Alliances

From a conversation with Last of the Last:

"So how exactly are we going to kill these Fears?" I asked Last.  "I mean, I smashed the Cold Boy's face in with Lily and he just kind of...repaired himself."

"They do that," Last said.  "There are probably tricks and tips to killing them all, but the best way is to get them to kill each other.  Killing something like that takes equal or greater power.  Fortunately...that's what we've been working on for a while.  I've got a lot of contacts, and some of the Masks are doing a little double-duty and working for other Fears."

"So, for example, Maggie would be a servant of both the Slender Man and the Convocation?"

"No, Kenny.  She's been chased by the Convocation.  No one is working for someone who's after them."  He paused.  "She's the bait for the Convocation."

"These people are bait?"

"Don't make it sound so bad; they've known the deal since before they signed up.  They choose to be bait because they want to see these guys dead.  You've noticed how many of the Masks are themed around fragmented Fears, right?  You know, the hiveminds, the ones that aren't just a single solid entity?  There's a reason for that."

"Well what is it?"

"Anyway, like I said, we've got contacts, and lots of them serve other Fears.  And yes, I am dodging the question because I know you'll blog the plan to everyone and telling people what the plan is is the best way to jinx absolutely everything. But the first part is to use these contacts to turn these factions--and consequently, the Fears, against each other.  It's really not too hard, considering how territorial these Fears can get.  They're all locked into something that some people call the "Great Game."  Like a board game, or more accurately, a schoolyard game, albeit with more death and destruction.  So kind of like Red Rover, then. 

"Alliances are made, of course.  You can't just turn everyone against everyone, because even the Fears are looking for a little help. They all have their preferred allies and tend to sort of branch off into some groups.  I'm sure you know a few of these already."

"The Cold Boy and the Wooden Girl?"

"That's right.  The two seem to be pretty interested in you, you little celebrity."  He grinned.

"Please, don't call me that. I'm just going along with your plans, not embracing any sort of 'hero' thing you're trying to do."

"Right, right, sorry.  Anyway, you've also seen the Red Cap and the Choir teaming up, an aspect that you unfortunately managed to bring with you back to your own dimension from your visit to that hostel place where they got attacked by the scarlet-marked greyskins.  So thanks, Kenny.  Now we've got horny sonic zombies to deal with."

"Well, you might have persuaded me to introduce a child-murdering sociopath from another dimension here as well, so that one's on your head."

"Fair enough.  There's at least a third one that I absolutely know, and that's the Four Horsemen: the Archangel, Plague Doctor, Brute and Burning Bride, and Intrusion."

"That's five."

"Brute and Burning Bride are a set, Kenny. They count as one. Don't feel bad; I know it's confusing and you're still pretty new to all of this."

"So that's three alliances we know about.  What about the others?"

"Well, from what I've experienced of this universe, the Rake and the Black Dog are feral. Creatures of instinct. And even if they're not--well, I've told you so, so they're more likely to be now." He tapped the side of his skull with a finger.  "It's all in your mind, and what you perceive to be true.  Anyway, those two don't have the capacity to make or break alliances. I don't think the Quiet or Nightlanders are going to ally with anyone either, since they seem to be...more forces than beings.  I'm not even sure we're going to have to kill them.  The Nightlanders are creatures of order, and they're sort of like the janitors of the world--resetting it to how it's supposed to be.  And the Quiet...the Quiet will wait for the right time to strike. When the universe is ending, that's when it will consume.  It...it devours all....consumes...."  He paused, then shook his head, and why he started acting so dodgy came to me.  The Quiet had likely ultimately destroyed the dimension he had come from.  "Sorry. Anyway, it's not important.  Those four, and then the Empty City. It's a place.  A sort of neutral ground. It has a terrible power of its own, yes, but it's on its own side, aiding everyone and no one.  I don't think we need to worry about any of those five allying with anyone.  So that leaves...?"

"The, um...Convocation, Blind Man, Dying Man...um...Manufactured Newborn...."  I struggled to remember the rest.

"The Eye, Mother of Snakes, Grotesque, Unnamed Child, Smiling Man, and EAT.  It's a big list, I know. Don't worry about it right now.  You'll get to know them better as we go along.  But so far, these ten are the ten whose allegiance is least obvious. It's EAT I'm most concerned about at the moment, actually. It's a really clever bastard."

"So what's the plan, then?"

"Well, the Slender Man's out, I've got an idea in mind for those hivemind sorts that I'm not ready to put into action, we're not strong enough to take out the Horsemen, and the Cold Boy and Wooden Girl are after you and would be ready for us if we went after them now.  I'm thinking," he said, "that step one is convincing someone to take out the Rake.  He's strong, he's dangerous, he's unpredictable, and none of the other Fears like him. Get him out of the way first, and that's one wild card we won't have to worry about down the road. The downside is that it's going to be harder to orchestrate. I don't have a ton of information on which way these alliances are falling, but I do know one thing: no one, I repeat, no one, likes the Rake."

"So where do we start?"

"The thing we need most before we do any of this is knowledge.  It'll probably be our greatest weapon: knowing what we're up against, knowing any possible way to stop them, et cetera."

"I still have those notes on the Fears that Lyron gave me."

"That's good, but it's nowhere near enough. No, we'll have to do something a bit more drastic.  In fact, plans for that are what I've been so busy with this whole time.  Go.  Talk to the Masks more. Really get to know them.  I'll tell you more when it's time."