HEARTGAME DRESS REHEARSAL

[finalbows]

thank u rah u hero

tracking sheet
 

[ ..somewhere in the pasture, Angel Devil falls down.
His clothes have twisted away into bone-white rags, leaving a body covered over with only thick swathes of red fur, and downy feathers. His long tail is curled into a tense arc, banded fur standing on end.

The air wavers like he’s a heat mirage, not a man. He’s boiling away with absolutely stupid amounts of arcane power… and, most frighteningly, he does not seem in control of the fact that it is there and being brought to bear. It’s impossible to get any closer to him.


When he speaks, it’s quite timid. ]

Ah,
I thought… I had a little more time.

[ (and in a blinding flash of light, there is the sound of something breaking.) ]

~KRRSHHK~

[any observers will see, strangely see-through and superimposed on the scene, some kind of vast tree, illusionary roots twisting over and around to frame a door.  the door itself is wrought of opaque stained glass in blacks and whites and greys; a stylized rendition of Angie in that strangely ragged, feathered form, curled in on himself, eyes closed.  Angie himself is nowhere to be seen. ]

instead, a shadow . . . steps into view from behind the door.  for a moment it looks like nothing so much as a second genome – then it turns, gaining features and definition with the movement.  The monkey tail separates into three plumes; a ponytail unfurls into wings that lift up from the sides of the head.  

Teleute(?) is here, dressed in her customary black, but there is colour in her skin, and her hair and eyes are blue.  she’s frowning.]

. . . well.  This is the least I can do before I go, in exchange for the safe harbor.

[she lifts her head, nodding to any observers, and gestures at the door.]

You’ll want to head in there now if you don’t wish to lose your flockmate, I think.  Even the false-death of this place won’t be much help to him, if his soul is left to finish pulling itself apart.

My sisters and I can maintain the way into and out of it for you, but we were not made to knit such wounds by ourselves.  Have a care.

Comments

[wants_the_phd]

[Oh, she loves this memory. She'd love to see angie fall to his knees and beg for death at her feet. Goals tbh. Zidane doesn't know how good he had it.]

[She's gonna choose the mask of rebellion, though, 'cause fuck The Man is why.]

[We do not go gently into that good night.]

[finalbows]

[ a blue, hole-riddled mask that I do not have to link you for the hundredth time rn appears on his face, only for him to snap his head up and stare at you, like, what, who the fuck is that, when did they get here, what-- ]

"Azdaja?"

[ oh, hey. At least he recognizes her.

anyway. the finer details of his body fades to light.
and his mask turns to gold.

but he's not going anywhere just yet. the rest of the scene is frozen around you both. ]

[wants_the_phd]

[Shocked Pikachu mask...]

Yo.

[finalbows]

"Did you just...

..."

[ she definitely did just. ]

"You know...
You really aren't going to get a better opportunity than this, to be rid of me. The plausible deniability here is... immeasurable.

...so...
What was it... that made you decide to take this path?

1/2

[wants_the_phd]

[I hope he's not TOO ephemeral because she can't resist an opportunity like this. She simply Can Not.

She walks up to him, casually,]

Why would I want to be rid of you?

[wants_the_phd]

[And steps on his thigh as he kneels]

When you have so much left to give me~?

[finalbows]

[ in front of his BETTER REPLACEMENT, FROZEN LIKE A STORE MANNEQUIN--

he is In Fact a solid presence, and also, completely out of mana and pre-beaten to hell in this memory. Covered in abrasions, bruises, cuts that are no longer fatal, but still trickling blood.

Angie's tongue is very obviously stilled with embarassment. Fuck. He set himself up for that. ]

[wants_the_phd]

Come, don't be shy. I come bearing gifts.

[She extends a hand, almost as if she's offering the back of it for a kiss... until it's evident she's offering the back of her arm, which is still sluggishly dripping blood.]

[Her other hand still has a switchblade in it, but she's holding it in a way where her leg on his thigh blocks it from being easily grabbed.]

