The young god's appearance shook James, but the shock passed quickly.
Dr. Kondraki was explaining where their powers came from. He talked a lot—but never answered the most important question.
When James asked directly, "So what happened?"
Dr. Kondraki's face changed. For once, the confident doctor looked awkward. He hesitated, like someone remembering something painful. After a moment, he muttered to himself, "Clef, this really isn't my fault. You asked James for help, not me."
With a heavy sigh, he looked at James and admitted, "This is one of Clef's darkest memories."
James leaned in, waiting.
Dr. Kondraki lowered his voice. "Actually… in his marriage, Clef wasn't the one in control."
"What?" James was confused.
"Yes," Dr. Kondraki said with a frown. "Clef was abused… by his wife. For years."
Even the calm James blinked in disbelief.
The chatroom in the livestream watching this moment went wild.
> "What?! Dr. Clef? Abused?" "This guy contains Keter-level monsters!" "He bends reality! How can someone like that be abused?" "This world just keeps getting weirder…"
Dr. Kondraki added, "Abuse victims can still love the person hurting them. It's not simple. Eventually, Clef escaped."
James's expression grew serious. "So this is the origin of the disaster?"
Kondraki shook his head. "No. The true source is SCP-2317."
James's eyes widened. "The Devourer of Worlds?"
Kondraki dropped the real bomb: "No… it's the Crimson King."
That name shook the entire multiverse.
—
Kamar-Taj
The Ancient One sat in silence. When the name "Crimson King" echoed, she whispered it like a curse. Her face tightened. A cold fear settled in her chest.
"Why is something like that involved now?" she whispered.
—
Observer Dimension
The Watcher, Uatu, gasped. "The Crimson King? No… how is this even connected?"
—
S.H.I.E.L.D. Headquarters
Natasha's eyes narrowed. "SCP-2317? Wasn't that locked up?"
Nick Fury stared at the massive screen, watching everything play out. Agent Maria projected the earlier reports on the monitor.
Kondraki's words echoed in the room:
> "The only survivors were eight humans—six pregnant women, a man, and a baby."
Nick's eyes went wide. His breath caught.
> "The Seven Brides…"
That phrase alone sent a chill down every agent's spine.
—
On screen, James was also shaken.
Trying to stay calm, he pressed on, "What happened next?"
Dr. Kondraki spoke quietly, "SCP-4231. That's the site name."
"It's a small building," he explained, "three floors, both a home and store, located in the old town of Northgate, Cornwall. It's been sealed off. Inside the house… we found Clef's wife."
James's face hardened.
"SCP-4231-A," Kondraki continued, "was a 28-year-old woman. Blonde hair, brown eyes. She'd just given birth and was found with a gunshot wound to the head. Cause of death: execution. Body found upstairs."
He paused. "Her name was Lily."
The entire chat froze. Then exploded.
> "She's dead?!" "She was a reality bender, right?" "Is she the mother of SCP-166?" "Who shot her?!"
"No one expected that," James whispered.
Kondraki kept going. "SCP-4231-B was Clef. Found in the same house, 27 years old. Severely beaten. Broken nose, head wounds, vomiting water and blood."
James felt his chest tighten.
"He was tortured, both mentally and physically. Lily had completely broken him," Kondraki said, his voice low. "And his powers started acting up because of it. Reality bending isn't clean or painless. For him, it became pure suffering."
James stood still, absorbing the heavy truth.
Dr. Clef—one of the Foundation's most powerful members—had lived through all of that?
Still, James remembered the key name: The Crimson King.
"The house's energy was corrupted," Kondraki explained. "Too many reality benders in one space. Lily, Clef… and something worse."
He looked directly at James.
"SCP-2317 was buried beneath their house."
James felt like the air had been knocked from his lungs.
Back at S.H.I.E.L.D., Natasha choked on her words.
"SCP-2317… under their house?!"
Fury looked like someone just told him Earth was already doomed.
"That's the gateway to the Crimson King."
Kondraki nodded. "Lily and Clef were unknowingly living above something ancient. And the emotional stress created… something new."
He lit a cigarette, voice low.
"The upstairs became SCP-4231-2. It warped into a pocket reality, covered in Type Green trauma scars. Downstairs was worse. A hidden passage led to SCP-4231-3, a crypt under the lake."
He looked grim.
"There, we found eleven medieval chambers. Seven of them were locked rooms. It took us a week to break the seals."
He looked straight at James.
> "Inside were six women."
James's eyes narrowed.
Kondraki nodded slowly.
> "They were six of the Seven Brides of the Crimson King."
Silence followed.
> "Each was pregnant. With the King's child.**"
—
Kamar-Taj
The Ancient One fell back in her chair. Her face was frozen, lips trembling.
> "They're real… The Seven Brides are real..."
She'd always believed the Crimson King was a myth. That only fragments like SCP-682 or SCP-999 remained. But this?
Seven wives. All carrying the blood of a god.
She felt her soul tremble.
—
Observer Dimension
The Watcher's heart stopped.
> "Seven wives… pregnant? And this universe hasn't collapsed?"
He stared in horror, speechless.
—
S.H.I.E.L.D.
Everyone was stunned, staring blankly at the screen.
Even Fury was shaken to his core.
But through all the fear, one terrible question struck him:
"Wait… Six brides were found. What about the seventh?"
His heart skipped a beat.
Suddenly, a thought exploded in his mind.
A possibility too terrifying to say aloud.
His jaw clenched, sweat dripping down his brow.
> "Could the seventh… still be out there?"
He didn't speak the words. But the fear in his eyes said it all.
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