Lost in a Memory

[Nasira]

January 1st, Year 1

Nasira had always thought her brother Jafar would occupy that seat one day. 

Due to his predecessor's incompetence, Agrabah was on its last legs. The economy of the sultanate was a joke. It was a big trade town with access to gold and precious gems, but most people could not afford these luxuries. The gulf between the upper and lower class had resulted in a society rampant with crime and poverty with an incredibly corrupt and aggressive police force. 

The people were in desperate need of better leadership, and there was no male heir apparent. There seemed to be only one way to save Agrabah: Princess Jasmine, the only child of the Sultan and female, marrying the ruler of a powerful kingdom. Then a "Prince Ali" decided to get involved in what should have been an internal affai - no, Nasira refused to let her mind go there. 

But Jafar fought long and hard, and in the end, his hard work had paid off, and the royal family (including the sultan's new protégé) had been overthrown. Nasira thought he had more than earned his right to rule. 

Until Maleficent. And it didn't take a genius to infer Nasira's stance on that acquisition of power. 

Nevertheless, the lofty necromancer stood to the left of...Maleficent's throne and patiently for this so-called "Mistress of All Evil" to grace the Blackblood Legion with her presence.

[Mortaray]

Heterochromic brown and red hues watched as the hall of the palace started to become packed. People seeming to filter in from every other direction, humans, beasts, it didn't matter. All of them were here for some sort of common goal, whether it was to raise hell or gain their own little chip in paradise. Others were there simply because they were convinced that their goal to live and use magic freely would be affirmed finally if they did this, absolutely devout to Nasira and Jafar. The overseer almost couldn't blame them for letting themselves fall convinced at the feet of the siblings, they were good with words. Charming in their own ways but he knew that behind such words, they were just looking out for their own goals.

Then again most people were, like himself. Though his were more mundane. Painfully plain almost, his reason for being there was simple. Take part in the war but also keep an eye on one of the only people he cared for, The Shadow Man. They had known each other since they were children, they had been as thick as thieves, getting into all sorts of trouble, racing through the alleyways of New Orleans. Such simple memories almost brought a smirk to his face, but as they grew things changed and shifted. Facilier was on his own path, his own goals, but Mortaray had stayed loyal to him. Followed him wherever he went, promised to do what he needed him to do. Gave his own black heart to him even though he wouldn't admit such.

It was wild to think of such things when they seemed like they were so long ago.

He shook his head, trying to shove away his wondering thoughts and focus on what was going on in front of him. Shoulders rolled back and he moved his head to look towards the side. Waiting for the rest of the crowd to filter in so he could quiet them down for Malcifent whenever she decided to show up.

[Maleficent]

The appointed time of the meeting came. Then it went without the appearance of the Queen. Then five minutes. Then five minutes more. Maleficent had no qualms with making dozens of people wait for her. She fully subscribed to the belief that a queen was never late. Everyone was merely early. However, she wouldn't accept tardiness from others. It was a sign of disrespect, and Maleficent was not a woman to be disrespected.

At a quarter of an hour a swirl of embers floated towards the throne, then swirled brighter and brighter into a green whirlwind of flame. It grew and grew until it stretched seven feet tall, and then Maleficent appeared from the depths of the flame. With a wave of her staff, the flames were extinguished. Her hooded eyes took in the crowd of people, and she smiled. The fairy queen slid into the thrown in a single fluid motion, finally ready to address her subjects.

"Greetings one and all," she spread her arms wide, gesturing to the entirety of the throne room, "I've gathered you all for a sort of... orientation. My name is Maleficent, although I would be mildly concerned if you didn't know that already," she gave a light airy laugh at the idea that anyone wouldn't know who she was.

"I'll give everyone a brief over view of my expectations, however more detailed instructions will be given to you through the overseers," she gestured to the woman on her left with a rustle of her dark robes, "Like Nasira here..."

[Thomas]

Thomas dashed as though his ass had grown wheels. He was late to orientation! Attendance was not optional, and absence would be regarded as an act of disobedience. He was already in hot water for being tardy, but he would be in even bigger trouble for not showing up at all. Jafar had been a merciless sultan who had his own people flogged at the drop of a hat, but Thomas heard his successor was even more callous. "Why do things like this always happen to me?" he asked himself miserably. Right now, he regretted joining the Blackblood Legion. The Freedom Fighters don't beat their own people.

