#charmstar

-Dagon’s History-

Dagon used to be a ruler of Ledgerdomain, and was a reasonable leader. However, after being involved in a heavy war in the galaxy, Ledgerdomain was left damaged and scrambling to pick up their pieces when attacked by outside forces wishing to take over Ledgerdomain. Running out of ideas, even with the aid of the Alpha Rune that had been passed down by each ruler, Dagon eventually resorts to pure dark magic to save his home.

Dagon wins, saving his home and people. However, the dark magic starts to twist his mind and physical body, even tainting the Alpha Rune he had been wearing at the time. This causes Dagon to rule Ledgerdomain in a cruel manner, despite those who tried reaching out to him.

Eventually, Dagon’s corrupt mind turns to earth, wanting to conquer it, feeling this strange sense inside him of wanting more, a hunger for power that can’t ever be filled. 

Dagon strikes earth, with his most loyal followers being Lucubra, creatures he made out of his own magic, and members of Ledgerdomain who call themselves Esoterica, who believe Dagon’s new way of life is what they need, for if their leader did not sacrifice himself to dark magic, Ledgerdomain would have been lost.

The rest of the people in Ledgerdomain did not agree to this, and started a rebellion against their lord, and joined forces with earth humans to fight against Dagon and his people. Two noticeable fighters were Sir George of earth, a knight with semi immortality and peak human physicality, and a sorceress warrior named Iris Spellblade, a powerful magic user and niece of Dagon.

Ledgerdomain ended up crafting a sword they called Ascalon, a powerful magic weapon with many abilities, including the power to trap dark magic users into it, specifically designed to fight Dagon with, with Iris originally wielding it. 

However, during a fight with Dagon, Iris was killed, managing to hand the sword to Sir George in time for him to wield it, where he successfully trapped the power hungry demon in it. There was a brief moment where, since George was close to the sword by holding it, was still being affected by Dagon’s magic, who tried using George’s inner demons against him to get free, but George’s strong will was enough for him to hide the sword in a cave somewhere on earth, before sealing it up eventually. Also when Dagon was trapped, he dropped the Alpha Rune, which was given back to Ledgerdomain.

With the war over, Ledgerdomain left to go back home and try and pick up the piece of what was left of their Kingdom, but it was clear things were still going downhill for them. For one thing, when they tried picking a new leader and giving them Alpha Rune, the dark magic that tainted the powerful stone would now drive those who wore it insane and evil, and there seemed to be no way to fix it. Without the Alpha Rune, no leader was strong enough to rule, and many leaders fell quickly each time a new one was elicited, and the Alpha Rune was put away for the time being, seeing that it was too dangerous to use now. 

Sir George, now looking at his home planet in a new light, feared for the safety of humanity now seeing a glimpse of what was outside their world, especially when hearing rumours and stories about creatures from the stars appearing here and there. He knew if nothing was done now, then their future would suffer. So he build up his own team and organization, known as the Forever Knights, who will do anything to protect earth from outside forces.

However, after sometime, Sir George realised that followers of Dagon were will around, or at least people who heard stories of him and wanted to free him for different reason, and since George is the only person who knows where Dagon and ascalon are, he decided to go into hiding around the time Lucubras and Esotericas openingly started hunting him down. He eventually succeeded in vanishing, but kept an eye on things from time to time when he could.

Sometime after Sir George vanished, the Forever Knights would start to crack into different factions over time, arguing what the true meaning behind their group was about.

Because of the events of Dagon, Ledgerdomain’s kingdom was falling apart over time, even playing apart in the future when Addwaitya appeared, taking the Alpha Rune to power himself and conquer Ledgerdomain for himself, resulting in the death and runaways of many, including Charmcaster, her father and her uncle. Addwaitya did successfully rule what was left of Ledgerdomain, and actually held together what remained of it, mostly thanks to the Alpha Rune, but it was still twisting his mind and making him rule as a tyrant. 

