MANY agreed with this notion, Oswald tilted his head at what he read.

"What's an UNO?"

Chapter Text

Right when Oswald finished his question, a small black box the size of a deck of cards smacked him in the face hard enough to send him flying back to his seat, the slumped clown spinning on his chair thanks to the power of the blow.

The deck bounced in the Table and landed on Angela's hand who looked at it curiously... and then the box twitched 'It's alive?' the AI thought with incredulity, the box simply twitched again.

Feeling a bit brave Roland reached for the box with the words 'UNO' plastered over a multi-colored circle, when he grabbed it the top of the box exploded releasing a stream of cards that stacked itself in the middle of the table "I'd actually be surprised if I hadn't fought a bathtub monster..." he muttered to himself remembering his first days in the Library.

Argalia snickered when he heard that, but kept himself from saying anything else to avoid a fight now knowing that they would all just explode if they even attempted to kill each other, so he'd have to settle with the small things.

From the deck came a bundle of clouds... that suddenly acted as a screen "This feels familiar" Netzach commented, getting a groggy nod from the recuperating Oswald.

Jae-heon looked at Oswald only once and nodded to himself 'Yeah, that makes sense' the Puppeteer couldn't deny that the clown doing drugs didn't sound plausible, actually it explained a lot.

Yesod sighed and elbowed Netzach while jabbing his thumb towards the disheartened Hod and the disappointed Malkuth "You should really stop digging your grave any further" Yesod wouldn't have bothered with that, but he was usually dragged along when the 'uppers' as Tiphereth likes to call them meet each other.

Although, he'd lie if he said he wasn't a bit disappointed himself.

Netzach from his part rolled his eyes "I'm just remembering stuff nothing much..." just one off-hand comment about drugs, and he couldn't catch a break... this is why he drinks so much, aside from the fact he likes it.

The 'screen' made from clouds started showing a black background with yellow letters, that read as follows-

The person to the left of the dealer starts play. Next player must match a card to the card on the top of the discard pile, either by number, color or symbol (symbols represent Action Cards) (The colors are, Red, Blue, Yellow and Green).

-TYPE OF CARDS-

Skip:  The next player is "skipped".

Reverse:  Reverses the direction of play.

Draw +2:  The next player must draw 2 cards and lose a turn.

Draw +4:  Changes the current color plus the next player must draw 4 cards and lose a turn.

Wild Card:  Play this card to change the color to be matched.

If you suspect that a Wild Draw 4 card has been played on you illegally (i.e. the player has a card of the matching color), then you may challenge that player. If guilty, the challenged player must draw 4 cards instead of you. However, if the challenged player is innocent, you must draw the 4 cards plus an additional 2 cards (6 total)! If the challenged player has other Wild cards in hand the challenge still fails, if don't have a card that matches the one on the top of the discard pile, you must take a card from the draw pile. If the card you picked up can be played, you are free to put it down in the same turn. Otherwise, play moves on to the next person in turn.

Other players can 'jump in' if they have the same number of the card played, skipping the turns of all those that should have played before him, if a 'jump in' is performed by anyone other than the player that would pick the 'stacking' stacks will be lost, but the player next to the one that 'jumped in' would still have to pick up +2 or +4 cards depending on what card was played.

Stacking is possible for  +2 and +4 cards. +2 can only be stacked on +2. Can only play a +2 on a +2 if holding a +2 and the same applies for +4. A player that can't add to the stack must draw the total.

When you play your next-to-last card, you must say "UNO" (meaning "one") to indicate that you have only one card left. If you don't say "UNO" and you are caught before the next player begins a turn, you must draw two cards.

Hokma scratched his chin and noticed the way everyone was seated 'Ah... this can't end well' he has seen what this kind of 'family' games can do to people, he did see Carmen drop-kick Ayin once when she took too many loses in friendly poker.

Gebura tried her best to understand what was in the screen, she wasn't exactly given good education after all 'Sometimes I can't help but wonder why I was given the floor of Language...' thankfully for her mind... but not her pride Hod had read it all out loud.