The two burly janissaries guarding the throne room entryway snickered at Thomas as they opened the door for him. Thomas stepped in, his face hot with shame. 

His apprehension grew as he saw the big crowd in the throne room. He really was the last one there! And there was no point in trying to slip in unnoticed for they all would have heard the door open. He said nothing as he took his place in the throng of people and stared at his shoes.

[Nasira]

Nasira turned from the assembly and immediately found herself captivated by the tall, dragonesque fairy who was now her leader, her sultana. She had ink black horns and eyebrows and a haughty, high-cheekboned countenance with a linear, sharp nose and a prominent chin. Somehow, that proud face of hers was deeply fascinating. Nasira could hardly take her eyes off of her. She's -

Nasira pushed aside that thought with a guilty pang. "...I am at your command, your Excellency," she said, inclining her head. Those subservient words felt so strange coming from her. She was used to giving orders, not the other way around. 

Suddenly, the doors swung open. Oh, it was Thomas.

And he was late. 

[Mortaray]

Dramatic entrances weren't his thing. He was more of a get to the point type of guy if he was honest, so when Maleficent appeared he could only quirk a brow. He wasn't sure if he was impressed or just didn't care. Yet he didn't show either. The only hint that he was even paying attention was the straightening of his posture. Arms crossing over his chest to stand more at attention, he may not have been fond of the entire situation but he wasn't about to disrespect his new 'queen'.

At the loud creak of the large doors opening, Mortaray's head whipped over immediately to look. His eyes staring at Thomas in a wolf-like manner. Of course, that boy was late again, he never seemed to show up on time anywhere even when he had hours notice he would show up late. A low growl nearly left him. What type of Black Blood that was loyal to the cause would show up this late? He was almost tempted to deal with the brat himself but restrained despite how hard it was.

Thomas was on his own level of messing up, one that may have even surpassed Perthmail. Speaking of Perthmail, where was he?

-----

Icy blue hues stared up towards the throne and the overseers. The large demon mage was leaned against one of the many pillars of the room. He was just one of many Ghazi warriors in the throne room at the moment, one that didn't seem to make a difference. It was interesting how he went from a life of luxuries to near nothingness. One man in a wave of an army, this was not a fate he had predicted would come to him. He used to being on top, so the change of surroundings was certainly odd.

His gaze was settled on Nasira for the longest moment, the woman had caught his interest greatly despite the obvious rank difference. Something about the tall woman captivated him, his usual cocky expression seeming to ease if just a little. He doubted he'd stand a chance, especially due to the fact she seemed to be a bit infatuated with her leader. He couldn't blame her on that front, Maleficent was quite the beauty...

Fingers moved to rub against his beard, listening quietly to the introduction of Maleficent. Maybe this had been the right place to come to, it was already proving pretty interesting. He hardly seemed to perk as Thomas finally showed up, figuring the youth would be late again. Besides, his attention was drawn to someone else as he felt his gaze on him. Mortaray. Go figure.

[Tabs]

The otherworldly writer had decided to keep a low profile: which wasn’t that easy considering his looks were at least second-glance-worthy by most people’s standards. Tabs didn’t like having much attention drawn to himself outside what he needed to do to appease his viewers. On top of that, he felt making a spectacle of himself would be seen as disrespectful to his superiors. He decided he wouldn’t exercise his charisma unless there was a lack of a strong leader figure around. Though, Tabs anticipated he wouldn’t stay in the same rank once he got a good handle on how the faction’s system worked.

He stood nearest the back, fiddling with a feather quill he’d probably stolen from somewhere. When the queen appeared, he didn’t go out of his way to react, still preferring he wasn’t singled out, but did not appear completely uninvested. It was his intention to stay behind the eyes of most everyone else; this backfired when the sound of the doors caused several to turn. Tabs’s idle smiles twitched, annoyed that he might be subject to undesired eye contact. The creature also turned his heads somewhat, although it was delayed by several seconds compared to the others. He resumed with twirling the quill between two of his claws.

[Maleficent]

The only sliver of good luck Thomas had was that the doors opening hadn't interrupted Maleficent in mid-sentence. But that was just a sliver.

"Why, how convenient!" Maleficent clapped her hands together lightly, then gestured to the door, and the crowds parted so that her gaze on Thomas was unobstructed, "Thank you Thomas, you'll be great example for today's discussion. Do come up here." Of course she knew his name. She made it a point to know everyone's name. She wanted the entirety of her forces to know that not one of them was beneath her notice... for good or for ill. 