-Dagan’s Arc-

The gang are starting to catch a wee break after the Aggregor and Evil Kevin situation, but things aren’t going easy. Their identities being out to the world, and earth knowing more about aliens at this point, is causing issues in the group’s private lives, namely Ben’s. Kevin is still dealing with some problems towards what happened to him, and certain things Aggregor said to him, Gwen is trying to support him, but is also dealing with her own problems, while trying to find ways back to Ledgerdomain, worried about Charmcaster since they last saw her wanting to deal with Addwaitya herself. Ben is dealing with a number of issues, and is all over the place not knowing what to do or how to handle things, unfortunately bringing out a negative side to himself he still can’t stop himself from doing. Julie is dealing with how fast things are going in terms of earth’s now sudden connection to the outside galaxy, and while she had been mostly fine with it at the start, it’s starting to become a little too much for her, especially after seeing some of the stuff Aggregor did. It doesn’t help her and Ben are struggling with their relationship because of most of these issues too.

Meanwhile, the Lucubras and Esotericas are still hiding about to this day, with Esotericas pretending to be everyday people, and creating links everywhere. They are still having fights with the Forever Knights, but most fights between the two sides are in secret. Though now, Ben and his friends have bumped into a few, confused by what is going on.

The Esoterica leader, Conduit Edwards, starts to take notice of Ben’s crew when they fight the Forever Knights, especially on Gwen when seeing her magic. They send Lucubras after them, and one of the creatures briefly connects mentally with Gwen, using her magic to finally be able to track down Ascalon, though the others manage to get the thing off of her and retreat. Gwen’s memories are a little muddled up, so she’s not exactly sure what they used her powers for at the time being.

The Esotericas and Lucubras locate the sword, wishing to free their Master, however they find they can not touch it, due to the sword’s ability to trap those with magic similar to Dagon, and can only be wielded by those with very strong will. They realise they must trick someone into freeing Dagon. That being said, they are able to make enough contact with Dagon that allows him to talk through some of the Lucubras and Esoterica members.

Sir George senses this, still having a connection to the sword, and returns to the Forever Knights to lead them. However, sparks start to arise when Ben and his crew question the Forever Knights, knowing something is up at this point. Fights keep breaking out when Ben, Kevin, Gwen and sometimes Julie keep interfering in Forever Knight plans, even the Plumber Kids start joining in, and since Forever Knights are not happy with how aliens are now trying to join earth at this point, this does not please them.

However, despite this, Ben and Sir George do try and reason with each other at times, as Ben can tell that Sir George isn’t as bad as he may seem, and George sees some interesting potential in Ben.

Eventually, Ben and the others start to piece together a little more on what is actually happening, after running into a few more Forever Knights and Dagon’s followers, even briefly talking to Dagon through one of Esoterica members he’s connected with. It eventually boils down to Ben demanding answers from George, knowing that whatever is going on might require both the Forever Knights and the Plumbers, and that they have common ground in wanting to protect earth. So George finally explains his history with Dagon, and agrees to a short alliance with Ben and the Plumbers until this Dagon issue can be fixed.

While Ben is working with the Forever Knights and Plumbers trying to track down and stop Dagon’s followers, along with securing the cave with ascalon in it, Gwen hears about the Alpha Rune being tied to the story of Dagon, and remembers that after defeating Aggregor, the Alpha Rune had magically returned to Ledgerdomain without his hold. So Kevin and Gwen track down Hex and convince him to help them try and get back into Ledgerdomian, since Charmcaster had blocked the main entrance to it last time they saw her.

Tensions rise in the Forever Knights between George and Forever King Driscoll, with the latter of the two very displeased with working with Ben and the Plumbers, but George dismisses him, saying that Dagon is more important than their fight with the Plumbers.

A one point, a fight breaks out between Ben and Julie, as she was starting to feel useless due to her struggling to keep up, and Ben not being able to slow down for her, so she had tried to spy on some Esotericas she found in Bellwood, and while she got decent info on them, she got caught and Ben had to save her. They do apologise to each other in the end, but it’s clear both are struggling with their relationship, wanting the best for each other, but fearing they may not be able to give what the other wants.

Eventually, Gwen and Hex manage to open the doors to Ledgerdomain again, and enter with Kevin. They find Charmcaster, who manages to catch and weakened Addwaitya, locking him up until she can figure out what to do with him, and seems to be trying to hold Ledgerdomain together as their new queen, but is most clearly struggling. She pushes away Gwen, Kevin and Hex, but does eventually listen to them regarding the situation with Dagon, and ends up showing them the Alpha Rune, which is still very much tainted by dark magic to this day.

