Planeside

[Ironsmith]

[Elysium]

"Right. You weren't up here for that." Grace winces. "My understanding is that she's been committed for a time. Cherub syndrome."

"Cherub syndrome?"

"Yeah. It's most common in Elysium-raised children, but sometimes new arrivals run up against it, too." Grace gives a little nod. "Some people get a little overwhelmed by life up here. Not that they don't enjoy it, but when they spend enough time in paradise, it starts to become a sort of ultimate good in their minds. It really screws with their senses of empathy and appropriate conduct; if Elysium spreads, it outweighs any damages that might have occurred in the process. Which isn't wrong, exactly, but it makes for sloppy work and runs up against our purpose and values."

"...That sounds pretty fucked up."

"I know." Grace sighs. "It's a nasty little cognitive trap. Takes a while to work out of once in it, and relapse is always a possibility. Left untreated, you end up with behavior like..." She grimaces. "...Maybe you don't want to hear it, but I'm sure Marianne had the best of intentions. Her execution, however, left much to be desired."

[Shadowcaller]

[Elysium]

"Well... at least we don't have that problem back home." Jaahlyn remarks, sounding a bit grimmer than she had intended. Since 'back home' people just died with their body. She hadn't been sure if that was better or worse than being turned into soul-soup but it was clear it was awful in comparison to this place.

"But what happens to Marianne now? Has she broken any laws? Will anything happen at all?" Was there an angel jail? Or was she just going to be taken to a healer?

[Ironsmith]

[Elysium]

"Well... yeah, kind of." Grace shakes her head. "I'm not sure I'm really the one you should ask about the justice system up here. It's... very confusing, if you're used to dealing with mortal courts. We operate on a completely different set of premises and with very different logistical needs. But suffice it to say; yes, she broke the law, and there are consequences for that. Said consequences include mandatory therapy, which will likely be carried out some place other than Elysium proper, due to the issue of Cherub syndrome. It'll be some time before they send her to her final destination, so for now, she's in detention, which is something analogous to jail, but if you go in expecting jail, that's not what you're going to see."

Grace pauses, then, "I'm sure you're probably both still mad at her, but I'd be remiss if I didn't ask; do you want to visit?"

Melody shuffles uncomfortably in her seat, but says nothing. She watches for Jaahlyn to answer the question, not offering one herself just yet.

[Shadowcaller]

[Elysium]

"I have to consider that. Maybe later." Jaahlyn replies evasively before turning to look at Melody. "What about you? I didn't actually know that Marianne had been arrested..."

[Ironsmith]

[Elysium]

"...I, um... I'm not sure if I'm surprised or not." Melody says with a frown. "I mean, putting out a hit on someone is definitely arrest-worthy, but I didn't know they actually did that sort of thing up here..." She stiffens. "...I'd... need some time to consider if I want to see her, too. There's a lot of mixed feelings there right now."

"Understandable." Grace smiles at the two of them. "If it helps, she likely won't be in detention for very long. Her case is rather prominent and we don't get so clogged up on petty offenses and suits up here. We're looking at about... two weeks, I would guess, before she's sent out to a reformatory somewhere."

[Shadowcaller]

[Elysium]

"Oh, you mean that it's going to be covered by those newspapers?" Jaahlyn did like all fey gain information of the area she manifested in through the thoughts of nearby sapient beings. So she had a certain understanding of "modern" concepts.
Yet it still felt all the more bizarre that she was covered by them.
"Since I found a lot about myself in those. More than I expected from a single trial." She wanted to get some perspective on why it was such a big deal.
She glances at Melody. "What I'm asking is, should we expect ourselves, and Marianne, getting more covered by those?"

[Ironsmith]

[Elysium]

"It'd be reasonable to expect that." Grace nods. "Her trial was already a story, this incident would likely be the sort of thing publishers look for. She's probably gonna get more privacy once she's actually in rehab, though." She sticks out her finger and circles Jaahlyn and Melody with it. "You two can probably expect an awkward conversation at some point. But, unless there are any more deaths in the family after that, it should blow over in a few weeks. There's always something interesting happening in the mortal realm."