Maleficent gestured with a crooked, bejeweled finger. Even though she was smiling in a way that could be described as warm, everyone in the room knew there would be no kindness here. 

"As I was saying, we'll be going over my expectations of you all." When Thomas stood before the throne she stood up, and idly tapped the top of his head with her staff.

"First and foremost, I think it should go with out saying that as your 'sultan'," she said the title with a wicked little smirk, her tone almost mocking, "As your leader I demand your utmost respect."

The head of Maleficent's staff pressed under Thomas's chin forcing him to look up at her, "Tardiness is a waste of -my time-, Thomas." Her eyes flashed wickedly, and her staff thumped down twice on the stone beneath their feet. Glowing white hot chains sprouted from the stone and slithered along Thomas's body, entangling him and dragging him to lay on his belly, pinned to the earth at Maleficent's feet.

The dark fairy turned to the crowd arms spread wide, "Let us talk about punishment, hm?"

She clapped her hands together again, "I think for now Thomas here deserves a little mercy. It is only his first day, and I'm excited to proceed. So we'll merely cut down his rations for the week, hm? No food, limited water."

She swept back into her throne again, resting her chin on the back of one hand leisurely, "Your food and water are privileges that can be taken away. You only need enough to stay alive and healthy to serve, after all. So why should you have the same amount if you serve badly?"

"Now, back to my expectations," Maleficent continued, "As I was saying, my word is law and I won't tolerate disrespect. After my rule, you will respect your duty to our land, our people. Every able-bodied member of age is required to enroll in the militia, undergo military training, and serve in time of war or emergency. Cowardice will not be tolerated. Draft evasion is punishable by arrest, and deserters will be killed on sight."

Maleficent's voice was crisp and snapped sharp on her final words, her gaze unwavering on each and every member of the crowd. There was no hesitation in her eyes. They would be killed.

"Now, while I may show a modicum of mercy to Thomas here, that is because he is one of our own," once again she tapped him on the head with the butt of her staff, "But to your enemies? Show no mercy. Do not sympathize, do not negotiate. This is a war."

[Thomas]

Thomas's face crumpled like that of a child about to cry. He was in for it now. "Okay," he complied plaintively, his ruddy face now the color of an uncooked pancake. He slowly and reluctantly made his way up front.

Thomas's stomach felt as if it had dropped out. "W-what?" No food for a week?! He could have sworn the limit was three days! Not that it really mattered. If Maleficent said it was a week then it was a week. Her word is law after all. As horrifying as that would have been, Thomas almost wished she had just handed him off to the overseers and be done with it. This was not mercy. Being hungry was a lot worse than being beaten; it hurt longer. At least he could take some comfort in the fact that this was not meant to kill him. She did say that. Kind of. 

It was going to be a long seven days.  

He said nothing while Maleficent resumed going over what she expected from them. He knew he should be paying attention. It was in his best interest to. But he was so upset over what just happened that he could hardly focus on anything but his own misery. Every now and then, the Mistress of All Evil would jab the back of his head with the butt of her staff, prompting him to whimper like a kicked dog. He prayed she would at least remove those heavy chains soon. Surely those weren't part of the punishment!

[Tucker]

Tucker shifted restlessly in the corner of the vast room, he had been there bright and early having hunkered down against a large pillar and watching in silence as other warriors and soldiers arrived. An odd assortment of characters and creatures, some like Tabs just down right perplexed the canine cop. Twin pointed ears suddenly perked at the late arrival of a red-headed young man who  he would quickly come to learn was named Thomas. He watched the events unfold before him in silence as the chains appeared  from thin air tangling themselves around the young man, pinning him to the floor.

"Let us talk about punishment, hm?"

"I think for now Thomas here deserves a little mercy. It is only his first day, and I'm excited to proceed. So we'll merely cut down his rations for the week, hm? No food, limited water."

The German Shepard winched at punishment, not even he had gone that long without food, even in the pound, unlike some of the other strays he had gotten to know in that short while, Otis came to mind, the stir-crazy little hairless dog a few cages down from him. A sputter from Thomas shook him from the thoughts of the dog pound.

A panicked "W-what?" leaves the young man's lips and Tucker lets out a soft growl automatically as if to tell him to shut the hell up or risk making it worse for himself.