After informing the Plumbers and Forever Knights on her findings, Gwen decides to try and study the Alpha Rune, knowing that if Dagon does successfully escape somehow, that it would be best to see what she can find on this artifact that once belonged to him. Hex does help a little here and there, but is acting quite distant, especially after seeing his niece again, with Charmcaster noting that she thinks her uncle might have stepped away from dark magic since she left, but the two struggle to engage, even with Gwen’s encouragement.

Lots of tension is still happening between the Plumbers and Forever Knights, especially between soldiers and grunts who are pretty honest in how they feel about each other. Ben and George are doing their best to keep things calm, but it’s clear that the two are also frustrated with each other at times due to their different views.

Dagon, through the eyes of some of his followers, takes notice of this tension, and keeps an eye on it hoping he can use someone in one of these teams to trick.

Meanwhile, Charmcaster and Gwen hit their limits with the Alpha Rune pretty fast, due to its potent dark magic, something neither wants to touch, especially Gwen since Anodites can not handle the stuff. So Gwen starts to think of ideas on what to do next, and ends up thinking of one she’s not too pleased about, because she knows one guy who seems to be able to handle his dark magic pretty well...Mike Morningstar.

Kevin goes on the hunt for Mike in place of Gwen, especially since he kind of wants to blow off some steam he’s been feeling. He eventually finds Mike, who’s his normal arrogant and dickish self, clearly not eager to join anything related to Kevin, Gwen and Ben again after the last time they met, but after hearing about the power behind Ledgerdomain and the Alpha Rune, he ends up deciding to give it a go.

Mike was a little taken aback when first coming to Ledgerdomain, as the moment he stepped in his natural magical reactions kicked in and took in the surrounding magic to fill his hunger, and yet it barely put in any kind of dent to this world, like he wasn’t sucking the life out of anything for once. This already pleases him by the time he meets up with Gwen, and gets an introduction to Charmcaster, who immediately doesn’t like his behaviour when he tries his sly dark charms. But after Gwen makes it clear she will monitor him, and that Charmcaster has full power to take away the magic that sustains his body, he decides to play nice and help with the Alpha Rune, quickly showing off his skills with dark magic.

Meanwhile, Dagon, speaking through one of his followers, manages to speak with Driscoll alone, and latching onto the man’s fears about the Plumbers and aliens taking over, and how Sir George treats him like nothing. He also senses the man’s thirst for power, and tells him that if he frees him, Dagon will grant him the things he so desires. Driscoll doesn’t agree right away, but does say he’ll think about it.

During a day where Ben finally catches a break, he decides to spend it with Julie, and it actually goes pretty well, with the Plumber Kids saying they’ll cover for him. Though while it goes nice, there is a bit where Julie and Ben try talking about the future, both realising they’re not sure what will happen to them eventually, and where this relationship is going, but try to reassure each other it will be alright and spend the rest of the day having simple dumb fun.

Kevin and Gwen also catch a bit of a break, Charmcaster saying she’ll keep an eye on the Alpha Rune and Mike, while the other two decide to actually check out Ledgerdomain probably, thinking it’s beautiful and even talking to some of the locals, but also noting the ruins and how a lot of the creatures living there are animals. The two do also discuss about their relationship and their own issues together, Kevin still feeling guilty over what he’s mutations did to him a few months ago, and what he did as a kid, and Gwen admitting right now she’s a little lost, since a lot of her goals on earth while growing just...don’t seem appealing anymore now that open space and magic has become attached to her life.

While alone, Charmcaster and Mike do end up chatting a bit, at first bickering or Mike annoying her, but little moments seem to suggest that there are better parts of them they don’t want to admit too, like when Mike comments on how Charmcaster is trying so hard to rule a broken kingdom, and Charmcaster even learning that Mike gets his powers from his mother, who is from an alien race that are kind of the opposite of Anodites, in that they are beings of pure dark magic, and are one of the thing beings in the galaxy to not lose control over it, hence why Mike has never been tainted by dark magic of any kind, including his own. But there are also subtle hints Charmcaster gets out of him that his childhood was probably not happy, and his relationship with his parents must have been awful, but every time he’s about to seemingly open up or be a decent guy, he always snaps back to his awful self in some kind of defence. But deep down...the two kind of admit that having someone who gets the idea of having an awful hood is kind of comforting to sit around with, even if they don’t talk about it much.