Melody nods, but her gaze drops to the floor. "...This is gonna suck, isn't it?"

"Honestly, you're probably already past the worst. All that's going to be left is a little public reminiscence. We have some pretty high standards of journalistic integrity and veracity up here, you're not going to have to worry about showing up in a trashy gossip column or a conspiracy theory or something. You're just going to be entirely too fascinating for a little bit."

[Shadowcaller]

[Elysium]

"Family as in DEATHKISS? Since if Marianne has been arrested and Melody is now an angel..." She glances at her fellow heaven-visitor, pretty sure that she already knew what she was talking about. "The family itself might not be around for a lot longer." There had already been cracks last she spoke to the band. "And I'm just a fan and a friend at best."

A beat.

"...no one thinks am I demon, right?" She glances back at the other passengers. Since that was always a concern she had to have wherever she went.

[Ironsmith]

[Elysium]

"Not one we'd need to worry about." Grace is quick to assure Jaahlyn. "Independent of any technicalities, you've gone out of your way to help two of our residents now, and not intentionally done anything to help the Devils. You've earned the benefit of the doubt."

The other angels on the bus nod and chorus an affirmation. Yup. Jaahlyn's all right in their book

Melody, meanwhile, just sinks into her seat, unable to get her mind off what Jaahlyn just said.

"The family itself might not be around for a lot longer."

The possibility had been dancing around the back of her head for a while now, but Jaahlyn putting it out there in the open like that made it difficult to avoid thinking about. Marianne soured them all on the prospect of angels, and she'd already been evicted from the group. Euphoria probably wasn't going to stick around much longer. And Exstacy... Melody wouldn't be able to bring her up to Elysium as she is.

So there it is. The band is breaking up.

[Shadowcaller]

[Elysium]

Wait, had the other angels been listening in to everything they said or just that bit? Not that she had said anything private but it still felt weird.
Then her attention is turned back to Melody...
She had kind of just blurted out that part, hadn't she?
"Er, maybe it would be possible to recruit new members around in the nexus?" She suggests with an awkward glance at Grace. Melody needed some cheering up here...

[Ironsmith]

[Elysium]

"...That's sort of beside the point, Jaahlyn." Melody sighs. "DEATHKISS wasn't just the band I played in. Those women were my friends. I mean, not to put too fine a point on it, but we escaped hell together. Once you do that, you develop just a little bit of a bond, you know?" She shakes her head. "And now Marianne's going to have to go away because she ordered my hit and Euphoria's going to push everyone away because she can't cope and Stacy's got her own shit going on and..." She sniffs, running her fingers under her eyes. "...and that's just going to leave me, on my own again. I can't... I can't just 'recruit new members'. I can't just replace Stacy and Manny and Euy. I just... I can't."

[Shadowcaller]

[Elysium]

Yep, this is what she had feared.

If she only had kept her stupid mouth shut to the point where they could at least be alone.
But nope, she had to bring it up in the middle of a bus before everyone.

"Melody, I- I'm sorry." She tries to gently put her hands around Melody and slowly bring her into a hug.
Since she had no words this time. This was the only comfort she could give right now. "So sorry."

[Ironsmith]

[Elysium]

Melody doesn't make any attempt to resist Jaahlyn's hug, and in fact complacently buries her face in the satyr's shoulder, shaking and holding back a quiet sob. Despite the situation, Jaahlyn's going to find it to be a pleasant sensation; Melody's new entry into angelhood comes with their usual soothing touch, washing away all the little aches and pains Jaahlyn doesn't realize she has or long since tuned out.

It probably helps that she's not the only angel Jaahlyn's touching.

In the seat immediately behind them, two other passengers reach forward and gently place their hands in Jaahlyn and Melody's shoulders, respectively. Further behind them, others are reaching forward to do the same to the passengers in front of them, as though attempting to send good feelings through each others' bodies. Others across the aisle are reaching over to do the same thing; indirectly, it seems everyone on the bus is taking it upon themselves to comfort the two of them.