[finalbows]

[ that's bait, he idly notes.

brings his lips to her arm anyway. what's he gonna do, refuse the blood spoon like a fussy toddler? he wants to be a LITTLE less spent, in her presence, in what he's still relatively convinced is his dying moments. ]

[wants_the_phd]

[I mean, it still could be. Who even knows.]

[She caresses the line of his jaw with the tip of her thumb while he drinks, her voice like a purr.]

You look so beautiful like this.

Red is a lovely color on you.

[finalbows]

[ miracle he's getting any meaningful amount of blood through a mask but this is luckily one with a well placed mouth hole ]

"...
That's what you want, then...
The opportunity to keep seeing more."

[wants_the_phd]

Among other things.

[She withdraws her arm, regardless of whether he's done or not.]


[But just so she can use it to grab all three necks of the potion bottles in her bag, and offer them to him. Turns out drinking her blood was just for her personal satisfaction.]

[finalbows]

"You are... just brimming with surprises, today."

[ he accepts them, and as he does--
his mask changes, again. from gold, to
a very goofy blue one.


and with that, he fades into twirling motes of pure holy light, and the memory ends.




when it's over, 

A red memory coin
glints on the floor of the church, a lone sparkle among the deepening flood of blood.

Oh. Hey.
Seems like the Cosmos basin just kept... filling and filling with it from the statue's eyes... and now it's overflowing all over the place. ]

1/3

[wants_the_phd]

["bitch, i'm always full of surprises," she thinks to herself,]

[wants_the_phd]

[Before being SHOCKED to find herself standing nearly ankle-deep in blood. What the fuck, angie, were you possessing the statue? is the statue about to possess her??]

[She plucks out the memory coin while slogging over to the door.]

[wants_the_phd]

[but standing in the doorframe, just before stepping out into the rain,

she turns to look back at the empty church.

And covers every inch of it with a carpet of blooming roses.]

[finalbows]

[ emo ] [ emo ] [ emo ]

[ the mask of kinship in your bag feels warm. ]


[ where to now? ]

[wants_the_phd]

[ now we're going to The Meadow.]

[She probably ran straight through it on her way to the barn, but we're now going to say it's on the way to the sunset coast.]

[finalbows]

[ sure is!

that gentle, calming rain has still been going this whole time, occasionally rumbling with distant thunder. on your way out there, it helpfully washes away the blood that'd gotten on your pants and shoes.]


[ curiously, as you get deeper into the meadow, the rain starts coming down harder. there are puddles everywhere. despite it all, the sun still, somehow, shines.


from ahead, she hears childish, almost shocked laughter.
of course, she can recognize the sound of angie's voice by now. and his scent, though it's far less complex; no extra notes covering up "magic" and "monkey." ]

[wants_the_phd]

[yeah but now it's "wet monkey."]

[approaching the sound]

[finalbows]

[ his hair's choppy short, red, and featherless, and his tail's out for all to see. he's wearing a standard uniform for a Genome.

as Azdaja gets closer, he purposefully lets himself drop into a puddle, onto his back. stares up at the rain-- the droplets hitting an invisible barrier around him.

the mask on his face is blue, filled with holes. but he doesn't seem terribly concerned by all that at the moment.]

[wants_the_phd]

Havin' fun?

[she says, as if this weren't eminently obvious]

[finalbows]

[ raises his arms up. ]

"Why not, right? It's a fire sale in the depths of my soul! Everything must go! I'm gonna die anyway, for the very final time!"

[ lets his arms drop back down with a wet flop. ]






[ silence, then a satisfied sigh.]
"I love the rain."

[wants_the_phd]

[Sits down on the wet grass nearby.]

Is that what you want? To die forever?

[finalbows]

[ contemplative, though he sounds brattier the longer he talks. ]

"No. That's somewhere else. I want to live forever until the Gaian crystal is ready to burn out, and then I'll think about what my next step is.
But you have to admit, I'm always very pretty when I do it.


But... the storyline's already been written for me, and it's in the one spot I can't erase and rewrite. I think it's been like that since I was..."

[ limp gesture to his appearance.]

"THIS old. Ish."