However, things go downhill when Driscoll has enough with Ben and George, and barges into the chambers of ascalon and releases Dagon. But Dagon is obviously weak from all the years trapped in the sword, and while still reasonably hard to fight and getting bits of his power back slowly, he’s still a shadow of his former grand self. The Plumbers and Forever Knights unsuccessfully stop him as he’s saved by his followers, and the two allies start arguing after what Driscoll pulled.

While planning his next move, Dagon notes that he needs a way to restore him back to full strength as soon as possible, and a way to distract the Knights and Plumbers for sometime, and ends up staging a plan.

With Dagon out of the sword, George retrieves ascalon to wield again, however Ben worries that Dagon will know better this time, and that the sword may not be enough, despite what George may claim. Worried about this, Ben calls Azmuth and convinces him to come to earth to try and examine the sword, and maybe offer advice on what to do for the Dagon issue. Azmuth does come, and while George doesn’t let him see the sword, the two do have a hefty debate that leaves George questioning some of his views.

During a heavy argument with the Knights and Plumbers, they soon realise that Dagon can shapeshift, mocking them all, mostly George, riling him up and making George attack him. But this was unfortunately part of his plan, as with his shapeshifting powers, he manages to convince George that he was disguised as Pierce Wheels, but George ended up stabbing and killing the real Pierce, causing an all hell broke loose of a fight between the Plumbers and Knights, especially between George and Ben. By the end, Ben threatens that if the Forever Knights aren’t gone in a few days, he will personally go Way Big and toss them out of Bell Wood. Despite his anger at the time, Sir George does feel awful what he did to Pierce, especially after seeing a grieving Helen.

In the aftermath, a lot of heavy emotions are tossed around, like Helen grieving with the other Plumber kids supporting her, Kevin and Gwen worried over everything, fearing they might not be enough, Ben still boiling with frustration and anger, with Max, Azmuth and Julie each talking to him with their own takes on how to handle this, and even Charmcaster and Mike talking about how things are so bitter.

Meanwhile, the Forever Knights are discussing what to do next, knowing they can’t leave with Dagon running around, but also know that a pissed off Ben Tennyson is not something they can handle. Sir George personally tosses out Driscoll after what he did, who runs off to join Dagon, and George has a long sit down with the other Knights, seeing how far they’ve fallen from being earth’s original guardians and heroes.

After some discussing, Gwen is the one to realize that Dagon will most likely go after the Alpha Rune, knowing it’s what he’ll need to get back to full power. They race over to Ledgerdomain and get ready to guard it, Charmcaster briefly talking to the imprisoned Addwaitya, who taunts her, saying she can not save Ledgerdomain and be their Queen, as all other rulers have fallen without the Alpha Rune, pointing out that before he was the first longest running leader in a long time, and that his tyrant ruling was the only reason that the scraps of Ledgerdomain haven’t turned to dust yet. While his words do affect Charmcaster, she pretends to not care.

Eventually, Dagon and his followers breach Ledgerdomain, and start fighting the Plumbers. Dagon himself deals with the main fighters like Max, the Plumber kids, Ben, Julie, Gwen and Kevin by using his powers of shapeshifting, illusions and mind reading to mess with them all, playing into their fears before striking them. Surprisingly though, Mike is the one who puts up the best fight, due to his natural skills of dark magic, but Dagon eventually gets the upper hand with his taunts, and even making Mike hesitate when asking “Do you really want to start playing the hero now?”. And eventually, he confronts Charmcaster who has the Alpha Rune, with her threatening to use it on him. Dagon knows she’s not bluffing, and decides to trick her, saying he can bring back her father, and even shapes into him to convince her, and it’s enough to make her give him the Alpha Rune out of desperation of wanting her dad back. But of course, it was all a trick and Dagon leaves her with nothing. Though he does free and take Addwaitya as a new follower. Mike and Gwen are the first ones back on their feet, and manage to save Charmcaster and scare Dagon off out of Ledgerdomain, but are unable to retrieve the ruin.