"You did the right thing, Jaahlyn." Grace offers, her own hand on another angel's shoulder much further down the chain. "And Melody... you aren't alone and never will be again." She gives the two a small smile. "If you- either of you- need help with anything, all you need to do is ask. You're among friends here."

Melody doesn't seem to quite know how to take that. But she's stopped shaking, at least.

[Reinholdt]

[Purgatory?]

About one day after Melody's ascension to paradise, Marianne's phone starts ringing!

Is she even allowed to have her phone? Perhaps not. More impressive is that it gets reception at all. But then, heaven is pretty awesome that way. The only question is whether it's even Marianne who will answer Ilpholin's call or not. Fingers crossed, knock on wood, send a prayer.

[Shadowcaller]

[Elysium]

Melody doesn't make any attempt to resist Jaahlyn's hug, and in fact complacently buries her face in the satyr's shoulder, shaking and holding back a quiet sob. Despite the situation, Jaahlyn's going to find it to be a pleasant sensation; Melody's new entry into angelhood comes with their usual soothing touch, washing away all the little aches and pains Jaahlyn doesn't realize she has or long since tuned out.

It probably helps that she's not the only angel Jaahlyn's touching.

In the seat immediately behind them, two other passengers reach forward and gently place their hands in Jaahlyn and Melody's shoulders, respectively. Further behind them, others are reaching forward to do the same to the passengers in front of them, as though attempting to send good feelings through each others' bodies. Others across the aisle are reaching over to do the same thing; indirectly, it seems everyone on the bus is taking it upon themselves to comfort the two of them.

"You did the right thing, Jaahlyn." Grace offers, her own hand on another angel's shoulder much further down the chain. "And Melody... you aren't alone and never will be again." She gives the two a small smile. "If you- either of you- need help with anything, all you need to do is ask. You're among friends here."

Melody doesn't seem to quite know how to take that. But she's stopped shaking, at least.

[Elysium]

That's a lot more touching than she had expected when she pulled Melody into this hug.
She guessed angels had different ideas about what was considered personal space.
Though she couldn't really muster any kind of reaction to complete strangers suddenly touching her. Must be that odd comforting feeling that she suddenly felt.
It was... nice. Had to be as she suddenly could feel tears running down her face.

The whole experience was especially strange though as with this sudden rush of emotions she felt stronger than before which never really happened unless people were doing awful things to one another. Acting on whatever feelings they had been suppressing. Which she supposed she did now yet for the first time in ages it wasn't actually something negative.

So if there was anything she would take from this visit it was this very moment. A good moment.

[Ironsmith]

[Purgatory?]

About one day after Melody's ascension to paradise, Marianne's phone starts ringing!

Is she even allowed to have her phone? Perhaps not. More impressive is that it gets reception at all. But then, heaven is pretty awesome that way. The only question is whether it's even Marianne who will answer Ilpholin's call or not. Fingers crossed, knock on wood, send a prayer.

[Purgatory?]

bup!

"...Hello?"

Apparently, the answer was "yes, she's allowed her phone". Though Ilpholin won't be able to see it, about the only thing that's been confiscated from Marianne's person is her halo; she's lost her dimension-hopping privileges until further notice. Apart from that, one wouldn't even assume Marianne is being punished if they checked in on her now; she's in a well-maintained bedroom, in a building that appears for all intents and purposes to be a hotel of some sort. That it is, in fact, a detention center, is not discernible until one notices that the windows are reinforced with steel wire and the room's door locks from the outside.

At the moment, the angel sitting on the edge of her bed, a fluffy white towel placed under her to keep the blankets dry. Ilpholin will still be able to hear the shower going in the background, and if she could see Marianne now, it would be obvious she'd interrupted it with her call... though in complete fairness, that would have been inevitable, as Marianne's been in there since the trial.

[Reinholdt]

[Purgatory?]

Well Ilpholin can't fault Marianne for taking a shower, a long one even. Though the nymph can fault Marianne if she's taking it alone. That's no way to shower!

"Hello Marianne." Ilpholin says professionally without any subtext.

