The Leaky Cauldron

He moved his hand and placed it on the table between them. "Avenge him? How do you plan on avenging him?"

"I.." He tried to come up with an answer but found only a silence coming out. The entire world was against them now. They had no one save each other and whatever allies they may or may not have accrued.

And if Crouch's cruelty to innocents and aurors were any indication, he was on his own...

Save maybe one friend.

The silence was answer enough. "That's what I thought. We have nothing. We are now the scum of the street. The hunters have become the hunted. Our Lord's death has given the people a new hope. They will rise against us without hesitation." He paused. "Crouch, we don't stand a chance."

"I knew we should've murdered that boy when we had the chance..." He snarled quietly, "I trusted in his ways. I should've forced his spine out of his back and used it to impale him... but the Dark Lord ordered me not to..."

"There is nothing we can do about it now, only move forward. Now, having said that, the question is how." He fell silent as he thought.

"If we're to regain our former power, we must rebuild all we have lost. Members, sanctuaries, slaves, beasts and other powers. Everything from the ground up needs to be recollected..."

"Without the added assistance of our elders. We're on our own this time."

"Yes... And we don't have the luxuries of time, or any luxuries for this matter..." 

Then Crouch's mad mind had a flash of inspiration, "We could.. resurrect him!! Yes! I can see it!" Insanity kicked in full throttle with this vain hope. "The Dark Lord surely would've had a plan in case he died! We could find it! Work it out! Do it! We could bring the Dark Lord back from the dead and he could rule as he was meant to!"

"Crouch, we're masters of the Dark Arts, but I will not go and mess with something as powerful as death. In order to bring back a life, one must be given in turn. I'm not willing to sacrifice my life for his. He had his time, now it's ours."

He slammed his fist on the table in fury, "That is easy for you to say! That man... that GOD is the reason I have the life I do! Clearly you are not as loyal to him as I, foul deceiver!!"

His voice remained calm and deadly. "Don't you dare question my loyalty to the Dark Lord, Junior. I was raised by one of his most loyal followers, I lived my life purely to serve him. He picked you up off the streets. I am very loyal to him, that is why I say that it is our turn to carry on his legacy.

"Do you think he'd have wanted for us to drop his cause just because he died? I don't think you knew the man at all then."

OOC Hey can Ray come in?

IC

"You have the audacity to accuse me of not knowing him?! I was as close as family to him..."

His eye's suddenly widen in a realization, a false one but a realization to him, "You're jealous... you're jealous of my closeness to him!" The man had lost all coherence, a broken mind even for his usual standards.

OOC Sure!

IC He looked at Crouch as if he'd gone mad. "What are you babbling about? I am not jealous of you." He paused, seeming to think about it. "Actually, perhaps I am."

OOC You sure?  It's okay if you don't want me to, if you just want this between Crouch and Death.

OOC No, no. Raven's presence might make this more interesting. Death and Crouch talk one-on-one all the time. Let's twist it up a bit. (I'm feeling adventurous right now.)

OOC Awesome!  

IC  Raven walks in, a black hood covering her face.  She sees Crouch and Death arguing and sits down next to them.  "What's going on?"

"Craziness! Pure craziness! Loyalties questioned! Challenged I dare say! Everyone is crazy!"

"He's lost his mind. Perhaps you could help him find it?"

Raven looks at Crouch with worry. "Crouch, calm down... This has been hard on all of us, but that doesn't mean we can't continue doing what we do..."

'Continue what we were doing?"

"What we were doing is assuring the rise of the Dark Lord! Slaughtering all who opposed him! Taking out the trash as it were! How can we continue when there's no dark lord to rise!!"

OOC 

"Just think of the freedom we have now! You could become the new Dark Lord and be greater than he was! Move on and make him proud!" She'll never voice how grateful she is that Voldemort is dead.

"I agree with her, Crouch. Become the new Dark Lord in his place. You certainly qualify."

"And you claim I have lost my mind?! The Dark Lord was a god on earth! I am but a man! I could never take his place! I should kill you all for such blasphemous statements!"

He stands up, "Now I'm leaving until all of you stop being crazy!

OOC Fear not, this is going to get REALLY good >:3

"For god's sake, Crouch! You're more than a man! You're a wizard! A Death Eater! The Dark Lord wouldn't hire just a man! I think you could do better!"

"Crouch, the Dark Lord chose you to be one of his right-hand men for a reason. I'm sure he'd have chosen you as a successor anyways. Maybe he never got to voice it, but I'm sure all the Death Eaters would agree." He looked to Raven, hoping for an agreement. "Right, Ray?" he hinted.