Worst thing is that the one that at some point was the Red Mist couldn't even get mad about it.

"This feels way too similar to my contracts..." Pluto could feel the evil energy from the game itself, it almost seemed to be designed to have people go against each other, he'd be impressed if he weren't the one playing the damn thing.

Argalia patted him in the back with his ever soft smile that was no longer murderous "Settle down friend, we shall deal with this easily enough" oh that poor and naive psychopath.

The deck started literally handing itself on its own, Tobias had no idea how to take a deck of cards that could deal itself, but he was smart enough to not even attempt to question it, everyone was handed 5 cards all of them face down on the table, and from the top of the deck one moved itself face up and laid there.

A green 7.

...

The cloud condensed and flew just above Tobias, he looked up at it for a moment before picking up his cards with a sigh... his eyes bulged at his hand, before putting an amazing poker face up.

Chesed hummed at that... clearly not good sign and picked up his hand, it would have been good two +2 and two reverses, the last one being a wild card, sadly all his special cards were color blue Someone out there is laughing at me, I just know it' sure we are buddy.

Tobias took his first card to play, and threw it towards the discard pile, a green reverse.

The cloud moved above Zena and the gray haired nest dweller tried his best to ignore the stare of the Patron Librarian of Philosophy 'I'm going to make an enemy today aren't I?' Tobias has accepted his fate, good for him.

Zena played a simple green 3, Baral a Green 5 and Argalia a Green 7.

The game seemed to go in a normald way... until it reached Oswald, the clown had already recuperated and was leaning his chin on the table keeping his cards on the table and just rising them from time to time, he was oddly pensive and some of his fellow Ensemble members had found this weird, no one voiced it though.

After a moment of clear thinking, Oswald nodded to himself ' Time for the REAL fun to start, there is no show without a bit of danger' and without even looking guilty he played a +4.

Elena straight up turned towards Oswald with a shadow covering her eyes " I just want you to know... I will remember today" Oswald shrugged and laughed away the threat, so basically he did what he always does.

So much for 'team playing'.

Elena half considered smacking Oswald across the room then found herself remembering the thread of explosion, so with a not exactly betrayed but definitely vexed expression she picked up her four cards, all of them just normal numbers 'There will be consequences you fu-' cry us a river Vampire.

Greta from her part had no idea why she didn't think of preparing snacks for the occasion, but decided to play nonetheless if only because she needed to be alive to cook, her eyes settled on Hokma for a moment who blinked at the sudden attention.

Then back at everyone else, and rose two of her big fingers.

Eileen knew of evil, but didn't know Greta was capable of such heinous acts... but she nodded anyway.

Bremen did... a lot of impressed noises? But he nodded too, so he must be in agreement with the dirty deed.

Tanya smiled with clear malicious intent, and also remembering full well why she liked Greta so much aside from her cooking.

Philip shrugged but gave her a thumbs up, he cared very little about the plan but at the same time he wouldn't pass a chance to fuck with Hokma who was a small (Guilty by association?) part of how his life went to shit.

Hokma noticed all of that and looked at his hand, he indeed didn't have a +2 'This complicates things' He mussed, noticing that he was about to be... well 'gang banged' could fit, but that's too dirty.

Which meant the chain came through, those that form part of that cruel and very funny move didn't even stop, simply stacking the +2 one after another without mercy, Greta specifically was cackling with her loud voice while Tanya was smiling wolfishly fittingly enough.

Only for Tiphereth to jump in and crush the whole thing down the spire "I'm just going to... enjoy the moment" and enjoy she did because the shocked silence spoke volumes of how the culprits of that stacking felt.

Gebura for her part grumbled and picked up 2 cards, so much for a good start...

Hod was next and she took one look at the card played, a blue +2 she only had one blue card though... Hod had to look at Binah once with a slightly apologetic expression 'She wouldn't take it personally... I hope' the shy Librarian told herself to muster the courage.

And played a blue Skip and completely looking away from the former Arbiter that merely raised an eyebrow at the action.

