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]

[I guess the rose mask went back onto her inventory when she took the mask of the guilty -- a decision she is now regretting. She's not putting it on because she is trying to remain as non-threatening as possible. Not that Beatrix would ever be threatened, but, y'know.]

[Anyway, AZDAJA feels threatened. She shuffles back a little more.]

I'm worried you going to hurt this place. Or me.

So? What are you going to do with this?

[finalbows]

"With that sword...
...I will end these Cycles of war for good."

[wants_the_phd]

[Azdaja looks like she's about to hand it over right there.

But...]


...What will happen to Révérence?

1/2

[finalbows]

"...That man is my enemy.
He beckoned her Highness into her grave...
And lives on now only as the servant of further evil."

[ she stalks closer, scattering the rose petals Terra had carefully swept up into a neat pile, passing by the unbroken pew. ]


"And now... he even steals her beloved roses as a symbol of his own...
...but that's all my own grudge. Protecting the many is far more important.
Forgive me. But I'll stain my hands one more time with sin."

[ remember the bit about the pew?
--she reaches out with her shoe to hook the pommel of Terra's sword, and flips it up into her hand in one neat motion. oh, god. oh geez. ]

"Now! On your guard!"

2/2

[finalbows]

[ THANK FUCK FOR KEITH DAVID STOPPING TIME, ACTUALLY ]

~ which mask to wear? ~

MASK OF CRUELTY
"Fuck you with your 'on your guard,' TAKE THE CHEAPEST SHOT YOU CAN."

MASK OF FATE
"uh. it's BEATRIX. you get your ass beat."

[wants_the_phd]

[Hey Keith David, did you know? Azdaja can wear both these masks at the same time. She can combine them into one, even.]

[When Beatrix steps into a fighting stance, Azdaja instantly drops the sword and backs away to the other side of the room, hands up in surrender,

as the Rose mask materializes on her face like a shield.]

He's already dead, and he doesn't even want to fight for Chaos any more. He's no longer a threat to Gaia.

[finalbows]

"That mask... what petty mockery. Days gone by... I would have struck you down for daring to wear it before me."

[ she bends down to retrieve her sword. ]

"Besides... if that is even true... One without the will to fight is as good as gone already."

[wants_the_phd]

Are civilians that meaningless to you?

[finalbows]

"..."

[ she hesitates.
she's wearing that mask of guilt for a reason. ]

[wants_the_phd]

In the eyes of my culture, my life is utterly worthless, simply due to circumstances of my birth. I don't want to fight you, and I don't care about Chaos or Cosmos. I just want to live. And, for better or worse, he's one of the few people in this world who even acknowledges my existence.

He may be a terrible person, but he's nothing to you anymore, and he's helping wretched, worthless people like me who don't have anything else. So if you give even a single shit about "the good of the people," then help me.

[finalbows]

[ ...the knight-general lowers her sword,
and shifts into a parade rest stance, sword held in a perfect line before her, the sharp tip just barely above the creaky wood floor.


"...Tell me your name, worthless Rose."

[wants_the_phd]

Azdaja.

[finalbows]

[ for the first time, this cold knight smiles. ]


"Oh? You actually had one to give me?
Suppose... you're not so worthless... after all..."

[ her body fades to a dark shade save for the red mask,
and then reshapes into a very Révérence-shaped silhouette.

...then it, and the mask, both disappear, returning to the place they're meant to be.


the sword clatters as it falls to the floor, bereft an owner.
she's alone. as much as she can be, inside his soul. ]

1/3

[wants_the_phd]

[WHEEEEEEEZE]

[Sweet Emperor Jesus. That scared the shit out of her.]

[wants_the_phd]

[ "Guilt is a tool you can use to manipulate people."
Ta-daa. ]

[wants_the_phd]

[She kinda wishes she could have gotten her to rescue angie from the clown for her, but not getting decapitated with a sword that weighs more than she does is still pretty good, so she'll take it.]

[Okay. Now that things have chilled a bit, we are going to take a moment to reassess our surroundings. Is Terra's goofy kinship mask still here? What about her stuff she hid under the pew? Is there anything on the church that looks like it could still usesome attention?]

[finalbows]

[ Terra's belongings are all still here, including:

- goofy kinship mask
- her sword (much lighter than Beatrix's giant doom blade)
- bag, containing 3x Potion, 1x Antidote, and 2x Ether, and a plushie of a moogle.


maaaaybe you could do something with the Chaos and Cosmos statues, but 'destroying them' seems like, not the right idea, because that's clearly what Beatrix wanted to do to Chaos. ]

1/2

[wants_the_phd]

[Honestly, she should have let her. Fuck that guy.]

[Azdaja doesn't know what to do with the potions and stuff (and ESPECIALLY not the plush, what does this even do) but she puts them in her bag anyway. You never know.]

[The bigass sword can stay. She can barely lift it. Christ. The smallass sword can also stay.]

[Just for the record, azdaja is currently carrying the masks of kinship and cruelty, and is wearing the rose.]

[wants_the_phd]

[She's going to give the statues a more thorough look. What does Cosmos look like? Which of the basins looks like it's received the most blood? Is there anything else she's missing?]

[finalbows]

[ no audience to watch her back around means the very littlest of details are easier to see... and the Rose mask gives her extra insight. Investigation 2 is going much easier.

Cosmos looks like this!

And she is very clearly the one who has actually been tithed the most blood in her name.

...
goddammit. the statues hunger for more blood, don't they. it's always fuckin' blood. ]

[wants_the_phd]

[Oh damn, cosmos is smokin. No wonder chaos has complicated mom feelings.]

[Ahhh, but it's so hard being a rose, with everyone lusting after your tasty, magical blood all the time. Cosmos knows she wants some of this juice. Who is azdaja to deny a pretty lady.]

[She fishes her switchblade out of her bag and flicks it open... and after a pause to muster up the courage, cuts the back of her forearm (fewer nerve endings, won't hinder dexterity, less likely to get infected. We gotta take care of ourselves, you know.)]

[She lets the blood drip freely into Cosmos' basin.]

1/2

[finalbows]

[ you offer your blood up to the Goddess of Harmony.

You hear the click of a key in a lock, chains falling away,
and are abruptly shunted into
the direct scene of one of Angel Devil's memories-- ]

2/2

[finalbows]

~ which mask to wear? ~

MASK OF FATE
"Bear witness to what's already been and done."

MASK OF REBELLION
"Nuh-uh, you gumby-limbed bastard. I cast Life at the warrior of darkness."

[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. ]