imeeji_frontstage | Flowers of Heaven II: Star of Bethlehem

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Flowers of Heaven II: Star of Bethlehem

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…? ]

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One of my cohort—you could say, a sort of sibling or cousin, as we choirs above are all siblings. After escaping the clutches of the throne of Lies, I came upon one who ailed similarly, fallen but not yet surrendered to the cause of the Enemy.

...ah. Say no more. I know what you mean.

I am glad your fallen comrade has yet to surrender, but I don't exactly feel like I'm helping all that much. I'm just kind of... ambling around. Is there something I can do outside of that, ..? [ he looks back to the tree, leaving her side and setting a hand on it. ] Like, is this field some kind of... representation of the capability she has, the willingness... it's there, but it's not being completely utilized. [ or something. ] And this tree - her strength? Just starting out, perhaps. Do we need to help it grow, plant more, cultivate this field... will any of that help?

[ does this boy need to farm a bitch, because he will. ]

The working begins soon. This...

[ she gestures to the verdant area around them ]

...this, is all this one may do for them, alone. But soon, you will be called to walk the garden paths; to burn away that which holds back the heart. I do not know... precisely, what pain caused them to fall as I fell, as—

—well, there's a lot of angels. Or, rather, there were.

Edited 2022-08-10 05:22 (UTC)

And you're sure this is going to work? [ he seems kind of... skeptical. ] How did you put all this together anyway? It kind of seems like one of the games thrown together by the Production. Are you saying it's something else, like a cleansing ritual, or a heavenly detox?

[ then a frown settles in on his face. ] Were? ...did they go through something similar, but then fail to pick themselves back up, so to speak, ... [ since aren't devils fallen angels? ]

For untold time—for ages, this one lay fallen. Unable to move onward. Though the Enemy has attempted to co-opt the old rites for their purposes... this one has initiated it, this time. For the salvation of one of this one's kin, yes.

[ rites... ] I understand that these rites are usually sacred, and require a number of specific steps to be followed, so that the rite, itself, can be performed properly and the outcome can happen as intended, but can anybody invoke the rite, ..? Is it something that, if practiced, can be performed by somebody like... a funeral consultant I know who happens to be a pretty decent authority on this kind of thing, at least back home?

Independently? This one is unsure... as much of this is quite irregular. Truly, the difficulty would be in having access or a connection to the gardens of heaven...

...though, any may participate, and this one has drawn all of you here to do so. Er—this one's options were. Limited.

[ smashcut to the deadzone or whatever it's formal name is. ] Ah, yeah, I mean, you're not wrong... that's probably the most important part, but... that aside, could you share or is it a secret? It can't be all that big a secret if the Enemy knows it, unless they swiped a special book of yours...

Limited... are we bottom of the barrel or something.

Rather... the trials ahead are not for the faint of heart. Were there others sufficiently prepared, this one would prevail upon them, rather than imposing.

Ages ago, this one's fellows would enter the gardens of heaven to meditate and reflect when finding themselves insufficiently capable of their purpose, while those closest to their heart would burn incense, fast, and pray together, to begin the rite.

...apparently it can be approached in slightly different ways, though. This one knows not what modifications the Enemy made, when this one underwent the rites; this time, this one, er. Tried to gather some representative icons. But it is nothing to be trifled with, as what lies ahead is of great import!

...ah. [ so scraping the bottom of the barrel, but being kind of nice about it, got it. ]

What kind of incense?

[ childe leaves the tree and goes back over to her. ] Representative icons? And I beg to differ. If you want to help your friend you're going to have to share a little bit more than that. This is serious, is it not, and Celestia forbid this fails and a second undertaking must occur... [ he shakes his head. ] You can trust me.

..."friend," is...

...well, there are a lot of angels in the celestial choir, you know?

[ listen would YOU know all your classmates in a college with like several thousand people ]

Edited 2022-08-10 16:28 (UTC)

...comrade, then.

[ HE wouldn't know THEIR names, but his own classmates probably knew HIS name, since he beat them all up... regularly... ]

But let's get back on track. Can you tell me about the incense or the icons?

Well—

...there are plenty of icons of ye the "idols" of Hell, after all.

[ did she make this ritual with

idol merch??? ]

[ he's temporarily at a loss for words. ]

[ please give him a minute. ]

And the incense? And don't tell me it was something like Old Spice...

What is... well, certainly, there were spices involved, but this one does not know if they were particularly old? But rather, it is about... invoking the right state of mind. A dreaming, meditative state.

Though—what purpose do you have for such a rite, yourself?

What if this doesn't work?

What if it's not enough?

What if... we have to do it again?

Knowing what tools are needed for something like this is kind of necessary, don't you think, and helping your comrade is of the utmost importance, that's what you said, right, ..?

True enough, but for the fact that within your cage, you willn't find any fallen members of the celestial choirs. Perhaps if you were to venture outside—but, then you would have a great many other problems first. Have you been to the throne of Lies, or the throne of Vengeance?

No, but I do have a way to access a little sliver of Heaven. And I thought we were just sort of sending them... good vibes, so to speak. I actually need them here, or nearby? [ hmmm! ] No. [ kind of, but only because he's been pieced together and seen lilith a few times. ]

—what "sliver of heaven"?

I don't have all the details [ like, none. ] but there's a gaping hole in the production leading to what looks like a bit of Heaven. I could be wrong... [ lifts his hands up. ] I'll admit it. But that's where I'd try the ritual I'm asking you to share with me.

[ WHAT? ]

WHAT?

...what.

I said I could be wrong... but there's a lot of strange stuff up there. Oh, and that reminds me, maybe you can tell your friend to stop throwing me out. [ or maybe childe could just stop engaging the cube... ] Cubular. Annoying. Fights dirty. Sound familiar?

Oh, the sentinels! There to watch over the celestial realms, as is their function—

...well, of course they would eject you. You're not supposed to be there. Very few are afforded such. Though, they are hardly friends. They're more, well—automatons. They simply do as they were made to.

...ah, so it is some kind of heavenly realm then. [ good to have that confirmed, if nothing else. not that he had many doubts, but... there it is. ] And, no, maybe not, but I have an in, so I can certainly help more than you originally though, see. It's really just a matter of... if you'll let me.

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