She wasn't affected by this that much, she had spent ten years getting the short end of the stick without complaint when A had put her to extract E.G.O 'Children sometimes can be silly' thought the former Arbiter.

Tobias looked at his hand again and thought for a moment about his next play, coming to a decision to play the long game and keep his... frankly ridiculous hand he decided to draw, and as if it was reading his mind the deck pulled out a card and slid it face down through the table towards him.

What he picked up was a blue reversal 'I should take up gambling' the nest dweller thought to himself seeing his ridiculous luck, he played it and the cloud moved above Binah, Tobias ignored the... Look he received from Zena.

Binah hummed in thought for a moment and glanced once at Tobias ' He is simply planning for the long game... interesting' it was obvious the gray haired boy decided to draw because he didn't want to play what he had.

Right now there wasn't much she could do about it, so she simply played a wild card and changed the color to red, Hod's eyes widened slightly at the change since she had no Red cards and was forced to draw 3 cards before getting a red 2.

Gebura's next and she shall I say mercilessly threw the +2, because no matter the situation Gebura will always get back at you she just rolled that way, mainly because the backstreets taught her that way.

Tiphereth was halfway through a protest before a loud smack was heard, Chesed had jumped in both to mess with Gebura and lend a hand to Tiphereth from Gebura's wrath, he had become used to her glares at this point so what he received didn't move him at all.

Which meant that Malkuth had to draw 2 cards from the pile, which she did without much complaint... aside from the small pout.

Yesod didn't ponder much what card to use he had been handed enough time to think about it, so he settled with a blue 9, followed by Netzach putting a blue 3 (very lazily).

Roland scrunched his nose 'I'm really getting forced to play my only good card already...' but his gut told him that trying to draw would end up horribly, so he played his wild card and changed the color to yellow.

Angela sighed at this... game, but she played along anyway playing a yellow 1 and simply waiting again, something that she had way too much experience with.

It was the moment Hokma played his yellow 5 that Tobias acted again, jumping in with a green 5 and looking at his hand again, his tree remaining cards... two wilds and one +4 'Yes, with this I should be able to win as long as I play it right' he just had to wait and see.

From that particular play, everyone in the table played once it rotated through all of them without anyone deciding to ruin anyone's day, and safe to say that moment of peace had some people feeling... tense.

Tobias played one of his Wild cards to change the color again, after thinking for a moment he changed it to green, just for Angela to jump in with her own wild card and change the color back to blue, Tobias threw one look at her and Angela piercing stare tried to go through him.

Okay, maybe trying to play the long game when an AI is in the room with you isn't a smart idea' Tobias mussed to himself, she must have noticed what he was doing.

And the game continued like this, some people drew, some didn't, it had admittedly gotten a bit boring and dull, but none tried to get up since... well exploding on the spot was quite the threat hanging over anyone's head.

Until Angela reached UNO, Tobias had planned for the long game and now he had 4 cards back in his hand... if only because the Arbiters around him were very sadistic, and he was in between them.

Of course getting constantly cut-off didn't mean he wasn't paying attention "You didn't say UNO" Tobias said with a small smile plastered on his face, Angela froze but didn't change her expression at all.

That didn't mean her mind wasn't working a mile a minute 'This is the first time that my ability to perceive things slower than most could have been useful' it was a feature she got rid of, no longer needing it since L corp's fall.

She took the extra cards without saying any words, right after that Hokma for whatever borderline evil reason played a +4, Argalia rose a brow and looked at Pluto with a pensive look.

He shrugged and played his own +4, Pluto threw one look at his boss "Why" it was a statement not a question.

Argalia laughed heartily, like a kid... a very dangerous and not at all kid "What fun would the game be if we simply formed alliances among us?" Pluto perked up at those words and with the malicious intent of someone that abused the power of the fine print daily.

Played yet ANOTHER +4.

Jae-heon may have busted a vein out of frustration he still had to eat those 12 cards though, Oswald felt bad for his fellow member and played a +4 while looking at Elena straight in the eyes "Your husband needs you" it was such a straight-faced delivery that the Blood fiend was almost impressed considering from who it came from 'I'm still sucking his veins like spaghetti once this is all done' didn't mean she forgave him at all.

