Okumura Syndicate Ending 2

Chapter 187: True Nightmares

After getting whisked away by Vox's horrendous clouds, Sulena found herself on a dark, dingy path in the dead of night. She felt remnants of the webs on her hands grow heavier as rain fell upon her humanlike head. "Aster? Fleur? Are you there?", she shouted, but only the void spoke back. Her legs grew weaker as she became soaked in Earth's natural shower, she knew she needed to find sanctuary, and any kind of shelter would do.

To her luck, a candlelit building laid ahead of her. "Finally, somewhere to rest from this hellish environment...", she thought. However, as she walked, the house remained a few steps ahead of her, and the more she tried to catch up with it, the more raced along with her. The arachnid woman sighed, "Just like back in the mountains...", she commented. She attempted once more, no luck, but the house seemed so inviting, she felt a burning urge to keep going.

Sulena's calves creaked with tiredness, as if she'd been walking an entire day. "Need home...need sustenance...", she groaned. Eventually, she gave up, taking a seat on the damp and waterlogged ground. Shivering, she couldn't take her eyes off the building, but at this point it was a distant dream. Even her web couldn't grab it, although its effect remained. She was exhausted, and her eyes began to flutter slowly shut. Remembering her purpose, her head tightened with the pain, thinking of those she couldn't help. Was this what her life had led to? A fruitless chase? Her body and mind pounded her soul, but the journey raged on.

On the other side of the spectrum entirely, Shiva seemed rather pleased with himself when his consciousness returned to him. His surroundings were pure white, with nothing else in sight. "Yes! I finally got out of that damned place!", he cheered to himself. To him, this plain backdrop looked like a peaceful limbo between worlds, and if he were correct, surely Vox would be defeated, right? He began gloating in his mind, imagining what could've happened for such a decisive victory. That was, until he positioned his hands

"No portal? That's never happened before!", he said, trying again to no avail. "Well, if I'm stuck here, I may as well entertain myself.", he gloated. "Watching my mist isn't so bad, I should create some...", he decided, but that ability didn't work either. Shiva grew frantic, "Is that it? Am I stuck in this lobby of unlimited worlds with no powers to access them?!", he yelled out into emptiness. Nothing, not even an echo replied to him. For the first time, Shiva was bored.

The white was blindingly bright in his eyes. He was trapped and couldn't believe for one second that any being was powerful enough to inflict such a curse upon him, but then he took time to face the truth. This was Vox that did this, the one man he could never read, could never defeat. Shiva placed his burning hands upon his mismatched eyes and focused on the shaking on his limbs, unable to do anything but loom on thoughts, to scorn his mind with failure.

Further and further into madness, Catoria clutched her battered torso as she opened her amber eyes. Her vision wobbled as her wounds seared across her entire body. Soon enough, she could make out colours, shapes, objects; but as time passed, it became increasingly obvious she wasn't in the mansion gardens anymore. The sky was a bright ruby red with orange overtones, barely seen due to the tall, voluminous trees filling the landscape. "That devious creature put me in a forest...", thought the succubus, knowing that Vox was responsible.

As the realisation set in, tears began to flow down her cheeks, as she tried again and again to fly herself out of the strange forest, but each attempt failed and was left just like the first. Her tears continued to fall for several minutes, until she could no longer feel her own legs and eventually lost her control over her body. Suddenly, she heard a male voice coming from behind her. "Catoria? It's a pleasure to see you again!", he expressed with joyous enthusiasm. Catoria turned to see Edward standing there, an uncharacteristic smile on his face.

"You were breaking down in shock the last I saw you...", the woman reflected, remembering the horror on her superior's face in the office. "You're mistaken, last I saw you, you were in my bed.", the pale boss recalled. Catoria was baffled, she and Edward hadn't slept together in 14 years. Out of necessity for knowledge, she quickly concluded that either she was unaware of her activities, or this version of Edward was from a different time. Using all the brain power she could muster with her injury, she investigated further.

She examined Edward closely, making sure to remember everything he said, everything he touched, but before she could get the full picture someone else approached them. "Edward, Catoria, what a coincidence...", their voice said teasingly. "Palette! Good for you to make an appearance!", Edward said, shaking his former right hand man's hand. "But...Palette's dead...", Catoria thought. This was all getting far too peculiar for her to take.

Just as things started to make sense for Catoria, things got even stranger when what looked like one hundred people raced by, mostly men, some women. At first it seemed they had no similarities, with the exception of Edward and Palette of course, but then all the pieces came into place. Everyone here were people that the succubus had slept with. Catoria followed the paths of the gaggle of suitors she had and soon it became clear that they were surrounding her. "Catoria Moreau, it's time to get your just desserts!", yelled a voice from the crowd, Vladimir Lowpeak. Things were going to get interesting.