"Well I can't say everything went smoothly, but I believe Jaahlyn will have filled you in by now of the third party interference we had? Nevertheless, objective accomplished on my end. How did the follow through go? Is Melody an angel now?"

[Ironsmith]

[Purgatory?]

In total fairness, it's not like she had a partner available. She is still in detention; isolation is part of the point.

Though being equally fair, she probably would have turned down the partner if she had the opportunity.

"...She is." Marianne says, nodding to herself. "It was on the news this morning." She pauses a moment to switch the television off, as it has long since served its purpose. "...And yes, Jaahlyn filled me in. And what she didn't tell me, I learned for myself. Inertius himself came to get her and you sent him packing. I'll admit, even knowing your credentials, that was impressive."

Marianne pauses a moment, licking the dryness out of her lips despite still being soaked from the shower. "...I... I think we should quit while we're ahead." She adds. "The others have caught on. Euphoria was furious; she threw me out of the house and made it clear she never wants to see me again. I don't think you'll be able to sneak up on her."

While her diction might make it sound like this was a purely practical concern, her tone and the shakiness of her voice makes it clear it's anything but. Ilpholin's probably existed too long to not know what a guilt-wracked client sounds like.

[Reinholdt]

[Purgatory?]

Well Marianne's demeanor certainly puts a momentary lid on Ilpholin asking about whether she has to worry about more like Inertius. At least the nymph has a name now. Hopefully they won't be an issue going forward, but that's such a distant and cold hope, Ilpholin barely even recognizes it.

"You knew she would be," Ilpholin replies after a second. "That they all would be. That you would be vilified for your actions." The nymph's voice grows soft. "Hate you for it even. You fight and you fight and you fight for them, for a better tomorrow and they scorn you for it. Because it's easier than admitting they were too cowardly to do it themselves. That they were too comfortable with the squalid corruption they lived in to consider a brighter future. They writhe in jealously that you were willing to step up when they were willing to bow down and rather than standing beside you, they try to grab you and pull you down too, tearing at your skin and your heart."

"...But you stand anyways. Because it's the right thing to do. Because as ugly as they show themselves to be, they were still your friends at one point." There's a bit of a pause for a moment before Ilpholin continues. "They don't have to like it, but Melody has been given an eternal life in paradise free of damnation. And if you think Stacy deserves that same opportunity, the only thing you have to do is give me her phone number."

[Ironsmith]

[Purgatory?]

Marianne pales as she listens to Ilpholin's attempt at a motivational speech. More than once, she finds herself wanting to interrupt, to exclaim that the others still are her friends, that they weren't cowards or envious of her, or...

Oh, gods. She should have known before now, but she hired a genuine psycho, didn't she?

Fortunately for Ilpholin, the very last words out of her mouth are the ones Marianne finds most persuasive. Eyes on the prize. Stacy doesn't deserve to have to live in fear of being mulched, or be seperated from Melody most of the time. She'll hate Marianne for it, but... the angel is helping her.

Marianne swallows back her doubts. She's helping Exstacy have a better life. That's what matters, and that matters a lot. More than Marianne's relationship with her. More than Marianne's self-respect and her ability to meet her reflection's gaze in the mirror. More than anything.

"...Take this down." Marianne squeaks. "Her phone number is 555, 8, 6, 7, 5, 3 0 9." She holds her fist to mouth. "And Ilpholin... be... be gentler this time, okay? No more heart-stabbings."

[Reinholdt]

[Purgatory?]

Ilpholin would consider it more words of warning than motivational, except maybe the last part. But a win's a win, even one tainted with memes.

"I had to push Melody as hard as I did to get her to stand up for herself. And she did, eventually. Well she stood up for you anyways. That must have been enough. I don't forsee the same issues with Stacy." Entirely different issues... sure. "It should be gentler by nature. Don't worry. You're doing the right thing." If there's nothing else Marianne wishes to add, Ilpholin will hang up. She has two more calls to make.

[Ironsmith]

[Purgatory?]

Marianne takes a deep breath. If she's doing the right thing, why does it feel so wrong?