And the game went around again, some drew and some didn't... maybe I should just show the most interesting parts? Yeah! That sounds better for everyone involved.

Such as this one moment.

Malkuth had crawled through the pain fo eating MANY +2 of Yesod (The Viper sometimes fits him TOO well) and MANY skips from Chesed (Why were they all blue though?) but she finally made it, she had... UNO.

She played her next card a blue 3 and- "You didn't say uno" Philip with the bluntness of well... wax and a traumatized adult, said while staring at his cards completely ignoring the stare of bewilderment Malkuth was giving him.

Malkuth was also not good at keeping her emotions in check when too many things are taken from her control (that she got better doesn't mean she got over it) and spoke "Just don't run away when the time of vindication comes" she said that with COMPLETE seriousness.

Yesod gave her a side glance 'This feels familiar...'.

Chesed hid his nervous grin behind his many blue cards ' Oh~... Merciless Malkuth is still in there' the time in L corp was something that all of them managed to get over, well to some degree.

Philip stared at Malkuth for a moment like he was both meeting a completely different Person "... You done?" and he still couldn't give a flying fuck.

Roland looked at Angela then back at Malkuth "Do I want to know?"

Angela thought for a moment and with a straight face "No" responded with denial.

Tobias also found out that being between two Arbiters made peace a dream.

Zena played a green reverse and Tobias looked at his last green card with a small frown, he played the green 7 and glanced at Binah that played...

A green Reverse.

'Okay, yeah I can luck it out' the next dweller thought and looked at the card thrown at him since he didn't have any greens left.

He had to pick three cards before he got another green, that he of course played ' Yes! didn't pick too-' his thinking was interrupted when Binah with a cruel smile and now white eyes (how does she do that?) played ANOTHER green reverse.

Tobias stared at the table, took a deep breath and picked another two cards, having to play yet another green card.

And the Zena with the exact same smile and eyes Binah was sporting played yet another green REVERSE.

Tobias wondered if he should really just attack and get everyone killed right then and there, he picked his next card and looked at it, looked at Binah gave her the middle finger and played a +4, somehow he did all of that without showing a hint of either smugness or anger.

Binah merely rose a brow and smiled in amusement, and took the four cards without much fuss.

Zena would forever deny she giggled when Binah picked cards, and would also forever deny that Tobias look that promised retribution made her feel nervous.

Philip remembered that everyone will take chances to screw with him by rule of thumb.

Tanya had seen Philip with two cards and decided to play a skip, Philip of course didn't react... the first three times it happened, the true act that made him stare at the wolf was the fact that she would DRAW more cards just to skip him.

Philip was missing two thirds of his emotional spectrum, which meant he had a lot of patience, if only because feeling in general was kinda... hard ' Actual frustration... never thought I'd meet you again' so it was to no one's surprise that when Hokma played a +4 to screw with poor Philip, Philip without saying anything or waiting for Hokma's card to make it to the discard pile, played his own +4.

Bremen honked, barked and... made chicken noises towards the muscled wolf almost as if he was laughing at her, which he most likely was, Tanya felt a vein trob in her head, but she couldn't deny she was asking for that one.

Netzach got a metaphorical depiction of a viper's venom and why Yesod liked his alias so much.

Yesod looked at his hand, shrugged and changed the color to green, ironically enough the only color the drunkard DIDN'T have, who didn't complain at first he just picked up three cards so no biggy.

Roland for his part "Yeah I'm sorry..." it didn't sound sincere and his smile just screamed 'amused' and he played a green reverse, Netzach from his part wondered if he should hide his beer better from now on.

'I need a drink...' somberly though the grass-haired man while picking up more cards, Yesod did one of his rare smiles, truly he is cold like a snake.

And then after... wow three hours, the winner was finally decided.

"Ah" Hod stared blankly at her empty hand and felt this... sudden urge to shout in joy, almost like rubbing in the fact that she SOMEHOW won despite how everything was going.