Everyone starts to panic, knowing that soon, Dagon will be back in full power, and some are still suffering from Dagon harsh illusions that hurt them, especially Charmcaster, Helen and Ben. Seeing that they can’t do this alone, Ben finds and talks to Sir George, the two knowing they have to put things aside and save the world, perhaps even the galaxy of Dagon grows too strong. So their alliance is rebuilt. Sir George even opens up to Ben, like how tired he is from years of fighting, even missing Iris who was a good friend to him, and admitting that Ben is a good kid, and perhaps a better hero than he ever was.

Dagon, using the Alpha Rune, reawakens his ancient powers and returns to his original state of power, and begins his conquest over earth once again.

Taking their final stand, the Plumbers and Knights charge in to battle Dagon’s army, with them trying to get the core group close to Dagon, particularly Sir George with ascalon. It’s a brutal fight, with a lot of forces on both sides dying, even other Forever Knight leaders like Enoch and Patrick. 

George does get close to Dagon, and tries to fight him with ascalon, and while he almost manages to stab the sword into him and trap him once more, Dagon briefly shapes into Iris to make him hesitate briefly, giving enough of an opening for Dagon to strike and kill George. However, before he dies, he manages to toss the sword to Ben, knowing it’s up to him now.

Arming ascalon and the ultimatrix, Ben puts up one hell of a fight against Dagon, shaping between aliens to use the sword in clever ways. His friends also help him, with the Plumber kids using their random abilities to trick or distract Dagon, Kevin getting a few good hits in, Gwen and Charmcaster combining spells together, Julie and Ship, with some help from Azmuth and Max, using tech and energy blast to stun him, and Mike even gives Ben an opening when draining some magic from the Alpha Rune, though he does have to return it because even its magic is a little too much for him. With all these combined attacks, Ben strikes Dagon and traps him back in the sword.

However, as Ben holds ascalon, he suddenly hears Dagon in his head, the demon trying to make a connection to him, offering Ben the power he needs to protect everyone, so that something like Pierce’s death can never happen on his watch again. But his friends snap him out of it, and Azmuth provides a special contentment to place the sword and Dagon away in.

In the aftermath, what’s left of Dagon’s army and followers rush off, and the few Forever Knights left either decide to quiet on the spot, or wander off with scraps of their group. 

Due to the power and stress of the fight, the ultimatrix breaks and Ben loses it, however Azmuth says that he’s been working on a new omnitrix for sometime now, and after a bit of a break, he will give it to Ben. Ben also lets Azmuth take the sword, knowing it will be safe on Galvan Prime until they can figure out what to do with Dagon properly.

The Plumbers start a clean up while the teens start heading off to finally rest.

The Plumber kids, Ben, Gwen, Kevin, Julie and Max, along with others, host a funeral for Pierce.

Addwaitya and the Alpha Rune are returned to Ledgerdomain with Charmcaster, however she finds that Mike has run away, leaving her a vague message. In the end, he was too afraid to change his ways, and while Hex tries to connect and comfort his niece, she snaps at him and kicks him out of Ledgerdomain. Alone, Charmcaster festers in her own emotions, with Addwaitya pushing her again on how she will fail as a leader if she doesn’t take the risks to save it, just like how he and Dagon took those risks. She gets angry with him and turns him into a totem to store in his bag, but his words do make her think...and feeling utterly alone, tired and confused, she places on the Alpha Rune, already feeling the tainted magic leaking into her, but thinking it’s all she can do to protect her home, at least what’s left of it. 

Kevin and Gwen start to discuss things, and Gwen decides to give some normal earth things a try again, wanting to go to college early, and Kevin agrees to come, so the two start planning.

Ben and Julie meet up, and decide to talk. After what the whole Dagon situation pushed them into, they admit that maybe it’s best to break up and have space, even if they still clearly love each other. They agree to stay things but...they do start to drift a little after she goes to France to join a tournament, and Ben starts to feel alone, especially after hearing Gwen and Kevin’s plans.

With a simple flick of his finger, flesh gave way to steel, blood spilled, and the world exploded into steam.

Skull-gaunt and grey-skinned, he towered over the earlier pursuing titans, the slightest flex of his limbs sent the brick buildings on either side of him crumbling. His hands bunched into fists, arms and legs smoothly shifting into a stance that was trained into him far earlier and far longer than his days in squad 11.