"...Be careful."

bup

[Earl of Purple]

The Endless River

Ever flowing, ranging from a gentle current to a vicious torrent, this afterlife is more an ocean than a river- it doesn't have banks. Yet it flows in one direction, an endless tug of water under a pale grey sky. There's no sun, moon, or stars here, not even clouds; the sky is lit by its own glow. Standing in the river is a small island, dominated by a large yew, its branches decorated with small trinkets of various sorts- CDs, mysterious bones, plastic beads, and similar things. This stretch of the River is quite calm and shallow here, though somewhat treacherous with hidden pits, slippery gravel banks and sharp rocks lurking beneath the surface.

Baccata emerges from the yew, a dryad with skin the brown of polished yew and long hair dominated by green needles. She's naked, and heads to the coast of her small island, to see if anything interesting has washed up. Unfortunately for her, there are no such things today, so it's on to business- finding someone who might wish to leave.

There's three boats drifting past, small coracles with reclining figures resting in them, slowly pushed by the current downstream. One is far enough away from the little island that details of its occupant are hard to make out. The other two are on different sides; one, a young soldier in red jacket, tall shako and bloodstained white trousers, has removed his boots and is dangling his feet in the water. He's humming a little song. On the other side, slightly further away, an elderly lady sits in a hospital gown, working on an embroidery hoop. Working upstream, however, is another option. They've been heavily distorted by the trek against the current, much of who they were washed away, and their humanity with it. They remain bipedal, or mostly so; their legs have shortened, so they use their unnaturally long arms to help drag themselves along. Their gait suggests their legs don't have knees, whereas their arms have several bends. Their skin is pale, bleached of colour, as are their remaining clothes- a long-sleeved shirt of some kind. A pink baseball cap sits on their head, a young, androgynous face below it sinking into the shoulders and distorting the chin and mouth. Their eyes are green, peering out from a curtain of silver-white hair.

[Keeper]

The Realm of Blue

Jace sits in the grass outside an old chapel. Mist curls around him, especially thick around the little stone wall that surrounds the place and its little graveyard. The unicorn is here in his little pocket realm, quite naked with neither clothes nor familiar. Zebes is out shopping. Khannie is at school. He’s just here to do Unicorn Things.

Well, maybe not today. The parlor would be more comfortable but he’s a little more protective of that room. It’s his favorite and it’s also where Jastes died. At least thanks to Tchen they knew what to put on the gravestone.

But for now? He has father things to do more than unicorn things.
”Fortuna? I don’t suppose I could have a moment of your time?”
He knows he only needs to ask to summon her. But do spell-made words still count?

[Rebonack]

[The Realm of Blue]

Jace gets an immediate reply.

An old fashioned alarm clock, the sort with two bells attached to the top, suddenly drops out of the sky and thumps into the dirt in front of Jace. The clock is missing it's minute and hour hands and the second hand appears to be stuck.

Congratulations, Jace!

You have received one (1) moment of Fortuna's time.

Looking closer, the clapper on top of the clock has the tiniest Fortuna sitting atop it.

"I must say, Jace, you're looking a little bigger than usual. Is it something you ate? Or are congratulations in order?" Fortuna asks, reclining against one of the clock's bells.

[Keeper]

The Realm of Blue

”The last time you saw me I wasn’t the size of a horse. So yes, I’m bigger.” Jace replies. Though not only is he more accurately the size of a pony, he knows what she meant. It’s only been a month but Jace is starting to show. Which he shouldn’t be this early, but that doesn’t really matter. As the reality of his motherhood has sunk in Jace has started to develop a pregnant look in spite of the timeline it would normally entail.

Naturally, thinking about it makes this worse. To someone Fortuna’s size she might notice that he just got a tiny bit bigger as Fortuna’s little comment makes him think of an image of himself as a fully pregnant mare. The general area of her silliness probably isn’t helping. Is she going to push that?