Tobias sighed in complete relief, he had been in the receiving end of the war between Arbiters so half-way through the game he decided to just give up and drag both of them with him by just drawing with the specific purpose to fuck with them, Zena wasn't happy about this which means she may have gotten a little too much in the mood fo the game.

Binah took it better, simply shrugging with a small satisfied if a bit annoyed smile, she couldn't say it WASN'T fun 'It may not be chess, regardless of that fact I won't deny that I got some enjoyment out of it' more so because both Roland and Gebura aren't good losers, so their grimaces were just an extra layer of joy to the retired Arbiter.

Philip and Tanya had been... well in their own little war, after Philip's +4 stack the wolf woman had decided to make his life difficult, a decision that Philip himself had already reached too, so to say that they weren't in a great mood would be understandable... well Tanya wasn't, Philip managed to get himself into his emotionless state again.

Angela was just happy it was over... or so she tried to make it look 'I'm sure I had everything planned out...' she was based on Carmen and that woman wasn't a very good loser herself, which is hilarious considering how kind she used to be, so to put it short... Angela was salty.

Which funnily enough made both Binah and Hokma smile like those old grandparents while seeing a child grow.

Tiphereth grumbled something about a stacked deck while Chesed was patting her back with a slight smile, then showing his ALL blue hand to Tiphereth, poor coffee addict was handed so much blue... the blond girl had no room to complain.

Oswald had the time of his life, which in return meant that Greta and Eileen had to keep two of the people that found themselves in the receiving end of Oswald's bullshit from turning to clown into a smoothy.

Jae-Heon was already preparing the strings to eviscerate the poor (not really) distorted clown only held back by the gears pinning him on his chair, while Elena was bitting and clawing at Greta trying to make the big shark lady drop her... to minimal success.

Malkuth was pouting while leaning on the table, she will forever believe she got cheated out of a victory today, which is completely true when it comes to UNO, not that she will ever know that.

Gebura was both annoyed by how many cards she was forced to eat and happy because Hod was just beaming, so she just settled with grumbling and looking away (she will break you in half if you say she was pouting, even though she definitely was pouting).

Baral was simply enjoying the first time he ever got a break from work, turns out the Head doesn't have vacations, so the mere fact that he could do anything besides looking out for Zena or comitting one-sided massacres (he kept to himself how much he enjoyed his assignment of the Library, finally fought someone that didn't crumble like a house of cards after one hit) so win or lose, he didn't care.

Argalia was somewhat indifferent, it wasn't a BAD experience, but in his personal opinion... 'I wouldn't mind if Roland had been handed more cards, oh well I'll simply take in his sour expression as a small gift' he still wants to make Roland's life miserable, so nothing new.

Pluto had found a whole new level of evil, and he is the one that acts like a magical life-insurance dealer that cheats you out of... everything (which is pretty high in the asshole ladder) apparently party family games can make everyone hate everyone, ' I have learned how to separate people with ease... terrific' Pluto will forever be a businessman with trust issues.

Yesod had... fun, not that he would ever admit it but years of dealing with Netzach's attitude had been vented out this game where the purple haired man decided to let it all out 'There was no reason for me to do that, but on the other hand I don't regret it, at all' as stated before, like a viper/snake... whatever same thing (not really).

Suddenly the cloud above Hod transformed into a hand with a small wooden box that it gently put in the table right in front of Hod right before vanishing, Hod blinked twice "Thank you?" she sounded unsure and wasn't confident enough to open the box and well... not find something dangerous inside, even though it was about the size of a soccer ball.

Tobias took it all in stride and suddenly got up while stretching his back 'Those were too many pops...' he thought while feeling his back pop loudly, he then started walking towards the door.

"Wait, where are you going?" Roland demanded, suddenly very much on guard due to the circumstances of their stay, he would prefer to have anyone that he didn't know on his sight by default.

Tobias just didn't have it in him to care "Explore? we are going to be staying here for a while even if we don't like it, may as well see what there is, maybe even find some kind of flaw to leave which is unlikely but whatever" he also really wanted a sandwich, but he didn't add that one.