Calculated strikes and learned tactics made short work of the typical titans that attacked. But when the deviant types began to hone in on him, things started to take a turn for the worst.

One particular deviant, a massive brute that mowed down scores of titans with frightening ease, charged towards him. Mikhail knew he would be no match for it. His pride urged him to stand his ground but his mission objectives already had him turning tail to flee.

Let that be someone else’s problem. He had more important things to do. Like survive.

The echo of heavy footfalls reached his ears and the ground rushed up to embrace him.  A heavy weight was on his back, pinning him down. Though he struggled, he couldn’t find the leverage to free himself. Then pain exploded at the base of his neck when the flesh shielding his vulnerable human form was torn away.

Mikhail opened his eyes to heat, steam, disorientation, and a feminine voice growling: “What’d I say about keeping your head down, rookie?”

The platinum blonde MP saluted into attention and barked out, “Sir.”

“At ease,” the officer waved a hand dismissively at her. “The fresh meat’s arriving in a bit, be a dear and brief them for me. The strategy meeting’s running a little longer than expected.” He leaned against the door frame, no attempt to hide the other officers inside, or the playing cards, piles of coins, and several empty bottles of wine strewn all over their table.

Maintaining a carefully neutral expression, her amethyst eyes fixed on her superior officer’s forehead, she answered, “Understood, Sir.”

“Good. Dismissed,” and the man slammed the door in her face.

Standing outside longer than proper, she managed to make out the muffled jeering and laughter as the officers resumed their game. One day, she swore to herself before marching off to meet the latest batch of MP rookies.

The squad of ten was waiting for her in the courtyard and for several wordless minutes, she simply studied them.

A mixed bag, she decided. A rare few had the hallmark of true believers; naive and enthusiastic and genuine in their desire to serve the king. Some had the marks of career soliders; all arrogance and pride for being the best of their batch of trainees and seeking to further rise in rank. Most were there because they wanted to be as far away from the danger as possible.

She was looking forward to watching the system break them all.

“I’m Charmaine,” she finally introduced, donning the mask of aloof professionalism. “Welcome to the Military Police where you will be safe from titans but not from your fellow men. Keep your head down and don’t make waves. No one really cares how good you think you are. And while no one likes an ass-kisser, if you’re subtle about it you’re looking at a brighter future. Or at least an easier time.”

It wasn’t the approved spiel the trainees were supposed to get but the platinum blonde MP was feeling spiteful of the senior officers. She wasn’t giving the rookies the heads up because she cared about them. But this way, she had ten people who ought to be grateful to her. And in the Military Police, every advantage counts.

She dismissed them and was about to walk off when one of the rookies, a tall, blond young man approached her.

“Squad Leader Charmaine,” he began respectfully and it was all she could do not to burst out laughing.

Instead she gave him a smirk, “Ma'am will do,” even if she didn’t hold a position that would warrant the title. “What is it, rookie?”  

“My name’s Mikhail, Ma'am,” he introduced, smiling warmly “And I just wanted to say thank you.”

She quirked a brow in suspicion, “For what?”

The blue of Mikhail’s eyes glinted cold, briefly, before the gleam of idealistic naivete returned, “For the advice. And my mother taught me to always be polite to ladies.”

“No ladies here, rookie,” Charmaine snorted none too delicately. “We’re either soldiers or officers.”

“Of course, Ma'am,” he saluted, radiating earnest desire to prove himself.

And if Charmaine hadn’t glimpsed the earlier sharpness of his eyes, she would have believed the sentiment was genuine.

My actual SnK ships are: Springles (SashaxConnie), Yumikuri (YmirxKrista), and Levihan (LevixHanji). But if DarkCaster existed in SnK it would be second only to MyTrax because just look at my blog’s name.

Hime created an AU called “Role Reversal.” Mike was a different character and raised to have different values but the inclination for pride and his hunger for power were still there. They were just buried beneath the layers of morality and social obligation and guilt (oh man, the amount of guilt the guy was subjected to in this AU.) The AU meant DarkCaster as the ship I’ve come to know it would never come to be but CharmStar was still in the running!