[Rebonack]

[The Realm of Blue]

"Oh my, is it that time already?" Fortuna asks as the alarm on the clock begins to ring, the clapper hurling her off as it rapidly wobbles back and forth. "Sardonic quip o clock! My favorite time of the day"

The tiny spirit of chaos lands in the grass nearby, vanishes into the plants and the mist.

She is, of course, not gone.

"Maybe I'm just a little more foggy-headed than usual," says the mist, which has shaped itself into Fortuna's head. "But something about you is definitely different. I can't put my claw on it. Is it your hair? It seems slightly bluer than last we spoke."

One of her claws, disconnected from her body, appears and begins to poke at Jace unsuccessfully, missing by a wider margin each time.

"And not just your attitude, I mean you hue. Now, what could it be I wonder? AH there it is!"

With a snap, Fortuna appears in all her normal size and glory, casually reclining on the mist floating through the realm. "You're a pregnant unicorn! So you and Veronica finally made it happen? That' simply delightful, I'm so happy for you both. But I'm sure you didn't call me just let me know a foal is on the way, hmm? What's on your mind? Care to share your thoughts, one magical dam to another?"

[Keeper]

The Realm of Blue

She really figured that out so quickly?
”I…I don’t look that pregnant do I?” Jace asks, his voice more vulnerable than he usually is around Fortuna. His belly still looks like it is very, almost imperceptibly slowly, getting bigger. Fortuna might realize he’s been very deliberately NOT thinking about it and now she’s messing with the floodgates!

Perhaps a little literally since she just called him a dam. He doesn’t remember holding any water at bay? Is this a horse term? Jace knows shockingly little about horses for a unicorn ex-adventurer.
Oh, now he remembers. Yes.
”I’m not entirely sure that term applies to either of us.” he says truthfully. Female is part of that definition and that’s shaky with him. And Fortuna’s claim on Khannie is more of a weird third parent scenario.

”You don’t seem surprised about the unicorn part. I assume you’ve been keeping up to date on me and Khannie?”

[Rebonack]

[The Realm of Blue]

Fortuna realizes many things.

"Look? Hardly. Smell? Oh goodness, you really don't know a great deal about equestrians, do you? When a mare is with foal everypony knows because the nose knows. It's being human, isn't it? Those tiny, cute little noses just don't notice," Fortuna replies, conjuring up a helpful diagram depicting GIANT HORSE NOSE and dainty human nose.

"But it's more about expectations and beliefs with you, isn't it? You're an idea and ideas shape you! It's a life I'm well acquainted with, spirit of chaos and all," Fortuna says, randomly swapping out each of her limbs with something else before looping back around to her typical look.

Then?

She's suddenly seated atop a wall holding a rather large lollipop and wearing a cute little outfit with a bonnet. "Jace, my dear, I try to avoid letting something as trivial as definitions stop me. Humpty Dumpty had quite the right idea, there. And of COURSE I've been keeping tabs! How could I not pay attention to my greatest jest when she's getting so close to the punchline? Why, that would be a rather serious breach of comedic timing. Now then-"

A reclining sofa suddenly comes galloping through the glade and aims to scoop up Jace.

"Why don't you tell me what's troubling you?" Fortuna asks, donning glasses, picking up a notepad, and setting a banana to the paper.

[Keeper]

The Realm of Blue

”I’m not a mare! But that does explain things. After that big deal you made calling me boring I was expecting a little more fanfare when you found out.”
It does pose the question, how could Jace have smelled like pregnant mare when he is shaped by his own thoughts and he didn’t know that was a thing? Perhaps he didn’t. Khannie didn’t seem to notice so quickly. Unfortunately, Fortuna just told him so he definitely does now.

He’s also scooped up by a hopefully unicorn-friendly sofa. Don’t be so rough with someone expecting, Fortuna!

”The punchline is what I’m worried about, Fortuna. I know that you care. But you also know why I worry about you caring. She’s starting to look more like you. But she can’t live your life, what you are. She loves people too much to be burdened with the power you have.”
But even then, Jace suspects that isn’t what Fortuna has in mind. It’s too…obvious. Pedestrian. A successor? That would imply Fortuna thinks she’s going anywhere.