And before anyone else could say anything, he left through the door without turning back, Greta perked up at this and walked towards the door too since Elena had already gotten over her hissy fit "Great! may as well look for a kitchen in this place" such a simple-minded view of things, if she could cook then she was pleased.

Gebura sighed and while she still keep her eyes on the rest of the Ensemble, she noticed that the mood was killed, so a fight wouldn't break out yet 'I really could use a cigar right now...' the thoughts of the 'Librarian' (she looks more like an Amazon trying to play librarian), she glanced at Hod that had openned the box and was entranced with a book she was looking at.

'Fifty Shades of Gray? what would it be about...' Hod thought to herself while staring at the book, she didn't expect a book would be her gift from winning the game but accepted it nonetheless... oh yeah she had no idea.

Binah had already walked out of the room, she had two missions here, find the tea and see just exactly 'where' is here 'It has been so long since I had any lack of control of any situation, fascinating' and that only happened once when the Red Mist killed her and ended up a Sephirah.

Zena and Baral had followed that example, wondering just who or WHAT could have just snatched them both from under the Head's nose without problems, which is in itself quite the scary thought.

Argalia was discussing something with Pluto "Anything on this place?" Argalia questioned his right-hand man that had been using his magic to try and get a feel of the mansion they now resided.

Pluto for his part shook his head in denial "If I try to see past this building I simply... can't, or it's safer to say there is nothing out there, but what we saw is no illusion" doesn't that sound troubling...

"Nothing alive aside from us either, no matter how hard I try I can't smell any blood that isn't from someone that wasn't in this room" Elena gave her two cents with a frown.

Jae-heon was troubled by this "Then WHAT did we see in the door?" he couldn't get over the fact they saw something that had an eye the size of a mountain, he was thankful he didn't see that full scale of whatever that was.

Tanya removed her smoking pipe and let out a cloud of smoke "Who knows, I can tell you this much, if that door had been open for a few seconds more we would be dead" she could recognize the intent to kill anywhere, and whatever that was didn't see anyone here as anything but insects.

And the size difference just made that point nail itself in her mind.

Eileen rubbed her hands together in slight worry "Then now what? explore like the... kid suggested?" she wasn't sure she could call Tobias a kid, the way he acted wasn't something you'd expect of a City dweller not only that but he may like to act carefree but he both watched and listened with too much attention.

"Perhaps, as of now our option are limited" Philip commented while keeping Oswald on a head-lock, he noticed the clown hopping towards the door and could see bad news when they literally danced in front of him.

No one seemed to mind.

Argalia hummed and smiled "Then it just seems we'll have to ride along until we find more, looking more into this place will do no harm" which basically translated to 'we know nothing so may as well go with the flow'.

Not that the Librarians had any better luck "So the Library is still out there?" Roland questioned his friend with a frown, that simply sounded like bad news no matter how he looked at it.

Angela sighed "In a way... I know the Library still exists, yet it also feels absent or displaced" she wasn't sure what to make of that, the word 'fear' came to mind but the situation was a bit too confusing for her to approach the subject coherently.

"Seems like our captors went to extreme heights to make sure we had no worries in our stay here..." Hokma said with narrowed eyes, his first guess was Wing but recent events just made that seem unlikely.

Malkuth frowned worried "At the end, they brought us here in a flash, are forcing us to play games, REWARD us from winning, and... that's it?" she was honestly confused, it almost seemed like someone was laughing at them.

"This seems bit farfetched even by City standards, this serves no purpose at all" commented Yesod with crossed arms, a slight narrow in his eyes the only tell of his emotions.

Gebura shrugged "You never know in that place, I can't deny there is something... wrong with the outside" there was a possibility someone from the City did this but it was slim, if even members from the Head were caught then things were definitely worse than just your average City issue.

"To summarize, the only thing we know is that we know nothing" Tiphereth threw those words with both anger and annoyance, clearly she hated the unkonw which is fine the unknown hates you too.

Angela sighed "Then we have to find out more" it was clear what they had to do now, explore their new 'home' and hope it isn't a hellhole.

Now dear guests... enjoy your stay.