Flowers of Heaven II: Star of Bethlehem

[rosetograce]

Who: lost(?) idols
Where: ???? a mysterious courtyard
When: day 490

[ You awaken to the feeling of cool stone at your back, and a night sky overhead.

All around is a courtyard—a wide circle of marble tile, alternating black and white, interspersed with stone benches and flowerbeds and ornamental trees, all lit by the lambent gleam of strangely vivid starlight.

It is beautiful. And it is decaying. The stone is cracked; the flowers wild and overflowing between the cracked stone; the trees bent and twisted with age, the ground around them littered with fallen fruit. There is a fountain in the center of this space, but it too is broken-down: the water sits stagnant, and nothing remains of the design except a basin and the shattered base of a once-golden sculpture.

—And surrounding it all are not walls, but dense mounds of kudzu, climbing over itself until it towers as high as any watchtower.

How did you get here?
The last thing you vaguely recall is a sudden fit of drowsiness. There’s no sign of any guide or host around, and your powers don’t currently work either. In fact, if you have any corruptions, whether mental or physical, they too are … gone? No, perhaps that's not quite it; you can still feel them—faint, like a phantom limb. Invisible, and unable to affect you.
But there is one notable exception to the rule: all wings, corruption-induced or not, remain in place, as natural as the starlight.

There are other idols around you, all waking up the same way. Is this meant to be some kind of game…? ]

Comments

Re: EXPLORE THE COURTYARD?

[glidinglight]

It's a strange choice, isn't it? Melancholy and not a single monster in si--

[ She's starting to approach the tree to inspect it--when there's that flash of movement ]

--Did you see that?

Re: EXPLORE THE COURTYARD?

[sangreine]

Sure did. [ If they could do so, her eyes would be glowing red ]

Should we follow it?

1/2

[rosetograce]

[ The tree looks—healthy, and vibrant with life; in fact, everything in this clearing does. The branches hang with a few ripe fruits with a bright golden sheen to them, and the air feels crisp.

and, also— ]

Re: EXPLORE THE COURTYARD?

[rosetograce]

[ there's. a person there? or, rather, she looks like a person, although she's not one you've seen before. and, furthermore, she has two large, white feathery wings protruding from her back as she inspects the gardening here. ]

—you're here!

Re: EXPLORE THE COURTYARD?

[glidinglight]

[ It was just the gardener? ]

Were you expecting us?

[ She looks over to Aliza. Does she know this woman??? ]

Re: EXPLORE THE COURTYARD?

[sangreine]

[ Aliza looks over to Lumine and shrugs slightly. No idea who this person is, but she doesn't seem all that surprised that she seems to know them. And then she waits for an answer to Lumine's question. ]

Re: EXPLORE THE COURTYARD?

[rosetograce]

For my gratefulness to you—not in the specific, of course! But to you and your forebears, blessings, for by your generosity and sacrifices this one has been saved.

Truth be told, this one wasn't sure if it would still work, things being as they are.

Re: EXPLORE THE COURTYARD?

[glidinglight]

[ this is both a lot and also nothing, being as ambiguous as it is. the more she hears the less she understands. ]

Our generosity and sacrifices? What did we save you from exactly?

Re: EXPLORE THE COURTYARD?

[sangreine]

[ Hmm. Maybe they're not in hell anymore. Interesting (but terrifying, because what about the people who aren't here?!) ]

Perhaps you could help us, in return?

Re: EXPLORE THE COURTYARD?

[rosetograce]

"I once was lost, but now am found—" this one believes the saying goes. Those who have lost Grace may yet regain it, but with difficulty. There may yet be new purpose—

...and there is much work to be done, and few hands to do it. Therefore, this one must ask for the help of your fellows again, that your triumph over the Enemy's designs may be repeated intentionally. This one can only sustain a small portion of the garden, but—if we are successful, perhaps there may yet be a miracle.

Re: EXPLORE THE COURTYARD?

[glidinglight]

What exactly is it that we need to do to help keep the garden alive?

[ And is it really a good thing? She's suspicious. ]

Re: EXPLORE THE COURTYARD?

[rosetograce]

It is an old and holy magic—a ritual of purification. Without the One Most High...

[ there's a brief moment of extra solemnity across her face. ]

...well. There's no changing that now. But if the True Heaven is to have any chance of returning...

Re: EXPLORE THE COURTYARD?

[glidinglight]

You're saying if we make enough sacrifices, there's a chance of your Heaven existing again? Just what exactly do these sacrifices entail?

Re: EXPLORE THE COURTYARD?

[rosetograce]

[ sadly— ]

No, not my heaven. The one this one knew... is in the past.

This one was once afflicted—had lost hope entire, like many of my siblings. There are so few who are able. If the old rites work as meant... this one may, finally, be able to help you.

It will be difficult. This, this one regrets. But, here.

[ she plucks a fruit from the tree, carefully; it is perfectly ripe, and smells delicious. ]

Re: EXPLORE THE COURTYARD?

[glidinglight]

Help us? Help us how?

Re: EXPLORE THE COURTYARD?

[rosetograce]

If you seek to break your chains...

...but then, you, Beloved Daughter of the Most High—you have been touched by Hell, have you not? But if you consider yourself chained—this one would see all those beloved children who wish it free of bondage.

Re: EXPLORE THE COURTYARD?

[glidinglight]

If you mean abducted by demons and put through their torture, sure, I've been touched by Hell. Are you serious? You can really rescue us if this goes right?

[ this seems too good to be true. Is this all just another one of the production's ruses? ]

Re: EXPLORE THE COURTYARD?

[rosetograce]

This one cannot guarantee much, for the forces of the Enemy are many, and this one is only... one. But perhaps, there maybe two, and then maybe more...

...and someday, creation may yet still have the love it deserves.

Re: EXPLORE THE COURTYARD?

[glidinglight]

Are you saying that by making sacrifices, more of you appear?

[ Because that sounds exactly like what she's saying. ]

Re: EXPLORE THE COURTYARD?

[rosetograce]

It's a... communal ritual. There would have been more than this one, once—to walk with this lost one, to aid in the catharsis of the soul.

If this lost soul can rise anew, as this one has... there may yet be hope. But this one... unfortunately, cannot do it alone.

Re: EXPLORE THE COURTYARD?

[glidinglight]

You know this all sounds almost too good to be true, right? How do we know you're not a part of the Production's attempts to make us more miserable?

Re: EXPLORE THE COURTYARD?

[rosetograce]

Th-this one? Of course not! For—for though this one must admit she abandoned heaven once... the Throne of Lies once attempted to use this one for their ends, and failed! This one will not be used for evil intent again! For, lo, this one has cast off the shackles of darkness and once more embraced life!

...

And also this one is a terrible liar and cannot offer much. This one is very sorry, for... the love this one carries still, is only worth this much, even for one of this one's siblings.

[ she gestures to the clearing—the vibrant growing flowers, the flourishing tree, the crisp air—and how far it stretches. just a stone's throw. ]

Re: EXPLORE THE COURTYARD?

[glidinglight]

So it's love that you need in order to be able to make this place less dilapidated? That's what's created when this soul-cleansing occurs?

Re: EXPLORE THE COURTYARD?

[rosetograce]

Indeed—especially so, for the Beloved Children of the Most High have that most precious gift of true free will as an innate gift. To make the choices of this trial with ease...

This one is... only beginning to understand what "choice" means, to act outside the will of the Creator.

Re: EXPLORE THE COURTYARD?

[glidinglight]

So you all really didn't have any free will under the Creator?